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HARMS  WORTH 

HISTORY 
OF  THE  WORLD   J^l 


KING     EDWARD     VII. 

rroin  the  statue  l.j   George  Wade  crcctt-il  at  Rendini; 


iPJiolo  by  L.  It  SliiU 


SEVENTH  VOLUME 


The    Re-Making 

OF  Europe 
The  European 
Powers  To-day 


-r^^^^c.  ^_:-.w  j3 


CARMELITE     HOUSE 
LONDON 

i<J09 


ja.-'s.^sfc-sanj?- 


The  Brt;sh 

Empire 
The  Atlantic 

OCFAN 


K 


CONTENTS 
OF  THIS  VOLUME 


S:XTH 


SIXTH    GRAND    DIVISION 

EUROPE 

DIVISION— THE     RE-MAKING 
OF     EUROPE 


General  Survey  of  Europe  since  1 8 1 5 
EUROPE    AFTER    WATERLOO 
The  Great  Powers  in  Concord 

The  British  Era  of  Reform       

Queen  Victoria  in  Her  Coronation  Robe 
Colour  plate  facinj 
The  Reaction  in  Central  Europe 
The  Restored  French  Monarchy 
The  Cross  and  the  Crescent 
Fall  of  the  Bourbon  }iIonarchy 
The  New  Revolutionary  Period 
The  Welding  of  the  States 
The  New  Kingdom  of  Greece  .  . 
The  State  of  Religion  in  Europe 
The  Spread  of  Liberalism 


EUROPE    IN    REVOLUTION 
The  Fall  of  Louis  Philippe 

Italy's  Fruitless  Revolt 

The  Hungarian  Rebellion 
Struggles  of  the  German  Duchies    . 
The  Second  Republic  in  France 
The  Problem  of  the  German  States 
Reaction  in  Central  Europe 


THE    CONSOLIDATION  OF  THE  POWERS 

Saving  the  Colours facing 

The  United  Kingdom  intheMid-\'ictorian 

Era       

Turkey  after  the  Crimean  \\"ar 
The  Second  Empire  of  France 

The  L'nification  of  Italy 

Prussia  Under  King  William  I 

Prussia  and  Austria  on  the  Eve  of  \^'ar.  . 

The  Advance  of  Prussia 

The  Prussian  Ascendancy         

The  Decline  of  Napoleon  HI 

The  French  Soldiers'  Unrealised  Dream 

of  Victory facing 

The    Downfall    of    the    Second     French 

Empire        

The  Birth  of  the  German  Empire    .  . 
Scandinavia  in  the  Nineteenth  Century.  . 

EUROPE    SINCE    1871 
The  Close  of  the  ^'ictorian  Era 

Peace  with  Honour facing 

Reaction  Triumphant  in  Russia 
The  German  and  Austrian  Empires 
France  L'nder  the  Third  Republic  .  . 
Minor  States  of  ^^'estcrn  Europe     . . 


4779 


4791 
4797 

4817 
4825 
4839 
4849 
4859 
4871 
4881 
4887 
4892 
4898 

4905 
4925 
4933 
4943 
4949 
4957 
4970 

4975 

4975 
5005 
5015 
5033 
505 1 
5063 
5069 
5081 
5093 


51^5 
5153 

5163 
5193 
5193 
5^13 
5 --3 

S2i2 


THE    SOCIAL    QUESTION 

Britain's  Industrial  Revolution       .  .      .  .  5237 

The  Rise  and  Fall  of  Chartism         ..      ..  5245 

The  Triumph  of  Trades  Unions        . .      . .  5249 

The  March  of  Social  Reform 5255 

Social  Problems  in  France        5260 

Social  Democracy  in  Germany         .  .      .  .  5268 

Great  Dates  from  the  French  Revolution 

to  Our  Own  Time 5-279 

SEVENTH     DIVISION 

EUROPEAN    POWERS    TO-DAY 

Glimpses  of  Europe's  Capital  Cities      .  .  5281 

Russia  5295 

Turkey,  Greece,  and  the  Balkans    .  .      .  .  5317 

Austria-Hungary        5329 

Germany     ..  5339 

Holland  and  Belgium        5357 

The  Grand  Duchy  of  Luxemburg    .  .      .  .  5362 

Switzerland         5365 

Italy 5371 

The  Republic  of  San  Marino 5375 

France         5377 

The  Principality  of  Monaco 5  396 

The  Republic  of  Andorra 5397 

Spain 5401 

Portugal      5406 

The  Scandinavian  States  54ii 

United  Kingdom        5417 

Tvpes  of  British  Battleships 5425 

THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 

The  Empire  in  the  Making       5441 

British  Trade  and  the  Flag       5465 

Slave    Trade    as    a    Factor    in    Colonial 

Expansion 5473 

Colonies    Grown    from    Convict    Settle- 
ments    5479 

Wars  of  the  Empire 5483 

British  Conquests  in  the  East  . .      .  .  5497 

Britain's  Contests  in  Africa      5509 

Fighting  Forces  of  the  British  Empire.  .  5525 

Outposts  of  Empire 5537 

Composition  of  the  Empire      5545 

Great  Britain's  Inner  Empire  . .      .  .  5557 

Parliaments  of  the  Outer  Empire    ..      ..  5573 

The  Sinews  of  Empire       55^1 

British  Expansion  in  Europe 5599 

British  Expansion  in  America  .  .      . .  5610 

Britain's  Great  Indian  Empire        ..      ..  5615 

British  Expansion  in  Africa 5623 

.Man's  Triumph  over  Nature 5631 

Civilisation  and  Christianity 5639 

The  Future  of  the  Empire        5644 

THE    ATLANTIC    O^EAN 

The  Atlantic  Before  Columbus         . .      . .  5657 

The  Age  After  Columbus  5663 


i 

GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  PERIOD 
By  Oscar  Brow^ning,  M.A. 


THE    CONTINENT 

By    Dr.  H.   Zimmerer,    Dr.    Heinrich   Schurtz, 

Dr.  Georg  Adler,  Dr.  G.  Egelhaaf, 

Dr.    H.    Friedjung,   and   other   writers 


EUROPE 
SIXTH    DIVISION 

THE    RE-MAKINQ    OF 
EUROPE 

We  enter  now  upon  the  last  phase  of  completed  European 
history — the  century  which  has  all  but  run  its  course  since  the 
decisiv5  overthrow  of  Napoleon's  ambitions  at  Waterloo. 
Although  during  this  period  the  United  Kingdom  and  the 
Eastern  Powers,  Russia  and  the  whole  Eastern  peninsula, 
pursue  their  course  in  comparative  independence  of  the  com- 
plications which  involve  the  rest  of  Europe,  the  latter  being  no 
longer  in  isolation  sufficient  to  warrant  us  in  maintaining  the 
earlier  complete  separation  of  East  and  West. 

Following  immediately  after  Waterloo,  we  have  a  period  of 
strong  reaction  against  the  political  ideas  of  the  French 
Revolution,  a  period  'in  which  the  claims  to  power  and 
to  territory  of  "legitimate"  dynasties  are  looked  upon  as 
paramount,  while  the  control  of  the  Sovereign  People  and 
demands  for  the  recognition  of  nationalities  are  held  in  check, 
though  Greece  attains  her  liberation  from  Turkey.  The  second 
period  opens  and  closes  with  two  revolutions  in  France — the 
expulsion  of  the  Bourbons  and  the  coup  d'etat  of  Napoleon  III. 

During  this  period  the  demands  of  Constitutionalism  and  of 
Nationalism  are  fermenting,  Germany  in  particular  making 
futile  efforts  in  the  latter  direction.  The  third  period  coincides 
with  that  of  the  Second  Empire  in  France,  and  is  marked  by 
the  unification  of  Italy  and  the  triumph  of  German  nationalism 
in  the  new  German  Empire,  consummated  by  the  Franco- 
German  war,  and  attended  by  the  establishment  of  the  Third 
French  Republic. 

Finally  we  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  novi  reconstructed 
Europe — the  whole  narrative  having  interludes  associated  with 
the  modern  Eastern  Question — until  we  reach  our  own  day. 


THE    BRITISH    ISLES 
By  A.  D.  Innes.  M.A.,  and  H.  W.  C.   Davis,  M.A. 


477: 


MAP  TO  ILLUSTRATE  THE  SIXTH  DIVISION  OF  EUROPE 
The  above  map  shows  the  Europe  of  our  own  time,  with  the  boundaries  of  the  various  states  as  we  know  them 
to-day.  The  period  thus  illustrated  is  not  the  whole  of  the  time  covered  by  "The  Re-making-  of  Europe,"  but  rather 
the  eventual  settlement  of  the  Continent,  as  a  result  of  the  movements  which  were  initiated  on  the  downfall  of  Napoleon, 
and  involved  such  international  conflicts  as  the  Crimean  War,  the  Italian  revolt  against  Austria,  the  Franco- Prussian, 
the  Russo-Turkish,  and  the  Greco-Turkish  wars.  The  changes  in  the  m.p  of  Europe  since  the  close  of  the 
Franco-Prussian  War  have  been  insignificant.     The  areas  within  250  and   50li  miles  of  the  coast  are  also  indicated. 


GENERAL  SURVEY   OF  THE    PERIOD 

By    Oscar    Browning,    M.A. 
EUROPE    SINCE    THE    YEAR    1815 


D  EFORE  the  French  Revolution  Europe 
•*-'  was  in  a  condition  of  unstable  equili- 
brium. Anyone  who  studies  the  condition 
of  the  map  of  Europe  in  the  last  years  of 
the  eighteenth  century  will  perceive  this 
to  be  the  case.  France,  Spain,  and  Great 
Britain  were  in  a  fairly  homogeneous 
situation,  but  the  position  of  the  rest  of 
Europe  was  intolerable.  The  German 
Empire,  the  mere  phantom  of  its  glorious 
past,  was  honeycombed  by  the  territories 
of  ecclesiastical  princes,  while  its  neigh- 
bours, Hungary  and  Poland,  better  con- 
solidated than  itself,  were  a  menace  to 
its  permanence.  Russia  was  in  the  throes 
of  expansion  to  the  east,  west,  and  south. 
The  Turkish  Empire,  when  it  crossed  the 
Bosphorus,  found  itself  ruling  dominions 
which  it  could  not  hope  to  maintain, 
and  which  were  now  slipping  from  its 
grasp.  Greece  and  Bosnia,  Moldavia  and 
Wallachia,  Servia  and  Bulgaria  were 
moving  from  a  position  of  subjection 
to  vassalage,  from  vassalage  to  indepen- 
dence. Berlin  was  divided  from  Konigs- 
berg  by  a  long  stretch  of  territory  which 
could  not  in  any  sense  be  called  Prussian. 
Italy  was  cut  up  into  a  number 
of  impotent  and  warring  states, 


he  crossed  the  Channel  found  it  reduced 

to  nothing  before  his  return  by  the  charges 

of  perpetual  discount.    The  awakening  was 

rude.     Sluggish  Europe  shook  herself  to 

resist    the    dangers   of    the     Revolution. 

She    threatened    to    march    to    Paris    to 

punish  the  regicide  miscreants  who  bore 

^.    n    .       swav   in  the   capital,    and   to 
The  Rude  -  -    '^ 


Awakening 
of  Europe 


restore    the     Bourbon    to    his 
throne.  But  regenerated  France 


Barriers  to 

European 

Solidarity 


which  denied  it  a  voice  in 
European  affairs.  Naples  and 
Sicily  were  parts  of  Spain.  Norway  was 
a  part  of  Denmark.  There  was  no  soli- 
darity, no  unity  in  the  component  parts  ; 
railways,  had  they  existed,  would  have 
been  impossible,  commerce  was  impeded 
by  every  kind  of  artificial  barrier.  A 
traveller  who  changed  a  sovereign  when 


laughed  gaily  at  this  unwieldy 
Titan.  She  threw  ofi  with  ease  the  attacks 
directed  against  the  missionaries  of  a  new 
political  gospel,  and  carried  war  into  the 
territories  of  those  who  had  assailed  her. 
Her  generals  were  everywhere  victorious  ; 
but  from  among  them  arose  Napoleon,  the 
greatest  of  all  generals  of  modern  times. 
It  is  too  common  to  represent  this 
commanding  genius  as  a  man  of  blood — 
insatiable  with  slaughter,  uncontrolled 
in  ambition,  and  regardless  of  the 
sacrifices  with  which  it  might  be  grati- 
fied. The  empire  of  Napoleon  was,  at 
least  in  part,  a  carrying  out  of  the 
programme  of  the  Directory,  and  the 
consummation  of  the  efforts  which 
France  had  originally  begun  to  resist 
intrusion.  When  that  empire  had  reached 
its  height,  it  was.  either  in  direct  govern- 
ment or  in  powerful  influence,  nearly 
coterminous  with  civilised  Europe,  with 
the  exception  of  Russia  and  England, 
who  remained  imsubdued.  Spain  and 
Portugal  were  under  France,  Belgium  and 
Holland  were  a  part  of  her  dominions,  the 
kingdom  of  Italy  reached  to  the  frontier 
of     Naples,     and    Naples    was     French. 

4779 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Switzerland  was  devoted  to  the  man  who 
had  given  her  a  good  government,  the 
Confederation  of  the  Rhine  inchided  the 
kingdom  of  Westphaha  as  well  as  the 
tributary  states  of  Saxony,  Bavaria, 
Wurtemberg,  and  Baden ;  Scandinavia 
listened  to  the  advice  of  the  Tuileries  ; 
Prussia  was  reduced  to  insignificance. 
The  Grand  Duchy  of  War- 
saw, a  French  creation,  lay  as 


The  Unstable 

Empire 

of  Napoleon 


a  buffer  state  between  Prussia 
and  Austria ;  and  Austria, 
having  given  an  empress  to  the  French 
throne,  was  in  a  position  in  which  her 
best  hope  of  influence  and  power  lay  in 
her  alliance  with  Napoleon,  a  position 
which  she  had  not  the  wisdom  to  realise. 

But  Napoleon's  empire  was  itself  in  a 
condition  of  instability.  What  form  it 
would  have  taken  if  he  had  continued  to 
reign,  we  do  not  know.  The  claims  of 
nationality  had  begun  to  assert  themselves 
before  his  fall — indeed,  they  had  been  to 
a  large  extent  the  cause  of  his  ruin  ;  and 
if  he  desired  to  rear  a  lasting  edifice  he 
must  have  found  a  way  of  reconciling 
them  with  his  scheme  of  a  European 
Empire.  He  wished  for  a  second  son, 
and  if  such  a  one  had  been  born  and 
grown  to  manhood,  or  at  least  to  ado- 
lescence, the  formation  of  a  united  Italy 
might  have  been  anticipated  by  many 
years.  But  his  empire,  constituted  as  it 
was,  was  certain  to  perish  at  his  fall,  and 
his  fall  came  sooner  than  was  expected. 

We  do  not  yet  completely  know  the 
causes  of  the  great  Russian  war,  and  we 
cannot  properly  apportion  the  blame  of 
it  between  the  emperor  and  the  tsar. 
He  believed  that  this  would  have  been  his 
last  enterprise,  his  last  war.  Russia  once 
brought  to  his  feet,  Europe  would  be  at 
peace.  But  he  miscalculated  the  difficulty 
of  the  task,  and  the  stohd  stubbornness 
of  Russian  resistance.  Fortune  turned 
against  him,  his  star  paled,  and  his  em- 
pire was  no  more.     It  is  a  mistake  to  sup- 

^.    ^      .     pose  that  he  could  have  made 
The  Fatal      ^  _        .   .  _         .. 

Error  of  the 

Hapsburgs 


peace  at  Frankfort  or  at  Chatil- 
lon;    the    terms    offered    him 


were  delusive,  and  were  in- 
tended to  be  so  by  Metternich.  Had 
Austria  obeyed  the  voice  of  honour  and 
of  interest  the  empire  might  have  been 
preserved,  but  by  deserting  these  funda- 
mental principles,  the  empire  of  the 
Hapsburgs,  which  has  made  so  many 
mistakes,  committed  a  last  fatal  error, 
which  it  has  since  most  bitterly  expiated. 

4780 


The  Congress  of  Vienna  endeavoured  to 
repair  the  shattered  fabric,  but  the  un- 
prejudiced observer  will  not  credit  the 
diplomatists  of  that  assembly  with 
much  wisdom  or  with  much    prescience. 

Ignorant  of,  or  ignoring,  the  principle  of 
nationality,  which  has  since  governed  the 
world  with  a  dominating  force,  they  were 
led  by  Talleyrand  to  adopt  the  principle 
of  legitimacy,  which  they  had  not  the 
courage  to  follow  out  when  it  became  a 
question  of  punishing  Napoleon's  friends 
or  rewarding  his  enemies.  Consequently, 
many  arrangements  of  Vienna  have  been 
upset.  Belgium  has  been  divorced  from 
Holland,  Norway  from  Sweden,  Prussia 
has  united  its  severed  territories  and 
secured  the  headship  of  Germany.  Italy 
has  consolidated  herself  at  the  expense 
of  the  provinces  and  the  prestige  of 
Austria  ;  and  Turkey  has  lost,  one  after 
another,  the  dominions  which  it  was  a 
disgrace  to  civilisation  that  she  should 
have  held  at  all. 

The  change  from  the  Restoration  which 
succeeded   the   fall   of   Napoleon   to   the 
conditions  of  the  present  day  is  divided 
.   ,      into  certain  well-defined  epochs 
ritain  s     j^g^j-j^g(j  by  periods  of  disturb- 
Electoral  -^    ^  ,    .•  tu 

_  ,  ,.  ance,  wars,  or  revolutions,  ihe 
Revolution  •     i  1     ^  o  jo 

period  betv/een  1820  and  1830 

is  one  of  disheartening  reaction,  controlled 
by  a  desire  to  suppress  everything  which 
could  remind  the  world  of  the  principles 
of  1789,  and  to  undo  everything  which 
the  administrative  ability  of  the  great 
emperor  had  accomplished.  This  led  to 
the  Revolution  of  July,  accompanied 
by  other  disturbances  in  Europe,  and 
indirectly  to  the  emancipation  of  the 
Catholics  in  England  and  the  Reform  Bill 
of  1832.  It  is  characteristic  of  our  country 
that  the  only  revolution  which  we  have 
experienced  since  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  has  been  an  alteration  in 
our  electoral  system,  a  change  quite  as  im- 
portant as,  and  more  permanent  than,  any 
which  has  taken  place  in  any  other  country. 
After  1830  the  democratic  strivings  of 
the  nations  of  the  Continent  were  either 
suppressed  or  appeased,  but  the  fire 
broke  out  with  greater  intensity  in  1848, 
when  a  series  of  revolutions  either  shook 
or  shattered  every  throne  in  Europe  but 
our  own.  Then  followed  a  series  of 
wars — the  Crimean  war  of  1854,  the 
Italian  war  of  1859,  ^^^^  Danish  war 
of  1863,  the  Austrian  war  of  1866,  and 
the  Franco-Prussian  war  of  1870.     Since 


THE  RE  -  MAKING  OF  EUROPE  :  GENERAL  SURVEY 


1870  Europe  has  been  at  peace,  and  the 
severance  of  Norway  from  Sweden  and 
the  final  consohdation  of  Italy  have  been 
brought  about  without  an  actual  conflict. 
Belgium  is  no  longer  the  cockpit  of 
Europe— that  has  to  be  sought  further 
afield.  Rivalries  which  have  a  European 
side  to  them  are  fought  out  in  Asia  and 
in  Africa,  and  we  dread  the  time  when 
the  horrors  of  war  may  possibly  be  brought 
within  our  own  experience. 

Yet  progress,  in  which  international 
jealousies  must  have  a  part,  still  goes  on, 
and  war,  if  averted,  is  often  threatened. 
The  world  knows  of  many  mortal  struggles 
which  have  never  taken  place,  but  which 
have  been  regarded  as  inevitable  by  well- 
informed  and  responsible  statesmen.  At 
one  time  we  were  certain  to  have  a  war 
with  Russia,  at  another  time  with  France, 
at  another  time  with  America,  and  a  final 
war  with  Germany  is  looked  upon  by  so 
many  as  the  doom  of  fate  that  they 
think  it  useless  to  discuss  its  probability 
or  even  to  take  means  to  avert  it.  If  the 
possibility  of  these  catastrophes  is  known 
to  the  public  at  large,  how  many  are  in 
the  cognisance  of  Ministers  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  secrets 
of  foreign  affairs  ?  Happily, 
the  past  is  quite  sufficient  to 
occupy  the  historian,  without  troubling 
too  much  about  the  future. 

Let  us  consider  separately  the  effect  of 
each  of  these  crises  on  the  course  of 
European  politics.  The  Revolution  of 
July  in  Paris  had  broken  out  as  a  quarrel 
between  the  people  and  the  king;  it  ended 
by  establishing  the  authority  of  the 
people.  The  royal  title  was  changed  from 
King  of  France  to  King  of  the  French. 
The  Charter  was  a  Bill  of  Rights  on  the 
English  model,  dear  to  the  heart  of  Guizot. 
It  fixed  the  limits  within  which  the  people 
were  willing  to  accept  the  government  of 
a  king.  It  was  a  decided  advance  towards 
democracy.  The  new  constitution  which 
followed  the  Revolution  in  Belgium  was 
framed  on  similar  lines,  and  in  the  spirit 
of  the  English  Revolution  of  1688. 

It  laid  down  the  principle  that  all  power 
emanated  from  the  people,  and  that  the 
king  possessed  no  authority  beyond  that 
given  him  by  the  constitution.  He 
could  do  no  executive  act  except  through 
the  Ministers,  and  they  were  responsible 
to  the  Chambers.  If  the  Ministers  failed 
to  command  a  majority  in  Parliament, 
it  was  their  duty  to  retire.     The  English 


French 
Revolution 
of  1850 


colour   of   these    arrangements   seems   to 

have  suited  the  character  of  the  Belgian 

people  and  the  temper  of  the  king. 

The    Revolution    of    July    produced    a 

powerful    effect    upon    Switzerland,    and 

inaugurated  what  is  called  the  Period  of 

Regeneration.     It    began   with    a   move- 

rhent  to  reform  the  constitutions  of  some 

_    .       .     ..of   the  cantons,  in  order  to 

Switzerland  s      •  1  -4.1  „ 

.  give  a  share  m  the  govern- 

n^""  °    °  ,.       ment  to  classes  who  did  not 

Regeneration  •.        'ni        t>  t.  r 

possess  it.  The  torest  Can- 
tons, the  ancient  heart  of  Switzerland, 
remained  passive,  but  the  population  of 
the  others  bombarded  their  Governments 
with  petitions  for  reform,  and  reform  was 
speedily  accorded.  Ziirich  was  the  leader 
of  the  movement.  The  programme  of  the 
radical  party  was  sovereignty  of  the 
people,  universal  suffrage,  direct  election, 
freedom  of  the  Press,  of  petition,  of 
religious  belief,  and  of  industry. 

The  movement  was  essentially  demo- 
cratic, and  the  struggle  became  so  severe 
that  the  Federal  Government  had  to  inter- 
vene. The  Canton  of  Basle  was  separated 
into  two  half  cantons,  Basle  Town  and 
Basle  Country.  Seven  cantons  formed 
a  separate  confederation,  and  a  counter 
league  was  organised  to  oppose  it.  The 
conflict,  embittered  by  the  presence  of 
refugees  from  other  disturbed  countries, 
lasted  till  the  convulsions  of  1848. 

In  Spain  and  Portugal  the  struggle 
between  the  Constitutionals  and  the 
Absolutists  was  complicated  by  a  dis- 
puted succession.  In  the  first  country, 
Isabella  was  the  watchword  of  the  Liberals, 
Don  Carlos  of  the  reactionaries,  their 
place  being  taken  in  Portugal  by  Maria 
da  Gloria  and  Don  Miguel.  In  Italy  the 
agitation  was  more  serious.  It  seized 
upon  the  states  which  had  not  been  affected 
by  the  previous  movements  of  1820. 
At  Rome  the  death  of  Pius  VIII.  gave  the 
signal.  Louis  Napoleon  took  part  in  the 
plot   to  make    his   uncle,    Jerome,    King 

of  Italy.  In  the  Romagna  and 
Italy  in  ^j^^  Marches  provisional  govern- 
a  State  of  ^^^^^^^  ^^^  national  guards  were 

the  order  of  the  day.  Govern- 
ments of  this  kind,  with  a  dictator 
at  their  head,  were  formed  in  Parma  and 
in  Modena.  But  the  movement  came 
to  nothing.  Louis  Philippe  would  not 
help,  and  Metternich  was  at  hand  with  his 
Austrian  army.  With  their  assistance  he 
brought  back  the  Duke  of  Modena,  and 
pacified  the  States  of  the  Church.     But 

4781 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  "  Young  Italy  "  of  Mazzini  was  born 
in  the  conflict,  a  secret  society  devoted  to 
the  realisation  of  the  unity  of  Italy  under 
the  form  of  a  republic.   Eventually  the  first 
object  was  attained,  but  the  second  was  not. 
A  similar  impulse  animated  the  Liberals 
of  Germany,  who  had  long  been  discon- 
tented with  the  policy  of  the  Holy  Alliance. 
The  War  of    Liberation  had 
o  an    s    o     onlvsubiected  them  to  a  worse 

Stand  for  j  j 


Independence 


despotism  than  that  of  Napo- 
leon. Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel, 
Saxony,  and  Hanover  obtained  constitu- 
tions ;  in  Bavaria  and  Baden  men  of 
enlightened  minds  were  allowed  to  express 
themselves  more  freely.  A  stronger  move- 
ment took  place  in  Poland,  then  divided 
between  two  parties,  the  Whites  and  the 
Reds.  The  Whites  were  composed  of  the 
large  proprietors,  the  higher  officials,  and 
the  clergy.  Provided  that  Poland  was 
suffered  to  retain  a  nominal  independence, 
they  were  content  to  wait  for  constitutional 
reforms.  The  Reds  were  patriots  and  demo- 
crats, but  they  were  violent  and  impatient. 
In  the  last  month  of  1830,  when  the 
emperor  had  mobilised  the  Polish  army  in 
order  to  suppress  the  revolution  in  France 
and  Belgium,  the  national  troops  turned 
against  their  oppressors.  The  students  of 
the  Military  College  seized  the  palace  at 
Warsaw,  and  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine 
fled  for  his  life.  The  Romanoff  dynasty 
was  deposed,  and  the  union  of  Poland  with 
Lithuania  was  proclaimed.  Britain  and 
France  were  sympathetic,  but  refused  to 
give  active  assistance  ;  the  Polish  army 
was  crushed  by  superior  numbers,  and  a 
military  dictator  was  set  up.  The  end  of 
Poland  had  arrived.  In  1835  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  told  the  Poles  plainly  that  unless 
they  gave  up  the  dream  of  a  separate 
independent  nationality  the  guns  of  the 
newly  built  citadel  should  lay  Warsaw  in 
ruins.  We  see,  therefore,  that  the  Rev'olu- 
tion  of  July  had  made  a  great  breach  in 
the  system  established  by  the  Congress 
p  of     Vienna.      The     Bourbons, 

°  *  '*^*  .     who  based  their  title   on   the 

Changes  m         ••    i  j-    i       •.  • 

g  .    f  prmciples  of  legitimacy,  w^ere 

succeeded  by  a  king  of  the 
barricades,  professing  the  doctrines  of  1789, 
and  waving  its  flag.  The  British  Constitu- 
tion remained  unshaken,  but  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1832  brought  about  a  revolution 
in  the  balance  of  political  power  not  less 
momentous  than  the  others,  because  it  was 
pacific,  and  destined  to  produce  results  not 
less  important  although  slow  in  coming. 
4782 


Eighteen  years  later  the  Revolution  broke 
out  with  greaten  violence,  and  spread  with 
the  rapidity  of  a  plague.  It  began  in 
Switzerland  in  1847,  showed  itself  in  Sicily 
in  January,  1848,  and  overthrew  the  throne 
of  Louis  Philippe  in  France  in  February 
of  the  same  year.  The  fall  of  monarchy  in 
France  gave  the  signal  for  disturbances 
throughout  Europe.  England,  the  Iberian 
Peninsula,  Sweden,  Norway  and  Russia 
alone  escaped.  In  Holland,  Belgium  and 
Denmark  it  ran  a  comparatively  mild 
course.  The  symptoms  were  more  severe 
in  Austria,  Prussia,  Germany,  and  Central 
Italy  ;  it  led  to  bloodshed  in  Northern 
Italy,  Schleswig-Holstein,  and  Hungary. 

The  outbreak  in  Switzerland  was  the 
result  of  a  conflict  which  had  been  smoul- 
dering for  many  years.  It  was  caused  by 
two  movements,  one  civil,  the  other 
religious  ;  one  an  effort  to  democratise 
the  constitution,  the  other  a  desire  to 
restrain  the  influence  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  The  Liberal  party  was 
divided  into  Moderates  and  Radicals,  but 
the  Moderates  gradually  lost  their  in- 
fluence. The  Radicals  were  strengthened 
and  stimulated  by  the  refugees 
.  ^°  "  ^°^  of  other  nationalities,  who  had 
e    .^      ,     .  found  an  asylum  in  Switzerland 

Switzerland      ,  ■,   ■      -^  ^       r    ^i     • 

when  driven  out  of  their  own 
countries.  The  Poles  organised  raids 
against  Neuchatel  and  Savoy  ;  Mazzini 
used  Switzerland  as  a  place  of  arms. 
Austria  and  Bavaria  demanded  the  extra- 
dition of  German  "  patriots,"  and  when  this 
was  refused,  broke  off  diplomatic  relations. 
France  insisted  upon  the  expulsion  of  the 
supposed  authors  of  the  conspiracy  of 
Fieschi,  and  sealed  their  frontiers  against 
the  passage  of  the  stubborn  Switzers. 

A  few  years  later  they  asked  for  the 
surrender  of  Louis  Napoleon,  who  had  his 
home  at  Arenenberg.  The  Catholics  based 
their  hopes  on  the  peasants,  and  posed  as 
the  supporters  of  democracy.  In  Schytz 
the  two  parties  of  "  Horns  "  and  "  Hoofs  " 
came  to  blows  over  the  use  of  the  public 
pastures  ;  in  Canton  Ticino,  the  Radicals 
won  by  force  of  arms  ;  in  the  V' alley  of  the 
Rhone  the  Upper  and  Lower  districts  were 
in  hopeless  disorder.  The  Puritans  of 
Zurich  drove  Strauss,  the  author  of  the 
"  Life  of  Jesus,"  from  his  professorial 
chair.  The  Jesuits  succeeded  in  founding 
Catholic  Colleges  at  Schytz,  Freiburg,  and 
Lucerne.  Argau  answered  this  challenge 
by  suppressing  eight  convents,  and  de- 
manding the  expulsion  of  the  Order.    The 


THE  RE  -  MAKING  OF  EUROPE  :  GENERAL  SURVEY 


result  of  this  prolonged  tension  was  a  civil 
war.  In  1845  the  seven  Catholic  cantons 
formed  a  "  sonderbund,"  a  separate 
league,  which  the  government  deter- 
mined to  svippress  by  force,  and  in  three 
weeks  General  Dufour  effected  this  object. 
The  Radicals  were  victorious,  the  Jesuits 
were  expelled,  and  civil  war  was  averted. 
The  result  of  this  struggle  was  the  forma- 
tion of  a  new  constitution,  by  which 
Switzerland,  from  being  a  statenbund — a 
confederation  of  states — became  a  federal 
state — a  bundesstat.  A  new  nation  came 
to  life  in  Europe. 

The  French  Revolution  of  1848  was 
equally  a  surprise  for  the  victors  and  the 
vanquished.  It  raged  for  two  days,  the 
first  of  which  witnessed  a  revolt  of  the 
reformers  against  Guizot,  the  second  a 
revolution  of  the  Republicans  against  the 
monarchy.  At  10  a.m.  on  February  24th, 
the  Palais  Royal  was  captured  ;  at  4.30 
p.m.  the  throne  was  destroyed  in  the 
Tuileries,  and  shortly  afterwards  the 
Republic  was  proclaimed  at  the  Hotel  de 
Ville.  The  result  of  this  was  a  democratic 
movement  throughout  Europe.  In  Holland 
the  personal  government  of 

_*  ^ '"  .  ^  the  king  was  changed  into  a 
Revolt  against  .  ..     .•         1  ^  ■ 

.        .  constitutional  monarchy ;  in 

Belgium    the   Liberals   were 

confirmed    in    power ;    in    Denmark    the 

accession    of    a   new   king   presented    an 

opportunity  for  substituting  a  constitution 

for  absolutism  and  for  setting  the  Press  free. 

Italy  was  shaken  from  Monte  Rosa  to 
Cape  Passaro.  The  movement  began  in 
Sicily,  where  for  a  fortnight  in  January 
the  insurgents  fought  against  the  Royal 
troops,  demanding  the  constitution  of 
1812.  At  Naples,  Ferdinand  accorded  a 
constitution  based  upon  the  French 
Charte,  and  appointed  a  Carbonaro  as 
Prime  Minister.  At  Turin,  Charles  Albert 
promulgated  a  constitution,  which,  in 
all  the  storm  of  conflict,  has  never 
been  abrogated,  and  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany  did  the  same. 

At  Rome,  Pio  Nono  nominated  three 
lay  Ministers,  but  the  supreme  power 
remained  with  the  College  of  Cardinals. 
The  passionate  desire  of  the  Italians  was  to 
shake  off  the  hated  domination  of  Austria. 
They  shouted,  in  the  words  of  the 
"Garibaldi  hymn":  "  Va  fuori  d'ltalia, 
va  fuori  o  Stranier  !  "  [From  Italy  from 
sea  to  snow,  let  the  hated  stranger  go  !  ] 
For  this  the  revolution  in  Vienna  gave  an 
opportunity.     Here  the  storm    broke    in 


March,  the  direct  consequence  of  the 
French  Revolution  of  February.  The 
desires  of  the  people  were  voiced  by  book- 
sellers, students,  and  Liberal  clubs  ;  they 
demanded  liberty  of  religion,  of  teaching, 
of  speech,  and  of  writing,  and  a  budget 
controlled  by  a  representative  govern- 
ment. Their  cry  was  :  "  Down  with 
Metternich !     Down   with    the 

/c?  ^  ,    soldiery!"  and  Metternich  was 
of  St.  Mark    j-        -        j       i-,  n     ^ 

.    ,,    .         dismissed.     The  emperor    fled 
m  Venice        .        ,  1        t-        1  j    ii         a      1 

to  the  lyrol,  and  the  Arch- 
duke John,  the  darling  of  the  people,  took 
his  place.  A  Constituent  Assembly  met 
at  Vienna  in  July.  In  Hungary,  a  country 
better  suited  for  self-government,  the 
change  took  a  more  solid  shape.  The  seat  of 
Parliament  was  transferred  from  Pressburg 
to  Budapest.  It  issued  a  coinage,  and 
formed  an  army  under  the  Hungarian  tri- 
colour. Austria  was  compelled  to  weaken 
her  garrisons  in  Italy  in  order  to  subdue 
her  revolted  provinces  north  of  the  Alps. 
In  March,  Milan  rose,  and  Radetsky 
retired  within  the  Quadrilateral.  Modena 
and  Parma  were  left  to  themselves,  and 
obtained  constitutions.  Cavour  called  the 
Piedmontese  to  arms ;  Tuscany,  Rome  and 
Naples  sent  their  troops  to  join  their 
brethren  of  the  North.  In  Venice, 
Daniele  Manin,  like-named  but  not  like- 
minded  with  the  last  Doge,  awakened  to 
life  a  Republic  of  St.  Mark.  A  revolution 
was  organised,  at  once  Liberal,  monarch- 
ical, and  national,  under  the  three  colours 
of  the  Italian  flag,  the  emblems  of  passion, 
purity,  and  hope. 

The  dream  of  liberty  was  short  lived. 
It  vanished  before  the  approach  of  foreign 
armies.  The  Austrians  defeated  the  Sar- 
dinians at  Custozza,  and  reconquered  the 
whole  of  Lombardy.  A  still  more  fatal 
blow  fell  at  Novara,  where  Charles  Albert 
was  routed  in  March,  1849,  ^^'^  abdicated 
in  consequence.  The  crown  came  to  his 
son,  Victor  Emmanuel,  who  afterwards 
became  the   first  monarch    of    a    united 

Italy.     Venice  fell,  after  a  long 

siege,  in  August  of   the  same 
Modena    and    Parma, 

who  had  joined  themselves  to 
Piedmont,  were  occupied  by  Austria,  and 
their  ducal  governments  were  restored. 
Tuscany  suffered  the  same  fate,  and  the 
Grand  Duke  was  compelled  by  the  Aus- 
trian army  of  occupation  to  abrogate  the 
constitution  of  1848,  so  that  his  country 
became  less  free  than  it  was  before  the 
revolution.         Four    Catholic     Powers — 

4783 


The  Siege 

and  Fall 

of  Venice       •' 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


France,  Spain,  Austria,  and  Naples — 
offered  their  assistance  to  the  Pope,  but 
the  main  burden  of  recovering  the  Holy 
City  fell  upon  France.  Rome,  defended 
by  Mazzini  and  Garibaldi,  was  captured 
in  June,  1849  ;  the  Cardinals  came  into 
power  with  Antonelli  at  their  head.  The 
tricolour  was  surrendered.  Italy  was 
c  ,•     again    spht     into     fragments, 

ta  y  pit  (jgpgndent  upon  foreign  force. 
P  °  Sardinia     alone     remained     a 

ragmeo  s    g^^.^^    ^^    liberty    and    hope. 

In  Austria,  the  champion  of  reaction,  the 
war  of  nationalities,  which  has  always  been 
to  her  a  danger,  now  proved  her  salvation. 

A  Panslavic  Congress  had  been  sum- 
moned at  Prague,  which  was  attended 
not  only  by  Bohemians,  Moravians,  and 
Silesians,  but  by  Russians,  Poles,  and 
Servians.  But  the  Croatians  turned 
against  the  Magyars,  and  the  South  Slavs 
against  their  brethren  of  the  North. 
Prague  was  bombarded  and  Bohemia 
conquered ;  the  Croats  marched  upon 
Budapest.  The  emperor,  who  had  fled 
from  his  capital  and  sought  refuge  in 
Moravia,  made  a  common  war  against  the 
German  democrats  and  the  Hungarian 
rebels,  who  had  chosen  Kossuth  as  their 
leader.  Croats  attacked  Vienna  from  the 
east,  Bohemians  from  the  north.  After  a 
short  struggle  they  were  victorious  ;  the 
Hungarians,  who  had  come  to  the  assist- 
ance of  the  friends  of  liberty,  were  repulsed 
and  an  absolute  government  was  restored. 
Hungary  held  out  a  little  longer. 

A  Hungarian  Republic  was  established, 
with  Kossuth  as  President.  But  the  Rus- 
sians declared  themselves  the  enemies  of 
revolution,  and  Nicholas  came  to  the  aid  of 
his  brother  emperor.  An  army  80,000  strong 
entered  the  country  from  the  Carpathians. 
The  Magyars  capitulated  at  Vilagos,  pre- 
ferring to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
Russians  rather  than  into  those  of  their 
ancient  tyrants.  Kossuth,  after  burying 
the  Hungarian  crown,  sought  refuge  in 
_  _  .  Turkey.  Metternich  was  again 
_  .  .'^  master,  and  the  last  state  of 
^j  jj  the    rebellious    provinces   was 

"^^''^  worse  than  the  first.  Prussia 
also  had  her  "  days  of  March,"  but  here 
the  middle-classes  stood  aloof,  and  the 
Liberals  were  left  to  fight  out  their  battle 
against  the  army. 

The  chief  object  of  their  attack  was  the 
Prince  of  Prussia,  brother  of  the  king,  who 
was  destined  at  a  later  period  to  be  the 
first  Emperor  of  Germany.     The  king  at 

4784 


first  tried  to  temporise.  He  promised  a 
constitution,  withdrew  his  troops,  and 
sent  the  Prince  of  Prussia  to  England.  He 
adopted  the  German  tricolour,  threw  him- 
self upon  the  affection  of  his  Prussians, 
and  invoked  the  confidence  of  Germany. 
He  granted  a  written  constitution  and  a 
National  Assembly  elected  by  universal 
suffrage.  But  he  soon  discovered  his  mis- 
take, and  was  obliged  to  follow  the  example 
of  Austria.  The  army  re-entered  the  capital, 
took  possession  of  the  Parliament  build- 
ings, dissolved  the  National  Guard,  and 
soon  afterwards  dispersed  the  Assembly. 
Absolute  government  was  restored,  veiled 
under  the  forms  of  a  constitution. 

The  Provisional  Government  in  France, 
which  succeeded  the  Orleans  monarchy, 
was  formed  by  a  coalition,  and  therefore 
contained  within  itself  the  seeds  of 
dissolution.  One  party  aimed  at  the 
establishment  of  a  democratic  republic 
based  on  universal  suffrage,  the  other 
desired  a  democratic  and  social  republic, 
the  chief  object  of  which  should  be  the 
elevation  of  the  working  classes.  The 
tricolour  of  1789  was  opposed  by  the  red 
flag  of  Louis  Blanc.  The  battle 
•  Vk  St**"  raged  round  the  organisation 
'"f  P^  •  "^  ^  °^  labour  and  the  establish- 
ment of  national  workshops. 
However,  the  Socialists  had  opposed  to 
them  the  whole  of  France  and  half  the 
capital,  and  they  were  unable  to  hold 
their  own.  A  civil  war  broke  out  in  the 
streets  of  Paris,  and  three  days'  fighting 
was  required  for  the  capture  of  the 
suburb  of  St.  Antoine  by  General  Cavaig- 
nac.  The  Socialist  prisoners  were  shot 
or  transported  and  their  newspapers  were 
suppressed.  Eventually  a  constitution 
was  agreed  'upon,  which  established  a 
single  chamber,  a  president  holding  office 
for  four  years,  and  a  Council  of  State. 

The  president  was  to  be  chosen  by 
universal  suffrage,  and  the  election  took 
place  on  December  loth,  1848.  Ledru 
Rollin  was  the  candidate  of  the  Socialists, 
Cavaignac  of  the  Democrats,  but  both 
had  to  give  way  to  Louis  Napoleon,  the 
inheritor  of  a  mighty  name,  who  was 
chosen  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 
This  election  could  have  no  other  result 
than  the  establishment  of  a  monarchy. 
The  coup  d'etat  of  December  2nd,  1851, 
dissolved  the  Assembly,  and  arrested  the 
leaders  of  the  Republican  party.  Follow- 
ing the  example  of  his  uncle,  Louis 
Napoleon  was   first    made   president    for 


THE    RE  -  MAKING    OF    EUROPE  :    GENERAL    SURVEY 


ten  years,  and  shortly  afterwards  Emperor. 
The  plebiscite  accepting  him  as  Emperor 
of  the  French  was  taken  four  years,  to  a 
day,  after  he  had  been  elected  president. 
By  the  events  we  have  described 
absolute  government  was  established  over 
the  whole  of  Europe,  excepting  Switzer- 
land and  the  countries  which  had  not 
been  affected  by  the  revolutions  of  1848. 
However,  France  preserved  her  principle 
of  universal  suffrage,  Prussia  and  Sardinia 
their  constitutions,  with  the  fixed  resolve 
of  achieving  the  unity  of  Germany  and  of 
Italy,  founded  on  the  principle  of  nation- 
ality, which  had  been  ignored  by  the 
Congress  of  Vie'nna.  We  now  pass  from  the 
epoch  of. revolutions  to  the  epoch  of  war. 
The  Crimean  War  of  1854  belongs  to 
those  events  of  history  of  which  we  do 
not  precisely  know  the  cause.  There  are 
probably  few  Englishmen  who  feel  satisfied 
with  their  country's  share  in  it,  or  who 
support  it  as  an  act  of  political  wisdom. 
There  are  few,  also,  who  would  deny  that 
we  were  led  into  it  by  the  Emperor  of 
the  French.  Louis  Napoleon  came  to  the 
throne  of  France  pledged  by  conviction 
and  by  honour  to  effect  the 
liberation  of  Italy  from  the 
Austrian  yoke.  This  could  not 
be  done  without  war,  and 
although  France  was  strong  enough  to 
meet  Austria  in  the  field,  she  could  not 
contend  against  Austria  and  Russia  united. 
It  therefore  became  necessary  to  weaken 
Russia  before  such  a  war  could  be  under- 
taken, and  the  question  of  the  Holy  Places 
was  seized  upon  with  great  adroitness  as 
a  colourable  pretext  for  a  war  with  Russia. 
Britain  was  easily,  too  easily,  stirred 
to  defend  Turkey  against  aggression 
and  dismemberment,  and  thus  a  conflict 
was  begun  of  which  we  have  little  reason 
to  be  proud.  Russia  was  prepared  to 
meet  an  attack  in  the  Baltic,  in  Poland, 
or  on  the  Danube,  but  the  Crimea  was 
only  feebly  garrisoned.  Still,  Sebastopol 
held  out,  and  the  resources  of  the  allies 
were  strained  to  the  utmost.  A  winter 
campaign  became  necessary  in  a  desert 
country,  subject  to  intense  cold.  The 
British  lost  half  their  troops,  and  no 
assistance  came  from  Austria  or  Prussia. 

In  the  spring  of  1855  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  died,  and  the  war  no  longer  had  a 
motive.  However,  it  continued  under  his 
successor,  and  Sebastopol  did  not  fall  until 
six  months  afterwards.  Napoleon  was 
ready  to  make  peace,  although  Palmerston 


The 

Crimean 

War 


wished  to  go  on  fighting,  and  a  treaty  was 
eventually  concluded  at  the  Congress  of 
Paris.  Turkey  lost  the  Danubian  pro- 
vinces, but  the  integrity  of  her  empire  was 
guaranteed,  while  she  promised  reforms 
of  administration  which  were  never  carried 
into  effect.  The  navigation  of  the  Danube 
was    declared    free,    and    the    Black    Sea 

^  neutral.     Cavour    had    been 

Consequences     ,  \      a.        •    ■        .1 

f  tK  clever    enough    to    jom    the 

^  .  ,„      alliance,    although    Sardinia 

Crimean  War  ,       ,  ■     .  .    ",. 

had  no  mterest,  du-ect  or  m- 
direct,  in  the  questions  in  dispute.  This 
gave  him  a  right  to  take  part  in  the 
congress,  and  the  liberation  of  Italy 
entered  for  the  first  time  into  the  domain 
of  practical  politics.  The  war  undoubt- 
edly raised  the  prestige  of  the  French 
Emperor,  and  gave  him  a  commanding 
position  in  European  affairs.  It  called 
Roumania  into  existence,  and  it  recognised 
the  claims  of  nationality  in  Italy.  It  was 
another  blow  to  the  principles  of  the 
Congress  of  Vienna,  and  it  weakened  the 
influence  of  Austria. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  narrative  that 
the  Crimean  War  led  directly  to  the 
Italian  War  of  1859.  By  adroit  diplo- 
macy Austria  was  induced  to  invade 
Sardinian  territory,  and  the  armies  of 
France  crossed  the  Alps  to  defend  her. 
The  two  allied  armies  were  able  to  con- 
centrate at  Alessandria  before  they  could 
be  attacked  in  detail.  The  Fattle  of 
Magenta,  having  been  lost  in  the  morning, 
was  won  in  the  afternoon,  MacMahon 
playing  the  part  of  Desaix  at  Marengo. 

The  Austrians  evacuated  Lombardy 
and  retired  into  the  Quadrilateral  to 
defend  Venetia.  After  a  hard  struggle 
the  Austrians  were  again  defeated  at  Sol- 
ferino,  but  the  bloodshed  had  so  unnerved 
the  emperor,  and  the  quarrels  between  his 
marshals  had  so  disgusted  him,  that  he 
broke  his  promise  of  setting  Italy  free  to 
the  Adriatic,  and  made  a  peace  which 
secured  only  Lombardy  to  Sardinia.  He 
received  in  exchange  Savoy 
The  Damaged  and  Nice,  but  this  second  war 
Prestige  of  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^  ^^  j^^^  prestige  as 
Louis  Napoleon  ^j^^  first  had  been  favour- 
able. Italy  alone  profited  by  the  result. 
Parma,  Modena,  and  Tuscany  drove  out 
their  dukes  ;  Romagna  set  herself  free 
from  the  Pope  ;  provisional  governments 
were  established  in  these  provinces,  ready 
for  incorporation  with  the  kingdom  of 
the  House  of  Savoy.  Cavour,  who  had 
resigned   after  the  Peace  of  V'illafranca. 

4785 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


again  became  Prime  Minister.  The  spell  of 
Austrian  domination  was  broken,  and  the 
establishment  of  an  Italian  kingdom,  so 
long  the  dream  of  poets  and  patriots, 
became  only  a  question  of  time. 

The  scene  of  our  drama  shifts  to  another 
quarter.  What  Cavour  had  done  for  Italy 
Bismarck  was  to' do  for  Germany.  The 
.  rivalry  between  Austria  and 
Fatar"*  ^  Prussia  for  the  leading  position 
_^  *  in  Germany,  and  for   the   in- 

heritance of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire  had  been  active  ever  since  the 
Congress  of  Vienna.  The  policy  of  Napo- 
leon would  have  annihilated  Prussia  and 
strengthened  Austria,  but  Metternich  com- 
mitted the  fatal  blunder  of  joining  the 
coalition  of  which  the  profits  were  to  come 
to  his  rival  instead  of  himself. 

There  was  a  time  when  Hanover  might 
have  disputed  with  Prussia  the  first  place 
in  a  Teutonic  Empire,  but  it  was  im- 
possible that  such  a  position  could  be  held 
by  a  King  of  England,  and  the  sovereignty 
of  the  British  Isles  was  regarded  as  more 
valuable  than  the  chances  of  a  Continental 
crown.  The  share  which  Prussia  had 
taken  in  the  Waterloo  campaign  rendered 
her  reward  certain,  and  the  world  was 
disposed  to  favour  Protestant  progress 
rather  than  Catholic  stagnation. 

Still,  it  is  doubtful  if  Prussia  would 
have  gained  the  position  which  was  the 
object  of  her  desires  unless  Bismarck 
had  been  in  her  service,  who,  with  a 
mixture  of  statesmanship  and  craft,  of 
courage  and  audacity,  half  untied  and  half 
cut  the  Gordian  knot  of  the  situation.  The 
Danish  War  of  1864  would  probably  never 
have  taken  place  unless  Bismarck  had 
conveyed  to  the  Danes  the  false  assurance, 
based  probably  upon  an  intercepted 
dispatch,  that  she  was  certain  to  receive 
the  support  of  Britain.  The  defeat  of 
Denmark  was  speedy  and  inevitable,  and 
the  arrangements  made  by  the  Peace  of 
Vienna  ceded  the  duchies  of  Schleswig 
.  and  Holstein   to   Austria   and 

th^^p  °"^  °  Prussia  under  conditions  which 
J.  y..  madeafuturequarrelinevitable. 

The  Schleswig-Holstein  diffi- 
culty rose  in  great  measure  from  the  fact 
that  whereas  Holstein  was  almost  entirely 
German — and,  indeed,  claimed  to  be  a  part 
of  the  old  German  Empire — Schleswig  was 
more  than  half  Danish,  and  yet  the  two 
duchies  were  united  by  a  permanent  bond 
which  national  feeling  declared  was  never 
to  be  broken.      "  Schleswig-Holstein   sea 

4786 


surrounded  "  was  the  text  of  their  patriotic 
hymn.  The  arrangements  for  the  joint 
occupation  of  the  provinces  by  the  two 
conflicting  rivals  provided  that  the  Ger- 
man province  should  be  occupied  by 
Austria ;  the  semi-Danish  by  Prussia. 
This  made  a  quarrel  certain.  The  Prus- 
sian governor  of  Schleswig  persecuted  the 
partisans  of  independence ;  the  Austrian 
governor  of  Holstein  encouraged  them. 
The  rupture  was  delayed  for  a  time  by  the 
Convention  of  Gastein,  but  it  came  at  last. 
In  order  to  attack  Austria  with  success 
it  was  necessary  that  Prussia  should  have 
Italy  on  her  side.  But  Italy  could  not 
act  without  the  consent  of  France,  and 
this  implied  the  approval  of  the  Emperor 
Napoleon.  At  the  interview  of  Biarritz,  in 
October,  1865,  Napoleon  agreed  to  support 
Prussia  against  Austria,  and  declared  him- 
self in  favour  of  the  unity  of  Italy,  if  some 
compensation  were  given  to  his  own  coun- 
try by  an  increase  of  territory.  He  desired 
to  tear  up  the  settlement  of  Vienna,  so 
hostile  to  Napoleonic  ideals.  Bismarck 
adroitly  encouraged  these  aspirations,  but 
took  care  not  to  commit  himself.  It  was 
found  difficult  to  overcome  the 
»^f  ]^^  ,    ,   distrust  which  the  Italians  felt 

Distrust  of     r        T-,-  1  T^,  ,  J    , 

_.  ,       for  Bismarck.      Ihey  hoped  to 

Bismarck  ,  ,    •      ^^         i^-  xu       x 

obtam  Venetia  without  a  war, 
possibly  by  ceding  the  newly-created 
Roumania  to  Austria.  Even  King  William 
was  averse  from  force,  and  Bismarck  stood 
alone,  supported  by  his  clear  insight  and 
his  iron  will.  At  last,  in  April,  1866,  an 
offensive  alliance  with  Italy  was  concluded 
for  three  months.  Italy  was  to  support 
Prussia  in  obtaining  the  hegemony  of 
Germany,  and  was  to  receive  Venetia  in 
return.  She  asked  for  Trieste,  but  it  was 
refused  to  her.  Napoleon  promised  to 
remain  neutral. 

In  June,  Prussia  declared  the  federative 
tie  which  bound  her  to  Austria  dissolved. 
But  she  found  herself  alone.  Bavaria, 
Wurtemberg,  Saxony,  and  Hanover,  to- 
gether with  Hesse-Nassau,  and  Baden, 
supported  Austria.  Prussia  had  to  rely 
upon  her  well- drilled  army  and  her 
admirable  arrangements  for  mobilisation. 
Napoleon  hoped  that  between  combatants 
so  equally  matched  the  war  would  be  of 
some  duration,  and  that,  when  both  were 
exhausted,  he  could  come  forw^ard  as 
a  mediator,  and  make  his  own  terms.  But 
these  hopes  were  shattered  by  the  rapidity 
of  the  Prussian  movements.  Before  the 
end  of  June   the   arm.y  of  Hanover  had 


THE  RE  -  MAKING  OF  EUROPE  :  GENERAL  SURVEY 


capitulated,  Saxony  was  occupied,  Bohemia 
invaded,  and  on  July  3rd  the  Battle  of 
Koniggratz,  won  largely  by  the  genius  of 
the  Crown  Prince  Frederic,  ended  the 
struggle,  and  the  way  lay  open  to  Vienna. 

At  the  same  time  the  Italians  were 
defeated  at  Custozza  by  a  force  inferior 
in  numbers,  but  this  did  not  prevent  the 
Austrians  having  to  surrender  Venetia  to 
Napoleon,  who  gave  it  to  the  Italians. 
The  southern  states  of  Germany  were 
incapable  of  effective  action.  They  were 
beaten  in  detail  ;  Frankfort  was  occupied, 
Austria  was  compelled  to  abandon  her 
allies,  who  had  no  alternative  but  to  make 
peace;  Prussia  became  the  undisputed 
head  of  the  German  confederation.  Europe 
was  dazed  and  bewildered  by  the  rapidity 
and  completeness  of  her  success. 

Napoleon  found  himself  deceived,  and 
every  step  which  he  took  to  recover  his 
position  led  to  new  disasters.  His  attempt 
to  gain  possession  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of 
Luxemburg  proved  a  failure.  He  looked 
about  in  vain  for  allies.  A  triple  alliance 
was  proposed  with  Austria  and  Italy,  but 
Austria  was  exhausted  and  dreaded  another 
war,  while  Italy  demanded 
the  withdi  awal  of  the  French 


The  Greatest 
War  of 
Modern  Times 


from  Rome.  Nothing  could 
be  obtained  beyond  general 
declarations  of  sympathy  and  friendship.  A 
proposition  made  in  the  beginning  of  1870 
for  a  mutual  disarmament  came  to  nothing. 
At  last,  at  a  moment  when  peace  seemed  to 
be  assured,  war  broke  out  with  the  sudden- 
ness of  an  earthquake.  The  clumsiness  of 
a  French  Minister  who,  not  satisfied  with 
a  material  victory,  demanded  a  humiliating 
declaration  from  the  Prussian  king,  the 
genius  of  Bismarck,  who  seized  an  un- 
equalled opportunity  for  precipitating  a 
conflict  which  he  regarded  as  inevitable, 
so  as  to  have  the  nation  and  the  sovereign 
on  his  side,  caused  the  greatest  war  of 
modern  times,  by  the  results  of  which 
Europe  is  still  dominated. 

War  was  declared  on  July  19th,  and  the 
emperor  left  for  the  front.  But  he  had  no 
illusion  as  to  the  result.  The  empress  who, 
stung  to  the  heart  by  the  taunts  of  Ger- 
many, had  stimulated  the  conflict,  was 
unable  to  inspire  him  with  hope.  He  left 
St.  Cloud,  accompanied  by  his  son,  as  a 
victim  led  to  the  slaughter,  and  the  final 
catastrophe  was  not  long  delayed.  The 
war  of  1870  was  more  than  a  local  conflict. 
It  must  be  reckoned  among  the  vital 
struggles  which    have    convulsed  Europe 


since  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  ;  a 
scene,  but  probably  not  a  closing  scene, 
in  the  secular  rivalry  between  the 
Roman  and  the  Teuton. 

It  was  said  at  the  time  that  Sedan 
avenged  Tagliacozzo,  that  the  French 
emperor  expiated  on  that  field  the  murder 
of  the  Hohenstauffen  Conradin  by  the 
^      ^.        -  brother  of  St.  Louis.    Regarded 

Creation  of    r  ■  -j.       <• 

,.    „  from  a  more  prosaic  pomt  of 

theU'rinan  •,  J^  ,,  \-,-  r 

„       .  view,   it   upset   the  politics  of 

™     "^^       Europe.      It  created  a  German 

Empire,   with   Prussia   at.  its   head,    and 

gave    that    country   a   preponderance   in 

Europe.      It  achieved  the  unity  of  Italy, 

and  destroyed  the  temporal  power  of  the 

Pope.     It  opened  the  question  of  the  East 

by  putting  an  end  to  the  neutrality  of  the 

Black   Sea.     It   established   in   France   a 

republican  government  which  seems  to  be 

durable,   and  it  transferred  that  neutral 

territory  between  Neustria  and  Austrasia- — 

which  appears  to  have  come  into  existence 

from   the    accident    of    Lewis   the    Pious 

having  three  sons  instead  of  two — ^from 

the   French    to   the    German  side  of  his 

dominions.      Whether    this    arrangement 

will  be  permanent  or  not,  none  can  say. 

It    produced    by    force    a    settlement   of 

Europe  very  different  to  those  which  were 

established    at    Miinster,    at    Utrecht,  or 

at    Vienna,    and  we   still    lie   under   the 

conditions  which  it  created. 

Nearly  forty  years  have  elapsed  since 
the  war  of  1870,  almost  as  long  a  period  as 
intervened  between  the  Battle  of  Waterloo 
and  the  Crimean  war.  Can  Europe  be  now 
declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  equilibrium,  or 
is  she  menaced  by  convulsions  similar  to 
those  which  we  have  sketched  ? 

Political  prophecy  is  always  dangerous  ; 
rarely  can  the  most  far-sighted  statesman 
foresee  what  is  going  to  happen.  The 
danger  long  dreaded  frequently  never 
comes,  and  the  catastrophe  arises  in  a 
season  of  complete  security.  Still,  if  we 
pass  the  map  of  Europe  in  review,  we  shall 
_.  _  ,  .  find  a  great  improvement 
The  Relations  ^-^^^  ^^^^  Congress  of  Vienna, 

of  France  ,  i:    r  ii     <-  ^  ,^ 

.  „  .,  .        and  we  may  believe  that  our 

and  Britain       ,  ,      -^  x    i     j         i    „ 

hopes  of  peaceiul  develop- 
ment for  Europsan  nations  rests  upon  a 
firmer  basis.  France  appears  to  be  firmly 
established  in  the  form  ot  a  republic,  and  is 
supported  by  the  friendship  of  the  British 
Empire.  Even  if  she  were  to  change  her 
government,  it  would  not  necessarily  pro- 
duce a  European  war.  Spain  is  recovering 
from  her  disasters  and  entering  upon  a  new 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


career  of  prosperity,  while  Portugal  will 
probably  follow  her  example.  Both 
monarchies  are,  however,  menaced  by  the 
presence  of  a  strong  republican  party,  which 
is  encouraged  by  the  presence  of  a  republic 
in  France.  The  two  most  momentous 
events  in  the  period  under  discussion  have 
been  the  creation  of  a  united  Germany 
and  a  united  Italy.  Both  of 
Changes  these  seem  likely  to  be  perma- 
"^  A  V.^^^^  nent.  The  divergence  between 
*  ^  the  feelings  and  interests  of 
Northern  and  Southern  Germany  has,  to  a 
large  extent,  disappeared,  and  the  friend- 
ship which  animates  them  has  become 
stronger  in  the  course  of  years.  It  was  the 
King  of  Bavaria  who  proposed,  in  the 
great  gallery  of  Versailles,  that  the  King 
of  Prussia  should  be  Emperor  of  Germany, 
and  in  doing  so  he  expressed  the  sentiments 
not  only  of  the  present,  but  of  the  future. 

No  one  who  was  acquainted  with  Italy 
in  the  days  before  Magenta  and  Solferino 
can  fail  to  recognise  the  change  which  has 
come  over  that  country.*  The  debt  in- 
curred in  extending  the  Italian  railways, 
in  piercing  the  Alps  and  the  Apennines, 
has  been  completely  justified,  and  the 
prei'^ience  of  those  who  brought  it  about 
has  been  proved  by  its  success.  There  is  a 
constant  movement  of  the  population 
between  south  and  north,  and  the 
National  Army  of  Italy  has  proved  not 
only  a  potent  instrument  of  education, 
but  a  means  of  creating  a  feeling  of 
nationality  for  which  the  provincialism  of 
earlier  days  left  no  scope.  It  has  even  had 
an  effect  upon  the  language  and  literature 
of  the  country.  Italian  has  now  sup- 
planted French  as  the  language  of  the 
higher  classes,  and  books  are  now  written 
in  Italian  which  in  old  days  would  have 
been  written  in  dialect. 

The  position  of  the  Pope  at  Rome  is 
still  a  cause  of  discord,  but  there  is  hope 
that  by  concessions  on  each  side  these 
differences  may  disappear.  As  we  move 
further     east,      the      outlook 


What  is 
the  Future 
of  Austria  ? 


becomes  less  favourable.    Who 
can  foretell  the  future  of  Austria 


or  of  Russia  ?  Austria,  an 
ill-assorted  congeries  of  discordant  nation- 
alities— Magyar  and  Czech,  Italian  and 
Slavonic — is  held  under  a  German  head 
by  the  force  of  old  traditions  and  the  fear 
of  a  civil  war,  wliich  might  be  caused  by  a 
disruption.  But  it  is  probable  that  even 
here  the  danger  may  be  averted,  and  at  the 
death  of  the  present  emperor  means  may  be 

4788 


found  of  reconciling  differences,  which 
appear  irreconcilable,  by  the  exercise  of 
political  common  sense,  and  of  a  patriotism 
which,  if  not  based  on  sentiment  and  affec- 
tion, may  at  least  be  founded  upon  interest. 
Russia,  the  unwieldy  giant,  a  huge 
territory  sparsely  peopled  by  discordant 
elements,  governed  from  an  artificially 
created  capital,  which  is  removed  every 
day  further  away  from  the  centre  of  gravity 
of  affairs,  as  the  frontiers  of  the  empire 
spread  further  to  the  east,  may,  perhaps, 
split  up  into  its  component  elements, 
Asiatic  and  European,  or,  by  a  wise 
extension  of  constitutional  government, 
may  continue  to  exist  for  a  considerable 
time.  Many  prophecies  of  its  fall  have 
been  shown  to  be  false,  and  those  who 
know  it  best  have  the  surest  confidence 
in  its  stability.  Turkey  must  always  remain 
an  apple  of  discord.  The  forces  which 
have,  during  a  long  course  of  years,  dis- 
membered its  territory  and  gradually 
liberated  suffering  provinces  from  its 
yoke  will  continue  to  be  active,  and,  when 
the  intelligence  of  Europe  has  leisure  to 
attend  to  it,  will  free  Constantinople  from 
her  servitude,  and  drive  the 


The  Startling 
Revolution  of 
the  Year  1908 


Ottoman    Turk    into    Asia ; 
unless,  indeed,  the  startling 


revolution  of  igo8  proves 
the  true  precursor  of  a  transformation  in 
his  character  and  methods  without  his- 
torical parallel.  Portions  of  the  world 
to  which  culture  owes  so  much,  which 
have  had  so  glorious  a  past,  which  gave  the 
world  so  much  of  Greek  literature,  philo- 
sophy and  eloquence,  which  were  the  first 
to  feel  the  awakening  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity, cannot  remain  for  ever  in  a 
condition  of  inglorious  slumber. 

Greece,  which  has  completely  justified  the 
enthusiasm  for  liberty  which  called  her  into 
existence,  will  receive  not  only  Crete, 
but  other  provinces  which  once  belonged 
to  her,  and  the  Bulgarians  will  enjoy  the 
reward  of  their  patient  industry  and  their 
solid  capacity  for  practical  affairs.  The 
world  has  seen  the  principles  of  territorial 
sovereignty,  of  the  balance  of  power,  of 
so-called  legitimacy,  which  so  long 
dominated  the  politics  of  Europe,  receive 
their  consecration  in  the  Congress  of 
Vienna.  It  has  seen  the  principle  of 
nationality,  unfortunately  ignored  in  the 
arrangements  of  that  congress,  create  a 
new  Germany  and  a  new  Italy,  and  work 
powerfully  among  the  Slavs,  still  subject 
to  the  domination  of  alien  masters. 


THE    RE-MAKING    OF    EUROPE:    GENERAL    SURVEY 


It  is  probable  that  the  principle  which  is 
destined  to  conciliate  divergent  interests, 
to  reconcile  rivalries,  and  to  establish 
the  government  of  Europe  upon  a  firm 
basis  of  stable  equilibrium,  is  the  principle 
of  federation,  a  mode  of  government  which 
is  possible  only  in  an  advanced  state  of 
civilisation,  and  is  certain  to  be  accepted 
in  proportion  as  civilisation  advances. 
Much  of  the  unrest  which  now  renders 
government  difficult  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  legislation  which  benefits  one  part  of 
a  country  is  harmful  to  another  part. 

Ireland  cannot  be  governed  satisfactorily 
on  English  methods,  and  measures  which 
are  beneficial  to  Lombardy  are  inapplicable 
to  Sicily.  The  particularism  of  Spain, 
which  makes  Catalonia  a  centre  of  disorder, 
can  be  remedied  only  by  a  policy  which 
allows  the  provinces  of  that  country  to  a 
large  extent  to  govern  themselves.  The 
woi'ld  is  shrinking.  The  trend  of  affairs 
in  the  world  of  our  time  is  towards  the 
creation  of  vast  empires,  the  formation 
of  large  political  units. 

But  this  spirit  of  what  is  sometimes 
called  imperialism  can  be  safely  carried  out 
only  by  strengthening  the  smaller  political 
units  of  which  the  larger  units  are  com- 
posed. Extensive  outlooks,  the  manage- 
ment of  affairs  on  a  vast  scale,  cannot  be 
indulged  in  unless  care  is  taken  not  to 
weaken  the  intensive  feelings  which  are 
equally  essential  to  political  well-being. 
A  statesman  must  rely  not  only  on  the 
wider  patriotism,  which  carries  with  it 
untold  benefits  wherever  it  is  found,  but 


on  the  domestic  virtues  of  local  and 
municipal  patriotism,  the  love  of  our 
country,  our  province,  and  our  town. 

The  tendency  to  foster  local  languages 
and  local  ties,  which  is  sometimes  regarded 
as  injurious  to  the  higher  interests  of 
humanity,  is  in  reality  the  outcome  of.  a 
natural  instinct  of  self-preservation.  Long 
ago  the  Romans  taught  us  that  the  two 
essential  bases  of  all  government  are 
Imperium  and  Libertas — ill-translated 
Empire  and  Liberty — one  the  exercise  ol 
firm  rule,  the  other  the  concession  to  the 
freedom  of  individual  action.  The  recon- 
ciliation of  these  two  forces  is  to  be  found 
in  federation,  a  form  of  government  which 
is  constantly  making  progress  among  us. 
By  this  every  citizen  owes  a  double 
allegiance,  one  to  his  municipal  sur- 
roundings, which  appeals  to  sentiments 
which  belong  to  his  birth,  his  education 
and  his  race  ;  and  the  other  to  his  imperial 
position,  which  enables  him  to  enjoy  a 
larger  life  and  to  take  his  proper  share  in 
the  administration  of  the  world.  The 
Roman  Empire,  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
have  passed  away ;  a  British  Empire  and 
other  similar  combinations  are  coming 
into  being.  The  scientific  pursuit  of  this 
ideal,  guided  by  the  best  political  thought, 
and  carried  into  execution  by  the  highest 
political  wisdom,  is  the  only  means  by 
which  we  may  hope  to  realise  the  theme 
of  poets,  the  dream  of  statesmen,  a  goal 
which  is  yet  far  distant,  but  which  is 
not  impossible,  the  Federation  of  the 
World.  Oscar  Browning 


QUEEN 


GREAT     EXHIBITION     IN     liOi 


4789 


47QO 


teUBOPE^WATffiK® 


THE    GREAT  POWERS    IN    CONCORD 

AND  THE    FAILURE    OF  THE   HOLY  ALLIANCE 


AT  the  Congress  of  Vienna  nations  were 
but  rarely,  and  national  rights  and 
desires  never,  a  subject  of  discussion. 
The  Cabinets — that  is  to  say,  the  princes 
of  Europe,  their  officials,  and  in  particular 
the  diplomatists — arranged  the  mutual 
relations  of  states  almost  exclusively  with 
reference  to  dynastic  interests  and  differ- 
ences in  national  power  ;  though  in  the  case 
of  France  it  was  necessary  to  consult 
national  susceptibihties,  and  in  England  the 
economic  demands  of  the  upper  classes 
of  society  came  into  question.  The  term 
"  state  "  implied  a  ruling  court,  a  govern- 
ment, and  nothing  beyond,  not  only  to 
Prince  Metternich,  but  also  to  the  majority 
of  his  coadjutors.  These  institutions  were 
the  sole  surviving  representatives  of  that 
feudal  organism  which  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years  had  undertaken  the  larger 
proportion  of  the  task  of  the  state. 

Principalities  of  this  kind  were  not 
founded  upon  the  institutions  of  civic 
life,  which  had  developed  under  feudal 
society ;  the  rule  of  the  aristocracy 
had  fallen  into  decay,  had  grown  anti- 
quated or  had  been  abolished,  and  as  the 
monarchy  increased  in  power  at  the  ex- 
pense of  t]ie  classes,  it  had  invariably 
employed  instruments  of  government  more 
scientifically  constructed  in 
<aropean        detail.       Bureaucracies     had 

governments  ^  j.     i     j  • 

.  „  .  ,.  arisen.  Governments  had  m- 
in  Evolution     ,  j  ^     j.  j 

tervened  between  princes  and 

peoples  and  had  become ,  ends  in  them- 
selves. The  theory  of  "subordination," 
which  in  feudal  society  had  denoted  an 
economic  relation,  now  assumed  a  political 
character  ;  it  was  regarded  as  a  necessary 
extension  of  the  idea  of  sovereignty,  which 
had  become  the  sole  and  ultimate  basis  of 


public  authority  in  the  course  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  impulse  of  the 
sovereigns  to  extend  the  range  of  their 
authority,  and  a  conception  more  or  less 
definite  of  the  connection  between  this 
authority  and  certain  ideal  objects,  re- 
sulted in  the  theory  that  the  guidance  of 
society  was  a  governmental 
.J  *    J?.*^^!       task,  and  consequently  laid 

Idea  of      The  •  ^  \.         x 

n-  V*     r  «     ,,  an  ever-mcreasmg  number  of 
Rights  of  Man       ,    •  i     j  j 

claims  and   demands  upon 

the  government  for  the  time  being. 
To  this  conception  of  the  rights  of 
princes  and  their  delegates,  as  a  result  of 
historic  growth,  the  French  Revolution 
had  opposed  the  idea  of  "  the  rights  of 
man."  To  the  National  Assembly  no 
task  seemed  more  necessary  or  more 
imperative  than  the  extirpation  of  errone- 
ous theories  from  the  general  thought  of 
the  time  ;  such  theories  had  arisen  from 
the  exaggerated  importance  attached  to 
monarchical  power,  had  secured  recogni- 
tion, and  had  come  into  operation,  simply 
because  they  had  never  been  confuted. 
Henceforward  sovereignty  was  to  be 
based  upon  the  consent  of  the  community 
as  a  whole.  Thus  supported  by  the 
sovereign  will  of  the  people,  France  had 
entered  upon  war  with  the  monarchical 
states  of  Europe  where  the  exercise  of 
supreme  power  had  been  the  ruler's 
exclusive  right.  It  was  as  an  exponent 
of  the  sovereign  rights  of  the  people  that 
the  empire  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  had 
attempted  to  make  France  the  paramount 
Power  in  Europe  ;  it  was  in  virtue  of  the 
power  entrusted  to  him  by  six  millions 
of  Frenchmen  that  the  Emperor  had  led 
his  armies  far  beyond  the  limits  of  French 
domination  and  had  imposed  his  personal 

4791 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


will  upon  the  princes  of  Europe  by  means 
of  a  magnificent  series  of  battles.  Within 
a  period  of  scarce  two  decades  the  balance 
of  power  had  swung  to  the  opposite 
extreme,  and  had  passed  back  from  the 
sovereign  people  to  the  absolute  despot. 
Monarchs  and  nations  shared  alike  in  the 
task  of  overpowering  this  tyranny  which 
.  had  aimed  at  abolishing  en- 
c     rowing  ^-j-gjy  ^j^g  rights  of  nations  as 

.1.     n      1        such  ;    but  from    victory  the 
the  People  .  ,  ^      •       ^       ^ 

prmces  alone  derived  advan- 
tage. With  brazen  effrontery  literary  time- 
servers  scribbled  their  histories  to  prove 
that  only  the  sovereigns  and  their  armies 
deserved  the  credit  of  the  overthrow  of 
Napoleon,  and  that  the  private  citizen 
had  done  no  more  service  than  does  the 
ordinary  fireman  at  a  conflagration. 

However,  their  view  of  the  situation  was 
generally  discredited.  It  could  by  no 
means  be  forgotten  that  the  Prussians  had 
forced  their  king  to  undertake  a  war  of 
liberation,  and  the  services  rendered  by 
Spain  and  the  Tyrol  could  not  be  wholly 
explained  by  reference  to  the  commands  of 
legally  constituted  authorities  ;  in  either 
case  it  was  the  people  who  by  force  of 
arms  had  cast  off  the  yoke  imposed  upon 
them.  The  will  of  the  people  had  made 
itself  plainly  understood  ;  it  had  dechned 
the  alien  rule  even  though  that  rule  had 
appeared  under  the  names  of  freedom, 
reform,  and  prosperity. 

Once  again  the  princely  families  re- 
covered their  power  and  position  ;  they 
had  not  entertained  the  least  idea  of 
dividing  among  themselves  the  spoils 
accumulated  by  the  Revolution  which  had 
been  taken  from  their  kin,  their  relations, 
and  their  allies  ;  at  the  same  time  they 
were  by  no  means  inclined  to  divide  the 
task  of  administering  the  newly  created 
states  with  the  peoples  inhabiting  them. 
They  tacitly  unitecl  in  support  of  the 
conviction,  which  became  an  article  of 
faith  with  all  legitimists,  that  their  position 
,    and  prosperity  were  no  less  im- 

e    u  jec  s  pQj-^g^j^^  than  the  maintenance 

th*^s?  ofsocialorderandmorality.lt 

was  explained  as  the  duty  of 
the  subject  to  recognise  both  the  former 
and  the  latter  ;  and  by  increasing  his 
personal  prosperity,  the  subject  was  to 
provide  a  sure  basis  on  which  to  increase 
the  powers  of  the  government.  However, 
"  the  limited  intelligence  of  the  subjects  " 
strove  against  this  interpretation  of  the 
facts  ;  they  could  not  forget  the  enormous 

4792 


sacrifices  which  had  been  made  to  help 
those  states  threatened  by  the  continuance 
of  the  Napoleonic  supremacy,  and  in  many 
cases  already  doomed  to  destruction. 
The  value  of  their  services  aroused  them 
to  question  also  the  value  of  what  they 
had  attained,  and  by  this  process  of 
thought  they  arrived  at  critical  theories 
and  practical  demands  which  "  legitimist  " 
teaching  was  unable  to  confute. 

The  supreme  right  of  princes  to  wage 
war  and  conclude  peace  rested  upon 
satisfactory  historic  foundation,  and  was 
therefore  indisputable.  In  the  age  of 
feudal  society  it  was  the  lords,  the  free 
landowners,  who  had  waged  war,  and  not 
the  governments  ;  and  their  authority  had 
been  limited  only  by  their  means.  Neither 
the  lives  nor  the  property  of  the  com- 
monalty had  ever  come  in  question  except 
in  cases  where  their  sympathies  had  been 
enlisted  by  devastation,  fire,  and  slaughter ; 
to  actual  co-operation  in  the  undertakings 
of  the  overlord  the  man  of  the  people  had 
never  been  bound,  and  such  help  had  been 
voluntarily  given.  After  the  conception 
of  sovereignty  had  been  modified  by  the 
ideaof  "government"  the situa- 
Evii  Results  ^ .^^  ^^^  ^gg^  changed.  Military 
of  the  J     J    i.- 

_      .    .        powers   and   duties   were   now 

dissociated  from  the  feuda:l 
classes  ;  the  sinews  of  war  were  no  longer 
demanded  from  the  warriors  themselves, 
and  the  provision  of  means  became  a 
government  duty.  However,  no  new  rights 
had  arisen  to  correspond  with  these 
numerous  additional  duties.  The  vassal, 
now  far  more  heavily  burdened,  demanded 
his  rights :  the  people  followed  his 
example.  That  which  was  to  be  supported 
by  the  general  efforts  of  the  whole  of  the 
members  of  any  body  politic  must  surely 
be  a  matter  of  general  concern.  The  state 
also  has  duties  incumbent  upon  it,  the 
definition  of  which  is  the  task  of  those 
who  support  the  state.  Such  demands 
were  fully  and  absolutely  justified  ;  a 
certain  transformation  of  the  state  and  of 
society  was   necessary   and   inevitable. 

Few  princes,  and  still  fewer  officials, 
recognised  the  overwhelming  force  of  these 
considerations  ;  in  the  majority  of  cases 
expression  of  the  popular  will  was  another 
name  for  revolution.  The  Revolution  had 
caused  the  overthrow  of  social  order.  It 
had  engendered  the  very  worst  of  human 
passions,  destroyed  professions  and  pro- 
perty, sacrificed  a  countless  number  of 
human  lives,   and  disseminated  infidelity 


THE    GREAT    POWERS    IN    CONCORD 


The  Tsar's 
Lost  Faith  in 
Liberalism 


and  immorality ;  revolution  therefore 
must  be  checked,  must  be  nipped  in  the 
bud  in  the  name  of  God,  of  civihsation 
and  social  order.  This  opinion  was  founded 
upon  the  fundamental  mistake  of  refusing 
to  recognise  the  fact  that  all  rights  implied 
corresponding  duties  ;  while  disregarding 
every  historical  tradition  and  assenting  to 
the  dissolution  of  every  feudal  idea,  it  did 
nothing  to  introduce  new  relations  or  to 
secure  a  compromise  between  the  prince 
and  his  subjects. 

This  point  of  view  was  known  as  Con- 
servatism ;  its  supporters  availed  them- 
selves of  the  unnatural  limitations  laid 
upon  the  subject  un- 
duly to  aggrandise 
and  systematically  to 
increase  the  privileges 
of  the  ruling  class; 
and  .this  process  re- 
ceived the  name  of 
statecraft.  This 
conservative  state- 
craft, of  which  Prince 
Metternich  was  proud 
to  call  himself  a 
master,  proceeded 
from  a  dull  and  spirit- 
less conception  of 
the  progress  of  the 
world ;  founded  upon 
a  complete  lack  of 
historical  knowledge, 
it  equally  failed  to 
lecognise  any  distinct 
purpose  as  obligatory 
on  the  state.  Of  politi- 
cal  science  Metternich    ,,     ,,    r  nTlf''^  ""^•"^'i^.^T.^    -u 

I       ,                       ,  After  the   fall  of  Napoleon,  in  isin,  Metternich  stepped 

IldQ    none,     ne    maue  into  the  place  vacated  by  the  emperor  as   the  first  person- 

gOOd     the     deficiency  ality  in   Europe,  and,  as   the   avowed  champion  of  Con- 

bv     the     general      ad-  servatlsm,  opposed  forces  that  were  destined  to  ultimate 

„• 1  •                1-1        1  •  triumph.     He  was  overthrown  in  1S4S,  and  died  in  1S59. 

muation    which    his 

intellect  and  character  inspired.  His  diaries 

and  many  of  his  letters  are  devoted  to 

the  glorification  of  these  merits.  A  know- 
ledge  of  his  intellectual  position    and  of 

that  of  the  majority  of  his  diplomatic 
colleagues  is  an  indispensable 
preliminary  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  aberrations 
into  which  the  statesmen  of 

the     so-called     Restoration     period     fell. 

The      restored      Government       of      the 

Bourbons  in  France  was  indeed  provided 

with  a  constitution.      It  was  thus  that 

Tsar    Alexander     I.    had   attempted    to 

display    his    liberal    tendencies    and    his 

good-will  to  the  French  nation  ;  but  he 
u  23  G 


The  Restored 
Government  of 
the  Bourbons 


had  been  forced  to  leave  the  Germans  and 
Italians  to  their  fate,  and  had  satisfied, 
liis  conscience  by  the  insertion  of  a  few 
expressions  in  the   final   protocol   of  the 
Vienna     Congress.  Subsequently     he 

suffered  a  cruel  chsappointment  in  the  case 
of  Poland,  which  proceeded  to 
misuse  the  freedom  that  had 
been  granted  to  it  by  the  con- 
coction of  conspiracies  and  by 
continual  manifestations  of  dissatisfaction. 
He  began  to  lose  faith  in  Liberalism  as 
such,  and  became  a  convert  to  Metternich's 
policy  of  forcibly  suppressing  every  popu- 
lar  movement    for   freedom.     Untouched 
by  the  enthusiasm  of 
the    German    youth, 
which    for  the  most 
part    had    displayed 
after      the     war     of 
liberation  the  noblest 
sense   of    patriotism, 
and     could     provide 
for    the   work  of  re- 
storation   and    reor- 
ganisation coadjutors 
highly  desirable  to  a 
far-seeing      adminis- 
tration; incapable  of 
understanding      the 
Italian  yearnings  for 
union    and    activity, 
and  for  the  founda- 
tion of  a  federal  state 
free  from  foreign  in- 
fluences,    the    great 
Powers    of     Austria, 
Russia,   and   Prussia 
employed  threats  and 
force  in  every  form, 
with    the    object    of 
imposing  constitu- 
tions   of    their    own 
choice  upon  the  people,  whose  desires  for 
reform  they  wholly  disregarded.      Austria 
had  for  the  moment  obtained  a  magnificent 
position  in  the  German  Confederacy.    This, 
however,  the  so-called  statecraft  of  Con- 
servatism  declined    to   use   for   the   con- 
solidation of  the  federation,  which  Austria 
at  the  same  time  desired  to  exploit  for  her 
own  advantage.     Conservatism  never,  in- 
deed, gave  the  smallest  attention  to  the 
task  of  uniting  the  interests  of  the  allied 
states  by  institutions  making  for    pros- 
perity, or  by  the  union  of  their,  several 
artistic  and  scientific  powers  ;    it  seemed 
more  necessary  and  more  salutary  to  limit 
as   far   as   possible   the   influence   of   the 

4793 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF     THE    WORLD 


popular  representatives  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  alHed  states,  and  to  prevent 
the  introduction  of  constitutions  which 
gave  the  people  rights  of  real  and  tangible 
value.  The  conservative  statesmen  did 
not  observe  that  even  governments  could 
derive  but  very  scanty  advantage  by 
ensuring    the    persistence    of    conditions 

which  were  the  product  of  no 
Austria  s      national   or    economic    course 

of     development  ;     they     did 


Surrender 
to  Russia 


not  see  that  the  power  of  the 
governments  was  decreasing,  and  that 
they  possessed  neither  the  money  nor  the 
troops  upon  which  such  a  system  must 
ultimately  depend.  In  the  East,  under 
the  unfortunate  guidance  of  Metternich. 
Austria  adopted  a  position  in  no  way 
corresponding  to  her  past  or  to  her  religious 
aspirations  ;  in  order  not  to  alienate  the 
help  of  Russia,  which  might  be  useful  in 
the  suppression  of  revolutions,  Austria 
surrendered  that  right,  which  she  had 
acquired  by  the  military  sacrifices  of  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  of 
appearing  as  the  liberator  of  the  Balkan 
Christians  from  Turkish  oppression. 

Political  history  provides  many  ex- 
amples of  constitutions  purely  despotic,  of 
the  entirely  selfish  aspirations  of  persons, 
families,  or  parties,  of  the  exploitation  of 
majorities  by  minorities,  of  constitutions 
which  profess  to  give  freedom  to  all,  while 
securing  the  dominance  of  individuals  ; 
but  illusions  of  this  kind  are  invariably 
connected  with  some  definite  object,  and 
in  every  case  we  can  observe  aspirations 
for  tangible  progress  or  increase  of  power. 

But  the  Conservatism  of  the  Restoration 
period  rests  upon  a  false  conception  of 
the  working  of  political  forces,  and  is 
therefore  from  its  very  outset  a  policy  of 
mere  bungling,  as  little  able  to  create  as 
to  maintam.  Of  construction,  of  purifi- 
cation, or  of  improvement,  it  was  utterly 
incapable  ;    for  in  fact  the  object  of  the 

conservative   statesmen    and 
Defects  of 

Restoration 

Period 


their  highest   ambition   wer.' 
nothing  more  than  to  capture 


the  admiration  of  that  court 
society  in  which  they  figured  in  their  uni- 
form? and  decorations.  For  many  princely 
families  it  was  a  grave  misfortune  that  they 
failed  to  recognise  the  untenable  character 
of  those  "principles"  by  which  their 
^linisters,  their  masters  of  ceremonies,  and 
their  ofticers  professed  themselves  able  to 
uphold  their  rights  and  their  possessions  ; 
many,  indeed,  have  disappeared  for  ever 

4794 


from  the  scene  of  history,  while  others 
have  passed  through  times  of  bitter  trial 
and  deadly  struggle. 

From  their  armed  alliance  against 
Napoleon  a  certain  feeling  of  federative 
union  seized  the  European  Cabinets.  The 
astounding  events,  the  fall  of  the  Caesar 
from  his  dizzy  height,  had,  after  all  the  free 
thinking  of  the  Revolutionary  period  and 
the  superficial  enlightenment,  once  more 
strengthened  the  belief  in  the  dispositions 
of  a  Higher  Power.  The  effect  on  the 
tsar,  Alexander  I.,  was  the  most  peculiar. 

His  temperament,  naturally  idealistic, 
moved  him  to  an  extreme  religiosity, 
intensified  and  marked  by  strong  mystical 
leanings,  to  many  minds  suggestive  of 
the  presence  of  something  like  mania.  He 
was  not  without  friends  who  encouraged 
him  to  regard  himself  as  a  special  "  in- 
strument "  with  a  religious  mission,  who 
was  to  raise  Europe  to  a  new  level  of 
Christianity  through  his  power  as  a  ruler  ; 
in  contradistinction  to  Napoleon,  whom 
he  probably,  in  common  with  a  good 
many  other  mystics,  had  come  to  regard 
as  Antichrist.  Alexander  did  not  pose 
as  the  champion  of  a  Church, 
The  Tsar  ^^^  j,^^  wanted  to  assume  the 

HoTTma"ce    '°'^  "^  ^^'^    '^^^^  Christian 

brother  monarchs  along  the  same  path.  Un- 
fortunately, the  conception  of  the  divine 
mission  developed  the  idea  of  divine  mon- 
archical authority  ;  so  that  from  his  early 
notions  of  Liberty  he  passed  to  the  stage  of 
identifying  the  cause  of  Absolutism  and  of 
Legitimism  with  the  cause  of  Christianity. 
Thus,  he  was  moved  to  materialise  his 
ideals  in  the  form  of  a  Christian  union 
of  nations,  a  Holy  Alliance.  This  scheme 
he  laid  before  his  brother  rulers. 

Frederic  William  HI.,  also  a  pietist  in 
his  way,  immediately  agreed  ;  so  did 
Francis  L,  after  some  deliberation.  On 
September  26tli  the  three  monarchs 
concluded  this  alliance  in  Paris.  They 
wished  to  take  as  the  standard  of  their 
conduct,  both  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
their  countries  and  in  external  matters, 
merely  the  precepts  of  Christianity,  justice, 
love,  and  psaceableness  ;  regarding  each 
other  as  brothers,  they  wished  to  help 
each  other  on  every  occasion.  As  pleni- 
potentiaries of  Divine  Providence  they 
promised  to  be  the  fathers  of  their  subjects 
and  to  lead  them  m  the  spirit  of  brother- 
hood, in  order  to  protect  religion,  peace, 
and  justice  ;   and  they  recommended  their 


THE    GREAT    POWERS    IN    CONCORD 


ovn  peoples  to  exercise  themselves  daily 
in  Christian  principles  and  the  fulfilment 
ol  Christian  duties.  Every  Power  which 
w(  uld  acknowledge  such  principles  might 
join  the  alliance.  Almost  all  the  states 
of  Europe  gradually  joined  the  Holy 
Alliance.  The  sultan  was  obviously  ex- 
cluded, while  the  Pope  declared  that  he 
had  always  possessed  the  Christian  verity 
and  required  no  new  exposition  of  it. 
Great  Britain  refused,  from  regard  to  her 
constitution  and  to  parliament  ;  Europe 
was  spared  the  presentation  of  the  Prince 
Regent  as  a  devotee  of  the  higher  morality. 
There  was  no  international  basis  to  the 
Holy  Alliar^^e,  which  only  had  the  value 
of  a  personal  declaration,  with  merely  a 
moral  obligation  for  the  monarchs  con- 
nected with  it.  In  its  beginnings  the  Alliance 
aimed  at  an  ideal  ;  and  its  founders  were 
sincere  in  their  purpose.  But  it  soon 
became,  and  rightly,  the  object  of  universal 
detestation  ;  for  Metternich  was  master 
of  Alexander,  and  from  the  promise  of  the 
potentates  to  help  each  other  on  every 
opportunity  he  deduced  the  right  to 
iiiterfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  foreign 

states.       The     Congresses    of 

eaguc         Carlsbad,      Troppau,    Laibach 

uropean  ^^^  Verona  were  the  offshoots 

of  this  unholy  conception. 
In  addition  to  the  Holy  Alliance,  the 
Treaty  of  Chaumont  was  renewed. 
On  November  20th,  1815,  at  Paris, 
Russia,  Great  Britain,  Austria,  and  Prussia 
pledged  themselves  that  their  sovereigns 
would  meet  periodically  to  deliberate  on 
the  peace,  security,  and  welfare  of  Europe, 
or  would  send  their  responsible  Ministers 
for  the  purpose.  France,  which  had  so 
long  disturbed  the  peace  of  Europe,  was 
to  be  placed  under  international  police 
supervision,  even  after  the  army  of  occu- 
pation had  left  its  soil. 

The  first  of  these  congresses  met  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  showed  Europe  that 
an  aristocratic  league  of  Powers  stood  at 
its  head.  Alexander,  Francis,  and  Fred- 
eric William  appeared  in  person,  accom- 
panied by  numerous  diplomatists,  among 
them  Metternich,  Gentz,  Hardenberg, 
Humboldt,  Nesselrode,  Pozzo  di  Borgo, 
and  Capodistrias  ;  France  was  represented 
by  Richelieu  ;  Great  Britain  by  Welling- 
ton, Castlereagh,  and  Canning.  The 
chief  question  to  be  decided  by  the  con- 
ferences, which  began  on  September  30th, 
1818,  was  the  evacuation  of  France.  The 
Duke  of  Richelieu  obtained  on  October 


gth  an  agreement  according  to  which 
France  should  be  evacuated  by  the  allied 
troops  before  November  30th,  1818,  in- 
stead of  the  year  1820,  and  the  costs  of  the 
war  and  the  indemnities  still  to  be  paid 
were  considerably  lowered.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  did  not  succeed  in  forming  a 
quintuple  aUiance  by  securing  the  ad- 
.  mission  of  France  as  a  member 
the  Hoi  ^  ^^^'^  ^^^^  quadruple  alliance.  It 
^Ij.  ^  is  true  that  France  was  received 
on  November  15th  into  the 
federation  of  the  Great  Powers,  and  that  it 
joined  the  Holy  Alliance  ;  but  the  recip- 
rocal guarantee  of  the  five  Great  Powers, 
advocated  by  Alexander  and  Ancillon, 
did  not  come  to  pass  ;  the  four  Powers 
renewed  in  secret  on  November  15th  the 
Alliance  of  Chaumont,  and  agreed  upon 
military  measures  to  be  adopted  in  the 
event  of  a  war  with  France.  We  have 
already  spoken  of  the  settlement  of  the 
dispute  between  Bavaria  and  Baden  ; 
the  congress  occupied  itself  also  with  other 
European  questions  without  achieving 
any  successes,  and  increased  the  severity  of 
the  treatment  of  the  exile  on  St.  Helena. 
Alexander  I.  of  Russia,  who  was  now 
making  overtures  to  Liberalism  throughout 
Europe  and  supported  the  constitutional 
principle  in  Poland,  soon  returned  from 
that  path  ;  he'grew  colder  in  his  friendship 
for  the  unsatisfied  Poles,  and  became  a 
loyal  pupil  of  Metternich,  led  by  the 
rough  "  sergeant  of  Gatshina,"  Count 
Araktcheieff.  Although  art,  literature,  and 
science  flourished  in  his  reign,  although 
the  fame  of  Alexander  Pushkin  was  at 
its  zenith,  the  fear  of  revolution,  assas- 
sination, and  disbelief  cast  a  lengthening 
shadov/  over  the  policy  of  Alexander,  and 
he  governed  in  a  mystic  reactionary  spirit. 
\\nien  it  became  apparent  that  Alexan- 
der had  broken  with  the  Liberal  party, 
Metternich  and  Castlereagh  rubbed  their 
hands  in  joy  at  his  conversion,  and  the 
pamphlet  of  the  prophet  of  disaster, 
Alexander  Stourdza,  "  On  the 
Present  Condition  of  Germany, ' ' 


The  Tsar's 
Break  with 
the  Liberals 


which  was  directed  against  the 
freedom  of  study  in  the  univer- 
sities and  the  freedom  of  the  Press,  when 
put  before  the  tsar  at  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
intensified  his  suspicious  aversion  to  all 
that  savoured  of  liberty.  The  conference 
of  ambassadors  at  Paris  was  declared 
closed.  The  greatest  concord  seemed  to 
reign  between  the  five  Great  Powers  when 
the  congress  ended  on  November  21st. 

4795 


PORTRAITS  OF  QUEEN  VICTORIA  IN  THE  EARLIER. YEARS  OF  HER  LIFE  AND  REIGN 


«ti 


4796 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

AFTER 

WATERLOO 

II 


THE    BRITISH    ERA    OF    REFORM 

THE   LAST  OF  THE   GEORGES,  WILLIAM  IV., 
AND    BEGINNING    OF   THE    VICTORIAN    AGE 


IN  the  nature  of  things,  the  British 
*  nation  at  all  times  stands  to  a  certain 
extent  outside  the  general  course  of  Con- 
tinental pohtics.  The  political  organism 
developed  far  in  advance  of  other  nations  ; 
the  English  polity,  assimilating  Scotland 
and  Ireland,  had  achieved  long  before  the 
French  Revolution  a  liberty  elsewhere  un- 
known. Political  power  had  become  the 
property  not  indeed  of  people  at  large, 
but,  in  effect,  of  the  whole  landowning 
class,  a  body  altogether  different  from  the 
rigid  aristocratic  castes  of  Europe  ;  and 
absolutism  or  the  prospect  of  absolutism 
had  long  vanished.  In  the  latter  half  of 
the  eighteenth  century  there  had  been 
indications  of  a  democratic  movement,  to 
which  the  beginnings  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution gave  a  considerable  impulse.  But 
its  later  excesses  gave  a  violent  check  to 
that  impulse  throughout  the  classes  which 
held  political  power,  causing  a  strong  anti- 
democratic reaction  ;  although  a  precisely 
contrary  effect  was  produced  in  the  classes 
from  whom  political  power  was  withheld. 
That  is  to  say.  Europe  in  general  and  the 
United  Kingdom,  like  Europe,  showed  the 
common  phenomenon  of  a  proletariat 
roused  by  the  French  Revolution  to  a 
desire  for  political  power,  and  rulers  who 
were  convinced  that  the  granting  of  such 
power  would  entail  anarchy  and  ruin  ; 
while  material  force  was  on  the  side  of  the 
rulers.  But  the  distinction  between  the 
composition  of  the  ruling  class  in  the 
United  Kingdom  and  in  the  Continental 
states  remained  as  it  was  before 
the  Revolution :  though  the  ex- 
isting Ministry  in  Great  Britain 
was  reactionary  to  an  ex- 
ceptional degree,  the  sympathies  of  the 
ruling  class  were  with  constitutionalism, 
not  with  absolutism.  Moreover,  Great 
Britain  was  free  from  any  idea  that  she 
had  a  divine  mission  to  impose  her  own 
pohtical  theories  on  her  neighbours,  and 
had  a  conviction,  on  the  whole  wholesome, 


Britain's 

Reactionary 

Ministry 


that  her  intervention  in  foreign  affairs 
should  be  restricted  as  far  as  possible  to 
the  exercise  of  a  restraining  influence  in 
the  interests  of  peace. 

Thus  we  find  Great  Britain  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  for  the  most  part  pursuing 
her  own  way  ;    taking  her  own  course  of 

Great  Britain  P^'^^^^^^   development,   influ- 
_  ,.        .      enced  only  m  a  very  second- 
a  rattern  to  -,       -^        ,  ^   . 

Other  Lands  f^y  '^^^'^.^  ^j  affairs  on 
the  Contment,  on  which 
she  in  turn  exercises  usually  only  a  very 
minor  influence,  save  as  providing  a 
pattern  for  reformers  in  other  lands. 
Her  part  in  world-historj^,  as  distinct  from 
domestic  history,  is  played  outside  of 
Europe  altogether,  in  the  development  of 
the  extra-European  Empire,  as  already 
related  in  the  histories  of  India,  Africa, 
and  Australasia,  and  to  be  related  in  the 
American  volume.  In  European  history, 
interest  centres  not  in  these  islands, 
but  in  the  readjustments  which  have 
issued  in  the  reorganisation  of  Germany 
as  a  great  and  homogeneous  Central 
European  power,  in  the  German  Empire 
which  we  know  to-day  ;  in  the  re- 
organisation of  France  as  the  Republic 
which  we  know  to-day ;  and  in  the 
hberation  and  unification  of  Italy,  and 
of  minor  nationalities. 

Great  Britain  had  played  her  full  part — 
a  conspicuously  unselfish  one — in  the 
Congress  of  Vienna  and  the  settlements 
of  Europe  after  the  final  overthrow  of 
Napoleon.  In  the  period  immediately 
ensuing  she  made  her  influence  felt,  not 
by  her  intervention,  but  by  her  refusal  of 
pressing  invitations  to  intervene,  and  pre- 
sently by  her  refusals  to  countenance  the 
unwarranted  intervention  of  other  Powers. 
Thus  the  British  representatives  dechned 
to  join  the  Holy  AUiance  of  the  gi-eat 
Powers  which  was  formed  at  Vienna  in 
1815  for  the  repression  of  liberal  prin- 
ciples, and  the  foreign  policy  of  the  Tories 
was  marked  by  a  strong  sympathy  for  the 

4797 


,^v;^WA»A^AWA'A^A^A'A'^AVAvX^A«AVA^AVAVA>AlAU>A»AV>JX*ArAVAVAU»A!AVA^A?7T7 


DISTINGUISHED     STATESMEN     OF    THE     EARLY     NINETEENTH     CENTURY 
The  four  statesmen  whose  portraits  are  given  above— Peel,  Canning,  Huskisson  and  Palmerston — exercised  a  powerful 
influence  upon  the  Cabinet  which  they  joined  in  1822,  moderating:  the  foreign  policy  of  the  Tories  and  informing  it  with  a 
strong  sympathy  for  the  principles  of  liberty.     Three  of  them— Peel,  Palmerston,  and  Canning— became  Prime  Ministers. 


principles  of  liberty  and  nationality.  But 
this  was  due  to  the  influence  of  the 
l\Ioderates— Peel,  Canning,  Huskisson,  and 
Palmerston — who  joined  the  Cabinet  in 
1822.  The  extreme  Tories  sympathised 
with  the  aims  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  and 
had  resolved  under  no  circumstances  to 
impede  its  efforts.  The  refusal  of  Great 
Britain  to  assist  in  bolstering  up  the 
Spanish  dynasty ;  her  consent  to 
recognise      the      independence      of      the 

4798 


Spanish  colonies  and  Brazil  ;  her  defence 
of  Portugal  against  the  forces  of  Dom 
Miguel,  the  absolutist  pretender,  and  Fer- 
dinand Vn.  of  Spain  ;  her  intervention 
to  save  Greece  from  the  Sultan  and 
Mehemet  Ali — all  these  generous  actions 
were  the  work  of  Canning,  and  would 
never  have  been  sanctioned  by  Castle- 
reagh,  his  predecessor  at  the  Foreign 
Office.  In  domestic  policy  the  spirit  of 
reaction    reigned    supreme.     During    the 


THE    BRITISH    ERA    OF    REFORM 


3^ears  1815  to  1822  class  interests  and  the 
morbid  fear  of  revolution  were  responsible 
for  a  series  of  repressive  enactments  which 
were  so  unreasonably  severe  that  they 
increased  the  popular  sympathy  for  the 
principles  against  which  they  were  directed. 
After  1822  came  the  period  in  which  the 
extreme  Tories-gave  way  tardily  and  with 
the  worst  of  graces. 

The  peace  was  inaugurated  with  a  new 
corn  law,  framed  in  the  interests  of  the 
landowning  classes,  from  which  both 
Houses  of  Parliament  were 
chiefly  recruited.  This  pro- 
hibited the  importation  of 
foreign  corn  until  the  price  of 
80s.  a  quarter  should  be  reached ;  that  is, 
until  the  poorer  classes  should  be  reduced 
to  a  state  of  famine.  The  statutory  price 
before  this  date  had  been  mereh'  48s.  The 
change  was  naturally  followed  in  many 
places  by  bread  riots  and  incendiarism. 
The  Government  replied  by  calling  out  the 
soldiery  and  framing  coercive  measures. 
In  1 81 9  a  mass  meeting  which '  had 
assembled  in  St.  Peter's  Field,  at  Man- 
chester, was  broken  up  with  considerable 
bloodshed  ;  Parliament,  which  had  already 


Bread  Riots 

at 
Manchester 


suspended  the  Habeas  Corpus,  pro- 
ceeded to  pass  the  Six  Acts  giving  the 
executive  exceptional  powers  to  break  up 
seditious  meetings  and  to  punish  the 
authors  of  seditious  libels.  The  })owers 
thus  obtained  were  stretched  to  their 
utmost  limits,  on  the  pretext  that  such 
hare-brained  schemes  as  the  Cato  Street 
Conspiracy,  1820,  constituted  a  serious 
menace  to  public  order. 

It  was  not  until  1823  that  the  Cabinet 
consented  to  attack  the  root  of  social 
disorders  by  making  some  reductions  in 
the  tariff.  It  began  by  concessions  to  the 
mercantile  classes,  whose  prospects  were 
seriously  affected  by  the  heavy  duties  upon 
raw  materials,  and  to  the  consumers  of 
various  manufactured  commodities,  such 
as  linen,  silk,  and  cotton  stuffs,  upon 
which  prohibitive  duties  had  been  im- 
posed in  the  interests  of  British  industrj'. 
But  in  the  all-important  question  of  the 
corn  laws,  affecting  the  poor  rather  than 
the  middle  classes,  the  Tories  would  only 
concede  a  compromise,  the  sliding-scale 
duty  of  1829.  The  demand  of  the  chief 
commercial  centres  for  the  repeal  of  the 
Navigation    Laws    was    met    b}'   an   Act 


BREAD     RIOTS    AT    MANCHESTER:      THE     YEOMANRY     CHARGING    THE    MOB     IN     1619 
Suffering:  hardship  in  consequence  of  the  high  price  of  bread,  the  people  in  many  places  resorted  to  violence.      The 
Government's  reply  was  to  call  out  the  soldiery  and  frame  coercive  measures.     A  mass  meeting-  which  had  assembled  in 
St.  Peter's  Field,  at  Manchester,  in  1819,  was  broken  up,  as  shown  in  the  above  picture,  with  considerable  bloodshed. 

4799 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


providing  that  the  ships  of  any  foreign 
Power  should  be  allowed  free  access  to 
British  ports  if  that  Power  would  grant  a 
reciprocity ;  the  Combination  Acts,  framed 
to  make  trades 
unions  illegal, 
were  repealed; 
consi  derable 
amendments 
were  introduced 
into  the  criminal 
law.  But  to 
several  reforms  of 
paramount  neces- 
sity the  Ministers 
showed  them- 
selves obstinately 
averse.  They 
would  not  repeal 
the  disabhng  laws 
which  still  re- 
mained in  force 
against  the 
Catholics,  al- 
though three- 
fourths  of  the  Irish 
for 


THE  SCENE  OF  THE  CATC  STREET  CONSPIRACY 
In  Cato  Street,  London,  shown  in  this  picture,  was  conceived  a  plot 
to  assassinate  Castlereagh  and  other  Ministers  at  a  Cabinet  dinner 
in  1820.  The  plot  being  discovered,  the  revolutionaries  were 
captured,  five  of  them  being  hanged  and  five  transported  for  life. 


nation  were  calling 
this  act  of  justice.  They  would  do 
nothing  to  reform  the  House  of  Commons. 
They  would  not  deprive  the  landowning 
classes  of  the  profits  which 
the  corn  duties  afforded. 

It  was  now  that  the 
nation  discovered  the  use 
which  could  be  made  of 
two  rights  which  it  had 
long  possessed.  Freedom 
of  speech  on  political 
matters  was  guaranteed  by 
Fox's  Libel  Act  of  1792, 
which  left  to  the  jury  the 
full  power  of  deciding 
what  constituted  legi- 
timate criticism  of  the 
administration.  Freedom 
of  association  and  public 
meeting  existed,  indepen- 
dently of  special  enact- 
ments, under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  common  law. 
These  weapons  were  used 
with  extraordinary  skill 
by  O'Connell,  the  leader 
of  the  Irish  Catholics.  The 
Catholic  Association, 
formed  in  1823,  learned  from  him  the  art 
of  intimidating  without  illegality  by  means 
of  monster  meetings.  Proclaimed  as  an 
illegal  body  in  1825,  the  association  con- 
trived  to   continue    its   existence   in   the 

4800 


DANIEL  OCONNELL 
The  leader  of  the  Irish  Catholics,  O'Connell 
was  foremost  in  the  agitation  for  the  rights 
of  his  countrymen,  and  patriotically  sur- 
rendered personal  interests  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  national  cause.     He  died  in  1847. 


guise  of  a  philanthropic  society.  At  the 
Clare  election  in  1828  O'Connell,  although 
a  Catholic,  and  therefore  disquahfied,  was 
returned  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 
Peel  persuaded 
his  colleagues 
that  the  time  had 
come  when  eman- 
cipation must  be 
granted.  Bills 
for  that  purpose 
were  accordingly 
passed  and  sub- 
mitted for  the 
royal  assent. 
This  afforded 
George  IV.,  who 
had  succeeded 
his  father  in  1820, 
an  opportunity 
of  asserting  him- 
self  for  once 
in  a  matter  of 
national  concern. 
A  prodigal  and 
a  voluptuary,  who  had  systematically 
sacrificed  honour  and  decency  to  his 
pleasures  and  had  broken  his  father's 
heart  by  his  want  of  shame  and  filial  piety, 
he  now  declared  that 
nothing  could  induce  him 
to  accept  a  measure  which 
that  father  had  rejected. 
After  long  expostulations 
he  broke  this  vow,  as  he 
had  broken  every  other, 
and  Catholic  emancipa- 
tion was  finally  recorded 
on  the  Statute  Book. 

George  IV.  died  in 
1830.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  brother,  the  Duke 
of  Clarence,  under  the 
title  of  William  IV.,  a 
more  respectable  char- 
acter than  "  the  first 
gentleman  in  Europe." 
but  a  pohtician  of  poor 
abilities,  great  tactless- 
ness and  greater  obstinacy. 
In  their  resistance  to  the 
next  popular  agitation 
the  Tories  found  him  a 
valuable  ally.  The 
triumph  of  the  Irish  Catholics  was 
followed  by  a  revival,  in  England,  of 
the  cry  for  parliamentary  reform,  and 
to  this  purpose  the  tactics  of  O'Connell 
were    steadily    applied    by    the    Liberals 


THE    BRITISH    ERA    OF    REFORM 


of  the  great  manu- 
facturing centres. 
The  energy  with 
which  the  Whigs 
|)ushed  their  attack 
is  explained  by  their 
conviction  that  the 
defects  of  the  repre- 
sentative system  con- 
stituted the  main 
obstacles  to  social, 
political,  and  fiscal 
reforms  of  the  utmost 
weight  and  urgency. 
The  House  of  Com- 
mons no  longer  ex- 
pressed the  opinions 
of  the  country.  The 
most  enlightened, 
industrious,  and 
prosperous  portion  of 
the  community  were 
either  unrepresented 
or  ludicrously  under- 
represented.  Since  the 
time  of  Charles  II.  no 
new  constituencies 
had  been  created,  and 
of  the  borou£fhs  which 


KING  GEORGE  IV. 
He  became  Prince  Regent  in  1810  owing-  to  the  mental 
derangement  of  his  father,  George  III.,  and  succeeded 
to  the  throne  ten  years  later.  Without  any  qualities 
that  endeared  him  to  his  people,  he  possessed  failings 
and  vices  that  were  conspicuously  displayed,  and  there 
were   few  to   regret   his  death,  which  occurred  in  18:30. 


had  received  repre- 
sentation under  the 
Tudors  and  the 
Stuarts,  the  greater 
part  owed  their  privi- 
lege to  the  Crown's 
expectation  that  their 
elections  could  always 
be  controlled.  Many 
1^0  roughs  which 
formerly  deserved  to 
lie  represented  had 
I  alien,  through  the 
decay  of  their  for- 
tunes or  through  an 
excessive  limitation 
of  the  franchise, 
under  the  control  of 
the  great  territorial 
families.  Close 
boroughs  were  so  com- 
pletely an  article  of 
commerce  that  the 
younger  Pitt,  when  he 
proposed  a  measure 
of  parliamentary  re- 
form, felt  himself 
bound  to  offer  tlie 
patrons    a   pecuniary 


A    SITTING    OF    THE    BRITISH     HOUSE    OF    COMMONS    IN    THE    YEARS    1821-23 

From  the  engraving  by  J.  Scott.      I'hoto  by  W'.ilker 


480: 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


H  *■ 


aX 


j^-JTW   _^     5 


J'«yr»MWKai6ftfll»uww>iW^E4,~ 


"A-: 


."A^er*^  g 


■'t:^i 


■  compensalion.  It  was  by  means  of 
"  pocket  "  boroughs  that  the  Whigs  had 
held  the  first  two  Hanoverians  in  bondage, 
and  that  George  III.  had  maintained  his 
personal  ascendancy  for  twenty  years.  In 
1793  it  was  computed  that  307  members 
of  Parliament  were  returned  by  private 
l^trons.  Matters  had  improved  in  the 
last  forty  years ;  but  still  on  the  eve  of  the 
reform  legislation  276  seats  \\'ere  private 
property'.  Three-fourths  of  these  be- 
longed to  members  of  the  Tory  aristocracy. 
The  state  of  the  county  representation 
was  somewhat  better.  But  the  smallest 
shires  returned  as  many  members  as  the 
largest,  with  the  solitary  exception  that 
Yorkshire,  since  1821,  returned  four 
members  in  place  of  the  usual  two.  The 
county  franchise  was  limited,  by  a  law  of 
1430,  to  freeholders,  and  the  owners  of 
large  estates  had  established  their  right 
to  plural  or  "  faggot  "  votes. 

The  faults  of  this  system,  its  logical 
absurdities,  are  glaringly  manifest.  With 
the  votes  of  about  half  the  House  of 
Commons  controlled  by  a  few  families, 
with  great  cities  imrepresented,  with 
small  and  large  counties  treated  as  of 
equal  weight,  with  franchises  varying  in 
different  localities,  it  might  rather  be  said 
that  there  was  no  system  at  all.  But  it  is 
a  peculiarly  British  characteristic  to  regard 
anomalies  as  desirable  in  themselves,  as 
it  was  characteristic  of  the  theorists  of 
the  Revolution  to  discover  the  universal 
panacea  in  symmetrical  uniformity. 

Entirely  apart  from  personal  interests, 
the  large  proportion  of  the  ruling  class 
had  a  firm  conviction  that  the  consti- 
tution was  incapable  of  improvement, 
that  it  provided  the  best  possible  type  of 
legislator  and  administrator.  The  unen- 
franchised masses  saw  in  these  Olj^mpians 
a  group  who  neither  understood  nor  cared 
for  anything  but  the  interests  of  their  own 
class  ;  they  acquired  a  rooted  conviction 
that,  when  they  themselves  obtained 
political  power,  the  millennium  would 
arrive.  But  among  the  enfranchised,  the 
minority,  who  had  always  refused  to  be 
terrified  by  the  Reign  of  Terror,  now  grew 
into  a  majorit}'  who  believed  that  political 
intelligence  existed  in  other  sections  of 
the  community,  who  might  be  enfranchised 
without  danger,  and  that  flagrant  anoma- 
lies might  be  removed  without  under- 
mining the  constitution.  Wlien  France 
once  more  overturned  the  Bourbon 
monarchy  and  established  the  citizen-king. 


4802 


GEORGE     IV,,     KING    OF     GREAT    BRITAIN    AND    IRELAND,     IN     HIS    ROYAL    ROBES 

From  the  painting   by   Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  P.K.A. 


480. 


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4805 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


Changes  in  the 
Constitution 
of  Parliament 


districts  of  equal  size.     They  enlarged  the. 
representation   of  some  counties.      Thev 
suppressed     or     partially     disfranchised 
eighty-six  decayed  boroughs.    They  gave 
representatives   to  forty-two  of  the  new 
boroughs.     But  they  kept  intact  the  old 
distinction  between  county  and  borough, 
and  sedulously  avoided  the  subdivision  or 
amalgamation     of    constituencies    which 
possessed    organic    unity    and    historical 
traditions.     In  this  and  other  respects  the 
later  Reform  Bills  have  been  more  drastic. 
That  of  X867  abandoned  the 
principle,   which    had   been 
steadily  maintained  in  1832, 
that  the  franchise  should  be 
limited  to  those  who  paid  direct  taxes  in 
one  form  or  another.    That  of  1885  endeav- 
oured to  equalise  constituencies  in  respect 
of  population  ;  in  order  to  attain  this  end, 
counties  and  boroughs  were   broken  up 
into  divisions,   without  respect   for  past 
traditions.     Such  legislation  is  necessarily 
of  a  temporary  character,  since  no  measure 
of  redistfibution  can  be  expected  to  satisfy 
the  principle  of  equality  for  more  than  a 
few    years.     And    this   is    not    the    least 
important  consequence  of  the  legislative 
change    which    the    nineteenth    century 
effected     in    the 
constitution      of 
Parliament.  The 
Lower  House  in 
becoming  demo- 
cratic has  ceased 
to     represent     a 
fixed  number  of 
communities 
with     fixed     in- 
terests     and 
characteristics. 

The  reformed 
Parliament  was 
not  long  in 
justifying  the 
hopes  which  had 
been  formed  of 
it.  Those,  indeed, 
.  _  ^       _  who     had    ex- 

THE     FIRST     STEAMBOAT    ON     THE     CLYDE  pected     that    the 

givinP'        nnlitirnl     "^h®  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  witnessed  progress  along    rn  PTriKprc       rp 
1VIH5        puiiLiccti    many   lines^the_ introduction   of   steamboats    being   a   noteworthy    ill  e  ui  u  c  i  s      i  c- 


Touis  Philippe,  on  the  throne  with  a  con- 
stitution in  which  the  political  power  of 
the  bourgeoisie  was  the  prominent  feature, 
effecting  the  change  without  any  excesses, 
the  phantom  of  the  ancient  Reign  of 
Terror  dwindled,  and  the  Reform  party 
was  materially  strengthened. 

The  king  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
refused  at  first  to  believe  that  any  change 
was  either  desirable  or  necessary.  But 
they  were  compelled  in  1830  to  admit  that 
it  was  necessary  ;  and  Lord  Grey  was  per- 
mitted to  construct  a  reform  Cabinet  of 
Whigs  and  moderate  Tories.  Their  Bills 
passed  the  House  of  Commons  without 
difficulty,  receiving  the  votes  of  many 
members  whose  seats  were  known  to  be 
doomed  by  its  provisions.  The  House  of 
Lords,  encouraged  by  the  king,  endeav- 
oured to  obstruct  the  measure  which  they 
dared  not  openly  oppose.  But  a  new 
agitation,  threatening  the  very  existence 
of  the  Upper  House,  at  once  arose.  The 
duke,  with  greater  wisdom  than  his  royal 
master,  reahsed  that  further  resistance 
was  out  of  the  question,  and  induced  the 
Lords  to  give  way  in  June,  1832. 

The  Reform  Bill  of  1832  fell  far  short  of 
the  democratic  ideal  which  the  English 
admirers  of  the  : 
French  Revolu- 
tion had  kept  in 
view.  Jeremy 
Bentham,  1748- 
1832,  the  greatest 
of  those  writers 
and  thinkers  who 
prepared  the 
minds  of  men  for 
practical  reform, 
was  of  opinion 
that  the  doctrine 
of  natural  equal- 
ity ought  to  be 
the  first  principle 
of  every  constitu- 
tion; but  the 
followers  of  Lord 
Grey  contented 
themselves   with 


advance.     The   Comet,  shown   in   the   above  illustration,  was  built 
by  Henry  Bell,  and  began  sailing  on  the   Clyde   in   the  year    1812. 


power  to  the 
middle  classes. 
This  work  has  since  been  supplemented  by 
the  legislation  of  1867, 1884,  and  1885 ;  yet 
even  at  the  present  day  the  doctrine  of  man- 
hood suffrage  is  unknown  in  English  law. 
Still  less  were  the  first  reformers  inclined 
to  map  out  the  country  in  new  electoral 

4806 


turned  under  the 
new  system 
would  all  be  Whigs  or  democrats  soon 
found  reason  to  revise  their  judgment. 
This  is  not  the  only  occasion  in  English 
history  on  which  it  has  been  proved 
that  aversion  to  ill-considered  change  is 
a    fundamental    trait    in    the    national 


THE  CORONATION  PROCESSION  OF  WILLIAM  IV.  AND  QUEEN  ADELAIDE  AT  THE  ABBEY 
The  third  son  of  George  III.,  William  IV.,  the  "  Sailor  King,"  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  on  the  death  of  his  eldest  brother,  George  IV.,  in  1830,  and  along  with  his  consort,  Adelaide,  the  eldest 
daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Saxe-Meiningen,  whom  he  married  in  1818,   he   was   crowned   on    September  8th,   IS." I. 

From  the  drawing  by  Gcorjjc  Callcniiole 


character.  The  Tories,  although  for  a 
moment  under  a  cloud,  soon  recovered 
their  spirits  and  a  certain  measure  of  influ- 
ence in  the  country.  Under  the  leadership 
of  Peel,  they  adopted  the  new  name  of  Con- 
servatives, and  shook  off  the  instinct  of 
dogged  and  unreasoning  obstruction.  Peel 
was  unable  to  procure  a  majority  in  the 
House  of  Commons  when  first  invited  by  the 
king  to  form  a  Ministry,  and  accordingly  left 
Melbourne  and  the  Whigs  in  1835  to  carry 
on  the  government.  But  political  opinion 
was  swinging  round  to  his  side ; 
e  usy  he  obtained  a  majority  in  1841. 
I  *^.^  °  .  So  far  the  unforeseen  had 
cgis  a  ion   hg^ppgj^g(j_    Qj-^  ^hg  other  hand, 

the  work  of  remedial  legislation  proceeded 
with  vigour  whether  the  Whigs  were  in 
or  out  of  office.  In  fact  both  parties  had 
become  possessed  by  the  idea  that  their 
main  business  was  to  devise  and  carry 
sweeping  measures.  Legislation  was  re- 
garded as  the  worthiest  function  of  a 
sovereign  assembly  ;  it  seemed  as  though 
there  could  never  be  too  much  of  legisla- 
tion. Experience  has  brought  a  decline 
of  faith  in  the  panacea.  But  it  must  be 
admitted  that  for  twenty  years  the  new 


Parliament  had  necessary  work  to  perform 
in  the  way  of  legislation,  and  performed  it 
with  admirable  skill.  A  few  of  the  more 
important  measures  may  be  mentioned. 

The  Emancipation  Act  of  1833  com- 
pleted a  work 'of  philanthropy  which  had 
been  commenced  in  1807.  The  Ministry  of 
All  the  Talents  had  abolished  the  slave 
trade.  The  new  Act  emancipated  all  the 
slaves  who  were  still  to  be  found  in  British 
colonies,  and  awarded  the  owners  the  sum 
of  twenty  millions  as  a  compensation. 
Costly  as  the  measure  was  for  the  mother 
country,  it  was  still  more  costly  for  the 
colonies.  The  sugar  industry  of  the  West 
Indies  had  been  built  up  with  the  help  ot 
slave  labour.  The  planters  lost  heavily 
through  being  compelled  to  emancipate 
the  slave  for  a  sum  which  was  much  less 
than  his  market  value,  and  the  black 
population  showed  a  strong  disinclination 
to  become  labourers  for  hire.  This  was 
particularly  the  case  in  the  larger  islands, 
where  land  was  abundant  and  a  squatter 
could  obtain  a  sustenance  with  little  or  no 
labour.  The  prosperity  of  Jamaica  was 
destroyed,  and  the  West  Indies  as  a  whole 
have  never  been  prosperous  since  1834. 

4807 


^nS 


THE    BRITISH    ERA    OF    REFORM 


Free  trade  completed  their  ruin,  since  they 
had  only  maintained  the  sugar  trade  with 
the  help  of  the  preferential  treatment 
which  they  received  from  England.  The 
hasis  of  their  former 
wealth  was  wholly  arti- 
ficial, and  it  is  unlikely 
that  slavery  and  protec- 
tion will  eVer  be-  restored 
for  their  benefit  ;  but  it 
may  be  regretted  that 
the  necessary  and  salu- 
tary reforms  of  which 
they  have  been  the 
victims  could  not  have 
been  more  gradually  ap- 
plied in  their  case. 

For  the  new  Poor  Law 
of  1834  there  can  be 
nothing  but  praise.  It 
ended  a  system  which  for 
more  than  a  generation 
had  been  a  national  curse, 
demoralising  the  labourer , 
encouraging  improvidence 
and  immorality,  taxing 
all  classes  for  the  benefit 
of  the  small  farmer  and 
employer  whom  the  misplaced  philanthropy 
of  the  legislature  had  enabled  to  cut  down 
wages  below  the  margin  of  subsistence.  Up 
to  the  year  1795  the 
English  Poor  Law  had 
been,  save  for  one  serious 
defect,  sound  in  principle. 
The  defect  was  the  Law 
of  Settlement,  first  laid 
down  by  an  Act  of  1662, 
which  enabled  the  local 
authorities  to  prevent  the 
migration  of  labour  from 
one  parish  to  another, 
unless  security  could  be 
given  that  the  immigrant 
would  not  become  a  cliarge 
upon  the  poor  rate. 

The  result  of  this  law 
had  been  to  stereotype 
local  inequalities  in  the 
rate  of  wages  and  to  take 
from  the  labourer  the 
chief  means  of  bettering 
his  position.  It  was 
mitigated  in  1795  to  the 
extent  that  the  labourer 
could  be  no  longer  sent  back  until  he 
actually  became  a  charge  upon  the  rates. 
But  about  the  same  time  the  justices  of 
the   peace   began   the   practice   of  giving 

c    '  *8  tJ 


LORD  GREY 
A  disting'uished  statesman,  he  succeeded  his 
father  in  1807  as  the  second  Earl  Grey  ;  in  the 
first  reformed  Parliament  he  was  at  the  head  of 
a  powerful  party,  and  passed  the  Act  abolish- 
ing slavery  in  the  colonies.     He  died  in  1S45. 


LORD  MELBOURNE 
Twice  Premier,  he  was  in  office  at  the  accession 
of  Queen  Victoria  in  1S37.  He  was  an  "  indolent 
opportunist,"  and  "kept  his  place  in  the  early 
years  of  Queen  Victoria  chiefly  through  the 
favour  of  the  young  queen."     He  died  in  1.S48. 


poor-relief  in  aid  of  wages,  and  of  making 
relief  proportionate  to  the  size  of  the 
applicant's"  family.  This  practice  was 
confirmed  by  the  Speenham-land  Act  of 
1796.  The  legislature 
acted  thus  in  part  from 
motives  of  philanthropy, 
in  part  under  the  behef 
that  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation was  in  every  way 
to  be  encouraged.  The 
Act  was  at  once  followed 
by  a  drop  in  the  rate  of 
agricultural  wages  and  a 
portentous  increase  of 
poor-rates.  In  1783  poor- 
relief  cost  the  country 
about  ;^2, 000,000  ;  by 
1 817  this  sum  had  been 
cpiadrupled.  The  evils 
of  the  new  system  were 
.lugmented  by  the  absence 
of  any  central  authority 
possessing  power  to  en- 
force uniform  principles 
and  methods  of  relief. 
The  proposal  to  introduce 
such  an  authority,  and  in 
other  respects  to  revive  the  leading  ideas 
of  the  Elizabethan  Poor  Law,  was  made  by 
a  Royal  Commission  after  the  most  careful 
investigations.  The  new 
Poor  I.aw,  1834,  em- 
bodied the  principal  sug- 
gestions of  the  commis- 
sioners. It  provided  that 
the  workhouse  test  should 
be  once  more  rigidly 
applied  to  all  able-bodied 
pauj^ers ;  that  parishes 
should  be  grouped  in 
poor-law  unions ;  that 
each  parish  should  con- 
tribute to  the  expenditure 
of  the  union  in  propor- 
tion to  the  numbers  of 
its  paupers  ;  and  that  a 
central  board  should  be 
appointed  to  control  the 
system.  The  new  Poor 
Law  is  still  in  force,  so 
far  as  its  main  principles 
of  administration  are  con- 
cerned. But  there  have 
been  changes  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  central  authority,  by 
Acts  of  1847,  1871,  and  1894.  The 
Poor-law  Board  has  been  merged  in  the 
Local     Government     Board ;      and     the 

4809 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Boards  of  Guardians,  which  control  the 
local  distribution  of  relief,  are  now  demo- 
cratic bodies,  whereas,  under  the  original 
Act  the  justices  of  the  peace  held 
office  as  ex-officio  members. 
The  Poor  Law  Act  was 
followed  by  others  for  the 
reform  of  municipal  govern- 
ment in  1835,  o^  the  Irish 
tithe  system  in  1838,  and  for 
the  introduction  of  the 
penny  post  in  1839.  The  new 
Poor  Law  and  the  new  mimi- 
cipal  system  were  also  applied 
to  Ireland  by  special  legisla- 
tion. But  larger  questions 
slumbered  until  the  fonnation 
of  great  political  societies 
forced  them  upon  the  un- 
wiHing  attention  of  ^Ministers 
and  both  Houses  of  Parliament. 


of  the  young  queen.  The  Conservatives, 
impatient  for  a  return  to  power,  were  dis- 
posed to  bid  against  the  Whigs  for  popular 
favour.  Neither .  party  desired  extreme 
reform.  Lord  John  Russell 
expressed  the  general  senti- 
ment when  he  stated  his 
conviction  that  the  Reform 
Bill  had  been  the  final  step  in 
the  direction  of  democracy'. 
But  neither  party  was  strong 
enough  to  resist  external 
pressiire.  The  rise  of  the 
Chartist  organisation  in  1838 
seemed  likely,  therefore,  to 
produce  sweeping  changes.  It 
was  recruited  from  the  labour- 
ing classes  and  animated  by 
hostility  to  capital.  It  pro- 
posed   the    establishment  of 


JEREMY     BENTHAM 

manf lociar/ncfpoift^li  Sms  radical  dcmocracy  as  a  panacea 
The    period    of    1840-1850   which  characterised  the  early  vic-  for  the  wrongs  of  Workmen. 

'orian  era  were  suggested  by  him.    ,-r^^       ,,  •     ,         r  .  i  i    > 

ihe  five  points  of  the  people  s 


was  peculiarly  faxourable  to 
the  democratic  agitator.  The  Reform 
WTiigs  had  maintained  themselves  in  power 
till  the  death  of  William  IV.  But  their 
majority  was  small,  and  their  chief  leader, 
Melbourne,  an  indolent  opportunist.  He 
kept  his  place  in  the  early  years  of 
Queen  Victoria  chiefly  through  the  favour 


charter  were  manhood  suffrage,  voting  by 
ballot,  annual  parliaments,  payment  of 
members,  and  the  abolition  of  the  property 
qualification  for  membership.  These  de- 
mands were  supported  in  the  House  of 
Commons  by  the  philosophic  Radicals, 
among  whom  Grote,    the   historian,   was 


THE    REFORM    RfCfTS    AT    BRISTOL    IN     OCTOBER,    I8:n 

From  the  drawing  by  L.  Hagbc 


4810 


DESTRUCTION     OF     THE     HOUSES     OF     PARLIAMENT     ON     OCTOBER     IOth,     1s:U 
This  graphic  scene  depicts  the  aestruction  by  fire,  on  October  16th,  1834,  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  the  picture 
being  made  by  the  artist  from  a   sketch  taken  by  him  by  the  light  of  the  flames  at  the   end   of  Abingdon  Street. 

From  the  drn-.ving  by  William  Heath 

influence  was  felt  not 
only  in  England  but 
in  Wales,  where  it  con- 
tributed to  produce 
the  Rebecca  Riots, 
1843.  But  the  next 
occasion  on  which 
Chartism  invaded  the 
capital  was  in  1848, 
the  year  of  revolu- 
tions. It  was  an- 
nounced that  half  a 
million  of  Chartists 
would  assemble  at  a 
given  place  on  April 
loth,  and  march  in 
procession  to  lay  their 
demands  before  the 
House  of  Commons. 
The  danger  seemed 
great  ;  extensive 
military  preparations 
were  made  under  the 
old  Duke  of  Welling- 
KiNG   WILLIAM   IV.  ton,  and  the  authori- 

Though  a  Whig  before  his  accession  to  the    throne  of  tic^  anUOUUCed  Oil  the 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland  in  1830,  he  became  a  Tory  after  appointed     day     that 

his   coronation,    and  used   his   influence  to  obstruct  the  .-r  ij  t      ^ 

passing  of  the  first  Reform  Act  in  1832.    He  died  in  1837.  tncy  WOUlQ  USC  lOrCC, 

481I 


the  most  conspicuous, 
while  in  Feargus 
O'Connor  the  Chart- 
ists possessed  a 
popular  orator  of  no 
mean  order.  The 
House  of  Commons 
refused  to  consider 
the  first  petition  of 
the  Chartists  in  1839. 
The  refusal  was,  how- 
ever, followed  by  riots 
in  various  localities; 
and  a  second  attempt 
was  made  to  move 
Parliament  in  1842; 
when  the  Conserva- 
tives, under  Peel,  had 
wrested  power  from 
the  Whigs.  But  the 
new  Ministers  were  no 
more  pliable  than  the 
old  ;  and  a  series  of 
prosecutions  against 
prominent  Chartists 
forced  the  movement 
to  assume  a  subterra- 
nean   character.     Its 


"YOUR  MAJESTY!":  ANNOUNCING   TO   PRINCESS  VICTORIA  THE  FACT  OF  HER  ACCESSION 

On  the  death  of  King  William  IV.  at  Windsor  Castle  in  1837,  his  niece,  Princess  Victoria,  succeeded  to  the  throne. 
Riding'  through  the  night  from  Windsor  to  Kensington  Palace,  Dr.  Howley,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  the 
Marquess  of  Conyngham.  Lord  Chamberlain,  awakened  the  young  girl  about  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  tell  her  that 
she  was  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.     This  dramatic  incident  is  admirably  represented  in  the  above  picture. 

l-/.'ij.  ilie  ijaiiuing  by  .Mary  L.  Gow,  by  pcrinibsioii  of  the  Berlin  I'liotojjr.iiiliie  Co. 
4812 


QUEEN     VICTORIA     IN     HER     CORONATION     ROBES 
Succeeding    to    the    throne    in    1837,   at    the    early    ag-e    of   eighteen    years,     Queen    Victoria    was    crowned    at 
Westminster   Abbey   on   June  28th,  1838.      The    youthful  queen    of    Great   Britain    and  Ireland  is    in   this  picture 
represented  in  her  coronation  robes,  standing  in  the  dawn  of  the  longest  and  most  glorious  reig^n  in  the  nation's  history. 

rrom   the   paiming   by   Sir  Gcc>rji<'    H.t\-tcr 

4813 


4814 


4^15 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


if  necessary,  to  check  the  march  of  the  pro- 
ci^ssion.  The  Chartist  leaders  were  cowed, 
and  contented  themselves  with  submitting 
their  petition  for  the  third  time.  A  large 
number  of  the  signatures,  which  had  been 
estimated  at  5,000,000.  turned  out  to  be 
fictitious ;  and  amidst  the  ridicule  ex- 
cited  by  this  discovery  the  Charter  and 
Chartists  slipped  into  oblivion. 

The  collapse  of  Chartism  was  significant, 
for  the  great  Chartist  demonstration  was 
contemporaneous  with  a  series  of  revo- 
lutionary movements  on  the  Continent. 
It  meant  that  in  England  the  people  at 


were  the  product  of  the  great  war.  They 
had  been  established  for  the  protection  of 
the  agricultural  interest,  and  had  alto- 
gether excluded  foreign  corn  from  the 
English  market  except  while  the  price  ol 
English  corn  stood  above  eighty  shillings, 
so  that  the  price  of  bread  was  maintained 
at  a  very  high  figure.  A  modification  had 
been  introduced,  by  which  duties  were 
imposed  on  foreign  corn,  in  place  of  the 
import  being  prohibited,  while  home- 
grown corn  stood  below  eighty  shillings, 
the  amount  of  the  duty  falling  as  the 
price  of  English  corn  rose,  and  vice  versa. 


THE    CORONA  nON     PROCESSION    OF    QUEEN    VICTORIA 

i  ]■>'}. i  the  dr.iwingby  Champion 


large  declined  to  believe  in  physical  force 
as  the  necessary  means  to  attaining 
political  reforms,  preferring  the  methods 
of  constitutional  agitation.  Chartism  dis- 
solved itself  in  the  fiasco  of  1848.  But 
the  pohtical  demands  of  the  Chartists 
were  adopted  by  constitutional  reformers, 
and  were  in  great  part  conceded  during 
the  following  half  century — though  they 
have  not  brought  the  millennium.  The 
episode  emphasised  the  sobriety  of  the 
masses  ;  and  the  result  was  probably  in 
measure  due  to  the  improvement  in  the  con- 
ditions of  the  industrial  population  owing 
1  )  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws  in  1846. 
We  have  remarked  that  the  Corn  Laws 
4816 


But  this  did  not  remove  the  obvious  fact 
that  the  cost  of  the  staple  food  of  the 
working  classes  was  kept  high  artificially, 
in  order  to  benefit  or  preserve  the  agri- 
cultural interest.  Apart  from  philan- 
thropic considerations  —  though  these 
carried  their  due  weight  in  many  quarters — 
the  capitalist  manufacturers,  now  the  dom- 
inant power  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
began  to  perceive  that  if  the  price  of 
bread  fell  the  operatives  could  live  on  a 
lower  money  wage,  that  the  wages  bill 
would  be  lowered,  and  with  it  the  cost  of 
production  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  middle 
classes  saw  that  their  ow^n  interests  would  be 
served  by  the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws. 


THE    BRITISH    ERA    OF    REFORM 


The  Anti-Corn  Law  League,  first  formed 
in  1838,  owed  its  existence  to  a  serious 
depression  of  the  manufacturing  indus- 
tries. Cobden,  Bright,  and  others  of  the 
leading  organisers  were  philanthropists 
who  saw  the  iniquity  of  artificially  main- 
taining the  price  of  food  when  wages  were 
low  and  employment  uncertain.  They 
recruited  their  supporters  to  a  great 
extent  among  the  starving  operatives  of 
the  North  and  Midlands.  But  the  funds 
for  the  Free  Trade  campaign  were  largely 


their  own  prospective  ruin.  The  working 
classes,  however,  were  not  convinced  by 
the  Chartist  doctrine,  and  felt  that  if 
bread  were  cheaper  life  would  be  easier. 
An  Irish  famine  completed  the  conversion 
of  the  Conservative  leader.  Sir  Robert 
Peel,  who  had  already  been  agitating  his 
party  for  Free  Trade  measures  and  the 
removal  or  reduction  of  duties  protecting 
British  industries.  He  took  a  number  of 
his  colleagues  with  him,  but  not  the  party 
as  a  whole.    Peelites  and  Whigs  together 


QUEEN    VICTORIAS    FIRST    OFFICIAL    VISIT    TO    THE    CITY    OF    LONDON 
The  £rst  official  visit  of  Queen  Victoria  to  the  City  of  London  was  on  Lord  Mayor's  Day,  November  9th,  18:!7,  and  in 
this  picture  her  carriage  is  seen  passing  Temple  Bar  on  the  way  to  the  Guildhall     The  picture  is  interesting  not  only 
on  account  of  its  historic  value,  but  also  by  reason  of  the  glimpse  which  it  gives  of  a  part  of  London  now  entirely  altered. 


supplied  by  manufacturers.  There  was  no 
thought  of  giving  to  the  masses  the 
franchise  as  a  means  of  self-protection. 
Accordingly,  the  extreme  Chartists  hated 
the  Free  Traders,  and  openly  opposed  their 
propaganda,  on  the  ground  that  the 
charter  would  secure  to  the  people  all, 
and  more  than  all,  that  was  hoped  from 
the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws.  The  class 
character  of  the  Free  Trade  agitation 
was  a  source  of  weakness,  because  the 
working-class  agitators  did  not  believe 
that  the  labouring  class  would  benefit  by 
it  ;    while  the  landed  interest  saw  in  it 


carried  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  but 
had  hardly  done  so  when  the  Protectionists 
and  extreme  Radicals  combined  to  defeat 
the  Ministry,  and  Peel's  career  as  Prime 
Minister  was  closed.  The  Whigs,  sup- 
ported by  Peelites,  assumed  the  govera- 
ment,  and  were  presently  combined  in 
the  Liberal  party. 

Colonial  development  has  been  dealt  with 
in  detail  elsewhere ;  but  certain  points  must 
here  be  noticed.  During  the  period  under 
consideration  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
Indian  peninsula  passed  under  the  British 
dominion  as  a  result  of  the  great  Mahratta 

4817 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


nar  ;  while  the  first  Burmese  war  added 
territories  beyond  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 
Under  Bentinck's  rule,  progress  was  made 
in  the  organisation  of  administration  and 
the  development  of  education.  On  the 
north-west,  however,  the  aggression  of 
Persia,  more  or  less  under  the  agis  of 
Russia,  produced  British 
intervention  in  the  affairs 
of  Afghanistan,  with  dis- 
astrous consequences,  of 
which  the  evil  effects  were 
at  any  rate  diminished  by 
the  skilful  operations  of 
Pollock  and  Knott.  In  the 
same  decade,  however,  the 
British  supremacy  was 
challenged  by  the  Sikh 
armyof  thePimjab.  Beaten 
in  the  first  struggle,  the 
Sikhs  were  renewing  their 
challenge  in  1848,  when 
Lord  Dalhousie  arrived  in 
India  to  take  up  the  gage  ^ 
of    battle    and   extend  the 


in  North  America,  with  the  exception  of 
Newfoundland,  as  states  of  the  Canadian 
Dominion.  The  foundation  was  laid  for 
that  system  under  which  the  colony  was 
no  longer  to  be  treated  as  a  subordinate 
section  of  the  empire,  but  was  to  receive 
full  responsible  government — a  govern- 
ment, that  is,  in  which  the 
Ministers  are  responsible  to 
the  representative  assem- 
blies as  Ministers  in  England 
are  responsible  to  Parlia- 
ment ;  to  become,  in  fact, 
mutatis  imitandis,  a  counter- 
part of  the  United  Kingdom, 
practically  independent  ex- 
cept in  matters  affecting 
war  and  peace.  Canada, 
indeed,  did  not  immediately 
achieve  this  status  even 
after  the  Act  of  Reunion  ; 
but  that  Act  may  be  re- 
garded as  initiating  the 
change  which  has  since 
been  carried  out  in  nearly 


PRINCE     ALBERT 

British  dominion,  in  1849,  "^^^  y'^ungfer  son  of  the  Duke  of  Saxe-  all  the  British  colonies  where 
over  the  Land  of  the  Five  ^:^::^iS:^.'^^S^X  the  white  population  has 
Rivers  up  to  the  mountain  and  were  married  in  i84o,  the  Prince  then  ccascd  to  bear  the  character 
passes,  thus  completing  the  receiving  the  title  of  Royal  Highness,  ^f  ^  garrisou.  Of  the 
ring-fence  of  mountain  and  ocean  girdhng  religious  movements  in  this  period  some 
the  British  Empire  in  India.  account  will  be  found  in  a  late^  chapter 

In  Australia  the  settlements,  which  at     of  this  section.   But  we  have  still  to  review 


first  had  been  penal  in  character,  were 
assuming  the  form  of  true  colonies,  but 
were  not  yet  emancipated.  In  South 
_  .        Africa,    transferred    to    Great 

IhC    Union      r,    ■.      ■  ^J.      i    .^        tvt 

of  British     ^^"i^am  as  a  result  of  the  Napo- 
Colonies       leonic  war,  a  part  of  the  Dutch 
population  —  partly    in    conse- 
quence of  the  abolition  of  slavery — began 


here  a  development  of  English  literature 
which  has  no  parallel  except  in  the  Shake- 
spearean era,  for  the  beginnings  of  which 
we  must  go  back  to  the  Revolution  epoch. 
During  three-fourths  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  classicalism  had  dominated  prose 
and  poetry  alike.  In  place  of  poems, 
satires,   epigrams,   admirable   essays   and 


during  the  fourth  decade  of  the  century  to     dissertations  in  verse  had  been  produced 


remove  itself  beyond  the  sphere  of  British 
interference,  and  to  found  the  com- 
munities which  developed  into  the  Orange 
Free  State  and  the  Transvaal  Republic. 

It  was,  however,  almost  at  the  moment 
of  Queen  Victoria's  accession  that'  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  existing  system  in  the 
colonies  of  Upper,  and  Lower  Canada, 
which  had  been  established  in  the  time  of 
the  younger  Pitt,  reached  an  acute  stage, 
issuing  in  insurrection  and  in  the  dispatch 
of  the  epoch-making  commission  of  Lord 
Durham.  The  report  of  the  commissioner 
was  the  starting-point  virtually  of  a  new 
theory  of  colonial  relations.  It  led 
directly  to  the  Act  of  Reunion  of  1842, 
which  was  gradually  followed  by  the 
federal   union  of  all   the  British   colonies 

4818 


in  abundance  in  strict  accord  with  rigid 
conventions  ;  no  scope  had  been  granted 
to  the  lyrical  utterance  of  passion,  and 
spontaneity  had  been  repressed  as  barbaric 
or  at  least- impolite.  But  the  spirit  which 
was  rousing  itself  to  a  stormy  attack 
on  social  and  political  conventions  was 
not  to  spare  the  conventions  of  literature. 
,  These  were,  indeed,  set  at 
The  Genius     j^^^gj^^  ^y  ^^g  jy^ical  genius 

°  ,  _  of  Robert  Burns,  whose  first 
Robert  Burns        .  c  j  ■ 

volume  of  poems  appeared  lu 

1786.  Burns,  however,  was  not  a  pioneer 
in  the  true  sense— consciously  promul- 
gating a  new  theory.  Essentially  his 
work  was  the  most  splendid  expression 
of  a  poetical  type  which  had  always 
flourished  in  Scotland  outside  the  realms 


THE    BRITISH    ERA    OF    REFORM  * 


of  polite  literature.  But  its  power  and 
fascination  arrested  attention,  and  carried 
the  conviction  that  subjects  forbidden 
by  the  critics  as  vulgar  were  capable  of 
treatment  which  was  undeniably  poetical. 
He  demonstrated  anew  that  the  poet's 
true  function  is  to  appeal  to  the  emotions 
of  men,  and  that  this  may  be  done  through 
the  medium  of  language  which  is  not  at 
all  cultured.  Unlike  Burns,  however,  the 
so-called  "  Lake  School  "  of.  Wordsworth 
and  Coleridge  were  conscious  exponents  of 
a  theory  which  defied  the  crit- 
f  Gel\  ^^^^  dogmas  of  the  day.  But 
p  '**  Coleridge's  practice  contra- 
dicted a  part  of  his  own  theory, 
and  when  Wordsworth  acted  upon  it  in  its 
entirety,  he  did  not  write  poetry.  Their 
revolt  against  artificial  language  and 
artificial  restrictions  of  subject  led  them 
virtually  to  affirm  that  the  best  poetry 
may  treat  of  commonplace  matters  in 
commonplace  language. 

The  paradox  becomes  obvious  when  we 
perceive  that  Coleridge  is  never  common- 
place, and  that  it  is  precisely  when  he  is 
not  commonplace  that  Wordsworth  is 
great,  though  unfortunately  he  never 
recognised  that  truth  himself.  The  familiar 


fact  must  yield  the  unfamiliar  thought  ; 
the  familiar  terms  must  combine  in  the 
unfamiliar  phrases  which  stamp  themselves 
upon  the  mind.  The  current  criticism  erred, 
not  in  condemning  the  commonplace,  but 
in  identifying  the  commonplace  with  the 
superficially  familiar,  and  treating  con- 
ventions as  fundamental  laws  of  art. 
Til  at  these  were  errors  was  conclusively 
proved  by  the  practice  rather  than  by  th(; 
critical  expositions  of  the  Lake  school. 
The  volume  of  "  Lyrical  Ballads,"  which 
contained  "  Tintern  Abbey"  and  the 
"  Ancient  Mariner,"  was  a  sufficient 
refutation  of  the  orthodox  doctrines. 

The  poetical  work  which  was  produced 
in  the  twenty-six  years-  which  passed 
between  the  publication  of  the  "  Lyrical 
Ballads,"  1798,  and  the  death  of  Byron, 
1824,  travelled  far  enough  from  the 
standards  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Within  that  period  Sir  Walter  Scott 
adapted  the  old  ballad  form  to  metrical 
narrative,  and  turned  men's  minds  back 
to  revel  in  the  gorgeous  aspect  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  somewhat  forgetful  of  their 
ugly  side.  Byron  burst  upon  the  public, 
an  avowed  rebel,  whose  tragic  poses  were 
unfortunately  only  too  easy  of  imitation 


A    ROYAL     ROMANCE  :    THE     MARRIAGE    OF    QUEEN    VICTORIA    IN     1840 
The  interesting  ceremony  represented  in  the  above  picture  took  place  at  the  Chapel  Royal,  St.  James's,  on  February 
10th,  1840.     Queen  Victoria  was  then  in  her  twenty-first  year,  while  Prince  Albert  was  three  months  her  junior. 


From  the  painting  by  Sir  George  Hayter 


4819 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


by  a  host  of  self-conscious  rhymesters,  and 
gave  vice  a  morbid  picturesqueness  ;  but 
redeemed  himself  by  tlie  genuineness  of 
his  passion  for  liberty,  and  died  at  Misso- 
longhi  fighting  for  the 
liberation  of  Greece. 
Shelley,  a  rebel  of  another 
kind,  shocked  the  world 
by  his  Promethean  defi- 
ance of  an  unjust  God,  of 
tyranny  in  every  form, 
but  was,  in  fact,  the 
prophet  not  of  atheism 
and  materialism,  but  of 
an  intensely  spiritual 
pantheism ;  the  most 
ethereal,  most  intangible, 
most  exquisite  among  the 
masters  of  song.  John 
Keats  died  when  he  was 
only  five-and-twenty,  but 
he  had  already  lived  long 
enough  to  win  for  him- 
self a  secure  place  in  the 
elysium  of  "  poets  dead 
and  gone."      His  poetry 


RICHARD    COBDEN 


'The  Apostle  of  Free  Trade,"  he  denounced 
as  iniquitous  artificially  to  maintain  the  price 
of  food  when  wages  were   low   and   employ- 


had  already  developed  a  new  type  of  the 
novelist's  art,  in  the  "  Pickwick  Papers  "  ; 
but  his  great  contemporary  and  rival, 
William  Makepeace  Thackeray,  had  not 
yet  achieved  fame  in  this 
field.  The  Bronte  sisters, 
however,  with  "  Wuther- 
ing  Heights"  and  "Jane 
Eyre,"  1847,  had  just 
given  convincing  proof, 
if  any  were  needed  after 
Jane  Austen,  Scott's  con- 
temporary, that  the  novel 
is  a  literary  instrument 
which  woman  can  handle 
as  successfully  as  man. 
By  that  time  all  the  great 
poets  of  the  Revolution 
era  had  passed  away, 
save  Wordsworth,  who 
was  all  but  an  octo- 
genarian ;  but  the  stars 
of  Tennyson  and  Brown- 
ing had  already  appeared 
above  the  horizon. 
The    time    of    ferment 


is  the  practical  expression    ment  uncertain,  and  to  his  labours  was  largely    which  produCCd   thls  OUt- 
,  r  \.    ,  due  the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws  in  1846.    •,  ,       r    -i-,  ,■    ■, 


of     his     own     dictum  : 

"  Beauty  in  truth,  truth  beauty  ;    that  is 

all.  ye  know  on  earth,  and  all  ye  need  to 

know."     Among  great  English  poets  there 

is   no  other  whose  work 

is  so  devoid  of  all  ethical 

element,   none   in  whom 

the  sense  of  pure  beauty 

is  so  overmastering  or  its 

rendering  more  perfect. 

Among  the  poets  whom 
we  have  named,  Byron's 
influence  alone  was  Euro- 
pean ;  but  that  influence 
pales  by  the  side  of 
Walter  Scott's  in  the 
realm  of  prose  romance. 
There  were  novelists 
before  Scott,  but  it  was 
he  who  gave  to  the  novel 
that  literary  predomin- 
ance which  at  one  time 
characterised  the  drama. 
Practically  it  was  he  who 


burst  of  literary  activity 
was  also  responsible  for  two  new  movements 
of  English  thought,  the  utihtarian  and  the 
idealist.      Utilitarianism   is   the    sceptical 
,    and    inductive    spirit    of 
such  eighteenth  -  century 
thinkers  as  David  Hume, 
I  applied   to  the   study  of 
morals  and  social  institu- 
tions.      The    movement 
began   with    the    French 
Encyclopaedists  ;  it  came 
to    England  through 
Jeremy  Bentham,  1748- 
1832,  than  whom  no  man 
has  exercised  a  more  far- 
reaching  influence  on  the 
thought  or  government  of 
modern    England.     Most 
of  the  social  and  political 
reforms     which     charac- 
terise the  early  Victorian 
era    were    suggested    by 
Bentham.   His  two  great 


JOHN    BRIGHT 

revealed  the  capacities  of  Along  with  Cobden  and  others  in  the  agitation  works,  the  "Fragment  on 

prose    romance  'for    the  against  the  Com  Laws,  John  Bright  used  Government,"    1776,  and 

yLKjjy^      1  wiiiu-iiv^v-      xKJi       i-iiv^    his great  eloqueuce  both  in  Parliament  and  OH  i,  n   ■       •    i           r  n/r         i- 

portravalof  character  and  the  public  platform  to  further  the  cause  of  Free  the     Prmciplcs  ot  Morals 


of  picturesque  incident, 
through  the  amazing  achievement  of  the 
series  of  "Waverley  Novels,"  whereof  the 
first  appeared  in  18 14.  Before  the  close  of 
our  period,  the  genius  of  Charles  Dickens 

4820 


Trade.       He  held    office  in  later  Ministries 


and  Legislation,"  1789, 
belong  chronologically  to  the  age  of  the 
Revolution  ;  but  it  was  only  in  later  life 
that  Bentham  became  a  prophet  among 
his  own  people.     His  greatest  disciple  was 


THE    CHRISTENING    OF    THE    PRINCESS    ROYAL    AT    BUCKINGHAM    PALACE    IN     K40 

Froiu  the  paintin  ^  by  C.  R.  Leslie 


CHRISTENING    THE     PRINCE     OF     WALES,     THE     PRESENT     KING     EDWARD,     IN     1S41 

From  llie  painting  l>y  Sir  Gcrge   H.rytcr 


DOMESTIC     EVENTS     IN     THE     LIFE    OF    QUEEN     VICTORIA 


4821 


Robert  Burns,  1759-96  William  Wordsworth,  1770-1850  S.  T.  Coleridge,  1772-1  s:S4 


W.  M.  Thackeray,  1811-63 


Charles  Dickens,  1812-70 


Charlotte  Bronte,  l,sUi-5.j 


GREAT    MEN    AND    WOMEN    OF    LETTERS    FROM    BURNS    TO    CHARLOTTE    BRONTE 
4822 


THE    BRITISH    ERA    OF    REFORM 


John  Stuart  Mill,  1806-1873,  whose  versa- 
tile genius  never  showed  to  more  advantage 
than  when  he  was  handling  social  questions 
in    Bentham's    spirit.      Milf  was   not    so 
rigorous  a  thinker  as  Bentham  :    but  the 
mora!  enthusiasm  of  the  younger  man,  his 
power    of    exposition,    and    his    suscepti- 
bility to  the  best  ideas  of  his  time    gave 
him  the  resi)ectful  attention  of  all  thought- 
tuj   minds.      What   Bentham  did  for  the 
theory    of    legislation.    Mill    did    for    the 
theory  of  wealth.     Mill's  "Political  Eco- 
nomy,"    1848,     although     largely     based 
upon  the  investigations  of  Adam  Smith, 
Ricardo,   and  Malthus,   marks  an  era  in 
the  history  of  that  science.     Mill  was  the 
first   to  define  with  accuracy  the  proper 
limits  of  economic  study. 
He  originated  a  number 
of     new    theories.       He 
diagnosed    the    economic 
evils  of  his  time  and  sug- 
gested practical  remedies. 
Above    all,    however,    he 
was  the  first  to  see   the 
parts  of  economic  science 
in  their  true  pro})ortions 
and  to  connect  them   as 
an   ordered  whole.     The 
tendency  of   modern 
thought  is  to  belittle  the 
deductive  school  of  econo- 
mists  which   Mill    repre- 
sents ;    but  his  claim   to 
be  regarded  as  the  classic 
of  that  school  has  never 

SIR    WALTER 


been  disputed.   Similarlv,    .        ^      .        ,.  .  c-    .. 

1         ■,  ■       f  ■    ■  '       As  poet  and  novelist   Scott  occupies 

by    his     later    WntmgS    on    place   among  the  worlds  writers. 


trade  of  the  Tractarians,   whose  attempt 
to   imbue   Anglican   dogmas  with   a  new 
significance  and  to  destroy  the  insularity 
of   the    Established   Church   is   the   most 
remarkable   phenomenon  in  the  religious 
history  of  modern  England.    The  idealists 
found  a   })owerful  though  erratic  ally  in 
Thomas  Carlyle,  1795-1881.     In  literature 
a    romantic    of    the    most    lawless    sort, 
unequalled  in  power  of  ]?hrase,  in  pictorial 
imagination,  and  in  dramatic  humour,  but 
totally    deficient    in    architectonic    skill. 
Carlyle  wrote  one  history,  "  The  French 
Revolution,"   1837,   and  two  biographies, 
"  Cromwell,"       1S45,       "  Frederick      the 
Great,"  1858-1865,  of  surpassing  interest. 
But    his    most    characteristic    utterances 
are  to  be  found  in  "  Sartor 
Resartus,"    1833,    and 
Heroes    and    Hero- 
Worship,"  1841,  the  first 
a     biting     attack     upon 
formalism  and  dogma,  the 
second    a    vindication   of 
the    importance   of   indi- 
vidual genius  in  maintain- 
ing and  in  reforming  the 
social     fabric.      Carlyle's 
gospel     of     labour     and 
silence,  and  his  preference 
for  the  guidance  of  instinct 
as    opposed    to    that    of 
conscious  reflection,  have 
exercised  a  great,  though 
indeterminate,     influence 
upon  man\  thinkers  who 
are  unconscious  of  their 

a  unique     ,    ,   .     ,       ,   ■ 
From  his   det:)t   tO   hUU. 

Carlvle's  characteristics 


SCOTT 


I  iKfir+T7  "         T^iTi  anrl    fertile  pen  ca.me  a  rich  library  of  stirring  tales 

l.iueity,  ^^y),        d-llU   ^11    aglow  with    the    magic    of   romance    and 

'  Representative  Govern-  revealing  a  creative  genius  unmatched  since  can  hardly  be  brought  out 

„         i.  "    ^01^        -u       u  Shakespeare.     Born  in  1771,  he  died  in  1S32.  '^  -ji  ai     „       u 

ment,     1860,  he  became  ^  more     vividly    than     by 

placing  his  work  beside  that  of  Thomas 


the  accredited  exponent  of  Enghsh 
Liberalism ;  while  his  essay  on  "  Utili- 
tarianism," i86r,  by  giving  a  larger  and 
less  material  interpretation  to  Bentham's 
formula,  "  the  greatest  happiness  of  the 
greatest  number,"  did  much  to  bring  out 
the  common  basis  of  belief  on  which 
Liberals  and  idealists  have  conducted 
their  long  controversy.  ■ 

The  idealist  movement  begins  with 
Coleridge,  whose  philosophic  writings, 
notably  the  "  Aids  to  Reflection,"  pub- 
lished in  1825,  although  fragmentary  and 
unsystematic,  are  the  first  sign  of  a 
reaction  among  English  metaphysicians 
against  Hume's  disintegrating  criticism. 
In  a  diluted  and  theological  form  the  new 
tenets    formed    the    intellectual    stock    in 


Babington  Macaulay,  no  idealist,  but  a 
typical  Whig,  whose  clear-cut  antithetical 
style  made  him  the  past-master  of  popular 
exposition,  and  the  still  prevalent  model 
for  the  essayist  and  the  historian. 

Finally,  we  note  the  appearance  of  John 
Ruskin,  whose  "  Modern  Painters  "  began 
to  appear  in  1842.  Entering  the  literary 
field  primarily  as  a  critic  of  the  arts  of 
painting  and  architecture,  Ruskin  extended 
his  criticism,  constructive  and  destructive, 
to  literature  and  economics,  the  essential 
characteristic  of  his  teaching  being  insist- 
ence on  the  ethical  basis  o."  all  human 
energies  :  teaching  expressed  with  unsur- 
passed eloquence. 

H.  W.  C.  Davis;  -A.  D.  Innes 

4823 


AS    SEEN    FROM    THE    FANALE    MARITTIMO    LIGHTHOUSE 


THE    TOWN     AND     HARBOUR     VIEWED     FROM     THE     NORTH  -  EAST 


Photochrome 


TRIESTE,     THE     CHIEF     SEAPORT     OF     AUSTRIA  ■  HUNGARY 


4824 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

AFTER 

WATERLOO 

III 


THE  REACTION  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

AND  THE  ASCENDANCY  OF  METTERNICH 


'"FHE  Austrian  state,  totally  disor- 
*  ganjsed  by  the  period  of  the  French 
Revolution  and  Napoleonic  wars,  had 
nevertheless  succeeded  in  rounding  off 
its  territories  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna. 
In  internal  affairs  Francis  I.  and  Metter- 
nich  tried  as  far  as  possible  to  preserve 
the  old  order  of  things  ;  they  wished  for 
an  absolute  monarchy,  and  favoured  the 
privileged  classes.  There  was  no  more 
tenacious  supporter  of  what  was  old,  no 
more  persistent  observer  of  routine  than 
the  good  Emperor  Francis.  He  was  an 
absolute  ruler  in  the  spirit  of  conservatism. 

He  saw  a  national  danger  in  any  move- 
ment of  men's  minds  which  deviated  from 
the  letter  of  his  commands,  hated  from 
the  first  all  innovations,  and  ruled  his 
people  from  the  Cabinet.  He  delighted  to 
travel  through  his  dominions,  and  receive 
the  joyful  greetings  of  his  loyal  subjects, 
since  he  laid  the  highest  value  on  popu- 
^  ^  .  larity  ;  notwithstanding  all  his 
-.  ^"^  keenness  of  observation  and 
P*"**  *".  his  industry,  he  possessed  no 
ideas  of  his  own.  Even  Metter- 
nich  was  none  too  highly  gifted  in  this 
respect.  Francis  made,  at  the  most,  only 
negative  use  of  the  abundance  of  his 
supreme  power.  Those  who  served  him 
were  bound  to  obey  him  blindlv  :  but  he 
lacked  the  vigour  and  strength  of  character 
for  great  and  masterful  actions ;  his 
thoughts  and  wishes  were  those  of  a 
permanent  official.  Like  Frederic  William 
HI.,  he  loathed  independent  characters, 
men  of  personal  views,  and  he  therefore 
treated  his  brothers  Charles  and  John 
with  unjustified  distrust. 

The  only  member  of  his  family  really 
acceptable  to  him  was  his  youngest 
brother,  the  narrow-minded  and  character- 
less Lewis.  On  the  other  hand,  Francis 
was  solicitous  for  the  spread  of  beneficial 
institutions,  and  for  the  regulation  of  the 
legal  system  ;  in  1811  he  introduced  the 
"  Universal  Civil  Code,"  and  in  so  doing 
completed    the    task    begun    by    Maria 


Theresa  and  Joseph  II.  His  chief  defect 
was  his  love  of  trifling  details,  which  de- 
prived him  of  any  comprehensive  view  of 
a  subject  ;  and  his  constant  interference 
with'  the  business  of  the  Council  of  State 
prevented  any  svstematic  conduct  of  affairs. 
.        .  ,  Francis  owed  it  to  Metternich 

„.  ,  „  ...  that  Austria  once  more  held 
High  Position   ,,  1,-    1       -  •.• 

.     r  the      highest      position      in 

in  Europe  „  «  /u        r  1    j 

Europe:  he  was  thereioreglad 

to  entrust  him  with  the  management  of 
foreign  policy  while  he  contented  himself 
with  internal  affairs.  Metternich  was  the 
centre  of  European  diplomacy  ;  but  he 
was  only  a  diplomatist,  no  statesman  like 
Kaunitz  and  Felix  Schwarzenberg.  He 
did  not  consolidate  the  new  Austria  tor  the 
future,  but  only  tried  to  check  the  wheel 
of  progress  and  to  hold  the  reins  with 
the  assistance  of  his  henchman  Gentz  ; 
everything  was  to  remain  stationary. 

The  police  zealously  helped  to  main- 
tain this  principle  of  government,  and 
prosecuted  every  free-thinker  as  sus- 
pected of  democracy.  Austria  was  in 
the  fullest  sense  a  country  of  police  ; 
it  supported  an  army  of  "  mouchards  " 
and  informers.  The  post-office  officials 
disregarded  the  privacy  of  letters,  spies 
watched  teachers  and  students  in  the 
academies  ;  even  such  loyal  Austrians  as 
Grillparzer  and  Zedlitz  came  into  collision 
with  the  detectives.  The  censorship  was 
blindly  intolerant  and  pushed  its  inter- 
ference to  extremes.  Public  education, 
from  the  university  down  to  the  village 
school,  suffered  under  the  suspicious 
tutelage  of  the  authorities  ;  school  and 
Church  alike  were  unprogres- 
sive.  The  provincial  estates, 
both  in  the  newly-acquired 
and  in  the  recovered  Crown 
lands,  were  ins'gnificant,  leading,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  a  shadowy  existence, 
V  hich  reflected  the  depressed  condition  of 
the  population.  But  Hungary,  which, 
since  the  time  when  Maria  Theresa  was 
hard  pressed,  had  insisted  on  its  national 

4825 


Reign  of 
Suspicion  and 
Espionage 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Szechenyi  "  the 

Greatest  of 

the  Hungarians" 


independence,  was  not  disposed  to  descend 
i>om  its  h-ight  to  the  g-neral  insignificance 
of  the  other  Crown  lands,  and  th;  Archduke 
Palatine,  Joseph,  thoroughly  shared  this 
id.^a.  It  was  therefore  certain  that  soon 
there  would  be  an  embittered  struggle  with 
th-^  government  at  Vienna, 
which  wished  to  render  the 
constitution  of  Hungary  as 
unreal  as  that  of  Carniola 
and  Tyrol.  The  indignation  found  its 
expression  chiefly  in  the  assemblies  of 
the  counties,  which  boldly  contradicted 
the  arbitrary  and  stereotyped  commands 
from  Vienna,  while  a  group  of  the  nobility 
itself  supported  the  view  that  the  people, 
hitherto  excluded  from  political  life, 
should  share  in  the  movement.  In  the 
Reichstag  of  1825  this  group  spoke  very 
distinctly  against  the  exclu- 
sive rule  of  the  nobility. 
The  violent  onslaught  of  the 
Reichstag  against  the  Govern- 
ment led,  it  is  true,  to  no 
result;  the  standard-bearer  of 
that  g  "oup  was  Count  Stephen 
Szechenyi,  whom  his  antago- 
nist, Kossuth,  called  "  the 
greatest  of  the  Hungarians." 
The  Archduke  Rainer,  to 
whom  the  viceroyalty  of  the 
ItaHan  possessions  had  been 
entrusted,  was  animated  by 
the  best  intention  of  pro- 
moting the  happiness  of  ths 
Lombard- Venetian  kingdom, 
and  of  familiarising  the 
Italians  with  the  Austrian 
rule  ;  but  he  was  so  hampered 
by  instructions  from  Vienna  that  he  could 
not  exercise  any  marked  influence  on  the 
Government.  The  Italians  would  hear 
nothing  of  the  advantages  of  the  Austrian 
rule,  opposed  all  "  Germanisation,"  and 
prided  themselves  on  their  old  nationality. 
Literature,  the  Press,  and  secret  societies 
aimed  at  national  objects  and  encouraged 
independence,  while  Metternich  thought 
of  an  Italian  confederation  on  the  German 
model,  and  under  the  headship  of  Austria. 
It  was  also  very  disastrous  that  the 
leading  circles  at  Vienna  regarded  Italy 
as  the  chief  support  of  the  whole  policy 
of  the  empire,  and  yet  failed  to  understand 
the  great  diversity  of  social  and  political 
conditions  in  the  individual  states  of  the 
peninsula.  Metternich,  on  the  other  hand, 
employed  every  forcible  means  to  oppose 
the  national  wishes,  which  he  regarded, 

4826 


FRANCIS  I.  CF  AUSTRIA 
He  succeeded  his  father,  Leopold 
II.,  as  Emperor  of  Germany,  but 
in  1804  he  renounced  the  title  of 
German-Roman  Emperor,  retain- 
ing that   of  Emperor   of  Austria. 


both  there  and  in  Germany,  as  outcomes 
of  the  revolutionary  spirit.  Yet  the  hopes 
of  the  nations  on  both  sides  of  the  Alps 
were  not  being  realised  ;  the  "  Golden 
Age  "  had  still  to  come. 

The  condition  of  the  Austrian  finances 
was  deplorable.  Since  the  year  1811, 
when  Count  Joseph  Wallis,  the  Finance 
Minister,  had  devised  a  system  which 
reduced  by  one-fifth  the  nominal  value  of 
the  paper  money — which  had  risen  to  the 
amount  of  1,060,000,000  gulden — per- 
manejit  bankruptcy  had  prevailed.  Silver 
disappeared  from  circulation,  the  national 
credit  fell  very  low,  and  the  revenue  was 
considerably  less  than  the  expenditure, 
which  was  enormously  increased  by  the 
long  war.  In  the  year  1814  Count 
Stadion,  the  former  Minister  of  the 
Interior,  undertook  the  thank- 
less duties  of  Minister  of 
Finance.  He  honestly  exerted 
himself  to  improve  credit, 
introduce  a  fixed  monetary 
standard,  create  order  on  a 
consistent  plan,  and  with 
competent  colleagues  to  de- 
velop the  economic  resources 
of  the  nation.  But  various 
financial  measures  were  neces- 
sary before  the  old  paper 
money  could  be  withdrawn 
en  bloc,  and  silver  once  more 
put  into  circulation.  New 
loans  had  to  be  raised,  which 
increased  the  burden  of  in- 
terest, in  the  years  1816  to 
1823,  from  9,000,000  gulden 
to  24,000,000,  and  the  annual 
expenditure  for  the  national  debt  from 
12,000,000  to  50,000,000.  The  National 
Bank,  opened  in  1817,  afforded  efficient 
help.  If  Stadion  did  not  succeed  in 
remodelling  the  system  of  indirect  taxes, 
and  if  the  reorganisation  of  the  land- 
tax  proceeded  slowly,  the  attitude  of 
Hungary  greatly  added  to  the  difficulties 
of  the  position  of  the  great  Minister  of 
reform,  who  died  in  May,  1824.  The  state 
of  the  Emperor  Francis  was 
naturally  the  Promised  Land 
of  custom-house  restrictions 
and  special  tariffs  ;  industry 
and  trade  were  closely  barred  in.  In 
vain  did  clear-headed  politicians  advise 
that  all  the  hereditary  dominions,  ex- 
cepting Hungary,  should  make  one 
customs  district  ;  although  the  Govern- 
ment built  commercial  roads  and  canals, 


The  Promised 
Land  of 
Restrictions 


THE  REACTION  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 


still  the  trade  of  th-  empire  with  foreign 
countries  was  stagnant.  Trieste  never 
became  for  Austria  that  which  it  might 
have  been  ;  it  was  left  for  Karl  Ludwig 
von  Bruck  of  Elberfeld  to  mak^  it  in 
1833,  a  focus  of  the  trade 
of  the  world  by  foundinc: 
the  Austrian-Lloyd  Ship 
ping  Company.  Rfd 
tape  prevailed  in  the 
army,  innovations  were 
shunned,  and  the  reforms 
of  the  Archduke  Charles 
were  interrupted.  This 
was  the  outlook  in 
Austria,  the  "  Faubourg 
St.  Germain  of  Europe." 
Were  things  better  in 
the  rival  state  of  Prussia  ? 
Frederic  William  III.  was 
the  type  of  a  homely 
bourgeois,  a  man  of 
sluggish  intellect  and  of 
a  cold  scepticism,  which 
contrasted    sharply   with 


its  opponents,  although  the  old  tutelage 
of  the  Church  under  the  supreme  bishop 
of  the  country  still  continued  to  be  felt, 
and  Frederic  William,  both  in  the  secular 
and  spiritual  domain,  professed  an  abso- 
lutism which  did  not 
care  to  see  district  and 
provincial  synods  estab- 
lished by  its  side.  The 
union,  indeed,  produced 
no  peace  in  the  Church, 
but  became  the  pretext 
for  renewed  quarrels ; 
nevertheless  it  was  intro- 
duced into  Nassau, 
P>aden,  the  Bavarian 
Palatinate,  Anhalt,  and 
a  part  of  Hesse  in  the 
same  way  as  into  Prussia. 
The  king  wished  to  give 
to  the  Catholic  Church 
also  a  systematised  and 
profitable  development, 
and  therefore  entered 
mto      negotiations     with 


METTERNICH     IN     LATER     LIKE 

the  patriotic  fire'and  self-   ^l:''"r'^VTN^''T  °' ■'^T.Tt^^^^^^^  Cuna,    which    were 

i    .               r     1  •                             after  the  fall  of  Napoleon  in  181.j  stands  out  j       i.    j      u         +1 

devotion     of     his     people,    prominently  in  the  history  of  the  period.     He  COndUCtCd      by     tllC      am- 

His    main    object    was    to    was  the  centre  of  European  diplomacy,  but  he  baSSador        Barthold        G. 

secure    tranquillity ;    the  ""^^  °"'y  ^  diplomatist  and  not  a  statesman.  Niebuhr,  a  great  historian 
storm  of  the  war  of  liberation,  so  foreign       but  weak  diplomatist.  Niebuhr  and  Alten- 


to  his  sympathies,  had  blown  over,  and 
he  now  wished  to  govern  his  kingdom 
in  peace.  Religious  questions  interested 
him  more  than 
those  of  politics ; 
he  was  a  positive 
Christian,  and  it 
was  the  wish  of 
his  heart  to 
amalgamate  the 
Lutheran  and 
the  Reformed 
Churches,  an  at- 
tempt to  which 
the  spirit  of  the 
age  seemed  very 
f  a  V  c  u  r  a  b  1 1 
When  the  tri- 
centenary of  the 
Reformation  was 
commemorated 


Szucht-nyi 


Josepa 
LEADERS    OF    HUNGARIAN     INDEPENDENCE 
Insisting:  on  its   national  independence,  Hungary  was  unwilling  to 
descend  to  the  insignificance  of  the  other  Crown  lands  under  Austria, 
in  the  year  1817,     and  both  the  Archduke  Palatine,  Joseph,  and  Count  Stephen  Sztxhenyi 

he    appealed    for    assisted  the  movement  in  assembUes  and  elsewhere.  Szechenyl  was  de-     Paderbom,  BreS- 
the  union  of   the    scribed  by  his  antagonist  Kossuth  as  "the  greatest  of  the  Hungarians."    |^^^^     Kulm,    and 

Ermeland  bishoprics,  each  with  a  clerical 
seminary.  The      cathedral      chapters 


stein,  the  Minister  of  Public  Worship,  made 
too  many  concessions  to  the  Curia,  and 
were    not    a     match    for    Consalvi,    the 

Cardinal  Secre- 
tary of  State. 
On  Jtily  i6th. 
1821,  Pope  Pius 
VIL  issued  the 
Bull,  "  De  salute 
a  n  i  m  a  r  um," 
which  was  fol- 
lowed by  an  ex- 
planatory brief, 
"  Quod  de  fide- 
lium."  The  king 
confirmed  the 
agreement  by  an 
order  of  the  Cabi- 
net ;  Cologne  and 
Posen  became 
archbishoprics, 
Treves,  Munster, 


Iby  hisantagon 

two  confessions,  and  found  much  response. 
The  new  Liturgy  of  182 1,  issued  with  his 
own  concurrence,  found  great  opposition, 
especially  among  the  Old  Lutherans  ;  its 
second  form,  in  1829,  somewhat  conciliated 


were  conceded  the  right  of  electing 
the  bishop,  who,  however,  had  neces- 
sai'ily  to  be  a  persona  grata  to  the  king. 

4827 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  truce  did  not,  indeed,  last  long  ;" 
the  question  of  mixed  marriages  led  to 
renewed  controversy.  Subsequently  to 
1803,  the  principle  held  good  in  the 
eastern  provinces  of  Prussia  that  the 
children  in  disputed  cases  should  follow 
the  religion  of  the  father,  a  view  that 
conflicted  with  a  Bull  of  1741 ;  now,  after 
1825,  the  order  of  1803  was  to 
be  vahd  for  the  Rhine  province, 


The  Problem 
of  Mixed 
Marriages 


which  was  for  the  most  part 
Catholic.  But  the  bishops  of  the 
districts  a})pealed  in  1828  to  Pope  Leo  XII. 
He  and  his  successor,  Pius  VIII.,  con- 
ducted long  negotiations  with  the  Prussian 
ambassador,  Bunsen,  who,  steeped  in  the 
spirit  of  romanticism,  saw  the  surest  pro- 
tection against  the  revolution  in  a  close 
adherence  between  national  governments 
and  the  Curia. 

Pius  VIII.,  an  enemy  of  all  enlighten- 
ment, finally,  by  a  brief  of  1830,  permitted 
the  consecration  of  mixed  marriages  only 
when  a  promise  was  given  that  the  children 
born  from  the  union  would  be  brought 
up  in  the  Catholic  faith  ;  but  the  Prussian 
Government  did  not  accept  the  brief,  and 
matters  soon  came  to  a  dispute  between 
the  Curia  and  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne. 

It  was  excessively  difftcult  to  form  the 
new  Prussian  state  into  a  compact  unity 
of  a  firm  and  flexible  type.  Not  merely 
its  elongated  shape,  its  geographical  inco- 
herency,  and  the  position  of  Hanover  as  an 
excrescence  on  its  body,  but  above  every- 
thing its  composition  out  of  a  hundred 
territorial  fragments  with  the  most  diver- 
sified legislatures  and  the  most  rooted 
dislike  to  centralisation,  the  aversion  of 
the  Rhenish  Catholics  to  be  included  in  the 
state  which  was  Protestant  by  history  and 
character,  and  the  stubbornness  of  the 
Poles  in  the  countries  on  the  Vistula,  quite 
counterbalanced  a  growth  in  population, 
nowmorethan  doubled,  which  was  welcome 
in  itself.  By  unobtrusive  and  successful 
labour  the  greatest  efforts  were  made  to- 

_,      - ,  wards  establishing  some  deeree 

The    New         r        •,  ^,       ■?     ,       j.       '^■, 

p       .  of  unity.     1  he  ideal   of  unity 

cj  could  not  be  universally  realised 

in  the  legal  system  and  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice.  The  inhabitants, 
therefore,  of  the  Rhenish  districts  were  con- 
ceded the  Code  Napoleon,  with  juries  and 
oral  procedure,  but  the  larger  part  of  the 
monarchy  was  given  the  universal  common 
law.  The  narrow-minded  and  meddlesome 
system  of  the  excise  and  the  local  variations 
of  the  land-tax  system  were  intolerable. 

4828 


The  root .  idea  of  the  universal  duty  of 
bearing  arms,  that  pillar  of  the  monarchy, 
was  opposed  on  many  sides.  This  institu- 
tion, which  struck  deeply  into  family  life, 
met  with  especial  opposition  and  discon- 
tent in  the  newly  acquired  provinces.  In 
large  circles  there  prevailed  the  wish  that 
there  should  no  longer  be  a  standing  army. 

But  finally  the  constitution  of  the  army 
was  adhered  to  ;  it  cemented  together  the 
different  elements  of  the  country.  The 
ultimate  form  was  that  of  three  years' 
active  service,  two  years'  service  in  the 
reserve,  and  two  periods  of  service  in  the 
militia,  each  of  seven  years.  The  fact 
that  the  universal  duties  of  bearing  arms 
and  defending  the  country  were  to  be 
permanent  institutions  made  Frederic 
William  suspicious.  His  narrow-minded 
but  influential  brother-in-law,  Duke 
Charles  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  the  sworn 
opponent  of  the  reform  legislation  of  Stein, 
Hardenberg,  andScharnhorst,  induced  him 
to  believe  that  a  revolutionary  party, 
whose  movements  were  obscure,  wanted 
to  employ  the  militia  against  the  throne, 
and  advised,  as  a  counter  precaution,  that 
the  militia  and  troops  of  the 
n-  -A  A  ■  t    ^''^^  should  be  amalgamated. 

V    c     m      -g^^^  ^j^^  originator  of  the  law 

of  defence,  the  Minister  of 
War,  Hermann  von  Boyen,  resolutely 
opposed  this  blissful  necessity.  An  ordin- 
ance of  April  30th,  1815,  divided  Prussia 
into  ten  provinces  ;  but  since  East  and 
West  Prussia,  Lower  Rhine  and  Cleves- 
Berg  were  soon  united,  the  number  was 
ultimately  fixed  at  eight,  which  were 
subdivided  into  administrative  districts. 
Lords-lieutenant  were  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  provinces  instead  of  the 
former  provincial  Ministries.  Their  ad- 
ministrative sphere  was  accurately  defined 
by  a  Cabinet  order  of  November  3rd,  1817  ; 
they  represented  the  entire  Government, 
and  fortunately  these  responsible  posts 
were  held  by  competent  and  occasionally 
prominent  men.  The  amalgamation  of  the 
new  territories  with  Old  Prussia  was 
complete,  both  externally  and  internally, 
howev-er  difficult  the  task  may  have  been 
at  first  in  the  province  of  Saxony  and 
many  other  parts,  and  however  much 
consistency  and  resolution  may  have  been 
wanting  at  headquarters,  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Frederic  William.  But  the 
struggle  with  the  forces  of  local  particu- 
larism was  long  and  obstinate.  The 
great     period     of      Prince     Hardenberg, 


THE    REACTION    IN     CENTRAL    EUROPE 


Chancellor  of  State,  was  over.  He  could 
no  longer  master  the  infinity  of  work 
which  rested  upon  him,  got  entangled  in 
intrigues  and  escapades,  associated  with 
despicable  companions,  and  immediately 
lost  influence  with  the  king,  himself  the  soul 
of  honour  ;  his  share  in  the 
reorganisation  of  Prussia  after 
the  wars  of  liberation  was 
too  small.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  guarded  against  Roman  en- 
croachment, and  assiduously 
worked  at  the  question  of  the 
constitution.  His  zeal  to 
realise  his  intentions  there 
too  frequently  left  the  field 
open  to  the  reactionaries  in 
another  sphere.  Most  of  the 
higher  civil  servants  admired 
the  official  liberalism  of  the 
chancellor,  and  therefore,  like 


order  to  recommend  themselves  to  the 
Governments  as  saviours  of  the  threatened 
society.  The  indignation  at  their  false- 
hoods was  general  ;  there  appeared 
numerous  refutations,  the  most  striking  of 
which  proceeded  from  the  pen  of  Schleier- 
machcr  and  Niebuhr.  The 
Prussian  and  Wiirtemberg 
Governments,  however,  stood 
on  the  side  of  Schmalz  and 
his  companions,  and  rewarded 
his  falsehood  with  a  decora- 
tion and  acknowledgment. 
Frederic  William  HI.,  indeed, 
strictly  forbade,  in  January, 
1816,  any  further  literary 
controversy  about  secret 
combinations,  but  at  the 
same  time  renewed  the  pro- 
hibition on  such  societies,  at 
which  great  rejoicings  broke 


Hardenberg  and  Stein,  ap-  frederic  william  hi.  out  in  Vienna.  He  also  for 
peared  to  the  reactionaries  He  ascended  the  throne  of  Prussia  ]-,j^(je  tj^g  further  appearance 
as  patrons  of  the  extravagant  Teste^'i;! TeUgiou? qSons," he  ^i  the  "  Rhenish  Mercury," 
enthusiasm  and  Teutonis-  did  much  to  further  the  union  of  the  which  demanded  a  constitu- 
ing  "agitation  of  the  youth —  Lutheran  and  Reformed  Churches,  tion  and  liberty  of  the  Press, 
as  secret  democrats,  in  short.   Boyen  was      Gneisenau  was  removed  from  the  general 

command     in     Coblenz.       Wittgenstein's 
spies     were      continual!}'     active.        The 
emancipation  of  the  Jews,  m  contradiction 
to   the   royal   edict   of  1812,  lost  ground 
The  Act  for  the  regulation  of  landed  pro- 
,   perty  proclaimed  in  Septem- 
ber,  1811,   was  "explained" 
in   1816,  in  a   fashion   which 
favoured  so  greatly  the  pro- 
perty  of    the    nobles  at   the 
cost   of  the  property   of  the 
peasants  that  it  virtually  re- 
pealed the  Regulation  Act. 

In  the  course  of  the  last 
decade  there  had  been  fre- 
quent talk  of  a  General 
Council.  Stein's  programme 
of  1808  proposed  that  the 
Council  of  State  should  be  the 
highest  ratifying  authority  for 
acts  of  legislation.  Harden- 
berg, on  the  other  hand,  fear- 


the  closest  supjiorter  of  Hardenberg  ;  the 
Finance  Minister,  Count  Biilow,  lormerly 
the  distinguished  Finance  Minister  of  the 
kingdom  of  Westphalia,  usually  supported 
him.  while  the  chief   of   the    War  Office, 
Witzleben,     the     inseparable   ; 
coimsellor   of   the    king,  who 
even  ventured  to  work  counter 
to  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg, 
was  one  of  the  warmest  advo- 
cates of  the  reform  of  Stein 
and     Hardenberg.      The    re- 
actionaries,    under     Marwitz 
and    other  opponents    of  the 
great  age  of  progress  relied  on 
the  Ministers  of  the   Interior 
and   of  the   Police,  the  over- 
cautious    Schuckmann     and 
Prince   William    of    Wittgen- 
stein.   The  latter  was  a  bitter 
enemy  of  German  patriotism 
and  the  constitution,  and  the 

best   of  the  tools  of   Metter-   thoid 'Niebuhr""in"  i82-r7oo'k  up  ing   for  his   own  supremacy, 

nich   at   the  court  of  Berlin,   his  residence  at  Bonn,  and  gave   had     Contemplated    in    1810 

The  reaction  which  naturally    a  great  impetus  to  historicaiiearn-  giving  the  council  a  far  more 

f    11  1,1  1  .1  r    '"ET   °y   n's  lectures   m   that   city.     "       i      ,  »i  t->     j.  -ii, 

followed  the  exuberant  love  of  modest     role.       But     neither 


NIEBUHR    THE    HISTORIAN 
Distinguished  as  a  historian,  Bar- 


freedo  n  shown  in  the  wars  of  liberation 
was  peculiarly  felt  in  Prussia.  Janke, 
Schmalz,  the  brothei -in-law  of  Scharn- 
horst,  and  other  place-hunters  clumsily 
attacked  in  pamphlets  the  "  seducers  of 
the  people  "  and  the    "  demagogues,"    in 


scheme  received  a  trial  ;  and  in  many 
quarters  a  Council  of  State  was  only 
thought  of  with  apprehension.  When, 
then,  finally  the  ordinance  of  March  20tli. 
1817,  established  the  Council  of  State,  it 
was  merely  the  highest  advisory  authority, 

4829 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


the  foremost  rounsellor  of  the  Crown,  and 
Stein's  name  was  missing  from  the  list  of 
those  summoned  by  the  king. 

The  first  labours  of  the  Council  of  State 
were  directed  to  the  reform  of  the  taxa- 
tion, which  Count  Biilow,  the  Finance 
Minister,  wished  to  carry  out  in  the  spirit 
of  modified  Free  Trade.  His  schemes  were 
very  aggressive,  and  aimed  at 


The  Aggressive 
Schemes  of 
Count  Biilow 


freedom  of  inland  commerce, 
but  showed  that,  considering 


the  financial  distress  of  the 
mom.enf.  the  state  of  the  national  debt, 
which  in  1818  amounted  to  217,000,000 
thalers,  ^33.000,000,  the  want  of  credit, 
and  the  deficit,  no  idea  of  any  remission 
of  taxation  could  be  entertained.  In 
fact,  Biilow  demanded  an  increase  of  the 
inchrect  taxes,  a  proposal  which  naturally 
hit  the  lower  classes  very  hard.  Humboldt 
headed  the  opponents  of  Biilow,  and  a  bitter 
struggle  broke  out.  The  notables  convened 
in  the  provinces  to  express  their  \'iews  re- 
jected Billow's  taxes  on  meal  and  meat,  but 
pionounced  in  favour  of  the  direct  personal 
taxation,  graduated  according  to  classes. 

Biilow  was  replaced  as  Finance  ]\Iinister 
at  the  end  of  1S17  by  Klewitz — the  extent 
of  whose  office  was,  however,  much  dim- 
inished by  all  sorts  of  limitations — and 
received  the  newly  created  post  of  Minister 
of  Trade  and  Commerce.  In  Altenstein, 
who  between  1808  and  1810  had  failed  to 
distinguish  himself  as  Finance  Minister, 
Prussia  found  a  born  Minister  of  Pul^lic 
Worship  and  Education. 

In  spite  of  many  unfavourable  conditions 
he  put  the  educational  system  on  a  sound 
footing  ;  he  introduced  in  1817  the  pro- 
vincial bodies  of  teachers,  advocated  uni- 
versal compulsory  attendance  at  school, 
encouraged  the  national  schools,  and  was 
instrumental  in  uniting  the  University  of 
Wittenberg  with  that  of  Halle,  and  in 
founding  the  Universit}'  of  Bonn  in  1818. 
Biilow,  a  pioneer  in  his  own  domain, 
not  inferior  to  Altenstein  in  the  field  of 
.  Church    and    school,   adminis- 

u  ow  s  tei-e(j  the  customs  department. 
nana  on  the  .    j        u  .11  j 

^  supported      by      the      shrewd 

Maassen.  The  first  preparatory 
steps  were  taken  in  1816,  especially  in 
June,  by  the  abolition  of  the  waterway 
tolls  and  the  inland  and  provincial 
duties.  A  Cabinet  Order  of  August  ist, 
1817,  sanctioned  for  all  time  the  principle 
of  free  importation,  and  Maassen  drew 
up  tfic  Customs  Act,  which  became  law 
on  May  26th.  1818,  and  came  into  force 

4830 


at  the  beginning  of  1819,  according  to 
Trcitschke  "'  the  most  liberal  and  matured 
politico-economic  law  of  those  days  "  ;  it 
was  simplified  in  1821  to  suit  the  spirit 
of  Free  Trade,  and  the  tolls  were  still  more 
lowered.  An  order  of  February  8th,  1819, 
exempted  from  taxation  out  of  the  list 
of  inland  products  only  wine,  beer,  brandy, 
and  leaf  tobacco  ;  on  May  30th,  1820,  a 
graduated  personal  tax  and  corn  duties 
were  introduced. 

Thus  a  well-organised  system  of  taxation 
was  founded,  which  satisfied  the  national 
economy  for  some  time.  All  social  forces 
were  left  with  free  power  of  movement  and 
scope  for  expansion.  It  mattered  little  if 
manufacturers  complained,  so  long  as  the 
national  prosperity,  which  was  quite 
shattered,  revived.  Prussia  gradually 
found  the  way  to  the  German  Customs 
Union.  No  one,  it  is  true,  could  yet 
predict  that  change  ;  but,  as  if  with  a 
presentiment,  complaints  of  the  selfish- 
ness and  obstinacy  of  the  tariff  loan  were 
heard  beyond  the  Prussian  frontiers. 
What  progress  had  been  made  with  the 
constitution  granting  provincial  estates 
and  popular  representation, 

Retrogression  ■      j  u      i.i       i  •         u       j.u 

promised  by  the  king  by  the 
«r-.,^^  ^"*^  edict  of  ]\Iav  22nd,  1815  ? 
1  he  commission  promised  tor 
this  purpose  was  not  summoned  until 
March  30th,  1817.  Hardenberg  directed  the 
proceedings  since  it  had  assembled  on  July 
7th  in  Berlin,  sent  Altenstein,  Beyme,  and 
Klewitz  to  visit  the  provinces  in  order  to 
collect  thorough  evidence  of  the  existing 
conditions,  and  received  reports,  which 
essentially  contradicted  each  other. 

It  appeared  most  advisable  that  the 
Ministers  should  content  themselves  with 
establishing  provincial  estates,  and  should 
leave  a  constitution  out  of  the  question. 
Hardenberg  honestly  tried  to  make  pro- 
gress in  the  question  of  the  constitution 
and  to  release  the  royal  word  which  had 
been  pledged  ;  Frederic  William,  on  the 
contrary,  regretted  having  given  it,  and 
gladly  complied  with  the  retrogressive 
tendencies  of  the  courtiers  and  supporters 
of  the  old  regime.  He  saw  with  concern 
the  contests  in  the  South  German  chambers 
and  the  excitement  among  the  youth  of 
Germany ;  he  pictured  to  himself  the 
horrors  of  a  revolution,  and  Hardenberg 
could  not  carry  his  point. 

The  Federal  Diet,  the  union  of  the  princes 
of  Germany,  owed  its  existence  to  the 
Act  of  Federation  of  June  8th.  1815,  which 


THE    REACTION    IN    CENTRAL    EUROPE 


could  not  possibly  satisfy  the  hopes  of  a 
nation  which  had  conqtiered  a  Napoleon. 
Where  did  the  heroes  of  the  wars  of 
liberation  find  any  guarantee  for  their 
claims  ?  Of  what  did  the  national  rights 
consist,  and  what  protection  did  the  whole 
Federation  offer  against  foreign  countries  ? 
Even  the  deposed  and  mediatised  princes 
of  the  old  empire  were  deceived  in  their 
last  hopes  ;  they  had  once  more  dreamed 
of  a  revival  of  their  independence.  But 
they  were  answered  with  cold  contempt 
that  the  new  political  organisation  of 
Germany  demanded  that  the  princes  and 
counts,  who  had  been  found  already 
mediatised,  should  remain  incorporated 
into  other  political  bodies  or  be  incorpor- 
ated afresh  ;  that  the  Act  of  Federation 
involved  the  implicit  recognition  of  this 
necessity.  The  Act  of  Federation  pleased 
hardly  anyone,  not  even  its  own  designers. 
The  opening  of  the  Federal  Diet,  con- 
vened for  September  ist,  1815,  was 
again  postponed,  since  negotiations  were 
taking  place  in  Paris,  and  there  were 
various  territorial  disputes  between  the 
several  federal  states  to  be  decided. 
,  Austria  was  scheming  for  Salz- 
f  *f"/^  burg  and  the  Breisgau,  Bavaria 
„  for    the     Baden     Palatinate  ; 

the  two  had  come  to  a  mutual 
agreement  at  the  cost  of  the  House  of 
Baden,  whose  elder  line  was  dying  out, 
and  Baden  was  confronted  with  the 
danger  of  dismemberment.  The  two  chief 
powers  disputed  about  Mainz  until  the 
town  fell  to  Hesse-Darmstadt,  but  the 
right  of  garrisoning  the  important  federal 
fortress  fell  to  them  both.  Baden  only 
joined  the  Federation  on  July  26th,  18 15, 
Wiirtemberg  on  September  ist.  Notwith- 
standing the  opposition  of  Austria  and 
Prussia  permission  was  given  to  Russia, 
Great  Britain,  and  France  to  have  am- 
bassadors at  Frankfort,  while  the  Federa- 
tion had  no  permanent  representatives  at 
the  foreign  capitals.  Many  of  the  South 
German  courts  regarded  the  foreign  am- 
bassadors as  a  support  against  the  leading 
German  powers  ;  the  secondary  and  petty 
states  were  most  afraid  of  Prussia. 

Finally,  on  November  5th,  i8i6,  the 
Austrian  ambassador  opened  the  meeting 
of  the  Federation  in  Frankfort  with  a 
speech  transmitted  by  Metternich.  On 
all  sides  members  were  eager  to  move 
resolutions,  and  Metternich  warned  them 
against  precipitation,  the  very  last  fault, 
as  it  turned  out,  of  which  the  Federal  Diet 


was  likely  to  be  guilty.     On  the  question 

of  the  domains  of  Electoral  Hesse,  with 

regard   to   which   many   private   persons 

took  the  part  of  the  elector,  the  Federation 

sustained  a  complete  defeat  at  his  hands. 

The  question  of  the  military  organisation 

of  the  Federation  was  very  inadequately 

solved.    When  the  Barbary  States  in  1817 

T,.     ,.        ,       extended    their     raids     in 
The  Idea  of  1x1  i i        , 

_  „,    ^  search  of  slaves  and  booty  as 

a  German  h  leet   r  ^1x1^10  i 

Abandoned  ^^  North  Sea,  and 

attacked  merchantmen,  the 
Hanseatic  towns  lodged  complaints  before 
the  Federal  Diet,  but  the  matter  ended  in 
words.  The  ambassador  of  Baden,  recalling 
the  glorious  past  history  of  the  Hansa,  in 
vain  counselled  the  federal  states  to  build 
their  own  ships.  The  Federation  remained 
dependent  on  the  favour  of  foreign  mari- 
time Powers  ;  the  question  of  a  German 
fleet  was  dropped.  Nor  was  more  done 
for  trade  and  commerce ;  the  mutual 
exchange  of  food-stuffs  was  still  fettered 
by  a  hundred  restrictions. 

How  did  the  matter  stand  with  the  per- 
formance of  the  article  of  the  Act  of 
Federation,  which  promised  diets  to  all 
the  federal  states  ? 

Charles  Augustus  of  Saxe- Weimar  had 
granted  a  constitution  on  May  5th,  1816, 
and  placed  it  under  the  guarantee  of  tht 
Federation,  which  also  guaranteed  the 
Mecklenburg  constitution  of  18 17.  The 
Federation  generally  refrained  from  inde- 
pendent action,  and  omitted  to  put  into 
practice  the  inconvenient  article  empower- 
ing them  to  sit  in  judgment  on  "  the  v/is- 
dom  of  each  federal  government."  Austria 
and  Prussia,  like  most  of  the  federal 
governments,  rejoiced  at  this  evasion ; 
it  mattered  nothing  to  them  that  the 
peoples  were  deceived  and  discontented. 

The  samiC  evasion  was  adopted  in  the 

case   of   Article    XVHL,    on   the   liberty 

of  the   Press.      The    north    of   Germany, 

which    had     hitherto    lived     apparently 

undisturbed,   and  the  south,   which  was 

„^     ^     ,  .  seething  with  the  new  constitu- 
Ihe  Feudal  .•         1     -j  1     . 

_  tional   ideas,    were    somewhat 

.  ^\^^  abruptly  divided  on  this  point. 

In  Hanover  the  feudal  system, 

which  had  been  very  roughly  handled  by 

Westphalian  and  French  rulers,  returned 

cautiously  and  without  undue  haste  out  of 

its  lurking-place  after  the  restoration  of  the 

House  of  Guelph.     In  the  General  Landtag 

the  landed  interest  was  enormously  in  the 

preponderance.       Count    Miinster-Leden- 

burg,    who    governed    the    new    kingdom 

4831 


HARMSWORl'H     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


from  London,  sided  with  the  nobihty  ;  the 
constitution  imposed  in  1814  rested  on 
the  old  feudal  principles.  The  estates 
solemnly  announced  on  January  17th, 
1815,  the  union  of  the  old  and  new  terri- 
tories into  one  whole,  and  on  December 
7th,  181C),  Hanover  received  a  new  con- 
stitution on  the  dual-chamber  system,  and 
with  complete  equality  of  rights  for  the 
two  chambers.  The  nobilit}^  and  the 
official  class  were  predominant.  There 
was  no  trace  of  an  organic  development 
of  the  commonwealth  ;  the  nobility  con- 
ceded no  reforms,  and  the  people  took  little 
interest  in  the  proceedings  of  the  chambers. 


Charles  insulted  King  George  IV.,  and 
challenged  Miinster  to  a  duel.  Finally, 
the  Federal  Diet  intervened  to  end  the 
mismanagement,  and  everything  grew  ripe 
for  the  revolution  of  1830. 

In  the  kingdom  of  Saxony,  so  reduced 
in  t'.'rritory  and  population,  matters  re- 
turned to  the  old  footing.  Frederic  Au- 
gustus I.  the  Just  maintained  order  in  the 
peculiar  sense  in  which  he  understood  the 
word.  Only  quite  untenable  conditions 
were  reformed,  otherwise  the  king  and 
the  Minister,  Count  Einsiedel,  considered 
that  the  highest  political  wisdom  was  to 
persevere     in     the    old    order    of    things. 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  TOWN  OF  BREMERHAVEN,  FOUNDED  IN  1S27 


The  preponderance  of  the  nobility  was 
less  oppressive  in  Brunswick.  George  IV. 
acted  as  guardian  of  the  young  duke, 
Charles  11.^  and  Count  Miinster  in  London 
conducted  the  affairs  of  state,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  Privy  Council  of 
Brunswick,  and  promoted  the  material 
interests  of  the  state,  and  the  country 
received  on  April  25th  in  the  "  renewed 
system  of  states  "  a  suitable  constitution. 
Everything  went  on  as  was  wished  imtil 
Charles,  in  October,  1823,  himself  assumed 
the  government  and  declared  war  on  the 
constitution.  A  regime  of  the  most  de- 
spicable caprice  and  licence  now  began  ; 

■48.32 


Industries  and  trade  were  fettered,  and 
there  was  a  total  absence  of  activity.  The 
officials  were  as  narrow  as  the  statesmen. 
In  the  Federation  Saxony  always  sided  with 
Austria,  being  full  of  hatred  of  Prussia  ; 
Saxony  was  only  important  in  the  develop- 
ment of  art.  Even  under  King  Anthony, 
after  May,  1827,  everything  remained  in 
the  old  position.  Einsiedel's  statesman- 
ship was  as  powerful  as  before,  and  the 
discontent  among  the  people  grew. 

The  two  Mecklenburgs  remained  feudal 
states,  in  which  the  middle  class  and  the 
peasants  were  of  no  account.  Even  the 
organic  constitution  of  1817  for  Schwerin 


Charles    II. 


Frederic  Augustus 


William  I. 


REACTIONARY     RULERS     OF     EUROPEAN     STATES 
Assuming  the  government  of  Brunswick  in  1823,  Charles  II.  declared  war  on  the  constitution,  and  a  regime  of  the  most 
despicable  caprice  and  licence  went  on  until  the  Federal  Diet  intervened  to  end  the  mismanagement.    Known  as  the  Just, 
Frederic  Augustus  I.  of  Saxony  followed  in  the  old  order  of  things,  and  thus  the  country  was  stunted  in  its  industries.  King 
of  Wiirtemberg,  William  I.  promised  a  liberal  representative  constitution,  but  did  not  fulfil  his  pledges  ;  he  died  in  1821. 


made  no  alteration  in  the  feudal  power 
prevailing  since  1755  ;  the  knights  were 
still,  as  ever,  supreme  in  the  country.  The 
Sternberg  Diet  of  i8ig  led  certainly  to  the 
abolition  of  serfdom,  but  the  position  of 
the  peasants  was  not  improved  by  this 
measure.  Emigration  became  more  com- 
mon ;  trades  and  industries  were  stagnant. 
Even  Oldenbiu-g  was  content  with  "  poli- 
tical hibernation."  Frankfort-on-Main 
received  a  constitution  on  October  i8th, 
1816,  and  many  obsolete  customs  were 
abolished.  In  the  Hansa  towns^  on  the 
contrary,  the  old  patriarchal  conditions 
were  again  in  full  force  ;  the  council  ruled 
absolutely.     Trade   and   commerce    made 


great  advances,  especially  in  Hamburg  and 
Bremen.  The  founding  of  Bremerhaven 
by  the  burgomaster  Johann  Smidt,  a 
clever  politician,  opened  fresh  paths  of 
world  commerce  to  Bremen. 

The  Elector  William  I.,  who  had  returned 
to  Hesse-Cassel,  wished  to  bring  every- 
thing back  to  the  footing  of  1806,  when  he 
left  his  countn^ ;  he  declared  the  ordin- 
ances of  "  his  administrator  Jerome  "  not 
to  be  binding  on  him,  recognised  the  sale 
of  domains  as  little  as  the  advancement 
of  Hessian  officers,  but  wished  to  make  the 
fullest  use  of  that  part  of  the  Westphalian 
ordinances  which  brought  him  personal 
advantage.     He  promised,  indeed,  a  liberal 


THE    FAMOUS    UNIVERSITY    OF    BONN,    FOUNDED    IN    THE    YEAR    1818  Photochron,.- 

4833 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


representative  constitution,  but  trifled 
with  the  Landtag,  and  contented  himself 
with  the  promulgation  of  the  unmeaning 
family  and  national  law  of  March  4th, 
1817.  When  he  died,  unlamented,  in 
1821,  the  still  more  capricious  and  worth- 
less regime  of  William  II.  began,  which 
was  marked  by  debauchery,  family  quar- 
rels,    and     public    discontent. 

the  Grand  ^^^  """^^'^  edifying  was  the  state 
n^,  'J^^  .  of  things  in  Hesse-Darmstadt, 
Uuke  Lewis      ,  fi        r-  1   ta    1        t        • 

where  the  drand  Duke,  Lewis 

I.,  although  by  inclination  attached  to  the 
old  regime,  worked  his  best  for  reform,  and 
did  not  allow  himself  to,  be  driven  to  re- 
action after  the  conference  at  Carlsbad.  He 
gave  Hesse  on  December  17th  (March  i8th), 
1820,  a  representative  constitution,  and  was 
an  enlightened  ruler,  as  is  shown,  among 
other  instances,  by  his  acquiescence  in  the 
efforts  of  Prussia  toward  a  customs  union. 

The  most  unscrupulous  among  the 
princes  of  the  Rhenish  Confederation, 
Frederic  of  Wiirtemberg,  readily  noticed 
the  increasing  discontent  of  his  subjects, 
and  wished  to  meet  it  by  the  proclamation 
of  January  nth,  1815,  that  ever  since 
1806  he  had  wished  to  give  his  country  a 
constitution  and  representation  by  estates  ; 
but  when  he  read  out  his  constitution  to 
the  estates  on  May  15th,  these  promptly 
rejected  it.  The  excitement  in  the  coun- 
try increased  amid  constant  appeals  to 
the  "  old  and  just  right."  Frederic  died 
in  the  middle  of  a  dispute  on  October  30th, 
1816.  Under  his  son,  William  I.,  who  was 
both  chivalrous  and  ambitious,  a  better 
time  dawned  for  Wiirtemberg.  But  the 
estates  offered  such  opposition  to  him  that 
the  constitution  was  not  formed  until 
September  25th,  181Q  ;  but  the  first  diet  of 
1820-1821  was  extremely  amenable  to  the 
government.  William  was  very  popular, 
although  his  rule  showed  little  liberalism. 

Bavaria,  after  the  dethronement  of  its 
second  creator,  Napoleon,  had  recovered 
the  territory  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine, 
-  .  .  and  formed  out  of  it  the 
_  ,    Rhenish      Palatinate,      whose 

Recovered  ,    .•  •       j   r  ^ 

rr      ..  population  remained  tor  a  long 

time  as  friendly  to  France  as 
Bavaria  itself  was  hostile.  "  Father  Max  " 
certainly  did  his  best  to  amalgamate  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Palatinate  and  Bavaria, 
and  his  premier.  Count  Montgelas,  effected 
so  many  ])rofitable  and  wise  changes  for 
this  kingdom,  which  had  increased  to  more 
than  thirteen  hundred  square  German 
miles,  with  four  million  souls,  that  much 

4834 


of  the  blame  attached  to  this  policy  might 
seem  to  be  unjustified.  His  most  danger- 
ous opponents  were  the  Crown  Prince 
Lewis,  with  his  leaning  towards  roman- 
ticism and  his  "  Teutonic  "  sympathies 
and  hatred  of  France,  and  Field-Marshal 
Count  Wrede.  While  Montgelas  wished  not 
to  hear  a  .S3'llable  about  a  new  constitution, 
the  crown  prince  deliberately  adopted  a 
constitutional  policy,  in  order  to  prepare 
the  downfall  of  the  hated  Frenchman. 

Montgelas'  constitution  of  May  ist,  1808, 
had  never  properly  seen  the  light.  He 
intended  national  representation  to  be 
nothing  but  a  sham.  The  crown  prince 
wished,  in  opposition  to  the  Minister,  that 
Bavaria  should  be  a  constitutional  state, 
a  model  to  the  whole  of  Germany.  Mont- 
gelas was  able  to  put  a  stop  to  the  intended 
creation  of  a  constitution  in  1814-1815, 
while  his  scheme  of  an  agreement  with  the 
Curia  was  hindered  by  an  increase  in  the 
claims  of  the  latter.  He  fell  on  February 
2nd,  1817,  a  result  to  which  the  court  at 
Vienna  contributed,  and  Bavaria  spoke 
only  of  his  defects,  without  being  in  a 
position  to  replace  Montgelas'  system  by 
another.     The  Concordat  of 


r-  ^  .-fZ-        r  }\xnQ   5th,  1817.  signified  a 
Constitution  of  -'  /         o 

Bavaria 


complete  victory  of  the  Curia, 
and  was  intolerable  in  the 
new  state  of  Bavarian  public  opinion ;  the 
"  kingdom  of  darkness  "  stood  beside  the 
door.  The  Crown  met  the  general  dis- 
content b}^  admitting  into  the  constitution 
some  provisions  guaranteeing  the  rights 
of  Protestants,  and  thus  naturally  fur- 
nished materials  for  further  negotiations 
with  the  Curia.  On  May  26th,  1818, 
Bavaria  finally  received  its  constitution  ; 
in  spite  of  deficiencies  and  gaps  it  was  full 
of  vitality,  and  is  still  in  force,  although 
in  the  interval  it  has  required  to  be  altered 
in  many  points. 

Bavaria  thus  by  the  award  of  a  liberal 
constitution  had  anticipated  Baden, 
which  was  forced  to  grant  a  similar  one  in 
order  to  influence  public  opinion  in  its 
favour.  Prospects  of  the  Baden  Rhenish- 
Palatinate  were  opened  up  to  Bavaria  by 
arrangements  with  Austria.  The  ruling 
House  of  Zahringen,  except  for  an  ille- 
gitimate line,  was  on  the  verge  of  extinc- 
tion, and  the  Grand  Duke  Charles  could 
never  make  up  his  mind  to  declare  the 
counts  of  Hochberg  legitimate.  At  the 
urgent  request  of  Stein  and  the  Tsar 
Alexander,  his  brother-in-law,  Charles,  had 
already    announced    to    Metternich    and 


THE  REACTION  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 


Hardenberg  in  Menna  on  December  ist, 
1814,  that  he  wished  to  introduce  a  repre- 
sentative constitution  in  his  dominions, 
and  so  anticipated  the  Act  of  Federation. 
Stein  once  more  implored  the  distrustful 
man,  "  whose  indolence  was  boundless/'  to 
carr}'  out  his  intention  ;  but  every  appeal 
rebounded  from  him,  and  he  once  again 
postponed  the  constitutional  question. 

The  Bavarian  craving  for  Baden  terri- 
tory became  more  and  more  threaten- 
ing. A  more  vigorous  spirit  was  felt  in 
the  Baden  Ministry  after  its  reorganisa- 
tion. At  last,  on  October  4th,  Charles, 
by  a  family  law,  proclaimed  the  indivisi- 
bility of  the  whole  state  and  the  rights  of 
the  Hochberg  line  to  the  succession. 
It  was  foreseen  that  Bavaria  would  not 
submit  tamely  to  this.  German  public 
opinion,  and  even  Russian  influence  were 
brought  to  bear  in  favour  of  a  constitution. 
Baden  was  forced  to  try  to  anticipate 
Bavaria  in  making  this  concession.  Even 
the  Emperor  Alexander  opened  the  first 
diet  of  his  kingdom  of  Poland  on  .  the 
basis  of  the  constitution  of  1815,  and  took 
the    occasion    to    praise    the   blessing   of 

...  liberal  institutions.     Then  Ba- 

.  ®-'°'^"^8s  varia  got  the  start  of  Baden. 
Q  Tettenborn     and    Reitzenstein 

^  represented  to  Charles  that 
Baden  must  make  haste  and  create  a  still 
more  liberal  constitution,  which  was  finally 
signed  by  Charles  on  August  22nd,  1818. 

It  was,  according  to  Barnhagen,  "the 
most  liberal  of  all  German  constitutions,  the 
richest  in  germs  of  life,  the  strongest  in 
energy."  It  entirely  corresponded  to  the 
charter  of  Louis  XVIII.  The  ordinances 
of  October  4th,  1817.  were  also  contained 
in  it  and  ratified  afresh.  The  rejoicings 
in  Baden  and  liberal  Germany  at  large 
were  unanimous.  In  Munich  there  was 
intense  bitterness.  The  Crown  Prince 
Lewis  in  particular  did  not  desist  from 
trying  to  win  the  Baden  Palatinate, 
and  we  know  now  that  even  Lewis  II. 
in  the  year  1870  urged  Bismarck  to  obtain 
it  for  Bavaria.  Baden  ceded  to  Bavaria  in 
i8ig  a  portion  of  the  district  of  Wertheim, 
and  received  from  Austria  Hohengerold- 
seck.  The  congress  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  had 
also  pronounced  in  favour  of  Baden  in  1818. 

Nassau,  before  the  rest  of  Germany,  had 
received,  on  September  2nd,  1814,  a 
constitution,  for  which  Stein  was  partl^ 
responsible.  But  the  estates  were  not 
summoned  until  the  work  of  reorganising 
the  duchj'  was  completed.     Duke  William 


opened  the  assembly  at  la«^t  on  March  3rd, 
1818,  and  a  tedious  dispute  soon  broke 
out  about  the  Crown  lands  and  state 
property.  The  ^linister  of  btate,  Bieber- 
stein,  a  particularist  and  reacti'onary  of 
the  purest  water,  adopted  Metternich's 
views.  In  popular  opinion  the  credit  of 
the  first  step  was  not  given  to  Nassau, 
y  because   it   delaj^ed  so  long  to 

g"**^"  ^  .  take  the  second.  If  Metternich 
the  Diets  looked  towards  Prussia,  he  saw 
the  king  in  his  element,  and 
Hardenberg  in  continual  strife  with  Hum- 
boldt ;  if  he  turned  his  e3'es  to  South 
Germany,  he  beheld  a  motley  scene, 
which  also  gave  him  a  hard  problem  to 
solve.  In  Bavaria  the  first  diet  led  to 
such  unpleasant  scenes  that  the  king  con- 
templated the  repeal  of  the  constitution. 
In  Baden,  where  Rotteck  and  Baron 
Liebenstein  were  the  leaders,  a  flood  of 
proposals  was  poured  out  against  the 
rule  of  the  new  Grand  Duke,  Lewis  I.  ; 
the  dispute  became  so  bitter  that  Lewis, 
on  July  28th.  1819.  prorogued  the  chambers. 
In  Nassau  and  in  Hesse-Darmstadt  there 
was  also  much  disorder  in  the  diets. 

The  reaction  saw  all  this  with  great 
pleasure.  It  experienced  a  regular  trivmiph 
on  March  23rd,  1819,  through  the  bloody 
deed  of  a  student,  Karl  Ludwig  Sand. 
It  had  become  a  rooted  idea  in  the  limited 
brain  of  this  fanatic  that  the  dramatist 
and  Russian  privy  councillor,  August  von 
Kotzebue,  was  a  Russian  spy,  the  most 
dangerous  enemy  of  German  freedom 
and  German  academic  life  ;  he  therefore 
stabbed  him  in  Mannheim.  While  great 
and  general  sympathy  was  extended  to 
Sand,  the  governments  feared  a  con- 
spiracy of  the  student  associations  where 
Sand  had  studied. 

Charles  Augustus  saw  that  men  looked 
askance  at  him.  and  his  steps  for  the  pre- 
servation of  academic  liberty  were  unavail- 
ing. Metternich  possessed  the  power,  and 
made  full  use  of  it,  being  sure  of  the  assent 
,,  .        .  .     of    the    majority    of    German 

Universities  i.  r  n         •  j      x 

XI.    u  .1   J    governments,  of  Russia,  and  ol 

the  Hotbeds  9,         ,  t-.     ^    ■  r  t- 

,,  .  .         Great  Britam;  even  from  r  ranee 
of  Intrigues  .  .  , 

approval   was    showered   upon 

him.  Frederic  William  III.,  being  com- 
pletely I'uled  by  Prince  Wittgenstein  and 
Kaunitz,  was  more  and  more  overwhelmed 
with  fear  of  revolution,  and  wished  to  abolish 
everything  which  seemed  open  to  suspicion. 
The  universities,  the  fairest  ornaments 
of  Germany,  were  regarded  by  the  rulers 
as    hotbeds     of    revolutionary    intrigues ; 

4835 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


they  required  to  be  freed  from  the  danger. 
The  authorities  of  Austria  and  Prussia 
thought  this  to  be  imperatively  necessary, 
and  during  the  season  for  the  waters  at 
Carlsbad  they  wished  to  agree  upon  the 
measures.  Haste  was  urgent,  as  it  seemed, 
for  on  July  ist,  1819,  Sand  had  already 
found  an  imitator.  Karl  Loning,  an  apothe- 
_  Gary's    apprentice,    attempted 

-,       '°^      to   assassinate   at   Schwalbach 

PrTssir  ^^^^  ^°^  ^^^^^'  ^^^®  president 
of  the  Nassau  Government, 
whom,  in  spite  of  his  liberal  and  excellent 
administration,  the  crackbrained  Radicals 
loudly  proclaimed  to  be  a  reactionary.  The 
would-be  assassin  committed  suicide  after 
his  attempt  had  failed.  In  Prussia  steps 
were  now  taken  to  pay  domiciliary  visits, 
confiscate  papers,  and  make  arrests.  Jahn 
was  sent  to  a  fortress,  the  papers  of  the 
bookseller  Reimer  were  put  under  seal, 
Schleiermacher's  sermons  were  subject  to 
police  surveillance,  the  houses  of  Welcker 
and  Arndt  in  Bonn  were  carefully  searched 
and  all  writings  carried  off  which  the 
bailiffs  chose  to  take.  Protests  were  futile. 
Personal  freedom  had  no  longer  any  pro- 
tection against  the  tyranny  of  the  police. 
The  privacy  of  letters  was  constantly 
infringed,  and  the  Government  issued  falsi- 
fied accounts  of  an  intended  revolution. 

On  July  29th  Frederic  William  and 
Metternich  met  at  Toplitz.  Metternich 
strengthened  the  king's  aversion  to  grant 
a  general  constitution,  and  agitated  against 
Hardenberg's  projected  constitution.  On 
August  ist  the  Contract  of  Toplitz  was 
agreed  upon,  which,  though  intended  to 
be  kept  secret,  was  to  form  the  basis  of  the 
Carlsbad  conferences  ;  a  censorship  was 
to  be  exercised  over  the  Press  and  the  uni- 
versities, and  Article  13  of  the  Act  of 
Federation  was  to  be  explained  in  a  corre- 
sponding sense.  Metternich  triumphed,  for 
even  Hardenberg  seemed  to  submit  to  him. 
Metternich  returned  with  justifiable  self- 
complacency  to  Carlsbad,  where  he  found 
«  ».      ...   his    selected     body    of    diplo- 

Metternich  s  ,  •    ,  j  li       t         t        r 

matists,  and  over  the  heads  of 


Reactionary 
Measures 


the  Federal  Diet  he  discussed 
with  the  representatives  of  a 
quarter  of  the  governments,  from  August 
6th  to  31st,  reactionary  measures  of  the 
most  sweeping  character.  Gentz,  the  secre- 
tary of  the  congress,  drew  up  the  minutes 
on  which  the  resolutions  of  Carlsbad  were 
mainly  based.  Metternich  wished  to  grant 
to  the  Federal  Diet  a  stronger  influence  on 
the  legislation  of  the  several  states,  and 

4836 


through  it  indirectly  to  guide  the  govern- 
ments, unnoticed  by  the  public.  The  inter- 
pretation of  Article  13  of  the  Act  of 
Federation  Was  deferred  to  ensuing  con- 
ferences at  Vienna,  and  an  agreement  was 
made  first  of  all  on  four  main  points.  A 
very  stringent  press  law  for  five  years 
was  to  be  enforced  in  the  case  of  all  papers 
appearing  daily  or  in  numbers,  and  of 
pamphlets  containing  less  than  twenty 
pages  of  printed  matter ;  and  every  federal 
state  should  be  allowed  to  increase  the 
stringency  of  the  law  at  its  own  discretion. 
The  universities  were  placed  under  the 
strict  supervision  of  commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  the  sovereigns ;  dangerous 
professors  were  to  be  deprived  of  their 
office,  all  secret  societies  and  the  universal 
student  associations  were  to  be  prohibited, 
and  no  member  of  them  should  hold  a 
public  post.  It  was  enacted  that  a  central 
commission,  to  which  members  were  sent 
by  Austria,  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Hanover, 
Baden,  Hesse-Darmstadt,  and  Nassau, 
should  assemble  at  Mainz  to  investigate  the 
treasonable  revolutionary  societies  wliich 
had  been  discovered  ;  but,  by  the  distinct 

^,     _,    _.  declaration  of  Austria,   such 

Ihe  1  e  Ueum  ,        i  j    i 

.  .  commission  should  have  no 

_      ..        .      judicial  power.  A  preliminary 

Reactionaries  ■•  ,•  ^  ,        /    ,  .       / 

executive  order,  to  terminate 

after  August,  1820,  was  intended  to  secure 
the  carrying  out  of  the  resolutions  of  the 
Federation  for  the  maintenance  of  internal 
tranquillity,  and  in  given  cases  mihtary 
force  might  be  employed  to  effect  it. 

On  September  ist  the  Carlsbad  con- 
ferences ended,  and  the  party  of  reaction 
sang  their  Te  Deum.  Austria  appeared  to 
be  the  all-powerful  ruler  of  Germany.  "  A 
new  era  is  dawning,"  Metternich  wrote  to 
London.  The  Federal  Diet  accepted  the 
Carlsbad  resolutions  with  unusual  haste 
on  September  20th,  and  they  were  pro- 
claimed in  all  the  federal  states.  Austria 
had  stolen  a  march  over  the  others,  and 
the  Federal  Council  expressed  its  most 
humble  thanks  to  Francis  therefor.  All 
free-thinkers  saw  in  the  Carlsbad  resolu- 
tions not  merely  a  check  on  all  freedom  and 
independence,  but  also  a  disgrace  ;  nev^er- 
theless,  the  governments,  in  spite  of  the 
indignation  of  men  like  Stein,  Rotteck, 
Niebuhr,  Dahlmann,  Ludwig  Borne,  and 
others,  carried  them  out  in  all  their  harsh- 
ness. The  central  commission  of  inquiry 
hunted  through  the  Federation  in  search 
of  conspiracies,  and,  as  its  own  reports 
acknowledge,  found  nothing  of  importance, 


THE    REACTION    IN    CENTRAL    EUROPE 


but  unscrupvilously  interfered  with  the  life 
of  the  nation  and  the  individual.  Foreign 
countries  did  not  check  this  policy, 
although  many  statesmen,  Capodistrias  at 
their  head,  disapproved  of  the  reaction. 
The  Students'  Association  was  officially 
dissolved  on  November  26th,  18 19,  but 
was  immediately  reconstituted  in  secret. 

There  was  no  demagogism  in  Austria  ; 
Prussia  was  satisfied  to  comply  with  the 
wishes  of  the  court  of  Vienna,  and  even 
Hardenberg  was 


prepared  for  any 
step  which  Met- 
t  e  r  n  i  c  h  pre- 
scribed. Every 
suspected  per- 
son was  re- 
garded in  Berlin 
as  an  imported 
conspirator. 
The  edict  of 
censorship  of 
1819,  dating 
from  the  day 
of  liberation, 
October  i8th, 
breathed  the 
unholy  s])irit 
of  W  o  1 1  n  e  r  ; 
foreign  journals 
were  strictly 
supervised.  The 
reac  t  i  on  was 
nowhere  more 
irreconcilable 
than  in  Prussia, 
wliere  nothing 
recalled  the  say- 
ing of  Frederic 
the  Great,  that 
every  man 
might  be  happy 
after  his  own 
fashion.  The 
gymnasia  were 
as  relentlessly 
persecuted  as 
the   intellectual 

exercises  of  university  training  ;  nothing 
could  be  more  detestable  than  the  way  in 
which  men  like  Arndt,  Gneisenau,  and 
Jahn  were  made  to  run  the  gauntlet, 
or  a  patriot  like  Justus  Gruner  was 
ill-treated  on  his  very  deathbed,  or 
the  residence  of  Gorres  in  Germany  ren- 
dered intolerable.  This  tendency  obviously 
crippled  the  fulfilment  of  the  royal  promise 
of    a   constitution — a    promise    in    which 


Humboldt 


Frederic  William  had  never  been  serious. 
Hardenberg  and  Humboldt  were  per- 
petually quarrelling  ;  Humboldt  attacked 
the  exaggerated  power  of  the  chancellor, 
who  was  not  competent  for  his  post  ; 
Hardenberg  laid  a  new  plan  of  a  constitu- 
tion before  the  king  on  August  nth,  1819. 
The  king,  in  this  dispute,  took  the  side  of 
Hardenberg,  and  the  dismissal  of  Boyen 
and  Grolman  was  followed,  on  December 
31st,    1819,    by   that    of   Humboldt    and 

Count  Beyme. 
Metternich  re- 
joiced ;  Hum- 
boldt,  the 
"thoroughly 
bad  man,"  was 
put  on  one  side 
and  thence- 
forth lived  for 
science. 

Hardenberg's 
position  was 
once  more 
strengthened  ; 
his  chief  object 
was  to  carry  the 
revenue  and  fin- 
ance laws.  On 
January  17th, 
1820,  the  ordi- 
nance as  to  the 
condition  of  the 
national  debt 
was  issued,  from 
which  the 
Liberals  re- 
ceived the 
comforting  as- 
surance that  the 
Crown  would 
not  be  able  to 
raise  new  loans 
except      under 


Eichhorn 


A     GROUP     OF     DISTINGUISHED     GERMANS  the           joiut 

Entering  the  service  of  Prussia  in  178(1,  Baron  von  Stein  worked  for  pro-  guarantee          Ot 

gress    and    laid    the   foundations    of    Prussia's    subsequent    greatness.  +]-,p         nroOO^ed 

Rotteck,  a  professor  at  Freiburg,  was  eminent  as  a  historian  and  publicist ;  r          r 

famous    as    a   naturalist   and   traveller,    Humboldt    explored    unknown  assembly  of  the 

lands,  while  Eichhorn  was  a  prominent  Prussian  statesman  and  jurist.  ,       4.0c.       ^r>A 

est  ares,  ano 
that  the  trustees  of  the  debt  would  furnish 
the  assembly  with  an  annual  statement  of 
accounts.  Shipping  companies  and  banks 
were  remodelled  ;  the  capital  account 
was  to  be  published  every  three  years. 
Hardenberg  then  brought  his  revenue 
laws  to  the  front,  and  in  spite  of  many 
difficulties  these  laws,  which,  though 
admittedly  imperfect,  still  demanded 
attention,  were  passed  on  May  20th,  1820. 

4837 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF     THE     WORLD 


Ideal 
of  Union 


In  accordance  with  the  agreement  made 
in  Carlsbad,  the  representatives  of  the 
inner  federal  assembly  met  in  Vienna,  and 
deliberated  from  November  25th,  181Q. 
to  May  24th.  1820,  over  the  head  of  the 
Federal  Diet  ;  the  result,  the  final  act  of 
Vienna  of  May  15th,  1820,  obtained  the 
same  validity  as  the  Federal  Act  of  1815. 
„  .      In  the  plenary  assembly  of  June 

8th.  1820,  the  Federal  JDiet  pro- 
moted it  to  be  a  fundamental 
law  of  the  Federation.  Particu- 
larism and  reaction  had  scored  a  success, 
and  the  efficiency  of  the  Federal  Diet  was 
once  more  crippled.  The  nation  was 
universally  disappointed  by  the  new- 
fundamental  law,  which  realised  not  one 
of  its  expectations ;  but  Metternich 
basked  in  the  rays  of  success. 

The  question  of  free  intercourse  between 
the  federal  states  had  also  been  discussed 
in  Vienna,  and  turned  men's  looks  to 
Prussia's  efforts  towards  a  customs  union. 
The  Customs  Act  of  May  26th,  181 8,  was 
unmercifully  attacked  ;  it  was  threatened 
with  repeal  at  the  Congress  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  but  weathered  the  storm,  and 
found  protection  from  Johann  Friedrich 
Eichhorn.  In  the  field  of  material  interests 
Eichhorn  had  a  free  hand  ;  he  was  a  hero 
of  unobtrusive  work,  who  with  inde- 
fatigable patience  went  towards  his  goal — 
the  union  of  the  German  states  to  Prussia 
hy  the  bond  of  their  own  interests.  In 
1819  he  invited  the  Thuringian  states, 
which  formed  enclaves  in  Prussia,  to  a 
tariff  union,  and  on  October  25th  in  that 
year  the  first  treaty  for  accession  to  the 
tariff  union  was  signed  with  Schwarzburg- 
Sondershausen  ;  since  this  was  extremely 
advantageous  to  the  pett}^  state,  it 
served  as  a  model  to  all  further  treaties 
with  Prussian  enclaves. 

The  German  Commercial  and  Industrial 
Association  of  the  traders  of  Central  and 
Southern  Germany  was  founded  in  Frank- 
fort during  the  April  Fair  of  i8ig,  under 
^.     -,          ,  the    presidency    of    Professor 

I  he  Oeneral  -r-,  ■     f  •   i       y  •   T       x     t---i_- 

^  .  ,    rnednch    List    of    Tubmsren. 

Commercial     ^,  •    i       r    ,i  °- 

.  ...  Ihe  memorial  of  the  associa- 
Association     , .  ,  ,        ..  . 

tion,   drawn    up  by  List  and 

presented  to  the  diet,  pictured  as  its 
ultimate  aim  the  universal  freedom  of 
commercial  intercouise  between  every 
nation  ;  it  called  for  the  abolition  of  the 
inland  tolls  and  existing  federal  tolls  on 
foreign  trade,  but  was  rejected.  List  now 
attacked  the  several  governments,  scourged 
in     his    journal     the    faults    of    German 

4838 


commercial  policy,  was  an  opponent  of  the 
Prussian  Customs  Act,  and  always  recurred 
to  federal  tolls.  Far  clearer  were  the 
economic  views  of  the  Baden  statesman 
Karl  Friedrich  Nebenius,  whose  pamphlet 
was  laid  before  the  Vienna  conferences. 
He  too  attacked  the  Prussian  Customs  Act : 
but  his  pamphlet,  in  spite  of  all  its  merits, 
had  no  influence  on  the  development  of  the 
tariff  union.  Johann  Friedrich  Benzenberg 
alone  of  the  well-known  journalists  of  the 
day  spoke  for  Prussia.  Indeed,  the  hos- 
tility to  Prussia  gave  rise  to  the  abortive 
separate  federation  of  Southern  and 
Central  Germany,  formed  at  Darmstadt  in 
1820.  Such  plans  were  foredoomed  to 
failure.  All  rival  tariff  unions  failed  in  the 
same  way. 

Hardenberg's  influence  over  Frederic 
William  III.  had  been  extinguished  by 
Metternich,  and  the  Chancellor  of  State 
was  politically  dead,  even  before  he  closed 
his  eyes,  on  November  26th,  1822.  A 
new  constitution  commission  under  the 
presidency  of  the  Crown  Prince  Frederic 
William  (IV.),  who  was  steeped  in  roman- 
ticism, consisted  entirely  of  Hardenberg's 

opponents,  and  would  only  be 
.*.*'*  content  with  charters  for  the 
T^'**"  h        several   provinces.      The   king 

consented  to  them.  After 
Hardenberg's  death  the  king  could  not 
consent  to  summon  Wilhelm  von  Hum- 
boldt, but  abolished  the  presidency  in  the 
Cabinet.  The  king  contented  himself 
with  the  law  of  June  5th,  1823,  as  to  the 
regulation  of  provincial  estates. 

Bureaucracy  and  feudalism  celebrated 
a  joint  victory  in  this  respect.  Austria 
could  be  contented  with  Prussia's  aversion 
to  constitutional  forms,  and,  supported 
by  it,  guided  the  Federal  Diet,  in  which 
Wiirtemberg,  owing  to  the  frankness 
and  independence  of  its  representative, 
Wangenheim.  now  and  again  broke 
from  the  trodden  path.  Wangenheim 
suggested  the  plan  of  confronting  the  great 
German  powers  with  a  league  "  of  pure 
and  constitutional  Germany,"  under  the 
leadership  of  Bavaria  and  Wiirtemberg, 
pioposing  to  create  a  triple  alliance.  But 
the  Menna  conferences  of  Januarj-,  1823, 
arranged  by  Metternich,  soon  led  to 
Wiirtemberg's  compliance.  Wangenheim 
fell  in  July.  The  Carlsbad  resolutions 
were  renewed  in  August,  1824,  and  the 
Federal  Diet  did  not  agitate  again,  after  it 
had  quietly  divided  the  unhapp}'  Central 
Enquiry  Commission  at  Mainz  in  1828. 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

AFTER 

WATERLOO 

IV 


THE  RESTORED  FRENCH  MONARCHY 

REACTION  TRIUMPHANT  IN  THE  LATIN  STATES 


TTHE  restored  Bourbon  monarch  of 
•■•  France  found  himself  in  an  exceedingly 
difficult  position.  At  his  first  restoration 
in  1814,  he  had  been  disposed  to  maintain 
the  attitude  of  absolutism,  and  had  con- 
sented to  grant  a  constitution  in  the  form 
of  a  concession  bestowed  by  the  benevo- 
lence of  the  Crown.  This  "Charta"  had 
estabhshed  two  Chambers — .one  of  peers, 
nominated  by  the  Crown,  the  other  of 
representatives  elected  under  a  high 
franchise.  But  the  Royalists  even  then 
had  shown  a  zeal  which  Louis  had  not 
restrained  for  the  recovery  of  old  rights 
and  of  the  old  supremacy.  The  masses 
of  the  people  had  thereby  been  alienated. 
Louis  recognised  his  error,  and  was  now 
determined  to  abide  by  his  constitution  ; 
but  the  Royalists  saw  only  that  their  side 
was  uppermost.  Like  the  English  Cavaliers 
when  Charles  IL  came  back  to  "  enjoy 
his  own  again,"  they  hoped  to  get  back  all 
that  they  had  lost  with  interest. 
ims  o  j^^^^      ^j_^^     English     Cavaliers 

the   French  ° 


Royalists 


had  learnt   very  promptly  to 


recognise  that  the  old  order 
had  gone  never  to  return  ;  the  French 
Royalists  were  not  equally  capable  of 
reconciling  themselves  to  that  doctrine. 
More  royalist  than  the  king,  they  made 
haste  to  seek  to  impose  their  views  upon 
him.  Socially,  the  democratising  of  France 
had  not  been  swept  away  under  the 
Empire,  though  it  had  been  so  politically. 
The  political  centralisation  of  the  Empire 
was  only  modified  by  the  Charta  ;  but 
the  Royalists  aimed  at  reversing  the  social 
democratisation  as  well.  Their  head- 
quarters were  naturally  established  in  the 
entourage  of  Artois,  the  king's  brother, 
and  the  circle  became  known  from  his 
residence  as  the  Pavilion  Marsan. 

Louis,  both  from  calculation  and  from 
grasp  of  the  situation,  held  fast  to  his  con- 
stitution, and  was  involved  in  continued 
conflict  with  his  brother  and  the  Royalists 
"  quand  meme,"  the  party  of  no  com- 
promise.    He  had  promised  an  amnesty, 


but  he  did  not  succeed  in  checking  the 
"  White  Terror,"  the  outbreak  of  royalist 
violence  in  Southern  France.  In  Mar- 
seilles, Avignon,  Nismes,  Toulouse,  and 
other  places  disorders  broke  out,  in 
which  religious  fanaticism  also  played 
its  part.  Bonapartists  and  Protestants 
Th  "Wh't  "^^^^  murdered  wholesale, 
_,  ,,  '  among  them  Marshal  Brune, 
-  Generals  Lagarde  and  Ramel ; 

courts  and  local  authorities 
were  powerless  to  check  the  outrages. 
Fouche  drew  up  the  proscription-lists 
against  those  who  were  privy,  or  sus- 
pected of  being  privy,  to  the  Hundred 
Days,  but  prudently  forgot  to  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  list  ;  and  while  the 
executions  of  General  La  Bedoyere  and 
Marshal  Ney,  accompanied  by  the  horrors 
in  Lyons  and  Grenoble,  were  bound  to 
make  the  position  of  the  king  impossible, 
and  while  the  foremost  men  of  France  were 
driven  out  of  the  country,  he  was  conspir- 
ing with  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  being  also 
anxious  to  overthrow  Talleyrand. 

Fouche  was  attacked,  nevertheless, 
on  all  sides,  was  compelled  to  resign 
the  Ministry  of  Police  in  September, 
1815,  and  was  expelled,  in  1816,  as  a 
relapsed  regicide.  His  dismissal  was 
followed  closely  by  that  of  his  rival, 
Talleyrand,  who  was  appointed  High 
Chamberlain,  and  replaced,  to  the  satis- 
faction, and  indeed  at  the  wish,  of  Russia, 
by  the  former  governor-general  in  Odessa, 
the  Duke  of  Richelieu,  an  emigre  quite 
unacquainted  with  French  affairs.  Louis, 
who  could  not  exist  without 
Favourites  favourites,  had  given  his  heart 
of  the  ° 


French  King 


to    the    former    secretary    of 


Madame  Mere,  Decazes.  As 
Fouche's  successor,  he  sided  with  the 
Pavilion  Marsan,  passed  sundry  capri- 
cious and  arbitrary  measures  to  main- 
tain order,  but  was  still  far  too  mild 
for  the  ultra-Royalists,  who  exercised  a 
sort  of  secondary  government,  and  piro- 
cured    Talleyrand's    help     against     him. 

4839 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  King 
Dissolves  the 


The  violence  of  this  extreme  section  had 
found  its  warrant  in  the  first  election  to 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  in  which  it  had 
effected  an  electioneering  victory.  But 
when  the  Pavilion  Marsan  and  the  deputies 
wished  to  cap  the  repressive  measures  of 
Decazes  by  making  a  farce  of  the  very  neces- 
sary amnesty  for  their  political  opponents, 
Louis  found  it  necessary  to 
dissolve   the   Chambers,  and 

^,      .  the   Royalist   successes  were 

Chambers  ,  -^     ,     ^         .      ^^ 

not    repeated     at     the     new 

election.     The  majority  were  supporters 

of  the  moderate  Richelieu,  while  Decazes 

was,  comparatively  speaking,  a  progressive. 

The  new  Chambers  passed  the  Electoral 
Law  of  1817,  which  secured  power  to  the 
middle-class,  in  whom  the  ultra-Royalists 
saw  their  strongest  opponents,  and  the  prin- 
ciple adopted,  that  one-fifth  of  the  deputies 
should  retire  annually,  in  fact  assured  an 
annual  increase  in  what  may  be  called  the 
existing  Liberal  majority.  The  Royalists 
then  turned  their  efforts  to  procuring  a 
very  much  lower  franchise,  in  the  belief 
that  the  peasantry  would  be  much  more 
amenable  to  the  influence  of  clericals  and 
landowners  than  the  now  dominant  classes. 

Richelieu  soon  found  himself  alarmed 
by  what  appeared  to  be  the  revival  of 
the  revolutionary  spirit,  emphasised  _  at 
the  elections  of  1818  by  the  appearance 
among  the  new  deputies  of  Lafayette  and 
Benjamin  Constant.  His  position  seemed 
strengthened  by  the  success  of  France  at 
the  Conference  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  where 
he  represented  her  in  person  and  procured 
the  immediate  withdrawal  of  the  allied 
garrisons.  Nevertheless,  his  representa- 
tions that  the  electoral  law  must  be  modi- 
fied to  check  the  democratic  movement 
failed  to  convince  the  king,  and  Richelieu 
retired  in  December,  1818. 

The  Ministry  of  Dessoles,  which  now 
took  the  lead,  was  dominated  by  Riche- 
lieu's rival,  Decazes,  who  became  Minister 
of  the  Interior.  An  arrangement  was. 
E  t  d  d  effected  with  the  Curia  on 
Liberties  ^^^S^st  23rd,  1819.  Freedom 
.    p  of   the  Press  was    encouraged, 

and  the  extraordinary  laws 
against  the  liberty  of  the  subject  were 
repealed.  The  Ministry,  however,  at  one 
time  inclined  to  the  Constitutionalists,  at 
another  to  the  ultra-Royalists,  and  thus 
forfeited  the  confidence  of  all.  and  depended 
on  the  personal  and  vacillating  policy  of 
the  king,  while  the  intensity  of  party 
feeling     was     increased.     Even     a    great 

4840 


batch  of  new  peers  in  March,  1819,  did  not 
give  the  Crown  the  hoped-for  parliamen- 
tary support.  An  alteration  of  the  elec- 
toral law  seemed  imperative  ;  it  was 
essential  to  show  fight  against  the  Left. 

On  November  20th,  1819,  the  country 
learnt  that  Dessoles  was  dismissed  and 
Decazes  had  become  first  Minister.  The 
vacillating  policy  of  Decazes  quickly 
estranged  all  parties,  and  they  only 
waited  for  an  opportunit}''  to  get  rid  of 
him.  On  February  13th,  1820,  the  king's 
nephew,  Charles  Ferdinand,  Duke  of 
Berry,  the  only  direct  descendant  of 
Louis  XV.  from  whom  children  could  be 
expected,  was  stabbed  at  the  opera,  and 
the  ultras  dared  to  utter  the  lie  that 
Decazes  was  the  accomplice  of  Louvel  the 
murderer.  The  royal  family  implored  the 
king  to  dismiss  his  favourite,  and  Louis 
dismissed  Decazes  on  February  21st,  1820. 

Richelieu  became  first  Minister  once 
more.  Decazes  went  to  London  as 
ambassador,  and  received  the  title  of 
duke.  This  compulsory  change  of  minis- 
ters seemed  to  the  king  like  his  own 
abdication.  Exceptional  legislation 
against  personal  freedom  was  indeed 
necessary,  but  it  increased  the 
bitterness  of   the   Radicals,  who 


Renewed 
Bloodshed 


.  p  .  were  already  furious  at  the  men- 
ace of  the  Electoral  Law  of  1817. 
Matters  came  to  bloodshed  in  Paris  in 
June,  1820  ;  the  Right,  however,  carried 
the  introduction  of  a  new  electoral  law. 
The  abandonment  of  France  to  the  noisy 
emancipationists  standing  on  the  extreme 
Left  was  happily  diverted.  Richelieu  admin- 
istered the  country  in  a  strictly  monarchical 
spirit,  but  never  became  the  man  of  the 
ultra-Royalists  of  the  Pavilion  Marsan. 

The  disturbed  condition  of  the  Iberian 
Peninsula  gave  the  leaders  of  the  reaction 
a  new  justification  for  their  policy  and  a 
new  opportunity  of  applying  it.  Fer- 
dinand VII.,  the  king  so  intensely  desired 
by  the  Spaniards,  had  soon  shown  himself 
a  mean  despot,  whose  whole  government 
was  marked  by  depravity  and  faithlessness, 
by  falsehood  and  distrust.  He  abolished 
in  May,  1814,  the  constitution  of  1812, 
which  was  steeped  in  the  spirit  of  the 
French  Constituent  Assembly,  dismissed 
the  Cortes,  and  with  a  despicable  party  or 
camarilla  of  favourites  and  courtiers 
persecuted  all  liberals  and  all  adherents  of 
Joseph  Bonaparte.  He  restored  all  the 
monasteries,  brought  back  the  Inquisition 
and  the  Jesuits,   and  scared  Spain  once 


REACTION    TRIUMPHANT    IN    THE    LATIN    STATES 


more  into  the  deep  darkness  of  the  Middle 
Ages  ;  he  destroyed  all  benefits  of  govern- 
ment and  the  administration  of  justice, 
filled  the  prisons  with  innocent  men,  and 
revelled  with  guilty  associates.  Trade 
and  commeice  were  at  a  standstill,  and  in 
spite  of  all  the  pressure  of  taxation  the 
treasury  remained  empty.  The  Ministries 
and  high  officials  continually  changed 
according  to  the  caprice  of  the  sovereign, 
and  there  was  no  ^-iretcnce  at  pursuing  a 


the  influence  of  the  Powers,  particularly 
of  Russia,  Ferdinand  was  rudely  awakened 
from  the  indolence  into  which  he  had  fallen. 
Better  days  seemed  to  be  dawning  for  Spain ; 
but  the  reforming  mood  soon  passed  away. 
Regiments  intended  to  be  employed 
against  the  rising  in  South  America  had 
been  assembled  at  Cadiz,  but  at  this 
centre  a  conspiracy  against  the  Govern- 
ment in  Madrid  broke  out.  On  New 
Year's  Day,  1820,  the  colonel  of  the  regi- 


LOUIS    XVIII.     OF     FRANCE     DRAWING     UP    THE     "CHARTA"     AT    ST.     GUEN     IN    1814 


systematic  policy.  Such  evils  led  to  the 
rebellions  of  discontented  and  ambitious 
generals,  such  as  Xaverio  Mina,  who  paid 
the  penalty  of  failure  on  the  scaffold  or 
at  the  gallows.  Even  the  loyalty  of  the 
South  American  colonies  wavered  ;  they 
were  evidently  contemplating  defection 
from  the  mother  country,  in  spite  of  all 
counter  measures;  and  the  rising  world 
power  of  the  United  States  of  North 
America   was   greatly   strengthened.     By 


ment  of  Asturia,  RiegO;  proclaimed  in 
Las  Cabezas  de  San  Juan  on  the  Isla  de 
Leon  the  constitution  of  1812,  arrested  at 
Arcos  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  ex- 
peditionary force  together  with  his  staff, 
drove  out  the  magistrates,  and  joined 
Colonel  Antonio  Quiroga,  who  now  was 
at  the  head  of  the  undertaking.  The 
attempt  to  capture  Cadiz  failed  ;  Riego's 
march  through  Andalusia  turned  out 
disastrously,  and  he  was  forced  on  March 

4841 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


iith  to  disband  his  followers  at  Bien- 
venida.  Quiroga  also  achieved  nothing. 
But  the  cry  for  the  constitution  of  1812 
found  a  responsive  echo  in  Madrid. 
Galicia,  Asturia,  Cantabria,  and  Aragon 
revolted.  The  royal  government  com- 
pletely lost  heart,  since  it  had  too  evil  a 
conscience.  The  king,  always  a  coward, 
capitulated  with  undignified 
eac  ion  alacrity,  declared  himself  ready 
.  "^'g  ™?  *''  to  gratify  "  the  universal  wish 
of  the  people,"  and  on 
March  9th  took  a  provisional  oath  of 
adherence  to  the  constitution  of  181 2. 

The  whole  kingdom  was  at  the  mercy 
of  the  unruly  and  triumphant  Left.  It 
was  headed  by  Quiroga  and  Riego,  and 
the  Government  was  obliged  to  confer  upon 
both  these  mutineers  the  rank  of  field- 
marshal.  Quiroga  was  the  more  moderate 
of  the  two,  and  as  Vice-president  of  the 
Cortes,  which  met  on  July  9th,  endea- 
voured to  organise  a  middle  party.  Riego 
preferred  the  favour  of  the  mob  ;  at 
Madrid  he  received  a  wild  ovation, 
August  30th  to  September  6th,  and 
a  hymn  composed  in  his  honour  and 
called  by  his  name  was  in  everybody's 
mouth.  Although  his  arrogance  produced 
a  temporary  reaction,  the  party  which  he 
led  was  in  the  end  triumphant.  As  cap- 
tain-general of  Galicia  and  Aragon,  Riego 
became  master  of  the  situation,  and  the 
Court  was  exposed  to  fresh  humiliations. 

The  spirit  of  discontent  had  also 
seized  Portugal,  where  the  reorganiser  of 
the  army,  Field-Marshal  Lord  Beresford, 
conducted  the  government  for  King"  John 
VL,  who  was  absent  in  Brazil.  A  national 
conspiracy  against  the  British  was  quickly 
suppressed  in  1817  ;  but  the  feeling  of 
indignation  smouldered,  and  when  Beres- 
ford himself  went  to  Rio  Janeiro  for 
commands,  secret  societies  employed  his 
absence  to  stir  up  fresh  sedition.  The 
rebellion  broke  out  on  August  24th,  1820, 
under  Colonel  Sepulveda  and  Count 
p  Silveira  in  Oporto,  and  Lisbon 

or  uga  s     fQ|iQ^.g(j    g^j^    Q^    September 

spirit   of  ,  ,  n^^  ■  j_  ■         ,-,       ,       ^    ■ 

jj.  15th.     the  juntas  mstitutedm 

both  places  amalgamated  into 
one  provisional  government  on  October  ist, 
and  when  Beresford  returned  on  October 
loth,  he  was  not  allowed  to  land.  The 
Cortes  of  1821  drew  up,  on  March  9th,  the 
preliminary  sketch  of  a  constitution  which 
limited  the  power  of  the  Crown,  as  it  had 
already  been  limited  in  Spain.  All  the 
authorities    swore    to    it  ;     Count    Pedro 

4842 


Palmella,  the  foremost  statesman  of  the 
kingdom,  advised  John  VL  to  do  the  same. 
Jolm  appeared  in  Lisl)on,  left  his  eldest 
son  Dom  Pedro  behind  as  regent  in  Brazil, 
and  swore  to  the  principles  of  the  consti- 
tution on  July  3rd,  1821. 

In  Italy,  m-anwhile,  there  was  a  strong 
movement  on  foot  in  favour  of  republi- 
canism and  union.  But  few  placed  their 
hopes  on  Piedmont  itself,  for  King  Victor 
Emmanuel  I.  was  a  bigoted,  narrow- 
minded  ruler,  who  sanctioned  the  most 
foolish  retrogressive  policy,  and,  like 
William  I.  at  Cassel,  declared  everything 
that  had  occurred  since  1789  to  be  simply 
null  and  void.  There  was  no  prospect  of 
freedom  and  a  constitution  while  he  con- 
tinued to  reign.  His  prospective  successor, 
Charles  Felix,  was  as  little  of  a  Liberal  as 
himself.  The  nobility  and  the  clergy  alone 
felt  themselves  happy.  The  hopes  of  better 
days  could  only  be  associated  with  the 
head  of  the  indirect  line  of  Carignan, 
Charles  Albert,  who  in  Piedmont  and 
Sardinia  played  the  role  of  the  Duke  of 
Orleans  in  France,  and  represented  the 
future  of  Italy  for  many  patriots  even 
beyond  the  frontiers  of  Piedmont.  In 
Modena,  Duke  Francis  IV.  of 
the  Austrian  house  did  away 


Peaceful 
Rule  of  Duke 
Ferdinand 


with  the  institutions  of  the 
revolutionary  period  and 
brought  back  the  old  regime.  The  Society 
of  Jesus  stood  at  the  helm.  Modena,  on 
account  of  the  universal  discontent, 
became  a  hotbed  of  secret  societies. 

In  the  papal  states  the  position  was  the 
same .  as  in  Modena ;  it  was  hardly  better 
in  Lucca,  or  in  Parma,  where  Napoleon's 
wife,  the  Empress  Marie  Louise,  held  sway. 
InTuscany,  the  Grand  Duke  Ferdinand  III. 
reigned  without  any  spirit  of  revenge  ;  he 
was  an  enemy  of  the  reaction,  although 
often  disadvantageously  influenced  from 
Vienna.  The  peace  and  security  which  his 
rule  assured  to  Tuscany  promoted  the 
growth  of  intellectual  and  material  culture. 
His  was  the  best  administered  state  in  the 
whole  of  Italy  ;  and  when  he  died,  in  1824, 
his  place  was  taken  by  his  son  Leopold  II., 
who  continued  to  govern  on  the  same 
lines  and  with  the  same  happy  results. 

Pius  VII.  and  his  great  Secretary  of 
State,  Cardinal  Consalvi,  had  indeed  the 
best  intentions  when  the  States  of  the 
Church  were  revived  ;  but  the  upas-tree  of 
the  hierarchy  blighted  all  prosperity.  Not 
a  vestige  remained  of  the  modern  civilised 
lay   state,   especially   after  Consalvi  was 


REACTION    TRIUMPHANT    IN    THE    LATIN    STATES 


removed  and  Leo  XII.,  1823-1829, 
assumed  the  reins  of  government.  Secret 
societies  and  conspiracies  budded,  and 
brigandage  took  a  fresh  lease  of  hfe.  The 
secret  society  of  the  Carbonari,  having 
become  too  large  for  Neapolitan  soil — 1808 
—maintained  re- 
lations with  the 
Freemasons,  who 
had  influence  in 
the  Italian  dis- 
putes, and  with 
Queen  Mary 
Caroline  of 
Naples.  Later, 
the  Government 
vainly  tried  to 
suppress  the 
Carbonari,  who, 
though  degraded 
by  the  admission 
of  the  most  no- 
torious criminals 


was  powerless  against  them.  The  ne.vly 
revived  citizen  militia  was  immediately 
infected  by  the  Carbonari,  which  tempted 
it  with  the  charm  of  a  "  conscitution." 

Gughelmo  Pepe,  an  ambitious  general, 
but  fickle  character,  became  the  soul  ot 
the  Carbonari  in 
theSicilianarmy, 
and  gave  them  a 
considerable  de- 
gree of  military 
efficiency.  He 
contemplated  in 
1819  the  arrest 
of  the  king,  the 
Emperor  and 
Empress  of  Aus- 
tria, and  Met- 
ternich,  at  a 
review.  The 
plan  was  not 
executed,  but  the 
spell      of      the 


THE    DUKE    OF    RICHELIEU    AND    DECAZES 

The  Duke  of  Richelieu,  an  emigre  and  formerly  g-overnor-general  at 

Inrl  o-oinprl  dhnlH     Odessa,  was  appointed  to  succeed  Talleyrand  as  High  Chamberlain  Qi^oniQh         insnr- 

liaa  gainea  anoia    though  he  was  quite  unacauainted  with  French  affairs,  while  Dccazes,  '^P'il"^'"         ^"^Ui 

on  every  stratum    who  supported  the  Bourbon  restoration,  became  a  great  favourite  of  rCCtlOU     and    the 

-  -^  the  king.  He  was  dismissed  in  1S20,  and  went  to  London  as  ambassador.  „p^  COnstitutioU 


of  society 

The  misgovernment  of  Naples  and  Sicily 
gave  a  plausible  excuse  for  revolutionary 
agitation.  King  Ferdinand  IV.,  a  phleg- 
matic old  man,  full  of  cunning  and  trea- 
chery, licentiousness  and  cruelty,  had  not 
fulfilled  one  of  the  promises  which  he  had 
given  on  his  return  to  the 
throne,  but  had,  on  the  con- 
trary, secretly  promised  the 
Court  of  Vienna  that  he  would 
not-  grant  his  country  a  con- 
stitution until  Austria  set 
him  the  example.  On  Dec- 
ember nth,  1816,  he  united 
his  states  into  the  "  Kingdom 
of  the  Two  Sicilies,"  and 
assumed  the  title  of  Ferdinand 
I.  ;  and,  although  he  left  in 
existence  many  useful  reforms 
which  had  been  introduced 
during  the  French  period,  he 
bitterly  disappointed  his 
Sicilian  subjects  by  abolishing 


ensnared  him  and  his  partisans.  On  July 
2nd,  1820,  two  sub-lieutenants  raised  the 
standard  of  revolt  at  Nola,  and  talked 
foohshly  about  the  Spanish  constitution, 
which  was  totally  unknown  to  them.  On 
the  3rd  this  was  proclaimed  in  Avellino. 
.  Pepe  assumed  the  lead  of  the 
movement,  which  spread  far 
and  wide,  and  marched  upon 
Naples.  The  Ministry  changed. 
Ferdinand  placed  the  govern- 
ment temporarily  in  the  hands 
of  his  son  Francis,  who  was 
detested  as  the  head  of  the 
Calderari,  and  the  latter 
accepted  the  Spanish  consti- 
tution on  July  7th,  a  policy 
which  Ferdinand  confirmed. 
On  the  9th,  Pepe  entered 
Naples  in  triumph,  with 
soldiers  and  militia ;  and 
Ferdinand,  with  tears  in  his 
eyes,    took    the   oath  to  the 


A    LEADER    OF    REVOLT 
Riego  was  at  the  head  of  the  Madrid 

the  constitution  which  Lord  ri^'ng  of  if  ^ :  his  march  through  constitution  on   the  13th,  in 

iiiv^    <^wii.oi.j.i.Lii,iwii    vvlll^-ll    A^KjLyu.    Aij(jalusia  tumcd  out  disastrously,  -^ 

Bentinck    had    given    them  in    and  he  disbanded  his  followers.  He 

1812.     The    police    and    the   ""^  •^""^^''  ^'  "^'^"^ '"  ''''■ 


judicial  system  were  deplorably  bad  ; 
the  Minister  of  Police  was  the  worst 
robber  of  all,  and  the  head  of  the  Cal- 
derari, a  rival  reactionary  society.  The 
army  was  neglected.  Secret  societies  and 
bands  of  robbers  vied  with  each  other  in 
harassing  the  country,  and  the  Government 


the    palace      chapel.        The 
Bourbons  began  to  wear  the 
colours    of    the    Carbonari.  Pepe,    as 

commander-in-chief  and  captain-general 
of  the  kingdom,  was  now  supreme  ;  but 
Ferdinand  hastened  to  assure  the  indig- 
nant Metternich  that  all  his  oaths  and 
promises  had  been  taken  under  com- 
pulsion   and  were    not  seriously    meant. 

4843 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Sicily  no  longer  wished  to  be  treated  as 

a  dependency  of  Naples,  and  claimed  to 

receive    back    the    constitution    of    1812. 

Messina  revolted,   and   Palermo  followed 

the  example  on  July  14th  ;    on  the  i8th 

there  was  fighting  in  the  streets  of  Palermo. 

The  governor,  Naselli,  fled,  and  the  mob 

ruled ;  immediately  afterwards  a  provisional 

government  was  installed.  The 

,.  *^_   °  independent  action  of   Sicily 

the  Governor  ^    j  .      j-  .       .      ■" 

p,      ...  aroused  great    discontent    m 

Naples.  General  Florestan 
Pepe  was  despatched  to  Sicily  with  an 
army,  and  he  soon  made  himself  master  of 
the  island.  But  the  Crown  repudiated  the 
treaty  concluded  by  him  with  the  rebels 
on  October  5th,  and  sacrificed  Pepe  to 
the  clamour  of  the  Neapolitan  Parliament ; 
the  gulf  between  the  two  parts  of  the 
kingdom  became  wider.  Met- 
ternich  had  been  unmoved  by 
the  tidings  of  the  Spanish 
agitation,  but  he  was  only 
the  more  enraged  when  he 
heard  what  had  occurred  in 
the  Two  Sicilies.  He  put  all 
blame  on  the  secret  societies, 
and  praised  the  good  in- 
tentions of  Ferdinand's 
"  paternal  "  government. 
The  insurrection  in  Spain 
had  made  such  an  impression 
on  Alexander  that  in  a  cir- 
cular of  May  2nd,  1820,  he 
invoked  the  spirit  of  the 
Holy  Alliance,  and  emphasised 
the  danger  of  illegal  constitu- 
tions. Metternich  strength- 
ened the  Austrian  forces  in 
Upper  Italy,  and  stated,  in  a  circular  to 
the  Italian  courts,  that  Austria,  by  the 
treaties  of  18 15,  was  the  appointed  guar- 
dian of  the  peace  of  Italy,  and  wished  for 
an  immediate  armed  interference  in  the 
affairs  of  Naples ;  but  he  encountered 
strong  opposition  in  Paris  and  in  St. 
Petersburg.  Alexander,  whom  Metternich 
actually  suspected  of  Carbonarism,  advised 
a  conference  of  sovereigns  and  Ministers  ; 
the  conference  met  on  October  20th, 
1820,  at  Troppau.  Alexander  brought  with 
him  Capodistrias,  an  enemy  of  Metternich  ; 
Francis  I.  brought  Metternich  and  Gentz  ; 
Frederic  William  III.  was  accompanied  by 
Hardenberg  and  Count  Giinther  von  Bern- 
storff ;  the  Count  de  la  Ferronays  appeared 
on  behalf  of  Louis  XVIII.  ;  and  Lord 
Stewart  .  represented  the  faint-hearted 
pjlicy  of  his  brother  Castlereagh,  which 

4844 


JOHN  VI  OF  PORTUGAL 
After  acting  as  reg-ent  for  his 
mother,  he  succeeded  to  the  throne ; 
a  rebellion  broke  out  in  ISiO,  and 
the  king  agreed  to  a  constitution 
limiting  the  power  of  the  Crown. 


was  condemned  by  the  British  nation.  It 
was  Metternich's  primary  object  that  the 
congress  should  approve  the  march  of  an 
Austrian  army  into  Naples,  and  he  induced 
the  congress  to  invite  Ferdinand  to 
Troppau.  Alexander  always  clung  closer 
to  the  wisdom  of  Metternich,  and  the  latter 
skilfully  used  the  report  of  a  mutiny  among 
the  Semenoff  guards  as  an  argument  to 
overcome  the  Liberalism  of  the  tsar. 
Alexander  saw  before  his  own  eyes  how 
the  Spanish  and  Italian  military  revolts 
excited  imitation  in  the  Russian  army. 
Frederic  William  was  equally  conciliatory 
to  Metternich,  and  was  more  averse  than 
ever  to  granting  a  constitution  on  the 
model  of  Hardenberg's  schemes.  In  the 
protocol  of  November  19th,  Austria, 
Prussia,  and  Russia  came  to  an  agreement, 
behind  the  back  of  the  two 
Western  Powers,  as  to  the 
position  which  they  would 
adopt  towards  revolutions, 
and  as  to  the  maintenance 
of  social  order  ;  but  France 
and  Great  Britain  rejected  the 
idea  of  changing  the  principles 
of  international  law.  Fer- 
dinand took  fresh  oaths  to  his 
people  and  set  out  for  Troppau. 
After  Christmas  the  con- 
gress closed  at  Troppau,  but 
was  continued  in  January, 
1821,  at  Laibach.  ^  Most  of 
the  Italian  governments  were 
represented.  Metternich  again 
took  over  the  presidency. 
Ferdinand  was  at  once  ready 
to  break  his  word,  and 
declared  that  his  concessions  were  extorted 
from  him.  The  King  of  France  at  first 
hesitated.  A  miracle  seemed  to  have  been 
performed  on  behalf  of  the  French  Bour- 
bons :  the  widow  of  Berry  gave  birth,  on 
September  29th,  1820,  to  a  son,  the  Duke 
Henry  of  Bordeaux,  who  usually  appeared 
later  under  the  name  of  Count  of  Cham- 
bord.-  The  legitimists  shouted 
for  joy,  talked  of  the  miracu- 
lous child  who  would  console 
his  mother  for  the  death  of 
Hector.  "  the  stem  of  Jesse  when  nearly 
withered  had  put  forth  a  fresh  branch."  The 
child  was  baptised  with  water  which  Chat- 
eaubriand had  drawn  from  the  Jordan.  The 
Spanish  Bourbons  looked  askance  at  the 
b'rth  :  they  were  already  speculating  on  the 
f  iiture  succession  to  the  throne. and  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  secretly  suggested  in  the  English 


The  "Mir'clj 
of  the  French 
Bourbons 


REACTION    TRIUMPHANT    IN    THE    LATIN    STATES 


Press  suspicious  of  the  legitimacy  of  the 
child.  Louis  successively  repressed  several 
military  revolts,  but  had  constantly  to 
Scruggle  with  the  claims  of  the  ultras,  who 
embittered  his  reign.  Although  in  his 
heart  opposed  to  it,  he  nevertheless  as- 
sented at  Laibach  to  the  programme  of 
the  Eastern  Powers. 

Austria  sent  an  army  under 
Frimont  over  the  Po,  and 
ujAeld  the  fundamental  idea 
of  a  constitution  for  the  Two 
Sicilies.  Ferdinand  agreed  to 
everything  which  Metternich 
arranged.  France  did  not, 
indeed,  at  first  consent  to 
that  armed  interference  with 
Spain  which  Alexander  and 
Metternich  required.  On  Feb- 
ruary 26th,  1821,  the  deli- 
berations of  the  congress 
terminated.  The  Neapolitan 
Parliament,  it  is  true,  defied 
the  threats  of  the  Eastern 
Powers,  and  declared  that 
Ferdinand  was  their  prisoner, 
and  that  therefore  his  resolu- 
tions were  not  voluntary, 
preparations  for  resistance  were  so  de- 
fective that  the  Austrians  had  an  easy 
task.  The  Neapolitan  army  broke  up 
after  the  defeat  of  Guglielmo  Pepe  at  Rieti 
on  March  7th,  1821,  and  on  March  24th 
Frimont's  army  marched  int(  ■ 
Naples  with  sprigs  of  olive  111 
their  helmets.  Pepe  fled  ti> 
Spain.  In  Naples  the  re- 
action perpetrated  such  ex- 
cesses that  the  Powers  inter- 
vened ;  the  victims  were 
countless,  while  the  Austrians 
maintained  order. 

In  Piedmont  the  revolu- 
tion broke  out  on  March 
loth,  1821  ;  Charles  Albert 
of  Carignan  did  not  keep 
aloof  from  it.  The  tricolour 
flag,  red,  white,  and  green,  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Italy  was 
hoisted  in  Alessandria,  and  a 


arrival,    accepted,  contrary  to  his  inward 
conviction,  the  new  constitution,  and  swore 
to  it  on  March  15th.     Charles  Felix,  how- 
ever,    considered     every     administrative 
measure  null  and    void    which    had    not 
emanated  from  himself.      Charles  Albert 
was  panic-stricken,   resigned  the  regency, 
and  left  the  country.      Alex- 
ander and  Metternich  agreed 
that  there  was  need  of  armed 
intervention     in      Piedmont. 
Austria  feared  also  the  corrup- 
tion of  her  Italian  provinces, 
and  kept  a  careful  watch  upon 
those  friends  of  freedom  who 
had  not  yet  been  arrested. 

At  Novara,  on  April  8th,  the 
Imperialists  under  Marshal 
Bubna,  won  a  victory  over 
the  Piedmontese  insurgents, 
which  was  no  less  decisive 
than  that  of  Rieti  had  been  in 
Naples.  Piedmont  was  occu- 
King  of  Sardinia  from  1^  1 4,  he  was  pied  by  the  imperial  army ;  the 

a    bigoted,    narrow-minded    ruler.     • >  •  i  i      ir-    j_ 

His  retrogressive   policy  led  to   a    JUUta      resigned,       and     VlCtOF 

rising  in  1821  and  he  abdicated  in  Emmanuel  renewed  his  abdica- 

favour  of  his  brother  Charles  Pelix.    j.  a       -i  .i  -kt- 

tion  on  April   19th,   at  Nice. 
Charles  Felix  then  first  assumed  the  royal 
title  and  decreed  a  criminal  inquiry.      On 
October  i8th  he  made  his  entry  into  Turin 
amid  the  mad  rejoicings  of  the  infatuated 
mob,    suppressed  every  sort    of    political 
and  ruled  in  death-like  quiet,  being 
supported    by    the    bayonets 
of    Austria  and    by   the   do- 
minion   of     the     Jesuits     in 
Church,    school,     and    State. 
The  Austrians  did  not    leave 
his    country  until  1823.      ^^ 
May  I2th,  1821,  a  proclama- 
tion  issued  from  Laibach  by 
the  Eastern  Powers  announced 
«K9*j3   to   the   world   that  they  had 
rescued     Europe     from     the 
intended    general   revolution, 
and  that  their  weapons  alone 
served  to  uphold    the    cause 
of  right  and  justice. 

Metternich,    promoted    by 
the  emperor  to  the  office  of 


VICTOR     EMMANUEL 


But    their 


]varty 


GUGLIELMO     PEPE 
An   ambitious   general,   but  fickle 

provisional  junta  on  the  t^h'e  cfrbona.w  'n  triicman  ar'myf  Chancellor  of  State,  stood  at 
Spanish  model  was  assembled,  and  in  1 820  he  assumed  supreme  the  zenith  of  his  success  when, 
Turin  proclaimed  the  parlia-  ^°'"''  ^'  commander-in-chief,  on  May  5th,  1821,  Napoleon  I., 
mentary  constitution  on  March  nth,  and      the  man  who  had  contested  his  importance 


the  Carbonari  seized  the  power.  Victor 
Emmanuel  I.  abdicated  on  March  13th  in 
favour  of  his  brother  Charles  Felix.  Ckarles 
Albert,  a  vacillating  and  untrustworthy 
ruler,  who  was  regent  until    the  latter's 


and  had  ruled  the  world  far  more  than  Met- 
ternich, died  at  St.  Helena.  The  black  and 
3'ellow  flag  waved  from  Milan  to  Palermo  ; 
princes  and  peoples  bowed  before  it. 
Legitimacy  had  curbed  the  revolutionary 

4845 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


craving,  and  Italy  was  further  from 
unification  than  ever.  The  apostles  of 
freedom  and  unit}^  men  like  Silvio  Pellico, 
disappeared  in  the  dungeons  of  the 
Spielberg  and  other  fortresses  in  Austria. 
Russia  was  now  on  the  most  friendly 
terms  with  Austria.  The  result  was  soon 
seen  when  the  monarchs  and  Adnisters,  still 
at  Laibach,  received  tidings 
of  disorders  in  the  Danubian 


An  Era  of 
Conspiracy 


d  A  h  pi'Jiicipalities  and  in  Greece,  and 
^  the  tsar,  under  Metternich's  in- 
fluence, repudiated  the  Greek  leader,  Ypsi- 
lanti,  who  had  built  on  the  theory  that  he 
could  reckon  on  the  warm  support  of  Russia. 

In  Spain  the  Liberals  made  shameless 
misuse  of  their  victory,  and  limited  the 
power  of  the  king  to  such  a  degree  that  he 
naturally  tried  to  effect  a  change.  His 
past  was  a  guarantee  that  Ferdinand  VII. 
would  not  be  at  a  loss  for  the  means  to 
his  end.  He  courted  the  intervention  of 
the  Continent  ;  but  Louis  XVIII.  and 
Richelieu  preferred  neutrality.  The  ultra- 
Royalists,  however ,  became  more  and  more 
arrogant  in  France.  The  Pavilion  Marsan 
expelled  Richelieu  in  December,  1821, 
and  brought  in  the  Ministry  of  Vill  le ; 
the  reaction  felt  itself  fully  victorious,  and 
the  clergy  raised  their  demands.  The 
Carbonari  was  introduced  from  Italy, 
and  secret  societies  were  formed.  New 
conspiracies  of  republican  or  Napoleonic 
tendency  followed,  and  led  to  executions. 

The  power  of  the  ultras  became  gradually 
stronger  in  the  struggle  ;  party  feeling 
increased,  and  even  Count  Vill  ie  was  not 
royalist  enough  for  the  ultras.  Ferdi- 
nand VII.,  on  the  contrary,  favoured  the 
Radicals,  in  order  to  employ  them  against 
the  Liberals.  Riego  became  President  of 
the  Cortes  of  1822.  A  coup  de  main  of 
the  Guards  to  recover  for  Ferdinand  the 
absolute  power  failed  in  July,  1822,  and 
Ferdinand  surrendered  those  who  had  sacri- 
ficed themselves  for  him.  In  the  north 
guerrilla  bands  spread  in  every  direction 
_  .     on  his  behalf;  in  Seo  de  Urgel 

e    ragic  ^  i-egency  for  him  was   estab- 

-,    .,         .  lished  on  August  15th,  and  an 

Castlereagh     „.  x        j        •    I  j^i 

alliance     entered      mto     with 

France.     At  the  preliminary  deliberations 

for    the  congress  intended  to  be  held  at 

Verona,    Metternich    reckoned    upon    his 

"  second     self,"      Castlereagh,     now    the 

Marquess  of  Londonderry  ;  but  the  latter 

died  by  his  own  hand  on  August  12th,  1822. 

His  successor  in  the  Foreign  (JiS.ce,  George 

Canning,  a  "  Tory  from  inward  conviction, 

4846 


a  modern  statesman  from  national  neces- 
sit}',"  broke  with  the  absolutist-reactionary 
principles  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  and  entered 
the  path  of  a  national  independent  policy, 
thus  dealing  a  heavy  blow  at  Metternich 
and  Austria.  Metternich  and  Alexander 
stood  the  more  closely  side  by  side. 

The  congress  of  sovereigns  and  Ministers 
at  Verona  was  certainly  the  most  bril- 
liant since  that  of  Vienna.  In  October, 
1822,  came  Alexander,  Francis,  and  Fre- 
deric William  ;  most  of  the  Italian  rulers, 
Metternich,  Nesselrode,  Pozzo  di  Borgo, 
Bernstorff,  and  Hardenberg  ;  France  was 
represented  by  Chateaubriand,  the  Duke 
of  Laval-Montmorency,  Count  La  Ferro- 
nays,  and  the  Marquis  of  Caraman  ; 
Great  Britain  by  Wellington  and  Viscount 
Strangford.  Entertainments  were  on  as 
magnificent  a  scale  as  at  Vienna.  Metter- 
nich wished  to  annul  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  revolution,  and  with  ii  the 
extorted  constitution  ;  the  Eastern  Powers 
and  France  united  for  the  eventuahty  of 
further  hostile  or  revolutionary  steps 
being  taken  by  Spain ;  Great  Britain 
excluded  itself  from  their  agreements, 
while  Chateaubriand's  romanticism  in- 
_  ,  toxicated  the  tsar.     When  the 

C/ongress  of  /^        i  <    ii  i  j. 

p  Greeks  at  the  congress  sought 

y  help  against  the  Turks,  they  were 

coldly  refused.  On  the  other 
hand,  an  understanding  was  arrived  at 
about  the  gradual  evacuation  of  Pied- 
mont by  the  Austrians  ;  the  army  of 
occupation  in  the  Two  Sicilies  was  reduced ; 
and  good  advice  of  every  sort  was  given  to 
the  Italian  princes.  The  Eastern  Powers 
and  France  saw  with  indignation  that 
Great  Britain  intended  to  recognise  the 
separation  of  the  South  American  colonies 
from  Spain,  and  their  independence,  ac- 
cording to  the  example  given  by  the 
United  States  of  North  America,  in  March, 
1822.  The  Congress  of  Verona  ended 
toward  the  middle  of  December. 

Chateaubriand,  now  French  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  urged  a  rupture  with 
Spain,  at  which  Louis  and  Vill  le  still 
hesitated.  The  thr-eatening  notes  of  the 
Powers  at  the  Verona  congress  roused  a 
storm  of  passion  in  Madrid,  while  the 
dijjlomatists  in  Verona  had  set  themselves 
the  question  whether  nations  might  put 
kings  on  their  trial,  as  Dante  does  in  his 
Divine  Comedy,  and  whether  the  tragedy 
of  Louis  XVI.  should  be  repeated  with 
another  background  in  the  case  of  Ferdi- 
nand VII.     The  Spanish  nation  revolted 


REACTION    TRIUMPHANT    IN    THE    LATIN    STATES 


against  the  arrogance  ot  foreign  interference. 
The  rupture  was  made  ;  the  ambassadors 
of  Russia,  Austria,  Prussia,  and  France 
left  Spain  in  January,  1823.  The  adven- 
turous George  Bessie  res  venKu-ed  on  an 
expedition  to  Madrid  ;  but  the  Spanish 
hope  of  British  help  against  France, 
which  was  intended  to  carry 
out  the  armed  interference, 
was  not  fulfilled. 

Louis  XVIII.  placed  his 
ne])hew,  Duke  Louis  of 
Angouleme,  at  the  head  of 
an  army  of  100,000  men. 
which  was  to  free  Ferdinand 
from  the  power  of  the 
Liberals  and  put  him  ance 
again  in  possession  of 
despotic  power.  In  the 
Chamber  at  Paris  the 
Liberals,  indeed,  loudly  de- 
cried the  war,  and  trembled 
at    the    suppression   of  the 


CHATEAUBRIAND 


professions.  He  was  accorded  a  state 
reception  by  Angouleme  on  October  ist, 
and  was  proclaimed  as  absolute  monarch 
by  a  large  party  among  the  Spaniards. 
But  hardly  was  he  free  before  the  perjurer 
began  the  wildest  reaction.  Many  members 
of  the  Cortes  and  the  regency  fled  to 
England  to  escape  the 
gallows,  and  Ferdinand 
exclaimed:  "  The  wretches 
do  well  to  fly  from  their 
fate  !  "  The  Powers  of 
Europe  viewed  his  action 
with  horror.  Angouleme, 
whose  warnings  had  been, 
scattered  to  the  winds,  left 
Madrid  in  disgust  on  Nov- 
ember 4th.  Riego  was 
hanged  at  Madrid  on 
November  7th,  1823  ;  on 
the  13th  Ferdinand  returned 
ti^iumphant,  only  to  reign 
as    detestably    as     before. 


Spanish  revolution,  although  This  eminent  French  writer  and  poii-  Talleyrand  called   the  war 

Canning  openly  desired  the  ^^^^^  l.lTuu^ahl-u'utZ^^^^^^^^  of  intervention   the   begin- 

victory     of     the     Spanish  a   vicomte,  and  for  two  years  repre-  iiing  of  the  end ;  the  rcsult  of 

people.     Ferdinand  and  the  ^""'"'^   ^''""^^  ^' '^^  ^"''''^  ^°"'-^-  it  was  that  Spain  floundered 


Cortes  went  to  Seville.  Angouleme  crossed 
the  frontier  stream,  the  Bidassoa,  on  April 
7th,  and  found  no  traces  of  a  popular  rising ; 
nevertheless,  he  advanced,  without  any 
opposition,  was  hailed  as  a  saviour,  and 
entered  Madrid  on  May  24th.  He  appointed 
a  temporary  regency,  and  in 
order  not  to  hurt  the  national 
pride,  avoided  any  inter- 
ference in  internal  affairs, 
although  the  reactionary  zeal 
of  the  regency  caused  him 
much  uneasiness,  and  only  re- 
tained the  supreme  military 
command.  But  the  Cortes  in 
Seville  relieved  the  king  of  the 
conduct  of  affairs  and  carried 
him  off  to  Cadiz.  Victory 
followed  the  French  flag. 
The  Spaniards  lost  heart,  and 
were  defeated  or  capitulated 


further  into  the  mire.  The  ultras  tormented 
the  country  and  Ferdinand  himself  to 
such  a  degree  that  he  began  to  weary  of 
them.  The  colonies  in  South  America 
were  irretrievably  lost  ;  all  the  subtleties 
of  the  congress  at  Verona  and  of  Chateau- 
briand could  not  change  that 
fact.  At  Canning's  proposal 
the  British  Government,  on 
January  ist,  1825,  recognised 
the  independence  of  the  new 
repubhcs  of  Buenos  Ayres, 
Colombia,  and  Mexico.  "This 
was  a  fresh  victory  over  the 
principle  of  legitimacy,  which 
had  been  always  emphasised  by 
Austria,  Spain,  and  France,  as 
well  as  by  Russia  and  Prussia. 
The  Spanish  insurrection 
naturally  affected  the  neigh- 
bouring country  of  Portugal. 


Angouleme  made  forced  dona  maria  11.  da  gloria  The  September  Constitution 
marches  to  Cadiz,  and  on  the  Joun^^d^by  Ped^o'Yv'^'orB^azfr  ^^  ^^^o,  far  from  improving 
night  of  August  31st  stormed  in  favour  of  his  daughter,  but  when  matters  there,  had  actuallv 
Fort  Trocadero,  which  was  Sng  in'^if^^he°rSnf d  V"her  introduced  new  difficulties, 
considered  impregnable.  An  father,  and  was  restored  in  1834,  ConstitutionaHsts  and  abso- 
expedition  of  Riego  to  the  Isla  de  Leon      lutists  were  quarrelling  violently  with  each 


ended  in  his  arrest,  and  on  September  28th 
the  Cortes,  in  consequence  of  the  bombard- 
ment of  Cadiz,  abandoned  their  resistance. 
Ferdinand  VII.  voluntarily  promised  a 
complete   amnesty   and   made   extensive 


other.  Dom  Pedro,  son  of  John  VI.,  who 
had  been  appointed  regent  in  Brazil,  saw 
himself  compelled  by  a  national  party, 
which  wished  to  make  Brazil  an  indepen- 
dent empire,  to  send  away  the  Portuguese 

4847 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF     THE    WORLD 


ti'oops.  He  assumed  in  May,  1822,  the 
t'tle  of  permanent  protector  of  Brazil, 
and  convened  a  national  assembly  at 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  which  on  August  ist  and 
on  September  7th  announced  the  inde- 
pendence of  Brazil,  and  proclaimed  him, 
on  October  12th,  1822,  Emperor  of  Brazil, 
under  the  title  of  Dom  Pedro  I.  The 
Portuguese  were  furious,  but  were  never 
able  to  reconquer  Brazil. 

Queen  Charlotte,  wife  of  John  and 
sister  of  Ferdinand  VII.,  a  proud  and 
artful  woman,  refused  to  take  the  oath  to 
the  Portuguese  constitution,  to  which  John 
swore,  and,  being  banished,  conspired 
with  her  younger  son,  Dom  Miguef,  the 
clergy,  and  many  nobles,  to  restore  the 
absolute  monarchy.  A  counter  re- 
volution in  February,  1823, 
failed,  it  is  true,  but  Dom 
Miguel  put  himself  at  its  head, 
and  Lisbon  joined  his  cause. 
The  weak  John  sanctioned 
this,  and  cursed  the  consti- 
tution ;  the  Cortes  were 
dissolved.  John  promised  a 
new  constitution,  and  trium- 
phantly entered  Lisbon  with 
his  son  on  June  5th.  Por- 
tugal was  brought  back  to 
absolutism.  John  was  a  mere 
cipher  ;  but  Miguel  and  Char 
lotte    ruled,    and     did 


on  March  loth,  1826,  reigned  for  a  short 
period  over  his  native  country  as  Pedro  IV. 
Then,  on  May  2nd,  Pedro  renounced  the 
crown  of  Portugal  in  favour  of  his  daugh- 
ter,- Dona  Maria  II.  da  Gloria.  On  June 
25th,  1828,  Dom  Miguel  proclaimed  him- 
self king,  favoured  by  the  British  Tory 
Cabinet  of  Wellington.  His  niece,  Maria  da 
Gloria,  was  forced  to  return  to  her  father 
in  Brazil. 

The  victory  of  Trocadero,  which  was 
audaciously  compared  by  the  French 
ultras  to  Marengo  and  Austerlitz,  was  of 
extraordinary  advantage  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  Louis  XVm.  "  It  was  not 
merely  under  Napoleon  that  victories  were 
won  ;  the  restored  Bourbons  knew  this 
and  the  "hero  of  Trocadero" 
was  hailed  as  their  "cham- 
pion "  by  the  king  on 
December  2nd,  1823.  The 
elections  to  the  Chambers  of 
1824  were  favourable  to  them ; 
and  a  law  in  June  of  the  same 
year  prolonged  the  existence 
of  the  Second  Chamber  to 
seven  years,  which  might 
seem  some  check  on  change 
and  innovation.  VilLle 
stood  firm  at  the  helm, 
o  V  e«- 1  h  r  e  w  Chateaubriand, 


secret 


DOAl    1>   JGUEL 

rie  became  regent  of  Portugal  on  and    guidcd       Baron      DamaS, 

not   ^^^*'^  °f  ,•?'-  "'««  ^^'J?;:  ^"?f  his        successor        at        the 

being- ambitious, proclaimed  hiraself  ^^^k.^^^^^,.            vj...            m^ 

shrink     even       from        the  king,    when  Maria  recovered  the  FoiTigu  Office.    But  Chateau- 
murder  of  opponents.   Miguel   crown,  Miguel  withdrew  to  Italy.  ^^-^^^    rcvengcd   himself  by 


h.  aded  a  new  revolt  against  his  father 
on  April  30th,  1824,  in  order  to  depose  him. 
But  John  made  his  escape  on  May  gth 
to  a  British  man-of-war.  The  diplomatic 
body  took  his  side,  and  at  the  same  time 
liie  pressure  brought  to  bear  by  the  British 
Government  compelled  Miguel  to  throw 
himself  at  his  father's  feet  and  to  leave 
Portugal  on  May  13th.  An  amnesty  v/as 
proi-laimed.  The  return  of  the  old  Cortes 
vv.iich  had  sat  before  1822  was  promised, 
and  by  British  mediation  the  Treaty  of  Rio 
was  signed  on  August  2C)th,  1825,  in  which 
the  independence  and  self-government  of 
Brazil  were  recognised.  On  April  26th, 
1826,  Portugal  received  a  Liberal  Constitu- 
tion by  the  instrumentality  of  Dom  Pedro 
I.  of  Brazil,  who  after  his  father's  death, 


the  most  bitter  attacks  in  the  Press. 
Louis  thereupon,  at  the  advice  of  Villele, 
revived  the  censorship  on  political  journals 
and  newspapers,  August  i6th,  1824.  The 
much-tried  man  was  nearing  his  end.  He 
warned  his  brother  to  uphold  the  Charta 
loyally,  the  best  inheritance  which  he 
bequeathed  ;  if  he  did  so,  he  too  would 
die    in    the    palace    of  his    ancestors. 

Louis  XVIII.  died  on  September  i6th, 
1824.  France  hailed  Monsieur  as 
Charles  X.,  with  the  old  cry,  "  Le  roi  est 
mort,  vive  le  roi."  But  Talleyrand  had  fore- 
bodings that  the  kingdom  of  Charles  would 
soon  decay  ;  and,  with  his  usual  coarseness 
of  sentiment,  he  said  over  the  corpse  of 
Louis:   "I   smell  corruption    here!" 

Arthur  Kleinschmidt 


^   '^    liliiillitli    III '"ill  iiii 


4848 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


mtmoj 


EUROPE 

AFTER 

WATERLOO 

V 


THE   CROSS    AND    THE    CRESCENT 

REVOLT  AND  OPPRESSION  IN  RUSSIA 
AND    THE    LIBERATION     OF    GREECE 


"\Y7E  have  seen  that  the  Tsar  Alexander  I., 
^  when  he  ascended  the  throne  of  Russia, 
was  full  of  liberal  ideas.  If  he  wavered 
between  antagonism  to  Napoleon  and 
alliance  with  him,  it  was,  in  part  at  least, 
because  Napoleon's  own  career  bore  a 
double  aspect ;  if  he  was  an  aggressive 
CQnqueror  who  sought  to  impose  his  own 
will  on  Europe  regardless  of  international 
law,  he  was  also  the  incarnation  of  anti- 
feudalism.  It  was  not  until  after  the 
Congress  of  Vienna  and  the  Peace  of  Paris 
that  the  change  came  over  the  tsar 
which  made  him  a  force  in  Europe  hardly 
less  reactionary  than  Metternich  himself. 
But  it  is  with  his  domestic  policy,  his 
policy  within  the  borders  of  his  own 
empire,  that  we  are  here  concerned  ;  his 
foreign  policy  has  already  appropriated  a 
conspicuous  share  of  earlier  chapters. 
On  his  accession,  then,  he 
reigned  in  a  liberal  spirit,  and 


The  Tsar's 
Desire  for 
Reforms 


surrounded  himself  with  men  of 
the  same  views  ;  among  them 
his  Secretary  of  State,  Michael  Speranskij, 
was  conspicuous.  Magnanimous  plans 
were  proposed,  and  the  emperor  himself 
spoke  of  the  buiden  of  an  absolute 
monarchy.  There  was  a  wish  to  introduce 
reforms  on  the  English  model,  or,  as  Sper- 
anskij suggested,  an  imitation  of  the 
French  Constitution.  People  talked,  as 
Catharine  had  once  done,  of  "  the  rights  of 
the  subjects,  and  the  duty  of  the  Govern- 
ment," and  of  the  abolition  of  serfdom  ; 
and  a  sum  of  a  million  roubles  yearly 
was  laid  aside  in  order  to  buy  estates 
with  serfs  for  the  Crown. 

The  German  nobility  of  Esthonia,  Cour- 
land,  and  Livonia  took  the  first  step  by 
the  emancipation  of  the  Lettic  and 
Esthonian  serfs.  The  coercive  measures 
were  repealed,  the  frontier  opened,  the 
"  Secret  Chancery  "  as  well  as  corporal 
punishment  for  nobles,  citizens,  priests,  and 


church    officials    abolished.     Schools    and 

universities  were  founded,  and  the  empire 

was  divided  into  six  educational  districts. 

In  place  of  the  old  boards  dating  from  the 

days  of  Peter,  real  Ministries  and  a  Council 

of  State  were  created  for  the  first  time. 

Alexander  thus  reigned  "according  to  the 

principles  and  after  the  heart  of  Catharine  " 

.,,       ,  ,  until  1812,  when  he  suddenly 

Attempt   to  1             J  1,  •                      'Ti 

„    ,        ^.  changed  his  Views.     Ihe  ene- 

Kestorc    the  •         r  x       j           j^i       /^t_        i 

rkij  i%  J  mies  01  freedom,  the  Church 

Old    Order  .      .  i_    ■       i_      j 
once    more    at    their    head, 

strained  every  nerve  to  overthrow  Sper- 
anskij, and  restore  the  old  order  of  things. 
Even  the  great  historian,  Nikolaj  Karam- 
sin,  recommended  serfdom  and  autocracy 
in  his  memoir  on  "  Ancient  and  Modern 
Russia."  Others  also  recommended  the 
same  policy.  Speranskij  was  overthrown 
from  a  "  wounded  feeling  of  disappointed 
inclination  "  ;  Count  Alexej  Araktshejev, 
an  apostle  of  slavery,  as  an  all-powerful 
favourite,  guided  the  affairs  of  government. 

Alexander  did,  indeed,  make  the  attempt, 
to  which  he  had  always  been  attracted,  of 
giving  his  reconstructed  Poland  a  constitu- 
tion ;  but  Poland  was  incapable  of  working 
a  constitution.  Another  of  bis  experiments 
was  that  of  establishing  military/  colonies 
all  over  the  empire.  The  theory  was  that 
the  soldiery,  planted  on  the  soil,  would 
maintain  themselves  by  agriculture,  and 
would  at  the  same  time  provide  centres 
_      for  recruiting  and  for  military 

ew     o.m  ^j.j^jj^jj^„     jgg  practical  effect. 

Of  Russian   ,  '^  1.1  i- 

^  .       however,  was  merely  the  appli- 

cation  of  a  new  form  of  oppres- 
sion to  the  already  sufficiently  oppressed 
peasantry.  The  latter  years  of  Alexander's 
life  were  embittered  by  a  sense  of  the 
ingratitude  of  mankind.  Conscious  of  his 
own  high  purposes,  he  found  his  own 
people,  instead  of  recognising  their  nobility, 
still  murmuring  and  discontented,  infected 
even  by  the  mutinous  spirit  of  the  Latin 

4849 


HARMS  WORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


peoples.  He  expressed  repeatedly  a 
desire  to  abdicate,  and  when  he  died  at 
Taganrog  in  December,  1825,  it  was  with 
no  reluctance  that  he  escaped  from  the 
cares  of  sovereignty. 

He  left  no  children.  Constantine,  as 
the  elder  of  his  brothers,  would  have  had 
the  next  claim  to  the  throne  had  he  not 
formally  renounced  it  in  1820 
and  1822,  in  order  to  be  able 
to  marry  a  Polish  countess, 
Johanna  Grudzinska.  The 
idea  that  his  brother  Nicholas 
had  learnt  nothing  of  this 
before  the  memorable  Decem- 
ber days  of  the  year  1825  is  no 
longer  tenable.  The  homage 
paid  by  the  younger  brother 
to  Constantine,  who  was  stay- 
ing in  Warsaw,  was  a  rash  act 
chiefly  due  to  Count  Milorado- 
vitch,  the  miUtary  Governor- 
General  of  St.  Petersburg  at 
that  time,  and  it  cost  trouble 


attention  was  given  to  the  publication  of 
the  legal  code.  His  government  aimed 
at  "  stopping  the  rotation  of  the  earth," 
as  Lamartine  aptly  puts  it.  He  recognised 
no  peoples  or  nations,  only  cabinets  and 
states.  The  Press  was  therefore  once  more 
gagged,  printing-offices  were  watched  and 
schools  were  placed  under  strict  super- 
vision. The  Government's 
mistrust  of  education  was  so 
great  that  all  lecture  courses 
on  philosophy  were  entrusted 
to  the  clergy.  Even  the  Church 
was  watched,  and  the  em- 
peror's adjutant,  Protassov, 
a  general  of  hussars,  was 
attached  to  the  Holy.  Synod 
as  Procurator-General,  and 
i  for  twenty  years  conducted 
!  the  business  of  the  Church 
i  on  a  military  system.  But 
the  movement  towards  ci\dlisa- 
tion  and  hberty  did  not  "f^ul 
to  have  some  influence  even 


noble  contest  of  magnanimity  between  the 
two  brothers.  But  the  idea  of  freedom  had 
already  struck  root  so  deeply  under  Alex- 
ander I.  that  the  supporters  of  a  constitu- 
tion, who  had  been  secretly  organised  since 
1816,  especially  in  the  corps  of  officers, 
wished  to  use  the  opportunity  of  placing 
the  liberal-minded  Constantine  on  the 
throne.  The  rumour  was  spread 
that  Constantine's  renunciation 


Rebellion 
Crushed  by 
Nicholas  I. 


NICHOLAS    I.     OF     RUSSIA 


enough  to  cancel  it  in  the  davs  The  son  of  Paul  i.,  he  succeeded  on  this  iron  despot,  for  he 
between  December  9th  and  S  l-rf/orerliexk^defi.'^He  advocated  throughout  his 
24th,  1825.  There  is  accord-  aimed  at  absolute  despotism  but  whole  Hfc  the  abohtion  of 
ingly  no  need  to  suppose   a  «'°"  ^^^  affection  of  his  subjects,    serfdom,  and  allowed  even  the 

peasants  to  acquire  property.  Such  was 
the  autocrat  whose  iron  hand  was  to  rule 
Russia  for  thirty  years  after  his  accession. 
In  taking  up  the  thread  of  the  history 
of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  we  must  note 
certain  events  in  the  Napoleonic  period 
which  have  hitherto  passed  unrecorded, 
as  standing  outside  the  general  course  of 
our  account  of  Europe.  The  movement, 
which  has  by  degrees  turned  one  after 
another  of  the  provinces  into  practically 
if  not  completely  independent  states,  was 
initiated  in  1804  ^Y  ^  Servian  revolt, 
caused  by  the  violent  methods  of  the 
Turkish  Janissaries,  and  headed  by  George 
Petrovitch,  otherwise  known  as  Czerney,  or 
Karageorge.  The  insurrection  broke  out 
locally  at  Sibnitza,  Deligrad,  Stalatz,  and 
Nish.       Before    long,    Russian    influence 

^.    ^    .       brought    to    its    support    the 
The  Turks     <-        i-tt  j  •   1 

D  f  tab  ^^"^^^  Hospodars,  or  provmcial 
iK^  S^  \  ^  administrators  of  Moldavia  and 
Wallachia,  Constantine  Murusiv 
and  Constantine  Ypsilanti.  The  flame 
spread,  and  in  1806  and  1807  the  Serbs 
inflicted  defeats  on  the  Turks  at  Shabatz 
and  Ushitze,  imder  the  command  of  Milos 
Obrenovitch,  captured  Belgrade,  and  estab- 
lished the  popular  assembly,  or  Skuptskina. 
Shortly  before  this,  however,  the  Sultan 
Selim  had  set  himself  to  overthrow  the 


was  only  fictitious  ;  that  he  was 
being  kept  a  prisoner  at  Warsaw. 
The  troops  shouted  :  "  Long  live  Constan- 
tine!" and  when  the  cry  "Long  live  the 
Constitution  !  "  mingled  with  it,  the 
troops  thought  that  it.  was  the  name  of 
the  wife  of  Constantine. 

Nicholas  L  crushed  the  rebellion  on 
December  26th,  1825,  with  great  firmness. 
Several  "  Decabrists  "  were  executed  and 
many  exiled.  Possibl}-  that  was  one  of 
the  reasons  why  Nicholas  was  throughout 
his  whole  reign  a  sworn  enemy  of  popular 
liberty.  A  man  of  iron  strength  of  character 
and  energy,  he  was,  with  his  immense 
stature  and  commanding  presence,  the 
personification  of  absolutism.  But  he 
was  fully  alive  to  the  duties  and  respon- 
sibilities which  his  great  position  threw 
upon  him,  and  he  devoted  all  his  powers 
to  the  affairs  of  the  country.     His  first 

4S50 


THE    CROSS    AND    THE    CRESCENT 


Opponents 
of  the 
New  Sultan 


dangerous  power  of  the  Janissaries  by 
means  of  a  reorganisation  of  the  army, 
"  Nisan  Jedid."  A  further  movement  in 
the  same  diiection  in  1807  brought 
disaster.  The  Janissaries  rose  ;  Sehm  was 
deposed  and  murdered.  The  outcome  of 
a  brief  and  bloody  period  of  struggle  was 
that  the  one  surviving  prince  of  the  royal 
family,  Mahmud,  found  himself  placed  on 
the  throne,  and,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, in  the  hands  of  the  Janissaries,  who 
had  proved  themselves  to  be  the  masters 
of  the  situation.     Hence  the  first  act  of 

Mahnmd  was  to  recognise  these 

praetorians  in  a  solemn  Hatti- 

sherif,  issued  on  November  i8th, 

as  the  firmest  support  of  the 
throne.  The  army  and  the  population 
greeted  the  one  surviving  descendant 
of  the  Ottoman  house  with  enthusiasm, 
and  the  "  Chok  yasha  Sultan  Mahmud!" 
resounded  from  thousands  of  throats  in  the 
mosques  and  on  the  public  squares.  The 
Ottoman  dynasty  had  been  saved  as  by  a 
miracle.  The  sultan,  who  was  then  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  was  confronted  by  two 
dangerous  opponents,  the  Serbs  and  Rus- 
sians. The  latter  were  supporting  the 
Serbs  and  also  the  Montenegrins  against 
the  Turks  and  the  French  in  Dalmatia. 
However,  the  war  upon  the  Danube  was 
continued     with   -  ^  - 

no  great  vigour. 
It  was  not  until 
the  Peace  of 
Frederikshamn. 
of  September 
17th,  1809,  when 
Russia  acquired 
Finland  from 
Sweden  and 
secured  a  guaran- 
tee from  Napo- 
leon    that      the 

Polish     kingdom   ^^^   -.?«^^^^»aiBa«K- 

should     not     be   ^^^^^^^^^^^/Bii 

restored       that         ^-Hg-   sultans   selim   hi.   and   mahmud 

the    lurkish  War  Sultan   of    Turkey,    Selim    HI.    made    an    effort    to    overthrow    the 

affain        took         a  ^^^n&erous    power    of   the    Janissaries,    but    the    attempt    ended    in 

°         .  disaster,  Sehm  being:  deposed  and  assassinated  in  1808.     He  was  suc- 

promment     place  ceeded  on  the  throne  by  Mahmud  IL,  during  whose  reign  Greece  estab-     mOSt 

in  R  11  «;';i  a  n  I'^^ed  its  independence.     Mahmud  suppressed  the  Janissary  troops. 

policy.  In  1810  Prince  Bagration  was 
replaced  by  Count  Kamenskii  as  supreme 
commander  over  80,000  men.  He  im- 
mediately crossed  the  Danube,  and  on 
June  3rd  captured  Bazarjik,  which  was 
followed  by  the  conquest  of  Silistria, 
Sistova,  Rustchuk,  Giurgevo,  and  Nico- 
polis.     The    fear    of    Napoleon    and    of  a 


Polish  rising  prevented  further  enterpiise. 
After  the  death  of  Kamenskii,  Kutusorf, 
who  was  sixty-five  years  of  age,  utterlj; 
defeated  the  Turks  on  October  T2th,  1811, 
at  Slobodse  and  Rustchuk.  This  victory 
decided  the  war.  The  British  fleet  made 
a  demonstration  before  the  Dardanelles  to 
prevent  the  sultan  agreeing  to  the  Conti- 
nental embargo  of  Napoleon. 

The  Peace  of  Bucharest,  May  12th,  1812, 
reconfirmed  the  conventions  of  Kiitchuk- 
Kainarje  and  Jassy,  ceded  Bessarabia  to 
Russia,  and  gave  the  Serbs  an  amnesty, 
greater  independence,  and  an  extension 
of  territory.  The  brothers  Murusi,  the 
sultan's  Phanariot  negotiators,  were  ex- 
ecuted upon  their  return  home  on 
account  of  the  extravagance  of  the 
concessions  made  by  them  to  the  tsar. 

The  Russians  had  secured  an  influence 
in  Servia,  which  Austria  had  obstinately 
disdained.    When,  however,  in  May,  1813, 
the   Russians  appeared  on  the  Oder  and 
Elbe    the  Turkish  army  again  advanced 
into   Servia  ;     George   Petrovitch   fled   to 
Russia  by  way  of  Austria.    The  Ottomans 
exacted  a  bitter  vengeance  upon  the  coun- 
try,   but   on    Palm   Sunday,    April    nth, 
1815,    Milos   Obrenovitch    appeared   with 
the  ancient  banner  of  the  voivodes.     The 
people  as  a  whole  flocked  to  the  standard, 
-    and    the    Turks 
were  left  in  pos- 
session   only    of 
their     fortresses. 
On       November 
6th,   1817,  Milos 
was      recognised 
by    the    bishop, 
the  .Kneses   and 
people     as    voi- 
vode  ;      while 
Karageorge,  who 
had  returned  to 
the    country    to 
ally  himself  with 
the      Greek 
H  e  t  ffi  r  i  a,     was 
murdered.       Al- 
c  on  tem- 
porary with  the 
Society    of    the    Philomusoi,    which    was 
founded  in  Athens  in  1812,  arose  in  Greece 
the  secret  confraternity  of  the  "  philiki," 
whose  energies  after  some  years  brought 
about  the  open  struggle  for  freedom.    Three 
young  Greeks— Skuphas  of  Arta,  Tzaka- 
loph   of   Janina,    and   Anagnostopulos   of 
Andritzena — founded  the  new  Hetccria  at 

4851 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Odessa  in  1814,  and  swore  "  to  arrive  at 
a  decision  between  themselves  and  the 
enemies  of  their  country  only  by  means  of 
fire  and  sword."  Oaths  of  appalling  solem- 
nity united  this  growing  band  of  comrades. 
It  aimed  at  complete  separation  from 
Turkey,  and  the  revival  of  the  old  Bj'zan- 
tine  Empire.  This  yearning  for  liberation 
I  proceeded   from  and  was  sus- 

„  .  *  -  tained  by  an  intellectual  renas- 
Th  G  k  ^^'^ce  of  the  nation,  rrom  the 
time  of  the  conquest  of  Byzan- 
tium by  the  Turks  the  Greeks  had  been 
deprived  of  all  political  freedom.  But  under 
the  ecclesiastical  protection  of  their  patri- 
arch in  Phanar  and  in  monasteries,  at 
Athos  and  Janina  in  Epirus.  and  in  the 
theological  school  of  the  Peloponnese  at 
Dimitzana,  the  spark  of  culture  and 
freedom  had  glowed  amongst  the  ashes, 
and  was  kept  alive  in  the  language  of  the 
Church  and  the  Gospel. 

As  was  the  case  with  the  Armenians  and 
the  Jews,  superior  intelligence  and  dexter- 
ity secured  the  highest  positions  for  the 
Greeks  in  the  immediate  proximity  of 
the  Padishah.  After  the  position  of  first 
interpreter  of  the  Porte  had  fallen  into 
their  hands,  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  all  negotiations  concerning  foreign 
policy  were  carried  on  through  them  ;  they 
were  preferred  for  ambassadorial  posts  in 
foreign  courts,  and  from  the  eighteenth 
century  the  Porte  made  a  practice  of 
choosing  from  their  numbers  the  hospodars 
of  Molda\da  and  Wallachia. 

The  opinion  of  an  English  diplomatist 
upon  these  "  Phanariots,"  shortly  before 
the  outbreak  of  the  Greek  Revolution,  is 
well  known  :  "  Under  the  oppression 
exercised  b\'  Turkish  despotism  with  a 
daily  increasing  force,  the  Greek  character 
acquired  a  readiness  for  subterfuge  and  a 
perversity  of  judgment  on  questions  of 
morality,  which  a  continuance  of  servitude 
gradually  developed  to  an  habitual  double 
dealing  and  treachery,  which  strikes 
Q^  the    foreigner    from    the    first 

r  c  e  c  c      nioment ."  However,  the  Greeks 

Devastated    i       i      i  •         i        ^        t-.         • 

„    „       •      looked    anxiously    to    Russian 
oy  Jcynemies     ,  i  i-, 

champions  and  liberators,  not- 
withstanding all  the  apparent  privileges 
received  from  the  Porte,  from  the  time  of 
the  Peace  of  Posharevatz,  when  the  whole 
of  Morea  fell  into  the  possession  of  the 
Turks.  In  the  devastation  which  Russia's 
attempt  to  liberate  the  Morea  had  brought 
down  upon  Greece  in  1770,  when  Hellas 
and  Peloponnese  suffered  inhuman  devas- 

4852 


tation  from  the  Albanians  whom  the  Turks 
called  in,  Athens  and  the  islands  had  been 
spared  ;  in  1779  the  Turks  found  them- 
selves obliged  to  send  Hasan  Pasha  to 
destroy  the  unbridled  Albanians  at  Tripo- 
litsa.  In  the  Peace  of  Kiitchuk-Kainarje 
in  1774,  Russia  had  again  been  obliged  to 
abandon  the  Greeks  to  the  Ottomans, 
though  the  Turkish  yoke  became  lighter 
as  the  power  of  the  Porte  grew  feebler. 

The  Hellenes  enriched  themselves  by 
means  of  commerce  ;  the  sails  of  the 
merchantmen  sent  out  by  the  islands 
covered  the  Mediterranean.  During  the 
French  Revolution  almost  the  entire 
Levant  trade  of  the  Venetians  and  the 
French  fell  into  their  hands.  The  number 
of  Greek  sailors  was  estimated  at  ten 
thousand.  In  their  struggles  with  the 
pirates  their  ships  had  always  sailed  pre- 
pared for  war,  and  they  had  produced  a 
race  of  warriors  stout-hearted  and  capable, 
like  the  Armatoles,  who  served  in  the 
armies  of  Europe.  In  the  mountain 
ranges  of  Mania,  of  Albania,  and  Thessaly 
still  survived  the  independent  spirit  of  the 
wandering  shepherds,  or  "  klephts,"  who 
_  had  never  bowed  to  the  Otto- 

-..^  ^^  ,  man  sword.  The  children  of  the 
p         .  rich  merchants  who  traded  with 

the  coasts  of  Europe  studied 
in  Western  schools,  and  readily  absorbed 
the  free  ideals  of  the  American  Union  and 
the  French  Revolution.  In  the  year  1796, 
Constantine  Rhigas  of  Pherae  sketched  in 
Vienna  a  plan  for  the  rising  of  his  nation, 
and  secured  an  enthusiastic  support  for 
his  aims,  which  he  sang  in  fiery  ballads. 

When  he  was  planning  to  enter  into 
relations  with  Bonaparte,  whom  he  re- 
garded as  the  hero  of  freedom,  he  was 
arrested  in  Trieste  in  1798,  and  handed 
over  by  the  Austrian  police,  with  five  of  his 
companions,  to  the  Pasha  of  Belgrade, 
who  executed  him.  He  died  the  death  of  a 
hero,  with  the  words:  "  I  have  sown  the 
seed,  and  my  nation  will  reap  the  sweet 
fruit."  Adamantios  Korais,  1748-1833, 
of  Smyrna  was  working  in  Paris,  together 
with  his  associates,  before  the  fall  of 
Napoleon,  to  bring  about  the  intellectual 
renascence  of  the  Greeks,  the  "  Palin- 
genesia."  The  only  thing  wanting  to  these 
associations  was  a  leader,  as  was  also  the 
case  with  the  Serbs. 

This  leader  was  eventually  provided  by 
Russia.  Alexander  Ypsilanti,  born  of  a 
noble  Phanariot  family,  was  a  grandson  of 
the  hospodar  of   Wallachia  of   the  same 


THE    CROSS    AND    THE    CRESCENT 


name  who  had  been  murdered  by  the 
Turks  in  1805  at  the  age  of  eighty  ;  he  was 
a  son  of  that  Constantine  Ypsilanti  who, 
having  supported  the  Servian  insurrection, 
had  been  deposed  from  the  post  of  hospodar 
of  Wallachia,  and  had  fled  into  exile.  As 
the  tsar's  adjutant  during  the  Vienna 
Congress,  he  had  inspired  that  monarch 
with  enthusiasm  for  the  Hetsria. 

Relying  upon  the  silent  consent  of  his 
master,  he  went  to  Kishinefl[,  in  Bessarabia, 
in  September,  1820,  with  the  object  of 
communicating  with  the  leaders  of  the 
federation  in  the  Danubian  principalities, 
in  Constantinople,  and  upon  the  mainland. 
Availing  himself  of  the  difficulties  caused 
to  the  Porte  by  the  revolt  of  Ali  Pasha 
of  Janina,  Alexander  Ypsilanti,  accom- 
panied by  his  brother  Constantine  and. 
Prince  Cantakuzenos,  crossed  the  Pruth 
on  March  6th,  1821,  entered  Jassy,  sent 
a  report  on  the  same  night  to  the  tsar, 
who  was  awaiting  the  result  of  the  con- 
gress at  Laibach,  and  forthwith  issued 
an  appeal  to  the  Greek  nation.  On 
March  12th  he  started  for  Wallachia ; 
not  until  April  Qth  did  he  reach  Bucharest 

«       ,.     ^        with  =^,000  men.    But  from 

now  the  Tsar    -i     ,  .    ,,      . 

jj        .   .  that  moment  the  movement 

Th^^G*  k  proved  unfortunate.  The 
tsar,  whose  hands  were  tied 
by  the  Holy  Alliance  and  the  influence 
of  legitimist  theories,  declared  the  Greeks 
to  be  rebels,  and  the  Russian  consul  in 
Jassy  openly  disapproved  of  the  Phanariot 
enterprise.  It  now  became  manifest  how 
feeble  was  the  popularity  01  these  leaders  on 
the  Danube.  They  were  opposed  by  the 
Boyars,  the  peasants  fell  away  from  them, 
the  Serbs  held  back,  and  treachery  reigned 
in  their  own  camp.  To  no  purpose  did  the 
"  Sacred  Band  "  display  its  heroism  at 
Dragashani,  in  Little  Wallachia,  on  June 
19th,  1821,  against  the  superior  forces  of 
the  Pasha  of  Silistria  and  Braila. 

On  June  26th,  Ypsilanti  escaped  to 
Austrian  territory,  where  he  spent  the 
best  years  of  his  life  at  Munkacs  and 
Theresienstadt  in  sorrowfiil  imprisonment ; 
his  health  broke  down,  and  he  died  shortly 
after  his  liberation  on  January  31st,  1828. 
The  last  of  the  ill-fated  band  of  heroes, 
Georgakis,  the  son  of  Nikolaos,  blew 
himself  up  on  September  20th,  in  the 
monastery  of  Sekko,  Moldavia.  The 
fantastic  ideal  of  a  greater  Greece,  em- 
bracing not  only  the  classic  Hellas,  but 
also  the  Danube  states  of  Byzantine 
Greece,  thus  disappeared   for  ever.     The 


Morea  was  already  m  full  revolt  against 
the  Turks.  On  April  4th,  1821,  the 
insurgents  took  Kalamate,  the  capital  of 
Messenia,  and  Patras  raised  the  flag  of  the 
Cross.  The  fare  of  revolt  spread  on  every 
side,  and  destruction  raged  among  the 
Moslems.  The  insurrection  was  led  by 
the  national  hero,  Theodore  Kolokotroni, 
J  .  ,  _  a  bold  adventurer  and  able 
A  *^  ^t  th'"^  general,  though  his  followers 
C  h*'"  ■  ^  often  did  not  obey  their  head ; 
and  the  fleet  of  the  islands  did 
excellent  service.  The  successes  of  the 
Greeks  aroused  boundless  fury  in  Constanti- 
nople. Intense  religious  hatred  was  kindled 
in  the  Divan,  and  at  the  feast  of  Easter, 
April  22nd,  the  Patriarch  Gregory  of 
Constantinople  and  three  metropolitans 
were  hanged  to  the  doors  of  their  churches. 
In  Constantinople  and  Asia  Minor,  in  the 
Morea,  and  on  the  islands,  Islam  wreaked 
its  fury  on  the  Christians. 

Enthusiasm  for  the  Greek  cause  spread 
throughout  the  whole  of  Europe.  The 
noblest  minds  championed  the  cause  of  the 
warriors,  who  were  inspired  by  their  noble 
past  with  the  pride  of  an  indestructible 
nationality,  and  were  defending  the  Cross 
against  the  Crescent.  Since  the  occupation 
of  Athens  by  the  Venetians  in  1688,  the 
eyes  of  educated  Europe  had  turned  to  the 
city  of  Athene.  The  Venetian  engineers, 
Vermada  and  Felice,  had  then  drawn  up 
an  accurate  plan  of  the  Acropolis  and  of 
the  town,  which  was  published  by  Fran- 
cesco Fanelli  in  his  "  Atene  Attica,"  1707. 

Du  Cange  wrote  his  "  History  of  the 
Empire  of  Constantinople  under  the 
Prankish  Emperors  "  in  1657,  and  in  1680 
his  "  Historia  Byzantina."  Since  the 
days  of  George,  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
1592-1628,  and  Thomas,  Earl  of  Arundel, 
1586-1646,  a  taste  for  the  collection  of 
examples  of  Greek  art  had  been  increas- 
ing in  England.  Wealthy  peers  sent 
their  agents  to  Greece  and  the  East, 
or  journeyed  thither  themselves,  as  did 
Lord  Claremont,  who  corn- 
Greek  Art    j-nisgioned    Richard  Dalton    to 

J*  .  .  make  sketches  of  the  Greek 
Fashion  .  ,  ,         c       .    • 

monuments  and  works  of  art  m 

1749.  James  Stewart  and  Nicholas  Revett 
published  sketches  of  "  The  Antiquities  of 
Athens "  in  1751.  In  1776  appeared 
Richard  Chandler's  "  Travels  in  Greece." 
In  1734  the  Society  of  Dilettanti  had  been 
founded  in  London  with  avowedly  Phil- 
hellenic objects.  In  1764  appeared  Winc- 
kelmann's  "  History  of  Ancient  Art,"  and 

4853 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Europe 
Inspired  by 
Greek  Songs 


in  1787  Edward  Gibbon  completed  his 
"  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire." 
From  1812  onwards  Beethoven's  opera, 
"  The  Ruins  of  Athens,"  had  aroused  tears 
and  sympathy  in  every  feeling  heart. 
Numberless  memories  and  recollections 
now  carried  away  the  sympathies  of 
Europe,  which  had  only  just  shaken  off 
the  yoke  of  the  Corsican  con- 
queror. In  1821  Philhellenic 
unions  were  formed  upon  all 
sides  to  support  the  "heroes  of 
Marathon  and  Salamis  "  with  money  and 
arms.  The  banker,  Eynard  of  Geneva,  the 
Wiirtemberg  General  Norman,  the  French- 
man Comte  Harcourt,  the  United  States, 
England,  King  Lewis  I.  of  Bavaria,  an 
artistic  enthusiast,  and  the  painter  Hei- 
degger sent  money,  arms,  and  ships,  or 
volunteer  bands.  The  populations  of  Europe 
were  inspired  by  the  Greek  songs  of  Wilhelm 
Miiller  and  the  verses  of  Lord  Byron 
"  The  mountains  look  on  Marathon,  and 
Marathon  looks  on  the  sea,"  and  later  by 
his  heroic  death,  April  19th,  1824,  at 
Missolonghi.  Even  Goethe,  the  prince  of 
poets,  with  all  his  indifference  to  politics, 
was  fascinated  by  the  fervour  of  the  Greek 
and  Servian  popular  songs,  and  cast  his 
mighty  word  into  the  scale  of  humanity. 

The  Russian  people  had  felt  ever  since 
the  beginning  of  the  Hellenic  war  of  in- 
dependence the  warmest  sympathy  for 
their  oppressed  brethren,  and  after  the 
horrors  of  April  22nd  the  Government 
could  no  longer  resist  the  exasperation  felt 
against  the  Turks  ;  a  storm  of  indignation 
swept  through  the  civilised  world. 

The  Russian  ambassador,  Baron  Stroga- 
noff,  a  Philhellene,  spoke  vigorously  for 
the  Christians,  and  suspended  relations 
with  the  Porte  in  June  ;  and  Capodistrias 
announced  to  the  world,  in  his  Note  of 
June  28th,  an  ultimatum  to  Turkey  that 
the  Turks  were  no  longer  entitled  to  re- 
main in  Europe.  A  mood  very  unpleasing 
to  Metternich  had  come  over  the  fickle 

».  ..      .1    tsar  ;    the  Cabinets   of  Vienna 
Metternich  j  Ci.   t  -ii.       x       •  l 

.  and  St.  James  saw  with  astonish- 

p.  .  J  r-.  ment  that  Stroganoff  left  Con- 
stantinople in  August.  Metter- 
nich once  more  laid  stress  on  the  fact 
that  the  triumph  of  the  Greek  revolution 
was  a  defeat  of  the  Crown,  while  Capodi- 
strias was  for  the  support  of  the  Greeks 
and  for  war  against  Turkey.  The  Porte, 
well  aware  of  the  discord  of  the  Euro- 
pean Cabinets,  showed  little  wilUngness 
to  give  way  and  agree  to  their  demands. 

4854 


Kolokotroni  had  invested  the  Arcadian 
fortress  of  Tripohtza  since  the  end  of 
April,  182 1.  AH  Turkish  attempts  to 
relieve  the  garrison  proved  futile,  while 
the  militia  had  been  drilled  into  efficient 
soldiers,  and  on  October  5th,  1821,  Tri- 
pohtza fell.  The  Greeks  perpetrated  gross 
barbarities.  Demetrius  Ypsilanti,  Alexan- 
der's brother,  who  also  had  hitherto 
served  in  Russia,  had  been  "  Archistra- 
tegos  "  since  June  of  that  year  ;  but  he 
possessed  little  reputation  and  could  not 
prevent  outrages.  The  continued  quarrels 
and  jealousy  between  the  leaders  of  the 
soldiers  and  of  the  civilians  crippled  the 
power  of  the  insurgents.  Alexander  Mav- 
rogordato,  a  man  of  far-reaching  imagina- 
tion, undertook,  together  with  Theodore 
Negri,  the  task  of  giving  Hellas  a  fixed  polit- 
ical system.  In  November,  1821,  Western 
and  Eastern  Hellas,  and  in  December  the 
Morea,  received  constitutions. 

The  National  Assembly  summoned  by 
Demetrius  Ypsilanti  to  Argos  was  trans- 
ferred to  Piadlia,  near  the  old  Epi- 
dauros,  and  proclaimed  on  January  13th, 
1822,  the  independence  of  the  Hellenic 
.  nation  and  a  provisional  con- 

srat""!?  stitution,  which  prepared  the 
P^^  ground  for  a  monarch3^     While 

it  broke  with  the  Hetaeria,  it  ap- 
pointed Mavrogordato  as  Proedros  (presi- 
dent) of  the  executive  council  to  be  at  the 
head  of  affairs,  and  in  an  edict  of  January 
27th  it  justified  the  Greek  insurrection  in 
the  eyes  of  Europe.  Corinth  became  the 
seat  of  government.  But  the  old  discord, 
selfishness,  and  pride  of  the  several  leaders 
precluded  any  prospect  of  a  favourable 
issue  to  the  insurrection.  Kurshid  Pasha, 
after  the  fall  of  Ali  Pasha  of  Janina, 
which  freed  the  Turkish  army  of  occupation 
in  Albania,  subjugated  the  Suliotes. 

As  a  result  of  the  objectless  instiga- 
tion of  Chios  to  revolt,  a  fleet  landed 
in  April  under  Kara  Ali,  and  the  island 
was  barbarously  chastised.  Indignation 
at  the  Turkish  misrule  once  more  filled 
the  European  nations,  and  they  hailed 
with  joy  the  annihilation  of  Kara  All's 
fleet  by  Andreas  Miaouli  and  Constantine 
Kanari  on  June  igth.  In  July  a  large 
Turkish  army  under  Mahmud  Dramali 
overran  Greece  from  Phocis  to  Attica  and 
Argos.  The  Greek  Government  fled  from 
Corinth.  In  spite  of  all  the  courage  of 
Mavrogordato  and  General  Count  Nor- 
mann-Ehrenfels,  famous  for  the  attack 
on   Kitzen,   Suli   was  lost,   owing  to  the 


THE    CROSS    AND    THE    CRESCENT 


defeat  at  Peta  on  July  16-17,  and  Western 
Hellas  was  again  threatened.  The  bold 
Markos  Botzaris  lell  on  August  21st,  1823, 
with  his  Suliotes,  in  the  course  of  a  sortie 
against  the  besiegers  of  Missolonghi. 

In  his  necessity  the  sultan  now  sum- 
moned to  his  aid  his  most  formidable 
vassal,  Mehemet  Ali  of  Egypt.  He  first 
sent  his  son  Ibrahim  to  Candia  for  the 
suppression  of  the  revolt,  in  command  of 
his  troops,  who  had  been  trained  by 
French  officers.  This  leader  then  ap- 
peared in  the  Morea,  February  22nd, 
1825,  where  the  bayonet  and  his  cavalry 
gave  him  a  great  superiority  over  the 
Greeks,  who,  though  brave,  were  badly 
disciplined  and  armed.  None  the  less  the 
Greeks  vigorously  pro- 
tested against  the  protocol 
of  peace,  which  was  issued 
by  the  Powers,  of  August 
24th,  1824,  recommending 
them  to  submit  to  the 
Porte  and  promising  the 
sultan's  pardon,  after 
almost  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  the  Island  of  Psara 
had  been  slaughtered  on 
July  4th.  Three  parties 
were  formed  amongst  the 
Greeks  themselves,  one 
under  Mavrogordato 
leaning  upon  England, 
that  of  Capodistrias  lean- 
ing upon  Russia,  and  that 
of  Kolettis  leaning  upon 
France.  British  influence 
prevailed.  On  December 
2 1st,  1825,  the  Tsar  Alex- 
ander died  at  Taganrog 


help  given  to  the  Greeks  at  that  time  by 
Lord  Cochrane  and  General  Church,  by 
Colonels  Fabvier,  Vautier,  and  Heydeck, 
did  not  stop  the  Turkish  advance.  On 
June  5th,  1827,  the  Acropolis  again  capitu- 
lated, and  with  it  the  whole  of  Greece  was 
Th    S  *^"^^  again  lost  to  the  Hellenes. 

e  u  an  However,  a  bold  attack  de- 
Vt  -J  .  livered  at  a  most  unexpected 
point  shook  the  throne  of  the 
sultan.  On  May  28th,  1826,  Mahmud 
II.  issued  a  Hatti-sherif  concerning  the 
reform  of  the  Janissaries.  Upon  the 
resistance  of  these  latter  they  were  met 
on  the  Etmeidan  by  the  well-equipped 
imperial  army,  supported  on  this  occasion 
by  the  Ulemas  and  the  people,  and  were 
mown  down  with  grape- 
shot.  The  sultan  forth- 
with began  the  formation 
of  a  new  corps  upon 
European  models.  It 
was  an  event  of  the  most 
far-reaching  importance 
for  the  empire  when 
Mahmud  first  appeared 
at  the  head  of  the  faithful 
in  an  overcoat,  European 
trousers,  boots,  and  a  red 
fez  instead  of  a  turban. 
His  triumph,  however, 
was  premature,  his  army 
was  momentarily  weak- 
ened, and  the  reforms 
were  not  carried  out. 
The  invader  was  already 
knocking  once   again   at 


the  door  of  the  empire. 

-   BYRON     AS     A     GREEK    SOLDIER         q^  Qctobcr  6th,  1826,  his 
The   brave   figrht   for  independence   made  by        ,       •        ,        ,  •       •  j 

Greece  against  the  Turks  stirred  the  enthusi-     plenipotentiaries       Signed 

and  the  youthful  Nicholas   h\Z^lg7p^!in7roniJ'Z^^^^^^^  an  agreement  at  Akker- 

I.    ascended    the    throne,    on  January  4th,  1824,  and  died  on  April  KHh.    niau,  agreeing ou ail poiuts 
He  quickly  suppressed  a  military  revolution      to  the  Russian  demands  for  Servia  and  the 


in  St.  Petersburg,  and  showed  his  deter- 
mination to  break  down  the  influence  of 
Metternich.  Canning,  whose  whole  sym- 
pathies were  with  the  Greeks,  now  sent  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  to  St.  Petersburg,  and 
on  April  4th,  1826,  Great  Britain  and  Russia 
signed  a  protocol,  constituting 
Greece,  like  Servia,  a  tributary 
vassal  state  of  the  Porte,  with 
a  certain  measure  of  indepen- 
dence. Charles  X.  of  France  agreed  to 
these  proposals,  as  his  admiration  had  been 
aroused  by  the  heroic  defence  of  Misso- 
longhi, where  Byron  had  fallen.  Austria 
alone  secretly  instigated  the  sultan  to 
suppress    the   Greek    revolt.      Even    the 


The  Heroic 
Death  of 
Loi  d  Byron 


Danubian  principalities,  but  refusing  that 
for  Greek  freedom.  In  vain  did  the 
sultan  send  an  ultimatum  to  the  Powers 
on  June  loth,  1827,  representing  that 
the  right  of  settling  the  Greek  problem 
was  his  alone.  On  April  nth,  1827, 
Capodistrias  became  President  of  the  free 
state  of  Corfu,  under  Russian  influence, 
and  Russia,  Britain,  and  France  deter- 
mined to  concentrate  their  fleets  in 
Greek  waters  on  July  6th,  a  month  before 
the  death  of  Canning,  which  filled  Greece 
with  lamentation.  The  result  of  the 
movements  was  the  battle  of  Navarino, 
October  20th,  one  of  the  most  murderous 
naval  actions  in  the  whole  of  history ;  in 

4855 


THE    BAY    OF    NAVARINO    AT    THE    TIME    OF    THE    GREEK    FIGHT    FOR     FR5,ED3M 


four  hours  nearly  120  Turkish  warships 
and  transports  were  destroyed.  This 
"  untoward  event,"  as  Welhngton  called 
it — to  the  wrath  of  all  Canningites — 
implied  a  further  triumph  for  Russian 
policy,  which  had  already  acquired  Grusia. 
Imeretia — Colchis,  iSix,  and  Gulistan, 
18x3,  ill  Asia,  and  had  secured  its  rear 
in  Upper  Armenia  by  the  acquisition  of 
Etchmiadzin,  the  centre  of  the  Armenian 
Church,  in  the  Peace  of  Turkmanchai, 
1828.  Capodistrias,  elected  to  the  presi- 
dency of  Greece,  entered  on  that  office  in 
January.  However,  the  sultan  proved 
:n')re  obstinate  than  ever.     In  a  solemn 


Hatti-sherif  he  proclaimed  in  all  the 
mosques  his  firm  intention  to  secure  his 
independence  by  war  with  Russia, 
"  which  for  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years 
had  been  the  chief  enemy  of  the  Porte." 
He  was  without  competent  officers,  and  his 
chief  need  was  an  army,  which  he  had 
intended  to  create  had  he  been  granted 
time.  Thus  the  main  power  of  the  Porte, 
as  at  the  present  day,  consisted  in  the 
unruly  hordes  of  Asia,  whose  natural 
impetuosity  could  not  replace  the  lack  of 
European  discipline  and  tactical  skill. 
"  Pluck  up  all  your  courage,"  Mahmud 
tlicn   wrote    to   liis   Grand   Yiz'w    nt    +!:-' 


THE        MURDEROUS"    NAVAL    BATTLE    OF    NAVARINO    ON    OCTOBER 
4856 


THE    CAPITULATION    OF    THE    TURKISH    STRONGHOLD    VARNA    ON    OCTOBER    10th,    1828 

From  the  drauiiij^  bv   Zu'ei-'le 


4857 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  Grand 
Vizir's  Army 
n  Flight 


military  headquarters,  "  for  the  danger  is 
great."  On  May  7th  the  Russians  crossed 
the  Pruth  in  Europe,  and  on  June  4th,  the 
Arpaichai  in  Asia.  Ivan  Paskevitch  con- 
quered the  district  of  Kars  and  Achal- 
zich,  between  the  Upper  Kur  and  Araxes, 
and  secured  a  firm  base  of  operations 
against  Erzeroum.  The  Russians  on  the 
Danube  advanced  more  slowly. 
It  was  not  until  the  fall  of 
Braila,  on  June  17th,  and  of 
Varna,  on  October  nth,  1828, 
that  they  ventured  to  attack  the  natural 
fortress  of  the  Balkans.  But  the  approach 
of  winter  suspended  the  indecisive  struggle. 
A  second  campaign  was  therefore 
necessary  to  secure,  a  decision.  In  Eastern 
Roumelia  the  Russians  seized  the  harbour 
of  Sizebolu.  February  15th,  1829,  in  order 
to.  provision  their  army.  On  February 
24th,  Diebich  took  over  the 
supreme  command,  crossed 
the  Danube  in  'Slay,  and  on 
June  nth  defeated  and  put 
to  flight,  by  means  of  his 
superior  artillery,  the  army  of 
the  Grand  Vizir  Reshid 
Mehemed,  at  Kulevcha. 
Silistria  then  surrendered, 
June  26th,  and  in  thirteen 
days,  July  I4th-26th,  Diebich 
crossed  the  Balkans  with  two 
army  corps ;  while  on  July 
7th  Paskevitch  had  occupied 
Erzeroum  in  Asia.  The 
passage    of     this     mountain 


GENERAL     DIEBICH 


general,  on  September  14th,  offered  con- 
ditions sufficiently  severe.  Before  the 
war  the  tsar  had  issued  a  manifesto 
promising  to  make  no  conquests.  Now, 
in  /\ugust,  1828,  he  demanded  possession 
of  the  Danube  islands,  of  the  Asiatic 
coast  from  Kuban  'to  Nikolaja,  the 
fortresses  and  districts  of  Atzshur, 
Achalzich,  and  Achalkalaki,  with  new 
privileges  and  frontiers  for  Moldavia, 
Wallachia,  and  Servia.  The  sultan,  under 
pressure  of  necessity,  confirmed  the 
London  Convention  of  July  6th,  182 1, 
in  the  tenth  article  of  the  peace.  The 
president,  Capodistrias,  received  new  sub- 
sidies, and  loans  from  the  Powers;  more- 
over, on  July  19th,  1828,  the  Powers  in 
London  determined  upon  an  expedition 
to  the  Morea,  the  conduct  of  which  was 
entrusted  to  France.  Ibrahim  retired, 
while  General  Maison  oc- 
cupied the  Peninsula, 
September  7th.  The  Greek 
army,  composed  of  Palikars, 
troops  of  the  line,  and 
Philhellenes,  was  now  armed 
with  European  weapons ;  it 
won  a  series  of  victories  at 
the  close  of  1828  at 
Steveniko,  Martini,  Salona, 
Lutraki,  and  Vonizza,  and 
by  May,  1829,  captured 
Lepanto,  Missolonghi,  and 
Anatoliko.  In  1828  the 
Cretan  revolt  again  broke 
out,    with   successful  results. 


barrier,  which  was  regarded  a  Russian  fieid-marshai,  he  fought  On     July     23rd,     1829,     the 
as      impregnable,     produced  ifurkfsh^war  on,s!" waT^iven  thi  National  Assembly,    tired   of 


-.' was  given  the 

an   overwhelmmg  impression  surname  of  "Sabaikanski,"  which  internal 

„    _      i.i_        TT      1  X    signifies  "Grosser  of  the  Balkans."  ,      j  ^    ji  ij.    j      • 

upon    the    lurks,    many    of  had    repeatedly    resulted    m 


dissensions,     which 


whom  regarded  the  Russian  success  as  sf 
deserved  punishment  for  the  sultan's 
reforms.  Diebich  "  Sabaikanski  "  ad- 
vanced to  Adrianople.  However,  Mustafa, 
Pasha  of  Bosnia,  was  already  advancing. 
Fearful  diseases  devastated  the  Russian 
army,  which  was  reduced  to  20,000  men. 
None  the  less  Diebich  joined  hands  with 
Sizebolu  on  the  Black  Sea,  and  with 
Enos  on  the  ^Egean  Sea,  although  the 
British  fleet  appeared  in  the  Dardanelles 
to  protect  the  capital,  from  which  the . 
Russians  were  scarce  thirty  miles  distant. 
Both  sides  were  sincerely  anxious  for 
peace.  However,  the  sultan's  courage 
was  naturally  shaken  by  the  discovery  of 
an  extensive  conspiracy  among  the  old 
orthodox  party.  The  Peace  of  Adrianople, 
secured  by  the  mediation  of  the  Prussian 

4858 


civil  war,  conferred  dictatorial  powers 
upon  the  president.  The  Peace  of 
Adrianople  was  concluded  on  September 
14th,  1829  ;  this  extended  Russia's  terri- 
tory in  Asia,  opened  the  Black  Sea  to 
Russian  trade,  and  obtained  for  Greece  a 
recognition  of  its  independence  from  the 
Porte.  The  Western  Powers 
did  not  at  all  wish  it  to  become 
a  sovereign  Power  under  Rus- 
sian influence,  and  it  was 
finally  agreed,  on  February  3rd,  1830, 
that  the  independent  state  should  be  con- 
fined to  as  narrow  limits  as  possible,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Aspropotamos  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Spercheias,  the  Porte 
assenting  on  April  24th. 

Vladimir  Milkowicz 
Heinrich  Zimmerer 


Independence 
of  Greece 
Established 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

AFTER 

WATERLOO 

VI 


FALL  OF  THE  BOURBON  MONARCHY 

LOUIS    PHILIPPE    "KING    OF    THE    FRENCH" 


'"THE  French  were  the  first  nation  to  put 
-■■  an  end  to  the  weak  policy  of  the 
Restorations.  Their  privileged  position 
as  the  "  pioneers  of  civilisation "  they 
used  with  that  light-hearted  energy  and 
vigour  by  which  their  national  cha  acter 
is  peculiarly  distinguished,  while  main- 
taining the  dexterity  and  the  distinction 
which  has  invariably  marked  their  public 
action.  The  cup  of  the  Bourbons  was 
full  to  overflowing.  It  was  not  that" their 
powers  of  administration  w^ere  in  any 
material  degree  inferior  to  those  of  other 
contemporary  royal  houses  ;  such  a  view 
of  the  situation  would  be  entirely  mistaken. 
They  were,  however,  in  no  direct  con- 
nection with  their  people,  and  were 
unable  to  enter  into  relations  with  the 
ruling  society  of  Paris.  The  restored 
emigres,  the  descendants  of  the  noble 
families  of  the  period  of  Louis  XV.  and 
XVL,  whose  members  had  lost  their  lives 
_      .  under  the  kniie  of  the  guillo- 

Of^th  ^^^^^  tine,  were  unable  to  appreciate 

„      ,  ..       the  spirit  which  animated  the 
Revolution     ^        ^ 

trance  of  Aapoleon  Bona- 
parte. This  spirit,  however,  had  availed 
itself  of  the  interim  which  had  been  granted 
definitely  to  establish  its  position,  and 
had  become  a  social  power  which  could  no 
longer  be  set  aside.  Family  connections  in 
a  large  number  of  cases,  and  the  ties  of 
social  intercourse,  ever  influential  in 
France,  had  brought  the  Bonapartists  into 
direct  relations  with  the  army,  and  with 
the  generals  and  officers  of  the  emperor 
who  had  been  retired  on  scanty  pensions. 
The  floating  capital,  which  had  grown  to 
an  enormous  extent,  was  in  its  hands,  and 
was  indispensable  to  th.>  Government  if  it 
was  to  free  itself  from  the  burden  of  a 
foreign  occupation.  By  the  decree  of 
April  27th,  1825,  the  reduced  noble 
families  whose  goods  had  been  confiscated 
by  the  nation  were  relieved  by  the  grant 
of  ;^40,ooo,ooo.  The  decree,  however,  did 
not  imply  their  restoration  to  the  social 
position  they  had  formerly  occupied  ;   the 


emigrant  families  might  be  the  pensioners 

of  the  nation,  but  could  no  longer  be  the 

leading  figures  of  a  society  which  thought 

them  tiresome  and  somewhat  out  of  date. 

Louis   XVIIL,   a  well-disposed  monarch, 

and  not  without  ability,  died  on  September 

Ch  X    ^^^^'  1824,  and  was  succeeded 

J,.  ■  by  his  brother  Charles  X.,  who 

^r'l?  had,   as  Count    of    Artois,   in- 

Oi  I"  ranee  1,1  i-  r  t- 

curred  the  odmm  of  every  Euro- 
pean court  for  his  obtrusiveness,  his 
avowed  contempt  for  the  people,  and  for 
his  crotchety  and  inconsistent  character  ; 
he  now  addressed  himself  with  entire 
success  to  the  task  of  destroying  what 
remnants  of  popularity  the  Bourbon  family 
had  retained.  He  was,  however,  tolerably 
well  received  upon  his  accession.  The 
abolition  of  the  censorship  of  the  Press  had 
griined  him  the  enthusiastic  praise  of  Victor 
Hugo,  but  hislibei'al  tendencies  disappeared 
after  a  short  period.  Jesuitical  priests 
played  upon  his  weak  and  conceited  mind 
with  the  object  of  securing  a  paramount 
position  in  France  under  his  protection. 

The  French,  however,  nicknamed  him, 
from  the  words  of  Beranger,  the  bold 
song  writer,  "  Charles  le  Simple  "  when  he 
had  himself  crowned  in  Rheims  after  the 
old  Carolingian  custom.  His  persecution 
of  the  liberal  Press  increased  the  influence 
of  the  journalists.  The  Chambers  showed 
no  hesitation  in  rejecting  the  law  of  censor- 
ship introduced  by  his  Minister,  Villele. 
When  he  dissolved  them,  barricades  were 
again  raised  in  Paris  and  volleys  fired  upon 
citizens.  Villtle  could  no  longer  remain  at 
the  helm.  Martignac,  the  soul  of  the  new 
^Ministry  which  entered  on  office 
Z    .""T    •     January    5th,     1828,     was     a 

Ministry  in   -'  r  1  j  ■    11 

p  man  of  honour,   and  especially 

adapted  to  act  as  mediator. 
His  clear  intellect  raised  him  a  head  and 
shoulders  above  the  mass  of  the  Royalists. 
He  wished  for  moderation  and  progress, 
but  he  never  possessed  Charles's  affection, 
and  was  no  statesman.  Charles  opposed 
Martignac's  diplomacy  with  the  help  ol  his 

4859 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


contidants,  Polignac  and  others ;  and 
while  Martignac  seemed  to  the  king  to  be 
"  too  Uttle  of  a  Villele,"  public  opinion 
accused  him  of  being  "  too  much  of  a 
Vill  le."  His  laws  as  to  elections  and  the 
Press  seemed  too  liberal  to  Charles  ;  his 
interference  in  the  Church  and  the  schools 
roused  the  fury  of  the  Jesuits  ;  and  the 
Abbe  Lamennais,  who  had  been  won  back 
by  them,  compared  the  king  with  Nero  and 
Diocletian.  .  Lamennais  attacked  the 
Galilean  Church  of  "  atheistic "  France, 
called  the  constitutional  monarchy  of 
Charles  the  most  abominable  despotism 
which  had  ever  burdened  humanity,  and 
scathingly  assailed  the  ordinances  which 


Charles  had  issued  in  June,  1828,  relating 
to  religious  brotherhoods  and  clerical 
education.  Martignac's  government,  he 
said,  demoralised  society,  and  the  moment 
was  near  in  which  the  oppressed  people 
must  have  recourse  to  force,  in  order  to 
rise  up.  in  the  name  of  the  infallible  Pope 
against  the  atheistic  king.  Martignac's 
Cabinet  could  claim  an  important  foreign 
success  when  the  Marquis  de  Maison,  who 
led  an  expeditionary  corps  to  the  Morea, 
compelled  the  Egyptians,  under  Ibrahim 
Pasha,  to  retreat  in  August,  1828,  and 
thwarted  Metternich's  plan  of  a  quadruple 
alliance  for  the  forcible  pacification  of 
Russia  and  Turkey.     But  when  Martignac 


CHARLES     X,,     KING    OF     FRANCE 
On  the  death  of  Louis  XVIII.  in  lS2t,  his  brother,  Charles  X.,  succeeded  to  the  throne.     Prior  to  that,  the  direction  of 
affairs  had  been  largely  in  his  hands  owing  to  the  weakness  of  the  king,  and  by  his  obtrusiveness  and  his  avowed 
contempt  for  the  people  he  had  incurred  the  odium  of  every  European  court.     Though  he  was  fairly  well  received  upon 
his    accession,   he    quickly   alienated  the   sympathies  of   his  people,    and   he   was   compelled    to    abdicate  in    183t). 

4860 


Viliele 


Martignac 


Polignac 


THREE  NOTABLE  MINISTERS  OF  FRANCE  UNDER  CHARLES  X. 
The  rapidly-growing  unpopularity  of  the  French  king,  Charles  X.,  was  shared  by  the  Ministry  of  Villfele,  which  was 
defeated  at  the  polls.  Martignac,  the  soul  cf  the  new  Ministry,  which  entered  office  on  January  5th,  18'28,  aimed  at 
moderation  and  progress  and  met  with  opposition  from  Charles.  When  Martignac  withdrew,  in  1820,  his  place  was 
taken  by  Polignac,  but  his  position  as  head  of  the  Bourbon  Ministry  did  not  commend  itself  to  the  people  of  France,  and 
the   revolt  against  1;he  rule  of  Charles  soon  drove  that  monarch  from  the  throne,  thus  ending  the  Bourbon  regime. 

wished  to  decentralise  the  French  admini-      commanded  him  to  cut  off  the  head  of  the 


stration,  and  brought  in  Bills  for  this  pur- 
pose in  February,  1829,  he  was  deserted 
by  everyone.  The  extreme  Right  allied 
itself  with  the  Left ;  Martignac  withdrew 
the  proposals  in  April,  and  on  August  8th, 
1829,  Polignac  took  his  place. 

The  name  of  Jules  Polignac  seemed  to 
the  country  a  presage  of  coups  d'etat  and 
3nti-constitutional  reaction.  The  new 
Ministry  included  not  a  single  popular 
representative  amongst  its  members.  A 
cry  of  indignation  was  heard,  and  the  Press 
made  the  most  violent  attacks  on  the  new 
Minister.  The  Duke  of .  Broglie  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  society  formed  to 
defend  the  charter,  called  "  Aide-toi,  le  ciel 
t'aidera";  republicans,  eager  for  the  fray, 
grouped  themselves  round  Louis  Blanqui, 
Etienne  Arago,  and  Armand  Barbcs. 

The  newspaper,  "  National,"  began  its 
work  on  behalf  of  the  Orleans  family, 
for  whom  Talleyrand,  Thiers,  Jacques 
Laffite  the  banker,  and  Adelaide,  the 
sister  of  Duke  Louis  Philippe,  cleared 
the  road.  Even  Metternich,  Wellington, 
and  the  Emperor  Nicholas  advised  that  no 
coup  d'etat  should  be  made  against  the 
Charta.  Charles,  however,  remained  the 
untaught  emigrant  of  Coblenz,  and  did  not 
_.     _,  understand  the  new  era;   he 

The  Dreamer  ,-i     .  ■         ^■   . 

Q,   .  saw.  in  every  constitutionalist 

R»c«^-«f:««  3- supporter  of  the  revolution- 
Kestor.ation  ^'^     ^  ,  t        ,  • 

ary   party    and    a    Jacobin. 

Polignac  was  the  dreamer  of  the  restora- 
tion, a  fanatic  without  any  worldly  wisdom, 
whom  delusions  almost  removed  from  the 
world  of  reality,  who  considered  himself, 
with  his  limited  capacity,  to  be  infallible. 
The   Virgin    had    appeared   to    him   and 


hydra  of  democracy  and  infidelity. 

Polignac,    originaUy    only    Minister    of 

Foreign   Affairs,  became     on    November 

17th,     1829,    President    of    the    Cabinet 

Council.     In  order  to  gain  over  the  nation, 

.       .         which  was  hostile  to  him,  he 

giers  in  tried  to  achieve  foreign  suc- 
thc  Hands  of  r        .l      tt    i    •  i 

,.     P        .       cesses  lor  it.    He  laid  stress  on 

the  principle  of  thi  freedom  of 
the  ocean  as  opposed  to  Great  Britain's 
claims  to  maritime  supremacy,  and 
sketched  a  fantastic  map  of  the  Europe 
of  the  future  ;  if  he  could  not  transform 
this  into  reality'',  at  all  events  military 
laurels  should  be  won  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity which  presented  itself. 

The  Dey  of  Algiers  had  been  offended  by 
the  French,  and  had  aimed  a  blow  at  their 
consul,  Deval,  during  an  audience.  Since 
he  would  not  listen  to  any  rem-onstrances, 
France  made  preparations  by  land  and 
sea.  In  June,  1830,  the  Minister  of  War, 
Count  Bourmont,  landed  with  37,000 
men  near  Sidi-Ferruch,  defeated  the  Al- 
gerians, sacked  their  camp,  and  entered 
the  capital  on  July  6th,  where  he  cap- 
tured much  treasure.  He  banished  the 
Dey,  and  was  promoted  to  be  maishal 
of  France.  Algiers  became  French,  but 
Charles  and  Polignac  were  not  destined 
.to  enjoy  the  victory. 

The  new  elections,  for  which  writs  were 
issued  after  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  had 
demanded  the  dismissal  of  Polignac,  proved 
unfavourable  to  the  Ministry  and  forced 
the  king  either  to  change  the  Ministry 
or  make  some  change  in  the  constitution. 
The  Jesuits  at  that  time  had  not  yet 
adequately  organised  their  political  system, 

4861 


r     *"  "^  *>,  "■■"'v^r^T^^'^^  T'X"^!-?'^**^ 


■sSSSPB^'^?»a 


"^^ZTT"  ;,^ 


ALGIERS    AS    IT    WAS    IN    THE    YEAR    1830    WHEN    TAKEN    BY    THE    FRENCH 

From  an  engraving  of  the  period 


and  were  in  France  more  obscure  than  in 
Belgium  and  Germany.  However,  they 
thought  themselves  sure  of  their  ground, 
and  advised  the  king  to  adopt  the  latter 
alternative,  notwithstanding  the  objections 
of  certain  members  of  his  house,  including 
the  dauphine  Marie  TherCse. 

Meanwhile,  the  Press  and  the  parties 
in  opposition  became  more  confident  ; 
Royer-Collard  candidly  assured  Charles 
that  the  Chamber  would  oppose  every  one 
of  his  Ministries.  Charles,  however,  only 
hstened  to  Polignac's  boastful  confidence, 
and  at  the  opening  of  the  Chambers  on 
March  2nd,  1830,  in.  his  speech  from  the 
throne  he  threatened  the  opposition  in 
such  unmistakable  terms  that  doctrinaires 
as  well  as  ultra-Liberals  detected  the  un- 
shtathing  of  the  royal  sword.  Pierre 
Antoine  Berryer,  the  most  briUiant  orator 
of  legitimacy,  and  perhaps  the  greatest 
French  orator  of  the  century,  had  a  lively 
passage  of  a^ms  in  the  debate  on  the 
address  with  Fran(;:ois  Guizot,  the  clever 
leader  of  the  doctrinaires,  and  was  de- 
feated ;  the  Chamber,  by  221  votes  against 
181,  accepted  on  March  i6th  a  peremp- 
tory answer  to  the  address,  which  in- 
formed the  monarch  that  his  Ministers 
did  not  possess  the  confidence  of  the  nation 
and  that  no  harmony  existed  between  the 
Government  and  the  Chamber.  Charles, 
however,  saw  that  the  monarchy  itself 
was    at    stake,    declared    his    resolutions 

4862 


unalterable,  and  insisted  that  he  would 
never  allow  his  Crown  to  be  humiliated. 
He  prorogued  the  Chambers  on  March 
19th  until  September  ist,  and  dismissed 
prefects  and  officials  ;  whereupon  the 
221  were  feted  throughout  France.  Charles 
in  some  perturbation  then  demanded  from 
his  Ministers  a  statement  of  the  situation. 
But  Polignac's  secret  memorandum  of 
April  14th  lulled  his  suspicions  again. 

It  said  that  only  a  small  fraction  of  the 
nation  was  revolutionary  and  could  not  be 
dangerous  ;  the  charter  was  the  gospel, 
and  a  peaceful  arrangement  was  easy. 
Charles  dissolved  th:?  Chambers  on  May 
1 6th,  and  summoned  a  new  one 
for  August  3rd.  Instead  of 
recalling  Villele,  he  strengthened 
the  Ministry  by  followers  of 
On  May  19th  De  Chantelauze 
and  Count  Peyronnet  came  in  as  Minister 
of  Justice  and  Minister  of  the  Interior. 

The  appointment  of  Peyronnet  was,  in 
Charles'  own  words,  a  slap  in  the  face  for 
public  opinion,  for  there  was  hardly  an 
individual  more  hated  in  France  ;  he  now 
continually  advised  exceptional  measures 
and  urged  a  coup  d'etat  against  the 
provisions  of  the  Charta.  In  order  to 
facilitate  the  victory  of  the  Government 
at  the  new  elections,  he  explained  in  his 
proclamation  to  the  people  on  June  13th 
that  he  would  not  give  in.  But  the 
society  "  Aide-toi,  le  ciel  t'aidera  "  secured 


The  King's 
Defiance  of 
the  People 

Polignac. 


FALL    OF    THE    BOURBON    MONARCHY 


the  re-election  of  the  221  ;  the  opposition 
reached  the  number  of  272  ;  the  Ministry, 
on  the  other  hand,  had  only  145  votes. 

Disorders  were  visible  in  the  whole  of 
France.  Troops  were  sent  to  quiet  them, 
but  the  Press  of  every  shade  of  opinion 
fanned  the  flame.  Charles  saw  rising 
before  him  the  shadow  of  his  brother, 
whom  weak  concessions  had  brought  to 
the  guillotine  ;  spoke  of  a  dictatorship  ; 
and,  being  entirely  under  Polignac's 
influence,    inclined   towards  the   plan  of 


adopting  exceptional  measures  and  re- 
asserting his  position  as  king.  On  July 
26th  five  royal  ordinances  were  published. 
In  these  the  freedom  of  the  Press  as 
established  by  law  was  greatly  limited  ; 
the  Chambers  of  Deputies,  though 
only  just  elected,  were  again  dis- 
solved ;  a  new  law  for  reorganising  the 
elections  was  proclaimed,  and  a  chamber 
to  be  chosen  in  accordance  with  this 
method  was  summoned  for  September 
28th.     In  other  words,  war  was  declared 


THE     CAPTURE     OF     THE     HOTEL     DE     VILLE     BY     THE     CITIZENS     OF     PARIS 
The  Paris  Revolution  of  1830  was  brief  but  decisive,  ending  in  the  dethronement  of  Charles  X.     For  three  days — from 
July  2t3th  till  the  29th— Paris  was  in  a  state  of  revolution.     The  populace  attacked  the  Hotel  de  Ville  and  the  Tuileries, 
the  capture  of  the  former,  after  a  spirited  defence  by  the  National  Guard,   being  shown  in  the  above  picture. 

48b3 


LEADERS     IN    THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION     OF     18^0 
The  best  known  political  writer  in  France  at  the  time,  Adolphe  Thiers,  wrote  the  "  Histoire  de  la  Revolution  Fran(,'aise," 
which  obtained  a  rapid  popularity.     An  opponent  of  tiie  Polignac  administration,  he  declared  for  a  change  of  dynasty, 
and   in  his  liberal  policy  was  supported    by  the   financiers  Jacques  Laffitte,  and  Casimir   Perier,    who   had  a  large 
following,  enjoying  unlimited  influence  among  the  property-owning  citizens,  who  were  joined  by  some  of  the  nobility. 


upon  the  constitution.     According  to  para- 
graph 14  of  the  charter,  the  king  "  is  chief 
head  of  the  state.     He  has  command  of 
the  mihtary  and  naval  forces  ;   can  declare 
war,  conclude  peace,  alliances,  and    com- 
mercial treaties  ;    has  the  right  of  making 
appointments  to  every  office  in  the  public 
service,    and    of    issuing    the    necessary 
regulations  and  decrees  for  the  execution 
of  the  laws  and  the  security  of  the  state." 
Had  the  king,  ^s  indeed  was  maintained 
by  the  journals  supporting  the  Ministry, 
ventured  to  claim  the  power 
of    ruling    through   his   own 
decrees,    for  which  he  alone 
was     responsible,     then     all 
regulations  as  to  the  state  of 
the  legislature  and   the   sub- 
ordination   of  the   executive 
would    have     been    entirely 
meaningless.     Paris,  desiring 
freedom,  was  clear  upon  this 
point,   and    immediately  set 
itself  with  determination  to 
the  task  of  resistance.      The 
first    day    began    with    the 
demonstrations     of     the 

DrinterS       who      found       thpir     Author  of  the   "  Rights  of  Man 
piiiiLcis,      wnu      I^Liil^       l^il^il     theory,  and   the  patriarch  of  th 


LAFAYETTE 


following  sentence  :   "In  the  present  state 
of  affairs  obedience  ceases  to  be  a  duty." 
The    author    of    this    composition    was 
Adolphe   Thiers,    at   that   time   the   best 
known  political  writer  in  France,  born  in 
Marseilles,  April  15th,  1797,  and  practising 
as  advocate  in  Aix  in  1820.   In  1821  became 
to   Paris   and   entered   the   office   of   the 
"  Constitutionnel,"  and  co-operated  in  the 
foundation  of  several  periodicals,  writing 
at   the   same   time   his   "  Histoire   de   la 
Revolution   Fran^aise,"   in  ten  volumes, 
1823-1827.      This  work  was 
rather  a  piece  of   journalism 
than  a  scientific  history.      It 
attained      rapid     popularity 
among  the  liberal   bourgeois 
as   it    emphasised   the    great 
successes    and    the    valuable 
achievements  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, while   discountenancing 
the  aberrations  of  the  lament- 
able excesses  of  an  anarchical 
society ;  constitutionalism  and 
its  preservation  were  shown 
to*  be    the   results  of  all  the 
struggles  and  sacrifices  which 
France     had    undergone     to 


occupation  considerably    re-    Revolution,  he  commanded  the  Na-   sccure  freedom  and  power  of 

A.,-,^r.A     K,r    +U^     -D^^^^     tional  Guard  in  the  rising  of  1830.     __,.    i_^ ■_,■  j^      _.■        _ 


duced  by  the  Press  censor 
ship.  This  movement  was  accompanied 
by  tumultuous  demonstrations  of  dis- 
satisfaction on  the  part  of  the  general 
public  in  the  Palais  Royal,  and  the 
windows  of  the  unpopular  Minister's 
house  were  broken.  On  the  morning  of  the 
second  day  the  liberal  newspapers  appeared 
without  even  an  attempt  to  gain  the 
necessary  authorisation  from  the  autho- 
rities. They  contained  a  manifesto  couched 
in  identical  language  and  including  the 
4864 


self-determination  to  nations 
at  large.  Thiers  also  supported  the  view 
of  the  members  that  the  charter  of  1814 
provided  sufficient  guarantees  for  the 
preservation  and  exercise  of  the  rights 
of  the  people.  These,  ho\,'ever,  must  be 
retained  in  their  entirety  and  protected 
from  the  destructive  influences  of  malicious 
misinterpretation.  Such  protection  he 
considered  impossible  under  the  govern- 
ment of  Charles  X.  He  was  equally  dis- 
trustful of  that  monarch's  son,  the  Duke 


FALL    OF    THE    BOURBON    MONARCHY 


of  Angouleme,  and  had  already  pretty 
plainly  declared  for  a  change  of  dynasty 
and  the  deposition  of  the  royal  line  of  the 
House  of  Bourbon  in  favour  of  the 
Orleans  branch.  Thiers  and  his  journal- 
istic friends  were  supported  by  a  number 
of  the  advocates  present  in  Paris,  in- 
cluding the  financiers  Jacques  Laffitte 
and  Casimir  Perier.  They  also  possessed 
a  considerable  following  and  enjoyed 
unlimited  influence  among  the  property- 
owning  citizens,  who  were  again  joined 
by  the  independent  nobility  excluded 
from  court.  They  gave  advice  upon 
the  issue  of  manifestoes,  while  Marmont, 
the  Duke  of  Ragusa  and  military  com- 
mander in  Paris,  strove,  with  the  few 
troops  at  his  disposal,  to  suppress  the  noisy 
gatherings  of  the  dis- 
satisfied element,  which 
had  considerably  in- 
creased by  July  27th. 
Paris  began  to  take  up 
arms  on  the  following 
night.  On  the  28th, 
thousands  of  workmen, 
students  from  the  poly- 
technic schools,  doctors, 
and  citizens  of  every 
profession,  were  fighting 
behind  numerous  barri- 
cades, which  resisted  all 
the  efforts  of  the  troops. 
Marmont  recognised  his 
inability  to  deal  with  the 
revolt,  and  advised  the 
king,  who  was  staying 
with  his  family  and 
Ministers  in  Saint  Cloud, 


The  Soldiery 
Desert  to 
the  Revolters 


LOUIS  PHILIPPE,  KING  OF  FRANCE 
After  the  Revolution  of  1830,  which  drove 
Charles  X.  from  the  throne,  Louis  Philippe, 
the  eldest   son  of  Philip  "  Egalitc-,"  received    waS  UOW  forCcd  tO  Clldure 

to    withdraw    the    ordi-   t'^«  "°«'"'  ^"'^  """^^^  ^er  "citizen  king"  the  aspersions  of  treachery 


support  the  king's  cause  to  the  last.  The 
troops,  however,  were  by  no  means  iix 
love  with  the  Bourbon  hierarchy,  and  n  . 
one  felt  any  inclination  to  risk  his  life  ok 
behalf  of  such  a  .ridiculous  coxcomb  as 
Polignac,  against  whom  the  revolt  appeare*  I 
chiefly  directed.  The  regi- 
ments advancing  upon  Paris 
from  the  neighbouring  pro- 
vinces halted  in  the  suburlDS. 
Within  Paris  itself  two  regiments  of  the 
line  were .  won  over  by  the  brother  of 
Laffitte,  the  financier,  and  deserted  to  the 
revolters.  During  the  forenoon  of  July 
2gth,  Marmont  continued  to  hold  the 
Louvre  and  the  Tuileries  with  a  few  thou- 
sand men.  In  the  afternoon,  however,  a 
number  of  armed  detachments  made  their 
way  into  the  Louvre 
through  a  gap  caused  by 
the  retreat  of  a  Swiss 
battalion,  and  Marmont 
was  forced  to  retire  into 
the  Champs  Elysees.  In 
the  evening  the  marshal 
rode  off  to  Saint  Cloud 
with  the  news  that  the 
movement  in  Paris  could 
no  longer  be  suppressed 
by  force,  and  that  the 
king's  only  course  of 
action  was  to  open  ne- 
gotiations with  the  leaders 
of  the  revolt.  Marmont 
had  done  all  he  could  for 
the  Bourbon  monarchy 
with  the  very  inadequate 
force  at  his  disposal,  and 


France  regained  some  of  her  old  prosperity. 

have    caused 


nances.  Even  then  a 
rapid  decision  might  nave  caused  a 
change  of  feeling  in  Paris,  and  have 
saved  the  Bourbons,  at  any  rate  for  the 
moment  ;  but  neither  the  king  nor 
Polignac  suspected  the  serious  danger 
confronting  them,  and  never  supposed 
that  the  Parisians  would  be  able  to  stand 
against  12,000  troops  of  the  hne.  This, 
_    .    .  indeed,  was  the  number  that 

Fans  in  ^r  ,  , 

.  .    ^  Marmont   may  have  concen- 

Arms  against   ,       ,     1  r  ^i 

..     J,.  trated  from  the  garrisons  in 

the  immediate  neighbourhood. 
In  view  of  the  well-known  capacity  of  the 
Parisians  for  street  fighting,  their  bravery 
and  determination,  this  force  would 
scarce  have  been  sufficient,  even  granting 
their  discipline  to  have  been  unexception- 
able,   and    assuming    their    readiness    to 


uttered  by  the  Duke  of 
Angouleme  before  the  guard.  This  member 
of  the  Bourbon  family,  who  had  been 
none  too  brilliantly  gifted  l^y  Providence, 
was  entirely  spoiled  by  the  ultra  legitimist 
rulers  and  priests,  who  praised  his  Spanish 
campaign  as  a  brilliant  military  achieve- 
ment, and  compared  the  attack  on  the 
Trocadero  to  Marengo  and  Austerlitz.  A 
prey  to  the  many  illusions  emanating  from 
the  brain  of  the  "  sons  of  Saint  Louis," 
it  was  left  to  his  somewhat  nobler  and 
larger-minded  father  to  inform  him  that 
even  kings  might  condescend  to  return 
thanks,  at  any  rate  to  men  who  had  risked 
their  lives  in  their  defence. 

Marmont  was,  moreover,  mistaken  in 
his  idea  that  Charles  could  retain  his 
throne  for  his  family  by  negotiations,  by 

4865 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  dismissal  of  Polignac,  by  the  recogni- 
tion of  recent  elections,  or  even  by  abdica- 
tion in .  favour  of  his  grandson  Henry, 
afterwards  Count  of  Chambord.  The  fate  of 
the  Bourbons  was  decided  on  July  30th, 
and  the  only  question  for  solution  was 
whether  their  place  should  be  taken  by 
a  republic  or  by  a  liberal  constitutional 
monarchy  under  the  princes  of  Orleans. 

Louis  Phihppe,  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Orleans  and  of  the  Princess  Louise  Marie 
Adelaide  of  Penthievre,  had  been  given 
on  his  birth,  October  6th,  1773,  the  title 
of  the  Duke  of  Valois,  and  afterwards  of 
Duke  of  riiartre?.     Duiintj  tlie  Revolution 


visited  almost  every  country  in  Europe, 
and  in  North  America  had  enjoyed  the 
opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted  with 
the  democratic  state  and  its  powers  of 
solving  the  greatest  tasks  without  the 
support  of  princes  or  standing  armies. 

Consequently  upon  his  return  to  France 
he  was  considered  a  Liberal,  was  both 
hated  and  feared  by  the  royal  family, 
and  became  highly  popular  with  the 
people,  the  more  so  as  he  lived  a  very 
simple  life  notwithstanding  his  regained 
wealth  ;  he  associated  with  the  citizens, 
invited  their  children  to  play  with  his 
sons  ^nd  daughters,  and  in  wet  weather 


i  .-■^^^;^*^r■*ffl»^A^^:^-^:.-^a^w«^A»ga»»»ia^^  . 


THE    DEPUTIEB    OFFERING    THE    LIEUTENANCY    OF    FRANCE    TO    THE    DUKE  -ANS 

Meeting  at  the  Bourbon  Palace  on  July  30th,  is.'.n.i,  the  deputies  offered  the  "  lieutenancy  of  the  kingdi.^^  ._  .  ._  Duke 
of  Orleans,  who  had  become  popular  with  the  people.  He  at  first  hesitated,  but  on  the  following  day,  acting,  it  is  said, 
on  the  advice  of  Talleyrand,  accepted  the  office.  Reading  from  left  to  right,  the  figures  in  the  above  picture  are : 
Aug.  Piirier,  Aug.  Hilarion  de  Keratry,  Berard,  Baron  B.  Delessert,  Duke  of  Orleans,  General  Sebastiani,  A.  de  St. 
Aignan,  Charles  Dupin,  Andr6  Gallot,  Dugas-Montbel,  Duchaffaud,  General  Count  Mathieu  Dumas,  Bernard  de  Rennes. 


he  had  called  himself  General  Egalite, 
and  Duke  of  Orleans  after  the  death  of  his 
father,  the  miserable  libertine  who  had 
voted  for  the  death  of  Louis  XVL  As 
he  had  been  supported  by  Dumouriez 
in  his  candidature  for  the  throne,  he  was 
obliged  to  leave  France  after  the  flight  of 
that  leader.  He  had  then  been  forced 
to  lead  a  very  wandering  life,  and  even  to 
earn  his  bread  in  Switzerland  as  a  school- 
master. Forgiveness  for  his  father's  sins 
and  for  his  own  secession  to  the  revolters 
had  long  been  withheld  by  the  royal  house, 
until  he  was  at  length  recognised  as 
the  head  of  the  House  of  Orleans.   He  had 

4866 


would  put  up  his  umbrella  and  go  to  the 
market  and  talk  with  the  saleswomen. 
He  had  become  a  very  capable  man  of 
business,  and  was  highly  esteemed  in 
the  financial  world.  Complicity  on  his 
part  in  the  overthrow  of  his  relatives 
cannot  be  proved — such  action  was  indeed 
unnecessary  ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  he  desired  their  fall,  and  turned  it  to 
his  own  advantage.  In  his  retreat  at 
Raincy  at  Neuilly  he  received  the  message 
of  Laffitte  and  the  information  from 
Thiers  in  person  that  the  Chamber  would 
appoint  him  lieutenant-general  to  the 
king    ?nd   invest    him   with    full    power. 


fc.  oH 


4867 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


He  then  returned  to  Paris,  and  was  there 
entrusted  by  Charles  X.  with  that  office 
in  his  own  name  and  as  representative 
of  Henry  V.,  who  was  still  a  minor. 
He  conformed  his  further  procedure  to 
the  spirit  of  these  commands 
as   Ions;   as  he    deemed  this 


The  Doom  of 
the  Bourbon 
Mon  archy 


course  of  action  favourable  to 
his  own  interests.  As  soon  as 
he  became  convinced  that  the  king's  word 
was  powerless,  he  announced  the  monarch's 
abdication,  but  kept  silence  upon  the  fact 
that  he  had  abdicated  in  favour  of  his 
grandson.  No  doubt  the  representations 
of  his  adherents  that  he  alone  could  save 
France  from  a  republic  largely  contributed 
to  the  determination  of  his  decision. 

On  July  31st  it  was  definitely  decided 
that  France  should  be  permanently  re- 
lieved of  the  Bourbons  who  had  been 
imposed  upon  her  ;  however,  concerning 
the  future  constitution  widely  divergent 
opinions  prevailed.  The  decision  lay  with 
the  Marquess  of  Lafayette,  the  author  of 


the  "  Rights  of  Man  "  theory,  the  patriarch 
of  the  Revolution,  who  had  already  taken 
over  the  command  of  the  National  Guard 
on  the  29th,  at  the  request  of  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies.  -The  Republicans,  who  had 
been  responsible  for  all  the  work  of 
slaughter,  and  had  inspired  the  people  to 
take  up  arms,  reposed  full  confidence  in 
him  as  a  man  after  their  own  heart,  and 
entrusted  him  with  the  office  of  dictator. 
The  rich  bourgeoisie,  and  the  journalists 
in  connection  with  them,  were,  however, 
afraid  of  a  Republican  victory  and  of  the 
political  ideals  and  social  questions  which 
this  party  might  advance  for  solution. 
,  That  liberalism  which  first 
..!^-^"^  became  a  political  force  in 
„.    \,  France   is   distinguished  by   a 

tendency  to  regulate  freedom  in 
proportion  to  social  rank,  and  to  make  the 
exercise  of  political  rights  conditional 
upon  education  and  income.  The  financial 
magnates  of  Paris  expected  to  enter 
unhindered   into   the   inheritance   of   the 


THE  MARCH  OF  THE  NATIONAL  GUARD  TO  RAMBOUILLET 
Realising  that  the  nation  was  at  last  tired  of  the  Bourbon  dynasty,  Charles  X.  abdicated  in  favour  of  his  youno: 
grandson  Henry  V.  ;  but  France  preferred  Louis  Philippe,  and  he  was  called  to  the  throne.  He  naturally  wished  to  have 
his  inconvenient  cousin  out  of  the  country,  and  to  hasten  his  departure  a  march  of  the  National  Guard  to  Rambouillet, 
where  Charles  was  at  that  time  residing,  was  organised.  The  march  was  more  like  a  holiday  procession  than  an 
intimidating  movement,  being  joined  by  crowds  of  people,  some  on  vehicles  and  others  on  foot,  singing  the  Marseillaise 
and  shouting  "  Vive  la  libertii !  "  The  movement,  however,  had  the  desired  result,  Charles  leaving  France  for  England. 


4868 


1 

'J 


^'^^^\%  %i  >' 


LOUIS  PHILIPPE  TAKING  THE  OATH  O^  THE  CONSTlIUTluN  ON  AUGUST  iii  l-.i) 
Before  a  bnlliant  assembly  of  the  Chambers,  as  shown  in  the  above  picture,  Louis  Philippe  took  the  oath 
of  the   Constitution  on    August  9th,    1830,   and   from  that  time  entitled   himself  "The   King  of  the  French." 

effect  to  the   different   tendencies 


Legitimists,  and  permanently  to  secure 
the  powers  of  government  so  soon  as  peace 
had  been  restored.  For  this  pm'pose  they 
required  a  constitutional  king  of  their 
own  opinions,  and  Louis  Philippe  was 
their  only  choice.  He  probably  had  no 
difficulty  in  fathoming  their  designs,  but  he 
hoped  when  once  established  on  the 
throne  to  be  able  to  dictate  his  own  terms 
and  address  himself  forthwith  to  the  task 
of  reducing  the  Republican  party  to 
impotence.  He  proceeded  in  a  solemn 
procession  to  the  town  hall,  with  the  object 
of  winning  over  Lafayette  by  receiving 
the  supreme  power  from  his  hands.  The 
old  leader  considered  this  procedure 
entirely  natural,  constituted  himself  pleni- 
potentiary of  the  French  nation,  and 
concluded  an  alliance  with  the  "  citizen- 
king,"  whom  he  introduced,  tricolour  in 
hand,  to  the  people  as  his  own  candidate. 
In  less  than  a  week  the  new  constitution 
had  been  drawn  out  in  detail.  It  was  to 
be  "  the  direct  expression  of  the  rights 
,  of  the  French  nation  "  ;  the 
rancc  s  j^^i^g  became  head  of  the  state 
^^*  *-^  .•      by  the  national  will,  and  was  to 

Constitution     •'  ,         ,  ,, 

swear  to  observe  the  constitu- 
tion upon  his  accession.  The  two  Chambers 
were  retained  ;  an  elected  deputy  was 
to  sit  for  five  years,  and  the  limits  of  age 
for  the  passive  and  the  active  franchise 
were  fixed  respectively  at  thirty  and 
twenty  five  years.     The  right  of  giving 


which 

were  indispensable  to  the  existence  of  a 

constitutional  monarchy  as  conceived  by 

liberalism  was  reserved  for  the  legislature. 

Such    were    the    provisions   for   trial   by 

jury  of  offences  against  the  Press  laws,  for 

the  responsibility  of  Ministers, 

<-M.^  I  '''  V*^  for  full  liberty  to  teachers,  for 
Charles  at  ,  i         .  ••       xi 

_      .      ....    compulsory  education  m   the 

Rambouillet       i  ,        -^         ,        i         r  ,^ 

elementary  schools,  for  the 
yearly  vote  of  the  conscription,  and  so 
forth.  The  deputies  chosen  at  the  last 
election  passed  the  proposals  by  a  ferge 
majority,  219  against  38.  Of  the  peers, 
eighty-nine  were  won  over  to  their  side  ; 
eighteen  alone,  including  Chateaubriand, 
the  novelist  of  the  romantic  school, 
supported  the  rights  of  Henry  V. 
■  In  the  meantime  Charles  had  retired 
from  Saint  Cloud  to  Rambouillet,  retaining 
the  Guards  and  certain  regiments  which 
had  remained  faithful  ;  he  ^  once  again 
announced  his  abdication,  and  that  of 
Angoiileme,  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  and 
ordered  him  to  take  up  the  government 
in  the  name  of  Henry  V.  To  this  demand 
Louis  Philippe  sent  no  answer  ;  he  con- 
fined his  efforts  to  getting,  his  incon- 
venient cousin  out  of  the  country,  which 
he  already  saw  at  his  own  feet.  When  his 
representations  produced  no  effect  in  this 
direction,  his  adherents  organised  a  march 
of  the  National  Guard  to  Rambouillet,  a 
movement    which,    though    more    like    a 

4869 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  Death 
of 
Charles  X. 


holiday  procession  than  an  intimidating 
movement,  brought  about  the  desired 
result.  The  Bourbons  and  their  parasites 
showed  not  a  spark  of  knightly  spirit  ; 
not  the  smallest  attempt  was  made  to 
teach  the  insolent  Parisians  a  lesson,  or 
to  let  them  feel  the  weight  of  the  "Legiti- 
mist "  sword.  With  ostentatious  delibera- 
tion a  move  was  made  from 
Rambouillet  to  Cherbourg 
without  awakening  the  smallest 
sign  of  sympathy.  Charles  X. 
betook  himself  for  the  moment  to  England. 
On  November  6th,  1836,  he  died  in  Gorz, 
where  the  Duke  of  Angouleme  also  pissed 
away  on  June  3rd,  1844.  To  the  Duchess 
Marie  Caroline  of  Berry,  the  daughter  of 
Francis  I.  of  Naples,  remained  the  task  of 
stirring  up  the  loyalists  of  La  Vendee 
against  the  government  of  the  treacherous 
Duke  of  Orleans,  and  of  weaving,  at  the 
risk  of  her  life,  intrigues  for  civil  war  in 
France.  In  spite  of  her  capture,  Novem- 
ber 7th,  1832,  at  Nantes,  she  might  have 
been  a  source  of  serious  embarrassment  to 
Louis  Philippe,  and  perhaps  have  turned 
his  later  difficulties  to  the  advantage  of 
her  son,  if  she  had  not  fallen  into  disfavour 
with  her  own  family,  and  with  the  arrogant 
legitimists,  on  account  of  her  secret  mar- 
riage with  a  son  of  the  Sicilian  prince  of 
Campofranco,  the  Conte  Ettore  Carlo 
Lucchesi  Palli,  to  whom  she  bore  a  son, 
the  later  Duca  della  Grazia,  while  in 
captivity  at  Blaye,  near  Bordeaux.  Her 
last  son  by  her  first  marriage,  the  Count 
of  Chambord,  contented  himself  through- 
out his  life  with  the  proud  consciousness 
of  being  the  legal  King  of  France  ; 
however,  the  resources  of  the  good  Henry 
were  too  limited  for  him  to  become 
dangerous  to  any  government. 

France  had  thus  relieved  herself  of  the 
Bourbons  at  little  or  no  cost ;  she  was 
now  to  try  the  experiment  of  living  under 
the  House  of  Orleans,  and  under  a  con- 
stitutional monarchy.  The  Republicans 
were  surprised  at  their  deser- 

''j''-?  VI      fion  by  Lafayette  ;  thev  could 
and  its  New  j      _       j  j 


Dynasty 


not  but  observe  that  the  mass 


of  people  who  were  insensible  ■= 
to  political  conviction,  and  accustomed  to 
follow  the  influences  of  the  moment,  hailed 
with  acclamatiori  the  new  constitution 
adjusted  by  the  prosperous  Liberals.  For 
the  moment  they  retired  into  private  life 
with  ill-concealed  expressions  of  dissatis- 
faction, and  became  the  nucleus  for  a 
party  of  malcontents  which  was  speedily 

4870 


reinforced  by  recruits  from  every  direction. 
"  The  King  of  the  French,"  as  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  entitled  himself  from  August 
9th,  1830,  at  the  very  outset  of  his  govern- 
ment stirred  up  a  dangerous  strife,  and  by 
doing  so  undermined  his  own  position, 
which  at  first  had  seemed  to  be  founded 
upon  the  national  will.  He  ought  to  have 
honourably  and  openly  enforced  the 
"Republican  institutions"  which,  upon 
Lafayette's  theory,  were  meant  to  be  the 
environment  of  his  royal  power  ;  he  ought 
to  have  appeared  as  representing  the  will 
of  the  nation,  and  should  in  any  case  have 
left  his  fate  exclusively  in  the  hands  of 
the  people.  He  attempted,  however,  to 
secure  his  recognition  from  the  great 
Powers,  to  assert  his  claims  to  considera- 
tion among  the  other  dynasties  of  Europe, 
and  to  gain  their  confidence  for  himself 
and  France.  Prince  Metternich  supported 
him  in  these  attempts  as  soon  as  he  ob- 
served that  the  influences  of  the  Left  had 
been  nullified,  and  that  the  new  king  was 
making  a  serious  effort  to  suppress  that 
party.  The  Austrian  chancellor  fully  re- 
cognised that  Louis  Philippe,  in  preventing 
the  formation    of  a  Republic 

uccessors   ^^  j^j^  intervention,   had  done 
B      K  good  service  to   the  cause  of 

reaction  ;  he  readily  thanked 
him  for  his  erection  of  a  constitutional 
throne,  whereby  the  monarchies  had  been 
spared  the  necessity  of  again  taking  the 
fi.eld  against  a  Republican  France.  The 
Bonapartists  had  proposed  to  bring  for- 
ward an  opposition  candidate  to  Louis 
Philippe  in  the  person  of  the  highly  gifted 
and  ambitious  son  of  Napoleon  L,  "le  fils 
de  I'homme,"  and  the  Archduchess  Marie 
Louise,  who  had  been  brought  up  under  the 
care  of  his  grandfather  in  Vienna. 

The  untimely  death  of  the  excellent  Duke 
of  Reichstadt,  who  succumbed  to  a  gallop- 
ing consumption  on  July  22nd,  1832,  which 
was  not,  as  often  stated,  the  result  of 
excessive  self-indulgence. freed  "the  citizen- 
king  "  from  a  danger  which  had  threatened 
to  increase  with  every  year.  At  the  end 
of  August  England  recognised  uncon- 
ditionally and  without  reserve  the  new 
government  in  France  ;  her  example  was 
followed  by  Austria  and  Prussia,  to  the 
extreme  vexation  of  the  Tsar  Nicholas  L 
The  House  of  Orleans  might  thus  far  con- 
sider itself  at  least  tolerated  as  the  successor 
of  the  French  Bourbons. 

Hans  von  Zvviedineck-Sudenhorst 
Arthur  Kleinschmidt 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

AFTER 

WATERLOO 

VII 


THE   NEW   REVOLUTIONARY   PERIOD 

NATIONALIST  AND  CONSTITUTIONAL 
MOVEMENTS     IN     THE     'THIRTIES 


THE  events  of  1830  in  Paris  introduced 
a  new  revolutionary  period  in  Europe 
which  was  to  prodnce  far  more  compre- 
hensive and  permanent  transformations 
than  the  Revolution  of  1789.  From  that 
date  was  broken  the  spell  of  the  reaction- 
ary theory  which  forbade  all  efforts  for  the 
identification  of  monarchical  and  popular 
rights,  and  demanded  blind  submission  to 
the  decrees  of  the  government. 

This  tyranny  had  been  abolished  by  the 
will  of  a  people  which,  notwithstanding 
internal  dissensions,  was  united  in  its  op- 
position to  the  Bourbons.  Thirty  or  forty 
thousand  men,  with  no  military  organisa- 
tion and  without  preparation  of  any  kind, 
had  defeated  in  street  fighting  twelve 
thousand  troops  of  the  line,  under  the 
command  of  an  experienced  general,  a 
marshal  of  the  Grand  Army  of  Napoleon  I. 
Though  gained  by  bloodshed,  the  victory 
was  not  misused  or  stamed  by  atrocities 
„  of  any  kind;  at  no  time  was  any 

rancc  attempt    made   to  introduce 

Under  a  New  j-,-  c  i  tt 

T^        .  a  condition  of  anarchy.    Upon 

the  capture  of  the  Louvre  by 
bands  of  armed  citizens,  little  damage  had 
been  done,  and  the  artistic  treasures  of  the 
palace  had  been  safely  removed  from  the 
advance  of  the  attacking  party.  In  the 
course  of  a  fortnight  a  new  constitution 
had  been  organised  l)y  the  joint  action  of 
the  leading  citizens,  a  new  regime  had  been 
established  in  everj^  branch  of  the  adminis- 
tration, and  a  new  dynasty  had  been 
entrusted  with  supreme  power.  It  had 
been  shown  that  revolutions  did  not  of 
necessity  imply  the  destruction  of  social 
order,  but  might  also  become  a  means  to 
the  attainment  of  political  rights. 

Proof  had  thus  been  given  that  it  was 
possible  for  a  people  to  impose  its  will 
upon  selfish  and  misguided  governments, 
even  when  protected  by  armed  force. 
The  so-called  conservative  Great  Powers 
wcie  not  united  among  themselves,  and 


were  therefore  too  weak  to  exclude  a 
nation  from  the  exercise  of  its  natural 
right  of  self-government  when  that  nation 
was  ready  to  stake  its  blood  and  treasure 
on  the  issue.  Other  peoples  living  under 
conditions  apparently  or  actually  intoler- 
able  might  be  tempted  to  follow 
auses  ^j_^-g  gxample  and  to  revolt. 
of  National  t^,  •    1  f     r        r        •  1 

P  .    .  ihe  weight  of  a  foreign  yoke, 

a  term  implying  not  only  the 
rule  of  a  conqueror  king,  but  also  that 
of  a  foreigner  legally  in  possession  of  the 
throne,  is  more  than  ever  galling  if  not 
supported  upon  a  community  of  interests. 

The  strong  aversion  which  springs  from 
the  contact  of  cha'"acters  fundamentally 
discordant  can  never  be  overcome  even  by 
consideration  of  the  mutual  advantages 
to  be  gained  from  the  union,  however  great 
these  advantages  may  be.  Repugnance 
and  animosity,  purely  sentimental  in  their 
origin,  and  impossible  of  suppression  by 
any  process  of  intellectual  exercise,  are 
influences  as  important  in  national  as  in 
individual  life.  Irritated  ambition,  exag- 
gerated pride,  the  under  and  over  estima- 
tion of  defects  and  advantages,  are  so 
many  causes  of  national  friction,  with 
tremendous  struggles  and  poHtical  con- 
vulsions as  their  consequence. 

To  prefer  national  sentiment  to  political 
necessity  is  naturally  an  erroneous  doctrine, 
because  contrary  to  the  fundamental  laws 
of  civilisation,  which  define  man's  task  as 
the  conquest  of  natural  forces  by  his  in- 
tellectual power  for  his  own  good.  Yet 
_  such  a  doctrine  is  based  at 

/n^  °.^.°*^!*    least    upon    the    ascertained 

of    Political  r  .  ,  1         ,  ,1        i  1- 

Vitalit-  •     notwithstanding 

'  *  *  ^  ages  of   intellectual  progress, 

instinct  is  more  powerful  than  reason,  and 
that  the  influences  of  instinct  must  be 
remembered  both  by  nations  and  individuals 
in  the  pursuit  of  their  several  needs. 
In  nineteenth-century  Europe  the  de- 
velopment of  inherent  national  powers  was 

4871 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


entirely    justified,    if    only    because    for 

centuries    it    had     been    neglected    and 

thwarted,  or  had  adv^anced,  if  at  all,  by  a 

process  highly  irregular.    Many  European 

countries  had  developed  a  political  vitality 

under,  and  as  a  consequence  of,  monarchical 

government  :  and  if  this  vitality  was  to 

become  the  realisation  of  the  popular  will 

it  must  first  gain  assurance  of 

,    „  -its  own  value  and  nnportance, 

In  Frocess  of  ,  •       .,         •    i  .      r       u 

rt        .     ..        and  acquire  the  right  oi  seli- 

government.  It  was  to  be 
tested  in  a  series  of  trials  which  would  prove 
its  vital  power  and  capacity ,  or  would  at  least 
determine  the  degree  of  dependency  which 
should  govern  its  relations  to  other  forces. 
•  Hence  it  is  that  national  revolutions  are 
the  substratum  of  European  political 
history  after  the  Vienna  Congress.  Hence 
it  is  that  cabinet  governments  were 
gradually  forced  to  undertake  tasks  of 
national  importance  which  had  never 
before  even  attracted  their  notice.  Hence, 
too,  such  nations  as  were  vigorous  and 
capable  of  development  must  be  organised 
and  tested  before  entering  upon  the 
struggle  for  the  transformation  of  society — 
a  struggle  which  ultimately  overshadowed 
national  aspirations  and  became  itself  the 
chief  aim  and  object  of  civilised  endeavour. 
The  oppression  of  an  alien  rule  to  which 
Europe  had  been  forced  to  submit  was, 
if  not  entirely  overthrown,  at  any  rate 
shaken  to  its  foundations.  The  tyranny 
under  which  the  Christian  inhabitants  of 
the  Balkan  countries  had  groaned  since 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
which  had  entirely  checked  every  tendency 
to  progress,  was  now  in  process  of  dissolu- 
tion. Among  the  Slav  races  of  the  Balkans 
the  Servians  had  freed  themselves  by  their 
own  power,  and  had  founded  the  begin- 
nings of  a  national  community.  With 
unexampled  heroism,  which  had  risen 
almost  to  the  point  of  self-immolation,  the 
Greeks  had  saved  their  nationality,  and 
had  united  a  considerable  portion  of  their 
^  numbers  into   a  self-contained 

,,  ..       ,.^     state.  In  Germany  and  Italy  the 

Nationality         , .         ,  -^     ,        ,       -',, 

c       ,  national    movement,    together 

with  the  political,  had  been 
crushed  in  the  name  of  the  conservative 
Great  Powers  and  their  "  sacred  "  alliances ; 
in  this  case  it  was  only  to  be  expected  that 
the  influence  of  the  French  Revolution 
would  produce  some  tangible  effect.  It  was, 
however,  in  two  countries,  where  systems 
unusually  artificial  had  been  created 
by  the  arbitrary  action  of  dynasties 
4872 


and  diplomatists,  that  these  influences 
became  earliest  and  most  permanently 
operative  :  in  the  new  kingdom  of  the 
United  Netherlands,  and  in  Poland  under 
the  Russian  protectorate. 

In  1813  and  1815,  the  Dutch  had  taken 
an  honourable  share  in  the  general  struggle 
for  liberation  from  the  French  yoke  ;  they 
had  formed  a  constitution  which,  while 
providing  a  sufficient  measure  of  self- 
government  to  the  nine  provinces  of  their 
kingdom,  united  those  nine  into  a  uniform 
body  politic.  They  had  abolished  their 
aristocratic  republic,  which  had  been 
replaced  by  a  limited  monarchy  ;  the  son 
of  their  last  hereditary  stadtholder,  Prince 
William  Frederic  of  Orange,  had  been 
made  king,  with  the  title  of  William  I., 
and  so  far  everything  had  been  done  that 
conservative  diplomacy  could  possibly 
desire.  Conservatism,  however,  declined 
to  allow  the  Dutch  constitution  to  continue 
its  course  of  historical  development,  and 
proceeded  to  ruin  it  by  the  artificial 
addition  of  Belgium — a  proceeding  which 
may  well  serve  as  an  example  of  the  in- 
competent bureaucratic  policy  of  Prince 
_  Metternich.     The  Orange  king 

e  gian        naturally   regarded  this  unex- 

Union  with  ^     ,    -^         °.  .   . 

H  II  J  pected  accession  of  territory  as 
Holland  ^  .   .  -  ^ 

a  recognition  01  his   own   high 

capacity,  and  considered  that  he  could  best 
serve  the  interests  of  the  Great  Powers  by 
treating  the  Belgians,  whom  he  considered 
as  Frenchmen,  as  s'-.bjects  of  inferior  rank. 

Many  disabilities  were  laid  upon  them  by 
the  administration,  which  was  chiefly  in 
the  hands  of  Dutchmen.  Dutch  trade  had 
begun  to  revive,  and  Belgian  industries 
found  no  support  in  Holland.  Day  by  day 
it  became  clearer  to  the  Belgians  that 
union  with  Holland  was  for  them  a  disas- 
trous mistake,  and  they  proceeded  to 
demand  separation.  Not  only  by  the 
Catholic  Conservative  party,  but  also  by 
the  Liberals,  the  difference  of  religious 
belief  was  thought  to  accentuate  the  opposi- 
tion of  interests.  The  attitude  of  hostility 
to  their  Protestant  neighbours  which  the 
Catholic  provinces  of  the  Netherlands  had 
adopted  during  150  years  of  .  Spanish 
government  had  never  been  entirely  given 
up,  and  was  now  resumed,  after  a  short 
armistice,  with  much  secret  satisfaction. 

Without  any  special  preparation,  the 
ferment  became  visible  on  the  occasion  of 
a  performance  of  the  "  Revolution  Opera  " 
completed  in  1828,  "  The  Dumb  Girl  of 
Portici,"  by  D.F.  E.Auber,  on  August  25th, 


THE    NEW    REVOLUTIONARY    PERIOD 


1830.  Personal  intervention  might  even 
then  perhaps  have  saved  the  pohtical  union 
of  the  Netherland  countries.  The  king, 
however,  made  no  honourable  attempt  to 
secure  the  confidence  of  the  Belgians,  and 
any  possibility  of  agreement  was  removed 
by  the  attempt  to  seize  Brussels,  which  he 
was  persuaded  to  make  through  Prince 
Frederic,  -who  had  10,000  men  at  his 
command.  On  November  loth,  1830,  the 
National  Congress  decided  in  favour  of  the 
introduction  of  a  constitutional  monarchy, 
and  for  the  exclusion  of  the  House  of  Orange 
in  favour  of  a  new  dynasty.  Here,  also,  the 
expression  of  popular  will  failed  to  coincide 
with  the  hopes  of  the  Revolution  leaders, 
w  ho  were  inclined  to  republicanism. 

The  Liberal  coteries,  who  were  forced 
in  Belgium  to  act  in  concert  with  the 
Church,  preferred  government  under  a 
constitutional  monarchy  ;  if 
a  republic  were  formed,  an 
ultramontane  majority  would 
inevitably  secure  tyrannical 
supremacy,  and  all  freedom  of 
thought  would  be  im.possible. 
A  royal  family,  if  not  so  intel- 
lectually incapable  as  the 
Bourbons, would  never  consent 
to  bind  itself  hand  and  foot  to 
please  any  party,  but,  while 
respecting  the  rights  of  the 
minority,  would  unite  with 
them  in  opposition  to  any  at- 
tempted perversion  of  power. 


Declaration 
of  Belgian 
Independence 


The  British  proposal  to  call  a  conference 
at  London  for  the  adjustment  of  the 
Dutch-Belgian  difficulty  was  received 
with  general  approbation.  On  December 
20th  the  independence  of  Belgium  was 
i-ecognised  by  this  assembly,  and  the 
temporary  government  in  Brussels  was 
invited  through  ambassadors 
to  negotiate  with  the  confer- 
ence. The  choice  of  the  new 
king  caused  no  great  difficulty; 
the  claims  of  Orange,  Orleans,  and 
Bavarian  candidates  were  considered  and 
rejected,  and  the  general  approval  fell 
upon  Prince  Leopold  George  of  Coburg, 
a  widower,  who  had  been  previously 
married  to  Charlotte  of  England.  On 
June  4th,  1831,  the  National  Congress 
appointed  him  King  of  the  Belgians,  and 
he  entered  upon  his  dignity  in  July. 
It  proved  a  more  difficult 
task  to  induce  the  King 
of  Holland  to  agree  to  an 
acceptable  compromise  with 
Belgium  and  to  renounce  his 
claims  to  Luxemburg.  In 
the  session  of  October  15th, 
1 83 1,  the  conference  passed 
twenty-four  articles,  propos- 
ing a  partition  of  Luxemburg, 
and  fixing  Belgium's  yearly 
contribution  to  the  Nether- 
land national  debt  at  8,400,000 
gulden.  On  two  occasions  it 
became     necessary     to    send 


The  ready  proposal  of  the  william  i.  of  Holland  French  troops  as  far  as  Ant- 
Belgians  to  accept  a  monarch-  Sj;;%^^:f^neVtht^f:°rTf  ^erp  to  protect  Belgium,  a 
ical  government  was  received  Napoleon,  Belgium  and  Holland  w-eak  military  power,  from 
with  satisfaction  b)^  the  Great  were  united  under  one  sovereign,  reconqucst  by  Holland  ;  and 
Powers,  who  were  reluctantly  Wiiiiam  i.,  who  abdicated  inis40.  ^^  ^^^^i  occasion  diplomatic 
considering  the  necessity  of  opposing  the      negotiation  induced  the  Dutch   to  retire 


Revolution  by  force.  The  Tsar  Nicholas 
had  already  made  up  his  mind  to  raise  his 
arm  against  the  West ;  his  attention,  how- 
ever, was  soon  occupied  by  far  more  press- 
ing questions  within  his  own  dominions. 
Metternich  and  Frederic  William  III.  were 
disinclined,  for  financial  reasons,  to  raise 
.    .  .       contingents   of   troops  ;    the 

JUS  mg     e    scantyforcesat  the  command 
Dutch-Belgian      r    a       .    ■  •      ^    ■ 

jj.j.,.       J.        01  Austria  were  required  m 

Italy,  where  the  Carbonari 
were  known  to  be  in  a  state  of  ferment. 
Louis  Philippe  decided  the  general  direction 
of  his  pohcy  by  declining  to  listen  to  the 
Radical  proposals  for  a  union  of  Belgium 
with  France,  and  thereby  strengthened 
that  confidence  which  he  had  already 
won  among  the  Conservative  cabinets. 
G  26  ^ 


from  the  land  which  they  had  occupied. 
It  was  not  until  1838  that  peace  between 
Belgium  and  Holland  was  definitely 
concluded  ;  King  William  had  fruitlessly 
strained  the  resources  of  his  state  to 
the  utmost,  and  for  the  increased  severity 
of  the  conditions  imposed  upon  him  he 
had  merely  his  own  obstinacy  to  thank. 
Belgium's  share  of  the  payment  towards 
the  interest  due  upon  the  common  national 
debt  was  ultimately  fixed  at  5,000,000 
gulden.  On  August  9th,  1832,  King 
Leopold  married  Louise  of  Orleans,  the 
eldest  daughter  of  Louis  PhiUppe  ;  though 
not  himself  a  Catholic,  he  had  his  sons 
baptised  into  that  faith,  and  thus  became 
the  founder  of  a  new  Catholic  dynasty  in 
Europe,  which  rapidly  acquired  importance 

4873 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


through  the  pohtic  and  dignified  conduct 

of    Leopold  L     What    the    Belgians    had 

gained  without  any  unusual  effort  Poland 

was   unable    to    attain   in    spite    of    the 

streams  of  blood  which   she  poured  forth 

in    her   struggle   with   Russia.      She  had 

been  a  nation  on  an  equality  with  Russia, 

with     a     constitution     of      her       own ; 

„  ,     ,       ,      her   resistance  now   reduced 
Poland  under  ,  j.       ^.i.  x-  r 

_      .  her     to    the    position    ot    a 

Kussian  j-    ,i  ■  j 

^  .  province    oi  the  empire,  de- 

prived  of  all  political  rights, 
and  subjected  to  a  government  alike 
despotic  and  arbitrary.  The  popular  will 
was  unable  to  find  expression,  for  the 
nation  which  it  inspired  had  been  warped 
and  repressed  by  a  wholly  unnatural 
course  of  development ;  there  was  no 
unity,  no  social  organism,  to  support 
the  expansion  of  classes  and  professions. 
Theie  were  only  two  classes  struggling 
for  definite  aims — the  great  territorial 
nobility,  who  were  attracted  by  the 
possibility  of  restoring  their  exaggerated 
powers,  which  had  depended  on  the 
exclusion  of  their  inferiors  from  legal 
rights  ;  and  the  small  party  of  intelligent 
men  among  the  Schlactha,  the  petty 
nobility,  civil  officials,  military  officers, 
teachers,  etc.,  who  had  identified  them- 
selves with  the  principles  of  democracy, 
and  were  attempting  to  secure  their 
realisation.  Though  its  purity  of  .  blood 
was  almost  indisputable,  the  Polish  race 
had  sunk  so  low  that  the  manufacturing 
and  productive  element  of  the  population, 
the  craftsmen  and  agricultural  workers, 
had  lost  all  feeling  of  national  union  and 
had  nothing  to  hope  from  a  national  state. 
Averse  from  exertion,  incapable  of 
achievement,  and  eaten  up  by  preposter- 
ous self-conceit,  Polish  society,  for  centuries 
the  sole  exponent  of  national  culture,  was 
inaccessible  to  the  effect  of  any  deep  moral 
awakening;  hence  national  movement  in 
the  true  sense  of  the  term  was  impossible. 
At  the  outset  the  Polish  Revolution  was 
marked  by  sojiie  ,  display  of 
resolution  and  enthusiasm.     It 


The  Poles 
Strike  for 
Freedom 


was,  however,  a  movement 
animated  rather  by  ill-feeling 
and  injured  pride  than  originating  in  the 
irritation  caused  by  intolerable  oppression. 
It  is  true  that  the  government  was  for  the 
most  part  in  the  hands  of  the  Russians, 
but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  it 
was  in  any  way  more  unjust  or  more  cor- 
rupt than  the  monarchical  republic  that 
had  passed  away.     It  cannot  be  said  that 

4874 


the  Russian  administration  prevented  the 
Poles  from  recognising  the  defective  re- 
sults of  their  social  development,  from 
working  to  remove  those  defects,  to  relieve 
the  burdens  of  the  labouring  classes,  and 
to  found  a  community  endowed  with  some 
measure  of  vitality,  the  advantages  of 
which  were  plainly  to  be  seen  in  the  neigh- 
bouring Prussian  districts.  The  moderate 
independence  which  Alexander  I.  had 
left  to  the  Polish  National  Assembly  was 
greater  than  that  possessed  by  the  Prussian 
provincial  assemblies.  The  Poles  possessed 
the  means  for  relieving  the  legislature 
of  the  arrogance  of  the  nobles,  whom  no 
monarchy,  however  powerful,  had  been 
able  to  check,  and  thus  freeing  the  people 
from  the  weight  of  an  oppression  far 
more  intolerable  than  the  arbitrary  rule 
of  individuals,  officials,  and  commanders. 

Yet,  was  there  ever  a  time  when  the  much- 
lauded  patriotism  of  the  Poles  attempted 
to  deal  with  questions  of  this  nature  ? 
So  long  as  they  failed  to  recognise  their 
duty  in  this  respect,  their  patriotism, 
founded  upon  a  vanity  which  had  risen 
to  the  point  of  monomania,  was  valueless 
^^  r  k  ^^  *^^  nation  at  large.  Events 
Fotuh  P'""^^^   that    the  struggle   be- 

n  ,  ^.  tween  Poland  and  Russia 
Revolution  ,  ■,       ■,  -11 

cannot  be  described  as  purpose- 
less. The  revolutionary  party  had  long 
been  quietly  working,  and  when  the  pro- 
gress of  events  in  France  became  known, 
was  immediately  inflamed  to  action.  Its 
first  practical  steps  were  generally  attended 
with  a  high  measure  of  success. 

After  the  storming  of  the  Belvedere, 
November  29th,  1830,  occupied  by  the 
governor,  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine, 
that  personage  was  so  far  intimidated  as 
to  evacuate  Warsaw  with  his  troops.  On 
December  5th,  1830,  a  provisional  govern- 
ment was  already  in  existence.  On 
January  25th,  1831,  the  Assembly  declared 
the  deposition  of  the  House  of  Romanoff, 
and  in  February  a  Polish  army  of  78,000 
men  was  confronting  100,000  Russians, 
who  had  been  concentrated  on  the  fron- 
tiers of  Old  Poland  under  Diebitsch- 
Sabalkanski,  and  his  general  staff  officer, 
Karl  Friedrich,  Count  of  Toll.  -These 
achievements  wei'e  the  unaided  work  of 
the  nobility;  their  .military  organisation 
had  been  quickly  and  admirably  successful. 
Their  commander-in-chief ,  Prince  Michael 
Radziwill,  who  had  served  under  Thaddeus 
Kosciuszko  and  Napoleon,  had  several 
bold  and  capable  leaders  at  his  disposal. 


THE    NEW    REVOLUTIOxNARY    PERIOD 


If  at  the  same  time  a  popular  rising  had 
taken  place  throughout  the  country,  and 
a  people's  war  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word 
had  been  begun,  it  is  impossible  to  estimate 
the  extent  of  the  difficulties  with  which 
the  Russian  Government  would  have  had 
to  deal.  Notwithstanding  the  victories  of 
Bialolenka  and  Grochow,  February  24th 
and  25th,  1831,  Diebitsch  did  not  dare  to 
advance  upon  Warsaw,  fearing  to  be 
blockaded  in  that  town  ;  he  waited  for 
reinforcements,  and  even  began  negotia- 
tions, considering  his  pDsition  extremely 
unfavourable.  However,  Volhynia  and 
Podolia  took  no  serious  part  in  the  revolt. 
The  deputies  of  -the  Warsaw  government 
found  scattered  adherents  in  every  place 
they  visited  ;  but  the  spirit  of  enterprise 
and  the  capacity  for  struggle  disappeared 
upon  their  departure.  It 
was  only  in  Lithuania 
that  any  public  rising  on  an 
extensive  scale  took  place. 
On  May  26th,  Diebitsch, 
in  spite  of  a  heroic  defence, 
inflicted  a  severe  defeat  at 
Ostrolenka  upon  the  main 
Polish  army  under  Jan 
Boncza  Skrzynecki.  Hence- 
forward the  military  advan- 
tage was  decidedly  on  the 
side  of  the  Russians.  The 
outbreak  of  cholera,  to 
which  Diebitsch  succumbed 
on  June  loth,  might  perhaps 
have  produced  a  turn  of 
fortune  favourable  to  the 
Poles.  Count  Ivan  Feod- 
vitch  Paskevitch-Erivanski, 
who  now  assumed  the  chief 
command,  had  but  50,000 
men  at  his  disposal,  and  would  hardly 
have  dared  to  advance  from  Pultusk  if 
the  numerous  guerrilla  bands  of  the 
Poles  had  done  their  duty  and  had  been 
p.operly  supported  by  the  population. 
Never,  however,  was  there  any  general 
rising  ;  terrified  by  the  ravages  of  the 
p  cholera,     the     mob     declined 

_  H  h    ^^  obey   the  authorities,   and 

^.  ^  ^  their  patriotism  was  not  proof 
against  their  panic.  Skrzynecki 
and  his  successor,  Henry  DernlDinski, 
had  50,000  men  under  their  colours 
when  they  attempted  to  resist  the 
advance  of  Paskevitch  upon  Warsaw ; 
but  within  the  capital  itself  a  feud  had 
broken  out  between  the  aristocrats  and 
the    democrats,    who    were    represented 


End  of  the 
Polish  Dream 
of  Freedom 


KING  OF  THE  BELGIANS 
When  the  independence  of  Belgium  was 
recognised,  the  choice  of  a  new  king  fell 
upon  Prince  Leopold  George  of  Coburg, 
and  on  July  4th,  isyi,  the  National  Con- 
gress appointed  him  King  of  the  Belgians. 


among  the  five  members  of  the  civil 
government  by  the  historian  Joachim 
Lelevel,  after  the  dictatorship  ol  Joseph 
Chlopicki  had  not  only  abolished  but 
utterly  shattered  the  supremacy  of  the 
nobles.  The  government,  at  the  head  of 
which  was  the  senatorial  president.  Prince 
Adam  George  Czartoryiski, 
was  forced  to  resign,  and  the 
purely  democratic  adminis- 
tration which  succeeded  fell 
into  general  disrepute.  Military  operations 
suffered  from  lack  of  concerted  leadership. 
The  storming  of  Warsaw  on  September  6th 
and  yth,  carried  out  by  Paskevitch  and 
Toll,  with  70,000  Russians  agaiftst  40,000 
Poles,  decided  the  struggle.  The  smaller 
divisions  still  on  foot,  under  the  Genoese 
Girolamo  Ramorino,  Mathias  Rybinski, 
Rozycki,  and  others,  met 
with  no  support  from  the 
population,  and  were 
speedily  forced  to  retreat 
beyond  the  frontier. 

The  Polish  dream  of  free- 
dom was  at  an  end.  The 
Kingdom  of  Poland,  to 
which  Alexander  I.  had 
granted  nominal  independ- 
ence, became  a  Russian 
province  in  1832  by  a 
constitutional  edict  of  Feb- 
ruary 26th  ;  henceforward 
its  history  was  a  history  of 
oppression  and  stern  and 
cruel  tyranny.  However, 
the  consequent  suffering 
failed  to  produce  any  puri- 
fying effect  upon  the  nation, 
though  European  liberal- 
ism, with  extraordinary 
unanimity,  manifested  a  sympathy  which, 
in  Germany,  rose  to  the  point  of  ridicu- 
lous and  hysterical  sentimentalism. 

It  was  by  conspiracies,  secret  unions,  and 
political  intrigues  of  every  kind,  by  degrad- 
ing mendicancy  and  sponging,  that  these 
"  patriots  "  thought  to  recover  freedom 
and  independence  for  their  native  land. 
Careless  of  the  consequences  and  untaught 
by  suffering,  in  1846  they  instigated 
revolts  in  Posen  and  in  the  little  free  state 
of  Cracow,  which  was  occupied  by  Austria 
at  the  request  of  Russia,  and  eventually 
incorporated  with  the  province  of  Galicia. 
The  psasant  revolt,  which  was  charac- 
terised by  unexampled  ferocity  and 
cruelty,  made  it  plain  to  the  world  at 
large  that  it  was  not  the  Russian,   the 

4875 


SkrzyHecki 


Paskevitch 


Constantine 


LEADERS     IN     THE     POLISH  -  RUSSIAN     WARS 
General  Jan  Boncza  Skrzynecki  was  in  command  of  the  main   Polish  array  at  Ostrolenka,  where  it  suffered  defeat  ; 
Count  Ivan  Feodvitch  Paskevitch-Erivanski  commanded  the  Russian  troops  opposed  to  Skrzynecki  and  Dembinski, 
crushing  the  Poles  and  taking  Warsaw  ;  while  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine,  brother  of  the  Tsar  of  Russia  and  governor 
of  Warsaw,  after  the  storming  of  the  Belvedere  on  November  29th,  1830,  was  so  far  intimidated  as  to  evacuate  Warsaw. 


Austrian,  or  the  Prussian  whom  the 
Pohsh  peasant  considered  his  deadly 
enemy  and  oppressor,  but  the  Pohsh  noble. 
The  revolutionary  party  in  connection 
with  the  Revolution  of  July  brought 
little  to  pass  in  Italy  except  abortive 
conspiracies  and  a  general  state  of  disturb- 
ance. The  nation  as  a  whole  was  inspired 
by  no  feeling  of  nationalism  ;  the  moderate 
party  kept  aloof  from  the  intrigues  of  the 
Carbonari,  who  f 
continued  their 
activities  in 
secret  after  the 
subjugation  of 
Piedmont  and 
Naples  by  the 
Austrians  in 
1821.  The  chief 
Austrian  adher- 
ents were  to  be 
found  in  the 
Church  states ; 
there,  however, 
an  opposition 
union,  that  of 
the"Sanfedists," 
had  been  formed, 
with  the  counten- 
ance  of  the 
papacy.  While  striving  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  papal  power  and  the  strengthen- 
ing of  religious  feeling,  the  party  occu- 
pied itself  with  the  persecution  of  all 
Liberals,  and  rivalled  the  Carbonari  in  the 
use  of  poison  and  dagger  for  the  attain- 
ment of  its  ends.  Cardinal  Consalvi  had 
availed  himself  of  the  help  of  the  Sanfe- 
dists  ;  but  he  allowed  their  power  to  extend 

4876 


DUKE    OF    BRUNSWICK  KING    OF    HANOVER 

When  Charles,  Duke  of  Brunswick,  proved  his  incompetence,  his 
brother  William,  at  the  request  of  Prussia,  offered  himself  for  the  high 
office  and  was  received  with  acclamation.  King  of  Hanover,  Ernest 
Augustus  exhibited  a  weak  narrow-mindedness  by  refusing  the  con- 
stitution between  the  nobility  and  the  representatives  of  the  peasants. 


only  SO  far  as  it  might  be  useful  for  the 
furtherance  of  his  political  objects.  How- 
ever, under  the  government  of  Pope  Leo 
XIL,  1823-1829,  the  influence  of  the 
party  increased  considerably,  and  led  the 
Cardinal  Rivarola,  the  legate  of  Ravenna, 
to  perpetrate  cruelties  upon  the  Carbonari 
in  Faenza,  a  policy  which  contributed  to 
increase  the  general  ill-feeling  with  which 
Italy  regarded  the  futile  administration 
of  the  papacy. 
Pius  VIII., 
1829-1830,  .  and 
Cardinal  Albani 
supported  the 
union  of  the  San- 
fedists  ;  their 
continued  at- 
tempts at  aggran- 
disement resulted 
in  the  temporary 
success  of  the 
revolution  in 
Bologna.  This 
movement  had 
been  long  pre- 
pared, and  broke 
out  on  February 
4th,  1 83 1,  when 
Menotti  in  Parma 
gave  the  signal  for  action.  The  Duke  of 
Modena,  Francis  IV.,  imprisoned  Menotti 
in  his  own  house  ;  feeling  himself,  however, 
too  weak  to  deal  with  the  movement,  he  tied 
into  Austrian  territory  with  his  battalion 
of  soldiers,  and  hastened  to  Vienna  to 
appeal  to  Metternich  for  help.  His  example 
was  followed  by  Pope  Gregory  XVI., 
elected  on  February  2nd,  1831,  formerly 


THE     NEW    REVOLUTIONARY    PERIOD 


Bartolommeo  Cappelleri,  general  of  the 
Camaldulensian  (.rder,  whose  supremacy 
was  no  longer  recognised  by  the  Umbrian 
towns  which  had  broken  into  revolt,  by  the 
legation,  or  by  the  Marks. 

The  Austrian  chancellor  thought  it  advis- 
able to  maintain  at  any  cost  the  protec- 
torate exercised  by  the  emperor  in  Italy  ; 
notwithstanding  the  threats  of  France,  who 
declared  that  she  would  regard  the  advance 
of  Austrian  troops  into  tlie  Church  states 
as  a  casus  belU,  . 


Pius  VII. 


he  occupied 
Bologna,  March 
2ist,  after  seizing 
F  e  r  r  a  r  a  and 
Parma  in  the 
first  days  of 
March.  Ancona 
was  also  forced 
to  surrender  ;  in 
this  town  the 
provisional 
government  of 
the  R  o  m  a  g  n  a 
had  taken  refuge, 
together  with 
Louis  Napoleon 
Bonaparte,  son 
of  the  King  of 
Holland  and  of 
Hortense  Beau- 
harnais,  who  first 
came  into  con- 
nection with  the 
revolutionary 
party  at  this 
date.  The  task 
of  the  Austrians 
was  then  brought 
to  completion. 
On  July  15th 
they  retired  from 
the  papal  states, 
but  were  obliged 
to  return  on 
January  24th, 
1832,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  new  revolt  which  had  been 
brought  about  by  the  cruelties  of  the 
papalini,  or  papal  soldiers.  Louis  Philippe 
attempted  to  lend  some  show  of  support 
to  the  Itahan  Liberal  party  by  occupying 
Ancona  at  the  same  time,  February  22nd. 
Neither  France  nor  Austria  could^  oblige 
the  Pope  to  introduce  the  reforms  which 
he  had  promised  into  his  administration. 
The  ruHng  powers  of  the  Curia  were  appre- 
hensive of  the  reduction  of  their  revenues, 


and  steadily  thwarted  all  measures  of 
reorganisation.  When  Gregory  XVL  en- 
listed two  Swiss  regiments  for  the  main- 
tenance of  peace  and  order,  the  foreign 
troops  evacuated  his  district  in  1838. 

In  Germany  the  effects  of  the  July 
Revolution  varied  according  to  differences 
of  political  condition,  and  fully  represented 
the  divergences  of  feeling  and  opinion 
prevailing  in  the  separate  provinces. 
There  was  no  uniformity  of  thought,  nor 
had  any  tendency 


Leo  X  II. 


Pius  VIII. 


A  GROUP  OF  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  POPES 
During  tlie  restless  period  in  the  first  half  of  last  century,  St.  Peter's 
Chair  was  occupied  in  turn  by  the  Popes  whose  portraits  are  given 
above.  Pius  VII.  died  in  IS-'.'i,  and  was  succeeded  by  Leo  XII.  At  his 
death,  Pius  VIII.  became  Pope,  ruling  only  from  March,  1829,  till 
November,  1830.     He  was  followed  by  the  reactionary  Gregory  XVI. 


to  nationalist 
movement  be- 
come apparent. 
Liberal  and  Radi- 
cal groups  were 
to  be  found  side 
by  side,  divided 
by  no  strict  fron- 
tier line  ;  more- 
over, operations 
in  common  were 
inconceivable,  for 
no  common  ob- 
ject of  endeavour 
had  yet  b  e  e  h 
found.  In  par- 
ticular federal 
provinces  special 
circumstances 
gave  rise  to  re- 
volts intended  to 
produce  a  change 
in  the  relations 
subsisting  be- 
tween the  rulers 
and   the  ruled. 

Brunswick  was 
a  scene  of  events 
as  fortunate  for 
that  state  as  they 
were  rapid  in 
development. 
Charles,  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  who 
had  begun  his 
rule  in  1823  as 
a  youth  of  nineteen  years  of  age, 
showed  himself  totally  incompetent  to 
fulfil  the  duties  of  his  high  position.  He 
conducted  himself  towards  his  relations 
of  England  and  Hanover  with  an  utter 
want  of  tact  ;  and  towards  his  subjects, 
whose  constitutional  rights  he  declined 
to  recognise,  he  was  equally  haughty  and 
dictatorial.  After  the  events  of  July  he 
had  returned  home  from  Paris,  where  he 
had  spent  his  time  in  the  grossest  pleasures. 

4877 


Gregory   XVI. 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


and  immediately  opposed  the  nobles  and 
the  citizens  as  ruthlessly  as  ever.  Dis- 
turbances broke  out  in  consequence  on 
September  7th,  ,1830,  and  so  frightened 
the  cowardly  libertine  that  he  evacuated 
his  capital  with  the  utmost  possible  speed 
and  deserted  his  province.  At  the  request 
of  Prussia,  his  brother  William,  who  had 

taken  over  the  principality  of 
D  k  *  ^™  ^^^'  o^^i'^cl  himself  to  the  peopje 
„  •  k    '^^    Brunswick,    who    received 

him  with  acclamation.  Not- 
withstanding the  opposition  of  Metternich 
in  the  diet,  the  joint  action  of  Prussia  and 
England  secured  WilUam's  recognition 
as  duke  on  December  2nd,  after  Charles 
had  made  himself  the  laughing-stock  of 
Europe  by  a  desperate  attempt  to  cross 
the  frontier  of  Brunswick  with  a  small 
body  of  armed  ruffians. 

The  people  of  Hesse  forced  their  elector, 
William  II.,  to  summon  the  representatives 
of  the  Orders  in  September,  1830,  and  to 
assent  to  the  constitution  which  they 
speedily  drew  up.  On  January  8th,  1831, 
the  elector,  in  the  presence  of  the  Crown 
Prince  Frederic  William,  signed  the  docu- 
ments and  handed  them  to  the  Orders  ; 
however,  the  people  of  Hesse  were  unable 
to  secure  constitutional  government.  They 
declined  to  allow  the  elector  to  leside 
among  them  in  Cassel,  with  his  mistress, 
Emilie  Ortlopp,  whom  he  made  Countess 
of  Reichenbach  in  1821,  and  afterwards 
Countess  of  Lessonitz  ;  they  forced  him  to 
withdraw  to  Hanover  and  to  appoint  the 
Crown  Prince  as  co-regent,  September 
30th,  1831,  but  found  they  had  merely 
fallen  out  of  the  frying-pan  into  the  fire. 
In  August,  1 83 1,  Frederic  William  I. 
married  Gertrude  Lehmann,  nee  Falken- 
stein,  the  wife  of  a  lieutenant,  who  had 
been  divorced  b}^  her  husband  in  Bonn, 
made  Countess  of  Schaumburg  in  1831, 
and  Princess  of  Hanau  in  1853  ;  as  a 
result  he  quarrelled  with  his  mother,  the 
Princess  Augusta  of  Prussia,  and  with 
•  the  estates,  who   espoused  the 

c     yran   ^^^^^  q|  ^j^g  iniured  electress. 

He  was  a  malicious  and  stub- 
born tyrant,  who  broke  his 
plighted  word,  deliberately  introduced 
changes  into  the  constitution  through  his 
Minister,  Hans  Daniel  von  Hassenpflug, 
whom  he  supported  in  his  struggle  with 
the  estates  until  the  Minister  also  insulted 
him  and  opposed  his  effprts  at  unlimited 
despotism.  Hassenpflug  left  the  service 
of  Hesse  in  July,  1837,  first  entering  the 

4878 


Frederic 
William 


civil  service   in   Sigmaringen,   November, 

1838,  then     that    of    Luxemburg,    June, 

1839,  ultimately  taking  a  high  place  in  the 
public  administration  of  Prussia,  1841. 

The  people  of  Hesse  then  became  con- 
vinced that  their  position  had  rather 
deteriorated  than  otherwise  ;  the  Landtag 
Was  -continually  at  war  with  the  govern- 
ment, and  was  repeatedly  dissolved.  The 
Liberals  went  to  great  trouble  to  claim  their 
rights  in  endless  appeals  and  proclamations 
to  the  Federal  Council,  but  were  naturally 
and  invariably  the  losers  in  the  struggle 
with  the  unscrupulous  regent,  who  became 
elector  and  gained  the  enjoyment  of  the 
revenues  from  the  demesnes  and  the  trust 
property  by  the  death  of  his  father  on 
November  20th,  1847.  The  Liberals  were 
not  anxious  to  resort  to  any  violent 
steps  which  might  have  provoked  the 
Federal  Council  to  interference  of  an  un- 
pleasant kind  ;  they  were  also  unwilling 
to  act  in  concert  with  the  Radicals. 

Even  more  helpless  and  timorous 
was  the  behaviour  of  the  Hanoverians 
when  their  king,  Ernest  Augustus,  who 
had  contracted  debts  amounting  to 
several  million  thalers  as  Duke 
of  Cumberland,  was  so 
narrow-minded  as  to  reject 
the  constitution  which  had 
been  arranged  after  long  and  difficult 
negotiations  between  the  nobility  and  the 
representatives  of  the  peasants.  Seven 
professors  of  Gottingen,  Jakob  and  Wil- 
helm  Grimm,  .  Dahlmann,  Weber  and 
Gervinus,  Ewald  and  Albrecht,  protested 
against  the  patent  of  November  ist,  1837, 
which  absolved  the  state  officials  from 
their  oaths  of  fidelity  to  the  constitution. 
The  state  prosecution  and  merciless  dis- 
missal of  these  professors  aroused  a  general 
outcry  throughout  Germany  against  the 
effrontery  and  obstinacy  of  the  Guelphs  ; 
none  the  less,  the  estates,  who  had  been 
deprived  of  their  rights,  were  too  timid 
to  make  a  bold  and  honourable  stand 
against  the  powers  oppressing  them.  A 
number  of  the  electors  consented,  in 
accordance  with  the  decrees  of  1819,  which 
were  revived  by  the  king,  to  carry  through 
the  elections  for  the  General  Assembty  of 
the  estates,  thereby  enabling  the  king  to 
maintain  that  in  form  at  least  his  state 
was  constitutionally  governed  in  the  spirit 
of  the  Act  of  Federation.  In  vain  did  that 
indomitable  champion  of  the  popular 
rights,  Johann  Karl  Tertern  Stiive,  burgo- 
master of  Osnabriick,  protest  before  the 


The  brave 
Professors  of 
Gottingen 


THE    NEW    REVOLUTIONARY    PERIOD 


tendencies  proved  incompatible  with    the 
favour  which  the  Saxon  Court  attempted 
to   show   the   CathoUc   Church,    the    two 
princes  considered  in  1843  that  they  were 
able  to  dispense  with  his  services.      The 
great  rise    in    prosperity 
manifested  in  every   de- 
partment   of    public   life 
under  his  government  was 
invariably  ascribed  to  his 
wise    statesmanship 
and   his  great   capacity. 
Not     entirely     discon- 
nected are  those  political 
phenomena     which 
occurred  in  Baden,  Hesse- 
Darmstadt,    and    the 
Bavarian    Palatinate,    as 
results    of    the    changes 
which  had  been  brought 
to  pass  in   France.       In 
these  provinces  it  became 
plain  that  liberalism,  and 
the  legislation  it  promoted, 
THE   BROTHERS   GRIMM  were  mcapablc  of  satisfy- 

Jakob  and    Wilhelni   Grimm,    two  prominent  mg  tnC  people  aS  a  WnoIC, 

educationists  of  Gottingen,  were  among-  tiie  qj-      Qf      creating     a      bodv 

J          --.-    professors   dismissed  in   1837    for    protesting  re    ■       ,1          . 

Frederic     against  the  absolution  of  state  officials  from  polltlC    SUtnCieutly    StrOUg 

their  oaths    of    fidelity    to    the    constitution.  .          SCCUre      the      prOgrCSS 

of  sound  economic  development.  Nowhere 
throughout  Germany  was  the  parlia.- 
mentary  spirit  so  native  to  the  soil 
as  in  Baden,  where  the  democrats,  under 
the  leadership  of  the  Freiburg  professors 
Karl  von  Rotteck 


Federal  Council  against  the  illegal  imposi- 
tion of  taxes  by  the  Hanoverian  govern- 
ment .     The  prevailing  disunion  enabled  the 
faithless  ruler  to  secure  his  victory  ;    the 
compliance  of   his  subjects  gave  a  fairly 
plausible  colouring  to  his 
arbitrary  explanation  of 
these     unconstitutional 
acts  ;   his  policy  was   in- 
terpreted as  a  return    to 
the  old  legal  constitution, 
a   return    adopted,     and 
therefore  ratified,  by  the 
estates    themselves. 
The    Saxons     had 
displayed  far  greater  in- 
clination to  riot  and  con- 
spiracy ;  however,  in  that 
kingdom    the    transition 
from    class    privilege   to 
constitutional     govern- 
ment      was      completed 
without  any  serious  nap- 
ture  of  the  good  relations 
between  the   people  and 
the    government  ;     both 
King      Anthony      and 
his     nephew 
Augustus    II.,   whom   he 
had  appointed  co-regent,  possessed   suffi- 
cient insight  to  recognise  the  advantages 
of    a   constitution  ;     the   co-operation    of 
large  sections    of    the    community  would 
define  the  distribution   of  those    burdens 
which    state  ne- 
cessities    inevit- 
ably   laid    upon 
the  shoulders  of 
individuals. 
They    supported 
the     Minister 
Bernhard  August 
of  Lindenau,  one 
of    the    wisest 
statesmen     in 
Germany    under 
the  old  reaction- 
ary regime,  when 
he  introduced  the 
constitution      of 
Sei)tember     4th, 
1 83 1,  which  pro- 
vided a  sufficient 
measure  of  repre- 
sentation   for    the    citizen    classes,    and 
protected  the  peasants  from  defraudation  ; 
they    continued    their    support    as    long 
as    he    possessed   the    confidence    of   the 
Second  Chamber.     When  his   progressive 


AUGUST    OF   LINDENAU 


and  Karl  Theodor 
W  e  1  c  k  e  r,  the 
Heidelberg  jurist 
Karl  Joseph 
Mitterm.ayer,  and 
the  Mannheim 
high  justice 
Johann  Adam 
von  Itzstein,  had 
become  pre- 
dominant  in  the 
Second  Chamber. 
The  constitu- 
tions of  Bavaria 
and  Hesse-Darm- 
stadt gave  full 
licence  to  the 
expression  of 
pubHc  opinion  in 


KARL  THEODOR  WELCKER 
"One  of  the  wisest  statesmen  in  Germany,"  Bernhard  August  of 
Lindenau  introduced  the  constitution  of  September -tth,  1831,  which 
provided  a  sufficient  measure  of  representation  for  the  citizen  classes, 
and  protected  the  peasants.  Karl  Theodor  Welcker  was  one  of  the 
Freiburg  professors  who  became  predominant  in  the  Second  Chamber. 

the  Press  and  at  public  meetings.  But  hberal- 
ism  was  impressed  with  the  insufficiency  of 
the  means  provided  for  the  expression  and 
execution  of  the  popular  will ;  it  did  not 
attempt  to  create  an  administrative  policy 

4879 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


which  might  have  brought  it  into,  line 
with  the  practical  needs  of  the  poorer 
classes.  It  hoped  to  attain  its  political 
ends  by  unceasing  efforts  to  limit  the 
power  of  the  Crown  and  by  extending  the 
possibilities  of  popular  representation. 
The  result  was  distrust  on  the  part  of  the 
dynasties^  the  government 
,   officials,  and  the  classes  in  im- 


Discontent 


Encourageii 
by  the  Press 


mediate  connection  with  them, 
while  the  discontented  classes, 
who  were  invariably  too  numerous  even 
in  districts  so  blessed  by  Nature  as  these, 
were  driven  into  the  arms  of  the  Radical 
agitators,  who  had  immigrated  from 
France,  and  in  particular  from  Strassburg. 
The  very  considerable  freedom  allowed 
to  the  Press  had  fostered  the  growth  of  a 
large  number  of  obscure  publications, 
which  existed  only  to  preach  the  rejection 
of  all  governmental  measures,  to  discredit 
the  monarchical  party,  and  to  exasperate 
the  working  classes  against  their  more 
prosperous  superiors.  The  numerous 
Polish  refugees  who  were  looking  for  some 
convenient  and  exciting  form  of  occupation 
requiring  no  great  expenditure  of  labour 
were  exactly  the  tools  and  emissaries 
required  by  the  leaders  of  the  revolutionary 
movement,  and  to  them  the  general 
sympathy  with  the  fate  of  Poland  had 
opened  every  door.  The  first  disturbances 
broke  out  in  Hesse -Darmstadt  at  the  end 
of  September,  1830,  as  the  result  of  incor- 
poration in  the  Prussian  Customs  Union, 
and  were  rapidly  suppressed  by  force  of 
arms  ;  the  animosity  of  the  mob  was,  how- 
ever, purposely  fostered  and  exploited  by 
the  chiefs  of  a  democratic  conspiracy  who 
„,     ^  were  preparing  for  a  general 

1  he  Germans     ■   •  t   \t         -^o^^    4-\     t>    j- 

rismg.  In  May,  1832,  the  l<adi- 
reparing  or  ^^^^  prepared  a  popular  meet- 
ing at  the  castle  of  Hambach 
near  Neustadt  on  the  Hardt.  No  disguise 
was  made  of  their  intention  to  unite  the 
people  for  the  overthrow  of  the  throne  and 
the  erection  of  a  democratic  republic.  The 
unusual  occurrence  of  a  popular  mani- 
festation proved  a  great  attraction.  The 
turgid  outpourings,  seasoned  with  violent 


invectives  against  every  form  of  modera- 
tion, emanating  from  those  crapulous 
scribblers  who  were  transported  with 
delight  at  finding  in  the  works  of  Heinrich 
Heine  and  Lewis  Baruch  Bornes  induce- 
ments to  high  treason  and  anti-monarch- 
ical feeling,  inflamed  minds  only  too 
accessible  to  passion  and  excitement.  As 
vintage  advanced  feeling  grew  higher,  and 
attracted  the  students,  including  the 
various  student  corps  which  had  regained 
large  numbers  of  adherents,  the  remem- 
brance of  the  persecutions  of  the  'twenties 
having  been  gradually  obliterated. 

At  Christmas-time,  1832,  an  assembly  of 
the  accredited  representatives  of  these 
corps  in  Stuttgart  was  induced  to  accede 
to  the  proposal  to  share  in  the  forthcoming 
popular  rising.  The  result  was  that  after 
the  emeute  set  on  foot  by  the  democrats 
in  Frankfort-on-Main  on  April  3rd,  1833, 
when  an  attempt  was  made  to  seize  the 
federal  palace  and  the  bullion  there  stored, 
Tk    T      -ki    it  was  the  students  who  chiefly 

Fafe  of"  ^^^^  ^^  P^y  ^'^^'  ^^^^^^  irrespon- 
ii.*  \f  J  i  sibility  and  lack  of  common 
the   Students  •'.,  .  . 

sense  ;  the  measures  of  intimi- 
dation and  revenge  undertaken  by  the 
German  Government  at  the  demand  of 
Metternich  fell  chiefly  and  terribly  on  the 
heads  of  the  German  students.  No  dis- 
tinction was  made  between  the  youthful 
aberrations  of  these  coips,  which  were 
inspired  merely  by  an  overpowering  sense 
of  national  feeling,  and  the  bloodthirsty 
designs  of  malevolent  intriguers — for  ex- 
ample, of  the  priest  Friedrich  Ludwig 
Weidig  in  Butzbach — or  the  unscrupulous 
folly  of  revolutionary  monomaniacs,  such 
as  the  Gottingen  privat-dozent  Von 
Rauschenplat. 

Hundreds  of  young  men  were  consigned 
for  years  to  the  tortures  of  horrible  and 
pestilential  dungeons  by  the  cold-blooded 
cruelty  of  red-tape  indifferentism.  The 
punitive  measures  of  justice  then  enforced, 
far  from  creating  a  salutary  feeling  of 
fear,  increased  the  existing  animosity, 
as  is  proved  by  tlie  horrors  of  the  Re- 
volution of  1848. 


4880 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

AFTER 

WATERLOO 

VIII 


THE    WELDING   OF    THE   STATES 

THE    GERMAN    FEDERATION    AND 
THE     GERMAN     CUSTOMS    UNION 


P\URING  the  period  subsequent  to  the 
■^  Congress  of  Vienna  a  highly  import- 
ant modification  in  tlie  progress  of  German 
history  took  place,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  such  expressions  of  popular  feeling  as 
had  been  manifested  through  the  existing 
constitutional  outlets  had  effected  but 
little  alteration  in  social  and  political  life. 
This  modification  was  not  due  to  the  diet, 
which,  properly  speaking,  existed  to  pro- 
tect the  common  mterests  of  the  German 
states  collectively.  It  was  the  work  of 
the  Prussian  Government,  in  which  was 
concentrated  the  keenest  insight  into  the 
various  details  of  the  public  administration, 
and  which  had  therefore  become  a  centre 
of  attraction  for  minds  inclined  to  political 
thought  and  for  statesmen  of  large  ideals. 
In  Germany  the  political  movement  had 
been  preceded  by  a  period  of  economic 
^  .       progress ;    the  necessary  pre- 

„  iimmary  to  such  a  movement, 

Progress  j.    •       i         i        r  . 

.    J  a    certam  level  of  prosperity 

m  Germany         ,   ^  •    ,  i     j    .n 

and  financial  power,  had  thus 

already  been  attained.  This  achievement 
was  due  to  the  excellent  qualities  of  most 
of  the  German  races,  to  their  industry, 
their  thrift,  and  their  godliness.  The  capi- 
tal necessary  to  the  economic  development 
of  a  people  could  only  be  gradually  re- 
covered and  amassed  after  the  enormous 
losses  of  the  French  war,  by  petty  land- 
owners and  the  small  handicraftsmen. 

However,  this  unconscious  national  co- 
operation would  not  have  availed  to  break 
the  fetters  in  which  the  economic  life  of 
the  nation  had  been  chained  for  300  years 
by  provincial  separatism.  Of  this  oppres- 
sion the  disunited  races  were  themselves 
largely  unconscious  ;  what  one  considered 
a  burden,  his  neighbour  regarded  as  an 
advantage.  Of  constitutional  forms,  of  the 
process  of  economic  development,  the 
nation  severally  and  collectively  had  long 


since  lost  all  understanding,  and  it  was 
reserved  for  those  to  spread  such  know- 
ledge who  had  acquired  it  by  experience 
and  intellectual  toil.  These  two  qualifi- 
cations were  wanting  to  the  Austrian 
Government,  which  had  formed  the  German 

_,.     ,  Federation  according  to   its 

1  he  Ignorance  •,  t-  j.i  1 

J  p  r  own  ideas.    Fven  those  who 

j>l  ,.  .  .  admire  the  diplomatic  skill  of 
Prince  Metternich  must  admit 
that  the  Austrian  chancellor  displayed  sur- 
prising ignorance  and  ineptitude  in  dealing 
with  questions  of  internal  administration. 

His  interest  was  entirely  concentrated 
upon  matters  of  immediate  importance  to 
the  success  of  his  foreign  policy,  upon  the 
provision  of  money  and  recruits  ;  of  the 
necessities,  the  merits,  and  the  defects  of 
the  inhabitants  of  that  empire  to  which 
he  is  thought  to  have  rendered  such 
signal  service,  of  the  forces  dormant  in 
the  state  over  which  he  ruled,  he  had 
not  the  remotest  idea. 

The  members  of  the  bureaucracy  whom 
he  had  collected  and  employed  were,  with 
few  exceptions,  men  of  limited  intelligence 
and  poor  education  ;  cowardly  and  subser- 
vient to  authority,  they  were  so  incompe- 
tent to  initiate  any  improvement  of 
existing  circumstances  that  the  first  pre- 
liminary to  any  work  of  a  generally 
beneficial  nature  was  the  task  of  breaking 
down  their  opposition.  The  Archduke 
John,  the  brother  of  the  Emperor  Francis, 
.  a  man  fully  conscious    of  the 

-  V^  "  ^  forces  at  work  beneath  the  sur- 
Jonn  as  J-  r    ^      j  j  ■ 

„  ,  face,  a  man  of  steady  and  persis- 

Reformer        ,       .  re        j 

tent  energy,  suiiered   many   a 

bitter  experience  in  his  constant  attempts 

to  improve  technical  and  scientific  training, 

to  benefit  agriculture  and  the  iron  trades, 

co-operative  enterprises,  and  savings  banks. 

The  Emperor   Francis    and  his  powerful 

Minister   had   one   aversion   in   common, 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


which  imphecl  unconditional  opposition  to 
every  form  of  human  endeavour — an 
aversion  to  pronounced  abiUty.  Metter- 
nich's  long  employment  of  Gentz  is  to  be 
explained  by  the  imperative  need  for  an 
intellect  so  pliable  and  so  reliable  in  its 
operations,  and  also  by  the  fact  that  Gentz 
would  do  anything  for  money  ;  for  a 
position  of  independent  activity,  for  a 
chance  of  realismg  his  own 
views  or  aims,  he  never  had 
any  desire.  Men  of  indepen- 
dent thought,  such  as  Johann 
Philipp  of  Wessenberg,  were 
never  permanently  retained, 
even  for  foreign  service.  This 
statesman  belonged  to  the 
little  band  of  Austrian  officials 
who  entertained  theories  and 
proffered  suggestions  upon  the 
future  and  the  tasks  before 
the  Hapsburg  monarchy,  its 
position  within  the  Federation, 
and  upon  further  federal 
developments.  His  opinion 
upon     questions    of    federal 


Conception 
of  the  State 


FREDERIC  WILLIAM  IV. 
Crowned     Kingr     of    Prussia    at 
..  , .  Ill     Konig-sberg  in  1840,  he  promised 

reform  was   disregarded,  and  the  introduction  of  reforms,  which 

he    fell  into  bad  odour    at    the    were  not  carried  out.      Becoming 

London  conference,  when  his   '"^^"^  '"  ^^^^'  ^^  ^'""^  ^"  i^*^i- 

convictions  led  him  to  take  an  independent      onslaught. 

position    with    reference   to   the   quarrel 

between  Belgium  and  Holland. 

The  fate  of  the  German  Federation  lay 

entirely    in    the    hands    of    Austria,    and 

Austria  is  exclusively  responsible  for  the 

^  ..  ...  ultimate  fiasco  of  the  Federa- 
Metternich  s  ,  ■  i  •  i,     i  j_      ■\^       ^ 

tion,  which  she  eventually  de- 
serted. The  form  and  character 
of  this  alhance,  as  also  its  after 

development,   were  the  work  of   Metter- 

nich.       People  and  Government  asked  for 

bread,   and  he  gave  them  a  stone.     He 

conceived  the  state  to  be  merely  an  insti- 
tution officered  and  governed  by  police. 

When    more    than    twenty     millions    of 

Germans  declared  themselves  a  commercial 

corporation  with  reference  to  the  world  at 

large,   with   the  object   of  equalising  the 

conditions  of  commercial  competition,   of 

preventing     an    overwhelming    influx    of 

foreign  goods,  and  of  opening  the  markets 

of    the    world    to  their    own  producers — 

in    that    memorable    year    of    1834    the 

Austrian  Government,   after  inviting   the 

federal  representatives  to  months  of  con- 
ferences in  Vienna,  could  find  nothing  of 

more  pressing  importance  to  bring  forward 

than  proposals  for  limiting  the  effec- 
tiveness of  the  provincial  constitutions  as 
4882 


compared  with  the  state  governments,  for 
increased  severity  in  the  censorship  of  the 
Press,  and  the  surveillance  of  university 
students  and  their  political  activity. 

Student  interference  in  political  life 
is  utterly  unnecessary,  and  can  only 
be  a  source  of  mischief ;  but  Metternich 
and  his  school  were  unable  to  grasp 
the  fact  that  such  interference  ceases  so 
soon  as  political  action  takes  a 
practical  turn.  If  Austria 
were  disappointed  in  her  ex- 
pectations of  the  German 
federal  states,  her  feelings 
originated  only  in  the  fact  that 
Prussia,  together  with  Bava- 
ria, Wiirtemberg,  Saxony,  and 
Baden,  entertained  loftier 
views  than  she  herself  upon  the 
nature  of  State  existence  and 
the  duties  attaching  thereto. 
The  kingdom  of  Prussia  had 
by  no  means  developed  in 
accordance  with  the  ex- 
pectations entertained  by 
Metternich  in  1813  and 
1815 ;  it  was  a  miUtary 
state,  strong  enough  to 
repel  any  possible  Russian 
but  badly  "  rounded  off," 
and  composed  of  such  heterogeneous 
fragments  of  territory  that  it  could  not 
in  its  existing  form  aspire  to  predominance 
in  Germany.  Prussia  was  as  yet  un- 
conscious of  her  high  calling  ;  she  was 
wholly  spellbound  by  Austrian  federal 
policy,  but  none  the  less  she  had  com- 
pleted a  task  incomparably  the  most  im- 
portant national  achievement  since  the 
attainment  of  religious  freedom — the  foun- 
dation of  the  pan-Germanic  Customs  Union. 
Cotta,  the  greatest  German  book  and 
newspaper  publisher,  and  an  able  and 
important  business  man,  had  been  able  to 
shield  the  loyal  and  thoroughly  patriotic 
views  of  Lewis  L  of  Bavaria  from  the  in- 
roads of  his  occasionally  violent  paroxysms 
of  personal  vanity,  and  had 
secured  the  execution  of  the 


Inauguration 

of  a  Federal  »     .       .   -at  at.       o 

^    .        ,,  .       Act  of  May  27th,  1820,  pro- 
Customs  Union      ...  r  1 
vidmg    for    a     commercial 

treaty  between  Bavaria- Wiirtemberg  and 
Prussia  with  Hesse-Darmstadt,  the  first 
two  states  to  join  a  federal  customs  union. 
The  community  of  interests  between  North 
and  South  Germany,  in  which  only  far- 
seeing  men,  such  as  Friedrich  List,  the 
national  economist,  had  believed,  then 
became  so  incontestable  a  fact  that  the 


THE    GERMAN    FEDERATION    AND    CUSTOMS   UNION 


commercial  treaty  took  the  form  of  a 
customs  union,  implying  an  area  of  uni- 
form  economic   interests. 

The  "Central  German  Union,"  which  was 

intended  to  dissolve  the  connection  between 

Prussia  and  South  Germany,  and  to  neu- 

tralise  the  advantages  thence 

o  apse  o        derived,  rapidly  collapsed.  It 
the  Central        ,  i  ii     - 

^  ,,  .      became  clear  that  economic 

Oerman  Union  ...  ,  ., 

mterests  are  stronger  than 
political,  and  the  dislike  amounting  to  aver- 
sion of  Prussia,  entertained  by  the  Central 
German  governments  became  friendliness 
as  soon  as  anything  was  to  be  gained  by  a 
change  of  attitude — in  other  words,  when 
it  seemed  possible  to  fill  the  state  ex- 
chequers. The  electorate  of  Hesse  had 
taken  the  lead  in  opposing  the  Hohen- 
zollern  policy  of  customs  federation  ;  as 
early  as  183 1  she  recognised  that  her 
policy  of  commercial  isolation  spelt  ruin. 
A  similar  process  led  to  the  dissolution  of 
the  so-called  "  Einbeck  Convention "  of 
March  27th,  1830,  which  had  included 
Hanover,  Brunswick,  Oldenburg,  and  the 
electorate  of  Hesse.  Saxony  joined  Prussia 
on  March  30th,  as  did  Thiiringen  on  May 
nth,    1833  ;     on    May    22nd,    1833,    the 


Bavarian- Wiirtemberg  and  the  Prussian 
groups  were  definitely  united.  On 
January  1st,  1834,  the  union  included 
eighteen  German  states,  with  23,000.000 
inhabitants ;  in  1840  these  numbers  had 
risen  to  twenty-three  states  with  27,000,000 
inhabitants.  In  1841  the  union  was 
joined  by  Bninswick,  and  by  Luxemburg 
in  1842  ;  Hanover  did  not  come  in  until 
September  7th,  185 1,  when  she  ceased  to 
be  an  open  market  for  British  goods.  The 
expenses  of  administration  and  of  guard- 
ing the  frontiers  were  met  from  a  common 
fund.  The  profits  were  divided  among  the 
states  within  the  union  in  proportion 
to  their  population.  In  1834  the  profits 
amounted  to  fifteen  silver  groschen,  one 
shilling  and  sixpence  per  head ;  in 
1840,  to  more  than  twenty  silver 
groschen,    two  shillings. 

In  the  secondary  and  petty  states 
public  opinion  had  been  almost  entirely 
opposed  to  such  unions.  Prussia  was 
afraid  of  the  Saxon  manufacturing  indus- 
tries, and  Leipzig  foresaw  the  decay  of  her 
great  markets.  The  credit  of  completing 
this  great  national  achievement  belongs 
almost    exclusively    to    the    governments 


THE     STATELY    COLOGNE     CATHEDRAL  I'hotochroma 

The  foundations  of  this  magnificent  structure,  regarded  as  one  of  the  finest  examples  of  Gothic  architecture  extant,  were 
laid  in  124s  ;    the  work  was  renewed  in  1S42,  and  in  18S0  the   building-  was  completed  according  to  the  original  plan. 

4883 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


and   to   the   expert    advisers  whom   they 

called    in.     Austria    now    stood    without 

the  boundary  of  German  economic  unity. 

Metternich    recognised    too   late    that    he 

had   mistaken   the   power   of   this  union. 

Proposals  were  mooted  for  the  junction  of 

Austria   with    the    allied   German    states, 

but    met    with    no    response    from    the 

^.  o,  .  industrial  and  manufacturing 
I  he  Shadow   •    ,  ,        i-i  ^     ■  •        i 

-,  „  ....     ,    interests.    1  he  people  miagmed 
of  Political     ^,     ^  ^r    1  •■   • 

Q  ..        that  a  process  ot  division  was 

Separation  /T  u      •  i      i 

even    then    beginning    which 

was  bound  to  end  in  political  separation  ; 
but  the  importance  of  Prussia,  which 
naturally  took  the  lead  in  conducting  the 
business  of  the  union,  notwithstanding 
the  efforts  of  other  members  to  preserve 
their  own  predominance  and  independence, 
became  obvious  even  to  those  who  had 
originally  opposed  the  conclusion  of  the 
convention.  The  Wiirtemberg  deputy 
and  author,  Paul  Pfizer,  recognised  the 
necessity  of  a  political  union  of  the 
German  states  under  Prussian  hegemony, 
and  saw  that  the  separation  of  Austria 
was  inevitable. 

In  1845,  in  his  "  Thoughts  upon  Rights, 
State  and  Church,"  he  expounded  the 
programme  which  was  eventually  adopted 
by  the  whole  nation,  though  only  after 
long  struggles  and  severe  trials.  "  The 
conditions,"  he  there  said,  "  of  German 
policy  as  a  whole  seem  to  point  to  a  national 
alliance  with  Prussia  and  to  an  inter- 
national alliance  with  the  neighbouring 
Germanic  states  and  with  Austria,  which 
is  a  first-class  Power  even  apart  from 
Germany.  There  can  be  no  question  of 
abolishing  all  political  connection  between 
Germany  and  Austria.  In  view  of  the 
danger  threatening  Germany  on  the  east 
and  west,  nothing  would  be  more  foolish  ; 
no  enemy  or  rival  of  Germany  can  be 
allowed  to  become  paramount  in  Bohemia 
and  Central  Germany.  But  the  complete 
incorporation  of  Bohemia,  Moravia,  and 
Austria,  together  with  that  of  the  Tyrol, 
Carinthia,  and  Styria,  would 
be  less  advantageous  to  Ger- 
many than  the  retention  of 
these  countries  by  a  power 
connected  with  her  by  blood  relationship 
and  an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance,  a 
power  whose  arm  can  reach  beyond  the 
Alps  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  the  Black 
Sea  on  the  other." 

It  was  now  necessary  for  Prussia  to  come 
to  some  agreement  with  the  German 
people  and  the  State  of  the  Hapsburgs. 

4884 


Prussia's 
Relations  with 
Germany 


For  more  than  three  centuries  the  latter 
had,  in  virtue  of  their  dynastic  power, 
become  the  representatives  of  the  Romano- 
German  Empire.  Their  historical  position 
enabled  them  to  lay  claim  to  the  leader- 
ship of  the  federation,  though  their  power 
in  this  respect  was  purely  external. 
Certain  obstacles,  however,  lay  in  the  way 
of  any  settlement.  It  was  difficult  to' 
secure  any  feeling  of  personal  friendship 
between  the  South  Germans  and  the 
Prussians  of  the  old  province.  Some 
measure  of  political  reform  was  needed,  as 
well  for  the  consolidation  of  existing  powers 
of  defence  as  for  the  provision  of  security 
to  the  individual  states  which  might  then 
form  some  check  upon  the  severity  of 
Prussian  administration. 

Finally,  there  was  the  peculiar  tempera- 
ment of  Frederic  William  IV.,  who  had 
succeeded  to  the  government  of  Prussia 
upon  the  death  of  his  father,  Frederic 
William  III.,  on  June  7th,  1840.  In 
respect  of  creative  power,  artistic  sense, 
and  warm,  deep  feeling,  his  character 
can  only  be  described  as  brilliant.  He 
was  of  the  ripe  age  of  forty-five,  and  his 
first    measures   evoked   general   astonish- 

^.  „  ....  ment  and  enthusiasm.  But  he 
Ihe  Brilliant    ,-j        ,  xi       ^ 

P         .  did  not  possess  the  strong  grasp 

xirt,-  t\T  of  his  great  ancestors  an  i 
William  IV.     ,,    .  o  .  J-         ^, 

their    power    of    guiding    the 

ship  through  critical  dangers  unaided. 
He  had  not  that  inward  consciousness  of 
strength  and  that  decisiveness  which 
shrink  from  no  responsibility  ;  least  of  all 
had  he  a  true  appreciation  of  the  time  and 
the  forces  at  work. 

Prussia's  great  need  was  a  constitution 
which  would  enable  her  to  send  up  to 
the  central  government  a  representative 
assembly  from  all  the  provinces,  such 
assembly  to  have  the  power  of  voting  taxes 
and  conscriptions,  of  supervising  the 
finances,  and  of  legislating  in  conjunction 
with  the  Crown.  On  May  22nd,  1S15, 
Frederic  William  III.  had  made  some 
promises  in  this  direction ;  but  these 
remained  unfulfilled,  as  the  government 
could  not  agree  upon  the  amount  of  power 
which  might  be  delegated  to  an  imperial 
parliament  without  endangering  the  posi- 
tion of  the  executive.  Such  danger  un- 
doubtedly existed. 

The  organisation  of  the  newly-formed 
provincial  federation  was  a  process 
which  necessarily  affected  private  interests 
and  customs  peculiar  to  the  individual 
areas  which  had  formerly  been  indepen- 


THE    GERMAN   FEDERATION   AND    CUSTOMS    UNION 


dent  sections  of  the  empire,  and 
were  now  forced  into  alliance  with  other 
districts  with  which  little  or  no  connection 
had  previously  existed.  The  conflicting 
views  and  the  partisanship  inseparable 
from  parliamentary  institutions  would 
have  checked  the  quiet,  steady  work  of  the 
Prussian  bureaucracy,  and  would  in  any 
case  have  produced  a  continual  and  un- 
necessary agitation.  The  improvements  in 
the  financia.1  condition  created  by  the 
better  regulation  of  the  national  debt,  by 
the  limitation  of  military  expenditure,  and 
the  introduction  of  a  graduated  system  of 
taxation,  could  not  have  been  more 
successfully  or  expeditiously  carried  out 
than  they  were  by  such  Ministers  as 
Billow  and  Klewitz. 

So  soon  as  the  main  part  of  this  trans- 
formation of  the  Prussian  state  had  been 
accomplished,  prosperity  began  to  return 
to  the  peasant  and  citizen  classes,  and  the 
result  of  the  customs  regulations  and  the 
consequent  extension  of  the  market  began 
to  be  felt.  The  citizens  then  began  to  feel 
their  power  and  joined  the  inheritors  of 
the  rights  formerly  possessed  by  the 
numerous  imperial  and  provincial  orders  in 
a  demand  for  some  share  in 
the  administration.      It  was 


Coronation 
Pledges  of 
Prussian  King 


found  possible  to  emphasise 
these  demands  by  reference  to 
the  example  of  the  constitutional  govern- 
ments existing  in  neighbouring  territories. 
The  speeches  delivered  by  Frederic  William 
IV.  at  his  coronation  in  Konigsberg  on  Sep- 
tember loth,  1840,  and  at  his  reception  of 
homage  in  Berlin  on  October  15th,  1840,  in 
which  he  displayed  oratorical  powers 
unequalled  by  any  previous  prince, 
appeared  to  point  to  an  immediate  fulfil- 
ment of  these  desires. 

The  king  was  deeply  moved  by  the  out- 
burst of  national  enthusiasm  in  German}^ 
which  was  evoked  by  the  unjustifiable 
menaces  directed  against  Germany  by 
France  in  the  autumn  of  1840  during  the 
Eastern  comphcations.  The  Minister, 
Thiers,  who  had  been  in  office  since  March 
ist,  suddenly  broke  away  from  the  Great 
Powers  during  the  Turco-Egyptian  war, 
and  initiated  a  policy  of  his  own  in  favour 
of  Egypt — a  short-sighted  departure  which 
obliged  Great  Britain,  Russia,  Austria,  and 
Prussia  to  conclude  the  quadruple  alliance 
of  July  15th,  1840,  with  the  object  of  com- 
pelUng  Mehemet  Ali  to  accept  the  con- 
ditions of  peace  which  they  had  arranged. 
With    a   logic   peculiarly    their  own,   the 


French    considered    themselves    justified 

in     securing     their     immunity     on     the 

Continent,  as  they  were  powerless  against 

England    by    sea.     The    old    nonsensical 

argument    of    their    right    to    the    Rhine 

frontier  was  revived  and  they  proceeded  to 

mobilise  their  forces.     The  German  nation 

made  no  attempt  to  disguise  their  anger  at 

rnt    «  .  .•       so  insolent  an  act  of  aggres- 
The  Relations    •  ■■    ,  i     n  i- 

-  „  sion,  and  showed  all  reachness 

of  Uermany       ,  ^     .  u  1     r 

.  „  to  support  the  proposals  for 

armed  resistance.  INikolaus 
Becker  composed  a  song  against  the 
French  which  became  extremely  popular  : 
For  free  and  German  is  the  Rhine, 
And  German  shall  remain, 
Until  its  waters  overwhelm 
The  last  of  German  name. 
The  nation  were  united  in  support  of 
their  princes,  most  of  whom  adopted  a 
dignified  and  determined  attitude  towards 
France.  Then  was  the  time  for  Frederic 
William  IV.  to  step  forward.  Supported 
by  the  warlike  temper  of  every  German 
race,  with  the  exception  of  the  Austrians, 
who  were  in  financial  difficulties,  and  by  the 
popularity  which  his  speeches  had  gained 
for  him,  he  might  have  intimidated 
France  both  at  the  moment  and  for  the 
future.  However,  he  confined  himself 
to  the  introduction  of  reforms  in  the 
federal  military  constitution  at  Vienna, 
and  thus  spared  Austria  the  humiliation 
of  openly  confessing  her  weakness.  The 
result  of  his  efforts  was  the  introduction 
of  a  regular  inspection  of  the  federal 
contingents  and  the  occupation  of  Ulm 
and  Rastatt  as  bases  for  the  concentration 
and  movements  of  future  federal  armies. 

Thus  was  lost  a  most  favourable  op- 
portunity for  securing  the  federal  pre- 
dominance of  Prussia  by  means  of  her 
military  power,  for  she  could  have  con- 
centrated a  respectable  force  upon  the 
German  frontier  more  quickly  than  any 
other  member  of  the  Federation.  More- 
over, the  attitude  of  Prussia  at  the  London 
conference  was  distinctly  modest  and  in  no 
way  such  as  a  Great  Power 
should  have  adopted.  The  king's 
lofty  words  at  the  laying  of  the 
foundation  stone  of  Cologne 
Cathedral  on  September4th,  1842,  produced 
no  deception  as  to  his  lack  of  political 
decision.  Whenever  a  special  .effort  was 
expected  or  demanded  in  an  hour  of  crisis, 
Frederic  William's  powers  proved  unequal 
to  the  occasion,  and  the  confidence  which 
the  nation  reposed  in  him  was  deceived. 

Hans  von  ZwiEDINECK-StiOENHORST 

4885 


Frederic 
William  a 
Failure 


THE    MASSACRE    OF    THE     MAMELUKES     BY    MEHEMET    ALI    IN    1811 

Prom  the  palming  by  liul.i  wi  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art.  New  Vork 


4886 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 

4-           I 

EUROPE 

AFTER 

WATERLOO 

IX 

THE   NEW  KINGDOM  OF  GREECE 

RUSSIA    AND    THE    SUBLIME    PORTE 


AFTER  the  Porte  had  given  its  consent 
to  the  protocol  of  February  3rd,  1836, 
the  Great  Powers  of  Europe  addressed 
themselves  to  the  task  of  reorganising  the 
Greek  kingdom.  Thessaly,  Epirus, ' Mace- 
donia, even  Acarnania,  remained  under 
Turkish  supremacy  ;  but  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  Greek  people,  forming  a 
national  entity,  though  hmited  in  extent, 
was  now  able  to  begin  a  new  and  free 
existence  as  a  completely  independent  state. 
This  success  had  been  attained  by 
the  rerharkable  tenacity  of  the  Greek 
nation,  by  the  continued  support  of 
Great  Britain,  and,  above  all,  by  the 
pressure  which  the  Russian  co-reJigionists 
of  the  Greeks  had  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  Turkish  mihtary  power.  The  work 
of  liberation  was  greatly  hindered  by  the 
diplomacy  of  the  other  Great  Powers,  and 
particularly  by  the  support  given  to  the 
.  ,  Turks,  the  old  arch  enemies  of 
us  na  s     Christendom,  by  Catholic  Aus- 

th''*T°'^k°  ^^^^'  ^°  Austria  it  is  due  that 
the  Greek  question  has  remained 
unsolved  to  the  present  day ;  ^  that 
instead  of  developing  its  inherent  strength 
the  Greek  nation  is  still  occupied  with 
the  unification  of  its  different  tribeS;  and 
that  the  Turkish  state,  which  was  hostile 
to  civilisation,  and  has  justified  its  ex- 
istence only  by  means  of  the  bayonets  of 
Anatolian  regiments,  still  exists  on  suffer- 
ance as  a  foreign  body  within  the  political 
system  of  Europe.  Once  again  the  ob- 
stacle to  a  thorough  and  comprehensive 
reform  of  the  political  conditions  within 
the  Balkan  Peninsula  was  the  puerile  fear 
of  the  power  inherent  in  a  self-determining 
nation,  and,' in  a  secondary  degree;  a  desire 
for  the  maintenance  or  extension. of  influ- 
ence which  might  be  useful  in  the  peninsula. 
The  true  basis  of  such  influence  was  not 
as  yet  understood.  It  is  not  the  states- 
manship of  ambassadors  and  attaches 
which  gives  a  nation  influence  abroad,  but 
its  power  to  assert  its  will  when  its  interest 


so  demands.  National  influence  rests 
upon  the  forces  which  the  state  can  com- 
mand, upon  the  industry  of  its  traders, 
the  value  and  utihty  of  its  products,  the 
creative  power  of  its  labour  and  capital. 
The  Greeks  were  now  confronted  with 
the  difficult  task  of  concen- 
trating their    forces,   accommo- 


Greece 

After  its 
Wars 


dating  themselves  to  a  new 
political  system,  and  making 
their  independence  a  practical  reality  ;  for 
this  purpose  it  was  necessary  to  create 
new  administrative  machinery,  and  for 
this  there  was  an  entire  dearth  of  the 
necessary  material.  The  problem  was 
further  complicated  by  the  fact  that  a 
desperately  contested  war  had  not  only  un- 
settled the  country,  but  reduced  it  almost 
to  desolation.  The  noblest  and  the  bravest 
of  the  nation'  had  fallen  upon  the  battle- 
fields or  under  the  attacks  of  the  Janissaries 
and  Albanians,  or  had  been  slaughtered 
and  hurled  into  the  flames  of  burning 
towns  and  villages,  after  the  extortion 
of  their  money,  the  destruction  of  their 
property,  and  the  ruin  of  their  prosperity. 
The  contribution  of  the  European 
Powers  to  facilitate  the  work  of  recon- 
struction consisted  of  a  king  under  age 
and  2,400,000  pounds  at  a  high  rate 
of  interest.  Prince  Leopold  of  Coburg, 
the  first  candidate  for  the  Greek  throne, 
had  unfortunately  renounced  his  project  ; 
he  would  have  proved  a  capai)le  and 
benevolent  ruler,  and  would  perhaps  have 
adapted  himself  to  the  peculiar  character- 
istics of  Greek  life  and  thought,  with  the 
•  eventual  result -of  providing  a 

ro    cm  o     starting-point  for  the  introduc- 

thc  Oreek       ,  •  r     ^  -    -,•       ,  ^ 

^,.  tion  of  more  Civilised  and  more 

modern  methods,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  retirement,  the  presidency 
of  Capodistrias  continued  for  some  time, 
until  the  murder  of  this  statesman/ who 
had  deserved  well  of  his  people,  on  October 
gth,  1831  ;  then  followed  the  short  reign 
of  his  brother  Augustine,  who  did  not  enjoy 

4887 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


the  recognition  of  the  constitutional  party, 
the  Syntagmatikoi.  Ultimately,  by  work- 
ing on  the  vanity  of  King  Lewis  of 
Bavaria,  European  diplomacy  persuaded 
this  monarch  to  authorise  his  son  Otto, 
born  on  June  ist,  1815,  to  accept  the 
Greek  throne.  The  government  was  to 
be  carried  on  by  three-  Bavarian  officials 
until    the     youth     attained     his 

°  majority.  This  settlement  was 
»ng  o  i^i'ought  about  by  the  London 
"Quadruple  Convention"  on 
May  7th,  1832,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
ill-considered  pieces  of  work  ever  per- 
formed by  the  statesmen  of  the  old  school. 

Of  the  young  prince's  capacity  as  a 
ruler  not  even  his  father  can  have-  had 
the  smallest  idea  ;  yet  he  was  handed 
over  to  fate,  to  sacrifice  the  best  years  of 
his  life  in  a  hopeless  struggle  for  power 
and  recognition.  The  Greeks  were  fooled 
with  promises  impossible  of  fulfilment, 
and  inspired  with  mistrust  and  hatred 
for  their  "  benefactors."  King  Otto  and 
his  councillors  had  not  the  patience  to 
secure  through  the  National  Assembly' a 
gradual  development  of  such  conditions 
as  would  have  made  constitutional 
government  possible ;  they  would  not 
devote  themselves  to  the  task  of  superin- 
tendence, of  pacification,  of  disentangling 
the  various  complications,  and  restraining 
party  action  within  the  bounds  of  legality. 

The  Bavarian  officials,  who  might 
perhaps  have  done  good  service  in 
Wiirzburg  or  Amberg,  were  unable  to 
accommodate  themselves  to  their  Greek 
environment  ;  their  mistakes  aroused  a 
passionate  animosity  against  the  Germans, 
resulting  in  their  complete  expulsion  from 
Hellas  in  1843.  On  March  i6th,  X844, 
King  Otto  was  obliged  to  agree  to  the  in- 
troduction of  a  new  constitutional  scheme, 
the  advantages  of  which  were  hidden  to 
him  by  the  fact  that  it  merely  aroused 
new  party  struggles  and  parliamentary 
discord.  Consequently  he  did  not  observe 
_.  -,  ,  this  constitution  with  sufficient 
„.     .  conscientiousness  to  regain  the 

vismiss 

rr.  ■  v  national  respect.  Disturbances 
Their  King    ■      ^.,       ^      f         i    ^i       /-  ■ 

in  the  Last  and  the  Crimean 

War  proved  so  many  additional  obstacles 
to  his  efforts,  which  were  ended  by  a 
revolt  in  October,  1862,  when  the  Greeks 
declined  to  admit  their  king  within  the 
Piraeus  as  he  was  returning  from  the 
Morea,  and  thus  unceremoniously  dis- 
missed him  from  their  service.  In  1830, 
Greece   was   definitively    separated  from 

4888 


Turkey ;  and  at  the  same  time  the 
insolence  of  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  hitherto 
under  the  Ottoman  suzerainty,  gave  the 
Bourbon  monarchy  the  chance  of  trying 
to  recover  its  prestige  with  the  nation 
by  the  seizure  of  Algeria.  The  piratical 
activity  of  the  Barbary  States  was  brought 
to  an  end.  In  Turkey  also  that  move- 
ment was  now  beginning,  which  will  be 
considered  later,  the  literary  and  political 
revolution  of  the  Young  Turkish  party. 

The  indefatigable  Mahmud,  however, 
again  resumed  his  efforts  to  secure  the 
unity  of  the  empire.  But  he  was  forced 
to  give  way  to  his  Pasha  of  Egypt,  Mehe- 
met  Ali,  one  of  the  most  important  rulers 
whom  the  East  had  produced  for  a  long 
time.  He  was  born  in  1769  at  Kavala,  in 
Roumelia,  opposite  the  island  of  Thasos. 
He  had  gone  to  Egypt  in  1800  with  some 
Albanian  mercenaries ;  in  the  struggle 
with  the  French,  English,  and  Mamelukes 
he  had  raised  himself  to  supremacy,  had 
conquered  the  Wahabites,  subjugated 
Arabia  and  Nubia,  and  created  a  highly 
competent  army  by  means  of  military 
reform  upon  a  large  scale.  When  Mahmud 
II.  declined  to  meet  his  extensive  demands 
„      .         in  return  for  the  help  he  had 

Russian  1         ■,  •      j.     xt.        r-        i 

J.       .        rendered   agamst    the    Greeks, 

th  T  k  Ihrahim,  an  adopted  son  of  Me- 
hemet,  a  general  of  the  highest 
class,  invaded  Syria  in  1831,  defeated  the 
Turks  on  three  occasions,  conquered  Akka, 
X832,  and  advanced  to  Kiutahia,  in  Asia 
Minor,  in  1833.  Mahnmd  appealed  to 
Russia  for  help.  Russia  forthwith  sent 
15,000  men  to  the  Bosphorus,  whilst  the 
fleets  of  France  and  England  jealously 
watched  the  Dardanelles.  Mehemet  Ali  was 
obliged  to  make  peace  on  May  4th,  1833, 
and  was  driven  back  behind  the  Taurus. 

The  most  important  result  of  these 
events,  however,  was  the  recompense 
which  the  Sultan  was  induced  to  give 
to  the  Russians  for  their  help.  He  had 
been  shown  the  letters  of  the  French 
Ambassador,  which  revealed  the  intention 
of  the  Cabinet  of  the  Tuileries  to  replace 
the  Ottoman  dynasty  by  that  of  Mehemet. 
The  result  was  the  convention  of  Hunkyar- 
Skalessi,  the  imperial  stairs  on  the  Bos- 
phorus, July  8th,  or  May  26th,  1833.  In 
this  agreement  the  terrified  Sultan  made 
a  supplementary  promise  to  close  the 
Dardanelles  in  future  against  every  Power 
that  was  hostile  to  Russia.  When  this 
one-sided  convention,  concluded  in  defi- 
ance of  all  international  rights,  became 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


known,  the  Western  Powers  were  naturally 
irritated,  and  Prince  Metternich  wittily 
designated  the  sultan  as  "  le  sublime 
portier  des  Dardenelles  au  service  du 
tsar."  The  naval  Powers  withdrew  their 
fleets  from  the  Dardanelles,  after  entering 
a  protest  against  this  embargo.  Mean- 
while, the  will  of  the  tsar  was  supreme 
both  in  Athens  and  Stamboul. 
T  arwas  Obeying  his  instructions, 
sar  was  ]y];ai-im^(j  refused  to  allow  the 
upreme  Austrians  to  blast  the  rocks 
on  the  Danube  at  Orsova,  or  to  permit 
his  subjects  to  make  use  of  the  ships  of 
the  Austria-Hungarian  Lloyd  Company, 
founded  in  Trieste  in  1,836 ;  notwith- 
standing this  prohibition  the  company 
was  able  to  resume  with  success  the  old 
commercial  relations  of  the  Venetians 
with  the  Levant.  The  Russian  ambas- 
sador discountenanced  the  wishes  of  the 
grand  vizir  and  of  the  seraskier,  who 
applied  to  the  Prussian  ambassador. 
Count  Konigsmark,  with  a  request  for 
Prussian  officers  to  be  sent  out,  in  view  of 
a  reorganisation  of  the  army,  which  was  in 
fact  carried  out  under  the  advice  of  Moltke. 
In  1837  the  first  bridge  over  the  Golden 
Horn  was  built,  between  Unkapau  and 
Asabkapusi ;  not  until  1845  and  1877  was 
the  new  bridge  constructed  which  is 
known  as  the  Valide,  after  the  mother  of 
Abd  ul-Mejid.  On  August  i6th,  1838, 
the  British  ambassador  Ponsonby  secured 
the  completion,  in  the  house  of  Reshid 
Pasha  at  Balta-Nin  on  the  Bosphorus,  of 
that  treaty  respecting  trade  and  customs 
duties,  which  has  remained  the  model  of 
all  succeeding  agreements.  By  way  of 
recompense  the  British  fleet  accompanied 
the  Turkish  fleet  during  all  its  manoeu- 
vres in  the  Mediterranean,  until  its  seces- 
sion to  Mehemet  Ali.  War  was  declared 
upon  him  by  Sultan  Mahmud  in  May, 
1839,  when  the  Druses  had  revolted  against 
the  Syrian  authorities  in  the  Hauran. 
However,  the  sultan  died  on  July  ist, 
before  he  could  receive  the 
«,**  °  news  of  the  total  defeat  of  his 
M*  h**^  a  ^^^^y  ^t  Nisib  on  June  24th, 
and  the  desertion  of  his  fleet  in 
Alexandria  on  July  14th.  At  a  later  period, 
after  his  return  to  the  Sublime  Porte, 
Moltke  vindicated  the  capacity  which  Hafiz 
Pasha  had  shown  in  face  of  the  lack  of  dis- 
cipline prevailing  in  his  army,  although 
the  seraskier  had  treated  the  suggestions 
of  the  Prussian  officers  with  contempt. 
Ibrahim  did  not  pursue  his  master's  troops, 

4890 


as   his   own  soldiers  were  too    exhausted 

to    undertake    any    further    movements. 

Mahmud  II.  died  a   martyr   to   his   own 

ideas  and  plans  ;  even  his  greatest  reforms 

remained  in  embryo.     However,  his  work 

lives  after  him  ;    he  was  the  founder  of  a 

new  period  for  Turkey,  as  Peter  the  Great, 

with  whom  he  liked  to  be  compared,  had 

been   for   Russia.      The   difficulty  of  the 

political  situation,  the  incapacity  of   his 

predecessors,  the  slavery  imposed  by  the 

domestic  government  and  court  etiquette, 

were  the  real  source  of  those  obstacles  which 

often  caused  him  such  despondency  that 

he  sought  consolation  in  drunkenness,  to 

the  utter  destruction  of  his  powers. 

Abd    ul-Mejid,    1839-1861,   the    son  of 

Mahmud,  undertook  at  the  age  of  sixteen 

the  government  of  a  state  which  would 

irrevocably  have  fallen  into  the  power  of 

the  Pasha  of  Egypt  had  not  the  ambitious 

plans   of   France   been   thwarted   by   the 

conclusion  of  the  Quadruple  Alliance  on 

July  15th,  1840,  between  England,  Russia, 

Austria,  and  Prussia.  The  interference  of  the 

alliance  forced  the  victorious  Pasha  Mehemet 

Ali  to  evacuate  Syria ;    after  the  conclusion 

of  peace  he  obtained  the  Island  of  Thasos, 

^,     _  ,      ,    the  cradle  of  his  race,  from  the 
The  Sultan  s       , ,  t    j-u 

„.  sultan,  as  an  appanage  01    the 

thcpLha  viceroys  of  Egypt,  in  whose 
possession  it  still  remains. 
An  important  advance  is  denoted  by  the 
Hatti-sherif  of  Giilhane  on  November  3rd, 
1839,  which  laid  down  certain  principles, 
on  which  were  to  be  based  further  special 
decrees.  The  reformation  proclaimed  as 
law  what  had  in  fact  long  been  customary, 
the  theoretical  equality  of  the  subjects  of 
every  nation,  race,  and  religion  before  the 
law.  It  must  be  said  that  in  the  execution 
of  this  praiseworthy  decree  certain  prac- 
tical difficulties  came  to  light.  Reshid 
Pasha,  the  creator  of  the  "  hat,"  was  not 
inspired  by  any  real  zeal  for  reform,  but 
was  anxious  simply  to  use  it  as  a  means  for 
gaining  the  favour  of  the  Christian  Powers. 
As  early  as  1830,  for  example,  a  census 
had  been  undertaken,  the  first  throughout 
the  whole  Turkish  Empire,  the  results  of 
which  were  valueless.  No  official  would 
venture  to  search  the  interior  of  a  Moslem 
house  inhabited  by  women  and  children. 
It  was,  moreover,  to  the  profit  of  the 
revenue  officials  to  represent  the  number 
of  houses  and  families  in  their  district  as 
lower  than  it  really  was,  with  the  object 
of  filling  their  pockets  with  the  excess. 
The  Porte,  unable  to  secure  the  obedience 


THE    NEW    KINGDOM    OF    GREECE    A.ND    THE    SUBLIME    PORTE 


of  the  SjTians  by  a  strong  government 
like  the  miUtary  despotism  of  Ibrahim, 
was  equally  unable  to  win  over  the 
country  by  justice  and  good  administra- 
tion, for  lack  of  one  necessary  condition, 
an  honest  official  service.  It  was  not  to  the 
"  hat  "  of  Gulhane  of  1856,  nor  yet  to  the 
later  Hatti-humayun,  that  reform  was 
due,  but  to  the  European  Powers  associ- 
ated to  save  the  crescent.  These  Powers 
suggested  the  only  permanent  solution 
by  supplying  the  watchword  "A  la 
franca"  ;  and  urged  the  Turks  to  acquire 
a  completer  knowledge  of  the  West,  to 
learn  European  languages  and  sciences, 
to  introduce  the  institutions  of  the  West. 

Literature  also  had  to  follow  this 
intellectual  change.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  a  poet  endowed 
with  the  powers  of  the  ancient  East  had 
appeared  in  Ghalib,  and  a 
court  poet  in  the  unfortunate 
Sehm  III.  Heibet  ullah  Sul- 
tana, a  sister  of  the  Sultan 
Mahmud  II.,  and  aunt  of  the 
reforming  Minister  Fuad,  also 
secured  a  measure  of  popu- 
larity. These  writers  were, 
however,  unable  to  hinder  the 
decay  of  old  forms,  or  rather 
the  dawn  of  a  new  period, 
the  Turkish  "  modem  age." 
The  study  of  the  languages  of 
Eastern  civilisation  became 
neglected  in  view  of  the  need 


Persecution 
of  Protestant 
Armenians 


Shah  into  the  Arabian  Irak,  Suleimanieh, 
Bagdad,  Kerbela,  and  Armenia,  a  war 
wath  Persia  was  threatened,  and  the  dis- 
pute was  only  composed  with  difficulty  by 
a  peace  commission  summoned  to  meet 
at  Erzeroum.  Within  the  Danubian 
principalities  the  sovereign  rights  of 
the  Porte  were  often  in  conflict  with 
the  protectorate  poweis  of 
Russia.  In  Scrvia,  Alexan- 
der Karageorgevitch  was 
solemnly  appointed  bashbeg, 
or  high  prince  of  Servia,  by  the  Porte  on 
November  14th,  1842  ;  Russia,  however, 
succeeded  in  persuading  Alexander 
voluntarily  to  abdicate  his  position, 
which  was  not  confirmed  until  1843  by 
Russia,  after  his  re-election  at  Topchider, 
near  Belgrade.  The  Roman  Catholic 
— uniate — Armenians,  who  had  already 
endured  a  cruel  persecution  in 
1828,  secured  toleration  for 
their  independent  Church  in 
1835  and  a  representative  of 
their  own.  A  similar  per- 
secution, supported  by  Russia 
from  Etshmiadsin,  also  broke 
out  against  the  Protestant 
Armenians  in  1845.  It  was 
not  until  November,  1850, 
that  their  liberation  was 
secured  by  the  energetic  am- 
bassador, Stratford  Canning. 
Even  more  dangerous  was  the 
diplomatic  breach  between  the 


of  "^  the   study   of    the    West,   in  mltfcotdudeype^Jf  wSh  Porte  and  Greece,  1847.     This 
The    new     generation     kne-w   Mehemet  ah  of  Egypt,  and  in  young  state  had  grown  insolent; 

i-    T         T'       1     ■  Tv/r       J       1853    his    resistance    to    Russia  s    -'  ",,       ,  +i,„      -d,,^   :    „ 

more  of  La  Fontaine,  Mont-  claims  to  a  protectorate  over  his  supported  by  the  Russian 
esquieu,  and  Victor  Hugo  subjects  led  to  the  Crimean  war.  party  which  dominated  the 
than  of  the  Moslem  classics.  The  poUtical  Chamber  of  Deputies,  Greece  had  availed 
need  of  reform  made  men  ambitious  to 
secure  recognition  for  the  drafting  of  a 
diplomatic  note  rather  than  for  the  com- 
position of  a  Kassited,  or  of  a  poem  with 
a  purpose.  In  the  East  as  well  as  in  the 
West  mediaeval  poetry  became  a  lost  art. 
By  the  Dardanelles  Convention,  which 
.  ,  was  concluded  with  the  Great 

ussias  Powers  in  London  on  July 
Bi*"k  's  ^3th,  1841,  the  Porte  consented 
to  keep  the  Dardanelles  and  the 
Bosphorus  closed  to  foreign  ships  of  war 
in  the  time  of  peace.  By  this  act  the 
Turkish  Government  gave  a  much  desired 
support  to  Russian  aims  at  predominance 
in  the  Black  Sea.  In  the  same  year  it  was 
necessary  to  suppress  revolts  which  had 
broken  out  in  Crete  and  Bulgaria.  In 
consequence   of  the  incursions  of  Mehmet 


herself  of  the  helplessness  of  the  Porte 
against  Mehemet  Ali,  at  the  time  when  Abd 
ul-Mejid  began  his  reign,  to  send  help  to 
the  Cretans.  The  Prime  Minister,  Kolettis, 
1 844- 1 847,  had  repeatedly  demanded  the 
union  of  the  Greeks.  Continued  friction 
ended  in  1846  with  a  collision  between 
the  Turkish  ambassador  and  the  Greek 
king,  with  the  breaking  off  of  diplomatic 
relations,  and  with  a  revenge  taken  by 
the  sultan  upon  his  Greek  subjects,  which 
might  almost  have  ended  in  war  between 
Greece  and  Turkey,  England  and  France. 
Not  until  September,  1847,  ^^as  an  under- 
standing between  the  two  neighbours 
secured,  by  the  intervention  of  the  tsar 
on  the  personal  appeal  of  King  Otto. 
Hans  von  Zwiedineck-Sldenhorst 
Heinrich  Zimmerer 
4891 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

AFTER 

WATERLOO 

X 


THE  STATE  OF  RELIGION  IN  EUROPE 

AND  THE   PROGRESS  OF  SOCIAL  MOVEMENTS 


""THE  great  revolutions  which  had  taken 
•■•  place  in  the  political  world  since  1789 
were  not  calculated  to  produce  satisfac- 
tion either  among  contemporaries  or 
posterity.  Disillusionment  and  fear  of 
the  degeneration  of  human  nature,  distrust 
of  the  capacity  and  the  value  of  civic  and 
political  institutions,  were  the  legacy  from 
these  movements.  As  men  lost  faith  in 
political  movement  as  a  means  of  amelior- 
ating the  conditions  of  life  or  improving 
morality,  so  did  they  yearn  for  the  con- 
tentments and  the  consolations  of  religion. 
"  Many  believe;  all  would  like  to  believe," 
said  Alexis  de  Tocqueville  of  France 
after  the  July  Revolution.  However, 
the  germs  of  piety,  "  which,  though  un- 
certain in  its  objects,  is  powerful  enough 
in  its  effects,"  had  already  sprung  to  life 
during  the  Napoleonic  period.  Through- 
out the  nineteenth  century  there  is  a 
general  ^/earning  for  the  restoration  of  true 
Christian   feeling.     It   was   a   desire   that 

„    ^       .  _  evoked  attempts  at  the  for- 

Restored  Power  ,  •  r      t    •  -    ,  • 

,  ..  mation  of  religious  societies, 

Catholic  Church  o^^«=n  °^  ^  very  extraordin- 
ary nature,  without  attain- 
ing any  definite  object  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
it  opened  the  possibility  of  a  magnificent 
development  of  the  power  of  Catholicism. 

The  progress  of  the  movement  had  made 
it  plain  that  only  a  Church  of  this  nature 
can  be  of  vital  importance  to  the  history 
of  the  world,  and  that  the  revival  of 
Christianity  can  be  brought  about  upon  no 
smaller  basis  than  that  which  is  held  by 
this  Church.  The  force  of  the  movement 
which  resulted  in  the  intensification  of 
papal  supremacy  enables  us  to  estimate  the 
power  of  reaction  which  was  bound  to 
occur,  though  the  oppression  of  this 
supremacy  will  in  turn  become  intolerable 
and  the  foundations  of  ultramontanism 
and  of  its  successes  be  shattered. 

The  restoration  of  power  to  the  Catholic 
Church  was  due  to  the  Jesuit  Order, 
which  had  gradually  acquired  complete 
and  unlimited  influence  over  the  papacy  ; 
for  this  reason  the  success  attained  was 

4892 


purely  artificial.     Jesuitism  has  no  ideals  ; 

for  it,  religion  is  merely  a  department  of 

politics.     By  the  creation  of  a  hierarchy 

within  a  temporal  state  it  hopes  to  secure 

full  scope   for  the   beneficent   activity  of 

Christian    doctrine    confined    within    the 

trammels   of   dogma.      For   this   purpose 

Jesuitism  can  employ'  any  and  every  form 

_.     „  ,      .      of  political  government.      It 
The  Scheming  ,  •  - ,  r  r 

_  ,.       ,  has  no  special  preference  lor 

Policy  of  ,  ^       ^.u         \      ■*. 

th  J  t  monarch}^,  though  it  simu- 
lates such  a  preference  for 
dynasties  which  it  can  use  for  its  own  pur- 
poses ;  it  is  equally  ready  to  accommodate 
itself  to  the  conditions  of  republican  and 
parliamentary  government.  Materialism  is 
no  hindrance  to  the  fulfilment  of  its  task, 
the  steady  increase  of  the  priestly  power  ; 
for  the  grossest  materialism  is  accom- 
panied by  the  grossest  superstition,  and 
this  latter  is  one  of  its  most  valuable 
weapons.  While  fostering  imbecility  and 
insanity,  it  shares  in  the  hobbies  of  science, 
criticism  and  research.  One  maiden  marked 
with  the  stigmata  can  repair  any  damage 
done  to  society  by  the  well-meaning 
efforts  of  a  hundred  learned  fathers. 

On  August  7th,  1814,  Pope  Pius  VII. 
issued  the  encyclical  Sollicitiido  oniniinn, 
reconstituting  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which 
retained  its  original  constitution  and 
those  privileges  which  it  had  acquired 
since  its  foundation.  At  the  Congress  of 
Vienna  Cardinal  Consalvi  had  succeeded 
in  convincing  the  Catholic  and  Protestant 
princes  that  the  Jesuit  Order  would  prove 
a  means  of  support  to  the  Legitimists,  and 

.   ^   .        would,    in    close    connection 
Jesuit  Order 


Supported  by 
the  Papacy 


with  the  papacy,  undertake 
the    interests   of    the    roval 


houses — a  device  successfully 
employed  even  at  the  present  day.  This 
action  of  the  papacy,  a  step  as  portentous 
for  the  destinies  of  Europe  as  any  of  those 
taken  during  the  unhappy  years  of  the 
first  Peace  of  Paris,  appeared  at  first  com- 
paratively unimportant.  The  new  world 
power  escaped  notice  until  the  highly  gifted 
Dutchman,   Johann   Philip  of  Roothaan, 


TFIE    STATE    OF    RELIGION    IN    EUROPE 


took  over  the  direction  on  July  gth,  1829, 
and  won  the  Germans  over  to  the  Order. 
The  complaisance  with  which  the  French 
and  the  Italians  lent  their  services  for  the 
attainment  of  specific  objects  deserves  ac- 
knowledgment. But  even  more  valuable 
than  their  diplomatic  astuteness  in  the 
struggle  against  intellectual  freedom  weie 
the  bUnd  unreasoning  obedience  and  the 
strong  arms  of  Flanders,  Westphalia,  the 
Rhine  districts  and  Bavaria.  At  the 
outset  of  the  thirties  the  society  possessed, 
in  the  persons  of  numerous  young  priests, 
the  implements  requisite  for  destroying 
that  harmony  of  the  Churches  which  was 
founded  upon  religious  toleration  and 
mutual  forbearance.  B3'  the  same  means 
the  struggle  against  secular  governments 
could  be  begun,  where  such  powers  had 
not  already  submitted  by  concordat  to 
the  Curia,  as  Bavaria  had  done  in  1817. 

The  struggle  raged  with 
special  fury  in  Prussia,  though 
this  state,  considering  its 
very  modest  pecuniary  re- 
sources, had  endowed  the 
new-created  Catholic  bishop- 
rics very  handsomely.  The 
Jesuits  declined  to  tolerate 
a  friendly  agreement  in  things 
spiritual  between  the  Catholics 
and  Protestants  in  the 
Rhine  territories,  to  allow 
the  celebration  of  mixed 
marriages  with  the  "passive  '  -     — - 

_•    .     ^^     .,       r     .,         n    .^     1        ARCHBISHOP  OF  COLOGNE 

assistance      of    the    Catholic   .    , , .  ,       r.   ^.      ^ 

,,  1   .       ,      1    ,       ,,         Archbishop     Ferdinand     worthily 

they  objected  to  the  fulfilled  the  duties  of  his  hi^h 


pastor 


arranged  by  his  predecessor.  His  repeated 
transgression  of  his  powers  and  his  treat- 
ment of  the  Bonn  professors  obliged  the 
Prussian  Government  to  pronounce  his 
deposition  on  November  14th,  1837,  ^nd 
forcibly  to  remove  him  from  Cologne. 

The  Curia  now  protested  in  no  measured 
terms    against     Prussia,    and    displayed 
Disloyal     ^     gaUing    contempt     for     the 
Prelate      Pi'ussian    ambassador,    Bunsen, 
Punished   ^'^^°  ^^^^  exchanged  the  profes- 
sion of  archagology  for    that  of 
diplomacy.      Prince  Metternich  had  for- 
merly been  ready  enough   to  claim  the 
good  services  of  the  Berlin  Cabinet  when- 
ever    he    required    their    support  ;      his 
instructive     diplomatic     communications 
were  now  withheld,  and  with  some  secret 
satisfaction  he  observed  the  humihation 
of   his  ally  by  Roman  statecraft.      The 
embarrassment  of  the  Prussian  adminis- 
tration was  increased  both  by 
the  attitude  of  the  Liberals, 
who,  with    doctrinaire  short- 
sightedness,     disputed      the 
right   of   the  government  to 
arrest  the  bishop,  and  by  the 
extension     of     the    Catholic 
opposition  to  the  ecclesiast- 
ical province  of  Posen-Gnesen, 
where  the  insubordination  and 
disloyalty  of  the  archbishop, 
Martin  von  Dunin,    necessi- 
tated   the    imprisonment    of 
that     prelate     also.      Those 
ecclesiastical  dignitaries  who 
were  under  Jesuit    influence 


teaching   of  George  Hermes,  office  and  died  on  August  2nd,  1 8:35.   p^ceeded  to  persecute  such 


professor  in  the  Cathohc  faculty  at  the 
new-created  university  of  Bonn,  who 
propounded  to  his  numerous  pupils  the 
doctrine  that  belief  in  revelation  neces- 
sarily implied  the  exercise  of  reason,  and 
that  the  dictates  of  reason  must  not 
therefore  be  contradicted  by  dogma. 

After  the  death  of  the  excellent  Arch- 
bishop Ferdinand  of  Cologne  on  August  2nd, 
The  Defiant  -"-^^D)  the  blind  confidence  of 
Archbishop  the  government  elevated  the 
of  Cologne  Prebendary  Klemens  August 
Freiherr  von  Droste-Vischer- 
ing  to  the  Rhenish  archbishopric.  He 
had  been  removed  from  the  general  vicar- 
iate at  Miinster  as  a  punishment  for  his 
obstinacy.  In  defiance  of  his  previous 
promises,  the  ambiguity  of  which  had 
passed  unnoticed  by  the  Minister  Alten- 
stein,  the  archbishop  arbitrarily  broke  off 
the  agreement  concerning  niixed  marriages 


supporters  of  peace  as  the  prince- bishop 
of  Breslau,  Count  Leopold  of  Sedlnitzky, 
in  1840,  employing  every  form  of  inter- 
collegiate pressure  which  the  labours  of 
centuries  had  been  able  to  excogitate. 
In  many  cases  congregations  were  ordered 
to  submit  to  tests  of  faith,  with  which 
they  eventually  declined  compliance. 

A  more  vigorous,  and  in  its  early 
stages  a  more  promising,  resistance 
arose  within  the  bosom  of  the  Church 
itself.  This  movement  was  aroused  by 
the  exhibition  in  October,  1844,  of  the 
"  holy  coat  "  in  Treves,  a  relic  sup- 
posed to  be  one  of  Christ's  garments, 
an  imposture  which  had  long  before 
been  demonstrated  ;  an  additional  cause 
was  the  disorderly  pilgrimage  thereto 
promoted  by  Bishop  Arnoldi.  The 
chaplain,  Ronge.  characterised  the 
exhibition  as   a  scandal,    and  denounced 

4893 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  "  idolatrous  worship  of  reUcs  "  as  one 
of  the  causes  of  the  spiritual  and  political 
humiliation  of  Germany.  He  thereby 
became  the  founder  of  a  reform  move- 
ment, which  at  once  assumed  a  character 
serious  enough  to  arouse  hopes  that 
the  Catholic  Church  would  now  undergo 
the  necessary  process  of  purification  and 
_.     _  .  separation,  and  would  break 

The  Ruinous    ^  ^^^^^  ^^^^   ruinous   in- 

Influcnce  ^^g^^g  ^^  Jesuitism.  About 
of  Jesuitism  ^^^  hundred  "German 
Catholic  "  congregations  were  formed  in 
the  year  1845,  and  a  Church  council  was 
held  at  Leipzig  from  March  23rd  to  26th, 
with  the  object  of  finding  a  common  basis 
for  the  constitution  of  the  new  Church. 

However,  it  proved  impossible  to 
arrange  a  compromise  between  the 
insistence  upon  free  thought  of  the  one 
party  and  the  desire  for  dogma  and  ritual 
manifested  by  the  other.  What  was 
wanted  was  the  uniting  power  of  a  new 
idea,  brilliant  enough  to  attract  the  uni- 
versal gaze  and  to  distract  attention  from 
established  custom  and  its  separatist 
consequences.  Great  and  strong  characters 
were  wanting,  though  these  were  indispen- 
sable for  the  direction  and  organisation  of 
the  different  bodies  who  were  attempting 
to  secure  their  libej'ation  from  one  of  the 
most  powerful  tyrants  that  has  ever 
imposed  the  scourge  of  slavery  upon  an 
intellectually  dormant  humanity.  As  long 
as  each  party  went  its  own  way,  pro- 
claimed its  own  war-cry  to  be  the  only 
talisman  of  victory,  and  adopted  new 
idols  as  its  ensign,  so  long  were  they  over- 
powered by  the  determined  persistency  of 
the  Society  of  J  esus. 

Within  the  Protestant  Churches  also  a 
movement  for  intellectual  independence 
arose,  directed  against  the  suppression  of 
independent  judgment,  and  the  subjuga- 
tion of  thought  to  the  decrees  of  the 
"  Superiors."  The  movement  was  based 
upon  the  conviction  that  belief  should  be 
„      ,  ^.  controlled  by  the  dictates  of 

Revelations  j     ^  i  i      •      j 

,  „  .    ..„       reason  and  not  by  ecclesiast- 
01  Scientific  1  .,         ^:(       T^ 

Criticis  ^       councils.     The  Prussian 

Government  limited  the  new 
movement  to  the  utmost  of  its  power  ;  at 
the  same  time  it  was  so  far  successful  that 
the  authorities  avoided  the  promulgation 
of  decrees  likely  to  excite  disturbance  and 
practised  a  certain  measure  of  toleration. 
The  revelations  made  by  the  scientific 
criticism  of  the  evangelical  school  gave  a 
further  impulse  in  this  direction,  as  these 

4894 


results  were  utilised  by  Strauss  in  his  "  Life 
of  Jesus,"  1835,  and  his  "Christian  Dogma, 
explained  in  its  Historical  Development 
and  in  Conflict  with  Modern  Science," 
1840-X841,  works  which  made  an  epoch 
in  the  literary  world,  and  the  importance  of 
which  remained  undiminished  by  any 
measures  of  ecclesiastical  repression. 

Among  the  Romance  peoples  religious 
questions  were  of  less  importance  than 
among  the  Germans.  In  Spain,  such  ques- 
tions were  treated  purely  as  political 
matters  ;  the  foundation  of  a  few  Protest- 
ant congregations  by  Manuel  Matamoros 
exercised  no  appreciable  influence  upon 
the  intellectual  development  of  the  Span- 
iards. The  apostacy  of  the  Rorrian  prelate 
Luigi  Desancti  to  the  Waldenses  and  the 
appearance  of  scattered  evangelical  socie- 
ties produced  no  effect  upon  the  position 
of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Italy.  In  France, 
the  liberal  tendencies  introduced  by  La- 
martine  and  Victor  Hugo  remained  a 
literary  fashion  ;  the  efforts  of  Lacordaire 
and  Montalembert  to  found  national  free- 
dom upon  papal  absolutism  were  nullified 
by  the  general  direction  of  Roman  policy. 
There  was,  however,  one  phenomenon 
deserving  a  closer  attention 
-a  phenomenon  of  higher 


Lamennais  the 
Fiery  Champion 


,  ^.     „  importance    than  any  dis- 

of  the  Papacy  i         j       1  .  i  ■ 

played     by    the     various 

attempts  at  religious  reform   during  the 

nineteenth  century,  for  the  reason  that  its 

evolution  displays  the  stages  which  mark 

the  process  of  liberation  from  Jesuitism. 

Lamennais  began  his  priestly  career 
as  the  fiery  champion  of  the  papacy, 
to  which  he  ascribed  infallibility.  He 
hoped  to  secure  the  recognition  of  its 
practical  supremacy  over  all  Christian 
governments.  Claimed  by  Leo  X.  as  the 
"  last  father  of  the  Church,"  he  furiously 
opposed  the  separatism  of  the  French 
clergy,  which  was  based  on  the  "  Galilean 
articles  "  ;  he  attacked  the  government 
of  Charles  X.  as  being  "  a  horrible 
despotism,"  and  founded  after  the  July 
Revolution  a  Christian-revolutionary 
periodical,  "  L'Avenir,"  with  the  motto, 
"  Dieu  et  Liberte — le  Pape  et  le  Peuple." 
By  his  theory,  not  only  was  the  Church 
to  be  independent  of  the  State  ;  it  was  also 
to  be  independent  of  State  support,  and 
the  clergy  were  to  be  maintained  by  the 
voluntary  offerings  of  the  faithful. 

This  demand  for  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State  necessarily  brought  Lamennais 
into  connection  with  political  democracy  ; 


THE    STATE    OF    RELIGION    IN    EUROPE 


hence  it  was  but  a  step  to  the  position  that 
the  Church  should  be  reconstructed  upon 
a  democratic  basis.  This  fact  was  patent 
not  only  to  the  French  episcopate,  but 
also  to  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  who  con- 
demned the  doctrines  of  the  "  father  of 
the  Church,"  and,  upon  his  formal  sub- 
mission, interdicted  him  from  issuing  any 
further  publications.  Lamen- 
nais,  like  Arnold  of  Brescia  or 
Girolamo  Savonarola  in  earlier 
times,  now  recognised  that  this 
papacy  was  incompetent  to  fulfil  the  lofty 
aims  with  which  he  had  credited  it  ;  he 
rejected  it  in  his  famous  "Paroles  d'un 
Croyant "  in  1834,  and  found  his  way  to 
that  form  of  Christianity  which  is  based 
upon  brotherly  love  and  philanthropy 
and  aims  at  procuring  an  equal  share  for 


Religion  in 
England 
and  Scotland 


greatly  prized  possession  was,  however, 
threatened  by  the  system  of  the  Established 
Church,  which  forced  upon  the  congrega- 
tions ministers  who  were  not  to  their 
liking  ;  but  this  was  in  itself  merely 
incidental  to  the  more  important  and 
comprehensive  fact  that  the  "  establish- 
ment "  was  subject  to  civil  control,  and 
that  questions  affecting  it  might  be 
carried  for  decision  to  a  court  which  was 
Scottish  only  in  the  sense  that  it  contained 
a  Scottish  element — the  House  of  Peers. 
The  view  rapidly  gained  ground  that  in 
matters  regarded  as  spiritual  the  Church 
ought  to  be  subject  to  no  authority  save 
its  own  ;  in  other  words,  that  it  ought  to 
be  free  from  state  control.  But  that  view 
was  not  general,  nor  was  the  state  pre- 
pared to  recognise  it.     It  only  remained, 


Newman  Keble  Pusejr 

LEADERS  OF  THE  TRACTARIAN  MOVEMENT 
Inspired  by  the  desire  to  "  awaken  into  new  life  a  Church  wliich  was  becoming-  torpid  by  a  revival  of  mediasval  ideals 
and  mediaeval  devotion,"  and  with  the  aim  of  counteracting  the  "  danger  to  religion  arising  from  a  sceptical  criticism,  " 
the  Tractarian  movement  in  England  had  as  its  most  notable  champions  Newman,  Keble,  and  Pusey.  Their 
teachings  were  in  many  quarters  regarded  as  nothing  but  barely  veiled  "Popery,"  a  view  tliat  was  strengthened 
when    Cardinal   Newman   went    over  to   the  Church   of  Rome,  whither   lie  was  followed   by  many  of  his   disciples. 


men  in  the  enjoyment  of  this  world's  goods. 
But  in  England  and  in  Scotland  there 
was  considerable  ferment  on  religious 
questions  during  the  'thirties  and  'forties. 
German  rationalism  indeed  would  hardly 
have  been  permitted  to  obtain  a  foothold 
in  either  country  ;  when  respectability 
was  at  its  zenith,  German  rationalism 
was  not  regarded  as  respectable.  In 
Scotland  the  crucial  question  was  not  one 
of  theology,  but  of  Church  government  ; 
in  that  country  the  national  system  of 
education  combined  with  the  national 
combativeness  of  character  to  make  every 
cottar  prepared  to  support  his  own  religi- 
ous tenets  with  a  surprising  wealth  of 
scriptural  erudition;  and  "  spiritual  inde- 
pendence "  was  fervently  cherished.    That 


therefore,  for  the  protesting  portion  of  the 
community  to  sever  itself  from  the  state 
by  departing  from  the  Establishment  and 
sacrificing  its  share  in  the  endowments 
and  privileges  thereto  pertaining.  In  the 
great  Disruption  of  1843  hundreds  of 
ministers  resigned  their  manses  and 
churches  rather  than  their  principles ; 
and  the  Free  Church  took  its  place  side 
by  side  with  the  Established  Church  as  a 
self-supporting  religious  body,  although  in 
point  of  doctrine  there  was  no  distinction 
between  the  two  communities,  which  were 
both  alike  Calvinist  in  theology  and 
Presbyterian  in  system. 

The  Tractarian  movement  in  England 
was  of  a  different  type.  On  the  one  side, 
it  was  inspired  by  the  desire  to  awaken 

4895 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


into  new  life  a  Church  which  was  becoming 
torpid,  by  a  revival  of  mediaeval  ideals  and 
mediaeval  devotion,  to  be  attained  through 
insistence  on  mystical  doctrines,  on  the 
apostolic  character  of  the  priesthood,  on 
the  authority  of  the  fathers  of  the  Church 
as  against  the  miscellaneous  unauthorised 
and  ignorant  interpretations  of  the  Srri]> 
tures,  and  on  the 
historic     and 
aesthetic  attrac- 
tions of  elaborate   i§ 
ceremonial.     On 
another    side    it 
sought  especially 
to  counteract 
the     danger    to 
r^eligion  arising 
from  a  sceptical 
criticism,  and  ^ 
from  the  attacks 
of  the   scientific 
spirit   which  de- 
clmed  to  regard      ^^^   social   reformers   owen   and   fourier 

convictions     in  the  large  spinning-works  at  New  Lanark  in  Scotland,  of  which  he   StOOd 


and  resulting  in  a  movement  which  soon 
affected  every  nation.     The  great  revolu- 
tion   had    accomplished    nothing    in    this 
direction.     The  sum  total  of  achievement 
hitherto  was  represented  by  certain  dismal 
experiences  of  "  State  help  "  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  bread  and  the  subsidising  of 
'Kikf^rs.     The     phrase     inscribed     in     the 
"Cahiers  "  of  the 
deputies    of    the 
Third   Estate  in 
1789    had     now 
been  realised   in 
fact  :  "  The  voice 
of    freedom    has 
no    message    for 
the  heart  of  the 
poor  who  die  of 
hunger."  Babeuf, 
the  only  French 
democrat  who 
professed      com- 
munistic    views, 
was    not   under- 
by      the 


^  r]  rt  n  i  f^  r\         nn  was  manager,  Robert  Owen  put  into  practice  his  socialistic  theories,    i-naccAc      onrl     Kie 

d-UupLCU         uu  but  his  experiment  was  not  permanently  successful.     Equally  futile   "'''•^^^^'     '^"^     ^"^ 

authority    as   be-  and  unsatisfactory  was   Charles   Fourier's  project  of  the  "  Phalan-   martyrdom.     OUC 

ing  knowledge.  ^'^'^'"    ^    "^"^    '""'^^    comnmnity    having    all    things    in    comn-.on.   ^^    ^^^   ^^^^   ^^^_ 


The  "Tracts  for  the  Times,"  from  which 
the  movement  took  its  name,  the  teaching 
of  John  Henry  Newman,  of  Keble,  and  of 
Pusey,  who  were  its  most  notable  cham- 
pions, alarmed  the  popular  Protestantism 
— the  more  when  Newman  himself  went 
over  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  whither  he 
was  followed  by  many  of  his  disciples  ; 
and  "  Puseyism  "  was  commonly  regarded 
as  nothing  but  barely  veiled  "  Popery." 
Newman  would  have  had  many  more 
imitators  if  the  greatest  of  his  colleagues 
had  not  maintained  their  view  that  the 
doctrines  of  "  The  Church  "  are  those  of 
the  Anglican  Church,  and  refused  to  sever 
themselves  from  her.  They  remained, 
and  it  will  probably  be  admitted  that  while 
their  movement  inspired  the  clerical  body 
--not  only  their  adherents,  but  their 
opponents  also— to  a  renewed  activity  at 
the  time,  it  had  the  further  effect  ulti- 
mately, though  not  till  after  a  consider- 
able lapse  of  time,  of  attaching  to  itself  a 
majority  of  the  most  energetic  and  the 
most  intellectual  of  the  clergy. 

That  Christian  sociahsm  to  which 
Lamennais  had  been  led  by  reason  and 
experience  was  a  by-product  of  the 
numerous  attempts  to  settle  the  pressing 
question  of  social  reform,  attempts  begun 
simultaneously   in   France   and   England, 

4896 


necessary  political  murders  of  the  Direc- 
tory, had  aroused  no  movement  among 
those  for' whom  it  was  undergone. 

The  general  introduction  of  machinery 
in  man\  manufactures,  together  with  the 
more  distant  relations  subsisting  between 
employer  and  workman,  had  resulted  in 
an  astounding  increase  of  misery  among 
the  journeymen  labourers.  The  working 
classes,  condemned  to  hopeless  poverty 
and  want,  and  threatened  with  the  de- 
privation of  the  very  necessaries  of  exist- 
ence, broke  into  riot  and  insurrection ; 
factories  were  repeatedly  destroyed  in 
England  at  the  beginning  of  the 
ac  ory     century ;    the    silk    weavers    of 

Kiots  in      T  -•  o  1    xt, 

p.  .  .  Lyons  in  1831  and  the  weavers 
'^^  ^^  of  Silesia  in  1844  rose  against 
their  masters.  These  facts  aroused  the 
consideration  of  the  means  by  which 
the  appalling  miseries  of  a  fate  wholly 
undeserved  could  be  obviated. 

Among  the  wild  theories  and  fantastic 
aberrations  of  Saint-Simon  were  to  be 
found  many  ideas  well  worth  considera- 
tion which  could  not  fail  to  act  as  a 
stimulus  to  further  thought.  The 
pamphlet  of  18 14,  "  Reorganisation  de 
la  Societe  Europeenne,"  had  received  no 
consideration  from  the  Congress  of  Vienna, 
for  it  maintained  that  congresses  were  not 


THE    STATE    OF    RELIGION    IN    EUROPE 


the  proper  instrument  for  the  permanent 
restoration  of  social  peace  and  order. 
It  was,  however,  plainly  obvious  that 
even  after  the  much- vaunted  "  Restora- 
tion "  the  lines  of  social  cleavage  had 
rapidly  widened  and  that  the  majority 
were  oppressed  with  crying  injustice. 

Not  wholly  in  vain  did  Saint-Simon 
repeatedly  appeal  to  manufacturers,  in- 
dustrial potentates,  l')usiness  men,  and 
financiers,  with  warnings  against  the 
prevailing  sweating  system  ;  not  in  vain 
did  he  assert  in  his  "  Nouveau  Chris- 
tianisme,"  1825,  that  every  Church  in  exist- 

„  ,        ence  had  stultilied  its  Chris- 

£  u  rope    s      ,  •       •.        ,  ,, 

_  tiamty   by    suppressmg    the 

„      ,  ^    loftiest  teaching  of  Christ,  the 

Development       i      .    ■  r    i_      ^^i      1       1 

doctrme    of    brotherly  love. 

No  immediate  influence  was  exerted  upon 
the    social    development    of    Europe    by 
Barthelemy    'Prosper    Constantin's     pro- 
posals for  the  emancipation  of  the  flesh, 
and  for  the  foundation  of  a  new  "theo- 
cratic-industrial   state,"     or    by    Charles 
Fourier's  project  of  the   "  Phalanstere,"  a 
new  social  community  having  all  things  in 
common,  or    by   the    Utopian    dreams   of 
communism  expounded  by  Etienne  Cabet 
in  his  "  Voyage  en  Icarie."    Such  theorising 
merely  cleared  the  way  for  more  far-seeing 
thinkfers,    who,   from   their   knowledge    of 
existing    institu- 
tions, could    de- 
monstrate their 
capacity  of  trans- 
formation. 

In  Britain, 
Robert  Owen, 
the  manager  of 
the  great  spin- 
ning-w o r k s  at 
New  Lanark,  in 
Scotland,  was  the 
first  to  attempt 
the  practical 
realisation    of    a 

philosophical  Marx 

social  svstem  pioneers   c 

o<j>-ia,i    o  J  o  I.  >^  111  .     yjjg  founder  and  guide  of  an  international  organisation  of  the  pro 
Owen  S      theories    letanat,     Karl   Marx     -   '" 


facts  thus  ascertained  were  worked  into 
a  sociaUst  system  by  the  efforts  of 
a  German  Jew,  Karl  Marx,  born  in  1818 
at  Treves,  a  man  fully  equipped  with 
Hegelian  criticism,  and  possessed  by  an 
extraordinary  yearning  to  discover  the 
causes  which  had  brought  existing  con- 
ditions of  life  to  pass,  a  characteristic 
due,  according  to  Werner  Sombart,  to 
"  hypertrophy  of  intellectual  energy." 

He  freed  the  social  movement  from  the 
revolutionary  spirit  which  had   been  its 
leading  characteristic  hitherto.     He  placed 
one  definite  object  before  the  movement, 
the    "  nationalisation   of    means    of    pro- 
duction," the  method  of  attaining  this  end 
being  a  vigorous  class  struggle.     Expelled 
from  German  soil  by  the  Prussian  police, 
he  was    forced   to   take    up   residence   in 
Paris,  and  afterwards  in  London.     There 
he  gained  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
social  conditions  of  Western  Europe,  de- 
voting special  attention  to  the  important 
developments  of  the  English  trades-union 
struggles,     and     thus     became     specially 
qualified  as  the  founder  and  guide  of  an 
international    organisation    of    the    prole- 
tariat, an  indispensable  condition  of  victory 
in  the  class  struggle  he  had  proclaimed. 
In  collaboration  with  Friedrich  Engel  of 
Elbcrfcld     he     created    the     doctrine     of 
^^   socialism,   which 
remained       the 
basis    of    the 
sociahst     move- 
ment to  the  end 
of  the  nineteenth 
centur}'.       That 
movement  chief- 
ly     centred     in 
Germany,     after 
Ferdinand    Las- 
salle  had  assured 
its    triumph     in 
the  sixties.    The 
social  movement 
exerted  but  httle 
political  in- 


theories    letariat,     Karl   Marx,   a  German    jew,    freed    the   social   movement     flueilCe  UpOU  the 

from  its  revolutionary  spirit  and  placed  before  it  the  definite  object    p^,p,,fo  aricincr 

P  1  *-*  "     of  nationalisation  of  means  of  production.     Ferdinand  Lassalle  was    eveilTS  arising 


may    o 
nounced 

finite  advance,  as  demonstrating  that 
capitalism  as  a  basis  of  economics  was 
not  founded  upon  any  law  of  Nature, 
but  must  be  considered  as  the  result  of 
an  1  istorieal  development,  and  that 
competition  is  not  an  indispensable 
stimulus  to  production,  but  is  an  obstacle 
to   the   true  utilisation   of  labour.      The 


g^       cle-    also  a  prominent  worker  in  the  cause  of  social  democracy  in  Germany,     out    of    the     Tulv 

Revolution ;  its  influence,  again,  upon  the 
revolutions  of  the  year  1848  was  almost 
inappreciable.  It  became,  however,  a 
modifying  factor  among  the  democratic 
parties,  who  were  looking  to  political 
revolution  for  some  transformation  of  ex- 
isting public  rights,  and  for  some  alteration 
of  the  proprietary  system  in  their  favour. 

4897 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

AFTER 
WATERLOO 

XI 


THE    SPREAD    OF    LIBERALISM 

AND  THE  COLLAPSE  OF  METTERNICH'S  SYSTEM 


The  Zenith 

of  Metternich's 

Influence 


HTHE  lack  of  initiative  displayed  by  the 
•^  King  of  Prussia  was  a  valuable  help  to 
Metternich  in  carrying  out  his  independent 
policy.  The  old  cliancellor  in  Vienna  had 
become  ever  more  profoundly  impressed 
with  the  insane  idea  that  Providence  had 
specially  deputed  him  to  crush  revolutions, 
to  support  the  sacred  thrones 
of  Europe,  Turkey  included, 
and  that  he  was  the  dis- 
coverer of  a  political  system 
by  which  alone  civilisation,  morality,  and 
religion  could  be  secured.  The  great 
achievement  of  his  better  years  was  one 
never  to  be  forgotten  by  Germany — the 
conversion  of  Austria  to  the  alliance 
formed  against  the  great  Napoleon,  and 
the  alienation  of  the  Emperor  Francis 
from  the  son-in-law  whose  power  was 
almost  invincible  when  united  with  that 
of  the  Hapsburg  emperor.  At  that  time, 
however,  Metternich  was  not  the  slave  of 
a  system  ;  his  action  was  the  expression 
of  his  will,  and  he  relied  upon  an  accurate 
judgment  of  the  personalities  he  employed, 
and  an  accurate  estimation  of  the  forces 
at  his  disposal. 

As  he  grew  old  his  self-conceit  and 
an  exaggerated  estimate  of  his  own 
powers  led  him  blindly  to  follow  those 
principles  which  had  apparently  deter- 
mined his  earlier  policy  in  every 
political  question  which  arose  during  the 
European  supremacy  which  he  was  able 
to  claim  for  a  lull  decade  after  the  Vienna 
Congress.  His  belief  in  the  system — a 
belief  of  deep  import  to  the  destinies 
of  Austria  —  was  materially 
Co^    ^Y  f    sti'erigthened  by  the  fact  that 

„  ..  .  .  Alexander  L,  who  had  long 
Metternich     ,  ,  r       .  i 

been     an     opponent     of     the 

system,  came  over  to  its  support  before 
his  death  and  recognised  it  as  the 
principle  of  the  Holy  Alliance.  The 
consequence  was  a  degeneration  of  the 
qualities  which  Metternich  had  formerly 
developed  in  himself.  His  clear  appre- 
ciation of  the  situation  and  of  the  main 

•4898 


interests   of    Europe    in    the   summer   of 

18 13    had    raised    Austria    to    the    most 

favourable  position  which  she  had  occupied 

for   centuries.      Her  decision  determined 

the  fate  of  Europe,  and  so  she  acquired 

power  as  great  as  it  was  unexpected. 

This    predominance   was   the   work   of 

Metternich,    and  so  long   as   it    endured 

the    prince    was    able    to    maintain    his 

influence.      He,    however,    ascribed   that 

influence  to  the   superiority  of  his  own 

intellect  and  to  his  incomparable  system, 

neglecting  the  task  of  consolidating  and 

securing  the  power  already  gained.   Those 

acquisitioris  of  territory  which  Metternich 

had  obliged  Austria  to  make  were  a  source 

of  mischief  and  weakness  from  the  very 

outset.    The  Lombard- Venetian  kingdom 

implied    no    increase    of   power,    and    its 

administration  involved  a  constant  drain 

of  money  and  troops.    The  troops,  again, 

which    were    drawn    from    an    unwarlike 

^      .     ,         population,  proved  unreliable. 
Death  of  K^,^  ^  ■.      ir 

Ine   possession    itself    neces- 
c    mperor  gj^g^^gj-|  interference  in   Italian 

affairs,  and  became  a  constant 
source  of  embarrassment  and  of  useless 
expense.  Valuable  possessions,  moreover, 
in  South  Germany  already  in  the  hands  of 
the  nation  were  abandoned  out  of  con- 
sideration for  this  kingdom,  and  acquisi- 
tions likely  to  become  highly  profitable 
were  declined.  Within  the  kingdom  a 
state  of  utter  supineness  prevailed  in 
spite  of  the  supervision  bestowed  upon  it, 
and  the  incompetence  of  the  administra- 
tion condemned  the  state  and  its  great 
natural  advantages  to  impotence. 

Far  from  producing  any  improvement, 
the  death  of  the  Emperor  Francis  L,  on 
March  ist,  1835,  caused  a  marked  dete- 
rioration in  the  condition  of  the  country. 
The  Archdukes  Charles  and  John  were 
unable  to  override  the  supremacy  of 
Metternich.  As  hitherto,  they  were  unable 
to  exercise  any  influence  upon  the  govern- 
ment, which  the  ill-health  and  vacillatioi; 
of     Ferdinand     L.    the     successor,     had 


THE    COLLAPSE    OF    METTERNICH'S    SYSTEM 


practically  reduced  to  a  regency.  Franz 
Anton,  Count  of  Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky, 
attempted  to  breathe  some  life  into  the 
Council  of  State,  but  his  efforts  were 
thwarted  by  Metternich,  who  feared  the 
forfeiture  of  his  own  power. 

The  Tsar  Nicholas  upon  his  visit  to 
Toplitz  and  Vienna,  in  1835,  had  remarked 
that  Austria  was  no  longer  capable  of 
guaranteeing  a  successful  policy,  and  that 
her  "system"  could  not  be  maintained  in 
practice,  remarks  which  had  done  no  good. 
It  was  impossible  to  convince  Metternich 
that  the  source  of  this  weakness  lay  in 
himself  and  his  determination  to  repress 
the  very  forces  which  should  have  been 
developed.  The  Archduke  Lewis,  the 
emperor's  youngest  uncle  and  a  member 
of  the  State  Conference,  was  averse  to 
any  innovation,  and  therefore  inclined  to 
uphold  that  convenient  system  which  laid 
down  the  maintenance  of  existing  institu- 
tions as  the  first  principle  of  statesmanship. 

Within    Austria    herself,    however,    the 

state   of   affairs  had  become  intolerable. 

The  government  had  so  far  decayed  as  to 

be  incapable  of  putting  forth  that  energy, 

.  the  absence  of  which  the  Tsar 

_"  ''  .  ^  had  observed.  The  exchequer 
Roused  to  J.      T_    -  J  1 

.    .  accounts  betrayed   an  annual 

deficit  of  thirty  million  gulden, 
and  the  government  was  forced  to  claim 
the  good  offices  of  the  class  representa- 
tives, and,  what  was  of  capital  importance, 
to  summon  the  Hungarian  Reichstag  on 
different  occasions.  In  that  assembly  the 
slumbering  national  life  had  been  aroused 
to  consciousness,  and  proceeded  to  supply 
the  deficiencies  of  the  government  by 
acting  in  its  own  behalf.  Count  Szechenyi 
gave  an  impetus  to  science  and  art  and 
to  other  movements  generally  beneficial. 
Louis  Kossuth,  Franz  Pulszky,  and 
Franz  Deak  espoused  the  cause  of  con- 
stitutional reform. 

A  flood  of  political  pamphlets  pub- 
lished abroad,  chiefly  in  Germany,  ex- 
posed in  full  detail  the  misgovernment 
prevailing  in  Austria  and  the  Crown 
territories.  European  attention  was 
attracted  to  the  instability  of  the 
conditions  obtaining  there,  which  seemed 
to  betoken  either  the  downfall  of  the 
state  or  a  great  popular  rising.  Austria's 
prestige  among  the  other  Great  Powei's  had 
suffered  a  heavy  blow  by  the  Peace  of 
Adrianople,  and  now  sank  yet  lower. 
Metternich  was  forced  to  behold  the  growth 
of   events,    and    the    accomplishment    of 


deeds  utterly  incompatible  with  the 
fundamental  principles  of  conservative 
statesmanship  as  laid  down  by  the  Con- 
gresses of  Vienna,  Carlsbad,  Troppau, 
Laibach,  and  Verona. 

The  July  Revolution  and  the  triumph  of 
liberalism  in  England  under  William  IV. 
caused  the  downfall  of  Dom  Miguel, "  king" 
Stir  i  °^    Portugal,    who    had    been 

'■""g  induced  by  conservative  diplo- 
Portugal  inacy  to  abolish  the  constitu- 
tional measures  introduced  by 
his  brother,  Dom  Pedro  of  Brazil.  To 
this  policy  he  devoted  himself,  to  his  own 
complete  satisfaction.  The  revolts  which 
broke  out  against  him  were  ruthlessly 
suppressed,  and  thousands  of  Liberals 
were  imprisoned,  banished,  or  brought 
to  the  scaffold.  Presuming  upon  his 
success  and  relying  upon  the  favour  of 
the  Austrian  court,  he  carried  his  aggran- 
disements so  far  as  to  oblige  Britain  and 
France  to  use  force  and  to  support  the 
cause  of  Pedro,  who  had  abdicated  the 
throne  of  Brazil  in  favour  of  his  son,  Dom 
Pedro  II.,  then  six  years  of  age,  and  was 
now  asserting  his  claims  to  Portugal. 

Pedro  I .  adhered  to  the  constitutionalism 
which  he  had  recognised  over-seas  as 
well  as  in  Portugal,  thus  securing  the 
support  not  only  of  all  Portuguese  Liberals, 
but  also  of  European  opinion,  which  had 
been  aroused  by  the  bloodthirsty  tyranny 
of  Miguel.  The  help  of  the  British 
admiral,  Charles  Napier,  who  annihilated 
the  Portuguese  fleet  at  Cape  San  Vincent 
on  July  5th,  1833,  enabled  Pedro  to  gain  a 
decisive  victory  over  Miguel,  which  the 
latter's  allies  among  the  French  legitimists 
were  unable  to  avert,  though  they  hurried 
to  his  aid.  His  military  and  political 
confederate,  Don  Carlos  of  Spain,  was 
equally  powerless  to  help  him. 

In  Spain,  also,  the  struggle  broke  out 

between    liberalism    and    the    despotism 

which  was  supported  by  an  uneducated 

and  degenerate  priesthood,   and  enjoyed 

.  ,  the  favour  of  the  Great  Powers 

pain  s    ^     ^^  Eastern  Europe.     The  con- 

cgcnera  c  fj^^j-g^^^Qj^  began  upon  the  death 

Priesthood        ,     t^-  t^      t  j     a^tt 

of  Kmg  rerdmand  VIL,  on 
September  29th,  1833,  the  material  cause 
being  a  dispute  about  the  hereditary  right 
to  the  throne  resulting  from  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  new  order  of  succession.  The 
decree  of  1713  had  limited  the  succession 
to  heirs  in  the  male  line  ;  but  the  Prag- 
matic Sanction  of  March  29th,  1830,  trans- 
ferred the  right  to  the  king's  daughters, 

4899 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Isabella  and  Louise,  by  his  marriage  wiLli 

Maria  Christina  of  Naples.     Don  Carlos 

declined  to   recognise   this   arrangement, 

and  on  his  brother's  death  attempted  to 

secure  his  own  recognition  as  king. 

After   the   overthrow   of   Dom    Miguel 

and    his     consequent     retirement     from 

Portugal,   Don   Carlos   entered   Spain    in 

person    with     his     adherents, 

./  ^  ,  who  were  chiefly  composed  of 
Movement       .in  r~    i'.-  f        .1 

.    c     •  the  Basques  fightmg  tor  their 

in  Spam  •    i       •    1  x       .<  r  "  j 

special    rights,      lueros,      and 

the  populations  of  Catalonia  and  Old 
Castile,  who  were  under  clerical  influence. 
The  Liberals  gathered  rovmd  the  queen 
regent,  Maria  Christina,  whose  cause  was 
adroitly  and  successfully  upheld  by  the 
Minister,  Martinez  de  la  Rosa.  The  forces 
at  the  disposal  of  the  government  were 
utterly  inadequate,  and  their  fleet  and 
army  were  in  so  impoverished  a  condition 
that  they  could  make  no  head  against  the 
rebel  movement.  Under  the  leadership 
of  Thomas  Zumala-Carregui  the  Carlists 
won  victory  after  victory,  and  would 
probably  have  secured  possession  of  the 
capital  had  not  the  Basque  general 
received  a  mortal  wound  before  Bilbao. 

Even  then  the  victory  of  the  "  Cristinos  " 
was  by  no  means  secure.  The  Radicals 
had  seceded  from  the  Liberals  upon  the 
question  of  the  reintroduction  of  the 
constitution  of  18x2.  The  revolution  of 
La  Granja  gave  the  Radicals  complete 
influence  over  the  queen  regent  ;  they 
obliged  her  to  accept  their  own  nominees, 
the  Ministry  of  Calatrava,  and  to  recognise 
the  democratic  constitution  of  June  8th, 
1837.  Their  power  was  overthrown  by 
Don  Baldomero  Espartero,  who  com- 
manded the  queen's  troops  in  the  Basque 
provinces.  After  a  series  of  successful 
movements  he  forced  the  Basque  general, 
Maroto,  to  conclude  the  capitulation  of 
Vergara  on  August  29th,  1839.  The  party 
of  Don  Carlos  had  lost  greatly  botli  in 
numbers  and  strength,  owing  to  the  care- 
Queen  Regent  ^^^.^''''^^  ^"^^  pettifogging 
„  .  ^  spirit  of  the  pretender  and  the 
Forced  f-  ^     ,     .        . 

i.     Akj-    t        dissensions  and  domineering 
to  Abdicate  ...       r    ,  ■  ,•    ,  i° 

spirit  of  his  immediate  ad- 
herents, who  seemed  the  very  incarnation 
of  all  the  legitimist  foolishness  in  Europe. 
When  Carlos  abandoned  the  country  on 
September  15th,  1839,  General  Cabrera 
continued  fighting  in  his  behalf ;  however, 
he  also  retired  to  French  territory  in  July, 
1840.  The  queen  regent  had  lost  all  claims 
to   respect   by  her  intrigues  with  one  of 

4900 


her  body-guard,  and  was  forced  to  abdicate 
on  October  12th.  Espartero,  who  had 
been  made  Duke  of  Vittoria,  was  then 
entrusted  by  the  Cortes  with  the  regency. 

The  extreme  progressive  party,  the 
Exaltados,  failed  to  support  him,  although 
he  had  attempted  to  fall  in  with  their  views. 
They  joined  the  Moderados,  or  moderate 
party,  with  the  object  of  bringing  about 
his  fall.  Queen  Isabella  was  then  de- 
clared of  age,  and  ascended  the  throne. 
Under  the  Ministry  of  Don  Ramon  ^laria 
Narvaez,  Duke  of  Valencia,  the  constitu- 
tion was  changed  in  1837  to  meet  the 
wishes  of  the  Moderados,  and  constitutional 
government  in  Spain  was  thus  abolished. 
Though  his  tenure  of  office  was  repeatedly 
interrupted,  Narvaez  succeeded  in  main- 
taining peace  and  order  in  Spain,  even 
during  the  years  of  revolution,  1848-1849. 

The  moral  support  of  the  Great  Powers 

and   the    invasion   of   the    French    army 

under  the  Duke  of  Angouleme  had  been 

powerless  to  check  the  arbitrary  action  of 

the  Bourbons  and  clergy  in  Spain.      No 

less    transitory    was    the    effect    of    the 

Austrian  victories  in  Italy  ;    the  Italian 

people    had    now    risen  to  full 

».T^  J  ^  .  consciousness  of  the  disgrace 
National  i-    j     ■        .1         1        j  <• 

jj.  implied    m    the    burden    of    a 

foreign  yoke.  The  burden, 
indeed,  had  been  lighter  under  Napoleon 
and  his  representatives  than  under  the 
Austrians.  The  governments  of  Murat  and 
Eugene  had  been  careful  to  preserve  at  least 
a  show  of  national  feeling ;  their  military 
power  was  drawn  from  the  country  itself, 
and  consisted  of  Italian  regiments  officered 
v/ith  French,  or  with  Italians  who  had 
served  in  French  regiments.  The  French 
had  been  highly  successful  in  their  efforts 
to  accommodate  themselves  to  Italian 
manners  and  customs,  and  were  largely 
helped  by  their  common  origin  as  Romance 
peoples.  The  Germans,  on  the  other 
hand,  with  the  Czechs,  Magyars,  and  Croa- 
tians,  v/ho  form.ed  the  sole  support  of 
the  Austrian  supremacy  in  the  Lombard- 
Venetian  kingdom,  knew  but  one  mode  of 
intercourse  with  the  Italians — ^that  of 
master  and  servant  ;  any  feeling  of  mutual 
respect  or  attempt  at  mutual  accommo- 
dation was  impossible. 

A  small  number  of  better-educated 
Austrian  officers  and  of  better-class  in- 
dividuals in  the  rank  and  file,  who  were 
preferably  composed  of  Slav  regiments, 
found  it  to  their  advantage  to  maintain 
good  relations  with  the  native  population ; 


THE    COLLAPSE    OF    METTERNICH'S    SYSTEM 


r?^|^3^ 


but  the  domineering  and  occasionally 
brutal  behaviour  of  the  troops  as  a  whole 
was  not  calculated  to  conciliate  the 
Italians.  The  very  difference  of  their 
uniforms  from  all  styles  previously  known 
served  to  emphasise  the  foreign  origin 
of  these  armed  strangers.  Ineradicable 
was  the  impression  made  by  their  language, 
which  incessantly  outraged  the  delicate 
Italian  ear  and  its  love  of  harmony. 

Of  any  exchange  of  commodities,  of  any 
trade    worth    mentioning    between    the 
Italian  provinces  and  the  Austrian  Crown 
lands,  there  was  not  a  trace.     The  newly 
acquired  land  received  nothing  from  its 
masters   but   their   money.     Italian  con- 
sumption was  confined  to  the  limits  of  the 
national  area  of  production  ;    day  by  day 
it  became  clearer  that  Italy  had  nothing 
whatever    in    common    with 
Austria,     and    was    without 
inclination      to     enter     into 
economic  or  intellectual  rela- 
tions with  her.     The  sense  of 
nationalism  was  strengthened 
by  a  growing  irritation  against 
the  foreign  rule  ;    this  feeling 
penetrated   every  class,   and 
inspired   the   intellectual  life 
and  the  national  literature. 

Vittorio  Alfieri,  the  con- 
temporary of  Napoleon,  was 
roused  against  the  French 
yoke  by  the  movement  for 
liberation.  His  successors, 
Ugo  Foscolo,  Silvio  Pellico, 
Giacomo    Leopardi,     created 

a    purely   nationalist    enthusi-    ink  year  he  abdicated  the  throne 

asm.  Their  works  gave  passionate  expres- 
sion to  the  deep-rooted  force  of  the  desire 
for  independence  and  for  equality  with 
other  free  peoples,  to  the  shame  felt  by 
an  oppressed  nation,  which  was  groaning 
under  a  yoke  unworthy  of  so  brilliantly 
gifted  a  people,  and  could  not  tear  itself 
free.  Every  educated  man  felt  and  wept 
with  them,  and  was  touched  with  the 
purest  sympathy  for  the  unfortunate 
.       ,  victims  of  policy,  for  the  con- 

c^^A  w  k  spirators  who  were  languishing 
f  °it  1  *"  ^^  ^^^  Austrian  fortresses. 
ay  Highly  valuable  to  the  import- 
ance of  the  movement  was  the  share  taken 
by  the  priests,  who  zealously  devoted 
themselves  to  the  work  of  rousing  the 
national  spirit,  and  promised  the  support 
and  practical  help  of  the  Catholic  Church 
for  the  realisation  of  these  ideals.  It  was 
Vincenzo  Gioberti  who  first  demonstrated 


to  the  papacy  its  duty  of  founding  the 
unity  of  the  Italian  nation.  Mastai 
Ferretti,  Bishop  of  Imola,  now  Pope 
Pius  IX.,  the  successor  of  Gregory  XVI., 
who  died  June  ist,  1846,  was  in  full 
sympathy  with  these  views.  To  the 
Italians  he  was  already  known  as  a  zealous 
.     ,  .  patriot,  and  his  intentions 

Austria  ^  ,  i   n    ■.    ^ 

n-  •  .  J  •  were  yet  more  definitely 
Disappointed  in  11,11  r 

^.     p^  announced  by  the  decree  of 

apacy  amnesty  issued  July  17th, 

1846,  recalling  4,000  political  exiles  to  the 
Church    states.      Conservative    statesmen 
in  general,  and  the  Austrian  Government 
in  particular,   had  granted  the  Catholic 
Church  high  privileges  within  the   state, 
and  had  looked  to  her  for  vigorous  support 
in    their    suppression    of    all    movement 
towards  freedom.    What  more  mortifying 
situation  for  them  than   the 
state   of  war  now  subsisting 
between    Austria   and    papal 
Italy !  The  Cabinet  of  Vienna 
was   compelled    to    despatch 
reinforcements     for      service 
against    the    citizen    guards 
which    Pius    IX.    had   called 
into  existence  in   his   towns, 
aid    therefore     in     Ferrara, 
which  was  in  the  occupation 
of  Austrian  troops. 
•  When    Christ's    vicegerent 
upon  earth  took  part  in  the 
revolt  against  the  "legitimist" 
power,  no  surprise  need   be 
at    the   action    of    that 
repentant      sinner,      Charles 
Albert  of  Sardinia.    Formerly 
involved  with  the  Carbonari,  he  had  grown 
sceptical  upon  the  advantages  of  liberalism 
after   the   sad  experiences   of   1821.     He 
now  renounced  that  goodwill  for  Austria 
which    he    had    hypocritically    simulated 
since  the  beginning  of  his  reign  in  1831. 
Turin  had  also  become  a  centre  of  revo- 
lutionary intrigue.     Opinion  in  that  town 
pointed    to    Sardinia    and    its    military 
strength   as    a    better    nucleus  than    the 
incapable  papal  government  for  a  nation 
resolved  to  enter  upon  a  war  of  liberation. 
Count    Camillo    Benso    di   Cavour,    born 
August    loth,    i8io,    the    editor    of    the 
journal   "  II  Risorgimento,"   strongly  re- 
commended   the    investment    of    Charles 
Albert  and  his  army  with  the  military 
guidance  of  the  revolt.     The  Milan  no- 
bility  were   influenced   by   the   court   of 
Turin,  as  were  the  more  youthful  nation- 
alists and  the  numerous  secret  societies 

,4901 


CHARLES    ALBERT 
Succeeding-  his   father  as  King  of     , 
Sardinia,   he  pursued  a   policy  of    lelt 
moderation  ;   but     declaring     war 
against  Austria  in  lS48,in  the  follow- 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


which  the  July  Revohition  had  broucjht 
into  existence  throughout  Italy,  by 
Giuseppe  jMazzini,  one  of  the  most  highly 
gifted  and  most  dangerous  leaders  of 
the  democratic  party  in  Europe. 

Austria  was  therefore  obliged  to  make 
preparations  for  defending  her  Italian 
possessions  by  force  of  arms.  The  ad- 
ministration as  conducted  by 
Aus  na  ^^^q  amiable  Archduke  Rainer 
reparing  ^^^^^  without  power  or  influence. 
On  the  other  hand,  Count 
Radetzky  had  been  at  the  head  of  the 
Austrian  forces  in  the  Lombard- Venetian 
kingdom  since  1831.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  strategists  of  Europe,  and  no  less 
distinguished  for  his  powers  of  organisa- 
tion ;  in  short,  he  fully  deserved  the 
high  confidence  which  the  court  and  the 
whole  army  reposed  in  him.  He  was 
more  than  eighty  years  of  age,  for  he  had 
been  born  on  November  4th,  1766,  and 
had  been  present  at  the  deliberations  of 
the  allies  upon  their  movements  in  1813  ; 
yet  the  time  was  drawing  near  when  this 
aged  general  was  to  be  the  mainstay  of  the 
Austrian  body  politic,  and  the  immutable 
corner-stone  of  that  tottering  structure. 

A  very  appreciable  danger  menacing 
the  progress  of  nations  toward  self-govern- 
ment had  arisen  within  the  Swiss  Con- 
federation, where  the  Jesuit  Order  had 
obtained  much  influence  upon  the  govern- 
ment in  several  cantons.  By  the  con- 
stitution of  1815  the  federal  members  had 
acquired  a  considerable  measure  of  inde- 
pendence, sufficient  to  permiit  the  adoption 
of  wholly  discordant  policies  by  the 
different  governments.  The  Jesuits  aimed 
at  the  revival  of  denominational  institu- 
tions to  be  employed  for  far-reaching 
political  objects,  a  movement  which 
increased  the  difficulty  of  maintaining 
peace  between  the  Catholic  and  the 
reformed  congregations.  Toleration  in 
this  matter  was  provided  by  the  consti- 

_^^  ,  .^  tution,  but  its  continuance 
The  Jesuits  J-        11      J  11  .1 

•    ^1.     c    •        naturally  depended  upon  the 
in  the  Swiss        ,     ,       ,■•'        ^^         ,,      ^ 
„     -  .      ..      abstention    of    either    party 
Confederation   .  ^1^  ,         ,  ^      , 

from  attempts  at  encroach- 
ment upon  the  territory  of  the  other.  In 
1833  ^^  unsuccessful  attempt  had  been 
made  to  reform  the  principles  of  the 
federation  and  to  introduce  a  uniform 
legal  code  and  system  of  elementary 
education.  The  political  movement  then 
spread  throughout  the  cantons,  where  the 
most  manifold  party  subdivisions,  ranging 
from     conservative    ultramontanists     to 

4902 


radical  revolutionaries,  were  struggling  for 
majorities  and  predominance.  In  Aargau 
a  peasant  revolt  led  by  the  monks  against 
the  liberal  government  was  defeated,  and 
tiie  Church  i)roperty  was  sold  in  1841,  while 
in  Ziirich  the  Conservatives  were  upper- 
most, and  prevented  the  appointment  of 
David  Frederic  Strauss  to  a  professorship 
at  the  university. 

In  Lucerne  the  ultramontanists  stretched 
their  power  to  most  inconsiderate  extremes, 
calling  in  the  Jesuits,  who  had  established 
themselves  in  Freiburg,  Schw3'z,  and 
Wallis,  and  placing  the  educational  system 
in  their  care,  October  24th,  1844.  Two 
democratic  assaults  upon  the  government 
were  unsuccessful,  December  8th,  1844,  and 
March  30th,  1845,  but  served  to  increase  the 
excitement  in  the  neighbouring  cantons, 
where  thousands  of  fugitives  were  nursing 
their  hatred  against  ithe  ultramontanes, 
who  were  led  by  the  energetic  peasant  Peter 
Leu.  The  murder  of  Leu  intensified  the 
existing  ill-feeling  and  ultimately  led  to 
the  formation  of  a  separate  confederacy, 
composed  of  the  cantons  of  Lucerne, 
Schwyz,  Uri,  .Unterwalden,  Zug,  Freiburg, 

„  .  .  .,  and  Wallis,  the  policy  being 
Switzerland  s         j         t  j.  j.     1        t-v  • 

under    Jesuit    control.      Ihis 

Catholic  federation  raised 
great  hopes  among  conserva- 
tive diplomatists.  Could  it  be  strengthened, 
it  would  probably  become  a  permanent 
counterpoise  to  the  liberal  cantons,  which 
had  hitherto  been  a  highly  objectionable 
place  of  refuge  to  those  peace-breakers 
who  were  hunted  by  the  police  of  the  Great 
Powers.  At  the  Federal  Assembly  the 
liberal  cantons  were  in  the  majority,  and 
voted  on  July  20th,  1847,  for  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  separate  federation,  and  on  Sep- 
tember 3rd  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits 
from  the  area  of  the  new  federation. 

At  Metternich's  p^-oposal,  the  Great 
Powers  demanded  the  appointment  of  a 
congress  to  deal  with  the  situation. 
However,  the  diet,  distrusting  foreign 
interference,  and  with  good  reason,  de- 
clined to  accede  to  these  demands,  and 
proceeded  to  put  the  federal  decision  into 
execution  against  the  disobedient  can- 
tons. Thanks  to  the  careful  forethought 
of  the  commander-in-chief,  William  Henry 
Dufour,  the  famous  cartographer,  who 
raised  the  federal  military  school  at  Thun 
to  high  distinction,  and  also  to  the 
rapidity  with  which  the  overwhelming 
numbers  of  the  federal  troops,  30,000 
men,  were   mobilised,   the    "  Sonderbund 


Cantons 
of  Refuge 


THE    COLLAPSE    OF    METTERNICH'S    SYSTEM 


war ''  was  speedily  brought  to  a  close 
without  bloodshed.  Austrian  help  proved 
unavailing,  and  the  cantons  were  eventu- 
ally reduced  to  a  state  of  impotence. 

The  new  federal  constitution  of  Septem- 
ber I2th,  1848,  then  met  with  unanimous 
acceptance.  The  central  power,  which  was 
considerably  strengthened,  now  decided 
the  foreign  policy  of  the  country,  peace 
and  war,  and  the  conclusion  of  treaties, 
controlling  also  the  coinage,  and  the  postal 
and  customs  organisation ,  and  maintaining 
the  cantonal  constitutions.  The  theories 
upon  the  nature  of  the  Federal  State  pro- 
pounded by  the  jurist  professor,  Dr.  Johann 
Kaspar  Bluntschli,  were  examined  and 
adopted  with  advantageous  results  by  the 
radical-liberal  party,  which  possessed  a 
majority  in  the  constitutional  diet. 

Bluntschli  had  himself  espoused  the 
conservative-liberal  cause  after  the  war 
of  the  separate  federation,  which  he  had 
vainly  tried  to  prevent.  Forced  to  retire 
from  the  public  life  of  his  native  town,  he 
transferred  his  professional  activities  to 
Munich  and  Heidelberg.  The  develop- 
ments of  his  political  philosophy  were  not 
,^  without  tlaeir  influence  upon 
those  fundamental   principles 


Metternich's 

Lack 

of  Courage 


wluch  have  given  its  special 
political  character  to  the  con- 
stitution of  the  North  German  Federation 
and  of  the  modern  German  Empire.  The 
Swiss  Confederation  provided  a  working 
example  of  the  unification  of  special 
administrative  forms,  of  special  govern- 
mental rights,  and  of  a  legislature  limited 
in  respect  of  its  sphere  of  action,  in 
conjunction  with  a  uniform  system  of 
conducting  foreign  policy.  Only  such  a 
government  can  prefer  an  unchallenged 
claim  to  represent  the  state  as  a  whole 
and  to  comprehend  its  different  forces. 

Metternich  and  the  King  of  Prussia  were 
neither  of  them  courageous  enough  to 
support  the  exponents  of  their  own  prm- 
ciples  in  Switzerland.  Prussia  had  a  special 
inducement  to  such  action  in  the  fact  of 
her  sovereignty  over  the  principality  of 
Neuenburg,  which  had  been  occupied  by 
the  Liberals  in  connection  with  the  move- 
ment against  the  separate  federation,  and 
had  been  received  into  the  confederation 
as  an  independent  canton.  In  the  aris- 
tocracy and  upper  classes  of  the  population 
Frederic  William  IV.  had  many  faithful 
and  devoted  adherents,  but  he  failed  to 
seize  so  favourable  an  opportunity  of 
defending  his  indisputable  rights  by  occu- 


pying his  principality  with  a  sufficient 
force  of  Prussian  troops.  His  vacillation 
in  the  Neuenburg  question  was  of  a  piece 
with  the  general  uneasiness  of  his  temper, 
which  had  begun  with  the  rejection  of  his 
draft  of  a  constitution  for  Prussia  and  the 
demands  of  the  representatives  of  the 
estates  for  the  institution  of  some  form  of 
.  constitution   more  honourable 

aci  a  ing    ^^^   -^   consonance   with    the 

,"if  .  rights  of  the  people.  But  rarely 
of  Prussia     ,  °        , ,  ^  ,  ■  r       ■    "^ 

have  the  preparations  for  im- 
perial constitution  been  so  thoroughly  made 
or  so  protracted  as  they  were  in  Prussia. 

From  the  date  of  his  accession  the 
king  had  been  occupied  without  cessa- 
tion upon  this  question.  The  expert 
opinion  of  every  adviser  worth  trusting 
was  called  in,  and  from  1844  commission 
meetings  and  negotiations  continued  un- 
interruptedly. The  proposals  submitted  to 
the  king  emanated,  in  full  accordance  with 
conservative  spirit,  from  the  estates  as 
constituted  ;  they  provided  for  the  reten- 
tion of  such  estates  as  were  competent, 
and  for  the  extension  of  their  representa- 
tion and  sphere  of  action  in  conjunction 
with  the  citizen  class  ;  but  this  would  not 
satisfy  Frederic  William. 

The  constitution  drafted  in  1842  by 
the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  Count 
Arnim,  was  rejected  by  the  king  in  con- 
sequence of  the  clauses  providing  for 
the  legal  and  regular  convocation  of  the 
constitutional  estates.  The  king  abso- 
lutely declined  to  recognise  any  rights 
appertaining  to  the  subject  as  against  the 
majesty  of  the  ruler  ;  he  was  therefore  by 
no  means  inclined  to  make  such  rights  a 
leading  principle  of  the  constitution.  By 
the  favour  of  the  ruler,  exerted  by  him  in 
virtue  of  his  divine  right,  the  representa- 
tives of  the  original  constitutional  estates 
might  from  time  to  time  receive  a  sum- 
mons to  tender  their  advice  upon  questions 
of  public  interest.  As  the  people  had 
every  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  con- 
scientiousness of  their  ruler, 
agreements  providing  for  their 


Frederic 
William  & 
His  People 


co-operation  were  wholly  super- 
fluous. "  No  power  on  earth," 
he  announced  in  his  speech  from  the 
throne  on  April  nth.  1847,  "  would  ever 
induce  him  to  substitute  a  contractual 
form  of  constitution  for  those  natural 
relations  between  king  and  people,  which 
were  strong,  above  all  in  Prussia,  by  reason 
of  their  inherent  reality.  Never  under  any 
circumstances  would  he  allow  a  written 

4903 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF     THE     WORLD 


paper,  a  kind  of  second  providence, 
governing  by  paragraplis  and  ousting  the 
old  sacred  faith,  to  intervene  between 
God  and  his  country." 

Such  was  the  residuum  of  all  the  dis- 
cussion upon  the  Christian  state  and  the 
"  hierarchical  feudal  monarchy  of  the 
IMiddle  Ages,"  which  had  been  the  work  of 
the  Swiss  Lewis  von  Haller 
and  his  successors,  the  Berlin 


The  Prussian 
King  a  Victim 
of  Delusion 


author  Adam  Miiller,  the  Halle 
professor  Hienrich  Leo,  and 
Frederic  Julius  Stahl,  a  Jew  converted  to 
Protestantism,  whom  Frederic  William  IV. 
had  summoned  from  Erlangen  to  Berlin  in 
1840.  By  a  wilful  abuse  of  history  the 
wild  conceptions  of  these  theorists  were 
explained  to  be  the  proven  facts  of  the 
feudal  period  and  of  feudal  society.  Con- 
stitutional systems  were  propounded  as 
actual  historical  precedents  which  had 
never  existed  anywhere  at  any  time. 

The  object  of  these  efforts  as  declared 
by  Stahl  was  the  subjection  of  reason  to 
revelation,  the  reintroduction  of  the  Jewish 
theocracy  into  modern  political  life. 
Frederic  William  had  allowed  himself  to  be 
convinced  that  such  was  the  Germanic 
theory  of  existence,  and  that  he  was  for- 
warding the  national  movement  by  making 
his  object  the  application  of  this  theory  to 
the  government  and  administration  of  his 
state.  He  was  a  victim  of  the  delusion 
that  the  source  of  national  strength  is 
to  be  found  in  the  admiration  of  the 
intangible  precedents  of  past  ages,  whereas 
the  truth  is  that  national  strength  must  at 
every  moment  be  employed  to  cope  with 
fresh  tasks,  unknown  to  tradition  and 
unprecedented.  Notwithstanding  the 
emphatic  protest  of  the  heir  presumptive 
to  the  throne.  Prince  William  of  Prussia, 
to  the  Ministry,  at  the  head  of  which  was 
Ernest  von  Bodelschwingh,  and  though  no 
single  Minister  gave  an  unqualified  assent 
to  the  project,  the  king  summoned  the 
eight  provincial  Landtags  to  meet  at  Berlin 
.  as  a  united   Landtag   for  April 

^.  ^\l^f,  °    iith,i847.  Even  before  the  ouen- 

the  United   •  r    lu  1  1       -j.  i 

,      .  nig  of   the  assembly  it  became 

manifest  that  this  constitutional 

concession,    which    the    king    considered 

a  brilliant  discovery,  pleased  nobody.    The 

old  Orders,  which  retained  their  previous 

rights,  were  as  dissatisfied  as  the  citizens 

outside  the  Orders,  who  wanted  a  share  in 

the  legislature  and  administration.      The 

speech   from   the   throne,   a  long-winded 

piece  of  conventional  oratory,  was  marked 

4901 


in  part  by  a  distinctly  uncompromising 
tone.  Instead  of  returning  thanks  for  the 
concessions  which  had  been  made,  the 
Landtag  proceeded  to  draw  up  an  address 
demanding  the  recognition  of  their  rights. 

The  wording  of  the  address  was  extremely 
moderate  in  tone,  and  so  far  mollified  the 
king  as  to  induce  him  to  promise  the 
convocation  of  another  Landtag  within 
the  next  four  years  ;  but  further  negotia- 
tions made  it  plain  that  both  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  nobility  and  tlic  city  deputies, 
especially  those  from  the  industrial  Rhine 
towns,  were  entirely  convinced  that  the 
Landtag  must  persevere  in  demanding 
further  constitutional  concessions. 

The  value  to  the  state  of  the  citizen  class 
was  emphasised  by  Vincke  of  Westphalia, 
Beckerath  of  Krefeld,  Camphausen  of 
Cologne,  and  Hansemann  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle.  These  were  capitalists  and  em- 
ployers of  labour,  and  had  therefore  every 
right  to  speak.  They  were  at  the  head  of 
a  majority  which  declined  to  assent  to  the 
formation  of  an  annuity  bank  for  relieving 
the  peasants  of  forced  labour,  and  to  the 
proposal  for  a  railway  from  Berlin  to 
.  Konigsberg,  the  ground  of 
Dissension  j-gf^g^^  ^^^  ^^i^^  ^-^eir  assent 
in  the  '^ 


Landtag 


was  not  recognised  by  the  Crown 
Ministers  as  necessary  for  the 
ratification  of  the  royal  proposals,  but  was 
regarded  merely  as  advice  requested  by 
the  government  on  its  own  initiative. 

The  Landtag  was-  then  requested  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  election  of  a  committee  to  deal 
with  the  national  debt.  Such  a  committee 
would  have  been  supeiHuous  if  financial 
authority  had  been  vested  in  a  Landtag 
meeting  at  regular  intervals,  and  on  this 
question  the  liberal  majority  split  asunder. 
The  party  of  Vincke-Hansemann  declined 
to  vote,  the  party  of  Camphausen-Becke- 
rath  voted  under  protest  against  this  en- 
croachment upon  the  rights  of  the  Landtag, 
while  the  remainder,  284  timorous  Liberals 
and  Conservatives,  voted  unconditionally. 
The  conviction  was  thus  forced  upon 
Liberal  Germany  that  the  King  of  Prussia 
would  not  voluntarily  concede  any  measure 
of  constitutional  reform,  for  the  reason  that 
he  was  resolved  not  to  recognise  the  rights 
of  the  people.  Prussia  was  not  as  yet 
capable  of  mastering  that  popular  upheaval, 
the  beginnings  of  which  could  be  felt,  and 
using  its  strength  for  the  creation  of  a  Ger- 
man Constitution  to  take  the  place  of  the 
incompetent  and  discredited  Federation. 
Hans  von  Zwiedineck-Sudenhorst 


EUROPEiNREyOLUTION  1 


THE    FALL   OF    LOUIS    PHILIPPE 

AND    ITS    EFFECTS    THROUGHOUT    EUROPE 


nPHE  monarchy  of  Louis  Philippe  of 
■'•  Orleans  had  become  intolerable  by 
reason  of  its  dishonesty.  The  French  can- 
not be  blamed  for  considering  the  Orleans 
rulers  as  Bourbons  in  disguise.  This  scion 
of  the  old  royal  family  was  not  a  flourishing 
offshoot  ;  rather  was  it  an  excrescence, 
with  all  the  family  failings  and  with  none 
of  its  nobler  qualities.  Enthusiasm  for 
such  prudential,  calculating,  and  unim- 
passioned  rulers  was  impossible,  whatever 
their  education  or  their  claims.  .  Their  bad 
taste  and  parsimony  destroyed  their  credit 
as  princes  in  France,  and  elsewhere  their 
pos.ition  was  acknowledged  rather  out  of 
politeness  than  from  any  sense  of  respect. 
The  "  citizen- king "  certainly  made 
every  effort  to  make  his  government 
popular  and  national.  He  showed  both 
jealousy  for  French  interests  and  gratitude 
to  the  Liberals  who  had  placed  him  on  the 
thi'one ;  he  sent  troops  unsparingly  to 
save  the  honour  of  France  in  Algiers. 
After  seven  years'  warfare  a  completion 
was  made  of  the  conquest,  which  the 
French  regarded  as  an  extension  of  their 
power.  The  bold  Bedouin  sheikh,  Abd  el 
Kader,  whose  career  has  been  described 
elsewhere,  was  forced  to  surrender  to  La- 
moriciere  on  December  22nd,  1847.     Louis 

^^     „    ,     .       Philippe     imprisoned     this 
The  Bedouin  11  r    -i       j  j.    • 

_  .  ,       noble  son    of  the  desert  m 

Fnsoncr  of         t^  t,,  1      1  ■ 

,      .    _. ...        France,    although    his     son 
Louis  Philippe  T^j  T^    ,         r  ^         - 1      1     J 

Henry,  Duke  01  Aumale,  had 

promised,  as  Governor-general  of  Algiers, 

that  he  should  have  his  choice  of  residence 

on  Mohammedan  territory.     The  king  also 

despatched  his  son,  the  Due  de  Joinville, 

to  take  part  in  the  war  against  Morocco, 

and  gave  him  a  naval  position  of  equal 


importance  to  that  which  Aumale  held  in 

the  army.     He  swallowed  the  insults  of 

Lord  Palmerston  in  order  to  maintain  the 

"  entente  cordiale  "    among  the  Western 

Powers.    He  calmly  accepted  the  defeat  of 

his    diplomacy    in    the    Turco-Egyptian 

quarrel,  and  surrendered  such 

°''  /"^         influence  as  he  had   acquired 

,./      *         with  Mehemet    Ali  in    return 
Napoleon        ,  j.         •       -i       t\t 

lor  paramountcy  m  the  Mar- 
quesas Islands  and  Tahiti.  He  married 
his  son  Anton,  Duke  of  Montpensier, 
to  the  Infanta  Louise  of  Spain,  with 
some  idea  of  reviving  the  dynastic  con- 
nection between  France  and  Spain. 

While  thus  resuming  the  policy  of  Louis 
XIV.,  he  was  also  at  some  pains  to  con- 
ciliate the  Bonapartists,  and 'by  careful 
respect  to  the  memory  of  Napoleon  to 
give  his  government  a  national  character. 
The  remains  of  the  great  emperor  were 
removed  from  St.  Helena  by  permission  of 
Britain  and  interred  with  gi'eat  solemnity 
in  the  Church  of  the  Invalides  on 
December  15th,  X840.  Louis  Bonaparte, 
the  nephew,  had  contrived  to  avoid  cap- 
ture by  the  Austrians  at  Ancona,  and  had 
proposed  to  seize  his  inheritance  ;  twice 
he  appeared  within  the  French  frontiers, 
at  Strassburg  on  October  30th,  1836,  and 
at  Boulogne  on  August  6th,  1840,  in 
readiness  to  ascend  the  throne  of  France. 

He  only  succeeded  in  making  himself 
ridiculous,  and  eventually  paid  for  his 
temerity  by  imprisonment  in  the  fortress 
of  Ham.  There  he  remained,  condemned 
to  occupy  himself  with  writing  articles 
upon  the  solution  of  the  social  question, 
the  proposed  Nicaraguan  canal,  etc.,  until 
his  faithful  follower.  Dr.  Conneau, 
G  4905 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


smuggled  him  into 
England  under  the  name 
of'  Maurer  Badinguet. 
Thus  far  the  reign  of 
Louis  Phihppe  had  been 
fairly  successful ;  but  the 
French  were  growing 
weary  of  it.  They  were 
not  entirely  without  sym- 
pathy for  the  family  to 
which  they  had  given  the 
throne,-  and  showed  some 
interest  in  the  princes, 
who  were  usually  to  be 
found  wherever  any  small 
success  might  be  achieved. 
The  public  sorrow  was 
unfeigned  at  the  death 
of  the  eldest  prince. 
Louis,  Duke  of  Orleans, 
who  was  killed  by  a  fall 
from  a  carriage  on  July 


QUEEN    OF    THE    FRENCH 


13th,  1842.  These  facts, 
however,  did  not  produce 
any  closer  ties  between 
the  dynasty  and  the 
nation.  Parliamentary 
life  was  restless  and 
Ministries  were  constantly 
changing.  Majorities  in 
the  Chambers  were  se- 
cured by  artificial  means, 
and  by  bribery  in  its 
most  reprehensible  forms. 
Conspiracies  were  dis- 
covered and  suppressed, 
and  plots  for  murder  were 
made  the  occasion  of  the 
harshest  measures  against 
the  Radicals  ;•  but  no  one 
of  the  gi'eat  social  groups 
could  be  induced  to  link 


The  daughter  of  Ferdinand  I.,  King- of  Naples  ^^^  fortUUeS  permanently 
and  later  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  Marie  Amelie  .  ,  -i  ^^  ^Y  -i  ^  -U^-,-,JL 
was  married  to  Louis  Philippe  in  the  year  1809.     With  thOSe   of    the   HoUSe 


THE    ROYAL    HOUSE    OF    ORLEANS  :    LOUIS    PHILIPPE    AND    HIS    FIVE    SONS 
in  this  picture,  from  the  painting  by  Horace  Vernet,  Louis  Philippe  i;  shown  with  his  sons,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  the  Duke 
of  Nemours,  the  Duke  of  Joinville,  the  Duke  of  Aumale,  and  the  Duke  of  Montpensier,  leaving  the  Palace  of  VersaUles. 

4906 


THE    FALL    OF    LOUIS    PHILIPPE 


of  Orleans.  Unfortunately  for  himself,  the 
king  had  reposed  special  confidence  in  the 
historian  Guizot,  the  author  of  histories  of 
the  English  revolution  and  of  the  French 
civilisation,  who  had  occupied  high  offices 
in  the  state  since  the  Restoration.  He  had 
belonged  to  the  first  Ministry  of  Louis 
Philippe,  together  with  the  Due  de 
Broglie  ;  afterwards,  he  had  several  times 
held  the  post  of  Minister  of  Education, 
and  had  been  in  London  during  the  quarrel 
with  the  British  ambassador.  After  this 
affair,  which  brought  him  no  credit,  he 
returned  to 
France,  and  on 
the  fall  of  Thiers 
in  October,  1840, 
became  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs, 
with  practical 
control  of  the 
foreign  and  dom- 
estic policy  of 
France,  subject 
to  the  king's 
personal  inter 
vention.  Hib 
doctrinaire  ten- 
dencies had  grad- 
u  a  1 1  y  brought 
him  over  from 
the  liberal  to  the 
conservative  side 
and  thrown  him 
into  violent  op- 
position to  his 
former  col- 
leagues,  Thiers  in 
particular.  The 
acerbity  of  his 
character  was 
not  redeemed  by 
his  learning  and 
his  personal  up- 
rightness ;  his 
intellectual  arro- 
gance alienated 
the  literary  and  political  leaders  of  Parisian 
society.  The  Republican  party  had  under- 
gone many  changes  since  the  establishment 
of  the  July  monarchy  ;  it  now  exercised  a 
greater  power  of  attraction  upon  youthful 
talent,  a  quality  which  made  it  an  even 
more  dangerous  force  than  did  the  revolts 
and  conspiracies  which  it  fostered  from 
1831  to  1838.  These  latter  severely  tested 
the  capacity  of  the  army  for  street  warfare 
on  several  occasions.  It  was  twice 
necessary  to  subdue  Lyons,  in  November, 


LOUIS    PHILIPPE 


1831,  and  July,  1834,  and  the  barricades 
erected  in  Paris  in  1834  repelled  the 
National  Guards,  and  only  fell  before  the 
regiments  of  the  line  under  General  Bu- 
geaud.  The  Communist  revolts  in  Paris 
under  Armand  Barbes  and  Louis  Auguste 
Blanqui,  in  May,  1839,  were  more  easily 
suppressed,  tliough  the  Hotel  de  Ville  and 
the  Palais  de  Justice  had  already  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  rebels. 

These  events  confirmed  Louis  PhiUppe 
in  his  intention  to  erect  a  circle  of  fortifi- 
cations round  Paris,  for  protection  against 
enemies  from 
within  rather 
than  from  with- 
out. Homicidal 
attempts  were 
no  longer  perpe- 
trated by  indivi- 
dual desperadoes 
or  bloodthirsty 
monomaniacs, 
such  as  the  Corsi- 
can  Joseph 
Fieschi,  on  July 
28th,  1835,  whose 
infernal  machine 
killed  eighteen 
people,  including 
Marshal  Mortier. 
They  were  under- 
taken in  the 
service  of  repub- 
lican  propa- 
gandism,  and 
were  repeated 
with  the  object 
of  terrorising  the 
ruling  c  la  s  s  e  s , 
and  so  providing 
an  occasion  for 
the  abohtion  oi 
the  monarchy. 
The  doctrines 
of  communism 
were  then  being 
disseminated  throughout  France  and 
attracted  the  more  interest  as  stock- 
exchange  speculation  increased ;  fortunes 
were  made  with  incredible  rapidity,  and 
expenditure  rose  to  the  point  of  prodi- 
gality. Louis  Blanc,  nephew  of  the  Cor- 
sican  statesman  Pozzo  di  Borgo,  went  a 
step  further  towards  the  transformation 
of  social  and  economic  life  in  his  treatise 
"  L'Organisation  du  Travail,"  which  urged 
that  coUectivist  manufactures  in  national 
factories  should   be   substituted   for   the 

4907 


ING     OF    THE 


FRENCH 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


efforts  of  the  individual  employer.  The 
rise  of  communistic  societies  among  the 
Republicans  obliged  the  old-fashioned 
Democrats  to  organise  in  their  turn ;  they 
attempted  and  easily  secured  an  under- 
standing with  the  advanced  Liberals. 

The  "  dynastic  opposition,"  led  by 
Odilon  Barrot,  to  which  Thiers  occasionally 
gave  a  helping  hand  when  he  was  out  of 
office,  strained  every  nerve  to  shake  the 
public  faith  in  the  permanence  of  the  July 
dynasty.  The  republican  party  in  the 
Second  Chamber 
was  led  by  Alex- 
andre ,R  o  1 1 i  n 
after  the  death  of 
Etienne  Garnier- 
Pages  and  of 
Armand  Carrel, 
the  leaders  dur- 
ing the  first 
decade  of  the 
Orleans  m  o  n  - 
archy.  A  dis- 
tinguished law- 
yer and  brilliant 
orator,  Roll  in 
soon  over- 
shadowed all 
other  politicians 
who  had  aroused 
any  enthusiasm 
in  the  Parisians. 
His  comparative 
wealth  enabled 
him  to  embark 
in  journalistic 
ventures;  .his 
paper  "  La  Re- 
forme  "  pointed 
consistently  and 
unhesitatingly  to 
•republicanism  as 
the  only  possible 
form  of  govern- 
ment after  the 
now  imminent 
downfall    of   the 

July  monarchy.  The  action  of  the  majority 
now  destroyed  such  credit  as  the  Chamber 
had  possessed  ;  they  rejected  proposals 
from  the  opposition  forbidding  deputies  to 
accept  posts  or  preferment  from  the 
Government,  or  to  have  an  interest  in 
manufacturing  or  commercial  companies, 
the  object  being  to  put  a  stop  to  the  un- 
disguised corruption  then  rife.  Constitu- 
tional members  united  with  Republicans 
in  demanding  a  fundamentalreform  of  the 

4908 


THE     DUKES     OF     ORLEANS     AND     AUMALE 
The  sons  of  Louis  Philippe,  they  held  commands  in  the  army,  and, 
like  their  brothers,  "were  usually  to  be  found  wherever  any  small 
success  might  be  achieved."    There  was  much  public  sorrow  when 
the  Duke  of   Orleans   was  killed  by  a  fall  from  a  carriage  in  1S42. 

cries   were    taken    up 
Guard,  and  the  king. 


electoral  system.  Louis  Blanc  and  Rollin 
raised  the  cry  for  universal  suffrage.  Ban- 
quets, where  vigorous  speeches  were  made 
in  favour  of  electoral  reform,  were  ar- 
ranged in  the  autumn  of  1847,  and  con- 
tinued until  the  Ciovernment  prohibited 
the  banquet  organised  for  February  22nd, 
1848,  in  the  Champs  Elysees.  However, 
Ch.  M.  Tannegui,  Count  Duchatel,  was 
induced  to  refrain  from  ordering  the 
forcible  dispersion  of  the  meeting,  the 
liberal  opposition  on  their  side  giving  up 
the  projected 
banquet.  Agi-eat 
crowd  collected 
on  the  appointed 
day  in  the  Place 
Madeleine, 
whence  it  had 
been  arranged 
that  a  procession 
should  march  to 
the  Champs 
Elysees.  The  re- 
publican leaders 
invited  the  crowd 
to  mai'ch  to  the 
Houses  of  Par- 
liament, and  it 
became  neces- 
sary to  call  out 
a  ;  regiment  of 
cavalry  for  the 
dispersion  of  the 
rioters.  This  task 
was.  successfully 
accomplished, 
but  on  the  23rd 
the  disturbances 
were  renewed. 
Students  and 
workmen  pa- 
raded the  streets 
arm  in  arm, 
shouting  not  only 
' '  Reform  ! ' '  but 
also  "  Down  with 
Guizot ! "  These 
by  the  National 
who  had  hitherto 
disregarded  the  movement,  began  to  con- 
sider the  outlook  as  serious  ;  he  dismissed 
Guizot  and  began  to  confer  with  Count 
Louis  Matthieu  Mole,  a  leader  of  the  mod- 
erate Liberals,  on  the  formation  of  a  new 
Ministry.  Thus  far  the  anti -dynastic  party 
had  been  successful,  and  now  began  to 
hope  for  an  upright  government  on  a  purely 
constitutional  basis.     In  this  they  would 


4909 


HARMS  WORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


liave  been  entirely  deceived,  for  upright- 
ness was  not  one  ol  the  king's  attributes. 
But  on  tliis  point  he  was  not  to  be  tested. 
On  the  evening  of  February  23rd  the 
crowds  which  thronged  the  boulevards 
gave  loud  expression  to  their  delight  at 
the  dismissal  of  Guizot.  Meanwhile,  the 
republican  agents  were  busily  collecting 
the  inhabitants  of  the  suburbs,  who  had 
been  long  prepared  for  a  rising,  and 
sending  them  forward  to  the  more  excited 
quart  I M^  ni  1I;:  Hiey  would  not,  in 


of  those  incidents  which  are  always  possible 
when  troops  are  subjected  to  the  threats 
and  taunts  of  the  people,  and  in  such  a 
case  attempts  to  apportion  the  blame  are 
futile.  The  thing  was  done,  and  Paris 
rang  with  cries  of  "  Murder  !  To  artns  !  " 
About  midnight  the  alarm  bells  of  Notre 
Dame  began  to  ring,  and  thousands  flocked 
to  raise  the  barricades.  The  morning  of 
February  24th  found  Paris  in  revolution, 
ready  to  begin  the  struggle  against  the 
people's  king.  "  Louis  Philippe  orders  his 


THE     kHlEPTION     of     napoleons     BODY     AT     THE     CHURCH     OF    THE     INVALIDES 
At  the  Church  of  the  Invalides  the  body  of  Napoleon  was  received  by  Louis  PhiUppe,  the  royal  family,  the  archbishop 
?nd  all  the  clergy  of  Paris.     The  sword  and  the  hat  of  the  emperor  were  laid  on  the  coffin,  which  was  then  placed 
on  a  magnificent  altar  in  the  centre  of  the  church,  and  after  an  impressive  funeral  service  was  lowered  into  the  tomb. 


all  probability,  have  been  able  to  trans- 
form the  good-tempered  and  characteristic 
cheerfulness  which  now  filled  the  streets  of 
Paris  to  a  more  serious  temper  had  not  an 
unexpected  occurrence  fiUed  the  mob  with 
horror  and  rage.  A  crowd  of  people  had 
come  in  contact  with  the  soldiers  stationed 
before  Guizot's  house.  Certain  insolent 
youths  proceeded  to  taunt  the  officer  in 
command ;  a  shot  rang  out,  a  volley 
iollov/ed,  and  numbers  of  the  mockers  lay 
weltering  in  their  blood.     It  was  but  one 

4c,io 


troops  to  fire  on  the  people,  like  Charles  X. 
Send  him  after  his  predecessor  !  "  This 
proposal  of  the  "  Reforme  "  became  the 
republican  solution  of  the  question. 

The  monarchy  was  now  irrevocably 
lost  ;  the  man  who  should  have  saved  it 
was  asking  help  from  the  Liberals,  who 
\^«re  as  powerless  as  himself.  A  would-be 
ruler  must  know  how  to  use  his  power, 
and  must  believe  that  his  will  is  force  in 
itself.  When,  at  his  wife's  desire,  the 
king   appeared   on  horseback  before   his 


THE    TOMB    OF    NAPOLEON    AT    THE    h6tEL    DES    INVALIDES    IN    PARIS 

The  magnificent  tomb  erected  to  Napoleon  atths  Hotel  des  Invalides  is  a  fitting  memorial  of  the  man  who  made  Europe 
tremble  and  whose  genius  raised  him  to  the  pinnacle  of  power.  A  circular  crypt,  surrounded  by  twelve  colossal  figures 
symbolising  his  victories,  contains  the  sarcophagus,   which  was  hewn  out  of  a   single  block   of  Siberian  porphyry. 

49II 


THE     FLIGHT     OF     LOUIS     PHILIPPE     FROM     PARIS     IN     l>i3 
Events  in  Paris  had  again  been  leading  up  to  a  revolution,  and  on  February  24th,  1848,  the  capital  of  France  was  once 
more  the  scene  of  a  people's  rising  against  the  monarchy.     Alarmed  at  the  course  of  affairs,  the  king  abdicated  in 
favour  of  his  grandson,  the  Count  of  Paris,  and  went  off  to  St.  Cloud  with  the  queen,  afterwards  escaping  to  England. 

.•-eginients  and  the  National  Guard,  he  knew 
within  himself  that  he  was  not  capable  of 
rousing    the    enthusiasm    of    his    troops. 
Civilian  clothes  and  an  umbrella  would 
have  suited  him  better  than  sword  and 
epaulettes.   Louis  Philippe  thus  abdicated 
in  favour  of  his  grandson,  the  Count  of 
Paris,  whom  he  left  to  the 
care    of    Charles,     Duke    of 
Nemours,  took  a  portfolio  of 
such  papers  as  were  valuable, 
and  went  away  to  St.  Cloud 
with    his    wife.       The    bold 
daughter     of      Mecklenburg, 
Henriette  of  Orleans,  brought 
her  son,  Louis  Philippe,  who 
was  now  the   rightful    king, 
into  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
where  Odilon  Barrot,  in  true 
knightly    fashion,     broke     a 
lance  on  behalf  of  the  king's 
rights  and  of  constitutional- 
ism.    But  the  victors  in  the  ^   .     ,  u-  .    •       r-  ■    . 

.         ./-ij-         1       1  I,,-  Emment   as  an  historian,   Guizot 

Street  fighting  had  made  their  became  chief  adviser  to  Louis  Phi- 

wav  into  the  ball     thpir   rnm-  >'Ppe  on  the  dismissal'of  Thiers,  and 

way  into  inc   nail,  Xneir    com-  ^is  reactionary  policy  did  much  to 

radeS   were    at     that     moment  bring  about  the  revolution  of  1848. 

invading  the  Tuileries,  and  Legitimists  and 
Democrats  joined  in  deposing  the  House 
of  Orleans  and  demanding  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  provisional  government.  The 
question  was  dealt  with  by  the  "Chris- 
tian   rnoralist,"   poet,    and  .  diplomatist, 

4912 


GUIZOT   THE    HISTORIAN 


Alphonse  de  Lamartine,  whose  "  His- 
tory of  the  Girondists  "  in  eight  volumes 
with  its  glorification  of  political  murder 
had  largely  contributed  to  advance  the 
revolutionary  spirit  in  France.  Though 
the  electoral  tickets  had  fallen  into  the 
greatest  confusion,  he  contrived  to  produce 
a  list  of  names  which  were 
backed  by  a  strong  body  of 
supporters ;  these  included 
Louis  Garnier-Pages,  half- 
brother  of  the  deceased 
Etienne,  Ledru-Rollin,  the 
astronomer  Dominique  Fran- 
9ois  Arago,  the  Jewish  lawyer 
Isak  Cremieux,  who  was 
largely  responsible  for  the 
abdication  of  Louis  Philippe, 
and  Lamartine  himself.  The 
list  was  approved.  The  body 
thus  elected  effected  a  timely 
junction  with  the  party  of 
Louis  Blanc,  who  was  given 
a  place  in  the  government 
with  four  republican  consulta- 
tive members.  They  then  took 
possession  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  filled  up 
the  official  posts,  and  with  the  concurrence 
of  the  people  declared  France  a  republic  on 
February  25th.  The  dethroned  king  and 
the  members  of  his  house  were  able,  if  not 
unmenaced,  at  any  rate  without  danger, 


49^: 


HARMS  WORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


to  reach  the  coasts  of  England  and 
safety,  or  to  cross  the  German  frontier. 
The  new  government  failed  to  satisfy 
the  Socialists,  who  were  determined,  after 
definitely  establishing  the  "  right  of  la- 
bour," to  insist  upon  the  right  of  the  wage 
they  desired.  The  installation  of  state 
factories  and  navvy  labour  at  two  francs 
a  day  was  not  enough  for 
Demands      ^j^^^^  .    ^j^^^^  formed  hundreds 

g  .  ^j.  of  clubs  under  the  direction  of 
a  central  bureau,  with  the 
object  of  replacing  the  government  for  the 
time  being  by  a  committee  of  public  safety, 
which  should  proceed  to  a  general  redis- 
tribution of  property.  Ledru-Rollin  was 
not  inclined  to  accept  the  offer  of  the  presi- 
dency of  such  an  extraordinary  body  ;  he 
and  Lamartine,  with  the  help  of  General 
Changarnier  and  the  National  Guards, 
entirely  outmanoeuvred  the  hordes  which 
had  made  a  premature  attempt  to  storm  the 
town  hall,  and  forced  them  to  surrender. 

Peace  was  thus  assured  to  Paris  for 
the  moment.  The  emissaries  of  the  revolu- 
tionaries could  not  gain  a  hearing,  and  it 
was  possible  to  go  on  with  the  elections, 
which  were  conducted  on  the  principle  of 
universal  suffrage.  Every  40,000  inhabi- 
tants elected  a  deputy  ;  every  department 
formed  a  uniform  electorate.  Lamartine, 
one  of  the  goo  chosen,  obtained  2,300,000 
votes  in  ten  departments.  The  Assembly 
was  opened  on  May  4th. 

To  the  organised  enemies  of  monarchy 
the  February  Revolution  was  a  call  to 
undisguised  activity ;  to  the  world  at 
large  it  was  a  token  that  the  times  of  peace 
were  over,  and  that  the  long-expected 
movement  would  now  inevitably  break 
out.  It  is  not  always  an  easy  matter  to 
decide  whether  these  several  events  ori- 
ginated in  the  inflammatory  labours  of 
revolutionaries  designedly  working  in 
secret,  or  in  some  sudden  outburst  of 
feeling,  some  stimulus  to  action  hitherto 
unknown.  No  less  difficult  is  the  task  of 
.  deciding  how  far  the  conspira- 

„      \^      ,  tors   were   able   personally   to 
Enemies  of    •    ^i      .  .1  n        j-      ^   a 

y.  .  mffuence  others  of  radical  ten- 
dencies but  outside  their  own 
organisations.  These  organisations  were 
most  important  to  France,  Italy,  Germany, 
and  Poland.  The  central  bureaus  were  in 
Paris  and  Switzerland,  and  the  noble 
Giuseppe  Mazzini,  indisputably  one  of  the 
purest  and  most  devoted  of  Italian  patriots, 
held  most  of  the  strings  of  this  somewhat 
clumsy    network.        His    journals    "  Lci 

4914 


Giovine  Europa  "  and  "  La  Jeune  Suisse  " 
were  as  short-lived  as  the  "  Giovine  Italia," 
published  at  Marseilles  in  1831 ;  but  they 
incessantly  urged  the  duty  of  union  upon 
all  those  friends  of  humanity  who  were 
willing  to  share  in  the  task  of  liberating 
peoples  from  the  tyranny  of  monarchs. 

From  1834  3-  special  "  union  of  exiles  " 
had  existed  at  Paris,  which  declared  "  the 
deposition  and  expulsion  of  monarchs  an 
inevitable  necessity,"  and  looked  for  a 
revolution  to  break  out  in  France  or 
Germany,  or  a  war  between  France  and 
Germany  or  Russia,  in  the  hope  of  assisting 
France  in  the  attack  upon  the  German 
rulers.  Its  organisation  was  as  extra- 
ordinary as  it  was  secret  ;  there  were 
"  mountains,"  "  national  huts,"  "  focal 
points,"  "  circles,"  wherein  preparation 
was  to  be  made  for  the  transformation  of 
Germany  in  the  interests  of  humanity. 

The  "  righteous  "  had  diverged  from  the 
"  outlaws,"  and  from  X840  were  reunited 
with  the  "  German  union,"  which  aimed  at 
"  the  formation  of  a  free  state  embracing 
the  whole  of  Germany."  The  persecutions 
and  continual  "investigations"  which 
the  German  Federation  had  carried  on 
_  since  the  riots  at  Frankfort 

c  secu  ions    j^^^    impeded,    though    not 
of  the  German        <•     1         1       1  rP 

„   .      ^.  entu'ely     broken    off,     corn- 

Federation  ■   ■'..        ,    .  ' , 

munications  between  the  cen- 
tral officials  in  Paris  and  their  associates 
residing  in  Germany.  From  Switzerland 
came  a  continual  stream  of  craftsmen, 
teachers,  and  authors,  who  were  sworn  in 
by  the  united  Republicans.  Karl  Mathy, 
afterwards  Minister  of  State  for  Baden,  who 
had  been  Mazzini's  colleague  in  Solothurn, 
was  one  of  their  members  in  1840,  when  he 
was  called  to  Carlsruhe  to  take  up  the 
post  of  editor  of  the  "  Landtagszeitung." 

The  deliberations  of  the  united  Landtag 
at  Berlin  had  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  South  German  Liberals  to  the  highly 
talented  politicians  in  Prussia,  on  whose 
help  they  could  rely  in  the  event  of  a 
rearrangement  of  the  relative  positions  of 
the  German  states.  The  idea  of  some 
common  movement  towards  this  end  was 
mooted  at  a  gathering  of  politicians  at 
Heppenheim  on  October  i6th,  1847,  and  it 
was  determined  to  lay  proposals  for  some 
change  in  the  federal  constitution  before 
the  assemblies  of  the  individual  states. 

In  the  grand  duchy  of  Baden  the 
Democrats  went  even  further  at  a  meeting 
held  at  Offenburg  on  September  12th. 
Proceedings  were  conducted  by  a  certain 


THE    FALL    OF    LOUIS    PHILIPPE 


lawyer  of  Mannheim,  one  Gustav  von 
Struve,  an  overbearing  individual  of  a 
Livonian  family,  and  by  Friedrich  Hecker, 
an  empty-headed  prater,  also  an  attorney, 
who  had  already  displayed  his  incapacity 
for  political  action  in  the  Baden  Landtag. 
To  justifiable  demands  for  the  repeal  of 
the  decrees  of  Carlsbad,  for  national 
representation  within  the  German  Federa- 
tion, for  freedom  of  the  Press,  religious 
toleration,  and  full  liberty  to  teachers, 
they  added  immature  proposals,  as  to  the 
practicable  working  of  which  no  one  had 
the  smallest  conception.  They  looked  not 
only  for  a  national  system  of  defence  and 


members  of  the  state.  The  king  and 
poet,  Lewis  I.,  had  conceived  a  blind  in- 
fatuation for  the  dancer  Lola  Montez, 
an  Irish  adventuress — .Rosanna  Gilbert — 
who  masqueraded  under  a  Spanish  name. 
This  fact  led  to  the  downfall  of  the 
Ministry,  which  was  clerical  without 
exception ;  further  consequences  were 
street  riots,  unjustifiable  measures  against 
the  students  who  declined  to  show  respect 
to  the  dancing-woman,  and  finally  bloody 
conflicts.  It  was  not  until  the  troops  dis- 
played entire  indifference  to  the  tyrannical 
orders  which  had  been  issued  that  the 
king    yielded    to    the    entreaties   of    the 


EPISODE    IN    THE    PARIS  REVOLUTION  :    BURNING  THE   THRONE   AT   THE  JULY    COLUMN 

fair  taxation,  but  also  for  "  the  removal 
of  the  inequalities  existing  between  capital 
and  labour  and  the  abolition  of"  all  privi- 
leges." Radicalism  thus  plumed  itself 
upon  its  own  veracity,  and  pointed  out 
the  path  which  the  masses  who  listened 
to  its  allurements  would  take — a  result  of 
radical  incapacity  to  distinguish  between 
the  practicable  and  the  unattainable. 

Immediately  before  the  events  of  Feb- 
ruary in  Paris  were  made  known,  the 
kingdom  of  Bavaria,  and  its  capital  in 
particular,  were  in  a  state  of  revolt  and 
open  war  between  the  authorities  and  the 


citizens,  on  February  nth,  1848,  and 
removed  from  Munich  this  impossible 
beauty,  who  had  been  made  a  countess. 

The  first  of  those  surprising  phenomena 
in  Germany  which  sprang  from  the  im- 
pression created  by  the  February  Revolu- 
tion was  the  session  of  the  Federal  Assembly 
on  March  ist,  1848.  Earlier  occurrences 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Frank- 
fort, no  doubt  materially  influenced  the 
course  of  events.  In  Baden,'  before  his 
fate  had  fallen  upon  the  July  king,  Karl 
Mathy  had  addressed  the  nation  from  the 
Chamber  on  February  23rd  :    "For  thirty 

4915 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


years  the  Germans  have  tried  moderation 
and  in  vain  ;  they  must  now  see  whether 
violence  will  enable  them  to  advance, 
and  such  violence  is  not  to  be  limited  to 
the  states  meeting-hall  !  "  At  a  meet- 
ing of  citizens  at  Mannheim  on  the  27th, 
an  address  was  carried  by  Struve  which 
thus  formulated  the  most  pressing  ques- 
tions  :  Universal  mihtary  ser- 
J"  vice  with  power  to  elect  the 

o     erman  ^^^^^.^    unrestrained   freedom 

°*  ^  of  the  Press,  trial  by  jury  after 

the  English  model,  and  the  immediate 
constitution  of  a  German  Parliament. 

In  Hesse-Darmstadt,  a  popular  deputy 
in  the  Landtag,  one  Gagern,  the  second 
son  of  the  former  statesman  of  Nassau 
and  the  Netherlands,  demanded  that 
the  Government  should  not  only  call  a 
Parliament,  but  also  create  a  central 
governing  power  for  Germany.  The  re- 
quest was  inspired  by  the  fear  of  an 
approaching  war  with  France,  which  was 
then  considered  inevitable.  It  was  fear 
of  this  war  which  suddenly  convinced  the 
high  Federal  Council  at  Frankfort-on- 
Main  that'  the  people  were  indispensable 
to  their  existence.  On  March  ist  they 
issued  "  a  federal  decree  to  the  German 
people,"  W'hose  existence  they  had  dis- 
regarded for  three  centuries,  emphasising 
the  need  for  unity  between  all  the  German 
races,  and  asserting  their  conviction  that 
Germany  must  be  raised  to  her  due 
position   among  the   nations   of   Europe. 

On  March  ist  Herr  von  Struve  led  a  gang 

of  low-class  followers  in  the  pay  of  the 

Republicans,  together   with  the  deputies 

of    the    Baden    towns,    into    the    federal 

Chamber.    Ejected  thence,  he  turned  upon 

the  castle  in  Carlsruhe,  his  aim  being  to 

foment  disturbances  and  bloody  conflict, 

and   so    to    intimidate    the    moderately 

minded   majority.     His   plan   was    foiled 

by  the  firm  attitude  of  the  troops.     But  the 

abandonment  of  the  project  was  not  to  be 

expected,    and    it    was    clear    that    the 

„    .       .         nationalist  movement  in  Ger- 

,1,  f-u  I  <  many  would  meec  with  its 
(he  Check  to  /,  i       i    •     -r-,     t 

^  ..      ,.       most  d?  Tiger ous  check  m  Radi- 

calism.      1  elegrams  from  Pans 

and  West  Germany  reached  Munich,  when 

the  newly  restored  peace  was  again  broken. 

The  new  Minister,   State  Councillor  von 

Berks,  was  denounced  as  a  tool  of  -Lola 

Montez,  and  his  dismissal  was  enforced. 

On  IMarch  6th,  King  Lewis,  in  his  usual 

poetical  style,   declared   his   readiness   to 

satisfy  the  popular  demands.     However, 

4916 


fresh  disturbance  was  excited  by  the 
rumour  that  Lola  Montez  was  anxious  to 
return.  Lewis,  who  declined  to  be  forced 
into  the  concession  of  any  constitution 
upon  liberal  principles,  lost  heart  and 
abdicated  in  favour  of  his  son  Maximilian 
II.  He  saw  clearly  that  he  could  no 
longer  resist  the  strength  of  the  movement 
for  the  recognition  of  the  people's  rights. 
The  political  storm  would  unchain  the 
potent  forces  of  stupidity  and  folly  which 
the  interference  of  short-sighted  majorities 
had  created.  When  Lewis  retired  into 
private  life,  Metternich  had  already  fallen. 
The  first  act  of  the  Viennese,  horrified 
at  the  victory  of  the  Republicans  in  Paris, 
was  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  their 
money-bags.  The  general  mistrust  of  the 
Government  was  shown  in  the  haste  wuth 
which  accounts  were  withdrawn  from 
the  public  savings  banks.  It  was  not, 
however,  the  Austrians  who  pointed  the 
moral  to  the  authorities.  On  March  3rd, 
in  the  Hungarian  Reichstag,  Kossuth 
proposed  that  the  emperor  should  be 
requested  to  introduce  constitutional  gov- 
ernment into  his  provinces,  and  to  grant 
Hungary  the  national  self-government 
which  was  hers  by  right.  In 
Vienna  similar  demands  were 
advanced  by  the  industrial 
unions,  the  legal  and  political 
reading  clubs,  and  the  students.  It 
was  hoped  that  a  bold  attitude  would 
be  taken  by  the  provincial  Landtag, 
which  met  on  March  X3th.  When  the 
anxious  crowds  promenading  the  streets 
learned  that  the  representatives  proposed 
to  confine  themselves  to  a  demand  for 
the  formation  of  a  committee  of  deputies 
■  from  all  the  Crown  provinces,  they  invaded 
the  council  chamber  and  forced  the  meeting 
to  consent  to  the  despatch  of  a  deputation 
to  lay  the  national  desire  for  a  free  con- 
stitution before  the  emperor. 

While  the  deputation  was  proceeding  to 
the  Hofburg  the  soldiers  posted  before  the 
council  chamber,  including-  the  Archduke 
Albert,  eldest  son  of  the  Archduke  Charles, 
who  died  in  1847,  w^ere  insulted  and  pelted 
with  stones.  They  replied  with  a  volley. 
It  was  the  loss  of  life  thereby  caused  which 
made  the  movement  a  serious  reality. 
The  citizens  of  Vienna",  startled  out  of 
their  complacency,  vied  with  the  mob 
in  the  loudness  of  their  cries  against- 
this  "  firing  on  defenceless  men."  Their 
behaviour  was  explained  to  Count 
Metternich    in    the    Hofburg,    not   as  an 


Riots  in 

the  Streets  of 

Vienna 


FIGHTING    IN    THE    STREETS    OF    PARIS    DURING    THE    REVOLUTION    OF    FEBRUARY.    1848 

From  the  drauing  by  Wegiier 

4917 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


ordinary  riot   capable  of  suppression  by 
a  handful  of  police,  but  as  a  revolution 
with  which  he  had  now  to  deal.     Nowhere 
would  such  a  task  have  been  easier  than  in 
Vienna  had  there  been  any  corporation  or 
individual  capable  of   immediate   action, 
and  able  to  make  some  short  and  definite 
promise    of    change    in    the 
government   system.     There 
was,    however,     no    nucleus 
round  which  a  new  govern- 
ment could  be  formed,  Prince 
Metternich  being  wholly  im- 
practicable for  such  a  purpose. 
All    the  state   councillors, 
the    court    dignitaries,     and 
generally  those  whom  chance 
or      curiosity      rather    than 
definite  purpose  had  gathered 
in   the  corridors    and   ante- 
chambers   of    the     imperial 
castle,  were  unanimous  in  the 
opinion  that  the  Chancellor 
of  State  must  be  sacrificed. 


to    draw    up    any    programme    for    the 
introduction  of  constitutional  principles. 
Even  on  March  14th  they  demurred  to 
the  word  "  constitution,"  and  thought  it 
possible  to  effect  some  compromise  with 
the  provincial  deputations.      Finally, .  on 
March    15th,  the   news    of     fresh    scenes 
induced  the  privy  councillor 
of  the  royal  family  to  issue 
the     following     declaration : 
"  Provision    has    been    made 
for  summoning  the  deputies 
of   all  provincial    estates    in 
the  shortest  possible  period, 
for     the     purpose     of     con- 
sidering  the    constitution  of 
the  country,    with   increased 
representation  of  the  citizen 
class  and  with  due  regard  to 
the  existing    constitutions  of 
the    several    estates."      The 
responsible  Ministry  of  Kolo- 
LEWis   I.    OF   BAVARIA     wrat-Ficquclmout,  formed  on 

Ascending  the  throne  in  1825,  he    IMarch    iStll,   included    among 


This  empty  figiu-e-head  stood  il^^'^^J  t^iZic' 6il!onll^^^^^  Metternich's  worn-out  tools 
isolated  amid  the  surrounding  and  m  the  year  i848  abdicated  in  ouc  man  only  possessed  of 
turmoil,  unable  to  help  him- /^"°"^°''''^^°'""'^^'''™'"""  "•  the  knowledge  requisite  for 
self  or  his  perplexed  advisers  ;*  he  emitted      the  drafting  of  a  constitution   in  detail ; 


a  few  sentences  upon  the  last  sacrifice 
that  he  could  make  for  the  monarchy 
and  disappeared.  He  left  no  one  to  take 
up  his  power  ;  no  one  able  to  represent 
him,  able  calmly  and  confidently  to  ex- 
amine and  decide  upon  the  demands 
transmitted  from  the  street 
to  the  council  chamber.  The 
Emperor  Ferdinand  was 
himself  wholly  incapable  of 
grasping  the  real  meaning 
of  the  events  which  had 
taken  place  in  his  immediate 
neighbourhood.  The  Arch- 
duke Lewis,  one  of  Metter- 
nich's now  useless  tools,  was 
utterly  perplexed  by  the  con- 
flict of  voices  and  opinions. 
In  his  fear  of  the  excesses 
that  the  "Reds"  might  be 


this  was  the  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
Pillersdorf,  who  was  as  weak  and  feeble 
in  character  as  in  bodily  health. 

In  Hungary  the  destructive  process  was 
far  more  comprehensive  and  imposing. 
On  March  14th  Louis  Kossuth  in  the 
Reichstag  at  Pressburg  se- 
cured the  announcement  of 
the  freedom  of  the  Press,  and 
called  for  a  system  of  national 
defence  for  Hungary,  to  be 
based  upon  the  general  duty 
of  military  service.  Mean- 
while, his  adherents,  con- 
sisting of  students,  authors, 
and  "jurats" — idle  lawyers — 
seized  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment in  Ofenpest,  and 
replaced  the  town  council  by 
a  committee  of  public  safety. 


expected    to    perpetrate,    he    t^J^^jng^sfavourTi^  composed  of  radical  members 

lost  sight  of  the  means  which   with  this  Irish  adventuress,  who  by  preference.     On  the  15th 

might     have   been    used    to   S^Montel" Lewis ^1  "be"lm°J  the    State    Assembly   of   the 

pacify   the    moderate    party  infatuated,   but  '  ^  •  -    .  ,-  , 

and  induce  them  to  maintain   *°   '^"""^^    ^" 

law  and  order.     The  authorisation  for  the 

arming  of  the  students  and  citizens  was 

extorted  from  him  perforce,  and  he  would 

hear  nothing  of  concessions  to  be  made  by 

the  dynasty  to  the  people.     Neither  he 

nor  Count  Kolowrat  Liebsteinsky  ventured 

4918 


was  compelled  Reichstag  was  transformed 
from    Munich.   -^^^    ^    National    Assembly. 

Henceforward  its  conclusions  were  to  be 
communicated  to  the  magnates,  whose 
consent  was  to  be  unnecessary.  • 

On  the  same  day  a  deputation  of  the 
Hungarian  Reichstag,  accompanied  by 
jurats,  arrived  at  Vienna,  where  Magyars 


THE    FALL    OF     LOUIS    PHILIPPE 


and  Germans  swore  to  the  fellowship  with 
all  pomp  and  enthusiasm.'  The  deputation 
secured  the  concession  of  an  independent 
and  responsible  Ministry  for  Hungary. 

This  was  installed  on  March  23rd  by  the 
Archduke  Palatine  Stephen,  and  united 
the  popular  representatives  among  Hun- 
garian politicians,  such  as  Batthyany  and 
Szechenyi,  with  Prince  Paul  Eszterhazy, 
Josef  von  Eotvos,  Franz  von  Deak,  and 
Louis  Kossuth.  After  a  few  days'  delibera- 
tion the  Reichstag  practically  abolished  the 
old  constitution.  The  rights  of  the  lords 
were  abrogated,  and  equality  of  politicall 
rights  given  to  citizens  of  towns  ;  the  right 
of  electing  to  the  Reichstag  was  con- 
ceded to  "  the  adherents  of  legally 
recognised  religions  "  ;  laws  were  passed 
regulating  the  Press  and  the  National 
Guards.  The  country  was  almost  in  a  state 
of  anarchy,  as  the  old  pro- 
vincial administrations  and 
local  authorities  had  been 
abolished  and  replaced  by 
committees  of  public  safety, 
according  to  the  precedent 
set  at  Pest.  The  example  of 
Austria  influenced  the  course 
of  events  throughout  Ger- 
many ;  there  the  desire  for  a 
free  constitution  grew  hotter, 
and  especially  so  in  Berlin. 

The  taxation  committees 
were  assembled  in  that 
town  when  the  results  of 
the  February 
became  known.  The  king 
'dismissed  them  on  March  7th, 


the    excitement    prevailing    among    the 

population  of  the  Rhine  province  would 

only  be  increased  by  the  appearance  of 

the     prince.     Despatches     from     Vienna 

further  announced  the  fall  of  Metternich. 

The  king  now  resolved  to  summon  the 

united  Landtag  to  Berlin  on  April  17th  ; 

M  k      *  it      he     considered,    no     doubt, 
Mobs  at  the      -1     .    i-,  .  ,  ,, 

_      ,  jj  ,        that  Prussia  could  very  well 

in  Berlin  exercise  lier  patience  for  a 
month.  On  March  15th  the 
first  of  many  riotous  crowds  assembled 
before  the  royal  castle,  much  excited 
by  the  news  from  Vienna.  Deputations 
constantly  arrived  from  the  provinces 
to  give  expression  to  the  desire  of 
the  population  for  some  constitutional 
definition  of  their  rights.  The  king  went 
a  step  further  and  altered  the  date  of  the 
meeting  of  the  Landtag  to  April  2nd  ; 
but  in  the  patent  of  March 
i8th  he  explained  his  action 
by  reference  only  to  his  duties 
as  federal  ruler,  and  to  his 
intention  of  proposing  a 
federal  reform,  to  include 
"  temporary  federal  repre- 
sentation of  all  German 
countries."  He  even  recog- 
nised that  "  such  federal 
representation  implies  a  form 
of-  constitution  applicable  to 
all  German  countries,"  but 
made  no  definite  promise  as 


MAXIMILIAN  ii.-BAVARiA  ^o  any   form  of  constitution 

Revolution   He  ascended  the  throne  on  his  for  Prussia.     Nevertheless,  in 

father's  abdication  in  1S4S.  Anoble-  ai  „    Qft<^rnnnn    h^  wqc  rh*>pi-Arl 

minded  man,  he  made  an  excellent  ^^^^   altCrnOOn    UC  WaS  CneeiCQ 

king,  ruling  his  people  on  the  ideal  by      the       CrOwd  .    bcforC      the 


declaring    himself    inclined    to    S^rounds  of  christian  philosophy."    ^^g^^^         g^^     ^j^g     jg^^g^.^      ^^. 

summon  the  united  Landtag  at  regular 
intervals.  The  declaration  failed  to  give 
satisfaction.  On  the  same  day  a  popular 
meeting  had  resolved  to  request  the  king 
forthwith  to  convoke  the  Assembly.  In  the 
quiet  town  public  life  became  more  tlian 
usually  lively.  The  working  classes  were 
excited  by  the  agitators  sent  down  to 
them ;     in    inns    and    cafes    newspapers 

were  read  aloud  and  speeches 

made.   The  king  was  expecting 

an  outbreak  of  war  with  France. 

He  sent  his  confidential  mili- 
tary adviser,  Radowitz,  at  full  speed 
to  Vienna  to  arrange  measures  of  defence 
with  Metternich.  He  proposed  tempo- 
rarily to  entrust  the  command  of  the 
Prussian  troops  upon  the  Rhine  to  the 
somewhat  unpopular  Prince  William  of 
Prussia.     However,  he  was  warned  that 


Germany 
Preparing 
for  War 


the  mob,  who  desired  a  rising  to  secure 
their  own  criminal  objects,  turned  grati- 
tude into  uproar  and  bloodshed.  The 
troops  concentrated  in  the  castle  under 
General  von  Prittwitz  were  busy  until 
midnight  clearing  the  streets. 

The  authorities  had  12,000  men  at  their 
disposal,  and  could  easily  have -stormed 
the  barricades  next  morning;  but  the 
king's  military  advisers  were  unable  to 
agree  upon  their  action,  and  his  anxiety 
and  nervousness  were  increased  by  the 
invited  and  uninvited  citizens  who  made 
their  way  into  the  castle.  He  therefore 
ordered  the  troops  to  cease  firing,  and  the 
next  day.  after  receiving  a  deputation  of 
citizens,  commanded  the  troops  to  concen- 
trate upon  the  castle,  and  finally  to  retire, 
to  barracks.  The  arguments  of  such 
Liberals  as  Vincke,  and  of  the  Berlin  town 

491Q 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  German 
States'  Distrust 
of  the  King 


councillors,  induced  the  king  to  this 
ill-advised  step,  the  full  importance  of 
which  he  failed  to  recognise.  It  implied 
the  retreat  of  the  monarchical  power 
before  a  riotous  mob  inspired  only  by 
blind  antipathy  to  law  and  order,  who, 
far  from  thanking  the  king  for,  sparing 
their  guilt,  proclaimed  the 
retreat  of  the  troops  as  a 
victory  for  themselves,  and 
continued  to  heap  scorn  and 
insult  upon  king  and  troops  alike.  A 
new  Ministry  was  formed  on  March 
19th,  the  leadership  being  taken  by 
Arnim.  On  the  29th  his  place  was  taken 
by  Ludolf  Camphausen,  president  of  the 
Cologne  Chamber  of  Commerce,  who  was 
joined  by  Hanseman  and  the  leaders  of 
the  liberal  nobility,  Alfred  von  Auerswald, 
Count  Maximilian  of  Schwerin,  and  Hein- 
rich  Alexander  of  Arnim. 
The  Ministry  would  have 
had  no  difficulty  in  forming  a 
constitution  for  the  state  had 
not  the  king  reduced  the 
monarchy  to  helplessness  by 
his  display  of  ineptitude. 
That  honest  enthusiasm  for* 
the  national  cause  which 
had  led  him  on  March  21st 
to  escort  the  banner  of  black, 
red,  and  gold  on  horseback 
through  the  streets  of  Berlin, 
far  from  winning  the  popular 
favour  for  him,  was   scorned 


FRIEDRICH    DAHLMANN 


overshadowed  by  the  struggle  for 
supremacy  waged  by  the  masses  under 
the  guidance  of  ambitious  agitators. 

On  March  5th,  1848,  fifty-one  of  the 
better  known  German  politicians  met  at 
Heidelberg  upon  their  own  initiative  by 
invitation  ;  their  object  was  to  discuss 
what  common  action  they  should  take  to 
guide  a'  general  national  movement  in 
Germany.  Most  of  them  belonged  to  the 
Rhine  states  ;  but  Prussia,  Wiirtemberg, 
and  Bavaria  were  represented,  and  an 
Austrian  writer  who  happened  to  be  on  the 
spot  joined  the  meeting  in  order  to  place 
it  in  relation  with  Austria.  The  twenty 
representatives  from  Baden  included  the 
radical  democrat  Hecker,  who  even  then 
spoke  of  the  introduction  of  a  republican 
constitution  as  a  wish  of  the  German 
people.  He,  however,  was  obliged  to 
support  the  resolution  of  the 
majority,  to  the  effect  that 
the  German  nation  must 
first  have  the  opportunity 
of  making  its  voice  heard,  for 
which  purpose  preparation 
must  be  made  for  the  con- 
vocation of  a  German  National 
Assembly.  All  were  agreed 
upon  the  futility  of  waiting 
for  the  Federal  Council  to  take 
action  ;  they  must  bring  their 
influence  to  bear  upon  the 
council  and  the  German  gov- 
ernment by  their  own  energy, 


1     n       J      T     ^  ,1  T-.  1  This    distinguished    German    his-  ,  , ,  r  i  ■   i      j 

and  flouted  by  the  Repub-  torian  was  appointed  Professor  of  by  the  use  of  accomplished 
licans.  The  energy  displayed  History  at  Bonn  in  1842,  and  was  facts,  and  by  specific  demands, 
in  summoning  the  Pai-liament  ^^  ^^^  ^ead  of  the  constitutional  a  committee  of  seven  mem- 
was  too  rapid  a  change,  made  liberals  in  the  movement  of  184S.  |^g^.g  ^^^g  appointed  to  invite 


the  German  states  distrustful,  and  exposed 
him  to  degrading  refusals,  which  em- 
bittered his  mind  and  lowered  his  dignity 
in  the  eyes  of  his  own  people. 

The  united  Landtag  met  on  April  2nd, 
1848,  and  determined  upon  the  convoca- 
tion of  a  National  Assembly,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  forming  a  constitution  upon  the 
basis  of  universal  suffrage.  To  this  the 
Government  agreed,  at  the  same  time 
insisting  that  the  Prussian  constitution 
was  a  matter  for  arrangement  between 
themselves  and  the  Assembly.  During  the 
elections,  which  took  place  simultaneously 
with  those  to  the  German  Parliament,  the 
democrats  uttered  their  war-cr}^  to  the 
effect  that  the  resolutions  of  the  Prussian 
National  Assembly  required  no  ratification. 
Thus  the  }X)pular  claim  to  a  share  in  the 
administration      disappeared,     and     was 

4920 


a  conference  on  March  30th,  at  Frank  fort- 
on-Main,  "  of  all  past  or  present  members 
of  provincial  councils  and  members  of 
legislative  assemblies  in  all  German 
countries."  together  with  other  public  men 
of  special  influence.  This  "preliminary 
coffference  "  was  then  to  arrive  at  some 
resolutions  for  the  election  of  the  German 
National  Assembly.  Both  the  Federal 
Assembly  and  the  majority 
of  the  German  governments 
■\dewed  these  proceedings  with 
favourable  eyes ;  they  saw 
that  the  nation  was  at  the  highest  pitch 
of  excitement,  and  would  be  prevented 
from  rushing  into  violence  by  occupation 
in  political  matters.  The  results  of 
the  Parisian  revolution  led  them  to 
think  the  overthrow  of  every  existing 
form    of    government    perfectly  possible. 


The  Saving 

Force 

of  Politics 


FIGHTING    AT    THE    BARRICADES    IN     BERLIN    ON    MARCH    ISTH,    Ibis 

From  the  drawing  by  C.  Becker 


K 


4921 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


Liberal 
Movements  in 
Saxony 


The  only  remaining  course  was  to  treat 
with  the  Liberals  and  enlist  their  support 
for  the  existing  states  and  dynasties  by  the 
concession  of  constitutional  rights.  Only 
in  Hanover  and  in  the  electorate  of  Hesse 
were  there  difficulties  at  the  outset. 
However,  the  fall  of  Metternich  shattered 
even  the  pride  of  Ernest  Augustus  and  of 
the  Elector  Frederic  William. 
Baden  sent  the  Freiburg  pro- 
fessor Karl  Welcker  to  Frank- 
fort. On  March  7th  he  pro- 
posed on  behalf  of  his  Government  the 
convocation  of  a  German  Parliament  to 
discuss  and  carry  out  the  reform  of  the 
federal  constitution  in  conjunction  with 
the  representatives  of  the  Government.  In 
Hesse-Darmstadt,  Gagern  made  a  similar 
proposal  in  the  Chamber.  The  King  of 
Wurtemberg  called  one  of  the  members 
of  the  Heidelberg  conference,  Friedrich 
Romer,  to  the  head  of  a  new  Ministry, 
to  which  Paul  Pfizer  also  belonged. 

In  Saxony,  Frederic  x\ugustus,  after 
unnecessarily  alarming  the  inhabitants  of 
Leipzig  by  the  concentration  of  troops, 
was  obliged  to  give  way,  to  dissolve 
the  Ministry  of  Konneritz,  and  to  entrust 
the  conduct  of  government  business 
to  the  leader  of  the  Progressive  Party 
in  the  Second  Chamber,  Alexander  Braun. 
Of  the  Liberals  in  Saxony,  the  largest 
following  was  that  of  Robert  Blum, 
formerly  theatre  secretary,  bookseller,  and 
town  councillor  of  Leipzig.  He  was  one  of 
those  trusted  public  characters  who  were 
summoned  to  the  preliminarj^  conference, 
and  directed  the  attention  of  his  associates 
to  the  national  tasks  immediatelj^  con- 
fronting the  German  people.  In  the  patent 
convoking  the  united  Landtag  for  March 
i8th,  even  the  King  of  Prussia  had  declared 
the  formation  of  a  "  temporary  federal 
representation  of  the  states  of  all  German 
countries "  to  be  a  pressing  necessity ; 
hence  from  that  quarter  no  opposition  to 
the  national  undertaking  of  the  Heidel- 

^     ,  berg  meeting  was  to  be  ex- 

Conference  f   j       t--       i-       j      j 

,  pected.    Five  hundred  repre- 

^  c*  *      sentatives  from  all  parts  of 

uerman  States  ^  i      ^  t^        1  j-     j 

Germany  met  at  i<ranklort- 

on-Main  for  the  conference  in  the  last  da}'s 

of  March  ;   they  were  received  with  every 

manifestation  of  delight  and  respect.     The 

first  general  session  was  held  in  the  Church 

of  St.  Paul,  under  the  presidency  of  the 

Heidelberg  jurist,  Anton  Mittermayer,  a 

Bavarian  by  birth  ;    the  conference  was 

then  invited  to  come  to  a  decision  upon  one 

4022 


of  the  most  important  questions  of  German 
politics.  The  committee  of  seven  had 
drawn  up  a  programme  dealing  with  the 
mode  of  election  to  the  German  National 
Assembly,  and  formulating  a  number  of 
fundamental  principles  for  adoption  in  the 
forthcoming  federal  constitution.  These 
demanded  a  federal  chief  with  responsible 
Ministers,  a  senate  of  the  individual  states, 
a  popular  representative  house  with  one 
deputy  to  every  70,000  inhabitants  of  a 
German  federal  state,  a  united  army,  and 
representation  abroad  ;  a  uniformity  in  the 
customs  systems,  in  the  means  of  communi- 
cation, in  civil  and  criminal  legislation. 

This  premature  haste  is  to  be  ascribed 
to  the  scanty  political  experience  of  the 
German  and  his  love  for  the  cut  and 
dried  ;  it  gave  the  Radicals,  who  had 
assembled  in  force  from  Baden,  Darm- 
stadt, Frankfort,  and  Nassau,  under  Struve 
and  Hecker,  an  opportunity  of  demanding 
similar  resolutions  upon  the  future  con- 
stitution of  Germany.  Hecker  gave  an 
explanation  of  the  so-called  "  principles  " 
propounded  by  Struve,  demanding  the 
disbanding  of  the  standing  army,  the 
abolition  of  officials,  taxation,  and  the  here- 
ditary monarchy,  and  the 
institution  of  a  Parliament 
elected  without  restriction 
under  a  president  similarly 
elected,  all  to  be  united  by  a  federal  consti- 
tution on  the  model  of  the  Free  States  of 
North  America.  Until  the  German  demo- 
cracy had  secured  legislation  upon  these  and 
many  other  points,  the  Frankfort  conference 
should  be  kept  on  foot,  and  the  government 
of  Germany  continued  by  an  executive 
committee  elected  by  universal  suffrage. 

Instead  of  receiving  these  delectable 
pueriUties  with  the  proper  amount  of 
amusement,  or  satirising  them  as  they 
deserved,  the  moderate  Democrats  and 
Liberals  were  inveigled  into  serious  dis- 
cussion with  the  Radicals.  Reports  of  an 
insignificant  street  fight  aroused  their  fears 
and  forebodings,  and  both  sides  conde- 
scended to  abuse  and  personal  violence. 
Finally,  the  clearer-sighted  members  of 
the  conference  succeeded  in  confining 
the  debate  to  the  subjects  preliminary 
to  the  convocation  of  the  parliament. 
The  programme  of  the  committee  of  seven 
and  the  "  principles  "  of  the  Radicals  were 
alike  excluded  from  discussion.  Hecker' s 
proposition  for  the  permanent  constitution 
of  the  conference  was  rejected  by  368  votes 
to    143,  and  it   was   decided   to   elect   a 


Deliberations 
of  the  Frankfort 
Conference 


THE    FALL    OF    LOUIS    PHILIPPE 


committee  of  fifty  members  to  continue  the 
business  of  the  prehminary  parhament. 

On  the  question  of  this  business  great 
divergence  of  opinion  prevailed.  The 
majority  of  the  members  were  convinced 
that  the  people  should  now  be  left  to  decide 
its  own  fate,  and  to  determine  the  legisla- 
ture which  was  to  secure  the  recognition  of 
its  rights.  A  small  minority  were  agreed 
with  Gagern  upon  the  necessity  of  keeping 
in  touch  with  the  Government  and  the 
Federal  Council,  and  constructing  the  new 
constitution  by  some  form  of  union 
between  the  national  representatives  and 
the  existing  executive  officials.  This  was 
the  first  serious  misconception  of  the  Liberal 
party  upon  the  sphere  of  action  within 
which  the  Parliament  would  operate.  They 
discussed  the  "  purification  "  of  the  Federal 
Council  and  its  "  aversion  to  special  reso- 
lutions of  an  unconstitutional  nature  ;  " 
they  should  have  united  themselves  firmly 
to  the  federal  authorities,  and  carried 
them  to  the  necessary  resolutions. 

The  mistrust  of  the  liberals  for  the 
government  was  greater  than  their  disgust 
at  radical  imbecility,  a  fact  as  obvious  in 
the  preliminary  conference  as  in  the  National 
«,.     ^,    .      ,  Assembly  which  it  called  into 

.  °^  °*^'*         probably  the  sole  cause  of  the 
erm&ny     f^^jjj^y  Qf   ^j^g  efforts  made 

by  upright  and  disinterested  representative 
men  to  guide  the  national  movement  in 
Germany.  Franz  von  Soiron  of  Mannheim 
proposed  that  the  decision  upon  the  future 
German  constitution  should  be  left  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  the  National  Assembly,  to 
be  elected  by  the  people  ;  with  this  excep- 
tion, the  constitutional  ideal  was  aban- 
doned and  a  Utopia  set  up  in  its  place  not 
utterly  dissimilar  to  the  dream  of  "  the 
republic  with  a  doge  at  its  head."  Soiron, 
who  propounded  this  absurdity,  became 
president  of  the  committee  of  fifty. 

The  mode  of  election  to  the  National  Con- 
stituent Assembly  realised  the  most  extreme 
demands  of  the  Democrats.  Every  50,000 
inhabitants  in  a  German  federal  province, 
East  and  West  Prussia  included,  had  to 
send  up  a  deputy  "  directly  " — that  is  to 
say,  appointment  was  not  made  by  any 
existing  constitutional  corporation.  The 
Czechs  of  Bohemia  were  included  without 
cavil  among  the  electors  of  the  German 
Parliament,  no  regard  being  given  to  the 
scornful  refusal  which  they  would  probably 
return.  The  question  of  including  the 
Poles  of  the  Prussian  Baltic  provinces  was 


left  to  the  decision  of  the  parliament  itself. 
The  Federal  Council,  in  which  Karl  Welcker 
had  already  become  influential,  prudently 
accepted  the  resolutions  of  the  preliminary 
conference  and  communicated  them  to  the 
individual  states,  whose  business  it  was  to 
carry  them  out.  Feeling  in  the  different 
governments  had  undergone  a  rapid 
transformation,  and  in  Prussia 
even    more     than     elsewhere. 


Prussia 
Merged  in 
Germany 


On  March  21st,  after  parad- 
ing Berlin  with  the  German 
colours,  Frederic  William  IV.  had  made 
a  public  declaration,  expressing  his  readi- 
ness to  undertake  the  direction  of  German 
affairs.  His  exuberance  led  him  to  the 
following  pronouncement :  "I  have  to-day 
asumed  the  ancient  German  colours  and 
placed  myself  and  my  people  under  the  hon- 
ourable banner  of  the  German  Empire.  Prus- 
sia is  henceforward  merged  in  Germany." 

These  words  would  have  created  a  great 
effect  had  the  king  been  possessed  of  the 
power  which  was  his  by  right,  or  had 
he  given  any  proof  of  capacity  to  rule  his 
own  people  or  to  defend  his  capital  from 
the  outrages  of  a  misled  and  passionately 
excited  mob.  But  the  occurrences  at  Berlin 
during  March  had  impaired  his  prestige 
with  every  class  ;  he  was  despised  by  the 
Radicals,  and  the  patriotic  party  mistrusted 
his  energy  and  his  capacity  for  maintaining 
his  dignity  in  a  difficult  situation. 

Moreover,  the  German  governments 
had  lost  confidence  in  the  power  of  the 
Prussian  state.  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Baden, 
Nassau,  and  Wiirtemberg  had  shown  them- 
selves ready  to  confer  full  powers  upon  the 
King  of  Prussia  for  the  formation,  in  their 
name,  of  a  new  federal  constitution  with 
provision  for  the  popular  rights.  They 
were  also  wilhng  to  accept  him  as  head  of 
the  federation,  a  position  which  he  desired, 
while  declining  the  imperial  title  with 
which  the  cheers  of  the  Berlin  population 
had  greeted  him.  When,  however.  Max 
von  Gagern  arrived  in  Berlin  at  the  head  of 
an  embassy  from  the  above- 
mentioned  states,  the  time  for 
the  enterprise  had  gone  by ;  a 
king  who  gave  way  to  rebels 
and  did  obeisance  to  the  corpses  of  mob 
leaders  was  not  the  man  for  the  dictator- 
ship of  Germany  at  so  troublous  a  time. 

Notwithstanding  their  own  difficulties, 
the  Vienna  government  had  derived  some 
advantage  from  the  events  at  Berlin ; 
there  was  no  reason  for  them  to  resign 
their  position  in  Germany.    The  Emperor 

4923 


Frederic 
William  not  a 
Favourite 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Ferdinand  need  never  yield  to  Frederic 
William  IV.  The  Austrian  statesmen  were 
sure  of  the  approval  of  the  German  people, 
even  of  the  national  and  progressive  parties, 
if  they  straightway  opposed  Prussian 
interference  in  German  politics.  Relying 
upon  nationalist  sentiment  and  appealing 
to  national  sovereignty,  they  might  play 
,  oH  the  German  parliament 
^.^    "^^^     against    the   King  of    Prussia. 

Claims  A       .    •  xi         1-        • 

J  .  .  Austria  was,  upon  the  showmg 
of  the  government  and  the 
popular  leaders,  the  real  Germany.  Austria 
claimed  the  precedence  of  all  German 
races,  and  therefore  the  black,  red,  and 
gold  banner  flew  on  the  Tower  of 
Stephan,  and  the  kindly  emperor  waved 
it  before  the  students,  who  cheered  him 
in  the  castle.  The  offer  of  Prussian 
leadership  was  declined ;  the  German 
constitution  was  to  be  arranged  by  the 
federal  council  and  the  parliament,  and 
Austria  would  there  be  able  to  retain 
the  leading  position  which  was  her  right. 

The  case  of  the  King  of  Prussia  was  suffi- 
ciently disheartening  ;  but  no  less  serious 
for  the  development  of  the  German  move- 
ment was  the  attitude  of  the  Liberals 
towards  the  Republicans.  The  professions 
and  avowals  of  the  latter  had  not  been 
declined  with  the  decisiveness  that  belong 
to  honest  monarchical  conviction.  Even 
before  the  meeting  of  Parliament  dis- 
turbances had  been  set  on  foot  by  the 
Baden  Radicals,  and  it  became  obvious 
that  Radicalism  could  result  only  in  civil 
war  and  would  imperil  the  national  welfare. 

The  Struve-Hecker  party  was  deeply 
disappointed  with  the  results  of  the  pre- 
Hminary  conference.  It  had  not  taken 
over  the  government  of  Germany ;  no 
princes  had  been  deposed,  and  even  the 
federal  council  had  been  left  untouched. 
The  leaders,  impelled  thereto  by  their 
French  associates,  accordingly  resolved  to 
initiate  an  armed  revolt  in  favour  of  the 
republic.  The  "  moderate  "  party  had 
The  Mad  cleared  the  way  by  assenting 
Schemed  of  ^°  ^^^  proposal  of  "  national 
Agitators  armament."  Under  the  pretext 
of  initiating  a  scheme  of  public 
defence,  arms  for  the  destruction  of  con- 
stitutional order  were  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  ruffians  who  had  been  wandering 
about  the  Rhineland  for  weeks  in  the  hope 
of  robbery  and  plunder,  posing  as  the 
retinue  of  the  great  "  friends  of  the  people." 
Acuter  politicians,  like  Karl  Mathy,  dis- 
covered too  late  that  it  was  now  necessary 

4924 


to  stake  their  whole  personal  influence  in 

the  struggle  against  radical  insanity  and 

the    madness    of   popular    agitators.       In 

person    he    arrested   the   agitator   Joseph 

Fickler,  when  starting  from  Karlsruhe  to 

Constance  to  stir  up  insurrection  ;   but  his 

bold  example  found  few  imitators.     The 

evil  was  not  thoroughly  extirpated,  as  the 

"  people's  men  "   could  not  refrain   from 

repeating  meaningless  promises  of  popular 

supremacy  and  the  downfall  of  tyrants  at 

every  public-house    and    platform    where 

they  thought  they  could  secure  the  applause 

for  which  they  thirsted  like  actors. 

Hecker  had  maintained  communications 

with  other  countries  from  Karlsruhe,  and 

had  been  negotiating  for  the  advance  of 

contingents  from  Paris,  to  be  paid  from 

the    resources    of    Ledru-Rollin.        After 

Fickler's  imprisonment   on   April   8th   he 

became  alarmed  for  his  own  safety,  and 

fled  to  Constance.     There,  in  conjunction 

with   Struve  and  his  subordinates,   Doll, 

Willich,    formerly  a   Prussian   lieutenant, 

Mogling   of   Wiirtemberg,    and   Bruhe    of 

Holstein,  he  issued  an  appeal  to  all  who 

were  capable  of  bearing  arms  to  concen- 

trate    at    Donaueschingen    on 

April  12th,  for  the  purpose  of 

_      ...         founding  the  German  republic. 
Republicans  ttt-,,        °       ,  i-  r  nr^ 

With  a  republican  army  of  fifty 

men  he  marched  on  the  13th  from  Con- 
stance, where  the  republic  had  maintained 
its  existence  for  a  whole  day.  In  the  plains 
of  the  Rhine  a  junction  was  to  be  effected 
with  the  "  legion  of  the  noble  Franks," 
led  by  the  poet  George  Herwegh  and  his 
Jewish  wife.  In  vain  did  two  deputies 
from  the  committee  of  fifty*  in  Frankfort 
advise  the  Republicans  to  lay  down  their 
arms.  Their  overtures  were  rejected  with 
contumely.  The  eighth  federal  army  corps 
had  been  rapidly  mobilised,  and  the  troops 
of  Hesse  and  Wiirtemberg  brought  this 
insane  enterprise  to  an  end  in  the  almost 
bloodless  conflicts  of  Kandern  on  April  20th, 
and  Giintersthal  at  Freiburg  on  April  23rd, 
The  Republicans  were  given  neither  time 
nor  opportunity^  for  any  display  of  their 
Teutonic  heroism.  Their  sole  exploit  was 
the  shooting  of  thfe  general  Friedrich  von 
Gagern  from  an  ambush  as  he  was  return- 
ing to  his  troops  from  an  unsuccessful 
conference  with  Hecker.  Herwegh 's  French 
legion  was  dispersed  at  Dossenbach  on 
April  26th  by  a  company  of  Wiirtemberg 
troops.  These  warriors  took  refuge  for  the 
time  being  in  Switzerland  with  the  "gen- 
erals" Hecker,  Struve,  and  Franz  Siegl. 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE. 
IN 
REVOLUTION 
II 


ITALY'S    FRUITLESS    REVOLT 

AND    AUSTRIA'S  SUCCESS  UNDER  RADETZKY 


AS  early  as  Jarraary,  1848,  the  popula- 
tion of  the  Lombard  States  had  begun 
openly  to  display  their  animosity  to  the 
Austrians.  The  secret  revolutionary  com- 
mittees, who  took  their  instructions  from 
Rome  and  Turin,  organised  demonstra- 
tions, and  forbade  the  purchase  of  Aus- 
trian cigars  and  lottery  tickets,  the  profits 
of  which  went  to  the  Austrian  exchequer. 
Threats  and  calls  for  blood  and  vengeance 
upon  the  troops  were  placarded  upon  the 
walls,  and  cases  of  assassination  occurred. 
Field-Marshal  Count  Radetzky  had  felt 
certain  that  the  national  movement,  begun 
in  the  Church  States,  would  extend 
throughout  Italy,  and  oblige  Austria  to 
defend  her  territory  by  force  of  arms. 

He  was  also  informed  of  the  warlike  feeling 
in  Piedmont  and  of  the  secret  prepara- 
tions which  were  in  progress  there.  This 
view  was  well  founded.  Any  dispassionate 
judgment  of  the  political  situation  in  the 
.  ,  peninsula  showed  that  the 
a  ton  s      governments  of  the  individual 

earning  r  g^g^^^g  ^yg^ g  j^  a  dilemma ;  either 
they  must  join  the  national 
yearning  for  liberation  from  the  foreign  rule 
and  help  their  subjects  in  the  struggle,  or 
they  would  be  forced  to  yield  to  the  victor- 
ious advance  of  republicanism.  The  Savoy 
family  of  Carignan,  the  only  ruling  house 
of  national  origin,  found  no  difficulty  in 
deciding  the  question.  As  leaders  of  the 
patriotic  party  they  might  attain  a  highly 
important  position,  and  at  least  become 
the  leaders  of  a  Federal  Italy  ;  while  they 
were  forced  to  endanger  their  kingdom, 
whatever  side  they  took. 

Radetzky  was  indefatigable  in  his 
efforts  to  keep  the  Vienna  government 
informed  of  the  approaching  danger,  but 
his  demands  for  reinforcements  to  the 
troops  serving  in  the  Lombard- Venetian 
provinces  were  disregarded.  The  old  War 
Minister,  Count  H.  Hardegg,  who  sup- 
ported Radetzky,  was  harshly  dismissed 
from  his  position  in  the  exchequer,  and 
died  of  vexation  at  the  affront.     Not  all 


the  obtuseness  and  vacillation  of  the 
Vienna  bureaucracy  could  shake  the  old 
field-marshal — on  August  ist,  1847,  he 
began  his  sixty-fourth  year  of  service  in 
the  imperial  army — from  his  conviction 
that  the  Austrian  house  meant  to  defend 
its  Italian  possessions.  He  was  well  aware 
that  the  very  existence  of  the  monarch} 
.  ,  was  involved  in  this  question 
C  ^'T  ^  d  °^  predominance  in  Italy.  A 
omp  ica  e  j^Q^ient  when  every  nationality 
Pontics  united    under    the    Hapsburg 

rule  was  making  the  most  extravagant 
demands  upon  the  state  was  not  the 
moment  voluntarih'  to  abandon  a  position 
of  the  greatest  moral  value. 

After  the  outbreak  of  the  revolt  many 
voices  recommended  an  Austrian  retreat 
from  Lombardy  to  Venice.  It  was  thought 
impossible  that  these  two  countries,  with 
independent  governments  of  their  own, 
could  be  incorporated  in  so  loosely 
articulated  a  federation  as  the  Austrian 
Empire  seemed  likely  to  become.  Such 
counsels  were  not  inconceivable  in  view 
of  the  zeal  with  which  kings  and  ministers, 
professors,  lawyers,  and  authors  plunged 
into  the  elaboration  of  political  blunders 
and  misleading  theories ;  but  to  follow  them 
would  have  been  to  increase  rather  than  to 
diminish  the  difficulties  of  Austrian  politics, 
which  grew  daily  more  complicated. 

In  the  turmoil  of  national  and  demo- 
cratic aspirations  and  programmes  the 
idea  of  the  Austrian  state  was  for- 
gotten ;  its  strength  and  dignity  depended 
upon  the  inflexibility  and  upon 
National  ^^^  ultimate  victory  of  Rad- 
.    jj  etzky  and  his  army.    The  war  in 

m  Italy       j^^^^.  ^^^^  ^  national  war,  more 

especially  for  the  Austro-Germans ;  for 
passion,  even  for  an  ideal,  cannot  impress 
the  German  and  arouse  his  admiration  to 
the  same  extent  as  the  heroic  fulfilment  of 
duty.  Additional  influences  upon  the 
Austrians  were  the  military  assessment, 
their  delight  in  proved  military  supe- 
riority,    and    their    military    traditions. 

4925 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Nationalism  was  indisputably  an  animat- 
ing •force  among  the  Germans  of  the 
Alpine  districts.  Never  did  Franz  Grill- 
parzer  so  faithfully  represent  the  Austrian 
spirit  as  in  the  oft-repeated  words  which 
he  ascribed  to  the  old  field-marshal, 
upholding  the  ancient  imperial  banner 
upon  Guelf  soil :  "  In  thy  camp  is  Austria  ; 

^,  _,  ...  we  are  but  single  fragments." 
The  Vanished     j,   ■  ,     j-cc      i-    .       • 

It  IS  not  difficult  to  imagine 

that  a  statesman  of  unusual 


Power  of 
the  Hapsburgs 


penetration  and  insight  might 
even  then  have  recognised  that  Austria 
was  no  longer  a  force  in  Germany, 
that  the  claim  of  the  Hapsburgs  to  lead 
the  German  nation  had  disappeared  with 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  We  may 
conceive  that,  granted^  such  recognition 
of  the  facts,  a  jvist  division  of  influence  and 
power  in  Central  Europe  might  have  been 
brought  about  by  the  peaceful  compromise 
with  Prussia  ;  but  it  was  foolishness  to 
expect  the  House  of  Hapsburg  voluntarily 
to  begin  a  partition  of  the  countries 
which  had  fallen  to  be  hers. 

The  acquisition  of  Italy  had  been  a  mis- 
take on  the  part  of  Metternich;  but  the 
mistake  could  not  be  mended  by  a  surrender 
of  rights  at  the  moment  when  hundreds 
of  claims  would  be  pressed.  To  maintain 
the  integrit}'  of  the  empire  was  to  preserve 
its  internal  solidarity  and  to  uphold  the 
monarchical  power.  The  monarchy  could 
produce  no  more  convincing  evidence 
than  the  victories  of  the  army.  An  army 
which  had  retreated  before  the  Pied- 
montese  and  the  Guelf  guerrilla  troops 
would  never  have  gained  another  victory, 
even  in  Hungary. 

In  an  army  order  of  January  15th,  1848, 
Radetzky  announced  in  plain  and  un- 
ambiguous terms  that  the  Emperor  of 
Austria  was  resolved  to  defend  the  Lom- 
bard-Venetian kingdom  against  internal 
and  external  enemies,  and  that  he  himself 
proposed  to  act  in  accordance  with  the 
imperial  will.  He  was,  however,  unable 
Outbreak  ^"^  "^^^^  ^^  strategical  pre- 
of  the  parations  for  the  approaching 

Revolution  struggle  ;  he  had  barely  troops 
enough  to  occupy  the  most  im- 
portant towns,  and  in  every  case  the 
garrisons  were  entirely  outnumbered  by 
the  population.  Hence  it  has  been  asserted 
that  the  revolution  took  him  by  surprise. 
The  fact  was  that  he  had  no  means  of 
forestalling  a  surprise,  and  was  obliged  to 
modify  his  measures  in  proportion  to  the 
forces  at  his  disposal.    The  crowds  began 

4926 


to  gather  on  March  17th,  when  the  news 

of  the  Vienna  revolution  reached  Milan  ; 

street  fighting  began  on  the  i8th  and  19th, 

and  the  marshal  was  forced  to  concentrate 

his  scattered  troops  upon  the  gates  and 

walls   of   the   great   city,    lest   he   should 

find    himself    shut    in    by    an    advancing 

Piedmontese  army. 

On  March  21st  it  became  certain  that 

Charles   Albert    of   Sardinia   would   cross 

the  Ticino  with  his  army.    Radetzky  left 

Milan  and  retreated  beyond  the   Mincio 

to  the  strong  fortress  of  Verona,  which, 

with    Mantua,    Peschiera,    and    Legnago, 

formed  the  "Quadrilateral "  which  became 

famous  in  the  following  campaign.     Most 

of  the  garrisons  in   the   Lombard  towns 

were    able    to    cut    their    way    through, 

comparatively  few  surrendering.  However, 

the  61,000  infantry  of  the  imperial  army 

were  diminished  by  the  desertion  of  the 

twenty  Italian  battalions  which  belonged 

to  it,  amounting  to  10,000  men.     It  was 

necessary  to  abandon  most  of  the  state 

chests ;      the     field-marshal     could     only 

convey    from    Milan    to    Verona    half    a 

million  florins  in  coined  money,  which  was 

_.     --  saved  by  the  division  stationed 

The  New  -^ 


Republic  of 
Venice 


in  Padua,  which  made  a  rapid 
advance  before  the  outbreak  of 


the  revolt.  Venice  had  thrown 
off  the  yoke.  The  lawyer  Daniel  Manin, 
of  Jewish  family,  and  therefore  not  a 
descendant  of  Lodovico  Manin,  the  last 
doge,  had  gained  over  the  arsenal  workers. 

With  their  help  he  had  occupied  the 
arsenal  and  overawed  the  field-marshal, 
Count  Ferdinand  Zichy,  a  brother-in- 
law  of  Metternich,  who  \T'as  military 
commander  in  conjunction  with  the  civil 
governor.  Count  Palffy  of  Erdod.  Zichy 
surrendered  on  March  22nd;  on  condi- 
tion that  the  non-Italian  garrison  should 
be  allowed  to  depart  unmolested.  Manin 
became  president  of  the  new  democratic 
Republic  of  Venice,  which  was  joined 
by  most  of  the  towns  of  the  former 
Venetian  terra  firma  ;  Great  Biitain  and 
France,  however,  declined  to  recognise  the 
republic,  which  was  soon  forced  to  make 
common  cause  with  Sardinia.  iMantua 
was  preserved  to  the  Austrians  by  the 
bold  and  imperturbable  behaviour  of  the 
commandant -general.  Von  Gorczkowski. 

The  Italian  nationalist  movement  had 
also  spread  to  the  South  T\to1.  On 
March  19th  the  inhabitants  of  Trent 
demanded  the  incorporation  into  Lom- 
bardy  of  the  Trentino — that  is,  the  district 


ITALY'S    FRUITLESS    REVOLT 


of  the  former  prince-bishopric  of  Trent. 
The  appearance  of  an  Austrian  brigade 
under  General  von  Zobel  to  reheve  the 
hard-pressed  garrison  of  the  citadel  secured 
the  Austrian  possession  of  this  important 
town,  and  also  strengthened  the  only  line 
of  communication  now  open  between 
Radetzky's  headquarters  and  the  Austrian 
government,  the  hue  through  the  Tyrol. 

The  defence  of  their  country  was  now 
undertaken  by  the  German  Tyrolese  them- 
selves ;  they  called  out  the  defensive 
forces  which  their  legislature  had  provided 
for  centuries  past,  and  occupied  the 
frontiers.  They  were  not  opposed  by  the 
Italian  population  on  the  south,  who 
in  many  cases  volunteered  to  serve  in  the 
defence  of  their  territory ;  hence  the 
revolutionary  towns  were  unable  to  make 
head  against  these  opponents, 
oi  to  maintain  regular  com- 
munication with  the  revolu- 
tionists advancing  against  the 
frontier.  Wherever  the  latter 
attempted  to  break  through 
they  were  decisively  defeated 
by  the  admirable  Tyrolese 
guards,  who  took  up  arms 
against  the  "  Guelfs  "  with 
readiness  and  enthusiasm. 

On  March  29th,  1848.  the 
King  of  Sardinia  crossed  the 
Ticino,  without  any  formal 
declaration  of  war,  ostensibly 
to  protect  his  own  territories. 
He  had  at  his  disposal  three  He 


Deciding 
Point  in  the 
Revolution 


After  the  despatch  of  the  troops  required 
to  cover  the  Etsch  valley  and  to  garrison 
the  fortresses,  Radetzky  was  left  with 
only  35,000  men ;  he  was  able,  how- 
ever, with  nineteen  Austrian  battalions, 
sixteen  squadrons,  and  eighty-one  guns, 
to  attack  and  decisively  defeat  the  king 
at  Santa  Lucia  on  May  6th,  as  he  was 
advancing  with  41,000  men 
and  eighty  guns.  The  Zehner 
light  infantry  under  Colonel 
Karl  von  Kopal  behaved  admir- 
ably ;  the  Archduke  Francis  Joseph,  heir 
presumptive,  also  took  part  in  the  battle. 
The  conspicuous  services  of  these  bold 
warriors  to  the  fortunes  of  Austria  have 
made  this  obstinate  struggle  especially 
famous  in  the  eyes  of  their  compatriots. 
Radetzky's  victory  at  Santa  Lucia  is  the 
_  turning-point  in  the  history  of 

the  Italian  revolution. 

The  Austrian  troops 
definitely  established  the  fact 
of  their  superiority  to  the 
l^iedmontese,  by  far  the  best 
nf  the  Italian  contingents. 
Conscious  of  this,  the  little 
army  was  inspired  with  con- 
fidence in  its  own  powers  and 
in  the  generalship  of  the  aged 
marshal,  whose  heroic  spirit 
was  irresistible.  Many  young 
men  from  the  best  families  of 
Vienna  and  the  Alpine  districts 
took  service  against  the 
Italians.    The  healthy-minded 


DANIEL    MANIN 
became     President     of    the 

divisions,  amounting  to  about  ^f^e"r"he  cfp^'ulation  of'^enTce  studcnts  wcre  glad  to  escape 
4'^, 000  men,  and  after  Raining  in  the   following    year  escaped  from   the    aula   of    the    Uni- 

^-"  ,  ,  .  °i,  °    to   Paris,   where  he   died  in  1857. 

several  successes  m  small  con- 
flicts at  Goito,   Valeggio,  and   elsewhere, 


against  weak  Austrian  divisions,  he  ad- 
vanced to  the  Mincio  on  April  loth.  Mazzini 
had  appeared  in  Milan  after  the  retreat 
of  the  Austrians  ;  but  the  advance  of  the 
Piedmontese  prevented  the  installation 
of  a  republican  administi;3.tion.  For  a 
moment  the  national  movement  was 
concentrated  solely  upon  the 
struggle  against  the  Austrian 
supremacy.  Tumultuous  public 
demonstrations  forced  the  petty 
and  central  states  of  Italy  to  send  their 
troops  to  the  support  of  the  Piedmontese. 
In  this  way  nearly  40,000  men  from  Naples, 
Catholic  Switzerland,  Tuscany,  Modena, 
and  elsewhere  were  concentrated  on  the 
Po  under  the  orders  of  General  Giacomo 
Durando,to  begin  the  attack  on  the  Austrian 
position  in  conjunction  with  Charles  Albert. 


The  Forces 
Opposed 
to  Austria 


versify  of  Vienna,  with  its 
turgid  orations  and  sham  patriotism,  and 
to  shed  their  blood  for  the  honour  of 
their  nation  side  by  side  with  the  brave 
"  volunteers,"  who  went  into  action  with 
jest  and  laugh.  Such  events  considerably 
abated  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Italians, 
who  began  to  learn  that  wars  cannot  be 
waged  by  zeal  alone,  and  that  their  fiery 
national  spirit  gave  them  no  superiority 
in  the  use  of  the  rifle. 

Radetzky  was  not  to  be  tempted  into  a 
reckless  advance  by  the  brilliant  success 
he  had  attained  ;  after  thus  vigorously 
repulsing  Charles  Albert's  main  force,  he 
remained  within  his  quadrilateral  of  for- 
tresses, awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  reserves 
which  were  being  concentrated  in  Austria ; 
16,000  infantry,  eight  squadrons  of  cavalry, 
and  fifty-four  guns  marched  from  Isonzo 
under  Laval,  Count  Nugent,  master  of  the 

4927 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


ordnance,  an  old  comrade  of  Radetzky. 
He  was  an  Irishman  by  birth,  and  had 
entered  the  Austrian  army  in  1703  ;  in 
1812  he  had  seen  service 
in  Spain  during  the  War 
of  Liberation,,  andin.1813 
had  led  the  revolt  on  the 
coast  districts.  On  April 
22nd  Nugent  captured 
Udine,  and  advanced  b}- 
way  of  Pordenone  and 
Conegliano  to  .  Belluno, 
Feltre,  and  Bassano, 
covering^  his  flank  by  the 
mountains,  as  Durando's 
corps  had  gone  northward 
from  the  Po  to  prevent 
his  junction  with  Rad- 
etzky. Nugent  fell  sick, 
and  after  continual  fight- 
ing, Count  Thurn  led  the 
reserves  to  San  Boniface 
at  Verona,  where  he 
came  into  touch  ^vith  the 
main  arni}^  on  May  22nd. 

Meanwhile,  the  monarchical  government 
in  Naples  had  succeeded  in  defsating 
the  Repubhcans,  and  the  king  accordingly 


recalled  the  Neapolitan  army,  which  had 
already  advanced  to  the  Po.  The  summons 
was  obeyed  except   by  2,000  men,   with 
whom   General   Pepe   re- 
inforced     the  ■    Venetian 
contingent.     This  change 
materially  diminished  the 
danger  which  had  threat- 
ened      Radetzky's     deft 
flank  ;   he  was  now   able 
to     take     the     offensive 
against      the     Sardinian 
army,      and       advanced 
against     Curtatone     and 
Goito     from     Mantua, 
whither  he    had    amved 
on   May   28th   with    two 
,  corps    and    part    of    the 
.  reserves.      He    proposed 
#;  to      relieve       Peschiera, 
^  which    was    invested    by 

Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  Leopold  II.  granted    ^hc  Dukc    of    GcUOa  ;    but 

a  liberal  constitution  to  his  people,  and  the  garrisou  had  received 

thought  he  had  satisfied  all  their  demands,  but    j-q   ngws    of    the    advanCe 
a   revolt  broke  out,  and  he  fled  Lo  Gaeta 


LEOPOLD 


of  the  main  army,  and  were 
forced  from  lack  of  provisions  to  suiTender 
on  May  30th.  However,  after  a  fierce 
struggle  at  Monte  Berico  on  June  loth,  in 


iHE    BOMBARDMENT    OF    MESSINA    IN    SEPTEMBER,     1S48 
j  ne  town  of  Messina   which  lately  was  the  scene  of  a  destructive  earthquake,  suffered  severely  in  September,  184,-^, 
during  the  rising  of  Italy  against  Austria.     Under  the  bombardment  of  General  Filangieri,  the  town  was  exposed 
to   a   heavy  fire ;    many    houses   were   destroyed   and    burned   and   thousands    of  dead  bodies    lay   in   the    streets. 

4928 


ARRANGING  TERMS  OF  PEACE:  THE  MEETING  OF  VICTOR  EMMANCTEL  AND  RADETZKY 
In  this  picture  there  is  represented  the  meeting-  of  the  two  principals  in  the  war  between  Sardinia  and  Austria,  Victor 
Emmanuel  II.  and  Count  Radetzky,  which  took  place  on  March  24th,  1849,  at  the  farmstead  of  Vignale.  Anarmistice 
vas  agreed  to  on  conditions  which  were  to  serve  as  the  basis  of  a  peace,  finally  concluded  in  the  following  August. 

j^oiii  the  painting  by  Aldi.  in  the  PlKice  of  the  Signory.  Siena 


which  Colonel  von  Kopal,  the  Roland  of  the 
Aastrian  army,  was  killed,  Radetzky 
captured  Vicenza,  General  Durando  being 
allowed- to  retreat  with  the  Roman  and 
Tuscan  troops.  They  were  joined  by  the 
"  crociati,"  crusaders,  who  had  occupied 
Treviso.  Padua  was  also  evacuated  by 
the  revolutionaries,  and  almost  the  whole 
of  the  Venetian  province  was  thus  re- 
covered by  the  Austrians.  Fresh  re- 
inforcements from  Austria  were  employed 
in  the  formation  of  a  second  reserve 
corps  under  General  von  Welden  on  the 
Piave  ;  this  force  was  to  guard  Venetia 
on  the  land  side. 

At  this  period  the  provisional  govern- 
ment in  Milan  offered  the  Lombard- 
Venetian  crown  to' the  King  of  Sardinia. 


Charles  Albert  might  reasonably  hope  to 
wear  it,  as  the  Austrian  Government, 
which  had  retired  to  Innsbruck  on  the 
renewal  of  disturbances  in  Vienna,  showed 
some  inclination  to  conclude  an  armistice 
ill  Italy.  Britain  and  France,  however, 
had  declared  the  surrender  by  Austria  of 
the  Italian  provinces  to  be  an  indispens- 
able preliminary  to  peace  negotiations. 

Radetzky  hesitated  to  begin  negotiations 
for  this  purpose,  and  remained  firm  in 
his  resolve  to  continue  the  war,  for  which 
he  made  extensive  preparations  in  the 
course  of  June  and  July,  1848.  He  formed 
a  third  army  corps  in  South  Tyrol,  under 
Count  Thurn,  a  fourth  in  Legnago,  under 
General  von  Culoz,  and  was  then  able 
with  the  two  corps  already  on  foot  to 

4929 


In  the  hope  of  re-establishing-  her  ancient  form  of  g-overnment  under  the  presidency  of  Manin,  Venice  rose  in 
revolt  ag-ainst  Austria  in  1848,  hut  after  a  fifteen  months'  siege  of  the  city  the  Austrians  compelled  it  to  capitulate. 


The  enthusiasm  of  the  citizens  of  Venice  in  their  revolt  against  Austria  was  shared  by  all  classes,  even  the 
women  and  children  desiring  to  have  some  part  in  the  struggle  for  liberty,  and  bringing  their  jewels,  as  shown 
in  the  above  picture,   to  raise   money   for  the   defence   of  the   city   against   the   attack    of  their  bated   enemy. 

SCENES     IN     THE    SIEGE    OF     VENICE     BY     THE    AUSTRIANS     IN     1848-49 
4930 


ITALY'S    FRUITLESS    REVOLT 


attack  the  king  in  his  entrenchments  at 
Sona  and  Sommacampagna.  Operations 
began  here  on  July  23rd,  and  ended  on  the 
25th  with  the  Battle  of  Custozza.  The 
king  was  defeated,  and  Radetzky  secured 
command  of  the  whole  line  of  the  Mincio. 
Charles  Albert  now  made  proposals  for 
an  armistice.  Radetzky's  demands,  how- 
ever, were  such  as  the  king  found  impos- 
sible to  entertain.  He  was  forced  to 
give  up  the  line  of  the  Adda,  which  the 
field-marshal  crossed  with  three  army 
corps  on  August  ist  without  a  struggle. 
The  Battle  of  Milan  on.the  4th-So  clearly 
demonstrated  the  incapacity  of  the  Pied- 
montese  troops  that  the  king  must  have 
welcomed  the  rapidity  of  the  Austrian 
advance  as  facilitating  his  escape  from  the 
raging  mob  with  its  cries  of  treason. 
Radetzky  .  entered  Milan  on 
August  6th  and .  was  well 
received  by  some. part  of  the 
population.  Peschiera  was 
evacuated  on  the  xoth.  With 
the  exception  of  Venice,  the 
kingdom  of  the  double  crown 
had  now  been  restored  to  the 
emperor.  An  armistice  was 
concluded  between  Austria 
and  Sardinia  on  August  9th 
for  six  weeks  ;  it  was  pro- 
longed by  both  sides,  though 
without  formal  stipulation, 
through  the  autumn  of  1848 
and  the  winter  of  1848-1849. 


Radetzky 
Ready  for 
Emergencies 


■■"^A 

t>^          ^fl 

k 

jflP^    ^     (^^^1 

^L, 

ijH»;i&-  ^;»     ,^^H 

■1 

MARSHAL     RADETZKY 


persecutions  of  the  'thirties,  harassed  the 
Austrians  with  the  adherents  who  had 
gathered  round  them.  They  operated  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Lago  Maggiore, 
where  they  could  easily  withdraw  into 
Swiss  territory,  and  also'  stirred  their 
associates  in  Piedmont  to  fresh  activity. 
King  Charles  Albert  saw  that  a  renewal 
of  the  campaign  against  the 
Austrians  was  the  only  means 
of  avoiding  the  revolution  with 
which  he  also  was  threatened. 
He  had,  therefore,  by  dint  of  energetic 
preparation,  succeeded  in  raising  his  army 
to  100,000  men.  He  rightly. saw  that  a 
victory  would  bring  all  the  patriots  over 
to  his  side  ;  but  he  had  no  faith  in  this 
possibihty,  and  announced  the  termina- 
tion .of  the  armistice  on  March  12th, 
1849,  ^^  3,  tone  of  despair. 
Radetzky  had  long  expected 
this  move,  and,  far  from 
being  taken  .  unawares,  had 
made  preparations  to  surprise 
his  adversary.  Instead  of 
retiring  to  the  Adda,  as  the 
Sardinian  had  expected,  he 
started  from  Lodi  with  58,000 
men  and  186  guns,  and  made 
a  turn  to  the  right  upon  Pavia. 
On  March  20th  he  crossed  the 
Ticino  and  moved  upon 
Mortara,  while  Charles  Albert 
made  a.  corresponding  man- 
oeuvre    at      Buffalora     and 


In  Tuscany  the  Grand  Duke  Ri^^t^caiied'- the  saviour  of  the  entered    Lombard     territory 

Leopold        II  thought         he     Monarchy."  this  great  marshal  led     at     Magenta.         He     had     CU- 

had  completely  satisfied  the  i'ft^e^r^ott^"Sn^° Xuaifan  trusted  the  command  of  his 
national  and  political  desires  "^'"^  =^"''  i"^"*^^  ^^^  Revolution,  ^i-^^y  to  the  Polish  revolu- 
of  his  people  by  the  grant  of  a  liberal  con-      tionary   general,  _  Adalbert    Chrzanowski, 


stitution  and  by  the  junction  of  his  troops 
with  the  Piedmont  army.  ..Since  the  time  of 
the  great  Medici,  this  fair  province  had 
never  been  so  prosperous  as  under  the  mild 
rule  of  the  Hapsburg  grand  duke  ;  but 
the  Republicans  gave  it  no  rest.  They 
seized  the  harbour  of  Livorno  and  also 
17.1-1.  c  t.  'tlie  government  of  Florence 
Grfnd  Dukl  ^^  .I'ebruary,  1849,  uuder  the 
.  ''*"  .J It*  leadership pfMazzini's follower, 
Leopold  II.    T^  TA  •       /" 

r  rancesco  Dpmemco  Guerrazzi, 

whom  Leopold  was  forced  to  appoint 
Minister.  The  grand  duke  fled  to  Gaeta, 
where  Pope  Pius  IX.  had  sought  refuge 
at  the  end  of  November,  1848,  from  the 
Republicans,  who  were  besieging  him  in 
the  Quirinal.  Mazzini  and  his  friend 
Giuseppe  Garibaldi,  who  had  led  a  life  of 
adventure   in   South    America   after   the 


whose  comrade,  Ramorino,  led  a  division 
formed  of  Lombard  fugitives.  Radetzky's 
bold  flank  movement  had  broken  the  con- 
nection of  the  Sardinian  forces  ;  Chrzan- 
owski was  forced  hastily  to  despatch  two 
divisions  to  Vigevano  and  Mortara  to  check 
the  Austrian  advance,  which  was  directed 
against  the  Sardinian  line  of  retreat. 

The  stronghold  of  Mortara  was  captured 
on  March  2ist  by  the  corps  d'Aspre,  the 
first  division  of  which  was  led  by  the 
Archduke  Albert.  The  Sardinian  leaders 
were  then  forced  to  occupy  Novara  with 
54,000  men  and  122  guns,  their  troops 
available  at  the  moment.  Tactically  the 
position  was  admirable,  and  here  they 
awaited  the  decisive  battle.  Retreat  to 
Vercelli  was  impossible,  in  view  of  the 
advancing    Austrian  columns. 

4931 


HARMS  WORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


On  IMarch  23rd  Radetzky  despatched 
his  four  corps  to  converge  upon  Novara. 
About  II  a.m.  the  Archduke  Albert  began 
the  attack  u]K-)n  the  heights  of  Bicocca, 
which  formed  the  key  to  the  Itahan 
position.  For  "four  hours  15,000  men  held 
out  against  50,000,  until  the  corps  ad- 
vancing on  the  road  from  Vercelli  were 
able  to  come  into  action  at 
King  and  3  p_ni_  This  movement  decided 
General  in  ^he  struggle.  In  the  evening  the 
Conference    r^       ,.    .  "C>  •      /    j    ? 

Sardmians  were  ejected  from 

the  heights  of  Novara  and  retired  within 
the  town,  which  was  at  once  bombarded. 
The  tactical  arrangement  of  the  Italians 
was  ruined  by  the  disorder  of  their  con- 
verging columns,  and  many  soldiers  were 
able  to  take  to  flight.  Further  resistance 
was  impossible,  and  the  king  demanded 
an  armistice  of  Radetzky,  which  was 
refused.  Charles  Albert  now  abdicated, 
resigning  his  crown  to  Victor  Emmanuel, 
Duke  of  Savoy,  his  heir,  who  happened 
to  be  present.  During  the  night  he  was 
allowed  to  pass  through  the  Austrian 
lines  and  to  make  his  way  to  Tuscany. 

On  the  morning  of  March  24th,  King 
Victor  Emmanuel  had  a  conversation  with 
Radetzky  in  the  farmstead  of  Vignale, 
and  arranged  an  armistice  on  conditions 
which  were  to  serve  as  the  basis  of  a 
future  peace.  The  status  quo  ante  in 
respect  of  territorial  possession  was  to 
be  restored ;  the  field-marshal  waived 
the  right  of  marching  into  Turin, 
which  lay  open  to  him,  but  re- 
tained the  Lomellina,  the  country  be- 
tween the  Ticino  and  the  Sesia,  which  he 
occupied  with  21,000  men  until  the  con- 
clusion of  the  peace.  It  was  stipulated 
that  Sardinia  should  withdraw  her  ships 
from  the  Adriatic  and  her  troops  from 
Tuscany,  Parma,  and  Modena,  and  should 
forthwith  disband  the  Hungarian,  Polish, 
and  Lombard  volunteer  corps  serving  with 
the  army.  Brescia,  which  the  Republicans 
had  occupied  after  the  retreat  of  the 
G  'b  Id"  Austrians  from  Milan,  was 
w'thd'raws  ^^°™^d  °^  April  ist  by  General 
from  Rome  ^'^^  Haynau,  who  brought  up 
his  reserve  corps  from  Padua. 
In  the  preceding  battles  the  Italians  had 
committed  many  cruelties  upon  Austrian 
prisoners  and  wounded  soldiers.  For  this 
reason  the  conquerors  gave  no  quarter  to 
the  defenders  of  the  town  ;  all  who  were 
caught  in  arms  were  cut  down,  and  the 
houses  burned  from  which  firing  had  pro- 
ceeded.    With  the  defeat  of  Sardinia  the 

4932 


Italian  nationalist  movement  became  pur- 
poseless. The  restoration  of  constitutional 
government  in  the  Church  States,  Tuscany, 
and  the  duchies  was  opposed  only  by  the 
democrats.  Their  resistance  was,  however, 
speedily  broken  by  the  Austrian  troops, 
Bologna  and  Ancona  alone  necessitating 
special  efforts  ;  the  former  was  occupied  on 
May  15th,  the  latter  on  the  19th.  Under 
Garibaldi's  leadership  Rome  offered  a 
vigorous  resistance  to  the  French  and  Nea- 
politans, who  were  attempting  to  secure  the 
restoration  of  the  Pope  at  his  own  desire. 
The  French  general  Victor  Oudinot,  a 
son  of  the  marshal  of  that  name  under 
Napoleon  I.,  was  obliged  to  invest  the 
Eternal  City  in  form  from  June  ist  to 
July  3rd  with  20,000  men,  until  the 
population  perceived  the  hopelessness  of 
defence  and  forced  Garibaldi  to  withdraw 
with  3,000  Republicans.  From  the  date 
of  her  entry  into  Rome  until  the  year  1866, 
and  again  from  1867  to  1870,  France 
maintained  a  garrison  in  the  town  for  the 
protection  of  the  Pope.  Venice  continued 
to  struggle  longest  for  her  independence. 
Manin  rejected  the  summons  to  surrender 
even  after  he  had  received    in- 


Italy's 
Power 
Crushed 


formation  of  the  overthrow  and 
abdication    of    Charles     Albert. 


The  Austrians  were  compelled  to 
drive  parallels  against  the  fortifications 
in  the  lagoons,  of  which  Fort  Malghera 
was  the  most  important,  and  to  bombard 
them  continuously.  It  was  not  until 
communication  between  the  town  and  the 
neighbouring  coast  line  was  entirely  cut 
off  by  a  flotilla  of  rowing  boats  that  the 
failure  of  provisions  and  supplies  forced 
the  town  council  to  surrender. 

Italy  was  thus  unable  to  free  herself  by 
her  own  efforts.  Since  the  summer  of 
1848  the  Austrian  Government  had  been 
forced  to  find  troops  for  service  against 
the  rebels  in  Hungary.  It  was  not  until 
the  autumn  that  the  capital  of  Vienna 
had  been  cleared  of  rioters  ;  yet  Austria 
had  been  able  to  provide  the  forces  neces- 
sary to  crush  the  Italian  power.  Her 
success  was  due  to  the  generalship  and 
capacity  of  the  great  marshal,  who  is 
rightly  called  the  saviour  of  the  monarchy, 
and  in  no  less  degree  to  the  admirable 
spirit,  fidelity,  and  devotion  of  the  officers, 
and  to  the  superior  bravery  and  endurance 
of  the  German  and  Slav  troops.  High  as 
the  national  enthusiasm  of  the  Italians 
rose,  it  could  never  compensate  for  their 
lack  of  discipline  and  military  capacity. 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

IN 

REVOLUTION 

III 


THE    HUNGARIAN    REBELLION 

DEFEAT    AND     FLIGHT    OF     LOUIS     KOSSUTH 


'X'HE  struggle  between  Italy  and  Austria 
-'■  may  be  considered  as  inevitable  ;  each 
side  staked  its  resources  upon  a  justifiable 
venture.  The  same  cannot  be  said  of  the 
Hungarian  campaign.  Under  no  urgent 
necessity,  without  the  proposition  of  any 
object  of  real  national  value,  blood  was 
uselessly  and  wantonly  shed,  and  the  most 
lamentable  aberrations  and  political 
blunders  were  committed.  The  result  was 
more  than  a  decade  of  bitter  suffering, 
both  for  the  Magyars  and  for  the  other 
peoples  of  the  Hapsburg  monarchy. 

Such  evils  are  due  to  the  fact  that 
revolutions  never  succeed  in  establish- 
ing a  situation  in  any  way  tolerable; 
they  burst  the  bonds  of  oppression  and 
avenge  injustice,  but  interrupt  the  normal 
course  of  development  and  of  constitutional 
progress,  thereby  postponing  improve- 
ments perfectly  attainable  in  themselves. 
Both  in  Vienna  and  in  Hungary  the  month 
of  March  had  been  a  time  of  great  con- 
fusion. In  the  sudden  excite- 
ment of  the  population  and  the 
vacillation  of  the  Government, 
rights  had  been  extorted  and 
were  recognised  ;  but  their  exercise  was 
impeded,  if  not  absolutely  prevented,  by 
the  continued  existence  of  the  state.  In 
Vienna  the  most  pressing  questions  were  the 
right  of  the  students  to  carry  arms  and  to 
enter  public  life  ;  in  Hungary,  the  creation 
of  a  special  war  office  and  an  exchequer 
board  of  unlimited  power. 

The  students  were  the  leading  spirits  of 
political  life  in  Vienna.  There  was  no  con- 
stitutional matter,  no  question  of  national 
or  administrative  policy,  m  which  they  had 
not  interfered  and  advanced  their  demands 
in  the  name  of  the  people.  Movements  in  the 
capital,  the  seat  of  government,  were  there- 
fore characterised  by  a  spirit  of  immaturity, 
or,  rather,  of  childishness.  Quiet  and 
deliberate  discussion  on  business  methods 
was  unknown,  every  conclusion  was  re- 
jected as  soon  as  made,  and  far-sighted  men 
of  experience  and  knowledge  of  admini- 


Confusionin 

Vicnaa 

and  Hungary 


strative    work    were    refused    a    hearing. 

Fluent    and    empty-headed    demagogues, 

acquainted  with  the  art  of  theatrical  rant, 

enjoyed  the  favour  of  the  excitable  middle 

and   working   classes,   and   unfortunately 

were  too  often  allowed  a  determining  voice 

and    influence   in   government 

„ "  t".  circles.  Any  systematic  and 
Politicians  r   ,    ■'        ■         X  J.U       •    i,i„ 

.    y,.  purposeful  exercise  of  the  rights 

that  had  been  gained  was,  under 
these  circumstances,  impossible,  for  no  one 
could  appreciate  the  value  of  these  con- 
cessions. Like  children  crying  for  the  moon, 
they  steadily  undermined  constituted 
authority  and  could  put  nothing  in  its  place. 

The  students  were  seduced  and  exploited 
by  ignorant  journalists,  aggressive  hot- 
headed Jews,  inspired  with  all  Borne's 
hatred  of  monarchical  institutions  ;  any 
sensible  proposal  was  obscured  by  a  veil  of 
Heine-like  cynicism.  To  the  journalists 
must  be  added  the  grumblers  and  the  base- 
born,  who  hoped  to  secure  lucrative  posts 
by  overthrowing  the  influence  of  the  more 
respectable  and  conscientious  men.  These 
so-called  "Democrats"  gained  the  considera- 
tion even  of  the  prosperous  classes  by  reason 
of  their  association  with  the  students,  who 
represented  popular  feeling. 

They  controlled  the  countless  clubs 
and  unions  of  the  National  Guard  in 
the  suburbs,  and  stirred  up  the  working 
classes,  which  in  Vienna  were  in  the 
depths  of  political  ignorance  ;  they  had 
been,  moreover,  already  inflamed  by  the 
emissaries  which  the  revolutionary  societies 
sent  out  into  France,  Switzerland,  and 
West  Germany,  and  were  inspired  with  the 
wildest  dreams  of  the  approach 
Democrats    ^^  ^  ^^^^,  ^^^^  bringing  freedom, 

"m*'"f  licence,  and  material  enjoy- 
a  New  tra    ^^^^    -^    boundless    measure. 

Together  with  the  Jews,  the  Poles  also 
attained  to  great  importance,  especially 
after  the  disturbances  in  the  Polish 
districts  of  Austria  had  been  crushed  by 
the  energies  of  Count  Franz  Stadion, 
governor    of    Galicia,    and    of   the    town 

4933 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY'    OF    THE    WORLD 


commandant  of  Cracow.  The  agitators  who 
were  there  thrown  out  of  employment 
received  a  most  brilhant  reception  at 
Vienna,  and  their  organisation  of  "  hght- 
ning  petitions  "  and  street  parades  soon 
made  them  indispensable.  On  April  25th, 
1848,  was  published  the  Constitution  of 
Pillersdorf,  a  hastily  constructed  scheme, 
but  not  without  merit  ;  on  May  9th, 
the  election  arrangements  followed.  Both 
alike  were  revolutionary  ;  they  disregarded 
the  rights  of  the  Landtag,  and  far  from 
attempting  to  remodel  existing  material, 
created  entirely  new  institutions  in  accord- 
ance with  the  political  taste  prevailing  at 

the    moment.      Cen - 

tralisation  was  a  fun- 
damental principle  of 
these  schemes  ;  they 
presupposed  the  ex- 
istence of  a  united 
territorial  empire 
under  uniform  ad- 
ministration, from 
which  only  Hungary 
and  the  Lombard- 
Venetian  kingdom 
were  tacitly  excluded. 
The  Reichstag  was  to 
consist  of  a  Senate 
and  a  Chamber  of 
Deputies.  The  Senate 
was  to  include  male 
members  of  the  im- 
perial house  over 
twenty-four  years  of 
age,  an  undetermined 
number  of  life-mem- 
bers nominated  by 
the  emperor,  and  150 
representatives  from 
among  the  great  land- 
owners ;  in  the  Cham- 


LOUIS    KOSSUTH 

Leader  of  the  Hungarian  Revolution,  Louis  Kossuth  was 

gifted  with  wonderful  eloquence,  and  was  able  to  impart 

his  own  enthusiasm  to  the  people  whom  he  led.     He  was 

ber    thirty-one   towns    appointed  provisional  Governor    of  Hungary    after    the    were 

and  electoral  districts    National    Assembly   had    declared   the   throne   vacant 

of  50,000  inhabitants  each  v.'ere  to  appoint 
383  deputies  through  their  delegates. 

From  the  outset  the  Radicals  were 
opp>osed  to  a  senate  and  the  system  of 
indirect  election  ;  the  true  spirit  of  free- 
dom demanded  one  Chamber  and  direct 
election  without  reference  to  property 
or  taxation  burdens.  Such  a  system  was 
the  expression  of  the  people's  rights,  for 
the  "  people "  consisted,  naturally,  of 
Democrats.  All  the  moderate  men,  all 
who  wished  to  fit  the  people  for  their  re- 
sponsibilities by  some  political  education, 
were    aristocrats,    and    aristocrats    were 

4934 


enemies    of    the    people,   to    be  crushed, 
muzzled,  and  stripped  of  their  rights. 

Popular  dissatisfaction  at  the  constitu- 
tion was  increased  by  the  dismissal  of  the 
Minister  of  War,  Lieutenant  Field-Marshal 
Peter  Zanini,  and  the  appointment  of 
Count  Theodor  Baillet  de  Latour  on  April 
28th.  The  former  was  a  narrow-minded 
scion  of  the  middle  class,  and  incapable  of 
performing  his  duties,  for  which  reason  he 
enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  Democrats. 
The  latter  was  a  general  of  distinguished 
theoretical  and  practical  attainments, 
and  popular  with  the  army  ;  these  facts 
and  his  title  made  him  an  object  of  suspicion 
to  the  "people."  At 
the  beginning  of  May 
the  people  proceeded 
to  display  their  dis- 
satisfaction with  the 
ministerial  president. 
Count  Karl  Ficquel- 
mont,  by  the  howls 
and  whistling  of  the 
students.  On  May 
14th  the  students 
fortified  themselves 
with  inflammatory 
speeches  m  the  aula 
and  allied  themselves 
with  the  working 
classes ;  on  the  15  th 
they  burst  into  the 
imperial  castle  and 
surprised  Pillersdorf, 
who  gave  way  with- 
out a  show  of  resist- 
ance, acting  on  the 
false  theory  that  the 
chief  task  of  the 
Government  was  to 
avoid  any  immediate 
conflict.  Concessions 
granted  pro- 
viding for  the  for- 
mation of  a  central  committee  of  the  de- 
mocratic unions,  the  occupation  of  half  the 
outposts  by  National  Guards,  and  the 
convocation  of  a  "Constituent  Reichstag  " 
with  one  Chamber. 

The  imperial  family,  which  could  no 
longer  expect  protection  in  its  own  house 
from  the  Ministry,  left  Vienna  on  May  17th 
and  went  to  Innsbruck,  where  it  was 
out  of  reach  of  the  Democrats  and 
their  outbursts  of  temper,  and  could  more 
easily  join  hands  with  the  Italian  army. 
It  was  supported,  from  June  3rd,  by 
Johann     von    Wessenberg,     Minister     of 


THE    HUNGARIAN    REBELLION 


Foreign  Affairs,  a  diplomatist  of  the  old 
federal  period,  but  of  wide  education  and 
clever  enough  to  see  that  in  critical 
times  success  is  only  to  be  attained  by 
boldness  of  decision  and  a  certain  spirit  of 
daring.  After  Radetzky's  victory  on  the 
Mincio  he  speedily  convinced  himself 
that  compliance  with  the  desires  of  France 
and  Britain  for  the  cession  of  the  Lom- 
bard-Venetian kingdom  would  be  an 
absolute  error — one,  too,  which  would 
arouse  discontent  and  irritation  in  the 
army,  and  so  affect  the  conclusion  of  the 
domestic  difficulty  ;  he  therefore  decisively 
rejected  the  interposition  of  the  Western 
Powers  in  the  Italian  question. 

Wessenberg  accepted  as  seriously  meant 
the  emperor's  repeated  declarations  of  his 
desire  to  rule  his  kingdom  constitutionally. 
As  long  as  he  possessed  the  confidence  of 
the  court  he  affirmed  that  this  resolve 
must  be  carried  out  at  all  costs,  even 
though  it  should  be  necessary  to  use  force 
against  the  risings  and  revolts  of  the 
Radical  Party.  He  was  unable  to  secure  as 
early  a  return  to  Vienna  as  he  had  hoped  ; 
hence  he  was  obliged  to  make  what  use 
he  could  of  the  means  ■  at  his 
re    uc      disposal  by  entrusting  the  Arch- 

P  duke  Johann  with  the  regency 

during  the  emperor's  absence. 
The  regent's  influence  was  of  no  value  ;  at 
that  time  he  was  summoned  to  conduct 
the  business  of  Germany  at  Frankforton- 
Main,  and  his  action  in  Vienna  was  in  con- 
sequence irregular  and  undertaken  without 
full  knowledge  of  the  circumstances. 

On  July  i8th  the  Archduke  Johann", 
as  representing  the  emperor,  formed  a 
Ministry,  the  president  being  the  pro- 
gressive landowner  Anton  von  Doblhoff. 
The  advocate  Dr.  Alexander  Bach,  who 
had  previously  belonged  to  the  popular 
party,  was  one  of  the  members.  The 
elections  to  the  Reichstag  were  begun  after 
Prince  Alfred  of  Windisch-Graetz,  the 
commander  of  the  imperial  troops  in  Bo- 
hemia, had  successfrflly  and  rapidly  sup- 
pressed a  revolt  at  Prague  which  was 
inspired  by  the  first  Slav  Congress.  This 
achievement  pacified  Bohemia.  On  July 
loth  the  deputies  of  the  Austrian  provinces 
met  for  preliminary  discussion. 

The  claims  of  the  different  nationalities 
to  full  equality  caused  a  difficulty  with 
respect  to  the  language  in  which  business 
should  be  discussed  ;  objections  were  ad- 
vanced against  any  show  of  preference  for 
German,  the  only  language  suitable  to  the 


purpose.  However,  the  necessity  of  a  rapid 
interchange  of  ideas,  and  dislike  of  the 
wearisome  •  process  of  translation  through 
an  interpreter,  soon  made  German  the 
sole  medium  of  communication,  in  spite  of 
the  protests  raised  by  the  numerous 
Polish  peasants,  who  had  been  elected  in 
Galicia  against  the  desires  of  the  nobility. 
The  most  pressing  task,  of 
_  .  drafting  the  Austrian  Constitu- 
„  tion,   was   entrusted   to    a    com- 

*  ^  mittee  on  July  31st ;  the  yet 
more  urgent  necessity  of  furthering  and 
immediately  strengthening  the  executive 
power  was  deferred  till  the  committee 
should  have  concluded  its  deliberations.  The 
Ministry  was  reduced  to  impotence  in  conse- 
quence, and  even  after  the  emperor's  return 
to  Schonbrunn,  on  August  12th,  its  posi- 
tion was  as  unstable  as  it  was  unimportant. 

While  "these  events  were  taking  place  in 
Vienna  a  new  state  had  been  created  in 
Hungary,  which  was  not  only  independent 
of  Austria,  but  soon  showed  itself  openly 
hostile  to  her.  For  this,  two  reasons  may 
be  adduced  :  in  the  first  place,  misconcep- 
tions as  to  the  value  and  reliability  of 
the  demands  advanced  by  the  national 
spokesmen  ;  and,  secondly,  the  precipitate 
action  of  the  Government,  which  had  made 
concessions  without  properly  estimating 
their  jesults.  The  Magyars  were  them- 
selves unequal  to  the  task  of  transforming 
their  feudal  state  into  a  constitutional 
body  politic  of  the  modern  type  as  rapidly 
as  they  desired. 

They  had  failed  to  observe  that  the  appli- 
cation of  the  principle  of  personal  freedom 
to  their  existing  political  institutions 
would  necessarily  bring  to  light  national 
claims  of  a  nature  to  imperil  their  para- 
mountcy  in  their  own  land,  or  that,  in 
the  inevitable  struggle  for  this  paramount 
position,  the  support  of  Austria  and  of  the 
reigning  house  would  be  of  great  value. 
With  their  characteristic  tendency  to  over- 
estimate their  powers,  they  deemed  them- 
selves  capable  of  founding  a 
The  Magyars  European  power  at  One  Stroke. 
Demand  ^^^^.^  impetuosity  further  in- 

Indcpendence  ^^^^^^^  ^^^  difficulties  of  their 
position.  They  were  concerned  only  with 
the  remodelling  of  domestic  organisation, 
but  they  strove  to  loose,  or  rather  to  burst 
asunder,  the  political  and  economic  ties 
which  for  centuries  had  united  them  to  the 
German  hereditary  possessions  of  their 
ruling  house.  They  demanded  an  inde- 
pendence* which  they  had  lost  on  the  day 

4935 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


of  the  Battle  of  Mohacs.  They  deprived 
their  king  of  rights  which  had  been  the 
indisputable  possession  of  every  one  of  his 
crowned  ancestors.  Such  were,  the  supreme 
command  of  his  army,  to  which  Hungary 
contributed  a  number  of  men,  though 
sending  no  individual  contingents;  the 
supreme  right  over  the  coinage  and 
currency,  which  was  a  part  of  the  royal 
prerogative,  and  had  been  personally  and 
therefore  uniformly  employed  by  the 
representatives  of  the  different  sovereign- 
ties composing  the  Hapsburg  power. 

The  legal  code  confirmed  by  the  emperor 
and  King  Ferdinand  at  the  dissolution  of 
the  old  Reichstag,  on  April  loth,  1848,  not 
only  recognised  the  existing  rights  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Hungary,  but  contained 
concessions  from  the  emperor  which 
endangered  and  indeed  destroyed  the  old 
personal  union  with  Austria.  Of  these  the 
chief  was  the  grant  of  an  independent 
Ministry,  and  the  union  of  Hungary  and 
Transylvania .  without  any. .  obligation  of 
service  to  the  Crown,  without  the  recog- 
nition of  any  community;  of  interests, 
without  any  stipulation  for  such  co-opera- 
tion as  might  be  needed  to  secure  the 
existence  of  the  joint 
monarchy. 

In  Croatia,  Slavonia,  ' 
in  the  Banat,  and  in  the 
district  of  Bacska  in- 
habited by  the  Servians, 
the  Slavonic  nationalist 
movement  broke  into 
open  revolt  against  Mag- 
yar self-aggrandisement ; 
the  Hungarian  Ministry 
then  demanded,  the  recall 
of.,  all .  Hungarian  troops 
from  ..the.  Italian  army, 
from  Moravia  and  Galicia, 
in  order  to  quell  the 
."anarchy"  pi^evailing  at 
home.  .  The  Imperial 
Government  ,  now      dis- 


.  FRANCIS    JOSEPH     I. 

covered  that  m  COncedmg  Born  in  1830,  he  became  Emperor  of  Austria 

an    "independent 

ministry  to  Hungary  they  ^ad  been  compelled  to  abdcate.    The  above 

,       1  -^  ,    o   .  -^      , ,  •'  portrait   was   taken    about    the   year    18  jO 

had      surrendered       the  -  - 


attitude  of  Hungary  on  the  financial 
question,  wherein  she  showed  no  inclina- 
tion to  consider  the  needs  of  the  whole 
community.  She  owed  her  political  exist- 
ence to  German  victories  over  the 
Turks,  but  in  her  selfishness  would  not  save 
-.  ,  Austria  from  bankruptcy  by 

Hungary  s  ,-  ,       ^    r    .1 

r»  1./^   r-  accepting  a  quarter  of  the 

Debt  to  German        .-^     ,",   ,  .^       1         -,  ■ 

,,.  .    .  national  debt  and  making  a 

Victories  . 

yearly  paymentof  one  million 
])ounds  to  meet  the  interest.  The 
majority,. of  the  Ministry  of  Batthyany, 
to  ,  which .  the  loyaUst  Franz  von  Deak 
belonged,  were  by  no  means  anxious  to 
bring  about  a  final  separation  between 
Hungary  and  Austria ;  they  were  even 
ready  to  grant  troops  to  the  court  for  ser- 
vice in  the  Italian  war,  if  the  Imperial 
Government  would  support  Hungarian 
action  against  the  malcontent  Croatians. 

In  May,  Count  Batthyany  hastened  to  the 
Imperial  Court  at  Innsbruck  and  suc- 
ceeded in  allaying  the  prevailing  apprehen- 
sions. The  court  was  inclined  to  purchase 
Hungarian  adherence  to  the  dynasty  and 
the  empire  by  compliance  in  all  questions 
affecting  the  domestic  affairs  of  Hungary. 
But  it  soon  became  clear  that  Batthj^any 
and  his  associates  did  not 
represent  public  feeling, 
which  was  entirely  led 
by  the  fanatical  agitator 
Kossuth,  who  was  not 
to  be  appeased  by  the 
offer  of  the  portfolio  of 
finance  in  Batthyany's 
i\Iinistry. 

Louis  Kossuth  was  a 
man  of  extravagant  en- 
thusiasm, endowed  with 
great  histrionic  powers,  a 
rhetorician  who  was  apt 
to  be  carried  away  by 
the  torrent  of  his  own 
eloquence,  a  type  of  the 
revolutionary  apostle  and 
martyr.  He  was  un- 
doubtedly     lacking      in 


war    inl848,  succeeding  his  uncle  Ferdinand  I.,  who     sobriety  of  political  judg- 

'  -T-.  - -.--—    ^^gj.^^^    ^^^    j.jjg    powers 

were  never  exerted  with 
full  effect  except  under- the  stress  of  high 
excitement  ;  he  seems,  indeed,  to  have 
been  one  of  those  who  realise  themselves 
only  at  the  moment  when  they  feel  that 
the  will  of  great  masses  of  men  has 
fallen  completely  under  the  sway  of  their 
own  passion  of  eloquence.  The  ambitions 
of  such  men  can  never  be. satisfied  in  any 


unity  of  the  army,  and  so  lost  the  main 
prop  of  the  monarchical  power.  The 
difficulty  was  incapable  of  solution  by 
peaceful  methods  ;  a  struggle  could  only 
be  avoided  by  the  vohmtary  renunciation 
on "  the  part  of  Hungary  of  a  right  she 
had  extorted  but  a  moment  before. 
No  less  intolerable  was  the  independent 

4936 


THE    HUNGARIAN   REBELLION 


arena  less   than  that   in  which   national      paper   for   the   same   amount  ;     he   tnen 
destinies    are    staked.     Kossuth    did    not      demanded  further  credit  to  the  extent  ot 
enter  on  his  political  career  from  motives      4,200,000    pounds,   to    equip   a    national 
of   personal    aggrandisement,   with   a  de-      army  of  200,000  men.     He  even  attempted 
liberate    intention    of    overthrowing    the      to   determine  the   foreign  policy  of   the 
Hapsburg   rule   in   order   that    he    might      emperor-king.     Austria  was  to   cede   all 
become  the  presiding  genius  and  authori-      Italian  territory  as  far  as  the  Etsch,  and, 
tative   chief   of   a   Hungarian    Republic  ;      as    regarded   her   German   provinces,    to 
but    it    can    hardly    be  bow  to  the  decisions  of 

questioned       that       this  the     central     power     in 

would  have  been  the  out-  Frankfort.      In    case    of 

come   of  the    movement  ^  dispute  with  this  power 

which  he  originated,  had  1  she  was  not  to  look  to 

it  been  carried  to  a  sue-  I'Jf  tl|M  •    '  Hungary      for     support, 

cessful  issue  with  Kossuth  \i  Such    a    point    of    view 

at  its  head.  .  '■^'^  \    was  wholly  incompatible 

For  such  national  rights  ^^s^*****.  with  the    traditions  and 

as   the     Magyars    could  ^  ^^  ,  the  European  prestige  of 

claim  for  themselves  full  .^t L...        ...^lIB^^         '^^^  House  of  Hapsburg; 

provision  was   made   by  ^^^HHpii^M||^^^Hfe||^:  lo  yield  would  have  been 

the   Constitution,    which       g^^^^^W^     ^^K^^^^^k  to  resign  the  position  of 
they     had     devised     on     ^^^^^Bh      ^^^^^^^^^V   permanency  and  to  begin 
liberal  principles,  abolish-     '^^^^^H^B    m^^^^^^KKm     ^^^^     disruption    of     the 
ing  the  existing  privileges     ^^^^^HH  m^B^^^^^Km      ^^^onarchy. 
of  the  nobility  and  cor-      ^^^^^^^1^^^^^^^^^^  It  was  to  be  feared  that 

porat ions ;  every  freedom  ^Bi^^^Hl^^^^HII^^'  Hungarian  aggression 
was  thus  provided  for_  ^^^^^^S^^^^^^W  '  could  be  met  only  by 
the  development  ofitheir  .  ^x^      ^^^^^H^^  force.    The  federal  allies, 

strength  '  and    individu-  ""^SBIP^^^  who  had  already  prepared 

ality.  On  July'2nd,.x848,  kossuth   in   later   life  for  what  they  saw  would 

the        Reichstag'    elected    For  some  years  Kossuth  resided  in  England,     be   a    hard    Struggle,  WCre 

under  the  new  Constitu-   ^^^  ^}'''Z  p°'*?'*  "!?T5  •''l'u*^"""f.a'.'  now  appreciated  at  their 

,,  r^,      "  stay  m  this  country.    He  died  in  the  year  1894.    ^-  ^^,  _,, 

tion  met  together.      The    .  ,  .     •         true    value.        Ihey    in- 

great  task  before  it  was  the  satisfaction      eluded  the  Servians    and  Croatians,  who 


of  the  other  nationalities,  the  Slavs,  Rou- 
manians; and  Saxons,  living  on  Hungarian 
soil ;  ,their  .  acquiescence  in  .the  Magyar 
predominance  was  to  be  secured  without 
endangering  the  unity  of  the  kingdom,  by 
means  of  laws  for  national  defence,  and  of 
other  innovations  making  for  prosperity. 

Some  clear  definition  ofvthe  connection 
between  Hungary,  and  Austria  was  also 
necessary. if  their  common  sovereign  was 
to  retain  his  prestige  in  Europe  ;  and  it 
was  of  the  first  importance  to  allay  the 
apprehensions  of  the  court  with  regard  to 
the  fidelity,  the  subordination,  and  devo- 
tion of  the  Magyars.     Kossuth,  however, 

V  .1. .  ■  brought  before  the  Reichstag 
Kossuth  s  9        c  I         11 

D         A     f  th   ^  series  of  proposals  calcula- 

P    .    ,  ted  to  shatter  the  confidence 

which  Batthyanj^  had  exerted 

himself  to  restore  during  his  repeated  visits 

to  Innsbruck.    The  Austrian  national  bank 

had  offered  to  advance  one  and  a  quarter 

million  pounds  in  notes  for  the  purposes  of 

the  Hungarian  Government.  This  proposal 

Kossuth  declined,  and  issued  Hungarian 

L  a6  G 


were  already  in  open  revolt  against  the 
Magyars,  and  had  been  organised  into  a 
military  force  by  Georg  Stratimirovt. 
The  Banace  of  Croatia  was  a  dignity  in 
the  gift  of  the  king,  though  his  nominee 
was  responsible  to  Hungary.  Since  the 
outbreak  of  the  revolution  the  position 
had  been  held  by  an  Austrian  general 
upon  the  military  frontier — Jellacic. 

Though  no  professional  diplomatist,  he 
performed  a -master-stroke  of  policy  in 
securing  to  the  support  of  the  dynasty  the 
southern  Slav  movement  fostered  by  the 
"Great  lUyrian"  party.-  He  supported 
the  majority  of  the  Agram  Landtag  in 
their  efforts  to  secure  a  separation  from 
Hungary,  thereby  exposing  himself  to 
the  violent  denunciations  of  Batthyany's 
Ministry,  which  demanded  his  deposition. 
These  outcries  he  disregarded,  and 
pacified  the  court  by  exhorting  the 
frontier  regiments  serving  under  Radetzky 
to  remain  true  to  their  colours  and 
to  give  their  lives  for  the  glory  of 
Austria.    The  approbation  of  his  comrades 

4937 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


in  the  imperial  army  strengthened  him  in 
the  conviction  that  it  was  his  destiny  to 
save  the  army  and  the  Imperial  house.  He 
formed  a  Croatian  army  of  40,000  men, 
which  was  of  no  great  military  value, 
though  its  numbers,  its  impetuosity,  and 
its  extraordinary  armament  made  it  for- 
midable. The  victories  of  the  Italian 
_.     _  ,    army  and  the  reconquest  of 

nswer  Imperial  Court.    On  August 

toKossuth  S  j.\  A  j^ 

12th  the  emperor  returned  to 

the  summer  palace  of  Schonbrunn,  near 
Vienna,  and  proceeded  to  direct  his  policy 
in  the  conviction  that  he  had  an  armed 
force  on  which  he  could  rely,  as  it  was  now 
possible  to  reconcentrate  troops  by  degrees 
in  different  parts  of  the  empire.  On  August 
31st,  1848,  an  Imperial  decree  was  issued  to 
the  palatine  Archduke  Stephen,  who  had 
hitherto  enjoyed  full  powers  as  the  royal 
representative  in  Hungary  and  Transyl- 
vania ;  the  contents  of  the  decree  referred 
to  the  necessity  of  enforcing  the  Prag- 
matic Sanction.  Such  was  the  answer 
to  the  preparations  begun  by  Kossuth. 

This  decree,  together  with  a  note  from  the 
Austrian  Ministry  upon  the  constitutional 
relations  between  Austria  and  Hungary, 
was  at  once  accepted  by  Kossuth  as  a 
declaration  of  war,  and  was  made  the 
occasion  of  measures  equivalent  to  open 
revolt.  On  September  nth  the  Minister 
of  Finance  in  a  fiery  speech,  which  roused 
his  auditors  to  a  frenzied  excitement,  de- 
clared himself  ready  to  assume  the 
dictatorship  on  the  retirement  of  Bat- 
thyany's  Ministry.  On  the  same  day  the 
Croatian  army  crossed  the  Drave  and 
advanced  upon  Lake  Flatten. 

The  Vienna  Democrats,  who  might  con- 
sider themselves  masters  of  the  capital, 
had  been  won  over  to  federal  alliance  with 
Hungary.  The  most  pressing  necessity 
was  the  restoration  of  a  strong  govern- 
ment which  would  secure  respect  for  estab- 
lished authority,  freedom  of  deliberation 
Illiterate  ^°  ^^^  Reichstag,  and  power 
Deputielin'  J?,  "^^""7  °^*  ^^f  Conclusions. 
the  Reichstag  P^  Reichstag,  however,  pre- 
ferred to  discuss  a  superficial 
and  ill-conceived  motion  brought  forward 
by  Hans  Kudlich,  the  youthful  deputy  from 
Silesia,  for  releasing  peasant  holdings  from 
the  burdens  imposed  on  them  by  the  over- 
lords. The  work  of  this  Reichstag,  which 
contained  a  large  number  of  illiterate 
de])uties  from  Galicia,  may  be  estimated 
from  the  fact  that  it  showed  a  strong  in- 

493« 


clination  to  put  the  question  of  compensa- 
tion on  one  side.  Dr.  Alexander  Bach  was 
obliged  to  exert  all  his  influence  and  that 
of  the  Ministry  to  secure  a  recognition  of 
the  fundamental  principle,  that  the  relief 
of  peasant  holdings  should  be  carried  out 
in  legal  form.  The  "  people  "  of  Vienna 
took  little  part  in  these  negotiations ; 
their  attention  was  concentrated  upon  the 
noisy  outcries  of  the  Democrats,  who  were 
in  connection  not  only  with  the  radical 
element  of  the  Frankfort  Parliament,  but 
also  with  Hecker  and  his  associates. 

As  early  as  the  middle  of  September  a 
beginning  was  made  with  the  task 
of  fomenting  disturbances  among  the 
working  classes,  and  the  retirement  of  the 
Ministry  was  demanded.  Great  excite- 
ment was  created  by  the  arrival  of  a  large 
deputation  from  the  Hungarian  Reichstag, 
with  which  the  riotous  Viennese  formed  the 
tie  of  brotherhood  in  a  festive  celebration 
on  September  i6th.  The  Hungarians  were 
able  to  count  upon  the  friendship  of  the 
Austrian  revolutionaries  after  their  mani- 
festations of  open  hostility  to  the  court. 
The  Hungarian  difficulty  weakened  the 
P  impression  made  by  Radetzky's 

„    '  *  ,       victories,    and    radical    minds 
Hopes  of  a  j  1  r 

P  .  J.  agam  conceived  hopes  of  over- 
throwing the  Imperial  house 
and  forming  a  Federal  Danube  Republic. 
At  the  request  of  the  archduke  palatine, 
Count  Louis  Batthyany  made  another 
attempt  to  form  a  constitutional  Ministry 
on  September  17th,  with  the  object  of 
abohshing  Kossuth's  dictatorship  ;  how- 
ever, no  practical  result  was  achieved. 

The  die  had  been  already  cast,  and  the 
military  party  had  established  the  necessity 
of  restoring  the  imperial  authoritj'  in  Hun- 
gary by  force  of  arms.  The  Archduke 
Stephen  attempted  to  bring  about  a 
meeting  with  Jellacic,  to  induce  him  to 
evacuate  Hungarian  territory,  but  the 
banus  excused  himself  ;  at  the  same  time 
the  palatine  was  informed  that  Field- 
Marshal  Lamberg  had  been  appointed 
commander-in-chief  of  the  imperial  troops 
in  Hungary,  and  that  the  banus  was  under 
his  orders.  This  was  a  measure  entirely 
incompatible  with  the  then  existing  Con- 
stitution. The  archduke  recognised  that 
he  would  be  forced  to  violate  his  constitu- 
tional obligations  as  a  member  of  the 
Imperial  house  ;  he  therefore  secretly 
abandoned  the  country  and  betook  him- 
self to  his  possessions  in  Schaumberg 
without    making    any    stay    in     Vienna. 


^ 


THE    HUNGARIAN    REBELLION 


When  Count  Lamberg  attempted  to  take 
up  his  post  in  the  Hungarian  capital  he  fell 
into  the  hands  of  Kossuth's  most  desperate 
adherents,  and  was  cruelly  murdered  on 
September  28th,  1848,  at  the  new  suspen- 
sion bridge  which  unites  Pesth  and  Ofen. 
An  irreparable  breach  with  the  dynasty 
was  thus  made,  and  the  civil  war  began. 
At  the  end  of  September  the  Hungarian 
national  troops  under  General  Moga,  a  force 
chiefly  composed  of  battalions  of  the  line, 
defeated  Jellacic  and  advanced  into  Lower 
Austria.  They  were  speedily  followed  by 
a  Hungarian  army  which  proposed  to  co- 
operate wi  th  the  revolted  Viennese ,  who  were 
also  fighting  against  the  public  authorities. 
It  was  on  October  6th,  1848,  that  the 
Viennese  mob  burst  into  open  revolt,  the 
occasion  being  the  march  of  a  grenadier 
battalion  of  the  northern  railway  station 
for  service  against  the  Hungarians.  The 
democratic  conspirators  had  been  stirred 
up  in  behalf  of  republicanism  by  Johannes 
Ronge,  Julius  Frobel,  and  Karl  Tausenau  ; 
they  had  done  their  best  to  inflame  the 
masses,  had  unhinged  the  minds  of  the 
populace  to   the   point   of  rebellion,    and 

-^.    »«.  .  .     made  the  maintenance  of  public 
The  Minister        •,       ■  •,  i         ^,        ^ 

™  order  impossible.     Ihe  uproar 

.  •     t  d  spread    throughout   the    city, 

and  the  Minister  of  War,  Count 

Latour,     was    murdered.       The     Radical 

deputies,     Lohner,     Borrosch,     Fischhof, 

Schuselka,  and  others  now  perceived  that 

they  had  been  playing  with  fire  and  had 

burnt  their  fingers.    They  were  responsible 

for  the  murder,   in  so  far  as  they  were 

unable  to  check  the  atrocities  of  the  mob, 

which  they  had  armed. 

Once  again  the  Imperial  family  aban- 
doned the  faithless  capital  and  took  refuge 
in  the  archbishop's  castle  at  Olmiitz.  The 
immediate  task  before  the  Government 
was  to  overpower  the  republican  and 
anarchist  movement  in  Vienna.  In 
Olmiitz  the  Government  was  represented 
by  Wessenberg,  and  was  also  vigorously 
supported  by  Prince  Felix  Schwarzenberg, 
who  had  hastened  to  the  court  from 
Radetzky's  camp.  He  had  been  employed 
not  only  on  military  service,  but  also  in 
diplomatic  duties  in  Turin  and  Naples. 

He  declared  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
constitutional  monarchy,  and  supported 
the  decree  drafted  by  Wessenberg,  to 
the  effect  that  full  support  and  un- 
limited power  of  action  should  be 
accorded  to  the  Reichstag  summoned  to 
Kremsier  for  discussion  with  the  Imperial 


advisers  upon  some   mutually  acceptable 

form     of    constitution    for    the    empire. 

There    was    strong    feeling    in    favour    of 

placing  all  power  in  the  hands  of  Prince 

Alfred  Windisch-Graetz,  and  establishing 

a  military  dictatorship  in  his  person,  with 

the  abolition  of  all  representative  bodies  ; 

but   for   the   moment   this   idea  was  not 

-,  reahsed.    Windisch-Graetz  was 

tu^n  "*^,    appointed     field-marshal     and 
the  Revolt        ^  ^  ,       .        ,  .    ,       r      ,,    ,, 

.    ...  commander-in-chief   of  all  the 

in  Vienna  ■    ^     r  ,    ■  ■,       t     , 

imperial   forces   outside   Italy, 

and  undertook  the  task  of  crushing  the  revolt 

in  Vienna  and  Hungary.    The  subjugation 

of  Vienna  was  an  easy  task. 

The  garrison,  consisting  of  troops  of 
the  line  under  Auersperg,  had  withdrawn 
into  a  secure  position  outside  the  city 
on  October  7th,  where  they  joined  hands 
with  the  troops  of  the  banus  Jellacic  on 
the  Leitha.  These  forces  gradually  pene- 
trated the  suburbs  of  Vienna.  On  October 
2 1st  the  army  of  Prince  Windisch-Graetz, 
marching  from  Moravia,  arrived  at  the 
Danube,  crossed  the  river  at  Nussdorf, 
and  advanced  with  Auersperg  and  Jellacic 
upon  the  walls  which  enclosed  Vienna. 

The  Democrats  in  power  at  Vienna,  who 
had  secured  the  subservience  of  the 
members  of  the  Reichstag  remaining  in 
the  city,  showed  the  courage  of  bigotry. 
They  rejected  the  demands  of  Windisch- 
Graetz,  who  required  their  submission, 
the  surrender  of  the  War  Minister's 
murderers,  and  the  dissolution  of  the 
students'  committees  and  of  the  demo- 
cratic unions ;  they  determined  to  defend 
Vienna  until  Hungary  came  to  their  help. 
Robert  Blum,  who,  with  Julius  Frobel,  had, 
brought  an  address  from  the  Frankfort 
Democrats  to  Vienna,  was  a  leading  figure 
in  the  movement  for  resistance.  W^enzel 
Messenhauser,  the  commander  of  the 
National  Guard,  undertook  the  conduct 
of  the  defence,  and  headed  a  division  of 
combatants  in  person.  The  general 
assault  was  delivered  on  October  28th. 
Only  in  the  Praterstern  and  in 
the  Jagerzeile  was  any  serious 


Vienna    on 
the  Point  of 
Surrender 


resistance  encountered.  By 
evening  almost  all  the  barri- 
cades in  the  suburbs  had  been  carried,  and 
the  troops  were  in  possession  of  the 
streets  leading  over  the  glacis  to  the  bas- 
tions of  the  inner  city. 

On  the  next  day  there  was  a  general 
feeling  in  favour  of  surrender.  Messen- 
hauser himself  declared  the  hopelessness  of 
continuing  the  struggle,   and    advised   a 

4939 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


general  surrender.  However,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  October  30th  he  was  on  the  Tower  of 
Stephan  watching  the  struggle  of  Jellacic 
against  the  Hungarians  at  Schwechat,  and 
was  unfortunately  induced  to  proclaim  the 
news  of  the  Hungarian  advance  with  an 
army  of  relief,  thereby  reviving  the  martial 
ardour  of  the  desperadoes,,  who  had  already 
,  begun  a  reign  of  terror  in 
Vienna  s  Vienna.  He  certainly  opposed 
eign  o  ^^^^  fanatics  who  clamoured  for 
a  resumption  of  the  conflict ;  but 
he  quailed  before  the  intimidation  of  the 
democratic  ruffians,  and  resigned  his  com- 
mand without  any  attempt  to  secure  the 
due  observance  of  the  armistice  which  had 
been  already  concluded  with  Windisch- 
Graetz.  On  the  31st  the  field-marshal  threw 
a  few  shells  into  the  town  to  intimidate  the 
furious  proletariat  ;  but  it  was  not  until 
the  afternoon  that  the  imperial  troops 
were  able  to  make  their  way  into  the  town. 
They  amved  just  in  time  to  save  the 
Imperial  library  and  the  museum  of  natural 
history  from  destruction  by  fire. 

Vienna  was  conquered  on  November  1st, 
1848  ;  those  honourable  and  distinguished 
patriots  who  had  spent  the  month  of 
October  in  oppression  and  constant  fear 
of  death  were  liberated.  The  revolution 
in  Austria  could  now  be  considered  at  an 
end.  The  capture  of  Vienna  cost  the 
army  sixty  officers  and  1,000  men  killed 
and  wounded.  The  number  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, combatants  and  non-combatants, 
who  were  killed  in  the  last  days  of  October 
can  only  be  stated  approximately.  Dr. 
Anton  Schiitte,  an  eye-witness,  estimated 
-the  number  at  5,000. 

The  next  problem  was  the  conduct  of 
the  war  with  Hungary,  which  had  already 
raised  an  army  of  100,000  men,  and  was 
in  possession  of  every  fortress  of  importance 
in  the  country,  with  the  exception  of  Arad 
and  Temesvar.  The  Battle  of  Schwechat, 
on  October  30th,  1848,  had  ended  with  the 
retreat  of  the  30,000  men  brought  up  by 

Abdication  of  ,^^"?J^^  ^^g^"  T^'!,  '^Tl^  °^ 
the  Emperor  ^^'^  Hungarians  had  not  been 
Ferdinand  ^^^^'  ^° *^"^®  importance  of  the 
occasion.  A  Hungarian  victory 
at  that  time  would  have  implied  the  relief 
of  Vienna,  and  the  question  of  the  separa- 
tion of  the  Crown  of  Stephen  from  the 
House  of  Hapsburg  would  certainly  have 
become  of  European  importance. 

Upon  the  abdication  of  the  Emperor 
Ferdinand  and  the  renunciation  of  liis 
brother,  the    Archduke    Francis    Charles, 

4940 


the  Archduke  Francis  Joseph  ascended  the 
throne  on  December  2nd,  1848.  On  the 
same  day  Prince  Windisch-Graetz  ad- 
vanced upon  the  Danube  with  43,000 
men  and  216  guns,  while  General  Count 
Franz  Schlick  started  from  Galicia  with 
8,000  men,  and  General  Balthasar  von 
Simunich  moved  upon  Neutra  from  the 
Waag  with  4,000  men.  After  a  series  of 
conflicts — at  Pressburgonthe  17th,  atRaab 
on  the  27th,  at  Moor  on  the  30th  December, 
1848,  and  after  the  victory  of  Schlick  at 
Kaschau  on  December  iith,  the  pro- 
visional Government  under  Kossuth  was 
forced  to  abandon  Pesth  and  to  retire  to 
Debreczin  ;  the  banate  was  speedily 
evacuated  by  the  national  troops,  as  soon 
as  Jellacic,  who  now  commanded  an  army 
corps  under  Windisch-Graetz,  was  able 
to  act  with  the  armed  Servians. 

However,  the  freld-marshal  under-esti- 
mated the  resisting  power  of  the  nation, 
which,  as  Kossuth  represented,  was  threat- 
ened with  the  loss  of  its  political  existence, 
and  displayed  extraordinary  capacities  of 
self-sacrifice  and  devotion  in  those  danger- 
bus  days.  He  was  induced  to  Mvance  into 
Th    TA       ^^^^  district  of  the  Upper  Theiss 

^  y^  with  too  weak  a  force,  and 
„"-^  divided  his  troops,  instead  of 

ungary  halting  in  strong  positions  at 
Ofen  and  Waitzen  on  the  Danube  and 
waiting  for  the  necessary  reinforcemeiits. 
The  Battle  of  Kapolna,  on  February  26th 
and  27th,  1849,  enabled  Schlick  to  effect 
the  desired  junction,  and  could  be  regarded 
as  a  tactical  victory.  Strategically,  how- 
ever, it  implied  a  turn  of  the  scale  in 
favour  of  the  Hungarians  ;  they  gradually 
concentrated  under  the  Polish  general 
Henryk  Dembinski  and  the  Hungarian 
Arthur  Gdrgey,  and  were  able  to  take  the 
offensive  at  the  end  of  March,  1849,  under 
the  general  command  of  Gorgey,  who  won 
a  victory  at  Isaszegh,  G6d511o,  on  April  6th. 

Ludwig  von  Melden,  the  representa- 
tive of  Windisch-Graetz,  who  had  been 
recalled  to  Olmiitz,  was  forced  to  retire  to 
the  Raab  on  April  27th  to  avoid  being 
surrounded.  The  town  of  Komorn  had 
offered  a  bold  resistance  to  the  Austrian" 
besiegers,  who  had  hitherto  failed  to 
secure  this  base,  which  was  of  importance 
for  the  further  operations  of  the  imperial 
army.  General  Moritz  Perezel  made  a 
victorious  advance  into  the  banate. 
General  Joseph  Bem  fought  with  varying 
success  against  the  weak  Austrian 
divisions  in  Transylvania  under  Puchner. 


THE    HUNGARIAN    REBELLION 


The  remnants  of  these  were  driven  into 
Wallachia  on  February  20th.  By  April, 
1849,  the  fortresses  of  Ofen,  Arad,  and 
Temesvar  alone  remained  in  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  Austrians. 

The  promulgation  of  a  new  constitution 
for  the  whole  of  Austria,  dated  March 
4th,  1849,  was  answered  by  Kpssuth  in  a 
proclamation  from  Debreczin  on  April 
14th,  dethroning  the  House  of  Hapsburg. 
In  spite  of  the  armistice  with  Victor 
Emmanuel,  Italy  was  as  yet  too  disturbed 
to  permit  the  transference  of  Radetzky's 
army  to  Hungary.  Accordingly,  on  May 
ist  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  concluded 
a  convention  with  Russia,  who  placed  her 
forces  at  his  disposal  for  the  subjugation  of 
Hungary,  as  the  existence  of  a  Hungarian 


with  three  corps  to  Arad  without  coming 
into  collision  with  the  Russian  contingents. 
On  August  5th  Dembinski  was  driven 
back  from  Szoray  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
Szegedin,  and  the  Hungarian  leaders  could 
no  longer  avoid  the  conviction  that  their 
cause  was  lost.  On  August  iith,  Kossuth 
fled  from  Arad  to  Turkey.  On 
the  13th,  Gorgey,  who  had  been 
appointed  dictator  two  days 
previously,  surrendered  with 
31,000  men,  18,000  horse,  144  guns,  and 
sixty  standards,  at  Vilagos,  to  the  Russian 
general  Count  Riidiger.  Further  surrenders 
were  made  at  Lugos,  Boros-Jeno,  Mehadia, 
and  elsewhere.  On  October  5th,  Klapka 
marched  out  of  Komorn  under  the  honour- 
able capitulation  of  September  27th. 


Kossuth's 

Flight 

io  Turkey 


THE     HISTORIC    ARCHBISHOP'S    CASTLE,    NEAR    OLMUTZ,     IN    MORAVIA 


Republic  threatened  a  rebellion  in  Poland. 
It  was  now  possible  to  raise  an  over- 
whelming force  for  the  subjection  of  the 
brave  Hungarian  army.  General  Haynau 
was  recalled  from  the  Italian  campaign 
to  lead  the  Imperial  army  in  Hungary. 
He  advanced  from  Pressburg  with  60,000 
Austrians,  12,000  Russians,  and  250  guns. 

rni.  I  -1  Jellacic  led  44,000  men  and 
The^Imperial  ^^g  ^^^^^  -^^^^  g^^^^j^  Hungary, 

•  ""h^  while  the  Russian  field-marshal 

ungary  p^.^^^^g  Paskevitch  marched  on 
North  Hungary  by  the  Dukla  Pass  with 
130,000  men  and  460  guns.  Gorgey 
repulsed  an  attack  delivered  by  Haynau 
at  Komorn  on  July  2nd  ;  on  the  iith 
he  was  removed  from  the  command 
in  favour  of  Dembinski,  and  defeated  on 
the  same  battlefield,  then  making  a 
masterly  retreat  through  Upper  Hungary 


Hungary  was  thus  conquered  by  Austria 
with  Russian  help.  For  an  exaggeration 
of  her  national  claims,  which  was  both 
historically  and  politically  unjustifiable, 
she  paid  with  the  loss  of  all  her  consti- 
tutional rights,  and  brought  down  grievous 
misfortune  upon  herself.  The  Magyar 
nationalists  had  expected  the  Western 
Powers  to  approve  their  struggles  for 
independence  and  to  support  the  new 
Magyar  state  against  Austria  and  Russia, ; 
they  calculated  particularly  upon  help 
from  England.  They  were  now  to  learn 
that  the  Hungarian  question  is  not  one 
of  European  miportance,  and  that  no 
one  saw  the  necessity  of  an  indepen- 
dent Hungarian  army  and  Ministry  of 
Foreign  Affairs  except  those  Hungarian 
politicians  whose  motive  was  not  patriot- 
ism but  self-seeking  in  its  worst  form. 

4941 


4942 


THE 

RE-  MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 

EUROPE 

IN 

REVOLUTION 

IV 


STRUGGLES    OF    GERMAN    DUCHIES 

AND  THE  RISINGS  OF  THE  SLAVS  AND  POLES 


A  N  entirely  strong  and  healthy  national 
•**■  feeling  came  to  expression  in  those 
"  sea-girt  "  duchies,  the  masters  of  which 
had  also  been  kings  of  Denmark  since  the 
fifteenth  century.  During  .the  bitter 
period  of  the  struggle  for  the  supremacy 
of  the  Baltic  they  had  but  rarely  been  able 
to  assert  their  vested  right  to  separate 
administration.  They,  however,  had  re- 
mained German,  whereas  the  royal  branch 
of  the  House  of  Holstein-Oldcnburg,  one 
of  the  oldest  ruling  families  in  Germany, 
had  preferred  to  become  Danish.  The 
members  of  the  ducal  House  of  Holstein, 
which  had  undergone  repeated  l^i  furcations, 
largely  contributed  to  maintain  German 
feeling  in  Schleswig  and  Holstein,  and 
asserted  their  independence  with  reference 
to  their  Danish  cousins  by  preserving  their 
relations  with  the  empire  and  with  their 
German  neighbours.  In  the  eighteenth 
century  the  consciousness  of  their  inde- 
R  pendence  was  so  strong  among 

.i^^xr-^  °  the  estates  of  the  two  duchies 
the  Vienna     ,,     x  .1       <<  1  i         >»      .-     rr 

^  that  the     royal  law      of  1600, 

estates  and  establishing  the  paramountcy 
of  the  Danish  branch  of  the  House  of 
Oldenburg,  could  not  be  executed  in 
Schleswig  and  Holstein. 

The  result  of  the  Vienna  Congress  had 
been  to  secure  the  rights  of  the  German 
districts  and  to  separate  them  definitely 
from  Napoleon's  adherent.  Metternich's 
policy  had  bungled  this  question,  like  so 
many  other  national  problems,  by  handing 
over  Schleswig  to  tiie  Danes,  while  in- 
cluding Holstein  in  the  German  Federation. 
Unity  was,  however,  the  thought  that 
inspired  the  population  of  either  country. 
This  feeling  increased  in  strength  and 
became  immediately  operative  when  Den- 
mark was  so  impolitic  as  to  defraud  the  Ger- 
mans by  regulations  which  bore  unjustly 
upon  the  imperial  bank,  founded  in  1813, 

The  disadvantages  of  Danish  supre- 
macy then  became  manifest  to  the  lowest 
peasant.     Danish  paper  and  copper  were 


forced  upon  the  duchies,  while  their 
good  silver  streamed  away  to  Copenhagen. 
The  struggle  against  this  injustice  was 
taken  up  by  the  German  patriot  leaders, 
who  were  able  to  make  the  dissension  turn 
on  a  constitutional  point  after  the  publica- 
tion of  the  "  open  letter  "  of  King  Christian 
Vni.  On  July  8th,  1848,  he 
announced  the  intention  of 


Disadvantages 
of  Danish 
Su  premacy 


the  Danish  Government,  in 
the  event  of  a  failure  of  male 
heirs,  to  secure  the  succession  to  the  un- 
divided "  general  monarchy "  to  the 
female  line,  in  accordance  with  the  Danish 
royal  law.  Christian's  only  son,  Frederic, 
was  an  invalid  and  childless,  and  the 
duchies  had  begun  to  speculate  upon  the 
demise  of  the  Crown  and  the  consequent 
liberation  from  a  foreign  rule. 

Their  constitution  recognised  only  suc- 
cession in  the  male  line,  a  principle  which 
would  place  the  power  in  the  hands  of  the 
ducal  House  of  Holstein-Sonderburg- 
Augustenburg,  while  in  Denmark  the  suc- 
cessor would  be  Prince  Christian  of  Hol- 
stein-Sonderburg-Gliicksburg,  who  had 
married  Louise  of  Hesse-Cassel,  a  niece  of 
Christian  VHL  Schleswig  had  the  pro- 
spect of  complete  separation  from  Den- 
mark, and  this  object  was  approved  in 
numerous  public  meetings  and  adopted  as  a 
guiding  principle  by  the  Assembly  of  these 
estates.  Schleswig  objected  to  separation 
from  Holstein,  and  to  any  successor  other 
than  one  in  the  male  line  of  descent. 

Christian  VHL  died  on  Januaiy  20th, 
1848,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Fred- 
eric VH.  This  change  and  the 
The  Duch.es  jj^prgssion  created  by  the 
Demand  revolutions  in  Paris,  Vienna, 

Independence    ^^^     g^^^-^      confirmed     the 

duchies  in  their  resolve  to  grasp  their 
rights  and  assert  their  national  inde- 
pendence. Had  the  king  met  these  desires 
wdth  a  full  recognition  of  the  provincial 
constitutions  and  the  grant  of  a  separate 
national  position  and  administration,  he 
would  probably  have  been  able  to  retain 

4943 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


A  New 
Government 
at  Kiel 


possession  of  the  two  countries  under  some 
form  of  personal  .federation  without  ap- 
peaHng  to  force  of  arms,  and  perhaps  to 
secure  their  adherence  for  the  future. 
He  yielded,  however,  to  the  arguments  of 
the  "  Eider  Danes,"  who  demanded  the 
abandonment  of  Holstein  and  the  incor- 
poration of  Schleswig  with  Denmark, 
regarding  the  Eider  as  the 
historical  frontier  of  the  Danish 
power.  This  party  required 
a  joint  constitutional  form  of 
government,  and  induced  the  king  to 
elect  a  Ministry  from  their  number  and 
to  announce  the  incorporation  of  Schleswig 
in  the  Danish  monarchy  to  the  deputation 
from  the  Schleswig-Holstein  provinces  in 
Copenhagen,  on  March  22nd,  1848. 

Meanwhile,  the  Assembly  of  the  estates 
at  Rendsburg  had  determined  to  declare 
war  upon  the  Eider  Danes.  On  March 
24th  a  provisional  government  for  the  two 
duchies  was  formed  at  Kiel,  which  was 
to  be  carried  on  in  the  name  of  Duke 
Christian  of  Augustenburg,  at  that  time 
apparently  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of 
the  Danes,  until  he  secured  liberty  to 
govern  his  German  territories  in  person. 

The  new  Government  was  recognised 
both  by  the  population  at  large  and  by 
the  garrisons  of  the  most  important  centres. 
It  was  unable,  however,  immediately  to 
mobilise  a  force  equivalent  to  the  Danish 
army,  and  accordingly  turned  to  Prussia 
for  help.  This  step,  which  appeared  highly 
politic  at  the  moment,  proved  unfortunate 
in  the  result.  The  fate.of  the  duchies  was 
henceforward  bound  up  with  the  indecisive 
and  vacillating  policy  of  Frederic  William 
IV.,  whose  weakness  became  dail}'  more 
obvious  ;  he  was  incapable  of  fulfilling 
any  single  one  of  the  many  national  duties 
of  which  he  talked  so  glibly. 

His  first  steps  in  the  Schleswig-Holstein 
complication  displayed  extraordinary 
vigour.  On  April  3rd,  1848,  two  Prussian 
regiments  of  the  Guard  marched  into  Rends- 
p    ^  .  burg,  and  their    commander, 

_    .       ,    .    General   Eduard   von    Bonin, 
Kegiments  in  ,  ,,-        ,  ^,  ,,   ' 

Rendsburg  ^^'^  ^^  ultimatum  on  the  i6th 
to  the  Danish  troops,  ordering 
them  to  evacuate  the  duchy  and  the  town 
of  Schleswig,  which  they  had  seized  after 
a  victory  at  Bau  on  April  9th  over  the 
untrained  Schleswig-Holstein  troops.  On 
April  I2th  the  Federal  Council  at  Frank- 
fort recognised  the  provisional  govern- 
ment at  Kiel,  and  mobilised  the  tenth 
federal     army     corps,     Hanover,     Meck- 

4944 


lenburg,  and  Brunswick,  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  federal  frontier.  The  Prussian 
general  Von  Wrangel  united  this  corps 
with  his  own  troops,  and  fought  the  Battle 
of  Schleswig  on  the  23rd,  obliging  the 
Danes  to  retreat  to  Alsen  and  Jiitland. 

Througliout  Germany  the  struggle  of  the 
duchies  for  liberation  met  with  enthusi- 
astic support,  and  was  regarded  as  a 
matter  which  affected  the  whole  German 
race.  There  and  in  the  duchies  themselves 
Prussia's  prompt  action  might  well  be 
considered  as  a  token  that  Frederic  William 
was  ready  to  accomplish  the  national  will 
as  regarded  the  north  frontier.  Soon,  how- 
ever, it  became  plain  that  British  and  Rus- 
sian influence  was  able  to  check  the  energy 
of  Prussia,  and  to  confine  her  action  to  the 
conclusion  of  a  peace  providing  protection 
for  the  interests  of  the  German  duchies. 

The  king  was  tormented  with  fears 
that  he  might  be  supporting  some  re- 
volutionary movement.  He  doubted  the 
morality  of  his  action,  and  was  induced  by 
the  threats  of  Nicholas  I.,  his  Russian 
brother-in-law,  to  begin  negotiations  with 
Denmark.  These  ended  in  the  conclusion 
of  a  seven  months'  armistice  at  Malmo  on 
p  .    ,       August   26th,  1848,   Prussia 

russia  ^agreeing  to  evacuate  the 
Evacuation  of  j*^    ,  r     o   t_i         •  t-u 

c    .  ,  .     duchy    of    Schleswig.      The 

Schleswig  -^  ,         r     ,u       A       1- 

government  of  the  duchies 
was  to  be  undertaken  by  a  commission  of 
five  members,  nominated  jointly  by  Den- 
mark and  Prussia.  The  Frankfort  Parlia- 
ment attempted  to  secure  the  rejection  of 
ihe  conditions,  to  which  Prussia  had  as- 
sented without  consulting  the  imperial 
commissioner,  Max  von  Gagern,  who  had 
been  despatched  to  the  seat  of  war,  these 
conditions  being  entirely  opposed  to 
German  feeling.  But  the  resolutions  on 
the  question  were  carried  only  by  small 
majorities ;  the  Parliament  was  unable  to 
ensure  their  realisation,  and  was  event- 
ually forced  to  acquiesce  in  the  armistice. 
Meanwhile  the  Assembly  of  the  estates 
of  Schleswig-Holstein  hastily  passed  a  law 
declaring  the  universal  liability  of  the 
population  to  military  service,  and  retired 
in  favour  of  a  "  Constituent  Provincial 
Assembly,"  which  passed  a  new  constitu- 
tional law  on  September  15th.  TlTe  con- 
nection of  the  duchies  with  the  Danish 
Crown  was  thereby  affirmed  to  depend 
exclusively  upon  the  person  of  the  common 
ruler.  The  Danish  members  of  the  govern- 
ment commission  declined  to  recognise  the 
new  constitution,  and  also  demurred  to  the 


STRUGGLES    OF    GERMAN    DUCHIES 


election  of  deputies  from  Schleswig  to  the 
Frankfort  Parliament.  Shortly  afterwards 
Denmark  further  withdrew  her  recognition 
of  the  government  commission.  The  armis- 
tice expired  without  any  success  resulting 
from  the  attempts  of  Prussia  to  secure 
unanimity  on  the  Schleswig-Holstein 
question  among  the  Great  Powers.  War 
consequently  broke  out  again  in  February, 
1849.  Victories  were  gained  by  Prussian 
and  federal  troops  and  by  a  Schleswig- 
Holstein  corps,  in  which  were  many 
Prussian  officers  on  furlough  from  the  king 
at  Eckernforde  on  April  5th,  and  Kold- 
ing  on  April  23rd,  1849.  C)n  the  other  hand, 
the  Schleswig-Holstein  corps  was  defeated 
while  besieging  the  Danish  fortress  of 
Fridericia,  and  forced  to  retreat  beyond 
the  Eider.  On  July  loth,  1849,  Prussia  con- 
cluded a  further  armistice  with  Denmark. 
The  administration  of  the  duchies  was 
entrusted  to  a  commission  composed  of 
a  Dane,  a  Prussian,  and  an  Englishman. 

At  the  same  time  the  government  of 
Schleswig-Holstein  was  continued  in  Kiel 
in  the  name  of  the  Provincial  Assembly  by 
Count  Friedrich  Reventlow  and  Wilhelm 
Hart  wig  Beseler,  a  solicitor.    They  tried 

to   conclude   some    arrange- 
iscon  en  ^      j^gnt  with  the  king-duke  on 
Under  Danish   , ,  1        j         j        ii        - 1 

-.  .  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other 

Oppression         ,        ,  -  x       i         ■  £  j.u 

to  stir  up  a  fresh  rismg  of  the 

people  against  Danish  oppression,  which 
was  continually  increasing  in  severity  in 
Schleswig.  The  devotion  of  the  German 
population  and  the  enthusiastic  support 
of  numerous  volunteers  from  every  part 
of  Germany  raised  the  available  forces 
to  30,000  men  and  even  made  it  pos- 
sible to  equip  a  Schleswig-Holstein 
fleet.  In  the  summer  of  1850,  Prussia 
gave  way  to  the  representations  of 
the  Powers,  and  concluded  the  "  Simple 
Peace "  with  Denmark  on  July  2nd. 
Schleswig-Holstein  then  began  the  struggle 
for  independence  on  their  own  resources. 
They  would  have  had  some  hope  of  suc- 
cess with  a  bett  •  *"  general  than  Wilhelm  von 
Willisen,  and  if  1  iissia  had  not  recalled  her 
officers  on  furlougn.  Willisen  retired  from 
the  battle  of  Idstedt,  July  24th,  before 
the  issue  had  been  decided,  and  began  a 
premature  retreat.  He  failed  to  pro- 
secute the  advantage  gained  at  Missunde 
on  September  12th,  and  retired  from 
Friedrichstadt  without  making  any  im- 
pression, after  sacrificing  400  men  in 
a  useless  attempt  to  storm  the  place. 
The .  German  Federation,  which  had  been 


agai)i  convoked  at  Frankfort,  revoked  its 
previous  decisions,  in  which  it  had  recog- 
nised the  rights  of  the  duchies  to  determine 
their  own  existence,  and  assented  to  the 
peace  concluded  by  Prussia.  An  Austrian 
army  corps  set  out  for  the  disarmament 
of  the  duchies.  Though  the  Provincial 
Assembly  still  possessed  an  unbeaten  army 
The  Ignoble  °^  38,000  men  fully  equipped,  it 
Methods  ^^^  ^°^^^^  o^  January  nth, 
of  Denmark  1851,  to  Submit  to  the  demands 
of  Austria  and  Prussia  to  dis- 
band the .  army,  and  acknowledge  the 
Danish  occupation  of  the  two  duchies.  From 
1852  Denmark  did  her  utmost  to  under- 
mine the  prosperity  of  her  German  subjects 
and  to  crush  their  national  aspirations. 

Such  ignoble  methods  failed  to  produce 
the  desired  result.  Neither  the  faith- 
lessness of  the  Prussian  Government  nor 
the  arbitrary  oppression  of  the  Danes 
could  break  the  national  spirit  of  the  North 
German  marches.  On  the  death  of  Frederic 
VII.,  on  November  15th,  1863,  they  again 
asserted  their  national  rights.  Prussia  had 
become  convinced  of  their  power  and 
of  the  strength  of  their  national  feeling, 
and  took  the  opportunity  of  atoning  for 
her  previous  injustice. 

Of  the  many  quixotic  enterprises  called 
into  life  by  the  "  nation's  spring  "  of  1848, 
one  of  the  wildest  was  certainly  the  Slav 
Congress  opened  in  Prague  on  June  2nd. 
Here  the  catchword  of  Slav  solidarity  was 
proclaimed  and  the  idea  of  "  Panslavism  " 
discovered,  which  even  now  can  raise  fore- 
bodings in  anxious  hearts,  although  half 
a  century  has  in  nd  way  contributed  to  the 
realisation  of  the  idea.  At  a  time  when  the 
nations  of  Europe  were  called  upon  to 
determine  their  different  destinies,  it  was 
only  natural  that  the  Slavs  should  be 
anxious  to  assert  their  demands.  There 
were  Slav  peoples  which  had  long  been 
deprived  of  their  national  rights,  and 
others,  such  as  the  Slovaks  and  part  of 
the  southern  Slavs,    who  had  never  en- 

.         joyed      the      exercise     of     their 

f^'h^     rights.      For   these    a    period  of 

°j  severe   trial  had    begun  ;   it   was 

^^^  for  them  to  show  whether  they 
were  capable  of  any  internal  development 
and  able  to  rise  to  the  level  of  national 
independence,  or  whether  not  even  the 
gift  of  political  freedom  would  help  them 
to  carry  out  that  measure  of  social  sub- 
ordination which  is  indispensable  to  the 
uniform  development  of  culture.  The 
first     attempts    in    this    direction    were 

4945 


HARMS  WORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


somewhat  -of  a  failure  ;  they  proved  to 
contemporaries  and  to  posterity  that  the 
Slavs  were  still  in  the  primary  stages  of 
political  training,  that  the  attainment  of 
practical  result  was  hindered  by  the  ex- 
travagance of  their  demands,  their  over- 
weening and  almost  comical  self-conceit, 
and  that  for  the  creation  of 
states  they  possessed  little  or 
no  capacity.  The  differences 
existing  in  their  relations  with 
other  peoples,  the  lack  of  uni- 
formity in  the  economic  con- 
ditions under  which  they 
lived,  the  want  of  political 
training  and  experience — 
these  were  facts  which  they 
overlooked.  They  forgot  the 
need  of  prestige  and  import- 
ance acquired  by  and  within 
their  own  body,  and  con- 
sidered of  chief  importance 
preparations  on  a  large  scale, 


a  congress  of  European  nations  to  found 
Pan-Slavonic  states.  These  states  were  to 
include  Czechia — Bohemia  and  Moravia — 
a  Galician  -  Silesian  state,  Posen  under 
Prussian  supremacy,  until  the  fragments 
of  Poland  could  be  united  into  an 
independent  Polish  kingdom,  and  a 
kingdom  of  Slovenia  which 
was  to  unite  the  Slav  popu- 
lation of  Styria,  Carinthia, 
Carniola,  and  the  seaboard. 
The  Slav  states  hitherto 
under  Hapsburg  supremacy 
were  to  form  a  federal  state ; 
the  German  hereditary  dom- 
ains were  to  be  graciously 
accorded  the  option  of  enter- 
ing the  federation,  or  of 
joining  the  state  which  the 
Frankfort  Parliament  was  to 
create.  The  attitude  of  the 
Slovaks,  Croatians,  and  Ser- 
vians would   be    determined 


THE   HISTORIAN    PALACKY 

which   could    never    lead    to  The  Czech  historian  and  politician,    by  the  rcadiucss  of  the  Mag- 

,       ,.  ,-.-       ,  Franz  Palacky,  became  influential         -'  ,  ,        ,i  r    11 

any  lasting  political  success,  at  the  imperial  court  in  oimutz.  He  yars  to  grant  them  lull 
Had  their  action  been  ^^^ ''°''" '"  i^'-'^^"'*'*''^'^'"  i*'''-  independence.  Should  the 
limited  to  forwarding  the  common  interests  grant  be  refused,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
of  the  Austrian  Slavs  it  might  have  form  a  Slovak  and  a  Croatian  state.  All 
been  possible  to  produce  a  political  pro-  these  achievements  the  members  of  the 
gramme  dealing  with  this  question,  to  congress  considered  practicable,  though 
demand  a  central  Parliament,  and,  they  were  forced  to  admit  that  the  Slavs, 
through  opposition  to  the  Hungarian  whom  they  assumed  to  be  inspired  by  the 
supremacy,  to  assert  the  rights  of  the  strongest  aspirations  for  freedom  and 
Slav  majority    as  against    the   Germans.-      justice,    were   continually    attempting   to 

Magyars,  and  Italians.     But  fw^" '  "'  i   aggrandise  themselves  at  one 

the  participation  of  the  Poles  .^^'K^^k,  another's  expense  ;  the  Poles, 

in  the  movement,  the  appear-  ^f         "^1^  the     Ruthenians,     and'  the 

ance  of   the  Russian  radical  ■■        ^=^K  Croatians    respectively,    con- 

democrat    Michael    Bakunin,  ^,  '^^  ^^&  sidered  their  most  dangerous 

and  of  Turkish  subjects,   in-  ilk.i^^^B  enemies  to   be  the  Russians, 

finitely    extended   the   range  S^HB  ^^^^  Poles,  and  the  Servians, 

of  the  questions  in  dispute,  _^9^^9^L  The     Czech     students     in 

and  led  to  propositions  of  the  ^^^dJHiPH^^^^  Prague  had  armed  and  or- 
most  arbitrary  nature,  the  ffipUBM^^QlH^^B  ganised  a  guard  of  honour 
accomplishment  of  which  was  I^^^^^^^^^hHh  for  the  congress.  They  made 
entirely  beyond  the  sphere  of  ^H^BHH^^^H  '^^^  ^^^^  smallest  attempt  to 
practical  politics.  Panslav-  R|M^w|^^^^Hl  conceal  their  hatred  of  the 
ism,  as  a  movement,  was  from  \^^^^^^^j^^^  Germans ;  Germanism  to  them 
the  outset  deprived  of  all  a  learned  visionary  who  believed  was  anathema,  and  they 
importance  by  the  inveterate  L"e^^rhil""e'vVutionaT 'S  in  yearned  for  the  chance  of  dis- 
failing  of  the  Slav  politicians,  Posen  in  is4s,  and  fought  at  the  plavius;  their  heroism  in  an 
..i.,-M.,...._„.„.,.^;....u.   head  of  the  rebels  at    Xions.   ^^nti-Gcrman  struggle,  as  the 


which  was  to  set  no  limit  to  the 

measure  of  their  claims,  and  to  represent 

themselves  as  stronger  than  they  were. 

Greatly  to  the  disgust  of  its  organisers, 
among  whom  were  several  Austrian  con- 
servative nobles,  the  Slav  Congress  be- 
came an  arena  for  the  promulgation  of 
democratic  theories,  while  it  waited  for 

4946 


Poles  had  done  against  Russia.  They  were 
supported  by  the  middle-class  citizens,  and 
the  working  classes  were  easily  induced  to 
join  in  a  noisy  demonstration  on  June  12th, 
1848,  against  Prince  Alfred  Windisch- 
Graetz,  the  general  commanding  in  Prague, 
as  he  had  refused  the  students  a  grant  of 


STRUGGLES    OF    GERMAN    DUCHIES 


sixty  thousand  cartridges  and  a  battery 
of  horse  artillery.  The  demonstration  de- 
veloped into  a  revolt,  which  the  Czech 
leaders  used  as  evidence  for  their  cause, 
though  it  was  to  be  referred  rather  to  the 
disorderly  character  of  the  Czech  mob 
than  to  any  degree  of  national  enthusiasm. 
The  members  of  the  congress  were  very 
disagreeably  surprised,  and  decamped  with 
the  utmost  rapidity  when  they  found  them- 
selves reputed  to  favour  the  scheme  for 
advancing  Slav  solidarity  by  street  fights. 
The  Vienna  government,  then  thoroughly 
cowed  and  trembling  before  the  mob, 
made  a  wholly  unnecessary  attempt 
at  intervention.  Prince  Windisch-Graetz, 
however,  remained  master  of  the  situa- 
tion, overpowered  the  rebels  by  force 
of  arms,  and  secured  the  unconditional 
submission  of  Prague.  He  was  speedily 
master  of  all  Bohemia.  The  party  of 
Franz  Palacky,  the  Czech  historian  and 
politician,  at  once  dropped  the  programme 
of  the  congress  in  its  entirety,  abandoned 
the  ideal  of  Panslavism,  and  placed  them- 
selves at  the  disposal  of  the  Austrian 
Government.  Czech  democratism  was 
an  exploded  idea  ;   the  conservative  Czechs 

'w.i  ».  .  .  ,  who  survived  its  downfall 
The  Exploded  ■,-,  j.    j  it 

»j  r^  .readily  co-operated  m  the 
Idea  of  Czech  -'•  ^-      ,  , ,      ^ 

„  ..        campaign  against  the  German 

Democratism      ,  .  j     .,  .    j  . 

democrats,  and  attempted  to 

bring  their  national  ideas  into  harmony 
with  the  continuance  of  Austria  as  domi- 
nant power.  Palacky  became  influential 
at  the  imperial  court  in  Olmiitz  and  pro- 
posed the  transference  of  the  Reichstag 
to  Kremsier,  where  his  subordinate, 
Ladislaus  Rieger,  took  an  important 
share  in  the  disruption  of  popular  repre- 
sentation by  the  derision  which  he  cast 
upon  the  German  Democrats. 

The  Austrian  Slavs  had  acquired  a  highly 
favourable  position  by  their  victory  over 
the  revolutionary  Magyars,  an  achieve- 
ment in  which  the  Croatians  had  a  very 
considerable  share.  They  might  the  more 
easily  have  become  paramount,  as  the 
Germans  had  injured  their  cause  by  their 
senseless  radicalism.  Their  fruitless 
attempt  to  secure  a  paramount  position  in 
Bohemia  gave  them  a  share  in  the  conduct 
of  the  state  ;  this  they  could  claim  by 
reason  of  the  strength  and  productive 
force  of  their  race  and  of  their  undeniable 
capacity  for  administrative  detail,  had 
they  conceded  to  the  Germans  the 
position  to  which  these  latter  were 
entitled    by     the      development    of    the 


Hapsburg  monarchy  and  its  destiny 
in  the  system  of  European  states. 
The  year  1848  might  perhaps  have 
afforded  an  opportunity  for  the  restora- 
tion of  Polish  independence  had  the 
leaders  of  the  national  policy  been  able  to 
find  the  only  path  which  could  guide  them 
to  success.  Any  attempt  in  this  direction 
ought    to    have   been  confined  to 

J  .  the  territory  occupied  by  Russia  ; 
p^j  ^  any  force  that  might  have  been 
raised  for  the  cause  of  patriotism 
could  have  been  best  employed  upon 
Russian  soil.  Russia  was  entirely  isolated ; 
it  was  inconceivable  that  any  European 
Power  could  have  come  to  her  help, 
as  Prussia  had  come  in  1831,  if  she 
had  been  at  war  with  the  Polish  nation. 
Austria  was  unable  to  prevent  Galicia 
from  participation  in  a  Polish  revolt. 
Prussia  had  been  won  over  as  far  as 
possible  to  the  Polish  side,  for  her  posses- 
sions in  Posen  had  been  secured  from  any 
amalgamation  with  an  independent  Polish 
state.  The  approval  of  the  German  Par- 
liament was  as  firmly  guaranteed  to  the 
Polish  nationalists  as  was  the  support 
of  the  French  Republic,  provided  that 
German  interests  were  not  endangered. 

Exactly  the  opposite  course  was  pur- 
sued :  the  movement  began  with  a  rising 
in  Posen,  with  threats  against  Prussia, 
with  fire  and  slaughter  in  German  com- 
munities, with  the  rejection  of  German 
culture,  which  could  not  have  been  more 
disastrous  to  Polish  civilisation  than  the 
arbitrary  and  cruel  domination  of  Russian, 
officials  and  police.  Louis  of  Mieroslaws- 
ki,  a  learned  visionary  but  no  politician, 
calculated  upon  a  victory  of  European 
democracy,  and  thought  it  advisable  to 
forward  the  movement  in  Prussia,  where 
the  conservative  power  seemed  most 
strongly  rooted.  He  therefore  began  his 
revolutionary  work  in  Posen,  after  the 
movement  of  March  had  set  him  free  to 
act.  On  April  29th,  1848,  he  fought  an 
unsuccessful  battle  at  the  head  of 

f  p^K  16,000  rebels  against  Colonel 
Ririn  Heinrich  von  Brandt  at  Xions  ; 
'^'"^  on  the  30th  he  drove  back  a 
Prussian  corps  at  Miloslaw.  However,  he 
gained  no  support  from  the  Russian  Poles, 
and  democratic  intrigue  was  unable  to 
destroy  the  discipline  of  the  Prussian 
army,  so  that  the  campaign  in  Posen  was 
hopeless  ;  by  the  close  of  May  it  had  come 
to  an  end,  the  armed  bands  were  dis- 
persed, and  Mieroslawski  driven  into  exile. 

4947 


4948 


THE 

.^HjiJ^ 

RE-MAKING 

ivk 

OF 
EUROPE 

l|f^- 

m^t^ml^ 

tWr      iStumBBii»i^j^i„tM^ 

EUROPE 

IN 

REVOLUTION 

V 


THE  SECOND  REPUBLIC  IN  FRANCE 

LOUIS  NAPOLEON,  PRESIDENT  AND  DICTATOR 


T~'HE  European  spirit  of  democracy  which 
■*•  was  desirous  of  overthrowing  existing 
states,  planting  its  banner  upon  the  ruins, 
and  founding  in  its  shadow  new  bodies 
poUtic  of  the  nature  of  which  no  Demo- 
crat had  the  remotest  idea,  had  been 
utterly  defeated  in  France  at  a  time 
when  Italy,  Germany,  and  Austria  were 
the  scene  of  wild  enthusiasm  and  bloody 
self-sacrifice.  Democratic  hopes  ran  the 
course  of  all  political  ideals.  The  process 
of  realisation  suddenly  discloses  the  fact 
that  every  mind  has  its  own  conception  of 
any  ideal,  which  may  assume  the  most 
varied  forms  when  translated  into  practice. 

A  nation  desirous  of  asserting  its  supre- 
macy may  appear  a  unity  while  struggling 
against  an  incompetent  government  ;  but 
as  soon  as  the  question  of  establishing  the 
national  supremacy  arises,  numbers  of 
different  interests  become  prominent, 
which  cannot  be  adequately  satisfied  by 
_  any   one    constitutional    form, 

r,  ,  .  The  simultaneous  fulfilment  of 
„  ...  the  hopes  which  are  common  to 
all  is  rendered  impossible,  not 
only  by  inequality  of  material  wealth,  but 
also  by  the  contest  for  power, -the  exercise 
of  which  necessarily  implies  the  accumu- 
lation of  privileges  on  one  side  with  a 
corresponding  limitation  on  the  other. 

When  the  goo  representatives  of  the 
French  nation  declared  France  a  republic 
on  May  4th,  1848,  the  majority  of  the 
electors  considered  the  revolution  con- 
cluded, and  demanded  a  public  admini- 
stration capable  of  maintaining  peace  and 
order  and  removing  the  burdens  which 
oppressed  the  taxpayer.  The  executive 
committee  chosen  on  May  loth,  the  i)resi- 
dent's  chair  being  occupied  by  the  great- 
physicist  Dominique  Frangois  Arago,  fully 
recognised  the  importance  of  the  duty 
with  which  the,  country  had  entiusted 
it,  and  was  resolved  honourably  to 
carry  out  the  task.  But  in  the  first  days, 
of  its  existence  the  committee  found  itself 
confronted  by   an  organised   opposition. 


which,  though  excluded  from  the  Govern- 
ment, claimed  the  right  of  performing  its 
functions.  Each  party  was  composed  of 
Democrats,  government  and  opposition 
alike  ;  each  entered  the  lists  in  the  name 
of  the  sovereign  people,  those  elected  by 
,  .  the  moneyed  classes  as  well  as 
J  .  the     leaders     of     the     idle     or 

Radi    1     unemployed,      who      for      two 
months    had    been     in    receipt 
of    pay    for    worthless    labour    in    the 
"  national  factories  "  of  France. 

On  May  15th  the  attack  on  the  dominant 
party  was  begun  by  the  Radicals,  who 
were  pursuing  ideals  of  communism  or 
political  socialism,  or  were  anxious  merely 
for  the  possession  of  power  which  they 
might  use  to  their  own  advantage.  They 
found  their  excuse  in  the  general  sym- 
pathy for  Poland.  The  leaders  were 
Louis  Blanc,  L.  A.  Blanqui,  P.  J.  Proud- 
hon,  Etienne  Cabet,  and  Frangois  Vincent 
Raspail.  Ledru-Rollin  declined  to  join  the 
party.  They  had  no  sooner  gained  pos- 
session of  the  Hotel  de  Ville  than  a  few 
battalions  of  the  National  Guard  arrived 
opportunely  and  dispersed  the  masses. 

The  leaders  of  the  conspiracy  were 
arraigned  before  the  court  of  Bourges, 
which  proceeded  against  them  with  great 
severity,  while  the  national  factories 
were  closed.  They  had  cost  France 
;£io,ooo  daily,  and  were  nothing  more  than 
a  meeting-ground  for  malcontents  and 
sedition.  This  measure,  coupled  with  an 
order  to  the  workmen  to  report  themselves 
for  service  in  the  provinces,  produced  the 
June  revolt,  a  period  of  street  fighting,  in 
_      _  which  the  radical  Democrats, 

The  Struggle  ^^^^^  gathered  round  the  red 
..  "o  .  r>.  flag,  carried  on  a  life  and  death 
the  Red  Flag  g^j-^gg^^  with  the  republican 
Democrats,  whose  watchword  was  the  "  Re- 
publique  sans  phrase."  The  monarchists 
naturally  sided  with  the  republican 
Government,  to  which  the  line  troops  and 
the  National  Guard  were  also  faithful., 
The  Minister  of  War,  General  Louis  Eugene 

4949 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Cavaignac,  who  had  won  distinction  in 
Algiers,  supported  by  the  generals  Lamori- 
ciere  and  Damesne,  on  June  23rd  success- 
fully conducted  the  resistance  to  the  bands 
advancing     from     the  / 

suburbs  to  the  centre  of 
Paris.  The  "Reds,"  how- 
ever, declined  to  yield, 
and  on  June  24th  the 
National  Assembly  gave 
Cavaignac  the  dictator- 
ship. He  declared  Paris 
in  a  state  of  siege,  and 
pursued  the  rebels  to  the 
suburb  of  Sainte- Antoine, 
where  a  fearful  massacre 
on  June  27th  made  an 
end  of  the  revolt.  The 
victory  had  been  gained 
at  heavy  cost ;  thousands 
of  wounded  lay  in  the 
hospitals  of  Paris  and  its 
environs.  The  number 
of  lives 
been   determined,  but  it 


DOMINIQUE    FRANCOIS    ARAGO 
After   France  had  been  declared  a  republic, 
lost     has     never    on   May  4th,  ISls,  a  capable  public  adminis- 
tration   was    demanded,    and    an    executive 
committee  was  formed  with  Arago,  the  great 


influencing  the  masses  and  prepared  the 
path  to  supremacy  for  an  ambitious 
member  of  the  Bonaparte  family,  who  had 
been  repeatedly  elected  as  a  popular 
representative,  and  had 
held  a  seat  in  the  National 
Assembly  since  September 
26th,  1848.  From  the 
date  of  his  flight  from 
Ham  Louis  Napoleon  had 
lived  in  England  in  close 
retirement.  Theoutbreak 
of  the  February  revolu- 
tion inspired  him  with 
great  hopes  for  his  future  ; 
he  had.  however,  learned 
too  much  from  Strassburg 
and  Boulogne  to  act  as 
precipitately  as  his  sup- 
porters in  France  desired. 
He  remained  strong  in 
the  conviction  that  his 
time  would  come,  a 
thought  which  relieved 
the    tedium    of     waiting: 


equalled    the  carnage  of  astronomer  and  physicist,  who  had  taken  for  the  momcut  when  he 

^  ,    -I      ,  .I  1     part  in  the  Revolution  of  1830,  as  a  member.  •    ,    ,  +     .         +  j. 


many  a  great  battle,  and 
included  nine  generals  and  several  deputies. 
An  important  reaction  in  public  feeling 
had  set  in  ;  the  people's  favour  was  now 
given  to  the  conservative  parties,  and  any 
compromise  with  the  Radicals  was  opposed. 
The  democratic  republic 
W8,s  based  on  the  co- 
operation of  the  former 
"constitutionalists." 
Thiers,  Montalembert, 
and  Odilon  Barrot  again 
became  prominent  figures. 
Cavaignac  was  certainly 
installed  at  the  head  of 
the  executive  committee  ; 
his  popularity  paled 
apace,  however,  as  he  did 
not  possess  the  art  of 
conciliating  the  bourgeois 
by  brilliant  speeches  or 
promises  of  relief  from 
taxation.  The  constitu- 
tion, which  was  ratified 
after    two    months'    dis- 


might  venture  to  act. 
He  tendered  his  thanks  to  the  republic 
for  permission  to  return  to  his  native 
land  after  so  many  ■  years  of  pro- 
scription and  banishment  ;  he  assured 
the  deputies  who  were  his  colleagues  of 
the  zeal  and  devotion 
which  he  would  bring  to 
their  labours,  which  had 
hitherto  been  known  to 
him  only  "  by  reading 
and  meditation.".  His 
candidature  for  the 
president's  chair  was  then 
accepted  not  only  by  his 
personal  friends  and  by 
the  adherents  of  the 
Bonapartist  empire,  but 
also  by  numerous 
members  of  conservative 
tendencies,  who  saw  in 
imcompromising  Republi- 
cans like  Cavaignac  no 
hope  of  salvation  from 
the    terrors    of   anarchv. 


LOUIS    BLANC 

,  ,         -vT    ,  •  1  Socialist  and  historian,  he   was  appointed  a  ,-,,  ,    ,,  j     i 

CllSSlOn    by    the    National  member  of   the    Provisional    Government   in  They     WCrC     lollowed     by 

Aci^pmblv     nrpt;prvpr1    thp  '*^^'   escaping:  to  London  on  being  unjustly  ii1f,-nmnntnnp<;  Orlennists 

y^SSeniOiy,    prPSerVCU     tne  accused  of  compUcity   in  the  disturbances  of  UlTiamomaneS,  WIieaillbLb, 

fundamental  principle  of  that  year,  he  there  completed  his  "  Histoire  legitimists,  and  socialists 

j.u„    ,,„„^l„'„    „„    „      ;„    i  de  la  Revolution,"  returning  later  to  France.         ?  i   •    „.,j        j.„        4,V,^ 


the  people's  sovereignty. 
The  choice  of  a  president  of  the  republic 
was  not  left  to  the  deputies,  but  was  to 
be  decided  by  a  plebiscite.  This  provision 
opened  the  way  to  agitators  capable    of 

4950 


who  objected  to  the 
republican  doctrinaires,  and  used  their 
influence  in  the  election  which  took  place 
on  December  loth,  1848.  Against  the 
one    and    a  half  millions  who   supported 


THE    SECOND    REPUBLIC    IN    FRANCE 


•Cavaignac,  an  unexpectedly  large  majority  of  Europe.     The  president  of  the  citizen 

of  five  and  a  half  millions  voted  for  the  .  republic    was    thus    a    member    of    the 

son    of    Louis    Bonaparte    and   Hortense  family  of  that  great  conqueror  and   sub- 

Beauharnais.      As    a    politician    no    one  duer  of   the    world   whose   remembrance 


considered  him  of  an 3^ 
account,  but  every  party 
hoped  to  be  able  to  use 
him  for  their  own  pur- 
poses or  for  the  special 
objects  of  their  ambitious 
or  office-seeking  leaders. 
The  behaviour  of  the 
National  Assembly  was 
not  very  flattering  when 
the  result  of  the  voting 
was  announced  on 
December  20th.  "  Some, 
who  w^ere  near  Louis 
Bonaparte's  seat,"  says 
Victor  Hugo,  "  expressed 
approval  ;  the  rest  of  the 
Assembly  preserved  a  cold 
silence.  Marrast,  the 
president,      invited     the 


aroused  feelings  of  pride 
in  every  Frenchman,  ii 
his  patriotism  were  not 
choked  by  legitimism  ;  it 
was  a  problem  difficult 
of  explanation.  No  one 
knew  whether  the  presi- 
dent was  to  be  addressed 
as  Prince,  Highness,  Sir, 
Monseigneur,  or  Citizen. 
To  something  greater  he 
was  bound  to  grow,  or  a 
revolution  would  forth- 
with hurl  him  back  into 
the  obscurity  whence  he 
had  so  suddenly  emerged. 
But  of  revolution  France 
had  had  more  than 
enough.     "  Gain  and  the 


PIERRE    JOSEPH     PROUDHON  .  .         r      -j.  >. 

An   advanced   Socialist,    Proudhon  published  CnjOymcnt     Ot      it  WaS 

chosen  candidate  to  take  works  asserting  that  "Property  is  theft."   ir.  the  watchword,  and  Louis 

<^ixwovii  v,tiii»^  V  u,i.      ..  jg^g   j^g   ^^g   sentenced   to  three   years    im-  t.t  ,  j.    j       -j. 

the    oath.      Louis  Bona-  prisonment  for  the  violence  of  his   utter-  JNapoleon      accepted     It. 

parte,    buttoned    up    in    a    ances,  and  in  1S5S  received  a  similar  sentence,  yjctor     HugO      claimS      tO 

black  coat,   the   cross   of   the   Legion   of      have  shown  him  the  fundamental  principles 


Honour  on  his  breast,  passed  through  the 
door  on  the  right,  ascended  the  tribune, 
and  calmly  repeated  the  words  after 
Marrast  ;  he  then  read  a  speech,  with  the 
unpleasant  accent  peculiar 
to  him,  interrupted  by  a 
few  cries  of  assent.  He 
pleased  his  hearers  by 
his  unstinted  praise  of 
Cavaignac.  In  a  few 
moments  he  had  finished, 
and  left  the  tribune  amid 
a  general  shout  of  '  Long 
hve  the  republic  !'  but 
with  none  of  the  cheers 
which  had  accompanied 
Cavaignac."  Thus  "  the 
new  man  "  was  received 
with  much  discontent  and 
indifference,  with  scanty 
respect,  and  with  ni> 
single  spark  of  enthusi- 
asm.     He    was,    indeed, 


LOUIS    EUGENE    CAVAIGNAC 


of  the  art  of  government  at  the  first 
dinner  in  the  Elysee.  Ignorance  of  the 
people's  desires,  disregard  of  the  national 
pride,  had  led  to  the  downfall  of  Louis 
-  Philippe  ;  the  most  im- 
portant thing  was  to  raise 
the  standard  of  peace. 
"  And  how  ?  "  asked  the 
prince.  '•' By  the  triumphs 
of  industry  and  progress, 
by  great  artistic,  literary, 
and  scientific  efforts.  The 
labour  of  the  nation  can 
create  marvels.  France 
is  a  nation  of  conquerors ; 
if  she  does  not  conquer 
with  the  sword,  she  will 
conquer  by  her  genius 
and  talent.  Keep  that 
fact  in  view  and  you  will 
advance  ;  forget  it,  and 
you  are  lost."  Louis  did 
not  possess  this  power  of 


without      p-enius      or      fire  '"    l*^'^    ^^'^    distmgrmshed    general    became  exprCSSlOn,    but    With    the 

wmiUUL      ^eaiub      Ul       inc  Minister  of  War,  and  earned  his  success  on  t^  '     ,     ,  , 

and     of    very    moderate  the  field  into  his  office  of  military  dictator,  iclca    ne  naa    long    ueei 

capacity;   but  he  under-  ^.T  f  LTdS  \o?  {^  pS^n*^^^^^^^  familiar.      He    now     m 

stood     the      effect     of  republic  when  Louis  Napoleon   was  elected.  crCaSCd     hlS     grasp    01    it 


commonplaces  and  the  baser  motives  of 
his  political  instruments,  and  was  therefore 
able  to  attract  both  the  interest  of  France 
and  the  general  attention  of  the  whole 


He  knew  that  men  get  tired  of  great 
movements,  political  convulsion,  hypo- 
critical posing.  Most  people  are  out  of 
breath  after  they  have  puffed  themselves 

4951 


HARMS  WORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


like  Uie  frog  in  the  fable, 
to  rccc-ver  their  wind, 
cksire  for  quietude  pre- 
vailed, Napoleon  the 
citoyen  was  secure  of  the 
favour  of  France.  The 
moment  he  appealed  to 
"great  feelings"  his  art 
had  reached  its  limits 
and  he  became  childish 
and  insignificant.  His 
political  leanings  favoured 
the  Liberalism  for  which 
the  society  of  Paris  had 
created  the  July  kingdom. 
This  tendency  was  shown 
in  his  appointment  of 
Odilon  Barrot  as  head  of 
his  Ministry,  and  of 
Edouard  Drouyn  de 
I'Huys,  one  of  his  personal 
adherents,  as  First 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
Desire     to      secure     the 


and  need  a  rest 
As  long  as  this 


constituted     authority     against     furthei; 

attacks  of  the  "  Reds"  was  the  dominant 
feeling  which  influenced 
the  elections  to  the 
National  Assembly.  By 
the  election  law,  which 
formed  part  of  the  con- 
stitution, these  were  held 
in  May,  1849.  The 
majority  were  former 
Royalists  and  Constitu- 
tionalists, who  began  of 
express  purpose  a  re- 
actionary policj^  after  the 
revolt  of  the  Communists 
in  June,  1848.  Fearful 
of  the  Italian  democracy, 
into  the  arms  of  which 
Piedmont     had     rushed, 

VICTOR  HUGO  France  let  slip  the  favour- 
Greatest  among  the  poets  of  France,  Victor  able  opportunity  of 
Hugo  claimed  to  have  shown  Louis  Napoleon  foStcring  the  Italian 
the  fundamental,  principles  of  the  art  of  j^QVement  for  UUity  and 
government,  advismg  him  at  the  first  dmner  r  ,  i  •  i  .  •  '  i 
m  the  Elys6e  to  raise  the  standard  of  peace,  ''i    i^'t^iii^ 


OVERTHROWING    THE    CONSTITUTION  :     THE    COUP    D'ETAT    OF    LOUIS    NAPOLEON 
Returning  to  France  in  1S48,  after  a  few  years  of  quiet  seclusion  in  England,  Louis  Napoleon  was  elected  deputy  for 
Paris  in  the  Constituent  Assembly  of  June,  and  in  December  was  elected  president.     But  it  was  not  long  before  he 
quarrelled  with  the  Chambers,  carrying  out  a  coup  d'6tat  on  December  1st,  1851,  by  overthrowing  the  constitution. 

4952 


The  son  of  Louis  Bonaparte,  brother  of  the  great  Napoleon,  Louis  Napoleon  had  engaged  in  various  schemes  to  recover 
the  throne  of  France  before  his  coup  d'iStat  in  1851  prepared  the  way  for  his  election  to  the  throne  of  his  illustrious  uncle. 
On  December  2nd,  1852,  the  Empire  was  proclaimed  with  Louis  Napoleon  as  Napoleon  III.  On  January  2(tth,  1853,  he 
married  Eugenie  de  Montijo,  a  Spanish  countess,  and  twenty  years  later,  on  January  9th,  1873,  died  in  England. 


in  the  peninsula.  Had  she  listened  to 
Charles  Albert's  appeal  for  help,  the  defeat 
of  Novara  could  have  been  avoided,  and 
the  Austrian  Government  would  not  have 
gained  strength  enough  to  become  the 
centre  of  a  reactionary  movement  which 
speedily  interfered  both  with  the  revo- 
lutionary desires  of  the  Radicals  and  the 
more  modest  demands  of  the  moderate- 
minded  friends  of  freedom. 

Louis  Bonaparte  fully  appreciated  the 
fact  that  the  sentiments  of  the  population 
at  large  were  favourable  to  a  revival  of 
The  Pope's  governmental  energy  through- 
c  out  almost  the  whole  of  Europe. 

Supremacy     tt  ii     a    ^u  r 

J,  .  .  He  saw  that  the  excesses  of 
Restored         . ,  i         ,  •   i 

tlie  mob,  which  were  as  passion- 
ately excited  as  they  were  morally  de- 
graded, had  restored  confidence,  among  the 
moneyed  classes  and  those  who  desired 
peace,  in  the  power  of  religious  guidance 
and  education.  For  these  reasons  he 
acquiesced  in  the  restoration  of  the 
temporal  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  which 
the  democracy  had  abolished,  thereby 
rendering  the  greatest  of  all  possible 
services  to  the  ultramontanes. 

In  March,  1848,  Pius  IX.,  the  "  National 
Pope,"  had  assented  to  the  introduction 
within   the    states   of    the    Church    of    a 


constitutional  form  of  government.  At  the 
same  time  he  had  publicly  condemned  the 
war  of  Piedmont  and  the  share  taken  in 
it  by  the  Roman  troops,  which  he  had  been 
unable  to  prevent.  This  step  had  con- 
siderably damped  public  enthusiasm  in  his 
behalf.  Roman  feeling  also  declared 
against  him  when  he  refused  his  assent  to 
the  liberal  legislation  of  the  Chambers 
and  transferred  the  government  to  the 
hands  of  Count  Pellegrino  de  Rossi.  The 
count's  murder,  on  November  15th,  1848, 
marked  the  beginning  of  a  revolution  in 
Rome  which  ended  with  the  imprisonment 
of  the  Pope  in  the  Quirinal,  his  flight  to 
the  Neapolitan  fortress  of  Gaeta  on 
November  27th,  and  the  establishment 
of   a   provisional  government. 

The  Pope  was  now  inclined  to  avail 
himself  of  the  services  offered  by  Pied- 
mont for  the  recovery  of  his  power. 
However,  the  constituent  National  As- 
sembly at  Rome,  which  was  opened 
on  February  5th,  1849,  voted  for  the 
restoration  of  the  Roman  republic  by 
120  votes  against  23,  and  challenged  the 
Pope  to  request  the  armed  interference  of 
the  Catholic  Powers  in  his  favour.  The 
Roman  republic  became  the  central  point 
of  the  movement  for  Italian  unity,  and  was 

4953 


HARMSWORTH  .  HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


■joined,  by  Venice,  Tuscany,  and  Sicily. 
Mazzini  was  the  head  of  tlie  triumvirate 
which  held  the  executive  power  ;  Giuseppe 
Garibaldi  directed  the  forces  for  national 
defence,  of  which 
Rome  was  now 
made  the  head- 
quarters. The 
"democratic 
republic  "  which 
was  being  organ- 
ised in  France 
would  have  no 
dealings  with  the 
descendants  of 
the  Carbonari,  or 
with  the  cliiefs 
of  the  revo- 
lutionary party 
in  Europe.  It 
considered  alli- 
ance with  the 
clericals  abso- 
lutely indispens- 
able to  its  own 
preservation. 
Hence  came  the 
agreement  to  co- 


THE 


monuments  of  artistic  skill  were  destroyed. 
The  city  was  forced  to  surrender  on  July 
3rd,  1849,  after  Garibaldi  had  marched 
away  with  3,000  volunteers.  By  its 
attitude  upon  the 
Roman  question, 
and  by  its  re- 
fusal of  support 
to  the  German 
Democrats,  who 
were  making 
their  last  efforts 
in  the  autumn 
of  1849  for  the 
establishment  of 
Republicanism  in 
Germany,  the 
French  Republic 
gradually  lost 
touch  with  the 
democratic 
principles  on 
which  it  was 
based.  Its  in- 
ternal disruption 
was  expedited 
by  the  clumsi- 
ness  of   its  con- 


■lUS     IX 


n-ne^ra  +  c^      ixr i  +  Vl  Succeeding  Gregory  XVI.  in  1846,  Pope  Pius  IX.  introduced  a  series        ,  •  ,       ,  •  \ 

upeid.Le      WILU  of  reforms  and  won  the    affections  of  the  populace.     During-   the  ^  "^  ^  "^  ^ '^  ^  *^  ^  •        /^ 

Austria,       Spain,  revolutionary  fever  of  ISlS,  however,  he  opposed  the  public  desire     Chamber   prO- 

and      Naples     for  ^"'^  ^  ^^^  ^'th  Austri.i,  and  the  mob  became  so  menacing-  that  he     -vicied     with     fuil 

the      purpose     of  ^"""'^  '*  expedient  to  make  his  escape  from  the  Quirinal  in  disguise,    legislative  pOWer 

restoring  the  Pope  to  his  temporal  power,     'and    indissoluble    for    three   years    con- 


Twenty  thousand  men  were  at  once 
despatched  under  Marshal  Oudinot,  and 
occupied  the  harbour  town  of  Civita 
Vecchia  on  April  25th,  1849. 

The  president,  however,  had  no  intention 
of  reimposing  upon  the  Romans  papal 
absolutism,  with  all  the  scandals  of  such 
a  government.  He  sent  out  his  trusty 
agent,  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps,  to  effect 
some  compromise  between  the  Pope  and 
the  Romans  which  should  result  in  the 
establishment  of  a  moderate  Liberal 
government.  Oudinot,  however,  made  a 
premature  appeal  to  force  of  arms.  He 
suffered  a  reverse  before  the  walls  of 
Rome  on  April  30th,  and  the  military 
honour  of  France,  which  a  descendant 
of  Napoleon  could  not  afford  to  dis- 
regard, demanded  the  conquest  of  the 
Eternal  City.  Republican  soldiers  thus 
found  themselves  co-operating  with  the 
reactionary  Austrians,  who  entered 
Boulogne  on  May  19th,  and  reduced  half 
of  Ancona  to  ashes.  On  June  20th,  the 
bombardment  of  Rome  began,  in  the 
course  of  which  many  of  the  most  splendid 

49.=)4 


fronted  a  president  elected  by  the  votes 
of  a  nation  to  an  office  tenable  for  only 
four  years,  on  the  expiration  of  which  he 
was  at  once  eligible  for  re-election. 
~  Honest  Republicans  had  foreseen  that 
election  by  the  nation  would  give  the 
president  a  superfluous  prestige  and 
a  dangerous  amount  of  power  ;  but  the 
majority  of  the  Constituent  Assembly  had 
been  "  inspired  with  hatred  of  the  republic. 
-J  .  ,  They  were  anxious  to  have  an 
apo  con  s    ij^fjgpgi^^jgji^^  power  side  by  side 

.  *jt**ff  ^^  with  the  Assembly,  perhaps 
with  the  object  of  afterwards 
restoring  the  monarchy."  This  object 
Louis  Bonaparte  was  busily  prosecuting. 
On  October  31st,  1849,  he  issued  a  message 
fb  the  country,  in  which  he  gave  himself 
out  to  be  the  representative  of  the  Napo- 
leonic system,  and  explained  the  main- 
tenance of  peace  and  social  order  to  be 
dependent  upon  his  own  position.  Under 
pressure  from  public  opinion,  the  Chamber 
passed  a  new  electoral  law  on  I\Iay  31st, 
1850,  which  abolished  about  three  millions 
out  of  ten  million  votes,  chiefly  those  of 


THE    SECOND    REPUBLIC    IN    FRANCE 


town  electors,  and  required  the  presence 
of  a  quarter  of  the  electorate  to  form 
a  quorum.  The  Radicals  were  deeply 
incensed  at  this  measure,  and  the  Conserva- 
tives by  no  means  satisfied.  The  president 
attempted  to  impress  his  personality  on 
the  people  by  making  numerous  tours 
through  tlie  country,  and  to  conciliate 
the  original  electorate,  to  whose  decision 
alone  he  was  ready  to  bow. 

A  whole  year  passed  before  he  ventured 
upon   any   definite    steps ;     at    one    time 
the  Chamber  showed  its  power, 


The  Waiting 

Policy 

of  Napoleon 


at    another    it   would  display 
compliance.  However,  he  could 


not  secure  the  three-quarters 
majority  necessary  for  determining  a 
revision  of  the  constitution,  although 
seventy-nine  out  of  eighty-five  general 
councillors  supported  the  proposal.  There 
could  be  no  doubt  that  the  presidential 
election  of  May,  1852,  would  have  forced 
on  the  revision,  for  the  reason  that  Louis 
Napoleon  would  have  been  elected  by  an 
enormous  majority,  though  the  constitu- 
tion did  not  permit  immediate  re-election. 
A  revolt  of  this  nature  on  the  part  of  the 


whole  population  against  the  law  would 
hardly  have  contributed  to  strengthen  the 
social  order  which  rests  upon  constitu- 
tionally established  rights ;  the  excite- 
ment of  the  elections  might  have  produced 
a  fresh  outbreak  of  radicalism,  which  was 
especially  strong  in  the  south  of  France, 
at  Marseilles  and  Bordeaux.  The  fear  of 
some  such  movement  was  felt  in  cottage 
and  palace  alike,  and  was  only  to  be 
obviated  by  a  monarchical  government. 
No  hope  of  material  improvement  in  the 
conditions  of  life  could  be  drawn  from 
the  speeches  delivered  in  the  Chamber, 
with  their  vain  acrimony,  their  bombastic 
self -laudation,  and  their  desire  for  im- 
mediate advantage.  The  childlike  belief 
in  the  capacity  and  zeal  o'f  a  national 
representative  assembly  was  destroyed 
for  ever  by  the  experience  of  twenty  years. 
The  Parliament  was  utterly  incompetent 
to  avert  a  coup  d'etat,  a  danger  which 
had  been  forced  upon  its  notice  in  the 
autumn  of  1851.  It  had  declined  a  pro- 
posal to  secure  its  command  of  the  army 
by  legislation,  although  the  growing 
popularity   of   the    new   Caesar   with   the 


THE    FLIGHT    OF    A    POPE  :    PIUS    IX.    LEAVING    THE    QUIRINAL    IN    DISGUISE 

4955 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


army  was  perfectly  obvious,  and  though 
General  Saint-Arnaud  had  engaged  to 
leave  North  Africa,  and  conduct  the  armed 
interference  which  was  the  first  step 
to  a  revision  of  the  constitution  without 
consulting  the  views  of  the  Parliament. 
After  long  and  serious  deliberation  the 
president  had  determined  upon  the  coup 
.         d'etat  ;    the  preparations  were 

""^fif  ""^  made  by  Napoleon's  half- 
c        A"t  t  brother,  his  mother's  son.  Count 

°"'*  *  de  Morny,  and  by  Count 
Flahault.  He  was  supported  by  the  faithful 
Persigny,  while  the  management  of  the 
army  was  in  the  hands  of  Saint-Arnaud. 
On  December  2nd,  i85i,the  day  of  Ausffer- 
litz  and  of  the  coronation  of  his  great 
uncle,  it  was  determined  to  make  the 
nephew  supreme  over  France.  General 
Bernard  Pierre  Magnan,  commander  of  the 
garrison  at  Paris,  won  over  twenty  generals 
to  the  cause  of  Bonaparte  in  the  event  of 
conflict.  Louis  himself,  when  his  resolve 
had  been  taken,  watched  the  course  of 
events  with  great  coolness.  Morny,  a 
prominent  stock  -  exchange  speculator, 
bought  up  as  much  state  paper  as  he  could 
get,  in  the  conviction  that  the  coup  d'-^cat 
would  cause  a  general  rise  of  stock. 

•The  movement  was  begun  by  the  Director 
of  Police,  Charlemagne  Emile  de  Maupas, 
who  surprised  in  their  beds  and  took 
prisoner  every  member  of  importance  in 
the  Chamber,  about  sixty  captures  being 
thus  made,  including  the  generals  Cavaig- 
nac,  Changarnier,  and  I.amoriciere  ;  at  the 
same  time  the  points  of  strategic  import- 
ance round  tlie  meeting  hall  of  the  National 
Assembly  were  occupied  by  the  troops, 
which  had  been  reinforced  from  the 
environs  of  Paris.  The  city  awoke  to  find 
placards  posted  at  the  street  corners 
containing  three  short  appeals  to  the 
nation,  the  population  of  the  capital, 
and  the  army,  and  a  decree  dissolving  the 
National  Assembly,  restoring  the  right  of 
universal    suffrage,    and    declaring    Paris 

„  .  .  and  the  eleven  adjacent  depart- 
Paris  m  ,■  .-<••  t 

_  ments    m    a    state  of    siege.     In 

,  c-  the  week,  December  14th  to 
of  Siege  ,  '  ^ 

2ist,        10,000,000       Frenchmen 

were  summoned  to  the  ballot-box  to  vote 
for  or  against  the  constitution  proposed  by 
the  president.  This  constitution  provided 
a  responsible  head  of  the  state,  elected  for 
ten  years,  and  threefold  representation  of 
the  people  through  a  state  council,  a 
legislative  body,  and  a  senate,  the 
executive  power  being  placed  under  the 

4956 


control  of  the  sovereign  people.  On  his. 
a})pearance  the  president  was  warmly 
greeted  by  both  people  and  troops,  and  no 
opposition  was  offered  to  the  expulsion 
of  the  deputies  who  attempted  to  protest 
against  the  breach  of  the  constitution. 

It  was  not  until  December  3rd  that  the 
revolt  of  the  Radicals  and  Socialists  broke 
out  ;  numerous  barricades  were  erected 
in  the  heart  of  Paris^  and  were  furiously 
contested.  But  the  movement  was  not 
generally  supported,  and  the  majority  of 
the  citizens  remained  in  their  houses. 
The  troops  won  a  complete  victory,  which 
was  stated  to  have  secured  the  establish- 
ment of  the  "  democratic  republic,"  though 
unnecessary  acts  of  cruelty  made  it  appear 
an  occasion  of  revenge  upon  the  Democrats. 
The  exponents  of  barricade  warfare  were 
destroyed  as  a  class  for  a  long  time  to 
come,  not  only  in  Paris,  but  in  the  other 
great  towns  of  France,  where  the  last 
struggles  of  the  Revolution  were  fought  out. 
The  impression-  caused  by  this  success, 
by  the  great  promises  which  Louis  Napo- 
leon made  to  his  adherents,  and  by  the 
rewards  which  he  had  begun  to  pay  them, 
decided  the  result  of  the  national 


Napoleon 
Becomes 
Dictator 


vote  upon  the  change  in  the 
constitution,  or,  more  correctly, 
upon  •  the  elevation  of  Louis 
Napoleon  to  the  dictatorship.  By  Decem- 
ber 2oth,  1851,  7,439,246  votes  were 
given  in  his  favour,  against  640,737. 
Bonapartism  in  its  new  form  became  the 
governmental  system  of  France. 

"The  severest  absolutism  that  the  nine- 
teenth century  has  seen  was  founded  by 
the  general  demonstrations  of  a  democracy. 
The  new  ruler,  in  the  early  years  of  his 
government,  was  opposed  by  all  the  best 
intellects  in  the  nation  ;  the  most  brilliant 
names  in  art  and  science,  in  politics  and 
war,  were  united  against  him,  and  united 
with  a  unanimity  almost  unparalleled 
in  the  course  of  history.  A  time  began  in 
which  wearied  brains  could  find  rest  in  the 
nirvana  of  mental  vacuity,  and  in  which 
nobler  natures  lost  nearly  all  of  the  best 
that  life  could  give.  For  a  few  years, 
liowever,  the  masses  were  undeniably 
prosperous  and  contented ;  so  small  is 
the  significance  of  mental  power  in  an 
age  of  democracy  and  popular  administra- 
tion." It  is  the  popular  will  which  must 
bear  the  responsibility  for  the  fate  of 
France  during  the  next  two  decades  ; 
the  nation  had  voluntarily  humbled  itself 
and  bowed  its  neck  to  an  adroit  adventurer. 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


fl !  U  I  i  ^ 


■^»JH£l 


EUROPE 

IN 

REVOLUTION 

VI 


THE  PROBLEM  of  the  GERMAN  STATES 

AND  THE  VAIN  SEARCH  AFTER  FEDERATION 


/^N  May  i8th,  1848,  586  representatives 

^^    of  every  German   race   met   in   the 

Church  of  St.  Paul  at  Frankfort-on-Main  to 

create  a  constitution  corresponding  to  the 

national   needs   and   desires.     The    great 

majority  of  the  deputies  belonging  to  the 

National  Assembly,  in  whose  number  were 

included  many  distinguished  men,  scholars, 

manufacturers,  officials,  lawyers,  property 

owners  of  education  and  experience,  were 

firmly  convinced  that  the  problem  was 

capable  of  solution,  and  were  honourably 

and   openly   determined   to   devote  their 

best  energies  to  the  task.     In  the  days 

of  "  the  dawn  of  the  new  freedom,"  which 

illumined  the  countenances  of  politicians 

in  the  childhood  of  their  experience,  flushed 

with  yearning  and  expectation,  the  power 

of  conviction,  the  blessing  that  would  be 

produced  by  immovable  principles  were 

believed  as  gospel.     It  was  thought  that 

the  power  of  the  Government  was  broken, 

.  ...1  ^  that  the  Government,  willing 
In       the  Dawn  n-  xi 

or    unwiUmg,    was    m    the 

-.  „  .  ,,  people's  hands,  and  could 
New  Freedom     ^     ^  '.      ir   j.       i-i 

accommodate    itself  to   the 

conclusions  of  the  German  constituents. 
Only  a  few  were  found  to  doubt  the  relia- 
bility of  parliamentary  institutions,  and  the 
possibility  of  discovering  what  the  people 
wanted  and  of  carrying  out  their  wishes. 

No  one  suspected  that  the  expei'i- 
ence  of  half  a  century  would  show  the 
futility  of  seeking  for  popular  unanimity, 
the  division  of  the  nation  into  classes  at 
variance  with  one  another,  the  disregard 
of  right  and  reason  by  parliamentary, 
political,  social,  religious,  and  national 
parties  as  well  as  by  princes,  and  the 
inevitability  of  solving  every  question 
which  man  is  called  upon  to  decide  by 
the  victory  of  the  strong  will  over  the  weak. 

A  characteristic  feature  of  all  theoretical 
political  systems  is  very  prominent  in 
Liberalism,  which  was  evolved  from  theory 
and  not  developed  in  practice.  This  feature 
is  the  tendency  to  stigmatise  all  institutions 
which   cannot   find   a  place   within   the 


theoretical  system  as  untenable,  useless, 
and  to  be  abolished  in  consequence  ;  hence 
the  first  demand  of  the  Liberal  politician 
is  the  destruction  of  all  existing  organisa- 
tion, in  order  that  no  obstacle  may  impede 
the  erection  of  the  theoretical  structure. 
Liberals,  like  socialists  and 
.  .  *  anarchists,  argue  that  states  are 
P  . .  .  formed  by  establishing  a  ready- 
made  system,  for  which  the 
ground  must  be  cleared  as  it  is  required. 
They  are  invariably  the  pioneers  to  open 
the  way  for  the  Radicals,  those  impatient 
levellers  who  are  ready  to  taste  the  sweets 
of  destruction  even  before  they  have 
formed  any  plans  for  reconstruction,  who 
are  carried  away  by  the  glamour  of 
idealism,  though  utterly  incapable  of 
realising  any  ideal,  who  at  best  a'Ve 
impelled  only  by  a  strong  desire  of 
"  change,"  when  they  are  not  inspired  by 
the  greed  which  most  usually  appears  as 
the  leading  motive  of  human  action. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  calculations  ot  the 
German  Liberals  neglected  the  existence  of 
the  Federal  Assembly,  of  the  federation  of 
the  states,  and  of  their  respective  govern- 
ments. They  took  no  account  of  those 
forms  in  which  German  political  life  had 
found  expression  for  centuries,  and  their 
speeches  harked  back  by  preference  to  a 
tribal  organisation  which  the  nation  had 
long  ago  outgrown,  and  which  even  the 
educated  had  never  correctly  appreciated. 
They  fixed  their  choice  upon  a  constitu- 
tional committee,  which  was  to  discover 
the  form  on  which  the  future  German 
state  would  be  modelled  ;  they  created 
a  central  power  for  a  state 
as  yet  non-existent,  with- 
out clearly  and  intelligibly 
defining  its  relations  to 
the  ruling  governments  who  were  in 
actual  possession  of  every  road  to  power. 
Discussion  upon  the  "central  power" 
speedily  brought  to  light  the  insurmount- 
able obstacles  to  the  formation  of  a  consti- 
tution acceptable  to  every  party,  and  this 

4957 


Obstacles  to 
the  Formation  of 
a  Constitution 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


without  any  interference  on  the  part  of 
the  governments.  The  Democrats  decUned 
to  recognise  anything  but  an  executive 
committee  of  the  sovereign  National 
Assembly  ;  the  Liberals  made  various 
proposals  for  a  triple  committee  in  con- 
nection with  the  governments.  The  bold 
mind  of  the  president,  Heinrich  von 
^.     „      .  Gagern,  eventually  soothed 

The  Popular.       ^i^e^  He  invited  the 

Archduke  John  p^^y^^^^^^  to  appomt,  in 
of  Austria  •    ,  r  ■ ,        i 

vn-tue  of  its  plenary  powers, 
an  Imperial  Administrator  who  should  un- 
dertake the  business  of  the  Federal  Council, 
then  on  the  point  of  dissolution,  and  act 
in  concert  with  an  imperial  Ministry.  -  ■ 

The  Archduke  John  of  Austria^  was 
elected  on  June  24th,  1848,  by  436  out  of 
548  votes,  and  the  law  regarding  the 
central  power  was  passed  on  the  28th. 
Had  the  ofhce  of  Imperial  Administrator 
been  regarded  merely  as  a  temporary 
expedient  until  the  permanent  forms 
were  settled,  the  choice  of  the  archduke 
would  have  been  entirely  happy  ;  he 
was  popular,  entirely  the  man  for  the 
post,  and  ready  to  further  progress  in 
every  department  of  intellectual  and 
material  life.  But  it  was  ,  a  grievous 
mistake  to  expect  him  to  create  substance 
out  of  shadow,  to  direct  the  development 
of  the  German  state  by  a  further  use  of 
the  "  bold  grasp,"  and  to  contribute 
materially  to  the  realisation  of  its  being. 

The  Archduke  John  was  a  good-hearted 

man  and  a  fine  speaker,  full  of  confidence  in 

the  "  excellent  fellows,"  and  ever  inclined 

to  hold  up  the  "bluff  "  inhabitants  of  the 

Alpine  districts  as  examples  to  the  other 

Germans ;  intellectually  stimulating  within 

his  limits,  and  with  a  keen  eye  to  economic 

advantage ;  but  Nature  had  not  intended 

him  for  a  politician.     His  political  ideas 

were  too  intangible  ;    he  used  words  with 

no  ideas  behind  them,    and   though   his 

own  experience  had  not  always  been  of  the 

pleasantest,  it  had  not  taught  him  the  feel- 

_  ,       ing  then  prevalent  in  Aus- 

uermany    s      ,    "  f    ■     i  t-       .  1 

J        .  .  trian  court  cnxles.     For  the 

A .  ■  ■  t  t  moment  his  election  pro- 
Administrator         .       ,  r  ^    ,, 

mised    an    escape   from    all 

manner  of  embarrassments.  The  govern- 
ments could  recognise  his  position  without 
committing  themselves  to  the  approval  of 
any  revolutionary  measure  ;  they  might 
even  allow  that  his  election  was  the 
beginning  of  an  understanding  with  the 
reigning  German  houses.  This,  however, 
was  not  the  opinion  of  the  leading  party  in 

4958 


the  National  Assembly.  The  Conserva- 
tives, the  Right,  or  tlie  Right  Centre,  as  they 
preferred  to  be  called,  were  alone  in  their 
adherence  to  the  sound  principle  that  only 
by  way  of  mutual  agreement  between  the 
Parliament  and  the  governments  could  a 
constitutional  German  body  politic  be 
established.  Every  other  party  was  agreed 
that  the  people  must  itself  formulate  its 
own  constitution,  as  only  so  would  it 
obtain  complete  recognition  of  its  rights. 

This  fact  alone  excluded  the  possibility 
of  success.  The  decision  of  the  question 
was  indefinitely  deferred,  the  favourable 
period  -  in  which  the  governments  were 
inclined :  to  consider  the  necessity  of 
making  concessions  to  the  popular  desires 
was  wasted  in  discussion,  and  opportunity 
was  given  to  particularism  to  recover  its 
strength.  There  was  no  desire  for  a  federal 
union  endowed  with  vital  force  and 
offering  a  strong  front  to  other  nations. 
Patriots  were  anxious  only  to  invest 
doctrinaire  Liberalism  and  its  extravagant 
claims  with  legal  form,  and  to  make _ the 
governments  feel  the  weight  of  a  vigorous 
national  sentiment.  The  lessons  of  the 
„       ,.^         French  Revolution  and  its  sad 

Hereditary     i  ■    ,  i      ,  ,i 

^  .       history    were    lost    upon    the 

..     ^  Germans.    Those  who  held  the 

tne  uerman   ,    ,        ,.  „  .       ,     .    ,         , 

fate  of  Germany  m  their  hands, 

many    of    them    professional    politicians, 

were     unable     to     conceive     that     their 

constituents  were   justified    in   expecting 

avoidance  on ,  their  part  of  the  worst  of 

all  political  errors. 

The  great  majority  by  which  the 
central  power  had  been  constituted  soon 
broke  up  into  groups,  too  insignificant  to 
be  called  political  parties  and  divided 
upon  wholly  immaterial  points.  The 
hereditary  curse  of  the  German,  dogmatism 
and  personal  vanity,  with  a  consequent 
distaste  for  voluntary  subordination;  posi- 
tively devastated  Monarchists  and  Re- 
publicans alike.  The  inns  were  scarcely 
adequate  in  number  to  provide  head- 
quarters for  a  score  of  societies  which 
considered  the  promulgation  of  political 
programmes  as  their  bounden  duty. 

On  July  14th,  1848,  the  Archduke 
John  made  his  entry  into  Frankfort,  and 
the  Federal  Council  was  dissolved  the  same 
day.  The  Imperial  Administrator  esta- 
blished a  provisional  Ministry  to  conduct 
the  business  of  the  central  power  till  he 
had  completed  the  work  at  Vienna  which 
his  imperial  nephew  had  entrusted  to 
his  care.  At  the  beginning  of  August,  1848, 


THE    SEARCH     AFTER    GERMAN    FEDERATION 


he  established  himself  in  Frankfort,  and 
appointed  Prince  Friedrich  Karl  von 
Leiningen  as  the  head  of  the  Ministry, 
which  also  included  the  Austrian,  Anton 
von  Schmerling;  the 
Hamburg  lawyer,  Moritz 
Hecksctj^r ;  the  Prussians, 
Hermann  von  Beckerath  and 
General  Eduard  von  Peucker ; 
the  Bremen  senator,  Arnold 
Duckwitz  ;  and  the  Wiirtem- 
berger,  Robert  von  Mohl,  pro- 
fessor of  political  science  at 
Heidelberg. 

To  ensure  the  prestige  of 
the  central  power,  the  Minister 
of  War,  Von  Peucker,  had 
given  orders  on  August  6th 
for  a  general  review'  of  con- 
tingents   furnished     by     the 


HEINRICH      VON      GAGERN 


Austrian  House,  and  continued  confi- 
dential relations  with  him  for  a  consider- 
able time.  The  German  governments 
further  appointed  plenipotentiaries  to  re- 
present their  interests  with  the 
central  power ;  these  would 
have  been  ready  to  form  a  kind 
of  Monarchical  Council  side  by 
side  with  the  National  As- 
sembly, and  would  thus  have 
been  highly  ^rviceable  to  the 
imperial  administrator  as  a 
channel  of  communication 
with  the  governments.  But 
the  democratic  pride  of  the 
body  which  met  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Paul  had  risen  too  high 
to  tolerate  so  opportune  a 
step  towards  a  "  system  of 
mutual  accommodation."    On 


German  states,  who  were  to  This  German  statesman  was piesu  August  jOth  the  central 
give  three  cheers  to  the  Arch-  f„^?L°Jear^s];t"a'nd?t  wts^mS  P^^^^^r  was  obliged  to  declare 
duke    John    as    imperial   ad-   on  his  suggestion  that  an  imperial  that      the      plenipotentiaries 

.     .    ,       ,  T^i  1         •        Administrator      was      appointed.        r     .i  •       j  •       •    i  ^        j.    i. 

mmistrator.       The    mode    m  ot  the    individual    states 

which  this  order  was  carried  out  plainly  possessed     no    competence    to    influence 

showed    that    the    governments    did    not  the    decisions   of    the   central  power,    or 

regard  it  as  obligatory,  and  respected  it  to     conduct     any    systematic     business, 

only  so  far  as  they  thought  good.    It  was  The  new  European  power  had  notified  its 


obeyed  only  in  Saxony, 
Wiirtemberg,  and  the 
smaller  states.  Prussia 
allowed  only  her  gar- 
risons in  the  federal 
fortresses  to  participate 
in  the  parade  ;  Bavaria 
ordered  her  troops  to 
cheer  the  king  belore  the 
imperial  administrator.  In 
Austria  no  notice  w^as 
taken  of  the  order,  except 
in  Vienna,  as  it  affected 
the  ai'chduke ;  the  Italian 
army  did  not  trouble  itself 
about  the  imperial  Min- 
ister of  War  in  the  least. 
At  the  same  time,  the 
relations  of  the   govern 


existence  by  special  em- 
bassies to  various  foreign 
states,  and  received  fe- 
cognition  in  full  from  the 
Netherlands,  Belgium, 
Sweden,  Switzerland,  and 
the  United  States  of 
North  America ;  Russia 
ignored  it,  while  the 
attitude  of  France  and 
I  Britain  was  marked  by 
I  distrust  and  doubt. 
Austria  was  in  the  throes 
of  internal  convulsion 
(luring  the  summer  of 
1848  and  unable  seriously 
to  consider  the  German 
question  ;  possessing  a 
confidential  agent  of  pre- 


ments    and    the    central      archduke  john   of   Austria     eminent    position   in  the 
power  were  bv  no  means  a  "good-hearted  man  and  a  fine  speaker," he  persoii  of   the   Axchduke 

nnfripnrlhr         TVip   TCinrr  nf    waselected  Imperial  Administrator ;  he  entered     ]  ^Uy.      ohe     waS     able      tO 
UninenCUy.        ineivmgOI     prankfort  on  July  nth,  l,s4s,  and  on  the  same    J  "^"''     ^^it-     vvdb     d-'-'it-      lu 

Prussia  did  not  hide   his  day  the  Federal  council  was  dissolved,  where-  rcservc     her     dccision. 

high     personal     esteem    of    upon  he   established  a  provisional   Ministry.     With      PrUSsia,      hoW- 

the   Imperial  Administrator,  and  showed      ever,  serious  complications  speedily  arose 

from  the  v  0:  in  Schleswig  -  Holstein. 
Parliament  \.as  aroused  to  great  excite- 
ment by  the  armistice  of  Malmo,  which 
Prussia  concluded  on  August  26th,  with- 
out consulting  Max  von  Gagern,  the 
impenal  state  secretary  commissioned  to 

4959 


him  special  tokens  of  regard  at  the 
festivities  held  at  Cologne  on  August 
14th,  1848,  in  celebration  of  the  six 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  foundation 
ol  the  cathedral.  Most  of  the  federal 
princes  honoured  him  as  a  member  of  the 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Revolution 
in 


the  duchies  by  the  central  power.     The 

central  power  had  declared  the  Schleswig- 

Holstein   question    a  "matter   of   national 

importance,    and   in   virtue    of   the   right 

which     had    formerly    belonged    to    the 

Federal    Council    demanded    a    share    in 

the    settlement.       On     September     5th, 

Dahlmann  proposed  to   set   on   foot   the 

necessary  measures  for  carrying 

out  the  armistice  ;  the  proposal, 

_  ,,  ^  when* sent  up  by  the  Ministry 
Frankfort       .  n         I-  •      ^   j 

for  confirmation,  was  rejected 

by  244  to  230  votes.  Dahlmann,  who  was 
now  entrusted  by  the  Imperial  Adminis- 
trator with  the  formation  of  a  new 
Ministry,  was  obliged  to  abandon  the 
proposal  after  many  days  of  fruitless 
effort.  Ignoring  the  imperial  Ministry, 
the  Assembly  proceeded  to  discuss  the 
steps  to  be  taken  with  reference  to  the 
armistice  which  was  already  in  process  of 
fulfilment.  Meanwhile  the  democratic  Left 
lost  their  majority  in  the  Assembly,  and 
the  proposal  of  the  committee  to  refuse 
acceptance  of  the  armistice  and  to  declare 
war  on  Denmark  through  the  provisional 
central  power  was  lost  by  258  votes  to  237. 

This  result  led  to  a  revolt  in  Frankfort, 
begun  by  the  members  of  the  Extreme 
Left  under  the  leadership  of  Zitz  of  Mainz 
and  their  adherents  in  the  town  and  in 
the  neighbouring  states  of  Hesse  and 
Baden.  The  town  senate  was  forced  to 
apply  to  the  garrison  of  Mainz  for  military 
protection  and  to  guard  the  meeting  of 
the  National  Assembly  on  September  i8th, 
1848,  with  an  Austrian  and  a  Prussian 
battalion  of  the  line.  The  revolutionaries, 
here  as  in  Paris,  terrified  the  Parliament 
by  the  invasion  of  an  armed  mob,  and 
sought  to  intimidate  the  members  to  the 
passing  of  resolutions  which  would  have 
brought  on  a  civil  war. 

Barricades  were  erected,  and  two  deputies 

of  the  Right,  Prince  Felix  Lichnowsky  and 

Erdmann  of  Auerswald.  were  cruelly  miu"- 

dered.     Even,  the  long-suffering  archducal 

^  ,.  „  administrator  of  the  empire  was 
Frankfort  s    r  -,    ,  -i      \,  j- 

_  forced  to  renounce  the  hope  of 

g  .a   pacific    termination    of    the 

quarrel.  The  troops  were  ordered 
to  attack  the  barricades,  and  the  disturb- 
ance was  put  down  in  a  few  hours  with  no 
great  loss  of  life.  The  citizens  of  Frankfort 
had  not  fallen  into  the  trap  of  the  "  Reds," 
or  given  any  support  to  the  des]:)eradoes 
with  whose  help  the  German  republic  was 
to  be  founded.  A  few  days  later  the  pro- 
fessional revolutionary,  Gustav  Struve,  met 

4960 


the  fate  he  deserved ;  after  invading  Baden 
with  an  armed  force  from  France,  "to  help 
the  great  cause  of  freedom  to  victory," 
he  was  captured  at  Lorrach  on  September 
25th,  1848,  and  thrown  into  prison. 

The  German  National  Assehibly  was  now 
able  to  resume  its  meetings,  but  the  public 
confidence  in  its  lofty  position  and  powers 
had  been  greatly  shaken.  Had  the  radical 
attempt  at  intimidation  proved  successful, 
the  Assembly  would  speedily  have  ceased 
to  exist.  It  was  now  able  to  turn  its 
attention  to  the  question  of  "  fundamental 
rights,"  while  the  governments  in  Vienna 
and  Berlin  were  fighting  for  the  right  of 
the  executive  power.  The  suppression  of 
the  Vienna  revolt  by  Windisch-Graetz 
had  produced  a  marked  impression  in 
Prussia.  The  conviction  was  expressed 
that  the  claims  of  the  democracy  to  a 
share  in  the  executive  power  by  the  sub- 
jects of  the  state,  and  their  interference 
in  government  affairs,  were  to  be  uncon- 
ditionally rejected.  Any  attempt  to 
coerce  the  executive  authorities  was  to  be 
crushed  by  the  sternest  measures,  by  force 
of  arms,  ii  need  be  ;  otherwise  the  main- 
tenance of  order  was  im- 


cverc  possible,  and  without  this 

Measures  of  the    ^ 

Government 


there  could  be  no  peaceful 
enjoyment  of  constitu- 
tional rights.  It  was  clear  that  compliance 
on  the  part  of  the  government  with  the 
demands  of  the  revolutionary  leaders  would 
endanger  the  freedom  of  the  vast  majority 
of  the  population  ;  the  latter  were  ready  to 
secure  peace  and  the  stability  of  the  exist- 
ing order  of  things  by  renouncing  in  favour 
of  a  strong  government  some  part  of  those 
rights  which  Liberal  theorists  had  aligned 
to  them.  In  view  of  the  abnormal  ex- 
citement then  prevailing,  such  a  pro- 
gramme necessitated  severity  and  self- 
assertion  on  the  part  of  the  government. 
This  would  be  obvious  in  time  of  peace, 
but  at  the  moment  the  fact  was  not  likely 
to  be  appreciated. 

The  refusal  to  fire  a  salute  upon  the 
occasion  of  a  popular  demonstration  in 
Schweidnitz  on  July  31st,  1848,  induced  the 
Prussian  National  Assembly  to  take  steps 
which  were  calculated  to  diminish  the 
consideration  and  the  respect  of  armed 
force,  which  was  a  highl}^  beneficial  in- 
fluence in  those  troublous  times.  The  re- 
sult was  the  retirement  on  September  7th 
of  the  Auerswald-Hansemann  Ministry, 
which  had  been  in  ofiice  since  June  25th  ; 
it  was  followed  on  September  21st  by  a 


THE    SEARCH    AFTER    GERMAN    FEDERATION 


bureaucratic  Ministry  under  the  presi- 
dency of  General  Pfuel,  which  was  with- 
out influence  either  with  the  king  or  the 
National  Assembly.  The  Left  now  obtained 
the  upper  hand.  As  president  they  chose 
a  moderate,  the  railway  engineer,  Hans 
Victor  von  Unruh,  and  as  vice-president 
the  leader  of  the  Extreme  Left,  the  doc- 
trinaire lawyer,  Leo  Waldeck.  During  the 
deliberations  on  the  constitution  they 
erased  the  phrase  "  By  the  grace  of  God  " 
from  the  king's  titles,  and  resolved  on 
October  31st,  1848,  to  request  the  Imperial 
Government  in  Frankfort  to  send  help  to 
the  revolted  Viennese.  This  step  led  to 
long  continued  communications  between 
the  Assembly  and  the  unemployed  classes, 
who  were  collected  by  the  democratic 
agitators,  and  surrounded  the  royal  theatre 
where  the  deputies  held  their  sessions. 

On  November  ist.  1848,  news  arrived 
of  the  fall  of  Vienna,  and  Frederic  William 
IV.  determined  to  intervene  in  support  of 
his  kingdom.  He  dismissed  Pfuel  and 
placed  Count  William  of  Brandenburg, 
son  of  his  grandfather  Frederic  William  II. 
and    of    the     Countess    Sophia    Juliana 

Friederika  of  Donhoff,  at  the 
.  .  head  of  a  new  ]\Iinistr3^  He 
_  ^ .         then   despatched    15.000   troops, 

under  General  Friedrich  von 
Wrangel,  to  Berlin,  the  city  being  shortly 
afterwards  punished  by  the  declaration  of 
martial  law.  The  National  Assembly  was 
transfen'ed  from  Berlin  to  Brandenburg. 
The  Left,  for  the  purpose  of  "  undisturbed  " 
deliberation,  repeatedly  met  in  the  Berlin 
coffee-houses,  despite  the  prohibition  of 
the  president  of  the  Ministry,  but  even- 
tually gave  way  and  followed  the  Con- 
servatives to  Brandenburg,  after  being  twice 
dispersed  by  the  troops.  Berlin  and  the 
Marks  gave  no  support  to  the  democracy. 
The  majority  of  the  population  dreaded 
a  reign  of  terror  by  the  "  Reds,"  and 
were  delighted  with  the  timely  opposi- 
tion. They  also  manifested  their  satis- 
faction at  the  dissolution  of  the  National 
Assembly,  which  had  given  few  appre- 
ciable signs  of  legislative  activity  in 
Brandenburg,  at  the  publication  on 
December  5th,  1848,  of  a  constitutional 
scheme  drafted  by  the  Government,  and 
the  issue  of  writs  for  the  election  of  a 
Prussian  Landtag  which  was  to  revase  the 
law  of  suffrage.  Some  opposition  was 
noticeable  in  the  provinces,  but  was  for  the 
moment  of  a  moderate  nature.  The 
interference  of  the  Frankfort  Parliament  in 


the  question  of  the  Prussian  constitution 
produced  no  effect  whatever.  The  centres 
of  the  Right  and  Left  had  there  united  and 
taken  the  lead,  then  proceeding  to  pass 
resolutions  which  would  not  hinder  the 
Prussian  •  Government  in  asserting  its 
right  to  determine  its  own  affairs.  Public 
opinion  in  Germany  had  thus  changed ; 
_  ,       there  was  a  feeling  in  favour 

rmany  «  |-  jij^j^ij^gr  the  demands  that 
Kejection  of        •   ,  ,  ?        ,      .  , , 

Radicalism  ""^^Sht  arise  during  the  con- 
stitutional (fefinition  of  the 
national  rights  ;  moreover,  the  majority 
of  the  nation  had  declined  adherence  to 
the  tenets  of  radicalism.  It  seemed 
that  these  facts  were  producing  a  highly 
desirable  change  of  direction  .in  the 
energies  of  the  German  National  Assembl}^ ; 
the  provisional  central  power  was  even 
able  to  pride  itself  upon  a  reserve  of  force, 
for  the  Prussian  Government  had  placed 
its  united  forces,  326,000  men,  at  its  dis- 
posal, as  was  announced  by  Schmerling, 
the  imperial  Minister,  on  October  23rd,  1848. 

None  the  less,  an  extraordinary 
degree  of  statesmanship  and  political 
capacity  was  required  to  cope  with  the 
obstacles  which  lay  before  the  creation 
of  a  national  federation  organised  as  a 
state,  with  adequate  power  to  deal  with 
domestic  and  foreign  policy.  But  not  only 
was  this  supreme  political  insight  required 
of  the  national  representatives ;  theirs,  too, 
must  be  the  task  of  securing  the  support 
of  the  Great  Powers,  without  which  the 
desired  federation  was  unattainable. 

This  condition  did  not  apply  for  the 
moment  in  the  case  of  Austria,  whose 
decision  was  of  the  highest  importance. 
Here  an  instance  recurred  of  the  law 
constantly  exemplified  in  the  lives  both 
of  individuals  and  of  nations,  'that  a 
recovery  of  power  stimulates  to  aggression 
instead  of  leading  to  discretion.  True 
wisdom  would  have  concentrated  the 
national  aims  upon  a  clearh^  recognisable 
and  attainable  object^namely,  the  trans- 
formation of  the  old  dvnastic 
Suppressing  g^.  ^j  ^^^  Hapsbufgs  into 

R^  o3n"'"'     ^    "'°^^™     ^^''^^-        ^^^^'    ^ 

cvo  u  ion  change  would  of  itself  Imve 
determined  the  form  of  the  federation  with 
the  new  German  state,  which  could  well 
have  been  left  to  develop  in  its  own  way. 
Russian  help  for  the  suppression  of  the 
Hungarian  revolt  would  have  been  un- 
necessary ;  it  would  have  been  enthu- 
siastically given  by  the  allied  Prussian 
otate   under    Frederic   William   IV.     The 

4961 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


only  tasks  oi  Austria-Hungary  for  the 
immediate  future  would  have  been  the 
fostering  of  her  civilisation,  the  improve- 
ment of  domestic  prosperity,  and  the 
extension  of  her  influence  in  the  Balkan 
peninsula.  Even  her  Italian  par^mountcy, 
had  it  been  worth  retaining, 
The  Catholic  could  hardly  have  been  wrested 
Dynasty  fromher.  No  thinking  member 

m  Germany      ^^    ^^^    ^^^^^     ^^     Hapsburg 

could  deny  these  facts  at  the  pre.sent  day. 
Possibly  even  certain  representatives  of 
that  ecclesiastical  power  which  has  en- 
deavour^ for  three  centuries  to  make 
the  Hapsburg  dynasty  the  champion  of 
its  interests  might  be 
brought  to  admit  that 
the  efforts  devoted  to 
preserving  the  hereditary 
position  of  the  Catholic 
dynasty  in  Germany  led 
to  a  very  injudicious 
expenditure  of  energy. 

But  such  a  degree  of 
political  foresight  was 
sadly  to  seek  in  the 
winter  of  1 848-1 849.  The 
onlv  man  who  had  almost 
reached  that  standpoint, 
the  old  Wessenberg,  was 
deprived  of  his  influence 
at  the  critical  moment  of 
decision.  His  place  was 
taken  by  one  whose 
morality  was  even  lower 
than  his  capacity  or  pre- 
vious training,  and  whose 
task  was  nothing  less  than 
the  direction  of  a  newly 
developed  state  and  the 
invention  of  some  modus 
Vivendi  between  the  out- 
raged  and  insulted 
dynasty  and  the  agitators,  devoid  alike 
of  sense  and  conscience,  who  had  plied 
the  nationalities  of  the  Austrian  Empire 
with  evil  counsel.  Prince  Windisch- 
Graetz  was  quite  able  to  overpower 
street  rioters  or  to  crush  the  "  legions  " 
of  Vienna ;  but  his  vocation  was  not 
that  of  a  general  or  a  statesman. 

However,  his  word  was  all-powerful  at 
the  court  in  Olmiitz.  On  November  21st, 
1S48,  Prince  Felix  Schwarzenberg  became 
head  of  the  Austrian  Government.  His 
political  views  were  those  of  Windisch- 
Graetz,  whose  intellectual  superior  he 
was,  though  his  decisions  were  in  conse- 
quence the  more  hasty  and  ill-considered. 

4062 


FREDERIC    WILLIAM     IV. 
King  of  Prussia,  he  declined  the  imperial  crown 
offered  him  by  the  Frankfort  Diet  in  1849.  His 
reign  was,  on  the  whole,  a  disappointing  one. 


His  policy  upon  German  questions  was 
modelled  on  that  of  Metternich.  The 
only  mode  of  action  which  commended 
itself  to  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  I., 
now  eighteen  years  of  age,  was  one 
promising  a  position  of  dignity,  combining 
all  the  "  splendour "  of  the  throne  of 
Charles  the  Great  with  the  inherent  force 
of  a  modern  Great  Power.  A  prince  of 
chivalrous  disposition,  who  had  witnessed 
the  heroic  deeds  of  his  army  under 
Radetzky,  with  the  courage  to  defend 
his  fortunes  and  those  of  his  state  at  the 
point  of  the  sword,  would  never  have 
voluntarily  yielded  his  rights,  his  honour- 
able position,  and  the 
family  traditions  of  cen- 
turies, even  if  the  defence 
of  these  had  not  been 
represented  by  his  ad- 
visers as  a  ruler's  inevit- 
able task  and  as  absolutely 
incumbent  upon  him. 

The  Frankfort  Parlia- 
ment had  already  dis- 
cussed the  "  fundamental 
rights."  It  had  deter- 
mined by  a  large  majority 
that  personal  union  was 
the  only  possible  form  of 
alliance  between  any  part 
of  Germany  and  foreign 
countries  ;  it  had  decided 
upon  the  use  of  the  two- 
chamber  system  in  the 
Reichstag;  and  had  se- 
cured representation  in 
the  "Chamber  of  the 
States"  to  the  govern- 
ments even  of  the  smallest 
states ;  it  had  made 
provision  tor  the  customs 
union  until  May  i8th, 
Among  the  leaders  of  the 
Centre  the  opinion  then  gained  ground  that 
union  with  Austria  would  be  mipossible  in 
as  close  a  sense  as  it  was  possible  with  the 
other  German  states,  and  that  the  only 
means  of  assuring  the  strength  and  unity 
of  the  pure  German  states  was 
to  confer  the  dignity  of  emperor 
upon  the  King  of  Prussia. 
The  promulgation  of  this  idea 
resulted  in  a  new  cleavage  of  parties. 
The  majority  of  the  moderate  Liberal 
Austrians  seceded  from  their  associates 
and  joined  the  Radicals,  Ultramontanes, 
and  Particularists,  with  the  object  of 
preventing  the  introduction  of  Prussia  as 


1849,  3-t  latest. 


Secessions 
Among  the 
Liberals 


THE    SEARCH    AFTER    GERMAN    FEDERATION 


an  empire  into  the  imperial  constitution. 
Schmerling  resigned  the  presidency  of 
the  imperial  Ministry.  The  Imperial  Ad- 
ministrator was  forced  to  replace  him  by 
Heinrich  von  Gagern,  the  first  president 
of  the  Parliament.  His  programme  was 
announced  on  December  i6th,  and  proposed 
the  foundation  of  a  close  federal  alliance 
of  the  German  states  under  Prussian 
leadership,  while  a  looser  federal  connection 
was  to  exist  with  Austria,  as  arranged  by 
the  settlement  of  the  Vienna  Congress. 

After  three  days'  discussion,  on  January 
iith-i4th,  1849,  this  programme  was 
accepted  by  261  members  of  the  Ger- 
man National  Assembly  as  against  224. 
Sixty  Austrian  deputies  entered  a  protest 
against  this  resolution,  denying  the  right 
of  the  Parliament  to  exchide  the  German 
Austrians  from  the  German  Federal  State. 
The  Austrian  Government  was  greatly 
disturbed  at  the  promulgation  of  the 
Gagern  programme,  and  objected  to  the 
legislative  powers  of  the  Frankfort 
Assembly  in  general  terms  on  February  7th, 
declaring  her  readiness  to  co-operate  in  a 
union  of  the  German  states,  and  protest- 

^  .  .  -.Mr....  ing  against  the  "  remodel- 
Fredcric  William   ■,■       >?      r         ■   ,■  -,- 

_  Img      of    existmg  condi- 

mperor  tions.     Thus,  she  adopted 

01  the  Germans  .,.  ^t 

a  position  correspondmg 
to  that  of  the  federation  of  1815.  The 
decision  now  remained  with  the  king, 
Frederic  William  IV.  ;  he  accepted  the 
imperial  constitution  of  March  28th,  1849, 
and  was  forthwith  elected  Emperor  of  the 
Germans  by  290  of  the  538  deputies  present. 

The  constitution  in  document  form 
was  .signed  by  only  366  deputies,  as 
the  majority  of  the  Austrians  and  the 
ultramontanes  declined  to  acknowledge 
the  supremacy  of  a  Protestant  Prussia. 
The  290  electors  who  had  voted  for  the 
king  constituted,  however,  a  respectable 
majority.  Still,  it  was  as  representatives 
of  the  nation  that  they  offered  him  the 
impel ial  Crown,  and  the}'  made  their  offer 
conditional  upon  his  recognition  of  the 
imperial  constitution  which  had  been 
resolved  upon  in  Frankfort.  It  was 
therein  provided  that  in  all  questions  of 
legislation  the  decision  should  rest  with 
the  popular  House  in  the  Reichstag. 

The  imperial  veto  was  no  longer  uncon- 
ditional, but  could  only  defer  discussion 
over  three  sittings.  This  the  King  of  Prussia 
was  unable  to  accept,  if  only  for  the  reason 
that  he  was  already  involved  in  a  warm 
discussion    with    Austria,    Bavaria,    and 


Wiirtemberg  upon  the  form  of  a  German 
federal  constitution  which  was  to  be  laid 
before  the  Parliament  by  the  princes. 

The  despatch  of  a  parliamentary  depu- 
ta^on  to  Berlin  was  premature,  in  view  of 
the  impossibility  of  that  unconditional 
acceptance  of  the  imperial  title  desired  and 
expected  by  Dahlmann  and  the  professor 
Where  the  ^^  Konigsberg,  Martin  Eduard 
j^.^  Simson,  at  that  time  president 

Blundered  2?  the  National  Assembly. 
i  he  only  answer  that  Frederic 
William  could  give  on  April  3rd,  1849,  was 
a  reply  postponing  his  decision.  •This  the 
delegation  construed  as  a  refusal,  as  it 
indicated  hesitation  on  the  king's  part  to 
recognise  the  Fxankfort  constitution  in  its 
entirety.  The  king  erred  in  believing  that 
an  arrangement  with  Austria  still  lay 
within  the  bounds  of  possibility ;  he  failed 
to  see  that  Schwarzenberg  only  desired  to 
restore  the  old  Federal  Assembly,  while 
securing  greater  power  in  it  to  Austria  than 
she  had  had  under  Metternich. 

The  royal  statesman  considered  Hungary 
as  already  subjugated,  and  conceived  as 
in  existence  a  united  state  to  be  formed  of 
the  Austrian  and  Hungarian  territories, 
together  with  Galicia  and  Dalmatia;  he 
desired  to  secure  the  entrance  of  this  state 
within  the  federation,  which  he  intended 
to  be  not  German  but  a  Central  European 
federation  under  Austrian  leadership. 

On  the  return  of  the  parliamentary 
deputation  to  Frankfort  with  the  refusal 
of  the  King  of  Prussia,  the  work  of  con- 
stitution-building was  brought  to  a  stand- 
still. The  most  important  resolutions, 
those  touching  the  head  of  the  empire,  had 
proved  impracticable.  The  more  far- 
sighted  members  of  the  Parliament  recog- 
nised this  fact,  and  also  saw  that  to  re- 
model the  constitution  would  be  to  play 
into  the  hands  of  the  Republicans.  How- 
ever, their  eyes  were  blinded  to  the  fact 
that  twenty-four  petty  states  of  different 
sizes  had  accepted  the  constitution,  and 
.  they  ventured  to  hope  for  an 

The  National  i^iprovement  in  the  situation. 
Assembly  Led  ^^^^  Liberals  were  uncertain 
by  Democrats    ^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^  the  power 

which  could  be  assigned  to  the  nation,  in 
contradistinction  to  the  governments,  with- 
out endangering  the  social  fabric  and  the 
existence  of  civic  society.  To  this  lack  of 
definite  views  is  chiefly  to  be  ascribed  the 
fact  that  the  German  National  Assembly 
allowed  the  Democrats  to  lead  it  into 
revolutionary  tendencies,   until  it   ended 

4963 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


its  existence  in  pitiable  disruption.  The 
Liberals,  moreover,  cannot  be  acquitted 
from  the  charge  of  playing  the  dangerous 
game  of  inciting  national  revolt  with  the 
object  of  carrying  through  the  oron- 
stitution  which  they  had  devised  and 
drafted — a  constitution,  too,  which  meant 
a  breach  with  the  continuity  of  German 
historical  development.  They 
fomented  popular  excitement 


Royal  Family 
Expelled 
From  Dresden 


and  brought  about  armed 
risings  of  the  illiterate  mobs  of 
Saxony,  the  Palatinate,  and  Baden.  The 
royal  fafhily  were  expelled  from  Dresden 
by  a  revolt  on  May  3rd,  and  Prussian 
troops  were  obliged  to  reconquer  the 
capital  at  the  cost  of  severe  fighting  on 
May  7th  and  8th.  It  was  necessary  to 
send  two  Prussian  corps  to  reinforce  the 
imperial  army  drawn  from  Hesse,  Mecklen- 
burg, Nassau,  and  Wiirtemberg,  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  republican  troops  which 
had  concentrated  at  Rastadt. 

Heinrich  von  Gagern  and  his  friends 
regarded  the  advance  of  the  Prussians  as  a 
breach  of  the  peace  in  the  empire.  The 
Gagern  Ministry  resigned,  as  the  Archduke 
John  could  not  be  persuaded  to  oppose 
the  Prussians.  The  Imperial  Administra- 
tor had  already  hinted  at  his  retirement 
after  the  imperial  election :  but  the 
Austrian  Government  had  insisted  upon 
his  retention  of  his  office,  lest  the  King  of 
Prussia  should  step  into  liis  place.  He 
formed  a  conservative  Ministry  under  the 
presidency  of  the  Prussian  councillor  of 
justice,  Gravell,  which  was  received  with 
scorn  and  derision  by  the  Radicals,  who 
were  now  the  dominant  j^arty  in  the 
Parliament.  More  than  a  hundred  deputies 
of  the  centres  then  withdrew  with  Gagern, 
Dahlmann,  Welcker,  Simson,  and  Mathy 
from  May  12th  to  26th,  184c). 

The  Austrian  Government  had  recalled 
the  Austrian  deputies  on  Aijril  4th  from  the 
National  Assembly,  an  example  followed 
by  Prussia  on  the  14th.  On  May  30th,  71 
of  135  voters  who  took  part 
in  the  discussion  supported 
Karl  Vogt's  proposal  to 
transfer  the  Parliament  from 
Frankfort  to  Stuttgart,  where  a  victory  for 
Suabian  republicanism  was  expected.  In  the 
end  105  representatives  of  German  stupidity 
and  political  ignorance,  including,  unfortu- 
nately, Lewis  Uhland,  gave  the  world  the 
ridiculous  spectacle  of  the  opening  of  the 
so-called  Rump  Parliament  at  Stuttgart  on 
June  6th,  1849,  which  reached  the  crown- 

4964 


German 

"  Stupidity  and 

Ignorance  " 


ing  folly  in  the  election  of  five  "  imperial 
regents."  The  arrogance  of  this  company, 
which  even  presumed  to  direct  the  move- 
ments of  the  Wiirtemberg  troops,  proved 
inconvenient  to  the  government,  which  ac- 
cordingly closed  the  meeting  hall.  The  first 
German  Parliament  then  expired  after  a 
few  gatherings  in  the  Hotel  Marquardt. 

The  Imperial  Government,  the  Admini- 
strator and  his  Ministry,  retained  their 
offices  until  December,  1849,  notwith- 
standing repeated  demands  for  their 
resignation.  A  committee  of  four  members, 
appointed  as  a  provisional  central  power 
by  Austria  and  Prussia,  then  took  over  all 
business,  documentary  and  financial.  As 
an  epilogue  to  the  Frankfort  Parliament, 
mention  may  be  made  of  the  gathering  of 
160  former  deputies  of  the  first  German 
Reichstag,  which  had  belonged  to  the 
"  imperial  party,"  The  meeting  was  held 
in  Gotha  on  June  26th.  Heinrich  von 
Gagern  designated  the  meeting  as  a  private 
conference  ;  however,  he  secured  the 
assent  of  those  present  to  a  programme 
drawn  up  by  himself  which  asserted  the 
desirability  of  a  narrower,  "  little  Ger- 
„      .        .  man,"  federation  under  the 

Proclamation       ,         ,   ,  •  r   t>  t 

,,^    _       .       headship  of  Prussia,   or  of 
of  the  Prussian  j^i  ^     i 

-,  ^        another    central    power    m 

Oovernment  ■    .  ■  .li       t. 

association    with    Prussia. 

Upon  the  recall  of  the  Prussian  deputies 
from  the  Frankfort  Parliament  the  Prus- 
sian Government  issued  a  proclamation  to 
the  German  people  on  May  5th,  1849, 
declaring  itself  henceforward  responsible 
for  the  work  of  securing  the  unity  which 
was  justly  demanded  for  the  vigorous 
representation  of  German  interests  abroad, 
and  for  common  legislation  in  constitu- 
tional form  ;  that  is,  with  tl^e  co-operation 
of  a  national  house  of  representatives. 

In  the  conferences  of  the  ambassadors  of 
the  German  states,  which  were  opened  at 
Berlin  on  May  17th,  the  Prussian  pro- 
gramme was  explained  to  be  the  formation 
of  a  close  federation  exclusive  of  Austria, 
and  the  creation  of  a  wider  federation 
which  should  include  the  Hapsburg  state. 
Thus  in  theory  had  been  discovered  the 
form  which  the  transformation  of  Germany 
should  take.  On  her  side  Prussia  did  not 
entirely  appreciate  the  fact  that  this 
programme  could  not  be  realised  by  means 
of  ministerial  promises  alone,  and  that  the 
whole  power  of  the  Prussian  state  would  be 
required  to  secure  its  acceptance.  The 
nation,  or  rather  the  men  to  whom  the 
nation  had  entrusted  its  future,  also  failed 


THE    SEARCH    AFTER    GERMAN    FEDERATION 


to  perceive  that  this  form  was  the  only 
kind  of  unity  practically  attainable,  and 
that  to  it  must  be  sacrificed  those 
"  guarantees  of  freedom  "  which  liberal 
doctrinaires  declared  indispensable. 

It  now  became  a  question  of  deciding 
between  a  radical  democrac}^  and  a 
moderate  constitutional  monarchy,  and 
German  Liberalism  vyas  ]:)recluded  from 
coming  to  any  honourable  conclusion. 
Regardless  of  consequences,  it  exchanged 
amorous  glances  with  the  opposition  in 
non-Prussian  countries ;  it  considered 
agreement  with  the  Government  as  treason 
to  the  cause  of  freedom,  and  saw  reaction 
where  nothing  of  the  kind  was  to  be  found. 
It  refused  to  give  public  support  to  aggres- 
sive Republicanism,  fearing  lest  the  people, 
when  in  arms,  should  prove  a  menace  to 
private  property,  and  lose  that  respect 
for*  the  growing  wealth  of  individual 
enterprise  which  ought  to  limit  their 
aspirations  ;  at  the  same  time,  it  declined 
to  abate  its  pride,  and  continued  to  press 
wholly  immoderate  demands  upon  the 
authorities,  to  whom  alone  it  owed  the 
maintenance  of  the  existing  social  order. 

_.     _,       .       The  Baden  revolt  had  been 

I  he   Prussians  j   i,       j.i.      -r> 

J.  ..   .  suppressed  by  the  Prussian 

_.  ,.  troops  under  the  command  of 

as  Deliverers     y^  .  '■        tttit  r.  i 

Prmce    William,    afterwards 

emperor,  who  invaded  the  land  which  the 
Radicals  had  thrown  into  confusion,  dis- 
persed the  Republican  army  led  by  Miero- 
slawski  and  Hecker  in  a  series  of  engage- 
ments, and  reduced,  on  July  23rd.  1849, 
the  fortress  of  Rastadt,  which  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  Republicans.  The 
Liberals  at  first  hailed  the  Prussians  as 
deliverers  ;  the  latter,  however,  proceeded 
b\/  court-martial  against  the  leaders,  whose 
crimes  had  brought  misery  upon  thousands 
and  had  reduced  a  flourishing  province  to 
desolation.  Seventeen  death  sentences 
were  passed,  and  prosecutions  were  in- 
stituted against  the  mutinous  officers  and 
soldiers  of  Baden. 

The  "free-thinking"  party,  which  had 
recovered  from  its  fear  of  the  "  Reds,"  could 
then  find  no  more  pressing  occupation  than 
to  rouse  public  feeling  throughout  South 
Germany  against  Prussia  and  "militarism," 
and  to  level  unjustifiable  reproaches  against 
the  prince  in  command,  whose  clever  general- 
ship merited  the  gratitude  not  only  of 
Baden  but  of  every  German  patriot.  Even 
then  a  solution  of  the  German  problem 
might  have  been  possible  had  the  Demo- 
crats in  South  Germany  laid  aside  their 


fear  of  Prussian  "  predominance,"  and 
considered  their  secret  struggle  against 
an  energetic  administration  as  less  im- 
portant than  the  establishment  of  a 
federal  state,  commanding  the  respect  of 
other  nations.  But  the  success  of  the 
Prussian  j^rogramme  could  have  been 
secured  only  by  the  joint  action  of  the 
„  ,  whole  nation.    Unanimity  of 

. .  r  IT  •  this  kind  was  a  very  remote 
Idea  of  Union  .,  .,.,  -r^        ,  -^       ^    ,, 

Abandoned  Possibility.  Fearful  of  the 
Prussian  reaction.  the 
nation  abandoned  the  idea  of  German  unity, 
to  be  driven  into  closer  relation*^  with  the 
sovereign  powers  of  the  smaller  and  the 
petty  states,  and  ultimately  to  fall  under 
the  heavier  burden  of  a  provincial  reaction. 

Austria  had  recalled  her  ambassador, 
Anton,  Count  of  Prokesch-Osten,  from  the 
Berlin  Conference,  declining  all  negotiation 
for  the  reconstitution  of  German  interests 
upon  the  basis  of  the  Prussian  proposals  ; 
but  she  could  not  have  despatched  an 
army  against  Prussia  in  the  summer  of 
1849.  Even  with  the  aid  of  her  ally 
Bavaria,  she  was  unable  to  cope  with  the 
300.000  troops  which  Prussia  alone  could 
place  in  the  field  at  that  time  ;  in  Hun- 
gary, she  had  been  obliged  to  call  in  the 
help  of  Russia.  United  action  by  Ger- 
many would  probably  have  met  with  no 
opposition  whatever.  But  Germany  was 
not  united,  the  people  as  little  as  the 
princes  ;  consequently  when  Prussia,  after 
the  ignominious  failure  of  the  Parliament 
and  its  high  promise,  intervened  to  secure 
at  least  some  definite  result  from  the 
national  movement,  her  well-meaning 
proposals  met  with  a  rebuff  as  humiliating 
as  it  was  undeserved. 

The  result  of  the  Berlin  Conferences 
was  the  "  alliance  of  the  three  kings  "  of 
Prussia,  Hanover,  and  Saxon}'  on  May  26th, 
1849.  Bavaria  and  Wiirtemberg  declined 
to  join  the  alliance  on  account  of  the  claims 
lO  leadership  advanced  by  Prussia  ;  but 
the  majority  of  the  other  German  states 
gave  in  their  adherence  in  the 


Results  of 
the  Berlin 
Conferences 


course    of    the    summer, 
federal  council   of    administra- 


tion met  on  June  i8th,  and 
made  arrangements  for  the  convocation  of 
a  Reichstag,  to  which  was  to  be  submitted 
the  federal  constitution  when  the  agree- 
ment of  the  Cabinets  thereon  had  been 
secured.  Hanover  and  Saxony  then  raised 
objections  and  recalled  their  representa- 
tives on  the  administrative  council  on 
October  20th.    However,  Prussia  was  able 

4965 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORI.P 


to  fix  the  meeting  of  the  Reichstag  for 
March  20th,  1850,  at  Erfurt.  Austria 
now  advanced  claims  in  support  of  the 
old  federal  constitution,  and  suddenly 
demanded  that  it  should  continue ,  in 
full  force.  This  action  was  supported 
by  Bavaria,  which  advocated  the  forma- 
tion of  a  federation  of  the  smaller  states, 
which  was  to  prepare  another 


Proposed 


Federation     ,, 
of  States 


constitution   as   a  rival   to  the 


union"  for  which  Prussia  was 
working.  The  Saxon  Minister, 
Beust,  afterwards  of  mournful  fame  in 
German}^  and  Austria,  who  fought  against 
the  Saxon  particularism,  which  almost 
surpassed  that  prevalent  in  Bavaria, 
and  was  guided  by  personal  animosity  to 
Prussia,  became  at  that  moment  the  most 
zealous  supporter  of  the  statesmanlike 
plans  of  his  former  colleague,  Pfordten, 
who  had  been  appointed  Bavarian  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  in  April,  1849. 

Hanover  was  speedily  won  over,  as  Aus- 
tria proposed  to  increase  her  territory  with 
Oldenburg,  in  order  to  create  a  second  North 
German  power  as  a  counterpoise  to  Prussia, 
while  Wiirtemberg  declared  her  adherence 
to  the  "  alliance  of  the  four  kings  "  with 
startling  precipitancy.  The  chief  attrac- 
tion was  the  possibility  of  sharing  on 
equal  terms  in  a  directory  of  seven  mem- 
bers with  Austria,  Prussia,  and  the  two 
Hesses,  which  were  to  have  a  vote  in 
common.  The  directory  was  not  to  exercise 
the  functions  of  a  central  power,  but  was 
to  have  merely  powers  of  "superintend- 
ence," even  in  questions  of  taxation  and 
commerce.  The  claims  of  the  Chambers  were 
to  be  met  by  the  creation  of  a  "  Reichstag," 
to  which  they  were  to  send  deputies. 

Upon  the  secession  of  the  kingdoms 
from  Prussia,  disinclination  to  the  work 
of  unification  was  also  manifested  by  the 
electorate  of  Hesse,  where  the  elector 
had  again  found  a  Minister  to  his  liking 
in  the  person  of  Daniel  von  Hassen- 
pflvig.  It  would,  however,  have  been  quite 
•     possible   to    make  Prussia  the 

®.    "*^  ^  centre  of  a  considerable  power 

,     „  by  the  coniunction  of  all  the  re- 

for  Peace  -    .    .         r    i        i  i      i 

mammg  federal  provmces  had 

the  Erfurt  Parliament  been  entrusted  with 
the  task  of  rapidly  concluding  the  work  of 
unification.  In  the  meantime  Frederic 
William,  under  the  influence  of  friends 
who  favoured  feudalism,  Ernst  Liidwig 
of  Gerlach  and  Professor  Stahl,  had  aban- 
doned his  design  of  forming  a  restricted 
federation,    and    was    inspired    with    the 

4966 


invincible  conviction  that  it  was  his  duty 
as  a  Christian  king  to  preserve  peace  with 
Austria  at  any  price  ;  for  Austria,  after, 
her  victorious  struggle  with  the  revolution, 
had  become  the  prop  and  stay  of  all 
states  where  unlimited  monarchy  protected 
by  the  divine  right  of  kings  held  sway. 

To  guard  this  institution  against  Liberal 
onslaughts  remained  the  ideal  of  his  life, 
Prussian  theories  of  politics  and  the 
paroxysms  of  German  patriotism  '  not- 
withstanding. He  therefore  rejected  the 
valuable  help  now  readily  offered  to  him 
in  Erfurt  by  the  old  imperial  party  of 
Frankfort,  and  clung  to  the  utterly  vain 
and  unsupported  hope  that  he  could  carry 
out  the  wider  form  of  federation  with 
Austria  in  some  manner  compatible  with 
German  interests.  His  hopes  were  forth- 
with shattered  by  Schwarzenberg's  convo- 
cation of  a  congress  of  the  German  fe#eral 
states  at  Frankfort,  and  Prussia's  position 
became  daily  more  u.nfavourable,  although 
a  meeting  of  the  princes  desirous  of  union 
was  held  in  Berlin  in  May,  1850,  and 
accepted  the  temporary  continuance  until 
July  15th,  1850,  of  the  restricted  federa- 
^  tion  under  Prussian  leadership. 

,°r  *J°*'^  The    Tsar    Nicholas     I.     was 

of  the  1  sar  s  j.i      j  tj.ii 

j^  ..  urgently  demandmg  the  conclu- 
'  ^  sion  of  the  Schleswig-Holstein 
complication,  which  he  considered  as  due 
to  nothing  but  the  intrigues  of  malevolent 
revolutionaries  in  Copenhagen  and  the 
duchies.  In  a  meeting  with  Prince  William 
of  Prussia,  which  took  place  at  Warsaw 
towards  the  end  of  May,  1850,  the  Tsar 
clearly  stated  that,  in  the  event  of  the 
German  question  resulting  in  war  between 
Prussia  and  Austria,  his  neutrality  would 
be  conditional  upon  the  restoration  of 
Danish  supremacy  over  the  rebels  in 
Schleswig-Holstein. 

Henceforward  Russia  stands  between 
Austria  and  Prussia  as  arbitrator.  Her 
intervention  was  not  as  unprejudiced  as 
Berlin  would  have  been  glad  to  suppose  ; 
she  was  beforehand  determined  to  support 
Austria,  to  protect  the  old  federal  con- 
stitution, the  Danish  supremacy  over 
Schleswig-Holstein,  and  the  Elector  of 
Hesse,  Frederic  William  I.,  who  had  at 
that  moment  decided  on  a  scandalous 
breach  of  faith  with  his  people.  This  un- 
happy prince  had  already  inflicted  serious 
damage  upon  his  country  and  its  admir- 
able population  ;  he  now  proceeded  to 
commit  a  crime  against  Germany  by 
stirring  up  a  fratricidal  war,  which  was 


THE    SEARCH    AFTER    GERMAN    FEDERATION 


fed  by  a  spirit  of  pettifogging  selfishness 
and  despicable  jealousy.  A  Liberal  reaction 
•had  begun,  and  the  spirit  of  national  self- 
assertion  was  fading  ;  no  sooner  had  the 
elector  perceived  these  facts  than  he 
proceeded  to  utilise  them  for  the  achieve- 
ment of  his  desires.  He  dismissed  the 
constitutional  Ministry,  restored  Has- 
senpfiug  to  favour  on  February  22nd,  1850, 
and  permitted  him  to  raise  taxes  un- 
authorised by  the  Chamber  for  the  space 
of  six  months.  The  Chamber  raised  objec- 
tions to  this  proceeding,  and  thereby  gave 


of  turning  their  arms  upon  their  fellow- 
citizens,  who  were  entirely  within  their 
rights.  The  long-desired  opportunity  of 
calling  in  foreign  help  was  thus  provided  ; 
but  the  appeal  was  not  made  to  the  board 
of  arbitration  of  the  union,  to  which  the 
electorate  of  Hesse  properly  belonged, 
but  to  the  Federal  Council,  which  Austria 
had  reopened  in  Frankfort  on  October 
15th,  1850. 

With  the  utmost  readiness  Count 
Schwarzenberg  accepted  the  unexpected 
support   of   Hassenpfiug,   whose   theories 


STRIVING     FOR     GERMAN     UNITY:     THE     DRESDEN     CONFEREKlIi-     '    :       ]<>0 
In  the  search  after  federation,  which  occupied  the  attention  of  the  German  states,  the  differences  between  Austria 
and  Prussia  created  a  serious  difficulty.     The  question  of  federal  reform  was  discussed  in  free  conferences  at  Dresden, 
one  of  these  assemblies,  with  the  delegates  from  the  various  states  concerned.being  represented  in  the  above  picture. 


Hassenpfiug  a  handle  which  enabled  him 
to  derange  the  whole  constitution  of  the 
electorate  of  Hesse.  On  September  7th  the 
country  was  declared  subject  to  martial  law. 
For  this  step  there  was  not  the  smallest 
excuse  ;   peace  everywhere  prevailed. 

The  officials  who  had  taken  the  oaths 
of  obedience  to  the  constitution  declined 
to  act  in  accordance  with  -the  declara- 
tion, and  their  refusal  was  construed 
as  rebellion.  On  October  9th  the 
officers  of  the  Hessian  army  resigned, 
almos*:  to  a  man,  to  avoid  the  necessity 


coincided  with  his  own.  The  rump  of  the 
Federal  Parliament,  which  was  entirely 
under  his  influence,  was  summoned  not 
only  wTthout  the  consent  of  Prussia  but 
without  any  intimation  to  the  Prusians 
Cabinet.  This  body  at  once  determined  to 
employ  the  federal  power  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  elector  to  Hesse,  though  he  had 
left  Cassel  of  his  own  will  and  under  no 
compulsion,  fleeing  to  Wilhelmsbad  with 
his  Alinisters  at  the  beginning  of  Septem- 
ber. Schwarzenberg  was  well  aware  that 
his  action  would  place  the  King  of  Prussia 

4967 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


in  a  most  embarrassing  situation.  Federa- 
tion and  union  were  now  in  mutual 
opposition.  On  the  one  side  was  Austria, 
with  the  kingdoms  and  the  two  Hesses  ; 
on  the  other  was  Piiissia,  with  the  united 
petty  states,  which  were  little  better 
than  worthless  for  military  purposes. 
Austria  had  no  need  to  seek  occasion 
.  ,  to  revenge  herself  for  the  re- 
us ria  g^i^  ^1  ^j^^  imperial  election, 
Cireat  Power  -  ■ 


in  Germany 


which  was  ascribed  to  Prussian 


machinations  ;  her  oppor- 
tunity was  at  hand  in  the  appeal  of  a 
most  valuable  member  of  the  federation, 
the  worthy  Elector  of  Hesse,  to  his  brother 
monarchs  for  protection  against  demo- 
cratic presumption,  against  the  insanities 
of  constitutionalism,  against  a  forsworn 
and  mutinous  army.  Should  Prussia  now 
oppose  the  enforcement  of  the  federal 
will  in  Hesse,  she  would  be  making  common 
cause  with  rebels. 

The  Tsar  would  be  forced  to  oppose  the 
democratic  tendencies  of  his  degenerate 
brother-in-law,  and  to  take  the  field  with 
the  Conservative  German  states,  and  with 
Austria,  who  was  crowding  on  full  sail  for 
•  the  haven  of  absolutism.  To  have  created 
this  situation,  and  to  have  drawn  the 
fullest  advantage  from  it,  was  the  master- 
stroke of  Prince  Felix  Schwarzenberg's 
policy.  Austria  thereby  reached  the 
zenith  of  her  power  in  Germany. 

The  fate  of  Frederic  William  IV.  now 
becomes  tragical.  The  heavy  punishment 
meted  out  to  the  overweening  self-confi- 
dence of  this  ruler,  the  fearful  disillusion- 
ment which  he  was  forced  to  experience 
from  one  whom  he  had  treated  with  full 
confidence  and  respect,  cannot  but  evoke 
the  sympathy  of  every  spectator.  He  had 
himself  declined  that  imperial  crown 
which  Austria  so  bitterly  grudged  him. 
He  had  rejected  the  overtures  of  the 
imperial  party  from  dislike  to  their 
democratic  theories.  He  had  begun  the 
work  of  overthrowing  the  constitutional 

^^     _        ,     principles  of  the  constitution 
The  Swora         <•    ,  i  xr     i      i 

„,    ,    ot   the   union.      He  had  sur- 

Th  ^  T^^  rendered  Schleswig-Holstein 
because  his  conscience  would 
not  allow  him  to  support  national  against 
monarchical  rights,  and  because  he  feared 
to  expose  Prussia  to  the  anger  of  his 
brother-in-law.  He  had  opposed  the  ex- 
clusion of  Austria  from  the  wider  federation 
of  the  German  states.  He  had  always 
been  prepared  to  act  in  conjunction  with 
Austria  in  the  solution  of  questions 
49^,8 


affecting  Germany  at  large,  while  claiming 
for  Prussia  a  right  which  was  provided 
in  the  federal  constitution — the  right  of, 
forming  a  close  federation,  the  right  which, 
far  from  diminishing,  would  strengthen 
the  power  of  the  whole  organism.  And 
now  the  sword  was  placed  at  his  throat, 
equality  of  rights  was  denied  to  him,  and 
he  was  requested  to  submit  to  the  action  of 
Austria  as  paramount  in  Germany,  to 
submit  to  a  federal  executive,  which  had 
removed  an  imperial  administrator,  though 
he  was  an  Austrian  duke,  which  could  only 
be  reconstituted  with  the  assent  of  every 
German  government,  and  not  by  eleven 
votes  out  of  seventeen  ! 

For  two  months  the  king  strove  hard, 
amid  the  fiercest  excitement,  to  maintain 
his  position.  At  the  beginning  of  October, 
1850,  he  sent  assurances  to  Vienna  of  his 
readiness  "  to  settle  all  points  of  diffefcnce 
with  the  Emperor  of  Austria  from  the 
standpoint  of  an  old  friend."  He  quietly 
swallowed  the  arrogant  threats  of  Bavaria, 
and  was  not  to  be  provoked  by  the  warlike 
speeches  delivered  at  Bregenz  on  the 
occasion  of  the  meeting  of  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph  with  the  kings  of  South 
Germany,  on  October  nth.  He 
continued  to  rely  upon  the  insight 
„    .  of    the  Tsar,    with   whose    ideas 

he  was  m  lull  agreement,  and 
sent  Count  Brandenburg  to  Warsaw  to 
assure  him  of  his  pacific  intentions,  and  to 
gain  a  promise  that  he  would  not  allov/ 
the  action  of  the  federation  in  Hesse  and 
Holstein  to  pass  unnoticed.  Prince 
Schwarzenberg  also  appeared  in  Warsaw, 
and  it  seemed  that  there  might  be  some 
possibility  of  an  understanding  between 
Austria  and  Prussia  upon  the  German 
question.  Schwarzenberg  admitted  that 
the  Federal  Council  might  be  replaced  by 
free  conferences  of  the  German  Powers,  as 
in  i8iq  ;  he  did  not,  however,  explain 
whether  these  conferences  were  to  be 
summoned  for  the  purpose  of  appointing 
the  new  central  power,  or  whether  the 
Federal  Council  was  to  be  convoked  for 
that  object. 

He  insisted  unconditionally  upon  the 
execution  of  the  federal  decision  in 
Hesse,  which  implied  the  occupation  of 
the  whole  electorate  b}'  German  and 
Bavarian  troops.  This  Prussia  could  not 
allow,  for  military  reasons.  The  ruler  of 
Prussia  was  therefore  forced  to  occupy 
the  main  roads  to  the  Rhine  province,  and 
had  already  sent  forward  several  thousand 


THE    SEARCH    AFTER    GERMAN    FEDERATION 


men  under  Count  Charles  from  the  Groben 
to  the  neighbourhood  of  Fulda  for  this 
puri)ose.  The  advance  of  the  Bavarians 
in  this  direction  would  inevitably  result 
in  a  collision  with  the  Prussian  troops, 
unless  these  latter  were  first  withdrawn. 
Count  Brandenburg  returned  to  Berlin 
resolved  to  prevent  a  war  which  offered  no 
prospect  of  success  in  view  of  the  Tsar's 
attitude.  Radowitz,  who  had  been  Min- 
ister of  Foreign  Affairs  since  September 
27th,  1850,  called  for  the  mobihsation  of 
the  army,  and  was  inclined  to  accept  the 
challenge  to  combat  ;  he  considered  the 
Austrian  preparations  comparatively  in- 
nocuous, and  was  convinced  that  Russia 
would  be  unable  to  concentrate  any  con- 
siderable body  of  troops  on  the  Prussian 
frontier  before  the  summer. 

O^  November  2nd,  1850,  the  king 
also  declared  for  the  mobilisation,  though 
with  the  intention  of  continuing  nego- 
tiations with  Austria,  if  possible  ;  he 
was  ready,  however,  to  adopt  Branden- 
burg's view  of  the  situation,  if  a  majoiity 
in  the  ministerial  council  could  be  found 
to  support  this  policy.  Brandenburg 
.  ,  succumbed  to  a  sudden  attack 
of   bram   fever   on  November 

.    ^  5th,  not,  as  was  long  supposed, 

m  Germany    ,       '  ,.  ,     ,,°       ^.^    ,. 

to    vexation  at  the    rejection 

of  his  policy  of  resistance  ;  his  work  was 
taken  gp  and  completed  by  Manteuffel, 
after  Radowitz  had  left  the  Ministr3^ 

After  the  first  shots  had  been  exchanged 
between  the  Prussian  and  Bavarian  troops 
at  Bronzell,  to  the  south  of  Fulda,  on 
November  8th.  he  entirely  abandoned  the 
constitution  of  the  union,  allowed  the 
Bavarians  to  advance  upon  the  condition 
that  Austria  permitted  the  simultaneous 
occupation  of  the  high  roads  by  Prussian 
troops,  and  started  with  an  autograph 
tetter  from  the  king  and  Queen  Elizabeth 
to  meet  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  and 
his  mother,  the  Archduchess  Sophie, 
sister  of  the  Queen  of  Prussia,  in  order 
to  discuss  conditions  of  peace  with 
the  Austrian  Prime  ^Minister.  Prince 
Schwarzenberg  was  anxious  to  proceed 
to  extremities  ;  but  the  young  emperor 
had  no  intention  of  beginning  a  war 
with  his  relatives,  and  obliged  Schwarz- 
enberg to  yield.  At  the  emperor's 
command  he '.  signed  the  stipulation  of 
Olmiitz  on  November  2qth,  1850,  under 
which  Prussia  fully  satisfied  the  Austrian 
demands,  receiving  one  sole  concession 
in   return — that    the   question   of   federal 


reform  should  be  discussed  in  free  con- 
ferences at  Dresden.  Thus  Prussia's 
German  policy  had  ended  in  total  failure. 
She  was  forced  to  abandon  all  hope  of 
realising  the  Gagern  ])rogramme  by 
forming  a  narrower  federation  under  her 
own  leadership,  exclusive  of  popular  re- 
presentation, direct  or   indirect.      Prussia 

T,.     «  .    lost  greatly  in  prestige  ;    the 

The  Reproach         ,,  "    •       -  1,1, 

,  „     .    .         enthusiasm  aroused  through- 
01  b  rederic  -      .1  ,  , 

William  provinces    by    the 

prospect  of  war  gave  place 
to  bitter  condemnation  of  the  vacillation 
imputed  to  the  king  after  the  "  capitula- 
tion of  Olmiitz."  Even  his  brother.  Prince 
WilUam,  burst  into  righteous  indignation 
during  the  Cabinet  Council  of  December 
2nd,  1850,  at  the  stain  on  the  white  shield 
of  Prussian  honour. 

Until  his  death,  Frederic  William  IV.  was 
reproached  with  humiliating  Prussia,  and 
reducing  her  to  a  position  among  the  German 
states  which  was  wholly  unworthy  of  her. 
Yet  it  is  possible  that  the  resolution  w^hich 
gave  Austria  a  temporary  victory  was  the 
most  unselfish  offering  which  the  king  could 
then  have  made  to  the  German  nation. 
He  resisted  the  temptation  of  founding  a 
North  German  federation  with  the  help 
and  alliance  of  France,  which  was  offered 
by  Persigny,  the  confidential  agent  of 
Louis  Napoleon.  Fifty  thousand  French 
troops  had  been  concentrated  at  Strassburg 
for  the  realisation  of  this  project.  They 
would  have  invaded  South  Germany  and 
devastated  Swabia  and  Bavaria  in  the 
cause  of  Prussia.  But  it  was  not  by  such 
methods  that  German  unity  was  to  be 
attained,  or  a  German  Empire  to  be 
founded.  Renunciation  for  the  moment 
was  a  guarantee  of  success  hereafter. 

In  his  "  Reflections  and  Recollections  " 
Prince  Bismarck  asserts  that  Stockhausen, 
the  Minister  of  War.  considered  the  Prus- 
sian forces  in  November,  1850.  inadequate 
to  check  the  advance  upon  Berlin  of  the 
Austrian  army  concentrated  in  Bohemia. 
He  had  leceived  this  informa- 
Problem  ^  ^^^^  ^^_^^  Stockhausen,  and 
of  Germany  s  ^^^  defended  the  king's  atti- 
*"  tude  in  the  Chamber.    He  also 

thinks  he  has  established  the  fact  that 
Prince  William,  afterwards  his  king  and 
emperor,  was  convinced  of  the  incapacity 
of  Prussia  to  deal  a  decisive  blow  at  that 
period.  He  made  no  mention  of  his  con- 
viction that  such  a  blow  must  one  day 
be  delivered  ;  but  this  assurance  seems 
to  have  grown  upon  him  from  that  date. 

4969 


THE 

RE-MAKINU 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

IN 

REVOLUTION 

VII 


REACTION    IN    CENTRAL    EUROPE 

AN    ERA    OF    GENERAL    STAGNATION 


HTHE  \ictory  of  Schwarzenberg  in  Olmiitz 
•*•  gave  a  predominating  influence  -^n 
Central  Europe  to  the  spirit  of  the  Tsar 
Nicholas  I.,  the  narrowness  and  bigotry  of 
which  is  not  to  be  paralleled  in  anj?  of  those 
periods  of  stagnation  which  have  inter- 
rupted the  social  development  of  Europe. 
Rarely  has  a  greater  want  of  common  sense 

„.    ,  been  shown  in  the  government 

Hindrances         r         .wj.  ■    -r       i       j.- 

_  ,       oi  any  \\  estern  civilised  nation 

urope        than  was  displayed  during  the 
Development  ,  •',     ,         o 

years  subsequent   to   1050 — a 

period  which  has  attained  in  this  respect 
a  well-deserved  notoriety.  It  is  true  that 
the  preceding  movement  had  found  the 
^  nations  immature,  and  therefore  incapable 
of  solving  the  problems  with  which  they 
were  confronted.  The  spirit  was  willing, 
but  the  flesh  was  unprepared. 

The  miserable  delusion  that  construc- 
tion is  a  process  as  easy  and  rapid  as 
destruction  ;  that  a  few  months  can  accom- 
plish what  centuries  have  failed  to  perfect ; 
that  an  honest  attempt  to  improve  political 
institutions  must  of  necessity  effect  the 
desired  improvement  ;  the  severance  of 
the  theoretical  from  the  practical,  which 
was  the  iniin  of  every  politician — these 
were  the  obstacles  which  prevented  the 
national  leaders  from  making  timely  use 
of  that  tremendous  power  which  was 
placed  in  their  hands  in  the  month  of 
March.  1848.  Precious  time  was  squan- 
dered in  the  harangues  of  rival  orators, 
in  the  formation  of  parties  and  chibs,  in 
over-ambitious  programmes  and  compla- 

Ti.    XM-    •      c'^nt  self -laudation  thereon,  in 
Ihe  Mission   j-      1  c  ^ 

-  displays     of     arrogance     and 

, ..  „    ,.         malevolent     onslaughts. 

L>iberalism       t    i  i-  r  i  ,  • 

Li  beralism  was  forced  to  resign 
its  claims  ;  it  was  unable  to  effect  a  com- 
plete and  unwavering  severance  from 
radicalism  ;  it  was  unable  to  appreciate  the 
fact  that  its  mission  was  not  to  govern,  but 
to  secure  recognition  from  the  Government. 

The  peoples  were  unable  to  gain  legal 
confirmation  of  their  rights,  because  they 
bad   no  clear  ideas  upon  the   extent   of 

4970 


those  rights,  and  had  not  been  taught  that 
self-restraint  which  was  the  only  road  to 
success.  Thus  far  all  is  sufficiently  intelli- 
gible, and,  upon  a  retrospect,  one  is  almost 
inclined  to  think  of  stagnation  as  the  result 
of  a  conflict  of  counterbalancing  forces. 

But  one  phenomenon  there  is,  which 
becomes  the  more  astonishing  in  ])ro- 
portion  as  it  is  elucidated  by  that  ^re 
light  of  impartial  criticism  which  the 
non-contemporar}^  historian  can  throw 
upon  it — it  is  the  fact  that  mental  confu- 
sion was  followed  by  a  cessation  of  mental 
energy,  that  imperative  vigour  and  interest 
were  succeeded  by  blatant  stupidity,  that 
the  excesses  committed  by  nations  in  their 
struggle  for  the  right  of  self-determina- 
tion were  expiated  by  yet  more  brutal  ex- 
hibitions of  the  misuse  of  power,  the  blame 
of  which  rests  upon  the  governments,  who 
were  the  nominal  guardians  of  right  and 
morality  in  their  higher  forms.  I14  truth 
a  very  moderate  degree  of  wis- 
dom in  a  few  leading  states- 
men would  have  drawn  the 
proper  conclusions  from  the 
facts  of  the  case,  and  have  discovered  the 
formulae  expressing  the  relation  between 
executive  power  and  national  strength. 

But  the  thinkers  who  would  have 
been  satisfied  with  moderate  claims  were 
not  to  be  found ;  it  seemed  as  if  the 
very  intensity  of  political  action  had  > 
exhausted  the  capacity  for  government,  as 
if  the  conquerors  had  forgotten  that  they 
too  had  been  struggling  to  preserve  the 
state  and  to  secure  its  internal  consolida- 
tion and  reconstitution,  that  the  revolution 
had  been  caused  simply  by  the  fact  that 
the  corrupt  and  degenerate  state  was 
unable  to  perform  what  its  subjects  had 
the  right  to  demand. 

The  nations  were  so  utterly  depressed  by 
the  sad  experiences  which  they  had  brought 
upon  themselves  as  to  show  themselves 
immediately  sensible  to  the  smallest  ad- 
vances of  kindness  and  confidence.  Irritated 
by   a   surfeit   of   democratic    theory,    the 


The  Nations 
Suffering  from 
Depression 


STAGNATION    AND    REACTION    IN    CENTRAL    EUROPE 


PROGRESSIVE  AUSTRIAN  MINISTERS 
Count  Leo  Thun  and  A.  von  Bach,  whose  portraits  are  given  above, 
were  among  the  men  of  note  who,  after  the  storms  of  the  revolutionary 
years,  supported  the  enlightened  policy  of  Joseph  II.  As  Minister 
of  Education,  the  former  introduced  compulsory  education,  put  the 
national  schools  under  state   control,  and  assisted  the  universities. 


political   organism  had   lost  its   tone.     A 
moderate  allowance  of  riglits  and  freedom 
would  have  acted  as  a  stimulant,  but  the 
constitution  had  been  too  far  lowered  for 
hunger  to  act  as  a  cure.     Education  and 
amelioration,  not  punishment,   were  now 
the     mission    of 
the  governments 
which     had     re- 
covered    their 
unlimited  power ; 
but     they    were 
themselves   both 
uninformed    and 
unsympathetic. 
The   punishment 
which  they  meted 
out  was  inflicted 
not  from  a  sense 
of    duty,    but  in 
revenge    for    the 
blows      which 
they    had    been 
compelled  to  en- 
dure in  the  course 
of  the  revolution 
Most    fatal  to 
Austria  was  the  lack  of  creative  power,  of 
experienced  statesmen  with  education  and 
serious  moral   purpose.     In  this  country 
an   enlightened    government   could    have 
attained    its    every   desire.     Opportunity 
was  provided  for  effecting  a  fundamental 
change   in   the   constitution ; 
all  opposition  had  been  broken 
down,  and  the  stiong  vitality 
of  the  state  had  been  brilhantly 
demonstrated  in  one   of  the 
hardest  struggles  for  existence 
in  which  the  country  had  been 
engaged  for  three   centuries. 
There  was  a  new  ruler,  strong 
bold,  and  well  informed,  full 
of  noble  ambition  and  tender 
sentiment,   too  young  to  be 
hidebound    by    preconceived 
opinion  and  yet   old   enough 
to    feel    enthusiasm    for    his 

lofty  mission;    such   a  man   george  v.   of  hanover  ^^ate     should     have 
would  have  been  the  strongest   fhron^''o?^Halover'i„'^8Tl,  the  strength      and    protection 
conceivable  guarantee  of  sue-   blind  King  George  v.  engaged  m   against  future  periods  of  storm. 

,,P  .  ^        .     ,  a   long   struggle   with   his    people       "  ,     ,i  i      i  iU„ 

cess  to  a  Mmistry  of  wisdom  in  defence  of  absolutism,  and  Evcu  at  the  present  da\  tne 
and  experience  capal^le  of  died  an  exile  in  Paris  in  1878.  veil  has  not  been  wholly  parted 
leading  him  in  the  path  of  steady  progress      which  then  shrouded  the  change  of  poUtical 


Government  had  reserved  to  itself  full  scope 
for  exercising  an  independent  influence 
upon  the  development  of  the  state.  In 
this  arrangement  the  kingdom  of  Hungary 
had  been  included  after  its  subordinate 
provinces    had    severed    their    connection 

with  the  Crown 
of  Stephen, 
obtaining  special 
provincial  rights 
of  their  own. 
The  best  ad- 
ministrative 
officials  in  the 
empire,  Von 
Schmerling, 
Bach,  Count 
Thun. and  Bruck, 
were  at  the  dis- 
position of  the 
Prime  Minister 
for  the  work  of 
revivifying  the 
economic  and  in- 
tellectual life  of 
the  monarchy. 
No  objection 
would  have  been  raised  to  a  plan  for  divid- 
ing the  non-Hungarian  districts  into  bodies 
analogous  to  the  English  count\^,  and  thus 
lajang  the  impregnable  foundations  of  a  cen- 
tralised government  which  would  develop 
as  the  education  of  the  smaller  national 
entities  advanced.  The  fate 
of  Austria  was  delivered  into 
the  hands  of  the  emperor's 
advisers  ;  but  no  personality  of 
Radetzky's  stamp  was  to  be 
found  among  them.  The 
leading  figure  was  a  haughty 
nobleman,  whose  object  and 
pleasure  were  to  sow  discord 
between  Austria  and  the 
Prussian  king  and  people, 
Austria's  most  faithful  allies 
since  1815.  It  was  in  Frank- 
fort, and  not  in  Vienna  or 
Budapest,  that  the  Hapsburg 
sought 


and  of  respect  for  the  national  rights. 
The  clumsy  and  disjointed  Reichstag  of 
Kremsier  was  dissolved  on  March  7th,  and 
on  March  4th,  1849,  a  cons1  itution  had  been 
voluntarily    promulgated,    in    which    the 


theory  in  the  leading  circles  at  the  Vienna 
court'  Certain,  however,  it  is  that  this 
change  was  not  the  work  of  men  anxious 
for  progress,  but  was  due  to  the  machina- 
tions of  political  parasites  who  plunged  one 

4971 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF     THE     WORLD 


of  the  best-intentioned  of  rulers  into  a 
series  of  entanglements  which  a  life  of 
sorrow  and  ciuel  disappointments  was 
unable  to  unravel.  The  precious  months 
of  1850.  when  the  nation  would  thankfully 
have  welcomed  any  cessation  of  the  pre- 
valent disturbance  and  terrorism,  or  any 
sign  of  confidence  in  its  capacities,  were 
allowed  to  pass  by  without  an 
TA     f^*    effort.     In   the   following    year 

„      ,.  the    national     enemies    gained 

Reaction        ,,  1         i        •. 

the  upper  hand ;  it  was  re- 
solved to  break  with  constitutionalism, 
and  to  reject  the  claims  of  the  citizens  to 
a  share  in  the  legislature  and  the  admini- 
stration. In  September,  1851;  the  Govern- 
ments of  Prussia  and,  Sardinia  were 
ordered  to  annul  the  existing  constitutions. 

This  was  a  step  which  surpassed  even 
Metternich's  zeal  for  absolutism.  Schmer- 
ling  and  Bruck  resigned  their  posts  in  the 
Ministry  on  January  5th  and  May  23rd, 
185 1,  feeling  their  inability  to  make  head 
against  the  reactionary  movement.  On 
August  20th,  1851,  the  imperial  council 
for  which  provision  had  been  made  in  the 
constitution  of  March  4th,  1849,  was 
deprived  of  its  faculty  of  national  repre- 
sentation. As  the  council  had  not  yet 
been  called  into  existence,  the  only  inter- 
pretation to  be  laid  upon  this  step  was 
that  the  Ministry  desired  to  re-examine  the 
desirability  of  ratifying  the  constitution. 

On  December  31st,  1851,  the  consti- 
tution was  annulled,  and  the  personal 
security  of  the  citizens  thereby  endan- 
gered, known  as  they  were  to  be  in  favour 
of  constitutional  measures.  The  police 
and  a  body  of  gendarmes,  who  were  ac- 
corded an  unprecedented  degree  of  licence, 
undertook  the  struggle,  not  against  exag- 
gerated and  impracticable  demands,  but 
against  Liberalism  as  such,  while  the 
authorities  plumed  themselves  in  the  fond 
delusion  that  this  senseless  struggle  was 
a  successful  stroke  of  statesmanship.  En- 
lightened centralisation  would  have  found 
^.     _      .      thousands  of  devoted  coadiu- 

1  he  Dresden   ,  ■,  ,  1  j 

-,     ,  tors  and  have  awakened  many 

Conferences     ,  .    r  1      ^  ^1 

t  01     t         dormant  forces  ;  but  the  cen- 
tralisation of  the  reactionary 
foes  of  freedom  was  bound  to  remain  fruit- 
less and  to  destroy  the  pure  impulse  which 
urged  the  people  to  national  activity. 

The  successes  in  foreign  policy,  by 
which  presumption  had  been  fostered, 
now  ceased.  During  the  Dresden  con- 
ferences, which  had  been  held  in  Olmiitz, 
Schwarzenberg  found  that   he   had  been 

4972 


bitterly  deceived  in  his  federal  allies  among 
the  smaller  states,  and  that  he  had 
affronted  Prussia  to  no  purpose  as  far  as 
Austria  was  concerned.  His  object  had 
been  to  introduce  such  modifications  in 
the  Act  of  Federation  as  would  enable 
Austria  and  the  countries  dependent  on 
her  to  enter  the  German  Federation,  which 
would  then  be  forced  to  secure  the  inviol- 
ability of  the  whole  Hapsburg  power. 
Britain  and  France  declined  to  accept 
these  proposals.  The  German  governments 
showed  no  desire  to  enter  upon  a  struggle 
with  two  Great  Powers  to  gain  a  federal 
reform  which  could  t)nly  benefit  Austria. 
Prussia  was  able  calmly  to  await  the  col- 
lapse of  Schwarzenberg 's  schemes. 

After  wearisome  negotiations,  lasting 
from  December,  1850,  to  May,  1851,  it  be- 
came clear  that  all  attempts  at  reform  were 
futile  as  long  as  Austria  declined  to  grant 
Prussia  the  equality  which  she  desired  in 
the  presidency  and  in  the  formation  of  the 
proposed  "  directory."  Schwarzenberg 
declined  to  yield,  and  all  that  could  be 
done  was  to  return  to  the  old  federal 
system,  and  thereby  to  make  the  dis- 
„  creditable    avowal   that   the 

_  ''.'"f  ^  -  collective  governments  were 
Funishment  of  ,   '^         ^^i      j-    •    •    .     i 

...       .  as  powerless  as  the  disjointed 

parliament  to  amend  the 
unsatisfactory  political  situation.  In  the 
federal  palace  at  Frankfort-on-Main,  where 
the  sovereignty  of  that  German  National 
Assembly  had  been  organised  a  short  time 
before,  the  opinion  again  prevailed,  from 
1851,  that  there  could  be  no  more  dan- 
gerous enemy  to  the  state  and  to  society 
than  the  popular  representative.  The 
unfortunate  Liberals,  humiliated  and  de- 
pressed by  their  own  incompetency,  now 
paid  the  penalty  for  their  democratic 
tendencies  ;  they  were  branded  as 
"  destructive  forces,"  and  punished  by 
imprisonment  which  should  properly  have 
fallen  upon  republican  inconstancy. 

The  majority  of  the  liberal  constitutions 
which  the  revolution  of  1848  had  brought 
into  existence  were  annulled  ;  this  step  was 
quickly  carried  out  in  Saxony,  Mecklen- 
burg-Schwerin,  and  Wiirtemberg,  in  June, 
September,  and  November,  1850,  though 
the  Chamber  continued  an  obstinate  re 
sistance  until  August,  1855,  in  Hanover, 
where  the  blind  King  George  V.  had 
ascended  the  throne  on  November  i8th, 
185 1.  The  favour  of  the  federation  re- 
stored her  detested  ruler  to  the  electorate 
of  Hesse.     He  positively  revelled  in  the 


STAGNATION    AND    REACTION    IN    CENTRAL    EUROPE 


cruelty  and  op])ression  practised  upon  his 
subjects  by  the  troops  of  occupation.  His 
satellite,  Hassenpflug,  known  as  "  Hessen- 
Fluch,"  the  curse  of  Hesse,  zealously 
contributed  to  increase  the  severity  of 
this  despotism  by  his  ferocity  against 
the  recalcitrant  officials,  who  considered 
themselves  bound  by  their  obligations 
to  the  constitution. 

In  Prussia  the  reactionary  party  would 
very  gladly  have  made  an  end  of  consti- 
tutionalism once  and  for  all  ;  but  though 
the  king  entertained  a  deep-rooted  objec- 
tion to  the  modern  theories  of  popular  parti- 
cipation in  the  government,  he  declined  to 
be  a  party  to  any  breach  of  the  oath  which 
he  had  taken.  Bunsen  and  Prince  William 
supported  his  objections  to  a  coup  d'etat, 
which  seemed  the  more  unnecessary  as  a 
constitutional  change  in  the  direction  of 
conservatism  had  been  successfully  carried 
through  on  February  6th,  1850. 

The  system  of  three  classes  of  direct 
representation  was  introduced  at  the 
end  of  April,  1849,  taxation  thus  becoming 
the  measure  of  the  political  rights 
exercised  by  the  second  Chamber.  The 
.  ,  possibility  of  a  labour  majority 
russia  s  -^     ^^^-^     Chamber     was     thus 

f°L^%  obviated.  The  Upper  Chamber 
was  entirely  remodelled.  Mem- 
bers were  no  longer  elected,  but  were 
nominated  by  the  Crown ;  seats  were  made 
hereditary  in  the  different  noble  families, 
and  the  preponderance  of  the  nobility  was 
thus  secured.  The  institution  of  a  full 
house  of  lords  on  October  12th,  1854,  ^^.s 
not  so  severe  a  blow  to  the  state  as 
the  dissolution  of  the  parish  councils 
and  the  reinstitution  of  the  provincial 
Landtags  in  1851. 

Schleswig-Holstein  was  handed  over  to 
the  Danes  ;  the  constitution  of  Septem- 
ber 15th,  1848,  and  German  "  proprietary 
rights  "  were  declared  null  and  void  by  a 
supreme  authority  composed  of  Austrian, 
Prussian,  and  Danish  commissioners.  By 
the  London  protocol  of  May  8th,  1852,  the 
Great  Powers  recognised  the.  succession  of 
Prince  Christian  of  Holstein-Gliicksburg, 
who  had  married  Princess  Louise,  a 
daughter  of  the  Countess  of  Hesse,  Louise 
Charlotte,  sister  of  Christian  VI IL  How- 
ever, the  German  Federation  did  not  favour 
this  solution  ;  the  estates  of  the  duchies, 
who  had  the  best  right  to  decide  the  ques- 
tion, were  never  even  asked  their  opinion. 
On  December  30th,  1852,  Duke  Christian 
of  Holstein-Augustenburg  sold  his  Schles- 


wig  estates  to  the  reigning  house  of  Den- 
mark for  £337,500,  renouncing  his  here- 
ditary rights  at  the  same  time,  though  the 
other  members  of  the  family  dechned  to 
accept  the  renunciation  as  binding  upon 
themselves.  Thus  the  Danes  gained  but 
a  temporary  victory.  It  was  even  then 
clear  that  after  the  death  of  King  Frederic 

^.     ..^  VII.  the  struggle  would  be 

The      Cjcrman  ,   r       ,,'^  ,• 

_,    ^  „  _  .  renewed  for  the  separation 

Fleet      Exposed     ,-     xu        /-  j     .l       i. 

.        .  of    the    German    districts 

from  the  "  Danish  United 
States."  A  legacy  of  the  national  move- 
ment, the  "German  fleet,"  was  put  up  to 
auction  at  this  date.  The  German  Federa- 
tion had  no  maritime  interests  to  represent. 

It  declined  the  trouble  of  extorting  a 
recognition  of  the  German  flag  from  the 
maritime  Powers.  Of  the  four  frigates, 
five  corvettes,  and  six  gunboats,  which 
had  been  fitted  out  at  a  cost  of  £540,000, 
Prussia  bought  the  larger  part,  after 
Hanoverian  machinations  had  induced 
the  Federal  Council  to  determine  the  dis- 
solution of  the  fleet  on  April  2nd,  1852. 
Prussia  acquired  from  Oldenburg  a  strip  of 
territory  on  the  Jade  Bay,  and  in  course  of 
time  constructed  a  naval  arsenal  and  har- 
bour, Wilhelmshaven,  which  enabled  her  to 
appear  as  a  maritime  power  in  the  Baltic. 

These  facts  were  the  more  important  as 
Prussia,  in  spite  of  violent  opposition,  had 
maintained  her  position  as  head  of  that 
economic  unity  which  was  now  known  as 
the  "  Zollverein."  The  convention  expired 
on  December  31st,  1853.  From  1849, 
Austria  had  been  working  to  secure  the 
position,  and  at  the  tariff  conference  held 
in  Wiesbaden  in  June,  185 1,  had  secured 
the  support  of  every  state  of  importance 
within  the  Zollverein  with  the  exception  of 
Prussia.  Prussia  was  in  consequence  forced 
to  renounce  the  preference  for  protective 
duties  which  she  had  evinced  in  the  last 
few  years,  and,  on  September  7th,  1851, 
to  join  the  free  trade  "  Steuerverein," 
which  Hanover  had  formed  with  Olden- 
.  ,  burg  and  Lippe  in  1834  and 
Austria  s_  ^g^^  ^j^^  danger  of  a  separa- 
Treaty  with  ^-^^  between  the  eastern  and 
russia  western  territorial  groups  was 
thus  obviated  ;  the  Zollverein  of  Austria 
and  the  smaller  German  states  were  cut  off 
from  the  sea  and  deprived  of  all  the 
advantages  which  the  original  Prussian 
Zollverein  had  offered.  Austria  now 
thought  it  advisable  to  conclude  a  com- 
mercial treaty  with  Prussia  on  favourable 
terms  on  February   19th,    1853,   and   to 

4973 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


leave  the  smaller  states  to  their  fate.  In 
any  case  their  continual  demands  for 
compensation  and  damages  had  become 
wearisome.  Nothing  remained  for  them 
except  to  join  Prussia.  Thus  on  April  4th, 
1853,  the  Zollverein  was  renewed,  to  last 
until  December  31st,  1865.  It  was  an 
association  embracing  an  area  containing 
T-..  i^i  u.  35.000,000  inhabitants.  As 
The  Church  s  ^^.^^^  ^j^g  ^^j  ^f  Napoleon  I., 

orPllnde/^  so  now  the  lion's  share  of  the 
plunder  acquired  in  the 
struggle  against  the  revolution  fell  to  the 
Church.  Liberalism  had  indeed  rendered 
an  important  service  to  Catholicism  by 
incorporating  in  its  creed  the  phrase, 
"  the  Free  Church  in  the  Free  State." 

The  Jesuits  were  well  able  to  turn  this 
freedom  to  the  best  account.  They  de- 
manded for  the  German  bishops  unlimited 
powers  of  communication  with  Rome  and 
with  the  parochial  clergy,  together  with 
fun  disciplinary  powers  over  all  priests 
without  the  necessity  of  an  appeal  to 
the  state.  Nothing  was  simpler  than 
to  construe  ecclesiastical  freedom  as  im- 
plying that  right  of  supremacy  for  which 
the  Church  had  yearned  during  the  past 
eight  centuries. 

The  Archbishop  of  Freiburg  pushed  the 
theory  with  such  brazen  effrontery  that 
even  the  reactionary  government  was 
lorced  to  imprison  him.  However,  in 
Darmstadt  and  Stuttgart  the  governments 
submitted  to  the  demands  of  Rome.  Parties 
in  the  Prussian  Chamber  were  increased  by 
the  addition  of  a  new  Catholic  pai'ty,  led 
by  the  brothers  Reichensperger,  to  which 
high  favour  was  shown  by  the  "  Catholic 
Contingent "  in  the  ministry  of  ecclesi- 
astical affairs — a  party  created  by  the 
ecclesiastical  minister,  Eichhorn,  in  1841. 

There  was  no  actual  collision  in  Prussia 
between  ultramontanism  and  the  temporal 
power.  The  Government  favoured  the 
reaction  in  the  Protestant  Church,  which 
took  the  form  of  an  unmistakable  rap- 
_      ,.  prochement    to    Catholicism. 

Keaction  t^i       t«  -i,     t 

Ihe  rowers  were  committed 
to  a  policy  of  mutual  counsel 
and  support.  Stahl,  Hengs- 
tenberg,  and  Gerlach,  who  had  gained  com- 
plete ascendancy  over  Frederic  William  IV. 
since  the  revolution,  were  undermining 
the  foundations  of  the  Protestant  creed, 
especially  the  respect  accorded  to  inward 
conviction,  on  which  the  whole  of 
Protestantism  was  based.  In  the 
"regulations"     of    October,     1854,     the 

4974 


in  Protestant 
Church 


schools  were  placed  under  Church  super- 
vision, and  in  the  "Church  Councils" 
hypocrisy  was  made  supreme.  WhenBunsen 
advanced  to  champion  the  cause  of  spiritual 
freedom,  he  gained  only  the  honourable 
title  of  "  devastator  of  the  Church." 

In  Austria  the  rights  of  the  human 
understanding  were  flouted  even  more 
completely  than  in  Russia  by  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  notorious  concordat  of  August 
i8th,  1855.  This  agieement  was  the 
expression  of  an  alliance  between  ultra- 
montanism and  the  new  centralising 
absolutism.  The  hierarchy  undertook  for 
a  short  period  to  oppose  the  national 
parties  and  to  commend  the  refusal  of 
constitutional  rights.  Ln  return  the 
absolutist  state  placed  the  whole  of  its 
administration  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Church,  and  gave  the  bishops  uncondi- 
tional supremacy  over  the  clergy,  who 
had  hitherto  used  the  position  assigned  to 
them  by  Joseph  II.  for  the  benefit  of 
the  people,  and  certainly  not  for  the 
injury  of  the  Church.  The  Church  thus 
gained  a  spiritual  preponderance  which 
was  used  to  secure  her  paramountcy.  The 
example  of  Austria  was  imi- 
u-tj  ^°^^  tated  in  the  Italian  states, 
which  owed  their  existence  to 
her.  Piedmont  alone  gathered 
the  opponents  of  the  Roman  hierarchy 
under  her  banner,,  for  this  government  at 
least  was  determined  that  no  patriot  should 
be  led  astray  by  the  great  fiction  of  a 
national  Pope.  In  Spain  the  Jesuits  joined 
the  Carlists,  and  helped  them  to  carry  on 
a  hopeless  campaign,  marked  by  a  series 
of  defeats.  In  Belgium,  on  the  other  hand, 
they  secured  an  almost  impregnable  posi- 
tion in  1855,  and  fought  the  Liberals  with 
their  own  weapons.  Only  Portugal,  whence 
they  had  first  been  expelled  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  kept  herself  free  from  their 
influence  in  the  nineteenth,  and  showed 
that  even  a  Catholic  government  had  no 
need  to  fear  the  threats  of  the  papacy. 

Rome  had  set  great  hopes  upon  France, 
since  Louis  Napoleon's  "  plebiscites  "  had 
been  successfully  carried  out  with  the  help 
of  the  clergy.  But  the  Curia  found  France 
a  prudent  friend,  not  to  be  caught  of£  her 
guard.  The  diplomatic  skill  of  Napoleon 
III.  was  never  seen  to  better  advantage 
than  in  his  delimitation  of  the  spheres 
respectively  assigned  to  the  temporal  and 
the  spiritual  Powers.  Even  the  Jesuits 
were  unable  to  fathom  his  intentions. 
Hans  von  Zwiedineck-Sudenhorst 


Hand 
of  Rome 


SAVING    THE    COLOURS:    THE    GUARDS   AT    THE    BATTLE    OF    INKERMAN    IN    IS54 


From  the  painting  by  Robert  Gibb.   R.S.A..  by  penuission  of  Mr.  E.  Erucc-Low 


TO     FACE      PAGE      4  97  5 


SCONSQUDMlCNfPOttCRS 


THE    UNITED    KINGDOM    IN 
THE     MID-VICTORIAN     ERA 


By  Arthur  D. 


•yHE  fall  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  in  1846,  had 
■*■  been  effected  almost  at  the  moment 
when  the  Duke  of  Wellington  was  persuad- 
ing the  House  of  Lords  to  swallow  the 
repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  the  crowning 
accomplishment  of  Peel's  career.  It 
was  achieved  by  a  combination  of  angry 
Protectionists  and  angry  Irishmen,  who 
united  to  throw  out  a  government 
measure  for  coercion  in  Ireland.  The 
potato  famine  had  definitely  completed 
the  conversion  of  both  Peel  and  the 
Whigs  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Anti- 
Corn  Law  League,  and  was  followed  by 
earnest  efforts  for  the  relief  of  distress. 

But  distress  itself  had,  as  usual,  in- 
tensified discontent,  generating  agrarian 
outrages,  and  relief  and  coercion  were 
proffered  simultaneously.  The  uncon- 
verted chiefs  of  what  had  been  Peel's  party 
saw  their  opportunity ;  and  the  adverse  vote 
brought  about  Peel's  resignation.  Lord 
John  Russell  formed  a  Whig  Ministry,  with 
Palmerston  as  Foreign  Secretary — which 
position  he  had  occupied  in  Melbourne's 
time — and  the  Peelites,  regarding  the 
question  of  Free  Trade  as  of  primary  im- 
r^      .  »  •.  •       portance,  gave  the  Govern- 

Oreat  Britain      ^         ,  °  ,  ,       , 

.      .     Y  ment      a     support      which 

,  „      ...         secured  its  continuity.    The 
of  Revolutions  .  ,  r 

improvement  m  the  con- 
dition of  the  working  classes,  coupled  with 
the  British  inclination  to  distrust  the 
political  efficacy  of  syllogisms  expressed  in 
terms  of  physical  force,  made  Great  Britain 
almost  the  only  European  country  where 
nothing  revolutionary  took  place  in  the  year 
of  revolutions,  1848.  The  monster  petition 
of  the  Chartists  was  its  most  alarming  event. 


Innes,  M.A. 

The  death  of  O'Connell,  however,  in  the 

previous  year  had  deprived  the  Irish  of  a 

leader  who  had  always  set  his  face  against 

the  methods  of  violence,  and  Ireland  did 

not  escape  without  an  abortive  insi\rrection 

headed  by  Smith  O'Brien.  The  leaders  were 

taken,  condemned  to  death  for  high  treason, 

liad  their  sentences  commuted  to  trans- 

,      .  _  ,        ,      portation,  and  were  subse- 
Lord  Palmerston  ^  , ,  j  1 

.  quentiy     pardoned — more 

V      •      f\tf         than   one    of    those  *asso- 
Foreign  Office    '     ■    ,     1      •,,    ^.i 

ciated  with  the  movement 

achieved  distinction  in  later  years  in  the 

political  service  of  the  British  Empire. 

Palmerston's  activities  at  the  Foreign 
Office,  however,  were  a  source  of  con- 
siderable disquietude  at  this  period.  Forty 
years  of  parliamentary  life,  many  of  them 
passed  in  office,  first  as  a  Tory,  later  as  a 
Canningite,  and  finally  as  a  Whig,  had  not 
produced  in  that  persistently  youthful 
statesman  any  inclination  in  favour  of  the 
further  democratisation  of  the  British 
Constitution,  or  of  what  in  his  younger 
days  would  have  been  called  Jacobinism 
abroad  ;  but  he  was  a  convinced  advocate 
of  freedom  as  he  understood  it  and  as 
Canning  had  understood  it.  He  saw  in 
revolutionary  movements  a  disease  engen- 
dered by  despotic  systems  of  government  ; 
and  being  alive  to  the  European  ferment, 
he  took  upon  himself  to  warn  the  despotic 
governments  that  they  would  do  well  to 
apply  the  remedy  of  constitutionalism 
before  the  disease  became  dangerous. 

The  despotic  governments,  recognising 
no  difference  between  the  disease  itself  and 
the  remedy,  held  him  guilty  not  only  of 
officiousness   in    tendering    advice   which 

4975 


QUEEN     VICTORIA    AND     THE     PRINCE     CONSORT 

From  the  paintiiit;  by  Sir  Edwin  Landscur.   R.A. 


^ 


THE     ROYAL     VISIT     TO     IRELAND     IN     1^4;!:      THE' FLEET     IN     CORK     HARBOUR 


4976 


THE    UNITED    KINGDOM    IN    THE    MID-VICTORIAN     ERA 


was  unasked,  but  of  fomenting  revolution  in 
their  dominions,  and  were  not  unnaturally 
resentful,  although,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
they  would  have  profited 
greatly  by  paying  heed  to 
his  well-meant  warnings. 

The  attacks  in  Parlia- 
ment on  his  "  meddling  " 
policy   were   successfully 
met  in  1849,  <^^^  public 
opinion  endorsed  his  view 
that     Britain    ought    to 
make  her  opinions  felt  in 
foreign  countries  —  that, 
in  fact,  she  would  not  be 
adequately      discharging 
the  responsibilities  of  her 
great  position  in  the  world 
unless  she  did  so.    Never- 
theless, his  methods  were 
irritating     not     only    to 
foreign  potentates,  but  to 
his    own   sovereign,  who 
frequently     found     that 
her  Foreign  Minister  was 
committing     the 
Government  without 
her  knowledge  to  de- 
clarations which  she 
cordd    only    endorse 
because  it  would  have 
been    impossible    to 
retract     them     with 
dignity,  his  colleagues 
being    consulted    as 
little  as  herself. 

In  1850  the  queen 
sent  a  memorandum 
to  Russell,  requiring 
that  she  should  be 
kept  adequately  in- 
formed before,  not 
after,  the  event,  of 
any  steps  which  the 
Foreign  Minister  in- 
tended to  take.  The 
immediate  cause  of 
the  memorandum 
was  connected  with 
Palmerston's  attitude 
on  the  Schleswig- 
Holstein  question,  re- 
garding which  she  and 
her  husband,  Prince 
Albert,  favoured  the 
German  view,  to 
which        Palmerston 


LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 
He  was  twice  Prime  Minister,  first  in  1846  on 
the  formation  of  a  Whig  Ministry  following 
the  defeat  of  Peel,  and  again  in  ISiiS,  on  the 
death  of  Lord  Palmerston.  He  was  created 
Earl    Russell    in    1861,  and  he   died   in  1878. 


of  the  Foreign  Minister's  high-handed 
methods  was  the  "  Don  Pacifico  "  affair. 
Don  Pacifico  was  a  Jew  from  Gibraltar,  a 
British  subject,  residing 
in  Greece,  whose  house 
and  property  were 
damaged  in  a  riot.  Pal- 
merston took  up  his 
claim  for  compensation 
as  an  international  in- 
stead of  a  personal  affair, 
sent  the  fleet  to  the 
Pirc-elis,  the  harbour  of 
Athens,  and  seized  Greek 
merchant  vessels.  Russia 
adopted  a  threatening 
attitude,  to  which  Pal- 
merston had  no  disposi- 
tion to  yield.  The  French 
Republic,  under  the  presi- 
dency of  Louis  Napoleon, 
was  indignant  at  the 
action  of  Great  Britain, 
but  still  more  indignant  at 
being  ignored  by  Russia. 
Palmerston  ac- 
cepted French  media- 
tion —  not  arbitra- 
tion ;  there  were 
further  complica- 
tions, in  whicR  the 
French  thought  that 
Albion  was  showing 
her  historic  perfidy ; 
but  the  whole  affait 
was  too  trivial  to 
involve  two  great 
nations  in  a  war  over 
mere  diplomatic  pro- 
prieties, and  the 
quarrel  was  patched 
up.  This  incident 
was  the  inciting  cause 
.of  a  formal  attack  on 
Palmerston's  foreign 
policy,  which  resulted 
in  a  vote  ot  censure 
in  the  Upper  Cham- 
ber, in  consequence 
of  which  a  resolution 
of  confidence  was 
introduced  in  the 
Commons.  Peel  him- 
self was  (  n  the  s'de  of 
the  Opposition,  but 
Palmerston  vindi- 
cated his  principles  in 


THE     EARL     OF     BEACONSFIELD 
Eminent  as  statesman  and  novelist,   Benjamin  Disraeli, 

afterwards  Lord  Beaconsfield,  made  a  great  reputation  j       ,•    i  l 

was  opposed.  Another    in  the  political  world,  though  his  maiden  speech  in  the  aWOUdertul  SpCCCh 

„■  J       .        -11       J.      i.-  House  of  Commons  was  greeted  with  derisive  laughter.  .i         <<  „•   ,:„   T>r^r^^„,,^ 

incident      illustrative    He    twice    held    the    hi|h    office    of    Prime    Minister,  the        CIVIS  RomanUb 

4977 


497S 


THE    UNITED    KINGDOM    IN    THE    MID-VICTORIAN    ERA 


sum  "  speech — which  carried  the  House 
and  the  country  triumphantly  with  him. 
The  year  also  witnessed  one  of  those 
"  No  Popery"  waves  of  excitement  which 
periodically  break  upon  England.  The 
Tractarian  movement  had  produced  in  the 
mind  of  the  Pope  the  recurrent  delusion 
that  the  heretical  island  was  on  the  verge 
of  conversion.  He  issued  a  Bull  establishing 
a  Roman  hierarchy  in  England,  with 
territorial  titles,  an  assumption  of  authority 
contravening  the  constitutional  principle 
of  the  royal  supremacy.  In  response  to  the 
popular  excitement  created,  the  Govern- 
ment    introduced     the      "  Ecclesiastical 


letter  till  its  repeal  twenty  years  later. 
The  queen's  memorandum  in  the  pre- 
vious November,  somewhat  to  the  public 
surprise,  had  not  been  followed  by  Palmers- 
ton's  resignation ;  apparently  he  had 
accepted  the  rebuke  in  good  pai't,  and 
promised  to  consult  the  queen's  wishes. 
But  his  practice  remained  unaltered.  The 
arrival  in  England  of  the  Hungarian 
leader,  Kossuth,  was  the  occasion  of  a  dis- 
play of  sympathy  wliich  was  at  best  a 
breach  of  international  etiquette,  Kossuth 
being  technically  a  rebel.  At  the  moment 
when  Palmerston  was  being  taken  to  task 
for  neglect  of  his  promise  to  pay  proper 


LORD    ABERDEEN  b     lAi.IOUS    COALITION    MINISTRY 
On  the  defeat  of  the  Derby  government  in  December,  l!;.rJ,  Lord  Aberdeen  formed  a  coalition  Ministry  of  Wliig-s  and 
Peelites  with  Gladstone  as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  Russell  at  the  Foreign  and  Palmerston  at  the  Home  Officei 

From  the  paintint;  by  Sir  John  Gilbert,  R.A.     Photo  by  Walker 


Titles  "  Bill,  which  was  naturally  opposed 
by  the  Roman  Catholics  and  also  by  all 
who  saw  in  it  an  interference  with  the 
principle  of  religious  liberty.  The  Govern- 
ment, feeling  its  position  to  be  somewhat 
precarious,  took  advantage  of  its  own 
defeat  on  a  snap  vote — .a  symptom  of  the 
now  growing  demand  for  further  electoral 
reform — -to  resign,  and  thereby  to  demon- 
strate the  impossibility  of  any  other 
working  administration  being  constructed. 
It  resumed  office  in  February,  185 1,  and 
carried  the  Bill  in  a  modified  form,  but 
the    Act    remained    practically    a    dead 


atteffition  to  the  queen's  wishes  in  this 
affair,  Louis  Napoleon  in  France  carried 
out  the  coup  d'etat  which  he  had  been 
preparing,  and  established  himself  as  a 
dictator.  Palmerston  persuaded  himself 
that  the  British  Foreign  Minister  could 
express  his  personal  approval  in  a  conver- 
sation with  the  French  ambassador  with- 
out committing  the  Cabinet,  the  Crown, 
or  the  country.  The  other  parties  concerned 
did  not  accept  that  view,  and  Palmerston's 
resignation  was  demanded.  But  he  had 
hardly  been  dismissed  when  he  got  his 
"  tit-for-tat  with  John     Russell,"  as  he 

4979 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


expressed  it.  Napoleon's  coup  d'etat 
had  its  alarming  side  for  Great  Britain, 
a.s  a  probable  prelude  to  an  aggressive 
French  policy,  of  which  the  Napoleonic 
tradition  would  make  England  the  primary 
object  of  hos- 
tility, A  Bill  was 
accordingly  in- 
troduced for  the 
reorganisation  of 
the  militia.  The 
scheme  proposed 
was  not  felt  to 
be  satisfactory  ; 
Palmerston 
headed  the  at- 
tack, the  Ministry 
were  defeated, 
and  the  Govern- 
ment was  under- 
taken by  the 
Conservative 
chief,  Lord 
Derby,  with  Dis- 
raeli as  his  Chan- 
cellor of  the 
Exchequer  and 
Leader  of  the 
House  of  Com- 
mons, in  Feb- 
ruary, 1852.  The 
most  notable 
of  the  actual 
achievements  of 
the  Russell  ad- 
ministration had 
been  the  applica- 
tion in  Australia, 
by  an  Act  of  1850, 
of  those  prin- 
ciples of  colonial 


converted  in  1852  was  an  exploded 
antediluvian  fallacy.  In  the  interval,  the 
scanty  handful  of  its  opponents  were  but 
feeble  voices  crying  in  the  wilderness 
The  theory  of  Protection  being  so  effec- 
tively scotched  as 
to  be  apparently 
killed,  the  ex- 
ProtectionistJ- 
— who  had  main- 
tained the  old 
doctrine  not  from 
the  manufactur- 
ing, but  from  the 
agrarian  point  of 
view — fell  back 
on  the  principle 
that  the  landed 
interest,  which 
the  old  system 
had  protected, 
required  relief 
now  that  the 
protection  was 
withdrawn  ;  and 
to  this  end  Dis- 
raeli constructed 
his  Budget.  But 
his  extremely  in- 
genious redistri- 
bution of  the 
burden  of  taxa- 
tion failed  to 
attract  the 
approval  of 
economists  of 
other  schools,  or 


THE    DEATH    OF    THE    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 
Th2  long  and  illustrious  life  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  came  to  an  end       r  ,1  •     . 

in  1S52,  the  hero  of  Waterloo  passing  peacefully  away  on  September  ^^  xnOSe  iniereSLS 
14th,  in  his  arm-chair  at  Walmer.  In  the  above  picture  the  body  of  wllicll  did  UOt 
the  distinguished  general,  who  was  laid  to  rest  with  great  pomp  flgcxj-g  the  land 
in  St.   Paul's   Cathedral,  is  seen  lying  in  state  at  Chelsea  Hospital,    j.       l  v  A      + 

government  which  had  been  inaugurated 
by   the  Canadian  Act  of  Reunion.     The 


new  Ministry  carried  a  new  Militia 
Bill  and  then  dissolved,  apparently  with 
a  view  to  taking  the  sense  of  the  country 
on  the  Free  Trade  policy  which  had 
brought  the  Liberals  into  office. 

The  Ministerialists,  however,  did  not 
definitely  commit  themselves  to  a  Pro- 
tectionist programme,  and  the  question 
was  brought  to  a  direct  issue  in  the 
Commons  by  a  resolution  affirming  the 
principle  of  Free  Trade,  which,  in  amended 
form,  was  accepted  and  carried  by  an  over- 
whelming majority.  Fifty  years  were  to 
pass  before  the  discovery  that  the  revolu- 
tionary economic  doctrine  of  1846  to  which 
the    country     declared     itself    definitely 

4980 


their  expense.  The  Budget  debate  marked 
conspicuously  the  opening  of  the  long 
personal  rivalry  between  its  proposer, 
Disraeli,  and  its  strongest  critic,  William 
Ewart  Gladstone.  The  Government  was 
defeated,  and  resigned  in  December,  1852. 
The  Ecclesiastical  Titles  Bill,  which  had 
been  a  barrier  between  Whigs  and  Peelites, 
had  already  vanished  into  hmbo,  and  the 
Ministry  which  now  took  office  was  formed 
by  a  coalition  of  those  two  parties.  The 
Peelite,  Lord  Aberdeen,  was  its  head, 
Gladstone  its  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
Russell  was  at  the  Foreign  Office,  and 
Palm«rston  Home  Secretary. 

Before  the  fall  of  the  Conservatives,  a 
great  figure  had  passed  from  the  stage. 
A  little   more   than  two  years  after  his 


THE    UNITED    KINGDOM    IN    THE    MID-VICTORIAN    ERA 


closest  political  associate,  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
the  "  Iron  Duke  "  died  in  September,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-three.  Forty  years  before, 
he  had  proved  himself  the  greatest 
captain  in  Europe  save 
one  ;  and  his,  in  the  eyes 
of  Europe,  had  been  the 
triumph  of  vanquishing 
that  one.  To  him  more 
than  to  anyone  else 
France  owed  it  that  she 
had  been  generously 
treated  when  the  war 
was  ended ;  his  was  prob- 
ably the  most  decisively 
moderating  influence 
among  the  statesmen 
whose  task  it  was  to 
restore  order  in  Europe. 
But  while  he  possessed 
high  qualities  of  states- 
manship, they  were  not 
those  adapted  to  parlia- 


sincerity,'  his  transparent  honesty,  and 
his  conspicuous  moral  courage,  made  him 
a  unique  figure,  and  fully  justified  the 
universal  popularity  which  came  to  him 
-tardily  enough,  and  the 
genuine  passion  of  mourn- 
ing with  which  the  whole 
nation  received  the  tid- 
ings of  his  death.  Wel- 
Imgton  had  overthrown 
the  first  Napoleon. 
Eleven  weeks  after  he  had 
breathed  his  last,  "  the 
nephew  of  his  uncle  " 
was  proclaimed  Emperor 
of  the  French  with  the 
title  of  Napoleon  III.  The 
famous  coalition  Ministry 
opened  its  career  with 
the  first  of  the  brilliant 
series  of  Gladstone  Bud- 
gets, introduced  in  a 
speech    which     revealed 


mentary  government.   As  the   defender   of    sebastopol  the  hitherto  unsuspected 

a       VriniQfpr       hp       was;      a     General  Todleben,   a   distinguished   Russian  x    ^    thnf    ficrnrpc;    ran     ho 

a      xUiniSter       ne       was      a    soldier  and  mUitary  engineer,  held  Sebastopol  I^"    lUat    ngUlCS    Can    tX 

failure  ;   as   a   counsellor   against  the  British,  displaying  great  resource  made    fascinating.      But 

and  energy  until  he   was  severely  wounded. 


his  judgment  always 
carried  very  great  weight.  His  unqualified 
patriotism,  his  complete  subordination  of 
personal  interests  to  what  he  conceived 
to  be  the  welfare  of  the  state,  his  perfect 


even  the  charm  of  the 
Budget  was  soon  to  be  overshadowed  by 
the  war  clouds  in  the  East.  So  far  a*  the 
preliminaries  of  the  Crimean  war  are  con- 
cerned with  French  and  Russian  rivalries 


BURIAL    OF    THE   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON  :    THE   FUNERAL    CAR    ARRIVING   AT  ST.   PAUL'S 

4981 


QUEEN    VICTORIA    AS    SHE 

and  with  matters  outside  British  interests, 
they  will  be  dealt  with  in  the  chapter 
following.  Here  we  observe  that  in  the 
beginning  of  1853  the  Tsar  was  assuming 
a  threatening  attitude  towards  the  Porte 
On  the  hypothesis  that  Russia  was  the 
protector  of  the  Greek  Church  Christians 
in  the  Turkish  dominions;  and  that  France, 
^982 


APPEARED    IN    THE    YEAR    1852 

in  the  character  of  protector  of  the  Latin 
Christians,  regarded  the  Russian  attitude 
as  merely  a  pretext  for  absorbing  the 
Danube  states.  A  similar  view  was  en- 
tertained in  England,  where  the  Tsar  had 
already  made  suggestions  regarding  the 
ultimate  partition  of  the  Turkish  Empire, 
which  he  regarded  as  practically  inevitable 


THE    UNITED    KINGDOM    IN    THE    MID- VICTORIAN    ERA 


England,  however,  and  Palmerston  in 
particular,  looked  upon  the  maintenance 
of  the  independence  of  Turkey  as  a 
necessity,  if  for  no  other  reason  because 
Russian  expansion  in  the  direction  either 
of  India  or  of  the  Mediterranean  appeared 
exceedingly  dangerous  to  the  interests  of 
Great  Britain.  It  may  be  remembered  that 
the  Afghan  war  of  1839  ^^^.d  been  the  out- 
come of  Persian  aggressions  which  were  uni- 
versally regarded  as  prompted  \\y  Russia. 
Russia  maintained  her  claim  to  protect 
the  Christians  in  the  Danube  provinces  ; 
Turkey      declined      her       demand       for 


Napoleon  would  not  venture  on  that 
appeal  single-handed.  The  temper  of  the 
country,  however,  was  clearly  in  favour 
of  Palmerston's  views,  and  in  July  the 
French  and  l^ritish  fleets  were  despatched 
to  Besika  Bay.  The  "  Vienna  Note,"  a 
proposal  formulated  by  the  Powers  in 
conference  at  Vienna,  was  amended  by 
Turkey  and  rejected  by  Russia  in  August. 
Everywhere  popular  feeling  was  rising  ; 
an  anti-Christian  emeute  was  feared  in 
Constantinople,  and  the  French  and 
British  fleets  were  ordered  to  the  Dar- 
danelles in  October,  ostensibly  to  protect 


THE  QUEEN  REVIEWING  THE  SCOTS  GUARDS  ON  THEIR  DEPARTURE  FOR  THE  CRIMEA  IN  1851 
The  aggression  of  Russia,  involved  by  her  claim  of  1853  to  be  protector  of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Christians  in  the 
fiirkish  dominions, %as  naturally  resented  by  Turkey.  Both  Britain  and  France  took  the  side  of  the  latter,  and  on 
March   27th,    1854,   declared   war  on  Russia,  whence  followed   all   the   miseries   and  suffering  of  the  Crimean   war. 


guarantees ;  the  rest  of  the  Powers 
upheld  Turkey.  Negotiations  faiUng, 
Russia  occupied  the  provinces  in  July 
as  a  proceeding  wairanted  by  her  treaty 
rights.  The  Powers  might,  by  the  exer- 
cise of  joint  pressure,  have  compelled 
Russia  to  retire,  but  a  mere  evacuation 
would  not  have  satisfied  either  Napoleon 
or  Palmerston.  Aberdeen,  on  the  other 
hand,  allowed  llis  aversion  to  war  to  be 
so  obvious  that  the  Tsar  probably  felt 
quite  satisfied  that  Britain  would  not 
join  France  in  an  appeal  to  arms,  and  that 


the  Christians.  Before  the  close  of  the 
month  Turkey  declared  war  on  Russia, 
to  which  the  Tsar  replied  by  declaring 
that  he  would  not  take  the  offensive. 
The  Turks  crossed  the  Danube,  and  fight- 
ing began.  But  when  a  Russian  squadron 
feil  upon  some  Turkish  ships  in  the  harbour 
of  Sinope  and  destroyed  them  on  September 
30th,  the  action  was  regarded  as  proving 
the  insincerity  of  the  Tsar's  declarations. 
Aberdeen  found  himself  obliged  to  consent 
to  the  occupation  of  the  Black  Sea  by  the 
allied    fleets   on    December   27th.       The 

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4985 


NAVAL  BRIGADE  AT  SEBASTOPOL:  LORD  RAGLAN  VIEWING  THE  STORMING  OF  THE  REDAN 

Fron)  the  picture  by  K.  Caton  Woodville,  by  permisbion  of  iMessrs.   Graves  &:  Cc. 


498(^ 


THE    UNITED    KINGDOM    IN    THE    MID-VICTORIAN    ERA 


precipitate  action  of  France  and  Britain  in 
presenting  a  joint  note  demanding  the 
evacuation  of  the  Danube  provinces  gave 
Austria  an  excuse  for  leaving  them  to 
act  independently  ;  and  on  March  27th, 
1854,  the  two  Western  Powers  declared 
war  on  Russia  and  proceeded  to  a  formal 
alliance  with  the  Turks,  who  in  the  mean- 
time had  more  than  held  their  own  on  land. 
Troops  were  despatched  to  co-operate 
with  the  Turks,  and  it  soon  became 
evident  that  the  Russians  would  have  no 
chance  of  effecting  a  successful  invasion  ; 
before  the  end  of  July  it  was  clear  that 
they  would  be  obliged  to  evacuate  the 
Provinces.  But  before  that  time  instruc- 
tions had  already  been  sent  for  the  invasion 
of  the  Crim.ea  and  the  seizure  of  Sebastopol. 

But  the  invasion  could 
not  be .  carried  out  till 
September  ;  and  by  that 
time,  Sebastopol  had 
been  placed  in  a  com- 
paratively thorough  state 
of  defence  by  the  en- 
gineering skill  of  Todle- 
ben.  Its  capture  by  a 
coup  de  main  was  now 
extremely  improbable. 
The  British  and  French 
forces  disembarked  at 
Eupatoria,  and  found  a 
Russian  army  under  Men- 
schikoff  lying  between 
them  and  Sebastopol. 
The  battle  of  the  Alma, 
in  which  the  brunt  of  the 
fighting  was  borne  by  the 
British,  left  the  allies 
masters  of  the  field. 
Menschikoff  withdrew  his 
main  foi^ce  not  to  Sebas- 
topol but  to  the  interior, 
of  the  dying  French  general,  St.  Arnaud, 
prevented  an  immediate  assault  from 
being  attempted — it  was  ascertained  later 
that  the  attempt  at  that  moment  would 
probably  have  been  successful — and  the 
allies  settled  down  to  _,a  siege.  Their 
numbers  were  not  sufficient 
The  Charge  ^^^,  ^  complete  investment, 
and  the  communications  be- 
tween Menschikoff  and  the 
garrison  remained  open.  The  British 
drew  their  supplies  from  the  port  of 
Balaclava,  and  Menschikoff  now  en- 
deavoured to  effect  its  capture.  The 
movement,  however,  was  repulsed,  mainly 
by  the  magnificent  charge  of  the  Heavy 


In  the 
"Valley  of 
Death" 


^^^^K^l^l 

■        .               '  \C^'Sk 

: 

n 

Lk^^ 

1 1 

-      :'^^'^^^^ 

m 

'^mskm^'l:  ] 

rT^" 

LORD     RAGLAN 
Commander-in-chief  of  tiie    British   forces  in 
the  Crimea,  his  conduct  of  the  war  was  severely 
condemned  both  by  the  public  and  the  Press. 
He  died  from  dysentery  on  June   -Sth,   1853. 


The  opposition 


of  the  Heavy 
Brigade 


Brigade  against  a  column  of  five  times  their 
own  numbers  ;  but  that  splendid  action 
was  eclipsed  in  the  popular  mind  by  one 
of  the  most  desperate,  and,  from  a  military 
point  of  view,  most  futile,  deeds  of  valour 
on  record,  the  charge  of  the  Six  Hundred. 
Through  the  misinterpretation 
of  an  order,  the  Light  Brigade 
hurled  itself  through  a  terrific 
storm  of  shot  and  she'l  upon  a 
Russian  battery,  captured  it,  and  xhen, 
because  there  was  nothing  else  to  be  done, 
relinquished  it,  leaving  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  their  number  in  the  "  Valley  of 
Death."  Nothing  whatever  was  gamed 
of  a  calculable  kind.  Yet  it  was  one 
of  those  deeds  which  have  a  moral  value 
past  all  calculation,  like  the  equally  futile 
defence  of  Thermopykc. 
Ten  days  later  an 
attempt  was  made  upon 
the  British  position  before 
Sebastopol  at  Inkerman. 
The  attack  was  made  by 
a  large  Russian  force  in 
the  midst  of  a  fog  so 
thick  that  none  knew 
what  was  going  on  except 
close  at  hand.  Concerted 
action  was  impossible, 
and  men  battled  desper- 
ately as  best  they  could 
m  small  groups.  The  fight 
was  fought  by  the  men 
virtually  without  com- 
mandeis,  and,  in  spite  of 
immensely  superior  num- 
bers, the  Russians  were 
triumphantly  repulsed. 
But  after  Inkerman,  the 
design,  then  in  contem- 
plation, of  an  immediate 
assault  on  Sebastopol  was  abandoned. 
And  then  the  Crimean  winter  began.  A 
winter  siege  had  not  been  in  the  pro- 
gramme when  the  expedition  was  planned  ; 
the  arrangements  were  disastrously  inade- 
quate, and  their  inadequacy  was  increased 
by  the  destruction  in  a  gale  of  the  stores 
which  had  reached  Balaclava  but  had  not 
been  disembarked ;  while  the  iniquities  of 
army  contractors  broke  all  previous  records. 
The  four  winter  months  killed  far  more 
of  the  troops  than  the  Russians  were 
responsible  for.  The  blame  lay  not  at  all 
with  the  officers  on  the  spot,  and  only  in  a 
limited  degree  with  the  Government,  but 
popular  indignation' compelled  the  retire- 
ment of  Aberdeen  ;    and  Palmerston,  the 

4987 


Hi 


4988 


4989 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


man  in  whom  the  confidence  of  the  country 
had  not  been  shaken,  became  Prime 
Minister  in  February,  1855.  The  lesson  of 
the  early  administrative  blunders  had  been 
learnt,  and  a  great  improvement  was  soon 
apparent.  The  immense  and  unprece- 
dented services  of  the  staff  of  nurses 
organised  under  Florence  Nightingale,  who 
had  been  at  work  since  Novem- 
-.  .     ber,  mark  an  epoch  in  the  history 

poc  in  ^^  civilised  warfare.  Negotia- 
tions were  renewed  at  Vienna; 
but  while  agreement  might  have  been 
reached  on  two  of  the  four  proposals  put 
forward  by  Austria,  Russia  was  obdurate 
on  a  third,  and  the  belligerent  allies  were 
dissatisfied  with  the  fourth. 

The  negotiations  broke  down,  and  Austria 
again  found  excuse  in  the  attitude  of  the 
French  and  British  for  declining  to  join 
them  in  an  offensive  alliance — in  their  eyes 
a  breach  of  faith  on  her  part.  In  May, 
however,  Sardinia  joined' the  allies,  and 
the  British  share  in  the  operations  at 
Sebastopol  became  comparatively  re- 
stricted, while  the  British  fleets  found 
little  of  consequence  to  do.  It  was 
not  till  September  8th  that  Sebastopol 
fell,  an  event  secured  by  the  French 
capture  of  the  Malakoff. 

Napoleon  was  now  satisfied  with  the 
personal  security  his  imperial  position 
had  acquired  from  the  war  ;  the  friend- 
ship of  the  new  Tsar,  Alexander  II. — 
Nicholas  had  died  in  March — was  of 
more  importance  to  him,  if  not  to  France, 
than  the  repression  of  Russia.  Austria 
cared  only  to  have  her  own  Balkan  in- 
terests safeguarded,  and  it  was  with  no 
little  difficulty  that  the  British  were  able 
to  secure  adequate  checks  on  Russian 
aggression.  The  occasion  was  used  for  a 
fresh  settlement  of  those  maritime  regula- 
tions which  had  been  the  cause  of  the 
"  Armed  Neutrality  "  at  the  close  of  the 
last  century.  Privateering,  the  one  weapon 
which  hostile  Powers  had  been  able  to 
wield  effectively  against  Great 
Britain,  was  abolished  ;  and, 
p  .  .      on  the  other  hand,  it  was  con- 

cr  ng  ^g^ig^    ^j^g^^    ^j^^   neutral   flag 

should  cover  all  goods  but  contraband  of 
war,  and  that  even  on  belligerent  vessels 
neutral  goods  should  not  be  liable  to 
capture,  in  March,  1856. 

The  war  in  the  Crimea  had  necessitated 
the  withdrawal  of  British  regiments  from 
India,  where,  on  the  other  hand,  Dal- 
housie's  annexations  had  involved  an  in- 

4990 


crease  in  the  Sepoy  army.  A  quarrel  with 
Persia  demanded  an  expedition  to  that 
country  from  India  at  the  end  of  1856, 
owing  to  the  seizure  of  Herat  by  Persia — 
a  movement  attributed,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  to  Russian  instigation.  No  diffi- 
culty was  found  in  the  military  operations, 
which  soon  resulted  in  a  treaty  by  which 
Persia  resigned  Herat  and  all  claims  on 
Afghan  territory  ;  but  the  war  must  be 
included  among  the  minor  circumstances 
which  encouraged  the  outbreak  of  the 
great  Sepoy  revolt  of  1857. 

About  the  same  time  a  war  with  China 
was  brought  about  by  what  is  known  as 
the  "Arrow"  incident.  The  Arrow  was 
a  Chinese  vessel  which  had  been  sailing 
under  the  British  flag,  and  was  continuing 
to  do  so  though  the  year  during  which  she 
was  authorised  to  do  so  had  just  elapsed. 
The  Chinese  authorities,  having  no  know- 
ledge of  this  lapse,  nevertheless  seized  the 
crew  in  Canton  harbour  on  the  hypothesis 
that  there  were  persons  "  wanted  "  for 
piracy  among  its  number.  Reparation  was 
demanded  and  refused,  the  British  fleet  was 
called  into  play,  and  the  incident  developed 
„  .  .  ,  definitely  into  a  war.  The 
™  "*  *  British  Government  acted  on 
. .  ^. .  the  principle  that  the  punctilios 
of  Western  diplomacy  are  m- 
variably  looked  upon  by  Orientals  as  signs 
of  weakness  which  invite  defiance  ;  high- 
handed methods,  however,  equally  in- 
variably offend  the  moral  ideals  of  a  large 
section  of  the  British  people,  and  the 
Government  was  vigorously  attacked  by 
the  Liberals  and  Peelites  who  had  parted 
from  the  Ministry.  But  an  appeal  to  the 
country  gave  Palmerston  a  decisive  ma- 
jority in  April,  1857.  The  war  was  brought 
to  a  conclusion  in  the  course  of  1858. 

Almost  the  first  news,  which  came  on 
the  new  Parliament  as  a  bolt  from  the 
blue,  was  that  of  the  great  outbreak  in 
India,  the  story  of  which  has  been  dealt 
with  in  the  earlier  section  of  this  work 
devoted  to  Indian  history.  The  Mutiny 
was  inaugurated  by  the  rising  of  the- 
Sepoys  at  Mirat  on  May  loth,  1857.  Delhi 
was  seized  in  the  name  of  a  restored  Mogul 
Empire  ;  a  British  force  concentrated  on 
the  famous  Ridge,  which  it  occupied  for  the, 
siege  of  the  great  city,  held  by  forces- 
enormously  superior  in  point  of  numbers. 

Above  Allahabad,  the  whole  Ganges 
basin  was  in  the  hands  of  the  mutineers, 
and  the  British  were  soon  shut  up  in  Cawn- 
pore  or  the  Lucknow  Residency,  with  the 


4991 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


exception  of  the  force  on  the  ridge  before 
Delhi  and  of  a  considerable  number  who 
took  refuge  at  Agra.  The  loyalty  and  dip- 
lomacy of  Sindhia  and  his  minister  Dinkar 
Rao  restrained  the  Gwalior  army  from 
marching  to  Delhi.  In  September,  Delhi 
was  stormed  and  Lucknow  was  reinforced 
by  the  operations  of  Havelock  and  Out  ram. 
From  that  time,  though  Sindhia  was 
no  longer  able  to  hold  back  the  Gwalior 
regiments,  the  tide  turned.  Troops 
were  arriving  from  England  ;  a  contin- 
gent on  its  w^ay  to  the  Chinese  war 
was  detained  for  the  more  serious  affair. 
In  November,  Sir  Colin  Campbell  relieved 
the  defenders  of  the  Lucknow  Residency  ; 
ni  the   spring,   the   British   armies  were 


amend  the  conspiracy  laws;  but  the. 
French  had  assumed  an  attitude  of  such 
amazing  and  bombastic  truculence  that 
the  Conspiracy  to  Murder  Bill  was  regarded 
as  a  pusillanimous  submission  to  foreign 
insolence — a  curious  charge  against  the  Min- 
ister who  was  accustomed  to  being  himself 
accused  of  arrogance  rather  than  submis- 
siveness  in  foreign  affairs,  mainly  to  be 
explained  by  the  tenacious  pride  with  which 
the  nation  clung  to  its  claim  of  oftering 
an  asylum  to  refugees  from  oppression. 

The  Bill  was  defeated,  the  Government 
resigned,  and  again  Lord  Derby  took 
office,  though  his  party  was  in  a  minority 
in  the  House  of  Commons.  Under  such 
circumstances,  the  Ministry  had  no  choice 


QUEEN    VICTORIA    RECEIVING    HEROES    OF 

From  tlic  paintinj^  by  Si 

everywhere  triumphant,  and  in  the  summer 
the  last  efforts  of  the  revolt  were  crushed. 

The  Mutiny  brought  home  to  the  British 
mind  the  necessity  for  terminating  the 
unique  and  anomalous  dual  control,  by  the 
East  India  Company  and  Parliament,  of 
the  government  of  India.  It  was  time  that 
the  Crown  should  assume  the  exclusive 
responsibility,  and  in  February,  1858, 
Palmerston  brought  in  a  Bill  for  that 
purpose.  By  a  curious  accident,  he  was 
turned  out  of  office  before  the  Bill  could  be 
passed.  An  Italian  named  Orsini  flung 
bombs  under  the  carriage  of  Napoleon  in 
January  ;  it  turned  out  that  the  plot  had 
been  hatched  and  the  bombs  manufactured 
in  England.    The  Government  proposed  to 

4992 


THE  CRIMEA  AT  BUCKINGHAM  PALACE 

r  John  Gilbert,   R.A. 

but  to  seek  for  compromises  with  the 
Opposition.  Lord  Derby's  India  Bill, 
when  introduced,  was  obviously  not 
destined  to  pass,  and  the  Act  which  finall}' 
ended  the  career  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, and  transferred  the  Indian  govern- 
ment to  the  Crown,  was  virtually  the  work 
of  all  parties  combining  to  arrive  at  a 
settlement  irrespective  of  party.  Lord 
Canning,  the  Governor-General,  who  had 
remained  at  the  helm  throughout  the 
Mutiny,  inaugurated  the  new  regime  as  the 
first  Viceroy.  In  the  same  summer,  the 
Lords  were  persuaded  to  pass  a  Bill 
removing  the  political  disabilities  under 
which  the  Jews  still  laboured,  a  principle 
repeatedly  approved   by    the    Commons 


THE  OPERA 


LONDON 


THE  RULERS  OF  BRITAIN  AND  OF  FRANCE 

Arising:  out  of  their  common  interests  in  the  war  against  Russia,  a  kindly  feeling  sprang  up  between  Britain  and 
France,  the  rulers  of  the  two  countries  exchanging  visits  of  friendship.  On  April  16th,  1S.?5,  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  III.  and  the  Empress  Eugc'nie  arrived  in  England,  visiting  Queen  Victoria  at  Windsor  Castle,  and  in 
the  above  picture  they  are  shown  with  the  Queen  and  the  Prince  Consort  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera  on  April  1  )th. 


QUEEN    VICTORIA    AND    THE    PRINCE    CONSORT    VISITING    THE    TUILERIES 


In  the  August  following  the  visit  of  the  French  Emperor  and  Empress  to  England,  Queen  Victoria  and  the  Prince 
Consort  visited  France.  In  this  picture  the  British  queen  and  her  husband  are  seen  at  the  Tuilenes,  the  tormer 
in  the  foreground   on  the  arm  of  Napoleon   with  Prince  Albert  and  the  Empress  Eugenie  immediately  behind. 


THE     ENTENTE     CORDIALE     IN     THE     MIDDLE    OF    LAST     CENTURY 


4993 


QUEEN     VICTORIA     DISTRIBUTING     THE     CRIMEAN     MEDALS     AT     THE     HORSE     GUARDS 
The  first  distribution  of  V.C.  medals  is  represented  in  the  above  picture,  this  event  taking  place  on  May  ISth,  ls56 ; 
the  queen  is  shown  in  the  act  of  presenting  a  medal  to  Sir  Thomas  Troubridge,  who  had  lost  both  his  feet  in  action. 


and  rejected  by  the  Peers  during  the 
preceding  twenty-five  years.  Electoral 
Reform — that  is,  extension  of  the  fran- 
chise— was  a  subject  in  which  the 
electorate  and  the  unenfranchised  masses 
were  more  interested  than  Ministers. 
Russell  and  a  considerable  section  of 
the  Liberals  were  becoming  more  strongly 
disposed  in  that  'direction,  but  the 
Palmerstonians  preferred  to  keep  the 
question  shelved  as  long  as  possible. 
Disraeli,  however,  now  saw  a  possibility  of 


securing  success  to  the  conservative  policy 
by  a  measure  professedly  democratic,  but 
safeguarded  by  devices  which,  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Liberals,  were  intended  to  secure 
political  preponderance  for  conservative 
influences.  Defeated  on  a  resolution  intro- 
duced by  Russell,  Lord  Derby  appealed  to 
the  country  ;  the  party  returned  some- 
what strengthened  in  numbers,  but  still  in 
a  minority,  and  the  minority  gave  way 
to  a  new  Palmerston  administration,  with 
Russell   at   the   Foreign   Office,   the    two 


;      1  -'        r. 


THE    QUEEN    AND    PRINCE    ALBERT    VISITING    BROMPTON    HOSPITAL    AT    CHATHAM.    IN    l^r>rt 

4994 


THE    UNITED    KINGDOM    IN    THE    MID-VICTORIAN    ERA 


liberal  leaders  having  recognised  the  need 
of  co-operation.  Gladstone  returned  to 
the  Exchequer. 

Palmerston  remained  at  the  head  of  the 
government  till  his  death  in  1865.  It  was 
inevitable  that  a  Franchise  BiU  should  be 
introduced,  but  it  aroused  no  enthusiasm 
in    Parliament    or    in   the    country,    and 


•'EASTWARD  HO!"  THE  DEPARTURE  OF  BRITISH  TROOPS  FOR  INDIA 
When  the  Indian  Mutiny  broke  out  in  1S57,  the  British  army  in  India  was  not  sufficiently 
strong  adequately  to  cope  with  the  rising,  and  reinforcements  were  speedily  despatched 
from    England.      Farewell    scenes   are    graphically    represented    in    the    above    picture. 

From  the  painting  by  Hcnrj-  O'Neill,  A.R.A. 

Russell,  who  introduced  it,  found  an 
excuse  for  its  withdrawal,  after  which,  by 
common  consent,  reform  was  shelved  for 
the  lifetime  of  the  Prime  Minister.  There 
was  little  legislation  during  Palmerston's 
supremacy,  and  domestic  interest  centred 
mainly  in  the  systematic  extension  of 
Free  Trade  principles,  in  the  Budgets,  and 


in  the  commercial  treaty  with  France, 
negotiated  by  Richard  Cobden,  which 
was  ratified  in  i860. 

The  Budget  of  that  year  reduced  the 
number  of  articles  subject  to  customs 
duties  from  419  to  48,  the  primary  object 
being  the  removal  of  preferential  and  pro- 
tective duties.  Financial  questions,  how- 
ever, narrowly 
missed  producing 
a  serious  constitu- 
tional crisis.  It 
was  proposed  in 
1859  to  remove 
the  tax  upon 
paper.  Being  in- 
troduced in  a  Bill 
separate  from  the 
Budget,  the  Lords 
claimed  the  right 
of  rejecting  the 
proposal.  The 
Commons  claimed 
that  .  the  Lords 
could  not  reject 
separately  any 
part  of  the 
general  financial 
scheme.  The 
action  of  the 
Lords  in  rejecting 
the  Bill  was  in 
accordance  with 
the  law,  but  not 
with  the  custom 
of  the  Constitu- 
tion. The  crisis 
was  averted, 
partly  by  a  series 
of  resolutions  in, 
the  Commons, 
which  pointed  to 
the  inclusion  of 
such  proposals  in 
the  Budget  as 
security  against 
the  repetition  of 
such  action  by  the 
Lords,  and  partly 
by  the  inclusion  of 
the  particular  pro- 
posal in  the  Budget  of  the  following  year. 
These  years,  however,  were  marked  by 
comphcations  in  the  affairs  of  other 
nations  which  made  the  task  of  steering 
Great  Britain  successfully  a  difficult  and 
delicate  one.  The  sympathies  of  the  country 
and  of  the  Government  were  with  the 
Italians  in  their  struggle  for  hberty  from 

4f)95 


499^. 


490/ 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  Austrian  yoke,  with  Poland  in  her 
resistance  to  Russia,  with  Denmark  in  her 
hopeless  contest  with  Prussia  and  Austria 
over  Schleswig-Holstein.  In  the  first  case, 
the  moral  support  of  Great  Britain  was  of 
considerable  value  to  Victor  Emmanuel  ; 
in  the  other  two,  the  action  of  the  Govern- 
ment had  the  unfortunate  appearance  of 
exciting  an  expectation  of  material  sup- 
port which  they  lacked  the  courage  to 
carry  into  action. 

But  it  was  the  civil  war  in  America  which 
most  seriously  threatened  to  involve  this 
country.     There  were  two  grave  causes  of 


system  the  more  easily  because  it  had  no 
use  for  slave-labour  itself,  and  became 
determined  to  abolish  slavery.  Hence  the 
Southern  States  asserted  the  right  to 
secede  from  a  confederation  which  they 
had  entered  voluntarily  ;  the  North  held 
that  the  union  was  federal,  indissoluble, 
and  that  secession  was  rebellion. 

In  1861,  a  group  of  the  Southern  States 
formed  themselves  into  a  confederation 
claiming  independence,  under  their  own 
president,  and  the  great  struggle  began. 
The  sympathies  of  the  British  were 
sharply  divided.     Toryism  had  a  fellow 


QUEEN    VICTORIA    WITH    PRINCE    ALBERT    AND    THEIR    CHILDREN 


disagreement  between  the  Northern  and 
the  Southern  States  of  the  Union,  which 
issued  in  a  third,  the  gravest  of  all.  The 
Northern  States  were  manufacturing  com- 
munities, and  determined  to  protect  their 
manufactures  by  the  exclusion  of  foreign 
competition.  The  Southern  States,  whose 
products  were  not  exposed  to  competition, 
objected  to  the  protectionist  policy  which 
raised  prices  for  the  consumer.  The 
Southern  States  hved  by  the  production 
of  crops  cultivated  by  slave  labour  ;  the 
North  was  able  to  realise  the  iniquity  of  the 

4998 


feeling  for  the  gentry  of  the  South. 
Liberalism  held  slavery  in  horror,  yet  the 
general  principles  of  political  freedom 
were  on  the  side  of  the  right  of  secession. 
The  Government  was  firm  in  its  resolution 
not  to  intervene,  not  to  declare  itself  on 
either  side ;  but  it  was  obliged  to  com- 
mit itself  on  the  question  whether  the 
Southerners  were  to  be  treated  as  lawful 
belligerents  or  as  rebels.  The  position 
adopted  was  that  the  effective  strength 
of  the  Southern  States  made  them  de  facto 
belligerents,    and   that    their    recognition 


m^  Jiiiiii    -■'->"-  ■  f 


^"*t 


w 
c 

X 
H 


J^» 


g  i 

3  ^ 

<J  5 
a 
W  2 
U  (1. 
2 

5 

>< 
CQ 

Q 

Q 

U 
H 
H 

< 


4999 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


having  been  negligent  of  set  purpose. 
At  the  same  time,  greatly  as  the  South 
benefited  by  the  resolute  impartiality  of 
Great  Britain,  it  felt  itself  hardly  less 
bitterly  aggrieved  thereby  than  the  North, 
since  it  appeared  almost  certain  that  British 


as  such  implied  no  judgment  on  the  merits 
of  the  dispute  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the 
time  had  not  yet  come  when  their  claim 
lor  recognition  as  a  separate  nation  could 
be  officially  acknowledged.  The  justice 
:ind  impartiahty  of  this  attitude  proved 
acceptable  neither 
to  North  nor  to 
South.  In  1862 
Great  Britain  was 
iiU  but  compelled 
to  commence  hos- 
tilities by  ,-  the 
action  of  the' 
North  in  seizing 
the  persons  of  two 
commissioners 
from  the  South  on 
board  a  British 
vessel,  the  Trent, 
on  which  they  had 
embarked  in  the 
neutral  port  of 
Havanna.  The 
tardy  recognition 
of  this  violation  of 
international  law 
and  the  liberation 
of  the  commis- 
sioners averted 
hostilities.  Rela- 
tions were,  more- 
over, perpetually 
strained  to  a  high 
pitch  of  intensity 
by,  the  action  of 
the  Alabama  and 
other  cruisers  of 
the  same  type  in 
the  Confederate 
service.  These 
were  vessels  con- 
structed in  British 
dockyards,  which 
sailed  from  British 
ports,  professedly 
on  harmless  voy- 
ages, but  with  the 
actual    intent    of  political   riots   in   hyde   park 

being  handed  over  "^^e  defeat  of  the  Reform  Bill  in  1866  gave  rise  to  a  considerable  amount  of  feeling  in  the 

')t  «;omp  annnintpH  country.     A  mass  meeting  in  favour  of  reform  was  shut  out  of  Hyde  Park,  and  as  a  protest, 

^^      „  the  mob   broke   down  the  railings,   "thereby  convincing  most  of  those  who  had  hitherto 

JpOl  to  l^yOn-  been  incredulous  that  the  demand  for  the  franchise  was  not  a  mere  demagogic  figment." 

federate     ofhcers. 


who  proceeded  to  employ  them  for  the 
destruction  of  the  Federal  mercantile 
marine.  Since  the  British  Government 
had  failed  to  display  sufficient  vigilance  in 
detaining  such  craft,  notably  the  Alabama, 
they  were    regarded    by    the    North    as 

5000 


intervention  would  have  decisively  ter- 
minated the  war  in  favour  of  the  Con- 
federates. Nothing  could  have  been  more 
creditable  to  the  labouring  population  of 
the  United  Kingdom  than  the  dogged 
determination  with  which  they  supported 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  Government,  from  the  conviction  that 
the  anti-slavery  cause  was  the  cause  of 
righteousness,  in  spite  of 
the  terrible  sufferings 
entailed  by  the  cotton 
famine,  resulting  from 
the  Northern  blockade  of 
the  Southern  ports.  No 
nobler  example  of  self- 
"restraint  has  been  re- 
corded than  that  of  the 
Lancashire  operatives  in 
those  cruel  times ;  nor 
has  the  general  public 
ever  displayed  its  free- 
handed generosity  more 
wisely  and  more  gener- 
ously than  in  the  efforts 
then  made  for  the  relief 
of  the  distress  prevail- 
ing. The  war  was 
brought  to  an  end  with 
the  complete  success  of 
the  North,  in  the  spring 
of  1865.  In  the  summer, 
Parliament  was  dis- 
solved, having  sat  for  six  years,  but  no 
immediate    effect   was   produced   on   the 


That  came  with  the  death 


octogenarian  Premier  in  October. 


LORD  TENNYSON 
Successor  to  Wordsworth  as  Poet-Laureate, 
Tennyson  remained  until  his  death,  in  1S92, 
the  supreme  English  poet,  challenged  only  by 
Browning,  beside  whom  he  sleeps  in  West- 
minster Abbey.    In  1SS4  he  received  a  peerage. 


Government. 

of   the 

The  democratic  move- 
ment, which  had  been 
held  in  check  1  y 
general  consent  until  h  s 
demise,  at  once  became 
active.  At  the  same  lime, 
Irish  disconient  assumed 
a  somewhat  more 
threatening  shape,  owin^ 
to  the  formation  of  the 
"  Fenian  Brotherhood  ' 
by  the  physical  -  force 
party,  whose  strength  lay 
amongst  the  crowds  of 
emigrants  who  had  been 
driven  to  America,  ar.d 
had  there  been  learning 
practical  lessons  of  war- 
fare in  the  ranks  of 
Federal  and  Confederate 
armies  alike.  The  Fenians 
set  themselves  to  the 
secret  organisation  of 
armed  rebellion ;  and  the 

detection  of  the  conspiracy  and  arrest  of 

its   leaders     revealed    a   state   of   affairs 


IHE     FENIAN     OUTKAGHS ;     AriACK     ON     THE     PRISON     VAN     Al     MANCHESTER 
Discontent  in  Ir^and  assumed  a  serious  aspect  towards  the  end  of  1865,  the  formation  of  the  "  Fenian  Brotherhood  " 
by  the   physical-force  party  indicating  the  length  to  which   the  agitators  were   prepared  to  go.      The  Fenians  set 
themselves  to  the   secret   organisation   of   armed  rebe.lion,   as   well   as   opposing  the    authorities   in   England,  the 
above    picture   showing  an   armed  attack    on   the    Manchester   prison   van  for  the  liberation   of  Fenian   prisoners. 

5002 


THE  GREAT  EASTERN  RECOVERING  THE  LOST  ATLANTIC  CABLE 


The  largest  vessel  in  existence  when  built  in  London  in  1S54-7.  the  Great  Eastern,  proved  of  great  service  in  layings 
the  Atlantic  cables  in  1865,   and  recovered  them,   after  being  lost,  in  1866;   but  the  vessel  was  otherwise  a  failure. 


the  picture  by  R.   Dudley 


which  induced  the  Government  to  go  so 
far  as  to  suspend  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act 
in  Ireland.  The  Reform  Act  of  1832  had 
aboUshed  the  old  system  of  rotten  boroughs, 
which  placed  the  control  of  half  the 
constituencies  in  the  country  in  the 
hands  of  a  few  families  ;  it 
had  given  representation 
to  the  great  towns,  which 
had  grown  up  mainly  in  the 
course  of  the  industrial 
revolution ;  it  had  applied 
uniformity  to  the  methods 
of  election ;  it  had  trans- 
ferred the  preponderance 
of  political  power  from 
the  landed  to  the  com- 
mercial interests ;  inci- 
dentally it  had  trans- 
formed the  House  of 
Lords  into  a  conserva- 
tive organisation.  But  its 
high  franchise  had  still 
completely  excluded  the 
labouring  classes  from  the 
electorate.  For  a  time, 
those  classes  had  shown 
signs  of  a  tendency  to 
'oelieve  that  the  vote 
would  be  a  panacea  for 
all  ills,  but  the  wave  of  industrial  pro- 
sperity which  attended  the  repeal  of  the 
Corn  Laws,  and  the  development  of  Free 
Trade,  removed  the  more  pressing  incite- 
ments to  the  demand  for  political  power ; 


•'^'. 


and  Gladstone,  now  a  convinced  advocate 
of  franchise  extension,  regarded  it  mainly 
as  a  measure  of  justice  to  which  it  would 
be  wise  to  give  effect  while  it  was  still  not 
the  subject  of  political  passion.  At  the 
general  election  Disraeli  had  made  it 
■  plain  that  the  question 
would  be  forced  to  the 
front  ;  and  accordingly 
Lord  Russell,  Palmerston's 
successor  in  office,  intro- 
duced a  Reform  Bill.  Its 
:,i^-.  moderation,  however — it 
'^  would    have    added    less 

than  half  a  million  voters 
to  the  electorate  —  pre- 
vented it  from  exciting 
enthusiasm,  and  did  not 
prevent  it  from  exciting 
the  determined  opposition 
of  the  anti  -  democratic 
section 
party 
historic 
lam." 


ROBERT  BROWNING 
One  of  the  two  great  poets  of  the  Victorian 
era.  Browning  enriched  our  literature  with 
poetic  thought  of  enduring  value,  his  crown- 
ing achievement,  the  "  Ring  and  the  Book," 
appearing    in   1869.      In    ls46    ^-  --■■-■■■"' 


of  the  Liberal 
who  formed  the 
"  Cave  of  Adul- 
The  Adullamites, 
in  conjunction  with  the 
Conservatives,  all  but 
defeated  the  Bill  on  Ihe 
second     reading ;      when 


„r^ »    ...   -- he   married 

Elizabeth  Barrett,  also  a  poet  of  genms.  they  Carried  an  amend 
ment  against  the  Government  in  Com- 
mittee, the  Ministry  resigned.  For  the 
third  time  the  Conservatives  took  office, 
with  Lord  Derby  as  their  chief  and  Disraeli 
as  their  leader,  while  the  party  itself  formed 

5003 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


a  minority  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
The  defeat  of  the  Liberal  Bill  roused  a 
fervour  in  the  country  which  had  not 
attended  its  introduction.  A  mass  meet- 
ing in  favour  of  reform  was  shut  out  of 
Hyde  Park,  whereupon  the  mob  broke 
down  the  raihngs,  thereby  convincing 
most  of  those  who  had  hitherto  been 
incredulous  that  the  demand 
for   the    franchise   was   not    a 


The  Reform 
Bill 


„  .  .  mere  demagogic  figment.  The 
impression  thus  produced  was 
confirmed  by  a  series  of  demonstrations 
during  the?  latter  part  of  1866,  and  a  Re- 
form Bill  was  announced  as  a  part  of 
Disraeli's  programme  for  1867. 

His  first  intention  of  proceeding  by 
resolution — that  is,  by  obtaining  the 
assent  of  the  House  to  a  series  of  principles 
on  which  the  actual  Bill  was  then  to  be 
constructed — was  abandoned  ;  the  Cabinet 
was  split  on  the  moderate  Bill  which 
Disraeli  then  proposed  to  introduce,  and 
the  secession  of  Lord  Cranborne  (after- 
wards Lord  Salisbury)  and  others  decided 
Disraeli  to  adopt  a  much  more  audacious 
scheme  which  would  capture  support  from 
the  Opposition.  He  had  hoped  to  be 
able  to  introduce  sundry  "  fancy  fran- 
chises," and  other  securities  to  prevent  a 
complete  subversion  of  the  balance  of 
])olitical  power,  but  it  soon  became  clear 
that  if  the  Bill  was  to  pass  the  Govern- 
ment would  have  to  accede  with  very  little 
reservation  to  the  amendments  demanded 
by  the  Liberals.  The  result  was  that  in 
the  boroughs  the  franchise  was  granted 
to  all  householders  and  to  ten-pound 
lodgers,  with  a  twelve-pound  occupation 
franchise  in  the  counties ;  the  "  fancy 
franchises "  disappeared.  The  Act,  in- 
deed, went  very  much  further  than  the 
Liberal  leaders  had  proposed  to  go  in  their 
own  Bill ;  it  definitely  transformed  the 
House  of  Commons  into  a  democratic 
body,  though  the  change  had  still  to  be 
completed    by    the    assimilation    of    the 

_.        ,.          county  franchise  to  that  of  the 
Uisraeli  at      ,  ■  1  t-i 

„  .  boroughs.    1  he  same  year  was 

f  h'    P  rendered  notable  in  the  colonial 

history  of  the  Empire  by  the 
British  North  America  Act,  which  even- 
tually united  the  British  Colonies  in 
North  America,  with  the  exception  of 
Newfoundland,  in  the  federation  which 
bears  the  name  of  the  Dominion  of 
Canada.  The  condikct  of  King  Theodore 
of  Abyssinia,  who  thought  himself  justified 
in  seizing  a  number  of  British  subjects, 

5004 


confining  them  at  Magdala,  and  refusing 
to  pay  any  attention  to  representations 
demanding  their  liberation,  necessitated 
the  completely  successful  Abyssinian  ex- 
pedition, under  the  command  of  Lord 
Napier,  in  the  spring  of  the  following 
year,  1868.  By  this  time  Lord  Derby  had 
withdrawn,  leaving  Disraeli,  long  the  actual 
chief  of  the  party,  as  its  avowed  head. 

Renewed  Fenian  disturbances  empha- 
sised the  unsatisfactory  condition  of  Ire-- 
land,  which  was  destined  to  occupy  an 
exceedingly  prominent  position  in  the 
domestic  politics  of  the  succeeding  period. 
In  June  it  was  clear  that  the  Ministry  was 
practically  powerless  in  the  face  of  the 
Opposition,  and  in  the  autumn  Disraeli 
appealed  to  the  new  electorate.  The  result 
was  that  the  first  democratic  Parliament 
of  the  United  Kingdom  returned  the 
Liberals  to  power  under  Gladstone's 
leadership,  with  a  decisive  majority.  In 
English  history  the  inauguration  of  de- 
mocracy forms  an  epoch,  which  we  must 
respect  for  clearness  sake  as  a  dividing 
line  ;  but  as  the  dividing  line  in  Conti- 
nental history  is  drawn  by  the  German 
-  overthrow  of  France  and  the 

I  ^.  .i^*"!  .  establishment  of  the  German 
Intellectual     t-        •  j         j.\        r>  ■ 

„  ^      Empire    under    the    Prussian 

Movements      ,        ^  i  . 

hegemony,  we  may  here  note 

that  Great  Britain  abstained  from  taking 
any  active  part  in  those  important  events, 
industrial  movements  are  dealt  with  in 
a  separate  section.  But  in  the  intellec- 
tual movement  of  the  period  now  under 
review  we  have  to  note  the  succession  to 
Wordsworth  as  Poet  Laureate  of  Alfred 
Tennyson,  who  held  his  supreme  position 
unchallenged  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  save 
in  the  eyes  of  those  who  recognised  a 
still  mightier  genius  in  Robert  Browning, 
whose  crowning  achievement,  the  "  Ring 
and  the  Book,"  appeared  in  1869.  But 
the  world  at  large  was  more  deeply  affected 
by  another  inffuence  which  had  its  birth 
in  England.  Simultaneously,  Charles 
Darwin  and  Alfred  Russel  Wallace  de- 
veloped their  conception,  which  will  al- 
ways be  associated  with  the  name  of  the 
former,  of  the  evolution  of  species.  That 
conception  filled  the  minds  of  the  orthodox 
with  alarm,  and  called  for  an  almost 
fundamental  readjustment  of  ideas  on  the 
relations  between  "  Nature,  Man,  and 
God,"  which  a  later  generation  has  found 
to  be  in  nowise  subversive  of  the  essential 
doctrines  of  Christianity. 

Arthur  D.  Innes 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 
CONSOLIDA- 
TION OF 
ITHE  POWERS  II 


TURKEY  AFTER  THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

ADJUSTMENT    OF     THE     EASTERN    QUESTION 


'T'HE  year  of  revolutions,  1848,  which 
^  shook  Western  Europe  with  its  con- 
ceptions of  freedom,  had  left  Turkey  almost 
untouched.  Shekib  Effendi  held  a  formal 
conference  with  Pope  Pius  IX.,  in 
Rome  in  1848,  under  commission  from  the 
Sultan,  who  would  have  been  glad  to 
hand  over  to  the  Pope  the  protectorate 
of  the  CathoUcs  in  the  East  ;  the  Holy 
Father  had  sent  out  the  Archbishop 
Ferrieri  with  an  appeal  to  the  Oriental 
communities,  which,  however,  did  not  end 
in  that  union  which  the  Porte  and  the 
Pope  had  hoped  for. 

The  revolt  of  the  Boyars  and  of  the 
Polish  fugitives  in  Moldavia  and  Wallachia 
speedily  resulted  in  the  strengthening 
of  the  hospodar  Michael  Sturdza,  and 
in  the  appointment  of  Kantakuzen  in 
place  of  Bibeskos.  The  Hungarian  rising, 
on  which  the  Porte  had  staked  its  hopes 
for   the   infliction  of  a  blow  on  Austria, 

came  to  nothing,  on  the  capitu- 
ofthc  lation  of  Vilagos.    On  the  other 

^  ^.  ,.  hand,  the  Sultan,  encouraged 
Catholics       ^        .u  t         -o    ?■  \ 

by  the   presence    of  a  British 

fleet  in  the  Dardanelles,  declined  to 
hand   over  the   Hungarian   fugitives. 

Austria  and  Hungary  thereupon 
avenged  themselves  by  taking  advantage 
of  a  claim  for  damages  which  France  had 
now  set  up.  Two  parties,  the  Cathohcs 
and  the  Greeks,  were  quarrelling  about  the 
Holy  Places  in  Palestine.  The  powers 
protecting  the  Catholics  were  invariably 
France  or  the  Pope,  while  the  Greeks  had 
been  under  a  Russian  protectorate  since 
1720.  It  was  to  deliver  these  Holy 
Places  from  the  hands  of  the  Moslems 
that  the  Crusades  had  been  undertaken. 
Saladin  had  permitted  the  Latin  clergy 
to  perform  service  in  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  in  1187,  while  Robert  of 
Anjou  had  purchased  the  Holy  Places 
from  the  caliph  in  1342. 

After  the  conquest  of  the  Holy  City  by 
Sultan  Selim,  1517,  the  Georgians  secured 
part  of  Golgotha,  all  the  other  remaining 


places  being  reserved  expressly  to  the  Sultan 
in  1558.  The  title  was  further  confiimed  by 
the  capitulations  of  France  with  the  Sul- 
tans in  1535,  1621, 1629,  and  1740.  Violent 
outbreaks  of  jealousy  took  place  between 
the  Armenians,  Greeks,  and  Catholics 
concerning  these  marks  of 
The  Ho  y  favour  and  especially  concern- 
.  ^'*".*^  ""^  ing  the  possession  of  the  Holy 
m  Dispute     ggp^j^^j^^-g    In  1808  the  Greeks, 

after  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
had  been  destroyed  by  fire,  actually 
reduced  the  tombs  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon 
and  Baldwin  to  ruins.  The  Greeks, 
aided  by  Russian  money,  restored  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  ;  mean- 
while the  Latins,  whose  zeal  was  sup- 
ported by  France,  gained  possession  of 
two  chapels  in  1820. 

In  the  year  1850  the  Pope  and  the 
Catholic  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  applied 
first  to  France,  and  joined  France  in  a 
further  application  to  the  Porte,  to  secure 
protection  against  the  Greeks.  Fear  of 
Russia  induced  the  Porte  to  decide  almost 
entirely  in  favour  of  the  Greeks,  and  the 
only  concession  made  to  the  Catholics  was 
the  joint  use  of  a  church  door  in  Bethlehem. 
In  the  realm  of  the  blind  the  one-eyed 
man  is  king  ;  above  the  reactionary 
governments  rose  the  "  saviour  of  order/' 
who  had  been  carried  to  the  throne  of 
France  by  the  Revolution.  The  presiden- 
tial chair,  which  had  gained  security  and 
permanence  from  the  coup  d'etat  of 
December  2nd,  1851,  was  made  a  new 
imperial  throne  within  the  space  of  a  year 
by  the  adroit  and  not  wholly  untalented 
heir  to  the  great  name  of  Bona- 
parte. On  January  14th,  1852, 
he  had  brought  out  a  constitu  ■ 
tion  to  give  France  a  breathing 
space,  exhausted  as  she  was  by  the  pas- 
sionate struggle  for  freedom,  and  to  soothe 
the  extravagance  of  her  imaginings.  But 
this  constitution  needed  a  monarchy  to 
complete  it.  The  basis  of  a  national  im- 
perial government  was  there  in  detail  :    a 

5005 


A  New 
Throne  in 
France 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Napoleon  IIL 
Emperor 
of  France 


legislativ^e  body  elected  by  national  suff- 
rage ;  a  senate  to  guarantee  the  constitu- 
tional legality  of  legislation  ;  an  "  appeal 
to  the  people  "  on  every  proposal  which 
could  be  construed  as  an  alteration  of  the 
constitution  ;  a  strong  and  wise  executive 
to  conduct  state  business, 
whose  "  resolutions  "were 
examined  in  camera,  under- 
taking the  preparation  and 
execution  of  everything  which  could  con- 
duce to  the  Vv'elfare  of  the  people. 

The  twelve  million  francs  which 
the  energetic  senate  had  voted  as  the 
president's  yearly  income  might  equally 
well  be  applied  to  the  maintenance 
of  an  emperor.  When  the  question  was 
brought  forward,  the  country  replied  with 
7,840,000  votes  in  the 
affirmative,  while  254,000 
dissentients  appeared 
merely  as  a  protest  on  be- 
half of  the  right  of  indepen- 
dent judgment.  On  Decem- 
ber 2nd,  1852, Napoleon  III. 
was  added  to  the  number 
of  crowned  heads  in  Europe 
as  Emperor  of  France  by 
the  grace  of  God  and  the 
will  of  the  people.  No 
Power  attempted  to  refuse 
recognition  of  his  position. 
The  democratic  origin  of 
the  new  ruler  was  forgotten 
in  view  of  his  services  in 
the  struggle  against  the 
Revolution,    and    in    view 


pleasing  the  Parisians,  but  also  of 
fixing  their  attention  and  of  raising 
their  spirits  by  a  never-ending  series 
of  fresh  devices.  No  woman  was  ever 
better  fitted  to  be  a  queen  of  fashion, 
and  fashion  has  always  been  venerated 
as  a  goddess  by  the  French. 

Nothing  but  a  brilliant  foreign  policy 
was  now  lacking  to  secure  the  permanence 
of  the  Second  Empire.  It  was  not  enough 
that  Napoleon  should  be  tolerated  by  his 
fellow  sovereigns  ;  prestige  was  essential 
to  him.  There  was  no  surer  road  to  the 
hearts  of  his  subjects  than  that  of  making 
himself  a  power  whose  favour  the  other 
states  of  Europe  would  be  ready  to  sohcit. 
For  this  end  it  would  have  been  the  most 
natural  pnlicv  to  interest  himself  in  the 
.  I  flairs  of  Italy,  considering 
that  he  had  old  connections 
with  the  Carbonari,  with 
]\Iazzini,  and  with  Gari- 
l>aldi.  But  it  so  happened 
that  the  Tsar  Nicholas  was 
obliging  enough  at  this 
juncture  to  furnish  the  heir 
of  Bonaparte  with  a 
plausible  pretext  for  inter- 
fering in  the  affairs  of 
Eastern  Europe.  Napoleon 
III.  cannot  be  regarded  as 
primarily  responsible  for 
the  differences  which  arose 
in  1853  between  Britain 
and  Russia.  But  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  he  seized 


PRINCE   MENSCHiKOFF         the    opportunity    afforded 
also  of  the  respect  he  had   He  was  in  charge  of  the  Russian  forces  ^^y    ^]^g    quarrel    of    these 

1  r  J         i-  t    at  the  battles  of  the  Alma  and  Inkerman,     .  -n  j     i  •     j 

shown  for  considerations  of  ,„d  also  took  part  in  the  defence  of  Sebas:  two  Powcrs  and  hurried 
religion  and  armed  force,  topoi,  but.  in  consequence  of  iiiness,  he  the  British  Government  into 
Unfortunately  the  new  was  recalled  in  isso  and  died  in  1S69.  an  aggressive  line  of  policy 
monarch  could  not  gain  time  to  con-  which,  however  welcome  to  the  electorates 
vince  other  Powers  of  his  equality  with      of  British  constituencies  was  viewed  with 


themselves.  The  old  reigning  houses  were 
not  as  yet  sufficiently  intimate  with  him 
to  seek  a  permanent  union  through  a 
marriage  alliance  ;  yet  he  was  bound  to 
give  France  and  himself  an  heir,  for  a 
throne  without  heirs  speedily  becomes 
uninteresting.  Born  on  April  20th,  1808, 
he  was  nearly  forty-five  years  of  age,  and 
dared  not  risk  the  failure  of  a  courtship 
which  might  expose  him  to  the  general 
sympathy  or  ridicule.  Without  delay  he 
therefore  married,  on.January  ^gth,  1853, 
the  beautiful.  Countess  Eugenie  of  Teba, 
of  the  noble  Spanish  House  of  Guzman, 
who  was  then  twenty-six  years  of  age. 
She  was  eminently  capable,  not  only  of 

5006 


misgiving  by  many  British  statesmen,  and 

was  destined  to  be  of  little  advantage  to 

any  power  but  the  Second  Empire. 

The  Tsar  Nicholas  had  for  a  long  time 

past  regarded  the  partition  of  the  Turkish 

Empire  in  favour  of  Russia  as  a  step  for 

^.     _      ,    which  the  European  situation 

The  Tsar  s  n   ■.  j 

was  now  ripe.       Britain    and 

_    ,        Austria  were  the  Powers  whose 
on  Turkey     .    ,  ^  ^      u    •        1 

interests  were  most  obviously 

threatened  by  such  a  scheme.  But  he 
thought  that  Austria  could  be  disre- 
garded if  the  assent  .of  Britain  was 
secured  ;  and  as  early  as  1844  he  had 
sounded  the  British  Government,  suggest- 
ing that,   in  the  event  of    partition,   an 


TURKEY    AFTER    THE    CRIMEAN    WAR 


understanding  between  that  Power  and 
Russia  might  be  formulated  with  equal 
advantage  to  both.  His  overtures  had 
met  with  no  definite  reply  ;  but  he  appears 
to  have  assumed  that  Britain  would  not 
stand  in  his  way.     It  was  not  till  1854. 


was  increased  by  the  annoyance  which 
Napoleon  felt  at  the  arrogant  demeanour 
of  the  Russian  court  towards  himself. 

But    Napoleon,    busied   as    he  was   at 
the    moment    with    preparing     for     the 
re-establishment  of  the  empire,  could  not 
afford  to  push  his 
resistance    to    ex- 
tremes,    and    it 
would   have    been 
the  wisest    course 
^  for     Nicholas     to 

make  sure  of  .the 
prey  which  he  had 
m  view  by  occupy- 
ing the  Danube 
principalities  in 
force,  before 
Austria  and  Prus- 
sia had  finished 
quarrelling  over 
the  question  of 
federal  reforms. 
The  fact  was  that 
the  development 
of  his  plans  was 
checked  for  a 
moment  by  the 
vmexpected  sub- 
missiveness  of  the 
Sublime  Porte, 
when  it  agreed  to 
guarantee  the 
Greek  Christians 
of  the  Holy  Land 
in  the  possession  of 
the  coveted  privi- 
leges. New  pre- 
texts for  aggres- 
sion were,  how- 
ever, very  easily 
discovered ;  and 
on  May  nth,  1853, 
Prince  Menschikoff 
despatched  an  ulti- 
matum, demand- 
ing for  Russia  a 
protectorate  over 
the  fourteen 
millions  of  Greek 
Christians  who  in- 

THE    SHRINE    OF     THE    HOLY     SEPULCHRE    AT    JERUSALEM  habited  the  VariouS 

In  1S08  the  Church  of  the  Holy   Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem,   one   of  the   shrines   which   the  ponntrics      Under 

Crusaders  had  endeavoured  to  wrest  from  the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans,  was  destroyed  r^        .  c     u 

by  fire,  and  the   Greeks,  with  the   aid  of  Russian  money,   had  the  sanctuary  restored.  TurklSll  rulC.     bUO- 

mission  to  such  a  demand  was  equivalent 
to  accepting  a  partition  of  the  Turkish 


however,  that,  feeling  secure  from  further 
insurrections  in  Poland,  he  unmasked  his 
batteries  against  the  Porte.  The  tempta- 
tion to  reassert  the  French  protectorate 
over    the   Latin   Christians   of   the  East 


dominions  between  Russia  and  the  Sultan. 
Even  without  allies  the  Sultan  might  be 
expected  to  make  a  stand  ;  and  allies  were 

5007 


5008 


TURKEY     AFTER    THE    CRIMEAN    WAR 


forthcoming.  Though  Napoleon  had  been 
first  in  the  field  against  Russia,  it  was 
h-om  Great  Britain  that  Abd  ul-Mejid 
now  received  the  strongest  encourage- 
ment. Some  months  before  the  ultima- 
tum Nicholas  had  con- 
fessed his  cherished  object 
to  the  British  ambassa- 
dor ;  and  though  the 
shock  of  this  disclosure 
had  been  tempered  by  a 
proposal  that  Britain 
should  take  Egypt  and 
Crete  as  her  share  of  the 
spoil,  the  British  Govern- 
ment was  clear  that,  in 
one  way  or  another,  the 
integrity  of  the  Turkish 
Empire  must  be  secured. 
Lord  Stratford  de 
Redcliffe,  the  British 
representative  at  Con- 
stantinople, advised  that 
no  concession  whatever 
should  be  made  to  Russia. 
The  advice  was  taken. 
Although  the  Tsar  had 
probably  not  counted 
upon  war  as  a  serious 
probabilitv,  nothing  now 
remained  but  to  face  the  ^,  Alexander   ii.   of   Russia         Hungarian  rebelhon.     No 

-    ,   .  The  son  of  Tsar  Nicholas  I.,  he  succeeded  to         ■,  .„„j„   ^„  V,;^ 

consequences  of  his  pre-  the  throne  of  Russia  on  March  ind,  1S55.  advaucc  was  made  on  his 
cipitation,  to  recall  his  The  emancipation  of  23,000,000  serfs  in  1S61,  part  towards  an  under- 
ambassador    and  to  send  chiefly  due  to  the  Tsar's  own  efiforts,  was  the  standing     with     Austria 

his  troops  into  the  Danube    Srreatest    achievement   of  Alexanders   reign,    ^^^^-j      ^^^      ^^^     WeStem 


the  restoration  of  the  rights  of  Russia.'' 
Unprejiarcd  as  he  was,  he  had  every 
prospect  of  success  if  he  could  secure  the 
co-operation  of  Austria.  Had  these  two 
Powers  agreed  to  deliver  a  joint  attack 
upon  Turkey,  inducing 
Prussia,  by  means  of 
suitable  concessions,  to 
protect  their  rear,  the 
fleets  of  the  Western 
Powers  could  not  have 
saved  Constantinople, 
and  their  armies  would 
certainly  not  have'  ven- 
tured to  take  the  field 
against  the  combined 
forces  of  the  two  Eastern 
emperors.  But  the  Tsar 
overrated  his  own  powers 
and  underrated  the 
capacity  of  the  Sultan  for 
resistance.  All  that 
Nicho'^as  desired  from 
Austria  was  neutraUty ; 
and  this  he  thought  that 
he  might  confidently 
expect  after  the  signal 
service  which  Russian 
armies  had  rendered  in 
the    suppression    of    the 


principalities.  They  were  invaded  on  July 
2nd,  1853,  the  Tsar  protesting  "  that  it 
was  not  his  intention  to  commence  war, 
but  to  have  "such  security  as  would  ensure 


Powers  had  appeared  on  the  scene.  This 
happened  immediately  after  the  Black 
Sea  squadron  af  the  Turkish  fleet  had. 
been  destroyed  in  the  harbour  of  Sinope  by 


VIEW    OF    KARS    FROM    THE    EAST,    SHOWING    THE    FORTRESS,    ABOUT    THE    YEAR    ISIO 

5009 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


Admiral  Nakimoff  on  November  30th,  1853. 
The  allied  French  and  British  fleets  had 
been  in  the  Bosphoms  for  a  month  past 
with  the  object  of  protecting  Constanti- 
nople ;  now,  at  the  suggestion  of  Napoleon, 
they  entered  the  Black  Sea  in  January, 
1854.  At  this  juncture  Prince  Orloff  was 
despatched  to  Vienna,  without  authority 
.  ,  to  offer  any  concessions,  but 
R^h'n  ^    iTi<^i't^ly   to    appeal    to   Austrian 

.  ^J*     .     gratitude.    It  would  have  needed 
to  Russia    "^     ,     .  J-  1  , 

a  statesman  01  unusual  penetra- 
tion to  grasp  the  fact  that  Austrian  in- 
terests would  really  be  served  by  a  friendly 
response  to  this  dilatory  and  unskilfully 
managed  application  ;  and  such  a  states- 
man was  not  to  be  found  at  the  Hofburg. 
Schwarzenberg  had  died  very  suddenly  on 
April  5th,  1852,  and  his  mantle  had  fallen 
upon  the  shoulders  of  Count  Buol,  who 
had  no  qualifications  for  his  responsible 
position  beyond  rigid  orthodoxy  and 
some  small  experience  acquired  in  a 
subordinate  capacity  during  the  brief 
ministry  of  Schwarzenberg.  Buol  con- 
firmed his  master,  Francis  Joseph,  in  the 
erroneous  idea  that  the  interests  of 
Austria  and  Russia  in  the  East  were  dia- 
metrically opposed.  Accordingly,  Prince 
Orloff  was  rebuffed,  and  Austria  sup- 
ported a  demand  for  the  evacuation  of 
the  Danubian  principalities  issued  by  the 
Western  Powers  on  February  27th,  1854. 
France  and  Britain  were  encouraged 
by  this  measure  of  Austrian  support 
to  conclude  a  defensive  treaty  with 
the  Sultan  on  March  12th  and  to 
declare  war  on  Russia  on  March  27th.  In 
the  first  stages  of  hostilities  they  had  the 
support  of  the  Austrian  forces.  Austria 
accepted  from  Turkey  a  formal  commis- 
sion to  hold  the  Danube  principalities 
during  the  course  of  the  war,  and  co- 
operated with  a  Turkish  army  in  compelling 
the  Russian  troops  to  withdraw.  And  on 
August  8th,  Austria  joined  with  France 
and  Britain    in    demanding   that   Russia 

„      .    T»  •        should  abandon  her  protec- 
Kussia  Rejects   ,         ,  o        •  j    ^i 

,,     _  .       torate  over  Servia  and   the 

the   Demands       i-.  ,    •  t,  • 

,  ..     „  Danubian      prmcipalities, 

of  the  rowers      ,        1,11  r  •       ,  • 

should  allow  tree  navigation 
of  the  Danube,  sliould  submit  to  a  re- 
vision of  the  "Convention  of  the  Straits" 
of  July,  1841,  in  the  interests  of  the 
balance  of  power,  and  should  renounce 
the  claim  to  a  protectorate  over  the 
<  ireek  Christians  of  the  Turkish  dominions. 
When  these  demands  were  rejected  by 
Russia,  and  the  war  passed  into  its  second 

5010 


stage,  with  France  and  Britain  acting  on 
the  offensive  in  order  to  provide  for  the 
})eace  of  the  future  by  crippling  Russian 
power  in  the  East,  it  might  have  been 
expected  that  Austria  would  go  on  as  she 
had  begun.  But  at  this  point  a  fifth 
power  made  its  influence  felt  in  the  already 
complicated  situation.  Frederic  William 
IV.  did  not  go  to  the  lengths  advised  by 
Bismarck,  who  proposed  that  Prussia 
should  restore  peace  by  concentrating  an 
army  on  the  Silesian  frontier,  and  threaten- 
ing to  attack  whichever  of  the  two  neigh- 
bouring empires  should  refuse  a  peaceful 
settlement.  But  the  King  of  Prussia  was 
by  no  means  inclined  to  make  capital  out 
of  Russian  necessities,  and  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  the  suggestions  of  Austria  for  an 
armed  coalition  against  the  Tsar.  The 
result  was  that  Austria,  though  she  con- 
cluded, in  December,  1854,  ^^  offensive 
alliance  with  France  and  Britain,  did  not 
take  part  in  the  Crimean  War,  the  opera- 
tions of  which  have  already  been  described. 
The  Tsar  Nicholas  died,  worn  out  with 
chagrin  and  anxiety,  on  March  2nd,  1855. 
His  policy  had  cost  Russia  a  loss  which 

^     .     ,    was     officially      calculated     at 
Death  of     „  -^  j     <<  /-  ^ 

,.     ^          240,000   men ;     and       Generals 

j^.  .  .  January  and  February  '  had 
treated  him  even  more  severely 
than  the  allied  force  which  he  had  expected 
them  to  annihilate.  Negotiations  were 
opened  by  his  son  Alexander  II.,  who 
declined,  however,  to  limit  the  Russian 
fleet  in  the  Black  Sea.  The  allies,  there- 
fore, proceeded  with  the  attack  upon 
Sebastopol ;  and  after  a  third  unsuccessful 
attack  upon  their  position  in  the  battle  of 
the  Tchernaya,  August  i6th,  1855,  the 
Russians  were  compelled,  by  a  fearful 
cannonade  and  the  loss  of  the  Malakoff, 
September  8th,  which  was  stormed  by  , 
the  French  in  the  face  of  an  appalling  fire, 
to  evacuate  the  cit5^  The  capture  of  the 
Armenian  fortress  of  Kars  by  General 
Muravieff  in  November  enabled  the  Rus- 
sians to  claim  more  moderate  terms  of 
peace  than  would  otherwise  have  been 
possible.  On  February  6th,  1856,  a 
congress  opened  at  Paris  to  settle  the 
Eastern  question,  and  peace  was  signed 
on  March  30th  of  the  same  year. 

By  the  terms  of  the  Peace  of  Paris,  the 
Black  Sea  was  declared  neutral  and  open 
to  the  merchant  ships  of  every  nation. 
It  was  to  be  closed  against  the  warships  of 
all  nations,  except  that  Russia  and  Turkey 
were  permitted  to  equij)  not  more  than 


TURKEY    AFTER    THE    CRIMEAN    WAR 


ten  light  vessels  apiece  for  coastguard 
servnce,  and  that  any  state  interested  in 
the  navigation  of  the  Danube  might 
station  two  light  vessels  at  the  mouth  of 
that  river.  The  integrity  of  Turkey  was 
guaranteed  by  the  Pow'ers,  all  of  whom 
renounced  the  right  of  inter- 
fering in  the  internal  affairs 
of  that  state,  nothing  beyond 
certain  promises  of  reforms 
being  demanded  from  the 
Sultan  in  return  for  these 
favours.  For  the  regulation 
of  the  navigation  of  the 
Danube  a  standing  commis- 
sion of  the  interested  Powers 
was  appointed.  Moldavia  and 
Wallachia  were  left  in  depend- 
ence on  the  Sultan,  but  with 
complete  autonomy  so  far  as 
their  internal  administration 
was   concerned.      They   were 


Suez,  by  way  of  Cairo  ;  shortly  afterwards 
the  Suez  Canal  was  begim.  In  Turkey 
itself  new  roads  were  built,  harbours 
constructed,  the  postal  service  improved, 
and  telegraph  lines  erected,  especially 
after  the  events  in  Jidda  and  Lebanon 
in  1858-1860.  The  dark 
side  of  this  onward  move- 
ment was  the  shattered 
condition  of  the  finances. 
The  financial  embarrass- 
ments of  the  Porte  had 
been  steadily  inci-easing  since 
1848.  At  that  date  there  was 
no  foreign  national  debt  : 
there  were  about  200  millions 
of  small  coin  in  circulation, 
with  an  intrinsic  value  of  23^ 
per  cent,  of  their  face  value. 
There  was  a  large  amount  of 
uncontrolled  and  uncon- 
trollable paper  money,  covered 


MILOS    OBRENOVITCH  -         . 

to  pay  a  tribute,   and  their  Prince  of  Servia,  he  was  driven  out  by  uo  reservc  in  bullion,  and 

foreign  relations  were  to  be  ^ybs%qu\^nSre"caUedTnda"4rTis  there  were  heavy  arrears  in 

controlled     by     the     Porte,  death,  m  j^seo,  his  son  Michael  the  way  of  salaries  and  army 


Moldavia  recovered  that   part    ""  acknowledged  by  the  Porte, 

of   Bessarabia    which    had     been     taken      Crimean 
from  her  by  Russia,   and  in  this  way  the 
latter  Power  was  pushed  back  from  the 
Danube. 

In  Asia  Minor  the  action  of  France  and 
England  restored  the  frontier  to  tlie  status 
quo  ante.  Turkey,  henceforward  received 
into  the  concert  of  Europe,  promised  further 
reforms    in    th 


Hatti  -  humayun 
of  February 
i8th,  1856,  and 
reaffirmed  the 
civic  equality  of 
all  her  subjects. 
The  "  hat  "  was 
received  witli 
equal  reluctance 
by  both  Otto- 
mans and  Chris- 
tians. Only  since 
1867  have 
foreigners  been 
able  to  secure 
a  footing  in 
Turkey.  If  any 
advance  has 
been  made  since  these  paper  promises,  it 
is  due  not  to  the  imperial  firman  but  to 
the  increase  of  international  communica- 
tion, which  brought  the  light  of  civilisation 
to  the  very  interior  of  Asia.  In  1851  the 
first  railway  was  built  from  Alexandria  to 


ABD     UL-AZIZ 


Becoming  sultan  on  the  death  of  his  brother,  Abd  ul-Mejid,  in  H(il, 
Abdul-Aziz  found  himself  confronted  by  difficult  tasks,  and  for  ten 
years  was  guided  by  two  very  distinguished  men,  Fuad  and  Ali  Pasha. 


payments.  During  the 
War,  apart  from  an  enormous 
debt  at  home,  a  loan  of  £7,000,000 
had  been  secured  in  England.  Three 
further  loans .  were  effected  in  1858, 
i860,  and  1861.  Expenditure  rose,  in 
consequence  of  the  high  rate  of  inte- 
rest, to  ;£i4. 000,000  annually,  while  the 
revenue  amounted  to  /q, 000,000  only. 
In  1 86 1  the 
tinancial  strain 
brought  about  a 
c  o  m  m  e  r  c  i  a  I 
crisis;  an  attempt 
was  made  to 
meet  the  danger 
by  the  issue  of 
1.250  millions  of 
piastres  in  paper 
m  o  n  e  y,  w  i  t  h 
forced  circula- 
tion, W  h  i  1  e 
the  upper 
officials,  bank 
managers,  and 
contractors,  such 
as  L  a  n  g  1  a  n  d- 
Dumonceau, 
Eugene  Bontoux,  and  Moritz  Hirsch  were 
growing  rich,  the  provinces  were  im- 
poverished by  the  weight  of  taxation 
and  the  unnecessary  severity  with  which 
the  taxes  were  collected.  The  concert  of 
Europe  had  iguaranteed  the  first  state  loan. 

5011 


ALI     PASHA 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    -WORLD 


Rise  to 
Prosperity 


Hence  in  1882  originated  the  international 
administration  of  the  Turkish  public 
debt  ;  and  this  became  the  basis  of  the 
claim  for  a  general  supervision  of  Turkish 
affairs  by  Western  Europe,  which  was 
afterwards  advanced  in  the  case  of 
Armenia  and  Crete. 

The  Porte  was  thus  unable  to  prevent 

the    appointment    of    Colonel    Alexander 

.  ,    Johann  Cusa,  at  the  instance  of 

RoumaDia  s  y^^^^^^  ^^  pi-i^ce  of  Moldavia 

on  January  29th  and  of  Walla- 
chia  on  February  17th  ;  the 
personal  bond  of  union  thus  established 
between  these  vassal  states  resulted  in 
their  actual  union  as  Roumania  in  1861. 
Cusa's  despotic  rule  was  overthrown  on 
February  22nd,  1866,  and  under  the  new 
prince,  Charles  of  Hohenzollern.  the 
country  enjoyed  a  rapid  rise  to  prosperity. 
although  the  political  in- 
capacity of  the  people, 
the  licence  granted  by 
the  constitution,  and  the 
immorality  of  the  upper 
classes  did  not  conduce 
to  general  ordei .  In  Ser- 
via  the  Sultan's  creature. 
Alexander  Karageorgc- 
vitch,  was  forced  to  abdi- 
cate on  December  21st- 
22nd,  1858,  the  family  of 
Obrenovitch  was  recalled. 
and  after  the  death  of  Milos 
at  the  age  of  eighty,  on 
September  26th,  i860, 
Michael  Obrenovitch  II. 
was   elected    and    acknow- 


and  French  consuls  at  Jidda,  in  Arabia, 
and  in  i860  the  atrocities  of  the  Druses 
against  the  Christians  in  Lebanon  and 
Damascus.  To  anticipate  the  interference 
of  the  Powers,  the  Grand  Vizir,  Fuad 
Pasha,  one  of  the  greatest  statesmen  that 
Turkey  has  produced  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  was  sent  to  the  spot  with  un- 
limited powers  ;  but  it  was  not  until  a 
French  army  of  occupation  appeared  that 
the  leaders  in  high  places  were  brought 
to  punishment,  and  the  province  of 
Lebanon  was  placed  under  a  Christian 
governor.  The  chief  service  performed  by 
Fuad  was  that  of  introducing  the  vilayet 
constitution,  the  division  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire  into  sanjaks  and  kasas,  by  which 
means  he  had  already  produced  great 
effects  on  the  Danube  provinces.    Had  it 


not  l^een  tor 


the  opposition  of  the  whole 
company  of  the  Old  Turks, 
the  imams,  mollas,  miite- 
velis,  hojas,  the  dervishes, 
and  softas,  in  the  mosques, 
the  schools,  the  monasteries, 
and  also  the  ccffee-houses. 
he  would  possibly  have 
succeeded  in  cleansing  the 
great  Augean  stable  of 
Arabic  slothlulness. 

Upon  the  death  of  Abd 
ul-Meiid.  on  June  26th, 
1861,  his  brother,  the  new 
ruler,  Abd  ul-Aziz,  1861- 
1876,  was  confronted  by 
difficult  tasks,  and  the  ques- 
tion arose  as  to  his  capacity 
for  dealing  with  them.    The 


GEORGE    I.    OF    GKEECE 

The  despotic   rule  cf  King  Otto  led, to 
his  deposition,   and  in  lsG3  a  new  king 

ledged  by  the  Porte.    Undei    r^'sorof^he^K^^rof  °DenmaA'   good-natured  Abd  ul-Mejid 
the    revolutionary    and  From  an  eariy  pi.otograph  had  generally    allowed    his 

literary  government  of  the    "  Omladina,"       Grand  Vizirs  to  govern  on  his  behalf,  but 


"  youth,"  Servia  became  the  scene  of 
Panslavonic  movements,  hostile  to  Hun- 
gary, which  spread  to  the  soil  of  Bosnia 
and  Herzegovina,  and  even  endangered 
the  absolute  monarchy  of  Michael. 

On  March  6th,  1867,  the  last  Turkish 
troops  were  withdrawn  from  Servian  soil, 
in  accordance  w'th  the  agreements  of  Sep- 
tember 4th,  1862,  and  March  3rd,  1867. 
After  the  murder  of  the  prince,  on  June 
loth,  1868,  the  Skupshtina  appointed  the 
last  surviving  Obrenovitch,  Prince  Milan, 
then  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  passed  the 
new  constitution  on  June  29th,  1869. 
An  additional  consequence  was  that 
Turkey  became  again  involved  in  disputes 
with  the  Western  Powers  ;  in  1858  the 
occasion  was    the  murder  o^  the  British 

5012 


Programme 

of  the 

New  Sultac 


after  1858,  when  the  royal  privy  exchequer 
had  been  declarjed  bankrupt,  he  relapsed 
into  indolence  and  weak  sensuality.  Not- 
withstanding the  shattered  state  of  the 
empire,  his  brother  and  successor,  Abd  ul- 
Aziz,  promised  a  government  of 
peace,  of  retrenchment,  and 
reform.  To  the  remote  observer 
he  appeared  a  character  of 
proved  strength,  in  the  prime  of  life,  and 
inspired  with  a  high  enthusiasm  for  his  lofty 
calling.  All  these  advantages,  however, 
were  paralysed  by  the  criminal  manner  in 
which  his  education  had  been  neglected. 
The  ruler  of  almost  forty  millions  of  subjects 
was,  at  that  time,  scarcely  able  to  write  a 
couple  of  lines  in  his  own  language.  The 
result  was  the  failure  of  his  first  attempts 


TURKEY    AFTER    THE    CRIMEAN    WAR 


to  bring  some  order  into  the  administra- 
tion and  the  finances,  a  failure  which 
greatly  discouraged  him.  Until  1871  he 
allowed  himself  to  be  guided  by  these  two 
distinguished  men,  Fuad  and  Ali  Pasha ; 
at  the  same  time  his  want  of  firmness  and 
insight,  his  nerv'ous  excitabilit}',  which 
often  made  him  unaccountable  for  his 
actions,  and  his  senseless  and  continually 
increasing  extravagance  led  him,  not  only 
to  the  arms  of  Ignatieff,  "  the  father  of 
lies,"  but  also  to  his  own  destruction. 

In  the  commercial  treaties  of  1861-1862 
gunpowder,  salt,  and  tobacco  had  been 
excepted  from  the  general,  remission  of 
duties.  The  salt  tax,  which  was  shortly 
afterwards  revived,  was  a  lamentable 
mistake.  Sheep  farmers  suffered  terribly 
under  it,  for  the  lack  of  salt  produced 
fresh  epidemics  every  year  among  the 
flocks  and  destroyed  the  woollen  trade  and 
the  manufacture  of  carpets.  The  culture  of 
the  olive  and  tobacco  also  suffered  under 
the  new  imposts,  while  internal  trade  was 
hindered  by  octroi  duties  of  every  kind. 
To  these  difhculties  military 

'!!''  t^k"^      and  political  comphcations 
on  the  Throne  jj    j      t-  •    h     j 

,_  were  added.   Especially  dan- 

of  Greece  , ,  1 ,  ■    "^      . 

gerous  was  the  revolt  m  Crete, 

in  the  spring  of  1866 ;  in  1863  Greece  had 

expelled  the  Bavarian  prince  and  chosen 

a  new  king,  George  I.,  formerly   Prince 

Wilhelm    of     Schleswig-Holstein-Sonder- 

burg-Gliicksburg,    and    had   received  the 

sev' en  Ionian  Islands  from  England  in  1864 ; 

she  now  supported  her  Cretan  brothers 

and   co-religionists  with   money,    armies, 

troops,    and   ships,    notwithstanding   the 

deplorable  condition  of  her  own  finances. 

Only  when  an  ultimatum  had  been  sent 

to  Greece  did  the  Porte  succeed  in  crushing 

this   costly   revolt    under   pressure    from 

a    conference    of     the   Powers    in    i86g. 

Meanwhile,   Ismail  Pasha   of  Egypt   had 

received,  in  1866  and  1867,  the  title  of 

"  Khedive"  and  the  right  to  the  direct 

succession.         Undisturbed    by    English 

jealousy,    the    "  viceroy "    continued   the 

projects  of  his  predecessor,  especially  the 

construction  of  the  Suez  Canal,  which  had 

been  begun  by  Lesseps  ;    he  increased  his 

army,  built  warships,  appointed  his  own 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  in  the  person 

of  the  Armenian  Nubar  Pasha,  travelled  in 


Europe,  and  invited  the  courts  of  several 
states  to  a  brilliant  opening  of  the  panal 
in  1869  ;  by  means  of  a  personal  visit  to 
Constantinople,  by  large  presents  and  an 
increase  of  tribute,  he  further  secured  in 
1873  the  sovereignty  which  he  had  assumed. 
In  the  summer  of  1867  the  Sultan 
appeared  in  Western  Europe  accompanied 
TL  r-  J  by  Fuad  ;  it  was  the  first  occa- 
Tour  of  ^^^^  ^^  Ottoman  history  that 
..  e  ,,  a  sultan  had  passed  the  fron- 
thc   Sultan.    ,.  ,  ,  .  -  .  ^    r       ^, 

tiers  ot  his  empire,  not  for  the 

purpose  of  making  conquests,  but  to  secure 
the  favour  of  his  allies.  He  had  already 
visited  the  Khedive  in  Egypt  in  1863. 
Now  he  saw  the  World's  Exhibition  at 
Paris,  and  that  of  London  in  June,  1863. 
On  July  24th  he  paid  his  respects  to  the 
King  and  Queen  of  Prussia  at  Coblentz 
and  returned  to  Constantinople  by  way  of 
Vienna  on  August  7th.  The  success  of  Fuad 
Pasha  in  inducing  his  master  to  take  this 
step  was  a  masterpiece  of  diplomacy 
and  patriotism  ;  unfortunately,  the 
journey,  which  had  cost  enormous  sums, 
did  not  produce  the  hoped-for  results. 

On  February  nth,  1869,  Fuad  died,  as 
also  did  his  noble  friend  and  rival,  Ali-,  on 
September  6th,  1871  ;  thereupon,  simul- 
taneously with  the  fall  of  the  Second  Em- 
pire, Ottoman  politics  entered  upon  that 
path  which  for  Napoleon  III.  began  before 
the  walls  of  Sebastopol  and  ended  at 
Sedan.  In  place  of  the  influence  of  the 
Western  Powers  the  eagles  of  Russia  and 
Prussia  were  heuceforward  victorious  on 
the  Bosphorus.  Upon  his  death-bed  Fuad 
had  written  from  Nizza  on  January  3rd, 
1869,  to  Sultan  Abd  ul-Aziz  :  "  The  rapid 
advance  of  our  neighbours  and  the 
incredible  mistakes  of  our  forefathers 
have  brought  us  into  a  dangerous  position  ; 
if  the  threatening  collision  is  to 
Death-bed     ^^  avoided,  your  Majesty  must 

Warning  of  ^^.^,^j^  ^^^^j^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  j^.^^j 
Fuad  Pasha  ^,^^^.    ^^^^^j^    ^^^    j^^^j^    ^^^j^^  „ 

The  committee  of  officials  which  travelled 
through  the  provinces  of  the  empire  lu 
1864  expressed  this  thought  even  more 
bluntly  :  "  The  officials  grow  rich  upon 
the  taxes,  while  the  people  suffer,  working 
like  slaves  under  the  whip.  The  income 
of  the  taxes  is  divided  among  the  officials 
instead  of  flowing  into  the  state  exchequer." 


5013 


50T4 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 
CONSOLIDA- 
TION  OF   THE 
POWERS  111 


THE   SECOND    EMPIRE    OF    FRANCE 

THE    ASCENDANCY   OF   NAPOLEON    III. 
AND     THE     WANING     OF     HIS      STAR 


CpOR  a  short  time,  the  diplomatic  results 
^  of  the  Crimean  war  made  Napoleon 
III.  appear  to  be  the  most  powerful  ruler 
in  Europe  ;  and  he  took  upon  himself 
the  part  of  a  second  Metternich.  He  con- 
cealed his  actual  position  and  succeeded 
in  inspiring  Europe  with  a  wholly  un- 
founded belief  in  the  strength  of  his 
country  and  himself.  The  World's  Exhibi- 
.tion  of  1855,  and  the  congress  which  im- 
mediately followed,  restored  Paris  to  her 
former  prestige  as  the  centre  of  Europe. 
Pilgrims  flocked  to  the  city  of  pleasure 
and  good  taste,  vipon  the  adornment  of 
which  the  Prefect  of  the  Seine,  Georges 
Eugene  Haussmann,  was  permitted  to 
expend  ^^^4, 000, 000  per  annum. 

The  sound  governmental  principle  laid 
down  by  the  first  Napoleon,  of  keeping 
the  fourth  estate  contented  by  high  wages, 
and  thus  securing  its  good  behaviour  and 

,     silent  approval  of  an  absolute 
Napoleon  s  t  r  n  1         ii, 

^      .    ,       monarchy,   was  followed  with 

w  .  .  ,  entire  success  lor  the  "moment 
Mist  ak  c     .        ,,  ,,  ,  ,, 

m    the        restored        empire. 

However,  Napoleon  IIT,  like  Metternich, 
was  penetrated  with  the  conviction  that  the 
ruler  must  of  necessity  be  absolute.  His 
greatest  mistake  consisted  in  the  fact  that 
he  refrained  from  giving  a  material  content 
to  the  constitutional  forms  under  which 
his  government  was  established.  By  this 
means  he  might  have  united  to  himself 
that  section  of  the  population  which  is  not 
subject  to  the  influence  of  caprice. 

The  "legislative  body"  should  have 
been  made  representative,  and  should  have 
been  given  control  of  the  finances  and 
the  right  of  initiating  legislative  proposals. 
Such  a  change  would  have  been  far  more 
profitable  to  the  heir  who  was  born  to 
the  emperor  on  March  i6th,  1856,  than  the 
illusory  refinements  which  gained  the 
Second  Empire  the  exaggerated  approba- 
tion of  all  the  useless  epicures  in  existence. 
Russia  seemed  to  have  been  reduced  to 


Russia 
After 
the  War 


impotency  for  a  long  time  to  come,  and 
her  power  to  be  now  inferior  to  that  of 
Turkey.  She  proceeded  to  accommodate 
herself  to  the  changed  conditions.  Alex- 
ander IL  assured  his  subjects  that  the 
war  begun  by  his  father  had  improved  and 
secured  the  position  of  Christianity  in 
the  East,  and  proceeded  with 
magnificent  dispassionateness  to 
make  overtures  to  the  French 
ruler,  who  had  just  given  him  so 
severe  a  lesson.  The  Russian  politicians 
were  correct  in  their  opinion  that  Napoleon 
was  relieved  to  have  come  so  w:ell  out 
of  his  enterprises  in  the  East,  and  that 
they  need  fear  no  immediate  disturbance 
from  that  quarter. 

Napoleon  HL  showed  himself  worthy 
of  this  confidence.  With  real  diplomacy 
he  met  Russia  half  way,  respected  her 
desires  whenever  he  could  do  so,  and 
received  a  tacit  assurance  that  Russia 
would  place  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  his 
designs  against  any  other  Power.  Though 
Austria  had  not  fired  a  shot  against 
the  Russian  troops,  she  proved  far  less 
accommodating  than  France,  whose  troo])s 
had  triumphantly  entered  Sebastopoi. 
Austria  had  declined  to  repay  the  help 
given  her  in  Hungary  ;  she  had  also 
appeared  as  a  rival  in  the  Balkans,  and 
had  only  been  restrained  by  Prussia  from 
dealing  Russia  a  fatal  blow.  Thus  Austria's 
weakness  would  imply  Russia's  strength, 
and  would  enable  her  the  more  easily 
to  pursue  her  Eastern  policy. 
Prussia  had  fallen  so  low  that 
no  interference  was  to  be  feared 
from  her  in  the  event  of  any 
great  European  complication,  though  there 
was  no  immediate  a])prehension  of  any 
such  difficulty.  In  a  fit  of  mental  weak- 
ness which  foreshadowed  his  ultimate 
collapse,  Frederic  William  IV.  had  con- 
centrated his  thoughts  upon  the  possi- 
bility   of    recovering    his   principality    of 

5015 


Prussia 


the  Dust 


5010 


5017 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Neuenberg.  Success  was  denied  him. 
After  the  ill-timed  attempt  at  revolution, 
set  on  foot  by  the  Prussian  party  in  that 
province  on  September  3rd,  1856,  he  was 
forced  to  renounce  definitely  all  claim  to 
the  province  on  May  26th,  1857.  The  fact 
that  the  principality  was  of 
no  value  to  Prussia  did  not 
remove  the  impression  that 
the  German  state  had  again 
suffered  a  defeat.  Napoleon 
was  one  of  the  few  statesmen 
who  estimated  the  power  of 
Prussia  at  a  higher  rate  than 
chd  the  majority  of  his  con- 
temporaries ;  in  a  conversation 
with  Bismarck  in  March,  1857, 
he  had  already  secured 
Prussia's  neutrality  in  the 
event  of  a  war  in  Italy,  and 
had  brought  forward  proposals 


was  now  necessary  to  apply  the  second 
fundamental  principle  of  the  Bonapartist 
rulers,  to  avoid  any  thorough  investigation 
of  internal  difficulties  by  turning  attention 
to  foreign  affairs,  by  assuming  a  command- 
ing position  among  the  Great  Powers,  and 
by  acquiring  military  fame 
when  possible.  Polignac  had 
already  made  a  similar  at- 
tempt. He  had  failed  through 
want  of  adroitness  ;  the 
capture  of  Algiers  came  too 
late  to  prevent  the  July 
Revolution.  Napoleon  did 
not  propose  to  fail  thus,  a%i 
for  once,  at  least,  his  at- 
tempt proved  successful. 
Naturally  the  methods  by 
which  Ministers  had  begun 
war  under  the  "  old  regime" 
were  impossible  for  a  popular 
emperor.  Moreover,  Napoleon 
III.  was  no  soldier  ;  he  could 


of  more  importance  than  the  ^^^^^  cavour 

programme       of      the       union.  ^  Uberal  statesman,  he   laboured 

With    the    incorporation    of  strenuously  for  the  restoration  of  uot   merely  wave  his  sword, 

Hanover     and     Holstein      a  Italian  nationality,  and  at  last,  like    his     great     uncle,    and 

northern    sea-power    was    to  '"  isei    he  witnessed  the  sum-  announce     to    Europe     that 

injiLiicin     :5<.<x  pw>vv-i      vvu...  momngof  an   Italian    Parliament.  .   .                  ,,      ,       -             ^ 

be  founded  strong  enough,  m  this    or    that    dynasty   must 


alliance  with  France,  to  oppose  England. 
All  that  he  asked  in  return  was  a  "  small 
delimitation  "  of  the  Rhine  frontier  ;  this, 
naturally,  was  not  to  affect  the  left  bank, 
the  possession  of  which  would  oblige  France 
to  extend  her  territory  and  would  rouse  a 
new  coalition  against  her.  Bismarck 
declined  to  consider  any 
further  projects  in  this 
direction,  and  sought  to  ex- 
tract an  undertaking  from  the 
emperor  that  Prussia  should 
not  be  involved  in  any  great 
political  combination.  Great 
Britain's  resources  were 
strained  to  the  utmost  by 
conflicts  with  Persia  and 
China,  and  by  the  outbreak  of 
the  Indian  Mutiny,  and  she 
needed  not  only  the  goodwill 
but  the  friendly  offices  of 
France.    •  For   these   reasons 


URBANO     RATTAZZI 


be  deposed.  Principles  must  be  follovv^ed 
out,  modern  ideas  must  be  made  trium- 
phant ;  at  the  least,  the  subject  nation 
must  be  made  to  believe  that  the  individual 
was  merely  the  imj^lement  of  the  great 
forces  of  activity  latent  in  peoples.  He 
had  turned  constitutionalism  to  excellent 
account  ;  the  struggles  of  the 
Liberal  paity  to  obtain  a 
share  in  the  government  had 
tnded  by  raising  him  to  the 
throne.  Another  idea  with 
^\'hich  modern  Europe  was 
lully  penetrated,  that  of 
nationahty,  might  now  be 
exploited  by  an  adroit  states- 
man. Napoleon  neither  ex- 
aggerated nor  underestimated 
its  potency  ;  only  he  had  not 
realised  how  deeply  it  was 
rooted  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people.     He  knew  that  it  was 


the     Tory     Ministrv,     which  He  was  twice  Prime  Minister  of   constautlv  founded  upon  folly 
came  into  office  in  i858  upon  akVe'^^^nt^'^^HeVV^^^^^       ^nd   presumption,    and    that 


the  fall  of  Palmerston,  could  each  occasion,  resigning:  through    the  participation  of  the  pcoplc 
not    venture    to   disturb   the  ^^    °PP,"sition     to      Garibaldi. 
good  understanding  with  Napoleon,  how- 


ever strongl}^  inclined  to  this  course. 
Napoleon  was  thus  free  to  confront  the 
apparently  feasible  task  of  increasing  his 
influence  in  Europe  and  conciliating  the 
goodwill  of  his  subjects  to  the  empire.     It 

5018 


in  the  task  of  solving  state 
problems  fostered  the  theory  that  the 
concentration  of  the  national  strength  was 
ever  a  more  important  matter  than  the 
maintenance  of  the  state  ;  hence  he 
inferred  the  value  of  the  national  idea  as  a 
means    of   opening    the    struggle    against 


5019 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


existing  political  institutions.      But  of  its 

moral  power  he  had  no  conception  ;    he 

never  imagined  that,  in  the  fulness  of  time, 

it    would    become    a    constructive    force 

capable      of      bending 

statecraft    to    its    will. 

Here  lay  the  cause  of 

his  tragic  downfall — he 

was  like  the  apprentice 

of     some    political 

magician,     unable     to 

dismiss       the       spirits 

whom  he   had  evoked 

when     they     became 

dangerous. 

His  gaze  had  long 
been  directed  towards 
Italy ;  the  dreams  of 
his  youth  returned  upon 
him  in  new  guise  and 
lured  him  to  make  that 
country  the  scene  of  his 
exploits.  It  was,  how- 
ever, in  the  East,  which 
had  already  proved  so 
favourable 


destroyed  Austria's  hopes  of  extending 
her  territory  on  the  Black  Sea,  but  also 
became  a  permanent  cause  of  disturbance 
in  her  Eastern  possessions,  was  now  to 
justify  its  application  in 
Italy.  The  attempt  of 
the  Italian.  Orsini,  and 
his  three  associates,  who 
threw  bombs  at  the 
imperial  couple  in  Paris 
on  January  14th,  1858, 
wounding  both  of  them 
and  141  others,  is  said 
to  have  materially  con- 
tributed to  determine 
Napoleon's  decision  for 
the  Italian  war.  He  was 
intimidated  by  the 
weapons  which  the 
Nationalist  and  Radical 
party  now  began  to 
employ,  for  Orsini  in 
the  very  face  of  death 
appealed  to  him  to  help 
his  oppressed  fatherland, 
and  it  became  manifest 


GARIBALDI 
to       NapO-     The  central  figure  in  the  battle  for  Italian  independ 

eon's  enterprises,  that   ^^lit^l'^^^^^e'Z^riL'l^l!^^^^  that    this    outrage   was 
he  was  to  make  his  first    struggle  tiii  itaiy  became  a  nation,  with  Victor  merely    the    cxprcssion 

,,  ,       ,  ■     ,        -,  Emmanuel  as  her  king,  and  then  retiring  to  Caprera.        ,•  x-  i  -i.  j. 

attempt    to    introduce  ^        '^         of  national  excitement, 

the  principle  of  nationality  into  the  concert       A  similar  state  of  tension  existed  in  the 

Sardinian  state,  its  dynasty  and  its 
leader.  Count  Camillo  Cavour,  who  had 
been  the  Prime  Minister  of  King  Victor 
Emmanuel  since  November  4th,  1852.  At 
first  of  moderate  views, 
he  had  joined  the 
Liberals  under  Urbano 
Rattazzi  and  Giovanni 
Lanza,  and  had  entered 
into  relations  with  the 
revolutionary  party 
throughout  the  penin- 
sula. He  had  succeeded 
111  inspiring  their  leaders 
,/  with  the  conviction 
that  the  movement  for 
Italian  unity  must  pro- 
ceed from  Piedmont. 
Vincenzo  Gioberti, 
Daniel  Manin,  and 
Giuseppe  Garibaldi 
adopted  Cavour's  pro- 


of Europe.    Turkey  was  forced  to  recognise 
■;he  rights   of   the  Roumanian  nation,  of 
which  she  had  hardly  so  much  as  heard 
when  the  question  arose  of  the  regulation 
of   the    government   in 
the  Danube  principali- 
ties.   She  could  offer  no 
opposition       when 
Moldavia     and      Wal- 
lachia,   each   of    which 
could  elect  a  hospodar 
tributary  to  the  Sultan, 
united  in   their   choice 
of    one  and    the    same 
personality.     Colonel 
Alexander  Johann  Cusa, 
and  appointed  him  their 
prince  at  the  beginning 
of  1859  on  January  29th 
and  February  17th. 

By  this  date  a  new 
rising  .of  the  kingdom 
of      Sardinia      against    He  ascended  the  throne  of  Sardinia  in  1849,  in  gramme,  and  promised 

\        ,    •  11  1  1        succession    to    his    father,    and    in    J8()l     he    was     °  ^       -r      i  i  i 

Austria       had       ah'eady     proclaimed  King  of  Italy  at  Turin,  reigning  until    SUpport      if      he      WOUld 

been  arranged  for  the   ^is   death,   which   occurred   in   January,   i,s78.   organise    a    new   rising 


t'S^-^fi 


VICTOR    EMMANUEL    II. 


purpose  of  overthrowing  the  foreign 
government  in  Italy.  The  victorious 
progress  of  the  national  idea  in  the 
Danube    principalities,    which    not     only 

5020 


against  Austria.  Cavour,  with  the  king's 
entire  approval,  now  made  this  rising  his 
primary  object  ;  he  was  confident  that 
Napoleon    would  not    permit  Austria  to 


"ioai 


5022 


50-JJ 


THE    EMPEROR    NAPOLEON    III.    AT    THE     BATTLE    OF    SOLFERINO 

From  the  painting  by  Mcissoiiier  in  lli'-   \  -uvre 


SOLFERINO:  "ONE  OF  THE  BLOODIEST  CONFLICTS  OF  THE  CENTURY' 
On  June  24th,  1859,  was  fought  the  battle  of  Solferino,  "  one  of  the  bloodiest  conflicts  of  the  century.  "  Three  hundred 
thousand  men,  with  nearly  8()((  guns,  were  opposed  in  the  terrible  fight,  and  while  the  French  had  no  definite  plan  of 
action,  the  Austrian  leaders  were  unable  to  avoid  a  series  of  blunders.  Rarely,  indeed,  have  troops  been  handled 
with  so  little  generalship.  In  the  battle,  which  ended  in  the  defeat  of  the  Austrians,  no  fewer  than  12.000  Austrians 
and  nearly  17.000  allies  were  killed  or  wounded,  and  9,000  Austrian  prisoners  were  taken,  as  against  1,200  Italians. 

From  the  painting  by  Jules  Rigo  in  the  Versailles  Museum 
5024 


THE    SECOND    EMPIRE    OF    FRANCE 


aggrandise  herself  by  reducing  Italy  a 
second  time.  The  Austrian  Government 
played  into  his  hands  by  declining  to  con- 
tinue the  arrangements  for  introducing  an 
entirely  autonomous  and 
national  form  of  admini- 
stration into  Lombardy 
and  Venice,  and  by  the 
severity  with  which  the 
aristocratic  participants 
in  the  Milan  revolt  of 
February  6th,  1853,  were 
punished.  Sardinia 
sheltered  the  fugitives, 
raised  them  to  honour- 
able positions,  and  used 
every  means  to  provoke 
a  breach  with  Austria. 
The  schemes  of  the  House 
of  Savoy  and  its  adherents 
were  discovered  by  the 
Viennese  government,  but 
too  late  ;   they  were  too 

THE     EMPEROR     NAPOLEON 


Sardinia  at  once  began  the  task  of  mobili- 
sation, for  which  preparation  had  been 
already  made  by  the  construction  of  250 
miles  of  railway  lines.  On  January  ist, 
1859,  ^t  the  reception  on 
New  Year's  Day, Napoleon 
plainly  announced  to  the 
Austrian  ambassador, 
Hiibner,  his  intention  of 
helping  the  Italian  cause. 
On  January  17th,  the 
community  of  interests 
between  France  and 
Sardinia  was  reaffirmed 
by  the  engagement  of 
Prince  Joseph  Napoleon 
— ^Plon-Plon — 'Son  of 
Jerome  of  Westphalia,  to 
Clotilde,  the  daughter  of 
Victor  Emmanuel.  Even 
then  the  war  might  have 
been  avoided  had  Austria 
accepted  British  inter- 
^"-      vention  and  the  condition 


late   in  recognising   that  J"^    i^Mi-^KUK    iN^^ui^nuiN    im 

•J      -      °,.       .  Many  improvements  in  internal  administrativju        ,  x       i     j- 

Lombardy  and  Venice- were  carried  out  under  Napoleon  in.,  but  the  of  mutual  disarmament, 
must  be  reconciled  to  the  emperor's  policy  was  one  of  vacillation,  and  Napolcon  dared  not  pro- 
Austrian   supremacy   by  the  story  is  told  that  Bismarck  on  one  occasion  y^j^e    England,    and    in 

,        .         ,,        ^         ■  i         r  n  described  him  as  "an  undetected  incapable."  r  ■,    r-  a 

relaxing  the  seventy  of  the 


military  occupation.  Too  late,  again,  was 
the  Archduke  Maximilian,  the  enlightened 
and  popular  brother  of  the  emperor,  des- 
patched as  viceroy  to  Milan, 
to  concentrate  and  strengthen 
the  Austrian  party.  Cavour 
gave  the  Lombards  no  rest  ; 
by  means  of  the  national  union 
he  spread  the  fire  throughout 
[taly,  and  continually  incited 
the  Press  against  Austria. 
The  Austrian  Government  was 
^^oon  forced  to  recall  its  am- 
bassador from  Turin,  and 
Piedmont  at  once  made  the 
counter  move. 

In  July,  1858,  Napoleon 
cam.e  to  an  agreement  with 
Cavour  at  Plombieres ;  France 
was  to  receive  Savoy  if 
Sardinia  acquired  Lombardy 
and  Venice,  while  the  county 

of  Nizza  was  to  be  the  price         Joseph   napoleon 
of  the  annexation  of  Parma  7^^  =°"  °!Jr°!^^  "i^."*!'!!','! 


formed  Cavour  on  April 
2oth  that  it  was  advisable  to  fall  in  with 
the  British  proposals.  But  the  Cabinet  of 
Vienna  had  in  the  meantime  been  so  ill-ad- 
vised as  to  send  an  ultimatum 
to  Sardinia  threatening  an 
invasion  within  thirty  days  if 
Sardinia  did  not  forthwith  and 
unconditionally  promise  to 
disarm.  This  action  was  the 
more  ill-timed,  as  Austria  was 
herself  by  no  means  prepared 
to  throw  the  whole  of  her 
forces  into  Italy.  By  accept- 
ing British  intervention  Cavour 
evaded  the  necessity  of  reply- 
ing to  the  ultimatum.  France 
declared  that  the  crossing  of 
the  Ticino  by  the  Austrians 
would  be  regarded  as  a  casus 
belli.  The  crossing  was  none 
the  less  effected  on  April  30th, 
1850.  The  war  which  then 
began  brought  no  special 
honour  to  any  of  the  com- 
batants, though  it  materially 


.    -.     .  he  married  Clotilde,  the  daughter  of 

and  Modena.      Ihe  House  of  victor  Emmanuel,  thus  strength- 
Savoy     thus     sacrificed     its  ening  the  community  of  interests  altered  the  balance  of  power  lu 
ancestral    territories   to   gain  "between    France  and   Sardinia.   Europe.      In  the   first   place, 


the    paramountcy    in    Italy.     The    term 

'Italy"    then    implied    a    federal    state 

which  might  include  the  Pope,  the  Grand 

Duke  of  Tuscany,  and  the  King  of  Naples. 


the  Austrian  ai^my  showed  itself  entirely 
unequal  to  the  performance  of  its  new 
tasks  ;  in  respect  of  equipment  it  was  far 
behind  the  times,  and  much  of  its  innate 

5025 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


capacity  had  disappeared  since  the  cam- 
paigns of  1848  and  1849  ;  leadership 
and  administrative  energy  were  alike 
sadly  to  seek.  Half-trained  and  often 
wholly  uneducated  officers  were  placed  in 
highly  responsible  positions.  High  birth, 
irrespective  of  capacity,  was  a  passport  to 
promotion  ;  a  line  presence  and  a  kind 
^^    ■       ^  .         of  dandified  indifference  to 

The  Austrian       1  i    j  j 

.         ^         ,    knowledge   and    experience 

Army  Corrupt  ^  ,  j     j.i 

.  ;  . ,      were   more    esteemed   than 

and  Incapable  -.-,  ■    .  ^, 

any  military  virtues.    Ihere 

was  loud  clashing  of  weapons,  but  general 
ignorance  as  to  their  proper  use.  The 
general  staff  was  in  an  unusually  benighted 
condition  ;  there  were  few  competent  men 
available,  and  these  had  no  chance  of 
employment  unless  they  belonged  to  one 
of  the  groups  and  coteries  which  made  the 
distribution  of  offices  their  special  business. 
At  the  end  of  April,  1859,  ^^^^  army  in 
Italy  amounted  to  little  more  than  100,000 
men,  although  Austria  was  said  to  have 
at  command  520,000  infantry,  60,000 
cavalry,  and  1,500  guns.  The  commander- 
in-chief.  Count  Franz  Gyulay,  was  an 
honourable  and  fairly  competent  officer, 
but  no  general.  His  chief  of  the  staff, 
Kuhnenfeld,  had  been  sent  to  the  seat  01 
war  from  his  professorial  chair  in  the 
military  academy,  and  while  he  displayed 
the  highest  ingenuity  in  the  invention  of 
combinations,  was  unable  to  formulate  or 
execute  any  definite  plan  of  campaign. 

With  his  100,000  troops  Gyulay  might 
easily  have  overpowered  the  70,000  Pied- 
montese  and  Italian  volunteers  who  had 
concentrated  on  the  Po.  The  retreat  from 
that  position  could  hardly  have  been 
prevented  even  by  the  French  generals 
and  a  division  of  French  troops,  which 
had  arrived  at  Turin  on  April  26th, 
1859  ''  however,  the  Austrian  leaders  were 
apprehensive  of  being  outflanked  on  the  Po 
by  a  disembarkation  of  the  French  troops 
at  Genoa.  Gyulay  remained  for  a  month 
in  purposeless  inaction  in  the  Lomellina, 
the  district  between  Ticino 
and  Sesia  ;  it  was  not  until 
May  23rd  that  he  ventured 
upon  a  reconnaissance  to 
Montebello,  which  produced  no  practical 
result.  The  conflict  at  Palestro  on  May  30tli 
deceived  him  as  to  Napoleon's  real  object  ; 
the  latter  was  following  the  suggestions 
of  General  Niel,  and  had  resolved  to 
march  round  the  Austrian  right  wing. 
Garibaldi,  with  three  or  four  thousand  ill- 
armed    guerrilla  troops,  had  crossed    the 

5026 


Napoleon 
and  Garibaldi 
in  Battle 


Ticino  at  the  south  of  Lake  Maggiore. 
This  route  was  followed  by  a  division 
under  General  MacMahon,  and  Niel 
reached  Novara  on  the  day  of  Palestro 
and  proceeded  to  threaten  Gyulay's  line 
of  retreat,  who  accordingly  retired  behind 
the  Ticino  on  June  ist.  He  had  learned 
nothing  of  MacMahon's  movement  on 
his  left,  and  thought  his  right  wing 
sufficiently  covered  by  the  division  of 
Clam-Gallas,  who  was  advancing  from  the 
Tyrol.  The  battle  on  the  Naviglio  followed 
on  June  3rd,  and  Gyulay  maintained 
his  position  with  50,000  men  against 
the  58,000  under  the  immediate  command 
of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  in  person. 

MacMahon  had  crossed  the  Ticino  at 
Turbigo,  driven  back  Clam-Gallas,  and 
found  himself  by  evening  on  the  Austrian 
left  flank  at  Magenta  on  June  4th,  1859. 
Unable  to  rely  on  his  subordinates  for  a 
continuance  of  the  struggle,  Gyulay  aban- 
doned his  position  on  the  following  day, 
evacuated  Milan,  and  led  his  army  to 
the  Mincio.  At  this  point  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph  assumed  the  command 
in  person ;   reinforcements  to  the  number 

^i  .  .1.  of  140,000  troops  had  arrived. 
The  terrible     ,         !,  ■,■,      ^  ■, 

_  together  with  reserve  and  oc- 

r  c  ir    •       cupation  troops  amounting  to 
of  Solferino  ^  , ,  ^  w-.i,    .? 

another  100,000.     With  these 

the  emperor  determined  to  advance  again 
to  the  Chiese  on  the  advice  of  General 
Riedkirchen,  who  presided  over  the  council 
of  war  in  association  with  the  old  quarter- 
master-general Hess. 

On  June  24th  they  encountered  the 
enemy  advancing  in  five  columns  upon 
the  Mincio,  and  to  the  surprise  of  the 
combatants  the  Battle  of  Solferino  was 
begun,  one  of  the  bloodiest  conflicts  of 
the  century,  which  ended  in  the  retreat 
of  the  Austrians,  notwithstanding  the 
victory  of  Benedek  over  the  Piedmontese 
on  the  right  wing.  Three  hundred  thou- 
sand men  with  nearly  800  guns  were 
opposed  on  that  day,  and  rarely  have  such 
large  masses  of  troops  been  handled  in 
an  important  battle  with  so  little  intelli- 
gence or  generalship.  The  French  had 
no  definite  plan  of  action,  and  might  have 
been  defeated  without  great  difficulty 
had  the  Austrian  leaders  been  able  to 
avoid  a  similar  series  of  blunders.  The 
losses  were  very  heavy  on  either  side. 
Twelve  thousand  Austrians  and  nearly 
17,000  alhes  were  killed  or  wounded  ;  on 
the  other  hand,  9,000  Austrian  prisoners 
were    taken    as    against    1,200    Italians. 


VICTOR    EMMANUEL    AND    HIS    STAFF    AT    THE    BATTLE    OF    SAN    MARTINO 

From  the  painting  hy  Cassioli  in  the  Palace  of  the  Signory  at  Siena 


THE    HEIGHT    OF    THE    CONFLICT    AT    SAN    MARTINO    ON    JUNE    24th,    1859 

While  the  main  battle  was  in  progress  at  Solferino,  other  sections  of  the  combatants  were  engag-ed  in  a  pro- 
longed and  deadly  conflict  near  San  Martino,  and,  ignorant  of  the  fate  which  had  overtaken  the  Austrian  army, 
Benedek,  who  had  twice  repulsed  the  Sardinians,  continued  the  struggle  for  several  hours  after  the  issue  had  been 
decided,  retiring  at  last  when  a  severe  storm  had  broken  out.  This  engagement  was  noteworthy  for  the  conspicuous 
part  taken  in  it  by  Marshal  Niel,  "who  distingruished  himself  above  all  the  other  leaders  on  the  French  side." 
From  the  painting  by  Professor  AdcmoUo  in  the  Gallery  of  Modern  P;untings  at  Florence 


5027 


r^-TS^-y 


5028 


THE    SECOND    EMPIRE    OF    FRANCE 


The    Emperor    Napoleon    had    not     yet 
brought    the    campaign    to    a    successful 
<:onclusion  ;    his  weakened  army  was  now 
confronted  by  the  "  Quadrilateral  "  formed 
by   the   fortresses   of   Peschiera,    Mantua. 
Verona,  and  Legnago,   which 
was  covered  by  200,000  Aus- 
trians.      Moreover,    Austria 
could  despatch  reinforcements 
more   rapidly   and  in  greater 
numbers  than  France.     Aus- 
trian   sympathies    were    also 
very      powerful      in      South 
Germany,     and     exerted     so 
strong    a    pressure    upon    the 
German    Federation    and    on 
Prussia     that     a    movement 
might    be    expected    at    any 
moment   from  that  direction. 
Frederic     William     IV.     had 
retired  from  the  government  general 


neighbour's    misfortunes ;    he    had  even 
transferred  Bismarck  from  Frankfort  to  St. 
Petersburg,  to  remove  the  influence  upon 
the  Federation  of  one  who  was  an  avowed 
opponent  of  Austrian  paramountcy.     But 
he     awaited     some     definite 
i:)ro])osal     from     the    Vienna 
government.     Six  army  corps 
were  in  readiness  to  advance 
upon  the  Rhine  on  receipt  of 
the    order    for    mobilisation. 
The  Emperor  Francis  Joseph 
sent    Prince   Windisch-Graetz 
to  Berlin,  to  call  on  Prussia 
for  help  as  a  member  of  the 
Federation,      although      the 
terms    of    the    federal  agree- 
ment   did   not    apply  to  the 
Lombard-Venetian  kingdom  ; 
but   he    could    not    persuade 
HESS  himself  to  grant  Prussia  the" 

since   October,    1857,  in  con-   Chief  of  the  staff  in  the  Austrian  leadership    of    the    narrower 

•^ '  army  under  Field-Marshal  Radet-  .  ^  ,  •.     ,i 

zky.  General  Hess  shared  with  that    UnlOn,   Or    CVCn    tO   permit    the 
great  leader  many  of  his  victories,     foundation     of    a    North     Gcr- 


sequence  of  an  affection  of 
the  brain  ;  since  October  7th, 
1S58,  his  brother  William  had  governed 
Pi"ussia  as  prince-regent.  He  had  too 
much  sympathy  with  the  Austrian 
dynasty  and  too  much  respect  for  the 
fidelity  of  the  German  Federal  princes  to 
citti'iTii*!     to     m;)1:r     ca]iital    out     of    his 


man  Union.  A  politician  of  the  school 
of  Felix  Schwarzenberg  was  not  likely 
to  formulate  a  practicable  compromise. 
Austria  thus  threw  away  her  chance  of 
defeating  France  and  Bonapartism  witlr 
the  help  of  her  German  brethren,  and  of 


THE     MEETING    OF     VICIOK     EMMANUEL     AND     GARIBALDI     AT     SESSIA     IN     Vmi 

5029 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


remaining  a  permanent  and  honoured 
member  of  the  Federation  which  had 
endured  a  thousand  years,  merely  because 
she  dechned  an  even  smaller  sacrifice 
than  was  demanded  in  1866. 

During  the  progress  of  these  Federal 
negotiations  at  Berlin  the  combatants  had 
themselves  been  occupied  in  bringing  the 
war  to  a  conclusion.  The 
Em  IroT's  Emperor  Napoleon  was  well 
mperor  s  ^ware  that  the  temper  of  the 
Peace  Terms     t-    i        ,  •  i  •    i  1        1 

l^ederation  was  highly  dan- 
gerous to  himself,  and  that  Great  Britain 
and  Prussia  would  approach  him  with  offers 
of  intervention.  He  therefore  seized  the 
opportunity  of  extricating  himself  by 
proffering  an  armistice  and  a  provisional 
peace  to  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph. 

After  two  victories  his  action  bore 
the  appearance  of  extreme  moderation. 
Austria  was  to  cede  Lombardy  to  France, 
the  province  then  to  become  Sardinian 
territory  ;  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany 
and  the  Duke  of  Modena  were  to  be  per- 
mitted to  return  to  their  states,  but  were 
to  be  left  to  arrange  their  governments 
for  themselves,  without  the  interference 
of  either  of  the  Powers  ;  Austria  was  to 
permit  the  foundation  of  an  ItaHan 
Federation  ;  the  desire  of  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph  to  retain  Peschiera  and 
Mantua  was  granted.  On  these  terms 
the  armistice  was  concluded  on  July  8th, 
and  the  provisional  Peace  of  \'illafranca 
on  July  nth  ;  and  Napoleon  withdrew. 

The  official  account  of  the  war  of  1859 
by  the  Austrian  general  staff  attempts  to 
account  for  the  emperor's  conclusion  of 
peace  on  military  grounds,  emphasising 
the  difficult}^  of  continuing  hostilities  and 
the  impossibility  of  placing  an  army  on 
the  Upper  Rhine,  in  accordance  with  the 
probable  demands  of  the  Federation. 
This  is  an  entirely  superficial  view  of  the 
question.  Had  Prussia  declared  war  on 
France  on  the  ground  of  her  agreement 
with  Austria,  without  consulting  the 
Federation,  and  sent  150,000 
f  th^'c*  ^^^^  within    a  month   from 

°  E^  ™'*^'"°'"  ^^^  Rhine  to  the  French 
frontier,  the  anxieties  of 
the  Austrian  army  in  Italy  would  have 
been  entirely  relieved.  Napoleon  would 
certainly  have  left  Verona  if  the  Prus- 
sians had  been  marching  on  Paris  by 
routes  perfectly  well  known  to  him. 

Although  the  Italian  policy  of  Napoleon 
III.  seemed  vague  and  contradictory,  even 
to  his  contemporaries,  yet  he  was  still  in 

5030 


their  eyes  entitled  to  the  credit  of  being 
the  creator  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy  ;  so 
that  in  the  year  i860  he  stood  at  the  zenith 
of  his  influence  in  Europe.  He  successfully 
concealed  from  public  opinion  how  much 
had  really  been  done  contrary  to  his  wishes. 
It  was  discovered  that  his  character  was 
sphinx-like,  and  what  was  really  weakness 
seemed  to  be  Machiavellian  calculation. 

Cavour,  indeed,  saw  through  him  and 
made  full  use  of  his  vacillation  ;  and 
years  later  the  story  was  told  how  Bis- 
marck, even  in  those  days,  called  the  French 
emperor  "  une  incapacite  meconnue," 
an  undetected  incapable.  But  as  against 
this  unauthenticated  verdict  we  must  re- 
member that  the  emperor  possessed  a  wide 
range  of  intellectual  interests  and  a  keen 
comprehension  of  the  needs  of  his  age.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  was  lacking  in  firmness  ; 
natures  like  Cavour  and  Bismarck  easily 
thwarted  his  plans,  and  could  lead  him 
tmvards  the  goal  which  they  had  in  view. 

Outside   France,   Napoleon's   advocacy 

of    the    national    wishes    of    the    smaller 

nations   of    Europe    made    him   popular. 

When  Moldavia  and  Wallachia,  contrary 

„  ,^      to  the  tenor  of  the  treaties, 

France  as  the      1  ■ 

-J,  .          -  chose  a  common  sovereign, 

c  II  Ki  .•  Alexander  Cusa,  Napoleon 
Small  Nations  t^t         -^i    j^i      1     1        x  ti 

III.,  With  the  help  of  Kussia, 

induced  the  Great  Powers  to  recognise  him, 
and  protected  the  Roumanians  when  theii 
principalities  were  united  into  a  national 
state.  Cusa,  it  is  true,  was  deposed  by  a 
revolution  on  February  23rd,  1866.  Prince 
Charles  of  Hohenzollern,  who  was  chosen 
on  April  20th,  obtained  for  the  youthful 
state,  by  the  force  of  his  personality,  com- 
plete independence  on  May  21st,  1877,  and 
the  title  of  a  kingdom  on  March  26th,  1881. 
It  was  Napoleon's  purpose  to  perform 
equal  services  for  the  Poles.  The  Tsar 
Alexander  II.,  in  order  to  conciliate  them, 
placed,  in  June,  1862,  their  countryman, 
the  Marquess  of  Wielopolski,  at  the  side 
of  his  brother  Constantine,  the  viceroy  of 
Poland.  Wielopolski  endeavoured  to  re- 
concile his  people  to  Russia,  in  order  to 
help  his  countrymen  to  win  some  share, 
however  modest,  of  self-government.  But 
the  passionate  fury  of  the  Poles  frustrated 
his  jiurpose,  and  he  was  unable  to  prevent 
the  outbreak  of  the  insurrection  in  J  anuary, 
1863.  He  thereupon  gave  up  his  post, 
and  the  Russian  Government  adopted  the 
sternest  measures.  -  In  February,  Prussia 
put  the  Russian  emperor  under  an  obliga- 
tion by  granting  permission  to  Russian 


503I 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


troops   to   follow   Polish   insurgents   into 

Prussian   territory.     This   compact,   it   is 

true,   did  not  come   into   force,   since  it 

aroused  the  indignation  of  Europe  ;    but 

it    showed    the  goodwill  of    Prussia,  and 

Bismarck,  by  this  and  other  services  in 

the  Polish  question,  won  the  Tsar  over  so 

completely  that  Russia's  neutrality  was 

„       ^  assured    in    the    event    of    a 

How  Fii.iice  1    •       /-  x-' 

„  quarrel  m  Germany.     JSapo- 

.  ^  "p  1  ^^'^^    ^^^^'  induced    England, 

and,  after  long  hesitation, 
Austria  also,  to  tender  to  Russia  a  request 
that  the  Poles  should  be  granted  a  com- 
plete amnesty  ;  but  this  was  refused.  The 
support  of  Prussia  was  peculiai'ly  valu- 
able to  Russia,  because  France,  England, 
and  Austria  resolved  to  intercede  further 
for  the  Poles.  In  a  note  of  June  27th, 
1863,  the  three  Powers  recommended 
to  Russia  the  grant  of  six  demands,  of 
which  the  most  important  were  a  Polish 
Parliament  and  a  complete  amnesty. 

Palmerston  supported  these  first  steps  of 
Napoleon,  in  the  interests  of  British  rule 
in  India.  In  Poland  he  saw  a  wound  to 
Russian  power,  which  he  determined  to 
keep  open.  But  he  refused  his  assent  to 
more  serious  measures  which  Napoleon 
]iressed  on  his  consideration,  because  the 
Polish  question  was  not  so  important  for 
the  British  that  they  would  embark  on  a 
war  for  this  sole  reason  ;  still  less  could 
Austria,  since  it  was  one  of  the  participa- 
tory Powers,  follow  Napoleon  on  his  path. 
The  Tsar,  however,  was  so  enraged  at 
Austria's  vacillating  attitude  that  he 
thereupon  immediateh'  proposed  to  King 
William  an  alliance  against  France  and 
Austria.  Bismarck  advised  his  sovereign 
not  to  accept  the  Tsar's  proposal,  because 
in  a  war  against  France  and  Austria  the 
brunt  of  the  burden  would  have  devolved 
on  Prussia.  Napoleon  then  proposed  to 
the  Austrian  emperor,  through  the  Due 
de  Gramont,  that  he  should  cede  Galicia 
to  Poland,  which  was  to  be  emancipated, 

_.    „       '^     but  in  return  take  possession 
The  French        r,,      r-k         u-  ■       r^ 

_  .       of  the  Danubian  prmcipahties. 

th  L  h  Count  Rechberg  answered  that 
it  was  strange  to  suggest  to 
Austria  to  wage  a  war  with  Russia  for 
the  purpose  of  losing  a  province,  when  it 
was  customary  to  draw  the  sword  only  to 
win  a  fresh  one.  Napoleon  thus  saw  him- 
self completely  left  in  the  lurch,  and 
Russia  suppressed  the  rebellion  with 
bloodshed  and  severity  ;  the  Governor- 
general  of   Wilna,  Michael  Muravjev,  was 

5032 


conspicuous  for  the  remorseless  rigour 
with  which  he  exercised  his  power.  It 
would  be  a  mistake  to  consider  Napo- 
leon as  a  sympathetic  politician  who,  if 
free  to  make  his  choice,  would  have 
devoted  the  resources  of  his  country  to 
the  liberation  of  oppressed  nations.  His 
selfishness  was  revealed  in  the  expedition 
against  Mexico  ;  and  there,  too,  he  tried 
to  veil  his  intention  by  specious  phrases. 
He  announced  to  the  world  that  he 
wished  to  strengthen  the  Latin  races  in 
America  as  opposed  to  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
who  were  striving  for  the  dominion  over 
the  New  World.  He  had  originally  started 
on  the  expedition  in  concert  with  Great 
Britain  and  Spain,  in  order  to  urge  upon 
the  Mexican  Government  the  pecuniary 
claims  of  European  creditors.  The  two 
allies  withdrew  when  !\Iexico  conceded 
their  request  ;  the  French  general.  Count 
Lorencez,  thereupon,  in  violation  of  the 
treaty,  seized  the  healthy  tableland  above 
the  fever-stricken  coast  of  Vera  Cruz,  where 
the  French  had  landed.  General  Forey 
then  conquered  the  greatest  part  of  the 
land,  and  an  assembly  of  notables,  on  July 
.  nth,  1863,  elected  as  emperor 
^  e      amng  ^j^^      Archduke     ^Maximilian, 

brother    of    Francis    Joseph. 

He  long  hesitated  to  accept 
the  crown,  because  Francis  Joseph  gave  his 
assent  only  on  the  terms  that  Maximilian 
should  first  unconditionally  renounce  all 
claim  to  the  succession  in  Austria.  After 
Napoleon  had  promised,  in  the  treaty  of 
March  12th,  1864,  to  leave  at  least  20. -^oo 
French  soldiers  in  the  country  until  1667, 
the  archduke  finally  consented  to  be  em- 
peror ;  he  did  not  shut  his  eyes  to  the  fact 
that  monarchy  would  be  slow  to  strike  root 
in  the  land.  Napoleon,  by  placing  the  Em- 
peror !\Iaximilian  on  the  throne,  pursued 
his  object  of  gradually  withdrawing  from 
the  Mexican  affair,  since  the  United  States 
protested  against  the  continuance  of  the 
French  in  Mexico.  The  reader  is  referred 
to  a  later  volume  for  the  history  of  the  way 
in  which  Napoleon  deserted  the  unhappy 
emperor,  and  incurred  a  partial  respon- 
sibility for  his  execution  at  Queretaro. 
The  restless  ambition  of  Napoleon's 
policy  aroused  universal  distrust  in 
Europe.  When  the  war  of  1866  broke  out, 
after  his  failures  in  the  Polish  and  Mexican 
affair,  his  star  was  already  setting  ;  and 
a  growing  republican  opposition,  sup- 
ported by  the  3'ounger  generation,  was 
raising  its   head   menacingly    in   France. 


Power 

of  Napoleon 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 
CONSOLIDA- 
TION   OF    THE 
POWERS    IV 


THE    UNIFICATION    OF    ITALY 

AND  GARIBALDI'S  BRAVE  FIGHT  FOR  LIBERTY 


'"THE  greatest  political  event  'of,  the 
*■  nineteenth  century  on'  the"  European 
Continent  is  the  simultaneous  establish- 
ment of  the  national  unity  of  the  German 
and  Italian  peoples.  The  aspect  of  Europe 
was  more  permanently  changed  by  this 
than  by  any  event  since  the  creation  of  an 
empire  by  Charles  the  Great.  The  feeling 
of  nationality  is  as  old  as  the  nations  them- 
selves, and  the  histor}'^  of  the  two  nations 
with  their  divisions  and  subdivisions 
records  in  almost  every  generation  proud 
exhortations  or  plaintive  appeals  to  assert 
their  unity  by  force  of  arms.  From  Dante 
and  Petrarch,  from  Machiavelli  and  Julius 
II. — "Out  with  the  barbarians  from 
Italy !  " — down  to  Alfieri  and  Ugo  Foscolo, 
the  line  is  almost  unbroken. 

The  Germans  show  the  same  sequence. 

But   the   appeals   of   the   writers   of   the 

German    Renaissance,    from    Hutten    to 

Puffendorf  and  Klopstock,  never  had  such 

.       a    passionate    ring,    since    the 

wa  enmg    j^^^jqj^  even  when  most  divided, 

of  Uerman  ,  ,  i     j 

Nationality  ^^^^  always  Strong  enough  to 
ward  off  the  foreign  yoke.  At 
last  the  intellectual  activity  of  the. eigh- 
teenth century  raised  the  spirit  of  nation- 
ality, and  the  German  people  becajne 
conscious  that  its  branches  were  closely 
connected.  The  intellectual  culture  of  the 
Germans  would,  as  David  Strauss  says  in 
a  letter  to  Ernest  Renan,  have  remained 
an  empty  shell  if  it  had  not  finahy  pro- 
duced the  national  State. 

We  must  carefully  notice  that  the  sup- 
porters of  the  movement  for  unification 
both  in  Germany  and  Italy  were  drawn 
exclusively^  from  the  educated  classes ; 
but  Iheir  efforts  were  powerfully  sup- 
ported by  the  establishment  and  expansion 
of  foreign  trade,  and  by  the  construction 
of  roads  and  railways,  since  the  separate 
elements  of  the  nation  were  thus  brought 
closer  together.  The  scholar  and  the 
author  were  joined  by  the  manufacturer, 
who  produced  goods  for  a  market  outside 
his  own  small  country,  and  by  the  merchant, 

R  26  G 


who  was  cramped  by  custom-house  restric- 
tions. Civil  servants  and  military  men 
'did  not  respond  to  that  appeal  until  much 
later.  The  majority  of  the  prominent 
officials  and  officers  in  Germany  long 
remained  particularists,  until  Prussia 
_     -,  declared  for  the  unity  of  the 

_    .  nation.     In  Italy  the  course  of 

.    J    .  affairs  was  somewhat  different. 

There  the  generals  and 
officers  of  the  Italian  army  created  by 
Napoleon  were  from  the  first  filled  with  the 
conviction  that  a  strong  political  will  was 
most  important  for  the  training  of  their 
people  ;  the  revolution  of  1821  was  greatly 
due  to  them.  Similarly,  the  officers  of  the 
smaller  Italian  armies  between  1859  and 
1 86 1  joined  in  large  numbers  the  side  of 
King  Victor  Emmanuel.  The  movement 
reached  the  masses  last  of  all.  But  they, 
even  at  the  present  day  in  Italy,  are 
indifferent  towards  the  new  regime  ;  while 
in  South  Germany  and  Hanover,  and  occa- 
sionally even  on  the  Rhine,  they  are  still 
keenly  alive  to  their  own  interests. 

When  Garibaldi  marched  against  the 
army  of  the  King  of  Naples,  the  soldiers 
of  the  latter  were  ready  and  willing  to  strike 
for  his  cause,  and  felt  themselves  betrayed 
by  generals  and  officers.  It  is  an  un- 
doubted fact  that  the  Neapolitan  Bour- 
bons had  no  inconsiderable  following 
among  the  lower  classes.  The  Catholic 
clergy  of  Italy  were  divided  ;  the  leaders 
supported  the  old  regime,  while  the  in- 
ferior clergy  favoured  the  movement.  The 
mendicant  friars  of  Sicily  were  enthusiastic 
for  Garibaldi,  and  the  Neapohtan  general, 
.  Bosco,  when  he  marched 
Garibaldi  ^^g^^j^g^  ^^q  j)atriot  leader,  was 
the  Patriot  ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^  soldiers  in 
®*  ^"^  a  general  order  not  to  allow 
themselves  at  confession  to  be  shaken  in 
their  loyalty  to  their  king.  Pius  IX. 
endured  the  mortification  of  seeing  that 
in  1862  no  less  than  8,493  priests  signed  a 
petition  praying  him  to  place  no  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  the  unification  of   Italy. 

5033 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


It  was  from  Germany,  the  mother  of  so 
many  ideas,  that  at  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  modern  movement, 
of  which  the  watchword  is  national  and 
poUtical  unity,  took  its  start.  But  the 
impulse  was  not  given  by  the  current  of  in- 
ternal development  ;  it  came  from  outside, 
through  the  tyranny  of  Napoleon.  The 
nation  recognised  that  it  could  only  attain 
mdependence  by  union,  and  keep  it  by  unity. 

The  conception  of  emperor  and  empire 
found  its  most  powerful  advocate  in 
Stein.  But  he  and  his  friends,  as  was 
natural,  considered  the  overthrow  of  the 
foreign  tyranny  more  important  at  first 
than  formal  unity.  In  his  memorial 
addressed  to  the  Tsar  in  1812  he  pointed 
out  how  desirable  it  was  that  Germany, 
since  the  old  monarchy 
of  the  Ottos  and  thu 
Hohenstauffen  could  not 
be  revived,  should  be 
divided  between  the 
two  Great  Powers, 
Prussia  and  Austria,  on 
a  line  corresponding  to 
the  course  of  the  Main. 

He  would,  however, 
have  regarded  this  solu- 
tion only  as  an  expedient 
required  by  existing  cir- 
cumstances. "  I  have  only 
one  fatherland,"  he  wrote 
to  Count  Miinster  at  Lon- 
don, on  December  1st, 
1812  —  "  that  is  called 
Germany ;  and  since  I, 
according  to  the  old  con- 


tion,    and    the 


JOSEPH    MAZZINI 


the  first  summons  to  unity  was  uttered  by 
Murat,  who,  when  he  marched  against  the 
Austrians  in  1815,  wished  to  win  the  nation 
for  himself,  and  employed  Professor  Rossi 
of  Bologna,  who  was  murdered  in  1848, 
when  a  Liberal  Minister  of  the  Pope,  to 
compose  a  proclamation  embodying  the 
principle  of  Italian  unity.  The  peoples  of 
the  Austrian  monarchy  were  subsequently 
roused  by  Germany  to  similar  efforts. 

There  was  this  distinction  between  Ger- 
many and  Italy — in  the  former  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire  had  served  to  keep  alive 
the  tradition  of  unity,  while  in  Italy 
no  political  unity  had  existed  since 
Roman  times.  In  Italy  the  movement 
towards  unity  had  no  historical  founda- 
"  municipal  spirit  "  was 
everywhere  predominant 
until  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 
When,  in  1848,  a  number 
of  officers,  who  were  not 
natives,  were  enrolled  in 
the  Piedmontese  army, 
the  soldiers  long  made  a 
sharp  distinction  between 
their  "  Piedmontese  "  and 
their  "  Italian  "  superiors. 
So  again  in  the  Crimean 
War,  when  15,000  Pied- 
montese were  sent  to  fight 
on  the  side  of  the  French 
and  English,  most  of  them 
heard  for  the  first  time 
that  the  foreign  nations 
termed  them  Italians. 
In  Germany,  again,  it 


Stitution,  belong  to  it  and    The  Italian  patriot  who  suffered  in  the  cause    WaS  a  qUCStion  of  Uniting 

to  no  particular  part  of  ^^^'^^^^^^f^^'^';:^  prosperous  states,  but  m 


it,  I  am  devoted,  heart  - 
and  soul  to  it  alone,  and  p"""^"^ 
not  to  one  particular  part  of  it.  At  this 
moment  of  great  developments  the 
dynasties  are  a  matter  of  absolute  indiffer- 
ence to  me.  They  are  merely  instruments." 
Stein's  efforts  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna, 
where  he  vainly  stood  out  for  the  emperor 
and  the  imperial  Diet,  remained  as  noble 
examples  to  the  next  generation.  The 
thought  of  nationality  radiated  from  Ger- 
many, where  Arndt,  Uhland,  Korner,  and 
Riickert  had  written  in  its  spirit.  But 
Napoleon  had  roused  also  the  Italians  and 
the  Poles,  the  former  by  uniting  at  least 
Central  and  Upper  Italy,  with  the  exception 
of  Piedmont,  into  the  kingdom  of  Italy ; 
the  latter  by  holding  out  to  them  the  bait  of 
a  restored  constitution.  It  is  significant  that 

5034 


his   watchword    "God   and   the   People,' 
his    purpose    with    passionate   zeal 


Italy  of  overthrowing  un- 
stable ones — for  example, 
the  States  of  the  Church  and  Naples.  In 
Germany  it  was  necessary  to  reckon  with 
superabundant  forces  and  the  jealousy  of 
two  Great  Powers;  and  by  the  side  of 
them  stood  a  number  of  prosperous  petty 
states  where  culture  flourished.  Italy,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  dependent  on  the 
Austrians,  who  were  termed 
Tedeschi,  or  Germans;  in  this 
connection,  however,  the 
Italians  were  forced  to  admit 
that  an  organised  government  and  a  legis- 
lature, which  in  comparison  with  Piedmont 
itself  showed  considerable  advance,  existed 
only  in  the  Austrian  districts.  And  in 
addition  the  Italians  had  to  struggle  against 
the  great  difficulty  that  the  papacy,  as  a 


Italy's 
Dependence 
on  Austria 


THE    UNIFICATION    OF    ITALY 


spiritual  empire,  opposed  their  unification. 
The  risings  of  1821  in  Naples  and 
Piedmont,  as  well  as  that  of  1831  in  the 
Romagna,  aimed  far  more  at  the  intro- 
duction of  parliamentary  forms  than 'at 
the  attainment  of  national  unity.  The 
thought  of  liberty  was  stronger  then  than 
.  .,  that  of  nationality.  Only  in 
Mazzini  s  ^^^^  background  did  the  secret 
Great  Work  •    ,        ? ^i      /-      u  j. 

„  .  society  of  the  Carbonari  enter- 

***  ^  tain  the  vague  idea  of  the 
union  of  Italy.  The  followers  of  the 
Genoese,  Joseph  Mazzini,  1805-1872,  claim 
for  him  the  honour  of  being  the  first  to 
follow  out  the  idea  of  unity  to  its  logical 
conclusion.  Certain  it  is  that  Mazzini, 
undeterred  by  failures,  devoted  his  whole 
life  to  the  realisation 
of  this  idea.  "  I  have 
just  taught  the  Italians," 
he  said,  on  one  occasion 
after  the  war  of  1859,  "  to 
lisp  the  word  '  unity.'  " 

It  was  after  his  arrest  in 
1830  by  the  Piedmontese 
Government  as  a  member 
of  the  Carbonari,  when  he 
spent  several. months  as  a 
prisoner  in  the  fortress  of 
Savona,  that  he  formed 
the  plan  of  founding  a 
league  under  the  name  of 
"  Young  Italy,"  with  the 
object  of  creating  an 
Italian  republic.  Ani- 
mated by  a  faith  which 
amounted  to  fanaticism, 
he  took  as  his  watchword 
"  God  and  the  People !  " 
He  described  later  his 
feelings  as  a  prisoner  : 
"  I  saw  how  Rome,  in 
the  name  of  God  and  of 
a  republican  Italy,  offered  the  nations  a 
common  goal  and  the  foundation  of  a  new 
religion.  And  I  saw  how  Europe,  wearied 
of  scepticism,  egoism,  and  anarchy,  re- 
ceived the  new  faith  with  enthusiastic 
acclamations.  These  were  my  thoughts 
in  my  cell  at  Savona."  He  did  not  shrink 
from  employing  all  the  weapons  of  con- 
spiracy, including  even  assassination. 

All  the  rebellions  and  conspiracies  which 
he  plotted  proved  failures  ;  but  even  under 
the  stress  of  conscientious  scruples  as  to 
the  right  he  had  to  drive  so  many  highly 
gifted  colleagues  to  death  and  long  years  of 
captivity,  he  was  supported  by  the  thought 
that  only  thus  could  the  ideal  of  nationality 


GARIBALDI 
The  great  champion  of  Italian  liberty,  Giuseppe 
Garibaldi,  became  associated  with  Mazzini  in 
the  early  days  oi  the  movement,  and  was  con- 
demned to  death,  but  escaping:,  he  returned 
later  to  Italy  to  lead  his  people  to  victory. 
From  a  photograph 


be  kept  before  the  eyes  of  the  people.  In 
the  oath  which  he  administered  to  the 
members  of  his  secret  league  tb.ey  vowed : 
"By  the  blush  which  reddens  my  face 
when  I  stand  before  the  citizens  of  other 
countries  and  convince  myself  that  I 
possess  no  civic  rights,  no  country,  no 
national  flag  ...  by  the  tears  of  ItaU;in 
mothers  for  their  sons  who  have  perished 
on  the  scaffold,  in  the  dungeon,  or  in 
exile  .  .  .  I  swear  to  devote  myself  entirely 
and  always  to  the  common  object  of  creat- 
ing one  free,  independent,  and  republican 
Italy  by  every  means  within  my  power." 

The  league  spread  over  Italy  and  every 
country  where  Italians  lived.  Giuseppe 
Garibaldi  heard  for  the  first  time^  of 
Mazzini  in  1833,  when 
as  captain  of  a  small 
trading-vessel  he  was 
sitting  in  an  inn  at 
Taganrog  on  the  Black 
Sea,  and  listened  to  the 
conversation  at  the  next 
table  of  some  Italian 
captains  and  merchants 
with  whom  he  was  unac- 
quainted. ' '  Columbus, ' ' 
he  wrote  in  1871,  "  cer- 
tainly never  felt  such 
satisfaction  at  the  dis- 
covery of  America  as  I 
telt  when  I  found  a  man 
\v]ao  was  endeavouring  to 
lil;erate  his  country."  He 
L-ageriy  joined  the  fiery 
(orator  of  that  dinner- 
|)arty,  whose  name  was 
Cuneo,  and,  armed  with 
an  introduction  from  him, 
hastened  to  Mazzini,  who 
was  then  plotting  his 
conspiracies  at  Marseilles. 
Garibaldi  took  part  in  one  of  the  futile 
risings  of  February,  1834,  was  condemned 
to  death,  and  escaped  to  Argentina, 
where  he  gathered  his  first  experiences 
of  war.  He  long  followed  the  leadership 
of  Mazzini,  although  the  natures  of  the 
two  men  were  too  different  to  permit 
of  any  very  intimate  relations  between 
them.  Garibaldi  called  Ma.zzini  the 
"  second  of  the  Infallibles "  ;  but  he 
esteemed  him  so  highly,  that  at  a  banquet 
given  in  his  honour  at  London  in  1864  he 
toasted  him  as  his  master. 

Mazzini  was  the  central  figure  of  the 
Italian  movement  only  up  to  the  middle 
of  the  fifties.    After  that  an  amelioration 

5035 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


was  traceable  in  the  life  of  his  nation. 
When  the  middle  classes  took  up  the 
cause  of  freedom  as  one  man,  the  import- 
ance of  the  conspiracies  disappeared  and 
the  entire  system  of  secret  societies — for 
the  Carbonari  and  the  Young  Italy  were 
opposed  by  the  Sanfedists,  the  league  of 
the  reaction — became  discredited.  Public 
.  .  life  was  now  more  instinct  with 
Mazzim  vitality.  A  blind  and  biassed 
Condemned  i  i  •         •  i  ii 

D    th       republicanism  was  no  longer  the 

only  cry  ;  the  leaders  of  the 
movement  began  to  take  the  actual  condi- 
tions into  account,  and  the  Piedmontese, 
in  particular,  worked  in  the  cause  of  con- 
stitutional monarchy.  Mazzini,  on  the  other 
hand,  hated  the  house  of  Savoy  equally 
with  every  other  dynasty.  Two  of  his 
conspiracies  were  aimed  against  Piedmont, 
so  that  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced 
on  him  by  the  courts  of  that  kingdom. 

The  new  ideas  started  from  Piedmont. 
The  noble  priest  Vincenzo  Gioberti  pro- 
posed the  plan  that  all  Italy  should  rally 
round  the  Pope,  and  follow  him  as  leader 
in  the  war  of  independence.  A  number  of 
Piedmontese  nobles,  Count  Cesare  Balbo, 
Marquis  Massimo  d'Azeglio,  and  the 
greatest  of  them,  Count  Camillo  Cavour, 
were  filled  with  the  conviction  that  the 
government  of  Italy  belonged  by  right  to 
the  constitutional  monarchy  of  Piedmont. 
They  had  all  grown  up  in  an  atmosphere  of 
conservative  ideas,  respectful  towards  the 
monarchy,  and  filled  with  admiration  for 
the  army  and  the  civil  service  of  Piedmont. 
The  revolutionists  of  1848  were  united  only 
in  their  hatred  of  the  foreign  yoke  ;  their 
views  for  the  future  were  of  the  most  con- 
flicting character,  and  must  have  led  to  dis- 
sension if  they  had  been  clearly  formulated. 
The  hope  that  Pope  Pius  would  be 
permanently  won  for  the  great  thought 
soon  faded  away.  In  the  whole  agitation 
the  idea  of  federalism  was  still  widely 
predominant.  Venice  and  Rome  under 
Daniel  Manin  and  Mazzini  declared  for 
independent  republics  ;  even 
Lombardv  felt  some  reluctance 


Cavour 
in  Public 
Disfavour 


to  unite  with  Sardinia.  Rossi, 
the  papal  Minister,  wished 
merely  for  a  league  of  the  sovereign 
princes  of  Italy,  not  a  united  Parliament. 
In  Piedmont  the  middle-class  citizens 
opposed  with  suspicion  the  representatives 
of  the  monarchical  military  state,  and 
Cavour,  who  defended  the  royal  authority, 
was  in  1849  one  of  the  most  unpopular  of 
politicians.    Even  then  he  was  opposed  to 

5036 


Urbano  Rattazzi,  who  was  soon  destined 
to  become  the  leader  of  the  bourgeois 
circles.  Italy  thus  succumbed  to  the 
sword  of  Radetzky.  Napoleon,  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  French  Republic,  put  an  end 
to  the  Roman  Republic,  since  he  did  not 
wish  to  allow  all  Italy  to  be  subjugated 
by  the  Austrians.  The  heroic  and,  for 
some  time,  successful  defence  of  Rome  by 
Garibaldi — on  the  scene  of  this  memorable 
fight,  at  the  summit  of  the  Janiculum,  a 
colossal  monument  has  been  erected  in  his 
honour — raised  him  to  be  the  popular 
hero  of  the  nation,  while  Mazzini's  re- 
publican phrases  began  to  seem  vapid  to 
the  intelligent  Italians. 

The  wars  of  1848  and  1849  ^^ft  the 
Italians  with  the  definite  impression  that 
only  Piedmont  could  have  ventured  to 
face  the  Austrian  arms  in  the  open  field. 
King  Charles  Albert  was  clearly  a  martyr 
to  the  cause  of  Italian  unity  ;  he  died 
soon  after  his  abdication,  a  broken-hearted 
man,  in  a  Portuguese  monastery.  Since 
his  son,  Victor  Emmanuel,  alone  among  the 
Italian  princes  maintained  the  constitu- 
tion granted  in  1848,  the  hopes  of  Italy 
p  were  centred  in  him.     In  the 

avour  a        ^,^^^  18^2,  Cavour  reached  the 

the  Ooa!  of      -■  t    ,  i      /  1  ■     u 

. .  .  .  .^.  immediate  goal  of  his  burning 
his  Ambition  ,      ,.      ,-r\^-t  i-.-  r 

but   justifiable  ambition ;    for 

after  he  had  allied  himself  with  Rattazzi 
and  the  liberal  middle  class,  he  was 
entrusted  with  the  direction  of  the  govern- 
ment. He  soon  ventured  openly  io 
indicate  Piedmont,  which  had  been  over- 
thrown so  recently,  as  the  champion  in  the 
next  war  of  liberation.  He  drew  his 
weapons  from  the  arsenal  of  the  clever 
Minister's  who,  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  had  helped  the 
Dukes  of  Savoy  to  hold  their  own  between 
France  and  Austria.  He  was  the  heir  of  the 
old  dynastic  policy  of  Savoy,  but  in  a 
greater  age,  dominated  by  the  thought  of 
nationality.  He  formed  an  alliance  with 
the  man  whom  the  republicans  of  Italy 
hated  intensely,  and  against  whose  life 
they  plotted  more  than  one  conspiracy. 

The  question  maj'  well  be  asked  whether 
the  Italian  blood  was  stirred  in  the  veins 
of  the  Bonapartes  when,  in  1805,  the  first 
Napoleon  created  the  kingdom  of  Italy, 
and  when,  in  1830,  his  nephew  entered 
into  a  secret  Italian  alliance,  and,  finally,  as 
Napoleon  III.,  allied  himself  with  Cavour 
for  the  liberation  of  Italy.  It  is  not 
an  unlikely  supposition,  although  diplo- 
matic reasons  and  the  lust  of  power  were 


THE    UNIFICATION    OF    ITALY 


Cavour  is 
Deceived  by 
Napoleon  III. 


the  primary  motives  which  actuated  the 
nephew  of  the  great  conqueror  in  forming 
this  alHance  ;  for  he  considered  that  his 
uncle  had  bequeathed  to  him  the  duty 
of  destroying  the  work  of  the  Congress  of 
Vienna,  especially  in  Italy,  where  Austria 
had  entered  on  the  inheritance  of  France. 

Napoleon  won  friends  for  France  on  all 
sides  when  he  came  forward  as  the  advo- 
cate for  the  idea  of  nationality.     While 
he  did  so,  there  lay  in  the  bottom  of  his 
heart    the    intention    of    increasing    the 
territory  of  France    on  the  basis  of  this 
idea,  by  the  annexation  of  Belgium  and 
Savoy,   and  of  thus  uniting  all   French- 
speaking  peoples  under  the  Empire.     On 
the  other  side,  he  thought  it  dangerous 
to  stretch   out   his   hand   to   the    Rhine, 
where  the  Germans,  whom  he  called  the 
coming   race,    might    oppose 
him.     He  wished  to  free  Italy 
from  the  Austrian  rule,  but 
only  in  order  to  govern  it  as 
suzerain.     For  this  reason  he 
declined   from   the  outset  to 
entertain  the   idea  of  giving 
political  unity  to  the  penin- 
sula.    He  only    agreed   with 
Cavour    at    Plombieres    that 
Sardinia  should   be   enlarged 
into  a  North  Italian  kingdom 
with     from     10,000,000      to 
12,000,000  inhabitants. 

There  was  to  be  a  Central 
Italian  kingdom,  consisting  of  baron  ricacqli 

Tuscany  and  the  greater  part  onthe  flight  of  the  Grand  Duke  in 

of   the   States    of    the    Church.     ISoO,  he  was  made  dictator  of  Tus- 

Naples  was  to  be  left  un-  '^^^y-  ^"^  ^^^  ^^  "^"^  ^^^^  °f  "-e 
,  touched.  The  Pope  was  to  be  '^'"'^'^ '"  '''' ""''  "^"'" '"  ''*''• 
restricted  to  the  territory  of  the  city  of 
Rome  and  its  vicinit}^  and  in  com- 
pensation was  to  be  raised  to  the  headship 
of  the  Italian  Confederacy.  Napoleon 
reserved  to  himself  the  nomination  of  his 
cousin,  Joseph,  called  Jerome,  to  the 
throne  of  Central  Italy,  but  concealed  his 
intention  from  Cavour,  while  he  hinted  to 
him  that  he  wished  to  place  the  son  of  King 
Murat  on  the  throne  at  Naples.  In  return 
P  for  his   armed    assistance    the 

r  ,      emperor     stipulated     for    the 

Emperors  '^ .  re  i  -kt-         t-l 

p .  cession  of  Savoy  and  Nice.  The 

Promises  ^     .  -^         .  r      o 

Story  of  the  campaign  of  1859 

and  of  its  termination  by  the  Treaty  of 

Villafranca    has    been    told    in    the    last 

chapter.        By    the    treaty.    Napoleon's 

promises,  therefore,  were    only    partially 

fulfilled.     By  allowing  Venetia  to  remain 

Austrian     he     belied     the     proclamation 


announcing  that  "  Italy  shall  be  free  from 
the  Alps  to  the  Adriatic,"  with  which 
he  had  opened  the  war  on  May  3rd. 
Cavour  felt  himself  deceived  and  exposed. 
His  old  opponent,  Mazzini,  had  derided 
his  policy  before  the  war,  and  had  warned 


the  Italians  not  to  exchange 


the  rule  of  Austria  for  that  of 
France.   However  unwise  this 
attitude  of  the  old  conspirator 
might  be,  he  now  seemed  to  be  correct 
in   the   prediction   that   Napoleon   would 
deceive    the    Italians.       The    passionate 
nature  of  Cavour,  which  slumbered  behind 
his    half    good-natured,    half    mockingly- 
diplomatic  exterior,  burst  out  in  him  with 
overwhelming  force.     He  hurried  to  the 
headquarters    of    Victor    Emmanuel    and 
required  him  to  lay  down  his  crown,  as 
his    father,    Charles    Albert, 
had  done,  in  order  to  show 
clearly     to    the     world    the 
injustice       perpetrated       by 
Napoleon.    Cavour   displayed 
such    violence    that  the    two 
men     parted     in     downright 
anger.    But   Cavour,  without 
further   demur,    resigned    his 
ofiice.      That  was  the  wisest 
step  he  could   take    to   turn 
aside       the       reproach       of 
treachery,     which     the     re- 
publican   party  was    already 
bringing    against     him.       In 
the  course  of  a  conversation 
with     the     senator    Joachim 
Fietri,     an     intimate     friend 
of    Napoleon,    he   gave  vent 
to  his  displeasure  in  the  most 
forcible  terms,  and  threw  in  the  teeth  of 
the  emperor  the  charge  of  deceit.     "  Your 
emperor  has  insulted  me,"  he  cried  ;  "  yes, 
sir,  insulted  me.    He  gave  me  his  word,  and 
promised  me  to  relax  no  efforts  until  the 
Austrians  were    completely  driven  out  of 
Italy.     As   his   reward   for   so   doing   he 
stipulated  for  Nice  and  Savoy.     I  induced 
m.y   sovereign   to   consent   to   make   this 
sacrifice  for  Italy.     My  king,  my  good  and 
honourable  king,  trusted  me  and  consented. 
Your  emperor  now  pockets  his  reward  and 
lets  us  shift  for  ourselves.     ...  I  am  dis- 
honoured before  my  king.      But,"  added 
Cavour,  "  this  peace  will  lead  to  nothing  ; 
this  treaty  will  not  be  carried  out." 

One  of  the  causes  which  led  Napoleon 
to  conclude  peace  so  rapidly  was  the  fear 
that  the  Italians  would  go  far  beyond 
his  original  intention  and  win  complete 

5037 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


The  Demand 
for 


political  independence  for  themselves. 
Cavour,  in  spite  of  his  proud  words  about 
the  integrity  of  the  Piedmontese  poHcy, 
had  really  wished  on  his  side  to  outwit 
the  emperor.  For,  at  his  instigation  and 
in  consequence  of  the  agitations  of  the 
National  Union,  which  he  had  secretly 
organised,  not  merely  had  Parma,  Modena, 
I  and  the  Romagna  risen  against 
the  Pope,  but  even   in  Central 

.J  Italy,  in  Tuscany,  in  the 
ay  Marches  and  in  Umbria,  the 
authorities  had  been  driven  out,  and  every- 
where there  was  an  outcry  for  United  Italy. 
Victor  Emmanuel  had  certainly,  at  the 
wish  of  Napoleon,  refused  this  request, 
and  had  only  accepted  the  supreme 
command  of  the  volunteer  corps  which 
were  forming  everywhere. 

Napoleon  wished  to  preclude  any  further 
extension  of  this  movement.  Hence  the 
hasty  conclusion  of  the  armistice,  and  the 
provisions  of  the  Peace  of  Ziirich;  November 
loth,  1859,  that  Sardinia  might  retain  Lom- 
bardy,  but  not  extend  her  territory  further. 
In  Tuscan}^  Parma,  and  Modena  the  old 
order  of  things  was  to  be  restored,  if  the 
people  agreed  to  accept  it  ;  and  the  States 
of  the  Church,  and  this  condition  was 
taken  as  obvious,  must  once  more  be 
subject  to  the  Pope. 

All  Itahan  States  were  to  form  a  Con- 
federation, which  Austria,  as  representing 
Venice,  wished  to  join.  Cavour.  incensed  at 
these  fetters  imposed  on  the  Italians,  said  as 
he  left  the  Ministry  :  "  So  be  it  !  they  will 
force  me  to  spend  the  rest  of  my  life  in 
conspiracies."  And  in  the  last  letters  before 
his  retirement  he  secretly  urged  the  leaders 
of  the  movement  in  Central  Italy  to  collect 
money  and  arms,  to  wait  their  time  loyally, 
and  to  resist  the  wishes  of  Napoleon. 

Rattazzi,  Cavour's  successor,  was  an 
eloquent  and  practised  advocate,  of  a 
tractable  disposition,  and  therefore  more 
acceptable  to  the  king  than  Cavour  ;  he 
possessed  a  mind  more  capable  of  words 
,        and   schemes   than   of   action. 

avour  s      Cavour,  speaking  of  him,  said 

oquen        ^^^^^  -^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^  among  the 

Successor  ^■,■    •  r    .i  ^      1 

politicians  of  the  second  class. 
In  accordance  with  the  popular  feeling 
Giuseppe  Dabormida,  the  new  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  declared  on  July  23rd  that 
Sardinia  would  never  enter  into  an  Italian 
Confederation  in  which  Austria  took  any 
part.  This  policy  was  absolutely  essential 
for  self-preservation,  since  Piedmont,  in  a 
league  with  Austria,  the  Pope,  and  Naples, 

5038 


would  always  have  been  in  the  minority. 
The  new  Cabinet  was  wavering  and  in- 
secure, and  so  dependent  on  the  will  of 
Napoleon  that  it  did  not  venture  to  take 
any  forward  step  without  his  consent. 
But  at  this  point  the  fact  became  evident 
that  the  work  of  unification  was  not 
dependent  on  the  ability  of  individuals, 
but  on  the  attitude  of  the  whole  nation. 

It  is  astonishing  with  what  political  tact 
the  several  Italian  countries  struggled  for 
union  with  Sardinia.  The  Sardinian 
Government  was  compelled  to  recall, 
immediately  after  the  preliminary  peace, 
the  men  it  had  sent  to  Bologna,  Florence, 
Modena,  and  Parma  to  lead  the  agitation. 
These  districts  were  consequently  thrown 
upon  their  own  resources  ;  but  Tuscany 
found,  on  August  ist,  1859,  ^^  Baron 
Bettino  Ricasoli,  and  the  Romagna  and  the 
duchies  in  Luigi  Carlo,  a  retired  physician, 
leaders  who  governed  the  provisional 
commonwealths  with  sagacity,  and  guided 
the  public  voting  which  declared  for  sub- 
mission to  Victor  Emmanuel. 

Only  in  quite  exceptional  cases  was  any 
violence  used  against  the  hated  tools 
^^     _    .  of  the    former   governments ; 

The  Swiss  .t,  •  j  i    j 

otherwise      order      prevailed 
Mercenaries  ,1  ,  iini 

f  th    p  generally,     and     a    childlike, 

^       almost   touching,   enthusiasm 

for     the     unity    of     Italy.       The     Pope 

attempted  a  counter-blow,  and  succeeded 

in  conquering  Perugia  on  July  20th,  1859, 

by  means  of  his  Swiss  mercenaries,  who 

did  not  shrink  from  outrage  and  plunder. 

Thereupon  the  Romagna,  Tuscany,  and 
Modena  concluded  a  defensive  alliance. 
General  Manfredo  Fanti  organised  in 
October,  1859,  ^  force  of  40,000  men  ; 
so  that  the  Pope  desisted  from  further 
attacks.  Since  the  Treaty  of  Villafranca 
left  the  return  of  the  former  governments 
open,  so  long  as  foreign  interference  was 
excluded,  the  Pope  and  the  dukes  calcu- 
lated upon  an  outbreak  of  anarchy,  which 
would  provoke  a  counter-blow.  They 
centred  their  hopes  on  the  Mazzinists ; 
and  Walewski,  the  Minister  of  Napoleon, 
who  was  unfavourable  to  the  Italians, 
said  that  he  preferred  them  to  a  party 
which  styled  itself  a  government.  But 
this  hope  faded  away  before  the  wise 
attitude  of  the  Central  Italians. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  now  saw  him- 
self confronted  by  the  unpleasant  alterna- 
tive of  allowing  the  Italians  full  liberty, 
or  of  restoring  the  old  regime  b}^  force. 
But  ought  the  liberator  of  Italy  to  declare 


THE    UNIFICATION    OF    ITALY 


war  on  the  country  ?  And  it  was  still 
more  out  of  the  question  to  allow  the 
interference  of  the  defeated  Austrians. 
He  repeatedly  assured  the  Italians  that 
he  persisted  in  his  intention  to  carry  out 
his  programme  of  federation. 

Doubt  has  been  felt  whether  the  letter  to 
this  effect  which  he  addressed  on  October 
20th,  1859,  to  Victor  Emmanuel  really  ex- 
pressed his  true  intention.  In  that  letter 
he  repeated  his  demand  for  the  restoration 
of  the  old  regime  in  Central  Italy  and  for 
the  formation  of  an  Italian  Confederation 
with  the  Pope  at  its  head.  But  it  is 
clear  that  this  was  really  his  own  and  his 
final  scheme  ;  for  he  was  too  wise  not  to 
foresee  that  a  united  and  powerful  Italy 
might  one  day  turn  against  France. 

With  this  idea,  therefore,  he  said  to 
Marquis  Napoleone  di  Pepoh :  "If  the 
movement  of  incorporation  crosses  the 
Apennines,  the  union  of  Italy  is  finished, 
and  I  do  not  wish  for  any  union — I  wish 
simply  and  solely  for  independence."  His 
programme  would  have  proved  the  most 
favourable  solution  for  France,  since  it 
would  then  always  have  had  a  hand  in  the 

affairs  of  Italy,  from  the  simple 
1  he  Italian  ^^^^^^  ^^^^  ^j^^  ^^^.^^^  Italian 
Dtslike  of       1  •        1  i_-   1  1    i.  •  1. 

th  F  K  kmgdom,  which  owed  its  exist- 
ence to  him,  would  have  had  no 
other  support  against  Austria  and  the 
remaining  sovereigns  of  Italy.  That  was 
the  precise  contingency  which  Cavour  most 
feared ;  and  for  that  reason  he  secretly  urged 
the  leaders  of  Central  Italy  not  to  comply 
with  the  intentions  of  Napoleon.  In  fact, 
deputations  from  the  Romagna,  Tuscany, 
and  the  duchies  offered  the  sovereignty  to 
King  Victor  Emmanuel.  He  did  not  dare 
to  accept  the  offer  against  the  wish  of 
Napoleon,  and  merely  promised  in  his 
reply  that  he  would  represent  to  Europe 
the  wishes  of  the  Central  Italians. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  Victor 
Emmanuel,  in  these  complications,  enter- 
tained for  a  moment  the  idea  of  joining 
hands  with  Mazzini  andraising  the  standard 
of  revolt  against  Napoleon.  By  the  agency 
of  Angelo  Brofferio,  the  leader  of  the 
democratic  opposition  in  the  Piedmontese 
Parliament,  and  the  opponent  of  Cavour's 
diplomacy,  the  king  negotiated  witli  the 
old  republican  conspirator  on  whom  first 
his  father,  and  later,  he  himself,  in  1857, 
had  caused  sentence  of  death  to  be  passed 
on  account  of  his  organisation  of  a  revolt 
in  Piedmont.  Mazzini  showed  at  this  crisis 
how  greatly  the  welfare  of  his  country  out- 


weighed with  him  all  other  considerations. 
He  sent  a  message  to  that  effect  to  the  king, 
and  only  asked  him  to  break  off  entirely 
with  Napoleon,  whom  the  Republicans 
regarded  as  Antichrist.  In  return  Mazzini 
offered  to  raise  the  whole  of  Italy,  including 
Rome  and  Naples,  after  which  would  follow 
the  promotion  of  Victor  Emmanuel  to  be 
Th  K"  •  king  of  the  peninsula.  But  then 
e  mg  s  — ^^^.  Mazzini  expressly  made 
Advice  to        , ,  .  1         •    .      "^1     1     . 

Brofferio  proviso — he    intended    to 

fight,  as  previously,  for  the  re- 
public and  for  the  expulsion  of  the  House  of 
Savoy.  The  king  is  reported  to  have  said 
to  Brofferio  :  "Try  to  come  to  an  under- 
standing ;  but  take  care  that  the  Public 
Prosecutor  hears  nothing  of  it." 

The  negotiations,  however,  did  not  lead 
to  the  desired  goal,  for  the  game  seemed 
to  the  king  to  be  too  dangerous.  Mazzini 
certainly  promised  on  that  occasion 
more  than  he  could  perform  ;  his  schemes 
could  not  have  been  carried  into  execu- 
tion against  the  express  wishes  of 
Napoleon,  who  would  not  have  abandoned 
the  Pope  and  Rome.  Italy  had  only 
obtained  the  support  of  the  emperor 
against  Austria  because  the  monarchical 
policy  of  Cavour  offered  a  guarantee  that 
in  Italy  at  least  the  revolutionaries,  who 
threatened  his  rule  in  France,  were  kept  in 
restraint.  The  emperor,  as  his  action  in 
the  year  1867  clearly  proves,  would  have 
certainly  employed  force  against  Italy,  even 
though  Rome  had  been  raised  in  rebellion  ; 
for  since  the  French  Democrats  were  im- 
placably hostile  to  him,  he  was  bound  at 
least  to  have  the  clerical  party  on  his  side. 
Garibaldi,  who  then  was  entrusted  by 
the  provisional  government  with  the  com- 
mand of  the  Tuscan  troops,  overlooked  all 
these  considerations,  and  was  already 
determined  to  advance  on  Rome.  But 
Farini,  the  dictator  of  Romagna  and  of  the 
duchies,  thought  his  enterprise  dangerous, 
and,  going  to  meet  him,  induced  him  to 
withdraw  from  Central  Italy.  Having 
returned  to  Turin,  Garibaldi 
was  received  with  consideration 
by  Victor  Emmanuel,  who  was 
privy  to  this  plot  ;  he  then 
addressed  a  manifesto  to  Italy,  in  which  he 
condemned  the  miserable,  fox-Hke  politi- 
cians, and  called  upon  the  Italians  to  place 
their  hopes  exclusively  on  Victor 
Emmanuel.  That  monarch,  under  his  out- 
ward simplicity,  possessed  natural  shrewd- 
ness enough  to  remain  on  good  terms  with 
all  who  wished  to  further  the  unity  of  Italy. 

5039 


Garibaldi's 

Call 

to  Italy 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF     THE    WORLD 


In  this  consists  his  inestimable  services 
in  the  cause  of  the  unification  of  Italy. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1859, 
Napoleon  was  forced  to  admit  that  he 
could  not  carry  out  his  programme  in 
Central  Italy  by  peaceful  methods.  He 
thus  ran  the  risk  of  losing- 
Savoy  and  Nice,  which  had 
been  promised  him  as  a  reward 
before  the  war.  His  own 
interests  and  his  predilection 
for  the  Itahan  cause  com- 
bined to  induce  him  to  leave 
a  part,  at  any  rate,  of  Central 
Italy  to  Victor  Emmanuel. 
In  order  to  carry  out  this 
change  of  policy,  Walewski 
was  dismissed  and  Edouard 
Antoine  Thouvenel,  a  liberal 
who  shared  Napoleon's  pre- 
ference for  Italy,  was  nomi 


to  give  up  my  place  to  him.  ■  But  he  was 
still  more  impatient  than  I  was.  I  am 
sorry  that  he  expended  so  much  trouble  in 
bursting  the  doors  that  stood  open  to  him. 
But  he  has  the  right  to  be  ambitious." 
Napoleon, ,  although  not  disposed  to  a 
grand  and  sweeping  policy, 
had  the  astuteness  requisite 
to  disguise  his  frequent 
changes  of  front,  and  to  veil 
his  machinations  with  a  sem- 
blance of  magnanimity.  Since 
he  knew  that  the  British  dis- 
tnisted  him,  and  foresaw  that 
the  annexation  of  Savoy  and 
Nice  would  appear  to  them 
the  prelude  to  an  extensive 
policy  of  aggrandisement,  he 
lulled  their  suspicions  by 
concluding  a  commercial 
treaty  on  free-trade  principles, 


nated    Foreign    Minister    on         admiral  persano  January  23rd,  i860.     At  the 

lanuarv  "Sth,  i860.     But  the  Admiral  of  the  Italian  fleet  Per-  g^j^g  ^[^q  }^e   informed   the 

J  J     'J       '       ^^^  .  sano,  on  the  occasion  of  Garibaldi  s  _-,  ,  -r^  i 

new  policy  was  not   possible  bold  expedition   to    Sicily,  was  Popc  that  l' ranee  no  longer 

with  the  Cabinet  of  Rattazzi,  °^fp^r^et'4en'GaHbai°di^'""trani!  wishcd     to     iusist      On     the 

since    that    Minister  did  not  po^ts  and  the  Neapolitan  fleet,  restoration    of   the    legations 
possess     the      courage     to    assume     the      of  the    Romagna,   Bologna,   and   Ferrara 


to  the  States  of  the  Church. 

This  change  in  the  policy  of  Napoleon 

could  not  have  been  more  unwelcome  to 

anyone  than  to  the  Pope.  After  all,  Pius  IX. 

had  himself  to  blame  for  it,  since  he  opposed 
the  sensible  counsels  of 
Napoleon.  The  emperor 
had  requested  him  in  a 
letter  of  July  14th,  1859, 
to  grant  to  the  already 
rebellious  legations  a  sepa- 
rate administration  and  a 
lay  government  nominated 
by  the  Pope.  "  I  humbly 
conjure  your  Holiness,"  so 
the  letter  ran,  "  to  listen  to 
the  voice  of  a  devoted  son 
of  the  Church,  who  in  this 
matter  grasps  the  needs  of 
his  time,  and  knows  that 
force  is  not  sufficient  to 
prospect  of  new  and  grand  ^   ^^,^,F^^t^,  lamoriciere        ^^^^^    ^^^^    difficult   prob- 

x  XT  o  (JnG    01    tnG     lG3,QGrS    01    tllG    L^CSritlllllSL 

exploits,  he  induced  his  party  in  France,  he  was  appointed  Icms.  In  the  decision  of 
friends  to  work  vigorously  commander-in-chief  ofthe  papal  forces  in  your  Holiucss  I  scc  either 
on  his  behalf,  so  that  the   ^^^^'  '^^^'^  ^^^  ^°p^  surrounded  himself  tl-^g  perms  of  a  peaceful  and 

y-.    1  •        .  r      T->    ij_         •  with  an  army  of  20,000  enlisted  soldiers.     ,  -i        j:    ^  xi 

Cabinet     01    Rattazzi    was  tranquil     future,     or    the 

compelled     to    make    way    for    him    on      continuation  of  a  period  of  violence  and 


responsibility  for    the    cession    of    Savoy 
ond    Nice.      A    bold    and    broad    policy 
could  only  be  carried  out  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Cavour.      The  latter  was  already 
thirsting   for  power,   while   Rattazzi  was 
vainly  trying   to   block  his 
road.      It  is  true  that  the 
king  was  not  pleased  with 
the  exchange  of  Ministers ; 
he     still     cherished     some 
rancour  against  Cavour  for 
the     "  scene "    which     the 
latter  had  made  with  him 
after  the    Peace    of    Villa- 
franca.     Public  opinion,  on 
the       other      hand,     more 
especially  in   Central  Italy, 
looked    to    Cavour      alone 
for   the   realisation    of    its 
wishes.      Since    his     ambi- 
tion    was      fired     by     the 


January  i6th,  i860.  Rattazzi  and  his 
colleagues  were  not  all  so  candid  in  their 
views  as  Dabormida,  the  Foreign  Minister, 
who  felt  he  could  not  compare  with  Cavour, 
and  wrote  at  the  time  :    "I  was  impatient 

5040 


distress."  But  the  Curia  continued  ob- 
stinate, and  declai"ed  that  it  could  not  break 
with  the  principles  on  which  the  States  of 
the  Church  had  been  governed  hitherto. 
The    Pope,    in    fact,    protested    against 


THE    UNIFICATION    OF    ITALY 


the  concession  of  religious  liberty  which 
had  been  granted  by  the  provisional 
government  at  Bologna.  Napoleon  now 
adopted  a  severer  tone.  He  published  in 
December,  1859,  ^  pamphlet,  "  The  Pope 
and  the  Congress,"  in  which  it  was  stated 
that  a  restoration  of  papal  rule  in  Central 
Italy  had  become  impossible.  Granted 
that  a  secular  kingdom  was  necessary  for 
the  Pope  in  order  to  maintain  his  inde- 
pendence, a  smaller  territory  would  be 
sufficient  for  that  purpose.  Shortly  after- 
wards, Napoleon  addressed  a  second  letter 
to  Pius  IX.,  in  wliicli  he  called  upon  the 


throne.  Cavour,  however,  met  the  refusal 
of  Napoleon  by  a  bold  move,  on  which 
Rattazzi  would  never  have  ventured. 
Without  asking  the  emperor,  and  against 
his  will,  a  plebiscite  was  taken  in  March, 
i860,  in  all  the  provinces  of  Central  Italy, 
including  Tuscany,  on  the  question 
whether  they  wished  for  incorporation  in 
the  kingdom  of  Italy.  The  elections  for 
the  Parliament  of  Upper  Italy  proceeded 
at  the  same  time  with  equal  enthusiasm. 
All  the  capitals  entrusted  Cavour  with  full 
powers  in  order  to  express  their  confidence. 
It  was  no  rhetorical  fi'2;ure  when  Napoleon, 


THE  REVOLUTION  IN  SICILY  RELEASED  PRISONERS  IN  THE  STREETS  OF  PALERMO 
Rebelling-  against  their  Neapolitan  rulers,  the  Sicilians  looked  eagerly  for  the  assistance  of  Garibaldi,  who  at  last 
decided  to  join  the  movement,  sailing  on  May  5th,  1860,  with  about  a  thousand  volunteers.  In  the  above  picture 
released  prisoners  are  seen  leading  their  gaoler  through  the  streets  of   Palermo  before   putting  him  to  death. 


Pope  on  his  side  also  to  make  some  sacri- 
fice for  the  union  of  Italy,  which  was  slowly 
and  surely  progressing. 

Cavour,  meantime,  had  not  reached  his 
goal.  On  February  17th,  i860,  Italy 
learnt  the  latest  of  the  constantly  changing 
programmes  of  Napoleon.  According  to 
this,  only  Parma  and  Modena  were  to  be 
incorporated  with  Sardinia.  Victor  Em- 
manuel would  rule  the  legations  as  Vicar 
of  the  Pope  ;  but  Tuscany  must  remain 
independent  ;  at  most  a  prince  of  the 
House  of  Savoy  might  be  placed  on  the 


in  a  speech  delivered  on  March  ist,  ex- 
pressed his  dissatisfaction  at  the  arbitrary 
action  of  Italy.  Cavour,  however,  had 
cleverly  secured  the  goodwill  of  Britain, 
which  had  quite  agreed  to  the  proposal  that 
Italy  should  withdraw  from  the  influence 
of  Napoleon.  Palmerston  was  malicious 
enough  to  praise  Cavour  in  the  British 
Parliament  for  the  boldness  of  his  action. 
Now,  at  length  Cavour  opened  regular 
negotiations  about  the  cession  of  Savoy 
and  Nice,  which  had  been  promised  by 
the  treaty  of  January,  1858.     What  was 

5041 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE     WORLD 


the  emperor  to  do  ?  Was  he,  on  his  side, 
to  risk  the  loss  of  the  two  provinces  by 
his  obstinacy  ?  Perhaps  even  at  the 
eleventh  hour  he  might  have  prevented  the 
incorporation  of  Tuscany  if  he  had  de- 
clared that  under  these  conditions  he 
would  be  contented  with  Savoy  ;  but  now 
the  expectations  and  the  covetousness  of 
,        the  French  had  been  whetted, 

avour  s       ^^^  ^^  could  not  draw  back. 

agica  There  is  no  question  that 
Napoleon  then  abandoned  the 
real  interests  of  France,  and  was  van- 
quished by  Cavour.  It  had  often  been 
said,  and  subsequent  events  have  proved 
the  truth  of  the  statement,  that  Cavour 
exercised  a  positively  magical  influence 
on  Napoleon's  vacillating  mind.  The 
Italian  had  probed  the  soul  of  the  French 
emperor,  and  knew  how  far  he  might  go. 
Having  correctly  gauged  on  the  one  hand 
the  selfish  interests  of  Napoleon,  and  on 
the  other  his  sympathetic  attitude  towards 
the  Italian  question,  Cavour  could  venture 
to  play  wath  him  up  to  a  certain  point. 

But  there  were  limits  to  this  policy. 
Cavour  in  vain  tried  ail  the  arts  of  his 
diplomacy,  and  every  expedient  which  his 
subtle  mind  suggested,  to  save  Nice  at 
least  for  the  Italians.  But  here  he  was 
confronted  by  the  definite  resolution  of 
the  emperor,  w'ho  would  have  exposed 
himself  in  the  face  of  France,  had  he  given 
in.  Cavour  and  Benedetti  signed  the 
treaty  on  March  24th,  i860.  When  this 
was  done,  the  Italian  Minister,  with  a  flash 
of  humour,  turned  round  suddenly  and 
whispered  in  the  ear  of  Benedetti:  "We 
are  partners  in  guilt  now,  are  we  not  ?  " 

But  an  anxious  time  was  in  store  for 
Cavour — the  debate  in  the  Italian  Parlia- 
ment. The  great  majority  of  the  people, 
certainly,  understood  that  King  Victor 
Emmanuel  and  Cavour  could  not  have 
acted  otherwise.  Rattazzi,  however,  the 
old  rival  of  Cavour,  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  opposition  ;  and  he  had  a 
G     h  Id"      strong  supporter  in  Garibaldi, 

an  a    i      ^^-^^^  ^^^j^  j^-^  ^^^^  -^  Parliament 

Deceived  ii       j.u  1  •      ^        r 

.     ^  With    the    express    obiect    of 

by  Cavour  ,,         ^    .  j.    J.        ,  . 

opposmg  the  cession  of  Nice,  his 

native  town,  to  France.  Henceforth  he 
hated  Cavour,  who,  as  he  said,  had  made 
him  an  alien  in  his  own  country.  Garibaldi 
was  not  so  indignant  at  the  fact  itself  as 
he  was  that  Cavour  had  deceived  him  ; 
since  a  year  previously,  in  answer  to  a 
direct  question,  the  Minister  had  denied 
the  cession   of  Nice.     In   no   other  way 

5042 


could  the 'crafty  statesman  have  secured 
Garibaldi's  sword  for  the  war  of  liberation. 
On  the  other  hand,  Garibaldi  esteemed 
the  king  highly,  because  some  months 
later  to  the  question,  "  Yes  or  no,"  he 
had  returned  the  true  answer.  Victor 
Emmanuel  then  added  that,  if  he  as  king 
submitted  to  cede  Savoy,  the  country  of 
his  ancestors,  to  France,  Garibaldi  must 
be  prepared  to  make  equal  sacrifices  for 
the  sake  of  the  union  of  Italy. 

We  are  told  that  Cavour,  at  this  critical 
time,  in  order  to  soothe  Garibaldi's 
feelings,  sent  him  a  note  with  the  brief 
question,  "  Nice  or  Sicily  ?  "  He  is  thus 
said  to  have  incited  the  enthusiastic 
patriot  to  conquer  the  island.  The  story  is 
quite  improbable  ;  for  Cavour  would  cer- 
tainly have  preferred  to  mark  time  for  the 
present,  and  consolidate  the  internal  and 
economic  conditions  of  the  kingdom  of 
North  Italy,  which  consisted  of  4,000,000 
Piedmontese,  2,500,000  Lombards,  and 
4,000,000  Central  Italians.  This  state, 
without  the  States  of  the  Church,  which 
were  in  an  impoverished  condition  through 
bad     administration,     and    without    the 

.  ,  pauper  population  of  Naples, 
_^*^*  ^  ^  would  certainly  have  risen  to 
oming  considerable  prosperity.  It 
would  have  been  well  for  North 
Italy  not  to  have  been  burdened  with  the 
task  of  drawing  the  semi-civilised  districts 
of  the  south  into  the  sphere  of  its  higher 
culture  and  its  greater  prosperity.  "  We 
must  first  organise  ourselves,"  Cavour 
said  at  the  time,  "  and  form  a  powerful 
army  ;  then  we  can  turn  our  eyes  to 
Venetia  and  further  to  the  south,  and  to 
Rome."  It  was  certainly,  therefore,  no 
hj'pocrisy  when,  up  to  March,  i860,  he 
repeatedly  sent  envoys  to  Naples,  in  order 
to  induce  the  Bourbons  to  follow  a  national 
policy  and  enter  into  an  alliance  with 
the  kingdom  of  North  Italy. 

But  here  the  genius  of  the  Italian  people 
took  other  paths.  The  wary  statesman 
soon  saw  himself  carried  onward  by  the 
party  of  action  farther  than  he  himself  had 
wished  ;  for  ]\Iazzini  and  his  partisans  were 
incessantly  scheming  the  revolt  of  Sicily. 
Under  their  instructions  Francesco  Crispi, 
who  had  long  before  been  condemned  to 
death  by  the  Neapolitan  cojirts,  travelled 
through  the  island  at  great  personal  risk, 
collecting  on  all  sides  sympathisers  with 
the  cause,  and  preparing  for  the  day  of 
rebellion.  The  Sicilians  did  indeed  rise 
in    various    places,    but    their    attempts 


THE    UNIFICATION    OF    ITALY 


were  hopeless  if  Garibaldi  could  not 
be  induced  to  invade  Sicily.  He  de- 
clared to  the  Mazzinists  from  the  very  first 
that  he  would  only  join  the  struggle  under 
the  standard  of  "  Italy  and  Victor  Em- 
manuel "  ;  in  spite  of  his  republican 
leanings  he  saw  with  unerring  perception 
that  Italy  could  only  be  united  by  means 
of  the  Piedmontese  monarchy.  Mazzini 
also  declared,  as  in  the  previous  year,  that 
he  wished  first  and  foremost  to  conform 
to  the  expressed  will  of  the  people. 

But  the  conscientious  Garibaldi  still 
hesitated  ;  he  was  weighed  down  by  the 
enormous  responsibility  of  leading  the  fiery 
youth  of  Italy  to  danger  and  to  death, 
since  all  former  plots  against  the  Bourbons 
had  miscarried  ,  and  been  drowned  in 
the  blood  of  their  promoters.  King  Fer- 
dinand II.  of  Naples,  called  "  Bomba  " 
since  the  savage  bombardment  of  Messina 
in  September,  1848,  understood  how  to 
attach  the  soldiers  of  his  army  to  his 
person  ;  he  was  hard-hearted  but  cunning, 
and  by  his  affectation  of  native  customs 
won  himself  some  popularity  with  the 
lower  classes  on  the  mainland.  The 
G     h  M"     Sicilians,    indeed,  hated    their 

ri  a  IS  ]v;fgg^pQ}i^a.n  rulers  from  of  old  ; 
J.  ...  and  the  people  gladly  recalled 
the  memory  of  the  Sicilian 
Vespers,  by  which  they  had  wrested  their 
freedom  from  Naples  in  1282.  King 
Ferdinand  died  on  May  22nd,  1859,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  weak  son,  Francis 
II.,  a  feeble  nature,  with  no  mind  of 
his  own.  Since  the  outbreak  in  Sicily 
was  suppressed,  and  seemed  to  die  away, 
Cavour  urgently  dissuaded  Garibaldi  from 
his  enterprise,  even  though  he  later  secretly 
aided  it  by  the  supply  of  arms  and  am- 
munition. It  was  Cavour's  business  then 
to  decline  any  responsibility  in  the  eyes  of 
the  diplomatists  of  Europe  for  the  uncon- 
stitutional proposal  of  the  general. 

Garibaldi  finally  took  the  bold  resolu- 
tion of  sailing  for  Sicily  on  May  5th,  i860, 
with  a  thousand  or  so  of  volunteers. 
This  marks  the  beginning  of  his  heroic 
expedition,  and  also  of  the  incomparable 
game  of  intrigue  played  by  Cavour  ;  for 
the  whole  body  of  European  diplomatists 
raised  their  voices  in  protest  against  the 
conduct  of  the  Italian  Government  which 
had  allowed  a  warlike  expedition  against 
a  neighbouring  state  in  time  of  peace. 
Cavour,  assailed  by  all  the  ambassadors, 
declared,  with  some  reason,  that  Garibaldi 
had    acted    against    the    wishes    of    the 


Government,  and  informed  the  French 
emperor  that  the  Government  was  too 
weak  to  hinder  the  expedition  by  force, 
since  otherwise  there  was  the  fear  of  a 
republican  rising  against  the  king.  At 
the  same  time  Cavour  adopted  measures  to 
avert  all  danger  from  Garibaldi.  Admiral 
Persano  received  commands  from  him  to 

,  ^.       place  his  ships  between  Gari- 

Insurrection   f    ,,-,        ,         ^       ,  i      ,, 

Amon  baldi  s    transports     and    the 

thTskilians  ^'eapohtan  fleet  which  was 
watching  for  them.  To  this 
intentionally  cryptic  order  Persano  replied 
that  he  believed  he  understood  ;  if  need 
arose  Cavour  might  send  him  to  the  fortress 
at  Fenestrelles.  He  must  have  made  up  his 
mind  to  be  repudiated,  like  Garibaldi,  in 
the  event  of  the  failure  of  the  expedition. 

Garibaldi  landed  at  Marsala,  the  Lily- 
baum  of  the  ancients,  on  May  nth,  i860. 
He  obtained  but  little  help  from  the 
Sicilians  ;  when  he  attacked  on  May  15th, 
near  Calatafimi,  the  royal  troops,  the 
2,400  Sicilians  who  had  joined  him,  ran 
away  at  the  first  shot,  while  he  won  a 
splendid  victory  with  his  volunteers. 
At  Palermo,  however,  all  was  ready  for 
the  insurrection.  In  concert  with  his 
friends  there  Garibaldi,  notwithstanding 
the  great  numerical  superiority  of  the 
Bourbon  troops,  ventured  on  a  bold  attack 
during  the  night  of  the  27th-28th  May. 
The  people  sided  with  him  ;  the  troops 
of  the  king  were  fired  upon  from  the 
houses  and  withdrew  to  the  citadel, 
whence  they  bombarded  Palermo.  Rebel- 
lion blazed  up  through  the  whole  island,  and 
the  scattered  garrisons  retired  to  the  strong 
places  on  the  coast,  especially  to  Messina. 

Alarmed   at   the   revolt   of  the  island, 

King  Francis  of  Naples  changed  his  tone  ; 

in  his  dire  necessity  he  summoned  liberal 

Ministers  to  his  counsels,   and  promised 

the  Neapolitans  a  free  constitution.     He 

sent  an  embassy  to  Napoleon  III.  with  a 

petition   for   help.     The   attitude   of   the 

latter  was  significant.     He  explained  to 

the  envoys  that  he  desired  the  continuance 

.    of  the  Kingdom  of  Naples,  but 
King  Francis  ^^^^^  -^  ^-^  ^^^  ^-^  -^  ^^^^  ^^^^.^^ 


to   check  the  popular  move- 


Appeals  to 

apo  con  .  j^pj^^_  ^YYie  Italians,  he  said, 
were  keen-witted,  and  knew  that,  after 
having  once  shed  the  blood  of  the  French 
for  their  liberation,  he  could  not  proceed 
against  them  with  armed  force.  He  added : 
"  The  power  stands  on  the  national  side, 
and  is  irresistible.  We  stand  defenceless 
before    it."     He    advised    the    King    of 

5043 


HARM3WORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Naples,  however,  to  abandon  Sicily,  and 
to  offer  an  alliance  to  King  Victor  Em- 
manuel. Napoleon  promised  to  support 
his  proposal.  This  was  done,  and  all 
the  Great  Powers  assented  to  the  wishes 
of  France — even  Great  Britain,  which, 
with  all  its  inclination  to  Italy,  still 
wished  that  the  peninsula  should  be 
divided  into  two  kingdoms.  Cavour  was 
in  the  most  difficult  position ;  it  was 
impossible,  in  defiance  of  Europe,  to 
refuse  negotiations  with  Naples,  yet  he 
could  not  but  fear  to  risk  his  whole  work 
if  he  offered  his  hand  to  the  hated 
Bourbons.  He  therefore  consented  to 
negotiations,  for  form's  sake,  and  even 
induced  King  Victor  Emmanuel  to  write  a 
letter  to  Garibaldi,  calling  upon  the  latter 
to  discontinue  landing  troops  on  the 
mainland  of  Naples. 

Garibaldi  thereupon  replied  to  the  king 
on  June  27th  :  "  Your  Majesty  knows 
the  high  respect  and  affection  which  I 
entertain  for  your  person  ;  but  the  state 
of  affairs  in  Italy  does  not  allow  me  to 
obey  you  as  I  should  wish.  Allow  me, 
then,  this  time  to  be  disobedient  to  you. 
So  soon  as  I  have  accomplished  my  duty 
and  the  peoples  are  freed  from  the  detested 
yoke,  I  will  lay  down  my  sword  at  your 
feet,  and  obey  3'ou  for  the  rest  of  my  life." 


But  Cavour  was  harassed  by  a  still 
further  anxiety.  Garibaldi,  on  his  march 
through  Sicih',  surrounded  himself  almost 
exclusively  with  partisans  of  Mazzini,  and 
was  resolved,  so  soon  as  Naples  was 
liberated,  to  march  on  Rome.  If  then  the 
republican  party  of  action  in  this  way  did 
their  best  for  the  liberation  of  Italy,  the 
fate  of  the  monarchy  was  sealed.  Cavour, 
therefore,  staked  everything  to  provoke  a 
revolution  on  the  mainland,  by  which  not 
Garibaldi,  but  Persano  or  the  king  him- 
self, should  be  proclaimed  dictator.  He 
.  .  entered  into  a  compact  with 

uspicions  o  ^^^  of  the  Ministers  of  the  King 
of  Naples,  Liborio  Romano, 
who  equally  with  Alessandro 
Duke  of  Majano,  adjutant- 
Ferdinand  II.,  was  ready  for 
Cavour  hoped  by  aid  of  the 
latter  to  rouse  a  part  of  the  Neapolitan 
army  to  revolt.  He  wrote  to  Persano  : 
"  Do  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact.  Admiral, 
that  the  moment  is  critical.  It  is  a  question 
of  carrying  out  the  greatest  enterprise  of 
modern  times,  by  protecting  Italy  from 
foreigners,  pernicious  principles,  and  fools." 
But  Nunziante,  awakening  the  suspicion 
of  the  Bourbon  Government,  was  obliged 
to  take  refuge  on  board  the  Piedmontese 
fleet.      The   king's   uncle,    Prince    Louis, 


the  Bourbon 
Government 

Nunziante, 
general  of 
treachery. 


THE    LIBERATORS    OF    SICILY.     GARIBALDI    WITH    A    GROUP    OF    PATRIOT    HEROES 
.5044 


THE     MISERABLE     HIDING-PLACE     OF    THE     KING     AND     QUEEN     OF     NAPLES 
During  the  bombardment  ofGaetaby  the  Piedmontesein  1861,  the  King  and  Queen  of  Naples  sought  refuge  in  the  damp, 
unwholesome  vaults  illustrated  in  the  above  picture.     "  Their  fear,"  says  a  contemporary  accountjof  the  siege,  "  must 
have  been  very  great  indeed  to  have  induced  them  to  live  in  such  a  wretched  hole.  The  stench,  on  entering,  is  great ;  and 
in  some  chambers  through  the  doorway  four  generals  died  during  the  siege  from  the  bad  atmosphere  and  confinement." 


Count  Aquila  was  ordered  by  his  nephew 
to  quit  the  kingdom.  It  was  thus 
evident  that  Garibaldi's  services  must 
once  more  be  utihsed  in  order  to  over- 
throw the  Bourbons.  He  landed  on 
August  19th,  i860,  on  the  coast  of  the 
peninsula  near  Melito,  and  marched  di- 
rectly on  Naples.  The  generals  who  were 
sent  against  him  were  unreliable,  since 
their  hearts  were  in  the  Italian  cause.  The 
r  "K  M"  soldiers  who  supported  the 
an  a  1  s  gQ^-i^Qj-jg  thought  themselves 
■  t  N  I  betrayed,  and  murdered  Gen- 
eral Fileno  Briganti  at  Mileto, 
August  25th,  after  he  had  concluded 
terms  of  capitulation  with  Garibaldi.  The 
latter  was  received  everywhere  with 
enthusiasm  ;  the  common  people  regarded 
him  as  an  invulnerable  hero.  When  he 
entered  Naples  on  September  7th,  i860, 
with  his  18,000  volunteers,  he  was  greeted 
by  Liborio  Romano  as  liberator  ;  the  king 
withdrew  with  his  army  of  60,000  men 
into  a  strong  fortress  on  the  Volturno. 
A  momentous  crisis  had  arrived.     For  the 


adherents  of  Mazzini  in  the  train  of  Gari- 
baldi it  was  of  vital  importance  to  prevent 
the  people  of  Naples  from  being  called  upon 
to  vote  whether  they  wished  Victor 
Emmanuel  to  be  king.  They  confirmed 
Garibaldi  in  the  idea  of  marching  imme- 
diately on  Rome,  of  driving  out  the 
French  troops,  and  of  putting  an  end  to 
the  hierarchy.  Garibaldi's  breast  swelled 
with  his  previous  successes ;  he  was 
susceptible  to  flattery,  and  firmly  per- 
suaded himself  that  it  was  merely  Cavour's 
jealousy  if  Victor  Emmanuel  did  not  follow 
the  noble  impulses  of  his  heart  and  throw 
open  to  him  the  road  to  Rome  and  Venice. 
When  Cavour  sent  his  trusted  envoy, 
the  Sicihan  Giuseppe  La  Farina,  in  order 
to  put  himself  in  communication  with 
Garibaldi,  the  latter  insulted  him  by 
ordering  his  expulsion  from  Sicily.  At 
first  Garibaldi  acquiesced  in  the  dictator- 
ship of  Agostino  Depretis,  who  was  sent 
by  the  king  ;  but  on  September  i8th  he 
replaced  him,  from  suspicion  of  his  con- 
nection with  Cavour,  by  Antonio  Mordini, 

5045 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


an  intimate  friend  of  Mazzini.  In  this  way 
Garibaldi  succeeded  in  involving  Italy 
simultaneously  in  a  war  with  France  and 
Austria.  The  Emperor  Napoleon  looked 
sullenly  at  Naples,  where  a  revolutionary 
focus  was  forming  that  threatened  his 
throne  with  destiiiction. 

Once  more  Cavour  faced  the  situation 
with  the  boldest  determination.  He  was 
firmly  convinced  that  the  monarchy  and 
the  constitutional  government  of  North 
Italy  must  contribute  as  much  to  the 
union  of  the  peninsula  as  Garibaldi ;  he 
therefore  counselled  the  king  to  advance 
with  his  army  into  the  papal  territory  and 


itself  and  its  immediate  vicinity,  had 
surrounded  himself  with  an  army  of 
20,000  enlisted  soldiers,  at  whose  head 
he  placed  General  Lamoriciere,  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  legitimist  party  in 
France.  The  mercenaries  consisted  of 
French,  Austrians,  Belgians,  and  Swiss  ; 
their  officers  were  partly  the  flower  of 
the  legitimist  nobility  of  France — a  fact 
which  could  not  be  very  pleasant  to 
Napoleon.  But  King  Victor  Emmanuel 
sent  40,000  men,  under  the  command  of 
General  Manfredo  Fanti,  against  the 
States  of  the  Church  ;  and  Lamoriciere, 
who  was  obliged  to  leave  half  his  troops 


FAREi/s/ELL    VISIT   OF   GARIBALDI   TO   ADMIRAL   MUNDY    ON    THE    HANNIBAL    AT     NAPLES 


to  occupy  it — with  the  exception  of  Rome, 
which  was  protected  by  Napoleon— to 
march  on  Naples  and  to  defeat  the  army 
of  the  Bourbon  king,  which  was  encamped 
on  the  Volturno.  Matters  had  come  to 
such  a  crisis  that,  when  Victor  Emmanuel 
sent  his  Minister  Luigi  Farini,  from  1859- 
1860  dictator  of  the  Emilia,  and  General 
Cialdini  to  Napoleon  III.,  to  expound  his 
plan,  the  emperor  gave  a  reply  which  showed 
that  he  was  not  blind  to  the  necessity  of 
the  action  taken  by  Victor  Emmanuel. 

The  Pope,  in  order  not  to  be  entirely 
dependent  on  the  help  of  France,  which 
was   intaided    merely    to    protect    Rome 

5046 


to  suppress  the  inhabitants  o(  the  States 
of  the  Church,  was  attacked  by  a  greatly 
superior  force.  He  was  so  completely 
defeated  at  Castelfidardo  on  September 
1 8th,  i860,  that  he  was  only  able  to  escape 
to  Ancona  with  130  men,  while  almost  the 
entire  papal  army  was  taken  prisoners. 
Persano  received  orders  to  bombard  An- 
cona ;  it  surrendered  on  September  29th. 

The  troops  of  Garibaldi  had  in  the 
meantime  attacked  the  Bourbon  army  on 
the  Volturno,  but  without  any  success. 
The  Bourbon  troops  crossed  the  Volturno 
in  order,  in  their  turn,  to  attack.  Garibaldi 
boldly  held  his  ground  with  his  men,  and 


GENERAL    VIEW    OF    CAPRERA,    GARIBALDI'S    ISLAND    HOME 


THE   RETREAT   OF   GARIBALDI,   NEAR   RAVENNA,   ONE   OF   ITALY'S    HISTORIC   TREASURES 


THE    HOME    AND    REFUGE    OF    ITALY'S    GREATEST    PATRIOT 


5047 


ITALY'S  TRIBUTE  TO  GARIBALDI  :  THE  PATRIOT'S  MONUMENT  ON  THE  JANICULUM  AT  ROME 
5048 


THE    UNIFICATION    OF    ITALY 


the  Neapolitans,  although  three  to  one, 
could  not  gain  a  victory  ;  but  Garibaldi 
was  far  from  being  able  to  calculate  upon 
a  rapid  success.  Under  these  circumstances 
public  opinion  was  strongly  impressed  when 
the  army  of  Victor  Emmanuel  appeared  on 
the  bank  of  the  Volturno  ;  the  Neapolitans 
withdrew  behind  the  Garigliano. 

It  was  high  time  that  King  Victor 
Emmanuel  appeared  in  Naples ;  for 
Garibaldi  was  now  so  completely  under 
the  influence  of  the  opponents  of  Cavour 
that  he  flatly  refused  to 
allow  the  incorporation 
of  Naples  and  Sicily  in 
the  kingdom  of  Italy  to 
be  carried  out.  Mordini, 
his  representative  in 
Sicily,  worked  at  his 
side,  with  the  object 
that  independent  Parlia- 
ments should  be  sum- 
moned irs  Naples  and 
Palermo,  w^hich  should 
settle  the  matter.  Gari- 
baldi actually  informed 
the  king  that  he  would 
not  agree  to  the  union 
unless  Cavour  and  his 
intimate  friends  were 
first  dismissed  from  the 
Ministry.  By  this  de- 
mand, however,  he  ran 
counter  to  almost  the 
entire  public  opinion  of 
Italy.  In  Naples  especi- 
ally and  in  Sicily  all 
prudent  men  wished  for 
a  rapid  union  with  Italy, 
since  the  break-up  of  the 
old  regime,  in  Sicily 
especially,  had  brought 
in  its  train  confusion, 
horrors,  and  political 
murders.  Garibaldi  long 
debated  with  himself 
whether  he  should  yield  ; 
but  when  the  Marquis  Pallavicino — who 
had  fretted  away  the  years  of  his  manhood 
as  a  prisoner  in  the  Spielberg  at  Briinn  and 
was  now  the  leader  of  the  party  of  action — ■ 
and  with  him  virtually  the  whole  popu- 
lation of  Naples,  went  over  to  the  other 
side,  the  patriot  general  mastered  himself 
and  ordered  the  voting  on  the  union  with 
Italy  to  be  arranged,  October  21st. 

The  king  would  have  been  prepared  to 
grant  his  wish  and  to  nominate  him 
lieutenant-general    of   the   districts    con- 


GARIBALDI'S  STATUE  AT  FLORENCE 


quered  by  him,  had  not  Garibaldi  attached 
the  condition  to  it  that  he  should  be 
allowed  to  march  on  Rome  in  the  coming 
spring.  As  this  could  not  be  granted,  he 
withdrew  in  dignified  pride,  although 
deeply  mortified  and  implacably  hostile  to 
Cavour,  to  his  rocky  island  of  Caprera. 
In  his  farewell  proclamation  he  called 
upon  the  Italians  to  rally  round  "II  Re 
galantuomo  "  ;  but  he  foretold  his  hope 
that  in  March,  1861,  he  would  find  a 
million  Italians  under  arms,  hinting  in 
this  way  that  he  wished 
by  their  means  to  liberate 
Rome  and  Venice.  But  a 
fact,  which  many  years 
later  was  disclosed  in  the 
memoirs  of  Thouvenel 
and  Beust,  shows  how 
correct  the  judgment  of 
Cavour  was  when  he 
kept  the  Italians  at  this 
time  away  from  Rome. 
When  Garibaldi  wished 
to  march  against  Rome, 
Napoleon  told  the  Vienna 
Cabinet  that  he  had  no 
objection  if  it  wished  to 
draw  the  sword  against 
Italy  to  uphold  the  Treaty 
of  Zurich — that  is  to  say, 
for  the  papacy  ;  only,  it 
could  not  be  allowed  to 
disturb  Lombardy  again. 
It  is  conceivable  that 
Rechberg,  the  Foreign 
Minister,  dissuaded  the 
Emperor  Francis  Joseph 
from  a  war  which  could 
bring  no  gain  to  Austria 
even  in  case  of  victory. 
The  Bourbon  army  could 
not  hold  its  ground 
against  the  troops  of 
Victor  Emmanuel,  and 
King  Francis  threw  him- 
self into  the  fortress  of 
Gaeta.  When  he  surrendered  there  with 
8,000  men  on  February  13th,  1861,  the 
Union  of  Italy  was  almost  won.  Cavour 
himself  was  not  fated  to  see  the  further 
accomplishment  of  his  wishes.  He  was 
attacked  by  a  deadly  illness  not  long  after 
an  exciting  session  of  Parliament,  in 
which  GaribalcU  heaped  bitter  reproaches 
on  his  head.  In  his  delirium  he  dreamed 
of  the  future  of  his  country.  He  spoke  of 
Garibaldi  with  great  respect ;  he  said  that 
he  longed,  as  much  as  the  general,  to  go 

5049 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


to  Rome  and  Venice.  He  spoke  with 
animation  of  the  desirabihty  of  reconcihng 
the  Pope  with  Italy.  When  his  confessor 
Giacopo  handed  him  the  sacrament  on 
June  6th,  1861,  he  said  to  him  :  "  Brother, 
brother,  a  free  Church  in  a  free  state  " 
("  Frate,  frate,  Ubera  chiesa  in  hbero 
stato ").  These  were  his  last  words. 
,  No  problem  had  engrossed 
_  .  the  maker  of  Italy  in  the  last 

^     .  months  of   his  life  so  much  as 

the  Roman  question.  There 
was  a  section  of  his  friends  who  considered 
it  necessary  to  yield  Rome  to  the  Pope, 
in  order  that  the  secular  power  of  the 
papacy  might  remain  undisturbed.  Such 
was  the  idea  of  D'Azegho.  Stefano  J  acini 
thought  that  Rome,  on  the  model  of  the 
Hanse  towns,  might  be  turned  into  a 
Free  State,  where  the  Pope  might  main- 
tain his  residence  in  the  character  of 
a  protector  and  suzerain. 

Cavour,  on  the  contrary,  was  convinced 
that  Italy  without  its  natural  capital  was 
an  incomplete  structure.  He  would  have 
granted  the  Pope  the  most  favourable  con- 
ditions if  the  latter  would  have  met  the 
wishes  of  the  Italians.  The  Throne  of  Peter, 
which  so  many  able  statesmen  had  filled 
in  the  past,  was  now  held  by  Pius  IX.,  a 
child-like,  religious  nature,  who  allowed 
himself  to  be  enmeshed  by  the  irreconcil- 
able ideas  of  Giacomo  Antonelli  and  the 
Jesuits,  and  by  his  obstinacy  proved  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  the  union  of  Italy. 

In  spite  of  repeated  pressure  from  the 
Emperor  Napoleon,  he  refused  to  admit 
the  introduction  of  reforms  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Papal  States,  or  to  conciliate 
The  P  ^^^®    national    feelings    of    the 

an  Obstacl  Italians.  Victor  Emmanuel, 
to  Union  even  before  his  march  into  the 
States  of  the  Church,  professed 
his  readiness  to  recognise  the  papal  sove- 
reignty within  the  old  territorial  limits, 
provided  that  the  Curia  transferred  to 
him  the  vicariate  over  the  provinces  taken 
from  it.  It  was  an  equally  beneficial 
circumstance  for  the  infant  state  that 
the  Pope,  by  rei)udiating  liberty  of  con- 
science and  free  political  institutions  in  his 


Encyclical  of  December  8th,  1864,  and  in 
the  Syllabus,  Syllabus  coniplectens  praci- 
puos  noslrcB  cBtatis  errores,  outraged  the 
sensibilities  even  of  those  Catholics  who 
wished  for  the  maintenance  of  the  tem- 
poral power,  but  did  not  wish  to  plunge 
back  into  mediaevalism.  Liberal  ideas 
would  not  have  been  able  to  continue  their 
victorious  progress  between  i860  and  1870 
in  the  Catholic  countries  of  Austria,  Italy, 
and  France  if  the  Papal  Chair  had  not 
involuntarily  proved  their  best  ally. 

Baron  Bettino  Ricasoli,  the  successor 
of  Cavour,  thought  that  he  acted  in  his 
predecessor's  spirit  when  he  made  dazzling 
proposals  to  the  Pope,  on  condition  that 
the  latter  should  recognise  the  status  quo. 
Ricasoli  proposed  a  treaty,  which  not 
merely  assured  all  the  rights  of  the  papal 
primacy,  but  offered  Pius,  as  a  reward 
for  his  conciliatoriness,  the  renunciation 
by  the  king  of  all  his  rights  as  patron, 
especially  that  of  the  appointment  of  the 
G  h  \d'  bishops.  By  this  the  Pope 
w  ^  'a  A  would  have  completely  ruled  the 
in  B  ttl  Church  of  Italy  ;  and  that  State 
would  have  been  deprived  of 
a  sovereign  right,  which  not  merely 
Louis  XIV.,  but  Philip  II.  of  Spain  and 
Ferdinand  II.  of  Austria,  would  never 
have  allowed  themselves  to  lose.  In  place 
of  any  answer  the  cardinal  secretary, 
Antonelli,  declared,  in  the  official  "  Gior- 
nale  di  Roma,"  that  the  proposal  of 
Ricasoli  was  an  unparalleled  effrontery. 

This  unfortunate  attempt  overthrew  the 
Ministry  of  Ricasoli,  and  under  his 
successor,  Rattazzi,  Garibaldi  hoped  to 
be  able  to  carry  out  his  design  against 
Rome.  He  mustered  his  volunteers  in 
Sicily,  and  landed  with  2,000  men  on 
the  coast  of  Calabria ;  but  the  Govern- 
ment was  in  earnest  when  it  announced 
that  it  would  oppose  his  enterprise  by 
arms.  Garibaldi,  wounded  by  a  bullet 
in  the  right  foot,  was  forced  to  lay 
down  his  arms  after  a  short  battle  at 
Aspromonte  on  August  2gth,  1862.  The 
road  to  Rome  was  not  opened  to  the 
Italians  until  the  power  of  France  was 
overthrown  by  the  victories  of  Germany. 


5050 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


-T-^ 
k 


THE 

CONSOLIDA- 
TION    OF    THE 
POWERS    V 


PRUSSIA    UNDER    KING    WILLIAM    I. 

AND    COUNT    BISMARCK'S     RISE     TO    POWER 


CAVOUR,  on  his  death-bed,  spoke  un- 
ceasingly of  the  future  of  his  country, 
and  thus  expressed  himself  about  Ger- 
many :  "  This  German  Federation  is  an 
absurdity  ;  it  will  break  up,  and  the  union 
of  Germany  will  be  established.  But  the 
House  of  Hapsburg  cannot  alter  itself. 
What  will  the  Prussians  do,  who  are  so 
slow  in  coming  to  any  conclusions  ? 
They  will  need  fifty  years  to  effect  what 
we  have  created  in  three  years."  This 
was  the  idea  of  the  future  which  the 
dying  statesman,  to  whom  the  name  of 
Bismarck  was  still  probably  unknown, 
pictured  to  himself.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  German}^  notwithstanding  its  effi- 
ciency and  its  culture,  would  have  re- 
quired, without  Bismarck,  another  half- 
century  for  its  union.  King  Frederic 
William  I.  had  possessed  an  efficient  army, 
without  being  able  to  turn  it  to  account, 
as  his  great  son  did.  Twice  the  tools 
were  procured  and  ready  before 
the  master  workman  appeared 


of  King 
William  I. 


on  the  scene  who  knew  how 
to  use  them.  We  know  pre- 
cisely the  goal  which  King  William  I. 
put  before  himself  in  the  German 
question  before  Bismarck  became  his 
Minister.  The  plans  which,  as  Prince 
Regent,  he  unfolded  to  the  Emperor  Francis 
Joseph  at  the  conference  at  Toplitz, 
towards  the  end  of  July,  i860,  were  modest. 
He  was  prepared  to  form  an  alliance 
with  Austria  which  would  have  guaranteed 
to  that  country  its  existing  dominions, 
thus  including  Venice.  In  return  he 
required  a  change  in  the  presidency  of  the 
GeiTnan  Federation  as  well  as  the  com- 
mand in  the  field  over  the  troops  of  North 
Germany  in  future  federal  wars ;  the 
supreme  command  in  South  Germany 
was  to  fall  to  Austria.  Thus,  for  the 
future  there  would  be  no  possibility  of 
the  Fedeiation  choosing  a  general  for 
itself,  as  Austria  had  desired  on  June  6th, 
1859,  when  Germany  armed  against 
Napoleon    III.     Prussia    was    bound    to 


prevent  a  majority  in  the  Federation 
deciding  the  question  of  the  supreme 
command  of  its  army.  Neither  William 
I.  nor  his  Ministers  then  aimed  at  the 
subjugation  of  Germany.  But  even  those 
claims  wsre  rejected  by  Austria.  Francis 
,  Joseph  declared  that  the  presi- 
w  *  k  f^^  ^  dency  in  the  Federation  was 
.    ^  an  old  prerogative  of  his  house, 

^^^  and  therefore  unassailable.  On 
the  other  matter  no  negative  answer 
was  returned,  and  negotiations  were 
opened  with  the  Federal  Diet  ;  but 
Austria  was  certain  that  the  Assembly 
would  reject  the  proposition. 

If  we  leave  out  of  sight  the  army 
reforms,  the  inestimable  work  of  William 
I.,  we  shall  observe,  until  the  appearance 
of  Bismarck  on  the  scene,  serious  vaciha- 
tion  in  the  home  policy  no  less  than  in 
the  foreign  policy  of  Prussia.  When  the 
Prince  Regent  became  the  representative 
of  King  Frederic  WiUiam  IV.,  he  issued 
on  October  gth,  1858,  a  programme  which 
announced  in  cautious  language  the  breach 
with  the  reactionary  method  of  govern- 
ment. The  avoidance  of-  all  canting 
piety  produced  a  beneficial  impression  ; 
but  there  were  only  platitudes  on  the 
German  question,  among  others  the  phrase : 
"  Prussia  must  make  moral  conquests 
in  Germany."  When  the  Prince  Regent 
soon  afterwards  summoned  a  Ministry  of 
moderate  Liberals,  with  Prince  Anton  von 
Hohenzollern  at  its  head,  public  opmion 
breathed  more  freely,  and  the  dawn  of 
a  "  new  era  "  was  expected.  The  name  of 
Count  Maximilian  Schwerin,  Minister  of  the 
.    .  Interior,  seemed  to  guarantee 

Prussia  m         ^    broad-minded    policy   of 
,,  reform.      Count    Alexander 


the  Dawn  of 

a  "  New  Era 


von  Schleinitz,  the  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  was,  on  the  contrary, 
still  firmly  attached  to  the  old  system. 

The  Prussian  people  meantime  under- 
stood the  good  intention,  and  the  new  elec- 
tions to  the  Chamber  brought  a  majority 
of  moderate  Liberals  which  was  prepared 

5051 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


to  support  the  Government.  A  number 
of  Liberal  leaders  intentionallj^  refrained 
from  standing,  in  order  not  to  arouse 
in  the  Prince  Regent  misgivings  lest  a 
repetition  of  the  state  of  things  in  1848 
was  intended.  The  leading  figure  in  the 
Chamber,  which  met  in  January,  1859, 
was  Vincke,  whose  loyalty  was  beyond 
suspicion.  Commendable  political  wisdom 
was  shown  in  this  moderation  on  the  part 
of  the  constituencies.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  new  Government  introduced 
schemes  of  reform  touching  the  abolition 
of  the  land-tax  privileges  of  the  nobihty 
and  the  abolition  of  the  police  powers 
of  the  owners  of  knight-estates.  Great 
efforts  were  expended  to 
induce  the  Upper  House, 
where  the  Conservatives 
possessed  a  majority,  to 
accept  the  reforms.  In 
a  matter  of  German 
politics,  where  the  con- 
science of  the  people 
chimed  in,  the  new  era 
fulfilled  the  expectations 
formed  of  it.  Prussia 
spoke  boldly  in  the 
Federal  Diet  on  behalf  of 
the  restoration  of  the 
constitution  of  Electoral 
Hesse,  which  had  been 
meanly  curtailed.  The 
Government  could  not 
rise  superior  to  these 
attacks.  The  Prince 
Regent  was  unable  to 
bring  himself  to  make  a 
clean  sweep  of  a  set  of 
unpopular  high  officials, 
who   had   been  much  to 


KING  WILLIAM  I.  OF  PRUSSIA 
He   was  born   in  1797,   and   on   the  death  of 
his  brother,  Frederic  William  IV.,  succeeded 
...  .  to  the  throne  of  Prussia,   being  the   seventh 

blame  m    the    reactionary     king  of  that  country,  and   on  January  18th, 
period  for  open  violations    '^'''  ^^'  P'-o^^'aimed  first  German  Emperor. 

of  the  laws.  The  revolt  of  Italy  had  a 
great  and  immediate  effect  on  the  German 
people.  The  founding  of  the  National 
Society,  with  Rudolf  von  Bennigsen  at 
its  head,  in  July,  1859,  was  a  direct  con- 
sequence of  the  Italian  war.  The  society 
aimed  at  the  union  of  all  German-speaking 
races  outside  the  Austrian  Empire  under 
the  leadership  of  a  Liberal  Prussia.  The 
Regent,  far  from  being  encouraged,  felt 
alarmed  by  the  events  in  Italy  ;  the  re- 
volutionary rising  in  Naples  and  Garibaldi's 
march  repelled  him.  He  could  not  con- 
vince himself  that  the  national  will  was 
entitled  to  override  legitimist  rights. 
His    whole    policy,    both    at    home    and 

5052 


abroad,  was  thus  stamped  by  conservatism 
and  uncertainty.  The  Austrian  Minister, 
Rechberg,  at  the  conferences  of  the 
Emperor  Francis  Joseph  with  the  Prince 
Regent  and  with  the  Tsar  at  Toplitz  and 
Warsaw,  succeeded  in  confirming  these 
two  monarchs  in  the  conviction  that  they, 
too,  were  threatened  by  the  national  and 
Liberal  tendencies.  Austria  was  no  longer 
isolated  in  that  respect  as  in  1859. 

All  these  circumstances  co-operated  to 
close  the  ears  of  the  Prussian  people  when 
the  king,  who  succeeded  his  brother  on  the 
throne  on  January  2nd,  1861,  came  before 
the  Chamber  with  the  plan  of  army  reform. 
William  I.  was  superior  to  the  majority  of 
his  German  contempor- 
aries in  recognising  that 
a  comprehensive  Prussian 
policy  could  only  be 
carried  out  with  a  strong 
army.  Leopold  von 
Ranke  says  of  a  con- 
versation which  he  had 
with  the  king  on  June 
13th,  i860:  "The  sum 
of  his  resolution  was  .  .  . 
to  leave  the  German 
princes  undisturbed  in 
their  sovereignty,  but  to 
effect  a  union  in  military 
matters  which  would  con- 
duce to  a  great  and  general 
efficiency.  He  fully 
grasped  the  idea  that  the 
military  power  comprised 
in  itself  the  sovereignty." 
As  long  before  as  the 
preparations  which  might 
have  led  to  a  war  with 
Austria  in  1850,  the 
prince  was  convinced  that 
the  Prussian  army,  which 
nominally,  on  a  war  footing,  numbered 
200,000  men  with  the  colours  and  400,000 
in  the  Landwehr,  was  not  sufficient  for 
protracted  campaigns.  The  existing  organ- 
isation had  been  formed  in  the  critical 
times  when  the  distrust  of  Napoleon  I. 
and  vexatious  treaty  obligations  compelled 
Prussia  to  keep  up  a  small  peace  army. 
Under  the  financial  stress  of  the  period 
subsequent  to  1815,  she  was  forced  to 
continue  with  this  defensive  army,  which 
in  comparison  with  that  of  other  military 
states  was  much  weaker  than  the  army 
which  Frederic  II.  had  raised  in  his  far 
smaller  kingdom.  The  mobilisation  of  1859 
had    shown  serious   deficiencies  in  every 


CORONATION     CEREMONY     OF     KING     WILLIAM     I.     AT     KONIGSBERG,     OCTOBER     18TH,     1861 

5053 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


direction.  Besides  this  the  Prince  Regent 
even  then,  in  order  to  remedy  the  most 
crying  evils,  had  instituted  an  important 
reform  on  his  own  authority.  Hitherto 
there  had  been  few  or  no  permanent  staffs 
for  the  Landwehr  regiments  ;  so  that  on  a 
fresh  mobihsation  the  troops  could  not 
be  placed  in  the  ranks  as  soon  as  they  were 
called  out,  but  had  first  to  be  formed  into 
regiments.  Such  a  state  of  things  seems 
incredible  at  the  present  day. 

At  the  demobilisation  of  1859,  the  Prince 
Regent  directed  that  the  recently  formed 
staffs  of  the  Landwehr  regiments  should  be 
kept  up.  This  change  could  not,  however, 
go  far  enough  ;  for  since  the  members  of 
the  Landwehr  were  bound  to  be  dismissed, 
those  staffs  consisted  mostly  of  officers 
only,  and  were  not  sufficient  to  form  the 
basis  of  a  powerful  new  organisation.  The 
attention  of  William  L  was  now  directed 
to  this  point.  But  the  War  Minister  of  the 
day,  Bonin,  was  too  timid  to  undertake 
the  responsibility  of  the  necessary  mea- 
sures, and  on  December  5th,  1859,  Roon 
had  to  be  summoned  in  his  place. 

The  new  proposal  came  -before  the 
Prussian  Diet  on  February  loth,  i860. 
One  of  the  great  drawbacks  of  the  existing 
constitution  of  the  army 
lay  in  the  fact  that, 
while  annually,  on  the 
average,  155,650  men 
reached  their  twentieth 
year,  only  20,000  men 
were  enrolled  in  the  army. 
Thus  twenty-six  per  cent, 
of  the  young  men  capable 
of  bearing  arms  bore  the 
whole  burden  of  military 
service,  which  was 
especially  heavy,  since 
the  obligation  to  serve 
in  the  Landwehr  lasted 
to  the  thirty-ninth  year. 
The  consequence  of  this 
was  that  in  the  first  levy 
of  the  Landwehr  one-half 
of  the  total  numbers,  and 
in  the  second  levy  five- 
sixths,  were  married  men. 
The  number  of  men  liable  to  serve  had 
remained  the  same  for  more  than  forty 
years,  although  the-  population  of  the 
country  had  increased  from  ten  to  eigjiteen 
millions.  The  obligatory  period  of  service 
in  the  standing  army,  three  years  with  the 
colours,  two  years  in  the  reserve,  was  too 
short   for   the   body   of   the   army.     The 

5054 


Reforming 
the  Army 
of  Prussia 


COUNT  MAXIMILIAN  SCHWERIN 
Among  the  Ministry  of  moderate  Liberals 
summoned  by  the  Prince  Regent  in  1858  was 
Count  Schwerin,  Minister  of  the  Interior;  a 
"new  era"  was  confidently  anticipated,  and 
the    public    looked  to  Schwerin   for  reforms. 


government  therefore  proposed  to  levy 
annually,  instead  of  40,000  men,  60,000 
men — forty  per  cent.,  that  is,  of  all  those 
liable  to  serve  ;  while  in  return  the  obliga- 
tion to  serve  in  the  Landwehr  was  to  last 
only  to  the  age  of  thirty-five  years.  Besides 
this,  the  three  years'  service  in  the  reserve 
was  to  be  raised  to  five  years. 

This  change  signified  a  considerable 
strengthening  of  the  standing  army  and 
a  reduction  of  the  Landwehr.  This  is 
shown  by  the  figures  of  the  full  war 
footing  which  it  was  hoped  to 
reach.  The  army  was  intended 
henceforth  to  consist  of  371,000 
men  with  the  colours,  126,000 
men  in  the  reserve,  and  163,000  in  the 
Landwehr.  The  scheme  demanded  the 
attention  of  the  Diet  in  two  respects. 
On  the  one  side  a  money  grant  was 
necessary,  since  it  was  impossible  to 
enrol  the  numerous  new  corps  in  the  old 
regiments,  and  thirty-nine  new  line  regi- 
ments had  to  be  raised.  An  annual  sum, 
£1,350,000  sterling,  was  required  for  the 
purpose.  Besides  this,  the  existing  law  as 
to  military  service  required  to  be  consider- 
ably modified.  This  applied  not  merely 
to  the  division  of  the  period  of  service 
between  the  standing 
army  and  the  Landwehr, 
but  also  concerned  the 
length  of  compulsory 
active  service.  At  that 
time,  in  order  to  spare 
the  finances,  the  soldiers 
were  often  dismissed  after 
serving  two  or  two  and  a 
half  years.  King  William 
did  not  consider  this 
period  sufficient,  and  de- 
manded the  extension  of 
the  period  of  service  to 
three,  and  in  the  case  of 
the  cavalry  to  four,  years. 
Measures  of  no  less  im- 
portance had  then  been 
taken  with  regard  to  the 
tactics  of  the  infantry. 
After  the  war  of  1859, 
there  arose  the  question 
of  the  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from  the 
experiences  of  the  Italian  campaign.  The 
defensive  methods  of  the  Austrians  had 
proved  inferior  to  the  offensive  tactics  of 
the  more  dashing  French.  The  French 
had  often  succeeded,  in  infantry  combats, 
in  rushing  with  an  impetuous  charge  under 
the  Austrian   bullets,  which  had   a  very 


PRUSSIA    UNDER    KING    WILLIAM    I. 


curved  trajectory,  and  in  thus  winning  the 
day.  For  this  reason  it  was  the  ordinary 
belief  in  the  Austrian  army  that  defensive 
tactics  must  once  for  all  be  given  up. 

The  successes  ot  the  French  were  over- 
estimated,   and    there    was    a    return   in 
the  years  1859-66   to   "  shock  tactics  "  ; 
these  attached   little   importance   to   the 
preliminary    musketry    — 
engagement,     and      con- 
sisted    in    firing    a    few    ' 
volleys  and  then  charging 
with  the  bayonet.    Many 
voices    even    in     the 
Prussian  army  advocated 
a  similar   plan.     Colonel 
Ollech   was  sent  by  the 
Prussian  General  Staff  to 
France  in  August,  1859, 
in    order    to    investigate 
the     condition     of     the 
French    army.      He   re- 
turned    strongly    preju- 
diced   in   favour   of    the 
system  of   shock  tactics, 
and  advised  the  king  to 
issue   an   order,   in   con- 
nection   with    a    similar 
order  issued  by  Frederic 
the  Great  for  the  cavalry,   that  "  every 
infantry   commander   would   be   brought 
before  a  court-martial  who  lost  a  position 
without    having   met   the    attack   of   the 
enemy  by  a  counter  attack." 

King  William  was  at  all  times  clever  in 
discovering  prominent  men  for  leading 
positions.  The  chief  of  the  General  Staff, 
Lieutenant-General  Helmuth  von  Moltke, 
clearly  saw  the  risk  of  this  advice.  In  his 
remarks  on  Ollech's  report  he  laid  great 
weight  on  the  attacking  spirit  in  an  army  ; 
but  he  recognised  correctly  that  the  needle- 
,  gun,  introduced  in  1847,  secured 
p  .  ...  the  Prussians  the  advantage 
rincip  e  m  -^  ^^^^  musketry  fighting,  and 

that  in  ■  the  reorganisation  of 
the  army  stress  should  be  laid  on  that 
point.  Moltke's  principle  was  that  the 
infantry  should  make  the  fullest  use  of 
their  superior  firing  power  at  the  beginning 
of  the  battle,  and  should  for  that  purpose 
select  open  country,  where  the  effect  of 
fire  is  the  greatest.  An  advance  should  not 
be  made  before  the  enemy's  infantry  were 
shattered,  and  in  this  movement  attacks 
on  the  enemy's  flank  were  preferable. 
The  Prussians  fought  in  1866  with  these 
superior  tactics,  and  they  owed  to  them 
a  great  part  of  the  successes  which  they 


THE     HISTORIAN     RANKE 
Professor  of  History  at  Berlin  from   1825  till 
1872,    Leopold  von  Ranke  was  the  author  of 
many  works  dealing  with  European  history. 


achieved.  The  Prussian  Landtag  did  not 
mistake  the  value  of  the  proposals  made 
by  the  Government,  but  raised  weighty 
objections.  The  majority  agreed  to  the 
extension  of  the  annual  recruiting,  to  the 
increase  of  the  officers  and  under-officers, 
and  to  the  discharge  of  the  older  members 
of  the  Landwehr.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
•  great  diminution  in  the 
number  of  the  Landwehr 
on  a  war  footing,  and  the 
I  resulting  reduction  of 
their  importance,  but 
especially  the  three-years' 
compulsory  service, 
aroused  vigorous  oppo- 
sition. General  Staven- 
hagen,  who  gave  evidence 
for  the  proposal,  char- 
acterised the  two-years' 
service  as  sufficient.  The 
Government  recognised 
that  it  could  not  carry 
the  Bill  relating  to  com- 
pulsory service,  and 
therefore  withdrew  it.  It 
was  content  to  demand 
an  increase  of  9,000,000 
thalers  —  £1,350,000 
sterling — in  the  war  Budget,  in  order  to 
carry  out  the  increase  of  the  regiments. 
The  Finance  Minister,  Baron  von  Patow, 
explained  in  the  name  of  the  Government 
that  the  organisation  thus  created  was 
provisional,  and  would  not  assume  a 
definite  character  until  the  Government 
and  the  popular  representatives  had  agreed 
about  the  law  itself.  The  Old  Liberal 
maj  ority  of  the  Chamber  of  Representatives 
adopted  this  middle  course,  and  sanctioned 
the  required  increase.  Thus  the  yearly 
budget  for  the  army  was  raised  to 
32,800,000  thalers — £4,920,000  sterling,  or, 
roughly,  a  quarter  of  the  entire  revenue  of 
130,000,000  thalers — £19,500,000  sterling. 
This  expedient  was  manifestly  illusory. 
The  king  at  once  ordered  the  disbanding 
of  thirty-six  regiments  of  Landwehr, 
whose  place  was  taken  by  an  equal 
number  of  line  regiments.  Altogether 
117  new  battalions  and  twelve  new 
squadrons  were  formed.  Obviously  the 
king,  who  presented  colours  and  badges 
to  the  new  regiments  on  January  i8th, 
1861,  in  front  of  the  monument  of  Frederic 
the  Great,  could  not  disband  these  newly 
formed  units  or  dismiss  their  officers. 
The  Chamber  of  Representatives  became, 
in    fact,    suspicious,    but    agreed   to    the 

5055 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


irxreased  army  budget  once  more  for  the 
next  year.  Since  the  elections  to  the 
Landtag  were  imminent,  the  final  decision 
stood  over  for  the  new  House. 

It  would  be  a  mistake  to  treat  the  events 
which  followed  in  the  ordinary  manner, 
relating  how  the  king 
was  prudent  but  the 
Chamber  petty  in  the 
army  question,  and  how 
in  this  struggle  the 
wisdom  of  the  Regent 
fortunately  prevailed 
over  the  meddlesomeness 
of  the  professional  poli- 
ticians. The  state  of 
affairs  was  quite  other- 
wise. The  dispute  in  the 
matter  itself  was  not 
indeed  beyond  settle- 
ment. In  case  of  necessity 
it  would  have  been 
possible  to  arrive  at  a 
compromise  as  to  the 
amount  of  compulsory 
service,  and  the  Prussian 
army  would  hardly  have 
been  less  effective  if 
the  two-years'  military 
service  had  been  intro- 
duced then  and  not  post- 
poned until  after  the 
death  of  Emperor 
Wihiam  I.  This  consideration  does  not  in 
any  way  lessen  the  credit  due  to  the  king. 

But,  as  the  new  elections  showed,  there 
was  another  and  greater  issue  at  stake. 
The  influence  of  Liberal  ideas  in  Europe 
was  precisely  then  at  its  height,  and  public 
opinion  tended  towards  the  view  that  the 
royal  power  in  Prussia  must  be  checked, 
exactly  as  it  had  been  in  that  model 
parliamentary  state,  England.  The  citizen 
class  had  then,  it  was  thought,  come  to 
years  of  maturity,  and  it  possessed  a  right 
to  take  the  place  of  the  monarchy  and 
nobility  in  the  power  hitherto  enjoyed  by 
them.  At  the  new  elections,  on  December 
6th,  1861,  the  Progressive  party,  in  which 
the  members  of  the  movement  of  1848 
assumed  the  lead,  was  formed  in  opposition 
to  the  Old  Liberals,  who  had  left  their 
stamp  on  the  former  Chamber.  This 
political  group  had  not  yet  the  whole 
electorate  on  its  side  ;  it  carried  a  hundi'ed 
seats,  barely  a  third  of  the  whole  Assembly. 
The  Old  Liberals  felt  themselves  mean- 
while outstripped,  especially  since  the 
king  no  longer  extended  his  confidence  to 

5056 


FIELD  -  MARSHAL  ROON 
Entering  the  Prussian  array  n  1^21,  he  re- 
vealed a  thorough  grasp  of  military  matters, 
and  his  reorganisation  of  the  army  found 
brilliant  justification  in  the  success  of  the 
national  arms  in  the  wars  of  1866  and  1870-1. 
I'roin  a  pliotOi^caph 


the  Liberal  Ministers,  who  were  defeated 
on  the  army  question.  While  this 
change  was  being  effected  among  the 
citizen  class,  the  nobility  and  the 
Conservative  party  on  the  other  hand, 
who  had  been  greatly  chagrined  at  being 
dismissed  from  the  helm 
of  state  after  the  assump- 
tion of  the  regency  by 
the  prince,  put  forward 
their  claim  not  less  reso- 
lutely. The  great  services 
of  the  Prussian  nobility 
to  the  army  and  the  ci\nl 
service,  to  which,  both 
ii  before  and  after,  it  sup- 
plied first  -  class  men, 
could  not,  of  course,  be 
disputed.  But  to  justifi- 
able pride  at  this  fact 
was  joined  such  intense 
class  prejudice  that  even 
a  man  like  Roon  could 
not  for  a  long  time  bring 
himself  to  recognise  the 
justification  of  an  elected 
representation  of  the 
people.  General  Man- 
teuffel,  as  chief  of  the 
royal  military  cabinet, 
worked  with  him  in  the 
same  spirit.  Ernst  von 
Gerlach  and  Hermann 
Wagener  represented  in  the  "  Kreuz- 
zeitung  "  similar  views.  Karl  Twesten, 
one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of 
the  Liberal  party,  called  General  Man- 
teuffel  a  mischievous  man  in  a  mis- 
chievous position — ^^a  taunt  which  Man- 
teuffel  answered  by  a  challenge  to  a  duel, 
in  which  Twesten  was  wounded. 

The  Liberal  ^Ministers  saw  with  concern 
how  the  king  inclined  more  and  more 
towards  the  paths  of  the  Conservative 
party.  They  counselled  him,  in 
view  of  the  impending  struggle 
over  the  military  question,  to 
conciliate  public  opinion  by 
undertaking  reforms  in  various  depart- 
ments of  the  legislature.  Roon  vigorously 
opposed  this  advice,  which  he  saw  to 
be  derogatory  to  the  Crown.  He  induced 
the  king  on  March  ist,  1861,  to  adjourn 
these  Bills,  which  had  already  been  settled 
upon.  He  unceasingly  urged  the  king 
to  dismiss  his  Liberal  colleagues  and  to 
adopt  strong  measures.  In  a  memorial 
laid  before  the  king,  dated  April,  1861, 
he   wrote   of  the   Hohenzollern-Schwerin 


Rood's 
Advice    to 
the   King 


PRUSSIA    UNDER    KING    WILLIAM     I. 


Prussian 
Conservatives 
in    Power 


Cabinet,  in  which,  nevertheless,  he  himself 
had  accepted  a  seat,  that  "it  is  only 
compatible  with  the  pseudo-monarchy  of 
Belgium,  England,  or  of  Louis  Philippe, 
not  with  a  genuinely  Prussian  monarchy 
by  the  grace  of  God,  with  a  monarchy 
according  to  your  ideas.  People  have 
tried  to  intimidate  your  Majesty  by  the 
loud  outcry  of  the  day.  All  the  unfortunate 
monarchs  of  whom  history  tells  have  so 
fared  ;  the  phantom  ruined  them,  simply 
because  they  believed  in  it." 
The  opposition  was  apparent 
as  soon  as  the  new  Chamber 
assembled  on  January  14th, 
1862.  Opponents  of  the  proposal  were 
elected  on  the  commission  for.  discussing 
the  Army  Bill  in  a  large  majority.  When 
the  Budget  was  discussed,  a  resolution 
was  adopted  which  called  for  more  precise 
details  of  the  state  finances.  This  was  a 
reasonable  demand,  and  was  soon  after- 
wards conceded  by  Bismarck.  But  the 
Conservative  advisers  of  the  king  then 
stigmatised  the  wish  as  an  encroachment 
on  the  rights  of  the  Crown,  and  the 
Chamber  of  Representa- 
tives was  dissolved  on 
March  i8th,  1862,  after 
a  short  term  of  life.  At 
the  same  time  the  Liberal 
Ministry  was  dismissed. 
Its  place  was  taken  by 
a  Cabinet  in  which 
officials  preponderated, 
but  which,  on  the  whole, 
bore  a  Conservative 
character.  It  is  certainly 
to  the  credit  of  Roon  and 
Manteuffel  that  their  in- 
fluence on  the  king  paved 
the  way  for  Bismarck. 
But  they  made  the  be- 
ginning of  his  term  of 
office  more  difficult  for 
the  great  Minister,  since 
he  was  at  once  drawn 
into  the  most  violent 
antagonism  to  popular 
representation.  The 
question  must  be  raised 
whether  Prussia,  with 
her  great  military  and 
intellectual  superiority, 
would  not  have  obtained  the  same  results 
if  there  had  been  no  such  rupture  with 
public  opinion.  The  Crown  Prince  Frederic 
WiUiam  held  this  view,  and  it  was  shared 
not  only  by  Albert,  the  English  Prince 


CROWN  PRINCE  FREDERIC 
The  only  son  of  William  I.,  he  married  Vic- 
toria, Princess  Royal  of  England,  in  1858.  A 
man  of  courage,  he  opposed  the  reactionary 
policy  of  Bismarck,  and  fought  with  distinc- 
tion in  the  various  wars  waged  by  Prussia. 
From  a  photoj^raph 


Consort,  but  also  by  the  king's  son-in-law, 
the  Grand  Duke  Frederic  of  Baden,  who 
just  then  was  reforming  his  country  with 
the  help  of  the  Liberal  Ministers,  Baron 
Franz  von  Roggenbach  and  Karl  Mathy. 
Men  of  a  similar  type  would  have  gladly 
co-operated  to  help  King  William  to  gain 
the  imperial  crown.  King  William  him- 
self felt  that,  in  consequence  of  his  quarrel 
with  the  Chamber,  many  sincere  friends  of 
Prussia  were  mistaken  as  to  his  country's 
German  mission.  This  point  was  em- 
phasised even  in  the  National  Assembly. 

In  order  to  counteract  this  tendency, 
the  king  had  appointed  Bernstorff,  who 
advocated  the  union  of  Germany  under 
the  leadership  of  Prussia,  to  be  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  in  the  place  of  Schleinitz, 
who  held  legitimist  views.  Bernstorff 
adopted,  in  fact,  most  vigorous  measures, 
M'hen  several  states  of  the  German  Zoll- 
verein,  on  the  conclusion  of  the  Free-Trade 
commercial  treaty  with  France,  threatened 
that  they  would  in  consequence  withdraw 
from  the  Zollverein.  They  found  a  sup- 
porter in  Austria,  who  would  gladly  have 
broken  up  the  Zollverein ; 
but  they  were  forced  to 
yield  to  Prussia,  since 
their  own  economic 
interests  dictated  their 
continuance  in  the  Zoll- 
verein. Bernstorff 
furthermore,  in  a  note 
addressed  to  the  German 
courts  on  December  20th, 
1861,  announced  as  a 
programme  the  claim  of 
Prussij^  to  the  leadership 
of  Lesser  Germany.  By 
this  step  the  Berlin 
Cabinet  reverted  to  the 
policy  of  union  which 
had  been  given  up  in 
1850.  The  party  of 
Greater  Germany  col- 
lected its  forces  in  oppo- 
sition. Austria  resolved 
to  anticipate  Prussia  by 
a  tangible  proposition  to 
the  Diet,  and  proposed 
federal  reforms :  that  a 
directory  with  corre- 
sponding central  autho- 
rity should  be  established,  and  by  its  side 
an  assembly  of  delegates  from  the  popular 
representatives  of  the  several  states.  But, 
before  this  proposal  should  be  agreed  to, 
steps   were  to  be   taken  to   elaborate  a 

5057 


HARIvISWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


of  Radical 
Libaralism 


common  system  of  civil  procedure  and  con- 
tract law  for  the  whole  of  Germany.  Both 
the  Prussian  note  and  the  Austrian  pro- 
posal met  with  opposition  and  a  dissentient 
majority  in  the  Federal  Diet  at  Frank- 
fort, for  the  secondary  states  did  not 
wish  to  relinquish  any  part  of  their 
sovereignty  in  favour  of  either  the  Prus- 
sian or  the  Austrian  Govern- 
^/ol'l.l^rr  iTient.  The  necessary  con- 
dition for  the  success  of  the 
Prussian  policy  would  have 
been  a  majority  in  a  German  Parliament 
on  the  side  of  Prussia,  as  in  1849.  But  Bern- 
storff,  although  in  his  heart  he  favoured 
the  plan,  could  not  advise  the  king  to 
summon  a  National  Assembly,  because,  as 
things  then  stood,  its  majority  would 
have  approved  of  the  opposition  of  the 
Prussian  progressive  party. 

In  the  new  elections  to  the  Chamber  of 
Representatives  Radical  Liberalism  gained 
the  greatest  number  of  seats.  The  two 
sections  of  this  party  numbered  together 
235  members — two-thirds,  that  is,  of  the 
352  representatives  of  the  Landtag  ;  the 
Old  Liberals  under  the  leadership  of 
Vincke  had  dwindled  to  23  votes.  The  new 
majority  gladly  accepted  the  challenge 
fiung  to  them  ;  for  the  idea,  which  Roon 
had  erroneously  termed  the  ultimate  goal 
even  of  the  moderate  Liberals,  was  actively 
dominant  among  them.  They  wished  for 
no  compromise,  biit  aimed  at  the  subordi- 
nation of  the  king  to  the  Parliament.  The 
examples  of  England  and  Belgium  domi- 
nated their  plans  in  every  detail. 

The  army  question  became  the  out- 
ward pretext  on  which  the  two  consti- 
tutional theories  came  into  conflict  with 
each  other.  Since  the  king  did  not  con- 
cede the  two  years'  compulsory  service, 
which  the  .Chamber  demanded  as  a  con- 
dition of  the  army  reform,  the  House 
resolved,  on  September  23rd,  1862,  to 
strike  out  entirely  -the  costs  oS  the 
reform,  which  was  tantamount  to  dis- 
banding  the  new  regiments. 
^    °        Li  this  way  a  humiliation  was 

th^'ic'"  ^^^^  *^^  ^^^®  l-^ii^g.  which  was 
"^^  intended  to  bend  or  break  him. 
King  William  was  resolved  rather  to 
lay  down  the  Crown  than  to  submit  to  a 
compulsion  by  which,  according  to  his 
view,  he  would  have  been  degraded  to 
the  position  of  a  puppet  ruler.  He 
seriously  contemplated  this  step,  when  the 
Ministry  of  Hohenlohe,  seeing  no  way  out 
of  the  difficulty,  asked  to  be  dismissed. 

5058 


The  king  doubted  whether  men  would  be 
found  bold  enough  to  confront  the  Cham- 
ber of  Representatives.  Whenever  Roon 
and  Manteuffel  had  formerly  spoken  of 
Bismarck,  the  king  had  hesitated  to  en- 
trust the  government  to  a  man  whom  he 
considered  to  be  a  hot-head.  Now,  he  told 
Roon,  Bismarck  would  no  longer  enter- 
tain any  wish  to  be  at  the  head  of  affairs  ; 
besides  that,  he  happened  to  be  on  leave, 
travelling  in  Southern  France. 

Roon,  however,  could  assure  the  king 
that  Bismarck,  who  had  been  already 
recalled,  was  prepared  to  enter  the  service 
of  the  king.  vSoon  afterwards  the  latter 
learned  that  Bismarck  had,  immediately  on 
his  return,  paid  a  visit,  by  invitation,  to 
the  Crown  Prince.  King  William's  sus- 
picions were  aroused  by  this,  and  he 
thought,  "  There  is  nothing  to  be  done 
with  him  ;  he  has  already  been  to  my  son." 

All  doubts,  however,  were  dissipated 
when  Bismarck  appeared  before  him  and 
unfolded  his  scheme  of  government.  The 
king  showed  him  the  deed  of  abdication, 
which  he  had  already  drafted,  because,  so 
he  said,  he  could  not  find  another  Ministry. 
Bismarck  encouraged  him  by 
the  assurance  that  he  intended 


Bismarck's 
Rise 


p  to  stand  by  him  in  the  struggle 

between  the  supremacy  of  the 
Crown  and  of  Parliament.  On  the  day  when 
the  Chamber  of  Representatives  passed  the 
resolution  by  which  the  monarch  felt  him- 
self most  deeply  wounded,  on  September 
23rd,  1862,  the  nomination  of  Bismarck  as 
President  of  the  Ministry  was  published. 

Bismarck's  work  is  the  establishment  of 
the  unity  of  Germany  no  less  than  the 
revival  of  the  power  of  the  monarchy 
and  of  all  conservative  forces  in  that 
country.  His  contemporaries  have  passed 
judgment  upon  him  according  to  their 
political  attitudes.  Those  who  regarded 
the  advancing  democratisation  of  Great 
Britain  and  France  as  equally  desirable 
for  Germany,  and  as  the  ultimate  goal  of 
its  development,  were  bound  to  see  an 
opponent  in  the  powerful  statesman.  A 
difficult  legal  question  was  put  before 
Bismarck  at  the  very  outset  of  his 
activity.  He  counselled  the  king  to 
disregard  the  Budget  rights  of  the 
Chamber  of  Representatives. 

For  the  historical  estimate  of  Bismarck 
it  is  not  of  primary  importance  whether 
the  constitutional  arguments  which  he 
employed  on  this  occasion  are  tenable 
or  not;    this  legal  question  must  certainly 


PRUSSIA    UNDER    KING    WILLIAM    I. 


be  decided  against  him.  He  took  his 
stand  on  the  ground  that  the  Budget 
was,  according  to  the  constitution,  a 
law  on  which  the  Crown,  the  Upper 
Chamber,  and  the  Chamber  of  Representa- 
tives must  agree  ;  and  that  tlie  authors  of 
the  Prussian  constitution  had  on  this  point 
reversed  the  practice  of  England,  where 
money  grants  are  exclusively  the  province 
of  the  Lower  House.  They  had  not  pro- 
vided for  the  event  that  the  three  might 
not  be  able  to  agree  and  the  law  could  thus 
not  be  passed  ;  there  was  therefore  an 
omission.  But  since  the  state  could  not 
stand  still,  a  constitutional  deadlock  had 
resulted,  which  would  be  fatal  unless 
the  Budget  for  the  year  were  provided 
by  the  arbitrary  action  of  the  Crown. 

The  consequence  of  this  theory  was 
that  the  Crown  could  enforce  all  the 
larger  Budget  demands,  even  though 
the  two  Chambers  had  pronounced  in 
favour  of  the  smaller  sum.  From  this 
point  of  view  every  theory  turned  on  the 
exercise  of  the  powers  of  the  constitu- 
tional authorities.  In  the  great  speech  in 
which  the  Prussian  Minister-President 
_.  ,      explained   his  views,  he  con- 

DaTtrour     fronted  the  Chamber  with  his 

angcrous     pQ^i^ica^l     principles  :      "  The 

Declaration    £v  •  ^  f     ,  ,        , 

Prussian  monarchy  has  not  yet 

fulfilled  its  mission  ;  it  is  not  yet  ripe  to 
form  a  purely  ornamental  decoration  of  the 
fabric  of  your  constitution,  nor  to  be  in- 
corporated into  the  mechanism  of  parlia- 
mentary rule  as  an  inanimate  piece  of  the 
machinery."  Even  the  king  wavered  for 
a  moment  when  Bismarck  in  the  Budget 
commission  of  the  Chamber  of  Representa- 
tives, September  30th,  1862,  made  his 
famous  assertion  that  "  the  union  of 
Germany  could  not  be  effected  by  speeches, 
societies,  and  the  resolutions  of  majorities  ; 
a  grave  struggle  was  necessary,  a  struggle 
that  could  only  be  carried  through  by 
blood  and  iron."  Even  Roon  considered 
this  phrase  as  dangerous. 

The  state  was  administered  for  four 
years  without  a  constitutionally  settled 
Budget.  The  Chamber  of  Representatives 
declared  this  procedure  illegal,  and  great 
excitement  prevailed  throughout  the 
country.  In  order  to  suppress  the  oppo- 
sition, strict  enactments  were  published 
on  June  ist,  1863,  which  were  directed 
against  the  freedom  of  the  Press  and  of  the 
societies.  At  this  period  the  Crown  Prince 
Frederic  William  joined  the  opponents 
of    Bismarck,    because    he    thought    the 


The    Crown 
Prince  Criticises 
Bismarck 


procedure  of  the  Ministers  might  provoke 
a  new  revolution  in  Prussia.  He  made  a 
speech  on  June  5th,  in  the  town  hall  at 
Danzig  when  receiving  the  municipal 
authorities,  which  was  directed  against  the 
Government  :  "I,  too,  regret  that  I  have 
come  here  at  a  time  when  a  quarrel,  of 
which  I  have  been  in  the  highest 
degree  surprised  to  hear, 
has  broken  out  between 
the  Government  and  the 
people.  I  know  nothing 
of  the  enactments  which  have  brought 
about  this  result."  The  Crown  Prince  at 
the  same  time  sent  a  memorandum  to  the 
king  to  the  same  effect  ;  but  on  June  30th 
he  wrote  to  the  Minister-President  a  letter 
full  of  indignation  and  contempt,  which 
would  have  shaken  the  resolution  of  any 
other  man  than  Bismarck :  "  Do  you  believe 
that  you  can  calm  men's  minds  by  con- 
tinual outrages  on  the  feeling  of  legality  ? 
I  regard  the  men  who  lead  his  Majesty 
the  king,  my  most  gracious  father,  into 
such  paths  as  the  most  dangerous 
counsellors  for  Crown  and  country." 

The  king  was  deeply  hurt  at  the  public 
appearances  of  his  son  ;  he  contemplated 
harsh  measures  against  him,  and  Bismarck 
was  compelled  to  dissuade  him  from  his 
purpose.  The  Minister  reminded  the  king 
that  in  the  quarrel  between  Frederic 
William  I.  and  his  son  the  sympathy  of 
the  times,  as  well  as  of  posterity,  had  been 
with  the  son  ;  and  he  showed  the  inad vis- 
ability  of  making  the  Crown  Prince  a 
martyr.  Thus  the  situation  in  Prussia 
seemed  to  be  strained  to  the  breaking 
point.  The  Representative  Chamber 
adopted  in  1863,  by  a  large  majority,  the 
resolution  that  Ministers  should  be  liable 
out  of  their  private  fortune  for  any 
expenditure  beyond  the  Budget. 

It  is  marvellous  with  what  independence 
and  intellectual  vigour  Bismarck  guided 
foreign  policy  in  the  midst  of  these  com- 
motions.   We  need  only  examine  the  pages 

.  ,       of  history  from  1850   to    1862 
Prussia  s      ^^      ^^^       ^j^^^.^y       j^^^^,      ^^^^i^ 

.  u.*^.^  Prussia  counted  as  a  European 
,n  History    p^^^^.         j^     ^^^^^^^      -^      ^^^_ 

sequence  of  the  vacillation  of  Frederic 
William  IV.,  a  feeble  role,  especially  at 
the  time  of  the  Crimean  War.  Even  later, 
when  William  I.  was  governing  the  country 
as  prince  regent  and  as  king,  Cavour, 
who  was  continually  forced  to  rack  his 
brains  with  the  possibilities  which  might 
effect  a  change  in  the  policy  of  France  and 

5059 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Austria,  Great  Britain  and  Russia,  hardly 
took  Prussia  into  consideration.  That 
state,  during  the  Itahan  crisis  of  i860,  had 
httle  more  weight  than  a  Power  of  the 
second  rank — only  about  as  much  as 
Spain,  of  which  it  was  occasionally  said 
that  it  would  strengthen  or  relieve  the 
French  garrison  in  Rome  with  its  troops. 
Great  as  are  the  services  of 
King  William  to  the  army  and 


Bismarck 
an  Object  of 
Ridicule 


the  State  of  Prussia,  he  could 
not  have  attained  such  great 
successes  without  a  man  like  Bismarck. 
Considering  the  feebleness  of  Prussia, 
which  had  been  the  object  of  ridicule 
for  years,  every  one  was,  at  first,  surprised 
by  the  vigorous  language  of  Bismarck. 
When,  in  one  of  the  earliest  Cabinet 
councils,  he  broached  the  idea  that  Prussia 
must  watch  for  an  opportunity  of  acquir- 
ing Schleswig-Holstein,  the  Crown  Prince 
raised  his  hands  to  heaven,  as  if  the  orator 
had  uttered  some  perfectly  foolish  thing, 
and  the  clerk  who  recorded  the  proceed- 
ings thought  he  would  be  doing  a  favour 
to  Bismarck  if  he  omitted  the  words  ;  the 
latter  was  obliged  to  make  the  additional 
entry  in  his  own  writing. 

The  newspapers  and  political  tracts  of 
that  time  almost  entirely  ridicule  the  atti- 
tude of  the  new  Minister,  whom  no  one 
credited  with  either  the  serious  intention  or 
the  strength  to  carry  out  his  programme. 
His  contemporaries  were  therefore  only 
confirmed  in  their  contempt  for  him  when, 
on  November  26th,  1862,  he  suddenly  ended 
the  constitutional  struggle  in  Electoral 
Hesse,  which  had  lasted  several  decades, 
by  sending  an  orderly  to  the  Elector 
Frederic  William,  with  the  peremptory 
command  that  he  should  give  back  to  the 
country  the  constitution  of  1831. 

And  now  came  his  amazing  conversation 
with  the  Austrian  Ambassador,  Count  Aloys 
Karolyi.  Austria,  shortly  before,  without 
coming  to  terms  with  Prussia,  had  brought 
before  the  Assembly  in  Frankfort  the  pro- 

.  I  ..    r     posal  already  mentioned  for 
Bombshell  of       ^  -^ 

the  "Terrible 

Bismarck 


,,  federal  I'eform.  Bismarck,  in 
that   conversation,   taunted 


Austria  with  having  deviated 
from  the  method  of  Prince  Metternich, 
who  came  *.o  a  previous  arrangement  with 
Prussia  as  to  all  measures  concerning 
German  affairs  ;  and  he  declared  to  the 
count  that  Austria  would  soon  have  to 
choose  between  the  alternatives  of  vacating 
Germany  and  shifting  its  political  centre 
to  the  east,  or  of  finding  Prussia  in  the 

5060 


next  war  on  the  side  of  its  opponents. 
This  assertion  fell  like  a  bombshell  on 
Vienna.  Count  Rechberg  was  not  so 
wrong  when  he  talked  of  the  "  terrible  " 
Bismarck,  who  was  capable  of  doing  any- 
thing for  the  greatness  of  Prussia. 

The  two  great  parties  in  Germany  were 
organised  at  the  precise  moment  when 
Bismarck  entered  upon  office.  A  Diet  of 
representatives  from  the  different  German 
Parliaments,  which  was  attended  by  some 
200  members,  met  at  Weimar  on  Sep- 
tember 28th,  1862.  This  assembly  de- 
manded the  svimmons  of  a  German 
Parliament  by  free  popular  election,  and 
the  preliminary  concentration  of  non- 
Austrian  Germany ;  to  begin  v/ith,  at 
any  rate,  Austria  would  have  to  remain 
outside  the  more  restricted  confederation. 
This  assembly  and  the  activity  of  the 
National  Society  led  on  the  other  side  to 
the  formation  of  the  Greater  Germany 
Reform  Society,  which  came  into  existence 
at  Frankfort.  It  demanded  a  stricter 
consolidation  of  the  German  states  under 
the  leadership  of  Austria.  The  narrow 
particularism  of  the  princes  and  their 
-,  immediate  followers,  who  were 

e     rea  cr  ^j^^jjjjj^g  ^q  sacrifice   for  the 
ermany        welfare  of  the  whole  body  any 
Movement  „   ,,  .       ,         r  .-,       ■     -,- 

of  the  sovereignty  of  the  indi- 
vidual states,  kept  aloof  from  these  efforts. 
Their  underlying  thought  was  expressed  by 
the  Hanoverian  Minister,  Otto,  Count 
Borries,  who,  when  opposing  the  efforts  of 
the  National  Society  on  May  ist,  i860, 
went  so  far  as  to  threaten  that  the 
secondary  states  would  be  forced  into 
non-German  alliances  in  order  to  safe- 
guard their  independence. 

The  Greater  Germany  movement  gained 
adherents  not  merely  by  the  constitutional 
struggle  in  Prussia  but  also  by  the  move- 
ment towards  liberalism  in  Austria.  The 
absolute  monarchy,  which  had  ruled  in 
Austria  since  1849,  ended  with  a  defeat 
on  the  battlefield  and  the  most  complete 
financial  disorder.  The  pressure  of  the 
harsh  police  regulations  weighed  all  the 
more  heavily,  as  the  state  organs,  since  the 
conclusion  of  the  concordat  with  Rome, 
were  put  equally  at  the  service  of  eccle- 
siastical purposes.  The  discontent  of 
every  nationality  in  the  empire  impelled 
the  emperor,  after  Solferino,  June  24th, 
1859,  ^'^  make  a  complete  change.  It 
would  have  been  the  natural  course  of 
proceedings  if  the  emperor  had  at  once 
resolved  to  consolidate  the  unity  of  the 


PRUSSIA    UNDER    KING    WILLIAM    I. 


Empire,  which  had  been  regained  in  1849, 
by  summoning  a  General  Parhament.  But 
the  Crown,  and  still  more  the  aristocracy, 
were  afraid  that  in  this  imperial  repre- 
sentation the  German  bourgeoisie  would 
come  forward  with  excessive  claims.  For 
this  reason  an  aristocratic  interlude 
followed.  Count  Goluchowski,  a  Pole, 
hitherto  Governor  of  Galicia,  became 
Minister  of  the  Interior  on  August  2ist, 1859, 
while  Count  Rechberg,  who  had  already 
succeeded  Count  Buol  as  Minister  of  the 
Interior  and  of  the  Imperial  House  on  May 
17th,  was  given  the  post  of  President. 

The  administrative  business  of  the 
entire  monarchy  was,  by  the  imperial 
manifesto  of  October  20th,  i860,  concen- 
trated in  a  new  body,  the  National 
Ministry,  at  whose  head  Goluchowski  was 
placed,  while  the  conduct  of  Hungarian 
affairs  was  entrusted  to  Baron  Nikolaus 
Bay  and  Count  Nikolaus  Szecsen  ;  at  the 
same  time  orders  were  issued  that  the 
provincial  councils — Landtage  —  and  a 
council  of  the  empire  elected  from  them — 
Reichsrat — should  be  summoned.  These 
bodies  were,  however,  only  to  have  a 
deliberative  voice ;  and  besides 


Hungary  on 
the  Verge 
of  Rebellion 


that,  a  preponderant  influence 
in  the  provincial   bodies  was 


assigned  to  the  nobility  and  the 
clergy.  It  was  a  still  more  decisive  step 
that  the  members  of  the  conservative 
Hungarian  haute  noblesse,  in  their  aver- 
sion to  German  officialism,  induced  the 
emperor  once  more  to  entrust  the  adminis- 
tration of  Hungary  and  the  choice  of 
officials  to  the  assemblies  of  nobles,  known 
as  "  county  courts,"  as  had  been  the  case 
before  the  year  1848.  These  measures 
produced  a  totally  different  result  from 
that  anticipated  by  Bay  and  Szecsen. 

The  meetings  of  the  county  courts,  which 
had  not  been  convened  since  1849,  were 
filled  with  a  revolutionary  spirit,  and, 
while  offering  at  once  the  most  intense 
opposition,  refused  to  carry  out  the 
enactments  of  the  Ministers,  because,  so 
they  alleged,  the  constitutionally  elected 
Reichstag  was  alone  entitled  to  sanction 
taxation  ;  and  they  chose  officials  who 
refused  to  collect  taxes,  or  only  did  so  in 
a  dilatory  fashion.  The  country  in  a  few 
months  bordered  on  a  state  of  rebellion. 

As  the  Hungarian  Ministers  of  the  em- 
peror had  plunged  the  Empire  into  this 
confusion,  they  were  compelled  to  advise 
him  to  entrust  a  powerful  personality 
from  the  ranks  of  the  high  German  officials 


with    the    conduct    of    affairs,        Anton 

von  Schmerling  was  nominated  Minister 

of    Finance    on    December    17th,    i860, 

in  the  place  of  Goluchowski.   He  won  over 

the    emperor    to    his    view,    which    was 

unfavourable    to    the    Hungarians,     and 

carried  his  point  as  to  maintaining  one 

united  constitution  and  the  summoning 

TV    w  ,     of  a  central  parliament.  He 

The  Magyars  1     i       .1     ^^      i-      ■,     ^ 

p        ...         ,  proposed  also  that  a  limited 
iLxpectations  of  ^      ^        ,        ,  ,     ,  ,     , 

Independence  ^^°P^  ^^^°"^^  ^^  conceded 
to  the  diets  of  the  individual 
provinces.  These  were  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  constitution  granted  on 
February  26th,  1861.  Schmerling  deserves 
credit  for  having  restored  the  prestige  of 
the  constitution  in  Hungary  without  blood- 
shed, even  if  severe  measures  were  used. 

The  county  assemblies  were  dissolved, 
and  trustworthy  native  officials  sub- 
stituted for  them.  The  vacillation  of  the 
emperor  in  i860  strengthened,  however, 
the  conviction  of  the  Magyars  that  in  the 
end  the  Crown  would  yield  to  their  oppo- 
sition, and  once  more  concede  the  inde- 
pendence of  Hungary  in  the  form  in 
which  it  was  won  by  the  constitution  of 
April,  1848.  The  leadership  of  this 
opposition  in  the  Landtag  summoned  in 
1861  was  taken  by  Franz  Deak  ;  the 
Landtag,  in  the  address  which  was  agreed 
upon,  refused  to  send  representatives 
to  the  central  Parliament,  and  complete 
independence  was  demanded  for  Hungary. 

Schmerling  advanced  unhesitatingly  on 
the  road  which  he  had  taken.  At  the 
same  time  he  won  great  influence  over  the 
management  of  German  affairs,  and  for 
some  period  was  more  powerful  in  that 
sphere  than  the  Minister  of  the  Exterior, 
Count  Rechberg.  The  Matter  considered  it 
prudent  to  remain  on  good  terms  with 
Prussia,  and  not  to  stir  up  the  German 
question.  Schmerling,  on  the  other  hand, 
put  higher  aims  before  himself,  and  wished 
to  give  Germany  the  desired  federal 
reform,  and  to  strengthen  Austria's  influ- 
ence in  Germany  by  the  estab- 
hshment   of   a    strong  central 


Austria's 
Influence  in 


_  power  in  Frankfort.    He  hoped 

ermany  ^^  overcome  the  resistance  of 
Prussia  by  help  of  the  popular  feeling  in 
non-Prussian  Germany.  He  enlisted 
confidence  in  Germany  also  by  the  intro- 
duction of  constitutional  forms  in  Austria. 
Austria  tried  to  sweep  the  German 
princes  along  with  her  in  one  bold  rush. 
The  emperor,  in  deference  to  a  suggestion 
of    his    brother-in-law,    Maximilian,    the 

5061 


HARMS  WORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


hereditary  prince  of  Thurn  and  Taxis, 
resolved  to  summon  all  German  princes 
to  a  conference  at  Frankfort-on-Main,  and 
to  lay  before  them .  his  plan  of  reform. 
The  King  of  Prassia 
in  this  matter  was 
not  treated  differently 
from  the  pettiest  and 
weakest  of  the  Federal 
princes.  The  emperor 
communicated  his  in- 
tention to  King  William, 
at  their  meeting  in 
Gastein  on  August  2nd, 
1863,  and,  without 
waiting  for  the  stipu- 
lated written  decision 
of  the  king,  handed 
him  by  an  adjutant  on 
August  3rd  the  formal 
invitation  to  the  Diet 
of  Princes  summoned 
for  August  i6th. 

The  blow  aimed  by 
Austria  led  to  a  tem- 
porary success.  Public 
opinion  in  South  Ger 


■l 

P^^M 

^K 

^  -^^ 

^1 

^^^m^mPf^ 

"^^^Sj^^^H 

1^            ^n-^ 

r                     X             ^^B^H 

■■^^^gl^^Kg 

^m^^f 

KING    JOHN    OF    SAXONY 

Under  this  king,  who  reigned  from  1854  till  1873,  and 


but  made  two  additional  proposals,  which 
were  not  quite  friendly  to  Prussia.  He  first 
induced  the  meeting  to  declare  that  it 
considered  the  Austrian  proposals  suitable 
as  a  basis  for  reform; 
and  it  was  also,  soon 
settled  that  the  refusal 
of  the  King  of  Prussia 
was  no  obstacle  to 
further  deliberation. 
After  these  resolutions, 
which  were  taken  on 
August  iSth,  King 
John  went  to  Baden- 
Baden,  in  order  to 
take  the  invitation  to 
the  King  of  Prussia. 

King  William  did 
not  seem  disinclined 
to  accept  the  invi- 
tation, and  said  to 
Bismarck  :  "  Thirty 
princes  sending  the 
invitation,  and  a  king 
as  Cabinet  messenger, 
how  can  there  be  any 


uiiuer  Liiis  King,  wiiu  xcigiicu  iiuiii  loo-t  till  ±0.  o,  diiu  .  1    -\   JJ  o     4.       TD ' 

who  was  distinguished  for  learning  and  culture,  many  rCIUSai  .  XjUL      IjIS- 

many  was  aroused,  and  schemes  for  the  betterment  of  the  people  of  Saxony  mai'ck    saw    that    this 

in  some  places  became  ^"«  introduced,  while  the  army  was  reformed,  gurprisc,     planned    by 


enthusiastic  ;   the  sovereigns  and  princes 
gave  their  services  to  the  Austrian  reform. 
All  this  made  a  deep  impression  on  King 
William ;  the  Bavarian  queen,  Marie,  and 
her    sister-in-law,    the    widow    of    King 
Frederic  William  IV.,  urged   him  on  his 
journey   from    Gastein   to   Baden-Baden 
to  show  a  conciliatory   attitude   towards 
the  Austrian  proposal.  Never- 
theless    he      followed     Bis- 
marck's   advice,    and    kept 
away   from   the    gieeting   at 
Frankfort.      The      Emperor 
Francis    Joseph    made     his 
entry   into    the    Free   Town 
amid  the  pealing  of  the  bells 
and  the  acclamations  of  the 
inhabitants,     who     favoured 
the  Austrian  cause.    He  skil- 
fully presided  over  the  debate 
of  the  princes,  and  King  John 
of    Saxony,     1854-1873,    an 
experienced  man  of  business 
and    an    eloquent     speaker,    anton  von  schmerling 


Austria,  was   a   blow  aimed   at  Prussia, 
and  he  would  have  felt  deeply  humiliated 
by   the   appearance   of    his    monarch   at 
Frankfort.      Germany  was    to    see    that 
any  alteration  of  the  German  constitu- 
tion must  prove  abortive  from  the  mere 
opposition  of  Prussia.    Bismarck  required 
all  his  strength  of  will  to  induce  William 
-J    to  refuse  ;    he  declared  that 
if  the  king  commanded  him, 
he    would   go  with    him   to 
Frankfort,    but     that    when 
the   business   was   ended  he 
would  never  return  with  him 
to   Berlin  as    Minister.     The 
king,    therefore,     took     his 
advice.    What  Bismarck  had 
foreseen  now  occurred.      It 
is   t  ue    that     the    Austrian 
proposal    was    in    the     end 
discussed       and       accepted, 
against  the  votes  of  Baden, 
Schwerin,    Weimar,    Luxem- 
burg,    Waldeck,      and     the 


confuted  the  protests  which    thi"  prestige ^rthl'  consutudon    younger  line  of  Reuss.     But 
were    preferred    by    a   small    in   Hungary  without  bloodshed,    since      the      meeting      only 


minority.  The  Grand  Duke  Frederic 
Francis  II.  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin  pro- 
posed to  invite  King  William  to  make  the 
journey  to  Frankfort.  King  John  assented, 
5062 


pledged  itself  in  the  event  of  an 
agreement  with  Prussia  as  the  basis 
of  these  resolutions,  Austria  had  failed 
in  the   achievement   of  her  main   result. 


THE 

RE-  MAKING 

OF 

E J ROPE 


THE 
CONSOLIDA- 
TION   OF    THE 
POWERS     VI 


PRUSSIA  &  AUSTRIA  Te  EVE  OF  WAR 

THE    FATE    OF    SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN 


Denmark's 


ALL  these  debates  and  intrigues  between 
Prussia  and  Austria  sank  into  the 
background  when  the  fate  of  ^chleswig- 
Holstein  was  destined  to  be  decided 
by  arms.  The  occasion  for  this  was 
given  by  the  death  of  the  Danish  king, 
Frederic  VIL,  on  November  15th;  1863, 
with  whom  the  main  Une  of  the  royal 
house  became  extinct.  The  collateral 
line  of  Holstein-Gliicksburg  possessed  the 
hereditary  right  to  Denmark,  while  the 
House  of  Augustenburg  raised  claims  to 
Schleswig-Holstein.  All  Germany  thought 
that  the  moment  had  come  to  free  Schles- 
wig-Holstein from  the  Danish  rule  by 
supporting  the  Duke  of  Augustenburg. 
The  two  great  German  Powers  were,  how- 
ever, pledged  in  another  direction  by  the 
Treaty   of   London. 

Denmark  had  expressly  engaged  by  that 
arrangement  to  grant  Schleswig-Holstein 
an  independent  government  ;  on  this 
basis  the  Great  Powers  on  their 
side  guaranteed  the  possession 

71"^    i-     of  the  duchies  to  the  King  of 
the  Duchies  TA  1  J        11      1  • 

Denmark  and  all  his  suc- 
cessors. The  two  great  German  Powers 
were  to  blame  for  having  compelled  the 
inhabitants  of  Schleswig-Holstein  in  1850 
to  submit  to  Denmark.  From  hatred  of 
Liberalism  and  all  the  mistakes  it  was  sup- 
posed to  have  made  in  1848,  tliey  destroyed 
any  hopes  which  the  inhabitants  of 
Schleswig-Holstein  might  have  formed  for 
the  future,  after  the  royal  house  should 
have  become  extinct.  Duke  Christian  of 
Augustenburg  sold  his  hereditary  rights  to 
Denmark  for  2,250,000  thalers — £500,000 — 
although  his  son  Frederic  protested.  But 
Denmark  did  not  think  of  fulfilling  her 
promise.  The  German  Federation  was  con- 
tent for  years  to  remonstrate  and  propose 
a  court  of  arbitration.  Finally,  the  Federal 
Council  resolved  on  armed  intervention 
against  Denmark.  Hanoverian  and  Saxon 
troops  occupied  Holstein,  but  they  were 
forced  to  halt  on  the  Eider,  as  Schleswig 
did     not     belong     to     the     Federation. 


In  Copenhagen  the  Eider-Danish  party 
drew  peculiar  conclusions  from  these 
circumstances  ;  since,  they  said,  Schles- 
wig did  not  belong  to  the  Federation,  the 
Treaty  of  •  London  might  be  disregarded, 
the  bond  between  Schleswig  and  Holstein 

_,_,,.  dissolved,  and  Schleswig,  at 
Duke  Frederic  ,  ^  4.    j    ■    j. 

„.  any  rate,  amalgamated  mto 

^"^       *^  .  the  unified  State  of  Denmark. 

Supporters^,  ,  ,       .  , 

1  hreatenmg   crowds   forced 

the  new  monarch.  Christian  IX.,  in  spite 
of  his  superior  insight,  to  consent  to  the 
united  constitution.  The  Treaty  of  London 
was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  broken. 
The  claim  of  Duke  Frederic  of  Augusten- 
burg to  Schleswig-Holstein  was  thus  unani- 
mously applauded  by  the  popular  voice  of 
Germany.  He  declared  himself  ready  to 
follow  loyally  the  democratic  constitution 
which  the  duchies  had  given  themselves  in 
1848,  and  surrounded  his  person  with 
liberal  counsellors.  A  large  proportion  of 
the  governments  of  the  petty  German 
states  recognised  the  duke  as  the  heir, 
and  the  majority  of  the  Federal  Council 
decided  in  his  favour. 

Prussia  and  Austria,  indeed,  as  signa- 
tories of  the  Treaty  of  London,  felt  them- 
selves bound  by  it  towards  Europe.  They 
possessed,  according  to  it,  the  right  to 
compel  Denmark  to  grant  to  the  duchies 
independence  and  union  under  one  sove- 
reign ;  but  they  could  exempt  themselves 
from  recognising  the  hereditary  right  of 
King  Christian  IX.  Austria  in  particular, 
whose  stability  rested  on  European  treaties, 
did  not  venture  to  admit  that  the  right  of 
nationality  could  undo  those  treaties. 
Was  Prussia  able  to  confront 
the  other  Great  Powers  with  her 
unaided  resources  ?  Bismarck, 
with  all  his  determination, 
thought  such  a  move  too  dangerous.  The 
stake  in  such  a  struggle  would  have  been 
too  trivial  ;  for,  as  Bismarck  showed  the 
Prussian  House  of  Representatives,  Prus- 
sia would  have  lent  its  arms  to  establish  the 
claims  of  a  duke  who,  like  the  ot.ber  petty 

'=;o6h 


Prussia 
Against  the 
Powers 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


states,  would  have  mostly  voted  with 
Austria  at  Frankfort.  "  The  signing  of  the 
Treaty  of  London,"  so  Bismarck  said  on 
December  ist,  1863,  in  the  Prussian  House 
of  Representatives,  "  may  be  deplored  ; 
but  it  has  been  done,  and  honour  as  well 
as  prudence  commands  that  our  loyal 
observance  of  the  treaty  be 
beyond  all  doubt."  These 
reasons  did  not,  however,  con- 
vince the  House.  It  pro- 
nounced in  favour  of  the 
hereditary  right  of  the  Duke 
of  Augustenburg.  Bismarck 
vainly  put  before  the  Opposi- 
tion that,  as  soon  as  Prussia 
abandoned  the  basis  of  the 
Treaty  of  London,  no  pretext 
whatever  could  be  found 
for  interfering  in  Schleswig, 
which  stood  entirely  outside 


would  have  been  justified  if  Bismarck 
had  still  been,  as  he  was  m  1848,  a  man 
of  exclusively  Conservative  party  politics. 
The  German  people  could  not  know  that 
he  had  become  a  far  greater  man.  He 
had  now  fixed  his  eye  on  the  acquisition 
of  the  duchies  by  Prussia,  and  steered 
steadily  towards  that  goal 
which  King  William  still  con- 
sidered unattainable.  Just 
now  he  won  a  great  diplo- 
matic triumph.  Austria,  on 
the  question  of  the  duchies, 
was  divided  from  the  German 
minor  states,  her  allies,  and 
Bismarck  widened  the  breach. 
He  explained  to  the  Vienna 
Cabinet  that  Prussia  was 
resolved  to  compel  Denmark 
to  respect  the  Treaty  of 
London  by  force  of  arms,  and, 
if  necessary,  single-handed. 
Austria  now  could  not  and 


the    German    Confederation         ^^^^  frederic  vii. 

The     violent    opposition     of     King  of  Denmark  from  1S48,  his 

the  House  of  Representatives   tyrannous  rule  in  Schieswig-Hoi-  dared  not  leave  the  hberation 

_-.  ,  ,        -^     J ,       T  stein  was  bitterly  resented,  and  by        r      r^    i  i  •         j.        -i  •       i 

to  Bismarck  s  methods  was  his  death,  in  1863,  the  main  line  of  ot  bchlcswig  to  her  rival 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  Con-  *^^  '°y^^  ^°"^^  ^^""^""^  ^^""^*'  alone,  otherwise  she  would 
servative  party,  to  which  Bismarck  had  have  voluntarily  abdicated  her  position 
belonged,  had  in  1849  and  1850  condemned  in  Germany.  Rechberg,  who  in  any  case 
the  rebehion  of  Schleswig-Holstein  against  was  favourably  disposed  to  the  alliance 
Denmark  ;  and  there  was  the  fear  that  with  Prussia,  induced  his  master,  under 
the  supporters  of  legitimacy  would  once  the  circumstances,  to  conclude  the  armed 
more  in  the  end  make  the  duchies  subject  alliance  with  Prussia  ;  Francis  Joseph 
to  Denmark.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  two  was,  however,  disappointed  that  the  Diet 
great    German    Powers    had  at   Frankfort    and   the   anti- 

tolerated  the  infringements  of  j^^^     •  \  Prussian  policy  had  borne  no 

the    Treaty   of    London    by  Mt^'^-  \^^^        fruits.    The  two  Great  Powers 

Denmark  since  1852,  and  had  ^K  ..     .    -^       pledged    themselves    in     the 

not  contributed  at  all  to  pre-  ^ff   ^^  *^  treaty  of  January  i6th,  1864, 

serve  the  rights  of  the  duchies.  "^3^  Jfikl  ^°      attack     Denmark,     and 

This  explains  the  blame  laid  t/k^^W  settled  that  after  the  libera- 

upon  the  two  Great  Powers  by   .  ^^ffta  tion     of     the     duchies     no 

the  committee  ol  an  assembly    ,      ^^^kl^^l^  decision     should     be     taken 

of  representatives  at   Frank-     \,,^^^^^B^^^  about    them    except   by  the 

fort  on  December  21st,  1863,      ^^^^^^^^B^^^^  agreement  of  the  two  Powers, 

in  an  address  to  the  German  ^^^^^^^^^^^^'  Austria  thus  felt  protected 
people.    For  twelve  years,  it  ^^[^^^^^^^^         against  surprises  on  the  part 

said,    the    Danes    had    been  ^^^^l^^^  of  Prussia.     The  treaty  met 

allowed  to  trample  under  foot  king  christian  ix.  with  the  most  violent  opposi- 
the  Treaty  of  London.    Now,   He  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  tion  both  in  the  Prussian  and 

• ,  1       ,1  ,  •        ,  •  c      ,\         Denmark  in  1S63,  on  the  death  of     , ,  .         ,    •  ,     .  • 

With  the  extinction  of  the  Frederic  vii.  His  eldest  daughter,  the  Austriau  representative 
royal  house,  and   the  revival  ^ll''^?!''^'  To ''•'5'^  ^'"f  ?^7'"'f   assemblies.     The  money  for 

■^  ,      '     ,.  .  vii.  of  Great  Britam  and  Ireland.  J 

of    the    hereditary    right    of  i-rom  a  photoi^r.,,,!,  the  conduct  ol  the  war  was 

Augustenburg,  the  possibility  had   come      actually  refused  in  Berlin.    The  Austrian 


of  getting  rid  of  the  shameful  treaty. 
"  Now,  when  the  execution  of  that  treaty 
would  be  fatal  to  the  cause  of  the  duchies, 
armies  were  being  put  into  the  field  in 
order  to  enforce  its  execution."  This 
reproach     against    the    Prussian     policy 

5064 


Chamber  did  not  proceed  to  such  extreme 
measures,  but  the  majority  held  it  to  be  a 
mistake  that  Austria  adopted  a  hostile 
position  against  the  minor  states,  and 
neglected  the  opportunity  to  make  a  friend 
of  the  future  Duke  of  Schleswig-Holstein. 


THE    FATE    OF    SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN 


The  army  to  conquer  Sclileswig  con- 
sisted of  37,000  Pmssians  and  23,000 
Austrians,  who  were  opposed  by  40,000 
Danes.  The  supreme  command  of  the 
invading  force  was  held  by  Count  Wrangel. 
The  Danes  hoped  to  the  last  for  foreign 
help,  but  the  threats  of  England  to  the 
German  Powers  were  smoke  without  a  fire. 
The  Danes  first  attempted  resistance  along 
the  Danewerk.  But  the  Austrians  in  the 
battles  of  Jagel  and  Okerselk,  on  February 
3rd,  stormed  the  outposts  in  front  of  the 
redoubts  and  pur- 
sued  the  Danes 
right  under  the 
cannons  of  the 
Danewerk.  Since 
there  was  the 
fear  that  the 
strong  position 
would  be  turned 
by  the  Prussians 
below  Missunde. 
the  Danish 
general,  De  Meza, 
ev^acuated  the 
Danewerk  on 
February  5th, 
and  withdi'ew 
northwards.  The 
Austrians  fol- 
lowed quickly 
and  came  up 
with  the  Danes 
the  next  day  at 
Oeversee,  and 
compelled  them 
to  fight  for  their 
retreat.  Scliles- 
wig was  thus 
conquered  with 
the  exception  of 
a  small  peninsula 
on  the  east , 
where  the  lines 
of  Diippel  were 
raised,      which 

were  in  touch  with  the  island  of 
and  the  powerful  Danish  fleet.  Prussia 
proposed  then  to  force  the  Danes  to 
conclude  peace  by  an  investment  of  Jilt- 
land.  The  Austrian  Cabinet  could  not  at 
first  entertain  this  plan.  General  Man- 
teuffel,  who  was  sent  to  Vienna,  only 
carried  his  point  when  Prussia  gave  a 
promise  that  Schleswig-Holstein  should 
not  be  wrested  from  the  suzerainty  of  the 
Danish  crown  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  inde- 
pendent duchies  were  to  be  united  with 


FREDERIC     VII.     OF 


Denmark  by  a  personal  union.  The  allies 
thereupon  conquered  Jiitland  as  far  as  the 
Liim  Fiord,  and  by  storming  the  lines  of 
Diippel,  on  April  i8th,  the  Prussian  arms 
won  a  brilliant  success,  and  the  blockade  of 
the  mouths  of  the  Elbe  was  relieved  by  the 
sea-fight  of  Heligoland  on  May  9th,  1864. 
The  future  of  the  duchies  was  now  the 
question.  Popular  opinion  in  Germany 
protested  loudly  against  their  restoration 
to  the  Danish  king,  and  Bismarck  now  fed 
the  flame  of  indignation,  since  he  wished 
to  release  Prussia 
from  the  promise 
she  had  made. 
But  he  would  not 
have  attained 
this  object  had 
not  the  Danes, 
fortunately  for 
Germany,  re- 
mained obsti- 
nate. A  con- 
ference of  the 
Powers  con- 
cerned met  in 
London  on  April 
25th,  1864.  The 
Danish  pleni- 
potentiaries, still 
hoping  for  British 
support,  rejected 
on  May  17th  the 
proposal  of  Prus- 
sia and  Austria 
for  the  constitu- 
tional indepen- 
dence  of  the 
duchies,  even 
should  their  pos- 
session be  i  n  - 
tended  for  their 
King  Christian. 
The  matter  was 
thus  definitely 
decided.  Austria 
was  now  com- 
pelled to  retire  from  the  agreement  last 
made  with  Prussia.  The  Vienna  Cabinet, 
making  a  virtue  of  necessity,  resolved  to 
prevent  Schleswig-Holstein  from  falling  to 
Prussia  by  nominating  the  Duke  of  August- 
enburg.  King  William  had  long  been  in- 
clined to  this  course,  if  only  Duke  Frederic 
was  willing  to  make  some  arrangement 
with  Prussia  about  his  army,  as  Coburg  had 
already  done  ;  if  he  would  grant  Prussia  a 
naval  station  and  allow  the  North  Sea 
Canal  to  be  constructed ;  and  if  the  duchies 

5065 


DENMARK     AND 

From  a  photograph 

Alsen 


HIS    CONSORT 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


entered  the  ZoUverein.  The  duke  would 
certainly  have  agreed  to  these  terms  in  order 
to  obtain  the  sovereignty  had  not  Austria 
on  its  side  made  more  favourable  promises. 
There  was  a  strong  wish  at  Vienna  to 
prevent  Schleswig-Holstein  becoming  a 
vassal  state  of  Prussia.  The  duke,  en- 
couraged by  this,  promised  the  king  indeed 
to  observe  those  conditions,  but  he  added 
the  qualification  that  he  could  not  know 
whether  the  Estates  of  Schleswig-Holstein 
would  assent  to  the  treaty.  If  not,  he  was 
ready  to  withdraw  in  favour  of  his  son. 
This  additional  proviso  filled  Bismarck 
with  misgivings;  for  the  farce  might  be 
repeated  which  had  been  played  before, 
when  Duke  Christian  of 
Augustenburg  sold  his 
claims  to  Denmark,  and 
his  son  Frederic  then  came 
forward  with  his  heredi- 
tary right  to  Schleswig- 
Holstein.  The  determina- 
tion of  the  Prussian  Prime 
Minister  not  to  give  in 
until  the  countries  were 
incorporated  into  Prussia 
grew  stronger  day  by  day. 
The  first  step  in  that 
direction  was  the  con- 
clusion of  peace  with 
Denmark  on  October  30th, 
1864 ;  the  two  duchies 
were  unconditionally  re- 
signed to  Austria  and 
Prussia,  without  any  con- 
sideration being  paid  to 
the  hereditary  claims  of 
the  Houses  of  Augusten- 
burg and  Oldenburg. 
Bismarck   did  not   want 


our    a  IK'. 


friction.  In  February,  1865,  Prussia  came 
forward  with  the  conditions  under  which 
she  was  willing  to  nominate  the  Duke  of 
Augustenburg  to  Schleswig-Holstein.  They 
contained  in  substance  what  had  already 
been  communicated  to  the  duke.  But 
Austria  did  not  agree  to  them.  Weight  was 
laid  in  Vienna  on  the  argument  that  the 
German  Confederation  was  a  union  of  sove- 
reign princes,  and  no  vassal  state  of  Prussia 
could  be  allowed  to  take  its  place  in  it. 

Prussia  thereupon  adopted  stricter 
measures  and  shifted  her  naval  base  from 
Danzig  to  Kiel.  Bismarck  then  openly 
declared,  "  If  Austria  wishes  to  remain 
must  make  room  for  us." 
The  war  cloud  even 
then  loomed  ominously. 
The  Berlin  Cabinet  in- 
quired at  Florence 
whether  Italy  was  pre- 
pared to  join  the  alliance. 
The  two  German  Powers 
still,  however,  shrank 
from  a  passage  at  arms 
immediately  after  a 
jointly  conducted  cam- 
paign. The  result  of 
prolonged  negotiations 
was  the  Treaty  of 
Gastein  on  August  14th, 
1865.  The  administration 
of  the  duchies,  hitherto 
carried  on  in  common, 
was  divided,  so  that 
Nearer  Holstein  was  left 
to  Austria,  and  Further 
Schleswig  to  Prussia. 
Lauenburg     was     ceded 


absolutely  to  Prussia  for 

n    ..""h^'^h  Zu  ""n ''''h'I^''^".''?.  .h      2  ,  2  5  0  ,  O  0  0   t  h  a  1  e  r  s  - 
On  the  death  of  the  Danish  King  in  ls63,  the         '      -•      '  _^ 

to  break  With  Austria  yet.     Duke  of  Augustenburg  raised   claims   to  the    £500,000.         PrUSSia      WaS 

TT  „    „ ,     4-u^, f^..^      duchies  of  Schleswig-Holstein,  but  by  the  war     „i„^,.i,,      ^A-,yr^r,,^'^r^rr     r\r,     ^ 

He  was  sorry,  theietoie,  of  isei  these  went  to  Prussia  and  Austria,   clcaily    advancing   on    a 
to  see  that  Count  Rech-  '■™'" ''  photograph  victorious  career,  and  the 

berg  retired  on  October  27th,  1864,  from      acquisition  of   the   duchies  was  in    near 


his  office  as  Minister  of  the  Exterior ; 
the  charge  was  brought  against  him  in 
Austria  that  the  policy  of  alliance  with 
Prussia  which  he  followed  was  to  the 
advantage  of  the  latter  state  only.  His 
successor.  Count  Alexander  Mensdorff, 
had,  it  is  true,  the  same  aims  as  Rechberg  ; 
but  since  he  was  less  experienced  in  affairs, 
the  opponents  of  Prussia  gained  more  and 
more  influence  among  his  higher  officials. 
This  circumstance  was  the  more  mischiev- 
ous since  the  two  Great  Powers  were 
administering  the  duchies  jointly — an 
arrangement  which   in   any   case   led   to 

5066 


prospect.  The  Prussian  Representative 
Chamber,  which  eighteen  months  pre- 
viously had  spoken  distinctly  for  the 
hereditary  right  of  the  Duke  of  Augusten- 
burg, once  more  in  the  summer  of  1865 
debated  the  affair.  But  now  the  friends 
of  the  scheme  of  incorporation  were 
already  so  numerous  that  it  could  no 
longer  agree  to  a  resolution  by  a  majority. 
It  was  seen  that  the  foreign  policy  of  the 
Progressives  in  Prussia  had  been  wrecked. 
The  king,  as  a  recognition  of  his  services, 
raised  Bismarck  to  the  rank  of  count, 
September    15th,    and    thus    proclaimed 


THE    FATE    OF    SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN 


to  the  outside  world  that  he  had  absolute 
confidence  in  his  conduct  of  affairs. 
Bismarck  called  the  Treaty  of  Gastein 
a  patching  of  the  crack  in  the  building. 
In  reality  t lie  Premier  had  long  determined 
on  a  war  with  Austria.  Since  Austria 
favoured  the  partisans  of  the  Duke  of 
Augustenburg  as  much  as  ever,  and 
afforded  opportunity  for  their  agitations 
against  Prussia,  the  Prussian  note  of 
January  26th,  1866,  complained  of  the 
"  means  of  rebellion "  which  Austria 
employed.  It  was  announced  in  this 
document  that  Prussia  claimed  hence- 
forward complete  liberty  for  her  policy. 
Bismarck  still  kept  the  door  of  peace  open 
to  himself,  in  case  Austria  was  .willing  to 
withdraw  from  Schleswig-Holstein.  But 
the  course  of  proceedings  at  the  Prussian 
Cabinet  Council  of  February  28th,  1866, 
shows  that  the  king  was  familiar  with  the 
idea  of  war.  The  Minister-President 
^.      A     ,  .      developed  at  this  council  the 

I  he  Austrian    ,,  ,  ,     ,,      ,  „    . 

J,  thought  that  no  war  was  to 

mpcror  ^^  kindled  for  the  sake  of 

Dissatisfied      011         •     tt  1   i    •  1 

Schleswig-Holstem  only  ;     a 

greater  goal,  the  union  of  Germany,  must 
be  contemplated.  It  was  resolved,  first  of 
all,  to  open  negotiations  with  Italy  for  a 
defensive  and  offensive  alliance.  In  this 
council  of  war,  Moltke  gave  his  unqualified 
vote  for  the  war,  while  the  Crown  Prince 
uttered  an  emphatic  warning  against  such 
a  policy,  for  the  reason  that  it  rendered 


probable  the  interference  of  foreigners. 
An  important  change  had  occurred  in 
Austria  in  July,  1865.  Schmerling  had 
failed  to  win  the  emperor  over  per- 
manently to  his  political  views.  Francis 
Joseph  was  dissatisfied  because  the 
Parliament  raised  excessive  claims  to  a 
share  in  the  government,  and  went  too 
far      in     reducing     the     war 

.    ^  Budget.     The     Austrian    and 

in  Favour      tt  •  •   ^  •    ■       ^ 

,  yr  Hungarian    aristocracy  joined 

the  opponents  of  the  united 
constitution,  and  Count  Moritz  Esterhazy, 
Minister  without  portfolio  since  July  19th, 
1861,  used  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  em- 
peror to  undermine  the  German  Cabinet. 
On  July  30th,  1865,  the  "  Counts' 
Ministry,"  under  the  presidency  of  Count 
Richard  Belcredi,  was  nominated  in  the 
place  of.  Schmerling ;  an  imperial  mani- 
festo on  September  20th,  1865,  proclaimed 
the  suspension  of  the  constitution  and 
adjournment  of  the  Imperial  Council. 
The  high  nobility  was  favoured  in  every 
branch  of  the  government,  Slavism  pitted 
against  Germanism,  and  the  way  pre- 
pared for  the  settlement  with  Hungary. 
Prince  Esterhazy  in  this  Cabinet  was 
the  dominant  figure  in  foreign  policy, 
and  he  was  influenced  in  an  anti- 
Prussian  direction  by  Biegeleben  of  the 
Foreign  Office,  while  the  weak  Minister 
of  the  Exterior,  Count  Mensdorff,  vainly 
spoke  for  the  maintenance  of  peace. 


THE    CAMPAIGN     AGAINST    JUTLAND:     AUSTRIANS    CROSSING    THE    LIIM     FIORD 

5067 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 
CONSOLIDA- 
TION    OF     THE 
POWERS     VII 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    PRUSSIA 

VICTORIOUS    CAMPAIGN    AGAINST    AUSTRIA 


ALARMED  by  the  warlike  intentions 
of  the  Prussian  Government,  the 
Austrians  thought  it  advisable  in  March, 
1866,  to  take  measures  for  arming.  Some 
ten  battalions  were  transferred  to  Bohemia, 
in  order  to  strengthen  the  corps  stationed 
there,  and  several  cavalry  regiments  from 
Hungary  and  Transylvania  were  ordered 
to  move  into  the  province  which  was  first 
menaced.  Count  Karolyi,  the  Austrian 
ambassador  in  Berlin,  was  at  the  same 
time  commissioned  to  ask  if  Prussia  really 
intended  to  attack  Austria.  This  precipi- 
tate procedure  of  Austria  rendered  it 
easier  for  Bismarck  and  the  generals,  who 
were  advising  war,  to  induce  King  William 
also  to  make  preparations.  The  measures 
taken  by  the  Cabinet  Council  of  March 
28th  comprised  the  supply  of  horses  for 
the  artillery,  the  repair  of  the  fortresses, 
and  the  strengthening  of  the  divisions 
quartered  in  the  south  of  the  country. 
Bismarck  answered  the  really 
objectless  inquiry  of  Count 
Karolyi  in  the  negative,  but 
sent  a  circular  to  the  German 
courts,  in  which  he  accused  Austria  of 
wishing  to  intimidate  Prussia  by  her  pre- 
parations, as  she  had  done  in  1850.  He 
further  announced  that  Prussia  would  soon 
come  forward  with  a  plan  for  the  reform 
of  the  German  Federal  Constitution. 

But  more  important  than  these  measures 
and  notes,  which  caused  so  much  public 
uneasiness,  were  the  secret  negotiations 
for  the  conclusion  of  the  alliance  with 
Italy.  These  did  not  proceed  smoothly 
at  first,  since  Italy  was  afraid  of  being 
made  a  tool,  since  Prussia  might  use 
the  threat  of  an  Italian  alliance  to  induce 
Austria  to  give  way.  The  Italian  Govern- 
ment, in  order  to  avoid  this,  declared  it 
could  only  consent  to  a  formal  and  offen- 
sive alliance  for  the  purpose  of  attacking 
Austria-Hungary.  King  William  could  not 
agree  to  this,  since  he  did  not  contemplate 
an  invasion  of  Austria,  for  which  indeed 
there    was    no    pretext.       The    Prussian 


Bismarck 
Promises 
Reform 


Government  was  only  prepared  for  a 
friendly  alliance,  which  should  prevent 
either  party  forming  a  separate  conven- 
tion with  Austria  and  leaving  the  other  in 
the  lurch.  The  result  was  the  compromise 
of  a  defensive  and  offensive  alliance,  to  be 
.  valid  for  three  months  only,  in 
F^'*^^  case  war  was  not  declared  by 
o  renc    pj-^gsia  before  that  date.  Italy 

mperor  hesitated  to  agree  to  it,  and 

applied  to  Napoleon  III.  for  advice.  The 
French  emperor  desired  nothing  more 
ardently  than  a  war  in  Germany,  in  order, 
during  its  continuance,  to  pursue  his 
schemes  on  Belgium  and  the  Rhine  districts. 
He  knew  that  William  I.  would  not 
be  persuaded  by  Bismarck  to  fight  un- 
less he  were  previously  assured  of  the 
alliance  of  Italy ;  otherwise  the  king 
thought  the  Campaign  would  be  dangerous, 
since  nearly  the  whole  remaining  part  of 
Germany  stood  on  the  side  of  Austria.  It 
may  be  ascribed  to  the  advice  of  Napoleon 
that  the  'hesitating  Italian  Premier,  La 
Marmora,  concluded  a  treaty,  to  hold  for 
three  months,  on  April  8th,  1866. 

Bismarck  wished  to  employ  this  period 
in  pushing  on  the  German  question.  He 
intended  to  show  the  nation  that  it  must 
look  to  Prussia  alone  for  the  fulfilment  of 
its  wishes  for  union.  Prussia  proposed  on 
April  loth,  in  the  Diet  of  Frankfort,  to 
summon  a  German  Parliament  on  the 
basis  of  universal  suffrage.  In  order  to 
separate  Bavaria  from  Austria,  a  proposal 
was  made  to  the  former  state  that  the 
supreme  command  of  the  German  federal 
troops  should  be  divided  ;  Prussia  should 
command  in  the  north,  Bavaria 
in  the  south.  But  Bismarck's 
intention,  sincere  as  it  was, 
did  not  meet  with  the  approval 
of  the  majority  of  the  German  people. 
The  Liberals  asserted  that  the  conversion 
of  Bismarck  to  the  idea  of  a  German 
Parliament  with  universal  suffrage  was  not 
genuine,  and  derided  the  idea  that  a 
government   which   did   not  respect   the 

5069 


Liberal 
Mistrust  of 
Bismarck 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


right  of  popular  representation  in  its  own 
country  would  unite  Germany  under  a 
Parliamentary  constitution.  So  rooted 
was  the  distrust  of  Prussia  that  Bavaria 
refused  this  favourable  proposal.  Pfordten, 
the  ^Minister,  was  in  his  heart  not  averse 
to  the  plan  ;  but  the  court,  especially 
Prince  Charles,  the  uncle  of  the  young  King 
.  ,        LewisII.jUrged  an  alliance  with 

us  ria  s  Austria.  When  Austria  saw 
mprove        ^^_^^^  j^^^  prospects  of  winning 

rospcc  s      ^^^^    ^^    ^^^^  g-^^    ^-^^   minor 

German  states  had  improved,  the  war 
party  in  Vienna  gained  the  ascendancy, 
and  the  cautious  counsels  of  Mensdorff 
were  disregarded.  During  the  course  of 
April,  however,  negotiations  w-ere  begun 
between  Vienna  and  Berlin  for  a  simulta- 
neous disarrUament  on  both  sides ;  and, 
as  the  result  of  a  conciliatory  note  of 
Austria,  prospects  of  peace  were  tem- 
porarily disclosed.  King  William  thought 
that  Prussia  ought  not  to  be  obstinate  in 
resisting  all  attempts  at  an  understanding. 
This  more  peaceful  tendency  was  nulli- 
fied by  the  preparations  of  Italy,  which 
watched  with  uneasiness  the  inauguration 
of  better  relations  between  Prussia  and 
Austria.  By  command  of  King  Victor 
Emmanuel  some  100,000  men  were  enrolled 
in  the  army  during  the  month  of  April. 
As  a  result  of  this,  the  Emperor  Francis 
Joseph,  disregarding  the  warnings  of 
Count  ^lensdorff ,  ordered  the  mobilisation 
of  the  southern  army  on  April  21st,  and 
that  of  the  northern  army  on  the  27th. 

The  counsellors  of  King  William,  who 
were  urging  war,  thus  were  given  weighty 
reasons  why  Prussia  could  not  remain 
behind  in  her  preparations.  The  king 
was  in  any  case  already  convinced  of  the 
necessity  of  crossing  swords  with  Austria, 
since  he  contemplated  even  in  April  a 
sudden  attack  on  the  still  unprepared 
imperial  capital.  But  since  he  was  un- 
willing to  appear  in  the  eyes  of  Europe 
as  the  breaker  of  the  peace,  he  had 
O  th  waited  for  the  mobilisation 
y^  of     Austria.      Now     the     same 

^^  steps  were  taken  by  him 
between  ]\Iay  5th  and  12th. 
War  was  thus  almost  inevitable.  The 
Vienna  Cabinet,  which  did  not  under- 
rate the  dangers  of  an  attack  from  two 
sides  simultaneously,  resolved  at  the 
eleventh  hour  on  a  complete  change  of 
policy  towards  Italy.  Of  late  years  the 
sale  of  the  province  of  Venetia  had  been 
refused,  as  detrimental  to  the  honour  of 

5070 


Austria  ;  she  was  now  willing  to  relinquish 
the  province,  in  order  to  have  a  free  hand 
for  a  war  of  conquest  against  Prussia. 
Prince  Metternich,  the  Austrian  ambas- 
sador at  Paris,  was  commissioned  to  call 
in  the  mediation  of  Napoleon  III. 

The  Vienna  Cabinet  was  willing  to  pledge 
itself  to  cede  Venetia,  on  condition  that 
Italy  remained  neutral  in  the  coming  war 
and  that  Austria  was  then  able  to  conquer 
Silesia.  Napoleon  thought  it  a  stroke  of 
good  fortune  to  have  received  simultaneous 
proposals  from  Prussia  and  Austria.  By 
a  skilful  employment  of  the  situation  the 
aggrandisement  of  France  in  the  north  or 
east  was  virtually  assured. 

When  he  communicated  the  offer  of 
Austria  to  the  Italian  Government,  the 
latter  justly  retorted  that  the  con- 
ditional promise  of  a  cession  of  Venetia 
did  not  present  the  slightest  certainty ; 
the  conquest  of  Silesia  by  Austria 
was  doubtful,  and  if  it  did  succeed, 
Austria's  position  would  be  so  much 
improved  that  she  would  certainly  not 
feel  disposed  to  redeem  her  pledge. 
Thereupon  Austria  professed  readiness  to 
J  sign    a    treaty    which    should 

^*  ^  secure  Venetia  unconditionally 

mp  e  y  ^^  ^^^  Italians.  This  offer 
presented  a  great  temptation 
to  Italy,  but  could  only  be  accepted  at 
the  expense  of  a  flagrant  breach  of  faith 
towards  Prussia.  The  Italian  Cabinet, 
after  a  debate  of  several  hours,  re- 
solved on  May  14th  to  refuse  the  offer, 
since  the  wish  for  war  was  already  kindled 
in  Italy,  and  the  acceptance  of  the  gift 
would  certainly  have  been  attributed  by 
the  republican  portion  of  the  population 
to  the  craven  and  dishonourable  policy 
of  the  House  of  Savoy. 

The  negotiations,  nevertheless,  were  so 
far  profitable  to  Austria  that  Italy  was  no 
longer  arming  for  a  war  to  the  knife,  since 
she  was  almost  certain  to  gain  Venetia 
even  if  the  result  of  the  war  was  less, 
favourable.  Austrian  diplomacy  further 
succeeded  in  establishing  closer  relations 
with  France.  Napoleon  once  more  at- 
tempted to  induce  Prussia  to  give  a  dis- 
tinct undertaking  with  reference  to  cessions 
of  territory  on  the  Rhine.  Bismarck, 
however,  put  him  off  with  general  promises ; 
his  "  dilatory  "  diplomacy,  as  he  after- 
wards expressed  himself,  aimed  at  rousing 
in  Napoleon  the  belief  that  he  was  quite 
ready  to  be  somewhat  of  a  traitor  to  his 
country,  but  that  the  king  would  not  hear 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    PRUSSIA 


a  word  of  any  cession  of  German  territory 
to  France.  His  policy  was  both  bold  and 
astute  ;  he  secured  the  neutrality  of  the 
emperor,  without  giving  him  the  slightest 
pledge  which  compromised  Prussia. 

Napoleon,  like  almost  all  Frenchmen 
of  that  time,  was  convinced  that  Austria 
in  the  struggle  with  Prussia  had  the 
military  superiority.  For  that  reason  the 
emperor  had  induced  Italy  to  form  an 
alhance  with  Prussia,  in  order  to  restore 
the  balance  of  power ;  and  similarly, 
he  wished  to  secure  his  position  for  the 
probable  event  of  an  Austrian  victory. 
Napoleon,  therefore,  concluded  a  secret 
treaty  with  the  Vienna 
Cabinet  on  June  12th,  in 
which  Austria  undertook 
to  cede  Venice,  even  in 
the  event  of  a  victory,  to 
Italy,  which  the  emperor 
always  favoured.  The 
scheme  which  he  had 
now  made  the  goal  of 
his  policy  was  as  follows  : 
Venetia  was  to  be  ceded 
to  Italy,  Silesia  to  Austria, 
Schleswig  -  Holstein  and 
other  North  German  dis- 
tricts to  Prussia,  which, 
in  turn,  would  have  to 
give  up  considerable 
territory  on  the  Rhine 
to  France.  But  instead 
of  arming  in  order  to 
carry  out  this  desirable  so- 
lution, Napoleon  thought 
he  would  pose  as  arbitra- 


Germany  was  averse  to  Prussia.  Any  hope 
that  Bavaria  and  Hanover  would  remain 
neutral  disappeared  ;  Saxony  was  closely 
united  with  Austria.  It  was  peculiarly 
painful  to  King  William  that  he  was  be- 
sieged with  i)etitions  from  Prussian  towns 
and  communities  praying  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  peace.  Intense  aversion  to  the 
war  prevailed,  especially  in  the  Catholic 
districts  on  the  Rhine  ;  when  the  members 
of  the  Landwehr  were  called  up,  there 
was  actual  insubordination  shown  in  some 
places.  The  king,  therefore,  considered  it 
advisable  to  entertain  the  proposals  for 
mediation  which  were  being  mooted. 
When  Anton  von  Gab- 
lenz,  a  Saxon  landowner 
and  brother  of  the  Aus- 
trian general,  came  to 
Berlin,  to  recommend  a 
partition  of  Germany 
lietween  the  two  Powers, 
he  received  full  authority 
to  place  this  proposal 
before  the  Vienna  Cabinet . 
But  the  Austrian  Min- 
istry rejected  that  media- 
tion, obviously  because 
the  Government  had 
already  decided  for  a 
war,  and  because  Austria 
could  no  longer  desert 
the  minor  German  states, 
with  which  she  practically 
had  come  to  terms,  and  let 
them  be  partitioned  at 
the  last  moment.  It  was 
Austria  now  who  urged  on 
the  war  and  rendered  Bis- 


f.  ..  LEWIS    II.,    KING    OF    BAVARIA 

tor    of    Europe    alter    the   ^^^  history  of  this  monarch,  who  succeeded  to  ,  ,        ,  ■  -ru 

exhaustion    of    his    rivals,   the  throne  of  Bavaria  in  1864,  is  a  particularly  marck  S  StCpS  CaSlcr.     i  nc 

That  was  his  mistake.  The  |,lrs"tlrs  andl^m^y.^l^nls^^rin"^^^^^^  Vienna  Cabinet  thus  re- 

Italy  of  i860    unprepared  sanity,  drowned  himself  near  his  castle  of  Berg,  fused  the  propOSal,  Cmau- 

and   poorly   armed,    had  ^"'"  ^  ^'""""■''  ating  from  Napoleon,  to 

been  easily  forced  to  give  up  Nice  and       send  representatives  to  a  congress,  on  the 


Savoy ;  but  Napoleon  never  suspected  that 
Pnissia  after  the  war  would  be  strong 
enough  to  refuse  the  claims  of  France.  His 
mistake  lay  in  adopting  one  and  the  same 
line  of  policy  with  Cavour  and  Bismarck, 
with  Italians  and  Germans. 

The  nearer  the  war  came  the  more 
unfavourable  became  the  diplomatic  situa- 
tion of  Prussia.  The  ambassador  at  Paris, 
Count  Goltz,  warned  his  countrymen 
not  to  depend  on  the  neutrality  of  Napo- 
leon. The  governments  of  the  German 
secondary  states  felt  themselves  menaced 
by  the  propositions  for  federal  reform, 
and  public  opinion  in  South  and  West 


ground  that  the  fate  of  Venetia  would 
form  the  object  of  the  negotiations ; 
one  Great  Power  could  not  allow  other 
states  to  decide  on  its  rights  of  ownership. 
King  Wihiam  still  hesitated  to  give  the 
signal  for  war.  By  June  5th  all  Prussian 
army  divisions  on  the  southern  frontier 
had  taken  up  their  posts.  Moltke  thought 
that  the  Prussian  corps  should  advance 
concentrically  into  Saxony  and  Bohemia 
and  attack  the  Austrians,  who  could 
hardly  be  ready  to  fight  for  another 
three  weeks.  But  the  king  preferred  to 
await  the  progress  of  the  hostile  measures 
which   the   Vienna   Cabinet   was   already 

5071 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


taking  in  Schleswig-Holstein  and  Frank- 
fort. Indeed,  great  impetuosity  was 
shown  at  Vienna.  The  Austrian  Govern- 
ment summoned  the  Estates  of  Holstein  to 
discuss  the  fate  of  the  country,  although  by 
the  terms  of  the  treaty  the  duty  was  in- 
cumbent on  them  of  exercising  no  control 
over  Holstein  without  the  assent  of  Prussia. 
p       .  When    Prussia     retorted     by 

_,  .       marching  troops  into  Holstein, 

r  ps  m  ^j^^  Vienna  Cabinet  called  upon 
the  German  Confederation  to 
order  the  mobilisation  of  the  Federal 
Army  against  the  violation  of  the  Federal 
Treaty  by  Prussia.  The  decisive  sitting  of 
the  Federal  Diet  was  held  on  June  14th. 

Prussia  had  explained  to  the  minor 
states  that  she  would  regard  the  resolu- 
tion to  mobilise  as  a  declaration  of 
war.  Nevertheless  a  motion  of  Bavaria 
was  voted  on,  which,  even  if  not  expressly 
aimed  against  Prussia,  still  had  for  its 
object  the  formation  of  a  federal  army. 
When  the  motion  was  carried  by  nine 
to  six  votes,  the  Prussian  plenipotentiary, 
Savigny,  announced  the  withdrawal  of 
Prussia  from  the  Confederation.  King 
William  immediately  afterwards  gave  the 
order  for  the  invasion  of  Saxony,  Hanover, 
and  Electoral  Hesse. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  some 
290,000  Prussians  were  ready  to  march 
into  Austria  and  Saxony  ;  only  48,000 
were  intended  to  fight  the  minor  states. 
The  latter,  indeed,  could  put  about 
120,000  soldiers  in  the  field  ;  but  Moltke 
went  on  the  principle  that  the  decisive 
blow  must  be  struck  on  the  chief  scene  of 
war  with  superior  forces.  The  first  blow 
was. aimed  at  Hanover,  Electoral  Hesse, 
and  Nassau,  whose  sovereigns  had  refused 
to  promise  neutrality.  The  blind  King 
George  V.  of  Hanover  declared  to  the 
Prussian  ambassador  that  compliance 
with  the  demand  of  Prussia  was  equivalent 
to  his  being  mediatised  ;  but  that  he  would 
never  allow  himself  to  be  mediatised — 
.  he  would  rather  die  an  hon- 
D  !^  ^  o^V^^    ourable    death.       Manteuffel 

Retire  Before   ,,  ,  t       ■.^    ,  ■ 

.....       thereupon  advanced  with  his 

the  Austrians    ,.    .   .   ^     .    ^       _,.  . 

division  into  Hanover  from 
Holstein,  while  Goeben  and  Beyer  advanced 
from  the  west.  General  Vogel  von  Falcken- 
stein  held  the  supreme  command  of  these 
troops.  The  Hanoverians,  18,000  strong, 
retreated  before  this  superior  force  towards 
the  south,  and  were  successful  in  escaping 
the  first  plan,  which  calculated  that  they 
would    still    be    at    Gottingen ;     so    that 

5072 


Falckenstein  actually  believed  they  had 
slipped  from  him.  He  abandoned  the  pur- 
suit for  a  time  ;  the  troops  of  King  George 
might  have  thus  reached  the  forest  of 
Thliringia  by  way  of  Gotha  and  Eisenach, 
and  escaped  to  Bavaria  in  safety. 

It  was  only  on  Moltke's  urgent  warnings 
that  Falckenstein  finally  sent  Goeben's 
division  to  Eisenach  ;  the  road  b}^  way  of 
Gotha  was  barred  to  them  by  General  von 
Flies.  King  George  thus  saw  himself  sur- 
rounded. Flies,  who  was  nearest  to  him, 
attacked  him  on  June  27th,  with  g,ooo 
men  at  Langensalza.  The  outnumbered 
Hanoverians  bravely  held  the  field  ;  but 
immediately  afterwards  the  net  was  drawn 
closer  round  them,  and  King  George  was 
forced  to  surrender  on  June  29th. 

The  Prussian  main  army  was  faced  by 
248,000  Austrians,  who  were  joined  by 
23,000  Saxons.  The  Austrian  commander 
was  Lewis  von  Benedek,  who  had  reaped 
a  rich  harvest  of  honours  in  the  campaigns 
of  1848,  1849,  3-^<i  1S59 ;  in  the  battle  of 
Solferino  he  held  the  field  on  the  right 
wing,  and  did  not  retire  until  the  rest  of 
the  army  had  left  the  scene  of  action.  He 
had     been    commander-in- 


Limitations  1      x     r  ^i        a       i. 

-  ,.     .     ,  .      chief  of  the  Austrian  army 
of  the  Austrian  - 

Commander 


in  Italy,  which  he  expected 
to  command  in  the  next  war. 
He  was  imperturbable,  experienced,  and 
high-minded,  but  he  recognised  the  limita- 
tions of  his  abilities.  He  knew  that  he  was 
only  adapted  to  be  a  general  under  less  im- 
portant conditions,  such  as  on  the  scene  of 
war  in  Upper  Italy  ;  he  was  lacking  in  the 
intellect  and  thorough  military  education 
requisite  for  the  leader  of  a  large  army. 

When  finally  against  his  will  he  ac- 
cepted the  supreme  command  against 
Prussia,  he  had  to  receive  lectures  from 
one  of  his  officers  on  the  military  geo- 
graphy of  Germany.  Since  popular  opinion, 
not  merely  in  Austria  but  also  in  South 
Germany,  expected  his  nomination  to  the 
command  of  the  northern  army,  the 
Emperor  Francis  Joseph  begged  him  to 
overcome  his  scruples.  He  refused,  and 
only  gave  way  after  the  emperor  had  repre- 
sented to  him  that  he  could  not  be  allowed 
to  desert  the  dynasty  at  a  crisis.  The  army 
was  stationed  in  Moravia,  resting  on 
Olmiitz,  and  Bohemia  was  occupied  only 
by  a  small  number  of  troops.  In  this  latter 
country  barely  one  army  corps  was  sta- 
tioned, under  Count  Eduard  von  Clam- 
Gallas  ;  the  Saxons  thereupon  retreated. 
Moltke's   original   plan   to  open   the  war 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    PRUSSIA 


by  an  attack,  and  by  June  6th  to  invade 
Bohemia  from  all  sides,  had  not  been  put 
into  practice.  The  divisions  of  the 
Prussian  army  were  at  this  time  posted 
in  a  long  line  of  250  miles  from  Halle  to 
Neisse.  According  to  Moltke's  plan,  they 
were  to  unite  their  forces  in  the  enemy's 
country.  But  when  the  attack  had  to  be 
postponed,  and  it  was  reported  at  the 
Prussian  headquarters  that  the  Austrians 
were  in  Moravia,  it  was  thought  that 
Benedek  was  aiming  a  blow  at  Silesia. 
The  divisions  of  the  Prussian  army, 
therefore,  which  were  stationed  to  the 
east,  pushed  towards  the  left  and  took  up 
a  very  strong  position  on  the  Neisse. 
This  delay  in  taking  the  offensive  was 
turned  to  account  as  soon 
as  war  was  determined 
upon.  On  June  15th  the 
advance  guard  of  the  army 
of  the  Elbe,  49,000  men, 
under  Bitterfeld,  marched 
into  Saxony.  The  first  army 
of  97,000  men  assembled  in 
Lusatia  under  Prince  Fre- 
deric Charles  ;  the  second 
army,  finally  121,000  strong, 
was  stationed  in  Silesia 
under  the  Crown  Prince 
Frederic  William.  The  corps 
of  Von  der  Miilbe,  25,000 
men,  mostly  militia,  fol- 
lowed as  a  reserve.  All  the 
divisions  were  ordered  to 
enter  Bohemia  on  June 
ct  of 
Jitschin  was  fixed   as    the 


by  his  intelligence  department  of  the  de- 
tached position  of  the  Prussians,  wished  to 
lead  his  army  opportunely  between  the 
advancing  divisions  and  to  defeat  one  after 
the  other  before  they  combined.  The  first 
army  reached  Reichenberg  on  June  23rd 
and  pressed  on  towards  the  Iser  ;  the  army 

rj,.  „,  of  the  Elbe  marched  parallel 
The  Plans     -       •,       i-i  i 

.        .  ,   to  It.     ihe  second   army  was 

01  Austria  s     ,,,  ^..  .,         •> 

Commander  °^  Silesian  SOU,  advanc- 

ing towards  the  passes  of  the 
Riesengebirge — ^the  Giant  Mountains.  As 
Benedek  established  his  headquarters  at 
Josefstadt  in  Bohemia  on  June  26th,  and 
Prince  Frederic  Charles  had  already  tra- 
versed Northern  Bohemia,  the  Austrian 
leader  selected  him  for  his  first  opponent. 
He  ordered  the  two  corps 
which  he  had  stationed  in 
Bohemia — the  Austrian 
under  Clam-Gallas,  and  the 
Saxon,  60,000  men  in  all — 
to  face  Prince  Frederic 
Charles  on  the  Iser  in  order 
to  detain  him.  He  himself 
put  the  main  body  of  his 
army  in  movement  towards 
the  Iser.  The  troops  of 
the  Crown  Prince  crossed 
the  Bohemian  frontier  in 
the  passes  of  the  Riesenge- 
birge on  June  26th  ; 
Benedek,  therefore,  while 
wishing  to  attack  Prince 
Frederic  Charles  with  six 
LEWIS  VON  BENEDEK  ^rmy  corps  in  all,  sent  back 
2ist,  and  the  district  of  in  the  campaigms  of  is48, 1849,  and  1859  two  corps  Under  Gablentz 
Jitschin  was  fixed  as  the  ^Kufsi;fd"hrmseirb"uUn?{;ei'!?Sa,^1t  and  Ramming  to  guard  the 
rendezvous,  where  they  were  Prussia,  when  in  chief  command  of  Aus-  mountain  passes  against  the 
to  meet  on  June  28th.       in    ^--'-^-y-'^-ff-^d  humiliating  defeat.  ^^^^^^^     ^^^y        1^^^^     ^j^^ 

consequence     of     the     shifting     of     the       movements  of  the  Prussians  were  admirably 


/ 


Silesian  corps  towards  the  south-east  on 
the  Neisse,  the  distance  which  the  army 
of  the  Crown  Prince  had  to  traverse  to 
Jitschin  was  longer  than  the  lines  of  march 
of  Prince  Frederic  Charles  and  of  the  army 
of  the  Elbe.  The  separate  advance  of  the 
Prussian  divisions  into  Bohemia  was 
thus  attended  with  consider- 
able danger.  Moltke,  whose 
hands  had  been  hitherto  tied 
by  diplomatic  considerations, 
knew  this ;  and,  remaining  behind  at 
first  with  the  king  in  Berlin,  he  directed 
the  movements  of  the  three  armies  with 
marvellous  foresight. 

The  Austrians  received  the  order  on 
June  20th  to  march  out  of  their  quarters 
in  Moravia.  Benedek,  accurately  informed 


Moltke's 

Marvellous 

Foresight 


combined,  and  one  army  was  eager  to 
relieve  the  other,  these  two  Austrian  corps 
were  vigorously  attacked  on  June  27th. 
Thus  the  Prussian  I.  corps  under  General 
Adolf  von  Bonin  was  pitted  against  the 
Austrian  corps  of  Gablentz  at  Trautenau, 
while  General  Steinmetz  met  Ramming's 
force  at  Nachod.  These  sanguinary  encoun- 
ters resulted  in  a  defeat  of  the  Austrians  at 
the  latter  place,  and  a  victory  at  the  former. 
Nevertheless,  it  was  already  clear  that 
the  Prussian  tactics  were  far  superior 
to  those  of  Austria.  The  Prussian  needle- 
gun  fired  three  times  as  fast  as  the  Austrian 
muzzle-loader  ;  and,  apart  from  this,  the 
"  shock  tactics  "  of  the  Austrians,  who 
tried  to  storm  heights  and  belts  of  forest 
with  the  bayonet,  were  to  a  high  degree 

5073 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


disastrous.  The  Prussians  brought  the 
enemy's  attack  to  a  standstill  by  rapid 
firing ;  they  then  threw  themselves  in 
smaller  divisions  on  the  flanks  of  their 
adversary,  and  completed  his  overthrow. 
Hence  the  terrible  losses  of  the  Austrians 
even  after  a  successful  charge.  At  Trau- 
tenau,  although  victors,  they  lost  183 
officers  and  4,231  men  killed  and  wounded, 
the  Prussians  only  56  officers  and  1,282 
men  ;  at  Nachod  5,700  Austrians  fell  and 
only  1,122  Prussians.  The  superiority 
of  the  Prussians  was  manifest  in  the  pre- 
parations for  the  war,  in  tactics,  and  in  the 
better  education  of  the  oiftcers  and  men. 

On  the  evening  of  June  27th  the  gravity 
of  these  facts  was  not  yet  realised  in  the 
Austrian  headquarters.  Benedek  therefore 
adhered  to  his  plan  of  continuing  his 
advance  against  Frederic  Charles.  This 
was,  however,  dangerous,  because  the 
nearer  enemy,  the  Crown  Prince,  would 
certainly  put  himself  more  in  evidence  on 
the  next  day.  The  Austrian's  alternative 
was  to  abandon  the  attack  on  the  first 
army  and  to  hurl  himself  with  all  available 
troops  against  the  second  army.  If  this 
had  been  done,  the  Crown  Prince  would 
have  had  to  contend  against  an  attack  by 
superior  numbers.     This  was  known  at  the 


Prussian  headquarters,  and  Frederic 
William  and  his  chief  of  the  general  staff, 
Leonhard  von  Blumenthal,  made  up  their 
minds  that  they  would  have  hard  fighting 
on  their  further  advance  through  the 
mountain  passes.  Bonin,  after  his  re- 
verse of  June  27th,  had  returned  to 
Prussian  territory,  whereas  the  Grtiards 
advanced  on  the  road  to  Eipel,  and  Stein- 
metz  from  Nachod  towards  Skalitz. 

The  Crown  Prince  waited  with  his  staff 

in  the  middle  between  these  two  columns, 

ready  to  hasten  to  the  post  of  danger.  The 

_  coolness    and    caution    of    the 

c  rown  ggj-iei-alship,  considering  the 
*  "^B  tM  difficult  position,  could  not  be 
surpassed.  Benedek,  however, 
obstinately  held  to  his  original  plan.  He 
actually  inspected,  on  the  morning  of 
June  28th,  the  three  corps  concentrated 
against  Steinmetz,  without  striking  a  blow 
at  him  with  these  superior  numbers.  On 
the  contrary,  he  ordered  the  greater  part 
of  these  troops  to  march  against  Frederic 
Charles,  and  commissioned  the  Archduke 
Leopold  in  particular  to  take  up  a  strong 
position  behind  the  Elbe.  By  so  doing  he 
abandoned  a  favourable  chance  and  made  a 
miscalculation,  for  that  very  day  the  troops 
of  the  Crown   Prince  came   up  with   the 


HAN'OVERIAN     VICTORY     OVER     THE     PRUSSIANS     AT     LANGENSALZA 
Attacked  by  the  Prussians  at  Langensalza,  on  June  27th,  1866,  while  on  their  way  to  join  the  Bavarian  forces,  the 
Hanoverians  held  the  field  and  gained  a  notable  victory,  the  Prussians  having  a  thousand  men  killed  and  wounded. 

5074 


THE  BATTLE  OF  SKALITZ  :  PRUSSIAN  CAVALRY  CAPTURING  THE  AUSTRIAN  CANNON 
This  battle,  fougrht  on  June  28th,  18G6,  between  the  Prussians  and  the  Austrians,  ended  in  a  severe  defeat  of  the 
latter,  who  left  behind  on  the  field  no  fewer  than  5,000  men  out  of  a  total  of  20,000  taking  part  in  the  fight. 


combined  Austrian  forces  both  at  Skalitz 
and  Trautenau.  Archduke  Leopold,  con- 
trary to  Benedek's  orders,  offered  battle  at 
Skalitz,  and  brought  a  complete  defeat  on 
himself;  out  of  the  20,000  Austrians,  5,000 
were  left  on  the  field  of  battle.  At  the 
same  time  Gablenz,  who  had  been  vic- 
torious on  the  previous  day  at  Trautenau, 
was  defeated  by  the  Guards  under  Prince 
Augustus  of  Wiirtemberg  near  Trautenau. 
The  Crown  Prince  had  thus  forced  his  way 
through  the  passes  on  June  28th,  and  as  a 
result  of  this  the  way  to  the  Elbe  was  free. 
Meanwhile,  the  advance  guard  of  Prince 
Frederic  Charles  reached  the 
ene  c  j^^^  ^^  June  26th.  The  army 
eprcssc  ^^  ^-^^  Austrians  and  Saxons 
^  ^  ^*  tried  unsuccessfully  to  dispute 
the  passage  in  a  sanguinary  night  encounter 
at  Podol ;  but  the  prince  followed  up 
his  victory  somewhat  slowly,  and  allowed 
his  advance  to  be  checked  by  the  rear- 
guard action,  unfavourable  indeed  to  the 
Austrians,  at  Miinchengratz  on  June  28th. 
A  message  from  Moltke,  however,  made 
him  press  forward  more  rapidly. 

Benedek  had  meantime  learnt  with  deep 
inward  perturbation  that  his  three  corps, 
which  had  been  moved  against  the  Crown 
Prince,  were  defeated.  This  news  pro- 
duced such  an  effect  on  him  that  he  gave 
up  the  offensive  which  he  had  intended  to 


assume  against  Prince  Frederic  Charles. 
He  resolved,  on  the  advice  of  Krismanic, 
the  "  strategist  of  positions,"  to  take  up 
a  naturally  strong  defensive  position  on 
the  hills  above  the  Elbe,  and  to  await 
there  subsequent  attacks.  He  also  sent 
to  the  combined  Austrian- Saxon  army  an 
order  to  retire  on  to  the  main  army.  But 
unfortunately  the  intelligence  department 
at  his  headquarters  was  so  dilatory  that 
this  order  had  not  arrived  when  the  troops 
of  Prince  Frederic  Charles  attacked  the 
Saxons  and  the  corps  of  Clam-Gallas  on 
the  afternoon  of  June  29th,  at  Jitschin. 

The  commanders  of  the  allies  must  have 
thought  that  the  main  army  was  near  at 
hand,  and  that  they  ought  therefore  to 
defend  Jitschin,  the  junction  of  the  roads. 
They  accepted  the  battle,  and  at  first 
successfully  resisted.  Then  about  seven 
o'clock  the  Austrian  officer  arrived  and 
handed  in  the  order  to  retreat.  The 
Austrians  now  wished  to  discontinue  the 
battle,  but  were  involved  in  disastrous 
engagements  by  the  keen  advance  of  the 
Prussians  and  were  completely  beaten. 

The  Saxons  of  the  Crown  Prince  Albert 
withdrew  in  good  order  ;  but  the  corps 
of  Clam-Gallas  broke  up  on  the  retreat, 
which  lasted  the  whole  night  and  the 
following  day,  and  they  reached  the 
main    army    in    a    deplorable    condition. 

5075 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


The    strong    position    occupied    in    the 

meantime  by  the  Austrian  main  army  was 

thus  rendered  untenable,  for  the  two  army 

corps  which  were    supposed  to  form  the 

left    wing     were    defeated,    and    Prince 

Frederic   Charles   could    attack  the   Aus- 

trians   in   flank   and  rear.     Benedek  was 

therefore    forced    to    give    the    order    for 

.        .       retreat    in    the    night  of    June 

•  "^  c*j    30th     to    July    ist.      Since    the 
in  a  Sad    -  j  _   j 


Plight 


Prussians    did    not    follow    him 


at  once,  they  did  not  know 
how  far  he  had  led  his  army  back.  King 
William  and  Moltke  had  meanwhile 
reached  the  army  of  Prince  Frederic 
Charles  on  July  ist. 

Moltke  believed  that  the  Austrians  had 
occupied  a  strong  position  behind  the  Elbe, 
and  were  waiting  behind  the  fortresses  of 
Josefstadt  and  Koniggratz  for  the  attack. 
They  were,  however,  already  halting  behind 
the  Bistritz,  a  tributary  of  the  Elbe,  where 
they  had  arrived  exhausted  by  a  dis- 
orderly night  march.  Benedek,  through 
these  events,  had  lost  all  hope  of  victory, 
and  decided  on  a  further  retreat  behind  the 
Elbe,  and,  if  necessary,  even  to  Olmiitz  or 
towards  Vienna. 

This  gloomy  state  of  affairs  was  ex- 
pressed in  a  telegram  which  was  sent 
immediately  afterwards  by  the  Austrian 
commander  to  the  emperor,  urgently 
advising  him  to  conclude  peace  at  any 
price.  A  disaster  for  the  army  was  inevit- 
able. Francis  Joseph  believed,  however, 
that  he  could  not  own  himself  con- 
quered without  a  pitched  battle.  He 
therefore  answered  :  "  Peace  is  impossible. 
We  must  retreat  if  necessary.  Has  any 
battle  taken  place  ?  "  This  expression  of 
the  emperor's  will  seems  to  have  deter- 
mined Benedek  to  accept  a  pitched  battle, 
and  as  the  Prussians  were  rapidly  advanc- 
ing he  made  instant  preparations  for  it. 

Late  in  the  evening  of  July  2nd  the  news 

was  brought  to  the  Prussian  headquarters 

that  the  Austrians  were  still  in  front  of 

_        .  the     Elbe,    ready    to     accept 

Prussians       ,,  u    n  tj.  j    x 

g^   .  the  challenge.      It  was  deter- 

forAttack  "^^"^^  ^y  ^^^&  William  and 
Moltke,  after  deliberation,  to 
attack  the  enemy  at  once  in  full  force,  and 
orders  were  sent  that  night  to  the  Crown 
Prince  to  summon  him  to  start  at  once. 
Blumenthal  had  lately  advised  the  two 
Prussian  armies,  who  were  no  longer  pre- 
vented from  joining  forces,  to  concentrate 
tactically  to  the  west  of  the  Elbe,  in  order 
thus  to  obviate  the  danger  of  being 
5076 


separated  in  a  pitched  battle.  Moltke, 
however,  ordered  that  the  plan  of  separa- 
ting the  armies  should  still  be  observed, 
but  in  such  a  way  that  the  armies  on  the 
day  of  battle  might  join  forces  by  a  rapid 
march.  He  wanted  to  be  able  to  attack 
the  Austrians  in  the  front  with  one  army, 
and  on  the  flank  with  another.  The  great- 
ness of  Moltke  lies  in  this  bold  strategy, 
which  aims  at  the  complete  annihilation 
of  the  enemy  by  enclosing  him  between 
broad  advancing  masses  ;  the  application 
of  this  method  enabled  him  in  1870  to 
capture  entire  armies. 

The  Austrians  and  Saxons  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  battle  of  Koniggratz,  July  3rd, 
were  215,000  men  strong,  drawn  up  in 
close  formation.  The  great  disadvantage 
of  their  position  was  that  they  had  the 
Elbe  in  their  rear  ;  but,  of  course,  several 
bridges  had  been  thrown  across  it.  The 
centre  and  the  left  wing  pointed  west, 
and  awaited  the  attack  of  Prince  Frederic 
Charles ;  the  right  wing,  consisting  of 
the  fourth  and  second  corps,  was  ordered  to 
face  north,  since  the  advance  of  the  second 
army  might  be  expected  from  that  quarter. 
The  Crown  Prince,  following  the 

e  grea       orders  given  him,  started  im- 
Battle  m  j-    j.   1  ^  1 

„  mediately    at    early  mornmg, 

but  he  did  not  reach  the  battle- 
field before  noon.  In  the  meantime  the 
first  army  attacked  the  centre  ;  the 
Elbe  army,  the  right  wing  of  the  Austrian 
army.  The  Elbe  army  made  good  pro- 
gress ;  on  the  other  hand.  Prince  Frederic 
Charles  vainly  exhausted  his  efforts 
against  the  strong  centre  of  the  Austrians. 
The  Austrian  artillery  was  planted  in 
tiers  on  the  hills  of  Chlum,  Lipa,  and 
Langenhof,  and  at  once  precluded  any 
attempt  at  an  infantry  attack.  Since 
Prince  Frederic  Charles  was  compelled  to 
wait  until  the  Crown  Prince  joined  his 
left  wing,  the  weak  spot  in  his  line  was 
there,  for  the  Austrians,  temporarily 
superior  in  numbers,  might  outflank  him. 
It  was  fortunate  for  the  Prussians  that 
the  seventh  division  was  stationed  there 
under  Fransecky,  who  cov^ered  the  weak- 
ness of  his  position  by  a  determined  and 
splendid  offensive.  He  advanced  into  the 
Swiepwald,  drove  out  the  Austrians,  and 
from  that  position  harassed  their  right 
wing,  which  was  ordered  to  hold  its  ground 
against  the  expected  attack  of  the  Crown 
Prince.  The  Austrians  thereupon,  in  the 
hope  of  overwhelming  Fransecky,  made  a 
counter     attack,     which     was     at     first 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


repelled  with  loss,  and  the  wood  could  not 
be  captured  by  the  Austrians  until  a 
part  of  the  second  corps  turned  against 
Fransecky.  Hitherto  eleven  Prussian 
battalions  had  held  their  ground  against 
fifty-nine  Austrian  battalions. 

The  battle,  however,  at  noon  was  ex- 
tremely favourable  to  the  Austrians. 
.      ,  King  William  looked  anxiously 

Anx.ous   ^    towards  the  north,  where   the 

Moments  in  /^  -r*  •  i_     i     i  u 

Crown  Pnnce  had  long  been 
'^  vainly  expected.  Benedek  de- 
liberated whether  he  ought  not  now  to  bring 
up  his  strong  reserves  and  win  a  victory 
by  a  vigorous  assault  on  the  Prussian 
centre.  But  he  felt  crippled  by  the  news, 
which  reached  him  three  hours  earlier  than 
King  William  and  Moltke,  that  the  Crown 
Prince  was  approaching.  Benedek  saw- 
also,  with  uneasiness,  how  his  right  wing, 
intent  upon  the  struggle  in  the  Swiepwald, 
left  great  gaps  towards  the  north. 

It  thus  happened  that  the  second 
army,  when  it  came  on  the  scene  at  noon, 
was  able  at  the  first  onset  to  overlap 
the  Austrian  right  wing.  The  Prussian 
Guards  and  the  sixth  corps  were  in  the 
first  line  ;  the  corps  of  Bonin  and  Stein- 
metz  followed  after.  The  Guai'ds,  after 
a  short  f^ght,  captured  the  key  of  the 
Austrian  position,  the  village  of  Chlum, 
and  soon  afterwards  Lipa  also.  Startling 
as  was  this  onslaught  of  the  Prussians,  and 
great  as  was  its  success,  Benedek  still 
thought  it  possible  to  retrieve  the  day. 
He  brought  up  his  reserves  in  order  to 
retake  Chlum.  The  Austrians,  charging 
bravely,  actually  drove  back  the  Guards 
by  their  superior  force.  They  were  on  the 
point  of  entering  Chlum  when,  rather  late, 
the  Prussian  corps  under  Bonin  appeared, 
repulsed  the  Austrians,  and  soon  after- 
wards assured  their  defeat. 

The  army  of  Prince  Frederic  Charles, 
hitherto  kept  in  check,  now  advanced, 
and  the  Prussian  cavalry  was  called  upon 
to  complete  the  victory.  Although  the 
TK   V  Austrian  cavalry  stopped  this 

"tK  th*^  °'^  pursuitinthe  battle  of  Stresche- 
„       .  witz,   the  masses  of   infantry, 

Prussians  ,       '  .  ,,  i  -', 

abandonmg  all  order,  poured 
down  on  the  Elbe,  looking  for  the  bridges 
over  the  river.  It  was  fortunate  for  them 
that  they  were  not  pursued  by  the  Prussian 
infantry.  The  Austrians,  although  terrible 
disorder  prevailed  in  places  among  them 
while  crossing  the  Elbe,  were  able  to 
reach  the  left  bank  of  the  river  in  the  night 
of  July  4th.  Their  losses  were  terrible  ; 
5078 


they  amounted  in  all  to  more  than 
44,000  men,  some  half  of  whom,  wounded 
or  unwounded,  were  taken  prisoners. 
The  Prussians  had  1,335  killed  and  9,200 
wounded.  Most  of  the  Austrians  had 
fallen  during  their  fruitless  attacks  in 
dense  masses  on  the  Prussian  needle-guns. 
This  crushing  disaster  was  only  slightly 
compensated  by  the  victory  which  the 
Austrians  won  over  the  Italians  at  Custoza, 
ten  days  earlier. 

Francis  Joseph  thought  it  necessary 
after  the  battle  of  Koniggratz  to  call  in 
the  mediation  of  France.  The  official 
Paris  journal  announced  on  July  5th,  1866, 
that  Venetia  had  been  ceded  by  Austria 
to  the  Emperor  Napoleon.  Austria 
counted  confidently  that  the  French  Em- 
peror would  urge  Italy  to  neutrality,  and 
WQuld  check  the  victorious  career  of 
Prussia  by  stationing  an  army  on  the 
Rhine.  Advice  to  this  effect  was  given  to 
the  emperor  by  his  Minister  of  the  Ex- 
terior, Drouyn  de  I'Huys.  But  France  was 
not  prepared  for  war  ;  the  emperor  was 
at  that  time  incapacitated  by  a  torturing 
disease,  and  he  therefore  allowed  himself- 
P  to    be    persuaded    by    Prince 

F  "ir  V  ^  Jerome,  as  well  as  by  his  Minis- 
„  ters,  the  Marquis  de  Lavalette 

and  Eugene  Rouher,  to  abandon 
the  idea  of  hostilities  against  Prussia,  in 
order  to  win  territorial  concessions  from 
King  William  by  negotiations.  The  Prus- 
sian ambassador,  Count  Goltz,  adroitly 
represented  to  him  how  much  more  favour- 
able an  amicable  arrangement  with 
Prussia  would  be  for  him.  From  this 
moment  France  had  played  for  the  last 
time  her  role  as  leading  power  in  Europe. 

Prussia  was  energetic  in  reaping  the 
fruits  of  her  victory.  Goltz  kept  Napoleon 
in  suspense  by  courteous  hints,  without 
pledging  the  Prussian  Government  in  any 
matter.  When  the  French  diplomatist, 
Benedetti,  appeared  at  the  Prussian  head- 
quarters in  Moravia,  with  a  commission 
from  Napoleon,  the  circumstance  aroused 
fear  in  Bismarck  that  Napoleon  would 
now  come  forward  with  his  claims  ;  but  it 
appeared  that  Benedetti  had  none  but 
vague  orders,  and  was  only  intended  to 
hinder  the  entry  of  the  Prussians  into  the 
Austrian  capital.  Meantime  Benedek  in 
his  rapid  retreat  had  reached  Olmiitz 
with  his  army.  The  second  army  was 
ordered  to  watch  and  follow  him,  while 
the  first  marched  southward  on  Vienna. 
Since      Austria      thought     its      southern 


THE    ADVANCE    OF    PRUSSIA 


frontier  was  secured  by  the  cession  of 
Venetia,  tlie  larger  part  of  tlie  field  army 
stationed  in  Italy,  57,000  men,  was  ordered 
to  the  northern  theatre  of  war.  Archduke 
Albert  assumed  the  supreme  command. 
Benedek  was  instructed  to  withdraw  from 
Olmiitz  to  the  Danube,  in  order  that  the 
newly  collected  army  might  be  on  the 
defensive  behind  the  river.  But  the 
defeated  general  loitered  so  long  in  Olmiitz 
that  detachments  of  the  army  of  the 
Crown  Prince  were  able  to  get  in  front  of 
his  army.  Benedek's  marching  columns 
were  attacked  on  July  15th,  near  Tobit- 
schau,  south  of  Olmiitz,  and  suffered  a 
serious  reverse  ;  eighteen  cannon  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Prussians.  Benedek  was 
thus  forced  to  abandon  his  march  south- 
ward, and  withdrew  towards  Hungary,  in 
order  to  reach  the  Danube  by  a  detour 
along  the  Waag.  In  consequence  of  this, 
the  Prussians  were  able  to  appear  on  the 
Danube  earlier  than  he  could. 

Meantime  the  Prussians  were  fighting 

successfully  against  the  minor  states.  The 

Bavarians  were  attacked  and  defeated  by 

Goeben's  division  at  Kissingen  on  July  loth, 

.      1866.      Although  Moltke  now 

onqucring  ^j-^gj-g^   General    Falckenstein 

/^^      .      to  pursue  at  once  the  main  body 
of  Prussia        ,  \.  4.1        r>  • 

of  the  enemy,  the  Bavarians, 

and  crush  them,  Falckenstein  thought  it 
better  to  capture  Frankfort  first.  He 
defeated  the  Federal  Corps  in  the  engage- 
ments of  Laufach  and  Aschaffenburg,  and 
entered  the  Free  City  victoriously.  But 
since  by  so  doing  he  had  disobeyed  the 
orders  from  the  king's  headquarters,  he 
was  deprived  of  the  supreme  command, 
and  on  July  19th  General  Manteuffel  took 
his  place.  Once  more  the  Prussians  were 
enabled  to  attack  individually  their  dis- 
united opponents,  and  to  defeat,  first  the 
Federal  Corps  at  Bischofsheim  and  Wert- 
heim,  and  then  the  Bavarians  at  Neu- 
brunn  and  Rossbrunn. 
fi  Goltz,  yielding  to  the  pressure  of  Napo- 
leon, had  concluded  with  him,  on  July 
14th,  preliminary  agreements  as  a  basis  for 
peace.  The  withdrawal  of  Austria  from 
the  German  Confederation  was  fixed  as 
the  first  condition  ;  but  the  dominions  of 
the  Austrian  monarchy  were  not  to  suffer 
any  loss  except  that  of  Venetia.  Prussia, 
in  addition,  stipulated  for  the  right  to 
form  a  North-German  Confederation  under 
her  own  military  supremacy,  and  to  annex 
Schleswig-Holstein.  A    South-German 

Confederation  was  to  be  organised,  with  an 


independent  position  on  every  side.  Napo- 
leon intervened  with  these  proposals 
between  the  two  belligerent  states.  Bis- 
marck would  have  been  glad  if  he  could 
have  concluded  peace  with  Austria  without 
Napoleon,  since  there  was  always  the  fear 
that  France  would  come  forward  during 
the  negotiations  with  demands  of  territory 
Austria'  for  herself.  Bismarck  explained 
Seriou*  ^  ^^^^  ^°  ^^^®  Vienna  Cabinet,  and 
^.  ,  .  added  that  Prussia  in  this  case 

Mistake  .  .  1    ■        ^ 

would  renounce  any  claim  for 

indemnification  of  the  costs  of  the  war. 
But  Austria  made  the  mistake  of 
regarding  France  as  a  friend,  and  declined 
the  offer.  This  was  a  serious  error,  since 
Napoleon  was  solely  animated  by  the  wish 
to  win,  through  good  offices  to  Prussia,  the 
consent  of  the  latter  to  his  designs  on 
Belgium  and  the  Rhenish  provinces. 

Napoleon  therefore,  when  King  William 
declared  that  the  terms  agreed  upon  by  his 
ambassador  in  Paris  on  July  14th  were 
insufficient,  and  demanded  the  annexation 
of  extensive  districts  of  North  Germany, 
lost  no  time  in  giving  his  assent  to  the 
demand  ;  he  would  have  sacrificed  even 
Saxony  on  these  grounds  without  com- 
punction. Prussia  had  now  secured  the 
prize  of  victory,  and  concluded  an  armistice 
with  Austria.  Immediately  before  that, 
Moltke  wished  to  make  another  successful 
coup.  General  Fransecky  was  ordered  to 
occupy  Pressburg,  in  order  that  on  any 
outbreak  of  war  the  Prussian  army  might 
secure  the  passage  of  the  Danube.  An 
engagement  was  fought  at  Blumenau  on 
July  22nd  ;  but  it  was  left  undecided, 
since  at  noon  both  sides  received  the  news 
that  an  armistice  had  been  concluded. 

The  preliminary  peace  was  signed  in 
Nicholsburg.  The  parties  were  soon  agreed, 
since  Austria,  after  her  severe  defeat,  was 
forced  to  consent  that  Prussia  should  have 
a  free  hand  in  Germany.  King  William 
would  indeed  gladly  have  acquired 
for  Prussia  some  Austrian  territory, 
especially  Austrian  Silesia  and 
ff  *  *^  *  parts  of  Northern  Bohemia.  He 
th  W  ^^^^  gave  way  at  the  representa- 
tions of  Bismarck  that  if  he 
pressed  his  claims  too  much  he  would  risk 
what  he  had  already  won.  The  last  difficulty 
disappeared  when  Prussia  consented  to  a 
condition  laid  down  by  Austria  and  re- 
cognised the  inviolability  of  the  kingdom 
of  Saxony.  The  preliminary  peace  was 
concluded  on  this  basis  on  July  26th.  The 
Treaty  of  Prague  followed  on  August  23rd. 

5079 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  convention  between  Austria  and 
Italy  presented  more  difficulties.  The 
ItaUan  admiral,  Persano,  at  the  outset  of 
the  war  received  orders  to  secure  a  pledge 
for  Italy  by  occupying  the  Dalmatian 
island  of  Lissa.  During  the  bombardment 
of  the  capital  of  the  island  the  Austrian 
admiral  Tegetthoff  appeared  on  the  scene, 
attacked    the  Italian  fleet  on 

Bismarck  s 


Superior 
Diplomacy 


July  2oth  1866,  and  the  "Re 
d'ltalia"  with  his  own  flagship. 


and  forced  the  Italian  fleet  to 
retire.  Since  Garibaldi  also,  on  invading 
the  Italian  Tyrol,  was  defeated  by  the 
Austrian  general  Kuhn  in  several  engage- 
ments, Italy  was  compelled  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  treaty  concluded  on  October  3rd, 
by  which  Venetia  was  ceded. 

The  superior  diplomacy  of  Bismarck 
was  now  able,  under  the  impression  caused 
by  the  Prussian  victories,  to  unite  non- 
Austrian  Germany,  hitherto  torn  by  fac- 
tions, at  any  rate  against  the  contingency 
of  a  war.  Above  all,  he  induced  the  king 
to  terminate  the  conflict  with  the  Prussian 
House  of  Representatives  by  offering  the 
hand  of  friendship  to  it  in  his  speech  from 
the  throne  on  August  5th,  1866.  There  were 
irreconcilable  Conservatives  who  urged 
the  king  to  use  the  foreign  victory  for  the 
complete  overthrow  of  the  Liberal  party  ; 
but  the  royal  speech  expressly  recognised 
that  the  expenditure  incurred  for  military 
purposes  would  have  subsequently  to  be 
sanctioned  by  the  Landtag,  and  therefore 
asked  an  indemnity  for  such  expenses. 
In  this  point  the  kuig  followed,  not  with- 
out hesitation,  the  advice  of  Bismarck. 
In  the  conversation  with  the  President  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  he  declared 
that  in  a  similar  case  he  would  not  be  able 
to  act  otherwise  than  he  had  done  before  ; 
but  this  statement,  for  which  Bismarck 
declined  responsibility,  was,  fortunately, 
not  made  public  until  later.  Not  less 
.  clever  was  his  treatment  of  the 

n  arging^      conquered   secondary    states. 
the  Prussian  t^     ^        ,         ,  -1  •      •    i 

Territ  Bismarck  set  up  the  prmciple 

ern  ory       ^^^^^   ^^^^   Incorporation   or  a 

complete  amnesty  to  the  individual 
states  was  the  just  course ;  the  entry  of 
those  who  were  chosen  members  of  the  new 
federation  ought  not  to  be  burdened  with 
hard  conditions.  Hanover,  Hesse-Cassel, 
Nassau,  and  Frankfort-on-Main  were  fully 
incorporated,  by  which  means  the  Prussian 
territory  was  enlarged  by  27,638  square 


miles.  On  the  other  hand,  the  demands 
for  a  war  indemnity  imposed  by 
Prussia  on  the  remaining  states  w^ere 
moderate.  The  greatest  triumph  of  his 
negotiations  w^as  that  Wiirtemberg,  Baden, 
and  Bavaria  concluded,  between  the  13th 
and  2ist  August,  1866,  a  defensive  and 
offensive  alliance,  on  the  basis  of  which 
their  military  forces  were,  in  case  of  war, 
to  be  under  the  command  of  Prussia. 
These  provisions,  which  were  kept  secret 
for  the  moment,  constitute  the  foundation 
of  the  union  of  Germany. 

This  favourable  event  had  been  chiefly 
effected  by  the  action  of  Napoleon,  who 
had  unwisely  let  the  right  time  slip  past, 
and  only  now  stretched  out  his  hands  to 
German  territory.  Bismarck,  with  the 
most  subtle  diplomatic  skill,  had  fed  the 
king  with  false  hopes  until  the  war  was 
decided.  The  emperor  now  demanded 
the  price  of  his  neutrality.  His  ambas- 
sador, Benedetti,  in  an  interview  with 
Bismarck  on  August  5th,  demanded  the 
Rhenish  Palatinate  with  Mainz,  as  well 
as   the   district   on    the    Saar.     Bismarck 

then   haughtily  opposed   him. 
ranee       ^^  threatened  that,  if  France 
pproac  ing  jj^gjg|-g^  upon  these  claims,  he 
Disaster  1  i       ^  ^       ^ 

would   at   once,    and   at    any 

cost,  make  peace  with  the  South  Germans 
and  advance  in  alliance  with  them  to  con- 
quer Alsace  and  Lorraine.  Napoleon 
was  alarmed,  since  his  forces  were  no 
match  for  the  gigantic  war  equipment  of 
Germany.  Prussia  alone  had  660,000 
men  with  the  colours. 

But  Bismarck  took  care  that  the 
demands  of  France  were  published  in  a 
Paris  journal,  so  that  the  national  feel- 
ing of  the  Germans  was  intensely 
aroused.  On  the  strength  of  these  im- 
pressions, the  above-mentioned  alliances 
with  the  South  German  states  were 
brought  about.  Germany  was  thus  put 
in  a  sufficiently  strong  position  to  defend 
every  inch  of  national  soil  against  East 
and  West.  Napoleon  III.  was  diplo- 
matically defeated  before  he  was  con- 
quered on  the  field  of  battle.  Drouyn 
de  THuys,  since  the  emperor  would  not 
listen  to  his  proposals  for  forcing  on  a  war, 
took  farewell,  and  said :  "  I  have  seen  three 
dynasties  come  and  go.  I  know  the 
signs  of  approaching  disaster,  and  I  with- 
draw."    ^ 

Heinrich  Friedjung 


5080 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 
CONSOLIDA- 
TION   OF    THE 
POWERS    VIII 


THE    PRUSSIAN    ASCENDANCY 

AND     THE     AUSTRO »  HUNGARIAN      EMPIRE 


(~\^  October  3rd,  1866,  King  William 
^^  formally  took  possession  by  letters- 
patent  of  Hanover,  Hesse-Cassel,  Nassau, 
and  Frankfort-on-Main,  which  the  Peace 
of  Prague  had  assigned  to  him  by  the 
law  of  nations,  and  whose  incorporation 
into  Prussia  had  been  sanctioned  by  the 
Landtag  of  the  monarchy  in  September. 
The  king  declared  in  his  speech  to  the 
Hanoverians  on  the  same  day  that  he 
honoured  the  grief  which  they  experienced 
m  tearing  themselves  from  earlier  and 
endeared  connections,  but  that  the  in- 
terests of  the  nation  dictated  the  firm 
and  last mg  union  of  Hanover  with  Prussia, 
and  that  Germany  should  be  the  gainer 
by  the  acquisitions  of  Prussia. 

However  correct  these  principles  were,  a 
large  part  of  the  Hanoverians  were  little 
inclined  to  recognise  them  and  to  submit 
to  the  inevitable.  Devotion  to  the  Guelfic 
house,  above  all  to  the  king,  George  V., 
'.'t.  »«•  J  whose  blindness  made  him  an 
„.  object  of  universal  pity,  and  his 

-j"*^  y  spouse,  the  universally  beloved 
Queen  Mary ;  the  consideration 
that  the  gentry  of  the  country  would  be 
ousted  from  the  exclusive  possession  of 
the  high  offices  of  state  ;  that  the  capital 
would  be  severely  injured  by  the  loss  of 
the  court ;  that  antiquated  but  familiar 
methods  of  business  would  be  broken 
down  on  all  sides  by  the  Prussian  freedom 
of  trade  and  freedom  of  movement  ;  the 
traditional  dislike  of  the  Hanoverians  for 
the  Prussians,  especially  for  the  Berliners, 
who  were  decried  as  supercilious  and 
empty-headed  ;  in  short,  personal  feeling 
and  practical  interests  combined  in  pro- 
ducing the  result  that  the  Prussian  rule 
was  only  endured  by  the  nobility,  the 
clergy,  and  a  large  part  of  the  citizens  and 
peasants,  with  a  silent  indignation. 

The  king,  who  had  fled  to  the  Castle  of 
Hietzing,  near  Vienna,  added  fuel  to  the 
discontent  by  a  manifesto  to  his  people  on 
October  5th,  in  which  he  declared,  in 
opposition  to  the  warrant  of  William  L, 


that   the   incorporation   of  his  land   into 

Prussia  was  null  and  void,  and  expressed 

his  confidence  in  the  Almighty  that  He 

would    restore    Hanover    to    the    Guelfic 

house  "  as  He  had  done  sixty  years  ago, 

when  the  same  injustice  from  the  same 

quarter   was    not    allowed   to    continue." 

„  .      Societies  were  secretly  formed 

„  ^     .  throughout  the  country  whose 

Hatred  ■  j-i,-  i.        i-  J 

-  E,       •      aim  was  this  restoration,    and 
of  Prussia     .,  t      ,        ^    \  ■, 

it    was    proposed    to    hold    a 

"  Hanoverian  Legion  "  in  readiness,  which, 
should  a  crisis  arise,  might  be  on  the  spot 
sword  in  hand.  The  hatred  of  the  people 
towards  Prussia  was  shown  in  the  abuse 
showered    on    individuals,    especially    on 

Prussian  soldiers. ' 

It  is  interesting  to  hear  that  Bismarck 
entertained  the  idea,  which  had  once 
been  successfully  realised  by  Cleisthenes 
at  Athens,  of  breaking  up  the  existing 
combinations,  and  creating  out  of  then 
new  forms  of  political  life,  which  should 
facilitate  the  fusion  of  the  old  and  new 
parts  of  the  country.  According  to  his 
speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
on  February  5th,  1867,  he  wished  to  re- 
divide  all  the  country  west  of  the  Elbe 
into  four  large  provinces,  which  should 
correspond  to  the  mediaeval  tribes,  and 
be  called  Old  Franconia,  Westphalia. 
Lower  Saxony,  and  Thuringia.  Old  and 
New  Prussia  were  to  be  merged  in  these 
provinces  as  a  means  of  softening  the 
contrast  between  them  and  the  rest  of  the 
Prussian  state.  Bismarck  did  not  succeed 
in  carrying  out  this  idea ;  the  states,  gradu- 

„  ally     created     by     political 

Hanover  -',  ,  j    -^,v  1 

^  .     .,.  events,    showed     themselves 

Governed  with     ,  .,  .,  •    •       i 

r-       «     J    stronger   than    the    original 

a  Firm  Hand     .    ■■,     °   ^t  1   fZi     * 

tribes.  N  o  course  was  lett  but 

to  govern  the  province  of  Hanover,  which 
remained  unaltered  in  itself,  with  a  bene- 
volent but  firm  hand,  and  to  trust  in  the 
all-effacing  power  of  time.  Dictatorial 
powers  in  the  new  territorial  divisions  had 
been  granted  to  the  Government  until 
September   30th,  1867,  and   the  Prussian 

5081 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


constitution  was  to  come  into  force  in 
those  parts  on  October  ist,  1867.  Ad- 
vantage was  taken  of  this  circumstance 
to  send  an  order  to  the  governor-general, 
Von  Voigt-Rhetz,  that  all  officials  on  whose 
implicit  co-operation  no  reliance  could  be 
placed  should  without  further  delay  be 
removed  from  their  posts;  a  number  of 
Guelf  agitators  also  were  con- 
fined in  the  fortress  of  Minden. 


Punishment 
of  Guelf 
Agitators 


This  measure  was  so  far  effec- 
tive that  outward  tranquillity 
was  restored  ;  but  there  were  indications 
that  among  the  people  loyalty  to  the 
Guelf s  was  by  no  means  predominant. 

On  October  ist,  thirty-nine  representa- 
tives to  the  Second  Chamber,  and 
seventy  delegates  from  the  communes, 
declared  that  they  accepted  the  annexa- 
tion as  an  unalterable  fact  brought  on 
by  the  obstinacy  of  the  former  Govern- 
ment itself ;  and  when,  on  October  nth, 
a  special  Hanoverian  corps,  the  tenth, 
was  raised,  425  out  of  660  Hanoverian 
officers — that  is  to  say,  almost  two-thirds— 
at  once  went  into  the  Prussian  service,  a 
circumstance  which,  it  may  be  well 
understood,  caused  a  bitter  disappoint- 
ment to  the  banished  king. 

Things  went  far  more  smoothly  in 
Electoral  Hesse  and  Nassau  than  in 
Hanover  ;  in  the  former  the  despotic  rule 
of  Elector  Frederic  William  I.,  and  in  the 
latter  the  inconsiderate  exercise  of  forest 
rights  and  the  refusal  to  grant  the  Liberal 
constitution  of  1849,  whose  restoration  the 
Landtag  vainly  demanded,  had  caused  the 
subjects  to  dislike  their  sovereigns  so  that 
the  end  of  the  system  of  petty  states 
was  universally  felt  to  be  a  release  from 
unendurable  conditions.  The  feeling  in 
Frankfort  was  very  bitter,  since  the  town 
where  the  ancient  emperors  were  elected, 
one  of  the  most  important  commercial 
capitals  of  South  Germany,  was  reduced 
from  a  Free  City  to  a  provincial  Prussian 
town  ;  even  the  enormous  development  of 

Th    B"tt       ^^^^  ^^^^'  '^^^c^^'  ^^  soon  as  it 

P  ^..  *  f^    was   freed   from   its  isolation, 

ee  mg  in     Q^i^s^^ipped  all  the  other  South 

r  ranktort        ^  '■  '■  ^  t.  r       •    , 

German  towns  except  Munich, 
could  not  banish  the  mortification  felt  at 
the  loss  of  independence. 

Bismarck  and  the  king  were  inde- 
fatigably  busy  in  meeting,  so  far  as  was 
feasible,  the  wishes  of  the  annexed  dis- 
tricts in  order  to  win  them  over  to  the 
new  order  of  things.  Electoral  Hesse  owed 
to  the  personal  intervention  of  the  monarch 

5082 


the  fact  that  half  of  its  state  treasure  was 
left  in  1867  as  a  provincial  fund  to  provide 
for  workhouses,  the  maintenance  of  the 
poor,  and  for  the  national  library  ;  and 
the  province  of  Hanover  received  in 
February,  1868,  the  yearly  grant  of  a 
sum  of  ;^75,ooo  for  purposes  of  local 
administration.  Ample  pecuniary  com- 
pensation was  also  made  to  the  deposed 
sovereigns.  The  Elector  of  Hesse  received 
in  September,  1867,  the  other  moiety  of 
the  state  treasure,  which  had  accumulated 
from  the  subsidies  paid  by  England  in 
1776  for  the  troops  sent  to  America. 

The  Duke  of  Nassau  was  assigned,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1867,  some  castles  and  £1,500,000 
sterling,  and  King  George  received  in  the 
same  month  a  capital  sum  of  ;^2.40o,ooo, 
the  income  of  which  was  to  be  paid  him 
in  half-yearly  instalments,  though  the  sum 
itself  remained  in  the  hands  of  trustees 
until  ^n  agreement  had  been  made  with 
his  relations  as  to  its  administration. 

It  was  naturally  supposed,  in  view  of 
these  friendly  concessions,  which  were  only 
sanctioned  by  the  Prussian  Landtag  after 
a  hard  contest,  that  the  three  princes  would 
tacitly,  if  not  expressly,  waive 
'^"th'"*^  all  claims  to  their  former  terri- 
""r    fl     "  t°^"^^s-    ^^^  since  King  George, 

^P  *  ^^  in  February,  1868,  and  Elector 
Frederic  William,  in  September,  1868, 
publicly  made  violent  attacks  upon  Prus- 
sia, the  sums  due  to  the  two  sovereigns  in 
March  and  September,  1868,  were  seques- 
trated. Since  George  brought  his  Guelf 
legion  to  750  men,  and  kept  them  in 
France  unarmed,  as  "  fugitives,"  a  law 
of  spring,  1869,  provided  that  the  interest 
of  the  sequestrated  £2,400,000  should 
be  applied  to  warding  off  the  schemes 
devised  by  the  king  and  his  emissaries 
to  disturb  the  peace  of  Prussia.  From 
Bismarck's  saying  :  "  We  will  pursue 
these  obnoxious  reptiles  into  their  holes," 
the  sum  of  money  in  question  was  soon 
universally  called  the  Reptile  fund  ;  it 
was  mostly  employed  on  newspaper  articles 
in  support  of  the  new  order  of  things. 
It  was  not  until  1892  that  the  sequestra- 
tion was  ended  in  favour  of  Duke  Ernest 
Augustus  of  Cumberland,  son  of  George  V. 

In  Schleswig-Holstein  the  feeling  in 
favour  of  Duke  Frederic  still  continued ;  but 
the  certainty  that  the  Prussian  eagle  would 
once  for  all  protect  the  duchies  against  the 
detested  Danish  yoke,  and  the  propaganda 
of  a  Danish  nationality,  which  was  now 
awakening  in  the  Danish  border  districts 


THE    PRUSSIAN    ASCENDANCY 


of  Schleswig,  contributed  slowly  but  surely 
to  the  end  that  the  largely  predominant 
German  population  learnt  to  adapt  itself 
to  the  new  conditions.  The  brave  spirit 
of  the  duke,  who  saw  his  fondest  hopes 
blighted,  and  scorned  to  foment  a  useless 
resistance  to  the  detriment  of  the  duchies, 
helped  much  to  tranquillise  men's  minds 
and  prepared  them  for  the  day  when  his 
daughter  Augusta  Victoria  should  wear 
the  imperial  Crown. 

Prussia,  at  the  moment  when  it  with- 
drew from  the  German  Confederation  and 
began  the  war  against  Austria,  had  invited 
all  the  North  German 
states  to  conclude  a 
new  league.  In  August, 
1866,  nineteen  govern- 
ments which  had 
fought  on  Prussia's  side 
in  the  war  professed 
their  readiness  to  take 
that  step.  Meiningen 
and  the  elder  line  of 
Reuss,  which  had  stood 
on  the  side  of  Austria, 
did  the  same  after  some 
hesitation,  and  the  old 
anti-Prussian  Duke 
Bernhard  of  Meiningen  fi 
abdicated  in  favour  of 
his  son  George.  Minis- 
terial conferences  were 
opened  in  Berlin  on 
December  15th,  under 
the  presidency  of  Bis- 
marck, to  which  repre- 
sentatives were  sent  by 
all  the  North  German 
governments,  and  by 
Saxony   and   Hesse-  george  v.   of    hanover 

Darmstadt     for    their  On  the  annexation  of  Hanover  by  Prussia  in  1866, 

territory     right     of     the  George   v.   fled   to    the   Castle   of  Hietzing-,   near 

Main  Tlip        fnnrla  Vienna,  and  issued  a  manifesto  to  his  people  de- 

iViain.  I  lie        lUnaa-  ^1^^;^^  ^^^  incorporation  of  his  land  into  Prussia  to 

mental  principles  of  the  be  null  and  void.    The  king  died  at  Paris  in  1878. 

new  federal  constitution  ^'°"'  ^  photograph 

were  settled  in  these  conferences.  Accord- 
ing to  it  the  presidency  of  the  Confedera- 
tion should  belong  to  the  King  of  Prussia 
in  so  far  that  he  should  represent  the 
Confederation  in  foreign  politics,  declare 
peace  and  war  in  its  name,  superintend 
the  execution  of  the  Federal  resolutions, 
nominate  all  officials  of  the  Confederation, 
and  command  its  army  and  fleet. 

The  Federal  Council  was  to  represent 
the  governments,  and  in  it,  on  the  basis 
of  the  voting  conditions  in  the  former 
German   Confederation,    seventeen  votes 


should  be  given  by  Prussia,  four 
by  Saxony,  two  each  by  Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin  and  Brunswick,  one  by  each  of 
the  remaining  eighteen  states,  making 
forty-three  votes  in  all.  The  Federal 
Council  shared  in  the  whole  work  of 
legislation,  and  represented  the  sovereigns 
of  the  Confederation. 

The  people  were  to  share  in  the  legis- 
lation by  means  of  a  Reichstag  springing 
from  the  direct  universal  suffrage.     This 
Reichstag  possessed  also  initiative  rights  ; 
it  was  not  proposed  to  pay  the  deputies. 
Tlic     following     were     declared     to     be 
Federal  matters  :    The 
army    and     navy,     in 
which    connection    the 
peace   strength  of   the 
army  was  fixed  at  i  per 
cent,  of  the  population 
of  1867,  and  the  right 
of  increasing  it   every 
ten  years  was  reserved  ; 
then  foreign  policy, 
posts    and   telegraphs, 
tolls   and  trade.     The 
finances    were    to    be 
based  on  the  tolls,  the 
compulsory  taxes,  and 
the  psofits  of  the  posts 
and  telegraphs.    To 
supply    any   deficit  in 
the   revenue  the    indi- 
vidual states  were 
pledged     to    "  register 
contributions  "  in  pro- 
portion to  the  numbers 
of  their  population. 
The  Federal  Budget  was 
to    be    sanctioned    for 
periods  of  three  years  ; 
the    expenses    of     the 
army    were    estimated 
at  the  rate  of  £^3  15s. 
a   head  in  perpetuity. 
After    d  fferent    objec- 
tions had  been  successfully  raised  against 
certain    of    these    provisions,    they    were 
approved  on  February  2nd,  1867,  and  in 
that   form  submitted   to  the  Constituent 
Reichstag  elected  on  February  12th. 

It  was  a  matter  of  the  greatest  import- 
ance for  the  party  conditions  in  this 
Reichstag  that  in  the  autumn  of  1866, 
when  an  effort  was  being  made  to  get  rid 
of  the  Prussian  dispute,  two  new  parties 
appeared  on  the  scene.  The  National 
Liberal  party,  which,  breaking  away  from 
the  Progressive  oarty— now  sinking  more 

5083 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF     THE    WORLD 


and  more  into  a  policy  of  barren  negations 
— aimed  at  a  confidential  and  vigorous  asso- 
ciation with  the  great  statesman  who  had 
shown  by  his  actions  that  he  was  not  the 
bigoted  country  squire — ^Junker— which, 
according  to  the  outcry  of  the  Progressives, 
he  always  had  been  and  still  was.  Similarly 
the  moderate  Conservatives  founded  the 
.._  Free  Conservative  party — 

_     .      n    .   .,  smce    1871    called  also  the 

Empire  Party       <(  ^  /  . 

Founded  German  Empire  party    — 

which  proposed  to  unite  the 
observance  of  sound  conservative  prin- 
ciples, respect  for  authority,  and  support 
of  the  monarchy  with  wise  progress  and 
the  maintenance  of  civil  liberty. 

In  the  Constituent  Reichstag  the  Con- 
servatives numbered  59  deputies ;  the 
Free  Conservatives,  36  ;  the  Old  Liberals, 
who  stood  near  them,  27  ;  the  National 
Liberals,  79  ;  Progressives,  only  19.  In 
addition  there  were  18  Particularists, 
12  Poles,  2  Danes,  i  Social  Demo- 
crat, Aug.  Bebel,  and  a  number  of 
"  wild  "  politicians.  The  decision  lay 
with  the  two  parties  whose  principles 
brought  them  into  touch,  and  who,  in  the 
phrase  of  the  day,  were  termed  the  Right 
and  Left  Centre,  the  Free  Conservatives, 
and  the  National  Liberals. 

The  Reichstag  chose  for  president 
Eduard  Simson,  who  had  presided  at  the 
National  Assembly  in  Frankfort,  1848- 
1849,  3-i^d  thus  was  outwardly  connected 
with  the  traditions  of  the  Hereditary 
Imperial  party.  The  feeling  prevailed  in 
the  debates  that,  whatever  might  be  the 
private  views  of  the  representatives,  it  was 
impossible  to  disregard  the  wishes  of  the 
state  governments,  and  that,  under  all 
the  circumstances,  something  must  be 
effected  by  mutual  concessions. 

Bismarck  gave  vigorous  expression  to 
his  feeling  in  his  speech  of  March  nth, 
1867,  one  of  the  most  powerful  which 
he  ever  made,  when  he  appealed  to 
those  who  would  not  sanction  any 
Bismarck's  ^i^^^i^^^ion  of  the  Prussian 
Powerful  Budget  rights  in  the  case  of 
Appeal  army  estimates.  "The  mighty 
movements  which  last  year 
induced  the  nations  from  the  Belt  to  the 
Adriatic,  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Carpa- 
thians, to  play  that  iron  game  of  dice 
where  royal  and  imperial  crowns  are  the 
stake,  the  thousands  and  thousands  of 
victims  of  the  sword  and  of  disease,  who 
by  their  death  sealed  the  national  decision, 
cannot   be   reconciled   with    a   resolution 

5084 


ad  acta.  Gentlemen,  if  you  believe  that, 
you  are  not  masters  of  the  situation  !  .  .  . 
How  would  you  answer  a  veteran  of 
Koniggratz  if  he  asked  after  the  results  of 
these  mighty  efforts  ?  You  would  say  to 
him,  perhaps,  '  Yes,  indeed,  nothing  has 
been  done  about  German  union ;  that 
will  come  in  time.  But  we  have  saved  the 
Budget  right  of  the  Prussian  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  the  right  of  endangering  every 
year  the  existence  of  the  Prussian  army  ; 
for  this  we  have  fought  with  the  emperor 
under  the  walls  of  Pressburg.  Console 
yourself  with  that,  brave  soldier,  and  let 
the  widow,  too,  who  has  buried  her 
husband,  find  consolation  there.'  Gentle- 
men, this  position  is  an  impossibility  !  Let 
us  work  quickly,  let  us  put  Germany  in 
the  saddle,  and  she  will  soon  learn  to  ride." 
In  the  course  of  the  conferences  some 
forty  amendments  to  the  Bill  were  dis- 
cussed by  the  Reichstag.  Thus  the  Con- 
federation acquired  the  right  of  levying 
not  only  indirect  but  direct  taxes  ;  every 
alteration  in  the  army  and  the  fleet  was 
made  dependent  on  the  express  sanction 
of  the  president.      Criminal  jurisdiction, 

„.     _,      ,,        legal  procedure,  and  in  pri- 

The  Functions        ^     i  ,         j.      •    i  x        a 

-  vate  law  contract  rights  at 

rs    c  J      ..       least,    were    transferred    to 
Confederation    , ,        \^       ,    ,         , .  t,  , 

the     Confederation.        I  he 

Federal  Chancellor  was  to  accept  by  his 
signature  the  moral,  not  legal,  responsi- 
bility for  the  enactments  of  the  President. 
The  voting  for  the  Reichstag  was  to  be 
secret ;  the  eligibility  of  officials  as  candi- 
dates was  to  be  recognised.  Accurate  re- 
ports of  the  public  sittings  of  the  Reichstag 
were  to  be  secure  against  prosecution. 
The  deputies  were  to  be  paid.  The  Federal 
Budget  was  to  be  passed  for  one  year 
only,  instead  of  three.  In  military  matters 
the  proviso  that  one-hundredth  of  the 
population  of  1867  should  serve  with 
the  colours  in  peace  time,  and  that 
the  rate  should  be  /33  15s.  per  head 
was  only  to  be  in  force  until  Decem- 
ber 31st,  1871.  The  Confederation  was 
given  the  right  to  raise  loans  in  urgent 
cases  ;  in  the  case  of  denial  of  justice  in 
any  state  the  Confederation  was  bound — 
if  a  remedy  could  not  be  obtained  by 
legal  methods — to  interfere  and  afford 
lawful  help.  As  regarded  the  entry  of  one 
or  more  of  the  South  German  states  into 
the  Confederation,  it  was  settled  that  this 
should  be  effected  on  the  motion  of  the 
President,  by  means  of  a  legislative  act. 
Finally,   alterations   of    the    constitution 


THE    PRUSSIAN    ASCENDANCY 


were  treated  in  the  same  way,  but  a  two- 
thirds  majority  in  the  Federal  Council  was 
requisite.  The  federal  governments  ac- 
cepted nearly  all  of  these  resolutions; 
Bismarck,  in  their  name,  lodged  protests 
against  two  of  them  in  the  Reichstag  on 
April  15th.  First,  against  the  grant  of  daily 
pay  to  the  representatives  in  the  Reichstag. 
In  the  eyes  of  the  governments,  the  limita- 
tion of  eligibility  imposed  by  the  non- 
granting  of  allowances  was  an  indispensable 
counterpoise  to  universal  suffrage.  The 
Reichstag  accordingly  abandoned  the  daily 
allowances.  Secondly,  the  governments 
regarded  it  as  thoroughly  inadmissible  that 
the  existence  of  the  army  after  December 
31st,  1871,  should  be  dependent  on  the 
annual  votes  of  fluctuating  majorities, 
while  the  expenditure  on  the  civil  adminis- 
tration was  legally  fixed.  Rudolf  Gneist,  a 
deputy,  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  Lower  House  might  well  refuse  the 
expenses  of  a  professional  army,  such  as 
existed  in  England,  but  that  a  national 
army,  like  the  German,  must  be  regarded 
as  a  permanent  institution.  The  govern- 
ments would  have  preferred  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  original  scheme,  the  minimum 
strength  of  the  army  should 
have  been  settled  once  for 


Closing  of 

the  Constituent     n  j  ,  ■ 

o  .  ,    .  all,  and  a  permanent  provi- 

Reichstag  .  ,     i    r  ■    1    ■    ■ 

sion  voted  lor  mamtammg 

it.  They  finally,  on  April  17th,  declared 
their  agreement  to  the  proposal  of  the  Free 
Conservatives  and  of  the  National  Liberals, 
which  provided  that  the  present  peace 
strength  of  the  army,  fixed  until  December 
31st,  1871,  at  one-hundredth  of  the  popu- 
lation, and  the  lump  sum  of  £33  155.  per 
head  of  the  army,  should  be  kept  in  force 
beyond  that  date,  but  only  so  long  as  they 
should  not  be  altered  by  federal  laws  ; 
but  the  disbursement  of  sums  for  the 
entire  national  army  was  to  be  annually 
fixed  by  state  law.  On  April  17th,  1867, 
the  king  closed  the  Constituent  Reichstag 
with  a  speech  from  the  throne  which 
expressed  his  satisfaction  that  the  federal 
power  had  obtained  its  necessary  autho- 
rit}^  and  that  the  members  of  the  Con- 
federation had  retained  freedom  of  move- 
ment in  every  department  where  it  might 
be  advantageous  for  them. 

After  the  Landtags  of  the  individual 
states  had  declared  their  assent,  the  con- 
stitution became  a  reality  on  July  ist, 
1867.  Only  about  four-fifths  of  the  German 
people  were  now  united  in  the  "  North 
German  Confederation  "  ;  but  this  union 


was  closer,  and  hence  more  powerful,  than 
any  previous  one  in  Germany  ;  and  for  the 
first  time  in  their  history  the  German 
people  possessed  the  assured  right  of  co- 
operating in  the  framing  of  their  fortunes 
by  the  mouths  of  freely  elected  representa- 
tives. The  South  Germans,  indeed,  still 
held  aloof ;  but  the  universal  feeling  was 

_,.      _  .     expressed  by  a  Hanoverian : 

The  French    <,  4^,      ,■         -',  ,,       ^,    . 

_  ,  1  he  hne  of  the  Mam  is  no 

Emperor  s  ,  .1,1 

-,  ,.        longer  a  spectre,  but  only  a 

Compensations  ,     ,?■  ,  -         .       ■  ,  •' 

haltmg-place  for   us,  where 

we    can  take  water    and  coal    on  board, 

and    can   recover    our    breath    in    order 

soon  to  proceed  further  on  our  route." 

During  the  deliberations  of  the  Reichs- 
tag a  heavy  storm-cloud  had  gathered, 
but  had  happily  been  dispersed.  The 
French  Emperor,  Napoleon  HL,  had  at- 
tempted on  August  5th,  1866,  to  obtain 
"  compensations  "  for  the  aggrandisement 
of  Prussia  and  the  union  of  Northern 
Germany  by  demanding  Rhenish  Hesse 
with  Mainz  and  the  Bavarian  Rhenish 
Palatinate.  Having  met  with  a  fiat  re- 
fusal, he  had  claimed,  as  his  reward  for 
leaving  Germany  to  Prussia,  both  Belgium 
and  Luxemburg. 

Bismarck  prolonged  the  negotiations  in 
this  matter,  since  he  did  not  wish  to 
irritate  France  beyond  endurance,  and 
so  drive  her  into  the  arms  of  the  enemies 
of  Prussia.  He  did  not  return  any  definite 
answer  to  the  offer  which  he  simultaneously 
received  of  an  offensive  and  defensive  alli- 
ance with  the  French  Empire ;  but,  so  far 
as  Luxemburg  was  concerned,  left  no 
doubt  in  the  mind  of  Count  Benedetti,  the 
French  ambassador,  that  King  William 
would  decline  to  give  France  any  active 
assistance  in  acquiring  it,  and  at  most 
would  passively  tolerate   the  proceeding. 

But  to  give  timely  intimation  to  friend 
and  foe  that  war  would  find  Germany 
united,  Bismarck  published  on  March  19th, 
1867,  the  offensive  and  defensive  alliances 
which  Prussia  had  concluded  in  August, 
1866,  with  Bavaria,  Wiirtemberg,  and 
Baden,  and  which  were  joined 
Germany  ^^^^  ^  Hesse-D armstadt 
Ready  for       ^^   ^      -^    ^^^j      ^g^  j^^^^ 

Emergencies        .    ,^  i.   i_v   1     j     v. 

points    were    established    by 

these  treaties,  (i)  North  and  South  Ger- 
many supported  each  other  in  case  of  war 
with  their  entire  military  force  ;  (2)  this 
force  stood  under  the  single  and  supreme 
command  of  the  King  of  Prussia  ;  (3)  all 
the  states  guaranteed  to  each  other  the 
integrity  of    their    respective    territories. 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Napoleon,  indeed,  persuaded  King 
William  III.  of  the  Netherlands  to  con- 
clude a  treaty,  in  virtue  of  which  the 
latter  ceded  to  the  emperor  his  right 
to  Luxemburg,  in  return  for  a  compen- 
sation of  ;^20o,ooo  ;  but  the  king,  who 
very  reluctantly  surrendered  Luxem- 
burg, insisted  on  Prussia's  formal  assent 
,,-   to  the  treaty,  and,  as  already 

Napoleon  III.  ,•  j      .1  •  . 

p.        ^  mentioned,   this   assent  was 

ives      ay       ^^^  forthcoming  ;  the  whole 
to  Germany.  ,.  c?  '         . 

nation      was     unanimously 

resolved  to  prevent  at  all  hazards 
the  smallest  encroachment  on  German 
territory,  even  on  territory  which  was 
only  connected  with  the  body  of  the  nation 
by  the  bond  of  the  Zollverein,  as  had 
been  the  case  with  Luxemburg  after  the 
dissolution  of  the  German  Confederation. 

Napoleon,  whose  military  resources  were 
not  ready  for  a  collision  with  Germany, 
finally  recoiled  before  this  determined 
opposition,  and  all  the  more  so  because 
Austria,  where,  since  October  30th,  1866, 
the  Saxon  Baron  von  Beust  presided  at 
the  Foreign  Office,  was  not  induced,  even 
by  the  offer  of  Silesia,  to  form  an  armed 
alliance  against  Prussia.  Austria  had 
felt,  too  recently  and  too  acutely,  the 
military  superiority  of  Prussia  to  venture 
on  a  new  war,  especially  one  against  the 
entire  German  nation. 

On  the  proposal  of  the  Tsar  Alexander 
IL  a  conference  of  all  the  Great  Powers 
was  summoned  at  London,  and  this  decided 
that  Luxemburg  should  be  left  to  the 
house  of  Nassau-Orange,  but  be  declared 
neutral.  Prussia  accordingly  had  to 
withdraw  her  garrison  from  the  former 
federal  fortress,  Luxemburg,  and  to 
allow  the  destruction  of  its  fortifications. 
But  Luxemburg  remained  in  the  Zoll- 
verein as  before.  The  inglorious  termina- 
tion of  a  matter  far  from  glorious  in  itself 
was  very  detrimental  to  Napoleon's  repu- 
tation ;  the  victories  of  Prussia  and  the 
formation  of  the  North  German  Confedera- 
,  tion,  just  as  the  creation  of 
Severe  ^  *^^  Kingdom  of  Italy  some -few 
Defeats  Y^^rs  before,  were  reckoned 
by  all  supporters  of  the 
doctrine  of  France's  natural  and  "legiti- 
mate "  hegemony  in  Europe  as  severe 
defeats  to  France.  "  Now,"  exclaimed 
Thiers,  half  in  menace,  half  in  warning, 
before  the  Chamber  in  March,  1867,  "  no 
further  blunders  may  be  committed." 
The  emperor  felt  himself  deeply  in- 
jured that  Prussia  had  refused  the  enlarge- 

5086 


ment  of  France,  which  he  so  ardently 
desired.  "  Bismarck  has  attempted  to 
deceive  me,"  he  afterwards  said  to 
Heinrich  von  Sybel,  "  but  an  emperor  of 
France  may  not  let  himself  be  deceived." 
Even  the  Catholic  party  was  indignant 
with  him,  because  he  had  allowed  the 
revolution  a  free  hand  and  had  left  the 
Pope  to  be  despoiled.  The  Republican 
opposition  completely  outdid  itself  in 
most  venomous  attacks  on  the  emperor, 
of  which  Victor  Hugo  and  A.  Rogeard 
made  themselves  the  mouthpieces. 

And  now,  to  crown  all,  there  came  the 
crash  of  the  Mexican  expedition.  The 
emperor  gave  way  before  the  threat  of  the 
United  States  that  they  would  treat  the 
continued  presence  of  a  French  army  on 
American  soil  as  a  casus  belli.  The  des- 
perate entreaties  of  the  empress,  Charlotte, 
who  came  to  Europe  in  July,  1866,  to 
plead  her  husband's  cause,  were  useless  ; 
when  she  realised  her  position,  her  reason 
gave  way.  Between  the  end  of  January 
and  the  middle  of  March,  1867,  the  French 
troops  withdrew  from  Mexico,  and  Maxi- 
milian, who  was  too  proud  to  desert  his 
_  followers  in  the  hour  of  danger, 

w^th/^^*^       and  still  hoped  to  strengthen 

„  \.  .  the  fading  influence  of  his 
From  Mexjco  ,       ■,       ^■^         ^ 

party  by  liberal  concessions, 

was  taken  prisoner  at  Queretaro,  together 

with  Generals  Miguel  Miramon  and  Tomas 

Mejia,    brought    before    a    court-martial, 

and  shot  as  a  rebel,  on  June  19th,  1867. 

In  order  to  conciliate  French  public 
opinion.  Napoleon  determined  upon  liberal 
measures  which  ran  counter  to  the  despotic 
traditions  of  the  Second  Empire.  He 
granted  to  the  senate  and  the  legislative 
body  in  J  anuary ,  1867,  the  right  to  interpel- 
late the  Government,  and  gave  permission 
that  not  merely  the  "  Minister  of  State  " — 
that  is,  the  hitherto  all  powerful  Premier — 
but  every  Minister  might  present  the  case 
for  his  policy  before  the  Chamber,  but  only 
under  "  instructions  from  the  emperor." 

This  concession  was  regarded,  how- 
ever, as  a  fundamentally  important 
step,  by  which  the  emperor  wished  to 
introduce,  in  the  place  of  his  own  exclusive 
irresponsibility,  ministerial  responsibility ; 
that  is  to  say,  he  wished  to  pass 
from  a  despotic  to  a  constitutional,  or 
even  parliamentary,  method  of  govern- 
ment. That  was  not,  indeed.  Napoleon's 
intention  ;  but  one  step  leads  to  another, 
and  the  emperor's  failing  health  made  it 
more    and    more    incumbent    on    him    to 


THE    PRUSSIAN    ASCENDANCY 


relieve  himself  of  the  business  of  govern- 
ment. The  politicians,  who  thought  they 
must  contest  a  change  of  system  on 
political  or  personal  grounds,  now  com- 
l3ined  into  a  reactionary  club  under  the 
name  of  the  "  Cercle  de  la  rue  de  1' Arcade." 
The  intellectual  leader  of  these  "  Arcad- 
ians "  was  the  "  Vice-Emperor,"  the 
Minister  of  State,  Rouher,  while  the 
liberalising  party,  le  Tiers  parti,  which 
grew  up  in  1866  between  the  "Arcadians" 
and  the  Republicans,  was  led  by  the 
former  Repubhcan,  but  now  "  freethinking 
Imperialist,"  Emil  OUivier,  a  talented 
but  ambitious  and  weak  character. 

The  Paris  International  Exhibtion 
of  the  summer  of  1867  shed  a  transitory 
brilliance  over  France  and  the  emperor ; 
but  the  murderous  attempt  of  a  Pole, 
Anton  Bereszowski,  on  the  life  of  the 
Tsar  Alexander  II.  on  June  6th,  struck 
a  discordant  note  in  the  midst  of  the 
festivities,  and  comments  were  made  on 
the  absence  of  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph, 
who  was  in  mourning  for  his  brother 
Maximilian,  the  victim  of  Napoleon's  bad 
faith,   and  kept  away  from    the    French 

^  .  „  capital.  Napoleon  and  his 
Friendly  i.      j.i         x  •  j 

„     .    '        consort    therefore    journeyed, 
ze.  mg  o    ^^  August,    1867,  to  Salzburg 
Emperors       ,  °  -u    •  .1        ^ 

to  express  their  sympathy  to 

Francis  Joseph  ;  they  stayed  there  from 
August  i8th  to  the  23rd,  and  although 
Napoleon  had  only  come  accompanied 
by  General  Fleury,  yet  through  him  and 
Beust  a  better  understanding  was  brought 
about  between  the  two  empires — o.  step 
which  was  universally  regarded  in  Ger- 
many as  aimed  at  Prussia.  But  although 
the  two  parties  had  merely  agreed  that 
Prussia  should  be  prevented  from  crossing 
the  Main,  and  Russia  from  crossing  the 
Pruth,  yet  now  two  camps  were  formed 
in  Europe  :  Prussia  and  Russia  stood  in 
the  one,  Austria  and  France  in  the  other. 
Francis  Joseph  paid  his  return  visit  to 
Paris  on  October  23rd.  On  his  way  he  had 
exchanged  a  "flying  and  formal"  greeting 
with  the  King  of  Prussia,  at  the  latter's 
wish,  in  Oos  ;  but  he  said  to  General 
Ducrot  in  Strassburg :  "I  hope  that  we 
shall  some  day  march  side  by  side." 

The  Treaty  of  Prague,  according  to  the 
French  conception  of  it,  implied  that 
Prussia  by  its  terms  was  restricted  to 
North  Germany,  and  might  not  venture 
to  form  any  union  with  the  South  German 
states,  unless  the  assent  of  every  Power 
participating  in  the  treaty  was  obtained. 


France    reckoned    herself    one    of    these 

Powers,  because   she   had   intervened   in 

July,  1866  ;    but  she  had  not  signed  the 

treaty — indeed,  she  could  not  have  been 

allowed  to  do  so,  since  she  had  taken  no 

share  in  the  war — and  therefore  possessed 

properly    no    right    to    superintend  the 

execution  of  the  treaty.   Bismarck  adhered 

„.      ..     ^.       strictly  to  the  principle  that 
The  Abortive     a       ^   ■       1  ^■^^     ^  j. 

„      .  Austria  alone  was  entitled  to 

^     ,  .      ..      take  any  action  in  this  matter. 

Confederation  ,      ,   , ,    -1  .       j.  ■  ■    ■,  1 

but  that  even  Austria  might 

not  raise  any  objections  if  all  the  states 

of    the   South,  combined    into    a    union, 

wished  to  form  a  national  bond  with  the 

North.      The   only   doubtful    point    was 

whether  any  single  state  was  competent 

to  join  the  North  German  Confederation. 

But  it  very  soon  became  clear  that 
the  "  Southern  Confederation,"  planned 
at  Prague  in  1866,  would  not  come  to 
pass.  Bavaria,  as  by  far  the  largest 
state,  would  naturally  have  obtained  the 
predominant  position  ;  but  King  Charles 
of  Wiirtemberg  was  still  less  willing  to 
acknowledge  the  superiority  of  King 
Lewis  II.  than  that  of  the  King  of  Prussia. 
The  Grand  Duke  Frederic  of  Baden,  son- 
in-law  of  the  King  of  Prussia,  a  liberal  and 
patriotic  prince,  was  resolved  to  enter  the 
North  German  Confederation  at  the  next 
opportunity,  and  his  views  were  shared 
by  the  majority  of  his  subjects.  His 
Ministers,  Karl  Mathy  and  Rudolph  von 
Freydorf,  were  staunch  German  patriots 
like  himself.  Mathy  had  written  to  Bis- 
marck on  November  i8th,  1867,  asking 
for  Baden's  entrance  into  the  Federation, 
but  was  put  off  with  hopes  for  the  future, 
and  died  before  attaining  his  object, 
on  February  4th,  1868. 

In  spite  of  all  democratic  and  ultra- 
montane opposition,  the  South  and  North 
were  drawing  closer  to  each  other. 
Agreeably  to  the  spirit  of  the  treaties,  all 
the  states  south  of  the  Main  introduced  in 
1868  universal  conscription  and  armed  their 

^         .  ^.  infantry  with  the  Prussian 

Conscription  n  • 

.  needle-gun;  inconsequence 

iT    ^^       c.  ^      of  this  they  obtained  Prus- 
Southern  States  ■      ,    -'    ,  j.         ,,     • 

sian  instructors  for  then- 
troops,  and  Hesse-Darmstadt  concluded,  in 
April,  1867,  a  military  treaty  with  Prussia, 
by  the  terms  of  which  its  troops  were  com- 
pletely incorporated  into  the  army  of  the 
North  German  Confederation.  The  royal 
Saxon  army,  however,  by  virtue  of  the 
convention  of  February  7th,  1867,  con- 
stituted    from    July     ist    onwards    the 

5087 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Organising 
&  United 
German  Army 


Twelfth  North  German  Army  Corps, 
under  its  own  administration.  In  Wiir- 
temberg  the  new  War  Minister,  Rudolf 
von  Wagner,  proceeded  to  reform  the 
army  on  the  Prussian  model ;  and  the 
example  was  followed  in  Bavaria,  despite 
the  particularism  of  that  kingdom  by  the 
War  Minister,  Sigmund  von  Prankh.  The 
preparation  for  a  united  Ger- 
man army  proceeded  without 
interruption.  The  treaty  of 
federation  with  Prussia  was 
accepted  by  the  Chambers  in  the  autumn 
of  1867,  in  Baden  without  any  struggle, 
but  in  Wiirtemberg  after  violent  parlia- 
mentary disputes,  although  the  democratic 
party  of  Wiirtemberg  foretold  that  the 
new  policy  of  "  militarism  "  would  impose 
an  intolerable  burden  on  the  people  with- 
out securing  them  against  Fra;nce.  The 
treaty,  according  to  the 
Bavarian  constitution,  did 
not  require  the  approval  of 
the  estates.  Owing  to  this 
union  of  all  German  races  in 
a  common  system  of  defence 
with  such  safeguards,  the 
Zollverein,  which  had  been 
renounced  by  Prussia,  was 
once  more  established  on  a 
new  basis.  First  of  all,  the 
so-called  liberum  veto  of  each 
particular  state — 'the  right  to 
repudiate  any  resolution  of 
the  majority  as  not  legally 
binding    on    the   non-as§ent 


loss  from  the  free-trade  principles  pre- 
vailing in  Prussia,  but  also  disliked  the 
customs  union  with  the  North  as  a  pre- 
liminary step  to  political  amalgamation. 
Yet  the  interests  of  trades  and  industries, 
which  obviously  could  not  exist  without 
the  Zollverein,  were  so  important  that  in 
the  Bavarian  Representative  Chamber,  on 
October  22nd,  1867,  117  votes  against  17, 
and  on  the  31st,  in  the  Wiirtemberg 
Chamber,  y^  against  16,  were  given  for 
the  customs  union. 

The  First  Chamber  in  Bavaria,  that  of 
the  Imperial  Councillors,  made  a  futile 
attempt  to  preserve  the  Bavarian  "  liberum 
veto "  ;  but  as  Bismarck  declared  that 
he  would  sooner  renounce  the  customs 
treaty  itself  than  allow  this  limitation  on 
it,  the  Chamber  gave  way.  Hungary,  after 
the  suppression  of  the  Hungarian  rebellion 
of  the  year  1849,  was  de- 
prived of  independence,  and 
was,  as  far  as  possible,  reduced 
to  the  constitutional  status  of 
a  crown  demesne,  which  in 
the  last  resort  was  governed 
from  Vienna.  The  proud 
Magyar  people  had  not  re- 
signed itself  in  silence  to  this 
lot,  but  continuously  de- 
manded the  restoration  of  its 
independence.  It  absolutely 
refused  to  send  representatives 
to  the  Reichsrat  in  Vienna, 
the  central  Parliament  of  the 


FRANCIS    DEAK 

A  Hungarian  politician  prominent  ,                   ^      i  i        j  i 

in  his  country's  struggles  for  mouarchy  Created  by  the  con- 
ing state — was  abolished ;  in  liberty,  he  led  the  movement  stitutiou  of  February  26th, 
its  place  was  introduced  the  against  the  sending  of  represen-  jg(^j^  jj^g  leader  of  the 
principle  that  resolutions  tatives  to  the  Reichsrat  in  Vienna.  Qpposition  was  Francis  Deak, 
passed  by  the  majority  were  binding    on      1803-1876,  originally  a  lawyer  and  judicial 


the  minority.  The  work  of  legislating  for 
the  Zollverein  was  to  be  carried  out 
by  the  Federal  Council  and  Reichstag 
according  to  this  principle. 

Besides  matters  connected  with  customs, 
the  taxation  of  the  salt  obtained  within 
the  Zollverein,  and  of  the  tobacco 
produced  or  imported  into  the  Zollverein, 
fell  within  the  competence  of  the  Reichs- 
tag, sitting  as  the  Customs  Parliament. 
•The  duration  of  the  customs  treaty  was 
once  more  fixed  for  twelve  years,  with  the 
proviso  that,  if  notice  was  not  given,  it 
would  continue  as  a  matter  of  course  for 
another  twelve  years. 

These  treaties  also  met  with  opposi- 
tion in  Wiirtemberg  and  Bavaria  from 
the  protectionists  and  the  particularists, 
who    not     only    feared    heavy    economic 

5088 


assessor  in  his  own  county  of  Szala.  He 
had  been  Minister  of  Justice  in  1848,  and 
became  later  a  parliamentary  politician 
by  profession  ;  he  was  a  man  of  shrewd- 
ness, determination,  and  integrity,  of 
temperate  views,  resolute  in  advocating 
the  rights  of  his  people  and  yet  unwilling  to 
interfere  with  the  undoubted 
rights  of  the  Crown.  He  was 
opposed  to  the  feudal  abuse 
of  serf  labour  no  less  than 
to  the  communist  views  rife  among  the 
Hungarian  peasantry,  whose  supporters 
would  have  most  gladly  divided  the 
property  of  the  nobles  among  themselves. 
Some  rei:)utation  was  also  enjoyed  by 
Count  Juhus  Andrassy,  whose  inclinations 
led  him  into  the  region  of  foreign  policy. 
The  defeat  of  Austria  in  the  year   1859 


Leaders 

in  Hungarian 

Movements 


THE    PRUSSIAN    ASCENDANCY 


broke  the  ice  both  in  the  western  and 
eastern  half  of  the  Empire.  Schmerhng, 
the  creator  of  the  February  constitution, 
consented  in  April,  1861,  to  summon  once 
more  the  Hungarian  Landtag,  which  had 
been  dissolved  in  1849.  But  since  Deak 
demanded  a  return  to  the  state  of  things 
which  had  existed  before 
1848,  no  understanding  was 
reached,  and  in  the  year  1866 
General  Klapka,  with  Bis- 
marck's support,  organised  a 
"  Hungarian  legion  "  to  fight 
on  the  side  of  Prussia  against 
the  House  of  Hapsburg- 
Lorraine.  The  defeat  of  1866 
convinced  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph  that  a  recon- 
ciliation with  Hungary  was 
absolutely  essential  if  Austria 
was  not  to  be  completely 
crippled  by  internal  feuds  and 
prevented   from    maintaining 


prejudice  and  distrust  against  him.  When 
he  had  already  declared  to  the  reassembled 
Hungarian  Reichstag  on  November  19th, 
1866,  his  willingness  to  conform  with  the 
wishes  of  the  nation,  having  been  nomi- 
nated on  February  7th,  1867,  Prime 
Minister  of  Austria  in  place  of  Count 
Belcredi,  he  succeeded  in 
obtaining  the  imperial  decrees 
of  February,  1867.  According 
to  these,  Hungary  recovered 
its  independence,  receiving  a 
responsible  Ministry  of  its 
own  under  Andrassy.  Croatia, 
the  military  frontier,  and 
Transylvania  were  united 
with  it  ;  the  "  Court  Chan- 
cery," which  existed  for 
Hungary  and  Transylvania  in 
Vienna,  as  well  as  the  office  of 
Hungarian  Viceroy,  were 
abolished  from  the  moment 
the   new    Ministry  began  its 


its  already  tottering  position  ^^Ts^ "^l^he  feXtfoL' y  official  activity,   The  western 

as  a  Great  Power.         In  the   movement  of  ]S4s  he  was  exUed  halt  01  the  empire,  tor  which, 

East,"    said    Andrassy,    "  no   '^Z  "ul^fry^^  [iS^hrbecaml  unofficially,   the    name    Cis- 

power  is  less  important  than  Prime  Minister  ten  years  later.   Leithauia,    or    the    country 

Austria,  and  yet  it  ought,  in  the  interests 

of   civilisation,    to    have    great    influence 

there."     The  Germans  in  Austria  came  to 

the  help  of  the  Magyars  when  they  declared 

at  a  meeting  in  Aussee  on  September  loth, 

1866  :   "  Dualism,  but  not  Federalism!  no 

joint    monarchy,    still   less   a 

mere     Federation,    but    two 

halves  of  the  empire,  compact 

in     themselves    and    closely 

united    together    against    the 

outside  world." 

The  new  Foreign  Minister, 
Friedrich    Ferdinand,    Baroc 
Beust,     1809-1866,     an     ex- 
cessively energetic  statesman, 
whose    pride    did    not   blind 
him  to  the  needs  of  the  time, 
worked  towards  the  same  end. 
He  wished  to  restore  Austria 
to  its  old  position  by  settling 
the  dissensions  and  by  modern 
legislation,  and  to   leave    its 
forces  free  for  a  strong  foreign 
policy,  which  might  limit  the 
encroachments    of    Prussia    and    Russia. 
The    circumstance    that    Beust    was     a 
foreigner  and  a  Protestant  enabled  him 
to  act  with  greater  impartiality  towards 
the    affairs    of    Austria    than    a    native 
statesman    engaged    in    party    struggles 
could  usually  manifest,  but  it  roused  much 


west  of  the  border-river  Leitha,  was  soon 
adopted,  naturally  also  received  its 
special  government. 

It  was  proposed  that  foreign  policy,  the 
army — the  German  language  to  be  used 
for  words  of  command — the  excise,  and 
the  national  debt  should  be 
regarded  as  joint  concerns  of 
the  "  Austrian  -  Hungarian 
monarchy,"  as  the  official 
title  ran.  According  to  this 
agreement  three  imperial 
Ministers  were  created  for 
foreign  affairs,  the  army,  and 
the  finances.  The  imperial 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs 
was  to  preside  in  the  imperial 
Ministry  and  bear  the  title 
of  Imperial  Chancellor,  this 
office  being  conferred  on 
BARON   BEUST  Barou  Beust,  as  the  promoter 

To  this    Austrian   statesman    be-    of        the        COIliprOmlSe      With 

longs   the  credit  of  reconciling  Hungary.      The    imperial 
Hungary  to  Austria.    Born  at   Ministers     wcre    responsible 

Dresden   in  1S09,  he  died  in   ISSti.     j.  jv,  „    ii„j       Tv^l 

to  the  so-called  Delega- 
tions for  their  measures  ;  these  Delega- 
tions were  bodies  of  thirty-six  deputies 
each,  which  were  elected  by  the  Parlia- 
ments of  the  two  halves  of  the  kingdom, 
on  a  fixed  proportion  to  the  First  and 
Second  Chambers,  and  met  alternately  at 
Vienna  and  Pesth.      They  discussed  the 

5089 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Coronation 
of  Francis 
Joseph 


governmental  proposals  separately  and  in- 
dependently ;  valid  resolutions  could  there- 
fore only  come  into  force  by  the  agreement 
of  the  Delegations.  The  share  of  Hungary 
in  the  joint  expenditure  was  fixed  in  1867 
at  thirty  per  cent.,  that  of  Austria  at 
seventy  per  cent.  The  Compromise,  and 
also  the  Customs  and  Commerce 
Treaty  of  the  two  halves  of  the 
empire  were  to  be  valid  for 
ten  years.  On  June  8th,  1867, 
the  solemn  coronation  of  Francis  Joseph 
and  his  consort  Elizabeth  took  place. 
The  Magyars  felt  themselves  victors  and 
masters  in  their  own  country.  The 
Roumanians  and  the  Saxons  in  Transyl- 
vania were  destined  soon  to  feel  the  heavy 
hand  of  the  ruling  people, 
which  wished  by  concilia- 
tion or  by  force  to  make 
Magyars  of  the  whole 
population  of  Hungary. 
The  Croats,  on  the  other 
hand,  who  formed  a 
compact  nation  of  two 
millions,  and  were  in- 
veterate enemies  of  the 
Hungarians,  received 
from  the  Hungarians  on 
June  2ist,  1868,  the  con- 
cession that  a  special 
Croat  Minister  should  sit 
in  the  Ministry  at  Pesth, 
and  that  forty-five  per 
cent,  of  the  revenues  of 
the  country  should  re- 
main reserved  for  the 
country  itself.  Accord- 
ingly, on  December  29th, 
1868,  the  twenty-nine 
Croat  deputies  appeared 
in  the  Hungarian  Reichs- 
tag, from  which  they 
had  been  absent  for  fully  twenty  j^ears. 
The  disputes  between  parties  and 
nationalities  in  Austria  were  strained  to 
the  utmost.  The  Germans  defended  the 
centralised  constitution  of  February  25th, 
1861,  and  with  it  the  predominance  of 
their  race,  for  which  they  claimed  superi- 
ority to  other  nationalities  in  intellectual 
gifts  and  achievements  :  politically,  the 
majority  of  them  were  Liberals.  The 
Slavs,  on  the  other  hand,  but.  above  all, 
the  Czechs,  were  for  a  form  of  Federalism, 
which  would  guarantee  more  liberty  of 
action  to  the  several  crown  lands  ;  and 
the  Feudals  and  Clericals  supported  the 
same  view.     But  Beust  induced  the  Poles 


by  concessions  at  the  cost  of  the  Galician 
Ruthenians.  who  compose  43  per  cent,  of 
the  7,000,000  of  Galician  population,  and 
of  the  other  crown  lands,  to  take  their 
seats  in  the  Reichsrat  ;  and  he  also  suc- 
ceeded in  procuring  a  German  majority  in 
the  Landtags  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia. 
Thus,  on  May  22nd,  1867,  the  regular 
"  inner  "  Reichsrat,  composed  of  deputies 
of  the  several  Landtags,  could  be  opened  ; 
but  the  Czechs  refused  to  sit  in  it. 

The  Ministry  of  Beust,  in  conformity  with 
the  universal  change  in  opinion,  piloted 
through  the  two  Houses  of  the  Reichsrat  a 
series  of  laws  during  the  course  of  the 
year  1867  which  received  the  force  of 
statutes  by  the  imperial  sanction  given  on 
December  21st,  1867.  By 
this  means,  Austria,  once 
the  promised  land  of  des- 
potism, was  changed  into 
a  modern  constitutional 
state.  Thus  ministerial 
responsibility  was  intro- 
duced, and  a  state  court 
of  twenty-five  members 
was  created  for  the  trial 
of  impeached  Ministers  ; 
equality  of  all  citizens  in 
the  eyes  of  the  law,  equal 
eligibihty  to  all  offices, 
freedom  of  migration, 
liberty  of  the  Press  and 
of  association,  liberty  of 
conscience  and  religion, 
the  inviolabihty  of  private 
houses,  and  the  secrecy  of 
letters,  freedom  of  re- 
ligion, freedom  of  educa- 
tion, the  separation  of  the 


FRANCIS    JOSEPH     OF     AUSTRIA 
Born  in  1830,  he  became  Emperor  of  Austria 

in  IS-IS,  on  the  death  of  his  uncle,  Ferdinand  I.,  ...              .             r    ■       j.- 

and   on   June  Sth,   1807,   on  the  formation  of  admUUStratlOn    Ot    JUStlCC 

an  Austro-Hungarian  State,  he  was  crowned  from   the   government,    in 

at  Pest   with    the    crown    of   St.    Stephen.  sllOlt,  all  the  blessings  of  a 

modern  state,  were  bestowed  at  one  blow 

on  a  people  which  a  few   months   before 

had  been  governed  like  a  herd  of  cattle. 

The   House    of    Representatives   received 

the  right  of  electing  a  president,  the  right 

.  of  voting  taxes  and  recniits, 

angcs  m         ^^^  right  of  legislation  in  all 

the  Government  •  ^       .         r^  .l  j. 

important  matters ;  it  was  to 

be  summoned  annually,  and 
its  debates  were  to  be  public.  The  powers  of 
the  Landtags  were  proportionately  limited. 
These  achievements  were  accompanied 
by  a  law,  based  on  the  eleventh  article 
of  the  law  as  to  the  representation  of  the 
empire,  dealing  with  the  supervision  of 
the    primary      schools,    Volksschule,    by 


of  Austria 


5090 


THE  PRUSSIAN    ASCENDANCY 


which  local,  district,  and  national  school- 
boards  were  constituted,  and  to  all  three 
of  them  not  merely  representatives  of  the 
Church,  but  also  of  the  state  and  of  (Educa- 
tion, were  nominated.  The  Concordat 
of  the  year  1855  had  enslaved  educa- 
tion and  given  the  Church  full  power 
over  the  schools,  but,  by  one  of  the  few 
invariable  laws  of  history,  the  reaction 
was  only  the  more  violent. 

The  emperor,  in  a  letter  to  the  Arch- 
bishop  of   Vienna,    blamed   the    bishops 
because,     instead      of      being 
mperor       conciHatory,  they  had   roused 

Blames  the    ■    ,  •  •/  j      xu 

_.  .  mtense    animosity,    and    thus 

ops  rendered  the  task  of  the 
Government  more  arduous.  A  new 
Ministry,  with  the  especial  support  of 
Beust,  who  in  this  connection  assured  the 
papal  nuncio  that  according  to  his  con- 
viction the  Austrian  monarchy  and  the 
Catholic  Church  were  sisters,  carried  in  the 
Upper  House  in  March,  1868,  the  laws 
which  had  been  determined  upon  by  the 
Lower  House  in  1867.  By  these  laws  (i) 
civil  marriage  was  granted  in  the  case 
where  a  priest,  for  reasons  not  recognised 
by  the  state,  refused  to  put  up  the  banns 
of  an  engaged  couple  ;  (2)  the  supreme 
management  of  a  school,  with  exception 
of  the  religious  instruction,  was  reserved 
to  the  state,  and  the  post  of  teacher 
was  open  to  every  citizen  of  the  state 
without  distinction  of  denomination ; 
(3)  in  mixed  marriages  the  sons  were 
to  accept  the  religion  of  the  father, 
the  daughters  that  of  the  mother,  and 
every  citizen  should  have  the  right  to 
change  his  religion  on  completing  his 
fourteenth  year.     The  emperor  signed  the 


laws  on  May  25th,  1868.  But  when  Pius 
IX.,  on  June  22nd,  denounced  them  in  the 
most  bitter  terms  as  abominable,  abso- 
lutely null,  and  once  for  all  invalid,  the 
feud  between  Church  and  State  became 
most  acute..  The  Pope,  in  view  of  the 
legislation  directed  against  the  omnipo- 
tence of  the  Church,  felt  himself  only 
strengthened  in  his  long-cherished  in- 
tention of  claiming  doctrinal  infahibility 
for  the  papal  chair.  When,  however,  on 
July  i8th,  1870,  this  attribute  was  awarded 
him  by  the  Vatican  Council,  Austria  re- 
plied by  a  revocation  of  the  Concordat  on 
July  30th,  and  the  restoration  of  the 
"  placitum  regium  " — royal  consent — as 
an  essential  condition  for  the  validity  of 
any  papal  enactment  in  Austria. 

During  these  struggles  the  finances  of 
Austria  were  reorganised  by  a  somewhat 
violent  measure.  The  proposal  of  Ignaz 
Edlen  von  Plener,  Minister  of  Commerce, 
was  accepted  by  a  large  majority  in  the 
Lower  House  in  June,  1868  ;  by  this  the 
entire  public  debt  was  to  be  transformed 
into  one  unified  5  per  cent,  stock,  but  as 
the  interest  was  to  pay  a  tax  of  20  per 
cent.,  the  rate  of  interest  payable  by  the 
.  ,          state  was  in  fact  reduced  to  4 

Austria  s  ,        t-i 

.  per  cent,     ihe  army  was  re- 

n*^™^  ,  .organised  in  December,  1868, 
Re-organise'l      °  ,i       ,       •       r  1 

on  the  basis  of  universal  con- 
scription, and  the  war  strength  fixed  for 
ten  years  at  800,000  men.  The  Landwehr 
was  to  comprise  not  merely  the  older 
members  of  the  line  troops,  but  also  those 
persons  who,  though  available,  had  been 
rejected  as  superfluous,  and  had  thus 
not  enjoyed  any  thorough  training  in 
the  ranks. 


"  GERMANIA  ' 


THE    NATIONAL    P/IONUMENT    OF    THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR 

5091 


^O.ji 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 
CONSOLIDA- 
TION OF  THE 
POWERS 
IX 


THE    DECLINE    OF    NAPOLEON    IIL 

APPROACH   OF   THE    FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR 


nrHE  Roman  question  was  one  of  the 
*■  most  difficult  with  which  Napoleon  IIL 
had  to  deal.  The  emperor  had  withdrawn 
his  troops  from  Rome  in  September,  1864, 
after  the  Italian  Government  had  pledged 
itself  to  remove  the  seat  of  the  monarchy 
from  Turin  to  Florence,  which  promise 
implied  a  certain  abandonment  of  claim 
to  the  capital,  Rome,  and  neither  to 
attack  Rome  itself  nor  to  allow  it  to  be 
attacked  by  any  other  Power.  The  Ultra- 
montanes  in  France  were  beside  them- 
selves at  this  agreement  ;  they  saw  in  it 
the  withdrawal  of  French  protection  from 
the  still  existing  fragment  of  the  temporal 
power  of  the  Pope,  the  beginning,  there- 
fore, of  its  end  ;  and  if  they  regarded  this 
end  as  a  heavy  blow  to  the  Church,  the 
Chauvinist  party,  headed  by  Adolphe 
Thiers,  which  held  the  French  leadership 
in  Europe  to  be  part  of  the  order  of  the 
universe,  regarded  a  complete  victory  of 

„.     _        .     the  Italian  national  state  as 
The  French  1,1       i,-    j  . 

Ch     b         d  '^^   irrevocable    hmdrance  to 
.     p  that  leadership  on  the  south 

side  of  the  Alps,  just  as  the 
establishment  of  the  German  national  state 
seemed  to  be  the  end  of  that  predominance 
on  the  east  bank  of  the  Rhine. 

In  February,  1866,  the  French  Chamber 
under  these  two  influences  adopted  the  re- 
solution that  the  secular  sovereignty  of  the 
Pope  was  essential  for  his  spiritual  reputa- 
tion ;  and  after  thereversion  of  Venice  to 
Italy  Ultramontane  attacks  were  showered 
upon  Liberal  conceptions  in  general  and 
Italy  in  particular.  The  Radical  Minister 
of  Public  Instruction,  Victor  Duruy,  who 
brought  the  Orders  which  concerned  them- 
selves with  education  under  the  common 
law,  claimed  for  the  state  the  education  of 
girls,  and  founded  national  libraries  of  a 
Liberal  character  ;  but  he  had  to  guard 
against  the  pronounced  hostility  of  the 
Clericals,  and  could  not  prevent,  in  July, 
1867,  the  temporary  closure  of  the  ''  Ecole 
Normale,"  the  teachers'  training  institu- 
tion, in  which  Liberal  views  were  active. 


The  effect  of  these  occurrences  was,  on 
the  Italian  side,  that  the  democratic 
Minister  Rattazzi,  a  friend  to  the  French, 
hoped  for  a  revolution  in  Rome  itself,  in 
the  course  of  which  Victor  Emmanuel 
might  come  forward,  as  in  1859,  to  restore 
order.  If  his  troops  occupied  Rome  in 
this  way,  the  Roman  question  might  be 
y.  .      solved  very   simply,   without 

ic  ory  o  direct  violation  of  the  Septem- 
p  ,  .  ber  Treaty.  But  Garibaldi, 
overflowing  with  fiery  zeal, 
tore  in  pieces  this  delicate  web  of  statecraft 
by  entering  the  states  of  the  Church  in 
September,  1867,  at  the  hsad  of  a  band  of 
volunteers,  in  order  to  overthrow  the  Pope. 
When  Rattazzi,  on  being  required  by 
Napoleon  III.  to  take  counter  measures 
in  virtue  of  the  treaty,  preferred  to  tender 
his  resignation,  the  emperor  sent  an  army 
from  Toulon  to  Rome  under  Failly. 

This,  together  with  the  papal  soldiers 
under  General  Hermann  Kanzler,  overtook 
the  Garibaldians,  who  had  immediately 
begun  to  retreat  on  Monte  Rotondo,  near 
Mentana,  north-east  of  Rome,  and  dealt 
them  a  crushing  blow,  November  3rd.  "The 
chassepots  have  done  wonders,"  Failly 
wrote  to  the  king.  The  French  army  was 
now  compelled  to  remain  in  Rome,  since 
otherwise  the  rule  of  the  Pope  would  have 
immediately  collapsed.  A  part  of  Napo- 
leon's power  was  again  firmly  planted  in 
Italy,  the  indignation  of  all  opponents  of 
the  papacy  against  the  guardian  of  the 
Pope  was  once  again  unloosed,  and  the 
dislike  of  the  Italians  for  the 
^  apo  con  .  ^^^  ^^-^^  prevented  the  com- 
the  Ouardian      1    ,•  r     ,1     •  •. 

r  .t     n  pletion    of    their   unity    was 

of    the     Pope         ^  .  .       ^  1^1 

accentuated.  The  emperor 
vainly  tried  to  submit  the  Roman  question 
to  the  decision  of  a  European  congress, 
which  he  proposed  to  call  for  this  purpose. 
No  other  Great  Power  wished  to  burn  its 
fingers  in  this  difficult  afifair. 

Napoleon,  meantime,  conscious  that 
France,  from  the  military  point  of  view, 
was  far  behind  Prussia,  had  devised  all 

5093 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


sorts  of  plans  to  equalise  this  dispropor- 
tion. The  first  scheme,  which  really 
effected  some  result  and  went  to  the  root 
of  the  evil,  simply  aimed  at  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  universal  conscription  after  the 
Prussian  model ;  but  the  emperor  encoun- 
tered in  this  the  opposition,  both  of  his 
generals — who    for    the    most    part    were 

^,  „  ,.  ,  sufficiently  prejudiced  to  con- 
The  Radicals    •  ,  -^  ^     J.         , 

.  sider  a   professional   army  as 

w-i-f*"^"  more  efficient  than  a  national 
Militarism  ,       r    ,i  i-,-    ■ 

army — and  of  the  politicians, 

who,  partly  out  of  regard  for  the  popular 

dislike  of  universal  military  service,  partly 

on  political  grounds,  would  hear  nothing 

of  such  a  measure.     All  Radicals  shrank 

from    "  militarism  "    and   every   measure 

which  might  strengthen  the  monarchy. 

Thus  the  keen-sighted  and  energetic  War 
Minister,  Marshal  Niel,  was  forced  in  the 
end,  against  his  better  judgment,  to  be 
content  with  a  law  which  proclaimed,  in 
principle,  universal  military  service,  and 
fixed  its  duration  at  nine  years,  but,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  at  once  neutralised  this 
reform,  since  each  individual  had  the 
admitted  right  to  buy  himself  off  from 
service  in  the  line.  Only  the  duty  of 
forming  part  of  the  militia,  or  "  garde 
mobile,"  was  incumbent  on  everyone. 
But,  from  considerations  of  economy,  this 
"  garde  mobile  "  was  allowed  to  exist  on 
paper  only,  without  any  attempt  to  call 
it  into  existence  beyond  the  form  of 
nominating  the  officers  ;  the  men  were 
not  organised  or  even  called  out  for 
training.  It  thus  happened  that  the  North 
German  Confederation,  with  30,000,000 
souls  and  an  annual  levy  of  90,000,  could 
put  an  army  of  540,000  into  the  field,  but 
France,  with  36,000,000  inhabitants, 
I'aised  only  330,000  men. 

In  armament,  however,  the  French  infan- 
try enjoyed  a  considerable  advantage,  since 
it  was  equipped  with  the  Chassepot  rifle, 
which  had  a  range  of  i  ,200  paces,  compared 
with  which  the  needle-gun,  with  a  range  of 
400  paces  only,  became  at  long 
-,t*  .^        ,  distances  as  useless  as  a  stick  ; 

*  ^l  in  addition  to  this,  the  French 

Warfare  .  .       x, 

weapon    was    superior    to   the 

German  by  reason  of  a  smaller  bore,  a 
better  breech,  and  its  handiness.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  North  German  artillery, 
whose  shells  only  burst  on  striking,  was 
superior  to  the  French,  whose  missiles 
burst  after  a  certain  time,  often  difficult 
to  calculate  exactly,  and  sometimes  ex- 
ploded in  the  air   before  reaching   their 

5094 


mark.  The  mitrailleuse,  on  which  the 
French  founded  great  hopes,  proved  itself 
in  1870  to  be  by  no  means  a  serviceable 
weapon,  and  it  was  not  considered  neces- 
sary on  the  German  side  to  adopt  it. 

The  necessity  of  again  finding  stronger 
support  in  the  nation  suggested  to  the 
emperor  in  January,  1869,  the  plan  of 
securing  the  purchase  and  management 
by  the  French  Eastern  Railway  of  the 
Belgian  private  railways  to  Brussels  and 
Rotterdam.  In  this  way  Belgium  would 
become,  first  economically,  and  subse- 
quently politically,  dependent  on  France. 
But  the  Belgian  Liberal  government  of 
Frere-Orban  refused  assent  to  the  treaty 
for  sale  ;  and  since  in  this  question  they 
were  backed  by  their  otherwise  deadly 
enemies,  the  Ultramontane  party,  this 
attempt  also  of  the  emperor  to  restore 
his  prestige  proved  a  failure. 

Although  Prussia  had  entirely  kept 
away  from  any  share  in  the  whole  matter, 
she  was  accused  by  several  French  papers 
of  having  instigated  the  Belgian  Govern- 
ment to  opposition.  Even  the  treaty  with 
Baden,  by  which  Badeners  were  allowed 
to  pass  their  terms  of  military 
service  in  Prussia,  and  Prus- 
sians in  Baden,  could  not  suc- 
cessfully be  represented  as  an 
infringement  of  the  Treaty  of  Prague. 
Nevertheless,  France,  Austria,  and  Italy, 
since  the  summer  of  1868,  had  vigorously 
prosecuted  the  negotiations  for  a  triple 
alliance  directed  against  Prussia.  But 
Beust  was  restrained  by  several  considera- 
tions —  the  embarrassed  condition  of 
Austrian  finances,  the  incompleteness  of 
the  army  reform,  the  many  difficulties  of 
the  domestic  situation,  the  reluctance  of 
10,000,000  Germans  in  Austria  to  make 
war  on  their  compatriots,  the  aversion  of 
Hungary  to  every  project  for  restoring  the 
Austrian  predominance  in  Germany. 

He  saw  himself  quite  unable  to  undertake 
a  war  immediately,  however  much  a  war 
might  have  suited  his  inveterate  hatred  of 
Prussia.  Such  a  war,  according  to  his 
view,  ought  to  arise  from  a  non-German 
cause,  some  collision  of  Austria  and 
Russia  in  the  East,  when  Prussia  Would  go 
over  to  the  Russian  side,  and  thus  any 
appearance  •  of  the  war  being  waged 
against  German  union  would  be  avoided ; 
otherwise,  war  was  the  best  method  of 
effecting  an  immediate  reconciliation  be- 
tween North  and  South.  A  war  against 
German  unity    was  unacceptable  to  the 


Austria's 

Embarrassed 

Finances 


THE    DECLINE    OF    NAPOLEON    IIL 


Italians  also,  since  in  all  probability  it 
would  have  been  followed  by  a  war  against 
their  own  unity,  and  this  they  did  not  wish 
to  see  destroyed,  but  completed ;  and 
probably  a  portion  of  the  Conservative 
party  would  only  have  been  induced  to 
fight  against  Prussia  by  the  surrender  of 
Rome.  But  the  emperor,  who  did  not 
venture  to  inflict  a  further  wound  upon 
the  susceptibilities  of  his  Catholic  subjects, 
could  not  in  any  case  fulfil  this  condition ; 
and  the  majority  of  the  Italians  stood  on 
the  side  of  the  Ministers,  who  declared  to 
King  Victor  Emmanuel  in  July,  1869,  that 
they  could  not  be  parties  to  obliterating 
the  events  of  the  year  1866. 

Light  is  thrown  on  the  situation  by  the 
anxiety  of  Beust  lest  Napoleon  should  not 
be  playing  an  honourable  game,  but  in  the 
last  instance,  if  Prussia,  intimidated  by  the 
Triple  Alliance,  was  inclined  to  concessions, 
should  make  an  agreement 
with  Prussia  at  the  cost  of 
Austria.  Since  the  negotia- 
tions thus  met  insuperable 
difficulties  everywhere,  their 
continuance  was,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1869,  indefinitely  post- 
poned, to  use  Napoleon's 
words  to  Francis  Joseph.  No 
terms,  according  to  Beust's 
statements,  had  yet  been 
signed,  but  a  verbal  agree- 
ment had  been  made  on  three 
points  :  (i)  That  the  aim  of 
the  alliance,  if 
concluded,  should  be  protec 


he 


VICTOR     DURUY 
ever    it    was    Historian    and     educationist, 

became  Ministerof  Public  Instruc- 
tion in  France,  and  did  much  for 

tion  and  peace;    (2)  that  the  ^Ij^  ^o'u'nXroTn^ti^ninfe^^^^   personal  rule  on  one  side,  and 

From  a  photograph 


majority  against  the  followers  of  Rouher. 
Napoleon  III.  need  not  have  regarded  the 
result  of  the  elections  as  a  sign  of  popular 
hostility  to  himself ;  even  the  Third 
party  was  imperialist.  But  the  result 
was  bound  to  endanger  his  position  if  he 
declared  his  agreement  with  Rouher  and 
the  "Arcadians."  He  therefore  veered 
"Tsif  round,  dissolved  the  "  National 

MinUry"  Ministry"  on  July  17th— 
r».  ,  .  Rouher  was  compensated  by 
the  presidency  m  the  Senate, 
which,  on  August  2nd,  in  a  solemn  session, 
accepted  the  scheme  of  reform  settled  by 
the  Cabinet — and  submitted  on  September 
6th,  1869,  comprehensive  constitutional 
reforms  to  the  approval  of  the  Senate. 
By  these,  the  legislative  body  acquired 
the  rights  of  electing  all  its  officials,  of 
initiating  legislation,  of  demanding  in- 
quiries, and  of  appropriating  the  supplies 
which  it  voted  to  specific 
branches  of  the  public  service. 
Although  the  constitutional 
responsibility  of  the  emperor 
himself  was  not  given  up,  yet 
the  principle  of  ministerial 
responsibility  was  introduced, 
and  provision  made  for  the 
impeachment  of  Ministers 
before  the  Senate.  The  em- 
peror himself,  when  speaking 
to  the  Italian  ambassador, 
Constantin  Nigra,  character- 
ised the  scope  of  these 
reforms  as  follows  :  "I  had 
the  choice  between  war  and 


parties  should  support  each 
other  in  all  negotiations  between  the 
Great  Powers  ;  and  (3)  that  Austria,  in  a 
war  between  France  and  Prussia  should 
remain  at  least  neutral. 

At  the  moment  when  these  negotiations 
had  come  to  a  standstill  a  great  change 
had  taken  place  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
France.  At  the  new  elections  to  the  legis- 
lative body  on  May  23rd, 
1869,  a  great  shrinkage  of  the 
Royalist  votes  was  apparent  ; 
while  the  opposition  in  1857 
had  received  only  810,000,  and  in  1863 
had  reached  1,800,000,  it  now  swelled 
to  3,300,000,  and  the  figures  of  the  Govern- 
ment party  receded  from  5,300,000  in  the 
year  1863  to  4,600,000.  Ollivier's  "  Third 
Party  "  obtained  130  seats  in  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies,  and,  combined  with  the  forty 
votes  of  the  Republican  Left,  formed  a 


Election 
Changes 
in    France 


peace  with  liberal  reforms  on 
the  other  side.  I  decided  for  the  latter." 
The  circumstance  that  his  experienced 
War  Minister,  Niel,  died  on  August  14th, 

1869,  had  at  first  the  effect  of  making 
every  warlike  expedition  seem  doubly 
hazardous  ;  it  was  destined  to  be  seen 
that  his  successor.  Marshal  Leboeuf, 
possessed  neither  the  experience  nor  the 
foresight  of  Niel. 

The  emperor  summoned  on  January  2nd, 

1870,  the  Ministry,  which,  in  virtue  of 
the  decree  of  the  Senate,  was  to  undertake 
the  responsible  conduct  of  business.  Its 
head  was  Emile  Ollivier,  who  became 
Minister  of  Justice  and  Public  Worship  ; 
Count  Daru,  a  clever  and  cautious  man  of 
marked  personality,  received  the  Foreign 
Office  ;  the  Home  Office  went  to  Chevan- 
dier  de  Valdrome,  the  Finances  to  Buffet. 
But   since  the  Left   demanded  that   the 

5095 


General  view  of  the  buildings  of  the  Louvre  as  sesn  from  the  Tuileries  Palace. 


Outside  the  Church  of  the  Madeleine. 


Facad''  of  the  Arc  de  Tnomphe  towards  the  city. 


General  view  of  the  Tuileries  Palace  as  seen  from  the  Gardens. 


PARIS    IN    HER    SPLENDOUR  :    IN    THE    DAYS    OF  THE    SECOND    EMPIRE 

5096 


r  "•"■""■"% 


^■v* 

',4, 


tW  fi 


IMfflTllllillf^^ 

General  view  of  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  showing-  the  Rue  Royale  and  the  Madeleine  in  the  distai 


In  the  heart  of  the  business  quarter  :  The  Bourse  and  tlie   Plat 


SCENES  IN  THE  CAPITAL  CITY  DURING  THE  REIGN  OF  NAPOLEON  111. 

23  G  5097 


HARMSWOKTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Chamber  should  receive  the  right  of  co- 
operating in  any  future  altoratidii  of  the 
constitution,  as  otherwise 
a  resolution  of  the  Senate 
might  recall  one  day  what 
it  had  granted  the 
previous  day,  the  emperor 
without  demur  submitted 
the  constitutional  changes 
to  a  plebiscite  on  the 
ground  that  the  nation 
had  in  his  time,  in  1852, 
approved  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  empire,  and 
had  therefore  a  claim  to 
say  if  this  constitution 
was  to  be  altered.  The 
question  put  to  the 
people  was  whether  it 
approved  of  the  decree  of 
the  Senate  on  September 
6th,  1869,  and  whether  it 
wished  by  this  means  to 
facilitate  the  future 
transmission  of  the  crown 


EMILE    OLLIVIER 
At   the   head   of  the  Ministry   summoned  by 
Napoleon   III.  at  the  beginning  of  1870  was 
r  ,,  ,       ,  ■       Emile  OUivier,  against  whom   the  accusation  ,  ,• 

from    the    emperor    to  his    has  been  made  that  "  with  a  light  heart"  he    proclamation 


'rushed  his  country  into  war  with  Germany.' 

~  photogi, 


an  important  change  by  the  substitution 
the  Due  de  Gramont  for  Daru.  The 
latter  had  two  motive;^ 
for  resignation.  In  the 
first  place  he  had  not  been 
able  to  carry  his  point 
that  the  emperor  alone 
was  not  entitled  to  order 
any  future  plebiscites,  but 
that  the  legislative  body 
must  also  te  first  heard 
in  the  matter.  Secondly, 
Daru  was  much  con- 
cerned about  the  Vatican 
Council,  which  Pius  IX. 
had  opened  in  Rome  on 
December  8th,  1869,  in 
order  that,  at  the  very 
moment  when  the  tem- 
poral power  of  the  papacy 
was  diminished  and  even 
threatened  with  complete 
destruction,  the  spiritual 
power  might  be  made 
unlimited  through  the 
of  the 
Pope's  infallibility  in 
matters  of  faith  and 
morals.  The  Bavarian 
Prime  Minister  faced,  as 
far  back  as  April  9th,  1869, 
the  serious  danger  which 
threatened  the  indepen- 
dence of  states  if  this 
doctrine  of  the  papal  in- 
fallibility were  received, 
and  called  upon  all  states 
which  had  Catholic  sub- 
jects to  adopt  a  common 
policy  towards  the  papal 
claim ;  but  for  various 
reasons  he  only  found 
support  in  Russia,  which 
forbade  its  Catholic 
bishops  to  attend  the 
Council,  and  he  was 
defeated  by  the  ultra- 
montane and  particu 
larist  majority  of  the 
Bavarian  Landtag  on 
February  15th,  1870. 
Daru  fared  no  ,  better' 
with  his  warnings  ;  his' 
own  colleague,  Ollivier, 
that     the     in- 

Ducde  Gramont,   whose  policy  as   Fo'reign    fahibilitv      affectcd       Only 
Minister  precipitated  the  war  with  Germany.       ^"^  J  '  .     .  J 


son.  The  answer  of 
7,350,142  electors  was  in 
the  afftrmative,  that  of 
1.538,825  in  the  negative ; 
in  the  army,  which  was 
also  allowed  to  vote. 
285,000  answered  "  Yes," 
48,000  "  No."  Although 
opposition  was  consider- 
able, yet  it  was  split  up 
into  an  Absolutist  part, 
for  which  the  decree  of 
the  Senate  went  much 
too  far,  and  a  Republican, 
for  which  the  decree  did 
not  go  far  enough,  since 
it  not  only  allowed  the 
Empire  to  stand,  but  even 
assisted  Napoleon  to  con- 
solidate  his  power. 
Against  this  divided 
opposition  the  majority, 
which  in  any  case  was  five 
times  as  large,  showed  to 
jM'odigious  , .  advantage, 
and  the  emperor  was 
justified  in  seeing  in  the 
plebiscite    of    May    8th,       ,„  ^         ^  .... 

■*  o  i  r     r  11         18(11,  Count    Daru  resigned   his  seat  at  the      ,      ,  , 

1070,  a  strong  proof  of  the     Foreign   office,   and   was   succeeded  _by   the    declared 

confidence  of  quite  five 

sixths  of  the  French  in  "^  "  Ironr,  p-iuuMgrr,,!-,"""  "' '''    the  internal    administra 

his  person,  in  his  dynasty  and  his  rule,      tion  of  the  Church  and  did  not  concern 
Soon  afterwards  the  Ministry  underwent      the  State — as  if   the  Church  on  her  side 

5098 


THE    DUG    DE    GRAMONT 
Soon  afier  the   formation  of  the  Ministry  in 


THE    DECLINE    OF    NAPOLEON     ilL 


would  recognise  any  sphere  of  human 
action  as  entirely  belonging  to  the  State  ! — 
and  put  him  oft  with  the  dubious  assur- 
ances of  the  papal  Secretary  of  State, 
Count  Giacomo  Antonelli  :  "In  theory 
we  soar  as  high  as  Gregory  VII.,  and 
Innocent  III.  ;  in  practice  we  are  yielding 
and  patient."  No  effect  was  produced  by 
the  warnings  of  the  noble  Montalembert, 
once  so  extolled  by  the  Ultramontanes. 
He  blamed  the  oppression  of  the  State  by 
the  Church  no  less  than  that  of  the  Church 
by  the  State.  "We  ought,"  he  said,  "to 
stem  in  time  the  stream  of  flattery,  deceit, 
and  servility  which  threatens  to  flood  the 
Church."  He  died  before  his  warning 
cry  was  justified  by  events,  and  Daru's 
successor,  Gramont,  was  a  thorough- 
going Ultramontane  who,  as  such,  hated 
heretical  Prussia.  The  peace  of  Europe 
seemed,  on  June  30th,  1870,  ^- 

to  be  absolutely  assured ; 
Ollivier  could  declare  in  the 
Chamber  that  no  disturbance 
threatened  it  from  any 
quarter,  and  Leboeuf,  the  War 
Minister,  proposed  to  enlist 
in  the  army  for  1871  only 
()0,ooo  instead  of  100,000 
recruits.  The  deputies  of  the 
Left  committed  themselves 
to  the  statement  that  the 
40,000,000  Germans  who  had 
united  under  the  leadership 
of  Prussia  were  no  menace  to 
France,  and  Ollivier  himself 
can  almost  be  described  as  a 
friend  of  German  unity. 
Archduke  Albert  of  Austria, 
however,  had  visited  Paris  in 
April,  1870,  on  the  pretext  of  an  educational 
journey  to  the  south  of  France,  and,  in 
view  of  the  possible  admission  of  Baden 
to  the  North  German  Confederation,  had 
spoken  of  the  necessity  of  common 
measures  for  the  observance  of  the  Treaty 
of  Prague.  He  unfolded,  in  this  connec- 
tion, the  plan  that  if  war 
became  necessary,  a  French 
army  should  push  on  past 
Stuttgart  to  Niiremberg,  in 
order  to  unite  there  with  the  Italians,  who 
would  advance  by  way  of  Munich,  and 
with  the  Austrians,  who  would  come  from 
Uohemia ;  they  would  then  fight  the 
Prussians  in  the  region  of  Leipzig.  The 
archduke  was  therefore  playing  with 
fire  ;  but  he  declared  that  the  transforma- 
tion of  the  Austrian  army  would  not  be 


The  French 
Emperor's 
War  Council 


ARCHDUKE  ALBERT 
As  field-marshal  he  commanded  in 
Italy,  and  afterwards  reorganised 
the  Austrian  army.  Foreseeing  the 
Franco-German  war,  he  advised 
France  to   strike    the  first    blow. 


War  Plans 
of  Archduke 
Albert 


completed  for  one  or  two  years,  and 
emphasised  the  necessity  that,  since 
Austria  required  six  weeks  to  mobilise, 
France  should  strike  the  first  blow  alone, 
at  any  rate  in  the  spring,  in  order  that  the 
Prussians  might  be  settled  with  before 
autumn  came  with  cold,  long  nights  and 
before  Russia  could  interfere.  A  council 
of  wai"  which  Napoleon  held 
on  May  17th  declared  that 
the  demand  that  France 
should  first  make  the  effort 
single-handed  could  not  be  entertained. 
General  Lebrun,  who  was  then  sent  to 
Vienna,  did  not  find  Francis  J  oseph  inclined 
to  waive  the  demand  which  Prince  Albert 
had  made.  The  Austrian  emperor  held  it 
to  be  essential,  not  merely  from  the 
military  but  also  from  the  political 
standpoint,  since  if  he  declared  war  simul- 
taneously with  France,  the 
Prussians  would  make  full  use 
of  the  "  new  German  idea  " 
and  sweep  the  South  with 
it.  He  would  have  to  wait 
for  the  course  of  the  war,  and 
then,  when  the  French  had 
advanced  into  South  Germany 
and  were  welcomed  as  libe- 
rators from  the  Prussian 
yoke,  he  would  take  the  oppor- 
tunity and  join  in  the  war. 
The  course  of  events  in 
South  Germany  gave  France 
room  to  hope  for  a  change  in 
popular  opinion.  In  Bavaria, 
Hohenlohe  had  been  turned 
out  in  February,  and  had 
been  replaced  by  Count  Otto 
Bray-Steinburg,  a  staunch 
Particularist.  In  Wiirtemberg  the  most 
inveterate  Democrats  gave  out  the  watch- 
word :  "  French  rather  than  Prussian,"  and 
a  mass  petition,  which  received  150,000- 
signatures,  demanded  the  introduction  of 
a- militia  army  on  the  Swiss  model. 

King  Charles  replied  in  March,  1870,  by 
the  dismissal  of  Gessler,  Minister  of  the 
Interior,  who  was  accused  of  weakness, 
and  by  summoning  Suckow  to  the  War 
Ministry.  The  latter  declared  his  readi- 
ness to  make  a  reduction  in  the  war 
Budget — a  step  to  which  his  predecessor, 
Wagner,  had  not  consented— but  in 
other  respects  to  maintain  the  army 
organisation  on  the  Prussian  system, 
which  had  only  been  introduced  in  1868. 
A  keen-sighted  French  observer,  the 
military  plenipotentiary,  Colonel  Stoffel, 

5099 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


himself  warned  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
against  overestimating  the  Particularist 
forces.  In  any  case,  it  was  very 
dubious  whether  the  French  could  and 
would  fulfil  the  conditions  on  which 
Austria  made  its  co-operation  depend — 
in  the  event,  that  is,  of  its  being  forced 
mto  war  by  the  breach  of  the  Treaty  of 
Prague,  which  it 
postulated  as  the 
prehminary  condition 
for  any  military 
action.  The  impres- 
sion thus  won  ground 
even  there,  that,  in 
spite  of  the  tension  in 
the  European  situa- 
tion, in  spite  of  the 
passions  and  personal 
influences  which  were 
making  towards  a 
war,  the  maintenance 
of  peace,  for  the  year 
1870  at  least,  still 
seemed  probable  at 
the  beginning  of  July. 
The  government  ol 
Queen  Isabella  II.  of 
Spain  liad  long  fallen 
into  complete  dis- 
repute owing  to  the 
unworthy  character 
of  the  queen,  who 
had  openly  broken 
her     marriage    vows. 


ISABELLA     II.,     QUEEN     OF     SPAIN 


either  Duke  Thomas  of  Genoa,  the 
nephew  of  the  King  of  Italy,  who  was 
still  a  minor,  or  the  clever  Ferdinand  of 
Coburg-Gotha,  the  titular  King  of  Por- 
tugal, a  widower  since  1853,  were  abortive, 
they  offered  the  throne  to  the  latter's 
son-in-law,  the  hereditary  Prince  Leopold 
of  HohenzoUern-Sigmaringen,  born  in  1835, 
who  was  a  Catholic, 
happily  married,  the 
father  of  sons,  an 
upright  and  energetic 
man  in  the  prime  of 
life.  During  1869, 
the  proposal  was  laid 
privately  before  the 
hereditary  prince 
himself  and  his  father, 
the  reigning  prince, 
Charles  Anthony ;  but 
it  received  a  refusal, 
since  the  undertaking 
appeared  far  too  rash. 
The  state  of  affairs 
was  not  altered  until 
a  new  attempt  was 
made,  in  February, 
1870.  Salazar,  the 
previous  emissary, 
was  now  sent  with 
letters  of  Prim's  to 
the  prince,  the 
hereditary  prince, 
King  William,  and 
Bismarck.      He  went 


Since     Isabella     aban-     Under  the  rule  of  this  queen  the  government  of  Spain  first  tO  Berlin.       King 

doned  herself  entirely   fell  into  disrepute  owing  to  her  unworthy  character,  and  wi^jam  thoueht  the 

+  /^       +u^       ^^    ^4.;  ^t  ^^^^<  '"  1^^^,  she  was  expelled  to  France,  abdicating        „  ,         ,  j  ,      , 

reactionary  ;„  f^^^^r  of  her  son,  Alfonso  XII.    She  died  in  1904.  offcr   should    not    bc 

1  photograph  accepted;     but      he 


to     the 

party,  the  Liberals 
rose,  under  the  leadership  of  Francisco 
Serrano  and  Juan  Prim,  on  September 
20th,  1868.  After  the  defeat  of  the  royal 
army  at  the  bridge  of  Alcolea  on  the 
Guadalquivir,  in  which  the  commander- 
in-chief.  General  Pavia,  was  severely 
wounded  on  September  28th,  the  queen, 
who  was  just  then  staying  at  the  seaside 
watering-place,  San  Sebastian,  was  obliged 
to  fly,  with  her  family  and  her  "inten- 
dant,"  Carlos  Marfori,  to  France. 
•  The  idea  which  the  bigoted  queen  had 
still  been  entertaining  of  sending  Spanish 
troops  to  Rome  in  place  of  the  French 
was  thus  destroyed.  The  victorious 
Liberals  did  not  contemplate  relieving 
the  Emperor  of  France  from  the  burden 
of  protecting  the  Pope.  They  held 
fast  to  the  monarchy,  nevertheless  ;  and 
as  all  attempts  to  obtain  as  king 
5100 


recognised  that,  according  to  the  family 
laws    applying    to    the   whole    House    of 
Hohenzollern,    he    had,    as    head   of   the 
house,  no  right  of  prohibition  in  this  case. 
Bismarck  behaved   differently.      He    did 
not,   indeed,   promise   himself  any  direct 
military  assistance  from  Spain  if  a  Hohen- 
zollern wore  the  Spanish  Crown,  but  closer 
friendly    relations    between    the 
acan      ^^^^^  countries,  and,   as  a  result, 
.  c     -3.   strengthening   of   the   position 

of  £pa:n      r      r-  u         "  r  ^ 

of  Germany  by-  one  if  not 
two  army  corps."  and  more  especially 
by  improved  commercial  intercourse.  He 
therefore  advised  the  hereditary  prince 
"  to  abandon  all  scruples  and  to  accept  the 
candidature  in  the  interest  of  Germany." 
But  the  prince  could  not  even 
yet  make  up  his  mind.  It  was  only 
natural  to  consider  the  effect  of  such  a 


THE    DECLINE    OF    NAPOLEON    lU. 


Bismarck's 
Agents 
In  Spain 


candidature  on  France.  Robert  von 
KeudcU,  one  of  Bismarck's  trusted 
followers,  expressly  states  that  Bismarck 
did  not  foresee  any  danger  of  an  out- 
break of  war  on  this  ground,  since  Napo- 
leon would  sooner  see  the  Hohenzollern 
in  Madrid  than  either  Isabella's  brother-in- 
law,  the  Duke  of  Montpensier  of  the 
House  of  Orleans,  or  a  republic. 
Napoleon  also,  who  had  been 
informed  of  the  matter  by 
Charles  Anthony  in  the  autumn 
of  1869,  had  said  neither  "  yes  "  nor  *'  no," 
and  therefore  seemed  to  raise  no  objection. 
A  renewed  inquiry  in  Paris  itself  was 
impossible,  since  Prim  had  urgently  begged 
for  secrecy  in  the  matter,  in  order  that  it 
might  not  be  at  once  frustrated  by  the 
efforts  of  the  Opposition.  And,  again, 
the  House  of  Sigmaringen  was  so  closely 
connected  with  the  Bonapartes  by  Charles 
Anthony's  mother,  a  Murat,  and  his  wife, 
a  Beauharnais,  that  the  possibility  was 
not  excluded  that  Napoleon  III.  would 
actually  consent.  Bismarck  now  secretly 
sent  to  Spain  two  trusty  agents,  Bucher 
and  Versen,  who  brought  back  satisfactory 
news  ;  but  all  this  was  done  in  a  personal 
and  private  way,  and  the  Prussian  Govern- 
ment was  not  implicated.  Finally,  in 
order  to  escape  from  the  candidature  of 
the  Duke  of 
Montpensier, 
which  was 
naturally  un- 
palatable to  the 
Spanish  authori- 
ties, Salazar  was 
once  more  sent 
to  Sigmaringen 
at  the  beginning 
of  June,  1870, 
and  this  time 
received  the  con- 
sent of  Charles 
Anthony  and  of 
Leopold.  A 
great       moment 


LEADERS    OF    THE    SPANISH     LIBERALS 


officially  proclaimed  in  Madrid  on  July 
4th,  and  the  Cortes  was  summoned  for 
July  2oth  to  elect  a  king. 

Throughout  the  whole  affair  the  point 
at  issue  was  a  matter  which  in  the  first 
instance  was  a  completely  private  concern 
of  the  Spanish  nation.  The  Spaniards 
could  clearly  elect  any  person  they  wished 
to  be  king,  and  if  they  looked  for  such  a 
person  among  the  scions  of  sovereign  or 
formerly  sovereign  houses,  all  that  could 
be  demanded  was  that  the  elected  king 
should  renounce  all  hereditary  right  to 
another  throne,  in  order  that  a  union  of 
the  Spanish  with  another  monarchy,  and 
the  consequent  danger  to  the  balance  of 
power  in  Europe,  might  be  avoided  for 
all  time  to  come.  In  the  case  in  point  no 
such  renunciation  was  necessary,  since 
the  Swabian  line  of  the  HohenzoUerns 
possessed  no  hereditary  rights,  and  the 
hereditary  prince,  Leopold,  accordingly 
could  not  be  called  a  Prussian  prince. 

The  Prussian  Government,  therefore,  as 
such  took  absolutely  no  share  in  the  question 
since  it  could  claim  no  right  to  influence 
the  decision  ;  the  king,  the  crown  prince, 
and  Bismarck  had  given  their  opinion 
merely  as  private  individuals.  Neverthe- 
less the  official  news  of  the  proposed  can- 
didature of  Leopold  fell  like  a  thunderbolt 
on  Paris,  and 
Gramont  was  at 
once  convinced 
that  he  had  once 
more  to  do  with 
a  diabolical 
stratagem  of  Bis- 
marck's against 
the  interests  and 
honour  of  France. 
Although  the 
French  repre- 
sentative  in 
Madrid  tele- 
graphed that 
Prim  declared 
every  charge 
against  Bismarck 


Francisco  Serrano  and  Juan  Prim,  whose  portraits  are  given  above, 
seemed     to    have     '^'^  the  rising  of  the  Spanish  Liberals  against  the  reactionary  party 
J      J.  and  the  queen,  this  movement,  in  1868,  resulting  in  the  dethronement 

arrived     for     the    and  flight  of  Isabella  and  her  family.     Serrano  twice  acted  as  regent     to  be  grOUIldlcSS, 
House  of  Hohen-     ^^^°'^  ^^^  government  was  given  into  the    hands    of   Alfonso   XII.     ^^^     aSSCVCratcd 

zollern-Sigmaringen,  and  Leopold  felt   it      that  the  candidature  was  the  exclusive  work 
a  heavy  responsibility  to  withdraw  from      of  the  Spanish  nation,  Gramont  allowed  a 


a  people  "  which,  after  a  long  period  of 
weakness,  was  making  manly  efforts  to 
raise  its  national  civihsation  to  a  higher 
plane  "  ;  that  is  to  say,  to  free  itself  from 
the  dominion  of  the  Ultramontanes.  The 
candidature   of    Leopold  was    thereupon 


question  to  be  asked  him  on  the  point, 
in  the  legislative  body,  on  July  6th. 
In  answer,  he  explained  defiantly  that 
France,  with  all  respect  for  the  wishes  of 
the  Spanish  nation,  would  not  allow  a 
foreign  Power  to  place  one  of  its  princes 

5101 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


on  the  throne  of  Charles  V.,  and  thus 
disturb  the  equiUbrium  of  Europe.  Gra- 
mont's  language  inspired  a  general  fear 
of  approaching  war,  which  his  further 
procedure  confirmed.  He  ordered  Count 
Benedetti,  who  was  taking  the  cure  in 
Wildbad,  to  put  the  request  before  King 
William  in  Ems  that,  since"  he  had 
allowed  Leopold's  candidature 
c  a  ions      ^^^^  ^j^^^  mortified  France,  he 

of  Oerm&ny  i  j  ■  .1 

.  c  •  would  now  impress  upon  the 
and  Spam  ,        ^    .        r      ■.,    ■, 

prmce  the  duty  of  withdrawmg 

his  assent.  But  the  king  obviously 
could  not  be  persuaded  to  do  that  ; 
what,  according  to  the  family  laws,  he 
could  not  have  sanctioned,  he  was  also 
unable  to  forbid,  especially  after  Gramont's 
1  ehaviour  on  July  6th.  He  sent,  however, 
an  intimation  to  Sigmaringen  that  he 
would  personally  have  no  objection  to  any 
renunciation  which  the  prince  might 
choose  to  make.  Faced  by  the  danger 
of  plunging  Germany  and  Spain  into  war 
if  he  persevered  in  his  candidature, 
Leopold  actually  withdrew  from  his  can- 
didature on  July  I2th. 

King  William  sent  the  telegram  of  the 
"  Kolnishe  Zeitung,"  which  contained  this 
news,  by  the  hand  of  his  adjutant  Prince 
Anton  Radziwill,  to  the  French  ambassador 
on  the  promenade  at  Ems  on  the  morning 
of  July  13th.  The  king  considered  the 
incident  closed,  and  that  was  the  view  of 
the  whole  world,  as  it  was  the  wish  of 
Napoleon  and  Ollivier.  Gramont  thought 
differently  ;  he  insisted  that  the  king 
must  be  brought  into  the  affair,  and 
therefore  pledge  himself  never  to  grant 
his  approval  should  the  candidature  be 
renewed.  Benedetti  received  telegraphic 
orders  from  his  superior  to  tell  the  king 
this  on  that  very  morning  of  July  13th. 

He  did  so,  and  met  with  a  refusal,  but 
repeated  it  and  "  at  last  very  pressingly," 
as  the  king  telegraphed  to  Bismarck  at 
Berlin  ;  so  that  the  king  finally,  in  order 
to  get  rid  of  him,  sent  him  a  message  by 

.    .    .  his  aide-de-camp  to  the  effect 

Audacious         .111      1      J  r      .u 

„  .      .  ,  that  he  had  no  further  com- 

oehaviour  of  ■       ,•  ,  1       j.     1  • 

the  F  h  munications  to  make  to  him. 
The  king  left  it  to  Bismarck's 
discretion  whether  he  would  or  would  not 
communicate  at  once  this  new  demand  of 
Benedetti's  and  its  rejection  to  the  North 
German  ambassadors  among  foreign 
Powers  and  to  the  Press.  But  he  distinctly 
did  not  command  this  communication  to  be 
made.  Bismarck,  who  had  returned  from 
Varzin  in  deep  distress  at  the  king's  long- 

5102 


suffering  patience  towards  the  Frencn, 
conferred  with  Roon  and  Moltke  in  Berlin 
and  was  resolved  to  remain  Minister  no 
longer  unless  some  satisfaction  was 
obtained  for  the  audacious  behaviour  of 
the  French  ;  and  he  deserves  all  credit  for 
having  never  flinched  for  a  moment.  To 
force  a  war,  which  he  regarded  as  a 
terrible  calamity,  if  Keudell  may  be 
believed,  and  as  likely  to  be  the  first  in  a 
long  series  of  racial  conflicts,  was  a  policy 
which  Bismarck  would  never  have  adopted 
merely  for  the  sake  of  hastening  that  union 
between  North  and  South  which  was 
certain  to  come  sooner  or  later. 

But  now,  when  the  war  was  forced  upon 
him,  when  it  could  not  be  avoided  without 
the  "cankering  sore"  of  a  deep  humiliation 
to  a  people  just  struggling  into  national 
life,  he  knew  no  scruples,  and  no  hesita- 
tion. At  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  on 
July  13th,  the  celebrated  telegram  from 
Ems  was  sent  to  the  editor  of  the  semi- 
official "  Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zei- 
tung "  and  to  the  embassies.  The  message 
reproduced  verbatim  the  telegram,  com- 
posed by  Abeken,  which  the  king  had  sent 
,  to  Bismarck  from  Ems,  with 
ntlTtt^^  ^  ^^^  omission  of  any  irrelevant 
matter,  and  ran  as  follows: 
"After  the  news  of  the  resigna- 
tion of  Prince  Hohenzollern  had  been  offici- 
ally communicated  to  the  imperial  French 
Government  by  the  royal  Spanish  Govern- 
ment, the  French  ambassador  in  Ems 
further  requested  His  Majesty  the  king  to 
authorise  him  to  telegraph  to  Paris  that 
His  Majesty  pledged  himself  for  the  future 
never  to  give  his  assent  if  the  Hohen- 
zollerns  should  renew  their  candida- 
ture. His  Majesty  thereupon  declined  to 
grant  another  audience  to  the  French 
ambassador,  and  informed  the  latter 
through  his  aide-de-camp  that  His  Majesty 
had  no  further  communication  to  make 
to  the  ambassador." 

This  telegram,  which  was  known 
throughout  Germany  on  July  14th, 
evoked  on  all  sides  the  deepest  satisfaction 
that  a  clear  and  well-merited  rebuff  had 
been  given  to  French  presumption  :  and 
this  satisfaction  was  increased  when  it  was 
learnt  that  Gramont  had  made  a  further 
demand  of  the  ambassador.  Baron  Karl  von 
Werther,  in  Paris,  namely,  that  the  King 
of  Prussia  should  write  a  letter  to  the 
Emperor  Napoleon,  in  which  he  should 
declare  that  he  had  no  intention  of 
insulting  France  when  he  agreed  to  the 


Rebuff 
to  France 


THE    DECLINE    OF    NAPOLEON    IIL 


candidature  of  Leopold.  The  telegram 
from  Ems  in  no  way  compelled  the  war  ; 
that  was  rather  done  by  the  French 
arrogance  towards  Germany;  it  was  as 
Strauss  wrote  to  Renan  :  "  We  are  fighting 
again  with  Louis  XIV." 

The  acerbity  of  King  William's  refusal 
to  pledge  himself  permanently  was  fully 
felt  in  Paris  ;  but  the  fact  could  not  be 
disguised  that,  in  view  of  the  withdrawal 
of  a  candidature  described  by  France  as 
unendurable,  no  one  in  Europe  would 
approve  of  the  conduct  of  the  Imperial 
Government  if  it  declared  itself  dissatisfied. 
The  majority,  therefore,  of  the  Ministers 
rejected  Gramont's  demand  that  the 
reserves  should  be  called  out  ;  it  was  left 
to  Gramont  to  put  up  with  this  reprimand 
for  his  officious  procedure,  or  to  resign. 
This  was  in  the  morning  of  July  14th. 
The  emperor  himself  also  was  for  peace, 
since  he  knew  the  military  strength  of  the 
Germans,  and  considered  the  pretext  for 
the  war  inappropriate.  Even  the  Empress 
Eugenie  seems  to  have  been  unjustly 
accused  of  having  urged  on  the  war  from 
hatred  of  heretical  Germany,  and  from 
anxiety  as  to  her  son's  prospects. 
Yet  the  feeling  in  the  Cabinet 
Council  veered  round  in  the 
course  of  July  14th,  and  late 
at  night  the  resolution  to  mobilise  was 
taken  ;  the  British  ambassador,  Lord 
Lyons,  aptly  suggested  the  reason  in  the 
following  words  :  "  The  agitation  in  the 
army  and  in  the  nation  was  so  strong  that 
no  government  which  advocated  peace 
could  remain  in  office." 

The  emperor,  his  heart  full  of  evil  fore- 
bodings, yielded  to  this  tide  of  public 
opinion  ;  Ollivier  and  the  entire  Ministry 
could  not  resist  it.  On  the  plea  of  a  freshly 
arrived  telegram,  which  in  spite  of  the 
wishes  of  the  Opposition  was  not  produced 
— it  cannot  have  been  the  telegram  from 
Ems,  which  was  already  known — a.  motion 
was  brought  forward  on  July  15th  in  the 
legislative  body  for  the  calling  out  of  the 
Garde  Mobile  and  for  the  grant  of  sixty- 
six  millions  for  the  army  and  the  fleet  ; 
after  a  stormy  discussion  it  was  carried  by 
245  votes  against  10  votes  of  the  Extreme 
Left.  The  French  nation  had  forced  its 
government  into  war  ;  its  representatives 
almost  unanimously  approved. 

The  official  declaration  of  war  against 
Prussia  by  Napoleon  was  announced  in 
Berlin  by  the  charge  d'affaires,  Georges 
Le  Sourd,  on  July  19th.     The  situation  had 


Eager 
for  War 


developed  with  such  rapidity,  through 
Gramont's  impetuosity  and  Benedetti's 
mission  to  Ems,  that  this  declaration  of 
war  is  the  only  official  document  which 
came  to  the  Prussian  Government  from 
Paris.  To  judge  by  the  official  records, 
the  war  seems  to  have  commenced  like  a 
pistol-shot,  whereas,  in  reality,  it  was  due 
„       _  to    causes    stretching    back 

now  Germany  ,  .  ~, 

„      .     .  over  past  centuries.   The  re- 

th    Ch  11  lations  of  the  German   and 

the  French  nations,  which 
had  been  steadily  changing  since  1552,  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  former,  were 
destined  to  be  definitely  readjusted  by  the 
war,  and  the  absolute  independence  of 
Germany  from  the  "  preponderance  "  of 
France  was  to  be  once  for  all  established. 

The  whole  of  Germany  felt  at  once  that 
this  was  so.  The  declaration  of  war  was 
like  the  stroke  of  a  magician's  wand  in  its 
effect  upon  the  internal  feuds  and  racial 
animosities  by  which  the  German  nation 
had  been  hitherto  divided.  They  vanished, 
and,  with  them,  the  mistaken  hope  of 
France  that  now,  as  on  so  many  former 
occasions,  Germany  might  be  defeated  with 
the  help  of  Germans.  The  spokesmen  of 
the  anti-Prussian  .  party  in  the  South 
remained  as  perverse  and  obstinate  as 
ever  ;  but  they  no  longer  had  behind  them 
the  masses,  who,  at  the  moment  when  the 
national  honour  and  security  seemed 
menaced,  obeyed  the  call  of  patriotism  with 
a  gratifying  determination,  and  felt  that, 
not  merely  by  virtue  of  the  treaties  to 
which  they  had  sworn,  but  also  by  virtue 
of  unwritten  right,  the  cause  of  Germany 
was  to  be  found  in  the  camp  of  Prussia. 

When  the  king  travelled,  on  July  15th, 

from    Ems    via    Coblenz    to    Berlin,    his 

journey    became    a    triumphal    progress 

through  Germany.    Being  informed  at  the 

Berlin  railway  station  of  the  resolutions  of 

the    French    Chambers,    he    decided    to 

mobilise   the  whole  Northern  army,  and 

not  merely  some  army  corps,  as  he  had 

^  ....  .  originally  intended.  He  fixed 
Mobilising     j^,     ^^^j^  ^g  ^^g  ^j.g^  ^       f^j.  ^jj 

the  Armies    -'-'  .  ,  lij 

-  -,  preparations  to  be  completed. 

of  Germany  £,,   ^,  j         t^-        t        •     tt 

That  same  day  King  Lewis  11. 

of  Bavaria,  since  the  casus  foederis  had 

occurred  and  Bavaria,  by  the  treaty,  had 

to  furnish  help,  ordered  the  Bavarian  army 

to  be  put  on  a  war  footing.     On  July  17th, 

the  same  order  was  given  by  King  Charles  I. 

of  Wiirtemberg,  who  had  hastened  back 

from  St.  Moritz  to  Stuttgart.     The  North 

German  Reichstag  assembled  on  July  19th. 

5103 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


It  was  greeted  with  a  speech  from  the 
throne,  which  in  its  dignified  strength  and 
simphcity  is  a  model  of  patriotic  eloquence 
such  as  could  only  flow  from  the  classic 
pen  of  Bismarck.  "  If  Germany  silently 
endured  in  past  centuries  the  violation  of 
her  rights  and  her  honour,  she  only  endured 
it  because  in  her  distraction  she  did  not 

know  her  strength.  .  .  . 
ismarc  s  -pQ.fjg.y,  when  her  armour  shows 
IS  one  ^^  ^^^  ^^  ^j^g  enemy,  she 
Declaration  . ,  ii        j  j.t, 

possesses  the  will  and  the  power 

to  resist  the  renewed  violence  of  the 
French.  .  .  .  God  will  be  with  us  as 
with  our  fathers."  The  Reichstag  unani- 
mously, except  for  the  two  Social 
Democrats,  granted  ;^i8, 000,000  for  the 
conduct  of  the  war  ;  the  South  German 
Landtags  did  the  same.  The  enthusiastic 
self-devotion  with  which  the  German 
nation,  excepting  naturally  the  Guelf  legion 
and  the  great  financial  houses,  which  even 
at  this  epoch-making  moment  thought  only 
of  themselves,  rose  up  in  every  district  to 
fight  for  honour,  freedom,  and  unity,  was, 
in  one  respect,  more  remarkable  than  that 
which  the  great  days  of  1813  had  brought 
to  light  ;  for  the  first  time  in  German 
history  Germany  arose  as  a  united  whole. 
While  the  armies  were  collecting,  Bis- 
marck published  in  "  The  Times  "  the  offer 
which  France  had  made  him  through 
Benedetti  in  August,  1866,  proposing  an 
offensive  and  defensive  alliance  between 
Prussia  and  France  ;  by  it  Luxemburg  and 
Belgium  were  to  be  assigned  to  France, 
which  in  return  would  allow  Prussia  a  free 
hand  in  Germany.  The  British  ex-Minister, 
Lord  Malmesbury,  called  this  scheme 
a  "  detestable  document,"  because  it 
furnished,  in  spite  of  Benedetti's  em- 
barrassed attempts  at  denial,  a  proof  that 
the  French  Government  had  been  pre- 
pared to  annihilate  its  neighbours,  who 
were  only  protected  by  the  law  of  nations, 
without  any  just  claim.  It  was  solely  due 
to  Prussia's  sense  of  justice  and  astuteness 
j^  that  Napoleon's  purpose  was 

eu  ra  i  y      ^^^  successfully  accomplished. 

of  European  c       u  i    a-  ^     i      x    j 

p  Such   revelations   contributed 

their  share  to  the  result  that 
no  arm  was  raised  in  Europe  for  France. 
Great  Britain  at  once  declared  her  neu- 
trality, and  British  merchants  derived 
large  profits  from  the  war  by  supplying 
coal  and  munitions  of  war  to  the  French. 
Russia  was  favourably  disposed  to 
Prussia  ;  it  feared  that  an  insurrection  of 
the  Poles  might  break  out  on  any  advance 

5104 


of  the  French  to  Berlin,  and  hoped  to 
obtain  during  the  war  an  opportunity  to 
cancel  the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  1856.  In 
Italy  King  Victor  Emmianuel  was  indeed 
personally  inclined  to  support  the  French, 
on  whose  side  he  had  fought  in  1855 
and  1859  ;  but  his  Ministers  were  opposed 
to  a  war  which  was  waged  against  the 
growing  unity  of  Germany.  Any  hin- 
drance to  this  growth  must  signify  a  defeat 
of  the  principle  of  nationality,  and  thus 
become  dangerous  to  the  unity  of  Italy. 
The  lowest  price  at  which  Italy  could  be 
won  was  in  any  case  the  surrender  of  Rome ; 
but  Napoleon  III.  stood  in  awe  of  the 
clerical  party,  and  could  not  make  up  his 
mind  to  a  step  which  would  incense  them. 

The  policy  of  Austria  was  at  least  trans- 
parent. She  intended  to  complete  her 
preparations  lor  war  under  the  cloak  of 
neutrality,  without  exposing  herself  to  a 
premature  attack  from  the  side  of  Russia. 
The  rapidity  with  which  the  French  army 
was  crushed,  however,  by  the  Germans 
soon  stifled  any  wish  to  take  part  in  the 
war  which  had  been  felt  at  Vienna. 

On  the  eve  of  the  declaration  of  war,  on 

July  i8th,  an  event  involving  grave  issues 

p  occurred  at  Rome.     The  Vati- 

*  ****  can  Council,  assembled  since 
I  f^n*hM"t     December   8th,  1869,  was   op- 

*  *  *  ^  pressed  from  the  outset  by  the 
sense  of  an  inevitable  destiny.  The 
Opposition  reckoned  some  150  bishops 
and  abbots.  But  it  was  out-voted  in 
the  ratio  of  three  to  one  by  the  supporters 
of  infallibility,  and  was  itself  divided, 
since  one  part  alone  was  opposed  to  the 
dogma  itself,  the  other  part  only  did 
not  wish  to  see  it  proclaimed  just  then. 
Besides  this  the  papal  plenipotentiaries 
conducted  the  proceedings  in  such  a  way 
as  to  preclude  any  notion  of  freedom  in 
the  expression  of  opinions  or  in  voting. 
After  a  trial  vote  of  July  13th  had  shown 
the  result  that  451  ayes  and  88  noes  were 
recorded,  and  a  deputation  of  the  Opposi- 
tion to  the  Pope  had  produced  no  effect, 
most  of  the  Opposition  left  Rome. 

Thus,  on  July  i8th,  1870,  amid  the 
crashes  of  a  terrible  storm  which 
shrouded  the  council  hall  in  darkness, 
the  dogma  was  accepted,  by  533  votes 
against  two,  that  the  Pope  of  Rome, 
when  he  speaks  ex  cathedra  to  settle 
some  point  of  faith  and  morals,  is  in- 
fallible, and  that  such  decisions  are  in 
themselves  unalterable  even  by  the 
common  consent  of  the  Church. 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 
CONSOLIDA- 
TION OF  THE 
POWERS  X 


THE    DOWNFALL    OF    THE    SECOND 
FRENCH    EMPIRE 

AND  THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  THIRD  REPUBLIC 


IT  was  to  be  expected,  from  the  rapidity 
^  with  which  France  had  brought  on  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  that  she  would  have 
-the  start  of  the  Germans  in  its  preparations, 
and  would  bring  the  war  as  soon  as  possible 
into  Germany.  Leboeuf,  the  Minister  of 
War,  certainly  used  the  phrase,  "We  are 
absolutely  ready  to  the  last  gaiter-button," 
and  possibly  the  emperor  hoped  to  break 
the  spirit  of  Prussia  by  rapid  blows,  and 
then  to  incorporate  Belgium.  But  it  was 
soon  shown  that  France  was  not  ready. 
"  There  was  a  deficiency,"  so  the  French 
historian,  Arthur  Chuquet  says,  "  in  money, 
in  food,  in  camp-kettles,  cooking  utensils, 
tents,  harness,  medicine,  stretchers,  every- 
thing, in  short  "  ;  the  existing  railways 
were  inadequate  to  convey  to  the  frontiers 
the  300,000  men  whom  France  had  at  her 
disposal  for  the  war,  so  that  half  of  them 
were  obliged  to  march  on  foot.  The 
regiments  were  not  constructed  according 
to  definite  and  compact  geo- 
rance  graphical  districts :    Alsatians 

npreparc  j_^^^  ^^  travel  to  Bayonne  in 
order  to  join  the  ranks  of  their 
regiments,  and  southerners  to  Brittany. 
The  result,  under  the  stress  of  circum- 
stances, was  an  irremediable  confusion 
and  an  unusual  delay  in  the  advance.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  mobilisation  proceeded 
quickly  and  easily  among  the  Germans, 
where  everything  had  been  prepared  as  far 
as  could  be  beforehand,  and  every  day  was 
assigned  its  proper  task.  Moltke  made 
the  suggestive  remark  that  the  fourteen 
days  of  the  mobilisation,  during  which 
there  was  nothing  to  carry  out  that  had 
not  been  long  foreseen,  were  some  of  the 
most  tranquil  days  of  his  life. 

The  French,  according  to  the  original 
md  proper  intention,  formed  one  single 
army,  the  army  of  the  Rhine,  whose 
commander-in-chief  was  to  be  the  emperor, 
with  Leboeuf  as  chief  of  the  General  Staff ; 
but  when  it  came  to  the  point,  this  army 


was  divided  into  two  forces,  one  of  200,000 
men  under  Marshal  Bazaine  in  Metz,  and 
one  of  100,000  men  under  Marshal 
MacMahon  in  Strassburg.  The  German 
troops  were  divided  into  three  armies. 
The  first  was  posted,  under  General 
Steinmetz,  north-east  of  Treves,  round 
Wittlich,  and  was  made  up  of  the  7th  and 
the  8th  corps,  from  the  Rhine 
districts    and  Westphalia ;    it 


The  Three 
Armies 


jp  numbered    some   60,000    men. 

ermany  jyTg^t  to  it  came  the  second 
army,  under  Prince  Frederic  Charles, 
which  consisted  of  the  3rd,  4th,  and  loth 
corps  ;  that  is  to  say,  of  Brandenburgers, 
Saxons  from  the  province,  and  Hano- 
verians, and  of  the  Guards  ;  it  took  up 
its  position  round  Neunkirchen  and  Hom- 
burg,  and  was  134,000  strong.  Finally, 
the  third  army,  130,000  men,  was  placed 
under  the  command  of  the  Crown  Prince 
Frederic  William  ;  to  it  belonged  the  5th 
and  nth  corps,  from  Posen,  Hesse,  and 
Thuringia,  as  well  as  the  Bavarians, 
Wiirtembergers,  and  Badeners ;  they 
were  stationed  at  Rastatt  and  Landau. 
The  Crown  Prince,  before  going  to  the 
front,  visited  the  South  German  courts 
and  quickly  won  the  hearts  of  his  soldiers 
by  his  chivalrous  and  kindly  nature. 
Strong  reserves  stood  behind  the  three 
armies — namely,  the  9th  and  12th  corps, 
the  Schleswig-Holsteiners  and  the  Saxons 
from  the  kingdom,  at  Mainz,  and  the  ist, 
2nd,  and  6th  corps,  the  East 
Prussians,  Pomeranians,  and 


Guarding 


Germany's 
Sea-coast 


Silesians,  who  on  account  of 
the  railway  conditions  could 
not  be  sent  to  the  front  until  the  twentieth 
day,  and  were  also  intended  to  be  kept  in 
readiness  for  all  emergencies  against 
Austria.  The  sea-coast  was  to  be  guarded 
against  the  expected  attacks  of  the  French 
fleet  by  the  17th  division,  Magdeburg  and 
the  Hanse  towns,  and  by  the  Landwehr. 
Moltke,  as  chief   of  the  Prussian  General 

5105 


5io6 


DOWNFALL    OF    THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 


Staff,   disclaimed  all  idea  of  a  minutely 
elaborated  plan,   since  the  execution  of 
such  a  plan    cannot    be    ,q:uaranteed,  for 
every    battle   creates   a   i 
new     situation,     whicli 
must    be    treated    and 
regarded  by  itself. 

Moltke  therefore  laid 
down  three  points  only 
as  of  paramount  import- 
ance. First,  when  the 
enemy  is  met,  he  must 
be  attacked  with  full 
strength  ;  secondly,  the 
goal  of  all  efforts  is  the 
enemy's  capital,  the 
possession  of  which, 
owing  to  strict  central- 
isation of  the  French 
Government,  is  of  para- 
mount importance  in  a 
war  against  France  : 
thirdly,  the  enemy's 
forces  are,  if  possible,  to 
be  driven,  not  towards 
the  rich  south  of  France,  but  towards 
the  north,  which  is  poorer  in  resources 
and  bounded  by  the  sea.  Since  no 
blow  was  intended   to   be  struck  before 


EMPRESS 


EUGENIE    OF 

From  a  photograph 


the  advance  of  the  entire  army  was 
completed  and  the  full  weight  of  a 
comliined  attack  was  assured,  the  French 
■'  had  for  a  few  days 
apparently  a  free  hand, 
and  with  three  army 
(drps  drove  back  out 
of  Saarbriicken  on 
August  2nd  the  three 
battalions  of  those  op- 
posed to  them.  During 
the  operations  the  em- 
peror took  his  son,  a 
l)()y  of  fourteen,  under 
fire  ;  according  to  the 
official  telegram  "some 
soldiers  shed  tears  of 
joy  when  they  saw  the 
prince  so  calm."  But 
the  satisfaction  was  soon 
turned  into  chagrin 
when  the  third  army,  in 
order  to  cover  the  left 
flank  of  the  second 
army,  which  was  ad- 
vancing towards  the  Saar,  marched  closer 
to  it,  and  on  August  4th  attacked  the 
French  division  of  General  Abel  Douay, 
which  occupied  the  town  of  Weissenburg, 


FRANCE 


NAPOLEON     III. 


AND"  THE     EMPEROR    AND    EMPRESS    WITH    THEIR    SON 

From  photogmphs 


5107 


"A     BERLIN!"    THE     PARISIAN     CROWDS     DECLARING     FOR     WAR     WITH     GERMANY 
The  prospect  o.'  a  war  with  Germany  roused  the  inhabitants  of  Paris  to  a  state  of  the  highest  enthusiasm,  and  for 
weeks  they  deluded  tliemselves  with  hopes  of  victory,  shouting  themselves   hoarse  wi  h   the  cry,  "a  Berlin!  '    The 
defeats  that  followed  brought  with  them  terrible  disillusionment,  and  the  whole  blame  was  laid  on  the  Government 

5IOS 


DOWNFALL    OF    THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 


and  the  Gaisberg  lying 
south  of  it,  and  utterly 
.defeated  it.  Among  the 
prisoners  was  a  number 
of  Turcos  or  Arab  soldiers 
from  Algiers,  whom 
Napoleon,  though  they 
could  not  be  reckoned  as 
civilised  soldiers,  had  no 
scruples  in  employing  in 
the  war  against  the 
Germans ;  but  they  could 
not  resist  the  impetuous 
valour  of  the  Bavarians 
and  Poseners.  On  August 
6th  the  third  army  on 
its  advance  into  Alsace 
encountered  the  army 
of  Marshal  MacMahon, 
which  occupied  a  strong 
position  near  the  small 
town  of  Worth,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Sauer- 
bach,  a  tributary  of 
the  Rhine.  The  Bavarians 
attacked  on  the  right, 
the  Prussians  on  the  left, 
and  in  the  last  period  of  the  protracted 
and  bloody  battle  the  Wiirtembergers 
had  also  the  chance  of  intervening 
with  success.  The  end  was  that  the 
French,  whose  numerical 
inferiority  was  counter- 
balanced by  their  formid- 
able positions  on  heights 
and  vineyards,  were  com- 
pletely defeated,  and  with 
a  loss  of  16,000  men  and 
33  cannons  they  poured 
into  the  passes  of  the 
Vosges  in  headlong  flight. 
"  After  they  had  fought 
like  lions,"  says  Arthur 
Chuquet,  "  they  fled  like 
hares."  The  Germans  paid 
for  the  brilliant  victory, 
which  gave  to  them  Lower 
Alsace  with  the  exception 
of  Strassburg,  by  a  loss  of 
10,000  men,  among  whom 
were  nearly  500  officers. 
On  the  same  day  the 
disgrace  of  Saarbrucken 
was  wiped  out  by  the 
German  capture  of  the 
apparently  impregnable 
heights  of  Spicheren,  near 
Saarbrucken,  although 
only  twenty-seven  German 


MARSHAL  MACMAHON 
A  distinguished  soldier  who  had  served  France 
in  earlier  wars,  he  commanded  the  first  army 
corps  in  che  Franco-German  War,  and,  de- 
feated at  Worth,  was  captured  at  Sedan.  He 
was  elected  President  of  the  Republic  in  187:?. 


GENERAL  STEINMETZ 
A  Prussian  general  of  experience  and 
distinction,  he  commanded  one  of  the 
three  German  armies  in  the  Franco- 
German  War,  and  after  failing  in  his 
task  at  Gravelotte.  was  appointed 
Governor-General  of  Posen  and  Silesia. 


battalions  were  on  th.e 
spot  against  thirty-nine 
of  the  French,  whose 
commander,  since  he  did 
not  wish  to  be  cut  off 
from  Metz,  saw  him- 
self compelled  to  make  a 
hasty  retreat,  which 
abandoned  Eastern  Lor- 
raine to  the  Germans. 
The  news  from  the 
scene  of  war  producetL 
in  Paris,  where  for  weeks 
the  inhabitants  had 
deluded  themselves  with 
infatuated  hopes  of 
victory,  and  had  shouted 
themselves  hoarse  with 
the  cry  "  a  Berlin  !  "  o 
terrible  disillusionment 
and  then  a  fierce  bitter- 
ness against  the  Govern- 
ment, on  whose  shoulders 
all  the  blame  for  the 
defeats  was  laid,  since 
that  was  the  most  con- 
venient thing  to  do.  The 
Ollivier  Ministry  was  overthrown  by  a 
vote  of  want  of  confidence  in  the  Chambers, 
which  declared  it  incapable  to  organise 
the  defence  of  the  country  ;  but  the 
Republicans  did  not  succeed 
in  their  intention  of  placing 
an  executive  committee  of 
the  Chambers  at  the  head 
of  the  country,  and  so 
superseding  the  Empire 
offhand.  On  the  contrary, 
the  empress  transferred  the 
premiership  to  General 
Palikao,  who  took  the 
Ministry  of  War  from 
Leboeuf  and  gave  him  the 
command  of  a  corps.  The 
emperor  wished  at  first 
to  retire  with  his  whole 
army  to  the  camp  of 
Chalons-sur-Marne,  where 
MacMahon  was  collecting 
the  fragments  of  his  army 
and  gathering  fresh  troops 
round  him.  But  since  the 
abandonment  of  the  whole 
of  Eastern  France  to  its 
fate  would  have  been  a 
political  mistake,  Napoleon 
remained  for  the  moment 
stationary  in  Metz,  against 
which  the  first  and  second 


5109 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


armies  now  were  put  into  movement,  five  miles  in  a  wliole  day,  since  the  baggage 
while  the  third  advanced  through  the  train  blocked  all  the  roads.  Meantime, 
Vosges  toward  Chalons.  Since  this  latter  the  Third  Army  Corps,  that  of  the  Branden- 
had  the  longer  way  to  march,  the  king  burgers,  had  reached  the  road  which  leads 
issued  orders  that  the  two  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  from  Metz  past  Vionville 
other      armies        should    hhi^^^^^^^^^^^^^^hhh  ^^^    Mars  -  la  -  Tour    to 

advance  more  slowly,  in  ^^^^^^^HPRH^^^|^^H|  Verdun  and  the  valley  of 
order  that  the  combined  ^^^^^^I^^^^^^H^^^H  the  Meuse,  and  their 
German  forces  might  ^^^^^|K  jii>a»w^^^^^^^B  general,  Alvensleben,  de- 
compo'^e  an  unbroken  ^^^^^^^^  '^^^^^^^^^1  termined  at  all  hazards 
and  continuous  mass  with  ^^^^^^^^  Jflf^^^^^^^^H  ^^  block  the  further 
a  front  of  equal  depth,  B||^^^^Bk^|^^^|B^^^^^B  march  of  the  enemy  in 
and  that  the  enemy  BB|PP^^^^mB^S^^^^H  that  direction,  although 
might  not  find  any  oppor-  Kr^ji^  ^w^HH^^^^^I  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  aware  that 
tunity  to  throw  himself  ^j^^^  ^^^^Btimml^^  ^"'^  would  have  four 
in  overwhelming  numbers  WKUj^K^  ^^t^HBH^H  French  corps  opposed  to 
on  any  one  part.  On  ^^9^^^^.  ^C^^^^^^^^l  him,  and  for  a  consider- 
August  14th  the  advance  ^^B^^^^  ^^^^^^^H  ^^^^  ^™^  could  count  on 
guard  of  the  first  army,  ^^HHH^bk  ^,^^|^^^^|  ^^°  support  being  brought 
under  Goltz.  had  almost  ^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^|b  up.  A  desperate  struggle 
reached  the  gates  of  Metz,  ^^^^^^^HUl^H^H^^^I  began  on  August  i6th. 
when  they  found  the  ^^^^{^^^^^^|[^^^H^^^H  At  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
French  main  army  pre-  ^|^hb||[^^^H^^^^^|^H  noon  Alvensleben  had  not 
paring  to  retreat.  In  marshal  bazaine  a  single  infantry  battalion 
order  to  check  them  on  Resig^ning  the  supreme  command  of  the  French  Or    any   artillery    in    re- 

thp  ricrht  hanV  nf  fhp  army  and  yielding  to  public  opinion.  Napoleon  „„,.„„.  ^r,  +lTof  ^.^-ht^n 
ine     rignt      OanK     01      ine    appointed   Marshal   Bazaine    to    that    office,     SClVe  ,        SO       tnat       wnCU 

Moselle  and  to  bring  on  a  but  the  anticipated  success  did  not  follow.   Marshal  Canrobert,  with 

•j.    1      J     T-     j.ii  i.     ^T    i         Bazame  capitulating  to  the  enemy  at  Metz.  i    •      i  ,  , 

pitched  battle   at    Metz,  sound  judgment,  pressed 

Goltz,  in  spite   of   his   inferior    numbers,      on  in  order  to  break  up  the   exhausted 


attacked  the  enemy.  The  French,  eager 
at  last  to  chastise  the  i)old  assailant, 
immediately  wheeled  round  ;  but,  just  as 
at  Spicheren,  the  nearest 
German  regiments,  so  soon 
as  they  heard  the  thunder 
of  the  cannons,  hurried  to 
the  assistance  of  Goltz, 
freed  hnn  from  great  dan- 
ger, and  drove  the  French 
back  under  the  fort  of 
St.  Julien,  which,  with  its 
heavy  guns,  took  part  at 
nightfall  in  the  fierce  en- 
gagement. Thus  the  retreat 
of  the  French  was  delayed 
by  one  day,  and  in  the 
meantime  the  main  body 
of  the  Germans  had  reached 
the  Moselle.  Napoleon, 
yielding  to  public  opinion, 


German  line,  the  Twelfth  Cavalry  Brigade 
was  compelled  to  attack  the  enemy,  not- 
withstanding all  the  difficulties  of  a  cavalry 
attack  on  infantry  armed 
with  chassepots.  This 
"  Charge  of  the  800  " 
recalls  that  of  Balaclava  ; 
only  half  of  them  came 
back.  But  here  it  saved  the 
day.  "Canrobert  did  not 
move  again  that  whole  day ; 
he  might  have  broken 
through,  but  from  the 
furious  onslaught  of 
Bredow's  six  squadrons  he 
feared  to  fall  into  a  trap 
and  kept  quiet."  But  since 
gradually  the  Tenth  Corps 
from  the  left  and  the  Eighth 
Corps  from  the  right  came 
CROWN   PRINCE   OF   SAXONY    ^^    Alvenslebcn's    support, 


now  resigned  the  supreme  i„tHe  Franco-German  War  the  9th  and  the    danger    passed;     the 

command       to        Marshal  iph  Corps,  as  well  as  the  Guards,  were  Germans,  who  on  this  day 

Bazaine,  in  whom  the  army  Crown'Prince  Albert  oTsaxoi^^'who"had  faced     a    great     army    of 

^n-  the  reputation  of  being  a  splendid  leader.  J  20,000       FrCUCh      at   "^  firSt 


and      navy    reposed 

founded  confidence,  left  Metz  with  pre- 
cipitate haste  on  August  14th,  and  entered 
Chalons  with  MacMahon  on  the  17th. 
The  main  army  itself  did  not  leave  Metz 
until  August  15th,  and  then  only  advanced 
5110 


with  29,000  and  later  with  65,000  men, 
were  in  possession  of  the  field  of  battle. 
Of  the  roads  by  which  Bazaine  could 
reach  Verdun  from  Metz,  the  southern  was 
blocked  against  him  ;   he  could  only  effect 


5III 


iII2 


DOWNFALL    OF    THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 


his  retreat  now  on  the 
northern  road,  by  Saint- 
Privat.  And  that  pos- 
sibiUty  was  then  taken 
from  ■  him,  since  on 
August  i8th  the  two 
German  armies,  both  of 
whicli  meantime  had 
crossed  the  Moselle 
above  Metz,  advanced 
to  the  attack  on  the 
entire  front  fromSainte- 
Marie-aux-Chenes  and 
Saint- Privat  to  Grave- 
lotte.  In  the  course  of 
the  operations  the 
Saxons,  under  the 
Crown  Prince  Albert, 
and  the  Guards,  under 
Prince  Augustus  of 
Wiirtemberg,  stormed 
the  fortress-Hke  position 
of  Saint  -  Privat  with 
terrific  carnage  ;  on  the 
right  wing  at  Gravelotte 
no  success  was  attained. 
But  the  main  point 
had  been  achieved.  The 
great  Fi-ench  army  had 


COUNT  VON  MOLTKE 
To  his  military  g'euius  Germany  owed  much  of  her 
success  over  France  in  the  war  of  1870.  A  great 
strategist  and  organiser,  he  prepared  the  army 
with  wonderful  skill,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation 
of  the   many    brilliant   victories   which    followed. 

From  a  |5h-,tngrr,]-.li 


been  hurled  back  on 
Metz,  and  was  imme- 
diately surrounded  there 
by  the  Germans  in  a 
wide  circle.  The  inde- 
cision of  the  French 
commander-in-chief  was 
much  to  blame  for  this 
momentous  issue  to  this 
proonged  struggle,  in 
which  some  180,000  men 
on  either  side  ultimately 
took  part.  From  fear 
of  being  finally  cut  off 
from  Metz  itself  and 
surrounded  in  the  open 
field,  Bazaine  kept  a 
third  of  his  forces  in 
reserve ;  if  he  had 
staked  these,  he  might. 
l)^rhaps,  have  won  the 
game.  The  casualties 
on  either  side  were 
enormous.  The  Germans 
lost  on  the  14th,  i6th, 
and  1 8th  of  August 
5,000,  16,000,  and 
20,000  men,  making  a 
total   of   41,000    killed, 


NAPOLEON    III. 
Y 


PRESIDING     OVER     A     COUNCIL    OF     MINISTERS     AT    THE     TUILERIES 
2S  G  5II3 


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5II4 


5II5 


5110 


5iiS 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


wounded,  and  prisoners ;  the  French,  3,600, 
16,000,  and  13,000,  some  33,000  men  in  all. 
The  comparative  smallness  of  the  French 
losses  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  they 
were  mostly  on  the  defensive,  although 
they  ought  properly 
to  have  attacked, 
and  fought  behind 
entrenchments.  The 
French  army  in 
Metz  was  lost  if  a 
li  a  n  d  were  not 
stretched  out  to  it 
by  its  comrades-in- 
arms outside  the 
town;  it  was 
rumoured  that 
Bazaine  would  make 
a  renewed  attempt 
to  meet  the  expected 
relieving  force  at 
Montmedy  or  Sedan. 
All  the  journals  in 
Paris  declared  with 
one  voice  that 
Bazaine  must  be 
rescued  at  any  cost. 
Under  the  pressure 
of  this  situation  Mac- 
Mahon,  who  had  been 
reinforced  at  Chalons 
by  a  division  recalled 
from  the  Spanish 
frontier  and  by  four 
regiments  of  marines, 
and  had  been  nomi- 
nated com.mander- 
in-chief  of  all  the  forces  outside  Metz, 
decided  not  to  retreat  to  Paris — the  course 
which  seemed  to  him  most  correct  in  itself 
— but  to  leave  the  camp  of  Chalons  to  its 
fate  and  march  on  Montmedy  by  way  of 
Vouziers  and  Buzancy,  and  there  effect  a 
junction,  if  possible,  with  Bazaine. 

King  William  had  meantime  com- 
manded Prince  Frederic  Charles  to  invest 
Metz.  General  Steinmetz,  since  he  was 
not  on  good  terms  with  Prince  Frederic 
Charles,  now  his  superior,  and  especially 
since  he  had  failed  in  his  task  at 
Gravelotte,  was  appointed  Governor- 
general  of  Posen  and  Silesia.  The  Ninth 
and  Twelfth  Corps,  as  well  as  the  Guards, 
were  placed,  as  "  the  Meuse  Army,"  under 
Crown  Prince  Albert  of  Saxony,  a  splendid 
leader,  and  instructions  were  given  to 
him  to  push  on  towards  Chalons  with  the 
third  army  ;  his  task  was  to  frustrate  all 
attempts    of    the   French  to    take    up  a 

5120 


LEON  GAMBETTA 
An  advanced  Liberal,  he  took  oflBce  in  the  Government  of 
National  Defence  after  the  proclamation  of  the  Republic, 
becoming:  Minister  of  the  Interior.  He  later  became 
Dictator  of  France,  and  wished  to  continue  the  war  ag:ainst 
Germany,  even  after  the  surrenders  of  Metz  and  Paris. 
Froiii  a  photojfraph 


position  there  and  advance  on  Metz. 
But  when  the  Meuse  army  had  passed 
Verdun,  and  the  third  army  had  reached 
Ste.  Menehould,  Headquarters,  which 
followed  these  movements,  learnt  of 
MacMahon's  march 
from  Chalons  and 
Rheims  ;  Moltke  im- 
mediately issued 
orders,  on  August 
25th,  that  the  two 
armies  would  wheel 
to  the  right,  in  order, 
if  possible,  to  take 
MacMahon  in  the 
rear.  This  dangerous 
manoeuvre,  which 
extended,  of  course, 
to  the  baggage  trains 
of  the  armies,  was 
completely  success- 
ful, without  causing 
any  confusion  to  the 
columns.  ^lacMahon 
failed  to  see  the 
favourable  chance, 
w  h  i  c  h  presented 
itself  for  several 
days,  of  hurling  his 
120,000  men  against 
the  99,000  under  the 
Crown  Prince  of 
Saxony  and  annihi- 
lating them  before 
the  third  army  came 
up.  When  MacMahon 
found  no  trace  of 
BcLzaine  on  August  27th  at  Montmedy,  he 
wished  to  commence  the  retreat  on  Paris  ; 
but  on  the  direct  orders  of  PaJikao,  the 
IMinister  of  War,  and  postponing  military 
to  political  considerations,  he  continued 
his  march  in  the  direction  of  Metz,  and 
hastened  to  his  ruin.  On  August  30th  the 
corps  of  General  de  Failly  was  attacked 
by  the  Bavarians  and  the  Fourth  Prussian 
Corps  under  Gustav  von  Alvensleben  at 
Beaumont,  and  thrown  back 
on  Mouzon.  The  whole  French 
army  retired  from  that  place  to 
the  fortress  of  Sedan,  in  the 
hope  of  being  able  to  rest  there  and  then 
to  retire  along  the  Belgian  frontier  north- 
wards. But  that  was  not  allowed  to 
happen.  The  Meuse  army  pressed  on  from 
the  east,  the  tliird  army  from  the  west  ; 
the  Eleventh  Coi'ps  seized  the  bridge  which 
crossed  the  Meuse  at  Donchery,  and  thus 
cut  off  the  road  to  the  north-west.    The 


The  French 
Retire 
to  Sedan 


DOWNFALL    OF    THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 


neighbourhood  of  Sedan  was  certainly  easy 
to  defend,  since  the  Meuse,  with  other 
s+reams  and  gorges,  presented  considerable 
difticulties  to  an  attack ;  but  on  September 
ist  the  Germans,  who  outnumbered  the 
French  by  almost  two  to  one,  advanced 
victoriously  onwards,  in  spite  of  the  most 
gallant  resistance.  The  Bavarians  cap- 
„.       .  tured  Bazeilles  on  the  south- 

M  h'  ^^  west,  where  the  inhabitants 
..     _  took  part  in  the  fight,  and  thus 

brought  upon  themselves  the 
destruction  of  their  village.  The  Eleventh 
Corps  took  the  cavalry  of  Illy  in  the 
north.  A  great  cavalry  attack,  under  the 
Marquis  de  Gallifct,  at  Floing  could  not 
change  the  fortune  of  the  day ;  the 
French  army,  thrown  back  from  every 
side  on  to  Sedan,  had'  only  the  choice 
between  surrendering  or  being  destroyed 
with  the  fortress  itself,  which  could 
be  bombarded  from  all  sides. 

Marshal  MacMahon  was  spared  the  neces- 
sity of  making  his  decision  in  this  painful 
position  ;  a  splinter  of  a  shell  had  severely 
wounded  him  in  the  thigh  that  very 
morning  at  half-past  six.  The  general  next 
to  him  in  seniority,  Baron  Wimpf^en,  who 


had  just  arrived  from  Algiers,  was  forced, 
in  consideration  of  the  6go  pieces  of 
artillery  trained  on  the  town,  to  conclude 
an  unconditional  surrender  on  September 
2nd.  In  this  way,  besides  21,000  French 
who  had  been  taken  during  the  battle, 
83,000  became  prisoners  of  war;  and 
with  them  558  guns  were  captured.  The 
French  had  lost  17,000  in  killed  and 
wounded,  the  Germans,  g,ooo  ;  an  army 
of  120,000  men  was  annihilated  at  a 
single  blow.  Two  German  corps  were 
required  to  guard  the  prisoners  and 
deport  them  gradually  to  Germany. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  himself  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Germans,  together  with 
his  army.  It  is  attested,  as  indeed  he  wrote 
to  King  William,  that  he  wished  to  die 
in  the  midst  of  his  troops  before  con- 
senting to  such  a  step  ;  but  the  bullets, 
which  mowed  thousands  down,  passed  him 
by,  in  order  that  the  man  on  whom,  in  the 
eyes  of  history,  the  responsibility  for  the 
war  and  the  defeat  rests,  although  the 
whole  French  nation  was  really  to  blame, 
might  go  before  the  monarch  whom  he 
had  challenged  to  the  fight,  and  that  the 
latter  might    prove  his  magnanimity  to 


GAMBETTA    PROCLAIMING   THE    REPUBLIC    AT   THE    PALACE    OF    THE    CORPS    LEGISLATIF 

512I 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


be  not  inferior  to  his  strength.  The 
meeting  of  the  two  monarchs  took  place 
at  two  o'clock  in  the  Chateau  of  Belle- 
vue  near  Frenois,  during  which  Napoleon 
asserted  that  he  had  only  begun  the 
war  under  compulsion  from  the  popular 
opinion  of  his  country.  The  castle  of 
Wilhelmshohe  near  Cassel  was  assigned 
him  as  his  abode,  and  the  emperor  was 
detained  theie  in  honourable  confine- 
ment until  the  end  of  the  war. 

That  evening  the  king,  who  in  a  tele- 
gram to  his  wife  had  given  God  the 
honour,  proposed  a  toast  to  Roon,  the 
Minister  of  War,  who  had 
whetted  the  sword,  to 
Moltke,  who  had  wielded 
it,  and  to  Bismarck,  who 
by  his  direction  of  Prus- 
sian policy  for  years  had 
raised  Prussia  to  her 
present  pre-eminence.  He 
modestly  said  nothing 
about  himself,  who  had 
placed  all  these  men  in 
the  responsible  posts  and 
rendered  their  efforts 
possible ;  but  the  voice 
of  history  will  testify  of 
him  only  the  more  loudly 
that  he  confirmed  the 
truth  of  the  saying  of 
Louis  XIV.,  "  gouverner, 
c'est  choisir  "  — the  choice 
of  the  men  and  the 
means  both  require  the 
decision  of  the  monarch. 

The  victory  of  Sedan 
led  to  a  series  of  moment- 
ous results.  Not  merely 
did  it  evoke  in  Germany 
general  rejoicings,  such 
as  the  capture  of  the 
monarch  of  a  hostile 
state  and  of  a  great  arm}' 
necessarily  call  forth,  lout  it  powerfully 
stimulated  the  national  pride  and  definitely 
shaped  the  will  of  the  nation.  Thousands 
of  orators  at  festivities  in  honour  of  the 
victory  and  countless  newspaper  articles 
voiced  the  determination  that  such  suc- 
cesses were  partially  wasted  if  they  did 
not  lead  to  the  recovery  of  that  western 
province  which  had  been  lost  in  less  pros- 
perous times,  of  Alsace  and  German  Lor- 
raine with  Strassburg  and  ^letz,  and  also  to 
the  establishment  of  that  complete  German 
unity  which  was  first  planned  in  iSb6. 
Bismarck   gave    a   competent  expression 

5122 


HENRI  ROCHEFORT 
A  Radical  journalist,  who  had  found  it  neces- 
sary to  escape  from  France,  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  National  Assembly  in  1870; 
but  the  honour  carried  with  it  no  sobering 
influence,  and  once  more  he  escaped  for  his  life. 


to  the  former  feeling  when  he  declared 
in  two  notes  to  the  ambassadors  of  the 
North  German  Confederation,  on  Sep- 
tember 13th  and  16th,  that  Germany  must 
hold  a  better  guarantee  for  her  security 
than  that  of  the  goodwill  of  France. 

So  long  as  Strassburg  and  Metz  remained 
in  the  possession  of  the  French,  France 
would  be  stronger  to  attack  than 
Germany  to  defend ;  but  once  in  ■<  '--e 
possession  of  Germany,  both  towns  gained 
a  defensive  character,  and  the  interests 
of  peace  were  the  interests  of  Europe. 
In  the  second  place,  the  victory  of 
Sedan  affected  the  atti- 
tude of  the  neutral 
Powers.  We  know  from 
the  evidence  of  King 
William's  letter  of  Sep- 
tember 7th,  1870,  to 
Queen  Augusta  that  all 
kinds  of  cross-issues  had 
cropped  up  before  Sedan  ; 
that  neutrals  had  con- 
templated pacific  inter- 
vention with  the  natural 
object  of  taking  from 
Germany  the  fruit  of  its 
victories.  The  ultimate 
source  of  these  '  plans 
was  Vienna,  where  much 
consternation  at  the 
German  victories  was 
bound  to  be  felt.  But 
they  had  found  an  echo 
in  St.  Petersburg  also. 
The  Tsar  Alexander,  it  is 
true,  loyally  maintained 
friendly  relations  with 
Prussia,  and  his  aunt, 
Helene,  nee  Princess  of 
Wiirtemberg,  wife  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Michael 
Pavlovitch,  brother  of 
the  Tsar  Nicholas  I.,  was 
a  trustworthy  support  to  the  German 
party  at  court  ;  but  the  Imperial 
Chancellor,  Alexander  Gortchakoff,  ex- 
pressed disapproval  of  every  demand 
for  a  cession  of  French  territory,  since 
that  would  prove  a  new  apple  of  discord 
between  Germany  and  France,  and  thus  a 
standing  menace  to  the  peace  of  Europe. 
King  William  made  the  just  remark 
that  according  to  this  view  Germany  must 
give  back  the  whole  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine,  since  in  that  case  only  was  tran- 
quilUty  to  be  looked  for  from  France.  The 
battle  of  Sedan  put  an  end  to  all  wish  on 


1 


DOWNFALL  OF  THE  SECOND  FRENCH  EMPIRE 


the  part  of  neutrals  to  interfere  in  a  war 
which  they  had  not  hindered.  The  extra- 
ordinary efficiency  of  the  German  army 
and  the  German  miHtary  organisation  had 
been  manifested  after  a. 
fashion  which  made  the 
idea  of  intervention  dis- 
tinctly unattractive,  if 
Germany  did  not  court 
it.  And  Germany  was 
very  far  from  courting 
it.  The  Germans  had 
faced  the  war  by  them- 
selves ;  they  had  fought 
it  by  themselves ;  in 
effect  they  had  won  it 
by  themselves.  German 
piet}^  and  German  poetry 
attributed  the  victory  to 
the  fact  that  the  God  of 
Battles  was  on  the  side 
of  Germany ;  and  Ger- 
many had  no  sort  of 
intention  of  permitting 
the  Powers  which  had 
looked  on  to  arrange 
matters     for    the     con- 


which,  in  any  case,  the  majority  of  the 
Chamber  wouid  elect  trustworthy  Bona- 
partists,  would  keep  the  place  warm  for 
the  Empire,  which  might  be  reinstated 
at  a  fitting  hour.  The 
fear  of  this  incited  the 
mob  to  act  not  with  the 
Chamber,  but  against  it. 
Crowds  thronged  into  the 
galleries,  and  finally  into 
the  chamber  itself,  so 
that  Eugene  Schneider, 
the  president,  declared  it 
an  impossibility  to  con- 
tinue the  debate  under 
such  conditions,  and  the 
sitting  was  closed.  The 
attempt  to  iiold  an  even- 
ing sitting,  and  exclude 
all  disturbance,  could  not 
now  be  carried  out ;  at 
three  o'clock  the  Senate 
also  had  to  be  closed. 
The  Republic  was  then 
proclaimed  at  the  Hotel 
de  Ville  ;  and  in  its  name 


GENERAL    TROCHU 
After    the    proclamation    of    the    Republic, 
General  Trochu   became  head  of  the  govern- 
ment;  but  he  did  not  long  hold  office,  resigning     .,1  .•  r  t\      ■  ^ 
the  governorship  of  Paris  in  1871  and  retiring     the  deputlCS  01  PariS,  With 

venience  of  anyone  but  '"*°  p"^^^^  "^^  ^''°"*  *^°  y«^"  afterwards,  ^^le  exception  of  Thiers, 
the  Germans.  The  third  result  of  the  who  refused,  met  as  a  provisional  govern- 
day  of  Sedan  was  that  the  French  Empire  ment.  The  Radical  journalist,  Rochefort, 
fell  with  a  crash.  The  Empress  Eugenie  whom  it  was  thus  hoped  to  win  over,  anti 
received  the  official  news  of  the  surrender      General   Trochu,    a    Governor    of    Paris, 


on  the  evening  of  Septem- 
ber 2nd.  She  hesitated 
the  whole  of  the  3rd  as 
to  what  was  to  be  done 
m  this  position.  But 
on  the  4th  the  Chamber 
had  to  be  allowed  to 
speak,  and  Jules  Favre, 
the  leader  of  the  Left, 
immediately  moved  that 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  and 
his  house  should  be  de- 
clared deposed,  and  that 
the  Corps  Legislatif 
should  nominate  a  com- 
mittee, which  might  ex- 
ercise all  the  powers  of 
the  government,  and 
whose  task  it  should  be 
to  drive  the  enemy  from 


were  nominated  members 
of  it.  Trochu  became  head 
of  this  government,  and 
Jules  Favre  was  his 
deputy.  A  Ministry  was 
formed  by  this  government 
on  September  5th,  in  which 
Favre  assumed  the 
Ministry  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  the  energetic 
lawyer,  Leon  Gambetta, 
that  of  the  Interior,  and 
General  Leflo  the  War 
Office.  The  legislative 
body  was  at  once  dis- 
solved, the  Senate  abol- 
ished; all  officials  were 
released  from  their  oath 
to  the  emperor,  and  thirty 
new    prefects,     of    strict 


JULES     FAVRE 

the  country.  ThePalikao  ii\U!ii'i'siirbiy°^f"[8ll?  h^^^^^^^^^^  republican    views      were 

Mmistrv  also  proposed  a  terms  for  the  capitulation  of  Paris  in  January,  appointed.     The  German 

similar  committee  of  five   '^^'' ^"'^  '^''^"^"^  ''^'^  ^  ^^^ '"°"'^"  ^^^^'-  merchants   who  had 


members  to  be  nominated  by  the  legisla- 
tive body,  but  its  lieutenant-general 
was  to  be  Palikoa.  The  latter  furnished 
a    guarantee   that    the     committee,     on 


hitherto  remained  in  France  were,  so  far  as 
no  special  permission  was  granted  to  them, 
ordered  to  leave  Paris  and  its  vicinity 
within  the  space   of  twenty-four  hours. 

5123 


WILLIAM    I.:    KING    OF    PRUSSIA    AND    FIRST    GERMAN    EMPEROR 

I'rum  the  p:i:ntinij  by  Lciibach,  photo  by  Bruckinann 


5124 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


ifliFt?"^''''' 


jjd 


THE 
CONSOLIDA- 
TION OF  THE 
POWERS     XI 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  GERMAN  EMPIRE 

AND    FRANCE    IN    HER    HOUR    OF    DEFEAT 


(~\^  the  burning  question  of  the  moment, 
^^  whether  France  after  these  severe 
defeats  should  not  seek  peace,  Favre  de- 
clared in  a  circular  of  September  6th  that 
if  the  King  of  Prussia  wished  to  continue 
this  deplorable  war  a.gainst  France,  even 
after  the  overthrow  of  the  guilty  dynasty, 
the  Government  would  accept  the  challenge 
and  would  not  cede  an  inch  of  national 
territory  nor  a  stone  of  the  fortresses. 
Thiers,  who  had  volunteered  for  the  task, 
was  sent  on  September  12th  to  the  neutral 
Powers,  to  induce  them  to  intervene  ;  but 
in  view  of  the  above-mentioned  procla- 
mations of  Bismarck  of  September  13th 
and  i6th,  no  Power  thought  it  prudent  to 
meddle,  since  Germany  desired  a  cession 
of  territory  as  emphatically  as  France 
refused  one.  Any  agreement  between  the 
belligerents  was  thus  for  the  time  totally 
excluded.  Thiers  received  in  London, 
Vienna,  St.  Petersburg,  and  Florence, 
courteous  words,  but  no  sup- 
port. Beust,  deeply  concerned, 
then  wrote:  "Je  ne  vols  plus 
d'Europe  "  ;  even  Gortchakoff 
drily  advised  the  envoy  to  purchase  peace 
without  delay  by  some  sacrifices,  since  later 
it  might  have  to  be  bought  more  dearly. 

The  Germans  meanwhile  were  marching 
straight  on  Paris.  Metz  remained  at 
the  same  time  invested  by  the  seven  corps 
under  Frederic  Charles ;  the  effort  of 
Bazaine  to  play  into  MacMahon's  hand  en 
August  31st  and  September  ist,  by  a  great 
attempt  to  break  through  at  Noisseville, 
proved  completely  futile  ;  36,000  Germans 
had  held  a  line  of  five  and  a  half  miles 
against  134,000  French. 

Even  the  French  fleet  of  ironclads,  which 
appeared  in  August  off  Heligoland  and 
Kolberg,  could  do  nothing  from  its  want  of 
troops  to  land.  Shattered  by  a  terrible 
storm  on  September  9th,  it  returned 
ingloriously  to  its  native  harbours. 

When  the  Germans,  after  the  capture  of 
Rheims  and  Laon  appeared  in  the  vicinity 
of  Paris,  Favre  asked  for  an  interview  with 


Germans 
March 
on  Paris 


Bismarck.    Conversations  between  the  two 

statesmen  took  place  on  September  19th 

and  20th  in  the  chateaux  of  Haute  Maison 

3.nd    Ferrieres.  Favre    declared    that 

cessions  of  territory  could  in  any  case  only 

be  granted  by  a  National  Assembly,  and 

asked    for    fourteen    days'    armistice,    in 

_  order  that  such  an  Assembly 

„.  ,  .    might  be  elected.  Bismarck  was 

Bismarck  in        '^i      ,  ■<     .      J^^ 

^     ,  ready  to  accede  to  the  request. 

Conference   ,      ,  ,      ,  ,  • 

but    asked,    as    compensation 

for  the  fact  that  France  in  these  fourteen 
days  of  armistice  could  to  some  degree 
recover  her  breath,  that  the  fortresses  of 
Pfalzburg,  Toul,  and  Strassburg  should  be 
surrendered.  Since  Favre  would  not  hear 
of  such  conditions,  the  negotiations  were 
thus  broken  off. 

The  Germans  completed  the  investment 
of  Paris  on  September  19th,  and  forced 
Toul  to  capitulate  on  the  23rd.  Strassburg 
had  been  besieged  since  August  nth  by 
the  Baden  troops  under  General  Werder, 
and  since  the  23rd  had  been  exposed  to  a 
bombardment  through  which  the  picture 
gallery,  the  library,  with  its  wealth  of 
priceless  manuscripts,  the  law  courts,  and 
government  buildings,  and  the  theatre 
were  burnt  ;  of  the  cathedral,  only  the 
roof  caught  fire.  Four  hundred  and  fifty 
private  houses  were  ruined,  and  2,000 
persons  killed  or  wounded.  This  misfortune 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  Strassburg  was  a 
thoroughly  antiquated  fortress,  the  bom- 
bardment of  which  involved  the  destruction 
not  merely  of  the  works,  but  also  of  the 
houses  of  the    inhabitants.     The   French 

_  .  .  ^  commander,  General  Uhrich, 
Bombardment     ^^^^     ^^        ^^^^^^    ^j^^    ^■^._ 

and  ourrender         °  ,      .  n  j 

,  c.       L         cumsiances,  to  have  allowed 
of  Strassburg  , .         ^  r  1 

matters  to  go  so  tar  as  a  bom- 
bardment ;  but  in  the  knowledge  that 
"  Strassburg  was  x\lsace,"  he  offered  resist- 
ance until  a  storm,  the  success  of  which 
admitted  no  doubt,  was  imminent.  The 
capitulation  was  signed  on  September  28th 
at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  ;  it  was  the 
very   day    on    which,    180    years    before, 

5i^D 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Louvois   had    accepted    the   surrender   of 

Strassburg   to   the   army   of   Louis   XIV. 

There  were  endless  rejoicings  in  Germany 

when  the  good  news  was  proclaimed  that 

a   city   had    been   won    back   which    had 

remained   dear   to   every   German   heart, 

even  in  the  long  years  when  it  stood  under 

a  foreign  yoke.    September  28th  was  felt 

,      to  be  a  day  of  national  satisfac- 

Gcrmany  s    ^.^^  ^  tangible  guarantee  that 

National         ,,       '  •  r    /-  i  v 

...  the  time   of   German  humilia- 

ejoicmg      ^.^^^    ^^^^    weakness    was    now 

past  for  ever.  Since  Strassburg  had  fallen, 
the  great  railroad  to  Paris  lay  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Germans  ;  the  captures 
of  Schlettstadt  on  October  24th,  Verdun, 
November  8th,  Neubreisach,  November 
loth,  Diedenhofen,  November  24th,  Mont- 
medy  and  Pfalzburg,  December  14th, 
completed  the  reduction  of  the  smaller 
fortresses  of  the  east,  with  which  great 
stores  of  artillery  and  powder  fell  into  • 
the  hands  of  the  victors.  The  communi- 
cations in  the  rear  of  the  Germans 
gained  greatly  in  security  and  quiet. 

This  fact  was  the  more  important 
because,  since  the  Battle  of  Sedan,  the  war, 
which  hitherto  had  been  a  duel  between 
armies,  assumed  another  phase.  Under 
the  title  of  "  Franc-tireurs,"  armed  bands 
from  among  the  people  took  part  in  the 
struggle,  and  caused  considerable  losses  by 
unexpected  attacks  on  isolated  German  out- 
posts and  rear-guards.  On  the  German 
side  these  bands  were  declared  to  stand 
outside  the  law  of  nations,  and  vihages 
whose  inhabitants  took  part  in  the  war  as 
Franc-tireurs  were,  under  certain  condi- 
tions, burnt  down  as  a  deterrent.  Even 
Frenchmen  admit  that  the  licentious  Franc- 
tireurs  were  frequently  more  dangerous  to 
the  natives  than  to  the  enemy. 

The  chief  aim  of  the  French,  now  that 
negotiations  for  peace  had  fallen  through, 
was  necessarily  the  liberation  of  the 
capital,  for,  although  among  the  1,700,000 
persons  who  were  in  Paris  some  540,000 
^,     ^  ,  were  men  capable  of  bearing 

The  oermans  j.    x  A,         xl 

,       (-•  ji         arms,  yet  of  these  the  340,000 
D   **  J  D     •       Parisian     National     Guards 

Round  Pans  ^,  ,  j.  ,, 

were  worthless  from  the 
military  point  of  view,  and  of  the  120,000 
Gardes  Mobiles,  only  a  part  of  the  pro- 
vincials was  of  any  value.  Thus  only  the 
80,000  soldiers  of  the  line  were  thoroughly 
useful,  and  with  these  alone  General  Trochu 
could  not  break  through  the  150,000,  and 
later  200,000,  picked  German  troops,  wjio 
were  drawing  an  iron  girdle  round  the  city, 

5126 


under  the  supreme  direction  of  the  king, 
who  resided  at  Versailles,  and  force  them 
to  raise  the  siege.  Under  these  conditions 
the  duty  of  obtaining  support  from  out- 
side was  incumbent  on  the  members  of  the 
Government,  who  had  left  Paris  in  good 
time,  in  order  to  conduct  the  arming  of  the 
country,  and  had  taken  up  their  seat  at 
Tours  on  the  Loire. 

But  life  was  not  instilled  into  this  "  Dele- 
gation," consisting  of  three  old  men, 
until  Gambetta  left  Paris  on  October  6th 
in  a  balloon,  and  arrived  in  Tours  on  the 
9th.  He  immediately  took  on  himself 
the  Ministry  of  War  in  addition  to  that  of 
the  Interior,  and  with  the  passionate 
energy  of  his  southern  temperament 
and  his  thirty-two  years,  he  girded  himself 
for  the  task  of  "  raising  legions  from  the  soil 
with  the  stamp  of  his  foot,"  and  of  crush- 
ing the  bold  hordes  who  dared  to  harass 
holy  Paris,  "  the  navel  of  the  earth." 
Gambetta's  right  hand  in  the  organisation 
of  new  forces  was  Charles  de  Freycinet, 
a  man  of  forty-two,  a  Protestant,  originally 
an  engineer,  clever  and  experienced,  clear 
and  cool  in  all  his  actions,  but,  in  con- 
^     ....     sequence  of  the  complete  wreck 

Gambetta  s        c     ,-<  c  ^         u- 

_  of   the     professional   soldiers, 

c       -,  full      of     haughty     contempt 

tor  military  protessional  know- 
ledge, and  inspired  by  the  persuasion  that 
now  men  of  more  independent  views  must 
assume  the  lead,  and  that  a  burning 
patriotism  must  replace  military  drill. 

The  thought  recurred  vaguely  to  the 
minds  of  both  that  1870  must  go  to  school 
with  1793,  and  that  just  as  then  the 
soldiers  trained  in  the  traditions  of  Frederic 
the  Great  and  Laudon  were  repulsed  by  the 
levy  en  masse,  so  now  the  laurels  might 
be  torn  from  the  soldiers  of  William  I. 
by  the  same  means.  That  was  really  a  grave 
error.  In  1793  the  powers  allied  against 
France  were  defeated  chiefly  from  their 
want  of  combination,  not  by  the  armed 
masses  of  the  French  people,  which  to  some 
extent  existed  only  on  paper  ;  and  the 
army  which  was  now  fighting  on  French 
soil  far  surpassed  the  troops  of  the  first 
coalition  in  number  and  moral  quality. 
Gambetta's  exertions  did  not  there- 
fore rescue  France,  but  only  prolonged  her 
death  agony,  multiplied  the  sacrifices, 
and  enhanced  the  victory  of  the  Germans. 

Besides  this,  it  was  not  possible,  with 
all  his  resolute  determination,  to  turn  armed 
men  into  soldiers  in  a  moment.  Since  it 
was  necessary  in  a  country  which  only 


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5127 


51^ 


5129 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF     THE    WORLD 


Grave 

Danger 
of  Paris 


possessed  six  t3atteries  and  2,000,000 
cartridges  to  procure  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion from  every  source,  especially  from 
England,  a  varied  selection  of  weapons 
was  the  result  ;  there  were  in  the  new 
army  alone  fifteen  different  kinds  of  guns 
in  use.  Nevertheless,  Gambetta  deserves 
admiration  for  having  raised  600,000 
men  within  four  months ;  and 
even  if  all  attempts  were 
shattered  against  the  superior 
strategy  and  the  incomparable 
efficiency  of  the  German  troops,  still 
Gambetta  saved  the  honour  of  France, 
and  with  it  the  future  of  the  republic. 

The  Germans,  shortly  after  Gambetta's 
arrival  at  Tours,  had  occupied  Orleans 
on  October  nth,  and  on  October  i8th, 
stormed  Chateaudun,  which  was  burnt, 
because  the  inhabitants  had 
joined  in  the  fight.  But 
now  troops  in  such  superior 
numbers  were  being  massed 
against  them  that  at  the 
headquarters  in  Versailles 
serious  misgivings  were  felt 
as  to  the  possibility  of 
checking  all  the  threaten- 
ing advances  upon  Paris. 

Under  these  circum- 
stances all  eyes  were  eagerly 
fixed  on  Bazaine,  who  still 
kept  half  the  German  army 
stationary  under  the  walls 
of  Metz.    During  this  period 


PRINCE    GORTCHAKOFF 


all  sorts  of  political  negOtia-     The    Russian    Imperial    Chancellor,   he 


condition.  Among  the  French,  the 
miseries  of  the  weather  were  aggravated 
by  the  daily  increasing  want  of  provisions  ; 
in  the  end  the  soldiers  received  only  one- 
third  of  their  original  allowance  of  bread, 
and  the  supply  of  salt  was  exhausted. 

Bazaine  therefore,  after  he  had  vainly 
tried  to  obtain  the  neutralisation  of  his 
army,  and  then  its  surrender,  without  the 
concurrent  capitulation  of  Metz,  was  com- 
pelled to  surrender  himself  with  1^3,000 
men  and  i,570  pieces  of  artillery  to 
Prince  Frederic  Charles  on  October  27th. 
This  was  a  success  which  surpassed  the 
day  of  Sedan  in  grandeur,  if  not  m 
glory.  Germany  now  had  in  her  hands 
the  territory  which  she  thought  essential 
to  secure  her  tranquillity,  and  the  whole 
army  of  Frederic  Charles  was  available 
for  other  theatres  of  war. 
About  this  time  the  world 
was  surprised  by  a  cir- 
cular from  the  Russian 
Imperial  Chancellor,  Prince 
Gortchakoff,  which,  bear- 
ing date  October  31st, 
contained  the  declaration 
that  the  Treaty  of  Paris  of 
March  30th,  1856,  had  been 
repeatedly  infringed ;  for 
example,  in  1859  ^.nd  1862, 
by  the  union  of  the  two 
Danubian  principalities  of 
Moldavia  and  Wallachia 
into  the  single  principality 
of  Roumania — and  that  it 


tions   had   been  conducted  was  one  ofthe  most  powerful  Ministers  in  ^^s  uot   Russia's  bouudeu 

.  .  ,  turope,  and  in  1871  was  responsible  for 

between      Bazaine,      the  the  secession  of  Russia  from  the  Treaty    duty 

German  headquarters,   and  °^  ^^''''  ^"angred  in  the  year  isoG. 


the  Empress  Eugenie,  now  an  exile  in  Eng- 
land. The  gist  of  these  negotiations  was 
th  atBazaine,  supported  by  his  army,  which 
still  remained  loyal  to  its  captive  monarch, 
should  conclude  a  peace  and  restore  the 
empire  ;  but  the  attempt  failed  from  the 
numeTous  and  great  difficulties  which 
stood  in  the  way,  and  the  portion  of  the 
encircled  army,  which  was  -unable  to 
burst  the  ring  of  besieger-s,  became  daily 
worse.  From  October  8th  to  31st  con- 
tinuous rain  fell  in  such  torrents  that 
the  besiegers  and  the  besieged,  who  were 
both  encamped  on  the  open  field  in  miser- 
able huts,  suffered  incredible  hardships. 
Hardly  any  one  had  dry  clothes  ;  the 
wind  whistled  through  the  crevices  ;  and 
German  divisions  which  had  only  a  fifth 
of  their  numbers  in  hospital  were  con- 
sidered to  be  in  an  exceptionally  good 

513Q 


to  observe  merely 
those  clauses  in  the  treaty 
which  were  detrimental  to  her.  She  did 
not,  therefore,  consider  herself  bound  by 
that  provision  which  declared  the  Black 
Sea  neutral,  but  would,  on  the  contrary, 
make  full  use  of  her  right  to  construct  a 
naval  harbour  there.  The  circular  showed 
that  the  authorities  at  St.  Petersburg 
wished  to  turn  to  account  the  position  of 
Europe,  and  during  the  weak- 
ness of  France  to  cancel  that 
treaty  which  France  and  Eng- 
land in  their  time  had  forced 
upon  the  dominions  of  the  Tsar,  since  it 
was  detrimental  to  the  honour  and  power 
of  Russia.  Britain  and  Austria  issued 
on  November  loth  and  i6th  a  protest 
against  this  selfish  policy  of  Russia  ;  but 
the  conference  at  London,  which  met  at 
Bismarck's  suggestion  on  January  17th, 
1871,  approved  the  action  of  Russia  in  the 


Russia's 

Selfish 

Policy 


5I3I 


5^02 


5133 


THE  BARRIER  IN  THE  PLACE  DU  TRONE,  NOW  THE  PLACE  DE  LA  NATION 


A  SORTIE  FROM  PARIS,  SHOWING  THE  PROTECTED  ARC  DE  TRIOMPHE 


Against  the  heavy  fire  of  the  attacking  Prussians  the  Parisians  erected  defence  works  in  the  streets  of  the  city,  and 
from  time  to  time  sorties  were  made  in  the  hope  of  driving  the  invaders  from  the  strong  positions  which  they  held. 

5134 


PLACE     DE     LHOSPICE     AT    ST.     CLOUD    AFTER    THE    DEPARTURE     OF    THE     PRUSSIANS 


Some  idea  of  the  destruction  of  property  resulting  from  the  siege  of  Paris  is  given  in  the  above  pictures,  showing 
scenes     of    ruin    at   St.    Cloud    after    the     invading    army    had     taken    its    departure    from    the     French     capitaL 

5135 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Black  Sea,  and  only  stipulated  that  the  ineffectual  against  the  bravery  of  five 
Straits  of  the  Dardanelles  and  the  Bospho-  German  regiments  and  some  batteries, 
rus  should  be  closed  to  the  warshij)s  of  commanded  by  Major  Korber,  a  hero  of 
all  the  Great  Powers  with  the  obvious  Mars-la-Tour.  The  great  sortie  which 
exception  of  Turkey.  The  German  Em-  General  Ducrot  attempted  in  the  south- 
pire  stood  in  this  question  on  the  side  of  east  of  Paris  on  November  30th,  against 
Russia,  whose  emperor  had  m||||-_||--||_mill^^_|.  the  positions  of  the  Wiirtem- 
indisputably  facilitated  the  ^^^^^^ttf^^^t^M  l^ergers  and  Saxons  near  the 
victory  over  France  by  his  ^^^^|^^^^^^^H  villages  of  Champigny  and 
attitude,  even  if  his  Chan-  f^^^Hp  .^^l^^l  •^'•^^'  ^^^  ^^^  attain  its  object 
cellor,  Gortchakoff,  tried  to  J^^^Bl -^P'^t^^^^H  i^  spite  of  the  great  superiority 
depreciate  as  far  as  possible  ^^^^^^'v  ^^^^^^^Km  ^^  ^^^  French.  The  fire  of 
the  results  of  this  victory.  ^^^^B^^^^^^^^^M  the  Wiirtembergers,  bursting 
After  the  fall  of  Metz,  ^^HH^HiJi^Bi^H  ^^"^^^  behind  the  park  walls 
Prince  Frederic  Charles  re-  P^^^^^HBI^ttSS  of  Villiers  and  Coeuilly, 
ceived  orders  to  detach  a  ^j2H^^^^^^^^BE  mowed  down  the  attacking 
force  under  General  Man-  ^^^|B^^^H^^^^S  columns  of  the  French  in 
teuffel,  in  order  to  capture  ■^^^H^^^^^^HH  heaps.  On  December  2nd  the 
the  still  untaken  fortresses  ^^^H^H^^^^^^H  village  of  Champigny,  which 
in  the  rear  of  the  Germans  ;  ^^^^^U^^^^^^^^M  had  been  lost  on  November 
he  himself,  with  his  four  re-  H|^^Hffi^^^^^B  S^^h,  was  to  a  great  extent 
maining  corps,  was  to  advance  ^^^^^^lv^^^^^^^  ^^°^^  back  by  the  help  of  the 
rapidly  on  the  Loire  by  way  After  the  capture  of  Aisace,  this  Pomeranians,  and  on  Decem- 
of   Fontainebleau   and    Sens.    German   commander   forced    his  ber   3rd    the    army    of    the 

r        1   •  -1  "^y     "ito     Franche     Comte     and  .  ^  i     j.      -n      • 

The  state  of  thmgs  m  that  Burgundy,  where  he  occupied  sortie  returned  back  to  Pans. 
direction  was  critical.  The  oiJon.  the  capital,  on  October  31  st  j^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^2,000  men, 
French  army  of  the  Loire,  with  a  strength  Germans  6,000,  and  the  besiegers 
of  60,000  men,  had  thrown  itself  on  the  had  to  abandon  all  hope  of  breaking 
15,000  Bavarians  of  Von  der  Tann,  their  way  through  by  their  unassisted 
defeated  them  at  Coulmiers  on  November  strength.  General  Ducrot,  who  had 
Qth,  and  compelled  them  to  evacuate  vowed  to  conquer  or  to  die,  and  ex- 
Orleans.  The  king  immediately  sent  to  the      posed    himself    recklessly  to  the  bullets. 


support  of  the  Bavarians 
the  17th  and  22nd  divi- 
sions, with  four  cavalry 
divisions,  which  were  no 
longer  required  before 
Paris,  and  entrusted  the 
command  of  this  "  arm 37 
section,"  including  the 
Bavarians,  to  the  Grand 
Duke  Frederic  Francis  IL 
of  Mecklenburg.  Every- 
thing pointed  to  a  great 
and  decisive  action.  The 
Paris  army  was  preparing 
for  a  sortie  on  a  large 
scale,   to  which  Gam  bet  ta 


was  compelled  to  re-enter 
Paris  ahve  and  defeated. 
Prince  Frederic  Charles 
defeated  the  army  of  the 
Loire,  now  commanded 
by  the  gallant  General 
Chanzy,  in  the  four  da\^' 
battle  "of  the  ist  to  the  4th 
of  December  at  Loigny  and 
Orleans,  and  on  December 
4th  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Mecklenburg  again  entered 
this  town.  German  out- 
posts bivouacked  beneath 
the  statue  of  the  Maid 
of    Orleans.     The    French 


GENERAL    MANTEUFFEL 

wished  to  respond  by  a  in  the  German  war  agrainst  France  he  army  was  in  a  most  lament- 
boid  attack  from  Orleans;  ^nrs^ttuentiy" wis  t 'comm^  able  phght ;  the  soldiers, 
the  Germans,  encamped  in  of  that  of  the  south,  gaming  some  clothed  only  in  hnen  trousers 
front  of  the  metropolis,  °°'"''" ''^"""^ '"^  ^"  ^"^"^"°  ^""^  and  blouses,  shivered  with 
were  to  be  caught,  if  possible,  between  cold  and  refused  to  fight  any  more.  The 
two    fires    and    compelled    to    raise    the      army  was  finally  broken  into  two  parts,  of 


stage.  But  the  onslaught  of  58,000 
French,  on  November  28th  at  Beaune-la- 
Rolande,  under  the  impetuous  General 
Jean  Constant  Crouzat,  whom  Freycinet 


which  one,  under  Bourbaki,  turned  east- 
ward on  December  4th  ;  the  other  part, 
under  Chanzy,  retired  in  a  north-westerly 
direction  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Loire, 


made  the  mistake  of  restraining,  proved      leaving  Tours  to  its  fate ;  while  Gambetta 
5136 


FRENCH    SORTIE    AT     CHAMPION Y,    NOVEMBER    ."H,     1- 


THE    FIRST    CANNON    ^HOTS 

III    ,  ri,-.,irnt  ,V  ;o. 


THE  GERMANS  SUCCESSFULLY  REPELLING  THE  FRENCH  ATTACK  AT  CHAMPIGNY 


Following-  up  their  unsuccessful  attack  at  Beaune-la-Rolande,  the  French,  two  days  later,  on  November  30th,  made  a 
Rreat  sortie,  under  General  Ducrot,  agrainst  the  positions  of  the  Wurtembergrers  and  Saxons  near  the  villages  of 
Champigny  and  Brie  ;  but,  though  the  French  were  greatly  superior  in  numbers,  the  attack  was  repelled,  the  fire  of  the 
Wurtembergers,  bursting  from  behind  the  park  walls  of  VilUers  and  Coeuilly,  mowing  down  the  French  columns  m  heaps. 

5137 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


with  the  "Delegation"  fled  to  Bordeaux 
on  December  8th.  Chanzy,  pursued  by 
the  prince  and  the  grand  duke,  was  again 
defeated  at  Beaugency,  December  7th- 
loth.  and  driven  back  on  Le  Mans.  But 
the  Germans  followed  him  thither,  along 
roads  deep  in  snow  and  covered  with  ice, 
where  the  cavalry  had  to  dismount  and 
.  lead  their  horses,  and  on  January 

.*"  .^    *      iithandi2th,i87i,wonanother 
!•  *^  »:<'  ^        erreat  victory  before  Le  Mans,  in 

tor  f  rskficc  • 

consequence  of  which   Chanzy 
was  compelled  to  retire  still  further  west  to- 
wards Brittany,  to  Laval.   The  army  of  the 
Loire  was  thus  to  all  intents  annihilated. 
Meantime  there  was  fighting  in  two  other 
districts.  General  Werder,  after  the  capture 
of  Alsace,  had  forced  his  way  into  Franche 
Comte  and  Burgundy,  where  he  occupied 
Dijon,  the  capital,  on  October  31st.     The 
chief   command  against  him 
was  held  by  the  hero  of  the 
Italian  revolution,  Garibaldi, 
who  was  so  much  moved  by 
the  change  of  France  into  a 
republic  that   he   placed   his 
sword  at  the  services  of  that 
very  nation  which  in  i860  had 
taken  his  native  town  of  Nice 
from   the   National   State  of 
Italy.      But   he  was  only   a 
shadow   of    his    former   self, 
and   could    no    longer   sit    a 
horse  ;    he  would  have  done 
best  to  have  remained  on  his 
rocky     island     of     Caprera. 
The    Garibaldian    volunteers 
from    Italy    and  other  coun- 
tries   who     mustered    round 
the  leader  were  a  rabble,  clothed  in  a  pic 
turesque  uniform,  who  eventually  proved 
more  troublesome  to  the  French  than  to 
the  Germans.  The  Badeners,  under  General 
Adolf  von  Gliimer,  without  allowing  them- 
selves to  be  stopped  by  these  troops,  took 
Nuits  by  storm  on  December  i8th. 

The  other  theatre  of  war  was  the  north- 
east of  France,  especially  Picardy  and 
Normandy.  The  resistance  here,  as  else- 
where, was  organised  by  emissaries  from 
the  "  Delegation,"  and  the  northern  army 
was  created,  so  that  the  German  head- 
quarters sent  General  Manteuffel  there  in 
November.  Manteuffel  defeated  the 
French,  under  Farre,  on  November  27th, 
at  Amiens,  where  the  "  Moblots  " — Gardes 
Mobiles — by  a  disgraceful  flight  carried 
the  troops  of  the  line  away  with  them. 
Amiens   and   Rouen   were   occupied,    and 

5138 


General  von  Goeben  knew  how  to  treat 
the  Normans  so  well  that  they  ran  after 
him    trustingly    on    the    roads,    and    the 
peasants  brought  provisions  to  the  markets 
— quite  otherwise  than  in  the  east,  where 
all  the  shutters  were  closed  and  the  doors 
locked   when    the    Germans    approached. 
The    prudent    and    energetic     General 
Faidherbe  succeeded,  it  is  true,  in  rallying 
and  strengthening  the  French  troops  ;   but 
on  his  advance  from  Lille  he  was  beaten 
back  by  Manteuffel  on  the  river  La  Hallue, 
at    Port    Noyelles,    on    December    23rd. 
Since  his  soldiers  were  forced  to  spend  the 
night    fasting,    with    a    temperature    far 
below  freezing  point,  he  felt  himself,  on 
December  24th,  unable  to  fight  any  further ; 
he    therefore    abandoned    his    dangerous 
positions    and    withdrew    to    Arras.     A 
second   advance,   on   January  3rd,   1871, 
at  Bapaume,  was  equally  un- 
successful.    General  Goeben, 
who,     after    Manteuffel    was 
sent    to    the    south-east,    re- 
ceived the  supreme  command 
over  the  two  German  corps, 
ended  the  war  in  the  north 
by  the  capture  of  the  fortress 
of  Peronne  on  January  8th, 
and   by  the  brilliant  victory 
cit    St.   Quentin    on   January 
19th,    where    Faidherbe    lost 
13,000  men.     The  fortress  of 
St.    Quentin    itself    fell    into 
RUDOLPH   DELBRUCK       the  hluds  of  the  victors,  and 
A  Prussian   statesman,  and  for   the  French  uorthem  army  was 

many  years  the  right-hand  man  of  reduCcd     tO    SUCh    a    Condition 

Bismarck,   he   opened  at    Munich  ,t      .      •.                ■, 

the  official  negotiations  which  had  that     it      UO     lOUger      COUntcd 

as  their  object  a  united  Germany,  f^j.  anything.       The  Capital  Ot 

France  held  out  all  this  time  against 
the  Germans  who  were  investing  it. 
But  provisions  were  getting  scarcer  and 
scarcer,  and  occasional  attempts  at 
insurrection  among  the  populace  indicated 
that  the  reputation  of  the  Government 
was  waning.  The  resistance,  neverthe- 
less, lasted  far  longer  than  was  ever  con- 
sidered probable  on  the  German 
side,  and  public  opinion  in  Ger- 
many demanded  with  increasing 
emphasis  that  Paris  should  be 
effectively  bombarded  to  accelerate  the 
capitulation.  Bismarck,  from  the  very  be- 
ginning of  the  siege,  maintained  that  too 
much  energy  could  not  be  shown  in  attack- 
ing the  enemy,  since,  in  the  first  place, 
the  investing  army  s-uffered  mentally 
and  physically  from  the  long  inaction, 
and,  secondly,    the   apparently  successful 


Paris 

Under  the 
Siege 


5139 


5140 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


resistance  of  Paris  revived  the  hopes  of 
the  French  for  an  eventual  victory,  and 
once    more    brought    up    the    danger    of 
foreign   intervention 
which  ■  was    thought    to 
have    been     surmounted 
after  the  day  of   Sedan. 
But    the    Crown  Prince, 
Blumenthal,  Moltke  him- 
self,   and    General     von 
Gothberg  were  of  opinion 
that      a      bombardment 
would  not  reach  the  work- 
men's  quarter    of   Paris, 
and   would   thus    be   in- 
effective,   and    that    the 
only  means   of  reducing 
the   city  lay  in  starving 
it     out ;      according     to 
Blumenthal     six     weeks 
would    be    sufficient. 
During  this  time  of  ex- 
pectancy   the    most    im- 
portant event  of  all,  the 
question  of  the  unity  of 
Germany,  was  destined  to 
be  decided  under  the  walls  of  Paris.  There 
was  a  general    feeling    directly  after    the 
first  victories  that  the  Germans,  who  had 
marched    united     to 
the   war,    ought   not 
at  its  close  to  break  'Jt 

up  again  into  the  old 
disunion,  but  that 
political  union  ought 
to  result  from  the 
military  union  as  a 
necessary  conse- 
quence  and  as  the 
chief  fruit  of  the  war. 
From  the  moment 
when  Bismarck,  in 
the  name  of  the 
Germans,  demanded 
the  cession  of  Strass- 
burg  and  Metz  as 
tangible  guarantees 
for  peace,  the  fact 
was  established  that 
these  border  fortresses 
of  the  German  people 
could    not     be    held 


EMPEROR     WILLIAM     I 

From  a  photograph 


entailed,  could  not  lightly  resolve  upon  the 
decisive  negotiations.  These  negotiations 
were  stimulated  by  a  large  meeting  held 
in  Berlin  on  August  30th, 
which  proposed  as  its 
motto  that  the  fruits  oi 
the  war  must  be  :  "A 
'  \  united    nation   and   pro- 

tected    frontiers."      The 
Grand   Duke  Frederic  0I 
Baden,  whose  lirst  coun- 
sellor since  the  death  ol 
Mathy  was  the  keen  advo- 
cate   of    national    unity, 
Julius  Jolly,  declared  on 
September    2nd    that    he 
would   support   the   con- 
stitutional union   of    the 
South  German  states  with 
the  North  German  Con- 
federation. King  Lewis  II. 
of     Bavaria    and     King 
Charles  I.  of  Wiirtemberg 
also    gave    an    assurance 
on    September    5th    and 
7th  that  they  were  anxious 
to  secure  to  Germany  the  fruits  of  victory 
in  the   fullest  measure  and  to  establish  a 
just  mean  between  the  national  coherency 
of  the  German  races 
and   their  individual 
independence.       The 
official      negotia- 
tions were  opened  at 
Munich   towai'ds    the 
end  of  September  by 
Rudolf  Delbriick,  the 
President      of       the 
Federal   Chancery  of 
the    North    German 
Confederation,     and 
were  afterwards  con- 
tinued  by    Bismarck 
in    Versailles.      They 
encountered,    indeed, 
considerable    difficul- 
ties,  since   the    Par- 
ticularists   were  only 
willing  to  concede  the 
most  modest  measure 
of  centralisation.  The 
Bavarians  argued  the 


LOUIS    ADOLPHE    THIERS 

■+1,        4-     iU                             '"    ^^^  days   of    French   humiliation  that   attended  the  - 

Wltnout     tne     perma-     occupation  of  Paris  by  the  victorious  enemy,  the   great  SupcrfluOUSneSS    Of     a 

nent  nolitinl  iinifi/ nf     '"^"    °^  *^^   '^"^'^    proved   to   be   Adolphe   Thiers,  who  „i-^-„i  ,,^;^,,   f,-r.T-n    ihc^ 

Iieui  political  Uniiy  01     succeeded  in  inducing  the  National  Assembly  to  agree  to  Strict  UUlOn  IlOm    tUC 

the   German  nation.        peace  on  terms  which  Germany  had  practically  dictated,  very  loyalty  wllicll  all 

The  current  of  opinion  setting  towards       races  had  shown  to  the  thought  of  nation 


unity  was  strong  enough  to  carry  with  it 
the  princes,  who,  on  account  of  the  prob- 
able sacrifices  of  their  sovereignty  thereby 

5142 


ality ;  in  case  of  necessity  Germany  would 
always  find  all  her  children  rallying  round 
her.      The  King  of   Bavaria  claimed   as 


THE    BIRTH    OF    THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


compensation  for  his  consent  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  German  federal  state  a  sort 
of  viceroyaltyforthe  House  of  Wittelsbach, 
so  that  the  Bavarian  ambassadors,  in  the 
event  of  any  impediment  to  the  imperial 
ambassadors,  should  represent  them  ex; 
officio.  Prince  Leopold,  the  uncle  of  the 
king,  had  suggested  on  January  loth,  1871, 
the  alternation  of  the  imperial  Crown 
between  the  Houses  of  Hohenzollern  and 
Wittelsbach,  but  had  received  no  answer 
at  all.  In  addition  to  Bavaria,  Hesse,  the 
Minister  of  which,  Baron  von  Dalwigk,  was 
a  sworn  enemy  to 
Prussia,  made  as 
many  difficulties  as 
possible.  The  King 
of  Wiirtemberg  on 
November  12th,  when 
everything  seemed  al- 
ready settled,  allowed 
himself  to  be  per- 
suaded by  influenc'j 
from  Munich  once 
more  to  delay  the 
termina  t  io  n.  But 
when  Baden  on  No- 
vember 15th  signed 
the  treaty  as  to  the 
admission  into  the 
North  German  Con- 
federation, and  Hesse 
followed  on  the  same 
day,  the  ice  was 
broken.  The  Crown 
Prince  became  so  im- 
patient at  the  delays 
in  the  settlement  of 
the  matter  that  he 
thought  that  the  busi- 
ness should  be  hurried 
on,  that  emperor  and  t 
Empire  should  be  william  i.  v/hen 
proclaimed  by  the 
princes  of  Baden,  Oldenburg,  Weimar, 
and  Coburg,  and  a  constitution  corre- 
sponding to  the  reasonable  wishes  of 
the  people  should  be  sanctioned  by  the 
Reichstag  and  the  Landtags  ;  in  that  case 
the  two  South  German  kings  would  have  to 
acquiesce  with  the  best  grace  they  could. 
The  Crown  Prince  and  Bismarck  were 
thoroughly  agreed  upon  the  point  that 
the  King  of  Prussia,  as  President  of  the 
German  Federal  State,  must  bear  the 
old  and  honourable  title  of  emperor. 
The  aged  monarch  himself  had  grave 
doubts  as  to  relegating  to  the  second 
place   the     comprehensive   title   of    King 


of  Prussia,  which  his  ancestor  Frederic 
L  had  created  of  his  own  set  purpose, 
and  of  assuming  an  empty  title,  which 
his  brother  had  declined  in  1849,  and 
which  he  himself  had  jestingly  stjded 
"  brevet-major." 

Bismarck  maintained  his  own  wise  inde- 
pendence towards  the  father  and  the  son. 
To  the  first  he  emphasised  the  fact  that 
the  title  of  emperor  contained  an  outward 
recognition  of  the  de  facto  predominant 
position  of  the  Prussian  king,  on  which 
much  depended :  and  he  asked  the  latter 
whether  he  could  con- 
sider it  wise  and 
honourable  to  exer- 
I  ise  compulsion  on 
two  allies  who  had 
shed  their  blood 
shoulder  to  shoulder 
with  the  North  Ger- 
mans. He  was  con- 
vinced that  the  new 
Empire  would  not  rest 
nn  firm  foundations 
unless  all  the  German 
races  joined  it  of 
their  own  free  v^ll, 
without  the  feeling 
that  any  compulsion 
was  being  applied  to 
them.  He  therefore 
granted  to  the  Ba- 
varians and  the 
Wiirtembergers  by 
the  "Reserved 
Rights  "  a  privileged 
position  in  the  Em- 
pire, which,  although 
only  accepted  with 
reluctance  by  all  de- 
termined supporters 
of  German  unity,  has 
justified  the  foresight 
of  the  great  statesman  by  affording  these 
kingdoms  the  opportunity  of  joining  the 
national  cause  without  humiliation  to 
their  sense  of  importance. 

The  treaties  signed  on  November  23rd 
at  Versailles  for  Bavaria,  and  on 
November  25th,  1870,  at  Berlin  for 
Wiirtemberg,  reserved  for  both  states 
the  independent  administration  of  the 
post  office  and  telegraphs,  and  the 
private  right  of  taxing  native  beer  and 
brandy ;  this  second  privilege  was 
gi-anted  to  Baden  also.  It  was  further 
settled  that  the  Bavarian  army  should 
be    a    distinct    component    part    oi    the 

5143 


KING    OF    PRUSSIA 

photograph 


5144 


THE    BIRTH    OF    THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


Progress 
of  German 


German  Federal  army  with  its  own  military 
administration  under  the  command  of 
the  King  of  Bavaria,  and  that  also  the 
Wiirtemberg  army  should  form  a  distinct 
corps,  whose  commander,  however,  could 
only  be  nominated  by  the  King  of 
Wiirtemberg  with  the  previous  assent  of 
the  King  of  Prussia.  The  organisation, 
training,  and  system  of  mobili- 
sation of  the  Bavarian  and 
jj  .  Wiirtemberg    troops    were     to 

^  ^  be    remodelled    according    to 

the  principles  in  force  for  the  Federal 
army.  The  Federal  commander  possessed 
the  right  to  inspect  the  Bavarian  and 
Wiirtemberg  armies,  and  from  the  first 
day  of  mobilisation  onwards  all  the  troops 
of  North  and  South  Germany  alike  had  to 
obey  his  commands. 

The  consideration  which  Bismarck 
showed  to  the  kings  procured  him  not 
merely  their  sincere  confidence  during  the 
whole  term  of  his  life,  a  fact  which  was 
politically  of  much  value,  but  also  facili- 
tated the  settlement  of  the  question  of 
the  title.  Recognising  that  it  is  more 
palatable  to  the  ambition  of  secondary 
states  to  have  a  German.  Emperor  over 
them  than  a  King  of  Prussia,  King  Lewis 
consented  on  December  3rd  to  propose  to 
the  German  princes,  in  a  letter  drafted 
by  Bismarck  himself,  that  a  joint  invita- 
tion sliould  be  given  His  Majesty  the  King 
of  Prussia  to  combine  the  exercise  of  the 
rights  of  President  of  the  Federation  with 
the  style  of  a  "  German  Emperor." 

King  William  consented,  waiving  his 
scruples  in  deference  to  the  universal  wish 
of  the  princes  and  peoples  of  Germany.  The 
Reichstag  and  the  Landtags  sanctioned  the 
constitution  of  the  "  German  Empire  "  in 
December  and  January,  and  on  December 
i8th  a  deputation  of  the  Reichstag 
appeared  in  Versailles,  in  order  to  transmit 
to  the  king,  through  the  president,  the 
good  wishes  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people  for  the  imperial  Crown.  There  was 
u-    M  •    *     still  friction  to   be   smoothed 

His  Majesty  ,       i_     .  t  n^i 

_  away  ;  but  on  1  anuary  i8th, 

Emperor  o  i.i         j  ,  •    ,       • 

William  I.  1871- the  day  on  which,  in 
1701,  the  Prussian  monarchy 
had  been  proclaimed — in  the  Hall  of  Mirrors 
of  the  splendid  Chateau  of  Versailles, 
erected  by  Louis  XIV.,  the  adoption  of  the 
imperial  title  was  solemnly  inaugurated  in 
the  presence  of  numerous  German  princes. 
The  Grand  Duke  Frederic  of  Baden  led 
the  first  cheer  for  His  Majesty  Emperor 
William.     In  a  proclamation  to  the  Ger- 

I    A 


man  people,  composed  by  Bismarck,  the 
emperor  announced  his  resolve  "  to  aid 
at  all  times  the  growth  of  the  Empire,  not 
by  the  conquests  of  the  sword,  but  by  the 
goods  and  gifts  of  peace,  in  the  sphere 
of  national  prosperity,  freedom,  and  cul- 
ture." In  the  thirty  years  and  more  that 
have  elapsed  since  that  day  the  world  has 
had  opportunity  to  recognise  that  this 
has  been  no  empty  phrase,  but  the  guiding 
star  of  three  German  emperors. 

At  the  moment  when  the  Empire  was 
revived,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  was 
called  into  existence,  the  French  powers  of 
resistance  were  everywhere  becoming  ex- 
hausted ;  even  those  of  the  capital  were 
failing.  At  Christmas-time  235  heavy 
pieces  of  siege  artillery  were  collected  in 
Villacoublay,  east  of  Versailles,  and  the 
bombardment  of  the  east  front  of  Paris 
was  commenced  on  December  27th  with 
such  violence  that  the  French  evacuated 
Mont  Avron  "  almost  at  a  gallop."  The 
bombardment  of  the  city  itself  began  from 
the  south  side  on  January  5th, 

e  renc  Port  Issy  ceased  its  fire.  Since 
****  *  the  shots,  owing  to  an  eleva- 

tion of  thirty  degrees,  which  had  been 
obtained  by  special  contrivances,  carried 
beyond  the  centre  of  the  city,  the  inhabi- 
tants fled  from  the  south  to  the  north  of 
Paris — a  movement  by  which  the  difficul- 
ties of  feeding  them  were  much  increased. 

A  great,  and  final,  sortie  towards  the 
west,  which  was  attempted  on  January 
igth  by  Trochu  with  90,000  men,  was 
defeated  at  Buzenval  and  Saint  Cloud, 
before  the  French  had  even  approached 
the  main  positions  of  the  Germans. 
The  bombardment  of  the  north  front 
began  on  January  21st. 

Here,  too,  the  forts  were  completely 
demolished  ;  parts  of  the  bastions  were 
soon  breached ;  the  garrisons  had  no 
protection  against  the  German  shells. 
It  was  known  in  the  city  that  Chanzy 
had  been  completely  routed  at  Le  Mans 
on  January  nth  and  12th,  and  the  last 
prospect  of  relief  was  destroyed  by  the 
ill-tidings  from  the  east. 

General  Bourbaki  had  marched  in  that 
direction  with  half  of  the  army  of  the 
Loire  ;  with  the  strength  of  his  forces 
raised  to  130,000  men,  he  hoped  to  compel 
the  Germans  under  Werder,  who  only 
numbered  42,000,  to  relinquish  the  siege 
of  the  fortress  of  Belfort,  and  to  force 
the   Germans  before   Paris   to   retire,  by 

5145 


5i4t> 


5147 


DURING    THE     FRANCO-PRUSSIAN     WAR 


PRINCE    BISMARCK    AT    SEVENTY 


GERMANY'S    "IRON    CHANCELLOR  "    AT    FOUR    STAGES    OF    HIS    CAREER 

5148 


THE    BIRTH    OF    THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


threatening  their  communications  in  the 
rear.  But  Werder  attacked  the  enemy, 
three  times  his  superior  in  numbers,  at 
Montbehard  on  the  Lisaine,  and  repulsed, 
in  the  three  days'  fighting,  from  January 
15th  to  17th,  all  the  attacks  of  Bourbaki. 
Not  one  French  battalion  was  able  to 
reach  Belfort,  where  salvos  had  been 
vainly  fired  in  honour  of  victory  when 
the  cannon-shots  were  heard. 

Bourbaki  commenced  his  retreat,  dis- 
pirited and  weakened ;  but  when  he 
learnt  that  Moltke  had  sent  General 
Manteuffel  with  the  Pomeranians  and 
Rhinelanders  to  block  his  road  by 
Gray  and  Dole,  and  when  Garibaldi, 
although  he  retook  Dijon  and  on  January 
23rd  captured  the  flag  of  the  6ist  regiment 
from  under  a  heap  of  dead  bodies,  was 
unable  to  help  him,  he  went  back  to 
Pontarlier. 

But   before    he   surrendered   his   army 

to  be  disarmed  by  the  neutral  Swiss,  he 

made  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  blow  out 

his   brains.     His   successor,    Justin   Clin- 

chant    finally    crossed    the    Franco-Swiss 

frontier  on  February  ist  with  80,000  men. 

.  The  last   army  of   France  was 

amine         thus  annihilated   and  the  fate 

.  "^"'^^^     of      Belfort     sealed.     Colonel 

Denfert-Rochereau  surrendered 

the  bravely-defended  but   now  untenable 

town  to  General    Udo  von  Tresckow  on 

February  i8th. 

In  Paris  the  dearth  of  provisions  grew 
greater  and  greater  during  January.  On 
the  2ist  a  pound  of  ham  cost  i6s.,  a  pound 
of  butter  20s.,  a  goose  ii2s.  Horses, 
cats  =  9s.,  dogs,  and  rats  had  long  been 
eaten.  In  view  of  the  threatened  famine, 
Favre,  the  Foreign  Minister,  eventually 
appeared  at  the  German  headquarters  on 
January  23rd,  the  127th  day  of  the  siege, 
to  negotiate  the  terms  of  a  capitulation. 

An  agreement  was  at  last  reached  on 
January  28th,  by  which  an  armistice  of 
twenty-one  days  was  granted  for  the 
election  of  a  National  Assembly,  which 
should  decide  on  war  and  peace  ;  but,  in 
return  for  the  concession  a  high  penalty 
was  exacted,  all  the  forts  round  Paris 
were  delivered  up  to  the  Germans,  and 
the  whole  garrison  of  the  town  declared 
prisoners  of  war. 

The  town  had  to  hand  over  all  its  cannons 
and  rifles  within  fourteen  days ;  the  only 
exception  was  made  in  favour  of  the 
National  Guard,  the  disarmament  of  which 
Favre  declared  to  be  impracticable  owingto 


Thiers  the 
Great  Man  of 
the  Crisis 


the  insurrectionary  spirit  prevailing  in  that 
corps.  Paris  was  thus  in  the  hands  of  the 
Germans,  although  the  emperor  refrained 
from  a  regular  occupation  of  it,  which  might 
easily  lead  to  bloody  encounters  and  hence 
to  new  difficulties,  in  the  hope  of  peace 
being  soon  concluded.  Permission  was,  of 
course,  given  for  provisioning  the  city. 
Gambetta  would  not  consent 
to  the  armistice,  but  was 
compelled  by  Jules  Simon, 
who  was  sent  by  the  Govern- 
ment to  Bordeaux,  to  retire  on  February 
6th.  The  great  man  of  the  crisis  was 
henceforward  Adolphe  Thiers,  who  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  had  counselled  a 
cautious  policy,  and  then,  after  Sedan,  had 
vainly  endeavoured  to  induce  the  Great 
Powers  to  intervene.  He  had  proved  him- 
self a  far-sighted  patriot,  to  whom  the 
country  might  look  for  its  rescue. 

On  February  8th,  twenty-six  departments 
elected  him  to  the  National  Assembly, 
which  numbered  among  them  768  deputies, 
400  to  500  supporters  of  the  monarchy, 
Orleanists  and  Legitimists,  but  included 
a  large  majority  for  peace.  Fully  a  third 
of  France  was  occupied  by  the  Germans, 
andFaidherbe  declared  that  if  the  Govern- 
ment wished  to  continue  the  war  in 
Flanders,  the  people  would  intervene  and 
surrender  to  the  Germans.  On  February 
17th,  Thiers  was  elected  to  the  highest 
post  in  the  state  under  the  title  of 
"  Chief  of  the  Executive,"  and  was  sent 
on  the  2ist  to  Versailles  for  the  purpose 
of  negotiating  a  peace. 

Bismarck  demanded  the  whole  of  Alsace 
with  Belfort,  and  a  fifth  of  Lorraine  with 
Metz  and  Diedenhofen,  in  addition 
^^240, 000,000  and  the  entry  of  the  German 
troops  into  Paris.  After  prolonged  nego- 
tiations he  assented  to  remit  ;^4o,ooo,ooo 
and  waive  all  claim  to  Belfort,  but  insisted 
the  more  emphatically  on  the  entry  into 
Paris,  which  in  some  degree  would  impress 
the  seal  on  the  German  victories  and  place 
clearly  before  the  eyes  of  the 
French  their  complete  defeat,  as 
a  deterrent  from  future  wars. 
Thiers  hurried  with  the  conditions 
mentioned  to  Bordeaux.  On  March  ist,  the 
same  day  on  which  30,000  German  soldiers, 
selected  from  all  the  German  races,  marched 
into  Paris  and  occupied  the  quarter 
of  the  town  near  the  Champs  Elysees, 
together  with  the  Chateau  of  the  Tuileries, 
the  preliminary  treaty  for  peace,  which 
the  National  Assembly  had  adopted,  after 

5149 


The 

Dawn  of 
Peace 


5150 


THE    BIRTH    OF    THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


a  stormy  debate,  by  546  votes  to  107,  was 
completed  in  Bordeaux.  The  official 
ratification  of  it  reached  Versailles  on  the 
evening  of  March  2nd.  The  Germans 
evacuated  Paris  on  the  3rd,  and  retired 
behind  the  right  bank  of  the  Seine,  which 
was  to  be  the  boundary  of  the  two  armies 
until  the  final  peace  was  concluded. 
According  to  this  agreement  the  forts  to 
the  east  and  north  of  Paris  were  still 
occupied  by  the  Germans. 

The  subsequent  peace  negotiations  were 
conducted  in  Brussels  by  plenipotentiaries, 
but  proceeded  so  slowly  that  Bismarck, 
at  the  beginning  of  May,  1871,  finally 
invited  Favre  to  Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
in  order  to  arrive  at  a  clear  understand- 
ing with  him  through  a  personal  con- 
ference. After  a  short  discussion  the 
final  peace  was  signed  there  on  May  loth. 
It  contained,  contrary  to  the  preliminary 
treaty,  a  small  exchange  of  territory  at 
Belfort  and  Diedenhofen,  and  the  proviso 
that  the  evacuation  of  French  territory 
by  the  Germans  should  take  place  by 
degrees,  in  proportion  as  instalments  of 
the  war  indemnity  were  paid. 


The  results  of  the  German  struggle 
for  unity  were  immense.  In  comparison 
with  them  the  sacrifices  of  the  war 
were  not  so  excessive.  They  amounted 
on  the  German  side  to  28,600  killed  in 
battle,  12,000  deaths  from  disease,  and 
4,000  missing,  a  grand  total,  there- 
fore, of  about  45,000  men;  the  number 
of  wounded  was  calculated  at  101,000. 
The  French  lost  150,000  killed  and 
150,000  wounded ;  the  number  of 
prisoners  was  eventually  raised  to 
more  than  600,000. 

Emperor  William  I.  held  a  grand  review 
of  the  victorious  troops  in  the  east  of 
Paris  on  March  7th,  and  entered  Berlin  on 
March  17th.  On  March  21st  he  opened  in 
person  the  first  German  Reichstag  ;  on 
June  i6th,  a  triumphal  entry  of  the 
German  army,  selected  out  of  all  the 
German  races,  was  made  into  Berlin, 
between  two  lines  of  7,400  captured 
cannons.  The  age  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire  of  Louis  XIV.  and  of  the  Napo- 
leons was  over.  The  new  Empire  of  the 
German  nation  had  come  into  being. 

G.  Egelhaaf 


THE    INTERROGATOR  :    AN    EPISODE    IN    THE    FRANCO-PRUSSIAN    WAR 


.5151 


The  horrors°of  war  are  vividly  suggested  by  these  pictures  of  Gustave  Dort^-.  In  the  first,  the  battle  is  over,  leaving 
its  carnage  behind.  But  among  the  wounded  are  two  who  have  fought  on  opposite  sides,  and  realising  each  other's 
presence  there  springs  up  anew  their  hatied  as  they  prepare  to  resume  the  struggle  single-handed.  But  the  com- 
batants who  are  thus  "  irreconcilable  "  have  come  together  in  the  second  picture,  and  in  their  nearness  to  the  Cross 
and  in    the    presence    of   death   have  put  aside    their  differences    that  they    may    be    of    service   to    each    or.ber. 

5152 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 
CONSOLIDA- 
TION OF  THE 
POWERS   XII 


SCANDINAVIA  IN  THE  19th  CENTURY 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  NORTHERN  KINGDOMS 


""THE  unfortunate  policy  of  Frederic  VI. 
^  had  caused  Denmark  great  reverses. 
She  had  lost  her  fleet,  on  which  she  had 
always  prided  herself,  and  had  been 
separated  from  Norway,  thus  losing  half 
her  Scandinavian  population  ;  her  pros- 
perity had  been  destroyed  in  the  wars  ; 
the  national  debt  had  assumed  enormous 
proportions,  and  the  financial  position  had 
been  so  bad  that  in  1813  the  Government 
had  been  compelled  to  declare  the  state 
insolvent.  Industry,  too,  had  been 
paralysed,  and  was  unable  to  recover  for 
some  years  after  the  declaration  of  peace  ; 
commerce  ^vas  almost  at  a  standstill  and 
to  a  great  extent  dependent  on  Hamburg  ; 

.  and  agriculture,  which  had  been  very 
profitable  during  the  war  by  reason  of  the 

.  high  price  of  corn,  now  suffered  from  falling 

prices.    But  the  cloud  was,  after  all,  not 

without  its  silver  lining.      The  national 

extremity,    and    the    hard    struggle    that 

_  ,        was  m.ade  at  the  opening  of  the 

Denmark  ,  1     j         j.-        1    .•  j 

„  .^      century,  had  a  stimulatmg  and 

Sf        ih       fertihsmg  mfluence  on  the  intel- 
"^^"^  lectual  life  of  the  community. 

While  political  interests  were  unimportant 
and  material  prosperity  was  declining, 
art  and  literature  flourished  ;  it  seemed 
as  if  the  nation  sought  in  these  things 
consolation  for  its  unhappy  circum- 
stances. Gradually  the  economic  situation 
improved.  The  finances  were  set  in  order 
by  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank 
independent  of  the  Government ;  industry 
prospered,  and  at  Frederic's  death,  in  1839, 
the  country  had  renewed  its  strength. 

While  Crown  Prince,  Frederic  VL  had 
been  a  great  friend  of  reform  ;  but  as 
king  he  was  strongly  conservative,  and 
opposed  to  any  changes  in  the  constitu- 
tion. But  in  proportion  as  their  condition 
improved  the  people  awoke  to  an  interest 
in  public  affairs,  and  the  desire  for  freedom 
and  self-government  became  stronger  and 
stronger.  After  the  "July  Revolution," 
the  effects  of  which  were  felt  in  Denmark 
as  well  as  in  other  lands,  Frederic  at  last 


decided  to  meet  the  popular  wish,  at  least 
in  part.  He  therefore  instituted  four 
advisory  diets — for  the  islands,  Jiitland, 
Schleswig,  and  Holstein — the  .first  step 
towards  a  free  constitution.  Frederic's 
successor,  his  half-cousin  Christian  VIII., 
1839-1848,  was  just  as  little  disposed  to 
renounce  absolutism.    But  now 

""^  °  •  ^^^®  ^^  y  ^°^  ^  ^^^®  constitution 
...  *  '  ^^  grew  louder,  and  the  National 
Liberals  worked  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  absolutism.  They  wished  also  to 
terminate  the  union  of  Schleswig  and 
Holstein,  and  to  attach  more  closely  tu 
Denmark  that  province  in  which  the  large 
proportion  of  German  inhabitants  en- 
dangered Danish  nationality. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  the  two  united 
duchies  had  once  more  come  into  the 
possession  of  the  Danish  Crown.  Schleswig 
was,  however,  not  incorporated  with  the 
remainder  of  Denmark  ;  it  remained  in 
close  .  connection  with  Holstein,  and 
German  was  the  official  language.  Frederic 
VI.  did,  indeed,  give  Schleswig  a  diet  of 
its  own,  but  bound  the  two  duchies 
together  by  placing  them  under  a  Ministry 
and  a  supreme  court  common  to  both. 

As  the  result  of  its  long  connection  with 
Holstein,  Schleswig  had  become  more  and 
more  German,  and  by  the  nineteenth 
century  almost  half  the  population  spoke 
German.  When  the  Danes  at  last  took 
measures  to  preserve  the  Danish  nation- 
ality of  the  province,  this  course  em- 
bittered the  Germans.  Thus  it  came  abour 
that  a  Schleswig-Holstein  party  grew  up  in 
the  two  duchies  and  demanded 
that  Schleswig-Holstein  should 
be  made  independent  of  Den- 
mark, and  be  constituted  one 
of  the  states  of  the  German  Confedera- 
tion. The  leaders  of  this  party,  the  princes 
of  Augustenburg,  who,  as  descendants  of 
a  younger  son,  Hans  the  younger,  of  King 
Christian  III.,  hoped  to  obtain  the  duchies 
for  themselves  it  the  royal  line  became 
extinct — which  seemed   likely  to   happen 


Denmark's 

German 

Duchies 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


shortly — sought  support  in  Germany, 
where  an  enthusiastic  national  movement 
in  their  favour  was  started. 

The   other   Scandinavian  countries,  on 

the    contrary,   with    whom    the    idea    of 

Scandinavian  unity  at  that  time  had  great 

weight,  were  in  favour   of    the   aims    of 

the  National  Liberal  party  in  Denmark. 

The  king  hesitated  for  a  long 

c    eswig  s     ^ij^g.  ^^^  ^^  jg^g^  Y\e  declared, 

csirc  or       ^^  ^,    g^j_^  1846,  that  Schles- 

Wig  was  mdissolubly  bound  to 

Denmark.     In  other  respects,  too,  he  met 

the  wishes  of  the  National  Liberals  ;    and 

he  had  just  completed  the  framing  of  a 

constitution    when    death   cut    short    his 

labours  on  January  20th,  1848. 

Immediately  after  his  death  the  Schles- 
wig-Holstein  party  demanded  the  recogni- 
tion of  Schleswig-Holstein  as  a  separate 
state.  But  Christian's  son  and  successor, 
Frederic  VII.,  1848-1863,  refused  to 
separate  Schleswig  from  Holstein,  though 
he  promised  Holstein,  like  the  other 
provinces,  a  free  constitution.  The 
Schleswig-Holstein  party  were,  however,- 
not  willing  to  accept  this  proposal,  and 
before  long  civil  war  broke  out.  Prussia 
supported  the  party  of  secession,  and  a 
German  army  entered  the  duchies.  The 
Danes  had  to  retire  to  Alsen,  but  the 
armistice  arranged  at  Malmo,  August 
26th,  through  the  mediation  of  Oscar  I. 
of  Norway  and  Sweden,  did  not  lead  to  the 
conclusion  of  peace.  In  1849  the  war  was 
renewed.  Meanwhile  the  reactionary  party 
had  gained  the  upper  hand  in  Germany  ; 
Prussia  made  peace  on  July  2nd,  1850, 
and  by  the  next  year  the  resistance  of 
Schleswig-Holstein  was  overcome. 

During  the  war  Denmark  had  received  a 
free  constitution.  The  draft  prepared 
■by  Christian  VIII.  had  not  met  with 
general  approval,  and  a  Constituent  As- 
sembly summoned  by  Frederic  VII.  there- 
fore published  a  constitution,  dated 
June  5th,  1849,  in  which  the  kingdom  was 
p  made     a    limited     monarchy. 

p  ^  This  constitution  was  intended 
J  for  Schleswig  as  well   as   Den- 

mark, but  to  this  the  German 
Powers  would  not  consent.  In  1852  it 
was  agreed  that  Schleswig  should  not 
remain  united  to  Holstein,  but  must  not 
be  incorporated  with  Denmark.  On  the 
death  of  Frederic  VII.  the  whole  monarchy 
was  to  fall  to  Prince  Christian  of  Gliicks- 
burg  and  his  consort  Louise  of  Hesse- 
Cassel,    whose    mother    was    a    sister    of 

5154 


Christian  VIII.  The  general  constitu- 
tion of  July  26th,  1854,  met  with  opposi- 
tion, however,  especially  from  the  popula- 
tions of  Holstein  and  Lauenburg,  whose 
part  was  taken  by  Prussia  and  Austria. 

But  in  Denmark,  where  hopes  were  enter- 
tained, on  account  of  the  disputes  existing 
between  the  chief  German  states,  of 
solving  the  question  of  the  constitution 
without  German  interference,  the  national 
— Eider-Danish — party,  which  proposed  to 
incorporate  Schleswig  in  the  kingdom, 
gained  the  upper  hand.  Two  days  after 
giving  his  approval  to  a  new  constitution 
for  Denmark  and  Schleswig,  Frederic  VII. 
died  in  November,  1863. 

Christian  IX.,  1863-1906,  gave  way  to 
the  wishes  of  the  Danes  and  signed 
the  "  November  Constitution."  But  now 
Frederic — VIII. — 'Of  Augustenburg  came 
forward  with  his  claims  to  the  duchies,  and 
was  supported  by  Prussia  and  Austria. 
These  Powers  refused  to  recognise  the  new 
king's  right  of  succession  except  on  con- 
dition that  the  November  Constitution 
should  be  annulled.  As  the  Danes  did 
not  accede  to  this  demand,  the  second 
Schleswig  war  broke  out  in 
Schleswig  January,  1864.  Denmark  had 
Causes  a  ,  j    •',  ■         1     1       jr 

c  J  »ir  hoped  to  receive  help  from 
Second  War    -.r  ^  j  c-        j  n 

Norway  and  Sweden,  as  well  as 

from  the  Western  Powers,  but  these  hopes 
proved  to  be  ill  founded.  The  Danish  army, 
which  had  occupied  the  "  Danework," 
retired  to  Diippel  as  early  as  February  5th. 

Here  the  Danes  defended  themselves 
bravely,  but  were  at  last  forced  to  cross 
to  Alsen.  The  Prussians  occupied  Jut- 
land, expelled  the  Danes  from  Alsen,  and 
threatened  to  land  on  Zealand.  The 
Danes  could  now  resist  no  longer.  At  the 
Treaty  of  Vienna,  October  30th,  1864. 
Denmark  ceded  the  Duchies  of  Schleswig- 
Holstein  and  Lauenburg  to  Prussia  and 
Austria ;  and  her  hope  of  recovering, 
by  virtue  of  Article  5  of  the  Treaty  of 
Prague,  concluded  on  August  23rd,  1866, 
at  least  the  northern  part  of  Schleswig 
has  not  been  fulfilled.  The  loss  of  Schles- 
wig resulted  in  a  change  of  the  constitution, 
and  on  July  28th,  1866,  Denmark  received 
the  fundamental  law  still  in  force. 

Soon  after  the  declaration  of  peace  the 
country  became  involved  in  internal 
dissensions.  A  dispute  arose  in  1870  be- 
tween the  Government  and  the  "  Folke- 
tinget  "--one  of  the  Chambers  of  the 
Rigsdag — as  to  the  correct  interpretation 
of  the  constitution,  and  the  struggle  only 


SCANDINAVIA    IN    THE    NINETEENTH    CENTURY 


ended  in  1894  when  the  "  negotiating  " 
portion  of  the  Left  Party,  which  had  been 
divided  since  1878,  went  over  to  the 
Right.  In  spite  of  this  Denmark  has  been 
on  the  path  of  progress  ever  since  the 
middle  of  the  last  century.  The  great 
agricultural  reforms  begun  in  1788  have 
been  continued  and  a  fixed  payment  sub- 
stituted for  forced  service.  The  number 
of  tenant-farmers  has  fallen,  and  the 
peasantry  have  the  same  political  rights  as 
the  other  classes  of  the  community.  Like 
agriculture,  manufactures,  commerce,  and 
shipping  are  progressing  satisfactorily.  The 
obligation  on  artisans  to  join  a  guild 
has  been  removed,  and  means  of  commu- 
nication have  been  improved.  The  mer- 
chants have  become  in- 
dependent of  Hamburg. 
Copenhagen,  which  was 
provided  with  extensive 
fortifications  in  1886,  has 
been  a  free  port  since  1 844. 
Good  provision  is  made 
for  national  education, 
the  general  level  of  which 
is,  on  the  whole,  a  high 
one ;  the  people's  univer- 
sities, in  particular,  which 
have  been  imitated  in 
Norway  and  Sweden, 
have  promoted  the 
education  of  the  pea- 
santry and  exercised 
considerable  influence 
on  their  intellectual  life. 
On  the  accession  to  the 
Swedish  throne  of  Charles 
XIIL,      who 


CHARLES  XIV.   OF   SWEDEN 


was 


(-,]  J     The  son  of  a  lawyer,  Bernadotte,  one  of  Napc- 
^    leon's  marshals,  was  elected  heir  to  the  throne 


the  emperor.  Charles  John,  however,  had 
never  been  Napoleon's  friend  and  did 
not  wish  to  be  his  vassal ;  he  therefore 
abandoned  the  idea  of  reconquering  Fin- 
land, which,  in  his  opinion,  Sweden  could 
never  defend.  He  would  have  liked  to 
obtain  possession  of  Norway,  which,  by 
Union  of  reason  of  its  situation,  seemed 
Sweden  and  ^°  belong  rather  to  Sweden 
Norway  ^^3.11  to  Denmark.  Accordingly 

he  approached  Alexander  L  of 
Russia,  and  on  April  5th,  1812,  concluded 
a  treaty  with  the  Tsar  and  joined  the 
league  against  Napoleon.  In  return  for 
this  Russia  and  Britain  promised  their 
assistance  in  the  conquest  of  Norway. 
In  May,  1813,  he  crossed  over  into  Ger- 
many with  an  army, 
received  in  July  chief 
command  over  the 
"  united  army  of  North 
Germany,"  was  victori- 
ous at  Grossbeeren  and 
Dennewitz,  and  took 
part  in  the  Battle  of 
Leipzig.  After  this  great 
battle  he  advanced 
against  Denmark  with 
part  of  the  northern 
army,  and  by  the  Peace 
of  Kiel,  January  14th, 
1814,  compelled  King 
Frederic  VI.  to  relinquish 
the  kingdom  of  Norway. 
Charles  John  then  at- 
tached himself  again  to 
the  allies,  who  had 
marched  to  France,  and 
did    not    return    to    the 


and    childless.    Christian  of  Sweden  in  isio,  and  became  king  without   north   uutil  the  summer 

A,  i->   •  £    opposition  on  the  death  of  Charles  XI II.  in  1S18.        r        a  i         xi- 

UgUStUS,      Prmce     of     ^^  of    1814.     In    the    mean- 


Augustenburg,  was  chosen  as  successor  in 
i8og,  but  died  suddenly  on  May  28th, 
1810.  It  was  then  that  a  young  Swedish 
officer,  who  met  the  Prince  of  Pontecorvo, 
Marshal  Bernadotte,  in  Paris,  offered  him 
the  Crown  on  his  own  responsibility,  and 
contrived  to  use  his  influence  in  Sweden 
_  ,  so   that  the  marshal  was  de- 

we  en  s  ^     signated    heir  to   the  Crown 

Novel  Choice      °.  ,  ,,        tsij 

J     J..  on  August  2ist   at  a  Kiksdag 

"*^  at  Orebro.  Bernadotte,  who 
called  himself  Crown  Prince  Charles  John, 
went  with  his  son  Oscar  to  Sweden  in 
October,  and  at  once  became  actual  ruler. 
The  Swedes  had  chosen  him  on  the 
supposition  that  he  was  on  friendly  terms 
with  Napoleon,  and  hoped  that  he  would 
regain  Finland  for  them  with  the  help  of 


time  the  Norwegians,  who  did  not  wish  lo 
submit  to  Sweden,  had  drawn  up  a  free 
constitution  and  chosen  the  Danish  prince, 
Christian  Frederic,  as  their  king.  Charles 
John,  who  was  shrewd  enough  to 
acknowledge  the  Norwegian  constitution, 
succeeded  in  removing  Christian  Frederic 
and  in  bringing  about  the  union  between 
Sweden  and  Norway  in  a  peaceful  way. 
By  his  ability  as  a  soldier  and  a  politician 
Charles  John  raised  his  new  country 
from  the  lethargy  into  which  it  had  been 
plunged  by  the  foolish  policy  of  Gustavus 
IV.  to  its  former  rank  as  a  kingdom  ; 
he  ruled  with  energy  and  discretion  and 
furthered  the  welfare  of  the  land.  He 
was  therefore  admired  and  beloved  by 
the  people,  and,  foreigner  though  he  was, 

5155 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


he    ascended    the    throne    of    Sweden    as 

Charles  XIV.  at  the  death  of  Charles  XIII., 

on  February  5th,  1818,  without  opposition. 

In  time  the  enthusiasm  for  the  new  king 

declined  ;   he  had,  it  is  true,  an  attractive 

and  lovable  nature,  but  he  was  also  violent 

in   temper,    intolerant    of   criticism,    and 

became     more    and    more    conservative, 

A>      I     vixT  especially  after  the  "Revolu- 
Charles  XIV   ^-^^   ^^  j^^^,,     j^^  greatest 

isp  cases  dissatisfaction  was  aroused 
cop  c  ^y  j^-^  resistance  to  every 
proposal  for  altering  the  constitution, 
which  on  several  points,  particularly  with 
respect  to  the  organisation  of  the  Riks- 
dag, did  not  meet  the  requirements  of 
the  times.  He,  the  son  of  the  Revolution, 
was  charged  with  holding  narrow  views. 

After  1830,  a  Liberal  opposition  was 
formed,  which  steadily  increased  in  power, 
and  numbered  distinguished  personalities 
among  its  leaders.  As  the  Government 
was  strongly  opposed  to  all  innovations, 
the  indignation  at  last  grew  so  great  that 
thei'e  were  serious  thoughts  of  compelUng 
the  king  to  resign  in  1840.  However,  the 
storm  was  averted,  and  the  last  years  of 
Charles  XIV.  were  passed  in  quiet.  He  died 
on  March  8th,  1844,  aged  eighty-one  years. 
Under  his  son,  Oscar  I.,  1844-1859,  who 
was  just  as  popular  in  Sweden  as  in  Nor- 
way, the  opposition  became  weaker.  The 
king  attached  himself  to  the  Liberals,  sur- 
rounded himself  with  Ministers  of  broad 
views,  and  sanctioned  an  extension  of  the 
freedom  of  the  Press,  and  triennial  assem- 
blies of  the  Riksdag.  However,  his  popular 
proposition  regarding  the  reconstruction 
of  the  Riksdag  was  rejected  in  1850,  and 
after  the  Revolution  of  February,  when  a 
reaction  was  sweeping  over  Europe,  Oscar 
also  grew  more  conservative  and  let  the 
question  of  the  Riksdag  drop.  During 
his  reign  the  management  of  the  state  was 
successfully  carried  on.  Oscar  altered  the 
foreign  policy  of  Sweden  by  withdrawing 
from  the  Russian  alliance.  It  was  sus- 
.  .  pected  that  the  Russians  were 

n  icipa  ing  ^gg^j^-Q^g  q^  taking  possession  of 
Ad  ^  *  *  certain  portions  of  the  Finnish 
frontier  lands.  During  the 
Crimean  War,  Sweden  and  Norway  con- 
cluded a  treaty  with  France  and  Britain, 
November,  1855,  by  which  the  aid  of  the 
Western  Powers  was  assured  to  the  united 
kingdoms  in  the  event  of  Russia  seizing 
any  of  the  northern  harbours.  Oscar,  who 
considered  himself  a  thorough  Scandi- 
navian, stood  on  the  best  of  terms  with 

5156 


Denmark  ;  he  acted  as  a  mediator  in  the 
first  Schleswig  war,  August,  1848,  and 
later  offered  King  Frederic  VII.  a  defen- 
sive alliance  in  order  to  protect  the  Eider 
boundary.  This  offer  was,  however,  not 
accepted  by  the  Danes.  Oscar's  son, 
Charles  XV.,  1859-1872,  was  also  a  per- 
sonal friend  of  Frederic  VII.  But  the 
negotiations  which  had  been  opened  with 
Denmark  on  account  of  the  political  situa- 
tion of  Europe  after  Frederic's  death, 
November  15th,  1863,  were  discontinued, 
so  that  the  king  was  compelled  to  give  up 
the  cause  of  Denmark  in  1864. 

The  question  of  the  Riksdag  was  finally 
solved  in  the  reign  of  Charles  XV.,  as  at 
the  Riksdag  of  1865  all  the  four  Estates 
assented  to  a  reorganisation.  The  Riks- 
dag now  meets  every  year,  and  consists  of 
two  Chambers ;  the  king  has  the  right  of 
dismissing  the  Riksdag  and  issuing  the 
writs  for  a  new  election.  This  reorganisa- 
tion, by  which  the  nobles  were  deprived 
of  their  last  prerogatives,  also  effected  a 
change  of  parties.  The  "  Intellectuals  " 
were  supported  by  the  cultured  classes, 
while  the  "  Landt-manna  party"  aimed 
chiefly  at  economy  in  the 
administration,  particularly  in 


Sweden's 
Splendid 
Progress 


the  army,  and  a  more  equal 
division  of  the  burden  of  taxa- 
tion. In  the  reign  of  Oscar  II.,  Charles' 
brother  and  successor,  a  violent  dispute 
was  caused  by  the  customs  policy  ;  several 
of  the  Landt-manna  party  joined  the  re- 
presentatives of  the  wholesale  industry 
and  carried  a  law  for  protection.  In 
recent  years  the  Chambers,  in  which  Con- 
servatives and  Liberals  are  now  the  con- 
tending parties,  have  introduced  a  new 
army  law,  by  which  the  term  of  service  for 
the  "  Bevaring  " — those  who  are  liable  to 
serve  in  the  army — has  been  considerably 
lengthened.  On  the  other  hand,  no  agree- 
ment has  yet  been  reached  about  the 
extension  of  the  very  limited  franchise. 

Sweden,  no  less  than  Norway,  has  made 
great  material  progress  in  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  legislature  departed  from 
the  economic  principles  of  an  earlier  age 
and  abolished  the  restrictions  which  fet- 
tered commerce  and  manufacture.  At  the 
same  time  necessary  improvements  have 
been  made  in  the  means  of  communication. 
Trade  and  manufacture  have  opened  up 
new  paths  for  themselves.  Agriculture, 
which  was  so  neglected  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  has  developed  to  such  an  extent 
that    Sweden,    which    in    the    eighteenth 


SCANDINAVIA    IN    THE    NINETEENTH    CENTURY 


century  could  not  provide  the  corn 
necessary  for  home  consumption,  can 
now  export  grain.  Cattle-breeding  and 
mining,  especially  for  iron  ore,  have  also 
made  great  progress  in  recent  years.  As 
wealth  has  increased  by  the  develop- 
ment of  natural  resources,  provision  has 
also  been  made  for  intellectual  growth  by 
improvement  in  the  schools,  so  that  in 
Sweden,  as  in  the  other  two  Scandinavian 
countries,  popular  education  has  now 
reached  a  high  standard,  and  the  Swedes 
have  attained  European  fame  in  all 
branches  of  natural  science.  When  the 
Treaty  of  Kiel,  which  transferred  Norway 
from  Denmark  to  , 
Sweden  in  1814,  was 
proclaimed  in  .  Nor- 
way, it  aroused  uni- 
versal indignation. 
The  Norwegians  dul 
not  wish,  under  any 
circumstances,  to  be 
subjected  ,  to  the 
Swedes,  whom  they 
hated  as  enemies  : 
the  few  who  con- 
sidered a  union  with 
Sweden  advan- 
tageous were  looked 
upon  almost  as 
traitors.  Prince 
Christian  Frederic, 
afterwards  Christian 
Vm.  of  Denmark, 
who  was  viceroy  at 
that  time,  and  who 
was  popular  with  the 
Norwegians,  con 
the    idea 


the  union  with  Sweden  and  desired  to 
postpone  the  election  of  a  king,  while  the 
majority  were  eager  to  appoint  Prince 
Christian  Frederic  immediately  as  king. 
On  May  17th  Christian  Frederic  was 
actually  elected  king.  When  the  Swedish 
Government  heard  of  the  proceedings  in 
Norway  they  at  once  complained  to  the 
allies,  who  despatched  plenipotentiaries  to 
Christiania  to  put  into  force  the  decision 
of  the  Peace  of  Kiel,  but  in  vain.  The 
Norwegians  armed  themselves,  but  their 
army  was  badly  equipped  and  without 
capable  leaders.  Christian  Frederic  was 
no  general  and  had  no  inclination  for  war  ; 
•  he  always  hoped,  like 

the  majority  of  Nor- 
wegians, that  the 
Great  Powers  would 
respect  the  indigna- 
tion of  the  Nor- 
wegians against  the 
union.  Accordingly, 
the  war  only  lasted 
a  few  weeks.  The 
Crown  Prince,  Charles 
John  Bernadotte, 
marched  into  Nor- 
way .The  Norwegians, 
following  the  com- 
mand of  their  king, 
steadily  retreated, 
although  they  were 
consumed  with  the 
desire  for  battle, 
and  in  some  places 
fought  successfully. 
Christian  Frederic 
did  not  dare  to  risk 
a  decisive  engage- 
ment, but  agreed  to 
an  armistice 

On~  August    14th, 


ceived    the    idea    of 

taking  advantage  of  U' 

the  discontent  against  r**^  ""~-'^s«i« 

Sweden    to    make  king  oscar  i.  of  norway  and  Sweden       ^^^   ..^^^^.    --t— > 

I  ;.^^    If  u;  ,„       TJ„  „„  The  son  of  Charles  XIV.,  he  succeeded  to  the  dual  throne    j.i  rnnvpntinn      of 

himself  king.     He  ac-  ^r  Norway  and  Sweden,  and,  surrounding  himself  with    l^^e        UOnVCnilOn      Ol 

COrdingly    summoned  Ministers  of  broad  views,  proved  a  good  and  popular  ruler.     MoSS,  tO  the  SOUth  OI 

an  assembly  of  the  Estates  of  the  kingdom     Christiania,  was  concluded. 


at  Eidsvold,  north  of  Christiania,  which 
should  draw  up  a  constitution  for  the 
country.  This  assembly  met  in  April,  1814, 
and  had  completed  its  work  by  May  17th. 
As  a  result  of  this  constitution,  which 
was  modelled  on  the  French  constitution 
of  1791,  Norway  became  a  limited 
monarchy  with  one  Chamber  of  Repre- 
sentatives. On  this  point  the  members 
of  the  Estates  were  all  agreed;  they 
all  clung  to  the  independence  of  Norway. 
But  on  other  matters  they  were  divided 
into  two  factions ;  the  minority  wished  for 


The  Crown 
Prince,  who  felt  that  he  was  not  strong 
enough  to  subjugate  Norway  completely, 
and  who  wished  for  peace  in  the  north,  pro- 
mised in  the  name  of  King  Charles  XIII., 
before  the  Congress  of  Vienna  assembled, 
that  he  would  recognise  the  constitution 
of  Norway  ;  Christian  Frederic,  for  his 
part,  pledged  himself  to  renounce  the 
Crown,  to  convene  a  Storting— National 
Assembly — which  should  come  to  terms 
with  the  Swedish  king,  and  to  leave  the 
country.  These  arrangements  were  carried 
out ;  the  Storting  made  a  few  alterations 

5157 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD- 


in  the  constitution,  which  necessitated 
the  union  with  Sweden,  and  elected  King 
Charles  of  Sweden  as  King  of  Norway, 
November  4th,  1814.  The  conditions  of 
the  union  were  more  definitely  stated  by 
a    N'ntional    Act,    the    Rigsakt    f.f   1815. 


CHARLES     XV. 
Ascending  the  throne  of  Norway  and  Sweden  in  1S59  on  the 
death  of  his  father,  he  endeavoured  to  bring  about  closer 
relations  between  the  two  countries,  and    died  in  1S72. 

In  this  way  Norway  came  to  be  united  with 
Sweden  as  an  independent  kingdom.  Its 
constitution  was  one  of  the  freest  in 
Europe.  Since  that  time  the  country  has 
m.ade  great  progress  in  every  direction. 
The  people  successfully  upheld  their  free 
constitution  against  the  attacks  of  the 
Crown  and  maintained  their  equality  with 
Sweden  in  the  union.  They  were  also  able 
to  turn  the  natural  resources  of  their 
country  to  better  advantage,  and  thus  the 
general  prosperity  increased.  The  Norwe- 
gians have  paid  great  attention  to  national 
education,  and  have  taken  a  prominent 
position  in  art  and  science. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  the  union  there 
was  often  friction  between  the  king  and 
the  people.  Charles  XIV.,  Bernadotte, 
who    succeeded    to    the    throne   in    1818, 

5158 


thought  that  the  Norwegian  constitu- 
tion was  too  democratic,  and  wished 
to  extend  his  power.  However,  his 
attempts  to  alter  the  constitution  were 
frustrated  by  the  decided  attitude  of  the 
Storting,  which  always  offered  a  unanimous 
opposition  to  his  propositions.  The  Nor- 
wegians, on  their  part,  thought  that  the 
king  did  too  little  to  obtain  for  them  the 
equal  footing  in  the  union  which  had  been 
decreed  by  the  constitution,  and,  in 
addition,  they  feared  his  attacks  on  the 
constitution. 

Little  by  little,  however,  the  relations 
of  king  and  people  improved ;  Charles 
John  experienced  in  his  last  years  many 
proofs  of  the  loyalty  of  the  Norwe- 
gians. His  son,  Oscar  I.,  a  liberal  and 
kindly  disposed  prince,  did  his  utmost  to 
meet  the  wishes  (j1  the  Xdwt  L;ians.    King 


OSCAR    II. 
Charles  XV.  was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  Oscar  II.,  a 
poet  and    historian,  who,   in  lOO.i,  regretfully   agreed   to 
the   demand    of    Norway    for    separation   from   Sweden. 

and  Storting  worked  in  harmony  for  the 
welfare  of  the  country,  which  was  making 
great  progress  in  every  direction  ;  indus- 
try, in  particular,  received  a  fresh  impetus. 
After  his  death,  however,  there  was  an  end 


SCANDINAVIA    IN    THE    NINETEENTH    CENTURY 


of  concord  ;  the  opposition  in  the  Storting 
increased,  and  serious  pohtical  struggles 
began  which  have  continued  almost  with- 
out interruption  up  to  the  present  day. 

At  first  the  official  element  had  taken 
tbe  lead  in  the  Storting ;  but  after  the  July 
Revolution,  which  had  roused  in  Norway  a 
more  general  interest  in  politics,  and  a 
strong  national  spirit,  the  peasants,  who 
considered  themselves  the  true  represen- 
•tatives  of  the  Norwegian  people,  and 
regarded  the  government  officials  with  sus- 
picion, founded  a  party  in  opposition  to 
them.  This  party  soon  gained  in  strength 
by  the  coalition  of  the  Liberals,  who  wished 
to  extend  the  influence  of  the  Storting  at 
the  expense  of  the  executive  power.     It 


impeached  the  Ministry  ;  the  Ministers 
were  actually  condemned,  and  the  king 
was  forced  to  appoint  a  Sverdrup  Ministry, 
June  26th,  1884.  However,  no  sooner  did 
the  Left  come  into  power  than  they  began 
to  disagree  ;  they  split  up  into  Moderates 
and  Radicals,  and  Sverdrup  was  obliged 
to  give  way  to  a  Conservative  Ministry  in 
July,  1889.  But  the  Conservatives  did 
not  remain  in  power;  in  1891  the  Liberals 
came  into  office,  which  they  retained  till 
after  the  spring  of  the  new  century. 

Almost  all  literary  activity  had  ceased 
with  the  decline  of  the  national  life  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  The  people,  how- 
ever, still  cherished  the  old  sagas  and 
poems,     A  wealth  of  national  poetry  was 


THE  GREAT  FIGURES  IN  SCANDINAVIAN  LITERATURE  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 
With  the  awakened  enthusiasm  for  nationalism  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  dawned  a  new 
literary  era  in  Scandinavia,  the  poets  Bjorn  Bjornson,  Jonas  Lie,  and  others  delighting:  in  describing  the  charac- 
teristic traits  in  the  life  and  customs  of  the  people,  while  Bjornson  and  Ibsen  also  achieved  fame  as  dramatists. 


now  formed  an  opposition  and  established 
itself  on  the  left  side  of  the  House,  while 
what  had  been  the  official  became  the 
Conservative  party,  and  supported  the 
Government.  The  Left  had  a  capable 
leader  in  John  Sverdrup,  1876-1892  ; 
under  him  they  became  more  important, 
and  finally  constituted  the  majority  in  the 
Storting.  Consequently  the  relations  be- 
tween the  Government  and  the  Left  were 
not  over-friendly  during  the  reign  of 
Charles  XV.,  1859-1872.  ' 

Ill-feeling  increased  under  his  brother 
and  successor,  Oscar  II.  There  were 
several  points  of  dispute  ;  the  Govern- 
ment opposed  various  propositions  of  the 
Left,  and  could  not  agree  with  them  con- 
cerning the  exact  meaning  of  a  few  points 
in  the  constitution.     At  last  the  Storting 


springing  up — songs,  sagas,  and  fairy 
stories.  These  have  been  collected  in 
recent  times  and  furnish  an  interesting 
picture  of  the  intellectual  life  of  the  people 
in  earlier  times.  The  olc"  Norwegian 
language,  which  had  remained  compara- 
tively unaltered  only  in  Iceland,  became 
obsolete  as  a  literary  language  with  the 
decline  of  literatvire,  and  survived  only 
in  dialects.  The  Danish  language  was 
introduced,  and  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  a  fresh  impulse  was  given  to  literary 
activity,  the  Norwegians  wrote  in  Danish. 
Thus  the  literature  of  the  two  countries 
became  merged.  The  share  which  the 
Norwegians  contributed,  "  Foelles  lit- 
teraturen,"  was  at  first  insignificant,  but 
it  increased  and  became  more  important 
as  they  gradually  recovered   from   their 

5159 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


inertia.       But,  in    spite    of    the  growing 

national  spirit,  there  was  as  yet  no  effort 

to  create  a  Norwegian  national  literature. 

Immediately   after   1814   also,   when   the 

literary    output    was    small,    the    poets 

showed  little  originality.    They  remained 

in  the  grooves  of  the  eighteenth  century, 

raved  about  their  fatherland,  and  wrote 

_^    -.  songs      on     liberty,     national 

The  Dawn  i  ■,     ■,  tj. 

f  N  f  novels,   and  dramas.      it  was 

, .  °°  not  until  the  year  1830  that  a 
national  literature  of  any  im- 
portance began,  with  the  poets  Wergeland, 
who  died  in  1845,  and  Welhaven,  who  died 
in  1873.  Both  were  filled  with  a  fervent 
love  for  their  country,  and  only  differed  in 
one  point — namely,  as  to  what  would 
prove  of  most  advantage  to  Norway. 
The  educated  classes  are  still  strongly  in- 
fluenced by  Danish  culture,  and  Welhaven 
desired  to  maintain  the  intellectual 
union  with  Denmark ;  Wergeland,  on  the 
other  hand,  hated  the  Danish  culture 
and  language,  and  was  enthusiastic  about 
his  own  nationality. 

Thus  in  1832  there  began  a  violent 
literary  feud.  It  had  some  good  results. 
On  the  one  hand  it  helped  to  check 
the  exaggerated  enthusiasm  for  every- 
thing Norwegian  ;  on  the  other  hand  it 
strengthened  genuine  self-reliance  and 
true  patriotism.  With  the  extravagant 
enthusiasm  for  nationalism  there  was 
awakened  an  interest  in  the  life  of  the 
people,  in  national  poetry,  and  nature. 
The  poets  Bjorn  Bjornson,  Jonas  Lie,  and 
others  delighted  in  describing  the  charac- 
teristic traits  in  the  life  and  customs  of 
the  people  and  their  thoughts  and  feelings. 

At  the  same  time  the  saga  period  was 
dramatised,,  and  Bjornson  and  Henrik 
Ibsen,  who  died  in  1906,  produced  a  series 
of  historical  plays.  Efforts  were  made  to 
preserve  Norwegian  as  the  national  lan- 
guage. From  1870  literature  gradually 
assumed  a  realistic  tone;  the  poets  did  not 
describe  chiefly  the  life  of  the  peasants 
as  formerly,  but  all  classes  of 


man  society.  Poets  such  as  Biornson, 

Under  the       -  -^  -'  ' 

Swedes 


Ibsen,  Lie,  Alex  Kielland,  who 
died  in  igo6,  and  Arne  Garborg, 
born  in  185 1,  undertook  to  solve  social  pro- 
blems. Science  was  studied  with  gratifying 
results  at  the  University  of  Christiania. 
Finland,  which  the  Swedes  had  conquered 
and  converted  to  Christianity  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  was  not  intimately 
connected  with  the  kingdom  of  Sweden 
until    the    sixteenth    century ;      in    the 

5160 


fifteenth  century  it  was  generally  given  to 
some  Swedish  magnate  as  a  fief.  It  was 
not  until  the  time  of  the  V^asa  that  the 
royal  power  made  itself  felt  in  the  land. 
Gustavus  Vasa  reformed  the  government 
and  system  of  taxation,  destroyed  the 
Catholic  hierarchy,  and  introduced  the 
Reformation,  for  which  M.  Agricola,  who 
died  in  1557,  in  particular  interested  him- 
self keenly;  but  the  king's  efforts  to  release 
the  Finns  from  the  oppression  of  their 
own  nobles  were  fruitless.  The  situation 
became  still  worse  under  the  sons  of 
Gustavus,  Erik  XIV.  and  John. 

At  last,  in  1596-1597,  the  Finnish 
peasants  rose  against  their  oppressors, 
and,  armed  with  clubs,  plundered  the 
estates  of  the  nobles ;  but  the  rising, 
which  spread  over  the  whole  country, 
was  suppressed,  and  for  the  second  time 
Finland  was  conquered.  This  "  Club 
War"  cost  the  lives  of  3,000  peasants. 
The  conditions  improved  after  Charles  IX. 
became  king.  Assistance  was  given  to  the 
country,  and  it  was  united  more  firmly 
to  Sweden  ;  the  power  of  the  nobility  was 
crushed,  and  Finland,  which  had  become  a 
grand     duchy    in     1581,    was 

m  an    s      governed  from   Stockholm,  al- 
p*"*  °     ..      though  it  had  its  own  court  of 

rospen  y    j^g^j^g  ^^  ^^^  There  in  1640  the 

governor-general.  Per  Brahe  the  younger, 
who  rendered  valuable  services  to  Finland, 
founded  a  university,  w^hich  soon  became 
the  intellectual  centre  of  Finland.  The 
Peace  of  Stolbowa,  in  1617,  fixed  the  fron- 
tier on  the  side  of  Russia.  From  that 
time  Finland  enjoyed  a  time  of  prosperit}' 
until  towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  when  the  -land  was  terribly  de- 
vastated by  famine  and  pestilence.  The 
great  Northern  War  came  as  a  crowning 
misfortune.  The  country  did  not  recover 
until  the  eighteenth  century,  when  Swedish 
rule  predominated.  Even  the  war  with 
Russia,  1741-1743,  did  not  permanently 
affect  the  prosperity  to  which  the 
country  had  again  attained. 

In  the  meantime  desires  for  independ- 
ence were  awakening  in  the  hearts  of  many 
Finns,  who  hoped,  with  the  aid  of  Russia,  to 
form  an  independent  Finnish  state  under 
Russian  protection.  This  wish  was  partly 
realised  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  owing  to  the  indiscreet  policy  of 
Gustavus  IV.  ;  for  after  the  unsuccessful 
war  of  1808-1809  Sweden  was  obliged  to 
cede  Finland,  together  with  the  Aland 
Islands,    to    Russia    by    the     Peace     of 


THE    TOWN     AS     SEEN     FROM     THE     HARZIUUK,    WHICH     IS     PROTECTED     BY     BATTERIES 


THE     SENATE     HOUSE,     WHERE     LADY     MEMBERS     OF     PARLIAMENT     SIT 


HELSINGFORS,     THE     FORTIFIED     SEAPORT     CAPITAL     OF     FINLAND 


ii6i 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


Fredrikshamn,  September  17th,  1809.  The 
Emperor  Alexander  I.  promised  at  the 
Diet  of  Borga,  which  he  opened  in  person, 
that  he  would  maintain  the  constitution  of 
the  country.  Finland  was  united  to  Russia 
as  an  independent  grand  duchy,  with 
Helsingfors  for  its  capital.  The  provinces 
which  had  been  ceded  by  the  Peace  of 
Nystad,  1721,  and  the  Peace  of  Abo,  1743, 
were  also  incorporated  with  the  grand 
duchy  after  several  years.  At  first 
Alexander  I.  was  true  to  his  promise  and 
respected  the  constitution,  but  later  he 
became  a  reactionary,  and  in  this  respect 
he  was  followed  by  Nicholas  I .  Better  times 
returned  with  Alexander  II.,  who  decreed 
that  from  i86g  the  Diet — ^Landtag — to 
which  Nicholas  had  allowed  no  authority, 
should  again  be  regularly  convened,  and 
should  have  the  power  of  legislation  with 
certain  restrictions.  In  this  period  reforms 
were  introduced  which  furthered  the 
material  and  social  development  of  the 
country.  In  the  nineteenth  century  the 
Finns  also  distinguished  themselves  by 
their  literary  activity.  E.  Lonnrot,  who  died 
in  1884,  collected  the  old  Finnish  national 
sagas,  "  Kalcvala."  whicli  attracted  great 


attention  when  they  were  publisned  in  1835. 
J  oh.  Runeberg,  who  died  in  1877,  Finland's 
greatest  poet,  extolled  in  "  Fanrik  Stals 
Sagner  "  the  exploits  of  the  Finns  in  the 
last  war  against  Russia.  Z.  Topelius,  who 
died  in  1898,  has  earned  well-deserved  re- 
nown even  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Fin- 
land by  his  "Narratives" — Erzahlungen. 
In  recent  times  a  movement  has  been  set 
on  foot  in  Finland  which  aims  at  making 
the  national  language  equal  in  importance 
to  the  Swedish.  The  supporters  of  this 
movement,  the  "  Fennomanen,"  have  been 
so  successful  in  their  efforts  that  both 
languages  are  on  an  equal  footing  in 
everything  which  immediately  concerns 
the  population  of  Finland.  Although  the 
people  have  divided  into  two  parties  on 
this  question,  they  are  all  agreed  that  they 
must  unite  against  the  encroachments  of 
Russia,  for  there  are  many  Russians  who 
are  not  pleased  with  the  independence  of 
Finland,  and  who  would  gladly  see  the 
country  entirely  incorporated  with  Russia. 
The  Russian  Government  also  made  it 
evident  that  Russia  would  like  to  incor- 
porate Finland  and  destroy  the  Finnish 
nationality.  Hans  Schjoth 


A    SCENE     IN     DENMARK  S     CAPITAL: 


THE    ROYAL    THEATRl       COPENHAGEN 


5162 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  VICTORIAN  ERA 

THE   TRIUMPH  OF  DEMOCRACY 
IN     THE     UNITED     KINGDOM 

By    Arthur    D.  Innes,  M.A. 


TTHE  Reform  Bill,  passed  in  1867,  was 
•■•  avowedly  a  leap  in  the  dark.  The 
vote  for  parliamentary  representatfves 
had  been  bestowed  on  classes  which  had 
hitherto  had  no  voice  in  the  government 
of  the  country.  Practically  the  whole  of 
the  m"ban  labouring  population  was  now 
entitled  to  vote,  though  the  agricultural 
labourers,  the  peasantry  of  the  three 
kingdoms,  were  still  excluded.  The  work- 
ing man  had  got  his  vote  on  the  hypothesis 
that  he  would  use  it  intelligently  and 
responsibly.  There  was  ground,  on  the  one 
side,  for  expecting  that  a  class  numerically 
outweighing  the  rest  would  demand  legis- 
lation in  its  own  interests  ;  and,  on  the 
other,  for  trusting  to  the  conservative 
instincts  of  the  race  to  prevent  such  de- 
mands from  being  excessive. 

It  was  evident  to  both  the  political  parties 
that  to  meet  the  requirements  of  this  new 
and  preponderant  element  in  the  elector- 
ate must  be  a  primary  object  with  every 
government.  It  was  likely  that  any  change 
in  the  character  of  the  representatives 
themselves,  in  the  social  rank  to  which 
they  would  belong,  would  be  only  gradual ; 
the  actual  business  of  government  would 
be  ir  the  hands  of  the  same  type  of  legis- 
lators and  administrators  as  before  ;  but 
they  would  have  to  satisfy  the  wants  of 
new  masters,  and  the  new  masters  would 
have  to  be  educated  to  a  wise  exercise  of 
their  newly- acquired  powers. 

Broadly  speaking,  then,  at  the  moment 
when  the  new  electorate  placed  Gladstone 
in  power  instead  of  Disraeli  the  attitudes 


of  the  two  parties  w^ere  as  follows  :  The 
Liberals  believed  that  their  hands  were 
strengthened  for  drastic  legislation  directed 
against  what  they  regarded  as  the  unjusti- 
fiable privileges  of  the  orders  of  society 
which  had  hitherto  held  the  preponderance, 
some  of  which  appeared  to  the  Conserva- 
tives in  the  light  of  necessary  m.ainstays 
for  the  support  of  any  orderly  social  fabric. 

On  the  other  hand,  their  foreign  policy 
was  based  on  the  conviction  that  peace 
should  be  secured,  and  the  horrors  of  war 
avoided,  by  carrying  concession  to  the 
utmost  limits  compatible  with  national 
honour,  and  by  a  confidence  in  the  equal 
readiness  of  foreign  Powers  to  be  guided 
by  abstract  conceptions  of  disinterested 
justice.  The  Conservatives,  on  the  other 
hand,  looked  to  the  provision  of  methods 
for  the  ameliofation  of  the  condition  of  the 
working  classes  without  disturbing  vested 
interests ;  and  in  foreign  politics,  having  a 
complete  distrust  of  our  neighbours'  readi- 
ness to  subordinate  their  own  interests  to 
principles  of  abstract  justice,  they  dwelt 
on  the  maxim  that  the  best  security  against 
war  is  to  be  found  in  readiness  for  battle. 

Ireland  presented  to  Gladstone  the  most 
immediate  and  pressing  problem.  Catholic 
emancipation  had  not  healed  the  distresses 
of  that  country,  and  the  Fenian  movement 
was  only  a  more  violent  demonstration 
than  usual  of  the  intense  discontent  from 
which  she  was  suffering.  Gladstone 
believed  the  political  disaffection  to  be  the 
product  of  genuine  grievances,  which  were 
attributed  to  the  British  supremacy,  and 

5163 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


KING    EDWARD    IN    EARLY    MANHOOD 

if  those  grievances  were  removed, 
the  disaffection  would  die  out. 
These  sources  of  trouble  were 
to  be  found  in  the  agrarian  and 
the  religious  systems  existing. 
Roman  Catholicism  was  no  longer 
attended  by  serious  disabilities ; 
but  in  a  country  where  more  than 
three-fourths  of  the  population 
were  Roman  Catholics  the  religious 
endowments  were  appropriated  to 
the  established  Anglican  Church, 
while  the  Church  to  which  the 
masses  adhered  was  entirely  de- 
pendent on  voluntary  support. 
The  disestablishment  of  the  An- 
glican Church  in  Ireland  was  the 
first  important  measure  presented 
to  the  new  Parliament  in  1869. 
To  deprive  the  Church  of  her 
property,  to  sever  the  connection 
of  Church  and  State,  to  attack  the 
supremacy  of  Protestantism — such, 
in  the  eyes  of  opponents,  were  the 
objects  of  the  Bill,  which  was 
passed,  however,  part  of  the  pro- 
posal being  an  arrangement  under 
which  the  equivalent  of  some  two- 
thirds  of  the  Church  property  was 
returned  to  the  new  ecclesiastical 

5164 


corporation  into  which  the  dis- 
established Church  was  formed. 
Irish  land  presented  a  no  less 
thorny  problem.  In  Ireland,  the 
peasant  lived  on,  and  by,  his 
holding  ;  there  was  no  demand  for 
his  labour.  The  alternative  to 
living  on  his  holding  at  whatever 
rental  the  landlord  or  his  agent 
might  demand,  was  emigration. 
Most  of  the  peasantry  were  tenants 
at  will,  who  could  be  simply  evicted 
at  six  months'  notice,  and  eviction 
meant  the  complete  loss  of  any 
expenditure  the  tenant  had  in- 
curred in  improving  his  holding, 
although  this  state  of  things  was 
locally  modified  by  prevalent 
customs.  The  demand  of  the 
peasantry  was  formulated  in  the 
"  Three  Fs,"  fair  rent,  fixity  of 
tenure,  free  sale. 

The  object  of  the  Land  Bill  now 
introduced  by  the  Government  was 
to  provide  compensation  for  im- 
provements in  cases  of  arbitrary 
eviction,  to  give  sundry  local 
customs  the  force  of  law,  and  to 
assist  tenants,  by  monev  loans,  to 


PUEEN 


ALEXANDRA  AT  THE  TIME  OF  HER    MARRIAGE 
Trom  the  paiulinij  by  R.  Lauchcrt 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    VICTORIAN    ERA 


become  freeholders  by  purchase  when  the 
landlord  was  willing  to  sell.  This  Bill  also 
was  passed  ;  but  it  shared  with  the  Act  of 
Disestablishment  the  fate  of  being  regarded 
as  a  concession,  not  to  justice,  but  to 
violence.  The  activity  of  the  secret 
societies  was  not  curtailed,  and  even  while 
it  was  under  consideration  it  was  con- 
sidered necessary  to  pass  a  "  Peace 
Preservation  Act,"  giving  considerable 
powers  of  summary  jurisdiction  to  magis- 
trates and  otherwise  restricting  normal 
liberties  in  "  proclaimed  "  districts.  As  an 
attempt  at  conciliation,  the  measures  were 
a  complete  failure,  and  the  Home  Rule 
movement  came 
into  being  —  a 
movement  dis- 
tinct from  Feni- 
anism,  which 
demanded  sepa- 
ration, and  not 
identical  with 
O'Connell's  old 
demand  for  the 
repeal  of  the 
Union,  but 
having  as  its 
avowed  object 
the  creation  oi 
an  Irish  Parlia- 
ment for  the 
conduct  of  Irish 
government.  In 
1870  was  passed 
the  Education 
Act,  empower- 
i  n  g  local  a  u  - 
thorities  to  es- 
tablish schools 
for  primary 
education  main- 
tained chiefly  out 


a  lar^;e  extent,  unreasonable,  but  .none  the 
less  violent,  than -this  Education  Act, 
associated  with  the  name  of  W.-E!  Fqrster  ; 
but  these  did  not  arise  in  an  acute  form 
till  some  years  later,  when  the  Voluntary 
schools  began  to  find  their  own  mainten- 
ance, unsupplemented  by,  public  funds, 
increasingly  impossible.    " 

The  Nonconformist  bodies  protested 
against  paying  rates  for  the  support  of  such 
schools  as  were  allowed  to  maintain  a 
"  Church  Atmosphere,"  which  Anglicans 
and  Romanists  made  a  cardinal  point 
of  maintaining.  "T^Tidenominational"  in- 
struction being  regarded  as  anti-Anglican, 
while-  payment 
for  denomina- 
tional instruc- 
tion out  of  public 
moneys  is  no 
less  objection- 
able from  the 
other  point  of 
view,  all  efforts 
at  a  compromise 
between  the  two 
sides  have  hither- 
to failed;  and  the 
advocates  of  ex- 
clusively secular 
instruction  as 
the  only  road 
t  o  educational 
peace  seem  likely 
to  multiply. 
Apart,  however, 
from  the  religious 
question,  there  is 
a  general  con- 
sensus of  opinion 
that,  although 
elementary  edu- 
cation    by     the 


^f  +V.O  f^+oo  \.r;  +  U  A    ROYAL    FAMILY    GROUP  c    ^     1         "     .^        ^ 

of  the  rates,  Wllh     ^in^  Edward   and  Queen  Alexandra  in  18.U,  then  the   Prince   and    State  haS  UOt  yet 
the  proviso   that     Princess  of  Wales,  with  their  first-born  child,  Prince  Albert  Victor.     bCCn     tumcd     tO 


the  religious  instruction  given  in  such 
schools  should  be  the  simple  Bible  teaching 
supposed  to  be  common  to  all  Christian 
churches  and  sects.  Hitherto,  elementary 
schools  had  been  supported  almost  entirely 
by  the  contributions  of  members  of  different 
religious  denominations,  the  bulk  of  them, 
of  course,  Anglican,  which  merely  received 
slight  assistance  from  government  grants, 
In  such  schools  it  was  required  that  parents 
might,  under  a  "  conscience  clause,"  with- 
draw their  children  from  religious  instruc- 
tion. It  would  be  hard  to  name  any 
more  fruitful  source  of  controversies,  to 


the  best  account,  much  good  has  already 
been  done,  and  the  machinery  has  been 
prepared  for  future  developments.  But 
the  parents  in  the  class  for  whose  special 
benefit  the  system  w'as  devised  have 
never  displayed  any  warm  apprecia- 
tion of  its  merits,  since  the  children 
are  unable  effectively  to  earn  wages 
until  their  school-time  is  ovei . 

Another  attack  on  class-privilege  is  to 
be  noted  in  the  abolition  of  promotion  by 
purchase  in  the  army— a  measure  which 
was  enforced  by  Royal  prerogative  in 
view  of  the  probability  that  the  House  of 

5165 


3  c>  >; 


5166 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    VICTORIAN    ERA 


Lords  would  prevent  its  enactment  by 
process  of  Parliament.  That  a  Liberal 
Government  should  appeal  to  prerogative 
to  override  Parliament  was  sufficiently 
paradoxical  to  look  like  a  constitutional 
innovation.  In  electoral  law  one  change 
of  importance  was  made  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  ballot,  which  has  only  in  part 
had.  the  desired  and  desirable  effect  of 
sheltering  those  electors  who  do  not  wish  it 
to  be  known  how  their  vote  has  been  cast. 
None  of  the  legislation  recorded  was  of 
a  character  to  excite  the  enthusiasm  of 
the    new    electors ;     and    the    Ministers' 


Conference'.  The  result  -  was  -  t4iat  the 
Powers  acquiesced  in  the  modifications 
of  the  treaty  required  by  Russia.  Great 
Britain,  being  alone  strongly  interested  in 
the  maintenance  of  the  clauses,  was  unable 
to  impress  her  view  on  the  other  signatories ; 
and  the  country  felt  that  its  prestige  had 
been  lowered  in  the  eyes  of  Europe. 

Somewhat  similar  was  the  effect  of.  the 
Alabama  claim.  The  Alabama,  as  pre- 
viously related,  was  a  vessel  built  in  the 
Mersey  which  escaped  the  vigilance  of 
the  authorities,  "put  to  sea,  vvas  handed 
;over  to  the  Confederates,  and  did  immense 


KING    EDWARD    VII.    AND    QUEEN    ALEXANDRA    RIDING    IN    WINDSOR    PARK 

From  the  picture  by  Barraud,  painted  in  the  early  years  of  their  married  hfe 


conduct  of  foreign  affairs  was  still  less 
pleasing.  In  two  separate  affairs,  British 
diplomacy  had  disastrous  results.  The 
Russian  Government  took  the  oppor- 
tunity of  the  outbreak  of  war  between 
France  and  Germany  to  issue  a  declara- 
tion repudiating  certain  clauses  in  the 
Treaty  of  Paris,  which  had  followed  the 
Crimean  War,  on  the  ground  that  altered 
circumstances  had  made  them  no  longer 
binding.  The  claim  necessitated  the 
assembling  of  a  conference  of  the  Powers 
which  had  signed  the  treaty,  held  in 
London    and   known    as    the    Black    Sea 


damage  to  the  Federal  shipping  in  the 
American  Civil  War.  Very  heavy  claims 
for  compensation  were  put  in  by  the 
United  States  Government,  while  the 
British  refused  to  admit  that  any  breach 
of  neutrality  had  been  committed.  At 
last,  in  1871,  a  treaty  was  made  by  which 
the  dispute  was  submitted  to  an  inter- 
national court  of  arbitration.  In  the 
treaty,  the  British  Government  conceded 
practically  every  one  of  the  American 
demands  as  to  the  conditions  of  the 
inquiry,  though  denying  that  several  of 
the  conditions  were  properly  applicable  ; 

5^^7 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


and  the  court's  decision  was  regarded  as 
extravagantly  favourable  to  the  Americans. 
This  first  great  attempt  to  intro- 
duce the  principle  of  arbitration  in  the 
settlement  of  international  difficulties 
gave  an  unfortunate  impression  that 
such  tribunals  would  be  guided,  not 
by  the  principles  of  justice,  but  by 
interest,  and  where  Britain  was  con- 
cerned, by  prejudice  against  her.  The 
impression  was  intensified  when  a 
dispute  as  to  delimitation  of  frontiers 
in  the  north-west  of  America  was  re- 
ferred to  the  arbitration  of  the  German 
Emperor,  and  was  promptly  decided  in 
favour    of    the    Americans.      Thus,    by 


the  Acts ;  the  war  raged  round  the 
doctrine .  of  freedom  of  contract,  which 
must,  in,  the  eyes  of  one  party,  be  held 
sacred  and  inviolable,  whereas  in  the  eyes 
of  the  other  party  the  "  Freedom"  was 
a  fiction,  the  tenant  or  employee  having 
practically  no  power  to  resist  pressure  on 
the  part  of  the  landlord  or  employer. 

It  was  not,  however,  in  the  field  of 
domestic  legislation  that  the  1874  Ministry 
was  notable.  The  brilliant  chief  of  the 
ruling  party  found  room  for  a  more 
dazzling  display  of  his  abilities  in  the 
conduct  of  foreign  affairs.  The  world  was 
suddenly  startled  by  the  exceedingly 
ingenious     stroke     which     brought     the 


QUEEN    VICTORIA    RECEIVING    THE    SHAH   OF    PERSIA   AT    WINDSOR,    ON    JUNE    20TH,    1873 


the  end  of  1872  the  Ministry  had 
lost  favour  with  the  nation,  and  a  dis- 
solution at  the  beginning  of  1874  gave 
Disraeli  a  decisive  majority. 

The  conservative  legislation  proceeded 
on  the  lines  of  providing  the  working 
classes  with  opportunities  for  improving 
their  condition.  The  fundamental  differ- 
ence between  the  attitude  of  Conservatism 
and  that  of  advanced  Liberalism  became 
apparent  in  the  questions  of  contract 
between  landlord  and  tenant,  or  between 
employers  and  employees.  The  legisla- 
tion systematically  recognised  the  right 
of  the  two  parties  to  contract  them- 
selves out  of  the  obligations  imposed  b}' 

5168 


recently  constructed  Suez  Canal  practically 
under  British  control.  The  canal  had 
been  constructed  by  Lesseps,  and  the 
natural  presumption  was  that  French 
influence  would  predominate,  while  the 
great  actual  preponderance  lay  with  tlie 
Khedive  of  Egypt.  But  the  Khedive  was 
in  want  of  cash  ;  and  on  the  strength  of 
information  received,  Disraeli  purchased 
his  shares  in  the  Canal  Company  on 
behalf  of  the  British  Government,  which 
thus  became  very  much  the  largest 
shareholder  in  the  concern.  The  secrecy 
and  the  unexpectedness  of  the  transaction 
gave  it  a  peculiarly  startling  character, 
and  at  once  aroused  the  excited  suspicions 


CABINET    COUNCIL    IN    DOWNING    STREET    DISCUSSING    THE    EASTERN     QUESTION 
In  1876  a  crisis  of  an  alarming  character  occupied  the  attention  of  the  British  Government.     Misrule  in  Turkey 
had  brought  the  European  provinces  of  the  Porte  into  insurrection,  ind  while  one  party  in  Britiin  was  desirous  of 
maintaining-  the  rule  of  the  Turk  there  was  another  party  equally  reso  \.     1  to  terminate  th(   oppr     -.ion  at  all  costs 


THE    CONFERENCE    OF    THE    GREAT    POWERS    AT    CONSTANTINOPLE    IN     1S7G 
The  Eastern  crisis  increased  in  intensity  when,   in  June,   1870,  Servia  and  Montenegro  declared   war  against 
Turkey.     An  armistice  having  been  agreed  upon,  through  the  insistence  of  Russia,  Lord  Beaconsfield  organised  a 
conference  of  the  Great  Powers  at  Constantinople,  Lord  Salisbury  attending  it  as  the  representative  of  the  British 
Government.     The  conference  proved  abortive,  the  threatened  Russo-Turkish  war  being  only  temporarily  averted. 


COUNCIL    AND     CONFERENCE     IN     LONDON     AND     CONSTANTINOPLE 
I  C  23  G  5169 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


of  tlie  political  school 
which  \'iews  with  alarm 
any  abnormal  extra- 
parliamentary  exercise  of 
administrative  power. 
About  the  same  time, 
the  Eastern  question  was 
again  assuming  pro- 
minence. If  Russia,  on 
the  one  part,,  succeeded, 
as  we  have  seen,  in 
securing  in  her  own  favour 
modifications  of  the  post- 
Crimean  Treaty  of  Paris, 
Turkey  had  succeeded  in 
effectually  evading  the 
fulfilment  of  her  own 
pledges  under  that  instru- 
ment. The  government 
of  the  Christian  pro- 
vinces continued  to  be 
eminently  unsatisfactory, 
amounting  practically  to  a 
military'  rule  over  a  ]:)eople 
in    a    state     perpetually 


CHARLES  STEWART  PARNELL 
The  "uncrowned  King  of  Ireland,"  Parnell 
exercised  wonderful  influence  both  in  Parlia- 
ment and  throughout  the  country,  but  his 
appearance  as  co-respondent  in  a  divorce  case 
was   the   death-blow   to    his    political   career. 


bordering  on  insurrection. 
Insurrection  broke  out 
in  Bosnia  and  Herzego- 
\'ina,  and  was  repressed 
with  circumstances  of 
savage  brutality,  even 
when  full  allowance  is 
made  for  inevitable  ex- 
aggerations and  highly 
coloured  pictures  of  the 
cruelties  practised.  The 
European  governments 
remonstrated,  and  the 
European  populations  be- 
came excited.  Turkey 
continued  to  promise, 
and  continued  not  to 
perform.  The  stories  of 
the  "  Bulgarian  atro- 
cities "  aroused  a  passion 
of  indignant  resentment, 
especially  in  Britain  and 
in  Russia.  The  govern- 
ments still  confined 
themselves  to  diplomatic 


THE   "MOONLIGHTING"   OUTRAGES   IN   IRELAND:    A  VISIT    FROM   "CAPTAIN   MOONLIGHT" 

Abo  t  1  S.HI  I  secret  societies  carried  out  in  Ireland  a  series  of  outrages,  chiefly  at  night.  Thenoticessent  to  those  who  were  to 
be  visited  w-jre  signed  "Captain  Moonlight,"  and  thus  the  members  of  these  societies  came  to  be  known  as  "  Moonlighters.' 

5170 


THE     EVICTION     OF     AN     IRISH      HOUSEHOLDER     FOR     REFUSING    TO     PAY     HIS     KENT 
During  the  disturbed  period  in  Ireland  scenes  such  as  that  depicted  above  were  of  frequent  occurrence.     Rents  could 
not  be  collected,  and  in  consequence  the  tenants  who  refused  to  pay  were  forcibly  evicted  by  officers  of  the  police. 

stubborn  fight  against  heavy  odds.  Lord 
Beaconsfield — DisraeH  had  taken  the  title 
at  the  end  of  1876 — felt  that  the  nation 
would  be  behind  him  in  opposing  Russia. 
The  fleet  was  sent  to  the  Dardanelles  ;  it 
seemed  as  if  a  war  with  Russia  could 
hardly  be  avoided.  Blatant  bellicosity 
got  its  now  familiar  title  of  Jingoism 
from  a  popular  song  of  the  day. 

In  the  midst  of  the  clamour  the  public 
was  startled  by  suddenly  finding  the 
Russians  and  Turks  embracing.  The  two 
powers  had  concluded  the  Treaty  of  San 
Stefano.  But  the  treaty  was  by  no  means 
to  the  liking  of  the  British,  as  unduly 
strengthening  the  Russian  position,  though 
not  so  much  so  as  was  at  first  feared.  Lord 
Beaconsfield  claimed  that  the  treaty  must 
be  submitted  to  a  conference  of  the  Powers, 
who  were  pledged  to  maintain  the  Treaty  of 
Paris  as  modified  by  the  Black  Sea 
Treaty.  It  was  still  far  from  certain  that 
the  war-clouds  would  disperse,  and  native 


])ressure,  and  Turkey  still  relied  on 
their  distrust  of  each  other  to  secure 
her  from  anything  more  serious.  But 
Russia  took  upon  herself  the  obligations 
of  Europe,  and  in  1877  declared  war 
upon  Turkey  in  the  character  of  defender 
of  the  Christian  populations. 

It  was  precisely  in  this  character  that 
Russia  had  always  intervened  ;  British 
Ministers  as  invariably  believed. the  philan- 
thropic profession  to  be  nothing  but  a 
cloak,  an  excuse  which  was  to  be  used  to 
advance  Russian  interests  to  the  detriment 
of  the  British  Empire.  Suspicions  of 
Russia  prevailed  over  indignation  against 
Turkey  ;  the  conviction  was  not  unusual 
that  Russia  had  deliberately  fostered  the 
disturbances,  that  an  excuse  might  be 
provided  for  her  own  aggression.  Russia 
flung  herself  against  Turkey,  and  the 
magnificent  defence  of  Plevna  by  Osman 
Pasha  excited  the  keen  admiration  of  a 
people  always  ready  to  sympathise  with  a 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


troops  were  summoned  from  India  to  Malta 
for  contingencies — a  proceeding  which,  in 
the  eyes  of  many,  was  a  violation  of  consti- 
tutional principles.  How  far  this  practical 
demonstration  of  British  readiness  for 
war  influenced  Russia  may  be  a  matter 
for  question  ;  but  she  assented  to  the 
British  demand,  and  a  congress  of  the 
Powers  was  summoned  at  Berlin. 

Whether  the  objects  and  the  methods 
of  Beaconsfield's  diplomacy  were  wise  or 
unwise,  the  methods  were  successful  and 
the  objects  were  attained.  Secret  pre- 
liminary agreements  were  made  separately 
with  Russia  and  with  Turkey  ;  and  the 
outcome  of  the  congress  was  that  the 
Balkan  States  were  declared  independent 
principalities,  the  concessions  to  Russia 
under  the  Treaty  of  San  Stefano  were 
curtailed,  and  the  new  treaty  was  supple- 
mented by  an  Anglo-Turk'sh  treaty,  under 
which  Great  Britain  guaranteed  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  Turkish 
dominion  in  Asia,  in  con- 
sideration of  which  she  was 
to  occupy  the  Island  of 
Cyprus.  Lord  Beaconsfield 
returned  to  England,  the 
bearer,  in  his  own  famous 
phrase,  of  "  Peace  with 
Honour,"    in    July,     1878. 

In  other  parts  of  the 
empire,  however,  Lord 
Beaconsfield's  policy 
brought  the  Ministry  more 
doubtful  credit.  The  pro- 
clamation of  a  new  title 
for  the  Queen  as  Empress 
of  India  at  the  opening  of 
1877  was  not  uncommonly 
regarded  in  Britain  as  a 
piece  of  cheap  display ; 
though,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  British  mind  does  not 
find  it  easy  to  appreciate 
the  value  of  even  cheap  dis- 
play in  influencing  Oriental 
populations.  But  the  new 
policy  adopted  toward-^ 
Afghanistan  by  Loin 
Beaconsfield  and  "  his 
Vicei'oy,  Lord  Lytton,  was 
fraught  with  danger.  Ever 
since  the  restoration  of 
Dost  Mohammed  in  1843,  the  principle  of 
non-intervention  had  been  maintained. 
But  in  Asia,  as  in  Europe,  Russian  aggres- 
sion was  looked  upon  with  increasing  alarm ; 
Russian  efforts  to  obtain  influence  at  the 

5172 


Court  of  Kabul  were  regarded  with  v/ell- 
founded  jealousy,  and  there  was  a  strong 
feeling  in  military  circles  that  strategical 
requirements  demanded  the  substitut'on  of 
a  "  scientific  frontier "  for  the  existing 
one.  The  proposals  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment appeared  to  the  Amir.^ere  Ali,  to  be 
merely  a  cloak  for  annexation.  A  Russian 
^.     «  .  •  t  mission  was  received  at  Kabul, 

The   British  J  r:>    -J.-   u 

__  .  and  a  British  mission  was 
Af'^h  *"\  stopped.  Three  British  coiumns 
g  anis  an  gj^^gj-^^j  Afghanistan  in  Nov- 
ember, 1878.  Shere  Ali  fled,  and  died ; 
the  British  established  his  son  Yakub  Khan 
as  Amir.  Sir  Louis  Cavagnari  went  to 
Kabul  as  British  Resident,  and  was  very 
soon  murdered,  in  September,  1879.  The 
account  of  the  war  which  followed,  in 
which  Sir  Donald  Stewart  and  Sir  Frederic 
Roberts  achieved  their  laurels,  has  been 
given  in  the  history  of  India.  A  change 
of  government  in  Britain  in  1880  brought 


THE     POLICE 


SEARCHING     AN     IRISH     HOUSE     FOR     ARMS 

a  reversal  of  policy,  and  Abdurrhaman 
was  established  as  an  independent  ruler. 
In  South  Africa  the  Zulu  War  could  at 
best  bring  little  prestige  ;  it  brought  dis- 
aster in  the  affair  of  Isandlhwana,  though 


THE  ASSASSINATION  OF  LORD  FREDERIC  CAVENDISH  AND  MR.  BURKE  IN  PHCENIX  PARK 
The  outrages  which  marked  the  disaffection  of  the  Irish  against  the  government  in  the  early  eighties  cuhninated  in  a 
dastardly  outrage  in  Phoenix  Park,  Dublin,  on  the  morning  of  May  6th,  18s2,  when  Lord  Frederic  Cavendish,  Chief 
Secretary  for  Ireland,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Burke,  permanent  Irish  Under  Secretary,  were  as<:assinated  by  a  small  band 
of  "  Irish  Invincibles."    Twenty  men  were  brought  to  trial  in  connection  with  the  crime,  and  five  of  them  were  hanged. 


the  credit  of  British  courage  was  indis- 
putably confirmed  by  the  heroic  defence 
of  Rorke's^D'rift.  And  the  annexation  of 
the  Transvaal  Republic  was  immediately 
afterwards  to  bear  bitter  fruit. 

The  social  legislation  had  done  little  to 
satisfy  the  labour-class  electors.  The 
diplomatic  triumph  of  the  Berlin  Congress 
was  dimmed  by  the  troubles  in  Afghani- 
stan and  South  Africa.  There  was  an  un- 
easy sense  in  the  country  that  Lord 
Beaconsfield  was  too  fond  of  surprises  and 
-,  sensations,  of  keeping  the  nation 

.  _^  "^^  in  the  dark,  of  playing  with  fire. 
.    p  The  Parliament   had   run    six 

years  of  its  life  when  it  dissolved 
in  1880,  and  the  Liberals  returned  to  power. 
Gladstone  had  retired  from  the  leadership, 
but  there  was  now  no  possible  question 
that  Gladstone  was  the  leader  whom  the 
electorate  demanded,  and  he  entered  upon 
his  second  administration. 

The  legislative  efforts  of  the  last  Liberal 
Government  had  been  concentrated  mainly 
on  the  Irish  Church  Disestablishment  and 
the  Irish  Land  Act.  Ireland  was  again  to 
absorb  Gladstone's  attention,  ultimately 
to  the  practical  exclusion  of  other  matters  ; 
while  the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs  was 


still  destined  to  be  a  source  of  popular 
dissatisfaction.  During  the  Conservative 
term  of  office  the  Irish  Home-Rulers, 
though  as  yet  the  limitations  of  the  county 
franchise  kept  their  nurAbers  low,  had 
come  to  be  distinctively  known  as  the  Irish 
members.  Under  the  leadership  of  Charles 
Stewart  Parnell,  they  were  already  con- 
solidating into  a  compact  and  discipHned 
force  with  a  large  capacity  for  the  syste- 
matic obstruction  of  public  business. 
Under  the  new  administration  they  rapidly 
became  one  of  the  most  effectively 
organised  forces  on  record. 

The  state  of  affairs  in  Ireland  had 
not  improved ;  agitation  and  organised 
resistance  to  authority  had  increased. 
The  first  announcement  that  the  Govern- 
ment did  not  intend  to  renew  the  Peace 
Preservation  Act  on  its  lapse  was  re- 
garded with  grave  apprehension  ;  while 
the  Irish  members  complained  that  there 
was  no  promise  of  immediately  proceeding 
to  a  new  Land  Bill.  Certain  proposals 
brought  forward  by  one  of  the  Irish  mem- 
bers were,  however,  embcdied  at  an  early 
date  in  the  Bill  for  Compensation  for  Dis- 
turbance ;  but  the  destruction  of  the  Bill 
by  the  Lords,  coupled  with  the  lapse  of  the 

5173 


iiiu   1  ini  III!  iiii  i 


THE    IRISH    LAND    LEAGUE:    RECREATION    TIME    IN    KILMAINHAM    PRISON 
A  new  Land  Act  passed  by  the  Government  in  face  of  strenuous  opposition  did  nothing  to  settle  the  disturbed  condition 
of  the  country,  and  the  agitation  and  outrages  continuing,  Parnell  and  other  leaders  were  lodged  in  Kilmainhara  Gaol. 


Peace  Preservation  Act,  was  the  signal  for 
the  outbreak  of  a  series  of  agrarian  out- 
rages ;  and  the  practice  of  "  boj-cotting  " 
— a  name  taken  from  that  of  one  of  its 
victims — was  established  and  carried  out 
on  an  extensive  scale.  Rents  could  not  be 
collected,  and  there  was  an  immense 
number  of  evictions  in  consequence.  The 
organisation  known  as  the  Land  League, 
with  which  most  of  the  Irish  members 
were  associated,  was  held  responsible  ; 
and,  in  spite  of  some  doubt  whether  any- 
thing that  could  be  brought  home  to  them 
was  in  actual  violation  of  the  law,  some  of 
its  leaders  were  arrested.  Since  there  was 
no  sort  of  chance  that  an  Irish  jury  would 
convict  them,  the  effect  for  the  Govern- 
ment was  somewhat  ignominious. 

These  troubles  decided  the  Government 
that  coercive  measures  must  precede  the 
remedial.  The  Irish  members  demanded 
precedence  for  land  reform,  and  gave 
warning  that  a  measure  of  coercion  would 
be  met  by  refusal  to  pay  rent.  Neverthe- 
less, the  Coercion  Bills  were  introduced  to 
the  accompaniment  of  a  prolonged  debate, 
an  all-night  sitting  being  followed  b}'  one 
of  forty-one  hours,  which  the  Speaker 
brought  to  a  close  only  by  a  summary  use 
of  his  powers  on  his  own  responsibility. 

5174 


This  was  the  cause  of  drastic  measures  of 
procedure,  intended  to  prevent  the  effective 
tactical  use  of  obstruction  ;  but  no  method 
has  yet  been  devised  which  can  prevent  a 
deUberate  waste  of  the  time  of  the  House. 
The  Coercion  Bills  were  passed  after 
most  stormy  scenes,  and  then  the  new 
Land  Act  was  introduced,  of  which  the 
essential  feature  was  the  estabUshment 
of  Land  Courts  to  fi.x  fair  rents  instead  of 
leaving  the  amount  as  one  of  bargaining 
between  landlord  and  tenant.  The  Act 
was  passed,  in  spite  of  strenuous  opposition 
in  the  House  of  Lords  and  the 
open  withdi'awal  of  some  sup- 


The  Terrible 
Tragedy 


.  p"*  porters  of  the  Government. 
The  Parnellites  refused  to  aid 
the  Government ;  the  agitation  and  the  out- 
rages continued  ;  Parnell  himself  and  other 
leaders  were  lodged  in  Kilmainham  ;  and 
a  manifesto  was  issued  against  any  pay- 
ment of  rents  till  they  should  be  set  free. 
This  had  hardly  been  done  when  the 
tragedy  of  the  Phoenix  Park  murders 
occurred,  a  crime  emanating  from  extre- 
mist sources  in  America,  and  for  the  time  ex- 
tremely injurious  to  the  Irish  parliamentary 
partv,  whom  a  large  section  of  the  public 
persistently  believed  to  be  responsible. 
By  a  strange  irony  it  fell  to  the  Gladstone 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    VICTORIAN    ERA 


Ministry  to  initiate  the  British  occu- 
pation of  Egy):)t.  The  great  financial 
interests  there  of  British  and  French  had 
given  those  two  countries  a  large  control. 
The  virtual  rebellion  of  Arabi  Pasha  the 
bombardment  of  Alexandria  bj,  the  Biitish 
fleet,  while  the  French  fleet  refused  co- 
operation, the  overthrow  of  Arabi  by  Sir 
Garnet  Wolseley  at  Tel-el-kebir,  and  the 
establishment  of  a  British  control  intended 
to  be  only  temporary,  have  been  narrated 
elsewhere.  From  these  events  the  Govern- 
ment did  not  suffer  ;  but  the  same  cannot 
be  said  of  the  later  developments.  The 
,  rise  of  Mahdism,  the  mission 
or  on  s  ^£  General  Gordon,  the  noble  but 
Death  in  ,  •  ,  ,  ■ 

„  embarrassmg    course  of    action 

which  he  adopted,  and  the  disas- 
trous delays,  owing  to  which  the  Govern- 
ment expedition,  despatched  to  his  rescue, 
arrived  at  Khartoum  to  find  that  the  place 
had  been  captured  and  the  hero  slain  two 
days  before,  January  26th,  1885 — these 
things  dealt  a  disastrous  blow  which  griev- 
ously weakened  the  Government's  prestige. 
At  an  earlier  stage,  too,  it  had  suffered 
severely  by  the  events  connected  with 
the  revolt  of  the  Transvaal  Boers,  the 
rout  of  British  troops  by  a  handful  of 
farmers  at  Majuba  Hill,  and  the  reinstate- 
ment, in  i88t,  of  the  Boer   Republic  as  an 


act  of  justice  which,  by  most  Boers  and 
probably  by  a  majority  of  British,  was 
attributed  to  pusillanimity.  That  this  was 
a  misjudgment  of  motive,  however  unwise 
the  experiment  in  magnanimity  may  have 
been,  is  sufficiently  attested  by  the  posi- 
tion of  trusted  leadership  subsequently 
held  in  the  Unionist  party  by  chiefs, 
who  at  this  time  shared  the  responsibili- 
ties of  the  Gladstone  Cabinet.  The  details 
appear  in  the  African  Division.  The 
Penjdeh  incident  on  the  Afghan  frontier, 
and  its  close  by  another  reference  to  arbi- 
tration, by  no  means  satisfactory  to  the 
British,  belongs  to  the  Indian  record,  but 
has  to  be  noted  here  as  the  last  of  the 
series  of  events  abroad  which  helped  to 
fix  on  the  Government  the  stigma  of  a 
peace-at-any-price  Ministry. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  the  dissatisfac- 
tion over  foreign  affairs,  the  Cabinet 
retained  the  support  of  the  country  by  its 
domestic  policy.  Ireland  having  taken  up 
its  share  of  legislative  time,  the  completion 
of  the  democratic  reform  initiated  by  the 
Conservative  "  leap  in  the  dark  "  of  1867 
was  taken  in  hand,  and  a  Bill  was  intro- 
duced in  1884  for  the  enfranchisement  of 
the  agricultural  as  well  as  the  urban 
labouring  classes.  The  Government's 
majority  in   the   House  of  Commons  was 


THE  NILE  CAMPAIGN  IN  iss", :  LORD  CHARLES  BERESFORD'S  DASH  TO  KHARTOUM 
The  above  picture  illustrates  an  incident  in  the  Nile  campaig^n  of  1885,  when  General  Gordon  was  shut  up  in  Khartoum, 
bravely  defending  it  against  the  savage  hordes  of  the  Mahdi.  Making  a  dash  for  the  Nile,  Sir  Charles  Wilson  there 
found  steamers  and  reinforcements  from  Gordon,  but  he  was  too  late  to  save  the  gallant  soldier.  Wilson  and  his 
ii||n  being  in  grave  danger  from  the  enemy,  an  expedition  under  the  command  of  Lord  Charles  Beresford  was  des- 
patched to  their  assistance,  and  sailing  up  the  Nile  on  the  steamer  Safia  accomplished  its  object  by  rescuing  the  party. 


iny  l.y  Uickc 


5175 


5176 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    VICTORIAN    ERA 


decisive.  But  franchise  extension  necessi- 
tated also  redistribution  of  constituencies  ; 
and  the  House  of  Lords  demanded  that  the 
Government's  Redistribuiion  Bill  should 
take  precedence  of  the  Bill  extending  the 
franchise,  the  Conservatives  claiming  that 
their  opposition  was  not  directed  against 
the  principle  of  the  Bill  before  them. 

A  serious  crisis  seemed  imminent, 
and  there  were  many  angry  demands 
for  the  abolition  of  the  hereditary 
Chamber,  or,  at  least,  for  its  recon- 
struction on  lines  which  would  make  it 


Cabinet  so  uneasy  that  the  opportunity 
was  taken  to  resign  when  they  were 
defeated  on  a  snap  vote  on  the  Budget. 
Lord  Salisbury,  who  had  succeeded  Lord 
Beaconsfield  in  the  leadership  of  the 
Conservatives,  accepted  office  in  June. 
Before  the  dissolution  of  Parliament  hi 
August,  a  measure  was  passed,  known 
as  the  Ashbourne  Act,  under  which 
£5,000,000  were  advanced  by  the  State 
to  facilitate  the  purchase  of  their  holdings 
by  Irish  tenants ;  and  various  circum- 
stances   produced    a    strong     impression 


THE    JUBILEE    SERVICE    IN    WESTMINSTER    ABBEY    ON    JUNE    21ST,    1887 

From  the  painting  by  T.  S.  C.  Crowtlier 


no  longer  a  recognised  stronghold  of  one 
political  party.  Nevertheless,  the  leaders 
on  both  sides  were  not  anxious  to  force 
a  great  constitutional  struggle,  and  a 
practical  compromise  was  arrived  at.  The 
Franchise  Bill  was  again  introduced  and 
passed  in  the  Commons,  but  before  it  was 
dealt  with  by  the  Lords  the  chiefs  of  the 
two  parties  agreed  upon  the  Redistribution 
Bill.  Honour  was  satisfied  on  both  sides, 
and  both  Bills  became  law. 

The  death  of  General  Gordon  and  the 
Penjdeh  affair  made  the  position  of  the 


of  some  sort  of  rapprochement  between 
the  Conservatives  and  the  Irish  leader. 
The  result  of  the  General  Election  at  the 
close  of  the  year  was  embarrassing.  The 
extended  franchise  had  doubled  Parnell's 
following  in  the  House.  Added  to  the  Con- 
servative ranks,  they  exactly  cancelled  the 
total  Liberal  majority.  In  effect,  they 
could  make  government  by  either  party 
impossible.  But  the  effect  on  the  Liberal 
leader's  mind  was  what  caused  most  sur- 
prise ;  it  brought  home  to  him  that  the 
great     majority    of     Irishmen   supported 

5177 


MR.     GLADSTONE     INTRODUCING    THE     HOME     RULE     BILL     ON     FEBRUARY     13TH,    1893 
Mr.  Gladstone's  solution  for  the  ills  which  afflicted  Ireland  was  a  measure  of  self-government  for  that  country,  and  in 
the  above  picture  he  is  seen  introducing  his  Home  Rule  Bill  to  the  House  of  Commons  after  the  constituencies  had  sent 
him  back  to  power.    The  Bill  passed  the  Lower  House,  after  long  discussion,  but  was  thrown  out  by  the  House  of  Lords. 

From  tlic  painting  by  K.  Ponsonby  Staples,  by  permission  of  Messrs.  Henrj-  Graves  &  Co. 

5I7S 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    VICTORIAN    ERA 


Parnell's  demands  —a  conclusion  which  had 
uot  followed  in  the  days  when  less  than 
half  the  members  trom  Ireland  were  Home 
Rulers.  Tlie  claim  of  a  minority  had 
suddenly  assumed  the  character  of  a 
national  demand  supported  by  four-fifths 
of  the  national  representatives.  How  could 
England,  the  champion  of  oppressed 
nationalities,  refuse  a  hearing  to  such  a 
demand  ?  From  this  time  to  the  end  of 
his  life  the  establishment  of  Irish  Home 
Rule  became  Gladstone's  absorbing  passion. 
There  were  many 
members  of  the 
Liberal  party 
who  had  already 
all  but  yielded 
to  the  conviction 
that  the  only 
solution  of  the 
Irish  problem  lay 
in  Home  Rule  ; 
there  were  some 
who  had  been 
actively  urging 
at  least  a  large 
delegation  of 
powers  of  local 
self  -government. 
But  of  these  the 
most  energetic 
had  drawn  the 
line  short  of  the 
concession  of  a 
separate  Irish 
legislature,  and 
the  Irish  repre- 
sentatives would 
be  content  with 
nothing  short  of 
that.  The  Liberal 
ranks  were  split 
into  these  two 
m.ain  divisions  ; 
and  those  who 
would  concede 
a  legislature  were  again  divided.  Given  an 
Irish  Parliament,  should  Ireland  be  repre- 
sented at  Westminster  too  ?  If  so,  she 
would  be  able  still  to  hold  the  balance,  to 
control  legislation  in  the  sister  kingdoms 
while  herself  free  from  their  control.  If  not, 
she  would  cease  to  have  a  voice  in  Imperial 
affairs,  and  to  realise  her  partnership  in  Im- 
perial interests.  In  any  case,  too,  a  legis- 
lature elected  practically  by  the  peasantry 
could  not  be  trusted  to  deal  fairly  wi+h  the 
question  of  land,  any  more  than  would  a 
legislature  elected  practically  by  landlords. 


QUEEN    VICTORIA     IN     1893 

From  a  photog^raph  by  Messrs,  Hughes  &  Mullins,  Ryde 


A  number  of  "  dissentient  Liberals  "  broke 
wholly  with  their  leader,  though  before  his 
intentions  were  realised  he  had  been  able 
to  defeat  the  Salisbury  Ministry,  and  to 
assume  the  responsibilities  of  office.  When 
he  introduced  two  Bills — one  of  which  was 
to  settle  the  land  question  by  the  State 
buying  out  the  landlords  and  selling  back 
the  land  to  the  peasants  ;  while  the  other 
was  to  establish  a  Parliament  in  Dublin, 
and  abolish  the  representation  at  West- 
minster— .the  combined  forces  of  the  Oppo- 
sition proved  too 
strong,  and  the 
Home  Rule  Bill 
was  defeated  in 
the  House  of 
Commons  on  the 
second  reading. 
Parliament  was 
dissolved.  The 
Conservatives 
did  not,  under 
the  circum- 
stances, contest 
seats  held  by  dis- 
sentient Liberals, 
and  the  elections 
returned  Lord 
Salisbury  to 
power  with  a 
majority'  virtu- 
ally dependent  on 
the  consistent 
support  of  the 
body  now  known 
as  Liberal  Uni- 
onists. That 
combination  did 
not  cease  to  rule 
until  twenty 
years  had  passed ; 
for,  although 
there  was  an  in- 
terval from  1892 
to  1895,  during 
which  there  was  again  a  Liberal  Ministry, 
the  Liberals,  apart  from  Irish  Home 
Rule  members,  were  even  then  in  a 
minority,  and  the  House  of  Lords  held  itself 
warranted  in  refusing  to  recognise  the 
composite  majority  which  Ministers  could 
command  as  representing  the  national  will. 
Whatever  constitutional  objections 
might  be  urged  to  this  doctrine— virtually 
based  on  the  theory  that  the  Irish 
party  did  not  count— the  Lords  found 
their  practical  justification  when  a  dissolu- 
tion decisively  ejected  the  Liberals.   From 

5179 


5i8o 


THE    ROYAL    PROCESSION    PASSING 

ALONG    PALL    MALL 

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1     ijE 

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^^^^s.^-'-^ 

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1         ^Vv^^ 

pSfe 

BE^^^^teg^ 

s^       ^            x^«i^'  -'-■-''' 

li-y.a^''»x,i:--';  i'.!<^-,  ;■'*> 

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p^^' 

THE     COLONIAL     PREr/IIERS    AND    TROOPS     PASSING    OVER     LONDON     BRIDGE 


SCENES  IN  QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  DIAMOND  JUBILEE  PROCESSION        ^'^"^"'•"'= 

5181 


QUEEN    VICTORIA    IN    THE    YEAR    OF    HER    DIAMOND    JUBILEE,    1897 

I'hoto  :     W.  &    D.   Downey 


5182 


EDWARD    VII.,    KING    OF    GREAT    BRITAIN    AND    IRELAND 
Photo:    VV.  S.  Stuc.rt 


5183 


5i84 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    VICTORIAN    ERA 


1886  to  1892  the  Conservatives  held  office, 
supported  and  very  materially  influenced 
by  the  Liberal  Unionists.  From  1895  to  the 
end  of  1904  Conservatives  and  Liberal 
Unionists,  combined  as  the  Unionist  party, 
held  office. 

Lord  Salisbury's  first  administration 
was  marked  by  three  measures  in  which 
the  influence  of  his  Liberal  Unionist  sup- 
porters was  prominent.  An  Irish  Coercion 
Act  was  accom- 
panied by  a  Land 
Act  authorising 
a  revision  of  the 
rents  fixed  by  the 
land  court,  and 
the  provision  of 
relief  for  tenants 
whose  payments 
were  in  arrears. 
In  1888  a  great 
measure  was  in- 
troduced giving 
extensive  powers 
of  local  govern- 
ment to  locally- 
elected  bodies — 
county  councils, 
district  councils, 
and  borough 
councils,  but  this 
was  not  exten- 
ded to  Ireland. 
And  in  1891  it 
was  decided  that 
the  cost  o^  educa- 
tion, which  was 
made  compul- 
sory, ought  to  be 
borne  by  the 
State.  Thence- 
forth all  parents 
could  obtain  ele- 
mentary educa- 
tion for  their 
children  without 
making  any 
direct  contribu- 
tion  to  the  cost. 

The  period  is  also  noteworthy  in  other 
parts  of  the  globe  for  the  delimitation  of 
the  spheres  of  influence  of  the  various 
European  Powers  in  Africa,  and  for  the 
final  annexation  of  Burma.  At  home, 
the  Irish  question  was  placed  on  an  altered 
footing  by  the  "  Parnell  Commission,"  a 
state  inquiry  which  acquitted  the  Irish 
leaders  of  the  complicity  in  crime  with  which 
thev  had  been  charged.     The  dissolution 


KING    EDWARD    VII.    WHEN    PRINCE    OF    WALES 

From  the  painting  by  A.  Stuart  Wortley,  by  permission  of 
Messrs.  Henry  Graves  &  Co. 


I  D 


in  1892  so  reduced  the  Unionist  forces 
that  Gladstone,  with  the  support  of  the 
Irish,  was  able  to  eject  them  from  office. 

The  new  Government  introduced  a  new 
Home  Rule  Bill,  this  time  retaining  the 
Irish  representatives  at  Westminster ; 
and  on  its  rejection  by  the  Lords  continued 
to  "  fill  up  the  cup,"  but  could  carry  no 
effective  legislation  except  in  the  field  of 
finance,  where  constitutional  practice  for- 
bade the  inter- 
vention of  the 
hereditary 
Chamber.  Con- 
sequently the  one 
legacy  to  the 
nation  of  this 
Ministry  — led 
first  by  Glad- 
stone, and  later 
on,  after  the 
aged  statesman's 
retirement,  by 
Loid  Rosebery — 
was  the  system 
known  as  the 
"Death  Duties," 
which  provided 
a  substantial 
source  of  revenue 
from  graduated 
charges  on  the 
value  of  property 
changing  hands 
owing  to  the 
death  of  the 
owner.  The  base 
principles  of  the 
measure  are,  that 
all  property  ac- 
quired without 
effort  on  the  part 
of  the  owner 
owes  something 
extra  to  the  com- 
munity, and  that 
great  wealth 
owes  not  only 
more,  but  a 
larger  percentage  than  moderate  wealth, 
and  moderate  wealth  than  poverty. 

The  Government  majority  was  small  at 
the  best.  A  chance  defeat  brought  about 
its  resignation  ;  Lord  Sahsbury  took 
office,  and  immediately  dissolved.  The 
Unionists  were  returned  to  power  with  a 
majority  of  150  over  the  combined 
Opposition  ;  and  the  Liberal  wing  of  the 
party   now   definitely   amalgamated  with 

5185 


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5186 


EMINENT     BRITISH     STATESMEN     OF      RECENT     AND     PRESENT     TIMES 


Piiotos  by  Louduii  Stertuai-uijic  Cu..  Valeiitii-.c,  JcrrarJ,  Ilalltunes.  MiUa  and  Ilaiiiea 


5IS7 


5i88 


5189 


KING     EDWARD     VII.     AND     QUEEN     ALEXANDRA 

J'hoto  by  W.  S.  Stuart 


5190 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    VICTORIAN    ERA 


the  Conservatives.  The  latter  title  almost 
disappeared  from  popular  parlance,  in 
which  the  official  name  of  Unionist  was 
gradually  displaced  for  the  old  name  of 
Tory,  while  the  official  name  of  Liberal 
yielded  to  that  of  Radical. 

From  the  popular  point  of  view,  the  suc- 
cession of  Irish  Land  Acts,  whether  just  or 
unjust  to  the  landlords,  had  considerably 
mitigated  the  agrarian  grievances,  and  the 
consciousness  that  there  was  at  any  rate  a 
large  body  of  English  and  Scottish  opinion 
favourable  to 
Home  Rule 
tended  to  dis- 
courage such  vio- 
lence as  would  be 
likely  to  alienate 
such  sympathy. 
Unionist  govern- 
ments, however, 
have  continued 
in  the  direction 
of  concession  to 
the  tenant  class  ; 
and  an  experi- 
ment was  made 
in  the  Irish  Local 
Government  Act 
of  1898,  in  the 
hope  that  the  de- 
legation of  large 
powers  of  local 
government  to 
locally  elected 
bodies  would 
weaken  the  de- 
mand for  a 
separate  legisla- 
ture. The  effects 
of  the  Free  Edu- 
cation Act  were 
felt  in  the  great 
difficulties  now 
encountered  by 
the  voluntary 
schools  in  maintaining  efficiency.  Sub- 
scriptions dwindled;  when  the  subscribers 
found  themselves  in  any  case  required 
to  provide  money  for  the  education 
of  other  people's  children,  they  were 
not  disposed  to  keep  up  their  voluntary 
contributions  as  well  ;  and  the  process 
was  commenced,  which  has  already  been 
adverted  to,  of  applying  public  funds  for 
the  relief  of  denominational  schools. 

Lord  Salisbury's  enei'gies,  liowever,  wei"e 
attracted  to  foreign  affairs  rather  than  to 
domestic   legislation.      His   position    and 


HIS    MAJESTY    KING    EDWARD 

From  a  photograph  by  W.  S.  Stuart 


reputation  enabled  him  to  adopt  a  more 
conciliatory  and  less  aggressive  attitude 
than  would  have  been  easy  for  a  party 
which  did  not  represent  the  Bcaconsfield 
tradition ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  he  had 
the  strong  support  of  that  section  of 
Liberals  who  looked  on  Lord  Rosebery  as 
their  chief  when  he  refused  to  intervene 
forcibly — as  many  of  the  Opposition  de- 
sired— -in  the  Armenian  troubles  of  Turkey. 
The  principle  that  the  independent 
action  of  separate  Powers  should  be 
checked  and  re- 
placed by  the 
concerted  pres- 
sure of  Europe 
became  the  guid- 
ing rule  ;  while 
it  suffered  from 
the  undoubted 
drawback  that 
the  concerted 
action  of  Europe 
is  exceedingly 
difficult  to  set 
in  motion.  The 
jx^ssibilities  of 
such  a  concert 
cannot  be  ignor- 
ed, and  serve  as 
a  check  on  indi- 
vidualist aggres- 
siveness. These 
principles  found 
expression  also 
in  connection 
with  the  Turco- 
Greek  War,  and 
at  a  later  stage, 
wh^en  the  Boxer 
insurrection 
brought  about 
concerted  Euro- 
pean interven- 
tion in  China, 
and  considerable 
diplomatic  skill  was  required  to  limit  the 
general  scramble  for  Chinese  territory. 
Lovers  of  the  principle  of  arbitration 
found  considerable  satisfaction  in  the 
adoption  ot  that  method  for  settling  a 
boundary  dispute  with  Venezuela  in  1896, 
since  the  result  demonstrated  that  anti- 
British  decisions  in  such  courts  need  no 
longer  be  regarded  as  a  foregone  conclusion . 
British  relations  with  European  Powers 
were  seriously  endangered  for  a  moment 
when,  on  the  conclusion  of  the  reconquest 
of  the  Egyptian  Sudan  by  Lord  Kitchener, 

5iQ^ 


VII. 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


a  company  of  Frenchmen  was  found  to 
have  made  its  way  to  Fashoda.  It  was 
not  without  difficulty  that  the  French 
were  persuaded  to  recognise  the  decisive 
character  of  British  claims  in  that  region. 
In  colonial  affairs,  the  Salisbury  regime 
was  signalised  by  the  movement  towards 
Federation,  which  took  shape 
The^  Death    ^^    ^^^^    estabUshment   of   the 

Commonwealth    of    Australia ; 


of  Queen 
Victoria 


and  still  more  memorably  by 
the  war  with  the  Boer  Republics  in  South 
Africa,  which,  beginning  in  1899,  was 
only  terminated  in  1902  with  their  de- 
finite incorporation  in  the  British  Empire. 
Before  that  time,  at  the  beginning  of 
T901,  the  great  queen,  whose  reign  was  the 
longest  m  our  annals — it  had  extended 
almost  to  sixty-four  years — ^had  passed 
away,  'and  Edward  VII.  ascended  the 
throne.  She  had  become  by  degrees  the 
ideal  type  of  the  constitutional  monarch, 
save  for  a  somewhat  excessive  withdrawal, 
not  from  political  activity,  but  from 
publicity  since  the  death  of  the  Prince 
Consort.  Her  successor  has  displayed  a 
singularly  acute  perception  of  the  very 
important  part  such  a  ruler  may  play 
internationally ;  at  least,  whilst  the 
politics  of  European  states  ai'e  largely  con- 
trolled by  crowned  heads.  The  title  which 
has  been  applied  to  him  of  Edward 
the  Peacemaker  is  perhaps  the  proudest 
that  any  monarch  could  earn.  The  disso- 
lution of  Parliament  had  brought  only  a 
formal  break  in  the  Salisbury  adminis- 
....  tration.  the  Ministerial 
Chamberlain  s  j^^^j^j.^^  ^^-  unimpaired. 
Tariff  Reform      y^  ^  i  u 

p  .  It  was  not  very  long,  how- 

ever, before  its  chief  retired, 
his  place  being  taken  b}-  Arthur  Balfour. 
His  primacy  in  the  part\^  was  shared  by 
Joseph  Chamberlain,  who  very  shortly 
startled  England  by  declaring  in  favour 
of  Tariff  Reform — a  theory  of  preferential 
or  protective  tariffs  which  was  popularly 
supposed  to  be  dead  and  buried,  but  now 


became  the  object  of  the  enthusiastic 
advocacy  of  a  large  number  of  persons 
who  had  hitherto  not  shown  any  signs  ol 
questioning  the  economic  creed  of  Cobden 
While  the  Liberals  were  unanimous  in 
upholding  the  doctrines  of  Free  Trade,  the 
Unionists  were  divided  almost  as  markedly 
as  the  Liberals  had  been  over  Home  Rule. 
Mr.  Balfour  achieved  the  feat  of  persuading 
each  section  of  the  party  that  his  views 
coincided  precisely  with  theirs.  It  became 
obvious,  however,  that  the  majority  of  the 
party  were  becoming  converted  definitely 
to  the  most  extreme  view  that  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain had  advocated  ;  and  the  General 
Election  in  1905  gave  an  overwhelming 
Free  Trade  majority.  Led  by  Sir  Henry 
Campbell-Bannerman  till  his  death,  and 
since  then  by  Mr.  Asquith,  the  Liberal 
Government  has  endeavoured  to  deal  with 
a  series  of  exceedingly  thorny  questions, 
notably  the  education  problem  and  the 
problem   of    licensed    houses, 

/?t  ^^  both  of  which  had  been  dealt 
of  the  nouse       •,,    1        ,,       tt    •       ■  j.  r^ 

.  ,      .  With  by  the  Unionist  Govern- 

or Lords  ,    .-'  111! 

ment  m  a  manner  which  had 

failed  to  satisfy  the  Nonconformists  and 
the  organisations  which  make  temper- 
ance their  primary  object. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Liberal  measures 
-have  been  stigmatised  as  confiscation 
and  robbery,  and  the  House  of  Lords 
has  again  presented  itself  as  an  insuper- 
able obstacle  to  Liberal  legislation,  its 
action  being  supported  by  inferences, 
drawn  from  a  series  of  bye-elections,  that 
an  appeal  to  the  country  would  provide 
the  same  kind  of  justification  as  in  1895. 
But  at  this  point  the  work  of  the  historian 
ends,  and  that  of  the  political  prophet 
begins,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  the 
Government,  which  retains  an  overwhelm- 
ing majority  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
has  any  intention  of  bringing  the  various 
vaticinations,  favourable  or  unfavourable, 
to  the  immediate  test  of  a  dissolution. 

Arthur  D.  Innes 


5192 


•PEACE  WITH   HONOUR":  THE  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  ALL  THE  EUROPEAN  POWERS  ATTENDING  THE  BERLIN  CONGRESS  OF  1878 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

SINCE 

1871 

II 


REACTION   TRIUMPHANT   IN    RUSSIA 

TURKEY'S    EMERGENCE    FROM    DESPOTISM 


'"PHE  expansion  of  Russia  in  Asia  has 
■*■  already  been  dealt  with,  and  before 
entering — as  we  shall  do  in  the  following 
pages — on  the  account  of  the  Eastern 
Question,  which  is  the  chief  concern  of 
Russia  in  Europe,  we  must  give  a  brief 
sketch  of  her  recent  domestic  history. 

The  Tsar  Alexander  II.,  who  succeeded 
Nicholas  while  the  Crimean  War  was  still 
in  progress,  was  a  man  with  liberal  inclina- 
tions, but  he  was  to  a  great  extent  the 
victim  of  a  system  from  which  a  very  much 
stronger  man  with  the  same  desires  would 
have  found  it  next  to  impossible  to  free 
himself.  In  spite  of  the  great  measure  of 
emancipation  for  the  serfs,  Russia  re- 
mained under  the  iron  heel  of  an  oligarchy 
in  spite  of  the  theoretical  semi-divine 
authority  of  the  Tsar  himself.  The  merci- 
less repression  of  all  freedom  begot  the 
deadliest  of  all  foes  of  order — Nihilism  ; 
and  Nihilism,  and  the  terror  thereof,  in- 
,     „    tensified    the    repression    of 

Alexander  II.  f       , 

y..      .  every     movement,     however 

,  ^.. ...  orderly,  towards  liberty.     In 

spite  of  the  fact  triat 
Alexander  was  contemplating  something 
at  least  in  the  direction  of  summoning  a 
popular  Assembly,  he  fell  a  victim  to 
NihiHst  plots  in  1881. 

The  murdered  Tsar  was  the  first  ruler 
of  Russia  since  1598  who  had  been  able 
to  mount  the  throne  of  his  fathers  in 
peace.  His  father,  who  had  felt  in  his  own 
case  the  want  of  a  good  education,  procured 
the  best  teachers  for  his  son,  and  it  was 
fortunate  for  Russia  that  the  celebrated 
poet  Shukovsky  directed  the  training 
of  Alexander.  Alexander  saw  clearly 
the  defects  of  his  predecessor,  but  also 
understood  that  a  thorough  reform  was 
only  possible  after  the  abolition  of  serfdom, 
and  he  therefore  resolutely  set  himself  to 
carry  this  out.  He  was  spurred  on  by  the 
example  of  the  neighbouring  empire  of 
Austria,  where  the  emancipation  of  the 
serfs  had  been  carried  out  in  1781  :  the 
better  class  of  Russians  had  lone;  felt  it 


The  Tsar's 
Great  Work 
for  the  Serfs 


to  be  a  disgrace  to  their  country  that 
slavery  still  flourished  there.  It  was  neces- 
sary to  go  cautiously  to  work,  and  above 
all  to  win  the  nobility  for  the  cause.  The 
Tsar  therefore  acted  in  a  wise  and  noble 
manner  when  he  expressed  the  wish  that 
the  nobles  should  take  the  work  of  emanci- 
pating the  serfs  into  their  own  hands. 
There  were,  however,  only  a 
few  who  pledged  them_selves 
to  the  Tsar's  idea.  Among 
them  were  the  conscientious 
Rostovzof  Levschin,  who  prepared  an 
historical  account  of  serfdom  in  Russia, 
and  the  indefatigable  Serge j  St.  Lanskoy 
and  Tshevskin.  The  Grand  Duke  Con- 
stantine  entered  on  the  plan  with  great 
enthusiasm  ;  the  Grand  Duchess  Helene 
Pavlovna  emancipated  in  1859  ^he  serfs 
of  the  estates  comprised  in  her  appanage. 
All  were  unanimous  on  the  question  of 
emancipation,  only  there  was  a  division  of 
opinion,  as  previously  under  Catherine  II., 
on  the  point  whether  the  land  should  be 
given  to  the  peasants  as  freehold.  A  secret 
committee  was  appointed  by  the  emperor. 
Since  this  did  not  make  any  progress  with 
its  labours,  a  higher  board,  known  as  the 
Chief  Commission,  met,  composed  of  more 
trustworthy  members. 

But  even  yet  the  opposition  was  too 
strong.  Its  leader.  Prince  Alexej  Orlov, 
asserted  that  he  would  rather  cut  off  his 
hand  than  sign  the  charter  of  emancipation. 
Finally,  a  Supreme  Commission  was  ap- 
pointed ;  this,  being  vigorously  supported 
M-u-  r  by  the  whole  Press,  finally  com- 
Milhofts  of     pj^^g^  ^^^  ^^^^     j^^  imperial 

rescript  of  March  3rd,  180 1, 
proclaimed  the  emancipation 
of  the  serfs  on  private  estates  and  of  the 
domestic  slaves.  By  this  edict  more  than 
twenty-three  millions  received  their  liberty. 
The  peasants  were  required  merely  to  pay 
a  reasonable  sum  for  their  holdings,  which 
now  became  their  property.  The  rejoicings 
of  the  people  were  boundless.  Wherever 
the  Tsar  appeared,  he  was  greeted  and 

5193 


Serfs 
Emancipated 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


cheered  as  the  hberator.     In  the  year  1864 

he  emancipated  also  the  peasants  in  Poland 

and  Transcaucasia,  and  in 

1866  the  peasants  on  the 

imperial    demesnes,    and 

restricted  the  infliction  of 

corporal  punishment. 

Now  for  the  first  time 
further  reforms  could  be 
carried  out.  The  judicial 
system  was  separated 
from  the  executive  and 
reorganised  ;  trial  by 
jury  was  introduced,  and 
the  taxation  regulated. 
The  economic  condition 
and  the  productive  power 
of  the  empire  increased 
rapidly.  The  Tsar,  as  has 
recently  been  discovered, 
even  thought  seriously  of 
granting  a  constitutional 
government ;  his  untimely 

assassination        prevented     Nihilists  were  determined  upon  his  destruction, 
1   •         r  •  J.  1.  •       and  he  was  assassinated  on  March  13th,  1881. 

him  from  carrying  out  his 

scheme.     He  gave  the  governments  a  sort 

of   autonom}^    and   estabhshed   in   every 


ALEXANDER 


A    man   of  liberal   inclinations,  he  resolutely 
set    himself   to   carry    out    reforms,   but    the 


diet,  and  a  provincial  diet — Zemstvo — 
above  that  in  every  government.  Uni- 
versal conscription  was 
now  introduced.  It  was 
now  possible  to  take 
serious  steps  towards 
spreading  culture  among 
the  people.  It  is  true  that 
out  of  a  Budget  of 
/47, 139,9 =4  in  1867,  only 
£770, 87ghad been  appHed 
to  educational  purposes. 
But  the  figures  gradually 
rose,  and  thousands  of 
schools  were  founded.  On 
the  whole,  even  in  the 
department  of  public 
education,  a  more  liberal 
spirit  prevailed.  In  the 
year  1863,  a  hberal 
statute  was  passed  for 
OF  RUSSIA  the  universities.  Russia 
had  seldom  had  a  more 
philanthropic  monarch. 
And  yet  the  life  of  this 
Tsar,  whose  motto  was  "  Justice,  light, 
and  freedom,"  was  frequently  attempted. 


district  an  independently  elected  district      Just    as    the    rustic    population    of     the 


NIHILIST  CONSPIRACIES    IN    RUSSIA:    CONDEMNED   MEN   AND   WOMEN   ON    THE    SCAFFOLD 
5194 


REACTION    IN    RUSSIA    AND    TURKEY'S     PROGRESS 


Russian  provinces  furnishes  the  best  im- 
aginable material  foi  new  rehgious  sects, 
so  the  half -educated  world  of  Russia  is  a 
fertile  soil  for  every  sort  of  "  great  ideas." 
The  students  especially,  who  were  scru- 
pulously prevented  from  receiving  a  sound, 
intellectual  discipHne,  were  often  led  astray 
by  senseless  oppression  and  still  more 
senseless  reforms.  The  Tsar,  while  in  the 
imperial  summer  garden,  was  shot  at  by 
a  student,  Demetrius,  on  April  i6th,  1866. 
Alexander  did  not  allow  this  to  divert  him 


POLICE    SURPRISING    A    MEETING    OF    RUSSIAN    NIHILISTS 


from  the  path  of  reform.  On  June  6th, 
1867,  a  Pole,  Anton  Beresovsky,  aimed  at 
him,  although  he  had  bestowed  benefits 
on  the  Poles.  The  folly  of  such  inexperi- 
enced youths  was  outdone  by  the  brutality 
of  the  police,  which  provoked  the  greatest 
indignation.  Nihihst  societies  with  wide- 
spread branches  were  founded  at  home  and 
abroad.  Secret  newspapers  were  published, 
terrorism  was  preached,  new  assassina- 
tions were  attempted,  until  finally  the  Tsar 


was  blown  to  pieces  by  a  bomb  thrown 
under  his  carriage  on  March  13th,  1881. 
The  murder  was  a  great  blow  for  the 
free-thinking  party,  for  the  supporters  of 
despotism  and  brute  force  were  right  when 
they  asserted  that  the  people  did  not  yet 
know  the  proper  use  of  liberty.  The 
representatives  of  this  reactionary  move- 
ment, Ivan  Aksakov  the  Slavophil  and 
Michail  Katkof,  acquired  more  influence, 
especially  since  they  had  been  able  to 
impress  on  the  educated  sections  of  the 
people  the  idea  that  ab- 
solutism, orthodoxy,  and 
many  barbarous  custom^ 
of  the  people,  which  it  wa:^ 
proposed  to  eradicate,  be- 
longed to  the  essence  0I 
Russian,  and,  in  fact,  ot 
Slavonic,  life.  When, 
therefore,  Alexander's  son, 
Alexander  III.,  had 
mounted  the  throne,  they 
became  all-powerful,  more 
especially  their  associate 
Constantine  Pobiedono- 
stev,  who  was  made 
Procurator-General  of  the 
Holy  Synod  in  1880.  The 
ship  of  state  was  once 
more  steered  into  the 
vortex  of  reaction. 

Alexander  III.  was 
known,  like  his  father,  to 
have  had  a  leaning  towards 
Liberal  ideas ;  but  the 
manner  of  his  father's 
death  destroyed  all 
prospect  of  his  acting  upon 
them,  and  severity  towards 
everything  which  was 
suspected  of  association 
with  a  revolutionary  pro- 
paganda was  increased 
instead  of  being  relaxed. 
The  maintenance  of  order 
by  an  extraordinarily  ela- 
borate system  of  espionage 
and  by  police  methods,  which  have  had  no 
parallel  in  Western  Europe  except  during 
periods  of  religious  persecution,  inev^itably 
has  exceedingly  ugly  concomitants,  and 
among  these  was  cruel  popular  persecution 
of  the  Jews,  which  was  encouraged  instead 
of  being  checked  by  the  Government. 

Alexander  III.  died  in  1894,  and  was 
succeeded  by  the  present  Tsar,  Nicholas  II. 
His  reign  has  been  marked  by  the  terrible 
disasters  of  the  Japanese  war,  which  went 

5195 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


far  towards  destroying  the  bogey  of  an 
immense  and  irresistible  Russian  power 
from  which  Western  imaginations  had 
long  been  suffering.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  has  been  a  moment  when  the 
friends  of  freedom  were  beginning  to 
believe  that  by  at  last  summoning  the 
Duma  the  Tsar  was  intending  to  open 
the  gates  for  a  serious  reform  of  the  govern- 
ment. The  next  steps,  however,  pointed  to 
a  triumph  of  reaction  ;  nevertheless,  a 
hope  may  be  admitted  that  in  spite  of 
the  clang  of  bolts  and  bars  the  opening  of 


Syria,  from  the  Persian  frontier,  from 
Servia,  and  from  Bulgaria  ;  it  was  obliged 
in  consequence  to  agree  with  the  other 
Powers  to  Russia's  demands  on  March  13th, 
1871,  and  also  to  lay  down  certain  points 
for  the  regulation  of  the  Danube  traffic. 

In  1873  the  Russian  War  Minister, 
Miljutin,  reorganised  the  army  on  the 
model  of  the  German  military  system, 
introducing  general  conscription  and  con- 
siderably increasing  both  the  number 
of  regiments  and  of  soldiers  available 
in  time  of  war.    Thereupon  the  Eastern 


THE    ASSASSINATION    OF    ALEXANDER     II.,    TSAR    OF    RUSSIA,     IN     1-->1 
In  consequence  of  the  Russian  Government's  severe  repression  of  the  revolutionary  movements,  the  Nihilists  determined 
to  have  revenge  upon  the  Tsar  and  his  officers,  and  on  March  loth,  1881,  a  bomb  was  thrown  at  the  emperor's  carriage 
near  his  palace  in  St.  Petersburg,  Alexander  II.  being  so  severely  injured  that  he  died  a  few  hours  afterwards. 


the  gates  is  appreciably  nearer  at  hand. 
Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the 
conference  in  London  which,  taking  place 
during  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  reopened 
the  Black  Sea  question,  and  thereby  led  up 
to  a  revival  of  the  Eastern  Question  in 
general.  At  that  conference  Russia  secured 
the  abolition  of  the  clauses  of  the  Peace 
of  Paris  of  1856  prohibiting  her  from 
keeping  warships  in  the  Black  Sea.  The 
Porte  had  been  forced  to  send  a  consider- 
able body  of  troops  to  Yemen  in  Arabia, 
and  was  in  receipt  of  disturbing  news  from 

510 


Question  was  again  brought  upon  the 
stage  by  the  Pan-Slavonic  party.  Thanks 
to  their  agitation,  a  revolt  broke  out  in 
Herzegovina  in  1875,  which  the  Porte 
did  not  immediately  suppress.  When 
a  consular  commission  of  the  Powers 
and  Austrian  intervention  led  to  no  result, 
the  Porte  took  decided  action,  and  would 
have  restored  order  in  Montenegro,  in 
Herzegovina,  and  in  Servia  by  superior 
force,  had  not  Ignatieff  opposed  the  use 
of  menaces.  Unfortunately  for  the  Porte, 
the    French    and    German    consuls    were 


THE    TSAR    IN    OLD    RUSSIAN    COSTUME         THE    TSARINA    IN    OLD    NATIVE    DRESS 


ALF.XANDER     lU.,    TSAR    OF    ALL    THE    RUSSIAS.    AND    HIS    CONSORT 

5197 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


murdered  on  May  6th,  1876,  in  the  course 
of  a  riot  at  Salonika,  and  the  incident  cost 
Turkey  a  heavy  price.  Hardly  had  a 
memorandum  of  Gortchakoff  secured  a 
two  months'  armistice  among  the  re- 
volted parties,  when  the  Bulgarians  re- 
volted in  Drenova,  Panagiurishte,  Kop- 
rivshzitza,  Gabrovo,  and  Srednagora,  and 
were  crushed  by  the  fanatical  population 
with  dreadful  cruelty— the  "  Bulgarian 
atrocities  "  execrated  by  Gladstone  and 
the  English  Press. 

On  May  loth,  1876,  the  Sottas,  the 
theological  students,  took  up  arms  in  the 
capital  and  haughtily  requested  the  Sultan, 
who  was  regarded  as 
blindly  devoted  to  Russia, 
to  dismiss  the  Grand  Vizir 
Mahmud  Nedim  Pasha, 
to  send  away  Ignatieff, 
and  to  begin  war  against 
Montenegro.  In  vain  did 
Abd  ul-Aziz  attempt  to 
calm  the  storm  by  sum- 
moning Mehemet  Riishdi ; 
the  measure  of  his  wrong- 
doing was  full.  On  May 
2Qth  the  new  Grand  Vizir 
and  the  Minister  of  War, 
Hussein  Avni  and  Midhat 
Pasha,  declared  the  Sultan 
deposed,  and  placed 
Murad  V.,  the  eldest  son 
of  Abd  ul-Mejid,  on  the 
throne.  Abd  ul-Aziz  was 
conveyed  to  his  palace  at 
Chiragan  and  there 
murdered,  as  transpired 
from  an  inquiry  held  in 
1882  ;  a  few  days  after 
Hussein  Pasha  with  other 
Ministers  were  assassi- 
nated in  the  house  of 
Midhat.  Even  before  the 
tour  of  the  Sultan  Abd  ul-Aziz  to  Europe 
in  the  spring  of  1867,  a  conspiracy  had 
been  discovered,  directed  principally 
against  the  then  Grand  Vizir,  Ali  Pasha. 

The  chiefs  of  the  movement  called  them- 
selves Young  Turks,  in  an  opposite  sense 
to  that  which  is  conveyed  by  the  terms 
"Young  Germany,"  or  "  la  Giovine  Italia." 
The  objects  of  this  conspiracy  were  the 
restoration  of  the  old  Turkish  regime  and 
of  the  Turkish  Empire,  with  the  complete 
suppression  of  all  non-^Iohammedans  ;  the 
surest  means  to  this  end  was  proclaimed 
to  be  the  arming  of  the  Mohammedan 
people    and    the  murder    of    the   liberal- 

5198 


NICHOLAS  II.,  TSAR  OF  RUSSIA 
Born  on  May  18th,  1868,  he  succeeded  his 
father,  Alexander  III.,  in  1894,  and  has  since 
that  time  witnessed  the  overthrow  of  his  mili- 
tary forces  by  Japan  and  the  constitutional 
revolutionary  movement  within  his  own  land. 


minded  Ali,  while  the  final  object  was  war 
against  Western  Europe.  After  the  de- 
monstration of  the  Sottas  in  1876,  the  fall 
of  Mahmud  Nedim  Pasha,  the  deposition 
of  the  Sultan,  and  the  miserable  failure  of 
the  diplomacy  of  the  Great  Powers,  Chau- 
vinism again  raised  its  head.  As  early  as 
October,  1S75,  the  Turkish  imperial  news- 
paper, "Bassiret,"  had  issued  an  inspiring 
and  revolutionary  appeal  for  a  crusade  of 
the  Mohammedans  against  the  infidels. 
Special  mention  was  made  of  Algiers,  East 
India,  Java,  Sumatra,  and  the  Caucasus.  In 
1876  the  "Sabah" — morning — threatened  a 
general  levy  of  300,000,000  Mohammedans, 
who  were  to  occupy 
England  and  Russia, 
France  and  Austria,  and 
to  devastate  these  coun- 
tries, while  Germany  was 
to  be  spared  so  long  as 
she  remained  neutral. 

The  chief  persons  who 
shared  in  the  deposition 
of  the  Sultan  Abd  ul-Aziz 
and  the  enthronement  of 
the  Sultan  Murad  V. 
were  Midhat,  Hussein 
Avni  jMiiterjim,  Mehemet 
Riishdi,  and  Zia  Bey  ;  of 
these  the  first  and  the 
last  were  Young  Turks, 
while  the  other  two  were 
Old  Turks,  assuming  this 
distinction  to  be  possible 
of  maintenance.  Apart 
from  these,  the  members 
of  the  Young  Turkish 
party  set  their  hopes 
particularly  on  Prince 
Murad,  as  they  expected 
him  to  issue  some  form  of 
constitution.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  when  Murad  had 
become  sultan,  he  proclaimed  his  intention 
of  granting  a  constitution  on  July  15th, 
1876  ;  but  even  then  his  mind  was  begin-  > 
ning  to  be  overclouded,  and  fate  willed 
otherwise.  Midhat  Pasha  was  the  life  and 
soul  of  the  constitutional  movement.  In 
the  winter  of  1876  he  drew  up  a  memorial 
which  he  submitted  to  the  Powers.  He 
explained  that  the  main  cause  of  the 
decline  of  the  Turkish  Empire  was  to  be 
found  not  in  religious  or  racial  disputes, 
but  in  a  despotic  government  and  the  ex- 
travagant whims  of  the  Sultan  Abd  ul-Aziz. 
Midhat  Pasha  availed  himself  by  pre- 
ference   of    the   services  of    two   famous 


J'A^:- 


a:  S-5  °^ 

<;  f->  u  ui  s 

H  ;::;'a  <u  u, 
(jj  rt-S  idj: 

t^  =  5.0 

o  0  „2 

Hoj;>-= 

5199 


THE  TSAR  NICHOLAS  II.  OF  RUSSIA  AND  THE  TSARINA  ALEXANDRA  FEODOROVNA 

Plioto':  Russell  i;  Sons 


authors,  Kemal  and  Zia  Bey.  These  men 
were  also  leaders  of  the  "  Young  Turkish 
party."  Their  aims,  however,  were  not 
only  pohtical,  but  primarily  literary.  It 
is  in  this  department  that  their  most 
distinguished  services  were  performed. 
They  abandoned  the  conventionality  of 
classical  poetry  and  the  courtly  style  of 
prose  writing,  and  found  their  model 
either  in  the  inexhaustible  treasures  of 
the  Ottoman  ballad  poetry  and  popular 
language,  or,  as  regards  the  "  moderns," 
in  French  literature.  The  wealth  of 
poetry  and  of  moral  force,  and  especially 
of  the  pure  undeiiled  Ottoman  language 
existing  in  the  stories,  satires,  humorous 
tales,  narratives,  chap-books,  chivalrous 
and  political  romances,  ballads,  puppet 
plays,  riddles,  and  proverbs  of  the  Turkish 
nation  was  only  waiting  the  discoverer. 
In  this  respect  the  efforts  of  the  Young 
Turks  exercised  a  healthy  influence  upon 
Ottoman  civilisation,  even  though  their 
first  efforts  for  reformation  or  revolution 
far  exceeded  the  limits  of  what  was  per- 
missible or  possible. 

Ali  Suavi  Effendi  was  a  compound  of 
Peter  of  Amiens  and  Mazzini  ;  but  he  was 
entirely  faithful  to  the  Koran.  Zia  Bey 
had,  in  the  year  1859,  under  the  title  of 

5200 


Andalus  Tarikhi,  published  a  history  01 
the  Arab  dominion  in  the  Iberian  peninsula, 
which  was  based  on  the  somewhat  super- 
ficial work  of  Louis  Viardot,  and  amounted 
to  a  glorification  of  Moslem  civilisation, 
characterised  by  a  hostile  attitude  to 
Europe  and  Christianity.  Kemal  Bey,  a 
faithful  scholar  of  his  great  master  and 
model,  Shinassi  Effendi,  the  creator  of 
modern  Ottoman  literature  and  language, 
was  the  most  important  of  all  the  Turkish 
poets  of  the  modern  period.  He  published 
a  newspaper  under  the  title  of  "  Ibret  " 
— pattern — in  which  he  actually  defended 
the  Commune  of  Paris.  His  most  im- 
portant dramatic  work  was  "  Silistria  "  or 
"  Vatan,"  the  Fatherland.  Though  the 
details  of  the  heroic  defence  of  the  Danube 
forts  in  1854  may  not  be 
historically  true,  yet  he 
secured  a  striking  success 
through  the  exalted  tone  of 
his  love  for  the  "  fatherland,"  a  conception 
formerly  unknown  to  Mohammedanism, 
and  by  the  popular  style  of  the  work.  Its 
success  led  totheauthor'sbanishment,  after 
the  production  of  this  piece  in  Constanti- 
nople in  1873.  In  conjunction  with  Mehe- 
met  Bey,  the  nephew  of  the  Grand  Vizir, 
Mahmud  Xedim  Pasha,   he  founded  the 


Banishment 

of  the  Scholarly 

Kemal  Bey 


REACTION    IN    RUSSIA    AND    TURKEY'S    PROGRESS 


Persecution 
of  the 


Turkish  newspaper, "  Mukhbir,"  that  is,  the 
"  Reporter."  The  paper  was  suppressed 
when  the  persecution  against  the  Young 
Turks  was  begun  ;  the  conspirators  made 
their  escape  safely  to  Paris.  There  they 
came  in  contact  with  Fazil  Mustafa,  the 
brother  of  the  Khedive  Ismail,  who  had 
been  banished  on  account  of  his    claims 

to  the  Egyptian  succession. 

The  •' Mukhbir  "  continued  to 
"*  '"*'  „    ,     appear  in  Paris  and  London, 

Young    lurks      ^5   ,,  i        r 

and  thousands  of  copies  were 
smuggled  into  Turkey ;  some  numbers  also 
appeared  in  French.  To  the  European 
public  at  large,  however,  this  party  assumed 
a  mask  of  toleration,  and  concealed  their 
fanatical  zeal  for  Mohammedanism  under 
an  appearance  of  free  thought.  Under 
Mahmud  Pasha  they  were  amnestied  and 
recalled.  Zia  and  Riza  Bey,  who  had 
formerly  been  ambassadors  in  Teheran 
and  St.  Petersburg,  were  then  the  foremost 
in  enlightening  the  Grand  Vizir  upon  the 
complicated  Bulgarian  question  and  the 
problem  of  the  Catholic  Armenians. 
At  this  period  there  was  also  a  Turkish 


theatre  at  Stamboul,  with  a  repertoire 
of  forty  to  fifty  pieces,  partly  original 
and  partly  translations  of  Moliere  by 
Ahmed  Vesik,  or  of  Schiller  by  Ahmed 
Midhat  Effendi,  the  editor  of  the  official 
Turkish  newspaper  ;  Vesik  also  published 
some  maps  in  Turkish  for  the  use  of 
schools,  and  took  part  in  the  composition 
of  a  great  dictionary.  Miinif  Effendi 
translated  part  of  Voltaire's  "  Entretiens 
et  Dialogues  Philosophiques,"  and  followed 
the  example  of  Fuad  in  proposing  the 
extension  and  regulation  of  the  narrow, 
crooked  streets  of  Stamboul.  Public 
libraries  were  founded  ;  Abd  ul-Aziz  began 
a  zoological  garden,  and  in  the  medical 
school  of  the  Seraglio  of  Galata  a  museum 
of  natural  objects  was  opened  to  the  public. 
The  foundation  of  the  "  University  "  of 
Constantinople  can  only  be  described  as  a 
failure.  Strangely  enough,  some  decades 
later,  in  the  movement  for  the  emancipa- 
tion of  women,  which  found  expression  in 
1895  in  the  newspaper  of  Tahir  Effendi, 
"KhanimlaraMakhsusGazeta,"  female  col- 
laborators like  Fatima  Alij  a,  Nigiar  Chamin , 


EXPELLING  THE  JEWS  FROM  RUSSIA:  A  SCENE  AT  THE  BALTIC  RAILWAY  STATION 
Wanderers  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  the  Jews  have  found  their  way  into  all  parts  of  the  world,  but  in  few  lands  has  their 
presence  been  welcomed,  while  in  many  countries  they  have  been  the  victims  of  cruel  treatment.  Russia  has  been 
particularly  unkind  to  the  ancient  people,  as  indicated  in  the  above  picture,  persecuting  them  with  much  harshness. 

I      ■■  «  ,;  5201 


THE    LAST    VISIT    OF    THE    SULTAN    ABD    UL-AZIZ    TO    THE    MOSQUE    AT    BAGDSCHA 
Turkey's  'summary  methods  of  high  politics  are  well  illustrated  in  the  case  of  Abd  ul-Aziz,  who,  after  being  deposed, 
was  taken  to  his  palace  at   Chiragan  and  there  put  to  death  by  the  new  Grand  Vizir  and  the  Minister  of  War. 

adherents,  who  called  themselves  Fedayiji, 
conspirators  or  martyrs.  Even  at  that 
time.  i860,  this  free 
federation  of  Ottomans 
was  aiming  at  the  follow- 
ing points  :  a  reform  of 
Turkey  by  the  Turks 
without  distinction  of  faith 
and  not  by  Europe,  the 
abolition  of  despotic 
government,  a  responsible 
^linistry  composed  of 
honourable  statesmen, 
and  a  Chamber  composed 
of  membeis  of  all  the 
races  and  religions  within 
the  Ottoman  Empire. 
Khair  ed-din  Pasha  and 
Khalil  Sherif  Pasha  pur- 
sued the  same  objects 
under  Abd  ul-Aziz,  and 
were  supported  by  Zia 
Bey  and  Kemal  Bey  in 


Hamijeti  Zehra,  Fahr-en-Nisa,  Makbula 
Lemian,  Emine  Wahide,  and  Renesie, 
notwithstanding  their 
thorough  knowledge  of 
Oriental  and  European 
languages  and  morals, 
spoke  out  strongly  on  the 
side  of  the  Young  Turks 
on  behalf  of  the  strength- 
ening and  retention  of 
Mohammedan  customs 
and  of  the  avoidance  of 
European  civilisation  in 
methods  of  education.  At 
the  same  time  Vambery 
forecasts  from  this 
woman's  movement  an 
approximation  to  Western 
manners  and  the  begin- 
ning of  a  beneficial  reform 
of  the  state  and  of  society 


MURAD     v.,     SULTAN     OF     TURKEY 
-,  ,  ,     ,       .     .     ,  When  on  May  i'Jth,  1876,  the  Sultan  Abd  ul- 

Lpon  the  whole,  it  is  by  Aziz  was  deposed,  Mnrad  v.,  the  eldest  son  ot 
Abd  ul-Mejid.  was  placed  on  the  throne.  His 
reign,  however,  was  brief,  as  he  was  deposed 


no  means  easy  to  gam  a 

clear  idea  of  the  theories  owTng'to  insanity,  in  August  cfthe  same  year!  writing  and  speech,   and 

and  ideals  of  the  modern  Photo :  w.  a„d  d.  Downey  ^^  ^j-  ^^^  ^^^^  -^   ^^^^ 

Young  TurTcish  party.  Their  first  official  government.  They  developed  great  plans, 
leader  was  the  Cherkess  general,  Hussein  and  actually  succeeded  in  obtaining  ap- 
Pasha.      He    was    joined    by    numerous      provalfor  some  of  them  from  the  tyrannical 

5202 


NOTABLE     LEADERS    IN    THE    TURKISH    AND    RUSSIAN    MOVEMENTS 
When    the  Grand  Vizir,  Mehemet  Riishdi   Pasha,  was    deposed   in    1878,  the   office   was    given    to    Safvet    Pasha  ; 
General  Ignatieff  was  prominent  in  the  Russo-Turltish  war  of  1878,  and  was  principally  responsible  for  the  treaty  of 
peace  between  Russia  and  Turkey  signed  at  San  Stefano ;  while  Abd  ul-Kerim  Pasha  was  an  able  Turkish  general. 


Sultan,  who  went  so  far  as  to  summon  an 
Armenian  Christian,  Agathon  Effendi,  to 
the  Ministry.  The  programme  of  Midhat 
in  1876  was,  generally  speaking,  based 
upon  principles  borrowed  from  the  West  ; 
the  supremacy  of  law,  universal  equality, 
the  strengthening  of  the  Divan  against  the 
Seraglio,  ireedom  of  the  Press,  indepen- 
dence of  the  judicature,  reorganisation  of 
the  administrative  power  with  respect  for 
the  Mohammedan  legal  code,  but  also  in 
accord  with  Western  experience,  order  in 
the  palace,  a  change  in  the  Eastern  prin- 
ciple of  succession,  European  education 
for  the  princes,  marriage  of  the  princes 
with  European  princesses,  and  the  conse- 
quent abolition  of  slavery,  of  polygamy, 
of  concubines,   and  eunuch  government. 


In  conjunction  with  Fazil  and  Server 
Pasha,  Midhat  defended  his  creations,  the 
Constitution,  the  Parliament,  and  the 
Senate,  in  his  "  Iftihad."  He  demanded  a 
complete  severance  of  the  caliphate  from 
the  sultanate,  and  an  abolition  of  theo- 
cratic government.  This  proposal  deeply 
offended  the  strong  ecclesiastical  party  of 
the  Ulemas.  Under  the  following  sultan, 
Midhat  was  overthrown ;  and  the  inheritors 
of  his  ideas,  the  Reform  Turks,  or  Liberals, 
as  they  preferred  to  be  called,  continued 
until  recently  the  struggle  to  secure  the 
liberation  of  the  Sultan  Abd  ul-Hamid  II. 
and  his  people  from  the  hands  of  the  Court 
Camarilla.  It  may  be  noted  that  in  May, 
1904,  public  attention  was  occupied  with 
the  rumour  of  the  imprisonment  of  certain 


i£^^^ 


THE     FIRST     STATE     PASSAGE     OF     THE     SULTAN     MURAD     V.     TO     DOLMA-BAKCHEH 

5203 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Young  Turks  of  high  position.  This  party 
included  Ahmed  Riza,  the  editor  of  the 
"  Meschweret,"  Murad  Bey,  a  kind  of 
pohtical  chameleon,  editor  of  the  "  Misan," 
Theodor  Kassope,  the  brilliant  journalist 
of  the  "  Haial,"  Ismail  Kemal  Bey,  Vas- 
silaki  Bey,  Mehemet  Ubeidullah,  Said 
Bey,  Zia  Bey,  and  Ferdi  Bey,  and  even  the 
Sultan's  brother-in-law,  Mahmud  Damad, 
who  died  on  January  i8th,  1903,  at 
Brussels.  In  sad  tones  does  the  Turkish 
ballad  recount  the  deposition  of  the 
"  beloved  ruler 
Abd  ul-Aziz."  A 
gloomy  fate, 
however,  still 
bore  heavily  upon 
the  Ottoman 
throne;  on 
August  31st, 
1876,  Murad  V., 
the  hope  of  the 
Young  Turkish 
party,  was  de- 
posed owing  to 
insanity,  and 
placed  in  confine- 
ment until  his 
death,  on  August 
29th,  1904. 

He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his 
brother,  Abd  ul- 
Hamid  II.,  born 
September  21st, 
1842,  the  thirty- 
fourth  sovereign 
of  the  Ottoman 
House  and  the 
twenty  -  eighth 
since  the  con- 
quest of  Con- 
stantinople. A 
reform  of  educa- 
tion and  of  the 
constitution,  the 
improvement  of 
trade  and  economic  life  by  a  vast  ex- 
tension of  the  railway  system,  were  the 
objects  which  this  highly  gifted  monarch 
set  before  himself  of  his  own  free  and 
vigorous  will,  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
"  this  nation  of  gentlemen,"  as  Bismarck 
called  the  Ottomans,  to  the  height  of  civi- 
lisation. In  vain  did  the  Sirdar  Abd  ul- 
Kerim  drive  back  the  Serbs  at  Alexinatz 
on  September  ist,  1876,  into  the  valley  of 
the  Morava.  On  November  ist  the  Bashi- 
bazouks  had  made  their  way  beyond  Junis 

5204 


Halil  Sherif  Pasha 
MINISTERS    OF    THE 


While  holding  a  Cabinet  Council  with  their  colleagues  at  Con- 
stantinople in  1876,  the  four  pashas  whose  portraits  are  given 
above  were  attacked  by  Hassan  Bey,  a  military  man  who  had  been 
imprisoned  for  his  laxity  in  obeying  orders,  and  two  of  them,  Hussein 
Avni  Pasha  and  Mehemet  Riishdi,  died  from  the  wounds  inflicted. 


and  Stolatz  as  far  as  the  neighbourhood  of 
Belgrade  ;  the  telegram  of  the  Tsar 
Alexander  II.,  despatched  from  Livadia  on 
October  31st,  commanded  a  cessation  of 
hostilities.  In  vain  did  the  diplomatic 
and  peaceful  Sultan  resolve  upon  the 
extremity  of  compliance  in  the  peace  con- 
cluded on  February  28th,  1877. 

When  the  Powers  demanded  an  inde- 
pendent administration  for  Bulgaria,  Mid- 
hat  Pasha,  who  had  been  Grand  Vizir 
since  December  22nd,  1876,  answered  this 
move  by  produc- 
ing a  constitu- 
tion which  the 
Sultan  imposed 
upon  his  empire 
on  December 
23rd.  This  Re- 
presentative As- 
sembly of  200 
Moslems  and  60 
Christians  de- 
clined the  pro- 
posals of  the 
conference  of  the 
Powers.  Ignatieff 
then  went  round 
the  courts  of 
Europe  and 
secured  their 
agreement  to  the 
"  London  Pro- 
tocol," which  re- 
commended the 
Sublime  Porte  to 
recognise  the 
autonomy  of  the 
two  provinces  of 
Bulgaria  and 
Eastern  Roume- 
lia  under  Chris- 
tian governors. 
However,  Midhat 
was  overthrown 
on  February  5th, 
1877,  by  a  palace 
revolution,  and  Edhem  Pasha,  his  suc- 
cessor, induced  the  Sultan  curtly  to  decline 
the  Russian  proposals  on  April  9th. 

On  April  23rd  the  Tsar  Alexander  II. 
informed  his  troops  at  Kishineff  that  war 
had  been  declared.  On  the  night  of  the 
24th  the  Cossacks  crossed  the  Pruth,  and 
the  whole  army  advanced  into  Roumania, 
not,  as  before,  to  secure  the  "  liberation 
of  the  Christians,"  but  that  of  their 
"  Slavonic  brothers."  On  April  i6th 
Roumania  had  concluded  with  Russia  a 


Mehemet  Riishdi  Pasha 
SULTAN    OF    TURKEY 


REACTION    IN    RUSSIA    AND    TURKEY'S    PROGRESS 


convention     admitting     the    passage    of 
troops,  which  was  regarded  by  the  Porte 
as  a  casus  belU  in  the  case  of  that  state 
also.  Thereupon  the  Chamber  at  Bucharest 
proclaimed  their  independence.  The  Turks 
were  in  position  with  180,000  men  along 
the   Danube,  while    80,000    troops    were 
ready  in  Asia.      Russia   was   certain   of 
the   benevolent   neutrality   of    Germany, 
and  in  January,  1877,  she  had  concluded 
the  agreement  of  Reichstadt  with  Austria, 
which   secured  Bosnia    and  Herzegovina 
to    Austro- Hun- 
gary in  the  event 
of  her  non-inter- 
ference.       On 
May      3rd      the 
Turks      declared 
the  shores  of  the 
Black  Sea  to  be 
in     a     state     of 
blockade.     On 
May      6th      the 
Sultan    assumed 
the    title     "De- 
fender    of      the 
Faith,"  and  pro- 
claimed      the 
Holy  War. 

At  the  outset 
the  Turkish  war- 
ship Seifi  was 
attacked  by 
Russian  torpedo 
boats  below 
Matchin,  on  the 
Danube,  and 
sunk ;  on  May 
iith  a  Russian 
battery  at  Braila 
shelled  the  Turk- 
ish  monitor 
L  u  t  fi  J  alii , 
and  blew  up  the 
ship  with  its 
crew.  On  May 
17th  the  Russo- 

Caucasian  army  stormed  Ardakhan  and 
invested  Kars.  However,  the  victory  of 
Mukhtar  Pasha  over  Loris  Melikoff  forced 
the  Russians  to  retire  to  their  own  country 
in  the  middle  of  July.  A  Turkish  fleet, 
supported  by  the  revolt  of  the  Cherkesses 
in  the  Caucasus,  bombarded  the  Russian 
forts  on  the  Abkhasian  coast  and  captured 
Sukhum  Kaleh  ;  but  this  position  was  un- 
avoidably evacuated  in  August,  for  the 
Russians  had  then  recaptured  Kars  and 
made  a  victorious  advance  to  Erzeroum. 


Mukhtar  Pasha  undertook  the  defence. of 
Constantinople.  The  Russians,  indeed, 
had  not  been  able  to  cross  the  Danube  at 
Sistova  and  Zimnitza  until  June  29th, 
owing  to  the  floods  ;  but  on  July  7th  they 
reached  Tirnovo,  and  General  Gurko 
crossed  the  Balkans  on  July  13th  at 
the  Shipka  Pass. 

General  Schilder-Schuldner  was  beaten 
back  at  Plevna  by  Osman  Nuri  Pasha, 
and  the  Russian  line  _  of  retreat  was 
threatened.  Had  the  Turkish  commanders 
been  united  and 
able  to  make  a 
decisive  attack 
upon  the  Rus- 
sians, the  latter 
would  scarcely 
have  reached  the 
left  bank  of  the 
Danube.  Mean- 
while the  Rus- 
sians brought  up 
their  reinforce- 
ments and  the 
Roumanian 
army,  in  order  to 
capture  t-he 
"Lion  of  Plevna," 
who  is  still  cele- 
brated in  the 
Turkish  ballad  ; 
he  died  Apnl  5th, 
1900.  On  Sep- 
tember nth,  the 
birthday  of  the 
Russian  Tsar, 
after  vast  pre- 
parations the 
great  attack  was 
begun  upon  the 
de  fences  of 
Osman       Pasha, 

Abd  ul-Zia  Bey  Prince  Mustafa  Pasha  n  , ,       T?,mcjans 

LEADERS    OF    THE    "YOUNG     TURKISH    PARTY"  aUQ  tue  KUSSiaUS 

The  Young  Turkish  Party  of  1867  had  little  in   common  with   the  S  U  tt  C  1  C  a       tUeir 

movement  of  recent  years.     Aiming-  at  restoring  the  ancient  regime,  greatest        defeat 

it  originated  in  literary   idealism  rather  than  political  aspirations.  ^     .■  ,  ,  i     -i 

cam.paign;  16,000  dead  and  wounded 
Russians  covered  the  battlefield,  the  sole 
result  being  the  capture  of  the  redoubt  of 
Grivitza.  Finally,  on  December  loth,  the 
wounded  Osman,  whose  supply  of  am- 
munition had  failed,  was  obliged  to 
surrender  to  a  force  three  times  as  large 
as  his  own,  with  40,000  men,  2,000 
officers,  and  77  guns. 

The  fall  of  Plevna  encouraged  the  Serbs 
at  Nisch  on  January  nth,  1878,  and  the 
Montenegrins  made  conquests  on  the  coast 

5205 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


of  the  Adriatic  on  January  19th,  1878; 
the  Greeks  crossed  the  frontier  of  Thessaly 
on  February  2nd.  In  Bulgaria,  after 
endless  marching,  Gurko  had  subdued  the 
Etropol  district  at  the  end  of  December, 
1877,  and  had  effected  a 
junction  with  the  army 
of  Lorn  in  Philippopolis. 
On  January  2gth,  1878, 
the  Russians  reached  the 
Sea  of  Marmora  at 
Rodosto,  after  the  capture 
of  the  Shipka  army,  the 
destruction  of  the  division 
of  Suleiman,  and  the 
occupation  of  Adrianople. 
On  January  31st  an 
armistice  was  concluded, 
and  then  the  British  fleet 
entered  the  Sea  of  Mar- 
mora. The  Russians  now 
advanced  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Constanti- 
nople, and  on  March  3rd 
dictated  the  Peace  of  San 
Stefano,  in  which  they 
demanded  complete  in- 
dependence for  R  oumania 
Servia,  Montenegro,  and 
Bulgaria,  the  cession  of  Armenia  to  Russia 
and  of  the  Dobrudsha  to  Roumania,  and 
would  also  have  cut  European  Turkey  in 
half  by  the  establishment  of  the  states  of 
Roumelia       and   , 


Turkey  in  Asia,  and  occupying  Cyprus 
by  way  of  return.  The  Grand  Vizir, 
however,  was  replaced  by  Safvet  Pasha 
on  June  4th.  The  demands  proposed  in 
the  Peace  of  San  Stefano  were  consider- 
ably reduced  in  the  Berlin 
Congress,  June  13th  to 
July  13th,  1878 ;  in  parti- 
cular, Eastern  Roumelia 
was  left  under  Turkish 
supremacy.  Austria, 
however,  was  entrusted 
with  the  occupation  of 
Bosnia  and  Herzegovina, 
and  was  given  the  right 
to  maintain  a  body  of 
supervisory  troops  in  the 
Sanjak  of  Novibazar, 
under  the  supremacy  of 
the  Sultan.  Roumania's 
only  reward  for  the 
valuah)le  service  which 
she  had  rendered  to 
Russia  was  the  acquisition 
of  the  barren  Dobrudsha 
in  return  for  Bessarabia, 


THE    SULTAN    ABDUL    HAMID    IL 

Brother  of  Murad   V.,    he  succeeded  to  the  i     n        t->  • 

throne  of  Turkey  in  1S76,  and  in  the  following  wllicll  WaSCedcd  toRuSSia. 

year  gave  the  country  a  Parliament,  which  was  /^  i    -,  •    i  j. 

soon  after  withdrawn,  to   be  restored  in   1908.  vjreece    bCCUreU    inc   Hglll 

Pilot.. :  w.  &  D.  Downey  to  a  better  delimitation 

of  her  northern  frontier,  but  itwas  not  until 
1880  that  she  secured  possession  of  Thessaly 
and  of  the  district  of  Arta  in  Epirus. 
The  war  indemnity  paid  by  the  Porte  to 
,._.^ ,,    „,_„,:„.  „,,.., -,L-,.;^      -  Russia  amounted 


Macedonia. 
Thereupon  Dis- 
raeli threatened 
war,  concen- 
trated Indian 
troops  at  Malta, 
and  joined  Aus- 
tria in  a  demand 
for  a  congress. 
Abd  ul-Hamid 
had  dissolved  the 
Chambers  on 
February  14th, 
and  had  never 
recalled  them ; 
on  May  20th  he 
had  suppressed 
with  bloodshed 
the  conspiracy 
begun     by     Ali 

Suaviin  favour  of  Murad,  and  on  May 
25th  had  appointed  Mehemet  Riishdi 
Pasha  as  Grand  Vizir.  He  concluded  a 
secret  treaty  with  Britain  on  June  4th, 
the  British  undertaking  the  protection  of 

5206 


to  £16,080,000. 
In  1882,  Bosnia, 
which .  had  first 
to  be  conquered 
step  by  step  by 
the  Austrian 
troops,  received  a 
measure  of  civil 
government, 
under  which  the 
prosperity  of  this 
fertile  district 
considerably  in- 
creased. The 
Berlin  Treaty 
was  signed  by  re- 
the  presentatives    of 

Russo-Turkish   war   of    1877,  capturing    the    fortresses   of    Sophia,     g^||      t\lQ     PowerS 
Philippopolis  and  Adrianople,  when  the  armistice  of  1878  followed;     ^,  in  .' 

while   Michael  Dmitrievitch  Skobelev  was  a  leader  in  the  expeditions     inOUgll     all    WCl'e 

""   '    '  <•'-"-"    fully  aware  that 

it  contained  merely  the  germs  of  fresh 
entanglements.  Prince  Bismarck  stig- 
matised the  treaty  as  a  '"  dishonourable 
fiction,"  while  the  Pan-Slavonic  Party 
blamed  the  "  infidelity  of   their  German 


Gurko  Skobelev 

TWO    DISTINGUISHED    RUSSIAN    GENERALS 
Count    Gurko,    a    Russian    general,    distinguished    himself 


to  Khiva  and  Khokand  and  also  in  the  Russo-Turkish  war  of  1877-78. 


ft<^'??f?^-~;r^'iiiv:Vi,ll^f^,;.;  ^:'X  <^..  IxV^^P  ■^Msfif-'^ 


t  *:•  .V  "J/Vfi:^  ■s*e^*»i 


THE     HOUSE     IN     SESSION     AT    CONSTANTINOPLE 
Turkey's  first  Parliament,  in! 877,  as  shown  in  the  first  of  these  two  pictures,  was  opened  by  the  Sultan,  Abdul 
Hamid  11.,  in  the  Grand  Throne  Room  of  the  Imperial  Palace  of  Dolma-Bakcheh.     A  sitting  of  the  Parliament  is 
illustrated  in  the  second  picture.  In  the  side  galleries  were  special  boxes  for  the  Sultan  and  other  illustrious  visitors. 


TURKEY'S     FIRST     AND     SHORT-LIVED     PARLIAMENT     OF     1877 


5207 


5208 


REACTION    IN    RUSSIA    AND    TURKEY'S    PROGRESS 


friend"  for  the  unfavourable  results-  of 
the  Berlin  Congress.     Russia  did  not  feel 
her  military  power  Sufficiently  great  to. 
begin  a  war  with  Austria  and  England, 
after  she  had  once  lost  her  opportunity 
of    occupying    Constantinople.      For    the 
blunders     of      Russian     policy,      Prince: 
Gortchakoff     undoubtedly     divided     the 
responsibility  with  some   of  his  younger . 
adherents,  but  his   freedom  from   blame 
is  by  no  njeans  proved. 

When  the  German  Chancellor  concluded 
the  alliance  with  Austria  on  October  7th, 
1879,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  Triple 


of  ■  his  empire  by  a  series  of  innovations. 
In  1880  he  forced  the  Albanian  League 
to  give  in  its  submissicm  and  to  cede 
Duleignoto  Montenegro.  The  statesmen, 
iMidhat,  Mahmud  Damad,  and  Nuri  Pasha, 
who  had  hitherto  gone  unpunished,  were 
condemned  to  death  on  jvine  9th,  1881, 
and  banished  to  Arabia.  With  the  help 
of  German  officials,  the  Sultan  secured  in 
1881  a  union  with  the  orthodox  and  a 
financial  reform  of  high  benefit  to  the 
empire. ,  The  revenue  was  increased  by 
the  introduction  of  the  tobacco  regie  in 
1883.     The   state   was,    however,    chiefly 


SIGNING   THE    TREATY    OF    PEACE    BETWEEN     RUSSIA    AND    TURKEY    AT    SAN    STEFANO 


Alliance  in  1883,  the  far-sighted  Sultan 
at  once  recognised  that  the  welfare  of  his 
state  was  conditional  solely  upon  the 
support  of  these  most  powerful  influences 
for  European  peace.  In  1879  the  de- 
position of  Ismail  had  indeed  failed  to 
restore  the  old  supremacy  of  the  Porte  ; 
the  Nile  Valley  fell  into  the  hands  of  Great 
Britain  in  1882,  and  the  conquest  of  the 
Sudan  immediately  followed ;  on  May 
i2th,  1881,  and  June  8th,  1883,  France 
also  declared  her  protectorate  of  Tunis. 
However,  the  Sultan  loyally  observed 
the  conditions  of  the  Berlin  Congress, 
and  attempted  to  increase  the  prosperity 


strengthened  by  the  Sultan's  invitation  to 
German  officers  to  remodel  the  organisa- 
tion of  the  army  in  1880,  and  to  elaborate 
a  military  law,  which  came  into  force  in 
1887.  From  that  date,  all  men  capable 
of  bearing  arms  were  forthwith  assigned 
to  a  certain  arm  of  the  service,  and  on 
attaining  their  majority  were  placed  under 
control  and  incorporated  in  troops  of 
the  line  for  training.  In  the  officers' 
schools,  which  were  conducted  in  Constan- 
tinople by  the  Freiherr  von  der  Goltz  from 
1883  to  1895,  the  number  of  pupils  rose 
from  4,000  to  14,000.  In  1880  the  old 
rnuseum  of  antiquities  was  built  in  the 

5209 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


Serai  gardens — Chinili  Kiosk — while  the 
new  museum  was  constructed  in  iSoi. 
In  i8gi  the  School  of  Art  was  founded 
close  at  hand  by  Hamid  Bey,  where,  not- 
withstanding the  prohibition  of  the  Koran 
against  the  representation  of  the  human 
countenance,  more  than  130  young  Turks 
were  regularly  instructed  in  painting, 
.  sculpture,  and  architectural 
Roumania     ^g^j  The  Sultan  displayed 

Proclaimed  °  .    ^     -.  . 


a  Kingdam 


even  greater  wisdom   in  hold- 


ing aloof  from  the  disturb- 
ances between  the  Balkan  States, 
though  Russian  dissatisfaction  with  her 
Slavonic  protectorates  gave  him  every 
excuse  for  armed  interference,  and  though 
his  action  on  this  occasion  was  stigma- 
tised as  "  weakness "  by  the  Young 
Turkish  party.  Roumania  was  proclaimed 
a  kingdom  on  March  26th,  1881,  as  also 
was  Servia  on  March  6th,  1882. 

On  April  29th,  1879,  the  Bulgarian 
Sobranje  had  chosen  Prince  Alexander  of 
Battenberg  as  ruler  of  the  country.  On 
May  9th,  1 88 1,  he  overthrew  the  radical 
government  and  the  influence  of  the 
agitators  for  a  larger  Bulgaria  in  Eastern 
Roumelia  and  Macedonia  by  means  of  a 
coup  d'etat.  However,  on  September  19th, 
1883,  he  restored  the  constitution  of 
Trnovo  and  undertook  the  government  of 
Eastern  Roumelia,  much  against  the  will 
of  Russia,  on  September  20th,  1885. 
Thereupon  the  jealous  Servians  declared 
war  upon  the  Bulgarians  on  November 
13th.  After  one  temporary  success  at  the 
Dragoman  Pass,  King  Milan  was  defeated 
by  Prince  Alexander  on  November  i8th 
and  19th,  at  Slivnitza  and  Pirot,  driven 
back  upon  Tzaribrod,  and  was  spared  in 
the  Peace  of  Bucharest,  March  3rd,  1886, 
only  at  the  request  of  Austria. 

The  reckless  financial  polic}'  of  a  rapid 
succession  of  •  Ministers,  the  agitation 
fomented  by  the  Radicals,  the  domestic 
quarrels  in  the  royal  family,  the  divorce 
in  1888,  and  the  abdication  of  King  Milan 
in  favour  of  his  son  Alexander 
I.    in    1889,  the   latter's  coup 


Abdication 

of 

King  Milan 


d'etat  in  1893,  and  his  marriage 
with  Draga  Maschin  in  1900, 
were  events  which  gave  the  unhappy 
country  neither  peace  nor  justice.  The 
rise  of  Bulgaria  and  its  union  with 
Eastern  Roumelia  on  October  5th,  1886, 
aroused  the  jealousy  and  the  anger  of  the 
Tsar  and  of  the  Panslavists.  On  the  night 
of  August  2ist  Prince  Alexander  was  sur- 
})rised  in  his  bed  and  forced  to  abdicate  ; 

5210 


upon  his  return  he  was  unable  to  make  his 
peace  with  the  Tsar,  and  was  definitely  ban- 
ished from  the  country  on  December  7th, 
1886  ;   he  died  on  November  17th,  1893. 

After  the  short  regency  of  Stam- 
buloff  and  the  disturbance  caused  by  the 
appearance  of  the  Russian  general,  Baron 
Kaulbars,  the  Sobranje  chose  Prince 
Ferdinand  of  Saxe-Coburg  as  their  ruler. 
Notwithstanding  the  aloofness  of  the 
Sultan,  the  anger  of  the  Tsar,  and  the 
outrages  of  the  Panslavists  in  the  country, 
this  prince  maintained  his  position,  married 
Princess  Louise  of  Parma  in  1893,  and 
from  1896  brought  up  his  son  Boris  in  the 
faith  of  the  orthodox  Church.  Aftei  the 
murder  of  Stambuloff,  the  prince  secured 
a  reconciliation  with  the  Tsar,  his  recogni- 
tion by  the  Sultan,  and  was  able  even  in 
Macedonia  to  bring  about  the  investiture 
of  Bulgarian  bishops.  Bulgaria  responded 
by  remaining  neutral  until  1897. 

However,  this  fruitful  country  was 
continuall}'  disturbed  by  its  superfluity 
of  ambitious  parliamentarians  and  pro- 
fessional poHticians ;  only  in  the  Mace- 
donian question  was  the  Bulgarian  pre- 
ponderance  decided,  and  this 
erman  ^  through  the  dissension  between 
Influence  in   ,,         c     i  j     j.i-        r^        1 

_    .  the    Serbs    and    the    Greeks. 

^^  But    Servia    and    Greece    dis- 

played an  attitude  of  greater  hostility, 
and  consequently  obliged  the  Porte  to 
make  counter  preparations  and  burden- 
some loans  from  the  Ottoman  bank.  In 
1889  3-  decision  of  the  courts  transferred 
the  Turkish  railways  from  the  hands  of 
Baron  Hirsch  to  the  possession  of  the 
Porte.  German  influence  also  secured  the 
construction  of  the  Anatolian  railway, 
which  had  been  pushed  as  far  as  Angora 
and  Konia  in  1896,  and  which,  when  con- 
tinued to  the  Persian  Gulf,  will  greatly 
strengthen  the  strategical  and  economic 
power  of  Turkey  and  increase  her  influence 
upon  international  trade.  After  the  failure 
of  the  unceasing  efforts  of  the  German 
Commercial  Company  for  Eastern  Trade, 
founded  1881.  the  company,  founded  at 
Hamburg  in  1889.  of  the  Deutsche  Levante 
Linie  was  able  to  issue  combined  tariffs  for 
maritime  and  railway  traffic,  and  thus  suc- 
cessfull}'  to  resume  commerce  with  the  East. 
Before,  however,  this  decaying  empire 
had  been  sin-rounded  by  the  iron  girdle  of 
the  railroad  beyond  Bagdad  it  was  shaken 
to  its  depths  by  two  disastrous  events — 
the  Armenian  revolt  and  the  war  in 
Thessal}'.      Paragraph  61  of  the  Treaty  of 


REACTION    IN    RUSSIA    AND    TURKEY'S    PROGRESS 


Berlin  had  demanded  protection  from  the 
rapacious  officials,  the  Kurds,  and  Cher- 
kesses,  and  reforms  in  the  administration 
io  help  the  oppressed  people  of  the 
Armenians,  who  had  shown  excellent 
capacity  for  trade  and  manual  labour. 
Thanks  to  the  indolence  and  corruption  of 
the  authorities,  these  reforms  were  in- 
troduced with  extreme  slowness.  In  1894 
disturbances  broke  out  in  Sassun,  and  the 
cruelty  with  which  they  were  suppressed 
immediately  gave  the  signal  for  revolt  in 
Trebizond,  Giimishhane,  Samsun,  Agja 
Gune,      and     the     Armenian     vilayets ; 


put  pressure  on  the  Porte.  On  Septem- 
ber 30th,  1895,  certain  Armenians  gathered 
before  the  Sublime  Porte,  demanding 
reforms ;  on  August  26th,  1896,  these 
Armenian  conspirators  surprised  the  Otto- 
man Bank,  and  after  their  liberation  a 
massacre,  apparently  led  by  the  soldiers 
and  police,  was  begun  upon  the  Armenians 
in  the  capital.  When  the  Powers  pro- 
tested against  this  bloodshed,  the  mas- 
sacres were  stopped  and  reforms  were 
promised  ;  but  the  Armenian  question 
remained  one  of  the  pieces  upon  the 
political  chessboard,  while  attention  was 


PRINCE    ALEXANDER    OF    BULGARIA    SIGNING    HIS    ABDICATION 


Turkish  soldiers  and  Kurds  were  massacred 
with  the  connivance  of  the  authorities. 
The  Armenians,  entrenched  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Cilicia  at  Zeitun,  sustained  a 
formal  siege  for  a  long  period,  and  from 
London,  Athens,  Paris,  Geneva,  and  Tiflis 
Armenian  agents  carried  the  seeds  of 
revolt  into  the  distressed  highlands  of 
Upper  Armenia  and  of  the  Taurus.  These 
very  towns  in  Western  Europe  served  as 
refuges  not  only  for  the  Armenian  agents 
who  were  favoured  by  England,  but  also 
for  their  deadly  enemies,  the  Young  Turks, 
of  whom  France  made  occasional  use  to 


soon  diverted  to  North  America,  Eastern 
Asia,  and  South  Africa.  The  Greek  cam- 
paign proved  more  disastrous  to  the  Chris- 
tians than  to  the  once  forbearing  Sultan. 
Two  visits  from  the  German  Emperor 
increased  and  strengthened  the  reputation 
of  Abd  ul-Hamid  II.,  and  made  German 
influence  supreme  with  the  Porte. 

In  Crete  it  had  proved  impossible  to 
appease  the  animosity  between  the  Chris- 
tians and  Mohammedans,  notwithstanding 
their  common  descent;  and  the  breach  of 
the  convention  of  Halepa  of  1S78,  and  the 
imposition  of  a  constitution  which  limited 

5211 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Turkey 
and  Greece 
at  War 


their  freedom  in  1889,  led  to  a  bloody  revolt ; 
this  niovement  was  increased  from  1886  by 
the  hopes  of  the  incorporation  of  the  island 
with  the  mother  country,  notwithstanding 
the  blockade  of  the  Greek  harbours  by  the 
Powers.  On  a  fresh  outburst  of  hostilities 
in  1896-1897,  the  Greek  Colonel  Vassos, 
with  2,000  men,  occupied  Platania  in 
Crete  on  February  15th,  1897, 
and  took  possessixDn  of  the 
island  in  the  name  of  King 
George.  The  Governor,  George 
Berovitch  Pasha,  left  Crete.  The  Powers 
protested  against  this  violation  of  inter- 
national law,  bombarded  the  rebels  from 
their  ships,  and  blockaded  the  island. 

When  Greece  declined  to  withdraw  her 
troops  upon  an  ultimatum  from  the 
Powers,  the  Porte  declared  war  on  April 
17th,  1897.  The  Turkish  army  advanced 
into  Thessaly  under  Edhem  Pasha, 
and  defeated  the  Greek  army,  which 
was  badly  disciplined  and  organised, 
under  the  Crown  Prince  of  Greece, 
Constantine,  at  Turnavos.  Larissa,  Pher- 
sala,  Domokos,  and  in  Epirus.  On  May 
19th  an  armistice  was  arranged  by  the 
intervention  of  the  Powers,  and  a  peace 
was  concluded  at  Constantinople  on  Sep- 
tember 17th,  1897,  under  the  terms  of 
which  Greece  lost  certain  frontier  districts 
on  the  north  of  Thessaly,  and  undertook 
to  pay  a  war  indemnity  of  four  million 
pounds  Turkish,   or   £3, 750, 000. 

The  heaviest  punishment  inflicted  upon 
Greece  was  the  control  of  the  finances 
imposed  at  the  proposal  of  Germany,  as 
the  Germans  had  been  the  chief  sufferers 
from  the  financial  crisis.  Greece  withdrew 
her  troops  from  Crete,  and  the  island 
received  complete  independence  under  the 
suzerainty  of  the  Sultan  ;  Prince  George 
of  Greece  was  appointed  as  Governor.  In 
1893  Greece  at  length  completed  the  canal 
through  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth.  She  has 
not  yet  pushed  forward  her  railway 
system  to  a  junction  with  the 
more  developed  system  of  the 


Greece  on 
the  Road  to 
Prosperity 


Balkan  States,  but  is  now 
advancing  towards  a  more 
prosperous  development.  This  short  cam- 
paign had  proved  that  the  efforts  of 
German  instructors  to  improve  the  organi- 
sation, the  training,  mobilisation,  leader- 
ship, and  discipline  of  the  Turkish  troops 
had  borne  good  fruit.  Thus  Turkey 
reached  the  close  of  the  century.  Vambery, 
Adolf  Wahrmund,  and  Von  der  Goltz  have 


prophesied  a  new  life  and  power  for  the 
Ottoman  State  under  certain  conditions. 
From  the  intellectual  renaissance  in  the 
best  men  of  the  nation,  they  anticipate  a 
revival  of  the  powers  dormant  in  the 
country  and  a  gradual  replacing  of  Asiatic 
by  European  ideas,  a  reconciliation 
between  Mohammedanism  and  Christian- 
ity, and  the  development  of  a  modus 
vivendi  for  these  two  great  religions. 

In  view  of  the  inexhaustible,  and  in  many 
cases  highly  gifted,  population  of  Asia,  the 
protection  of  the  empire,  now  hmited  to 
its  own  frontiers,  is  guaranteed  by  the 
organisation  of  the  empire  and  the  con- 
struction of  railways  and  telegraphs.  The 
weak  spot  in  Turkey  is  the  Bosphorus, 
which  is  unfortified  on  the  land  side, 
though  the  Dardanelles  are  strongly 
fortified.  The  source  of  all  Turkish  evils 
is  to  be  found  in  the  incapacity  of  the 
executive ;  the  extensive  spy  system, 
which  destroys  all  confidence  ;  the  lack 
of  check  upon  the  state  expenditure  ;  the 
permanent  condition  of  insolvency,  which 
is  only  concealed  by  forced  loans  and 
reductions  of  the  salaries  of  officials  ;  the 
,  miserable  condition  of  the 
Ri'^-^^?1!=  population  ;  the  dishonest  taxa- 
tion which  is  the   natural  con- 


Bloodless 
Revolution 


sequence  ;  and  especially  the 
autocracy  of  the  Sultan,  who  has,  with 
great  short-sightedness,  reduced  the  posi- 
tion of  Grand  Vizir  to  a  shadow.  The 
Arab  Caliphate  must  come  to  some 
compromise  with  the  Ottoman  Sultanate. 
The  centre  of  gravity  in  the  Turkish  Empire 
need  not  necessarily  be  looked  for  in  the 
military  force  at  Constantinople  ;  much 
rather  should  it  be  found  in  a  body  of 
reliable  Crown  advisers  and  capable  offi- 
cials. Prophecy,  however,  would  seem  to 
be  more  thoroughly  impossible  with  regard 
to  the  Ottoman  dominions  than  elsewhere. 
The  last  thing  which  anyone  expected  is 
precisely  the  thing  that  has  happened. 
The  astonishing  revolution  of  1908,  in- 
augurated apparently  with  the  full  ap- 
proval of  the  Sultan,  may  be  destined  to 
give  the  Ottoman  Empire  a  new  lease  of 
life  by  placing  new  ideals  within  the  reach 
of  the  Turkish  people.  But  Europe  is  still 
in  the  throes  of  anxiety  as  to  the  develop- 
ments which  may  arise  out  of  the  no  less 
sudden  action  of  Bulgaria  in  proclaiming 
her  own  complete  independence,  and  of 
Austria  in  annexing  Herzegovina. 

Vladimir  Milkowicz 


5212 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


i 


t     I        •%mif%%i\ 


EUROPE 

SINCE    1871 

III 


THE  GERMAN  &  AUSTRIAN  EMPIRES 

THEIR  SOCIAL  &  LEGISLATIVE  DEVELOPMENT 


IN  the  years  1871-1902  three  emperors 
*  have  ruled  at  the  head  of  the  German 
Empire.  First,  the  veteran  founder  of  the 
empire,  Wilham  I.,  from  1871  to  1888  ; 
then  his  son,  Frederic  III.,  best  known 
as  Crown  Prince  Frederic  Wilham,  a 
victim  of  incurable  cancer,  who  reigned 
only  ninety-nine  days,  from  March  gth 
to  June  15th,  1888  ;  and,  lastly,  his  eldest 
son,  William  II.,  born  January  27th,  1859. 

The  differences  between  the  characters 
of  these  three  rulers  are  strongly  marked. 
William  I.  was  a  man  of  simple  character, 
a  thorough  soldier,  taking  no  great  interest 
in  the  arts  and  sciences,  but  keenly  devoted 
to  the  practical  business  of  life,  full  of 
manly  amiability  and  loyal  conscientious- 
ness. The  words  he  uttered  on  his  death- 
bed, "  I  have  no  time  to  be  tired,"  charac- 
terise his  whole  nature.  He  had  the  highest 
conception  of  his  royal  rights  and  duties  ; 
he  read  everything  which  he  had  to  sign, 
TK  R  •  f  ^^^  emphatically  asserted  his 
_  .     "^'^       own  views;    but  he  was  ac- 

eign  o         cessible    to    the    counsel    of 
Frederic  III.  ■  j       ^    .  tt 

experienced   statesmen.      He 

adhered  with  the  greatest  tenacity  to  the 

old  Prussian  traditions.     Frederic  III.  was 

by  nature  and  through  the  influence  of 

his  English  consort,  Victoria,  the  eldest 

daughter  of  Queen  Victoria  and  Prince 

Albert,  devoted  to  the  liberal  ideas  of  the 

time,    a  warm   friend  of   all  artistic  and 

scientific  effort,  and  a  soldier  so  far  as 

and  no  farther  than  his  political  position 

required. 

In  his  brief  reign  he  allowed  himself  to 

.  be  directed  by  Bismarck,  from  whom  his 

father   had   repeatedly  declared  that  he 

never  wished  to  be  separated.    Differences 

of  opinion  which  had  earlier,  especially  in 

1863- 1866,  existed  between  the  monarch 

and  the  statesman  sank  so  much  into  the 

background  in  the  ninety-nine  days  that 

Bismarck  asserted  he  had  never,  in  his 

long  ministerial  career,  known  less  friction 

between   Crown   and    Ministry  than  had 

existed    under    the    Emperor    Frederic. 


Affairs  assumed   quite   a  different   shape 

under  William   II.,   who,   coming  to  the 

throne   as  a  young  man   of  twenty-nine 

years,    brought    with    him    a    thoroughly 

independent,  indeed,  despotic,  nature,  and 

in  the  consciousness  of  ample  abilities  and 

honest  purpose  felt  competent  to  be  his 

^.     .      .    .  own   chancellor.      Thus,    after 
Dismissal  ,  j        1,    ir         u 

p  .  only  a  year  and  a  hall  a  sharp 

„.  ,       ouarrel  broke  out  between  the 

Bismarck        -  1  i    ^i 

young  monarch  and  the  grey- 
haired  statesman,  who  had  so  long  con- 
ducted affairs  with  prudence  and  courage. 
From  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the 
legitimate  position  of  the  Prime  Minister 
towards  the  Crown  and  his  colleagues,  and 
as  to  the  social  and  political  questions 
which  William  II.  thought  he  was  able  to 
solve  at  one  stroke,  the  feud  blazed  up  so 
fiercely  that  the  emperor  on  March  20th, 
1890,  abruptly  dismissed  Bismarck.  Since 
then.  Count  Caprivi,  Prince  Kohenlohe,  and, 
finally.  Prince  Biilow,  have  successively 
filled  thecffice  of  Imperial  Chancellor; 
but  the  importance  of  the  office  has  been 
much  diminished  by  the  personal  activity 
of  the  emperor. 

Although  just  criticism  has  often  been 
brought  to  bear  on  particular  measures 
taken  by  the  Government,  and  on  its 
frequently  slack  and  unsteady  attitude 
since  1890,  and  although  serious  discon- 
tent was  produced,  especiallj'  under 
Caprivi,  by  its  Anglophile  tendencies,  its 
indulgence  towards  the  Poles,  and  its 
brusque  treatment  of  Bismarck,  whom 
the  emperor  took  back  into  favour  in 
Tk  D  J  January,  1894,  yet  it  cannot  be 
The  Proud  disguised  that  during  this  whole 
wmI^  °  II  period  the  development  of  the 
William  II.  Qgj.j^3j^    nation,    in    spite    of 

disagreeable  episodes  of  every  sort,  has 
been  materially  advanced.  The  phrase 
of  William  II.,  "  I  am  leading  you  towards 
splendid  prospects."  was  a  proud  but 
not  by  a-iy  means  an  untrue  utterance. 
The  institutions  of  the  empire  in  the 
very    first    years    of    its    existence    were 

5213 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


completed  by  unceasing  and  generally 
successful  legislative  work.  Wide  local 
diversities  could  not  but  act  as  a  check  on 
the  conception  of  real  unity ;  and  a  just  and 
very  important  step  towards  the  unification 
was  the  adoption  in  1872  of  a  universal 
.gold  standard  and  a  universal 

ermany  s  gg(,jj^^|  system  of  Coinage, 
Military  .    ,  ,  -',  t-?- 

St        th       weights,  and  measures.       Ihis 

^^^^  was  followed  up  by  the  unifica- 

tion of  civil  procedure  in  the  field  of  law, 
in  1876 — a  change  ah  eady.  anticipated  in 
criminal  law  by  the  North  German  Con- 
federation— and  the  adoption  of  a  uniform 
civil  code  for  the  empire,  which  came  into 
force  in  the  year  igoo.      The  fixed  deter- 
mination of  the  whole  nation  to  maintain 
such  a  military  force   as 
should    secure     it     from 
attack — prompted  by  the 
knowledge,     for    many 
years  after  the  great  war, 
that  if  ever  France  had  an 
opportunity  of  attempting 
to   recover  her  lost  pro- 
vinces she  would  certainly 
seize      it — has      hitherto 
triumphed,  though  some- 
times with  extreme  diffi- 
culty,   over   all  attempts 
at     reduction.       Beyond 
this,  however,  WiUiam  II. 
has  declined  to  recognise 
the  limitation  of  Germany 
to  its  European  territory  ; 
alive     to    the     immense 
amount    of    wealth  _  and 
power  which  Great  Britain 
has  acquired  by  hermari-      the   emperor   frederic   hi. 

+irv-iQ     c-nT-ii-Qvi-.^,^-.       1/^    V,oo  His  occupancy  of  the  German  Imperial  throne 

tune     supremacy,    ne    nas  lasted   for   only    three   mojiths.      Succeeding: 

resolved  to  give  Germany  ^'s  father,   WilUam    I      in  March,    1 8S8,   his 

n      j^     T  J 1  death  occurred  at  Potsdam,  from  an  affection 

a       Iirst-ClaSS      navy,      the  of  the  throat,  on  June  1 5th  of  the  same  year. 

growth  of  which  is 
watched  with  some  suspicion  .  by  the 
Power  to  which  naval  supremacy  is  even 
more  vital  than  military  supremacy  to 
Germany.  Doubts,  however,  may  be  felt 
as  to  how  long  the  accompanying  strain  of 
taxation  will  be  endured. 

The  first  decade  of  the  new  empire 
was  largely  occupied  by  a  struggle  between 
Church  and  State-^the  Roman  Chmxh 
and  the  Prussian  State — ^which"has  been 
responsible  for  a  new  political  term, 
"  Kulturkampf,"  signifying  the  war  be- 
tween the  State  as  representing  civilisation, 
and  the  Church  as  representing  its  oppo- 
site. The  struggle,  however,  was  not  con- 
fined to  Prussia  ;    the  whole  nation   was 


conceined  in  it,  and  its  sympathies 
were  enlisted  on  one  side  or  the  other. 
In  the  first  German  Reichstag  an  almost 
exclusively  Catholic  part}^  was  formed, 
the  Centre,  which  stood  under  the  ex- 
tremely clever  leadership  of  the  Hano- 
verian ex-Minister  of  State  Ludwig  Windt- 
horst,  1812-1891,  and  immediately  proved 
itself  the  refuge  of  Ultramontane,  Guelf, 
and  Particularist  efforts. 

It    aimed,    but    unsuccessfully,    at    a 
German  interference-  in  Italy,  in  order  to 
win  back  for  the  Pope  his  temporal  power, 
and    demanded   that    the  articles  of    the 
Prussian  constitution,    which    secured  to 
the    Churches    complete    freedom     from 
State  control,  should  be  introduced  into 
the  Imperial  constitution ; 
but  it  was  unable  to  carry 
its  wishes  either  with  Bis- 
marck or  in  the  Reichstag. 
It     adopted,     in     conse- 
quence,     an      unfriendly 
attitude  towards  the  Gov- 
ernment.       The  Prussian 
Government  further  com- 
plained that  the  Catholic 
clergy  in  Posen  and  West 
Prussia,   by   an   abuse  of 
their  influential   position, 
especially  in  the  matter  of 
elementary  schools  which 
were  under  their  direction, 
supported     the     national 
Polish    movements     and 
prejudiced     the    German 
Catholics    in     favour    of 
Poland.     As  a  result  of  all 
this  agitation,    Falk,   the 
Minister  of  Public  Worship 
and  Instruction,  carried  a 
Bill  in  1872,  which  strictly 
defined  the  inspection  of 
schools  as  a  state  concern,  and  threw  open 
to  laymen  the  office  of  inspector,  particu- 
larly in  country  districts.     Falk  then,  in 
1873,  brought  before  the  Landtag  of  the 
monarchy  the  four  Bills,  which,  in  spite  of 
violent  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Centre 
and    the    Extreme    Right,    ob- 
tained   a    large    majority    and 
were  called   the    "  May  Laws," 
since       they        received       the 
sanction    of    the    Crown    in    May,    1837. 
The   first  of   these  laws   confined  within 
closer  limits  the  right  of  the  Churches  to 
inflict  penalties  on  laymen  in  the  case  of 
contumacy ;   the    second   restricted    their 
disciplinary  power  over  their  clergy,  and 


chard  &  Lindner 


Passing 
the  "  May 
Laws  " 


5214 


IN    UNIFORM    OF     IMPERIAL     CUIRASSIERS    A  RECENT  PHOTOGRAPH  TAKEN  IN  BERLIN 


HIS     MAJESTY     WILLIAM     II.,    GERMAN     EMPEROR 

Photos  by  Voigt,  Russell  &  Sons,  and  Neue  riioto-Gesellschaft 


5215 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


abolished  all  foreign — and  therefore  all 
papal — jurisdiction  over  Prussian  clergy. 
The  third  enacted  that  the  clergy  should 
no  longer  be  educated  for  their  profession 
in  ecclesiastical  but  in  State  institutions, 
and  prohibited  their  attendance  at  foreign 
seminaries,  especially  those  in  Rome  ;  it 
also  provided  that  the  bishops,  before  mak- 
ing any  appointment  to  a  benefice,  should 
give  notice  to  the  State  authorities,  and,  if 
a  well-founded  pro- 
test was  made  by 
the  State,  should 
make  another  nomi- 
nation. The  fourth 
law  regulated  with- 
drawals from  the 
Churches.  Finally, 
in  1875  a  fifth  law 
abolished  all  ex- 
isting religious 
orders  in  Prussia 
which  did  not  de- 
vote themselves  to 
the  care  of  the  sick, 
and  thus  in  par- 
ticular put  an  end 
to  their  activity  in 
school  matters. 

Since  the  Pope, 
and  the  bishops 
following  the  ex- 
ample set  them  by 
the  Pope,  pro- 
nounced these  laws 
incompatible  with 
the  principles  of  the 
Catholic  Church, 
and  in  accordance 
with  the  saying : 
"We  must  obey 
God  rather  than 
men,"  refused  sub- 
mission to  these 
laws,  a  struggle  of 


was  one  of  the  rights  of  the  empire,  it 
was  inevitable  that  the  latter  should 
find  itself  entangled   in    the    quarrel. 

At  the  instance  of  Johann  Lutz,  the 
Bavarian  Minister,  who  was  engaged  in  a 
keen  contest  with  the  Bavarian  Ultramon- 
tanes,  the  so-called  "pulpit  paragraph," 
which  attached  penalties  to  the  misuse  of 
the  pulpit  for  inciting  opposition  against 
the  Government,  was  inserted  in  the  Crimi- 
nal Code  in  Novem- 
ber, 1871.  The 
empire  on  two  other 
occasions  lent  the 
Prussian  Govern- 
ment its  aid,  first 
on  July  4th,  1872, 
when  it  prohibited 
the  J  esuit  order  and 
its  branches  from 
owning  establish- 
ments in  the  domi- 
nions of  the  empire 
and  from  develop- 
ing any  activity  as 
an  order,  and  again 
on  February  6th, 
1875,  when  it  intro- 
duced civil  marriage 
in  a  universally 
binding  form,  not 
merely  the  so-called 
civil  marriage  of 
necessity.  By  these 
imperial  laws  it  was 
rendered  imposs- 
ible for  the  Catholic 
clergy  and  that 
wai'like  militia  of 
the  infallible  Pope, 
t  he  Order  of  J  esuits, 
to  agitate  against 
the  May  laws  ;  and 
the  influence  of  the 
Church  on  civil  life 


"DROPPING    THE     PILOT" 

many     years'    dura-  The  great  debt  which  Germany  owes  to  Bismarck  has  been  told  waS   chcckcd,    SlUCC 

i-               v,       1                     i  in  a  precedine-  chapter;  the  above,  reproduced  by  permission  ,-r, „,-,-; ^ rra     •i>-.irrK  + 

tlOn         broke         out  from  the  famous  "  Punch  "  cartoon  by  sir  John  Tenniel,  iUus-  a     mailiagC     might 

between     the    State  trates  the  dismissal  of  the  "iron  Chancellor"  by  the  youthful  bC  COlltraCtcd  and  a 

ucLwccii     Liic    OLciLC  ^^^   impetuous   emperor,   William    II.,   on  March  20th,  1890 

and    the     Church  ; 


the  vast  majority  of  the  Catholic  popula- 
tion showed  unbroken  loyalty  and 
obedience  to  their  spiritual  leaders.  The 
struggle  was  waged  on  both  sides  with  much 
bitterness,  and  since  Catholic  priests  fre- 
quently used  the  pulpit  in  order  to  fire  the 
believers  to  resist  the  State  laws,  the 
Prussian  Government  held  itself  bound  to 
proceed  against  such  agitation  by  penal 
mea.sures.     But  since  criminal  jurisdiction 

5216 


household  founded 
without  the  benediction  of  the  Church. 
Bismarck  during  the  heat  of  the  dispute 
had  already  declared  that  the  Government 
built  their  hopes  of  peace  mainly  on  the 
prospect  that  a  peace-loving  Pope  would 
once  again,  as  had  happened  in  past 
history,  succeed  the  belligerent  Pope 
Pius  IX.  This  event  occurred  on  Feb- 
ruary 20th,  1878,  when,  after  the  death  of 
Pius,  on  February  7th.  Cardinal  Joachim 


GERMAN    AND    AUSTRIAN    SOCIAL    DEVELOPMENT 


Pecci  was  elected  Pope,  and  took  the  title 
of  Leo  Xin.  He  prided  himself  on  calm- 
ing by  peaceful  concessions  the  distm'b- 
ances  under  which  the  reputation  alike 
of  State  and  Church  had  suffered  greatly 
— Bismarck  was,  on  July  13th,  1874,  the 
object  of  a  murderous  attack  by  Kullmann, 
a  fanatical  Catholic. 

The  Nuncio  at  Munich,  Masella,  visited 
Bismarck  at  Kissingen,  in  July,  1878. 
After  nine  years  of  excessively  difficult 
negotiations  a  truce  was  concluded  in  1887, 
to  which  the  most  trenchant  May  laws  were 
sacrificed  ;  for  instance,  the  law  concern- 
ing the  ecclesiastical  court 
and  the  preliminary  training 
of  the  clergy  in  State  insti- 
tutions. But  the  State  had 
by  no  means  made  an  un- 
conditional surrender  to  the 
Church;  on  the  contrary, 
all  the  three  imperial  laws 
remained  in  force,  and  in 
Prussia  the  law  as  to  State 
control  of  the  schools,  the 
exclusion  of  the  orders  from 
the  schools,  and  the  obliga- 
tion of  the  bishops  to  signify 
beforehand  to  the  Ober- 
prasident —  lord-lieutenant 
— of  the  respective  pro- 
vinces the  names  of  the 
clergy  whom  they  proposed 
to  appoint  to  vacant  bene- 
fices. Bismarck  had  not 
"gone  to  Canossa." 

The  Socialist  movement 
was  rapidly  swollen  by  the 
stimulus  which  was  given  to 
trade  and  industries  imme- 
diately after  the  war  of  1870,  A 
since  hundreds  of  new  fac 


Reichstag  of  1877  more  than  twenty  seats. 
Two  attempts  on  the  life  of  the  aged 
emperor  in  1878,  one  by  a  professed 
Nihilist,  the  other  by  Dr.  Nobeling,  who 
escaped  inquiry  by  committing  suicide, 
were,  as  a  matter  of  course,  associated 
with  "  Social  Democracy,"  which  at  once 
became  the  object  of  penal  legislation  ; 
with  the  normal  result  of  making  the 
organisation  a  secret  one,  but  also  with 
the  effect  of  checking  breaches  of  the  law. 
The  emperor  and  his  great  chancellor, 
however,  were  both  aware  that  restrictive 
legislation  must  fail  of  its  object  unless 
it  is  accompanied  by  mea- 
sures for  curing  the  disease 
of  which  disorder  is  the 
symptom.  Since  1883  a 
series  of  laws  have  pro- 
tected labour  and  provided 
safeguards ;  notably  the 
insurance  law  of  1889  and 
the  bank  law  of  1884,  steps 
which  have  been  opposed 
by  the  school  of  economists 
which  regards  them  as  in- 
compatible with  the  pure 
doctrines  of  Individualism 
as  supposed  to  have  been 
developed  at  Manchester. 
These  measures,  however, 
have  not  gone  far  enough 
to  satisfy  the  Social  Demo- 
crats, who  since  the  expiry 
of  the  restrictive  law  in 
i8go,  have  multiplied  enor- 
mously, and  in  so  doing 
have  shed  a  good  many  of 
their  early  extravagances. 


THE    GERMAN   EMPRESS         Colonial    development,   in 
princess   of   Schieswig-Hoistein,    she  turn,   has    attracted  some 

was  married  to  the  Emperor,  William  II.,  (Jgp-r-pg    of    German    eiltllU- 
.       •  ,  , ,  in    1881,    and   of   the    marriage    there   has      .  ^  i  i     i 

tones  sprang  up,  and  thou-  been  a  family  of  six  sons  and  one  daughter,  siasm,    nevcF     shared    by 


sands  upon  thousands  of 
men  abandoned  agriculture  and  streamed 
into  the  factories.  The  reaction  which 
srt  in  after  the  second  half  of  the 
year  1873  left  a  mass  of  these  workmen 
without  bread,  planted  bitterness  and 
revolutionary  thoughts  in  their  hearts, 
and  thus  increased  the  number  of  those 
who  were  discontented  with  the  existing 
order  of  things.  In  the  year  1875  the 
two  parties  hitherto  existing  within  the 
Social  Democracy,  the  followers  of  Bebel 
ami  Liebknecht,  and  those  of  Lassalle, 
amalgamated  at  Gotha  into  the  "  Socialist 
Labour  Party,"  and,  thanks  to  universal 
suffrage,    won    in    the    elections    to    the 

IF  27  o 


Bismarck,  who  saw  in  the 
acquisition  of  colonies  mainly  sources  of 
friction  with  other  Powers,  which  offered 
in  themselves  little  prospect  of  adequate 
economic  development.  Nevertheless,  he 
somewhat  reluctantly  recognised  the 
necessity  for  the  Imperial  Government  to 
give  the  colonising  spirit  fair  play  under  its 
aegis ;  with  the  result  that  considerable 
portions  of  Africa  are  now  appended  to  the 
German  Empire— as  related  elsewhere 

The  Prussian  State  received  through  the 
mighty  events  of  1866  and  1870,  which 
altered  its  whole  framework  and  put  new 
and  important  duties  before  it,  a 
definite  stimulus  towards  internal  reforms. 

5217 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


The  absolutism  and  the  bureaucratic  prin- 
ciples of  the  age  of  Frederic  the  Great  had 
obtained  recognition  in  the  constitution  cf 
1850 ;  the  landed  nobihty  were  still  a 
privileged  body.  It  was  necessary  that 
these  anomalies  should  be  removed  and 
that  self-government  should  be  introduced. 
For  example,  in  rural  districts  the  lord  of 
the  manor  had  still  the  right  to 
New  Scheme  j^Qn^ij^ate  the  Schultheiss— 
of  Local  village  mayor  ;  the  Landrat  of 

Government     ^^^  ^^^^^.j^^  ^^^^  appointed  by 

the  king  on  the  nomination  of  the  chief 
landowner,  the  other  inhabitants  of  the 
district  being  neglected  ;  and  the  nobility 
predominated  in  the  provincial  Landtags. 

The  king,  in  his  speech  from  the  throne 
on  the  opening  of  the  Landtag  on  Novem- 
ber 27th,  1871,  had  pledged  his  word  that 
his  Government  would  introduce  a  new 
scheme    of    local    government.  Count 

Eulenburg,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
set  to  work  to  elaborate  it,  and  although 
the  House  of  Peers,  under  the  influence  of 
the  private  interests  of  the  aristocracy, 
rejected  the  Bill  at  first  and  Bismarck  had 
grave  doubts  on  the  point,  he  carried  it  in 
December,  1872,  with  the  help  of  the  king, 
who  created  twenty-five  new  peers.  The 
king  signed  the  Bill  on  December  13th. 
It  apphed  at  first  only  to  the  five  eastern 
provinces^Prussia,  Pomerania,  Branden- 
burg, Saxony,  and  Silesia. 

Anxiety  as  to  the  sentiment  of  the  Poles 
forbade  the  grant  of  full  self-government  to 
the  districts  in  Posen.  According  to  the 
new  law,  the  country  communities  elected 
their  own  head  for  the  future  ;  and  only 
in  some  special  cases  was  the  landowner  or 
his  nominee  still  allowed  to  fill  up  this  post. 
Country  and  town  communities  which  con- 
tained under  25,000  inhabitants  were  for 
the  time  being  constituted  as  a  district, 
whose  affairs  were  administered  by  a 
Kreistag — district  council — of  at  least 
twenty-five  members  chosen  by  delegates, 
and  therefore  indirectly,  from  all  the  resi- 
dents  in  the  district.  In  the 
p  •  iT'^^s  of  Kreistags  half  the  votes  at  most 

"^'^^^^  °  were  to  belong  to  the  towns,  the 
rest  to  the  rural  population. 
At  the  head  stands  a  Landrat  whom  the 
king  appoints  at  the  nomination  of  the  en- 
tire Kreistag  ;  a  committee  of  six  members 
is  assigned  to  the  Landrat  to  assist  him. 
Towns  with  more  than  25,000  inhabitants 
form  special  "urban  districts."  Since  the 
new  scheme  of  local  government  worked 
very  satisfactorily,  it  was  extended  in  1885- 

5218 


1889  to  the  remaining  six  provinces;  in 
Posen,  for  the  reasons  mentioned,  narrowei 
limits  were  imposed  on  self-government. 

In  the  year  1875  the  provincial  Landtags 
were  reformed.  In  future  they  were  to 
consist  of  representatives  of  the  Kreistags 
and  of  the  municipal  colleges — the  magi- 
strates and  municipal  officers — which  met 
for  the  purpose  of  election  in  a  common 
session  ;  they  were  to  assemble  at  least 
once  in  every  two  years  at  the  royal 
summons  and  pass  resolutions  affecting  all 
provincial  matters,  especially  the  construc- 
tion of  roads,  land  improvements,  public 
institutions,  pubUc  libraries,  the  care  of 
monuments,  and  the  application  of  the 
sums  of  money  assigned  to  the  provinces 
by  the  State  in  virtue  of  the  law  of  dotation. 

A  provincial  committee  of  seven  to 
thirteen  persons,  with  a  provincial  director 
as  the  head  of  all  the  provincial  officials, 
was  to  be  elected  for  the  administration  of 
the  affairs  of  the  pro vance.  The  feature  of  all 
this  legislation  was  that  it  preserved  to  the 
greatest  possible  degree  the  principle  of 
communal  self-government  ;  there  is  now 
no  country  in  the  world  which, 

^      .       so  far  as  laws   enable   it,   can 

,  *  ^  ° ,,  show  so  many  guarantees  as 
Lewis  II.     T^         •      r        ,1  J.         £ 

Prussia  for   the   sovereignty  01 

the  law  and  for  the  effectiveness  of  self- 
government  ;  the  duty  of  the  people  now 
is  to  cultivate  those  characteristics  which 
give  to  such  laws  force  and  vitality. 

In  Bavaria,  under  King  Lewis  II.,  born  in 
1845,  Lutz  was  at  the  head  of  affairs.  He 
was  a  keen  antagonist  of  the  Ultramon- 
tanes,  who  also  met  with  the  pronounced 
disfavour  of  the  king.  The  latter  withdrew 
more  and  more  from  public  life,  and 
relapsed  into  a  dreamy  existence,  devoted 
to  music  and  architecture,  while  his 
enormous  expenditure  on  royal  castles 
totally  disordered  the  civil  list.  He  was 
obhged  in  the  end  to  be  placed  under 
supervision  ;  in  order  to  escape  from  it 
he  drowned  himself  and  his  attendant 
physician,  Bernhard  von  Gudden.  in  the 
lake  of  Starnberg  on  June  13th,  1886. 

Since  his  brother  Otto,  born  in  1848,  had 
also  long  been  mentally  afflicted,  his  uncle. 
Prince  Leopold,  assumed  the  sovereignty 
as  Prince  Regent.  He  left  the  Liberal 
Ministry  in  office  ;  but  the  Ultramontanes 
acquired  more  and  more  influence,  and 
after  1899  they  had  even  a  small  majority 
in  the  Second  Chamber.  At  the  urgent 
pressure  of  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops, 
the  State   refused   to   recognise   the    Old 


GERMAN    AND    AUSTRIAN    SOCIAL    DEVELOPMENT 


Catholics  as  belonging  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  only  granted  them  the  rights 
of  a  private  religious  body  in  March,  1891. 
The  Moderate-Liberal  Minister-President, 
Count  von  Crailsheim,  was  compelled  to 
resign  on  May  31st,  1890. 

In  Saxony,  King  John  died  on  October 
29th,  1873  ;  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Albert,  who  had  won  fame  in  the  wars  of 
1866  and  1870-1871,  and  was  a  capable 
I'uler  with  German  sympathies.  In  order 
to  anticipate  the  imperial  railway  scheme, 
the  Saxon  Government  bought  up  gradually 
all  the  private  lines  in  Saxony  by  the  middle 
of  the  'seventies  ;  in  1894  and  1901  the 
class-tax  and  income-tax  law  of  the  year 
1873  were  reformed  in  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  the  times.  Owing  to  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  the  Social  Democrats, 
who  carried  in  1891-1892  eleven,  and  in 


followed  in  his  turn,  in  October,  1904,  by 
Frederic  Augustus  III,  In  Wiirtemberg, 
under  the  rule  of  King  Charles  I.,  1864- 
1891,  the  "  German  party,"  which  com- 
bined in  itself  the  National  Liberals 
and  the  Free  Conservatives,  was  pre- 
ponderant in  the  Landtag,  and  Baron 
von  Mittnacht,  the  Minister-President  in 
agreement  with  this  party,  conducted 
the  affairs  of  state  in  a  spirit  of  loyalty 
to  the  empire.  In  the  year  1891  Charles  I. 
was  succeeded  by  his  cousin,  William  II., 
who  had  served  in  the  French  war  and 
gave  proof  of  conscientiousness,  good 
intentions,  and  sound  sympathy  with  the 
national  cause. 

In  Baden  Grand  Duke  Frederic  I., 
born  in  1826,  the  son-in-law  of  Emperor 
William  I.,  e  thoroughly  loyal  prince  of 
national   and  lilieral    s^•^lpathies,  reigned 


Count  Caprivi 


Prince  Hohenlohe 


Prince  von  Bulow 


BISMARCK'S    SUCCESSORS  :    THREE    IIViPERIAL    CHANCELLORS    OF    GERMANY 
Since  the  dismissal  in  1S90  of  the  great  Imperial  Chancellor,  Prince  Bismarck,  the  office  has  been  successively  filled  by 
the  three  statesmen  ^whose  portraits  are  given  above— Count  Caprivi,  Prince  Hohenlohe,  and  Prince  von  Biilow. 


1895  actually  fourteen,  out  of  the  eighty- 
one  electoral  districts  for  the  Landtag 
election,  the  Government  and  the  Estates, 
which  since  1880  were  under  the  control  of 
the  Conservatives,  resolved  in  1896,  not- 
withstanding the  well-grounded  protests 
of  educated  sympathisers  with  the  social 
cause,  to  replace  the  universal  suffrage 
introduced  in  1868  by  a  suffrage  graduated 
in  three  classes,  which  would  render  the 
third  class  of  owners  and  voters  quite 
helpless  against  the  two  upper  classes.  In 
the  year  1897  the  Social  Democrats  lost 
six  seats  at  once  in  consequence  ;  and  from 
1901  on,  no  Social  Democrat  has  sat  in  the 
Landtag.  On  the  death  of  King  Albert  at 
Sibyilenort  on  June  19th,  1902,  his  brother 
George,  born  in  1832,  succeeded,  and  was 


from  1852  to  I907„when  he  was  succeeded 
by  Frederic  II.  The  intense  antagon- 
ism between  the  State  and  the  Catholic 
Church  led  in  1876,  under  the  Ministry  of 
Julius  Jolly,  Fet»ruary,  1868-October, 
1876,  to  the  introduction  of  elementary 
schools  of  mixed  denominations.  Since 
1881  the  tension  has  gradually  been  re- 
laxed ;  but  the  Centre  pursued  unremit- 
tingly their  object  of  reducing  the  ruling 
National  Liberal  party  in  the  Landtag  to 
a  minority,  by  the  help  of  the  Democrats  ; 
they  lowered  the  majority  of  their  rivals 
in  1891  to  one  vote,  and  completely 
attained  their  object  in  1893. 

On  June  27th,  1901,  there  occurred  a 
change  in  the  Ministry  in  favour  of  Con- 
servatism,   since    Arthur    Brauer  became 

5219 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF     THE     WORLD 


Disaffection 
in  Alsace 
and  Lorraine 


Premiei   in  place  of  the  veteran  Liberal, 
Wilhelm    Nokk,    and    Alexander    Dusch, 
Minister   of   Public   Worship  ;    the  latter 
showed  an  inclination  to  fulfil  the  wish,  of 
the  Episcopal   Curia   in   Freiburg  and  of 
the  Centre,  for  the  toleration  of  monasteries, 
since  he   hoped  in   this  way 
to  get  the  upper  hand  of  the 
more  conciliatory  party  in  the 
Centre.  In  Alsace-Lorraine,  by 
the  imperial  law  of  June  9th,  1871,   the 
executive  power  was  conferred  upon  the 
emperor.     The    country  thus  became   an 
imperial  province — Reichsland — in  so  far 
that  the  executive  power  in  the  State,  which 
in  the    other    German    countries    is  held 
quite  apart  from  the  executive  power  iri 
the  empu"e,  coincides  here 
with    it.      The    Imperial 
Chancellor    was    Minister 
for  the   Reichsland ;    the 
administration      of      the 
country    was    conducted 
from  1871  to  1879,  by  the 
able  and  wise  Eduard  von 
MoUer,    who    was    nomi- 
nated High  President.    In 
virtue  of  Paragraph  10  of 
the  law  of  December  30th, 
1871,    he    possessed    the 
right     of    taking     every 
measure     which     seemed 
necessary  to  him  in  case 
of   danger  to  the   public 
safety,    and   in  the  most 
extreme    cases     even    to 
raise  troops  for  the  defence 
of  the  country.     The  dis- 
affection of  the  inhabitants 
of  Alsace-Lorraine,  among 

whom     in      particular    the    exceflent   reputation  won"  on  th 

w-.-r,-i-,         ,,  1  ,1  Photo:   London  Stereoscopic 

Notables  — namely,  the 
manufacturers,  large  landowners,  doctors, 
and  notaries — were  quite  un-German, 
rendered  this  "  Dictatorship  paragraph  " 
essential  for  a  long  time.  On  January  ist, 
1874,  the  Imperial  constitution  came  into 
force  for  Alsace-Lorraine ;  the  fifteen  repre- 
sentatives elected  to  the  Reichstag  be- 
longed almost  all  to  the  "  Protesters,"  who 
condemned  the  severance  of  the  provinces 
from  France  as  an  act  of  violence. 

But  gradually  the  so-called  Autonomists 
gained  ground  ;  these  accepted  the  in- 
corporation into  Germany  as  an  irre- 
vocable fact,  but  wished  to  win  the 
greatest  amount  of  self-government  and 
provincial  independence  for  the  country. 
Bismarck  thought  it  wise  to  support  the 

5220 


KING    ALBERT    OF    SAXONY 
The   son  of  King  John,  he  succeeded  to  the 
throne  of  Saxony  on  the  death  of  his  father 
in  the  year  1873,  assuming  the  crown  with  an 

■"  the  battlefield. 


movement  and  by  this  indiiect  method  to 
make  the  inhabitants  of  Alsace-Lorraine 
good  Germans.     He  granted  to  the  coun- 
try in  October,  1874,  a  popular  representa- 
tion— at  first  deliberative  only,  but  since 
1877  with  powers  to  legislate  ;    this  was 
the  Landesausschuss,  which  contains  fifty- 
eight  members— thirty-four  elected  by  the 
three  district  councils  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Alsace  and  Lorraine,  twenty  by  the  coun- 
try districts,  four  by  the  towns  of  Colniar, 
Metz,  Mulhausen,  and  Strassburg.     Uni- 
versal and  equal  suffrage  was  not  employed 
for  the  Landesausschuss,  since  that  would 
have   served   to   make    the    anti-German 
clerical  party  supreme  ;   but  the  restricted 
suffrage  gave  the  Notables  the  authority. 
On   July   4th,    1879,  the 
Empire    granted    to    the 
imperial      province     the 
self-government  which  it 
desired.        An     imperial 
Governor-General— Statt- 
halter — was    to    admini- 
ster  the  country  for  the 
future  in  place  of  the  High 
President  ;      under     him 
were  placed  for  the  con- 
duct of  affairs  a  Secretary 
of  State  and  four  Under- 
Secretaries  of  State,  all  to 
be  nominated  by  the  em- 
peror. The  Imperial  Chan- 
cellor thus  ceased  to   be 
Minister  for  the  imperial 
province ;  Alsace-Lon"aine 
was  allowed  to  send  three 
deliberative     representa- 
tives into  the  Bundesrat, 
which  thus  was  increased 
to    sixty-one     members. 
The  post  of  governor  was 
filled  from  1879  to  1885  by  the  ex-Field- 
Marshal     Manteuffel,    who     displayed     a 
deplorable    weakness    towards    the    Not- 
ables.   He  was  succeeded  by  Prince  Hohen- 
lohe,  hitherto  ambassador  at  Paris,  whose 
refined   and   dignified   manner   somewhat 
improved  the  situation.    When  he  became 
Imperial  Chancellor  in  1894.  the 
governorship  was  conferred  on 


A  New 

mpcria        ^j^^  uncle  of  the  empress,  Prince 
Chancellor    tt  tt   1        11 

Hermann       von       Hohenlohe- 

Langenburg.  The  results  of  the  first  thirty 
years  of  the  incorporation  of  the  Reichs- 
land into  the  empire  are  not  unsatisfactory, 
if  fairly  estimated.  The  inhabitants  of 
Alsace-Lorraine  have  gradually  adapted 
themselves  more  or  less  to  the  new  position 


GERMAN    AND    AUSTRIAN    SOCIAL    DEVELOPMENT 


of  affairs.  The  protesting  party,  as  such, 
has  disappeared,  and  if  the  country  has  not 
yet  become  German  in  the  fullest  sense,  it 
is,  at  any  rate,  no  longer  French.  The 
reasons  for  the  slow  development  are  clear. 
Threads  which  have  been  snapped  for 
nearly  two  centuries  can  only  slowly  be 
joined  together  again,  and  the  year  1870, 
which  for  Germans  is  a  great  and  glorious 
remembrance,  signifies  for  Alsace-Lorraine 
a  year  of  defeat  and  oppression,  and  the 
blessings  it  brought  with  it  are  only  slowly 
being  realised  by  the  people.  In  June,  1902, 
such  progress,  however,  had  been  made 
that,  from  confidence  in  the  increasing  good 
will  of  the  population  towards  the  empire, 
the  "  Dictatorship  paragraph  "  was  re- 
pealed, and  the  inhabitants  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine  now  from  being  Germans  of  the 
"  second  class  "  became  Germans  of  the 
"  first  class."  In  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Hesse-Darmstadt 
the  Grand  Duke  Lewis  III. 
died  in  June,  1877.  Under  his 
nephew,  Lewis  IV.,  1877- 
1892,  who  was  married  to 
Alice,  daughter  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria of  Great  Britain,  the 
long-standing  dispute  with 
the  Catholic  Church  was 
settled  in  1887-1888.  His  son, 
Ernest  Lewis,  born  1868,  con- 
cluded in  1896,  the  railwax 
convention  with  Prussia. 
In  Brunswick  the  reigning 


Austria's 

Liberal 

Cabinet 


against   this,   and   by   the   decision   of   a 
court    of    arbitration,    in     which     King 
Albert     of     Saxony     presided     over     six 
members   of   the    Imperial   Court,    Count 
Ernest  was  appointed  to  the  regency  in 
July,  1897.     In  Oldenburg,  Grand  Duke 
Peter,  one  of  the  warmest  supporters  of 
national  unity,  died  on  June  13th,  1900  ; 
and    in    Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, 
Grand  Duke  Charles  Alexander, 
one    of    the    last    eye-witnesses 
of   the    great    age    of    Weimar, 
who  had  seen  Goethe  and  breathed  of  his 
inspiration,  died   on   January  5th,    igoi. 
Although  in  Austria  the  German  Liberal 
bourgeois   Ministry  of   Herbst-Giskra   re- 
signed at  the  beginning  of  1870,  partly  on 
account   of  internal   dissensions,   yet   the 
Constitutional  party  there,  resting  on  the 
German  Liberals,   remained   at  the  helm 
until    1879.       Prince   Adolph 
Auersperg  was  at  the  head  of 
the  Liberal  Cabinet  from  1871 
to  1879.  The  Czechs,  who  did 
not  recognise  the  Constitution 
of  1861,  absented  themselves 
from  the  Reichsrat  and  made 
no    concealment   of    their 
leanings  towards  Russia  as  the 
chief    Slav   power.     By   this 
means    the    position    of    the 
Constitutional     party     was 
gradually  shaken  ;   and  when, 
at  the  beginning  of  October, 
1878,  it  opposed  the  occupa- 
tion  of    Bosnia    and    Herze- 
ber  i8th,  1884,  by  the  death   Joseph  to  form  a  Ministry  in  1879,   govina    by    Austria,   it  com- 
of  Duke   William,   and  since   and  offended  the   Germans   by  pigtely  lost  ground  with  the 

_  Mi-icnin  o- t-r»  crt-anf  ^/-inal  t-iochfc  i-rt  fill  ± -^  *-  .  _ 


COUNT    TAAFFh, 
.  ^-,  An   Austrian  statesman,   he   was 

Ime    becajne   extmct  on   OctO-     summoned  by  the  Emperor  Francis 


the  next  heir,  Duke  Ernest 
Augustus  of  Cumberland,  son  of  the  exiled 
King  George  V.  of  Hanover,  who  died  in 
1878,  had  not  made  any  treaty  with  Prussia, 
Prince  Albert  of  Prussia,  born  in  1837,  3- 
nephew  of  Emperor  William  I.,  was 
appointed  regent  by  the  Bundesrat.  The 
interest,  however,  on  the  Guelf  fund  was 
paid  over  in  1892  to  the  Duke  of  Cumber- 
land. In  Mecklenburg-Schwerin  the  Grand 
Duke  Frederic  Francis  II.  died 

p'^iZe  ''^  ^P"^  ^5^^'  ^^^•^-      ^''  ^^''''' 

rince  CoburgandGotha,  Duke  Ernest 

Alexander     tt     i-     1  a  ^  j       o 

II.  died  on  August  22nd,  1893. 

In  Lippe-Detmold,  Prince  Waldemar,  at  his 
death  on  March  20th,  1895,  left  a  will,  ac- 
cording to  which  Prince  Adolf  of  Schaum- 
burg,  brother-in-law  of  the  emperor,  was 
to  govern  as  regent  for  his  feeble-minded 
brother,  Prince  Alexander.  But  Count 
Ernest     of     Lippe-Biesterfeld     protested 


wishing  to  grant  equal  rights  to  all. 


Emperor  Francis  Joseph,  who 
recognised  that  this  occupation  was  of 
vital  interest  to  the  monarchy,  which 
had  to  secure  a  more  advantageous 
position  for  itself  on  the  Balkan  Peninsula 
against  the  intrusion  of  Russian  influence. 
The  emperor  summoned,  on  August  12th, 
1879,  the  Ministry  of  Count  Taaffe,  which 
aimed  at  the  so-called  reconciliation  of  the 
nationaUties  by  the  grant  of  equal  rights 
to  all.  The  Czechs,  amongst  whom  the 
Conservative  Old  Czechs  were  gradually 
crowded  out  by  the  more  radical  Young 
Czechs,  now  entered  the  Reichsrat  and 
usurped  the  power  in  the  Landtag 
Chamber  at  Prague,  in  consequence  of 
which,  among  other  things,  they  carried 
the  proposed  division  of  the  ancient 
German  university  at  Prague  into  German 
and  Czech  sections.  The  Germans,  on 
their  side,  did  not  appear  for  some  time 

5221 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


in  the  Landtag.    The  more  radical  views 

of  the  "  German  Popular  party  "  and  of 

the    "  Pan-German  "    party,    which    only 

pursued  German  national  interests,  under 

the    clever    leaders    Von   Schonerer,    Iro, 

and   Wolf,    gained   more    and    more    the 

ascendancy  with  them,  and  overshadowed 

the    Liberal  Constitutional   party,    which 

placed  the  interests  of  Austria 

,  ^    *  ^    above  the  cause  of  nationality. 
of  Count     T^v,      J.         x  i.-  J. 

rj,      J,       The  two  former  parties  were  at 

the  same  time  strongly  anti- 
Semitic,  while  the  Liberal  Conservative 
party  had  a  large  Jewish  element.  Taaffe 
fell  on  November  nth,  1893,  since  he  wished 
to  introduce  universal  and  equal  suffrage, 
an  innovation  which  would  have  greatly 
weakened  the  parliamentary  representation 
of  the  Poles,  Conservatives  and  Liberals. 

After  an  attempt  to  govern  with  the 
Coalition  Ministry  of  Count  Alfred 
Windisch-Graetz  until  June  i6th,  1895, 
Count  Badeni,  a  Pole,  seized  the  reins  of 
government  on  September  29th,  1895.  He 
conceded  in  1896  the  election  of  seventy- 
two  representatives  by  universal  suffrage, 
in  addition  to  the  353  representatives 
elected  under  a  restricted  franchise,  but  in 
general  conducted  an  administration  on 
principles  partly  Slav,  partly  clerical,  and 
partly  feudal,  and  by  his  language  ordi- 
nances of  April  5th,  1897,  in  consequence  of 
which  all  officials  in  Bohemia  and  Moravia, 
from  1901  onwards,  were  to  possess  a 
mastery  of  the  Czech  as  well  as  of  the 
German  language,  precipitated  the  whole 
Austrian  monarchy  into  wild  confusion. 

In  order  to  prevent  the  Czechising 
of  the  official  classes,  and  finally 
of  the  Germans  generally,  which  was 
threatened  by  the  language  ordinance, 
the  Germans  in  the  Reichsrat  set  about 
the  most  reckless  obstruction  of  all 
parliamentary  business,  and  secured  on 
November  28th,  1897,  the  dismissal  of 
Badeni  and  the  repeal  of  the  ordinances. 
But  the  storm  was  not  calmed  by  this.  The 
^1  .      .•        Czechs  demanded  the  restora- 

Obstructions   ,•  r    -i.  j-  i  ■   , 

.  tion  of  the  ordmances,  which 

Rci  hs  would  have  only  meant  the 
establishment  of  equal  rights 
for  all  ;  but  the  Germans  demanded  legal 
recognition  of  the  dignity  of  the  German 
language  as  the  language  of  the  State. 
The  Reichsrat  was  completely  crippled 
for  four  full  years  by  this  impassable 
breach  between  the  parties,  since  at  one 
time  the  Germans,  at  another  the  Czechs, 
"  obstructed,"  while  by  their  interminable 
5222 


speeches  and  motions  they  hindered  the 
progress  of  legislation.  The  German 
Constitutional  party  sank  more  and  more 
into  the  background  ;  Vienna  was  wrested 
from  it  by  the  Cathohc  "  Social  Christian  " 
party  under  its  leader  Karl  Lueger,  whom 
the  emperor  actually  confirmed  in  office 
as  burgomaster,  in  April,  1897,  and  the 
Pan-German  section  was  enlarged  in  the 
Reichsrat  elections  of  1900  from  five  to 
twenty-one  representatives.  While  the 
Catholic  clergy  made  overtures  to  the 
Slavs,  a  movement,  advancing  with  the 
watchword,  "  Freedom  from  Rome  !  " 
began  among  the  Cathohc  German  popula- 
tion of  Bohemia  and  the  Alpine  districts  ; 
this  movement  has  led  to  the  founding  of 
numerous  Protestant  or  Old  Catholic  com- 
munities in  hitherto  purely  Catholic 
districts,  and  it  is  still  increasing. 

Since  the  barrenness  of  the  Reichsrat  was 
felt  to  be  irksome  by  the  electorates,  whose 
economic  interests  remained  unsatisfied, 
the  Minister  Ernst  von  Koerber,  after 
January  19th,  1900,  succeeded  in  1901,  by 
an  appeal  to  material  interests,  in  breaking 
down  the  spell  of  obstruction  and  making 
,  the  newly  elected  Reichs- 
ungary  s      ^^^    once    more    capable    of 

^  ,  .  ^.  work.  More  than /2q.i66,666 
Celebrations  ^^     i  xi         r  -i         i 

were  granted  then  for  railroads 

and  canals,  and  in  May,  1902,  a  Budget  Bill 
was  carried  for  the  first  time  for  five  years. 
The  relations  of  Hungary  to  Cisleithania 
depended  after  1867  on  the  terms  of  a 
treaty  concluded  for  ten  years,  which  was 
renewed  in  1877  and  1887.  But  the  third 
renewal  met  with  great  difficulties,  since 
Cisleithania  demanded  an  increase  in  the 
share  of  thirty  per  cent,  which  Hungary 
has  to  pay  of  the  common  expenditure. 

The  celebration  of  the  millennium  of  the 
Hungarian  nation  took  a  most  brilliant 
form.  The  Germans,  Roumanians,  and 
Serbs  in  Hungary  had  indeed  cause  to 
complain  of  the  forcible  suppression  of 
their  nationality.  Thus,  in  1898,  in  virtue 
of  a  State  law  Magyar  names  were  sub- 
stituted for  all  the  non-Magyar  place  names, 
and  at  the  elections  the  Ministry  of  Desi- 
derius  Banffy,  which  was  formed  on 
January  14th,  1895,  employed  every 
means  of  intimidating  and  deceiving  public 
opinion.  The  inevitable  change  of  Cabinet 
on  February  26th,  1899,  which  brought 
into  power  the  Ministry  of  Koloman  von 
Szell,  led  to  some  improvement  in  this  re- 
spect ;  the  elections  of  1901  were  carried  out 
for  the  first  time  without  acts  of  violence. 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

SINCE    1871 

IV 


FRANCE  UNDER  THE  THIRD  REPUBLIC 

SPAIN'S    LOST    COLONIES    AND 
ITALY'S     ECONOMIC     PROGRESS 


""THE  great  majority  of  the  French  Na- 
•■■  tional  Assembly,  elected  on  February 
8th,  1871,  were  in  favour  of  monarchy,  and, 
since  Paris  was  republican,  the  Assembly 
fixed  on  Versailles  as  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment. The  threatened  restoration  of  the 
monarchy,  as  well  as  the  conscious  pride 
with  which  Paris  as  the  "  heart  of  France  " 
was  opposed  to  the  provinces,  produced  that 
terrible  revolution  which  is  called,  from 
the  municipal  committee  elected  by  the 
proletarian  masses,  the  rising  of  the 
Commune.  On  March  28th,  the  "Com- 
munistic Republic"  was  proclaimed,  which 
at  once  procured  the  required  supplies  of 
money  by  compulsory  loans  from  the 
wealthy  and  by  the  confiscation  of  the 
property  of  the  religious  orders. 

The  Parisians  had  been  allowed  to  keep 
their  arms  on  the  conclusion  of  the  truce  in 
January,  187 1,  at  the  express  request  of 
the  infatuated  Faure  ;    with  these  arms 

they  resisted  for  nearly  two 
j.^°  "  months  the  attacks  of  the 
.  *^  ".  '""^    army  led  by  Marshal  MacMahon 

against  the  rebellious  city. 
The  troops  eventually  forced  their  way 
into  the  city  after  a  series  of  murderous 
engagements ;  but  in  the  moment  of 
defeat  the  Communards  sought  to  revenge 
themselves  on  their  conquerors  by  levelling 
the  Vendome  column,  burning  the  Tuileries, 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  other  public  build- 
ings, and  shooting  the  clergy  fallen  into 
their  hands,  and  foremost  among  them 
Georges  Darboy,  Archbishop  of  Paris. 
As  a  punishment  for  this,  twenty-six 
ringleaders  were  executed  by  order  of 
court-martial  on  the  Plain  of  Satory, 
and  some  10,000  who  had  been  taken  with 
arms  in  their  hands  were  sentenced  to 
transportation  or  imprisonment. 

These  terrible  events  at  first  only 
strengthened  the  inclination  towards  mon- 
archy. Thiers,  however,  being  convinced 
that  in  the  end  a  Conservative  republic 


was  the  form  of  constitution  most  advan- 
tageous to  his  country,  opposed  any 
restoration  of  the  monarchy  ;  but  although 
by  a  prompt  payment  of  the  /200,ooo,ooo 
he    contrived    that    France    should    be 

_,  .  ^  evacuated  by  the  Germans  in 
Claimants  o  u  ii    j     * 

.  .1.  r^L  1873,  he  was  compelled  to 
to  the  Throne       /•        r  ,1  j.      r  -n       ■ 

.  p  retire  from  the  post  of  Presi- 

dent of  the  Executive  in  May, 
1873,  before  the  evacuation  was  complete. 
Marshal  MacMahon  became  his  successor. 
Since  there  were  three  parties  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Royalists  it  was  very  difficult  to 
set  up  the  monarchy,  which,  after  all,  only 
one  of  these  dynasties  could  hold. 

The  Orleanists,  it  is  true,  gave  way  to 
their  childless  cousin  Henry  V.  of  Bour- 
bon, who,  as  Count  of  Chambord,  lived  at 
Frohsdorf,  near  Vienna,  and  MacMahon 
was  prepared  to  restore  the  Bourbon 
Monarchy  ;  but  when,  in  1873,  the  count 
demanded  the  disuse  of  the  national  tri- 
colour and  the  reintroduction  of  the  white 
standard  with  the  lilies  of  his  house,  in 
order  that  there  might  be  a  clear  sign  of 
the  return  of  the  nation  to  the  pre- 
revolutionary  standpoint,  the  courage 
even  of  the  moderate  Royalists  failed  at 
such  a  step.  The  republic  received  in 
1875  its  legal  basis  by  the  grant  of  a  seven 
years'  tenure  of  office  to  its  president. 

When  MacMahon  in  1877  made  a  renewed 
attempt  to  pave  the  way  for  a  restoration 
of  the  monarchy,  he  failed,  through  the 
energy  of  Gambetta  and  the  resistant 
power  of  republicanism.  The  elections 
produced  a  strong  Republican  majority, 
and  on  January  30th,  1879, 
Presidents  MacMahon,  despairing  of  the 
victory  of  his  cause,  gave 
way  to  the  Republican  Jviles 
Grevy.  He  was  followed  by  Francois  Sadi 
Carnot,  J.  P.  P.  Casimir-Perier,  Felix 
Faure,  Emile  Lcubet,  and  finally  Armand 
Fallieres,  elected  in  January,  1906,  on 
the   retirement   of   Loubet.      Grevy  wai 

5223 


of  the  French 
Republic 


A     GROUP    OF    REVOLUTIONARIES     BEING    ESCORTED    TO    PRISON 


THE     RUE 

The  troubles  of  France  iliu  iioi  end  with  the  long  series  of  defeats  niflicted  upon  its  arnucs  uy  ine  Prussian  troops. 
Following  upon  the  national  humiliation  and  the  downfall  of  the  Emperor,  Napoleon  III.,  there  was  established 
in  Paris  on  March  2Sth,  1S71,  the  "  Communistic  Republic."  To  suppress  the  revolution  thus  inaug-urated,  Marshal 
MacMahon  attacked  the  rebellious  city,  but  for  two  months  the  Parisians,  armed  with  the  weapons  which  they 
had  been  allowed  to  keep  on  the  conclusion  of  the  truce    in  the  January  preceding,  contrived  to  resist  the  army. 


THE     END     OF     THE     COMMUNE  :     SCENES     IN     THE     STREETS     OF     PARIS 

5224 


FRANCE,    SPAIN,    AND    ITALY 


forced,  through  the  defalcations  of  his 
stepson,  Daniel  Wilson,  to  resign  on 
December  ist,  1887  ;  Carnot  fell  on  June 
24th,  1894,  at  Lyons,  under  the  dagger  of 
the  Italian  anarchist,  Santo  Caserio ; 
Casimir-Perier  retired  as  soon  as  January 
15th,  1895,  from  disgust  at  his  office,  which 
conferred  more  external  glitter  than  real 
power  ;  and  Faure  died  on  February  i6th, 
1 899,' soon  after  an  attack  of  apoplexy. 

The  Monarchists  were  no  longer  able 
to  obtain  a  commanding  position,  especi- 
ally since  Pope  Leo  XIIL  in  1892  had 
ordered  the  Catholics  to  support  the 
existing  constitution.     The  party  which 


but,  after  the  resumption  of  his  trial,  was 
condemned,  on  September  9th,  1899,  to 
ten  years'  imprisonment  in  a  fortress,  only, 
on  September  19th,  to  be  pardoned  ,by 
President  Loubet.  But  again  the  Republic 
weathered  the  storm.  One  consequence  of 
the  Dreyfus  agitation  has  been  to  increase 
the  anti-clerical  tendencies  of  the  executive. 
In  June,  1899,  the  Social  Democrat, 
Alexandre  Millerand,  actually  entered 
the  Cabinet  as  Minister  of  Commerce.  In 
March,  1901,  a  law  against  associations 
fwas  passed  by  the  Ministry  of  Waldeck- 
,  Rousseau,  which  placed  under  State  con- 
trol the  religious  orders,  especially  those 


lit  BURNING  OF  THE  TUILERIES  BY  THE  COMMUNARDS  OF  PA 
Alter  a  series  of  murderous  engagements,  the  army  under  Marshal  MacMahon  forced  its  way  into  Pans  and  deleatea 
the  Communards.  The  latter,  however,  were  determined  to  revenge  themselves  upon  their  conquerors,  and  this  they 
did  by  levelling  the  Vendome  column,  burning  theTuileries,  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  other  public  buildings,  and  shooting 
the  clergy  who  fell  into  their  hands.  In  the  punishments  which  followed  twenty-six  ringleaders  were  executed,  and 
about   10,000  who   had   been   taken   with   arms   in    their  hands   were   sentenced  to  transportation  or  imprisonment. 


was  obedient  to  the  Pope  styled  itself 
"  les  rallies."  Even  the  venality  of 
Republican  statesmen  who  allowed  them- 
selves to  be  paid  for  their  support  in  Parlia- 
ment by  the  company  for  the  construction 
of  the  Panama  Canal,  which  went  bank- 
rupt in  December,  1888,  was  unable  to 
overthrow  the  Republican  government. 

A  crisis  even  more  alarming  was  pro- 
duced by  the  lajkvsuit  of  the  Jewish  captain, 
Alfred  Dreyfus,  who,  on  December  22nd, 
1894,  was  found  guilty  of  betraying  military 
secrets,  ignominiously  degraded  and  trans- 
ported to  Devil's  Island,   near  Cayenne, 


inveighing    against,  the    "atheistic".  Re- 
public,   punished    the    disobedient    ones 
with  dissolution,  and  deprived  the  orders 
-of  the  instruction  of  the  young. 

A  drama  which  is  interesting  from  a 
different  point  of  view  developed  round 
the  figure  of  General  Boulanger.  He 
was  Minister  of  War  from  January, 
1886,  to  June,  18S7,  and  obtained  an 
immense  popularity.  He  almost  pro- 
voked a  war  with  Germany  in  the 
spring  of  1887,  and  after  April..  1888, 
undertook  to  remodel  the  constitution 
with    a   view   to   the   restoration   of   the 

5223 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Empire.  Wherever  he  appeared  on  his 
black  charger  the  crowds  greeted  him  with 
loud  cheers.  But  at  last  M.  Constans, 
the  Minister,  boldly  laid  hands  on  him, 
and  arraigned  him  before  the  High  Court 
as  a  conspirator  against  the  constitution. 
Boulanger,  from  fear  of  condemnation, 
and  not  being  bold  enough  to  stir  up 
a  revolution,  fled,  on  April  8th,  to 
Brussels,  where  he  died  by  his  own  hand 
on  September  30th,  1891. 

In  the  sphere  of  foreign  policy  the 
Third  Republic  was  very  successful  in 
so  far  that  on  May  12th,'  1881,  by  use  of 
the  temporarily  good  understanding  with 
Germany  established  by  the  Ministry  of 
Jules  Ferry,  Sidi  Ali,  the  Bey  of  Tunis, 
who  died  on  June  nth,  1902,  was 
forced  to  accept  the  French  protectorate, 
and  thus  the  position  of  France  on  the 
Mediterranean  was  much  strenethened. 
Tonkin,  in  Further  India, 
was  acquired  after  a  ^  ..-- -  ^«e 
checkered  campaign 
against  China,  between 
1883  and  1885  ;  on  Octo- 
ber 2nd,  1893,  Siam  was 
driven  back  behind  .  the 
Mekong  ;  and  on  August 
6th,  1896,  Madagascar  was 
incorporated  into  the 
French  colonial  possessions. 
France  also  won  consider- 
able territory  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Africa.  In  1892 
she  occupied  the  negro 
kingdom  of  Dahomeh, 
while  concurrently  the 
whole  Western  Sudan  from 
Timbuctoo  to  the  Congo 
became  French.  On  Lake 
Chad  France  is  the  pre- 
dominant Power,  and 
treaties  with  Germany  and 
Britain  secured  its  pos- 
sessions. Recent  troubles 
in  Morocco  have  given  an 
opportunity  for  French 
interference,  which  the 
Republic  shows  every  in- 
tention of  utilising  to  the 
utmost.  Her  only  severe 
check  in  Africa  has  been 
that  experienced  from 
Britain  in  connection  with 
the  Fashoda  episode. 


Germany  and  to  win  back  Alsace-Lorraine, 
has  not  been  gratified.  The  efficiency  of 
the  German  army  and  the  increasing  numer- 
ical superiority  of  the  German  population 
— in  1901  there  were  56,000,000  Germans 
to  38,000,000  French — excluded  all  possi- 
bility of  a  French  victory  in  a  duel  between 
the  two  nations.  Even  the  Dual  Alliance 
with  Russia,  which  was  projected  in  1891 
under  Alexander  III.  and  concluded  under 
Nicholas  II.,  has  freed,  indeed,  France 
from  her  isolation,  but — according  to  the 
noteworthy  confession  of  "  Le  Siecle"  of 
September  19th,  I90i-^has  made  a  re- 
conquest  of  the  lost  provinces  impossible, 
for  the  reason  that  Russia  also  must  wish 
to  stand  on  good  terms  with  her  neighbour 
Germany.  A  dispute  with  the  Sultan, 
Abdul  Hamid  II.,  who  did  not  satisfy 
the  demands  of  some  French  officials,  led 
to  the  despatch   of  a  French   fleet  under 


THE     DEGRADATION     OF    CAPTAIN     DREYFUS 
Another  crisis  of  an  alarming  character  overtook    France  in   189+,  when  the 


T-?iit    tVip     nriaimlKr   mncf  Jewish  captain,  Alfred  Dreyfus,  was  found  guiltv  of  betraying  military  secrets 

JJUL    Liic     uiJf^uiaiiy    iuusl  and  sentenced  to  confinement  on  Devils  Island.     Five  years  later,  in  September, 

ardent  wish    of    the  rrenCh,  l-^O;*,  the  trial  was  reopened.    Dreyfus  was  then  sentenced  to  ten  years' imprison- 

ir,     rp\Tar>af^    1-ViAfncpl-i7<ac    r\r,  '"6"*^  '"  a^  fortress,  but  the  punishment  was  not  carried  out,  the  prisoner,  whoso 

lu     iLVtiiigt,    uiieiiibeiveb   Uii  innocence  had  been  established,  receiving  a  pardon  from   President  Loube"- 

5  "-26 


SIX    PRESIDENTS    OF    THE    FRENCH     REPUBLIC 
Since  1879  the  Presidential  chair  of  the  French  Republic  has  been  occupied  by  the  statesmen  whose  portraits  are 
given  above.      In  that   year  Jules    Grevy  was   elected   to   the   office,   resigning    in    1887,   when   he   was  succeeded 
by  Francois  Sadi  Carnot,  who  was  assassinated  in  1894  at  Lyons.     Disgusted  with  the  office,  Casimir-Perier  retired 
in  January,  1895;  Faure  died  in   1899;    while  Loubet  retired   in    1906,   and   was    succeeded   by   Armand   Fallieres. 

Pliotos  by  Pierre-Petit  and  Nadar 


Admiral  Caillard  in  November,   190T,  to 

Mytilene.     The   Sultan  gave  in,   granted 

to     French      schools     and    . 

hospitals    in    Turkey,  the 

immunity     from     taxation 

which    was    demanded,  for 

them,  and  thus  saved  the 

island    from    the     fate    of 

the  island  of  Cyprus,  which 

has    remained     in     British 

occupation    since   1878. 

The  failure  of  the  Hohen- 
zollern  candidature  for  the 
Spanish  Crown  had  placed 
Ferdinand  Amadeus  of 
Savoy  on  the  throne  in 
December,  1870  ;  but  on 
February  nth,  1873,  the 
new  monarch  resigned  his 
unbearable  post.  The  only 
remaining  alternative  was 
to  proclaim  a  republic. 
Spanish   republicanism  has 


characteristics  peculiarly  its  own.  Its 
special  feature,  federalism,  is  one  that  is 
due  to  the  Iberian  soil, 
which  brought  it  forth. 
Even  to  the  present  time 
the  idea  of  a  republic  has 
drawn  its  strength  from  the 
hope  of  transforming  into 
a  republic  those  separate 
provinces  of  Spain  which 
only  the  loosest  of  bonds 
could  unite  into  one  king- 
dom. A  federal  republic 
was  now  to  be  founded; 
though,  for  the  moment, 
the  founders  had  to  content 
themselves,  whether  they 
would  or  no,  with  giving  a 
republican  form  to  the  ad- 
BOULANGER  miuistrativc  and  executive 


GENERAL 

Ministerof  War,  General  Boulanger  was  -powerS  ahead V  iu  CXisteilCe. 

for  some  time  a  great  public  favourite;  r,                               -     ,uK^    ,.,^^    :^ 

but,  charged  with  conspiring  against  the  Ihe       IieW     rCpUDllC    WaS   in 

constitution,    he    feared    condemnation,  />ri+iral     no<;itinn            The 

and     died    by    his   own    hand    in    1891.  ^     CritlCai     posiUUll.            i  lie 

5227 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


forces  of  reaction  had  been  aroused  by 
the  triumph  of  the  Radicals,  and 
were  gathering  round  the  man  who 
had  inherited  the  Carlist  claims,  Don 
Carlos  the  Younger,  who  summoned  the 
Basque  provinces  to  his  sui)i)ort.  Once 
again  battalions 
of  these  moun- 
taineers, d  i  s  - 
tinguished  by 
that  classic 
headgear,  the 
round  cap  of  the 
Basques,  flocked 
to  the  standard 
of  the  reaction- 
ary party.  But 
once  again  it 
became  manifest 
that  their 
strength  was  in 
defensive       tac- 


were  wrong.  The  early  death  of  Alfonso 
XII.,  on  November  25th,  1885,  did  not 
shake  in  any  way  the  position  of  the 
monarchy.  The  Queen-widow,  Maria 
Christina,  acted  as  regent,  at  first  for  her 
daughter  Mercedes,  and  then  for  her  son 
.  Alfonso  XIII., 
who  was  born  on 
May  17th,  1886, 
and  met  with 
no  opposition 
worthy  of  men- 
tion. 

The  period  of 
peace,  which 
could  not  be 
broken  even  by 
the  irrepressible 
revolt  of  the 
remnants  of  the 
Spanish  colonial 
empire,    is     a 


FERDINAND    AMADEUS    AND    ALFONSO    XII. 

tics.       An  attack  The  throne  of  Spain  in  the  troublous  days  that  followed  the  abdication  standing        tCSti 

m-ion  +V10  /^Qi->ifol  of  Isabella   II.  did  not  offer  a  very  tempting  prize,  but  Ferdinand  ,-,-,n,r,-tT        +<->        +I-ir> 

upon   Llie  eapudl  Amadeus.thesecondsonof  King  Victor  Emmanuel  of  Italy,  accepted  it  Hl^ny         1-U        LllL 

was     even     more  in  1870,  abdicating  in  February,  187:?.     When  the  Carlist  movement  fact       that        the 

,       r    ,1  collapsed  in  the  closing  days  of  1874,  Alfonso  XII.  was  elected  king.  ■               j- 

out  01  the  ques-  &     j             .                                      &  economic  condi- 


tion than  during  the  First  Carlist  War 
The  Socialist  agitators  in  the  south, 
excited  by  the  example  of  the  Parisian 
Commune,  thought  that  their  time  had  also 
come,  and  seized  several  towns,  in  par- 
ticular the  arsenal  of  Cartagena,  from 
which  they  were  not  easily  dislodged. 
The  army  at  the  disposal  of 
the  republic  had  been  utterly 
demoralised  by  the  continual 
pronunciamentos,  and  had 
to  be  reorganised  in  part. 
Fortunately,  neither  Carl- 
ism  nor  communism,  thanks 
to  incompetent  leadership, 
was  able  to  attract  many 
recruits ;  and  the  feeling  that, 
at  any  rate,  the  highest  posi- 
tions in  the  state  must  be 
placed  beyond  the  reach  of 
ambitious  intriguers  grew 
stronger  every  day.  '  Isabella 
had  been  driven  out,  and  no 


DON    CARLOS 


tions  of  the  country  are  slowly  but 
undeniably  improving,  and  that  it  is 
beginning  more  and  more  to  develop  and 
to  make  use  of  its  natural  wealth.  It 
may  be  that  foreigners  have  given  the 
impulse  and  are  appropriating  a  portion 
of  the  profit  ;  but,  none  the  less,  the 
advantage  to  the  country 
itself  is  unmistakable.  At 
this  time,  it  is  true,  the  social 
problem  is  a  menacing  danger, 
and  its  most  deadly  fruit, 
anarchism,  is  brought  to 
fullest  maturity  in  Spain  ;  but 
this  is  partly  due  to  the 
general  lack  of  education,  and 
is,  moreover,  a  heritage  from 
the  sad  course  of  Spain's  earlier 
development.  That  there  is 
an  improvement  isundeniabl■^ 
The  events  of  the  year  1898 
— the  war  with  the  United 
States    of  America    and    the 


one  was  inchned  to  give  her  Thebrother  of  Ferdmand  viL.he  loss  of    all   her  more   impor 

another    chance;    but    great  was  anxious  to  succeed  to  the  ^  ^   colonies — have  demon 

,  1111-1  o"-'"'-  throne  ofSpam,  and  under  pressure  ^'J-''"-     '-'-'ivjiin^o        iiavv.    vj.v.iii<_'xi 

hopes  were  held  01  the  queen  s  from  the  Reactionary  party  he  stratcd  how  small  is  the  power 

son,  the  young  Alfonso.     The  '^'^^'^  ^^^  standard  of  a  revolt 


republic  was  set  aside  without  difficulty 
on  December  2g-30th,  1874 ;  and  on 
January  14th,  1875,  Alfonso  was  pro- 
claimed king.  Many  might  have  con- 
sidered this  to  be  merely  another  act  in 
the  political  farce  ;  but  such  pessimists 
5228 


of  resistance  that  Spain  can 
offer  to  a  determined  opponent,  in  spite 
of  all  her  recent  progress ;  and  how 
inferior  she  is  to  those  wealthy  Powers 
which  have  acquired  a  great  reserve  of 
strength  by  establishing  themselves  upon 
a  sound  economic  basis,  and  by  taking  a 


FRANCE,    SPAIN,    AND    ITALY 


due  share  in  the  progressive  movements  of 
modern  times.  Calamity  had  long  been  in 
the  air.  When  the  American  colonies  were 
lost  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto 
Rico  were  retained,  partly  perhaps  on 
account  of  a  revolt  of  the  negro 

"'*^°'.  °^  which  was  vigorously  opposed 
by  all  the  white  inhabitants 
of  the  island.  Until  the  middle  of  the 
century  it  was  only  the  negro  population 
which  showed  any  tendency  to  revolt. 
However,  later  on,  the  creole  element  in 
Cuba  found  that  its  natural  course  of 
development  was  impeded  by  the  Spanish 
Government,  and  became  unruly.  It  was 
supported,  sometimes  secretly,  sometimes 
openly,  by  the  United  States.  Every  con- 
spiracy and  filibustering  expedition — the 
first  began  in  1849 — found  ready  support 
in  North  America.  The  American  Govern- 
ment had  even  declared  with  praiseworthy 
frankness  that  it  proposed  to  seize  Cuba 
at  the  first  favourable  opportunity,  but 
Spain  was  saved  by  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War  in  the  United  States. 

The  victory  of  the  North  in  this  war 
brought  about  a  temporary  coolness  be- 
tween Americans  and  Cubans.      The  great 


revolt  of  1868-78,  when  Creoles  and 
negroes  fought  together  against  Spain,  was 
not  supported  by  any  attack  from  America. 
But  the  rich  island  gradually  became  an 
object  of  interest  to  American  speculators, 
and  Spain  could  not  make  up  its  mind 
to  the  generous  concessions  which  would 
have  satisfied  the  self-assertive  Creoles. 
The  aboUtion  of  slavery  in  1880  led  to  an 
economic  crisis,  but  did  not  inspire  the 
liberated  slaves  with  any  friendly  feelings 
for  Spain.  So  at  last,  in  the  year  1895-96, 
a  revolt  began,  systematically  supported 
by  the  United  States  ;  Spain  gradually 
spent  her  strength  in  the  remarkable 
efforts  she  made  to  meet  the  danger. 

At  the  same  time,  ;i896,  a  revolt  broke 

out    in    the    PhiHppines,    where    Spanish 

mismanagement,  .without  the  stimulus  of 

any  foreign  influence,  had  driven  the  most 

•    nv  A  enlightened  and   preponderant 

pain  tn  (,jg^gg  among  the  natives,  the 
J  Tagals,  to  open  resistance.  Not- 

ncompe  a  withstanding  the  many  tokens 
that  foreboded  ruin,  the  characteristic 
Spanish  indifference  to  consequences  was 
as  apparent  as  ever.  The  fleet,  which  was 
the  only  means  of  salvation,  continued  in 
such  utter  neglect  that  a  large  number  of 
the  best  ships  could  not  be  used  at  all 


LOBBY  OF  THE   CORTRS   IN  MADRID    DURING  THE    BRIEF   DAYS    OF  THE    SPANISH   REPUBLIC 

5229 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


A  chance  Qccurrence,  or,  according  to  the 
American  theory,  an  act  of  treachery,  the 
blowing  up  of  the  United  States  battleship 
Maine  in  Havana  Harbour,  led  to  the  out- 
break of  hostihties  on  April  2ist,    i8g8. 
With  curiously  clear  foresight  the  United 
States  had  sent  a  considerable  fleet,  under 
Commodore  Dewey,   towards  the   Philip- 
pines.      He  destroyed  the  little  Spanish 
squadron  of  Montojo  at  Cavite  on  May  ist, 
and,  with  the  help  of  the  revolted  natives, 
obliged   Manila   to   surrender.      In   Cuba 
the   Spaniards,   under   Martinez   Campos, 
Weyler,  and  finally.  Marshal  Blanco,  had 
tried  to  avert  calamity  by  the  employment 
Doth  of  mildness  and  of  severity.      Their 
power    in    the    island    collapsed    no'   less 
ingloriously    when    their    , 
little  fleet,  under  Cervera, 
which  had  been  equipped 
with  great  difficulty,  had 
been  destroyed  off  Sant- 
iago   on    Jul}/    3rd.      Of 
Spain's  immense  empire, 
only  two    little    colonies 
on    the     west     coast    of 
Africa  now  remain.    The 
remainder    of    her    pos- 
sessions   in    the    Pacific 
Ocean,    the    Caroline, 
Pellew,      and     Marianne 
islands,     were      sold     to 
Germany     for     £850,000 
on     June      19th,     1899. 
The  loss  of  her  colonies, 
which  was  formally   de- 
clared   in    the    Peace   of 
Paris,     December    loth, 
1898,  is,  in  truth,  a  for- 
tunate  event   for   Spain. 
It  never  understood  how 
to  make  proper  use  of  its 
possessions.   What  it  has  lost  is  the  happy 
hunting-ground      of      office-seekers      and 
political  parasites,  passing  their  time  dis- 
cussing   public    affairs    in    the    cafes    of 
Madrid,  and  waiting  for  a  revolution  to 
jarther  their  designs.   Possibly  the  number 
of  these  political  parasites  will  decrease. 
Possibly  there  will  be  a  general  return  to 
honest    endeavour.     The    fact    that    the 
government   of  a  woman  and  of  a  child, 
who  has  now  grown  to  a  promising  man- 
hood,   was    never    seriously     threatened, 
in  spite    of   all   disasters   abroad,    is    the 
best    testimony    to    the    excellent    spirit 
now  prevailing  in  Spain.     With  her  ej^es 
fixed    upon    her    own    resources,    Spain 
may  now — and  all  signs  seem  to  indicate 


that  she  will — give  an  attention,  too  long 
deferred,  to  the  training  of  the  national 
mind  and  the  development  of  national 
industry  commensurate  with  the  great 
natural  wealth  of  the  country  and  the  high 
qualities  and  potency  of  the  people. 

In  the  Kingdom  of  Italy  the  predominant 
party  was  from  1861  to  1876  the  Consor- 
teria,    or   Moderate   Conservative,   which 
had  been  founded  by  Cavour.   Its  failures, 
however,     and     all     kinds    of    personal 
jealousies  enabled    the   Left  to  gain   the 
supremacy,  which   was  only  temporarily 
taken  from  it  by  the  renewed  strength  of 
the  Right  under  the  Marquis  di  Rudini. 
The   Left   abolished   the   duty   on   flour, 
which  made  the  working-man's  bread  dear, 
and  conferred  the  suffrage 
on  all  who  could  read  and 
write  and  paid   a   small 
tax.      But    it  could  not 
check    satisfactorily    the 
miserable    destitution  of 
the  poorer  classes,  especi- 
ally  of   the  labourers  in 
the  north,  in  the  Basili- 
cata,  and  in  Sicily,  and  of 
the  miners  in  the  Sicilian 
sulphur-mines.  '    Sicily 
also   suffered  under    the 
reign  of  terror  which  the 
secret  society  of  the  Mcfia 
established  in  many  parts. 
Owing   to  the  dearth  of 
food,  the  social  revolution 
in     Milan,    Ancona,    the 
Romagna,  and  Southern 
Italy  repeatedly  produced 
open  insurrection  against 

The  son  of  Victor  Emmanuel  II.,  he  succeeded    ^j^g  authority  of  the  State. 


HUMBERT 


OF    ITALY 


an  anarchist  who  had  been  sent  from  America. 


to  the  throne   of  Italy   in    1878,  and  on  ^  __^ 

29th,    190(1,   was   assassinated  at    Monza   by     From     May    6th    tO    I2th, 

1898,  Milan  was  com- 
pletely in  the  hands  of  the  revolution, 
and  order  was  only  restored  after 
sanguinary  conflicts  in  which  fifty- 
three  persons  were  killed  and  hundreds 
wounded.  The  efforts  of  Italia  irredenta, 
which  wished  to  unite  with  the  monarchy 
the  v/hole  "  unredeemed"  Italian  popala- 
tion  outside  Italy,  in  Trieste,  Dalmatia, 
Tirol,  Ticino,  and  Nice,  had  been,  especi- 
ally since  1878,  detrimental  to  a  good 
u,nderstandiiig  with  neighbouring  states  ; 
they  hindered  the  alliance  of  Italy  with 
Austria,  and  so  also  with  Germany,  and 
gave  France  an  opportunity  to  carry 
off,  on  the  pretext  of  the  depredations 
of  the  Tunisian  border  tribes  of  the 
Krumir,  the  province  of  Tunis,  under  the 


5230 


FRANCE,    SPAIN,    AND    ITALY 


very  eyes  of  the  Italians,  who  had  been 
trying  to  acquire  it  themselves.  King 
Humbert  I.,  the  worthy  son  of  Victor 
Emmanuel  II.,  1878  to  1900,  being  thus 
taught  the  dangers  of  the  policy  of  the 
"  free  hand,"  concluded  in  March,  1887,  at 
the  advice  of  his  Minister,  Count  Robilant, 
the  Triple  Alliance  with  Austria  and 
Germany,  which,  being  subsequently  con- 
solidated by  the  policy  of  Francesco  Crispi, 
has  proved  hitherto  a  main  support  of 
the  peace  of  Europe.  It  secured  Italy's 
position  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  thus 
effectively  checked  French  designs  on 
Tripoli.  The  attempt  to  place  Abyssinia 
under  Italian  suzerainty  gained  for  Italy 
the  possession  of  Assab  in  1881,  and  that 
of  Massowah  in  1885.  But  on  March  ist, 
1896,  the  great  King  Menelik  with  90,000 
men  defeated  and  nearly  annihilated  the 
Italian  army,  15,000  men  strong,  under 
Baratieri  at  Abba  Garima,  east  of  Adowah, 
carried  3,000  Italian  soldiers  as  prisoners 
into  the  heart  of  his  country,  and  extorted, 
on  October  26th,  1896,  a  peace  which 
secured  the  independence  of  Abyssinia  and 
confined  the  Italian  colony  on  the  Red 


QUEEN  HELENA 

Sea  within  narrower  limits  ;  it  now  only 
extends  from  Massowah  to  the  rivers 
Marab  and  Belesa.  Bank  scandals,  from 
which  even  Ministers  did  not  emerge  with- 


out damage  to  their  reputations,  caused 
repeatedly,  as  in  1894,  for  example,  con- 
siderable excitement.  King  Humbert  was 
assassinated  on  July  29th,  1900,  at  Monza. 


KING'  VICTOR    EMMANUEL    III.     Bmsi 
Born  in  1869,  he  came  to  the  throne  as  successor  to  his 
father,  Humbert  I.,  in  the  year  1900.     On  October  24th, 
1806,  lie  was  married  to  Princess  Helena  of  Montenegro. 

by  Gaetano  Bresci,  an  anarchist  sent 
from  America  ;  he  was  succeeded  by  his 
son  Victor  Emmanuel  III.,  born  in  1869, 
who  by  his  marriage  to  Princess  Helena 
of  Montenegro  on  October  24th,  1896,  has 
formed  an  alliance  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Adriatic.  The  economic  position  of 
Italy  has  made  considerable  progress, 
and  a  commercial  treaty  has  been  made 
with  France.  The  Triple  Alliance  was 
renewed  in  1902. 

The  papacy  is  bitterly  hostile  to  the 
national  state  of  Italy,  which  has  deprived 
it  of  all  secular  possessions.  It  forbade 
all  true  sons  of  the  Church  to  show  any 
sort  of  recognition  of  the  "  usurping " 
Kingdom  of  Italy  by  taking  part  in  the 
political  elections  to  the  Second  Chamber. 
Even  the  Guarantee  Act  of  May,  1871, 
which  secures  to  the  Pope  his  independence, 
the  possession  of  the  \'atican,  and  a  yearly 
income  of  ;f  118,750,  has  not  so  far  been 
acknowledged  by  the  Curia,  since  it 
emanates  from  the  legislature  of  the 
monarchy,  and  the  right  of  the  monarchy 
to     exist     is     contested     by   the     Pope. 

5231 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


EUROPE 

SINCE    1871 

V 


MINOR  STATES  OF  WESTERN  EUROPE 

THE    CLEAVAGE    OF    NORWAY    AND   SWEDEN 


TTHE  Swiss  Confederation  has  gone 
■'■  through  a  progressive  development, 
so  far  as  material  interests  are  concerned, 
since  about  i860.  It  obtained  a  rich  market 
for  its  industries  by  commercial  treaties 
with  its  neighbours,  and  the  great  lines  of 
mountain  railways,  into  the 
Engadine,       over       the       St. 


Switzerland 
and  the 


„  ,  J  Gothard,  through  the  heart 
Referendum      <•        ,  •   ,  .      °     1        •  1 

of   which   a   tunnel   nme    and 

one-third  miles  long  was  driven  in  1882, 
and  into  the  Bernese  Oberland,  promoted 
the  influx  of  strangers,  from  which 
Switzerland  derives  great  profits. 

The  constitution  of  the  Confederation, 
like  those  of  many  cantons,  has  gradually 
become  more  democratic  in  the  course  of 
years.  After  the  cantons  of  Ziirich,  Basle, 
Berne,  and  others  had  introduced  since 
1869  the  Referendum,  or  the  voting 
of  the  entire  people  on  legislative  pro- 
posals, the  Federal  constitution  was 
modified  on  May  29th,  1874,  according  to 
the  views  of  the  Liberals  and  the  Centre. 
Legislation  on  the  subjects  of  contracts, 
bills,  and  trade,  as  well  as  the  jurisdiction 
over  the  army  and  the  Church,  were 
assigned  to  the  Confederation ;  it  also 
received  powers  in  economic  matters.  A 
supreme  Federal  Court  and  a  system  of 
registration  of  births,  deaths,  and 
marriages  by  government  officials  was 
introduced.  The  Referendum  is  allowed 
in  all  cases  when  either  30,000  voters 
or  eight  out  of  the  twenty-two  cantons 
demand  that  the  nation  itself  shall  say 
the  last  word  on  a  measure  approved 
by  the  Federal  and  National  Councils. 
On  July  5th,  1891,  the  popular  rights 
.  .  were  increased  by  the  grant 

ncreasing        ^^  ^j^^  people  of  the  initiative 
the  Popular  ,,      f      ^    ,•  ,,. 

D  •  •,  m  the  legislation  on  condition 

Privileges  .1     .  ..  •       -^ 

that  50,000  votes  require  it. 

This  concession  to  democratic  principles 
has,  it  must  be  confessed,  produced 
the  result  that  many  useful  laws  which 
had  been  decided  upon  by  the  legis- 
lative bodies  have  been  lost  at  the 
very  last,    especially  when   an  increased 

5232 


expenditure  might  be  expected  from  them. 
The  French  cantons  of  Western  Switzer- 
land and  the  Catholic  cantons  of  Old 
Switzerland  often  came  together  in  the 
attempt  to  hinder  all  progressive  centralisa- 
tion. The  Confederation  received,  however, 
on  October  25th,  1885,  the  monopoly  of 
manufacturing  and  selling  alcohol,  and  in 
1887  the  supervision  of  the  forests  and  the 
right  to  legislate  on  the  food  supply  ;  in 
1898  the  nationalisation  of  the  railways 
and  uniformity  of  procedure  in  civil  and 
criminal  cases  were  granted  by  the  people. 
The  Confederation  quarrelled  with  tht 
papal  throne  in  1873,  because  Bishop  E. 
Lachat  of  Basle  had  on  his  own  responsi- 
bility published  the  Vatican  decrees.  The 
bishopric  of  Basle  was,  in  consequence, 
abolished  by  the  Confederation  on  January 
29th  ;  Kasper  Mermillod,  who  put  himself 
forward  as  Bishop  of  Geneva,  was  banished 
from  the  country  on  February  17th,  and 

^,      ;       .      the    papal  charge   d'affaires, 
ChurcA  and       /^     td     a  •  u  • 

g        _  G.  B.  Agnozzi,  was  given  his 

^  J.  passports  towards  the  end  of 

November.  The  Old  Catholic 
movement  found  great  support  in  Switzer- 
land, and  received  on  June  7th,  1876,  a 
bishop  of  its  own,  "  Christian  Catholic,"  in 
the  person  of  Edward  Herzog,  and  a  special 
theological  faculty  in  Berne,  which  was, 
however,  only  thinly  attended.  But  in  the 
course  of  time  afresh  agreement  was  effected 
between  Church  and  State  ;  the  bishopric 
of  Basle  was  revived  in  1884-1885,  though 
the  nunciature  remained  in  abeyance. 

The  social  movement  of  the  time  led  in 
1887  to  the  legal  restriction  of  the  maxi- 
mum working  day  to  eleven  hours,  in  1881 
to  the  adoption  of  a  law  of  employers' 
liability,  and  in  1890  to  the  establishment  ' 
of  workmen's  insurances  against  accidents 
and  illness.  On  the  other  hand,  the  social 
democratic  proposal  to  introduce  into  the 
constitution  the  "  Right  to  Labour  "  was 
rejected  by  the  people  by  300,000  to 
73,000  votes.  While  the  Radical  Demo- 
cratic party  was  prominent,  the  Social 
Democracy  generally,  although  it  rested  on 


MINOR    STATES    OF    WESTERN    EUROPE 


The  Cost 

of 

Education 


th€  Radical  Griitli-Verein,  which  had 
formally  joined  it  in  1901,  and  constituted 
a  special  group  in  the  National  Council, 
has  attained  to  no  great  influence.  Since 
also  the  Conservative  Liberals  were  able  to 
exercise  very  Umited  power,  the  minority 
have  lately  directed  their  efforts  to  carry 
the  system  of  proportionate  voting  in  the 
Confederation  as  well  as  in  the  cantons, 
and  thus  to  secure  themselves  at  least  a 
proportionate  share  in  the  popular  repre- 
sentation and  in  legislation. 

The  kingdom  of  Belgium  had  been  re- 
leased by  the  war  of  1870-1871  from  the 
continual  danger  which  had  threatened  it 
from  the  side  of  France.  The  two  great 
parties  of  Liberals  and  Clericals  were 
alternately  in  office,  as 
had  been  the  case  for  the 
past  decades.  But  both 
parties  saw  themselves 
compelled,  on  political 
grounds,  to  abandon 
gradually  the  exclusive 
recognition  of  the  French 
language  in  official 
matters  and  private  inter- 
course, and  to  make  con- 
cessions to  the  Flemings, 
who  composed  more  than 
half  the  population  of 
the  kingdom.  Accord- 
ingly, under  the  Clerical 
Cabinet  of  Baron  J. .J. 
d'Anethan,  the  use  of 
the  Flemish  language 
was  permitted  in  the  law 
courts  ;  under  the  Liberal  ,     _,  ^  . 

,T-     •    X  f  -C"    -        r\^U    „       Leopold  II.,  King  of  the  Belgians,  founded  in 

Ministry    of  Frere-Orban,     ^Vest  Africk,  with  the  assistance  of  sir  Henry 


^F^ 


THE     KING     OF     THE     BELGIANS 


d'Anethan,  then  Ambassador  at  the  Vati- 
can, was  recalled,  and  the  Nuncio  Serafino 
Vannutelli  was  given  his  passports.     In 
1881  the  number  of  state  gymnasia  was 
increased,  and  fifty  undenominational  girls' 
schools  were  founded.     But  since  the  new 
schools        laid        considerable 
burdens  on  parishes,  as  much 
as  ;^88o,ooo  yearly,  discontent 
gradually    was    felt    with    the 
Liberal  Ministry,  which  also  opposed  the 
introduction  of    universal  suffrage  ;    and 
the  Clericals  by  the  elections  of  1884  won 
a  majority  of  twenty  votes. 

The  Clerical  Cabinet  of  Jules  Malou  now 
passed  a  law,  in  virtue  of  which  parishes 
were  empowered  to  recognise  the  "  free" 
schools — that    is   to   say, 
the    schools    erected    by 
the   Church — as  national 
schools  in  the  meaning  of 
i  the  law  of  1879  ;    in  this 
way  the  latter  was  prac- 
tically   annulled,  for  the 
parishes,  from  motives  of 
economy,      made       such 
ample  use   of    thi^    per- 
mission,  in   1,465    cases, 
that  out  of  1,933  national 
schools   877   were  closed 
within  a  year,  and  were 
replaced       by    -  Church 
schools.      Diplomatic 
intercourse  with  the  Curia 
was  resumed  in  1885  by  a 
Belgian    ambassador    to 
the  Vatican,  Baron  E.  de 
Pitteurs  -  Hiegaerts,   and 
by     the     reappointment 


in     1878     its    emDlovment     StanieV.Vhrc'ongo'State,  which  was  formally     of    a     nUUCio    in   BrUSScls, 
m    1070,  lib    einpiU>mt;nL    ^  ^3^^  by  the  Great  Powers  inl885.   Many     -p.^^^^       Fprrflta  The 

as  the  medium  of  instrUC-    terrible  abuses  have  marked  his  rule  there.    UOmcn  -  rerraia.  i  ne 

tion  in  the  national  schools  '^"'"' 

was  conceded  ;  while  under  the  renewed 
Clerical  government  of  1886  a  royal  Flemish 
academy  for  language  and  literature  was 
founded.  In  1892  officers  were  required 
to  learn  the  two  national  languages. 
Frere-Orban,  supported  by  a  majority 
of  eighteen  votes,  carried,    on  July   ist, 

1879,  the  law  which  introduced 
Religious  undenominational  national 
Instruction  ^^^^^^^  j^to  Belgium.  The 
in  BelEium         i-    •  ,         ,• 

religious   instruction   was  now 

given  outside  the  school  hours,  but  class- 
rooms were  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
clergy  for  the  purpose.  Owing  to  the 
ambiguous  attitude  of  the  Curia,  which 
ostensibly  exhorted  the  faithful  to  follow 
the  law,  but  in  secret  stirred  up  opposition, 

I  G  a?  G 


Clerical  party  maintained 
their  majority  at  the  next  elections  ;  in 
fact,  they  giew  to  be  more  than  two-thirds 
of  the  members  of  the  Chamber. 

The  rise  of  the  Social  Democrats,  whose 
influence  had  begun  to  spread  far  and  wide 
through  the  industrial  regions  of  Belgium, 
combined,  with  a  fall  of  wages,  to  produce 
a  disastrous  revolution  in  Liege,  Brussels, 
and  Charleroi  in  March,  1886,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  a  festival  in  honour  of  the  Paris 
Commune.  A  new  and  formidable  anta- 
gonist faced  the  Clericals  in  place  of  the 
Liberals,  who  were  divided  into  a  Moderate 
and  a  Radical  section.  The  Government 
attempted  to  pave  the  way  for  Social 
Reform  by  the  creation  of  courts  of  arbitra- 
tion between  workmen  and  manufacturers, 

5233 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


by  the  introduction  of  state  supervision 
over  workshops,  and  the  prohibition  of  the 
payment  of  wage.-,  in  kind  ;  but  the  Cleri- 
cals could  not 
bring  themselves 
to  adopt  really 
c  o  m  p  r  e  h  ensi  ve 
measure?;  of  strict 
social  justice, 
among  which  the 
universal  lia- 
bility to  military 
service  would  be 
reckoned. 

At  the  elections 
of  1892  they  lost 
the  two  -  thirds 
majority,  and 
conceded  in  1893 
universal  suf- 
frage, with  the 
proviso  that  elec- 
tors who  pos- 
sessed means, 
were       married. 


velopments  have  been  dealt  with  in  the 
African  portion  of  this  work.  In  the 
Netherlands  also  the  institution  of  unde- 
nominational 
nat  onal  schools 
in  1857  gave  rise 
to  excited  party 
disputes.  After 
that  date  the 
Catholics  were 
completely  sepa- 
rated from  the 
Liberals,  and 
among  the  Pro- 
testants a  Chris- 
tian -  Conserva- 
tive party,  the 
"  Ant i  -  revo- 
lutionary," was 
formed,  .  which 
gradually  .  won 
m  a  n.y  sup- 
porters; .its 
leader  was  the 
energetic    and 


WILLIAM  III.  OF  HOLLAND  AND  QUEEN  EMMA 
Popular  with  his  people,  King  William  III.  of  Holland  was  twice 
married,  his  second  bride  being-  Princess  Emma  of  Waldeck- 
Pyrmont.  In  1888  it  was  settled  by  constitutional  law  that  their 
daughter,  Wilhelmina,  born  in  1880,  should  succeed  to  the  throne 
and  aCridemicallv    o"  ''^"^  father's  death,  which    event    occurred  in   November,    189(1.     talented  ■     Abra 

educated,  should  possess  a  plural  vote.  ham  Kuyper,  born  in  1837,  a  pastor:  of 
The  number  of  electors  was  increased  by  the  reformed  religion.  In  March,  1888, 
this  law  from  130,000  to  1,200,000.     Since      and  again  in  1901,  the   united  Catholics 


the  first  clause  m  par- 
ticular helped  the  Clerical 
party  in  the  country,  it 
maintained  its  majority; 
the  Liberals  and  Social 
Democrats  vainly  en- 
deavoured to  strike  the 
clause  conceding  plurality 
of  votes  out  of  the 
constitution.  A  general 
strike  organised  for  this 
purpose  on  April  14th, 
1902,  had  to  be  abandoned 
on  the  20th  ;  and  the  new 
elections  on  May  25th 
resulted  in  a  small  gain 
for  the  Clericals.  King 
Leopold  IL  did  good 
service  in  opening  up 
Africa,  where  he  founded, 
with  the  help  of  Sir  Henry 
Stanley,  the  Congo  State. 
This  state  was  recognised 
by  the  Great  Powers  at 
the  Berlin  Congo  Confer- 
ence in  1885,  and  Leopold, 
in  virtue  of  a  Belgian  law 
which  allowed  him  to  bear  this  double 
title,  assumed  the  style   of  Sovereign  of 


and  Anti-revolutionaries 
obtained  the  majority. 
Kuyper,  .:  as  Prime 
Minister  of  the  Conserva- 
tive Cabinet  constructed 
on  July:2.7th,  1901.^  was 
now  able  to ;  ■  announce 
their  decision. to  procure 
for  : .  Christianity  once 
more -its  proper  influence 
onnational  life,  and  thus 
first  and  foremost ;  ;.  to 
restore  the  ;  denomina- 
tional national  seliools. 
The  social  movement 
in  Holland  .can  point  to 
comparatively  little  re- 
sults. In  1889  a  measure 
was  passed  to  prohibit 
the  excessive  labour  of 
women  and  children,  and 
in  1892  a  graduated  scale 
of  taxation  on  property 
QUEEN  WILHELMINA  and  incomcs  was  intro- 

Attaining   her  majority  on  August  :Ust,  1898,  fl,,p„^1       T„  jfirifs  nnivpr«;al 

she  came  to  the  throne,   and  on  February  7th,  aUCeO.     in  IO9D  Uni\  eiSdi 

19(11,   married   Duke   Henry    of  Mecklenburg,  suffrage      WaS       aCCCptcd, 

who   received   the   title    of    Prince    Consort.  ■.,     R       ,.      •,     ,-         ^,,      , 

With  the  limitations  that 
the  electors  must  be  twenty-five  years  of 
age  and  must  pay  some  amount,  however 


the    Congo    State.     The    subsequent    de-      small,   of    direct   taxation.      A  strike   of 
5234 


MINOR    STATES    OF    WESTERN    EUROPE 


railway  employees  in  February,  1903, 
necessitated  remedial  legislation.  In  the 
Diitch  Indies  the  Colonial  Government 
in  1873-1879  and  1896  had  to  conduct 
difficult  campaigns  against  the  Sultan  of 
Achin  in  Sumatra,  and  in  1894-1895  on 
the  island  of  Lombok,  where  the  native 
dynasty  had  been  deposed. 

The  male  line  of  the  House  of  Orange 
since  June  21st,  1884,  when  the  Crown 
Prince  Alexander  died  childless,  was  only 
represented  by  the  king,  William  III. 
It   was   therefore   settled   in    1888   by   a 


throne.     The  anticipated  event  occurred 
on  November  23rd,  1890.  While  in  Luxem- 
burg,   where    females   cannot    reign,    the 
former  Duke  Adolf  of  Nassau,  as  head  of 
the  Walram  line,  and  in  this  respect  heir 
of   the   Ottoman   line    of   the    House    ot 
Nassau,  became  Grand  Duke,  the  clever 
and  popular  queen-mother,  Emma,  took 
over   the   regency    for   Wilhelmina   until 
August  31st,  1898.  On  that  day  the  young 
queen,  who  then  attained  her  majority, 
entered   herself   on   her   high   office,    and 
promised  to  rule  with  that  same  spirit  of 
devotion   to  duty 
which       endeared 
her     ancestors   to 
the  Dutch  nation. 
On  February  7th, 
1901,  she  gave  her 
hand     to      Duke 
Henry    of     Meck- 
lenburg,   who    re- 
ceived the  title  of 
Prince       of      the 
Netherlands,    but 
no     heir    to    the 
throne  has  yet  been 
born.    Duruig   the 
political     struggle 
the    relations     of 
Norway        and 
Sweden     had    be- 
come worse.    The 
Norwegians      had 
quite    a    different 
conception  of  the 
union     from     the 
Swedes,  and  they 
demanded  that  the 
two     countries 
should  be  placed  on 
an  entirely   equal 
footing.  A  fruitless 
attempt  was  made 
to    come     to     an 
agreement       con- 
cerning    the     re- 
vision      of      the 
Rigsakt   of    1815. 
Finally,  the    Nor- 
wegians demanded 

THE     ACCESSION     OF     KING     HAAKON     TO    THE    THRONE    OF    NORWAV  their  OWU  COnSular 

After  the  dissolution  of  the  union  between  Norway  and  Sweden,  the  Storting  elected  to  the  corvirp        Tlim    Ipfl 

throne    of  the   former  country   Prince  Charles,  the  second  son  of  Frederic  VII.,   King  of  ^eiViCt;.        1  lUb    leu. 

Denmark,  and  on  November  27th,  190'),  he  took  the  oath  in  presence  of  the  Storting,  swearing  tO  long  and  WCari- 
that  he  would  govern  the  kingdom  of  Norway  in  accordance  with  its  constitution  and  laws.  ■•     .• 

some  negotiations 


constitutional  law  that,  on  the  death  of 
William,  his  daughter  Wilhelmina,  born 
i88o,  by  the  king's  second  marriage  with 
Emma   of   Waldeck,    should   inherit    the 


between  the  Norwegian  and  the  Swedish 
Governments.  These  negotiations  remained 
ineffective  because  it  was  evident  that  the 
Swedes,  instead  of  admitting  the  equality 

5235 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


of  Norway,  wished  to  maintain  their  own 
predominance.  This  roused  universal 
indignation  in  Norway.  On  May  23rd, 
1905,  the  Storting  unanimously  passed  a 
law  establishing  a  national  consular  service. 
Upon  the  king's  refusal  to.  sanction  the  law, 
the  Ministry  of  Peter  Michelsen  tendered 
their  resignations.  The  king  did  not  accept 
these,  because,  according  to  his  own  declara- 
tion, no  Ministry  could  exist  at  that  time  in 
Norway  which  represented  his  opinions.  But 
on  June  7th,  the 
Ministry  laid  its 
power  in  the  hands 
of  the  Storting, 
which  declared  the 
personal  union 
with  Sweden  dis- 
solved, and  autho- 
rised the  Ministry 
to  exercise  until 
further  notice  the 
power  appertain- 
mg  to  the  king. 
Negotiations  with 
Sweden  were  then 
entered  upon.  At 
Karlstad,  on  Sep- 
tember 23rd,  a 
treaty  was  con- 
cluded which 
settled  the  points 
of  controversy 
raised  by  the  dis- 
solution of  the 
union.  King  Oscar 
II.  recognised  Nor- 
way as  an  entirely 
separate  state  from 
October  27th.  He 
renounced  the 
Norwegian  crown, 
and  declined  the 
request  of  the 
Storting  that  a 
younger  prince  of 
his  house  should 
occupy  the  Norwegian  throne.  On  Novem- 
ber i8th  the  Storting  elected  as  king 
Prince  Charles,  the  second  son  of  Frederic 
VIII.,  King  of  Denmark.  Prince  Charles 
entered  Christiania  on  November  25th, 
1905,  as  Haakon  VII.,  and  was  duly 
crowned  on  June  22nd,  1906,  as  King  of 
Norway.  In  this  way  the  separation  of  the 
two  countries  which  had  been  united  for 
ninety  years  was  conclusively  confirmed. 
In  spite  of  political  struggles  important 
reforms  had  been  introduced — the  estab- 

5236 


hshment  of  the  jury,  new  regulations  in 
the  army,  in  the  schools,  and  in  the 
elections;  the  material  development  of 
the  country  likewise  did  not  suffer.  Means 
of  communication  were  greatly  improved. 
By  the  erection  of  various  agricultural, 
industrial,  and  technical  schools  opportu- 
nity was  afforded  to_  the  people,  who  were 
actively  interested  in  industrial  pursuits, 
to  acquire  greater  knowledge.  By  an 
improved    utilisation    of    the    country's 


THE     COROKriTIOr 


KING     HAAKO::     AT    TRONDHJEM    CATHEDRAL 

natural  resources  the  various  branches  of 
industry  received  a  great  impetus,  espe- 
cially commerce  and  navigation.  At  the 
present  time  Norway  possesses  the  largest 
mercantile  fleet  in  the  world  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  inhabitants.  Next  to 
agriculture  and  cattle-breeding  the  people 
depend  mainly  for  their  livelihood  on 
fishing  and  forestry.  The  population  is 
almost  three  times  as  large  as  in  1841,  and 
successful  efforts  are  made  to  encourage 
culture  and  progress.         G.  Egflhaaf 


j( 


C-    u> 


.THE  SOCIAL  QUESTION 

BRITAIN'S  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION 

AND    THE    RISE    OF    THE    FACTORY    SYSTEM 


jX/IODERN  society  is  characterised,  tech- 
^  ' -^  nically,  by  the  predominance  of  great 
industries  and  the  unsuspected  advan- 
tage derived  from  the  forces  of  Nature  ; 
economically,  by  freedom  of  trade  and 
right  of  settlement ;  politically,  by  liberty 
of  speech  and _  of  combination,  and  by 
popular  representation.  On  this  basis,  for 
the  first  time  the  great  mass  of  the 
productive  but  dependent  population  was 
enabled  to  take  a  part  in  the  important 
movements  which  make'  the  world's 
histor}'.  These  classes  previously,  leaving 
out  of  account  isolated  risings,  had  either 
•  formed  only  the  passive  foundation  for  all 
contests  for  political  or  social  power,  or 
had  only  been  able  to  struggle  for  modest 
improvements  in  "their  material  ■  welfare. 
.  It  is  clear  that  the  immediate 

imi  s  o  ^     preliminary  condition    for    an 
Workmen  s-i  ,-\    "  x.        j  jr.i_ 

„    .  mdependent    advance    of    the 

bulk  of  the  people  into  the  field 
of  public  and  social  life  is  only  satisfied 
when  they  are  allowed  to  form  suitable 
and  permanent  organisations  with  the 
object  of  attaining  their  ends. 

The  working  classes,  therefore,  possessed 
as  a  whole,  to  within  the  last  century,  no 
effective  influence,  because  this  condition 
was  not  fulfilled.  So  far  as  Ox-ganisations 
generally  were  permitted  in  past  ages, 
as  was  the  case  with  the  members  of  the 
guilds  in  the  towns,  their  sphere  of 
influence  was  restricted  to  social  and 
religious  requirements,  relief  funds,  in- 
formation as  to  work,  and  the  improvement 
of  some  conditions  of  labour  contracts  ; 
and  guilds  and  authorities  ensured  by 
close  superintendence  and  merciless 
severity  that  these  narrow  limits  were  never 
overstepped  by  the  journeymen's  unions. 


Notwithstanding,  therefore,  that  before 
this  time  occasionally — we  may  remind 
our  readers  of  Rome  under  the  Empire — 
a  collection  of  masses  of  working  men  had 
been  formed  in  large  towns  and  centres 
of  production  ;  notwithstanding  that,  even 
earlier,  wide  sections  of  the 
people  had  been  oppressed  and 


Power  of 
the  Ruling 
Classes 


laid  under  contribution,  while 
at  the  same  time  luxury  and 
splendour  were  publicly  paraded,  power- 
ful and  lasting  agitations  by  the  working 
classes  were. at  that  time  impossible. 

There  could  be  nothing  more  than  isolated 
violent  outbreaks,  which  were  fated  in? 
evitably  to  fail,  owing  to  the  political 
immaturity  of  the  rioters  and  the  firmness 
of  the  ruling  powers  ;  for  example,  the 
Greek  and  Roman  slave  risings,  or  the 
rebelhons  of  the  peasants  in  Western 
Europe  during  the  fourteenth  to  the 
sixteenth  centuries.  The  ruling  classes 
knew  how  to  prevent  any  immediate 
repetition  of  these  attempts  by  the  op- 
pressed to  shatter" their  chains,  since  after 
every  victory  they  applied  the  principle 
"  v?e  victis,"  and  exacted,  with  all  the 
cruelty  of  the  times,  terrible  penalties 
as  a  deterrent  warning.  The  people  thus 
felt  their  helplessness.  -  Overawed  and 
indifferent  to  all  politics,  the  peasant 
went  back  to  his  plough  and 
J,  *  ^^  the  artisan  to  the  workshop. 
I T  t  ^^  state  and  society  thus 
"*  ^^  seemed  in  early  times  safely 
entrenched  behind  rampart  and  moat 
against  the  demands  of  the  lower  class, 
the  modern  state  and  its  liberty  offered 
to  the  people  the  possibility  of  seeing 
the  fall  of  the  hitherto  impregnable 
fortress.     This  hope  and  prospect   could 

5237 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


not  fail  to  contribute  towards  rous- 
ing the  people  from  their  indifference,  so 
that,  sooner  or  later,  in  all  civilised  nations 
the  agitation  of  the  lower  classes  was  as 
general  as  the  former  lethargy. 

Nothing,    however,    has   been    of    such 
wide-reaching  importance  for  the  distinc- 
tive  features   of  this   movement,    for   its 
.  demands   and    its    aims,    as 

Begmn.ngs       ^j^^    modern    industrial    de- 

ProdTcIroIv  velopment,  of  which  the 
marked  characteristic  is  the 
method  of  capitalistic  production.  This 
takes  place  when  a  considerable  number 
of  workmen  is  employed  by  the  same 
individual  capital  at  the  same  time  in  the 
production  of  the  same  goods. 

Historically,  capitalistic  production 
dates  its  beginning  from  the  "  domestic 
system,"  which  began  to  develop  itself 
at  the  beginning  of  the  new  era  by  the 
side  of  the  handicraft  of  the  guilds.  The 
small  exclusive  economic  spheres  of  the 
city  states  were  then  transformed  into 
large  uniformly  administered  territories, 
and,  owing  to  the  new  colonial  districts, 
international  trade  received  a  great  stimu- 
lus. Requirements  thus  arose  which  could 
not  be  met  within  the  old  guild  organi- 
sation. Thus  a  new  form  of  organisation 
of  industrial  work  was  formed  in  the 
"  domestic  system."  Its  distinctive 
feature  is  that  a  contractor,  called  a 
"factor/'  provides  a  number  of  workmen 
with  commissions,  which  they  then  exe- 
cute in  their  own  houses.  According 
to  this  S3^stem,  technically  the  handicraft 
production  still  predominates. 

But  the  "  domestic  system,"  if  not  in 
the  manner  of  production,  at  least  in  the 
manner  of  sale,  denotes  an  advance  beyond 
handicraft.  The  master  handicraftsman 
sells  his  goods  directly  to  the  person 
who  requires  them  ;  but  in  the  "  domestic 
system  "  there  is  always  one  intermediate 
dealer  between  the  producer  and  the 
consumer — .that  is,  the  merchant.  And 
while  the  individual  handi- 
craftsman only  sells  a  small 
quantity  of  goods,  usually 
in  an  adjacent  market,  the 
merchant  places  large  masses  of  goods  on 
one  or  more  adjacent  or  distant  markets. 
With  regard  to  selling,  therefore,  the 
domestic  system  represents  a  wholesale 
trade  which  appears  excellently  adapted 
for  the  supply  of  distant  markets. 
And  for  the  very  reason  that  it  com- 
bined the  traditional  methods  of  produc- 

5238 


The  Merchant's 

Place 

in  Commerce 


cion  on  a  small  scale  with  a  more 
complete  method  of  sale  in  large 
quantities,  it  must  have  been  recognised 
from  the  first  as  the  form  of  industrial 
enterprise  which,  while  causing  the  least 
alteration  in  long  standing  conditions,  could 
satisfy  the  necessity  felt  in  the  new  era 
for  exchange  of  commodities  between 
different  places  or  nations.  Persons  who 
had  some  capital,  and  were  far-sighted 
enough  to  recognise  the  tendency  of  the 
new  want  and  the  extent  of  the  remunera- 
tive demand,  took  the  lead,  engaged 
handicraftsmen,  day  labourers  in  the  towns 
not  belonging  to  any  guild,  or  hitherto  un- 
employed members  of  the  country  popula- 
tion, and  started  the  new  organisation. 

The  "  domestic  system  "  was  common 
in  England  even  before  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  century  as  the  method  em- 
ployed in  the  cloth  industry,  supplying 
the  great  markets  and  the  export  trade. 
Afterwards  it  continually  spread  to  other 
trades,  until  it  became,  right  up  to  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  ordinary  form  of 
the  most  important  industries  intended 
to  put  wholesale  quantities  of  goods  on 
the  markets.  In  no  other 
the  Domestic  country  did  it  attain  such  im- 

c  omes  ic  pQj-^g^j^(,g  ^^^  still  it  prevailed 
System         f  xj  j-        ii 

to  a  certam  degree  durmg  the 

seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  in 
France  and  in  the  German-speaking 
countries.  Since  such  large  spheres  were 
formed  where  the  domestic  system  pre- 
vailed, the  new  industrial  method  was 
felt  to  be  a  considerable  improvement, 
and  its  chief  promoters  were  greeted  as 
national  benefactors.  A  German  econo- 
mist of  the  period  wrote  :  "  There  are 
instances  where,  owing  to  them,  splendid 
towns  have  arisen,  and  thousands  of 
men  have  earned  an  honest  living  ;  they 
make  the  country  populous  and  produc- 
tive, and  are  profitable  members  of  the 
commonwealth,  whose  object  is  to  increase 
and  to  support  the  '  societas  civilis.' " 
Frederic  the  Great  termed  his  Silesian 
weaving  districts  the  Prussian  Peru. 

It  has  been  already  noticed  that  the 
method  of  working  under  the  domestic 
system  remained  the  same  as  existed  be- 
fore in  the  handicrafts,  but  the  change  in 
the  method  of  the  disposal  of  the  products 
is  connected  with  widely  reaching  social 
consequences.  The  master  workman 
vmder  the  domestic  system  often,  it  is  true, 
works  with  assistants,  frequently  is  also 
owner  of  the  tools,  and  even  of  a  part  of 


BRITAIN'S    INDUSTRIAL    REVOLUTION 


the  raw  material,  quite  like  the  master 
handicraftsman.  But  he  no  longer  disposes 
of  the  goods  to  different  customers  :  he 
delivers  them,  in  return  for  payment  of  a 
previously  settled  wage,  either  to  the 
capitalistic  merchant,  or  to  intermediate 
agents,  "  middlemen,"  who  distribute  the 
raw  materials,  superintend  the  work, 
collect  the  products,  and  pay  out  the  wages. 

Thus  he  is  still  master  in  his  house, 
but  he  usually  sells  the  products  of  his 
labour  in  accordance  with  the  commissions 
received,  and  thus  stands  towards  the 
merchant  in  the  same  relation  as  the  work- 
man to  the  employer.  The  result  follows 
from  this  that  the  master  workman  in 
the  domestic  system  can  no  longer  hold 
the  independent  position  towards  the  capi- 
talistic merchant  that  the  master  handi- 
craftsman has  towards  his  customers.  They 
must,  therefore,  in  the  course  of  time 
sink  more  and  more  into  the  position  of 
ordinary  workmen,  while  the  merchants 
sweep  in  the  substantial  profits  which 
are  possible  in  all  industries  intended 
for  a  large  and  regular  market.  "On 
the  one  side,  persons  who  know  the 
Th    s    •  I    '^^o^^'^ !     who,     through     their 

c  OC1&  knowledge  of  markets  and  their 
Question  s         ,  i  xi  n 

D  k  Si  solvency,  relieve  the  small  pro- 
ducers of  the  anxiety  of  selling ; 
who,  by  their  journeys,  their  giving  credit, 
and  their  connections,  transact  sales,  and 
can  bear  occasional  losses  better  than  the 
producers  ;  who  grasp  technical  improve- 
ments more  quickly,  since  they  stand 
higher  in  education  and  are  of  a  quicker 
intelligence.  On  the  other  side,  small 
master  workmen,  peasants,  inhabitants  of 
small  towns  and  of  the  mountains,  women 
and  children  who  are  glad  to  get  work, 
who,  in  addition  to  their  industrial  work 
are  busied  with  agriculture  and  cattle 
breeding  ;  who  are  day  labourers,  with 
limited  ideas,  possessing  no  great  technical 
qualifications,  no  large  capital,  no  division 
of  labour,  but  slow  to  adopt  anything 
new,  and  clinging  tenaciously  to  their  old 
customs.  The  master  workman  in  the 
domestic  system  thus  is  nearly  always 
placed  at  a  disadvantage  as  compared  with 
the  merchant,  who  knows  his  business  and, 
being  a  capitalist,  can  wait  his  time." 

The  result  of  this  is  a  dark  side  to  the 
social  question,  which  formerly,  indeed, 
when  merely  the  extent  of  the  sales  and 
the  interests  of  the  capitalistic  producer 
were  considered,  could  not  have  been 
sufficiently  realised.      Firstly,   the  lower 


wages  of  these  producers  under  the 
domestic  system  ;  secondly,  the  "  sweat- 
ing "  of  these  isolated,  and  therefore 
unprotected,  workers  by  the  merchant 
employer  through  reduction  of  wages  in 
particular,  through  usurious  payment  foi 
goods  and  deceitful  calculations  of  the 
raw  materials  furnished  ;    lastly — in   the 

Distr  ss        ^^^^     °^     more    unfavourable 
- ,.     „        conditions,  namely,  loss  of  the 
oi  the  Home    ij  ,     ,  -•''..,         _.-,. 

Workers  markets  and  similar  difh- 

culties — the  greatest  distress 
existing  among  these  very ' '  home  workers, ' ' 
because,  wishing  to  turn  to  some  account 
not  merely  their  powers  of  work,  but 
their  tools,  which  usually  represent  theii 
only  possessions,  they  are  compelled  to 
accept  work  at  any  wage,  even  though  it 
only  affords  the  barest  hvelihood.  In  this 
way  matters  have  gone  so  far  that  certain 
districts  where  the  domestic  system  pre- 
vails have  become  the  first  scenes  ot 
modern  pauperism  on  a  large  scale. 

Attempts  were  made  to  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  the  wholesale  market  by  yet 
another  form  of  work  besides  the  domestic 
system — namely,  the  manufactory,  which, 
indeed,  has  developed  more  slowly  than 
the  former.  It  consists  in  the  employ- 
ment by  one  contractor  of  a  large  numbei 
of  workmen  for  purposes  of  production 
in  one  building.  According  to  this  defini- 
tion, it  does  not  depend,  as  the  domestic 
system,  on  wholesale  selling,  but  on  whole- 
sale production.  The  consequences  are 
far-reaching.  In  the  first  place,  where 
many  workmen  are  busied  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  one  product,  an  extensive  division 
of  the  work  within  the  workshop  itself 
can  often  be  effected.  The  article  is  no 
longer  the  production  of  one  independent 
craftsman  who  does  various  things,  but  the 
production  of  a  number  of  craftsmen 
working  together,  each  one  of  whom  is  con- 
tinuously discharging  one  and  the  same 
part  of  the  work.  The  watch  which  under 
the  guild  system  was  the  individual  work 
_     ,  of     a     Niiremberg     craftsman 

Labour        ■,  -.i  r 

,,  ,  -,  becomes  in  the  age  of  manu- 
Under  New    r      ,      •         ,  i  ?     a-  r 

-,  ..^.  factories  the  production  of  a 
Conditions  ,  t   j-ci  j.  i 

number  of  dirterent  workmen. 

There  are  now  employed  on  it,  makers  of 

the  rough  material,  the  watch-spring,  dial, 

main-spring,   hands,  case,  screws,  etc.,  a 

gilder,  and  a  "  repasseur,"  who  puts  the 

whole  watch  together  and  turns  it  out  in 

a  going  condition.   The  execution  is  still  a 

"  handwork,"  and  therefore  dependent  on 

the  strength,   dexterity,   expedition,   and 

5239 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


accuracy  of  the  individual  workman  in 
the  handling  of  his  tool.  But  since  the 
same  workman  is  always  closely  employed 
on  the  same  separate  part,  the  manufac- 
tory creates  great  skill  in  the  particular 
workman.  If  already  from  this  reason 
more  goods  are  turned  out  by  manufacture 
with  a  less  expenditure  of  labour  than 
H  f  ^^  independent  handwork,  tlie 
tu^v  ^  °       specialisation    of     tools     now 

e  ac  ory  (>ys^Qj^a.ry  must  tend  in  the 
^^  ^°*  same  direction  ;    for  since  the 

working  tools  are  now  suited  to  the  ex- 
clusively peculiar  employments  of  the 
individual  workman,  they  thus  attain  a 
greater  perfection  than  before,  and  must 
at  the  same  time  increase  the  productive 
power  of  the  work. 

Since,  again,  the  result  of  one  man's 
work  is  the  starting  point  for  the  work 
of  another,  the  uninterrupted  progress 
of  the  collective  work  presupposes  that 
in  a  given  working  time  a  given  result 
will  be  obtained,  and  that  everything 
is  .systematically  organised.  By  this 
inter-dependence  every  single  man  is 
bound  to  devote  only  the  necessary  time 
to  his  operation,  by  which  means  con- 
tinuity, uniformity,  regularity,  order, 
and  intensity  in  the  work  are  created 
on  a  scale  quite  different  from  that  in 
independent  handwork. 

Again,  the  workmen,  through  the 
division  of  the  collective  work  into  simple 
and  complex,  lower  and  higher  employ- 
ments, can  be  assigned  tasks  according  to 
their  natural  or  acquired  capabilities. 
Thus,  a  hierarchy  of  workers  is  formed, 
to  which  a  scale  of  wages  corresponds. 
Production  is,  however,  naturally  assisted 
by  the  fact  that  the  capitalist  "  can 
procure  for  himself  the  exact  degree  of 
strength  and  skill  corresponding  to  every 
operation."  Further,  all  production  re- 
quires a  number  of  simple  occupations, 
of  which  every  man  who  walks  is  capable ; 
these,  again,  at  a  time  when  all  operations 
A  Field  ^^"^  resolved  into  their  simplest 
f->    nu  parts,  develop  themselves  into 

Labour  exclusive  occupations  of  special 
workmen.  The  manufactory 
thus  creates  a  class  of  unskilled  workmen 
whom  the  handwork  system  rigidly 
excluded.  In  this  way  the  cheap  labour 
of  women  and  children  can  be  employed. 

Manufactories  weie  started  in  con- 
siderable numbers  in  England  after  the 
last  third  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
for  200  years  continually  gained   in   im- 

5240 


portance.  Since  the  old  town  corporations 
and  the  guild  system  hindered  manu- 
factories, they  were  b}^  preference  founded 
in  ports  with  an  export  trade,  or  in  places 
in  rural  districts  where  they  were  not 
under  the  control  of  the  laws  of  the 
corporate  towns.  Government  favoured 
them  in  pursuance  of  the  mercantile 
doctrine,  where  possible,  by  protective 
tariffs  and  bounties  on  exports,  and  by 
prohibiting  the  production  of  certain 
industrial  commodities  in  the  colonies. 
The  same  policy  towards  the  manufactories 
was  adopted  by  the  other  states  of  Europe. 

Still,  we  must  not  over-estimate  the 
importance  of  manufactories  at  that  time. 
Even  in  the  eighteenth  century  they  only 
partially  dominated  the  national  produc- 
tion among  the  leading  civilised  nations, 
and  still  rested,  if  we  may  use  the  ex- 
pression, as  an  economic  work  of  art  on 
the  broad  basis  of  town  handwork  and 
the  smaller  domestic  and  rural  industries. 
Even  in  England,  where  the  manufactory 
system  gained  most  ground,  it  never 
became  so  far  master  of  the  situation  as 
to  succeed  in  abolishing  the  old  apprentice 
,  laws  with  their  seven  years  of 
oming  apprenticeship.  But  the  manu- 
°  ^.  factory  system,  having  arrived 
at  a  certain  stage  of  technical 
development,  discovered  methods  by 
which  it  was  itself  surpassed.  It  had 
attained  its  completion  in  those  industries 
which  were  intended  to  produce  the  tools, 
and  especially  the  complicated  mechanical 
apparatus  already  adopted.  The  stage 
had  already  been  reached  of  setting  up 
machines  and  continually  perfecting  them; 
from  this  moment  dates  the  slowly  and 
surely  developing  change  of  the  greater 
part  of  manufactories  into  wholesale  in- 
dustries worked  with  machinery.  This  is 
the  change  which  has  impressed  a  dis- 
tinctive stamp  on  the  industrial  produc- 
tion, and  thus  on  the  social  life  of  the 
nineteenth    century. 

The  machine,  with  which  a  new  era  in 
the  economic-technical  development  of 
the  modern  civilised  world  is  commenced, 
is  in  the  first  place  technically  distinguished 
from  the  implement  of  production  in 
earlier  times,  the  tool.  It  represents  a 
far  more  complete  form  of  working  im- 
plement, permits  the  employment  of 
mechanical  motive  powers  wind,  water, 
steam,  and  electricity,  to  a  conspicuous 
extent,  and  thus  enormously  increases  the 
power  of  production.     While  Adam  Smith, 


BRITAIN'S    INDUSTRIAL    REVOLUTION 


in  his  day,  relates  with  admiration  that 
in  a  manufactory  ten  men  daily  turn  out 
48,000  needles— ?.^.,  4,800  apiece— Karl 
Marx  records  without  surprise  that  a 
machine  for  needle-making  daily  turns  out 
145,000  needles,  and  that  therefore  one 
woman,  whose  regular  duty  it  is  to 
attend  to  four  such  machines,  daily 
produces  bj^  machinery  600,000  needles, 
as  much  as  125  of  Adam  Smith's  men. 
The  difference,  however,  between  a 
machine  and  a  tool,  looked  at  from  the 


fact,  of  any  human  organ  which  moves 
itself  during  the  work  in  the  same  direc- 
tion as  that  in  which  the  tool  is  moved. 
The  workman  can,  therefore,  regard  the 
tool  as  a  supplementary  organ  of  himself, 
and  himself  as  the  master  of  the  tool.  In 
this  sense,  therefore,  a  spinning-wheel  and 
a  hand-loom  are  tools,  for  the  workman 
remains  master  of  these  working  imple- 
ments, which,  besides,  only  serve  to 
strengthen  the  movement  of  the  human 
organs.  But  so  soon  as  an  implement 
effects  more  than 


such  an  addition 
of  strength,  as 
soon  as  the  man's 
powers  move  in  a 
direction  which  is 
entirely  divergent 
from  the  move- 
ment exclusively 
produced  by  the 
mechanism,  it 
becomes  a  ma- 
chine. A  locomo- 
tive, therefore,  is 
a  machine,  for  the 
handles  are  moved 
by  the  stoker  and 
engine-driver  in  a 
different  direction 
entirely  from  the 
locomotive  which 
draws  the  load 
over  the  hues. 
Hence  the  dif- 
ferences between 
tool  and  machine, 
and,  in  connection 
_        _  :  with  this,  between 

manufactory    and 

THE    AGE    OF    MACHINERY:     ARKWRIGHT'S    SPINNING    JENNY  fof-torv       Or     mill 

The  introduction  of  machinery  marked  a  great  advance  in  the  industrial  development  °^  .  ^ '  j 

the  country,  though  the  innovation  was  by  no  means  welcomed  by  the  workers.      About  haVC  DeenSUmmecL 
the   year    1765,  a  spinning  machine— the  "Jenny"-was   invented,   which  at  first  set  six,  fnllnws  • 

and  soon  afterwards  twenty-five,  spindles  simultaneously  in  movement,  and  could  be  used  in  up        ds        luiiuwo  . 

the  homes  of  the  workmen.      But  later  machines  required  to  be  housed  in  factory  buildings,  Jj^    g^   manufactory 
and  thus  there  sprang  up  a  new  system  of  labour  that  spread  with  remarkable  rapidity.  rlwnrk  the 


technical  standpoint,  is  only  quantitative, 
while  from  the  social  point  oi  view  it  is 
quahtative.  From  this  aspect  the  position 
of  the  workman  who  uses  the  implement  is 
the  criterion ;  and  it  is  seen  that  the  posi- 
tion of  the  workman  occupied  with  the 
machine  is  distinguished,  both  by  the 
nature  of  the  emplo3-ment  as  well  as  by 
its  place  in  wholesale  business  generally, 
from  the  position  of  the  workman  using 
tools.  A  hammer,  a  file,  and  such-like 
are  simple  tools.  They  increase  the 
strength    of  the  human  arm   or   foot,  in 


workman  avails  himself  of  the  tool ;  in 
the  factory  he  attends  to  the  machine.  In 
the  former  the  movement  of  the  working 
implement  is .  due  to  him  ;  in  the  latter 
he  has  to  follow  its  movement.  In  a 
word,  out  of  the  livelong  habit  of  guiding 
a  special  tool  comes  the  livelong  habit  of 
"tending"  a  special  machine.  "During 
the  manufacture  period  the  exercise  of 
hand  labour,  though  distributed,  remams 
the  basis.  The  workmen  thus  form  the 
members  of  a  living  mechanism.  In  the 
'factory'  there  exists  a  dead  mechanism 

5241 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


independent  of  them,  and  they  are  in- 
corporated into  it  as  hving  appendages." 
In  this  sense  a  factory  is  defined  by  Andrew 
Ure,  the  first  philosopher  of  the  factory^ 
system,  as  a  great  automaton,  composed 
of  various  partly  mechanical,  partly  self- 
conscious  organs,  which  work  harmoni- 
ously and  uninterruptedly  in  order  to 
.  produce  one    and  the    same 

ac  ors  ift        object.    The  peculiar  form  of 
the  Success  of        •'  ^         .  - 


Machinery 


combined  production   in  this 


form  of  industry  leads  to  the 
result  that  the  factory  fully  develops  many 
tendencies  which  are  only  suggested  in 
the  manufactory. 

The  separation  of  all  the  mental  parts 
of  the  process  of  production  from  the 
handwork,  the  resolution  of  all  processes 
into  their  component  parts — that  is,  into 
the  simplest  movements — and  the  principle 
of  carrying  out  the  separate  operations  by 
distinct  workmen  suited  for  the  purpose, 
from  the  doctor  of  chemistry  down  to  the 
newly  engaged  rustic  and  the  child  are  all 
perfected  for  the  first  time  under  this 
system.  And  this  again  combines  to  make 
a  barrack-like  discipline,  and,  correspon- 
ding to  this,  a  univei'sal,  uniform  intensity 
of  work,  necessary  if  the  factory  system, 
with  its  various  workers  and  all  its  complex 
operations,  is  to  perform  its  functions 
properly.  Men  must  now  abandon  their 
irregular  habits  of  work,  and  imitate  the 
uniform  regularity  of  machinery. 

Ure  had  good  reason  to  speak  of  the 
"  myriads  of  vassals  "  who  are  collected 
round  the  steam  king  in  the  great  work- 
shops. But  it  was  this  very  peculiarity, 
together  with  the  enormous  increase  in  pro- 
duction, that  contributed  to  the  success  of 
machinery  and  factories  ;  for,  while  the 
work  was  done  with  a  hitherto  unsuspected 
uniformity,  continuity,  regularity,  and 
speed,  all  the  expectations  of  an  industrial 
production  of  goods  for  the  supply  of 
international  markets  were  fulfilled.  The 
important  inventions  of  machines,  which 
ushered  in  the  new  age  of  fac- 
tories, had  been  made  in  the 
second  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century  in  the  young  cotton 
industry.  This  industrial  revolution  had 
been  preceded  by  the  "  ribbon  mill,"  which 
served  for  the  weaving  of  ribbons  and 
trimmings.  This  had  been  worked  at 
Danzig  as  early  as  the  sixteenth  century, 
but  had  been  suppressed  by  the  council  on 
account  of  the  damage  done  to  competing 
handicraftsmen.       In     the     seventeenth 

5242 


Rise  of 

the  Cotton 
Industry 


century  it  was  set  up  at  Leyden,  and  after 
various  prohibitions  by  the  council,  was 
finally  allowed  by  the  Dutch  Government. 
In  the  German  Empire  its  use  was  never- 
theless still  forbidden,  at  first  by  municipal 
and  then  by  imperial  edicts,  which  were  in 
force  until  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  ;  while  in  England  the  ribbon  mill 
had  long  been  introduced,  although  it  had 
given  rise  to  disturbances  among  injured 
handworkers  and  discharged  journeymen. 
After  the  last  third  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  inventions  of  the  spinning  and 
weaving  machines,  the  forerunner  of  which 
had  been  the  ribbon  mill,  followed  in 
rapid  succession.  About  the  year  1765,  a 
spinning-machine,  the  so-called  "  jenny," 
was  invented,  which  at  first  set  six,  and 
soon  afterwards  twenty-five  spindles  simul- 
taneously in  movement,  but  could  still  be 
used  in  the  house  of  a  master.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  "  water  frame,"  which  was 
constructed  by  Arkwright  directly  after- 
wards, and  was  a  machine  driven  by  water 
or  steam,  and  distinctly  more  effective, 
necessitated  a  special  factory  building. 
The  first  factory  was  erected  by  Arkwright 

.  ^  ,       himself     at    Nottingham    in 
Arkwright  s       ^^^g       ^^^^    ^^^^     ^^^j^^^    ^^ 

S**"^  •     M"ii  ^o^"^     ^^^     immediately 
pinning     1     ^(jQp^g(j       throughout      the 

United  Kingdom.  Within  twenty  years 
England  and  Scotland  saw  not  less  than 
142  great  spinning  mills  founded,  in  which 
92,000  workmen  set  into  motion  more  than 
2,000,000  spindles,  and  produced  goods 
of  more  than  ;^7,ooo,ooo  in  value. 

The  details  of  the  machinery  were  now 
quickly  perfected.  After  1790,  when  Watt 
invented  his  steam  engine,  the  factories 
were  no  longer  dependent  on  water  power, 
and  thus  could  be  erected  in  anyplace,  and 
not  merely  on  the  banks  of  rivers.  From 
this  period  dates  the  concentration  of  fac- 
tories in  the  towns.  In  1803 ,  the  "  dressing- 
frame  "  was  invented,  by  which  means  a 
child  was  enabled  to  attend  to  two  looms 
at  once,  and  could  weave  about  three  times 
as  much  as  an  industrious  hand-weaver. 

Other  industries,  the  woollen  industry, 
the  cotton  industry,  the  iron  industry, 
the  smelting  and  mining  industries,  equally 
shared  in  the  development  of  the  details 
of  machinery,  and  completed  the  transition 
to  the  factory  industry. 

The  introduction  of  the  factory  system 
had    the    most    far-reaching    results    on 
industrial  and  social  life.     In  very  impor 
tant     branches     of     industrial     activity. 


MULE     SPINNING     MACHINES     AT     WORK     IN     ONE     OF    THE     EARLIEST    MILLS 


A    VIEW    OF    STOCKPORT,    SHOWING    ITS    NUMEROUS    FACTORIES,    IN    ISU 


WOMEN     ATTENDING    TO    THE    CARDING,     DRAWING    AND     ROVING     MACHINES 


BRITAIN'S    INDUSTRIAL     DEVELOPMENT:      FACTORIES     IN     THE    YEAR    1834 

5243 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


especially  in  cotton  spinning  and  weaving, 
the  factory  showed  itself  far  superior  to  the 
former  domestic  and  handwork  systems. 
Handwork  was  in  these  departments  soon 
put  aside,  or  at  least  condemned  to  insig- 
nificance ;  but  the  "  domestic  "  industry 
showed  distinctly  more  vitality,  owing  to 
its  peculiar  organisation.  If  the  employ- 
ment  of  machinery  in  the 
Ru.n  of  the        factory  reduced  the  cost  of 

«  ^  .  L  production  for  the  article,  the 

Hand-Weavers  ^  ^       i  i*  ^    ^^^ 

same  final  result  was  pro- 
duced by  the  merchant-employer  in  the  do- 
mestic industry  through  reduction  of  wages 
and  the  "  sweating  "  of  the  home  worker. 

In  this  way  abuses  became  inherent 
in  the  domestic  industry,  which  after- 
wards weighed  like  a  curse  on  this  system 
of  work.  They  became  possible  because 
the  home  workers  submitted  to  the 
lowering  of  their  conditions  of  life,  for  they 
had  no  way  of  escape.  Thus  Karl  Marx, 
without  any  great  exaggeration,  could  ex- 
claim :  "The  history  of  the  world  shows  no 
more  terrible  spectacle  than  the  gradual 
ruin,  which  lingered  on  for  decades,  but  was 
finally  sealed  in  1838,  of  the  English  hand- 
v\-eavers,  many  of  whom,  with  their  families, 
eked  out  an  existence  on  2jd.  a  day.  This 
was  the  effect  of  the  factory  system  on 
the  workers  of  competing  trades." 

It  was  equally  disastrous  originally  to  the 
workers  in  the  factory.  "In  so  far  as 
machinery  dispenses  with  the  necessity  of 
muscular  strength,  it  becomes  a  meansof  em- 
ploying workers  without  muscular  strength 
or  of  immature  physical  developinent  but 
greater  suppleness  of  limb.  Women's  and 
children's  labour  was  therefore  the  first 
word  of  the  capitalistic  employment  of 
machinery."  It  was  therefore  most  re- 
munerative to  exact  from  these  cheap 
workers,  who  were  the  least  capable  of 
resisting,  quite  distinctly  longer  hours  of 
labour.  On  this  point  an  official  report  in 
England  establishes  the  fact  that  "  before 
the  law  was  passed  for  the  protection  of 

youthful  workers,  in  1833,  chil- 

Apprentices      i  j  1      i 

dren  and  5'oung  persons  had 

W    kh  *^  work  the  whole  night  or  the 

whole  day,  or  both  ad  libitum." 
John  Fielden,  a  Liberal  philanthropist 
from  the  middle  class,  wrote  :  "In  Derby- 
shire, Nottinghamshire,  and  especially 
in  Lancashire,  the  recently  discovered 
machinery  was  set  up  in  factories  close  by 
streams  capable  of  turning  the  water-wheel. 
Thousands  of  hands  were  suddenly  re- 
quired in  these  places,  far  from  the  towns. 

5244 


The  custom  crept  in  of  obtaining 
apprentices  from  the  different  parish 
workhouses  of  London,  Birmingham, 
and  elsewhere.  The  manufacturer  had  to 
clothe  his  apprentices,  feed  them,  and  lodge 
them  in  an  '  apprentices'  house  '  near 
the  factory.  Overseers  were  appointed 
to  superintend  their  work  ;  but  since 
their  wages  stood  in  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  results  that  could  be  ex- 
tracted from  the  children,  self-interest 
bade  these  slave-drivers  make  the  chil- 
dren drudge    unmercifully. 

The  consequence  was  that  the  children 
were  hounded  to  death  by  overwork.  The 
gains  of  the  manufacturers  were  gigantic, 
but  that  only  whetted  their  ghoulish 
voracity.  They  began  the  practice  of 
night  work — i.e.,  alter  the  one  batch  of 
hands  was  utterly  worn  out  by  the  daj^ 
work,  they  had  another  batch  ready  for 
the  night  work  ;  the  day  batch  went  oft 
to  the  beds  which  the  night  batch  had  just 
left,  and  vice  versa.  It  was  a  popular 
tradition  in  Lancashire  that  the  beds  were 
never  cold."  But  even  the  hours  of  labour 
for  the  men,  who  were  unorganised,  and 

did  not  yet  feel  themselves, 
Tke  Difficult     ^g  j^^g^    ^^  ^g  ^  ^j^- .       ^gj.g 

Problem  of  i       i  r^  1 

,,         ,  ^  only  too   often    enoimouslv 

Unemploymeat        ,       j     1        o    u  j.  'c 

extended.     Sober  writers  01 

this  period  have  been  able  to  describe 
the  English  factory  hand  as  crushed  to 
a  lower  level  than  that  of  West  Indian 
slaves.  But  not  even  this  modest  ex- 
istence was  permanently  secured  to  the 
worker.  There  have  been,  of  course,  at  all 
times  in  the  history  of  every  civUised 
country  cases  of  men,  willing  and 
able  to  work,  being  out  of  employment ; 
but  only  since  the  modern  economico- 
technical  development,  and  since  the 
introduction  of  the  corresponding  legis- 
lature, has  this  evil,  temporarily  at 
least,  assumed  unsuspected  dimensions. 
It  is  connected  with  the  frequenc}-  of  the 
occurrence  of  unfavourable  turns  of  the 
market  and  of  commercial  crises. 

These  consist  mainly  in  the  impossi- 
bility of  either  selling  the  goods  produced 
wholesale  at  any  price  approximate  to  the 
old  prices,  or  of  profitably  continuing  the 
business  generally  on  the  old  extensive 
scale.  The  vendors,  manufacturers,  and 
merchants  suffer  heavy  losses,  and  per- 
haps become  bankrupt.  In  any  case 
the  production  must  be  restricted,  and 
thousands  of  workmen,  from  no  fault 
of  their  own,  lose  their  situations. 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 

SOCIAL 

QUESTION 

II 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  CHARTISM 

AND    THE    FAILURE    OF    OWEN'S    SOCIALISM 


THE  labour  class  revolted  against  the 
evils  of  the  factory  system  at  first  in 
a  quite  barbarous  fashion,  by  riotously 
attacking  the  manufacturers  and  by  de- 
stroying the  factories,  and  especially  the 
machines,  which  were  frequently  regarded 
as  the  source  of  all  disaster.  It  was 
only  gradually  that  this  involuntary  op- 
position of  the  proletariat  to  the  manu- 
facturing capitalist  took  the  form  of  a 
strike.  But  before  the  workers  arrived  at 
a  full  knowledge  of  the  power  of  this 
weapon,  if  properly  used,  and  acted  accord- 
ingly, a  movement  arose  which,  starting 
from  a  philanthropic  point  of  view,  under- 
took to  cure  the  social  ills  by  radical 
proposals  of  reform. 

Robert  Owen,  1771-1858,  a  self-made 
man,  who  had  risen  while  still  young  to 
be  co-proprietor  of  a  great  cotton  mill  in 
New  Lanark,  Scotland,  first  made  the 
attempt  there  on  a  limited  scale  after  1801 
,  to  remedy  by  a  thoughtful 
^^'^  *       solicitude    for    the  workers  the 


Famovs 
Factory 


evils  which  have  been  described. 

He  removed  the  children  under 
ten  years  of  age  from  the  factory,  limited 
the  daily  hours  of  labour  for  the  adults 
to  ten  hours,  constructed  healthy  dwell- 
ings as  well  as  pleasure  grounds  for  the 
workmen,  arranged  for  the  co-operative 
supply  of  provisions  and  other  commo- 
dities, provided  gratuitous  attendance  for 
the  sick,  and  finally  paid  full  wages  to 
the  operatives  of  his  factory  when,  .on 
account  of  the  failure  of  cotton,  they  were 
obliged  to  remain  idle. 

But  although  Owen's  factory,  which,  in 
spite  of  the  great  outlay  for  the  welfare  of 
the  workers,  had  also  material  success, 
was  famed  throughout  all  Europe,  and 
became  the  goal  of  philanthropists,  states- 
men, and  kings  on  their  tours,  yet  the 
example  set  by  it  was  only  occasionally 
followed  by  other  factory  owners.  Owen 
was  led  by  this  fact  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  deep-rooted  evils  could  only  be 
ended  by  universally  binding  legislation. 


Thus  he  was  the  first  to  raise  the  demand 

for  factory  laws  in  1813,  ^-^d  soon  initiated 

a    vigorous    agitation    with    that    object. 

After  1817  he  devoted  himself  with  peculiar 

energy  to  the  problem  of  remedying  the 

want  of  employment,  which  at  that  time, 

_,     _       ,     iust  when  the  first  commercial 
The  State  s   '    ■   ■  t:-      i     1 

^  crisis  was  appearing  on  English 

u  y  o     c  g^.j     occupied    all    thoughtful 
Unemployed       •     ,  tt-  111 

mmds.      His   proposal,   which 

was  based  on  earlier  ones  of  John  Bellers, 
required  the  State  to  provide  quarters 
for  all  persons  capable  of  work  but  fallen 
out  of  employment,  in  special  rural 
establishments,  where  they  might  be  en- 
gaged in  systematic  productive  work, 
either  agricultural  or  industrial.  By 
following  out  these  thoughts  he  came  to 
the  conception  of  his  socialistic  system, 
but  from"  that  time  his  interest  in  the 
direct  amelioration  of  the  lot  of  the 
operative  by  "  small  means ' '  began  to  wane. 
The  fundamental  principle  of  the  system 
of  Owen,  which  was  supported  by  copious 
arguments  in  two  books,  "  A  New  View 
of  Society,"  1813,  and  "  A  Book  of  the 
New  Moral  World,"  1836-1844,  assumes 
that  the  character  of  every  man  is  mainly 
determined  by  appropriate  education  and 
a  corresponding  form  of  environment  ; 
indeed,  Owen  thinks  that  "  children  can 
be  educated  to  adopt  any  habits  and 
ideas  that  may  be  wished,  so  long  as  they 
are  not  absolutely  contrary  to  human 
nature."  Nothing,  unfortunately,  he  finds, 
is  done  to  restrain  the  people  from  the 
inconsiderate  pursuit  of  their  desires ; 
the  consequence  is  the  perverted  condition 
.  of  the  world  at  present,  shown 

/rV"  .  .  by  the  misery  of  the  industrial 
Workers  '  proletariat.  The  reason  why 
no  steps  have  been  taken  in 
this  matter  is  found  in  the  defective- 
insight  of  our  rulers ;  they  did  not 
even  know  the  appropriate  means  to 
perfect  men's  characters.  But  now,  so 
Owen  declares,  the  means  are  obvious  to 
everyone    since    the    attempt    has    been 

5245 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


successfully  made  in  New  Lanark  to 
raise  the  employees  by  moral  education 
to  a  much  higher  level  of  morality. 

It  is  merely  necessary  to  guide  men 
towards  a  correct  comprehension  of  that 
personal  happiness  at  which  they  all  aim ; 
that  is  to  say,  everyone  should  adopt 
that  line  of  conduct  which  must  promote 
the  happiness  of  the  community.  Formerly 
men  did  not  know  this  supreme  law 
which  governs  the  world  ;  but  now  it  is 
revealed,  and  can  easily  be  made  clear 
to  all,  that  the  personal  happiness  of  the 
individual  can  only  be  increased  in  pro- 
portion as  he  exerts  himself  to  promote 
the  happiness  of  his  neighbours.  As  soon 
as  these  fundamental  propositions  are  part 
and  parcel  of  every  man,  the  separate 
means  are  not  far  to  seek  which  can  pro- 
cure the  greatest  sum  of  happiness  for  the 
individual   as  well   as   for   all   mankind. 

This  proposition  shows  quite  clearly  that 
Owen  must  be  regarded  as  a  genuine 
scion  of  the  philosophy  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  who  shares  its  rationalistic  and 
utilitarian  ideas  as  well  as  its  incorrigible 
and  ambitious  optimism  He  belie\  es 
with  all  sincerity 


that  these  bald 
propositions  ^     ^ 

might  renew  the   ^  *!  \  \%'^^ 
religion      and   t" 
morality   of    the   V^- 
world.     "Here,"     ^)> 
he  announces, 
"  we  have  a  firm 
foundation,      on 
which  a  pure,  un-  f 

stained  religion 
instinct  with  life 
may    be    con 


Owen's 
Appeal  to 
the  Rich 


,tx^n\v   I  f^^^'^^    ^'i^n^tih,;,;^^,^^^^^ 


^e^rt  mT  rVL^ 


ONE     OF     OWENS     LABOUR     BANK     NOTES 


general  application  of  the  scheme,  which 
we  have  already  mentioned,  for  the  aid 
of  the  unemployed.  The  whole  work  of 
production  was  to  be  carried  out  in  com- 
munities of  two,  three,  or  four  thousand 
souls,  where  the  adults,  by  eight  hours' 
common  work  daily,  were  to  obtain  most 
of  the  products,  industrial  and  agricul- 
tural, required  for  their  own  use,  and  were 
to  acquire  the  rest  by  exchanging  their 
surplus  products  for  the  surplus  products 
of  the  other  communities. 

The  leading  thought  in  this  is  distinctly' 
"  that  each  one  of  these  communities  shall 
be  self-supporting,  and  shall  be  held 
responsible  for  its  deficiencies."  No  special 
fundamental  propositions  for  the  distri- 
bution of  goods — certainly  the 
most  difficult  question  in  an\' 
communistic  organisation  of 
society— were  advanced  by 
Owen.  How  could  any  dispute  arise  when 
all  were  filled  with  deep  morality,  and 
where,  in  consequence  of  the  immense 
increase  in  production,  there  were  goods 
in  abundance  for  everyone  1  It  was 
possible  thcifioic  to  determine  the  indi- 
vidual needs,  and 
then  to  allot  to 
each  person  his 
share  in  the 
goods  of  this  life. 
In  order  to  start 
his  plans,  Owen, 
himself  self-sacri- 
ficing  to  the 
highest  degree, 
turned  to  the 
upper  classes, 
where  heexpected 
to  find  equally 
great    philan- 


/    / 


'jL^fj^-x^acLi^jj^ 


structed,  and  this 

the     only     one  Among  tne  many  scnemes  startea  Dy  Owen  tor  tne  Detterment  oi  thropy.        It    WaS 

^irVii/'Vi   rcy-r,    rrronf  ^^  conditions  of  the  workingr  people  was  the  Labour  Exchange  •nnt    nnf  il    +  Vi  i  c 

Wnicn  can    grant  Bank,  which  issued  " labour  notes;"  paper  money  possessing  pur-  ^'^^    UUtU   tniS 

to  mankind  peace  chasing  value  in  the  stores  of  the  bank.    The  enterprise,  however,  appeal       tO       the 

and      happiness  ^"  ^  ""p^^*^  ^^""'■^-  "-^^  undertaking  going  into  liquidation,  h^n^^nity  of  the 


without  any  counteracting  evil."  Owen 
was,  however,  far  too  well  acquainted 
with  practical  life  and  its  needs,  to 
content  himself,  like  the  theorists  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  \vith  ethical  and  edu- 
cational suggestions.  On  the  contrary,  he 
completely  realised  that  even  the  moral 
man,  if  he  has  not  the  opportunity  offered 
him  of  earning  his  living  by  labour,  must 
succumb  to  temptation.  He  was  there- 
fore led  to  establish,  by  the  side  of  his 
educational  system,  a  system  of  state- 
organised  labour.     This  culminated  in  the 

5246 


nobility  and  gentry  met  with  no  response 
that  he  began  to  agitate  among  the 
workers,  but  without  fostering  class 
hatred  or  generally  abandoning  strictly 
legal  methods.  At  the  same  time  he 
did  not  cease  to  apply  once  more  to 
the  ruling  classes,  and  even  to  crowned 
heads,  for  sanction  and  support  to  his 
efforts,  true  to  his  principle  that  "  rich 
and  poor,  monarchs  and  subjects,  had  at 
bottom  but  one  interest."  This  agitation, 
which  at  times  had  been  conducted  with 
great  spirit — Owen,  between  1826  and  1837, 


NEW    LANARK    AS    IT    WAS    IN     OWEN'S    TIME,    SHOWING    HIS    MODEL     FACTORY 


had  issued  500  addresses,  made  1,000 
public  speeches,  and  written  2,000  news- 
paper articles — met  with  the  most  vigorous 
opposition  from  the  clergy,  who,  bitterly 
incensed  at  Owen's  attacks  on  the  Church, 
organised  a  counter  movement.  Even  the 
regular  popular  party  of  the  time,  the 
Radicals,  emphatically  opposed  Owen  ; 
for  their  goal  was  at  first  purely  political — 
namely,  the  extension  of  the  franchise. 
Owen  had,  however,  declared  the  dispute 
for  this  political  privilege  to  be  unim- 
portant, since  all  true  popular  interests 
could  only  be  advanced  by  educational 
and  economic  reforms. 

The  total  failure  of  Owen's  communistic 
agitation  was  decided  by  the  lamentable 
collapse  of  his  communistic  settlements, 
on  the  founding  of  which  he  was  determined, 
since  the  English  worker  could  not  be 
convinced  by  doctrinaire  arguments,  but 
only  by  practical  trial.  So  little  was 
ever  produced  in  these  settle- 
ments that  the  rations  of 
the  colonists  had  to  be  re- 
duced to  the  barest  limits. 
Thus  discontent  was  developed,  which 
finally  led  to  the  abandonment  of  the 
settlements,  naturally  not  without  con- 
siderable financial  loss  to  Owen. 

He  did  not  fare  better  "vith  the  Labour 
Exchange  Bank  started  in  1832.  This 
was  intended  to  apply  practically  the  ideal 


Failure  of 

Communistic 

Settlements 


principle  of  all  exchange,  the  equality 
between  the  products  and  the  profits  of 
labour ;  a  scheme  which,  if  successful, 
would  have  led  to  the  establishment  of  a 
socialistic  community  in  the  middle  of 
capitalistic  political  economy.  Every  mem- 
ber of  the  bank  could  display  goods  in  his 
shop,  for  which  he  at  once  received  "  labour 
notes,"  paper  money  issued  by  the  bank. 
The  amount  of  the  labour  notes  paid  was 
decided  by  the  value  of  the  raw  material 
and  the  extent  of  labour  required  for  the 
production  of  the  goods  in  question  on  the 
average,  not  by  the  depositor  himself  only. 
Owen's  plans  were  therefore  exposed  to 
the  ridicule  whose  shafts  always  inflict 
deadly  wounds.  The  downfall  of  the 
communistic  school  in  Britain  was  thus 
sealed.  The  factory  population  now  fell 
under  the  influence  of  the  politically  revo- 
lutionary '■  Chartism."  Owen  could  not 
support  its  illegal  excesses  and  struggles 
for  political  privileges  ;  and  later,  after 
Chartism,  came  the  reign  of  trades  unions 
and  co-operative  societies.  While  Owen's 
propaganda,  in  spite  of  exertions  for  many 
decades,  only  affected  a  small  part  of  the 
working  class — precisely  its  most  moral 
and  self-sacrificing  members — towards  the 
end  of  the  "  thirties  "  a  powerful  Labour 
party  was  suddenly  formed  in  England. 
It  happened  as  follows.  During  the  violent 
popular  movement  which  had  carried  the 

524; 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


Labour 
Unions 
Founded 


reform  of  the  franchise  in  1832,  the  work- 
ing classes  had  been  brought  forward  as 
auxiUaries  by  the  Liberal  citizens.  Al- 
though the  reform,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
could  only  enfranchise  the  middle  class, 
yet  it  was  assumed  that  the  interests  of 
the  working  classes  were  to  be  subse- 
quently better  considered  by  the  legislature 
than  heretofore.  Since  a  Bill 
of  the  Radicals  to  extend  the 
circle  of  the  franchise  was  re- 
jected by  a  crushing  majority 
and  the  reform  was  declared  by  Lord  John 
Russell,  the  leader  of  the  Liberals,  to  be 
definitely  concluded,  the  workmen  formed 
unions  of  their  own.  These  were  intended 
to  bring  about,  by  a  fresh  popular  agita- 
tion, a  renewed  reform  of  the  franchise, 
which  should  this  time  really  consider  the 
interests  of  the  people. 

At  the  head  of  these  unions  stood 
the  "  London  Workmen's  Association,'^ 
founded  in  1836,  which  proposed  the 
following  programme,  originally  drawn 
up  by  the  Liberals  :  Universal  suffrage, 
vote  by  ballot,  equal  electoral  districts, 
annual  elections  of  Parliament,  abolition  of 
property  qualifications  for  Parliamentary 
candidates,  and  salaries  for  the  members. 
This  programme  was  proclaimed  as"  the 
"  People's  Charter,"  because  it  was  to 
serve  the  interests  of  the  lower  classes, 
just  as,  centuries  before,  the  Magna  Charta 
had  served  the  interest  of  the  aristocracy 
and  middle  classes  ;  and,  therefore,  the 
supporters  of  this  programme  were  termed 
"  Chartists."  Their  intention  was  to  alter 
social  legislation  in  favour  of  the  masses 
by  help  of  their  political  demands,  which 
were  intended  to  be  realised  at  once.  It 
was  therefore  expressly  stated  in  the 
first  appeal  which  the  London  Workmen's 
Association  in  1838  addressed  to  workmen 
of  the  whole  kingdom  :  "  If  we  are  fight- 
ing for  an  equahty  of  pohtical  rights,  this 
is  not  done  in  order  to  shake  oft  an  unjust 
tax  or  to  effect  a  transference  of  wealth, 
What  the  power,    and    influence 

"People's  Charter-  "^  /avour  of  any  one 
Demanded  P^'^Y'  ,    We   do   SO    m 

order  to  be  able  to 
cut  off  the  source  of  our  social  misery, 
and  by  successful  methods  of  preven- 
tion to  avoid  the  infliction  of  penalties 
under  unrighteous  laws." 

In  all  manufacturing  towns,  which  had 

long  been  roused  to  violent  excitement  by 

systematic  agitations  against  the  Poor  Law 

and  the  deplorable  condition  of  the  work- 

5248 


men,  the  Chartist  programme  was  received 
as  a  joyful  message,  and  wherever  factory 
chimneys  smoked  Chartist  unions  were 
sure  to  be  found. 

But  this  rapid  success  was  only  attained 
because  the  agitators  had  held  out  false 
hopes  of  immediate  victory  to  themselves 
and  their  followers  from  among  the 
working  and  middle  classes.  They  calcu- 
lated that,  as  in  the  reform  movement  of 
1832,  the  ruling  powers  would  once  more 
yield  to  a  vigorous  popular  movement. 
This  was  the  fundamental  error  which 
was  to  prove  disastrous  to  the  party. 
When,  indeed,  in  February,  1839,  at  a 
meeting  of  the  "  National  Convention," 
the  question  of  their  subsequent  course 
was  raised,  the  inevitable  result  of  that 
delusive  agitation  was  that  the  party  of 
"  moral  right,"  led  by  the  Owenite,  William 
Lovett,  1800-1877,  with  its  programme 
of  peaceful  propaganda  and  a  monster 
petition  to  Parliament,  only  represented 
the  minority.  The  majority  was  composed 
of  the  party  of  "  physical  force,"  who  took 
their'  battle-cry  from  Feargus  O'Connor, 
'  1796-1855,  and  thought  themselves  power- 
ful  enough  to  break  down  the 
ai  "re  o  strong  fabric  of  the  old  sys- 

Revolutionary     ,  "y,  ■,      j    •      /i 

„     .  ,.  tem.    It  was  resolved,  m  the 

socialism  j_     r  I^         1        ±_       1      ■ 

-  -  '    event  of  the  charter  bemg  re- 

fused by  Parliament,  to  proclaim  a  "  holy 
month,"  to  strike  work  simultaneously  in 
every  industry.  A  petition  for  the  intro- 
duction of  the  charter,  supposed  to  con- 
tain more  than  a  million  signatures,  was 
rejected,  and  riots  immediately  broke  out. 
For  some  time  after  that  the  doctrine 
was  quiescent.  But  in  July,  1840,  the 
party  was  reorganised,  on  the  basis  of 
the  principle  that  the  charter  was  to  be 
introduced  by  legal  means.  When,  how- 
ever, in  the  year  1842,  a  new  monster 
petition  was  absolutely  rejected  by  the 
Lower  Plouse,  the  "  party  of  physical 
force  "  again  came  to  the  surface 

Chartism  lingered  on,  until  finally  in 
1848,  after  the  February  Revolution  in 
Paris,  it  roused  itself  for  a  last  trial  of 
strength,  but  its  effort  was  again  a  failure. 
Revolutionary  Socialism  in  England  had 
had  its  day.  Nevertheless,  this  move- 
ment had  not  passed  away  without 
leaving  a  trace,  for  "  it  had  produced  one 
great  result  :  it  had  roused  the  English 
working  classes  to  the  most  outlying 
corners  of  the  land  from  their  traditional 
ideas  of  subjection,  and  made  them 
realise  their  separate  interests  as  a  class." 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 

SOCIAL 

QUESTION 

III 


THE    TRIUMPH    OF    TRADES   UNIONS 

AND  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  CO-OPERATION 


Trades  Unions 
Regarded  as 
Conspiracies 


HTHE  movements  which  we  have  hitherto 
•'■  considered  had  met  with  no  practical 
results.  A  better  fate  was  reserved  for 
one  which,  originating  with  the  working 
classes  themselves,  endeavoured  to  attend 
to  their  interests  on  the  basis  of  self-help, 
the  movement  of  Labour  Associations. 
Trades  unions  are  work- 
men's self-defence  associa- 
tions for  the  purpose  of 
improving  the  conditions  of 
labour  as  well  as  for  the  protection  of  their 
professional  interests  generally.  They  were 
started  in  England,  partly  in  connection 
with  older  journe^^men's  unions,  in  con- 
siderable numbers  as  early  as  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  when  the  first  waves  of 
the  victoriously  advancing  capitalistic 
production  burst  on  the  working  classes. 
But  they  were  immediately  resisted  by 
legislature  and  heavy  judicial  sentences. 
English  law  extended  the  idea  of  con- 
spiracy, which  properly  ought  to  be 
applied  only  to  combinations  for  the 
commission  of  crimes  or  for  the  produc- 
tion of  false  evidence  against  third  persons, 
to  all  combinations  of  workmen  who 
wished  to  obtain  higher  wages. 

A  long  list  of  special  enactments 
forbidding  coalitions  in  various  trades 
had  been  issued  throughout  the  whole 
eighteenth  century.  Finally,  at  the 
close  of  the  century  a  strict  general  Act 
was  passed  which  made  all  agreements 
between  workmen,  with  the  object  of  rais- 
ing wages  or  lessening  the  hours  or 
quantity  of  labour,  punishable  with  im- 
,  prisonment,  and  inflicted  simi- 
or  m  n  s  j^i- pg^alties  on  all  who  deterred 

Coalitions  ^    ,  .  ,  •  i 

D  k-k-t  J  3-  workman  from  acceptmg  de- 
Prohibited      ^    -,  ,  1    ,  •         , 

finite  posts   or  caused  him    to 

leave  them.  The  complete  one-sidedness 
of  these  enactments  is  clearly  seen  in 
the  fact  that  combinations  of  the  em- 
ployers, in  order  to  influence  wages,  were 
only  punishable  by  fanes.  The  con- 
sequence of  this  was  that  at  the 
beginning    of     the     nineteenth     century 

I  H  ,6  r. 


secret  trades  unions  had  been  formed 
everywhere,  which,  since  all  their  demon- 
strations were  treated  with  equal  severity, 
employed  the  most  reckless  and  repre- 
hensible means  for  the  attainment  of  their 
objects.  Workmen  who  refused  all 
complicity  with  their  comrades,  especially 
in  strikes,  the  so-called  "  blacklegs," 
were  actually  attacked  and  sometimes 
fell  victims  to  murderous  onslaughts. 
The  authorities  naturally  lost  no  time 
in  proceeding  to  the  severest  counter 
measures.  Labour  coalitions  could  not, 
however,  be  suppressed,  a  sure  proof  that 
these  represented  in  the  age  of  capitalistic 
production  a  purely  instinctive  movement. 
The  prohibition  of  coalitions  of  workmen 
must  have  seemed  to  every  impartial 
observer  the  more  unjust,  since  coalitions 
of  employers  for  the  purpose  of  lowering 
wages  were,  thanks  to  the  class  justice 
of     the      English      magistrates,     always 

^,        _    ,.      unpunished.      A   parliamen- 
Class  Justice    ,     ^  i.       r      o  ^    ^ 

f  E    r  h  y  report   of  1824  states : 


Magistrates 


"  A    number   of    cases  have 


been  communicated  to  us,  in 
which  employers  of  labour  have  been 
charged  with  combining  together  in  order 
to  lower  the  wages  or  to  lengthen  the 
hours  of  labour  ;  but  a  case  could  never 
be  adduced  in  which  any  employer  had 
been  punished  for  this  misdemeanour." 

Owing  to  the  effect  produced  by  a 
parliamentary  inquiry  proving  the  in- 
justice and  futility  of  the  laws  in  question, 
a  Bill  of  the  Radical,  Joseph  Hume, 
was  carried,  which  expunged  from  the 
statute  book  the  prohibition  on  coalition, 
and  threatened  with  imprisonment  only 
cases  of  violence,  menaces,  or  intimidation 
used  for  the  purpose  of  forcing  workmen 
to  join  a  coalition,  or  of  compelling 
employers  to  grant  concessions  to  the 
workmen,  in  1824.  These  privileges  were 
indeed  considerably  restricted  in  the  very 
next  year,  when  the  combinations  sud- 
denly spread  over  the  whole  country,  and 
seemed     to     threaten     seriously    all    the 

5249 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


proprietary  interests  of  the  citizen  class  ; 
for  it  was  now  ordained  that  conspiracies 
should  include  "  all  meetings  about  the 
labour  conditions  of  absent  persons,  as 
well  as  those  about  the  persons  whom  a 
master  is  to  employ  or  not  to  employ,  and 
about  the  machmes  which  he  is  to  use  ;  and 
further,  all  agreements  not  to  work  with 
a  definite  person,  or  to  induce  other  persons 
to  suspend  or  refuse  to  accept  work." 

Notwithstanding  that  these  provisions 
threatened  with  penalties  many  proceed- 
ings which  proved  to  be  inseparable  from 
an  effective  employment  of  labour  asso- 
ciations, and  actually  gave  cause  to  a 
number  of  convictions,  they  have  not  been 
able  to  check  the  victorious  career  of  the 
trades  unions.  It  was  after  1825  that 
the  labour  associations  assumed  the  form 
typical  of  their  policy  and  their  import- 
ance in  the  history  of  the  world.  Up  to 
about  1830  they  were  strictly  local  com- 
binations of  workers  in  similar  trades. 
But  since  in  this  way,  owing  to  the  weak- 
ness of  the  union,  they  could  not  ade- 
quately meet  their  duties — namely,  to  give 
relief  in  the  case  of  strikes,  want  of  employ- 
_  ,  „  .  ment,  sickness,  or  incapa- 
Tradcs  Unions^  city-they  saw  themselves 
as  Unlawful  compelled  Spontaneously  to 
Combinations  ,      f       ,  •     ^  1  „  •      ,-i^ 

start  national  unions  m  the 

separate  branches.  Since  the  trades  unions, 
safeguarding  the  interests  of  the  labour  class 
with  tenacious  energy,  frequently  caused 
prolonged  strikes,  public  opinion,  in- 
fluenced by  the  daily  Press,  which  served  the 
middle  class,  was  long  unfavourable  to  them. 

The  courts  thus  treated  trades  unions 
as  "  unlawful  "  combinations,  and  there- 
fore, according  to  the  old  English  law, 
refused  them  legal  protection.  Thus,  for 
example,  thefts  of  the  property  of  trades 
unions  were  not  liable  to  prosecution. 
Thus,  again,  after  excesses  had  been 
committed  by  members  of  trades  unions 
during  riots,  various  steps  were  taken 
to  suppress  the  organisations.  The  last 
attempt  of  this  kind  occurred  in  1866. 
But  a  Royal  Commission  then  appointed  to 
investigate  the  nature  of  trades  unions 
served  to  destroy  many  popular  prejudices. 

The  official  recognition  of  the  trades 
unions  dates  from  that  time.  It  was 
announced  by  special  laws  of  1871  and 
1876,  the  latter  passed  under  the  Con- 
servative Cabinet  of  Disraeli,  which  sought 
the  support  of  the  Labour  party,  that 
trades  unions  could  not  be  regarded  as 
unlawful  unions.    So  far  as  no  direct  com- 

5250 


pulsion  was  used,  liberty  to  strike  was 
permitted  to  the  fullest  extent,  since, 
for  example,  the  posting  of  "  pickets  "  in 
the  vicinity  of  factories  or  dwelling-houses 
was  expressly  allowed.  Besides  this,  the 
privileges  of  a  "  legal  entity  "  were  granted 
to  those  trades  unions  which  had  their 
regulations  enrolled.  "  They  may  sue  and 
.  ^,       ^  be  sued,  hold  personal  and 

A  New   Era  ,  ,  j  -    i 

real  property,  and  take  sum- 

Tradct  Unions  ^^^^    Proceedings     against 

their  officials  for  dishonesty. 
For  this  reason  the  Congress  of  the  Trades 
Unions  at  Glasgow  expressed  to  the  Con- 
servative party  their  "  fullest  acknow- 
ledgments of  the  greatest  benefit  that  had 
ever  been  granted  to  the  sons  of  toil." 

From  that  time  the  formerly  persecuted 
unions,  which  comprise  at  the  present 
day  some  1,400,000  members,  are  con- 
sidered in  England  "  respectable,"  and 
have  a  certain  share  in  the  government  ; 
secretaries  of  trades  unions  are  promoted 
to  be  factory  inspectors,  justices  of  the 
peace,  or  even  members  of  the  Ministry. 
But  a  more  important  point  is  that  the 
public  opinion  of  the  country  sees  in 
trades  unions  a  necessary  institution,  and 
often  in  disputes  with  employers  takes 
the  side  of  the  workmen's  combination. 

The  Government,  when  preparing  labour 
laws,  always  applies  for  the  advice  of  the 
trades  unions.  In  the  contracts  of  the 
Government  and  of  many  communities 
the  observance  of  the  terms  of  labour  re- 
quired by  the  trades  unions  is  a  preliminary 
stipulation.  And,  in  places,  a  sort  of 
constitutional  management  has  been  de- 
veloped since  the  manager  of  the  factory 
usually  consults  with  the  union  about  any 
circumstances  which  can  at  all  affect 
the  interests  of  the  workmen. 

If  we  make  it  clear  to  ourselves  what 
trades  unionism  has  done,  we  cannot 
refuse  to  acknowledge  it  as  a  splendid 
proof  of  the  practical  sense,  and  great 
political  capacity  of  the  British  working 
classes.  It  is  a  special  charac- 
teristic of  British  common-sense 


Labour's 
Debt 


Q  that    the   Utopian  ideas  preva- 

lent only  largely  contributed 
to  strengthen  the  power  of  the  current  of 
reform.  The  leaders  of  the  trades  unions 
movement  were  thorough-going  followers 
of  Owen,  but  they  derived  from  the  teach- 
ing of  the  great  optimist  merely  the  distant 
ideal  of  the  future,  while  they  devoted 
all  their  energies  in  the  present  to  imme- 
diate practical  improvements  of  the   lot 


THE    TRIUMPH    OF    TRADES    UNIONS 


of  the  workman.  Trades  unions,  in 
pursuing  this  pohcy,  recognised  ior 
decades  no  alternative  in  the  event 
of  the  refusal  of  their  demands  except  a 
strike.  When,  however,  the  workmen 
had  become  wiser  and  their  unions  had 
collected  large  sums,  the  next  step  was 
that  they  looked  for  means  which  led  to 
this  goal  without  the  employment  of 
this  two-edged  sword.  The  employers 
also  would  naturally  v/elcome,  from  the 
standpoint  of  their  interests,  any  possi- 
bility of  avoiding  open  war.  "  As  soon  as 
both  parties  merely  consult  their  interests, 


established  by  A.  J.  Mundella,  at  Notting- 
ham, the  centre  of  the  manufacturing 
industries.  This  board  consisted  of  tt-u 
representatives  of  the  workmen  and  em- 
ployers respectively.  But  every  proposal 
as  to  the  interpretation  of  the  old,  or  the 
introduction  of  new,  labour  conditions  had 
to  be  first  brought  before  the  so-called 
committee  of  inquiry,  composed  of  two 
representatives  of  the  workmen  and  the 
employers  respectively.  If  this  com- 
mittee failed  to  come  to  an  agreement, 
but  not  otherwise,  the  case  was  brought 
before  the  general  meeting.     The  decision 


SICTTLING    THE    GREAT    COAL    STRIKE:    THE    CONFERENCE    AT    THE    FOREIGN    OFFICE 

In  1893  the  industries  of  the  country  were  seriously  interrupted  by  the  prolonged  dispute  between  the  colliers  and 
the  mine-owners,  the  struggle  lasting  for  about  four  months,  and  involving  much  suffering  and  financial  loss.  Lord 
Rosebery,  at  that  time  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  in  the  Gladstone  administration,  was  successful  in  arranging  at 
the  P'oreign  Office,  on  November  17th,  a  conference,  over  which  he  presided,  between  representatives  of  the  Federai 
Coal -Owners  and  the  Miners'  Federation  of  Great  Britain,  terms  being  then  agreed  upon  which  ended  the  labour  war. 


they  will  ask  themselves  whether  the 
object  of  the  struggle — namely,  to  measure 
their  strength — .cannot  be  equally  well 
attained  by  human  judgment,  just  as  the 
pressure  of  steam  is  ascertained  by  the 
application  of  some  mechanism,  instead 
of  being  learnt  from  the  bursting  of  the 
boiler."  From  these  considerations  the 
system  of  "arbitration  boards"  grew 
up  in  Britain  ;  these  were  intended 
to  settle  the  disputes  between  labour 
and  capital  in  a  peaceful  way.  The 
type  of  many  boards  of  this  kind  is 
the     "board    of     arbitration"    of     i860 


adopted  there  had  an  absolute  binding 
force  on  the  disputing  parties  for  a 
definite  time,  since  the  contract  for  work 
must  contain  the  declaration  of  all  parties 
thereto,  that  in  the  points  at  issue  they 
will  submit,  without  protest,  to  the 
decisions  of  the  arbitration  boards.  The 
favourable  experiences  of  this  system, 
and  of  the  system  of  Rupert  Kettle,  as 
county  court  judge,  which  was  first  tested 
in  the  building  industry  at  Wolver- 
hampton, led  to  the  imitation  of  these 
systems  in  a  number  of  industrial  towns, 
and   they  were  soon  sanctioned    by  the 

5251 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Legislature  through  the  granting  of  appeals 

to  the  courts  against  the  decisions  of  the 

chambers  of  arbitration  by  the  Arbitration 

Act  of  August  6th,  1872.     These  systems 

have  been  finally  perfected  even  in  places 

where  strong  trades  unions  oppose  equally 

close  combinations  of  employers.     Thus, 

in  the  coal  industry  of   the  counties   of 

Durham  and  Northumberland, 

?    *?^  K     ^  permanent  committee  of  six 

ispu  es   y  j-gpj-gsgj^tatives  of  each  party, 

Arbitration        f,  i     1  -j      4. 

With      a      neutral     president, 

settles  all  separate  disputes  resulting  from 
the  application  of  the  labour  contract, 
which  holds  uniformly  good  for  the  entire 
district.  On  the  other  hand,  disputes  as 
to  the  constitution  of  the  labour  contracts 
themselves — that  is  to  say,  as  to  the 
general  principles  of  hours  of  labour  and 
pay — are,  so  far  as  possible,  settled  by 
the  full  meeting  of  the  employers  in  com- 
bination with  the  delegates  of  the  trades 
unions.  If  no  agreement  results,  the 
matter  is  referred  to  arbitration. 

Each  party  is  here  represented  by  two 
arbitrators,  who,  for  their  part,  choose  the 
umpire,  who  delivers  the  final  decision. 
A  regular  trial  takes  place  before  him,  as 
before  a  court  ;  evidence  is  tendered,  wit- 
nesses are  cross-examined,  and  speeches 
are  made  on  both  sides  by  the  aforesaid 
arbitrators,  who  in  reality  are  counsel. 
"  The  complete  technical  knowledge  of  the 
parties  engaged,  as  well  as  the  strength  of 
the  organisations  backing  them  up,  pro- 
duces the  result  that  these  proceedings  are 
carried  out  with  the  same  acuteness,  and 
are  as  smoothly  transacted,  as  dealings 
between  the  largest  business  houses." 

The  award  is  unconditionally  carried 
out  by  the  two  interested  groups.  The 
existence  of  the  trades  unions  presupposes 
this,  since  otherwise  no  one  would  accept 
the  responsibility  beforehand  of  ensuring 
that  many  thousand  workmen  would 
really  submit  to  the  award.  This  is,  of 
course,  valid  only  for  a  definite  number 
P  J      of  months ;    after    that    there 

..  must  be  a  renewal  of  the  old 

Arbitrator  agreements,  or  a  fresh  examina- 
tion of  them.  If  the  arbitrator 
gave  his  decision  merely  in  accordance 
with  his  sympathies,  this  would  have 
no  lasting  validity,  but  would  only  con- 
ceal in  itself  the  germ  for  later  conflicts. 
For  this  very  reason  "  the  arbitrator, 
like  any  third  person  called  in  to  settle 
prices  between  two  independent  parties, 
has   merely   to   ascertain   that   which,    if 

5252 


he  did  not  intervene,  would  be  established 
as  the  natural  limit  of  the  price.  Since  he 
is  called  in  to  avoid  conflict,  he  has  to 
accomplish  the  same  result  as  a  conflict — 
namely,  the  reasonable  settlement  of  the 
mutual  conditions  of  power.  Only  when 
he  has  done  that  is  he  sure  that  his  verdict 
will  be  lasting."  A  case  in  the  year  1877 
shows  how  little  any  awards  which  attempt 
to  settle  matters  by  moral  considerations 
are  able  to  arrange  a  dispute  permanently. 
Sir  Farrer  Herschell,  as  arbitrator,  re- 
jected the  request  of  the  colliery  owners 
of  Northumberland  for  a  reduction  in  the 
wages  of  the  miners.  The  owners  sub- 
mitted for  the  three  months  during  which 
the  award  was  to  have  validity,  but 
immediately  afterwards  they  renewed  their 
demand,  with  the  declaration  that  this 
time  they  must  put  the  award  out  of  the 
question,  and,  when  the  miners  afterwards 
went  on  strike,  they  proved  victorious. 
Parliament  and  Government  have  exerted 
themselves  to  support  this  development 
as  much  as  possible.  Thus  the  Act 
for  Conciliation  and  Arbitration  of  the 
year  1895  was  passed,  which  gives  to  the 
„  Board  of   Trade  the  right  of 

_,     .  ,°         interfering  in  labour  disputes. 
Trade  s  new   t-,  ,   •  ,       ,  ^  •       • 

p  The  most  important  proviso  IS 

that  the  Board  of  Trade  may 
itself  order  the  parties  to  nominate  dele- 
gates in  order  to  settle  the  dispute  by 
mutual  negotiations  ;  on  some  occasions, 
under  the  presidency  of  a  competent  per- 
son designated  by  the  Board.  The  Board 
may  also,  on  its  own  responsibility,  send 
persons  to  investigate  the  matters  in 
dispute,  and  to  furnish  a  report  on 
the  subject  ;  finally,  it  may  urge  the 
establishment  of  a  chamber  of  arbi- 
tration in  districts  and  industries  which 
are  still  without  one. 

The  chambers  of  arbitration  have  since 
then  become  more  numerous,  and  have 
frequently  displayed  a  profitable  activity ; 
but  their  actual  results  must  not  be  over- 
estimated. There  is  hardly  any  institution 
in  the  social-political  field  which  all  polit- 
ical and  social  parties  so  combine  to 
recommend  as  these  very  chambers  of 
arbitration.  Nevertheless,  in  forty  years 
they  have  not  been  universally  adopted  ; 
in  fact,  very  often  they  have  been  pro- 
hibited even  in  the  limited  field  where  their 
introduction  was  a  success.  This  experi- 
ence has  clearly  demonstrated  that  the 
arbitration  boards  are,  contrary  to  expec- 
tation, unable    to   produce    social  peace. 


THE    TRIUMPH    OF    TRADES    UNIONS 


The  transition  from  communism  to 
social  reform,  seen  in  the  trades  union 
movement,  is  more  conspicuously  pro- 
minent in  the  movement  towards  co-opera- 
tion, which  was  the  immediate  result  of 
Owen's  teaching  and  agitation,  after  the 
clouds  of  illusion  had  lifted.  Owen  had 
encouraged  the  workmen  to  found  com- 
munities in  order  to  provide  themselves 
with  the  necessaries  of  life  by  co-operative 
production.  After  many  unsuccessful  at- 
tempts the  fact  was  established  that  co- 
operative stores  represented  the  only  form 
of  community  of  which  the  labourer  was 
at  the  time  capable.  And  when  this  was 
once  known,  such  societies  and  their  shops 
sprang  up  like  mushrooms  from  the  soil. 

Thus  a  movement  originated  in  1826 
which,  in  the  words  of  its  historian,  Mrs. 
Sidney  Webb,  "  represents  the  first  real 
attempt  of  the  British  labouring  classes 
to  embody  in  a  practical  form  the  ideas 
of  Owen."  The  spirit  which  animated 
these  true  pioneers  of  social  reform  is  aptly 
described  by  the  motto  with  which  the  regu- 
lations of  the  society  at  Warrington  were 
introduced,  running  as  follows  :  "  They 
helped  one  another,  each  his 
p?*^     *  ^  f     own  brother,   and  each   said 

_  ..      to  his  brother  :    '  Be  of  good 

Co-operation     ,  ,  ,  ,,       t^    ,      ,1  * 

cheer  !  But    the    young 

plant  which  blossomed  so  quickly  and  so 
luxuriantly — in  1832  nearly  500  co-opera- 
tive stores  were  already  in  existence — faded 
again  rapidly,  and  only  a  few  years  later 
there  was  hardly  a  trace  of  the  whole 
movement,  while  the  labour  world  was 
intensely  excited  by  the  Chartist  propa- 
ganda. Its  overthrow  coincides  with  the 
new  impetus  given  to  the  co-operative 
movement,  which  has  since  lasted  almost 
uninterruptedly  to  the  present  day. 

The  men  who  then  took  the  lead  were  the 
"  Rochdale  Equitable  Pioneers,"  as  twenty- 
eight  poor  flannel  weavers  called  them- 
selves, who,  on  the  day  after  Christmas, 
1844,  opened  the  "  Old  Weaver's  Shop  " 
in  a  back  street  of  Rochdale,  with  a  capital 
of  £28  in  all.  The  statutes  announced  as 
their  object  "  the  erection  of  a  shop  for  the 
sale  of  provisions,  articles  of  clothing,  etc.  ; 
the  building,  purchase,  and  fitting  up  of  a 
number  of  houses  in  which  the  members 
can  live  who  wish  to  help  each  other  in  the 
improvement  of  their  domestic  and  social 
position  ;  the  production  of  such  wares  as 
the  society  shall  determine  to  make,  in 
order  to  provide  work  for  unemployed,  or, 
especially,  badly  paid  members  ;   the  pur- 


chase or  renting  of  plots  of  ground  for  the 

same  purpose  ;    lastly,  the  establishment 

by  this  society  so  soon  as  possible  of  a 

self-supporting  colony  in  the  country,  with 

a  co-operative  system  of   production  and 

distribution,  or  the  furtherance  of  other 

attempts  to  found  similar  societies." .   It  is 

clearly  seen  here  how  illusions  can  largely 

.,  ^.    ,     ,      contribute  to  success,  for  they 
Methods  of  i       .  1  '  .7 

..  gave  to  those  poor  weavers, 

^  ,       and  the  many  thousands  who 

Co-operators   .   ,,  j     ,1     •  1.1 

followed   their    example,  the 

proud  consciousness  that  they  were  the 
disciples  of  a  lofty  ideal  and  the  pioneers 
of  mankind,  and  inspired  them  with  that 
feeling  of  exuberant  strength  which  made 
them  capable  of  bold  action  and  persistent 
effort.  This  social  prospect  could  not, 
however,  again  dim  the  view  of  practical 
life,  as  was  shown  from  the  typical  con- 
stitution, so  often  imitated,  which  the 
Rochdale  Pioneers  drew  up  for  themselves. 
According  to  it  their  shop  made 
the  ordinary  retail  prices  the  basis  of 
the  sales,  and  then  divided  the  profits 
obtained  from  the  business  among  the 
members  in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  the 
purchases  effected.  The  purchaser  received 
a  receipt,  usually  a  tin  counter,  for  the 
amount  of  his  purchases.  At  the  end  of 
every  quarter  the  counters  were  given 
back,  in  order  that  the  profits  might  be 
distributed  accordingly.  They  usually 
amounted  in  English  co-operative  stores 
to  between  5  per  cent,  and  15  per  cent,  in 
the  three  months.  Anyofie  could  be  a 
member  on  payment  of  one  shilling  en- 
trance fee.  Members,  therefore,  practically 
were  only  customers.  Of  course,  under 
this  arrangement  every  member  had  an 
interest  in  the  extension  of  the  body  of 
members,  because  the  turnover  then  in- 
creased, and  with  it  the  business  expenses 
were  lessened,  and  so  the  dividend  became 
larger.  After  1872  the  practice  began  of 
supplying  the  requirements  of  the  whole- 
sale societies  from  their  own  factories. 
.,  Co-operative  societies,  as  op- 

Israeli  s        posed  to  trades  unions,  were 
Service  to         ^  .... 


Co-operation 


soon  favoured  by  the  legis- 
lature. Here,  too,  it  was 
Disraeli  who  most  prominently  came 
to  their  aid,  and  procured  for  them, 
by  a  series  of  statutes,  from  1852  to 
1876,  the  rights  of  corporations,  after 
formal  registration,  together  with  all 
other  desirable  privileges,  and  limited 
the  Uability  of  members  to  their  sub- 
scribed shares  in  the  business. 

5253 


A    FAMILIAR    SCENE    IN    TIMES    OF    DEPRESSION:    "WE'VE    GOT    NO    WORK    TO    DO!' 

From  the  drawing  by  Fred.  Barnard 


TWO     PICTORIAL     STUDIES     IN     THE     INDUSTRIAL     PROBLEM 

In  the  first  of  these  drawings  the  artist  has  depicted  the  eager  competition  for  employment  which  is  daily  to  be  witnessed 
in  times  of  trade  depression  at  the  Docks,  where  casual  labour  finds  its  most  likely  market,  while  in  the  second  the 
unemployed  vocalists,  who  complain  that  they  have  "  got  no  work  to  do,"  have  evidently  abandoned  the  search  for  it. 

5254 


THE 

'              ! 

K 

.|!f|g| 

V" 

THE 

RE-MAKING 

'    '     } 

U'l 

fj^g 

- 

SOCIAL 

OF 

■Pt^^I 

■l^IH 

■f^ 

QUESTION 

EUROPE 

^^-41' 

-r 

IV 

THE    MARCH    OF    SOCIAL    REFORM 

AND  LABOUR'S  RECOGNITION  BY  THE  STATE 


HTHE  factory  system,  with  its  various 
■■■  branches,  had  brought  with  it  an  un- 
precedented increase  in  the  labour  exacted 
from  the  workers,  especially  from  the 
women  and  children.  Owen,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  his  social  reforms,  had  already 
abolished  those  evils  in  New  Lanark, 
where  he  was  master.  But  since  he  saw 
that  such  an  example  was  only  excep- 
tionally imitated  by  other  owners  of 
factories,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  deep-seated  distress  could  only  be 
ended  by  legislation  binding  on  all  alike. 

Tiius  Owen  was  the  first  who  raised  the 
cry  for  factory  laws,  and  soon  afterwards 
commenced  a  violent  agitation  for  this 
object  from  1813  to  1817.  The  programme 
which  he  now  developed  contained,  first, 
the  prohibition  of  the  industrial  labour  of 
children  under  ten  yea.rs,  as  well  as  of  all 
children  who  could  not  show  a  certain 
minimum  of  learning  ;  and,  secondly,  the 
_  ,  maximum  working  day  of  six 
J,     ?  ^      hours  for  children  from  ten  to 

opian  t^yeiyg  years,  and  of  ten  and  a 
half  hours  for  all  adult  factory 
workers.  Owen  in  this  way,  although  he 
afterwards  devoted  his  attention  almost 
exclusively  to  his  Utopian  schemes,  intro- 
duced the  idea  of  the  protection  of  workers 
into  the  modern  social  movement. 

If  merely  the  interests  of  the  ruling  class 
were  of  weight,  as  the  materialistic  theory 
of  history  asserts,  the  protection  of  the 
worker  would  never  have  been  intioduced, 
so  long,  at  least,  as  the  labouring  classes 
possessed  no  influence  in  Parliament. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  measure  was 
proposed  and  passed,  thanks  to  moral, 
religious,  and  philanthropic  reasons,  aided 
by  the  far-sighted  deliberations  of  wise 
statesmen.  The  first  comprehensive 
factory  law  was  enacted  in  18 19  at  the 
instance  of  Robert  Peel,  the  father  of  the 
famous  statesman,  himself  a  manufac- 
turer. This  prohibited  the  employment 
of  children  under  nine  years  in  cotton 
mills,    and  limited  the   working   day   of 


young  persons  up  to  sixteen  years  of  age  to 

twelve  hours.    But  the  law  had  no  effective 

results,  since  the  local  police  authorities 

were  far  too  subservient  to  the  wholesale 

manufacturers.     A  new  Factory  Act  v/as 

passed  in  1833,  which  appointed  special 

.  .  officials  to  superintend  the 

Improving  ,       ,  ■  r  ,\  , 

it.    r-     J-*-        protection  of  the  workmen  — 
the  Conditions  ^  t       c      , 

, ,    .  namely,  factory  mspectors — 

of  Labour  /.;     ,.         -^i  ■    ui        i 

an  mstitution  which  has  been 

copied  by  all  civilised  states,  and  fixed  for 

all  textile  factories  a  working  day  of  eight 

hours  for  children  from  nine  to  thirteen 

years,    and   of   twelve    hours    for   young 

persons  from  thirteen  to  eighteen  years. 

Even  before  this,  in  the  "  twenties  "  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  a  great  popular 
movement  in  favour  of  a  ten-hour  working 
day  had  commenced,  which  was  led  by  a 
philanthropic  politician,  Richard  Oastler, 
a  Tory,  "  the  manufacturing  king  "  ; 
John  Fielden,  Thomas  Sadler,  and  Lord 
Anthony  Ashley,  afterwards  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury,  1801-1885,  were  also  con- 
spicuous. This  movement,  which  lasted 
almost  twenty  years,  roused  great  enthu- 
siasm amongst  the  working  classes,  and, 
in  view  of  the  want  of  employment  whicli 
prevailed  towards  the  end  of  the  "  thirties  " 
and  the  high  price  of  bread,  assumed 
locally  forms  which  alarmed  the  govern- 
ing and  wealthy  classes. 

Thus  Sir  Robert  Peel  himself  declared  : 
"The  misery  and  the  uncertainty  in  the 
position  of  the  labouring  classes  is  too  great. 
It  is  a  disgrace  and  a  danger  to  our  civilisa- 
tion; it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  make 
their  position  less  hard  and  less  precarious. 

ft    i-t     .•  .  If  we  cannot   do  everything, 
The  Chartist  ./  o 


Agitation 


we  can  at  least  do  something, 

.    r     1     J     and  it  is  our  duty  to  do  what 
m  iLngland  1  1     o       t^i       /-i       j.-  4. 

we    are  able.        Ihe  Chartist 

agitation,  which  was  exciting  all  England, 

served  finally  to  make  people  understand 

the   state   of   affairs.      Chartism,   indeed, 

which  had  already ,  in  1839,  failed  in  its  main 

point,  had  been  able  to  effect  very  little 

direct   change   in   the   social   conditions  ; 

5255 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


but  its  indirect  results  were  all  the  greater, 
for  its  abrupt  ending  made  the  labour 
classes  understand  that  it  is  impossible 
to  break  the  strong  framework  of  the  old 
constitution  by  the  employment  of  force. 
They  tried,  therefore,  henceforth  to  serve 
their  aims  by  conformity  to  the  existing 
institutions.  On  the  other  hand.  Chartism 
made  it  clear  to  wide  circles 
of     the     ruling    classes    that 


The  Social 
Gospel 
of  Carlyle 


things  could  no  longer  go  on 
as  hitherto,  that  the  familiar 
"  laissez-aller "  policy  in  social  matters 
must  be  abandoned.  Thus  there  arose 
in  the  wealthy  and  educated  class  intel- 
lectual currents  which  were  favourable  to 
the  concession  of  the  reasonable  demands 
of  the  labouring  class. 

Thomas  Carlyle  signalised  himself  as  the 
most  mighty  preacher  of  a  healthy  inner 
life,  and  to  him  above  all  the  credit  is 
due  of  having  roused  the  social  conscience 
of  his  time.  He  is  distinguished  from  the 
Socialists  and  Radicals  in  the  principle 
that  he  considers  that  human  society 
necessarily  involves  some  notion  of  rule, 
otherwise  the  society  could  not  last.  But 
he  assumes  two  points — that  the  ruling 
party  protects  and  safeguards  the  weaker 
class,  and  that  this  latter  is  loyal  and 
well  behaved  towards  its  leader  and  pro- 
tector. Both,  however,  only  thrive  on  the 
soil  of  the  faith  and  the  work  of  all  con- 
cerned. Work  is  necessary  in  order  to  j  ustif  y 
our  existence  on  earth,  and  faith  in  the 
ideal  beyond  the  grave  is  needed  in  order 
to  make  the  severity  of  labour  and  the 
miseries  of  our  existence  endurable  by  us. 
The  evils  of  the  present  day,  according 
to  Carlyle's  conception,  have  their  root 
in  the  fact  that  all  these  assumed  condi- 
tions of  a  really  human  existence  are  not 
forthcoming.  The  old  relations  and  ties 
between  the  feudal  lords  and  their  vassals 
have  ceased,  to  give  place  to  the  unsym- 
pathetic payment  of  ready  money  as  the 
only  bond,    "  the   cash   nexus,"    between 

_„      ..      capitalist    and    workman.      The 
Worship  ^  1  /-     J 

poor  man  no  longer    finds   any 

j^  protection,  but  remains  left   to 

himself  ;  the  result  is  that  he 
has  no  loyal  feelings  for  the  ruling  classes, 
but  thinks  only  of  rebellion  and  revolution. 
Faith  is  tottering  everywhere,  even  if  it  be 
not  lost  ;  and  finally,  work  has  become 
irksome  to  all,  so  that  the  proletarian  does 
it  only  with  reluctance,  while  the  aristo- 
crat tries  completely  to  avoid  it.  Thus 
men    think    "  this    universe    is    a    large, 

5256 


capacious  cattle-stall  and  a  workhouse 
with  an  enormous  kitchen  and  long 
dining-tables,  and  that  he  alone  is  wise 
who  can  find  his  place  at  it." 

The  actual  circumstance  that  at  the 
present  time,  under  the  rule  of  selfishness, 
the  signs  of  the  dissolution,  the  transitori- 
ness,  and  the  unendurable  burden  of  the 
existing  conditions  are  noticeable,  is  for 
Carlyle  a  reassuring  symptom.  For  now 
only  two  courses  are  left  :  either  the 
nations,  eaten  up  by  the  worship  of 
Mammon,  succumb,  fall  a  prey  to  foreign 
conquerors,  and  then  receive,  as  is  right, 
a  new  faith  and  a  new  aristocracy  forced 
on  them  from  without  ;  or  they  develop 
for  themselves  new  ideals  and  a  new  social 
fabric,  in  which  all  sections  will  be  knit 
together  by  the  bond  of  mutual  loyalty. 

It  is  comprehensible  that  in  Britain 
especially  no  contentment  is  found,  since 
the  prevailing  doctrines  and  institutions 
are  unsuitable.  Carlyle  heaps  deadly 
scorn  on  them,  one  after  the  other.  Look 
now  at  the  utilitarian  philosophy  and 
the  corresponding  national  economy  ;  they 
start  with  a  world  of  knaves,  and  wish 
A  Q  ,,  that  something  honest  should 
.  °  ^.  result  !  Look  again  at  the  Mal- 
W  ^  k°'^  ^  thusians  !  They  imagine  that 
the  labouring  class,  by  sexual 
restraint,  has  it  in  its  power  to  diminish 
the  number  of  "  hands  "  and  to  improve 
its  position.  They  believe  in  a  golden  age, 
when  twenty  million  workers  strike  simul- 
taneously in  the  same  domain.  They 
needed,  indeed,  only  to  pass  in  an  all- 
embracing  trades  union  the  resolution  not 
to  marry  until  the  state  of  the  la'  our 
market  was  again  completely  satisfactory  ! 
Or  look  at  the  constitution  of  Parliament  ! 
"  There  no  British  subject  can  become  a 
statesman,  the  leader  in  deeds,  unless  he 
has  first  shown  himself  the  leader  in 
words  !  Surely  this  is  the  very  worst 
method  of  election  that  could  be  devised  !  " 
Or,  lastly,  consider  the  government  of  the 
existing  majority  !  It  provides  neither 
help  nor  guidance  to  the  people,  but  is  a 
thing  which  bobs  up  and  down  on  the 
waves  of  popular  favour  like  the  body  of 
a  drowned  jackass.  The  end  is  that  a 
revolt  of  the  people  gathers,  and  some  day 
bursts  with  fury  and  dashes  the  dead  body 
down  into  the  mud  at  the  bottom. 

All  this  must  be  changed.  But  how? 
Carlyle  promised  himself  but  little  from 
Socialism.  He  did  not  wish  for  a  Utopia, 
even  if  its  realisation  were  possible.      He 


THE    MARCH    OF    SOCIAL    REFORM 


wished  hard  work  for  all,  since  that  is  the 
destiny    of    mankind,    and    a    system    of 
subordination   under   the    most   efficient, 
since  in  no  other  way  can  the  continuance 
and   advancement   of   human  society   be 
ensured.   The  old  principles  of  government 
must  be  revived. 
Formerly,      the 
lower   classes 
stood  in   count- 
less    different 
relations   to  the 
upper     classes 
beyond  those  of 
buyer  and  seller 
as    now — in  the 
relation  of  soldier 
and     general, 
tribesman     and 
chief,  loyal  sub- 
ject   and    ruling 
monarch.  "With 
the    complete 
triumph  of  hard 

cash  another  age  Maurice  was  recog-nised  as  the  founder  of  modern  "  Christian 
l->Qc  rnmA  a^r\  Socialism,"  while  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  was  ever  in  the  forefront  of 
nas     come,       ana    all  causes  that  aimed  at  the  uplifting  and  Christianising  of  the  people. 


Frederic  D.  Maurice  Earl  of  Shaftesbury 

PIONEER    LEADERS     OF    SOCIAL    PROGRESS 

Leader  of  a  movement  which  taught  that  "our  interests  are  common, 

and  every  man  is  full  of  duties  towards  his  neighbour,"  the  Rev.  F.  D. 


thus  a  new  aris- 
tocracy must  come."     This  is  to  be  the 
"  nobility   of  industry,"  which  organises 
and   conducts    a  noble  government,  and 
must  be  responded  to  by  the  subjects  with 
loyalty  and  obedience.     At  the  time  there 
will  be  a  few  leaders  of  industrial  under- 
takings who  will   realise  this 
ideal  ;   but  soon  there  will  be 
more  and  more  of  them,  until 
we,  at  last,  shall  have  a  noble 
and   upright   country    of   in- 
dustry under  the   rule  of  the 
wisest.      The    motto    of    the 
nobleman  of    the    future    is, 
"Honourable  conduct  in  busi- 
ness and  warm-hearted  inte- 
rest in  the  welfare  of  all  whom 
he  may  employ."    This  is  the 
theme   of    Carlyle's    positive 
social  policy,  which  he  varies 
from  time  to  time  with  new 
illustrations     and     historical 
parallels,     now    pathetically, 
now  sadly,  now  with  the  bold 
flights   of    idealist 
now     with     the     thundering 
denunciations  of  an  OldTestament  prophet . 
Carlyle  is  thus  the  first  to  announce  an 
order    of    things    in    which    the    philan- 
thropic  manufacturers,   filled  with   S3'm- 
pathy  for  the  community,  are  to  form  the 
ruling  class,  the  social  aristocracy.     From 


this  point  of  view  all  else  seems  incidental, 
if  only  the  leading  sections  of  the  com- 
munity rise,  as  is  anticipated,  of  their  own 
impulse  to  the  realisation  of  a  "  new  code  of 
duties."  If  Carlyle  is  therefore  no  pohtical 
Socialist,   he  is  yet  always  sufficiently  a 

friend  to  the 
working  classes 
to  advocate  the 
State  support 
of  the  lower 
orders ;  on  the 
other  hand,  he 
IS  an  outspoken 
opponent  of 
th  e  democratic 
development, 
which  appears 
to  him  necessary 
only  so  long  as 
the  ruling  classes 
cannot  remem- 
ber their  duty. 
If  we  wish  to 
form  a  correct 
estimate  of  Car- 
lyle, we  must 
be    a    scientific 


Photos  by  Mansell  and  Elliott  t5L'  Fry 

not    conceive    him    to 
philosopher  or  a  national  economist  ;    he 
would  have  been  no  more  able  to  explain 
the  principles. of  modern  political  economy 
than  he  was  capable  of  abstruse  medita- 
tions on  the  last  problems  of  willing  and 
being.    His  greatness  rather 
consisted  in  the  fact  that  he 
was  a  powerful  writer,  who 
knew  how  to  awaken  enthusi- 
asm in  the  social  policy  of  the 
nation.      All    his    individual 
ideas,     on    account    of    this 
defective  knowledge  of  polit- 
ical   economy,    were    of    no 
practical  use,  and  were   far 
too   hastily    sketched   to   be 
capable  of  application  to  real 
life ;   but  they  were  the  most 
powerful   literary  means   for 
spreading   among  the  higher 
classes    of    the    nation     the 
feeling  that  the  workers  were 

tion,    Edward    Vansittart     Neale  uniUStlv     Suffering,    and    that 

was  a  true  friend  of  the  workmg  V           -'          .    .          °             ,         , 

prophecy      classes,  aiming  at  peaceful  reform  tluS         COUdltlOll        mUSt         06 

^      ^-         -^       andmakingsacrificesonits  behalf.  ^.g^g^-g^|^yj,gfQ^-jjjS_    Q^j-lyle 

himself  indeed  believed  in  a  future  when 
England  would  be  ruled  by  a  nobifity  of 
industry,  and  all  England  soon  echoed 
with  this  new  rall3nng  cry.  This  was  an  idea 
which,  as  such,  represented  only  an  illusion 
of  the   ruling   classes ;     bui    an    illusion 

5257 


E.   V.   NEALE 
A  wealthy  advocate  of  co-opera- 


HARMS  WORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


whose  influence  led  to  the  rejection  of 
the  Manchester  dogma  in  labour  ques- 
tions \\y  the  leading  circles,  and  to  the 
adoption  by  them  of  a  friendly  attitude 
towards  the  efforts  of  the  workers  in  the 
direction  of  co-operation  and  coalition. 
Next  to  Carlyle  must  be  mentioned 
Benjamin  Disraeli,  afterwards  Earl  of 
_.  Beaconsfield,     1804-1881,    the 

*^^^^.  **^  founder   of   the  first    "  Social- 

a  Uisciple  ^  ,•  ,,  .      _^     ,. 

f  C    11  Conservative  group     m  Parlia- 

ar  y  c  j^gj-^|.^     ^j^g^^     q^     ^|-,g    so-called 

"Young  England."  He  adopts  the  essen- 
tial points  of  Carlyle.  But  we  find 
also  much  that  is  original  in  his  ideas  ; 
above  all,  the  thought  of  the  social 
kingdom  comes  for  the  first  time  promi- 
nently forward.  In  recent  years,  he 
explains,  definite  classes  have  ruled  in 
England,  and  the  result  is  that  struggle 
between  those  who  possess  property  and 
those  who  have  none,  which,  under  the 
dominion  of  free  competition,  has  pro- 
duced the  unhappy  condition  of  the  people. 

This  calamity  must  be  ended  by  abolish- 
ing the  dominion  of  the  classes,  and  there- 
fore all  class  legislation.  The  power  must 
be  given  to  the  king,  as  the  only  constitu- 
tional authority  which  represents  no  class 
interests.  Under  monarchical  government, 
morality  and  religion  will  once  more  be 
established  in  the  land.  And  the  most 
powerful  agent  is  the  true  nobility  which 
embraces  all  that  has  been  conspicuous 
in  the  state,  whether  from  high  birth  or 
from  talent,  virtues,  office,  or  wealth. 

Disraeli,  in  his  novels  "Coningsby,  or 
the  New  Generation,"  1844,  ^-^d  "Sybil, 
or  the  Two  Nations,"  1845,  ^^^^  clearly 
described  the  results  of  this  doctrine  in 
practical  life.  In  them  he  instances  the 
model  factories,  where  nothing  but  love 
and  concord  prevail  between  capitalist  and 
worker.  The  manufacturer  also  does  his 
best  in  this  direction,  since  he  takes  the 
most  comprehensive  measures  for  the 
prosperity  of  his  employees,  shortens  their 

_.  ,.,  hours  of  labour,  prepares  for 
Uisraeli  s   ,,  i        i       n •  i 

Model  them  good  dwelhng  -  houses, 
Employer  gardens,  baths,  schools,  reading- 
rooms  and  churches,  and  pro- 
vides for  their  pleasures  by  musical  societies, 
games,  festivals,  and  dancing.  Many  work- 
men, through  their  master's  aid,  actually 
come  to  be  the  owners  of  their  own  houses, 
gardens,   and  small  farms. 

This  philanthropy  finds  its  earthly 
reward  in  the  efftciency  and  willingness 
of  the  workers,  so  that   Disraeli's   model 

5258 


manufacturer  declares  that  from  the 
point  of  view  of  profits  this  investment 
of  capital  has  been  one  of  the  best  he 
has  ever  made.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
young  aristocratic  politicians,  to  whom 
Disraeli  also  directly  appealed,  to  make 
such  a  state  of  affairs  universal.  His  appeal 
actually  fired  men's  enthusiasm.  A  number 
of  young  members  of  the  nobility,  who 
were  fresh  from  the  university  and  filled 
with  the  romantic  spirit  of  the  time,  formed 
themselves  into  the  "  Young  England  " 
party,  which  honoured  Disraeli  as  its  head 
and  teacher,  and  was  eager  for  social 
reforms. 

Another  movement  tried  to  revive  the 
old  religious  feeling  and  to  lay  the  only 
true  fovmdation  of  economic  reform  by 
filling  all  men  with  a  genuinely  Christian 
spirit.  The  leader  in  it  was  Frederic 
Denison  Maurice,  chaplain  to  Lincoln's  Inn, 
1805-1872,  who  taught  :  "  our  interests 
are  common,  and  every  man  is  full  of 
duties  towards  his  neighbour."  For  this 
reason  the  opposite,  and  unchristian,  idea 
of  the  constitution  of  society  was  to  be 
refuted,  and  the  coincidence  of  the  interests 
of  all  men  to  be  expressed  in 
f°Ch  ^V  practical  action.  Maurice  thus 
o  ^  ris  lan  fQ^^-j^^gf^^j^g  j^Q(jgj-j^ 'Xhristian 
Socialism.  He  was  soon  joined 
by  other  men  of  equal  sincerity  of  cha- 
racter and  of  unwearying  solicitude  for 
the  welfare  of  the  workers — above  all  by 
Charles  Kingsley,  John  Malcolm  Ludlow, 
and  VansittartNeale — "a  body  of  friends," 
as  John  Stuart  Mill  said,  "  chiefly  clergymen 
and  barristers,  to  whose  noble  exertions 
hardly  enough  praise  can  be  awarded." 

Since  the  masses  of  workmen  in  crowded 
meetings  joined  enthusiastically  this  cru- 
sade against  the  abuses  of  the  new  order 
of  things,  the  reform  movement  of  the 
"  forties  "  was  bound  in  the  end  to  become 
irresistible,  especially  since  parliamentary 
inquiries  and  official  reports  had  proved  the 
enormous  extent  to  which  the  "  sweated" 
labouring  classes  were  over  -  worked. 
In  vain  the  supporters  of  the  prevailing 
doctrine  of  "  laissez-faire,"  Cobden  and 
Bright,  the  acknowledged  leaders  of  the 
school,  at  their  head,  resisted  with  all  their 
might  the  agitation  which  struck  such  a 
blow  at  the  fundamental  propositions  of 
Manchester  and  was  consequently  decried 
as  harmful  ;  in  vain  the  great  employers 
of  labour,  under  the  leadership  of  the 
powerful  ironmaster.  Lord  Londonderry, 
took  the  field  against  "  the  hypocritical 


THE    MARCH    OF    SOCIAL    REFORM 


philanthropy  which  now  prevails  "  ;  in 
vain  the  employers  of  the  textile  industry 
raised  heartbreaking  complaints  over  the 
threatening  ruin  of  their  trade  ;  in  vain 
the  learned  Oxford  professor,  Senior, 
"  proved  "  minutely  by  the  so-called 
"  analysis  of  the  manufacturing  process  " 
— in  reality  by  incorrect  calculations  of  the 
costs  of  production  and  prices  of  manu- 
factured wares — that  the  whole  net  profit 
of  the  capital  sunk  in  factories  came  from 
the  twelfth  hour  of  labour,  and  that  there- 
fore that  hour  could  not  possibly  be  cur- 
tailed. Dr.  Andrew  Ure,  the  panegyrist 
of  the  factory  system,  tried  in  vain 
to  lay  stress  on  the  interests  and  the 
morals  of  the  protected  young  persons 
themselves,  who,  if  too  early  released  from 
the  discipline  of  the  factory,  would  be 
driven  into  the  arms  of  idleness  and  vice. 
All  these  forms  of  opposition,  besides  the 
opinion  of  the  head  of  the  government. 
Sir  Robert  Peel,  which,  being  unfavourable 
to  reform,  weighed  heavily  in  the  scale, 
were  defeated  by  the  force  of  the  move- 
ment supported  by  popular  feeling.  At  the 
decisive  voting  in  Parliament  a  part  of  the 

n  ,.     rws.        Whigs,  under  the  leadership  of 

Better  Times  tit  i  i  •     ^    i 

Macaulay,     who    m    spirited 

th  W  k  words  recommended  the  pro- 
tection of  workmen  as  a  means 
of  retaining  in  the  nation  all  those  high 
qualities  which  had  made  the  country 
great,  allied  themselves  with  the  majority 
of  the  Tories  and  with  the  Radicals,  in 
order  to  decree  the  ten-hour  working  day 
for  persons  from  thirteen  to  eighteen  years 
and  for  all  female  workers,  at  first  only  in 
the  textile  industry  in  1847. 

Although  this  law,  in  fact,  reduced  the 
working  day  to  ten  hours  not  only  for  the 
protected  persons,  but  generally  for  all 
employees,  since  the  protected  classes 
composed  60  per  cent,  of  all  operatives, 
yet  none  of  the  consequences  feared  by 
interested  or  learned  antagonists  liave 
ensued.  The  value  of  the  British  exports, 
reckoned  before  the  passing  of  the  law  in 
1846  at  57"7  million  pounds  sterling,  had  a 
few  years  later,  in  the  year  1852,  risen  to 
78  millions,  an  increase  of  35  per  cent. 
"  If  the  shrewd  calculation  of  Professor 
Senior  had  been  correct,"  so  a  factory 
inspector  remarked  in  his  report  with 
pointed  irony,  "  every  cotton  mill  in  the 
United  Kingdom  would  have  worked  for 
years  at  a  loss."  And  with  reference  to 
the  supposed  degeneration  of  the  children 
in  consequence  of  too  short  a  working  day, 


a  report  of  the  factory  inspection  of  the 

year  1848  noted  that  "  such  uncharitable 

talk    about    idleness    and    vice    must    be 

stigmatised  as  the   purest  cant   and  the 

most  shameless  hypocrisy." 

Thus,   the   marvellous  development   of 

industry,  hand  in  hand  with  the  moral 

and   physical   renascence   of   the   factory 

„        ,,  worker,  struck  the  dullest  eve. 

Marvellous      t-i       1  in 

jj      .  ihe  laws  were  gradually  ex- 

f  I  d  tended    to    the    other    great 

^  industries,  and  in  1867,  under 
Disraeli's  Ministry,  partly  also  to  the  work- 
shops ;  and  in  1868,  at  the  instigation  of  this 
same  Minister,  the  whole  of  this  legisla- 
tion, which  had  already  become  somewhat 
confused,  was  consolidated  and  completed 
in  the  "  Factory  and  Workshop  Act." 

The  manufacturers,  even  before  this, 
had  completely  reconciled  themselves  to 
the  thought  of  the  protection  of  workmen. 
Henceforth  they  offered  no  more  resist- 
ance either  on  principle,  by  means  of 
political  agitation,  or,  in  practical  life,  by 
infringement  of  the  factory  laws.  On 
this  head  a  committee  appointed  by  Par- 
liament to  examine  the  working  of  the 
existing  factory  laws  reported  in  1876  : 
"The  numerous  former  inquiries  into  the 
position  of  the  children  and  women 
engaged  in  the  various  industries  of  the 
country  have  disclosed  conditions  which 
produced  a  great  outburst  of  public  sym- 
pathy, and  imperatively  called  for  the 
intervention  of  the  legislature." 

A  striking  contrast  to  the  circumstances 
disclosed  in  these  reports  is  afforded  by  the 
present  position  of  the  persons  in  whose 
favour  the  various  factor^/  and  workshop 
Acts  have  been  passed.  Some  employments 
are  still  unhealthy  in  spite  of  the  sanitary 
provisions  of  these  Acts,  and  in  other 
industries  there  is  still  occasionally  a 
pressure  of  work  beyond  the  limits  defined 
by  law,  which  is  prejudicial  to  the  health 
of  the  operatives.  But  such  cases 
are  exceptional.  At  the  same  time  we 
have  no  cause  for  assuming  that  the 
legislation    which    has    shown 

Llbour°        ^^^^^^     ^°     beneficial     to     the 

,     ...       workers    engaged    has    caused 

egis  a  ion   ^^^^    considerable    damage    to 

the  industries  to  which  it  applied.  On  the 
contrary,  industrial  progress  was  clearly 
not  checked  by  the  factory  laws  ;  and 
there  are  only  few,  even  among  the  em- 
ployers, who  now  wish  for  a  repeal  of  the 
chief  provisions  of  this  Act  or  deny  the 
benefits  produced  by  this  legislation. 

5259 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 

SOCIAL 

QUESTION 

V 


SOCIAL    PROBLEMS    IN    FRANCE 

THE  STRIVINGS  AFTER  EQUALITY  AND  LIBERTY 


IN  France  the  first  social  movement, 
^  in  the  modern  sense,  was  in  connection 
with  the  great  Revolution.  This  had 
tried  to  put  into  practice  the  ideas  of 
Rousseau  as  to  the  Law  of  Nature.  Man 
is  by  nature  good,  so  Rousseau  taught. 
„  .    .  ,     ,  This  good,  uncorrupted  man,  so 

Principle  of    ra    u         ;  jj    j 

Robespierre    added,  was    now 

_,  ,.,  ..  personified  by  the  lower  orders 
Constitution   ^    ,  ,         ,  •'j  ■        , 

only,  who  had  remamed  un- 
touched by  luxury  and  vice.  The  govern- 
ment was,  therefore,  to  be  transferred  to 
the  lower  orders  by  the  grant  of  equal 
political  privileges  to  all  citizens,  and  thus 
the  reign  of  everlasting  equality,  virtue, 
and  happiness  would  dawn.  The  new 
constitution  of  1793  adopted  as  its 
principle:  "  All  men  are  equal  by  nature 
and  by  law,"  and  "  The  object  of  society 
is  the  welfare  of  all."  Thus,  Robespierre 
declared:  "  We  wish  that  in  our  country 
selfishness  may  be  replaced  by  morality, 
ambition  by  honesty,  decency  by  the 
sense  of  duty,  contempt  of  misfortune 
by  contempt  of  vice." 

But  men  had  not  yet  arrived  at  clear 
ideas  of  a  new  distribution  of  property. 
On  the  contrary,  this  result  was  not 
attained  until  the  Directory,  after  the 
Democratic  constitution  of  1793  had  been 
set  aside.  It  was  due  to  Francois  Noel 
Babeuf,  1764-1797,  a  former  partisan  of 
Robespierre.  Starting  with  the  precepts 
of  the  Law  of  Nature,  Babeuf  pictured  to 
himself  the  ideal  society  based  on  the 
fohowing  precepts  :  the  duty  of  all  to 
work ;  statutory  settlement  of  the  number 
of  working  hours ;  regulation  of  produc- 
tion  by  a  supreme  board 
J .    J  elected  by  the  people ;  division 

g     .  of   the  necessary  work  among 

the  individual  citizens  ;  the 
right  of  all  citizens  to  all  enjoyments  ; 
and  a  coiTcsponding  distribution  of 
property  among  individuals,  according 
to  the  standard  of  equality.  Since 
even  the  boldest  imagination  hesitated 
to     hope    from     one     day     to     another 

5260 


for  the  realisation  of  this  ideal,  Babeuf 
had  planned  a  series  of  appropriately 
devised  measures  as  a  connecting  link 
between  the  present  and  the  social  re- 
generation of  the  future.  In  the  first 
place,  a  "  great  national  community  of 
property  "  was  to  be  established,  to 
which  all  State  property,  all  property  of 
the  "  enemies  of  the  popular  cause,"  as 
well  as  all  estates  which  were  left  uncul- 
tivated, were  to  be  attached. 

Every  Frenchman  could  join  the  com- 
munity if  he  gave  up  his  property  and 
placed  his  working  powers  at  its  disposal. 
Besides  that,  the  community  would  in- 
herit all  private  estates.  The  members 
were  to  work  in  common,  and  would 
receive  all  the  food  "  which  composed  a 
moderate  and  frugal  cuisine,"  and  other 
necessaries  of  life.  Anyone  who  entered 
the  community  burdened  with  debt  be- 
came exempt  from  all  liabilities.  On 
the  basis  of   this  programme. 


An  Army  of 
Theorists  and 
Discontents 


Babeuf,    favoured     by     the 
circumstances  described,  suc- 


ceeded in  collecting  round  him 
many  thousand  followers,  chiefly  old  sup- 
porters of  the  Jacobin  doctrines,  discon- 
tented members  of  the  middle  class,  and 
political  theorists  of  every  rank,  but  only 
a  very  small  proportion  of  artisans. 

The  Government  interfered,  alarmed  at 
the  threatening  character  of  the  move- 
ment. A  secret  association,  the  Club  of 
the  Pantheon,  was  therefore  formed, 
which  took  steps  to  prepare  a  decisive 
blow.  It  was  proposed  to  capture 
the  capital  by  a  coup-de-main,  in  order 
to  plant  side  by  side  the  banners  of 
economic  and  political  equality  ;  although 
the  prepared  manifesto  to  the  people 
cautiously  spoke  only  of  the  restoration 
of  the  overthrown  constitution  of  1793,  in 
order  that  all  who  held  Jacobin  views  might 
join  the  agitators.  While  the  rebellion 
was  still  being  secretly  discussed,  Babeuf 
and  his  colleagues,  who  had  long  been 
betrayed  and  watched  by  the  police,  were 


SOCIAL    PROBLEMS    IN    FRANCE 


arrested  in  May,  1796.  Being  brought 
before  the  National  Tribunal,  Babeuf  and 
his  friend,  Darthe,  although  acquitted  on 
the  charge  of  conspiracy,  were  condemned 
to  death  for  inciting  men  to  divide  private 
property,  and  guillotined  May  27th,  1797, 
and  seven  fellow-conspirators,  among  them 
the  future  historian  of  the  movement, 
Fihppo  Buonarroti,  1761-1837,  were  sen- 
tenced to  banishment.  The  young  com- 
munistic movement  thus  become  leader- 
less  was  doomed  to  rapid  extinction. 

It  was  not  until  the  third  decade  of  the 
nineteenth  century  that  a  large  socialistic 
movement  was  again  started  in  France,  at 
a  time  when  the  industrial  development 
had  not  yet  created  an  enormous  pro- 
letariat. This  explains  why  it  found  its 
followers  mainly  among  the  sections  of 
the  middle  and  upper  classes,  which 
were  steeped  in  idealism.  Here  "  the 
young  men  had  heard  in  their  childhood 
of  the  portentous  events  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, had  lived  through  the  Empire,  and 
were  sons  of  heroes  or  victims;  their 
mothers  had  conceived  them  between  two 
battles,  and   the  thunder  of  cannon  had 

„         ,  ,^  ushered  them  into  the  world." 

Bazard  the  t-,  ,■,  •         i.  j 

„  .  »  c  ihese  youths,  passionate  and 
Prophet  of  ,^     •  •     i.     X    11       x 

g    :  J.  romantic  m   spirit,   lull   of  an 

instinctive  dislike  of  the  un- 
scrupulous egotism  and  the  prosaic  dulness 
of  the  bourgeois  society  around  them,  were 
forced  to  offer  strong  opposition  to  the 
prevailing  utilitarianism,  and  to  welcome 
rapturously  the  first  prophet  who  under- 
took an  attack  on  selfishness,  narrow- 
mindedness,  and  the  aristocracy  of  wealth. 
Such  a  man  was  Bazard  in  1828,  who 
enlisted  supporters  for  Socialism  in  con- 
nection with  the  teaching  of  Saint-Simon. 
Count  Claude  Henri  de  Saint-Simon, 
1760-1825,  who,  while  able  to  found  a 
school,  could  never  produce  a  regular 
movement,  had  stopped  short  of  Socialism. 
He  had  never  clearly  understood  the  war 
between  capital  and  proletariat.  On 
the  contrary,  he  included  both  classes 
under  the  category  of  "  industrials  " — ■ 
that  is,  as  the  body  of  those  who  work 
at  the  production  of  material  enjoyments 
— vv^ho,  as  the  most  numerous  and  pro- 
ductive class,  ought  properly  to  govern 
the  State,  while,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
great  landowners,  the  clergy, ,  and  the 
high  officials  possessed  the  power.  The 
political  background  of  the  time  favoured 
these  ideas.  At  that  period,  1815-1830, 
the  decisive  war  in  France  between  the 


adherents  to  the  "ancien  regime  "and  the 
bourgeoisie  supported  by  the  people  was 
being  waged,  while  the  class  dispute  be- 
tween the  property-owning  orders  and 
the  proletariat,  which  was  now  first 
developing,  had  not  yet  made  itself  felt. 
The  teaching  of  Saint-Simon  was  the 
theoretical  expression  of  the  aspiring 
_  .  ,  _.  ,  classes  generally.  Thesupre- 
-J  macy    of    the      industrials, 

Chr'sf  't  ^^'liich  he  advocated,  began  to 
assert  itself  in  the  actual  eco- 
nomic development  as  the  supremacy  of 
capital.  The  spirit  of  the  age,  no  less 
than  the  essence  of  Saint-Simon's  nature, 
wliich  was  wrapped  up  in  mysticism, 
required  that  his  system  should  be 
first  and  foremost  a  religious  and  moial 
one.  He  therefore  expressly  termed  it 
"  a  new  Christianity."  His  object  was 
to  accustom  mankind  to  a  new  code 
of  ethics,  in  order  to  raise  on  this  founda- 
tion a  new  political  and  social  fabric. 

"  In  the  new  Christianity,"  he  wrote, 
"  all  morality  will  be  directly  derived 
from  the  principle  that  men  are  to  regard 
each  other  as  brothers.  This  principle, 
which  was  held  by  primitive  Christianity, 
will  be  explained,  and  in  its  new  form 
will  lay  down  the  fundamental  proposition 
that  religion  must  direct  society  towards 
the  one  great  end,  the  immediate  ameliora- 
tion of  the  lot  of  the  poorest  class."  Thus 
it  was  Saint-Simon's  intention  to  perfect 
the  material  side  of  Christianity,  and  so 
to  bring  about  complete  earthly  happiness. 

Saint-Simon  had  not  contemplated  a 
property  reform.  This  was  first  planned 
by  Saint-Amand  Bazard,  1791-1832,  who 
also,  in  connection  with  the  historico- 
social  ideas  of  his  master,  had  elaborated 
a  special  doctrine  of  historical  develop- 
ment. According  to  this,  there  are  two 
fundamental  social  ideas,  that  of  selfish- 
ness, or  of  individualism,  and  that  of 
unity,  or  of  association.  According  as  the 
latter  or  the  former  principle  predomi- 
.  nates,      organic      or     critical 

Pur  ost  of   Pei'iods     in     the     history     of 
urposc  o     j-j^^^Qj^g  may  be  distinguished. 

Mankind         „,  -  -^  i      ■         u 

The  organic  epoch  is  charac- 
terised by  the  universally  recognised 
authority  of  definite  ideas,  by  the  pre- 
valence of  the  same  thoughts  in  the  minds 
of  all,  and  by  a  united  effort  towards  the 
same  ends.  Mankind  here  felt  itself  con- 
scious of  some  definite  purpose,  and  there- 
fore proceeded  to  raise  permanent  social 
structures.    The  critical  epoch  was  marked 

5261 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


by  criticism  of  the  traditional  principles, 
which  were  deprived  of  their  influence  over 
men's  minds  by  the  disappearance  of  public 
spirit  and  by  the  reign  of  individualism. 
Existing  institutions  were  undermined, 
until  finally  the  edifice  which  earlier  times 
had  reared  crashed  down.  The  followers 
of  the  new  doctrine  announced  "  to  the 
astounded  world  an  age  so 
f  F  ""^h"*^  full  of  fame  and  magnificence, 
°.  .'^^'^.      such  glorious  times,  such  golden 

Visionaries  "         j      ■    v     i  i.  „u 

crops  and  rich  harvests,  such 
happy  people,  so  much  wealth  and  plea- 
sure, so  much  greatness,  enjoyment,  and 
harmony,  that  the  most  indifferent  opened 
eyes  and  ears  and  were  into.xicated  with 
these  prophetic  visions." 

The  elaboration  of  this  doctrine  in 
detail  was  chiefly  due  to  Barthelemy 
Prosper  Enfantin,  1796-1864,  w^ho  repre- 
sented all  profits,  rents,  and  dividends  as  a 
species  of  income  which  did  not  depend  on 
the  labour  of  the  possessor,  but  on  the 
"  exploitation  "  of  the  workman.  The 
fundamental  principles  which  were  to  put 
an  end  to  all  this,  had  to  be  carried  out 
by  a  hierarchical  organisation  of  society, 
and  so  the  contesting  Saint-Simonian  party 
had  already  been  organised  on  a  strict 
system  of  hierarchy,  and  its  guidance 
entrusted  to  two  high  priests — ph'es 
supremes — ^Bazard  and  Enfantin  in  1829. 
But  when  Enfantin,  becoming  arro- 
gant from  the  number  of  his  followers, 
who  were  reckoned  by  thousands,  de- 
manded the  "  emancipation  of  the  flesh," 
since  he  preached  that  the  marriage  tie 
should  not  be  binding  if  affections  grow 
cool,  because  society  ought  to  be  just  to 
all  natures,  even  to  flirts  and  coquettes, 
then  Bazard  seceded,  in  1831,  disgusted  at 
such  a  travesty  of  the  true  teaching.  The 
"  Globe,"  the  organ  of  the  school,  soon 
preached  without  any  further  shame  the 
bold  doctrine  of  free  love.  Such  a  foolish 
and  immoral  deterioration  could  not  fail 
to   alienate    the   people    from   a  doctrine 

stained  with  extravagance  and 
ragmcQ  s     indecency.  Enfantin  could  only 

^      ^  ^         find  forty  loyal  followers  when 

Great  Cause  ,  xi,  i  j.     u-  2.        ^ 

he  withdrew  to  his  property  at 

Menilmontant,  near  Paris,  with  the  frag- 
ments of  what  had  been  shortly  before  so 
flourishing  a  school.  "  Enfantin,"  the  last 
number  of  the  "Globe"  declared,  "is  the 
messiah  of  God,  the  king  of  the  nations. 
The  world  sees  its  Christ,  and  recognises 
him  not  ;  therefore,  he  withdraws  himself 
from  you  with  his  apostles."      The  last 

5262 


survivors  of  the  school,  Olinde  Rodrigues, 
Michel  Chevalier,  Charles  Duveyrier,  were 
finally  dispersed  by  legal  intervention, 
since  a  charge  of  immorality  was  brought 
against  them  in  August,  1832.  So  rapidly 
was  the  movenjent  past,  and  so  violent 
was  the  disenchantment  of  the  public,  that 
"nothing  was  left  of  the  whole  incident 
except  a  feeling  of  astonishment  that  men 
could  ever  have  paid  attention  to  it,  and  a 
new  ground  for  distrust  of  innovations.  Be- 
fore a  year  elapsed  people  spoke  of  Saint- 
Simonism  as  of  a  long- forgotten  matter." 
Charles  Fourier,  1772- 1837,  elaborated 
his  social  theory  independently  of  Saint- 
Simon.  Its  starting  point  was  strictly  in- 
dividualistic. His  aim  was  not  the  happi- 
ness of  the  community  nor  the  equality  of 
all,  but  the  satisfaction  of  the  impulses  of 
the  individuals,  the  most  enjoyable  life  for 
each  separate  person.  All  individual  im- 
pulses, according  to  Fourier,  come  from 
God,  as  necessarily  follows  from  their  ex- 
istence, and  are  therefore  good.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  give  them  free  play  on  a 
profitable  field  ;  the  result  is  then  obtained 
that  men  can  always  have  wishes  and 
.  ,  desires,  and  that  the  earth  can 
ourier  s      j-ga(iiiy  satisfy  all  their  wishes. 

_,   **  If  at  the  present  time  men  have 

Theory  ,  11 

longings  which  remain  un- 
satisfied, and  impulses  which  must  be 
suppressed,  this,  in  view  of  the  har- 
mony between  wish  and  enjoyment  which 
God  wills,  is  an  evil  which  must  ex- 
clusively be  attributed  to  the  deficient 
organisation  of  human  society. 

The  system  of  Fourier  only  attained 
considerable  importance  after  the  dis- 
solution of  the  Saint-Simonian  school. 
Victor  Considerant,  1808-1897,  had  great 
influence  on  it,  as  he  freed  the  master's 
teaching  from  all  kinds  of  fantastic 
additions,  and  at  the  same  time  brought 
prominently  forward  certain  vigorous 
ideas  which  could  be  turned  to  account 
in  the  popular  agitation,  such  as  the  right 
to  work  and  the  insurance  of  the  worker. 
Both  these  movements,  Saint-Simonism 
as  well  as  Fourierism,  had,  on  the  whole, 
found  supporters  only  among  the  "  intel- 
lectuals," and  those  members  of  the  middle 
class  who  were  theorists.  The  real  mass  of 
workers  kept  aloof  from  them  as  a  rule. 

The  first  interference  of  the  French  work- 
men in  politics  followed  rather  in  connec- 
tion with  the  secret  societies  of  the  Repub- 
licans. In  the  middle  of  the  "  twenties  " 
a  new  secret  society,   the    "  Societe   des 


SOCIAL    PROBLEMS    IN    FRANCE 


Amis  du  Peuple,"  had  formed  itself  out  of 
the  ruins  of  the  overthrown  Carbonari 
conspiracy,  with  a  Jacobin  programme. 
Its  management  was  in  the  hands  of  a 
number  of  young  men,  mostly  students, 
who  succeeded  in  carrying  their  agitation 
into  the  ranks  of  the  workmen.  Out  of 
this  society,  which  made  various  attempts 
to  effect  the  establishment  of  the  Republic 
by  concerted  risings,  was  developed,  after 
various  intermediate  steps,  the  "  Societe 
des  Families,"  the  views  of  which  advo- 
cated communism. 

Filippo  Buonarroti,  an  Italian,  one  of 
the  banished  members  of  Babeuf's  party, 
had  received  an  amnesty,  and  on  his  return 
had  plunged  once  more  headlong  into  the 
whirlpool  of  conspiracy.  Thus  he  had  be- 
come a  Carbonaro,  and  he  afterwards  joined 
that  republican  body  of  conspirators. 
True  to  his  old  ideals,  he  had  tried  to 
introduce  communisni  into  these  associa- 
tions. But  that  which  the  speeches  of  the 
feeble  old  man  failed  to  effect  was  accom- 
plished by  his  spirited  narrative  of  Babeuf's 
teaching,  heroism,  and  martyrdom.  The 
members  of  the  secret  clubs — the  "  in- 
tellectuals,"  the  middle  class, 
*?  ^  °  .  and  the  workers — recognised 
c  ig  c  in  ^YiQ^^  the  only  true  result  of 
Conspiracy  t,         ,       •',, 

equality  for  them  was  com- 
munism. Louis  Auguste  Blanqui,  1805- 
188 1,  and  Armand  Barbes,  1809-1870,  two 
ex-students  who  had  played  a  part  in  all 
republican  plots,  and  had  been  in  the  fore- 
front of  every  disturbance,  were  the 
leaders  of  these  communists. 

Disheartened  by  no  failures,  and  crushed 
by  no  penalties,  these  past-masters  of  con- 
spiracy used  every  release  from  prison  as  an 
opportunity  to  plan  at  once  fresh  murder- 
ous schemes  and  assassinations.  These  men, 
who  wanted  rather  the  fiendish  delight  of 
conspiracy  than  any  object  to  conspire  for, 
did  not  attempt  to  initiate  any  such  tan- 
gible schemes  of  reform  as  even  Babeuf 
had  already  started.  The  tactics  of  the 
secret  society  guided  by  them  were  to  make 
the  ruling  power  incapable  of  resistance  by 
a  skilful  and  bold  coup-de-main  at  the 
appropriate  moment,  and  to  rouse  the 
people  to  revolt.  An  attempt  on  the  life 
of  the  king  was  advised  as  a  preliminary 
skirmish  before  the  pitched  battle.  The 
method  of  this  political  warfare  is  what  the 
Socialists  have  since  usually  called  "  Blan- 
quist  tactics."  On  May  12th,  1839,  the 
insurrection  of  the  Blanquists,  850  in 
number,  took  place  ;    but  since    at    that 


moment  no  political  or  economic  crisis  was 
felt,  the  expected  response  was  not  forth- 
coming, and  the  rising  was  soon  quelled. 
While  the  difficulties  of  association  were 
so  great,  the  natural  disinclination  of  the 
French  to  form  strong  and  permanent 
party  combinations  could  not  fail  to  pro- 
duce a  large  variety  of  sects,  corresponding 
_,  ,         to  the  many  Socialistic  schemes 

g    •  1-  f      of  the   time.   The  exaggerated 
g  .      .  doctrine  of  Babeuf  as  to  equality 

was  continued  by  the  school 
of  Etienne  Cabet,  1788-1856,  which 
wished  to  attain  its  object  by  strictly  legal 
methods,  and  in  other  points  made  an 
advantageous  departure  from  the  crudities 
of  Babeuf's  scheme.  The  Fourierists  have 
been  already  mentioned.  Next  came  the 
school  of  Philippe  Buchez,  1796-1865, 
who  had  given  a  more  distinct  character 
to  the  shapeless  propositions  of  the 
Fourierists  by  the  effective  remedy  of 
union.  Buchez  insisted  from  1831  onwards 
that  the  workmen  ought  to  economise  until 
they  could  form  themselves  into  a  produc- 
tive association.  A  part  of  the  profits  of 
the  business  ought  then  to  be  applied 
either  to  the  extension  of  the  old  associa- 
tion or  to  the  founding  of  a  new  one,  until 
finally  all  the  workmen  in  France  were 
owners  of  the  capital  necessary  for  produc- 
tion. This  train  of  thought  led,  as  Lexis 
pointed  out,  to  a  series  of  actual  attempts, 
and  certain  sections  of  the  Parisian  work- 
ing classes  clung  tenaciously  to  the  idea. 

The  plan  developed  by  Louis  Blanc, 
1811-1882,  of  founding  such  "  produc- 
tive "  associations  by  state-given  aid  could 
not  fail  to  meet  with  more  support  from 
the  proletariat.  For  then  the  workman 
did  not  require  to  save  out  of  his  small 
wages  ;  and  besides  this,  the  labouring 
class  was  liberated  at  a  blow.  The  scheme 
of  Blanc  culminated  in  the  special  point 
that  the  State  should  organise  the  work- 
men, so  far  as  they  wished,  into  workshops, 
which,  during  the  first  year,  were  to  be 

directed  by  the  State,  but  after- 

*  fh**        wards  by  the  workmen  them- 

^  .*  selves.  These  "ateherssociaux" 

were  to  be  associated,  to  agree 
as  to  the  method  and  extent  of  the  pro- 
duction, to  provide  for  the  sick  and 
incapable,  and  to  help  those  undertakings 
which  were  depressed  by  crises.  Since  it 
was  expected  that  the  industries  conducted 
by  capitalists  would  soon  be  brought  to  a 
standstill  by  this  competition,  this  system 
of  associations  only  presented  a  transition 

5263 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


stage  towards  pure  communism,  of  which 
the  principles  were  to  be  :  "  Production 
according  to  capabihties,  consumption 
according  to  requirements." 

All  these  schools — .and  this  point  must  be 
strongly  emphasised,  for  it  is  often  over- 
looked— .must  not  be  considered  as  merely 
representative  of  the  working  classes;  on 
the  contrary,  they  felt  that  they 
Chn'st  represented   all   classes  suffer- 

ris  lan  -^  from  capitalistic  methods 
of  production,  the  lower 
middle  class  as  much  as  the  proletariat. 
This  is  still  more  the  case  with  the 
Radical  Christian  Socialists  of  that  time, 
such  as  Pierre  Leroux,  1797-1871,  the 
Abbes  Hugues  Felicite  Robert  de  Lamen- 
nais,  1782-1854,  Henri  Benjamin  Con- 
stant de  Rebecque,  1767-1830,  and  Con- 
stantin  Pecqueur,  1801-1887.  These, 
consciously  or  unconsciously,  renewed  the 
idea  of  Saint-Simon,  that  a  purification  of 
mankind  by  religion  and  morality  was 
alone  able  to  pave  the  way  for  future 
social  reform  ;  for  then  only  would  all  men 
regard  each  other  as  brothers,  and  be  able 
to  establish  anew  organisation,  in  which 
the  possessors  of  wealth  would  consent  to 
equalise  the  differences  in  property. 

Pierre  Joseph  Proudhon,  1809-1865,  a 
contemporary,  appreciated  more  fully  the 
interests  of  the  middle  and  the  lower 
classes,  since  in  an  ingenious  but  thoroughly 
idealist  scheme  he  aimed  at  a  realisation  of 
the  three  main  principles  of  the  great 
Revolution — justice,  equality,  and  liberty 
— in  the  economic  world.  He  took  up 
a  position,  in  the  interests  of  individual 
freedom,  distinctly  opposed  to  com- 
munism, against  which  he  brought  the 
charges  that  it  obliterates  the  distinctions 
between  individuals,  fosters  the  indolence 
of  all,  and  extinguishes  personality.  His 
intention  was  to  preserve  the  improve- 
ments due  to  the  economic  system  of 
individualism,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  to 
remove  the  distress  and  unhappiness  intro- 

_  ^  . ,  duced  by  it.  For  this  reason 
Lamentable  ,■/■       ■    .     i  •    .    ■       , 

_  .       competition  IS  to  be  maintained; 

«j     ...  but    opposition    and    isolation 

Socialism  .\(.  .    ■     ,.      .,       ,      , 

are,  withm  certain  limits,  to  be 

obviated  by  reciprocal  support  and  com- 
bination. For  "  competition  and  associa- 
tion," so  he  said,  "  support  each  other.  Far 
from  excluding  each  other,  they  do  not 
even  diverge.  Whoever  speaks  of  competi- 
tion assumes  a  common  goal  ;  competition 
is  therefore  not  egotism,  and  it  is  the  most 
lamentable  error  of  socialism  to  see  in  it 

5264 


the  overthrow  of  society."  He  only 
attacked  the  unrestrained  competition, 
where  the  possession  of  capital,  as  the  privi- 
lege of  a  favoured  minority,  "exploits" 
the  large,  hard-working  majority  of  the 
people  ;  where  the  small  man,  from 
want  of  credit,  cannot  keep  his  footing; 
and  where  the  social  disorder  leads  to  a 
crisis,  to  the  bankruptcy  of  employers, 
and  to  want  of  employment  among 
many  thousand  workers. 

The  party  of  the  democratic  middle  class 
led  by  Alexandre  Auguste  Ledru-Rollin, 
1807-1874,  saw  itself  compelled  to  make 
advances  to  Socialism.  Its  chief  organ, 
the  "  Reforme,"  willingly  opened  its 
columns  to  Louis  Blanc's  social  and 
political  articles,  and  even  its  official 
programme  clearly  showed  the  influence 
of  the  new  socialistic  doctrines.  "  The 
workers,"  so  it  ran,  "have  been  slaves  and 
serfs ;  they  are  now  labourers  ;  our  aim 
must  be  to  elevate  them  to  the  position 
of  sharers.  The  State  must  take  the 
initiative  in  industrial  successes  in  order 
to  introduce  such  organisation  of  labour 
as  will  raise  the  workers  to  the  position  of 
sharers.  The  State  must  provide 
work    for     the    stalwart     and 


The  Golden 
Age  of  the 
Bourgeoisie 


healthy  citizen,  and  help  and 
protection  for  the  old  and  weak. ' ' 
Notwithstanding  this  strong  socialistic 
current,  there  were  at  first  only  slight 
waves  visible  on  the  surface  of  political 
life  ;  the  strict  law  of  meetings  and 
associations,  and  the  franchise,  which 
depended  on  a  large  income  and  was 
granted  only  to  the  200,000  richest  citizens 
in  the  whole  of  France,  prevented  the  new 
ideas  from  being  asserted  with  irresistible 
weight  in  ordinary  times. 

In  the  "  thirties  "  and  "  forties,"  when 
Socialism  and  the  emancipation  of  the 
lower  orders  were  so  prominent  in  the 
world  of  thought,  the  governing  powers 
were  quite  unconcerned  by  them.  At  no 
period  of  the  nineteenth  centurj'  had  the 
large  industries  and  "  haute  finance  "  so 
ruled  the  governing  powers  as  at  this  time, 
which  Treitschke  called  "  the  golden  age 
of  the  bourgeoisie."  Indeed  the  labour 
legislation  in  no  way  served  to  protect  the 
worker,  but  was  purelj^  directed  towards 
the  interests  of  the  bourgeoisie.  The 
associations  of  workers  in  the  same  craft 
for  the  promotion  of  their  "  presumed  " 
common  interests,  as  it  was  very  signifi- 
cantly termed  in  the  law,  which  dated  from 
the  year  1791,  were  still  prohibited  ;    and 


SOCIAL    PROBLEMS    IN    FRANCE 


this  law,  under  the  government  of  Louis 
Philippe,  was  still  enforced  merely  against 
coalitions  of  the  workers,  and  never  against 
the  employers.  The  prefects  were  in- 
structed, in  the  event  of  strikes,  to  forbid 
meetings  and  to  put  foreigners  who  took 
part  in  them  at  once  across  the  frontier. 

The  labour  book  was  obligatory  on  the 
workmen,  and  in  the  commercial  courts 
the  employers  had  a  secured  majority. 
Only  a  feeble  protective  law  was  passed  in 
favour  of  the  workmen,  which  established 
a  twelve  hours'  maximum  working  day 
for  children  ;  and  even  then  the  official 
instructions  for  carrying  it  OHt  explained 
that  it  could  not  be  strictly  observed. 
The  ruling  class  in  France  was  not  at  all 
disturbed,  either  by  the  misery  of  certain 
sections  of  the  proletarians  in  the  large 
towns,  or  by  riots  of  starving  workmen 
or  risings  of  communistic  conspirators. 

This  misgovernment  was  crowned  by 
the  insolent,  ignorance  with  which  the 
official  rei)resentatives  of  this  rule  of  the 
great  bourgeoisie  flatly  denied  the  exist- 
ence of  abuses  and  declared  their  world 
to  be  the  best  of  all  possible  worlds. 
,  Although  facing  a  condition  of 
U120  s  things  which  concealed  in  it 
At7't**a''  most  bitter  class  disputes,  that 
section  of  society  asserted 
that  neither  disabilities  nor  "privileges 
existed,  since  everyone  could  become  rich, 
and  then  acquire  .the  highest  political 
rights.  "  There  are  no  more  class  disputes," 
announced  Frangois  Pierre  Guillaume 
•Guizot,  1787-1874,  as  President  of  the 
Council,  a  short  time  before  the  February 
Revolution,  "  for  there  are  no  longer  any 
conflicting  interests."  And  when  reference 
was  made  to  the  agitation  among  the 
people,  he  arrogantly  thought  that  "  we, 
the  three  powers,  the  Crown  and  the 
Chambers,  are  the  only  legal  organs  of.  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people  ;  besides  us 
there  is  only  usurpation  and  revolution." 
And  thus  the  demand  for  the  extension 
of  the  franchise,  which  in  the  whole 
country  was  granted  only  to  a  bare  quarter 
of  a  million  of  the  most  highly  taxed,  was 
flatly  refused.  No  class  which  so  obsti- 
nately asserted  its  privileges  could  rule 
for  long  ;  and  in  fact  the  monarchy  of 
July,  1830,  was  overturned  like  a  house 
of  cards  by  the  revolutionary  hurricane 
of  the  year  1848. 

Tlie  upper  bourgeoisie  was,  however, 
still  politically  the  most  matured  class  at 
that   time.      The   real   middle   class,   the 

II  =5  ■  G 


poorer  citizens  of  the  towns,  had,  under 

the  July  monarchy,  abandoned  the  radical 

opposition,     which    politically    supported 

the    traditions  of    the  great    Revolution. 

In   other  points  it  fluctuated  vaguely  be- 

,  tween  the  maintenance  of  all  ownership 

and  a  socialistic  altruism,  and  had  never 

been    able    to    effect   a   union    with   the 

-.     .  ,.  peasants,     by    far    the     most 

Socialism  i  •      .  u  . 

.     ,  numerous  class  m  the  country. 

,  „       .       The  political  immaturity  of  the 
of  Promise         •  j  d        1  i     i    1 

middle  class  was  exceeded  by 

that  of  the  working  classes,  who  thought 
they  could  come  with  one  mighty  leap  into 
that  land  of  promise  called  Socialism. 

Under  such  circumstances  the  pro- 
visional government  which,  put '  at  the 
head  of  affairs  by  the  Revolution  of 
February,  1848,  embodied  primarily  the 
middle  class,  and  secondaiily  the  working 
orders,  was  not  able  to  produce  any  con- 
siderable results.  The  maximum  working 
day,  which  had  been  fixed  for  ail  industrial 
undertakings,  was  not  carried  out,  and 
the  prohibition  to  appoint  "middlemen," 
who  overworked  the  men,  was  not 
observed.  The  gift  of  ,^120, 000  to  the 
labour  associations  was  unable  to  effect 
any  increase  in  co-operative  systems,  and 
the  reluctant  attempt  to  put  into  practice 
the  right  to  work  finally,  when  the 
"  national  workshops  "  established  for  the 
purpose  were  discontinued,  led  to  riots. 

Thus  the  French  ship  of  state  drifted 
aimlessly,  without  a  compass,  on  the 
ocean  of  politics,  and  was  at  the  mercy  of 
the  first  man  who  knew  how  to  take  the 
helm  and  steer  her  into  a  safe  harbour. 
The  diiection  of  the  official  social  policy 
under  Napoleon  IIL  was  determined  by 
the  fact  that  the  sovereign  himself,  while 
still  a  young  prince,  had  developed  his 
own  programme  of  social  reform,  which 
culminated  in  the  creation  of  a  nobility  of 
manufacturers  in  Carlyle's  sense,  and  in 
an  attempt  by  the  State  to  solve  the  labour 
problem  by  the  cultivation  of  unfilled 
lands.  What  was  done,  then. 
Napoleon  III.  ^^^^^^^^  putting  this  project 
as  Social  •    ,  ,•  i_         -.i.  •    ■ 

P  mto  practice,  when  its  origi- 

nator mounted  the  throne  of 
France  ?  If  we  wish  to  answer  this 
question  correctly  we  niust  not  forget  that 
Napoleon  had  paved  the  way  to  his 
position  by  perjury  and  crime,  and  that  con- 
sequently he  had  to  be  on  his  guard  against 
revenge.  This  system,  therefore,  began 
with  a  campaign  against  all  associations, 
however   constituted,    of   workmen,    who 

5265 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


were  considered  the  most  active  dissemin- 
ators of  revolutionary  ideas.  Tlius,  not 
only  all  their  political  unions  but  also  their 
purely  economic  associations,  including 
many  flourishing  co-operative  stores  and 
similar  societies,  fell  victims  to  the 
dictatorship  which  "  saved  society." 
But  after  the  first  zeal  to  found  the  new 
empire  had  abated,  a  careful 
distinction  was  made  between 


Labour's 
Rights  under 
the  Empire 


the  political  and  the  economic 
organisations  of  the  prole- 
tariat, and  while  the  former  were  ruth- 
lessly nipped  in  the  bud,  no  obstacles 
were  placed  in  the  way  of  the  latter. 

Thus,  there  arose  under  the  empire  a 
vigorous  labour  agitation,  of  which  the 
centre  of  gravity  lay  in  the  combinations 
for  obtaining  higher  wages  and  generally 
improved  conditions  of  labour.  Now,  it 
is  true  that  such  coalitions  were  forbidden 
according  to  the  already  mentioned  law 
of  1791 ;  but  they  were  still  tacitly 
allowed.  "Striking"  workmen  were 
pardoned  and  complete  neutrality  was 
enjoined  on  the  prefects  in  event  of 
suspension  of  work.  Finally,  in  1864,  the 
prohibition  on  coalition  itself  was  removed. 

But  beyond  this  the  empire  undertook 
to  support  the  working  classes  by  a  long 
series  of  tangible  measures.  At  one  time 
it  tried  to  guarantee  to  the  metropolis 
cheap  prices  for  necessary  provisions. 
This  was  done  especially  by  the  establish- 
ment of  the  "  Caisse  de  la  boulangerie  " 
endowed  by  the  bakers,  from  which  the 
individual  masters  received  advances  in 
times  of  high  prices  for  corn  in  order  to 
be  able  to  maintain  the  low  price  of  bread. 
Then  an  energetic  attempt  was  made  to 
face  the  labour  question,  not  indeed  in  the 
vague  form  of  the  royal  pamphlet,  but 
by  a  system  of  public  building  opera- 
tions. Within  fifteen  years  more  than 
;f6oo,ooo,ooo  were  spent  in  Paris  alone  on 
public  edifices.  The  same  thing  happened 
in     Lyons,    Marseilles,     and     Bordeaux. 

^      ,  _  This    measure  had  various 

Great  Days  ,       , 

,  .1     »  -.J-      important         consequences 

of  the  Building   c  .^  n       \  ^ 

J   .  from  the  magnificent  scale 

"*  ""^  on  which  it  was  carried  out. 

Permanent  and  profitable  employment 
was  given  to  a  large  number  of 
"  hands,"  wages  had  an  upward  tend- 
ency, and  the  spirit  of  enterprise  was 
everjnvhere  aroused  by  the  excitement 
proceeding  from  the  building  industry. 
All  else  that  happened  was  of  sub- 
ordinate    significance.      The     remaining 

5266 


point  most  worthy  of  mention  is  the  legis- 
lation on  mutual  help  societies,  wliich 
supported  their  members  in  case  of  sickness 
or,  under  certain  circumstances,  of  in- 
capacity to  work.  These  possessed  an 
income  of  £400,000  and  various  privileges ; 
and  their  number  actually  increased  from 
2,000  in  1852  to  4,000  in  1859. 

The  workmen  in  the  State  workshops 
were  compelled  to  insure  their  old  age,  and 
at  the  same  time  their  wages  were  increased 
by  the  amount  of  the  premiums.  Besides 
this,  state  funds  were  available  for  the  con- 
struction of  workmen's  dwellings  and  the 
erection  of  benevolent  institutions,  creches 
for  the  children  of  workmen,  asylums  for 
crippled  workmen.  It  is  strange  that  the 
empire  never  thought  about  real  legislation 
for  the  protection  of  workmen. 

The  most  appropriate  estimate  of  all 
this  social  policy  is  given  by  Lexis  in  his 
book  on  trades  unions  in  France.  "  Louis 
Napoleon  as  emperor  did  not  really 
need  to  fear  that  he  would  be  reminded 
by  the  working  classes  of  his  brochure 
on  pauperism.  The  social  policy  of  the 
empire  is  by  no  means  opposed  to  the 
p  I-  spirit  of  it.  Discipline  and 
,  t     °  *^^  superintendence    of   the  work- 

01    Louis  ^  ,1  -J  T 

„  men  on  the  one  side,  ameliora- 

apo  eon  ^.^^  ^^  their  material  position 
on  the  other  ;  that  is  an  idea  which  is 
always  upheld  in  the  home  policy  of  Louis 
Napoleon."  In  fact,  the  working  class 
undoubtedly  gained  much  from  the  new 
order  of  things  ;  its  position  was  incom- 
parably improved  during  the  years  1850- 
1870.  Even  the  development  of  capital 
in  the  age  of  joint-stock  companies  was, 
on  account  of  the  number  of  new  under- 
takings, not  without  profit  to  the  lowest 
classes.  For  "  even  if  one  part  of  the 
shifted  millions  was  concentrated  in  the 
coffers  of  the  capitalistic  body,  another 
part  was  scattered  over  the  mass  of 
the  wage-earning  class." 

Notwithstanding  this,  the  proletariat 
was  proof  against  all  the  allurements  of 
the  Second  Empire.  It  was  dumb  to  all 
gifts,  deaf  to  all  promises,  cold  to  all 
flatteries ;  indeed,  "  the  current  of  re- 
publican feeling,  like  a  mighty  river, 
swept  away  with  it  continually  larger 
masses  of  the  people."  The  lower  middle 
class  was  at  first  furious,  since,  at  the  era 
of  wild  speculation  and  company  promo- 
tion, when  the  bearers  of  the  most  re- 
nowned Bonapartist  names  joined  in  the 
worship  of  the  golden  calf,  it  had  to  bear 


SOCIAL    PROBLEMS    IN    FRArSTCE 


the  brunt  of  the  costs.  It  knew  nothing 
of  the  black  art  of  gambUng  on  the  stock 
exchange,  and  would  gladly  make  money 
without  trouble,  and  therefore  was  caught 
by  enticing  promises  and  invested  its 
hard-earned  savings  in  rash  or  swind- 
ling undertakings. 

The  middle  class,  therefore,  and  the 
proletariat,  to  whom  the  illusions  created 
bj'  Proudhon's  theories  had  given  common 
ideals,  and  with  them  the  possibility  of 
common  action,  united,  especially  in  Paris, 
for  the  overthrow  of  the  Empire.  When 
this  was  accomplished  under  the  influence 
of  the  defeat  to  the  imperial  armies  in 
1870,  those  classes  combined  against  the 
republic  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  actually 
brought  the  Paris  commune,  in  which  the 
National  Guard,  mostly  recruited  from 
their  order,  held  sway  for  some  time,  from 
March  to  May,  1871,  under  their  power. 

Since  neither  Paris  nor  the  Govern- 
ment wished  to  yield,  the  result  was 
civil  war,  which  naturally  ended  with 
the  suppression  of  the  insurgent  popula- 
tion of  the  capital.  In  that  short  time, 
however,  the  government  of  the  besieged 
city,    whose    programme    of 

^^  ^.  ^^  ^^  social  policy  was  indistinct  in 

„  *  .  other  respects,  had  not  been 
Republic  ,  ,      ,  1  M  •, 

able  to  exhibit  any  compre- 
hensive measures  of  reform.  Under  the 
Third  Republic,  which  for  the  first  time 
secured  to  the  French  working  class  per- 
manent and  full  liberty  in  every  direction, 
important  political  labour  agitations  as 
well  as  powerful  economic  organisations 
of  the  labouring  classes  were  instituted. 
Politically,  the  most  noteworthy  event 
was  the  complete  separation  of  the 
proletariat  from  the  lower  middle  class. 
The  proletariat  followed  out  its  own 
aims  exclusively,  in  politics  and  economics, 
and  thus  acted  according  to  the  programme 
of  class  warfare. 

Regard  for  the  political  influence  of  the 
masses  of  workmen  compelled  the  Govern- 
ment to  make  social  reforms  which,  in  the 
first  instance,  dealt  with  the  continuation 
of  the  protection  to  workmen — by  the 
introduction  of  the  ten-hours  maximum 
working  day  for  young  persons  under 
eighteen  years  and  for  all  female  workers 
in  factories — and  the  concession  of  full 
liberty  of  coalition,  since  1884.  Besides 
this,  the  workmen  have,  in  a  number  of 
towns,  particularly  in  Paris,  enforced 
various  arrangements  which  are  conducive 


to  their  interests,  such  as  the  establishment 

of  labour  exchanges  at   the  cost   of  the 

community,  as   also  regulations    for    the 

minimum  wage  and  maximum  working  day 

for  a.11  men  employed  by  the  town  on  public 

works.     The  movement  in  favour  of  trades 

unions  and  co-operative  societies  has  lately 

received  a  great  stimulus  in  France ;  the 

-  .  ,     number  of    workmen   united 

Advance  of      ■      ,       j  •    ,.  ,         , 

^  ..       m  trade  associations  already 

.    _  reaches    500,000.     We    may 

in  France  ji     .     .u  ■   ^         "j 

assume  that   the   social   and 

economic    organisations    of    the    French 

working  classes,  although  they  are  still  far 

from  reaching  the  English  standard,  will, 

if  given  undisturbed  development,  attain 

in  a  few  decades  some  such  importance 

as  the  English. 

It  is,  lastly,  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
Socialists  have  succeeded  in  influencing 
the  administration  of  the  Board  of  Trade, 
so  valuable  for  social  interests,  in  favour 
of  the  workmen,  since  the  Socialists  have 
united  with  the  democratic  sections  for 
the  protection  of  the  republic  against  the 
attacks  of  the  military  and  clerical  parties. 

The  more  the  working  class  in  this  way 
practically  arrived  at  a  comprehension  of 
its  immediate  economic  interests,  in  con- 
tradistinction to  those  of  the  richer  class  and 
without  regard  to  any  collision  with  those 
of  the  inferior. bourgeoisie,  the  less  satisfied 
could  this  latter  class  feel  by  the  alliance 
with  the  proletariat.  Thus  it  resulted  that 
after  the  "seventies"  the  predominance 
of  Proudhon's  views,  which  earlier  had 
effected  the  spiritual  union  between  the 
two  orders,  grew  less  and  less,  and  that  the 
inferior  bourgeoisie  now  worked  for  their  sal- 
vation outside  the  socialistic  organisations. 

But  the  lower  middle  class  did  not 
succeed  in  making  an  organisation  with  a 
special  programme  of  its  own  ;  and  there- 
fore hundreds  of  thousands  of  its  members 
cordially  welcomed  the  demagogues,  who 
promised  them  that  they  would  oppose 
the  great  capitalists  as  well 
ransi  ory    ^^     ^^^   socialistic    tendencies. 

success  of     T^i  .         •  .1  1  -■  r 

„     ,      .        Ihis    is    the    explanation    of 

Boulangism    ,,       ,  -,  ^  r  <(  r> 

the  transitory  success  of  Bou- 
langism," in  1889,  and  more  lately  of 
the  great  prospects  of  the  "  nationalistic 
groups,"  who  anticipated  a  revival  of  the 
French  middle  class  from  the  campaign 
against  the  world  of  Jewish  trade  and 
finance.  But  this  movement  was  so 
short-lived  that  no  elucidation  of  its  con- 
fused economic  scheme  \vas  forthcoming. 


5267 


THE 

RE-MAKING 

OF 

EUROPE 


THE 

SOCIAL 

QUESTION 

VI 


SOCIAL    DEMOCRACY   IN   GERMANY 

THE  RISE  &  SPREAD  OF  LABOUR  MOVEMENTS 


""PHE  first  labour  agitation  in  Germany 

■■■      was  noticeable  in  the  "forties."    It 

then,  owing  to  the  strict  police  regulations 

of     the    German     Confederation,    chiefly 

affected  the  German  journeymen  who  lived 

by  thousands  in  foreign  countries.  Its  leader 

,       was  a  tailor,  Wilhelm  Weitling, 

crmany  s     1808-1871,  who,  as   an  emis- 

r  irst  Labour  c     j.\.  j.     <i  n       j 

.   .     .  sary    01    the    secret       Bund 

der  Gerechten,"  League  of  the 
Just,  at  Paris,  transplanted  the  com- 
munistic agitation  to  Switzerland.  He 
organised  the  movement  in  such  a  way 
that  public  workmen's  unions  were  founded 
under  harmless  designations,  in  which 
recruits  were  obtained  for  the  "  League 
of  the  Just."  The  object  was  to  establish 
by  revolutionary  methods  the  communistic 
society,  for  which  Weitling,  in  connection 
with  the  French  Utopians,  had  drawn  up 
a  special  system. 

At  the  same  time  interest  in  communism 
had  been  roused  even  in  the  German 
middle  classes,  where  the  half  doctrinaire, 
half  ideaUst  tendencies  of  the  age  had 
found  a  receptive  soil  in  the  students  of 
philosophy  and  literature.  In  the  mystic 
circle  of  the  "humanistic  philosophy" 
of  Ludwig  Andreas  Feuerbach,  1804- 
1872,  efforts  were  made  to  produce 
"  humane  "  conditions  even  in  social  life, 
and  the  heartless  capitalistic  methods  of 
business  were  condemned  in  accordance 
with  the  criticism  of  the  French  Socialists. 

The  positive  ideal  of  this  party,  headed 
by  the  writers  Moses  Hess,  1812-1875,  and 
Karl  Griin,  1813-1887,  was  the  most 
complete  freedom  of  man,  conceived  by 
_      e  nature  as  noble,  in  actions  and 

..  J  "  conduct,  in  production  and 
fth*^j^t"  consumption.  This  school  must 
therefore  be  termed  anarchist, 
since  it  preached  the  unqualified  self- 
glorification  of  the  individual  and  the 
exclusion  of  any  compulsion.  This  philo- 
sophic socialism  found  favour  first  with 
the  educated  middle  class,  and  then  also 
with  the   secret   "  League    of  the   Just." 

5268 


But  since  the  arguments  of  this  kind 
of  Socialism  were  necessarily  unfamiliar 
to  the  workmen,  Karl  Marx,  1818-1883, 
succeeded  at  last  in  preventing  this 
system  from  doing  any  harm  in  that 
league.  Through  his  efforts  the  league, 
which  henceforth  was  styled  "  Bund  der 
Communisten,"  adopted  his  principles, 
a  change  which  practically  produced  no 
further  results  then,  since  his  success 
coincided  with  the  outbreak  of  the  revolu- 
tion of  February,  1848,  which  dispersed 
the  members  of  the  league  in  all  directions-. 
The  only  independent  labour  movement 
was  made  quite  apart  from  the  com- 
munistic league,  under  the  organisation 
of  Stephan  Born,  a  compositor,  1825- 
1897.  By  vigorous  agitation  he  succeeded 
in  founding  a  labour  party,  which  came 
forward  under  the  name  of  "  Arbeiter- 
verbriiderung,"  Labour  Confraternity, 
and  had  as  its  immediate  aim  universal 

_      ^^  suffrage  for   all   representative 

Overthrow     1,    j-  j       .       ■<  .  1  ■ 

bodies  and  a  ten  hours  workmg 

_  day.      The      activity      of    the 

Democracy     f<  t     ,  n      t     4.        -t.     "        j. 

Labour     Confraternity        at 

that  time  consisted  chiefly  in  the  support 
of  the  war  of  the  democracy  against  the 
counter  revolution ;  and  thus  the  league  was 
necessarily  involved  in  the  overthrow  of  the 
democracy.  It  was  dissolved  in  1850,  and 
all  attempts  to  call  new  workmen's  unions 
into  existence  were  nipped  in  the  bud. 

Some  attempts  of  Marx  and  others  to 
resume  the  agitation  in  foreign  countries 
by  the  revival  of  the  old  communistic 
league  miscarried,  owing  to  the  vigilance 
of  the  police  ;  and  thus  this  association 
also  soon  disappeared  for  ever  in  1853. 
During  the  whole  of  this  decade  the  re- 
action allowed  no  organised  labour  move- 
ment to  take  place.  This  period  was  used 
by  Marx  for  the  further  development  of 
his  system,  which  he  had  already  sketched 
in  the  "  Communistic  Manifesto."  His 
original  works,  which  secure  him  a 
position  among  the  first  thinkers  of  all 
time,   reach    their    highest    level    in    his 


SOCIAL    DEMOCRACY    IN    GERMANY 


"  Materialistische  Geschichtsauffassung  " 
and  also  in  his  "  Untersuchung  der 
kapitalistischen  Produktionsweise." 

From  the  study  of  Hegel,  Marx  had 
formed  the  fundamental  conception  that 
history  depicts  a  ceaseless  process  of  life, 
decay,  and  progress,  in  which  each 
separate  stage  is  absolutely  necessary  and 
relatively  justified,  however  much  it  con- 
flicts with  all  the  accepted  notions  of 
politics  or  ethics.  But  while  Hegel  de- 
duced the  laws  of  historical  movement 
from  the  "  self -development  of  the  absolute 
notion,"  Marx  was  converted  by  the  philo- 
sophy of  Feuerbach  to  the  view  that  the 
man  creates  the  ideas,  and  that  the  "  idea  " 
does  not  determine  the  history  of  the  man. 

At  the  same  time  his  whole  mental  atti- 
tude rested  on  a  materialistic  basis,  since 
he  adopted  the  results  of  Feuerbach's  in- 
vestigations, that  the  higher  beings  whom 
our  religious  fancy  has  created  are  only  the 
fanciful  reflections  of  our  own  being.  If 
man  thus,  unconsciously,  created  religion, 
why  not  all  political,  legal,  artistic,  and 
scientific  existence  ?  And  here  Marx  be- 
lieves that  he  can  discover  the  secret  con- 
nection of  all  historical  de- 
velopment, since  he  assumes 
that,  in  the  first  instance, 
politics,  but  more  remotely 
all  other  manifestations  of  the  spiritual, 
social,  and  intellectual  life,  are  to  be  re- 
ferred to  the  economic  conditions  and  their 
development  as  the  one  ultimate  cause. 

The  economic  formation  of  society  since 
the  abandonment  of  the  primitive  common 
ownership  of  the  soil  is  determined  in  all 
its  previous  history  by  the  contrast 
between  the  classes,  especially  that  be- 
tween the  ruled  and  ruling  classes.  But 
this  is  changed  in  the  course  of  time.  For 
each  economic  constitution  develops  from 
itself  productive  forces  which  are  finally 
incompatible  with  the  old  form  of  produc- 
tion and  the  old  form  of  class  supremacy. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  the  contrast 
between  the  classes  culminates  in  a  class 
warfare,  in  such  a  way  that  a  crisis  must 
follow,  the  result  of  which  must  be  one  of 
two  alternatives  :  either  the  disruption  of 
the  existing  social  constitution  and  its 
change  into  a  higher  system,  since  the 
suppressed  classes  have  overthrown  the 
hitherto  ruling  classes,  or  the  common  ruin 
of  the  warring  classes. 

This  keen  inquiry  into  the  economic 
system  shows  how  conditions  are  at  the 
present    moment.     According   to   it,    the 


Marx's  Theory 
of  Historic 
Development 


value  of  all  commodities  is  determined  by 
the  amount  of  combined  necessary,  that  is, 
normal,  working  time  requisite  for  their 
production.  A  commodity  which  has 
cost  twelve  hours  of  combined  necessary 
labour  is  worth  double  as  much  as  a 
commodity  which  has  cost  six  hours.  But 
now  in  the  capitalistic  social  system  only 
the  owners  of  means  of 
production    and   livelihood 


The  Workman 

and 

the  Capitalist 


produce  commodities  ;  and 
therefore  the  great  majority 
of  the  non-propertied  class  sell  their 
only  commodity,  their  power  of  work, 
to  the  propertied.  "The  worker,"  so  it  is 
said  in  the  account  of  Marx's  teaching 
by  Friedrich  Engels,  1820-1895,  which 
is  to  be  regarded  as  an  authentic  repre- 
sentation, "  sells  his  power  of  work  to 
the  capitalist  for  a  certain  daily  sum. 
After  a  few  hours'  labour  he  has  produced 
the  value  of  that  sum.  But  his  contract 
of  work  runs  to  the  effect  that  he  must 
drudge  for  a  further  round  of  hours,  in 
order  to  complete  his  labour  for  the  day. 
The  value  which  he  produces  in  these 
additional  hours  of  excess  labour  is  excess 
value,  which  costs  the  capitahst  nothing, 
but  nevertheless  goes  into  his  pockets." 

The  appropriation  of  unpaid  labour  is 
the  fundamental  law  of  the  capitalistic 
method  of  production,  the  existence  of 
which  is  inseparable  from  the  "  sweating  " 
of  the  workmen.  Since  now,  according  to 
Karl  Marx,  the  excess  value  is  the  only 
thing  which  interests  the  capitalist  in  the 
process  of  production,  his  economic  trans- 
actions will  always  be  directed  towards  the 
increase  of  this  excessive  value. 

The  evident  results  of  this  desire  for 
extra  profits  are  as  follows  :  In  the  first 
place,  the  daily  hours  of  labour  will  be 
immoderately  prolonged.  Then  the  cheap 
labour  of  women  and  children  will  be  em- 
ployed on  an  immense  scale.  Finally,  the 
anarchy  in  co-operative  production  which 
is  so  significant  of  the  modern  economic 
methods  will  be  more  and 
Anarchy  in  ^^^^  carried  to  extreme 
Co-operative  ^^^^^^^  -  jj^g  ^hief  tool,"  SO 
Production  ^^^^^  explains  Marx's  views, 
"  with  which  the  capitalistic  method  of 
production  increased  this  anarchy  in  co- 
operative production  was  the  precise 
opposite  of  the  anarchy  ;  that  is,  the  in- 
creasing organisation  of  production  as 
co-operative  in  every  productive  estab- 
lishment. With  this  lever  it  destroyed 
the  old  peaceful  stability.     When  it  was 

5269 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


introduced  into  a  branch  of  industry,  it 
allowed  no  other  method  of  work  besides. 
When  it  took  possession  of  hand  work,  it 
destroyed  the  old  hand  work.  The  field 
of  labour  became  a  battle-ground.  Not 
merely  did  war  break  out  between  the 
individual  local  producers,  but  the  local 
wars  in  turn  became  national,  the  com- 
Th  B'tt  mercial  wars  of  the  seventeenth 
y^^  *  *''  and  eighteenth  centuries. 
I    d  Wholesale  industries    and  the 

'^  establishment  of  the  world 
market  have  made  the  war  universal';  and  at 
the  same  time  given  it  an  unprecedented 
bitterness.  Among  individual  capitalists, 
as  among  entire  industries  and  whole 
countries,  the  favourableness  of  the  natural 
or  created  conditions  of  production- decides 
the  question  of  existence.  The  defeated 
is  remorselessly  disregarded.  The  opposi- 
tion between  co-operative  production  and 
capitalistic  appropriation  now  appears  as 
the  contrast  between  the  organisation  of 
production  in  the  single  factory  and  the 
anarchy  of  production  in  the  whole  society. ' ' 
The  consequences  of  this  are  suspen- 
sions of  business  and  work,  partly  local, 
partly  universal,  which  lead  to  the  for- 
mation of  an  army  of  unemployed,  the 
so-called  "  industrial  reserve  army."  This 
must  grow  larger  as  time  elapses.  For 
the  "  bourgeoisie  "  surmounts  the  crises 
by  two  measures  only  :  on  the  one  side  by 
the  forced  annihilation  of  a  mass  of  pro- 
ductive forces,  factories  which  are  not 
working,  etc.,  on  the  other  side  by- the  con- 
quest of  new  markets.  The  crises,  then,  are 
surmounted  only  by  preparing  more  widely 
extended  and  more  violent  crises,  and  the 
means  of  avoiding  the  crises  are  lessened. 

The  crises  now  afford  a  means  of  con- 
centrating various  amounts  of  capital  in 
one  hand.  Every  capitalist  ruins  many 
other  capitalists.  Hand  in  hand  with  this 
destruction  of  many  capitalists 'by  a- iew, 
the  co-operative  form  of  the  process -of 
labour  is  developed  in  a  continually-  grow- 
_.  .  ,  ing  scale.  There  is  the  change 
api  as  ^£  ^Y^Q  old  instruments  of  labour 
«  suited  to  use  by  the  individual 

upr  macy  ^^^^  instruments  adapted  only 
for  combined  use,  the  entanglement  of  all 
nations  in  the  net  of  the  world  market, 
and  with  this  the  international  character 
of  the  supremacy  of  capital.  The  mass 
of  misery  grows  with  the  continually 
diminishing  number  of  great  capitalists, 
who  secure  exclusively  for  themselves  all 
the  advantages  of  this  change  ;    but  at 

5270 


the  same  time  sedition  grows  rife  among 
the  working  classes,  who  are  always 
swelling  in  numbers,  and  are  organised  by 
the  mechanism  of  the  capitalistic  system 
of  production.  The  monopoly  of  capital 
becomes  a  clog  on  the  method  of  production, 
which  has  flourished  with  it  and  under  it. 
It  is  removed,  and  its  place  is  taken  by  the 
communistic  social  system,  the  principles 
of  which  are  only  suggested  by  Marx. 

While  Marx  was  developing  his  system 
in  London,  an  attempt  had  been  made 
in  Germany,  after  the  end  of  the  "  fifties  " 
in  the  nineteenth  century,  to  win  over 
the  workrhen  to  the  Liberal  movement, 
which  was  assumingnew  importance.  This 
was  done  by  first  founding  associations  for 
the.  education' of  workmen,  and  by  the 
self-help  movement  initiated  by  a  former 
judge  of  the  patrimonial  court,  Hermann 
Schulze-Delitzsch,  1808-1883.  The  edu- 
cational societies  could,  from  their  nature, 
only  have  a  restricted  sphere  of  influence. 
The  case  would  have  been  otherwise  with 
the  self-help  movement  if  it  had  been 
connected  with  the  real  interests  of  the 
working  class,  above  all,  with  the  organisa- 
tion of  trades  unions.  Instead 
of  this,  Schulze  contemplated. 


Lassalle  the 
Friend  of 


the  Workman 


in  the  first  instance,  the  estab- 
lishment of  money-lending 
banks,  of  societies  for  supply  of  raw 
materials,  of  co-operative  shops  and 
similar  associations  which  considered 
especially  the  interests  of  the  small  master- 
w^orkmen,  while  the  proletarians  were 
attracted  merely  to  the  co-operative  stores 
which  were  then  also  founded. 

■  The  result  could  only  be  that  the  work- 
men -themselves  felt  this  representation 
of  their"  class  interests  to  be  insufficient, 
and  looked  round  for  men  to  help  them. 
The  man  who  came  forward  now  as  their 
leader  was  a  friend  of  Marx,  Ferdinand 
Lassalle,  1825-1864,  who  had  won  the 
confidence  of  the  proletariat  by  his 
socialistic  and  revolutionary  antecedents. 
The  labour  agitation  of  the  present  daj% 
and  with  it  "  Social  Democrac}',"  were 
the  fruits  of  his  political  activity. 

Lassalle  began  his  agitation  in  March, 
1863,  with  the  "  Open  Answer "  to  a 
deputation  of  workmen  from  Leipzig,  who 
wished  to  learn  his  views  on  the  social 
question  and  the  means  of  reform.  This 
pamphlet  contained  also  the  fundamental 
principles  of  Lassalle's  social  programme, 
which  are  only  explained,  supported, 
strengthened,  and  defended  in  all  his  later 


SOCIAL    DEMOCRACY    IN    GERMANY 


writings.  It  was  shown  first  of  all  that 
the  average  wages  in  a  national  industry 
depending  on  private  capital  and  free 
competition  always  remain  limited  to 
the  bare  livelihood  which  is  ordinarily 
necessary  among  a  people  for  the  su]')port 
and  continuance 
of  life,  the  "  iron 
law  of  wages." 
This  was  the  in- 
evitable destiny 
of  the  workmen 
so  soon  as  they 
were  in  any 
man's  pay.  The 
workers  must, 
therefore,  Las- 
salle  concluded, 
become  their 
own  masters,  the 
house  for  which 
they  work  must 
be  their  own  pro- 
perty, a  "pro- 
ductive associa- 
tion "  ;  then 
that  distinction 
labour   and   the 


Liebknecht  Bebel 

GERMAN  LEADERS  OF  SOCIAL  DEMOCRACY 
A  loyal  disciple  of  Marx,  Wilhelm  Liebknecht  took  a  leading-  part  in 
the  advancement  of  Socialism,  adopting  extreme  measures  to  secure 
the  success  of  the  cause  and  suffering  two  years'  imprisonment, 
while  Ferdinand  August  Bebel,  who  also  has  been  imprisoned,  has 
led  the  social  democratic  movement  in  the  Reichstag  and  in  the  Press. 


between  the  wages  of 
profit  of  owners  would 
disappear,  and  in  its  place  the  proceeds  of 
the  labour  would  form  remuneration  for 
the  labour.  Organisation  in  productive 
associations  could  only  be  feasible  uider 
the  existing  conditions,  if  the  State 
advanced  to  the  workers  the 
money  for  the  purchase  of  the 
firms  and  of  everything  else 
which  belonged  to  the  manage- 
ment of  factories  and  business. 
The  means  by  which  this  State 
credit  was  to  be  won  was  the 
introduction  of  universal, 
uniform,  and  direct  franchise, 
which  would  presumably  se- 
cure to  the  labouring  class  the 
majority  in  Parliament.  This 
was  the  solution  propounded 
by  the  "  Open  Answer." 
Lassalle,  in  order  to  pro- 
pagate this  doctrine,  founded 
the  '"Universal  German 
Workmen's  Union,"  of 
which  he  became  the  presi- 
dent,  with    absolute  powers. 

The  older  German  communists,  with 
Marx  at  their  head,  naturally  could  not 
approve  of  Lassalle's  teaching  or  his 
tactics.  The  proposition  of  the  "  iron  law 
of  wages  "  could  not  but  greatly  oftend 
Marx  ;    but  still  more  was  the  proposal 


of  the  productive  association  as  a  remedy 
for  all  social  misery  bound  to  call  forth 
all  the  indignation  of  the  communistic 
thinker,  who,  in  1852,  had  declared  that 
the  proletariat  ought  not  to  meddle  with 
doctrinaire    attempts    such    as    exchange 

banks  and  asso- 
ciations, but 
"should  try  to 
re  v  o  1  u  t  i  o  n  i  5  e 
the  Old  World 
with  their  own 
great  combined 
means."  The 
Com  munist  s 
V  i  e  w  c  d  wit  h 
equal  suspicion 
the  exaggerated 
value  attached 
by  the  followers 
of  Lassalle  to 
universal  suf- 
rage  ;  for  Marx 
did  not  expect 
to  lead  com- 
munism to  vic- 
tory by  parliamentary  majorities,  but 
expected  all  success  from  the  continuously 
growing  impoverishment  of  the  masses 
and  of  the  thus  inevitable  self-annihilation 
of  the  civil  society.  In  accordance  with 
this  view  he.  openly  announced  to  the 
German  workmen  by  the  mouth  of  his 
most  loyal  disciple,  Wilhelm 
Liebknecht,  1826-1900,  that 
Socialism  was  merely  a  ques- 
tion of  power,  which  for  that 
reason  could  not  be  solved  in 
any  Parliament  of  the  world. 
During  the  lifetime  of 
Lassalle  these  opponents 
could  accomplish  nothing,  but 
soon  after  his  early  death,  in 
1864,  they  began  to  under- 
mine his  system.  The  Inter- 
national Association  of  Work- 
men, the  Red  International, 
founded  in  the  autumn  of 
1864,  acted  as  their  champion. 
This  never  indeed  counted 
more  than  a  thousand  mem- 


EDUARD     BERNSTEIN 
A  writer  remarkable  for  wide  learn- 
ing,  grasp  of  facts,  and  graceful 
style,  he  led  the  opposition  against 
Marxism,  opposing  the  party  view    ,  ■      r^  l     ^      i^r       i    j 

that  the  disruption  of  the  bourgeois   bcrs  m  Germany,  Dut  anorded 

society  was  soon  to  be  anticipated.     ^     ^^g^gg      ^f     operations     from 

which  the  attack  against  the  followers  of 
Lassalle  might  be  made.  The  regular 
troops  of  Marx's  following  were,  however, 
first  furnished  by  the  "  Federation  of 
German  Workmen's  Unions."  This  was- a 
labour  league  which,  founded  in  1863  by 

5271 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  party  of  Progress,  had  gradually  been 
piloted  to  complete  communism  by  the 
influence  of  Liebknecht  on  its  chairman, 
Ferdinand  August  Bebel,  born  in  1840.  In 
1868,  the  Federation  declared  openly  for  the 
principles  of  the  Internationals,  and  in  i86g 
established  itself,  in  combination  with 
seceded  members  of  the  Universal  German 
Workmen's  Union  and    with 

oMhrsrc!al  °*^^^'  Socialists,  as  the  Social 
o  c  ocia  j)gj^Q(-i-atic  Labour  party. 
cmoc  jj^^  programme  of  this  Social 

Democratic  party,  drawn  up  at  Eisenach 
towards  the  end  of  i86g,  was  conceived  in 
the  spirit  of  Marx,  and  only  slightly  corre- 
sponded with  the  ideas  circulated  by 
Lassalle's  vigorous  agitation,  in  order  not 
to  preclude  the  possibility  of  a  future 
reconciliation  with  the  powerful  party  of 
Lassalle's  followers. 

The  programme  declared  expressl}'  that 
the  Social  Democratic  party  regarded  itself 
as  a  branch  of  the  International  Workmen's 
Association.  Their  ideal  was  the  free 
Republic,  which  alone  was  able  to  replace 
the  wage  system  of  the  existing  industrial 
regime  by  co-operative  labour,  which 
should  guarantee  to  each  worker  the  full 
proceeds  of  his  labour.  The  Eisenach 
programme  laid  down,  as  the  immediate 
objects  of  the  efforts  of  the  party,  a  series 
of  social  and  poHtical  requirements,  which 
were  borrowed  partly  from  the  principles 
of  the  political  Radicals,  partly  from  the 
doctrines  of  Marx  and  Lassalle. 

The  Social  Democracy  had  begun,  shortly 
before,  to  take  active  steps.  The  imme- 
diate impulse  to  practical  action  was  given 
by  an  attempt,  made  by  the  Party  of 
Progress  in  1868,  to  found  trades  unions. 
Jean  Baptista  von  Schweitzer,  1833-1875, 
and  Friedrich  Wilhelm  Fritzsche,  the 
leaders  at  the  time  of  the  "  Universal 
German  Labour  Union,"  which  was  always 
influenced  by  the  glorification  of  Lassalle, 
took  immediate  steps  to  estabhsh  industiial 
unions  in  order  to  forestall  the  detested 
bourgeois  party.  Finallv,  as 
Amalgamatmg  ^j^g    third    member    of 'the 

league,   the    "Social   Demo- 


the  Forces 
of  Labour 


cratic  Labour  party "  of 
Marx  appeared  on  the  scene  in  order  to 
secure  its  share.  After  this  organisation  of 
trades  unions,  the  Social  Democratic  party 
in  Germany  ceased  to  content  itself  with 
bare  criticism^  of  the  existing  society,  and 
to  aim  only  at  the  final  goal  of  their  efforts, 
the  State  of  the  future.  Henceforward  it 
endeavoured  to  interfere  directly  with  life, 

5272 


since  it  put  clearly  before  the  workers  the 
great  advantages  they  could  at  once 
gain  if  they  combined  in  masses  according 
to  their  respective  trades. 

The  results  of  the  elections  for  the 
Reichstag  in  1874  show  how  effective  the 
trade  organisation  was.  Although  the  split 
of  the  Social  Democracy  into  the  two  camps 
of  the  Lassalle  party  and  the  Eisenach 
party  still  continued,  socialism  was  already 
able  to  show  a  splendid  army  ;  not  less  than 
340,000  votes  were  cast  for  it.  Soon  after- 
wards the  Social  Democracy  entered  upon 
the  era  of  persecution  by  the  courts  and  the 
police,  and  this,  among  other  causes,  led  both 
parties  to  end  the  organisation  of  unions. 

The  instinct  of  self-preservation  now 
impelled  both  sections  to  unite  and  to  apply 
all  their  forces  exclusively  to  the  struggle 
against  the  common  foe.  The  amalgama- 
tion was  carried  out  at  the  congress  at 
Gotha  in  1875,  where,  as  usually  happens, 
the  more  radical  party  gained  the  ascend- 
ancy over  the  more  moderate.  The  new 
programme  showed  in  essential  points  the 
communistic  stamp  of  Marx's  doctrines, 
and  only  slight  concessions  were  made  to 
J  f  t^^  followers  of  Lassalle.  In 
tK^^w   V°      i^ct,  "  Lassalleanism"  ceased 

e      or  ing     jj-^j^  ^j^g^^.  ^i^ig  ^q  play  any 

independent  role  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  party.  In  other  respects  it  is  a 
feature  of  the  Gotha  programme  that  it 
pays  far  more  attention  to  the  protection 
of  the  workers,  than  the  earlier  programmes. 

Unrestricted  right  of  coalition,  ordinary 
length  of  working  day,  prohibition  of  Sun- 
day labour,  of  child  labour,  and  of  all 
forms  of  female  labour  injurious  to  the 
health,  laws  for  the  protection  of  the  life 
and  health  of  the  workers,  legal  liability 
and  independent  administration  for  all 
charitable  funds  belonging  to  the  workers  ; 
this  was  the  list  of  requirements  which  the 
German  working-classes  continuously  put 
before  the  Government  of  the  day.  Men 
began,  therefore,  to  attach  far  more  weight 
than  before  to  an  immediate  and  practical 
social  reform.  This  change  in  tactics  proved 
to  be  a  factor  of  enormous  significance, 
which  was  calculated  to  bring  continuous 
reinforcement  to  the  party.  In  the  elec- 
tion of  the  Reichstag  of  the  year  1877  the 
Socialistic  Labour  part}',  as  the  official 
title  now  was,  could  unite  493,000  votes 
in  support  of  their  candidates. 

Shortly  afterwards,  on  May  nth  and  June 
2nd,  1878,  followed  the  two  attempts  on 
the  life  of  the  German  Emperor.     Public 


SOCIAL    DEMOCRACY    IN    GERMANY 


opinion  falsely  made  the  Social  Democrats 
responsible  for  this,  and  so  the  emergency 
law  "  against  the  common  danger  threat- 
ened by  the  Social  Democracy  "  was  passed 
in  October,  1878.  After  the  party  seemed 
to  be  really  quite  broken,  it  recovered  and 
effected  some  secret  and  some  harmless 
public  organisations.  When,  then,  in  1881, 
the  "  trade  associations  "  of  the  workmen 
were  allowed  by  the  police,  the  Social  Demo- 
cracy won  back  their  complete  freedom  of 
action  ;  for  the  trade  associations  afforded 
excellent  rallying  points  and  recruiting 
grounds  for  the  active  army  of  the  Social 
Democracy,  although  in  their  meetings 
hardly  any  party  politics  were  discussed. 

It  is  not  astonishing,  therefore,  that 
the  law  as  to  the  Socialists  did  not  fulfil 
its  primary  object,  the  annihilation  of 
the  party.  When  the  Social  Democracy 
had  recovered  from  the  first  shock,  it 
advanced  in  an  uninterrupted  victorious 
career,  until  in  the  elections  of  the 
Reichstag  of  1890  it  received  more  than 
1,400,000  votes.  So  it  became  clearer  from 
day  to  day  that  the  emergency  law  lacked 
any  permanently  effective  result,  and 
offered  no  compensation  for  the 

m  re  s  -j-g^jj^^jj^g  Qf  political  morality, 
p    J .  which     the     police     espionage 

required  by  the  law  greatly 
promoted.  The  German  Emperor,  William 
II.,  recognising  this,  determined  to 
renounce  the  use  of  this  two-edged  sword 
on  September  30th,  1890. 

Prince  Bismarck,  simultaneously  with 
the  suppression  of  the  social  democratic 
labour  agitation,  had  inaugurated  a  system 
of  social  policy  that  was  intended  to  put 
into  practice  all  the  best  points  of  the 
modern  Labour  movement. 

German  legislation  had  hitherto  occupied 
itself  but  little  with  the  working-men.  In 
1869  it  had  granted  to  them  the  right  of 
coalition,  and  for  the  rest  had  been  satis- 
fied with  the  prohibition  of  the  labour  of 
children  under  twelve  years,  and  with  the 
limitation  of  the  labour  of  young  persons 
under  sixteen  years  in  factories.  It  was  a 
consequence  of  the  fundamental  notions 
of  the  Imperial  Chancellor  that  no  further 
steps  were  taken  in  this  direction,  although 
the  school  of  socialist  professors,  of  whom 
the  most  important  intellects  were  Albert 
Schaffle,  Gustav  Schmoller,  Adolph  Wag- 
ner, Wilhelm  Lexis,  and  Lujo  Brentano, 
advocated  this  particular  reform  before  all 
others.  The  Chancellor  wished  at  one  time 
that  the  manufacturer  should  be  master 


in  his  own  house,  and  be  able  to  conduct 
the  business  entirely  at  his  own  discretion. 
But  then  Bismarck  did  not  abandon  the 
view  that  the  factory  law  as  to  the  maxi- 
mum working  day,  Sunday  rest,  &c,, 
lowered  the  profits  of  the  owner  too  greatly, 
and  also  diminished  the  wage-earning  of 
the  workman,  even  if  it  did  not  altogether 

Th  St  t  •  ^^^*-^^'"  ^^s  employment  pre- 
_  carious.       Besides      this,      he 

tk    w    1       believed  that  there  were  only 

the  Worker  ,        ,  ,    .    ,  ,  .   ■^ 

local    complamts    of   excessive 

duration  of  labour,  so  that  any  interfer- 
ence was  the  less  imperative.  Bismarck 
considered  uncertainty  of  existence  to  be  the 
real  misfortune  of  the  modern  proletariat. 
His  programme,  therefore,  announced  that 
the  worker,  when  sick,  ill,  or  disabled, 
should  be  cared  for,  and  that  work  should 
be  found  him  when  out  of  place. 

He  imagined  that  the  first  require- 
ment could  be  realised  by  the  plan 
that  millions  of  workers  should  be  in- 
sured in  state-organised  offices  against  the 
economic  results  of  sickness,  accidents, 
infirmity,  and  old  age  ;  the  necessary  costs 
were  to  be  paid  partly  by  the  workmen 
themselves,  partly  by  the  owners  of  the 
business,  partly  by  the  empire,  which  was 
to  be  enabled  to  make  ampler  advances 
by  the  introduction  of  the  tobacco  mono- 
poly and  profitable  taxes  on  spirits.  The 
second  requirement  he  wished  to  fulfil  by 
recognition  of  the  "  right  of  labour,"  which 
could  be  put  into  practice  by  the  carrying 
out  of  appropriate  works,  such  as  construc- 
tion of  canals  and  roads  at  the  public  cost 
in  times  of  great  scarcity  of  employment. 

With  these  views  of  the  necessity  of 
State  solicitude  for  working  men,  Bismarck 
combined  the  conviction,  which  had  been 
strengthened  in  him  by  the  development 
of  the  Social  Democracy,  that  this  party 
was  in  the  highest  degree  dangerous  to 
the  State,  and  that,  in  the  event  of  further 
unchecked  development,  it  would  cer- 
tainly produce,  sooner  or  later,  a  bloody 
social  catastrophe.  The  result 
of  this  view  was  his  campaign 


Fears  of  a 

Social 

Catastrophe 


of  extermination  against  the 
Social  Democracy,  which,  how- 
ever, as  has  been  described  above,  com- 
pletely miscarried.  His  constructive  social 
policy  has,  however,  been  unusually  success- 
ful. The  German  working-men's  insurance, 
which  was  announced  in  an  imperial 
message  in  1881,  and  was  completed  by 
i88g,  must  be  termed  "  a  magnificent 
organising   structure,    unique  of  its   kind 

5273 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


in  the  history  of  the  world."  We  see  from 
the  numbers  of  the  working  men  affected 
how  immense  a  seiv'ice  was  rendered. 

In  the  year  1900  nine  mihions  of  workers 
were  insured  against  sickness,  thirteen 
milHons  against  old  age  and  infirmity, 
seventeen  millions  against  accidents.  The 
sums  which  on  the  basis  of  the  legal  claim 
_,  _,  ,  ^  thus  established  are  paid  to 
The  Unsolved  ^^^  workers  merely  out  of 
Problem  of  the    ,,  r  .  1  i 

,,  ,  .  the  means  of  the  employers 
Unemployed  ,    ,,  1      . 

and  the  empire  amount  at 

the  present  day  to  more  than  £10,000,000 
sterling  annually,  and  are  certain  soon  to 
be  increased.  The  only  point  of  that 
programme  which  Bismarck  did  not 
assist  in  carrying  out  is  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  "  unemployment."  But, 
notwithstanding  this  deficiency,  the 
achievements  of  the  first  Chancellor  in 
the  field  of  social  policy  stand  as  a  "monu- 
ment more  lasting  than  brass." 

The  new  regime  which  commenced  with 
the  retirement  of  Bismarck  started  very 
favourably  with  the  working  men.  The 
socialist  laws  were  not  renewed ;  and 
William  II.  unfolded  his  programme  of 
social  policy  in  two  public  statements. 
According  to  them,  "  the  time,  duration, 
and  nature  of  labour  were  to  be  so  regu- 
lated by  the  authority  of  the  State  that  the 
preservation  of  health,  the  laws  of  decency, 
the  economic  requirements  of  the  workers, 
and  their  claim  to  legal  privileges  should  be 
permanently  upheld."  Legal  enactments 
for  the  adequate  representation  of  workers 
were  to  be  passed  in  order  to  preserve  peace 
between  employers  and  employed. 

The  protection  of  workmen  was  soon 
considerably  extended,  since,  by  the  law  of 
the  year  1891,  Sunday  labour,  as  well  as  the 
labour  of  children  under  thirteen  3'ears, 
was  prohibited,  and  a  maximum  working 
day  of  eleven  hours  for  adult  female  workers 
in  factories  was  introduced.  In  other 
respects  also,  in  spite  of  a  strong  current 
of  opposition  which  set  in  among  the 
wealthy  citizen  class,  social 
Grow  h  of  j.^^^^^  has  been  distinctly 
Soci&l  -    -  -        -    •' 


Democracy 


advanced  by  the  introduction 


of  a  maximum  working  day  of 
twelve  houis  for  all  journeymen  bakers,  the 
closing  of  shops  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing, commercial  courts  for  labour  disputes 
between  masters  and  employees,  and, 
finally,  continual  improvements  to  the 
system  of  statutory  insurance  of  workmen. 
During  these  years  the  Social  Democracy 
has  slowly  but  surely  increased  in  extent  ; 

5274 


at    the    same    time,    however,    a    distinct 

disintegration  is  perceptible  in  the  party. 

The  congress  at  Erfurt  in  i8gi,  which  drew 

up  a   programme,  showed  the  party  still 

united  round  the  banner  of  Marx ;  but  since 

then  the  main  principles  of  Marx  have  been 

the  centre  of  a  heated  controversy. 

The   leader   of   the    opposition    against 

Marxism,  which  is  temporarily  still  found 

in    the    minority,   is    Eduard    Bernstein, 

born  January  6th,  1850,  who,  on  account 

of  earlier  offences  under  the  Press  laws,  is 

forced  to  live  out  of  Germany  ;    a  writer 

equally  remarkable  for  his  wide  learning, 

his  grasp  of  facts,  and  his  graceful  style. 

Bernstein  first  opposed  the  party  view  that 

the  disruption  of  the  bourgeois  society  was 

soon    to    be    anticipated,    and    that    the 

tactics  of  the  party  must  be  determined 

by  this  prospect.      Social  conditions,   he 

thought,  had  not  come  to  a  crisis  in  the 

way  assumed  by  Marx.    "  The  number  of 

property  owners  has  not  become  less,  but 

greater.    The  enormous  increase  of  social 

wealth  is  not  accompanied  by  a  dwindling 

number  of  capitalistic  magnates,  but  by  a 

growing  number  of  capitalists  of  all  grades. 

The    middle    classes    change 

^*  'f  .  ,  their  character,  but  do  not  dis- 
Tendencies  of  x  j.l  •    1         i     >i 

^    .    .  appear  from  the  social  scale. 

***'  ^  Even  in  the  industrial  world 

the  concentration  of  production,  according 
to  Bernstein,  confirms  in  some  branches 
only  the  prophecies  of  socialistic  criticism  ; 
in  others  it  falls  far  short  of  them  ;  and  in 
agriculture  concentration  proceeds  still 
more  slowly.  Politically  the  privilege  of 
the  capitalistic  class  gives  way  to  demo- 
cratic institutions,  and  the  purely  selfish 
tendencies  of  capital  are  more  and  more 
limited  by  society  itself. 

And  in  this  way  there  will  be  less  neces- 
sity and  opportunity  for  the  great  political 
crashes,  which  the  working  class  moreover 
would  not  be  able,  at  present  or  for  a  long 
time,  to  surmount.  The  Social  Democracy, 
therefore,  may  not  reckon  any  more  on  the 
great  catastrophe,  but  it  ought  politically 
to  organise  the  working  class,  develop  it 
into  democracy,  and  fight  for  all  reforms 
in  the  State  which  are  calculated  to  elevate 
the  working  class  and  develop  the  constitu- 
tion in  the  spirit  of  democracy. 

The  most  important  question  of  tactics 
in  this  sense  is,  which  is  the  best  way' 
to  extend  the  political  and  industrial 
rights  of  the  German  working  men  ? 
The  fact  that  Bernstein,  in  spite  of  the 
intense   hostility  which   he    encountered, 


'Social  DEMOCRACY  in  Germany 


remained  in  the  ranks  of  the  party, 
and  the  further  fact  that  many  "  men 
of  intellect "  in  it  had  already  made 
themselves  more  or  less  known  to  him, 
opened  a  reassuring  prospect  for  the  future 
of  the  German  working  men's  movement. 
If,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  great  mass  of 
the  social  democracy  should  really  abandon 
the  sterile  doctrines  of  Marx,  and  aim 
at  an  honourable  social  reform  on  national 
soil,  nothing  would  remain  of  the  old 
Social  Democracy  beyond  the  name,  and 
the  cult  of  the  "  constitution  of  the  future  " 
would  sink  into  a  harmless  amusement. 

It  had  been  the  custom  for  many  years 
in  Germany  to  regard  the  economic 
needs  and  requirements  of  the  working 
class  simply  as  the  "  social  question," 
which  was  the  outcome  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  capitalistic  conditions  relating 
to  production,  exchange,  and  competition. 
When  this  development  had  brought  to 
light  unfavourable  results  and  new  needs  in 
other  professional  classes  also,  there  could 
no  longer  be  any  doubt  that  the  social 
question  covered  a  much  wider  field.  The 
most  distinct  expression  of  this  is  the  fact 
».  that  these  professional  classes 

t  ^L     r-  begin  to  organise  themselves 

of  the  German  •  ■•?  ^        j-i 

T,     .  ma    similar    way    to    the 

tradesmen  ,  .  ,  -'j  •   -i 

working   class,  and    noisily 

demand — as  little  disinterestedly  as  the 
proletariat — that  the  State  should  inter- 
vene with  its  authority  on  their  behalf  in 
the  existing  economic  conditions.  The 
master  tradesmen  did  this  first ,  and  recently 
the  small  dealers.  These  two  classes  are 
generally  kept  in  view  when  mention  is 
made  of  the  movement  of  the  middle  class 
in  Germany;  a  movement  which,  more- 
over, has  been  of  incalculably  less  import- 
ance than  that  of  the  working  men. 

The  movement  of  the  tradesmen  is 
mainly  represented  by  two  associations  : 
the  United  Trading  Associations  and  the 
Universal  German  "  Handwerkerbund." 
The  political  representation  of  their  de- 
mands is  effected  by  the  Conservative 
and  the  Clerical  party,  and  in  an  especially 
partial  way  by  the  "  German  Social 
Reformers,"  the  section  of  the  regular 
anti-Semites.  There  are  two  prominent 
postulates,  from  which,  if  granted,  the 
tradesmen  class,  oppressed  by  the  modern 
development  of  factories,  trade,  and  de- 
mand, hope  to  gain  renewed  power  ; 
first,  that  a  proof  of  qualification  be  de- 
manded from  every  man  who  in  the  future 
intends  to  s6t  tip  as  a  master,  and,  secondly, 


that  it  be  obligatory  on  every  master  to 
join  the  guild  of  his  calling.  The  proof 
of  qualification  is  intended  primarily 
to  guarantee  the  quality  of  the  work  done 
by  the  tradesman  ;  secondarily,  to  limit 
the  competition  in  favour  of  those  who 
are  already  in  the  business.  The  obliga- 
tion to  join  a  guild  is  intended  to  combine 
jj  ,      .  all  masters  in  the  common 

^  ....  ,  defence  of  their  interests, 
Combination  of         ■,  ,  ,  .     ^ .    .  ,       ' 

^^  j^    ^  and  to  make  every  individual 

master  share  the  burden  of 
the  suggested  methods  of  promoting  trade, 
credit  departments,  courses  of  lectures, 
etc.,  since  experience  has  shown  that  when 
entrance  is  voluntary  only  a  minority 
are  enrolled  in  the  guilds.  At  the  same 
time  the  following  measures  are  proposed  : 
the  institution  of  chambers  of  tradesmen, 
in  order  to  serve  as  a  special  board  of 
control  over  the  guilds  and  to  represent 
duly  the  interests  of  the  trade  in  all 
legislative  matters ;  also,  restriction  of 
military  workshops,  prison  labour,  and 
hawking ;  further,  prohibition  of  co- 
operative stores,  travelling  booths,  public 
auction  of  tradesmen's  goods,  and  of  branch 
establishments  ;  finally,  regulation  of  the 
system  of  tender  in  the  interest  of  the  trades- 
man class,  and  preferential  rights  for  the 
claims  of  tradesmen  in  cases  of  bankruptcy. 

The  proposal  as  to  the  proof  of  qualifica- 
tion has  already  found  a  majority  in  the 
German  Reichstag.  On  January  20th,  1890, 
a  motion  in  its  favour  was  passed  by  130 
votes  against  92.  But  the  Government  em- 
phatically declined  to  accede  to  this  wish. 

The  Prussian  Government  showed  itself 
far  more  friendly  to  the  second  chief 
demand  of  the  tradesmen,  that  of  com- 
pulsory membership  of  a  guild,  since  it 
proposed  in  the  Bundesrat  the  introduc- 
tion of  this  regulation  for  most  smaller 
industries  within  a  legally  determined 
limit  in  1896.  The  Bundesrat  altered  the 
proposal  in  a  liberal  sense.  The  principle 
of  universal  compulsory  membership  was 
allowed  to  drop;  on  the  contrary. 
Aims  of        ^i^g  formation  of  a  compulsory 

SuUds  ""g^^^^  was  made  dependent 
on  the  resolution  formed  by 
the  majority  of  the  tradesmen  concerned. 
In  this  form  the  proposal  has  been  law 
since  July,  1897.  Stress  must  be  laid  on 
the  point  that  the  compulsory  guilds 
may  not  establish  common  branches  of 
business  in  order  to  promote  the  industrial 
undertakings  of  the  members  of  the  guild, 
and  are  therefore  restricted  in  their  field 

52Z5 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


of  activity ;  also  that  the  law  realises 
another  demand  of  the  tradesman  party, 
since  it  institutes  chambers  of  trades- 
men with  a  number  of  legal  privileges. 

Besides  this,  the  German  Governments 
have  endeavoured,  by  the  enactment  of  a 
special  law,  to  protect  those  engaged  in  the 
building  trade  more  efficiently  than  before. 
The  Government  for  the  pre- 
sent is  very  cool  towards  the 


Government 
Protection  for 
the  Workers 


increasing  demands  of  the 
tradesmen,  who  aim  at  a  sort 
of  guild  privilege.  They  had  the  following 
propositions  announced  as  their  own  pro- 
gramme by  representatives  of  the  Prussian 
Board  of  Trade.  First,  the  assistants  who 
wish  to  become  masters  are  to  have  an 
opportunity  of  educating  themselves  both 
in  the  technicalities  of  their  business  and 
also  in  arithmetic  and  bookkeeping  ;  next 
tjiere  are  to  be  permanent  exhibitions  of 
all  the  power  machines,  apparatus,  and 
tools  employed  in  the  smaller  industries  ; 
finally,  the  formation  of  societies  of  the 
masters  for  common  economic  objects, 
societies  for  raw  materials,  for  shops,  etc., 
was  to  be  supported  when  possible.  How 
much  of  this  will  be  passed  depends  to  a 
considerable  extent  on  the  good  will  of 
the  tradesmen  themselves,  whose  corporate 
action  is  far  from  becoming  as  prominent 
as  the  political  middle-class  movement, 
which  demands  State  coercion  for  the 
exclusion  of  harassing  competition. 

After  the  trades  agitation  came  the 
movement  of  the  middle-class  shopkeepers, 
which  has  hitherto  been  less  important. 
The  agitation  started  here  with  the 
"  Zentralverband  deutscher  Kaufleute," 
in  addition  to  which,  in  the  year  i8g8,  a 
"  Bund  der  Handel-  und  Gewerbetreiben- 
den  "  was  formed.  So  far  as  this  movement 
is  directed  against  sordid  competition, 
it  has  chosen  a  thoroughly  justifiable 
object,  which  the  German  Governments 
have  supported  by  providing  special 
legislation  to  check  this  evil,  which  mani- 
.  tested  itself  under  the  most 
Progressive  ^^j-ious  forms.  On  the  other 
hand,  their  agitation  against  the 
large  warehouses  has  overshot 
the  mark,  and  their  intemperate  opposition 
to  such  useful  institutions  as  co-operative 
stores  is  emphatically  to  be  condemned. 
Since  1899  a  regular  campaign  has  been 
organised  against  the  warehouses,  which 
met  with  considerable  success.  In  Saxony, 
a  number  of  towns  has  introduced  a 
progressive  tax  on  the  profits  of  the  large 

5276 


Taxes 

in  Saxony 


business  houses.  In  Bavaria,  the  tax  on 
trades  has  been  modified  in  the  same  sense, 
and  in  Prussia,  since  igoo,  a  Bill  with  a 
similar  object  has  been  introduced  by  the 
Government  and  accepted  by  the  Landtag. 

In  Austria,  the  prospects  of  the  Social 
Democracy  were  more  favourable  than  in 
Germany,  since  the  heated  struggle  among 
the  nationalities  for  years  repressed  any  in- 
terest in  other  questions,  and  the  Govern- 
ment, by  unscrupulous  exercise  of  their 
powers  against  the  Press  and  the  rights  of 
association  and  assembly  took  away  all  air 
and  light  from  the  budding  plant  of  Social 
Democracy.  The  agitation  of  Lassalle  had 
found  but  faint  echo  in  Austria. 

On  the  other  hand,  after  the  con- 
cession of  the  right  of  assembly  in  1867, 
the  new  Social  Democratic  Labour  party 
received  for  the  moment  a  great  stimulus  ; 
this,  however,  soon  died  away  when,  after 
its  assent  to  the  German  "  Eisenach 
programme,"  that  privilege  was  again 
withdrawn  from  it  by  the  Minister  Giskra. 
A  revival  of  the  party  was  the  consequence 
of  the  milder  interpretation  of  the  laws  as 
to  associations  under  the  Hohenwart 
.  ..  Ministry  in  1871.  The  stricter 
Anarchism    ^^^^^^      ^^     ^^^^       Mmistry      of 

"^  ,  Adolf  Auersperg,  1871-1879, 
produced,  however,  a  second 
decline.  Under  the  succeeding  Ministry 
of  Taaffe,  which  introduced  milder 
measures,  the  Social  Democracy  was 
once  more  in  the  ascendant,  and  for 
the  first  time  gathered  followers  from 
among  the  Czechist  workmen. 

At  this  epoch  Anarchism  found  its  way 
into  Austria  through  the  "  Freiheit  "  of 
Most,  and  in  a  few  years  the  whole  working- 
men  contingent  of  the  Social  Democracy 
had  wheeled  into  the  Anarchist  camp. 
When,  however,  the  Anarchist  party  had 
dug  their  own  grave  in  1885,  by  plots  of 
assassination  which  led  to  a  stupendous 
reaction,  the  Social  Democracy  slowly 
revived.  Since  then,  being  led  by  Victor 
Adler  in  a  strict  Marxist  spirit,  it  was  able 
to  gain  an  increasing  body  of  followers, 
and,  under  the  Ministry  of  Badeni,  it  won 
the  reform  of  the  franchise,  by  which  a 
fifth  group,  composed  of  electors  qualified 
on  the  basis  of  universal  and  uniform  suf- 
frage, and  electing  seventy-two  members, 
was  added  to  the  existing  four  electoral 
groups  in  1895.  Out  of  these  the  Social 
Democrats,  in  the  election  of  the  Reichs- 
rat  of  1897,  secured  fourteen  members. 
The  trades  movement  has  also  received 


SOCIAL    DEMOCRACY    IN    GERMANY 


a  stimulus  since  1893,  although  up  to  the 
present  little  more  than  100,000  workmen 
share  in  it.  Much  progress  was  made  in 
legislation  as  to  the  protection  of  workmen, 
especially  under  Taaffe,  when  trenchant 
factory  laws,  among  them  the  maximum 
twelve  hours'  working  day  for  men  as 
well  as  compulsory  insurance  against  sick- 
ness and  accidents  were  introduced. 

In  Austria  especially  the  movement  of 
the  middle  class  has  attained  great 
importance,  which — under  the  protection 
of  clerical  members  of  the  high  nobility 
and  many  Catholic  priests — represented 
there  at  the  same  time  the  anti-Semite 
party.  But  before  a  strong  party  showed 
itself,  as  early  as  1883,  the  two  chief 
demands  of  the  tradesmen  class,  the 
enforcement  of  which  is  their  foremost 
object,  namely,  the  proof  of  qualification 
and  compulsory  association,  were  realised 
in  Austria.  The  proof  of  qualification  was, 
in  the  words  of  Count  Richard  Belcredi, 
who  helped  this  agitation  to  a  successful 
issue,  designed  to  be  "a  most  necessary 
protection  of  honest  work  and  of  existing 
industries  against  competition  and  pro- 
,  duction  at  ruinous  under- 
ungary  s  pj.j(,gg  .  g^  protection  against 
Backward      r  ' .         ^  .         rr    ■       .  P 

_      ..^.         mexpenence,  msurhcient  know- 

ledge  and  means,  as  well  as 
indiscretion  on  entering  into  business ; 
a  protection  of  consumers  and  purchasers 
against  inferior  commodities." 

The  compulsory  association  was  to 
organise  trade,  and  to  promote  "  esprit 
de  corps,"  thoroughness,  and  honesty  in 
all  its  branches.  The  result  of  these 
experiments  in  Austria,  however,  has 
shown  that  the  proof  of  qualification  has 
nowhere  helped  the  tradesman,  but  in 
places  has  rather  hindered  him  by  the 
separation  of  trades ;  and  the  com- 
pulsory associations  have  certainly  not 
become  practically  efficient  on  any  con- 
siderable scale.  The  direction  of  the 
middle  class  movement  towards  political 
goals  has  not  only  failed  in  attaining  the 
expected  result,  but  has  momentarily 
hindered  the  co-operative  self-aid  move- 
ment which  was  benefiting  the  more 
efficient  among  the  small  shopkeepers. 

In  Hungary  the  backward  condition  of 
industrial  development,  and  the  strength 
of  the  purely  national  movements,  have  for 
many  years  presented  insuperable  obstacles 
to  an  extension  of  the  Social  Democratic 
party.  In  1868  a  Labour  party  was  founded 
there    with'-  the    programme    of  Lassalle. 


After  the  beginning  of  the  "seventies,"  this 
party  also  adopted  a  more  Marxist  creed, 
but  did  not  long  strictly  maintain  it. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  "  eighties," 
anarchism  brought  confusion  into  the 
smah  group,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  sub- 
sequently a  part  of  the  Social  Democrats 
often  made  extensive  compromises  with 
_  ;,   the  middle-class  parties.     On 

Q        .  .  the  whole,  the  party  remamed 

,     .  limited  to  the  few   industrial 

districts,  especially  the  capi- 
tal Buda-Pesth,  until,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  "  nineties,"  the  agitation  was 
suddenly  carried  with  great  success  into 
the  ranks  of  the  labourers  on  the  estates 
of  the  Magyar  nobility.  Since  then  the 
authorities,  who  had  already  been  obliged 
to  crush  some  risings  with  armed  force, 
have  prosecuted  it  with  the  utmost 
severity  of  the  law.  This  party  can 
hardly  take  part  in  the  parliamentary 
elections,  since  the  franchise  is  dependent 
on  a  payment  of  sixteen  shillings  in  taxes. 
The  organisation  of  trades  unions  is 
still  in  an  early  stage,  and  has  to  contend 
with  the  authorities.  Altogether  there  are 
some  fifty  thousand  working  men  united 
in  the  trade  associations.  The  legislation 
as  to  the  protection  of  workmen  is  still 
quite  undeveloped.  The  only  real  pro- 
gress which  can  be  recorded  in  recent 
times  is  the  introduction  of  compulsory 
insurance  against  sickness. 

In  Switzerland  the  Social  Democracy, 
notwithstanding  the  most  complete  liberty 
of  movement  at  all  times,  and  notwith- 
standing the  shelter  afforded  to  so  many 
persecuted  foreign*  socialists,  has  never 
been  able  to  attain  real  importance.  The 
reasons  for  this  are  to  be  found  in  the 
difficulties  of  agitation,  owing  to  the 
defective  concentration  of  industry,  in 
the  steady  political  and  social  development 
of  the  country,  and,  finally,  in  the  sober, 
practical  character  of  the  people.  The  Social 
Democracy,  founded  in  1865  by  partisans 

of  the  International  Labour 
Democratic      Association,  has  very  slowly 

increased,    so   that  its  party 

organisation  now  numbers 
only  6,000  members.  The  "  Griitliverein," 
which  is  composed  exclusively  of  Swiss 
citizens,  and  goes  hand  in  hand  with  the 
Social  Democracy,  is  more  important  ;  it 
has  at  the  present  day  15,000  members. 
The  Social  Democracy  carried  four  candi- 
dates in  the  election  to  the  Federal  National 
Council   in    1S99.      Its    representation   in 

5277 


Movements  in 
Switzerland 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  cantonal  Parliaments  and  in  the  town 
councils  is  equally  weak.  The  trade- 
association  movement  is,  apart  from  call- 
ings such  as  those  of  printers  and  railway 
employees,  not  very  strongl}^  develo])ed  ; 
but  locally,  for  example,  in  Basle,  co- 
operative stores  have  become  important. 
In  Denmark  the  social  movement  stood 
from  the  first  in  close  sym- 
J^    ..J.       .    pathv  with  the  German  Social 

Conditions  in  t>.        -^  i   .  i  r  ;  i 

jj  .  Democracy,  and  therefore  the 

Social  Democratic  party  there 
adopted  a  programme  which  in  its  main 
features  corresponded  to  the  German. 

The  trade  union  organisation  of  the 
Danish  workmen  is  of  still  greater  signifi- 
cance ;  up  to  the  present  some  80,000 
industrial  workers  have  joined  it,  and 
have  greatly  improved  the  conditions  of 
their  labour  by  energetic  combination. 

The  statutor}'  protection  of  workmen 
has  not  been  much  developed  in  Denmark  ; 
it  is  mainly  restricted  to  the  ten  hours' 
working  day  for  young  persons. 

In  Holland  the  large  industries  have 
been  little  developed  ;  the  economic  con- 
ditions of  the  country  are  determined  by 
the  flourishing  agriculture  and  extensive 
wholesale  trade. 

The  trades  union  movement  is  of  greater 
importance,  and  some  30,000  organised 
workmen  now  take  part  in  it.  The 
legislation  on  social  politics  has  culminated 
in  the  institution  of  an  eleven  hours' 
maximum  working  day  for  3'oung  persons 
and  female  workers. 

In  Belgium,  where  the  already  existing 
germs  of  large  industries  had  attained 
an  enormous  development  in  the  second 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  Social 
Democratic  Labour  party  of  some  im- 
portance was  eventually  founded,  after 
various  useless  attempts,  towards  the 
middle  of  the  "  seventies."  Its  pro- 
,  gramme  was  modelled  in  all 
e  gium  s     essential  points  on  the  German 


L&rge 
Industries 


one.  After  the  second  half 
of  the  "  eighties "  the  party 
received  considerable  additions  of  strength, 
since  it  used  its  utmost  endeavours  at 
the  same  time  to  form  and  to  promote 
trades  unions  and  industrial  associations. 
Several  of  these  Belgian  industrial  societies 
are  well  known  for  their  excellent  manage- 
ment and  their  wide  sphere  of  influence, 
as,  for  example,  the  "Vooruit"  at  Ghent 


and  the  "  Volkshaus  "  at  Brussels.  In 
the  year  1893  the  workmen,  in  com- 
bination with  the  Radicals,  extorted,  by 
monster  demonstrations  and  a  general 
strike,  universal  suffrage,  which  was 
not  indeed  granted  in  a  direct  form,  but 
under  that  of  the  so-called  franchise  by 
"  majority  of  votes."  At  the  first  elections 
which  took  place  on  that  system  in  1894, 
350,000  votes  were  polled  for  socialist 
candidates,  of  whom  32  were  able  to  enter 
the  Belgian  Chamber.  Since  that  date 
Socialism  has  continually  won  new  ad- 
herents, so  that  it  was  in  a  position  at  the 
later  elections  to  unite  530,000  votes  in 
support  of  its  candidates,  and  to  effect 
the  election  of  41  deputies. 

Legislation  for  the  protection  of  work- 
men is  restricted  in  Belgium  chiefly  to  the 
twelve  hours'  maximum  working  day  for 
young  persons. 

In  Italy,  where  until  recently  there  have 
not  yet  been  any  noteworthy  industries, 
the  relations  of  the  employers  to  their 
workmen  in  town  and  country  were  by  no 
means  patriarchal ;  on  the  con- 
.'^'"^*,.°      trary,  the  workmen,  since  they 


Anarchism 
in  Italy 


rary, 
were  not  sufficiently  organised, 


were  "  sweated  "  to  the  greatest 
extent.  It  was  only  since  the  beginning 
of  the  "eighties"  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, when  the  Anarchists,  after  various 
riots,  had  finally  been  defeated  by  the 
stringent  measures  of  the  Government, 
that  the  Social  Democracy  began  to  come 
into  prominence. 

The  trades  unions  have  become  com- 
prehensive organisations,  and  the  Social 
Democracy  has  also  numerous  followers, 
especially  in  North  Italy,  the  real  centre 
of  industry,  although  associations  of 
country  workers  have  declared  their 
adhesion  to  the  party.  Spain,  in  her 
industrial  development,  stands  appreciably 
behind  Italy.  In  other  respects  the 
politico-social  life  of  Spain  presents  in 
important  points  practically  the  same 
peculiarities  as  that  of  Italy — ■namely, 
distress  among  the  lower  orders,  a  lament- 
able want  of  education  among  the  people, 
and  the  intrusion  into  politics  of  numerous 
disreputable  scions  of  the  "  higher  " 
classes.  Anarchism  has,  therefore,  rapidly 
spread  here  since  the  end  of  the  "eighties," 
while  the  Social  Democrats  could  not 
make  any  way.  Georg  Abler 


527.8 


GREAT  DATES  FROM  THE  FRENCH  REVOLU- 
TION TO  OUR  OWN  TIME 


A.D. 

1789 


1790 
1791 


1793 


1793 


1794 


1795 


1796 


1797 


1798 


1799 


1800 
1801 


1802 


May  :  Meeting  of  Statps-fieneral.  June  :  Tennis 
Court  Oath.  The  States-CJeneral  becomes  the 
National  or  Constituent  Assembly.  July  14th  : 
Fall  of  Bastille.  Aug.  :  Abolition  of  Feudal 
privileges.     Oct.  :   Insurrection  of  Women. 

Feb.  :  Leopold  II.  Emperor.  July  :  Treaty  of 
Reichenbach.  August  :  Mutinies,  and  massacre 
of  Nanci. 

March  :  Death  of  Mirabeau.  May  :  Canada  Act. 
June  :  Flight  of  Louis  to  Varennes.  Aug.  : 
Conference  of  Pilnitz.  Sept.  :  Louis  accepts 
the  Constitution.  Oct.  :  "  Legislative "  As- 
sembly meets. 

Jan.  :  Treaty  of  Jassy.  Feb.  :  Treaty  between 
Austria  and  Prussia.  March  :  1st,  Francis  II. 
Emperor ;  29th,  Gustavus  III.  of  Sweden 
assassinated.  April:  France  declares  war  on 
Austria.  June  :  Mob  breaks  into  Tuileries. 
Juiy:  24th,  Prussia  declares  war;  27th, 
Brunswick's  proclamation.  Aug.  :  Mob  attack 
on  Tuileries  ;  Louis  a  prisoner.  Supremacy  of 
Paris  Commune.  Fall  of  Longwy.  Sept.  : 
September  massacres.  Cannonade  of  Valmy. 
"  National  Convention  "  meets  ;  Republic  pro- 
claimed. Oct.  and  Nov.  :  Success  of  Repub- 
lican armies.     Dec.  :  Trial  of  Louis  XVI.  opens. 

Jan.  :  Second  partition  of  Poland.  Louis  be- 
headed. Feb.  :  Declaration  of  war  with  Eng- 
land and  Holland.  Revolt  of  La  Vendee. 
Mar.  :  Revolutionary  Tribunal.  April  :  Flight 
of  Dumouriez.  June  :  Fall  of  Gironde.  July  : 
Revolt  of  Girondist  departments.  Death  of 
Marat.  Sept  :  Law  of  the  Suspect.  Carnot. 
Oct.  :  Republican  Calendar.  Marie  Antoinette 
and  Girondins  guillotined.  Nov. :  Reign  of 
Terror.     Dec.  :  Toulon  captured. 

March  :  Fall  of  Hebertists.  April  :  Fall  of 
Danton :  Robespierre  supreme.  Pichegru  in 
Netherlands.  June  :  1st,  Howe's  victory  ; 
26th,  Jourdan's  victory  at  Fleurus  ;  28th, 
Thermidorian  reaction.  Fall  of  Robespierre ; 
end  of  Reign  of  Terror.  Oct.:  Pichegru  over- 
runs Holland. 

Jan.  :  Third  partition  of  Poland.  April  :  Peace 
of  Basle  with  Prussia.  July:  Peace  of  Basle 
with  Spain.  Emigres  crushed  at  Quiberon. 
Oct.  :  Insurrection  of  Vend6miaire  suppressed. 
Directory  established. 

May  :  Bonaparte  in  Italy.  Lodi.  Sept.  :  Archduke 
Charles  repulses  invasion  of  Jourdan  and  Moreau. 
Oct.:  Spain  allies  with  France.  Nov.:  Areola; 
Paul  I.  Tsar  of  Russia.  Gustavus  IV.  assumes 
government  of  Sweden. 

Jan.  :  Rivoli.  Feb.  :  Cape  St.  Vincent.  April- 
June  :  Mutinies  in  British  Fleet.  Treaty  of 
Leoben.  Repression  of  Venice.  Cisalpine  and 
Ligurian  Republics  constituted.  Sept.  :  Coup 
d'etat  of  Fructidor.  Death  of  Hoche.  October  : 
Camperdown.  Treaty  of  Campo  Formic.  Nov.  : 
Frederic  William  III.  King  of  Prussia. 

April  :  Helvetic  Republic  constituted.  May  : 
Egyptian  expedition  sails  from  Toulon.  Rebel- 
lion in  Ireland.  June  :  Vinegar  Hill.  July  : 
Battle  of  the  Pyramids.  Aug.  :  Battle  of  the 
Nile.     Second  coalition  formed. 

Jan.  :  Parthenopean  Republic  of  Naples.  March  ; 
Stockach.  April  :  Magnano.  May  :  Bona- 
parte repulsed  at  Acre.  June  :  Trebbia.  Aug. 
Novi.  Capture  of  Dutch  Fleet  in  the  Texel. 
Sept.  :  Restoration  of  Naples  monarchy. 
Withdrawal  of  Suwarrow.  Oct.  :  Return  of 
Bonaparte.  Nov.  :  Coup  d'6tat  of  Brumaire. 
Bonaparte  First  Consul. 

June  :  Marengo.  Aug.  :  Union  between  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland.     Dec.  :   Hohenlinden. 

February  :  Resignation  of  Pitt.  Treaty  of  Lune- 
ville.  March  :  Abercrombie  at  Aboukir. 
April  :  Nelson  at  Copenhagen.  Alexander  I. 
Tsar.  October  :  Peace  preliminaries.  The 
Batavian  Republic  organised. 

March  :  Peace  of  Amiens.  April  :  French 
Concordat  with  Papacy.  Aug.  :  Bonaparte 
First  Consul  for  life.  Sept.  :  Piedmont  annexed 
to  France. 


A.D. 

1803 


1804 


1805 


1806 


1807 


1808 


1809 


1810 


1811 
1812 


1813 


181-1 


1815 


1818 


1819 
1820 


March  :  Secularisation  of  ecclesiastical  states  in 
Germany.  May  :  War  declared  between  France 
and  Great  Britain  ;    French  occupy  Hanover. 

Feb.  :  Royalist  Plot  of  Pichegru  and  Cadoudal ; 
Moreau  exiled.  March  :  Murder  of  Due 
d'Enghien.  Issue  of  the  Code  Napoleon.  May  : 
Napoleon  I.  Emperor  of  the  French.  Pitt  re- 
turns to  office.  Russia  forms  alliance  with 
Prussia.     Nov.  :  Alliance  joined  by  Austria. 

March  :  Villeneuve  sails  from  Toulon.  May  : 
Italian  Republic  becomes  a  monarchy,  with 
Napoleon  king.  Eugene  Beauharnais  viceroy. 
July  :  Calder  defeats  Villeneuve.  Sept  : 
Third  Coalition  formed.  Oct.  :  Capitulation  of 
Ulm.  Trafalgar.  Dec.  :  Austerlltz.  Treaties 
of  Schonbrunn  and  Presburg.  Bourbon  Dynasty 
of  Naples  deposed. 

Jan.  :  Death  of  Pitt.  End  of  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire. April  :  Joseph  Bonaparte  King  of  Naples. 
June:  Louis  Bonaparte  King  of  Holland.  July: 
Confederation  of  the  Rhine.  Oct.  :  Prussia 
crushed  at  Jena  and  Auerstadt.  Nov. :  The 
Berlin  Decree. 

Jan.  :  The  Orders  in  Council.  Act  abolishing 
Slave  Trade.  Feb.  :  Eylau.  March  :  Port- 
land Ministry.  Canning  Foreign  Secretary. 
April  :  Treaty  of  Bartenstein.  June  :  Fried- 
land.  July  :  Treaty  of  Tilsit.  Jerome  Bona- 
parte King  of  Westphalia.  Sept.  :  Copenhagen 
bombarded.  Oct.  :  Treaty  of  Fontainebleau. 
French  troops  enter  Spain.  Stein  begins  his 
reforms  in  Prussia.     Dec.  :   Junot  at  Lisbon. 

March:  Abdicationof  Charles  IV.  of  Spain.  May: 
Meeting  at  Bayonne.  Rising  of  Spain.  June  : 
Joseph  Bonaparte  King  of  Spain.  Murat  King 
of  Naples.  July  :  Capitulation  of  Baylen. 
Aug.  :  Vimeiro.  Convention  of  Cintra.  Oct.  : 
Meeting  of  Erfurt.  Nov. :  Fall  of  Stein. 
Napoleon  goes  to  Spain.  DEO.  :  Advance  and 
retreat  of  Sir  John  Moore.  Napoleon  leaves 
Spain. 

Jan.  :  Moore  at  Corunna.  Feb.  :  Fall  of  Sara- 
gossa.  April  :  WeUesley  at  Lisbon.  Austria 
declares  war.  May  :  Tyrolese  revolt.  Aspern. 
Annexation  of  Papal  States.  June  :  Soult 
forced  to  evacuate  Portugal.  JULY  :  Wagram  ; 
Talavera.  Walcheren  Expedition.  OCT.  :  Peace 
of  Vienna.  Bernadotte  becomes  Crown  Prince 
of  Sweden. 

March  :  Napoleon  marries  Marie  Louise.  July  : 
Annexation  of  North  Sea  Coast  Districts. 
Sept.  :  Busaco  ;  Cortes  meets  at  Cadiz.  Nov.  : 
Torres  Vedras.  Dec.  :  Tsar  withdraws  from 
Continental  System. 

May  :   Fuentes  d'Oiioro  and  Albuera. 

Jan.  :  Ciudad  Rodrigo.  April  :  Badajoz.  June  : 
Moscow  Expedition  starts.  Liverpool  Ministry. 
July  :  Salamanca.  Sept.  :  Borodino.  Burning 
of  Moscow.  OCT.  :  Retreat  from  Moscow. 
Nov.  :  Bridge  of  Beresina.  Dec.  :  Agreement 
of  Tauroggen. 

Feb.  :  Treaty  of  Kalisch.  May  :  Liitzen  and 
Bautzen.  June  :  Vittoria.  Treaty  of  Reichen- 
bach. Aug.  :  Katzbach  and  Dresden.  Sept.  : 
Treaty  of  Toplitz.     Oct.  :   Leipzig. 

Jan.  :  Treaty  of  Kiel.  Norway  joined  to  Sweden. 
Feb.  :  La  Rothifere.  March  :  Capitulation  of 
Paris.  April  :  Battle  of  Toulouse.  Napoleon 
goes  to  Elba ;  Bourbon  restoration.  May  : 
Treaty  of  Paris.  Nov. .  Congress  of  Vienna 
meets. 

March  :  Napoleon  lands  and  returns  to  Paris. 
May  :  Murat  overthrown  at  Tolentino.  June  : 
Ligny,  Quatre-Bras,  and  Waterloo.  July  : 
Second  Bourbon  restoration.  Napoleon  sent  to 
St.  Helena.  Holy  Alliance.  Nov. :  Peace  of 
Paris. 

Congress  of  Aix-la-Chapelle.  Evacuation  of  France 
by  forces  of  the  Allies.    Pindari  war  in  India. 

The  Six  Acts. 

Accession  of  George  IV.  Queen  Caroline  scandals. 
Royalist  reaction  in  France.  Revolution  of 
Riego  in  Spain.  Revolution  in  Portugal  and 
separation  from  Brazil.  Insurrections  in  the 
two  Sicilies.  Congress  of  Troppau,  afterwards 
Laibach. 


5279 


GREAT  DATES  FROM  THE  FRENCH  REVOLU- 
TION TO  OUR    OWN  TIME 


A.D. 

1821 
1822 

1823 

1824 
1825 

1826 

1827 

1828 

1829 
1830 

1831 

1832 
1833 

1834 

1835 

1837 
1838 
1839 

1840 

1841 
1842 

1843 
1845 
1846 

1847 
1848 


1849 


1850 


1852 


Death  of  Napoleon.  Suppression  of  Italian  revolts. 
Greek  ins\irrection  against  Turkey. 

Canning,  Foreign  Secretary.  Independence  of 
South  American  colonies  recognised.  Congress 
of  Vienna,    (ireek  successes. 

Ferdinand  VII.  of  Spain  re-csta'olishes  absolutism 
by  French  lielp.  Eeaction  in  Portugal.  Huskis 
son's  commercial  policy  in  England. 

Accession  of  Charles  X.  in  France. 

Ibrahim  Pasha  in  Greece.  Nicholas  I.  Tsar  of 
Russia. 

Cannina:  prevents  Spanish  intervention  in  Portugal. 
Fall  of  Missolonghi. 

Canning,  Prime  Minister.   Anglo-Itussian  Treaty  of 
•  London.    Death  of  Canning.    Battle  of  Navarino. 

Wellington,  Prime  .Minister.  Test  and  Corporation 
Acts  repealed.  Clare  election.  Usurpation  of 
Dom  Miguel  in  Portugal.  War  between  llussia 
and  Turkey. 

Catholic  emancipation.  Treaty  of  Adrianople. 
Greek  independence  recognised. 

Accession  of  William  IV.  in  Eiialand.  Grey  Prime 
Minister.  The  July  Revolution.  Louis  Philippe 
King  of  the  French.  Risings  in  Belgium,  Polind, 
and  Sicily.    Accession  of  Ferdinand  II.  in  Naples. 

Belgium  recognised  as  an  independent  kingdom. 
Polish  revolt  suppressed.  English  Reform  Bill 
rejected. 

Reform  Act  passed. 

Otto  of  Bavaria  King  of  the  Hellenes.  Isabella 
succeeds    in    Spain.  Miguel     expelled    from 

Portugal.         Slavery   abolished   in   the   British 
Empire. 

Melbourne  Ministry.  Poor  Law  Reform.  On 
Melbourne's  dismissal  by  the  king,  Peel  attempts 
to  form  Ministry. 

Melbourne  Ministry  retutns.  Palmerston  in  control 
of  Foreign  Affairs.  Ferdinand  I.  Austrian 
Emperor. 

Accession  of  Victoria.  Hanover  separated  from 
Great  Britain.    Papineau's  revolt  in  Canada. 

Lord  Durham  in  Canada.  Development  of 
Chartism. 

Mehemet  Ali  in  Syria.  Abd  ul-Mejid  siilt,an. 
Peel  and  the  Bedchamber  ciuestion.  Anti-Corn. 
Law  League. 

Mehemet  Ali  checked.  Marriage  of  Queen 
Victoria.  Canadian  Act  of  Reunion.  Chinese 
"  Opium  "  War. 

Kabul  disaster.     Peel,  Prime  Minister. 

Dost  Mohammed  restored.  Peel's  sliding  scale. 
The  Disruption  in  Scotland. 

Annexation  of  Sindh.     Gwalior  Campaign. 

First  Sikh  War  ;   ended  next  year. 

Repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws.  Pius  IX.  Pope.  Russell 
administration. 

Fielden's  Factory  Act. 

February  Revolution  ;  Second  French  Republic. 
Risings  in  Sicily  and  Naples.  March  Revolu- 
tion in  Germany.  Revolt  of  Schleswig-Holstcin 
from  Denmark.  Revolts  of  Lombardy  and 
Venice  against  Austria.  Frankfort  Parliament. 
Radetzky  defeats  Charles  Albert  of  Sardinia 
at  Custozza.  Accession  of  Frederic  VII.  in 
Denmark,  Francis  Joseph  in  Austria;  Louis 
Napoleon  President  of  French  Republic.  Dal- 
housie  in  India.  Collapse  of  Chartist  move- 
ment in  England.  Reaction  victorious  in 
Germany  and   Austria.     Second  Sikh  War. 

Hungarian  revolt  suppressed.  Victor  Em- 
manuel King  of  Sardinia.  Dissolution  of 
F'rankfort  Parliament.  Reaction  in  Central 
Italy.     Annexation  ol  Punjab. 

North  Gcnnan  Confederation.  Convention  of 
Olmiitz.  Australian  Constitution  Bill.  The 
Queen's  memorandum  to  Palmerston. 

Coup  d'etat  in  France.  Palmerston  dismissed. 
Great  Exhibition. 

Schle.swig-Holstein  question.  Cavo\ir  Minister. 
Deith  of  Duke  of  Wellington.  Napoleon  III. 
Emperor. 


A.I). 

1853  Turkey  declares  war  against  Russia. 

1854  Crimean  war.     Battles  of  Alma,   Balaclava,   and 

Inkennan. 

1855  Palmerston  Ministry.     Fall  of  Sebastopol.     Alex- 

ander II.  Tsar. 

1856  End  of  War.     Persian  and  Chinese  wars.      Lord 

Canning  in  India. 

1857  Indian  Mutiny  ;    revolt  broken. 

1858  Orsini's  bomb.     Derby  Administration.      Mutiny 

suppressed  ;    India  transferred  to  the  Crown. 

1859  Napoleon     supports    Sardinia     against    Austria; 

Magenta  and  Solferino.  Peace  of  Villafranca. 
Palmerston's  return. 

1860  Union  of  Savoy  and  Nice  to  France.     Garibaldi  in 

Sicily.  The  Commons,  the  Peers,  and  the 
Paper  Duty. 

1861  Victor  Emmaimel  King  of  Italy.   Death  of  Cavour. 

Abd  ul-Aziz  Sultan.  William  I.  in  Prussia. 
Emancipation  of  Russian  serfs.  North  American 
Civil  War. 

1862  Battle  of  Aspromonte.     King  Otto  expelled   from 

(ireece.  IJisniarck  Prussian  Minister.  Cotton 
famine. 

1863  Schleswig-Holstein  war.     Suppression  of  Poland. 

The  Alabama. 

1864  Death  of  Palmerston. 

1865  1  Russell  Ministry.     Gastein  Convention. 

1866  '  Seven    Weeks'    War     of     Prussia    and     Au.stria. 
'       Sadowa.     Venetia  ceded  to  Victor  Emmanuel. 

French  in  Rome.  Dual  Government  of  Austria- 
Hungary. 

1867  Disraeli's  Reform  Bill.    B.N. A.  Consolidation  Act. 

Abyssinian  \Var. 
1863      Isabella   expelled   from   Spain.      Fenian  outrages. 
Abolition  of  Church  rates. 

1869  Gladstone  Administration.      Irish  Land  Bill  and 

Disestablishment. 

1870  Franco-German    War;     Sedan;     Third    Republic. 

Italy  unified.    English  Education  Act. 

1871  Surrender  of  Paris.     German  Empire  proclaimed. 

Black  Sea  Conference. 

1872  Alabama  award. 

1873  MacMahon  President  in  France. 

1874  Alfonso  XII.  in  Spain.    Disraeli  Administration. 

1875  Purchase  of  Suez  Canal  shares. 

1876  Bulgarian  atrocities.    Abd  ul-Hamid.  Sultan, 
-1877  Russo-Turkish  War.     Annexation  of  Transvaal. 

1878  Treaty  of  San  Stefano.    Berlin  Congress.    Afghan 

wars  ;    ended  in  1880. 

1879  Zulu  War  :    Isandlhwana. 

1880  Gladstone  Administration. 

1881  Majuba.    Retroces.'ion  of  Transvaal. 

1882  Bombardment  of  Alexandria.  Tel-el-Kebir. 

1884  Franchise  and  Redistribution  Acts. 

1885  j  Death  of  C.  G.  Gordon.    Penjdeh  incident. 

1886  First  Home  Rule  Bill.    Salisbury  Ministry. 

1888  Parnell  Commission. 

1889  '  Annexation  of  Burmah. 

1893  i  Second  Home  Rule  Bill. 

1894  ;  Death  Duties.    Armenian  atrocities. 

1895  }  Salisbury's    Unionist     Administration.       Jameson 

raid. 

1896  Venezuela  boundary  dispute.   Cretan  rising. 

1898  Conquest  of  Sudan. 

1899  Boxer  rising  in  China.    South  African  War  begins. 

1900  Australian  Commonwealth. 

1901  \ccession  of  Edward  VII. 

1902  End  of  Boer  War. 

1903  Russo-Japanese  war. 

1904  Separation  of  Norway  and  Sweden. 

1905  Morocco  and  Egyptian  agreements. 

1906  Grant  of  responsible  government  in  S.  Africa. 
1908  Constitutional  Revolution  in  Turkey. 


5280 


GLIMPSES^EUROPES 
CAPITAL  CITIES 


1 


|fe  IN     THE     HEART    OF     LONDON 


^ 


I    K 


VIEW  FROM  THE  MONUMENT,  SHOWING  THE  RIVER  THAMES,  THE  TOWER  &  TOWER  BRIDGE 


ANOTHER    VIEW    FROM    THE     MONUMENT,    SHOWING     ST.     PAUL'S     IN    THE     DISTANCE 


LONDON,     THE     CAPITAL    OF     THE     BRITISH     EMPIRE 


■-,282 


L'ANORAMIC     VIEW,     SHOWING     EIGHT     OF     THE     BRIDGES     ACROSS    THE     RIVER     SEINE 


THE    AVENUE     DE    L'OPERA,    WITH    THE    OPERA    HOUSE    IN    THE    DISTANCE 


LA     VILLE     LUMIERE":    SCENES     IN     THE     BEAUTIFUL     CAPITAL    OF     FRANCE 

5283 


A    GENERAL    VIEW,    SHOWING    THE    IMPERIAL    PALACE    AND    THE    CATHEDRAL 


UNTER    DEN    LINDEN,    ONE    OF    THE     MOST    FAMOUS    STREETS    IN     EUROPE 


IN     BERLIN,     THE     PROSPEROUS    CAPITAL    OF    THE    GERMAN     EMPIRE 
5284 


NEVSKII-PROSPEKT,    ONE    OF    THE    FINEST    THOROUGHFARES     IN    THE    WORLD 


THE  OLD  ADMIRALTY    BUILDING    FROM    ONK 


BRIDGES    SPANNINCt    THK    NEVA 


ST.     PETERSBURG.     THE     MODERN     CAPITAL    OF    THE     RUSSIAN     EMPIRE 

5285 


I^UJIllWllWi  114*1 


PART     OK    THE     FRAN2ENSRING.     THE     PRINCIPAL     BOULEVARD     OF     VIENNA 


i'li.itncliroine 

BUDAPEST,    SHOWING   THE    SUSPENSION    BRIDGE    ACROSS    THE    RIVER    DANUBE 


THE     CAPITAL     CITIES     OF     AUSTRIA     AND     HUNGARY 


1286 


A     BIRD'S-EYE    VIEW,     SHOWING    THE     PICTURESQUE     MOSQUES     AND     MINARETS 


ANOTHER     VIEW    OF    THE    CITY.     INCLUDING    THE    GALATA    BRIDGE 


CONSTANTINOPLE,    THE    CAPITAL    OF    THE    TURKISH     EMPIRE 


5287 


LOOKING    TOWARDS    THE    RUINS    OF    THE    ACROPOLIS 


Photochrome- 


GENERAL     VIEW     OF     THE     MODERN     TOW 


ATHENS,     THE     CAPITAL     OF     ANCIENT     AND     MODERN     GREECE 


5288 


if- 

ROME,  SEEN  FROM  ST.  PETER'S,  SHOWING  THE  TIBER  AND  THE  CASTLE  OF  ST.  ANGELO 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  BERNE,  WITH  THE  BERNESE  OBERLAND  IN  THE  DISTANCE 


ROME    AND     BERNE:     THE    CAPITALS    OF    ITALY     AND     SWITZERLAND 

I    L  C  -,  =1289 


PANORAMA     OF     MADRID,    GIVING    A    GLIMPSE     OF     THE     PRADO    IN    THE    FOREGROUND 


1 

^ 

• 

^^m 

jns:*W-.»«,.,_^ 

w^i 

:^mm 

^^Hpipr'}^^"^  -^ 

V- 

^^RKf                                                      ^;>^^H^^^^H 

GENERAL      .'!t.V     IF     LISDON,     LOOKING     FROM     ST.     PEDRO     DE     ALCANTARA 


MADRID     AND     LISBON;      THE    SPANISH     AND     PORTUGJESE     CAPITALS 
5290 


THE     BRUSSELS    PALAIS    DE    JUSTICE:    ONE    OF    THE    WORLD'S    LARGEST    BUILDINGS 


THE    BRONZE    STATUE    OF    WILLIAM    II.    AT    THE    HAGUE 


SCENES     IN     THE     CAPITAL    CITIES     OF     BELGIUM     AND     HOLLAND 


5291 


rbntii.hrou.e 

A    PICTURESQUE    GLIMPSE    OF    BUCHAREST,    THE    CAPITAL    OF    ROUMANIA 


GENERAL     VIEW     OF     SOFIA,     WITH     MONUMENT    TO     ALEXANDER     II.     OF     RUSSIA 


PANORAMIC    VIEW    OF     BELGRADE    AS    SEEN     FROM    THE    RIVER     DANUBE 


THE     CAPITALS    OF     ROUMANIA,     BULGARIA,    AND     SERVIA 


5292 


EUROPE:    SEVENTH    DIVISION 

THE       EUROPEAN 
POWERS    TO-DAY 

AND   A  SURVEY    OF    THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 

As  concerns  our  present  great  geographical  division — 
Europe — we  have  now  reached  the  last  liistorical  phase.  It 
remains  for  us  to  take  the  states  into  which  that  division  is 
now  split  up,  to  give  an  account  of  tlieir  present-day 
characteristics,  and  to  relate  the  present  with  the  past  and  the 
immediate  future.  For  it  is  not  the  historian's  part  to 
prophesy,  though  he  has  provided  the  data  for  prophetic 
inductions,  within  very  circumscribed  limits. 

At  this  stage,  therefore,  we  give  a  picture  of  the  political 
and  social  conditions  prevailing,  first  of  all,  in  every  Continental 
state,  large  or  small,  from  Russia  to  Andorra,  dwelling  on 
those  features  which  appear  to  be  of  the  strongest  interest  in 
each  individual  case. 

Finally,  we  turn  to  our  own  islands,  and  thence  digress  to  an 
account  of  our  world-empire,  which  needs  to  be  treated  as  a 
unity,  although  such  treatment  of  it  has  been  impossible  to 
fit  into  our  continuous  narrative  of  world-history  built  up  on  a 
geographical  basis.  For  it  is  the  history  of  an  expansion  into 
every  quarter  of  the  globe,  the  picture  of  an  empire  whose  flag 
is  planted  on  every  continent,  whose  dominion  in  every 
continent  but  Europe  itself  extends  from  sea  to  sea,  and  claims 
to  include,  metaphorically  at  least,  in  that  dominion  tlie 
boundless  ocean  itself. 


RUSSIA 

By  Dr.  £.  J.  Dillon 

TURKEY.  GREECE  AND  THE  BALKANS 
By  F.  A.  McKenzie 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 
By  Henry  W.  Nevinson 

GERMANY 
By  Charles  Lowe,  M.A. 

BELGIUM.  HOLLAND.  LUXEMBURG.  SWITZERLAND 
By  Robert  Machray,  B.A. 

ITALY  AND  SAN  MARINO 
By  William  Durban,  B.A.,  and  Robert  Machray,  B.A. 

FRANCE.  MONACO.  AND  ANDORRA 
By  Richard  Whiteing  and  Robert  Machray, 

SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL 
By  Martin  Hume,  M.A. 

SCANDINAVIA 
By  William  Durban.  B.A. 

THE  UNITED  KINGDOM 
By  Arthur  D.  Innes,  M.A. 

THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE 

By  Sir  Harry  H.  Johnston,  K.C.B. 


B.A. 


' 


529: 


THE    FIRST    DUMA,    WHICH    SAT    FROM    MAY    lOTH    TILL    JULY     22.\D,     iyo<J 

From  the  drminir  Ijv  L.  Sabbatic-r 


THE    SECOND    DUMA,    WHICH    LASTED    FROM    MARCH     5th     TILL    JUNE     16th,     1907 

„ 


THE    THIRD    DUMA,    WHICH    ASSEMBLED    ON    NOVEMBER     Isr,     I'jii: 
RUSSIA'S     PARLIAMENT  :     PICTURES    OF    THE     THREE     DUMAS 


5294 


EUROPMN  POWERS  TODAY 

RUSSIA    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 

ITS  POVERTY,  CORRUPTION,  AND  OPPRESSION 
WITH  A  GLOOMY  AND  UNCERTAIN  OUTLOOK 

By  Dr.  E.  J.  Dillon 


npHE  Russia  of  the  twentieth  century  is 
•*■  the  product  of  manifold  social  forces, 
religious  influences,  and  political  currents, 
of  which  the  most  salient  and  obvious 
began  to  be  keenly  felt  and  generally 
noticed  in  the  reign  of  Peter  the  Great. 
Down  to  that  historic  epoch  the  nation  had 
kept  studiously  aloof  from  the  progressive 
peoples  of  Europe,  leading  a  life  apart. 

Unlike  the  Poles  and  Czechs,  whom 
communion  with  papal  Rome  had  brought 
into  continuous  contact  with  all  that  was 
stimulating  in  Western  civilisation,  Russia 
isolated  herself  by  embracing  Byzantine 
Christianity  and  accepting  Byzantine  cul- 
ture.    Peter  the  Great  was  the  first  ruler 

to  break  with  this  paralysing 
„  '"."^f  past  and  to  endeavour  to 
_,      ^  brmg  his  people  mto  Ime  with 

their  European  neighbours. 
The  task  was  superlatively  arduous,  and 
the  efforts  constantly  made  since  then  to 
accomplish  it  divided  thinking  Russia  into 
two  camps,  which  towards  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century  received  the  names 
of  the  Slavophile  and  the  Western. 

The  men  of  the  latter  party  yearned  for 
the  regime  of  France  or  England.  Those  of 
the  former  thanked  God  for  having  vouch- 
safed to  His  chosen  people  the  best  of  all 
possible  institutions  :  Greek  orthodoxy  as 
the  most  perfect  Christian  creed  ;  Russian 
autocracy,  conceived  as  a  paternal  relation 
between  tsar  and  people,  and  therefore  the 
most  satisfactory  of  all  forms  of  govern- 
ment ;   and  the  village  commune  as  the 


highest  type  of  social  organism.  Perfect  in 
idea,  those  institutions  had  been  abused  by 
men,  and  were  consequently  now  capable 
of  great  improvement.  But  to  put  them 
wholly  away  for  Western  innovations 
would  be  suicidal.  Indeed,  the  circum- 
stance that  they  constituted  the  exclusive 
heritage  of  the  Russian  race  might,  it  was 
argued,  be  taken  as  a  proof  that  Provi- 
dence has  destined  the  Slav  Messiah  of  the 
nations  to  take  the  place  of  effete  Europe 
in  the  vanguard  of  the  cultured  world. 

The  note  of  Slav  thought  being  the  uni- 
versal and  the  absolute,  it  too  often 
happens  that  inadequate  attention  is  paid 
by  Russian  reformers  to  the  concrete,  the 
real,  the  relative.  In  this  way 
it  came  to  pass  that  the  friends 
of  Western  culture  in  the  tsar- 
dom  longed  not  so  much  for  the 
grafting  of  European  ideas  on  the  Russian 
stock  as  for  a  quick  and  complete  break 
with  the  past  and  the  complete  regeneration 
of  the  nation  onthe  lines  of  extreme  Social- 
ist theories.  Orthodoxy,  autocracy,  and 
the  village  commune,  everything  Russian, 
was  to  be  thrown  into  the  melting-pot, 
whence  a  rejuvenated  nation  was  to  emerge. 
When  far-resonant  events  like  the 
Crimean  War  allied  themselves  with  these 
nihilistic  notions,  from  the  union  of  the  two 
sprang  that  powerful  current  of  anarchistic 
thought  and  feeling  which  openly  and 
secretly  has  been  undermining  the  bases 
of  the  Russian  Empire  ever  since.  With 
this  tendency,  which  has  made  itself  felt 

.     5295 


The  Dream 

of  the 
Idealists 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Russia's 
War  with 
Japan 


in  all  classes  of  society — being  indus- 
triously spread  by  village  schools  and 
popular  literature,  as  well  as  by  the 
teachings  of  professional  revolutionists — 
the  names  of  Alexander  Herzen,  Nicholas 
Dobroliuboff,  and  Leo  Tolstoy  have  been 
closely  associated.  Most  of  the  active 
leaders  of  the  reform  movement,  saturated 
to  the  heart's  core  with  those 
subversive  ideas,  were  unwill- 
ing to  make  allowances  for 
Russian  ways  of  thought, 
modes  of  living,  rehgious  feeling,  and 
secular  customs.  Midway'  between  these 
two  camps  stood  the  ruling  oligarchs — 
planless,  listless,  resourceless. 

The  war  with  Japan  revealed  and  inten- 
sified the  astounding  weakness  of  the 
established  political  and  social  fabric, 
hastened  the  downfall  of  the  regime,  and 
offered  the  reform  party  a  golden  oppor- 
tunity to  put  their  fanciful  projects  to  the 
test  of  realisation.  When  the  tsar,  giving 
way  to  what  seemed  the  wishes  of  his 
people,  had  laid  down  his  prerogative 
of  absolutism  and  promised  far-reaching 
political  and  social  reforms,  the  ground, 
cleared  of  ancient  encumbrances,  pre- 
sented a  unique  site  for  the  erection  of  a 
stable  democratic  fabric. 

Guided  by  ordinary  common-sense  and 
commanded  by  an  unflinching  will,  the  re- 
form party  might  have  successfully  infused 
into  the  nation  all  the  democratic  current 
it  was  capable  of  absorbing.  The  leverage 
it  had  acquired  was  enormous.  Some  few 
discerned  then  what  the  many  can  plainly 
see  to-day — that  that  party  by  first  accept- 
ing the  power,  without  responsibility,  which 
was  well  within  its  reach,  might  have  soon 
afterwards  obtained  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment, and  begun  its  grandiose  and  perilous 
experiment  upon  the  nation. 

But,  confident  of  an  easy  victory,  dis- 
dainful of  help,  impatient  of  advice,  and 
chafed  by  delay,  the  Democrats  violently 
opposed,   in    lieu   of   steadily  supporting, 

_  Count  Witte's  administration. 

Democrats     j  j.     /     n-         ^i.  j 

.     _  in  quest  of  allies,  they  made  a 

o^  All"  ^^'^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  support  of  the 
Jews,  the  peasants,  the  working 
man,  the  lower  clergy,  and  the  troops  by 
promising  reforms  which  it  would  have 
taken  a  century  of  continuous  effort  and 
untold  sums  of  money  to  realise.  At  the 
best  of  times  Russian  reformers  lack  the 
saving  sense  of  measure,  but  now  they 
broke  loose  from  all  restraints  and  ended 
by   alienating    the   sympathies    of    many 

.5296 


true  Democrats  who  could  gauge  the 
tendency  of  the  time  and  estimate  the  speed 
and  the  trend  of  the  main  social  and  polit- 
ical currents  of  semi-articulate  Russia. 

Since  the  partial  revolution  of  1905-6, 
which  rendered  many  weighty  problems 
acute  without  starting  practical  solutions 
for  any  of  them,  Russia  has  been  passing 
through  a  transitional  phase,  the  duration 
of  which  it  is  impossible  to  predict.  That 
extraordinary  upheaval,  which  may  be 
aptly  characterised  as  the  result  of  a 
struggle  not  so  much  between  two  forces 
as  between  two  weaknesses,  between  an 
epileptic  and  a  paralytic  organism,  began 
in  truly  characteristic  fashion.  Whole 
sections  of  the  Statute  Book  and  State  Law 
were  abrogated  by  implication.  Customs 
and  traditions,  hallowed  by  ages,  were 
informally  but  effectively  abolished,  and 
nothing  whatever  was  put  in  their  places. 
In  short,  a  sponge  was  passed  over  the 
slate,  on  which  the  mob  was  allowed  to 
write  its  conflicting  demands,  and  almost 
everybody  was  surprised  to  see  that 
anarchy  ensued.  Some  of  the  worst 
effects  of  the  confusion  which  was  thus 
„     .       .       produced  still  continue  to  make 

rui  s  o  themselves  lelt  in  the  principal 
the  Recent       ,  ,  ,  r  1  i  i-r 

P      J    .        departments     of     public     life. 

Many  of  the  political  and  social 

questions  then  formulated  are  still  pressing 

for    answers.     Between    the    theory    and 

practice    of    the    present    administration 

many  a  chasm  is  still  unbridged. 

Thus  it  would  tax  the  ingenuity  of  a 
Montesquieu  to  determine  the  type  of 
monarchy  which  in  Russia  has  succeeded 
absolutism,  and  the  courtly  Almanach  de 
Gotha  has  illustrated  the  difficulty  by 
offering  a  definition  of  the  regime  in  terms 
which  contradict  each  other.  One  may 
take  it  that  the  government  is  still  an 
autocracy,  tempered,  as  the  rule  of  the  first 
Romanoffs  was,  by  the  wishes  of  the  people ; 
but  with  this  difference,  that  in  the  seven- 
teenth centm'y  public  opinion  was  focussed 
fitfully  in  the  Zemsky  Councils,  whereas 
to-day  it  is  permanently  embodied  in  the 
Duma  and  the  Council  of  the  Empire. 

One  of  the  most  momentous  changes 
brought  about  by  the  revolution  of  1905 
affects  the  legislative  machinery  of  the 
tsardom.  Formerly  the  monarch  was 
the  sole  fountain  head  of  law,  and  although 
he  invariably  availed  himself  of  the  ser- 
vices of  the  Council  of  the  Empire  and  the 
Senate,  which  drafted  Bills  and  inter- 
preted statutes,  his  influence  upon    law- 


RUSSIA    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


making  was  paramount  and  unchallenged. 
But  the  charter  which  he  bestowed  upon 
liis  people  in  1905  contains  a  promise  that 
lienceforth  no  measure  shall  be  inscribed 
upon  the  Statute  Book  without  the  assent 
of  the  two  representative  Chambers. 

That  is  now  become  one  of  the  funda- 
mental maxims  of  the  Russian  Constitu- 
tion. But,  like  all  such  principles,  it  is 
applicable  and  absolute  only  in  normal 
times.  During  periods  of  public  trouble 
exceptions  are  provided  for.  For  ex- 
ample, if  in  the  intervals  between  two 
Dumas,  the  Crown  believes  that  the  needs 
of  the  empire  call  for  special  legislation, 
the  tsar  may  on  his  own  authority  pro- 
mulgate it,  on  condition  that  on  the  re- 
assembling of  the  nation's  spokesmen  the 
measure  be  laid  before  them  for  confirma- 
tion or  repeal.  The  one  instance  in  which 
the  emperor,  going  further,  altered  the 
fundamental  laws  themselves  and  accom- 
plished what  was  technically  a  coup 
d'etat,  occurred  in  June,  1907.  when  he 
authorised  M.  Stolypin  to  change  mxateri- 
allv  the  electoral  law.  Among  the  argu- 
ments brought  forward  in  defence  of  this 

bold  line  of  action   two  seem 

wo    umas  egpecj^iiy  cggent.  The  franchise 

P  *. .     .       as  established  in   1905  had  no 

claims  whatever  to  be  included 
among  the  fundamental  laws,  which  alone 
are  "immutable."  Indeed,  it  had  been 
printed  among  them  solely  in  consequence 
of  a  mere  chancellery  blunder.  Moreover, 
by  their  nature  the  conditions  which  a 
citizen  of  almost  any  country  must  fulfil  in 
order  to  qualify  as  a  voter,  especially  when 
the  franchise  is  very  restricted, are  not  stable. 
They  change  with  the  times,  and  no  serious 
legislator  would  seek  to  canonise  them. 

Another  consideration  that  weighed  with 
the  Crown  and  the  Premier  was  the  danger 
that  threatened  representative  institutions 
in  Russia  at  that  critical  period  of  their 
existence.  Two  successive  Dumas  had 
come  together,  bitterly  disappointed  the 
hopes  of  their  friends,  and  realised  those 
of  their  enemies.  And  if  the  third  ex- 
periment should  fail,  the  grant  of  an 
elective  Chamber  would  most  probably 
have  been  suspended  sine  die.  In  order  to 
avert  this  calamity  it  seemed  necessary 
to  get  together  an  assembly  that  would 
consent  to  discharge  its  own  functions 
within  the  narrow  limits  outlined  by 
the  constitution.  A  set  of  arbitrary 
voting  qualifications  was  therefore  drawn 
up     by     the      Prime     Minister,     which, 


however  illogical,  unfair,  and  indefens- 
ible they  may  be  on  theoretic  grounds, 
attained  the  end  in  view.  The  third 
Duma  accordingly  met,  passed  laws, 
discussed  Bills,  increased  the  pay  of  its 
own  members  to  an  extent  that  was 
deemed  exorbitant,  and  accustomed  the 
nation    to    the    working   of    a    legislative 

Tk    ^  f    *   assembly.    The  responsibility 

The  Cabinet       4^4.      1  •  .      ^i     ^  1 

.  attachmg  to  that  course  and 

..  w  .  the  credit  for  these  results 
its  Members     ,     ,  ....  .,. 

belong     prmcipally,     it     not 

exclusively,  to  M.  Stolypin.  The  Duma 
in  its  present  shape,  and  indeed  the  entire 
machinery  of  government,  continue  to 
exhibit  in  a  superlative  degree  signs  of  the 
haste  with  which  they  were  elaborated  and 
proofs  of  the  faultiness  of  their  working. 

In  form  they  are  stamped  with  the 
mark  of  transition,  in  character  they  ex- 
hibit the  defects  of  the  qualities  which 
render  the  Slavs  socially  popular  and 
politically  inferior.  The  "  Cabinet,"  pre- 
sided over  by  the  Premier,  includes  only  a 
certain  number  of  the  tsar's  official  advisers, 
and  eliminates  nearly  all  the  more  important 
ones.  The  Ministers  of  War,  Marine,  and 
Foreign  Affairs,  as  well  as  the  Minister  of 
the  Imperial  Court  are  outside  the  Cabinet. 
At  bottom  this  may  be  an  advantage,  for  it 
makes  them  quite  independent  of  the  Prime 
Minister.  If  they  take  part  in  any  parlia- 
mentary discussion,  the  act  is  understood 
to  be  quite  spontaneous  on  their  part,  and 
in  each  case  they  must  first  obtain  the 
express  authorisation  of  the  emperor.  The 
Prime  Minister's  authority  does  not  touch 
them,  nor  does  the  Crown,  when  appoint- 
ing or  dismissing  them,  consult  him. 

The  autocracy  as  it  prevailed  down  to 
IQ05  has  thus  disappeared,  but  it  seems 
impossible  to  define  with  anything  ap- 
proaching to  precision  the  type  of  govern- 
ment that  has  taken  its  place.  Nor  would 
it  be  easier  to  trace  the  limits  that  divide 
the  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive 
powers  from  each  other.  The  tsar,  indeed, 
still  retains  his  old  title  of 
The  Tsar  .^^^Qj^j-^t^  despite  the  needlessly 
still  an  i3ittgj.  opposition  offered  to  it 
utocra  ^y  democratic  politicians  who 
spend  most  of  their  energy  in  barren 
tilting  against  windmills.  But  he  has 
preserved  more  than  the  title.  No 
measure  can  acquire  the  force  of  law 
without  his  assent.  All  authority  emanates 
from  him.  He  is  the  source  of  justice 
and  mercy,  and  his  dispensing  power — 
of  which,  however,  he  but  seldom  makes 

52^17 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


use — is  extensive  enough  to  enable  him 
indirectly' to  temper  or  annul  a  penal  law. 
The  tsar  is  the  one  connecting  link  between 
the  Russian  nation  and  all  the  foreign 
members  of  the  international  community. 
He  is  also  the  war-lord  of  Russia,  to  whom 
the  land  and  sea  forces  owe  obedience, 
and  he  is  the  sole  judge  of  the  acts  of 
_  .      .  his  Ministers,  who  are  respon- 

Liberar""'        ^'^'^^    ^'^    ^"^    °^^'^'"   institution 

in    the    empire.      What    dis- 

e  ormcrs       appointed   Liberal    reformers 

most  bitterly  complain  of  is  the  Duma's 

impotence  even  in  financial  matters.     And 

in  truth  its  influence  is  chiefly  negative. 

The  Lower  Chamber  may  criticise, 
but  cannot  reform.  If  its  members  pass  a 
Bill  obnoxious  to  the  Government,  the 
Upper  House  is  virtually  certain  to  throw 
it  out.  A  Chamber  of  Reconciliation  is 
then  convoked,  composed  of  a  number  of 
members  of  both  legislatures.  If  these  fail 
to  agree,  everything  remains  as  it  was 
before,  and  if  a  money  vote  is  in  question, 
the  Minister  continues  to  receive  the  sum 
allotted  to  him  by  the  estimates  of  the 
preceding  year.  That  the  Duma  should  be 
thus  restricted  to  the  role  of  censor  is 
deemed  to  be  one  of  the  worst  defects  of 
the  present  system  of  government. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  cannot  be  gainsaid 
that  the  soft,  plastic  character  of  the 
Slavs,  the  feebleness  of  their  social 
interests,  and  the  ease  with  which  they 
turn  away  from  deeds  to  words,  are  also 
to  some  extent  answerable  for  the  barren- 
ness of  the  legislative  sessions.  The  present 
Speaker,  M.  Khomyakoff,  who  is  himself 
endowed  with  the  admirable  character- 
istics of  the  Slav  in  an  eminent  degree, 
has  frequently  pointed  out  the  evil  and 
explained  it.  Speaking  in  November,  igo8, 
to  a  publicist  about  the  glut  of  Bills  and 
the  slowness  with  which  they  are  dealt 
with,  he  is  reported  to  have  said  :  "  Look- 
ing at  it  all  round,  I  must  say  that,  to  my 
thinking,  the  legislative  machinery  should 
be  changed  in  some  way.  I 
.  ^"*     ^*     cannot  indicate  how  this  is  to  be 

It     r.  done  .  .  .  but  it  is  easy  to  see 

the   Duma       ,i     .      r  t    i  ^    j.i,- 

that  if  on    July  ist  this  year 

there  remained  222  Bills  untouched,  and  by 
November  ist  of  the  same  year  290  more 
were  laid  before  the  House,  well,  there  is 
something  to  think  about.  .  .  But  all 
that  would  be  nothing  if  the  members  of 
the  Duma  hit  it  off  together,  more  or  less. 
But  they  are  eternally  squabbling,  etern- 
ally fighting.     With   regret  I  am  obliged 

5298 


to  say  that  of  late  these  quarrels  have 
increased.  On  the  whole,  however,  that 
is  in  our  character.  Let  four  men  come 
together,  and  the  very  first  thing  they  do  is 
to  rummage  each  other's  souls  in  quest 
of  each  other's  defects.  About  the  good 
points  nobody  cares,  but  they  infallibly 
rake  up  the  delinquencies." 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  watch  the 
working  of  the  administrative  mechanism 
of  to-day  without  seeing  that  the  Duma 
has  lost  the  fascination  for  Russia  which 
it  possessed  in  the  year  1906.  It  was  then 
looked  up  to  as  a  sort  of  brazen  serpent 
in  the  Desert  of  Bureaucracy,  created  in 
order  to  heal.  To-day  it  is  but  one  of  the 
many  state  departments  of  which  there 
were  then  too  many,  whose  privileged 
members  are  paid  high  salaries  by  the 
starving  people  for  doing  little  or  nothing. 
It  has  ceased  to  be  a  fountain  of  good,  and  is 
looked  upon  as  a  source  of  malignant  evils. 

It  has  no  hold  whatever  on  the  country, 
and  therefore  cannot  act  as  a  breakwater 
against  the  heavy  rollers  of  the  revolu- 
tionary sea  which  threatens  to  sweep  away 
the  dynasty  and  the  monarchical  regime. 
And  as  the  Duma  is  the  only 
rampart  which  the  monarchy 

r  .1.    rk  now  possesses  against  a  general 

of  the  Duma       ,        ^        ,.  °  .^      ■       . 

democratic  movement — just 

as  the  police  is  the  only  protection  on  which 

the  monarch  relies  against  terrorist  plots — 

it  follows  that,  parallel  with  the  creeping 

paralysis  of  the  Duma  goes  the  perilous 

weakening  of  the  monarchic  regime. 

Thus  the  Russian  Autocracy  might  be 
likened  to  a  mighty  rock  which  after 
centuries  of  repose  has  just  rolled  from 
the  summit  of  a  high  mountain,  but  has 
been  stopped  midway  down.  In  its  present 
precarious  position  it  may  remain  for 
years,  or  it  may  suddenly  resume  its  down- 
ward course  to-morrow,  crushing  every- 
thing in  its  way.  This  latter  contingency 
is  deemed  by  many  to  be  all  the  more 
likely  as  many  forces  are  working  de- 
liberately, methodically,  and  perseveringly, 
to  set  it  rolling ;  while  most  of  the  officials 
who  have  undertaken  the  task  of  thwarting 
these,  are  either  listless,  negligent,  or  else 
secretly  in  the  service  of  the  enemy. 

Evidently,  then,  change  is  a  necessity. 
The  sole  question  is,  who  shall  have  the 
shaping  of  it  ?  At  present  the  dynasty 
has  the  opportunity,  and,  to  a  limited 
extent,  the  ways  and  means,  but  apparently 
lacks  the  right  men  or  else  the  will  to 
appoint  them.     Even  of  the  Bureaucrats, 


The  Creeping 
Paralysis 


RUSSIA    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


who  at  present  wear  the  livery  and  receive 
the  pay  of  the  Crown,  a  large  percentage 
are  desirous  of  ulterior  and  far-reaching 
changes.  A  new  political  and  social 
revolution  is  what  they  ardently  hope  for. 
And  they  would  not  only  welcome  its- 
advent  but  would  work  actively  to  hasten 
it  if  they  could  take  this  step  with  im- 
punity. Some  of  them  indeed  do,  but 
stern  necessity  compels  the  majority  to 
bide  their  time  in  relative  quiescence. 

This  attitude  is  but  one  of  many 
symptoms  of  a  dangerous  disorder  which 
the  ruling  classes  cannot,  or  will  not, 
diagnose.  Since  the  October  17th  to  30th, 
1905,  there  has  been  a  bewildering  dis- 
location of  the  political  forces  of  the 
country,  but  it  came  to  pass  so  gradually 
that  even  its  occurrence — to  say  nothing 
of  its  significance — has  not  been  realised 
or  even  noticed  by  the  professional  watch- 
men of  the  nation.  But  its  effects  are  felt, 
although  they  are  not  being  traced  to  the 
true  cause.  The  Cabinet,  the  dynast3^  the 
ruling  classes — administrative  and  legisla- 
tive— are  now  on  one  side,  and  the  people 
are  on  the  other.   There  is  no  organic  nexus 

^,  ^.  ,  between  the  governing  bodies 
The  Shadow  1     xi  +■  j  -u     ^- 

and    the    nation.     Liberty    is 

o  a    econ      banished  to  the  parliamentary 

Revolution        ■    ,         ,       r    .  i        t-  ■  ^        r,    1 

island  of  the  iavnda  Palace, 
law  to  the  hall  of  the  Senate  and  the  pages 
of  the  civil  and  criminal  codes,  justice  to  the 
world  to  come,  and  the  few  measures  of 
reform  with  which  the  Duma  or  the  Cabinet 
periodically  toy  are  as  indifferent  to  the 
nation  as  the  caress  of  a  soft  and  tender 
hand  squandered  on  a  tortoise's  shell 
would  be  to  the  slumbering  tortoise  inside. 

The  nation  is  marching  steadily  along  its 
own  grooves  of  thought,  and  striving 
towards  its  own  ideals,  and  the  governing 
classes  are  moving  over  theirs.  The  link 
between  them  is  purely  mechanical,  not 
organic,  and  that,  too,  seems  destined 
shortly  to  snap.  Even  now  the  subter- 
ranean forces  of  upheaval  are  so  active,  so 
C(mstant,  so  successful,  and  the  resistance 
offered  them  is  so  feeble,  that  even  strangers 
with  open  eyes  and  eai"s,  and  nimble  minds, 
can  predict  with  perfect  confidence  the 
coming  of  the  second  revolution. 

The  principal  mainstay  of  the  dynasty, 
and,  indeed,  of  order  in  the  empire,  is 
at  present  the  army,  whose  loyalty  has 
withstood  temptations  that  appeared  irre- 
sistible. Suspected  in  1905  of  being 
honeycombed  with  sedition,  it  still  con- 
stitutes not  only  the  most  efficient  pro- 


tection to  the  regime,  but  to  all  elements 
of  peaceful  progress  in  the  nation.  In 
1905  vigilant  observers  confidently  pre- 
dicted the  saturation  of  the  army  with 
anarchistic  or  sociahstic  views  within  three 
years,  that  being  the  period  necessary 
for  a  complete  renovation  of  the  troops. 
But  although  the  efforts  of  the  revolutionary 
.  ,  party  are  concentrated  on  the 
land  and  sea  forces,  without 
_,  ^  whose    help  or  connivance  they 

will  find  it  difficult  to  carry  out 
their  subversive  designs,  the  temper  of 
the  troops  is  still  on  the  whole  satisfactory. 
But  even  the  army  is  not  immune  from 
the  individual  efforts  of  such  apostles 
of  the  revolution  as  the  late  Gershuni, 
whose  almost  irresistible  influence  might 
aptly  be  likened  to  that  of  the  pied  piper  of 
Hamelin.  Socialism  and  Anarchism  are  now 
reaching  the  private  soldier  and  common 
man  by  means  of  the  Press,  which  the 
revolutionary  forces  of  the  country  can 
handle  with  surprising  effects.  The  bulk 
of  daily  papers,  as  well  as  weekly  and 
monthly  journals,  are  arrayed  against  the 
government,  and  their  present  moderation 
of  tone  is  solely  a  result  of  the  powerful 
deterrents  which  martial  law  puts  in  the 
hands  of  governors  and  general-governors. 
A  change  of  regime  to-morrow,  or  even  the 
repeal  of  exceptional  legislation,  would 
effect  a  sudden  and  complete  transforma- 
tion in  their  methods  of  warfare. 

That  the  army  still  needs  complete 
reorganisation  in  almost  every  respect  is 
evident,  and  not  merely  to  experts,  but 
also  to  careful  outside  observers.  In  the 
course  of  the  years  igo6  and  1907,  the 
Government  removed  nearly  all  the  highest 
commanders  from  active  service,  the  chiefs 
of  corps  and  divisions,  and  likewise  about 
two-thirds  of  the  other  commanding 
officers.  But  independently  of  this  weed- 
ing-out  process  numbers  of  excellent 
officers  have  voluntarily  quitted  the 
army  because  of  the  miserh'  pa}'  there, 
the  slowness  of  advancement, 
•''''tT  T^  the  lack  of  stimulus  to  enter- 
"*  p7  prise,  and  of  the  crushing  out  of 

of  Reform  i-^^ji^.i^yality  by  rigorous  cen- 
trahsation.  Hundreds  of  them  found  it 
utterly  impossible  to  live  on  the  pit- 
tance they   received. 

Of  these  many  resigned  their  commis- 
sions, while  others  plunged  into  debt.  The 
hfe  of  the  average  officer,  from  the  grade 
of  major  downwards,  was  a  never-ending 
sequence  of  disillusions  and  hardships. 

5299 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  War  Ministry,  when  it  shortened 
the  term  of  service  from  four  years  to 
three,  failed  to  allow  for  the  fact  that 
the  training  would  have  to  be  inten- 
sified correspondingly.  Twenty-five  per 
cent,  more  work  was  accordingly  ex- 
pected of  the  staff  officers,  who  received 
neither  better  pay  nor  more  help  than 
,  before.  Yet  the  staff  of  officers 
The  rmy  s  ^^^  nearly  always  been  inade- 
L^"°"f  M  quate.  As  the  number  who  are 
continually  lacking  amounts  to 
about  4,000,  the  work  that  falls  to  those 
who  are  in  the  service  is  doubled  and 
sometimes  trebled.  Every  year  the 
military  schools  send  out  about  2,500 
young  officers  to  the  army,  which  is 
annually  losing  about  4,000.  The  deficit 
is  therefore  growing  instead  of  diminishing, 
and  most  of  those  who  leave  the  service 
are  said  to  be  the  best  educated  and  the 
most  highly  qualified. 

From  January,  1909,  the  pay  of  the 
Russian  officers  was  increased,  but  only 
slightly.  Lack  of  funds  keeps  them  from 
receiving  their  due,  for  gold  is  one  of  the 
chief  forces  that  move  the  steel  of  armies, 
and  Russia  is  poor.  Still,  much  larger  sums 
might  have  been  made  available  for  the 
troops  by  intelligent  thrift.  The  hundreds 
of  millions  assigned  in  1908  to  the  building 
of  the  Amoor  railway  line  would,  in  the 
opinion  of  experts  and  patriots,  have  been 
much  better  invested  in  raising  the 
material  and  moral  level  of  the  soldiers  and 
officers.  Men  of  talent  whom  a  military 
career  was  wont  to  attract  under  the  first 
Nicholas  and  the  second  Alexander  now 
seek  at  the  Bar,  in  trade,  commerce  and 
industry,  or  in  various  departments  of  the 
civil  service,  a  suitable  field  for  their 
activity  and  adequate  remuneration  for 
their  time  and  labour. 

In  Russia,   garrison   service  is  marked 

by  sameness,   and   the    efforts    put   forth 

to  vary  its  monotony  too  often  demoralise 

those     who     make     them.      Hence     the 

morale    of    the    officers'    corps 

ro  em  stand  in  quite  as  much  need 
of  Garrison      r      u    •  ■  i  j.-u    • 

c      .  01     bemg    improved    as    their 

material  condition.  And  unless 
this  problem  is  worked  out  to  a  desir- 
able solution,  the  common  men,  who 
constitute  the  finest  fighting  material  in 
the  world,  will  lack  efficient  instructors, 
without  whom  the  raw  stuff  cannot  be 
fashioned  into  a  living  organism.  In  a 
country  like  Russia,  the  barracks  could, 
and   should,    be    turned   into    a    kind   of 

5300 


national  school  for  the  upbringing  of  the 
primitive  beings  that  enter  them  every 
year.  Little  has  been  done  by  the  tsar's 
military  advisers  in  the  way  of  profiting 
by  the  lessons  of  the  late  war.  And  yet 
most  other  countries  have  utilised  Russia's 
painful  experience.  The  hand  grenade,  for 
instance,  proved  a  most  useful  weapon 
during  the  Japanese  campaign,  and  the 
War  Ministry  accordingly  resolved  to 
introduce  it.  Two  departments,  therefore, 
undertook  to  supply  hand  grenades  to  the 
army — the  artillery  and  the  engineers' 
corps — but  as  they  have  been  unable  to 
agree  how  to  set  about  it,  the  step  has  not 
yet  been  taken.  The  utility  and  necessity 
of  siege  artillery  is  another  of  the  practical 
conclusions  which  were  drawn  from  the 
experience  obtained  during  the  Manchu- 
rian  campaign.  But  the  Russian  army, 
which  was  not  supplied  with  siege  guns  in 
1904,  is  not  supplied  with  them  yet. 

Again,  about  half  of  the  divisions  are  still 
without  quick-firing  guns,  because  there  is 
no  money  to  buy  them,  the  sum  needed 
being  computed  at  £20,000.  Yet  for  the 
new    and    uncouth    headgear    which    has 

recently  been  introduced,  a 
Essential  sum  of /i, 400,000  was  assigned 
Quahtjesof  unhesitatingly.  The  police, 
the  Politician    ,  1  ■   1     •  x  au     1        4. 

too,  which  IS  one  01  the  least 

efficient  in  the  world,  is  manifestly  under- 
going a  process  of  slow  reorganisation. 
Here,  however,  the  work  of  improvement 
is  more  difficult  owing  to  the  exiguity 
of  qualified  men,  for  in  Russia  no  one  can 
become  a  good  policeman  who  is  not  a  man 
of  nerve  and  a  citizen  of' more  than  average 
moral  worth.  And  individuals  endowed 
with  such  ethical  and  physical  equipments 
have  no  motives  for  becoming  social 
pariahs  by  donning  a  livery  which  renders 
them  in  the  eyes  of  Russian  society  what 
the  publicans  were  in  the  eyes  of  the  Jews. 
In  order  to  be  and  to  remain  an  honest 
and  incorruptible  member  of  the  police 
force  in  Russia,  a  man  must  be  heroically 
virtuous,  wholly  temptation  proof.  Doubt- 
less, every  department  of  the  administra- 
tion in  the  tsardom  has  its  own  peculiar 
temptations,  but  that  of  the  police  teems 
with  them.  The  pay  is  absurdly  small ; 
the  work  is  hard  ;  the  risks  are  great  ;  the 
antipathy  of  the  public  is  intense  and 
ruthless,  and  if  a  member  is  dismissed  by 
his  superiors,  he  is  virtually  an  outcast. 
During  the  discharge  of  his  duties  money 
is  thrust  upon  him  at  every  hand's  turn, 
sometimes  for  what  he  does,  at  other  times 


THE     TSAR,     WITH     AN     IKON     IN     HIS     HAND,     BLESSING     RUSSIAN     INFANTRY 


ANOTHER     PICTURE     SHOWING     THi:    TSAR    REVIEWING     THE    SEMINOVSKY     REGIMENT 


THE    TSAK     OF     RUSSIA    AMONG     HIS    SOLDIERS 


5301 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


for  what  he  leaves  undone,  and  very  often 
on  the  principle  on  which  the  Chinese  pay 
their  doctors,  so  long  as  they  have  no  need 
of  their  professional  services.  Under  these 
circumstances  to  fall  is  easy,  even  to  an 
immaculate  citizen.  And  the  bulk  of 
the  police  are  the  reverse  of  immaculate. 
The  secret  political  police  organisation, 
which  at  a  time  like  the  present 
Workings         .g  ^.  ^g  ^^  ^j^g  mainstavs  of  the 

PoHcr'"*'*  regime,  has  been  shown  by 
recent  events  to  be  at  once 
imphcitly  trusted  and  absolutely  untrust- 
worthy. Its  workings  tend  to  undermine 
the  throne,  which  it  is  paid  to  support,  and 
its  agents — some  consciously,  others  un- 
wittingly— defeat  the  very  object  which 
the  organisation  exists  to  promote.  Nor  is 
it  to  be  supposed  that  any  partial  reform 
will  infuse  new  life  into  the  service  so  long 
as  the  Government  lacks  men  of  common 
honesty  to  work  as  agents,  money  to  pay 
them  well,  and  an  organising  intellect  to 
give  direction  to  their  efforts. 

Russia's  police  organisation  is  divided 
into  two  branches,  of  which  one  deals  with 
ordinary  crime  and  criminals,  and  the 
other  with  individuals  and  associations 
whose  aim  is  to  overthrow  the  Government 
or  to  assassinate  its  members.  And  the 
influence  of  both  divisions  upon  the 
community  is  now  seen  to  be  positively 
mischievous.  In  some  cases  the  chiefs,  and 
in  most  instances  the  agents,  undisguisedly 
adopt  measures  which  run  counter  to  the 
principles  f)n  which  society  rests. 

They  violate  the  law,  scoff  at  morality, 
tamper  with  Imperial  behests,  paralyse 
the  arm  of  the  most  powerful  Minister, 
change  a  judicial  or  administrative 
thunderbolt  into  a  simple  petard,  open 
prison  doors  to  dangerous  malefactors, 
reveal  state  secrets  to  bloodthirsty 
terrorists,  and  finally  reach  a  point  at 
which  public  opinion,  clamouring  to  have 
them  punished,  is  uncertain  whether  to 
classify  them  as  cunning  conspirators  or 


Corruption 
Among 


as  stupid  officials.     The  ordi 
nary  police   system,  which   is 


p  ..  more  amenable  to  supervision 

than  the  political,  is  undoubt- 
edly corrupt  to  the  core.  Badly-paid 
underhngs  or  impecunious  chiefs  conspire 
with  thieves,  highwaymen,  and  other 
criminals,  whom  they  not  only  screen 
from  punishment,  but  aid  and  abet  in 
the  commission  of  crime.  In  the  3'ear 
iqoS  some  extensive  conspiracies,  in 
which  members  of  the  police  took  part, 

5302 


were  brought  to  light.  The  Govern- 
ment instituted  strict  investigations, 
which  led  to  further  discoveries  of  a 
nauseous  kind.  The  accused  were  sent 
for  trial,  the  scandal  was  intense  and 
widespread,  and  the  public  mistrust  of  the 
police  became  more  deep-rooted  than 
before.  But  the  sj'stem  remains  what  it 
was.  It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the 
moral  calibre  of  the  Russian  constable 
can  be  greatly  improved  before  his  material 
well-being  has  been  adequately  provided 
for  by  his  emplo3'ers.  But  if  the  ordinary 
police  in  Russia  resembles  salt  that  has 
lost  its  savour,  the  political  section  may 
be  likened  to  a  disinfectant  with  which  a 
potent  poison  has  been  mixed. 

True,  in  no  country  is  scrupulous  respect 
for  austere  morality  a  characteristic  of  the 
body  of  men  whose  duty  it  is  to  discover 
in  order  to  frustrate  political  crimes.  So 
long  as  they  keep  within  certain  broad 
limits,  and  refrain  from  committing  a 
breach  of  certain  rudimentary'  ethical  prin- 
ciples, they  are  sure  to  be  judged  by  an 
easy  standard.  But  in  the  practice  of  the 
Russian  secret  police  all  restraints  appear 
to  have  been  ignored,  all 
^'^°'  breaches  of  human  and  divine 
S  A  ff  ^^^^  ^°  ^^  permitted.  The 
Lopoukhine  -  Azeff  scandal, 
W'hich  stirred  the  Russian  nation  to  its 
inmost  depths  in  1909  revealed  a  code  of 
maxims  and  a  sequence  of  acts  for  which 
even  men  of  lax  morality  find  no  excuse, 
and  people  of  average  intelligence  can 
suggest  no  reasonable  explanation. 

The  head  of  the  police,  Lopoukhine, 
set  great  store  by  a  spy  named  Azeff,  who 
was  the  soul  and  brain  of  the  revolutionary 
committee  which  conceived  and  arranged 
some  of  the  political  outrages  that  pre- 
ceded and  accompanied  the  revolution. 
For  the  seven  years  ending  in  1909,  Azeff 
enjoyed  the  confidence  alike  of  the 
terrorists  and  the  police,  and,  so  far  as 
one  can  judge,  achieved  feats  of  sufficient 
importance  to  justify  it  in  each  case.  He 
is  said  to  have  planned,  among  other 
crimes,  the  assassination  of  General 
Bogdanovitch,  Governor  of  Ufa,  of  the 
Minister  Plehve,  from  whom  he  was 
receiving  large  sums  of  monev  every 
year,  and  of  the  Grand  Duke  Sergius. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  betraj'ed  the  most 
successful  Russian  revolutionist  that  ever 
lived,  Gershuni,  who  was  proud  of  being 
his  intimate  friend.  And  while  Azeff,  the 
redoubted   and  redoubtable  revolutionist. 


RUSSIA    IN    OUR    OWN     TIME 


was  thus  playing  false  to  his  party  on  the 
one  hand,  and  was  procuring  the  murder 
of  prominent  members  of  the  Imperial 
Government  on  the  other  hand,  one  of  the 
most  influential  chiefs  of  the  provincial 
police — Bakai,  the  assistant-director  of 
the  secret  police  of  Warsaw — was  betraying 
Azeff  to  the  revolutionists.  But  as  the 
revolutionary  committee  could  not  on 
such  questionable  evidence  convict  its 
trusted  leader  of  foul  play,  it  appealed  to 
Lopoukhine,  the  police  director  who  had 
been  the  zealous  co-operator  and  intimate 
friend  of  the  despotic  Minister  Plehve, 
and  this  gentleman  gave  evidence  against 
the  secret  agent  whose  services  he  had 
utilised  and  appreciated. 

Among  the  causes  that  hav^e  led  to  this 
anarchy  are  the  lack  of  unity  of  system 
and  moral  laxity.  Under  Plehve,  for 
instance,  there  were  five  different  bodies 
of  secret  police,  each  one  working  by  itself 
and  directing  its  efforts  principally  against 
the  others.  These  were,  the  force  under 
the  police  department,  the  police  of  the 
Department  of  Public  Safety,  the  police 
of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  the  palace 
u      n.  .     police,   and    the    police    of   the 

How   Plots      17  •  T~\  i  i-  Ti  • 

foreign  Department.  It  is 
„        J   .     easy   to   see  how    these   bodies 

might  unintentionally  baulk 
each  other's  schemes  ;  but  that,  moved  by 
spite,  hatred,  or  other  base  motives,  they 
should  deliberately  play  into  the  hands  of 
the  revolutionists  is  more  diflicult  for 
foreigners  to  understand.  To  Russians, 
however,  it  seems  not  only  probable,  but 
true.  And  among  the  instances  they  bring 
forward  in  support  of  this  grave  accusation 
the  following  is  the  most  striking. 

While  the  cleverest  Russian  revolutionist, 
Gershuni,  was  living  in  a  tailor's  family  in 
Kieff,  planning  the  assassination  of  the 
Governor  of  Ufa,  his  every  deed  and  word 
were  revealed  to  the  chief  of  the  Kieff  secret 
police.  The  traitors  were  two  zealous 
revolutionists,  the  tailor  and  his  daughter 
in  whose  house  Gershuni  was  living.  Now 
the  chief  of  the  Kieff  police,  General 
Novitsky,  forwarded  urgent  telegrams  to 
the  Home  Secretary,  Plehve,  asking  for 
instructions  and  expecting  to  be  authorised 
to  arrest  the  conspirators.  But  Plehve, 
who  is  alleged  to  have  had  a  grudge 
against  the  destined  victim  of  the  assas- 
sins, ordered  the  police  director  to  stay 
his  hand.  "  Observe,  report,  keep  every- 
thing absolutely  secret,  but  do  nothing 
rash."    Such  was  the  gist  of  the  Minister's 


Forces 
that  Prevent 
Anarchy 


mysterious  behest.  And  during  a  whole 
month  the  chief  of  the  Kieff  })olice  con- 
tinued to  report,  and  the  Home  Secretary 
went  on  repeating  his  instructions.  At 
last  the  day  set  ai)art  for  the  crime  was 
drawing  near,  and  the  police  director 
informed  Plehve  that  the  four  conspi- 
rators whose  names  he  had  communicated 
long  before  had  started  for  Ufa 
to  commit  the  deed.  But  still 
Plehve  made  no  sign.  And  in 
May,  1903,  General  Bogdano- 
vitch,  Governor  of  Ufa,  was  duly  shot 
dead  by  the  four  assassins,  who  went 
away  unmolested. 

As  things  now  stand  in  Russia,  the 
throne  alone  would  seem  to  separate  the 
nation  from  anarchy,  while  the  police 
shield  the  throne  from  destruction.  On 
the  efficiency  of  the  police,  therefore,  the 
duration  of  the  present  regime  will  con- 
tinue to  depend,  unless  it  be  laid  upon 
some  more  solid  groundwork. 

A  thorough  reorganisation  of  the  police 
will  entail  heavy  expenditure.  Money, 
therefore,  is  a  requisite.  And  what  is  true 
of  the  army  and  the  police  is  equally  true 
of  every  state  department  in  the  empire  : 
without  funds,  no  root-reaching  reform  is 
feasible.  On  the  other  hand,  without 
purifying  reform  the  diseased  organism 
cannot  be  healed  nor  the  enfeebled  financial 
forces  reinvigorated.  We  are  apparently 
face  to  face  with  a  vicious  circle. 

On  the  finances  in  the  first  instance,  and 
on  the  economic  condition  of  the  country 
in  last  analysis,  the  future  of  the  nation 
very  largely  depends.  For  the  longer 
needful  reforms  are  delayed,  the  more 
intense  and  widespread  will  disaffec- 
tion become,  and  the  slighter  will  be 
the  influence  of  the  conservative  ele- 
ments in  the  country.  These  elements 
are  at  present  almost  entirely  confined  to 
the  higher  classes.  Formerly,  indeed,  the 
peasantry,  too,  were  included  among  them, 
but  erroneously  ;  because  the  Russian 
,  mooshik — this  is  one  of  the 
Russian  terms  for  peasant 
— bore  stoically  what  he 
could  not  alter,  and  dared  not 
criticise,  he  was  set  down  as  a  worshipper 
of  the  autocracy.  And,  in  order  to  obtain 
a  Conservative  majority  in  the  Duma,  tlie 
peasant  was  enfranchised  by  the  first 
electoral  law.  In  the  interests  of  the 
nation,  that  mistake  had  to  be  righted  as 
soon  as  the  unwelcome  fact  became  clear 
that  he  was  quite  indifferent  to  politics,  as 

5303 


The   Peasants 

Idea 

of  Politics 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


politics,  but  was  ready  to  join  any  party, 
legal  or  illegal,  that  would  give  or  promise 
him  gratuitously  the  land  belonging  to  the 
squires,  the  Crown,  or  the  Church. 

Intellectually  little  better  than  the 
French  or  British  peasant  of  the  eleventh 
century,  the  mooshik  lazily  tills  the  land 
which  he  occupies  but  does  not  own.  He 
is  but  a  member  of  the  village  community 
in  which  the  ownership  is  vested.  Hence 
he  lacks  the  sharp-cut  notion  of  personal 
property,  which  to  European  peoples  is 
almpst  an  innate  idea.  He  sees  no  moral 
wrong,  in  sequestrating  by  force  the  land 
that  belongs  to  another,  especially  if  that 
other  is  of  a  different  class ;  nor  can 
he  discern  any  danger  to  himself  in  that 
course,  although  underlying  it  is  a  prin- 
ciple which,  if  logically  applied,  would  re- 
duce him  to  utter  poverty.  On  the  be- 
nighted condition  of  the  vast  agricultural 
class  which  thus  constitutes  a  formidable 
and  proximate  danger  to  the  well-being 
of  the,  nation,  the  third  Prime  Minister, 
M.  Stolypin,  concentrated  his  attention. 

Among  a  set  of  urgent  problems  all 
pressing  for  instant  solution,  he  singled 
out  the  agrarian  question  as  the  most 
momentous.  Soon  after  he  had  accepted 
office  he  acquired  the  conviction  that  unless 
he  could  win  over  the  peasantry  to  such 
conservatism    as    enlightened    selfishness 


engenders,  the  country  would  be  ruined. 
But  his  way  was  blocked  with  many 
obstacles.  Seemingly,  the  peasantry  had 
already  thrown  in  their  lot  with  the  enemies 
of  the  empire.  Revolutionary  groups  had 
bribed  them  with  the  promise  of  free  land, 
rightly  feeling  that  to  be  successful  the 
anti-monarchical  movement  must  have 
the  active  support  of  the  masses.  And 
it  was  because  having  won  they  failed  to 
keep  that  support,  and  the  movement 
consequently  remained  a  mere  urban 
revolution,  that  Russia  is  still  an  autocracy. 
Of  the  150,000,000  who  now  inhabit  the 
.  ,          tsardom,   only    I2'8  per  cent. 

pTsLt     *^^^^^^  '-^  ^^^^^^'  ^^^  ^^^^^  ^7'^ 

casan  cent,  live  in  the  countrv, 

and  of  these  74-2  per  cent,  are 
tillers  of  the  soil.  The  entire  peasant 
class  of  the  empire  amounts  to  67*2  per 
cent.,  or  two-thirds  of  the  population. 
These  figures  enable  one  to  understand 
the  importance  of  the  peasantry  to  the 
revolutionist  leaders  and  the  recklessness 
with  which  they  made  their  bid  for  its 
support.  Brutal  anarchism  was  the  form 
which  the  subversive  movement  assumed 
among  the  tillers  of  the  soil. 

M.  Stolypin 's  mode  of  warring  against 
this  violent  outburst  was  to  smash  the 
last  of  the  three  idols  of  the  Slavophiles — 
the  village  commune — to    divide   among 


A    RUSSIAN    CROWD    BEING    HELD    IN    CHECK    BY    COSSACK    SOLDIERS 


5304 


liiilMtliii 
COSSACK    REGIMENT    RIDING    THROUGH    THE    STREETS    OF    ST. 


PETERSBURG 


individual  husbandmen  the  land  thereto- 
fore possessed  in  common,  and  thus  graft- 
ing the  idea  of  personal  property  on  the 
sluggish,  untutored  minds  of  the  rustics  to 
wait  until  that  should  bring  forth  political 
and  social  fruit.  This  vast  and  fateful 
experim-ent  is  now  in  process  of  realisation. 
In  the  haste  with  which  it  had  to  be  under- 
taken and  the  political  colour  that  was 
necessarily  imparted  to  it  in  consequence 
of  the  stress  and  strain  of  the  moment  lie 
the  sources  of  its  two  sets  of  defects. 

But  the  efforts  made  by  the  Government 
were  praiseworthy.  The  domain  lands  of 
the  Imperial  family  and  extensive  estates 

_  .  .  bought  from  wealthy  noblemen 
Emigration  ^  n     i  •    i.     i    i     i       xt 

.    c7,     .       were  parcelled  mto  lots  by  the 

to  oiberia       t^  .    >         n       i 

Peasants        Bank, 


Encouraged 


and 


now  divided  among  the  farmers 
who  undertake  to  refund  the  cost  price 
to  ,the  State.  The  continuous  migration 
of  landless  husbandmen  to  Siberia  is  also 
being  directed  and  fostered  by  the  Govern- 
ment, which  further  proposes  to  invite  the 
same  land-seeking  class  to  colonise  certain 
districts  of  Central  Asia.  The  number  of 
families  that  have  migrated  to  Siberia 
during  the  year  igoS  is  computed  by  the 
central  authorities  at  74,500,  or,  say 
between  370,000  and  450,000  individuals  of 
both  sexes.  The  extent  of  land  parcelled  out 
among  these  is  estimated  at  3,000,000  des- 
siatines,  a  dessiatine  being  equal  to  13,067 
square  yatds,  or  approximately  25  acres; 

I  M 


this  amounts  to  nearly  17,000  square  mdes. 
This  salutary  agrarian  reform,  sunplc 
though  it  may  seem,  will  require  the 
expenditure  of  sums  of  money  so  vast  that 
the  special  agrarian  fund  will  not  suffice 
to  furnish  them.  One  may  be  pardoned 
for  doubting  whether  even  yet  the  Ministry 
itself  fully  realises  the  amounts  that  will 
ultimately  be  absorbed  by  this  grandiose 
experiment,  or  the  political  changes  it 
will  bring  forth.  That  the  peasants  will 
fail  to  redeem  the  bonds  issued  by  the 
government  to  the  noblemen  who  are 
selling  their  land,  and  that  the  deficit 
must  one  day  be  covered  by  the  State, 
seems  to  many  a  foregone  conclusion. 

But  the  total  cost  of  the  transfer 
will  probably  not  be  limited  to  this  loss. 
For  the  peasant,  who  already  lives  from 
hand  to  mouth,  will  be  unable,  from 
lack  of  ready  money,  to  till  the  land  as 
the  noblemen  tilled  it.  He  must  there- 
fore obtain  credit  or  sell  out.  Yet,  in  lieu 
of  receiving  the  wherewithal  to  keep  his 
new  farm  on  its  old  level  of  productivity 
he  has  to  saddle  himself  from  the  outset 
with  debts  which  will  cripple  him  and 
damage  the  community.  The  system  of 
cultivation  that  still  obtains  m  Russia 
may  be  tersely  described  as  plunder  of  the 
soil.  Much  is  taken,  and  little  or  nothing 
is  given  back.  The  three-tield  system, 
which  involves  enormous  work,  the  lack 
of  variety  of  crops,  and  the  absence  of 

=3  SZ'^S 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


artificial  manures,  contribute  to  exhaust 
the  fertiUty  of  the  land.  But  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  any  Minister,  situated  as 
M.  Stolypin  was,  could  have  provided 
funds  enough  for  the  agrarian  revolution 
which  he  courageously  inaugurated.  It 
is  worth  noting  that,  contrary  to  expec- 
tation, the  peasants  do  not  readily 
])urchase  the  land  which  the 
an  or  Agrarian  Bank  acquired  at  its 
p*  own   risk   from   the    landlords 

and  divided  into  lots  suited  for 
farms.  And  yet  the  terms  on  which  the 
bank  offers  them  are  very  advantageous 
to  the  purchaser.  Between  November, 
1905,  and  November,  1908,  the  bank 
thus  bought  3,682,000  dessiatines  from 
noblemen  who  had  either  actually  suffered 
or  were  afraid  of  suffering  from  the  vio- 
lence of  the  peasantry. 

Yet,  of  all  this  land,  only  656,000  dessia- 
tines have  been  bought  by  the  would-be 
tenant  farmers,  or,  say,  18  per  cent,  of  the 
whole.  The  remainder,  amounting  to  more 
than  3,000,000  dessiatines,  remains  on  the 
hands  of  the  bank,  which  has  been  author- 
ised to  make  further  purchases  amounting 
to  2,000,000  dessiatines.  In  this  way 
5,000,000  dessiatines  are  in  a  transitional 
state — a  result  which  must  have  a  mis- 
chievous effect  on  the  material  well-being 
of  the  community. 

In  the  Budget  this  dead  loss  figures  as  a 
minus,  for  the  former  owners  of  these 
estates  have  already  been  remunerated  in 
government  bonds,  bearing  interest  at  5 
and  6  per  cent.  And  the  interest  on  this 
debt  has  to  be  paid  with  regularity.  The 
result  is  that  the  Government,  in  order  to 
make  good  the  loss  of  the  bank,  draws 
upon  the  taxpayer,  and  having  assigned 
7,000,000  roubles  to  the  peasants'  bonds  in 
1908,  gave  a  subsidy  of  17,500,000  in  1909. 

But  a  more  scathing  criticism  than 
could  be  based  upon  the  probable  financial 
consequence  of  the  measure  lies  in  the 
grounded  fear  that  b}^  its  limitations  it 
•-.V  ^^^^^  demoralise  the  village  c(mi- 
niunity,  which  it  cannot  wholh^ 


M.  Stolypin's 

Doubtful 

Experiment 


abolish,  will  ruin  the  bulk  of 
the  peasant  farmers,  whom  it 
cannot  furnish  with  adequate  means  of 
tilling  the  newly  acquired  soil,  will  cut 
millions  adrift  from  the  land,  deprive 
them  of  permanent  work,  rob  them  of  the 
material  and  moral  help  which  they  here- 
tofore received  from  the  village  com- 
munity, and  expose  them  unequipped 
for  resistance  to  the  powerful  temptations 


of  professional  revolutionists.  In  other 
words,  M.  Stolypin's  experiment,  if  there 
were  funds  to  ensure  to  it  the  highest 
degree  of  success,  could  not  bring  forth 
good  fruits  before  a  couple  of  generations. 
But  realised  only  in  part — and  plainly  in 
its  subversive  part — owing  to  the  dearth 
of  funds  to  carry  out  the  whole,  and  relied 
upon  as  an  immediate  remedy  for  the 
pressing  political  evils  of  to-day,  it  strikes 
most  Russian  observers  as  a  superlatively 
mischievous  scheme,  which,  however,  does 
credit  to  the  heart  of  M.  Stolypin. 

That  the  peasantry  is  as  sorely  in  need 
of  culture  as  the  land  will  be  taken  as  a  self- 
evident  proposition  by  all  who  have  lived 
among  them.  Crass  ignorance,  mediaeval 
superstition,  ])aralysing  fatalism,  and  a 
propensity  to  thriftlessness  and  laziness, 
are  among  their  negative  characteristics, 
and  also  among  the  active  causes  of  the 
poverty  from  which  they  constantly 
suffer.  Indeed,  such  is  the  character 
of  the  Russian  agricultural  class  that, 
according  to  a  competent,  but  one 
hopes  a  mistaken,  judge,  M.  Obraztsoff, 
the  introduction  of  personal  property 
among  them  will  in  three  yeais 
cause  about  20,000,000  of  them 
to  be  landless.  "  The  owners 
will  exchange  their  farms  for 
alcohol,  just  as  they  now  exchange  their 
carts  and  their  garments  for  drink.  There 
are  families  who  have  drunk  their  unsold 
land  for  twenty  years  in  advance." 

It  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to 
note  the  views  of  another  authority, 
A.  J.  Savenko,  who  affirms  that  the 
fundamental  impressions  which  rural 
Russia  makes  on  the  observer  are  the 
laziness,  listlessness,  and  ignorance  of  its 
inhabitants.  "  The  indolence  of  the 
majority  of  the  peasants  transcends  all 
bounds.  For  dwellers  in  cities,  who 
live  in  an  atmosphere  of  steady  toil,  it  is 
positively  bewildering.  The  peasants  are 
averse  to  doing  anything.  Work  of  any 
sort  is  distasteful  to  them,  and  they  shirk 
it  by  every  means  in  their  power.  Old  and 
young  are  characterised  by  sloth,  but 
youth  takes  the  foremost  place.  In  a 
large  village  you  cannot  find  a  single  good 
worker,  male  or  female.  They  will  not 
consent  to  exert  themselves  even  for  most 
substantial  remuneration,  preferring  to  sit 
with  folded  arms  at  home.  They  live  in 
want  ;  some  of  them  beg  ;  but  none  wish 
to  labour.  ...  All  in  all,  I  think 
that   in  the  course  of  a  whole  year  the 


Idleness 
in  Rural 
Russia 


RUSSIA    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


peasants  work  no  more  than  from  one  to 
two  months.  The  remainder  of  the  time 
they  spend  in  utter  idleness,  which  has  a 
stupefying  effect  on  them. 

"  Cynicism  is  a  natural  consequence  of 
this  sloth  and  listlessness.  The  peasants 
live  in  incredible  squalor.  Their  aesthetic 
requirements  are  lowered  to  a  microscopic 
minimum.  The  need  of  the  most  elemen- 
tary comforts  are  wholly  unfelt.  They 
lead  hterally  the  life  of  hogs.  Brutish 
cynicism  shows  itself  through  the  whole 
course  of  rustic  existence.  I  do  not 
know  wherein  the  spiritual  side  of  it 
consists.  The  bulk  of  them  are  not 
conscious  of  any  bond  between  themselves 
and  the  nation  or  the  State.  Religion 
no  longer  plays  the  part  that  it  once  did 
in  the  life  of  the  people.  In  a  fairly  large 
village  there  is  no  church,  and  none  of 
the  villagers  are  in  the  least  put  out  by 
the  lack  of  one.  Only  one  necessity  is 
everywhere  felt  in  the  gloomy  existence  of 
the  peasantry — the  necessity  of  vodka — 
and  that  thirst  is  stilled  abundantly." 
A  correlate  to  the  laziness  of  the 
peasant  is  the  large  number  of  days  of 

Tk  D  *  I'sst  he  enjoys  even  during  the 
The  Peasants  i       •     ,  i,        r . ,  °  , 

„  .        busiest  months  of  the  year  when 

roor  and  ,  r    ■,       ■,■■, 

Thriftless  ^^^^y  ^^°^''  ^^  daylight  ought 
to  be  utilised  to  the  fullest. 
For  example,  August  ist  is  a  holiday,  the 
sixth  is  a  holiday,  the  fifteenth  is  a  holiday, 
the  twenty-ninth  and  the  thirtieth  are 
holidays.  Add  to  these  the  four  Sundays, 
and  you  have  nine  days  in  one  month 
during  which  no  work  is  done. 

But  it  is  not  only  in  the  country  that 
this  disregard  of  time  is  noticeable.  In 
trade  and  commerce,  at  the  Bar,  in  the 
banks,  on  the  railways— in  short,  every- 
where it  is  the  same.  The  Board  of  the 
Siberian  Railway  has  lately  published  statis- 
tics of  the  number  of  hours  the  trains  were 
late  on  that  line  during  two  consecutive 
years.  In  igo6  they  lost  2,514  hours,  and  in 
iqo7,  2,335  hours,  i.e.,  in  1906,  104I  days  ; 
and  in  1907,  97  days  and  7  hours.  In  the 
course  of  three  years  the  Siberian  trains 
lost  exactly  one  year.  And  these  sta- 
tistics deal  only  with  passenger  trains. 

Poverty  is  the  correlate  of  sloth  and 
thriftlessness,  and  it  may  well  be  doubted 
whether  in  any  other  country  in  Europe 
the  material  existence  of  the  peasants 
leaves  so  much  to  be  desired  as  in  Russia. 
"  The  peasant's  dwelling  is  a  wooden 
or  mud  hut,  more  suited  for  cattle  than 
for  human  beings.       The  peasants,  with- 


out distinction  of  sex,  and  oftentimes  the 
cattle,  take  their  rest  in  one  narrow, 
mephitic  room.  Such  a  rudimentary 
convenience  as  a  bed  is  a  very  great 
rarity  in  a  farmer's  house.  The 
villages  and  hamlets  in  which  the  rural 
population  of  Russia  are  sheltered  burn 
to  ashes  once  in  twenty  years,  completing 
Russia  in  ^^^  ™"^'  ^^^''^'^  hygienists  hold. 
Contrast  however,  that  if  Russia  were 
with  An^erica  ^""^  Periodically  thus  consumed 
by  nre  she  would  rot  away  in 
her  infected  huts  and  cabins.  ... 
Nor  is  the  food  of  the  peasant  any  better. 
Compared  with  what  it  was,  there  is  a 
certain  change  for  the  worse.  ...  It 
consists  mainly  of  bread  and  potatoes. 
Even  such  vegetables  as  cabbage,  onions, 
and  cucumber  are  disappearing  from  the 
table  of  the  bulk  of  the  peasants." 

The  wealth-creating  power  of  the 
Russian  husbandman  is  what  the  personal 
characteristics  and  the  social  conditions 
enumerated  above  would  lead  one  to 
expect.  Take  the  five  principal  cereals 
of  the  country -rye,  wheat,  oats,  barley, 
Indian  corn — and  we  find  that  in  the  year 
1900  the  total  produce  was  but  3,269 
million  poods — a  pood  is  36  pounds  ;  there 
are  62  poods  in  a  ton — valued  at  I904"7 
milhons  of  roubles.  That  is  in  Russia, 
where  agriculture  constitutes  the  main 
occupation,  giving  work  to  74  per  cent,  of 
the  entire  population.  Now,  in  the  United 
States,  where  only  36  per  cent,  of  the 
population  till  the  land,  the  harvest  of 
cereals  in  that  same  year  amounted  to 
5,340  milhon  poods,  valued  at  2,800 
million  roubles.  Thus  the  American 
farmers  gathered  in  63  per  cent,  more — 
in  weight — than  the  Russians.  And  3^et 
the  population  of  the  tsardom  is,  roughly 
speaking,  double  that  of  the  North 
American  Republic. 

If  we  now  inquire  how  much  of  the  corn 

is  eaten  by  the  people  who  raise  it,  we 

shall     find     the     Russian     husbandman 

r,.!     r.     .     lagging  far  behind   his  rivals. 

The  Food      T      X     ^  i      I  1 

In  fact,  one  may  truly  say  ol 

_  .        him    what    was  said    of    the 

Peasants 


French  tiller  before  the  revo- 
lution :  "  He  always  has  too  little  to  eat, 
and  occasionally  dies  of  hunger."  During 
the  year  1904  the  American  citizen 
consumed  54*3  poods  of  corn;  the  Ger- 
man, 28-0;  Austro  -  Hungarian,  23*3  ; 
French,  23-3 ;  British,  23*0;  Russian,  18-3. 
The  melancholy  significance  of  these 
figures  will  become  more  clear  when  we 

53C-7 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


bear  in  mind  that  together  with  corn  foods 
the  other  peoples  eat  meat,  fish,  eggs, 
vegetables,  butter,  and  fruits  in  much 
larger  quantities  than  Russians.  Nor 
should  it  be  forgotten  that  Russia  exports 
about  t5  })er  cent,  of  the  entire  harvest  of 
cereals,  which  amounts  to  about  3  to  4 
Tk    c  poods   a  head  of   the  popula- 

Thc  Scanty  ^^^^  ^^^^  following  SUggCS- 
Fare  of  the    ,.  .    ■,  -,  ■       "       ^      i^u 

„      .  tive   table   gives  m  poods  the 

Russians  ,      , .  i    ,  1 

production  and  the  consump- 
tion of  the  five  cereals  enumerated  above 
by  six  nations  in  1894  and  1904  : 


Countries 

Protluction 
per  head 

Consumption 
per  head 

1894 

1904 

1894 

1904 

Britain 

IO-8 

8-2 

23*9 

2^'0 

Germany    .  . 
France 

21  •  I 

27'2 

26' I 
28-4 

23"7 

27  "S 

28-0 

23'3 

Austria-Hungary  . . 
United  States 
Russia 

24-9 

5i'3 
26-6 

23-1 
72-8 
26-3 

23'I 

42-8 

22-8 

23"3 
54*3 
i8-3 

The  sameness  and  scantiness  of  the 
Russian  peasant's  repasts  are  all  the  more 
surprising  that  game  is  abundant  in  the 
interior  and  fish  plentiful  in  Russian 
seas,  rivers  and  lakes.  The  amount 
of  fish  caught  in  Russian  waters  every  year 
is  computed  by  the  well-known  expert, 
Borodin,  at  1,120  million  kilogrammes,  of 
which  about  19.000,000  kilogrammes  are 
caught  in  the  Caspian  Sea  ;  35,000,000  in 
the  Baltic  and  White  Seas  ;  17,000,000  in 
the  Black  Sea  and  Sea  of  Azov  ;  over 
6,000,000  in  the  Arctic  and  Pacific  Oceans  ; 
and  5,000,000  in  the  Ural  Sea. 

Carp  and  perch  contribute  about 
754,000,000  kilogrammes  ;  herring  about 
152,000,000  ;  salmon,  about  45,000,000; 
sturgeon,  approximately,  34,000,000  ; 
different  other  kinds,  about  40,000,000  ; 
not  counting  64,000,000  kilos  of  fresh- 
water fish.  And  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  this  wealth  of  fish  food  is 
obtained  with  a  minimum  of  expenditure 
in  money  and  labour,  for  fisheries  and 
})isciculture  in  Russia  are  still  in  a  very 
.  ,  primitive  state.  The  sea,  like 
G^^^tV'  h    ^^^^   land,    is    being    ruthlessly 


Supply 


plundered  ;  poaching  is  almost 
universal,  and  down  to  a  short 
time  ago  close  seasons  were  openly  dis- 
regarded. Yet  Russia  supplies  three  times 
as  much  fish  as  the  United  States,  five 
times  as  much  as  Great  Britain,  and  six 
times  as  much  as  France.  The  amount 
of  cattle  possessed  by  the  peasantry, 
according    to    the    latest    statistics,    was 

5308 


in  1908 :  in  European  Russia,  exclu- 
sive of  Poland,  25,000,000  head ;  in 
Poland,  3,000,000  ;  in  Asiatic  Russia, 
6,000,000  ;  in  the  Caucasus,  5,000,000  ; 
in  Finland,  2,000,000.  But  although  the  1 
absolute  total  in  that  year  was  undoubt-  | 
edly  greater  than  in  any  of  the  foregoing 
years,  the  percentage  per  i.ooo  souls  of 
the  population  had  fallen  perceptibly.  In 
the  sixties  of  the  last  century  it  was 
about  340  ;  in  the  seventies,  327  ;  in  the 
eighties,  319  ;    in  the  nineties,  311. 

Fires  caused  by  gross  neglect  or  malice 
constitute  one  of  the  scourges  of  the 
tsardom.  It  is  computed  that  every 
year  fire  destroys  property  valued  at 
400,000,000  roubles,  about  £42,000,000. 
Of  every  thousand  roubles'  worth  insured 
bj''  the  various  companies  almost  80  per 
cent,  of  the  premium  is  thus  consumed. 
Assuming  that  the  value  of  insured 
property  in  the  tsardom  amounts  to 
sixty  milliards  of  roubles,  the  yearly 
loss  suffered  by  the  insurance  companies 
alone  through  fire  is  estimated  by 
experts  at  336,000,000  roubles.  And  this 
forms  but  a  portion  of  the  total  loss, 
because  a  large  amount  of  pro- 
perty is  never  insured.  Now, 
a  considerable  percentage  of 
these  fires  might  be  easily  hin- 
dered by  the  application  of  ordinary 
prudence  on  the  part  of  the  peasants 
and  by  watchfulness  on  the  part  of 
the  authorities,  who  have  done  little 
to  suppress  incendiarism. 

Among  the  Sphinx  questions  of  the 
year  of  the  revolution,  1905,  the  economic 
condition  of  the  Russian  working  man  was 
thrust  in  the  foreground  as  the  most 
pressing  of  all.  And,  considering  that 
the  changes  brought  about  in  the  social 
and  political  framework  of  Russia  were 
due  in  large  part  to  the  strikes  organised 
by  factory  hands,  the  mistake  was  par- 
donable. And  crying  evils'were  redressed. 
The  Russian  workman,  having  beaten  the 
world's  record  for  strikes,  had  most 
of  his  genuine  grievances  speedily 
remedied ;  the  hours  of  work  have 
been  shortened,  the  pay  has  been 
raised,  the  risks  have  been  lessened, 
the  methods  of  terminating  his  engagement 
have  been  made  eas}'  and  satisfactory  to 
him,  and  over  and  above  he  has  dealt  a 
stunning  blow  to  the  employers  of  labour, 
whose  profits  he  has  cut  down,  and  whose 
business  he  has  in  many  cases  wholly 
ruined.     But    jjarallel    with    the    rise    in 


Improved 
State  of  the 
Workers 


RUSSIA    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


wages  went  the  increase  in  prices  for  the 
necessaries  of  hfe,  and  some  articles  are 
further  out  of  the  workmen's  reach  to- 
day than  before  the  revolution.  In  the 
Moscow  district  in  January,  1897,  there 
were  248,500  workmen  receiving  in  wages 
42,500,000  roubles,  or,  say,  170  roubles 
^a  year  per  man.  In  1903  there  were 
293,000  men  in  receipt  of  56,509,000, 
or  192  roubles  a  head,  making  a  rise 
of  12  per  cent.  But  during  the  same 
period  the  prices  of  food  rose  by 
25  per  cent  (bread),  36  per  cent,  (meal), 
and  even  50  per  cent.  (peas). 

In  consequence  of  the  strikes  of  1905- 
1906  a  further  great  rise  has  taken  place  in 
the  prices  of  bread,  foodstuffs  generally, 
and  the  necessaries  of  life.  One  of  the 
results  of  the  revolution  was  a  further  aug- 
mentation of  the  wages  of  workmen  without 
any  corresponding  increase  in  their  produc- 
tivity. The  absorbing  power  of  the  home 
markets  was  unfavourably  affected  by  this 
perturbation.  This  was  noticed  at  the 
fair  of  Nijni  Novgorod  in  1908,  when  the 
turnover  fell  short  of  the  average  of  former 
years  by  no  less  than  15-20  per  cent.  In 
1905,    women's    wages   were 


Industry's 


still   very   low,    the    average 


srr'ik'ir^''  not  exceeding  6-8  roubles  a 
month— about  12s.  6d.  to 
17s.  6d.  Since  then  the  lot  of  the  working 
man  and  woman  has  been  very  sub- 
stantially bettered.  In  1907  a  series  of 
far-reaching  measures,  calculated  to  im- 
prove it  still  further,  and  including  in- 
surance against  accidents,  was  drafted  by 
the  late  Minister  of  Trade  and  Industry, 
M.  Philosofoff,  and  would  have  been  laid 
before  the  Duma  in  the  form  of  a  Bill  had 
ii  not  been  for  his  sudden  death  at  the 
close  of  that  year. 

The  marvellous  vitality  of  Russian 
finances  and  the  solidity  of  their  economic 
basis  were  brought  into  sharp  relief  by 
the  revolutionary  movement  of  1905, 
which  dealt  a  severe  blow  to  industry, 
commerce  and  finances.  In  1905  the  num- 
ber of  strikes  totalled  13,110,  while  the 
number  of  workmen  taking  part  in  them 
amounted  to  no  less  than  2,709,695.  The 
damage  done  was  incalculable.  '  This 
phenomenon  is  unprecedented  in  the 
economic  history  of  Europe.  It  may  well 
be  doubted  whether  in  any  other  country 
the  financial  and  industrial  fabrics  would 
have  successfully  borne  such  a  formidable 
strain.  In  Russia  the  gold  standard  is 
still    intact ;     trade,    commerce,    and    in- 


dustry, although  ])assiiig  chrough  a  ])io- 
tracted  crisis,  are  seemingly  regaining 
their  buoyancy,  and  altogether  the  out- 
look, without  being  precisely  inspiriting, 
is  described  by  observant  Russians  as  less 
depressing  than  might  reasonably  have 
been  expected.  Russia's  credit  in  1909 
may  be  gauged  by  the  terms  on  which  she 

„         .  concluded   her  4?,   per  cent. 

Russia  1  y  £  r,     . 

, .  .  „  .  loan  in  anuarv  of  that  year. 
Living  Beyond  t^,  -'.  ,   -^  1^,1 

„      j^  Ihe  conjuncture  was  highly 

unfavourable.      War    clouds 

hung  over  the  Balkan  Peninsula.      It  was 

feared    that    Austria,    Turkey,    Bulgaria, 

Servia,  and  possibly  Russia  herself,  might  be 

drawn  into  the  coming  sanguinar}^  struggle. 

The  Russian  rente  stood  at  77:},  and  it 
was  known  that  the  Finance  Minister  must 
at  almost  all  costs  raise  funds  abroad  in 
order  to  pa\'  off  the  war  loan  of  300,000,000  . 
roubles  contracted  in  France  in  1904.  Yet, 
despite  these  adverse  conditions,  a  loan  of 
450,000,000  roubles  was  raised  in  January, 
1909,  of  which  the  usual  price  was  89I,  the 
bankers'  commission  3f ,  and  the  net  pro- 
ceeds received  by  the  Treasury,  85A.  And 
considering  all  the  circumstances,  these  re- 
sults are  considered  to  be  fairly  satisfactory. 

At  the  same  time  it  cannot  be  gainsaid 
that  Russia  has  now  reached  a  point  at 
which  she  must  either  live  by  the  exertions 
of  her  own  wealth-creating  class,  without 
the  continuous  help  of  foreign  capitalists, 
or  else  be  content,  after  a  series  of  financial 
crushes,  to  find  her  normal  level.  To 
many  who  are  quite  unbiassed  observers 
she  appears  to  be  now  living  beyond  her 
means.  The  vast  sums  which  are  about 
to  be  spent  on  the  strategic  Amoor  rail- 
way at  a  time  when  the  army  and  the 
police  have  yet  to  be  reorganised,  the 
navy  to  be  rebuilt,  the  peasants  to 
be  financed  in  their  new  character 
of  tenant  farmers,  education  to  be 
cheapened  and  diffused,  the  whole 
system  of  internal  administration  to  be 
remodelled,  fill  one  with  misgivings,  not, 
indeed,  as  to  Russia's  re- 
Thc  Nation  g^m-ces,  which  are  enormous, 
in  Danger  of  ^^^^  respecting  the  ability  of 
Bankruptcy         ^^^^     ^J^^^    ^^     ^^^.^j^^    ^^^ 

Utilise  them  sufficiently  to  make  the  revenue 
cover  the  expenditure.  With  reluctance  I 
venture  to  utter  my  strong  conviction  that 
unless  some  genial  administrator — a  states- 
man as  well  as  a  specialist — successfully 
encounters  the  hero's  task  of  reconstruct- 
ing the  financial  and  economic  fabric  of  the 
Russian  Empire,  applying  freely  the  drastic 

5309 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


remedies  by  which  alone  the  present  dis- 
orders are  curable,  the  nation,  having  first 
lost  its  old  standard,  will  inevitably  sink 
into  the  slough  of  bankruptcy  and 
financial  anarchy  before  the  Russian 
constitution  is  twenty-four  years  old. 
That  the  peasant  is  too  heavily  taxed 
considering  his  present  income  is  as 
evident  as  it  is  that  his  present 
income    is   much   too    slender 


Defects 

in  Financial 
System 


considering  the  extent  to  whicli 
sobriety,  thrift,  and  industry 
might  increase  it.  Another  defect  in  the 
present  financial  system  is  that  the  tax- 
gathering  is  done  in  September,  when  the 
farmer  is  obliged  to  sell  what  he  has  just 
threshed  in  order  to  satisfy  the  collector. 
For  there  is  no  postponing  the  season  ;  it 
is  as  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians. 
Even  in  districts  where  tobacco  is  grown, 
which  cannot  be  brought  to  market  before 
November,  the  taxes  are,  for  the  sake  of 
aniformity,  gathered  in  September.  The 
resalt  is  that  in  many  places  where  ready 
money  is  not  available  the  belongings  of 
the  farmer  are  distrained. 

The  pivot  of  the  financial  machinery  is 
the  sale  to  foreign  countries  of  cereals, 
which  contribute  more  than  any  other 
kind  of  export  to  pay  the  interest  on  the 
foreign  debt.  For  the  balance  of  trade  in 
Russia  must  necessarily  be  active  ;  that 
is  to  say,  the  total  value  of  the  exports 
must  largely  exceed  that  of  the  imports. 
That  is  one  of  the  consequences  of 
the  nation's  indebtedness.  Russia 
is  forced  to  sell  part  of  the  harvest 
to  her  neighbours,  however  urgent 
may  be  her  own  need  of  it.  In  1908  the 
exportation  of  corn  and  other  foodstuffs 
fell  off  to  a  disquieting  extent  affecting 
the  trade  balance  correspondingly.  The 
following  comparison  of  the  value  of  the 
exports  and  imports  in  millions  of  roubles 
tor  the  last  four  years  needs  no  further 
commentary  : 


Value  of 


I        Value  of 

exports  in       '       imports  in        , 
I  million   roubles  I  million  roubles        .™P°'''s  '" 


EN-'cess  of 
exports  over 


1905 
1906 
1907 
1908 


IOI7 

1043 "5 
1016-8 

932 


million  roubles 


583 
650-5 

759-8 
752-8 


434 
393 
257 
179-2 


Manufactures  in  Russia,  which  were, 
so  to  say,  built  up  by  the  Finance  Minister, 
Witte,  with  the  money  of  foreign  capit- 
alists, are  still  suffering  from  the  strikes, 
the  spoliation,  and  the  incendiarism  that 

5310 


accompanied  the  revolution.  The  West 
Russian  Manchester,  Lodz,  until  1905 
one  of  the  most  prosperous  manufacturing 
cities  in  Europe,  was  well-nigh  ruined  and 
swept  out  of  existence  by  the  anarchistic  < 
wave.  And  the  recent  sudden  increase  in  I 
the  activity  of  the  Moscow  manufactures 
and  the  briskness  of  their  trade  is  attribut- 
able solely  to  the  ruin  of  those  at  Lodz. 
At  present,  however,  there  are  signs  that 
Russian  industry  is  slowly  recuperating — 
the  staple  industries,  metallurgy,  the 
collieries,  the  Baka  oil-wells,  are  no 
longer  stagnant.  Russian  firms  have 
competed  successfully  for  orders  from 
Italy  and  other  foreign  countries  for 
railway  waggons  and  metal  rails.  In 
short,  the  lowest  depths  of  depression 
appear  to  have  been  reached,  and  the 
present  rise,  if  very  gradual,  is  at  least 
continuous.  At  the  same  time,  it  should 
not  be  forgotten  that  a  large  percentage 
of  the  capital  sums  invested  in  Russian 
industry  melted  away  wholly  during  the 
heat  of  the  revolution.  And  yet  the 
Russian  money  market  still  offers  un- 
commonly favourable  terms  for  capital. 
During  a  great  part  of  the  year 
ai  way  ^     jgoS  the  official  rate  of  discount 

Building  in       ^  .11.1 

„      .  was    7f    per   cent.,    while    the 

private  rate  was  still  higher. 
Even  on  excellent  security  advances  bore 
interest  at  the  rate  of  10  per  cent. 

In  the  tsardom  there  is  hardly  any 
capital  available  for  industrial  enterprises. 
It  is  mostly  locked  up  in  Government  securi- 
ties. About  25  per  cent,  of  the  foreign 
loans  is  held  in  Russia  by  Russians,  or, 
say,  344,000,000  roubles ;  while  over  a 
milliard  and  a  half  has  been  invested  in 
internal  loans  during  the  past  five  years. 

The  building  of  new  railways  and  the 
working  of  old  ones  generally  offer  a  fair 
test  of  the  level  of  a  country's  material 
prosperity.  In  Russia,  since  the  war. 
little  has  been  attempted  in  the  way  of 
constructing  new  lines.  Some  that  had 
been  begun  before  have  been  completed, 
such  as  the  Moscow  girdle  line,  the 
Orenburg-Tashkent,  the  Perm-Ekaterin- 
burg lines,  and  a  few  others.  In  1908 
the  gfandiose  Amoor  railway,  which  is 
expected  to  cost  much  and  bring  in 
little,  was  begun.  The  second  track 
of  the  Trans-Siberian  was  commenced,  and 
a  most  useful  line  connecting  Northern 
Russia  with  the  Donetz  coal  district  was 
undertaken  by  a  private  company.  But 
railways,  which    create    wealth    in    other 


RUSSIA    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


countries,  are  not  profitable  in  Russia. 
They  are  often  ruinous,  owing  to  the 
frauds  in  countless  shapes  which  turn  the 
immense  profits  into  the  pockets  of  dis- 
honest schemers.  Millions  of  passengers 
travel  without  tickets  every  year,  and 
many  of  them  lord  it  over  those  who  pay 
their  way.  The  railways  are  forced  to 
pay  enormous  damages  for  the  loss  of 
fictitious  consignments.  In  short,  the 
losses  needlessly  incurred  in  exploiting 
the  principal  lines  are  enormous,  and  it  is 
the  peasant,  the  workman,  and  the 
maniafacturer       who   f  -  - 

have  at  last  to  make 
good  this  deficit.  It 
is  computed  that 
100,000,000  roubles 
are  swallowed  up 
every  year  by  these 
colossal  frauds.  And 
in  lieu  of  plucking  up 
this  abuse  by  the 
roots,  the  authori- 
ties, finding  it  less 
troublesome  to  lessen 
the  deficit  by  raising 
the  passenger  tariff, 
have  had  recourse  to 
this  expedient,  with 
undesirable  results. 
First-class  passengers 
are  either  disappear- 
ing altogether  from 
several  lines,  or  they 
are  repress  nted  by  the 
privileged  people  who 
still  travel  gratis. 

Experts  affirm  that 
as  the  peasants  might 
easily  increase  their 
slender  yearly  pit- 
tance by  thrift, 
sobriety,  and  sheer 
hard  work,  so  the 
Government  might  convert  the  sempiternal 
deficit  into  a  handsome  surplus  by  exploit- 
ing on  businesslike  principles  the  railways, 
woods  and  forests,  the  state  lands,  the 
minerals,  and  the  fisheries  of  the  empire, 
all  of  which  are  now  being  managed  with 
a  degree  of  perfunctoriness  which  differs 
little  from  culpable  negligence.  Clever 
railway  managers  like  those  whose  names 
are  so  well  known  in  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States  would  soon  change  the 
annual  loss  of  100,000,000  roubles  into  a 
large  net  profit.  The  colossal  wealth  of 
forests  which  now  bring  in  but  ^{6, 000, 000 


TWO    CELEBRAThD     KUbblAN     AUTHORS 


Count  Leo  Tolstoy  and  Maxim  Gorky,  whose  portraits  are 
given  above,  are  Both  novelists  who  take  the  side  of  the 
poor  and  endeavour  to  bring  about  better  social  con- 
ditions, though  the  latter  has  not  the  religious  enthusiasm 
which  characterises  Tolstoy's  writings.  Tolstoy,  having 
resigned  all  privileges  of  rank,  now  lives  as  a  poor  man. 


sterling  might  easily  be  made  to  yield 
twice  that  sum.  The  naphtha  wells  in 
Baku  and  numerous  other  districts  could 
and  should  be  made  the  sources  of  a 
splendid  annual  revenue,  whereas,  at 
present,  they  enrich  only  a  few  individuate. 
The  fisheries,  which  are  far  and  away  the 
most  abundant  in  the  world,  are  at  present 
worth  no  more  than  £215,000  a  year. 
The  State  mining  industries  are  carried  on 
at  a  dead  loss.  The  financial  operations 
of  the  Imperial  Russian  Bank  do  not 
bring  in  much  more  than  £10,000,000 
sterhng  to  the  state. 
In  a  word,  the 
sources  are  abun- 
dant, but  no  one 
tries  to  tap  them 
})roperly.  Russia 
has  it  in  her  power 
to  pay  her  way  and 
prosper.  But  she 
seemingly  lacks  the 
will.  The  results  are 
all  the  more  deplor- 
able that  they  could 
so  easily  be  avoided. 
One  of  these  re- 
sults is  the  enormous 
indebtedness  of  the 
nation.  And  it  is 
increasing,  not 
diminishing.  If  we 
compare  the  Russian 
estimates  for  1909 
with  those  of  pre- 
vious years,  we  shall 
find  it  hard  to  shake 
of^  the  conviction 
that  the  ordinary 
expenditure  is  gi-ow- 
ing  out  of  all  propor- 
tion to  the  growth  of 
the  ordinary  revenue. 
The  yearly  excess  of 
ordinary  revenue  over  ordinary  outlay  has 
been  in  millions  of  roubles  in  : 
1903  1904  1905  1906  1907  1908  1909 
148-8  111-5  99-3  145 '9  146"  5  74'4  4"^' 
Between  the  years  1903  and  1909  the 
annual  income  of  the  state  went  up  from 
2,031,080,000  roubles  to  2,447,000,000, 
while  the  expenditure  •  rose  from 
1,883,000,000  to  2,472,020,000.  The 
total  Budget  of  1907  showed  a  deficit  ol 
52,770,000  roubles ;  in  the  following 
year  an  internal  loan  of  200,000,000  was 
required  to  cover  the  deficit ;  and  in  1909  a 
foreign  loan  of  450,000,000  was  floated. 

5311 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Russia  Blind 
to  her 
Possibilities 


Russia's  indebtedness  is,  therefore,  ajipal- 
iing.  As  compared  with  her  potentiahties, 
it  is  not  perhaps  alarming ;  but  con- 
trasted with  her  annual  revenue,  and  the 
slight  wealth-creating  power  of  the  state, 
it  is  becoming  disquieting.  If  the  business 
nianagement  of  the  empire — abstraction 
made  from  politics — were  in  competent 
hands,  guided  by  resourceful 
heads,  there  would  be  nothing 
to  fear,  lor  Russia's  potential 
wealth  is  reasonably  believed  to 
be  immense.  But  as  things  now  are,  and 
bid  fair  to  continue,  the  symptoms  are 
not  suggestive  of  impending  prosperity. 
Almost  one-fourth  of  the  yearly  outlay  is 
spent  on  the  service  of  the  debt,  which  has 
increased  since  1903  by  over  40  per  cent. 
In  the  year  igo2  it  amounted  to 
6,664,000,000  roubles.  In  1909  it  had 
grown  to  9,175,000,000. 

And  this  enormous  total  would  have 
been  utterly  inadequate  to  the  needs  of 
the  empire  were  it  not  for  the  unpalat- 
able fact  that  about  28  per  cent,  of 
the  ordinary  income  derives  from  the 
alcohol  state  monopoly.  This  is  the  sale  of 
vodka  by  the  Government,  which  was  con- 
ceived with  the  best  intentions  by  Alex- 
ander III.,  but  has  proved,  according  to 
the  testimony  of  the  most  competent 
authorities,  a  curse  to  the  Russian  nation. 
The  number  of  million  vedros — a  vedro 
is  2704  gallons — of  vodka  consumed 
yearly  from  1901  to  1906  is  as  follows  : 

In  1901    49-5      In  1904 7 1 '2 

,,  1902     66"0       „  1905    75-9 

,,  1903     7 1  "5       ,.  1906    85-0 

One  of  the  most  gifted  and  best  in- 
formed Russian  publicists,  M.  Menshikoff, 
writes  :  "It  must  not  be  supposed  that 
the  alcoholic  poison  has  infected  the 
lower  classes  only.  It  has  tainted  in  a 
like  degree  the  petty  tradesfolk,  the  mer- 
chants, the  clergy,  the  bureaucrats  of 
cities,  and  it  numbers  many  victims 
among  the  higher  intelligent  classes." 
The  injury  inflicted  by  drunken- 
ness on  the  physical  and  moral 
constitution  of  the  Russian 
race  is  incalculable,  and  it  is 
clear  to  many  that  degeneration  is  the 
ultimate  form  it  usually  assumes.  Disease 
and  crime  are  its  ordinary  accompaniments. 
Characteristic  is  the  fact  that  in  many 
places  children  are  among  its  victims. 
In  a  Zemsky  Council  of  the  province  of 
Perm  the  drunkenness  of  school  children 
was  one  of  the  themes  discussed,  and  the 

5312 


Widespread 
Curse  of 
Drunkenness 


council,  having  heard  the  report  of  the 
school  inspector  of  the  district,  called  for 
further  details  with  a  view  to  the  adop- 
tion of  repressive  measures.  (Cf.  "  No- 
voye  Vremya,"  November  loth,  1908.) 
It  is,  perhaps,  hardly  to  be  wondered  at 
that  the  peasantry,  whose  monotonous 
lives  consist  mainly  of  an  alternation  of 
hardship  and  oblivion,  should  seek  to 
vary  it  by  the  artificial  mirth  and  tempo- 
rary forgetfulness  bestowed  by  inebriety. 
Against  such  vices  as  this,  and  the  crimes 
to  which  it  leads,  legislation  is  powerless. 
Unless  the  youth  of  the  country  can  be 
made  amenable  to  moral  influences  such 
as  will  enable  it  to  face  and  withstand 
temptation,  the  hope  of  lasting  betterment 
is  slender  indeed.  Religion  in  Orthodox 
Russia  is  doubtlessly  still  a  beneficent 
force,  but  it  seldom  moulds  the  youthful 
mind  or  steels  the  tender  wifl.  And  nothing 
has  taken  its  place.  Since  the  revolutionary 
wave  passed  over  the  land  the  latent  symp- 
toms of  general  anarchism,  which  long  lay 
dormant,  have  been  brought  into  the  light 
of  day.  Now,  therefore,  there  is  at  least 
hope  that  the  hideous  disease  may 
be  cared,  which  would  other- 
Schools  ^-gg  induce  general  paralysis. 
But  by  whom  ?  The  clergy 
of  the  Orthodox  Church  are 
badly  educated,  badly  housed,  underfed, 
and  exposed  to  all  kinds  of  temptations. 
The  ecclesiastical  schools  where  the  religious 
shepherds  are  trained  have  forfeited  the 
character  of  educational  establishments 
in  the  good  sense  of  the  term.  A  professor 
of  the  Ecclesiastical  Academy  of  St.  Peters- 
burg, Professor  Glubokoftsky,  gives  a 
description  of  their  working  in  terms  that 
make  Russian  patriots  shudder.  There  is 
no  teaching  there,  no  docihty,  no  obedi- 
ence, and  tlie  morals  are  disgusting.  Even 
the  celebrated  Ober  Procuror  of  the  Most 
Holy  Synod,  K.  Pobedonostseff,  deliber- 
ately stated  shortly  before  his  death  that 
"  the  ecclesiastical  school  has  become  a 
low  tavern."  If  the  salt  thus  loses  its 
savour  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted  ? 

The  condition  of  ordinary  secular  schools 
is  often  as  bad  or  even  worse.  It  would, 
of  course,  be  a  gross  exaggeration  to  assert 
that  the  influence  of  all  educational  estab- 
lishments in  Russia  is  the  reverse  oi  bene- 
ficial. But  it  is  fair  to  say  that  the  good 
schools  are  the  exception,  and  one  may 
truly  add  that  ever  since  the  revolution 
of  1905  the  youth  of  Russia  has  been 
animated  by  a  spirit  ol  lawlessness  and 


that  do  not 
Educate 


RUSSIA    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


gross  self-indulgence  with  which  those 
teachers  who  strove  to  discharge  their 
duties  were  generally  powerless  to  cope. 

Scholars  of  both  sexes  in  many  parts 
of  Russia  formed  secret  societies  for  the 
])urpose  of  meeting  together  and  indulging 
in  veritable  orgies.  The  majority,  while 
eschewing  such  uncleanness,  refused 
obedience  to  their  teachers,  came  to  school 
or  absented  themselves  as  they  liked, 
openly  criticised  their  masters,  and  some- 
times turned  the  school  into  a  tavern  or  a 
gambling  den.  In  a  Moscow  boarding 
school  for  children  of  the  nobility,  forty 
scholars  struck  work  in  1908  because  they 
were  dissatisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the 
director.  The  head-master,  it  appears, 
had  demurred  to  those  boarders  who  failed 
to  come  home  before  one  o'clock  a.m. 
The  indignant  young  gentlemen  first 
complained  of  the  head-master  to  the 
marshal  of  the  nobility,  and,  having 
received  no  redress,   quitted  the  school. 

In  one  of  the  educational  establishments 

at    Kharkoff    the   boys  were   allowed  to 

have  their  own  smoking-room ;   but  they 

turned  it  into  a  gambling  hell,  and  drove 

.  away  the  inspector  who  came  to 

s  onis  mg  ggg  what  they  were  doing.     In 

School  n^n-  111  t-        • 

_  ,  ,.  liflis  a  schoolboy,  havmg  re- 
Kevelations  i  1      j  1.11 

ceived  bad  marks  lor  his  lesson, 

protested.     His  comrades  supported  him 

energetically   but    vainly.      At   last   they 

ordered  the  school  council  to  expimge  the 

bad  marks  and  put  good  ones  in  their  place, 

threatening  unless  this  were  done  to  throw 

bombs.    And  the  school  council  complied. 

In  the  city  of  Kutais  the  governor-general 
received  an  anonymous  letter  condemning 
him  to  death.  Very  shortly  after  this  it 
came  to  his  knowledge  that  the  missive 
had  emanated  from  the  state  grammar 
school,  and  that  one  of  the  fifth  form 
boys  had  been  deputed  to  kill  him.  His 
excellency,  repairing  to  the  educational 
establishment, .  entered  the  fifth  class 
during  a  lesson,  and  exclaimed  abruptly  : 
"  Master  G.,  you  were  chosen  by  lot  to 
kill  me.  Eh  ?  "  The  boy  curled  up  with 
fear  and  muttered  :  "  Pardon,  your 
excellency,  pardon,  I — I — can — you  know 
— ^decline — ^refuse — ^to  do  it."  "  Oh,  well,  it 
doesn't  matter.  I'll  forgive  you  this  time," 
was  the  astonishing  reply,  and,  so  saying, 
his  excellency  walked  away  majestically. 
And  the  lad  was  not  even  rebuked  ! 

None  of  the  very  distressing  phenomena 
that  characterised  the  Russian  revolution 
have  challenged  such  widespread  attention 


or  occasioned  such  serious  misgivings  as 
the  vicious  jirecosity  of  Russian  youth. 
Not  content  with  aping  the  vices  of  their 
elders,  they  strove  to  outdo  them.  Even 
virtue  and  innocence,  which  were  happily 
well  represented  during  that  period  of 
unbridled  licence,  generally  paid  the  toll 
of  self-disguise  to  vice.  The  revolution, 
_     y.  .  however,  merely  brought  out 

Prrcosity°of    ^  disease  that  had  long  been 

Young  Russia  ^^^^^V      fu'  ?''''^  ^''''^■"'  ^^^^ 
viously  the   fermentation    of 

ideas  produced  bj/  the  germs  of  revolu- 
tionary literature  had  been  proceeding 
unchecked.  Maxims  and  principles  were 
instilled  into  the  minds  of  children  which 
were  strong  dissolvents  of  traditional 
morality,  and,  if  pushed  far  enough,  of 
the    basis   of   social   life. 

In  elementary  schools  the  old  ideals  were 
methodically  dethroned.  Vice  and  virtue 
were  made  to  derive  their  changeful  cha- 
racter from  the  social  and  political  views 
of  the  individual.  Thus,  to  rob  or 
steal  was  a  good  action  if  undertaken 
for  the  purpose,  say,  of  despoiling 
the  rich  and  succouring  the  poor  man. 
Killing  was  not  murder  if  the  assassin's 
motives  were  politically  or  socially  revolu- 
tionary. Religion  and  traditional  ethics, 
which  taught  doctrines  the  reverse  of 
these,  were  envisaged  as  a  set  of  social 
shackles  from  which  mankind  could  not 
be  too  soon  emancipated.  In  a  word,  the 
baleful  influence  of  these  "  educational  " 
currents,  felt  for  nearly  forty  years,  cannot 
easily  be  over-estimated. 

When  the  Press  censorship  was  removed 
the  sluice  gates  of  this  reservoir  of  turbid 
nihilism  were  suddenly  burst  open.  For 
months  the  sphere  of  journalism  and 
literature  was  flooded  with  the  waters  of 
anti-religious,  anti-ethical,  anti-social  doc- 
trines and  sentiments.  Everything  that 
had  been  held  sacred  by  former  generations 
was  anathematised  as  degrading  or  held 
up  to  derision  by  this.  Parental  affection, 
.  conjugal  fidelity,  and  respect  for 
^t'^u-^I  the  convictions  of  others  when 
.,...".   *        those    others  happened   to   be 

Nihilism  ^.  .  ^^        ,., . 

conservatives  in  politics  or 
religion,  were  scoffed  at  as  irrational  and 
antiquated.  To  revealed  creeds,  to 
patriotism,  ethics,  clean  living,  no  quarter 
was  given  by  the  leading  iconoclasts, 
who  hypnotised  the  young  generation. 
Free  love  was  preached  and  practised 
by  the  youth  of  the  intermediate 
schools,  who  founded  "  free -love  leagues," 

5313 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  Mirror 

of 

Literature 


drew   up    by-laws   which   membei's   were 
bound   to    observe,    and    utterty    ruined 
many  j-ouths  of  both  sexes.    At  last  the 
Press  drew  attention  to  the  evil,  and  the 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction  endeavoured 
to  uproot  it.     But   the  mere  surgery  of 
administrative    measures  was  unavailing. 
"The roots  of  the  disease  must  be  treated," 
wrote  one  of  the  most  widely- 
spread  journals.     "  And  these," 
it  added,  "  are  to  be  found  in 
ourselves,  in   the  whole  social 
organism,  in  the  decay  of  the  family,  in 
the   depravity  of   fathers  and  mothers." 
Whether    the    cure    will    be    successfully 
accomplished,  it  is  unhappily  certain  that 
the  young  generation  will  come  to  the  front 
morally   and   intellectually    enfeebled   by 
the  ravages  of  one  of  the  most  malignant 
tliseases  that  can  befall  the  social  organism. 
The    morbid    feelings    and    subversive 
notions  which  are  among  the  symptoms 
of  this  fell  malady  are  necessarily  mirrored 
in  the  popular  literature,  which  therefore 
throws  a  strong  light  on  latter-day  Russia. 
But   the   Russian   literature   of   to-day   is 
much  more  than  a  mirror.     Some  sections 
of  it  might,  perhaps,  be  aptly  likened  to  a 
laboratory  where  noxious  germs  are  care- 
fully   cultivated    which    warp    the    mind, 
disfigure     the     soul,     and     produce     the 
monstrous  shapes  that  excite  our  disgust. 
Characters  which  Wycherly  and  Congreve 
would  have   shuddered  even   to   contem- 
plate are  not  only  described  in  latter-day 
novels  and  stories  with  artistic  talent  and 
undisguised     sympathy,     but     they     are 
associated   with   the   highest   of   the   new 
ideals  held  up  to  the  Russian  nation.     To 
say  that  many  of  the  literary  productions 
which  characterise  the  revolutionary  epoch 
are  public  outrages  on  morals  and  religion 
is  to  put  the  case  with  studied  moderation. 
The  British  public  knows  something  of 
Maxim  Gorky  and  Leonid  Andre \^eff,  but 
one    may    doubt    whether    it    has    ever 
read   the   works    of   Artsybasheff,    whose 
.  "  Sanyin  "  would  have  been 

Russian  confiscated   by  the  police  of 

Writers,  ucod  ^         ,t-)-,-       a       ,    •  r- 

._    '  GreatBntam,  Austria,  or  Ger- 

and  Bad  r  tt-  -on  i. 

many;  of  Kuzmm,  bollogub, 
Kamenski,  and  a  host  of  others.  It 
is  only  fair  to  add  that  many  of 
the  works  of  these  writers  are  quite  free 
from  the  taint  of  immorality.  Sollogub's 
"  Little  Devals  "  is  a  powerful  story,  and 
Kuzmin's  verses  are  technically  perfect. 
But  such  tales,  for  instance,  as  "  Four," 
or  "  Leda,"  by  A.  Kamenski,  or  "  Sanin," 

5314 


by  Artsybasheff,  cannot  be  too  severely 
condemned,  whether  we  view  them 
from  the  ethical  angle  of  vision  or 
the  sesthetical. 

Wrought  upon  for  decades  by  disinte- 
grating forces  such  as  those  enumerated 
above,  Russia's  vital  powers  could  not  but 
be  seriously  impaired.  And  the  present 
plight  of  the  nation  movies  one  to  pity. 
An  ardent  friend  of  Russia,  himself  a  Slav 
patriot,  has  put  his  impressions  frankly 
upon  record  as  follows  :  "  What  I  am  going 
to  say  has  a  paradoxical  ring  about  it,  but 
it  is  none  the  less  true.  There  is  no  Russian 
nation.  With  an  Orthodox  Russian  people 
we  are  indeed  acquainted,  a  people 
numbering  88,000,000,  whose  religious  con- 
victions offer  them  a  substitute  for  every- 
thing in  the  nature  of  national  ideas 
possessed  by  other  peoples.  But  we  look 
in  vain  for  a  compact  Russian  nation 
permeated  with  identical  interests.  And 
the  most  amazing  trait  of  this  phenomenon 
is  the  circumstance  that  this  gigantic  mass 
of  people  speaks  one  tongue,  cherishes  one 
faith,  and  yet  in  spite  of  it  all  shows  so 
little  understanding  for  the  common  ties 
that    bind    it    to    the    State. 


°  J*"*  .^        It  is  no  satisfactory  explana 
of  Russian  _  j     .     r 

Society 


tion  to  say  that  lack  of  culture 
and  geographical  conditions 
are  answerable  for  this.  The  fundamental 
causes  lie  deeper :  it  is  that  egotism 
peculiar  to  all  Slav  peoples  which  finds 
it  so  hard  to  make  sacrifices  for  the 
common  weal,  either  in  the  narrow  or 
the  broader  sense  of  the  term." 

These  are  some  of  the  solvents  of  Russian 
society  with  the  effects  of  which  on  con- 
crete men  and  women,  and  doubtless  on 
the  whole  Russian  organism,  the  rising 
generation  will  soon  be  confronted. 
Happily  there  are  also  several  powerful 
factors  on  the  other  side — religious  sec- 
tarianism, partial  revivals  in  the  Orthodox 
Church,  strenuous  efforts  by  Russian 
Lutherans,  and  even  the  reforming  zeal  of 
ordinary  citizens  who,  having  cultivated 
the  moral  sense,  would  gladly  rescue  their 
youthful  compatriots  from  the  abyss  that 
now  threatens  to   engulf   them. 

From  the  Orthodo.x  Church,  with  its 
atrophied  organs,  its  demoralised  schools, 
and  its  good-natured,  half-starving  clergy, 
no  miracles  in  the  social  sphere  can  ye  I  be 
expected.  The  essence  of  Russia's  religious 
creed — one  of  the  facets  of  the  trinity  of 
which  Panslavism  was  once  composed — 
lies  in  the  life  to  come,  the  world  beyond 


RUSSIA    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


the  grave.  Death  is  the  starting-point 
of  everything  worth  knowing,  worth 
possessing,  and  therefore  worth  striving 
lor.  Hence,  strange  though  it  may 
seem,  death  is  the  central  point  of  the 
orthodox  faith  ;  hfe  is  dull,  grey,  repel- 
lent ;  it  is  only  the  sunset  of  existence 
that  tinges  everything,  not,  indeed,  with 
its  own  splendour,  but  with  the  ineffable 
glory  of  the  world  to  come.  It  is 
no  exaggeration  to  assert  that  of  all 
Christian  creeds  and  churches,  there  is 
not  one  that  contributes  less  to  the 
equipment  of  its  adherents  for  the  stern 
life  struggle  here  below  than  the  contem- 
porary Orthodox  Russian  Church. 

Panslavism,  of  which  orthodoxy  was  one 
of  the  three  bases,  has  thus  been  thrust 
from  the  foreground  of  the  scene  on  which 
Russia  is  now  playing  her  part.  Belief  in 
her  heaven-sent  mission  among  the  effete 
nations  of  two  continents  may  still  perhaps 
linger  on  in  the  breasts  of  the  veteran 
contemporaries  of  Khomyakoff  and  Aksa- 
koff,  but  it  is  no  longer  a  stimulating  or  an 
active  force  in  the  community.  Had  it 
been  otherwise,  it  would  have  aroused  the 
nation  in  1908.  The  anti-Slav  policy  then 
struck  out  by  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian  Secretary  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  Baron  von  Aehrenthal, 
when  he  annexed  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina,  thwarted  the  scheme  of  a 
Balkan  Confederation,  and  buried  the  last 
hopes  of  the  Southern  Slavs,  would  have 
unchained  an  irresistible  popular  outburst. 
The  Government,  however  firm  its  reso- 
lution to  keep  the  peace,  would  have  been 
driven  to  resist,  and,  if  needs  were,  to 
tight,    as   in   1877.     For   the   issues   were 


Thwarting  the 

Balkan 

Confederation 


vital  ;  the  moment  was  critical  ;  the  choice 
of  alternatives  would  be  final.  But  nearly 
everything  turned  out  as  the  Austrian 
statesman  had  expected.  Russia's  defence 
of  her  kith  and  kin  was  verbal.  Bound  by 
secret  treaties  to  remain  an  inactive  spec- 
tator of  the  incorporation  of  the  Slav 
provinces,    she    accepted    the    inevitable. 

_      .  .  She  could  not  well  begin  a  diplo- 

Russia  s  ,  •  •      ,  ^ 

Do  btf  i  rn3.tic  campaign  agamst  a  mea- 
Future  ^ure,  however  far-reaching,    to 

which  she  had  already  deliber- 
ately given  her  assent.  And  the  con- 
dition of  her  army,  as  well  as  the  state 
of  her  finances,  agriculture,  and  industry, 
forced  her  to  eschew  a  disastrous  mili- 
tary conflict,  which  would  have  been  the 
sole  alternative  to  any  attempt  at  evading 
her  treaty  obligations. 

From  whatever  angle  of  vision  we  con- 
template the  Russia  of  to-day,  we  are 
struck  with  the  contrast  between  her 
boundless  potentialities  and  the  sordid 
reality,  and  with  the  vast  distance  between 
promise  and  achievement,  which  are 
divided  by  a  seemingly  infinite  abyss. 
One  might  aptly  liken  the  Russian  nation 
to  a  very  complex  mechanism,  forged 
by  some  latter  day  Vulcan,  and  then 
taken  to  pieces. 

Properly  put  together,  set  in  motion, 
and  guided  by  a  genial  engineer,  it 
might  prove  one  of  the  main  factors  in 
the  latter-day  history  of  Europe  and  the 
human  race.  But  of  this  there  is  no  sign. 
The  pieces  still  lie  scattered  about,  half 
corroded  with  rust,  and  the  most  opti- 
mistic feeling  they  arouse  in  the  minds  of 
Russia's  friends  who  contemplate  them 
is  a  vague  hope.  E.  J.  Dillon 


TYPICAL     RUSSIAN     PRIESTS     AND     MILITARY     OFFICERS 


5315 


ESSENTIAL    INFORMATION     ABOUT     RUSSIA 


Area  anij  Population.  The  Russian  Empire 
contains  one-seventh  of  the  dry  land  of  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  and  its  total  area,  reckoning  the 
reduction  arranged  by  the  Treaty  of  Portsmouth 
after  the  Russo-Japanese  War,  and  including  tiie 
area  of  inland  waters,  is  now  8,(547, <357  square  miles. 
This  is  made  up  as  follows  : 


— 

Area  English 
sg.  miles. 

Population. 

European  Russia  (divided  into  50 

provinces) 
Poland  (divided  into  10  provinces) 
European  Caucasus  (3  provinces) 
Trans-Caucasia  (11  provinces)   . . 
Siberia  (9  provinces) 
Steppes  (4  provinces) 
Turlcestan  (4  provinces) 
Trans-Caspia 
Finland      . . 
Internal  Waters  (Caspian  Sea,  *c.) 

1,862,524 

49,018 

85,201 

95,402 

4,786,730 

710,905 

400,770 

213,855 

125.784 

317,468 

109,354  600 
10,947,300 
4,343,900 
6,114,600 
6.740,600 
2,797,400 
5,746,600 
397.100 
2,857,200 

Total 

», 647, 657 

149,299,300 

The  towTis  with  a  population  of  more  than 
100,000  are  as  follow  : 

EuBOPEAN  Russia  :  St.  Petersburg,  1,429,000;  Moscow, 
1.359,254  ;  Warsaw,  756,426  ;  Odessa,  449,673  ;  Lodz, 
351,570;  Kiev,  319,000  ;  Riga,  282.230  ;  Kharl<ov,  173,989  ; 
Vilna,  162,633  ;  Kazan,  143,707  ;  Saratov,  137,147  ; 
Yekaterinoslav,  135,552;  Kisliinev,  125,787;  Astrakhan, 
121,580;  Rostov  on  Don,  119,476;  TuJa,  114,733;  Helsing- 
fors,"  106,067. 

Asiatic  RrssiA  :  Baku,  179,133;  Tiflis,  159,590 ;  Tash- 
kent, 155,673. 

Government.  In  1905  the  creation  of  the 
Russian  Parliament,  or  Gosudarstvennaya  Duma, 
laid  the  foimdation  of  political  liberty.  The  Duma 
is  the  Lower  Chamber,  and  election  to  it  is  made 
by  electoral  bodies  in  the  chief  towns  and  govern- 
ments. The  Council  of  the  Empire  is  the  Upper 
Legislative  Chamber.  Half  of  the  members  are 
elected  for  nine  years,  and  the  other  half  are 
appointed  by  the  tsar,  who  also  appoints  the 
President  and  vice-President.  Members  of  the 
Upper  House  must  be  not  less  than  forty  years  of  age, 
and  possess  an  academical  degree.  Members  of  both 
houses  are  paid.  Both  Houses  have  equal  legislative 
powers,  and  both  must  pass  any  measiu"e  before  it  is 
laid  before  the  tsar  for  ratification.  There  are  also 
several  boards  or  councils  which  are  entrusted  with 
both  deliberative  and  executive  powers — the  Ruling 
Senate,  which  is  also  the  supreme  judicial  authority; 
the  Holy  Synod,  which  is  composed  of  bishops  and 
supervises  the  religious  matters  of  the  empire ;  and, 
the  most  important  of  all,  the  Council  of  Mmisters, 
consisting  of  the  14  Ministers  of  State  and  the  general 
directors  of  the  most  important  administrations. 

Emperor:  The  tsar  is  Nicholas  II.,  Emperor  of 
all  the  Russias,  and  eighth  ruler  of  the  House  of 
Romanof-Holstein.  He  was  born  on  May  18th, 
1868,  and  succeeded  his  father  in  1894. 

Dependencies.  Russia  has  no  colonies,  properly 
so  called,  but  in  Central  Asia  she  has  two  vassal 
states,  Bokhara  and  Khiva  [see  page  1533]. 

Finance.  The  revenue  for  the  year  1906  was 
£354,733,080,  and  the  expenditure  was  £339,610,000. 
The  chief  sources  of  revenue  were  state  loans,  state 
monopolies  (sale  of  spirits,  telegraphs  and  posts), 
state  domains  (railways,  forests,  mines),  indirect 
taxes  (customs,  sugar,  naphtha,  matches,  etc.), 
trade  licences,  and  stamp  and  other  duties.  The 
Russian  National  Debt  at  the  beginning  of  19i>7 
was  about  £915,000,000. 

Industry  and  Commerce.  The  Russian  Empire 
has  about  333,000,000  acres  under  crops,  two-thirds 
of  the  acreage  being  under  cereals.  The  chief  I'rops 
of  European  Russia  and  Poland  are  hay,  potatoco, 

5316 


rye,  wheat,  oats,  and  barley.  In  South  Russia  and 
Siberia  wheat  takes  the  place  of  rye  as  the  chief 
cereal.  P^lax,  hemp,  tobacco,  cotton,  and  silk  are 
also  important  industries.  In  Russian  Central  Asia 
the  growth  of  the  cotton  industry  is  especially 
remarkable,  having  trebled  in  output  in  fotir  years. 
About  half  of  Rassia  is  forest  land,  and  the  state  is 
the  largest  owner  of  forests,  holding  as  much  as 
64  per  cent,  of  the  entire  forest  land  of  Em-opean 
Russia.  The  chief  minerals  of  RvLssia  are  coal, 
naphtha,  iron,  salt,  copper  and  zinc,  but  the  mineral 
wealth  of  Rassia  and  of  Siberia  is  supposed  to  be  as 
yet  barely  tapped.  The  oil-field  of  the  Baku 
district  is  the  most  important  known.  In  European 
Russia  and  Caucasia,  manufactories  find  employ- 
ment for  1,711, 755  people.  The  chief  manufactories 
are,  in  the  order  of  their  importance,  in  the  following 
classes — textile,  food,  metal,  ceramics,  wood,  paper, 
chemicals,  and  leather.  But  manufacturing  indus- 
tries are  still  in  a  backward  state.  The  value  of 
Russia's  exports  for  the  year  1907  was  £110,431,572 
and  the  value  of  her  imports  was  £78,609,164. 
The  chief  articles  of  export  were  corn,  timber,  and 
wooden  goods,  flax,  eggs,  dairy  produce,  furs,  and 
leather,  oil-cake,  naphtha,  and  naphtha  oils,  cotton. 
sugar,  hemp,  fowl  and  game,  and  horses.  The  chiet 
imports  were  raw  cotton,  machinery,  textiles,  metal 
goods,  wool  and  wool  j'arn,  tea,  coal,  raw  metals, 
leather  and  hides,  fish,  silk,  and  chemicals. 

Currencv.     The  legal  unit  is  the  rouble,  which 
contains  100  kopeks,  and  is   worth   2s.    l^d.     The 
usual  calculation  is  that  946  roubles  =  £1. 
1  kopek       =  Jd. 
100  kopeks   =  1  rouble      =  2s.  IJd. 
15  roubles  =  1  imperial  =  31s.  5Ad. 

The  rouble  is  a  silver  coin.  There  are  new  gold 
coins  for  5  and  10  roubles.  There  are  also  issued 
notes  for  1,  3,  5,  10,  25,  50,  100,  and  500  roubles. 

In  Finland  the  coinage  has  the  same  basis  as  the 
French  currency  [see  page  5398],  except  that  the 
centime  value  is  called  a  penni,  of  which  100  make  a 
markha,  which  equals  a  franc.  The  standard  is 
gold,  though  the  markha  is  not  coined  in  gold.  The 
coins  are  (copper)  1,  5,  and  10  penni ;  (silver)  \,  \, 
1  and  2  markha  ;   (gold)  10  and  20  markha. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  Finnish  weights 
and  measures  follow  the  metric  system  [see  page 
5399].  but  the  Russian  weights  and  measures  are 
as  follows  : 

Lineal 
1  vershok  =   1"75  inches. 
1  stopa       =  350  inches. 
1  archine    =   28  inches. 
1  sagfene     =   7  feet. 
500sag6nes     =•  1  verst       =   ],166i  yards  or  "662878  mile. 
Surface 
1  square  archine  =         67'1  sq.  ins. 
9  sq.  archines=    1  square  sagfcne    =       784  sq.  ins. 
2400  sq.  sag^nes  =   1  dessiatine  =   13,067  sq.  yds. 

Weights  of  Commerce 

1  dola  =         '69  grain. 

1  zolotnick  —     65"83  grains. 

1  lotti  =   197-49  grains, 

liana  =   1  l/5thoz.(abou<) 

Ifnnt  or  pound  =   -902818  lb. 
1  pood  =  36  1/1 0th  lb. 

1  berkovitz  =  361 1/lOthlb. 

1  packen  =  1083  Jib. 

Britain    to    Russia :     Letters. 


8  vershoks  = 

2  stopas       = 

3  archine 


96  dola 
3  zolotnicks 
8  zolotnicks 
12  lanas  or  32  lotti 
40  fnnts 
•10  poods 
3  berkovitz 
Postage.  Great 
papers,  and  samples,  as  for  France  [see  page  5398]. 
Parcels  for  RiLssia  in  Europe  :  via  Hamburg,  2s.. 
2s.  6d.,  and  3s.  for  3,  7-  and  11  lb.  respectively  ;  via 
Ostend,  Flushing,  or  Sweden,  2s.  3d.,  2s.  9d.,  and 
3s.  3d.     To  Asiatic  Russia,  Is.  per  parcel  extra. 

Telegr.ams.  Great  Britain  to  Russia  in  Euroi>c, 
4kl.  per  word  ;  to  Russia  in  Asia,  Is.  per  word  ; 
private  telegrams  in  cypher  not  accepted. 


EUROPEAN 
POWERS 
TO-DAY 


II 

TURKEY. 

GREECE    AND 

THE  BALKANS 


J 


TURKEY,    GREECE    AND    THE 
BALKANS  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

DAWN  OF  LIBERTY  IN  THE  OTTOMAN   EMPIRE 

By  F.  A.  McKenzie 


^^F  all  the  great  changes  that  have 
^^  swept  over  the  world  during  our 
time,  two  stand  out  as  of  overwhelming 
importance  —  the  awakening  of  Asia, 
following  on  the  triumphs  of  Japan,  and 
tlie  reconstruction  of  Eastern  Europe. 

The  Balkan  Peninsula  is  in  the  midst 
of  a  period  of  far-reaching  transformation. 
Here  all  the  races  of  the  world  seem  mixed. 
We  have  the  Turk,  long  over-lord  of  all, 
but  now  driven,  back  in  Europe  on  a  terri- 
tory not  much  more  than  half  the  size  of 
Great  Britain.  In  Bulgaria  we  find  a  com- 
bination of  white,  Mongol,  and  gipsy,  giving 
us  the  energetic  and  progressive  Bulgar 
as  we  now  know  him.  Elsewhere  we  have 
Slav  and  Latin,  the  Slav  ever  forcing  him- 
self to  greater  place  by  his  growing 
numbers.  Greek,  Roumanian,  Czech, 
Bulgar,  Serb  and  Albanian  all  dwell  around 
these  mountains.  To  the  struggle  of  race 
is  added  the  even  more  bitter  struggles 
of  conflicting  creeds.  The  Jew  has  long 
been  an  element  of  discord.  Mohammedan 
and  Christian  learned  here  through  many 
ages  to  look  at  one  another  through  a 
curtain  of  hate  ;  and  the  Christians  have 
fought  together  like  tiger-cats  to  maintain 
their  different  branches  of  the 


Turkey's 

Wonderful 

Revolution 


Eastern  Church.  For  Christian- 
ity in  the  Near   East  has  too 


often  meant,  not  the  religion 
of  the  individual,  making  for  charity  and 
good  deeds,  but  the  evolution  of  merciless 
and  cruel  racial  prejudices. 

Politically,  the  changes  that  have  come, 
within  even  a  year,  sound  more  like 
romance  than  reality.  In  the  early  sum- 
mer of  1908  the  most  optimistic  prophets 
of  the  progress  of  humanity  did  not  dare 
to  whisper  of  hope  for  Turkey.  Here  was 
a  land  reckoned  by  all — so  far  as  her 
European  dominions  were  concerned — as 
absolutely     beyond    redemption.      "  The 


Sick  Man  of  Europe  "  was  about  to  die, 
and  expectant  neighbours  had  completed 
their  plans  for  sharing  his  territories 
among  themselves.  Now  the  "  Sick  Man  " 
is  well  on  his  way  to  recovery.  Turkey, 
yesterday  the  tomb  of  freedom,  has 
to-day  become  the  cradle  of  liberty, 
and  her  former  arch-tyrant  has  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  party  of 
progress.  Bulgaria,  once  ground  down  by 
the  Turk,  reveals  in  her  prosperous, 
sturdy,  and  ambitious  people  the  emer- 
gence of  the  Bulgar  to  world  place.  Servia, 
_      .  despite   the  volatile  life  of  her 

P        J  capital,  shows  us  perhaps  the 

p  only  kingdom  on  earth  where 

practically  every  man  has 
enough  and  to  spare,  and  where  the  pro- 
blems of  poverty  are  unknown.  The 
gallantry  of  Montenegro,  ready  to  risk 
national  existence  for  an  ideal  of  racial 
unity,  commands  our  admiration  if  not 
our  approval.  Bosnia  is  entering  on  a 
period  of  definite  subjection  to  Austria. 

The  most  interesting  figure  in  Eastern 
Europe  to-day,  and  the  one  around  whom 
much  of  the  movement  has  revolved,  is 
Abdul  Hamid,  Sultan  of  Turkey.  It  is  but 
a  year  since  he  shared  with  King  Leopold 
the  place  of  the  most  despised  European 
monarchs.  Then  they  called  him  Abdul 
the  Damned.  To-day  he  is  named  Abdul 
the  Blessed.  Extravagant  eulogy  has 
succeeded  what  was  possibly  extravagant 
denunciation.  But  after  praise  and  blame 
have  been  meted  out,  there  remains  an 
amazingly  interesting  character  to  study. 

Abdul  ascended  the  throne  thirty-three 
years  ago,  at  a  time  when  it  seemed  as 
though  the  Turkish  Empire  would  not 
endure  for  another  decade.  During  his 
rule  Turkey  has  lost  many  of  its  fairest 
provinces.  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  have 
been    taken    by    Austria.      Bulgaria    has 

5317 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


become  an  independent  kingdom  ;    Crete 

has  now   a  government   of   its  own,   and 

important    Asiatic    sections    have    been 

snipped  ofi.     Abdul  long  made  the  name 

of  his  nation  reek  in  the  nostrils  of  the 

world.     His  own  people  rose  against  him. 

Yet   he    is  Abdul — sultan.    "  Shadow  of 

God  on  Earth,"  still.     Abdul  was  thirty- 

„,     _  .  four  when  he  became  sultan, 

„     .        , .      and  had  already  matured  into 
Hard-working  ,      ■'.,        ,  ,  . 

JO,..        an     earnest,     hard-workmg, 

and  Religious     ,         ,  ,.    •  tt      i-  i 

deeply  religious  man.  He  did 
not  want  the  crown.  His  uncle  had 
been  deposed  and  had  died  in  mysterious 
fashion.  His  brother  had  been  made 
mad  and  kept  mad  while  on  the  throne. 
Abdul  knew  that  he  was  stepping  into 
a  place  where  he  would  be  the  subject 
of  endless  intrigues  and  plots.  He  pos- 
sessed, unfortunately,  that  vivid  imagina- 
tion which  conjures  up  the  vision  of  danger 
everywhere.  He  was  essentially  of  a  shy 
and  retiring  disposition,  and  he  had  found 
his  happiest  life  communing  with  prophets 
and  teachers  of  Mohammed  in  the  wilder- 
ness. He  feared  as  he  took  his  place  at 
the  head  of  the  nation,  but  he  took  his 
place  though  fearing. 

At  first  the  world  hesitated  about  his 
character.  He  started  by  encouraging  a 
movement  in  favour  of  giving  Turkey 
constitutional  government  ;  but  he  soon 
tired  of  that.  When  Russia  brought  down 
her  great  armies  on  Turkey  it  was  Abdul 
who  led  his  people  in  the  war  of  defence, 
and  who,  after  defeat,  refused  to  accede 
to  humiliating  Russian  demands,  declar- 
ing, for  instance,  that  rather  than  sur- 
render his  navy,  he  would  take  his  ships 
into  the  Bosphorus  and  blow  them  all  up, 
and  himself  with  them. 

But  soon  worse  sides  of  his  character 
came  more  prominently  to  the  surface. 
In  administrative  affairs  he  proved  to  be 
a  muddler,  with  a  passion  for  centralising 
control  around  himself,  and  often  unable 
to  make  up  his  mind  on  vital  issues.  In 
Auj  1  i^rivate  life  he  showed  himself 

Abdul  a  '  ]  1       TT 

more  and  more  a  coward.    He 
became  obsessed  wi-th  fears  for 


Prisoner  in 
His  Palace 


his  own  safety,  and  those 
fears  dominated  his  conduct.  He  shut 
himself  up  in  his  Palace  of  Yildiz  Kiosk, 
refusing  to  go  out  except  to  the  most 
necessary  religious  services.  He  brooded 
over  the  deaths  of  other  sultans — how 
some  had  been  hurried  into  sacks  and 
thrown  into  the  current  beyond  the  Yildiz 
walls;  how  some  had  been  bled  to  death, 

531S 


some  i)oisoned,  some  stabbed.  A  deadly  fear 
of  oil  men  fell  upon  him.  He  would  trust 
none.  In  affairs  of  state,  his  passion  for  cen- 
tralisation did  great  harm.  This  passion 
was,  in  part,  also  due  to  his  overpowering 
distrust  of  others.  He  tried  to  supervise 
everything  himself.  Business  that  he 
could  not  attend  to  must  wait,  and  so  the 
really  important  developments  of  the 
country  came  to  a  standstill. 

While  he  was  deciding  whether  or  not 
bicycles  should  be  permitted  in  Constan- 
tinople, his  ironclads  were  rusting  in 
the  Bosphorus.  While  he  was  considering 
the  regulations  for  a  cafe  chantant  in 
Pera,  the  Powers  were  arranging  to  re- 
move his  authority  from  Macedonia.  He 
could  not  heed  the  complaints  from 
Armenia  of  wholesale  murder  because 
he  was  busy  trying  to  make  up  his  mind 
whether  or  not  one  particular  telegram 
by  a  British  Press  coriespondent  should 
be  allowed  to  be  sent.  He  would  hesitate, 
consider,  reconsider,  and  give  hours  to 
some  paltry  affair  that  should  have  been 
settled  by  the  sub-chief  of  a  department 
in  five  minutes.     Under  this  rale  of  the 

^    ,  .        infinitely  little,  Turkev  was 

Turkey  under  ■^,^      x   n-        ^ 

th    Old  apparently  falling  to  pieces. 

.....     ..      All  liberty  had  gone.     A  spy 

Administration  ^         1,1       ^  •    ,        ,  , 

system  had  been  introduced, 

the  most  ingenious  ever  known.  When- 
ever three  men  met  in  Constantinople, 
one  of  them  was  probably  a  spy.  Free 
speech,  a  free  Press,  and  even  freedom  of 
thought  were  things  forgotten.  Taxes  were 
largely  farmed,  with  the  abuses  the  farm- 
ing of  taxes  always  brings.  The  peasant 
had  to  cut  down  his  date-tree  to  pay  his 
tribute.  Trade  suffered  heavily.  Towns 
and  cities,  yesterday  centres  of  prosperity, 
were  now  sinking  to  decay  and  death. 
Securi'ty  of  the  person  was  undreamed  of. 

Still  worse  was  the  Turkish  treatment  of 
subject  races.  The  many  Christian  peoples 
in  the  empire  were  exposed  to  the  most 
merciless  oppression.  The  great  massacres 
of  the  Armenians  horrified  the  world.  The 
endless  fighting  and  slaughtering  in  Mace- 
donia at  last  led  the  Powers  to  intervene. 

A  word  of  caution  needs  to  be  added 
here.  Men  in  other  lands  have  been  led 
at  times  to  assume  that  in  these  disputes 
one  saw  the  real  Turkish  character.  This 
is  not  so.  All  who  know  the  Turk  as 
he  is  bear  testimony  to  his  great 
courtesy  and  kindliness  in  the  ordinary 
dealings  of  life.  His  sobriety,  honesty 
and     sinceritv     are     the     admiration    of 


TURKEY,    GREECE,    AND    THE    BALKANS    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


all  who  live  with  him.  One  can  no  more 
judge  the  average  Turk  by  Armenian 
massacres  than  one  could  measure  English- 
men by  the  Whitechaj^el  murders. 

Macedonia  affords  a  good  example  of 
the  peculiar  difficulties  of  Turkish  rule, 
under  the  old  administration.  Here  we 
have  a  people  of  mixed  blood  and  of 
varied  races,  loving  strife  as  other  men 
love  wealth.  Three  opposing  forces  con- 
centrated themselves  on  a  struggle  for 
control :  Mohammedanism,  with  all  the 
strength  of  Turkey  behind  ;  Greek  Chris- 
tianity, owning  allegiance  to  the  Greek 
Patriarch  ;  and  Bulgar  Christianity,  ac- 
knowledging the  Bulgarian  Exarch.  The 
strife  between  Mussulman  and  Christian  has 
not  been  a  bit  more  merciless  than  that 
l)etween  Greek  and  Bulgar.  The  Greeks 
sent  their  armed  bands  across  their  borders, 
and  the  Bulgars  carried  on  their  propa- 
ganda from  Sofia,  the  Bulgarian  capital. 

After  the  great  war  of  1878,  Macedonia 
ho])ed  to  become  part  of  a  great  Bulgaria. 
The  Powers,  in  making  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin,  would  not  permit  this,  but  handed 
Macedonia  back  to  Turkey.     The  people 

.  brooded,  prepared,  and  finally 

isings  an  appealed  to  arms.  Thev  com- 
.  ^  J  .  plamed  of  unspeakable  oppres- 
sion.  In  igo2  there  came  one 
great  uprising  in  part  of  Macedonia.  Turkey 
stamped  it  down  with  an  iron  heel.  In 
1903  there  came  another.  Whole  country- 
sides were  destroyed  ;  each  party  fought 
the  other  with  the  utmost  bitterness. 
Outrages  on  women,  the  murder  of 
children,  the  spitting  of  babes  in  arms, 
the  burning  to  death  of  people  shut  up  in 
their  homes — all  these  became  common. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  all  ages  died 
under  the  sword  or  from  hunger. 

The  fights  between  Greek  and  Bulgar 
bands  added  a  further  ghastly  horror. 
Revolutionary  "committees  "  were  formed 
throughout  the  province,  and  these 
committees  were  even  more  tyrannical 
than  the  Turks.  Murder  in  its  every 
form  became  commonplace.  Men  re- 
sorted to  the  most  incredible  methods  of 
terror,  private  spites  were  wreaked  under 
the  name  of  patriotism,  and  a  thinly 
\eiled  brigandage  was  carried  on. 

When  Greek  bands  met  Bulgars,  fierce 
lighting  followed.  Take  one  instance  of  a 
thousand,  one  that  happened  early  in  190S. 
The  Bulgarian  inhabitants  of  Dragarsh 
had  a  festival,  and  were  celebrating  it  in 
the  usual  fashion,  with  dance  and  song. 


A  Greek  band  suddenly  surrounded  the 
place  and  ordered  the  peasants  to  go  to 
their  homes.  The  doors  of  the  houses 
were  then  fastened  up  and  the  windows 
closed,  the  dwellings  were  set  on  fire,  and 
men,  women,  and  children  were  burnt  to 
death.  The  Powers  of  Europe  attempted 
to  mend  such  matters  by  appointing  a 
.  .  foreign-controlled  gendarmerie 
^r^R!!i!!111»',  '^  Macedonia,  but  racial  hatred  > 
were  so  fierce  that  little  could 


of  Bulgaria's 
Freedom 


be  done.  Let  us  turn  to  the 
other  states  at  this  time.  Perhaps  the 
most  striking  contrast  to  Turkey  was  to 
be  found  in  her  neighbour  and  former 
dependant,  Bulgaria.  Up  to  the  time  of 
the  Russo-Turkish  War,  Bulgaria  was 
governed  by  Turkey,  and  was  a  land  of 
massacres,  oppression,  poverty,  and 
wretchedness.  The  "  Bulgarian  atro- 
cities," the  outrages  committed  by  Achmet 
Agha  and  the  Circassian  irregular  troops 
in  suppressing  a  minor  rebellion  in  1876, 
aroused  the  conscience  of  Europe.  Mr. 
Gladstone,  in  particular,  championed  the 
cause  of  the  miserable  people,  and  his 
great  campaign  on  their  behalf  was  the 
beginning  of  freedom  for  their  country. 

It  was  on  Bulgarian  soil  that  the  chief 
struggle  of  the  Russo-Turkish  War  took 
place.  At  the  end  of  that  war  the 
Powers  made  Bulgaria  free  in  her  internal 
affairs,  a  nominal  suzerainty  being  left 
to  Turkey.  The  change  that  has  come 
since  then  has  been  amazing.  Bulgaria, 
before  many  years,  despite  furious  political 
agitation,  became  transformed  into  an 
exceedingLy  prosperous  state.  On  the 
internal  political  struggles  there  is  no 
need  to  dwell  long.  Russia  sought  to 
dominate  the  princedom. 

The  first  ruler,  Prince  Alexander  of 
Battenberg,  was  elected  when,  twenty-two 
years  old,  he  was  living  as  a  poor  German 
officer  in  Potsdam.  He  quickly  captured 
the  imagination  and  the  affections  of  his 
people.  He  united  Eastern  Roumelia  to 
Bulgaria,  dared  the  wrath  of  Russia,  and 


Prince 

Alexander 

Abdicates 


fought  and  defeated  Servia. 
He  was  the  hero  of  the  nation, 
but  the  anger  of  Russia  caused 


much  trouble.  Time  after 
time  his  life  was  attempted.  In  the 
end  Alexander,  amid  circumstances  whose 
mystery  has  never  yet  been  finally  cleared 
up,  voluntarily  stepped  off  the  throne,  and 
retired  to  private  life.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Prince  Ferdinand,  great-grandson  on 
his  mother's  side  of  King  Louis  Philippe, 

5319 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WOPJ-D 


and  son  of  an  Austrian  nobleman.  Ferdi- 
nand was  the  very  opposite  of  the  dashing 
Alexander.  A  man  of  studious  tempera- 
ment, a  naturahst  rather  than  a  warrior, 
he  did  not  succeed  in  kindhng  among  the 
people  the  same  devotion.  Happily  for 
him,  during  the  first  years  of  his  reign  there 
was  one  strong  statesman  administering 
affairs,  the  "  Bismarck  of  the  Balkans," 
Stambuloff.  That  great  man  died  under 
the  hand  of  an  assassin,  but  not  before  he 
had  firmly  established  Bulgaria's  position. 

If  political  life  has  been  chequered,  the 
social  advance  of  ■,-»;-  -<-^;  t,-.  ^-s  r 
the  nation  has  ■ 
been  beyond  ex- 
pectation. Before 
1878  there  were 
not  more  than 
three  score  schools 
in  the  entire  state  ; 
by  the  beginning 
of  the  tv/entieth 
centur}'  there  was 
an  elementary 
school  in  every 
village  and  a 
secondary  school 
in  every  town  of 
10,000  inhabi- 
tants. Education 
became  free  and 
compulsory.  Pub- 
lic hospitals  arose. 
The  people,  for- 
merly poor, 
showed  every  sign 
of  prosperity. 
Railways,  com- 
mercial under- 
takings, universi- 
ties sprang  up  as 
thougii  by  magic. 

"  In  the  days  of 
the  Turkish  op- 
pression a  man 
was  accounted 
rich  who  had 
£500,"  said  M. 
Ghenadieff,  the 
Bulgarian  Minister 
of  Commerce,  in 
1907.  "Now  there 
are  plentj^  of  rich 
people.  Nearly 
£3,000,000  sterling 
of  the  public  debt 
is  in  the  hands  of 
the  people    them- 

5320 


selves,  and  the  state  savings-bank  a^one 
receives  about  £80,000  in  deposits  each 
month.  That  sum,  of  course,  represents 
merely  the  savings  of  the  poorer  classes. 
In  1878  there  was  in  the  whole  country 
but  one  printing  press,  and  that  was  a 
hand  press,  which  is  preserved  as  a 
curiosity  in  the  Museum  of  Sofia.  To-day 
we  have  more  than  200  printing  presses 
of  the  most  modern  description." 

The  streets  of  Sofia,  the  Bulgarian 
capital,  bright,  busy,  and  filled  with  con- 
tented   people,    are    sufficient    proof     of 


.ngjiijxB^ 


THE  SULTAN  OPENING  THE  TURKISH  PARLIAMENT 
The  early  years  of  the  sultan's  reign  were  full  of  promise.  In  1877,  as  shown  in  an  earlier 
chapter,  he  granted  a  constitution,  and,  in  person,  opened  the  new  Parliament.  But  the 
Assembly  was  short-lived,  reaction  setting  in  and  overcoming  the  liberty  from  which  so  much 
was  expected.  In  1908,  yielding  to  the  pressure  of  the  reformers,  the  sultan  granted  another 
constitution  to  Turkey,   and  in  December  opened    the  Parliament  elected  by  the  people. 


TURKEY,    GREECE,    AND    THE    BALKANS    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


the  state  of  the  land.  No  greater  con- 
trast could  have  been  imagined  than  that 
between  Bulgaria,  free,  and  her  neighbour, 
Macedonia,  inhabited  by  her  kinsmen,  but 
under  the  rule  of  Turkey.  One  drop  of 
bitterness  there  was  in  the  Bulgarian 
cup — the  suzerainty  of  the  sultan.  The 
Bulgarians  prepared  to  release  them- 
selves from  this.  They  gradually  built  up 
a  strong  modern  army,  with  an  available 
lighting  force  of  380,000  men  out  of  a 
population  of  4,500,000.  This  force  is,  in 
the  judgment  of  all  military  critics,  one  of 
unusual  efficiency,  splendidly  drilled,  well 
armed,  and  well  provided  in  every  way. 

Like  Bulgaria,  its  neighbour  Servia  has 
had  a  troubled  political  life.  Up  to  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  it 
was  under  Turkish  rule,  and  until  the 
Treaty  of  Berlin,  in  1878,  it  was  tributary 
to  the  sultan.  Then  it  became  free.  It 
owed  the  beginning  of  its  freedom  to  a 
breeder  of  swine,  Black  (Kara)  George, 
who  became  the  chief  of  its  people,  after- 
wards the  prince,  and  who  was  the 
founder  of  the  present  royal  house.  In 
recent  years    Servia    has    been    much  in 

disfavour  with  the  world  on 
„  ^  account  of  the  scandals  that 
g.     .      have    hung     around     its    ruling 

family.  The  quarrels  between 
King  Milan  and  Queen  Natalie  were  the 
talk  of  the  seven  seas.  When  Milan  retired 
to  Paris  to  seek  a  life  of  pleasure  there,  he 
handed  over  the  throne  to  regents  for  his 
young  son,  Alexander.  Alexander,  at  the 
first  opportunity,  seized  the  reins  of  power 
from  the  regents,  and  governed  with  all 
the  impetuosity  of  the  hot-blooded  lad  he 
was.  His  private  life  was  such  that  it 
created  misgiving  even  in  the  Balkans.  He 
caused  great  offence  by  marrying  a  former 
lady-in-waiting  to  his  mother,  with  whom 
he  had  for  some  time  before  openly 
maintained  the  closest  relations.  Alex- 
ander and  his  wife  were  murdered  one 
night  in  their  palace  by  a  band  of 
officers  amid  circumstances  of  almost 
incredible  brutality,  and  the  regicides 
called  the  present  ruler,  King  Peter,  one 
of  the  Servian  royal  house,  to  the  throne. 
Peter  accepted  the  call,  and  the  regicides 
went  unpunished.  The  king  in  conse- 
quence was  boycotted  by  the  royal  and 
imperial  houses  of  Europe,  and  for  a  time 
foreign  representatives  were  withdrawn 
from  his  court.  Servia  still  lies  under  the 
shadow  of  the  royal  murder.  Its  capital, 
Belgrade,  is  a  gay  city  with  something  of 

IN  „,  D 


the  manner  of  Paris.  It  is  no  injustice  to 
say  of  the  public  life  of  Servia  that  there 
is  a  certain  looseness,  an  absence  of 
moral,  about  it,  that  does  anything  but 
help  to  make  a  strong  nation.  The  very 
army  is  affected,  and  when  one  thinks 
of  the  tone  of  public  life  in  the  peasant 
state  to-day,  one  is  a-pt  to  recall  the  condi- 
tion of  France  before  the 
German  War.       The    rural  life 


Ambition 
of  the 
Servians 


of  the  nation  is  much  healthier. 

In  Belgrade  one  observes  the 
acme  of  extravagant  expenditure  and 
blazing  indiscretion.  In  the  country  there 
is  to  be  found  a  peasantry  prosperous  as 
few  other  peoples  are,  each  man  with 
his  own  land,  each  household  free  from 
fear  of  famine  and  want. 

The  one  overpowering  ambition  of  the 
Servian  people  had  ever  been  to  make 
Servia  a  great  kingdom,  by  uniting  with 
the  neighbouring  tribesmen  of  a  little 
mountain  state,  Montenegro,  and  by 
absorbing  the  Serb  provinces  of  Bosnia 
and  Herzegovina,  owned  by  Turkey.  This 
ambition  was  checked  for  the  time  by  the 
action  of  the  Powers  of  Europe  when  they 
made  the  Treaty  of  Berlin.  By  one  of 
those  political  contradictions,  over  which 
statesmen  delight  and  plain  men  puzzle, 
they  left  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  nominally 
Turkish,  but  handed  them  over  to  Austria 
to  administer.  One  small  strip  of  land 
between  Servia  and  Montenegro,  the 
Sanjak  of  Novi-Bazar,  was  the  subject 
of  a  still  more  contradictory  compromise. 
There  the  military  occupation  was  to  be 
Austrian  and  the  civil  administration 
Turkish.  Practically,  however,  this  did 
what  was  wanted.  It  prevented  the 
junction  of  Servia  and  Montenegro. 

Servia  never  abandoned  her  hope  of 
some  day  obtaining  Bosnia  and  Herze- 
govina for  herself,  and  a  large  number  of 
the  Serb  people  in  those  two  provinces 
sympathised  with  her.  Meanwhile, 
Austria  went  on  with  her  work  of  admin- 
istration.  About  the  success  or 
csu  s  o  otherwise  of  the  Austrian 
Austrian  j.     j.i  ■  i 

„  government    there    is     much 

dispute.  The  abuses  of  the  old 
time  Turkish  regime  have  been  ended. 
Peace  has  been  maintained,  commerce 
has  been  encouraged,  schools  of  all  kinds 
have  been  built,  and  much  has  been  done 
to  open  up  the  provinces  as  tourist  resorts. 
Great  hotels  have  sprung  up  and  sports- 
men from  all  countries  have  been  en- 
couraged to  come.     Cattle-breeding  and 

5321 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


horse-breeding — particularly  the  latter — 
have  been  carefully  fostered.  But  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  Austrians  have  to  any 
extent  gained  the  good-will  of  the  people, 
or  have  allayed  political  ferment. 

The  little  state  of  Montenegro  shares 
the  racial  ambitions  of  Servia.  The  entire 
population  of  Montenegro  is  considerably 
less  than  that  of  Nottingham, 
and  its  size  is  about  equal  to 


The  Small 
State  of 
Montenegro 


Devon  and  Cornwall  combined. 
Its  capital  boasts  a  popula- 
tion of  5,000,  excluding  the  small  garrison, 
and  its  public  debt  is  £70,000.  It  is  the 
land  of  the  Black  Mountains,  declared 
independent  by  a  prince  bishop  240 
years  ago,  and  maintaining  its  freedom 
in  face  of  all  ever  since.  Its  people  held 
their  land  since  1389,  when  a  remnant  of 
the  old  Servian  nobility  established  itself 
there  to  escape  the  Turkish  yoke.  It  is  so 
precipitous  that  it  would  be  practically 
impossible  for  regular  armies  to  invade  it. 

It  is,  from  end  to  end,  one  succession  of 
mountains  and  valleys  ;  its  men  are  all 
warriors  ;  and  its  principal  export,  as  its 
brave  ruler.  Prince  Nicholas,  once  declared, 
are  its  princesses.  The  daughters  of 
Nicholas  are  allied  to  some  of  the  greatest 
royal  families  of  Europe.  The  picturesque 
and  charming  dress  of  the  people  and  their 
delightful  old-world  ways  make  their  land 
a  centre  of  pleasure  to  the  explorer  of 
unbeaten  tracks.  The  Montenegrins,  bold, 
daring  and  fearless,  and  sturdily  indepen- 
dent, command  the  good-will  of  the  world. 

While  its  neighbours  bickered,  Rou- 
mania,  the  great  kingdom  of  the  north, 
was  content  to  foster  trade  and  increase 
population.  Its  king,  Charles,  and  its 
queen,  well  known  in  literature  as 
"Carmen  Sylva,".are  held  in  universal 
esteem  and  honour.  Its  population  in 
a  quarter  of  a  century  has  increased 
between  forty  and  fifty  per  cent.,  and 
is  now  6,500,000.  The  Danube  runs  to 
the  sea  through  its  territory,  its  soil  is  ex- 
^  r  11      ceedingly  fertile,  and  its  crops 

Greece  Fallen  ^^^  ^^-^  ^^  ^^  ^^^  heaviest  in 

Europe.  It  has  in  recent 
years  become  a  field  of  tre- 
mendous commercial  enterprise,  and  prides 
itself  to-day  on  being  a  strong  industrial 
rather  than  a  military  nation.  Yet  it  could 
put  650,000  men  on  the  field  if  war  came. 
Greece  has  fallen  from  her  high  place  in 
the  world.  Up  to  the  time  of  her  war 
with  Turkey,  in  1897,  men  still  looked  on 
the    ancient     kingdom    as    the    possible 

5322 


from  Her 
High  Place 


pioneer  of  freedom  and  progress  in  the 
Eastern  Mediterranean.  Old  traditions, 
old  affections,  and  old  beliefs  led  to  the 
hope.  The  war  shattered  all  that.  It 
was  not  alone  that  Greece  was  defeated  ; 
nations  have  found  new  birth  and  fresh 
strength  in  defeat  before  to-day.  But 
the  war  revealed  a  cowardice,  a  political 
corruption,  and  a  lack  of  preparation 
which  disillusioned  the  world. 

Greece,  until  then,  had  sought  to  pose 
as  the  pr-otector  of  weaker  Christian 
peoples  against  Turkey.  It  was  the  in- 
terference of  Greece  in  the  control  of 
Crete  that  had  brought  about  hostilities. 
She  had  further  been  fired,  in  common 
with  other  Eastern  races,  with  the 
ambition  for  the  political  union  of  her 
race.  Her  ambition  was  greater  than  her 
capacity,  her  financial  resources,  or  her 
self-sacrifice.  She  has  had,  as  a  result  of 
the  monetary  cost  of  her  war,  to  hand 
various  of  her  revenues  over  to  a  Financial 
Commission,  to  secui-e  the  payment  of 
interest  on  her  external  debt.  Her 
regular  army  is  now  down  to  a  few  thou- 
sand men,  and  those  are  notoriously 
™.    -J  inefficient.  Her  political  admini- 

.  j^  "i^  stration-  is  still  torn  by  fierce 
B  h"  d  jealousies.  Industrious  as  the 
Greek  may  be  in  other  lands,  he 
is  all  too  given  to  taking  life  easily  in  his 
own.  The  workshops  of  Athens  are  too 
empty  and  the  coffee-houses  are  too  full. 
In  short,  Greece  has  been  left  behind,  and 
unless  some  new  spirit  enters  into  the 
hearts  of  her  people,  she  is  likely  to  play 
a  lesser  rather  than  a  greater  part  in  the 
making  of  the  New  East. 

Thus  we  arrive  at  the  summer  of  190S. 

In  the  palace  of  Yildiz  Kiosk  sat 
Abdul  Hamid,  ever  busying  himself 
with  his  affairs  of  state,  and  ever 
becoming  more  the  victim  of  his  own 
fears.  His  attitude  at  that  time  was 
well  described  by  one  of  his  own  court. 

"  He  trembled  at  his  best  troops, 
shrunk  from  trusting  his  elder  sons,  his 
sons-in-law,  brothers-in-law  — ■  who  are 
mostly  generals — and  the  officers  who  had 
inclination  to  serve  him  strengthened  by 
strong  personal  and  family  interests.  For 
some  months  before  the  revolution  the 
troops  had  only  blank  cartridges  for  their 
rifles.  This  step  was  taken  from  a  fear 
that  cartridges  fully  charged  might  be 
used  against  the  sultan  himself.  Like- 
wise all  the  guns  in  the  forts  that  could  be 
turned  against  the  Yildiz  had  been  spiked. 


TURKEY,    GREECE,    AND    THE    BALKANS    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


Electricity  is  laid  on  in  the  palace.  But 
the  sultan,  fearing  that  it  might  be  turned 
against  him  for  regicidal  purposes,  had 
the  wires  cut  and  candles  exclusively  used. 
These  lights  are  stuck  on  circular  pieces  of 
cork  that  float  on  wooden  buckets  of  water. 
The  water  will  be  available  to  cope  with 
fire  should  the  crime  of  burning  down  the 
palace  or  any  of  the  sultan's  numerous 
sleeping  kiosks  be  malignantly  attempted." 
It  was  at  the  moment  when  the  dark- 
ness  was    anparcntl\-    ilr(>])csf    tliat    li^lit 


officers  in  the  Turkish  army  opened  u^p 
negotiations  with  the  Young  Turk  leaders. 
Their  pay  was  in  arrears,  they  saw  their 
army  being  ruined  and  their  country 
piecemeal  destroyed  under  the  rule  of 
Abdul,  and  they  resolved  to  make  common 
cause  with  the  reformers.  At  once  a 
secret  movement  began  in  the  Turkish 
army  without  parallel  in  modern  times. 
The  sultan's  spies  were  everywhere,  yet 
the  sultan  got  scarce  an  inkling  of  it. 
Till   icfoimers  made  their  headquarters  in 


KING    FERDINAND    ANNOUNCING    THE     INDEPENDENCE    OF    BULGARIA 
In  1S78,  at  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  the  Powers  of  Europe  created  Bulgaria  an  autonomous  principality,  under  the 
suzerainty  of  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  ;  and  in  1908,  when  Turkey  underwent  such  a  marvellous  change,  Bulgaria  feared 
that  the  nominal  suzerainty  might  be  made  a  real  one.     To  this  she  was  unwilling  to  consent,  and  in  October,  at 
Tirnovo,  Prince  Ferdinand  solemnly  proclaimed  Bulgaria  an  independent  kingdom,  taking  for  himself  the  title  of  king. 


came.  A  number  of  progressive  Turks, 
driven  from  their  country  by  the  sultan's 
rule,  had  formed  in  Paris  an  association 
for  bi-inging  liberty  to  Turkey.  "  The 
Turk  in  his  own  land  is  the  most  oppressed 
of  all  men,"  they  said.  "  He  has  none  to 
help  him.  The  Christians  have  the 
European  Powers  on  their  side,  but  no 
one  stands  for  us." 

For  some  time  the  Young  Turk  move- 
ment was  not  taken  very  seriously  by 
the  world.      Early  in  igo8  certain  high 


the  vilayet  of  Monastir,  in  Macedonia. 
Army  corps  after  army  corps  was  won 
over,  and  in  the  summer  the  reformers  were 
ready  to  strike.  Early  in  July  a  body  of 
troops  marched  out  of  their  barracks  at 
Monastir,  officers  at  their  head,  and 
formally  declared  a  constitution  for 
Turkey.  News  of  this  was  quickly  brought 
to  Constantinople,  and  soldiers  were  de- 
spatched against  them.  The  pasha  in  charge 
of  the  troops  was  shot,  and  his  men  made 
common    cause    with  the  Constitutional 

5^23 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


party.  The  Turkish  governor — Hilmi 
Pasha — was  given  the  choice  between 
joining  the  reformers  or  being  shot.  He 
went  over  to  reform,  departed  for  Con- 
stantinople, and  used  all  his  influence  to 
induce  the  sultan  to  meet  the  revolution  in 
the  only  possible  way,  by  yielding  to  it. 
The  immediate  transformation  of  the 
^  life   of    the    people  in    Salonica 

angc  ^^^  Monastir  seemed  more  like 
T,  ^,  'a.  romance  than  realitv.  The 
Bulgar  and  Greek  bands  were 
curtly  bidden  to  cease  their  strife  ; 
Christian  and  Turk  fraternised.  The 
racial  disputes  of  many  generations  seemed 
swept  away  in  a  moment.  Order  was 
strictly  maintained.  One  European  present 
at  Salonica  at  the  time  graphically 
described  the  scene  in  a  letter  home  : 

"  Until  two  days  ago  very  few  people 
here  realised  the  seriousness  and  the 
rapidity  with  which  the  movement  was 
developing,  although  about  ten  days 
earlier  they  began  to  say  with  satisfaction, 
'  Le  bonheur  des  espions  est  passe.' 
People  spoke  freely  in  the  streets  and 
cafes  and  trams — a  thing  unknown  before. 
During  the  night  of  the  22nd  the  whole 
town  was  placarded  with  manifestoes  by 
officers  in  uniform,  the  text  of  which  has 
probably  been  published  in  England.  It 
is  said  that  they  were  drawn  up  in  admir- 
able Turkish,  and  it  was  an  extraordinary 
sight  to  see  the  crowds  leading  them. 

"  One  police  official  who  attempted  to 
interfere  was  shot  by  an  officer.  In  another 
case  a  policeman  protested  against  an 
officer  who  was  putting  up  a  manifesto. 
'  Very  well,  wait  till  I  give  you  a  bak- 
sheesh,' said  the  officer,  putting  a  cart- 
ridge into  his  hand.  The  policeman  took 
the  hint,  and  departed  at  once.  This  was 
done  in  the  most  frequented  place  in 
Salonica  yesterday  at  noon,  to  the  amuse- 
ment of  all  in  the  cafes.  Everyone  looked 
radiant  yesterday,  especially  the  officers, 
who,  as  a  rule,   go  about  in  silence  and 

Tu  c  w  suspicion.  In  the  afternoon 
The  Sultan  j  .li  1 

Yields  to  the  ^"^  evening  the  people  were 
Reformers  harangued  by  Turks,  Greeks, 
Bulgars,  Jews  and  Armenians, 
the  whole  situation — ^bands,  internal  poli- 
tics, etc. — ^being  discussed  with  the  utmost 
freedom  and  good  temper.  This  would  be 
of  little  importance  elsewhere,  but  here 
in  Turkey  it  is  almost  a  miracle.  About 
midnight  one  of  Hilmi's  A.D.C.'s  arrived 
with  the  news  that  the  sultan  had 
accorded  the  constitution — '  according  to 

5324 


the  will  of  the  people  ' — and  there  was  the 
greatest  enthusiasm." 

In  a  moment  Abdul  found  that  all  his 
elaborate  preparations  to  secure  his  own 
safety  had  become  of  no  avail.  His  army 
had  failed  him,  and  without  his  army  his 
power  had  gone.  He  promptly  showed 
unexpected  political  wisdom.  He  gave 
in  to  the  reformers,  and  in  an  hour  changed 
the  whole  policy  of  his  nation.  He  granted 
a  constitution  to  Turkey.  From  that  day 
Abdul  came  under  the  control  of  the  body 
which  had  arranged  the  revolt,  the 
Committee  of  Union  and  Progress. 

Probably  no  such  vital  change  in  the 
affairs  of  a  great  nation  has  ever  taken 
place  before  accompanied  by  so  little 
bloodshed  and  violence.  The  leaders  of 
the  new  movement — themselves,  be  it 
remembered,  men  of  a  conquering  nation 
— declared  that  henceforth  there  was  not 
to  be  in  Turkey  one  triumphant  race 
and  others  subject  to  it,  but  that  men  of 
all  races  were  to  be  as  brothers.  Moslem 
and  Christian  forgot  their  old  blood  feud. 
Enemies  of  yesterday  embraced  together 
in  the  streets.  Turk  and  Greek,  Albanian 
_  .  .  .  and  Jew  fraternised,  and  even 

.  ®|°'*^"*s^  the  Armenian  was  permitted  to 
j^  ^  .  join  in  the  rejoicing  as  friend 
and  comrade,  and  proved  him- 
self one  of  the  greatest  forces  for  reform. 
The  armj.  of  spies  and  petty  tyrants 
disappeared  as  though  by  magic,  and  the 
head  spy  of  all  fled  to  London  and  told 
there  a  pitiful  tale  of  his  remorse  for  his 
past  life.  Men  who  for  years  had  not  dared 
to  whisper  their  hcpes  now  spoke  out 
freely.  A  free  Press  began  to  appear  as 
though  conjured  from  the  earth.  Even 
the  women  caught  the  fever  progress,  and 
emerged  from  their  hidden  existences. 

"  We  must  each  dig  a  grave,"  said  one 
Turkish  officer  in  addressing  a  crowd 
composed  of  men  of  many  nations.  "  We 
must  dig  it  deep  and  wide,  and  bury  in  it 
all  our  hatreds  and  all  our  resentments, 
private  and  public.  Place  over  it  a  marble 
slab,  bearing  this  inscription,  '  There 
shall  be  no  resurrection.'  " 

The  political  developments  were  ^equally 
remarkable.  The  constitution,  made  and 
destroyed  in  the  early  days  of  Abdul's 
reign,  was  restored.  This  was  followed  by 
a  general  amnesty  and  by  a  rescript 
declaring  the  equahty  of  all  Ottomans, 
of  whatever  race  and  religion,  granting 
freedom  from  arbitrary  arrest,  and  giving 
the    people    permission    to    travel    freely 


TURKEY,    GREECE,    AND    THE    BALKANS    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


abroad  and  to  establish  commercial  asso- 
ciations. In  December  the  first  Parhament, 
duly  elected  by  the  people,  met,  and  the 
sultan  crowned  the  proofs  of  his  resolve 
to  be  in  the  new  movement  by  opening 
the  parliament  in  person. 

As  his  state  coach  drove  through  the 
packed  crowds  stretching  the  whole  way 
along  the  four  miles  of  narrow  streets 
between  his  palace  and  the  new  Parha- 
ment House,  the  hated  oppressor  of  yes- 
terday was  received  everywhere  with 
frantic  enthusiasm.  He  spoke  to  the 
elected  law-givers  in  the  warmest  manner. 

"  I  am  hopeful,"  he  declared,  "  that 
your  labours  will  be  fruitful  of  good  for 
the  empire  and  the  people.  With  this  hope, 
I  proclaim  the  opening  of  this  parliament." 
The  renaissance  of  Turkey  was  regarded 
with  anything  but  delight  in  various 
quarters.  Austria,  in  particular,  had 
hoped  to  profit  much  by  the  dis- 
memberment of  the  European  Ottoman 
Empire;  now  all  her  expectations  were 
shattered.  Bulgaria  saw  a  possibility  that 
the  nominal  suzerainty  of  the  sultan  might 
under  reformed  conditions  be  made  a  real 
,  ,  one.      This   she    would    not 

Bulgaria  s  ^j^^^_  ^^  official  banquet 
Independence  i     u       .     n        j.      j.-         i 

n    ,       .  was  held  at  Constantmople 

Declared  x  i.i-  ^    j.-  r 

lor    the    representatives    of 

foreign  Powers,  and  the  Bulgarian  Minister 
was  not  invited.  He  demanded  to  know 
the  reason,  and  was  told  that  his  status 
was  not  the  same  as  that  of  others,  as  his 
country  was  not  independent,  but  under 
Turkish  suzerainty.  The  Bulgarian  Govern- 
ment replied  to  this  by  promptly  re- 
calling its  Minister,  and  by  seizing  part 
of  a  neutral  railway  between  the  two  states. 
Prince  Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria  visited 
Vienna  and  was  received  there  like  a  king, 
and  shortly  afterwards,  in  the  early  days  of 
October,  1908,  he  proceeded  to  Tirnovo,  the 
ancient  capital  of  his  people,  and  solemnly 
proclaimed  Bulgaria  an  independent  king- 
dom, and  took  for  himself  the  title  of  king. 
At  the  same  time  Austria  announced 
that  she  would  annex  Bosnia  and  Herze- 
govina, and  make  them  part  of  her 
empire,  while  retiring  from  Novi- Bazar. 
The  news  came  like  a  thunder-clap  to 
Europe.  Turkey  found  her  prestige 
assailed  from  two  quarters  at  once.  Servia 
and  Montenegro  saw  all  their  ambition 
for  a  great  Serb  nation  thwarted.  The 
arrangements  made  by  the  Powers  in 
1878  for  the  permanent  settlement  of  the 
Eastern  Question  were  broken  up.     Had 


Turkey  been  stronger,  a  declaration  of  war 
against  one  or  both  the  Powers  would 
probably  have  followed.  The  Turkish 
Government  dared  not  do  this,  but  the 
Turkish  people  showed  their  feehngs  by 
instituting  a  strict  boycott  of  Austrian 
Q       .  goods.    The  Servian  and  Mon- 

p"^  "*fth  tenegrin  peoples  clamoured  for 
...     .  war.     Happily  for  the  world, 

it  was  winter- time,  when  cam- 
paigning was  practically  impossible  owing 
to  the  deep  snows.  The  weeks  of  waiting 
gave  time  for  second  thoughts. 

Servia  was  bidden  by  Russia  and  Great 
Britain  to  keep  the  peace.  Austria  in 
the  end  agreed  to  pay  Turkey  a  substantial 
sum  for  the  surrender  of  her  sovereign 
rights  over  the  two  provinces.  Russia, 
under  the  administration  of  M.  Isvolsky, 
revealed  a  spirit  of  disinterestedness  and 
of  moderation  so  different  from  her  old- 
time  Balkan  campaigns  that  men  asked  in 
wonderment  if  this  could  be  the  same 
empire  of  the  tsars.  She  threw  all  her 
influence  on  the  side  of  peace. 

One  other  factor  will  have  to  be  reckoned 
with  more  and  more  in  the  Balkans — the 
Albanians.  Direct  descendants  of  the 
conquering  soldiers  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  they  retain  unbroken  the  courage 
of  their  ancestors.  The  Albanians  have 
never  been  .  really  conquered  ;  they 
are  men  of  great  intellectual  capacity ; 
their  sons  have  made  leaders  for  other 
nations  in  the  past,  and  are  likely  to 
do  so  in  the  future.  The  island  depiendency 
of  Crete  was  withdrawn  from  the  direct  rule 
of  the  sultan  in  1898,  and  placed  under 
Prince  George  of  Greece,  as  High  Com- 
missioner. It  had  long  dreamed  of  political 
union  with  Greece,  and  when  the  Turkish 
upheaval  came,  it  begged  the  Powers  to 
permit  this.  The  Powers  promised  friendly 
consideration,  but  the  plan  has  aroused  the 
bitterest  opposition  in  Turkey  itself. 

I  write  this  in  the  early  months  of  the 
New  Year.  In  Turkey  itself  the  growing 
power  of  the  army,  as  shown  in  the 
summary  defeat  and  censure  of  the 
premier,  Kiamil  Pasha,  by  Parlia- 
Whatof  j^gj^t,  has  cast  some  shadow 
1!?®  over  the  scenes.    Austria  menaces 

Future .    gg^.^-^     ^^^^^    ^^r    unless     she 

definitely  abandons  her  racial  ambitions. 
The  future  is  uncertain.  Only  one  thing 
can  be  said  with  surety.  The  year  1909 
will  find  the  Balkans  a  centre  of  world 
attention  and  world  interest. 

F.  A.  McKenzie 

5325 


ESSENTIAL      INFORMATION  ABOUT     TURKEY 

Areas  asd  Population.     The  area  of  Turkey,  advanced,  but  there  is  some  metal  working  (chiefly 

including  all  the  tributary  states,  is  estimated  at  utensils),   and    Damascus   textile  industries — silks, 

1,663,000    square    miles,    and    the    population    at  cottons  and  woollens — employ  about  10,000  hands. 

41,000.000.      This  includes  Crete,   Cyprus,   Egypt,  FLsheries    include   spongas,    mother    of   pearl,    and 

Bulgaria,  Bosnia,  and  Herzegovina  ;   but  as  Cyprus  pearls.    In  1906  the  total  imports  were  of  the  value 

and  Egypt,  while  tributary  to  Turkey,  are  adminis-  of  £28,229,419,    and   the  exports   of   the   value   of 

tered   by  Great  Britain,   and   as   the   other  states  £17,705,133.  The  chief  exports  were  raw  silk,  grapes, 

mentioned  have  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  Turkish  grain,  flour,  mohair,  figs,  coffee,  opium  and  hides, 

rule,  the  actual  area  and  population  of  Turkey  is  Currexcv.     The  money  system  of  Turkey  is  as 

properly  as  follows  :  follows  : 

Sq.  miles.              Population  1  para                                =  l/18d. 

Turkey  in  Europe 65,350     . .         6,130,200  40  paras  =  1  piastre                            =  2-16d. 

„   Asia      693,610     ..       17,683,500  100  piastres  =  1  lira  turca  or  medgidi^  =  18s. 

„    Africa 398,900     . .          1,000,000  5  lira  =  1  purse                                =  90s. 

Total       1,157,860     ..       24,813,700  The  coins  are  :    (copper)    1,  5,  10,  and  20  paras  ; 

(silver)  ^,  1,  2,  5,  10,  and  20  piastres  ;   (gold)  J,  ^,  1, 

The  towTis    of    over    100,000    population    are —  2A,  and  5  lira. 

Constantinople,    1,106.000;     Damascus,     250,000;  Weights   axd    Measures.     For    about   twenty 

Smyrna,     201,000;      Aleppo,     200,000;      Salomca,  years  metric  weights    [see    page    5399]   have  been 

150,000;  Bagdad,  145,000;  and  Beu-ut,  118,800.  compulsory  for  cereals;    although  metric   weights 

Government.     On  July  24th,  1908,  an  Imperial  ^.gre  also  decreed  compulsory  for  other  purposes  in 

Irade  gave  to  Turkey  a  Constitution  and  an  Elective  1892,  the  decree  has  never  been  enforced.      The  old 

Assembly.  Up  till  that  time  the  sole  governing  power  Turkish  names  were  applied  to  the  metric  names,  thus: 
was  the  will  of  the  reigning  sovereign,  based  upon 

the  precepts  of  the  Koran,  the  :\Iulteka  and  the  ,.  , ,         ^^^^:^^;.                   „  ,,       "^^  eights 

nu^                i,i.i                  T      I   4.\          \    ■                 ij  Aokta           =  Milimetre           Habbe          =  Centigramme 

Cahon  nameh,   the  second   of  the.se  being  reputed  g-jj^t            _  Centimetre        Boughdais  =  Decigramme 

sayings  of  Mohammed,  and  the  third  a  legal  code  Parmak        =  Decimetre         Denk           =  Gramme 

drawii  up  bv  Soleiman  the  Masinilicent  (1520-1566).  Archine        =  Metre                 Drachma     =  Decagramme 

Under  the  new  order  the  hberty  of  the  individual  is  ^^^^^       =  ^U--^-         Oek^^„       Z  .^Samme 

inviolable,  and  there  is  a  free  Press  and  a  free  system  or          }  =  MjTiametre       Kantar        =  Quintal 

of  education.     Parliament  consists  of  two  Chambers  Pharoagh/                                Tcheki         =  Millieror Tonne 

— a  Senate  and  a  Chamber  of  Deputies — and  sits  Surface.                              Capacity. 

from     November    1st    to    March     1st,    unless    the  Deuninii=Are       Zarf       =Centilitre     Sultchek  =  Litre 

session  is  prolonged  by  the  sultan.      The  sultan  has  ^J'^"''     =Hec-     Kouton  =  Decalitre      Kile        =  Decalitre 

.,                 ^^         ^-^oi               ^             ^1-ij-  tare                      Kileh  =  Hectolitre 

the  jiower  to  nominate  Senators  up  to  one-tmrd  01  .                                           ,.         , 

the  entire  body.     Senators  must   be  not  less  than  The  old  Turkish  standards  are  complicated  and 

forty  j^ears  of'  age,   and  must  have  rendered  dis-  confusing,  there   bemg   standards   for  cottons   and 

tinguished  service  to  the  state.     Representation  in  carpets  different  from  those  for  silks  and  woollens, 

the  Lower  House,  or  Chamber  of  Deputies,  is  on  the  ^^^ny  of  them,  such  as  measures  of  capacity  and 

basis  of  one  deputy  to  every  50,000  male   citizens.  'and  measure,  differed  m  different  localities. 

Deputies,  who  are  elected  for  four  years,  must   be  Postage.     Great    Bntain    to    Turkey,     letters, 

not  less  than  thirty  years  of  age.  and  must  be  able  papers,  and  samples  as  for  France  [.see  page  5398]. 

to  read  and  write.     Jlembers  of   both  Houses  are  Parcels  may  be  sent  to  British  Post-office  agencies 

paid.     The   President   and    the  Vice-Presidents   of  ^  Turkey,  which    are    at   Beirut,    Constantinople, 

the    Chamber   of   Deputies   are    appointed    by  the  Smyrna,  and  Salomca,  the  charge  varying  according 

sultan,  but  their  names  must  be  on  hsts  submitted  to    destination    and    route.      The    only    route    to 

by   the   Chamber.     Measures   must    be   passed    by  Beirut  is  via  Egypt,    and    the    charge    is  Is.,  2s., 

both   houses,  and  be  ratified   by  the  sultan  before  and  3s.  for  3,  7,  and  11  pounds  respectively.      But 

they  become  law.     In  the  event  of   dissolution,  a  t^ere  are  three  routes  to   Constantinople   and    to 

new  election  must  take  place  within  six  months.  Smyrna,  and  the  charge  may  be  as  high  as  2s.  6d., 

Monarch.     The  present  sultan  is  Abdul  Hamid  3s.,  and  3s.  6d.  for  3,  7,  and  11  pounds,  the  rates 

II.— born    1842.    succeeded    to   the   throne    1876—  in  force  by  the  overland  route  via  Belgium,  Germany, 

the   thirty-fourth   of   the   House   of    Othman.    the  Austria,    and    Roumania.     Parcels    may    also     be 

founder  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  sent  through  Austrian  agencies,   which    are  main- 

Finance.     The  revenue,  which  has  not  hitherto  tained  at  about  twenty-five  different  places,  or   by 

been   published   officially,  was  estimated  at  about  Ottoman  post,  which  has  about  fifty  agencies. 

£18,680,000   for  the    year    1906-1907.     The    chief  Telegrams.     Great  Britain  to   Turkey,  6id.  per 

sources    of  revenue  are  tithes,  land  and  property  word,  but  private  telegrams  in  code  or  cypher  are 

taxes,    customs    and    monopolies.       The    external  i^^t  accepted, 

debt  of  Turkey  is  about  £80,000,000,  and  interest  SAMOS 

about  £3,500,000.  Samos  is  a  principality  of  the  Ottoman  Empire, 

Industry  and  Commerce.     The  soil  of  Turkej'  possessing  a  considerable  degree  of  independence, 

is  fertile,  but  agriculture  is  pursued    by  primitive  guaranteed  by  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Russia, 

apphances.      The     chief     products     are     tobacco.  Its  status  is  the  status  of  Bulgaria  and  of   Greece 

cereals,    cotton,    figs    and    fruits,    coffee,    madder,  before     these     principalities     declared     themselves 

opium  and  gums.    The  chief  cereals  are  wheat,  rye,  independent   from   Turkey.      Samos  is  one  of  the 

barley,  oats,  and  maize.    Wine-growing  and  distillmg  Anatolian  Islands,  has  an  area  of  180  sciuare  mUes, 

are  important  indastries.     Silk  is  cultivated,  rose  and  a  population  of  about  50.000.    The  capital  and 

culture — for  otto  of  roses — and  cotton  growing  are  port  is  Vathy,  with  25,000  inhabitants.    The  Prince 

encouraged.     Mmerals  are  little  worked,  although  Governor  is  A.  Kopassy  Bey.      The  resources  are 

Asiatic     Turkey     especially    is     rich     in     mineral  chiefly    agricultural — wine,    raisins,    olive-oil,    and 

resources,     including     chrome,     silver-lead,     zinc,  tobacco.     Imports  and  exports  are  each  of  about 

manganese,  antimony,  copper  and  emery,  coal  and  £200,000    value    annually,    and    the    revenue    and 

petroleum,      ilanufacturing  industries  are  not  far  expenditure  are  each  about  £25,000  annually. 

5326 


INFORMATION  ABOUT  GREECE  AND  ROUMANIA 


GREECE 

Area  and  Population.  The  area  of  Greece, 
including  the  islands  and  Thessaly,  is  25,014 
square  miles,  and  the  population  is  2,631,952. 
To  this  may  now  be  added  the  island  of  Crete, 
with  an  area  of  3,400  square  miles,  and  a  popula- 
tion of  310,200,  making  for  the  entire  kingdom  of 
Greece  an  area  of  28,414  square  miles,  and  a 
population  of  2,942,152.  The  principal  towns  and 
their  populations  are  Athens,  170,000 ;  Piraeus, 
70,000 ;  Patras,  37,958 ;  Canea,  the  capital  of 
Crete,  24,537  ;  and  Candia,  also  in  Crete.  22,774. 
Government.  Greece  is  a  constitutional 
monarchy,  the  present  ruler  being  George  I. — 
born  December  24th,  1845 — who  is  younger  brother 
of  the  present  King  of  Denmark,  and  who  was 
elected  King  of  the  Hellenes  by  the  National 
Assembly  at  Athens  in  March,  1863,  when  he  was 
eighteen  years  of  age.  Legislative  power  is  vested 
in  a  single  Chamber — the  Bule — of  235  paid  mem- 
bers, who  are  elected  by  adult  manhood  suffrage  for 
four  years.  Representatives  must  be  not  less  than 
thirty  years  of  age.  As  representation  is  based  on 
one  deputy  for  every  12,000  of  the  population,  the 
Chamber  expands  automatically  with  the  increase 
of  the  population.  Bills  become  law  only  by  the 
votes  of  an  absolute  majority,  and  the  Chamber  can 
sit  only  if  half  of  the  members  are  present. 

Finance  and  Commerce.  The  estimated  revenue 
for  1908  was  £5,465,711,  and  the  estimated  expendi- 
ture was  £5,361,762.  The  chief  sources  of  revenue 
are  customs  and  excise,  stamps,  direct  taxes,  mono- 
polies— salt,  petroleum,  matches,  and  playing  cards 
— and  revenue  from  state  property.  The  national 
debt  of  Greece  was,  at  the  end  of  1907,  £28,703,300, 
with  an  annual  charge  of  £888,708.  Agriculture  is 
the  mainstay  of  Greece,  and  manufactories  are  of  no 
importance.  The  chief  cereals  are  wheat,  barley, 
rye,  and  maize.  The  best  crop,  however,  is  currants. 
Other  products  are  valonia — a  tanning  acorn — 
tobacco,  silk,  wine,  olives,  and  fruits.  The  value  of 
Greek  imports  for  the  year  1906  was  £5,738,060, 
and  the  exports,  £4,722,300.  The  chief  imports  are 
corn,  yarn  and  tissues,  coal,  timber,  MTought  metals, 
and  chemicals.  The  chief  exports  are  agricultural 
products — currants,  figs,  tobacco  ;  raw  minerals — 
lead,  magnesium,  emery,  marble  ;  wines  and  spirits, 
olive  and  other  oils,  and  hides. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  weights  and 
measures  are  metric  [see  page  5399]  although  the 
old  Greek  standards,  which  were  by  no  means 
uniform,  have  not  yet  been  quite  done  away  with. 
The  standards  of  weight,  however,  though  decimal, 
do  not  quite  conform  to  metric  standards.  In  the 
others,  Greek  names  have  been  given  to  metric 
quantities. 

Lineal.  Capacity. 

Gramma  =  Millimetre  Kybos      =  Millilitre 

Daktylos  =  Centimetre  Mystron  =  Centilitre 

Palame     =  Decimetre  Kotyle     =  Decilitre 

Pecheus    =  Metre  Litra        =  Litre 

Stadion     =  Kilometre  Koilon     =  Hectolitre 

Skoinis     =  Myriametre 

SfRFACE. 

Square  Pechiis  =  Square  metre     Stremma  =  Are 

Weights. 

1  Drachma  =  1  Gramme  =  15  Grains 

1,500  Drachmai  =  1  Mna  =  li  Kilogramme  =  3-306931  lb. 

100  Mnfii  =  1  Talanton  =  li  Quintal  =  3306931  lb. 

10  Talanta  =  1  Tonos  =  Ij  Tonneaux  =  29-52615  cwts. 

Currency.     The   money   currency   of   Greece   is 

based  upon  the  convention  between  France,  Italy, 

Belgium,  and  Switzerland  [see  page  5398].   Thus  the 

drachma  is  the  equivalent  of  the  French  franc  and 

the  Italian  lira,  and  the  leptd  (100  lepta  =  1  drachma) 

has  the  same  value  as  the  centime  of  France  and 


the  centesimo  of  Italy.  The  gold  coins  of  Great 
Britam,  Germany,  Austria,  Denmark,  Russia, 
Spain,  Turkey,  Egypt,  and  the  United  States  are 
legal  tender  in  Greece,  subject  to  a  deduction  of 
5s.  per  cent,  from  their  nominal  value. 

Postage.  Great  Britain  to  Greece :  Letters, 
papers  and  samples,  as  for  France  |see  page  5398]. 
Parcel  post,  2s.  3d.,  2s.  9d.,  and  3s.  3cl.  for  3,  7, 
and  U  lb.  respectively.  Limit  of  length,  breadth,  or 
depth,  2  feet ;  of  length' and  girth  combined,  4  feet. 

Telegrams.  Great  Britain  to  Greece  and  the 
Greek  Islands,  6d.  per  word. 

ROUMANIA 

Area  and  Population.  Roumania — the  name 
given  to  the  old  provinces  of  Wailachia  and  Mol- 
davia—has an  area  of  50,700  square  miles  and  a 
population  estimated  at  6,585,534  for  1907.  The  chief 
towns  are  Bucharest  (the  capital),  276,178  ;  Jassy, 
77,759  ;  Galatz,  62,545  ;  Braila,  56,300  ;  Ploesti, 
45,107  ;    and  Craiova,  45,579. 

Government.  The  kingdom  of  Roumania  dates 
from  1861,  and  its  independence  from  Turkey  from 
1877.  The  present  king,  Carol  I.  (born  1839,  son  of 
Prince  Karl  of  Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen),  was 
elected  in  1866.  His  queen,  Princess  Elizabeth  von 
Wied,  is  "Carmen  Sylva"  of  poem  and  prose.  The 
government  is  a  dual-chamber  legislature.  The 
Senate,  or  Upper  Chamber,  has  120  members,  elected 
for  eight  years  ;  and  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  has 
183  members  elected  for  four  years.  Election  for 
both  Houses  is  by  a  system  of  direct  vote  and  delega- 
tion depending  upon  the  voter's  education  and 
property  qualification.  Senators  must  be  forty  years 
of  age,  and  deputies  twenty-five  years  of  age.  The 
king  has  the  power  of  veto.  The  Executive  con- 
sists of  a  council  of  eight  Ministers,  presided  over 
by  a  Prime  Minister. 

Finance  and  Industries.  The  estimated  revenue 
for  1908-1909  was  £16,440,441,  and  the  estimated 
expenditiu-e  was  £16,349,651.  On  March  31st,  1907, 
the  public  debt  of  Roumania  was  £55,415,792,  more 
than  half  of  which  is  represented  by  public  service 
works,  chiefly  railways.  The  climate  of  Roumania 
is  extreme — excessively  hot  in  summer,  and  exces- 
sively cold  in  winter.  The  chief  industries  are  agri- 
cultural, stock  raising,  and  mineral.  The  chief  crops 
are  maize,  wheat,  barley,  oats,  rye,  vines,  plums, 
and  tobacco.  Other  crops  are  colza,  flax,  hemp, 
and  sugar  beets.  Stock  raising — horses,  cattle, 
sheep,  goats,  and  swine — is  the  most  important 
single  industry.  The  forests  yield  valuable  timber, 
chiefly  oak,  beech,  fir,  and  pine.  Coal  and  petro- 
leum industries  are  important,  and  the  latter  is 
exported  in  large  quantities.  The  only  manufac- 
tures of  even  moderate  importance  are  those  of 
clothing,  woodwork,  and  metal-work.  In  1906  the 
total  imports  were  of  the  value  of  £16,531,900,  and 
the  exports  £19,269,020.  The  chief  exports  are 
wheat,  barley,  maize,  petroleum,  salt,  spirits,  hides, 
wood,  and  cattle. 

Currency.  The  currency  is  on  the  system  of  the 
Latin  Monetary  Union  [see  page  5398],  the  bano 
(plural,  bani)  being  equal  to  a  centime,  and  the  leo 
(plural,  lei)  being  equal  to  a  franc  (100  bani  =  1  leo). 

Weights  and  Measures.  These  are  metric 
[see  page  5399]. 

Postage.  Great  Britain  to  Roumania  :  Letters, 
papers  and  samples,  as  for  France  [see  page  5398]. 
Parcel  post,  2s.,  2s.  6d.,  and  3s.  for  3,  7,  and  11  lb. 
respectively  if  by  Hamburg,  and  3d.  per  parcel 
more  if  by  Ostend  or  Flushing. 

Telegrams.  Great  Britain  to  Roumania,  3id. 
per  word. 

5327 


INFORMATION    ABOUT   THE    BALKAN    STATES 


The  Balkans,  in  their  widest  sense,  are  the  states  of 
the  Balkan  Peninsula,  but  Greece  at  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  peninsula  is  not  usually  reckoned 
one  of  the  Balkan  states,  and  Roumania  is  excluded, 
as  it  is  on  the  north  side  of  the  Danube.  Thus,  the 
Balkan  states  are  Turkey  in  Europe,  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina,  Bulgaria,  Servia  and  Montenegro. 
Turkey  is  considered  separately  [see  page  5326]. 
Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  are  now  attached  to 
Austria  [see  page  5337],  so  there  remain  for  separate 
treatment  Bulgaria,  Servia,  and  Montenegro. 
BULGARIA 

Area  and  Population.  The  area  of  Bulgaria  is 
38,080  square  miles,  and  the  population  is  4,035,620. 
The  chief  cities  and  towns,  with  their  populations, 
are  Sofia  (the  capital),  82,621  ;  Philippopolis  (the 
capital  of  Southern  Bulgaria,  formerly  known  as 
Eastern  Roumelia),  45,707  ;  Varna,  37,417  ;  Rust- 
chuk,  33,632  ;  Slivno,  25,027  :  Shumla,  22,275  ;  and 
Plevna,  21,145.  Chief  port  is  Varna,onthe  Black  Sea. 

Government.  Bulgaria  was  created  by  the 
Powers  of  Europe  at  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  in  1878, 
an  autonomous  principality,  imder  the  suzerainty  of 
the  Sultan  of  Turkey.  The  prince  was  to  be  the 
elected  choice  of  the  peoj^le,  which  fell  upon  Ferdi- 
nand, the  youngest  son  of  Prince  Augustus  of  Saxe- 
Coburg-Gotha.  The  mother  of  the  prince  was  a 
daughter  of  King  Louis  Philippe  of  France.  On 
October  5th,  1908,  Prince  Ferdinand,  at  Tirnovo,  the 
ancient  capital  of  Bulgaria,  assumed  the  title  of 
Tsar,  and  renounced  all  allegiance  to  Turkey. 
The  Legislative  House  is  a  single  Chamber,  the 
Sobranje,  or  National  Assembly,  the  members  of 
which  are  elected  for  five  years  on  a  universal  man- 
hood suffrage  in  the  proportion  of  one  member  to 
20,000  population.  Executive  power  is  vested  in  a 
Council  of  eight  Ministers  appointed  by  the  prince. 

Finance  and  Industry.  The  estimated  revenue 
and  expenditure  for  1908  were  £5.099.000.  The  Bul- 
garian public  debt  is  about  £15,000,000.  Over  one- 
third  of  the  area  of  Bulgaria  is  under  cultivation, 
and  almost  one-third  imder  timber.  Agriculture 
provides  occupation  for  70  per  cent,  of  the  popula- 
tion. Wheat  is  the  principal  cereal,  and  is  the 
chief  article  of  export.  Other  prominent  industries 
are  wine-growing,  tobacco  and  silk  cultm-e,  otto  of 
roses,  cotton  and  rice  cultivation,  dairy  farming,  and 
stock-raising.  All  minerals  are  state  property,  but 
coal  and  salt  are  the  only  ones  worked  to  any  extent. 
The  manufactories  include  the  making  of  woollens 
and  cottons,  cords  and  cigarettes,  flour-mills,  and 
saw-mills.  In  1906  the  imports  valued  £4,338,975 
and  the  exports  £4,482,934.  The  chief  exports  are 
grain,  textiles,  raw  silk,  and  live-stock. 

Currency.  The  currency  is  upon  the  same  basis 
as  that  of  France  [see  page  5398],  but  the  Bulgarian 
equivalent  of  a  franc  is  the  Zew  (plural  leva),  and  of  a 
centime  it  is  the  stotinko  (plural,  stotinki). 

Weights  and  ME.isUREs.  These  are  metric  [see 
page  5399].' 

Postage.  Great  Britain  to  Bulgaria,  as  for 
France  [see  page  5393].  Parcel  post,  2s.  3d., 
2s.  9d.,  and  3s.  3d.  for  3,  7,  and  11  lb.  respectively 
if  by  Hamburg,  or  3d.  per  parcel  more  if  by  Ostend 
or  Flushing.  Limit  of  length,  breadth,  or  depth, 
Z\  feet ;   of  length  and  girth,  6  feet. 

Telegrams.  Great  Britain  to  Bulgaria,  4d.  per 
word. 

SERVIA 

Area  and  Population.  Servia  has  an  area  of 
18,650  square  miles  and  a  population  of  2,688,025. 
The  chief  towns,  with  their  populations,  arc 
Belgrade   (the  capital),  77,816,  and   Nisch,  21,946. 

5328 


Government.  The  King  of  Servia  is  Peter  I. 
,  (born  1844,  and  ascended  the  throne  after  the 
assa-ssination  of  King  Alexander  in  1903).  The 
constitution  vests  the  legislative  authority  in  the 
king  and  a  National  Assembly,  or  Narodna- 
Skuiishtina,  which  has  160  paid  deputies,  elected 
by  manhood  suffrage  for  four  years.  The  executive 
]jower  vests  in  the  king,  assisted  by  a  Council  of 
eight  Ministers. 

Finance  and  Industry.  For  the  year  1907  the 
revenue  was  £3,618,110,  and  the  expenditure  was 
£3,615,500.  The  chief  sources  of  revenue  are 
monopolies,  direct  taxes,  customs,  railways,  and 
excise.  At  the  end  of  1907  the  public  debt  stood  at 
£18,043,720.  The  country  is  agricultural,  under  a 
sj^stem  of  peasant  freehold  ownership.  The  principal 
crops  are  maize,  wheat,  grass,  plums,  barley,  oats, 
vines,  hemp  and  flax,  and  tobacco.  Silk  culture  is 
also  followed,  and  there  is  important  stock  raising 
for  export.  Mines  in  active  oi^eration  include  coal, 
lignite,  gold,  copper,  lead,  zinc,  antimony,  and 
silver.  The  industries  include  flour  milling,  brewing 
and  distilling,  sugar-works,  weaving,  and  tanning. 
In  1907  the  total  imports  were  of  the  value  of 
£2,823,333,  and  the  total  exports  £3,259,650.  The 
chief  exports  were  prunes,  pigs,  wool,  wheat,  wine, 
hides,  cattle,  and  horses. 

Currency.  The  currency  is  based  on  the  franc 
and  the  other  standards  of  the  Latin  Monetary 
Union  [see  page  5398].  The  para  is  the  equivalent 
of  a  centime,  and  the  dinar  (100  paras  =  1  dinar) 
is  the  equivalent  of  one  franc. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  weights  and 
measures  are  metric  [see  page  5399]. 

Postage.  Great  Britain  to  Servia,  as  for 
France  [see  page  5398].  Parcel  post.  3d.  per 
parcel  less  than  to  Roumania  [see  page  5327]. 

Telegrams.      Great  Britain  to  Servia,  3|d.    per 
word  ;    code  or  cypher  telegrams  not  accepted. 
MONTENEGRO 

Area  and  Population.  Jlontenegro  has  an  area 
of  3,630  square  miles  and  a  population  of  230,000. 
The  chief  towns,  with  their  populations,  are  Cettinje, 
4,500  ;  Podgoritza,  10,000  ;  Dulcigno,  5,000  ;  and 
Niksic,  5,000. 

Government.  Montenegro,  which  was  recog- 
nised as  independent  by  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  is  a 
hereditary  constitutional  monarchy,  with  a  National 
Assembly,  or  Skupshtina,  composed  of  seventy-four 
members,  elected  by  universal  suffrage  for  a  period 
of  four  years.  There  are  also  twelve  appointed 
members.  The  reigning  prince  is  Nicholas  I.  (born 
1841  ;    succeeded  his  uncle  1860). 

Finance  and  Industry.  The  estimated  revenue 
for  1907  was  £124,166,  and  the  expenditure  was 
£120,370.  The  public  debt  is  £70.000.  Agriculture 
is  pm'sued  in  a  primitive  fashion.  The  chief  crops  are 
maize,  tobacco,  oats,  potatoes,  barley,  and  buck- 
wheat. Stock  raising  is  important.  There  are 
practically  no  mining  or  manufactiu-ing  industries. 

Currency.  Montenegro  has  a  small  circulation 
of  local  nickel  and  bronze  coinage,  minted  in  Austria, 
but  the  chief  medium  of  exchange  is  Austrian  silver 
coins  and  paper  notes.  Turkish  silver  and  French 
and  English  gold  are  also  legal  tender. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  metric  system  is 
used  [see  page  5399]. 

Post.\ge.  Gre^t  Britain  to  Montenegro,  as 
for  France  [see  page  5398].  Parcel  post,  2s.  3d., 
2s.  9d..  and  3s.  3d.  for  3,  7,  and  11  lb.  respectively 
if  via  Hamburg,  or  3d.  per  parcel  more  if  via  Ostend 
or  Flushing.     Size  hmit  as  for  Bulgaria  [see  above]. 

Telegrams.  Gt.  Brit.to  Montenegro,  3|d.per  word. 


EUROPEAN 
POWERS 
TO-DAY 


III 

AUSTRIA- 
HUNGARY 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY     IN     OUR     TIME 

AN   EMPIRE  OF  MANY  NATIONAL- 
ITIES   AND    CONTENDING    RACES 
By  Henry  W.   Nevinson 


rROM  its  history  one  can  see  that  the 
*  monarchy  of  Austria-Hungary  is  not 
so  much  a  result  as  a  residue.  It  embodies 
no  conscious  purpose  or  intention,  Hke 
modern  Germany.  After  its  long  and 
varied  annals  we  can  hardly  speak  of  its 
growth,  for  it  remains  rather  as  a  shape- 
less and  almost  accidental  collection  of 
pieces  than  an  organic  and  vital  whole.  It 
is  still  encumbered  by  the  tradition  of 
former  greatness  in  days  when  it  stood 
before  Europe  as  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
whose  monarch  was  equally  the  successor 
of  the  Caesars  and  the  representative  of 
God's  temporal  power  here  on  earth.  It 
would  be  hard  for  any  empire  to  live  up 
to  such  a  part  as  that,  and  the  memory  of 
an  obsolete  grandeur  which  could  not  be 
maintained  has  prevented  the  country 
hitherto  from  developing  along  fresh  lines 
of  progress. 

We  can,  indeed,  hardly  speak  of  Austria- 
Hungary  as  a  country  at  all.  It  lies 
sprawling  in  the  middle  of  Europe,  with- 
out natural  limits  or  frontiers ;  and  it  has 
no  natural  character  of  its  own,  though 
the  parts  of  the  empire  are  in  touch ;  and 
it  possesses  no  colonies  or  foreign  settle- 
ments. Almost  every  kind  of  scenery  may 
be  found  within  its  boundaries.  In  the 
south-west  are  the  Alpine  peaks  of  the 
Tyrol ;  in  the  south-east  the  great  ranges 
and  forests  of  the  Carpathians.  North, 
in  Bohemia,  and  south,  in  Bosnia,  are 
.:«'»  regions  of  pleasant  hills 
and    valleys,    interspersed    with 


Austria  s 

Varied 

Scenery 


plains.  The  Alford,  or  central 
flat  through  which  the  great 
rivers  of  Hungary  run,  is  one  of  the 
largest  plains  of  Europe,  and  the  out- 
lying province  of  Galicia,  bej'ond  the 
northern  Carpathians,  is  a  vast  plain  of 
Russian  character.  As  a  complete  con- 
trast to  such  scenes,  you  may  pass  down 


one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  varied  coast- 
lines in  the  world,  from  the  top  of  the 
Adriatic  to  the  Mouths  of  Cattaro,  and 
still  you  are  in  Austrian  or  Hungarian 
territory,  for  Austria  stretches  out  an 
arm  to  reach  the  sea  at  Trieste,  Hungary 
does     the    same    at    Fiume,    and 

_  "'^   .    the     narrow     length      of     rocky 
Races  in    ,  ,  "      ,    .  111 

.        .      shore      and      mountam,      called 

Dalmatia,  is  Austria's  again. 
This  diversity  of  scene  makes  Austria- 
Hungary  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
interesting  parts  of  Europe  for  the  tra- 
veller, especially  as  it  is  also  one  of  the 
least  known.  But  the  diversity  of  scene 
is  even  surpassed  by  the  diversity  of  race  ; 
and  though  this  also  affords  the  traveller 
a  further  interest  and  charm,  it  adds  con- 
siderably to  the  problem  of  government. 

In  fact,  it  is  the  problem  of  government, 
and  without  realising  the  diversity  of  race, 
it  is  impossible  to  understand  what  the 
contemporary  history  of  the  empire 
means.  There  are  eight  easily  recognised 
races  within  the  frontiers,  and  the  list 
might  be  extended  to  eleven.  Of  the 
eight  at  least  five  are  not  merely  different 
from  each  other ;  they  are  strongly 
nationalist,  and  from  time  to  time  display 
violent  hostility  towards  one  or  all  of  the 
other  races  with  whom  they  are  supposed 
to  share  the  glory  and  government  of  the 
same  empire.  That  is  the  worst  of  an 
empire  which  has  not  grown  by  natural 
energy  from  the  inside,  but  has  been  thrown 
together  bit  by  bit  as  occasion  served,  often 
by  the  accident  of  dynasty  or  marriage.  One 
remembers  the  well-known  ironic  line  : 

Bella  gerant  alii  ;   tu,  felix  Austria,  nube. 
Or,  in  English  : 

By  others  let  the  wars  be  waged  ; 
Thou,  happy  Austria,  get  engaged. 
Such  marriages  were  successful  in  adding 
teiTitory,     not     in    adding     power.      To 

5329 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF     THE    WORiD 


form  a  picture  of  the  result,  you 
might  imagine  small  portions  of  the 
British  Empire  all  clustered  together  in 
the  same  country,  so  that  English  and 
Irish,  French  Canadians  and  Boers,  New 
Zealanders  and  Manxmen  were  living  side 
by  side,  without  the  sea  to  keep  them 
comfortably  tolerant  and  apart.  Such  a 
variety  of  peoples,  all  dwelling 
within    a    small   space — ^Austria- 


Disunion 
in  the 


_  .  Hungary  is  onl}'  about  twice  the 
^^"^  size  of  the  British  Islands — adds 
much  to  a  traveller's  interest.  Indeed,  to 
the  student  of  men,  no  part  of  Europe, 
not  even  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  is  so  full 
of  varied  knowledge  as  Austria- Hungary. 

Almost  '  every  stage  of  European 
civilisation  is  found  existing  there  in 
full  vitality — the  scientific  and  highly 
educated  German  of  Vienna,  the  moun- 
taineer of  the  Tyrol,  the  gipsy  of  the  Hun- 
garian plain,  the  ancestral  Moslem  of 
Bosnia,  the  Roumanian  descendant  of  old 
Roman  colonists  in  Transylvania,  the  pro- 
gressive Czech  of  Bohemia,  the  unchanging 
Jew  of  Galicia,  the  unhappy  Pole,  and, 
finally,  isolated  almost  in  the  centre  of 
them  all,  unrelated  to  any  of  them,  and 
only  ver}^  dimly  related  to  far-off  Turks 
and  Finns,  stands  the  Magyar,  surrounded 
by  Slavs  of  various  names,  and  almost 
continually  at  strife  with  the  Emperor  of 
Austria,  who  happens  to  be  also  his  own 
king.  In  the  whole  Austrian  Empire, 
almost  the  only  European  stock  which  you 
will  not  find  is  the  Austrian.  It  would  be 
hardly  too  much-  to  say  that  such  a  being 
as  an  Austrian  does  not  exist. 

We  may,  however,  use  the  word  roughly 
still  for  the  large  German  population 
which  forms  the  centre  of  Austrian  society 
and  boasts  itself,  with  some  justice,  the 
most  civilised  and  advanced  of  the  many 
nationalities.  These  Germans  are  the 
natural  successors  to  the  eastern  province 
of  Charlemagne's  old  Teutonic  Empire — 
the  East  ^^lark,  which  warded  off  the  Mag- 
yars— and  they  number  some 
rtr.*^l.     .  0,000,000,   or  about   a  third 

and  Civilised      r    \       .    ■    )  i    ,  •  j 

-,  of  Austria  s  population,  and 

Oermans  .,  .  ^    ^ 

something  over  2,000,000,  or 

about  a  ninth  part  of  Hungary's.    Till  quite 

lately  no  one  would  have  hesitated  to  call 

them  the  predominant  race.     German  was 

the  language,  not  only  of  the  Court,  society, 

and  literature,  but  of  all  official  and  legal 

business  throughout  the  empire.     It  was 

taught  in  all  schools  and  used  in  every 

department  of  the  army.     No  one  would 

5330 


have  thought  twice  in  describing  Austria 
as  a  German  Power,  and  it  is  naturally  the 
desire  of  the  German-speaking  population 
to  keep  things  as  they  were  or  to  extend 
the  German  culture  and  influence. 

But  in  recent  years  the  Germans  have 
seen  themselves  checked,  and  even  driven 
back,  not  only  by  the  Magyars  of  Hungary, 
but  by  the  various  branches  of  Slavs  in 
Bohemia  and  the  lesser  states,  such  as 
Styria  and  Carinthia.  The  surprise  has 
only  intensified  their  Teutonism.  Many 
have  embraced  the  so-called  Pan-German 
ideal,  which  tries  to  regard  the  cause  of 
all  the  Teutonic  peoples  of  the  world  as 
one,  and  would  gather  the  Teutons,  not 
only  of  the  German  and  Austrian  Empires, 
but  of  Russia,  South  America,  South 
Africa,  including  the  Boers,  and  of  Hol- 
land and  Belgium  into  a  single  fold.  A 
favourite  scheme  of  Pan-Germanism  for 
some  time  past  has  been  an  extension  of 
German  influence  throughout  the  old 
Turkish  provinces  to  the  port  of  Salonika, 
or  even  by  way  of  Constantinople  itself, 
where  Germans  already  number  some 
40,000,  to  Asia  Minor,  and  by  a  German 
.  railway   to   Bagdad    and   the 

the Tutt'rLn  Persian  Gulf.  By  this  route 
^  ^  *  they  hoped  to  find  an  outlet 
German  j-      n         <" 

for    the    German  increase  in 

lands  where  they  would  not  lose  their 
nationality,  as  they  do  in  the  United 
States.  At  the  moment  events  are 
against  the  scheme,  but  it  is  a  thing  to 
be  remembered  in  estimating  the  prob- 
abilities of  Austrian  politics.  It  is  the 
ultimate  goal  of  the  "  Drang  nach  Osten," 
of  which  we  have  heard  so  much. 

For  the  time,  however,  these  more 
ambitious  designs  have  been  checked,  and 
the  Austrian  German  is  fighting  for  exist- 
ence in  his  own  country  rather  than  for 
distant  Pan-Germanism  in  the  Balkans  or 
Asia  Minor.  For  some  ten  years  past  he 
has  been  brought  into  sharp  and  continual 
conflict  with  Czechs,  Magyars,  and  Ita- 
lians, in  turn  or  together.  It  is  partly  a 
religious  quarrel,  and  the  cry  of  "  Freedom 
from  Rome  " — "  Los  von  Rom  !  " — is  one 
of  the  party's  watchwords.  But  many 
good  Catholics  belong  to  the  movement, 
too,  and  the  conflict  is,  before  all  things, 
a  matter  of  race  or  nationality.  For  some 
years  past  the  section  that  looks  to 
Germany  rather  than  Austria  as  its 
national  fatherland  has  been  growing,  and 
allegiance  to  the  Hohenzollern  of  Berlin 
rather  than  to  the   Hapsburg  is  openly 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY     IN    OUR     OWN    TIME 


expressed.  To  unite  the  German  part  of 
Austria  to  the  rest  of  Germany  is  an 
obvious  though  futile  device.  But  for  the 
position  of  Bohemia,  perhaps  Bismarck 
might  have  tried  to  reahse  it.  But  he  knew 
that  Bohemia  made  the  thing  impossible. 
Probably  an  equal  obstacle  lies  also  in 
the  very  different  nature  of  the  South 
German  from  the  Prussian.  For  the  South 
German  of  Austria,  if  less  painfully  edu- 
cated and  disciplined  to  a  certain  kind  of 
capacity,  has  far  more  freedom  and  charm 
of  nature,  and  far  more  imaginative  power. 
Nor  does  his  neighbour,  the  South  German 
of  Bavaria,  find  life  under  Prussian  leader- 
ship exactly  enjoyable. 

So  the  Pan-German  of  Austria  is  now 
standing  in  opposition  to  the  chief  forces 
at  work  in  his  country.  Perhaps  the 
strongest,  as  well  as  the  most  recent,  of 
these  forces  is  Pan-Slavism.  It  is  a  similar 
movement,  but  less  conscious,  less  wealthy, 
and  devoid  of  organisation  and  practical 
aim.  It  is  a  dream  of  distant  unity,  like 
the  Russian  movement  of  the  same  name — 
a  feeling  of  common  brotherhood  rather 
than  a  policy  with  a  programme.  Cer- 
tainly  it  has  the  strength  of 

c  *^^  numbers,  for,  taking  the 
Weakened  by   .       ,    •     tt  ^  ■, 

jj.  .  .  Austria-Hungary  monarchy  as 

a  whole,  the  Slavs  probably 
outnumber  all  other  races  by  at  least  two 
millions.  But,  as  usually  happens  among 
Slavs,  they  are  weakened  by  division.  The 
Czechs  of  Bohemia,  the  Croats,  the  Serbs, 
the  Ruthenians,  the  Slovenes,  the  Slovaks, 
the  Dalmatians,  and  the  Poles,  though  all 
of  Slav  origin,  now  in  many  cases  form 
separate  nationalities,  and  even  ii^  lan- 
guage they  are  often  unintelligible  to  each 
other,  though  their  languages  are  akin. 

They  are  also  divided  by  religion.  The 
great  majority,  such  as  the  Czechs,  the 
Croats,  and  the  Poles,  are  Catholic  ;  while 
the  Serbs  and  many  of  the  Southern  Slavs 
remain  Orthodox,  following  the  same  rites 
and  doctrines  as  the  Greek  and  Russian 
Church.  The  Pan-Slavist  ideal  in  Austria- 
Hungary  is  the  formation  of  the  empire  into 
a  kind  of  confederacy  of  states  in  which  the 
Slav  would  predominate.  At  one  time,  like 
all  Pan-Slavists,  they  looked  forward  to  a 
Slav  empire  under  the  suzerainty  of  Russia. 

But  this  ideal  has  been  dimmed  by 
the  overwhelming  defeat  of  Russia  in, 
the  East  and  by  the  cruel  reaction 
of  her  own  government  against  liberty. 
At  the  present  time  the  Slav  claims  are 
for   separate   nationalities.      The    Croats, 


gathered  round  their  old  capital  of  Agram, 
live  in  violent  protest  against  the  domin- 
ance of  the  Magyars  in  the  kingdom  of 
Hungary,  to  which  they  belong.  They  are 
nearly  all  Catholic  ;  in  fact,  the  name 
Croat  is  used  among  the  Southern  Slavs 
for  Catholic  just  as  the  name  of  Servian 
signifies  Orthodox  or  Greek  Church.  They 
boast  a  fine  history,  claiming  to 

^      .        ^  be   the    only    Southern    Slavs, 

Uzechs  and  •   j.-u     -a/t      . 

Q  except  the  Montenegrins,  never 

subdued  by  the  Turks.  Indeed, 
they  are  the  only  Slavs  in  Austria-Hungary 
who  have  established  some  right  to 
nationality,  except  the  Czechs  of  Bohemia, 
and,  in  quite  recent  years,  perhaps  the  Rou- 
manians of  Transylvania,  who  have  become 
an  even  more  painful  thorn  in  the  side  of  the 
Magyars,  because  there  is  always  a  danger 
that  Roumania  may  adopt  their  cause. 

But  of  all  the  Slavs  in  the  empire,  the 
Czechs  are  by  far  the  strongest  and  most 
advanced.  Their  civilisation  is  historic, 
and  their  nations  long  held  a  high  place 
in  Europe.  But  the  Germans  have  been 
their  foes  from  the  beginning,  and  the  feud 
continues  with  violence  to  the  present  day. 
Till  some  thirty  years  ago  there  seemed 
every  chance  that  their  nationality  would 
become  absorbed  under  German  language 
and  manners.  The  national  movement 
began  with  the  revival  of  the  national 
language,  as  also  happened  in  Hungary, 
and  is  happening  in  Ireland  now.  It  is 
strange  that  a  literary  and  academic 
beginning  should  have  taken  so  deep  a 
hold  on  the  populace  that  German  is  now 
a  language  under  a  ban  and  the  contest 
between  the  peoples  is  perpetual. 

As  long  ago  as  1886  Bohemia  won  the 
privilege  of  special  law  courts  and  uni- 
versities, together  with  the  recognition  of 
her  language  as  official,  though  this  right 
was  again  withdrawn  in  1899,  when  the 
Czechs  were  endeavouring  to  introduce 
Czech  words  of  command  into  the  army. 
This  feud  against  the  Pan-Germans  has, 
in  fact,  continued  ever  since, 
Bohemia  b^.g^j^^^ng  out  with  especial  fury 
Demands  a  -^    ^  ^^^-^^    -^    ^^^^^    ^^^^^ 

Kingship  ^^^  Vienna  University  was 
closed  on  account  of  it  and  the  Germans 
retaliated  by  smashing  up  Kubelik's 
concert-hall  at  Linz  ;  and  again  towards 
the  end  of  1908,  when  martial  law  was 
proclaimed  in  Prague  at  the  very  time  of 
the  emperor's  Diamond  Jubilee.  The 
Czechs  now  demand  a  restoration  of 
the    old   separate    kingship    for   Bohemia 

5331 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


on  the  same  terms  as  Hungary's  kingship, 
and  it  is  very  probable  the  concession  will 
be  granted  by  the  coronation  at  Prague 
either  of  the  present  old  emperor  or  of 
his  successor,  the  Crown  Prince  Franz 
Ferdinand,  who  is  an  enthusiastic  Catholic, 
,  and  has  also  a  Czech  wife  in 
J;""^*'*^  ^.,^  morganatic     marriage.      The 

Disputes  with       .•         .    J  1  X   r'        i 

.     .  .  estmiated  number   oi  Czechs 

Austria  •       ,,  •  ■        i.       • 

in  the   empu'e    is    about    six 

million,  or  nearly  a  quarter  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Austria  proper.  But  more 
serious  for  Austria  even  than  Bohemia's 
nationalism  has  been  the  prolonged 
disagreement  wdth  Hungary. 

We  need  not  go  back  to  the  cruel 
repression  of  Hungary  under  Heynau  after 
the  revolutionary  chaos  of  1848,  when  the 
present  emperor  came  to 
the  throne ;  nor  to  the 
restoration  of  the  con- 
stitution in  1861  ;  nor 
even  to'  the  "  Ausgleich," 
or  Compromise  of  1867, 
by  which  Beust  hoped  he 
had  arranged  a  workable 
system  of  unity  in  separa- 
tion. In  1897  the  struggle 
was  renewed,  chiefly  on 
the  Hungarian  demand 
for  a  separate  tariff  and 
separation  in  commercial 
affairs.  It  resulted  in  a 
complete  block  in  the  con- 
stitution existing  between 
the  two  countries. 

By  that  constitution 
there  is  an  Austrian  Par- 
liament of  two  Houses 


serious  question,  and  on  the  questions 
of  the  tariff  and  the  army  the  deadlock 
lasted  year  after  year.  In  1900  the 
emperor  threatened  to  suspend  the 
constitution.  In  1902  Kossuth,  son 
of  the  famous  Hungarian  liberator  of 
1848,  and  leader  with  Count  Apponyi  of 
the  Magyar  Nationalists,  demanded  abso- 
lute separation,  except  for  the  bond  of  the 
crown.  In  the  next  year  a  complete 
disintegration  of  the  empire  seemed  prob- 
able, and  the  Kossuthites  insisted  on  the 
use  of  Hungarian  words  of  command  and 
the  employment  of  Hungaiian  ofiicers  in 
the  Hungarian  regiments  of  the  regular 
army,  not  merely  in  the  Honved,  or  local 
Hungarian  militia,  corresponding  to  the 
Austrian     militia,    or     Landwehr.      The 

^ —  emperor     conceded     the 

appointment  of  Hun- 
garian officers  and  the 
use  of  national  emblems, 
but  steadily  refused  the 
use  of  the  Hungarian 
word  of  command  as 
destroying  the  unity  of 
the  army.  So  the  dead- 
lock on  the  tariff  and 
army  continued,  the 
Hungarian  Parliament 
going  so  far  in  1905  as 
to  refuse  taxes  and 
recruits.  The  emperor 
summoned  the  so-called 
Coalition  to  Vienna, 
but  no  terms  could  be 
arranged.  In  the  follow- 
THE  CROWN  PRINCE  OF  AUSTRIA  iug      year,      1906,     the 

.^.^iii^iii.   xji.    >.,,v^  ^^^^^^^  The  Archduke  Franz  Ferdinand,  successor  to    Coalition       WaS       alloWCd 

ii^'Vr    '^   "'^  xV  ^  *iv^v^^^^  thethroneofthe  Austrian  Empire,  was  recently     ,  ,     1  rv- 

the  Upper  House,  largely  invested  with  power  entitling  him  to  partici-   to    take    ofnce    on    con- 
hereditary,  and  a  Reichs-    pate  in  the  government  of  the  dual  monarchy,    ^iition     that     it     did    UOt 

rath  of  elected  representatives  ;  and  there      oppose  a  measure  for  manhood  suffrage, 


is  a  distinct  Hungarian  Parliament  of  a 
House  of  Magnates,  chiefly  hereditary, 
and  a  House  of  elected  representatives,  in 
which  the  Magyars  have  hitherto  secured  a 
majority,  though  they  are  not  a  majority 
of  the  population.  Both  Parliaments  send 
"  Delegations  "  of  sixty  members  each 
to  sit  alternately  at  Vienna  or  Buda- 
pest, for  the  arrangement  of  the  common 
financial  burdens.  The  Delegations  may 
vote  together  ;  but  they  sit  separately, 
and  do  not  debate  together.  The  emperor- 
king  can  personally  veto  all  Bills  passed 
by  either  Parliament  ;  and  he  appoints 
the  Ministers  himself,  apart  from  the  will 
of  the  majority.  Such  a  system  may 
obviously    lead    to    a    deadlock    on    any 

5332 


all  males  over  twenty-four.  This  was 
carried  largely  by  the  emperor's  personal 
influence,  acting  through  the  premier, 
Baron  von  Beck,  an  honourable  statesman, 
who  also  succeeded  in  ending  the  ten  years' 
quarrel  over  the  tariff  by  a  commercial 
treaty  with  Hungary,  in  1907.  Under  this 
treaty,  each  state  was  granted  a 
xi'*x-°  *i    separate    tariff;     but    Hungary 

National         ^     ,  ^  ,         .    .-, "' 

^  ,  was  to  pay  30  per  cent,  of  the 
Quarrel  ^   /    ^      ^         .    ^  , 

expenses   for   war,    defence,  a-nd 

foreign  affairs.  A  court  of  arbitration 
for  future  disputes  was  also  instituted. 
The  question  of  the  word  of  command 
in  the  army  was  held  over,  and  is  not 
definitely  settled  at  the  time  of  writing. 
The    Magyars   are,    in  part,   very    much 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


they  were  not  intended  to  work.  Nothing 
was  further  from  the  thoughts  of  the  two 
most  interested  Powers  than  a  reformed 
and  resuscitated  Turkey.  They  were 
only  waiting  for  Turkey  to  rot  till  she 
dropped,  and  in  the  meantime  they 
opposed  any  genuine  reform  on  the 
ground  that  the  integrity  of  the  Turkish 
Empire  must  never  be  infringed. 


occupied  by  the  Slav  movements  directed 
against  them  in  Croatia  and  Transylvania, 
and  by  their  own  endeavours  to  retain  a 
majority  in  their  Parliament  by  one  device 
or  another  under  manhood  suffrage.   With 
this  object  they  framed  a  Bill  in  1908  by 
which    a  fairly   rich   Magyar's  vote  will 
count  as  about  thirty  to  one  against  the 
Slav  peasant's.     It  is  significant  that  in 
the    Austrian    Reichsrath 
the    first    appeal    to    the 
people     under     manhood 
suffrage  produced  a  Par- 
liament     of      twenty-six 
groups,    the    two    largest 
being    the    Social    Demo- 
crats— 90,  largely  Jewish 
in     tendency,     and      the 
Christian     Socialists — 65, 
largely  anti-Semites. 

The  year  1908  was  for 
many  reasons  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  in  Aus- 
tria's history,  and  much 
future  history  is  likely  to 
spring  from  it.  For  some 
years    past    Austria    had 

"  VIENNA 

The  real  value  of  this 
phrase  was  shown  in  the 
early  summer  of  1908  when 
Count  von  Aehrenthal,  who 
had  lately  succeeded  Count 
Goluchowski  as  Foreign 
Minister  in  Austria,  sud- 
denly proposed  to  extend 
the  Austrian,  or  rather 
Hungarian,  railway  from 
the  frontier  of  Herzegovina 
through  the  Sanjak  of 
Novi  Bazar  to  the  Turkish 
frontier  town  of  Mitrovitsa. 
By  this  line  Austria  would 
at  once  open  for  herself  a 
A   SCENE   IN   THE  AUSTRIAN   CAPITAL  route  to  Salonika  without 

The   Schottengasse    and   Wahringerstrasse,    two    of  the    chief    thoroughfares    quitting     territory      UUdcr 
in  Vienna,  the  leading    city  of  Austria,  are   shown   in    the   above   illustration,    j^^^.    ^^^     COUtrol    till    she 

entered  Turkey  herself.     It  was  a  daring 


ccssss: 


.%.'L  vv  v\g 


^   .V    '^V\'<ldl. 


been  watching  the  decline  of  Turkey  into 
apparent  ruin  with  peculiar  attention.  As 
one  of  the  "  two  most  interested  Powers," 
she  had  combined  with  Russia  to  impose 
various  schemes  of  reform  upon  the  sultan, 
especially  in  regard  to  Macedonia,  where  the 
wretchedness  and  persecution  of  the  popu- 
lations had  become  a  scandal  to  Europe. 
But  the  schemes  of  reform  did  not  work  ; 


proposal,  but  Russia  countered  it  by  sug- 
gesting another  railway,  from  the  Danube, 
through  Servia,  the  Sanj  ak  and  Montenegro, 
to  Scutari  and  the  Adriatic,  thus  bindmg 
together  the  Serb  states  and  giving  them 
egress  to  the  sea  independent  of  Austria. 
To  such  a  scheme,  after  her  own  pro- 
posal, Austria,  could  only  assent  with  a 

5333 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


sardonic  smile,  and  so  the  matter  rested. 
But  suddenly  all  deep-laid  plans  and 
dark  designs  of  Austria,  as  of  other  Powers 
regarding  the  Near  East,  were  overturned 
by  the  Young  Turk  Revolution  of  July. 
Up  to  1908 — the  time  of  writing — no 
revolution  had  ever  equalled  it  for  skill, 
moderation,  and  success.  Unhappily, 
,  success  was  jast  the  last 
Th^  "'t  d  "thirig  that  the  two  most 
jj  ^.^         interested    Powers    desired    in 

csigns  -pm-j^gy^  They  had  long  looked 
forward  with  apprehension  to  a  terrible 
combat  in  sharing  out  the  Turkish  Empire, 
but  it  would  be  a  still  more  terrible  thing 
if  no  one  was  to  get  a  share. 

The  details  of  the  arrangement  are, 
naturally,  obscure.  We  only  know  that 
there  were  meetings  between  Baron  von 
Aehrenthal,  M.  Isvolsky,  the  Russian 
Foreign  Minister,  and  Signor  Tittoni,  the 
Foreign  Minister  of  Italy,  and  that  in 
September,  Prince  Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria, 
an  Austrian  by  birth  and  education,  visited 
Budapest  and  was  received  with  royal 
honours.  On  October  5th,  Prince  Fer- 
dinand, almost  certainly  at  Austria's 
suggestion,  proclaimed  himself  tsar  of  an 
independent  kingdom,  owing  no  fealty  to 
Turkey  and  no  tribute  for  Eastern  Rou- 
melia.  On  the  following  day,  Austria 
formally  annexed  the  Turkish  provinces 
of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  which  she  had 
been  allowed  to  occupy  and  administer  by 
the  Treaty  of  Berlin  since  1878. 

"  The  rights  of  our  sovereignty,"  ran 
the  proclamation,  "  are  extended  to  Bosnia 
and  Herzegovina.  Among  the  many  cares 
that  surround  our  throne,  care  for  your 
material  and  spiritual  welfare  shall  not  be 
the  least."  At  the  same  time,  a  share 
in  the  legislation  was  promised,  together 
with  equal  rights  before  the  law,  and  equal 
protection  for  religion,  language,  and 
race.  The  Austrian  troops  which  had 
been  allowed  to  police  the  Sanjak  of 
Novi  Bazar,  a  long,  Turkish  strip  of  land 
lying     between     Servia     and 

nncxa  ion  ]\j;Qn^enegro,   were    also    with- 

01  Turkish      J  •       n 

_      .  drawn,  nommally  as  compen- 

'^  sation  to  Turkey.  The  conces- 
sion was  valueless,  for  if  those  Serb  states 
on  either  side  of  the  Sanjak  were  hostile, 
Austria  could  not  hold  it  ;  and  if  they 
were  friendly,  she  could  re-occupy  it 
without  effort.  But  by  the  annexation 
of  the  two  provinces,  Austria  tore  up  the 
Treaty  of  Berlin,  insulted  Turkey,  and 
exposed    the  Young  Turk  government  to 

5334 


extreme  danger  from  the  probability  of 
war,  besides  irritating  Servia  and  Monte- 
negro almost  beyond  endurance. 

There  are  nearly  2,000,000  Servian 
Slavs  in  the  annexed  provinces.  Less 
than  half  the  population  is  Orthodox — 
the  rest  being  Catholics  or  Mohammedan 
descendants  of  Serbs  early  converted  by 
the  Turks  ;  but  all  of  them  are  Servian  by 
race,  descendants  from  subjects  of  the 
old  Servian  Empire  that  was  destroyed  by 
the  Turks  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  The  annexation  cut  the  Serb 
race  in  half,  and  absorbed  about  a  third 
of  it.  Servia  saw  herself  also  cut  of^ 
hopelessly  from  the  sea  and  from  her 
heroic  kinsmen  in  Montenegro.  The  Ser- 
vian fighting  strength  is  very  small, 
probably  not  more  than  200,000  of  all 
arms,  though  Servia  had  lately  been 
purchasing  new  batteries  from  France. 

Austria,  in  the  three  previous  years, 
had  also  spent  very  large  sums  in  re- 
armament, and  she  could  probably  put 
over  a  million  men  in  the  field,  including 
the  Hvungarian  Honved.  But  her  troops 
are  admittedly  ill-assorted  and  split  up 

e  .  ,  by  nationalist  feeling,  and  at 
Servia  s        ,  /      ,  ■  ,        .,  ■         .  ° 

_  .    .    ^.    the  time  of  writmg  it  seems  as 

Fate  in  the  , ,  ,0  j     ^ 

„  .  though  Servia  may  declare  war 

any  day.  At  the  worst  she 
could  only  be  absorbed  into  Austria,  and 
form  the  nucleus  of  a  great  Servian 
province,  gradually  becoming  as  inde- 
pendent as  Hungary.  At  the  best  she 
might  bring  Russia  into  the  contest  as 
protector  of  the  Southern  Slavs. 

In  its  ulterior  aims  of  embarrassing  the 
Reform  Party  in  Turkey  by  war  and  of 
restoring  the  sultan's  corrupt  govern- 
ment, Aehrenthal'scoup  has  hitherto  failed. 
If  there  was  a  secret  bargain  between  him 
and  Isvolsky,  it  has  so  far  come  to  nothing, 
because  Sir  Edward  Grey  took  strong 
steps  to  demonstrate  Britain's  friendship 
to  the  Young  Turks,  and  the  Pan-Slavists 
in  Russia  raised  an  outcry  against  any 
possible  bargain  which  would  secure  some 
advantage  like  the  opening  of  the  Dar- 
danelles to  the  Russian  fleet  at  the  price 
of  betraying  the  Southern  Slavs  to  "  the 
German."  Isvolsky,  it  is  true,  addressing 
the  Duma  on  Christmas  Day,  igo8,  de- 
finitely refused  to  support  Servia  against 
the  Power  which  had  broken  the  Berlin 
Treaty,  but  any  future  designs  that 
may  have  been  plotted  against  Turkey 
are  for  the  present  in  abeyance.  At  the 
time  of  writing,  nothing  is  finally  arranged, 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


not  even  the  conference  that  would  give 
the  only  sanction  to  the  arrangement,  and 
Austria  has  only  lost  very  heavily  in  her 
large  Turkish  trade  owing  to  the  indignant 
boycott  of  Austrian  goods  by  the  Turkish 
people.  Probably,  however,  she  will  pay 
Turkey  a  fixed  sum — about  £2,250,000 — 
as  compensation  for  the  wrong. 

It  is  possible  that  the  annexation  was  in 
reality  a  further  step  towards  the  conver- 
sion of  Austria  into  a  Slavonic  rather 
than  German  Power.  At  all  events,  that 
will  probably  be  its  result,  and  it  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  favoured  by  the 
Crown  Prince  Franz  Ferdinand,  who  has 
strong  Slavonic  sympathies.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  must  remember  that,  whatever 


Moslems,  began  to  leave  the  country  in 
large  numbers  as  soon  as  the  Turkish 
Revolution  gave  them  hope  of  security 
on  Turkish  soil.  There  has  always  been 
great  dissatisfaction  because  the  recruits 
from  the  provinces  are  taken  to  serve 
their  time  in  far-distant  parts  of  Austria, 
while  troops  of  other  nationalities  are 
quartered  among  the  Bosnian  villages. 

Perhaps  even  stronger  discontent  has 
been  aroused  by  the  large  numbers  of 
Catholic  churches  erected  by  Government 
throughout  the  country,  though  not 
much  more  than  20  per  cent,  of  the  popu- 
lation are  Catholic.  Jesuits  and  Fran- 
ciscans are  continually  spreading  their 
propaganda,  and  it  is  an  open  secret  that 


SJLSi-UJ-lJUL 


■Uii 


SSa^^^^E 


JJBgJitt^li'liil.Hilil     ~^\ 


!-~-~  <  .%w«>ji£^>aS«!^ 


THE    HUNGARIAN     HOUSES    OF    PARLIAMENT    AT    BUDAPEST 


the  fPan-Slavists  may  say,  it  is  all  of  a 
piece  with  the  familiar  German  "  Drang 
nach  Osten,"  and  that  the  annexed 
provinces  are  already  largely  Germanised. 
They  are  filled  with  German  officials ; 
all  newspapers,  except  the  German,  are 
so  rigorously  censored  that  they  often 
appear  with  blank  columns  ;  the  forests, 
which  are  a  chief  source  of  wealth,  are  sold 
to  German  contractors ;  many  Slav  schools 
have  been  suppressed  ;  the  Archbishop  is 
an  Austrian  nominee,  and  even  the  Ortho- 
dox Servians  refuse  to  accept  the  rites  of 
their  Church  from  anti-national  hands. 

The  Bosnian  Mohammedans,  who  num- 
ber about  35  per  cent,  of  the  population 
and  are  Slav  by  race,  though  very  strict 


they  are  encouraged  by  the  Crown  Prince 
Franz  Ferdinand,  who,  perhaps,  aims  at 
converting  Austria-Hungary  into  a 
Catholic  Slav  Power  as  a  counterbalance 
to  the  Orthodox  Slavs  of  Russia. 

Thus,  Germanism  and  Catholicism  have 
been  thrust  upon  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina 
with  almost  equal  persistence,  and  the 
inhabitants  naturally  look  for  protection 
to  their  kindred  in  the  neighbouring 
states  of  Servia  and  Montenegro,  or  even 
to  reorganised  Turkey,  which  they  still 
claim  as  their  suzerain.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  when  Austria  was  per- 
mitted to  occupy  and  administer  by  the 
Treaty  of  Berlin,  she  had  to  mobihse 
200,000  men,  so  strong  was  the  opposition 

5335 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


of  the  inhabitants  to  a  purpose  which  she 
called  her  mission,  though  the  provinces 
had  but  recently  freed  themselves  from 
Turkish  misgovernment.  English  trav- 
ellers have  often  pointed  to  the  advantages 
of  Austrian  rule — the  police,  the  growing 
commerce,  the  excellent  roads,  and  other 
signs  of  advancement  under  Baron  von 

Kallav,  v/ho  administered  the 
I  he  Aged  „        •  r         .  , 

provmces   lor   twenty   years 

Emperor  ^     ,,  .  r 

„  ,  .  With  great  appearance  ol  suc- 
r  ranz  Joseph  r>    -    -f-      t  i    ^  n 

cess.     But  English  travellers 

generally  take  their  information  from  the 
German-speaking  officials,  and  it  is  also 
a  common  mistake  of  our  race  to  suppose 
that  man  lives  by  bread  alone.  The 
hostility  to  Austrian  rule  is  at  the  present 
time  probably  as  strong  as  in  face  of  the 
occupation  thirty  years  ago. 

With  Prague  in  open  riot,  the  Italian 
provinces  deeply  disturbed,  the  Poles 
violently  indignant  at  the  treatment  of 
their  countr^^men  by  Austria's  German 
ally,  Croatia  and  Transylvania  restless 
under  Magyar  injustice,  the  Magyars 
themselves  insisting  on  further  demands 
for  independence,  and  with  Bosnia-Herze- 
govina in  a  state  of  siege,  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  aged  emperor's  Diamond 
Jubilee,  in  1908,  could  hardly  be  called  an 
auspicious  occasion.  Yet,  in  all  Europe 
there  was  probably  no  man  more  widely 
respected  than  Franz  Joseph.  It  was 
not  merely  that  he  had  reigned  for  sixty 
years  without  open  scandal.  A  man  of 
no  great  intellectual  power  or  gift  of 
foresight,  he  had,  within  the  rigid  limits 
of  Austrian  Court  life,  devoted  himself 
to  the  tasks  that  lay  before  him  with  an 
obstinate  tenacity  that  failures  and  dis- 
asters made  tragic,  but  could  not  shake. 
The  mysterious  death  of  his  son  and  the 

^.    ^  ,    assassination  of  his  wife  cast 

The  Emperor  s        ,  ^  u-         •       , 

Q  •  t  a  deep  gloom  over  his  private 

.  p..  .  life,  while  the  loss  of  nearly 
and  Disasters       ,.  '  .    t^    t  .li 

all  Ins  Italian  possessions,  the 

annihilation  of  his  forces  by  Prussia,  and 
the  collapse  of  Austria's  old  leadership 
among  the  German  States,  were  public 
disasters  that  few  dynasties  could  survive. 
Yet  neither  grief  nor  disaster  turned  him 
from  the  fulfilment  of  duties  which 
destiny  laid  upon  him,  and  long  ex- 
perience had  endowed  him  with  a  kind  of 


instinct  for  discerning  the  right  moment 
to  yield  or  to  remain  firm.  How  far  he 
was  aware  of  his  Foreign  Minister,  Baron 
von  Aehrenthal's,  sudden  action  that 
convulsed  Europe  with  apprehension  in 
the  autumn  of  1908,  we  cannot  yet 
say.  The  stroke  was  so  unlike  the 
emperor's  habitual  restraint  and  modera- 
tion that  it  encouraged  the  belief  in  his 
temporary  retirement  from  affairs  and 
his  delegation  of  authority  to  his  successor. 
That  report  has  been  contradicted,  and 
one  can  only  hope  that  the  end  of  a  long 
and  worthy  career  will  not  be  marked  by 
dangerous  European  complications  which 
Austria's  action  will  have  chiefly  contri- 
buted to  bring  about. 

What  will  happen  at  the  aged  em- 
peror's death  has  long  been  a  central 
problem  of  international  politics.  M. 
Milovanovitch,  the  Servian  Foreign  Min- 
ister, while  protesting  against  Austria's 
attempt  to  shatter  the  Serb  nationality 
by  annexing  the  provinces,  said  in  J  anuary, 
1909  .  "  Austria-Hungary  is  not  a  Father- 
p  land,    but    rather    a    prison    of 

.  ,  numerous  nationalities  all  panting 

P  to  escape."     The    description    is 

singularly  apt.  As  I  have  tried 
to  show,  the  empire  is  hardly  even  a  geo- 
graphical expression.  Never  was  a  great 
Power  less  homogeneous  or  more  savagely 
torn  by  contending  races.  It  is  natural 
to  suppose  that  with  the  departure  of 
the  man  who  has  so  long  held  the 
component  parts  together,  however 
loosely,  a  general  disruption  will  ensue 
and  the  whole  fabric  of  the  empire 
collapse.  But  it  would  be  unwise  to 
prophesy  any  such  fate.  Austria-Hun- 
gary has  survived  so  long  that  in  all 
likelihood  it  will  go  on  surviving,  if  only 
by  habit.  Besides,  a  disruption  would 
imply  the  isolation  of  many  enfeebled 
nationalities. 

Patriotic  as  Czechs  and  Magyars  and 
Serbs  and  Germans  may  be,  when  it 
came  to  the  point  they  might  very 
likely  prefer  to  hang  together  rather 
than  enjoy  a  short-lived  separation  at  the 
cost  of  ultimate  and  perpetual  absorption 
under  the  grinding  imperialism  of  one  01 
other  of  their  powerful  neighbours. 

Henry  W.  Nevinsox 


ESSENTIAL    INFORMATION    ABOUT    AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

Finance.  The  estimates  of  revenue  and  ex- 
penditure for  1907,  the  latest  year  having  published 
figures,  were  about  £18,000,000,  the  three  sources 
of  revenue  to  the  common  exchequer  being  the 
customs,  and  the  contiibutions  of  Austria  and  of 
Hungary  in  the  respective  proportions  of  65'6 
and  34'4  per  cent.  AiLstria  and  Hungary  have  no 
joint  national  debt,  and  by  law  no  joint  loan  may 
be  issued.  The  only  common  obligation  resembling  a 
public  debt  is  the  guarantee  of  the  State  notes,  the 
value  of  which  in  circulation  is  about  £110,000. 
The  special  debt  of  Austria  is  about  £175,000,000, 
and  of  Hungary  about  £150,000,000. 

Industries  and  Commerce.  Agriculture  stands 
at  the  head  of  the  industries  in  both  Aastria  and 
Hungary.  In  the  former  it  provides  about  half  of 
the  population  with  employment,  and  in  the  latter 
almost  three-quarters.  In  Austria  the  chief  crops, 
judged  by  acreage  under  cultivation,  are  rye, 
potatoes,  oats,  barley,  wheat,  maize,  pulse,  vines, 
sugar  beets,  beets,  and  buckwheat ;  in  Hungary  the 
chief  crops  are  wheat,  maize,  rye,  oats,  barley, 
pulse,  potatoes,  vines,  beets,  and  sugar  beets. 
Mining  is  important  in  both  countries,  the  chief 
minerals  and  mineral  products  of  Austria  beuig 
coal,  brown  coal,  salt,  iron,  lead,  silver,  zinc,  quick- 
silver, graphite,  gold  and  copper;  and  of  Hungary 
being  lignite,  coal,  iron,  gold  and  silver.  About 
17,000  Austrians  find  employment  in  sea-fishing. 
The  chief  factory  industries  are  the  production  of 
beer,  sugar,  and  tobacco. 

The  chief  exports  of  Austria-Hungary  are  timber, 
coal,  eggs,  sugar,  woollens,  glassware,  iron  and 
steel  goods,  leather  goods,  paper  and  barley  ;  the 
chief  imports  are  raw  cotton  and  raw  wool.  For  the 
year  1908,  the  value  of  the  exports  was  £96,874,000, 
and  of  the  imports  £105,518,000. 

Currency.  The  currency  h  on  a  gold  standard, 
but  the  standard  coin — the  krone,  korona,  or  crown — 
ii  coined  only  in  silver.  The  20-crow7i  piece  contains 
60'9756  grammes  of  fine  gold,  and  is  worth  16s.  8d. 

R,„„,..    .„;,..    I      1  heller,  or     J  kreuzer  =  Old. 

Bronze  couls    ^  ^  hellers,  or    i  kreuzer  =  O'Sd. 

.(  10  hellers,  or    .5  krellzer  =  Id. 

I  20  hellers,  or  10  kreuzer  =  2d. 


Area  and  Population.  Austria,  which  com- 
prises the  provinces  of  Upper  and  Lower  Austria, 
Salzburg,  St3n-ia,  Carinthia,  Carniola,  Coastland, 
Tyrol  and  Vorarlberg,  Bohemia,  Moravia,  Silesia, 
Galicia,  Bukowina,  and  Dalmatia,  has  an  area  of 
115,903  scjuare  miles,  and — at  the  census  of  1900 — 
a  population  of  2(),  150,708.  The  Kingdom  of  Hun- 
gary, which  consists  of  Hungary  proper,  with 
Croatia  and  Slavonia,  has  an  area  of  125,430 
square  miles,  and — at  the  census  of  1900 — a  popu- 
lation of  19,254,559.  The  recent  annexation  of 
Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  by  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Government  adds  to  the  territory  directly  subject 
to  the  dual  monarchy  an  area  of  19,702  square 
miles,  and  a  population  of  1,568.092  (census  of  1895). 
The  total  area  of  Austria-Hungary  with  the  recently 
annexed  provinces  is  261,035  square  miles,  and  the 
total  population  is  46,973,359. 

Austria  has  seven  towns  with  a  population  of 
over  100,000  :  Vienna,  1,999.912  ;  Prague,  228.645  ; 
Trieste,  205,136;  Lemberg,  159,877;  Gratz, 
138,080  ;  Briinn,  109.346  ;  and  Krakau,  104,836. 
Hungary  has  two  :  Budapest,  732,322  ;  and  Szeged, 
102.991.  The  chief  town  and  capital  of  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina  is  Sarajevo,  with  a  population  of  38,083. 

Government.  The  Austro-Hungarian  monarchy, 
as  the  dual  monarchy  is  officially  called  in  inter- 
national affairs,  consists  of  two  distinct  states — 
the  Austrian  Empire  and  the  Kingdom  of  Hungary. 
Each  state  is  independent  of  the  other  ;  each  has 
its  own  constitution,  and  each  legislates  for  itself  ; 
but  in  certain  departments  the  interests  are  en- 
trusted to  a  common  executive.  The  interests  that 
are  considered  common  are  :  foreign  affairs,  the 
army  and  navy,  and  certain  matters  of  finance. 
Two  delegations — each  consisting  of  sixty  members 
chosen  from  the  Upper  and  Lower  Houses  of  the 
two  respective  states — deliberate  on  common 
interests,  and  communicate  their  desires  and 
decisions  one  to  the  other.  They  never  deliberate 
as  a  whole,  but  vote  together  as  a  whole  only  in  the 
event  of  disagreement  after  three  interchanges  of 
views.  There  are  three  executive  departments  for 
common  allairs — Foreign  Affairs,  War,  and  Finance 
— each  under  the  supervision  of  a  Minister  of  State. 

The  Aastrian  Parliament,  or  Reichsrath,  has  an 
Upper  House  (Herrenhaus)  and  a  Lower  House 
(Abgeordnetenhaus).  The  former  is  a  privileged 
House,  consisting  of  princes,  nobles,  bishops,  and 
distinguished  citizens  nominated  by  the  emperor 
for  special  services  to  State  or  Church,  and  has 
170  members.  The  Lower  Hou.se  has  516  members, 
and  is  elected,  every  Austrian  male  citizen  over 
twenty-four  years  of  age  and  with  twelve 
months'  residence  qualification  having  a  vote. 
The  duration  of  the  Lower  Hoase  is  six  years,  and 
members  are  paid. 

The  Hungarian  Parliament,  or  Or.szaggyiites, 
has  also  two  Chambers — an  Upper  House,  or  Foren- 
dihaz,  and  a  Lower  Hoase,  or  Kepviselohiiz.  The 
former  is  composed  of  princes,  nobles,  and  Churcli 
dignitaries ;  and  the  latter,  with  453  members,  is 
elected  on  a  low  franchise.  Members  of  the  Lower 
House  are  paid. 

Monarch.  The  reigning  sovereign  is  Franz 
Josef  I.,  or,  in  Hungarian,  Ferencz  Jtizsef  (born 
August  18th,  1830),  who  became  Emperor  of  Aastria 
on  the  abdication  of  his  uncle,  Ferdinand  I.,  and  the 
renunciation  of  the  crown  by  his  father  on  Decem- 
ber 2nd,  1848,  and  who  became  King  of  Hungary 
on  June  8th,  1867.  The  heir  presumptive  is  the 
Archduke  Franz  Ferdinand  (born  December  ISth, 
1863),  nephew  of  the  Emperor  Franz  Josef  I. 

lO 


Nickel  coins 


Silver  coins     P"?  ^«"«"'  <"■  J»^"  a  gulden  = 

(,     1  krone,  or  korone  (crown)  =  lOd. 

10-crown  piece =  8s.  4d. 

Single  ducat  (  =  11  crowns  29  heller)        . .      =  Ss.  4jd. 
20-crown  jiiece =  16s.  8d. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  metric  system  is 
used  [see  page  5399]. 

Postage.  Letters  and  papers  as  for  France 
[see  page  5398].  Parcels,  6d.  per  pound  higher  than 
rates  to  Germany  [see  page  5356] ;  routes  and  limits 
of  size  as  for  Germany. 

Telegrams.  Great  Britain  to  Austria-Hungary, 
3d.  per  word,  with  Is.  minimum.  Private  telegrams  in 
code  or  cypher  are  not  accepted  for  certain  provinces. 

LIECHTENSTEIN 

This  prmcipality  is  a  small  sovereign  state 
sandwiched  between  Austria  and  Switzerland.  It 
has  an  area  of  65  square  miles,  and  a  jjopulation  of 
9,477.  The  reigning  prince  is  John  II.  (born,  1840  ; 
succeeded  to  the  throne  in  1858).  There  is  a  diet  of 
fifteen  members,  appointed  for  four  years.  The 
capital  of  the  state  is  Vaduz,  with  a  population  of 
1,206.  Liechtenstein  is  closely  allied  to  Austria 
by  treaty,  and  belongs  to  the  Austrian  Customs 
Union.  The  property  of  the  sovereign  is  managed  by 
the  Chancellery  at  Vienna,  and  the  postal, telegraphic 
and  telephonic  systems  are  managed  by  Austria. 
The  revenue  and  expenditure  amount  to  about 
£2o.000  a  year,  and  there  is  no  public  debt.  Agri- 
culture, stock-raising,  and  textile  manufactiu-ing 
are  the  chief  industries  of  the  small  state. 

5337 


THE     KAISER     AND    KAISERIN     REVIEWING    PRUSSIAN    STAhF     OFFICERS     AT     POr^^-AM 


•*Nb^ 

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■B^ 

GERMAN  ARTILLERY  IN  THE  MANCEUVRES  ON  THE  FRENCH  FRO  vlTIER,  OCTOBER,  190 


CROWN  PRINLL     U,    FHL  FOREGROUND,  AS  AN  OFFICER   OF  THE  IMPERIAL  CUIRASSIERS 


GERMANY'S     GREAT     CONSCRIPT     ARMY  :       SOMt     SCENES     OF      MILITARY     LIFE 

5J38 


EUROPEAN 
POWERS 
TO-DAY 


IV 
GERMANY 


GERMANY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 

THE    EMPIRE'S    PLACE    AMONG    THE    WORLD 

POWERS  &  ITS  MILITARY  &  NAVAL  STRENGTH 

By  Charles  Lowe,  M.A. 


D  Y  far  the  most  conspicuous  and  momen- 
■*-'  tous  event  of  the  nineteenth  century 
was  the  rise  of  the  new  German  Reich  on 
the  ashes  of  the  Second  French  Empire. 
The  victories  of  the  great  Napoleon  will 
shine  for  ever  in  the  pages  of  history, 
though  the  results  of  those  victories  have 
all  gone  to  dust.  The  Corsican  was  a  man 
of  tremendous,  but  of  negative,  power.  He 
shook  all  Europe  to  its  foundations,  but 
out  of  its  ruins  evolved  no  new  political 
structure  to  survive  his  own  fall.  He  was 
essentially  a  destroying  demon,  while 
Bismarck,  on  the  contrary — who  was  to 
succeed  him  as  the  principal  wi elder  of 
one-man  power  in  Europe — proved  the 
genius    incarnate    of    creation. 

Napoleon  had  only  escaped  from  Elba 
and  reached  the  Tuileries  with  intent  to 
make  one  more  gigantic  effort  to  crush 
united  Europe  when  Bismarck  was  born— 
seven  weeks  exactly  before  Waterloo — All 
Fools'  Day  happening  to  be  the  birthday 
of  the  wisest  man  of  his  time.  Little, 
certainly,  did  the  Titanic  Corsican  then 
think  that,  far  away,  in  an  obscure  hamlet 
of  the  sandy  Mark  of  Brandenburg,  a  man- 
child  had  on  that  First  of  April  been  born, 
endowed  with  the  power  of  building  up 
again  what  he  had  cast  down,  and  of 
shivering  his  upstart  dynasty  to  atoms. 
All  the  seas  of  blood  which  flowed  at  the 
^  ,    call  of  Napoleon  had  been  shed 

,         .  ,      m  vain  :   whereas  the   German 

Imperial        r-  ^       i  ^ 

c  ...    ..      Empire    stands,   and   promises 

to  stand,  a  solid  result  of  the 

three  wars  of  1864,  1866,  and  1870,  which 

Bismarck    found    necessary    to    wage    in 

order  to  unify  the  German  people.     Hence 

he  has  come  to  be  known  as  the  statesman 

of    "  blood    and    iron,"    as    if,    forsooth, 

omelettes  could  be  made  without  eggs,  or 

states  cemented  without  the  sacrifice  of 

human    life.      If    any  empire  more  than 


another,  after  that  of  Rome,  has  been  built 
up  by  a  policy  of  blood  and  iron,  surely  it 
is  our  own,  for  the  long  reign  of  Queen 
Victoria  was  one  of  almost  continuous  w'ar 
in  one  part  or  another  of  her  world- 
embracing  dominions.  It  might  easily  be 
shown  that  without  this  policy  of  "  blood 
and    iron  ""    ' 


Germany  the 
United  States 
of  Europe 


it  would  never  have  been 
possible  to  point  to  the  new 
German  Empire  as  the  most 
momentous  creation  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  It  is 
now  well-nigh  fo'-fy  years  since  this 
mighty  empire  took  the  place  of  van- 
quished France  as  the  leading,  because  the 
most  powerful;  nation  on  the  Continent  of 
Europe ;  for,  after  Sedan,  the  centre  of 
political  gravity  passed  automatically  from 
Paris  to  Berlin.  Yet  even  now  there  arc 
but  few  Englishmen  ^vho  have  a  clear  and 
just  notion  as  to  what  sort  of  a  thing 
this  new  German  Empire  really  is. 

It  may,  therefore,  be  said  at  once 
that  it  is  unique  of  its  kind  ;  and  that 
it  is  not  an  empire  in  the  Caesarian  or 
Tamerlanian,  or  Turkish,  or  Russian, 
or  Napoleonic  sense  of  the  term.  It 
would  be  much  nearer  the  mark  to 
describe  the  German  Empire  as  the 
"  United  States "  of  Europe,  with  the 
King  of  Prussia  as  their  perpetual  presi- 
dent, under  the  title  of  "  Deutscher 
Kaiser,"  or  "  German  Emperor,"  for 
"  Emperor  of  Germany  "  he  is  not.  That 
would  imply  sovereignty  over  the  German 
people,  but  William  II. 's  sovereignty  is 
confined  to  Prussia.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  neither  he  nor  his  grandfather,  the 
first  kaiser — in,  not  of,  a  united  Father- 
land— was  ever  crowned,  as  coronation 
would  carry  with  it  the  idea  of  imperial 
sovereignty,  which  is  not  an  attribute  of 
the  German  Emperor.  Nor  are  all  Ger- 
mans the    "subjects"  of  the  kaiser,   as 

5339 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


they  are  so  often  called.  Every  German 
is  the  subject  of  his  own  Landesvater,  or 
native  sovereign.  Thus  the  only  immedi- 
ate "  subjects "  of  William  11.  are  his 
own  honest  Prussians,  while  the  Saxons, 
the  Wiirtembergers,  and  the  Badeners,  etc., 
own  similar  allegiance  to  their  own  respec- 
tive rulers,  but  all  enjoy  the  superin- 
,  cumbent  status  and  privilege 
,       .  ot   imperial   German   citizen- 

D       .  ship.      Another    point    to  be 

Prussians  r^  j        ..i     ^  xu      i     •  j 

noted  is  that  the  kaiser  does 

not  receive  from  the  empire  a  single 
penny  of  his  Civil  List — about  £800,000 
— which  is  exclusively  Prussian,  and  all 
the  ceremonial  expenses  entailed  upon 
him  as  emperor  are  drawn  from  his 
copious  stipend  as  King  of  Prussia.  The 
imperial  dignity  is  an  honorary  title  in  the 
strict  sense  of  the  term,  but  the  cost  of 
maintaining  it  is  cheerfully  borne  by  the 
kaiser-king's  special  Prussian  subjects  for 
the  honour  of  the  family,  so  to  speak,  "et 
pour  les  beaux  yeux  du  roi  de  Prusse." 

It  is  ignorance  of  these  and  other  facts 
essential  to  a  clear  comprehension  of  the 
subject  that  has  caused  the  German 
Emperor  to  be  represented  as  a  kind  of 
Frankenstein  monster,  bearing  no  resem- 
blance to  any  man  or  monarch  in  the 
universe.  It  cannot  be  too  emphatically 
declared  that  William  II.  is  not  an  absolute 
or  irresponsible  ruler,  like,  for  example, 
Nicholas  II.  of  Russia.  The  best  way  of 
realising  his  character  as  a  sovereign  is  to 
remember  that  the  German  Empire  is  but 
the  European  analogue  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  a  confederation  of 
twenty-five  sovereign  states — of  which 
three,  the  Free  Cities  of  Hamburg,  Liibeck, 
and  Bremen,  are  republics — under  the  title 
of  "  Deutsches  Reich,"  with  the  King  of 
Prussia,  ex-officio,  as  its  perpetual  execu- 
tive chief  or  president.  Just  as  each  State 
in  the  American  Union  enjoys  its  own 
legislature  for  the  transaction  of  purely 
state  affairs,  so  a  similar  system  prevails 
_  ,      in  Germany,  where  each  federal 

St  t  A  ^^^'•^  ^^^^  ^^^  o^xi  bicameral 
g  .  diet,  or  Landtag,  for  legislating 
on  affairs  not  reserved  for 
the  Reichstag  or  Imperial  Parliament. 
The  Kings  of  Saxony,  Bavaria,  and 
Wiirtemberg,  and  the  Grand  Dukes  and 
Dukes  of  the  other  federal  states  are 
just  as  much  sovereigns  in  their  own 
territories — just  as  much  "  kings  in  their 
own  castles,"  so  to  speak — as  the  King  of 
Prussia,  with  the  title  German  Emperor,  is 

534^ 


in  his  own  special  Hohenzollern  monarchy. 
The  depth  of  popular  ignorance  on  this 
head  in  England  was  revealed  when  the 
Duke  of  Edinburgh  succeeded  to  the  throne 
of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  by  the  death  of 
his  uncle,  and  when  he  was  written  of  as 
having  now  "  taken  an  oath  of  allegiance  " 
to  the  German  Emperor,  as  if  he  had 
become  his  imperial  nephew's  vassal. 

On  the  contrary,  the  duke  became 
just  as  much  of  an  independent  sovereign 
in  Germany  as  the  King  of  Prussia 
himself,  who  is  only  "  primus  inter  pares  " 
among  his  fellow  sovereigns  in  the  Reich. 
Outside  of  his  own  particular  kingdom  of 
Prussia,  William  II.,  as  German  Kaiser, 
has  no  more  power  of  interference  in  the 
civil  affairs,  say,  of  Saxony,  Bavaria, 
or  Baden,  than  the  Khan  of  Tartary. 
Even  in  the  Free  Cities  of  Hamburg, 
Liibeck,  and  Bremen,  the  emperor  cannot 
step  in  to  exercise  the  prerogative  of  mercy, 
one  of  the  symbols  of  sovereignty. 

To  talk  about  the  kaiser  as  a  despot, 
an  autocrat,  an  absolute  ruler,  an  irrespon- 
sible monarch,  is  to  talk  nonsense.  The 
truth  is  that  both  as  King  of  Prussia  and 

^^    ,  .    .,   ,  as  German  Emperor  William  II. 

The  Limited  •  . -.     .  •         , 

p  IS  a  constitutional  sovereign — 

■1I/-1I-  11  if  of  a  peculiar  kind.  When 
William  II.  T^       ,.   ,     ^  ,        J.  .. 

Englishmen  speak  oi  consti- 
tutional "  government  they  mean  govern- 
ment by  party,  whereas  the  German 
conception  of  the  same  thing  is  govern- 
ment according  to  a  written  constitution, 
whether  it  includes  party  see-saw  or  not. 
The  trouble  with  our  own  "  glorious  consti- 
tution "  is  that  it  is  in  the  nature  of  a 
"  lex  non  scripta,"  so  that  we  never  really 
know  where  we  are ;  whereas,  the 
Germans  always  enjoy  the  immense  ad- 
vantage of  knowing,  so  that  in  cases  of 
dubiety  or  dispute  they  simply  have  to 
turn  to  the  "  Reichsverfassung."  And 
the  same  remark  applies  to  the  Prussian 
constitution,  the  outcome  of  the  revolu- 
tion of  '48,  when  the  respective  powers 
of  crown  and  crowd  were  very  carefully 
defined  ;  though,  on  the  whole,  the  balance 
of  power  is  in  favour  of  the  king  in  his 
right  of  absolute  veto. 

But  as  kaiser  he  has  no  such  right,  so 
that  in  this  and  some  other  respects,  he  is 
not  so  powerful  as  the  president  of  the 
United  States.  The  legislative  body  of 
the  empire  may  be  said  to  consist  of  two 
Chambers  —the  Reichstag,  or  National 
Assembly,  representing  the  Cierman  people 
and    returnable    by    manhood    suffrage  ; 


GERMANY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


and  the  Bundesrath,  or  Federal  Council, 
representing  the  Federal  Sovereigns  and 
Free  Cities  of  the  Fatherland.  Each  of 
these  Chambers  has  co-ordinate  and  co- 
equal powers.  The  assent  of  both  is 
essential  to  the  i)assage  of  an  imperial 
law,  and  any  Bill  would  be  blocked  by  the 
veto  of  either.  Apart  from  these  two 
bodies  the  kaiser  himself,  as  President  of 
the  Union,  has  no  power  to  veto  an  im- 
perial law  ;  and  as  Prussian  member  of 
the  Federal  Council  he  can  only  command 
seventeen  votes  out  of  a  total  of  fifty-two. 
It  will  then  appear  that,  even  in  the 
Federal  Council,  the  Prussian  president 
might  easily  be  outvoted  on  any  question  : 
as  he  was,  for  example,  in  the  case  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  empire,  which  was 
located  at  Leipzig  instead  of  Berlin.  A 
Bill  which  is  passed  by  the  Reichstag  and 
approved  by  the  Federal  Council  becomes 
law  whether  the  emperor,  as  King  of 
Prussia,  has  voted  for  it  or  not ;  and  then 
the  imperial  president  has  no  separate 
veto  power,  no  choice  but  to  execute  the 
combined  decision  of  the  German  people 
and  German  princes.  But  now  a  word 
as  to  the  Reichstag,  or 
unc  ions     jsJa^tiQi^jQ    Asembly,   of  which, 

_  .  .  .  by  the  way,  the  members 
Reichstag  ■^  ■  -i  i  ,  •   , 

are     now     paid,     and    which 

is  often  described  as  a  mere  "  money 
voting  and  law-assenting  machine." 
Nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth. 
The  power  of  the  Reichstag  to  reject 
measures  placed  before  it  by  the  Imperial 
Government  is  absolute,  and  this  Govern- 
ment has  no  means  of  coercing  its  will. 
True,  the  kaiser,  with  the  assent  of  his 
fellow  sovereigns  in  the  Union,  may 
dissolve  Parliament,  but  so  can  our  own 
king  on  the  advice  of  his  premier ;  and  to 
dissolve  a  Parliament  is  not  to  dragoon  it. 

Dissolutions  of  the  German  Parlia- 
ment have  always  taken  the  form  of  a 
plebiscite,  a  referendum,  a  direct  appeal 
from  the  party-torn  representatives  of  the 
German  people  to  the  people  themselves, 
and  in  nearly  all  such  cases  the  reply  has 
been  decidedly  in  favour  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Power  of  purse  is  exercised  as 
absolutely  by  the  German  Reichstag  as  by 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  kaiser 
cannot  put  a  new  warship  on  the  sea,  or 
add  a  single  man  to  the  German  Army 
without  the  sanction  of  the  German  people. 

The  list  of  measures  which  have  been 
rejected  both  by  the  Imj^erial  and  Prussian 
Parliaments  is  a  very  long  one,  but  the 


Government  remains  in  power  whatever 
happens,  seeing  that  the  principle  of  gov- 
ernment by  party  does  not  form  part  of 
the  administrative  machinery  of  any 
German  state.  Nor  among  sensible  people 
is  there  any  strong  desire  for  it.  National 
security  is  of  far  more  importance  to 
Germany,  as  a  sort  of  "  besieged  fortress  " 

-„.     ^  — tousethewordsof  Moltke 

Why  uermany  ,,  .  , 

Ki  J  c.  — than  government  by  see- 
Needs  &  Strong  *=",,,  ,  ,  •' 
Monarch  Saw ;  and  the  problem  ever 
before  the  German  people 
and  their  rulers  is  how  to  combine  the 
greatest  degree  of  national  safety  with 
the  highest  degree  of  individual  liberty. 
"  Hemmed  in,"  said  Moltke,  "  between 
might}^  neighbours,  we  are  of  opinion  that 
we  require  a  strong  monarchy."  Moreover, 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  Prince  Biilow,  on 
the  eve  of  the  General  Election  of  1907, 
spoke  the  popular  mind  of  the  nation  when 
he  said  that  "  no  one  in  Germany  desires  a 
personal  regime,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  great  majority  of  the  German  people  is 
most  emphatically  against  a  party  regime." 
But  while  it  is  quite  true  that  though 
the  German  people  do  not,  as  is  so  often 
said  of  them,  live  under  a  personal  regime, 
or  anything  like  it,  it  is  equally  true  that 
what  may  be  called  the  personal  power 
of  the  emperor  is  very  great.  In  the 
purely  civil  and  political  field  this  power, 
as  we  have  seen,  is  circumscribed  by  the 
written  constitutions  of  Prussia  and  the 
empire,  and  not  once  has  the  kaiser-king 
ever  sought  to  overstep  or  circumvent 
the  limits  set  against  his  arbitrary  will. 

He  cannot  veto  a  measure  which  has 
received  the  double  approval  of  the 
Reichstag  and  the  Bundesrath  ;  he  can- 
not, without  the  consent  of  his  fellow 
sovereigns  in  the  Union,  declare  an 
aggressive  war,  and  most  certainly  those 
sovereigns  would  never  allow  their 
executive  president  to  precipitate  the 
nation  into  a  wanton  struggle.  Well, 
then,  but  what  is  the  nature  of  the  power 
that  the  kaiser  so  palpably 
exercises  ?  The  answer  is 
that  he  is  the  representa- 
tive and  spokesman  of  the 
German  people  to  other  countries ; 
above  all,  that  he  is  commander-in-chief 
of  the  army  and  navy ;  and  that  this 
"  Kaiserliche  Herr  "  also  claims  to  be  a 
"  Kriegsherr,"  war-lord,  or  master  of 
many  mighty  legions.  It  is  the  flashing  of 
the  emperor's  helmet  more  than  of  his 
crown  which  sometimes  tends  to  dazzle 

5341 


The  Kaiser 
Master  of 
Many  Legions 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


the  eyes  and  bewilder  the  German  nation, 
and  other  nations  as  well.  It  is  in  his 
administrative  capacity  as  "  Kriegs- 
herr  "  that  the  kaiser  wields  most  personal 
power  within  the  empire  ;  while  abroad 
he  is  also  comparatively  untrammelled 
in  the  domain  of  foreign  policy.  In  both 
fields  the  emperor  is  entitled  by  the 
constitution  to  wield  great  personal 
power,  yet  he  has  never  abused  it  or 
sought  to  throw  his  sword  into  the  scale 
either  against  the  civil  rights  of  his  own 
people  or  the  general  rights  of  man  as 
involved  in  the  peace  of  the  world. 

And  the  sword  of  the  German  Emperor 
is  a  mighty  one — ^none  more  so.  The 
"  German  Michael,"  with  his  "  mailed 
fist,"  is  perhaps  the  most  formidable 
fighting  man  the  world  has  ever  seen  ;  and 
yet  he  is  a  pacific  one,  seeing  that  he  has 
not  once  bared  his  blade  for  well-nigh 
forty  years,  or  since  his  last  great  set-to 
with  the  Gauls  beyond  the  Rhine.  What- 
ever else  may  be  said  about  Germany,  it 
must  at  least  be  conceded  to  her  credit 
that,  with  all  her  tremendous  armed 
strength,  she  has  ever  been  a  bulwark  of 
the  European  peace. 

Since  her  war  with  France,  Germany  may 
be  said  to  have  become  an  industrial  state 
as  compared  with  the  almost  purely  agri- 
cultural country  which  she  was  before  ; 
yet  her  greatest  industry  is  militarism — 


the  manufacture  of  soldiers,  and  in  this 
respect  she  easily  surpasses  all  her  rivals. 
Of  these  soldiers  she  keeps  a  standing 
army  of  about  600,000,  which  is  just  about 
double  the  strength  of  what  it  was  a  year 
or  two  after  the  great  war  ;  and  in  time  of 
war  this  force  could  be  raised  to  a  first 
fighting  line  of  about  a  million  and  a  half. 
If  need  were,  Germany  could  put  into  the 
field,  from  her  reserves  of  various  kinds,  .♦. 
host  of  over  four  millions  of  highly 
trained  fighting  men.  Her  standing  army  is 
divided  into  twenty-three  army  corps,  all 
as  like  each  other  as  two  pins 
in  respect  of  composition  and 


The  Germans 

Under 

Conscription 


efficiency,  so  that  after  a 
stranger  has  seen  the  march- 
past  of  one  of  those  superb  bodies  of  men, 
he  may  be  said  to  have  seen  the  whole 
German  army.  It  is,  of  course,  a  conscript 
army,  though  its  size  is  fixed  by  budget 
law,  and  hence  it  follows  that,  though  all 
Germans  capable  of  beanng  arms  are  liable 
to  serve,  it  is  only  the  fittest  who  are 
taken  to  the  colours,  seeing  that  the 
number  of  available  recruits  alwa\-s  ex- 
ceeds that  of  the  time-expired  men. 

It  would  be  outside  the  scope  of  a  sketch 
like  this  to  detail  the  organisation  of  the 
German  army  ;  suffice  to  say  that  it  is  a 
machine  which  represents  more  brain- 
work  than  any  other  machine  ever  devised 
by  the  wit  of  man,  and  that  it  is  just  as 


GERMANY'S    PARLIAMENTARY    BUILDINGS    IN     BERLIN 


5342 


THE  STATELY  PALACE  OF  THE  GERMAN  EMPEROR  AT  POTSDAM 


near  perfection,  as  any  human  institution 
can  possibly  be.  But,  then,  as  to  its  cost  ? 
Do  we  not  often  hear  of  the  frightfully 
oppressive  burden  of  militarism  under 
which  the  German  people  groan  as  com- 
pared with  our  own  ?  What  are  the 
facts  ?  One  is,  that  our  own  military 
estimates  for  1905-6  exceeded  those  of 
Germany  by  nearly  a  million  sterling  for 
the  United  Kingdom  alone  ;  while  our 
Army  Budget  for  the  whole  empire  was 
;^6i,5oo,ooo,  as  compared  with  the 
£29,000,000  of  Germany  and  the 
^27,000,000  of  France.     "  Ah,  but  then," 

_  exclaim  the  critics  of  militarism, 

OS   o      <<  g^pg^^^  from  the  actual  cost  of 

•  .  the  German  army  in  positive 
cash,  just  consider  the  blood- 
tax  that  has  to  be  paid  by  its  victims  in 
diverting  two  of  the  best  years  of  their 
life  from  their  civil  occupations,  and  thus 
sterilising  their  productive  labour  !  " 

The  answer  to  this  is  that  what  these 
victims  lose  in  one  way  they  gain,  and  more 
than  gain,  in  another.  For  they  return  to 
civil  life  far  better  citizens  than  ever  they 
were  before  —  imbued  with  discipline, 
orderliness,  respect  for  authority,  energy, 
improved  physique,  and  other  qualities 
which  soon  enable  them  to  make  up,  and 
more,  for  the  time,  not  lost,  but  devoted 
to  the  service  of  their  country — a  citizen's 
first  and  highest  duty.  It  is  a  great  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  military  service  is 
unpopular  in  Germany.     It  may  be  with 


some,  but  with  the  vast  bulk  of  the  nation 
the  army  is  its  most  popular  institution, 
and  its  officers  are  readil}'  accorded  the 
leading  position  in  society.  In  fact,  the 
average  German  officer  is  the  highest  type 
of  the  German  man. 

But  the  worship  of  his  uniform  some- 
times leads  to  strange  results — witness  the 
case  of  an  old  gaol-bird,  called  Voigt,  a 
cobbler  by  trade,  who  dressed  himself  u]) 
as  a  captain  in  the  Prussian  Guards,  way- 
laid a  party  of  William  II.'s  finest  soldiers, 
and  commanded  them  to  follow  him  to  a 
little  town,  Kopenick,  near  Berlin.  The 
soldiers  obeyed  like  sheep  or  machines. 
At  Kopenick,  the  cobbler-captain,  saying 
he  was  the  agent  of  the  kaiser,  arrested 
the  burgomaster,  and  sent  him  and  his 
lady  under  escort  to  Berlin,  after  which  he 
coolly  walked  away  with  all  the  cash  in 
the  treasury,  which  he  had  previously 
demanded  in  exchange  for  a  receipt.  The 
feat  would  have  been  impossible  in  any 
other  country  save  Germany,  where  there 
is  a  blind  worship  of  every  kind  of  uniform, 
beneath  which  no  one  ever  takes  the 
trouble  to  look. 

This  is  one  of  the  minor  penalties  of 
being  a  "  Volk  in  Waffen,"  a  people  in 
arms,  but  that  is  a  condition  of  things 
from  which  the  Germans  by  no  possibility 
can  escape  if  they  would  continue  to  be 
secure  of  their  national  existence.  It  is 
just  as  essential  for  them  to  have  the 
finest  army  in  Europe  as  it  is  for  us  to 

5343 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


have    the    strongest    fleet    in    the    world. 

Conscription  is  a  sheer  necessity  for  the 

Germans ;  and  each  country  has  its  own 

pecuhar  needs  and  problems.     As  in  the 

case  of  individuals,  what  is  food  for  one 

may  be  positive  poison  for  another,  and  it 

would  be  just  as  preposterous  for  us  to 

seek  to  obtrude  upon  the  Germans  our 

own    special    form    of    con- 

Wci^^tTwar    stitutionalism   as    it    would 

»»r^.?  r°  o  be  absurd  for  the  Germans 
With  France?    ^      .      .  ^  ,       ,• 

to  msist  upon  our  adoptmg 

their  system  of  conscription.  The  question 
is  often  asked  :  What  would  be  the  likely 
issue  of  another  war  between  France 
and  Germany  ? 

The  answer  to  such  a  question  must  be 
simplified  by  a  comparison  of  figures.  Sup- 
posing the  armies  of  the  two  countries  to  be 
pretty  equal  in  respect  of  strength,  organisa- 
tion, and  efifiicerxy,  let  it  nevertheless  be 
remembered  that,  whereas  the  populations 
of  France  and  Germany  in  1870  were  nearly 
the  .  same,  that  of  Germany  is  now 
63,000,000,  as  compared  with  the  40,000,000 
of  France.  Thus  the  answer  to  the  question 
referred  to  will  probably  take  this  form  : 
that  the  Malthusianism  of  decadent  France 
has  relegated  her  to  the  position  of  a 
second-rate  Power  vis-a-vis  of  virile,  fruit- 
ful, and  multiplying  Germany. 

But  there  is  another  vital  consideration 
that  bears  upon  the  likely  issue  of  a  second 
struggle  between  France  and  Germany, 
and  it  is  this  :  that  in  1870  Germany  had 
no  navy  worth  the  name,  while  now — 
leaving  America  out  of  account — her  fleet 
is  considered  to  be  inferior  in  battle  power, 
as  distinguished  from  comparative  paper 
strength,  only  to  that  of  England.  The 
war  of  1870  was  exclusively  a  land  war, 
and  the  swift,  crushing  victories  of  the 
Germans  had  this  peculiar,  this  unique 
result — that  they  may  be  said  to  have  put 
the  French  navy  entirely  out  of  action, 
seeing  that  it  had  to  huiTy  off  all  its  best 
guns  and  men  to  help  in  the  defence  of 
Paris.  But  such  •  a  thing — 
such  a  victorious  walk-over 
on  land — is  never  likely  to 
occur  again  :  and  that  was 
why,  or  at  least  one  of  the  reasons  why,  the 
Germans — knowing  that  if  ever  they  had  to 
fight  again  they  would  have  to  do  so  on 
sea  as  well  as  on  land — provided  them- 
selves with  a  navy  which  M.  Lockroy, 
French  Minister  of  Marine,  who  was  given 
special  facilities  for  studying  it,  pronounced 
to  be  the  "  best  organised  in  the  world." 

5344 


Why  Germany 

Built 

Her  Navy 


As  the  rise  of  the  German  Empire  was 
the  most  momentous  fact  of  modern  times, 
so  the  most  momentous  thing  in  the 
history  of  this  new  empire  was  the  creation 
of  the  German  fleet.  In  1870  Germany 
possessed  but  thirty-seven  war-ships  all 
told,  and  a  very  miscellaneous  job  lot  they 
were  ;  while  now  she  has  no  fewer  than 
about  260  various  kinds  of  battle-craft, 
built  or  building,  including  several  of  the 
Dreadnought  type.  In  1888  the  navy 
was  manned  by  only  15,000  officers  and 
seamen,  and  twenty  years  later  the  number 
exceeded  50,000.  In  1888  the  ordinary 
naval  expenditure  was  onjy  £2,500.000, 
by  1908  it  had  risen  to  £18,000,000  ;  while 
the  total  sum  to  be  devoted  to  the  navy 
between  IQ06  and  1917  was  voted  at  166 
millions  sterling,  though  supplementary 
Bills  tend  to  increase  these  colossal  figures. 
To  the  260  war-ships  of  various  kinds 
built  and  building  in  1907,  add  100  of 
the  finest  Hners  of  the  great  German  ship- 
ping companies,  which  are  retained  by 
the  Government  as  auxiliary  cruisers  in 
the  event  of  war,  and  you  will  get  some 
idea  of  the  new  and  formidable  phenome- 
w-11-  II  nonwhichmay  besaid  tohave 
Wiiham  II.      ^^^j.g^    ^p^j^   ^   startled    and 

apprehensive  Europe  in  the 


Creator 

of  the  Navy 


form  of  the  Imperial  German 
navj/.  And  here  it  may  be  pointed  out 
that  while  the  army  of  the  Fatherland  is 
only  "German,"  its  navy  is  "  Imperial  "  ; 
that  is  to  say,  that  while  the  army  is 
composed  of  contingents  from  the  various 
states  of  the  Union,  each  with  its  own 
peculiarities  and  privileges,  the  navy — 
recruited  from  the  seafaring  population 
on  the  same  conscript  principle  as  the 
army — is  an  imperial  institution  pure  and 
simple,  and  is  much  more  of  a  rivet  to  the 
unity  of  the  Reich. 

The  difference  may  be  further  accen- 
tuated by  saying  that  while  there  is  no 
Imperial  Minister  of  War,  there  is  an 
Imperial  Chief  of  the  Admiralty.  In  its 
present  form  the  Imperial  navy  may  be 
said  to  be  the  creation  of  William  II.,  and, 
if  for  nothing  else,  he  will  always  be 
remembered  for  this  achievement.  To 
the  eagle  on  the  escutcheon  of  the  Hohen- 
zollerns  he  may  be  said  to  have  added  a 
swan.  William  I.  taught  Germany  how  to 
march,  and  it  remained  for  his  ambitious 
grandson  to  show  her  how  to  swim. 

"As  my  grandfather,"  the  latter  said, 
"  reorganised  the  army,  so  I  shall  reor- 
ganise my  navy,  without  flinching  and  in 


GERMANY    IN    OUR    OWN     TIME 


the  same  way,  so  that  it  will  stand  on  the 
same  level  with  my  army,  and  that',  with 
its  help,  the  German  Empire  shall  reach 
the  place  which  it  has  not  yet  attained." 

Other  utterances  of  the  emperor  show 
that  he  was  the  first  of  his  race  to  grasp 
the  meaning  of  sea-power — ^the  struggle 
for  which  promises  to  be  a  marked  feature 
of  the  present  century — utterances  such 
as  "  Our  future  lies  on  the  water  "  ; 
"  Germany,  too,  must  have  her  place  in  the 
sun "  ;  "  without  the  consent  of  Ger- 
many's ruler  nothing  must  happen  in  any 
part  of  the  world  "  ;  "  may  our  Father- 
land be  as  powerful,  as  closely  united,  and 
as  authoritative  as  was  the  Roman  Empire 
of  old,  in  order  that  the  phrase  '  Civis 
Romanus  sum  '  may  be  replaced  by  '  I  am 
a  German  citizen  '  "  ;  "  Neptune  with  the 
trident  is  a  symbol  for  us  that  we  have  new 
tasks  to  fulfil  since  the  empire  has  been 
welded  together.  Everywhere  we  have  to 
protect  German  citizens,  everywhere  we 
have  to  maintain  German  honour ;  that 
trident  must  be  in  our  fist." 

These    and    other    utterances    of    his 

clearly  showed  that  William  II.  had  been 

_.  „  .  ,  bitten  by  the  new-born  passion 
I  he  Kaiser  s   r  ,,  \    ■      u.\  ■ 

_      .      ,        for  sea  power,  though  m  this 

Passion  for  ,    ,  i      .         <• 

c      „  respect  he  was  but  actmg  as 

Sea  Power       ,,    ^  i  f    4.u  4. 

the  spokesman   ol    the    vast 

majority  of  his  people.  The  voice  of  that 
people  found  vent  in  the  creation  of  a 
Flottenverein,  or  Navy  League,  which 
now  numbers  almost  a  million  subscribing 
members,  and  which  has  an  annual 
income  of  about  £50,000  for  the  purpose 
of  agitating  in  favour  of  an  ever  stronger 
navy.  But  even  previous  to  the  form- 
ation of  that  league  the  Reichstag,  in 
response  to  the  same  popular  voice,  had 
willingly  voted  8,000,000  sterling  for  the 
construction  of  a  sixty-mile  long  and 
twenty-nine  feet  deep  canal  between 
Kiel  Harbour  and  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe — 
a  work  which,  begun  in  1886  and  inaugu- 
rated in  1895,  practically  doubled  the 
value  of  the  German  fleet  by  enabling  it 
to  concentrate  either  in  the  North  Sea 
or  the  Baltic  without  incurring  the  various 
risks  of  going  round  by  Denmark. 

And  now  it  has  been  decided  to 
deepen  and  broaden  this  Kaiser  Wilhelm 
Canal  to  admit  of  the  passage  of  battle- 
ships of  the  Dreadnought  type.  More- 
over, the  Reichstag  voted  £1,500,000 
sterling  for  the  fortification  of  Heligo- 
land, which  we  surrendered  to  Ger- 
many in  1890  in  exchange  for  Zanzibar. 


Otherwise  the  Flottenverein — under  the 
patronage  of  some  of  the  highest  person- 
ages in  Germany,  including  the  emperor's 
sailor-brother,  Prince  Henry — played  a 
prominent  part  in  preparing  the  pubhc 
mind  for  successive  demands  of  money  to 
increase  the  navy.  The  large  naval  pro- 
gramme of  1898,  providing  for  seventeen 
_         .    .  new   battleships,    coincided 

ermany  s         ^[i\^  the  Spanish- American 

Great  Building  ,,*  ,    /  ,,         ,, 

p  War  ;    while  soon  after  the 

gramme  outbreak  ofourBoer  War  the 
Reichstag  again  voted,  in  1900,  something 
like  £100,000,000  for  the  carrying  out  of  a 
naval  programme  extending  over  sixteen 
years  ;  though  on  two  subsequent  occa- 
sions, 1906  and  1907,  supplementary  Bills 
in  the  direction  always  of  bigger  battle- 
ships were  presented  to  Parliament. 

There  was  the  less  opposition  to  the 
immense  Government  demands  in  1900, 
as  the  German  public  had  been  highly 
irritated  by  our  seizure  of  several  of  their 
mail  steamers,  and  the  unloading  of  them 
at  Durban  in  search  of  contraband — an 
incident  to  which  the  emperor  thus  alluded 
in  a  telegram  to  the  King  of  Wiirtemberg  : 
"  I  hope  the  events  of  the  last  few  days 
will  have  convinced  ever  widening  circles 
that  not  only  Germany's  interest,  but 
also  Germany's  honour  must  be  protected 
in  distant  seas,  and  that  to  this  end 
Germany  must  be  strong  and  powerful 
on  the  sea  also."  At  the  same  time  it  was 
stated,  noi  in  the  preamble,  but  in  the 
memorandum  of  motives  attached  to  the 
Bill  of  1900,  that  "  Germany  must  have 
a  fleet  so  strong  that  even  for  the  greatest 
naval  Power  a  war  with  it  would  have 
such  risks  as  to  imperil  its  sea  supremacy." 

And  then  the  fat  was  on  the  British 
fire.  For  these  words  were  regarded  as  a 
clear  warning,  if  not  a  threat,  to  England, 
and  there  were  many  who  professed  to 
believe  that  a  war  between  the  two 
countries  was  only  a  question  of  time.  For 
the  last  quarter  of  a  century — ^or  from 
1884-85,  when  Germany,  in 


^'■l*''!'''^     .  ,  spite    of    much    dog-in-the- 

Relations  with     '^  ■         • 

Germany 


manger  obstruction  from  us, 
first  started  on  her  career  as  an 
oversea  Power — 'the  relations  between  the 
two  peoples  had  been  anything  but  cordial, 
and  during  the  Boer  War  their  estrangement 
reached  a  climax.  But,  truth  to  tell,  there 
were  faults  and  jealousies  on  both  sides. 

The  German  Empire  was  a  political  fact 
to  which  Englishmen  were  long  in  recon- 
ciling   themselves,    and    there   were    but 

5345 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


few  who  could  lay  their  hands  vipon  their 
hearts  and  call  themselves  its  well- 
wishers.  These  feelings  of  coldness  and 
suspicion  were  only  intensified  when 
Imperial  Germany  shot  ahead  and  became 
our  most  formidable  rival  in  the  world  of 
commerce.  "  That  England,"  so  Bismarck 
once  said,  "looks  on  in  some  surprise  when 
„  ,      we,   her  landlubberly  cousins, 

p  "^  ''^  suddenly  take  to  the  water  too 
o  th  S  is  not  to  be  wondered  at."  But 
the  Germans  had  not  merely 
taken  to  the  water.  In  the  opinion  of 
our  Teutophobe  alarmists,  it  was  also 
their  aim  to  wrest  from  us  the  trident 
of  Neptune  and  destroy  our  tyrannical 
supremacy  on  the  sea.  As  one  writer 
said  :  "A  mighty  longing  for  larger 
sea  power,  a  determination  to  brook 
no  longer  the  overwhelming  and  resist- 
less supremacy  of  England  on  the  main, 
has  seized  upon  the  soul." 

But  while  thus  striving  to  make  encroach- 
ments on  the  sea,  the  Germans  at  the  same 
time  had  not  been  neglecting  the  air,  and 
in  the  latter  respect  their  most  successful, 
inventor,  Count  Zeppelin,  was  hailed  by 
the  emperor  as  "  the  foremost  man  of  his 
century."  For  his  conquest  of  South 
Africa,  Lord  Roberts  received  £100,000 
from  a  grateful  country,  and  that  is  pre- 
cisely the  sum  which  was  also  voted  to 
Count  Zeppelin  by  the  German  people  for 
his  conquest  of  the  air.  The  degrees  of 
these  two  acts  of  victory  were  very  differ- 
ent, but  still  the  Germans  were  entitled  to 
claim  that  they  had  advanced  further  on 
the  path  of  air-conquest  than  any  other 
nation.  Heine  had  sneered  at  them  as  a 
nation  of  dreamers,  whose  thoughts  were 
always  in  the  air,  but  his  words  had  now 
acquired  a  wonderfully  new  significance  : 

The  French  and  the  Britons  now  lord  it  on  and. 

In  the  ocean  the  Britons  are  rooted  ; 
To  the  Germans  remaineth  the  region  of  air, 

Where  they  domineer  undisputed. 

With  Count  Zeppelin's  achievements  the 
J.,  p  ..  time,  however,  had  now  come 
^  .    f     when  the  most  hot-headed  and 

L/onquest  oi  .   .  ,,      ^ 

Great  Britain  Visionary  among  the  Germans 
began  to  regard  their  partial 
conquest  of  the  air  as  a  long  step  in  the 
direction  of  the  possible  conquest  of  Great 
Britain,  which  would  thus  no  longer  enjoy 
the  advantages  of  being  an  island  if  the 
sky  could  be  darkened  with  aerial  navies. 
But  it  is  a  far  cry  from  Lake  Con- 
stance to  the  chffs  of  Kent ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  a  country  like  Germany, 

5346 


there  is  not  always  perfect  identity 
between  popular  as]:)irations  and  Govern- 
ment aims.  The  emperor  himself  dis- 
avowed all  deliberate  hostility  to  England  ; 
while  his  chancellor.  Prince  von  Biilow, 
was  still  more  emphatic.  Replying  to  the 
charge  of  some  Socialist  speakers  in  the 
Reichstag,  that  the  increase  in  the  German 
navy  was  rightly  regarded  as  directed 
against  Great  Britain,  the  chancellor  said, 
December,  1905  :  "  That  we  are  pursuing 
no  aggressive  plans  against  Great  Britain 
I  have  said  a  hundred  times.  I  have  said 
a  hundred  times  that  it  is  nonsense  to 
father  such  schemes  on  us." 

To  a  Press  interviewer  some  little  time 
after,  the  prince  said:  "I  admit  that  we 
have  made  great  strides  in  shipbuilding  ; 
for,  like  other  nations,  we  require  a  fleet  in 
proportion  to  the  extent  of  our  commercial 
interests  all  over  the  water.  But,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  our  navy  is  still  very  small 
in  proportion  to  our  oversea  commerce — 
judging  their  relative  dimensions  by  those 
of  other  nations.  To  argue,  however,  that 
Germany  thinks  of  ever  competing  with 
England  for  the  mastery  of  the  sea  is 
,      tantamount  to  accusing  us  of 

ermany  s    ^jgj^ij^g  ^q  build  a  railway  to 

g      p  the    moon,  including    rolling- 

stock,  sleeping-cars,  etc.  It  is 
sheer  nonsense,  and  I  for  one  deplore  that 
anybody  should  deem  me  capable  of 
entertaining  such  a  fantastic  idea." 

In  the  Reichstag  also  the  chancellor 
said  :  "In  our  construction  of  a  fleet  we 
are  not  pursuing  aggressive  aims.  We 
only  desire  to  defend  our  own  German 
coasts,  and  to  uphold  German  interests 
abroad.  It  is,  moreover,  the  wish  of  by 
far  the  greater  portion  of  the  German 
people  that  we  should  not  be  defenceless 
on  the  sea.  .  .  .  The  saying,  '  Our  future 
lies  on  the  water,'  is  not  in  any  way 
pointed  at  other  Powers.  .  .  .  We  have 
not  the  slightest  intention  of  driving 
another  Power  from  the  sea,  but  we  have 
just  as  good  a  right  to  sail  the  seas  of  the 
world  as  other  nations  have.  That  right 
the  Hansa  had  centuries  ago,  and  that  right 
the  new  German  Empire  also  possesses." 

Apart  from  all  question  of  Englan,d  and 
her  sea  supremacy,  it  must  be  owned  that 
Germany  had  reasons  enough  for  justifying 
herself  in  the  eyes  of  other  nations  in  the 
building  of  a  navy  commensurate  with  her 
population  (63,000,000),  the  extent  of  her 
coast-line,  the  size  and  number  of  her 
colonies,  the  volume  of  her  marine  trade — 


GERMANY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


Atlantic,  until  this  was  recovered  for  us  by 
a  couple  of  colossal  Cunarders.  The  value 
of  German  trade  done  with  the  British 
Empire  alone  was  over  £109,000,000 
annually.  Besides,  Germany  was  becoming 
more  and  more  dependent  on  foreign 
supplies  of  food  and  raw  material  for  the 
industrial  portion  of  her  people,  and  in  the 


which  is  far  superior  to  that  of  France— 
and  her  dignity  as  the  leading  Power  on 
the  Continent.  Where  was  the  logic  of  our 
grudging  to  Germany,  with  marine  interests 
greater  "than  those  of  France,  a  navy  at 
least  equal  to  the  French  one  ?  Surely 
every  country  may  enjoy  the  right  of 
determining  the  means  and  manner  of  its 
self-defence  ;  but  human 
nature  is  a  strange  thing, 
and  often  prompts  to  the 
remark  :  "  Cet  animal  est 
tres  mechant  ;  quand  on 
I'attaque,  il  se  defend." 

Since  the  year  1848  Ger- 
many has  seen  her  coast 
blockaded  on  three  separate 
occasions,  including  the  war 
of  1870,  when  she  was 
practically  powerless  at  sea. 
Again,  in  1907,  the  value  of 
her  sea-borne  trade  was 
£372,000,000  sterling.  Of 
this  total,  £294,000,000  was 
carried  by  German  merchant 
vessels    of    over    3,000,000 


THE    WARSHIP    FRAUENLOB 

event  oi  those  supplies 
being  interrupted,  she  would 
be  faced  with  a  serious  eco- 
nomic crisis.  It  would  be 
difficult  for  her  to  with- 
stand a  Continental  coali- 
tion unless  she  could  count 
upon  a  free  sea,  and  so 
for  these,  if  for  no  other 
reasons,  it  was  imperative 
for  her  to  have  a  navy  com- 
mensurate with  her  interests 
— a  navy  which  nevertheless 
began  to  fill  the  minds  of 
Englishmen  with  apprehen- 
sion and  alarm. 

But  the  popular  passion 
for  sea  power  was  still  more 

One  of  the  greatest  of  Germany's  ambitions  is  to  possess  a  navy  that  shall  be    JppvjlT,   rOO+cd        The     dcsifC 
unrivalled   by  any   other  Continental   Power,    and  under  the  present   kaiser,    ^      ^  - ,  .  ,       '  -.       i,„  j   l^^^ 

,.,.„._..  ,,    j:-.:__.  -J u-_  u j„  :„  ^u:„  a:^„^^:„„     The  two  war-  for  national  unity  naa  oeen 


GERMAN     WARSHIPS  :     THE    KAISER    KARL    DER     GROSSE 
One  of  the  greatest  of  Germany's  ambitions  is  to  possess  a  navy  that  shall  be 


William  II.,  distinct  advance  has  been  made  in  this  direction.      .  ..^  „..« *--    

ships    illustrated    above,    which   are  shown  sailing  through  the  great   water-   followed       by       an       equally 
way,    the   Kiel    Canal,    are    typical    examples   of  Germany's   naval   strength.    g|-j-Qj^g    Craviug    for  national 


tons  register,  valued  at  over  £40,000,000, 
and  manned  by  60,000  seamen .  Ten  per  cent . 
of  the  world's  commerce  and  79  per  cent. 
o[  German  sea-borne  trade  was  carried  in 
German  bottoms,  while  the  Hners  of  the 
Hamburg  and  Bremen  companies  were  the 
finest  that  crossed  the  sea.  and  had  even 
wrested   from  us  the  blue  ribbon  of  the 


expansion.  For  several  years  after  the 
establishment  of  the  empire,  Bismarck 
and  others  worked  hard  at  its  internal 
consolidation  —  witness,  among  other 
things,  the  codification  of  all  the  con- 
flicting laws  of  Germany,  a  gigantic  work 
lasting  nearly  thirty  years,  to  which 
only  German  heads  were  equal.    And  no 

5347 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Colonies 

of  the  German 

Empire 


sooner  had  the  imposing  edifice  of  the 
Reich  been  fairly  riveted  within  and 
without  than  the  national  energy  began 
to  seek  an  outlet  in  the  creation  of  a 
Germany  beyond  the  sea.  For  years  Bis- 
marck had  been  indifferent,  and,  indeed, 
positively  averse,  to  colonial  adventure ;  but 
at  last  he  could  no  longer  resist  a  popular 
impulse  which  was  rapidly 
growing  in  strength.  The  re- 
sult was  that,  within  a  year  or 
two  of  this  new  departure,  in 
1884,  Germany  found  herself  included  in 
the  ranks  of  the  colonial  Powers,  with 
territories  in  Africa,  New  Guinea,  and  the 
Pacific  Archipelago  aggregating  an  area 
five  times  the  size  of  her  empire  in  Europe, 
though  nine-tenths  of  this  area  is  in  Africa. 
To  this,  some  years  later,  in  1897,  Ger- 
many added  a  ninety-nine  years'  "  lease  " 
of  a  200-square  mile  foothold  at  Kiaochau, 
on  the  coast  of  China,  whither  the  kaiser's 
sailor  brother,  Prince  Henry,  was  des- 
patched as  the  menacing  apostle  of  the 
"  mailed  fist,"  with  this  sentence  from  his 
Majesty  ringing  in  his  ears  :  "  Imperial 
power  means  maritime  power,  and  mari- 
time power  and  Imperial  power  are 
mutually  interdependent,  so  that  one 
cannot  exist  without  the  other." 

Germany  may  thus  be  said  to  have 
become  an  oversea  Power  without  becom- 
ing a  colonial  one  in  the  British  sense. 
It  was  wittily  and  truly  said  that  France 
had  colonies  but  no  colonists  ;  Germany, 
colonists  but  no  colonies  ;  while  England 
had  both  colonies  and  colonists.  It  was 
too  late  in  the  day,  as  indicated  by  the 
world's  clock,  when  Germany  entered  the 
colonial  field,  for  by  this  time  all  the 
available  waste  spaces  of  the  earth  had 
already  been  appropriated  by  other 
Powers,  especially  England.  What  she 
wanted  was  to  found  a  new  Germany,  a 
new  Fatherland  across  the  sea  for  the 
accommodation  of  those  vast  numbers  of 
her  surplus  sons  who  had  hitherto  mi- 
grated  to  America  and  other 
in     e&rc    ^nglo-Saxon    lands  :     but    it 

for  a  New  '^      ,  ^     ,i      , 

„  ..     ,     .     soon    became    apparent    that 
Fatherland  ,  ,,        ,  ,  .  ^'^    ,        ... 

none  01  the  African  territories 

which  had  now  fallen  to  her  were  at  all 
suitable  for  this  purpose. 

They  were  all  sub-tropical,  and  fitted 
only  to  be  plantation,  not  agricultural, 
colonies.  Very  small  was  the  total  number 
of  Geimans  who  went  to  seek  their  for- 
tunes in  Germany's  "  colonies,"  and  even 
of  these  a  large  proportion  were  govern- 

5348 


ment  officials  employed  to  administer  the 
protectorates  without  having  first  learned 
from  us  the  very  necessary  art  of  ruling 
native  races.  The  brusque  manners  of 
PiTissian  policemen  and  the  brutal  methods 
of  some  German  drill  -  sergeants  were 
unsuited  to  the  black  tribes  of  the 
Kamerun  and  Damaraland.  Rebellion 
was  frequent,  and  even  the  German 
army,  which  boasted  itself  to  be  the  best 
in  Europe,  was  for  several  years  powerless 
to  put  down  a  native  rising  in  South-West 
Africa  involving  the  loss  of  thousands  of 
German  lives  and  millions  of  money. 

After  this  experience,  shame  and  remorse 
overtook  those  Germans  who  had  sneered 
at  our  own  protracted  struggle  with  the 
Boers.  Attracting  few  or  no  colonists  in 
the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term,  those 
German  protectorates  on  the  whole  have 
never  ceased  to  be  a  financial  burden  to 
the  Imperial  Government,  and  yet  their 
existence  and  the  necessity  of  defending 
them  continued  to  be  one  of  the  chief 
arguments  in  the  logic-armoury  of  the 
Chauvinists  and  the  Pan-Germanists  for 
the  strengthening  of  the  Imperial  fleet. 
_  ,      These  Pan-Germanists  deserve 

crmany  s  j^^j-g  tha.n  a  passing  notice,  see- 
Bid  for  1.-I     J.     ■  iu  1 

First  Place  ^"^^  *^^^'   ^"  ^   ^^"^^'  ^^^^  ^^^^ 
that  part  in  German  political 

thought  which  the  advocates  of  a  united 
Germany  did  during  the  period  between 
1815  and  1870.  Their  organisation,  the 
"  All-Deutscher  Verband,"  or  Pan-German 
League,  corresponds  to,  and  is  the  comple- 
ment of,  the  "  Flottenverein."  According  to 
its  statutes,  it  "  has  for  object  the  re\'ival 
of  German  nationalistic  sentiment  all  over 
the  earth,  preservation  of  German  thought, 
ideals,  and  customs  in  Europe,  and  across 
the  ocean,  and  the  welding  into  a  compact 
whole  of  the  Germans  everywhere."  The 
official  anthem  of  these  Pan-Germans  is  ; 

"  Deutschland,  Deutschland  iiber  AUes, 
,     Ueber  Alles  in  der  Welt." 

In  charging  down  on  the  French  at 
Waterloo,  the  Scots  cried  :  "  Scotland  for 
ever  !  "  In  charging  down  on  the  whole 
world  after  Sedan,  the  Germans  shouted  : 
"  Deutschland  everywhere  I '  Prince  Biilow 
once  gave  the  toast  :  "  The  King  first  in 
Prussia  ;  Prussia  first  in  Germany  ;  Ger- 
many first  in  the  world  !  "  And,  saying 
so,  he  pretty  well  expressed  the  creed  of 
the  Pan-Germanists.  The  emperor,  too, 
on  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
Reich,  delighted  their  hearts  by  declaring  : 
"  Out  of  the    German   Empire   a   world- 


GERMANY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


empire  has  arisen.  Everywhere,  in  all 
parts  of  the  earth,  thousands  of  our 
countrymen  reside.  German  riches,  Ger- 
man knowledge,  German  activity,  make 
their  way  across  the  ocean.  The  value  of 
German  possessions  on  the  sea  is  some 
milliards  of  marks.  Gentlemen,  the  serious 
duty  devolves  on  you  to  help  me  to  link 
this  greater  German  Empire  close  to  the 
home-country,  by  helping  me,  in  complete 
unity,  to  fulfil  my  duty  also  towards 
the  Germans  in  foreign  parts." 

But  while  thus  voicing  the  splendid  aims 
of  the  Pan-Germanists,  the  emperor 
and  his  Government  have  never  recog- 
nised their  activity  to  the  same  extent 
as  in  the  case  of  the  "  Flottenverein," 
and  for  the  reason  that  the  propaganda 
of  the  "  All-Deutscher  Verband  "  is  still 
beyond  the  pale  of  practical  politics. 

There  are  now  about  92,000,000  of 
German-speaking  men  in  the  world,  and 
of  these  only  63,000,000  live  in  Germany 
itself.  The  rest  are  divided  between 
Austria-Hungary,  12,000,000  ;  Switzer- 
land, 2,320,000  ;  Russia,  Baltic  Provinces, 
etc.,  2,000,000  ;  various  other  European 
countries,  1,130,000 ;  United 
States  and  Canada,  11,500,000  ; 


Proposals 
of  Teutonic 


y      .  South  America,  600,000 ;  Asia, 

pians  Africa,  Australia,  400,000. 
But  how,  then,  do  the  Pan-Germanists 
propose  to  bring  all  these  widely-scattered 
Teutons  into  a  common  fold  ?  In  what 
respect  does  Pan-Germanism  differ  from 
Zionism,  which  aims  at  the  repatriation 
of  the  Jews,  or,  at  least,  at  their  collection 
from  all  the  countries  of  Europe  and 
agglomeration  into  a  new  Semitic  nation 
with  a  Rothschild  or  a  Hirsch  for  their 
ruler  ?  Broadly  speaking,  the  Teutonic 
Utopians  propose  : 

First,  an  economic  alliance  with  all 
countries  in  Europe  inhabited  by  Germanic 
peoples,  such  as  Austria,  Switzerland, 
Holland,  Belgium,  Luxemburg.  This 
economical  alliance  will  lead  to  political 
union  for  defensive  and  offensive  purposes. 

Secondly,  the  formation  of  a  Central 
European  Customs  Union,  aimed  primarily 
against  England  and  the  United  States, 
and  secondarily  against  Russia. 

Thirdly,  the  union  of  all  the  Germanic 
peoples — Low  and  High  Germans — in 
one  central  Germanic  Confederation.  As 
part  of  this  policy,  Deutschthum  across 
the  seas  is  to  be  reclaimed.  Out  of  trans- 
marine Deutschthum  a  greater  Germany 
IS  to  arise.     The  only  way  in   which  the 


Government  has  hitherto  shown  its 
practical  sympathy  wi-th  the  aims  of  the 
Pan-Germanists  has  been  to  pursue  a 
root  and  branch  policy  of  Germanisation 
within  the  empire  itself— with  the  French 
of  Alsace-Lorraine,  the  Danes  of  Schles- 
wig,  and,  above  all,  with  the  Poles  of 
Prussian  Poland,  where,  by  a  merciless 
Dangerous  P'°^«^^,   ^^ ,  expropriation 

and  Unpractical  ^nd  other  forms  of  corn- 
Dreamers  pulsion,  the  Slavs  have  been 
placed  under  the  Teutonic 
steam-roller.  Otherwise,  the  Government 
has  held  aloof  from  the  agitation  of  the 
Pan-Germanists  as  from  the  propaganda 
of  unpractical  and  dangerous  dreamers, 
though  it  has  been  said  that  what  the 
professors  think  to-day  will  be  espoused 
by  the  practical  politicians  of  to-morrow. 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  both  the  "  All-Deutscher  Verband  " 
and  the  "Flottenverein"  are  rooted  in 
the  undeniable  fact  that  the  limits  of  the 
present  German  Empire  are  too  narrowly 
drawn  for  the  size  of  its  population  as 
well  as  for  its  importance  and  its  aspira- 
tions. In  fact,  both  these  propagandist 
leagues  may  be  said  to  incorporate  that 
restless  spirit,  that  ever-growing  passion 
for  national  expansion,  that  hungering 
after  "  fresh  woods  and  pastures  new," 
which  can  scarcely  fail  to  bring  the  Ger- 
man people  into  fierce  struggle-for-life 
competition,  if  not,  perhaps,  into  actual 
conflict,  with  other  nations. 

Those  nations  have  to  reckon  with  the 
fact  that  Germany,  which,  up  to  1884, 
merely  was  a  Continental  Power,  has  now 
become  a  Colonial  one,  and  aims  at  also 
being  a  "  Weltmacht,"  or  World-Power, 
in  the  sense  that  Great  Britain  is  such. 

"Without  the  consent  of  Germany's 
ruler,"  said  the  kaiser  proudly,  "nothing 
must  happen  in  any  part  of  the  world  " 
— and  thus  he  explained  what  is  meant 
by  saying  that  Germany  has  become  a 
"Weltmacht" — a  Power  that  must  be 
consulted  before  the  other 
crmany  as   £m-Qpga,n    Powers   can   come 

Britain  s  .  ^  ,  ■.■, 

o-    IXC       to    any    agreement    with   re- 

Kival  at  Sea  ,      -'  ^      ^r  r-i  • 

gard,  say,  to  Morocco,  China, 
or  other  oversea  "  spheres  of  interest." 
It  was  to  lend  emphasis  to  her  voice 
in  such  consultations,  and  protect  her 
dealings  with  the  markets  of  the  world, 
that  Germany  thought  it  necessary  to 
create  a  navy  commensurate  with  her 
interests  as  a  "Weltmacht" — a  navy 
which,  though  at  first  merely  intended  for 

5349 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


coast     defence,     gradually     assumed     a 

battleship  build  for  offensive  warfare  if 

need  be,  and  at  last  grew  to  such  formidable 

proportions  that  the  British  Government 

of    Sir    Henry    Campbell-Bannerman,    at 

the    second   Hague   Conference    in    1907, 

felt   compelled    to   propose   to    Germany 

a  mutual  arrest  of  naval  armaments  and 

_  ,      their  restriction  to  the  ratio  of 

Germany  s     ^^^  ^^    ^^^       j^  -^   ^^^^^^^^  ^^ 

Kise  from  ^1^x1-  ^ 

p  say    that    this    proposal    was 

°^"  ^        negatived  by  Germany  on  the 

ground  of  the  inexorable  "  logic  of  facts." 

The  truth  is  that  Germany  has  become 

our  most  formidable  naval  rival  because 

she  had  in  the  meantime  also  become  our 

most  dangerous  commercial  rival.      Our 

supremacy   on    the   sea,    which    we    had 

won  at  Trafalgar,  was  still    undisputed ; 

Imt,  on  the  other  hand,  our  monopoly  of 

the  markets  of  the  world  had  begun  to 

crumble  soon  after  Sedan. 

Having  vanquished  the  French  in  the 
field  of  war,  the  victors  of  Sedan  set 
themselves  to  outstrip  the  British  at  the 
arts  of  peace,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
the  cry  arose  in  this  country  that  they 
were  beginning  to  do  so.  Ten  years  after 
Sedan,  Germany  adopted  a  moderate 
protective  tariff,  and,  whether  as  a  con- 
sequence or  not,  in  a  few  years  the 
country  became  transformed.  From  being 
one  of  the  poorest  of  Continental  states, 
Germany  became  the  richest,  and,  in 
some  respects,  richer  even  than  England. 
Let  us  take  a  few  facts  and  figures. 

In  1882,  two  years  after  the  adoption  of 
protectionism,  British  shipping  through  the 
Suez  Canal  was  over  4,000,000  tons  ;  in 
igo6  it  had  risen  to  8,500,000,  or  a  trifle  over 
100  per  cent,  increase.  In  1882  German 
shipping  was  127,000  tons;  in  igo6, 
2,250,000,  an  increase  of  about  1,700 
per  cent.  In  1882  England  owned  81  per 
cent,  of  all  shipping  passing  through  the 
Canal;  in  1906  the  percentage  had  sunk 
to  63.  In  1882  Germany  owned  only  2| 
_        .  per    cent.,    but    in    1906    this 

»pp>ng       j^j^^  risen  to  over  16  per  cent. 

.    ^  Again,  the    Germans    proudly 

in  Germany        •     ,      ,        . ,         x      ^     j.i     j. 

point    to    the    fact    that    one 

of  their  shipping  lines — the  "  Hamburg- 
America  " — has  now  become  the  greatest 
in  the  world,  far  surpassing  the  nearest 
of  its  British  rivals  in  the  extent  of  its 
operations  and  the  number  and  tonnage 
of  its  ships.  The  capital  of  the  com- 
pany exceeds  ;f 5, 000, 000,  its  employees 
exceed  18,000,   and  its  ocean-going  iieet 

5350 


numbers  149  vessels,  with  a  tonnage 
of  over  725,000.  In  addition,  there  is 
a  swarm  of  river  vessels  and  tugs,  with 
a  tonnage  of  nearly  150,000.  The  entire 
fleet  is  valued  at  £7,000,000.  There 
are  fifty  regular  passenger  and  cargo 
liners,  calling  at  over  300  harbours. 
In  the  United  States  alone  the  company 
employs  2,000  agents.  Furthermore,  shi])s 
of  the  Hamburg  Line  are  trading  now 
in  waters  which  until  quite  recently  were 
regarded  as  British  preserves — ^f or  example, 
in  Indian,  Chinese,  and  Australian  seas,  and 
even  in  the  Persian  Gulf. 

According  to  one  of  our  own  consular 
reports  for  1906,  the  general  economic 
improvement  in  Germany  had  continued 
steadily,  and  "  attained  a  hitherto  un- 
precedented height."  In  "  most  trades 
the  only  subject  of  complaint  was  the 
scarcity  of  workmen." 

The  excess  of  Germany's  exports  over 
her  imports  has  been  growing  rapidly. 
Dividing  the  last  twenty-five  years  into 
five-yearly  periods,  the  average  excess 
of  exports  over  imports  of  manufactures, 
as  shown  in  this  return,  is  given  for  each 
period  in  the  following  table  : 

NET     EXPORTS     OF     MANUFACTURES     FROM 
UNITED   KINGDOM  AND  GERMANY. 


United 

Germany 
Million  £ 

Excess  of  U.K 

— 

Kingdom 
Million  £ 

over  G.  surplus 
Million  £ 

1882-86 

136-5 

51-2 

85-3 

1887-91 

138-4 

57'3 

81 -I 

1892-96 

II0-5 

57-5 

53-0 

1897-01 

110-5 

yyb 

33-9 

1902-06 

138-1 

113-1 

25-0 

Thus,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  lead  of 
£85,300,000  previously  enjoyed  by  the 
United  Kingdom  has  steadily  dropped 
till  it  amounted  to  no  more  than 
£25,000,000.  But  corrected  estimates  tend 
to  show  that,  as  an  exporter  of  manu- 
factured goods,  Germany  is  now  within 
/15, 000, 000  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

It  is  on  the  strength  of  these  officic'.l 
figures  that  the  Hohenzollern  Empire  has 
been  pronounced  by  an  expert  writer — 
Mr.  Ellis  Barker,  author  of  "  Modern 
Germany  " — to  be  "at  present  by  far  the 
wealthiest  state  in  Europe.  Germany 
and  the  individual  states  composing  it 
have  a  very  large  national  debt,  but  against 
that  debt  they  possess  very  considerable 
assets.  Of  these  the  Prussian  state  railways 
alone,  which  earn  a  profit  of  from  seven  to 


GERMANY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


eight  per  cent.,  would  suffice  to  pay  off  the 
whole  of  the  indebtedness  of  the  empire  and 
of  all  the  individual  states."  Another  in- 
dication of  national  wealth  and  prosperity 
is  the  fact  that  between  1885  and  1905 
the  German  state  insurance  societies  paid 
to  about  10,000,000  workers,  male  and 
female,  about  £256,000,000  on  account  of 
illness,  accident,  infirmity,  and  old  age. 

In  this  connection  be  it  remarked  that 
no  other  country  has  essayed  and  accom- 
plished so  much  for  the  welfare  of  her 
working  classes  as  Germany.  Under  the 
old  emperor  she  took  the  lead  in  the 
attempt  to  solve  modern  social  problems 
by  means  of  state  legislation,  thus  in- 
augurating a  sort  of  state  Socialism  in 
some  beneficiary  fields  ;  while  William  II. 
also  hastened  to  make  his  mark  as  a 
saviour  of  society  by  summoning  an  inter- 
national labour  conference,  and  in  Ger- 
many itself  full  effect  was  given  to  its 
recommendations  by  a  measure  for  the 
amendment  of  the  Industrial  Code. 

All  this  is  true.  Under  Protection — 
inconsequence  of  it,  as  some  maintain;  in 
spite  of  it,  as  others  aver — Germany  has 
c.  1.  .J  grown  to  be  the  wealthiest 
Stronghold    cQ^,,try    in     Europe.     In    the 

of  Social  ••  r  1         •  1 

_  opmion   oi   many   she   is   also 

Democracy     , ,        i       ,  -^  .  • 

the   best  governec   country  in 

Europe,  in  the  sense  that  she  enjoys  a 
government  best  adapted  to  her  special 
needs  and  circumstances ;  yet  we  are  con- 
fronted by  the  puzzling  facts  that  for  every 
Socialist  in  England  there  are  four  in 
Germany,  and  that  social  democracy,  the 
party  of  extreme  discontent,  is  stronger  in 
Germany  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world. 
At  the  election  to  the  first  Reichstag 
in  1871  only  three  per  cent,  of  the  total 
votes  had  been  given  to  the  Socialists, 
and  by  1881  this  percentage  had  risen 
to  6-12  with  a  poll  of  312,000.  By  1890 
the  percentage  had  further  bounded  up 
to  1974  with  a  poll  of  1,427,300  ;  while 
at  the  election  of  1903  the  percentage  was 
3171,  or  well  on  to  a  third  of  the  whole 
— the  Socialists  having  secured  3,010,771 
out  of  a  total  poll  of  9,495,586 — a  per- 
centage of  3771.  Numerically,  they  were 
thus  by  far  the  strongest  of  the  eight  or 
ten  parties  among  which  the  397  seats  in 
the  Reichstag  are  divided.  Of  these  seats 
they  only  secured  82,  but  according  to  the 
law  of  strict  proportional  representation 
they  ought  to  have  had  about  130. 
The  development  of  social  democracy 
belongs    to    the    history    of    the    empire 


proper,  but  here  at  least  it  may  be  said 
that  its  members — formerly,  in  1903, 
nearly  a  third  of  the  whole  electorate — 
are  the  men  whom  the  emperor  has  re- 
peatedly denounced  as  "a  band  of  fellows 
not  worthy  to  bear  the  name  of  Ger- 
mans," and  "  enemies  to  the  divine  order 
of  things;  men  without  a  Fatherland." 
_     .  It  was  with  the  help  of  these 

o     .    .     .     "  Vaterlandslose  Gesellen  "  that 

Kouted  at       .1         ^,      ■      1         .  ,, 

.  p  I]  '■'^^  Clericals,  in  1907,  threw 
out  a  demand  for  ;f4oo,ooo 
for  the  perfection  and  development  ot 
South-West  Africa,  and  on  this  issue  the 
Government  appealed  to  the  German 
people,  who  were  told  that  the  new 
General  Election  was  to  decide  whether 
Germany  was  to  remain  merely  a  Great 
Power  in  Europe,  or  whether  she  was  also 
to  become  a  World-Power.  The  reply  of 
the  people  was  decisive,  and  the  Govern- 
ment got  a  working  majority.  The 
Socialists  suffered  a  sort  of  debacle.  They 
returned  to  the  Reichstag  shorn  of  about 
half  their  strength — with  43  seats  instead 
of  82,  although,  out  of  a  total, of  11,262,800 
votes — the  highest  number  ever  yet  given 
in  the  empire — they  had  polled  3,259,000, 
or  only  about  29  per  cent.,  instead  of 
their  previous  32  per  cent. 

Nevertheless,  the  election  was  held  to 
furnish  clear  evidence  that  the  ambition 
to  make  Germany  a  "  Weltmachf  "  and 
an  oversea  Power  was  no  longer  confined 
to  the  emperor,  the  "  Flottenverein." 
and  the  Pan-German  League,  but  that  it 
had  also  permeated  the  great  mass  of  the 
German  people.  It  was  held  to  show  that 
the  working  population  of  Germany  had 
deliberately  and  emphatically  endorsed  the 
economic  policy  which  benefits  the  producer. 

It  was  further  held  to  prove  that, 
however  bad  the  general  state  of  agri- 
culture in  Germany,  it  was  at  least 
decidedly  better  than  in  Free-Trade  Eng- 
land. The  German  people  had  begun 
to  grow  tired  of  a  party  which  was  in  the 
main  one  of  mere  opposition 
and  negation — a  party  as  in- 
nocuous as  it  was  noisy.  The 
Socialists  now  appeared  in  the 
light  of  those  wlio,  the  more  they  get,  the 
more  they  want.  "  What  do  they  want  ?  " 
inquired  '  the  Birmingham  brassworkers, 
when  they  went  over  to  inquire  into  the 
condition  of  the  German  workman.  "  They 
seem  to  have  everything  cheap,  and  we 
don't  know  what  they  are  agitating  for." 
It   was  seen  that   the  poor  in  Germany 

5351 


The  Greed 
of  the 
Socialists 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


were  not  becoming  poorer  but  richer. 
Socialism  was  being  overcome  by  social 
prosperity.  Its  decrepitude  was  held  to  be 
due  to  the  fact  that  Germans  are  guaran- 
teed high  wages  by  their  tariff,  that 
Germany  is  advancing  with  giant  strides 
in  wealth,  comfort,  and  prosperity,  while 
surrendering  none  of  the  noble  ideas  of 
duty,  faith,  and  obedience  upon 


A  Period  of 
Intellectual 


which  the  old  emperor  and  Bis- 
j^  marck  built  up  the  empire.    In 

agna  ion    ^^^^^  ^^^  material  prosperity  of 

Germany — side  by  side  with,  and  partly 
as  a  result  of,  her  militarism,  which  supplied 
her  trade,  industry,  commerce,  and  agri- 
culture with  labour  at  once  disciplined 
and  intelligent — had  begun  to  assume 
such  proportions  as  to  throw  all  the  other 
])hases  of  the  national  life  into  the 
shade.  Militarism  and  money-making 
and  materialism  have  absorbed  all  the 
best  energies  of  the  nation,  and  left  it  thus 
comparatively  poor  and  unproductive  in 
the  various  intellectual  walks  of  life. 

An  American  writer  of  German  origin, 
Wolf  von  Schierbrand,  is  pretty  near  the 
mark  when  he  says :  "  There  is  an 
astonishing  uniformity  of  mediocre  ideas 
in  modern  Germany,  with  httle  of  that 
daring  flight  of  thought,  that  love  of 
speculative  philosophy,  little  of  that 
poetical  sentiment,  which  the  world  was 
wont  to  consider  a  special  province  of  the 
German  mind.  There  has  been  at  work 
a  process  of  mental  levelling  down.  This 
prevailing  sameness,  this  dearth  of  genius 
— although  it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  is 
coupled  with  a  great  increase  in  hard 
common-sense  and  a  practical  turn  of 
mind — can  be  traced  all  through  German 
literature,  art,  and  science  of  to-day. 
Since  the  close  of  the  Franco-German  War 
no  really  great  poet,  author,  artist  or 
scientist  has  arisen  in  Germany.  Nearly 
all  her  great  names  antedate  that  war. 
This,  I  believe,  is  in  part  owing  to  the 
influence  of  miUtarj'  training  on  the 
mind  of  the  nation  at  the 
formative  period  of  life."  But, 
apart  from  this,  the  mind  of 
the  nation  is  absorbed  in  its 
material  development,  its  expansion,  and 
is  far  more  concerned  with  the  problems 
of  politics  than  with  those  of  intellect  and 
art.  It  was  the  same  with  ourselves  during 
our  Civil  W'ar  and  Commonwealth  period, 
when  our  literature  was  only  saved  from 
being  one  exclusively  of  political  pamph- 
lets   by    a    "  Paradise    Lost."      But    the 

5352 


Politics 

Before 

Intellect 


German  of  the  empire  has  not  yet  pro- 
duced even  a  Klopstock,  not  to  speak  of  a 
Milton,  and  as  for  Goethes  and  Schillers 
they  are  sadly  to  seek. 

In  an  up-to-date  "  History  of  German 
Literature,"  by  Edward  Engel,  he  pro- 
nounces this  to  be  "  the  first  literature  in 
the  world,"  a  judgment  which  can  only  be 
described  as  springing  from  the  madness  of 
national  self-conceit  wilfully  blind  to  the 
fact  that  a  literature  with  a  Shakespeare 
at  its  head  can  never  be  relegated  to  a 
second  rank.  And  then,  as  regards  France, 
Germany  has  supplanted  her  as  the 
leading,  because  the  most  powerful,  nation 
on  the  Continent.  The  centre  of  political 
gravity  has  now  been  shifted  from  the 
Seine  to  the  Spree.  But  Berlin  is  stiU  far 
behind  Paris  as  a  "  villelumiere,"  a  centre 
of  intellectualism,  literature,  art,  and  all 
the  social  graces ;  and  one  capital  can  still 
securely  smile  at  the  clumsy  efforts  of  the 
other  to  add  to  the  oak-leaves  of  a  frowning 
^lars  the  laurels  of  an  effulgent  Apollo. 
Imperial  Germany  has  now  become  a 
"  Weltmacht,"  but  it  has  not  yet  produced 
a  "  Weltliteratur,"  or  anything  like  it. 
.    During  the  last  thirty  years  the 

.1^*"^.*^^  "t  number  of  new  books  published 
the  Field  of  •     ^  ,  ^    J 

,  .^      .  m  Germany  has,  m  round  num- 

Literature      1  •  i    r 

bers,  increased  irom  10,000  to 

about  30,000  per  annum,  but  very  few  of 

these    were    ever    heard    of    outside    the 

Fatherland.     It  is  useless  for  the  Germans 

themselves  to  contend  that  this  is  more 

owing  to  the  ignorance  and  indifference  of 

outsiders  than  to  the  comparative  worth- 

lessness  of  their  books,  because  literature 

is  a  ware,  like  any  other  commodity,  which 

will   readily  find   its  level  and  its  market 

wherever  there  is  a  desire — and  it  is  a 

universal   one   among  civilised  nations — 

to  enjoy  the  newest  masterpieces  of  the 

human  mind.     In  the  field  of  literature, 

Germany's  imports  far  exceed  her  exports, 

and,  indeed,  the  latter  are  almost  nil. 

As  between  England  and  Germany,  the 

balance  of  literary  trade  is  immensely  in 

favour  of  the  former,  and  the  same  may 

be  said  of  France.      Shakespeare  alone  is 

far  more   frequently  staged  in  Germany 

than    any    other     dramatist,    native     or 

foreign.     Imperial  Germany  has  certainly 

produced  some  talented  playwriters,  and 

men  like  Sudermann,  Hauptmann,  Blumen- 

thal,  \'on  Schonthan,  Heyse,  Hirschfeld, 

Lubbliner,  Halbe,  and  others  ;  but  most  of 

them  have  sought  their  inspiration  from 

the  mysticism  of  Tolstoi,  the  pessimism  of 


GERMANY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


Ibsen,  the  pruriency  of  Paris,  or  the  rowdy- 
dowdy  romanticism  of  which  Herr  von 
Wildenbruch,  who  may  be  described  as  the 
Bard  of  the  House  of  Brandenburg,  is  the 
most  stilted  exponent.  For  tlie  rest,  the 
German  drama  of  to-day  tends  to  be  heavy 
in  ethical,  political,  and  other  aims,  at 
the  expense  of  pure  art.  At  the  same  time 
it  must  be  conceded  that  the  theatre, 
which  is  a  subsidised  institution  in  all 
German  states,  has  an  educational  value 
hitherto  denied  to  the  British  people. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  drama  must 
also  be  applied  to  fiction  in  general,  and 
also  to  poetry,  of  which  the  quality  is 
almost  in  inverse  ratio  to  the  volume  of  its 
output.  History  has  always  been  a  con- 
genial subject  in  Germany,  but  few  of  her 
historical  writers  have  a  style ;  and  of  them 
in  general — though  there  are  some  excep- 
tions— it  may  be  remarked  what  Macaulay 
said  of  Niebuhr,  that  he  was  "  a  man  who 
would  have  been  the  finest  writer  of  his 
time  if  his  talent  for  communicating  truths 
had  borne  any  proportion  to  his  talent 
for  investigating  them."  In  the  field  of 
theology,  Germany  is  far  ahead  of  England 
,  with  its  criticism  and  its  de- 
e  igion  s  velopment  of  dogma  in  the  light 
.    Q  of  science,   while  the  religious 

rmany  ^.^^  ^^    ^^^^    nation    might    be 

summed  up  by  saying  that  in  no  country 
of  Europe  is  there  so  much  natural  piety 
and  belief  in  God,  combined  with  so  little 
church-going,  as  in  Germany,  especially 
among  the  educated  classes.  It  is  true 
that  the  kaiser  himself  sets  an  example 
of  the  straitest  Lutheran  faith  ;  but  then 
his  Majesty  has,  on  countless  occasions,' 
committed  himself  to  the  doctrine  of 
divine  right,  of  his  being  the  German 
vice-regent  of  the  Almighty,  "  our  Ally  at 
Rossbach,"  and  he  has  had  to  live  up  to  it. 
Asserting  himself  to  be  intimate  with 
the  counsels  of  the  Almighty,  the  emperor 
claims  to  be  no  less  acquainted  with  the 
canons  of  art,  and  hence  it  is  interesting 
to  learn  from  him,  in  his  capacity  as 
"  Kunstherr,"  as  distinguished  from 
"  Kriegsherr,"  that  German  sculpture  is 
ahead  of  the  rest  of  Europe.  Perhaps  the 
greatest  museum  of  plastic  art  in  Berlin 
is  the  open-air  Siegesallee,  in  the  Thier- 
garten,  which  is  now  lined  on  both  sides 
with  two  and  thirty  marble  statues  of  his 
Majesty's  heroic  Hohenzollern  ancestors, 
as  chiselled  by  the  leading  German 
sculptors  under  the  general  direction  of 
their  chief,  Reinhold  Begas.   This  imposing 

I P  =5  n 


display  of  historical  statuary  is  known 
to  the  caustic  Berliners  as  the  "  Sea  of 
Marmora,"  but  is  well  worth  seeing  for 
all  that.  "  This  I  can  already  tell  you," 
the  kaiser  said  when  feasting  all  these 
creative  artists  after  the  inauguration  of 
their  work,  "  the  impression  which  the 
Avenue  of  Victory  makes  upon  foreigners 
Th  K  •  ^^  quite  overpowering;  on  all 
sides  a  vast  respect  is  mani- 
A  t  C  "f  fssted  for  German  sculpture. .  . . 
It  shows  that  the  Berlin  school 
of  sculptors  can  hardly  have  been  excelled 
in  the  time  of  the  Renaissance."  But 
if  we  take  the  emperor  as  our  critical 
guide  through  the  present  realms  of 
German  pictorial  art,  the  judgment  is 
much  less  favourable. 

The  newest  tendency  is  towards  realism, 
as  represented  by  the  "Secessionists" — 
from  routine  and  the  old  regime,  from  the 
old  and  accepted  schools  of  painting  in 
Germany.  Drawing  their  inspiration  from 
Arnold  Boecklin,  a  Swiss  by  birth,  these 
"Secessionists" — who  point  to  Lenbach  as 
an  exponent  of  their  principles  in  the  domain 
of  portraiture — have  aimed  at  creating  a 
new  and  distinctive  school  of  German  art, 
freed  from  the  mannerism  of  the  past — 
serious,  sincere,  truthful. 

This  they  aim  at,  and  yet  to  the  kaiser 
they  are  an  odious,  degenerate  race,  whose 
productions  merit  only  proscription  at 
the  hands  of  the  Government.  "If 
civilisation,"  said  the  emperor,  "  is 
going  to  fulfil  its  entire  mission,  it  must 
penetrate  down  to  the  lowest  classes 
of  the  people.  This  it  can  only  do  when 
art  bears  a  hand,  when  art  elevates, 
instead  of  herself  descending  into  the 
gutter."  As  gutter-artists,  the  kaiser,  in 
his  capacity  of  "  Kunstherr,"  denounces 
the  "  Secessionists."  What  his  Majesty 
wants  is  not  realism,  but  idealism — as  well 
in  art  as  in  literature,  and  even  the  present 
tendency  of  the  latter  is  in  a  direction  fatal 
to  reverence  for  traditional  ideals,  divine 

right  claims,   and  all  the  rest  of 

crmany  -^        German    literature    is     at 

„*"   ^^    present     in    a    very    troubled, 

transitional  state,  and  there- 
fore it  bulks  not  largely  before  the  eyes  of 
Europe.  But  it  is  otherwise  in  the  field 
of  science,  where  Germany  easily  holds 
foremost  rank.  From  their  very  nature 
and  mental  composition  the  Germans  are 
far  more  fitted  to  shine  as  scientists  than 
as  litterateurs — their  very  language  being 
against  them  in  the  latter  respect — and 

5353 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Not  a  Nation 
of  Thinkers 


even  their  soldiering  draws  its  strength 
and  brilhancy  from  the  fact  that  it  is  of 
the  scientific  kind.  Scientific  students 
from  all  countries,  who  used  to  crowd  for 
illumination  to  France,  now  flock  to 
Germany,  where  a  world-wide  reputation 
was  won  for  her  by  sons  like  Helmholz, 
Haeckel,  Virchow,  Buelow,  Koch,  Lan- 
genbeck,  Tirkel,  Czermat, 
The  Germans  Bergmann,  Bunsen,  anda  host 
of  others.  In  fact,  it  maybe 
said  that  science  and  soldier- 
ing are  the  onh^  two  things  that  a  Briton 
may  study  better  in  German}^  than  in  his 
own  country— those  two  subjects,  and  also 
music,  in  respect  of  which  the  Germans 
retain  their  proud  pre-eminence  both  as 
creators  and  performers,  though  Imperial 
Germany  has  not  yet  produced  another 
Wagner,  whose  genius  was  rooted  in  the 
period  preceding  the  rise  of  the  Reich. 

As  for  the  Press  it  may  truly  be  de- 
scribed as  poor  and  paltry  by  comparison 
with  that  of  other  nations — lacking  in  inde- 
pendence, influence,  enlightenment,  and 
political  power.  A  daily  newspaper  is 
by  no  means  so  necessary  to  a  German  as 
it  is  to  a  Briton,  a  Frenchman,  or  an 
American.  Mr.  Ellis  Barker  is  pretty 
near  the  mark  when  he  writes  :  "  The 
general  intelligence  and  culture  of  a  nation 
may  be  measured  by  the  Press,  which 
appeals  to  all,  and  which  reflects  the 
national  mind  as  in  a  mirror ;  and  I  think 
that  no  educated  German  will  contradict 
me  when  I  state  that  the  whole  Press  of 
Germany — dailies,  weeklies,  monthlies — 
is  not  only  vastly  inferior  to  the  British 
Press,  but  is  quite  unworthy  of  the 
intelligence  of  a  cultured  nation.  The 
German  Press  is  a  century  behind  the 
English  Press,  and  the  low  standard  of 
the  whole  German  Press  shows  that  the 
German  nation  is  not  a  nation  of  thinkers." 
This  may  sound  paradoxical  of  a  nation 
which  has  produced  so  many  thinkers  ; 
but,  to  a  great  extent,  it  is  true,  on  the 
,  principle  that  the  exceptions 
ermany  s  ^y^^y^  ^j-^g  j.^]g  J^  j^q  country 
Educational      r    t-  j.i_  r 

St    d    d  Europe   are    there    so    few 

illiterates  or  so  much  book- 
learning  as  in  Germany,  and  yet  the  average 
Englishman  or  American  may  be  said  to 
be  a  better  educated  man  than  the  average 
German.  On  a  peace  footing  Germany's 
standing  army  is  about .  600,000  men  ; 
while  the  standing  army  of  German 
educationalists  of  all  kinds  numbers  no  less 
than  300,000.     Germany  has  now  twenty- 

5354 


two  universities,  which  teach  about  40,000 
students,  or  more  than  three  times  the 
number  of  thirty  years  ago,  so  that  she 
is  now  suffering  from  academic  over- 
production— what  the  emperor  deplored 
as  an  ever-increasing  and  useless  "pro- 
letariat of  passmen."  And  all  their  pro- 
fessors are  so  omniscient. 

Gott  weiss  viel, 

Doch  mehr  der  Herr  Professor  ; 

Gott  weiss  Alles, 

Doch  er — Alles  besser  ! 

While  it  may  be  owned  that  Germany 
is  the  most  educated  nation  in  the  world, 
it  is,  nevertheless,  a  long  way  from 
being  the  same  as  besi  educated.  To 
cram  the  head  does  not  carry  with  it  that 
development  of  character  which  is  perhaps 
the  primary,  and  certainly  the  higher,  aim 
of  English  education.  It  all  lies  in  the 
difference  between  wissen  and  wollen, 
between  kennen  and  konnen.  The  general 
tendency  of  education,  military  training, 
etc.,  in  Germany  is  to  make  machines  of 
men,  and  the  thinking  power  of  machines 
is  not  high. 

Germany  is  far  ahead  of  this  country 

in  technical  education  ;    and  \-et,  says  an 

expert  :  "  It  is  not  without  cause  that  the 

best  engineers  in  the  world  are 

n  ..  '-^  w  ""^^    the  practicallv  trained  English 

Britain  Leads  f  , ,  r  ,    , ,     •    ,V 

_  engmeers,  although  their  theo- 

crmany  retical  knowledge  is  small  as 

compared  with  their  inferior  German 
competitor."  According  to  the  same 
authority  "  the  chief  practical  value  of 
the  German  schools  consists,  not  in  the 
knowledge  disseminated,  but  in  the 
discipline  instilled.  ...  It  cannot  be 
too  often  and  too  loudly  asserted  that 
Germany  has  become  great  and  powerful — 
not  through  her  education  as  synonymous 
with  knowledge,  but  through  her  disci- 
pline. National  co-operation,  the  co- 
ordination of  all  the  national  forces,  which 
is  developed  to  a  greater  extent  in 
Germany  than  in  any  other  country,  has 
proved  stronger  than  inchvidualism,  which 
squanders  the  national  forces  in  constant 
internecine  warfare.  .  .  .  Indeed,  I 
venture  emphatically  to  affirm  that 
Germany,  with  all  her  schools  and  uni- 
versities, and  with  her  army  of  300,000 
teachers,  is  a  far  less  intelligent  and  far  less 
cultured  nation  than  is  the  British  nation." 
That  is  perfectl}^  true  ;  and  it  is  equally 
true  that,  in  spite  of  all  her  "  Bildung"  and 
book-learning,  and  splendid  achievements 
in    the    field    of    science    and  literature. 


GERMANY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


How  War 
Has  Retarded 
Civilisation 


Germany  is  still  a  very  long  way  behind 
England  in  respect  of  that  general  some- 
thing which  we  call  civihsation.  No 
Englishman  can  live  long  in  Germany 
without  feeling  that  he  has  come  to  a 
country  where  material  and  social  refine- 
ment, manners,  customs,  and 
all  the  other  graces  of  civilised 
life  are  at  a  decidedly  lower 
level  than  in  his  own ;  and  that 
in  fact  the  Germans  of  to-day  are  only  at 
about  the  same  stage  of  development  as 
were  the  English  of  Queen  Elizab£th. 
That,  howevei,  is  due  to  no  inherent  in- 
capacity in  the  Germans  to  take  on  as  good 
a  coat  of  civilisation  as  ourselves,  but 
simply  to  the  fact  that  circumstances  have 
been  far  less  favourable  to  them  than  to  us. 
War  is  anything  but  a  civilising  agency, 
and  the  Germans  hitherto  may  be  said  to 
have  always  been  at  war.  So  have  we, 
for  the  matter  of  that  ;  but  while  we  have 
always  contrived  to  wage  our  wars  outside 
our  own  country,  the  poor  Germans  have 
generally  had  to  submit  to  the  devastation 
and  depopulation  of  their  own.  It  was  a 
frequent  remark  of  Bismarck  that  Ger- 
many had  not  yet  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  the  Thirty  Years  War,  which 
is  said  to  have  reduced  her  population 
from  16,000,000  to  less  than  5,000,000. 
And  then  her  other  principal  war  waged 
within  her  own  borders — the  Seven  Years 
War — the  wars  with  the  French  kings  and 
Napoleon,  and  the  campaigns  with  Den- 
mark and  Austria,  only  SLfiord  us  matter 
for  astonishment   that   the  civilisation  of 


Germany  should  be  so  high  as  it  really  is. 
But  her  forty  years'  period  of  peace  and 
material  prosperity  since  her  last  great 
struggle  with  France  has  already  done 
wonders  for  her.  The  German  race  is 
still  almost  original  in  its  vigour ;  it  is  a 
rough  diamond  in  the  mine  of  European 
nations ;  and  its  good  qualities — its 
bravery,  piety,  sincerity,  intelligence,  per- 
severance, energy,  and  idealism,  only 
require  the  setting  of  a  higher  civilisation, 
resulting  from  circumstances  of  a  kindlier 
and  more  emolUent  sort  than  ever 
blessed  it  before,  to  make  it  the  leading 
nation  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  and 
the  one  most  devoted  to  the  arts  of  peace. 
So  far,  the  highest  expression  of  the 
German  character,  since  the  disappearance 
of  Bismarck,  is  to  be  found  in  the  man 
who  had  the  tremendous  courage  to  sign 
the  warrant  for  his  dismissal — William  II., 
at  once  his  country's  greatest  ornament  and 
asset.  Of  him.  the  American  Ambassador  at 
Berlin,  Mr.  Andrew  D.White,  who  had  every 
opportunity  for  studying  his  character, 
spoke  truly  when  he  said  :  "  The  young 
monarch  who  is  now  at  the  head  of  Ger- 
many— original,  yet  studious  of 

dea  s  o  ^j^g  great  men  and  deeds  of  the 
t  e     erman  pg^g^ .   brave,  yet  conciliatory; 

mpcror  j^ever  allowing  the  mail-clad  fist 
to  become  unnerved,  but  none  the  less 
devoted  to  the  conquests  of  peace ;  standing 
firmly  on  reahties,  but  with  a  steady  vision 
of  ideals — seems  likely  to  add  a  new  name 
to  those  who,  as  leaders  of  Germany,  have 
advanced  the  world."      Charles  Lowe 


KLEBER    SQUARE,   STRASSBURG,    WITH   THE   CATHEDRAL    RISING    IN    THE    BACKGROUND 

5355 


ESSENTIAL    INFORMATION    ABOUT    GERMANY 


Area  and  Population.  The  German  Empire 
consists  of  the  following  kingdoms,  grand  duchies, 
duchies,  principalities  and  free  towns. 


KlNOUOMS — 

Prussia 

Bavaria  . .         

Saxony  

Witrteinberg    . . 
Grand  Duchies — 

Baden     

Hesse 

Meckleiiburg-Schwerin 

Saxe- Weimar 

Mecklenburg-Strelitz 

Oldenburg        

Duchies— 

Brunswick        . .         . . 

Saxe-Meiningen 

Saxe-Altenburg 

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha  . . 

Anhalt 

Principalities — 

Schwarzburg-Sondershauseu 

Scbwarzburg-Rudolstadt    . . 

Waldei^k  

Reuss  Aelterer  Linie 

Reuss  Jiingerer  Linie 

Schaumburg-Lippe   . . 

Lippe      

Free  Towns— 

LUbeck 

Bremen 

Hamburg  

Eeichslaiid  of  Alsace-Lorraine 


l.-i4.616 

37,293.324 

2».292 

6,524.372 

5.789 

4.508,601 

7.534 

2.302,179 

5,823 

2,010.728 

2,966 

1,209.175 

5.06S 

625,045 

1.397 

388.095 

1.131 

103.451 

2,482 

43S.856 

1,418 

485.9.18 

953 

268.916 

511 

206,508 

764 

242,  «2 

888 

328,029 

333 

85.162 

363 

96,835 

433 

59,127 

122 

70.603 

319 

144..584 

131 

44.992 

469 

145..577 

115 

105.857 

99 

263,440 

160 
.'5.604 

874.878 
1.814. .564 

208.780  60,641.278 


Deputies  in 
Reichstag. 


The  cities  and  towns  with  over  100,000  population 
are  as  follow  : 

Prfssia.  Berlin,  2,040,148  ;  Breslau,  470,904  ;  Colosriie, 
428,722 ;  Frankfort-on-Main,  334,978  ;  Diisseldort, 
253,274;  Hanover,  2.50,02t;  Magdeburg,  240,633; 
Charlottenbiirg,  239,559  ;  Essen,  231,300  ;  Stettin,  224,119; 
Kcinigsbera,  223,770  ;  Diiisburg,  192,346 ;  Dortmund, 
175,577  ;  Halle-on-Saale,  169,916  ;  Altona,  168,320;  Kiel, 
163,772  ;  Elberfeld,  162,853  ;  Danzig,  159,648  ;  Barmen, 
156.080;  Rixdon",  153,513;  Uelsenkirchen,  147,005; 
Aachen,  144,095;  Schoneberg,  141,040  ;  Posen,  136,808  ; 
Kassel,  120,467;  Bochuni,  118,464;  Crefeld,  110,344; 
Wiesbaden,  100,953. 

Bavaria.     Munich,  538,983  ;    Nlirnberg,  294,426. 

Saxony.  Dresden,  516,996  ;  Leipzig,  503,672  ;  Chem 
nit?,  244,927  ;  Plauen,  105,381. 

WURTEMBERG.     Stuttgart,  249,286. 

Alsace-Lorraine,     stras-burg,  167.678. 

Baden.     Mannheim,  163,693  ;    Karlsruhe,  111,249. 

Brunswick.     Brunswick,  136,397. 

Free  Cities.     Fambura,  802,793  :  Bremen,  214.861. 

Government.  The  supreme  direction  of  political 
and  military  affairs  is,  by  the  Constitution  of  1871, 
vested  in  the  King  of  Prussia,  who  in  nis  capacity  as 
chief  of  the  German  states  is  German  Emperor. 
There  are  two  Chambers  in  the  German  Parliament — 
the  Bundesrat,  or  Federal  Council,  the  members  of 
which  are  appointed  by  the  Governments  of  the 
separate  states  for  each  session  ;  and  the  Reichstag, 
the  members  of  which  are  elected  by  universal 
suffrage  for  five-year  terms.  The  Bundesrat  has  58 
members,  and  the  Reichstag  has  397  members,  the 
representation  being  distributed  as  shown  in  the  table 
appearing  above.  Alsace-Lorraine  has  in  the  Bundes- 
rat four  commissioners,  who  are  appointed  by  the 
Statthalter,  but  who  have  no  votes.  Members  of  the 
Reichstag  are  paid.  At  the  head  of  Imperial  affairs 
is  the  Chancellor  of  the  Empire,  assisted  by  seven 
Secretaries  of  State  and  seven  Presidents  of  Imperial 
bureaus.  But  there  is  no  collective  Cabinet  or 
Ministry  ;  each  Minister  acts  independently  under 
the  control  of  the  Chancellor.  The  prerogatives  of 
the  emperor  are  restricted  by  the  Constitution.  He 
has  no  power  of  veto  in  respect  to  laws  passed  by  the 
two  Chambers,  and  can  declare  war  only  if  defensive. 

Emperor.  The  reigning  emperor  is  Wilhelm  II., 
King  of  Prussia,  who  was  born  on  January  27th, 
1859,  and  became  emperor  on  June  15th,  1888.  He 
i^  the  third  of  the  Hohenzollerns,  and  succeeded  his 
father,  Frederic  III.,  who  reigned  for  only  three 
months. 

5356 


Ct)LONiE.s.  Germany  is  the  youngest  of  the 
Colonial  Powers,  her  first  colonies  having  been  the 
African  po.ssessions  acquired  in  1884.  None  of  her 
colonies  are  self-governing,  all  being  administered  by 
Imperial  governors.    They  are  aa  follow  : 


~    '■• 

Square 
mUes. 

Estiui;it    1 
populaliin. 

APRK  A— 

Tog..,lai.d 

Kiiiuenin 

South-west  Africa         

East  Africa           

Asia— 

Kiauchau  Bay 

Pahfio— 

Samoau  Islands 

Other  Pacific  Possessions,  Including  Kaiser  Wil- 
helm's  Laud,   or  German  New    Guinea,   Bis- 
luaick  or  Low  Archipelago,  Caroline  Islands, 
Pelew    Islands,    Mananiie    Islands,    Solomon 
Islands,  and  Marshall  Islands       

:«,700 
191.130 
322,4.50 
384,180 

200 

1,000 

95.160 

l.OOfJ.ili". 

3,500.111111 

200.000 

7,000,000 

30,000 

33,000 

3.56,000 

Tutal         

1,027.820 

12,119,000 

Finance.  The  revenue  for  the  year  1906  was 
£119,756,500,  and  the  expenditure  was  £119,363,550. 
The  funded  debt  of  the  German  Empire  amounts  to 
£177,175,000,  in  addition  to  about  £30,000,000 
Treasury  bonds  and  other  less  permanent  obligatioas. 

Industry  and  Commerce.  Germany  ranks  high 
as  an  agricultural  country,  but  as  her  own  great 
population  absorbs  her  agricultural  produce,  she 
does  not  appear  as  an  important  exporter  of  foods. 
Of  the  whole  area  of  the  country,  91  per  cent,  is 
productive,  and  only  9  per  cent,  unproductive.  The 
principal  crops  grown,  in  the  order  of  their  acreage, 
are  rye,  hay,  oats,  potatoes,  wheat,  barley,  vines, 
hops  and  tobacco.  Yet  the  exports  of  agricultural 
and  animal  produce  are  less  than  one-fourth  the 
value  of  the  imports  of  the  same  class.  Germany  has 
rich  mineral  districts,  the  chief  being  Westphalia, 
Rhenish  Prussia  and  Silesia  for  coal  and  iron,  the 
Harz  for  silver  and  copper,  and  Silesia  for  zinc.  The 
principal  minerals  raised,  in  the  order  of  their 
importance,  are  coal,  lignite,  iron  ore,  potassic  salt, 
rock  salt,  copper  ore,  zinc  ore,  and  lead  ore.  The 
fishing  industry  is  not  important,  and  only  618 
German  boats  are  engaged  in  deep-sea  fishing  in  the 
North  Sea.  The  total  number  of  people  engaged  in 
the  fishing  industry,  including  inland,  shore,  and  sea 
fishing,  is  about  32,000.  As  a  manufacturing  country 
Germany  takes  a  high  place.  Over  a  million  people 
find  employment  in  the  metal  and  machinery  trades, 
almost  a  million  in  textile  trades,  and  over  half  a 
million  in  the  manufacture  of  wooden  ware.  There 
are  almost  400  sugar  factories.  In  1908  German 
imports  aggregated  £409,048,000,  and  her  exports 
£332,030.000. 

Currency.  The  mark  is  worth  llfd.  of 
English  money,  and  the  pound  sterling  is  equivalent 
to  20'43  marks.  For  approximate  calculation,  the 
mark  is  usually  considered  as  being  worth  a  shilling, 
and  20  marks  as  being  worth  an  English  sovereign. 
The  thaler  is  a  coin  of  3  marks,  the  Icrone  is  worth  10 
marks,  and  the  doppel-krone  is  worth  20  marks. 
There  are  also  silver  coias  of  ^,  1,  2,  and  5  mark 
pieces,  and  in  nickel  there  are  5  and  10  pfennig 
pieces.  The  standard  is  gold,  and  the  20- mark  piece 
contains  7"  16846  grammes  of  fine  gold. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  metric  system  be- 
came the  legal  standard  on  January  1st,  1872.  For 
British  equivalents  of  metric  values,  see  page  5399. 

Postage.  From  Great  Britain  to  Germany : 
Letters,  papers,  and  samples  as  for  France,  see 
page  5398.  Parcels — by  sea  to  Hamburg — Is., 
Is.  6d.,  and  2s.  for  3,  7,  and  11  lb.  respectively, 
or  3d.  per  parcel  above  these  rates  if  by  Ostend 
or   Flushing. 

Telegrams.    Gt.  Britain  to  Germany,  2d.  per  word. 


EUROPEAN 
POWERS 
TO-DAY 


V 
HOLLAND 

AND 
BELGIUM 


HOLLAND    AND    BELGIUM    IN    OUR 

OWN    TIME 

LIBERTY  &  PROSPERITY  IN  THE  SMALL  STATES 
By    Robert   Machray,    B.A. 


A  REVOLUTION  in  Brussels,  not  at  first 
^*-  sight  of  a  very  formidable  character, 
but  symptomatic  of  a  deep,  widespread, 
pervasive  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with 
existing  conditions,  brought  about  in  1830 
a  movement  which,  assuming  a  national 
aspect,  resulted  in  the  forcible  dissolution 
of  the  union  between  Belgium  and  Holland. 
The  Flemish  people,  who  inhabited  the 
North  of  Belgium,  belonged  to  much  the 
same  branch  of  the  great  German  family 
as  the  Dutch,  and  might  be  supposed  to 
have  greater  sympathy  with  them  than 
with  the  Walloons,  who  occupied  the 
south  of  the  country,  and  were  of  closer 
kin  to  the  French  than  to  the  Teutons. 
But  they  were  Roman  Catholics,  and  the 
Dutch,  for  the  most  part,  belonged  to  the 
Reformed  Church — in  itself  a  pronounced 
line  of  cleavage.  Besides,  the  Dutch  had  not 
been  politic ;  they  had  treated  the  Flemings 
with  as  little  consideration  as  the  Walloons. 
In  fact,  they  had  regarded  all  Belgium  as 
inferior  to  Holland,  and  looked  upon  it 
as  if  it  had  been  theirs  by  conquest. 

If  they  had  acted  in  a  different  spirit, 
Belgium  and  Holland  might  have  been 
one  country  to-day.  But  the  separation 
took  place  soon  after  the  rising  in  Brussels, 
although  the  independence  of  Belgium 
was  not  acknowledged  by  Holland  till  nine 
years  afterwards.  Sometimes  the  union 
p  .       of  countries  has  proved  a  great 

J^^ft"  J    benefit,  as  in  the  case  of  Eng- 


and  Belgium 


land  and  Scotland  ;    at    other 


times  their  divorce  has  been 
followed  by  real  good  to  both,  and  this  is 
what  has  happened  with  respect  to  Holland 
and  Belgium.  They  are  small  states,  yet 
they  can  show,  area  and  population  con- 
sidered, a  prosperity,  a  condition  of  general 
well-being,  which  can  hardly  be  matched 


in  the  history  of  the  world.  It  is  ex- 
tremely doubtful  if  this  could  have  been 
said  if  they  had  remained  united.  The 
religious  antagonism  would  alone,  in  all 
probability,  have  prevented  it.  Holland 
is  a  country  with  a  history  of  which  any 

„  ,,  .,  _  nation  might  well  be  proud. 
Holland  s  Brave   t,    ■  ,-^,,i  ,  ^  . 

g         .    ,  It  IS  a  little  country,  yet 

I  j"^^  J  *"  a  great  one.  As  is  often 
Independence  '?  ,     ,       ,  c      .^  ^ 

pomted  out  lor  the  example 

of  mankind,  the  Dutch  have  fought  through 

several  centuries  a  finer  struggle  for  civil 

liberty  and    national   independence   than 

has  been  made  by  any  other  people. 

The  story  of  their  long  struggle  against 
the  might  of  Spain  is  so  full  of  a  stormy 
grandeur,  an  invincible  heroism,  a  prodi- 
gal heaping-up  of  the  elements  which 
are  best  and  noblest  in  human  character, 
that  the  mere  memory  of  them  moves 
the  heart  and  fills  the  soul  with  passionate 
emotion.  The  expression,  the  "  soul  of 
a  people,"  is  often  used,  though,  perhaps, 
not  always  quite  accurately ;  but  if 
there  is  a  people  of  whom  it  may  be 
said  truly,  it  is  of  this  people  of  Holland. 
And  as  the  soul  of  Holland  was  in  days 
bygone,  so  it  is  to-day — hard  and  proud, 
money-loving  and  money-getting,  no  doubt 
at  all,  but  above  and  bey-ond  everything 
instinct  with  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  for 
which  no  sacrifice  can  be  too  great. 

The  supreme  desire  of  the  Dutch  is  to 
preserve  their  independence,  to  have  their 
Holland  their  very  own.  It  is  this  ideal 
which  dominates  their  national  life,  and 
equally  inspires  the  two  parties,  Liberals 
and  Anti-Liberals  or  Anti-Revolutionists, 
which  divide  its  political  life.  They  have 
good  reason  for  cherishing  this  ideal,  and 
never  more  so  than  at  the  present  time. 
For,  from  the  international  point  of  view, 

5357 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  position  of.  Holland  is  not  exactly 
a  happy  one.  There  is  the  interesting 
question  of  the  succession  to  the  throne — 
inte:resting  rather  than  difficult,  for  even 
if  Queen  Wilhclmina  should  have  no  heir 
a  successor  to  the  throne  can  be  found  in  a 
prince,  with  the  blood  of  the  glorious 
House  of  Orange  in  his  veins,  who  will 
_  be  in  sympathy  with  Dutch 

H*?f^d'°  aspirations.  The  danger  to 
Independence  ^^'^  independence  of  Holland 
goes  much  deeper  than  this. 
The  most  marked  feature  of  the  history 
of  these  first  years  of  the  century  is  the 
growing  antagonism  between  Britain  and 
Germany.  However  much  or  little  the 
fact  may  be  realised,  the  fact  remains, 
deplorable,  menacing,  incalculable  as  to 
result  upon  the  world.  The  hope  of  all 
men  of  good  will  is  that  a  stiiiggle  may  be 
averted.  No  one  can  regard  the  question 
without  the  deepest  anxiety ;  but  the  Dutch 
have  special  reason  for  thinking  of  it  with 
foreboding ;  for  Holland  stands  between 
England  and  Germany.  But  it  is  not 
Britain  that  Holland  has  any  need  to  fear. 
The  irritation  produced  in  Great  Britain 
by  the  expression  of  the  pro-Boer  sym- 
pathies of  the  Dutch  during  the  South 
African  War  has  passed  away,  most  fair- 
minded  Britons  feeling  that  the  Dutch 
could  hardly  have  acted  otherwise  than 
they  did  in  supporting  to  some  extent  their 
kin.  Britain  has  no  wish  that  Holland 
should  be  other  than  independent  for  ever. 
But  the  same  cannot  be  said  with  equal 
truth  of  Germany.  Holland  holds  the 
mouth  of  the  Rhine,  the  greatest  German 
river — "  the  Rhine,  the  Rhine,  the  German 
Rhine,"  as  the  song  puts  it.  There  has  long 
been  a  school  of  German  political  thought 
which  maintains  that  the  possession  of  the 
whole  river,  particularly  of  its  outlets, 
is  necessary  to  Germany,  and  never  ceases 
to  urge  that,  seeing  also  that  the  Dutch 
are  of  Germanic  stock,  Holland  should  be 
occupied  by  Germany.  Holland,  too, 
„  holds  the  gi-eat  ports  of  Am- 

.    p         ,    sterdam  and  Rotterdam,  argu- 
Q  ments    that    further    reinforce 

^  the  German  claim.  With  this 
extended  sea  front,  what  might  not 
Germany  become  !  Does  not  "  manifest 
destiny  "  point  this  way  ?  The  bulk  of 
Germans,  it  should  be  said,  listen  to  these 
flattering  voices  as  if  they  heard  them  not, 
but  the  Dutch  are  hearing  them  alwaj/s, 
and  are  haunted  by  them.  If  they  have  no 
serious  fears,   for  the  time   being,   of  an 

5358 


unprovoked  armed  annexation  of  their 
country  by  Germany,  they  dread  the 
employment  of  subtler  methods,  commer- 
cial and  diplomatic,  which  would  bring 
about  its  gradual  Germanisation.  And 
again,  at  a  crisis  in  European  history, 
when  the  sacredness  of  treaties  has  been 
shown  to  be  a  fiction,  should  a  war  break 
out  between  Britain  and  Germany,  what 
guarantee  has  Holland  that  her  territory 
might  not  suddenly  be  seized  by  Germany 
as  a  base  for  operations  against  Britain  ? 
It  is  questions  like  this,  arising  out  of  the 
present  international  situation,  that  disturb 
Holland  and  cause  great  searchings  of  heart. 

The  Dutch  were  never  more  determined 
than  at  the  present  tinie  to  preserve  their 
identity  as  a  people,  and'  apart  from  the 
menace  which  hangs  over  them  they  go 
about  their  business  at  home  and  abroad 
in  their  quiet,  easy,  immemorial  way. 
They  remain,  as  they  have  been  for  many 
generations,  great  men  of  business  ;  their 
wealth  and  commerce  now  grow  from 
year  to  year  ;  they  have  got  their  vast 
colonial  empire  well  in  hand,  but  their 
money  flows  into  many  lands — it  was  the 
.  capital  they  supplied  that  in 

.  °  *°  large  measure  built  the  railways 

p^  J.  of  the  United  States.  Amster- 
dam is  one  of  the  banking 
centres  of  the  world,  besides  being  its 
diamond  mart.  The  country,  with  its  2,000 
miles  of  canals  and  1,800  miles  of  railway's, 
presents  a  pleasing  spectacle  of  well-ordered 
life,  with  features  of  its  own  which  differen- 
tiate it  from  that  of  every  other  land. 

There  is  a  spirit  of  peace,  of  rest,  of 
quiet  about  it,  especially  in  the  interior, 
that  is  looked  for  in  vain  elsewhere.  The 
old  order  changes  in  Holland  as  in  other 
countries,  but  with  a  measured  tran- 
quillity all  its  own.  Its  windmills,  its 
level,  highly  cultivated  fields,  its  dreamy- 
homesteads,  the  picturesque  dress  of  its 
slow-moving,  much-smoking  peasants  still 
endure — the  delight  of  the  contemplative 
and  such  as  love  not  the  fret  and  fuss  and 
hurry  of  these  times  of  ours,  and  the  joy 
of  the  artist.  In  its  great  cities,  such  as 
The  Hague,  Amsterdam,  and  Rotterdam, 
the  old-world  atmosphere  is  scarce  to  be 
found  save  in  some  old  houses  and  in  the 
churches;  in  them  the  modern  spirit  pre- 
vails, as  might  be  expected.  Yet,  speaking 
generally,  the  peace  of  the  land  is  so  great 
that  nothing  could  have  been  more  appro- 
priate than  the  building  of  the  world's 
Palace  of  Peace,  where  arbitration  takes 


THE    TOWN     OF     UTRECHT      SHOWING    THE     OLD     CANAL 


VIEW    IN    LEYDEN,    WHICH    STANDS    ON    BOTH    SIDES    OF    THE    OLD    RHINE 


-'iifiiMii/'ir  ih-^'- 


f^^ 


ROTTERDAM,  THE  CHIEF  SEAPORT  OF   THE  NETHERLANDS 


SCENES     IN     THE    TOWNS    OF    THE     NETHERLANDS 


5359 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  place  of  war,  in  the  midst  ol  this  people. 

Holland    is    a    land  of   liberty.      Though 

predominantly  a  Protestant  country,  any 

Dutchman      is      free     to     worship     God 

according  to  his  conscience.    Commercially, 

Holland  believes  in  Free  Trade,  and  has 

fattened  upon  it.     Nothing,  perhaps,  gives 

better  evidence  of  its  prosperity  than  the 

„    p  fact    that    it    has  doubled    its 

o     oor       population  since  the  middle  of 

„  ,,  "\  last  century.  Its  population  is 
Holland  .  X        i_      i.     r    •  IT 

now  not  far  short  of  six  millions, 

in  1849  it  was  about  three.  Another 
notable  fact  which  witnesses  to  the  same 
thing  is  that  there  is  no  poor  rate  in 
Holland.  Of  course  there  are  poor  people, 
but  they  are  cared  for,  as  a  rule,  by 
religious  societies  and  private  charities. 

Its  political  system  is  simple.  At  the 
headof  the  State  is  the  sovereign;  then  there 
are  two  Chambers  for  legislation.  The  mon- 
archy is  constitutional  and  hereditary  ;  the 
Parliament,  known  as  the  States-General, 
consists  of  a  First  Chamber  of  fifty  members 
elected  for  nine  years — one-third  retire 
every  three  years — ^by  the  provinces  ;  and 
of  a  Second  Chamber  of  100  members, 
elected  for  four  years  by  all  male  citizens 
of  twenty-five  and  upwards  who  pay  a 
direct  tax  to  the  State,  or  are  householders, 
or  own  boats  of  twenty-four  tons,  or  have 
a  salary  of  about  £23  yearly,  or  show 
evidence  that  they  can  support  their 
families.  This  means  that  about  one-third 
of  the  male  citizens  have  votes. 

For  many  years  Dutch  politics  were 
largely  influenced  by  questions  arising  out 
of  their  colonial  empire,  but  this  phase  has 
passed  away.  Recently  the  most  important 
measure  passed  into  law  is  the  Electoral 
Reform  Law  of  1896,  which  regulates  the 
franchise  as  mentioned  above.  The  Dutch 
attach  great  importance  to  education, 
which  is  compulsory  for  children  from  six 
to  thirteen  years  of  age.  Their  schools  and 
universities  are  well  organised ;  their 
primary  schools  are  practically  free.    The 

Dutch   are  fine   hnguists,  per- 
u^t^lit      haps   because   their   own   lan- 
p-  o-  a  e    pjuage  can  take  them  but  a  httle 
Education      ^      °  .       y^  ,         , 

way  m   Europe   or   elsewhere. 

It  is  quite  a  common  thing  for  Dutchmen 
of  any  position  at  all  to  speak  fluently  and 
correctly  French,  German,  and  English. 

Belgium  enjoys  one  great  advantage 
over  its  northern  neighbour,  for  its 
neutrality  is  guaranteed  by  the  Treaty  of 
London,  November  15th,  1831,  by  Aus- 
tria,  Russia,  Great  Britain,  and  Prussia. 

5360 


No  country  has  made  greater  strides  during 
recent  years  than  Belgium  in  wealth  and 
industrial  development,  thanks  to  its 
natural  resources,  but  thanks  also  to  the 
fact  of  its  neutrality  being  guaranteed — 
a  fact  of  which  the  Belgians  sometimes  are 
inclined  to  lose  sight.  During  the  Franco- 
German  War,  Britain  prevailed  upon  both 
combatants  to  affirm  afresh  the  neutrality 
of  this  little  country,  which  otherwise 
might  have  been  affected  very  adversely. 
Under  the  segis  of  the  protecting 
Powers,  Belgium  has  had  full  oppor- 
tunity for  self-development,  and  it  must 
be  admitted  that  it  has  taken  every 
advantage  of  it.  No  one  can  visit  Belgium 
without  being  struck  by  its  prosperity, 
whether  as  regards  the  purely  agricultural 
section,  with  its  vast  number  of  small 
holdings  all  in  the  highest  state  of  cultiva- 
tion, or  as  regards  the  manufacturing  part, 
the  centre  of  which  lies  about  Liege,  with 
its  huge  ironworks  and  other  highly 
successful  industries.  And  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  infected  as  Belgium  is  with 
the  modern  spirit,  it  is  a  country  with  a 
rich  historic  past  still  living  and  actual  in 
such  cities  as  Ghent  and  Bruges, 
and  that,  in  the  Ardennes,  it 


Franchise 
Liberties 
in  Belgium 


can  show  scenes  of  loveliness 
and  rare  charm  that  appeal  to 
all.  Its  magnificent  cathedrals,  with  their 
splendid  pictures,  will  alwaj's  exercise  some 
influence  on  Belgian  life  and  character, 
though  not,  perhaps,  in  the  exact  direction 
its  "  Clericals  "  would  prefer. 

Belgium  came  into  existence,  as  has 
already  been  stated,  on  its  secession  from 
Holland.  By  its  constitution,  framed  in 
1831,  it  is  a  constitutional,  representative, 
and  hereditary  monarchy,  legislative  power 
being  vested  in  the  sovereign  and  two 
Houses  of  Parliament,  the  upper  being 
known  as  the  Senate,  the  lower  as  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  or  Representatives. 
Several  changes  have  been  made  in  the 
constitution  with  respect  to  the  franchise, 
the  last  being  introduced  by  the  law  of 
December  29th,  1899.  By  this  law  the 
principle  of  manhood  suffrage  has  been 
established,  qualified,  however,  by  the 
suffrage  universel  plnriel,  and  the  pro- 
portional representation  of  minorities 
founded  upon  a  somewhat  complex  system. 
All  citizens  over  twenty-five  who  have 
lived  for  one  year  in  any  given  commune 
have  one  vote.  But  this  is  not  all.  They 
have  an  additional  vote  if,  first,  they  are. 
thirty-five    years    of    age,   married,   with 


HOLLAND    AND    BELGIUM    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


legitimate  offspring,  and  pay  a  tax  of  five 
francs  (4s.)  to  the  State  ;  or,  second,  are 
twenty-five  years  of  age  and  own  immov- 
able property  to  the  value  of  ;^8o,  or  have 
a  corresponding  income,  or  for  two  years 
have  received  £^  a  year  from  Belgian  State 
funds  or  from  the  national  savings  bank. 
But  the  Belgian  can  have  yet  another  vote 
if,  being  twenty-five  years  old,  he  possesses 
a  diploma  of  higher  education,  or  has  filled 
some  public  or  even  private  position 
which  implies  this  higher  education. 

No  Belgian  can  have  more  than  three 
votes.  Both  Houses  of  Parliament  are 
chosen  by  this  electorate.  Senators  are 
elected  for  eight  years,  most  of  them  being 
elected  by  the  general  body  of  voters,  and 
the  rest  by  the  provincial  councils.  The 
Deputies  are  elected  for  four  years,  in  the 
proportion  of  one  member  to  every  40,000 
of  the  population,  and  number  116,  one- 
half  of  whom  retire  every  two  years.  The 
members  of  Parliament  are  paid  indemni- 
ties, and  get  free  passes  over  the  railways. 
Though  Belgium  has  of  recent  years 
become  an  intensely  democratic  country, 
it  is  still,  as  will  have  been  seen,  a  long 
_      .  way  from  the  "  one  man,  one 

c  gium  a  ^^q\q  "  principle.  Its  present 
r  ng  o  o  f  j-j^j^(^j^jgg  jg  ^j^g  result  of  a  long 
a,nd  sometimes  embittered 
struggle  which,  apart  from  the  Congo, 
practically  includes  the  whole  political 
history  of  the  country.  For  a  lengthy 
period  after  the  foundation  of  the  king- 
dom under  Leopold  I.,  power  was  held 
alternately  by  the  Clericals,  or  Catholics, 
and  the  Liberals,  or  Anti-Catholics ;  it  was 
much  the  same  during  the  first  twenty 
years  of  the  present  king,  Leopold  IL 
But  1886  saw  the  rise  of  a  new  party,  that 
of  the  Socialists,  and  it  is  this  party  which 
has  made  Belgium  democratic  ;  though  it 
did  not  become  formidable  much  before 
1893,  it  has  since  become  a  great  power  in 
the  land.  The  state  of  parties  may  be 
best  shown  by  quoting  the  election  returns 
for  1908.  Half  the  deputies  had  to  be 
elected — 81  seats  in  all.  The  Socialists 
won  five  seats,  three  from  the  Liberals 
and  two  from  the  Catholics,  now  in  power. 
The  new  Chamber  consists  of  8y  Catholics, 
43  Liberals,  i  Christian  Democrat,  and  35 
Socialists.  In  the  elections  to  the  Upper 
House  the  Liberals  lost  five  seats,  of 
which  the  Socialists  gained  three,  leaving 
the  Catholics  with  63  votes  against  the 
47  of  the  combined  opposition,  or  "  Left." 
Twelve     years    ago    the    Catholics    had 


two-thirds  of  the  votes  in  the  Chamber.  It 
is  thus  apparent  that  the  "  Right,"  or 
Catholics,  are  steadily  losing  ground  ;  they 
draw  their  strength  mainly  from  the 
Flemish  provinces,  while  the  parties  form- 
ing the  "  Left  "  derive  theirs  from  the 
Walloon  provinces.  The  Catholics  sup- 
port religious  education  in  the  schools  and 
Clerical  universities,  and  the  Church, 
Con""!  of  P^^^  ^y  *^^®  ^^^^^'  '^  y^^  outside 
Education  ^^^  control.  The  Liberals  be- 
long to  the  middle  class  and 
the  industrial  portion  of  the  community, 
and  are,  as  it  were,  between  two  stools. 
The  Socialists  preach  and  uphold  the 
doctrine  of  collectivism,  and  are  strongest 
among  the  working  classes.  All  parties 
of  the  Left  unite  against  the  Clerical 
control  of  education.  But  the  battle 
wages  most  fiercely,  as  for  many  years 
past,  round  the  franchise.  In  1904  M. 
Feron,  the  leader  of  the  Left,  moved  the 
abolition  of  "  plural  "  voting  in  favour 
of  universal  suffrage,  but  was  defeated. 
In  1906  all  sections  of  the  Left  combined 
on  a  common  programme,  the  two  chief 
"  planks  "  in  it  being  reform  of  the  fran- 
chise and  compulsory  education  free  from 
Church  control.     And  the  end  is  not  yet. 

Perhaps  it  should  be  said  that  almost 
the  entire  population  of  Belgium  belongs 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  but  full 
religious  liberty  prevails,  all  denomina- 
tions receiving  grants  from  the  national 
funds.  The  two  racial  divisions,  Flemish 
and  Walloon,  continue  to  be  marked  by  a 
difference  of  language.  Nearly  3,000,000 
in  the  north,  the  country  of  Flanders, 
speak  Flemish  only  ;  while  rather  more 
than  2,500,000  in  the  south,  the  Walloon 
area,  speak  French  only.  About  1,000,000 
Belgians  speak  both  languages. 

But  it  is  the  South  chiefly  that  is  indus- 
trial, that  has  the  greatest  wealth,  that  has 
made,  and  is  making,  Belgium  what  it  is, 
and  in  the  end  it  can  hardly  fail  to  establish 
its  influence  as  supreme  over  the  national 
,  life.  In  Southern  Belgium  the 
Belgium  s  st^^ndard  of  education  is,  on 
PriTstr*'"^  the  whole,  higher  than  in  the 
North,  as  might  be  expected 
from  the  pressure  of  industrial  competition. 
The  higher  branches  of  education  are  well 
provided  for  throughout  the  country ; 
it  is  with  respect  to  the  primary  schools 
that  the  trouble  comes.  Primary  school 
education  is  compulsory  in  a  way,  but  it  is 
too  much  in  the  hands  of  the  priests,  who, 
naturally,   are  more  or  less  reactionary. 

5361 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


But  the  chief  fact  in  the  contemporary 
history  of  Belgium  is  its  wonderful 
industrial  development  ;  this  has  been 
helped  by  technical  education,  which  is  in 
an  advanced  state. 

Belgium  has  now  taken  upon  itself  the 
responsibilities  of  a  great  colonial  empire. 
In  1908  the  Congo  Free  State  ceased  to  be 
independent,  the  sovereignty  over  it  being 
transferred  from  the  King  of  the  Belgians 
to  the  country.  The  area  of  the  Congo 
is  estimated  at  802,000  square  miles,  and 
its    population    at    from     14,000,000    to 


30,000,000.  The  Cong©  State  was  consti- 
tuted a  sovereign  country  under  Leopold 
II.  in  1885  by  the  Berlin  Conference.  It 
was  declared  neutral,  with  free  trade,  and 
the  natives  were  protected  under  special 
rules — rules  which,  there  is  only  too  much 
reason  to  believe,  were  not  observed  in 
actual  practice. 

As  the  Congo  has  been  thrown  open  to 
all  the  world,  there  is  Uttle  ground  now  to 
suppose  that  there  will  be  a  continuance  of 
the  atrocities  perpetrated  on  the  natives 
which  shocked  the  conscience  of  mankind. 


THE    GRAND    DUCHY    OF    LUXEMBURG 


~PHE  great  world  nowadays  knows  very 

■*•      little   about  this  small  country,  but 

rather  more  than  forty  years  ago  its  name 

was  on  the  lips  of  everyone  ;   for  after  the 

war  between  Prussia  and  Austria  in  1866 — 

which  resulted  in  the  decisive  defeat  of  the 

-  ,     latter  and  a  fresh  grouping  to- 

uxcm  urg  s    „g^j^gj.  ^^  ^^le  German  states — 

Independence  ?t         1  ttt  i-x   << 

r.  ^     .      Napoleon  III.  sought      com- 

Ouaranteed  ^      ,.        >,   .      t-  r       ^i 

pensation     to  1^  ranee  tor  the 

increased  power  of  the  former  by  attempting 
to  buy  the  Grand  Duchy  from  the  King  of 
Holland,  who  also  was  Grand  Duke  of 
Luxemburg.  Prussia,  however,  stoutly 
resisted  this  scheme,  and  for  a  time  the 
"  Luxemburg  Question,"  as  it  was  called, 
filled  the  mind  of  diplomatic  Europe  with 
apprehensions  of  war.  But  the  matter  was 
finally  settled  by  a  conference  of  the  Powers 
held  in  London  in  1867,  when  it  was  agreed 
that  the  garrison  Prussia  had  for  many 
years  maintained  in  the  city  of  Luxemburg 
should  be  permanently  withdrawn  from  its 
fortress,  that  the  fortress  itself  should  be 
dismantled  and  destroyed,  and  that  the 
Grand  Duchy  should  henceforth  become  in 
every  sense  an  independent  and  sovereign 
State,  with  its  neutrality  guaranteed. 

Another  consequence,  though  not  imme- 
diate, of  this  war  was  that  a  prince  of  the 
illustrious  House  of  Orange-Nassau,  from 
whom  Prussia  had  taken  the  Duchy  of 
Nassau,  became  Grand  Duke  of  Luxem- 
burg. His  son,  William,  is  the  reigning 
sovereign  at  the  moment  when  this  article 
is  written.  A  nice  point  has  arisen  as  to 
the  succession  to  the  throne,  for  the  Grand 
Duke's  children  are  all  daughters,  and, 
according  to  the  Salic  Law,  the  Grand 
Duchy  should  pass  away  from  his  family 
at  his  death.  It  was  by  this  law  that 
Luxemburg  had  ceased  to  belong  to  the 

5362 


sovereigns  of  Holland,  the  older  branch  of 
the  House  of  Orange,  when  Queen  Wilhel- 
mina  succeeded  William  III.  Like  the 
Dutch,  the  "  Luxemburgeois  "  have  the 
fear  of  Germany,  their  most  powerful 
neighbour,  before  their  eyes  ;  they  have 
no  desire  to  lose  their  national  identity  in 
the  existing  German  Empire,  as  might 
very  easily  happen.  Therefore,  in  July, 
1907,  their  Parliament,  or  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  became  a  law  unto  themselves 
by  solemnly  declaring  that  the  succession 
shall  devolve  on  the  present  Grand  Duke's 
daughters,  and  their  descendants  in  order 
of  birth,  the  Salic  Law  notwithstanding. 
And  as  no  Power  is  likely  to  say  them  nay, 
in  the  Europe  of  to-day,  the  people  breathe 
freely  once  more. 

It  is  a  very  tiny  state,  this  Grand  Duchy, 
its  area  being  just  a  trifle  under  1,000 
square  miles,  and  its  population  some- 
where about  250,000.  It  is  well  governed 
by  its  Chamber,  which  consists  of  forty-five 
members,  half  of  whom  are  elected  every 
three  years  ;  it  has  no  army  to  speak  of, 
and  its  debt,  mostly  incurred  in  railway 
building,  is  a  mere  bagatelle.  It  is  a  pros- 
perous little  country,  its  mining  and 
smelting  industries  bringing  in  much  grist 
to  the  national  mill ;  it  is  a  happy  little 
country,  for  its  inhabitants,  now  that  the 
German  spectre  is  laid,  are  well  content 
with  their  lot  ;  it  is  a  beautiful 
oun  ry  jj^^jg  country,  especially  the 
Happy  and  _     - .         J^     .        J   .  .    . 


Prosperous 


northern    half     of     it,    which 


forms  the  south-east  portion  of 
that  lovely  land  known  as  the  Ardennes. 
There  is  no  more  interesting  or  romantic 
city  than  the  capital,  also  called  Luxem- 
burg, whch  is  remarkable  alike  for  its 
natural  beauty  and  strategic  importance. 
Robert  Machray 


ESSENTIAL  INFORMATION  ABOUT  HOLLAND  &  BELGIUM 

HOLLAND 

AREA  AND  POPULATION.  Tlie  Kingdom  of  the 
Netherlands  has  an  aggregate  area  of  12,648  square 
miles,  and  a  population  of  5,672,237.  The  principal 
towns    with   their   pojiulations,    are :   Amsterdam, 


564,186;  Rotterdam,  390,364 ;  The  Hague  (the  capi 
tal),  248,995;  Utrecht,  114,692  ;  Groningen,  73,278 ; 
Haarlem,69,701;  Arnheim,62,279;  and  Leiden,57,095. 
Government.  Holland  is  a  constitutional  here- 
ditary monarchy.  Legislative  power  is  vested  in 
the  sovereign  and  Parliament,  or  the  States-General, 
which  is  a  two-chambered  house.  The  Upper 
Chamber  has  50  paid  members,  elected  for  nine  years. 
One-third  of  the  members  retire  every  three  years. 
The  Lower  Chamber  has  100  paid  deputies,  elected 
for  four  years,  the  vote  being  held  by  all  citizens  of 
not  less  than  25  years  of  age  who  can  show  a  small 
franchise  qualification.  The  Upper  House  may 
approve  or  reject  bills,  but  may  not  amend  them. 

Monarch.  The  ruling  sovereign  is  Queen 
Wilhehnina  (Wilhelmina  Helena  Pauline  Maria), 
born  1880;  succeeded  her  father  in  1890. 

Finance.  The  estimated  revenue  for  the  year 
1909  was  £15,394,060,  and  the  estimated  expendi- 
ture was  £16,714,680.  The  chief  sources  of  revenue 
are  excise,  dkect  taxes,  indirect  taxes,  and  customs 
duties.  The  direct  taxes  are  the  land,  personal, 
capital,  and  income  taxes.  The  public  debt  of 
Holland  at  the  beginning  of  1909  was  £94,014,108. 

Industry  and  Commerce.  The  land  is  low  and 
flat,  intersected  by  numerous  canals  and  rivers. 
About  2,000,000  acres  is  arable  land,  and  quite 
double  this  area  is  pasture  land.  The  principal 
crops,  reckoned  from  the  acreage  covered,  are  rye, 
potatoes,  oats,  wheat,  beans,  peas,  barley,  beets, 
and  buckwheat.  Holland  has  a  fishing  fleet  of 
over  5,000  vessels,  with  crews  aggregating  over  20,000 
men.  There  are  a  few  state-owned  coal-mines  in 
the  province  of  Limburg,  but  no  other  minerals. 
The  chief  manufactures  are  distilling,  sugar  refining, 
brewing,  vinegar  making,  margarine,  butter  and 
cheese,  cocoa,  textiles  (linens,  damasks,  cottons  and 
woollens),  tobacco;  diamond-cutting  is  an  important 
industry  in  Amsterdam.  Dutch  imports  during  1908 
were  of  the  value  of  £210,289,000,  and  the  exports 
were  of  the  value  of  £173,662,141. 

Colonies.     The  Dutch  colonies  are  as  follow  : 


Sq.  Miles. 

Population 

East  Indies  [see  page  909] :  Java,  Madura, 
Sumatra,  pai-t  of  Borneo,  Celebes,  Molucca 
Islands,  Timor  Archipelago,  part  of  New 
Guinea,  and  sundiy  small  islands      

"West  Indies  :  Surinam,  or  Dutch  Guiana,  and 

7S6,400 
46,463 

36,000,000 
123,931 

Total         

780.863     !    36,128,931 

In  the  case  of  the  East  Indies,  the  figures  of 
population  are  only  conjectural. 

Currency.  The  monetary  system  of  Holland 
is  based  upon  the  gulden,  or  florin. 

1  cent  =  l/5d. 

100  cents  =  1  gulden,  guilder,  or  florin  =  Is.  8d. 
The  coins  in  circulation  are  : 

Bronze  :    i,  1  and  2J  cent.s. 

Silver  :  5,  10,  25  cents,  i,  1  and  2^  gulden. 

Gold  :   Ducat  or  5J  gulden,  and  10  gulden. 

The  gold  ducat  is  worth  16s.  8d. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  metric  system  of 
weights  is  used  [see  page  5399]. 

Postage.  Great  Britain  to  Holland  :  Letters, 
papers  and  samples,  as  for  France  [see  page  5398] ; 
parcel  post.  Is.,  Is.  6d.,  and  2s.  for  3,  7,  and  11  lb. 
respectively.  Length,  breadth  or  depth  limit, 
3. J  feet ;  length  and  girth  limit,  6  feet. 

Telegrams.  Great  Britain  to  Holland,  2d.  per 
word,  with  a  lOd.  minimum. 


BELGIUM 

Area  and  Population.  Belgium  is  divided  into 
nine  provinces,  and  has  an  area  of  1 1,373  square  miles, 
and  a  population  of  7,238,622.  The  principal  cities  and 
towns,  with  their  populations,  are:  Brussels  (the 
capital),  623,041 ;  Antwerp,  304,032 ;  Liege,  172,039  • 
Ghent,  163,079  ;  Mechlin,  58,800 ;  and  Bruges,  53,486.' 
Government.  Belgium  is  a  constitutional  here- 
ditary monarchy,  whose  neutrality  is  guaranteed 
by  Great  Britain,  Austria,  Russia,  and  Prassia. 
Legislative  powers  are  vested  in  the  king,  the  Senate, 
and  the  Chamber  of  Representatives.  The  Senate, 
or  Upper  House,  consists  of  110  members,  elected 
for  eight  years.  Some  members  are  elected  by  direct 
popular  vote,  and  the  remainder  are  elected  by  the 
provincial  comicils.  Senators  must  be  not  less  than 
40  years  of  age,  and  must  have  a  certain  property 
qualification.  The  Chamber  of  Representatives, 
or  Lower  House,  has  members  proportionate  to 
the  population,  which  may  not  exceed  one  member 
for  each  40,000  inhabitants.  They  are  elected  for 
four  years,  one  half  retiring  every  two  years,  but  a 
dissolution  entafls  a  general  election.  The  vote  is 
possessed  by  all  citizens  who  have  attained  the  age 
of  25,  and  certain  property  and  educational  quali- 
fications entitle  thjs  citizen  to  supplementary  votes. 
Deputies  are  paid.  Executive  power  is  in  the  hands 
of  ten  Ministers  of  State. 

Monarch.  The  king  is  Leopold  II.  (born  April 
9th,  1835),  who  succeeded  his  father  in  1865. 

Finance.  The  estimated  revenue  of  Belgium  for 
the  year  1908  was  £24,85(5,196,  and  the  estimated 
expenditure  was  £24,839,906.  The  chief  soiu^ces  of 
revenue  are  the  state  railways,  excise,  customs, 
registration  fees,  property  and  personal  taxes,  suc- 
cession duties,  post  office  and  trade  licences.  The 
Belgian  National  Debt  at  the  beginning  of  1907 
was  £131,418,680,  mostly  at  3  per  cent. 

Industry  and  Commerce.  More  than  half  of 
the  area  of  Belgium  is  under  cultivation,  and  about 
20  per  cent,  of  the  entire  population  is  dej^endent 
upon  agriculture.  According  to  acreage,  the  chief 
crops  are  potatoes,  rye,  oats,  wheat,  beets,  barley, 
tobacco,  and  hops.  Forestry  and  stock  raising — 
horses,  cattle,  and  swine — are  important  mdustries. 
The  chief  mineral  wealth  of  Belgium  is  its  coal,  the 
annual  output  of  which  is  about  22,000,000  tons. 
Iron  ore  is  both  mined  and  imported,  and  other 
minerals  include  zinc,  lead,  and  copper.  The  iron 
and  steel  works  are  very  important.  The  non- 
metallic  industries  include  glass  manufacture,  sugar 
refining,  textiles,  lace,  fioui',  and  starch  mills.  The 
imports  for  1908  were  of  the  value  of  £134,904,000, 
and  the  exports  of  the  value  of  £103,413,000. 

Colony.  The  African  territory  known  as  the 
Congo,  and  formerly  officially  known  as  the  Inde- 
pendent State  of  the  Congo,  was  annexed  to 
Belgium  m  September,  1908,  thus  becoming  a 
Belgian  colony.  Its  area  is  estimated  at  802,000 
square  miles,  and  its  population  at  from  14  to  30 
millions,  mcluding  under  3,000  Europeans.  The 
towns  are  Boma,  the  capital,  with  a  population  of 
3,000  (300  Europeans),  and  Matadi,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  4,000  (250  Europeans).  Three-fifths  of  the 
export  trade  is  rubber,  and  the  remainder  is  palm- 
kernels,  palm-oil,  and  ivory. 

Currency  and  Weights  and  Measures.  As  for 
France  [see  page  5398]. 

Postage  and  Telegraph  Rates.  As  for 
Holland  [see  above]. 

Telephone.  Communication  between  London  and 
over  a  dozen  cities  and  towns  in  Belgium  is  possible 
at  a  fee  of  8s.  for  a  three  minutes'  conversation. 

5363 


GENERAL    VIEW    FROM    MONT    BLANC     BRIDGE,    SHOWING    ROUSSEAU'S    ISLAND 


THE    HANDSOME   PLACE    NEUVE,    WITH    EQUESTRIAN    STATUE    OF    GENERAL   DUFOUR 


ANOTHER    VIEW,    SHOWING    THE    MONT    BLANC    RANGE     IN    THE    DISTANCE 
SCENES     IN     THE     FAMOUS     SWISS    TOWN     OF    GENEVA 


5364 


EUROPEAN 
POWERS 
TO-DAY 


VI 
SWITZERLAND 


SWITZERLAND    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 

THE    FREEST   COMMUNITY    IN    THE   WORLD 
By    Robert    Machray,    B.A. 


'T^HE  general  impression  of  Switzerland 
■■•  is  coloured  far  too  much  by  the  notion 
that  it  is  an  ideal  country  in  which  to 
spend  a  most  delightful  holiday,  be  it 
for  a  long  or  short  period,  whether  the 
season  be  summer  or  winter.  Switzerland 
undoubtedly  stands  for  all  this,  but  there 
is  a  tendency  to  forget  or  lose  sight  of  the 
fact  that  it  stands  for  much  more.  This 
outside  point  of  view,  largely  based  in 
England  on  such  beguiling  announcements 
as  "  A  Week  in  Lovely  Lucerne  for  Five 
Guineas,  or  a  Fortnight  for  Nine,"  is 
scarcely,  if  at  all,  modified  when  the 
tourist  finds  himself  actually  on  the  lake 
and  sees  its  beautiful  mountains  around 
him  or  mirrored  in  its  blue  waters. 
Satisfied  with  his  excursion  and  his 
experiences,  he  return,s  home,  nor  stops 
to  think  of,  far  less  ponder,  the  story  that 
lies  behind  all  this  enchantment. 

He  has  heard  of  Tell  and  the  tyrant 
Gessler,  and  the  apple  placed  on  the  boy's 
head  and  pierced  by  the  shaft  from  the 
father's  bow;  he  has  heard,  probably,  of  one 
or  two  incidents  in  Swiss  history  of  a  rom- 
antic sort  ;  but  he  catches  scarce  a  glimpse 
of  the  truth  that  the  smoothly  gliding  life 
of  this  land,  no  matter  what  aspect  of  it  be 
considered — social,  educational,  political, 
religious,  racial  or  commercial — is  the 
result  of  some  seven  centuries  of  conflict 
and  change.  Indeed,  it  is  a  life  so  well 
ordered,  so  sweet  in  the  working  of  all 
parts  of  the  machinery  that  goes  to 
complete  it,  so  easy  in  its  touch— the 
expression  "  pressure"  in  this 
-,  .  ^  case  is  quite  inapplicable — on 
, ,  the  individual,  whether  citizen 

not  Learn  r     .,  i  r  , 

of  the  republic  or  stranger 
within  its  gates,  that  our  tourist  is  as 
serenely  unconscious  of  it  as  he  is  of  the 
"  gentle  influence  "  of  a  star. 

The  fault  is  not  to  be  charged  altogether 
to  the  tourist  ;  it  must  be  laid,  in  large 
measure,     at    the     door    of    the     Swiss 


Switzerland 
the  Playground 
of  Europe 


themselves,  though  from  their  point  of  view 
it  is  no  fault  at  all,  but  rather  their  way  of 
playing  the  game.     They  do  everything 
they  can  to  encourage  the  belief  that  their 
land    is    veritably    the     Playground    of 
Europe,  and  so  great  is  their  success  in  this 
effort  that  vast  numbers  look 
on  Switzerland  as  the  land  of 
the  charming  tour,  of  the  de- 
lightful holiday,  rather  than 
as  the  country  of  the  Swiss,  one  of  the  most 
interesting  peoples  in  the  world,  with  a 
civihsation  more  highly  developed,  from 
the  political  standpoint,  than  that  of  any 
other  nation  on   the  planet.      With   the 
Swiss,   business  is  business,  and  business 
with    them    takes    on    the    form    of    the 
admirable  exploitation  of  that  marvellous 
beauty  with  which  Nature  has  so  richly 
and  abundantly  endowed  their  land.     So 
they  give  the  casual  observer  the  impres- 
sion that  they  are  a  nation  of  innkeepers 
and  waiters  who  understand  the  art   of 
"  running "    hotels    in   the   most  perfect 
manner  possible,  and  that  their  sole  aim 
in  life  is  to  act  as  showmen  to  the  wondrous 
natural  attractions  of  their  country. 

In  one  of  the  most  amusing  books 
of  pure  humour  ever  written,  "  Tartarin 
sur  les  Alpes,"  Alphonse  Daudet  makes 
his  hero,  the  inimitable  Tartarin  of 
Tarascon,  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  whole  of  Switzerland  is  the  concession, 
so  to  speak,  of  a  gigantic  and  enormously 
clever  and  capable  catering  company  who, 
commercially,  take  the  utmost  advantage 
of  everything  at  their  disposal — the  rosy 
peaks  of  the  great  mountains,  the  white 
calm  of  the  glaciers,  the  green  slopes  of  the 
upland  pastures,  the  deep  blue  of  lakes, 
the  rolling  masses  of  cloud,  the  grandeurs 
of  sunrise  and  sunset,  the  pretty  chalets 
and  picturesque  peasants — all  "  worked  " 
to  perfection,  apparently  for  the  benefit 
of  the  sightseer,  but  in  reality  in  the 
interests     of     the    concessionaires,    who 

5365 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  Great 

Hotel 

Industry 


have  skilfully  brought  to  their  aid  the 
services  of  railways,  steamers,  guides — and 
the  best  hotels  in  existence,  take  them  all 
in  all.  This  conceit  is  certainly  a  pardon- 
able one,  for  the  exploitation  of  Switzer- 
land by  the  Swiss  is  very  well  done  indeed. 
Before  passing  from  this  phase  of  the 
Switzerland  of  our  own  time,  a  few  facts 
respecting  the  hotel  "  industry  " 
may  be  quoted.  In  1880 
Switzerland  possessed,  in  round 
figures,  1,000  inns  with  some 
58,000  beds  ;  in  1890,  about  1,500  inns 
with  70,000  beds  ;  in  igoo,  nearly  2,000 
inns,  with  105,000  beds,  representing  a 
capital  of  about  600,000,000  francs,  or 
£24,000,000  sterling. 

It  must  be  remembered  in  this  connection 
that  the  total  area  of  the  country  is  less  than 
16,000  square  miles,  of  which  almost  a  third 
is  unproductive.  The  profits  of  successful 
hotel-keeping  are  notoriously  large,  and 
the  stream  of  gold  that  pours  into  Switzer- 
land annually,  and  all  the  year  round — for 
somewhere  in  Switzerland  it  is  always  the 
"  season  " — cannot  easily  be  measured, 
but  it  must  be  very  great  ;  though,  of 
course,  it  varies  from  year  to  year  owing 
to  circumstances.  For  instance,  the 
attractions  offered  by  the  Franco-British 
Exhibition  held  in  London  in  igo8 
sensibly  reduced  the  volume  of  tourists 
into  the  country,  as  they  did  every- 
where outside  of  England. 

The  Swiss  are  highly  intelligent,  par- 
ticularly as  to  getting  the  most 
money  out  of  anything ;  they  have 
a  keen  eye  to  the  main  chance.  This 
is  especially  true  of  their  hotel-keeping. 
As  an  example  of  this,  there  may  be 
noticed  what  has  taken  place  with  regard 
to  their  winter  resorts,  such  as  Davos,  and 
other  places  of  the  same  kind.  Originally 
they  were  introduced  to  the  world  as 
specially  suitable  spots  for  the  residence 
of  consumptives,  and  great  numbers  of 
those  suffering  from  lung  affections  did 
.  live    in    them    with     beneficial 

AKM-^^^^f  results.  But  such  places  are 
th  *s^"°  ^°  longer  the  exclusive  abodes 
of  such  people.  On  the  contrary, 
many  hotels  now  announce  that  they  will 
not  admit  consumptives.  So  soon  as  the 
Swiss  grasped  the  fact  that  Davos,  and 
resorts  like  it,  could  be  made  extraordi- 
narily attractive  as  a  field  for  winter 
sports,  such  as  skating,  tobogganing, 
skiing,  and  so  on,  to  the  strong  and 
the    hale,    they    turned    their    attention 

5366 


forthwith  to  the  strong  and  the  hale.  So 
the  consumptive  client  takes  a  lower  place. 
This  is  not  altruism ;  but  it  is  business — 
as  an  American  might  say.  However, 
this  is  not  to  say  that  there  is  no  place 
remaining  for  the  consumptive,  for  there 
are  admirable  sanatoria  at  his  command. 
Outside  of  them  he  is  not  "  wanted " 
as  he  used  to  be. 

Having  said  so  much  on  this  aspect 
of  the  Swiss,  it  is  time  to  consider  another, 
which  has  already  been  suggested.  This 
little  nation,  which  is  composed  of  some 
3,500,000  souls,  drawn  from  three  races 
— German,  French  and  Italian — with 
different  languages  and  religions,  has 
developed  the  most  perfect  example  of 
a  pure  democracy  in  being  to  be  found 
on  the  globe.  This  is  what  the  ordinary 
tourist  does  not  know,  for  it  does  not 
press  itself  upon  him.  Never  was  or  is 
there  a  land  in  which  government  was 
and  is  so  little  obvious.  There  is  hardly 
even  a  policeman  to  be  seen,  nor  are 
there  any  decorations  worn  by  the  citizens 
— a  small  point,  but  on  the  Continent 
significant  of  much.  In  this  typically 
democratic  state  there  are  no  classes,  no 
_    .  caste,     no    nobility,    no    ex- 

tK^*/^'^/'*  elusive  privileges.  Even  the 
f  th  *F  president  of  this  republic  is 
not  the  head  of  the  State  in 
the  same  sense  as  is  the  President  of  the 
United  States  or  of  France  ;  he  is  hardly 
more  than  primus  inter  pares,  and  bis  head- 
ship, such  as  it  is,  endures  for  a  year  only. , 

As  has  been  well  pointed  out,  the  dread 
of  the  supremacy  of  any  single  man  is  one 
of  the  governing  factors  in  the  Swiss 
character.  This  is  a  country  in  which 
every  man  has  as  good  a  chance  as  another, 
though,  to  be  sure,  natural  ability  tells 
here  as  everywhere.  All  this  has  only 
come  about  gradually,  and  after  long 
struggles,  both  external  and  internal. 
But  it  remains  nothing  less  than  the  most 
extraordinary  thing  in  the  political  history 
of  mankind  that  this  small  state,  with 
its  mixture  of  rival  races  and  religions, 
perched  upon  the  mountains  of  Central 
Europe,  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  great 
nations,  should  have  become  both  in 
ideals  and  in  fact  the  freest  community 
in  the  world.  Something  of  this  it  owes 
to  the  neutrality  of  the  country,  as  in- 
dispensable to  the  general  interest  of 
Europe,  having  been  guaranteed  by  the 
Treaty  of  Vienna,  1815,  something,  also, 
to  the  high  state  of  education  everywhere 


SWITZERLAND    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


prevalent,  even  elementary  education 
being  excellent.  But  the  explanation,  in 
the  main,  lies  in  the  history  and  the 
character  of  the  Swiss  people,  history  and 
character  acting  and  reacting  on  each 
other,  as  always.  Though  the  story  of 
Tell  and  the  apple  be  a  myth,  like  other 
stories  of  a  similar  kind  resolved  into 
fictions  in  the  crucibles  of  scientific  re- 
search, it  has  a  heart  of  truth  which  survives 
all  destructive  scientific  processes.  It 
stands  for  the  Swiss  character  ;  it  ex- 
presses the  soul  of  this  people  better  than 
anything  else.  When  the  Forest  Cantons 
came  together  against  the  Hapsburgs  and 
the  might  of  Austria,  their  struggle  was 
for  freedom — the  right  to  live  out  their  lives 
in  their  own  way.  Battle  after  battle  did 
they  fight,  and  battle  after  battle  did 
they  win,  consolidating  all  the  while  their 
national  character,  which  was  based  on 
patriotism,  and  fusing  themselves  inci- 
dentally more  and  more  into  one  people. 

They  were,  and  long  were,  great 
soldiers,  and  not  in  Switzerland  only ; 
as  has  been  finely  said,  they  were 
willing  to  sell  their  swords,  but  never  their 
freedom.     The  Helvetic  Republic  of  1798 

t,   ■.      ...     grew  out  of  the  old  defensive 

Switzerland  s    ,  x     ,,  , 

y,  league    of    the   cantons,    as 

J  _  ..  .  oak    from    acorn.     Present- 

day  Switzerland,  however, 
begins  in  that  year  of  European  unrest, 
1848;  but  this  beginning  included  all 
that  had  gone  before  in  Swiss  history. 
In  that  year  the  Swiss  Confederation, 
then  consisting  of  nineteen  entire  and  six 
half  cantons,  was  united  for  federal 
purposes  under  a  constitution.  A  re- 
vised constitution  came  into  force  in 
1874,  and  continues,  with  little  change, 
in  force  at  the  present  time.  In  1900, 
when  the  principle  in  elections  known  as 
"  proportional  representation  "  was  before 
the  country,  the  nation  decided  against  it. 
Since  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  epoch 
the  struggles  of  Switzerland  have  been 
entirely  internal.  There  was,  at  the  close 
of  the  first  half  of  last  century,  what  may 
be  called  the  War  of  Religion,  in  which 
the  Protestants  triumphed  over  the  Catho- 
lics, and  caused  the  dissolution  of  the 
Catholic  league  known  as  the  Sonderbund ; 
and,  forty  years  later,  there  was  a  fight 
between  the  rival  Churches  in  the  Italian 
canton  of  Ticino — Tessin.  But  these  are 
merely  noted  in  this  article  to  bring  out 
the  point  that  to-day  Protestant  and 
Catholic    live     at     peace  —  there     being 


complete  religious  liberty — on  the  patriotic 
basis  that  Switzerland  is  greater  and 
dearer  than  any  Church.  Apart  from  the 
religious  conflict,  and  more  important  as 
determining  the  life  to-day  of  the  country, 
is  the  political  struggle.  The  chief  parties 
in  the  State  are  :  the  "  Right,"  or  Con- 
servatives, whether  Protestant  or  Catho- 
Th    G  lie  ;  the  "  Centre,"  or  Liberals ; 

Proble  f  ^^^  "Left,"  or  Radicals;  the 
..  c  •  "  Extreme  Left,"  or  Socialists 
— divisions  of  political  belief 
and  opinion  which  now  obtain  more 
or  less  in  all  modern  communities.  In  one 
aspect  the  great  question  before  the  Swiss 
for  the  last  sixty  years  has  been  whether 
Switzerland  is  to  be  one  federal  state  or  a 
confederation  of  states — cantons — each  of 
them  a  sovereign  state  ;  the  same  question, 
in  fact,  which  the  Civil  War  settled  in  the 
United  States  of  North  America. 

From  1848  to  1872,  the  main  political 
preoccupation  of  the  Swiss  was  the 
establishment  of  a  federal  state  which  yet 
left  a  large  amount  of  sell-government 
to  the  cantons,  a  problem  which  was 
satisfactorily  solved.  The  Federal  State 
is  supreme  in  matters  of  peace  and  war, 
in  the  making  of  treaties,  in  army  affairs, 
posts  and  telegraphs,  money  issues,  weights 
and  measures,  revenue,  public  works, 
patents,  and  other  matters  that  affect  the 
country  as  a  whole  ;  no  canton  can  break 
away  from  the  rest,  but  still  each  canton 
retains  the  power  of  making  its  own  laws, 
apart  from  such  subjects  as  appertain  to 
the  domain  of  the  Federal  government. 
From  1872  to  the  present  time,  the 
dominant  note  in  Swiss  politics  is  the 
direct  rule  of  the  people  as  distinguished 
from  government  by  elected  representa- 
tives, and  as  expressed  by  what  are  styled 
the  "  Referendum  "  and  the  "  Initiative." 

Under  the  Constitution  of  1874,  supreme 
legislative  authority  in  the  confederation 
is  vested  in  two  Chambers :  a  State  Council 
of  44  members  elected  by  the  cantons — 
two  for  each  canton  and  one  for 
How  the  ^^^^  Qf  ^^^  j^^f  cantons,  irre- 
Peop  e  are  gpg^^^j^g  qJ  ^j-,gij-  ^[2,6  or  popula- 
Governed  ^.^^  .  ^^^  ^  National  Council  of 
167  deputies  or  delegates  chosen  by  the 
whole  Swiss  people  by  manhood  suffrage, 
one  representative  for  every  20,000  of 
the  population  ;  these  deputies  are  elected 
for  three  years.  The  two  Chambers  united 
form  the  Federal  Assembly,  which  elects 
a  Federal  Council  of  seven  members,  who 
are  not  members  of  either  Chamber,  to 

5367 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


whom  is  deputed  the  chief  executive 
authority.  The  President  and  Vice- 
President  are  selected  from  the  Federal 
Council,  which  sits  at  Berne,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  administration,  and,  by  the 
way,  the  financial  centre  of  the  country. 
The  Radicals  have  long  controlled  the 
government.  At  the  elections  to  the 
National  Council  in  October, 
a  cguar  s  -j-Q^g  ^^lev  were  returned  by  a 
to  National    ^  ^  ■      -.       i_    i.  jv    •  „ 

...  large  majority,  but  their  power 

*  ^  *"  ^  has  been  tempered  by  the  voice 
of  the  people  as  given  through  the  media 
of  the  Referendum  and  the  Initiative. 

One  of  the  astonishing  things  about 
Switzerland  is  that,  though  the  Radicals 
are  always  in  the  majority  at  the  elections, 
yet  the  people  have  often  rejected  Radical 
measures,  thus  showing  a  certain  innate 
and  invincible  conservatism.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  Conservatives,  though  in  a 
minority,  constitute  a  very  large  propor- 
tion of  the  population.  By  the  Referendum 
any  law  passed  by  the  legislature  must  be 
referred  to  the  direct  vote  of  the  nation 
if  a  petition  to  that  effect  is  presented  by 
30, coo  citizens,  or  by  eight  of  the  cantons, 
and  the  law  must  be  altered,  or  even 
abolished,  according  to  the  result  of  the 
plebiscite.  The  liberty  of  the  people  is 
still  further  safeguarded,  and  the  power 
of  the  legislature  curtailed,  by  the  Initia- 
tive, which  signifies  the  right  of  any 
50,000  citizens  to  demand  a  direct  popular 
vote  on  any  constitutional  question. 
Taken  together,  the  Referendum  and  the 
Initiative  are  the  last  and  highest  expres- 
sion of  the  democratic  spirit,  and  furnish 
an  example  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 

It   must   be   admitted  that   these   two 

political    principles,    or    devices,    if    the 

phrase  is  preferred,  have  acted  very  well  ; 

but  it  is  manifest  enough  that  they  could 

not  be  safely  employed  in  a  country  where 

the  mass  of  the  people  were  not  so  highly 

educated  and  intelligent  as  are  the  Swiss. 

For  instance,  they  could  hardly 

vancc  ]-)gexpectedtoact  well  in  Russia. 
Political  ^ 


Privileges 


When  they  were  introduced  into 


the  Swiss  political  system,  many 
of  the  Swiss  themselves  thought  the  result 
would  be  bad,  but  this  has  not  by  any 
means  been  the  case. 

A  large  part  of  the  population  follows 
agriculture  ;  there  are  300,000  peasant 
proprietors  in  Switzerland,  the  land  being 
pretty  equally  divided  amongst  them,  and 
all  work  very  hard.     The  Swiss  peasant  is 


a  very  thrifty  person,  and  manages  to  live 
on  wonderfully  little.  The  French  and 
Italian  Swiss  are  more  lively  than  the 
German  Swiss,  who  is  apt  to  be  a  some- 
what phlegmatic  individual,  but  they  are 
all  as  one  man  in  patriotic  feeling. 

In  the  matter  of  education  the  Swiss, 
as  Sir  Horace  Rumbold  has  put  it,  exhibit 
a  "  veritable  passion."  The  Constitution 
of  1872  made  education  free  and  com- 
pulsory, though  each  canton  makes  laws 
for  itself  with  respect  to  the  way  in  which 
education  is  imparted.  All  schools  make 
gymnastics  an  integral  part  of  their  curri- 
culum, having  in  view  the  fact  that  the 
gymnasium  is  the  nursery  of  the  soldier  ; 
the  schools  teach  manual  labour  and 
industries ;   girls  are  taught  dressmaking. 

A  few  words  in  conclusion  should  be 
said  about  the  Swiss  military  system.  In 
a  sense,  and  a  very  true  sense,  every  Swiss 
is  a  soldier.  The  hotel-keeper  and  the 
waiter  can  handle  the  rifle  ;  their  soldierly 
education  begins  with  the  gymnastic 
training  at  the  school,  and  continues  in  the 
cadet  corps.  So  excellent  is  this  prepara- 
tory work  that  Switzerland,  protected,  in 
any  case,  by  her  guaranteed  neutrality, 
^  „  .  has  no  regular  standing  army, 
-J    .  *^^     but  she  has  the  finest  militia 

,  c  , ..        in  Europe.     So  good  is  it  that 
of  Soldiers    ,,  t-  a  •,      •    i 

the     new    British     lerntorial 

System  is  largely  modelled  upon  it.  When 
the  Swiss  lad  has  left  the  cadet  corps,  he 
joins  the  Auszug,  or  Elite,  for  some  years, 
next  the  Landwehr  for  a  further  period, 
and  finally  is  drafted  into  the  Landsturm. 
He  has  to  put  in  so  many  days  each  year 
with  the  colours.  It  is  a  real  army,  and 
its  total  strength  is  about  half  a  million. 
So  much  importance  do  the  Swiss  attach 
to  it  that  one  of  the  few  changes  in  the 
country  brought  about  by  the  Referendum 
in  November,  1897,  is  the  increase  in  the 
number  of  days'  service  each  recruit  must 
put  in,  in  his  first  year.  In  the  cavalry 
the  recruit  now  serves  92  days  ;  in  the 
artillery,  yy  days  ;  and  in  the  infantry,  67 
days,  with  repetition  courses  of  13  daj^s 
each  year,  instead  of  every  second  year. 
The  recruit  has  been  so  well  trained  before 
joining  the  army  that  he  makes  rapid 
progress,  and  develops  immediately  into 
a  fine  soldier.  Not  the  least  wonderful 
thing  about  this  wonderful  little  country 
is  that  it  maintains  its  wonderful  army  for 
a  good  deal  under  £2,000,000  a  year. 

Robert  Machray 


5368 


ESSENTIAL     INFORMATION     ABOUT     SWITZERLAND 


Area  and  Population.  Switzerland  is  divided 
into  22  cantons,  of  wlxich  the  total  area  is  15,970 
square  miles,  and  the  total  population  is  3,463.609. 
The  principal  towns,  with  their  populations, 
are  Ziirich,  186,846 ;  Basle,  131,687  ;  Geneva, 
116,387  ;  Berne  (the  capital),  73,185  ;  Lausanne, 
54,460;  St.  Gallen,  52,934;  Chaux-de-Fonds, 
41,310  ;  and  Lucerne,  34,480. 

Government.  The  government  is  a  Federal 
Republic,  the  legislative  and  executive  authority 
of  which  is  vested  in  a  Parliament  of  two  Chambers — 
the  Upper  Chamber,  or  Stiinderath,  and  the  Lower 
Chamber,  or  Nationalrath.  The  Upper  House 
consists  of  44  members,  representing  the  22  cantons 
— two  for  each  canton.  These  members  are  paid, 
but  their  remuneration,  a.s  well  as  their  election  or 
their  appointment,  varies,  and  is  decided  by  the 
liberality  or  wisdom  of  the  canton  represented. 
The  canton  of  Basle,  or  Brde,  is  divided  into  urban 
and  rural  districts,  each  of  which  appoints  one 
member.  The  two  cantons  of  Appenzell  and 
Unterwald  are  also  divided  into  two  parts,  and  each 
part  of  each  of  the  two  cantons  returns  one  member. 
The  Nationalrath,  or  Lower  House,  has  167  members 
apportioned  among  the  cantons,  and  calculated  at 
one  deputy  for  every  20,000  inhabitants.  Members 
are  paid  from  the  Federal  exchequer  16s.  per  day 
of  session  which  they  attend,  and  expenses  depend- 
ing upon  the  mileage  which  they  must  cover  to 
attend  the  sitting.  Members  are  elected  for  three 
years,  upon  a  franchise  embracing  every  citizen 
who  has  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one.  C'lergy- 
men  are  ineligible  for  membership.  The  two 
Chambers,  collectively,  are  called  the  Bimdes- 
Versammlung,  or  Federal  AssemblJ^  Although 
these  two  Houses  may  pass  laws,  the  body  of  the 
people  may  veto  these  laws,  and  prevent  them  from 
becoming  effective,  the  popular  vote  upon  measures 
being  known  as  the  Refcrendion,  which  may  be 
demanded  by  any  petition  bearing  the  signatures  of 
30,000  citizens,  or  any  request  by  eight  cantons. 
The  President  of  the  Republic  and  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  Federal  Council  are  elected  by  a  joint 
session  of  the  two  Chambers.  These  two  men  are 
the  first  magistrates  of  the  Confederation  ;  they 
are  elected  for  one  year,  and  may  not  be  re-elected 
until  the  expiry  of  one  year  after  they  have  held 
office.  The  Vice-President  is  usually  elected  to 
succeed  the  retiring  President.  The  executive 
authority  is  vested  in  a  Federal  Council,  or  Bun- 
desrath,  of  seven  members,  elected  by  the  Federal 
Assembly  for  three  years.  These  members,  who 
may  not  engage  in  any  other  business  or  profession 
during  their  term  of  office,  introduce  legislative 
measures  into  the  two  Chambers,  and  fill  the  offices 
of  Secretaries  of  State. 

FiN.ANCE.  The  powers  of  the  Federal  Assemblies 
in  matters  of  taxation  are  limited.  They  may  not 
impose  direct  taxes.  In  certain  extreme  circum- 
stances a  demand  may  be  made  to  the  canton 
authorities  for  contributions  upon  a  definitely 
arranged  scale  of  proportion.  Certain  taxes  are 
paid  over  to  the  canton  authorities.  The  profits 
of  the  Federal  monopoly  in  alcohol  go  to  the 
cantons,  who  must  spend  not  less  than  10  per  cent, 
of  the  amount  received  upon  measures  to  combat 
alcoholism.  One-half  of  the  amount  collected  on 
the  score  of  exemption  from  military  service  is 
also  paid  to  the  cantons.  The  Federal  revenue  for 
1906  was  £5,335,820,  and  the  Federal  expenditure 
was  £5,142,276.  The  chief  sources  of  revenue  are 
the  customs  and  the  postal  and  telegraph  services. 
The  National  Debt  at  the  beginning  of    1907  was 

I  Q  2i  D 


£4,031,038,  and  most  of  it  carries  an  annual  interest 
charge  of  3^  per  cent. 

Industry  and  Commerce. — Land  tenure  in 
Switzerland  is  chiefly  a  peasant  proprietorship. 
About  72  per  cent,  of  the  land  is  productive,  and 
of  this  area  over  one-third  is  gra.ss  and  meadow 
land,  almost  one-third  is  under  forest,  about  one- 
fifth  grows  fruit,  and  about  one-sixth  is  devoted  to 
crops  and  gardens.  The  chief  crops  are  rye,  oats 
and  potatoes,  but  the  output  is  large  enough  to  meet 
the  domestic  market,  and  cereal  and  leguminous 
foods  are  imported  largely.  The  principal  agricul- 
tural industry  is  dairy  farming,  and  the  principal 
products  are  cheese  and  condensed  milk.  Stock- 
raising — chiefly  cattle  and  horse.s — is  important. 
The  production  of  wine  reaches  the  value  of  about 
£2,000,000  per  annum.  The  Federal  government 
exercises  a  paternal  care  over  the  forests.  By  law 
the  area  devoted  to  forest  must  be  maintained,  and 
nsw  wood  is  planted  where  necessary,  the  outlay 
bsing  defrayed  from  public  funds.  Pisciculture  is 
an  industry  of  some  importance,  and  the  establish- 
ments for  its  practice  number  over  150.  The  only 
minerals  worked  are  salt-mines,  which  exist  in  five 
districts.  Switzerland  has  developed  into  an 
important  manufacturing  country,  and,  notwith- 
standing the  disadvantage  of  long  railway  transport 
for  oversea  merchandise,  she  still  manages  to  do 
well  in  extra-European  markets.  The  principal 
manufactures  are  silk,  cotton,  and  linen  fabrics, 
thread,  woollens,  clocks,  watches,  leather,  gloves, 
pottery,  tobacco,  and  snuff.  Alcohol  is  a  Federal 
monopoly.  The  value  of  Swiss  imports  for  the  year 
1908  was  £63,497,000,  and  the  value  of  the  exports 
was  £41,537,000.  The  chief  articles  of  export, 
according  to  value,  were  embroidery  and  other 
cotton  manufactures,  silk  ribbons,  and  fabrics, 
watches  and  clocks,  machinery,  cheese,  condensed 
milk,  chocolate,  coal  tar  dyes,  and  hides 
and   skins. 

Currency.  Switzerland  is  a  member  of  the 
Latin  Monetary  Union,  and  the  currency  ia,  there- 
fore, similar  to  that  of  France,  Belgium,  Italy,  and 
Greece  [see  page  5398].  The  centime  is  known 
also  as  a  Rappen. 

100  centimes,  or  rappen  =  1  franc 
A  ten-centime  piece  is  also  known  as  a  Batzen. 
Both  gold  and  silver  are  legal  tender  to  any  amount. 
Although  the  coins  of  France,  Belgium  and  Greece 
circulate  in  Switzerland,  there  is  a  law  prohibiting 
the  importation  of  2,  1,  and  i-franc  Italian  pieces, 
under  a  penalty  of  confiscation,  the  reason  being 
that  under  the  terms  of  the  Latin  Monetary  Union 
Italy  need  not  redeem  her  silver  coins  in  gold 
should  the  Union  be  dissolved. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  legal  system  is 
the  metric  [see  page  5399],  but  there  are  still 
found  in  practice  some  of  the  old  weights  and 
measures,  such  as  the  centner  =  100  pfunds  = 
110-231  lb.  avoirdupois.  The  pfund  is  equal  to 
500  grammes,  and,  according  to  the  metric  system, 
is  divisible  into  decimal  parts,  but  practice  follows 
largely  the  old  division  into  halves  and  quarters 
called  Halbpfund  and  Viertelpfund  respectively. 

Postage.  Great  Britain  to  Switzerland  : 
Letters,  papers,  and  samples  as  for  France  [see 
page  5398].  Parcel-post,  via  France,  Is.  6d., 
2s.,  and  2s.  6d.  for  3,  7,  and  11  lb.  respectively  ; 
via  Belgium  and  Germany,  Is.  9d.,  2s.  3d.,  and 
2s.  9d.  for  3,  7,  and  11  lb.  respectively. 

Telegrams.  Great  Britain  to  Switzerland  : 
3d.  per  word,  with  Is.  minimum. 

5369 


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MESSINA    AFTER     THE     EARTHQUAKE     ON     DECEMBER     28lh,     1908 


5370 


EUROPEAN 
POWERS 
TO-DAY 


VII 
ITALY 


ITALY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 

THE  NEW  KINGDOM  VIRILE  AND  PROSPEROUS 
By  William  Durban.   B.A. 


A  GAIN  and  again  the  question  has  been 
■**•  asked,  what  is  the  perennial  charm  of 
Italy,  that  land  which  reckons  itself  the 
special  favourite  of  the  sun  ?  The  best 
answer  is  that  the  secret  of  Italy's  enchant- 
ment lies  not  in  its  atmosphere,  delightful 
though  the  climate  may  be  ;  nor  in  its 
antiquity,  fascinating  though  its  countless 
historic  relics  truly  are  ;  nor  in  its  art, 
even  though  the  whole  peninsula  is  one 
incomparable  picture  gallery  ;  but  in  that 
perpetual  renaissance  which  gives  irre- 
sistible impression  of  constantly  renewed 
youth.  The  Italy  of  to-day  has  amazed 
the  world  by  its  virility,  its  rejuvenation 
since  that  memorable  day,  March  17th, 
1861,  when  the  new  kingdom  sprang  into 
being  with  the  proclamation  of  Victor 
Emmanuel,  "II  Re  Galantuomo,"  as  king 
of  that  "  Italia  Unita  "  which  had  been  the 
dream  of  patriots — a  dream  at  last 
materialised  by  the  policy  of  Cavour,  the 
fiery  crusade  of  Garibaldi,  and  the  enthu- 
s'asm  stirred  by  Mazzini  and  Gavazzi. 

The  young  kingdom  is  one  of  the  Great 
Powers.  Its  people  are  the  most  prolific  in 
Europe,  increasing  even  more  rapidly  than 
the  population  of  Russia,  and  pouring  forth 
such  streams  of  emigrants  that  in  Brooklyn 
alone  is  a  colony  of  60,000  Italians,  with  a 
great  quarter  to  themselves,  while  Argen- 
tina is  rapidly  becoming  a  South  American 
Italy.  In  every  age  Italy  has  renewed 
its  youth,  but  never  with  anything    like 

the  splendid  vigour  displayed 
R*  ^  ^  a  ^^^^^S  ^^^  present  generation. 
Y    J.        No    other    land    so    thoroughly 

captivates  the  imagination  with 
a  multitude  of  monuments  grey  with 
age,  but  surrounded  by  all  the  evidences 
of  youthful  and  irrepressible  life  in  its 
most  eager  and  strenuous  demonstrations. 
Though  this  favoured  peninsula  has  been 
the  subject  of  elaborate  cultivation  through 
all  historic  ages,  and  has  from  time  im- 
memorial supported  teeming  populations. 


Italy  a  Land 
of  Beauty 


yet  it  is,  as  we  see  it,  even  more  redun- 
dantly fruitful  than  ever.  Loveliness  of 
aspect  here  blends  with  superabundant 
fertility,  the  land  overflowing  with  oil  and 
wine,  from  Chiasso,  on  the  northern  fron- 
tier, down  to  Girgenti,  on  Sicily's  southern 
coast .  The  whole  vast  coastline  is  a  delight- 
ful sea-front  where  oleanders,  tamarisks, 
stone-pines,  and  countless 
evergreen  shrubs  form  a  ver- 
"dF^'t'lt  ^^"-^  frame  for  the  variegated 
^  and  brilliant  picture  of  the 
interior  landscape.  Italian  topography  is  a 
study  of  Nature  in  every  one  of  her  artistic 
moods.  This  unspeakable  beauty  of  the 
whole  country  renders  Italy  more  than 
ever  a  favourite  playground  of  Europe. 

Eaeh  successive  year,  increasing  numbers 
of  tourists  visit  the  Italian  Alps, 
dominated  by  Monte  Rosa,  the  wonderful 
Dolomites,  the  Tyrolese  valleys,  the  resorts 
round  Lakes  Maggiore,  Como,  Garda, 
Ticino,  Orta,  Lugano,  and  Iseo  ;  the 
Etruscan  hill-cities,  described  by  delighted 
visitors  as  occupying  the  most  wonderful 
region  in  the  world  ;  the  fairy  villages 
nestling  in  hundreds  of  nooks  in  the 
Apennine  chain  of  hundreds  of  miles  ;  the 
Lombardian  plains,  sheeted  with  blue- 
blossoming  flax  and  intersected  by  lines  of 
mulberry  trees  on  which  silkworms  thrive 
by  millions  ;  the  Riviera,  with  its  semi- 
tropical  vegetation  ;  the  Venetian  larch 
forest  of  St.  Mark,  and  the  groves  of 
Vallombrosa  ;  the  classic  scenes  of  Baiae 
and  Capri,  and  the  insular  paradise  of  Sicily. 
With  her  head  crowned  with  a  diadem  ol 
Alpine  snow,  Italy  bathes  her  feet  in  the 
central  waters  of  the  blue  Mediterranean, 
and  her  citizens  draw  an  ever-growing 
revenue  from  crowds  of  seekers  after  health 
and  pleasure  from  lands  near  and  far. 

When,  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  Italy  was  welded  into  one  nation- 
ality, she  was  steeped  in  poverty.  But,  to 
give    a    quaint    little    illustration   of    the 

5371 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


financial  revolution  that  has  been  accom- 
plished, whereas  the  English  Christmas 
markets  used  to  be  stocked  with  immense 
numbers  of  delicious  little  Italian  maize- 
fed  turkeys,  these  are  now  missing,  for 
the  simple  reason  that  "  the  people  are  rich 
enough  to  afford  to  consume  their  own 
poultry."  That  simple  fact  speaks  volumes 
of  the  change  that  has  come 
_'*  .  ^*°         about  in  material  conditions. 

„  "^       ^.      There  is  still  much  poverty. 

Regeneration  ■,,•.•  ,  i        j 

but  it  is  no  longer  general  and 

deplorable.     Italy  has  declared  war  on  the 

slum,  and  the  change  effected  is  marvellous. 

The    social    regeneration    that    began    in 

Piedmont  has  spread  over  the  whole  land. 

At  Turin  a  beggar  is  rarely  seen,  and 
in  Naples,  where,  when  Victor  Emmanuel 
was  proclaimed  king,  he  found  90,000 
professed  lazzaroni,  including  criminals 
of  every  grade,  with  thieves,  loafers,  and 
drunkards,  both  beggary  and  squalor 
have  been  drastically  dealt  with.  Fifty 
years  ago  the  common  people  were  almost 
wholly  unable  to  read.  The  new  regime 
has  reduced  illiteracy,  until  now  less  than 
one-third  of  the  adult  males,  and  one-half 
of  the  adult  females  are  illiterate. 

Notwithstanding  that  Italy  lacks  two 
indispensable  elements,  coal  and  iron,  and  is 
compelled  to  spend  every  year  £8,000,000 
on  coal,  so  sturdy  is  her  modern  enterprise 
that  her  native  industrial  companies  have 
;^6o,ooo,ooo  of  paid-up  capital,  while 
foreign  companies  have  about  half  that 
amount.  The  manufacturing  expansion  in 
the  north  has  been  marvelloush'  rapid. 
The  output  of  the  paper-mills  has  more 
than  doubled  in  twenty  years.  One  of  the 
phenomenal  advances  has  been  in  applied 
electricity.  From  \'olta  down  to  Marconi, 
Italy  has  had  a  leading  part  in  great 
discoveries  in  electricity.  It  was  an 
Italian  patriot,  Antonio  Meucci,  who  really- 
invented  the  telephone;  Pacinotti  con- 
structed the  first  machine  for  the  applica- 
tion of  electro-magnetism  ;  and  Ferraris 
^  .  .  achieved  the  magnificent  dis- 
V  covery  of  electric  dynamic 
o  a  lan  j-Qtation,  generated  by  means 
of  alternate  currents.  Pro- 
fessor Righi,  by  his  wonderful  experiments 
on  electric  wa\-es,  paved  the  way  for  Mar- 
coni's introduction  of  wireless  telegraphy, 
the  most  marvellous  victory  over  time  and 
space  ever  celebrated  by  science.  And 
gradually  the  Italians  are  utilising  the 
immense  hydraulic  forces  of  their  country 
for  producing  so  much  of  the  "  white  coal," 

5372 


as  they  call  electricity,  as  shall  help  them 
to  reduce  the  import  of  coal  from  England. 
The  electricity  derived  from  the  Alpine 
and  Apennine  streams  will,  in  time,  yield 
enormous  wealth,  for  the  number  of  useful 
falls  in  Italy  is  34,837.  Electrical  establish- 
ments have  turned  many  dull  and  idle 
towns  into  busy  hives  of  industry,  with 
rapidly  increasing  populations.  This  is  the 
case  at  Maniago,  near  the  fall  of  the  River 
Cellina.  whose  waters  are  now  being  used 
to  carry  torrents  of  life  and  light  to  Venice 
and  to  other  cities  on  the  way  to  the  beau- 
tiful "  Bride  of  the  Sea."  This  colossal 
work  cost  10,000,000  francs,  £400,000,  and 
occupied  3,000  labourers  in  its  installation. 

The  first  trial  of  the  great  discovery  of 
Ferraris  was  made  in  Rome  by  engineer 
Mangarini,  who  conveyed  the  force  of  the 
famous  fall  of  the  River  Aniene  at  Tivoli, 
a  classic  spot,  over  the  Campagna  to  the 
city.  The  magic  light  that  at  evening 
illumines  the  streets  and  houses  of  Rome, 
and  the  force  that  impels  trams  and 
mechanism  of  all  kinds,  come  from  the 
lovely  cascade  so  admired  by  travellers, 
near  which  Augustus  held  his  tribunal, 
Maecenas  had  the  villa  where 
^  ^  !p         he    used   to  entertain  Horace, 

agni  icen  ^^^  ^^^  Emperor  Hadrian  built 
ineyar  j^.^  magnificent  rural  palace. 
Italy  is  a  land  of  agriculture,  but  this 
industry  has  passed  through  a  crucial 
crisis  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  and 
beginning  of  the  twentieth  centuries. 
Methods  were  miserably  bad,  and  a  train 
of  diseases  struck  one  crop  after  another. 
The  magnificent  vineyards  were  terribly 
damaged  by  the  peronospera  and  the 
phylloxera,  those  parasites  which  passed 
into  Italy  from  France,  which  in  twenty 
years  lost  thus  £400,000,000. 

The  silkworm  disease,  the  orange-tree 
blight,  and  the  fly  that  fatally  perforates 
the  olives  have  simultaneous!}'  during  the 
present  generation  inflicted  immense  mis- 
chief. Men  like  Signor  Solan  and  Signor 
Bizzozero  have  revolutionised  Italian  farm- 
ing, as  thoroughly  as  our  own  was  revolu- 
tionised in  the  eighteenth  century.  And  as 
Italian  emigrants  love  to  return  home  after 
a  long  absence,  man\  of  these  have  come 
back  with  the  ]:)rogressive  ideas  they  have 
acquired  in  America,  France,  or  Switzer- 
land. In  i8g8  over  30,000  agricultural 
labourers  returned  and  landed  at  Genoa 
alone,  and  hundreds  every  year  cross 
the  Atlantic  for  the  great  Argentine 
harvest,  where  \hey  are  highly  paid,  and 


ITALY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


then  return  to  reap  their  own  harv^ests. 
Small  peasant  farmers  and  labom^ers  have 
all  alike  awakened  to  the  new  order  of 
things.  Village  banks  have  entirely  revo- 
lutionised the  position  of  the  peasants, 
who  formerly  could  make  no  progress  for 
want  of  capital  with  which  to  attempt 
small  farming  successfully.  Signor 
Wollemborg,  a  Lombard  village  doctor 
who  has  since  been  Minister  of  Finance, 
founded  the  first  Italian  village  bank  on 
the  model  of  those  which  Herr  Raiffeisen 
had  established  broadcast  in  Germany. 

There  are  now  nearly  2,000,  with  a 
membership  of  nearly  200,000.  These 
institutions  have  rescued  thousands  of 
the  diligent  and  persevering  contadini, 
or  peasants,  from  the  terrible  grip  of  the 
usurer.  And  likewise  of  late  years  the 
artisans  and  small  shopkeepers  have 
built  up  the  huge  organisation  of  the 
People's  Banks,  with  their  capital  of 
;f5,ooo,ooo  and  their  yearly  business  of 
^50,000,000,  while  ^^70,000, 000  has  been 
accumulated  in  the  Private  Savings  Banks, 
institutions  very  similar  to  the  People's 
Banks.  The  various  banks  lend  money 
on  very  easy  terms,  and  by  their  aid 
immense  new  areas  have  been 
nh"*  r'  ^  I  P^^^ted  as  vineyards  or  culti- 

,   .  vated  in  other  ways,  with  profit 

Labourers      ,         ,1  i  "^  1^  r 

to    the   worker    never    before 

possible.  The  rural  labourers  have  suc- 
ceeded in  working  out  their  own  salvation. 
Out  of  the  old  sordid  despair  the  contadini 
have  been  lifted  into  fair  prosperity. 

The  favourite  system  of  land  tenure  and 
cultivation  which  still  prevails  is  the 
famous  mezzeria.  On  this  plan  the  estate 
is  divided  into  a  number  of  poderi,  or 
fields,  half  the  produce  of  which  is  retained 
by  the  peasant  who  cultivates  the  soil, 
and  the  other  half  goes  to  the  landlord 
as  rent.  The  poderi  average  about  thirty- 
nine  acres  each.  The  contadino's  house 
is  on  the  podere,  and  is  no  mere  hovel,  for 
it  provides  ample  accommodation  for  a 
large  household.  The  agricultural  system 
adopted  provides  occupation  for  the 
peasant-farmer  for  the  whole  year  without 
intermission,  for  on  the  same  podere  he 
grows  wheat,  or  maize,  or  rye,  wine,  oil,  and 
flax,  according  to  the  qualities  of  the  soil. 

These  labourers  are  exceedingly  in- 
telligent, and  they  toil  indefatigably, 
but  with  the  utmost  cheerfulness.  The 
women  of  the  family  rear  silkworms 
and  often  make  money  by  plaiting 
the     beautiful     straw    produced    in    the 


sunny  clime,  and  also  by  spinning  from 
the  fine  flax.  The  farmer  not  only 
gives  to  the  landlord  as  rent  half  the 
produce  of  the  podere,  but  also  a  stipu- 
lated number  of  eggs,  hams,  poultry,  etc., 
while  his  wife  or  daughter,  called  the 
massaia,  or  housekeeper,  may,  by  agree- 
ment, have  to  wash  for  the  landlord's 
Secret  of  household.  The  new  prosperity 
Italy's  °^  ^^^^  agricultural  community. 
Progress  f^^  backbone  of  the  nation, 
is  the  real  secret  of  Italy's 
marvellous  recent  progress,  as  the  land 
is  mainly  an  agricultural  one.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  new  century  the  atten- 
tion of  the  whole  world  was  drawn 
to  a  series  of  crucial  labour  troubles 
in  Italy,  which  had  been  coming  to  a 
head  for  several  years.  A  vast  change 
came  over  the  condition  and  also  the  spirit 
of  the  working  classes  during  the  last 
decade  of  the  nineteenth  century,  for 
during  that  period  great  numbers  of 
the  peasantry  became  artisans,  and  thus 
a  very  great  new  industrial  community 
arose.  But  very  quickly  discontent  was 
propagated  amongst  these  by  the  spread 
not  only  of  socialism,  but  also  of 
anarchist  ideas.  Disastrous  and  riotous 
strikes  took  place  amongst  masons, 
miners,  and  railway  workers. 

The  peasants  caught  the  contagion  and 
organised  a  league,  but  this  was  im- 
mediately met  by  the  formation  of  a 
landowners'  league.  In  Rome  the  masons 
employed  on  the  monument  to  Victor 
Emmanuel  II.  organised  a  labour  league 
and  tried  to  compel  every  workman  to 
join  it,  but  parliament  vigorously  inter- 
vened for  the  protection  of  the  men  who 
refused  to  be  coerced,  and  the  leaguers 
were  defeated.  The  only  important 
industry  in  Sicily  besides  agriculture 
is  sulphur-mining  in  the  wonderful 
"  solfatara  "  district  in  the  south  of  the 
island.  The  miners,  many  of  whom  are 
very  quaiTelsome,  given  to  the  use  of 
the  knife  and  revolver,  and 
rme  ^^  gambling,  revolted  against 

StrTkT"  "^  ^""^^^    ^^^''^   ^'"^^y  ^'^""^  ^°'^'^^' 
tions  in  mines  fearfully  hot  and 

reeking    with    poisonous    sulphur    fumes. 

But    when    the    marble    quarrymen    at 

Carrara,  far  away  in  the  north  of  Italy, 

got  up  a  sympathetic  strike,  they  quickly 

resorted  to  violence,  forming  armed  bands, 

which      scoured      the      mountains      and 

threatened  to  raid  the  town  itself ;  great 

alarm  was  caused  amongst  the  peaceful 

5373 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


inhabitants.  Martial  law  was  proclaimed, 
the  province  was  placed  under  the  rule  of 
General  Huesch,  and  the  wanton  in- 
surrection was  speedily  quelled.  Great 
improvements  have  of  late  effectually 
ameliorated  the  lot  of  the  toilers,  and  the 
Employers'  Liability  Bill  has  had  an 
excellent  effect.  It  should  be  noted  that 
,  the  Italian  is  a  born  engineer. 
Gcnius^foT  *  ^^  inherits  the  Roman  faculty 
„  **.  °.  for  construction  of  public 
ngmeering    ^Qj.j^g^     ^^^    many     of    the 

great  Continental  railways,  the  marvellous 
Alpine  tunnels,  and  our  own  Forth 
Bridge,  were  mainly  made  by  operatives 
from  Italy.  It  is  computed  that  there 
are  always  about  500,000  of  these  frugal 
Italian  workers  scattered  about  Europe. 
There  is  an  Italian  quarter  in  every 
great  city  in  Europe  whenever  important 
public  works  are  being  executed. 

Amongst  this  fascinatingly  interesting 
people  political  problems  are  perpetually 
challenging  solution.  The  typical  Italian 
delights  in  litigation",  and  in  these  new  days 
of  genuine  constitutionalism  he  becomes 
an  ardent  political  partisan.  The  Italians 
are  a  nation  of  orators,  and  their  parUa- 
mentarians  revel  in  rhetorical  declamation. 
A  payment  of  a  rent  of  £6  entitles  to  a  vote. 
The  king  and  queen  have  achieved  great 
popularity  by  their  manifestations  of 
intense  sympathy  with  the  people  in  every 
time  of  suffering,  going  freely  amongst 
cholera-stricken  patients  and  toihng  like 
slaves  during  the  terrors  created  by  ap- 
palling earthquakes.  Parliamentary  in- 
stitutions are  peculiar,  for  the  Senate,  or 
Upper  Chamber,  is  composed  of  members 
nominated  by  the  king  for  life  on  the 
advice  of  the  Premier.  Thus  the  legislation 
is  exceedingly  democratic,  yet  the  people 
feel  that  in  emergency  the  Senate  might 
be  relied  on  to  prevent  reckless  enactments. 

In  the  Lower  House  the  proportion  of 
professional  men  amongst  the  deputies  is 
extraordinary,    for   these  constitute  two- 
thirds  of  the  deputies.     Only 
Middle-class  r  1  •  1       •' 

...  ,  a  very  lew  workmg-men  have 
Members  of  /         j  j.i     ••    .       .  i 

p    ..  ever  found  their  way  mto  the 

Italian  Parliament.  Nor  have 
very  many  of  the  aristocracy  been  elected. 
The  members  are  mostly  of  the  middle 
class.  Modern  United  Italy  has  produced 
a  succession  of  really  great  statesmen,  of 
whom  the  nation  is  proud.  The  names  of 
Cavour,  Sella,  Ricasoli,  La  Marmora, 
Minghetti,  Depretis,  Cairoli,  Crispi,  Di 
Rudini  will   live,   and  the  doings  of  the 

5374 


Premiers  who  have  succeeded  each  other 
since  this  century  began :  Saracco,  Pelloux, 
Zanardelli,  Sonnino,  Fortis,  and  Giollotti, 
are  fresh  in  European  recollection. 

In  Italy,  as  the  seat  of  the  venerable 
Papacy,  rehgion  and  politics  have  for  ages 
been  inevitably  entangled.  But  the  separ- 
ation of  Church  and  State  under  Cavour's 
administration,  and  the  dissolution  of  the 
vast  number  of  convents,  wrought  a  most 
radical  revolution.  The  quarrel  with  the 
Vatican  is  still  in  process.  The  present 
Pope,  when  he  was  Archbishop  Sarto,  of 
Venice,  was  esteemed  for  his  simplicity 
of  life  and  his  pastoral  assiduity.  But  as 
Pius  X.  he  is  constrained  by  the  Catholic 
Curia  to  assume  the  same  attitude  of 
intransigent  Ultramontanism  which  was 
maintained  by  his  predecessor,  Leo  XIII. , 
and  before  him  by  Pius  IX.  But  the 
struggle  of  late  years  has  been  not  so  much 
between  the  Vatican  and  the  monarchy  as 
between  the  College  of  Cardinals  and  the 
Modernists  within  the  Catholic  Church. 
These  ecclesiastical  Liberals  within  Cathol- 
icism have  their  head-centre  in  France  ; 
but  in  Italy  the  famous  Abbate  Murri  is 
engaged  in  a  chronic  dispute  with  the 
Curia.      He   has   immense   in- 


amous  ^      fluence  ovei  young  Italy,  both 
Church 


lay  and  clerical.  Protestantism 
is  comparatively  feeble  in  Italy. 
It  is  mainly  represented  in  modern  growth 
by  the  young  Chiesa  Evvangelica,  founded 
by  the  eloquent  Padre  Gavazzi  in  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  but  in  more 
ancient  phase  by  the  denomination  which 
is  the  oldest  Protestant  communion  in 
the  world,  the  famous  Waldensian  Church, 
which  was  born  in  the  romantic  valleys 
of  the  Cottian  Alps,  their  home  being 
called  by  Michelet  "  that  incomparable 
flower  hidden  amid  the  sources  of  the  Po." 
The  missions  of  the  Waldenses  are 
dotted  about  all  over  Italy  and  Sicily,  and 
of  late  years  they  have  steadily  multiplied. 
The  most  conspicuous  ecclesiastical  figure 
in  Italy  is  Monsignor  Merry  del  Val,  who 
was  born  in  London  of  Spanish  parents  in 
1865,  and  educated  in  England.  This 
dignitary  has  been  indefatigable  in  con- 
ducting the  conflict  between  the  Vatican 
and  the  French  Government  over  the 
Separation  Law.  He  visited  England 
as  Papal  Envoy  on  the  occasions  of 
Queen  Victoria's  Jubilee  and  King 
Edward's  coronation.  He  was  created 
a  cardinal,  and  succeeded  Cardinal 
Rampolla  as  Papal  Secretary  of  State 


ITALY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


This  exquisitely  lovely  land  has  in  our 
time  suffered  from  the  convulsions  of 
Nature  more  than  any  country  has  ever 
done  in  the  whole  history  of  the  world.  The 
closing  week  of  1908  will  be  marked  in  its 
annals  by  the  record  of  the  earthquake 
which  visited  Calabria  and  Sicily,  destroying 
Reggio  and  Messina,  wiping  out  Scylla,  and 
wrecking  many  other  towns  and  villages. 
This  appalling  catastrophe  created  unspeak- 
able consternation  throughout  the  world,  for 
it  was  estimated  that  300,000  lives  were  lost. 

Through  all  the  struggles,  difficulties, 
trovibles,  and  vicissitudes  of  the  brief 
history  of  the  young  kingdom  of  United 
Italy  the  royal  family  have  not  failed  to 
win  deepening  esteem  and  affection.  Thus 
the  republican  ideal  of  Mazzini  is  a  dead 
theory.  The  nation  was  plunged  into 
impassioned  grief  by  the  tragedy  enacted 
at  Monza  on  July  2gth,   igoo,  when  the 


beloved  King  Humbert  I.  was  assassinated 
by  the  anarchist  Bresci.  His  son  and 
successor,  Victor  Emmanuel  HI.,  had  as 
Crown  Prince  gained  abundant  ])opularity. 

He  and  his  wife,  the  beautiful  Princess 
Elena  of  Montenegro,  are  considered 
"  the  handsomest  royal  pair  in  Europe," 
yet  the  king  is  the  smallest  of  Continental 
sovereigns,  being  only  five  feet  three  inches 
in  height,  while  the  queen  is  very  tall, 
so  that  when  seen  together  they  present 
a  most  striking  contrast.  Throughout 
their  marriage  service  the  king  stood, 
while  the  queen  knelt  on  a  cushion,  and 
thus  they  were  just  of  a  height.  "  The 
only  time  she  was  able  to  look  up  at  me," 
says  King  Victor,  quite  good-humouredly. 

So  immense  have  been  his  services 
already  to  his  country  that  he  has  been 
styled,  and  not  without  reason,  "  The 
Saviour  of  Italy."         William  Durban 


THE    REPUBLIC    OF    SAN    MARINO 


/^NEof  the  minor  events  of  the  year  1907 
^■^  was  the  conclusion  of  a  fresh  treaty 
of  friendship  between  the  Kingdom  of 
Italy  and  the  Republic  of  San  Marino,  and 
in  the  arrangements  and  discussions  which 
preceded  this  settlement,  as  in  the  treaty 
itself,  the  republic,  which  has  only  an 
area  of  33  square  miles,  and  a  population 
well  under  12,000,  appeared  as  a  sovereign 
and  independent  state,  although  its 
separate  existence  is  maintained  solely  by 
the  benevolent  protection  of  its  big  friend, 
Italy.  Of  all  the  numerous  independent 
states  into  which  the  Italy  of  the  Middle 
Ages  was  divided,  San  Marino  alone 
survives  to  the  present  day  ;  and  as  long 
as  Italy,  by  a  sort  of  good-humoured 
forbearance,  permits  it  to  remain  as  it  is, 
so  long,  and  no  longer,  will  its  name  be 
seen  on  the  roll-call  of  the  nations.  It  is 
situated  some  ten  miles  or  so  from  the 
historic  Italian  town  of  Rimini,  and  is  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  as  Italian  as  any 
part  of  the  country.  But  it  claims  to  be  the 
oldest  state  of  Europe,  dating  its  preten- 
sions as  far  back  as  855,  though  its  inde- 
pendence is  of  a  much  later  date.  From  the 
point  of  view  of  age,  it  regards  the  modern 
kingdom  as  something  of  an  upstart. 

It  undoubtedly  can  boast  of  being  the 
smallest  republic  in  the  world.  When  the 
devastating  presence  of  Napoleon  passed 
over  Italy  in  blood  and  flame,  San  Marino 
was  spared.  "  Let  it  remain,"  said  the 
great    conqueror,     "as    a    model    of    a 


republic."  In  those  days  it  was  more 
democratic,  perhaps,  than  it  is  to-day. 
The  eight  parishes  of  which  the  republic 
consists  return  sixty  members  to  its  Parlia- 
ment, called  the  Great  Council ;  twenty  of 
these  representatives  are  drawn  from  its 
nobles,  twenty  from  its  townsmen,  and 
twenty  from  its  peasantry  ;  two  of  them 
are  appointed  every  six  months  as  Regent- 
Captains  with  executive  power.  There  is, 
besides,  a  smaller  council,  which  regulates 
all  matters  pertaining  to  finance,  law, 
education  and  war  ;  its  duties  must  be 
tolerably  light,  for  San  Marino  has  no 
debt  ;  and,  of  course,  it  cannot  go  to  war, 
though  it  has  an  army  of  about  a  thousand 
officers  and  men.  Its  capital,  also  called 
San  Marino,  has  a  population  of  1,500, 
and  is  situated  on  the  top  of  Mount 
Titano,  a  termination  in  that  direction  of 
the  Apennines.  The  government  Palace, 
rebuilt  here  in  1894,  is  a  fine  edifice. 
There  is  much  that  is  interesting  and 
picturesque  about  the  town,  and,  indeed, 
about  the  whole  of  this  small  republic. 

The  meetings  of  the  Council,  with 
the  "  Noble  Guard"  in  their  fanciful 
uniforms  in  attendance,  partake  of  some- 
thing of  the  character  of  a  pageant  instinct 
with  the  suggestion  of  old-world  romance 
and  charm.  But  it  need  hardly  be  added 
that  nobody  regards  this  little  republic 
very  seriously  ;  there  is,  in  fact,  a  good 
deal  about  it  which  smacks  of  a  Gilbertian 
opera.  Robert  Machr.w 

5375 


ESSENTIAL    INFORMATION    ABOUT    ITALY 


Area  and  Population.  Italy  is  divided  into 
sixty-nine  provinces,  and  has  an  area  of  110,550 
square  miles,  with  a  population,  according  to 
the  census  of  1901.  of  32,475,253.  It  includes 
the  islands  of  Sicily  and  Sardinia.  Statistics 
of  population  do  not  distinguish  the  population 
of  cities  from  tie  communes  in  which  these 
cities  are,  so  that  the  figures  relating  to  any 
commune  include  both  the  urban  and  rural 
population.  There  are  eleven  communes  (all 
capitals  of  provinces)  of  which  the  population  is 
over  100,000,  as  follows  : 

Naples,  563,540  ;  Milan,  493,241  ;  Rome, 
462,743;  Turin,  3.35,656;  Palermo,  309,694; 
Genoa,  234,710  ;  Florence,  205,589  ;  Bologna, 
152,009  ;  Venice,  151,840  ;  Messina  (before  the 
earthquake  of  December,  1908),  149,778  ;  and 
Catania,  149,295. 

Government.  The  constitution  of  Italy  pro- 
vides for  a  limited  monarchy.  The  executive 
power  is  vested  in  the  monarch,  and  is  exercised 
through  responsible  Ministers.  The  legislative 
power  is  vested  in  the  monarch  and  a  two- 
chambered  Parliament,  consisting  of  the  Senato, 
or  Upper  House,  and  the  Camera  de  Deputanti, 
or  Lower  House.  The  Senate,  which  is  not 
restricted  in  regard  to  numbers,  and  at  present 
consists  of  346  members,  including  five  members 
of  the  royal  house,  consists  of  princes  who  are 
of  age,  and  members  nominated  by  the  king  for 
life.  Senators  must  be  not  less  than  forty  years 
of  age,  must  pay  not  less  than  £120  a  year  in 
taxes,  or  must  have  held  high  office  or  rendered 
distinguished  service  to  the  state.  Electors  for 
members  of  the  Lower  House  must  be  at  least 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  must  have  an 
educational  or  property  qualification.  There 
are  508  deputies  in  the  Lower  House.  Parlia- 
ments sit  for  five  years,  but  may  be  dissolved  by 
the  king  at  any  time.  Business  can  be  conducted 
in  either  Chamber  only  if  there  is  an  absolute 
majority  of  members  present.  Members  receive 
no  remuneration,  but  travel  free  on  some  rail- 
ways. The  executive  power  is  vested  in  the 
king,  assisted  by  eleven  Ministers,  each  at  the 
head  of  a  state  department. 

Monarch.  The  present  King  of  Italy  is 
Vittorio  Emanuel  III.  (born  1869 ;  succeeded 
his  father  in  1900). 

Finance.  The  estimated  revenue  for  1908 
was  £80,017,780,  and  the  estimated  expenditure 
was  £77,836,956.  The  chief  sources  of  revenue 
are  the  government  monopolies — tobacco,  salt, 
lotteries  and  quinine — customs,  excise,  and 
octrois  (or  local  customs),  railways,  and  post- 
office  service.  The  National  Debt  of  Italy  is 
£530,866,700,  and  the  annual  interest  charge  is 
£22,607,500. 

Industry  and  Commerce.  Agriculture  is  the 
chief  industry  of  Italy,  and  over  70  per  cent,  of 
the  total  area  is  in  the  productive  state.  The 
chief  crops,  according  to  the  acreage  covered, 
are  wheat,  vines,  maize,  olives,  rice,  and 
tobacco.  Silk  culture  is  important,  and  is 
expanding.  Attention  is  paid  to  forestry,  and 
government  aid  is  given  in  replanting.  Mining 
provides  occupation  for  66,000  people.     The  chit  f 

5376 


mineral  industry  of  Italy  is  the  sulphur  mines, 
of  which  there  are  over  600.  Other  mines  are 
zinc  and  lead,  salt,  graphite,  and  petroleum, 
mineral  fuel,  copper,  iron,  antimony,  and 
mercury.  Italian  quarries  employ  66,000  people, 
and  two-thirds  of  the  value  of  the  total  output  is 
marble.  There  are  about  250,000  fishing- boats 
and  100,000  fishermen,  6,000  of  whom  are  en- 
gaged in  deep-sea  fishing.  The  chief  industries 
are  textile — silk,  woollen,  cotton,  and  linen — 
and  the  sugar  industry  is  making  rapid  strides. 
Industrially,  Italy  is  making  great  progress. 
In  1908  the  value  of  Italian  exports  was 
£74,330,000  and  of  Italian  imports,  £121,238. 
The  chief  exports  are  raw  silk,  cotton  and 
silk  fabrics,  olive  oil,  eggs,  hemp,  silk  waste, 
dried  fruit,  sulphur,  and  wine.  Great  Britain 
sells  more  to  Italy  than  does  any  other  nation  ; 
and  Switzerland  is  Italy's  best  customer. 

Colonies    and     Dependencies.     The    only 
Italian  colonies  or  dependencies  are  those  on  the 
east    coast    of    Africa,  and  one  port  in  China.       . 
They  have  little  economic  value.  I 


Area. 

Population. 

Eritrea  (on  the  Red  Sea)     . . 
Italian  Somaliland 
Tientsin         

88,500 

100,000 

18 

450,000 

400.000 

17,000 

Total 

188,518 

867,000 

Currency.  The  money  of  Italy  is  upon  the 
same  basis  as  the  French  currency  [see  page 
5398]  a  lira,  or  lire,  being  the  exact  equivalent 
of  a  franc,  and  a  centesimi  the  Italian  equiva- 
lent of  a  French  centime.  The  coins  in  circula- 
tion are  :  bronze,  1,  2,  5,  and  10  centesimi  ; 
nickel,  20  and  25  centesimi  ;  silver,  1,  2,  and 
5  lire  ;  gold,  10  and  20  Ure  ;  state-notes,  5  10,  and 
25hre;  bank-notes,  50,  100,  500,  and  1,000  lu-e. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  metric  system 
is  in  force  [see  page  5399]. 

Postage.  Great  Britain  to  Italy,  for  letters, 
printed  papers,  commercial  papers,  and  samples, 
the  same  as  for  France  [see  page  5398]. 

Parcel  Post  (via  France).  Is.  6d.,  2s.,  and 
2s.  6d.  for  3,  7,  and  11  lb.  respectively.  If 
by  slower  route,  via  Belgium,  Germany,  and 
Switzerland,  9d.  per  packet  above  these  prices. 

Telegrams.  Great  Britain  to  Italy,  3d.  per 
word,  with  a  minimum  charge  of  one  shilling. 

SAN  MARINO 
San  Marino  is  an  independent  repubUc,  which 
claims  to  be  the  oldest  state  in  Europe,  and 
which  has  placed  itself  under  the  protection  of 
Italy.  It  is  entirely  enclosed  by  Italy  proper, 
and  is  situated  in  the  hills  behind  Rimini.  Its 
area  is  thirty-three  square  miles,  and  its  popula- 
tion 11,000.  The  seat  of  government  is  San 
Marino,  a  village  of  1,500  population.  Legis- 
lative power  is  vested  in  a  council  of  sixty 
members,  two  of  whom  act  as  regents  for  six 
months  and  exercise  executive  power.  There 
is  a  smaller  council  of  twelve,  who  divide  into 
four  committees  or  congresses.  The  principal 
exports  are  wine,  cattle,  and  stone. 


EUROPEAN 
POWERS 
TO-DAY 


VIII 
FRANCE 


FRANCE    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 

A    SURVEY    OF    THE    NATION'S 

SOCIAL    AND    POLITICAL    LIFE 

By    Richard    Whiteing 


WE  have  followed  the  history  of  France 
among  the  nations  of  Europe  down 
to  our  own  day.  Where  does  this  great 
country  stand  at  the  present  time  ? 

In  regard  to  politics  the  answer  is  simple 
enough.  France  has  established  the 
Repubhc  after  more  than  a  century  of 
effort,  and  has  put  it  on  the  footing  of  the 
institutions  that  are  taken  as  matters  of 
course.  This  means,  not  that  the  present 
system  is  free  from  the  liability  to  error 
and  to  great  economic  and  social  change, 
but  simply  that  a  reversion  to  either  of 
the  earlier  forms,  of  monarchy  or  empire, 
is,  unthinkable.  For  good  or  ill  the  old 
parties  have,  and  can  have,  no  hope  of  a 
governing  majority.  The  monarchy  is 
associated  with  the  tradition  of  misery  ; 
the  empire  with  that  of  defeat  and 
humiliation.  The  disasters  of  1 870-1  have 
had  precious  results  on  the  temperament 
of  the  people  ;  it  is  unlikely  that  the  war 
drum  will  ever  throb  again  in  France  in  any 
cause  but  the  defence  of  the  territory. 
Even  the  lost  provinces  have  become  rather 
an  aspiration  than  a  purpose  and  a  hope. 
The  new  political  ideal  is  the  welfare  of 
the  nation  as  a  whole,  the  making  life 
better  worth  living  for  every  unit  of  the 
mass  of  population.  In  his  latest  survey 
of  the  whole  situation,  M.  Jaures  boasts 
that  the  country  is  now  in  full  political 
democracy.  In  other  words,  the 
French  people  are  at  last  in  sole 
charge  of  their  own  destinies. 
The  constitution  has  been 
fashioned  into  a  perfect  instrument  for  the 
work  in  hand.  Its  provision  of  the  second 
ballot  ensures  the  predominance  of  the 
popular  will  ;  the  deputies  are  paid  as 
servants  of  the  State,  not  as  servants  of 
any  section  of  the  electorate.  The  suffrage 
is  universal,  and  no  man  has  more  than 
one  vote.     The  electoral  machinery  is  of 


The  New 

Political 

Ideal 


What  the 
Republic 
Represents 


ideal  simpHcity.  The  Senate,  composed 
of  300  members,  will  wholly  represent  the 
principle  of  popular  choice  in  the  second 
degree  when  its  few  surviving  life  members 
have  passed  away.  The  president  is  but 
the  most  eminent  servant  of  the  nation. 
This  is  not  to  say  that  none  but  Repub- 
lican parties  exist.  There  is  a  Monarchist 
party  which,  as  Nationalist  or 
Conservative  in  name,  harps  on 
the  string  of  military  glory,  and 
still  keeps  a  kind  of  sentimental 
hold  on  a  section  of  the  peasantry,  and 
makes  some  figure  in  the  social  life  of  Paris. 
But  the  peasant  proprietors  in  the  mass 
are  for  the  Republic,  because  they  believe 
that  it  is  for  order  and  stability,  and  that 
they  have  nothing  to  fear  from  it,  and  a 
good  deal   to  hope. 

The  urban  masses,  again,  are  bound  to 
give  it  their  support  as  the  progressive 
movement  in  being,  though  the  workmen 
as  a  whole  are  overwhelmingly  Socialist  and 
anti-capitalistic.  In  the  decisive  election  of 
1906,  of  some  9,000,000  voters  who  went 
to  the  poll,  nearly  6,250,000  cast  their 
votes  for  Republican  or  Socialist  candi- 
dates, without  counting  another  million 
or  so  who  represented  Liberals  well  affected 
to  the  existing  system.  The  poor  remainder 
stood  for  all  the  forces  of  reaction.  The 
majority  were  all  Republicans  of  one  shade 
or  other,  whatever  else  they  were  not,  and 
were  ready  to  coalesce  for  the  defence  of 
Republican  institutions. 

The  Sociahst  section  of  the  Republican 
party  now  includes  much  of  the  highest 
intellect  of  France,  and  exemplifies  nearly 
all  the  varieties  of  that  school  of  politics 
throughout  the  world.  The  racial  mind 
has  a  wide  range,  from  the  utmost  poise 
and  precision  of  scientific  thought  to  the 
most  passionate  enthusiasm  for  the  idea. 
The  Commune  is  the  classical  example. 

5377 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


A  Great 

French 
Socialist 


It  was  a  system  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on 
the  other,  a  dehrium  of  utter  self-sacrifice. 
Its  members  died  b}^  thousands  for  a  social 
millennium.  The  outbreak  would  have 
ruined  the  democratic  cause  for  ages  in 
any  othei  country  ;  in  France  it  only  gave 
the  cause  a  set-back  that  has  already 
become  but  an  incident  of  its  career. 
The  darkest  hour  found  a  man 
capable  of  stemming  the  cur- 
rent of  disaster,  and  effecting 
the  salvage  of  the  proletarian 
idea.  This  was  Jules  Guesde.  He  had 
laid  the  causes  of  failure  to  heart,  and  he 
gradually  taught  his  countrymen  to  aban- 
don the  old  methods  of  sterile  insurrec- 
tionary agitation,  and  to  rely  on  organised 
propaganda  to  a  definite  end. 

He  opposed  the  desperate  measure  of  the 
general  strike,  and  in  due  course  achieved 
the  miracle  of  sending  forty  deputies  to  the 
Chamber  pledged  to  a  Collectivast  pro- 
gramme, and  to  the  saving  idea  of  unity  of 
all  sections  of  the  advanced  party  in  the 
common  cause.  They  were  not,  however, 
to  co-operate  with  the  Government  ;  they 
were  to  convert  it  to  Socialism,  and  his 
union  of  parties  was  still  to  be  only  a  union 
among  the  elect.  The  thought  of  common 
action  with  men  who  were  Republicans,  and 
nothing  else,  was  repugnant  to  his  soul. 

Then  came  Jaures  with  the  wider  out- 
look of  a  scheme  for  union  among  all  the 
supporters  of  the  Republic.  He  was,  and 
is  still,  a  professor  of  philosophy,  and,  as 
such,  a  distinguished  member  of  the  aca- 
demic bod\  and  a  servant  of  the  State. 
A  man  holding  that  position  in  France 
must  be  deeply  versed  in  the  history  of 
nations  and  the  history  of  thought,  and 
the  studies  of  Jaures  had  taught  him  that 
practical  persons  with  a  sense  of  give  and 
take  always  win  in  the  long  run.  He  urged 
his  brother  Socialists  to  spread  their  doc- 
trines among  the  people  in  the  old  way, 
but  meanwhile  to  work  with  the  consti- 
tuted authorities,  and  in  Parliament  for 
all  that  Parliament  was  worth. 
f  tK  ^  ^  ^'  He  entered  warmly  into  the 
^  Dreyfus  agitation,  on  the  side 

that  ultimately  triumphed,  and 
he  finally  sent  one  of  his  lieutenants  into 
the  government  as  member  of  a  Ministry 
that  contained  the  hated  De  Gallifet, 
"  the  butcher  of  the  Commune." 

This  proceeding  scandalised  the  Social- 
ists of  Europe,  and  it  led  to  a  Titanic 
debate  between  Jaures  and  the  German 
Bebel,  at    the    International    Congress   of 

5378 


Dresden.  Bebel  triumphed  by  carrying  a 
resolution  to  the  effect  that  Socialism 
should  have  a  policy  strictly  independent 
of  all  other  political  parties,  and  should 
take  no  part  in  a  "  capitalist  "  govern- 
ment. Jaures  frankly  accepted  the  vote, 
and,  by  his  submission  to  the  idea  of  party 
discipline,  did  much  to  maintain  his 
position,  and  to  lead  his  very  antagonists 
to  more  practical  courses.  His  followers 
are  not  a  solid  phalanx  ;  it  is  his  proud, 
though  perhaps  rather  premature,  boast 
that  "  outside  of  the  united  party"  there 
is  none  deserving  of  the  Socialist  name. 

Jaures  is  still  strictly  a  party  man,  and 
he  constantly  uses  his  energies  as  a  spur 
to  prick  the  sides  of  ministerial  intent. 
In  the  summer  of  igo6  he  held  another 
Titanic  debate  with  M.  Clemenceau,  as 
the  head  of  the  Government,  on  the  great 
question  of  the  rate  of  progress  in  demo- 
cratic reform  that  still  separates  the 
labouring  class  of  France  from  the  middle 
class.  There  had  been  serious  strike  riots, 
and  the  Government  had  been  compelled 
to  intervene  to  preserve  the  peace.  "  Order 
is  the  Republic's  first  law,"  M.  Clemenceau 

seemed  to  say.     "  Give  us  the 
^  ^'     f      opportunity  to  be  your  friends. 
epu    ic  s     ^^^  ^^^^  you  want  will  come,  if 
First  Law  ,  •',  , ,  ,  •  . 

only  you  have  the  patiences-to 

wait  for  it."  He  carried  the  point  by  a 
vote  that  expressed  the  confidence  of  the 
Chamber.  "  You  are  not  the  Almighty," 
cried  the  defeated  champion  in  a  moment 
of  petulance.  "You  are  not  even  the 
Devil,"  was  the  retort. 

In  the  elections  of  1906  over  26  per  cent, 
of  those  who  went  to  the  poll  cast  a 
Socialist  vote,  yet  this  was  regarded  as  a 
Socialist  defeat.  Socialism  is  powerful 
enough  to  influence  legislation,  though 
not  to  control  it.  It  now  elects  mayors  by 
the  hundred,  and  municipal  councillors  by 
the  thousand.  Its  chief  supporters  are 
found  among  the  workmen,  and  the 
"  intellectuals  "  of  the  professorial  group. 

Trade  Unionism  in  France,  as  such,  is 
rather  "  on  the  fence "  in  being  not 
frankly  Socialist  though  in  strong  sym- 
pathy with  the  movement.  It  has  long 
been  political  and  speculative  in  its 
tendencies,  and  for  a  simple  reason.  Many 
of  the  benefits  in  higher  wages  and  the 
like,  which  with  us  were  the  exclusive 
concern  of  such  organisations,  are,  in 
France,  secured  by  the  personal  thrift  of 
the  workman,  and  by  the  help  of  the 
State.    The  French  Unionists  often  prefer 


FRANCE    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


to  save  for  themselves,  and  this  leaves  them 
fancy  free  for  the  dream  of  a  beneficial 
revolution  which  is  to  settle  everything. 
Many  of  their  comrades,  however,  are 
still  for  the  English  method  of  trade  funds 
for  purely  trade  purposes — the  raising  of 
wages,  and  the  benefits.  The  first  would 
make  the  unions  a  branch  of  a  sort  of 
labour  party,  rejecting  the  co-operation  of 
all  other  classes  but  their  own,  and 
working  by  means  of  a  class  war.  The 
others  have  the  powerful  support  of  the 
miners,  the  printers,  the  textile  workers 
and  the  engineers. 

According  to  Miss  Scott,  the  latest 
historian  of  the  movement,  the  only 
important  unions  that  are  distinctly  revo- 
lutionary are  those  of  the  building  trades. 
One  of  their  spokesmen  utters  a  warning 
cry  against  "  the  development  of  a  fourth 
estate  composed  of  trades  economically 
privileged,  with  the  unskilled  and  unem- 
ployed left  on  one  side."  It  is  no  easy 
matter  to  arouse  French  enthusiasm  for 
any  idea  of  a  purely  utilitarian  character. 
The  tendency  is  always  to  look  before  and 
after  to  the  complete  regeneration  of  the 
race.     This  tendency  has  hin- 

tt'r^^t  *  .  dered  the  progress  of  French 
Workman  s   ^  ,-   ^      °t,   ,  x.    ■       j 

p        .  Co-operation,     it  has  attamed 

to  nothing  like  the  same  rate  of 

development   as  the   British  movement — 

even  in  the   manufacturing  branch,  which 

has  always  been  peculiarly  its  own. 

The  net  result  is  that  the  French 
workman  has,  on  the  whole,  a  better  lot 
than  the  British.  He  has  more  of  the  joy 
of  life.  His  government,  state  and  munici- 
pal, does  more  for  him,  and  takes  care 
that  he  shall  be  abundantly  supplied 
with  simple  pleasures — seats  in  the  shady 
thoroughfares  for  the  summer  evenings, 
where  he  may  smoke  his  pipe  and  see  his 
children  at  play  ;  well-kept  woods,  forests 
and  parks,  where  he  may  ramble  on  Sunday 
with  his  wife  and  family ;  cheapened 
services  of  tram  and  train — all  with 
ludicrously  cheap  holidays  as  the  general 
result.  If  his  hours  of  labour  are  longer, 
the  pace  is  nothing  like  so  hard.  His  home 
life  abounds  in  the  solid  and  substantial 
comfort  of  the  neat  and  cleanly  dwelling, 
the  well-filled  clothes-press  and  larder, 
the  well-cooked  meal,  and  the  well- 
stocked  market  as  its  source  of  supply. 

For  most  of  these  blessings,  no  doubt, 
he  has  to  thank  his  admirable  wife,  herself 
a  product  of  the  most  careful  cultures, 
domestic,  educational,  and  religious.     He 


eats  "  like  a  prince,"  both  in  quality 
and  in  the  quantity  for  his  need.  On 
this  point  the  comparative  statistics 
as  to  the  prices  of  provisions  in  the  two 
countries  which  are  published  in  England 
from  time  to  time  are  wholly  illusory. 
With  the  French  workman,  two  or  even 
three  courses  and  dessert  are  not  the 
Happy  exception,  but  the  rule.    His 

and  Contented  children  have  the  best  of 
Workers  elementary,     and    often    of 

advanced  education  —  the 
former  entirely  free,  with  free  meals  at 
need — and  over  and  above  this,  free  access 
to  magnificently  appointed  technical 
schools,  where  they  may  learn  their  trades. 

The  spontaneous  help  of  his  comrades 
rarely  fails  him  in  misfortune.  He  is  less 
frequently  haunted  by  the  spectre  of  a  sub- 
merged tenth  than  his  British  brother  ; 
indeed,  that  class  is  practically  non-exist- 
ent in  France.  "  Wherever  you  go,"  says 
a  recent  observer,  "  you  will  find  less 
evidence  of  poverty,  of  idleness,  of  misery 
than  will  force  itself  on  your  attention 
almost  anywhere  else  in  the  world." 

Thanks  to  all  this,  the  French  work- 
man is  generally  content  to  remain  in  his 
class.  It  is  by  no  means,  however,  the 
content  of  acquiescence.  His  class  hatreds 
are  strong,  and,  with  his  sense  of  equality, 
he  is  disposed  to  have  "  no  use  "  for  the 
bourgeoisie  or  for  the  aristocrats.  In  so 
far  as  he  is  a  workman  of  the  towns,  he 
is  generally  socialistic  and  anti-capitalistic 
to  the  backbone.  He  belongs  either  to 
the  French  Working  Class  party,  which 
is  opposed  to  any  sort  of  co-operation, 
political  or  other,  with  society  at  large, 
or  to  the  Socialist  Revolutionary  party, 
which  is  disposed  to  accept  such  co- 
operation in  politics,  on  conditions,  but 
in  each  case  with  a  view  to  the  final 
triumph  of  equalitarian  ideas.  Finally, 
he  hates  war,  partly  on  general  principles, 
but  mainly  because  he  hates  the  blood 
tax  of  the  conscription.  Then,  for  the 
balance  of  power  in  public 
Peasantry     g^f^ a.irs,  the  workmen  are  effectu- 

SocTaHsm  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^"  electoral  check 
by  the  peasantry,  whose  large 
share  of  the  ownership  of  the  land 
gives  them  little  liking  for  Socialism,  and 
no  taste  for  farming  under  the  State. 
These  are  the  more  potent  as  a  check, 
because  they  have  all  but  completely 
ralhed  to  the  Republican  idea.  Successive 
Governments  have  wooed  and  won  them 
by   standing   firmly   for   the   security   of 

5379 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


property   and   for   public   order,    and   by 

making  them  objects  of  peculiar  care  in 

other  ways.     Their  technical  schools  for 

farming,   for  instance,    are   on  the   same 

high  level  as  the  schools  for  arts  and  crafts. 

Liberty,    Equality  and  Fraternity    are 

still    the     watchwords    of    the    Republic, 

but  the  French  are  disposed  to  take  them 

,«,  .  1        ,    not    exactly     in    this    order. 

Watchwords  t^         ^■,        •        .1  „  t 

-  Lquality   is    the    passion   of 

„  ...  the  people,  and  the  goal  of 
cpu  ic  ^y^  their  strivings  and  of  all 
their  hopes.  Fraternity  is  a  sentiment  of 
only  less  strength,  but  as  yet  it  has  got 
no  further  than  fraternity  by  classes. 
Among  the  workmen,  for  instance,  the 
sense  of  brotherhood  is  a  positive  affection 
of  the  soul,  only  to  be  realised  by  those 
who  have  lived  in  close  touch  with  them 
and  witnessed  its  countless  manifestations 
of  courtesy,  charity,  and  active  help. 

It  is  the  same  among  the  professional 
and  the  other  classes  who  are  the  brain 
and  nerve  of  France,  and  here  fraternity 
finds  its  strongest  manifestation  in  the 
strength  of  the  family  tie.  The  family 
constitutes  a  vast  insurance  society  for 
the  mutual  guarantee  of  all  its  members 
against  the  ills  of  life.  Fe\v  fail  to  respond 
to  the  appeal,  even  when  the  claim  extends 
to  cousinships  of  the  remoter  degrees. 
The  whole  scheme  of  collective  well-being 
is  that  in  emergencies  no  single  member 
of  the  "  clan  "  shall  have  to  stand  quite 
alone.  The  uncle  who  looks  after  his 
graceless  nephew  as  a  matter  of  duty,  and 
almost  without  expectation  of  gratitude, 
is  a  familiar  figure  of  French  comedy. 

This,  in  itself,  with  the  obligations  it 
entails,  involves  a  certain  sacrifice  of 
liberty,  since  \'ou  can  hardly  have  it  both 
ways^-dependence,  and  a  perfectly  free 
course.  Liberty,  therefore,  while  it  has 
made  huge  progress  under  the  Republic, 
is  still  hampered  by  intolerance.  The 
Press  is  free  to  the  point  of  licence  ;  but 
personal  freedom,  especially  that  of  public 

^^    ,  meeting,  still  leaves  much  to 

Weaknesses   1       j  j      ti        /^ 

.     .  be  desired.    Ihe  Government, 

Government    !"  ^^/  fff^^"  ^?' ^''^}'?.  °''^^''' 
IS    iretiul    and    meddlesome, 

especially  as  it  works  through  the  agency 
of  the  police.  It  regulates  strikes  and 
public  meetings  to  the  point  of  exaspera- 
tion, and  compromises  the  "  order  of  the 
streets  "  by  a  fussy  anxiety  to  preserve  it. 
The  ordinary  prefect  of  police  simply  loses 
his  head  at  the  sight  of  two  or  three  gathered 
together  for  public  discussion.  The  very 
5380 


crowd  is  at  fault  in  the  same  way ; 
and  in  psychological  moments  every 
man's  hand  seems  to  be  against  his  neigh- 
bour's coat-collar  in  the  act  of  arrest. 

For  all  that,  the  Repubhc  is  by  far  the 
strongest  French  government  of  modern 
times  if  only  for  the  classic  reason  that  it 
divides  Frenchmen  the  least.  The  vast 
and  powerful  middle  class  no  longer  I 
stands  aloof.  The  people,  in  the  con- 
ventional sense  of  the  term,  are  not  and 
never  have  been  enough  to  make  a 
governing  sj'stem.  The  power  may  come 
to  them  when  they  have  all  the  qualifi- 
cations for  it ; ,  but  by  that  time  they 
and  the  nation  will  be  one.  At  present 
the  middle  class,  with  its  backing  of  the 
moderates  of  all  shades,  is  as  strong  as 
ever  in  affairs  and  in  knowledge. 

In  all  times  the  vast  majority  of  the 
governed,  as  distinct  often  enough  from 
their  governors  of  the  moment,  have 
constituted  a  sort  of  natural  force  of 
conservation.  They  are  at  once  eager 
for  change  and  fearful  of  its  effects ; 
and  their  very  inconsistencies  serve  to 
determine  the  pace  for  progress,  and  to 
.  compel  a  due  regard  to  the 
re  om  in  an   ^j^justj^gj^tg  between    old  in- 

.  p  ...  terests  and  new  claims.  It  may 
be  no  more  than  the  force  of 
habit,  but  a  force  it  is,  for  their  mass 
makes  them  the  predominant  partner  in 
politics.  No  part\%  however  advanced, 
can  touch  the  actual  experience  of  ad- 
ministration without  swaying  to  the  side 
of  this  moderate  norm,  which  represents 
the  working  mean  between  movement 
and  stagnation,  and  which  exists  by  no 
accident  but  by  a  law.  When  that  central 
and  all-powerful  body  swerves  in  momen- 
tary aberration  to  either  extreme,  pro- 
gressive or  reactionary,  it  begins  to 
diminish  in  numbers,  and  to  lose  control. 
A  government  of  abstract  justice  and  of 
revolutionary  upheaval,  if  it  could  be 
established  to-morrow,  would  pass  like 
the  dream  of  a  night.  The  chronic  in- 
firmities of  human  nature  would  still 
assert  their  rights. 

The  Republic  is  now  in  the  safe  keeping 
of  the  whole  nation.  Like  every  other 
government  in  the  world,  it  will,  of  course, 
undergo  enormous  changes,  but  these 
must  be  gradual,  and  must  still  con- 
form to  the  law  of  human  affairs.  The 
moderate  man  will  ever  be  master  in  the 
long  run.  Much  of  the  abuse  of  the 
"middle  class"  is  due    to    the   sense   of 


THE     INTERIOR     OF     THE     SENATE     IN     THE     LUXEMBURG     PALACE 


INTERIOR    OF    THE    CHAMBER    OF    DEPUTIES 


OUTSIDE    AND     INSIDE    THE    FRENCH     HOUSES    OF    PARLIAMENT 


5381 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


their  irresistible  might.  They  captured 
the  old  revolution,  they  have  already 
captured  the  new.  In  many  respects 
France  is  fortunate  in  being  rooted  in 
institutions  that  make  for  stability  and 
social  peace.  Her  wise  laws  of  inherit- 
ance provide  for  a  beneficent  diffusion 
of  wealth  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
Th   ff  body    politic.      No   man   may 

p  "  '"       leave  all  his  property  exactly 

..^°f„^ '?,  as  he  likes.  A  considerable 
the  World        1  r     -i  ^  J.       t-- 

share  of    it    must    go    to    his 

wife  and  children,  and  not  to  any  one  of 
them  to  the  detriment  of  the  rest.  In  this 
way  there  is  an  automatic  check  on  the 
growth  of  large  fortunes,  and  a  constant 
diffusion  of  wealth,  which  irrigates  the 
whole  field  of  national  well-being  with  a 
fertilising  stream. 

There  are  few  French  citizens,  men  or 
women,  who  are  without  "  expectations  " 
of  a  kind.  Consequently  there  is  no  huge 
landless,  moneyless  class,  filthy,  feckless 
and  forlorn,  answering  to  our  abject  poor. 
The  flower  and  product  of  this  system  is 
the  national  habit  of  thrift,  which  is  an 
effect  of  wise  legislation  rather  than  a  mere 
peculiarity  of  the  national  temperament. 
Opportunity  has  made  the  French  the 
thriftiest  people  in  the  world.  Having  the 
means  of  saving,  they  naturally  save. 

This,  and  this  alone,  accounts  for  the 
enormous  recuperative  power  of  the  nation 
as  a  whole.  "  Whereas  Great  Britain," 
says  Mr.  W.  L.  George,  in  his  "  France 
in  the  Twentieth  Century,"  "  has  but 
just  recovered  from  the  depression  follow- 
ing on  the  South  African  War,  a  com- 
paratively cheap  contest  which  did  not 
entail  the  destruction  of  a  single  English 
home,  France,  within  four  years  of  1870, 
had  regained  her  position,  after  paying 
an  indemnity  nearly  equal  to  our  total 
Transvaal  expenditure,  and  enduring  six 
months'  devastation  of  her  soil."  French 
literature  is  naturally  best  understood 
by  a  study  of  the  French  character, 
of  which  it  is  the  necessary 
outcome.  The  Frenchman 
has  two  natures  in  marked 
contrast.  In  one  he  is 
the  child  of  the  joy  of  life — all  impulse, 
whim,  and  go-as-you-please  ;  in  the  other, 
he  is  the  most  staid,  orderly,  respectable 
being  in  the  universe.  In  the  first  he 
follows  the  wayward  law  of  his  moods  and 
his  intuitions  ;  in  the  other  he  is  almost 
the  victim  of  a  rigorous  logic  which  com- 
pels him  to  keep  his  mind  as  tidy  as  his 

5382 


The  Double 
Nature  of  the 
Frenchman 


person,  and  to  put  every  idea  in  its  place.  i 
The  latter  is  his  normal  state,  and  it  has 
produced  his  classic  literature  ;  the  former 
has  prompted  him  to  all  the  revolts  of 
reaction  towards  Romanticism, Naturalism, 
Idealism,  and  all  the  other  schools  that 
are  characterised  so  much  by  the  final 
syllable  of  their  names.  Ronsard.  apart 
from  his  services  to  the  good  govern- 
ment of  the  language,  came  to  bring  life 
and  the  joy  of  a  free  course  in  the  beauty 
of  nature.  The  rather  miscalled  age  of 
Louis  XIV.  brought  discipline,  law  and 
order  ;  our  good  bourgeois  of  the  muse 
was  now  intent  on  a  return  to  the  pro- 
prieties. This  mood  ran  its  course  until  he 
made  holiday  again  with  the  Romantics. 
"  Tempted  of  the  Devil,"  wrote  the  wrath- 
ful Nisard,  of  Hugo  the  leader  of  the  band, 
"  he  is  begetting  new  schools  every  day." 
It  was  not  to  last  for  ever.  The  rebels 
in  their  turn  came  to  repentance  with 
the  Parnassian  group.  The  poetic  mind 
is  now  once  more  in  a  state  of  lawlessness, 
or,  at  any  rate,  of  unrest,  which  bodes 
another  return  to  the  righteousness  of  form. 
Banville,  who  succeeded  Hugo  as  the 
master  poet  of  his  day,  was 

anvi  e  still  the  Romantic  movement, 

the  Successor  ,      .  , ,     .  -     1       .  j 

-  „  but  that  movement  chastened 

"^°  by  its  sense  of  the  need  of 

flawless  workmanship  and  of  spiritual 
restraint.  His  "  Petit  Traite  de  la 
Poesie  "  was  merciless  in  its  insistence 
on  the  clearness,  precision,  and  minute 
finish  of  detail  so  dear  to  the  French 
mind.  Leconte  de  Lisle  was  classic  in 
spirit,  call  him  what  else  you  will,  though 
a  classic  with  a  wider  outlook  on  life 
than  the  men  of  the  grand  period. 

Sully  Prudhomme,  the  next  great  name, 
has  been  called,  and  not  unhappily,  a 
French  Matthew  Arnold  in  his  sense  of 
the  good  breeding  of  an  Augustan  ideal, 
and  sometimes  a  Lucretius,  or  even  a 
Darwin,  of  poetry.  Coppee  was  the  same 
sort  of  man  working  in  a  medium  of  scenes 
of  humble  life,  a  French  Crabbe,  touching 
the  butcher,  the  baker,  and  the  candlestick- 
maker,  not  as  one  of  themselves,  but  as 
the  Puritan  of  a  rigorous  law  of  art. 

Sully  Prudhomme  died  but  the  other 
day.  Where  is  he  now — at  any  rate,  in 
regard  to  his  status  in  this  world  ? 
Before  the  breath  went  out  of  his  body 
an  advanced  school  had  come  to  regard 
him  as  a  fogey.  It  has  yet  to  wreak  its 
vengeance  on  Heredia,  the  last  of  the 
Parnassians,  for  the  crime  of  popularity. 


FRANCE    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


but  no  doubt  he,  too,  will  have  his  hour  of 
the  wrong  sort.  His  goldsmith's  art  in 
the  fine  chiselling  of  the  phrase  has  carried 
their  system  to  perfection ;  and  perfection 
palls,  to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  the 
younger  men  are  waiting,  and  that  youth 
will  have  its  day. 

We  are  still  with  the  Decadents,  though 
in  new  manifestations.  Beaudelaire  rules 
our  spirits  from  his  urn  ;  so  does  Verlaine, 
and  it  is  estimated  that  at  least  a  hundred 
of  his  pages  may  reach  posterity.  They 
should  do  so,  for  he  at  least  restored  the 
personal  and  the  human  note  which  had 
no  place  in  the  baggage  of  the  Parnassian 
band.  Mallarme,  sometimes  coupled  with 
him  as  a  neo-Decadent,  is  far  inferior. 

It  is  now  a  riot  of  schools,  if  the  word  is 
not  inappropriate  to  systems  that  are 
little  more  than  exaggerations  of  the 
personal  note.  Some  sing  the  all-import- 
ance of  the  ego,  others  the  emptiness  of 
life.  They  pass  across  the  illuminated 
disc  of  popularity,  from  nothing  into 
nothingness  again,  like  the  figures  in  the 
cinematograph.  The  Polychromists,  who 
hold  that  the  word  is  not  merely  the  symbol 
of  colour,  but  the  thing  itself,  are  still  to 
be  found,  though  you  have  to 
look  for  them.  The  Realists 
yet  honour  Jean  Richepin  for 
his  "Chanson  des  Gueux," 
and  another  composition  in  which  he  has 
written  with  much  appreciation  of  the 
Devil  and  all  his  works.  Maupassant 
shaped  well  in  this  school  of  verse  at 
the  outset  of  his  career. 

Foreigners  have  largely  influenced  the 
modern  poetic  movement.  Maeterlinck 
is  perhaps  the  most  distinguished  case 
in  point.  But  there  is  now  a  promising  cult, 
which  places  Whitman  at  the  head,  of 
Poe,  Emerson  and  Thoreau  as  the  four 
men  of  universal  genius  that  America 
has  given  to  the  world. 

The  general  result  is  that  the  old  French 
prosody,  the  result  of  centuries  of  critical 
labour,  has  gone  all  to  pieces,  and  that  its 
chief  law — one  word,  one  vote  for  signi- 
fication— has  been  repealed.  Even  the 
venerable  figure  of  syntax  has  been  plucked 
by  the  beard.  Impression  has  taken  the 
place  of  logic,  assonance  of  rhyme.  The 
reaction  will  follow  in  due  course,  probably 
in  a  new  classical  movement  with  larger 
and  more  generous  bounds. 

The  same  tendencies  are  observable  in 
French  fiction.  It  is  a  time  of  unrest,  but 
the  outlook  is  most  promising.    The  old 


The  Modern 

Poetic 

Movement 


Naturalist  school  of  Zola,  as  a  school,  is 
gone,  but  it  has  left  abiding  traces,  most 
of  them  for  good.  The  good  ones  are  in  the 
direction  of  respect  for  the  facts  and  of  a 
faithful  rendering  of  detail  ;  the  bad,  in 
sheer  pornography,  though  this  is  not 
the  founder's  fault.  Bourget,  though  no 
Naturalist,  in  regard  to  the  observation  of 
French  ^^^^  things  of  the  flesh,  follows 
Fiction  of  .that  "method  in  regard  to  the 
To-Day  thmgs  of  the  spirit.  There  is 
another  trace  of  Zola  in  the  fact 
that  the  new  school  is  overwhelmingly 
purposeful.  In  no  former  time  has  French 
fiction  been  so  much  occupied  with  the 
study  of  social  facts.  This  is  the  main  hne 
of  the  new  departure.  Even  the  revived 
study  of  local  manners  and  customs, 
local  types,  is  not  free  from  the  laudable 
suspicion  of  a  purpose  of  natural  regenera- 
tion. If  some  still  write  in  the  old  way, 
for  the  pure  love  of  story  as  story,  and  of 
character  in  and  for  itself,  they  form  but 
a  minority,  though  a  minority  with  a 
right  to  their  welcome. 

The  revival  of  religion  has  its  apostles, 
but  every  one  of  them  takes  care  to  let 
you  see  that  he  is  a  patriot  rather  than  a 
saint.  The  wide,  wide  world  is  not  for- 
gotten, and  it  has  a  school  to  itself,  with 
Loti  as  its  master.  His  work  has  the  study 
of  foreign  race  types  and  exotic  peculiari- 
ties for  its  means,  and  a  suggestion  of  the 
greater  glory  of  France  for  its  end  and 
aim.  That  perfectly  equipped  writer  has 
ever  been  the  best  of  patriots  ;  and  when 
he  writes  of  "  India  without  the  English," 
we  may  easily  divine  his  regret  that  Pro- 
vidence did  not  vouchsafe  the  blessing  of 
its  being  "  with  the  French." 

The  social  studies  embrace  every  variety 
of  the  genre.  Most  of  them  have  this 
peculiarity,  that  they  deal  with  groups 
rather  than  with  individuals,  in  the  older 
way.  Where  they  are  historic  in  their 
setting,  we  have  no  longer  the  splendid 
personalities  of  the  past,  the  heroes  of  the 
world  movement  through  the 
ages,  but,  instead,  the  masses  of 
humanitj^  dim,  but  by  no  means 
dumb,  who  are  struggling 
towards  the  light.  Paul  Adam  and  Paul 
and  Victor  Margueritte  are  the  chiefs  of 
the  school.  Their  books  are  of  races  and 
nations,  all  in  movement  on  the  epic  scale. 
The  fiction  that  has  narrower  limits  of 
place  or  time  has  made  a  new  departure 
under  the  leadership  of  M.  Rod,  who  is  not 
a  thinker  only,  but  a  man  of  letters,  with 

5383 


Social 
Studies  in 
Novels 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


all  the  restraints  that  belong  to  the  French 
ideal  of  the  character.  The  miseries  of  the 
people,  the  bankruptcy  of  faith,  the  inter- 
necine struggle  between  capital  and  labour, 
the  self-seeking  of  the  professional  poU- 
tician,  are  among  his  more  striking  themes. 
M.  De  Vogiie  has  taken  this  last  subject  as 
the  motive  of  his  powerful  work  "  Les 
.  Morts  qui  Parlent."     For  him 

jY"!**"  the  parliamentarians  of  to-day 
o  &  lona  ^^g  1^^^  ^^^  delegates  of  the 
Romance        ^  ...  °  i.       tj 

Convention  m  a  new  part.     He 

is  a  polemist  of  great  force,  with  a  keen 
sense  of  actuality,  which,  however,  does 
not  prevent  him  from  casting  a  longing, 
lingering  look  towards  the  past.  Rod, 
too,  is  not  without  this  tendency,  but 
he  can  see  good  in  both  sides,  and 
sympathy  is  his  dominant  note. 

The  note  of  sadness  and  of  protest 
against  a  too  insistent  present  is  found 
again  in  much  of  the  work  that  has  pro- 
vincial France  for  its  subject,  and  par- 
ticularly in  that  of  M.  Bazin,  who  stands 
at  the  head  of  a  school.  M.  Bazin  has 
written  novels  of  great  power — on  the 
work -girls,  on  the  exodus  of  the  peasantry 
from  country  to  town,  on  the  religious 
persecution  involved  in  the  present  quarrel 
between  Church  and  State,  on  the  problem 
of  the  lost  provinces.  The  last,  a  mixture 
of  history,  patriotism,  and  philosophy, 
aspires  to  the  dignity  of  a  national  romance, 
and  as  such  it  has  been  acclaimed  by  the 
most  educated  readers  in  France.  But 
their  suffrages  are  not  enough  for  this 
writer.  He  has  studied  provincial  life  in 
all  its  aspects  with  a  success  that  has 
enabled  him  to  realise  the  sane  and  sound 
ambition  of  a  wide  popularity.  Bordeaux  is 
another  remarkable  writer  of  the  same  class. 
The  writers  who  are  most  read  in  France 
are  Paul  Bourget  and  Anatole  France,  of 
the  earlier  school,  and  Maurice  Barres  of 
the  new.  Paul  Bourget  is  now,  whatever 
he  was  not  in  the  past,  the  eloquent 
apologist  of  marriage,  of  the  authority  of 
the  family  as  a  social  organism, 
of   monarchy   and  aristocracy, 


France's 
Popular 


.    ..  and,     above    all,    of    religion. 

He  brings  to  their  support  a 
delicacy  and  a  suppleness  of  mind,  and  a 
perfectly  equipped  literary  talent,  which 
compel  the  attention  of  many  who  have 
no  sympathy  with  his  views. 

These,  however,  have  their  antidote 
ready  to  hand  in  Anatole  France,  that 
"august  Nihilist  pamphleteer,"  as  some- 
body has  called  him,  who  stands  supreme 

5384 


in  Uterary  power,  and  especially  in 
eclecticism  of  style.  He  is  the  champion 
of  the  new  ideas  that  seem  pressing  for- 
ward to  victory.  They  could  hardly  do 
without  him,  for  in  France,  as  elsewhere, 
the  cause  is  often  of  less  importance 
than  the  skill  of  the  advocate.  His 
"  sober  elegance,  his  neat  limpidity  " — to 
translate  perhaps  too  literally — compel  the 
admiration  of  all.  In  a  series  of  well-known 
works  of  fiction  he  stemmed  the  torrent  of 
prejudice  in  the  Dreyfus  case  far  more 
effectually  than  even  Zola,  to  whom  his 
detractors  have  ever  refused  the  title  of  a 
man  of  letters. 

At  any  rate,  what  Zola  did  for  the  country' 
at  large  Anatole  France  did  for  educated 
opinion,  which  still  counts  for  much  in 
matters  of  taste.  He  takes  a  side  in  seeming 
to  take  none,  and  to  be  wholly  devoted  to 
a  detached  and  caustic  observation  of  con- 
temporary ideas.  "  L'ile  des  Pingouins," 
one  of  the  latest  of  his  works,  is  also  one 
of  the  best  examples  of  his  method,  and 
with  that,  unfortunately,  of  a  certain  super- 
fluity of  coarseness  that  hardly  deserves  to 
be  called  a  defect  of  his  qualities.  He  is 
.  ».T      ...    a  precious  asset  of  the  cause  of 

A  Novelist  i.         j:     xl, 

fth  progress,    smce    most    of    the 

VT  e  L  .  writers  who  are  most  read  stand 
New  School  J-  ,       J-  ,  •  •      , 

tor   a  sort  of   reaction  against 

the  ideals  of  the  popular  party.  It  is 
easier  to  get  a  hearing  in  that  way,  among 
the  select  few- — still  large  enough  to  make 
a  considerable  public  of  themselves. 

Maurice  Barres  is  perhaps  the  most 
widely  read  of  the  three.  He  writes,  often 
with  a  strong  conservative  bias,  in  all  the 
genres,  and  he  has  identified  them  with 
successive  stages  of  his  own  development. 
He  is  a  patriot,  an  ardent  "  regionalist," 
in  his  love  of  the  character  and  colour  of 
provincial  life,  an  historical  novelist  of  the 
new  school,  in  his  keen  sense  of  the  nations 
as  makers  of  history,  and  his  comparative 
indifference  to  their  masters  of  court  or 
camp.  He  is  also  a  psychologist  of  the 
first  order,  with  a  deep  insight  into  the 
souls  of  races,  as  distinct  from  the  merely 
individual  growths.  The  newer  tendencies 
of  cultivated  thought  are  to  be  found  in  his 
pages,  and  especially  in  his  strong  insist- 
ence on  the  belief  that  no  people  can 
afford  to  forget  its  past.  "  Our  individual 
conscience  comes  from  the  love  of  our 
country  and  of  its  dead." 

Is  there  no  place,  then,  for  the  novelists 
who  write  merely  for  the  love  of  character 
and  of  incident,  and  especially  for  the  love 


CHERBOURG,    AS    SEEN    FROM    THE    FORT    DJ    ROULE 


SCENES     IN     THE     GREAT     CITIES    AND     PORTS    OF    FRANCE 

1  ''  -  5383 


3$ 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


of  telling  a  story  without  any  other 
prepossession  ?  Assuredly,  or  M.  Henri 
Regnier  would  not  be  read.  He  is  a  subtle 
spirit  born  out  of  his  proper  time,  which 
was  the  eighteenth  century,  and  prevailing 
by  the  force  of  his  irony  and  his  wit,  and 
especially  of  that  variety  of  the  latter 
which  is  known  as  the  "esprit  gaulois." 
But  the  remorseless  obligations 
of    the   subject    compel  us  to 


French 
Apostles  of 
Feminism 


return  to  another  class  of 
writers  with  a  purpose — the 
apostles  of  "feminism."  The  subject  looms 
largely  in  the  literature  of  France,  as 
distinct  from  the  propaganda  by  the 
deed  and  by  the  platform  to  which  it  is 
almost  wholly  confined  in  England.  Marcel 
Prevost  led  the  way  with  "  Les  Demi- 
Vierges  "  ;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  women  have 
now  taken  the  matter  into  their  own  hands. 
Their  studies  of  passion  leave  little  to 
be  desired,  except  sometimes  a  sense  of 
restraint ;  and  the  freedom  for  which  they 
plead  is  less  that  of  the  representative 
assembly  than  of  the  home  and  the  heart. 
Gerard  d'Houville — ^Madame  de  Regnier 
for  her  familiars — writes  with  remarkable 
literary  power.  Madame  de  Xoailles  fol- 
lows on  the  same  side,  and  is  much  in 
vogue.  With  these  are  Madame  de  Coule- 
vain,  the  author  of  "  Eve  victorieuse,"  and 
especially  of  "  Sur  la  branche,"  and 
Madame  Marcelle  Tinayre,  whose  "  Maison 
du  peche  "  was  one  of  the  most  widely 
read  books  of  its  year. 

All  of  these  have  not  only  something  to 
say,  but  they  have  learnt  how  to  say  it 
by  the  most  serious  reading  in  literature 
and  history.  They  differ  from  earlier 
writers  of  their  sex,  and  even  from  George 
Sand,  in  having  a  distinctly  feminine  point 
of  view.  They  write  as  women,  and  not  as 
women  who  hope  to  be  taken  for  men. 
Such  a  method  has  its  dangers  ;  and  it 
must  be  confessed  that  some  of  their 
feminine  followers  have  run  into  the 
grossest   licence,    as   though   to   proclaim 

.     ,.     ,    their     independence    of    the 
Imagination  s  j.  ^\    \  i.     r  j 

p  precept  that  want  ot  decency 

...  is  want  of  sense.     The    late 

Madame     Bentzon,     though 

woman  to  the  finger-tips  and  a  cliampion 

of  women,  had  in   perfection  the  qualities 

that   must   always  go  to  the  making  of 

good  literature,  and  especially  reserve. 

Imaginative  work  is  not  the  all  in  all 

of  a  literature.     There  are  thinkers  who 

work  for  thinking's  sake,  as  there  are  artists 

who  work  only  for  the  sake  of  art.     But  the 

5386 


peculiarity  of  modern  France  is  that  the 
apostles  of  ideas  tend  more  and  more  to 
express  themselves  in  poetry,  fiction,  and 
drama.  They  naturally  wish  to  have  a 
hearing,  and  they  find  that  the  average 
reader  prefers  to  take  even  his  philosophy 
in  object-lessons.  Some  of  them  fare  ill  in 
this  attempt,  and  succeed  only  in  showing 
that  they  have  missed  their  vocation.  Most 
of  the  vital  thought  of  France  is  enshrined 
in  its  fiction,  and  that  fiction  is  so  good 
because  it  is  expected  to  be  so  much  more 
than  the  amusement  of  an  idle  hour. 

In  history  there  has  been  a  change 
from  the  prophetic  and  picturesque 
and  the  essentially  literary  method  of 
Michelet  to  that  of  the  minute  and  ex- 
haustive study  of  facts  with  the  object  of 
leaving  them  to  tell  their  own  story,  or, 
at  best,  of  grouping  them  with  a  little 
malice  aforethought.  M.  Sorel  is  the  lead- 
ing I'epresentative  of  this  school,  and  he 
may  be  described  as  the  French  Stubbs. 
M.  Lavisse,  and,  above  all,  M.  Fustel  de 
Coulanges,  stand  for  the  older  and  the  more 
attractive  method.  But  their  work  is  still 
governed  by  a  rigorously  methodic  purpose 
and  treatment,  which  at  least 
seems  to  obtain  its  effects  of 
the  picturesque  by  accident 
rather  than  by  design.  The  last- 
named,  however,  though  it  may  annoy 
him  to  hear  it,  is  very  much  of  a  great 
writer.  M.  Gabriel  Hanotaux  may  be  said 
to  unite  the  two  schools.  His  history  of 
contemporary  France  during  the  period  of 
reconstruction  that  followed  her  last  great 
war  is  at  once  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
and  solid  works  of  the  time.  Apart  from 
these,  we  have  any  number  of  writers  of  the 
memoirs  in  which  the  French  have  always 
excelled.  M.  Bourget  has  entered  the 
domain  of  travels  in  a  manner  charac- 
teristic at  once  of  himself  and  of  the  new 
school,  with  his  quite  descriptively  named 
"  Sensations  d'ltalie."  In  criticism — 
philosophic  and  literary — M.  Brunetiere, 
though  he  has  recently  passed  away,  still 
rules,  with  M.  Lemaitre  and  M.  Faguet. 

In  philosophy  and  science  proper  the 
French  are  for  the  moment  largely  de- 
pendent on  the  foreigner — exception  made 
of  such  names  of  the  illustrious  dead  as 
Pasteur  and  Claude  Bernard.  Darwin, 
Spencer,  Buckner,  Haeckel,  Schopenhauer, 
Hartmann,  and  Nietzsche  call  the  tune. 

The  French  drama  shows  precisely  the 
same  tendencies  as  French  literature.  It 
is  given  over  almost  wholly  to  the  problem 


A  Brilliant 
History 
of  France 


FRANCE    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


and  the  social  question.  As  M.  Faguet 
has  observed,  there  is  in  every  age  the 
formula  in  vogue  ;  and,  in  a  certain 
sense,  all  the  theatres  of  France  have 
ever,  at  any  given  period,  played  the 
same  piece  on  the  same  night,  the  same 
sort  of  piece  being  understood. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  the  inevitable 
thing  was  a  classic  tragedy  or  a  comedy  of 
so-calledcharacter  derived,  not  from  the  life, 
but  from  La  Bruycre.  In  the  nineteenth 
there  was  another  variety  of  choice — 
Hugo,  with  the  alternative  of  Augier, 
Dumas,  or  Sardou.  To-day,  in  the  drama 
as  in  the  novel,  writers  are  pushing  out  in 
every  direction  in  search  of  the  spiritual 
interests  and  preoccupations  of  their  time. 
In  the  new  comedy  of  manners,  the  lawyers, 
the  doctors,  the  financiers  sit  to  the  artist, 
and  not  merely  as  individuals,  but  as 
members  of  a  social  group — the  "  world  " 
of  Bench  and  Bar,  the  world  of  medicine, 
and  so  on.  What  playgoer  of  us  all  can 
have  forgotten  the  "Businessis  Business  " 
of  Mirbeau  in  its  English  dress  ?  The 
French  stage,  usually  in  advance,  has 
not  been  so  closely  in  touch  with  the 
realities  of  life  for  many  a 
ik^f'  h  y^^^-  ^^  ^^  ^h^  spirit  of  Moliere, 
jj  .  .     who  dared  to  plunge  right  into 

the  realities  of  his  day,  in  bold 
disregard  of  the  conventions  of  the  old 
Italian  comedy  which  then  ruled  the  stage. 
There  is  no  more  intrigue  for  intrigue's 
sake.  The  modern  French  dramaList  has 
simply  opened  his  eyes  to  what  is  going  on 
around  him,  and  has  reaped  his  reward  in 
no  longer  being  reduced  to  "  faire  du 
Scribe  "  or  even  "  du  Sardou  "  for  a  living. 
We  in  England  are  still,,  or  were  but  yester- 
day, in  the  old  rut  ;  and,  though  we  have 
escaped  from  Scribe,  we  are  still  hardly 
out  of  the  toils  of  Sardou,  with  "The  Scrap 
of  Paper  "  and  "Diplomacy"  as  our  most 
successful  pieces  of  the  immediate  past. 

When  that  truly  eminent  hand  in 
stagecraft  died,  it  was  but  as  a  writer  who 
in  his  own  country  had  survived  his  own 
school.  But  Mr.  Shaw  and  Mr.  Galsworthy, 
with  others  of  their  band,  have  shown  us  the 
way  to  better  things,  especially  now  that 
our  younger  men  have  improved  on  one  of 
their  leaders  by  leaving  themselves  and 
their  own  personal  idiosyncrasies  of  theory 
out  of  the  cast,  and  by  working  purely  in  a 
medium  of  the  actual  concerns  of  their 
day.  Mr.  Pinero,  the  only  one  of  our 
veterans  who  is  always  marching  on,  has 
caught  up  with  at  least  the  rear-guard  of  the 


French  host  in  "  His  House  in  Order,"  and 
has  had  his  reward  in  the  honour  of 
adaptation  for  the  Paris  stage.  And  Mr. 
Barrie  has  made  an  attempt  to  extend  his 
empire  in  the  same  region.  He  would  have 
done  better  to  begin  with  the  "  Admirable 
Crichton."  The  play  so  named,  however, 
is  rather  German  than  British  in  its  method ; 
The  New  ^^^  something  as  much  like  it 
Role  of  ^^  ^^^  P^^  ^^  ^^^^  another  has 
the  Stage  !png  been  played  in  Germany. 
1  he  h  rench  move  faster.  In  the 
art  of  acting,  for  instance,  while  we  are  yet 
agitating  for  a  school  on  the  old  lines  of 
the  Conservatoire,  M.  le  Bargy  is  well  on 
his  way  with  a  new  method  of  rendering 
the  passions  of  the  scene,  which  is  founded 
more  directly  on  the  study  of  nature. 

The  Theatre  Libre  and  the  Theatre 
Antoine  are  striking  examples  of  the 
present  methods  of  writing  pieces,  of 
mounting,  and  of  playing  them,  all  im- 
mediately from  the  life.  The  less  ambi- 
tious Grand  Guignol,  and  even  the  ama- 
teurish Theatre  Social,  must  be  mentioned 
in  this  connection,  if  only  as  signs  of  the 
times.  The  French  stage  is,  in  some 
instances,  gradually  leaving  the  realism, 
to  which  ours  is  yet  but  gradually  working 
its  way,  for  a  symbolism  which  is  still 
true  to  the  spirit  of  the  universal  quest 
in  being  a  symbolism  of  the  real.  The 
names  of  Curel,  of  Portoriche,  of  Brieux, 
and  of  Donnay  have  yet  to  become  house- 
hold words  on  our  side  of  the  water ; 
but  we  shall  hear  more  of  them,  no  doubt, 
in  the  course  of  the  next  quarter  of  a 
century.  M.  Lemaitre,  M.  Lavedan,  and 
M.  Rostand,  in  the  higher  ranks,  have 
already  been  brought  to  our  notice,  and.  no 
doubt,  all  the  rest  will  come  in  good  time. 

M.  Rostand  apart,  no  aspect  of  our 
modern  life  is  indifferent  to  the  newer 
writers.  They  seek  their  subjects  on  the 
stock  exchange  and  the  racecouise,  in 
the  religious  conflict  and  the  decay  of 
faith,  in  the  home,  in  public  life,  and  in 
Socialism  as  in  all  the  reactions 
tt^V  — i'^  f^ct,  wherever  men's  hearts 
ofModern  ^^^^  ^^-^j^  ^^^  passions  of 
Writers  ^j^^.^.  ^^^  Criticism  follows 
them,  as  it  always  does  a  bold  and  success- 
ful lead  ;  and,  where  it  still  ventures  to 
disagree,  it  has  to  find  some  less  hack- 
neyed term  of  derision  than  "  problem  " 
and  "  tract."  The  big  battalions  of  the 
playgoer  are  now  with  the  problem  ;  and 
naturally  all  is  changed.  The  passion 
for    experiment,    for   the   eternally    new, 

5387 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


not  as  a  mere  bid  lor  notoriety,  l)ut  as 
research  forward,  as  exploration,  is  eciually 
characteristic  of  France  in  other  arts.  It 
is  especially  so  in  music.  The  new  school, 
led  by  Debussy  and  d'Indy,  with  Bruneau, 
Charpentier,  and  Dukas^as  composers  or 
as  critics — for  captains  of  the  host,  are  men 
for  whom  Wagner  is  already  but  a  grey- 
,  beard.  They  are  as  different 
^  rancc  s  fj-Q^-^  ^j^g  great  German  master 
New  School  •       ,1     •  ill  J       • 

j^    .         m  their  methods  and  aims  as 

he  was  from  Gluck ;  and  they 
have  come  to  regard  both  as  follies  of  the 
past.  "That  animal  Gluck!"  cries  De- 
bussy. "I  know  only  one  other  composer 
as  insupportable,  and  that  is  Wagner. 
Yes  ;  this  Wagnei ,  who  has  inflicted  on  us 
the  majestic,  vacuous,  insipid  Wotan  !  " 

"And  what  do  you  think  of  our  Berlioz  ? 
He  is  an  exception,  a  monster.  He  is  not 
at  all  a  musician  ;  he  gives  one  but  the 
illusion  of  music,  with  his  methods 
borrowed  from  literature  and  painting." 

The  new  school  borrows  from  literature, 
too,  but  only  for  the  spirit,  not  for  the 
method.  Its  art  is  sensuous,  not  to  say 
sensual,  and  dreamy,  and  it  aims  at  the 
rendering  of  states  of  emotion  rather  than 
of  the  emotions  themselves.  Debussj^,  for 
instance,  after  learning  his  accidence  at  the 
Conservatoire,  and  winning  the  Prize  of 
Rome  there  by  an  orthodox  academic 
composition — just  to  show  he  could  do 
anything  he  liked — went  straight  into  the 
work  of  his  choice  as  soon  as  he  had  shaken 
himself  free  of  academic  control.  He  had 
served  in  the  army,  like  every  other 
Frenchman,  and  he  found  his  first  call  to 
something  new  in  "the  blend  of  sonorities  " 
produced  by  the  barrack-yard  call  for 
"  lights  out "  and  the  long-continued 
vibrations  of  a  neighbouring  convent  bell. 
He  sought  to  do  in  music  what  Verlaine 
and  Stephane  Mallarme  were  doing  in 
poetry — the  latter  especiall}'  in  his  ' '  After- 
noon of  a  Faun."  The  verse  was  imitative 
of  impressions  of  natural  effects,  and 
.  ,  Debussy  tried  to  render  these 

usic  s  -j^  music  in  the  same  subjective 
Exquisite  ,i  t       ;i  •  i    .       c 

_  .    .  manner.        in   the  midst  of  a 

dream,  says  Bitmeau,  mur- 
muring violins  rustle,  and  tinkling  harps  ; 
pastoral  flutes  and  oboes  sing  ;  and  they 
are  answered  by  forest  horns,"  all  in  "an 
exquisite  fairyism  "  of  general  effect. 

Rossetti  next  took  his  turn  of  inspirer 
in  chief  with  "  The  Blessed  Damozel," 
rendered  by  the  musician  so  as  to 
give    all   the    dreamy   witchery    of    that 

5388 


masterpiece  of  fancy  and  imagination. 
Maeterlinck's  "  Pelleas  and  Melisande  " 
was  inevitable  after  that,  with  its  "  ideas 
of  fatality,  of  death,  its  atmosphere 
of  sorrowful  legend,  its  poor  kings,  poor 
people,  poor  inhabitants  of  unnamed 
lands  whom  fate  leads  by  the  hand  "  — 
fate  and  Maeterlinck.  It  is  the  music  of 
people  who  do  nothing,  but  feel  everything, 
whose  souls  are  instruments  on  which 
Nature  plays  in  all  her  moods. 

No  wonder  such  a  composer  should 
ignore  melody,  with  its  beginning,  middle, 
and  end  ;  its  story,  in  a  word.  "  I  have 
been  reproached,"  he  says,  "  because  in 
my  score  the  melodic  phrase  is  always 
found  in  the  orchestra,  never  in  tl.e  voice. 
Melody  is  almost  anti-lyric,  and  powerless 
to  express  the  constant  change  of  emotion 
or  life.  It  is  suitable  only  for  the  song 
which  confirms  a  fixed  sentiment." 

Debussy  visited  London  in  1909,  and 
conducted  sexeral  performances  of  his 
own  music.  Vincent  d'Indy,  a  French- 
man, but  a  pupil  of  the  Belgian  com- 
poser Franck,  visited  New  York,  and 
expounded  similar  views  in  a  lecture  at 
Harvard  University.  He  met 
with  an  interested  though  not 
an  enthusiastic  reception  ;  but 
critics  of  note  predicted  that 
the  future  was  with  the  music  of  the  school. 
French  art  has  undergone  a  thorough 
revolution  in  the  course  of  the  last  fifteen 
or  twenty  years,  with  Claude  Monet  and 
Rodin  for  its  prophets,  and  ]\Iauclair  for 
its  expositor.  The  last  is  the  Boswell  of 
both  of  these  great  men,  and  he  has  taken 
down  their  theories  from  their  lips.  The 
common  note  of  it  all,  in  music  as  in  paint- 
ing and  sculpture,  is  the  discovery  that 
there  are  new  effects  of  Nature  to  render, 
effects  not  alwa3's  dreamt  of  in  the  phil- 
osophy of  the  modern  classical  schools. 
So  the  art  of  the  day  imports  a  revolt 
against  the  academical  system  in  France, 
though  not  necessarily  against  the  ancients. 
Its  aim  is  the  more  faithful  rendering  of 
light.  The  new  painters  paint  light  on 
the  presumption  that  there  is  really 
nothing  else  to  paint.  For  them  colour  is 
but  an  effect  of  light,  and  the\'  try  to  pro- 
duce it  by  the  very  methods  of  Nature. 

Their  point  of  departure  is  the  truism 
that  in  Nature  no  colour  exists  of  itself. 
As  a  reality  pertaining  to  objects,  colour 
is  a  pure  illusion.  It  is  simply  an  effect 
of  light  in  its  impact  on  objects.  The 
light  does   not    illumine    the    colour  ;    it 


Revolution 


French  Art 


A  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY  ON  THE  MARCH 


A  COMPANY  OF  SOLDIER  CYCLISTS  ON  THE  ROAD 


SOLDIERS     OF     THE     FRENCH     REPUBLIC 


53«q 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


brings  the  colour  in  its  train.  Objects 
are  of  no  colour  ;  or,  rather,  of  all 
colours,  as  they  absorb  or  reflect  these 
from  light.  The  academic  system  starts 
from  the  heresy  that  colour  is  some- 
thing that  can  be  laid  on  in  compact 
masses,  mixed  for  the  purpose  on  the 
palette.        Nothing    of    the    sort  ;    it    is 

„  .  ,  but  an  effect  of  far  more  art- 
rassion  for    x    i      j-      j.  j.  t^i  i- 

_      .  ful  adjustments.      The  earlier 

.    p'-^j-       masters  had  some  instinctive 

*  ^  "*^   perception  of  this  great  truth, 

though    they   had   not    reduced    it    to    a 

science.   There  are  traces  of  it  in  Watteau, 

in  Ruisdael,  in  Poussin,  and  especially  in 

Turner,   Constable,   and  Delacroix.     The 

school     is     called     Impressionist  ;      but 

Mauclair  gives  good  reason  for  thinking 

that  the  noun  chromatism  might  suggest 

an  adjective  more  to  the  point.   And  since 

colour  is  but  light,  so  light  is  but  form  in 

every  mode    of    definition.     Why,    then, 

take  the  trouble   to  paint  anything  else, 

since  in  this  you  have  the  all  in  all  ? 

This  is  the  principle  of  the  revolt  against 
mere  subject  in  the  picture.  Why  paint 
history,  or  symbol,  or  anything  else  that 
is  so  purely  human  and  secondary  in 
its  source  ?  Why  not  paint  what  is  alone 
real  ?  This  passion  for  reality  leads  logic- 
ally to  the  search  for  truth  in  mere 
human  characterisation,  for  character  is 
but  truth  in  one  of  its  forms.  If  you 
paint  man,  let  it  be  man  as  he  is,  not  as  he 
should  be  in  some  fantastic  theory  of  the 
ideal.  Courbet  must  be  mentioned  here 
as  a  precursor,  though  the  principle  has 
been  carried  far  beyond  him  by  later  men. 

Claude  Monet  leads  them  all.  His  way 
of  painting  a  landscape  is  to  take,  say,  a 
dozen  canvases,  and  to  devote  each  to  one 
particular  aspect  of  the  scene  as  the  light 
marks  the  true  hours  of  the  painter's 
day.  So  the.  one  landscape,  after  the 
patient  labour  of  many  days,  comes  out 
as  twelve  quite  different  scenes,  accord- 
ing to  their  degrees  of  illumination.     To 

..  ^,  plant  yourself  with  but  one 
Monet  s      *  -u    i  j.      j.i 

.    .    .       canvas      before      a      constantly 

Methods  changing  scene,  and  in  pro- 
tracted sittings  jumble  all  its 
effects  together,  is  but  the  childishness  of 
art.  Monet  uses  only  the  so-called  prim- 
aries, though  he  is  not  very  strict  in  the 
definition  of  them,  and  he  never  mixes  the 
pigments  on  his  palette  to  get  a  special 
combination.  He  simply  lays  them  on 
in  such  a  way  as  to  produce  by  optical 
suggestion  the  effect  of  the  combination 

5390 


he  seeks.  Hence,  when  we  are  near  them, 
his  pictures  are  apt  to  look  quite  un- 
intelligible, as  an  assortment  of  primitive 
colour  stains  without  aim  or  purpose. 

But  see  them  at  the  right  distance,  and 
this  confusion  subsides  into  a  perfectly 
ordered  work  flooded  with  light,  and 
therefore  with  colour,  and  abounding  in 
true  form  and  drawing  everywhere — 
not  in  the  drawing  of  outline,  of 
which  Nature  knows  nothing,  but  in 
the  drawing  of  colour,  than  which  she 
knows  of  nothing  else.  The  revolution, 
both  in  aims  and  methods,  is  extraordi- 
nary, and  is  not  to  be  made  intelligible 
by  any  description  ;  it  has  to  be  seen. 
To  be  fair  to  a  man  almost  forgotten,  it 
dates  at  least  from  Couture,  who,  as  any 
of  his  pupils  still  living  might  testify, 
often  painted  in  this  way. 

Degas,  another  great  Impressionist, 
shows  the  same  solicitude  for  truth  in 
regard  to  figure  and  to  movement.  He, 
too,  has  the  horror  of  the  crude  outline, 
and  holds  firmly  to  the  belief  that  form 
is  but  light  and  shade.  He  finds  move- 
ment, by  preference,  among  the  ballet 
.  .  girls,  and  he  has  painted  them 
mpressionis    |^y  ^j^^  hundred  in  all  the  in- 

,„  .  .  cidentsof  the  daily  practice  of 

their  art.  Here,  we  have  them 
at  their  lessons  ;  there,  waiting  for  their 
turn  ;  and  there  again  ''  on  "  in  their 
fairyland  of  scenery,  gauze,  and  coloured 
rays.  He  is  quite  pitiless  in  his  passion 
for  truth.  Sometimes  his  nymphs  look 
hungry,  sometimes  even  quite  ugly — a 
lower  depth,  no  doubt,  in  the  professional 
inferno — as  they  squat  for  repose,  or 
writhe  in  the  tortures  of  the  gymnastics 
of  their  trade.  But  by-and-by  we  shall 
see  them  in  their  appropriate  setting, 
and  then  all  defects  of  detail  will  be  lost 
in  the  illusion  of  the  perfect  scene,  as  their 
tremulous  contours  play  hide-and-seek 
with  the  light  from  which  they  spring. 

Renoir,  another  great  painter  of  the 
Impressionist  school,  finds  his  favourite 
contrasts  not  so  much  in  light  and  shade 
as  in  light  against  light,  which  is,  after  all, 
but  the  expression  of  the  same  truth  ;  for 
shadow  itself,  as  artists  know  it,  is  not 
blackness,  but  only  another  degree  of  light. 
The  school  is  a  large  one  now.  It  has 
passed  its  apprenticeship  of  calumny, 
poverty,  neglect,  and  it  influences  all  the 
French  painting  of  the  day.  It  has  pro- 
duced great  illustrators — 'RaffaelH,  Forain, 
Renouard,  andCheret,  who  has  done  such 


FRANCE    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


wonders  for  the  art  of  the  poster.  It  is 
now  on  its  way  to  the  nirvana  of  absorp- 
tion into  the  hght  of  its  origin,  to  make 
room  for  the  incarnation  of  neo-Impres- 
sionism  in  the  artists  of  the  Pointilhst 
group.  With  these,  the  effects  of  Ught, 
instead  of  being  rendered  as  in  Claude 
Monet's  work  by  irregularly  disposed 
blobs  of  colour,  if  one  may  use  the  phrase, 
are  obtained  by  a  sort  of  mosaic  of  it, 
composed  of  small  touches  of  equal  size, 
and  of  spherical  form.  This,  in  a  way, 
is  an  attempt  to  paint  the  very  atoms 
whose  vibrations  produce  the  light  itself, 
Rodin  is  Impressionism  in  sculpture  ; 
and  he,  too,  like  the  painters,  works 
mainly  for  effects  of  light,  and  for  cha- 
racter, and  so  is  in  full  revolt  against  the 
academy.  Yet  he  still  proclaims  his 
allegiance  to  the  Greeks,  who,  he  declares, 
managed  their  statuary  on  precisely  the 
same  principles  as  his  own.  He  is  for  new 
truth  in  one  word,  and  his  new  truth  is 
that  we  do  wrong  to  treat  sculpture  as  a 
mere  glorified  study  of  still  life.  It  is 
emphatically,  even  in  its  most  statuesque 
pose,  a  thing  vibrating  with  movement, 
a  movement  that  comes  from 

-,    V^  the  play  of  light  on  its  differ- 

Genius  as  &  .  t-i  j.i 

g    J  .  ent  masses.       Ihese,  as  they 

catch  the  ray,  or  lose  it,  form 

a  great  harmony  ;  and  the  statue  is  to  be 

wrought    entirely    to     the    end    of    the 

harmony  so  obtained. 

For  him  there  is  no  such  thing   as    the 

one  view,   sole  and  single,   of  a  piece  of 

statuary.     It  has  to  be  seen  in  all  its  parts, 

and  to  be  judged  by  the  entire  disposition 

of  its  masses  in  regaid  to  the  everlasting 

play  of  light.     His  "'  Age  of  Bronze  "  was 

so  much  a  conceivable  thing  of  life,    as 

distinct   from  the   merely  inert   thing  of 

the  older  school,  that  he  was  accused  of 

having  cast  it  bodily  from  his  model,  and 

he  was  compelled  to  take  extraordinary 

pains  to  show  that  he  had  done  nothing 

of  the  sort.   After  this  came  the  "  John 

the  Baptist  Preaching" — marvellous  again 

in    precisely    the    same    way.       It    is    a 

real  man  speaking  to  his  fellows,  and  so 

wholly  absorbed  in  his  message  that  the 

whole  body  of  him  is   in  utterance  with 

movements   conformable    to   the  working 

of  his  soul.     He  is  not  thinking  of  how  he 

stands,  or  how  he  walks,  for  walking  he 

is,  but  simply  of  what  he  has  to  say  ;   and 

the  last  thing  of  which  he  is  to  be  suspected 

is  the  consciousness  of  what  he  is  doing. 

It    is    almost    ridiculous    in    some    of  its 


sincerities,    ridiculous    in    its    suggestion 

of  the  utter  absence  of  the  sense  of  effect. 

The    "  Burghers    of    Calais  "    came  later, 

as  another  revolt.    The  revolt  might  have 

counted     for      little     with    the     general 

beholder,  but  the   note    of  sinceriTy   was 

manifest    to   all.     The  mythical   child  of 

Nature  might  have  judged  the  work  and 

.  -^  found    it    good — the  burghers 

A  Dreamer     ■,    r       ,   ■       ?i     •       i    •      ,■      °     i 
in  Marble     '^^^^-^^  m   their  dejection,  de- 

and  Bronze  J^^^*^'^^  ^^  their  defiance,  with 
the  hanging  lips  of  scorn  and  of 
despair.  Think  how  such  a  subject  might 
have  fared  in  a  studio  of  the  Beaux  Arts, 
and  we  shall  realise  the  immense  advance. 

With  the  Balzac  that  came  long  alter, 
Rodin  reached  his  present  manner,  which 
is  but  the  old  one  perfected  in  the  sense 
of  character  and  freedom  of  handling,  in 
the  deeper  learning  of  the  relation  of 
masses,  and  withal  in  the  profound  sense 
of  the  symbol,  and  of  the  majesty  and  the 
greatness  of  life.  He  is  now  a  sort  of 
mystic  sketching  with  the  chisel  as  others 
sketch  with  the  crayon,  a  Dante,  a  Blake, 
a  Maeterlinck,  dreaming  in  marble  or  in 
bronze.  He  loses  himself  now  and  then, 
but  such  misadventure  is  inseparable 
from  the  finding  of  any  new  thing.  He 
has  enlarged  the  bounds  of  sculpture ; 
that  is  the  main  point. 

Is  this  to  say  that  he  has  destroyed  the 
old  idealism  of  the  real  classic  schools  or 
even  of  the  academies  ?  Nothing  of  the 
sort.  That  was,  and  is,  a  real  thing,  too, 
in  its  search  after  one  kind  of  perfection 
of  proportion,  and  of  the  perfection  of 
line.  He  has  only  shown  that  it  has  not 
exhausted  all  other  possibilities  of  the 
quest.  The  Laocoon,  with  its  divinely 
restrained  anguish  and  its  perfect  beauty 
in  distortion,  is  no  less  true  to  one  concep- 
tion of  great  art  than  Rodin's  famished 
Ugolino,  with  the  light  almost  shining 
through  his  ribs,  is  true  to  another. 
The  point  of  interest  in  the  new  art  of 
France  is  that  it  is  one  with  the  literature 
in  being  experimental,  and 
Results  of       something    beyond  it,  in  the 

Experiments      ^^^^^    ^^    ^^^^^^    ^^^  -^   ^^^ 

"*    *"  sense  of  life.      Expression  of 

character  now  stands  in  the  forefront,  as 
distinct  from  the  expression  of  mere  ideals. 
All  the  reactions  are  still  possible  in  all  the 
arts  ;  and  the  next  one  in  painting  and 
in  sculpture  may  be  in  the  direction  of 
the  old  classic  repose.  The  good  of  each 
successful  experiment  is  that  it  still  leaves 
some   precious   addition   to   the   stock  of 

5391 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


ideas.  There  is  no  linalit}-  in  anything, 
simply  because  there  is  none  in  the  aspira- 
tions of  the  human  spirit.  The  legend  of 
Eden  is  still  a  valid  one  :  we  are  ever 
trying  to  walk  as  gods. 

If  France  has  been  less  active  than  of 
old  in  science,  as  generally  understood, 
it  is  perhaps  only  because  her  present 
„.      _  ,        quest  is  for  science  in  all  the 

The  Quarrel  ^^.^^_  Everything  in  France 
Between  Church  ,  .■,•'       f^  ■ 

.  g  turns  or  the  rengious  ques- 

tion ;  it  goes  straight  to  the 
roots  of  the  national  life.  In  a  sense  there 
are  only  two  parties  in  the  country- 
believers  and  unbelievers.  All  others 
are  merged  in  these.  You  are  a  clerical, 
an  agnostic,  or  an  atheist,  in  the  first  place  ; 
the  political  badge  comes  after,  as  it  may. 

The  quarrel  between  Church  and  State 
dates  from  the  Revolution — to  go  no 
further  back.  The  Church  estates  were 
confiscated  after  the  great  upheaval,  and 
parcelled  out  among  various  owners, 
mainly  the  peasantry.  There  was  no 
undoing  that;  but  when  Napoleon  I. 
came  to  restore  the  fabric  of  institutions, 
he  found  a  way  out  of  the  difficulty.  He 
frankly  recognised  all  the  religions — 
Catholic,  Protestant,  and  Jewish — gave 
them  the  right  to  acquire  fresh  property, 
and  paid  the  salaries  of  their  priesthood 
from  public  funds  as  a  sort  of  compensa- 
tion for  the  loss  of  their  former  income. 
The  State  acquired  certain  privileges  of 
control  in  return,  needless  to  mention  here. 

This  concordat,  as  it  was  called,  worked 
fairly  well  until  our  time.  Then  it  was 
found  that  the  Church  was  in  a  way  to 
become  as  rich  as  ever  by  the  offerings  of 
the  faithful,  and  to  take  itself  seriously 
once  more  as  the  censor  of  thought.  She 
was  at  the  same  time  suspicious  of  popular 
government,  and  was  held  to  be  a  secret 
agent  of  reaction.  Hence  came  a  revival 
of  the  old  and  ominous  cry  of  "  the 
Republic  in  danger,"  and  with  it  a 
determination  to  destroy  the  concordat, 
to  reduce  Catholicism  to  the 
status  of  a  mere  pious  opinion, 
and  to  deprive  that  and  the 
other  faiths  of  all  official 
support.  This  policy  was  found  to  unite 
all  the  discordant  elements  of  the  Re- 
jmblican  majority.  The  popular  party — 
as  its  strength  was  measured  by  votes — 
was  opposed  to  all  religion,  as  such  ; 
the  professorial  and  the  middle  class 
generally  were  scandalised  by  the  claims 
of  the  Church  to  the  censorship  of  ideas. 

5392 


The  War 

Against 
Religion 


So  the  war  broke  out,  with  the  result  of 
disaster  after  disaster  to  the  clerical  power. 
The  teaching  orders,  which  had  a  sort  of 
monopoly  of  the  elementary  schools,  were 
broken  up.  Much  of  the  wealth  of  the 
Catholic  body  began  to  go  the  old  way  of 
confiscation,  though  a  good  deal  of  it  was 
saved  by  its  confidential  transfer  as  private 
property  to  the  hands  of  the  faithful. 
The  Church  was  disestablished,  the  State 
salaries  to  the  priesthood  were  withdrawn, 
while  a  pension  scheme,  offered  as  a  sort  of 
compensation  foi  them,  was  rejected  with 
contumely   at  the  bidding  of  Rome. 

The  Protestants  and  the  Jews  readily 
accepted  the  new  state  of  things,  and 
undertook  to  make  the  support  of  their 
systems  wholly  a  matter  of  private  and 
voluntary  concern.  The  Catholics,  against 
whom  these  measures  were  really  directed, 
resisted  from  first  to  last.  But  the 
measures  were  so  acceptable  to  the 
governing  majority,  rufing  through  the 
ballot  box,  that  all  active  resistance  was 
vain.  Successive  Ministries  lived  on  the 
policy  of  suppression.  M.  Waldeck  Rous- 
seau kept  his  Government  together  by 
this  means  ;  so  did  M.  Combes, 

**  "  .  and  M.  Clemenceau  after  him. 
„*  .'*'  No  matter  what  the  state  of 
cep  ic  ^-^^  game  in  party  politics, 
each  held  this  trump  card  in  reserve  for 
emergencies,  and  won  with  it.  Right  or 
wrong,  it  is  unquestionably  the  policy  of 
the  masses  that  hold  the  mastery  in  France. 

Meantime  the  Church  was  not  idle  ;  and 
the  war  was  transferred  from  politics  to 
literature.  M.  Rod  has  given  us  an  in- 
teresting history  of  this  new  clerical 
reaction  in  his  "  Idees  Morales  du  Temps 
Present."  The  movement  found  "  the 
classes  "  very  much  under  the  sway  of  that 
genial  sceptic,  M.  Renan  ;  it  left  them 
largely  in  the  hands  of  M.  Brunetiere,  the 
Catholic  devotee.  Renan  was  scepticism 
absolute  and  self-satisfied,  scepticism  as  a 
dogma,  and  sufficient  to  all  the  needs  of 
the  intelligence,  if  not  exactly  of  the  soul. 

When  his  disciples  began  to  look  for  some- 
thing more,  they  found  it  in  the  pessimism 
of  Schopenhauer.  The  reaction  against 
this  doctrine,  with  its  revolutionary  im- 
plications, led  straight  to  the  reverence  of 
tradition  as  the  convenient  depository  of 
the  results  of  human  experience  and  the 
only  sure  guide.  ^I.  Brunetiere,  a  sort  of 
pontiff  of  criticism  and  literature,  boldly 
proclaimed  Catholicism  as  at  once  a  polity 
and   a  system   of  faith.     With   this,   the 


FRANCE    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


more  cultivated  thought  of  France  reached 
its  positive  current  ;  and  at  the  present 
time  of  writing  it  has  irresistible  attraction 
for  many  minds.  M.  Bourget,  as  a  thinker, 
is  of  that  school.  M.  Jules  Lemaitre  has 
made  a  new  departure  ;  and,  while  in- 
sisting on  the  necessity  of  the  religious 
idea,  has  found  its  true  source  and  its 
authority  in  our  "  most  distmguished 
sentiments."  It  reads  like  the  end  of  a 
letter;  it  is  meant  for  a  confession  of 
belief.  But  the  literary  reaction  is  nothing 
as  compared  with  the  solid  force  of  custom 
that  makes  for  the  old  cult.  The  mother 
of  the  family  in  France  is,  as  a  rule, 
Catholic  and  pious,  whatever  the  father 
may  be  ;  and  this  in  all  classes,  and  in 
town  and  country  alike.  There  are  two  to 
reckon  with  in  marriage,  and  when  one  of 
them  insists  on  the  blessing  of  the  Church, 
the  other  has  generally  to  give  way. 

The  children  thus  get  their  Catholic 
teaching,  no' matter  who  gives  it  to  them — 
the  mother  or  the  priest — and  they  make 
their  first  communion  with  all  the  modest 
pomp  and  ceremony  that  attend  the  rite. 
Many  of  the  boys,  no  doubt,  will  grow  up 
_    .  half-ashamed  of  it  as  they  pass 

.1.    /^u      1.    through  the  workshop:     with 

the   Church      ,,  i         -,  rr        ,  ^  ^ 

J  „  the  girls  its  effects  are  rarely 

lost.  And  even  among  the 
urban  masses  and  the  politicians,  the  very 
ultras  of  infidelity  often  consent  to  have 
their  daughters  brought  up  in  the  Catholic 
faith.  One  other  tribute  to  the  force  of 
custom  must  not  be  forgotten  :  the 
churches  are  open  still  and  as  thronged  as 
ever,  just  as  though  nothing  had  happened. 
Probably,  if  Rome  could  be  induced  to 
abate  half  her  claims  to  the  absolute 
direction  of  the  human  spirit,  her  oppo- 
nents would  abate  more  than  half  their 
hostility.  The  conflict  in  its  acute  stage 
is  the  result  of  a  natural  intolerance  and 
of  an  incapacity  for  give  and  take,  of 
which  neither  side  has  the  monopoly. 

AU  sorts  of  attempts  were  made,  both 
within  the  Church  and  without,  to  esta- 
l)lish  a  basis  of  agreement  between  the 
disputants.  The  French  bishops,  or 
many  of  them,  lent  a  favourable  ear  to 
siiiemes  of  compromise,  but  were  over- 
ruled from  Rome.  The  Liberal,  or  modern- 
ising Catholic  party,  represented  if  not 
exactly  led  by  the  Abbe  Loisy,  pleaded 
eloquently  for  a  reconciliation  with  modern 
thought,  and  for  an  abatement  of  the 
Papal  claim  to  supremacy  in  this  domain. 
But  this  writer  was  peremptorily  ordered 


by  the  Church  to  lay  down  his  pen,  or  to 
write  only  in  defence  of  ecclesiastical  tra- 
dition. The  Abbe  still  protests  against 
the  deliberate  opposition  of  Rome  to  the 
whole  intellectual  and  scicntihc  movement 
of  the  age.  "  Suppress,"  he  says,  "  this 
policy  of  ideas,  and  cease  to  attempt  the 
impossible."  In  saying  this,  however,  he 
Th  Ch  h'  claims  to  be  a  true  son  of  the 
M^fK-.^.  .„:.k    Church.     So     does     Father 

Methods  with       'n  11  1 

its  Critics  y^^^^^>  whose  name  is  men- 

tioned in  this  connection  only 
to  show  that  the  movement  of  modernism 
is  by  no  means  confined  to  priests  of 
French  nationality.  He  demands  not  a 
brand  new  Catholic  theology,  but  simply 
one  under  the  progressive  influence  of  that 
"  spirit  "  of  Christianity  which  was  the 
original  principle  of  life  and  growth. 
Rome,  however,  has  dealt  as  roundly  with 
these  individuals  as  it  dealt  in  the  past 
with  the  Gallicanand  all  the  other  Churches 
claiming  an  organic  life  of  their  own. 

The  philosophers,  of  course,  have  not 
been  able  to  keep  out  of  the  melee.  M. 
Goutroux,  a  member  of  the  Institute,  has 
made  an  attempt  at  reconciliation  in  his 
"  Science  et  Religion."  He  tries  to  show- 
that  the  conflicting  forces  are  not  so  much 
concretes  as  tendencies,  and  that  each  is 
a  complement  of  the  other.  They  do 
wrong  to  strive  for  victory;  they  should 
strive  for  harmony.  He  is  entitled  to  be 
heard,  if  only  for  the  breadth  and  range  of 
his  survey,  which  includes  Comte,  Spencer, 
Haeckel,  Ritschel,  and  William  James. 

But  the  greatest  of  all  the  apologists  of 
free  thought  is  INI.  Guyau,  who,  in  a  series 
of  brilliant  works  recently  brought  to  a 
close  by  his  death,  has  tried  to  sketch  a 
"  morality  without  obligation  or  sanc- 
tion " — to  translate  the  title  of  his  most 
famous  book.  This,  like  much  else  that 
appears  in  France  nowadays,  is  an  im- 
plicit abandonment  of  all  attempts  to  find 
a  CQmmon  understanding  with  revealed 
religion  in  any  of  its  forms,  and  an  effort 
to  discover  the  basis  of  a  new 
.  faith  in  the  nature  of  man. 
rf  Hs  "*  '^^^^  known  defect  of  agnosticism 
is  its  want  of  the  categorical 
imperative  for  conduct  and  for  life.  It  is 
negative  at  the  best  ;  and  a  positive  con- 
cept is  the  only  one  that  can  afford  a 
foundational  base. 

M.  Guyau  accordingly  offers  a  formula 
for  morals  which  asks  no  support  from 
revelation,  from  tradition,  or  from 
ecclesiastical  authority,  and  which  derives 

5393 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    "WORLD 


its  ideal  from  the  realities  of  existence  and 

its-ethic  from  the  constitution  of  man.  His 

point  is,  to  put  it  quite  briefly,  that  the 

altruism  which  is  our  higher  principle  of 

being  is  in  no  wise  dependent  on  theology, 

commonly  so  called.     It  is  just  as  much 

an  essential  part  of  us  as  the  egoism  which 

is  supposed  to  be  the  lower  principle.     It 

^ .       .  belongs  to  man's  nature,  on 

£ducalion  •■  j     j 

.1    »  ...  r-  ,,  its  expansive  and  dynamic 
the  Battlefield        •,        ^        j-  j.-      i.    i  ^.\ 

,_  ,.  .  Side,    as    distinct    from   the 

of  Religioa  ,  ,r 

merely  seli-preservmg  in- 
stinct of  the  other  part  of  him,  and  is  a 
force  which  carries  with  it  the  authority  of 
a  vital  function.  In  this  way  he  claims  to 
have  solved  the  problem  of  egoism  and 
altruism,  hitherto  the  philosopher's  stone 
of  speculation,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
moralists.  We  could  not,  he  argues,  be 
completely  egoist,  even  if  we  tried.  To 
live  is  to  spend  ourselves  for  the  good  of 
others,  and  is  at  least  quite  as  much  a  law 
of  biology  as  to  store  and  acquire  for  our 
own  good.  Pleasure  may  be  a  consequence 
of  altruism,  but  it  is  not  necessarily  the 
end.  The  end  is  the  sheer  necessity  of 
living  according  to  the  law— the  law  of 
our  being,  not  of  any  deliverance  from  any 
messenger  or  any  mount  of  God. 

In  France,  as  in  England,  education  is 
the  battlefield  of  religion  ;  and  one  section 
is  eagerly  in  search  of  a  system  that  may 
replace  the  teaching  of  the  old  faith. 
Some  think  that  moral  teaching  should  be 
given  in  the  schools,  others  that  it  should 
be  rigorously  excluded  from  them.  M. 
Compere,  a  member  of  the  Institute,  and 
a  general  inspector  of  public  instruction, 
offers  a  complete  treatise  on  education, 
intellectual  and  moral,  in  which  all  the 
sanctions  are  derived  from  laws  which  are 
not  religious  in  the  conventional  sense  of 
the  term.  Another  writer,  M.  De  Monzie, 
who  has  held  high  educational  rank,  urges 
the  banishment  from  the  schools  of  ethical 
teaching  in  every  shape  and  form.  "  No 
more  scholastic  idealism,"  he  says,  "  no 
c  fi'  t  f  "^^'"^  ^^y  instruction,  no  more 
CK^  'h  °     moral  catechism  ;  let  us  apply 

d  St  ^^^®    school    and    the    school- 

-  teacher  to  their  essential  and 
unique  function — education."  So  the 
war  goes  on,  and  Rome  is  still  un- 
yielding as  ever.  It  can  hardly  be  other- 
wise. It  is  bound  by  its  traditional  claim 
for  uniformity,  as  distinct  from  unity, 
and  is  perhaps  too  deeply  pledged  for  the 
possibility  of  change.  Policy  might  suggest 
the  wisdom  of  compromise,  but  consistency 

5394 


forbids.  In  the  voting  masses  of  France, 
largely  alienated  from  all  faith,  with 
whom  the  issue  rests,  the  Church  has 
encountered  a  power  as  implacable  as 
itself.  The}',  too,  seem  incapable  of  com- 
promise, and  their  infidelity  is  an  aggres- 
sive force.  The  same  stern  necessity  is 
laid  on  both  sides,  and  they  advance  to 
the  onset  under  the  impulsion  of  fate. 
The  conflict  now  belongs,  not  so  much 
to  the  history  of  a  nation  as  to  the  history 
of  religion  itself.  Here,  for  the  first  time 
in  the  course  of  human  affairs,  is  a  trium- 
phant majority  determined  to  give  form 
and  body  to  a  new  policy  which  is  nothing 
less  than  the  complete  emancipation  of 
the  human  spirit  from  the  religious  idea. 
It  is  a  difficult  thing  to  take  a  bird's- 
eye  view  of  a  nation,  more  especially  as 
the  results  must  very  much  depend  on 
the  eye  pf  the  bird.  France  is  described 
as  at  the  height  of  her  greatness,  or  in  full 
decadence,  according  to  the  observer.  Some 
think  that  with  her  declining  population, 
heavy  taxes,  her  disordered  Budget,  with 
its  immense  allocations  for  all  sorts  of 
fanciful  schemes,  and  its  annual  estimates 
of  something  like  £160,000,000  sterling, 
she  cannot  possibly  long  keep 


Triumphant 
Legions  of 
Free  Thought 


her  place  in  the  van  of  civilisa- 
tion.     Others  rejoice  in  the 


fact  that  the  Republic  has 
won  the  goodwill  of  all  the  nations  but 
one,  founded  a  huge  colonial  empire,  and 
enormously  increased  her  trade  with 
Britain  and  with  the  world.  The  present 
system  is,  at  least,  fully  entitled  to  give 
itself  the  benefit  of  the  doubt,  and  to  boast 
of  its  contribution  to  the  national  pros- 
perity. One  thing  is  certain — the  nation  is 
now  quite  self-governing  for  good  or  ill, 
and  in  the  full  enjo3mient  of  the  privilege 
of  suffering  for  her  own  mistakes. 

The  dynastic  conflict  is  at  an  end ; 
the  religious  conflict  alone  threatens 
domestic  peace.  It  is  serious — that  is  not 
to  be  denied.  Both  sides  are  to  blame, 
for  both  have  yet  to  learn  the  lesson  of 
intellectual  toleration. 

But,  as  commonly  happens  in  such 
cases,  the  one  that  wins  least  sympathy 
from  the  beholder  is  the  one  that  has  the 
upper  hand.  The  triumphant  legions  of 
free  thought  have  everything  to  fear  from 
a  reaction.  A  powerful  minority  of  the 
peasantrj',  with  the  women,  who  are  nearly 
a  majority  of  the  whole  people,  will  not 
patiently  consent  to  be  hindered  in  the 
exercise  of  an  old  faith  v>'hile   a  new  one 


FRANCE    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


is  still  in  the  making.  Religion  is  an 
institution,  as  well  as  a  matter  of  private 
concern,  and  it  must  naturalh'  have 
immense  claims  on  the  veneration  of 
millions  of  struggling  souls.  The  United 
States  form  a  stronger  Republican  govern- 
ment than  even  France,  and,  with  them, 
religion  is  as  free  as  the  air.  No  doubt 
they  are  happily  exempt  from  some  of  the 
jieculiar  difficulties  of  the  sister  polity. 
France  has  had  to  disestablish  a  Church  ; 
they  never  made  the  mistake  of  establish- 
ing one.  Confiscation  would  seem  to  be  an 
indispensable  agency  of  government,  since 
it  has  gone  on  all  through  history  ;  but  it 
is  still  a  two-edged  sword  whose  cut  is  apt 
to  be  quite  as  deadly  in  the  swing  as  in  the 
stroke.  There  would  be  sound  policy  in 
sending  the  Church  on  her  way  contented, 
even  at  the  cost  of  pecuniary  sacrifice,  and 
thenceforth  in  leaving  her  severely  alone. 
In  education  the  Republic  has  made 
immense  strides.  The  best  teaching  is  now 
accessible  to  every  citizen,  high  or  low, 
according  to  the  measure  of  his  powers. 
The  communal  school  has  become  a  sort 
of  starting-point  of  social  equality  ;  there 
,        is  no  great  distinction  of  classes 

r  /"*  *•*     1  under  its  roof,  and  the  humblest 
Educational  .,,    i-,ii  j-rc 

cj  . .  pass  with  little  pecuniary  diffi- 

culty to  the  higher  grades. 
The  '•  Lycee,"  corresponding  roughly  to  our 
middle-class  school  and  public  school, 
is  incomparably  superior  to  these  in  regard 
to  its  cost  and  to  the  technical  quality 
of  the  instruction.  Here,  too,  all  classes 
study  side  by  side.  Beyond  these  are  the 
schools  for  the  army,  navy,  engineering, 
and  other  specialised  callings.  Beyond 
them,  again,  is  the  university,  equally 
accessible  to  all,  but  in  practice  mainly 
reserved  for  students  of  law  and  of  the 
teaching  profession,  since  the  other  estab- 
lishments provide  for  all  ordinary  needs. 

The  whole  system  has  but  one  defect — 
it  still  leaves  a  good  deal  to  be  desired  in 
regard  to  the  culture  of  character.  It  is 
far  better  than  our  own  as  a  preparation 
for  careers  ;  not  so  good  as  a  preparation 
for  life.  But  it  is  greatly  improving  in  the 
sense  of  the  educational  value  of  sports 
and  games,  though,  in  that  respect,  its 
faults  have  been  exaggerated.  The  British 
system  still  aims  at  training  a  select  class 
for  the  work  of  government  and  administra- 
tion ;  the  French,  with  its  strong  equali- 
tarian  bias,  insists  on  giving  a  chance  to  all. 
Here,  again,  the  religious  difficulty  has 
been  the  lion  in  the  path.   France  has  been 


driven  by  the  force  of  circumstances  to 

resist  the  clerical  claim  to  supremacy  in 

education.       The    starting-point    of    this 

movement  of  revolt  was  the  law  on  the 

composition    of    the    superior    council    of 

education.    The  famous  Article  VII.  of  that 

measure  declared  that   no  one  belonging 

to  a  "  non-authorised  "  religious  congrega- 

c    •  1  c*  *        tion  should  take  part  in  the 
aocial  Status  ,     ^    '     ..  . 

J ..  management  of  public  or  free 

Fre/ch  Womaa  education  At  that  time,  the 
public  schools  were  m  the 
hands  of  over  30,000  members  of  a  teaching 
brotherhood  of  the  Church  entirely  free  from 
secular  supervision.  The  new  law  brought 
the  lay  teachers  into  the  work,  and  estab- 
lished training  colleges  in  each  department. 

France  has  not  escaped  a  "  feminist  " 
question,  though  her  difficulties  have  not 
reached  the  same  acute  stage  as  our  own. 
One  reason  is  that  socially  the  French 
woman  holds  a  position  with  which  she  is 
fairly  satisfied.  She  keeps  much  more  in 
her  class,  and  shares  the  class  sentiment, 
and  the  class  ideals.  She  is  fully  occupied, 
and  with  the  substantial  aid  she  gives  her 
husband  in  business — and  is  expected  to 
give — she  escapes  all  risk  of  becoming 
the  inhabitant  of  a  doll's  house. 

This  state  of  things  can  hardly  be  said 
to  apply  to  the  purely  industrial  classes. 
Here  we  find  that,  while  the  women  count 
something  more  than  as  one  to  two  of  the 
men  in  numbers,  they  are  paid  something 
less  than  as  two  to  one.  It  was  a  pro- 
fessional humorist  rather  than  a  strict 
logician  who  pleaded  that,  although  he 
came  to  business  later,  he  invariably  went 
away  earlier  than  his  brother  clerks. 

The  most  satisfactory  note  of  progress 
for  the  foreign  observer  is  that  the  country 
is  now  wedded  to  the  idea  of  peace.  It 
has  not  lost  the  old  spirit  of  resistance  to 
aggression,  but  it  has  unquestionably 
parted  with  the  ojd  love  of  fighting  for 
fighting's  sake.  The  embarrassments  of 
the  French  Government  in  Morocco  have 
really  been  due  far  less  to 
German  diplomacy  than  to  the 
extraordinary  unwillingness  of 
the  French  people  to  enter 
into  a  war  of  adventure.  The  yearning 
for  peace  is  shown  by  the  very  excesses 
of  the  demand  for  it,  for  some  fanatics 
would  abolish  the  army  altogether. 
M.  Jaures,  however,  who  best  represents 
the  entire  French  democracy,  has 
declared  that  a  war  in  defence  of  the 
country  would  unite  all  Frenchmen  able 

5395 


France 
Wedded  to 
Peace 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


to  bear  arms.  He  draws  the  line  at 
aggicssion,  and  he  would  go  so  far  as  to 
compel  all  governments  to  submit  dis- 
putes to  arbitration,  at  the  peril  of  being 
regarded  as  enemies  of  the  human  race. 


Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that 
France  is  strong,  prosperous,  bold  in 
experiment  in  literature,  science  and  the 
arts,  alive  in  every  sense. 

Richard  Whiteing 


THE    PRINCIPALITY    OF    MONACO 


GEOGRAPHICALLY,  this  tiny  princi- 
^-*  pality,  with  its  area  of  eight  square 
miles,  and  resident  population  of  some 
16,000,  is  at  present  an  "  enclave "  of 
France,  as  the  French  Department  of  the 
Alpes  Maritimes  surrounds  it  on  all  sides, 
except  to  the  south,  where  it  borders  on  the 
Mediterranean.  It  may  be  said  to  owe  its 
present  political  existence  and  independence 
to  the  good  will  of  France,  though  its 
language  and  traditions  are  Italian.  In  the 
days  of  the  French  Revolution  it  actually 
did  belong  to  France,  but  its  independence 
was  restored  by  the  Allies  in  1814,  who,  in 
the  following  year,  placed  it  under  the 
protection  of  the  King  of  Sardinia.  Up  till 
1801  the  principality  included  Mentone 
and  Roquebrune,  but  in  that  year  the 
reigning  prince,  Charles  III.,  ceded  his  rights 

r  ■  ■  ■       ■ " 


over  them  to  France  for  nearly  £200,000. 
The  present  ruler,  Prince  Albert,  has 
absolute  power.  There  is  no  elective 
Chamber,  but  there  is  a  consultative 
Council  of  five  members  appointed  by  the 
Prince,  who  governs  through  a  functionary 
with  the  title  of  Governor-General.  The 
principality  consists  of  three  towns — 
Monaco,  Condamine,  and  Monte  Carlo.  It 
is  through  the  last  named  that  Monaco  is 
known  to  all  the  world,  for  Monaco  simply 
means  Monte  Carlo,  and  Monte  Carlo 
simply  means  gambling. 

Monte  Carlo,  which  is  a  few  miles  from 
Nice,  the  beautiful  town  on  the  Riviera 
so  much  frequented  by  the  English,  sprang 
into  general  notice  with  the  building  of  its 
famous — or  infamous— Casino  in  1858, 
though  gambling  had  begun  there  two  years 


MONTE    CARLO,    THE    BEAUTIFUL    PLEASURE    RESORT 


539^ 


MONACO    AND    ANDORRA 


earlier.  In  1861  Charles  III.  granted  a 
concession  for  fifty  years  to  run  the  place 
as  a  gambling  concern  in  a  highly  elaborate 
way,  the  concession  eventually  passing  into 
the  hands  of  a  joint -stock  company,  taking 
care  at  the  same  time  to  do  everything  that 
was  possible  to  add  to  the  great  natural 
attractivem  ss  of  the  site  ;  for  there  is  no 
doubt  that  Monte  Carlo  is  one  of  the  most 
charming  and  delightful  spots  in  Europe, 
with  an  almost  perfect  winter  climate.  The 
company,  which  is  called  the  Societe 
Anon^'me  des  Bains  de  Mer  et  du  Cercle 
des  Etrangers  de  Monaco,  was  given  an 
extension  of  its  privileges  in  1898,  and  this 
new  contract  does  not  expire  until  1947. 
Practically  the  whole  cost  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  principality  is  borne  by  this 
organisation,    which,    in     addition,    pays 


Prince'Albert  an  annual  sum  of  ^^70,000  up 
to  1917,  when  the  sum  will  be  increased  to 
£80,000  ;  in  1927  it  is  to  rise  to  £90,00v'), 
and  in  1937  to  ^^100,000.  Besides  these 
sums,  the  company  paid  a  bonus  to  the 
prince  in  1899  of  £400,000,  and  will  pay  to 
him  another  bonus  of  the  amount  of 
£600,000  in  1913.  The  company  has  a 
capital  of  £1,200,000,  and  its  shares  are 
valuable.  These  facts  are  eloquent  testi- 
mony that  the  "  tables  "  pay  their  pro- 
prietors, but  nobody  else,  save  the  prince 
and  a  few  others  ;  yet  there  is  little  or  no 
diminution  in  the  volume  of  gambling  froni 
year  to  year.  The  truth  is  that  the  princi- 
pality is  a  vast  gambling  hell,  and  it  is 
this,  and  not  its  beauty,  that  mainly 
attracts  to  it  many  thousands  of  visitors 
every  year.  Robert  Machray 


THE    REPUBLIC    OF    ANDORRA 


DERCHED  amongst  the  high  mountains 
'•  of  the  Eastern  Pyrenees,  with  one  foot 
in  France  and  the  other  in  Spain,  this  small 
commonwealth  —  for  that  term  really 
describes  it  better  than  republic — has 
existed  for  something  like  a  thousand 
years.  Its  area  is  no  more  than  175  square 
miles,  and  its  population  about  b,ooo  ;  it 
has  never  been  any  larger  or  more  popu- 
lous ;  yet  for  all  this  length  of  time  it 
has  been  an  independent  and  autonomous 
state,  undergoing  practically  no  change — 
a  fact  which  finds  no  parallel  in  history 
save  in  the  somewhat  similar  instance  of 
the  Republic  of  San  Marino,  in  Italy.  It 
i.)  a  patriarchal  and  even  primitive  little 
country,  with  only  one  good  road  through 
it,  and  that  available  only  in  fine  weather, 
the  other  means  of  communication  being 
mere  hill  tracks  more  suitable  for  goats 
than  human  beings.  The  most  exciting 
event  which  has  occurred  in  Andorra 
since  the  days  of  Charlemagne,  who  is 
said  to  have  given  it  its  first  charter  of 
freedom,  was  its  connection  with  France 
by  a  line  of  telegraph  in  1893,  an  innova- 
tion to  which  not  a  few  of  its  inhabitants 
were  bitterly  opposed. 

Though  independent,  Andorra  is  under 
a  sort  of  joint  suzerainty  of  France,  whose 
influence  is  steadily  increasing  in  the 
country,  and  of  the  Bishop  of  Urgel,  a 
Spanish  ecclesiastic,  in  whose  diocese  it 
was  once  included  ;  the  frontier  of 
Andorra  is  some  sixteen  miles  from  the 
town  of  Urgel,  in  Spain,     The  republic 


consists  of  six  parishes,  each  of  which  sends 
four  members  to  a  council  ;  the  council 
elect  from  themselves  two  syndics  to  preside 
over  the  destinies  of  the  land.  There  are  two 
criminal  judges,  called  vigniers  (vicars),  one 
of  whom  is  appointed  by  France  and  the 
other  by  the  Bishop  of  Urgel.  A  civil  judge 
is  also  elected  alternately  by  France  and 
the  Bishop  of  Urgel.  The  Andorrans,  how- 
ever, remain  indifferent  to  these  symbols 
of  authority,  and  imperturbably  preserve 
their  immemorial  independence;  but  of  late 
years  the  children  of  the  better  classes  are 
being  sent  to  France  for  their  education. 
The  postal  and  telegraphic  arrangements, 
too,  are  under  French  control.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  money  in  circulation  is 
Spanish,  and  the  language  is  Catalan. 

The  people  themselves  are  a  cheerful 
and  sturdy  race  of  mountaineers,  chiefly 
concerned  with  their  flocks  and  herds — 
when  they  do  not  happen  to  be  engaged 
in  smuggling,  for  which  Andorra  affords 
unique  opportunities.  Taxation  is,  to 
all  intents,  nil  ;  but  a  sum  of  £40  is 
paid  for  "  protection  "  each  5'ear  to  both 
France  and  the  Bishop  of  Urgel,  and  the 
raising  of  this  sum  constitutes  the  main 
feature  of  the  Andorran  Budget.  Perhaps 
nothing  could  more  clearly  show  just  what 
the  country  is  than  to  say  that  while  the 
first  floor  of  its  Palacio  is  occupied  by  the 
Council  Chamber,  the  centre  of  its  govern- 
ment, the  ground  floor  is  a  stable  for  the 
horses  of  its  executive  and  members 
of  Parliament.  Robert  Machray 

5397 


ESSENTIAL    INFORMATION    ABOUT     FRANCE 


Area  and  Pdpclation.  France  has  an  area  of 
207,054  square  miles,  and  had,  at  the  census  of  1906, 
a  population  of  39.252,245.  The  natural  increase 
of  the  population  is  the  lowest  in  Europe,  the  total 
increase  for  the  five-year  period  ending  1906  having 
been  only  29), 300,  equalling  '15  per  cent,  per 
annum.  The  cities  and  towiis  with  a  population  of 
over  100,000.  are  as  follow  : 

Paris,  2,763,393;  Marseilles,  517,498:  Lyons, 
472,114;  Bordeaux,  251.917;  Lille,  2051602; 
Toulouse,  149,438 ;  St.  Etienne,  146.788 :  Nice, 
134,232  ;  Nantes,  133,247  ;  Le  Havre.  132.4.30 ; 
Roubaix,  121,017;  Rouen,  118,4;-9;  X;r-icy, 
110,570;    Reims,  109,859;    Toulon,  103,549. 

Government.  The  government  of  France  is 
republican,  and  the  legislative  power  is  vested  in  a 
Chamber  of  Deputies  (a  Lower  House)  and  a  Senate 
(an  L'pper  House).  The  Chamber  of  Deputies — 584 
members — is  elected  for  four  years  on  an  adult 
suffrage,  every  citizen  who  has  attamed  his  majority 
and  is  not  m  military  service  having  the  vote.  The 
Senate  has  300  members,  consisting  of  225  depart- 
mental senators  and  75  senators  elected  for  life  by 
the  two  Chambers  jointly  ;  but  since  1884  vacancies 
in  the  list  of  life  senators  are  filled  by  departmental 
.senators,  the  particular  department  electing  the 
senator  for  the  vacancy  being  settled  by  lot.  The 
departmental  senators  are  chosen  by  an  electoral 
body  consisting  of  delegates  chosen  by  the  municipal 
councils  and  of  senators,  deputies,  and  councillors 
of  the  department.  Members  of  both  Houses  are 
paid.  The  two  Chambers  unite  in  a  National 
Assembly,  or  Congress,  to  elect  a  President,  who 
holds  office  for  a  term  of  seven  years.  The 
duties  and  powers  of  the  President  as  defined  by 
law  are  that  he  elects  a  ^Ministry  from  the  two 
Chambers,  although  he  may  appomt  to  the  ^Ministry 
men  who  are  not  members  of  either  Chamber  ;  that 
he  can  adjoiu^n  the  Chambers  for  a  period  not  ex- 
ceeding one  month  and  not  oftener  than  twice  in 
one  Session  ;  that  he  concludes  with  foreign  Powers 
treaties  which  do  not  involve  changes  in  the  territory 
of  France  or  her  colonies.  The  President  cannot 
declare  war  without  the  consent  of  both  Houses, 
and  every  official  act  must  be  countersigned  by  a 
Minister.  The  ^Ministry  consists  of  the  Premier,  or 
president  of  the  Council,  and  eleven  Ministers  of 
departments. 

Flnance.  The  Budget  proposals  for  1908  antici- 
pated a  revenue  of  £154,145,801  and  an  expenditure 
of  £155,145,668.  The  chief  sovu-ces  of  revenue  are 
direct  taxes  (land,  buildmgs,  trade  licences,  mining 
royalties,  cycle  tax,  &c.),  registration  fees  (changes 
in  owniership  of  property,  &c.),  , customs,  tobacco 
monopoly,  and  post  office.  At  the  beginning  of  1907 
the  National  Debt  of  France  stood  at  £1,213^923,596, 
and  the  interest  absorbed  £49,440,000  a  year. 

Industry  and  Commerce.  Two-thirds  of  the 
entire  area  of  France  is  under  grass  or  crops.  Ac- 
cording to  acreage,  the  chief  crops  are  wheat,  oats, 
grapes,  potatoes,  rye,  clover,  beets,  barley,  buck- 
wheat, and  maize.  Orchards  account  for  four 
million  acres,  and  silk  culture  give  emploj^ment  to 
123,761  persons.  Mines  employ  199.000  workers, 
the  chief  minerals  being  coal,  iron  ore,  salt,  zinc, 
antimony,  lead  and  silver,  manganese,  arsenic,  and 
copper.  The  total  value  of  French  imports  for 
1908  was  £243,634,000,  and  of  French  exports 
£210,878,000.  The  chief  articles  of  import  are  wool, 
coal  and  coke,  raw  cotton,  raw  silk,  oil  seeds,  hides 
and  furs,  and  timber.  The  chief  exports  are  silks, 
cottons,  raw  wool,  woollens,  wine,  raw  silk,  linen 
and  clothes,  furs  and  skins. 

Colonies.     French    colonies    have    an    area   of 

5398 


4,397,826     square     miles 
56,117.740,  as  follow  : 


Asia  : 

India        

Aiinain 

Cauilxxlia 

Cochin-Chiiui    .. 

Toiikiug 

Laos         

Akeica*: 

Ali;eria 

Tunis       

Sahara 

Seuegal    

Seiiegauibia  and  Niger 

French  Guinea 

Ivory  Coast        

Dahomey 

Con^o       

Somali  Coast  and  Dependencies 

K(5uiiion  . . 

Comoro  Islands  . .         . .    ' 

Mayotte 

Madagascar 
America  : 

Guiana 

Guadeloupe       

Martinique        

St.  Pieireand  Miquelon 

OfEANIA : 

New  Caledonia  . , 
Other  Pacific  Islands  . . 


anfi     a     po 

pulation 

Square  juiles;. 

Population. 

196 

27.5.000 

.■a.  100 

6.124,000 

:f7,400 

1,500.000 

20,000 

2,968,000 

46.000 

10.000,000 

i«,400 

6.yj,ooo 

.■lis.ijflo 

5,1.58,0.'50 

64.600 

1,900,000 

1,944.(K)0 

l>00,000 

9.070 

107,800 

aTO.OOO 

8,000.000 

9.5,(100 

2,200,000 

120.000 

2.000.000 

65.000 

1.000,000 

8.50.000 

10,000,000 

12,000 

.50,000 

970 

]7:(.200 

630 

47,000 

140 

11,640 

22?.000 

2,644,700 

30,500 

32,910 

688 

182.110 

aso 

203,780 

92 

6.250 

7,6.50 

5:!.:j.50 

1,.520 

29,000 

of 


Currency.  France,  Belgium,  Italy,  Switzer- 
land, and  Greece  are  members  of  a  monetary  con- 
vention, whereby  it  is  agreed  that  the  gold  and 
silver  couis  of  the  respective  countries  shall  have 
the  same  fineness,  weight,  diameter,  and  current 
value.  The  same  monetary  system  has  been 
adopted,  partly  or  entirely,  by  .Spain,  Roumania, 
Bulgaria,  Servia,  Russia,  Finland,  and  many  South 
American  States  : 

/     1  centime    =  1/lOd. 
Broiize  coin-s  <      5  centimes  =  id. 
I   10  centimes  =:  id. 
^  centimes  =  2d. 

50  centimes  =  J  franc  =  5d.  (almost) 
100  centimes  =  1  franc  =  9  3/5d. 
2  francs  =  Is.  7  l/5d. 
5  francs  =  4s. 
n„tA    ^-.^       /   1"  francs  =  ^. 
Gold  coins      I   20  francs  =  16s, 

There  is  no  coin  for  1  centime.  A  5-centime  piece 
is  popularly  known  as  a  sou,  but  it  is  illegal  to  mark 
merchandise  in  sous.  The  20-centinie  coin  and  the 
silver  5-franc  piece  are  seldopi  seen,  the  coinage  of 
the  latter  being  temporarily  saspended. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  weights  and 
measures  are  metric  [see  page  5399].  This  applies 
also  to  most  of  the  French  colonies. 

Postages.  Great  Britain  to  France.  Letters 
2Jd.  for  first  ounce  and  IW.  for  each  additional 
ounce  or  part  thereof.  Printed  papers,  commercial 
papers,  and  samples,  ^d.  per  2  oz.,  with  a  mini- 
mum of  2id.  for  commercial  papers  and  Id.  for 
samples.  Parcel  post.  Is.  4d.,  Is.  9J.,  and  2s.  2d. 
for  3.  7,  and  11  lb.  respectively. 

Telegrams.  2d.  per  word,  with  minimum  charge 
of  lOd.  Telephonic  communication  between 
London  and  about  500  French  cities  and  towns  is 
possible  at  a  fee  of  8s.  for  a  three  minutes'  conversa- 
tion, except  to  Bordeaux,  Lyons,  Marseilles,  and  St 
Etienne,  for  which  the  charge  is  10s. 

MONACO 

This  small  principality  is  surrounded  by  French 
territory,  except  on  its  seaward  side.  Its  area  is 
eight  square  miles,  and  its  population  is  16,000. 
There  are  three  towns — ^Monaco,  3.292 ;  Condamine. 
6,218  ;  and  ilonte  Carlo.  3,794.  The  reigning  prince 
is  Prmce  Albert  (born  1848  ;  succeeded  his  father. 
1889),  who  is  an  absolute  monarch,  and  entrusts  the 
government  to  a  council  of  three.  All  the  territorj'  is 
urban,  so  there  is  no  agriculture.  The  revenue  i> 
derived  almost  exclusively  from  the  gaming-table-s, 
which  are  o\nied  by  a  company. 


THE     METRIC     SYSTEM     AND     BRITISH     EQUIVALENTS 


The  Metric,  or  (ieoimal,  System  of  Weights  and  Measures 
i-!  the  most  scientifie  in  use  as  a  standard  by  any  country. 
It  is  a  legacy  of  the  French  Revohition.  A  committee  of 
scientific  me"n,  appointed  by  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at 
till'  instance  of  tlie  French  Government,  agreed  that  the 
((uadraut  of  the  earth's  surface — from  the  North  Pole  to 
the  Eijuator ^measured  through  Paris,  should  be  taken 
as  the  basis  of  the  new  system.  The  metre  was  supposed 
to  be  one  ten-millionth  part  of  this  cjuadrant,  altliough  it 
has  been  ascertained  that  it  is  inaccurate  to  the  e.xtent  of 
fue  four-thousandth  part.  The  exact  length  of  the  metre 
i^  :i9-:5701i:i  inches.  The  unit  of  surface  measure  is  the 
(ire,  whidi  is  the  square  of  10  metres  (!  dekametre).     The 


cubic  unit  is  the  stere,  wlii<'h  is  a  cubic  metre.  Tlie 
unit  of  capacity  measure  is  the  litre,  which  is  the  capacity 
of  the  cube  of  one-tenth  of  a  metre  (a  decimetre).  The 
unit  of  weight  is  the  gramme,  which  is  the  weight  of  a  cubic 
centimetre  of  distilled  water  at  a  temperature  of  32° 
Fahr.  From  these  units  the  metric  system  is  built  up 
with  the  help  of  a  scries  of  prefixes  : 

Milli    =      -^    1,1)00  Deka         =      x  H' 

Centi  =      -f-       100  Hecio       =      x  :oo 

Deci   =      ~         10  Kilo  = 

Myria        = 

Thus,   a  centigramme,   means  one-hundredth   part   of  a 
gramme,  and  a  dekametre  means  ten  metres. 


I.OOII 
10,000 


LINEAL     MEASURE 

1  millimetre   =      m'H  inch.  1  inch 

10  millimetres    =  1  centimetre  =     ■39t  inch.  12    inches  =  1  foot 

10  centimetres  =  1  decimetre    =  3'937  inches.  3    feet  =  1  yard 

10  decimetres    =  1  metre  =39-3708  in., or  about  3ft. 3iin.       5i  yards  =  1  pole 

10  metres  =  1  dekametre  =32  5/6th  feet.  4    poles  =  1  ciiain 

lOdekametres   =  1  hectometre  =     -0621,  or  about  l/16th  mile  10    chains  =  I  furlong 

10  hectometres  =  1  kilometre     =     •fi214,  or  about  gth  mile  8    furlongs  -simile 

10  kilometres     =  1  myriametre=    6'214,or  about  6  l/5th  miles 


^     2.->  miUimetres. 

■  -■  :'.or)  millimetres. 

=  911  millimetres. 

=      .")'029  metres. 

=    20' 117  metres. 

=       2  hectometres  1'168  netres 

=      1-809343  kilometres,  or 

about  1  3/.'ith  kilometres. 


10  milliares 
10  ceatiares 
1 0  declares 
10  ares 
10  dekares 
10  hectares 
10  kiloares 


1  milliare 
1  centiare 
1  declare 
1  are 
1  dekare 
1  hectare 
1  kiloare 
1  mvriare 


SQUARE,     OR    SUPERFICIAL,     MEASURE 

=  1  so.  ft.  11  s(j.  ins. 

=  1  sq.  yd.  1  sq.  ft.  llOsq.ins. 

=  11  sq.yds.  Ssq.ft.  92  sq.ins. 

=     119-603321  sq.  vds. 

=  119603321  sq.  yds. 

=         2-471  acres. 

=       2171  acres. 


247-1  acres. 


144    sij.  ins. 

9    sq.ft. 

30i  sq.  yds. 

1 6    perches 

2i  sq.  chains 

4    roods 

640    acres 


1  sq. inch 
1  sq.  foot 
1  sq.  yard 
1  perch 
1  sq.  chain 
1  rood 
1  acre 
1  sq.  mile 


■uni;  milliares. 
■9  milliares. 
8  milliares. 
25- 3  centiares. 

4-047  ares. 
10-117  ares. 

-40468  hectares. 
2.58-99848  liectares. 


CUBIC     MEASURE 


1  millistere 
10  miUisteres      =  1  centistere 
10  centisteres     =  1  decistere 
10  decisteres      =  1  stere 
10  sterrs  =  1  dekastere 


=  61  cub.  ins. 

=  610  cub.  ins. 

=  3  cub.  ft.  918  cub.  ins. 

=  3.5-31658  cub.  ft. 

=  353-1658  cub.  ft. 


1728  cub.  ms. 
27  cub.  feet 


1  cubic  inch  =  0-164  millistere. 
=  1  cub.  foot  =  2-8  centisteres. 
=---  1  cub.  yard     =  7- 65  decisteres. 


MEASURE     OF     CAPACITY 


1  millilitre  =       007  gills. 

10  millilitres  =  1  centilitre  =      -07  gil'ls. 

10  centilitres  =  1  decilitre  =      '7  gills. 

10  decilitres  =  1  litre  =    1-76  pints. 

10  litres  =  1  dekalitre  =  1  peck  IJ  pints. 

10  dekalitres  =  1  hectolitre  =■  2-750  bushels. 

10  hectolitres  =  1  kilolitre  =  3-4371  quarters 

10  kilolitres  =  1  myrialitre  =  34-371  quarters. 


gills 

pints 

quarts 

gallons 

pecks 

bushels 

quarters 


1  gill 
=  1  pint 
=  1  quart 
=  1  gallon 
=  1  peck 
=  1  bushel 
=  1  quarter 
=  1  chaldron 


1-42  decilitres. 

5-63  decilitres. 

1-136  litres. 

4- 5  46  litres. 

9-092  litres. 
36-368  litres. 

2-90942  hectolitres. 
13-09237  hectolitres. 


10  jnilligrammes 

10  centigrammes 

10  decigrammes 

10  grammes 

10  dekagrammes 

10  hectogrammes 

10  kilogrammes 

10  myriagrammes 

10  quintals 


1  milligramme 

1  centigramme 

1  decigramme 

1  gramme 

1  dekagramme 

1  hectogramme    = 

1  kilogramme 

1  myriagramme  = 

1  quintal 

1  millier,  or  tonne : 


COMMERCIAL     WEIGHT 

-015  grain. 
=     -154  grain. 
=    1-5432  grains. 
=  15-432  grains. 
=   5  drs.  iSgrs. 
=  3oz.8dr.12gr. 
=     2-2046  lbs. 

1-575  stones. 
=  1-96841  cwt. 
=    19-68411  cwt. 


16  drams 
16  ounces 

14  pounds 

2  stones 

4  quarters 
20  hundredweights 


1   dram  =    1-772  grms. 

1  ounce  =  28-349  grms. 

1  pound  =     -453592  kgrs. 

or  9  -.iOth  kgr.  (about). 
1  stone  =  6-350291  kgrg. 

1  quarter  =12-700588  kgrs. 

1  hundredweight  =  50-8023521  grs. 
1   ton  =  1016047037  Ugrs. 


APOTHECARIES'     WEIGHT 

In  the  metric  system  the  apothecaries'  weights  are  the  same  as  the  ordinary  weights  ;  hence  the  French  tables  b^low 
are  given  only  that  their  equivalents  in  British  apothecaries'  weight  may  be  given  : 


10  milligrammes 
10  centigrammes 
10  decigrammes 
10  grammes 
10  dekagrammes 
10  hectogrammes 


1  milligramme 
1  centigramme 
1  decigramme 
1  gramme 
1  dekagramme 
1  hectogramme 
1  kilogramme 


015  grain 
=     -154  grain. 
=   1-5432  grains. 
=  15*432  grains. 
=    2  drs. Isc. 14  grs. 
=    3  ozs.  1  dr.  2  scs.  3  grs. 
=  32  ozs.  1  dr.  12  grs. 


20  grains  = 
3  scruples  = 
8  drachms    = 


1  grain 
1  scruple 
1  drachm 
1  ounce 


=  65  milligrammes. 
=  r296  grammes. 
=  3-888  grammes. 
=  31-1035  grammes. 


APOTHECARIES'     FLUID     MEASURE 


10  millilitres 
10  centilitres 
10  decilitres 


1  millilitre 

1  centilitres 

1  decilitre 

1  litre 


163  minims. 

2-8157  fl.  drs. 

3-5  fl.  ozs. 
3.5-196fl.  0Z8. 


20  minim;  = 

3  fluid  scruples  = 

8  fluid  drachms  = 

20  fluid  ounces  = 


1  minim 
1  fluid  scruple 
1  fluid  drachm 
1  fluid  ounce 
1  pint 


-059  millilitre. 

1-184  millilitres. 

3-552  millilitres. 

28-4122591  nulls. 

-568245  litres. 


TROY     WEIGHT 

The  metric  system  has  no  special  table  for  troy  weights,  the  weight  of  gold  and  other  precious  metals  being  computed  by  the 
rdinary  metric  weight.     The  tables  below  are  given  only  that  the  metric  equivalent  of  British  troy  weights  may  be  sliown  : 


10  milligrammes 

10  centigrammes 

10  decigrammes 

10  grammes 

10  dekagrammes 

10  hectogrammes 


!  milligramme 

1  centigramme 

1  decigramme 

1  gramme 

1  dekagramme 

1  hectogramme 

1  kilogramme 


■0154  grains. 

-1543  grains. 

1-5432  grains. 
15-4323564  grs. 
6  dwt.  10  grs. 
3  oz.  4  dwt.  7  gr. 
32  ozs.  3  dwts. 


1  grain  .=   65  milligrammes. 

24  grains  =   1  pennyweight  =     1-555  grammes. 

20  pennyweights  =   1  ounce  =   31-1035  grammes. 

The  pearl  grain  equals  51-83915  milligrammes  ;  the  pearl 
carat  contains  3-16381  pearl  grains,  and  is  eiiiial  to 
164-24253  milligramm?s.  I  he  diamond  grain  is  equal  to 
5183916  milligrammes  and  the  diamond  carat  (3- 1623 
diamond  grains)  is  equal  to  205  milligrammes. 

5399 


ESSENTIAL   INFORMATION  ABOUT   SPAIN   &  PORTUGAL 


SPAIN 

Aeea  and  Population.  The  total  area  of  Spain  is 
194,783  square  miles,  including  the  Balearic  and  Canary 
Islands,  which  are  provinces  of  Spain.  The  total 
population  i,''  (census  of  1900)  18,618,086.  The  towns 
with  a  population  of  over  100.000  are  Madrid,  539,885  ; 
Barcelona,  533,000  ;  Valencia,  213,530  :  Sevilla,  148,315  ; 
Malaga,  130,109;  Murcia,  111,539.  Two  other  towns, 
Carthagena  and  Zaragoza  (Saragossa),  were  over  99,000 
at  last  census,  and  are  now  probably  over  100,000. 

Government.  Spain  is  a  constitutional  monarchy, 
legislative  power  being  vested  in  the  King  and  the  Cortes, 
which  consists  of  two  houses — a  Senate  and  a  Congress. 
Half  of  the  Senate,  or  Upper  House,  is  elected  by  the 
largest  taxpayers,  the  universities,  the  churcli,  and 
provincial  states  ;  the  other  half  is  composed  of  princes 
who  have  attained  their  majority,  grandees,  high  army 
and  naval  officers,  and  presidents  of  several  tribunals. 
Half  of  the  elected  senators  must  retire  every  five  years, 
and  all  the  elected  senators  must  be  elected  upon  a  disso- 
lulion  of  the  Senate,  by  the  king.  The  Lower  House,  or 
Congress,  is  composed  of  406  members,  elected  for  five 
years  by  male  citizens  25  years  of  age.  The  executive 
is  vested  in  the  monarch  and  nine  Ministers  of  State. 

MONAECH.  The  King  is  Alfonso  XIII.  (born  on  May  17, 
1886  after  the  death  of  his  father),  who  became  king  at  birth. 

Revenue.  The  estimates  of  revenue  and  expenditure  for 
1908  were  £37,843,000  and  £37,206,130  respectively. 
The  chief  sources  of  revenue  are  direct  taxes  on  land, 
trade,  mines,  etc.,  customs,  excise,  tobacco  monopoly  and 
lotteries.  At  the  end  of  1907  the  Spanish  national  debt 
was  £332,057,595,  involving  an  annual  interest  charge  of 
£14,732,819. 

Industry  and  Commerce.  About  80  per  cent,  of  the 
soil  of  Spain  is  reckoned  as  productive,  one-third  of  it 
being  under  cereal  crops  and  gardens,  20  per  cent,  under 
fruits,  20  per  cent,  under  natural  grass,  and  the  remainder 
being  vineyards  and  olive  trees.  The  chief  cereal  crops 
are  wheat,  barley,  rye,  maize,  oats,  and  rice.  Hemp  and 
flax  are  also  grown.  The  total  production  of  wine — 
sherry,  malaga  and  alicante — is  almost  400,000,000  gallons, 
and  the  production  of  olive  oil  is  about  40,000,000  gallons. 
Silk  culture  is  carried  on  principally  in  the  South-eastern 
provinces.  Stock  raising — horses,  cattle,  mules  and  asses, 
sheep,  goats  and  pigs — is  important.  Spain  has  great 
mineral  wealtli — iron,  coal,  copper,  zinc,  cobalt,  lead, 
quicksilver,  sulphate  of  soda,  salt,  sulphur  and  phos- 
phorus— the  annual  output  being  of  about  £8,000,000 
value,  but  its  exploitation  is  almost  entirely  in  foreign 
hands.  There  are  a  few  manufactories,  including  cotton, 
woollen  and  silk  industries,  paper  and  glass-making,  cork 
turning  and  sugar  refining.  The  total  imports  in  1908 
were  of  the  value  of  £38,357,000  and  the  exports  £35,616  000 
The  chief  exports  are  wine,  ores,  olive  oil,  cattle,  raisins, 
oranges,  cork,  esparto,  wool,  salt  and  quicksilver. 

Colonies.  Spain  has  stiU  a  few  colonial  possessions, 
although  she  was  stripped  of  Cuba.  Porto  Bico,  the  Philip- 
pines, receiving  £4,000,000  for  the  litter  by  the  United  States 
in  1898,  and  sold  llic  Caroline  and  Pelew  Islands  to  liermany 
in  1899.  Tlie  Canary  Islands  are  provinces  of  Spain  and 
the  sole  Spanish  colonies  are  now  the  few  in  West  or 
Equatf)rial  Africa,  as  follow  : 


Riu  de  Oro  and  Adrar  

Rio  Muni  and  ('ape  San  Juan 
Fernando   Po,   Aunabou,   Corisco,   Great 
and  Little  Eiobey 

Totiil     . . 


Sq.  miles.         Population. 


S0.580 


These  colonies  have  little  or  no  commercial  or  economic 
value  to  Spain  and  they  constitute  an  annual  charge. 

Currency.  The  currency  of  Spain  was  assimilated  to 
that  of  the  Latin  Monetary  Union,  in  1871  [s?e  page  5398]. 
The  exquivalent  of  a  centime  is  a  ce.ntesimo,  and  loo 
centesimos  make  one  peseta,  which  equals  a  franc. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  system  is  metric  [wo 
page  5399],  but  Spanish  names  are  given  to  the  various 
denominations.  These  names,  however,  differ  from  the 
French,  usually  only  by  one  letter,  m6tre  becoming  nutro 
(plural  metri),  centimetre  becoming  centimetro,  and  so  on, 
aire  becoming  area,  litre  becoming  litro  (plural  litri),  and 
gramme  becoming  gramo.  Some  of  the  old  Spanish 
measures  are  still  found  in  occasional  practice. 

Postal  Rates.  Great  Britain  to  Spain,  letters,  papers 
and  san)ples  as  for  France  [see  page  5398].  Parcel  post, 
Is.  6d.,  2s.  and  2s.  6d.  for  3  lb.,  7  lb.,  and  11  lb.  respectively. 
No  parcel  insurance. 

Telegrams.  Great  Britain  to  Spain,  3d.  per  word  witli 
Is.  minimum. 

PORTUGAL 

Area  and  Population.  The  area  of  Portugal,  includ- 
ing the  Azores  and  Madeira,  which  are  parts  of  the  kingdom, 
is  35,490  square  miles,  and   the  jjopulafion  is  5,423,132. 


Theiiland  area  included  in  above  is  1,236  square  miles,  and 
tlie  islaiiil  population  is  406,865.  The  chief  towns  are 
Lisbon  (the  capital).  356,000;  Oporto,  167,955;  Braga. 
24,202;  Setuba!,  22,074;  Funcial  (Madeira,  20,844; 
Coimbra,  18,144  ;  Ponta  Delgada  (Azores;  17,620. 

Government.  Portugal  is  a  constitutional  hereditary 
monarchy,  with  two  Legislative  Chambers,  the  Camera  dos 
Pares  or  House  of  Peers,  and  the  Camera  dos  Deputados  oi 
House  of  Commons,  whicli  are  known  collectively  as  the 
Cortes  Geraes.  Hereditary  peers  are  being  abolished  by  a 
gradual  process.  The  Upper  House  consists  of  peers  wli!. 
are  nominated  for  life  by  the  king,  princes  of  the  royal 
house,  and  twelve  bishops.  The  Lower  House  consists  oi 
148  deputies,  with  seven  colonial  deputies  additional, 
elected  for  three  years  on  a  manhood,  educational,  and  lo\.' 
tax-paying  qualification.  Deputies  must  have  certain 
academic  qualifications  or  a  certain  income.  If  a  Parlia- 
ment is  dissolved  its  successor  must  be  called  within  three 
montiLs. 

JfONARCH.  Tlie  reigning  king  is  Mauoel  II.  (Manuel  ia 
the  English  form*.  He  was  born  on  November  15th,  1889, 
and  succeeded  his  father  upon  the  assassination  of  his 
brother  and  father  on  February  1st,  1908. 

Revenue.  The  estimated  revenue  for  1908-1909  wa< 
£14,106,000,  and  the  estimated  expenditure  £14,540,000. 
The  funded  debt  of  Portugal  in  June,  1908,  was  £154, 122,800. 

Industry  and  Commerce.  Portugal  is  a  mountainous 
country,  and  almost  half  of  the  total  area  is  waste  land. 
Half  of  the  remainder  is  in  pasture  or  fallow,  and  of  the 
rest  half  is  devoted  to  cereal  culture.  Then  comes  fruit- 
trees,  pulse,  and  other  non-cereal  crops  and  vineyards.  The 
chief  highland  crops  are  wheat,  barley,  oats,  maize,  fla\, 
hemp,  and  grapes.  In  the  lowlands  the  chief  crops  are 
rice,  olives,  oranges,  lemons,  citrons,  figs,  and  almonds. 
There  is  a  large  forest  area  of  oak,  chestnut,  pine,  and  cork. 
The  minerals  worked  are  important,  and  consist  of  copper, 
lead,  tin,  antimony,  coal,  manganese,  and  slate.  There 
are  several  manufactories,  including  gloves,  fabrics  of  silk, 
wool,  linen  and  cotton,  metal  and  earthenware,  and  tobacco. 
In  1907  the  value  of  the  imports  was  £15,959,600,  and  the 
value  of  the  exports  was  £9,778,600.  Half  the  value  of 
the  exports  was  for  wine,  and  the  most  important  of  the 
remainder  were  cork,  cattle,  copper  ore,  fruits,  oil,  sardine^. 

Colonies.     The  colonies  of  Portugal  are  as  follow  : 


African  Colonies: 

Cape  Verde  Islands  

Guinea  . .         . .         

Prince.s  and  St.  Thonia-s'  Islands 

Angola  

East  Africa 

Asiatic  Colonies  : 

Goa  (Indial   . . 

Damao  and  Din  (India) 

Timor  and  adjacent  island.s 

Macao  (China) 

Total 


1.480 

1:!.<I40 

:!(iO 

4S4,S(I0 

293.400 

1,469 

169 

7,330 


Population. 


147.424 

820.000 

42,103 

4,119,000 

3,120,000 

47.'),513 
66.285 

300,000 
6:i,«91 


CunRENCY.  The  unit  of  money  value  is  the  real  or  ree 
(plural  reis),  but  the  coin  has  no  existence  in  fact,  its  value 
being  only  one-twentieth  of  one  penny.  It  is  the  one- 
thousandth  part  of  a  milreis,  which  is  worth  4s.  o\d.  T!ie 
currency  may  be  tabulated  thus  : 

1  real  or  ree   =  "God. 
1000  reis        -^  1  milreis         =  4s.  5"3d. 
1000  milreis  =  1  conto  =  £222  4s.  5d. 

The  coins  in  use  are  : 

Bronze  :   5,  10,  and  20  reis  (value  about  Jd.,  id.,  and  Id. 
respectively). 

Nickel  :  50  and  100  reis  (value  2§d.  and  5Jd.  respectively!. 

Silver-    200  reis  =    2  festoon  =  lOJd. 

-    500  reis  =    5  festoon  =  2s.  2Sd. 
-1,000  reis  =  10  festoon  =  4s.  5jd. 

Gold  :    1,  2,  5,  and  10  milreis. 

There  is  a  large  circulation  of  Bank  of  Portugal  paper, 
and  the  British  gold  sovereign  is  legal  tender  for  4;500  reis. 
In  Portuguese  India  the  currency  is  the  same  as  in  British 
India.  In  other  Portuguese  colonies  the  currency  is  thar 
of  Portugal. 

Weights  and  Mb.^sures.  The  metric  system  is  followed 
and  the  names  are  as  in  France.     [See  page  5399.] 

Postal  and  Telegraph  Rates.  Great  Britain  to 
Portugal  as  for  Spain  [see  above],  but  parcel-post  rates  to 
Portuguese  Colonies  are  higher.  Parcel-post  to  Portugal, 
if  overland  through  France  and  Spain,  is  6d.  per  parcel 
more  than  rates  given  above. 

ANDORRA 

Andorra  is  an  interesting  pocket  republic  in  the  Eastern 
Pyrenees,  and  is  under  the  joint  suzerainty  of  France  and 
Spain.  Its  area  is  175  square  miles,  and  the  estimates  of 
its  population  vary  from  5,000  to  15,000.  The  chief 
occupation  is  smuggling,  with  some  agriculture,  stock 
raiding,  and  trade  in  wood  and  wool.  Government  is  by 
a  council  of  24  members,  elected  by  the  heads  of  families, 
and  they  elect  a  President  for  four  years. 


5400 


EUROPEAN 
POWERS 
TO-DAY 


IX 

SPAIN 


SPAIN    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 

THE    NATION'S    NEW    ERA    OF    PROGRESS 
By   Martin    Hume,    M.A. 


HTHE  revolution  of  1868  in  Spain,  pro- 
•■•  found  and  disintegrating  as  it  looked 
for  a  time,  was  almost  purely  political  in 
its  direct  results.  The  already  recognised 
right  of  private  judgment  in  religion  was, 
it  is  true,  slightly  extended,  but  in  every 
other  respect  the  national  life  was  barely 
affected  by  the  violent  outburst  which 
expelled  Isabella  II.  from  her  throne  and 
country.  There  was  no  radical  change 
effected  in  social  relations,  in  the  organisa- 
tion and  compensation  of  labour,  in  the 
basis  of  taxation,  or  in  the  relations 
between  Church  and  State. 

The  entire  rearrangement  of  political 
parties,  which  was  the  principal  outcome 
of  the  revolution,  prepared  the  way  for 
far-reaching  changes  which  are  now 
operative  or  impending.  The  accession 
to  the  revolutionary  ranks  of  the  "  Union 
Liberal,"  or  Moderate  Liberals,  ensured 
the  success  of  the  revolt,  but  it  also 
involved  the  disappearance  of  the  party 
itself  as  a  separate  entity  ;  and  on  the 
restoration  of  Alfonso  XII.,  in  1875,  a  new 
division  of  .political  parties  was  prac- 
tically complete.  The  old  purely  Con- 
servative party  had  disappeared  as  a 
governing  factor,  and  the  new  Conserva- 
tives, who  had  brought  about  the  restora- 
tion, were  evolved  as  a  separate  political 
group  from  the  moderate  elements  of  the 
revolution  itself.  Thus  Spain  turned  her 
back  upon  the  past,  and  since  then  has 
been  governed  by  parlies,  which,  whether 
they  call  themselves  Liberals, 
Conservatives,  or  Democrats, 
are  all  essentially  Liberal  in 
their  dependence  upon  popular 
sentiment  and  their  acknowledgment  of 
the  supremacy  of  the  national  will.  For 
many  years  of  the  long  regency  of 
Queen  Christina,  1885-igoi,  politicians  of 
both  parties  chivalrously  abstained  from 
action  likely  to  disturb  or  excite  the 
public  mind,  the  Liberal  party  especially 

IS  ar  D 


Queen 
Christina  as 
Regent 


postponing  its  convictions,  both  on  reli- 
gious and  social  problems,  to  the  need 
for  consolidating  the  throne  of  the  child- 
king  by  the  support  of  Spaniards  of  all 
opinions.  The  attitude  of  the  official 
Liberal  party  led  finally  to  the  formation 
of  a  strong  new  group  of  Democrats 
pledged  to  far-reaching  social  reforms  and 
.  to  antagonism  to  the  influence 

^'k1r°^        of  the   clergy,   but  on  each 

Air         viif    occasion  that  this  Democratic 
Alfonso  XIII.  ,  1     1  i, 

party — now  led  with  con- 
spicuous ability  by  Sefior  Canalejas — has 
coalesced  with  the  traditional  Liberals 
under  Senor  Moret  for  the  purpose  of  form- 
ing a  government,  the  coalition  has  been 
unable  to  withstand  the  strain  imposed  by 
divergent  opinions,  mainly  on  the  question 
of  the  Church  and  the  conventual  orders. 

The  accession  to  effective  kingship  of 
Alfonso  XIII. ,  amidst  the  universal  good- 
will of  his  people,  has  not  to  any  con- 
siderable extent  altered  the  situation 
created  and  fixed  by  his  wise  and  prudent 
mother  during  her  long  regency.  The 
political  parties  alternate  in  power  as 
before,  the  real  differences  between  their 
respective  policies  in  office  being  extremely 
slight,  however  democratic  may  be  the 
professions  of  the  Liberal  party  when  in 
opposition,  since  both  groups  of  politicians 
have  agreed  to  rule  constitutionally  and 
accept  the  principle  of  popular  government . 

Both  parties,  it  is  true,  are  equally 
ready  to  manipulate  the  elections  in  the 
most  unblushing  manner  in  order  to 
secure  power  and  office  for  themselves  ; 
but  to  the  people  at  large  it  matters  little 
which  political  combination  rules  them, 
since  the  effect  in  either  case  is  practically 
the  same.  The  main  aspirations  of  the 
country,  indeed,  are  less  towards  political 
than  towards  social  change,  as  the  people 
have  already  lost  faith,  as  a  result  of 
experience,  in  the  efficiency  of  political 
convulsions  to  remedy  the  ills  of  which 

5401 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


they  complain.  In  the  meanwhile  the 
Socialist  party  in  the  country  has  in- 
creased enormously,  especially  in  Cata- 
lonia and  Biscay,  where  the  manufacturing 
activity  is  most  marked ;  and,  as  a 
conseqvience,  projected  legislation,  under 
the  guidance  of  either  of  the  two  great 
political  parties,  has  mainly  taken  the 
form  of  Factory  Acts,  the  limi- 
A  Wcckl  "^  tation  of  the  hom-s  of  labour, 
D  T»^  ^^®  restriction  of  the  industrial 
ay  o  «s  gj-j^piQyjj^gj-^^  of  children,  and 
other  measures  directed  towards  the  social 
amelioration  of  the  working  classes.  A 
remarkable  instance  of  this  is  given  by 
the  Act  for  the  compulsory  Sunday  closing 
of  all  business  establishments,  except 
those  devoted  to  the  sale  of  prepared  food, 
and  the  legal  enforcement  of  a  weekly  day 
of  rest  in  all  trades. 

In  this  both  Socialists  and  Clericals  have 
co-operated,  although  it  forms  a  revolution 
in  the  traditional  habits  of  the  people,  and 
lias  only  been  rendered  operative  at  the  cost 
of  considerable  friction.  Another  demand 
persistently  made  by  working-class  politi- 
cians, but  hitherto  unattained,  owing  to 
party  dissensions,  is  the  regulation  of  the 
monastic  establishments  with  the  object 
of  suppressing  the  unfair  industrial  com- 
petition with  regular  workmen  arising 
out  of  the  extensive  manufactories  carried 
on  by  some  of  the  conventual  houses. 

The  most  striking  change,  however,  in 
the  position  of  Spain  in  the  last  few  years 
is  to  be  seen  in  the  re-entry  of  the  country 
into  active  participation  in  the  concert 
of  European  nations.  This  had  been  tra- 
ditionally difficult,  as  the  mutual  jealousies 
of  France  and  Britain  had  usually  stood 
in  the  way  of  a  close  co-operation  between 
Spain  and  both  of  those  countries  simul- 
taneously. The  exigencies  of  European 
politics  having  drawn  together  Britain 
and  France,  the  principal  obstacle  to  the 
resumption  by  Spain  of  an  important 
part  in  international  politics  was  removed, 
„     .         .     and  the  situation,  particularly 

Spain  and  j„  at    j  a 

.1    *<      .  .   as  regards  Mediterranean  pro- 

thC  Moorish    ,   ,  °  ,  ^^  re       ,       ^ 

_     .  blems,  was  profoundly  affected 

™  '"  thereby.  It  had  been  an  article 
of  faith  with  Spaniards  for  centuries,  and 
especially  since  their  successful  war  with 
Morocco  in  i860,  that  when  the  inevitable 
break  up  of  the  Moorish  Empire  in  North- 
West  Africa  should  take  place  Spain  must 
inherit  a  considerable  share  of  the  country 
opposite  her  own  shores,  in  addition  to  the 
places  of  arms  she  already  held  at  Melilla 

5402 


and  Ceuta.  Unfortunately  for  her,  when  the 
Anglo-French  agreement  was  signed  on  April 
8th,  1904,  recognising  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain  the  future  preponderating  influence 
of  France  in  Morocco,  Spain  was  unready 
and  badly  served  diplomatically,  and  her 
traditional  interests  were  to  a  great  extent 
ignored,  as  indeed  were  those  of  England. 
But  the  subsequent  Act  of  Algeciras  to 
some  slight  extent  recognised  Spain's 
right  to  take  part  in  the  civilisation  of  the 
neighbouring  Moslem  country,  by  con- 
ferring upon  her  jointly  with  France  the 
mandate  of  the  Powers  to  police  the  ports 
in  the  interests  of  the  world  generally. 

Spain  has  therefore  had  to  sacrifice  many 
of  her  hopes  and  dreams  in  this  direction  ; 
but  it  is  evident  that  however  much 
French  dominion  may  in  time  extend  over 
Morocco,  the  proximity  and  long-standing 
intercommunication  between  the  latter 
country  and  Spain  will  ensure  that  the 
predominating  ethnological  and  civilising 
element  will  be  Spanish.  Nor  has  the 
sacrifice  been  entirely  without  compensa- 
tion. The  cordial  friendship  both  with 
Britain  and  France,  cemented  in  the  former 
case  by  the  auspicious  mar- 


Spain's  Large 

Shipbuilding 

Programme 


riage  of  King  Alfonso  XIII.  \ 
with  an  English  princess,  not 
only  ensures,  as  far  as  is 
humanly  possible,  Spain's  own  immunity 
from  attack,  but  very  greatly  increases 
the  probability  of  continued  European 
peace.,  The  reconstruction  of  the  Spanish 
navy,  destroyed  in  the  Spanish-American 
War,  has  in  the  opinion  of  Spaniards 
become  a  necessity  of  the  new  international 
importance  of  their  country,  and  several 
proposals  with  that  object  have  been  made 
to  successive  Parliaments.  The  financial 
sacrifices  necessary  for  the  purpose,  how- 
ever, prevented  the  adoption  of  any  large 
naval  scheme  until  late  in  1908,  when  the 
difficulties  were  overcome  and  a  large 
shipbuilding  programme  was  definitely 
adopted.  On  the  fulfilment  of  this,  in  the 
course  of  three  or  four  years,  Spain  will 
once  more  enter  into  the  circle  of  im- 
portant maritime  Powers. 

Although  the  agricultural  and  viti- 
cultural  districts  of  the  country  are  still 
suffering  much  poverty  and  hardship, 
Spain  has  in  several  unexpected  ways 
greatly  benefited  by  the  loss  of  her  great 
colonies  in  the  West  Indies  and  the 
Philippines,  in  addition  to  the  relief 
afforded  by  the  cessation  of  the  drain  of 
men  and  money  which  had  continued  for  so 


SPAIN    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


many  years  in  her  effort  to  hold  them. 
The  sudden  disap]^earance  of  the  protected 
colonial  markets  for  Spanish  goods  threw 
the  Catalan  manufacturers  into  a  panic 
of   fear   for   the   very   existence   of   their 


working  classes  generally  in  Spain  is 
deplorable  to  the  last  degree.  This  is 
seen  in  many  ways,  especially  in  the  great 
growth  of  mendicancy,  and  in  the  con- 
stant   increase    of    emigration    to    South 


numerous  industries,  but  matters  in  this  America,    which    is    fast    draining    whole 

respect   have    righted   themselves   in    an  districts   of   their   best    peasantry.      The 

extraordinary  manner.     The  adoption  of  a  number  of  emigrants  from  Spanish  ports 

protective  fiscal  policy,  in  1892,  by  Spain  in  igoo  was  63,000,  and  in  1904,  87,300  ; 

had  caused  a  great  increase  of  activity  in  whilst    in    1905    no    less    than    126,000 

Spanish     manufactures     for     home     and  Spaniards     abandoned     their    homes    in 

colonial  consumption  ;   but  it  also  resulted  search  of  better  conditions  of  life  abroad, 

in  a  restriction  of  foreign  trade  and  heavy  and  in  a  recent  voyage  the  present  writer 

liquidations,   causing  a  depletion  of  cui-  saw  sixty  Spanish  stowaways  on  a  single 


rency  with  the  issue  of  quantities  of  small 
paper  money,  the  international  exchange 
being  thereby  raised  to  the  ruinous  rate 
of  thirty-three  pesetas  {£1  (s.  lid.)  to  the 
pound  sterling,  instead  of  twenty-five, 
which  was  the  par  value.  ^  .«-- 

Although  this  entailed 
great  hardship  upon 
those,  including  the 
Government,  who  had  to 
pay  sums  of  money 
abroad,  or  who  consumed 
foreign  goods,  and  11 
made  the  cost  of  living 
considerabl}^  higher  than 
it  had  been,  it  greatly 
stimulated  Spanish 
manufactures,  especially 
for  export,  since  the  low 
value  of  the  Spanish 
currency  caused  the  pro- 
ductions of  Catalonia 
and  other  manufacturing 
centres  to  appear  very 
cheap  when  compared 
with  their  foreign  gold  value.  In  1899, 
for  the  first  time  in  fifty  years,  the 
balance  of  trade  turned  slightly  in  favour 
of  Spain  ;  and  in  1906  the  exports 
considerably  exceeded  the  imports,  the 
former  having  been  1,018,387,000  pesetas, 
^40,735, 480,  in  value,  and  the  latter 
884,800,000,  £35,392,000.  Though  this  is 
producing  an  improved  exchange,  and  a 
nearer  approach  to  the  long  projected 
rehabilitation  of  the  gold  currency  and 
equalisation  of  international  exchange,  it 
tends  in  the  near  future  to  bring  its  own  anti- 
dote in  a  restriction  of  exports  when  money 
values  in  Spain  and  abroad  are  the  same. 
In  the  meanwhile,  the  purchasing 
power  of  wages  being  much  reduced, 
and  the  demand  for  the  commoner 
wines  being  diminished  by  the  French 
protective    duties,    the    condition    of    the 


KING  ALFONSO  AND  HIS  HEIR 
The  posthumous  son  of  Alfonso  XII.,  he  was 
proclaimed  King-  on  the  day  of  his  birth,  May 
17th,  1886;  ascending-  the  throne  in  1902,  he 
married  Princess  Ena  of  Battenberg  in  1906, 
and  in  the  following  year  the  heir  was  born. 


steamer.  This  poverty  amongst  the 
peasantry  is  contrasted  sadly  with  the 
enormous  increase  of  luxury  and  expendi- 
ture of  the  higher  classes  in  the  towns,  and 
especially  in  Madrid,  owing  in  great 
J,  .r,-,.  measure  to  the  return  to 

Spain  of  rich  colonials 
when  Spain  lost  her  de- 
pendencies, and  also  to 
the  large  fortunes  made 
by  the  manufacturers  and 
capitalists  since  the  pro- 
tective tariffs  were  re- 
imposed  in  1892. 

Throughout  the  history 
of  Spain  the  predominat- 
ing desire  of  the  people 
has  been  for  continued 
separate  provincial  ex- 
istence, and  most  of  the 
unrest  of  the  country 
has  had  this  desire  for 
its  origin.  The  demand 
for  continued  or  in- 
creased local  autonomy 
was  in  times  past  the  principal  support 
upon  which  the  hopes  of  the  clerical  Don 
Carlos  depended;  but  in  the  last  few 
years  the  cause  of  provincial  home  rule 
for  Catalonia,  Biscay,  Galicia,  etc.,  has 
turned  from  Carlism,  which  is  recognised 
as  a  dying  force,  and  has  largely  allied 
itself  to  the  advanced  Socialist  party.  In 
Catalonia,  where  the  demand  for  complete 
autonomy  has  always  been  strongest,  the 
cry  for  home  rule,  now  almost  unanimous, 
is  bound  up  with  the  powerful  provincial 
interest  in  maintaining,  a  protective 
policy  for  the  whole  of  Spain. 

The  Catalan  party  in  the  Cortes  are 
united,  active,  and  able,  but  they  have 
naturally  against  them  the  whole  ol  the 
representatives  of  the  poorer  agricultural 
provinces— the  greater  part  of  Spain. 
In     the    direction    of    literary    activity 

5403 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


Spain  has  shown  a  remarkable  change  of 
tendency  in  the  last  few  years.  The 
more  serious  writers  are  directing  their 
attention  almost  entirely  to  studies  of 
sociology  in  its  various  forms,  with  a  view, 
apparently,  to  discovering  the  causes  and 
remedies  of  Spain's  continued  ad\ersity. 
This  constant  introspection  on  the  part  of 
^  Spaniards  at  the  present  time 

f  S  'sh  ^°  some  extent  provides  a  solu- 
Unrcst  *  ^^°^  ^°  ^^^^  problem  they  set 
themselves.  Whilst  they  are 
minutely  discussing  their  national  short- 
comings and  peculiarities,  other  nations  are 
working  ;  whilst  they  are  doubting  and 
despairing,  other  peoples  are  pushing  ahead 
in  hope  ;  whilst  they  are  waiting  upon 
ProvidencCj  others  are  forcing  Providence 
to  wait  upon  them.  The  national  charac- 
ter is  a  strange  mixture  of  exalted  idealism 
and  utilitarian  worldhness,  and  it  has 
become  so  much  afraid  of  its  own  ideality, 
which  it  calls  Quixotism,  as  to  shrink 
from  enterprises  that  demand 'a  measure 
of  imagination  and  faith  in  the  future. 

A  great  deal  of  the  listlessness  wliich 
characterises  Spanish  life  springs  from  this 
national  lack  of  faith  in  action,  unless  the 
result  to  be  attained  is  visible  and  imme- 
diate ;  and  although  the  sociological  experts, 
who  for  the  last  few  years  have  written 
of  little  else  in  Spain,  formulate  many 
diagnoses  of  the  maladies  of  their  country, 
there  is  a  general  consensus  of  opinion  that 
the  main  evil  that  afflicts  the  body  politic 
is  Spain's  want  of  that  ardent  belief  in  her 
own  destiny  which  in  the  days  of  her 
greatness  constituted  the  secret  of  her 
success  amongst  nations.  The  introspec- 
tive note  is  manifested  as  much  in  the 
works  of  the  modern  writers  of  fiction  in 
Spain  as  in  those  of  the  professed  sociolo- 
gists. The  school  of  romantic  writing 
which  flourished  in  the  mid-nineteenth 
century  and  drew  its  inspiration  from 
France  and  England  has  now  disappeared, 
and  the  modern  Spanish  novel  deals  almost 
„  .  ,  invariably,  in  an  analytical  and 
Litc'r*  r  psychological  spirit,  with  the 
Activit^^  contrast  between  the  fervent 
*^'  ^  religious  belief  of  old  Spain  and 
the  rationalistic  tendencies  of  to-day, 
between  the  proud  Spanish  traditions  of 
grave  deliberation  and  the  bustling 
activity  of  the  present  age,  between  the 
patriarchal  conservatism  of  the  soil  and 
the  vociferous  demands  of  labour  for  a  due 
share  of  the  richness  and  sweetness  of  life. 
The    education    of    the    people  of   Spain 

5404 


still  lags  behind  that  of  other  European 
nations,  although  compulsory  education 
was  decreed  as  far  back  as  1857. 
The  schoolmasters  have  always  been 
wretchedly  underpaid,  and  too  often  not 
paid  at  all,  by  the  provincial  and  town 
councils,  upon  whom  they  depended,  and 
the  compulsory  clauses  have  been  almost 
entirely  disregarded.  Recently,  however, 
a  distinctly  better  spirit  is  being  mani- 
fested in  this  respect,  a  special  Ministry  of 
Public  Instruction  having  been  formed, 
and  the  State  having  assumed  authority 
over  the  schools.  The  present  percentage 
of  total  illiterates  is  about  65  per  cent,  of 
the  population,  as  against  75  per  cent, 
fifty  years  ago.  The  total  cost  of  primary 
education  is  not  less  than  /i, 000, 000 
sterling  per  annum,  mostly  falling  upon 
the  local  authorities,  the  whole  country 
being  divided  into  ten  educational  dis- 
tricts for  purposes  of  inspection  and  con- 
trol of  the  25,340  primary  schools,  the 
number  of  scholars  upon  the  books  being 
1,620,000,  whilst  the  whole  population  of 
the  country  is  approximately  19,000,000. 
Spain  still  suffers  from  the  lamentable 
.  lack  of  enterprise  of  its  rural 

„*."    *       and  provincial  populations  out- 
jV^^  side    of    the    great    industrial 

centres  of  Catalonia  and  Biscay. 
The  land  is  still  cultivated  listlessly  and 
on  methods  long  since  obsolete  elsewhere. 
The  area  planted  with  vines  is  about 
3,600,000  acres,  the  produce  of  which,  in 
1905,  was  3,079,925  tons  of  grapes,  yielding 
389,482,116  gallons  of  wine.  The  area 
under  olive  trees  is  about  3,250,000  acres, 
producing  on  an  average  39,500,000  gallons 
of  oil ;  these  two  products,  with  mineral 
ores  and  fruit,  form  the  bulk  of  Spain's 
exports  to  foreign  countries,  England 
being  now  by  far  the  largest  consumer  of 
Spanish  produce,  and  the  largest  supplier 
of  merchandise  to  Spain. 

The  change  that  within  the  last  few  j'ears 
has  brought  Spain  once  more  into  the 
family  of  European  nations  of  the  first  class 
has  also  profoundly  affected  the  social  life 
of  the  capital.  Madrid  has  grown  enor- 
mously both  in  size  and  population,  the 
inhabitants  now  numbering  nearly  600,000, 
and  some  of  the  thoroughfares  and  trading 
establishments  are  as  handsome  as  anj- 
in  Europe.  The  attachment  of  the  present 
king  for  everything  English,  and  the 
natural  influence  of  an  English-born 
queen,  have  greatly  increased  the  adoption 
of  English  manners,  fashions,  sports  and 


SPAIN    IN    OUR    OWN     TIME 


taste  amongst  the  upper  classes,  by 
whom  the  English  language  is  being  studied 
very  widely  ;  whilst  the  large  number  of 
English  visitors  and  the  ever-growing 
relations  between  the  two  countries,  are 
already  to  a  great  extent  leading  Spaniards 
of  the  middle  class  to  adopt  new  standards 
of  comfort,  well-being  and  hygiene. 

The  last  few  years,  moreover,  especially 
since  the  accession  of  Alfonso  XIIL, 
have  seen  a  considerable  diminution  in  the 
social  and  political  power  of  the  clergy, 
and  Spain  can  at  the  present  time  in  no 
sense  be  called  a  priest-ridden  country. 
In  the  great  industrial  centres,  and 
particularly  in  Catalonia  and  Valencia, 
free  thought  in  religion  to  a  great  extent 
accompanies  the  advance  of  political 
Socialism,  and  a  perfect  freedom  of  expres- 
sion on  matters  relating  to  religion  is 
indulged  in. 

The  bulk  of  the  population,  nevertheless, 
in  Castile  and  the  south,  are  faithful  in  their 
observance  of  the  dictates  of  the  Church, 
and  an  unsuccessful  attempt  of  the  Liberal 
Government  in  1907  to  pass  a  measure  for 
regulating  the  monastic  orders  led  to  the 
fall  of  the  Ministry  and  the  accession  of 
the  Conservatives  under  Sefior  Maura 
.  ,  to  power.     The  number  of  re- 

pain  s         ligious  houses  now  existing  in 

Religious         ,1  ,  _  X       T_  ■    1 

_    *  the  country  is  3,253,  of  which 

597  are  tor  men,  and  the  rest  tor 
women,  there  being  still  over  10,000 
monks  and  40,000  nuns  in  the  cloisters. 
The  relations  between  Rome  and  the 
Spanish  Church  are  still  those  settled  by 
the  concordat  of  1851,  and  all  attempts 
to  rearrange  them  in  a  more  hberal  spirit 
have  failed  before  the  strong  Catholic 
feeling  still  prevalent  in  the  country  and 
Parliament.  Similarly,  the  scanty  concession 
granted  to  Protestants  and  other  non- 
Catholic  religious  bodies  after  the  revolu- 
tion of  1868  is  still  the  largest  measure  of 
liberty  granted,  non-orthodox  worship 
being  licit,  but  no  outward  sign  or  an- 
nouncement of  it  being  allowed. 

The  constitution  which  rules  the  country 
is  still  in  substance  that  which  was  adopted 
in  1876,  after  the  restoration  of  Alfonso 
XII.,  with  some  modifications  of  secondary 
importance.  The  main  principle  of  this 
charter  is  contained  in  the  formula  : 
"  The  power  to  make  laws  resides  in  the 
Cortes  and  the  king,"  the  Cortes  consisting 
of  two  co-legislative  bodies  of  equal  power. 
The  popular  Chamber,  or  Congress  of  De- 
puties, consists  at  present  of  406  unpaid 


members,  representing  one  for  every 
50,000  of  the  population  of  the  country, 
the  election  being  by  secondary  vote  of 
boards  elected  on  manhood  suffrage  in 
one-member  districts,  with  the  exception 
of  98  deputies,  who  are  chosen  by  twenty- 
eight  large  districts  where  minorities  are 
represented.  The  Upper  Chamber,  or  Senate, 
How  the  ^°^s^^t^  of  ^80  elected  members, 
Countr  ^^^*^  ^  lesser  but  indefinite  number 
is  Ruled  *^^  nominated  and  ex-offtcio 
members.  Of  the  elected  sena- 
tors, 130  are  chosen  by  49  provinces, 
the  electoral  body  being  co-opted  from 
the  provincial  councillors,  town  councillors, 
and  largest  taxpayers,  whilst  the  remaining 
thirty  elected  senators  are  chosen  by 
Archiepiscopal  Chapters,  universities  and 
chartered  learned  and  philanthropic 
societies. 

The  Senators  nominated  by  the  Crown 
must  fulfil  certain  stringent  conditions 
of  position,  age,  and  annual  income,  whilst 
those  who  sit  by  right  are  grandees  of 
Spain,  possessing  an  income  of  at  least 
60,000  pesetas,  £2,400,  per  annum — 
field-marshals,  archbishops,  sons  of  the 
sovereign,  and  the  presidents  of  the 
Councils  of  State,  Navy,  and  War,  and 
of  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  machinery  of  government  is,  as  will 
be  seen,  democratic,  as  befits  a  nation 
in  which  social  distinction  is  less  marked 
than  in  any  other  in  Europe  ;  but  the 
invariable  corruption  of  the  elections,  and 
the  apathy  of  all  those  who  are  not 
politicians,  place  in  the  hands  of  the 
executive  almost  unrestrained  power. 
That,  as  a  rule,  they  do  not  abuse  it 
greatly  to  the  detriment  of  the  governed 
is  due  mainly  to  the  tolerant  democratic 
spirit  which  pervades  all  classes  of 
Spaniards,  and  so  long  as  the  members  of 
each  political  party  can  in  alternation 
enjoy  the  privileges  and  profits  of  power 
there  is  no  danger  of  any  attempt  at 
oppression  of  the  people  who  pay.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  mass  of  the 
The  Hard  population  go  their  way  with 
Lot  of  the  j.^^jg  x^g^^di  for  poUticians  of 
paniar  s  gj^j^gj.  persuasion,  content  if 
the  powers  that  be  will  improve  the  well- 
being  of  those  whose  hard  lot  it  is  to  live 
for  ever  on  the  brink  of  want,  forming  the 
great  majority  of  the  nation,  ill-housed, 
ill-paid,  ill-fed,  ill-taught,  a  patient,  hope- 
ful and  long-suffering  people,  who  deserve  a 
better  fate  than  misgovern ment  in  the  past 
has  brought  to  them.        Martin  Hume 

5405 


EUROPEAN 
POWERS 
TO-DAY 


B^feOTHi 


X 

PORTUGAL 


PORTUGAL    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 

THE  FATEFUL  RISING  AGAINST  THE  MONARCHY 
By   Martin   Hume,   M.A. 


PORTUGAL  of  to-day  presents  a  typical 
*■  example  of  a  state  wherein,  the  repre- 
sentative institutions  being  in  advance  of 
the  general  standard  of  enlightenment,  a 
comparatively  small  class  of  politicians 
has  been  able,  owing  to  the  apathy  and 
ignorance  of  the  mass  of  the  people,  to 
corrupt  and  stultify  a  governing  machinery 
ostensibly  democratic.  As  happened  in 
Spain,  the  dynastic  rivalry  led  to  the  grant- 
ing of  a  constitution  on  modern  lines  to 
Portugal  in  1836  by  Dom  Pedro  IV., 
who  immediately  afterwards  abdicated  in 
favour  of  his  infant  daughter,  Maria  da 
Gloria,  with  his  Conservative  and  Clerical, 
brother,  Dom  Miguel,  as  regent. 

Such  a  combination  could  offer  no  per- 
manency, and  the  dynastic  struggle  that 
ensued  followed  the  same  course  as  in 
Spain,  the  young  queen  representing  the 
parliamentary  party,  and  Dom  Miguel  the 
reactionaries.  As  a  consequence  of  the 
final  triumph  of  the  former,  the  extremely 
guarded  constitution  of  Dom  Pedro  was 
reformed  on  several  occasions  in  a  demo- 
cratic sense  ;  and,  although  the  royal 
prerogative  was  maintained  in  legislation 
and  administration  to  an  extent  unex- 
ampled in  other  modern  parliamentary 
states,  the  ostensible  form  of  government 
became  in  the  end  essentially  democratic. 

Up  to  the  year  1884  the  House  of  Peers, 
whose    legislative    rights    were    equal    to 
those  of  the  elected  Assembly,  consisted 
entirely  of  nobles  unlimited  in 
n  imi  c      J^^]-llber,  chosen  for  life  by  the 
Power  of  •  1  j^i  ••  • 

th    P  sovereign,  and  this  in  conjunc- 

tion with  the  operative  right  of 
veto  by  the  king  gave  to  the  latter  prac- 
tically uncontrolled  power  over  legislation, 
no  matter  how  democratic  the  Lower  House 
might  be.  The  constitutional  struggle 
has  therefore  turned  for  many  years  past 
upon  the  attempts  of  Democrats  to  reduce 
the  royal  prerogative  over  legislation, 
administration,     and    finance,     the     last 

5406 


subject  being  that  which  appealed  most 
strongly  to  an  overburdened,  poor,  and 
laborious  agricultural  people.  In  the 
course  of  the  struggle  the  sovereign  has, 
of  necessity,  been  brought  into  opposition 
with  the  more  advanced  section  of  his 
subjects  ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  a  very 
powerful  Republican  party  has  been  de- 
veloped,  and  the  relations  be- 
„ .  ^    *  *       t ween  the  Crown  and  the  nation 

mg  om  ^^  large  have  often  become 
strained,  notwithstanding  the 
personal  popularity  and  earnest  good 
intentions  of  the  late  Dom  Carlos  himself. 
The  complete  apathy  of  the  mass  of  the 
population  has  allowed  the  rival  political 
parties  to  alternate  in  office  mainly  for  the 
benefit  of  their  partisans,  and  with  little 
regard  for  the  public  interest  ;  the  late 
king,  Dom  Carlos,  being  made,  with  lack 
of  magnanimity,  the  scapegoat  for  each 
party  in  turn  whilst  it  was  in  opposition. 

His  own  patriotism  and  desire  to  serve 
the  best  interests  of  his  country  were 
unquestionable  ;  but  his  position  became 
intolerable  in  view  of  the  coiTuption  of 
the  administrative  and  electoral  machinery 
by  politicians,  and  the  ungenerous  attitude 
of  each  parliamentary  opposition  towards 
him.  He  had  abstained  from  exercising 
to  the  full  the  powerful  prerogatives  he 
possessed  under  the  constitution,  and 
interfered  as  little  as  possible  with  the 
acts  of  his  administrators. 

He  had  acquiesced  in  the  considerable 
extensions  of  the  suffrage,  and  in  the 
strict  limitation,  and  provisions  for  the 
eventual  extinction  of,  hereditary  legisla- 
tive peerages  ;  but,  unlike  other  constitu- 
tional sovereigns,  he  found  the  political 
parties  unwilling  to  present  a  bulwark 
between  him  and  the  popular  discontent 
aroused  by  oppressive  taxation  and  ad- 
ministrative corruption,  for  which  he  was 
not  responsible.  Upon  the  king,  most  un- 
justly, was  cast  the  onus  of  unpopularity 


PORTUGAL    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


caused  by  the  inevitable  submission,  of 
Portugal  to  the  British  ultimatum  with 
regard  to  the  encroachments  in  East  Africa 
in  1890.  The  accusation,  was  levelled 
against  him  that  he  had  allowed  his  Anglo- 
phil tendencies  to  override  the  interests  of 
his  own  country  ;  and  when,  as  a  sequel  to 
this  agitation,  a  dangerous  Republican 
revolt  was  suppressed  in  Oporto  early  in 
1891,  the  king  was  again  held  personally 
responsible  for  the  repressive  measures 
that  followed,  and  for  the  delay  in  granting 
an  amnesty  to  the  revolutionaries. 

The  main  source  of  discontent  has 
always  been  financial.  Portugal,  being 
in  the  main  agricultural,  is  a  poor  country, 
and  past  mal-administration  and  present- 
day  jobbery  have  burdened  the  people 
with  a  taxation  out  of  proportion  to  their 
means.  It  was  found  that  however  great 
were  the  promises  made  by  politicians  in 
opposition,  no  relief  to  the  taxpayer  was 
afforded  by  either  party  when  in  power. 
In  this  respect,  too,  the  king  was  made 
the  scapegoat.  The  whole  administration 
was  wasteful  and  corrupt  ;  but  upon  the 
expenditure  for  the  royal  estab- 
lishment most  of  the  criticism 


The  Royal 

Family 

Criticised 


was  directed.  The  Civil  List 
amounted  to  about  £112,000 
per  annum,  and  although  this  was  com- 
paratively modest  for  a  nation  whose 
annual  revenue  was  some  £13,000,000,  it 
formed  the  basis  for  constant  attacks  upon 
the  sovereign  and  his  family,  who  found 
it  quite  insufficient  for  their  needs,  and 
the  king  had  consequently  incurred  heavy 
indebtedness  to  the  State. 

The  position  had  thus  become  intolerable. 
The  elective  Chamber  of  Parliament  was 
unblushingly  manipulated  by  both  parties 
in  succession,  and  was  representative  only 
in  name,  notwithstanding  the  existence  of 
universal  manhood  suffrage  limited  only  by 
the  ability  to  read  and  write.  The  public 
offices  were  crowded  by  idle  parasites  of 
politicians,  and  the  pension  list  was  full 
of  scandalous  abuses.  In  these  circum- 
stances a  coup  d'etat  was  effected  by  the 
Prime  Minister,  Senhor  Joao  Franco  at 
the  end  of  1906,  with  the  co-operation  of 
the  king.  Representative  institutions  were 
suspended,  and  the  king  and  his  dictator 
declared  that  until  an  uncorrupted  and  in- 
dependent parliament  could  be  summoned 
they  would  govern  Portugal  by  royal  decree. 
The  bold  step  naturally  aroused  the 
violent  opposition  and  protest  of  all  classes 
of    politicians,    thus    deprived    of    their 


unholy  gains.  Protest  was  met  by  prosecu- 
tion and  further  measures  of  repression, 
and  the  country  was  deprived  of  all  pre- 
tence of  representative  government,  both 
in  national  and  local  affairs.  The  avowed 
policy  of  Senhor  Franco  and  the  king  was 
to  purify  the  administration  and  establish 
economy  of  the  national  resources,  and 
j^.^  .  the  new  broom  swept  with  de- 
Debt  t*o  vastating  effect  into  the  dark 
the  State  corners  of  the  government  ser- 
vice.  Unfortunately,  the  mam- 
tenance  of  such  an  open  violation  of 
national  rights  and  traditions,  however 
salutary  this  might  be,  entailed  the  keeping 
of  the  armed  forces  in  a  good  humour,  and 
money  that  was  saved  in  one  direction  was 
squandered  in  another. 

The  Civil  List,  whilst  ruthlessly  reduced 
in  some  of  its  items,  was  increased  in  the 
aggregate  to  some  £137,000,  and  the 
indebtedness  of  the  king  to  the  State,  a 
sum  of  £154,000,  was  extinguished  by  a 
piece  of  financial  jugglery  which  reflected 
little  credit  upon  either  the  sovereign  or 
the  Minister.  The  great  mass  of  the  people 
had  long  since  lost  faith  in  the  efficacy  of 
political  action  to  redress  the  evils  of 
poverty  and  backwardness  under  which 
they  suffered  ;  the  king  personally  was 
genial,  kindly,. and  popular,  and,  although 
politicians  of  all  shades  denounced  the 
dictatorship  in  unmeasured  terms,  the 
country  at  large  went  on  its  laborious  way 
without  audible  or  visible  protest  against 
the  deprivation  of  its  liberties — ^liberties 
which  they  recognised  had  not  to  any 
extent  remedied  the  hard  conditions  undei 
which  the  majority  of  the  people  lived. 

Attempts  were  made  by  the  regular 
dynastic  parliamentary  parties  to  use  for 
their  ends  the  heir  apparent,  an  amiable 
young  prince,  called  after  his  great  grand- 
father, the  King  of  the  French,  Luis  Philip, 
and  in  his  name  to  form  a  parliamentary 
cabal  against  King  Carlos.  The  queen, 
also,  a  gifted  and  popular  lady  of  singu- 
larly noble  character,  was 
Intrigues  ^^derstood  to  be  opposed  to 
^^*tj^*  the  dictatorship,  which  she  con- 
the  King  g^^gj.g(j  endangered  the  stability 
of  the  throne  and  the  life  of  her  husband. 
The  young  Crown  Prince  Luis  Philip  was 
removed  for  a  time  from  the  intrigues  of 
the  constitutional  parties  by  sending 
him  upon  an  extensive  tour  of  the  Portu- 
guese African  colonies,  and  after  his 
return  to  Portugal  he  stood  aloof  from  all 
attempts  to  estrange  him  from  his  father. 

5^07 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


Thus  mattere  stood  in  January,  1908, 
when  the  royal  family  passed  a  few  weeks 
at  the  ancient  Braganza  possession  of 
Villa  Vi9osa,  in  the  Alem-Tejo,  east  of 
Lisbon.  In  their  absence  from  the  capital 
the  opposition  to  the  dictatorship  became 
more  pronounced  and  active,  especially 
amongst  the  Republican  party,  always 
ready  to  profit  by  the  dissensions  amongst 
the  dynastic  groups.  The  Press  organs  of 
Senhor  Franco,  the  dictator,  announced 
that  a  widespread-  republican  conspiracy 
had  been  discovered,  and  a  great  number 
of  arrests  of  political  opponents  of  the 
dictatorship  were  effected  as  a  precau- 
tionary measure  on  the  eve  of  the  king's 
return  to  Lisbon,  whilst  on  the  day  pre- 
vious to  his  expected  arrival,  January  31st, 
1908,  a  decree  was  published  suspending 
the  personal  guarantees,  and  declaring 
the  right  of  the  Government  to  imprison 
or  expel  citizens  without  form  of  law. 

The  state  of  affairs  was  known  to  be 
critical  on  the  day  fixed  for  the  arrival  of 
the  royal  family  in  Lisbon,  February  ist, 
1908,  but  Senhor  Franco  was  confident 
of  being  able  to  preserve  order,  as  the  army 
and  police  were  known  to  be  faithful,  and 
the  great  mass  of  the   population  were 


apathetic,  knowing,  as  they  did,  that  the 
king  meant  well  by  the  nation,  and  that  the 
evils  that  he  and  Senhor  Franco  were 
endeavouring  to  remedy  by  unconstitu- 
tional means  were  real  and  great. 

It  was  in  the  waning  light  of  early 
evening  when  the  king  and  queen,  with 
their  two  sons,  Luis  Philip  and  Manuel, 
landed  at  the  quay  on  the  Pra^a  de  Com- 
mercio  at  Lisbon  from  the  railway  station 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Tagus  ;  and  in  an 
open  carriage  they    traversed  the    great 

.  .     ,.      square  at  a  foot  pace  between 

Assassination   ^i        i-  i  j.x   ^  1 

-  „.  the   fines    of   respectful    and 

mg  an      iQy^]    people    assembled    to 
Crown  Prince      "     .    .F      ^      t-u  r  iu 

greet  them.      Ihe  way  of  the 

cortegetowards  the  Necessidades  Palace  on 

the  face  of  the  hills  overlooking  the  river  lay 

by  the  Street  of  the  Arsenal,  a  somewhat 

narrow  thoroughfare  turning  sharply  out 

of  the  end  of  the  Pra9a  de  Commercio 

towards  the  left.    Just  as  the  horses  of  the 

king's  carriage  were  about  to  take  the  turn, 

a  signal  shot  was  discharged  in  the  crowd, 

and  there  leapt  from  behind  the  pillars  of 

the  arcade  that  forms  the  footway  several 

assassins,    who    precipitated    themselves 

upon   the   royal  family.      One  miscreant, 

mounting  the  back  of  the  carriage,  shot 


HH 

M. 

■'   ■■'^■■■~    —-^  ' 

Vl 

■ 

■H 

1' 

^9 

1 

HIP 

''"' 

a 

1 

! 

^ 

-    ^i 

>    . 

&&  # 

i 

L  .'^    '^ 


THE  ASSASSINATION  OF  PORTUGAL'S  KING,  DOM  CARLOS,  IN  THE  STREETS  OF  LISBON 
The  dastardly  act  pictured  in  this  illustration  occurred  on  February  1st,  1908,  when  the  king  was  driving-  through  the 
streets  of  his  capital  to  the  royal  palace  of  the  Necessidades.  Seated  in  the  carriage  with  the  king  were  the  queen,  the 
Crown  Prince,  and  Prince  Manuel,  now  king,  and  when  the  fatal  attack  was  made  Queen  Amelie  heroically  threw  herself 
in  front  of  her  sons.    But  her  brave  act  was  too  late,  as  both  the  king  and  the  Crown  Prince  had  received  fatal  wounds. 

5408 


The  late  Crown  Prince 


Dom  Callus 


The  present  King 


DOM    CARLOS,    THE    LATE    KING    OF    PORTUGAL,    AND    HIS    TWO    SONS 


the  king  in  the  neck,  whilst  another  shot, 
which  was  mortal,  struck  him  in  the  spine, 
and  Dom  Carlos  sank  bathed  in  blood  upon 
the  floor  of  the  vehicle.  The  queen,  stand- 
ing and  striking  at  the  murderers,  sought 
to  protect  her  husband  and  elder  son  at 
the  risk  of  her  own  life,  and,  although  the 
target  of  many  bullets,  she  miraculously 
escaped.  The  heir-apparent,  a  youth  of 
twenty-one,  was  mortally  wounded  by  two 
shots,  and  died  within  a  few  minutes  when 
the  carriage  had  been  driven  for  shelter 
into  the  gates  of  the  arsenal  near  by.  A 
cry  of  horror  and  grief  went 
*^,°  *  up  at  this  unparalleled  crime, 
.  "*^  ^ .  and  the  murderers,  or  such  of 
them  as  could  be  identified, 
were  cut  to  pieces  by  the  police  and  the 
onlookers.  The  dynastic  opposition 
paities,  which  had  led  the  protest  against 
the  dictatorship  of  Franco,  were  as  much 
dismayed  as  his  friends  at  the  turn  of 
affairs,  since  the  agitation  which  they 
had  stirred  up  had  thus  gone  far  beyond 
their  calculations  or  desires,  and  the}^  at 
once  rallied  unanimously  to  the  throne, 
now  to  be  occupied  by  Prince  Manuel,  the 
younger  son  of  the  murdered  king. 

The  Republican  party,  the  extreme 
members  of  which  were  generally  accused 
of  the  regicide,  found  no  public  support 
to  the  crime.     The  populace,  struck  with 


detestation  of  so  dastardly  an  act,  were  deaf 
to  all  appeals  to  them  to  rise  against  the 
new  king,  a  young  sailor  lad  of  eighteen, 
whose  unaffected  geniality  had  already 
made  him  popular  ;  and  the  expression 
common  in  Lisbon  the  day  after  the  crime 
voiced  a  general  sentiment  when  it  said 
that  the  shots  that  had  killed  Dom  Carlos 
had  killed  the  republic,  too. 

A  coalition  Cabinet,  chosen  from  mode- 
rate men  of  all  parties,  was  formed. 
Franco  for  a  single  day  only  endeavoured 
to  stand  firm  by  the  aid  of  the  armed 
forces  he  had  conciliated  ;  but,  finding 
now  everyone  against  him,  he  incontinently 
fled  into  hiding,  and  eventually  to  foreign 
lands  ;  whilst  the  Government  that  re- 
placed him  abrogated  most  of  the  decrees 
of  his  dictatorship,  and  provided  for  a 
prompt  return  to  a  constitutional  govern- 
ment. Time  alone  will  show  whether  the 
spirited  but  rash  attempt  of  the  lamented 
Dom  Carlos  and  his  Minister  to  remedy 
by  unconstitutional  means  a  great  con- 
stitutional evil  will  bear  fruit,  notwith- 
standing the  terrible  crime  that  cut  short 
the  experiment. 

Portugal  can  hardly,  after  what  has 
passed,  revert  entirely  to  the  bad  old 
system  of  party  alternation  of  political 
plunder ;  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that, 
as    in     the     case     of    Spain,    no     great 

5409 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


and  permanent  improvement  can  be 
expected  by  legislative  action  alone.  In 
each  case  the  statute  books  contain  most  of 
the  enactments  needed  for  the  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  a  progressive  state. 

It    is    not    the   laws    that    are  in  fault 

so  much  as   the  general  lack  of  a  sense 

of  responsible  citizenship  and  the  lament- 

able   prevalence     of    illiteracy 

Portuga  s     ^|-,i(>]^  render  possible  a  lax  ad- 


Ample 
Resources 


ministration  and  corrupt  eva- 
sion of  laws  of  themselves  good 
and  sufficient.  Portugal,  though  naturally 
a  poor  country,  has  nevertheless  ample 
resources  to  ensure  the  comfort  and  pros- 
perity of  its  citizens,  if  the  government 
were  economical  and  honest.  The  people, 
especially  in  the  north,  where  the  land  is 
mostly  held  by  peasant  proprietors,  live 
hardly,  it  is  true,  but  not  miserably. 
They  are  laborious,  frugal,  honest  and 
sober,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  when  the 
present  proportion  of  complete  illiterates 
— 78  per  cent,  of  the  population,  notwith- 
standing so-called  compulsory  education 
— is  reduced,  as  it  might  be  consider- 
ably, no  peasants  in  Europe  will  have 
more  of  the  elements  of  happiness  at  their 
command  than  the  Portuguese. 

The  revenue  of  the  country  has  steadily 
increased  from  ;f7,ooo,ooo  per  annum  in 
1889  to  £14,000,000  in  1907  ;  but  the 
wasteful  finarice  and  political  corruption 
cause  the  expenditure  to  exceed  the 
revenue  in  each  recurring  year.  The 
funded  debt  has  also  grown  with  depressing 
regularity  from  ;^i48,ooo,ooo  sterling  in 
1896  to  ^160,000,000  in  1905  ;  and  after 
a  declared  suspension  of  the  payment  of 
interest  in  1892,  an  arrangement  was 
arrived  at  with  the  Council  of  Foreign 
Bondholders  in  London  by  which  the 
service  of  the  debt  is  now  managed 
by  a  council  sitting  in  Lisbon,  to  whom 
special  funds  are  allocated  to  cover 
the  three  per  cent,  at  present  paid.  The 
political  constitution  of  the  State  consists 

_  ,.,.    .        of  the  sovereign,    whose   veto 
Political  1      •  1    J.-  i  J.      ■ 

r.      ^.,  ,.      upon  legislative  enactments  is 

Constitution  r    ,.  .  •  -r  ^-  \. 

r*i.    c»  *     lully    operative    if    notice    be 
of  the  State      .     -         ^       1  .       i     1     ,r         -,1  • 
given    on    his    behalf    within 

thirty  days  of  the  submission  of  a  Bill, 

of  a  House  of  Peers  consisting  of  a  strictly 

limited  number  of  nominated  peers  alone, 

with    a    few    hereditary    survivals,    the 

elective  element  having  been  eliminated, 

and   a   Congress   of   Deputies   elected   on 

practical!}^    universal    manhood    literate 

suffrage.      The  deputies  are  unpaid,   but 

5410 


are  disqualified  unless  they  possess  a 
small  minimum  private  income.  The 
country,  which  covers  an  area  on  the 
continent  of  90,000  square  kilometres 
— 34,254  square  miles — with  a  growing 
population  of  nearly  5,500,000,  is  divided 
for  local  government  purposes  into  twenty- 
one  districts,  of  which  seventeen  are  in 
Portugal  proper  and  three  in  the  islands. 
These  are  subdivided  into  306  arrondisse- 
ments,  and  again  into  3,961  parishes.  A 
governor  appointed  by  the  Ministry  presides 
over  each  district ;  the  arrondissements 
being  also  presided  over  by  an  administrator 
appointed  by  the  central  government, 
aided  in  each  case  by  elected  councils. 

Both  in  national  and  local  administra- 
tion the  principal  evil  is  the  multiplicity 
of  underpaid  and  often  corrupt  officials 
appointed  in  turn  by  rival  political 
parties  ;  and  the  lower  ranks  of  the 
judiciary  are  similarly  afflicted,  there 
being  no  less  than  142  juizes  de  dereito, 
civil  magistrates,  besides  the  judges  of 
the  high  courts  and  court  of  appeal,  in 
Tu    VI    •     .    additionto  809  elected  justices 

Wealth  iT  ^  °^  ^^^  P^'''^^'  ^^""^  bringing 
.  ^t  *"  up  the  number  of  judicial 
gncu  ure  authorities  to  nearly  a  thou- 
sand for  a  population  not  much  larger 
than  that  of  London. 

Possessing  a  climate  unsurpassed  in 
Europe  for  beauty  and  salubrity,  and  a 
soil  in  many  districts  of  great  richness, 
the  future  wealth  of  the  country  must 
depend  principally  upon  agriculture.  The 
methods  of  cultivation  are  still  almost  as 
primitive  as  in  the  times  of  the  Romans, 
especially  in  the  south,  which  is  more 
backward  than  the  north  in  all  respects  ; 
and  the  great  need  of  the  population  is 
that  the  national  resources,  instead  of 
being  squandered,  as  at  present,  upon 
unnecessary  armaments  and  useless  func- 
tionaries, should  be  employed  in  promot- 
ing national  education,  improving  means 
of  communication,  and  lifting  the  burdens 
from  industries  now   sorely  oppressed. 

Of  purely  intellectual  movement  there 
is  little  of  native  Portuguese  origin  since 
the  death  of  Herculano  the  historian  and 
Almeida  Garrett  the  poet.  The  novels 
of  Ega  de  Queiros,  which  promised  much, 
have  unfortunately  ceased  with  his  prema- 
ture death,  and  beyond  a  few  historical 
and  sociological  studies  there  is  now  little 
produced  by  the  Portuguese  presses  but 
translations  of  foreign  works. 

M.\RTiN  Hume 


EUROPEAN 
POWERS 
TO-DAY 


XI 
SCANDINA- 
VIAN 
STATES 


THE     SCANDINAVIAN     STATES     IN 
OUR    OWN    TIME 

LIFE   IN   NORWAY,    SWEDEN   AND  DENMARK 
By  William  Durban,  B.A. 


(~\P  the  three  Scandinavian  territories, 
^^  it  seems  natural  first  to  speak  of  Nor- 
way. No  country  is  regarded  with  greater 
pride  by  its  people  than  the  glorious  Norse 
Land,  on  which,  to  describe  its  various 
attractions,  a  great  variety  of  epithets 
has  been  bestowed.  It  is  fondly  styled  by 
its  loving  sons  "  Gamle  Norge "  (Old 
Norway),  for  its  civilisations  claim  a 
mighty  antiquity.  It  is  the  "  Land  of  the 
Midnight  Sun,"  the  "  Land  of  the  Vikings," 
the  "  Land  of  Fosses,"  or  stupendous 
cascades  in  immense  number,  and  the 
"  Land  of  Eternal  Snow."  It  presents  with 
its  wonderful  fjords  the  most  magnificent 
coast  scenery  in  the  world,  and  its  moun- 
tains in  imposing  splendour  approach  the 
Swiss  Alps  themselves  ;  while  its  glaciers 
know  no  rival,  except  in  Alaska. 

Its  lakes  are  countless,  and  the  sportsman 
finds  it  a  veritable  paradise  with  its  salmon 
rivers,  its  elk,  wild  reindeer,  lynxes,  bears, 
wolves,  foxes,  grouse,  and  ptarmigan. 
"  Beautiful  everywhere  !  "  is  the  frequent 
exclamation  of  enchanted  visitors.  Roman- 
tic "  dalen,"  or  valleys,  pine-clad  moun- 
tain slopes,  and  immense  juniper-covered 
plateaux,  like  the  wild  Dovre  Fjeld,  are 
elements  of  indescribable  beauty  in  the 
whole  landscape  right  up  to  the  North 
Cape.  The  grandeur  of  aspect  of 
the  Lofoten  Isles  cannot  be  surpassed. 
The  gigantic  falls — the  Voringfoss,  the 
Rjukanfoss,  the  Skejgedalfoss,  the  Vettis- 
foss,      etc. — are      tremendous 


Natural  ,  .     i         •         r 

„    ,  ,  torrents  leapmg  from  immense 

Features  of  r      o  ... 

Norway 


heights  into  the  grand  fjords, 
and  some  of  these  sublime 
gorges  run  up  into  the  interior  between 
the  mountain  precipices  to  distances  of 
from  200  to  300  miles,  carrying  Atlantic 
tides  right  into  the  far  centre  of  the  land. 
The  beautiful  Hardanger,  the  grand  and 
gloomy  Geiranger,  the  sublime  Sor,  and 


the  romantic  Nord  fjords  are  amongst  the 
most  marvellous  of  these  inlets  on  the  coast. 
It  is  impossible  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  Norwegian  people  without  learn- 
ing to  admire  and  even  to  love  them. 
They  are  to-day,  as  they  have  ever  been, 
.   _  simple     and     unsophisticated, 

of  Secured  dinging  with  passionate  fidelity 
y.jj  and   attachment  to  the  primi- 

tive customs  of  Viking  ages, 
are  given  to  delightful  hospitahty,  are 
indefatigably  diligent,  and  are  charmingly 
courteous,  with  a  natural  refinement. 
They  are  not  "  degenerate  Vikings  of 
to-day,"  as  some  have  attempted  to 
characterise  them.  There  are  hardly  half 
as  many  people  in  all  Norway,  with  its 
vast  area  of  124,000  square  miles,  as  in 
London  alone,  and  of  its  population  of 
2,240,000  only  about  350,000  dwell  in 
towns ;  so  that  the  country  is  mainly  one 
of  scattered  villages,  dotted  along  the  feet 
of  the  fjords,  or  on  the  lonely  wilderness 
jelds,  or  in  the  clearings  of  the  immense 
forests. 

Norway  has  only  740  square  miles  of 
ploughed  land,  so  that  the  actual  agricul- 
ture is  comparatively  insignificant.  But 
immense  quantities  of  valuable  hay  are 
cropped  during  the  brief,  hot  summer  on 
the  great  "  saeters,"  or  meadow  farms 
on  the  broad  slopes.  The  Norwegian 
landscape  is  of  two  varieties — slopes  and 
precipices,  and  most  ingeniously  the  people 
adapt  their  pursuits  to  natural  conditions. 
The  greatest  of  all  industries  is,  as  might 
be  supposed,  fishing  ;  for  Norway  has  a 
coast  of  3,000  miles,  and  the  fishermen  are 
perhaps  the  sturdiest  on  earth. 

But  the  backbone  of  the  population  is 
bucolic,  consisting  of  the  splendid  rustics 
known  as  the  "  Bonder,"  or  peasant 
farmers.  Domesticity  and  social  life  in 
this  wildest  north  are  delightful,  and  the 

5411 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


people  are  as  happy  as  any  in  the  world. 
The  nights  of  the  very  protracted  winter 
are  spent  in  study,  in  courtship  by  the 
young  folk,  in  wood  carving,  in  tending  the 
sheltered  cattle,  in  hunting  game,  in 
visiting,  in  sledging,  and  in  the  glorious 
sports  of  racing  on  snow-shoes  and  of  ski- 
jumping,  in  which  recreation  the  athletic 
V,  ,       young  Norsemen  are  the  finest 

Norway  s       -^  °  .    ,  •  ^.^  . 

I  »  11    I    1  experts  existmg.    Many  a  fear- 
intellectual  ,    ^  ,  »..-',.        1 
ct     ,     ,      less  leap  on    skis   is   achieved 
dtandard        ,               i     •    i  ,      r  r      ,       t-i 
from  a  height  of  150  feet.     1  he 

social  life  of  the  people  intimately  mingles 
with  their  fervent  religious  cult.  As  in 
all  Scandinavia,  the  national  Church  is 
Lutheran,  and  the  quaint  and  pretty 
wooden  churches  are  always  filled,  the 
country  sanctuaries  on  Sundays  along  the 
Hardanger  and  other  fjords  presenting  a 
singular  spectacle,  for  the  costumes  are 
truly  picturesque.  There  are  compara- 
tively few  dissenters  ;  and  though  theo- 
logical controversies  are  of  course  not 
unknown,  they  are  not  acute. 

The  intellectualism  of  Norway  stands 
high.  Indeed,  the  people  proudly  claim  that 
in  proportion  to  the  population  they  have 
in  our  time  produced  more  geniuses  than 
has  any  other  nation.  The  names  of  Grieg, 
Nansen,  Ibsen,  Bjornson  certainly  suggest 
influences  that  have  of  late  years  potently 
affected  the  thought  of  the  world  in  poetry, 
music,  and  geographical  research.  Ele- 
mentary education  is  universal  in  Norway. 

The  political  conditions  in  Norway  are 
altogether  unique,  and  have,  since  the  dawn 
of  the  twentieth  century,  been  cast  by  an 
abrupt  and  startling  revolution  into  a 
shape  which  has  marvellously  materialised 
the  democratic  aspirations  of  the  people. 
Since  the  union  with  Sweden  never 
really  satisfied  the  patriotic  sentiments 
of  the  Norwegians,  a  constant  agitation 
was  sustained  for  separation.  The  disso- 
lution took  place  by  decree  of  the  Stor- 
ting at  Christiania  on  June  7th,  1905. 
The  overt  cause  of  the  rupture  was  a  pro- 

_  ,.  tracted  dispute  between  the 
aeparation     ,  .■  j.     i.i     •     r 

f  N  nations  as  to  their  foreign 

d  s'^d^  diplomatic  representation.  The 
late  King  Oscar  of  Sweden 
refused  to  entertain  the  offer  of  the  Nor- 
wegian crown  to  one  of  his  own  family, 
but  the  details  for  the  repeal  of  the  Union 
were  amicably  settled  by  the  Karlsbad 
Convention.  A  plebiscite  was  held,  after 
which  the  crown  was  offered  to  Prince 
Charles  of  Denmark,  who  accepted  it 
under  the  title  of  Haakon  VII.,  thus  greatly 

5412 


gratifying  the  national  sentiment  of  his 
adopted  subjects  by  honouring  the  vener- 
able Norse  traditions.  On  July  22nd,  1896, 
he  had  married  Princess  Maud"  Alexandra, 
daughter  of  King  Edward  VII.,  so  that 
the  British  and  Norwegian  royal  houses 
are  closely  alUed.  The  heir  to  the  throne 
is  Prince  Alexander,  born  July  2nd,  1903, 
whose  name  was,  on  his  father's  accession, 
changed  to  Olaf. 

It  was  a  remarkable  fact  that  though 
Nansen  and  Bjornson  are  Republicans  in 
principle,  as  all  the  nation  well  understood, 
they  exerted  a  leading  influence,  through 
their  speeches  and  letters  durin.g  the 
separation  and  plebiscite  campaigns,  in 
favour  of  a  King  of  Norway.  Norway  being 
a  land  of  peasants,  the  town  life  is  not  so 
interesting  as  that  of  the  country.  Chris- 
tiania is  a  quiet  and  even  dull  metropolis, 
but  it  is  beautifully  built,  stands  at  the 
head  of  its  own  lovely  fjord,  and  is  the 
centre  of  intellectual  culture,  being  the 
seat  of  a  great  university.  By  far  the  most 
important  town  is  Bergen,  which  is  also 
the  prettiest,  a  rare  thing  foi  a  busy 
commercial  city.  And  Trondhjem,  the 
ancient  historic  capital,  is  attrac- 

c     rin      tive  with  its  curious  quaintness. 
Trade  ^ 


in  Norway 


Deeply  interesting  is  the  opera- 


tion of  the  famous  Norwegian 
company  system  for  controlling  the  liquor 
traffic,  which  is  very  similar  to  the  Gothen- 
burg system  in  Sweden.  Licences  for  the 
sale  of  ardent  spirits  are  entrusted  to  a 
company  formed,  not  for  profit,  but  for 
the  benefit  of  the  citizens.  The  latest 
legislation  on  the  principle  of  local  option 
gives  all  men  and  women  over  twenty- 
five  years  of  age  the  right  to  vote  for  the 
exclusion  of  retail  bar  traffic  in  spirits 
from  the  community  in  which  they  reside. 
The  profits  of  the  companies,  after  the 
shareholders  have  received  five  per  cent, 
dividend,  are  distributed  amongst  objects 
of  public  utility,  such  as  planting  parks, 
sanitary  improvement,  industrial  educa- 
tion, waterworks,  sewers,  libraries,  theatres 
and  other  amusements,  charities,  and  re- 
ligious institutions.  High  duties  are  im- 
posed on  the  high-grade  liquors  imported, 
and  it  has  become  ver^^  diflicult  for  foreign 
distillers  to  sell  theii  commodities.  For- 
merly, in  Norway  and  Sweden,  all  owners 
of  the  soil  had  liberty  to  brew  and  distil, 
and  the  result  was  that  these  countries 
had  a  per  capita  rate  of  consumption  of 
spirits  higher  than  that  of  any  other  nation. 
Sweden,   with   its   173,000  square   miles, 


THE    SCANDINAVIAN    STATES    IN    OUR    OWN  .TIME 


and  a  population  of  nearly  5,500,000,  is 
absolutely  unique  in  its  scenery  and  in  the 
manners  and  customs  of  its  inhabitants. 
The  beautiful  Gota  Canal,  a  marvel  of 
engineering  ;  the  romantic  lakes,  of  which 
Wener  and  Wetter  are  fine  inland  seas 
with  noble  spruce-clad  islands  ;  the  mag- 
nificent forests  ;  the  glorious  Trollhattan 
Falls  ;  the  entrancing  summer  landscapes ; 
the  grand  mountains  of  Norrland — the  great 
Arctic  section — with  its  noble  rivers  ;  the 
sweet  pasture-lands  of  Svealand,  the 
middle  region  ;  and  the  romantic  seaboard 
of  Gotaland,  the  old  southern  territory  of 
the  Goths,  form  factors  in  the  make-up  of 
one  of  Europe's  most  interesting  lands. 

No  nation  is  prouder  of  its  metropolis 
than  the  Swedes  have  reason  to  be,  for 
Nature  has  given  them  an  incomparable 
site  on  which  they  have  erected  a  superb 
city.  Stockholm  reigns  easily  without  a 
rival  as  Queen  of  the  Northland.  Rising 
gently  from  the  many  islands  of  the  little 
archipelago  between  Lake  Maelar  and  the 
sea,  this  city  has  been  styled  the  Venice 
of  the  North,  but  is,  with  its  303,000 
inhabitants,  palpitating  with  that  modern 
g       .    .  life  which   fails  to  touch  the 

f\  r  It    city  of  the  Doges.     Gothen- 

Queen  of  the  ,     -^  .    ,  ,11         1 

Northland  b^""g'  intersected  by  huge 
canals  and  domg  a  fine  trade, 
reminds  the  visitor  of  a  Dutch  port,  except- 
ing that  its  quays  are  boulevarded  with 
trees.  With  her  immense  forests  Sweden 
is  the  greatest  timber  exporting  country  in 
the  world.  Having  nearly  fifty  million  acres 
of  forest  area,  covering  close  on  half  of  the 
land,  she  can  and  does  contribute  enor- 
mously to  the  needs  of  other  nations  in 
this  respect.  But  the  most  valuable  re- 
cent development  is  the  manufacture  of 
paper  from  wood  pulp.  A  great  factory, 
worked  by  the  lovely  Trollhattan  Falls, 
makes  paper  from  pulp.  The  other  chief 
export  is  the  famous  Swedish  iron.  Most 
of  the  estates  consist  half  of  forest  land, 
and  saw-mills  are  ever  at  work  in  every 
section  of  the  country.  Through  these 
grand  woodlands  of  oak,  pine,  beech,  and 
birch  run  fine  rivers,  which  are  one  secret 
of  the  activity  of  the  lumber  trade,  for 
they  facilitate  the  floating  in  summer 
of  the  timber  felled  in  the  winter. 

The  Swedes  are  fortunate  in  inhabiting 
the  healthiest  country  on  earth,  the  death- 
rate  being  only  i6"4g  per  1,000,  the 
lowest  in  the  whole  world,  and  longevity 
is  a  national  characteristic.  Sanitation  is 
assiduously  attended  to  by  the  municipali- 


ties under  central  government  super- 
vision, and  the  salubrious  climate  and 
absence  of  overcrowding  contribute  greatly 
to  the  felicitous  condition  of  the  national 
health.  The  habits  of  the  people,  especi- 
ally during  the  last  and  present  genera- 
tions, are  exceedingly  conducive  to  the 
conservation  of  their  physique.  The  old 
Sweden's  ^"^  disgraceful  inebriety  has 
Advanced  ^^^"  Successfully  fought  by  the 
Culture  famous  "  Bolag "  control  of 
the  drink  traffic,  known  as  the 
"  Gothenburg  System,"  already  alluded 
to  in  the  reference  to  the  modification 
adopted  in  Norway.  The  people  are 
intensely  attached  to  their  Lutheran 
National  Church,  in  which  nearly  all  the 
clergy  are  university  graduates,  their 
minimum  collegiate  course  being  five 
years.  The  elective  system  regulates 
the  appointment  of  the  prelates,  for 
the  clergy  choose  the  bishops.  Under 
the  late  King  Oscar  IL,  who  died 
on  December  8th,  1907,  Swedish  royalty 
was  identified  with  the  most  accomplished 
culture,  for  that  beloved  monarch  was  one 
of  the  most  scholarly  of  kings. 

King  Gustavus  V.  married  Princess 
Victoria  of  Baden,  a  first  cousin  of  the 
German  Kaiser.  The  union  was  very 
popular,  because  she  is  a  descendant  of 
the  old  and  revered  family  of  Vasa.  In 
June,  1905,  the  king's  eldest  son,  Prince 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  married  Princess  Mar- 
garet of  Connaught.  There  are  two  other 
sons,  one  of  whom.  Prince  William,  married 
the  Tsar's  cousin,  the  Grand  Duchess 
Marie,  in  May,  1908.  Sweden  and  Denmark 
took  a  very  prominent  part  in  arranging 
with  Russia  and  Germany  the  momentous 
Baltic  and  North  Sea  agreements  for  the 
preservation  of  the  status  quo  in  the 
Baltic,  Britain  and  the  Netherlands  also 
sending  delegates  to  the  convention  at 
St.  Petersburg.  The  Baltic  Agreement 
was  signed  at  the  Russian  capital  on 
April  23rd,  1908,  and  a  parallel  North  Sea 
Agreement  afterwards  at  Ber- 
f  th  ^^"-     '^^^   documents  declared 

°  t^.  that  the  nations  concerned 
aea  Kings  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^  resolved  to  pre- 
serve intact  the  respective  rights  of  those 
countries  over  their  continental  and  insular 
possessions  in  the  regions  in  question. 

Denmark,  so  often  called  by  foreigners 
who  have  learned  to  love  the  country  and 
its  people  "  dear  little  Denmark,"  has 
special  interest  for  England,  because  of  the 
close    affinity  of   the   people    of  the   two 

5413 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF     THE    WORLD 


countries  and  the  intimate  alliance  of  their 
royal  families.  A  celebrated  letter  written 
by  Lord  Nelson  is  enshrined  in  the 
archives  of  the  Foreign  Office  at  Copen- 
hagen. This  missive  is  addressed  to  "  The 
Brothers  of  Englishmen,  the  Danes." 
Naturally,  the  "  Land  of  the  Sea  Kings  " 
must  appeal  to  Anglo-Saxon  hearts.  Pro- 
verbially the  little  nations  are 
the    happiest,    and    Denmark, 


Denmark 
Rich  and 
Contented 


one  of  the  smallest,  is  one  of 
the  happiest  of  all.  Though 
she  has  been  shorn  of  much  of  her  out- 
lying territory,  she  has  never  lost  her 
integrity,  never  having  known  subjuga- 
tion, and  so  high  a  place  does  she  hold  in 
the  esteem  of  other  nationahties,  that  the 
representatives  of  mighty  dynasties  have 
been  proud  to  enter  into  matrimonial 
union  with  the  Danish  royal  family. 

The  late  king,  the  octogenarian  Christian 
IX.,  who  passed  away  on  January  29th, 
1906,  was  often  alluded  to  as  "father- 
in-law  of  half  Europe."  Denmark  is  a 
notable  example  of  the  way  in  which  a 
little  kingdom,  surrounded  by  powerful 
rivals,  can  be  equally  prosperous  in  her 
smaller  way.  Her  progress  in  our  own 
time  is  a  phenomenon  which  has  astonished 
the  world.  This  cold  and  bleak  peninsula 
jutting  into  the  North  Sea,  with  its  group 
of  insular  satellites,  is  the  home  of  a 
people  who  have  shown  the  world  that  a 
little  nation  can  become  rich,  contented, 
happy,  and  progressive.  Year  by  year  the 
sturdy  Dane  is  taking  greater  advantage  of 
the  opportunities  afforded  by  a  fertile  soil. 
Copenhagen,  the  "  Athens  of  the  North," 
is  a  metropolis  of  which  any  nation  might 
be  justly  proud.  Its  population  of  over 
500,000  is  year  by  year  increasing,  and  the 
city  grows  in  importance.  Much  of  the 
old  town  has  passed  away,  and  the  aspect 
for  the  most  part  is  modern.  It  is  a  city  to 
linger  in,  and  its  very  atmosphere  enchants 
the  visitor,  while  its  people  are  amongst 
the  most  courteous  on  earth.  The  famous 
Vor  Frue  Kirke — Our  Saviour's  Church — is 
.„      ^  ,       one  of  the  sights  of  Europe, 

The  Country  s  ^^^  j^  contams  Thorwald- 
Pre-eminence  ,„  ■      ,  •       ,    ,  r  ,  1 

.     .     .    „  sen  s  maiestic  statue  of  the 

m  Agriculture        ,->.  c       •  -j.^.     j^i 

Risen    Saviour,    with    the 

marble  statues  of  the  twelve  Apostles  by 
the  same  consummate  artist.  Copenhagen, 
being  not  on  the  mainland  but  on  the 
island  of  Sjaelland,  on  the  Sound,  pos- 
sesses a  unique  charm  from  its  wild  and 
romantic  outlook  on  the  northern  sea.  The 
beautiful  city  is  filled  with  treasures  of  art. 

5414 


Three  modest  animals  have  mainly 
founded  the  modern  prosperity  of  this 
interesting  kingdom — the  cow,  the  pig,  and 
the  hen.  Denmark  produces  an  immense 
quantity  of  butter  and  cheese,  bacon  and 
hams,  and  sells  them  with  countless  dozens 
of  eggs  to  Britain  and  other  neighbours 
Many  of  the  Jutlanders,  from  starting  as 
swineherds,  have  become  large  dealers  and 
merchants.  The  nation  has  set  the  pace  for 
the  modern  world  in  agricultural  co-opera- 
tion. This  applies  specially  to  dairying. 
There  are  over  a  thousand  co-operative 
dairies  in  Denmark,  with  nearly  150,000 
members,  receiving  milk  from  nearly  a 
million  cows.  The  State  has  done  evei  y thing 
possible  to  promote  the  system.  The  aim  has 
been  to  secure  a  high  degree  of  perfection  in 
the  system  of  handling  milk  so  as  to  ensure 
cleanHness  and  a  properly  controlled  supply. 
This  s^'stem  is  one  of  the  romances  of 
modern  industry.  And  now,  as  a  result  of 
the  encouragement  given  to  the  creation  of 
small  holdings  by  the  famous  Act  of  1899, 
there  are  fully  100,000  of  these  farms.  The 
Danish  "  small  holdings  men  "  are  singu- 
larly well-trained,  capable,  and 

„°  *  *"    .    enlightened,   and   are  steadily 

Situation  m  1       °     ■  a       j-u 

_          ,        becoming   more    so.  Another 

Denmark        1          /i         .  j 

beneficent      measure,  passed 

shortly  before  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
was  the  Old  Age  Pension  Act,  received 
now  by  2^  per  cent,  of  the  population. 
The  present  pohtical  position  in  Den- 
mark is  that  of  a  broad,  genial,  practical 
democracy,  of  which  the  king  is  the 
popular  figurehead.  King  Fredeiic  VTII. 
has  paid  many  visits  to  England,  and  has 
an  Oxford  degree.  He  fulfils  his  promise 
to  reign  in  accordance  with  his  father's 
example.  Political  conflicts  in  Denmark 
are  restrained  by  the  moderation  and 
sturdy  common-sense  of  the  people,  reforms 
being  promoted  in  a  democratic,  progres- 
sive spirit,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the 
Social  Democrats  to  expedite  extreme 
radical  measures.  The  fine  system  of 
national  education  is  sustained  undei 
the  joint  influence  of  State,  Chuich,  and 
municipality,  under  the  special  super- 
vision of  the  Minister  for  Church  and 
Education,  through  local  committees,  in 
which  the  clergy  and  magistrates  play  the 
chief  parts.  Education  is  elaborately  and 
perfectly  organised.  The  municipal  schools, 
the  Latin  schools,  and  the  high  schools 
cover  the  whole  land  with  a  complete 
network,  and  the  opportunities  are  appre- 
ciated by  ail  classes.        William  Durban 


ESSENTIAL    INFORMATION    ABOUT    DENMARK 


Area  and  Population.  The  area  of  Denmark  is 
15,592  square  miles,  including  tlie  Faroe  Islands 
(540  square  miles),  with  a  population  of  2,005, 2(18 
(including  Faroe  islanders,  16,349).  The  chief 
towns,  with  their  populations,  are :  Copenhagen 
(the  capital),  514,134;  Aarhus,  55,193;  Odense, 
40,547  ;  Aalborg,  31,509  ;  and  Horsens,  22,327. 

Government.  Denmark  is  a  hereditary  con- 
stitutional monarchy.  Legislative  power  vests  in 
the  Parliament  or  Rigsdag,  which  is  a  house  of 
two  chambers — the  Landsthmg.  or  Upper  House ; 
and  the  Folkething,  or  Lower  House.  The  Lands- 
thing  has  66  members,  12  of  whom  are  nominated 
by  the  king  for  life,  and  the  remainder  are  elected 
for  eight  years  by  electoral  bodies  composed  of 
the  largest  taxj^ayers.  The  Folkething  has  114 
members  elected  for  three  years  by  universal 
suffrage.  The  basis  of  membership  is  one  member 
for  every  16,000  inhabitants.  Members  of  both 
houses  must  be  not  less  than  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  and  both  are  paid.  Parliament  meets  every 
year  on  the  first  Monday  in  October.  The  executive 
power  rests  in  the  Statsraadet,  or  State  Council, 
which  consists  of  the  king  and  the  Ministers  of 
nine  public  departments — some  of  whom  may 
represent  more  than  one  department. 

Monarch.  The  reigning  king  is  Frederik  VIII. 
(born  1843),  who  succeeded  his  father  in  1906.  He 
is  the  second  ruler  of  the  House  of  Schleswig- 
Holstein-Sonderburg-Gliicksburg. 

Finance.  The  revenue  for  the  year  1906-1907  was 
£5,210,989,  and  the  expenditure  was  £4,739,001. 
The  chief  sources  of  revenue  are  indirect  taxes — 
chieflv  customs  and  excise — and  interest  on  state 
assets^  The  public  debt  in  1907  was  £14,329,544, 
caiTying  an  annual  interest  charge  of  £443,385. 
The  capital  value  of  the  state  railways  and  other 
national  investments  is  more  than  the  debt. 

Industry  and  Commerce.  Agriculture  is  the  chief 
industry.  About  80  per  cent,  of  the  entire  soil  is  pro- 
ductive. The  chief  crojis,  according  to  acreage,  are 
oats,  barley,  rye,  beets,  wheat  and  potatoes.  Stock 
raising  is  important,  and  the  stock  includes  cattle, 
swine,  sheep,  horses  and  goats.  Woods  cover  about 
7  per  cent,  of  the  entire  area  of  the  country,  and  the 
most  common  tree  is  the  beech.  Private  owners  are 
restricted  in  timber  cutting.  There  is  a  good  deal 
of  peat  bog  land.  There  are  no  mineral  industries 
in  the  country,  except  some  quarrying  of  freestone 
and  marble  in  the  island  of  Bornholm.  The  fisheries 
around  the  coast  are  of  some  importance,  and  last 
census  showed  that  there  were  31,608  people 
engaged  in  the  industry.  Dairy  farming  has  de- 
veloped in  Denmark  very  much  during  the  last 
few  decades.  The  Government  has  assisted 
by  providing  money  for  experiments  and  by  strict 
inspection  to  maintain  the  quality  of  the  products. 
There  are  thirty-eight  brandy  distilleries  and  a  good 
number  of  breweries  in  the  country.  In  the  year 
1906-1907  thetotal  value  of  imports  was  £33,335,554, 
and  the  total  value  of  exports  was  £23,121,667. 
The  chief  exports  are  wheat  and  barley,  bacon  and 
ham,  flour,  butter,  eggs,  hides,  skins,  corn-meal, 
oil-cake,  horses  and  cattle. 

Faroe  Islands.  The  Faroe  Islands  are,  politic- 
ally, an  integral  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Denmark, 
and  send  two  representatives  to  the  Danish  Rigsdag. 
The  area  of  the  islands  is  540  square  miles,  and  the 
population  is  16,349.  The  largest  islands  are  Stromo, 
Ostero,  Vaago,  Sando  and  Sudero;  the  capital  is 
Thorshavn,  in  Stromo,  and  has  a  population  of  1,650. 
There  is  little  agriculture,  the  islands  being  bleak 
and  treeless,  and  storms  are  frequent,  although  the 


winters  are  not  excessively  severe.  Sheep-farming, 
wild-fowhng  and  fishing  are  the  principal  industries  ; 
the  exports,  chiefly  to  Denmark,  consist  of  wool, 
feathers,  salted  and  dried  fish,  train  oil  and  skins. 

CoL(JNiES.  The  Danish  colonies  are  all  in  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  They  do  not  include  the  Faroe 
Islands,  which  are  ])oli'tically  part  of  Denmark. 


Iceland        

Greenland  (coast)      ..      ..      '  . 
West  Indies  : 
St.  Croix,  St.  Tliomas  and  St  John 


Sq.  Miles. 


39,756 
46,740 


138 


86,634         120,: 


Popula- 
tion. 


78,470 
11,893 

30,.527 


Iceland  has  a  Legislative  Assembly — the  Althing 
— and  a  Minister  appointed  by  the  King  of  Denmark. 
The  capital  and  largest  town  is  Reykjavik,  with  a 
population  of  8,000.  The  products  are  sheep, 
cattle,  ponies  and  fish,  and  all  cereal  foods  are  im- 
ported. Minerals  are  not  known  in  payable  quantities. 
Greenland  has  an  area  the  estimates  of  which  vary 
from  320,000  to  850,000  square  miles.  The  area 
given  in  the  table  above  refers  only  to  the  Danish 
district  round  the  coast.  The  total  population  is 
under  12,000,  and  most  of  them  are  Eskimos,  only 
about  250  Europeans  residing  in  the  country. 
The  industries  of  Greenland  are  almost  exclusively 
connected  with  whales,  seals  and  sharks.  There  is, 
however,  one  cryolite  mine,  the  output  of  which 
is  exported  for  the  manufacture  of  soda  and  alum. 
Trade  in  Greenland  is  a  Danish  royal  monopoly, 
and  the  exports  are  fish  oil,  seal  skins,  and  a  little 
eiderdown  and  feathers. 

The  three  Danish  West  India  Islands — St.  Croix, 
St.  Thomas  and  St.  John — are  of  little  importance. 
In  1902  an  agreement  had  been  reached  between 
the  Danish  Ministers  and  the  Government  at  Wash- 
ington regarding  the  purchase  of  these  islands  by 
the  United  States,  but  the  Danish  Landsthing 
refused  to  ratify  the  agreement. 

Currency.      The  Danish   standard  of  value  is 
gold,  but  silver  is  legal  tender  up  to  20  kroner. 
1  ore       =  -jSjd. 
100  ore  =  1  krone  =   Is.   l|d. 

The  bronze  coins  are  1,  2,  and  5  ore ;  the  silver 
coins  are  10,  25,  40,  and  50  ore,  1  and  2  kroner  ;  and 
the  gold  coins  are  10  and  20  kroner.  L'sual  reckoning 
is — 18  kroner  equals  one  English  sovereign. 

Weights  and  Measures.  The  old  system  of 
weights  and  measures  is  being  discarded  for  the 
metric  system  [see  page  5399]  ;  but  the  transition 
is  not  yet  complete.  In  tllte  old  sy.stem  the  standard 
of  weight  was  a  pund  (l-10231b.) ;  of  lineal  measure, 
an  alen  (-6864  yard);  of  land,  a  tondeland  (1.36 
acre);  of  solid  measurement,  a  kithic  fod  (r09I8 
cub.  ft.).  In  capacitv  measure  the  tUndc  equalled 
3-827  bushels  of  grain,  289189  gallons  of  oil, 
246-9179  lb.  of  butter,  and  46775  bushels  of  coal. 

Postage.  Great  Britain  to  Denmark,  or  any 
Danish  colony,  letters,  papers  and  samples  as  for 
France  [see  page  5398].  Parcel  post :  Is.,  Is.  6d., 
and  2s.  for  3,  7,  and  11  lb.  respectively  if  via  Har- 
wich ;  9d.  per  parcel  more  if  by  Ostcnd  or  Flushing. 
To  Greenland,  same  as  to  Denniark  ;  to  Iceland  same 
as  Denmark  rates  via  Harwich,  and  to  Danish 
West  Indies  double  these  rates.  Limit  of  length, 
3i  feet;  hmit  of  length  and  girth  combined,  6  feet. 

"TeleOxRAMS.  Great  Britain  to  Denmark,  3d. 
per  word  ;  to  Iceland,  %\d.  per  word  ;  to  St.  Thomas, 
5s.  per  word,  and  to  St.  Cioix,  5s.  3d.  per  word; 
There  is  no  cable  service  to  St.  John  or  to  Greenland. 

5415 


INFORMATION  ABOUT  NORWAY  AND  SWEDEN 


NORWAY 

Area  and  Population.  Norway  has  a  total 
area  of  124,130  square  miles,  and  a  population 
of  2,330,3(54.  The  chief  towns,  with  populations,  are : 
Christiania,  227,026  ;  Bergen,  72,251  ;  Trondhjem, 
38,180  ;  Stavanger,  30,013  ;   all  are  seaports. 

Government.  Norway  is  a  constitutional  hered- 
itary monarchy.  The  integrity  of  Norwegian 
territory  is  guaranteed  by  Great  Britain,  France, 
Germany  and  Russia,  by  a  treaty  of  October,  1907. 
The  parliament  is  known  as  the  Storting,  which 
consists  of  123  paid  members  elected  by  popular 
vote ;  every  Norwegian  man  or  woman  over  25 
years  of  age  who  has  paid  a  certain  income 
tax,  which  varies  for  rural  and  urban  voters,  is 
entitled  to  vote.  Elections  are  held  every  three 
years.  The  Storting  divides  itself  into  two  bodies, 
one-fourth  forming  the  Lagting,  and  the  remain- 
ing three-fourths  forming  the  Odelsting.  Certain 
matters  are  considered  only  by  the  latter  body. 
Failing  agreement  the  two  chambers  sit  together 
and  a  two-thirds  majority  of  the  joint  voters 
decides  the  point.  The  king  can  veto  a  measure 
twice,  but  if  it  passes  three  stortings,  elected  by 
separate  elections,  the  king  has  no  further  power 
of  veto.  The  executive  is  vested  in  the  king 
with  one  Minister  of  State  and  not  fewer  than 
seven  Councillors  of  State. 

Monarch.  The  reigning  monarch  is  Haakon 
VII.  (born  August,  3rd,  1872),  second  son  of  King 
Frederic  of  Denmark ;  he  was  elected  King  by 
the  Storting  on  November  18th,  1905,  after  Norway 
had  dissolved  her  political  union  with  Sweden. 

Finance.  The  revenue  for  the  vear  1906-1907 
was  £6.344,957,  and  the  expenditure  was  £6,100,023. 
The  chief  sources  of  revenue  are  customs,  railways, 
excise,  post  ofhce,  income  tax  and  telegraphs.  The 
public  debt  in  1907  was  £18,822,160. 

Industry  and  Commerce.  Three  quarters  of 
the  area  of  Norway  is  unproductive  and  only 
3  per  cent,  is  under  cultivation.  The  remainder — 
22  per  cent. — is  forest  land.  The  chief  crops  are 
potatoes,  oats,  barley,  wheat,  and  rye;  but  the 
produce  is  insufficient  for  domestic  consumption. 
Three-fourths  of  the  forest  land  is  under  pine 
trees  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  area  is  state 
land,  managed  by  the  Minister  of  Agriculture. 
Industries  depending  upon  the  forests  are  wood 
pulp,  matches  and  paper.  The  fisheries  are  im- 
portant and  employ  over  100,000  people.  Mineral 
industries  are  increasing  in  iraijortance  after  a 
period  of  decline.  The  chief  minerals  are  iron 
pyrites,  silver,  copper,  apatite  and  nickel.  There 
are  a  few  factory  industries,  chiefly  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Christiania,  and  the  most  important 
of  them  are  textile  factories,  engineering  shops, 
chemical  works,  metal  works,  brick  works,  and 
flour-mills.  Water  power  is  laigely  used  in  manu- 
facturing. The  value  of  imports  for  the  year 
1906-1907  was  £21,428,211,  and  the  value  of  the 
exports  was  £14,061,111.  The  chief  exports  are 
timber  and  timber  manufactures,  including  matches, 
fish  and  fish  products,  chiefly  cod  liver  oil,  paper 
and  paper  pulp,  skins  and  furs,  mineral  ores  and 
stone,  ice  and  carbide  of  calcium. 

Currency.     As  for  Denmark  [see  page  5415]. 

Weights  and  Measures.  These  are  metric  [see 
page  5399]. 

Postage.  Great  Britain  to  Norway :  I.,etters, 
papers  and  samples  as  for  France  [see  page  5398]. 
Parcels  post  as  for  Denmark  via  Harwich  [see 
page  5415]. 

Telegrams.   Gt.  Britain  to  Norway,  3d.  per  word. 

54^  ^T 


SWEDEN 

Area  and  Population.  The  area  of  Sweden  is 
172,876  square  miles  and  the  estimate  of  popula- 
tion at  the  end  of  1906  was  5,337,055.  The  chief 
towns  with  their  populations,  are :  Stockholm  (the 
capital),  332,738 ;  Goteborg,  156,927 ;  Malmo, 
75,091  ;   Norrkoping,   45,528  ;   Helsingborg,  31,404. 

Government.  Sweden  is  a  constitutional  mon- 
archy. The  Parliament,  or  Riksdag,  has  two  elected 
Chambers,  possessing  equal  powers,  but  deliberating 
and  voting  separately.  The  Upjier  Chamber  has 
150  members,  and  election  to  it  is  made  for  nine 
years  by  the  Landstings,  or  rural  assemblies,  and 
by  the  urban  corporations  not  represented  in  the 
Landstings.  The  Lower  Chamber  has  230  members, 
elected  by  popular  vote  on  a  new  franchise  for 
three  years.  The  members  of  the  Lower  House  are 
paid.  The  king  can  initiate  measures  and  can  veto 
measures  passed  by  the  Riksdag.  Executive  power 
is  vested  in  the  king  and  a  Council  of  State, 
which  consists  of  a  Minister  and  ten  Councillors. 

Monarch.  The  King  of  Sweden  is  Gustaf  V. 
(born  1858),  who  succeeded  his  father,  Oscar  II., 
in  December,  1907. 

Finance.  The  estimated  revenue  and  expen- 
diture for  the  year  1907  was  £11,945,600.  The 
chief  sources  of  revenue  are  the  customs,  duties 
on  spirits  and  beet  sugar,  state  lands,  railways  and 
telegraphs,  income  tax,  post  office,  stamps,  and 
the  profits  of  the  National  Bank.  The  public 
debt  stood  at  £25,570,476  in  January,  1908;  it 
represents  solely  expenditure  on  railways,  from 
which  the  profits  more  than  pay  the  interest. 

Industry  and  Commerce.  Agriculture  employs 
quite  half  of  the  population,  although  less  than  nine 
per  cent,  of  the  country  is  under  cult  i  vat  ion.  The  chief 
crops,  according  to  acreage,  ai'C  oats,  rye,  barley, 
potatoes,  wheat  and  pulse.  There  is  also  consider- 
able stock  I'aising — cattle,  sheep,  horses  and  pigs. 
Dairy  farming  has  made  important  progress  in 
recent  years.  Over  half  of  the  whole  country  is 
forest  land  and  Sweden  exports  more  timber  than 
any  other  European  coimtry.  The  fisheries  are 
much  less  impoitant  than  those  of  Norway  and 
have  experienced  some  bad  5'ears  recently.  Sweden 
is  rich  in  minerals,  and  Swedish  iron,  refined  by  the 
use  of  charcoal,  is  famous  throughout  the  world. 
Iron  is  the  chief  mineral  worked  and  most  of  the 
iron  ore  raised  is  exported.  Other  ores  worked 
include  those  of  silver  and  lead,  coj)per,  zinc,  and 
manganese.  Coal  is  also  found  and  mined.  The 
chief  industry  is  connected  with  the  forests,  and  in 
the  kingdom  there  are  about  1,300  saw- mills,  about 
500  joinery  and  cabinet-making  works,  about  150 
wood  pulp  factories,  and  some  70  paper  mills. 
Iron,  steel  and  machinery  works  claim  about  a 
thousand  separate  establishments.  Then  come 
textile  factories — over  300  in  number — devoted  to 
cotton  and  w  ool.  The  exports  for  the  year  1906  were 
of  the  value  of  £27,768,988,  and  the  imports  were 
of  the  value  of  £35,475,104.  The  chief  exports  are 
timber,  iron  and  steel,  butter,  wood  pulp,  iron 
ore,  paper,  machinery  (including  cream  separators), 
carpentry  work,  stone,  metal  goods  and  matches. 

Currency.     As  for  Denmark  [see  page  5415]. 

Weights  and  Measures.  These  are  metric 
[see  page  5399]. 

Postage.  Great  Britain  to  Sweden :  Letters, 
papers,  and  samples,  as  to  France  see  [page  5398]. 
Parcel  post,  Is.  6d.,  2s.,  and  2s.  6d.  for  3,  7,  and 
11  lb.,  via  direct  steamer  to  Stockholm;  Is.  per 
parcel  higher  if  via  Ostend  or  Flushing. 

Telegrams.   Gt.  Britain  to  Sweden,  3id.  per  word. 


EUROPEAN 
POWERS 
TO-DAY 


XII 

THE   UNITED 

KINGDOM 


UNITED  KINGDOM  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

A    CONTEMPORARY    SURVEY    OF    ITS 

POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS 

By  Arthur  D.  Innes,  M.A. 


TTHE  British  Empire  to-day  is  a  unique 
■*■  phenomenon  in  the  history  of  civihsed 
mankind,  differing  in  essential  particulars 
from  every  contemporary  empire  as  from 
all  that  have  existed  in  the  past.  In  the 
course  of  300  years  the  people  of  these 
islands  have  taken  possession  of  vast 
tracts  of  the  earth's  surface.  The  ancient 
empires  held  their  conquests  by  force  of 
arms,  but  in  her  great  dominions  on  two 
continents  our  state  has  no  garrison  at  all. 
Wherever  Rome  ruled,  her  government  was 
of  the  military  type ;  practically  it  is  only 
in  India  that  ours  falls  under  that  category. 
Neither  our  colonial  nor  our  Asiatic 
dominion  presents  close  resemblances  to 
the  empires  of  other  European  states, 
except  so  far  as  Russia  in  Central  Asia 
and  France  in  North  Africa  hold  positions 
more  or  less  analogous  to  our  own  in  India. 
The  states  of  which  the  empire  is 
composed  offer — subject  to  the  ultimate 
authority  of  the  central  state,  to  which 
they  stand  in  varying  relations — examples 
of  almost  every  conceivable  type  of  polity : 
absolute  monarchies  in  India,  where  the 
British  raj  itself  is  that  of  a  racial 
aristocracy  ;  while  all  the  greater  colonies 
are  democracies.  Or,  if  we  follow  the 
territorial  method  of  classification,  the 
empire  will  supply  us  at  one  end  with 
.  federated  countries  in  Canada 
.  „  .*? .  and  Australia,  and  at  the 
J,     .  other  with  something  not  far 

removed  from  the  Greek  idea 
of  the  city-state  in  the  Isle  of  Man 
and  in  the  Channel  Islands.  In  the 
course  of  this  work  we  have  watched 
England  developing  politically  far  in 
advance  of  all  Continental  states,  while 
Ireland  remained  a  subordinate,  half- 
controlled  province,  and  Scotland  held  fast 
to    a    somewhat    lawless    independence ; 

IT  2,  u 


until,  300  years  ago,  the  three  king- 
doms were  united  under  one  crown, 
and  then,  at  intervals  0.1  a  century,  under 
one  legislature — theoretically,  at  least,  on 
an  equality.  Three  hundred  years  ago, 
the  only  over-sea  territory  possessed  by 
the  people  of  these  islands  was  the  embryo 
colony  of  Virginia,  which  had  existed  pre- 
cariously for  years.  The  seven- 
British 


_  ,     .  ,       teenth  century  saw   a 
Colonial  1  •    1  .    •.     ir 

r  .        expansion  which  was  not  itself 

Expansion  ^  ,    ,  ,,  ,       . 

permanent,  because  the  colonies 

then  established  afterwards  broke  away 
from  the  mother  country.  But  it  also  saw, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  confirmation  of  British 
supremacy  on  the  high  seas  and  of  ])arlia- 
mentary  supremacy  in  the  British  polity. 
In  the  eighteenth  century  Great  Britain 
completely  distanced  all  rivals  in  the 
competition  for  colonial  expansion,  in 
spite  of  the  loss  of  the  group  of  communi- 
ties which  formed  the  United  States,  and 
this  supremacy  was  confirmed  by  the 
Napoleonic  wars.  In  those  wars  Napoleon 
himself  chose  commerce  as  the  field  in 
which  he  would  come  to  death-grips  with 
the  British,  with  the  result  that,  after 
Waterloo,  there  was  no  competitor  within 
measurable  distance  of  them,  and  the  lead 
thus  gained  was  increased  progressively 
during  the  nineteenth  century.  During 
that  century,  also,  the  colonial  expansion 
continued  ;  the  whole  of  one  continent 
was  appropriated.  In  India  the  British 
passed  from  being  merely  the  dominant 
power  to  being  lords  of  the  whole  land 
between  the  mountains  and  the  sea  ;  and 
finally  the  most  valuable  portions  of  the 
Dark  Continent  fell  also  under  their  domi- 
nion. The  expansion  was  accompanied  by 
a  change  in  the  internal  polity.  The  supre- 
macy of  parliament  was  unchallenged ; 
but  the  gradual  extension  of  the  electoral 

5417 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


body  transferred  the  control  of  parliamen- 
tary majorities  first  from  the  landowners 
to  the  manufacturers  and  the  middle 
class,  and  then  from  the  middle  to 
the  labouring  classes. 

A  further  characteristic  has  to  be  re- 
marked on  in  order  to  understand  the 
position  of  the  British  Empire  in  the  world 
.  at  the  present  day.     Until  the 

f  MnUar^  stadtholder  of  Holland  became 
p  '  *  ^'■y  i^ing  of  England,  these  islands 
never  played  a  part  much  more 
than  insignificant  in  the  struggles  of  Con- 
tinental states.  In  mediaeval  times  England 
had  fought  with  France  on  her  own  account ; 
later,  still  on  her  own  account,  she  had 
fought  Spain,  and  later  still  Holland. 

The  new  dynastic  association  with  Hol- 
land, coupled  with  her  own  dynastic 
question,  forced  her  into  the  European 
arena ;  but  even  then  it  was  not  the  size 
of  her  armies,  but  the  genius  of  her  great 
general,  Marlborough,  and  the  wealth 
which  supplemented  the  exhausted  trea- 
suries of  her  allies,  which  made  her  alliance 
valuable ;  and,  mutatis  mutandis,  the 
same  principles  applied  throughout  the 
whole  series  of  wars  which  were  finally 
brought  to  an  end  in  1815.  To  divert  the 
energies  of  her  enemies  she  did  not  fight 
them  on  land,  but  helped  her  neighbours 
to  do  so.  For  her  own  hand  she  fought 
them  on  the  sea. 

It  was  only  in  the  Peninsular  War 
that  she  took  rank  as  a  military  power, 
and  there  she  was  only  enabled  to  do  so 
because  Napoleon  wanted  the  bulk  of  his 
legions  for  Moscow.  Moreover,  in  the 
same  connection  it  has  to  be  observed 
that,  with  the  possible  exception  of  1793, 
Continental  interests  have  never  been  the 
motive  of  her  wars.  In  nearl}^  every  case 
she  has  fought  because  the  interests  of 
France  collided  with  her  own  in  extra- 
European  regions.  With  hardly  a  variation, 
her  rulers  have  systematically  declined  to 
intervene  in  foreign  quarrels  otherwise  than 

,.    , ..  through    diplomatic    channels. 

Moulding 

of  Britain's 

History 


That  rule  has  been  broken,  or  is 
in  serious  danger  of  being  broken. 


only  in  one  corner  of  Europe 
she  would  fight  to  prevent  Constantinople 
from  falling  into  the  hands  of  Russia. 
We  may  say,  then,  that  viewing  the 
United  Kingdom  of  to-day  as  the  product  of 
the  forces  which  we  have  observed  mould- 
ing its  history,  it  forms  the  central  state  of 
an  empire  whose  distinguishing  character- 
istics are  an  immense  transmarine  colonial 

5418 


system,  such  as  no  other  European  Power  | 
possesses  ;  an  immense  lead  in  commerce  ; 
an  established  maritime  supremacy,  both 
mercantile  and  naval  ;  the  smallest  of 
"  regular "  armies,  outside  of  India,  on 
the  historic  ground  that  no  state  has  ever 
been  able  continuously  to  maintain  both 
army  and  navy  in  the  front  rank,  while  to 
the  British  the  navy  has  always  proved 
the  more  effective  instrument  both  for 
offence  and  defence.  Further,  this  state 
has  evolved  its  own  polity — the  system  of 
parliamentary  government — as  an  organic 
growth,  without  revolution  and  without 
copying  the  institutions  of  other  states, 
except  in  occasional  matters  of  detail ; 
whereas  her  own  institutions  have  been 
consciously  adopted  as  models,  though 
with  appropriate  modifications,  in  the 
constitution  of  most  civilised  countries. 

Sociall3%  as  well  as  politically,  her  people 
have  been,  and  continue  to  be,  distin- 
guished by  the  combination  of  a  marked 
acknowledgment  of  class  distinctions  with 
exceptional  facility  in  passing  class  bar- 
riers ;  in  other  words,  social  ranks  are 
recognised,  but  are  not  permitted  to  stiffen 

into  castes,  as  they  did  stiffen 
n  c  cc  ua       ^^    most     European     states. 
Record  of  the    tt  <(i    i,  ^     >» 

„.,..,,        Hence     labour  movements, 
British  Isles         „   ,,  .         1  •  i_ 

all  the  movements  which  are 

apt  to  be  labelled  "  Socialistic  "  by  those 
who  disapprove  of  them,  are  accompanied 
among  the  proletariat  by  a  much  less 
virulent  antagonism  to  the  well-to-do  than 
is  frequently  the  case  in  other  lands. 

In  the  intellectual  field,  the  British  Isles 
claim  great  names  in  science,  both  in  its 
theoretic  realms,  such  as  Bacon,  Newton, 
and  Darwin,  and  in  its  practical  application. 
In  pure  literature  it  is  somewhat  curious 
to  remark  that  the  greatest  achievements 
of  a  people  which  prides  itself  on  practical 
common  sense  have  been  in  the  region  of 
imagination,  of  poetry,  where  it  is  not  only 
insular  prejudice  that  claims  a  supreme 
position  for  Shakespeare.  Like  the  Shake- 
spearian period,  the  hundred  years  which 
opened  with  the  period  of  the  French 
Revolution  were  rich  in  great  literary 
names  ;  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  either 
in  literature  or  in  science  the  United 
Kingdom  in  the  twentieth  century  is 
showing  any  marked  superiority  to  Euro- 
pean and  American  rivals. 

Aspects  of  this  empire  external  to  the 
United  Kingdom,  itself  remain  to  be 
treated  at  length  hereafter  ;  in  this  chapter 
we  are  concerned  with  our  own  islands. 


THE    UNITED    KINGDOM    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


The  condition  of  affairs  to-day  is  the 
product  of  the  past,  the  outcome  of  organic 
development ;  and  development  means  both 
continuity  and  change.  Can  we,  then, 
analyse  the  elements  which  tend  to  change 
and  to  continuity  respectively  ? 

In  the  nineteenth  century  the  United 
Kingdom  became  the  great,  almost  the  one, 
manufactory  and  carrier  of  the  world. 
Among  the  various  causes  of  this  supre- 
macy, the  most  decisive  is  probably  to  be 
found  in  the  Napoleonic  wars — partly 
because  they  devastated  Europe  and 
drained  off  the  best  human  material  for 
fighting,  instead  of  manufacturing  ;  while 
the  people  of  these  islands  were,  compara- 
tively speaking,   able  to  devote   a  much 


trade  that  Free  Trade  was  universally 
acknowledged  to  be  the  cause  of  the  ex- 
pansion, and  the  advocacy  of  Protection 
was  regarded  as  at  best  a  "  pious  opinion." 

But  it  has  not  proved  impossible  either 
for  European  states  or  for  America  to 
develop  manufactures  on  their  own  ac- 
count which  can  compete  with  British 
goods  in  the  market.  It  is,  perhaps, 
difficult  to  realise  from  the  figures  pro- 
duced that  our  commercial  ascendancy  is 
vanishing  ;  but  the  monopoly  is  ours  no 
more  ;  and  it  is  by  no  means  clear  that 
the  country  will  not  attempt  to  recover  it 
by  a  reversion  to  pre-Cobdenite  methods. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  that  Germany's 
commercial  advance  in  the  last  forty  years 


MEN    OF    THE    ROYAL    ENGINEERS    CONSTRUCTING    A    SUSPENSION    BRIDGE 


larger  share  of  their  energies  to  peaceful 
pursuits  ;  partly  because  the  Berlin  Decree 
practically  involved  that  the  British  should 
either  monopolise  the  carrying  trade  or 
lose  it  altogether. 

Apart  from  the  war,  the  British  already 
had  a  long  lead  in  the  carrying  trade,  and 
were  in  front  of  other  countries  in  the  deve- 
lopment of  machinery  and  the  application 
of  steam.  But  the  practical  monopoly  was 
the  outcome  of  the  artificial  conditions 
created  by  Napoleon,  and  made  it 
supremely  difficult  for  any  other  nation 
to  enter  into  competition.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  Free  Trade  programme  by 
Sir  Robert  Peel  and  by  Mr.  Gladstone  was 
attended  by  so  marked  an  expansion  of 


is  often  attributed  with  equal  confidence  to 
her  adoption  of  Protection  for  her  manu- 
fa.ctures.  It  is  not  probable  that  Tariff 
Reform,  if  it  does  come,  will  ruin  either 
our  own  commerce  or,  alternatively,  that  of 
our  competitors,  who  at  present  rely  on  a 
Protectionist  policy.  Perhaps  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  histoiian,  whose  busi- 
ness is  largely  with  the  analysis  of  causation, 
the  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  economic 
problem  now  dividing  the  country  is  that 
it  was  brought  out  of  the  regions  of  cloud- 
cuckoo-land  into  practical  politics  by  the 
action  of  a  single  individual — that  but  for 
Mr.  Chamberlain  the  merits  of  Protection 
would  probably  receive  to-day  as  httle 
public   recognition   as   they    did   in   that 

5419 


SOME    TYPES    OF     BRITAIN'S     FIGHTING     FORCES 


5420 


SOME     6J?1TISH     SOLDIERS     ON     THE    MARCH 


5421 


HARMS  WORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


statesman's  "  Radical  "  days.  Whatever 
school  of  economists  prevails,  it  may  be 
safely  prophesied  that  commercial  as- 
cendancy will  remain  with  this  country 
so  long  as  she  holds  the  maritime 
supremacy,  and  will  pass  as  soon  as  she 
loses  it.  That  supremacy  is  as  yet  un- 
challenged. The  practical  unanimity  with 
which  the  doctrine  of  a  two- 
nc  a  cngc    p^^^gj-  standard  for  the  Royal 

f  it    c  Navy  is  accepted — at  least,  as 

of  the  Seas  •'         ,i      a      ,       r  t- 

concerns  the  fleets  oi  European 

states — ^would  be  a  mere  absurdity  for  a 
country  not  already  in  possession  of  a 
decisive  preponderance  over  any  other,  or 
lacking  the  means  to:  maintain  such  pre- 
ponderance. There  is  no  Power  which 
dreams  of  challenging  the  mistress  of  the 
seas  single-handed  on  her  own  element, 
though  tliere  is  one  which  is  popularly 
credited  with  having  inherited  Napoleon's 
pre-Trafalgar  programme. 

Have  the  conditions,  then,  so  changed 
that  what  Napoleon  found  to  be  imprac- 
ticable a  century  ago — ^what  had  been 
almost  unthinkable  since  the  destruction  of 
the  Spanish  Armada — is  practicable  to- 
day ?  Fortresses  reputed  impregnable 
have  been  captured  through  an  unsus- 
pected entry ;  before  Wolfe  scaled  the 
Heights  of  Abraham,  Quebec  seemed 
secure  against  any  possible  attack.  The 
chances  that  an  attempt  to  invade  these 
islands  would  result  only  in  the  annihila- 
tion of  the  invader  appear  to  be  no  less 
overwhelming  than  in  the  past  ;  but  the 
condition  of  security  is  vigilance,  as  the 
condition  of  successful  attack  is  secrecy. 

It  can  only  be  said  that  there  is  no  present 
sign  either  that  vigilance  is  lacking  or 
that  the  secret  concentration  of  an  invad- 
ing force  is  possible.  The  historic  position 
is  unaltered.  Now,  as  always,  it  is  the  fleet 
which  makes  invasion  impossible.  Now,  as 
always,  a  Continental  army  operating  in  this 
country  would  not  find  our  military  forces 
organised  to  offer  resistance  as  it  would  on 
invading   a  Continental    state. 

I  K,  r  Parma  in  1588,  or  Napoleon 
Liable  to        ■  o    -  111  f  ■, 

.  .  _  m  1805,  would  have  found 
Invasion?       ,,     •  ,  ,   ,       ^, 

their  veterans  opposed  by  the 

same  half-drilled  and  half-trained  amateur 
soldiery  which  would  form  the  bulk  of 
our  defence  at  the  present  day.  But 
there  is  no  more  likelihood  of  a  Con- 
tinental army  getting  the  chance  of 
operating  in  England  than  there  was  in 
the  days  of  Parma  or  of  Napoleon.  Wisely 
or  unwisely,   the  nation  is  content  with 

5422 


that  position  ;  or,  at  any  rate,  shows  no 
greater  inclination  than  in  the  past  to 
adopt  the  alternative  policy  of  universal 
military  service.  It  is  at  least  probable 
that  the  recent  reorganisation  — with 
modifications  which  experience  of  its 
working  will  suggest — will  produce  the 
maximum  of  efficiency  attainable  under 
the  purely  voluntary  system. 

As  regards  the  security  of  these  islands, 
then,  the  historic  position  appears  to  be 
unchanged.  But  the  United  Kingdom  is 
responsible  for  the  defence  of  the  empire, 
and  here  we  must  note  that  the  conditions 
to-day  are  not  quite  what  they  have  been 
in  the  past.  Our  frontiers  are  not,  as  they 
were,  exclusively  oceanic.  In  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  the  possession  of  America 
and  India  depended  entirely  upon  sea- 
power  ;  when  our  supremacy  on  the  sea  was 
decisively  established,  our  rivals'  successes 
in  either  continent  could  only  be  temporary. 

But    now    the    advance    of    Russia    in 

Central  Asia  has  made  possible  a  conflict 

which  would  have  to  be  fought   out   on 

land ;    and  although  the   idea   of  a  war 

with  the  United   States   is   scarcely  less 

.  ,  unnatural  than  that  of  a  civil 

ri  ain  s         ^       ^j^^  possibility,  however 

Place  Among  ,        -^      ,  ,/  ,• 

.     p  remote,  mvolves  the  question 

of  the  defence  of  the  Canadian 
frontier.  The  conditions  of  our  i"ule  in 
India  demand  the  presence,  under  all 
circumstances,  of  a  large  white  garrison 
within  the  peninsula.  At  the  present  time, 
indeed,  nothing  is  less  likely  than  a  war 
with  Russia,  except  a  war  with  the  United 
States ;  but  either  contingency  would 
seem  to  call  for  military  operations,  as 
distinct  from  naval,  on  a  much  larger 
scale  than  we  have  hitherto  been  involved 
in  by  European  complications.  As  concerns 
Europe  itself,  as  with  the  defence  of  these 
islands,  the  historic  position  holds.  Any 
conceivable  combination  of  Powers  would 
hesitate  to  challenge  us  by  sea  ;  combined 
fleets  have  always  proved  even  more  diffi- 
cult to  handle  successfully  than  combined 
armies.  But  no  Power  would  be  greatly  per- 
turbed by  the  prospect  of  a  British  invasion. 
The  British  alliance  to-day,  as  in  the 
past,  would  be  coveted  where  British 
subsidies  would  be  desirable  ;  the  aid  of 
British  fleets  would  be  useful,  or  the 
hostility  of  British  fleets  would  be  feared ; 
not  for  the  sake  of  the  battalions  that 
could  take  the  field.  It  is  to  be  re- 
marked, however,  that  the  mere  fact  of 
pur  naval  aspgndancy  is,  and  always  has 


THE    UNITED    KINGDOM    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


been,  a  source  of  irritation  ;  it  is  probable 
that  all  Europe  would  regard  any  exten- 
sive development  of  our  military  organisa- 
tion as  indicating  not  a  defensive,  but  an 
aggressive  intent,  precisely  as  we  are 
disposed  to  interpret  the  expansion  bi  the 
German  Navy.  We  are  so  free  from 
aggressive  desires  that  we  can  hardly 
believe  such  charges  to  be  made  in  good 
faith  ;  nevertheless,  foreign  nations  find 
it  exceedingly  diihcult  to  believe  that  we 
have  annexed  so  large  a  proportion  of  the 
globe  merely  in  self-defence. 

At  the  present  time,  however,  thanks 
largely  to  the  consistency  of  a  foreign 
policy,  which  has  been  maintained  without 
regard  to  party  for  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
the  United  Kingdom  has  been  almost 
cleared,  in  the  eyes  of  its  neighbours,  of 
the  charge  of  fluctuating  between  peace- 
at-any-price  and  blatant  jingoism.  The 
Japanese  War  has  deprived  Russian 
aggression  of  its  immediate  terrors,  and 
the  political  reformation  of  Turkey  which 
astonished  the  world  in  1908  has  minimised 
the  danger  of  an  Anglo-Russian  quarrel 
over  the  Eastern  Question.  Hence  our 
relations  with  the   great  Slav 


Germany 
the  Bogey  of 
Britain 


Power    have    become    almost 
cordial.     With  France  we  have 


reached  a  happy  stage  in  which 
the  respective  spheres  of  interest  of  the  two 
nations  have  become  so  definitely  delimited 
that  no  rational  cause  of  quarrel  arising  is 
imaginable,  and  a  friendliness  of  feeling  has 
been  developed  which  is  the  best  possible 
safeguard  against  a  sentimental  explosion. 
The  role  of  bogey  has  been  transferred 
to  Germany.  The  situation  emphasises 
the  fact  that  the  historian  may  go  a  great 
deal  too  far  in  insisting  on  a  logical 
statesmanship  as  the  primary  factor  in 
political  action.  Germany  is  our  bogey, 
chiefly  because  she  has  erected  us  into  a 
bogey  ;  and  that  she  has  done  so  is  due 
largely  to  her  historians  and  professors, 
many  of  whom  suffer  from  a  conviction 
that  England  designs  to  crown  a  career  of 
cold-blooded  spoliation  by  seeking  the 
ruin  of  Germany.  That  is  to  say  that, 
mutatis  mutandis,  the  present  German  view 
of  England  is  very  much  like  what  has 
been  the  normal  English  view  of  Russia. 
German  hostility  to  England  is  based  on  a 
a  wholly  irrational  fear  of  English  designs, 
but  while  it  exists  it  forces  upon  England 
an  attitude  which  is  easily  interpreted  as 
one  of  hostility  to  Germany.  In  neither 
country  is  the  actual  hostility  shared  either 


by  the  controlling  statesmen  or  by  tlie  mass 
of  the  population,  and  the  mutual  suspicion 
will  probably  wear  itself  out  in  course  of 
time.  Commonsense,  the  absence  of  any 
antagonistic  interests,  the  futility  of  a 
struggle  between  a  military  and  a  naval 
Power,  and  the  growing  inclination  to  pay 
deference  to  the  public  opinion  of  Europe, 
V     VA       J       should    suffice    to    prevent 

King  Edward  ,  ^-     . 

..    r-  .    any  momentary  panic  from 

the  Consummate    t   ■    •  ,  '^  '•  , 

n:^i^™«f:of  drivmg   two  great   nations 

Uiplomatist  .  °  ,  o        . 

into  a  struggle  which  would 

injure  both  and  could  benefit  neither.  But 

it  would   be  vain  to  deny  that  such   an 

atmosphere    of  mutual  suspicion   as  now 

exists  under  the  fostering  care  of  a  solid 

portion  of  the  Press  of  both  countries  is 

eminently  adapted  for  the  cultivation  of 

the  microbe  of  international  rabies. 

Here,  however,  we  have  a  very  notable 
illustration  of  the  invaluable  services  which 
may  be  rendered  to  the  state  by  the  crown, 
in  the  unique  position  which  it  holds  to-day. 
A  visit  to  the  German  Emperor  by  the 
consummate  diplomatist  who  occupies  the 
British  throne  has  had  an  immediately 
pacificatory  effect,  which  goes  far  to  con- 
firm the  conviction  that  Anglo-German 
antagonisms  are  in  no  sense  fundamental, 
but  are  the  outcome  of  misunderstandings, 
which  may  be  eradicated  by  the  persistent 
application  of  commonsense. 

Within  its  own  borders,  the  United 
Kingdom  presents  a  singular  complex 
of  nationalities.  The  Englishman, 
the  Irishman,  the  Scot,  and  the  Welsh- 
man, are  each  of  them  emphatic  in 
asserting  their  distinct  nationality,  though 
the  Englishman  is  somewhat  apt  to  over- 
look the  claim  on  the  part  of  the  other 
three  when  they  are  acting  in  conjunc- 
tion with  him,  and  credits  their  vices 
to  themselves,  and  their  virtues  to  their 
English  connection.  Except  in  the  case  of 
Wales,  the  distinction  is  historical  rather 
than  racial,  for  the  Irish  Kelt  is  not  more 
emphatically  Irish  than  are  the  descen- 
dants of  Norman,  English,  or 
Britain  s  Scottish  settlers ;  and  the  Scot 
vT°?^''  .-..  of  the  Lowlands  is  as  much  a 
Nationalities  5^53^^^^^  to  the  Highlander 
as  the  Englishman.  England,  wealthier, 
more  fertile,  more  populous,  if  not  larger 
in  actual  area  than  the  other  three  put 
together,  has  been  the  "  predominant 
partner  "  ever  since  partnership  of  any 
kind  existed  ;  but  a  difference  in  her 
historic  relations  with  the  three  remains 
apparent  at   the  present  day.     Scotland, 

5423 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


What  Wales 
Claims 


an  independent  state  for  centuries, 
wliich  successfully  defeated  repeated 
attempts  to  subdue  her,  voluntarily 
joined  England  to  form  the  single  state  of 
Great  Britain,  in  1707,  under  guarantees 
that  her  national  institutions  should  not  be 
altered.  She  has  so  far,  at  least,  remained 
in  the  position  of  managing  her  own 
concerns  that  it  is  recognised 
as  impracticable  to  introduce 
material  modifications  with- 
rom  ng  an  ^^^  ^^^  assent  of  the  majority 
of  her  representatives  in  the  Commons. 
Wales,  treated  to  some  extent  as  a 
subject  province  from  the  conquest  by 
Edward  I.  till  the  accession  to  the  English 
throne  of  a  Welshman  in  the  person  of 
Henry  Tudor,  in  1485,  has  formed  an 
integral  part  of  England  since  her  admis- 
sion to  full  parliamentary  representation 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  but  of  recent 
years  has  been  claiming  distinctive  treat- 
ment on  the  ground  that  her  people  are 
distinct  from  the  English  in  race,  customs, 
predilections,  and  to  some  extent  language, 
the  Welsh  tongue  being  still  in  popular  use. 
The  Irish  position  differs  from  that  of  the 
Scots  or  Welsh.  Nominally  subject  to  the 
English  Crown  since  the  reign  of  Henry  II.. 
Ireland  was  treated  for  centuries  as  a 
subject  province  in  which  English  law  was 
more  or  less  enforced  spasmodically,  and 
English  government  could  hardly  be 
described  as  definitely  established  till  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Before  that  time,  and  still  more  afterwards, 
large  appropriations  of  the  soil  to  Protestant 
English  and  Scottish  settlers,  coupled  with 
the  political  disabilities  attaching  to  Roman 
Catholicism — the  creed  of  four-fifths  of  the 
population — kept  the  bulk  of  the  people  in 
constant  hostility  to  the  Government ; 
which  was  intensified  by  the  tyrannical  use 
of  their  power  by  the  Protestant  oligarchy 
through  the  greater  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  Act  of  Union  in  1800 
theoretically  placed  Ireland  on  an  equal 
footing  with  England  and  Scot- 
land in  the  United  Kingdom, 


Ireland's 
Place  in 
the  Union 


but  the  maintenance  of  the 
Catholic  disabilities  for  another 
quarter  of  a  century  intensified  the  hostility 
between  the  Catholic  peasantry  and  the 
Protestant  landlord  class.  Hence  English 
and  Irish  agree  in  recognising  the  necessity 
of  distinctive  treatment  for  Ireland,  but 
from  fundamentally  different  points  of  view. 
For  the  securing  of  justice  as  between 
landlord  and  tenant  the  economic  conditions 

5424 


would  make  the  establishment  of  the  English 
land-tenure  a  quite  futile  course.  What  is 
justice  from  the  tenant's  point  of  view,  is 
robbery  from  the  landlord's  ;  and  the 
solution  England  offers  is  to  impose  upon 
both  "what  she  considers  justice,  and  Irish- 
men do  not.  The  solution  offered  by  the 
great  majority  of  Irishmen  is  that  they 
should  settle  the  matter  for  themselves  with- 
out English  intervention — that  the  "  dis- 
tinctive treatment"  should  be  controlled 
by  the  Irish  democracy,  not  by  the  English. 
The  abstract  justice  of  this  claim  appeals 
the  more  readily  to  the  foreign  spectator, 
because  under  the  existing  conditions  it 
appears  that,  unlike  the  position  of  Scot- 
land and  Wales,  the  wishes  of  the  Irish 
democracy — that  is,  of  the  majority  of 
their  parliamentary  representatives — are 
apt  to  influence  the  judgment  of  the 
majority  at  Westminster  in  inverse  pro- 
portion to  their  intensity — unless  the  Irish 
happen  to  hold  the  balance  between  the 
two  great  parliamentary  parties.  The 
process,  however,  of  extending  large 
powers  of  self-government  to  local  bodies 
has  recently  been  applied,  in  the  hope  that 
it  may  remove  the  urgency  of 

_  ^   "]  .      demands  for  a  separate  legisla- 
Demand  for    .  t,  i        re  j        .i.u 

„        _  .      ture.     It  may  be  affirmed  with 

satisfaction  that  the  virulence  of 
popular  Irish  hostility  to  the  Government 
has  greatly  abated,  though  the  same  can 
probably  not  be  said  of  the  persistence  of 
the  demand  for  Home  Rule  ;  just  as  the  per- 
sonal hostility  between  English  and  Irish 
Members  of  Parliament  has  disappeared. 

In  any  case,  it  seems  certain  that  the 
increasing  congestion  of  work  in  the 
Imperial  Parliament  will  make  it  more  and 
more  necessary  for  parts  of  that  work  to 
be  delegated  to  local  bodies,  and  it  is  not 
improbable  that  a  solution  of  this  difficulty 
will  ultimately  be  found  in  the  recognition 
of  Nationalist — not  Separatist — aspirations 
by  the  establishment  of  Nationalist  legisla- 
tures with  limited  powers,  in  subordination 
to  the  Imperial  Parliament.  The  practical 
difficulties  of  evolving  such  a  scheme  are, 
however,  so  great  that  there  is  no  present 
prospect  of  such  a  change  being  introduced. 

The  political  party  in  the  Imperial 
Parliament,  which,  under  the  leadership 
of  Mr.  Gladstone,  committed  itself  to 
approval  of  the  abstract  principle  of 
Home  Rule  for  Ireland,  is  retarded  from 
taking  active  steps  towards  its  realisation 
by  the  consciousness  that  such  plans  as 
have  hitherto  been  formulated  might  create 


TYPES    OF    BRITISH     BATTLESHIPS 

In  this  and  the  following  pages  we  give  a  series  of  drawings  illustrating 
the  leading  types  of  vessels  which  constitute  the  strength  of  the  British 
Navy,   including  those   of  the   much   discussed   "  Dreadnought "  class. 


^<«siKkeSkte^:;r>^>M$i 


<f 


■^mmm 


m 


H.MS    KING  EDWARD  Sn     AT  SPITHETAD 


v-^ 


'^t/"^|N. 


M.M.S  CHLIRKHA"  T  B  0-^^ 


\ 


J^ 


^^.t^ 


^^^^^^^ 


5423 


5426 


5427 


1 


IMPROVED     TYPE     OF     SUBMARINE,     SHOWING     FULL     HEIGHT     OUT    OF    THE    WATER 


No.     -     SUBMARINE    OF    THE    HOLLAND    TYPE 


5428 


THE    SUBMARINE     IN     NAVAL    WARFARE 

Photos  ;     Cozens  and  Stephen  Cribb 


THE    UNITED    KINGDOM     IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


fresh  causes  of  friction  no  less  serious  than 
those  they  were  designed  to  remove  ; 
while  the  demand  for  "Home  Rule  all 
round  "  has  not  hitherto  been  expressed 
by  any  portion  of  the  electorate.  The 
conception  of  the  empire  as  a  congeries  of 
self-governing  states,  associated  into  feder- 
ated groups  according  to  their  geographical 

position,  having  as  their  apex 
The  United     ^^    ^^^^^^    ^^^^    ^f    ^^^^^    ^^^ 

the^Fuirre"  ^^^"^''^  ^""^  ^^'®  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment, in  which  all  shall  be 
represented — this  conception  has  not  yet 
passed  from  the  theorists  to  the  practical 
politicians.  If  ever  it  does  so,  it  may  be 
assumed  that  the  United  Kingdom  will  be 
transformed  into  one  of  the  federated 
groups,  like  the  Dominion  of  Canada  or  the 
Commonwealth  of  Australia. 

At  the  present  day,  however,  the  United 
Kingdom  has  one  Parliament  only  ;  and 
the  Parliament  of  the  United  Kingdorn 
is  also  the  Imperial  Parliament — that  is  to 
sa}',  that  in  conjunction  with  the  Crown — 
not  independently  of  it — it  is  legally  recog- 
nised as  the  ultimate  sovereign  authority, 
not  only  in  the  United  Kingdom,  but 
throughout  the  empire.  Whatsoever  is  done 
or  ordained  by  the  authority  of  the  king 
in  Parliament  islawfully  done,  and  is  legally 
binding  in  every  portion  of  the  empire 
to  which  the  ordinance  apphes.  By  this 
authority  every  colony  or  dependency  of 
the  empire  has  received  its  present  con- 
stitution, and  might  lawfully  be  deprived 
of  it,  just  as  by  the  same  authority 
murder  might  be  legahsed  and  playing 
bridge  be  elevated  into  a  capital  offence. 

Its  own  commonsense  and  the  moral 
sense  of  the  community  set  a  practical  limit 
to  its  powers  ;  commonsense  forbids  it  to 
exercise  those  powers  in  a  manner  opposed 
to  the  spiiit  of  the  constitution — it  will  be 
in  no  hurry  to  repeat  the  blunder  which 
gave  birth  to  the  United  States  of  America  ; 
but  the  law  sets  no  limit  and  recognises 
none.  Such  authority  has  always  in  Eng- 
.    ^.     .^        land  been  recognised  as  residing 

Authority  -  o     .  _  _  o 


of  King  and 
Parliament 


in  the  Crown  and  the  National 
Council,  whether  that  Council 


was  the  Saxon  Witan,  the 
Magnum  Concilium  of  the  Noimans  and 
early  Plantagenets,  or  the  Parliament  in 
which  the  Commons  appeared  by  their 
representatives.  The  authority  of  king 
and  Council  acting  together  has  never  been 
in  dispute  except  by  doctrinaire  maintainers 
of  the  divine  and  inalienable  right  of 
succession  to  the  throne,  who  deny  that 


even  the  king  in  Parliament  can  alter  the 
course  of  the  succession.  The  constitutional 
struggles  have  been  fought  round  the 
question  how  far  the  Crown  can  act  in- 
dependently of  Parliament,  by  prerogative, 
and  sometimes  how  far  Parliament  can  act 
independently  of  the  Crown. 

The  king  in  Parliament — the  Crown  and 
the  two  Houses  of  Parliament — are  the  ulti- 
mate authority.  For  the  sake  of  brevity  we 
shall  use  the  term  "  Parliament  "  for  this 
complete  body,  speaking  of  the  Crown  and 
the  Houses  when  its  component  parts  are 
referred  to  distinctively.  The  Houses  would 
be  fully  described  as  the  House  of  Peers 
and  the  House  of  the  Representatives  of 
the  Commons,  the  latter  being  alterna- 
tively spoken  of  as  "the  Representative 
House,"  or  "  the  Commons."  While 
Parliament  is  the  ultimate  authority,  it 
discharges  directly  only  a  part  of  the 
sovereign  functions.  Moreovei.  Parliament 
itself  is  subjected  to  a  certain  degree  of 
external  control,  partly  because  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Representative  Chamber  are 
dependent  on  the  electorate  for  the  con- 
tinuity of  their  membership,  partly  from 
the    influence    of    a    public 

Predominance  ^    j^^j^^    ^^-^^    ^^^    ^^     ^^_ 

of  the  House  ^^^.^^j  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  electorate. 
of  Commons  ^^^^^  members  will  hesitate  to 
take  in  the  House  a  Une  which  will  endanger 
their  seats  at  a  general  election-,  and  a  steady 
demand  for  the  franchise  by  a  solid  body  of 
persons  excluded  from  the  electorate  is  toler- 
ably certain  to  be  met  if  its  existence  is  really 
indubitable.  Of  the  three  powers  >vhich, 
united,  makeup  Parliament,  the  Commons' 
House  is  theoretically  predominant. 

The  electorate  has  for  half  a  century 
been  constructed  on  a  democratic  basis. 
The  House  of  Commons  expresses  the  will 
of  the  electorate.  The  Peers  and  the  Crown 
must  yield  to  the  emphatically  expressed 
will  of  the  Commons,  as  also  must  the 
Executive  which  is  responsible  to  Parlia- 
ment though  not  directly  conducted  by  it. 
That  is  the  theory  which  locates  the  effec- 
tive sovereignty  of  the  United  Kingdom 
with  the  democracy  ;  a  theory  which  does 
not  altogether  correspond  with  the  facts. 

In  theory,  again,  the  British  Constitu- 
tion has  these  two  leading  characteristics  : 
it  distributes  political  power  between 
the  Crown,  the  aristocracy,  and  the 
people  ;  and  it  separates  the  exercise  of 
the  three  functions  of  sovereignty,  the 
legislative,  the  administrative,  and  the 
judicial;    while    the    necessary   unity    is 

5429 


LORD    CHARLES    BERESFORD 


SIR    WILLIAM     MAY 


LEADING    ADMIRALS    OF    THE    BRITISH    NAVY    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 

Photo-.:     Khs-cII.   Diuhain.  Gale  and  Poliien.  and  Russell,  Southsea 


5430 


THE     UNITED    KINGDOM    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


secured  by  enabling  the  people  in  the  long 
run  to  dominate  the  Crown  and  the 
aristocrac}^,  and  the  legislature  to  dominate 
the  Executive  and  the  Judiciary'.  The 
people,  it  must  be  observed,  means  in 
any  case  only  that  portion,  large  or 
small,  of  the  whole  community  which 
composes  the  electorate. 

The  relative  political  weight  of  the  Crown, 
the  aristocracy,  and  the  people,  has  varied 
very  greatly  ;  with  a  general  tendency  to 
reduce  first  the  preponderance  of  the  Crown, 
which  the  Normans  established,  then  the 
preponderance  of  the  aristocracy,  and  then 
to  acquire  a  preponderance  for  the  Com- 
mons. It  maybe  said  that  for  two  hundred 
years  the  Crown  has  exercised  not  control, 
but  only  influence,  greater  or  less  according 
to  the  monarch's  personality.  The  actual 
control  vanished  when  a  German  king 
of  Great  Britain  found  that  his  position 
depended  on  the  good  will  of  a  party  over 
whose  discussions  his  linguistic  deficiencies 
made  it  impossible  for  him  to  preside.  The 
preponderance  remained  with  the  aris- 
tocracy, because  a  large  proportion  of  seats 
in  the  representative  chamber  was  virtually 

in  the  gift  of  peers,  although 
c  a  ions  o        ^j^^     House     of     Commons 
the  two  nouses  •    j  ^    •   i,j.    j.i 

,  „    ,.         ^     carried    more   Weight    than 
of  P&rliament      ,i       tt  r  t       j         t-u- 

the  House  of  Lords,      ihis 

ascendancy  of  the  aristocracy  disappeared 
with  the  Reform  Act  of  1832,  which  created 
a  new  antagonism  between  the  Houses 
which  has  continually  been  intensified  with 
the  democratising  of  the  Commons. 

The  character,  however,  of  both  Houses 
has  been  so  materially  modified  since  that 
date  that  our  conceptions  of  the  character 
of  Parliament — ^largely  derived  from  Burke 
— require  readjustment.  Exponents  of 
the  constitution,  so  recent  even  as  Walter 
Bagehot,  wrote  before  the  democratic 
forces  called  into  play  by  the  second 
Reform  Act  had  had  time  to  show  how 
they  would  operate.  Until  then  the  weight 
of  the  electorate  had  still  been  controlled 
by  the  propertied  classes,  and  though  the 
peers  had  lost  their  pocket  boroughs,  a 
large  minority  among  them  was  still  in 
accord  with  the  advanced  party  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  But  that  Reform  Act, 
that  "  leap  in  the  dark,"  has  made  that 
advanced  party  much  more  advanced  than 
it  was  before,  since  the  electorate  is  no 
longer  dominated  by  the  propertied  classes; 
a  fraction  only  of  the  peers  is  in  sympathy 
with  it,  since  its  principles  involve  con- 
siderable  modifications   in  the   theory  of 


property  ;  and  when  the  advanced  party 
has  a  majority  in  the  Commons,  it  has  to 
reckon  on  the  consistent  antagonism  of 
the  great  majority  of  peers  to  its  projects. 
At  the  same  time,  the  House  of  Com- 
mons has  lost  its  preponderance  in  Parlia- 
ment. That  preponderance  was  won 
from  the  Crown  in  virtue  of  the  power  of 
j^^  p  the  people  ;  it  was  assured  as 

of  the  tWe  ^§^^^'^  ^^^.  P^f  rs  ^°  l0!)g  as  '^ 
of  Lords  ^^^^  practically  possible  to 
bring  pressure  on  the  Crown  for 
the  creation  of  a  sufficient  number  of  peers 
to  convert  a  party  minority  into  a  party 
majority.  The  mere  threat  to  do  so  was 
effective  when  the  peers  were  a  sufficiently 
patrician  body  to  feel  that  their  social, 
even  more  than  their  political,  character 
would  be  lost  by  the  creation  of  forty 
new  peers.  The  creation  of  forty  peers 
would  hardly  affect  the  character  of  the 
House  to-day — neither  would  it  affect  the 
party  majority.  To  swamp  the  majority 
would  involve  swamping  the  House,  and 
would  make  the  constitution  of  the  Second 
Chamber  an  absurdity.  Hence,  that 
method  of  compulsion  could  only  be 
applied  by  a  party  determined  either  to 
aboHsh  the  second  chamber  or  to  construct 
it  de  novo  on  a  basis  already  specified  and 
accepted.  On  the  other  hand,  the  still  older 
method  by  which  the  House  of  Commons 
enforced  its  will — the  refusal  of  supplies — 
was  efficacious  only  when  the  Commons 
were  in  opposition  to  the  administration. 

The  effect  is  that  the  House  of  Lords  can 
refuse  to  pass  any  measures  distasteful  to 
it,  however  emphatically  endorsed  by  the 
Commons,  until  it  feels  that  its  refusal  will 
ensure  the  decisive  support  of  the  electorate 
to  a  specific  measure  for  its  abolition  or 
reconstruction.  Whereas  it  can  always 
count  on  the  existence  of  a  very  strong 
predisposition,  in  the  electorate,  in  favour 
of  a  Second  Chamber  of  some  sort,  a  con- 
servative preference  for  the  maintenance 
therein  at  least  of  an  aristrocratic  or 
hereditary  element,  and  a  dis- 
tracting   division    of    opinion 


Problem 

of  the  House 

of  Peers 


among  reconstructors  as  to  a 
practicable  basis  of  reconstruc- 
tion. Human  ingenuity  would  never  have 
deliberately  devised  such  a  second  chamber 
as  the  House  of  Peers  ;  but  it  has  the 
enormous  advantage  of  being  a  natural 
growth,  not  deliberately  devised  at  all  ; 
and  to  dispossess  it  would  be  an  experi- 
ment in  constitution-making  from  which 
the  poHtical  genius  of  the  people  of  the 

5431 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


United  Kingdom  has  an  intense  aversion. 
Thus,  the  constitutional  position  which 
the  United  Kingdom  has  reached  to-day 
would  seem  to  be  this :  The  House  of  Com- 
mons— 'as  we  shall  presently  see — has  a 
control  over  administration,  and  the  peers, 
as  a  House,  have  none.  The  peers  cannot 
carry  legislation  against  the  Commons ;  but 

_.    „  they  can  set  the  legislative 

The  Peers  a  j^  xj.t/-  i 

_.  ,  „  ^  desires  oi  the  Commons  at 
Check  on  Hasty    ■,    n  ,  -u        j 

,     .  ,  ^.  denance,  so  long  as  they  do 

Legislation  i.  xi,       i,  i.i,       i 

not  thereby  rouse  the  elec- 
torate to  an  overwhelming  determination 
to  be  rid  of  them  at  any  price.  They  fulfil 
the  theoretical  function  of  a  Second 
Chamber  as  a  check  on  hasty  legislation, 
but  only  when  the  legislation  is  democratic, 
not  when  it  is  reactionary.  Whether,  and 
when,  the  democracy  will  discover  a  satis- 
factory solution  of  the  problem  thus  pre- 
sented is  becoming  a  somewhat  acute 
question  ;  but  it  can  only  be  said  that  no 
solution  hitherto  propounded  has  com- 
manded anything  more  than  the  doubtful 
acquiescence  of  any  large  body  of  reformers. 

In  the  legislative  capacity  of  Parliament 
which  we  have  had  under  consideration, 
the  third  element,  the  Crown,  has  ceased 
to  have  more  than  a  formal  importance. 
The  technical  right  of  veto  remains  in  the 
background,  but  no  one  imagines  that  it 
will  ever  be  exercised,  unless  conceivably 
in  the  case  of  some  flagrant  violation  of 
constitutional  practice  by  the  Houses — in 
itself  a  sufficiently  improbable  event. 

We  come  now  to  the  relations  between 
Parliament,  the  Judiciary,  and  the  Execu- 
tive. The  Judiciary  need  not  detain  us 
long.  The  judges  became  independent  two 
hundred  years  ago.  A  general  guarantee  of 
fitness  is  provided  by  the  fact  that  they  are 
removable  on  an  address  to  the  Crown  by 
both  Houses,  but  their  independence  is 
secured  by  the  corresponding  fact  that  it 
is  only  on  such  an  address  that  they  are 
removable.  Their  appointment  rests 
nominally  with  the  Crown,  actually  with 

„      _   .       the  Crown's  legal  advisers,  and 
now  Judges       ^      •.  •     ?  ,• 

security  against  grossly  partisan 

A  •  t  A  a-ppointments  is  assured  by 
pp  in  e  ^^^  presumption  that  such 
appointments  would  provoke  retaliation. 
The  real  seat  of  the  Government  of  the 
country  is  to  be  found  only  by  examining 
the  relations  between  the  Parliament  ancl 
the  Executive,  in  "  party  "  and  "cabinet" 
government,  affecting  legislation  as  well 
as  administration.  The  whole  administra- 
tion is  controlled  by  officers   technically 

5432 


appointed  by  the  Crown  as  the  head,  the 
Crown  acting  through  Ministers.  But  the 
will  of  the  people  is  expressed  through 
Parliament.  Before  the  "  glorious  revolu- 
tion "  of  1688  the  king  might,  and  very  often 
did,  choose  Ministers  who  were  antagonistic 
to  Parliament,  and  Parliament  could  get 
rid  of  them  only  by  the  process  of  im- 
peachments, or  by  refusing  supplies — a 
double-edged  weapon  at  the  best  of  times. 
The  problem  was  to  secure  harmony 
between  Parliament  and  the  administra- 
tion ;  which,  in  effect,  meant  the  majority 
of  the  House  of  Commons  and  the  admin- 
istration. The  solution  was  found  in  the 
selection  of  Ministers  exclusively  from  the 
party  which  had  a  majority  in  the 
Commons  ;  and  the  actual  selection  was 
very  soon  transferred,  on  the  accession 
of  the  Hanoverians,  from  the  Crown  to 
the  chief  of  the  dominant  party.  The 
Crown,  indeed,  continued  to  exercise,  on 
occasion,  the  technical  right  of  declining 
the  services  of  distasteful  Ministers  and 
of  placing  the  selection  in  the  hands  of 
someone  who  was  not  the  recognised 
leader  of  the  majority ;  but  in  practice  that 
.  technical  right  was  gradually 

R^s  o^illibilit    ehminated.  The  principle  had 
csponsi  1 1  y  ^jj-gg^^jy  been  established  that 
of  the  Cabinet  -mt-    •   .-^  ,-,  , 

Mimsters     themselves     were 

personally  responsible  for  their  acts, 
and  could  not  take  shelter  behind  orders 
from  the  Crown  ;  and  the  further  prin- 
ciple was  gradually  established  that  the 
whole  group  of  Ministers  are  responsible 
for  the  acts  of  each  individual  Minister,  a 
system  expressed  by  the  phrase  "collective 
responsibility  of  the  Cabinet." 

It  became  the  practice  that  Ministers 
should  be  selected  from  members  of  one  or 
other  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  in  which 
connection  it  is  curious  to  note  that  there 
was  for  a  long  time  a  dislike  to  their  ap- 
pointment from  among  the  Commons,  on 
the  ground  that,  as  the  king's  servants, 
they  would  exercise  a  dangerous  monarch- 
ical influence  in  the  House.  It  required 
an  extended  experience  to  show  that  their 
membership  of  the  House  increased  the 
power  of  the  House  itself  instead  of 
curtailing  its  independence. 

The  group  of  the  principal  Ministers 
selected  by  the  chief  formed  the  confi- 
dential committee,  which  came  to  be 
known  as  the  Cabinet,  meeting  in  secret 
conclave  to  decide  the  course  of  the  policy 
which  is  to  be  adopted  and  the  legislative 
measures  which  are  to  be  submitted  to 


THE    UNITED    KINGDOM    IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 


Parliament.  There  is  no  technical  bar,  it 
may  be  remarked,  to  the  initiation  of 
legislation  which  does  not  emanate  from 
the  Cabinet,  but  such  legislation  has  very 
little  prospect  of  being  carried  unless  the 
Cabinet  choose  to  adopt  it  as  a  (Govern- 
ment measure  ;  so  that  practically  and 
normally  the  initiative  lies  with  Ministers. 
In  a  sense,  however,  the  control  of 
Ministers  lies  with  the  House  of  Commons, 
because  if  it  is  dissatisfied  with  their 
conduct,  it  can  demand  their  resignation — 
such  a  demand  formulated  by  the  House  of 
Lords  would  either  be  ignored  or  met  by 
an  appeal  to  the  Commons  for  a  vote  of 
confidence.  It  has  not  hitherto  been 
admitted  that  a  Ministry  supported  by 
the  representative  Chamber  can  be  dis- 
missed by  the  peers  ;  but  it  could  not 
venture  to  defy  an  adverse  vote  in  the 
Commons,  since,  inter  alia,  Ministers  are 
human  enough  not  to  be  anxious  to  retain 
office  if  they  are  deprived  of  salaries.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Crown,  though  having 
the  technical  authority  to  dismiss  a 
Minister  or  a  whole  Ministry,  would  not 
venture  to  do  so  without  being  absolutely 

sure    that    its    action    would    be 

„.  .**      endorsed  by  an  early  appeal  to 

inis  ry  ^^^     electorate.        In      practice, 

therefore,  it  is  to  the  Commons 
that  Ministers  are  responsible,  and  the 
Commons  have  the  power  of  dismissal.  Up 
to  a  certain  point  it  is  the  Commons,  also, 
that  have  the  power  of  appointment.  An 
adverse  vote  in  the  Commons  on  a  funda- 
mental question  will  compel  Ministers 
either  to  resign  or  to  advise  a  dissolution. 
In  the  former  case  the  retiring  chief 
recommends  the  Crown  to  "  send  for  " 
the  official  leader  of  the  Opposition, 
who  holds  that  position  by  the  choice  of 
his  party,  which  now  is  presumably — 
on  the  hypothesis  that  the  House  is  com- 
posed of  two  parties — in  a  majority,  or  can 
command  at  least  the  provisional  support 
of  a  majority.  In  the  second  case,  the 
Ministry  remains  in  office  till  it  meets 
with  an  adverse  vote  in  the  new  Parlia- 
ment, when  it  will  resign,  and  a  new 
Ministry  will  be  formed  by  the  leader 
of  the  Opposition.  In  either  case  the 
Minister  who  constructs  the  Cabinet  is  the 
man  whom  the  party  which  commands  a 
majority  has  chosen  as  its  leader.  If  he 
does  not  command  a  majority,  he  will 
accept  office  only  with  a  view  to  an  early 
dissolution.  The  Minister  will  construct 
his  Cabinet,  and  select  his  colleagues,  in 

I   U  28 


general  accord  with  the  wishes  of  his 
party ;  and  so  far  it  is  true  that  the 
Ministry  or  Cabinet,  the  executive  body, 
is  appointed  by  the  House  of  Commons- 
meaning  thereby  the  political  party  which 
commands  a  majority  in  that  House.  Yet 
the  real  control  of  the  House  over  the 
administration  is  limited.  The  system 
The  System  ^^  workable  only  on  the  basis  of 
of  Party  "  P^'^^^  government,  the  hypo- 
Government  ^^^^^^  t^.^^  there  are  two 
mam  parties,  to  one  or  other  of 
which  all  minor  groups  will  attach  them- 
selves with  some  consistency.  It  is  pos- 
sible under  the  system  for  a  Ministry  to 
carry  a  series  of  measures,  no  one  of  which 
has  the  actual  approval  of  an  actual 
majority  of  members.  If  one  of  those 
measures  is  defeated,  the  Ministry  will 
resign,  and  the  Opposition  will  assume 
the  government.  A  group  of  members 
who  dislike  one  measure  but  are  bent  on 
a  second,  will  give  their  support  to  the 
first  rather  than  have  the  second  shelved 
by  the  resignation  of  the  Cabinet.  Another 
group  will  reverse  the  process  ;  and  the 
Government  will  successfully  carry  both 
measures,  though  each  would  have  been  lost 
if  the  reluctant  supporters  of  the  Govern- 
ment had  given  their  votes  exclusively  on 
the  merits  of  the  particular  measure. 

What  is  true  of  the  House  of  Commons 
is  still  more  true  of  the  electorate.  The 
electorate  chooses  its  party,  not  its  specific 
measures.  The  prospect  of  Tariff  Reform 
or  of  Local  Option,  of  Land  Reform  or  of 
an  Education  Bill,  may  decide  which  party 
shall  predominate  in  Parliament ;  but  the 
electorate  does  not  endorse  beforehand  all 
the  measures  which  that  party  may  see  fit 
to  adopt  before  another  General  Election. 
Different  projects  may  be  the  decisive 
factors  in  the  choice  of  different  constitu- 
encies which  unite  to  bring  the  same  party 
into  power  ;  and  it  is  possible  that  neither 
project  has  the  direct  approval  of  a  maj ority 
of  constituencies,  or  of  a  majority  of  mem- 
bers, and  may  yet  both  be  part  of 
the  avowed  programme  of  the 


Decisive 
Factors  at 
Elections 


Ministers  whom  the  victorious 
party  will  support  in  passing 
both.  It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  the 
resignation  of  the  Cabinet  does  not 
necessarily  involve  the  formation  of  a 
Ministry  from  the  Opposition.  If  it  is  the 
outcome  of  dissensions  within  the  Cabinet, 
the  leader  of  the  revolt,  or  someone  in 
sympathy  with  the  revolt,  may  be  given 
the    opportunity    of    reconstructing    the 

u  5433 


INTERIOR    OF    THE     HOUSE    OF    LORDS.    AS    SEEN     FROM    THE    THRONE 


INTERIOR     OF    THE     CHAMBER,     LOOKING     TOWARDS     THE     THRONE 


GREAT     BRITAIN'S     UPPER     HOUSE     OF     PARLIAMENT 


5434 


INTERIOR    OF    THE    HOUSE,    LOOKING    TOWARDS    THE    STRANGERS     GALLERY 


INTERIOR    OF    THE    HOUSE,    LOOKING    TOWARDS    THE    SPEAKERS    CHAIR 


SCENES     IN     THE     BRITISH     HOUSE     OF     COMMONS 


5435 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


How  the 
Party  System 
Works 


Government.  But  the  fundamental  fact  is 
that  the  House  of  Commons  will  not 
formally  attack  Government  measures  or 
administration  merely  because  it  dis- 
approves in  particulars,  so  long  as  it  sees 
in  the  defeat  of  Ministers  the  prospect  only 
of  an  alternative  Government,  of  which 
it  disapproves  more  strongly  in  general. 
Hence  we  arrive,  not  at 
the  predominance  of  the 
House  of  Commons  as  a 
whole,  nor  exactly  at  a  pre- 
dominance of  the  Cabinet,  but  at  a  balance 
between  the  Cabinet  and  the  majority 
of  the  party  from  which  it  is  drawn. 
Unless  some  such  vital  question  arises 
as  Home  Rule  or  Tariff  Reform,  the 
minorities  of  the  party  will  support  the 
majority,  and  the  majority  will  support 
the  Cabinet.  The  Cabinet  can  go  its  own 
way  so  long  as  the  threat  of  resignation 
will  keep  its  majority  solid  ;  but  the 
Cabinet  cannot  defy  a  majority  which  is 
ready  to  demand  its  resignation  if  it  does 
so.  But  beyond  the  House  of  Commons 
there  is  the  House  of  Lords,  which  can 
render  the  legislation — though  not  the 
administration — nugatory  so  long  as  it 
does  not  endanger  its  own  existence  by  so 
doing.  The  peers  have  been  not  infre- 
quently threatened,  but  threatened  men 
live  long.  It  cannot  well  be  maintained  in 
the  circumstances  as  expounded  that  a 
supremacy  can  be  definitely  located. 

The  will  of  the  majority  of  the  House 
of  Commons  is  not  necessarily,  at  least  in 
particulars,  that  of  the  electorate.  The 
vote  of  the  majority  does  not  necessarily 
express  the  wish  even  of  that  majority. 
The  Cabinet  is  powerless  unless  it  can 
command  that  vote,  and  the  vote  itself 
may  be  rendered  nugatory  by  the  peers. 
It  may  be  seen  that  the  system  is 
decidedly  remote  from  any  logical  ideal, 
and  this  will  be  further  emphasised  by  two 
considerations.  The  first  of  these  is  the 
structure  of  the  Cabinet,  which  conducts 
administration.  The  logician 
•  *fK  sT  t  would  set  an  expert  at  the  head 
i?     ^ .    *  !    of  each  Department  of  state  ; 

Departments     ,,  .        ^  •  i        •  ■< 

the  system  provides  m  each  a 
board  of  expert  advisers,  but  sets  at  the 
head  someone  who,  as  often  as  not,  is 
entirely  without  experience  in  the  work 
of  that  department.  We  may  have  a 
bookseller  at  the  Admiralty,  a  meta- 
physician at  the  War  Office,  a  war- 
correspondent  at  the  Board  of  Trade,  a 
country  gentleman  in  charge  of  Finance, 

5436 


auii  an  untravelled  attorney  in  charge  of 
India  or  the  Colonies.  Experience  teaches 
that  the  practice  has  very  high  merits, 
but  it  is  supremely  paradoxical. 

The  second  point  is  that  the  whole 
system  rests  on  the  theory  that  one  or 
other  of  two  parties  can  always  com- 
mand a  majority  in  the  Commons.  Yet 
there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  things  to 
ensure  that  this  shall  always  be  the  case  ; 
on  the  contrary,  a  third  party  has  been  in 
existence  for  many  years,  and  once  at  least 
neither  of  the  two  great  parties  could  have 
conducted  the  Government  while  the  third 
party  refused  its  support.  A  fourth  party 
has  already  come  definitely  into  existence  ; 
it  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  in  any  way 
certain  that  one  party  will  be  able  to 
command  a  majority  of  the  House. 

It  will  be  necessary  for  two,  or  possibly 
for  three  of  the  parties  to  come  to 
terms  of  alliance,  and  the  programme, 
or  part  of  the  programme,  of  a  small 
minority  may  be  forced  on  Ministers  as 
the  condition  on  which  their  own  par- 
ticular programme  can  be  carried  through. 
Our  point  is  that  democratisation  seems 
.  ,  to  tend  of  itself  to  the  multi- 
Bntam  s  plication  of  parties,  and  the 
th^^r'^t'  "^  multiplication  of  parties  tends 
to  produce  legislative  deadlock 
and  extreme  instability  of  administration. 
And  it  appears  at  the  present  moment  by 
no  means  improbable  that  the  group  of 
questions  here  indicated  may  be  rendered 
additionally  complicated  at  an  early  date 
by  the  appearance  of  the  women's  franchise 
in  the  sphere  of  practical  politics. 

Nevertheless,  we  may  take  heart  of 
grace.  Our  political  constitution  has 
always  and  everywhere  presented  an 
abundance  of  paradoxes  and  inconsisten- 
cies, which  ought  by  rule  to  have  prevented 
progress  by  locking  the  machinery  ;  yet 
the  machinery  has  never  been  brought  to 
a  standstill,  nor  have  the  works  been  kept 
going  by  destroying  the  old  machinery  to 
replace  it  with  a  brand-new  article.  It 
has  always  been  found  possible  to  adapt 
the  old  machinery  to  the  new  work  it  had 
to  do  ;  and  we  may  confidently  expect 
that  the  process  of  adaptation  will  con- 
tinue, the  machinery  will  still  work  with- 
out revolutionary  reconstruction,  and  the 
population  of  these  islands  will  not  cease 
yet  awhile  to  hold  a  foremost  place  among 
the  free  nations  of  the  world,  of  which 
nations  not  a  few  will  be  our  brothers  of 
the  British  Empire.  A.    D.    Innes 


INFORMATION    ABOUT   THE   UNITED    KINGDOM 


Area  and  Population.  The  area  of  the  con- 
stituent parts  of  the  United  Kingdom  and  the  popu- 
lation at  last  census  (1901),  including  the  Army, 
Navy,  and  merchant  seamen  abroad,  are  as  follow ; 


j  Sq.miles 

Population 

England         

Wales     .                                

50,9o;i 

7.421 

:i0.811,42n 
1,716,42:! 

Scotland 

4.472,10X 

:!a,:i60 

4,458,775 

Isle  of  Man 

227 

54.7.52 

Channel  Islai 
Anny,  Navy, 

ids 
and  Meiciiai 

t  Seamen  abr 
Total 

lad' '         '. '. 

9.5.618 
;i67,736 

121.391 

41.976,827 

Parliament.  The  supreme  legislative  power  of 
the  British  Empire  vests  in  Parliament,  which 
consists  of  the  representatives  of  the  three  estates 
of  the  realm — the  Clergy,  the  Lords,  and  the 
Commons.  The  Lords  Spiritual,  or  the  representa- 
tives of  the  clergy,  and  the  Lords  Temporal,  as  the 
lay  lords  are  designated,  make  up  the  Upper 
Chamber,  or  House  of  Lords.  The  names  on  the 
"  roll "  of  the  House  of  Lords  number  (ila  at 
present.  The  number  of  Lords  Spiritual  in  the 
Upper  House  is  26,  and  must  include  the  Arch- 
bishops of  Canterbury  and  York,  and  the  Bishops 
of  London,  Durham  and  Winchester.  No  Scottish 
or  Irish  bishops  sit  in  the  House  of  Lords.  The 
Lords  Temporal  consist  of  hereditary  peers,  life 
peers  and  law  lords.  Princes  of  the  royal  house 
have  seats  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  although 
there  are  three  of  them  on  the  roll  of  the 
House — the  Prince  of  Wales,  the  Duke  of  Connaught, 
and  the  Duke  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha — they  never 
debate,  and  seldom  take  part  in  a  division.  There 
are  28  Irish  representative  peers,  who  are  elected 
for  life  ;  16  Scottish  representative  peers,  who  are 
elected  for  each  Parliament ;  and  22  dukes,  23 
marquises,  124  earls,  40  viscounts,  and  333  barons — 
sitting  liy  right  of  their  peerage.  The  House  of 
Commons,  or  Lower  Chamber,  is  an  elective 
assembly  on  a  low  property  franchise  established 
by  the  Act  of  1884,  which  made  the  Commons  a 
democratic  Chamber.  There  are  670  members  in 
all,  distributed  as  follows : 


Counties 

Boroughs 

Universities 

ToUl 

England       

Wales 

Scotland       

Iielanil          

2:14 
19 
39 
85 

226 
11 
31 
16 

2 

465 

30 

ITO 

377 

2S4 

'           9 

670 

Of  these  London  returns  60  members,  including 
one  member  from  London  University.  Details  of 
electoral  qualification  differ  in  different  parts  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  The  voting  quaHfication  upon  the 
basis  of  property  ownership  is  : 


§^ 


fa  J  Freehold  estate  worth  40.s.  annually. 

fdj  Land  held  in  any  tenure  for  life  and  worth  £5  annually. 

fij  Leasehold  of  £5  annual  value,  of  which  original  term  was  for 

not  less  than  00  years. 
fi^J  Leasehold  of  £60  annual  value,  of  which   original    term  was 
not  less  than  20  years. 
TS   rfaj  Lands  and  heritages  of  £5  annual  value. 

g  I  (bj  Leasehold  of  £10  annual  value,  held  for  life  or  original  term  V)eing 
^  V  for  not  less  than  57  yevrs. 

g  I  fcj  Leasehold  of  £50  annual  value,  original  term  of  not  less  than 
f-   \  19  years. 

(a)  Freehold  of  £5  net  annual  value. 

(h)  Rent  charges  on  leases  for  life  of  £10  annual  value. 

fi)  Leasehold  of  £10  aimual  value,  originally  held  for  not  le.ss  than 

60  years. 
(tij  Leasehold  of  £20  annual  value,  originally  held  for  not  le.ss  than 
14  years. 

There  is  also  throughout  the  ITnited  Kingdom  an  occupation  and  a 
residence  qualirtcjition  to  vote,  and  lodgers  renting  accommodation  worth 
£10  a  year  anfuniished  may  claim  a  vote  after  12  mouths'  residence  prior 
to  any  July  15.  Liverymen  of  the  City  of  London,  graduates  on  the 
electoral  roll  of  the  Universities  of  Oxfoi'd,  Camhridge,  Dublin,  and 
L«ndon,  and  members  of  the  University  Court  and  General  Council  of 
Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  St.  Andrews  and  Aberdeen,  vote  for  the  City  of 
London,  and  for  their  respective  viniversities. 


Unless  dissolved  by  the  Crown,  l^uliament  lasts 
for  seven  years.  Tlie  sovereign  summons,  prorogues 
or  dissolves  Parliament,  and  gives  the  royal  assent 
to  Bills  that  have  passed  both  Chambers.  The 
Lord  High  Chancellor  is  Sj)eaker  of  the  House  of 
Lords  as  well  as  principal  legal  adviser  to  the 
Crown  ;  and  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons 
is  elected  to  that  office  by  the  House,  and  holds 
office  until  a  dissolution. 

Government.  In  practice,  government  is  carried 
on  by  the  Cabinet,  which  is  really  a  committee  of  the 
Privy  Council.  The  Cabinet  always  includes,  in 
addition  to  the  Prime  Minister,  the  First  Lord  of  the 
Treasury,  Lord  Chancellor,  Lord  President  of  the 
Council,  Lord  Privy  Seal,  the  five  Secretaries  of  State 
— Home,  Foreign,  Colonial,  War  and  India — and  the 
First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty.  But  it  usually  includes 
other  seven  or  eight  heads  of  dejiartments,  such  as 
the  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland,  the  Presidents  of 
the  Local  Government  Board,  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  and  of  the  Board  of  Education  and  the 
Postmaster-General,  thus  making  about  18  members 
in  all.  The  Prime  Minister  is  invariably  the  leader 
of  the  great  parliamentary  party  that  has,  at  the 
time  of  his  assumption  of  power,  the  commanding 
number  of  votes  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The 
sovereign  sends  for  this  leader,  exercising  his 
discretion  in  the  event  of  several  members  of  the 
party  having  apparently  equal  claims  to  the  ability 
and  position  of  leader,  and  entrusts  him  with  the 
formation  of  a  Ministry,  which  consists  of  about 
50  Ministers,  of  whom  about  eighteen  usually  form  a 
Cabinet,  as  indicated  above. 

Monarch.  The  reigning  king  is  Edward  VII., 
born  November  9ih,  1841,  son  of  Queen  Victoria 
and  the  Prince  Consort — Prince  Albert  of  Saxe- 
Coburg-Gotha — succeeded  his  mother  on  January 
22nd,  1901.  He  is  the  seventh  ruler  of  the  House 
of  Hanover.  His  official  title  is  :  Edward  VII.,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  and  of  the  British  Dominions 
Beyond  the  Seas,  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith, 
Emperor  of  India. 

Finance.  The  total  National  Debt  of  the 
United  Kingdom  on  March  31st,  1908,  was 
£759,820,051,  made  up  as  follows  : 

Funded— Permanent £625,608.890 

Annuities 39,407,575 

Unfunded              43,9.59,400 

Other  CapiUl  Liabilities        50,8.50,186 

£759,826,031 


Suez  Canal  shares  and  other  assets  represent 
value  for  £44,392,863,  so  that  the  net  debt  is 
£715,433,188.  The  funded  debt  is  nearly  all  in 
2i-  per  cent.  Consols.  The  interest  and  sinking  fund 
charee  for  the  financial  year  1907-8  was  £29.500.000, 
which  included  £8,365,294  to  the  sinldng  fund. 

The  total  national  revenue  and  expenditure  for 
the  year  1907-8  was  as  follows  : 


REVENUE 

Customs  ..         ..         .. 

Excise 

Property   and    Income 

Tax 

Estate  Duties 
Stamps    . . 
House  Duty 
Land  Tax 
Post  Office 
Telegraphs 
Crown  Lauds     . 
Interest— Suez    Canal, 

eU' 

Miscellaneous    .. 


32.490.n00 
35,720,000 

32,.180,000 
19,070,000 
7,970,000 
1,960,000 
7:10,000 
17,880.000 
4,420,000 
520,000 


EXPENDITURE 

Interest    on    National 

Debt 

18,591,000 

Rcpavmeut  —  National 

Debt 

10,909.000 

Other  Consolidated  Func 

Services 

l,9ra,000 

Payments  to  Local  Taxa- 

tion Accounts 

11,155.000 

Army       

27,115,000 

Navy        

31,141,000 

Civil  Services    . . 

:!0,180,000 

Cust'ims    and     Inland 

Revenue 

Post  Office 

17,527,000 

£1.51,812,000 

5437 


INFORMATION    ABOUT    THE    UNITED    KINGDOM 


Customs  and  Excise.  The  Customs  Duties  of 
the  United  Kingdom  are  as  follow  : 

lieer  S/-  to  :i7/ii  pir  Ij-irit-l. 

Chicory,  raw,  l:»ij.  :M.  per  cwt.  ;  roaste<l.  2<1.  per  lb. 

Cocoa  and  cocoa  Initter,  Id.  per  lb. 

Chocolate,  "id.  per  lb. 

Cotfee,  raw,  lis.  per  cwt.  ;  roasted  or  ground,  2d.  per  lb. 

Currants,  23.  per  cwt. 

Fiu's.  raisins,  French  plums  and  prunes,  7s.  per  cwt. 

Playing  cjirds,  3H'i-  Per  p:u.k. 

Spiiits.  lis.  4d.  and  lis.  3d.  per  proof  gallon,  or  Is.  per  gallon  extra  if 

bottled. 
Soap  containing  alcohol.  3d.  per  lb. 
Su^Tir.  2s.  to  4s.  2d.  per  cwt. 
Tea.  5fl.  per  lb. 

Tobacco,  raw,  3/-  to  3s.  41d.  per  lb. 
Toljacco  and  snuff,  manufactured,  :ts.  7d.  to  6s.  per  lb. 
"Wine  in  cask.  Is.  3d.  to  3s.  per  gallon. 

The  Excise  Duties  are  as  follow  : 

Beer,  7s.  Hd.  per  barrel. 

Spirits,  lis.  per  gallon. 

Glucose,  solid,  2s.  Od.  per  cwt. ;  liquid,  2/-  per  cwt. 

Siwcharin,  Is.  3d.  per  oz. 

There  are,  in  addition,  many  e-vise  licences  such  as  game  and  gun 
licences,  marriage  licences,  plate  licences,  pawnbrokers',  auctioneers', 
pedlal's',  hawkei's",  and  dog  licences. 

Agriculture.  The  total  land  area  of  the 
United  Kingdom  is  about  77,000,000  acres,  and  of 
this  total  quantity  about  4  per  cent,  consists  of 
woods  and  plantations,  about  20  per  cent,  is 
mountain  and  heath  land  used  for  grazing,  about 
35  per  cent,  is  permanent  pasture,  about  25  per 
cent,  is  arable,  and  the  remaining  16  per  cent, 
consists  of  water  surface,  waste  land  incapable  of 
cultivation,  and  Ian  I  containing  buildings.  Accord- 
ing to  the  latest  census  (1901),  the  total  number  of 
persons  employed  in  agricultm-e,  including  also 
those  employed  on  stock  and  dairy  farms,  gardeners 
and  nurserymen,  seedsmen  and  florists,  was 
2,2(52,454:.  The  acreage  of  the  arable  land  under  the 
principal  crops  was  in  1907  as  follows :  Oats, 
4,218,541  ;  barley,  1,885,359  ;  turnips  and  swedes, 
1,846.128;  wheat,  1,665,017  ;  potatoes,  1,151,632  ; 
mangolds  518,019 ;  beans  and  peas,  478,292. 
Comparison  of  these  figures  with  the  averages  of 
the  five  quintennial  periods  before  1900  show  that 
in  every  crop  except  oats  and  peas  and  beans  the 
acreage  of  1907  was  the  smallest.  Other  crops  with 
smaller  acreage  are  rye,  cabbage,  vetches  or  tares, 
lucerne,  rape,  flax,  and  hops.  In  1907  the  number 
of  livestock  were:  Sheep,  30.011,219;  cattle, 
11,628,483  ;   pigs,  3,966,824  ;   and  horses,  2,088,932. 

Fisheries.  The  official  figures  relating  to  the 
sea  fisheries  of  the  United  Kingdom  in  1906  give 
the  following  details,  which  do  not  include  fish 
curers,  packers,  sail  and  net  makers,  and  others 
dependent  on  the  fishing  industry  : 


Regular 
fishermen 

Occ;«ioually 
employed 

Total 

35,007 

8,080 

10,072 

16,575 

220 

183 

43,087 

38,829 

24,454 

823 

Scotland            

llcland 

Isle  of  Man 

Channel  Islands        

2S,767 

7,879 

603 

544 

Total 

72.790 

35,130 

107.920 

The  number  of  fishing  boats,  including  trawlers, 
liners  and  drifters,  in  1907,  was  9,332  in  England 
and  Wales,  10.365  in  Scotland,  and  6,097  in  Ireland. 
The  total  quantity  of  the  iish  landed  in  1907  was 
23,770,271  tons,  not  including  shell-fish  ;  and  the 
total  value,  including  shell-fish,  was  £11,738,426. 

MiXER.\LS.  The  number  of  persons  in  the 
United  Kingdom  who  were  employed  in  mines  and 
quarries  in  1907  was  1,01)0,034  : 


Coal 

Metalliferous   Quarries 

Under  ground 

Above  ground  . .         

Females 

7.'->7,887 

177.081 

5,650 

18.569 

12,S19 

214 

87,814 

Total 

940.618 

31.602 

87.814 

The  mineral  output  for  1907  was  as  follows  : 

Tons 

Value 

Tons 

Value 

1 

Alum  shale 

9.90.-, 

1.69-2 

Gypsum 

235,517 

88,629 

Arsenic 

1.499 

35,829 

I.neous 

Arsenical 

rocks 

5.674  470 

1,158,951 

pyrites     .. 

1,772 

2,!I90 

Iron  ore 

15,731.604 

4,4;!3,413 

Barium 

Iron   pyrites 

10,194 

4,4,S9 

conipoun<ls 

41,974 

38,440 

Lead  ore 

32,533 

419.-247 

Bauscite(alu- 

Lime     phos- 

ininium ore) 

7,.'i37 

1,884 

phate 

32 

46 

Bog  ore       .. 

6.290 

1.573 

Manganese 

Chalk 

4,779,387 

200,8t2 

ore 

16,098 

16,516 

Other     lime- 

Mica.. 

14,615 

5,074 

stone 

12,509,142 

1,323.624 

Ochre       and 

Chert      and 

umber 

14,692 

14.409 

flint 

53,664 

12,705 

Petroleum 

Clay    and 

shale 

2,690.028 

806,323 

shale 

14,827.895 

1.8.50.387 

Salt  .. 

1,984.6.56 

648,1596 

Coal 

267,830,962 

120,.')27.378 

Sandstone  . . 

5,012,053 

l,-397.-285 

Copper  ore . . 

6,625 

21,-253 

Silver  ore   .. 

-2 

:I48 

Copper  preci- 

Slate. 

443,554 

1,178.609 

pitate 

267 

12,665 

Sulphate    o< 

Diatomite  . . 

150 

4.50 

stroutia  .. 

10,745 

8.0.59 

Fluorspar  . 

49,462 

23,311 

Tin  ore 

7,080 

706.700 

Gold  ore 

1'2,978 

5.623 

Uranium  ore 

71 

6,.500 

Giavel     and 

Wolfram  ore 

:»2 

41.044 

sand 

2,400.392 

183.625 

Zinc  ore       . . 

20.082 

100..533 

General  Industries.  No  official  or  other  stat- 
istics give  precise  or  approximate  information  regard- 
ing the  output  of  the  many  manufacturing  industries 
of  the  United  Kingdom.  Exports  and  imports  are 
carefully  tabulated,  but  not  output.  The  census 
of  Production  Act  of  1906  wUl  remedy  this  defect  in 
our  industrial  statistical  system  by  collecting  data 
regarding  the  nature  and  volume  of  our  home  pro- 
duction. Meantime,  the  only  standards  of  compari- 
son are  the  census  returns  which  concern  occupation. 
Last  census  (1901)  showed  the.  numbers  of  persons 
employed  in  various  occupations  to  be  as  follow: 


General  or  local  government  of  the  country 

Defence  of  the  country  (excluding  army,  navy,  and  marines 

abroad)  

Professional  occupations  and  their  subordinate  services  . . 
Domestic  offices  or  services  (excluding  domestic  or  outdoor  service) 

Commercial  occupations 

Conveyance  of  men,  goods,  and  me.'ssages        .  

Agi'iculture 

Fishing 

In  and  about  and  dealing  in  the  prod\ictof  mines  and  quarries. . 

Metal,  machines,  implements,  and  conveyances 

Precious    metals,    jewels,    watches,    iustnuueiits    and    games 

(including  electricity  supply) 

Building  and  works  of  construction 

Wood,  furniture,  fittings,  and  decorations 

Brick,  cement,  pottery,  and  glass  ..  *         

Chemicals,  oil,  grease,  soap,  etc 

Skins,  leather,  hair  and  feathers  

Paper,  prints,  books,  and  stationery 

Textile  fabrics . 

Workers  and  dealers  in  dress        . ,         . .         . .         . .         . 

Food,  tobacco,  drink,  and  lodging  

Gas,  water,  and  sanitary  service  . . 

Other  general  and  undefined  workers  and  dealers 

Total 


2.53,863 

203.993 

733,582 
2.199..517 

712.465 

1.4.97.6-29 

2.->62,454 

61,9-25 

943,380 
1,475,410 


168,344 

1,3:B,8-20 

307.6:« 

189.85J 

149.67.5 

117,866 

.•f34.-2t>l 

1.462,001 

1,395,795 

1,301.070 

78.686 

1,07.5,414 

18.-261.146 


Imports  and  Exports.  The  imports  of  mer- 
chandise into  the  United  Kingdom  for  the  j^ear 
1907  were  of  the  value  of  £645,807,942,  and  the 
exports  were  of  the  value  of  £426,035,083.  Of  the 
imports  British  possessions  supplied  24^  per  cent., 
and  of  the  exports  British  possessions  took  32  per 
cent.     The  exports  are  divided  into  three  classes  : 

1.  Food,  drink,  and  tobacco £-2-.>, 729,648 

2.  Raw  materials  and  articles,  mainly  manufactured    ..         ..  55.003,081 

.3.  Articles  wholly  or  mainly  manufactured           ;J42.0-25.-273 

Miscellaneous  and  unclassified 6,-277.081 


Total 


.  £4-26.0:«,08:l 


The  third  class  is  further  divided  into  groups,  as 
follows  : 

Iron  and  steel  and  manufactures  thereof . .  i;46..563.386 

Other  metals           ..  11,674.131 

Cutlei-y.  hardware,  implements  and  instruments           . .         . .  6,4;{4,002 

Electrical  goods  and  apparatus  (not  machinery  and  wire)        . .  2.469,9-27 

Machinery .11,743.-253 

Ships  mew) 10.018.113 

Manufactures  of  wowl  and  timber ..         ..  1,407,9:12 

Yarn  and  textile  fabrics — 

Cotton 110.4  57,092 

Wool -.         ..  34,158,8.57 

Other  materials         16.503,896 

Apparel         ..         ..  7,177,764 

Chemicals,  drugs,  dyes,  and  colours 17,052,7.55 

Le.ither  and  manufactures  thereof 6,599..591 

Earthenware  and  glais 4.048.bfl.-t 

Paper 2.344.-2:!0 

Miscellaneous          33,.391.45l 


5438 


INFORMATION    ABOUT    THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 


Area  and  Porui.ATiON.  The  area  of  the  entire 
British  Empire  is  about  11,400,000  square  miles, 
which  is  about  21  per  cent,  of  the  known  Imd  sur- 
face of  the  globe  ;  and  the  po])ulation  of  the  entire 
British  Empire  is  about  410,000.000.  which  is  about 
22  per  cent,  of  the  entire  population  of  the  globe. 
The  area  and  population  (estimated  for  1907)  of  the 
constituent  parts  of  the  British  Empire  areas  follow  _ 


Sq.  miles 

Population 

United  Kingdom 

121.391 

44,100.2:1] 

Gibraltar  and  Malt*      .           

119 

22.5.3]  4 

Cyprue 

3.  .MO 

.  250.590 

Aden            

9,080 

43,970 

1,0S7.124 

2:!], 855,533 

Indian  Feudatory  States         

67!),;i93 

62,461.649 

Ceylon         

•2o.:«0 

3,984,980 

Straits  Settlements,  Malay  States  and  Islands    . . 

101,110 

2,1.52.770 

SUtions  in  China              

610 

.568,070 

Australia  and  British  New  Guinea  (Papua) 

3,065,120 

4.479.840 

New  Zealand,  with  dependent  islands 

104,750 

900,920 

raeittu  Islands— Fiji,  Tonga,  Solomon,  and  Gilbert 

Islands 

16,670 

331,840 

British  West  Africa,  with  St.  Helena  and  Ascen- 

sion            

486,640 

16,814,.360 

British  South  Africa,  with  Rhodesia 

1,241,7.50 

8.288.600 

Nyassaland  and  Uganda           ..           

ay>J,090 

6.540,000 

Zanzibar,  Somaliland,  Mauritius,  and  Seychelles. . 

70.010 

903,000 

<'anada.  Newfoundland,  and  Labrador 

3,it08,;)00 

6.216.340 

Bennuda  and  West  India  islands 

12.040 

1,746.530 

British  Honduius 

7..')60 

41,010 

British  Guiana 

90.280 

307.000 

Falkland  Islands  and  South  Georgia 

7,.50O 

2.070 

The  total  revenue  of  the  British  Empire  is  more 
than  £400.000,000,  and  the  National  and  State 
Debts  aggregate  over  £1,500,000,000.  The  trade  of 
the  empire  is  more  than  £1,600,000,000  annually. 
There  is  more  than  90,000  mileage  of  railway,  and 
the  total  tonnage  of  shipping  sailing  under  the 
British  flag  is  12,160.000  tons. 

All  the  great  self-governing  colonies — Canada, 
South  Africa,  Australia,  and  New  Zealand — have  a 
preferential  scheme  of  Customs  duties,  whereby 
articles  of  British  manufacture  are  taxed  upon  a 
lower  tariff  than  similar  goods  from  foreign  countries. 

Colonial  Constitutions.  Royal  authority  over 
British  oversea  dominions  (except  India)  is  exer- 
cised by  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies, 
who  has  the  power  of  veto  over  all  laws  passed  by 
colonial  legislatures.  This  power  of  veto  is, 
however,  seldom  exercised.  The  Secretary  of  State 
for  the  Colonies,  or  the  Colonial  Secretary  as  he  is 
more  frequently  termed,  presides  over  the  Colonial 
Office,  the  state  department  through  which  he 
exercises  his  executive  authority.  Actual  executive 
action  is  confined  to  the  affairs  of  Crown  Colonies 
and  Protectorates,  but  the  department  is  the  channel 
through  which  the  self-governing  colonies  arrange 
matters  involving  imperial  and  foreign  interests. 
C!overnors  of  colonies  are  chosen  by  the  king  upon 
the  advice  of  the  Colonial  Secretary. 

The  colonies  and  dependencies  fall  into  seven 
classes,  according  to  their  constitutions  : 

(a)  India  has  a  constitution  differing  from  all 
other  colonies  and  dependencies,  and  is  under  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  India  and  the  Indian  Council, 
who  preside  over  the  India  Office,  a  department  in- 
dependent from  the  Colonial  Office.    [See  page  1303.] 

(b)  Self-governing  colonies,  where  the  Colonial 
Secretary  has  control  over  no  public  officer  except 
the  governor,  and  where  the  Crown  has  reserved 
only  the  power  of  disallowing  legislation.  These 
colonies  are  the  six  states  comprising  the  Australian 
Commonwealth  (of  which  Papua  is  a  dependency), 
Canada,  Newfoundland,  New  J^ealand,  Cape  Colony, 
Natal,  Transvaal,  and  Orange  River  Colony. 

(r)  Colonies  with  an  elected  House  of  Assembly 
and  a  nominated  Legislative  Council.  These  are 
Bahamas,  Barbados,  and  Bermuda. 


{d)  Colonies  with  a  partly  elected  LegislatiA  e 
Council.  These  colonics  and  dependencies  are 
British  Guiana,  Fiji,  Jamaica,  Leeward  Islands, 
Malta,  and  Mauritius.  In  all  except  British 
Guiana  the  constitution  provides  for  an  official 
majority  in  the  Legislative  Council.  Cyprus  has  a 
constitution  similar  to  that  of  British  Guiana  ; 
but  although  administered  by  the  British  Colonial 
Office,  it  is,  technically,  a  Tuikish  possession. 

(e)  Colonies  and  dejjendencies  with  Legislative 
Councils  nominated  by  the  Biitish  Crown.  These 
are  British  Honduras,  Falkland  Islands,  St.  Lucia,  St. 
Vincent,Trinidad, Grenada,  East  Africa  Protectorate, 
Gambia,  Gold  Coast,  Sierra  Leone,  Southern  Nigeria, 
Nyassaland,  Ceylon,  Hong  Kong,  and  Straits 
Settlements.  In  all  these,  except  British  Honduras, 
the  constitution  provides  for  an  official  majority. 

(/)  Colonies  and  ))rotectorates  without  a  Legis- 
lative Council.  These  are :  Ashanti,  Basutolaud, 
Bechuanaland,  Gibraltar,  Northern  Nigeria, 
Northern  Territories  of  the  Gold  Coast,  St.  Helena, 
Somaliland,  Uganda,  \Vei-hai-wei,  and  the  Western 
Pacific  Islands  which  are  under  a  single  high 
commissioner,  and  include  the  Tonga,  or  Friendly 
Islands,  Union,  Ellice,  Gilbert.  Southern  Solomon, 
Santa  Cruz,  and  New  Hebrides  Islands,  Pitcairn 
and  Ocean  Island  or  Paanopa. 

(g)  Territory  administered  by  a  compan3%  under 
powers  conferred  by  Royal  Charter.  The  only  such 
territory  is  Rhodesia,  which  is  administered  by  the 
British  South  Africa  Company,  through  an  adminis- 
trator and  four  members  ajipointed  by  the  company, 
with  the  approval  of  the  Colonial  Secretary, 
assisted  by  a  Legislative  Council  partly  elected. 

The  Colonial  Office.  For  convenience  of 
administration  the  Colonial  Office  is  divided  into 
three  departments  (a)  the  Dominions  Department, 
which  is  concerned  with  the  self-governing  colonies, 
and  with  those  Crown  Colonies  and  Protectorates 
in  South  Africa  and  the  Pacific  Ocean  which  are 
intimately  connected  with  self-governing  colonies  ; 
{b)  the  Crown  Colonies  Department,  which  is 
concerned  with  the  administration  of  the  Crown 
Colonies  ;  and  (c)  the  General  Department,  which 
is  i-esponsible  for  the  general  routine  work  of  the 
office  and  affairs  common  to  all  Crown  Colonies — i.e., 
banking,  currency,  education,  posts  and  telegraphs. 

The  British  Colonial  Office  transacts  business  in 
the  United  Kingdom  for  the  following  colonies  and 
protectorates,  and  acts  in  the  capacity  of  their 
commercial  and  financial  agents :  Bahamas, 
Barbados,  Basutoland,  Bechuanaland,  Bermuda, 
British  Guiana,  British  Honduras,  Ceylon.  Cyprus, 
East  Africa  Protectorate,  Falkland  "islands,  Fiji, 
Gambia,  Gibraltar,  Gold  Coast,  Hong  Kong, 
Jamaica,  Labuan,  Leeward  Islands,  Malta,  Mau- 
ritius, Newfoundland,  Nigeria,  Nyassaland.  St. 
Helena,  Seychelles,  Sierra  Leone,  Somaliland  Pro- 
tectorate, Straits  Settlements,  Swaziland,  Tobago, 
Trinidad.  Turks  Island,  Uganda,  Wci-hai-wei,  and 
the  Windward  Islands.  The  Colonial  Office  receives 
instructions  direct  from  the  colonial  governments, 
but  takes  the  opinion  and  advice  of  the  Secretary 
of  State  for  the  Colonies  upon  important  matters, 
and  upon  any  question  of  constitutional  principle. 

Imperial  Conference.  A  conference,  at  which 
the  British  Government  and  the  self-governing 
colonies  are  represented,  is  held  every  four  years. 
The  Prime  Minister  of  the  United  Kingdom  i-5 
president  ex  officio,  and  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Colonies  is  a  member  of  the  Conference,  and  acts 
as  chairman  in  the  absence  of  the  president.  The 
last  conference  was  held  in  1907. 

5439 


5440 


hi 


i\^ 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRh 

FROM  EARLIEST  TIMES  TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY 

ITS     EFFECT    ON     WORLD    HISTORY 

By  Sir  Harry  Johnston,  G.CM.G. 
THE    EMPIRE    IN    THE    MAKING    AND    THE 
WONDERFUL  PROGRESS  OF  TWO  CENTURIES 


DEFORE  considering  in  detail  the  evolu- 
•'-'  tion  of  the  British  Empire,  and  the 
effect  of  that  empire  on  the  British  people 
and  on  the  world  at  large,  it  may  be  as  well 
to  glance  at  the  elements  which  have 
formed  the  present  tribes  of  English  and 
Keltic-speaking  people  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  who  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  extent,  population,  wealth,  and 
civilisation  of  their  empire  in  Europe, 
America,  Asia  and  Africa  have  been  up  to 
the  present  the  first  among  ruling  races. 

The  people  now  inhabiting  the  British 
Islands  are,  so  far  as  investigations  go 
in  history,  archaeology  and  palaeontology, 
the  result  of  many  layers  of  humanity, 
belonging  in  the  main  to  the  white, 
or  Caucasian,  sub-species,  which  have 
inhabited  England,  Wales,  Scotland  and 
Ireland  for  the  last  hundred  thousand 
years  or  so.  Man,  of  a  Neanderthaloid 
type,  that  is  to  say,  a  creature  resembling 
most,  of  all  existing  races,  the  black 
Australians  or  the  Veddahs  of  Ceylon, 
probably  entered  England  when  Great 
Britain,  and  even  Ireland,  were  eccentric- 
ally shaped  peninsulas  attached 
by  isthmuses  one  to  the  other 
and  to  the  north  of  France 
and  Belgium.  A  calvarium — 
upper  part  of  the  skull — has  been  exhumed 
in  vSligo,  North-west  Ireland,  and  is  now 
in  the  British  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
which  offers  some  resemblance  to  the 
Neanderthaloid  crania  found  in  Belgium, 
the    Rhine    Valley,  and  the  Carpathians. 


The  First 
Inhabitants 
of  Britain 


This  early  and  generalised  type  of 
humanity,  which  some  anthropologists 
think  should  be  classified  as  a  separate 
species  of  humanity,  was,  at  any  rate,  near 
the  basic  stock  of  Horny  sapiens  before 
this  last  became  differentiated  into  the 
M  f  th  N^g'O'  Mongol,  or  Caucasian 
J,    .  sub-species.    The  Man  of  Nean- 

St  A  derthal,  I  believe,  bore  a  strong 
resemblance  to  the  lower  types 
of  black  Australians  of  to-day,  and  these 
last  offer  considerable  analogies  in  skull 
form  and  in  culture  to  the  early 
palaeolithic  men  of  Britain.  Whether 
man  continuously  inhabited  the  British 
peninsulas  during  the  changes  of  climate 
which  marked  the  Pleistocene  period,  with 
its  glacial  interludes  of  Polar  conditions, 
is  not  yet  clearly  established.  The  recur- 
ring cycles  of  extreme  cold  which  covered 
Scotland,  Northern  England,  and  the. 
greater  part  of  Ireland  with  an  ice  sheet 
may  have  killed  out  the  Australoid 
men  of  the  Early  Stone  Age  ;  or  these 
latter  may  have  gradually  accustomed 
themselves  to  the  cold  and  have  survived 
to  more  genial  conditions. 

Or  the  PalaeoHthic  people,  with  their 
projecting  brows,  retreating  foreheads, 
long  arms  and  shambling  legs,  were  per 
haps  exterminated  not  bychmatic  changes, 
but  by  the  inrush  of  the  fiist  definitely 
"  white  "  people  of  the  Caucasian  stock. 
These,  it  is  surmised,  were  more  or 
less  akin  to  the  Iberian  people  of  Medi- 
terranean    Europe,    Western     (and      far 

544 1 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


North-eastern)    Asia   and  North  Africa — 

white  men  with  dark  hair  and  brown  eyes. 

Then  parts  of  Europe,  and  perhaps  Great 

Britain,  were  invaded  by  a  round-headed 

people,   probably   of  Asiatic   origin,   who 

seem  to  have  brought  with  them  a  greater 

number  and  variety  of  domestic  animals  and 

improved  arts.     Mongoloid  tribes  of  short 

D^..    .  heads,     or     long-headed 

T,.        rr.  .  types  like  the  Eskimo,  may 

Three  Thousand     i^     ,  i      i     /-       "l 

v»,.,    A„^        also   have   reached    Great 

Britain  from  the  north-east 
across  the  ice  sheet,  and  have  penetrated  to 
Ireland.  The  Iberians  of  prehistoric  days 
probably  spoke  a  language  allied  to  modern 
Basque  or  to  the  Berber  tongues  of  North 
Africa.  Some  three  or  four  thousand  years 
ago  our  islands  were  conquered  and  over- 
run from  the  East  by  the  first  Aryans — 
long-headed  Northern  Europeans,  with  red 
or  blond  hair  and  blue  eyes;  early  Kelts, 
in  fact,  who  grafted  their  Aryan  speech 
on  to  the  Iberian  stock,  and  so  brought  into 
existence  the  Keltic  languages  of  the  two 
very  distinct  modern  branches — Scoto-Irish 
(Goidhelic),  and  Welsh  (Brythonic). 

This  amalgam  of  people — the  earlier 
tribes  of  which  resembled  very  much,  no 
doubt,  the  modern  Ainos  of  Japan,  the 
Lapps  of  Northern  Europe,  the  Auver- 
gnats  of  Central  France,  the  Finns,  and 
the  modern  Belgians — warred,  inter- 
married, compromised,  and  co-existed  in 
innumerable  tribes  under  petty  chieftains, 
quite  outside  the  history  of  the  civihsed 
Mediterranean  world — though  not  out  of 
touch  with  its  commerce — until  some  five 
hundred  years  before  Christ ;  when  the 
coasts  of  Southern  England  may  have 
been  reached  by  Phoenician  trading  ships, 
who  later  brought  back  some  news  of 
Britain  and  even  Ireland  to  the  Greek  geo- 
graphers of  Alexander's  day  and  kingdom. 
Then  came  the  extension  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  the  invasion  of  England 
by  Caesar — because  the  Brythonic  Kelts 
made  common  cause  with  their  Gallo- 
_        ,  Belgian     kinsmen  —  and     the 

aesar  s        beginning     of     the     historical 

Invasion  of  ^.      ,      ■        n    ■,     ■  c~^■^^ 

-.  J  .  period  in  Britain.  Still,  our 
countries  continued  to  receive, 
and  not  to  export,  humanity.  In  the 
centuries  that  followed  the  Roman  Con- 
quest a  few  Irish  missionaries,  or  British 
refugees,  found  their  way  into  Northern 
France,  where  the  Bretons  constituted 
the  first  of  British  colonies.  But  the 
islands  of  Great  Britain,  Ireland  and  Man 
still    attracted    colonists    from    the    outer 

5442 


world.  Hordes  of  Germanic  people 
occuj)ied  England  and  Eastern  Scotland, 
coming  from  Scandinavia  and  the  Western 
and  North-western  parts  of  modern  Ger- 
many. Denmark  and  Norway  between  the 
ninth  and  thirteenth  centuries  must  have 
contributed  quite  two  millions  of  immi- 
grants— tall,  fair-haired,  blue-eyed,  but 
also  occasionally  tall  and  dark-haired 
(from  Denmark,  where  an  anterior  Iberian 
people  had  left  its  traces) — to  the  popula- 
tion of  Eastern  England,  Eastern  and 
Northern  Scotland,  the  Isle  of  Man,  and 
all  the  coast  regions  of  Ireland. 

The  Norman  Conquest  brought  in  its 
train  and  as  its  results  several  thousands 
of  Frenchmen — tinged  with  Norse  blood. 
The  French  kings  of  England,  the 
Plantagenets,  planted  many  colonies  of 
Flemings  from  Belgium,  or  Germans 
from  the  lower  Rhine  ;  also  occasional 
settlers  from  South-west  France.  A  few 
Spaniards  came  and  remained  with  Philip 
II.  of  Spain,  or  were  stranded  on  these 
shores  as  prisoners  during  the  wars  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Gipsies  had  crossed 
over  to  England  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth 
,       century  and  had  rapidly  pene- 

Age  of 


trated,     several     thousand    in 


Maturity 


number,  to  the  wilder  parts  of 


East  Anglia,  the  Welsh  Border- 
land, and  Lowland  Scotland,  contributing 
a  picturesque  attenuated  element  of  the 
Dravidian  to  a  populace  mostly  pink 
and  white  and  blond-haired. 

In  the  wonderful  Tudor  period,  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  great  race  move- 
ments which  had  colonised  these  islands 
ceased  for  a  time  ;  and  Britain,  having 
reached  maturity,  was  ready  to  send 
its  superfluous  and,  above  all,  its  ad- 
venturous sons  to  seek  new  homes  and 
found  new  nations,  it  is  true  that  in 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries 
there  came  a  few  thousand  French 
refugees  from  religious  persecution — in- 
valuable as  individuals  ;  and  that  in 
the  nineteenth  century  there  has  been 
an  immigration  of  Germans,  of  Jews 
from  Eastern  and  Northern  Europe,  and 
of  Italians.  These  aliens — most  of  them 
desirable,  a  few  undesirable — though  not 
reaching  to  the  sum  total  of  a  million, 
still  have  made  and  will  make  their  mark 
on  the  future  type  of  the  British  popula- 
tion, especially  in  the  towns.  But  for 
the  purposes  of  our  survey  it  may  be 
stated  that  the  colonisation  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  ceased  at  the  end  of 


THE    STORY    OF    BRITISH    EXPANSION 


the  fifteenth  century  ;  and  that  at  this 
period  began  the  wonderful  outpouring 
ot  energy  which  was  to  create  not  only 
the  largest  empire  that  the  world  has  ever 
known,  but  probably  the  biggest  con- 
geries of  states  under  the  rule  of  one 
monarch  that  the  world  will  ever  know 
until  the  complete  federation  of  mankind 
under  one  earthly  head  is  accomplished. 

This  resume  of  the  race  elements  in  the 
British  Islands  has  been  necessary  in 
order  that  we  may  arrive  at  some  appre- 
ciation of  the  type  of  humanity  which 
has  conquered  and  colonised  the  British 
Empire.  It  is  a  breed  retaining  strains 
of  the  Iberian,  even  of  the  earliest  of  the 
prehistoric  peoples  of  Northern  Europe, 
but  is  nevertheless  an  amalgam  in  which 
the  blond  Aryan  type  predominates ;  the 
type  which  is  chiefly  associated  at  the 
present  day  with  the  speaking  of  Low 
German  dialects.  To  this  group  English 
belongs.  The  people  who  founded  the 
British  Empire  in  the  days  of  the  Tudors 
and  Stuarts  were  mainly  Teutonic  and 
Scandinavian  in  descent,  though  tinged 
with  the  Iberian  in  the  seamen  of  Devon 
and  Cornwall.  The  British 
colonisers  and  adventurers 
of  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth, 
seventeenth,  and  eighteenth 
centuries  were  almost  entirely  drawn  from 
Southern  Scotland,  Eng'and  and  Wales. 
Ireland  during  ih^se  centuries  was  itself  a 
"  champ  d'exploitation  "  on  the  part  of  our 
ruthless  ancestors  of  the  larger  island, 
though  occasionally  in  the  seventeenth 
century  some  hundreds  of  rebellious  Irish 
were  deported  to  the  West  Indies. 

It  was  not  until  the  nineteenth  century 
that  the  union  of  Ireland  with  England — 
however  unjustly  it  was  brought  about — 
threw  open  to  the  sons  of  Ireland  all  the 
advantages  of  the  British  Empire.  Since 
then,  during  the  nineteenth  and  the 
first  few  years  of  the  twentieth  centuries, 
the  Irish,  proportionately,  have  done 
more  in  colonising  the  daughter  states  of 
the  empire  and  in  administering  India 
and  the  Crown  colonies  than  the  people 
of  Great  Britain. 

England  was  the  first  amongst  the 
arbitrary  sub-national  divisions  of  the 
now  United  Kingdom  to  think  of  colonis- 
ing. This  movement  began  after  the 
European  revival  of  learning,  known  as 
the  Renaissance.  As  already  mentioned, 
however,  the  English  were  not  the  first 
colonisers  to  leave  these  islands  ;    for  in 


Founders 

of  tha  British 

Empire 


the  period  that  immediately  followed  the 
extension  of  Roman  civilisation  in  Britain, 
the  Irish — who,  though  they  were  never 
actually  under  the  sway  of  Rome,  had 
become,  through  the  Church,  one  of  the 
most  Romanised  peoples  of  Western 
Europe — had  been  stirred  by  a  strange 
spirit  of  adventure,  which  first  took  the 

_  .  ,,  form  of  missionary  travels  in 
Ireland  s      c      ^i       j     t->  ^  /^ 

„         .       bcotland,  r  ranee  and  Germany, 
ca  aring   ^^^^     then      linked     on     with 
Pioneers      -^  •■•  i- 

Norse    maritime    discovery  ;    so 

that  from  Ireland  came  one  of  the  first 
mysterious  hints  of  a  New  World  beyond 
the  Atlantic.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
the  seafaring  monks  or  fishermen  of 
Western  Ireland  ever  reached  the  North 
American  continent,  even  by  following 
the  Norse  route  to  the  Faroes,  Iceland, 
Greenland  and  Newfoundland  ;  but  it 
does-  seem  possible  that  the  Irish  may 
have  sailed  south-westwards  past  the 
coasts  of  Portugal  to  the  Azores  or  Madeira, 
or  even  as  far  to  the  north-west  as  the 
once  larger  island  of  Rockall.  Their 
more  than  half  legendary  adventures 
deserve  mention,  since  they  became  the 
germ  that  inspired  the  English  and 
Welsh  raiders  of  the  Plantagenet  centuries 
with  the  idea  of  oversea  discovery. 

The  Danish  and  Norwegian  invaders 
of  our  islands  were  colonisers  of  the  most 
successful  type.  They  were  looking  for 
homes  beyond  the  inclement  lands  of 
Scandinavia — inclement  under  ancient 
conditions — and  they  brought  to  the 
Anglo-Saxon  civilisation  of  Alfred  much 
knowledge  of  Northern  geography. 
Through  these,  and  through  the  civilised 
Franks  of  France,  Alfred,  the  Saxon  king 
of  Southern  England,  was  linked  up 
(Rome  helping)  with  the  Byzantine  Em- 
pire ;  and  there  is  an  actual  tradition  of 
Alfred  having  despatched,  in  883,  Sighelm 
of  Sherborne  as  a  pilgrim,  via  Rome,  to 
the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas,  in  "  India." 
Though  Sighelm  may  have  got  no  further 
than  the  Nestorian  churches 
England  s  ^^  Mesopotamia,  still  even  a 
Commerce  -q^^.^^^,  ^q  India  was  quite 
with  Venice  '^^^^-y-^f^  ^^  ^he  days  before  the 
Seljuk  and  Ottoman  Turks  had  raised 
barriers  of  fanaticism  between  Christian 
Europe  and  Mohammedan  Asia. 

Commerce  brought  the  England  of  the 
Plantagenets  into  touch  with  Venice — 
Venice  which  had  already  revealed  to 
the  world,  through  such  travellers  as 
Marco     Polo,     the    existence    of    Asiatic 

5443 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


kingdoms,  islands  and  peninsulas  as  far 
as  China,  Sumatra  and  Java.  Venetian 
maritime  explorers  turned  their  attention 
to  the  discovery  of  Ultima  Thule,  possibly 
as  the  result  of  some  news  having  reached 
V^enice  of  the  Norwegian  settlements  in 
lands  across  the  Northern  Atlantic,  also 
because  of  the  important  fisheries  in  the 
.  .  far  North-west.  In  Plantagenet 
o/Marit?^  times,  however,  the  British  lust 
°  *"  "'*®  for  conquest  and  colonisation 
was  slaked  by  the  attempts 
to  conquer  and  settle  Scotland,  Ireland, 
Northern  and  Western  France.  The  idea 
of  maritime  adventure  did  not  dawn  on 
the  English  people  till  after  the  Wars  of 
the  Roses  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Tudor  dynasty ;  in  fact,  until  the  very  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  Even  then  the 
mass  of  the  people  thought  of  no  such 
thing.  The  impulse  was  first  given  by 
the  far-sighted  though  stingy  monarch, 
Henry  VII.,  the  father-in-law  of  an 
Aragonese  princess,  through  whose  rela- 
tions he  had  heard  of  the  conquest  and 
settlement  of  the  Canary  Islands  and 
Madeira,  and  of  Spanish,  Poituguese, 
Majorcan  and  Genoese  adventures  along 
the  West  Coast  of  Africa. 

To  the  court  of  Henry  VII.  came  an 
adventurous  but  disappointed  Venetian 
mariner,  John  Cabot,  whose  famous 
son,  Sebastian,  was  probably  born  at 
Bristol.  In  the  minds  of  this  and  other 
Venetian  navigators  may  have  lingered  the 
semi-legendary  voyages  of  Nicola  and 
Antonio  Zeno  in  the  fourteenth  century— 
perhaps  founded  on  Norse  traditions^ 
which  led  them  to  habitable  lands  on  the 
other  side  of  the  North  Atlantic  to  the 
Vineland  (Rhode  Island),  where  grew  wild 
grapes  in  profusion.  Henry  Tudor  com- 
mitted himself  as  grudgingly  to  maritime 
discovery  as  did  the  father-in-law  of  his  son, 
Ferdinand  of  Aragon.  John  and  Sebastian 
Cabot,  however,  led  British  crews  to  the 
discovery  of  Newfoundland  and  other 
_      „  points  of  North  America,  with 

c  ar  y  ^^  very  immediate  results.  But 
oyages  o  ^j^gj^  ^j^g  Englishmen  of  Devon 
iscovcry  ^^^  Cornwall,  of  London, 
Bristol,  Pembroke,  Cardiff,  Swansea, 
Poole,  Southampton,  Tilbury,  Lowestoft, 
and  Yarmouth  built  better  and  bigger 
ships  in  imitation  of,  or  under  the  teach- 
ing of,  the  Norman  French — who,  in  all 
probability,  had  sailed  to  West  Africa  as 
early  as  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury— the  Dutch,  Venetians,  Genoese,  and 

5444 


Spaniards;  and  when,  disdaining  further 
foreign  pilotage,  they  started  forth  in  their 
own  bottoms,  guided  by  their  own  naviga- 
tors and  financed  by  their  own  capitalists, 
they  did  not  for  the  moment  turn  their 
attention  to  America,  but  devoted  them- 
selves eagerly  to  the  West  African  trade. 

As  I  have  related  in  other  chapters, 
it  was  the  longing  for  pepper,  the  desire 
to  make  money  by  carrying  slaves,  and 
finally  the  thirst  for  gold,  that  drew  the 
British  to  West  Africa  during  the  reigns  of 
Edward,  Mary,  and  Elizabeth.  At  first 
the  British  adventurers  hired  themselves 
as  mariners  to  the  Portuguese,  and  so 
found  out  their  way  to  the  Guinea  coast. 
Later,  they  would  engage  a  Portuguese 
as  captain  or  supercargo.  But  by  the 
year  1554  they  were  sufficiently  sure  of 
themselves  to  undertake  an  all-British 
venture  to  West  Africa  under  the  com- 
mand of  Captain  John  Lok,  with  whom 
travelled  Sir  George  Barn  and  Sir  John 
York.  The  two  ships  under  Captain  Lok's 
command  visited  the  coast  of  Liberia  and 
reached  the  Gold  Coast  in  1555.  In  1585 
and  1588,  Queen  Elizabeth  issued  two 
patents,   or  monopolies,  for 


Royal  Patron 

of 

English  Trade 


trade  with  the  Atlantic  coast 
of  Africa.     The  earlier  dealt 


with  Morocco;  the  second 
with  the  region  between  the  Senegal  and 
the  Gambia.  A  third  charter,  or  patent, 
issued  in  1592,  covered  the  Guinea  coast 
between  the  River  Nunez  and,  approxi- 
mately,  the  Sherbro  district. 

The  transportation  of  negro  slaves 
from  West  Africa  to  the  West  Indies 
and  Spanish  America — first  undertaken 
by  Captain  (afterwards  Sir  John) 
Hawkins  in  1562 — initiated  the  British 
into  the  wonders,  the  wealth,  and  the 
attractiveness  of  these  lands  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  and  the  Caribbean  Sea. 

Though  they  never  lost  their  grip  on,  or 
their  interest  in,  the  West  African  coast, 
the  national  enterprise  of  England  during 
the  last  third  of  the  sixteenth  century  and 
the  hundred  years  that  followed  was  mainly 
directed  to  the  New  World.  Whilst  Eliza- 
beth was  on  the  throne  they  snatched  at 
many  an  isolated  city,  here  and  there  at  a 
promontory  or  an  islet.  But  though  they 
possessed  inconceivable  daring  and  cour- 
age, they  had  not  the  means  oathe  national 
force  with  which  to  hold  on  to  their  con- 
quests. Elizabeth,  before  the  unsuccessful 
attack  of  the  Armada,  feared  to  take  any 
direct  government  action  for  the  founding 


iHE    ACQUISITION    OF    NEWFOUNDLAND    BY    SIR    HUMPHREY    GILBERT,    11^     i  ..- . 
In  1578,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  a  soldier  and  navigator,  received  from  Queen  Elizabeth  a  charter  for  discovery,  to  plant 
a  colony,  and  be  governor  ;  but,  owing  to  the  difficulties  which  beset  him   it  was  not  till  1583  that  he  achieved  his 
purpose,  taking  possession,  in  the  queen's  name,  of  the  harbour  of  St.  John's,  and  two  hundred  leagues  every  way  for 
himself,  his  heirs  and  assigns  for  ever.     The  illustration  shows  Sir  Humphrey  among  the  rough  fishermen  and  sailors. 

From  Ihe  drawing  by  R.  Caton  Woodvillc 

5445 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


of  British  colonies  which  might  give 
umbrage  to  Spain,  but  had  no  wisli  unduly 
to  check  British  maritime  adventure  so 
long  as  it  cost  her  nothing  but  documents, 
messages  of  good  will,  or  gilded  figure-heads. 

Accordingly,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert 
— an  elder  stepbrother  of  Raleigh,  who 
had  distinguished  himself  by  his  valour  in 
_.  ,  one  of  the  wars  for  the  sub- 
Ill  F  t  d  jugation  of  Ireland — received  a 
E  At'  vague  charter  for  the  discovery 
and  colonisation  of  lands  beyond 
the  seas  in  North  America  "  not  already 
in  the  possession  of  any  other  Christian 
prince."  This  was  granted  in  1578,  but 
the  expeditions,  financed  mainly  by  Gilbert 
and  Raleigh,  proved  to  be  ill-starred.  Even 
before  the  first  of  them  started,  a  certain 
Knollys,  who  should  have  served  under 
Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  treated  his  com- 
mander with  insulting  contumely,  alleging 
that  he,  Knollys,  being  of  the  blood  royal 
by  descent,  could  not  be  invited  to  dinner 
by  Gilbert,  a  simple  knight. 

The  defection  of  Knollys  crippled  the  ex- 
pedition, which,  though  it  reached  the  coast 
of  Virginia,  left  behind  a  poorly  equipped 
little  colony  to  be  starved  out  or  killed  by 
Indians  in  the  course  of  twelve  months.  Sir 
Humphrey  Gilbert  made  a  fresh  attempt  in 
1583,  on  the  return  from  which  he  was 
drowned  at  sea,  his  vessel  foundering  during 
a  gale.  In  the  interval  between  the  two 
expeditions  Raleigh,  with  his  characteristic 
optimism,  concluded  that  his  brother  would 
found  a  great  state  which,  in  anticipation, 
he  named  Virginia,  a  name  which  was 
to  be  revived  and  permanently  affixed 
to  the  map  twenty-four  years  later. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Sir  Humphrey 
Gilbert  was  an  unsuccessful  Columbus. 
Like  Columbus,  he  had  great  ideas, 
but  he  was  no  coloniser  or  administrator. 
Gilbert  was  really  bent  on  discovering 
a  trans-American  route  to  India.  India, 
a;  I  shall  show  later,  was  behind  most 
men's  ventures  at  this  period  as  the 
ultimate  goal  in  all  oversea 
ng  IS  adventure.     The     idea    of     a 

IP  .        chartered    company    to     deal 

Expansion  v..    xi,       x       1         f    x    j- 

With  the  trade  of   India  arose 

at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  born 
of  Elizabeth's  notion  of  monopolies.  Com- 
panies had  been  formed  to  trade  with  the 
Levant  and  Turkey  ;  that  Turkey  which 
had  opened  up  friendly  relations  with  the 
Virgin  Queen,  to  the  great,  and  perhaps 
legitimate,  disgust  of  the  Catholics  of 
Southern  and  Western  Europe,  who  felt. 


all  too  truly,  through  Pope,  emperor, 
knightly  orders  and  the  descendants  of 
crusading  kings,  that  Turkey  was  blast- 
ing civilisation  and  wrecking  the  fairest 
portions  of  the  Mediterranean  world. 

By  1579,  Thomas  Stephens,  a  Catholic 
priest  of  New  College,  Oxford,  afterwards 
rector  of  the  Jesuits'  College  at  Salsette, 
near  Bombay,  had  visited  India,  and  by 
his  letters  home  had  excited  a  great 
interest  in  England  in  the  cqmmercial 
possibilities  of  trade  with  the  Far  East. 
Trading  adventurers — thanks  to  Turkish 
protection — in  spite  of  Hispano-Portu- 
guese  opposition,  had  reached  India  over- 
land in  1583.  By  1600,  the  Enghsh  East 
India  Company  had  been  incorporated 
by  Elizabeth's  Royal  Charter  as  "  the 
governor  and  company  of  merchants  of 
London  trading  to  the  East  Indies." 

Early  trade  relations  with  India  had 
grown  out  of  Elizabeth's  alliance  with  the 
Turk,  and  followed  an  overland  route 
through  Egypt  or  Syria  ;  but  it  was  obvi- 
ous that  they  could  only  be  continued  on 
a  grand  scale  and  at  great  profit  by  taking 
the  all-sea  route  of  the  Portuguese  round 
the  West  Coast  of  Africa,  the 
°"^  *^^I  d'  ^'^P^  °^  Good  Hope,  and 
Company''  '*  Madagascar  The  Dutch 
mariners  led  the  way  m  1596, 
and  from  1601  onwards  the  great  sea  route 
was  followed  in  preference  to  that  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  Red  Sea.  The  Dutch, 
after  three  years'  undisturbed  mono- 
poly of  the  Indian  trade,  1596-9,  had 
raised  the  price  of  pepper  against  us 
from  three  shillings  to  six,  or  even  eight, 
shillings  a  pound.  This  was  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  foundation  of  the  first  (and 
chartered)  East  India  Company. 

Although  the  Stuarts  have  been  much 
and  justly  censured  by  historians  for  the 
defects  of  their  home  policy  and  the  deceit 
which  characterised  their  foreign  dealings, 
they  cannot  be  accused  of  indifference 
to  the  creation  of  an  empire  abroad ; 
indeed,  in  this  respect  they  showed  them- 
selves much  more  imperial  than  the 
vaunted  Elizabeth,  cautious  and  mean  as 
she  was  in  her  dealings  and  ventures.  It 
was  really  under  James  I.,  the  beheader 
of  Raleigh,  that  the  transmarine  empire 
of  the  British  Crown  was  actually  founded. 
Our  first  and  oldest  colony,  so  far  as  con- 
tinuous possession  goes,  is  the  West  Indian 
island  of  Barbados,  taken  by  an  expedi- 
tion in  the  ship  Olive  Blossom,  in  1605, 
though    not    really    occupied    till    1625. 


THE  BRITISH  IN  BERMUDAS:  SIR  GEORGE  SOMERS  WRECKED  ON  THE  ISLANDS  IN  1609 
One  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  South  Virginian  Company,  Sir  George  Somers  sailed  in  ltlii9,  witii  a  body  of 
settlers,  and  was  wrecked  on  the  then  little  known  islands  in  South  America  called  after  Juan  Bermudez.  i"  tlje 
name  of  King  James  I.,  he  took  possession  of  the  islands,  which  he  at   once  colonised,  and  died  there  in   1010. 

From  tl\e  drawing  by  V    Talnn  Woodville 

5447 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  next  oldest  is  the  state  of  Virginia, 
definitely  founded  in  1607  by  the  building 
of  Jamestown  on  May  13th  of  that  year. 
The  Bermuda  Islands  were  accidentally 
rediscovered  and  occupied  in  1609  ;  the 
Bahamas  in  1629.  In  1606  an  important 
charter  was  granted  for  the  eastern  coast- 
lands  of  North  America,  between  North 
.  ,  Carolina,  Maine,  and  Nova 
ri  am  s    g^^^^g^^       jj^jg     allotted     to     a 

Earliest       t        j  r         j 

^  ,  .  London  company  of  adven- 
turers  the  regions  between 
34°  and  38°  N.  Lat.  ;  to  the  Plymouth 
Company  of  Devonshire,  the  area  bounded 
north  and  south  by  the  45°  and  41°  of 
N.  Lat.  ;  while  the  intervening  space  was 
to  be  open  to  the  operations  of  either 
company.  It  was  this  hesitancy  about  the 
fate  of  the  North  American  coast  between 
38°  and  41°  which  made  it  easier  for  the 
Dutch  to  come  in  a  little  later — 1609-162 1 
— and  create  a  colony  on  the  site  of  New 
York.  A  portion  of  Newfoundland  was 
first  settled  in  1623;  in  that  year,  also,  was 
first  occupied  the  little^  Leeward  island  of 
St.  Christopher,  which  was  to  be  the  point  of 
departure  and  the  rallying  place  of  so  much 
British  colonising  enterprise  in  the  West 
Indies  during  the  seventeenth  century. 

In  1610,  Henry  Hudson,  a  navigator 
who,  two  years  previously  in  the  Dutch 
service,  had  sought  vainly  for  a  direct 
sea- passage  to  China  round  Siberia  or 
across  North  America,  was  despatched 
by  a  strong  joint-stock  company,  in  which 
Prince  Henry  of  Wales  interested  himself, 
to  search  for  the  China  passage  and  inci- 
dentally to  annex  territories  of  value. 
Hudson  penetrated  through  the  Hudson 
Straits — really  discovered  twenty  years 
earlier  by  John  Davis — into  Hudson's  Bay. 

A  mutiny  on  board  his  ship  on  his  return 
caused  him  to  be  cast  adrift  by  his  crew 
in  the  Hudson  Straits,  and  he  was  never 
more  heard  of.  But  his  work  of  explora- 
tion was  continued  by  William  Baffin  and 
other  English  seamen- adventurers  in  the 

rw.^    ^  .      c  three   succeeding  years.     The 
The  Fate  of  „  a     u-       ■*. 

-,       -J  marvellous  energy  and  ubiquity 

_.  of  Elizabethan  and   Jacobean 

seamen  are  exemplified  in  the 

fate    of    John    Davis — the    great    Arctic 

explorer  and    discoverer  of  the  Falkland 

Islands — and  William  Baffin,  the  discoverer 

of   Baffin's  Bay  and  Western  Greenland. 

Davis  was  one  of  the  officers  serving  under 

the  piratical  Sir  Edward  Michelborne  in 

the   Malay  Archipelago   (China  Chartered 

Company),  and  was  himself  killed  by  Malay 

544^ 


pirates  off  the  modern  British  colony  of 
Malacca ;  and  Baffin  was  killed  at  the 
siege  of  Ormuz,  when  an  allied  Anglo- 
Persian  force  took  that  island  from  the 
Portuguese.  Owing  to  the  death  of  Prince 
Henry,  the  work  of  the  nascent  Hudson 
Bay  Company  was  not  vigorously  prose- 
cuted for  some  years,  though  the  growing 
whaling  and  fur-getting  industries  kept 
British  interests  in  these  regions  aUve. 

So  much  for  Jacobean  America;  the 
Asiatic  enterprise  of  the  British  people  under 
the  same  monarch  was  simply  marvellous. 
In  1603  a  factory  had  been  founded  at 
Bantam  in  Java,  near  the  exit  from  the 
Sunda  Straits.  By  the  following  year,  the 
British  had  got  possession  of  the  Banda 
and  Amboina  Islands  on  the  very  verge 
of  New  Guinea,  a  foothold  from  which  they 
were  dislodged  by  the  Dutch  in  1623 
by  that  "  Amboina  massacre  "  which  so 
long  rankled  in  the  minds  of  the  English, 
and  was  only  atoned  for  under  the  reign 
of  Cromwell.  In  1606,  James  granted  a 
licence  to  a  company  of  merchants  to 
trade  with  Cathay,  China,  Japan,  Korea, 
and   Cambaya — probably   the    first    time 

that  Japan  and  Korea  were  ever 
or  uguese    j^-^gj^^^^j^g^  jj^  g^j^y  British  official 
Defeated  by   j  ,         r^,-^.      ^,  . 

*!.  n  •*•  ».  document.  I  his  China  com- 
the  British  ^  .    ^  .  „ 

pany  came  to  grief  very  rapidly 

through  its  leading  commander.  Sir  Edward 
Michelborne,  turning  pirate  in  the  Chinese 
seas.  In  1612  the  East  India  Company 
founded  by  Elizabeth  had  established  a 
post  and  fort  at  Surat,  near  the  coast  of 
Western  India. 

The  Portuguese  objected  violently  to 
this  infringement  of  their  monopoly — 
they  had  already  fought  with  a  British 
fleet  in  161 1  and  been  worsted — and  at- 
tacked the  British  trading  fleet  off  Swally, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Tapti  River  in  1615. 
The  result  of  a  terrific  naval  battle  was 
an  absolute  victory  for  the  British,  whose 
right  to  navigate  the  Eastern  seas  was  never 
afterwards  seriously  contested  by  the 
Portuguese.  This  victory,  coupled  with 
the  diplomatic  mission  despatched  by 
James  I.  under  Sir  Thomas  Roe,  1615- 
1618,  to  the  court  of  the  Mogul  em- 
peror, Jehangir,  obtained  for  the  British 
company  a  special  and  an  officially 
recognised  position  in  (he  dominions  of  the 
principal  ruler  of  the  Indian  peninsula. 

In  1609  the  right  to  trade  at  Aden  had 
been  obtained  from  the  Arab  sultan  of  that 
place,  and  thenceforth  British  ships  entered 
the  Red  Sea,   and  in   1618  established  a 


H?n^  J^'n  ^^F-  HUDSON  STRAITS  :  THE  FATE  OF  A  FAMOUS  NAVIGATOR 
Henry  Hudson  a  famous  English  navigator,  who  had  in  vain  sought  for  a  direct  sea-passage 
ron,^r"^ /"""''    u'^^lt   °J:,?"°«   North    America,   was    despatched,   in   1610.   by  a  joint  stofk 

wi^h'^his^on'fn^  a  smil  ^^0^^"%^.^ '1!^^"  =  ^Kl"^"^.  "^'"^  ^^^'"''  *'''"  '"  mutiny,  he  was  {-ast  adrift 
witn  ms  son  in  a  small  boat  in  the  Hudson  Straits,   named  after  him,  and  never  heard  of  at    ' 


%^ 


544'^ 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


British  factory  at  Mocha.  A  post  was 
founded  at  J  ask,  on  the  Baluchistan 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Oman,  in  1619.  This 
once  more  roused  the  ire  of  the  Portuguese, 
who  were  already  on  bad  terms  with 
Persia  by  their  occupation  of  the  islet  of 
Ormuz  and  their  overbearing  demeanour 
in  trying  to  close  the  Persian  Gulf  to  all 
-.  _     ^  but    Portuguese    trade.       The 

Ormuz   Lost  xa    -,•   ,  u   xi. 

.    ..  Biitish — no    better     m     com- 

Portugucsc  "lercial  ethics  in  those  days- 
appeared  to  Persian  ideas  as 
less  grasping  in  their  ambitions,  and,  at 
any  rate,  as  a  rod  with  which  to  chastise 
the  overbearing  Lusitanian.  British  and 
Persian  forces  combined,  and  Ormuz  was 
taken  from  the  Portuguese.  The  British 
received  as  a  reward  the  right  to  levy 
customs  and  to  trade  at  the  port  of 
Gombrun,  near  Bandar  Abbas,  in  1622. 

In  1611,  the  East  India  Company 
founded  a  post  at  Masulipatam,  near  the 
mouth  of.  the  Kistna  on  the  east  coast  of 
India,  and  shortly  afterwards  a  similar 
post  at  Vizagapatam.  Agencies,  com- 
mercial and  political,  were  founded  at 
Agra  and  Patna  in  1620.  Relations  with 
Siam — there  was  an  English  post  at  the 
Siamese-Malay  state  of  Patani  as  early 
as  1611 — Celebes,  the  Moluccas,  and  Java 
ripened  rapidly  till  after  the  Amboina 
massacre.  By  1623  the  Dutch  had  expelled 
the  British  from  the  Malay  Archipelago 
and  the  Far  East,  which  they  did  not 
re-enter  till  the  late  eighteenth  century. 

In  1618,  James  permitted  or  encouraged 
the  formation  of  a  chartered  company 
to  trade  with  the  Gambia  River  on  the 
West  African  coast,  the  charter  being 
based  on  an  old  patent,  1588.  of  Queen 
Ehzabeth.  Although  neither  this  company 
nor  its  immediate  successors  were  suc- 
cessful— indeed,  by  1664  they  had  lost 
;r8oo,ooo — yet  these  enterprises  commenced 
under  James  I.  laid  the  foundations  of  our 
future  West  African  dominion.  James  I., 
therefore,  unworthy  of  regard  as  he  may 
be  in  some  aspects,  was  the 
ames  .  c  ^^^^  founder  of  the  British 
Founder  of  the  t-  tt    j      i  •  i_ 

„  ...  .   p     .      Empire.  Under  his  unhappv 

British  Empire  ^  ,         .  i         " 

successor,  despite  home 
troubles — .parti}'  because  of  them — empire 
building  still  went  on.  The  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts, in  North  America,  was  founded 
in  1620,  and  Maryland  in  1632.  The 
charter  of  the  London  company  had 
been  surrendered  to  the  Crown  in  1624, 
that  of  the  Plymouth  company  in  1635. 
These  surrenders  made  it  easier  for  the 

5450 


Crown  to  deal  with  the  organisation  of 
the  new  American  territories.  In  the 
West  Indies,  Antigua,  Nevis,  Anguilla, 
and  Montserrat  were  colonised — mainly 
from  St.  Christopher,  and  farther  back  still 
in  time  from  Bermuda — and  a  charter  was 
issued  to  the  Earl  of  Carlisle  for  certain 
islands  in  the  Caribbean  Sea,  among  them 
Dominica.  In  the  East  Indies  a  foothold 
was  obtained  at  Surat,  which  was  displaced 
later  by  Bombay,  in  1014.  Madras  was 
founded  in  1639;  Hugh,  the  forerunner  of 
Calcutta,  in  1642  ;  and  an  attempt,  after- 
wards abandoned,  was  made  in  1647  ^o 
establish  a  rival  East  India  Company's 
depot  on  the  coast  of  Madagascar. 

Jamaica  had  been  eyed  for  half  a  century 
by  British  adventurers  as  a  prize  which 
might  be  one  day  snatched  from  Spain. 
They  had  become  familiar  with  some  of  its 
conditions  by  carrying  thither  negro  slaves 
for  sale  ;  they  realised  that  the  Spaniards 
had  practically  exterminated  the  native 
inhabitants,  that  not  having  found 
minerals  they  had  lost  interest  in  the 
island,  and  further  that  many  of  their 
negro  slaves  had  rebelled  and  taken  to  the 
mountains.     Accordingl}',  two 

_,     .  unauthorised        raids    were 

as  JLrmpire  ,  .-,         ■  ^        -,    •  r 

B  ild  made  on    the    island  m  1596 

and  1624.  Both  were  repulsed 
by  Spanish  valour.  Cromwell,  however, 
took  advantage  of  a  breach  of  relations 
with  Spain  to  send  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  a 
naval  expedition  under  Admiral  Penn  and 
General  Venables  to  seize  the  large  island 
of  Hispaniola.  Failing  in  this  object  the 
expedition  occupied  Jamaica  instead. 

Under  Charles  II.  the  empire  attained 
a  notable  expansion.  In  North  America 
the  Dutch  Colony  of  New  Netherlands, 
with  its  two  towns  of  Manhadoes  and  New 
Amsterdam,  was  acquired  and  turned  into 
the  English  territory  of  New  York.  By 
the  close  of  Charles  H.'s  reign,  the  nucleus 
of  the  original  thirteen  states  of  New 
England  had  been  constituted  :  Caro- 
lina (North  and  South),  Virginia,  Mary- 
land, Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  New 
Jersey,  Delaware,  New  York,  Connec- 
ticut, ^Massachusetts,  Vermont,  and  New 
Hampshire.  In  1670,  however,  Charles  II. 
laid  the  foundations  of  a  much  vaster 
expanse  of  emphe  by  granting  a  charter 
to  Prince  Rupert  and  seventeen  others, 
incorporating  them  as  the  "  governor  and 
company  of  adventurers  of  England 
trading  into  Hudson's  Bay."  This  was 
the   outcome    of    the    voyages   of  Davis, 


THE     ORIGIN     OF     MADRAS:     THE     FOUNDING     OF     FORT     ST.     GEORGE 
To  Francis  Day,  an  officer  of  the  East  India  Company,  belongs  the  honour  of  founding:  Madras.    In  16:?8he  was  sent  to 
India  by  that  company  to  select  a  better  site  for  their  headquarters,  and  from  the  Rajah  of  Chandragiri  he  purchased  a 
tract  of  land  five  miles  long  near  the  settlement  of  St.  Thom6,  and  thereon  he  built  a  factory  and  a  fort,  which  he 
called  Fort  St.   George    by  which  name  Madras,  which  sprang  from  this  small  beginning,  is  still  officially  named. 

I-rom  the  drawing  by  K  Ctiton  Woodville 

5451 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Hudson,  and  Baffin,  already  alluded  to; 
and  the  grant  of  this  charter  by  Charles  II. 
resulted  in  the  creation  of  four-fifths  of 
British  North  America.  The  company 
thus  founded  still  exists;  its  charter — in 
one  form  or  another — did  not  finally  ex- 
pire till  1859,  and  the  bulk  of  its  immense 
private  territorial  possessions  was  not 
-^  finally  incorporated  in  the  lands 

"    _  ..      of  the  Canadian  people  till  1870. 
"t  w  ^^  India,  the  island  of  Bombay 

and  the  mainland  settlement  of 
Salsette  had  been  acquired  in  the  dowry 
of  Charles  II.'s  queen.  In  West  Africa 
a  new  charter  started  afresh  the  British 
settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  Gambia. 

In  1672,  the  broken  company  of 
British  merchants  trading  on  the  Gold 
Coast  received  a  charter  which  created  a 
new  association,  known  by  its  short  title 
as  the  Royal  African  Company.  The 
outbreak  of  the  Dutch  War  enabled  the 
British  forces  to  oust  the  Dutch  from  a 
number  of  strong  places  where  they,  in 
their  turn,  had  supplanted  the  Portuguese. 
Thus  were  obtained  the  fortified  posts  of 
Dixcove,  Sekundi,  and  Accra,  the  begin- 
nings of  the  modern  colony  of  the  Gold 
Coast  which  is  now  nearly  as  large  as  the 
joint  area  of  England  and  Scotland. 

All  this  time  British  trade  with  the 
Mediterranean  was  steadily  growing. 
Cromwell  had  made  Great  Britain  a  naval 
power  in  that  inland  sea,  so  that  her 
ships  were  actually  able  to  threaten  the 
coast  possessions  of  the  grand  duke  of 
Tuscany  and  the  Pope,  who  had  coun- 
tenanced attacks  on  British  shipping  by 
Prince  Rupert,  and  to  chastise  most 
t:ffectually  the  Turkish  pirates  of  the 
Barbary  States.  With  Morocco  there 
were  occasionally  war-like  episodes,  but, 
curiously  enough,  British  intercourse  with 
that  last  independent  fragment  of  the 
Arabian  caliph's  dominions  had  been  of  a 
more  friendly  and  commercial  character. 
Nevertheless,  the  Moorish  rovers  not  in- 
.    ,  frequently     harried     British 

O**  V*  ships  engaged  in  the  West 
^pposi  ion    o  ^fj-j^g^j^  trade.  Spain,  through 

her  vassal  Portugal,  which 
then  held  Tangiers  and  Ceuta,  constantly 
attempted  to  close  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar 
to  British  ships,  and  thereby  interfere  with 
British  trade  in  the  Levant.  Therefore,  as 
early  as  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  there  were  vague  longings  on  the 
part  of  our  fellow-countrymen  for  some 
loothold  in  or  near  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar 

5452      • 


which  might  avail  to  secure  a  free  passage 
into  and  out  of  the  Mediterranean.  When 
Charles  II.  was  raised  to  the  throne, 
Louis  XIV.  of  France,  for  mysterious 
reasons  of  his  own,  decided  to  employ  the 
sea  power  of  Britain  to  support  the 
Portuguese  monarchy  against  Spain. 
He  arranged  the  match  between  Charles 
and  Catharine  of  Braganza.  Taking 
advantage  of  this  overture,  the  British 
Ministers  of  the  day  were  shrewd  enough 
to  satisfy  the  national  longing  for  control 
over  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  by  exacting 
as  part  of  the  princess's  dowry  the  city 
and  territory  of  Tangier. 

Having  gained  possession  of  this  foot- 
hold on  the  coast  of  Morocco,  the  govern- 
ment of  Charles  II.  showed  itself  too 
frivolous,  too  w^anting  in  statecraft  and 
Imperial  foresight  to  retain  it.  Had  they 
acted  more  wisely  as  regards  the  Moors, 
it  is  possible  that  the  history  of  North 
Africa  might  have  taken  a  very  different 
and  a  most  surprising  course.  But,  dis- 
heartened by  the  difficulties,  and  weakened 
by  the  frightful  bureaucratic  corruption 
which  then  prevailed  in  the  departments  of 
_  .    .  ,        public  supplies,  the  Ministers  of 

„  .  "*  ,  Charles  II.  abandoned  Tangier 
Seizure  of     -        ,0       o-u  ^  xu    ^    Fi 

Gb    It         m  1004.   i  hen  it  was  that  otiier 

British  statesmen  or  sea- 
captains  fixed  their  eyes  on  Gibraltar  as  a 
more  tenable  position.  The  idea  remained 
dormant  until  1704,  when  advantage  was 
taken  of  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession 
to  seize  and  garrison  Gibraltar.  This  step 
was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ever  taken 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  may  rank 
in  lack  of  moral  justification  with  the 
Napoleonic  descent  on  Egypt  and  the 
British  seizure  of  Aden  in  1839.  Beacons- 
field's  romantic  acquisition  of  Cyprus 
might  have  been  classed  with  these 
episodes  as  among  the  great  strokes  of 
empire-building,  had  it  not,  by  the  subse- 
quent trend  of  Bridsh  public  opinion, 
been  rendered  a  policy  of  noii  sequitnr. 

In  the  course  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  increasing  hostility  of  the  Turks 
towards  even  British  travellers  passing 
through  their  Levantine  dominions,  made 
overland  communications  with  India  so 
precarious  and  profitless  that  increasing 
attention  was  turned  to  the  all-sea  route 
round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Just  as  the 
Levantine  and  the  West  African  trade  led 
us  to  seize  Gibraltar,  so  the  development 
of  commerce  with  India,  China,  the  Malay 
Archipelago,    and    the    great    and    small 


THE    STORY    OF    BRITISH    EXPANSION 


islands  of  the  Pacific  just  coming  within 
our  ken,  made  a  foothold  at  the  southern 
extremity  of  Africa  a  matter  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  the  now  unified  kingdoms  of 
England  and  Scotland. 

An  attempt  in  1781 — as  unjustifiable  in 
actual  morality  as  the  seizure  and  retention 
of  Gibraltar — was  made  to  snatch  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  from  the  Dutch.  The  islands 
of  Ascension  and  St.  Helena — Ascensionwas 
not  definitely  occupied  till  1815 ;  St.  Helena 
has  been  permanently  in  British  possession 
since  1673 — discovered  by  the  Portuguese, 
and  held  intermittently  by  the  Dutch,  had 
been  intermittently  occupied  by  the 
British  Navy  or  the  East  India  Company. 
To  the  latter,  in  fact,  St.  Helena  was  of  the 
highest  importance  as  the  resting  place  of 
its  fleets  during  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  longing  eyes  were  cast  on  the  French 
islands  of  Mauritius  and  Reunion,  which 
to  some  extent  lay  midway  between  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  India. 

During  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth 

century,  the  greed  of  territorial  acquisition 

in  West  Africa,   Eastern  Asia,  the  South 

Atlantic  and  the  West  Indies,  had  brought 

Great  Britain  into  violent  con- 

„  ^  ^^.  flict  with  the  equally  rapacious 
Possessions         ,  .  ,  ■ 

cut,     J    and,  so  far  as  enterpnse-com- 
of  Holland  '  ,      ,  ^ 

pared  -  to  -  means   goes,    more 

wonderful  country  of  Holland.  The 
British  secured  a  hard-won  victory  over 
the  Dutch  in  the  long  run,  not  because 
they  were  braver  or  more  skilled  as  fight- 
ing seamen,  but  because  they  had  a 
larger  and  richer  motherland  from  which 
to  draw  their  supplies.  Holland,  however, 
had  previously  plundered  the  Portuguese 
to  a  magnificent  degree,  and,  even  with 
what  she  had  to  give  up  to  the  British  in 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries, 
was  still  mistress  of  possessions  in  the 
West  Indiesi  South  America,  the  southern 
extremity  of  Africa,  Ceylon,  Bengal, 
Sumatra,  the  Malay  Peninsula,  Java,  and 
Borneo,  with  a  kind  of  lien  over  the 
scarcely  known  continent  of  Australia. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  circumstances  forced  Holland  into 
a  position  of  quasi-alliance  with  France, 
some  of  the  circumstances  being  the  terri- 
torial ambitions  of  Great  Britain.  Putting 
forward  the  plea  that  the  Dutch  settle- 
ment of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  served  as 
a  refuge  and  a  rallying-point  for  hostile 
French  ships,  the  British  Government 
attempted  by  two  surprise  attacks  in  1781 
to  seize  Cape  Town.    But  they  were  beaten 


off.  The  idea,  however,  like  that  of  Gib- 
raltar, never  left  us,  and  when  the  French 
troops  invaded  Holland,  in  1794,  the 
British  Government,  in  1795,  with  the 
somewhat  chary  permission  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  established  itself  in  Dutch  South 
Africa ;  and  although  for  a  few  years  our 
forces  were  withdrawn,  just  as  the  cat 
Th  B  if  h  ^•llows  the  crippled  mouse  a 
EsrabHshId  in  momentof  illusory  freedom,  in 
South  Africa  ^  ^^  made  another  descent 
on  these  regions,  and  came 
there  to  stay.  The  eighteenth  century, 
however,  not  only  saw  at  its  close  the 
establishment  of  the  British  at  the  south 
end  of  Africa — an  establishment  which 
inspired  the  great  Portuguese  traveller- 
administrator  of  Mozambique,  Dr.  Lacerda, 
in  1796,  with  the  remarkable  prophecy  of 
the  ultimate  Cape-to-Cairo  ambitions  of 
the  British  people — but  in  its  early  years 
witnessed  the  effectual  foundation  of 
Anglo-Saxon  North  America,  by  the 
extension  of  the  British  colonies  from  the 
North  Atlantic  seaboard  to  the  Missis- 
sippi, by  maritime  explorations  of  Van- 
couver Island  and  Oregon,  which  sufficed 
to  stop  Russian  descent  from  Alaska,  and 
Spanish  ascent  from  California,  and  finally 
by  the  conclusion  of  the  great  struggle 
between  France  and  Britain  for  predomi- 
nance in  North  America. 

Newfoundland,  the  first  aim  of  British 
aspirations  across  the  Atlantic,  became 
definitely  a  British  colony  in  1728,  though 
by  previous  settlement  it  was  more  justly 
French.  The  French  colonies  of  Canada — 
Ontario,  Quebec,  and  New  Brunswick, 
which  then  bore  the  prettier  name  of  New 
France — were  ceded  in  1763  ;  Nova  Scotia 
had  been  acquired  in  its  entirety  in  1758, 
together  with  Prince  Edward's  Island  ; 
Vancouver  Island  was  not  settled  till  1843. 

Vancouver  Island  having  been  redis- 
covered by  Captain  Cook,  and  ear-marked 
as  a  future  British  foothold  on  the  Amer- 
ican Pacific,  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  saw  the  main  out- 
Outhncs  of  j.^g^  ^^  ^j^^  Canadian  Domi- 
the  Canadian  nionlaiddown.  The  Hudson's 
Dominion  g^^  Chartered  Tradmg  Com- 
pany', with  its  four  forts  on  the  shores 
of  Hudson's  Bay  and  its  far-reaching 
explorations,  had  established  a  prescrip- 
tive claim  to  all  Arctic  and  sub-Arctic 
America  except  the  coast  of  Alaska.  Sir 
Alexander  Mackenzie,  the  Stanley  of 
North  America  and  a  servant  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,travelled  overland 

5453 


BRITISH  SEIZURE  OF  JAMAICA  IN  1655  AND  THE  SINKING  OF  THE  SPANISH  VESSELS 
With  sealed  orders  from  Cromwell,  in  1654,  a  fleet  of  sixty  ships,  commanded  by  Admiral  Penn,  and  carrying:  about 
4,000  men  under  General  Venables,  left  Portsmouth  on  an  expedition,  and,  sailing  for  the  West  Indies,  captured  Jamaica. 
But  having  failed  to  carry  out  their   orders,  Penn  and  Venables  were  committed  to  the  Tower  on   their  return. 

From  the  drawing  by  R,  Catou  Woodvillc 

5454 


w- 


THE   BRITISH   ACQUISITION    OF    GIBRALTAR:    SPANISH    TROOPS    MARCHING    OUT 
Though  regarded  as  impregnable,  during  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  Gibraltar  was  taken,  on  July  24th,  1704,  by 
a  combined  English  and  Dutch  fleet,  commanded  by  Sir  George  Rooke,  who  raised  the  British  flag  and  claimed  the  town 
in  the  name  of  Queen  Anne.    The  above  picture  shows  the  Marquis  de  Salines  marching  out  with  the  Spanish  troops. 

I'lOui  tlio  diaiviiig  by  K.  i.  aton  WoodviUe 

5455 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


to  the  Pacific  coast  in  1789-1793,  first 
sighting  the  Pacific  Ocean  at  Cape  Menzies, 
opposite  Queen  Charlotte's  Islands. 

Vancouver  Island  is  supposed  to  have 
been  sighted  by  Sir  Francis  Drake  just 
two  hundred  years  before  Cook,  in 
1578.  It  or  the  opposite  coast  of 
Oregon  was  christened  by  Drake  "  New 
Albion."  The  island  was  more 
thTuniud  definitely  placed  on  the  map 
c  ni  e  ^  Tuan  de  Fuca,  a  Greek  sea- 
captain  in  Spanish  employ, 
in  1592.  Cook's  exploration  of  its  coasts 
led  to  no  immediate  settlement.  It  was 
Captain  George  Vancouver,  R.N.,  in 
1792-1794,  who  really  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  British  political  rights  to  this 
important  island.  The  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  did  the  rest,  1821-1843. 

The  revolt  of  the  United  States  in  1777 
did  not  perhaps  make  such  a  great  impres- 
sion at  the  time  on  the  British  mind,  be- 
cause it  seemed  the  mere  alienation  of  a 
portion  of  the  Atlantic  coast  lands  ;  it  had 
the  immediate  effect  of  making  the  British 
still  more  rapacious  and  energetic  as 
regards  Canada.  Had  this  revolt  not 
occurred  and  been  successful,  it  is  quite 
possible  that  British  energy  might  have 
languished  and  France  have  been  allowed, 
from  her  tiny  footholds  of  St.  Pierre  and 
Miquelon,  and  from  her  great  possessions 
of  Louisiana  and  New  Orleans,  to  build  up 
once  again  a  French  empire  in  North 
America.  What  Britain  lost  in  the  New 
England  States  she  more  than  regained  by 
founding  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  which, 
in  her  intentions  and  aspirations,  even 
before  the  expiry  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, extended  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  and  dwarfed  the  contemporaneous 
ambitions  of  the  United  States,  baulked  as 
they  were  by  a  Spanish  Florida,  Texas  and 
California,  and  a  French  Mississippi. 

With  their  thoughts  bent  on  the  dis- 
covery of  a  north-west  passage  which 
would  establish  an  all-British  route  across 
America  to  China,  and  the 
intention  to  seize  the  analogous 


America's 
Strugglint; 
Republic 


southern  maritime  route  from 
Atlantic  to  Pacific — marked  by 
the  British  exploration  of  the  Straits  of 
Magellan,  the  occupation  of  the  Malouines, 
or  Falkland  Islands,  in  1705,  already  half- 
occupied  and  settled  by  France  in  1763, 
when  the  celebrated  Bougainville,  the 
great  French  navigator  of  the  Pacific 
whose  name  is  for  ever  commemorated  by 
a  lovely  flower,  settled  on  West  Falkland 

5456 


some  of  the  unfortunate  dispossessed 
Acadians  of  Nova  Scotia — and,  finally,  the 
attempt  to  seize  Buenos  Ayres  during  the 
French  alliance  with  Spain,  the  existence 
of  the  struggling  American  Republic  of  the 
sixteen  united  states  must  have  seemed 
to  the  Britain  of  the  eighteenth  century  a 
factor  of  merely  local  importance,  not 
more  serious  in  a  project  of  universal 
American  Empire  than  the  intermittent 
independence  of  the  Transvaal  was  in  the 
scheme  of  South  African  dominion. 

During  the  eighteenth  century  England, 
in  her  colonial  enterprise,  had  been  power- 
fully reinforced  by  the  sister  kingdom  of 
Scotland.  Since  the  union  of  the  two 
crowns,  Scotland  of  the  Lowlands  had 
thrown  herself  energetically  into  oversea 
adventure.  It  is  true  that  the  English 
Government  spitefully  enough  had  baulked 
the  attempt  of  the  Scots — in  1698-1699 
— ^to  establish  themselves  on  the  Isthmus 
of  Darien,  there  perhaps  to  found  a 
Central  American  State  ;  but  the  bitter- 
ness resulting  from  this  was  soon  for- 
gotten, and  Scots  and  English,  without 
much    national    distinction,    flung    them- 

.  selves    energetically    into    the 

/"  '?^  building  up  of  a  great  British 
_,  ^  . "  dominion  in  the  W'est  Indies  and 
""^  ^  Northern  South  America.      At 

the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  Britain 
had  only  possessed  in  the  West  Indies 
Jamaica,  the  Bahamas,  Barbados,  and 
three  small  islands  of  the  Leeward  group. 

But  by  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  Dominica,  St.  Lucia,  St.  Vincent, 
Grenada,  Tobago,  and  Trinidad  were 
added  by  conquest  from  France  or  Spain, 
while  intermittently  Cuba  was  held,  at- 
tempts were  made  to  take  the  great  island 
of  Hispaniola,  the  foundations  of  a  British 
interest  in  Honduras  and  on  the  Nicar- 
aguan  coast  were  laid,  and  a  swoop  was  at 
last  made  on  Guiana,  with  perhaps  a 
notion  of  extending  that  dominion  later 
on  over  the  adjoining  Spanish  province  of 
Venezuela.  So,  far  from  the  eighteenth 
century  marking  the  defeat  and  retro- 
gression of  the  British  in  the  New  World, 
it  might  more  fith^  be  styled  the  American 
century,  the  second  of  the  four  great 
eras  of  the  British  Empire,  three  finished 
and  the  fourth  commencing.  The  nine- 
teenth century  has  been  par  excellence  the 
age  of  Asian  Dominion.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  our  Asiatic  Empire  has 
reached  its  apogee  in  extent,  if  not  in 
population    or     power.      The    twentieth 


THE    STORY    OF    BRITISH    EXPANSION 


century  may  possibly  witness  the  African 
culmination.  But  in  the  years  between 
the  death  of  Queen  Anne  and  the  Peace  of 
Amiens  our  grandest  struggles,  our  greatest 
gains,  and  our  keenest  ambitions  were 
centred  in  the  New  World  between  the 
Straits  of  Magellan  and  the  Arctic  Ocean. 
The  desire  to  know  more  about  the 
Pacific  coast  of  North  America,  on  which 
Russians  were  beginning  to  encroach  from 
Eastern  Siberia,  while  the  power  of  Spain 
was  obviously  waning,  led  the  British 
Government  to  send  out  Captain  Cook  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean  via  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  and  the  Malay  Archipelago,  and 
thus  led  to  the  definite  discovery  of 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  most  of  the 
Pacific  archipelagoes,  and,  finally,  at  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  1788,  to 
the  establishment  of  a  British  settlement 
on  the  coast  of  New  South  Wales — a  settle- 
ment which  was  to  be  the  germ  of  a  vast 
Australian  Commonwealth,  destined  to 
grow  some  day  into  mighty  nationalities 
of  Anglo-Saxon  stock.  Spanish,  French, 
and  Dutch  navigators  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries  had  surmised  the 
existence  to  the  south  of  New 
Guinea  and  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago of  an  island-con- 
tinent, variously  named  in 
imagination  Greater  Java  or  even  "  Terra 
Australis."  The  actual  name  "  Australia  " 
was  applied  in  the  first  instance  to  the 
largest  island  of  the  New  Hebrides  group  by 
Ouiros  in  1606,  in  the  belief  that  it  was  the 
promontory  of  a  great  southern  continent. 
Luiz  V'aez  de  Torres,  second  in  com- 
mand of  the  Spanish  exploring  expedi- 
tion led  by  De  Ouiros,  the  discoverer 
of  the  New  Hebrides,  as  they  were 
afterwards  named,  had  passed  through 
the  "Torres  Straits,"  discovered,  and 
aptly  named.  New  Guinea,  and  had 
"  felt  "  the  proximity  of  the  real  "  Terra 
Australis."  His  indications  were  followed 
up  ten,  seventeen,  and  twenty-two  years 
later  by  the  Dutch  navigators  Hertoge 
and  Carstenz,  who  actually  located  points 
and  named  features  of  the  North  and 
West  Australian  coasts. 

In  1642,  the  Dutch  navigator,  Abel 
Janszen  Tasman,  skirting  the  western 
coast  of  Australia,  penetrated  so  far  south 
that  he  actually  discovered  Tasmania, 
which  he  called  Van  Diemen's  Land,  after 
the  then  governor  of  Java;  and  New 
Zealand — "  Staaten  Land."  Tasman,  on 
his  return  to  the  eastward  of  Australia, 


Discovery  of 

the  Australian 
Continent 


derived  enough  information,  no  doubt 
from  Malay  seamen  on  the  coasts  of  New 
Guinea,  to  forecast  dimly  the  locality  and 
area  of  this  southern  continent,  "  Groote 
Zuidland,"  which  was  soon  afterwards 
definitely  named  "New  Holland,"  Staaten 
Land  being  at  the  same  time  styled  "  New 
Zealand."  In  1689  and  1699  the  pirate- 
«ri  .  i-^    .  •     explorer    William    Dampier 

What  Captain  ■  ,  ,  ■     ^     ^     ^i.     x'      xu 

_  ,  .. ,  ,  paid  two  visits  to  the  North- 
Cook   did   for       ^        ,  ,       r   X'  TT    11         1 

E      ■  west  coast  of  New  Holland, 

°*  ^  and  brought  back  some  ac- 
count of  its  peculiar  peoples  and  products. 
But  nothing  like  systematic  exploration 
or  definite  discovery  was  accomplished  in 
these  directions  until  the  three  voyages 
of  Captain  James  Cook,  1769-1777,  re- 
vealed the  actual  coast  of  South-eastern 
Australia,  and  the  definite  outline  of  New 
Zealand.  Cook  also  placed  on  the  map 
such  archipelagoes  of  the  Pacific  as  had 
not  been  already  made  known  to  the 
civilised  world  by  the  Spanish,  Portuguese, 
and  Dutch  navigators  of  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries. 

British  exploring  enterprise  in  these 
regions  between  the  Western  Pacific  and 
the  Indian  Ocean  had  been  baffled  during 
the  early  eighteenth  century  by  the 
rivalry  of  the  Dutch  and  French.  We  had 
been  obliged  to  fight  France  for  pre- 
dominance in  India,  and  a  fierce  though 
unofficial  warfare  had  been  waged  with 
Holland  to  keep  the  Dutch  out  of  Bengal. 
By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  French  had  completely  lost  any 
chance  of  building  up  a  great  Indian 
empire,  but  the  Dutch,  defeated  in  Hindu- 
stan, still  clung  to  Ceylon,  and  successfully 
competed  with  us  in  Java,  Sumatra, 
Borneo,  and  the  Moluccas. 

The  eighteenth  century  decided  the 
fate  of  India,  possibly  for  several 
centuries  to  come  ;  but,  compared  to  our 
present  Asiatic  dominions,  British  rule  in 
Hindustan  was  by  no  means  universal, 
and  we  had  but  a  slight  foothold  on 
,  the  Malay  Peninsula  (Island  of 
Britatn  s  pj^ang,  acquired  1786),  and  in 
the  Malay  Archipelago,  Natal, 
Fort  Marlborough,  or  Bencoolen, 
in  Sumatra,  and  a  doubtful  tenancy  of  one 
or  two  islets  oft  the  coast  of  Borneo.  But 
at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  centujy, 
which,  for  a  logical  sequence,  one  must 
place  at  the  Peace  of  Amiens,  in  1802, 
the  British  Empire,  scattered  and  patchy 
as  it  was,  had  almost  the  outline — the 
skeleton — of  the  empire  of  to-day,  and  was 

5457 


Rule 
in  India 


BRITISH   TROOPS    MARCHING    THROUGH    THE    SWAMPS    OF    BRITISH    GUIANA 
This  colony,  on  the   north  coast  of   South  America,  once  a  Dutch   trading  outpost,  was  held  by  the  British  from 
1781  till  1783;  they  again  held  it  from  1796  till  1802,  and  from  1803  till  1814,  when  the  present  colony  was  formed. 

From  the  drawinjj  by  R   Caton  Woodvillc 

5458 


SIR    GEORGE    SIMPSON    ESTABLISHING    HIS    FIRST    COUNCIL    OF    SETTLERS    IN    1835 
Justly  considered  one  of  the  architects  of  the  present  Canadian  Dominion,  Sir  George  Simpson  had  the  entire  managre- 
ment  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  Canada,  and  the  rise  of  British  Columbia  was  contemporary  with  his  adnuntstration. 

From  the  drawing  by  R.  Caton  Woodville 

5459 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


vastly  different  from  the  empire  over  which 
WiUiam  III.  was  ruHng  in  1702.  At  that 
date  this  monarch,  if  he  had  caUed  for  a 
map  of  the  British  Empire  beyond  the  seas, 
which  he  probably  never  thought  of  doing, 
would  have  noted  a  few  English  "  planta- 
tions," or  settlements,  on  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board of  North  America  between  Boston, 

„  .    .  ,    _  New  York,  and  the  Savan- 

Br.tam  s  Over-    ^^^^    ^.^^^,        q^^^^,    ^^^^^^ 

ocas  Dominions   •        ,  •,  •  ,1  „ 

200  Years  Ago    }?  ^^}';^'y  ^^"^^^^^  ^^J'^^f  ^^'^ 
Caribbean  seas  would  have 

reminded  him  that  James  I.  had  given 
a  charter  for  the  Bermudas,  that  Charles  I. 
had  permitted  the  settlement  of  Barbados, 
that  Cromwell  had  annexed  Jamaica, 
and  that  under  Charles  II.  most  of  the 
British  Leeward  Islands  had  been  acquired. 
In  Southern  Asia  he  would  have  noted  the 
Island  of  Bombay — an  undoubted  British 
possession.  There  should  also  have  been 
marked  on  the  map  factories  and  forts — 
more  or  less  identical  with  political  foot- 
holds— at  some  point  on  the  coast  of 
Sind,  at  Surat,  Broach,  and  Ahmedabad, 
in  Western  India  ;  at  Calcutta,  Tegna- 
patam,  Vizagapatam,  Madras,  and  Masuli- 
patam,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Indian 
Peninsula  ;  while  in  the  interior  there  were 
agencies  at  Agra  and  Patna.  Along  the 
shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf  there  were 
factories  at  Basra,  Bandar  Abbas,  and 
Jask  ;  and,  despite  Dutch  hostility, 
the  East  India  Company  still  held  on 
to  trading  posts  at  Bantam,  in  Java  ; 
Macassar,  in  Celebes  ;  and  Achin,  in 
Sumatra.  On  the  West  African  coast 
the  Royal  African  Company  possessed 
forts  at  the  mouth  of  the  Gambia,  and 
along  the  Gold  Coast,  from  Dixcove  to 
Accra,  and  at  Whyda,  on  the  coast  of 
Dahomeh.  The  East  India  Company,  more- 
over, had  seized  the  island  of  St.  Helena. 

That    was    the    extent    of    the    British 

Empire  in  1702,  at  which  time  Ireland  still 

lay  a  depopulated,  desolate,  half-conquered 

country  which  was  being  settled  on   the 

.        east  and  on  the  north  by  Pro- 

e     omma    ^gg^^^^j.    English,  Welsh,    and 

""  ^  ,        Scotch  settlers.   Scotland  her- 
Cape  Colony       ,.  ,      ,  . 

self  was  a  separate  kmgoom, 

acknowledging  only  partially  the  direct 
rule  of  William  III.  The  Isle  of  Man 
was  a  feudal  kingdom  under  a  British 
noble  ;  the  Channel  Islands  were  semi- 
independent  piratical  settlements.  At 
the  Peace  of  Amiens,  in  1802,  Great 
Britain,  it  is  true,  had  nominally  sur- 
rendered Cape  Colony  to  the  Dutch,  but 

5460 


had  made  every  preparation  for  reoccu- 
pation,  and  had  made  that  reoccupation 
a  matter  of  certainty  and  legality  by  the 
establishment  of  her  sea  power  and  an 
understanding  with  the  Prince  of  Orange. 

In  America  she  possessed  the  whole  of 
the  vague  and  vast  territories  of  Canada, 
which  were  at  any  rate  conceived  of, 
under  the  charter  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  as  stretching  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific  ;  besides  the  West  India 
Islands  already  owned,  she  had  seized  and 
has  since  retained  Dominica,  St.  Lucia, 
St.  Vincent,  Grenada,  Tobago,  and  Trini- 
dad, and  had  established  a  lien  on  the 
coasts  of   Honduras  and  Nicaragua. 

British  Honduras  began  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  as  the  fortified  establish- 
ments of  piratical  British  traders  and 
timber  —  mahogany  —  cutters.  Though 
frequently  attacked  by  Spain,  and  fre- 
quently ceded  to  Spain  by  England,  the 
British  settlers  held  on  steadfastly  till, 
in  1786,  a  definitely  British  administration 
was  established.  She  had  occupied 
British,  French,  and  Dutch  Guiana.  Far 
away  towards  the  southern  extremity  of  that 
continent  the  British  Govern- 
O  ^t  1^^^  ment  had  already  earmarked 
,  "     J,  the  Falkland  Islands,  but  had 

™  ^^  been  repulsed  in  its  attempt  to 
seize  Buenos  Ayres.  In  the  Mediterranean 
we  held,  legally  or  illegally,  Gibraltar, 
Malta,  Sicily,  and  the  Ionian  Islands, 
while  British  naval  and  military  action 
had  just  turned  the  French  out  of  Egypt. 

Here  an  almost  unconscious  intimation 
had  been  given  of  an  intention  some 
day  to  occupy  that  halfway  station 
towards  our  growing  Indian  Empire.  In 
East  Africa,  Britain  had  opened  up  rela- 
tions with  Abyssinia  and  Zanzibar,  as 
also  with  the  tribes  of  South  Arabia  and 
the  Persian  Gulf.  In  West  Africa  her 
forces  had  occupied  the  French  colony  of 
Senegal,  and  strengthened  the  hold  over 
the  mouth  of  the  Gambia.  As  the  first 
result  of  British  anti-slavery  enthusiasm, 
the  colony  of  Sierra  Leone  had  been 
founded.  The  forts  along  the  Gold  Coast, 
already  mentioned,  continued  to  be 
garrisoned  by  the  Royal  African  { Chartered) 
Company.  Even  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  Great  Britain  was 
beginning  to  think  about  the  Niger,  the 
upper  course  of  which  river  had,  in  1796, 
been  discovered  by  the  Scottish  explorer, 
Mungo  Park,  in  the  direct  service  of  the 
British  Crown.    British    trade  with  West 


THE    STORY    OF    BRITISH    EXPANSION 


Africa  at  that  time  had  extended  to  the 
rivers  which  form  the  delta  of  the  Niger, 
and  even  to  the  mouth  of  the  Congo. 

In  1796  as  aheady  mentioned,  the  great 
Portuguese  traveller,  Dr.  JoseLacerda,  had 
predicted  that  the  British  would  attempt 
to  found  an  empire  stretching  from  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  Egypt.  If  Mungo 
Park  discovered  the  main  course  of  the 
River  Niger,  another  equally  distinguished 
Scot,  an  explorer  of  really  advanced 
scientific  attainments,  James  Bruce,  had, 
in  1768-1773.  rediscovered  and  definitely 
mapped  the  course  of  the  Blue  Nile  from 
.\byssinia  to  Egypt.  He  was  despatched 
on  this  aim  by  a  British  Secretary  of  State, 
Lord  Halifax,  and  there  is  little  doubt 
thit  this  journey  provoked  a  special 
British  interest  in  the  affa  rs  of  Egypt. 

In  Asia  the  British  possessions  in  1802 
included  a  general  sway  over  Hindustan 
between  the  Himalayas  on  the  north 
and  Cape  Comorin  on  the  south,  between 
the  Bay  of  Bengal  on  the  east  and  the  Indus 
River  on  the  west.  The  actual  posses- 
sions in  India  of  the  Honourable  East 
India  Company  at  this  date  over  which 
„  .        it   ruled  directly  were    Bengal 

xpansion    ^^^  ^^^  Bombay  and   Madras 
of  one  .  -^    , .  £     ,\ 

Centur  provmces ;    a  portion    of    the 

^  "'^  Central  and  North-west  Pro- 
vinces; parts  of  Rajputana.  Indirectly  the 
company  controlled  the  affairs  of  Oudh, 
Haidarabad,  and  Mysore.  We  had  even 
during  the  eighteenth  century  taken  our 
first  political  step  towards  establishing 
British  influence  over  Tibet  ;  our  political 
explorers  had  penetrated  through 
Afghanistan  to  Bokhara,  and  we  had 
acquired  some  influence  at  the  court 
of  Persia.  In  the  Malay  Archipelago  we 
replaced  the  Dutch  in  Java  and  Sumatra, 
as  also  at  various  points  on  the  Malay 
Peninsula.  In  North  Africa,  though  we 
had  no  actual  foothold,  nevertheless,  by 
Nelson's  victories  and  the  British  occupa- 
tion of  Malta,  we  were  so  predominant  in 
Tunis  and  Tripoli  as  to  exercise  a  kind  of 
suzerainty  over  those  Turkish  feudalities. 

In  igo8  the  British  dominions  have 
attained  an  enormous  area,  even  com- 
pared to  what  they  were  in  1802.  In 
North  America  the  small  colonised  areas 
of  Newfoundland,  Nova  Scotia,  New 
Brunswick,  Upper  and  Lower  Canada, 
Ontario,  and  the  few  forts  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  have  grown  into  a  belt  of 
continuous  colonisation  and  cultivation 
extending  from  the  coast  of  Labrador  to 


the  Pacific  and  right  up  to  the  Arctic 
Circle  and  the  eastern  limits  of  Alaska  ; 
while  the  political  dominion  of  Canada 
(British  North  America)  reaches  to  the 
Polar  regions,  and  comprises  nearly  half 
the  North  American  Continent.  In  the 
warmer  regions  of  the  New  World,  vague 
British  rights  on  the  coast  of  Central 
-,  .       America  at  Belize  have  grown 

U  a  th  ^^^°  ^^^  definite  colony  of 
n  •*•  k  n  British  Honduras,  while  the 
British  Flag  „    ,  r      t-w  x    1 

Colony    of     Demerara,     taken 

over  from  the  Dutch,  has  become  the  large 
State  of  British  Guiana,  90,260  square 
miles  in  extent.  In  the  far  south,  the 
Falkland  Islands  have  been  definitely 
organised  as  a  crown  colony,  and  the 
British  negis  has  been  thrown  over  the 
large  island  of  South  Georgia,  annexed  by 
Captain  Cook  in  1775.  These  possessions 
were  definitely  occupied  and  administered 
in  1833,  because  of  their  importance  to 
the  whaling  industry  in  the  South  Atlantic. 

Within  the  limits  of  Europe,  though  we 
have  given  up  the  islet  of  Heligoland  off 
the  German  coast,  we  have  acquired,  for 
ah  practical  purposes,  the  large  island  of 
Cyprus  in  the  Eastern  Mediterranean. 
The  Ionian  Islands,  which  France  snatched 
from  the  dying  Repubhc  of  Venice,  en- 
joyed a  British  protectorate  in  every 
sense  of  the  word  for  sixty  odd  years, 
and  were  then  made  over  to  the  King- 
dom of  Greece.  Malta,  already  occupied 
in  1802,  had  been  definitely  ceded  to 
the  British  Crown  in  1815. 

On  the  continent  of  Asia,  the  large  red 
patches  of  British  dominion  (through  a 
chartered  company),  which  gave  to  Great 
Britain  the  practical  control  of  the 
peninsula  of  Hindustan,  have  grown  in  a 
hundred  years  to  our  existing  Indian  and 
colonial  empire  in  Southern  Asia.  This 
begins  almost  in  Africa,  on  the  far  west, 
with  the  port  of  Aden,  the  islet  of  Perim 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  the 
island  of  Socotra  off  the  North-east 
African  coast.  It  extends 
S"*'^.*"  ^  eastwards  through  the  British 
Rule  in  the  p^^otectorate  over  the  Aden 
"^^  hinterland  and  protectorate,  or 

sphere  of  influence— established  by  treaty 
— over  the  whole  south  coast  of  Arabia  to 
the  vicinity  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  The 
south-west  coasts  of  that  inlet  and  the 
Bahrein  Islands  are  a  British  protectorate, 
and  in  common  with  the  Arabian  regions 
already  referred  to  are  attached  to  the 
vast  Indian   dominions,   which   begin  on 

5461 


5462 


fa*  4- 

5f  as. lis  o     ^1 


5463 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  west  at  Baluchistan,  near  the  entrance 
to  the  Persian  Gulf.  By  the  recent 
agreement  with  Russia,  the  South-east 
Persian  coast  commanding  the  entrance 
into  the  Persian  Gulf  is  a  British  sphere 
of  influence.  From  Baluchistan  the 
Indian  Empire  extends  continuously 
eastwards  to  the  frontier  of  French  Indo- 
China,  and  northwards  to 
Tibet — a  portion  of  which  is' 


World-Wide 
Range  of 
British  Power 


actually  British  —  and  to 
Afghanistan,  a  Central  Asian 
state  in  very  close  relations  with  the 
British  Empire.  Ceylon  has  been  acquired 
from  the  Dutch,  1796-1815,  and  British 
influence  now  reigns  supreme,  directly 
or  indirectly',  over  the  whole  ^lalay 
Peninsula  from  Burma  to  Singapore. 
The  northern  third  of  the  island  of 
Borneo   is   also  under  British  protection. 

In  Australasia,  and  in  the  archipelagoes 
of  the  Pacific,  the  gains  have  also  been 
enormous — a  third  part  of  the  vast  island 
of  New  Guinea  with  the  adjacent  archi- 
pelagoes of  the  Louisiade  and  the  Solomon 
Islands,  the  whole  inland  continent  of 
Australia,  the  large  islands  of  Xew 
Zealand,  the  clusters  of  Fiji  and  of  Tonga, 
the  Gilbert.  Santa  Cruz,  EUice.  Phoenix, 
Union,  Fanning,  Maiden,  and  Hervey 
group,  and  a  lien  over  the  New  Hebrides. 

The  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century  has  witnessed  enormous  accretions 
to  the  British  dominions  in  Africa.  Prior 
to  1875  .we  had  possessed  and  built  up, 
since  1806,  the  colony  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  about  as  far  north  as  Kim- 
berley,  and  the  then  small  colony  of  NataJ, 
founded  1824-1842.  There  remained 
unclaimed  areas  between  Natal  and  Cape 
Colony,  and  there  was  no  hold  over 
Zululand,  the  Orange  Free  State,  or  the 
Transvaal.  On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa 
there  was  a  patch  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Gambia,  and  a  few  patches  on  the  coast  of 
Sierra  Leone,  a  strip  of  coast  country 
between  the  Volta  River  and  Assinie  on  the 
_  Gold  Coast,  and  the  little  island 

f^B^'f  h  °^  Lagos,  once  a  great  head- 
. .  .  quarters  of  the  slave  trade.    In 

the  Atlantic  Ocean  we  possessed 
the  islets  of  Ascension  and  St.  Helena  ; 
in  the  Indian  Ocean,  Mauritius  and  the 
Seychelles.  That,  in  1875,  was  the  utmost 
extent  of  British  Africa. 

By  1909  these  patches  and  strips  have 
grown  into  colonies,  protectorates  and 
spheres  of  influence  which  now  in  their 
united  bulk  exceed  the  possessions  of  any 

546"4 


other  European  Power  on  the  African 
continent,  and  include  the  occupation  of 
Egypt,  the  administration  of  the  vast 
Egyptian  Sudan,  the  protectorates  or 
colonies  of  Uganda,  East  Africa,  Somali 
land,  and  Zanzibar,  the  protectorate  or 
sphere  of  influence  of  British  Central 
Africa  between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the 
Zambesi,  and  all  British  South  Africa 
from  the  Zambesi  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  from  the  outskirts  of  Damara- 
land  to  the  Portuguese  province .  oi 
^Mozambique.  In  West  Africa  there  are 
the  territories  of  Nigeria,  which  extend 
from  the  delta  of  that  river  to  Lake  Chad 
and  the  borders  of  the  Sahara  Desert — a 
much  enlarged  colony  and  protectorate  of 
the  Gold  Coast — some  82,000  square  miles 
in  area — a  protectorate  over  the  hinter- 
land of  Sierra  Leone,  and  both  banks  of 
the  lower  course  of  the  Gambia  River. 

The  British  Empire  may  not  even  yet,  in 
1909,  have  touched  its  apogee  of  extent, 
and  indeed  if  it  be  wisely  governed  and 
directed  so  as  to  enlist  with  it,  and  not 
against  it,  the  sentiments  of  the  backward 
races,  it  may  develop  into  a  league  of 
.         peace  and  mutual  co-opera- 

o  ^1  °™*fs     tion  of  still  more  surprising 
South  African  ,  t,  „       , 

^     -  ,       .       vastness.     It   mav  come   to 
Confederation   .      .     ,  1        1-         1 

mclude  an  educational  pro- 
tectorate over  Southern  Arabia  and  the 
shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  an  alliance, 
almost  feudal,  with  Abyssinia,  Afghanistan, 
Tibet,  and  Siam  ;  it  may  assist  Australia 
to  arrange  with  France  and  Holland  on 
equitable  terms  for  extended  sway  over  a 
small  portion  of  Dutch  New  Guinea  and 
of  the  New  Hebrides  archipelago.  In 
Africa,  the  coming  South  African  con- 
federation of  Boer  and  Briton  may  eventu- 
ally include  the  cognate  German  state 
of  South-west  Africa  ;  and  it  may  also, 
by  arrangement  with  Germany,  link 
up  the  Uganda  protectorate  with  the 
north  end  of  Tanganyika,  and  thus 
establish  the  last  link  in  the  Cape-to- 
Cairo  route. 

Or,  if  it  increases  in  such  directions  as 
these,  it  may  shrink  in  others,  yielding 
here  and  there  a  little  to  France  in  Western 
Africa,  to  Germany  an  islet  or  two  in  the 
West  Indies,  or  an  establishment  on  the 
Persian  Gulf.  But  ior  the  most  part  it  is 
more  likely  that  these  extensions  or  round- 
ings  off  of  the  British  Empire  will  be 
balanced  by  our  standing  out  of  the  wa^' 
of  other  ambitions  in  Eastern  Europe 
and  Nearer  Asia,  or  in  the  Congo  basirj. 


THE 

BRITISH 

EMPIRE 

II 


BY  SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON, 

G.C.M.G. 


BRITISH    TRADE    AND    THE    FLAG 

THE    PIONEERS    OF     COMMERCE 
AS     MAKERS    OF    THE     EMPIRE 


nPHE  causes  and  motives  which  have  pro- 
•*•  voked  the  creation  of  this  vast  empire 
have  been  numerous  and  sometimes  con- 
flicting. The  first  incentive  and  the  last 
have  been  the  desire  to  find  profitable 
markets  for  trade  wherein  British  products 
or  manufactures  could  he  exchanged  for 
foreign  wares  sufficiently  valuable  to  meet 
the  risks  and  expenses  of  sea-transport. 
Coupled  with  this  has  been  the  desire 
to  grab  at  whatever  good  things  might 
be  going  in  the  way  of  animal,  vegetable, 
or  mineral  wealth  not  already  in  the  pos- 
session of  a  nationality  strong  enough  to 
defend  it.  Then  the  restless,  dissatisfied 
or  persecuted,  or  even  criminal  among  us 
have  hoped  to  find  a  happier  and  less 
trammelled  existence  in  regions  beyond 
the  British  Isles  yet  under  the  British 
flag.  Honest  commerce,  eager^  greed  for 
gain,  naif  love  of  adventure,  and  the  search 
for  marvels — these  were  the  provocative 
impulses  which  drove  daring  seamen, 
merchants,  and  soldiers  of  fortune  beyond 
the  seas  of  Britain  to  new  worlds,  new 
hemispheres,  and  strange  climates  during 
the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  there  was 
superadded  the  desire  to  flee  from  religious 
or  political  oppression  ;  in  the  seventeenth 
century  real  colonisation  took  place. 
But  in  that  which  followed — the  eighteenth 
— -the  dominant  impulse  once  again  was 
commerce  and  the  rapid  making  of  wealth 
in  exploitable  lands.  This  was  the  century 
of  the  slave  trade's  greatest  development. 
^    .      ,.  The  first  familiar  instance  of 

Emigration        ^      •         ,•  r  ,•    •  r 

,     „  ,.  .        emigration  for  religious  free- 

for  Religious     ,      ^     .         .,     ,         r      .^ 

P       .  dom     is     that     of    the     102 

dissidents  from  the  Church  of 

England  who  emigrated  in  the  Mayflower,  in 

1620,  and  founded  Plymouth,  U.S.A.    The 

first  Quakers  arriving  in  North  America, 

i652-i(:66,     were     hanged,     flogged,      or 

expelled ;  but  from  1671  to  1681  hundreds 

came    to    America     and    colonised     New 

I  Y  27  n 


Jersey,  Delaware,  and  Pennsylvania.     In 

the    nineteenth    century    the    causes    of 

empire    extension    were    more    complex. 

Commerce,   exploitation,   the   possibilities 

of  mineral  discoveries  were  no  doubt  the 

most  powerful  inducements  to  extend  the 

^  area  of  British  occupation  ;  and 

Factors  •   ,      ^  • 

.  .       increasing     social     pressure     m 

B  •id'*'"^*  England  and  Scotland,  and 
"*^  misery  in  Ireland,  brought  about 
such  a  rush  of  colonists  for  the  vacant 
healthy  lands  in  America,  South  Africa,  and 
Oceania— some  16,000,000  persons  in  the 
last  hundred  years  (of  this  number  about 
5,000,000  left  between  1815  and  1850) — 
as  our  history  had  not  yet  known,  the 
movement  being  enormously  aided  by 
the  development  of  steam  navigation. 
But  there  was  a  third  factor  at  work  in 
empire-building  from  the  very  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century  to  its  very  end  : 
sentiment — a  sentimentality  almost  sar- 
donic in  some  of  its  manifestations. 

In  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  we  built  forts  and  founded 
colonies  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  on  the  slave  trade 
in  an  efficient  manner  ;  in  the  nineteenth 
century  we  seized  important  vantage  points, 
annexed  or  protected  enormovis  areas  in 
order  to  suppress  the  trade  in  slaves. 

The  eagerness  of  commerce  to  go  in 
front  of  the  hampering  restrictions  of  a 
regular  government  led  to  the  creation  of 
chartered  companies — and  chartered  com- 
panies have  always  ended  in  the  foundation 
of  colonies,  dominions  or  empires — in  the 
seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth 
centuries.  Greed  of  gain  was  coincident 
with  the  glamour  of  Incha.  India  has  been 
the  mainspring  of  our  empire,  the  m.agnet 
which  has  drawn  vis  by  such  strangely 
devious  routes  that  our  pioneers  have 
halted  by  the  way,  have  started  off  at  a 
tangent  on  other  quests,  or  have  become 
involved  in  the  solution  of  other  problems 

5465 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


widely  separated  from  those  of  Hindustan. 
The  search  for  a  quick  sea  route  to 
India  through  North  America — analogous 
to  the  Magellan  Straits  on  the  south — 
led  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  across  the  Atlan- 
tic, to  found  that  Virginia  which  was  occu- 
pied twenty-five  years  afterwards  and 
which  was  the  germ  of  the  United  States 
,  of  America.    The  same  stimulus 


The  Days  of 

Maritime 

Enterprise 


led  to  the  journeys  of  Frobisher, 
Davis.    Baffin ;    and   the   last- 


named  was  actually  killed  in  an 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  East  India 
Company's  ships  to  found  in  the  Persian 
(iulf  that  British  sphere  of  influence  on  the 
approach  to  the  Indian  markets  which  has 
only  become  an  accomplished  fact  in  the 
twentieth  century.  Drake's  attempt  to 
find  the  Pacific  outlet  of  these  northern 
[Magellan  Straits,  this  water  route  across 
North  America — which,  after  all,  does 
exist,  only  it  is  too  much  in  the  frozen 
zone  to  be  of  any  use — led  to  the  discovery 
of  Oregon ;  and,  three  centuries  later, 
the  same  motive  of  research  on  the  part 
of  Captains  Cook  and  Vancouver  brought 
about  the  rediscovery  and  annexation 
of  Vancouver  Island. 

Failing  to  find  an  easy  way  across  the 
North  Atlantic  to  the  marvels  of  Cathay 
and  the  Middle  East,  the  diplomacy  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  was  directed  to  an  over- 
land route  through  the  Turkish  dominions. 
As  this  proved  insecure  and  uncertain, 
attention  was  turned  towards  the  sea 
route  round  Africa.  This  led  in  time  to 
the  acquisition  of  Tangiers  as  a  calling- 
place,  to  the  settlement  of  St.  Helena, 
the  seizure  of  Gibraltar  as  an  alternative 
to  Tangiers,  the  occupation  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  and  of  Mauritius. 

Bonaparte,  thinking  to  strike  at  Britain 
in  India,  where  she  was  wealthiest  and 
weakest,  landed  in  Egypt,  and  may  be  said 
to  have  opened  the  overland  route.  From 
the  days  when  the  French  capitulated  and 
quitted  Egypt,  England  could  not  take 
-J  her   eyes-,  or   thoughts    off    that 

_  .    country.     The    splendid   private 

J,"  *"^  "*  enterprise   of    Lieutenant    Wag- 
^^^  horn  haying  started  the  overland- 

route  in  1837-47,  in  connection  with  the 
newly  introduced  steamer  traffic,  Great 
Britain  found  herself  compelled  to  occupy 
Aden,  in  1839,  at  the  southern  exit  of  the 
Red  Sea,  and  ultimately  also  Perim  Island. 
Bonaparte's  action  in  Egypt,  indeed,  had 
far-reaching  results  he  could  never  have 
foreseen  :    it  brought  Great  Britain   as    a 

5466 


fighting  power  into  the  Red  Sea.  Even 
Abyssinia  and  the  vaguer  Ethiopian  and 
Zanzibar  regions  were  "  leaked  up  "  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  because 
of  the  bearing  their  alliance  might  have  on 
a  lifc-and-death  war  between  France  and 
Britain  for  the  lordship  of  Southern  Asia. 

If  the  overland  route  led  to  an  increased 
interest  in  Egypt  and  the  turning  of  the 
Red  Sea  into  a  British  lake,  what  was  not 
the  effect  of  t4ie  Suez  Canal  ?  It  made  a 
British  occupation  of  Egypt  a  matter  of 
national  necessity,  a  foregone  conclusion 
to  all  but  short-sighted  British  statesmen. 

This  last  came  about  in  an  odd  manner, 
and  at  an  unexpected  juncture,  and  by 
degrees  dragged  us  into  the  Sudan  as  far 
as  the  Congo  water  parting,  and  compelled 
in  time  the  annexation  of  Uganda.  Indian 
affairs  were  by  this  time  much  mixed  up 
in  commerce  with  those  of  Zanzibar. 
Consequently,  with  the  flanks  of  Egypt  to 
be  guarded,  no  other  Power  but  ourselves 
must  occupy  Mombasa — already,  for 
Indian  reasons,  declared  a  British  strong- 
hold in  1823 — or  the  main  route  to  the 
Nyanzas  and  the  Upper  Nile.  Hence  arose 
„  .  .  .  the  vast  British  possessions  in 
Pj      .     Eastern  Equatorial  Africa.  By  1898 

Afrfca^  ^"^  -'-9^  ^^^  fortified  harbour 
of  Aden  had  grown  inf:o  a  protec- 
torate or  sphere  of  influence  over  the  whole 
of  the  south  Arabian  coastlands,  including 
the  Kuriya-Muriyan  Islands,  from  the 
Straits  of  Bab-el-Mandeb  on  Ihe  west  and 
the  frontiers  of  Oman  on  the  east.  From 
similar  motives  also  has  arisen  the  British 
protectorate  over  the  Bahrein -Islands  in 
the  Persian  Gulf.  In  South  Africa  we 
could  not  occupy  Cape  Town  and  remain 
indifferent  to  questions  of  European  colo- 
nisation and  to  the  welfare  of  the  natives 
within  three  hundred  miles  of  the  Cape 
Peninsula.  So,  in  time  the  British  flag  crept 
along  the  south-east  coast  till  it  conflicted 
with  Portuguese  claims_at  Delagoa  Bay. 

The  Mediterranean  route  to  Egypt, 
moreover,  required  other  calling  stations 
than  Gibraltar.  Minorca  had  once  been 
ours,  but  it  lay  rather  off  the  direct  route 
to  Egypt  ;  moreover,  it  belonged  to  Spain, 
and  Spain  had  become  our  ally.  Sicily 
would  have  been  too  large  to  retain  and 
control.  Napoleon  had  indicated  just 
what  we  required  then  in  seizing  Malta. 
It  was  easy  to  succeed  him,  for  the  Maltese, 
who  had  little  or  no  affection  for  the 
corrupt  rule  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John, 
voluntarily  offered  the  sovereignty  of  their 


BRITISH  OFFICIALS  INSPECTING  THE  CISTERNS  AT  ADEN,  BUILT  IN  1 7  m  B.C. 
The  story  of  how  Aden  carae  into  possession  of  the  British  is  one  of  some  interest.  In  L:'.7,  a  British  ship  was 
wrecked  near  Aden,  the  crew  and  passengers  being  severely  maltreated  by  the  Arabs.  On  the  Bombay  Government 
demanding  an  explanation,  the  sultan  agreed  to  make  compensation  and  to  sell  the  town  and  port  to  Britain, 
but  the  Turkish  ruler's  son,  who  administered  the  government,  declined  to  implement  the  bargain,  and  in  consequence 
the  place  was  reduced  by  a  naval  and  military  force  on  January  ICth,  1839.  Aden,  which  then  became  an  outlying 
portion  of  the  Bombay  Presidelicy,  was  fortified  and  garrisoned,  and  its  ancient  water  tanks  were  partially  restored. 

From  tlie  drawing  by  R.  Catnn  WoodviUe 

5467 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF     THE    WORLD 


little  archipelago  to  the  King  of  Great 
Britain.  Beaconsfield  believed  he  was 
completing  the  chain  of  naval  stations  and 
military  halting  places  on  the  Mediter- 
ranean route  to  India  by  adding  Cyprus, 
with  the  intention  that  a  British  dominion 
ov^er  Syria  and  a  railway  thence  to  the 
Euphrates  valley  and  India  should  follow. 
„  .,  .  ,       Whether    his    successors    were 

Britain  s  -  r       -  ii 

r  ..  Wiser  m  prelerrmg  the  sea 
Expanding  ^_     _..      ,l_^    c..„„  *'r^„„„i     „„^ 


Empire 


route,  via  the  Suez   Canal    and 


the  Red  Sea,  time  alone  can 
show.  The  affairs  of  India  involved  us, 
commercially  first,  and  then  politically,  in 
those  of  China.  This  necessitated  miUtary 
and  naval  stations  in  Chinese  waters. 

Hence  the  acquisition  of  Hong  Kong  and 
eventually  of  Wei-hai-wei.  From  the 
desire  to  prevent  a  Russian  descent  into 
Tibet  and  Mongolia,  and  thence  a  march 
towards  the  Himalayas — in  fact,  a  Russian 
dominion  over  the  Chinese  government — 
arose  the  Japanese  alliance,  with  all  that 
it  may  yet  entail.  Singapore  was  required 
to  safeguard  the  sea  route  between  China 
and  India  ;  the  occupation  of  the  Straits 
Settlements  has  led  to  a  sphere  of  exclusive 
influence  over  all  the  Malay  Peninsula  and 
a  protectorate  over  the  northern  coastlands 
of  Borneo.  Burma  has  been  annexed  to 
o])viate  any  other  intrigues  or  ambitions 
in  that  quarter ;  while,  at  the  risk  of  war 
with  France  some  fifteen  years  ago,  Siam 
has  been  maintained  as  a  buffer  state. 

India  has  been  the  chief  pivot  of  our 
foreign  policy  from  the  closing  years  of 
Elizabeth's  reign  to  the  rapprochement  with 
Russia  in  1907-1908:  that  Russia  which 
was  discovered  commercially  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  VI.  by  British  maritime  adven- 
turers who  were  seeking  for  a  north-east 
passage  to  India.  The  principal  attraction 
which  India  and  the  Indian  trade  had  for 
British  minds  in  the  Tudor  period  lay  in 
its  production  of. spices  and  pepper.  It  is 
true  that  many  of  these  spices  were  actually 
derived  from  distant  parts  of  the  Malay 

^  Archipelago  or  from  Ceylon, 

Commerce        i      ,     j.i  • 

,.     w  .•       f  l^ut   these   regions  were  con- 
the  Motive  of  ° 


Expansion 


sidered  part  of  India  in  a 
generalised  statement,  and  as 
some  of  the  Southern  Indian  ports  were 
depots  in  the  spice  trade  between  Arabia, 
Persia,  and  the  Farthest  East,  the  confusion 
was  very  natural.  It  would  be  an  interest- 
ing stucly  in  human  history  to  discuss  the 
diet  of  Western  and  Southern  Europe  in  the 
later  Middle  Ages  and  down  to  the  sixteenth 
century,   and  discover  the  reason  of  the 

5468 


desire  which  arose  for  spiced  food,  and 
especially  the  strenuous  demand  for  pepper. 
It  was  the  desire  to  obtain  unrestricted 
quantities  of  pepper  which  not  only 
founded  the  East  India  Company — and 
thereby  the  British  Indian  Empire — but 
which  hrst  drew  Britishers  to  West  Africa  : 
first  pepper,  then  slaves,  then  gold. 

Cinnamon,  cloves,  ginger,  sandal-wood, 
silks,  musHns,  indigo,  ivory,  pearls,  gums, 
carpets,  and  precious  stones,  were  among 
the  other  principal  Indian  products  which 
attracted  the  attention  of  European  mer- 
chants from  the  fifteenth  to  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  rock  formations  of  India  were 
believed  to  be  excessively  rich  in  precious 
stones  down  to  quite  recent  times.  But 
this  natural  wealth  was  exaggerated  by 
Arab  writers  and  credulous  Europeans. 
Golconda,  little  more  than  a  suburb  of  the 
modern  Haidarabad,  whose  Mohammedan 
ruler  was  one  of  the  first  Indian  princes  to 
give  the  British  company  a  trading  con- 
cession, was  not  so  much  a  place  that 
produced  diamonds  as  a  centre  for 
diamond-cutting,  such  as  Amsterdam  has 
since  become.  The  sandstone  region  of 
...  the  Northern  Deccan  certainly 

\T  ^  ct  produced  diamonds  ;  indeed,  in 
Vast  Store     ',  ■    ,         .u  4.  i-i. 

r  \xr    wi.      the     Sixteenth     century,      the 
01  Wealth       T-,  All  • "     1       " 

Emperor    Akbar    received    an 

annual  royalty  computed  at  ;^8o,ooo  from 
the  diamond  mines  of  Panna,  in  Bundel- 
khand,  on  the  northern  edge  of  the  ancient 
island  of  Southern  India. 

These  mines  are  still  worked,  but  are  now 
of  inconsiderable  importance.  Emeralds 
to  a  limited  degree,  rubies,  sapphires,  cats' 
eyes,  and  other  precious  stones,  were  to  be 
obtained  from  India  or  the  adjacent 
countries,  besides  which  the  accumulation 
of  the  labour  and  wealth  of  forty  centuries 
had  amassed  in  this  wonderful  peninsula-^ 
the  matrix  of  the  human  race — a  vast  store 
of  wealth  in  gold,  silver,  and  precious 
stones  ;  and  this  possible  plunder  was  one 
of  the  most  potent  attractions  to  Portu- 
guese, Dutchman,  Englishman,  and 
Frenchman  to  found  an  empire  over  these 
patient,  placable,  thrifty,  toiling  millions 
of  Aryanised  Dravidians. 

The  pearl  fishery  was  certainly  one  of 
our  inducements  to  occupy  Cejdon,  one  of 
the  most  notable  additions  to  the  British 
Empire  in  the  early  nineteenth  century. 
Eighty  years  later,  the  ruby  mines  of 
Burma  accentuated  the  impatience  felt 
at  the  ineptitude  of  the  native  Burmese 
government  and  its  intrigues  with  France 


THE 


BRITISH     IN    CYPRUS:    THE    BASHI  -  BAZOUKS    EVACUATING    THE    ISLAND 
In  terms  of  the  Ang-lo-Turkish  Convention,  devised  at  the  Berlin  Conference,  Cyprus  was  occupied  by  the  forces  of 
Great  Britain  on  July   10th,  1878.    The  island  is  now  administered  as  a  Crown  colony  by  a  high  commissioner. 

F'om  the  drawing  by  R.  Catoii  Woodville 


5469 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


and  Italy.  Rubies  and  teak  forests  pre- 
vailed to  decide  the  immediate  political 
fate  of  Burma.  The  location  of  gold  in 
Australia  and  New  Zealand  came  too  late 
to  be  a  provocative  cause  in  the  annexa- 
tion of  those  islands,  a  deed  already 
accomplished  from  other  motives  ;  though 
it  is  quite  possible  that  the  early  discovery 
r  \A  th        ^^    copper    in    Australia    may 

^  ^  ^  .  have  rendered  the  Imperial 
Creator  of   ^  ,  i    .  •        i 

^  J     .         Government    more    determmed 

to  secure  for  Great  Britain  the 
exclusive  political  hegemony  over  Austral- 
asia. Gold,  however,  was  the  creator  of 
British  Columbia,  which  otherwise  might 
have  slid  from  the  feeble  hold  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  into  the  possession 
of  the  United  States.  Conversely,  gold  in 
the  Yukon  valley  and  sealskins  from 
Alaska  have  been  the  principal  reasons  why 
the  American  Government  has  shown  itself 
so  curmudgeon  in  the  settlement  of  the 
North-western  frontier  of  the  Canadian 
Dominion,  so  resolved  not  to  allow 
Canada  to  achieve  her  natural  destiny 
and  extend  to  Bering  Strait — an  event 
which  I  predict  will  some  day  come  to  pass 
by  friendly  arrangement. 

Diamonds  in  South  Africa,  discovered 
amid  the  sterility  of  the  Orange  Free 
State  borderlands,  suddenly  changed  our 
attitude  of  tolerant  indifference  towards 
the  fate  of  the  South  African  hinterland 
into  one  of  eager  unscrupulousness.  Ad- 
vantage was  taken  of  the  uncertain  nature 
of  the  Orange  State  boundary  and  of 
native  claims,  which  were  assigned  to 
Great  Britain,  to  extend  the  British  aegis 
over  all  the  known  diamondiferous  terri- 
tory. This  opened  up  the  route  to  Bechu- 
analand  and  thenceforth  to  the  Zambesi. 

We  let  the  Transvaal  go  back  to  inde- 
pendence in  1881,  and  even  waived  our 
suzerainty  in  1884.  In  1886  the  Johannes- 
burg and  Barberton  districts  were  found 
to  be  rich  in  gold.  The  attitude  of  the 
British  Government  towards  the  Transvaal 

South  Africa's  ™™^^'f^^ly      ^^^"g^^'      ^'- 
.  more  strictly  speaknig,  was 

^  ij  r-^ij        changed  for  it  by  the  rise  to 

Gold-Fields  ,°,  J  -^  r    /-      •, 

wealth  and  power   of   Cecil 

Rhodes,  and  his  British,  German,  French 

and  Afrikander  business  associates,  who, 

between   i88g  and    1905,   controlled   and 

dominated  the  British  Government.    Lord 

Salisbury,    in   the   sad   autumn   of    1899, 

may  have  spoken  for  himself  in  disavowing 

the  attraction  of  the  gold-fields  as  being 

the  reason  why  we  then  found  ourselves 

5470 


at  war  with  the  Boers,  but  his  colleagues 
must  have  found  it  difficult  to  preserve 
solemn  faces  as  he  uttered  those  memor- 
able and  rather  pathetic  words  of  a  weary 
statesman  of  lofty  ideals,  aloof  from  the 
vulgar  rush  for  wealth  and  a  little  ashamed 
of  his  yoke-fellows'  greedy  jingoism. 

Yet  to  Continental  critics  never  must 
British  hypocrisy  have  seemed  so  need- 
lessly patent.  Of  course  we  wanted  the 
gold-fields,  and  the  territory  too ;  but 
for  the  gold,  would  Jew  and  Gentile, 
Briton  and  German,  American  and  French- 
man, Indian,  Greek  and  Portuguese  have 
flocked  into  the  prematurely  named 
South  African  Republic,  or  have  decided 
rapidly — and  truly — ^that  the  unadul- 
•terated  government  of  uneducated  and 
greedy  Boers  and  a  few  peevish  reactionary 
Hollanders  was  not  good  enough  for  very 
modern,  clever,  hard-working  settlers, 
who  wanted  the  best  type  and  the  least 
obstructive  of  existing  governments — that 
of  Great  Britain  ? 

But  for  gold  and  diamonds — and  mis- 
sionaries, of  whom  more  anon — the  hinter- 
land of  South  Africa  might  still  be  the 
undisputed  appanage  of  Boer 

,  "  *^  .  and  Zulu  ;  there  would  be  no 
Influence  m  •,  .       .1        '7        1       • 

S  th  Af  ■  lailway  to  the  Zambesi ;  no 
British  Central  Africa ;  but 
there  might  also  be,  by  this  time,  the 
outline  of  a  great  German  colonial  empire. 
Possibly  Afrikander  children  now  born 
and  getting  ready  for  school  may,  in  their 
old  age, 'say  it  was  lucky  lor  the  fate  of 
the  great  South  African  nation  that  the 
passing  wealth  in  precious  metals  and 
precious  stones — perhaps  by  that  time  no 
longer  precious — induced  Great  Britain 
as  a  government,  but  more  through  a  few 
British  individuals,  to  lay  her  hands  on 
South  Africa  from  the  Vaal  and  the 
Orange  rivers  to  the  Zambesi  and  Tan- 
ganyika. Our  intervention,  though  it  may 
have  been  influenced  by  temporary  greed 
of  gain,  has  moulded  a  great  nationality, 
the  future  united  states  oi  South  Africa, 
an  analogue  to  the  fusion  of  Frenchman, 
Scot,  and  Englishman  which  will  some 
day  form  the  great  Canadian  nation. 

The  desire  to  obtain  an  ample  supply  of 
mahogany,  logwood,  and  rosewood  with- 
out paying  toll  to  Spain  created  the 
British  colony  of  Honduras.  Gold  and 
diamonds,  again,  enlarged  the  boundaries 
of  British  Guiana.  Palm  oil  drew  the 
British  Government  into  a  protectorate 
over  the  Nigei    Delta  and   Old   Calabar. 


BRITISH   TRADE    AND    THE    FLAG 


Cloves  were  not  without  their  influence 
on  the  fate  of  Zanzibar.  Tin  made  it 
possible  to  develop  the  resources  of  the 
Malay  Peninsula  and  impossible  to  brook 
the  ingress  there  of  any  other  Power.  The 
cultivation  of  the  sugar-cane  attracted  us 
to  the  West  India  Islands. 

Codfish  and  lobsters  have  imparted  an 
interest  in  the  fate  and  prosperity  of  New- 
foundland which  might  otherwise  have 
been  lacking  ;  cotton  possibilities  in 
Nigeria  are  making  a  chancellor  of  the 
exchequer  less  grim  on  the  subject  of 
subsidies  for  railway  construction, 
especially  with  the  happy  results  of  the 
Uganda  railway  before  his  eyes  ;  the 
chance  of  cotton-growing  in  the  Zambesi 
territories  was  the  motive  in  the  minds 
of  the  Ministry  which  despatched  Living- 
stone and  Kirk  to  what  is  now  British 
Central  Africa.  The  charter  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  was  the  eventual 
outcome  of  Frobisher's  voyages  of  nearly 
a  hundred  years  before,  when  Frobisher 
and  Queen  Elizabeth,  his  patroness, 
believed  he  had  discovered  ore  containing 
gold  on  the  verge  of  the  Arctic  circle. 
For  more  than  three  centuries 


Founding  of 


commentators  referred  to  this 


Hudson's  Bay      ■,  ,  j   i      •         u    a 

^  ^  idea  as  a  strange  delusion,  but 

ompan>  ^^^  discovery  of  gold  in  the 

Yukon  valley  shows  that  Frobisher  and 
Elizabeth's  Italian  metallurgists  may 
not  have  been  so  very  much  in  error. 
Frobisher  may  have  picked  up  gold- 
bearing  rocks  on  the  shores  of  "  Meta 
Incognita,"  or  Baffin's  Land,  and  the 
inhospitable  regions  of  Eastern  Arctic 
Canada  may  yet  become  as  valuable 
as  are  those  of  the  North-west. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  how- 
ever, was  formed  under  Charles  II. 
more  with  the  object  of  discovering 
and  dominating  a  water  route  to  the 
regions  of  China  and  India  across  North 
America.  But  the  company  soon  found 
its  raison  'd'etre  and  its  claims  for  military 
and  diplomatic  support  in  the  vast 
numbers  of  fur-bearing  mammals  which 
swarmed  over  Arctic  and  temperate  North 
America.  Canadians  of  to-day  owe  to 
the  bear,  fox,  wolverene,  lynx,  marten, 
musquash,  and  mink,  the  political  unity 
of  their  vast  dominion.  Nor  have 
whales — toothed  and  toothless — been 
without  their  influence  on  the  develop- 
ment of  the  empire.  The  Basque 
people  of  Northern  Spain  and  Soudi- 
west    France    seem    to    have    been    the 


first  race  in  Europe  or  anywhere  else 
to  pursue  whales  on  the  ojien  sta  and 
attack  them  with  harpoons.  No  doubt,  at 
first  the  exploit  most  desired  was  to 
drive  the  whale  on  shore.  The  Basques 
seem  to  have  had  the  monopoly  of  this 
pursuit  from  the  ninth  to  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  whalebone 
whale  of  the  North  Atlantic 
■  th  "*^  ^^^  become  almost  extinct. 
Arctic  Seas  Latterly,  indeed,  the  Basque 
fishermen  had  been  wont  to 
pursue  their  search  for  whales  as  far  as 
Newfoundland,  and  with  the  growing 
demand  for  oil  and  whalebone  the  British 
seamen  had  taken  up  the  same  quest, 
hiring  frequently  the  Basque  pilots  and 
harpooners  to  assist  them.  When  Henry 
Hudson  returned  in  1607  from  his  first 
search  for  a  North-west  passage,  he 
spread  the  news  of  the  enormous  quan- 
tities of  whalebone  whales  and  walruses 
which  were  to  be  found  in  these  Arctic 
seas.  The  result  was  that  the  Arctio 
Ocean  between  Greenland,  Labrador, 
Spitzbergen  and  Nova  Zembla  was 
thronged  for  twenty  or  thirty  years  with 
British  whaling  ships,  a  pursuit  which  not 
only  added  to  our  stock  of  hardy,  resolute 
seamen,  but  increased  British  interest  in 
the  regions  of  Arctic  America. 

In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
however,  whaling  was  almost  abandoned 
on  the  part  of  the  British,  owing  to  the  zeal 
with  which  it  had  been  taken  up  by  the 
Dutch,  who  became  as  quarrelsome  and 
as  jealous  of  any  competition  as  they  were 
in  the  equatorial  Spice  Islands. 

Repeated  attempts  M'ere  made  in  the 
early  eighteenth  century  to  revive  the 
whaling  industry  of  Britain  in  the  northern 
seas,  and  in  1725  the  South  Sea  Company 
endeavoured  to  promote  the  search  for 
whales— whalebone,  introduced  into  Eng- 
lish industries  a  hundred  years  before, 
having  become  an  increasingly  important 
article — by  offering  a  subsidy.  The  matter 
■  was  eventually  taken  up  by 
Government  ^^^^  Government,  whose  boun- 
Bounties  to  ^-^^  granted  to  whaling  ships 
Whaling  Snips  ,      ,  °        j.    j  u  „  +?     £  .;,j. 

had  created  by  1749  the  first 

Scottish  whaling  fleet,  sailing  from  Peter- 
head. In  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  spread  of  learning  and  the 
love  of  reading  caused  an  increased 
demand  for  lamp-oil  and  candles.  Wax 
was  too  expensive,  tallow  too  evil-smelling  ; 
palm  oil  and  other  vegetable  fats  for 
candle-making   had  not   yet   entered   the 

5471 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Discovery 

of  Falkland 
Islands 


scope  of  commerce.  The  voyages  of  Anson 
and  Cook  had  drawn  attention  to  the 
abundance  of  sperm  whales  in  the  south 
seas.  In  1775  the  first  British  whahng 
ships  entered  the  Pacific  round  Cape 
Horn  or  through  the  Magellan  Straits.' 
The  pursuit  of  the  sperm  whale 
in  the  Southern  seas,  and  the 
growth  also  of  world-com- 
merce on  the  east  and  west 
coasts  of  South  America,  drew  the  atten- 
tion of  navigators  of  several  nationalities 
to  the  Falkland  Islands,  situated  off  the 
coast  of  Patagonia,  so  near  to  the 
extremity  of  South  America. 

These  islands  had  been  discovered  by 
John  Davis,  the  Arctic  explorer  who  was 
killed  on  the  coast  of  Malacca  in  1592, 
and  again  by  Sir  Richard  Hawkins  two 
years  later.  In  1598  the  indefatigable 
Dutchmen — led  by  Sebald  de  Wert — 
paid  them  a  visit  and  named  them  the 
Sebald  Islands.  In  1690,  or  a  little  after, 
they  received  the  name  of  Falkland 
Islands  from  Strong,  a  British  captain. 

In  1763  the  French  attempted  to  found  a 
colony  on  Berkeley  Sound.  But  by  this 
time  the  Spaniards  of  South  America 
considered  that  these  islands  came  within 
their  jurisdiction,  and  they  expelled  the 
French  by  force.  In  1761  they  had  been 
annexed  by  Commodore  Byron  on  behalf 
of  England  on  the  ground  of  their  having 
been  discovered  by  Davis,  Hawkins  and 
Strong ;  but  the  Spanish  Government 
contested  the  British  claim  as  vehemently 
as  the  French  attempt,  and  prepared  to 
go  to  war  on  the  subject.  Nevertheless, 
in  1771,  the  British  claim  to  the  islands 
was  recognised  by  Spain  in  a  formal  con- 
vention. Either  they  proved  to  be  of  less 
importance  to  the  whaling  industry  than 
was  expected,  or  the  distractions  of  the 


Napoleonic  Wars  caused  them  to  be 
forgotten,  for  their  formal  cession  by 
Spain  was  not  followed  by  any  attempt 
at  British  settlement  other  than  the  chance 
visits  of  whaling  ships.  So  much  so,  that 
in  1820  the  new  republic  of  Buenos  Ayres 
laid  claim  to  the  Falkland  Islands,  and 
established  a  colony  on  the  site  of  the  old 
French  settlement  at  Port  Louis. 

As  no  protest  was  made  by  Great  Britain, 
the  islands  might  have  lapsed  into  an  appan- 
age of  a  South  American  republic  had  it  not 
been  that  they  had  become  a  rendezvous 
for  American  whaling  ships  from  the  United 
States,  and  the  masters  of  these  ships 
fell  out  with  the  newly  established  Argen- 
tine authority.  American  war  vessels  seem 
to  have  intervened  in  the  quarrel,  and 
between  them  the  Argentine  settlement  was 
destroyed.  Then  the  British  Government 
awoke  to  the  importance  of  this  forgotten 
outpost,  with  the  result  that  the  British 
flag  was  again  hoisted  in  1833. 

The  whaling  industry  flagged  some  twenty 
years  afterwards,  and  was  succeeded  by 
the  pursuit  of  the  fur- bearing  sea-lion.  But 
for  many  years  subsequently  the  Falkland 
Islands  have  been  valued,  not  as  a  resort 
for  whaling  or  sealing-ships,  but  as  a  wool, 
tallow,  and  mutton  producing  colony,  in 
which  a  very  vigorous  white  race  is 
springing  up  which  may  some  day  play  a 
part  in  the  politics  of  South  America. 
The  whaling  industry  also 
caused  the  annexation  by  Cap- 


Whaling's 
Service  to 


the  Empire 


tain  Cook  in  1775  of  South 
Georgia,  a  large  island — the  size 
of  Cheshire — in  the  South  Atlantic,  about 
950  miles  to  the  E.S.E.  of  the  Falkland 
group.  Whalers  have  also  caused  the  an- 
nexation, or  the  retention,  of  numerous  tiny 
archipelagoes  in  the  Pacific,  and  of  Tristan 
d'Acunha    in     the     South-east     Atlantic 


5a» 


THE    TOTAL    POPULATION,    NUMBERING    EIGHTY-ONE,    OF    TRISTAN    DACUNHA 
5472 


THE 
BRITISH 
EMPIRE 
•    III 


BY  SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON, 

G.C.M.G. 


THE  SLAVE  TRADE  AS  A  FACTOR  IN 
COLONIAL    EXPANSION 

SLAVERY    UNDER    THE    BRITISH    FLAG 
AND    THE    SUPPRESSION    OF  THE   EVIL 


THE  earliest  and  strongest  inducement 
to  acquire  territorial  possessions  on  the 
West  Coast  of  Africa  was  the  facility  for 
carrying  on  a  trade  in  slaves  with  America. 
The  search  for  pepper — cardamoms,  grains 
of  paradise,  the  seeds  of  the  Aframomum 
plant — was  a  temporary  allurement ;  and 
there  was  always  the  trade  in  gold-dust 
between  Assinie  and  the  Volta  River. 

But  although  "Guinea  gold"  was  ex- 
ported to  England  steadily  from  the  time 
of  Charles  II.  onwards,  it  was  never  in 
such  large  quantities  as  to  give  a  serious 
bias  to  Imperial  policy.  The  rivers  and 
estuaries  between  the  Senegal,  Gambia, 
and  Sierra  Leone,  together  with  a  small 
portion  of  Liberia,  Hwida,  Dahomeh,  and 
Benin  :  these  were  the  principal  resorts 
of  British  slave-traders  during  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries.  In  the  eigh- 
teenth and  nineteenth  the  trade  spread 
to  Lagos,  the  Niger  Delta,  Calabar, 
Kamerun  and  Congo.  The  rapid  con- 
quests of  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese 
in  Central  and  South  America  had, 
in  the  course  of  fifty  odd  years,  revealed 
one  negative  quality  of  the  New  World. 

These  lands,  rich  with  obtrusive 
mineral  wealth,  endowed  witli  magni- 
ficent timber,  a  hundred  useful  vege- 
tables, and  many  delectable  birds 
and  beasts,  were  either  very  sparsely 
populated  with  indigenous  races  of  man, 
or  the  Indians  had  not  the  requisite 
toughness  of  fibre  to  withstand  the 
_  .  .  hellish  slavery  to  which  they 
panis  ^  ^yygi-g  subjected  by  the  con- 
-  .  quistadores.  So  that,  by  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  problem  which  is  now  exercising 
many  minds  in  the  development  of 
tropical  Africa  worried  the  Spanish 
rulers  of  America :  where  was  the 
labour  force  to  come  from  that  could 
toil  unremittingly  in  a  tropical  climate  ? 


Victims 
of  Moorish 
Pirates 


The  Portuguese  had  anticipated  the 
question  before  the  New  World  had  been 
discovered.  Indeed,  the  theory  of  slave 
labour  had  been  in  vigour  in  the  Medi- 
terranean world  from  a  most  remote 
period,  and  had  received  a  considerable 
fillip  during  the  Crusades 
and  the  consequent  wars  be- 
tween the  Moslems  of  North 
Africa  and  the  Christians 
of  Portugal,  Spain,  France  and  Italy. 
Moorish  pirates  captured  Christians,  fair 
and  dark,  from  off  the  coasts  of  the  Medi- 
terranean and  Western  Europe,  from 
Ireland  to  Greece,  and  the  captives  were 
then  set  to  work  to  row  the  galley,  build 
the  mole,  raise  the  fortress,  decorate  the 
palace,  and  make  themselves  generally 
iiseful  in  em.ployments  not  always  palat- 
able to  the  free  IMoslem. 

It  was  the  great  desire  of  the  Christian 
to  do  likewise,  a  desire  which  only  began 
to  have  its  fulfilment  when  Spaniards  and 
Portuguese  first  conquered  the  Moors 
within  the  limits  of  their  own  peninsula 
and  then  victoriously  carried  their  cru- 
sading conflict  into  Morocco.  Prince 
Henry  the  Navigator  did  not  discourage 
his  Genoese,  Majorcan  and  Portuguese 
adventurers  from  making  slaves  of  the 
i\loors  on  whom  they  could  lay  hands 
in  their  exploring  expeditions.  But  they 
soon  detected  the  difference  in  servitude 
between  Moors  and  Blackamoors,  though 
generically  the  two  were  lumped  together. 
The  captives  brought  back  from  the 
north  of  the  Senegal  River  were  found  to 
be  of  noble  stuff,  to  whom  slavery  meant 
heartbreak.  The  black  people,  trafficked 
in  by  the  very  Moors  themselves  to  the 
south  of  the  Senegal  River,  were  ideal 
servants,  accepting  readily  both  the 
Christian  faith  and  a  mild  form  of  domestic 
service.  In  fact,  historically,  it  was  the 
captured  Moors  who  obtained  their  own 

5473 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


freedom  by  offering  to  show  the  Portu- 
guese where  they  might  obtain  slaves 
of  the  material  required  by  them 

As  soon  as  the  British  seamen  of  Bristol, 
Devon,  London,  and  East  Anglia  began  to 
venture  far  afield  in  sailing  ventures  under 
the  instigation  of  Venetian  navigators, 
they  were  very  curious  as  to  the  regions 

_^.  .      from    which     the    Portuguese 

Discoveries      i  ,    ■       j  j  i 

r  w  1.  *  obtamed  spices  and  muscular 
of  Merchant  ,  ,      ,  ^.  j  •      .1 

..      ,  black  servants;  and  even  m  the 

Adventurers   ,.  ,  r    t-  i         j 

discouragmg  days  01    Edward 

VI.  and  Mary  I.,  when  much  of  English 
capital  and  enterprise  were  fettered  by 
religious  troubles  and  the  throttling  hand 
of  Spanish  diplomacy,  merchant  adven- 
turers set  forth  to  discover  West  Africa 
for  themselves. 

At  first  seamen  shipped  with  the 
Portuguese  and  kept  their  own  counsel  till 
they  returned  ;  or,  later,  some  Portugaese 
commander,  unfairly  treated  at  home, 
would  come  to  England  to  find  a  market  for 
his  knowledge.  The  excessive  jealousy  and 
hostihty  of  the  Portuguese  towards  any 
other  adventurers  in  the  West  African 
field  were  somewhat  tempered  where  the 
English  were  concerned  by  Portuguese 
rivalry  with  Spain,  and  the  feeHng  that  in 
the  struggle  that  was  coming,  Portugal,  to 
avoid  absorption  by  the  power  of  Spain, 
might  find  assistance  in  an  alliance  with 
the  English.  Moreover,  in  spite  of  re- 
ligious differences,  which  did  not  really 
arise  until  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  and  of 
a  dog-in-the-manger  policy  as  regards  over- 
sea adventure,  there  had  been  from  the 
twelfth  century  onwards  the  growing  up 
of  an  unwritten  alliance,  even  of  written 
pacts,  between  Angevin  England  and 
Burgundian  Portugal. 

It    may   even    be    said    that    prior  to 

the  sixteenth  century  the  rulers  and  the 

aristocracy     of     Portugal     and    England 

were   much   more   nearly   akin   in   blood, 

ambitions,    and    even  speech,    than   they 

are    to-day:    '  The   influence   of  Portugal 

^         .  on  the  historical  development 

xir  .  At  ■  of  the  British  Empire  has  been 
Wesl  African  ,       ,  ,^  ,,  . 

c,  SO  important  as  to  excuse  this 

disquisition.  By  the  beginning 
of  Elizabeth's  reign,  though  the  Portuguese 
did  not  like  the  entry  of  British  seamen  into 
the  West  African  trade,  they  did  not  treat 
this  intervention  with  such  hostility 
as  might  have  nipped  it  in  the  bud. 
Consequently,  Sir  John  Hawkins,  as  he 
subsequently  became,  was  in  a  position 
in  1562  to  tender  to  the  Spanish  rulers  of 

5474 


America,  Imperial  or  Viceregal,  for  the 
supply  of  cargoes  of  West  African  slaves, 
or  Moors,   as  they  were  still  called. 

The  ventures  proved  profitable  to  the 
English,  and  so  satisfactory  to  the 
Spaniards  in  the  West  Indies  that  the 
supply  continued  to  be  carried  on  even 
during  periods  when  Spain  and  Britain 
were  officially  at  war.  Hawkins,  having 
enriched  himself  over  a  business  in  which 
he  saw  no  more  iniquity  than  has  been 
felt  by  many  a  nineteenth  century  pur- 
veyor of  Kanaka,  or  negro  contract 
labourers,  was  knighted  by  Queen 
Elizabeth,  and  assumed  as  his  crest  a 
"  demi-Moor  in  bondage." 

The  British  trade  in  slaves  from  the 
West  African  coast  might  have  progressed 
much  more  rapidly  and  prosperously  be- 
tween 1560  and  1660  had  it  not  been  for 
the  rivalry  and  ambition  of  the  Dutch. 
The  inhabitants  of  Holland  and  Friesland 
are  so  near  akin  to  us  in  blood  and  lan- 
guage, have  so  many  of  our  own  virtues 
and  faults  that  we  need  not  affect  sur- 
prise that  a  country,  small  indeed,  but 
nearly  as  large  as  the  England  that  counted 
^  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth,  when 

arve  ous  Wg^igg  and  much  that  lay  to  the 
Achievements  ^i        r  t  ■         ^ 

f  H  II  d  i"iorth  of  Lincoln  were  savage 
and  sparsely  populated,  should 
have  achieved  the  marvellous  things  it 
did  in  the  seas  of  Africa,  Asia,  and  America 
during  the  time  when  its  people  were 
fighting  on  their  very  thresholds  against 
all  the  power  of  Spain  and  Austria.  Such 
surprise  at  the  achievements  of  big- 
minded  men  out  of  a  tiny  country  savours 
of  a  complete  ignorance  of  history.  What 
Holland  did  is  as  wonderful,  but  not  more 
so,  than  the  staggering  first  successes  of 
Portugal  or  the  civilisation  of  Greece. 

The  Dutch,  finding  that  they  were 
twice  as  good  at  ship-building,  ship- 
sailing,  and  ship-fighting  as  the  Portu- 
guese, who  had  become  the  subjects  of 
Spain — ^the  Spaniards, '  except  the'  small 
Basque  population  in  the  '  north,  were 
indifferent  navigators — grasped  at  trans- 
marine empire  everywhere  with  a  greed 
admirable  in  its  stupendous  character. 
They  intended  to  conquer  the  whole  of 
Brazil,  and  wished  to  supplant  Spain  in 
Venezuela  and  the  West  Indies.  At  one 
time  they  took  nearly  all  Angola  from 
the  Portuguese,  and  even  made  an  attempt 
at  the  subjugation  of  the  Congo  kingdom. 
They  usurped  the  place  of  the  Portuguese 
in  Senegambia — 'the  island  of  Goree  in  the 


SLAVERY    AND    COLONIAL    EXPANSION 


harbour  of  Dakar  to  this  day  bears  the 
name  of  a  small  island  off  the  Friesland 
coast,  and  on  the  Gold  Coast.  They 
occupied  the  island  of  St.  Helena,  dis- 
covered and  named  by  the  Portuguese, 
and  probably  by  their-  maritime  attacks 
checked  any  intentions  on  the  part  of 
poor  paralysed  Lusitania  to  occupy  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  They  several  times 
took  away  the  island  of  Mozambique 
from  the  Portuguese,  occupied  and  named 
Mauritius,  and  exterminated  the  Dodo. 
They  conquered  the  coasts  of  Ceylon, 
established  themselves  in  Eastern  India 
and  ousted  the  Portuguese  flag  from 
almost  every  part  of  the  Malay  Pen- 
insula and  archipelago,  where  it  had 
been  so  proudly  hoisted  and  so  cruelly 
maintained  by  the  almost  superhuman 
valour  of   the  great  conquistadores. 

Imitation  has  constantly  been  the 
sincerest,  if  most  unconscious,  form  of 
flattery  on  the  part  of  the  British. 
During  the  Saxon  period  they  copied 
the  religion,  arts,  manners,  customs,  and 
costume  of  the  Prankish  Roman  Empire. 
From  before  the  Norman  Conquest  they 
had  begun  to  watch  and 
p"^'.      -  imitate  the  Flemings,  Picards, 

rHu^  M  .•  and  Bretons.  Every  fashion 
Other  Nations  ■       ,  .,     .  r  tj    i 

m  dress  that  came  from  Italy 

ran  with  a  rapidity,  astonishing  without 

a    coach    or    carriageable    road,    through 

.England  up  to  Edinburgh. 

From  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  to  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century  our  seamen 
sedulously  copied  in  shipbuilding,  in  the 
art  ot  navigation,  and  in  the  use  of  nautical 
terms  the  maritime  enterprise  of  Italy, 
Portugal,  and  Spain,  while  during  the 
seventeenth  century  they  devoted  the 
same  spirit  of  assimilation  to  all  they 
could  learn  from  the  Dutch.  Indeed,  it 
was  not  until  the  second  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century  that  England  began 
to  teach  other  nations. 

Therefore,  where  Venice,  Genoa, 
Portugal,  and  Holland'  led  in  matters  of 
maritime  discovery,  and  later  in  the  slave 
trade,  Britain  followed  unquestioningly. 
In  the  last-named  pursuit  she  had 
anticipated  the  Dutch,  but  towards  the 
close  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Dutch 
took  the  lead,  and  kept  it  for  some 
fifty  years.  It  was  a  Dutch  ship  that 
brought  the  first  supply  of  negro  slaves 
to  British  North  America,  Virginia,  in  1619. 
As  soon  as  we  began  to  get  the  upper 
hand  of  the  Dutch  in  maritime  warfare,  or. 


to  put  it  more  fairly,  as  soon  as  Dutch 
enterprise  slackened,  the  British  turned 
the  temporary  trading  stations  estab- 
lished at  the  mouth  of  the  Gambia,  in 
the  estuary  of  Sierra  Leone,  and  on  the 
Gold  Coast,  into  permanent  fortified  posts. 
In  fact,  under  Charles  II.,  James  II.,  and 
Wflliam  III.,  the  British  Empire  in  West 
Traffic  Africa  began  mainly  with  the 

in  Slaves  intention  of  supplying  black 
and  Rum  ?Jf^f  ^^..^^e  sugar-growing 
West  Indies,  where,  under 
Cromwell,  Britain  had  obtained  a  splendid 
installation  by  the  conquest  of  Jamaica. 
By  1670,  we  not  only  desired  to  obtain 
contracts  for  supplying  Spanish  America 
with  negro  labourers,  but  we  required 
them  in  thousands  for  our  own  American 
possessions.  Sugar  was  being  planted 
everywhere  in  the  more  tropical  of  the 
West  India  islands,  and  tobacco  in  Virginia. 
There  was  a  growing  demand  for  rum 
made  from  sugar.  We  were  approaching 
the  two  centuries,  the  eighteenth  and 
nineteenth,  which,  amongst  a  thousand 
other  remarkable  characteristics,  good  and 
bad,  will  probably  be  known  in  the 
perspective  of  history  as  the  centuries  of 
distilled  alcoTiol:  the  two  hundred  odd 
years  in  which  civilised  and  uncivilised 
man  attempted  to  poison  himself  and  his 
progeny,  body  and  mind,  with  rum,  gin, 
brandy,  arrack,  kirsch,  absinthe,  schnapps, 
and  whisky.  Rum,  the  aguardiente  of  the 
Spaniard,  got  a  good  start  in  the  infamous 
race,  and  vastly  promoted  the  cultivation 
of  the  sugar-cane,  thus  causing  the  British 
to  establish  at  least  fourteen  slave-trading 
depots  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  during 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  Liverpool, 
London,  Bristol,  and  Lancaster  to 
maintain  between  them  a  fleet  of  nearly 
two  hundred  slave-ships. 

In  1713,  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  imposed 
on  Spain  the  transference  from  Dutch  to 
British  merchants — in  the  syndicate  or 
combine,  as  it  would  now  be  called,  Queen 
.  ,  Anne  had  a  fourth  share — of  the 
ritain  s  contract  for  the  annual  supply 
.    *"  of  4,800  negro  slaves   to   the 

in  avcry  gpg^j^jgj^  Indies.  This  privilege 
was  to  last  for  thirty  years  ;  but  for  some 
good  reasons  the  Spaniards  repudiated 
it  when  it  had  only  run  for  twenty-six. 
For  this  and  other  "wrongs"  the  British 
Government  declared  war  on  Spain.  The 
long  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession  that 
followed — and  later,  the  Wars  of  the  Family 
Compact  and   of    the   American  revolt — • 

5475 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


stood  in  the  way  of  the  resumpticin  of  the 
purveying  of  slaves  to  Spanish  America 
in  British  ships.  The  Spaniards  obtained 
them  through  the  French  and  Portuguese, 
and  finally  made  arrangements  with  Por- 
tugal for  the  cession  of  the  West  African 
island  of  Fernando  Po  and  an  establish- 
ment on  the  African  mainland  at  Corisco 
.  Bay,  so  that  Spaniards  could 
♦kt^nl^i^k  '^^  their  own  slave  -  buying 
and   running.      But    this   was 


the  British 
Colonies 


little  loss  to  the  British  slave- 
traders,  because,  as  the  eighteenth 
century  advanced  towards  its  middle, 
the  British-American  and  West  Indian 
colonies  became  more  and  more  pros- 
perous and  in  need  of  labourers. 

In  the  closing  years  of  the  seventeenth 
century  rice  from  Madagascar  had  been 
introduced  into  South  Carolina,  and 
rapidly  became  an  article  of  profitable 
culture  in  the  sub-tropical  states  of 
British  America,  provided  there  was  a 
sufficiency  of  negro  labour.  Between 
1700  and  1776  about  2,000,000  negroes 
had  been  conveyed  to  the  British  colonies 
of  Eastern  North  America  by  British 
ships,  and  in  this  same  period  quite 
600,000  to  the  British  West  Indies 
— 1,000,000  before  the  century's  close. 

With  the  American  revolt  the  slave- 
market,  in  what  were  now  the  United 
States,  was  practically  closed  to  Great 
Britain.  Moreover,  coincidently  with  this 
revolt  arose  the  first  determined  movement 
against  slavery  in  North  America.  The 
Quakers,  who  played  such  a  great  part  in 
the  settlement  of  the  original  States  of 
New  England,  had  from  the  first  disap- 
proved of  slavery.  The  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania practically  abolished  slavery  within 
its  limits  in  1776,  and  Vermont  in  1777. 
Slavery,  in  fact,  would  have  never  been 
recognised  by  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  but  for  the  insistence  of 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina.  It  was 
possibly  cotton  which  gave  a  ninety'  years'. 
.    ,  extension  to  the  institution 

America  s  _  ^^  slavery  in  America. 
StateT  ^""""^  The  cultivation  of  cotton, 
curiously  enough,  though 
the  best  wild  cotton-plants  are  indigenous 
to  Southern  North  America,  did  not  begin 
in  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas  until  1770. 
After  a  few  miscarriages  of  samples  at 
Liverpool,  in  1764,  it  became  an  astonish- 
ing success.  Previous  to  this  discovery  of 
the  special  value  of  the  climate  of  Georgia 
as  a  cotton-producing  country,  the  small 

5476 


supplies  needed  by  the  modest  manu- 
factories of  cotton  goods  at  London, 
Nottingham,  and  in  Lancashire  were 
obtained  from  Cyprus,  Asia  Minor,  and 
the  West  India  Islands  of  Barbados, 
Anguilla,  and  St.  Christopher.  But  a 
simultaneous  provocation  to  the  con- 
tinuous retention  of  slave'  labour  in  the 
United  States  arose  from  England  itself. 
From  1750  onwards  a  series  of 
splendid  inventions — Kaye's  fly  -  shuttle, 
Hargreave's  carding  -  engine  and  "spin- 
ning-jenny," Arkwright's  spinning-frame, 
mule,  and  throstle  —  revolutionised  the 
cotton  industries  of  England,  the  whole 
history  and  development  of  Lanca- 
shire, whither  cotton  manufacturers  were 
being  removed  from  London  because  of 
the  greater  cheapness  of  labour  and  the 
peculiar  qualities  of  the  Lancashire 
climate,  and  even  the  social  fabric  of 
England.  Cotton  spinners,  American  and 
West  Indian  merchants  became  enormously 
wealthy  and  influential,  and  their  sons 
entered  Parliament.  Thus  were  founded 
the  careers  of  the  great  Sir  Robert  Peel 
and  of  Gladstone.  These  wonderful  develop- 

_       ,.     -     ments  of  British  industry  caused 
Orowth  of  1  J     r        xu 

an  enormous    demand   for  the 


the  Cotton 
Industry 


raw  material.  It  was  before  the 
days  of  steamships,  though  the 
machines  with  steam  power  invented  by 
James  Watt  applied  to  cotton  spinning 
were  the  origin  of  the  application  of 
steam-power  to  locomotion;  and  the 
sailing  voyages  from  Turkey  through  a 
war-devastated  Mediterranean,  were  too 
uncertain  as  a  means  of  a  large  and  con- 
stant supply.  In  the  West  Indies  the  area 
under  British  control  suited  to  cotton 
cultivation  was  too  small.  As  soon  as 
the  war  with  the  American  colonies  could 
be  brought  to  a  conclusion,  a  trade  in 
cotton,  cultivated  by  slave  labour,  sprang 
up  between  the  United  States  and  Liver- 
pool so  enormous  as  to  preclude  for  a 
long  while, any,  serious  movement  on  the 
American  side  for  the  abrogation  of  the 
slave  status. 

.  But  the  prohibition  of  the  foreign  slave 
trade  by  the  United  States  in  1794-1808, 
and  the  similar  prohibition  by  Britain  in 
1808 — strengthened  by  the  provisions  of 
the  Treaty  of  Ghent  in  1814 — effected  a 
great  improvement  in  the  position  and 
happiness  of  the  slave  in  America  and  in 
the  British  West  Indies.  Hitherto  the  wast- 
age of  life  had  been  terrible.  There  were 
about  800,000  negro  and  mulatto    slaves 


5477 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


in  the  British  West  Indies  in  1791,  but  it 

required    annual   drafts    of   about   30,000 

to  maintain  the  labour  force  at  its  sufficient 

quota.     In  1780  there  were  about  600,000 

negroes   in   the   Southern  United    States. 

This  figure  had  risen  in  1790,  under  the 

stimulus  of  cotton-planting  and  increased 

demand    for    slave    labour — perhaps    also 

r-      i  D  -1  •  '    to  a  more  careful  census — to 
Oreat  Britain  s  t->        o       v,  i     i 

Solicitud  757.000-  By  1800  it  exceeded 


for  the  Negro 


a  million,  of  whom,  however, 


more  than  100,000  were 
already  free.  By  1820  there  were  233,000 
free  negroes  in  the  United  States,  to  whom 
the  ordinary  franchise  of  free  citizens 
was  practically  denied.  The  embarrass- 
ment thus  caused  was  met  by  the 
foundation  in  1822  of  Liberia,  on  the 
West  Coast  of  Africa,  to  receive  back  in 
Africa  the  descendants  of  freed  slaves 
whom  America  rejected  as  voting  citizens. 

Great  Britain  had  already  felt  this 
difficulty  of  conceding  political  rights  to 
the  freed  slaves  of  the  West  India  Islands, 
and  further  had  to  find  homes  for  the 
loyahst  negroes  who  had  fought  on  the 
British  side  during  the  American  War  of 
1777-1783.  These  had  first  been  moved 
to  Nova  Scotia ;  then  they  were  con- 
veyed to  London,  and  finally  to  the 
Sierra  Leone  peninsula,  which  had  been 
acquired  by  a  philanthropist  chartered 
company  for  the  repatriation  of  negroes. 

The  foundation  of  the  future  Colony  and 
Protectorate  of  Sierra  Leone,  in  1787-1792, 
was  the  first  episode  in  a  new  order  of  empire 
building ;  sentiment  or  sentimentality  was 
henceforth  to  rank  with  other  more  prac- 
tical reasons  for  annexing  countries,  large 
and  small,  to  the  British  Crown. 

The  alleged  philanthropic  origin  of 
some  of  our  possessions  is  an  explanation, 
which,  down  to  a  few  years  ago,  would 
have  called  forth  the  snort  or  the  sneer 
from  home  or  foreign  critics  of  the  empire. 
But  although  Great  Britain  is  rightly 
famed  for  keeping  an  eye  on  the  main 
g      .  chance  in  her   Imperial  policy, 

it   is   a   fact    that    several    of 


in  Imperial 


her  investments  in  Africa  and 


Policy  A     ■       •       ,,     •  -I  1 

Asia  in  their  origin  have  been 
undertaken  for  motives  of  sincere  philan- 
thropy, and  not  with  the  immediate 
prospect  of  gain.  Thus,  Sierra  Leone  was 
first  started  as  a  chartered  company,  and 
then  grew  inevitably  into  a  crown  colony. 
Lagos  was  conquered  and  annexed  in 
1861  because   it  remained   obstinately   a 


stronghold  of  the  slave  trade.  British 
intervention  in  the  affairs  of  Nyassaland 
was  largely  the  outcome  of  Livingstone's 
denunciation  of  the  Arab  slave  trade. 
British  missionary  propaganda  was  in  the 
first  place  the  only  motive  in  Bechuana- 
land  and  Central  Zambesia. 

The  same  may  be  said  for  the  be- 
ginning of  British  interest  in  Uganda, 
in  all  probability  antedating  the  anxiety 
concerning  the  sources  of  the  Nile 
water-supply  and  the  irrigation  of  the 
Northern  Sudan  and  Egypt.  Philan- 
thropy—of a  rather  sickly  kind — started 
the  creation  of  British  commercial  and 
political  claims  over  the  Lower  Niger,  and 
ranged  public  opinion  behind  the  vacillat- 
ing British  Government  of  the  'nineties 
— it  would  equally  have  stood  behind  them 
in  the  'eighties* — in  the  last  century,  when 
Lord  Kitchener  was  allowed  to  under- 
take the  reconquest  and  resettlement 
of  the  Egyptian  Sudan.  In  no  region 
of  the  British  Empire  was  philanthropy 
more  justified  in  urging  on  a  conquest 
than  in  these  regions  of  the  Central 
Nile  valley.  The  uprising  of  the  bastard 
Arab  element  in  this  region 
was  in  all  truth  a  revolt  in 
favour  of  the  reinstitution  of 
the  slave  trade  in  its  most 
extravagantly  cruel  and  infamous  aspects. 
The  Mahdi's  revolt  had  blasted  and 
depopulated  a  region  of  the  earth's 
surface  which,  under  proper  administra- 
tion, should  have  been  the  home  of  popu- 
lous tribes  of  dark-skinned  people  engaged 
in  rearing  large  herds  of  camels,  cattle, 
asses,  horses,  goats,  and  sheep,  and  in 
cultivating  millions  of  acres  of  wheat  or  of 
date  palms. 

Its  previous  government  by  Egypt 
had  been  undertaken  first  of  all  on 
a  purely  slave-trade  basis,  and  secondly 
as  a  speculation  very  much  on  the 
lines  of  King  Leopold's  rubber  empire 
on  the  Congo.  The  British  conquest, 
occupation,  and  reorganisation  of  the 
Sudan  has  been  a  very  great  gain 
to  civilisation  and  human  happiness. 

Whether  such  a  verdict  shall  be  pro- 
nounced on  all  other  extensions  of  British 
rule  is  discussed  in  greater  detail  in  this 
survey.  But  it  is  noteworthy  that  many 
a  British  conquest,  in  order  to  excite  the 
philanthropic  motive  in  the  British  people,  M 
has  been  preceded  by  a  blackening  of  the  1 
character  of  those  about  to  be  conquered. 


British 
Influence  in 
the  Sudan 


5478 


THE 

BRITISH 

EMPIRE 

IV 


BY  SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON, 

G.C.M.G. 


COLONIES    GROWN    FROM    CONVICT 

SETTLEMENTS 

EFFECT  OF  THE  OLD  TRANSPORTATION 
SYSTEM  ON  THE  EMPIRE'S  EXPANSION 


A  NOTHER  inducement  to  acquire  over- 
■**•  sea  possessions  should  not  be  over- 
looked, as  it  has  contributed  powerfully,  if  at 
first  unhappily,  to  the  formation  of  British 
and  French  colonies  from  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  to,  in  the  case  of  Britain,  the 
last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century :  the  trans- 
portation of  criminals  or  political  prisoners. 

The  fact  that  several  of  our  proudest, 
most  prosperous  colonies  began  in  this 
way,  or  were  reinforced  in  population  by 
these  means,  we  need  have  no  scruple 
in  admitting  or  regret  in  recording,  for  in 
all  the  period  of  English  history  previous 
to  the  reform  of  the  criminal  laws  in 
1826,  1832,  1837,  persons  not  hanged, 
drawn  and  quartered — allowed  to  survive 
their  trial — could  not  have  been  so  very 
wicked,  since  the  death  penalty  in  those 
days  was  frequently  imposed  where  now 
three  months'  imprisonment  would  be 
considered  ample  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  justice,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
enormous  frequency  of  false  witness,  of 
miscarriages  of  justice,  wherein  a  humane 
judge  or  Minister  would  give  the  prisoner 
the  benefit  of  the  doubt  by  sentencing 
him  or  her  to  transportation  for  the  en- 
forced colonisation  of  new  lands. 

Given  the  shocking  social  condition  of 

England  and  France  in  the  eighteenth  and 

early  nineteenth  centuries,  this  plan  was 

really  a  blessing  in  disguise.    The  wretched 

criminal,  often  more  sinned  against   than 

_  ^.  ,  sinning,  was  removed  from  a  rut 
Essentials       r    i  1  •    1    j-  ivc 

.    jP     .        of   hopeless  social  disqualmca- 

^  .  ™.  tion,  and  from  incessant  temp- 

tation to  run  counter  to  local 
laws,  to  a  region  where  muscle,  pluck, 
endurance,  resourcefulness — the  brigand's 
instincts,  moderately  curbed — were  the 
essentials  required  in  empire  building. 
At  home  he  oi:  she  would  have  eventually 
ended  a  miserable  career  on  the  gallows 
or   in   the   workhouse   prison.         In   the 


Two  Sides 

of  the  Australian 

Picture 


American  States,  the  northern  West  Indies, 
Australia  or  Tasmania,  the  transported 
developed  in  many  cases  into  healthy, 
happy,  virtuous,  prosperous  fathers,  or 
mothers  of  sturdy  colonists,  themselves  to 
be  the  ancestors,  perchance,  of  such  as 
shall  found  the  mighty  independent  states 
of  the  future.  Some  of 
the  finest  of  Australian 
citizens,  I  have  been  told, 
can  trace  their  descent 
from  stalwart  English  poachers,  whom  the 
iniquitous  game  laws  of  a  pre-Victorian 
Britain  condemned  to  transportation. 
Similar  ])oachers  nowadays,  unprosecuted 
or  mildly  punished,  might  develop  into 
successful  and  very  respectable  professional 
cricketers,  football  players,  or  golfers ;  or 
enter  the  army,  rise  to  be  sergeants-major 
or  inspectors  of  police,  and  endow  their  not- 
sufficiently-grateful  country  with  families 
of  ten  to  twelve  healthy  children. 

There  was,  of  course,  another  side  to  the 
picture  in  Australia,  and,  above  all,  in 
Tasmania.  A  proportion  of  the  convicts 
were  really  wicked  men  and  women,  and 
the  partial  hberty  they  attained  on 
reaching  the  southern  hemisphere  enabled 
them  to  spread  their  wickedness  like  a 
subtle  moral  contamination.  The  special 
and  isolated  penal  settlements  in  New 
South  Wales,  Tasmania,  Norfolk  Island, 
Moreton  Bay,  West  Australia,  became — 
according  to  writers  of  that  and  a  later  day, 
in  pamphlets  and  in  novels — "terrible 
cesspools  of  iniquity."  But  the  ex-convicts 
and  ticket-cf-leave  men  became  prosperous 
and  outspoken  citizens  :  it  has  been  stated 
in  reports  on  the  transportation  question 
that  by  1835  some  of  the  New  South  Wales 
ex-convict  citizens  possessed  incomes  of 
between  £20,000  and  £40,000,  derived 
from  houses,  lands,  ships,  cattle,  and  land 
transport.  They  advocated  on  the  platform 
and   in   the    local  Press  views   that  were 

5479 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


described  as  "  unprincipled,"  but  in  many 
respects  seem  nowadays  merely  Socialism 
of  a  respectable  and  accepted  type.  The 
vicious  members  of  the  penal  settlements 
mostly  died  out  from  their  evil  courses  and 
left  no  offspring  to  perpetuate  their  moral 
obliquity.  For  the  rest,  the  open  air,  the 
sunshine,  great  spaces,  necessity  for 
„  .    .  ,  physical  exertion,  effected  a 

p  ..       J  bodily  and  mental  purifica- 

rr  ,  4.      tion.  The  Australia  and  Tas- 

mania  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury bear  no  more  traces  in  their  4,200,000 
wholesome  people  of  the  sorrows,  tor- 
tures, crimes,  and  privations  of  a  certain 
section  of  the  original  colonisers  than  do 
the  modern  New  Englanders,  who  are  in 
part  descended  from  a  similar  recruitment. 

Penal  colonies  or  settlements  of  outlaws 
or  mutinied  soldiers  were  not  unknown  in 
the  polity  of  ancient  Egypt,  the  Greek  or 
the  Roman  worlds,  and  here  or  there  in 
legend  and  in  history  are  quoted  as  the  seed 
of  subsequently  prosperous  communities. 
In  the  evolution  of  the  British  Empire  the 
policy  of  transporting  law-breakers  to  lands 
beyond  the  sea  was  foreshadowed  by  the 
Vagrancy  Act  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  on  the 
strength  of  which  her  successor,  James  I., 
directed  that  "  a  hundred  dissolute  per- 
sons "  should  be  sent  to  Virginia.  In  1660 
and  1670,  Acts  of  Charles  II.  prescribed  the 
transportation  of  offenders  against  the 
laws,  which  then  included  many  who  were 
merely  "  lewd,  disorderly,  or  lawless 
persons,"  or  who  were  dissidents  in 
religion ;  and  from  this  time  onwards  men 
and  women  were  regularly  drafted  to  the 
plantations  in  New  England. 

In  1718,  an  Act  of  George  I.  ordained  that 
criminals  guilty  of  grave  offences,  who 
escaped  the  death  penalty,  were  to  be 
farmed  out  to  labour- contractors  for  trans- 
port to  the  American  colonies.  The  con- 
tractors were  thus  enabled  to  sell  the  labour 
of  these  white  slaves — men  at  about  £10  a 
head,  and  women  at  £8  or  £9— for  what- 
Fate  of  ^^^^  term  .the.  judge  .  had 
the  Whit  attached  to  their  transportation, 
c,     ^  say,  from  seven  to  fourteen  years. 

At  the  end  of  that  period  the 
labourer  became  free,  theoretically,  and 
although  in  many  instances,  no  doubt,  a 
wicked  master  kept  his  "  convict  "  at  work 
beyond  the  term  of  his  sentence,  in  many 
others  he  became  a  free  colonist  lone  before 
or  settled  the  question  himself  by  running 
away  to  the  backwoods,  or  joining  the 
Indians    and     becoming    the     father    of 

5480 


vigorous  half-breeds.  Convicts  were  also 
sent  to  Jamaica,  Nova  Scotia,  the  Ber- 
mudas, Barbados,  and  other  islands  of  the 
British  West  Indies.  But  with  the  revolt 
of  the  American  States,  the  transportation 
of  British  law-breakers  across  the  Atlantic 
came  to  an  end.  The  simultaneous  revela- 
tion by  Captain  Cook  of  the  vast  Australian 
territories  suggested  a  far  better  outlet  for 
the  energies  of  those  unhappy  convicts  in 
whom  the  great  philanthropist  Howard 
was  forcing  his  fellow  citizens  and  govern- 
ment to  take  an  interest. 

The  first  fleet  of  convict  settlers  left 
England  for  New  South  Wales  in  1787, 
and,  after  a  voyage  of  seven  months,  landed 
its  consignment  on  the  site  of  the  modern 
Sydney  m  January,  1788.  In  the  same  year 
another  convict  station  was  established  at 
Norfolk  Island,  about  400  miles  to  the 
north-north-west  of  New  Zealand.  In 
1804  the  first  settlement  was  effected  in 
Tasmania,  when  400  convicts,  many  of 
them  Irish  political  prisoners,  were  estab- 
lished on  the  site  of  the  modern  Hobart. 
The  next  year  the  Norfolk  Island  convicts 
were  removed  to  Tasmania,  and  estab- 
lished on  the  banks  of  the  Upper  Derwent. 
„  .  Asearly  as  1832,  however,  pro- 

^  .  .  ,  .  tests  began  to  reach  England 
Criminals  in  j-  ,,  .    i  1  ,•  r 

.  ...  from  the  reputable  section  of 
Australia  .        ,      ,.  ^    .    ,  •      ,    ,, 

Austrahan  society  against  the 

principle  of  transporting  thither  the 
criminals  of  Great  Britain.  There  had 
always  been  alongside  the  deported  prisoner 
of  the  State  a  steady  influx  of  free  colonists. 
Some  of  these  came  to  Australia  with  a 
view  to  farm,  by  means  of  cheap  convict 
labour  ;  and  no  doubt  by  this  association 
of  white  and  black  sheep,  not  a  few  among 
the  latter  regained  their  former  spotless- 
ne?s  of  fleece.  It  is  at  any  rate  certain, 
though  enough  emphasis  has  never  been 
placed  on  this  happy  fact,  that  a  propor- 
tion of  nearly,  if  not  quite,  half  the  convicts 
sent  out  to  Australia  found  their  way  back 
into.the  life  of  decent,  self-respecting  men 
and  women.     . 

It  must  also  be  remembered  that  be- 
tween 1800  and  1820  a  large  number  of 
the  prisoners  were  political :  Irish  rebels 
or  English  rioters,  fighters  for  freedom 
merely,  and  often  high-minded,  pure- 
minded  men.  On  the  other  ho.nd,  after 
the  first  reform  of  the  terrible  English 
criminal  code  in  1826  and  1832,  the  persons 
deemed  to  have  merited  transportation 
were  more  certainly  thorough-going  law- 
breakers than  under  the  former  and  harsher 


COLONIES    GROWN    FROM    CONVICT    SETTLEMENTS 


laws.  So  it  came  about  that  all  the 
respectable  elements  of  Australian  society 
— from  whatever  source  recruited  matters 
not,  for  their  lives  and  exploits  were 
sufficient  testimony  to  their  character — 
struck  at  the  dum])ing  of  any  more  con- 
victed criminals  on  Australian  soil.  Their 
protests  were  endorsed  by  their  judiciary, 
and  after  1840  no  more  state  piisoners 
were  sent  to  the  eastern  half  of  Australia. 

A  good  many  of  the  irreclaimable 
convicts 'of  New  South  Wales  and  Queens- 
land (Moreton  Bay)  were  removed  to 
Norfolk  Island,  which  continued  to  be  a 
convict  station  till  1854.  Tasmania  received 
all  the  output  of  British  convicts  until 
1846,  when,  in  consequence  of  protests 
from  its  Government,  the  supply  was 
stopped  until  1848.  Then  it  began  again, 
especially  with  regard  to  Irish  and  English 
Chartist  political  prisoners.  This  was  in 
1850,  when  an  attempt  to  land  250  con- 
victs in  the  previous  year  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  provoked  almost  an  insurrec- 
tion. After  1850  no  more  convicts  were 
sent  to  the  beautiful  island  of  Tasmania, 
which,  in  1825,  had  been  thrown  open  to 
free  emigrants.   -  In  Tasmania  the  worst 

'  features   of   convict  colonisa- 

rou    esome  ^^^^  were  certainly  manifest. 

Convicts  T,,  .      ,       ,  ,      -^  , 

.    T,  .     The    mdentured    or    assigned 

iQ  Tasmania        ....  ^  ■      1     ^ 

cnmmals,  who  were  subjected 

to  but  little  supervision,  frequently 
escaped  into  the  bush,  and  between  1804 
and  1830  the  island  was  terrorised  by 
bushrangers.  This  precipitated  trouble 
with  the  black  indigenes,  whose  treat- 
ment, active  and  passive,  at  the  hands 
of  British  ofhcialdom  will  always  be  one 
of  the  blots  on  the  empire's  record,  from 
the  point  of  view  of  science  as  well  as 
philanthropy.  The  worst  type  of  convicts 
were  herded  at  the  penal  settlement  of 
Port  Arthur,  on  Tasman  Peninsula,  under 
conditions  graphically  described  by  the 
late  Marcus  Clarke  in  his  powerful  novel, 
"  His  Natural  Life." 

Western  Australia  had  been  founded  as 
a  colony  in  1829,  but  for  many  years  it 
languished  in  growth  owing  to  the  superior 
attractions  in  rapid  fortune-making  offered 
elsewhere  in  the  island-continent.  ..  It 
heeded  cheap  labour  above  all  for  the 
development  of  its  resources,  so  that  when 
the  other  states  of  Australia  were  indig- 
nantly repudiating  the  principle  of  convict 
immigration,  the  legislature  of  the  Crown 
Colony  of  West  Australia  actually  pro- 
posed to  the  Home  Government,  in  1846, 

I    Z  27  D 


of  Transportation 
Abolished 


the  sending  out  annually  of  a  limited 
number  of  British  convicts.  The  proposal 
was  eagerly  accepted  by  the  British 
Government  in  1849,  a-t  a  time  when  they 
were  placed  in  a  very  awkward  dilemma 
by  the  outbreak  in  Cape  Town  against  the 
landing  of  convicts.  Accordingly,  trans- 
portation   of     criminals     was      resumed 

T,.     c    .  Australia-wards,  and  the 

The  System  ,  , 

prisoners,      released      on 

ticket-of-leave      for      the 

most      part,     were     sent 

annually  to  Fremantle  and  Albany  until 

1865.      Many  of  these  so-called   convicts 

were    little    more    than    boys    from    the 

reformatory  prison  at  Parkhurst,  Isle  of 

Wight.  But  later  the  Imperial  Government 

began  to  develop  a  plan  of  regular  penal 

establishments  in  Western  Australia  for  the 

using  up  of  British  criminals  in  the  mass, 

and  this  contemplated  procedure  offended 

the  growing  national  pride  of  Australia. 

Moreover,  it  was  complained  of  by  the 
colony  of  South  Australia,  which  had  never 
been  associated  in  its  foundation  with  con- 
vict immigrants,  but  which  now  witnessed 
a  permeation  of  its  settlements  by  escaped 
criminals  from  West  Australia.  In  1865, 
therefore,  the  s^^stem  .  of  transporting 
convicts  to  Western  Australia,  or  to  any 
region  beyond  the  limits  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  came  to  an  end  for  ever. 

There  is  nothing  to  gird  at  in  this 
record.  Transportation  was  a  plan  which 
in  the  circumstances  of  the  time,  of  home 
institutions,  and  colonial  needs,  served  a 
purpose  that  in  the  main  was  beneficent. 
At  any  rate,  whether  or  not  unpleasing  to 
British  pride,  it  must  be  ranked  among 
the  principal  causes  which  led  to  the 
colonisation  of  North  and  South  Carolina, 
Virginia,  and  Massachusetts  ;  of  Jamaica, 
the  Bahamas,  and  the  Leeward  Islands  ; 
of  Australia  and  Tasmania. 

But  for  the  need  to  find  a  dumping- 
ground  for  offenders  against  the  criminal 
laws  or  for  political  prisoners,  Australia  and 
.  Tasmania    would   have    be- 

Colonies  ^^^^^  French  possessions  ;  no 

that  were  Lost  ^^^^^^  ^^^^  Zealand  as  well. 
to  France  prance,  with   the  gold  and 

copper  of  Australia  and  the  magnificent 
climate  of  New  Zealand  as  baits  for 
French  emigrants,  might  have  played  a 
very  different  part  in  the  world's  history. 
It  is  curious  to  reflect  on  the  partly  for- 
gotten causes  and  personalities  of  this 
movement  towards  Australia.  After  the 
middle  of   the   eighteenth  century  there 

5481 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORI.D 


The  Beauty 
and  Wonders 
of  Australia 


were  British  Ministers  who  took  an  interest 
in  science  lor  the  mere  love  of  knowledge. 
Lord  Halifax,  in  lybS,  had  despatched 
James  Bruce,  British  consul  in  Algeria 
and  Tunis,  to  Egypt,  to  discover  the  source 
of  the  Nile.  In  the  same  year,  partly 
through  the  influence  of  the  same  Secretary 
of  State — whodiedini77i — .Captain  James 
Cook  was  sent  with  a  small 
naval  expedition  to  the  South 
Seas  to  observe  from  the  longi- 
tude of  Tahiti  the  transit  of 
Venus.  On  his  homeward  journey  he  dis- 
covered, or  se- discovered,  New  Zealand  and 
Australia.  His  landing  at  Botany  Bay,  near 
Sydney,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Australian 
autumn,  M'hen  there  was  a  renewed  out- 
burst of  leaf  and  blossom  under  the 
influence  of  the  rains,  caused  him  to  give, 
on  his  return  to  England  in  the  summer  of 
1771 — besides  the  reports  of  his  scientific 
staff,  among  whom  was  Sir  Joseph  Banks 
— such  a  glowing  account  of  the  beauty 
and  wonders  of  Australia  as  fascinated  the 
attention  of  arm-chair  geographers  in 
England.  Amongst  this  type  of  useful 
and  enthusiastic  students  was  a  Mr.  Matra, 
afterwards  British  Agent  at  Tangiers,  who 
had  access  to  the  ear  of  Lord  Sydney,  the 
Minister  then  in  charge  of  Colonial  affairs. 
The  philanthropist  John  Howard,  in 
1777-1779,  had  been  agitating  for  prison 
reform.  The  American  colonies  were  now 
closed  as  places  to  which  criminals  could  be 
transported.  The  prosperous  West  Indian 
Islands  rejected  this  labour  material,  not 
half  so  useful  as  negro  slaves ;  where,  then, 
was  a  harassed  administration,  just  awaking 
to  the  impulses  of  modern  philanthropy — 
largely  created  by  the  Quakers — to  send 
the  wretched  beings  it  was  too  humane  to 
slaughter  and  too  ignorant  to  reform  ? 
Some   suggested   a   penal    settlement    at 


Gibraltar;  others,  with  more  sardonic 
intent,  the  Gambia  River,  where  the 
climate  was  reported  to  kill  one  in  six 
among  the  Europeans  landed  there.  But 
Mr.  Matra  espoused  the  suggestions  of 
Sir  Joseph  Banks  that  the  beautiful 
country  of  New  South  Wales  should  receive 
a  British  settlement ;  and  afterwards 
shaped  his  plans  so  as  to  incorporate  Lord 
Sydney's  suggestion  that  the  Botany  Bay 
colony  should  comprise  a  scheme  for  the 
transportation  of  large  numbers  of  convicts. 
Mr.  Matra  seems  to  have  been  a  Corsican, 
the  relation  or  descendant  of  a  Corsican 
patriot  who  sometimes  fought  with,  some- 
times against,  Paoli,  in  the  Corsican 
struggle  for  independence  w'hich  preceded 
the  French  Revolution  by  twenty  to  thirty 
years.  Matra  had  become  domiciled  in 
England,  and,  as  far  as  can  be  ascertained, 
never  was  in  Australia,  but  merely  became 
interested  theoretically  in  that  country's 
possibilities  and  in  colonisation  generally. 
Lord  Sydney,  as  Sir  Thomas  Townshend 
and  later  as  a  peer,  was  at  the  Foreign 
Office  between  1782  and  1791. 

Then,  owing  to  the  disgust  occasioned 
by  the  issue  of  the  American  War,  the 
Ministry  of  the  colonies  had  been  abolished 
and  the  oversea  possessions  of  Great 
Britain  were  dealt  with  by  the  Foreign 
Department.  Matra,  with  his 
knowledge  of  French  and 
Italian,  was  useful  to  Lord 
Sydney,  no  doubt  in  Mediter- 
ranean questions.  His  own  chief  pre- 
occupation at  this  time,  1783,  seems  to 
have  been  to  found  a  new  home  for  the 
American  loyalists.  Lord  Sydney's  aim  was 
to  select  a  suitable  portion  of  the  globe  for 
the  reception  of  transported  criminals. 
From  this  curious  conjunction  of  plans  and 
enthusiasms   sprang    British    Australasia. 


The  Birth  of 

British 

Australasia 


AUSTRALIAN    ABORIGINES    RECEIVING    BLANKETS    FROM    THE    GOVERNMENT 
5482 


BY   SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON, 

G.C.M.G. 


THE    WARS    OF    THE    EMPIRE, 
JUST    AND    UNJUST 

HOW     BRITAIN'S     OVERSEAS     DOMINIONS 

HAVE  BEEN  EXTENDED  BY  FORCE  OF  ARMS 

AND  THE  LOSS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  COLONIES 


nPHE  participation  of  England  in  the  Cru- 
•'■  sades,  and,  indeed,  all  the  wars  carried 
on  by  Norman,  Angevin,  and  Plantagenet 
kings  outside  the  English  realm,  with  the 
exception  of  the  conquest  of  Ireland, 
Wales,  and  Scotland,  can  hardly  be  called 
wars  for  the  foundation  of  the  British 
Empire.  The  campaigns  of  Henry  II., 
Richard  I.,  the  first  three  Edwards,  Henry 
V.  and  VI.,  were  undertaken  as  the 
attempts  of  French  princes  to  reign  in 
France,  while  their  work  in  the  Crusades 
was  really  a  lingering  vestige  of  the 
Western  Roman  Empire,  a  continuance 
of  that  work  of  Rome  which  was  really 
resumed  after  the  Saxon  interregnum. 

For  a  brief  period  after  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  had  done  much  to  destroy  Roman 
civilisation  in  Britain,  Ireland  may  have 
been  more  civilised  and  prosperous  than 
England  or  barbaric  Caledonia.  Were  it 
not,  however,  for  the  vestiges  of  an 
undoubted  and  very  beautiful  art,  the 
early  mediaeval  civilisation  of  Ireland 
might  be  questioned,  seeing  how  much 
invention  and  exaggeration  have  accumu- 
lated in  the  monkish  legends.  [Students 
of  this  part  of  British  history  would  do 
well  to  read  "  The  Elder  Faiths  of  Ire- 
land," by  W.H.  Wood-Martin;  and  "The 
Making  of  Ireland  and  Its  Undoing,"  by 
Mrs.  Alice  Stopford  Green.]  With  the 
influence  of  the  Romanised 
Franks  on  the  Saxon  courts, 
Roiuan  civilisation  soon 
raised  its  head  again  in  the 
realm  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  from  Edinburgh 
to  Southampton,  and  the  new  English 
civilisation  began  to  infiltrate  Iberian 
Wales  and  Cornwall.  The  necessary  pre- 
liminary to  a  British  Empire  abroad  was 
the  political  consolidation  of  Great  Britain, 


Roman 
Civilisation  in 
B  ritain 


Ireland,  and  Man  into  a  single  great  power 

with   a  central  government.      Until  that 

could  be  brought  about  in  deed,  if  not  in 

word,  there  could  be  no  motive,  no  security 

for  an  empire  beyond  the  seas  of  the  British 

Archipelago.    The  first  wars  of  the  empire, 

therefore,  were  those  which  the 

tK^T^    *f     N^orman  and  Angevin  kings, 

.t.^  ..t'™^  °  incited  by  the  Pope,  with  his 
the  Normans     .     ■         ,   -'         r      A      Mr     . 

desne    to  unify  the  Western 

Christian  Church,  undertook  for  the  sub- 
jugation of  Ireland  and  Wales.  For 
Imperial  purposes,  the  conquest  of  Ireland 
was  sufficiently  achieved  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.  The  Danes  had  largely  prepared 
the  way  for  the  English.  They  had 
slain  the  last  Keltic  king  of  all  Ireland, 
Brian  Boru.  Ireland  was  then,  as  now, 
composed,  in  a  different  proportion,  of 
muc'i  the  same  racial  elements  as  England, 
Scotland,  Wales  and  Cornwall. 

It  is  probable,  however,  that  at  the  time 
of  the  Norman  invasion  Danish  was  a  good 
deal  spoken  on  the  coasts  of  Ireland,  and 
from  that  to  the  English  of  Henry  II.'s 
period  was  no  very  difficult  step.  But  it 
was  really  the  Roman  Church  that  kept 
Ireland  under  English  control  until  such 
time  as  the  English  infiltration  had  grown 
too  strong  for  a  national  resistance. 

Wales  had  been  brought  into  the  English 
hegemony  at  the  conclusion  of  the  reign  of 
Edward  I.  Anglo-Saxon,  Norman,  and 
Danish  infiuence  combined,  had,  between 
700  A.D.  and  the  reign  of  Robert  Bruce, 
settled  the  question  whether  Scotland  was 
to  be  an  independent  Keltic  kingdom  with 
a  predominant  Keltic  language,  or  a 
country  ruled  by  the  English  speech,  by 
Roman  and  Norman  ideas  of  law  and 
custom,  although  for  two  centuries  more 
she  remained  a  power  more  often  hostile 

5483 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Scotland's 
Union  with 
England 


than  friendly.  The  Isle  of  Man  had  come 
within  the  English  sphere  of  influence  in 
1344  and  1406,  when  it  had  ceased  to  be 
ruled  by  a  Norwegian  dynasty,  and  had 
been  finally  wrested  from  intermittent- 
Scottish  occupation.  The  Hebrides  and 
outer  islands  of  West  Scotland  were 
secured  from  Norway,  and,  later,  from 
independent  rule  —  by  the 
"Lord  of  the  Isles" — in  1264 
and  1427.  The  Orkneys  and 
Shetlands  were  also  pledged 
by  Norway  (Denmark)  in  1469  as  the 
security  for  the  dowry  of  Margaret  of 
Denmark,  who  married  James  III.  The 
pledge  was  never  redeemed.  Thus  the 
kings  of  Scotland,  mainly  by  war  prowess, 
between  844  and  1470  brought  the  entire 
mainland  and  adjacent  islands  of  North 
Britain  under  one  rule,  and  in  1603  united 
it  with  the  Crown  of  England,  Wales, 
Ireland,  and  the  Channel  Islands,  and  the 
suzerainty  over  Man. 

Though  the  nominal  independence  of 
Scotland  continued  until  the  fusion  of  the 
two  crowns  in  the  person  of  James  VI.  (I.), 
vScotland  had  no  Imperial  policy  of  her  own 
after  the  Battle  of  Flodden  Field,  except 
the  unfortunate  Darien  expedition  of  1698- 
1700  to  the  Gulf  of  Uraba  at  the  southern 
beginning  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
and  did  not  actively  participate  in  the 
Imperial  schemes  of  Britain  till  after  the 
Act  of  Union  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne. 
It  was  likewise  not  until  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  that  Irishmen  born  in 
Ireland  are  founcl  taking  any  prominent 
part  in  colonial  expansion. 

The  war-worn  Henry  IV.  had  dallied 
with  Imperial  projects  of  trade  in  the 
Mediterranean,  and  had  even  received 
embassies  from  the  Moors  of  North  Africa  ; 
but  his  death  at  the  early  age  of  forty- 
seven  cut  short  his  plans  of  expanding 
English  influence.  The  eighty  years  of 
turmoil  that  followed  distracted  men's 
thoughts  from  any  questions  but  those  of 
England,  Scotland,  France,  and 
Burgundy.       Thus    the    great 


The  Seeds 
of  Imperial 
Desires 


stirrings  of  the  Southern  Eng- 
lish— for  at  first  all  Imperial 
enterprise  came  from  south  of  the  latitude 
of  Lincoln — towards  oversea  adventure  and 
acquisitions  did  not  make  themselves  felt 
till  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  The  growing 
relations  of  trading  Britain  with  the  Low 
Countries,  with  Venice,  Portugal,  and  the 
Hanseatic  towns,  which  became  very 
marked  in  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.,  sowed 

5484 


the  seeds  of  Imperial  desires.  We  were 
prom])ted  to  found  an  empire  by  giant 
minds  of  Venice  and  Genoa,  who,  eager  to 
take  their  inspirations  to  any  monarch  with 
the  power  of  executing  them,  and  often 
thwarted  or  maltreated  by  Spain  or  Portu- 
gal, came  to  England,  and  attracted  the 
inchoate  desires  of  this  people — emergent 
from  civil  wars,  safe  at  home,  and  fer- 
menting with  the  new  learning — towards 
the  discovery  and  conquest  of  lands 
across  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  first  war  undertaken  for  an  empire 
beyond  the  shores  of  Britain  did  not 
occur  till  the  early  part  of  Elizabeth's 
reign,  and  then  for  a  long  time  it  was  an 
unofficial  '.var,  waged  by  gallant  men  whose 
status  was  little  superior  to  that  of  pirates. 
Drake  and  his  comrades,  incensed  by  the 
attempts  of  the  Spanish  monarchy  to 
retain  all  America  within  the  limits  of  a 
Spanish  monopoly,  boldly  attacked  the 
colossus  in  detail,  and  by  surrendering  to  the 
greedy  Elizabeth  much  of  the  wealth  thus 
acquired,  escaped  being  hanged  as  pirates. 
But  after  their  exploits  had  provoked 
the  despatch  of  the  Spanish  Armada, 
Ehzabeth  took  a  bolder  line. 

, .  *     f "  She    afforded    a    somewhat 

Line  of  Queen     ,       t  1  j        ,  . 

_,,.     .   ,.  churlish      and      treacherous 

Elizabeth  .   ^  .       .1  ,  v    _ 

assistance   to  the   struggling 

people  of  the  Netherlands,  and  waged  a  war 
here  against  Spain — not  by  any  means 
crowned  with  honour — which  was  probably 
intended,  if  she  saw  her  w'ay  clear,  to  add 
the  Netherlands  to  the  dominions  of  the 
British  Crown — still  claiming  the  kingdom 
of  France.  The  Dutch,  after  the  dis- 
graceful behaviour  of  Leicester,  were  by 
no  means  minded  to  pursue  their  original 
invitation  to  Elizabeth  to  become  queen 
over  the  Low  Countries.  Outraged  at  the 
treachery  displayed  by  Elizabeth's  generals, 
they  resolved  to  lean*  on  the  House  of 
Orange  and  its  German  connections,  and 
to  pursue  an  independent  and  even  a  rival 
course  to  that  of  England. 

This  divergence  of  paths  between  the 
people  speaking  two  Low^  German  dialects 
in  the  deltas  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Ems, 
and  the  people  speaking  another  language 
of  the  same  stock  in  Great  Britain, 
Scotland  and  Eastern  Ireland,  was  to 
culminate  seventy  years  later  in  some  of  the 
toughest  of  our  colonial  tights,  and  reverbe- 
rated to  its  last  echo,  it  may  be  hoped, 
in  the  South  African  W'ar  of  1899-1902. 
James  I.  probably  permitted  rather  than 
encouraged   the   foundation   of   a   British 


THE    WARS    OF    THE    EMPIRE,    JUST    AND    UNJUST 


Empire  beyond  the  ssa,  firstly  because  it 
was  difficult  to  check  the  imi)ulses  in 
that  direction  which  had  grown  up  under 
Elizabeth,  partly  because  these  enter- 
prises were  encouraged  by  his  gallant 
eldest  son,  Prince  Henry,  who  died  untimely 
in  1612  ;  and  lastly,  because  the  pro- 
moters of  these  colonial  schemes  had  only 
to  bribe  James's  favourites  to  get  what 
charter  they  desired.  James's  own  colonial 
or  Mediterranean  wars  were  unfortunate, 
and  resulted  in  no  advantage.  He  be- 
headed Raleigh  to  please  Spain,  and 
because  Raleigh  had  discovered  no  gold 
or  silver  mines  in  Guiana. 

Cromwell's  first  colonial  war  was  with 
Holland.  The  effect  of  the  massacre  at 
Amboina  in  1623  of  a  number  of  English- 
men and  their  followers — nine  Englishmen, 
one  Portuguese,  nine  Japanese,  and  about 
ninety  Malays^n  order  that  the  Dutch 
might  retain  the  monopoly  of  the  spice 
trade,  had  taken  some  time  to  reach 
England,  but  had  never  been  forgiven  or 
forgotten.  Internal  troubles  had  prevented 
the  exaction  of  any  indemnity  until  the 
establishment  of  Cromwell's  power  in  1652. 
_,  „,      The  Dutch  had  taken  full  ad- 

„  vantage   ot    the    i:)aralysis   01 

♦k  rk  «  k  England  at  home  between  1630 
on  the  Dutch  °    ^         ^   .  „  j.     ■  ^■ 

and  1052,  Prmce  Rupert  aidmg 

on  behalf  of  Charles  II.  to  chase  British 
ships  from  the  carrying  trade  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, Atlantic  and  Indian  Oceans. 
They  had,  of  course,  added  to  their 
offences  in  Cromwell's  eyes  by  receiving 
an  envoy  from  Charles  II.  after  the  death 
of  his  father.  Therefore,  in  1651,  the 
Commonwealth  Parliament  devised  the 
extraordinary  Navigation  Act;  which 
obliged  all  colonial  or  Indian  produce 
to  be  carried  to  Great  Britain  in  British 
ships  only,  or  foreign  goods  to  be  brought 
in  ships  of  the  country  producing  those 
goods.  Thus  they  dealt  a  severe  blow 
at  the  Dutch  mercantile  marine,  which  had 
become  the  common  carriers  of  the  world. 
They  wished  also  to  check  the  free 
use  of  British  fisheries  by  the  Dutch 
fishermen,  and  demanded  as  a  royalty 
the  tenth  herring  of  every  catch.  They  also 
required — which  was  less  defensible^^ 
that  the  Dutch  should  salute  the  British 
Fleet  first  whenever  the  two  squadrons 
met  in  the  Channel.  The  results  of  the 
naval  war  which  broke  out  in  1652  were 
very  favourable  to  Britain,  and  the 
position  of  the  British  in  the  East  Indies 
and  on  the  east  coast  of  North  America 


vyas  materially  strengthened.  As  regards 
Spain,  which  was  covertly  harassing  the 
British  settlers  in  the  Bahamas  and 
Leeward  Islands,  who  for  their  frequent 
raids  on  Hispaniola  and  Jamaica  no 
doubt  deserved  such  reprisals,  Cromwell 
sent  an  expedition,  1654-1655,  under 
Admiral  Penn— the  father  of  the  founder 
Jamaica  °^  Pennsylvania— and  General 

Seized  by  the  ^enables  to  Barbados.  At  this 
English  island  they  opened  their  sealed 

orders,  and  found  they  were 
to  attack  and  occupy  the  large  island 
of  Hispaniola.  Besides  the  4,000  soldiers 
they  had  on  board,  they  were  to  recruit  a 
further  force  from  among  what  we  should 
nowadays  call  the  convict  settlers  of 
Barbados,  and  were  further  to  take  up 
more  fighting  men  at  St.  Christopher. 

With  10,200  men  they  proceeded  to 
attack  the  port  of  San  Domingo  in  a  most 
blundering  fashion,  and  at  length  were 
beaten  off  by  the  Spaniards  and  the 
results  of  great  sickness  among  their  men. 
Ashamed — or.  rather,  afraid — to  face  Crom- 
well with  no  better  results  than  this 
repulse,  they  proceeded  to  Jamaica,  never 
very  strongly  garrisoned  by  Spain.  Their 
seizure  of  the  island,  in  May,  1655,  met 
with  but  a  feeble  resistance  on  the  part  of 
the  Spaniards.  The  folk  who  seemed 
most  annoyed  at  the  arrival  of  the  British 
were  the  negro  slaves  of  the  Spaniards  who 
had  replaced  the  exterminated  Arawck 
Indians,  slaves  probably  brought  to 
Jamaica  originally  in  British  vessels. 
These  fled  to  the  mountains,  and  long 
remained  recalcitrant  to  British  rule. 

A  small  proportion  of  these  descendants 
of  the  Spanish  slaves  claim  still  a  certain 
independence  and  peculiar  ]:irivileges  of 
their  own  in  the  bush  country  of 
Eastern  and  Western  Jamaica.  The 
Spaniards  nicknamed  runaway  negroes 
who  took  refuge  in  the  interior  mountain 
ranges  "  Cimarrones,"  from  "  Cima,"  a 
mountain  peak.    This  term  was  shortened 

and  corrupted  in  West  Indian 
England  s  English  into  "  Maroons."  This 
Unscrupulous      .°  ,  01 

.      .  attack  on  a  Spanish  possession 

in  a  time  of  peace,  and  when  a 
Spanish,  ambassador  had  been  accredited 
to  Ci-omwell  and  to  the  Parliament  for  the 
purpose  of  arriving  at  a  settlement  of  all 
outstanding  disagreements,  and  even  of  the 
conclusion  of  an  alliance  between  the  two 
nations,  can  only  be  described  as  a  dis- 
honourable and  unscrupulous  action  which, 
if  it  had  been  committed  against  England 

5485 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


by  Spain,  British  historians  would  never 

have  ceased  denouncing.   As  it  is,  I  cannot 

find  a  word  of  chsapproval  in  the  work  of 

any   British   historian  ;     only   expressions 

of  regret  that  the  drunken  squabbles  of 

the  leaders  of  the  expedition  caused  it  to 

fail  humiliatingly  in  the  original  purpose 

entertained    by    Cromwell— the    conquest 

_     ,     .        of  Hispaniola.      After  this  out- 
England  011         i  n 

w  X2jg&  Spain  declared  war.  Crom- 

With  S  i  ^'^^  ^^^  already  (1655  -  6) 
despatched  a  British  fleet  to 
the  Mediterranean  under  Blake  simultan- 
eously with  the  expedition  under  Penn  and 
Venables  to  the  West  Indies.  Blake  was  to 
punish  the  Barbary  rovers  for  their  attacks 
on  British  shipping,  and  to  strike  terror  into 
the  courts  of  Tuscany  and  Rome  for  their 
having  given  harbourage  to  the  recusant 
English  war  vessels,  the  remains  of  Charles 
I.'s  navy,  under  Prince  Rupert. 

Blake  threatened  to  bombard  Leghorn, 
but  finally  agreed  to  accept  from  Rome  and 
Tuscany  an  indemnity  of  £60,000.  He 
then  proceeded  to  Algiers,  but  the  Turkish 
dey  of  that  country  promised  reparation. 
The  dey  of  Tunis  refused  satisfaction,  so 
the  castles  of  Goletta  and  Porto  Farina 
were  battered  by  Blake's  artillery  and  the 
shipping  they  protected  was  destroyed. 
Tripoli  was  afterwards  threatened,  but 
submitted.  Blake  followed  up  the 
Spanish  declaration  of  war  in  1656  by 
blockading  Cadiz  and  burning  a  Spanish 
treasure  fleet  at  Santa  Cruz  (Teneriffe, 
Canary  Islands).  The  alliance  with 
France  which  followed  the  outbreak  of 
war  with  Spain  led  to  the  capture  and 
retention  of  Dunkirk  by  the  English. 
Dunkirk  was  then  a  town  of  the  Spanish 
Netherlands.  In  1658  Charles  II.  sold 
the  place  to  Louis  XIV.  for  £200,000, 
which  he  spent  on  his  mistresses. 

In  1664-1667  the  war  with  Holland  was 
renewed,  owing  in  part  to  Charles  II.  reviv- 
ing the  Navigation  Act  of  the  Common- 
wealth. But  hostilities  were  further 
provoked  by  the  unfriendly 
attitude  of  the  Dutch  towards 
the  newly  founded  Royal 
African  Chartered  Company, 
which  was  attempting  to  establish  itself  on 
the  Gold  Coast  in  order  to  take  a  share  in 
the  slave  trafhc  and  in  the  export  of  gold. 
Out  in  the  Far  East,  indeed,  there  was 
constant  bickering  between  Dutch  and 
English,  and  many  a  spell  of  "  unofficial  " 
warfare  between  their  land  or  naval 
forces   occurred  sometimes  when  the  two 

5486 


Unofficial 
Warfare  in  the 
Far  East 


nations  were  at  peace  with  Europe. 
This  went  on  until  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  had  for  its 
general  purpose  the  expulsion  of  the 
Dutch  from  Bengal  and  the  driving  away 
of  the  English  from  Ceylon  and  the 
Malay  Archipelago.  An  example  of  one 
of  these  local  wars  was  the  arrival  in  1759 
of  a  Dutch  flotilla  in  the  Hugh  to  assist 
Mir  J  afar  to  turn  out  the  victorious 
English.  Clive  and  Colonel  Forde  turned 
fiercely  on  the  Dutch  and  captured  or 
destroyed  the  whole  flotilla.  During  the 
eighteenth  century  it  was  France  rather 
than  Holland  that  we  had  to  fight  for 
the  extension  of  the  British  Empire  in 
America,  the  Mediterranean,  and  India. 

We  made  use  of  the  War  of  the  Spanish 
Succession  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century  to  seize  Gibraltar  and 
Minorca.  The  holding  of  Gibraltar  had 
been  once  or  twice  suggested  as  the  alter- 
native to  the  surrender  of  Tangier  in 
1684,  and  the  question  of  a  secure  harbour 
of  refuge  at  the  outlet  of  the  Mediterranean 
had  become  more  urgent  to  British  naval 
policy    after    the    defeat    of    Sir    George 

^..     .,  Rooke  by  the  French  of^  Cape 

Gibraltar        -  -'  ^ 


Captured  by 


St.  Vincent    in  1693,  and    the 


.  „  .  .  .  capture  of  the  British  merchant 
fleet  from  Turkey,  and,  later, 
during  the  subsequent  operations  of 
Admiral  Russell  off  Cadiz.  But  the 
actual  capture  of  Gibraltar  was  effected 
rather  as  a  side  issue,  and  not  entirely  by 
British  valour. 

In  the  third  year,  1704,  of  the  war.  Sir 
George  Rooke  was  despatched  with  a 
force  of  German  and  English  soldiers 
under  the  Prince  of  Hesse  Darmstadt  to 
seize  Barcelona.  Here,  however,  they 
were  repulsed  by  the  Spaniards,  who 
held  the  place  for  the  Bourbon  King 
Philip.  They,  therefore,  sailed  back  to- 
wards England,  but  on  their  return  sur- 
prised Gibraltar,  which  was  not  expecting 
any  attack.  The  importance  of  Gibraltar 
was,  at  all  events,  not  yet  fully  realised, 
though  at  the  Peace  of  Utrecht,  signed 
on  April  nth,  1713,  it  was,  together  with 
Minorca,  ceded  to  Great  Britain  b}'  King 
Philip  of  Spain.  Five  years  afterwards, 
the  Prime  Minister,  Lord  Stanhope, 
thought  Gibraltar  of  no  consequence, 
and  proposed  to  retrocede  it  to  Spain 
in  order  to  pacify  Cardinal  Alberoni. 
Minorca,  the  second  largest  of  the 
Balearic  Islands,  had  been  captured  by  an 
English  force  under  General  and  Admiral 


BRITAIN'S    FIRST    FOOTING    IN    CANADA:     THE    FRENCH    SURRENDER    OF    QUEBEC 
Making  his  first  voyage  to  Canada  in  IGn:;,  Samuel  du  Champlaiu  founded  Quebec^inltiOS^^and  subsequently  became 
French  governor  of  Canada       "  '  ■•    ■  ,      „     ,        .      r,  •^■ 

Kirke,  but  the  captured  ter 


French  governor  of  Canada.     In  1629,  he  was  compelled  to  surrender  Quebec  to  British  adventurers  under  Admiral 
■""'"■  '    srritory  was  restored  to  France,  peace  having  been  arrived  at  between  the  two  countries. 


From  the  drawing  by  K.  Caton  WoodviUe 


5487 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Stanhope  in  1708.  It  remained  as  a  British 
possession  till  1756,  when  it  fell  to  a  French 
attack  after  the  defeat  of  Admiral  Byng. 
At  the  peace  of  1763  it  was  restored  to 
Great  Britain,  again  lost  to  the  Spaniards 
in  1782,  seized  once  more  by  British  arms 
in  1798,  and  finally  restored  to  Spanish  rule 
in  1803,  the  British  deciding  to  retain  Malta 
as  an  alternative  "padlock" 
on  the  Mediterranean.      The 


Founding  of 
the  South 
Sea  Company 


results  of  the  War  of  the 
Spanish  Succession — 1702- 
1713 — also  strengthened  the  British  posi- 
tion in  the  Hudson's  Bay  territories,  New- 
foundland, and  in  the  West  Indies ;  and 
by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  the  "  Asiento  "  for 
the  supply  of  slave  labour  to  Spanish 
America  seemed  to  the  eager  British  to 
carry  with  it  the  right  or  the  excuse  to 
evade  the  jealous  Spanish  monopoly  of 
trade  with  South  America.  On  such  a 
pretext  as  this  the  South  Sea  Company 
was  founded  to  trade  with  the  Pacific 
coasts  of  Spanish  America. 

But  the  powerful  Prime  Minister  of 
Spain,  Cardinal  Alberoni,  had  no  inten- 
tions of  allowing  this  misreading  of  the 
rights  obtained  under  the  Asiento.  His 
hostility  was  accentuated  by  the  inter- 
ference of  George  I.,  in  1718-1721,  with  the 
disputes  between  Spain  and  Austria  as  to 
the  division  and  allotment  of  Italian 
territories.  The  ill-feeling  smouldered  for 
years,  breaking  out  in  1727  into  a  four 
months'  Spanish  siege  of  Gibraltar,  a 
siege  which  led  to  assistance  being  afforded 
to  the  British  by  Morocco,  and  to  the 
beginning  of  friendly  relations  with  that 
empire  never  since  interrupted. 

In  1739  war  was  definitely  declared  on 
Spain,  the  war  of  "  Jenkins's  ear,"  over 
the  interpretation  of  the  Asiento,  and  was 
not  brought  to  a  close  until  1748.  During 
this  war — largely  concerned  as  it  was 
with  the  defence  of  the  Netherlands  and 
Rhineland  against  the  ambitions  of 
France,    and    the    counter    attempts    of 

,  „  France  to  restore  the  Stuart 

Anson  s  Famous    ,  ,  jji- 

V  R      d     dynasty — no  additions  were 

oyagc    oun      j^g^^jg  ^q  ^\^q  gj-^^-  jgj-^  Empire ; 

theWorld         i,,i  -1  1 

but  the  raiding  voyage  of 

Commodore  (afterwaids  Lord)  Anson 
round  the  world  again  drew  British 
attention  to  the  possibilities  of  the  Pacific 
containing  unexplored  lands  of  value. 

The  peace  signed  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in 
1748  was  of  brief  duration.  The  terri- 
torial ambitions  of  France  and  Britain  in 
North    America    were    already    becoming 

5488 


acutely  hostile.  The  quarrel  really  cen- 
tred on  a  very  important  principle.  Were 
the  British  settlers  to  be  allowed  by 
France  to  penetrate  across  the  Ohio 
River,  and  thus  break  through  the  ring 
of  French  forts  and  claims  of  sovereignty 
stretching  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the 
Mississippi  ?  If  the  British  accepted  this 
confinement,  then  Anglo-Saxon  America 
would  at  most  have  been  lirnited  to  a 
small  portion  of  Eastern  North  America, 
and  perhaps  to  Newfoundland,  which  had 
been  ceded  to  Britain  at  the  Peace  of 
Utrecht  in  1713  ;  though  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  victory  of  the  French  (in  a 
struggle  which  reached  its  climax  in  the 
British  attack  on  Quebec  in  1759)  would  not 
have  ended  in  the  eventual  supremacy  of 
France  over  the  whole  of  North  America. 

This  American  war  began  unofficially 
in  1754  by  skirmishes  and  serious  fights, 
in  which  George  Washington,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one,  was  engaged,  between 
British  and  French  colonists  and  regular 
soldiers  along  the  Ohio  River  ;  and  by 
naval  combats  and  raids  between  British 
and  French  naval  forces  off  the  coasts  of 
Newfoundland  and  in  the 
Results  of     British  Channel.    In  those  pre- 

the  Seven       ,    i  i_     j  i 

Y  ^  telegraph  days  an  unacknow- 
ledged state  of  war  could  con- 
tinue, in  a  condition  strongly  resembling 
piracy,  for  more  than  a  year  before  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  issue  a  formal 
declaration  of  belligerency. 

This  war,  declared  in  1756,  lasted  until 
it  involved  Spain,  besides  Prussia,  Russia, 
and  Austria,  and  became  the  "  Seven 
Years  War  "  of  the  "  Family  Compact." 
Its  results,  ratified  by  the  Peace  of 
Fontainebleau,  or  Paris,  on  February  loth, 
1763,  led  to  most  momentous  issues : 
to  the  establishment  of  a  vast  Anglo- 
Saxon  North  America— France  only 
retained  the  two  little  islands  off  the  New- 
foundland coast  and  a  small  portion  of 
Western  Louisiana,  and  Spain  gave  up 
all  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi — to 
the  empire  of  British  India  through  the 
victories  of  Clive  and  Eyre  Coote  ;  to  the 
enlargement  and  consolidation  of  that 
Prussia  which  was  to  grow  into  the  great 
modern  empire  of  Germany  ;  to  the 
British  acquisition  of  Senegal,  which  first 
turned  our  thoughts  towards  the  Niger  ; 
and,  lastly,  to  the  beginnings  of  British 
Honduras  and  the  acquisition  of  Dominica, 
St.  Vincent,  and  Tobago  in  the  West  Indies. 
The   Seven    Years    War,    that    began  in 


THE    WARS    OF    THE    EMPIRE,    JUST    AND    UNJUST 


1756,  moreover,  was  remarkable  for  a 
fighting  element  on  the  British  side  which 
has  never  since  been  absent  from  our  land 
forces  in  times  of  need — the  Highland  regi- 
ments, the  "  Berg-Schottische  "  that  de- 
lighted and  surprised  the  King  of  Prussia 
when  they  served  with  Hanoverian,  Hes- 
sian, and  Brunswick  soldiers  to  defend  the 
electoral  dominions  in  Western  Germany. 

It  was  the  idea  of  the  great  Pitt,  derived 
from  a  suggestion  made  eighteen  years 
earlier  by  a  Scottish  statesman,  Duncan 
Forbes,  to  enlist  in  the  British  Army  for 
foreign  service  warlike  Highlanders,  who 
only  eleven  years  before  had  been 
invading  England  under  Charles  Edward. 
From  this  time  forward  dates  the  com- 
plete fusion  of  Scottish  and  English 
interests  in  the  conquest  and  adminis- 
tration of  the  British  Empire. 

Attention  should  also  be  drawn  to  the 
very  important  part  played  in  all  our 
Imperial  wars  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
from  1704  to  the  struggle  with  Napoleon, 
by  the  German  soldiers  taken  into  British 
pay.  It  must  be  remembered  that  in  the 
early  eighteenth  century  there  was  prac- 
tically no  standing  army  in  Great  Britain, 

...  merel}' a  militia.    A  good  deal 

ri  ain  s  ^^  British  fighting  was  done  at 

Wars  on  Sea  wt     r  •    j 

, ,  .  sea.  Warfare  was  carried  on 
^nd  Land  ...  ,  , 

m   America  much  more    by 

armed  colonists  than  by  means  of  im- 
ported British  soldiers.  Some  thousands  of 
British  soldiers  were  enlisted  for  the  wars 
carried  on  by  Marlborough,  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland,  and  George  II.  in  Flanders 
and  the  Rhenish  Provinces  ;  but  a  large 
proportion,  also,  of  the  troops  under  British 
generals  were  Dutch,  Hessians,  Hano- 
verians, Westphalians,  Brunswickers. 
Even  under  Queen  Anne,  Hessians,  com- 
manded by  their  ownprince,  were  subsidised 
to  do  the  work  of  the  British  Army  ;  and 
we  have  already  noticed  that  it  was  with 
a  force  of  this  kind,  largely  composed  of 
Germans  and  commanded  by  the  Prince 
of  Hesse,  that  Gibraltar  was  captured. 
When  George  I.  and  II.  were  on  the  throne, 
German  troops  were  not  only  employed 
with  British  subsidies  to  defend  Hanover, 
but  were  imported  into  England,  used  in 
Ireland,  and  sent  over  to  America,  just 
as  in  the  latter  part  of  George  III.'s  reign 
they  were  employed  to  garrison  South 
Africa.  Men  thus  employed  seldom  re- 
turned to  Germany.  They  usually  married 
English  or  colonial  wives,  and,  when  dis- 
banded,   remained    in    or    migrated    to 


British  colonies,  forming  in  time  one  of 
the  best  elements  in  the  British  Empire, 
physically  and  mentally. 

In  1763,  France  ceded  to  Great  Britain 
all  the  French  possessions  in  North 
America  except  Louisiana.  Canada  was 
thus  united  to  Newfoundland,  the  thir- 
teen colonies  of  New  England,  and  to  the 

Tk    \M  .k  Floridas.  Three  years  after- 

rhe  Mother  ,        .,       o,  a     . 

<"  *  .\i/  wards,  the  Stamp  Act  was 
Country  at  War  ,' ,      ,,      r>    J^  ^   -r^     ^■ 

wwk  a™.,;.,  passed  by  the  British  Parha- 
With  America       ^        .      n^i  ■  ,■  r  ,1 

ment .    i  his  assertion  of  the 

principle    that     Britain    might    tax     her 

American   colonies    without    their  giving 

consent    to  such  contributions  either  by 

elected    representatives   at    Westminster, 

or    at  any   provincial   assembly  of    their 

own,  produced    serious    disturbances    in 

Massachusetts,   New  York,  Virginia,  and 

other  of  the  New  England  "  provinces  "  ; 

and,  although  the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed 

in  1766,   and   in    1770   all   the   American 

Imperial  import  duties  were  removed,  with 

the  exception  of  the  duty  on  tea,  this  last 

was  insisted  on  in  a  way  which  brought 

the  conflict  between  Mother  Country  and 

colonies  to  a  head.      A  state  of  war  with 

the  colonials  began  in  1775  with  the  Battle 

of  Lexington,  near  Boston. 

France  joined  in  this  unhappy  war  in 
1778,  after  the  capitulation  of  Burgoyne's 
troops  at  Saratoga.  French  money,  men, 
and  the  diversions  caused  by  the  French 
Nav3',  which  took  away  from  Great  Britain 
several  of  the  recently  acquired  Windward 
and  Leeward  Islands,  ultimately  decided 
the  American  struggle  in  favour  of  the 
colonial  forces  under  George  Washington, 
Gates,  Sullivan,  and  Greene.  But  for  the 
French,  it  is  highly  probable  that  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  who  succeeded  Sir  Wil- 
liam Howe  as  chief  in  command  of  the 
British  forces  in  North  America,  would 
eventually  have  got  the  better  of  the 
colonists,  who  lacked  money,  stores, 
and  munitions  of  war.  But  the 
ultimate  result  would  have  been  much 
the  same.  During  the  Na- 
France  and  igoi^jc    ^^,^1-5      the     United 

Spain  Against  ^^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^  became  from 
England  ^^^^^   ^^^^j^  probably  have 

effected  a  completion  of  their  indepen- 
dence, and  might  by  then  have  won  over 
the  French  Canadians,  and  not  have  left 
to  Great  Britain  any  foothold  on  the 
North  American  continent. 

Spain,  smarting  from  the  losses  she  had 
sustained  at  the  Peace  of  Paris  in  1763, 
hastened    to   join    France    in    attacking 

5489 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


Florida,  one   of  the  most  im- 

„  ..  .  portant  gains  of  1763.     Russia 

Britain  ^  °  /    .   . 


England  over  the  American  question.    She 

devoted  her  efforts  chiefiy  to  the  great 

siege    of    Gibraltar    (1780-1782)   and    Id 

recapturing  Minorca,  in  neither  of  which 

enterprises  she  succeeded.     Nevertheless. 

at  the  end  of  the  war  in  1782,  England 

retroceded  to  Spain  the  Island  of  Minorca 

and  the  two  Florida  ])rovinces  in  North 

^  America,   thus   renouncing,   in 

Dutch  '  * 

Jealousy  of 

showed  marked  unfriendliness 
in  1780,  combining  with  Denmark  and 
Sweden  in  the  League  of  Armed  Neutrality. 
Holland  went  farther  and  declared  war. 
At  this  period  the  Dutch  were  much  under 
French  influence,  and  were  bitterly  jealous 
of  the  British  successes  in  India. 

The  reply  to  the  Dutch  declaration  of 
hostilities,  besides  the  destruction  of 
Dutch  shipping  in  home  waters,  was  the 
despatch  in  1781  of  a  powerful  squadron 
under  Commodore  Johnstone  to  seize 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Owing  to  the 
treacherous  communication  of  the  British 
plans  by  a  spy  the  French  Government 
was  enabled  to  forestall  Johnstone.  He 
was  attacked  at  the  Cape  de  Verde 
Islands  by  the  great  French  Admiral 
Suffren,  and  his  squadron  was  seriously 
crippled.  Suffren  then  went  on  to  South 
Africa,  and  landed  men  at  Cape  Town  to 
assist  in  driving  off  the  British,  whose 
second  attempt,  in  1782,  likewise  failed. 

After  Lord  Cornwallis  had  capitulated 
to  the  French  and  Americans  at  Yorktown 
in  October,  1781,  this  war  of  seven  years' 
duration  drew  to  a  close,  and  was  con- 
cluded by  the  Peace  of  Versailles  in  Janu- 
ary, 1783.  It  is  true  that  during  1782  the 
siege  of  Gibraltar  had  been  brilliantly  ter- 
minated by  the  heroic  bravery  and  enter- 
prise of  the  besieged  force  under  General 
Elliot  (Lord  Heathiield),  and  that  Rodney 
had  smashed  the  French  fleet  under  De 
Grasse  in  the  West  Indies  ;  but  this  war  of 
the  American  revolt  nevertheless  imposed 
severe  losses  and  humiliations 
on  the  British  Empire,  and  it 
is  difficult  to  understand  why 
the  settlement  at  the  Peace  of 
Versailles  is  alluded  to  by  British  his- 
torians with  complacency.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  has  been  so  far  the  most  serious 
set-back  that  the  empire  has  sustained. 
Besides  the  recognition  of  the  independence 
of  the  thirteen  states  of  New  England, 
we  retroceded  the  Floridas  to  Spain. 
We  gave  up  Minorca ;  restored  Senegal  to 

5490 


A  Set-back 
to  the  British 
Empire 


the  French;  abandoned  all  stipulations 
concerning  the  non-fortification  of  Dun- 
kirk, and  ceded  to  France  the  West  India 
Islands  of  St.  Lucia  and  Tobago,  besides 
several  posts  in  Eastern  India. 

In  1790-1794  there  was  nearly  an  out- 
break of  war  with  Spain  over  the  question 
of  Nootka  Sound,  Vancouver  Island,  in 
reality  the  question  whether  the  British 
territories  of  Hudson's  Bay  and  the 
Canadas  should  have  a  Pacific  coast.  Spain 
had  already  occupied  California  (called 
by  Drake  New  Albion)  ;  Russia,  under 
Catherine  II.,  was  establishing  fur-trading 
stations  in  Alaska.  Alaska  was  discovered 
in  1721  by  the  Danish  navigator  Behring, 
in  the  employ  of  the  Russian  Government. 

The  Emperor  Paul,  in  1799,  issued  a 
charter  to  a  Russian  fur-trading  company 
to  occupy  Alaska.  Spain  was  desirous  of 
extending  northwards  along  the  Pacific 
coast  until  she  met  the  Russian  flag. 
She  dreaded  the  proximity  of  the  English. 
The  expeditions  of  Cook  in  1778,  and  of 
Vancouver  in  1791-1792  excited  her  appre- 
hensions, and  perhaps  for  this  reason  as 
much  as  others  she  was  willing,  as  soon  as 
the  first  horror  of  the  French 

B**t°'*^'  Revolution  was  over,  to  join 
o  ri  ain  s  p^-g^j^^^g  jj^  1796  in  the  renewed 
Dominions  i       r-        i_      to     l    • 

war    against     Great     Britain. 

In  1793  was  the  beginning  of  those 
long  Napoleonic  wars  which  lasted,  with  the 
very  brief  interval  of  the  Peace  of  Amiens, 
till  1815,  and  which  enabled  Great  Britain 
to  add  to  her  dominions  Heligoland, 
the  Ionian  Islands,  Malta,  Cape  Colony, 
Mauritius,  the  Seychelles,  Ceylon,  Guiana, 
Trinidad,  the  remainder  of  the  Windward 
Islands,  and  British  Honduras;  besides 
Minorca,  Java  and  Sumatra,  Senegal, 
the  French  West  Indies  and  Cayenne, 
and  the  Island  of  Reunion  ;  all  of  which 
were  restored  at  the  Peace  of  Amiens  or 
at  the  Congress  of  Vienna. 

Attempts  to  capture  the  Canary 
Islands,  Uruguay  and  Buenos  Ayres  had 
failed,  the  last-named,  undertaken  in 
1806-1808,  causing  much  disappointment 
in  England.  The  value  of  temperate  South 
America  as  a  horse  and  cattle-breeding 
country  had  already  been  appreciated. 
The  monopohst  policy  of  Spain  had  for 
generations  disgusted  and  alienated  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  colonists,  and  it 
was  believed  that  the  road  lay  open  for  the 
creation,  through  Uruguay  and  Buenos 
Ayres,  of  a  possible  British  empire  over  the 
non-Portuguese   part   of   South   America. 


THE    SURRENDER    OF    MAURITIUS    TO    THE    BRITISH    IN    1810 
Formerly  called  the  Isle  of  France,  Mauritius  was  discovered  by  the  Portuguese  in  l.i07,  it  being-  at  that  time  without 
inhabitants  and  unknown  to  Europeans.     Its  name  was  changed  on  coming  into  the  possession  of  the  Dutch  in  1598  ; 
they  abandoned  it  about  a  hundred  years  later  to  the  French.     The  British  captured  it  from  the  French  in  1810,  and 
when  hostilities  ceased,  in  1814,  the  holding  of  the  island  by  Britain  was  one  of  the  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris. 

From  the  drawing  by  R.  Caton  Woodville 

5491 


Hx\RMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


But  though  the  South  American  Spaniards 
had  been  alienated  from  their  selfish  metro - 
pohs  and  its  new  Napoleonic  dynasty,  they 
were  still  sufficiently  Roman  Catholic 
to  loathe  the  supremacy  of  a  Protestant 
Power,  of  a  nation  which  still  oppressed  its 
own  Catholic  subjects  in  England  and 
Ireland.  Therefore  they  showed  such  a 
dogged  resolve  to  resist  to  the 
death  that  in  1809  the  British 


Landmark 
in  British 
History 


forces  under  General  Whitelock 
finally  abandoned  the  attempt 
to  conquer  the  city  of  Buenos  Ayres,  and 
withdrew  from  South  America,  a  result 
which  covered  Whitelock  with  altogether 
undeserved  obloquy. 

With  these  exceptions,  by  the  end  of  the 
Napoleonic  wars  the  outlines  and  starting 
points  of  the  British  Empire  of  to-day 
in  America,  Asia,  Africa,  and  Oceania 
were  pretty  clearly  indicated.  From  the 
fact  that  we  have  had  no  "  colonial " 
war  with  any  European  or  American 
Power  since  1815,  that  date  becomes 
an  important  landmark  in  the  history 
of  the  British  Empire ;  but  to  some 
extent  in  Imperial  warfare  the  division 
between  ancient  and  modern  should  rather 
be  placed  at  1763.  Up  to  that  period  the 
share  in  the  conquest  and  defence  of 
the  empire  fell  almost  entirely  on  Eng- 
land and  Wales,  and  more  on  the  navy 
than  on  the  army.  After  that  date,  first 
Scottish  and  then  Irish  soldiers  took  a 
notable  part  in  the  land  warfare  of  Great 
Britain,  while  the  Army  as  a  whole  began 
to  play  a  great  part  in  Imperial  conquest 
and  maintenance.  Indeed,  since  1815,  the 
role  of  the  Navy  has  been  almost  entirely 
a  subordinate  one,  an  unknown  quantity. 
It  has  been  there  to  serve  as  a 
means  of  safe  transport  for  the  army 
and  as  a  warning  to  other  Powers  not  to 
interfere  and  not  to  transgress  on  British 
claims,  and  as  an  effective  security  against 
their  attempting  to  do  so.  The  Napoleonic 
wars,  so  far  as  Great  Britain  was  con- 
cerned, began  with  the  murder 
of  Louis  XVI.,  and  with  the 
ebullition  of  the  French  Re- 
public and  its  propaganda 
outside  the  limits  of  France.  But  they 
we^e  waged  very  soon  for  directly  Imperial 
purposes.  Statesmen  of  that  time  saw 
the  enormous  advantages  Great  Britain 
might  derive  from  the  general  upset  of 
affairs  contingent  on  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. The  position  of  the  Dutch  had 
long  excited  British  envy.     Their  attitude 

5492 


Britain 
Envious  of 
the  Dutch 


towards  us  in  Bengal,  Java,  and  the  Spice 
Islands  had  never  been  forgotten  or  for- 
given. Their  dogged  tenacity  and  colonis- 
ing genius  in  South  Africa,  which  may 
some  day  be  paralleled  by  the  work  of  the 
Scottish  planters  in  Nyassaland  —  the 
Scottish  and  Dutch  are  singularly  alike — 
showed  Great  Britain  of  what  vital  im- 
portance Cape  Colony  might  become  to  the 
Mistress  of  India  as  a  half-way  house  for 
the  provisioning  and  repair  of  squadrons 
and  as  a  home  for  British  emigrants. 

The  strength  and  the  situation  of  Trinco- 
mali,  in  Ceylon,  and  the  menace  to  India 
which  it  would  prove  in  French  hands  de- 
cided the  British  to  seize  Ceylon  in  1795-96. 
We  also  took  possession  then  or  later  of  the 
Dutch  settlement  in  J  ava  and  Malaya.  Our 
morality  in  these  actions  was  no  worse  than 
that  of  the  Dutch  who,  200  years  before .  had 
taken  advantage  of  poor  little  Portugal 
being  in  the  grip  of  Spain  to  rob  her  of 
nearly  all  her  oversea  possessions,  some 
of  which  the  British  sea-eagle  has  made 
the  Dutch  osprey  disgorge,  though  they 
were  once  in  the  pouch  of  the  Portuguese 
gannet.      No  colonial  war  has  been  waged 

_  .^  .  ,    ,  with     a    European    Power 

Britain  s  long      ^-    ^^  ^o^,        T3.f+  „...- f^^ +u^ 


Immunity  from 
Colonial  Wars 


since  1815.     But  war  for  the 
extension  or  maintenance  of 


our  empire  has  often  been  so 
close  that  ultimatums  have  been  tendered, 
though  subsequently  replaced  in  diplomatic 
tail-pockets.  Wars  between  France  and 
Britain  over  colonial  questions  or  ambi- 
tions in  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  or 
Pacific  Ocean  were  very  near  in  the 
'forties  of  the  nineteenth  century.  At 
that  period,  also,  began  an  embittered 
feeling  between  the  nascent  power  of 
the  United  States  and  successive  British 
administrations  relative  to  the  growth 
of  Canada  and  of  British  ambitions  in 
North  America.  Several  times  the 
questions  of  the  Oregon  frontier  and  the 
amount  of  seaboard  due  to  British  Colum- 
bia brought  us  to  a  snarling  match  with 
the  government  at  Washington. 

There  were  also  questions  as  to  the 
northern  frontier  of  Maine,  which  projects 
inconveniently  into  eastern  Canada.  The 
great  Russian  possession  of  Alaska  was 
bought  by  the  United  States  in  1867 
more  to  annoy  Great  Britain  than  for 
any  other  reason,  and  long  before  the 
existence  of  Klondyke  gold  was  suspected, 
or  seal-skin  jackets  had  become  the 
reward  of  virtue  or  the  solace  of  vice. 
But  for  the  threats  of  the  United  States, 


THE    WARS    OF    THE    EMPIRE,    JUST    AND    UNJUST 


Great  Britain  would  now  be  in  occupa- 
tion of  Haiti  and  a  good  deal  of 
the  disorderly  republic  of  Venezuela. 
The  Crimean  War,  as  to  the  wisdom  or 
unwisdom  of  which  we  cannot  as  yet 
pronounce  a  definite  decision,  was  only 
slightly  colonial,  in  the  idea  which 
prompted  Great  Britain  to  defend  the 
rotten  empire  of  the  Turks. 

The  Turk  was  still  the  suzerain  of  Egypt, 
and  Egypt,  through  the  British-established 
overland  route,  was  becoming  the  main  road 
to  India.  What,  in  those  days  of  absolute 
non-scruple  regarding  "  native "  rights, 
withheld  Great  Britain  from  accepting 
the  proposal  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas  that 
she  should  annex  Crete  and  Egypt,  and 
in  return  offer  no  objection  to  a  Russian- 
occupation  of  Constantinople,  it  is  difficult 
to  understand ;  unless  statesmen  of  those 
days  were  so  far-sighted,  an  assumption 
which  it  is  not  easy  to  deduce  from  their 
memoirs,  as  to  feel  that  the  abandon- 
ment of  Constantinople  to  Russia  would 
mean  a  future  overwhelming  impact  of 
the  Russians  against  the  British  Empire 
in  India.  It  may  have  been  an  impression 
that  France  would  resist  a  outrance  a 
-  .  British  Egypt.     Yet,  not  long 

xxr  ™  TM  L  afterwards,  the  Emperor  Na- 
War  s  Effect         ,  i  •  ir  i    xi,    ^ 

J.  poleon  himself  proposed  that 

\irop  France  should  occupy  Morocco, 
Sardinia  (Italy)  should  take  Tunis,  and 
England  Egypt.  Neither  can  this  reluct- 
ance be  ascribed  to  a  period  of  Imperial 
lassitude,  for  whilst  Russia  was  suggesting 
the  division  of  the  Turkish  Empire 
Britain  was  absorbing  vast  territories 
further  east. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  the  general 
policy  of  the  Crimean  War  was  right,  so 
far  as  any  war  can  be  right,  since  it  imposed 
a  pause  on  European  ambitions.  Both 
Turkey  and  Egypt  obtained  a  respite, 
during  which,  under  wiser  sovereigns, 
these  important  Mohammedan  states 
might  have  developed  firm  and  progressive 
governments.  Probably  we  shall  one  day 
see  Constantinople  the  capital  of  a  free 
and  civilised  Balkan  confederation,  in 
which  the  Turk,  regenerated  in  his  civil 
estate,  will  play  a  leading  part,  in  close 
alliance  with  the  Bulgarian,  Roumanian, 
and  Greek  states  —  a  new  quadruple 
alliance  whose  compact  strength  will 
contribute  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
world's  peace  and  the  restoration  of 
civilisation  to  the  lands  of  the  Mace- 
donian and   Byzantine    Empires.      There 


was  some  menace  of  trouble  with  Spain 
towards  the  close  of  the  'fifties  over 
the  question  of  Morocco,  which  had  just 
been  invaded  by  a  Spanish  army  (1859). 
Great  Britain  for  a  long  time  regarded 
Morocco  as  a  possible  protectorate,  and 
as  a  means  of  controlling  access  to  and 
egress  from  the  Mediterranean.  During 
„  .,  .  .  the  'sixties  of  the  last  century, 

Preparations  "^'^f  ^^^  ^uez  Canal  was,  ni 
for  War  ?>V'i^^Q    ot    the    predictions    of 

the  late  Lord  Palmerston,  ap- 
proaching achievement,  the  British  Govern- 
ment wobbled  between  a  policy  that  should 
keep  Spain  and  France  out  of  Morocco  and 
one  which  should  give  Great  Britain  a 
definite  share  in  the  control  of  Egypt. 

The  next  menace  of  war  on  Imperial 
causes  was  again  with  Russia,  when  the 
internal  disorders  of  the  Turkish  Empire 
furnished  a  pretext  for  the  Russo-Turkish 
War.  A  seriously  directed  Russian 
attempt  to  occupy  Constantinople  would 
certainly  have  precipitated  a  fight  in 
1878.  As  it  was,  the  Russians,  the 
collapse  of  whose  military  power  against 
Japan  was  foreshadowed  by  their  defects 
of  army  organisation  in  1877-1878,  drew 
back  from  a  struggle  in  which  they  would 
have  had  no  ally,  and  Great  Britain 
received  as  compensation  for  the 
£6,000,000  sterling  she  had  spent  in  war 
preparations  the  lease  of  Cyprus,  and  a 
vague  protectorate  over  Asia  Minor, 
which   she   subsequently   abandoned. 

Again,  in  1884-1885,  the  danger  of  war 
with  Russia  arose,  this  time  over  the 
safety  of  the  Indian  Empire.  This  was 
the  slow-match  of  Russia's  revenge  for  her 
enforced  departure  from  Constantinople. 
The  great  success,  administrative  more 
than  military,  which  had  attended  the 
extension  of  the  Russian  power  over  the 
Mohammedan  sultanates  in  Central  Asia 
inspired  ambitious  Russian  soldiers  with 
the  belief  that  they  might  similarly  lay 
hands  on  Afghanistan,  and  from  this  point 
^         .  of  vantage  win  over  the  people 

Extension  ■  ^^  j^^^j^  -^^  ■  ^  preference  for 
of  Russian  ^^^  supposed  easy -going 
Fower  Russian  as  a  ruler  in  place  of 

thevexatiously  interfering,  moralising,  edu- 
cating Britisher.  But  Russia's  belief  and 
interest  in  the  matter  were  half-hearted. 
Already,  in  1885,  her  ambitions  were 
returning  towards  Asia  Minor  and  ex- 
tending over  Tibet  and  the  Chinese 
Empire.  Famines  and  plagues  had  begun 
to  take  the  gilt  off  the  Indian  gingerbread. 

=5493 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Russia    was    so    splendidly    unattackable 

over    the    matter    of    the    Central    Asian 

khanates  that  she  worried  Indian  officials 

about  Afghanistan   more   pour  le   plaisir 

dii  taquinage  than  for  any  greater  purposes. 

Moreover,  she  was  already  feeling  her  way 

towards  a  French  alliance,  and  knew  that 

xhis  annoying  intervention  in  Afghanistan 

^      .  «  .X  .  .    would   effectually  stop  the 
Great  Brit&in  s  .  ,.    ,  •'        -     r -!,„ 

_.„  mimediate  reconquest  of  the 

Differences  t-  ,■  o    j  xr 

.,,   „  Egyptian     Sudan.       rrom 

with  France  ,,    -^    ,  r    ,,       >    •    i.-         -f 

the  close  of  the    eighties  oi 

the   last   century    British    relations  with 

France  in  regard  to  Egypt,  the  extension  of 

French  domination  over  Nigeria,and  French 

aggression  on  Siam,  brought  us  almost  to 

the  deliverance  of  an  ultimatum  in  1893. 

We  were  probably  then  nearer  to  war 
with  France  over  Imperial  questions  than 
even  some  five  years  later  over  the  question 
of  Fashoda.  France,  however,  knew  better 
than  to  go  to  war  with  Great  Britain  over 
affairs  on  which  we  were  always  ready 
to  compromise.  She  knew  that  she  had  no 
chance  against  the  British  Fleet.  On  the 
other  hand,  she  was  equally  aware  that 
since  1884  a  new  factor  had  come  into  the 
colonial  field — that  Great  Britain  nourished 
a  deep-seated  dislike  to  Germany  for  having 
ousted  her  from  the  Kameruns,  taken 
Damaraland  under  her  very  nose,  and 
snatched  at  other  portions  of  South  Africa ; 
wrested  from  Great  Britain  a  vast  East 
African  dominion,  previously  controlled 
by  the  potent  personality  of  Sir  John 
Kirk,  founded  a  German  state  on  the  flank 
of  the  Gold  Coast ;  threatened  the  Lower 
Niger ;  and  occupied  or  bombarded  Pacific 
archipelagoes  which  were  only  not  British 
because  we  had  not  thought  it  worth  while 
to  hoist  the  flag.  France  knew^  that  Great 
Britain  did  not  wish  to  push  her  too  far, 
lest  a  Franco- German  alliance  should 
menace  the  British  position  in  Egypt. 

So,    between    1893    and   1899,    France 

gave  in  on  this  point,  and  on  that  principle, 

and  Britain  surrendered  some  undefined 

claim,     swallowed     some    dis- 

D  .  xt     appointment,  or  abandoned  a 

Between  the      ^^  •      ,  a  n      j 

Powers  ^'^S^^    project.       AU    danger 

of  a  conflict  between  the  two 
Powers  on  questions  of  colonial  "policy  dis- 
appeared with  the  withdrawal  of  Marchand 
from  Fashoda,  and  the  dropping  of  any 
intention  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  to 
maintain  the  independence  of  Morocco. 

All  things  considered.  Great  Britain  had 
got  the  better  of  Germany  over  the  rush 
for  empire   in   East   and   Central  Africa. 

5494 


Bismarck  had  indicated  the  nth  parallel 
of  south  latitude  as  the  ne  plus  ultra  of 
British  extension  from  the  Cape  north- 
wards, and  he  or  his  successors  had  hoped 
to  secure  Uganda  and  much  of  the  Congo 
State  for  German  expansion.  This  and 
that  rapprochement,  this  and  that  con- 
sideration, not  forgetting  the  serious  Arab 
revolution  in  German  East  Africa,  checked 
the  German  lust  of  empire  over  savages. 
But  as  the  German  mind  ruminated  over 
the  distribution  of  the  spoil  which  followed 
the  great  European  rush  for  Africa,  a 
bitter  feeling  was  engendered  against  the 
British.  Partty  to  humour  this,  partly 
with  an  idea  that  it  might  lead  to  some- 
thing, German  Imperial  policy  dallied  with 
a  Boer  alliance.  It  was  felt  instinctively 
that  under  their  skins,  Boer  and  North- 
west German  are  singularly  alike.  If  the 
Boers  could  not  stand  alone  against 
England,  they  might  throw  in  their  lot 
with  the  future  of  Germany,  and  become 
the  nucleus  of  a  great  German-speaking 
dominion  in  the  south  of  Africa.  Hence 
the  intrigues  with  the  Transvaal  which 
provoked  the  foolish  Jameson  Raid  on  the 
-,  ,      part  of  the  passionate  Rhodes, 

ermany  s     ^^^    -^   ^^^^   ^^^  ^^^j^  telegram 

p    J .  of  the  German  Emperor.  But  it 

-  *  ^  is  doubtful,  if  all  the  secrets  of 
the  chancelleries  were  known,  whether  there 
has  been  any  serious  menace  of  war  with 
Germany  over  colonial  questions  since 
1890,  so  far  as  the  direct  interests  of 
Great  Britain  are  concerned.  There  has 
been  much  more  danger  of  an  Anglo- 
German  conflict  over  the  position  of 
France.  Britain,  in  order  to  settle  herself 
definitely  in  Egypt,  "  gave  "  Morocco  to 
France,  in  the  calm  W'ay  in  which  we 
nations  of  higher  culture,  and  consequently 
greater  power,  direct  the  fortunes  of  the 
backward  or  savage  peoples.  Germany 
at  that  time  (1904)  was  giving  her  Imperial 
policy  an  altogether  different  bent. 

Disappointed  of  dominion  over  Africa, 
choked  off  the  conquest  of  China  by  the 
uprise  of  Japan,  temporarily  diverted 
from  American  enterprise  by  the  ominous 
hints  of  the  United  States,  she  decided 
that  the  line  of  least  resistance  lay  in  the 
direction  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  Con- 
stantinople, Asia  Minor,  and  the  Persian 
Gulf.  For  the  moment,  owing  to  the  out- 
come of  the  war  with  Japan,  Russia  was 
helpless.  France  and  Britain — France,  for 
some  reason,  most  of  all — barred  the  way 
to  Constantinople.         Italy  viewed  with 


THE    WARS    OF    THE    EMPIRE,   JUST    AND    UNJUST 


marked  disfavour  the  unavowed  German 
scheme,  the  Drang  nach  Osten.  France  was 
the  pivot  of  this  new  alhance  for  the 
temporary  preservation  of  the  Turkish 
Empire.  France  was  the  easiest  hit  at. 
Thence  arose  the  emperor's  visit  to 
Tangier,  the  open  threat  to  France,  and 
the  nearest  approach  as  yet  in  history  to  an 
armed  conflict  by  land  and  sea  between  the 
forces  of  Great  Britain  and  those  of  the 
German  Empire,  allied  certainly  with 
Austria-Hungary.  This  happily  averted 
struggle  would  have  been  a  colonial 
war,  for  it  would  have  originated  in  the 
Egyptian  question. 

As  regards  Russia,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
we  have  ever  been  on  the  verge  of  war 
with  her  over  Imperial  interests  since  the 
Afghan  settlement  of  1885.  We  were 
annoyed,  exasperated,  bothered  by  the 
Russian  designs  on  Northern  and  Western 
China.  But  had  those  designs  been  pushed 
to  annexation  of  Chinese  territory,  and 
had  Japan  been  powerless  to  resist,   we 


might  have  preferred  to  indemnify  our- 
selves by  the  occupation  of  Tibet  and  a 
protectorate  over  Central  China  rather 
than  by  going  to  war  with  Russia.  It  was 
Germany,  to  a  very  great  extent,  that 
nipped  in  the  bud  our  plans  in  regard 
to  Tibet,  and  perha])s  most  of  all  as 
regards  Central  China. 

It  was  by  no  means  certain  whether,  in 
spite  of  our  benevolent  neutrality  during 
the  Spanish  War,  the  United  States  would 
have  given  us  any  backing  in  regard  to 
Chinese  protectorates  or  spheres  of  in- 
fluence. Consequently,  linding  this  policy 
led  to  danger,  the  British  Government 
revived  the  idea  already  suggested  by 
Lord  Rosebery  of  an  alliance  with  Japan 
as  a  means  of  holding  Russia  in  check  and 
preserving  the  balance  of  power  in  China. 

The  outcome  of  the  Japanese  alliance 
may  have  momentous  results,  not,  per- 
haps, in  all  directions  palatable  to  Great 
Britain,  These,  however,  are  best  dis- 
cussed under  another  heading. 


PIONEERS    OF    EMPIRE  :    THE    HOME    OF    A    BRITISH    SETTLER    IN    THE    SOUTH     SEAS 

5495 


THE 

BRITISH 

EMPIRE 

VI 


BY  SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON. 

G.C.M.G. 


BRITISH    CONQUESTS   IN    THE   EAST 

EXPANSION    OF   THE    INDIAN    EMPIRE 
AND    THE    OPIUM    WAR    WITH    CHINA 


"\Y/E  have  so  far  dealt  with  the  wars 
'^  •  undertaken  against  or  narrowly 
averted  with  nations  of  white  men  in 
connection  with  British  imperial  interests. 
Wars  of  conquest  waged  with  races  that 
were  black  or  yellow  have  been  numerous 
since  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. The  wars  with  other  Europeans 
were  unmoral  rather  than  just  or  unjust. 
Roth  parlies  quarrelled  about  the  property 
of  a  third  party,  or  lands  that  Ijelonged 
to  nobody  worth  consideration. 

But  the  imperial  wars  waged  in  Africa 
and  Asia  have  often  been  unjust,  though 
there  were  instances  of  doing  evil  in  order 
that  presumed  good  might  follow.  On  the 
American  continent  and  in  Australia  the 
population  has  been  too  little  in  opposition 
to  the  incoming  British  settlers  to  have 
provoked  any  conflict  worthy  of  record 
as  a  "  war "  ;  but  the  case  has  been 
otherwise  in  New  Zealand  and  some  parts 
of  India,  Burma,  China,  and  South  Africa. 
Putting  aside  the  conflicts  of  colonists 
with  American  Indians  in  Eastern-north 
America,  our  first  imperial  war  with 
non-Euro})eans  and  non-Christians  was 
the  conflict  against  the  Moors  round 
Tangier  conducted  by  British  regiments 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  This  fighting, 
however,  was  not  altogether  unjust.  The 
Portuguese,  two  and  a  half  centuries 
before,  had  taken  Tangier  from  the 
_,      .  Moors,  and  transferred  it  by 

-r  f  A  arrangement  to  Great  Britain, 
to'^B^rittir  Pi'obably  because  if  Portugal 
had  not  done  so  the  Moors 
would  have  taken  it  from  her,  as  they  had 
taken  other  Portuguese  posts  on  the 
Atlantic  coast  of  Morocco.  Seeing,  how- 
ever, that  our  position  in  Morocco  could 
only  be  maintained  as  the  outcome  of  a 
practical  conquest  of  that  state,  the 
British  withdrew  from  the  struggle  and 

2    A  27  D 


surrendered  Tangier  to  the  Moors  ;  and 
although  they  afterwards  indemnified 
themselves  by  snatching  Gibraltar  from 
Spain,  still,  there  is  no  unjust  war  to  be 
laid  to  our  charge  in  Morocco.  The  next 
fighting  with  native  peoples  of  non- 
European  race  took  place  in  India  seventy 
I  d'  th  years  afterwards.  Here  our 
B'rth  1  merchants  found  themselves 
f  Man**^  in  the  most  splendid,  thickly 
inhabited  part  of  Asia.  China 
in  her  best  provinces  might  vie  with 
India  in  density  of  population,  and  in  her 
total  sum  of  inhabitants  ;  but  the  glory 
of  China  was  pale  before  the  art,  the 
science,  the  history  of  India,  and  its 
magnificent  physical  endowments  of  fauna 
and  flora.  India  should  be  placed  first  in 
the  list  of  the  world's  countries,  for  she 
is  almost  certainly  the  birthplace  of  man. 
But  the  India  of  the  middle  eighteenth 
century  was  an  empire  to  be  had  for  the 
taking.  The  Mohammedan  power,  which 
had  begun  with  the  irruption  of  Arabs, 
Afghans,  and  Tartars  in  the  eighth  and 
eleventh  centuries,  had  crumbled  to  fe^ble- 
ness.  The  power  of  non-Mohammedan 
peoples  and  principalities  had  revived. 
There  was  no  universal  national  spirit  in 
India.  Each  big  or  petty  prince  was  as 
ready  to  ally  himself  with  the  power  of  the 
European  for  his  own  advantage  as,  in 
the  days  before  1870,  each  kingdom,  duchy 
or  principality  of  Germany  was  ready  to 
take  part  with  France  against  the  power 
of  Prussia  or  Austria.  The  wars  waged  in 
India  by  the  East  India  Company  during 
the  eighteenth  and  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  centuries  were  in  a  measure 
wars  waged  with  Indians  against  Indians. 
As  Sir  William  Hunter  remarks  in  his 
great  work  on  the  Indian  Empire,  "  the 
British  won  India,  not  from  the  Moham- 
medans— the    Mogul    dynasty — but  from 

5497 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  Hindus."  In  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century  the  Mogul  Empire, 
founded  by  the  House  of  Timur,  the 
Tartar,  in  1526,  was  falling  to  pieces  under 
the  attacks  of  the  reviving  Hindu  power. 
Though  Arabs,  and  soon  afterwards 
Afghans,  had  invaded  North-west  India 
between  711  and  828,  Mohammedan  rule 
P    .  over    Northern    India    did    not 

fl^^\  begin  until  the  year  1000.  For 
p  .,.^,  five  hundred  years  afterwards 
there  were  constant  compro- 
mises with  the  many  millions  of  Hindus, 
whose  religion  co-existed  valiantly  alongside 
militant  Mohammedanism.  Down  to  the 
establishment  of  universal  British  domina- 
tion, there  remained  Hindu  kingdoms  and 
dynasties  which  had  never  been  conquered 
or  ousted  by  the  Afghans  or  the  Moguls. 

But  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century  a  very  definite  revival  of  the 
Hindu  power  began  in  South-west  India, 
in  the  hilly  country  to  the  south  and  west 
of  Bombay.  This  was  the  confederation  of 
sturdy  Hindu  peasant  farmers,  cavalry 
armed  with  spears,  to  be  known  subse- 
quently as  the  "  Mahrattas,"  apparently  a 
corruption  and  shortening  of  Maharashtra. 
The  Mahrattas'  power  was  built  up  by  a 
succession  of  warrior  kings  beginning 
with  the  great  Rajput  adventurer  Sivaji. 
The  power  of  this  dynasty  over  the  whole 
Mahratta  confederation  passed,  early  in  the 
eighteenth  centur3',  into  the  hands  of  a 
Brahman  prime  minister — the  Peshwa — 
and  became  hereditary  in  this  form. 

The  French,  under  Dumas  and  Dupleix, 
governors  of  the  French  settlement  of 
Pondichery  on  the  coast  of  South-east 
India,  had  started  the  idea  of  interfering 
in  the  internal  wars  of  nizams  and  nawabs, 
rajahs  and  wazirs.  This  had  been  carried 
on  with  such  success  by  Dupleix  himself, 
and  by  the  Marquess  de  Bussy,  that  a  con- 
siderable tract  of  Eastern  India  between 
Bengal  and  Madras  had  been  made  over  to 
the  French  by  the  Nizam  of  Haidarabad, 
P         and   the   French   had    become 

the  dominant  power  in  Deccan 
th   F       h    ^"^  Southern  India.     But  by 

1761,  in  consequence  of  the 
brilliant  military  operations  of  Robert 
Clive,  Colonel  Forde,  and  Sir  Eyre  Coote, 
and  the  extraordinary  lack  of  support 
afforded  to  their  agents  by  the  French 
Government,  there  was  scarcely  a  French 
flag  flying  over  any  portion  of  India. 
Although  at  the  Peace  of  Fontainebleau 
(1763)  the  sites  of  Pondichery,  Chanderna- 

5498 


gore,  and  two  or  three  other  trading 
stations  were  restored  to  France,  after  1761 
she  had  ceased  to  count  seriously  as  an 
Indian  power.  The  British  were  now  face 
to  face  with  the  crumbling  Mogul  Empire 
— itself  in  the  throes  of  a  death-struggle 
with  the  new  Mahratta  power  and  its 
independent  or  semi-independent  Moham- 
medan feudatory  states,  no  other  European 
nation  intervening.  Prominent  among 
these  independent  Moslem  princes,  the 
descendants  of  former  governors,  or  wazirs, 
under  the  Moguls,  was  the  Nawab  of 
Bengal,  Suraj-ud-Daulah. 

He  succeeded  his  grandfather  in  1756, 
and  immediately  afterwards  quarrelled  with 
the  English  of  the  Calcutta  settlement.  His 
capture  of  Calcutta,  in  1756,  and  the 
episode  of  the  "  Black  Hole  "  need  not  be 
further  described  here.  Calcutta  was 
recovered  by  Clive  soon  afterwards.  Clive 
had  first  distinguished  himself — in  175 1 — 
in  surprising  and  afterwards  defending 
Arcot,  a  native  stronghold  in  the  Madras 
Presidency.  The  series  of  surprising  bold 
actions  in  Southern  India  on  the  ]mrt  of 
the  British  had  for  result  the    complete 

.  breakdown  of.  the   French  career 

_"  *.*  of  conquests.  War  having  been 
mpire  g^^^.g^^jy  (leclared  against  France, 
Clive  proceeded  up  country  and 
seized  the  French  post  of  Chandarnagar. 
This  action  led  to  Suraj-ud-Daulah  and 
the  French  making  common  cause.  At 
the  Battle  of  Plassey,  in  1757,  Clive, 
with  1,000  British  troops,  2,000  sepoys, 
and  eight  guns,  defeated  the  army 
of  the  nawab,  which  consisted  of  35,000 
infantry,  15,000  cavalry,  and  50  cannon. 
Moreover,  Suraj-ud-Daulah  had  with  him 
some  fifty  French  artillerymen. 

This  victory  founded  the  British  empire 
over  India.  After  several  other  fights  with 
the  French  and  Dutch,  and  a  series  of 
battles  with  the  nawab's  forces,  terminat- 
ing with  the  decisive  victory  of  Sir  Hector 
Munro  at  Baxar  in  1794,  Clive  was  able  to 
bring  a  good  deal  less  than  a  quarter  of 
India  under  British  control,  direct  or  in- 
direct. In  '  1765  he  became  governor  of 
Bengal,  and  took  the  Mogul  emperor  under 
the  chartered  company's  protection. 

Warren  Hastings,  who  succeeded  Clive 
as  governor-general,  lent  British  troops 
to  a  British  ally,  the  wazir  of  Oudh,  in 
order  ^/,to  check  the  invasions  of  the 
Rohilla  Afghans,  who  were  attempting 
to  intrigue  with  the  Mahrattas  against 
the   INIogul   emperor  and  his   feiidatories. 


BRITISH    CONQUESTS    IN    THE    EAST 


British  interference  from  Bombay  in 
Mahratta  affairs — the  promotion  of  a 
British  candidate  for  the  throne  of  the 
Peshwa — precipitated  the  first  struggle 
with  the  Mahrattas.  This  began  in  1778 
with  Goddard's  brilHant  march  across 
India  from  Bengal  to  Gujerat,  which 
province,  the  last  home  of  the  lion,  he  con- 
quered almost  without  fighting.  One  of 
his  subordinate  officers,  Captain  Popham, 
captured  brilliantly  the  rock  fortress  of 
Gwalior,  which  was  restored  finally  to  the 
native  prince,  Sindhia,  in  1886.  In  the 
following  year,  1779,  the  British  forces 
were  defeated  at  Wargaon,  and  the.  first 
Mahratta  War  ended  with  the  mutual 
restoration  of  all  conquests,  except  Salsette 
and  Elephanta  Island,  both  near  Bombay, 
which  were  retained  by  the  British. 

The  two  powerful  Mohammedan  states 
of  the  Deccan  and  Southern  India, 
Haidarabad  and  Mysore,  next  assumed  a 
hostile  attitude  towards  the  aggressive 
British.  Warren  Hastings  managed  to 
detach  the  Nizam  of  Haidarabad  and 
minor  Hindu  princes  from  this  league,  and 
the  British  strength  was  mainly  directed 
,     against    Haidar  Ali  of  Mysore, 

apo  con  s  ,^^-^pgg  g^j^  Tippu  Sahib,  was 
Scheme  to      ,  x  j.    s 

g  .      p        to  prove  one  of  our  most  tor- 

^^  midable  enemies  in  India.  The 
Mysore  army  had  conquered  nearly  all  the 
British  establishments  in  South-eastern 
India,  except  the  actual  town  of  Madras  ; 
but  by  persistent  fighting  all  these  posses- 
sions were  won  back  by  1784.  The  second 
Mysore  War  began  in  1790,  conducted  by 
Lord  Cornwallis.  By  this  time  diplomacy 
had  arrayed  on  the  side  of  the  British 
the  important  forces  of  the  nizam  and  of 
the  Mahratta  confederation.  Tippu  Sahib, 
therefore,  was  partially  conquered,  and  his 
kingdom  was  reduced  by  one-half. 

He  was  also  made  to  pay  a  war  indemnity 
o^  £3,000,000.  Enraged  at  this,  he  com- 
menced a  correspondence  with  the  French 
Government,  and  his  letters  inspired 
Napoleon  with  the  idea  of  seizing  Egypt 
and  attacking  the  British  in  India.  The 
naval  exploits  of  Nelson  ruined  that 
scheme,  and  in  1799  the  British,  under  the 
Governor-General,  Lord  Mornington  (Mar- 
quess Wellesley)  and  General  (Lord) 
Harris,  fell  on  the  isolated  Tippu  and  cap- 
tured his  last  fortress.  Seringapatam,  in 
the  defence  of  which  Tippu  was  killed. 
The  second  Mahratta  War,  of  1802-1804. 
resulted,  through  the  victories  of  Sir 
Arthur  Wellesley  (afterwards  the  Duke  of 


Wellington)  at  Assaye  and  Argaum,  in 
the  Deccan,  and  those  of  Lord  Lake  at 
Aligarh  and  Laswari,  in  the  removal  of  the 
Mogul  emperor  from  the  control  of  the 
Mahratta  confederation  to  that  of  the  East 
India  Company,  in  the  British  control  over 
Delhi  and  the  North-west  Provinces,  and 
in  enormous  territorial  gains  in  Eastern 
Britai  '  ^'^^^^^  Unfortunately,  it  was 
yfg^f^  followed  by  a  disastrous  retreat 
ia  India  ^^  ^^^^  British  forces  and  a  re  ■ 
pulse  of  Lord  Lake  at  Bhartpur, 
during  the  war  with  Holkar,  a  member  of 
the  Mahratta  confederacy,  in  1804-1805. 
The  Ghurka  or  Nepalese  Wars  of  1814-1815 
ended  by  a  peace  being  signed,  after  the 
victories  of  General  Ochterlony,  near  the 
capital,  Khatmandu,  the  terms  of  which 
confined  the  Ghurkas  to  their  present 
territory,  recognised  the  British  control 
over  Sikkim,  and  secured  for  the  Indian 
administration  the  hill  stations  of  Simla 
and  other  Himalayan  tracts,  and  the 
faithful  alliance  of  the  Nepalese  people. 

In  Central  India  robber  bands,  rising 
here  and  there  to  the  dignity  of  predatory 
states  and  known  as  the  Pindar  is,  were 
ruining  settled  commerce  and  agriculture 
by  their  raids.  They  were  partly  formed 
by  the  debris  of  the  Mogul  Empire,  and 
were  to  some  extent  supported  by  the 
Mahratta  confederacy  in  their  guerrilla 
warfare.  They  were  finally  crushed,  and 
their  leaders  killed,  imprisoned,  or  won 
over  to  allegiance  by  an  army  of  120,000 
men  wisely  collected  by  the  Governor- 
General.  Lord  Moira,  Marquess  of  Hastings. 

The  reason  for  this  overpowering  force 
was  the  threatening  aspect  of  the  Mahratta 
confederacy.  This  attitude  resolved  itself 
into  a  rising — the  third  and  last  Mahratta 
War— in  1817.  The  Battle  of  Mehidpur 
(1817)  and  the  magnificent  defence  of  the 
sepoy  garrison  of  Sitabaldi  enabled  the 
British  administration  to  break  up,  once 
and  for  all,  the  Mahratta  confederacy, 
and  to  make  territorial  arrangements 
in  the  Bombay  Presidency 
Mahratta  ^^^  -^  Central  India,  which 
BrokenT*'''  have  lasted  to  this  day.  The 
n  up  peshwa,  or  president,  of  this 
great  Hindu  league  surrendered  and  went 
to  live  near  Cawnpore  on  a  pension  of 
;/^8o,ooo  a  year.  His  adopted  son  was- 
the  notorious  Nana  Sahib,  who,  in  the 
Indian  Mutiny  of  1857,  avenged  on  the 
bodies  of  English  women  and  children 
the  rage  and  disappointment  he  felt  at 
not  being  allowed   to  succeed  to   all   the 

5499 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


emoluments  and  privileges  of  his  patron 
and  adoptive  father.  Coincidently  with 
the  rise  of  the  British  power  in  India 
proper,  the  Indian  or  Burmese  states 
of  Assam,  Chittagong,  Ava,  Bhamma, 
Arakan,  Pegu,  and  Tenasserim  had  come 
under  the  supreme  control  of  the  new 
Burmese  dynasty'  of  the  Alaung-paya 
^.    ^        (Alompra).       Elated     with     his 

The  Two        ■    ,       ■  •  TT-      1        J.    J. 

_  Victories  over  quasi-Hmdu  states 

^  like   Assam   and    Tipperah,    the 

Burmese  monarch  of  Mandalay 
permitted  or  encouraged  his  soldiers  or 
subsidiary/  chiefs  to  raid  into  territories 
more  distinctly  British.  The  eventual 
results  were  the  first  Burmese  War  of 
1824- 1826,  followed  by  the  annexation 
of  Assam,  Chittagong,  Arakan,  Tavoy, 
Mergui,  and  Tenasserim  ;  and  the  second 
Burmese  War,  of  1852,  which  further  added 
to  the  Indian  Empire  the  delta  of  the 
Irawadi,  leaving  only  to  native  rule  two 
provinces  of  the  short-lived  Burmese 
•Empire — Upper  and  Lower  Burma. 

In  1839  took  place  the  first  invasion  of 
Afghanistan.  On  the  face  of  it  this  action 
on  the  part  of  Lord  Auckland  might  seem 
foolhardy  and  a  reckless  courting  of  need- 
less difficulties,  except  that  Britain,  ever 
since  she  became  responsible  for  the  main- 
tenance of  peace  in  India,  has  been  forced 
at  intervals  to  oppose  the  Afghans,  from 
Warren  Hastings'  loan  of  British  troops 
to  attack  the  Rohillas  in  1773  to  the 
Mohammed  border  warfare  of  igo8.  Lord 
Auckland  endeavoured  to  place  a  prince 
— Shah  Shuja — friendly  to  the  British  on 
the  throne  of  Afghanistan,  because  the 
usurping  ruler  of  that  country,  Dost 
Mohammed,  was  endeavouring  to  regain 
Peshawar,  then  in  the  power  of  the  Sikhs, 
and  was  entertaining  suspicious  relations 
with  Russia  and  Persia. 

The  installation  of  Shah  Shuja  in  1839, 
after  several  battles,  in  which  the  British 
were  successful,  meant  the  garrisoning  of 
Jellalabad,  Kabul,  and  Kandahar  by 
_.  British      troops.       Two     years 

*    n  w'^i.    later  two  of  the  principal  British 

to  British  ,.,  .         1  rn  ^ 

P  political     oincers     were     assas- 

sinated, the  Kabul  gariison 
attempted  to  retreat,  and  4,000  British 
and  Indian  soldiers  with  12,000  cani])- 
followers  perished. 

Only  one  survived  to  reach  the 
garrison  of  Jellalabad.  The  British  women 
and  children  and  a  few  sick  officers 
had  been  detained  as  hostages  by  the 
Afghans,  and,  on  the  whole,  well  treated. 

5500 


This  disaster  was  avenged  by  the  re- 
markable marches  across  Afghanistan  of 
Generals  Pollock,  Xott,  and  England. 
Coming  respectively'  from  Jellalabad  and 
Kandahar,  they  met  at  Kabul,  and  there 
blew  up  the  bazaar  and  recovered  the 
prisoners.  They  afterwards  left  Afghani- 
stan to  its  own  devices  and  the  rule  of- 
Dost  Mohammed.  In  the  following  3'ear, 
1843,  Sind  was  conquered  by  Sir  Charles 
Napier,  the  crucial  battle  being  that 
of  Miani,  in  which  a  British  force  of  2,600 
men  defeated  22,000  Baluchis.  The  battle 
of  Miani  was  a  glory  to  the  British  arms 
and  the  discipline  of  the  Indian  army. 

The  little  force  under  Sir  Charles  Napier 
consisted  of  400  British  soldiers — mainlv 
Irish — of  the  22nd  Regiment  under  Colonel 
Pennefather.  The  2,200  Indian  troops 
included  some  Bengal  cavalry.  The  baj'O- 
net  in  the  strong  arms  of  the  Irish,  the 
magnificent  ride  of  the  Indian  cavalry 
against  the  cannon  of  the  Sindi  army,  the 
accuracy  of  the  British  artillery,  and  Sir 
Charles  Napier  won  the  day  against  an 
enemy  of  almost  dauntless  bravery. 
In  1845,  the  Sikhs,  governed  by  a  com- 
mittee of  generals  since  the  death  of  Ranj  it 
Singh,  annoj/ed  at  the  British 
annexation  of  Sind,   crossed 


The  Great 
Mutiny  of  the 


Id*      A  ^^^^     Sutlej       and      invaded 

rmy    gj.j^jg}-^    India.      They    were 

defeated  in  the  bloody  battles  of  Mudki, 
Firozshah,  Aliwal,  and  finally  Sobraon. 
A  British  protectorate  over  the  Punjab 
followed.  But,  two  years  later,  the  Sikhs 
rose  again,  and  the  second  Sikh  War  began 
with  the  terrible  Battle  of  Chillianwalla,  in 
which  the  British  lost  2,400  officers  and 
men,  the  colours  of  three  regiments, 
and  four  guns.  But  less  than  a  month 
later  the  conclusive  victory  of  Gujarat 
destroyed  the  Sikh  army  and  made  it 
possible  to  annex  the  Punjab. 

In  1857  broke  out  t\e  great  mutiny  of 
the  Indian  army.  In  1806  a  mutiny  of 
the  native  troops  had  occurred  at  Vellorc 
in  the  Madras  Presidency,  which  had 
commenced  with  a  terrible  slaughter 
of  British  soldiers,  had  been  suppressed 
with  the  sternest  reprisals,  while  dis- 
content w^as  afterwards  appeased  bv 
concessions.  The  effects  of  this  rising 
had  been  to  some  extent  neutralised 
by  disbanding  the  more  tainted  portions 
of  the  Madras  army.  In  1824  another 
mutiny  nearly  broke  out  in  Bengal  over 
the  first  Burmese  War.  The  Hindu 
soldiers  declared  it  would  break  their  caste 


BRITISH    CONQUESTS    IN    THE    EAST 


,  to  cross  the  open  sea,  and  eventually  the 
difficulty  had  to  be  compounded  by  march- 
ing them  all  the  way  round  by  the  northern 
shores  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  It  is  not 
necessary  here  to  review  all  the  causes  of 
the  great  mutiny  of  1857-185S,  which  for 
a  time  partially  extinguished  British  gar- 
risons and  power  in  the  kingdom  of  Oudh 
and  in  a  portion  of  North-central  India. 

It  was  in  the  main  an  insurrection  of 
angry  soldiers,  who  had  some  real  and 
some  imaginary  grievances.  But  it  was 
conjoined  with  the  fury  of  the  dispossessed 
princes  or  princesses  and  nobles  of  Oudh 
and  Jhansi  and  the  treacherous  enmity  of 
the  adopted  son  of  the  last  peshwa  of  the 
Mahrattas,  Nana  Sahib.  Also  there  was 
much  Mohammedan  fanaticism  and  regret 
for  vanished  glories  at  the  court  of  the 
aged  Mogul  Emperor  at  Delhi. 

The  credit  for  the  military  operations 
which  suppressed  the  mutiny,  and  the 
dangerous  national  rising  which  it  was 
beginning  to  create,  lies  with  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence,  who  defended  the  Residency  at 
Lucknow,  and  so  detained  the  rebel  forces 
of  Oudh  ;  Sir  Henry  Havelock  and  Sir 
James  Outram,  who  saved 
crocs  ^j^g     slender     garrison     after 

of  the  Indian  y  >       i    ^1  o-     /-    i- 

j^  ..  Lawrence  s  death  ;    Sn-  Conn 

Campbell  (Lord  Clyde),  who 
rescued  the  Lucknow  foices  under  Have- 
lock and  Outram  and  finished  the  recon- 
quest  of  Oudh  and  Rohilkund  ;  Nicholson, 
the  never-to-be-forgotten  hero  of  the  siege 
of  Delhi ;  and  Sir  Hugh  Rose  (Lord  Stiath- 
nairn),  who  defeated  the  principal  native 
general  of  the  mutiny,  Tantia  Topi,  who 
recaptured  Jhansi  and  who  finished  the 
insurrection  in  April,  1859,  in  the  wildest 
jungles  of  Central  India.  Probably  the 
greatest  of  all  these  dauntless  soldiers, 
and  certainly  the  most  picturesque,  was 
John  Nicholson,  of  Delhi. 

Nothing  has  so  much  justified  the 
abnormality  of  India  being  governed  by 
a  hundred  thousand  warriors  and  officials 
from  islands  five  thousand  miles  away  in 
the  North  Sea  as  the  conduct  of  the 
British  soldiers  of  all  ranks,  the  British 
officials,  from  governor-general  to  Eura- 
sian telegraph  clerk,  during  the  stress  of 
the  Indian  Mutiny.  One  may  at  this 
distance  of  time  see  and  regret  the  stupid 
blunders  that  provoked  the  mutiny,  and 
put  one's  finger  to  a  nicety  on  the  precise 
measures  which  might  have  nipped  the 
mutiny  in  the  bud  ;  but  once  the  catas- 
trophe has  occurred,  one  can  only  marvel 


at  the  qualities  of  officers  and  men  in  that 
heroic  handful  of  British  troops  which  twice 
relieved  a  Lucknow  besieged  by  thousands 
of  well-armed  fanatics;  in  those  8,000 
men  that  fought  their  way  inch  by  inch 
through  the  high,  red  walls  and  narrow 
lanes  of  a  murderous  Delhi  defended  by 
30,000  desperate,  drug-maddened  sepoys, 
,       .  better  trained   in    the   actual 

oHh^c  Sikh  ^^^^  °^  ^^^'  perhaps,  than  the 
Soldiers  iH-educated  English,  Welsh, 
Scottish,  and  Irish  soldiery 
who,  by  sheer  force  of  character  and 
strength  of  arm,  became  their  conquerors. 
But  in  reviewing  the  history  of  this  time 
of  stress  one  must  admit  it  was  not  only 
men  born  in  the  British  Isles  that  crushed 
a  revolt  of  savage  sepoys  and  frantic  people. 

India  might  have  been  temporarily 
lost  to  us  but  for  the  co-operation  of 
the  splendid  Sikh  soldiers,  men  whose 
valour  to  the  British  cause  was  in  no 
way  inferior  to  the  heroic  behaviour  of 
the  British  soldiers  on  their  mettle. 
We  received  the  loyal  assistance  of  the 
great  Mohammedan  kingdom  of  Haidar- 
abad,  which  had  the  effect  of  keeping 
Southern  India  out  of  the  area  of 
disturbance.  At  the  same  time  the  inde- 
pendent state  of  Nepal  sent  a  force  of 
Ghurkas,  under  Sir  Jung  Bahadur,  to  assist 
in  restoring  order  in  Northern  India.  A 
small  war  with  the  Himalayan  state  of 
Bhutan  took  place  in  1864.  With  that 
exception,  there  was  peace  in  India  until 
1878.  Then  once  more  the  affairs  of 
Afghanistan  compelled  attention. 

Russia  had  despatched  a  mission  to  that 
country,  which  had  been  received  with 
ostentatious  honour.  To  have  acquiesced 
in  this  situation  would  have  been  to  give 
tacit  permission  to  Russia  to  win  over  the 
country  of  Afghanistan  to  her  influence, 
to  make  of  it,  perhaps,  a  vantage-point 
from  which  the  invasion  of  India  might 
be  attempted  with  the  Afghans  as  allies. 
Biitain  had  nothing  to  offer  Afghanistan 
but  the  somewhat  barren 
'^Af  I,  privilege  of  isolated  indepen- 
Raids^  "  dence  in  a  sterile  land,  with 
a  climate  of  ferocious  extremes. 
The  British  arm  had  been  interposed  evei 
since  1773  to  shield  India  from  those  devas- 
tating Afghan  raids  which  have  inflicted 
deep  and  shocking  wounds  on  her  civilisa- 
tion since  the  days  of  Mahmud  of  Ghazni. 
Gradually,  by  British  diplomacy  or  feats  of 
arms,  Afghan  rule  was  pushed  back  across 
the  Hindu  Kush  and  the  Suleiman  Hills. 

5501 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


And  there  it  would  have  been  left 
unmolested  but  for  Russian  ambitions 
turning  India-wards  in  the  thirties  of  the 
last  century.  In  1878  a  British  army 
entered  Afghanistan  and  rapidly  occupied 
Kandahar  and  the  roads  leading  to  Kabul. 
Sher  Ali,  the  amir,  fled  to  Turkestan  and 
died.  His  son  was  recognised  by  us  in  his 
.  .  stead,   after  a  treaty,  which 

UnderBriHsh  Practically  placed  Afghani- 
p    .      .  Stan  under  British  protection. 

But  the  history  of  1839-41 
re])eated  itself  almost  exactly,  except  for 
the  disastrous  retreat.  The  British  Envoy 
and  Resident  at  Kabul,  Sir  Louis  Cavag- 
nari,  and  his  insufficient  escort  were 
attacked  and  massacred,  Sir  Frederick 
(Lord)  Roberts  occupied  Kabul  with  a 
British  army,  and  the  new  amir,  Yakub 
Khan,  abdicated. 

Abd-ur-Rahman  was  then  recognised 
as  amir  over  two-thirds  of  Afghanistan, 
and  the  remainder,  with  Kandahar  as  a 
capital,  was  erected  into  a  separate  state. 
But  in  1880  a  severe  defeat  was  inflicted 
on  a  British  force  at  Maiwand,  between 
Kandahar  and  the  Halmand  river,  by  Ayub 
Khan,  a  younger  son  of  Sher  Ali,  and  an 
Afghan  prince  who  in  this  contest  played 
the  part  of  national  hero  better  than  the 
Russian  pensioner,  Abd-ur-Rahman. 

The  position  of  the  British  in  Afghani- 
stan in  1880  was  retrieved  by  the  splendid 
march  of  Lord  Roberts  from  Kabul  to 
Kandahar,  which  led  to  the  total  rout  of 
Ayub  Khan's  army  outside  the  precincts 
of  Kandahar.  This  place  was  subsequentlj^ 
abandoned  by  the  British  and  reoccupied 
by  Ayub  Khan.  Then  followed  a  conflict 
between  Abd-ur-Rahman  and  Ayub,  which 
left  the  former  master  of  Afghanistan 
until  his  death,  in  1901,  and  led  to  Aj^ub's 
honourable  captivity  in  India. 

In    1885   the   last   Burmese   War   took 
l^lace.     It  was  really  the  advance  of  a 
very    strong    expedition    under    General 
Prendeigast    up    the    Irawadi    River    to 
.        Mandalay,    which    met    with    no 
f  tlT^     opposition    worth     noting.       The 
_      .      real     Burmese     War    broke    out 
afterwards    in    a    prolonged    and 
gallant   resistance   to   British   occupation 
on  the  part  of  the  so-called  "  dacoits  " — 
bands  of  irregulars  commanded  or  inspired 
by  Burmese  nobles  or  princes.     The  dis- 
tinct tribes  of  the  Kachins  and  Shans  took 
])art  in  the  four  years  of  desultory  fighting, 
which  scarcely  came  to  an  end  until  iSSg. 
The   feeling   of   unrest   produced   in   this 
5502 


region  led  to  an  outbreak  in  1891  in  the. 
adjoining  state  of  Manipur.  which  was 
put  down  without  much  difficulty.  In 
1888  an  expedition  had  to  be  sent 
against  the  Hazara  Pathans  to  the  north 
of  Peshawar  ;  and  in  the  same  year 
British  authority  was  asserted  over  the 
important  little  state  of  Sikkim,  which 
separates  Nepal  from  Bhutan,  which  has 
been  under  British  influence  and  protection 
since  1815,  and  which  the  Tibetans — 
inspired,  perhaps,  both  by  Russia  and 
China — were  endeavouring  to  conquer. 

The  definition  of  the  frontiers  between 
British  India  and  Afghanistan  in  1893  and 
the  enforcement  of  its  results  amongst  the 
turbulent  border  tribes  led  'to  the  pro- 
tracted Tirah  campaign  (i895-i898)against 
the  Waziri,  Swati,  Mohmand,  and  Afridi 
tribes,  and  the  clans  of  the  Zhob  valle}' 
between  Quetta  and  the  Indus.  There 
was  also  some  fighting  in  the  north-west  of 
Kashmir  (Ghilghit  and  Chitral).  Kashmir 
is  an  important  country  in  whose  govern- 
ment the  British  had  taken  a  more  direct 
interest  since  the  approximate  settlement 
of  the  various  frontier  questions  of 
.  ,  Afghanistan,  Russia,  Chinese 
us  la  Turkestan,  and  Tibet.  In  this 
•"t"!**!*  campaign,  the  work  of  which  is 
only  half-finished,  the  British 
lost  1,050  men  killed  and  missing,  not  to 
mention  over  1,500  wounded  ;  while  the 
cost  amounted  to  over  ;^3,ooo,ooo.  The 
prosecution  of  this  frontier  war  was 
accompanied  or  preceded  by  some  ominous 
signs  of  disaffection  amongst  the  peoples 
of  North-west  India. 

Russia  had  again  been  intriguing  with 
religious  notabilities  in  Tibet  at  the 
beginning  of  the  twentieth  century, 
partly,  no  doubt,  to  embarrass  Britain, 
whose  alliance  with  Japan — projected  or 
accomplished — was  barring  her  way  in 
China.  It  was  decided,  rightly  or  wrongly, 
to  put  an  end  to  these  anxieties  which 
form  a  pendant  to  those  of  Afghanistan, 
and  to  force  on  Tibet  the  assumption  of 
intimate  diplomatic  relations  with  British 
India  not  far  removed  from  a  protectorate 
— China,  the  recognised  suzerain,  being 
unable  or  unwilling  to  restrain  the  Tibetans 
from  entering  into  relations  with  Russia. 
The  expedition  of  1904  started  in  March, 
and  was  obliged  to  fight  its  way,  more  or 
less,  to  Lhasa,  which  was  entered  on 
August  3rd,  1904.  Here  a  treaty  was 
made,  fixing  a  war  indemnity,  arranging 
for    future    commercial    intercourse,    and 


BRITISH    CONQUESTS    IN    THE    EAST 


giving  some  recognition  to  British  rights 
over  the  Chum-bi  valley,  which  projects 
into  British  India  as  a  wedge  between 
Bhutan  and  Sikkim.  The  British  Govern- 
ment decided  to  submit  this  treaty  to  the 
sanction  of  the  Chinese  Government,  and 
the  latter,  incited  by  the  German  Minister 
at  the  court  of  Peking,  refused  to  agree  to 
the  conditions  imposed  on  the  Tibetans. 
Practically  no  results  remain  of  the  costly 
expedition  to  Lhasa,  except  a  thoroughly 
accurate  geographical  survey  of  Southern 
Tibet.  A  treaty  has  been  recognised  by 
China,  but  it  is  a  colourless  document. 
To  some  extent,  however,  the  Tibetan 
question  has  been  settled  for  a  long  time 
to  come  by  the  1907  convention  with 
Russia.  If  this  convention  is  faithfully 
adhered  to,  it  will  obviate  any  danger  to 
India  from  the  direction  of  Tibet. 

In  the  year  igo8  frontier  warfare  was 
resumed  on  the  Afghan  borders  with  the 
Zakka  Khels  on  the  south-west,  and  the 
Mohammedans  on  the  north-east,  both 
sections  of  hostile  mountaineers  being  aided 
unolificially  by  an  Afghanistan  no  longer 
efficiently  controlled  by  the  firm  hand  of  an 
.J  Abd-ur-Rahman  Khan,  but 

'^    f  ,   influenced  by  the  fanatical 

Treachery  and     ,•   ,-,       ,      ,,     -^t- 
P        ..  dislike  to  the  European  con- 

ceived by  the  younger  brother 
of  the  present  amir,  Nasir-Ullah  Khan. 
To  some  extent  Afghan  hostility  has  been 
neutralised  by  the  recent  Anglo- Russian 
Convention,  and  a  war  with  Afghanistan, 
followed  by  a  permanent  conquest  of  that 
land,  which  has  been  the  source  of  so 
much  woe  to  India,  would  present  no 
serious  difficulty  to  the  Indian  Govern- 
ment if  the  policy  was  one  that  commended 
itself  to  the  views  of  the  intelligent 
majority  of  Indian  Mohammedans,  who, 
if  they  read  accurate  history  and  profit 
by  its  lessons,  must  by  this  time  be  weary 
of  Afghan  treachery  and  rapacity. 

Passing  outside  the  political  limits  of 
the  Indian  Empire,  the  other  wars  in  Asia 
undertaken  by  the  British  Government 
against  native  powers  may  be  noted  as 
follows.  In  1838  an  armed  demonstration 
against  Persia — by  the  despatch  of  a 
British  expedition  to  the  Persian  Gulf — was 
rendered  necessary  because  of  an  attempt 
on  the  part  of  the  Persians  to  take  Herat. 
For  the  same  reason,  in  1856,  Great  Britain 
declared  war  on  Persia,  and  seized  several 
ports  on  the  Persian  Gulf  until  the  restitu- 
tion of  Herat  to  Afghanistan  was  effected. 
The  reason  of  these  stern  measures  was 


that  Herat  was  believed  to  be  the  key  of 

India,  and  Persia  was  regarded  as  being 

merely  the  stalking  horse  of  Russia.    All 

these  anxieties  have  been  set  at  rest  by 

the  Anglo-Russian  Convention ;  the  British 

sphere   in   Persia  suffices   to  maintain  an 

orderly   control    over   the    Persian    Gulf. 

Between    1795  and    1801    the    island    of 

Ceylon,  so  far  as  its  coastal  regions  were 

1M.    n  •*•  t   concerned,    was    occupied    by 
The  British    r^        .    r,   ■.    ■  ■ 

Q  .       Great  Britain  as  a  war   prize 

fQ^  I  *  taken  from  Holland,  a  country 
then  in  the  possession  of  France. 
The  British  had  been  partly  assisted  in 
these  operations  by  the  forces  of  the  king 
of  Kandy,  the  representative  of  the 
extremely  ancient  Singalese  dynasty.  This 
monarch,  however,  died  in  1800  without 
leaving  direct  issue. 

Interior  Ceylon  was,  like  so  many  Oriental 
countries,  really  governed  by  a  powerful 
Minister,  the  adigar.  The  British  governor 
of  the  coast  districts  interfered  in  the 
matter  of  the  succession  with  a  view  to 
securing  substantial  advantages  for  his 
own  Government.  An  expedition  to  Kandy 
was  undertaken,  and  a  small  garrison  left 
at  that  capital — 200  British  troops  and 
500  Malays,  under  the  command  of 
Major  Davie.  But  in  those  days  the 
climate  of  the  forest  regions  of  Ceylon  was 
extremely  unhealthy  to  Europeans,  and 
the  bulk  of  Major  Davie's  English  soldiers 
were  incapacitated  by  sickness.  Then  they 
were  attacked  by  overwhelming  numbers 
of  Singalese,  and  at  last  obliged  to  capitu- 
late and  retreat.  The  terms  of  the  capitula- 
tion were  not  observed  by  the  cruel  king 
of  Kandy,  who  gave  orders  to  massacre 
.the  entire  party  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mahaveliganga,  three  miles  from  Kandy. 

Scarcely  a  single  member  of  the  force 
survived  except  Major  Davie,  who  was 
taken  back  to  Kandy,  where  he  dragged  out 
a  miserable  existence  for  another  seven 
years.  This  massacre  of  the  Mahave- 
liganga was  not  avenged  by 
Atrocities      ^^^  governor,  whose   policy  in 

fu  A  connection  with  Major  Davie's 
of  Kandy  ^abandonment  had  been  most 
reprehensible.  Consequently,  the  king  of 
Kandy,  encouraged  by  this  absence  of 
reprisals,  sent  armies  to  attack  the  coast 
possessions  of  the  British.  His  forces  were 
repulsed,  and  a  truce  was  arranged  which 
lasted  for  several  years.  But  the  king  of 
Kandy  gradually  became  ferociously  cruel 
towards  his  own  Ministers,  nobility  and 
people,   besides  causing  native  merchants 

5503 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


— British  subjects — to  be  mutilated  or 
killed  outright.  His  own  people  rose 
against  him  in  1815,  and  invited  and 
facilitated  a  British  occupation  of  Kandy, 
which  took  place  unopposed.  The  king 
was  captured  and  sent  as  a  political 
prisoner  to  Vellore,  m  the  Madras  Presi- 
dency, where  he  lived  until  1832.  The 
_         ,  occupation  of  the  interior  of 

Q  ^    ?  f  Ceylon   seems   to   have    been 

J,      ..  characterised  by  some  tactless 

procedure  which  offended  the 
people's  religious  prejudices.  In  addi- 
tion, the  chiefs  and  priests  were  rendered 
inimical  at  the  diminution  of  their  power 
and  emoluments.  Consequently,  in  1817, 
a  serious  insurrection  broke  out  in  the 
eastern  provinces  of  Ceylon,  which  it 
took  two  years  of  hard  bush-iighting 
to  suppress.  Two  other  insurrections 
occurred  in  1843  and  1845,  caused  by 
the  imposition  of  taxes. 

In  1810,  a  British  expedition,  under  Sir 
Stamford  Raffles,  landed  in  Java  and 
attempted  to  wrest  that  island  from  the 
Dutch.  At  the  same  time  other  British 
expeditions  seized  the  Dutch  islands  of 
Amboina  and  Banda.  The  Dutch,  how- 
ever, fought  fiercely  near  Batavia,  though 
they  were  ultimately  defeated,  and  sur- 
rendered the  island,  which  was  restored 
to  Holland  eight  years  afterwards. 

In  1826,  British  commerce  with  the 
Malay  Peninsula  and  Sumatra  having 
suffered  much  at  the  hands  of  pirates 
coming  from  the  Malay  state  of  Perak,  and 
especially  from  the  Perak  River,  it  was 
arranged  that  the  Pangkor  and  Sembilan 
Islands  should  be  ceded  to  Great  Britain 
as  abase  for  naval  action  against  the  pirates. 
These  settlements,  somewhat  enlarged, 
are  now  known  as  the  Dindings.  In 
1873-1874.  the  large  Malay  state  of  Perak 
was  brought  into  closer  political  relations 
with  Singapore  Government,  and  agreed  to 
accept  a  British  resident.  The  official 
appointed  to  this  post,  Mr.  J.  W.  Birch, 
was,  however,  murdered,  with 
^  *,  '^^        the    connivance    of    the    Malay 

Sultan  u  •  o    -         A  i- 

„  ...  sultan,  m  1875.  A  punitive  ex- 
pedition,  composed  01  British 
and  Indian  soldiers  under  General  Sir 
Francis  Colborne,  divided  into  two  columns 
and  crossed  Perak  in  several  directions, 
defeating  the  native  forces  in  four  or  five 
stii^  engagements,  warfare  in  this  land  of 
dense  forest  being  peculiarly  difficult. 
Perak  was  in  the  end  thoroughly  subdued, 
and,  in  1877,  the  sultan,  who  was  accessory 

5504 


to  Birch's  murder,  was  banished  to  the 
Seychelles  Islands,  another  sultan  being 
recognised  in  his  stead.  This  effective 
piece  of  fighting  sufficed  for  the  assertion  of 
the  Pax  Britannica  on  the  Malay  Peninsula. 

The  East  India  Company  began  to  trade 
with  the  north  of  Borneo  in  1609.  At  the 
end  of  that  century  they  had  transferred 
their  attention  to  the  south  side  of  the 
island,  whence  they  were  driven  away  by 
the  Dutch.  In  1762-1775,  the  East  India 
Company  obtained  a  concession  of 'the 
island  of  Battambang  from  the  sultan 
of  Sulu,  together  with  Labuan  and  the 
territory  which  is  now  known  as  British 
North  Borneo.  A  treaty  was  also  entered 
into  with  the  sultan  of  Brunei.  But  the 
people  as  a  whole  did  not  welcome  the 
British,  as  the  presence  of  Europeans  inter- 
fered with  their  wide-spread  piratical 
operations.  The  British  were  attacked  and 
their  posts  demolished.  The  Dutch  also 
were  driven  away. 

The  establishment  of  Singapore,  how- 
ever, in  i8ig,  once  more  drew  attention  to 
the  northern  regions  of  Borneo.  Trade 
was  opened  up  with  the  sultanate  of 
Brunei,  which  then  included  nearly  all  the 
_  northern    regions    of    Borneo, 

Commerce  -  "-^ 


Hampered 


except  the  extreme  north-east. 


t    p-  Unfortunately,  all    this  region 

was,  on  its  coast  line,  the  seat 
of  a  vast  piratical  organisation,  in  which 
not  only  Malays,  natives  of  Borneo  (Sea 
Dyaks),  and  Chinese  were  engaged,  but 
also  Arabs.  These  pirates  preyed  on  the 
extensive  commerce  which  passed  through 
the  China  Sea.  They  were  becoming  a  public 
nuisance,  and  even  a  danger  to  European 
trade  with  China.  This  was  noted  by  a 
retired  official  of  the  East  India  Company, 
James  Brooke,  who,  wounded  in  the  war 
with  Burma,  was  travelling  to  China  for  his 
health.  Brooke  visited  parts  of  Borneo  and 
the  Malay  Archipelago,  and  regretted  that 
such  rich  regions  should  be  infested  by 
these  pirates,  many  of  whom  took  to 
piracy  because  they  had  nothing  else  to  do. 
Having  inherited  his  father's  property, 
Brooke  resolved  to  fit  out  an  expedition  of 
his  own  and  visit  Borneo.  He  reached  the 
present  state  of  Sarawak  in  1839,  ^^^ 
found  the  uncle  of  the  sultan  of  Brunei  at 
war  with  a  rebellious  officer  turned  pirate. 
Brooke's  intervention  gave  victory  to  the 
Brunei  Government,  and  for  this  service 
the  title  of  Rajah  of  Sarawak  was  con- 
ferred on  him  (1841-42).  For  six  years 
Brooke,  on  land  and  sea,  co-operated  with 


BRITISH    CONQUESTS    IN    THE    EAST 


the  British  naval  forces  under  Captain 
(afterwards  Sir  Harry)  Keppel  in  attacking 
the  Borneo  pirates,  who,  it  was  found,  reaUy 
derived  much  of  their  strength  and  supphes 
from  the  town  and  sultan  of  Brunei. 

Eventually  the  town  of  Brunei  was  bom- 
barded by  a  British  naval  force,  while  the 
sultan's  army  was  routed  by  Brooke.  The 
sultan,  himself  was  restored  to  his  throne 
after  agreeing  to  give  no  more  harbourage 
to  pirates.  At  the  same  time  he  sold  to  the 
British  Government  the  little  island  of 
Labuan  as  a  base  for  naval  operations  in 
those  waters.  Sir  James  Brooke  not  only 
by  degrees  extinguished  piracy  along  the 
north-west  coast  of  Borneo,  but  he  also, 
with  extraordinary  bravery  and  resolution, 
put  down  a  Chinese  mutiny  and  rebellion 
instigated  by  Chinese  pirates  in  1857. 

He  subdued  two  other  risings,  but  since 
his  death,  in  1868,  the  peace  and  stability 
of  North-western  Borneo  have  not  been 
seriously  menaced.  The  British  North 
Borneo  Company,  founded  in  1882  as  a 
government  over  North-eastern  Borneo, 
has  had  to  subdue  several  insurrectionary 
movements,  under  a  leader  named  Mat 
...  Saleh,    between    1901    and 

ri  am  s  iqo6.  British  trade  relations 

Trade  Kelations       -,,      n^  ■         ^  i      • 

.  .  _. .  With  China  began  early  in 

the  seventeenth  century  by 
James  I.  chartering  a  company  for  the 
exclusive  commerce  with  the  regions 
beyond  the  Malay  Peninsula.  But  this 
charter  lapsed,  and  later  on  the  trade 
monopoly  with  China  was  acquired  by  the 
East  India  Company,  whose  commercial 
relations  with  China,  though  very  limited, 
were  not  much  troubled  by  unfriendli- 
ness till  the  advent  to  power  of  the 
warlike  Emperor  Kin-lung.  This  monarch 
strengthened  the  Chinese  hold  over  Tibet, 
and  marched  an  army  of  70,000  men  into 
Nepal  in  1792,  the  Chinese  penetrating  to 
within  sixty  miles  of  the  British  outposts. 
At  the  same  time  the  emperor  allowed  the 
agents  of  the  East  India  Company  to  be 
badly  treated  by  the  viceroy  and  other 
officials  at  Canton.  Consequently,  it 
was  deemed  wise  to  send  a  special  envoy 
to  open  up  diplomatic  relations  with 
China,  and  Lord  Macartney  was  despatched 
with  a  special  mission  to  Peking,  arriving 
there  in  1793.  But  neither  he  nor  his 
successor.  Lord  Amherst,  in  1816,  could 
obtain  any  alleviation  of  the  severe 
disabilities  imposed  on  European  traders. 
In  1834,  the  East  India  Company's 
monopoly  of  the  Chinese  trade  came  to  an 


end,  and  there  was  a  consideral)lc  develoj)- 
ment  of  British  commerce  with  China — on 
the  part  of  British  Indian  subjects,  among 
others — which  necessitated  the  establish- 
ment of  a  superintendent  or  commissioner 
at  Canton  to  watch  over  the  affairs  of  the 
British  merchants,  a  superintendent  who 
became  the  precursor  of  the  present  highly 
-,        .        organised  and  efficient  Consular 

_.!'^*.^  Service.  The  hostility  of  the 
Objection    ^,  •  ,         -r,  ■.■  ,       -^ 

.  -.  .  Ciunese  to  British  commerce 
to  Dpium  111  ,         ■ 

was  largely  due  to  the  im- 
portation of  opium  in  large  quantities  from 
India.  The  Chinese  officials,  especially  in 
the  south  of  China,  were  becoming 
awakened  to  the  serious  effects  of  the  abuse 
of  this  drug  on  Chinese  manhood.  They 
wished  to  prohibit  its  introduction  alto- 
gether. In  other  directions  they  brought 
pressure  to  bear  on  British  traders. 

The  latter,  through  their  superintendent, 
agreed  to  surrender  to  the  Chinese  com- 
missioner of  Customs  at  Canton  20,283 
chests  of  opium,  which  were  forthwith 
destroyed.  They  also  bound  themselves 
to  deal  no  more  in  this  drug.  Apparently, 
however,  the  semi-independent  govern- 
ment of  Canton  gave  no  compensation  for 
this  voluntary  surrender  of  opium,  and 
took  advantage  of  the  superintendent's 
conciliatory  behaviour  to  inflict  further 
disabilities  on  British  trade  and  even 
offer  gratuitous  violence  to  British  ship- 
ping. The  Home  Government  considered 
that  the  British  merchants  had  a  right  to 
import  opium  ;  at  any  rate,  that  the  other 
actions  of  the  Cantonese  officials  were  insup- 
portable. Accordingly  they  sent  a  British 
fleet  to  China  and  a  small  military  force. 

War  was  declared  in  1840.  and  in 
that  year  the  Chusan  Archipelago,  to  the 
south-east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Yang-tse- 
kiang  was  occupied.  In  1841  the  forts 
guarding  the  entrance  to  the  Canton 
River  were  stormed  and  captured,  and 
the  island  of  Hong  Kong  was  seized. 
The  Canton  viceroy  then  agreed  to 
T,.  ^  .  cede  Hong  Kong  and  to  pay 
The  Opium  ^^  indemnity  of  £1,200,000. 
These  terms  were,  however, 
repudiated  by  the  Imperial 
Government  at  Peking.  The  war  there- 
fore continued.  Sir  Hugh  Gough  occu- 
pied Canton.  Amoy,  Ningpo,  Chapu, 
Shanghai,  and  two  other  coast  towns. 
He  was  about  to  take  Nanking  when  the 
Chinese  emperor  sent  commissioners  to 
make  peace.  The  treaty  concluded  by 
Sir  Henry  Pottinger  in  1842  provided  not 

5505 


War 

with  China 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


only  for  the  cession  of  Hong  Kong,  but 
also  for  the  throwing  open  to  foreign  trade 
of  the  ports  of  Amoy,  Fuh-chau-fu, 
Ningpo,  and  Shanghai,  and  the  payment 
of  an  indemnity  of  about  ^^3, 500,000. 
The  original  cause  of  the  war — the  claim 
to  be  able  to  trade  in  opium — ^was  an  in- 
defensible one,  of  which  Britain  has  since 
felt  ashamed  ;  but  the  results 


The  Policy 
that 


of   this     forcible    opening    of 

c  J  ^f  China  to  European  commerce 
Saved  China  ,  ^1  ^     ^       ■>  j.\ 

have,  on  the  whole,  been  the 

salvation  of  that  vast  empire  from  falling 
into  complete  senile  decrepitude.  But 
the  Imperial  Government  at  Peking — 
for  two  centuries  the  curse  of  China — 
did  not  appreciate  the  cruel  kindness  of 
Britain.  It  had  yielded  to  urgent  force  ; 
now  it  wished  to  have  as  little  as  pos- 
sible to  do  wi  h  the  red-haired  barbarians 
and  their  Indian  subjects.  Russia  was  a 
different  matter;  the  frontiers  of  Russia 
began  westwards  and  northwards  where 
those  of  China  left  off.  Russia,  therefore, 
was  entitled  to  have  a  diplomatic  repre- 
sentative at  Peking.  As  to  France  and 
England,  they  were  small  nations  of  sea- 
pirates  unworthy  of  a  place  at  the  court 
of  the  emperor.  Russia,  no  doubt,  in 
revenge  for  the  Crimean  War,  encouraged 
this  attitude  of  disdain. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  great  revolt  had 
taken  place  in  Central  China,  which  was 
eventually  headed  by  Hung-Siu-tsewen, 
who  proclaimed  himself  as  Tin  Wang, 
first  emperor  of  the  Tai-ping  dynasty. 
This  was  r.n  uprising  which,  one  would 
have  thought,  might  have  appealed  to  all 
the  generous  instincts  of  Britain  as  the 
champion  of  liberty  and  reform.  The 
recent  Chinese  emperors  had  been  so 
shockingly  licentious  that  their  moral 
depravity  had  affected  the  tone  of  public 
morality.  The  Tai-ping  revolt  was  greatly 
a  protest  at  the  iniquities  of  the  imperial 
court.  Then,  too,  Hung-Siu-tsewen  was 
a  Christian,  to  all  intents  and  purposes. 
The  behaviour  of  himself  and 
his  followers  was  admirable. 
His  liberal-minded  measures 
vastly  encouraged  foreign  com- 
merce at  Nanking  and  Su-chau.  Above 
all,  the  movement  was  a  Chinese  one,  and 
might  have  led  to  the  re-establishment 
of  a  national  Chinese  dynasty  in  the  place 
of  the  Manchu  Tartars,  whose  rule  has, 
latterly,  at  any  rate,  done  so  much 
to  arrest  the  growth  of  Chinese  intellectual 
development  and  friendly,  mutually-pro- 
5506 


Revolt 
in  Central 
China 


Britain  and 
France  as  Allies 
in  China 


fitable  intercourse  with  foreign  nations. 
Yet  Britain,  after  coquetting  with  the 
Tai-ping  revolt,  proceeded  to  lend  officers 
— Charles  Geort,e  Gordon  from  the  Royal 
Engineers,  first  and  foremost — and  support 
for  its  suppression,  and  the  renewed  fixing 
on  the  necks  of  the  Chinese  people  of  that 
Manchu  yoke  from  which  the  more  intel- 
ligent were  trjdng  to  free  themselves. 

In  1856,  the  Chinese  viceroy  or  com- 
missioner at  Canton  seized,  on  an  accusa- 
tion of  piracy,  a  sloop  or  "  lorcha  "  from 
Macao  whose  captain  was  a  British  sub- 
ject. It  is  very  probable  that  the  Arrow, 
as  this  vessel  was  called,  was  up  to  no  good, 
but  the  Chinese  commissioner,  Yeh,  seems 
to  have  been  technically  in  the  wrong. 
Sir  John  Bowring  was  then  administering 
the  government  of  Hong  Kong  and  in 
charge  of  British  interests  in  China.  He 
decided  to  deal  energetically  with  the 
incident  of  the  Arrow,  and  requested 
the  British  admiral  on  the  station  to  bom- 
bard Canton.  This  took  place  in  1857. 
Lord  Elgin  was  despatched  to  China  with 
a  strong  force  to  act  as  British  plenipo- 
tentiary. He  was  diverted 
from  his  immediate  object 
by  the  outbreak  of  the 
mutinyinlndia.  The  troops 
he  brought  with  him  proved  a  most  welcome 
reinforcement  to  the  British  in  Bengal. 
Lord  Elgin,  however,  reached  Canton 
towards  the  close  of  1857,  and  succeeded 
in  capturing  the  commissioner  or  viceroy, 
Yeh,  whom  he  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  Cal- 
cutta, where  he  eventually  died.  In  1858, 
France  joined  Great  Britain  in  demanding 
redress  from  China  for  injuries  suffered 
by  French  subjects  and  in  requiring  that 
a  French  representative  should  be  accepted 
at  Peking.  At  the  close  of  1858  the  Treaty 
of  Tientsin  was  negotiated.  This  treaty 
was  to  have  been  ratified  by  the  empe:or 
early  in  1859  ;  but  when,  in  June  of  that 
year,  the  British  and  French  representa- 
tives attempted  to  proceed  to  Peking  under 
a  strong  escort,  their  expedition  was 
stopped  before  it  could  land,  and  the 
British  lost  three  gunboats  and  400  men 
in  the  action  which  followed  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Peiho. 

Lord  Elgin  and  Baron  Gros  returned  in 
i860,  and  at  the  head  of  a  very  strong 
force  occupied  Peking.  Here  the  cele- 
brated summer  palace  was  destroyed  by 
Lord  Elgin's  orders,  an  action  which  has 
been  deplored  as  an  offence  against  the 
canons    of    art.     Lord    Elgin,     however^ 


BRITISH    CONQUESTS    IN    THE    EAST 


could  think  of  no  other  means  of  abasing 
Chinese  imperturbabiUty,  which  was  pro- 
longing the  negotiations,  and,  which  was 
more  serious,  the  sufferings  of  the  English 
prisoners  who  had  been  treacherously 
seized  by  the  Chinese  in  very  bad  faith. 

The  Treaty  of  Tientsin,  however,  was 
ratified  in  i860,  and  from  1861  onwards 
Great  Britain,  France  and  other  European 
Powers,  besides  Russia,  have  been  repre- 
sented at  Peking  by  diplomatic  Ministers. 
The  third  occasion  on  which  we  have 
found  ourselves  at  war  with  China  was  in 
the  last  year  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  war  between  China  and  Japan, 
concluded  in  the  spring  of  1895,  had 
exposed  the  seeming  helplessness  of  China. 

After  intervening  to  modify  the  terms 
of  the  Treaty  of  Shimonoseki  in  favour 
of  China,  Russia,  France  and  Germany 
began  to  ask  for  concessions,  leases,  or 
admissions  of  spheres  of  influence  ;  and 
Great  Britain,  not  liking  to  be  left  in  the 
cold,  required  her  share.  Out  of  this 
Chinese  scramble  we  came  successfully, 
with  considerable  additions  to  the  pros- 
perous little  colony  of  Hong  Kong,  and 
the  leasehold  of  Wei-hai-wei. 
In   fact,    the    course    of    events 


China's 
Spirit 


.  .    between    1895    and     1900    was 

thoroughly  Chinese  in  its  con- 
trariety. We  and  the  other  land-hungry 
European  Powers  had  our  annexations 
first  and  our  war  afterwards.  The  national 
spirit  of  China  was  aroused,  at  any  rate 
in  the  foreigner-hating  Manchus  of  the 
north,  and  early  in  1900  it  broke  out  in 
the  renewed  murder  of  missionaries  and 
native  Christians,  and  finally  in  orders  to 
the  foreign  representatives  at  Peking  to 
leave  the  country. 

Not  wishing  to  trust  themselves  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  Boxers,  as  the 
unofficial  allies  of  the  reactionary  party 
were  called,  the  foreign  legations  prepared 
to  stand  a  siege  in  their  "  town-within-a- 
town"  in  Peking.  The  British,  Japanese, 
Russian,  American,  and  French  authorities 
from  their  various  Asiatic  possessions 
despatched  an  urgency  relief  expedition, 
the  British  section  of  which  was  com- 
manded by  Sir  Alfred  Gaselee. 

Peking  was  entered  first  by  the  British. 
It  was  found  that  of  the  500  civilian, 
naval  and  military  defenders  of  the 
different  legations,  65  had  been  killed,  and 
131  were  more  or  less  severel3'  wounded. 
When  this  trouble  was  over,  the  20,000 
German    troops    arrived    under  the  com- 


mand of  Field-Marshal  von  Waldersee, 
but  the  British  Government  discounten- 
anced any  unnecessary  coercion  of  China. 

The  acquisition  of  California,  by  the 
United  States  in  1848,  led  that  branch  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  power  to  desire  com- 
mercial expansion  across  the  Pacific.  In 
1853-1855  a  naval  expedition  under  Com- 
Thc  Open  "bander  Perry  was  sent  to  J  apan 
Pqjj^  to  force  that  country  to  enter 

in  Japan  ^"^^  commercial  and  political 
relations  with  the  United  States. 
After  some  display  of  force  Commander 
Perry  succeeded  in  his  famous  mission — one 
of  the  turning  points  in  world-history.  In 
the  year  1858  advantage  was  taken  of 
Lord  Elgin's  presence  in  the  Far  East  for 
.  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  between  the 
British  and  the  shogunate  of  Japan — 
ratified  by  the  mikado  in  1864 — which 
obtained  for  Great  Britain  the  same 
(limited)  privileges  as  those  granted  to 
the  United  States. 

But  these  concessions  were  detested  by 
the  military  caste  of  the  Samurai,  by  many 
of  the  Japanese  nobihty,  and  by  the 
mikado  himself  when  he  came  to  hear  of 
them.  Indiscreet  behaviour  on  the  part 
of  British  traders  provoked  one  or  two 
outrages  with  loss  of  life.  Finally,  in 
1863,  a  British  naval  force,  under  Admiral 
Kuper,  appeared  before  Kagoshima  and 
demanded  redress  for  grievances  from 
the  shogun.  Failing  to  receive  this, 
Admiral  Kuper  reduced  Kagoshima  to 
ashes  and  destroyed  three  war  steamers 
of  the  Japanese.  This  action  brought  to 
reason  the  Satsuma  chieftains  ;  but  there 
was  another  potentate  acting  indepen- 
dently— what  time  the  titular  Emperor  of 
Japan  lived  sequestered  in  his  huge  harem 
at  Kioto — and  firing  indiscriminately 
on  foreign  shipping  passing  through  the 
straits  of  Shimonoseki.  This  was  the 
Daimiyo,  or  Lord  of  Cho-shu  or  Nagato. 
After  a  preliminary  chastisement  at  the 
hands  of  the  United  States,  France  and 
.  Holland,  he,  as  he  still  declined 

oreign         ^^   allow    foreign    shipping    to 
Intercourse         .        . ,       t    1       j  o  /  t 

...   ,  enter  the  Inland  Sea  of  J  apan, 

with  Japan  ^ ^      1     j     i  ■    j. 

was   attacked    by  an  mterna- 

tional  squadron  under  the  command  of 
Admiral  Sir  Augustus  Kuper  in  September 
-October,  1864,  and  utterly  defeated  on 
land  as  well  as  on  the  sea.  The  shogun's 
government  agreed  to  pay  an  indemnity 
of  about  £700,000,  and  from  that  time 
onwards  no  serious  hindrance  was  put  in 
the  way  of  foreign  intercourse  with  Japan. 

5507 


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5508 


THE 

BRITISH 

EMPIRE 

VH 


BY  SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON, 

G.C.M.G. 


BRITAIN'S   CONTESTS    IN    AFRICA 
AND    THE    PACIFIC 

THE    LONG    SERIES    OF   VICTORIES   IN 
THE    PROGESS    OF     EMPIRE-BUILDING 


"VY7ARS  of  the  empire  undertaken  against 

^^      the   natives  of    Africa,  apart    from 

conflicts  in  which  we  were  really  fighting 

European  nations,    may   be  said^  to  have 

begun  with  Admiral  Blake's  chastisement 

of  the  Tunisian  sea  rovers  of  Goletta  and 

Porto  Farinain  1656.   In  those  days, Tunisia 

was    a    kind    of    dependency    of    Turkey. 

having  been  recovered  from  the  possession 

of  Spain  by  Turkish  and  renegade  Moslem 

adventurers    in    the    employ    of    Turkey 

during    the    last    half    of    the    sixteenth 

century.     Blake     had     also     threatened 

Algiers  and  Tripoli  and  the  SalU  rovers  of 

Morocco.      The  occupation  of  Tangier,  in 

succession  to  the  Portuguese  entailed  such 

constant  fighting  with  the  Moors  that  the 

new  possession'  was  deemed  unprofitable, 

and    was    surrendered    to    Mulai    Ismail, 

sharifian  sultan  of  Morocco,  in  1684.     The 

effective     punishment     of     the     piratical 

Algerine  state  by  Lord  Exmouth  and  the 

Dutch,  in  1816,  has  already  been  described. 

In  1808,  the  British  Government,  having 

thoroughly  awakened  to  the  importance  of 

Egypt  as  a  half-way  house  to  India,  and 

having  regretted  the  easy  terms  which  had 

allowed  the  French  to  withdraw,   and  a 

more  or  less  Turkish  Government  to  take 

their  place,  attempted,  on  a  rather  feeble 

l)retext,  to  land  in  Egypt,  with  the  obvious 

intention    of    never    withdrawing.       But 

„  ..  .    .  their  landing  was  opposed  by 

Britain  in  ,,  ,.  ?  ^^  ,, -^ 

o     »i-  *    -.k   tbe  self-made   governor,   Mo- 
Conflict  with    ,  J     AT        -4.1  1         •   •. 

.     J.  hammed  An,  with  such  spirit 

egro  that  the  attempt  was  baulked 
and  not  renewed  till  seventy-four  years 
later.  We  first  came  into  serious  conflict 
with  the  negro  over  South  African 
questions.  Petty  skirmishes  no  doubt  had 
occurred  between  the  soldiers  in  the 
employ  of  the  Royal  African  Chartered 
Company  and  the.  natives  of  the  Gold 
Coast.     Some   show  of    force  also  had  to 


accompany  the  definite  establishment  of 
the  Sierra-  Leone  settlements,  while  prior 
to  the-  annexation  of  Sierra  Leone  +he 
British  Chartered  Company,  which  was  to 
found  a  West  African  Utopia  for  freed 
slaves,  had  engaged  in  a  good  deal  of 
fighting  with  the  turbulent  natives  of 
Bolama  (Portuguese  Guinea),  who  did  not 
Th    F*  ^^  ^^^  ^relish   having   an   anti- 

of  th  slave-trade  colony  founded  on 

Kaffir  Wars  *^^^'^^'  ^^'^  front.  But  the  first 
Imperial  war  with  the  black 
man  was  undertaken  in  1809  and  1811-1812 
when,  in  order  to  defend  the  rigiits,  or,  at 
any  rate,  the  claims,  of  the  Dutch  colonists, 
20,000  Kaffirs  were  driven  b}/  British 
soldiers  away  from  the  "  Zuurveld,"  and 
across  the  Great  Fish  River  to  its  eastern 
banks.  This  was  .  the  first  in  the  long 
series  of  Kaffir  wars  which  was  to  culmi- 
nate in  the  capture  of  Ulundi  in  1880, 
and  of  Buluwayo  in  1893. 

In  1818-9,  the  second  Kaffir  War  broke 
out.  It  originated  in  an  internecine  feud 
between  two  .rival  Kosa  Kaffir  chiefs, 
Gaika  and  Ndlambe.  [Kosa  is  written  by 
some  South  African  authorities  Xosa,  the 
-"X"  expressing  a  side  click.  Another 
Kaffir  name  is  often  written  Gcaleka,  the 
"  c  "  expressing  another  click.  Likewise,  the 
"  C  "  in  Cetewayo  (Ketshwayo)  is  a  click. 
The  present  writer  prefers  to  render  all 
these  w:ords  with  the  gutturals,  K,  G,  or 
O].  For  some  reason  the  Cape  Governm.ent 
sent  soldiers  to  enforce  the  claims  of  the 
defeated  rival,  Gaika.  The  British  force 
crossed  the  Great  Fish  River,  and  then,  in 
revenge,  the  Kosa  warriors  under  Ndlambe 
entered  the  colony  and  besieged  Grahams- 
town.  The  Kaffirs  were,  of  course,  defeated, 
and  their  frontier  was  j)ushed  farther  to 
the  east,  to  the  Keiskamma  River.  The 
land  in  between  the  two  rivers  was  to 
be    regarded    as    neutral  ground,  though 

5509 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


actually  belonging  to  the  British  Crown. 
The  Keiskamma,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
had  been  the  original  boundary  between 
Kaffir  and  Hottentot. 

In  course  of  time  certain  Kaffir  chiefs 
were  permitted  to  settle  on  this  neutral 
territory  ;  then  they  were  ordered  to  move 
off  again.  For  this  reason,  or  more  pro- 
bably  because  the  Kaffirs 
*  .""*  thought  they  could  drive  the 
^  .    white  man  away  altogether  by 

^'~^^  attacking  in  force,  12,000  of 
them  crossed  the  eastern  frontier  of  the 
colony  in  December,  1834,  ^^^  ^or  a  fort- 
night carried  all  before  them,  killing  the 
white  colonists,  burning  and  destroying 
their  homesteads  and  farms,  and  turning  the 
district  between  Somerset  East  and  Algoa 
Bay  into  a  desert.  The  raid  had  from  the 
white  settlers'  point  of  view  been  abso- 
lutely unprovoked,  and  there  were  loud 
cries  for  vengeance  from  Boer,  German, 
and  British  colonists  alike,  nor  did  the 
missionaries  attempt  to  defend  the  action 
of  the  invading  Kaf&rs.  Colonel  Smith, 
afterwards  to  be  known  as  Sir  Harry 
Smith,  drove  the  Kaffirs  back  beyond  the 
Keiskamma,  and  then  beyond  the  Kei 
River.      This  was  the  third  Kaffir  War. 

The  Kosa  Kaffirs  then  sued  for  peace. 
Their  new  frontier  was  drawn  at  the  Kei 
River,  and  the  land  between  the  Kei  and 
the  Keiskamma  was  created  a  new  pro- 
vince of  the  colony,  and  named  after 
Queen  Adelaide.  But  within  this  new 
province  all  the  Kaffirs  who  had  taken  no 
part  in  the  raid  were  allowed  to  remain, 
and,  in  addition,  grants  of  land  were  given 
to  the  Fingo  tribe,  who  had  been  enslaved 
and  ill-treated  by  the  Kosa. 

But  this  settlement,  approved  alike  by 
the  European  settlers  and  the  missionaries, 
was  set  aside  by  the  Colonial  Secretary 
in  England,  Lord  Glenelg,  and  Queen 
Adelaide  province  was  restored  to  the 
Kosa  Kaffirs,  while  Sir  Benjamin  D'Urban, 
the  governor,  was  recalled.  This  unwise 
action  laid  the  seeds  of  much 
future  mischief.     It   was  one  of 


Trouble 
with  the 
Kalfirs 


the  causes  which  sent  the  best 
of  the  Dutch  farmers  out  into 
the  wilderness  to  carve  out  homes  with 
their  right  hands  and  their  guns— rifles  had 
not  come  into  general  use — independent 
of  the  vicissitudes  of  a  dual  government 
wherein  the  man  on  the  spot  might  have 
his  policy  reversed  heedlessly  by  the  man 
at  home.  The  Kosa  Kaffirs  were  not 
satisfied,  and  the  Fingoes  found  themselves 

5510 


handed  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
Kosas.  In  1846-1847,  war— the  fourth 
Kaffir  War — broke  out  again,  provoked  by 
the  Kaffirs  themselves.  At  its  close  the 
former  province  of  Queen  Adelaide  was 
reconstituted  under  the  name  of  British 
Kaffraria.  In  1850  began  the  fifth  Kaffir 
War,  chiefly  with  the  Gaika  clan  of  the 
Kosa  Kaffirs  living  in  the  Amatola 
Mountains.  It  extended  far  and  wide  over 
the  eastern  border  districts  of  Cape  Colony, 
and  was  marked  by  not  a  few  disasters. 

One  of  these  was  not  directly  con- 
nected with  the  Kaffirs,  though  it  added 
to  the  general  uneasiness  and  dislike  with 
which  the  war  was  regarded  at  home. 
The  troopship  Birkenhead  foundered  in  a 
gale  off  Simon's  Bay,  and  sank  with  400 
soldiers  and  many  seamen  on  board.  By 
1853,  General  Cathcart  had  captured  all 
the  Gaika  strongholds  in  the  Amatola 
Mountains,  and  had  deported  the  Kosa 
Kaffirs  from  that  district,  which  was  after 
wards  settled  by  Hottentot  half-breeds, 
and  became  known  as  Grikwaland  East. 
In  1856  a  terrible  delusion  seized  on  the 
Kosa  Kaffirs  through  the  crazy  teaching  of 
K-       ir  tf      9-  "  wizard  "  who  had  received 

1^71/1  a  smattering  of  Christian 
Deluded  by       ,         ,  •  ,  •     •  1  -     i 

"W      d"  "teachmg  at  a  mission  school. 

He  predicted  the  coming  of  a 
millennium,  in  which  the  Kaffirs  would  be 
reinforced  by  their  dead  chiefs  returning 
to  earth  with  many  followers,  and  further 
assisted  by  the  Russian  soldiers  of  the 
Crimean  War.  But  to  secure  this  millen- 
nium, the  existing  cattle  and  crops  must 
first  be  destroyed.  This  teaching  led  to  a 
terrible  famine,  for  the  deluded  Kosa 
Kaffirs  slew  their  cattle  and  cut  down  their 
crops  of  growing  mealies.  The  unhappy 
people  were  obliged  to  emigrate  to  the 
extent  of  nearly  100,000,  some  25,000 
dying  of  starvation.  The  restless  move- 
ments of  these  desperate  men  among 
more  settled  tribes  brought  on  the  sixth 
Kaffir  War,  in  1858.  After  the.  war, 
large  numbers  of  Fingo  Kaffirs  settled 
in  British  Kaffraria,  and  some  of  the 
Kosas  returned  thither  or  found  a  home 
in  the  adjoining  new  Transkei  province. 
Others  migrated  into  Pondoland. 

In  1851  and  1852  there  were  fights  with 
the  Basuto  (Viervoet  and  Berea),  the  first 
of  which  was  a  defeat  for  the  British,  the 
second  a  drawn  battle.  In  the  last  instance 
General  Cathcart,  after  conquering  the 
Kosa  Kaffirs,  had  attempted  to  seize  Thaba 
Bosigo    in   order   to    compel    the  Basuto 


THE  FOUNDERING  OF  THE  BRITISH  TROOPSHIP  BIRKENHEAD  ON  FEBRUARY  26th,  18554 
The  disaster  Ulustrated  in  the  above  picture  occurred  during  a  gale  off  Simon's  Bay,  South  Africa,  and  will  ever  be 
memorable  for  the  heroism  exhibited  in  the  face  of  death.  On  board  the  ill-fated  steamship  were  nearly  oOO  ofhcers  and 
men,  who  stood  calmly  awaiting  their  fate  while  the  women  and  children  were  saved.  The  then  Kmg  ot  i'russia  causea 
the  splendid  story  of  iron  discipline  and  perfect  4uty  to  be  read  aloud  at  the  head  of  every  regiment  in  his  kingdom. 

From  Ihc  paiiUi[ig  by  C.  Napier  Heiiiy,  by  permission  of  Messrs.  Henry  Graves  &  Co. 

55" 


HARMS  WORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


king,  Moshesh,  to  come  to  terms,  the 
Basuto  having  been  attacking  the  Griqua 
Hottentots  and  Boer  trekkers.  The 
issue  was  not  a  defeat  to  the  Basuto,  but 
Moshesh  wisely  came  in  and  agreed  to  a 
peace  which  has  never  since  been  broken, 
so  far  as  the  Imperial  Government  is  con- 
cerned, though  the  Ba£>ito  had  somewhat 

T'L  c  *!.  serious  conflicts  with  the 
The  Seventh    ^  /^    i       •    i  /^  j_    • 

.  ,  Cape  Colonial  Government  m 

Kaffir  War  1879-I880,  conflicts  which 
were  eventually  solved  by 
their  coming  under  direct  Imperial  control. 
In  1877-187(8  occurred  the  seventh  and 
last  Kaffir  War.  After  the  terrible  famine 
and  migration  of  1856-1857,  a  portion  of  the 
Galeka  clan  of  the  Kosa  Kaffirs,  under  the 
celebrated  chief  Kreli,  or  Kareli,  the  son  of 
Hintsa,  who  had  surrendered  to  the 
British  after  the  Kaffir  raid  of  1834,  had 
been  allowed,  in  1865,  to  settle  on  the  coast 
of  British  Kaffraria  with  the  Fingoes  and 
other  Kaffir  tribes  behind  them.  They 
increased  and  multiplied,  and  in  1877  they 
turned  round  and  fought  the  Fingoes.  The 
British  Government  intervened,  and  the 
chief  Kreli  was  deposed.  Fighting  spread 
into  the  colony,  and  was  joined  in  by  the 
Gaika  clan  under  chief  Sandile.  This  war 
was  brought  to  a  close  in  1878  by  the  death 
of  Sandile  and  the  flight  of  the  aged  Kreli. 
The  impartial  historian  of  South  Africa 
must  admit  that  though  many  good 
qualities  are  inherent  in  the  Boer  people, 
a  scrupulous  consideration  for  the  ante- 
cedent rights  of  the  negroes  is  not  to  be 
attributed  to  them.  In  their  eyes  the 
natives  had  no  rights,  though,  at  the  same 
time,  they  were  not  harsh  if  Hottentot  or 
Basuto,  Bechuana  or  Zulu  were  willing 
to  serve  for  board,  lodging,  and  occasional 
blankets  and  Cape  brandy.  But  wherever 
the  Boer  ruled  he  carried  on  a  native  policy, 
as  regards  land  and  products,  so  like  that 
of  King  Leopold  on  the  Congo  as  to  make 
one  think  that  in  this  respect  the  king  of 
the  Belgians  may   really  have    borrowed 

„         ,  his  native  policy  from  Dutch 

Boers  Leave  .        i-,-  c    "  r,  ,, 

_  .  .  .  traditions.      Soon    after    the 

^      .  discontented  Boers  left  British 

territory,  because  the  British 
Government  would  not  evict  native  tribes 
legitimately  settled  on  the  soil  in  favour 
of  incoming  white  men.  The  pioneers 
of  the  Orange  River  territory  and  the 
founders  of  the  Transvaal  State  fell  out 
with  the  warlike  Basuto,  the  southern- 
most tribe  of  the  wide-spread  Bechuana 
stock.     The  British  forces  had  repeatedly 

5512 


to  intervene,  either  to  save  the  trekking 
Boers  from  extermination  by  the  enraged 
Basuto,  or  later  to  save  the  Basuto  from 
being  wiped  out  by  the  land-hungry  Boers. 

Between  1836  and  1840  the  emigrant 
Boers,  whom  Lord  Glenelg's  foolish  policy 
— among  other  causes — had  driven  out  of 
the  eastern  parts  of  Cape  Colony,  had 
brushed  aside  the  'Northern  Basuto,  de- 
feated the  Matabele  hordes  of  the  southern 
Transvaal,  and  broken  the  Zulu  power  in 
Natal.  As  regards  Matabele  and  Zulu,  im- 
partial history  will  probably  say  that  they 
got  no  worse  than  they  deserved.  They 
were  treacherous,  cruel,  devastating,  and 
not  much  earlier  comers  in  the  Bechuana 
countries  than  the  Boers  themselves.  As  to 
the  Swazi,  a  northern  section  of  the  Zulu- 
Kaffir  group,  they  were  partially  protected 
by  the  Transvaal  Boers  from  Zulu  cruelty. 

But  in  regard  to  Sekukuni,  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Transvaal  behaved  badly. 
Sekukuni  ruled  over  a  section  of  the 
North-eastern  Bechuana  in  the  country 
just  south  of  the  Upper  Limpopo.  The 
Transvaal  Boers  from  the  early  part  of  the 
sixties  were  constantly  seizing  Sekukuni's 
A  Blot  on  ^^"^  ^^  people,  and  ignoring 
c     ^1.  AT  •        his  rights.     This  chief  estab- 

bouth  African  ^•   -,      F     ^  ■  ^c        J.  1 

„.  Jished    himself    strongly    m 

the  Zoutspanberg  Mountains, 
and  after  1870  the  Boer  Government  of 
Pretoria  launched  against  this  unhappy 
people  bands  of  conscienceless  adven- 
turers ;  one  of  the  cruellest  of  these  was 
an  ex-Prussian  officer,  Von  Schlickmann, 
whose  atrocities  were  a  disgrace  to  the 
Boer  name  and  will  be  a  permanent  blot 
on  the  history  of  South  Africa.  But 
Sekukuni  held  out  so  stoutly  that  he  wore 
out  the  energies  of  the  Transvaal  State. 
As  the  Boer  dealings  with  the  Swazis  had 
drawn  down  on  them  the  animosity  of 
the  Zulus,  it  was  feared  by  the  Imperial 
Government  that  the  mishandling  of  native 
affairs  in  the  Transvaal  might  set  going  a 
vast  negro  revolt  against  the  white  man.  So 
Sir  Theophilus  Shepstone  was  despatched 
with  a  few  military  officers  and  twenty-five 
mounted  police  to  investigate.  He  took 
the  bold  step  of  annexing  the  Transvaal. 

The  British  had  taken  no  great  share  in 
the  fighting  against  the  Zulu  monarchy 
which  had  won  Natal  for  the  white  man's 
rule.  The  Transvaal  Boers  had  done  that 
and  had  also  installed  Panda  as  king  of 
the  Zulus  in  place  of  the  bloodthirsty 
Dingane.  In  1873  the  British  Government 
had  been  represented  at  the  installation 


CONTESTS    IN    AFRICA    AND    THE    PACIFIC 


of  Cetewayo  as  successor  to  Panda.  The 
limit  of  the  recognised  Zulu  kingdom 
then,  on  the  west,  was  the  Tugela  River. 
Of  course,  the  colony  of  Natal  contained 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  Zulu-speaking 
natives,  but  these,  for  the  most  part,  had 
been  long  dissociated  from  Zulu  rule. 

In  the  North-west  of  Natal,  however, 
there  was  the  Hlubi  clan,  originally 
refugees  from  Zulu  and  Basuto  lands. 
These  people,  under  their  chief,  Langali- 
balele,  began  to  show  themselves  turbulent 
in  1873,  and  had  to  be  brought  to  order 
by  the  despatch  of  a  small  military  force. 
The  operations  against  the  Gaika  and 
Galeka  clans  of  the  Kosa  Kaffirs  in  1877- 
78  sent  a  thrill  of  racial  sympathy  and 
disturbance  through  Natal  and  Zululand, 
and  probably  decided  the  ill-informed 
king  of  the  Zulus  to  make  a  determined 
fight  for  Kafifir  independence  and  dominion 
before  the  white  man  grew  too  strong.'  It 
must  be  remembered  that  there  is  very 
little  linguistic  difference  between  Kaffirs 
and  Zulus.  Kaffir  is  an  entirely  artificial  ■ 
name.  It  is  simply  an  Arab  term  meaning 
"unbeliever,"  which  was  applied  to  the 

...  .  pagan  Bantu  along  the  South- 
p"  '^  .  east  African  coast  by  the  Arabs, 
2  J  ,  .  and  by  them  transmitted  to  the 
Portuguese,  Dutch  and  English. 
Sir  Bartle  Frere  saw  the  coming  danger 
to  Natal,  and  resolved  to  forestall  it  by 
calling  on  Cetewayo  to  disarm,  after 
giving  him  full  satisfaction  in  regard  to 
territories  in  dispute  between  the  Zulus 
and  the  former  Republic  of  the  Transvaal. 

No  answer  was  received  to  the  ulti- 
matum. On  January  22nd,  1879,  the 
British  troops  under  Lord  Chelmsford 
entered  Zululand.  The  opening  of  the 
campaign  was  marked  by  two  striking 
incidents.  The  capture  of  the  British 
camp  at  Isandlhwana,  the  "  Hill  of  the 
Little  Hand,"  with  a  loss  to  the  British 
of  800  white  and  500  negro  soldiers  ;  and 
the  defence  of  Rorke's  Drift,  on  the  Buffalo 
River,  under  Lieutenants  Chard  and 
Bromhead,  and  120  British  and  Colonials 
against  4,000  Zuhis,  flushed  with  the 
victory  of  Isandlhwana.  Another  episode  . 
of  this  war,  which  has  raised  it  in  the 
interest  of  world-history  far  above 
other  Kaffir  wars,  was  the  death  of  the 
Prince  Imperial  on  a  reconnoitring  expe- 
dition. This  sad  event  materially  altered 
the  course  of  modern  French  history. 
Zululand  was  conquered  finally  by 
August,  1879,  in  the  battles  of  Gingihlovo, 


In  Contact 
with  the 
Matabele 


2B 


*7 


Kambula,  and  Ulundi  ;  and  the  king, 
Cetewayo,  was  captured  and  sent  into 
temporary  retirement.  Sekukuni,  of  the 
Northern  Transvaal,  was  then  tackled  and 
finally  disposed  of,  while  the  Swazis  were 
also  brought  under  control.  Between 
1879  3-i^d  1893  there  was  peace,  except 
mere  police  operations,  between  the 
British  and  the  natives  of 
South  Africa.  All  our  atten- 
tion was  concentrated  on  a 
struggle  for  supremacy  with 
the  Dutch-speaking  section  of  the  white 
community.  A  British  advance  towards 
the  Zambesi  began  in  1887-1888,  a 
movement  which  brought  us  into  contact 
with  the  Matabele  power. 

The  Matabele  were  a  section  of  the  Zulus 
whom  internecine  quarrels  had  driven  from 
Zululand  and  Natal  into  the  Southern 
Transvaal.  From  this  territory,  where  they 
had  supplanted  the  Bechuana  stock  of  the 
Bantu,  the  Matabele  were  driven  by  the 
Boers  beyond  the  Limpopo.  The  Matabele 
in  their  turn,  from  1840  onwards,  became  a 
predatory  people,  and  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  lands  between  the  Limpopo 
and  the  Zambesi.  They  enslaved  more  or 
less  the  pre-existing  Makaranga,  Mashona 
and  kindred  tribes  of  Nyanza  stock,  and 
were  a  sore  affliction  to  the  more  peaceable 
Bechuana  on  their  western  ftank. 

Cecil  Rhodes  and  his  pioneers,  however, 
had  to  deal  with  the  Matabele  as  the 
effective  masters  of  the  country  between 
the  Kalahari  Desert  and  the  Eastern 
Portuguese  dominions.  Various  far-reach- 
ing concessions  were  purchased  from  the 
greedy  Matabele  king,  Lobengula,  who  was 
not  very  particular  as  to  what  he  sold, 
because  in  his  own  mind  he  had  determined 
exactly  what  the  white  men  should  do  and 
what  he  would  withhold  from  their  scope. 
But  in  Dr.  Jameson  he  had  a  masterful 
person  to  deal  with.  Jameson  had  accu- 
rately gauged  the  Matabele  strength,  and, 
in  a  short  but  very  brilliant  campaign,  con- 
ducted by  himself  and  Major 
Forbes,  and  by  Colonel  Goold 
Adams — on  behalf  of  the 
Imperial  Government — Bulu- 
wayo  was  captured,  and  Lobengula  driven 
towards  the  Zambesi,  where  he  afterwards 
died.  Out  of  a  force  sent  in  pursuit  of 
Lobengula,  a  party  of  thirty  mounted 
men  under  Captain  Allan  Wilson  was  cut 
off  from  the  main  body  and  killed  by  the 
Matabele  after  a  heroic  resistance.  The 
Chartered      Company's      administration, 

5513 


Dr.  Jameson's 

Brilliant 

Campaign 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


which  foDowedthat  of  Lobengula,  was  not 
in  all  respects  quite  wise,  and  discontent 
arose  among  the  natives,  Mashona  as  well 
as  Matabele.  After  the  unfortunate  issue 
of  the  Chartered  Company's  armed  entry 
into  the  Transvaal,  the  Matabele  rose 
against  their  white  rulers,  and  though  they 
never  succeeded  in  taking  Buluwayo  or 
any  other  fortified  post,  they 
/^^  ^  infficted    much     damage   and 

mong     e    g^^^g  j^gg  q£  jj-fg  ^j^  ^^^  British 

settlers.  Rhodesia  was  not 
finally  restored  to  order  until  the  year  1897. 
Since  the  great  South  African  War  of 
1899-1902  there  has  been  a  certain  amount 
of  unrest  among  the  natives  south  of  the 
Zambesi,  more  especially  among  the 
Hottentots  on  the  German  borders,  the 
Basuto,  the  Kaffirs  of  Natal,  and  the  Zulus. 

This  has  been  caused  by  a  multiplicity  of 
excitants.  The  movement  originated  with 
certain  American  negroes  of  the  Ethio- 
pian Church,  a  form  of  Christianity  which 
was  to  treat  the  interests  of  the  black  race 
as  quite  distinct  from  those  of  the  Cau- 
casian ;  the  spread  of  education,  which 
imparted  an  honest  pride  and  capabilit}^ 
to  Christianised  Hottentot  and  Kaffir — so 
that  dull,  stupid,  violent  government  at 
the  hands  of  German  or  British-Colonial 
officials  or  army  officers  became  intoler- 
able :  the  resentment  felt  by  Zulus  and 
Natal  Kaffirs  at  the  alleged  filching  of  their 
land  ;  lastly,  the  abundance  and  cheapness 
of  rifles  and  ammunition  during  and  after 
the  Boer  War;  all  these  were  reasons, 
apart  from  a  general  awakening  of  the 
negro,  why  movements  towards  turbu- 
lence and  independence  necessitated  much 
vigorous  police  work  in  1906-1908 — 
almost  amounting  to  warfare — ^on  the  part 
of  British  and  Colonial  troops  in  Western 
Bechuanaland,  Natal,  and  Zululand. 

Amongst  "  native  "  powers  which  the 
British  Empire  has  had  to  fight  in  South 
Africa  must  be  enumerated  the  Boers  of 
Cape  Colony,  Natal,  the  Orange  State,  and 
^.     „        ,   the    Transvaal.     This    was   a 

1  he   tSOCrS  ^       a-        ■^^       u      ^    ■,       >> 

jj.  ...      .     Vigorous,  emphatically    white 

theBrU°sh  ^'^^^  «^  .''^^T'^'^  physique, 
compounded  for  the  most  part 
of  men  of  Flemish  or  Dutch  descent, 
mingled  with  some  proportion  of  French 
Huguenots  and  German  immigrants. 
The  resident  Boers,  as  distinct  from  the 
officials  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company, 
never  liked  the  British  intrusion  from  the 
day  of  the  first  landing  of  British  trOops  at 
Simonstown  on  July  14th,  1795,  down  to 

5514 


the  granting  of  self-governing  constitu- 
tions to  the  different  states  of  the  future 
South  African  Confederation.  In  1815  the 
Dutch  farmers  had  risen  against  the 
government  of  Lord  Charles  Somerset 
because  it  interfered  with  their  summary 
treatment  of  the  natives;  but  they  were 
surrounded,  and  laid  down  their  arms  at 
the  place  since  called  Slachter's  Nek.  In 
spite  of  their  surrender  five  of  them  were 
hanged  for  high  treason,  an  act  inexcus- 
ably harsh  on  the  part  of  the  tyrannical 
governor.  Lord  Charles  Somerset,  whose 
name  for  the  value  of  his  work  is  too 
much  commemorated  in  Cape  geography. 

Dissatisfaction  with  Lord  Glenelg's 
fatuous  intermeddling  and  with  the.  often 
well-founded,  accusations  of  British  and 
Moravian  missionaries  as  to  maltreatment 
of  natives,  impelled  the  migration  north- 
wards and  eastwards,  beginning  in  1836. 
of  large  numbers  of  Boer  farmers.  This 
led  to  their  wresting  the  Orange  Free 
State  from  the  Basuto,  the  Transvaal 
from  the  Matabele  hordes  of  Umsilikazi, 
and  Natal  from  Dingane  and  the  Zulus. 
Apart  from  the  unfortunate  rising  .of 
Slachter's  Nek,  Boer  .and  Briton 
ocr  an  ^^,^^  came  into  armed  conflict 
-,  ...  over  Natal.  The  port  of  Durban 
had,  it  is  true,  been  originally 
colonised  bj'  British  and  Americans  ;  but 
the  mighty  power  of  the  Zulus  had. been 
first  broken  by  Boer  valour.  After  the 
emigrant  farmers  had  .made  themselves 
masters  of  the  country  now  known  as 
Natal,  the  intolerable  shilly-shalh'  of  the 
home  ^Ministers  began.  This  was  .  the 
cause  in  the  past  of  man}'  a  war,  large  and 
small,  and  was  the  result  of  the  old  prin- 
ciples of  party  government  and  the  placing 
of  incompetent  or  ill-educated  men  for 
short  and  shifting  periods  at  the  head  of 
great  departments  of  state.  Slowly,  im- 
perceptibl}-,  this  system  has  changed  in 
favour  of  a  trained  bureaucracy— a  rule 
of  the  permanent  official,  who  shapes  the 
policy  which  his  temporary  parliamentary 
chief  endorses  and  adopts  as  his  own. 

The  Natal  "  War "  of  1842  resolved 
itself  into  a  night  attack  by  the  English- 
men of  Durban  on  the  Boer  position 
(which  failed),  and  a  siege  of  Durban  bj- 
the  Boers.  This  siege  was  raised  by  the 
arrival  of  a  British  expeditionary  force.  The 
Boers  retired,  and,  a  commissioner  arriving 
from  England  in  1843,  terms  were  arranged 
by  which  the  Boers  had  a  free  hand  to 
the   north   of   the   Drakensberg,    whither 


55^5 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  bolder  spirits  betook  themselves. 
After  well-nigh  intolerable  vacillation, 
contradictory  proclamations,  flag  hoistings 
and  pullings-down,  treaties  with  native 
chiefs  or  hybrid  adventurers,  restraining 
and  loosing  of  the  justly  exasperated 
Boers,  the  British  Government  of  the 
Cape  declared  the  present  Orange  State 
The  B      s    ^°  ^^  British  territory  in  1848. 

w>.      .  This  action  was  resented  by  the 

Kise  in  ,  T-,  .,_,/. 

Rebellion  emigrant  Boers,  with  rretorius 
at  their  head.  They  rose 
in  rebellion,  but  in  meeting  Sir  Harry 
Smith — one  of  the  great  names  in  South 
African  history — they  met  one  of  their 
own  kidney.  After  a  severe  fight,  the 
Boers  were  defeated  at  the  Battle  of 
Boomplatz,  and  Pretorius  and  his  men 
fled  across  the  Vaal  River. 

The  recognition  of  the  Transvaal  as  an 
independent  state  in  1852,  and  of  the 
Orange  River  Territory  in  1854,  are 
episodes  in  the  relations  of  Boer  and 
Briton  which  have  been  described  else- 
where. No  further  armed  conflict  with  the 
Boers  occurred  until  December  20th,  1880. 
In  1877,  the  Transvaal  Republic,  in 
great  difflculties  over  its  conflict  with  the 
natives,  had  been  somewhat  summarily 
annexed  by  Sir  Theophilus  Shepstone  on 
behalf  of  the  British  Government.  This 
measure  was  most  unpalatable  to  the 
mass  of  the  Boer  farmers  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Kriiger,  Pretorius,  and  Joubert ;  and 
they  never  ceased  petitioning  against  it. 

At  length,  encouraged  by  the  British 
lassitude  which  had  followed  the  Zulu 
War,  they  rose  in  rebellion,  and  after 
the  British  defeats  at  Bronker's  Spruit, 
Lang's  Nek,  and  Majuba  Hill,  obtained 
eventually  the  recognition  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  their  republic,  with  only 
slight  modifications,  modifications  which 
were  pared  away  to  a  transparency  by  the 
Convention  of  London  in  1884.  Though 
this  convention  established  more  or 
less  clearly  the  boundaries  of  the  Trans- 

p  .         vaal,  the  Boers  did  not  hesitate 

Expansion  ,,  .,       „    .,.  . 

»K»  A-  ^t  — ^'^V  more  than  the  British 
the  Aim  of  ,'  J 

the  Boers  would  have  done — to  trespass 
beyond  these  limits  as  far  as 
British  forbearance  would  allow,  and  jiro- 
])osed  to  themselves,  on  the  one  hand,  to 
seize  and  monopolise  the  road  to  Central 
Africa,  and,  on  the  other,  to  conquer 
Zululand  and  thus  attain  access  to  the 
sea.  To  stop  both  these  movements  an 
important  armed  demonstration  was 
made  by  the  British  Government  in  1885, 
5516 


whereby  Sir  Charles  Warren,  with  a  force 
of  4,000  men,  marched  up  into  Bechuana- 
land  and  suppressed  the  infant  republics 
of  Stellaland  and  Goshen,  and  substituted 
for  them  the  British  Protectorate  of 
Bechuanaland,  which  was  ultimately  ex- 
tended to  the  Zambesi.  Zululand  was 
annexed,  and  ultimately,  in  1887-1898, 
Amatongaland  also.  The  southern  and 
western  boundaries  of  the  Orange  State 
had,  by  a  piece  of  rather  sharp  practice, 
been  clipped  and  defined  in  1869,  1871,  and 
1876.  From  1898  a  final  duel  between  the 
British  and  the  Boers  for  the  overlordship 
of  South  Africa  became  inevitable.  The 
Boers  were  resolved  to  expand,  the  British 
determined  to  compress  them  within 
treat}'  limits,  and  even  to  strangle  them 
in  their  own  homes. 

First  came  about  the  unofficial  war,  the 
abortive  raid  of  Jameson  at  the  head  of 
the  Chartered  Company's  forces  into  the 
Transvaal  in  December,  1895.  Then  ensued 
four  years  of  preparations  on  both  sides. 
Those  of  the  Boers  were  directed  to  steady 
armament  and  training,  with  results  which 
certainly  "  staggered  humanity  "  ;  those 
Th  G  t  ^^  ^^^^  British  to  sounding 
^      .  France,  Russia,  Portugal,  Italy, 

S  th  Af  *  America,  and  perhaps  Germany 
as  to  their  attitude  in  the 
event  of  a  South  African  War.  The 
outbreak  of  this  long  contemplated 
struggle  was  precipitated  by  the  two 
allied  Boer  States  delivering  an  ultimatum 
on  October  9th,  1899.  It  is  not  necessary 
here  to  recount  the  incidents  and  fluctua- 
tions of  this  great  and  lengthy  contest ; 
it  is  sufficient  to  record  that  the  war  began 
with  a  series  of  British  defeats,  retreats,  and 
besiegements  in  fortified  cities  or  camps. 
Then  came  Lords  Roberts  and  Kitchener, 
and  their  march  right  into  the  heart  of  the 
Orange  Free  State,  and  thence  by  a  series 
of  successes,  which  went  far  to  damp  any 
thought  of  European  intervention,  to 
Pretoria,  Lydenburg,  Komatipoort. 

By  the  autumn  of  1900  the  Orange  River 
Republic  and  the  Transvaal  had  been 
annexed  to  the  British  dominions,  and 
President  Kruger  had  fled  to  Europe.  Most 
persons  now  thought  the  war  at  an  end,  but 
the  Boers  managed  to  keep  up  a  guerrilla 
warfare  for  eighteen  months  longer,  thus 
securing  for  their  countrymen  far  better 
and  more  honourable  terms  of  peace  than 
would  have  been  granted  in  the  autumn 
of  1900.  As  military  leaders,  De  Wet, 
De  La  Rey,  Botha,  Kemp,  Lucas  Mej'er, 


CONTESTS    IN    AFRICA    AND    THE    PACIFIC 


and  other  Boer  generals  covered  themselves 
with  glory,  and  taught  the  world  new 
lessons  in  warfare.  But  in  the  meantime 
Central  South  Africa  was  being  ruined. 
These  same  men  who  fought  so  well  would 
not  carry  on  a  hopeless  struggle  after  the 
offer  of  reasonable  terms.  To  the  great 
relief  of  all  concerned,  a  peace  was  ratified 
on  May  31st,  1902,  which  has  left  no  sting 
behind  it  to  either  party  in  the  struggle. 
The  Orange  State,  under  a  slightly  diffeixnt 
name,  and  the  Transvaal  continue  to 
exist  as  self-governing  communities  ready 
to  take  their  part  as  equals  in  any  future 
confederation  of  South  Africa,  with  Cape 
Colony,  Natal,  and  Rhodesia. 

The  question  of  war  between  the  white 
and  the  black  man  in  trans-Zambesian 
Africa  is,  I  fear,  not  finally  laid  to  rest. 
Contemporary  and  later  historians  have 
frequently  described  this,  that,  or  the 
other  Kaffir  war  as  an  unjust  one.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  we  sometimes  fought  over 
a  wrong  issue,  but  there  is  equally  no 
doubt  in  the  mind  of  the  present  narrator 
that  the  British  power  has  been  a  great  deal 
more  anxious  to  do  the  right  thing  and 
Th  B  '  s-'^oiclii^iustice  in  its  fights  with 
»,  J  the  great  Zulu-Kaffir  congeries 

..  J,  ..  of  peoples  in  the  southern 
prolongation  of  Africa  than 
it  has  shown  itself  elsewhere  in  the  lands 
of  Black  and  Yellow.  In  the  first  place, 
South  Africa  during  two-thirds  of  the 
nineteenth  century  was  not  regarded  as 
an  extraordinarily  valuable  acquisition. 
The  Dutch  colonists,  it  is  true,  were 
perfectly  ruthless  in  regard  to  displacing, 
dispossessing,  killing  or  enslaving  the 
black  races  that  had  preceded  them. 

They  were  no  more  scrupulous  in  this 
respect  than  the  English  who  settled  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United  States, 
the  Spaniards  in  South  America,  the 
Portuguese  in  India,  or  the  Dutch  in 
Mala^'a.  They,  the  Boers,  were  "  God's 
chosen  people"  ;  the  yellow  or  black  Hot- 
tentot-Bushman, or  Kaffir,  was  a  heathen, 
with  no  more  claims  to  consideration  than 
the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  both  alike 
were  shot  down  by  the  deadly  accu- 
racy of  the  Boer  marksman.  But  British 
missionary  enterprise  was  early  afoot  in 
South  Africa,  and,  as  I  have  said  before, 
the  country  was  not  thought  particularly 
worth  taking  away  from  its  black  in- 
habitants. No  minerals  of  importance 
had  been  discovered  prior  to  the  diamond 
revelation   in    1869.      In   many   districts 


on 

the  Zulus 


horses  and  cattle  could  not  live,  and  there 
European  settlers  could  not  thrive.  It 
was  a  land  of  droughts  and  floods,  of  ice 
and  sunstroke,  of  barren  steppe  more  hope- 
less than  the  Sahara,  of  thorn  jungle,  and 
of  man-eating  lions.  So  far  as  anyone 
therefore  is  to  blame  for  the  unjustness 
of  the  Kafftr  wars,  it  is  the  Dutch  or  Afri- 

War  Forced  ^^^^^^     COlonistS       who     first 

picked  a  quarrel  with  the 
natives,  and  then  dragged  the 
British  Government  into  the 
settlement  of  that  quarrel.  Whenever  the 
treatment  was  just  towards  the  native 
it  provoked  a  rising,  a  secession,  or,  at 
any  rate,  a  severe  disaffection  amongst 
the  white  settlers. 

It  is  true  that  in  1879  Sir  Bartle  Frere^ 
a  great  and  far-seeing  viceroy — ^having 
annexed  the  Transvaal,  largely  because 
of  the  Boer  mishandling  of  native  rights, 
forced  a  war  on  the  king  of  the  Zulus. 
The  alternative  was  to  wait  until  the  Zulu 
power,  a  little  stronger,  a  little  more  reck- 
less, launched  itself  on  the  colony  of 
Natal,  drowning  it  in  blood,  as  Cetewayo's 
grandfather  had  done,  pitiless  alike  to 
white  and  black,  for  no  one  has  ever 
been  so  cruel  to  the  negro  as  the  negro. 

The  Chartered  Company's  war  against 
the  bastard  Zulus  of  Lobengula,  the 
descendants  of  the  hordes  led  northwards 
by  Umsilikazi  or  Mosilikatse.  has  been 
arraigned  as  unjust,  except  when  argued  on 
the  basis  of  the  Parable  of  the  Talents. 
Lobengula  and  his  Amandebele  indunas 
desired  to  keep  the  white  man  out  of  the 
country  as  much  as  they  could,  except  as 
an  ivory  hunter  or  purchaser,  or  possibly 
as  one  who  should  find  minerals  at  his  own 
risk  and  expense  and  hand  over  a  handsome 
royalty  to  the  king  and  his  courtiers,  who 
would  spend  it  on  the  purchase  of  more 
oxen,  more  wives,  and  more  guns  and 
gunpowder,  with  which  to  carry  out  more 
extensive  slave-raids  to  the  north.  The 
Chartered    Company   had   not    interfered 

with  the  natives'  rights  over 
Chartered  ^j^^    j^^^^    ^^^    ^^^    ^j^^^    ^^. 

Company  and  ^  ^^^^  assumption    of 

the  Zulus  •  •    1  J.        T>i: 

governing  rights.    They  were 

genuinely  anxious — the  present  writer  can 
testify — to  avoid  any  quarrels  with  the 
Matabele,  partly,  to  cite  no  higher  motive, 
because  they  had  greatly  over-estimated  the 
fighting  strength  and  capabilities  of  the 
Matabele.  The  quarrel  really  arose  over  the 
position  of  the  indigenous  tribes,  Mashona 
and  ]\Iakaranga,  who  were  treated  by  the 

5517 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Wars  with 

the 

Matabele 


Matabele  as  their  slaves.  The  Matabele 
theory  was  that  if  the  white  men  wished 
the  Mashona  or  other  of  their  subject 
tribes  to  work  for  them  as  porters, 
labourers,  or  guides,  their  services  must 
first  be  purchased  from  the  Matabele 
chiefs.  The  Mashona  and  their  congeners 
had  been  waiting  for  the  white  man's 
advent  to  shake  off  the  Zulu 
yoke  which  had  lain  so  heavily 
on  them  since  about  1S45. 
Often,  when  pursued  or  plagued 
by  the  Matabele,  they  would  fly  for  refuge 
to  one  or  other  of  the  white  men's  forts, 
and  they  were  frequently  followed  by  the 
Matabefe  and  brought  back.  One  or  two 
episodes  of  this  kind,  though  ending  in 
bloodshed,  were  smoothed  over  by  the 
company's  officials  ;  the  Matabele  warriors 
became  more  and  more  daring,  and  at  last 
a  stand  had  to  be  made.  In  July,  1893, 
a  Matabele  army  entered  the  township 
of  Victoria,  and  attacked  the  Mashonas 
residing  there,  slaughtering  many  before 
the  company's  police  could  intervene.  A 
fight  between  the  Matabele  warriors  and 
the  mounted  police  ensued,  resulting  in 
considerable  loss  of  life  to  the  Matabele, 
and  in  an  open  war  with  Lobengula's 
forces,  which  ended  in  the  Chartered  Com- 
pany becoming  the  government  of  the  land 
in  the  place  of  these  raiding  Zulus  who 
had  preceded  them  by  forty  or  fifty  ^-ears. 
In  the  second  Matabele  War,  which 
followed  in  1896,  it  is  true  that  the  Mashona 
joined  hands  with  their  forrner  oppressors, 
but  the  discontent  which  provoked  this 
war  was  largely  caused  by  the  compan^^ 
having  employed  an  oppressive  Matabele 
police,  which,  in  a  different  uniform  and 
with  a  new  authority,  continue  to  plunder 
the  unfortunate  tillers  of  the  soil. 

The  foundation  of  the  colony  of  Sierra 
Leone,  in  1787-1807,  for  the  purpose  of 
re})atriating  liberated  slaves  led  to  very 
little  trouble  with  the  natives  till  Sierra 
Leone  had  been  about  eight\'  3'ears  in 
.  existence  as  a  British  colony, 

^°i^   ^  .J  mainly  because  little  attempt 

on  the  Gold  ■      J      X  ■        -D    i  •  v 

^  was  made  to  exercise  British 

authority    beyond    the    Sierra 

Leone   Peninsula  and  certain  islands  on 

the  coast  dulj'  purchased  from  the  native 

owners.    The  same  may  be  said  in  regard 

to   the   Gambia.      But  as  early  as    1824 

trouble  arose  on  the  Gold  Coast  with  the 

powerful    native     kingdom    of    Ashanti. 

As  related  elsewhere,   the  British  Crown 

had  shirked  as  much  as  possible  any  direct 

5518 


responsibility  for  the  West  African  settle- 
ments, though  these  were  amongst  the 
earliest  attempts  at  empire  beyond  the 
British  Channel.  The  forts  and  settle- 
ments were  held  somewhat  intermittently 
by  chartered  companies.  But  in  1824  the 
governor  of  Sierra  Leone — the  Gold  Coast 
ports  were  brought  under  the  Sierra  Leone 
government  from  1821  to  1850 — Sir 
Charles  Macarthy,  was  forced  into  a 
conflict  with  the  Ashanti  people  in  order 
to  defend  the  coast  tribes  who  were  under 
British  protection.  He  w^as  kiUed  in  war- 
fare (Ensimankao,  January  14th,  1824), 
and  the  British  Government  was  obliged 
to  avenge  his  death  and  re-establish 
British  authority;  this  was  the  first 
Ashanti  War  betw^een  1827  and  1831. 

A  short  war  with  Lagos  in  1851  was 
the  result  of  an  attempt  to  put  down  the 
slave  trade.  On  this  pretext,  and  also  to 
avenge  wrongs  done  to  British  merchants, 
the  Dahomeh  coast  was  frequently  block- 
aded or  bombarded  during  the  third 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
punitive  expeditions  were  undertaken  in 
the  Niger  delta,  1886-1906.  and  the  Congo 

.  estuary,  1875.     The  transfer  of 

xr"^^  •  •  the  Dutch  possessions  on  the 
A  h  f  Gold  Coast  to  Great  Britain  en- 
tailed another  war  with  Ashanti 
in  1873-1874.  This  was  the  first  occasion 
on  which  West  African  warfare  was  taken 
seriously.  Sir  Garnet  Wolseley,  who  had 
distinguished  himself  as  the  commander 
of  the  Red  River  expedition  in  Central 
Canada,  commanded  a  British  force  of 
about  10,000  men,  2,400  British,  and  the 
remainder  negro  soldiers,  which,  together 
with  native  auxiliaries  under  Sir  John 
Glover,  entered  Kumasi  and  imposed  a  war 
indemnity  which  was  never  completely 
paid.  Ashanti  was  only  finally  conquered 
after  two  more  expeditions  (1896-1900). 
It  is  now  directly  administered  by  the 
British  Government,  and  has  consequently 
increased  very  considerably  in  prosperity. 

The  action  of  France  about  the  sources 
of  the  Niger,  beginning  in  the  early 
'eighties  of  the  last  century,  obliged  the 
British  Government  to  concern  itself  about 
the  hinterland  of  Sierra  Leone  ;  and  the 
various  attempts  to  impose  British  influence 
over  the  warlike  Temne  and  Mende  peoples 
entailed  a  number  of  armed  expeditions  or 
small  wars,  such  as  the  Yonni  war  in  1886, 
in  what  is  now  the  rather  considerable 
territory  of  the  Sierra  Leone  Protectorate. 
These  culminated  in  a  regular  rising  of  the 


CONTESTS    IN    AFRICA    AND    THE    PACIFIC 


Temne  and  Mende  peoples,  owing  to  the 
imposition  of  a  hut  tax,  in  i8g8.  The 
complete  subjugation  of  the  colony 
which  followed,  coupled  with  the  build- 
ing of  a  railway  across  a  portion  of  the 
hinterland,  brought  about  the  most 
extraordinary  changes  in  the  prosperity 
of  the  natives.  Sierra  Leone  is  now  one 
of  the  best  governed,  most  prosperous, 
and  generally  successful  of  the  British 
possessions  in  tropical  Africa.  Similar 
attempts  to  open  up  the  hinterland 
of  the  Gambia,  and  to  protect  commerce 
along  the  British  banks  of  that  river, 
likewise  occasioned  a  few  armed  expedi- 
tions against  the  Mandingo  or  Fulbe  sultans 
of  the  interior.  The  last  of  these  was  the 
expedition  against  Fodi  Kabba  in  1900. 

In  the  hinterland  of  Lagos,  in  the  Ibo 
territories  of  the  Niger  Delta,  there  were 
punitive  expeditions,  enforced  conquests 
of  natives  who  would  not  let  the  Britisher 
or  his  nativt  subjects  alone.  These  occurred 
mainly  between  1885  and  1905,  including 
the  expedition  in  1897,  which  rapidly 
conquered  the  blood-stained  kingdom 
of  Benin,  a  feat  thought  to  be  almost 
impossible  owing  to  the  physical 
onques  (difficulties  of  reaching  Benin 
...  .  through  leagues  of  forest-swamp. 
•gcria  g^^  amongst  notable  exploits 
of  warlike  enterprise  on  the  battle-roll 
of  Britain,  nothing  in  this  direction 
equalled  in  importance  of  achievements 
the  conquest  of  Nigeria.  As  usual,  the 
British  Government  had  turned  over  to  a 
chartered  company  of  merchants  the  first 
responsibility  of  laying  the  foundations  of 
the  Nigerian  Empire.  The  original  attempts 
of  1841  and  1858  to  establish  something 
like  a  British  protectorate  or  control  over 
the  banks  of  the  Niger  had  failed  through 
the  frightful  mortality  which  attacked  the 
naval  expeditions.  The  Lower  Niger  was 
justly  regarded  then  as  a  region  so 
impossibly  unhealthy  that  it  could  not 
profit  the  British  Government  as  a  means 
of  reaching  the  Nigerian  Sudan. 

As  related  elsewhere,  the  foundations 
of  modern  British  Nigeria  were  laid 
by  Captain  Goldie  Taubman,  afterwards 
Sir  George  T.  Goldie.  The  Royal  Niger 
Company,  which  he  founded,  soon  experi- 
enced, however,  enormous  difficulties  in 
carrying  their  charter  into  effect.  It  was 
relatively  easy  to  keep  order  amongst  the 
savage  cannibal  negroes  along  the  banks 
of  the  Niger  and  navigable  Benue  ;  but 
immediately    beyond   these    regions  were 


the  Nigerian  Sudanese — the  Mohammedan 
Nupe,  Fulbe,  Hausa  peoples  under  a  general 
Fulbe  suzerainty — hordes  of  cavalry  per- 
meated with  Mohammedan  bravery.  These 
peoples  in  those  days  were  possibly  egged 
on  to  try  conclusions  with  the  British 
company  by  its  French  and  German  rivals, 
who,  in  the  first  place,  resented  the  British 
British  appropriation    of  Eastern   Ni- 

Rulc  in  the  §^"^'  ^^^  i"  *he  second,  disUked 
Sudan  "^^^^    ^^    ^^^  ^h^t  the  govern- 

ment of  the  country  should  be 
entrusted  to  a  commercial  company. 
The  company  had  to  face  the  situation, 
conquer  the  amir  of  Nupe,  and  impose  peace 
by  a  show  of  force  on  the  Fulbe  sultan  of 
Sokoto.  The  expedition  of  1897,  practically 
led  by  Sir  George  Goldie,  was  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  organised  by  the  British 
Government,  and  was  commanded  by 
Imperial  officers.  It  achieved  its  object 
after  one  or  two  pitched  battles,  but  ran 
the  narrowest  risks  of  failure  and  disaster 
owing  to  the  difficulties  of  transport  once 
it  quitted  the  navigable  waterway. 

When  the  company  was  succeeded 
by  the  direct  rule  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment, Sir  Frederick  Lugard  found  it  quite 
impossible  to  cry  halt  until,  with  the  forces 
under  his  command,  led  by  Colonel 
Morland,  he.  had  conquered  the  Fulbe 
power  and  established  British  rule  over 
the  great  Hausa  cities  of  the  Central 
Sudan.  These  campaigns  of  1902  and  1903 
were  remarkable  for  the  extent  of  ground 
covered,  the  relatively  small  fighting  force 
at  the  disposal  of  the  British,  and  the 
effect  of  the  victories.  It  would  be  too 
soon  to  say  that  the  Moslem  peoples  of 
Eastern  Nigeria  will  never  again  raise  the 
standard  of  revolt ;  but  the  surest  way  of 
turning  their  thoughts  to  better  things, 
the  cheapest  way  of  maintaining  our 
hold  over  this  important  region  of  Africa, 
is  by  the  building  of  railways.  As  re- 
gards wars  in  North-east  Africa  within 
the  memory  of  living  men,  the  first 
to  record  is  the  somewhat 
quixotic   Abyssinian   expedi- 


The  Quixotic 
Abyssinian 


Ex  ediZn  *^°^  °^  1864-1S68.  Of  all  the 
xpe  I  ion  episodes  in  the  history  of  the 
British  Empire,  this  will  seem  the  most 
difficult  to  explain.  Its  analogue  in  our 
wars  of  the  first  class  with  European 
Powers  is  the  Crimean  War.  Some  well- 
meaning  but  over-zealous  missionaries  had 
offended  the  usurping  monarch  of  Abys- 
sinia, Theodore.  This  curious  personality, 
who,  like  his  immediate   ]iredecessors  for 

55  TO 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


about  seventy  years  back,  had  begun  to 
get  into  touch  with  the  civihsation  of  the 
outer  world  b^'  commerce  carried  on 
through  Indian  traders,  had  invited  to  his 
court  mechanics  or  industrial  missionaries, 
and  then,  if  he  were  capriciously  displeased 
with  them,  would  hold  them  as  his 
captives.  A  British  consul  of  Levantine 
u  or  Armenian  extraction, 
Theodore,  the  ^^^^^^^^  f^j.  j^is  knowledge  of 

of  Ab  ssfnia    ^^^^^^    ^^^    Amharic,    was 
yssinia    ^^^^   ^^   ^^^    these   captivcs 

out  of  Theodore's  toils  by  negotiations. 
But  Theodore,  who  was  more  than  half  a 
crank,  and  who  had  proposed  marriage  to 
Queen  Victoria  upon  hearing  that  she  was 
a  widow,  but  had  received  no  reply  to  his 
proposal,  kept  back  the  consul,  too. 

In  a  less  sentimental  age  it  might  have 
been  questioned  whether,  as  Great  Britain 
had  at  that  time  no  desire  to  interfere  in 
the  affairs  of  North-east  Africa,  she  was 
warranted  in  spending  several  millons  of 
money,  and  perhaps  in  all  about  a  thou- 
sand lives,  in  trying  to  rescue  a  few 
misguided  Europeans  who  had  accepted 
all  risks  ingoing  to  thecourt  of  a  barbarous 
monarch.  But  there  was  the  question  of 
the  British  envoy,  Mr.  Rassam,  and  British 
prestige  in  the  Eastern  world. 

So  16,000  (mainly  Indian)  soldiers,  and 
some  15,000  non-combatants,  marched 
through  the  mountains  of  Abyssinia  till 
they  had  released  the  captives  and  cap- 
tured Magdala,  the  last  stronghold  of 
Theodore,  who  committed  suicide.  Then, 
after  furnishing  their  principal  native  allj^ 
Prince  Kassai,  of  Tigre,  an  Abyssinian 
prince  of  less  doubtful  lineage,  with  the 
means  of  aspiring  to  the  throne  of 
Ethiopia,  the  British  forces  marched  back 
again  to  the  Red  Sea.  In  this  achievement 
we  were  in  far  better  circumstances  than 
the  Italians  thirty  years  later,  for  the 
British  protestations  that  they  desired 
no  territorial  acquisitions  were  believed, 
and  the  mass  of   the  Abyssinian   people 

.  was  on  the  side    of  the  British 

. "  '^  against  the  misconduct  of  the 
■  ""e^  mad,  though  talented,  usurper. 
British  soldiers  were  not  to  set 
foot  in  North-eastern  Africa  again  for 
fifteen  years.  Then,  in  1882,  a  British 
force  was  landed  at  Port  Said  under  Sir 
Garnet  Wolseley  of  Ashanti,  who  was  to 
become  Lord  Wolseley  of  Cairo.  Here  the 
immediate  objective  was  the  subjugation 
of  Arabi's  revolt  and  the  reassertion  of  the 
power  of  the  legitimate  ruler  of  Egypt,  the 

5520 


khedive.  The  motive  was  absolutely  not 
any  desire  to  acquire  more  territory,  but 
in  reality  to  save  the  Suez  Canal  from 
falling  under  the  exclusive  control  of 
France,  of  Turkey,  or  of  a  new  Moham- 
medan nationality,  fanatical  and  successful , 
which  might  be  arising  under  the  some- 
what stupid  colonel  of  artiller}^  Ahmad 
Arabi.  Britain  had  seen  between  1835 
and  1840  a  great  military  power  arise 
in  Egypt,  which  had  conquered  nearly 
the  whole  of  Arabia,  had  wrested  Syria 
from  the  Porte,  and,  unchecked,  might 
have  re-created  from  an  Egyptian  base 
a  vast  Mohammedan  empire.  It  was 
quite  possible  such  a  thing  might  occur 
once  more,  with  Arabi  in  the  place  of 
Ibrahim,  the  son  of  Mehemet  Ali. 

The  British  occupation  of  Lower  Egypt 
was  followed  by  the  downfall  of  Egyptian 
rule  over  the  Sudan,  the  futile  despatch 
of  Gordon,  and  the  too-late  expedition 
in  1884  sent  to  extract  Gordon  from  a 
besieged  Khartoum.  Here,  again,  there  was 
no  other  motive  than  the  desire  to  retrieve 
Britain's  honour,  much  as  there  had  been 
in  the  case  of  Abyssinia.  Nothing  was 
desired  less  at  that  moment 
than  the  addition  to  the  British 
Empire  of  the  Egyptian  Sudan. 
The  too-late  expedition,  only 
just  too  late,  was  recalled  from  its  natural 
impetus  to  avenge  Gordon  by  complica- 
tions with  Russia  in  Central  Asia.  Little 
collateral  wars  had  been  carried  on  with 
the  fierce  Hamitic  tribes  of  the  Nubian 
Desert  between  the  Red  Sea  coast  and  the 
Atbara,  but  the  British  and  Egyptian 
forces  were  withdrawn  to  Wadi  Haifa  and 
the  walls  of  Suakin,  and  for  some  5'ears 
confined  their  efforts  to  repelling  the 
attacks  of  the  Dervishes. 

The  deliberate  attempts  at  conquest 
of  the  bastard  Zanzibar  Arabs,  descend- 
ants of  the  fierce  Omani  seamen  and 
merchants,  whose  assaults  on  the  Zanzibar 
coast  had  extinguished  the  power  of  the 
Portuguese  in  the  eighteenth  century,  had 
steadily  pushed  inland,  and  had  developed 
the  slave  trade  to  such  an  extent  that  they 
had  scandalised  the  British  public  through 
the  revelations  of  Livingstone,  Speke, 
Grant,  Stanley,  Thomson  and  others. 
Ideas  of  empire  had  come  to  them,  and 
they  had  determined  to  found  vigorous 
Mohammedan  slave  states  in  Central 
Africa.  But  they  knocked  their  heads 
against  harder  ones — the  dogged  Scottish 
pioneers  of  Xyassaland.     It  was  with  the 


Gordon's 
Death  at 
Khartoum 


CONTESTS    IN    AFRICA    AND    THE    PACIFIC 


African  Lakes  Company  at  the  north  end 
of  Lake  Nyassa  that  the"war  broke  out  first 
between  European  and  Arab  for  the 
possession  of  Central  Africa.  Trade  had  a 
little  to  do  with  it.  The  Arabs  had  begun 
to  interfere  between  the  native  seller  and 
the  European  purchaser  ;  but  it  is  only 
fair  to  state  that  sheer  horror  at  the 
atrocious  cruelties  of  the  Arab  slave  raids 
precipitated  the  fight  on  the  part  of  such 
agents  of  the  African  Lakes  Company  as 
the  late  Monteith  Fotheringham  and  the 
still  living  Moir  brothers.  The  African 
Lakes  Company  hastily  called  for  volun- 
teers, and  enlisted  amongst  others  a 
Captain  Lugard,  bent  on  East  African 
adventure,  and  a  hunter  of  big  game, 
Alfred  Sharpe.  The  one  became  the 
subjugator  of  Nigeria  and  the  province  of 
Uganda,  and  the  other  is  still  governor  of 
the  British  Central  African  dominions. 

But  the  Arabs  were  too  strong  to  be  sub- 
dued by  a  rabble  of  undisciplined  blacks 
officered  by  five  or  six  brave  English  or 
Scotch.  A  drawn  battle  was  practically 
the  result.  The  slave-traders  had  to  be 
attacked  nearer  to  their  base  before  the 
Arab  power  could  be  dealt  with 
a  British  ""^    effectually  at  the  north  end  of 

n  I  \  ^  Lake  Nyassa.  It  fell  to  the  lot 
Protectorate        ^  ,,        -'  .,  r  .,  ,         , 

of  the  writer  of  these  chapters 

to  he-^.d  this  next  movement,  which  culmi- 
nated in  1895-1896  by  the  defeat  and  death 
of  all  the  Arab  leaders,  and  the  definite 
establishment  of  British  dominion  up  to 
the  south  end  of  Tanganyika  and  the  shores 
of  Lake  Mweru.  A  little  campaign  against 
the  power  of  the  Angoni  Zulus,  who  had 
invaded  Nyassaland  in  the  early  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  completed  s^nch 
conquests  as  were  necessary  to  establish 
a  British  protectorate  over  the  whole  of 
British  Central  Africa  from  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Zambesi  to  the  Portuguese 
possessions  east  of  Lake  Nyassa. 

The  British  establishment  at  Aden, 
which  was  rendered  necessary  by  the 
opening  of  the  overland  route  to  India 
through  Egypt  and  the  Red  Sea,  brought 
the  British  power  into  contact  with  the 
Somali  coast.  There  had  been  British 
envoys  to  Ethiopia  and  Shoa  as  far  back 
as  the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  coastlands  and  a  good 
deal  of  the  interior  of  the  Somali  country 
produced  sheep,  goats,  camels,  and  even 
oxen,  besides  other  commodities  which 
were  required  to  feed  the  British  garrison 
at    Aden,    and    also    the    ever-increasing 


number  of  steamers  which  called  at 
Aden  on  their  way  to  and  from  India. 
Therefore,  as  far  back  as  the  early  'fifties 
of  the  last  century  Great  Britain,  by 
means  of  official  and  unofficial  explora- 
tions, was  taking  a  marked  interest  in  the 
fate  of  the  Somali  coast.  During  the 
period  of  Imperial  lassitude  coincident 
P        .  with    the    'sixties    and    early 

..  „  ..  'seventies,  Great  Britain  looked 
the  Egyptian  .,,  ,  t     j.u 

p  on     with     a     shrug     of    the 

shoulders  whilst  Egypt,  which 

at  any  rate,  in  our  eyes,  was  better  than 

France  for  such  a  purpose,  attempted  to 

make  herself  mistress  of  Somaliland. 

When  the  Egyptian  power  fell,  however, 
with  the  annihilation  of  General  Hicks's 
army  and  the  death  of  Gordon,  it  was 
necessary  to  do  something,  or  else  the  coast 
opposite  Aden  might  be  jointly  occupied 
by  France  and  Italy.  So  the  very  oddly- 
shaped  protectorate  of  British  Somaliland 
came  into  existence,  and,  needless  to  sa5^ 
the  attempts  of  the  British  to  become 
responsible  for  law  and  order  on  the 
Somali  coast  dragged  them  much  against 
their  will  into  an  equal  responsibility  for 
the  disorder  of  inner  Somaliland. 

A  mad  mullah,  a  robber-fanatic,  be- 
ginning as  so  many  of  these  Moslem 
leaders  have  done,  in  a  very  prosaic  way 
as  a  disappointed  store-keeper  or  a 
market  gardener  whose  crops  had  been 
ravaged  by  locusts,  and  who  in  a  vague 
way  has  attributed  his  grievances  to  the 
incoming  of  the  British  government, 
drew  to  a  head  the  dissatisfaction  of 
the  turbulent  Somalis  at  seeing  their 
misgoverned  country  somewhat  rigidly 
administered  by  the  yellow  soldiers  and 
white  officers  of  a  Christian  empire,  or 
an  empire  synonymous  in  their  eyes  with 
an  interfering  Christianity.  Had  our 
African  policy  been  wisely  directed  at  the 
time,  the  mad  mullah,  beyond  our  repelling 
his  attacks  on  settlements  near  the  coast, 
would  have  been  fought  by  a  railway 
instead  of  by  armies  of  negro 
Operations    ^^^^   ^^^^-^^^   soldiers   gallantly 

t^'^A^  liu  led  by  British  officers  into  the 
Mad  Mullah  ^j^^^^^y  deserts  over  an  area  as 

large  as  England,  in  attempts,  that  were 
to  a  great  extent  vain,  to  grasp  the 
mobile  enemy  by  the  throat.  Troubles 
began  in  Somaliland  in  1898.  The  opera- 
tions against  Sayyid  Mohammed,  the 
"  Mad  "  mullah,  now  no  longer  regarded 
as  mad,  commenced  in  1901  and  did  not 
terminate  until    1904.     In    1905    Sayyid 

5521 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Mohammed  was  recognised  politically  by 
Italy  and  Britain  as  a  native  ruler  over 
a  defined  sphere  with  access  to  the  coast. 
So  much  bravery  and  endurance  were  not 
entirely  thrown  away ;  the  Somalis  re- 
ceived a  drastic  lesson.  But  in  the  light 
of  later  wisdom  we  now  realise  that  the 
millions  which  this  little  war  cost  Great 
-,.  .     .         Britain  might  have    been    far 

ivi  ising  j^-jQj-g  profitably  and  conclu- 
f  R  '1  sively  employed  in  the  construc- 

1  ways  ^.^^  ^^  ^  railway.  Perhaps  this 
lesson  has  been  brought  home  to  the  empire. 
In  Nigeria,  in  Sierra  Leone,  in  the  hin- 
terland of  Lagos,  the  policy  of  railway 
building  has  now  been  thoroughly  under- 
stood. It  is  realised  that  a  railway  is  the 
best  investment  of  British  Imperial  money 
in  these  and  other  undeveloped  countries. 

It  is  true  that  the  construction  of  a  railway 
cannot  be  undertaken  without  a  force  to 
guard  the  railway  workers  ;  but  it  is  far 
easier  to  advance  from  the  secure  base 
as  the  railway  progresses,  and  the  process 
requires  a  far  smaller  armed  force  than 
risky  expeditions  on  a  large  scale  into  the 
unknown.  The  trouble  in  all  African 
warfare  is  not  the  fighting  when  it  comes 
to  close  quarters,  but  the  question  of 
transport  in  a  roadless  country.  If  you 
rely  on  native  porters,  they  are  relatively 
defenceless,  and  may  bolt  at  the  first 
appearance  of  the  enemy  ;  if  on  beasts  of 
burden,  mules  or  camels,  they  may  be 
stampeded,  maimed  or  killed  by  an  enemy 
used  to  making  such  procedure  the  first 
thought  in  warfare.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  railway  inspires  interest,  curiosity, 
amazement,  and  suggests  the  very  sweet 
thought  of  profitable  commercial  relations. 
It  offers  well-paid  work  for  vigorous  men, 
and  a  certain  market  for  all  native  supplies. 

Not  long  after  the  Arab  question  was 
settled  in  South-central  Africa  in  1896, 
trouble  was  brewing  in  the  equatorial 
regions  of  Eastern  Africa.  Echoes  of  the 
revolt  against  the  Germans  in  Swahili 
.  Africa   amongst    the  so-called 

.  '^r**^,  Arabs  or  Arabised  negroes  had 

^^.  .  spread  to  the  British  territories 

at  the  back  of  Mombasa.  Here 
was  wont  to  resort  an  Arab  prince  who 
was  by  many  Moslems  of  East  Africa 
regarded  as  the  rightful  occupant  of  the 
Zanzibar  throne,  the  descendant  of  an 
Arab  dynasty  that,  had  been  replaced  by 
the  Sayyids  of  Oman.  Sidi  Mubarak 
stirred  up  trouble  for  the  British.  More- 
over, it  had  been  necessary  to  conquer  by 

5522 


a  naval  expedition  a  small  Swahili  sultan- 
ate on  the  Ozo  River.  The  question  of 
slavery  and  the  slave  trade  lay  at  the 
bottom  of  this  disaffection  against 
British  rule.  When  these  troubles  were 
appeased  came  rumours  of  more  serious 
disturbances  further  to  the  west,  in  the 
Uganda  Protectorate. 

Sir  Frederick,  then  Captain,  Lugard 
had  imported  into  the  Uganda  Protec- 
torate, in  the  days  when  it  was  no  more 
than  a  sphere  of  influence,  a  number  of 
Emin  Pasha's  Sudanese  soldiers.  These 
men  were  brave,  but  they  were  emphatic- 
ally Mohammedans,  and  with  a  few  of 
them  the  old  Arab  dislike  to  the  rule  of  the 
Christian  still  lingered.  Their  first  easy 
victories  in  keeping  order  in  Uganda  in- 
spired them  with  a  contempt  for  the  pagan 
or  Christian  negroes  of  that  region.  They 
also  had  legitimate  grievances  in  regard 
to  the  manner  in  which  they  had  been 
handled  by  one  or  two  officers  in  command. 

Added  to  this  source  of  trouble  was  the 
extreme  dislike  on  the  part  of  the  king  of 
Unyoro  and  his  counsellors  and  the  king 
of  Uganda  to  the  imposition  of  British 
control.  The  mass  of  people  in 
u  iny  o  Uganda,  and  their  local  chiefs 
Sudanese  i        j  .1  . 

_  ...  or  headmen,  on  the  contrary, 

strongly  desired  a  British 
protectorate,  and  were  opposed  to  their 
disreputable  monarch  on  many  grounds. 
But  the  first  attempts  to  crush  the 
mutiny  of  the  Sudanese  soldiers  provoked 
a  formidable  rising  of  the  Banyoro  and 
disaffected  Baganda.  The  British  force, 
mainly  consisting  of  Indian  soldiers  and 
thousands  of  Baganda  "  friendlies,"  got 
the  better  of  the  mutineers  in  several  very 
bloody  engagements,  and  finally  the  two 
kings  of  Unyoro  and  Uganda  were  cap- 
tured and  deported  from  East  Africa. 

The  Uganda  mutiny  ended,  so  far  as 
serious  fighting  was  concerned,  in  1899,  ^^^ 
a  few  further  engagements  with  the  rem- 
nant of  the  Sudanese  followed,  and  in  1900 
there  was  trouble  with  the  Nandi  moun- 
taineers. In  all  these  contests  it  was 
obvious — the  writer  naturally  speaks  as 
an  eye-witness — that  the  bulk  of  the 
natives  of  all  races  and  tribes  of  the  large 
British  Protectorate  of  Uganda  were  with 
the  British  in  their  attempts  to  introduce 
decent  government  and  })rofitable  com- 
merce. Had  it  not  been  so,  it  would  have 
required  a  force  of  10,000  soldiers  and  an 
expenditure  of  ten  millions  of  money  to 
reduce  these  lands  to  obedience.       As  a 


CONTESTS    IN    AFRICA    AND    THE    PACIFIC 


matter  of  fact,  they  were  pacified  by  a 
force  of  some  400  Indians  and  3,000 
native  soldiers,  commanded  by  British 
officers  and  non-commissioned  officers. 
Moreover,  an  important  remnant  of  the 
Sudanese  remained  faithful  throughout 
to  the  British  Government. 

After  the  British  Government  advised 
the  khedive  of  Egypt  to  withdraw  his 
troops  and  officials  to  Wadi  Haifa  or  the 
walls  of  Suakin,  about  the  year  1886,  no 
further  steps  of  a  warlike  nature  were 
taken  for  the  reconquest  of  the  Sudan. 
The  task  was  tacitly  postponed  till  a  more 
convenient  opportunity.  Meanwhile,  the 
present  sirdar  and  governor-general  of 
the  Sudan,  Sir  Reginald  Wingate,  was 
steadily  collecting  information  through 
one  of  the  best  organised  intelligence 
departments  in  the  world. 

Emboldened  by  this  silence,  after  the 
mahdi's  death,  when  the  Khalifa  Abdallah 
succeeded  to  supreme  power,  a  fierce  attack 
was  made  on  Egypt  ;  but  the  Anglo- 
Egyptian  army — that  is  to  say,  Egyptian 
soldiers  fortified  by  an  admixture  of  British 
non-commissioned      and       commissioned 

TM.  n  I  .  officers — assisted  by  British 
The  Rebel  ■,  ■,  j    1    u 

^         _.         cavalry  and  commanded   by 

Q  -         General       (Lord)       Grenlell, 

inflicted  on  the  Dervishes  at 
Saras,  about  thirty  miles  to  the  south 
of  Wadi  Haifa,  a  defeat  so  overwhelming 
that  it  checked  once  and  for  all  any 
further  aspirations  of  the  khalifa  for  the 
reconquest  of  the  world.  The  battles  and 
skirmishes  with  Osman  Digma,  between 
1884  and  1897,  round  Suakin  and  in  the 
Eastern  Sudan,  had  no  such  conclusive  or 
effective  retort  ;  but  the  enemy  here  was 
worn  out  by  continual  defeats,  and  Osman 
Digma  abandoned  the  struggle  and  repaired 
to  the  khalifa's  army  on  the  Nile  in  1897 
to  oppose  Kitchener's  main  advance.  He 
was  subsequently  captured  in  the  hills 
behind  Tokar,  in  January,  1900. 

How  long  this  stage  of  waiting  and 
preparation  would  have  continued  it  is 
difficult  to  say,  had  not  the  conclusion  of 
the  drama  been  hastened  by  the  action  of 
France  and  the  misfortunes  of  Italy. 
French  rancour  against  the  British  occu- 
pation of  Egypt  continued  to  increase 
during  the  early  'nineties  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. It  was  envenomed  by  the  opposi- 
tion offered  on  the  part  of  the  British 
Government  to  a  French  annexation  of 
Eastern  Nigeria,  and  perhaps  by  the 
barrier  we  erected  against  the  absorption 


of  the  kingdom  of  Siam.  British  inaction 
was  mistaken  for  indifference  or  cowardice. 
The  marvellously  rapid  way  in  which 
the  French  had  opened  up  connections 
between  the  Atlantic  coast  and  the  Mu- 
bangi  River,  the  great  northern  affluent 
of  the  Congo,  and  between  the  Mubangi 
and  the  regions  of  the  Shari  and  Lake 
French  Chad,  inspired  them  with  the 

Expedition  ^^^^'  enhanced  by  the  similar 
in  Egypt  successes  of  the  Belgians 
advancing  from  the  Congo, 
that  the  power  of  the  Dervishes  was  either 
greatly  exaggerated  or  was  on  the  wane. 
They  found  that  they  could  enter  the 
south-western  regions  of  the  Bahr-el- 
Ghazal  by  friendly  understanding  with 
the  Niam-Niam  sultans,  and  so  they 
conceived  the  idea  of  opening  up  direct 
trans-continental  relations  between  the 
Gulf  of  Guinea,  Abyssinia,  and  Somali- 
land,  thus  carrying  a  band  of  French 
influence  right  across  Africa  from  sea  to 
sea.  It  was  known  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment, and  was  noted  in  a  historic  speech 
by  Sir  Edward  Grey,  that  a  French  expe- 
dition was  advancing  to  the  Upper  Nile. 

Italy,  in  the  meantime,  was  aspiring  to 
conquer  and  acquire  the  whole  of  Abys- 
sinia. Her  hopes  were  shattered  at  the 
Battle  of  Adawa,  in  1896.  The  imagined 
consequences  of  this  disaster  at  the  time 
were  probably  exaggerated  in  the  mind  of 
the  German  Emperor,  who  strongly  urged 
the  British  "  Government  to  retake  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  Egyptian  Sudan, 
and  thus  distract  the  Dervishes  from 
joining  forces  with  Abyssinia,  and  sweep- 
ing the  Italians  into  the  Red  Sea. 

Fortified  by  this  hint  on  the  part  of  a 
potent  personage,  whose  moral  support  in 
Egypt  counteracted  the  threats  of  French 
hostility,  the  British  Government  sanc- 
tioned the  advance  to  Dongola,  long 
prepared  by  Sir  Herbert  Kitchener,  and 
carried  into  effect  with  a  method, 
accuracy,  punctuality,  and  economy  which 
filled  the  British  Government 
France  ^^-^j^  admiration,  and  encour- 

Retires  from  ^^^^  j^-^j^  ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^.^^  ^^  ^ 

^^^  similar  advance  on  Khartoum. 

This,  indeed,  followed  in  the  year  1898 
as  a  necessary  consequence  of  Dongola. 
It  was  the  only  way  to  prevent  a  French 
annexation  of  the  Egyptian  Sudan.  Om- 
durman  and  Khartoum  were  retaken  on 
September  2nd-3rd,  1898,  and  the  episode 
of  Fashoda  followed.  France  bowed  to 
the   verdict    of    the    stricken    field,    and 

5523 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


withdrew.  But  the  khalifa  and  some  of 
his  principal  lieutenants  still  remained  at 
large.  They  had  withdrawn  into  that 
ominous  thorny  desert  of  Kordofan,  where 
Hicks's  army  had  been  lost — and  the 
Sudan  with  it — in  1883.  So  long  as  they 
remained  at  large,  gathering  again  re- 
actionary   forces    for    the    attack,    there 

_  could  be  no  rest  for  the  British 

Conquerors  ,  Tn       i  n 

governor  at  Khartoum.  Con- 
of  the 
r    .       e   J      sequetly,   the  third  and  last 

Eastern  Sudan         ^         ■         ,-i     ,  i    ^i 

campaign  that  regained  the 
Sudan  for  civilisation  was  entered  upon  by 
Sir  Reginald  Wingate,  to  the  great  anxiety 
of  those  who  were  watching  afar  off.  A 
success,  in  its  way  as  triumphant  as  that 
of  Kitchener,  settled  the  question  once  and 
for  all.  In  the  battle  of  Om  Dubreikat 
on  November  25th,  1899,  the  khalifa 
Abdallah  and  all  his  emirs  were  killed. 

Colonel  Hunter  and  Colonel  Parsons, 
between  them,  had  conquered  the  whole 
Eastern  Sudan,  from  the  Blue  Nile  to 
Kassala,  in  September,  189S  ;  but  this 
region  required  a  small  punitive  expedition 
as  late  as  1908.  The  great  cai tie-breeding 
tribe  of  the  Dinkas  has  elicited  more  than 
one  display  of  Anglo-Egyptian  force,  and 
the  N:am-Niams  of  the  Western  Bahr  el 
Ghazal  likewise. 

The  only  "  native  "  wars  in  Polynesia 
sufficiently  important  to  be  chronicled 
have  been  those  which  took  place  in  New 
Zealand  in  two  periods,  from  1845  to 
1848,  and  from  i860  to  1870.  The 
indigenous  New  Zealand  Maori  population, 
of  Polynesian  origin,  was  certain,  sooner 
or  later,  to  come  into  conflict  with  the 
British  colonists.  Documents  were  drawn 
up,  and  received  the  crosses  of  unreflecting 
chiefs  who  thereby  had  disposed  of  large 
areas  of  communal  land  without  realising 
the  after  effects.  The  unscrupulous  actions 
of  the   European    settlers    were   met   by 

r 


reprisals.  The  usual  muddle  took  place  in 
dealing  with  the  great  war  of  1860-70  in  its 
first  stages,  and  before  it  came  to  a  final 
end  a  good  number  of  British  soldiers  and 
settlers  had  lost  their  lives.  But,  as  might 
be  anticipated,  it  resulted  in  the  definite  con- 
quest of  the  Maori  ;  also  in  more  conscien- 
tious settlement  of  their  land  questions. 

No  colonial  war  of  recent  years  has 
taken  place  in  any  British  American 
possession  ;  but  in  1865  there  was  a  serious 
danger  of  a  wide-spreading  negro  revolt 
in  the  island  of  Jamaica.  The  somewhat 
panic-stricken  and  illegal  actions  taken  by 
Governor  Eyre  and  the  officers  under  his 
command  cost  that  otherwise  excellent 
colonial  official  his  career. 

The  revolt  in  Upper  and  Lower  Canada 
between  1835  and  1838  entailed  a  good 
deal  of  stiff  fighting.  It  was  finally  ex- 
tinguished by  the  evident  determination 
of  the  British  Government,  through  the 
work  of  such  able  administrators  as  the 
Earl  of  Durham  and  Lord  Sydenham,  to 
endow  the  Canadas  with  a  complete  and 
popular  form  of  constitutional  govern- 
ment. In  1870  the  revolt  of  the  French 
half-breeds  in  the  Red  River  district,  under 
Louis  Riel,  entailed  a  military  expedition 
commanded  by  the  present  Viscount 
Wolseley,  then  a  young  colonel.  But 
Louis  Riel  reappeared  fifteen  years  later, 
and  defeated  a  body  of  Canadian 
mounted  police  and  volunteers. 
This  success  rallied  round  him 
the  still  recalcitrant  element 
of  French  half-breeds  and  pure  blood 
Indians.  But  a  body  of  over  5,000 
Canadian  militia  soon  overcame  Kiel's 
resistance.  He  was  captured,  tried  for 
murder — he  was  practically  an  outlaw, 
having  fled  from  justice  after  the  murder  of 
Thomas  Scott  in  1870 — and  hanged  at 
Regina  in  November.  1885. 


Fate  of  the 
Rebel 
Louis  Riel 


BRITISH     HAUSA     TROOPS     STATIONED     ON     THE     GOLD     COAST 


5524 


THE 

BRITISH 

EMPIRE 

VIII 


BY  SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON. 

G.C.M.G. 


THE    FIGHTING    FORCES    OF    THE 
BRITISH     EMPIRE 

NAVAL  ACHIEVEMENTS  FROM  THE  TIME 
OF  KING  ALFRED  TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY 


HTHE  British,  or  more  strictly  speaking, 
■'■  the  Enghsh  Navy  began  in  the  time  of 
Alfred  as  a  means  of  counter-attack  against 
the  Danes,  and  continued  afterwards  as  a 
collection  of  armed  merchantmen.  After 
the  Norman  conquest  and  under  the 
Plantagenets  it  served  as  a  method  of 
attacking  Ireland,  Scotland,  France. 
Flanders,  and  Spain.  But  as  a  means  to 
the  end  of  founding  a  great  empire  be- 
yond the  seas  it  only  began  in  the 
time  of  Elizabeth.  Even  then  there  were 
"  Queen's  ships "  and  the  vessels  of 
private  adventurers  whose  proceedings 
were  either  licensed  or  winked  at  by  the 
sovereign,  and  who  were  only  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  common  pirates  in  that 
their  hostile  actions  were  usually  limited 
to  the  property  of  such  nations  as  were 
at  war  or  on  bad  terms  with  England. 

The  first  of  such  sea-fights  under  the 
national  flag  was  the  battle  of  an  English 
fleet  under  Sir  John  Hawkins  and  Sir 
Francis  Drake  against  the  ships  of  the 
Spanish  viceroy  off  San  Juan  de  Ulua, 
on  the  coast  of  Mexico,  in  1567.  This 
ended  in  a  decisive  victory  for  the  British, 
and  was  the  beginning  of  the  long  series  of 
attacks  on  Spanish  America,  which  con- 
tinued down  to  1808,  and  even  found  their 
echo  in  the  United  States'  war  against  Spain 
p,  J  .,  on  account  of  Cuba  and  Porto 
Earl  ^  ^  Rico.  This  particular  fight  at 
Sea  Fiuhts  ^^^  Juan  de  Ulua  arose  over 
the  desire  of  the  English  to 
carry  on  a  trade  in  African  slaves  between 
Guinea  and  America  in  defiance  of  Spanish 
monopolies  of  commerce  and  privileges. 

Sir  John  Hawkins  had  begun  the  slave 
trade  under  the  indirect  permit — ^a  sub- 
concession  from  Genoese  and  Portuguese 
concessionaries— of  Spain  in  1562,  and  it 
had    proved    so    profitable     that    Queen 


Elizabeth  had  put  two  of  her  ships  and 
several  thousand  pounds  into  the  business. 
This  unofficial  war  between  England  and 
Spain,  provoked  by  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  monopolies  of  trade  and  com- 
munications between  Europe  and  America, 
Africa,  and  India,  was  continued  by 
Drake's  piratical  expeditions  of  1572-1573 
,  and  1577-1580,  in  the  course 
p.  .  of  which  he  attacked  and  plun- 
-  J  ..  dered  the  Spanish  settlements 
xp  01  s     ^^     g^^         Domingo,     Florida, 

Cuba,  and,  most  wonderful  of  all,  Peru. 
He  sailed  round  South  America,  attacked 
the  Spaniards  on  .the  undefended  Pacific 
coast,  and  then,  first  of  all  leaders  of  men, 
so  far  as  we  know,  completed  the  circum- 
navigation of  the  globe.  Magellan,  the 
Portuguese  navigator,  died  in  the  Spice 
Islands  after  discovering  the  Magellan 
Straits.  His  ships,  not  he,  completed  the 
first  voyage  round  the  world.  In  1585, 
when  Spain  and  England  were  at  last  at 
open  war,  followed  Drake's  Carthagena 
expedition,  and  in  1587  was  the  raid  on 
Cadiz,  in  which  he  destroyed  or  captured 
eighty  Spanish  ships  which  were  employed 
in  preparing  for  the  great  Armada. 

The  exploits  or  outrages  of  Drake  were 
among  provocative  causes  of  the  dis- 
]:)atch  of  the  great  Armada  which  was 
effectually  to  subdue  this  nation,  of  Pro- 
testant pirates  in  the  Northern  seas. 
The  resistance  offered  to  this  mighty 
Spanish  fleet  may  be  justly  regarded  as 
one  of  the  earliest  glories  of  the  English 
Navy,  but  we  should  also  not  forget 
that  it  was  equally  Dutch  valour  which 
rendered  the  purposes  of  the  Armada 
impossible  and  saved  England  from  ex- 
periencing at  the  hands  of  Spain  woes 
such  as  England  herself  had  inflicted  on 
Ireland.   Frobisher,  Howard  of  Effingham, 

55-5 


HARMS  WORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Drake  and  Hawkins,  tackled  this  enormous 

and    clumsy    fleet    of    sixty    magnificent 

vessels    as    soon    as    it   had   entered    the 

British  Channel,  and  followed  it  resolutely 

to  the  Straits  of  Dover.      Here,  whilst  the 

Spanish    naval    commander-in-chief   was 

awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  Duke  of  Parma's 

army  for  England,  which  was  to  sally  out 

from  the   Flemish    and   Dutch 

...*  o°    -1.  seaports     in     shallow    vessels, 

the  Spanish    ,,     ^    ,  t-\    i    t_ 

.        .  the     brave     Dutch     mariners 

blockaded  the  coasts  and 
deltas  of  the  Netherlands,  and  prevented 
the  Spanish  soldiers  from  putting  out  to 
sea.  During  this  hesitancy  an  English 
sea-captain,  probably  Winter,  thought  of 
the  splendid  idea — really  originated  some 
years  earlier  by  an  Italian  engineer,  Giam- 
belli — of  sending  fireships  to  drift  with 
wind  and  tide  into  the  midst  of  the 
huddled  and  anchored  Armada.  This  for 
the  first  time  scattered  the  Armada.  The 
decisive  engagement  and  the  complete  rout 
of  the  fleet  took  place  next  day.  though  the 
chase  was  continued  on  the  part  of  the  Eng- 
lish to  as  far  north  as  the  latitude  of  56°. 

The  next  great  naval  exploit  was  the 
capture  of  Cadiz  in  1596,  by  Essex,  Raleigh, 
Effingham,  and  Howard,  followed  by  a 
raid  on  Spanish  shipping  in  the  Azores 
Archipelago.  Then  for  a  time  Spain  and 
England  were  at  peace.  The  next  enemy 
to  be  encountered  on  the  sea  was  Holland. 
An  EngHsh  fleet  under  Monk,  commissioned 
by  the  Lord  Protector  Cromwell,  defeated 
the  Dutch  off  the  North  Foreland  in 
1653,  and  destroyed  much  Dutch  shipping 
in  the  Texel. 

All  this  warfare  with  Holland,  like  that 
with  Spain,  arose  over  the  question  of 
commercial  monopolies  in  the  Colonies 
and  the  Eastern  seas.  Admiral  Blake 
proceeded  to  the  Mediterranean  in  1656 
and  bombarded  Porto  Farina  and  Goletta 
on  the  coast  of  Tunis,  to  punish  the 
dey  of  that  Turkish  principality  for 
attacks  on  British  shipping.  In  1657 
,  Blake's  fleet  won  a  victory 
ng  an  s  ^^^^  ^^^  Spaniards  at  Cadiz. 
fh  N  "^  The  glory  of  the  navy  has  been 
a  peculiarly  English  one,  and 
perhaps  accounts  for  the  predominance  of 
England  over  Ireland  and  Scotland.  The 
Scandinavians,  who  colonised  the  coasts 
of  Ireland  and  Scotland,  did  not  implant 
there  as  strong  a  lust  for  a  seafaring  life  as 
they  did  all  round  maritime  England,  from 
Berwick  to  Penzance,  and  from  Dungeness 
to  Lancaster.  Of  course,  English  navigation 

5526 


was  confined  pretty  much  to  home  waters 
— to  the  shores  of  Scandinavia,  Holland, 
France,  Spain,  and  Portugal — during  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  the  first  great  swoops 
of  discovery  and  conquest  under  the  early 
Tudors  were  made  at  the  instigation 
of  Venetian,  Genoese  and  Portuguese 
pilots  or  captains  ;  just  as  under  the  later 
Plantagenet  kings  the  English  marine 
learnt  much  from  the  Flemings  and  the 
Dieppois.  But  by  the  time  of  Elizabeth's 
accession  the  English — equally  with  the 
Dutch — were  the  hardiest  navigators  and 
the  boldest  sea-fighters  in  the  world. 

Thenceforth,  though  they  were  not  too 
proud  to  learn  new  methods  of  naval 
construction  or  of  maritime  warfare  from 
Holland,  Spain,  France,  Genoa,  or  from  the 
Algerine  pirates,  the  English  needed  no  one 
to  show  them  the  way  into  strange  seas, 
nor,  in  the  long  run,  could  any  other  navy 
prevail  against  them.  They  fought  and 
beat  the  Portuguese  off  the  coasts  of  Africa, 
India,  and  the  Persian  Gulf ;  they 
withstood  the  mighty  ships  of  Spain  in 
English  and  Irish  waters,  off  the  coasts  of 
Spain  and  of  the  Mediterranean,  in  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Carib- 
bean    Sea    along    the    Pacific 


The  Naval 
Triumphs 
of  England 


coasts  of  South  America,  amid 
the  Spice  Islands,  and  the  archi- 
pelago of  the  Philippines.  They  won 
final  victories  over  the  Dutch  at  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies— since  when,  for  unexplained  causes, 
Holland  has  ceased  to  be  a  first-class 
naval  power — and  closed  their  chequered 
but  generally  successful  duel  with  the 
French  Navy  by  the  battle  of  Trafalgar. 

America  fought  with  equal  valour  and 
address,  but  with  infinitely  smaller  re- 
sources, in  the  war  of  1812-1814,  and  since 
then,  happily,  has  been  at  peace  with  us. 
Turkey  received  an  occasional  drubbing  in 
the  Eastern  Mediterranean  or  the  Red 
Sea  between  the  seventeenth  and  the  early 
nineteenth  centuries.  The  Barbary  rovers 
were  finally  settled  by  Lord  Exmouth's 
bombardment  of  Algiers  in  1816.  Since 
1806  Great  Britain  has  held  the  world's 
championship  on  the  open  sea.  And  the 
glory  till  that  date  lay  chiefly,  though 
not  entirely,  with  men  of  English  birth. 

In  1692,  Admiral  Russell  defeated  the 
French  in  a  great  naval  battle  off  LaHogue, 
and  thus  baulked  a  most  serious  attempt 
on  the  part  of  Louis  XIV.  to  restore  the 
Stuart  dynasty  under  conditions  which 
would  have  materially  crippled  the  British 


THE    FIGHTING     FORCES    OF    THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 


Empire  beyond  the  seas.  The  British  Navy 
co-operated  with  an  Anglo-German  force  in 
the  capture  of  Gibraltar  in  1704.  In  1718, 
as  a  consequence  of  the  War  of  the  Spanish 
Succession  and  the  disputes  over  Italy,  Sir 
George  Byng  fought  a  successful  battle 
which  practically  destroyed  the  Spanish 
fleet  off  the  coast  of  Sicily. 

In  1747  Admiral  (Lord)  Anson,  Com- 
modore Fox,  and  Admiral  (Lord)  Hawke, 
inflicted  tremendous  naval  defeats  and 
losses  on  the  French  Navy  between  Cape 
Finisterre  and  Belle  He,  thus  cutting  off 
France  from  intervention  in  the  West 
Indies  and  North  America.  In  the  war  of 
1756-63,  the  British  Navy  accomplished 
many  noteworthy  feats  which  atoned  for 
the  feebleness  displayed  by  Admiral  Byng 
over  the  relief  of  Minorca.  It  prevented  all 
chance  of  reinforcing  Montcalm  in  Canada, 
or  Lally  in  India.  Lord  Hawke  in  1759 
destroyed  the  main  portion  of  the  French 
fleet  off  the  mouth  of  the  Vilaine  on  the  coast 
of  Brittany.  In  1762,  Lord  Albemarle 
and  Admiral  Pocock  led  a  naval  force 
which  attacked  and  captured  Havana,  and 
practically  the  whole  island  of  Cuba ;  in  the 
.  same  year  Admiral  Cornish 
.  *w*^^  *?v  and  Sir  William  Draper,  sail- 
j,       .  ing  from  Madras,  achieved  the 

same  result  with  Manila  and 
the  Philippines.  Both  these  expeditions 
enriched  the  war-chest  of  the  British 
Government  with  several  million  sterling. 

The  luckless  War  of  American  Indepen- 
dence was,  in  its  earlier  stages,  marked  by 
singular  ill-success  on  the  part  of  the 
British  Navy,  which  proved  unequal  to  the 
task  of  preventing  the  transport  of  large 
bodies  of  French  troops  to  America,  and 
failed  to  beat  or  evade  the  French,  or  to 
seize  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  as  a  return 
blow  to  the  Dutch  for  joining  the  coalition. 
But,  in  1781,  Admiral  Parker,  in  the  battle 
of  the  Dogger  Bank,  administered  such  a 
severe  punishment  to  the  Dutch  fleet  as 
disabled  it  for  the  remainder  of  the  war. 

In  1782,  Rodney  defeated  the  Comte  de 
Grasse  off  Dominica,  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  thus  checked  the  very  serious  depreda- 
tions which  the  French  were  making  on 
British  possessions  and  commerce  in  that 
quarter.  Nevertheless,  this  period  of  the 
eighteenth  century  (1775-1785)  witnessed 
the  greatest  ascendancy  of  French  sea 
power.  The  British  naval  supremacy  was 
never  so  seriously  threatened  as  between 
1770  and  1892.  Lord  Howe's  victory  off 
Ushant  on  the  "  Glorious  First  of  June," 


1794,  upset  the  plans  of  the  French  Republic 
for  the  invasion  of  maltreated,  disaffected 
Ireland.  In  the  battle  of  Camperdown,  in 
1797,  Admiral  Duncan  destroyed  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  Dutch  fleet,  which  was  then 
under  French  orders,  and  in  the  same  year 
Admiral  Jervis  rendered  a  similar  service 
in  regard  to  the  naval  force  of  Spain  off 
The  British  ^^P^^  ^t.  Vincent.  The  year 
Navy's  Checks  ,^798  saw  Nelson  s  marvel- 
to  Napoleon  ^^^  Victory  over  the  French 
battleships  and  transports  at 
Aboukir  Bay,  a  defeat  which  hopelessly 
crippled  the  French  plans  for  the  permanent 
conquest  of  Egypt.  A  detachment  of  the 
British  Fleet  under  Sir  Sydney  Smith,  by 
its  watchfulness  along  the  Syrian  coast  and 
its  defence  of  Acre,  rendered  impossible 
what  otherwise  might  have  still  taken 
place — a  conquest  by  Napoleon  of  the 
empire  of  the  Nearer  East.  Similarly,  the 
naval  action  of  the  British  off  Valetta 
made  it  possible  for  the  Maltese  to  expel 
the  French  from  their  island.  The  same 
force  prevented  Napoleon's  soldiers  from 
capturing  Sicily  and  Sardinia. 

Calder's  victory  over  Villeneuve  off  Cape 
Finisterre  in  the  late  summer  of  1805, 
followed  by  Nelson's  never-to-be-forgotten 
achievement  of  Trafalgar — when  the  naval 
strength  of  Spain  and  France  was  ruined 
till  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  wars — fitly 
closes  this  amazing  record  of  victories  with 
a  crowning  grace  so  splendid,  so  complete, 
that  for  one  hundred  and  four  years  no 
sea  Power  or  group  of  Powers  has  thought 
it  wise  to  challenge  our  supremacy.  To 
Nelson,  more  than  to  any  other  hero  on 
the  roll  of  fame,  the  British  owe  the 
extent,  the  stability,  the  wealth,  and  the 
happiness  of  their  empire. 

Since  1805,  the  British  Fleet  has  fought 
no  action  of  vital  importance,  and  has, 
consequently,  no  striking  victory  to  record 
over  the  Great  Powers  of  the  world.  If 
the  navy  has  had  no  chance  to  add  to  its 
laurels  since  1814,  except  in  the  bombard- 
_  .  .  ,  „,  ment  of  Russian  forts  in  the 
Britain  s  Fleet  g^j^.^^  ^j^^  interference  with 
the  Mainstay  j^^]^-^^  ^^^  Egyptian  squad- 
of  the  Empire  °^^         r  -S        , 

rons  over  questions  of  Grreek 

and  Egyptian  independence,  the  chastise- 
ment of  Arab,  Malay,  Chinese  and  negro 
slave-traders,  and  the  capture  of  piratical 
South  American  warships;  its  existence  and 
readiness  for  action  have  been  the  chief 
mainstay  of  the  imperial  forces.  Without 
this  overwhelming  fleet  we  could  never  have 
restrained  France  from  fresh  descents  on 

5527 


FLAGSHIP     OF      THE     ENGLISH     FLEET     AT     THE      TIME     OF     THE      SPANISH      ARMADA 


SBSfiK^ 


/ 


WARSHIPS     OF     THE     lirvifc.     Or-     OUEEN     ELIZABETH 


% 


'  Tb  '  -iB  '-igpz.        '  mi 


THE     ROYAL     PRINCE:     A     WARSHIP     OF     THE     TIME     OF    JAMES     I. 


BRITISH     SHIPS     OF     WAR     IN     THE     TIMES     OF     ELIZABETH     AND     JAMES     I, 

5528 


FAMOUS  FIGHTING  SHIPS,  WITH  THE  VICTORY  IN    RIGHT  FOREGROUND,  OFF  SPITHEAD 

BATTLESHIPS    OF     THE     GEORGIAN     AND     EARLY     VICTORIAN     PERIODS 
2  C  23  D  5529 


HARMS  WORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Egypt  and  Syria  in  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  Russia  from  occupying 
Constantinople  or  Peking,  Germany  from 
armed  intervention  in  South  Africa, 
Portugal  from  annexing  Nyassaland,  or 
Turkey  from  resuming  her  sway  in  Egypt 
or  absorbing  the  Imamate  of  Oman.  But, 
as  before  stated,  it  has  always  been  behind 
^.     . .  our     land     forces    to    ensure 

..  .  J  .  their  victory  sooner  or  later. 
Pirate  Nevertheless,  in  this  record  of 

achievements  mention  might 
be  made  of  the  various  actions  of  the  navy 
in  the  building  up  of  the  empire  since  1815. 
In  1816,  when  the  anxiety  of  the  Napo- 
leonic struggle  was  at  an  end,  it  was 
decided  to  put  a  stop  once  and  for  all  to 
the  insolence  of  the  Algerine  pirates. 

Since  Blake's  appearance  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, they  had  been  chary  of  interference 
with  British  shipping,  but  they  still  inter- 
fered with  the  Maltese  and  the  Ionian 
Islands,  and  continued  their  piracies  along 
the  coast  of  Naples,  Sicily,  and  Sardinia. 
Thousands  of  wretched  Maltese,  Greeks, 
and  Italians  were  life-long  slaves  of  the 
Turkish  rulers  of  Tripoh,  Tunis,  Bona,  and 
Algiers.  Lord  Exmouth  was  proceeding  to 
attack  Algiers,  after  freeing  the  Christian 
slaves  of  Tunis  and  Tripoli  without 
recourse  to  force,  when  he  was  joined  by 
a  small  but  efficient  Dutch  fleet  under 
Admiral  van  Capellen.  Together  the 
British  and  Dutch  smashed  the  fortifica- 
tions of  Algiers,  and  destroyed  the  dey's 
warships,  besides  exacting  ample  repara- 
tion for  past  injuries. 

In  1827  the  British,  French  and  Russian 
Fleets  destroyed  the  Turco-Egyptian  war 
navy  under  the  Egyptian  Ibrahim  Pasha 
in  the  Bay  of  Navarino  or  Pylus,  south- 
west coast  of  Greece,  with  a  view  to 
establishing  the  independence  of  Greece. 
Then  ensued  a  long  spell  of  peace  on  the 
seas,  scarcely  broken,  if  at  all,  by  the 
police  duties  of  the  British  Navy  on  the 
West  Coast  of  Africa — where  steam  vessels 
_  .    .  ,  were  first  emplo3'ed  in  1827 — 

^  , ,,,  the  Malay  archipelago,  the 
Naval  Wars    ,xr     -    t     r  i    ii        ti      -i^ 

with  Chi  West  indies  and  the  Pacific. 
In  1840,  the  British  Fleet  in  the 
Mediterranean  bombarded  and  captured 
that  Acre  which  Napoleon  could  not  take  ; 
but  this  was  when  Britain  was  endeavour- 
ing to  force  Mehemet  Ali,  the  viceroy  of 
Egypt  and  vicarious  conqueror  of  Syria, 
back  into  his  subjection  to  the  Porte. 
During  the  first  conflict  with  China, 
British  naval  forces  occupied  the  Chusan 

5530 


archipelago  and  Hong  Kong,  destroyed 
the  Bogue  forts  which  protected  the 
entrance  to  the  Canton  River,  and  even- 
tually enabled  British  land  forces  to 
occupy  Canton,  Amoy,  Shanghai  and 
other  coast  towns.  In  the  second  Chinese 
War,  the  navy  again  occupied  Canton 
after  a  bombardment.  It  also  co-operated 
in  the  attempt  to  force  the  river  access 
to  Peking  in  1859-1860,  and  in  suppressing 
the  Boxer  revolt  in  1899-1900, 
/:  The  navy,  in  1863  and  1864,  conducted 
to  a  successful  issue  our  only  armed 
conflict  with  Japan.  The  dangerous 
Malay  pirates  of  Borneo  and  the  China 
Sea  were  dealt  with  between  1840  and 
1857.  A  naval  expedition,  under  Admiral 
Sir  William  Hewett,  cleared  out  the  pirates 
of  the  Congo  estuary  in  1875.  Piracy  in 
the  Persian  Gulf  has  also  been  suppressed 
by  the  patrolling  of  British  war- vessels. 

From  1826  until  1885  a  detachment  of 
our  navy  watched  the  east  and  west 
coasts  of  Africa  to  suppress  the  slave 
trade.  A  heavy  toll  of  deaths  from  fever 
and  climatic  causes  has  been  exacted 
from  the  west  coast  service,  while  on  the 
east  not  a  few  lives  have  been 
uppression  ^^^^  ^^  ^j^^^  attempts  to  board, 

e,  T,  .  inspect,  or  capture  Arab  slave- 
olave  Trade     t     ^         ,^  ■         n  ., 

daus.     Occasionally,    on    the 

west  coast,  the  measures  taken  to  stop  the 
sale  and  export  of  slaves  have  risen  to  the 
importance  of  small  wars.  Thus,  the 
roadstead  of  Dahomeh  was  blockaded  for 
seven  years  from  1876  to  1883.  Lagos, 
a  great  slave- trading  stronghold,  was 
bombarded  in  1851.  Out  of  opposition  to 
the  slave  raiding  and  trading,  which  were 
ruining  interior  Africa,  arose  the  desire  to 
combine  a  practical,  honest  commerce 
with  philanthropic  police  work.  It  was, 
therefore,  attempted  in  1841,  and  later, 
in  1856-9,  to  open  up  the  Lower  Niger 
and  Benue.  In  the  first  of  these  expedi- 
tions the  Royal  Navy  and  naval  officers 
played  a  considerable  part,  while  the 
second  was  also  under  naval  supervision. 

Gradually  the  navy,  conjoined  with  a 
consular  service,  came  to  police  the  whole 
Niger  Delta  and  the  Kamerun.  This 
state  of  affairs  grew  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century  into  the  British 
protectorate  of  Southern  Nigeria.  Before 
this  protectorate  possessed  a  properly 
organised  police  force,  British  war  vessels 
iniiicted  salutary  punishment  on  the 
eagerly  commercial  but  very  bloodthirsty 
negroes  of  the  Niger  Delta.     There  were 


THE    FIGHTING    FORCES    OF    THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 


naval  expeditions  to  deal  with  the 
turbulent  people  of  Opobo  (1887-1892), 
the  cannibals  of  Brass  (1895),  while  an 
expedition  mainly  naval,  conducted  with 
remarkable  skill,  under  circumstances  of 
the  acutest  difficulty,  put  an  end  for  ever 
to  the  blood-stained  rule  of  Benin  (1897). 
Gunboats  and  naval  detachments  have 
also  maintained  or  restored  order  on  the 
Gambia  and  up  the  Sierra  Leone  rivers. 

In  Eastern  Africa  the  navy  has  played 
a  considerable  part  in  the  operations 
(1891-1895)  against  the  slave-trading  Arabs 
and  Yaos  of  Nyassaland.  Zanzibar  was 
bombarded  in  1896  when  the  reactionary 
party  among  the  Arabs  wished  to  place  - 
on  the  throne  a  candidate  who  was  not 
the  recognised  heir.  Earlier  than  this,  in 
1895,  a  naval  expedition  succeeded  after 
an  exceedingly  tough  light  under  difficul- 
ties of  swamp,  forest  and  scrub,  and 
native  ferocity — resembling  the  expedition 
to  Benin — in  conquering  the  little  indepen- 
dent Swahili  sultanate  of  Vitu,  which  had 
so  long  defied  attack  from  Muscat  or 
Zanzibar  Arabs,  Germans  or  British. 
Our  navy  during  the  whole  nineteenth 
,    century  has   policed   the   Red 

Scrvicc7  *  ^^^'  ^^^®  ^^^^  °^  ^^®"'  ^^^  ^^® 

th*  St  adjoining  coasts  of  Somaliland 
and  Southern  Arabia,  ad- 
ministering chastisement,  when  they 
could  be  got  at,  to  Arab  sheikhs  and 
Somali  tribes.  It  has  more  than  once 
intervened  to  maintain  the  Imam  of 
Muscat  on  the  shaky  throne  of  Oman. 

Its  services  during  the  Egyptian  War 
of  1882  were  mainly  the  bombardment  of 
Alexandria  and  the  control  of  the  Suez 
Canal.  It  contributed  a  contingent  to 
the  Gordon  relief  expedition  of  1884-1885, 
and  intervened  effectually  to  prevent  the 
Dervishes  from  capturing  Swuakin. 

In  the  New  World,  since  1814,  its 
services  to  the  empire  have  been  mainly 
limited  to  supporting  the  civil  arm  at 
times  of  ebullition  and  threatened  revolt 
among  the  negro  population  of  the  West 
Indies  and  British  Guiana  ;  or  to  exacting 
reparation  for  injuries  to  British  commerce 
or  British  subjects  on  the  part  of  the  im- 
pulsive governments  of  Central  America. 
Off  the  south  Peruvian  coast,  H.M.S.  Shah, 
of  the  British  Navy,  in  1877,. pursued  and 
sank  the  rebel  gunboat  of  Peru,  the  Huas- 
car,  which  had  turned  pirate  on  a  large  scale. 

In  Oceania  the  navy  has  never  yet 
fought  a  great  battle,  but  for  a  hundred 
years  and  more  it  has  maintained  a  police 


of  ever  increasing  vigilance  among  the 
many  Pacific  and  Papuan  islands  under 
independent  chiefs  or  British  protection. 
It  has,  since  1870,  protected  the  South 
Sea  Islanders  against  unscrupulous 
Europeans  or  has  chastised  them  for  un- 
provoked acts  of  aggression  against  each 
other  or  against  the  white  man.     Lastly, 

„  .  in    that    nobler    war,  the   fight 

Science  •      ,    •  j.i     j.      j.  1 

agamst  ignorance,  that  struggle 

th  N  ^°^  ^^^^  disinterested  gains  of 
^  pure  science,  the  British  Navy 
has  for  the  last  150  years  played  a  notable 
part.  In  1768,  Captain  James  Cook  sailed 
for  the  Pacific  in  H.M.S.  Endeavour  (only 
370  tons),  in  command  of  a  scientific 
expedition  to  observe  the  transit  of  Venus 
across  the  sun's  disc.  The  astronomical 
observations  were  completed  at  Tahiti,  and 
Cook  then  directed  his  course  for  the 
scarcely  known  southern  continent,  re- 
discovering New  Zealand  on  the  way. 
The  botanists  and  zoologists  on  board 
his  ship  had  the  privilege  of  first  collecting 
and  bringing  back  for  the  enlightenment  of 
European  science  specimens  of  the  extra- 
ordinary fauna  and  flora  of  Australia. 

In  1773,  the  first  directly  naval  expedi- 
tion sailed  from  England  for  the  Arctic 
regions,  though  seamen  in  the  service 
of  the  Crown  had  figured  much  earlier 
in  this  field  of  research.  Captain  Phipps, 
R.N.,  procceeded  as  far  north  as  80°  48' 
N.  Lat.,  with  the  ships  Racehorse  and 
Carcass,  beyond  Spitzbergen.  Since  then 
the  share  of  the  British  Navy  in  Arctic 
discovery  has  been  so  gigantic  as  to  be 
impossible  of  description  in  a  few  sentences. 

Among  many  great  names  on  the  roll  of 
Arctic  exploration  may  be  mentioned  Sir 
John  Franklin,  Sir  John  Ross,  Sir  Edward 
Parry,  Sir  George  Back,  Admiral 
F.  W.  Beechey,  Sir  Leopold  McClintock, 
Sir  R.  J.  McClure,  Captain  Austin,  Sir 
R.  Colhnson,  Sir  Edward  Belcher,  Sir 
Albert  Markham,  Sir  Clements  Markham, 
and  Sir  George  Nares — all  of  the  Royal 
Navy,  in  one  category  or 
Explorers     ^^^^^^^^     Between   them,   and 

*D  *  ^i  Ki  with  th^  valuable  assistance  of 
Royal  Navy  ^^^^    Hudson's   Bay  Company. 

served  by  such  men  as  Hearne,  Mac- 
kenzie, Simpson,  Dr.  Rae,  and  Sir  John 
Richardson,  they  laid  down  on  the  world's 
charts  the  greater  part  of  the  coast-line 
of  North  America  and  its  huge  annectant 
islands  between  Bering's  Straits  and  the 
coast  of  Labrador.  The  Antarctic  regions 
were  first  explored  by  Captain  James  Cook, 

5531 


l6X2 


(700 


1706 


b^ 


1799 


Ai^'        '  Vl^     ^ 


HISTORIC    TYPES    OF    THE    SCOTS    GREYS,    THE    OLDEST    CAVALRY    REGIMENT 


5533 


HISTORIC    TYPES    OF    THE    COLDSTREAM    GUARDS,    ONEJ   OF    THE    OLDEST    REGIMENTS 

5533 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


in  1773,  in  two  ships  of  the  Royal  Navy, 
H.M.S.  Resolution  and  Adventure.  Captain 
James  Ross  commanded  the  greatest 
naval  expedition  directed  towards  the  South 
Pole,  that  of  1839-1843.  And  the  last  ex- 
plorations of  these  regions — English  and 
Scottish,  1903-1904, 1908-1909 — have  been 
conducted  by  officers  of  the  Royal  Navy 
Ti.  u-  X  •  (Captain  Scott  and  Lieu- 
vt'a  rlr'  *^"^^^ Shackleton).  In  1821- 
HM^  B  !  ^^22,  Lieutenant  Beechey, 
cag  c  j^  >^- ^  surveyed  the  coasts 
and  ruins  of  the  Cyrenaica,  then,  as  now, 
one  of  the  least  known  parts  .of  Africa., 
A  landmark  in  the  history  of  human, 
knowledge  will  always  be  the  voyage  of 
H.M.S.  Beagle,  in  1831-1836,  with  Darwin 
as  surgeon  and  naturalist.  Captain  W.  F. 
Owen's  great  surveying  voyages  (1822- 
1827)  all  round  the  continent  of  Africa 
and  Madagascar  were  truly  remarkable  in 
their  enormous  additions  to  geographical 
knowledge.  For  the  first  time  in  history, 
Africa  w^as  correctly  outlined  in  detail  in 
almost  all  the  intricacies  of  its  coasts  ; 
in  the  depths  or  shallowness,  the  rocks, 
shoals,  sandbanks,  deep  channels,  and 
creeks  of  its  harbours,  estuaries,  river- 
mouths,  bays,  gulfs,  and  lagoons. 

Owen's  voyage  was  the  forerunner  of 
a  general  survey  of  the  whole  world  of 
waters  by  the  British  Navy.  There  is  not  a 
mile  of  coast  in  the  known  continents  and 
islands  of  both  hemispheres  which  has  not, 
at  some  time  or  other,  been  surveyed  and 
sounded  by  a  British  ship.  The  charts  of 
the  Hydrographical  department  of  the 
British  Admiralty  are  in  use  all  over  the 
world  as  works  of  standard  reference. 

The  four  years'  scientific  researches 
carried  on  by  the  staff  and  crew  of  H.M.S. 
Challenger  (1872-1876)  were  epoch-making 
in  their  results.  All  the  great  oceans  were 
examined  as  to  their  depths,  currents, 
temperatures,  fauna  (especially  the  living 
creatures  of  profound  depths),  and  the 
conformation  of  their  floors  ;  the  formation 
_     -^  of  coral  islands  was  examined ; 

•    c  •  **Jr-     the  action  of  the  sun's  rays  on 
P  .         sea  water  was  studied ;  nor  was 

the  ethnology  of  the  Pacific 
Islands  overlooked,  and  the  ornithology — 
the  petrels,  gulls,  and  pelicans — of  the 
ocean  wastes,  or  of  oceanic  rocks  and  atolls. 

The  Imperial  army  in  its  personnel  and 
recruitment  has  not  always  been  as 
English  or  as  British  as  the  navj'.  For 
example,  the  Foreign  Legion  recruited  by 
the  British  Government  for  service  during 

5534 


the  Crimean  War — not  including  Turkish 
irregulars;  Bashi-Bazouks — amounted  to 
16,559  soldiers — German,  nearly  10,000, 
Swiss,  and  Italians.  Until  the  close  of  the 
Crimean  War  the  British  Government  did 
not  hesitate  to  fight  its  land  battles  by 
means  of  foreign  mercenaries.  Plan- 
tagenet  kings  accomplished  much  of  their 
conquests  of  England,  Wales,  Ireland, 
and  of  Scotland  with  French,  Gascon, 
Flemish,  Burgundian  troops ;  though  Henry 
VIII.  was  all  English  in  his  armed  force. 
Mary  I.  employed  Flemings  and  Spaniards 
abroad.  Elizabeth  more  than  once  relied 
entirely  on  English  valour  for  her  incursions 
into  the  Netherlands  and  the  American- 
Spanish  dominions,  and  also  for  her 
ruthless  and  destructive  conquest  of 
Ireland.  James  I.  supported  his  colonial 
seizures  with  English  soldiers,  a  large 
proportion  of  whom  were  what  we 
should  now  call  convicts. 

But  in  the  times  of  the  Stuarts — the 
early  Stuarts  especially — feudal  instincts 
were  still  aliv^e.  Great  nobles  were  still,  to 
some  extent,  the  rulers  of  shires  or  of 
smaller  districts.  When  James  I.  or 
Charles  I.  "sold"  or  bestowed 
M  f°  ^^  chartered  any  West  India 
\  ^ '  "*  island  or  North  American 
^"^^  state  to  an  English  earl,  baron, 

or  marquess,  that  nobleman  in  person  or 
by  deputy  would  proceed  to  arm  and  equip 
a  number  of  lusty  and  adventurous  young 
men  from  among  his  tenantry  or  hangers- 
on — Irish,  as  well  as  English  and  Welsh — 
and  these  became  the  first  fighting  force 
against  interlopers,  against  Caribs,  Arawaks, 
'  Mohawks,  or  Choctaws.  Courtiers  and  peers 
who  were  financially  interested  in  the  East 
India  Company  furnished  likewise  the  few 
fighting  men,  not  actually  sailors,  who 
were  required  for  the  defence  of  the 
company's  small  forts,  to  defend  which, 
later,  large  native  armies  of  sepoys  and 
Eurasians  were  employed. 

It  was  really  not  till  the  struggle  between 
king  and  parliament  during  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century  that  the  English 
national  army  came  into  being  ;  and  this 
growth  was  to  some  extent  checked  after 
the  Restoration.  But  under  Charles  II. 
two  of  the  regiments  of  Lifeguards  (Cold- 
streams — the  Coldstreams  were  the  last 
vestige  of  Cromwell's  and  Monk's  standing 
armyr-and  ist  Lifeguards)  began,  which 
have  been  extended  and  continued  as  a 
corps  d'elite  to  the  present  day  ;  and  in 
this  reign  the  first  regiments  for  foreign 


THE    FIGHTING    FORCES    OF    THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 


service,  the  ist  and  2nd  Tangier  Regiments, 
cavalry  and  infantry,  "  Kirke's  Lambs," 
nowadays  known  as  the  1st  Dragoon 
Guards  and  the  Queen's,  or  Royal  West 
Surrey  Regiment,  were  recruited,  at  first 
mainly  from  amongst  the  rascaldom  of 
London  and  Dublin.  Wilham  IIL  em- 
ployed a  large  number  of  Dutch  and 
Danish  soldiers  in  his  fight  for  the  British 
Crown,  and  for  some  time  after  his 
coronation  kept  his  Dutch  Guards  in 
London.  In  fact,  he  really  conquered 
Ireland — and  thereby  retained  England — 
with  foreign  soldiers. 

George  I.  and  George  II.  brought  Ger- 
man regular  soldiers  to  England,  and, 
although  these  were  eventually  sent  back 
to  Hanover,  the  principle  of  recruiting 
German,  mainly  West  German,  merce- 
naries for  service  as,  and  with,  the  British 
Army  abroad  continued  until  1857,  having 
commenced  under  Queen  Anne.  To  these 
German  legions,  their  most  faithful,  un- 
complaining service,  their  unswerving 
loyalty  and  unstinted  bravery,  the  British 
Empire  owes  much.  As  elsewhere  related, 
they  became  in  many  individual  instances 
j^.  .  the  salt  of  our  early  colonial 

^.    .  .  .      efforts    in    America,    South 

..  *"  T,  J  "  '  Africa,  and  Australia.  There 
the  Tudors  ,        , .  , 

was  no  standmg  or  profes- 
sional army  in  England  for  home  or  foreign 
service  until  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  There  was  a  militia,  and  in 
feudal  days  and  under  the  Tudors  nearly 
all  the  vigorous  males  of  the  community 
of  all  ranks  of  life  were  trained  to  arms  of 
some  kind  instead  of  wasting  their  time  on 
fruitless  athletic  sports,  the  survival  in 
some  cases  of  actual  crude  efforts  to  attack 
or  defend.  The  serfs,  peasantry,  and 
mechanics  learnt  to  use  the  bow,  wield  the 
pike,  sling  the  stone,  discharge  the  rude 
musket.  They  were  the  infantry.  The 
gentry,  successors  of  the  knights,  were  the 
cavalry,  who  wielded  sword  or  battle-axe. 
This  cavalry  came  in  time  to  include 
the  enfranchised  yeomanry,  "  the  upper 
middle  class  "  of  to-day-  When  a  war, ' 
internecine  or  foreign,  was  toward,  the  king 
called  on  his  barons,  and  they  in  their  turn 
on  the  lesser  authorities  below  them,  to 
furnish  from  out  of  their  serfs  or  tenantry 
the  requisite  number  of  "  men-at-arms." 
And  thus  an  army  was  gathered  together. 
But  it  was  less  easy  to  do  this  for  foreign 
service.  Men  would  have  come  forward 
readily  enough  to  fight  within  a  few  days' 
or  even  weeks'  march  of  their  own  homes  ; 


but  when  it  came  to  embarking  on  board 
ship  to  leave  for  foreign  parts,  desertions 
were  numerous  among  the  militia.  More- 
over, the  period  during  which  feudal  ser- 
vice could  be  claimed  was  limited,  so 
that  the  English  kings  who  carried  on  war 
in  France  were  obliged  by  degrees  to  pay 
the  soldiers  whom  they  engaged  to  accom- 
V.  ,.  «!♦     A-       pany   them.      Edward    IIL 

First  Standing    f       /    ,  /-    ,    • 

j^fjj^y  landed  an  army  near  Calais 

;„  v^cri^^A  i"  1346  which  consisted  of 
m  li^ngland  u     ^  t-      i-  1 

about  25,000  English,  4,450 

Welsh,  and  1,100  Irish.  Their  daily  pay 
ranged  from  6s.  8d.  for  the  officers  of 
highest  rank  to  3d.  for  the  English  soldiers. 
The  Welsh,  being  less  skilled  in  archery, 
received  only  2d.  a  day.  This  was  the 
force  which  won  the  battle  of  Crecy. 

But,  except  for  companies  of  archers, 
halberdiers,  and  showy  men-at-arms,  who 
formed  part  of  the  sovereign's  household 
and  were  a  guard  about  the  palace,  there 
was  no  standing  army  in  England  until  the 
time  of  Cromwell's  protectorship.  Then 
there  was  a  public  force  of  80,000  men. 

When  Charles  II.  came  to  the  throne 
this  had  become  in  the  main  the  army 
under  Monk  which  practically  suppressed 
the  Rump  Parliament  and  gave  the  throne 
to  Charles.  Nevertheless,  the  king  made 
haste  to  disband  it,  only  retaining  out  of 
all  this  force  the  Coldstream  regiment, 
which  became  the  Coldstream  Guards,  the 
oldest  regiment  in  the  British  Army.  He 
also  received  back  to  English  service  the 
Scottish  soldiers  who  had  migrated  abroad 
after  the  downfall  of  Charles  I. 

After  Charles  II. 's  marriage,  however, 
it  became  necessary  to  raise  a  limited  body 
of  troops  for  the  occupation  and  garrison- 
ing of  Bombay  and  Tangier.  Men  were 
recruited,  therefore,  from  the  wilder  and 
more  reckless  remainder  of  Cromwell's 
army  to  form  the  Bombay  Fusiliers — after- 
wards known  as  the  103rd  Regiment — the 
first  regular  troops  of  the  Crown  main- 
tained in  India,  and  the  two  Tangier  regi- 
ments — one  of  cavalry  (the  1st 
The  Army  j^^^^j  Dragoons  of  to-day)  and 
°  1  II  ^^^  other  infantry  (Queen 
Catherine's  Regiment,  after- 
wards the  Queen's  or  the  Royal  West 
Surrey).  When  Tangier  was  restored  to  the 
Moors  these  regiments  were  brought  to 
England,  and  formed  part  of  the  regular 
standing  army,  which  at  the  end  of 
Charles  II. 's  reign  amounted  to  a  total  of 
16,500  men.  James  II.  raised  this  figure 
to  20,000.     Much  of  this  army  went  over 

5535 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


How  the 

Army 

has  Grown 


to  William  III.  after  his  landing,  but  for 
a  long  time  he  preferred  to  surround  his 
person  with  Danish  or  Dutch  soldiers, 
whose  fidelity  he  could  trust,  and  Ireland 
was  conquered  by  him  in  1689  by  an  army 
composed  of  Dutch,  Danish,  and  English 
regiments,  besides  contingents  from  the 
Ulster  Irish.  Twenty  British  regiments 
accompanied  Marlborough  to 
Flanders  on  the  outset  of  his 
marvellous  campaigns,  c?m- 
paigns  which  won  us  colonies 
and  the  outlines  of  empires  as  their  ultimate 
results.  In  1689  William  succeeded  in 
getting  the  Mutiny  Act  passed,  which, 
renewed  every  year,  makes  the  mainten- 
ance of  a  standing  army  legal,  and  subjects 
it,  through  its  finance,  to  the  constitutional 
control  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

Under  Anne  increasing  bodies  of  regular 
soldiers  were  sent  out  to  defend  the  Amer- 
ican colonies  and  West  Indies.  By  1713 
the  British  Colonial  Army  in  America 
amounted  to  11,000  men.  The  Home 
Army  at  this  period  was  about  70,000  of 
all  arms.  After  the  Peace  of  Utrecht  this 
force  was  disbanded,  all  but  about  8,000, 
to  which  George  I.  added  some  regiments 
of  German  Guards. 

In  1759  the  39th  Regiment  was  raised 
and  sent  out  to  India  to  assist  Clive  and 
the  forces  of  the  East  India  Compan3^  In 
1793  the  Home  Army  on  a  peace  footing 
was  only  17,013  men.  In  1803,  on  a  war 
footing,  it  had  risen  to  120,000  regulars, 


78,000  militia,  and  347,000  volunteers. 
In  1822  the  standing  army,  home  and 
foreign  service,  was  only  72,000  in  strength. 
By  1866  this  total  had  risen  to  203,500. 
At  the  present  day  the  regular  army  of 
the  United  Kingdom  consists  of  about 
252,400  officers  and  men,  of  whom  some 
20,000  are  non-combatants.  Of  this  total 
about  126,000  are  stationed  in  India  (which 
has  80,000),  and  in  the  crown  colonies, 
protectorates,  and  in  South  Africa. 

Since  the  Crimean  War,  where  European 
soldiery  has  been  necessary  to  the  situa- 
tion our  troops  have  been  recruited 
mainly  in  England,  Scotland,  Wales  and 
Ireland,  Man  and  Channel  Islands,  Malta, 
Canada,  Australia,  and  South  Africa. 
Slowly,  unwillingly,  the  truth  is  being 
realised  that  before  long  we  must,  in  the 
United  Kingdom  and  in  all  its  white 
daughter-nations,  submit  to  the  yoke  of 
universal,  compulsory  military  service  if 
we  are  to  hold  together  the  empire  we  won 
_  mainly  with  mercenaries.  As  a 

c    rospec    ^^^^^^j.^  ^^.g  English  have  always 

^  .  ^.  disliked  extremely  the  idea  of 
Coascription      ,,0  t  ti-i      i- 

State  Socialism.  Individualism 

has  in  all  things  been  our  guiding  principle. 
So  we  have  rebelled  at  all  effective  arrange- 
ments of  militia,  volunteers,  and  citizen 
armies.  But  by  one  expedient  after 
another,  cautious  statesmen  are  bringing 
us  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  option  of  con- 
scription or  abdication  as  a  ruling  power 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  United  Kingdom. 


A    DETACHMENT     OF     CAIJAD  AN     NORTH-WEST    MOUNTED    POLICE 


.5536 


PUTPOSTS^EMPIRE 

Being  a  series  of  photographs  taken  in 
widely  distant  parts  of  the  British  Empire, 
selected  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating 
the  diversity  of  the  countries  and  climes 
over     which     the     British     flag     is     flying. 


5537 


GENERAL    VIEW    OF    ST.    HELENA,    SHOWING    LADDER    HILL    ON    THE    RIGHT 


IN    THE    SEYCHELLES:    SCENE    IN    THE    ISLAND    OF    MAHE 


BRITISH     ISLANDS     IN     THE     ATLANTIC     AND     PACIFIC     OCEANS 


5538 


TOWN    AND    PORT    OF    ST.    GEORGE'S.    IN    THE    BERMUDAS 


PUBLIC    BUILDINGS    AT    BRIDGETOWN,     IN     BARBADOS 


SCENES     IN     BRITISH     ISLANDS    OF    THE    WEST    ATLANTIC 


5539 


CHRISTMAS    ISLAND,    SHOWING    THREE    OF    THE    TEN    EUROPEAN    RESIDENTS 


CAPE    BATHURST    IN    THE    PARRY    ISLANDS    OF    THE     ARCTIC    OCEAN 


WHANGAWA    BAY    1 


L     CHATHAM    ISLANDS 


BRITISH     TF^RRITORY     IN     THE     FAR     NQRTH     AND    SOUTH 


5540 


GENERAL    VIEV\/    OF    HONG    KONG    AS    SEEN    FROM    BOWEN    ROAD 


BHOTI    ENCAMPMENT    IN   THE    FARTHEST    NORTH-WEST    OF    INDIA 


SEA-COAST     AND     MOUNTAIN     OUTPOSTS     OF     THE     FAR     EAST 


5541 


ID*- 


ASCENSION    ISLAND,    WHICH    IS    "RATED"    AS    A    BRITISH    MAN-OF-WAR 


TRISTAN    DACUNHA:    "EDINBURGH,"    THE    ONLY    SETTLEMENT    ON    THE    ISLAND 


PITCAIRN    ISLAND,    INHABITED    BY    DESCENDANTS    OF    MUTINEERS    OF    THE    BOUNTY 


LONELY     ISLANDS     OF    THE     OCEAN     WHERE    THE     BRITISH     FLAG     FLIES 
5542 


BAFFiN'S    BAY,    SHOWING    NORTHERNMOST    INHABITED    HOUSE    IN    AMERICA 


ALBERT    HARBOUR,     ALBERT    LAND,    IN    THE    ARCTIC    REGIONS 


POINTS     OF     BRITISH     TERRITORY     IN     THE     FROZEN     NORTH 


5543 


A    TRADING    STATION    IN    THE    WESTERN    SOLOMON    ISLANDS 


BUYING    COPRA    AT    MARAN    IN    THE    SOLOMON    ISLANDS 


BRITISH     TRADING     CENTRES     IN     THE    SOUTH     SEAS 


5544 


THE 

BRITISH 

EMPIRE 

iX 


BY    SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON, 

OC.M.G. 


COMPOSITION   OF  THE    EMPIRE 

THE  VARIED  PEOPLES  UNDER  THE  BRITISH  FLAG 
THEIR  CUSTOMS,  LANGUAGES  AND  RELIGIONS 


'"THE  British  Empire  should  be  divided 

■^      into  two  distinct  sections^that  which 

is  governed  from  London,  and  that  which 

governs    itself.     The    first    is   the    special 

appanage   of   Great  Britain   and  Ireland, 

and  the  second  is  rapidly  differentiating 

into    a    series    of    independent    states — 

daughter    nations — managing    their    own 

affairs,  political,  fiscal,   commercial,  with 

little  or  no  concern  for  the  requirements 

and  interests  of  the  metropolitan  kingdom. 

They  are  bound  to  us  in  some  vaguely 

filial  way  ;  bound  to  us  mostly  at  present 

by  finance,  by  a  remarkable  community 

of  race-feeHng — except  possibly   in  those 

rare  sections  where  the  nationality  of  origin 

and  mother  tongue  were  different — by  the 

use   of    the     same     language,    the    same 

irrational  weights  and  measures,  the  same 

literature  and  art,  the  same  religious  beUefs 

and  prejudices,  and  by  the  acceptance  of 

the  same  sovereign  head.     The 

countries   of   the  first  section, 

outside  Great  Britain,  Ireland, 

Man,  the  Channel  Islands,  and 

the  small  Mediterranean  possessions,   are 

inhabited  in  the  main  by  yellow,  brown,  or 

black   men,   essentially   non-European  in 

race,  rehgion,  civilisation,  and  languages  ; 

those  of  the  second  section  are ' '  white  men's 

lands,"  where  the  preponderating  mass  of 

the  population  is  in  origin  of  the  white 

European     stock,    mainly     Anglo-Keltic, 

and  where  the  climate  and  conditions  are 

of  a  nature  to  permit  of  the  white  man 

raising  a  vigorous   progeny,   which  shall 

become  the  real  indigenes  of  the  land.    * 

The  first  section — the  Inner  Empire 
— includes,  outside  Great  Britain,  Ireland, 
Man,  and  the  Channel  Islands,  Gibraltar, 
Malta,  and  Cyprus;  the  control  of  Egypt,  and 
the  protectorate  over  the  Anglo-Egyptian 
Sudan  ;  the  Crown  colony  of  the  Gambia, 
the  Crown  colony  and  protectorate  of 
Sierra  Leone,  the  Gold  Coast  Colony, 
Lagos,    and    Southern   Nigeria,    the   vast 

2D  28  D 


Britain's 
Vast  Inner 
Empire 


territories  of  Northern  Nigeria  ;  the  South 
Atlantic  islands  of  Ascension,  St.  Helena, 
artd  Tristan  d'Acunha ;  British  Central 
Africa,  including  Nyassaland ;  the  island 
of  Mauritius  and  its  dependencies,  the 
Seychelles  Archipelago  ;  the  protectorates 
of  Zanzibar,  British  East 
Africa,  Uganda,   and    Somali- 


Territories 
Under  the 
British  Flag 


land ;  the  vast  Empire  of  India, 
stretching  from  Aden  and 
Perim  at  the  southern  entrance  of  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  large  island  of  Socotra,  off  the 
Gulf  of  Aden,  right  across  Southern  Arabia 
to  the  Persian  Gulf  and  Eastern  Persia  to 
Baluchistan,  and  thence  through  India 
proper  to  the  frontiers  of  Siam  and  French 
Indo-China ;  the  island  of  Ceylon  and 
the  Malchve  Archipelago ;  the  Malay 
Peninsula  from  Burma  to  Singapore  (the 
Nicobar  and  Andaman  Islands  belong  to 
India)  and  the  northern  third  of  Borneo ; 
the  island  and  peninsulas  of  Hong  Kong, 
the  leasehold  of  Wei-hai-wei,  in  Northern 
China ;  the  Solomon  Islands,  the  Fiji 
Archipelago,  the  Tonga  group,  and  numer- 
ous other  islands  and  islets  in  the  Pacific. 
In  the  New  World,  Jamaica,  the  Ber- 
mudas, Bahamas,  Turks,  and  Caicos 
islands  ;  British  Honduras,  the  Leeward 
and  Windward  Islands,  Barbados,  Tobago, 
Trinidad,  and  the  large  colony  of  British 
Guiana  ;   and  the  Falkland  Islands. 

The  second  section,  or  Outer  Empire, 
comprises,  or  will  comprise  before  long, 
Newfoundland  and  the  vast  dominion  of 
Canada;  the  commonwealth  of  Australia, 

the  dominion  of  New  Zealand ; 
Possessions      ^^^  g^j^-^j^  ^^^^^  j^^^-^^  ^^  ^^ 

iT  ,  ^  .  the  Zambesi.  The  last,  how- 
Outer  Empire  ^^^^.^  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^^^^  ^^ 

treated  still  as  belonging  to  the  first 
section.  The  Falkland  Islands  possess  most 
of  the  conditions  requisite  to  enable  them 
to  enter  the  category  of  the  second  section 
in  course  of  time.  There  is  no  native  race 
whose  interests  require  to  be  safeguarded 

5545 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


by  the  Mother  Country ;  the  colony  is  now 
self-supporting.  It  is  only  a  question  of 
waiting  till  the  population  of  this  wind- 
swept but  healthy  dependency — as  large 
as  Wales,  if  its  area  includes  the  unin- 
habited South  Georgia — reaches  a  suffi- 
ciently large  number  for  it  to  be  granted  as 
complete    powers    of    self-government    as 

1M.    r  L  Newfoundland.     Considerable 

The  Future  <•  ir  i. 

,  powers      oi      self-government 

«  *K  Ar  •  are  already  in  the  possession 
South  Africa      r    t^    x-  i     /-    •  n     i     j 

of  British  Guiana,  Barbados, 

Bermudas,  and  Jamaica.  The  future  of 
Guiana  may,  if  the  European  population 
increases  considerably,  lie  rather  in  the 
same  direction  as  that  of  the  dependencies 
of  the  second  section — greater  independ- 
ence of  its  government  from  the  strict 
control  of  the  metropolis. 

On  the  other  hand,  although  it  is  certain 
and  inevitable  that  British  South  Africa 
from  the  Cape  up  to  the  Zambesi  will  some 
day  be  a  completely  self-governing  con- 
federation of  states,  eventually  including 
German  South-west  Africa  and  Portuguese 
South-east  Africa — as  independent  of 
direct  control  from  Great  Britain  as  is 
Canada — that  consummation  cannot  be 
completely  effected  till  the  position, 
claims,  and  rights  of  the  aboriginal  peoples 
have  been  settled  to  the  satisfaction  of 
Great  Britain,  their  present  protectress  and 
guardian.  Consequently,  in  some  aspects, 
at  the  present  day  British  South  Africa 
does  not  altogether  come  within  the 
second  category  of  enfranchised  daughter 
nations.  She  is  not  as  yet  entirely  mistress 
of  her  own  destinies. 

It  is  very  important  that  we  should 
realise  the  distinction  between  these  two 
categories.  We  are  no  longer  directly 
responsible  for  what  goes  on  in  Canada 
and  Newfoundland,  in  Australia  and  New 
Zealand,  in  Cape  Colony,  Natal,  the 
Orange  River  State,  and  the  Transvaal. 
On  the  other  hand,  we,  the  citizens  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland — ridiculously 
.  ,  enough,  we  allow  no  Imperial 
mpircs    j-gpj-gggjitg^tJQj-j   iq   Man  and  the 

„     .  Channel   Islands — support  alone 

the  financial  burden  and  the 
defence  of  the  Inner  Empire  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, Tropical  Africa,  Arabia,  India, 
Malaya,'  Hong  Kong,  the  Pacific  archi- 
pelagoes, and  Tropical  and  South  America. 
We  lay  down  the  law,  more  or  less,  as 
to  the  fiscal  and  commercial  policy  in 
those  regions,  the  relations  between  the 
different  human  races,  legislation  affecting 

5546 


marriage  and  property,  the  maintenance 

or  otherwise  of  a  State  Church.    In  fact,  we 

are  the  complete  masters  of  the  destinies, 

down    to    the     smallest     detail,    of     the 

peoples  dwelling  within  this  first  category 

of  Imperial  possessions.    Their  inhabitants 

have  no  independent  diplomatic  national 

representation  in  London  similar  to  the 

agents-general    of    the  daughter  nations  ; 

the  Crown  colonies  and  protectorates  are 

represented    in    the    metropolis    by    the 

Crown  Agents,  a  branch  of  the  Colonial 

Office  ;    the  300,000,000  of  India  and  its 

dependencies  are  represented  by  the  India 

Office  ;    Egypt,  the  Egyptian  Sudan,  and 

Zanzibar     by     the     Foreign     Office.     All 

treaties  with  foreign  Powers  affecting  the 

fiscal  or  commercial  interests  of  these  lands 

of  the  first  category  must  be  negotiated 

through  London. 

The  United  Kingdom  acts  practically  as 

paymaster,   as    ultimate   treasurer,   to  all 

the  Inner  Empire,  except  perhaps  to  India. 

Even  the  Budget  of  India  must  in  a  sense 

be     submitted     to     the     inspection     and 

criticism  of  the  India  Office,  because  the 

United   Kingdom   is,   in   the  eyes  of  the 

,   ..    ,,    .     world,      responsible     for     the 
India  Under      •    ,  ^       .    ,  r  t     ^■ 

„  .,.  .  Wisdom  or  unwisdom  of  Indian 

British  ,,  -r     T  .  , 

Q  finance.       India     is    governed 

by  the  Viceroy-in-Council,  but 
that  viceroy  can  at  any  moment  be 
removed  by  the  king  on  the  advice  of  his 
responsible  Ministers  of  the  British  Cabinet. 
The  wishes  and  opinions  of  the  British 
Government,  to  the  veriest  detail,  are 
conveyed  to  the  viceroy  through  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  India,  who  is  aided 
by  an  advisory  council.  It  is  on  this 
council  that  India  might  well  be  repre- 
sented, not  only  by  retired  Anglo-Indian 
officials,  the  value  of  whose  opinion  is 
deservedly  recognised,  but  by  natives  of 
India,  representatives,  more  or  less  diplo- 
matic, of  Bengal,  Burma,  Haidarabad, 
Mysore,  Rajputana,  of  the  Parsees,  the 
Sikhs,  and  the  Punjab  Mohammedans — a 
consultative  body,  at  any  rate,  if  not  of  the 
innermost  council  at  present. 

At  the  time  of  writing  the  Treasury  of 
the  United  Kingdom,  that  is,  the  British 
taxpayer,  finds  annually  about  £800,000 
in  grants-in-aid  to  such  Crown  colonies 
and  protectorates  as  cannot  make  both 
ends  meet  in  balancing  their  revenue  and 
expenditure.  Besides  this,  occasional 
special  grants  out  of  British  funds  are 
made  to  such  West  Indian  or  African  pos- 
sessions as  are   temporarily  overwhelmed 


COMPOSITION    OF    THE    EMPIRE 


by  unlooked-for  disasters — earthquakes, 
famines,  fires,  floods  or  droughts. 
Private  British  benevolence,  directly  in- 
stigated by  royal  or  municipal  authority, 
transmits  from  time  to  time  to  India 
almost  as  much  money  as,  spread  over 
the  years,  is  paid  by  the  Indian  taxpayer 
to  the  British  Indian  Civil  Service.  More- 
over, all  these  Imperial  possessions  within 
the  first  category  can  borrow  money 
for  their  public  purposes  far  more  cheaply 
in  the  world's  financial  markets  because  of 
their  connection  with  the  United  King- 
dom, which  not  only  controls  such  incur- 
ring of  indebtedness,  but  stands  as  the 
eventual  guarantor  of  the  borrower. 

Lastly,  for  both  categories  of  empire 
the  British  people  of  the  United  Kingdom 
keep  up  a  magnificent  fleet  and  a  standing 
army  for  foreign  service,  and  a  Diplomatic 
and  Consular  Corps.  It  is  true  that 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  Cape  Colony  and 
Natal  contribute  small  subsidies  to  the 
cost  of  the  navy,  but  at  present  these 
subsidies  are  so  small  that  they  make  no 
appreciable  difference  to  our  annual 
financial  burden.  No  country  outside  Great 

_.     ,,  ,  Britain    and    Ireland,   except 

The  Upkeep      ,,  t    j-  t-  i 

,  .  the    Indian    Empire,    makes 

......         any  contribution  towards  the 

British  Army         -^,       r    ,,  r     , , 

cost  of  the  army  or  of    the 

Diplomatic  and  Consular  Service.  The 
Indian  Empire  pays  for  the  80,000  British 
soldiers  serving  in  India,  for  the  Indian 
Council  sitting  in  London,  and  for  a 
proportion  of  the  cost  of  diplomatic 
and  consular  representation  in  Turkey, 
Persia,  Siam,  etc. 

In  the  states  of  the  first  category  no 
commissioned  appointment  of  any  im- 
portance is  made  except  from  London, 
and  by  the  sovereign  acting  through  the 
officers  of  the  British  Government.  In  the 
states  of  the  second  category  all  appoint- 
ments to  the  public  services  are  made  by 
the  sovereign  through  his  local  repre- 
sentative, as  advised  by  the  local  respon- 
sible government.  Therefore,  although  the 
Colonial  Office  and  Crown  Agents,  the 
Foreign  Office,  India  Office,  War  Office, 
Admiralty,  Board  of  Trade,  Trinity  House, 
Office  of  Works,  and  other  government 
departments  may  possess  the  power  of 
filling  all  posts  of  any  authority  or  emolu- 
ment held  by  Europeans  in  India,  Tropical 
Africa  and  America,  Malaya,  China, 
Ceylon,  and  the  Mediterranean,  they 
possess  of  right  no  such  patronage  over 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  Canada,  or  South 


Africa.  As  a  matter  of  actual  fact,  even  in 
these  great  self-governing  states  the  Mother 
Country  is  often  invited  to  select  the 
persons  to  be  appointed  to  most  of  the 
higher  posts  in  the  civil  service,  armed 
forces  and  marine.  An  unwritten  rule 
directs  that  in  the  postal  service  the 
higher   officials   shall   be   selected  by   St. 

TK  %i  i,-  Martin's-le-Grand  ;  that  great 
The  Making  -,■      ^  •    ^  x         i     n 

of  Colonial  ',!'^^^,^^1  appointments  shall 
Appointments  hl^ed  up  on  the  advice  of 
the  Royal  Society,  the  Crown 
Agents,  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  or 
Physicians,  or  the  Army  Medical  Depart- 
ment ;  that  the  curators  of  museums,  or 
of  zoological  or  botanical  gardens  shall  be 
recommended  by  the  British  Museum  or 
Kew ;  judges  and  lawyers  be  selected 
from  the  British  Bar ;  bishops '  and 
chaplains  from  the  Anglican  Church  ; 
customs  controllers  from  the  British 
Customs  Service  ;  commandants  of  police 
from  the  British  Army,  and  port  officers 
from  the  British  Navy. 

In  this  way,  and  in  spite  of  local 
patriotism  and  that  natural  local  clannish- 
ness  which,  unchecked,  leads  to  the  evolu- 
tion of  separate  nationality,  the  veins  of 
the  empire — its  principal  arteries,  at  any 
rate — are  kept  flowing  with  British  blood. 
Perhaps,  however,  it  would  be  a  happier 
simile  to  say  that  as  yet  a  British  brain 
directs  the  trunk  and  members  of  the 
British  Empire. 

The  total  land  area  under  the  regis  of 
the  British  Empire — including  the  Siamese 
portion  of  the  Malay  Peninsula,  the  British 
sphere  in  Persia  and  in  South  Arabia,  also 
Egypt  and  the  Egyptian  Sudan — is  approxi- 
mately 13,138,900  square  miles;  without 
these  last  additions  the  area  is  11,437,486 
square  miles.  Of  this  sum  about  3,140,900 
square  miles  belong  to  the  Inner  Empire, 
and  9,998,000  to  the  outer  or  mainly  self- 
governing  division ;  6,058,669  square 
miles  lie  within  the  temperate  or  Arctic 
regions,  and  7,080,231  within  the  tropics. 
About  1,700,000  square  miles 
of  land  in  British  North 
America  are  subject  to  such 
arctic  conditions  as  at  present 
these  regions  are  either  uninhabited,  01 
merely  maintain  a  few  thousand  Eskimo. 
About  150,000  square  miles  of  British 
Arabia,  100,000  square  miles  of  British 
India,  200,000  square  miles  of  British  South 
Africa,  600,000  square  miles  of  Egypt  and 
the  Sudan,  and  one-third  of  the  area  of 
Australia — say  1,000,000  square  miles — are 

5547 


Britain's 

Uninhabitable 

Territory 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


British  Areas 

and 

Populations 


at  present  uninhabitable  by  reason  of  the 
lack  of  rainfall  and  consequent  sterility. 
These,  however,  are  adverse  conditions 
which  the  energy  and  works  of  man  can 
abate,  and- even  eventually  cause  to  dis- 
appear. It  is  far  more  difficult,  however,  to 
grapple  with  the  remains  of  the  last  Glacial 
Period — still  holding  North  America  and 
Northern  Asia  in  its  clutches 
— than  to  draw  up  the  rain 
water  of  the  Miocene  and 
Pliocene,  stored  for  ages  under 
the  surface  formations  of  Australia,  and 
therewith  create  a  verdure  which  of  itself 
attracts  and  precipitates  the  fickle  rain. 
Roundly  speaking,  when  all  deductions 
for  present  uninhabitability  are  made,  we 
are  left  with  9,400.000  square  miles  of  land 
under  the  British  flag,  which  at  present  sup- 
ports a  population  of  about  405,000,000. 

The  proportion  of  population  to  area 
varies  greatly.  That  of  the  United 
Kingdom  (area,  121,390  square  miles ; 
population,  44,100.000)  is  342"5  to  the 
square  mile  ;  that  of  Malta  and  Gozo 
(area,  117  square  miles ;  population, 
206,690)  is  1, 766" 8  to  the  square  mile  ; 
of  India,  from  Baluchistan  to  Siam  (area, 
1,766,517  square  miles;  population,  about 
297,000,000)  is  179' 5  to  the  square  mile  ; 
of  Australia  (area,  3,065,120  square  miles  ; 
population,  4,479,840)  is  only  i'3  to  the 
square  mile  ;  of  the  Canadian  Dominion 
and  Newfoundland  (area,  3,908,300  square 
miles  ;  population,  6,216.340)  is  i'6  to  the 
square  mile  ;  of  Trans-Zambesian  South 
Africa  (area,  1,091,770  square  miles  ; 
population,  7,015,200)  is  6*4  to  the  square 
mile  ;  British  Central  Africa  (Nyassaland 
and  North-east  Rhodesia :  area,  150,000 
square  miles ;  population,  1,274,000)  is 
6' 4  to  the  square  mile. 

In  the  West  Indies  it  is  131  to  the  square 
mile  ;  in  Ceylon,  141 ;  in  British  Malaya 
(less  the  Siamese  Malay  States  and  Borneo), 
55;  in  Hong  Kong,  1,121;  Northern 
Nigeria,  62  ;  Southern  Nigeria,  loi  ; 
^Mauritius  and  Dependencies, 
453  ;  Zanzibar,  245  ;  Gold 
Coast,  12  ;  and  New  Zealand, 
nearly  9  (area,  104,750  square 
miles  ;  population  in  1906, 936,309).  Of  the 
total  405,000,000,  62,350,000  belong  to  the 
white  or  Caucasian  race  (say,  56,464,000 
Germano-Kelt,  and  5,886,000  Mediter- 
raneajj,  Iberian,  Greek,  Arab,  Jew, 
Persian,  Eurasian  and  Quadroon  peoples) ; 
282,000,000  to  the  dark  Dravidio-Caucasic 
stock ;  about  14,500,000  to  the  Mongol  type ; 

5548 


Mixed  Races 
Under 
British  Rule 


while  there  are  approximately  1,213,000 
^Malays  (including  the  Siamese  Malay 
States)  ;  4,000  Veddahs  ;  3,500  Negritoes 
(Malay  Peninsula  and  Andaman  Islands)  ; 
66,000  Black  Australians ;  550,000  Papuans 
and  Melanesians ;  100,000  Polynesians  ; 
120,000  American  Indians ;  and  15,000 
Eskimo.  In  British  America  there  are 
1,901,000  Negroes  and  Negroids,  and  in 
Africa  some  37,500,000.  Of  the  African 
Negroes  who  are  British  subjects  or 
under  British  control  or  supervision, 
about  29,000,000  are  pure  negro  (Guinea, 
Sudanese,  Nilotes,  and  Bantu)  ;  8,500,000 
are  Negroid  (Arab  hybrids,  Hamites,  Somali, 
Gala,  Fulbe,  Mandingo.  Hima,  Creole  half- 
castes)  ;  and30.oooareHottentot-Bushmen. 
Under  the  British  flag — somewhat  im- 
perfectly protected  thereby  in  some  cases 
— are  the  lowliest  in  development  of  all 
existing  human  races,  and  consequently 
the  most  interesting  to  students  of  an- 
thropology— Veddahs  in  Ceylon,  Austra^o- 
Papuans,  Andaman  and  Malayan  Negritoes, 
South  African  Bushmen,  and  Equatorial 
Pygmies.  The  same  flag  covers  what  we 
believe    to    be    the    handsomest    people 

in  the  world  to-day — English 

ypes  o^  ^^^^  j^.-gj^ — ^^j^^  seem  to  have 

Beauty  m  the  -       1  1  i.     ■ 

„      .  .  acqmred  by  some  mysterious 

Dominions  ^  ,  -'.  ■•'  r 

process  of  transmission  or  01 

independent  development  the  physical 
beauty  of  the  old  Greeks,  possibly  because 
they,  like  the  extinct  Greek  type,  are  more 
purely  Aryan  in  descent  than  the  South 
and  Central  or  extreme  Northern  Euro- 
peans of  to-day.  This  physical  beauty 
is  equally  shared  by  the  men  and  women 
of  Canada  and  New  Zealand,  if  the  ideal 
sought  for  is  to  be  white  of  skin. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  a  dark  skin  is  not 
held  to  diminish  beauty  of  J3odily  form,  then 
unquestionably  in  no  part  of  the  British 
dominions  are  there  more  handsome  men, 
from  the  sculptor's  point  of  view,  than 
among  certain  types  of  Nilotic  negro  or 
Negroid,  Bantu,  or  Fulbe.  But  amongst 
almost  every  group  of  negro  peoples 
the  women  are  still  in  an  ugly  stage  of 
physical  development.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  North-western  India  may  be 
seen  some  of  the  handsomest  human 
beings  in  the  world,  women  as  well  as 
men,  if  the  monotony  of  the  yellow- 
brown  skin  and  the  sleek  black  hair  can 
be  accepted  in  lieu  of  the  blue-grey  iris, 
the  golden-brown  hair,  and  ivory-white, 
pink-tinted  skin  of  the  better-lookin-^ 
types  of  England,   Ireland  and  Scotland. 


COMPOSITION    OF    THE    EMPIRE 


As  regards  the  range  of  intellectual 
dev^elopment,  the  British  Empire  can  offer 
the  same  extremes  as  in  bodily  beauty  or 
ugliness.  There  are  Pygmies,  Negritoes, 
or  Bushmen,  who  barely  know  how  to 
originate  fire  and  who  are  still  living 
in  the  age  of  stone  implements,  or  the 
still  earlier  phase  of  the  bamboo  splinter, 
the  natural  club  or  twisted  branch,  the 
undressed  stone  or  pebble,  the  fire- 
sharpened  stake,  the  palm  or  fern-rind 
bow-string.  There  are  negro  peoples  on 
the  British  verge  of  the  Congo  forest,  or 
in  the  southern  basin  of  the  Benue,  whose 
ideas  of  preparing  food  by  cooking  are 
mainly  limited  to  partial  putrefaction. 

Cannibalism  still  prevails  in  parts  of 
British  Africa,  Australasia,  British  Guiana ; 
but  the  eating  of  human  flesh,  though 
repulsive  to  our  modern  ideas  and  extinct  in 
England  since,  let  us  say,  500  B.C.,  and  in 
Ireland  since  100  a.d.,  is  not  necessarily  a 
sign  of  low  mental  development.  Never- 
theless, Great  Britain  is  the  political 
guardian  of  at  least  a  million  professing 
cannibals  at  the  present  day.  She  is  also 
the  tutrix  of  another  million  Africans,  per- 

«...  .L  haps  a  few  Negritoes,  Austral- 
Britain  the  -^  j     /^    •  a  • 

^       ..  asians,   and    Guiana    Amerin- 

f ^       ...    dians,     who     are     absolutely 

of  Cannibals        ^      '        ^  .  -^ 

naked,     knowing     no      more 

shame  in  lack  of  body-covering  than  the 

beasts  of  the  field.    Another  20,000,000  or 

so,  in  Africa,  America,  Malaya,  Australia 

and  Oceania,  take  little  interest  in  clothes 

as  a  source  of  aesthetic  delight,  but  adorn 

and  vary  the   monotony   of  an  exposed 

skin  by  the  arts  of  cicatrisation,  tattooing, 

plastering,  rouging  and  dyeing.  Some  push 

the  predilection  for  ear-rings  to  such  an 

extent  that  the  ear-lobes  hang  down  in 

great  loops  of  leather  to  the  shoulders. 

Others  ring  the   septum   of  the   nose  or 

insert  large  discs  of  wood  or  shell  or  ivory 

into  the  upper  or  lower  lip.  Quite  20,000,000 

also  think  it  more  comely  and  convenient 

to  knock  out  the  upper  or  lower  incisor 

teeth  or  to  file  the  teeth  to  a  sharp  point. 

Nearly  a  hundred  million  stain  their  teeth 

orange-brown    with    betel    nut.      About 

ten  million  women  and  men  in  Scotland 

and  England  prefer  to   lose    their   front 

teeth  or  have  them  permanently  blackened 

with  premature  decay  sooner  than  appeal 

to  the  resources  of  modern  dentistry. 

A  million  women  in  the   Eastern  and 

Equatorial  regions  of  British  Africa  think 

it  womanly  and  becoming  to  live  bald- 

pated,    their    heads    continually    shaved, 


while  their  husbands  go  burdened  with 
chignons  or  natural  perruques.  Perhaps 
2,000,000  or  3,000,000  men,  Africans  and 
Eastern  Asiatics,  affect  the  closely  shaven 
skull,  in  close  proximity,  it  may  be,  to 
other  millions  of  males  sworn  never  to 
clip  their  abundant  locks,  or  obliged  by 
custom  to  wear  the  yard-long  hair  in  in- 
_  convenient,   unsightly  pigtails. 

f  Differ  nt  ^^^^^  these  or  other  milhons 
D^^^i^.,  the  beard  is  obligatory  and 
Feoples  ,         .  •.  •     "^ 

sacred ;  with  others  it  is  scrupu- 
lously shaved  or  pulled  out  with  tweezers. 
Some,  like  the  old  and  dying  generation 
of  France,  Italy,  Spain,  and  Portugal, 
grow  long  finger-nails  (Gibraltarese,  Mal- 
tese, Malays  and  Chinese),  to  show, 
like  the  unconscious  snobs  they  are,  that 
they  have  never  done  manual  labour. 

Others  wear  their  nails  down  to  the  quick. 
Two  hundred  millions  at  least  of  British 
Indians,  British  Africans  and  British 
Arabs  keep  their  nails  and  hands  and  feet 
exquisitely  manicured  and  pedicured,  nails 
clipped  and  clean,  toes  cornless  ;  others, 
like  a  proportion  of  the  middle  and  lower 
classes  of  the  metropolitan  state,  say 
20,000,000  of  English,  Irish,  Scottish, 
live  all  their  lives  long  with  dirty  nails, 
filthy  and  deformed  feet,  and  hands  not 
fit  to  be  grasped  by  a  squeamish  person. 

Ninety-two  millions  of  British  subjects, 
or  wards  of  the  empire,  practise  circum- 
cision as  a  religious  or  a  mystic  rite  ;  about 
1,000,000  of  British  Africans  and  some 
50,000  black  AustraUans  pass  beyond  this 
harmless  custom  to  elaborate  mutilations  de- 
scribed in  works  of  technical  anthropology. 

About  10,000,000  out  of  the  44,000,000 
population  of  men,  women,  and  children 
in  the  British  Isles  are  scrupulously  clean 
as  to  their  persons  ;  about  250,000,000  are 
the  same  in  India  ;  personal  cleanliness 
is  the  prevailing  characteristic  of  the 
negro,  of  some  Arabs,  and  of  the  Malays 
and  Polynesians.  It  is  fortunately  a 
strong  point  with  the  Neo-British  in 
Canada  above  all,  in  Austraha, 
°°  .  New  Zealand,   and  some  parts 

Sub-eclr  ^^  ^*^^^^  ^^"^^-  ^^  regards 
"  "'^*^  *  food,  223,000,000  of  Hindus, 
Burmese,  Shans,  Singhalese,  and  Tamils, 
are  mainly  vegetarian  and  subsist  on 
sorghum,  millet,  and  wheat  flour,  rice, 
butter,  sugar,  pulse  of  many  kinds,  pump- 
kins, melons  and  European  vegetables,  the 
egg  plant,  cucumbers,  onions,  coco-nuts, 
dates,  mangoes,  and  other  tropical  fruits. 
A  million  and  a  half  of  British  Chinese  live 

5549 


A    FRENCH-CANADIAN    GENTLEMAN 


A     CENTRAL     AFRICAN     DANDY 


Photos  Valentine,  R.  Martin,  and  K.  N.  A. 

RACIAL     CONTRASTS     UNDER    THE     BRITISH     FLAG 


5550 


Photo  of  Vcddah  by  Dr.^.  I-'ritz  .md  barasin 


DUSKY     BEAUTY    AND     UGLINESS     UNDER    THE     BRITISH     FLAG 


5551 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


more  or  less  omnivorously,  but  probably 
make  rice  the  staple  of  their  diet.  The 
Mohammedan  natives  of  India,  the  pagan 
and  Malay  natives  of  Eastern  Asia,  avoid 
pork  if  they  are  strict  Mohammedans, 
but  otherwise  are  fond  of  all  kinds  of 
meat  and  fish.  The  Sikhs  of  North-west 
India  delight  in  eating  pork,  mutton,  and 
yj^,  goat,  but  share  with  the  Hindu 

.     J"^  .     the  horror  of  touching  the  sacred 
g        .       ox.     The    British,     Neo-British, 

Malays  (substituting  buffalo 
for  ox),  Masai,  and  other  tribes  of  Equa- 
torial East  Africa,  and  to  a  certain  extent 
the  South  African  negroes  also,  are  very 
fond  of  beef.  Throughout  the  Moham- 
medan Mediterranean,  African  and  Ara- 
bian regions  subject  to  Britain,  the  sheep 
is  the  most  common  meat  provider ;  and, 
of  course,  mutton  is  almQst  the  staple  of 
the  Falkland  Islands,  England,  Scotland, 
Wales,  New  Zealand,  Australia,  and  parts 
of  white  South  Africa.  Goat's  flesh  is 
much  eaten  at  Gibraltar,  Malta,  Cyprus, 
and  throughout  tropical  Africa.  Camel's 
flesh  is  a  favourite  meat  in  Somaliland, 
British  Arabia,  and  Baluchistan. 

Pork  is  not  only  eaten  rapturously  by 
the  refined  and  lordly  Sikh,  but  by  many 
low-caste  or  pagan  tribes  in  India.  It 
is  said  even  to  be  indulged  in  by  the 
Sennaar  Arabs,  who  have  in  the  Eastern 
Sudan  an  indigenous  type  of  wild  boar. 
Wild  and  domesticated  pigs  are  also  eaten 
in  the  non-Mohammedan  parts  of  North- 
central  and  West  Africa.  The  pig,  as  we 
know,  is  almost  the  national  anifnal  of 
Ireland ;  it  is  a  good  deal  favoured  by  the 
Maltese.  Jambon  d'York  was  at  one 
time  a  compliment  paid  by  the  French 
cuisine  to  the  pigs  of  the  English  Mid- 
lands. And,  again,  in  the  Malay  Archipe- 
lago, Papua,  and  all  the  Oceanic  Pacific 
islands,  pork  is  the  people's  favourite 
meat.  Here,  also,  they  eat  dried  shark, 
and  the  hundred  and  one  edible  sea-fish 
of  the  coral-reefs  and  blue  lagoons.     Dogs 

are    eaten   in    Hong    Kong    and 

Wh'^F^  d  Wei-hai-wei,    in    some    of    the 

U  Pacific  islands,  and  in  Equatorial 

ogs     ^fj.j(,g^      -pj^g     Eskimo    subjects 

of  the  British  Empire  live  on  walrus  and 
seal  meat,  and  whale  blubber  ;  those  of 
Tristan  d'Acunha  on — amongst  other 
things — the  eggs  of  penguins  and  petrels. 
The  Indians  of  British  Guiana  will  eat 
jaguar,  if  they  can  succeed  in  killing 
the  American  leopard,  besides  all  the 
other   wild   animals  of   the   woods.     Ter- 

5552 


mites  (white  ants),  locusts,  beetle- 
grubs,  and  the  caterpillars  of  certain 
moths  are  greedily  devoured  by  millions 
of  negroes  in  British  Africa  from  the 
Zambesi  to  Lake  Tanganyika,  and  the 
Blue  Nile  to  the  Gambia. 

Fish,  potatoes,  pork,  geese,  tea,  milk  and 
whisky  are  the  principal  ingredients  of  Irish 
diet ;  fish,  mutton,  milk,  whisky  and  oat- 
meal the  staples  of  the  Scottish  peasantry ; 
milk,  pancakes  of  wheaten  flour,  pork,  pota- 
toes, cheese,  cream,  whisky  and  cider  nourish 
the  sturdy  Welsh  countryfolk;  bread, 
cheese,  beer,  tea,  cider,  beef,  bacon  and  fish 
form  the  average  sustenance  of  the  English 
peasantry,  a  wholesome  diet  varied  in  the 
towns  with  an  endless  variety  of  tinned 
stuff.  The  Maltese  live  chiefly  on  fish, 
pork,  goat's  flesh,  stirabout  made  of  wheat 
or  maize  flour,  olives  and  olive  oil,  fruit, 
onions,  cheese  and  wine.  The  diet  of  the 
Cypriote  consists  of  much  the  same  as  the 
foods  of  the  Maltese,  less  pork. 

The    Egyptian    fellahin    use    bread    or 

porridge  made  from  the  flour  or  groats  of 

sorghum,  wheat,  maize  and  millet  as  the 

groundwork  of  their  daily  food.     They  also 

.  eatmutton,  goat's  flesh,  pigeons, 

butter  from    buffalo    and  cov/ 

„.  I,  .  milk,  dates,  rice,  vegetables  of 
Rice  Foods  11  1 

many  kmds,  and  coarse  sweet- 
meats made  of  honey  or  molasses,  flour 
and  olive  oil.  The  grains  and  vegetables 
cultivated  are  wheat,  rice,  maize,  sorghum 
and  millet  ;  pulse  of  several  kinds, 
cucumbers,  gourds,  melons  and  onions. 
Their  principal  drink  besides  water  is 
coffee,  and  for  the  Christians  or  the  lax 
Mohammedans,  arrack,  a  spirit  made 
from  rice,  and  the  less  heady  "  palm 
wine,"  the  sap  of  the  date  palm. 

Rice,  of  250  varieties,  is  the  staple  of 
all  coastwise  India,  Burma  and  the  Malay 
States,  also  of  British  China.  But  wheat 
is  largely  grown  over  all  North-west  India ; 
also  barley  (upper  valley  of  the  Ganges), 
sorghum  or  great  millet  everywhere  below 
the  mountains,  spiked  millet  (pennisetum), 
"  ragi  "  (eleusine),  in  Southern  India, 
and  paspalum  and  two  kinds  of  genuine 
or  Italian  millet — panicum.  There  are  also 
many  oil-seeds  used  for  food — sesamum, 
rape  and  linseed,  and  ten  or  eleven  kinds 
of  peas  and  beans  (cicer,  phaseolus, 
dolichos,  cajanus,  ervum,  lathyrus  and 
pisum).  Many  of  these  Indian  grains 
and  pulses  are  of  ancient  introduction  into 
tropical  Africa,  where,  with  maize,  they 
form  the  staple  of  the  peoples'  vegetable 


COMPOSITION    OF    THE    EMPIRE 


food.  No  indigenous  African  grain  or 
bean  is  cultivated ;  almost  the  only 
vegetables  in  native  dietary  indigenous  to 
that  continent  are  the  "yam"  (dioscorea, 
also  found  in  India),  and  the  coco  yam 
(colocasia),  and  a  number  of  plants  with 
edible  leaves  like  spinach.  Manioc,  so 
much  eaten  in  negro  Africa,  is  the  same 
as  tapioca,  and  has  been  introduced  from 
Brazil.  Manioc  is  also  much  grown  in 
British  Malaya,  and  this  region,  with 
Borneo,  is  the  home  of  the  sago  palm. 
The  colocasia  yam,  really  the  tuber  of 
an  arum,  under  the  name  of  taro,  is  the 
principal  vegetable  food  of  New  Guinea 
and  the  British  Pacific  islands. 

The  citizens  or  the  wards  of  the  empire 
profess  almost  every  known  form  of 
religious  faith.  There  are,  first  of  all, 
about  63,252,000  ostensible  Christians — 
namely,  44,000,000  in  the  United  Kingdom  ; 
403,000  in  Gibraltar,  Malta,  and  Cyprus  ; 
732,000  in  Egypt  and  Sinai ;  3,000,000 
in  the  Indian  Empire  ;  17,000  in  China  ; 
5,000  in  Borneo  ;  40,000  in  the  Pacific 
islands ;  920,000  in  New  Zealand  ; 
4,400,000  in  Australia ;  1,200,000  in 
.  British  South  Africa,  St.  Helena, 

eigious  ^^^  Nyassaland;  300,000  in 
.  _,  .  Uganda,  East  Africa,  Za.nzi- 
mpire  ^^^^  Seychelles  and  Mauri- 
tius ;  175,000  in  Sierra  Leone,  Gold 
Coast,  and  Southern  Nigeria  ;  6,100,000 
in  British  North  America,  and  about 
2,000,000  in  the  British  West  Indies, 
Honduras,  Guiana,  and  the  Falkland 
Islands.  Of  these  Christians,  to  quote 
approximate  round  figures  only,  about 
11,147,616  belong  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  ;  10,880,000  to  the  Anglican ; 
13,000,000  to  the  Free  Churches — Pres- 
byterian, 6,200,000  ;  Baptist,  1,500,000  ; 
Methodist  -  Wesleyan,  Congregational, 
Society  of  Friends,  etc.,  3,500,000 — 
255,000  to  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church  ; 
580,500  to  the  Nestorian  ;  and  610,000 
to  the  Coptic  Church  ;  leaving  about 
26,000,000  of  men,  women,  and  children 
undefined  as  to  their  actual  sect  in  the 
Christian  Church. 

The  British  flag  shelters  about  290,000 
Jews,  of  whom  196,000  dwell  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  26,000  in  Egypt,  and  23,100 
in  South  Africa.  There  are  88,000,000 
Mohammedans  in  the  British  Empire 
and  its  feudatory  states,  mostly  belonging 
to  the  Sunni  division,  but  also  including 
the  Khojas  of  India,  who  follow  the  Aga 
Khan,   a  hierarchical  descendant   of   the 


Old  Man  of  the  Mountain,  whose  adherents 
were  the  original  "  Assassins."  The 
Buddhists,  including  the  enlightened 
Jains  of  India,  under  the  British  flag 
number  about  14,000,000.  They  are 
found  chiefly  in  Ceylon,  Bengal,  Sikkim, 
Burma,  Bhutan  borders,  the  Northern 
Malay  Peninsula,  and  Hong  Kong.  About 
Indi  ft  210,200,000   natives  of  India, 

Fire  Ceylon,  and  Indian  colonies  in 

Worshippers  "'^^"^^  ^.nd  tropical  America 
follow  the  religion  of  Brahma 
(Siva,  Vishnu)  in  varying  forms  and  sects. 
The  Parsees  of  India,  some  100,000,  are 
still  fire  worshippers.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  Polynesians  and  Melanesians  on 
British  Pacific  islands,  of  Indians  in  the 
dominion  of  Canada,  and  the  Caribs  in 
British  Honduras  and  the  Windward 
Islands,  are  Christians. 

Those  that  are  not  still  follow  vague 
fetishistic  faiths,  usually  including  a  belief 
in  a  Supreme  God  of  the  Sky,  in  ancestors 
living  again  as  spirits,  in  demigods  and 
demons  personifying  natural  forces  and 
diseases,  and  in  magic,  magic  being  under- 
stood to  be  undefinable,  empiric  energy 
acting  often  through  material  means  or 
resident  in  a  natural  object,  or  in  one  which 
has  been  shaped  by  man's  hands.  These 
so-called  pagans  really  practise  vague, 
unsuccessful  religions  closely  akin  in  all 
their  manifestations  to  the  great  stereo- 
typed faiths  of  the  more  cultured  races. 

The  languages  of  the  British  Empire 
are  indeed  multiform.  Scarcely  any 
great  acknowledged  family  of  human 
speech  is  unrepresented  within  the  limits 
of  its  aegis,  except  the  Basque,  the 
Japanese,  and  the  languages  peculiar  to 
the  Caucasus  Mountains. 

Of  the  Aryan  languages  56,810,000  in 

the  United  Kingdom,  Canada,  the  West 

Indies,    and    British    Central    and    South 

America,    Australia,    New    Zealand,    the 

Pacific    islands,    India,    Mauritius,     and 

British  Africa,  speak  English.     The  living 

Keltic  tongues,  Irish,  Manx, 
Languages         ^^^^j-^^    ^^^    ^y^^^^^^    ^^^   ^^-^ 

of  the  Bnttsh  ^sedbyabout  1,811,000 people 
Empire  ^^  \\Q,\es,  Ireland,  Scotland 
and  Man,  1,955.000  use  the  French  language 
in  the  Channel  Islands,  the  Quebec,  Ontario, 
and  Manitoba  provinces  of  Canada,  in  Trini- 
dad, Mauritius,  and  the  Seychelles,  besides 
the  large  extent  to  which  French  is  used  in 
Malta  and  Egypt.  Spanish  is  spoken  at 
Gibraltar  and  in  Trinidad.  Portuguese  in 
a  rather  dialectal  form  is  much  spoken  by 

5553 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


Eurasians  in  parts  of  India  and  on  the 

coast  of  Ceylon,  also  in  British  Guiana. 

Italian  is  a  good  deal  employed  in  Malta 

and  in  Egypt  ;    Greek  in  Cyprus,  Egypt, 

and  the  Egyptian  Sudan.     As  regards  the 

Indo-Aryan     languages,      Persian,     with 

Arabic,    is   the  language   of    the    British 

sphere  in  South-east  Persia,  besides  being 

the  literary  language  of  much 

^  '.^  ^  of    North-west    India ;    about 

./*"'  ,  1,000,000  speak  Baluchi,  and 
Vernaculars  .  i       a  x   i  t.      i  j. 

1,300,000  the  Afghan  or  Pushtu 

dialect ;  Sindhi  is  the  speech  of  over 
3,000,000  in  the  Sind  province.  The 
languages  or  dialects  descended  from  Sans- 
krit, which  have  become  the  vernaculars 
of  two-thirds  of  India  proper  are  Hindi 
(87,240,000  people),  Bengali  (45,000,000), 
Marathi  (19,000,000),  Punjabi  or  Gurmukhi 
(17,000,000),  Gujarati  (10,390,000),  Uriya 
(10,000,000),  and  Pahari  or  Tsepalese 
(1,300,000),  besides  Kachhi  (of  "  Cutch  "), 
Kashmiri,  Konkani  (Malabar),  and  Singh- 
alese, this  last  being  spoken  by  nearly 
2,500,000  in  Ceylon. 

The  Uro-Altaic  languages,  which  cover 
the  north-eastern  parts  of  Asia  from  the 
Baltic  shores  and  Lapland  to  Bering 
Straits  and  China,  and  which  include  the 
outlying  sub-groups  of  Turkish  and 
Hungarian,  are  only  represented  in  the 
British  Empire  by  the  much  Arabised 
speech  of  the  modern  Turks,  which  is  still 
to  some  extent  spoken  in  Cyprus  and — a 
very  little — in  Egjq^t. 

The  Dravidian  and  allied  groups  are 
wholly  confined  in  their  present  range  to 
British  India,  where  they  are  spoken  by 
about  65,000,000.  The  Tibeto-Burmese 
group  of  at  least  twenty  languages  fur- 
nishes the  speech  of  something  like 
11,000,000  of  people  in  Northern  Nepal, 
Sikkim,  Bhutan,  Garo  (part  of  Assam), 
Tipura,  Naga,  Manipur,  and  Upper  and 
Lower  Burma.  Northern  and  Eastern 
Burma  (the  Khamti  and  Shan  states)  and 
the  upper  part  of  the  Malay  Peninsula  are 
_  covered  by  the   Siamo-Chinese 

c  v"*^*    »  RT-oup,  which  in  its  great  Eastern 

„  .,  .  branch  (Chmese)  is  spoken  by 

Britain  ^  x    n  •^-  1  i."^ 

some  2,000,000  ct  British  sub- 
jects in  the  southern  Malay  Peninsula 
and  Singapore,  British  Borneo,  Hong  Kong 
and  Wei-hai-wei,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
useful  Chinese  sojourners  in  British 
Columbia.  The  deltaic  region  round 
Rangoon  and  the  isolated  patch  of  Palung 
in  Upper  Burma  are  populated  by  people 
speaking  dialects  of  the   Mon  language, 

5554 


which  is  closely  allied  to  the  Annamese  of 
French  Indo-China.  In  the  middle  of 
Assam  is  the  isolated  Khasi  language  of 
uncertain  affinities,  spoken  by  about 
100,000  hill  people.  Another  isolated  group 
is  the  Kolarian  of  Eastern  and  Central 
India,  the  language,  in  many  dialects,  of 
the  Santalis,  Mundaris,  Savara,  Kurku,  etc. 
The  Malay  language  is  spoken  by  about 
1,600,000  of  British  or  British-protected 
peoples  ;  the  Malayo-Polynesian  languages 
from  New  Guinea  to  New  Zealand,  by 
100,000  ;  the  Melanesian  languages  by 
another  200,000,  and  Papuan  by  350,000. 

In  the  heart  of  the  Malay  Peninsula 
there  may  still  be  lingering  isolated  Negrito 
languages  ;  there  is  certainly  a  Negrito 
speech  in  the  Andaman  Islands.  A  possibly 
Negrito  dialect  is  still  preserved  by  a  small 
section,  some  3.000  or  3,000  of  the  V'eddahs 
of  Ceylon  (Rhodiyah).  It  would  be  interest- 
ing for  the  ethnologist  to  compare  carefully 
the  fragments  of  Negrito  speech  in 
Southernmost  India,  Ceylon,  the  Anda- 
mans,  the  Malay  Peninsula,  with  the 
Papuan  and  Melanesian  families,  and 
further  with  what  little  is  recorded  of  the 

^.  „  ,  language  of  the  extinct  Tas- 
The  Bantu  '^-     °  ^,  1-  ,      , 

,  manians.       ihe     diverse,    but 

f .  .".*  perhaps  distantly  interrelated, 
languages,  in  two  very  distinct 
groups,  of  the  black  Australians  are 
spoken  by  about  66,000  savages  and 
semi-savages  still  lingering  in  Australia. 
In  British  Africa  we  have  still  repre- 
sented by  living  speakers  the  wonderfully 
interesting  Bushman-Hottentot  language 
group,  so  extremely  unlike  any  other 
human  speech  of  the  present  day  by  its 
intercalation  of  noisy  clicks  among  the 
normal  consonants  and  vowels.  There  are 
still,  perhaps,  5.000  (British)  Bushmen,  and 
25,000  Hottentots  alive  to  perpetuate  this 
primitive  phonology. 

The  Bantu  languages  of  Africa  are 
spoken  by  about  11,000,000  negroes  in 
British,  South,  Central,  and  Eastern 
Equatorial  Africa  ;  besides  a  few  "  Semi- 
Bantu  "  of  the  eastern  parts  of  British 
Nigeria.  The  languages  of  the  Anglo- 
Egyptian  Sudan,  Uganda,  and  East  Africa 
comprise  the  Nilotic  family,  about 
4,300,000,  ranging  from  the  western 
parts  of  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal  to  Masailand, 
near  the  Indian  Ocean  ;  the  unclassified 
Krej  and  Bongo  groups,  and  heterogeneous 
Sudanian  congeries  (Niam-Niam,  Mang- 
battu,  Mundu,  Madi,  Lendu,  Momvu,  etc.). 
In  the  north-western  parts  of  the  Eg^rptian 


COMPOSITION    OF    THE    EMPIRE 


Sudan  is  the  isolated  Nubian  family  of  lan- 
guages, and  the  For  and  Maba  of  Darfur. 
In  Northern  Nigeria  there  are  the  distinct 
Kanuri  speech  of  Bornu,  the  unclassified 
dialects  of  the  lake-dwelling  Buduma,  the 
great  Hausa  language — spread  as  a  trade 
medium  from  Lake  Chad  to  the  inner 
Gold   Coast,    or   spoken    as    their   native 

^     .  tongue  by  about  15,000,000  of 

Dominance  °,  -^    o     1       ■ 

northern     Sudanian    negroes, 

?j       g       ,   Musgu    to    the  south-east  of 
up      pecc     pig^^gg^^    ^j^(^  ^j^g    semi-Bautu 

dialects,  such  as  Ghari,  of  the  Benue  basin, 
north  and  south,  down  to  its  confluence 
with  the  Niger.  The  Nupe  speech  is  the 
dominant  la-.iguage  of  Central  Nigeria,  and 
to  the  west  are  the  Borgu  dialects  that  are 
related  to  far-off  Ashanti.  In  Southern 
Nigeria  there  are  the  languages  of  the 
Igara,  Igbira,  Ibo.  Jekri,  Ijo,  and  Yoruba  ; 
and  the  Efik  group  and  the  semi-Bantu 
languages  of  the  Cross  River  basin-  Dotted 
over  much  of  British  Nigeria  is  the  Fulbe 
language,  the  range  of  which  extends, 
with  many  gaps,  for  a  distance  of  nearly 
2,000  miles  across  Africa  from  the  Senegal 
River  to  the  borders  of  Wadai  and  Darfur. 
The  dialects  of  the  Gold  Coast  belong  in 
the  main  to  four  groups,  the  Chwi  or 
Ashanti,  the  Ga  (Akkra),  the  Mosi,  and 
Teme.  The  languages  of  Sierra  Leone  are 
particularly  interesting,  and  belong  to  the 
Mandingo  family  of  Western  Nigeria,  and 
to  the  prefix  and  concord- using  Temne 
and  Bullom  families.  The  languages  of 
the  Gambia  are  very  little  studied  by  a 
Britain  which  has  possessed  the  Gambia 
for  200  years  They  come  under  the  Felup, 
„  Wolof,   and    Mandingo    groups. 

pea  ers     ^^^^     Libyo-Hamitic     language 
p.  J  family   of    North    and    North- 

east Africa  is  represented  by 
such  wandering  Libyans  of  the  Sahara 
as  find  their  way  into  the  dominions 
of  the  sultan  of  Sokoto,  and  by  the 
Libyan- speaking  inhabitants  of  the  Siwah 
and  other  oases  on  the  western  outskirts  of 
Egypt  ;  by  the  remains  of  Ancient  Egyp- 
tian in  the  form  of  Coptic  ;  by  the  dialects 
of  the  Beja  and  Bishari,  the  Danakil  and 


Somali  in  nearly  all  the  coast  lands  of  the 
Red  Sea,  and  all  the  non-Arabic-speaking 
tribes  between  Kordofan  and  Abyssinia  ; 
by  tlie  closely  allied  Gala  and  the  other 
non-Semitic  Ethiopian  dialects  north  and 
east  of  the  Nilotic  negro  domain.  Hamitic 
dialects  are  also  spoken  in  Southern 
Arabia  and  in  the  island  of  Socotra. 
The  Semitic  languages  are  represented  in 
the  British  domain  by  the  Maltese  language ; 
such  Hebrew  as  is  preserved  in  use  by  Jews 
in  the  United  Kingdom,  Gibraltar,  and 
Aden  ;  and  by  the  Arabic  of  Egypt,  British 
Arabia,  Zanzibar,  and  the  Persian  Gulf. 

In  British  America  the  Eskimo  language 
is  spoken  by  the  sparse  inhabitants  of  the 
frozen  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  between 
Alaska  and  Labrador.  Of  the  American 
Indian  language  groups,  not  much  more 
clearly  interrelated  than  the  African 
languages,  the  following  are  represented 
on  British  territory :  The  Thlinkit  in 
the  north-westernmost  part  of  the  coasts 
.  and  islands  of  British  Colum- 

anguages    ^^.^  .  ^.^^  Haida  of   Vancouver 

.        .  Island  and  British  Columbia  ; 

the  Athabascan,  Tinne,  or 
Dene  of  all  the  central  and  northern  parts 
of  the  Canadian  dominion  between  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  the  eastern  shores 
of  Hudson's  Bay  ;  the  Algonkwin,  Chip- 
pewa, or  Kri,  "  Montagnais,"  of  Central 
and  Eastern  Canada  (using  Canada 
in  its  widest  sense),  also  in  Labrador, 
Northern  Quebec,  and  once  in  New 
Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Newfound- 
land ;  the  Huron  (Iroquois)  of  On- 
tario and  southernmost  Canada ;  and 
the  Dakota,  Puan,  or  Siu,  found  still  in 
the  southern  parts  of  Saskatchewan  and 
Manitoba.  Then  there  are  the  Maya- 
Kiche  group  on  the  interior  borders  of 
British  Honduras  ;  the  speech  of  the 
Caribs  still  lingering  in  a  somewhat  mixed 
type  on  the  coast  of  British  Honduras 
and  in  the  West  Indian  island  of  Dominica 
and  existing  far  more  numerously  in  the 
maritime  regions  of  British  Guiana  ;  and 
the  Guiana  group,  divided  into  the  sub- 
groups of  Arawak,  Wapiana,  and  Atorai. 


SCENE  IN  BRANI,  IN  THE  RECENTLY  ACQUIRED  BRITISH  TERRITORY  OF  THE  MALAV  STATES 


5555 


HOUSE    OF    KEYS,     ISLE    OF    MAN  :    MEETING    OF    THE    TYNWALD    COURT 


MINOR     PARLIAMENTS    OF    GREAT     BRITAIN 


5556 


THE 

BRITISH 

EMPIRE 

X 


BY    SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON, 

G.C.M.G. 


GREAT    BRITAIN'S    INNER    EMPIRE 

THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    VAST 
POSSESSIONS   OF   THE   BRITISH   CROWN 


IT  is  not  necessary  to  delineate  here 
*  the  elaborate  system  of  partially  repre- 
sentative government  in  national  affairs, 
or  wholly  elective  administration  of  local 
provincial  matters  which  prevails  in  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland.  It  is  sufficient  to 
point  out  that  the  Upper  Housq  in  the 
Legislature  differs  from  all  the  similar 
institutions  in  the  daughter  nations  and 
colonies  in  that  it  is  composed  of  hereditary 
legislators.  Elsewhere  the  members  of 
the  Upper  House,  or  Senate,  or  Legislative 
Council,  if  they  are  not  elected  by  the 
people,  are  appointed  for  a  term  of  years 
or  for  life  by  the  king-emperor,  or  by  his 
representative,  the  viceroy,  or  governor. 

Nowhere  else  in  the  empire  does  this 
principle  of  hereditary  legislators  obtain  ; 
nowhere  else  would  it  be  tolerated  but 
in  the  Homeland,  so  tolerant  of  institu- 
tions which  have  outlived  their  usefulness. 
The  Isle  of  Man  has  a  Council  of  Public 
Affairs,  nominated  by  the  Crown,  and  a 
House  of  Keys,  which  is  a  representative 
assembly  of  twenty-four  elected  members. 
The  term  of  sitting  for  this  House  is  seven 
years,  and  the  suffrage  is  based  on  a  pro- 
perty qualification. 

The  island  of  Jersey  has  a  lieutenant- 
governor  and  a  bailiff,  who  is  a  kind  of 
president  of  the  legislature  appointed  by 
the  Crown.  The  legislature  consists  of 
twelve  jurats  and  twelve  rectors  of 
parishes  elected  by  the  people  for  life, 
and  twenty-eight  constables,  mayors,  or 
deputies,  elected  for  three  years.  Guernsey 
and  Sark,  and  also  Alderney, 
are  under  one  lieutenant- 
governer,  but  have  two 
separate  legislatures,  which 
consist  of  jurats,  rectors,  and  sheriffs, 
elected  indirectly,  and  delegates  and 
deputies  elected  directly  by  the  ratepayers. 
Within  the  far-flung  net  of  the  British 
Empire  are  a  number  of  states  practically 
independent  as  regards  their  nome  rule, 


Independent 
States  in  the 
British  Empire 


but  subject  to  the  British  Government 
in  London,  directly  or  through  the  vice- 
roy of  India  or  the  high  commissioners 
of  South  Africa  or  of  the  Straits  Settle- 
ments, as  regards  their  foreign  policy, 
and  perhaps  subordinated  in  some  other 
_  .  .  directions.      These    are  :     The 

,  ,,  *  .  khediviate  of  Egypt  (area, 
Influence  in  i     •;    ,,  ,, 

the  Suda  400 ,000  square  miles) ;  the  petty 
Arab  sultanates  to  the  north- 
east of  Aden  and  along  the  south  coast  of 
Arabia  (area,  about  100,000  square  miles) ; 
the  sultanate  of  Muskat  and  the  trucial 
chiefs  in  South-east  Arabia  and  along  the 
Persian  Gulf  (area,  110,000  square  miles)  ; 
the  British  sphere  in  vSouth-east  Persia 
(area,  122,500  square  miles)  ;  Baluchistan 
(area,  78.530  square  miles)  ;  Afghanistan 
(area,  250,000  square  miles) ;  the  sultanate 
of  Johor  (area,  9,000  square  miles).  Per- 
haps to  these  should  be  added  the 
sultanate  of  Darfur,  in  the  western  part 
of  the  Egyptian  Sudan,  with  an  area  of 
about  50,000  square  miles.  Afghanistan, 
except  in  regard  to  its  foreign  policy,  is 
an  absolutely  independent  country,  and 
none  of  its  statistics  are  included  in  this 
survey  of  the  British  Empire. 

The  Anglo-Egyptian  Sudan  is  divided 
into  thirteen  provinces,  the  governors  of 
which  are  all  British  officers  of  the  Egyp- 
tian Army ;  the  sub-governors  of  districts 
are  Egyptians.  The  six  principal  judges 
are  British ;  the  kadis,  who  deal  with 
Mohammedan  law  in  matters  of  succession, 
marriage,  and  charitable  endowments, 
are  Mohammedan  Egyptians  or  Sudanese. 
The  governor-general  over  the  whole  of 
this  vast  area,  including  supervision  over 
Darfur,  is  jointly  appointed  by  the  British 
and  Egyptian  Governments.  He  legislates 
by  proclamation.  The  sultan  of  Darfur 
is  practically  independent  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  internal  affairs  of  his  country, 
but  he  is  required  to  pay  an  annual 
tribute  to  the  Sudan  Government.     The 

5557 


r 


'-WK-;--':^ 


DOUGLAS,    THE    BEAUTIFUL    CAPITAL    OF    THE    ISLE    OF    MAN 


Anglo-Egyptian  Sudan  is  entirely  separate 
from  the  internationalised  "  capitulations  " 
area  of  Egypt  or  other  parts  of  the  Turkish 
Empire ;  foreign  consuls  must  be  first 
approved  by  the  British  Government 
before  they  can  receive  an  exequatur. 

Egypt  itself  is  still  regarded  as  being 
under  Turkish  suzerainty.  But  for  this 
theory,  its  native  ruler,  the  khidewi,  or 
khedive  (Abbas  Hilmi),  might  be  regarded 
as  an  independent  ruler  of  a  countrj^  of 
400,000  square  miles  in  area,  of  which 
only  about  13,560  square  miles  are  at 
present  inhabited,  in  close  and  peculiar 
relations  with  Great  Britain.  Nominally, 
the  khedive  rules  through  a  Ministry  com- 
posed of  seven  members,  plus  a  British 
financial  adviser.  But  since  1883  there 
have  been  the  beginnings  of  representa- 
tive institutions.  These  are  a  legislative 
council — which  is  a  consultative  body, 
partly  elected,  partly  nominated,  qualified 
to  pronounce  opinions  on  the  Budget  and 
on  all  new  laws — and  the  General 
Assembly.  This  last  consists  of  the  seven 
Ministers,  the  thirty  legislative  councillors, 
and  forty-six  popularly  elected  members. 

The  General  Assembly,  however,  has  no 
power  to  legislate,  but  can  in  a  measure 
control  all  new  taxation  of  a  directly 
personal  character  or  connected  with 
land.  The  territories  of  the  Persian  Gulf 
which   are   within  the    British   sphere   of 

5558 


influence  or  are  actual  British  posses- 
sions or  protectorates  are  :  The  British 
sphere  in  South-east  Persia,  from  Bandar 
Abbas  to  Gwattar,  and  inland  to  Kerman 
and  Birian.  governed  by  the  Shah  ot 
Persia,  with  British  consuls  at  Bandar 
Abbas,  Kerman  and  Malik  Siah  (Seistan) 
to  watch  over  British  interests  and 
subjects  ;  and,  in  addition,  the  port  of 
Basidu  on  Kishni  Island  and  the  port  of 
J  ask  on  the  Mekran  coast,  under  the 
direct  management  of  the  British  Indian 
Government ;  the  Bahrein  Islands,  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  ruled 
by  an  Arab  sheikh  under  the  control  of  a 
British  political  agent. 

There  is  also  the  quasi-independent 
imamate  of  Oman,  under  a  sultan,  or 
sayyid,  whose  dynasty  began  as  a  sort  of 
prince-bishopric  at  Muskat  in  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Great  Britain 
and  France  are  mutually  bound  to  refrain 
from  an  exclusive  political  control  or 
annexation  of  the  sultanate  of 
Muskat,  but  force  of  circum- 
stances has  compelled  Great 
Britain,  through  the  Govern- 
ment of  India,  to  take  the  leading  advisory 
part  in  the  direction  of  the  affairs  of  Oman. 
These  are  managed  almost  entirely  under 
the  advice  of  a  British  consul  and  political 
agent  at  Muskat.  The  Kuria  Muria  Islands, 
off  the  south  coast  of  Oman,  actually  belong 


Britain's 
Kuria  Muria 
Islands 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    INNER    EMPIRE 


tc  Great  Britain,  and  their  affairs  are  super- 
vised from  Aden.  From  Soham  to  Masirah 
Island,  the  government  of  Eastern  Oman 
is  carried  on,  more  or  less,  by  the  sultan 
of  Muskat,  but  the  coast  regions  to  the 
west  as  far  as  the  Turkish  frontier  at  Al 
Hasa  constitute  what  is  called  Trucial 
Oman,   a  region  in  which  the  numerous 

H      B  •♦•  h  P^^^y  Arab   chiefs  have  been 
ow    ri  IS    (.Qgj-(,g(^  ]-,y  ^j^g  British  power 

.    -,  .in   the    Persian   Gulf  into  an 

IS  Governed  j.        ^   .  i     .  i 

agreement  not  to  molest  each 

other  or  the  sultan  of  Muskat.  Law  and 
order  in  a  general  way  are  maintained  in 
all  these  regions  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and 
justice  is  administered  to  British  subjects, 
by  a  British  political  resident  residing 
at  Bushire,  on  the  south  coast  of  Persia. 

British  Arabia,  not  connected  with  the 
geographical  or  political  systems  of  the 
Persian  Gulf,  is  managed  by  the  political 
resident,  the  virtual  governor  and  com- 
mander-in-chief, at  Aden.  This  official 
depends  at  present  on  the  Government  of 
Bombay.  He  supervises  the  affairs  of  the 
Aden  Protectorate  and  the  island  of 
Perim  ;  those  of  the  island  of  Socotra 
and  its  adjoining  archipelagoes  ;  the  coast 
sultanates  of  Makalla,  etc.  ;  the  Kuria 
Muria  Islands,  and  the  Oman  coast  as 
far  east  as  the  island  of  Masirah.     Within 


these  regions  of  Southern  Arabia  there  are 
numerous  Arab  sultans  and  sheikhs  who 
govern  their  people  with  as  little  inter- 
ference as  possible  on  the  part  of  the 
British,  whose  own  direct  rule  does  not 
extend  over  more  than  the  island  of  Perim, 
the  town  and  port  of  Aden  and  its  hinter- 
land, about  9,000  square  miles,  and  the 
Kuria  Muria  Islands. 

The  empire  of  India,  whose  outlying 
spheres  of  influence  in  Persia  and  Arabia 
we  ha\e  just  been  considering,  is  divided 
into  the  following  types  of  government  : 
There  is,  first  of  all,  British  India — i.e., 
the  districts  actually  annexed  to  the  British 
Crown,  with  a  total  area  of  1,097,901 
square  miles,  and  the  following  provinces  : 
Bengal,  Eastern  Bengal  and  Assam. 
Burma,  Madras,  the  Andamans  and 
Nicobars,  Bombay,  Punjab,  North-west 
Frontier  Province,  British  Baluchistan, 
United  Provinces  of  Agra  and  Oudh, 
Central  Provinces,  Berar  and  Coorg. 

4  number  of  small  principalities  within 
these  provinces  are  ruled  to  a  certain 
extent  by  their  native  rajahs,  or  by  Moham- 
medan chiefs  ;  but,  for  the  most  part,  this 
vast  area  is  administered  directly  by 
British  officials  in  all  the  principal 
and  responsible  posts,  and  by  native 
officials  in  all  the  subordinate  positions 


THE    PROCLAMATION     OF    LAV7S    ON    THE    TYNWALD    HILL    IN    THE    ISLE    OF     M -^  N 

5559 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


Then  follow  the  feudatory  slates  of  the 
Indian  Empire  :  Haidarabad  (area,  82,698 
square  miles),  ruled  by  the  nizam  ;  Kash- 
mir and  Jamu  (area,  80, goo  square  miles), 
ruled  by  a  maharajah  ;  Baluchistan  (area, 
78,530  square  miles),  ruled  by  the  khan  of 
Khelat  and  a  few  small  independent 
princes  ;  Jodhpur  of  Rajputana  (area, 
34,963  square  miles),  ruled  by  a  maha- 
rajah ;  Mysore  (area,  29,433  square  miles), 
ruler,  a  maharajah  :  Gwalior  (area,  25,041 
square  miles),  the  largest  Mahratta  state, 
under  a  maharajah  (Sindhia)  ;  Bikanir,  a 
Rajputana  state  (area,  23,311  square  miles), 
under  a  maharajah  ;  Jaisalmir  and  Jaipur, 
both  Rajput  states  (respectively,  16,062 
and  15,579  square  miles),  the  first  ruled  by 
a  mahalawal,  the  second  by  a  maharajah  ; 
Bahawulpur,  in  the  Punjab  (area,  15,000 
square  miles),  governed  by  a  nawab. 

In  addition  to  the  list  of  big  feudatory 
states  with  areas  of  15,000  square 
miles  and  over,  there  is  the  old 
Mahratta  state  of  Baroda,  governed  by 
the  maharajah  gaikwar,  which  has  only 
an  area  of  8,226  square  miles,  but  which 
ranks  first  on  the  list  of  feudatory  states, 
and  has  a  royal  salute  of  twenty-one  guns. 
There  are  eight  minor  states  in  Rajputana  ; 
five  in  Central  India  (including  the  inter- 
esting little  Mohammedan  principality  of 


British 
Rule 
in  India 


Bhopal.  under  a  female  sovereign,  the 
begum),  and  Indore,  a  Mahratta  state  under 
tlie  maharajah  Holkar  ;  three  in  the 
Bombay  Presidency,  the  largest  of  which  is 
Cutch,  whose  ruler  is  known  as  the 
rao  ;  five  in  the  Madras  Presidency, 
of  which  might  be  specially  mentioned 
Travaniore.  the  southernmost  portion  of 
India,  whose  maharajah  rules 
over  3,000,000  people ;  one  in 
the  Central  Province,  Bastar 
(area,  13,000  square  miles); 
Kuch  Behar,  in  Bengal ;  Hill  Tipura.  on 
the  borders  of  Burma ;  Rampur  and 
Garhwal,  between  Agra  and  Oudh  ;  four 
Sikh  and  three  Rajput  states  in  the 
Punjab  ;  and  tne  interesting  little  Tibetan 
principality  of  Sikkim.  In  addition  to 
this  list,  there  are  numerous  small  areas 
administered  by  minor  princes,  much  on 
the  lines  of  the  smaller  German  duchies. 
The  total  area  of  feudatory  India  is 
690,272  square  miles. 

For  the  administration  of  British  India 
there  is  the  Viceroy,  who  rules  despotically 
as  the  Governor-General-in-Council,  sub- 
ject to  the  orders  of  the  king-emperor, 
as  transmitted  through  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  India.  The  expenditure  of  the 
Indian  revenues  in  India  and  elsewhere — 
that  is  to  say,  the  annual  Budget  of  the 


GENERAL     VIEW     OF     ADEN, 


A    STRONGLY    FORTIFIED     POSSESSION    OF     BRITAIN^ 


5560 


VOLCANIC    SCENERY    AT    ELPHINSTONE    INLET    IN    THE    GULF    OF    OMAN 
The  scenery  of  Elphinstone  Inlet,  of  which  the  above  is  a  typical  example,  has  been  described  as  the  grandest  but  the 
most  deso'ate  in  the  world.     The  heat  is  so  terrible  that  the  native  can  live  in  the  place  only  from  November  till  March  ; 
a  cable  station  was  once  established  on  Telegraph  Island,  but  it  was  soon  abandoned  as  some  of  the  men  died,  while 
others  went  mad  and  the  remainder  fled.    The  rocks  in  the  foreground  are  entirely  red,  while  the  seals  a  brilliant  blue. 


Viceroy's  government — is  controlled  by 
the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  Council 
of  the  India  Office,  who  thus,  in  a  manner, 
act  as  a  kind  of  selected  parliament  to 
discuss  and  determine  by  a  majority  of 
votes  how  the  revenues  of  India  shall  be 
spent.  It  is  on  this  board  of  financial 
control — the  India  Offtce  Council^that  it 
has  been  suggested  elected  or  selected 
native-born  Indians  should  sit  to  represent 
the  views  of  native-born  Indians  at  head- 
quarters on  matters  of  Indian 
finance  and  taxation.  The 
Governor-General  is  assisted 
in  his  government  of  India  by 
a  council  of  seven  members  appo'nted  by 
the  Crown  through  the  Secretary  of  State 
for  India.  These  councillors  hold  their 
appointment  ordinarily  for  five  years, 
and  constitute  practically  a  Cabinet  of 
Ministers  to  carry  on  the  Viceroy's  govern- 
ment. The  seventh  member  of  Council, 
for  some  reason  called  "  extraordinary," 
is  the  British  commander-in-chief  over 
all  the  king-emperor's  forces  in  the 
Indian  Empire.  He  is  practically  IMinister 
for  War  in  the   Viceroy's  Council.     The 

2E  2S 


Viceroy's 
Council 
of  Seven 


foreign  affairs  of  the  Indian  Empire, 
which  include  dealing  with  the  feudatory 
and  allied  states  within  and  without 
the  limits  of  the  Indian  Empire,  are 
under  the  special  superintendence  of 
the  Viceroy.  One  of  the  government 
members  of  Council  takes  charge  of  the 
finances  of  India,  another  of  revenue  and 
agriculture  ;  a  third  is  the  military  member, 
charged  more  especially  with  army  supply; 
a  fourth  supervises  the  Public  Works,  a 
fifth  the  Home  Office  and  the  Legislative, 
and  a  sixth  commerce  and  industry.  Each 
of  the  nine  departments  of  state  has  a 
special  secretary  at  the  head  of  it.  In- 
cluding the  Viceroy,  there  are  only  eight 
"  Ministers  "  in  the  Executive  Council. 

There  is  further  a  Legislative  Council 
nominated  by  the  Viceroy,  consisting  of 
not  more  than  sixteen  members,  or  seven- 
teen with  the  addition  of  the  lieutenant- 
governor  of  Bengal.  This  Council  has 
power,  subiect  to  certain  restrictions,  to 
make  laws  for  all  persons  within  British 
India,  for  all  British  subjects  within  the 
native  states,  and  for  all  Indian  subjects, 
or  protected  subjects,  of  the  king  in  any 

D  5561 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


part  of  the  world.     The  members  of  this 

Council    are   nominated   by    the    Viceroy 

under  the  provisions  of  Viscount  Cross's 

Act  of  1892,  a  clause  of  which  makes  it 

possible  for  the  \'iceroy  to  introduce  the 

elective  principle  into  the  nomination  of 

some  or  all  of  these  legislative  councillors. 

We  have  here  a  door  already  provided,  by 

,     .  .  ,.      which    the    new     measures    of 
Legislative  ,    ,•  ,  n 

M  th  d        representative  government  will 

.  I  J-  be  prudently  introduced  into 
India.  The  Legislative  Council, 
which  includes  the  members  of  the  Execu- 
tive Council,  holds  its  sittings  in  public, 
and  the  text  of  the  Bills  to  be  discussed 
must  first  be  published  for  general  informa- 
tion through  the  government  "  Gazette." 

Further,  no  Bill,  as  a  rule,  is  brought 
before  the  Viceroy's  Legislative  Council 
which  has  not  first  been  subjected  to 
the  criticism  of  the  several  provincial 
governments.  The  wide  development  of 
the  British  Indian  and  vernacular  Press 
ensures  the  fullest  publicity  for  the  text  of 
all  new  measures,  and  the  national  voice  of 
India  to  some  extent  thus  reacts  on  its 
government,  for  there  is  no  hole-and- 
corner  legislation,  and  the  Viceroy's 
Council,  before  placing  any  new  law  on 
the  Statute  Book,  is  well  informed  as  to 
its  popular  reception. 

Among  the  Viceroy's  nominated  council, 
natives  of  India  probably  predominate  in 
numbers  over  the  unofficial  British  mem- 
bers. Of  these  last  there  are  generally 
representatives  of  commerce,  of  the  Bar, 
and  of  railways.  This  supreme  Legislative 
Council  might  undoubtedly  be  much  larger 
— the  maximum  of  sixteen,  as  it  is,  is  not 
always  attained  ;  it  might  include  repre- 
sentatives of  the  larger  feudatory  states, 
of  the  principal  rehgions,  of  native  law, 
medicine,  commerce,  and  industry.  To 
a  certain  extent,  also,  the  elective  principle 
might  be  prudently  and  gradually  intro- 
duced. Since  these  lines  were  written, 
Lord  Morley's  far-reaching  measures  for 
1  AMI  representative  government  in 
°1 1  a***"  *^  Iridia  have  met  most  of  these 
_.„.  ...  difficulties  and  have  attempted 
Difficulties      ,  1        ,,  .  j^.i 

to  solve  them.    As  regards  the 

great  provincial  administrations,  there 
are  legislative  councils  in  Bengal  and  the 
Central  Provinces,  in  Burma,  Eastern 
Bengal,  the  United  Provinces  of  Agra 
and  Oudh,  the  Punjab,  Madras,  and 
Bombay.  The  acts  of  these  provincial 
legislative  councils,  on  which  there  are 
invariably  native  members,  can  only  deal 

5562 


with  the  matters  of  the  province,  and  are 
subject  to  the  sanction  of  the  Governor- 
General.  None  of  these  legislatures  may  do 
more  than  discuss  the  financial  statements 
of  the  supreme  and  local  governments, 
and  ask  questions  about  them.  They  may 
not  propose  resolutions  or  call  for  any 
votes  on  the  subject  of  finance. 

The  metropolitan  state  of  Bengal,  and 
all  the  other  provinces  of  British  India,  are 
under  governors,  lieutenant-governors,  or 
chief  commissioners.  With  the  exceptions 
only  of  the  governors  of  Bombay  and 
Madras,  who  are  appointed  by  the  king 
on  the  recommendation  of  the  British 
Government,  outside  the  ranks  of  the 
ordinary  service,  all  these  great  executive 
posts  are  filled  from  the  Indian  Civil  or 
Political  Service.  The  Viceroy  nominates 
and  the  Crown  appoints  the  lieutenant- 
governors,  and  the  Governor- General  in 
council  appoints  the  chief  commissioners. 

Each   Indian  province   is  divided  into 

divisions    under  commissioners.       These, 

again,  are   split  up   into  districts,   which 

form  the  unit  of  administration.     At  the 

head    of    each    district    is    an    executive 

^.  .  .  officer,        styled       "  collector," 

Divisions  ,(  •  X     A     >'  <<  J         i. 

, ,   ..  magistrate,         or  deputy- 

of  Indian  °-     ■  m        ,        v  -• 

p      ,  commissioner,      who   has  entire 

control  of  the  district  and  is 
responsible  to  the  governor  or  chief 
commissioner  of  the  province.  Associated 
with  or  subordinate  to  the  collector  are 
deputy- collectors,  other  magistrates,  or 
assistants. 

"  The  main  functions  of  the  collector- 
magistrate  are  twofold,"  says  Sir  William 
Hunter.  "  He  is  a  fiscal  officer,  charged 
with  the  collection  of  the  revenue  from 
the  land  and  other  sources  ;  he  is  also 
a  civil  and  criminal  judge,  both  of  first 
instance  and  in  appeal ;  he  is  the 
representative  of  a  paternal,  and  not  of  a 
constitutional  government.  Pohce,  gaols, 
education,  municipalities,  roads,  sanita- 
tion, dispensaries,  the  local  taxation,  and 
the  Imperial  revenues  of  his  district  are  to 
him  matters  of  daily  concern.  He  is 
expected  to  make  himself  acquainted  with 
every  phase  of  the  social  life  of  the  natives, 
and  with  ev^ery  natural  aspect  of  the 
country.  He  should  be  a  lawyer,  an 
accountant,  a  surveyor,  and  a  ready 
writer  of  state  papers.  He  ought  to  possess 
no  mean  knowledge  of  agriculture, 
political  economy,  and  engineering." 
There  are  at  present  some  260  districts 
in   British    India   administered   by    these 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF     THE    INNER    EMPIRE 


collector-magistrates.  In  some  cases  there 
is  a  collector  and  a  magistrate,  the  two 
functions  being  occasionally  separate.  It 
is  scarcely  necessary  to  point  out  that 
these  invaluable  officials  are  drawn  from 
the  far-famed  Indian  Civil  Service,  the 
finest  Civil  Service  in  the  world,  entrance 
into  which  is  no  longer  a  matter  of 
patronage,  but  through  open  competition. 

The  collector  is  the  mainstay  of  the 
British  Government  in  India.  British 
valour  won  India  in  the  first  instance,  and 
regained  it  after  the  mutiny ;  but  the  wise, 
incorruptibly  j  ust  behaviour  of  the  Civil  Ser- 
vice, from  its  reconstruction  in  1853-1858 
to  the  present  day,  has  done  more  than 
any  feat  of  arms  to  retain  the  allegiance 
of  the  masses  among  the  200,000,000 
of  directly  governed  natives  of  India. 

The  people  of  the  feudatory  states  are 
governed  by  their  native  princes  in  most 
cases,  through  a  machinery  of  Ministers 
and  councils,  similar  in  degree  to  that  of 
British  India,  except,  of  course,  that  the 
employes  are  all  natives  of  India.  In  most 
cases  justice  between  British  Indians  on 
the  territories  of  the  feudatory  states  is 
_.  administered  by  the  resident  or 

'^'j.*"  agent  of  the  Governor-General, 
p  .  who  resides  at  the  court  of  each 

feudatory  prince,  and  advises 
the  latter  in  such  of  his  affairs  as  call  for 
attention.  No  feudatory  prince  has  the 
right  to  make  peace  or  war,  to  send 
ambassadors  to  other  feudatory  princes 
or  to  external  states,  or  to  keep  an  armed 
force  above  a  number  agreed  upon. 

Moreover,  no  Europeans  may  reside  at 
their  courts  without  the  sanction  of  the 
supreme  government.  Chiefs  who  oppress 
or  misgovern  their  subjects,  or  who  waste 
their  revenues,  or  are  unnecessarily  absent 
from  their  states,  are  sharply  taken  to 
task  ;  but  in  normal  circumstances  they 
are  very  little  interfered  with,  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  no  dispute  that  at  the  present 
day  several  native  states  are  as  well 
and  more  cheaply  governed  than  the  parts 
of  India  under  direct  British  government. 

At  the  present  date  there  are  760  towns 
in  British  India  large  and  important 
enough  to  possess  municipalities  that  have, 
under  the  Local  Self-Government  Acts  of 
1883-1884,  been  accorded  an  elective 
character.  The  majority  of  the  members 
of  committees  are  elected  by  the  rate- 
payers. These  municipal  bodies  have  the 
charge  of  roads,  water  supply,  drains, 
markets,  and  sanitation.    They  can  impose 


taxes,  enact  by-laws,  make  improve- 
ments, and  spend  money  ;  but  the  sanction 
of  the  provincial  government  is  necessary 
before  new  taxes  or  new  by-laws  can 
be  enforced.  Very  naturally,  the  vast 
majority  of  the  members  of  these  munici- 
pahties  are  Indians,  and  this  experiment 
in  self-government  is  being  watched  with 
Experiment  S^^^^    interest   by    those    who 

:«  i„^j.„  hope,  httle  by  little,  to  induct 
in  Indian        ^i  i  •  r    t     i-       • 

Government  }^^  ^^^^^'^^  ^^  ^^^clia  mto  the 
harmonious,  capable,  and  honest 
administration  of  their  home  government. 
For  rural  tracts  there  are  district  and 
local  boards  which  are  in  charge  of  roads, 
schools  and  hospitals.  Gibraltar,  a  Crown 
colony,  is  little  else  than  a  garrison  town — 
nearly  two  square  miles  in  area — governed 
autocratically  by  a  military  governor  and 
a  civilian  colonial  secretary. 

Malta,  Gozo,  and  Comino  are  an  archi- 
pelago of  three  islands  and  two  islets  in 
the  Central  Mediterranean  (117  square 
miles  in  area ;  population,  206,690). 
The  governor,  always  a  military  officer,  is 
assisted  by  a  lieutenant-governor  (civilian), 
an  executive  council,  and  a  council  of 
government  consisting  of  eleven  official 
members,  including  the  governor,  and 
eight  elected  members.  The  governor  has 
a  right  in  case  of  necessity  to  legislate 
by  order-in-council. 

Cyprus  is  still  theoretically  a  Turkish 
possession.  By  agreements  concluded 
with  the  Porte  between  June  and  August, 
1878,  the  island  of  Cyprus  was  handed  over 
to  Great  Britain  to  be  administered 
entirely  free  from  Turkish  control,  until 
Russia  restored  to  Turkej^  the  fortress  of 
Kars  and  other  parts  of  Armenia  acquired 
as  the  results  of  the  Russo-Turkish  \\'ar 
of  1877-78.  At  the  present  time  the 
island  is  governed  by  a  high  commissioner 
on  the  lines  of  a  Crown  colony.  There  is 
an  executive  council  consisting  of  the 
chief  secretary,  the  king's  advocate,  and 
the  receiver-general  ;  and  a  legislature 
of  eighteen  members,  which, 
p"**^  besides  the  above-mentioned 
u  e  m  ^j-jj-gg  officials,  comprises  the 
^^'^^  chief  medical  officer,  the  regis- 
trar-general, the  principal  forest  officer,  and 
twelve  elected  councillors — nine  Christian 
and  three  Mohammedan.  The  voters  are 
all  male  Turkish  or  British  subjects,  or 
foreigners  who  have  resided  at  least  five 
years  on  the  island  and  are  payers  of  land 
taxes.  The  council  may  be  dissolved  at 
the    high    commissioner's   pleasure,    and 

5563 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


cannot  sit  for  a  longer  term  than  five  years. 
Ceylon  is  administered  by  a  governor 
aided  by  an  executive  council  of  five 
and  a  legislative  council  of  seventeen 
members,  comprising  nine  officials  and 
eight  nominated  unofficial  members,  who 
represent  in  their  personalities  the  Singha- 
lese, Mohammedan,  Eurasian  and  British 
elements  in  the  population.  For  purposes 
of  general  admimstration  the  island  is 
divided  into  nine  provinces,  presided  over 
by  government  agents  who  are  the 
eqviivalent  of  the  Indian  collector.  These 
in  their  turn  are  assisted  by  subordinate 


of  Singapore  and  Penang,  though  their 
nomination  must  be  confirmed  by'  the 
Crown.  The  governor  of  the  Straits 
Settlements  is  also  high  commissioner 
for  the  Federated  Malay  States,  which 
fact  carries  his  commission  right  up  to 
the  confines  of  India  and  Siam.  and  for 
Brunei,  in  Central  North  Borneo  ;  and  is 
also  consul-general  for  the  protected 
countries  of  Sarawak  and  North  Borneo. 
The  Federated  Malay  States — except 
Johor — are  administered  by  state  councils 
composed  of  the  native  sultan,  a  British 
resident,  a  secretary  to  the  resident,  and 


THE    COUNCIL    HALL    IN    THE    GOVERNORS    PALACE    AT    VALETTA,    MALTA 


British,  Eurasian  and  native  officials. 
The  Maldive  Islands,  500  miles  west  of 
Ceylon,  are  governed  by  their  own  here- 
ditary sultan  and  a  cabinet  of  seven 
ministers.  The}'  are  under  the  general 
supervision  of  the  Ceylon  Government,  to 
whom  the  sultan  is  tributary. 

The  Straits  Settlements — Singapore, 
Malacca,  Penang,  Labuan  Island,  Christ- 
mas Island,  and  the  Cocos  Islands — are 
governed  much  on  the  lines  of  Ceylon  by 
a  governor,  with  executive  and  legisla- 
tive councils ;  except  that  of  the  un- 
official members  of  council  two  may  be 
nominated  by  the  chambers  of  commerce 

5564 


selected  native  (Malay)  chiefs  and  Chinese 
notabilities.  A  British  resident-general 
under  the  control  of  the  high  commis- 
sioner super\nses  the  general  affairs  of  the 
Malay  Peninsula.  The  state  of  Johor 
remains  outside  this  scheme  of  adminis- 
tration. Its  sultan  governs  the  territory 
of  Johor  through  native  ministers  and 
headmen,  but  entrusts  all  his  foreign 
relations  to  Great  Britain.  The  same 
arrangements  prevail  in  Sarawak,  a  large 
Borneo  state  ruled  by  an  English  rajah. 
In  Brunei,  the  countrj^ — 3,000  square 
miles — is  governed  by  a  British  resident 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  sultan    and 


S.  13.  Barnard,  Cape  Town 

A  SITTING  OF  THE  CAPE  PARLIAMENT:  THE  LATE  CECIL  RHODES  IS  INDICATED  BY  A   X 


THE     LEGISLATIVE    COUNCIL     OF     »IJI     IN     SESSION 


1.  W.  Wcders.  t-iji 


PARLIAMENTS     OF     BRITAIN'S     OVERSEAS     DOMINIONS 


5565 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF     THE    WORLD 


native  ministers.  British  North  Borneo 
is  administered  by  a  governor,  practically 
appointed  by  the  Crown,  and  a  court  of 
directors  sitting  in  London.  The  territory 
is  divided  into  ten  provinces,  and  is 
administered — as  in  Sarawak — much  on 
the  lines  of  a  Crown  colony.  In  Sarawak 
the  rajah  is  assisted  in  the  work  of 
.      government    by    a    nominated 

°'^!".'!'"^  council  of  seven  members.  The 
I  *l  '^'d  colony  of  Fiji  has  a  governor, 
executive  and  legislative  coun- 
cils ;  but  six  members  out  of  eighteen  are 
elected  by  the  non-native  settlers,  and 
two  are  native  representatives  nominated 
by  the  governor.  The  native  population 
(Fijians) — over  go,ooo  in  number — are 
accorded  a  large  share  of  self-government. 
This  is  arranged  for  by  village  and 
district  councils,  meetings  of  chiefs,  and 
a  native  regulation  board,  which  has  the 
governor  as  })resident  and  four  European 
and  thirteen  native  members.  The 
native  legislation  of  the  board  must 
receive  the  sanction  of  the  legislative 
council  before  becoming  law. 

The  Fiji  Islands  are  divided  into  seven- 
teen provinces  under  the  control  of 
European  or  native  commissioners.  The 
governor  of  Fiji  is  also  high  commissioner 
lor  the  Western  Pacific,  and  as  such 
controls  the  native  governments  of  Tonga 
(which  kingdom  has  a  legislative  as- 
sembly), the  New  Hebrides  (jointly  with 
France),  the  Gilbert  Islands,  British 
Solomon  Islands  (area,  8,357  square  miles), 
Santa  Cruz  Islands,  Maiden  Island,  etc., 
etc.  He  is  also  assisted  by  resident 
commissioners  and  deputy  commissioners. 

The  Crown  Colony  of  Hong  Kong  is 
administered  by  a  governor,  an  executive 
council,  and  a  legislative  council  of  the 
usual  type — eight  official  members  and 
six  unofficial.  Of  these  last,  four  are 
nominated  by  the  Crown,  and  one  is 
nominated  by  the  chamber  of  commerce, 
one  by  the  justices  of  the  peace.  Wei- 
_. .     ,  hai-wei,  in  North  China,  is  ad- 

,  ,        mmistered  by  a  commissioner, 

Wei-hai-wci  ^^^°  legislates  by  ordinance. 
The  territory  is  leased  by 
China  on  an  uncertain  term,  and  includes 
the  walled  city  of  Wei-hai-wei  and  an 
area  outside  of  about  283  miles.  Over 
this  last  the  administration  is  mainly 
carried  on  by  native  headmen  un(^er  the 
supervision  of  the  British  commissioner. 
The  native  government  of  the  sultanate 
of  Zanzibar,  off  the  east  coast  of  Africa, 


is  limited  to  the  islands  of  Zanzibar  and 
Pemba,  though  the  sultan,  or  sayyid,  is 
still  the  theoretical  sovereign  over  the 
coast  strip  of  British  East  Africa.  The 
government  of  Zanzibar  is  carried  on  by 
the  sultan  through  a  British  Prime 
Minister  and  native  officials,  judges,  etc., 
but  under  the  supervision  of  a  British 
agent  and  consul-general,  who  also  have 
exclusive  jurisdiction  over  all  British 
subjects  or  foreigners  not  the  subjects  of 
Powers  having  special  treaty  relations  with 
the  sultan's  government.  The  Somaliland 
Protectorate  is  administered  simply  by  a 
commissioner  and  commander-in-chief. 

British  East  Africa  (area,  177,100  square 
miles)  has  a  governor  and  commander-in- 
chief,  and  a  lieutenant-governor  ;  an  exe- 
cutive and  a  legislative  council.  This 
last  consists  of  eight  official  members 
and  three  (nominated)  unofficial.  The 
territory  is  divided  into  seven  provinces 
under  provincial  commissioners,  who 
have  twenty-six  collectors  under  them. 
The  Uganda  Protectorate  is  ad- 
ministered by  a  governor  and  com- 
mander-in-chief, but  there  is  at  present 
no  council.  The  Uganda 
gan  a  s      Province   and  portions   of    the 

n^  \^^  ^  Western  Province  (Toro  and  An- 
Parliament   1     ,    ,  ,  ^  ,  • 

kole)  are  under  native  govern- 
ments, except  as  regards  jurisdiction  over 
non-natives  of  the  province  or  British  or 
foreign  subjects.  These  native  govern- 
ments are  carried  on  under  British  super- 
vision, and  the  British  governor  alone  has 
the  power  of  life  and  death.  There  are 
five  provinces.  In  the  native  kingdom  of 
Uganda  there  is  a  native  parliament,  or 
lukiko,  the  deliberations  of  which  assist 
the  king,  or  "  kabaka,"  of  Uganda  (at 
present  a  minor)  and  his  ministry  in  their 
government  of  the  kingdom  of  Uganda, 
a  state  of  great  antiquity. 

The  territory  once  called  British  Central 
Africa,  north  of  the  Zambesi,  is  now 
divided  into  the  protectorate  of  Nyassa- 
land  and  North-east  and  North-west 
Rhodesia.  The  first-named  is  adminis- 
tered by  a  governor  and  commander-in- 
chief,  an  executive  and  a  legislative 
council,  the  latter  consisting  of  nominated 
and  official  members  whose  legislation  is 
subject  to  the  governor's  veto.  This 
virtual  colony  is  divided  into  thirteen 
districts  under  the  charge  of  residents, 
first,  second  and  third  class.  North-east 
and  North-west  Rhodesia  are  governed 
by  administrators  and  magistrates  in  the 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    INNER    EMPIRE 


service  of  the  British  South  Africa 
Chartered  Company.  Lewanika,  king  of 
the  Barotse,  has  still  a  considerable 
amount  of  autonomous  power  over  his 
own  sub]  ects.  North-west  Rhodesia  comes 
within  the  purview  of  the  South  African 
high  commissioner  ;  North-east  Rhodesia 
is  subject  to  some  supervision  by  the 
governor  of  Nyassaland,  who,  by  arrange- 
ment, supplies  the  armed  force  for  the 
country's   defence. 

The  court  of  appeal  from  the  courts  of 
Nyassaland  and  North-east  Rhodesia  lies 
in  Zanzibar  ;  that  of  North-west  Rho- 
desian  justice  in  Cape  Town.  As  time  goes 
on,  North-west  and  Southern  Rhodesia 
will  probably  take  their  places  in  the 
great  South  African  Confederation,  while 
North-east  Rhodesia  and  Nyassaland  will 
become  once  more  fused  under  their 
original  title  of  British  Central  Africa, 
and  will  constitute  a  great  negro  state 
under  direct  British  management. 

The  Seychelles  Archipelago  is  admin- 
istered by  a  governor,  and  executive 
and  a  legislative  council,  the  last  con- 
sisting of  nominated  members,  three 
official  and  three  unofficial,  the  governor 

having    an    original    and    a 
Representahve  ^^^^.^|  ^^^^_      ^j^^  -^^^^^  ^^ 


Government 
in  Mauritius 


Mauritius  has  an  area  of  705 
square  miles  and  a  popula- 
tion of  378,000.  The  government  is 
carried  on  by  a  governor,  who  is  assisted 
by  an  executive  council  composed  of  the 
commander  of  H.M.  troops,  the  colonial 
secretary,  the  procureur-general,  the 
receiver-general,  the  auditor-general,  and 
two  elected  members  of  the  council  of 
government.  This  last  is  almost  equivalent 
to  a  lower  house  of  legislature. 

It  consists,  besides  the  governor  and 
eight  ex-officio  members,  of  nine  members 
nominated  by  the  governor  and  ten 
members  elected  by  the  people  on 
a  moderate  franchise.  So  that  the 
Mauritians — rapidly  becoming  a  people 
of  Hindu,  Negro  and  Chinese  race — 
possess  the  beginnings  of  a  representa- 
tive government.  The  small  island  de- 
pendencies of  Mauritius  are  governed  by 
magistrates  appointed  by  the  governor. 

The  Transvaal  is  the  youngest  of  our 
self-governing  colonies.  It  has  a  governor, 
who,  in  this  instance,  is  also  the  high 
commissioner  for  all  South  Africa.  He 
governs  constitutionally  through  a 
legislative  council  (which  is  to  be  ulti- 
mately    an      elective     senate)      and     a 


legislative  assembly  of  69  members,  all 
freely  elected  by  the  registered  voters  in 
the  69  existing  electoral  divisions.  The 
franchise  is  limited  to  "  white  male 
British  subjects,"  and  the  qualification  is 
a  minimum  of  six  months'  residence  in 
the  Transvaal.  The  registration  of  voters 
takes  place  biennially.  The  duration  of 
„  .  .  ,  the  assembly  is  a  maximum  of 
Y  five  years,  if  not  dissolved  earlier 

Colon^^  by  the  governor  on  the  advice 
^  of  his  ministers.  Members  of 
the  legislature  are  paid  a  maximum 
of  /!^300  annually.  The  languages  of 
discussion  are  English  and  Dutch,  but 
the  language  of  record  is  English.  Pro- 
vision is  made  in  the  Transvaal  Constitu- 
tion for  the  safeguarding  of  the  landed 
and  other  interests  of  the  native  negroes, 
which  in  a  great  measure  atones  for  the 
denial  to  them  of  the  franchise. 

The  constitution  and  government  of  the 
Orange  River  Colony  resemble  very  closely 
those  of  the  Transvaal.  The  number  of 
members  of  the  legislative  assembly  is  at 
present  thirty-eight,  elected  by  registered 
voters.  Basutoland,  between  the  Orange 
State  and  Natal,  is  a  great  negro  reserva- 
tion, of  which  the  high  commissioner  of 
South  Africa  is  governor.  The  territory  is 
governed  by  a  resident  commissioner 
under  the  direction  of  the  high  com- 
missioner, who  has  exclusive  jurisdiction 
over  all  persons  not  native  Basutos.  To 
these  Europeans,  Asiatics,  or  foreign 
negroes,  numbering  in  all  scarcely  more 
than  1,000,  justice  is  administered  by 
seven  assistant  commissioners  who  are 
also  magistrates.  The  347,000  Basutos 
are  ruled  by  their  own  chiefs  subject  to 
appeals  to  the  British  magistrate's  court. 

Natal,  with  which  the  native  territories 
of  Zululand  and  Amatongaland  and  the 
former  Transvaal  district  of  Vrijheid  are 
now  amalgamated,  is  ruled  by  a  governor, 
a  responsible  ministry,  a  legislative 
council,  and  an  elective  legislative  as- 
sembly.  The  members  of  the 
The  Ruling  iggigjative  council  are  sum- 
■Z^\  moned  to  act  by  the  governor- 

in  Natal  in-council.  They  sit  for  ten 
years,  and  at  present  are  thirteen  in 
number.  No  one  can  be  summoned  to 
this  "  senate  "  unless  he  is  the  proprietor 
of  at  least  £500  worth  of  immovable 
property  within  the  colony.  The  fran- 
chise for  the  election  of  members  of  the 
legislative  assembly  is  limited  to  the 
male   sex,  is  apparently  granted  without 

5567 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


considerations    of    race    or   literacy,    and 

is  only   qualified    by   the    possession     of 

immovable     property     of    the    minimum 

value  of  £50,  or  by  paying  rent   for  such 

property     of     at    least   £10    per    annum, 

or    having    resided   at  least    three    years 

in    the    colony,   and   possessing   not  less 

than  £96   income  per  annum.     The  same 

-J  qualifications  apply  to  member- 

-,  .     ship  of   the   legislature.      The 

Negroes  m  ui        i.    r  x  j.u 

„  ,  ,     .       assembly  sits  lor  not  more  than 

lour  years.  Members  of  the 
legislature  are  not  paid,  unless  they  are 
ministers, but  receive  a  travelhng  allowance. 
The  province  of  Zululand  is  almost 
entirely  occupied  by  native  negroes.  Only 
an  infinitesimal  part  of  its  area — one- 
thirtieth — has  been  taken  up  by  non- 
natives.  One-fifth  of  the  area  of  "old" 
Natal  is  set  aside  as  a  native  reserve, 
besides  large  areas  that  have  been  bought 
by  negroes  from  the  government. 

In  this  and  other  respects  the  negroes  of 
Natal  seem  to  have  been  very  well  treated 
by  the  Colonial  Government  ;  but  the 
means  of  administering  justice  among 
them,  and  the  extent  to  which  their 
interests  are  represented  in  the  Natal 
Parliament,  seem  to  require  improvement. 
The  negro  territory  of  Swaziland,  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  Transvaal  (area, 
6,536  square  miles ;  population,  85,000 
negroes,  900  whites),  is  governed  by  a 
resident  commissioner  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  high  commissioner  of  South 
Africa,  much  on  the  lines  of  Basutoland. 

Cape  Colony  is  the  premier  state  of 
South  Africa,  and  by  far  the  oldest  self- 
governing  colony  in  Africa.  It  has  pos- 
sessed representative  institutions  since 
1853,  but  the  present  form  of  government 
through  responsible  ministers  only  dates 
from  1872.  The  system,  of  course,  starts 
with  a  governor,  who  receives  no  less 
than  £"8,000  a  year,  and  who  rules  with 
the  advice  of  six  ministers.  There  is  a 
legislative  council  of  twenty-six  elected 
_.     „       .      members,   who  sit   for  seven 

The  Premier  ,,  ,x:      x-         u    ■ 

g  years,  the  qualification  being 

c     .u  Ar  •       /2,ooo  of  immovable,  or /4,ooo 
South  Africa    '^ .  ,,  ^      ^    Vi 

01  movable    property.      The 

house  of  assembly  consists  of  107  elected 

members,     and     lasts     (unless     dissolved 

earlier)  for  five  years.     The  qualification 

for  the  exercise  of  the  franchise  for  the 

flection  to  both  houses,   and   for   sitting 

in  the  house  of  assembly,  is  the  possession 

of  personal  property  (not  tribal)  worth  at 

least  £75  (or  salary  of  not  less  than  /50 

5568 


per  annum)  and  a  standard  of  literacy- 
ability  to  write  one's  name  and  address. 
The  suffrage  is  still  limited  to  males,  but 
no  race,  colour,  or  rehgious  distinction 
is  made  in  the  distribution  of  the  franchise. 
Members  of  both  houses  are  paid 
at  the  rate  of  ;^i  is.  a  day,  with  about 
£60  extra  for  travelling  expenses. 
Local  government  (divisional  councils, 
municipaUties,  and  village-management 
boards)  of  an  elaborate  and  efficient  type 
is  fully  developed  over  Cape  Colony  and 
the  included  district  of  British  Bechuana- 
land.  The  Bechuanaland  Protectorate 
stretches  between  the  northern  parts  of 
Cape  Colony  and  the  Zambesi,  with  an 
area  of  275,000  square  miles,  and  a  popu- 
lation of  129,000  negroes  and  1,000  whites. 
It  is  governed  as  regards  the  natives  by 
six  native  chiefs,  the  most  important  of 
whom  is  Khama.  As  regards  Europeans 
and  internal  or  inter-tribal  affairs  the  ad- 
ministration is  directed  by  a  resident 
commissioner,  government  secretary, 
assistant  commissioners,  magistrates,  etc., 
under  the  general  direction  of  the  high 
commissioner     for    South    Africa.       The 

„.    ,    .  ,  area  of  Southern  Rhodesia    is 
Khodesia  s  o  -i  x-l 

.....  148,575      square      miles,     the 

Limited  T-  IX-        ■  o 

P        . .  European  population  is  14,018  ; 

and  the  native  population, 
639,418.  The  country  is  governed  by 
the  British  South  Africa  Chartered 
Company,  through  an  administrator,  an 
executive  council  of  six,  and  a  legislative 
council  of  sixteen  members.  Seven 
members  out  of  these  sixteen  are  elected 
by  registered  voters  on  a  franchise  which 
appears  to  be  limited  to  European  resi- 
dents. The  executive  and  legislative 
councils  sit  for  three  years. 

All  laws  passed  must  be  submitted  for 
sanction  to  the  high  commissioner  of  South 
Africa,  under  whose  control  is  placed  the 
military  police.  The  high  commissioner 
is  represented  locally  by  a  resident  com- 
missioner. For  administration  Southern 
Rhodesia  is  divided  into  two  provinces 
and  eight  districts.  Native  affairs  are 
managed  (under  the  administrator)  by 
a  department  of  state  and  thirty-one  or 
thirty- two  native  commissioners.  All  legis- 
lation and  land  questions  affecting  natives 
are  especially  under  the  supervision  and 
control  of  the  high  commissioner. 

The  little  island  of  St.  Helena,  in  the 
Atlantic,  is  47  square  miles  in  area,  and 
has  a  population  of  about  4,000.  Its 
affairs  are  managed  by  a  governor  and  an 


INSPECTION     OF     CONVICTS     AT     MANDALAY    GAOL     IN     BURMA 


ADMINISTERING    JUSTICE    TO    BRITISH    SUBJECT    PEOPLES 


5569 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


executive  council.   The  island  of  Ascension 

is  administered   by  a   naval  commandant 

under   the   Admiralty.     Southern  Nigeria 

has  a  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  and 

colonial  secretary,  an  executive  of  seven 

official  members,  and  a  legislative  council  of 

ten  official  and  four  nominated  unofficial 

members,  two  of  whom  are  negroes.     The 

»j  ^.  colony  is  divided  into  three 
Negro  Kings  .-^  j       u      ^     ^  a 

•    Ki    .k         provmces  and   about    twenty 

in  Northern    K-    .    ■    .         j      •    •    ,         j  u     ^u 

7^:cv»--«  districts,  administered  by  three 

iNigeria  .      .  -^         . 

provincial  commissioners  and  a 

large  number  of  district  commissioners. 
Northern  Nigeria  is  governed  by  a  high  com- 
missioner without  any  executive  or  legis- 
lative councils.  The  fourteen  provinces 
are  supervised  by  ninety-nine  residents 
and  assistant-residents.  A  large  amount 
of  North  Nigerian  territory  is  directly  ad- 
ministered, so  far  as  natives  are  concerned, 
by  negro  or  negroid  kings  and  rulers. 

The  colony  of  the  Gold  Coast  has  a 
governor,  an  executive  council  of  four, 
and  a  legislative  council  of  five  official 
and  four  unofficial  nominated  members, 
of  whom  one  is  a  negro.  There  is  a  depart- 
ment and  a  secretary  for  native  affairs, 
and  Ashanti  and  the  northern  territories 
are  governed — under  the  Gold  Coast 
governor — by  chief  commissioners,  pro- 
vincial, and  travelling  commissioners. 

Sierra  Leone,  for  administrative  pur- 
poses, is  divided  into  a  colony  of  about 
4,300  square  miles  and  a  protectorate  of 
28,110  square  miles  in  area.  Both  are 
under  the  administration  of  the  same 
governor,  colonial  secretary,  and  general 
staff  ;  but  as  regards  the  colony  along  the 
coast  the  governor  is  assisted  by  an 
executive  council  of  five  members  and  a 
legislative  council  of  five  official  and  four 
unofficial  nominated  members,  of  whom 
two  are  negroes.  The  protectorate  is 
divided  into  five  districts,  which  are  ad- 
ministered by  district  commissioners,  a 
good  deal  of  power  over  the  natives  being 
still  left  in  the  hands  of  the  native  chiefs. 

n         .  In    the    Gambia   Colony  the 

Bermudas  j^      1  <(       1       •    1  m  1 

,  ,  .  actual  colonial  area  is  onlv 
an  Important     ,        ^  ^  •,  ,  .-^ 

Naval  Base  ^"^"^  "9  square  miles,  and  is 
ruled  by  a  governor,  execu- 
tive council  (three  members),  legislative 
council  (six  official,  three  unofficial  nomi- 
nated members,  one  of  them  a  negro). 
The  protectorate — 3,911  square  miles — is 
administered  by  the  governor  through 
a  number  of  travelling  commissioners. 
The  lovely  little  archipelago  of  the 
Bermudas  was  really  intended  by  Nature 

5570 


for  the  Sea  Queen's  capital  and  the  Syrens' 
pied'h-lerre.  It  was  more  than  that  in 
the  realms  of  fancy,  having  been  chosen 
by  Shakespeare  for  the  scenes  of  "  The 
Tempest."  Instead  of  this,  we  have 
turned  it  in  the  course  of  centuries  into 
an  important  naval  base  on  the  North 
American  station,  with  dockyard,  victual- 
ling establishment,  and  coaling  station. 

There  are  360  small  islands  in  the  group, 
and  only  about  twenty  square  miles  of 
habitable  land,  with  a  population  of  683 
whites  and  11,000  blacks  or  half-castes. 
The  governor  over  this  microcosm  is  the 
officer  in  command  of  the  troops,  and  he 
is  assisted  by  an  executive  council  of  six 
members,  a  legislative  assembly  of  nine — 
both  these  are  appointed  by  the  Crown — 
and  a  house  of  assembly — thirty-six 
members — elected  by  the  people.  The 
franchise  is  dependent  on  the  possession 
of  freehold  property  of  not  less  than  £60 
value.  Members  of  the  legislature  are 
paid  eight  shillings  a  day  for  attendance. 
Representative  institutions  in  the  Ber- 
mudas date  from  1620.  The  constitution 
of  Jamaica,  granted  in  1662,  was,  like 
that    of    Bermuda,     more    suited     to     a 

_  .  ,  large  country  than  a  small 
Jamaica  s  ij        .1  it  t_ 

„  ,  .  island,  though  amaica  has 
Enlarged  r      °  ■, 

^       ..    .  an  area  of  4,207  square  miles 

and  a  population,  mainly 
negro,  of  830,261.  But  the  ancient  con- 
stitution was  surrendered  in  1866,  and, 
after  several  changes  and  enlargements, 
now  stands  thus  : 

The  governor  rules  with  the  assistance  of 
a  privy  council  of  not  more  than  eight  in 
number — mostly  officials — appointed  by 
the  Crown  ;  a  legislative  council  of  the 
governor,  six  ex-officio  members,  ten 
nominated  and  fourteen  elected.  The 
legislative  council  may  not  sit  more  than 
five  years  without  being  dissolved.  The 
franchise  on  which  these  fourteen  repre- 
sentatives, as  well  as  the  members  of  the 
parochial  boards,  are  elected  is  regulated 
by  a  small  property  quahfication,  residence, 
rate-paying,  and  British  nationality. 

Matters  of  local  administration  in 
Jamaica  are  carried  out  by  fifteen  elected 
parochial  boards  of  fifteen  parishes,  into 
which  the  whole  island  is  divided.  The 
Turks  and  Caicos  Islands  are  a  de- 
pendency of  Jamaica,  with  5,287  inhabi- 
tants, the  former  group  being  administered 
by  a  commissioner  and  a  legislative 
board  appointed  by  the  Crown.  The 
Cayman  Islands  are  likewise  administered 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    INNER    EMPIRE 


by  a  commissioner  under  the  supervision 
of  the  gr>vernor  of  Jamaica.  The  Bahama 
Islands  have  a  governor,  an  executive 
council  of  nine,  a  legislative  council  of 
nine,  and  a  representative  assembly  of 
twenty-nine  members  elected  on  a  small 
property  franchise.  The  total  area  of 
this  group  is  5,450  square  miles. 

The  Leeward  Islands — area,  701  square 
miles  ;  population.  128,000 — have  a 
governor,  a  federal  executive  council 
nominated  by  the  Crown,  and  a  federal 
legislature  of  eight  nominated  and  eight 
elected  members.  These  last  are  elected 
by  the  unofficial  members  of  the  local 
legislative  councils  of  Antigua,  Dominica, 
and  St.  Kitts-Nevis.  The  Leeward 
Islands  are  divided  for  purposes  of  local 
administration  into  five  presidencies  :  the 
island  groups  of  Antigua,  Montserrat,  St. 
Kitts  and  Nevis,  Virgin,  and  Dominica. 
The  three  first-named  and  Dominica 
possess  local  executive  and  legislative 
councils,  the  members  of  which,  official 
and  unofficial,  are  nominated.  The  Virgin 
Islands  have  only  an  executive  council. 
There  is  an  administrator  for  St. 
Christopher,  etc.,  and  one 
for  Dominica,  and  com- 
missioners for  Montserrat 
and  the  Virgin  Islands.  The 
Windward  Islands — area,  524  square 
miles ;  population,  175,587 — have  a 
governor,  who  usually  resides  at  Grenada, 
an  administrator  for  St.  Lucia,  and  an 
administrator  for  St.  Vincent.  In  each  of 
the  three  islands  there  are  executive  and 
legislative  councils,  the  members  of  which 
are  nominated.  In  all  the  legislative 
councils  there  are  unofficial  members. 

The  island  of  Barbados  has  an  area  of 
only  166  square  miles — a  little  larger  than 
the  Isle  of  Wight — and  a  population  of 
under  200,000,  but  it  goes  far  beyond  any 
other  West  Indian  colony  in  representa- 
tive government.  It  has  a  governor  all  to 
itself,  an  executive  of  four  members 
besides  the  governor,  an  executive  com- 
mittee partly  elective,  a  nominated  legis- 
lative council  of  nine  members,  and  a 
house  of  assembly  of  twenty  four  mem- 
bers. The  last-named  are  elected  annu- 
ally by  the  people  on  a  low  property  fran- 
chise. The  executive  committee  has 
almost  the  functions  of  a  responsible 
ministry.  The  non-elective  element  con- 
sists of  the  four  members  of  the  House 
of  Assembly  appointed  by  the  governor 
to   serve    on    the    executive    committee. 


Advanced 
Government  in 
Barbados 


As  Barbados   is   exceedingly  prosperous, 

this  elaborate  machinery  of  government 

is  apparently  worth  while.     Trinidad  and 

Tobago,    with    an   area   of    1,868    square 

miles  and  a  population  of  about  273,898, 

have      no      representative      institutions. 

Tobago    Island   is   simply    a    district    of 

Trinidad,    under   a  district    officer.     The 

rp.     D  two  islands   are  under  the 

1  he  Prosperous       1       x  ii 

,  ,     J  rule  of  a  governor,  with  an 

Island  ,.      "^  .,         ,.       . 

fp  •  -J  J         executive    council     of    six 
of  1  rinidad  ,  ,  1      •  1    ,  • 

members  and  a  legislative 

council  consisting  of  the  governor,  ten 
other  officials,  and  eleven  unofficial 
members  nominated  by  the  governor  for 
five  years.  The  large  and  prosperous 
island  of  Trinidad  is  divided  into  sixteen 
counties,  and  these  are  administered  by 
nine  district  officers.  It  is  therefore  entirely 
without  representative  institutions. 

The  colony  of  British  Honduras,  on  the 
mainland  of  Central  America,  is  adminis- 
tered by  a  governor,  an  executive  council  of 
five  members,  and  a  nominated  legislative 
council  of  three  official  and  five  unofficial 
members.  It  is  divided  into  six  districts 
under  district  commissioners. 

British  Guiana,  on  the  mainland  of 
Northern  South  America,  is  a  relatively 
large  possession,  over  90,000  square  miles 
in  area,  with  a  population  of  307,000,  the 
largest  elements  in  which  are  negroes  and 
East  Indians.  The  administration  consists 
of  a  governor,  an  executive  council  of 
eight  members,  two  ex-officio,  six  nomi- 
nated, a  Court  of  Policy  (legislative 
council),  and  a  Combined  Court,  which 
deals  with  finance.  The  Court  of  Policy 
is  composed  of  seven  official  and  eight 
elected  members  ;  the  Combined  Court 
consists  of  these  fifteen  members  of  the 
Court  of  Policy  (which  is  a  purely  legis- 
lative body),  and,  in  addition,  of  six  elected 
financial  representatives.  Thus  the  Com- 
bined Court  comprises  fourteen  elected 
unofficial  members  and  seven  officials.  The 
functions  of  this  Combined  Court  are  to 
consider  the  estimate  of  expen- 
diture prepared  by  the  governor 
in  executive  council  and  to  de- 
termine the  ways  and  means  to 
meet  it.  This  court  alone  can  levy  taxes. 
Thus,  in  the  possession  of  this  Combined 
Court,  with  a  preponderating  unofficial 
majority  of  seven  elected  representatives, 
the  voting  inhabitants  of  British  Guiana 
come  nearest  of  all  the  British  possessions 
in  Tropical  America  (except  Barbados) 
to  a  government  of  popular  control.    But, 

5571 


How  British 

Guiana 

is  Governed 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


though  there  are  no  specific  principles  of 
race  exclusion,  the  qualifications  for 
membership  of  the  legislature  and  the 
franchise  for  electors  at  present  render 
it  difficult  for  non-Europeans  to  control 
the  country's  destinies. 

The  qualification  for  election  to  the 
Guianan  Court  of  Policy  consists  of  (i) 
ownership  of  80  acres  of  land,  half  of  which 
must  be  under  cultivation  ;  or  (2)  owner- 
ship of  immovable  property  of  a  value  not 
less  than  £1,562  los.  ;  or  (3)  ownership  or 
possession  under  a  lease  for  twenty-one 
years  and  upwards  of  a  house  or  house  and 
land  of  the  annual  rental  value  of  ;;^25o. 
The  qualification  for  a  financial  representa- 
tive is  the  same  as  for  a  member  of  the 
Court  of  Policy,  with  the  important  addi- 
tion that  such  representative  must  also 
possess  a  "  clear  annual  income  of  £300 
arising  from  any  kind  of  property  not 
mentioned  in  any  other  property  qualifica- 
tion, or  from  any  profession,  business,  or 
trade  carried  on  in  the  colonj'." 

The  franchise  which  elects  these  four- 
teen members  of  the  legislature  is  either 
"  county  "  or  "  city."  Its  restrictions 
are  not  very  severe,  being  either  ownership 
or  tenancy  of  cultivated  land  or  houses, 
or  a  minimum  income  of  not  less  than 
£100  (coupled  w^th  residence),  or  payment 
of  twelve  months'  taxes  of  not  less  than 
£^  3s.  4d.,  combined  with  not  less  than 
six    months'    residence    prior   to   date  of 


registration.  The  number  of  registered 
electors  at  present  out  of  a  population  of 
307,000  is  about  3,100.  Only  about  130 
square  miles  of  British  Guiana  are  under 
cultivation.  There  are  two  municipalities, 
with  mayor  and  town  council — George- 
town and  New  Amsterdam — and  local 
government  is  further  provided  for  by  fifty- 
four  village  and  country  district  councils. 

The  Falkland  Islands  have  an  area 
(excluding  the  uninhabited  South  Georgia, 
1,000  square  miles)  of  about  6,500  square 
miles,  and  a  population  of  about  2,100. 
They  are  administered  by  a  governor,  an 
executive  council  of  four  officials,  and  a 
legislative  council  of  three  officials  and 
two  unofficials  appointed  by  the  Crown. 

Before  passing  on  to  consider  the  sta- 
tistics of  other  parts  of  British  America, 
we  might  note  the  following  points  about 
the  possessions  in  the  West  Indies  and 
Bermudas,  Honduras,  and  Guiana.     The 

...     .  „  total     white     population    of 

Mixed  Races    tj   •;  ■  1     /        •    i    \     t>     j.    „ 
Under  the        British  (mamly),  Portuguese, 

D  •*•  I-  n  French,  and  Spanish  descent 
British  Flag     .         ^    '  <t  , 

IS      62,300.       Negroes      and 

mulattoes  amount  to  about  1,550,000  ; 
natives  of  British  India,  210,000  (chiefly 
in  Guiana,  110,000;  Trinidad,  87,000; 
and  Jamaica,  13,000);  Chinese,  1,500; 
aboriginal  Amerindians  (in  British  Hon- 
duras, Dominica,  and  Guiana,  about 
11,000) ;  mixed  races,  compounded  of  negro, 
East  Indian,  and  Amerindian,  10,000. 


GENERAL    VIEW     OF    THE     NEW     DOCKS     AT     SIMONS     BAY     IN     SOUTH     AFRICA 
5572 


THE 

BRITISH 

EMPIRE 

XI 


BY  SIR 
HARRY 

JOHNSTON. 
G.C.M.G. 


PARLIAMENTS  OF  the  OUTER  EMPIRE 

CANADA    AND   AUSTRALIA   AND  THEIR 
ADVANCED    SYSTEMS    OF   GOVERNMENT 


*~PHE  vast  Dominion  of  Canada  (nominal 
■*•  area,  3,745,574  square  miles,  though 
only  about  2,000,000  square  miles  are  really 
habitable)  is  perhaps  the  portion  of  the 
British  Empire  that  is  most  independent 
of  Great  Britain.  Canada  makes  no  contri- 
bution, direct  or  indirect,  to  the  Imperial 
fleet  or  army  ;  but  she  shares  with  us 
the  supreme  rule  of  the  king-emperor,  and 
admits  an  appeal  to  the  Judicial  Com- 
mittee of  the  Pri\';^' Council,  which  is  almost 
expunged  from  the  Australian  constitution, 
The  rule  of  the  king  is  delegated  to  a 
Governor-General,  appointed  usually  on 
the  advice  of  the  British  Cabinet.  But  this 
governor,  once  appointed,  enjoys  greater 
independence  than  any  other  delegate  of 
regal  authority,  and  directs  the  govern- 
ment of  Canada  more  like  a  constitutional 
president  elected  for  five  years  than  a 
nominee  of  the  British  Colonial  Ofhce.  He 
is  assisted  by  a  Privy  Council,  chosen  and 
nominated  by  himself.  Representing  the 
king,  he  rules  with  the  advice  of  respon- 
sible ministers,  through  a  parliament  of 
Senate  and  House  of  Commons. 

The  Dominion  of  Canada  is  divided  at 
present  into  nine  provinces  and  a  terri- 
tory (Yukon).  The  unorganised  remainder 
of  the  far  north  and  east  is  administered 
through  the  Home  Office  of  the  Dominion 
Ministry.  With  the  exception  of  the  Yukon 
-,  ^  territory,  each  province  has  a 

Government  ,    „  -^  •  ,      ,         i 

■    c      A'      fully-equipped     local     govern- 
„      .  raent — 1  ieutenant-  governor, 

responsible  ministry,  elected 
legislature.  In  the  case  of  Quebec  and 
Nova  Scotia  the  local  parliament  consists 
of  two  houses — a  Legislative  Council 
equivalent  to  a  senate,  and  a  Legislative 
Assembly..  All  the  other  provinces  have  a 
Legislative  Assembly  only. 

The  Dominion  Parliament  has  much 
greater  and  more  comprehensive  powers 
than  the  Senate  and  Congress  of  the  United 
States.      The  provincial  legislatures  deal 


only  \\'ith  direct  taxation  within  the 
province,  provincial  loans,  the  manage- 
ment of  provincial  lands,  provincial  and 
municipal  offices,  licences,  pubhc  works, 
education,  and  general  civil  law.  They 
also  possess  concurrent  legislative  powers 
with  the  Dominion  Parliament  on  ques- 
tions of  agriculture,  quarantine,  and 
immigration.  All  their  Bills  require  the 
assent  of  the  lieutenant-governor,  and  may 
P       .  -  be  disallowed  within  one  year 

the  Domi  i  ^^'  ^^^  Governor-General.  The 
Parli&ment  Dominion  ParHament  deals 
with  all  questions  except  those 
specifically  delegated  by  the  constitution 
to  the  provincial  legislatures,  and  may 
even  negotiate  commercial  treaties  with 
foreign  Powers  or  other  self-governing . 
portions  of  the  British  Empire.  But  all 
Bills  passed  by  the  Dominion  Parliament 
require  the  assent  of  the  Governor- 
General,  and  rnay  be  disallo\\'ed  by  the 
king-emperor  within  two  years. 

The  Senate  consists  of  eighty-seven 
members,  nominated  for  life  by  the 
Governor-General.  Their  qualifications 
are  :  (i)  Having  attained  the  age  of  thirty  ; 
(2)  birth  or  residence  in  the  province  for 
whic^  they  are  appointed  ;  (3)  the  posses- 
sion of  at  least  £800  worth  of  property. 

The  members  of  the  House  of  Commons 
need  no  property  qualification.  They 
must  be  British  subjects,  born  or  natu- 
ralised, and  twenty-one  years  of  age  or 
upwards.  A  member  cannot  sit  for  both 
a  provincial  legislature  and  the  Dominion 
Parliament.  Members  are  elected  by 
ballot  on  a  male  suffrage — suffrage  has 
not  been  granted  to  women  in  CS.nada — 
which  is  very  wide,  practically  manhood 
suffrage  in  Ontario,  Manitoba,  British 
Columbia,  and  Prince  Edward's  Island, 
Saskatchewan  and  Alberta ;  a  small 
property  hmit  in  Quebec,  Nova  Scotia,  and 
New  Brunswick.  Since  1898,  the  decision 
as    to    the    suffrage    for    election    to    the 

557  Z 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Dominion  Parliament  has  been  left  to  the 
provinces  to  decide  according  to  local 
views.  Senators  and  members  are  paid  : 
senators,  £500  per  annum  ;  members,  a 
maximum  of  ^^500  per  session.  A  parha- 
ment  may  not  last  longer  than  five  years. 
Local  government  throughout  settled 
Canada  is  admirably  and  fully  developed 
by  rural,  village,  town,  city,  and  county 
councils.  The  colony  of  Newfoundland,  with 
the  adjoining  coast  strip  of  Labrador,  is 
not  part  of  the  dominion  of  Canada,  but  an 
independent  government  under  a  governor 
and  responsible  ministry.  There  is  an 
Executive  Council  of  nine  ministers,  over 


term  for  each  elected  assembly  is  four 
years.  The  majority  in  each  assembly 
elects  the  ministry  which  is  to  serve  as  the 
governor's  executive.  Local  government 
— except  for  the  Municipal  Council  of 
St.  John's — is  almost  entirely  directed  by 
the  ministry  and  government  depart- 
ments at  headquarters  (St.  John's). 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  differ- 
ences between  the  Dominion  ParUament 
and  the  provincial  legislatures  an  appeal 
to  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy 
Council  resulted  in  a  satisfactory  settle- 
ment. Appeals  still  lie  from  the  Supreme 
Court — created  in  1876 — of  the  Canadian 


THE    CANADIAN    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS    IN    SESSION 


which  the  governor  presides  ;  a  Legisla- 
tive Council  of  eighteen  members,  nomi- 
nated for  life  by  the  Governor-in-Council  ; 
and  there  is  a  House  of  Assembly  of  thirty- 
six  members,  elected  by  ballot  on  manhood 
suffrage.  There  is  a  property  qualification 
for  members  of  a  minimum  value  of  /500, 
or  a  yearly  income  of  £100.  A  payment  of 
/24  is  made  in  each  session  to  each 
legislative  councillor,  and  of  £^0  or  ;^6o — 
according  to  distance  of  residence — to 
each  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 
The  session  seldom  lasts  more  than  three 
months  in  each  year,  and  the  maximum 

5574 


Dominion  to  the  Privy  Council  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  If  this  could  become  and 
remain  the  final  court  of  appeal  for  the 
whole  empire  it  would  do  more  than  any 
other  measure  to  bind  us  together.  But 
our  law  lords,  our  Treasury,  our  national 
indifference  to  pomp  and  show,  combine 
to  hinder  the  creation  of  an  ideal  Supreme 
Imperial  Court  of  Appeal  out  of  the 
Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council. 
"  Such  a  court,"  said  Sir  Edward  Clarke 
some  time  ago,  "  should  be  strong  in  its 
constitution,  dignified  in  its  ceremonial, 
and    even    splendid   in   its   surroundings, 


THE    LEGISLATIVE    ASSEMBLY    OF    VICTORIA 


SCENES     IN     TWO     OF     AUSTRALIA'S    HOUSES     OF     PARLIAMENT 


5575 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


so  as  to  command  the  respect  and  touch 
the  imagination  of  our  brethren  beyond 
the  seas."  "  The  Judicial  Committee  of 
the  Privy  Council,"  said  a  morning  paper 
recently,  "  which  is  the  final  court  of 
appeal  for  the  citizens  of  the  Greater 
Britain,  is  one  of  the  curiosities  of  our  legal 
system.  It  occupies  a  bare,  barn-like 
_  ,.,    room  in  Whitehall ;  its  mem- 

J  bers  drop  in  casually  and  sit 

.     .    ..  around    a    horseshoe    table 

in  their  ordinary  walking 
clothes,  and  there  is  not  a  solitary  symbol 
of  the  dignity  one  would  naturally  expect 
to  see  associated  with  a  tribunal  of  such 
imperial  importance  and  world-wide 
jurisdiction." 

The  Commonwealth  of  Austraha  did  not 
attain  to  completion  as  a  unified  organisa- 
tion until  tw'enty  years  after  the  Canadian 
Dominion,  by  the  inclusion  of  the  great 
North-west,  assumed  its  present  unity  and 
comprehensive  national  force.  The  act 
creating  a  Commonwealth  of  Australia 
came  into  vigour  on  January  ist,  1901. 

The  commonwealth  consists  of  the  six 
states  of  New  South  Wales,  Victoria, 
South  Australia,  Queensland,  Tasmania, 
and  Western  Australia ;  the  little 
islands  of  Norfolk  and  Lord  Howe — 
governed  by  New  South  Wales — and  the 
territory  of  Papua,  administered  by  the 
commonwealth  government.  All  the  six 
states  have  governors  appointed  directly 
by  the  Crown — i.e.,  on  the  advice  of  the 
British  Cabinet;  but  the  lieutenant-governor 
of  Papua  is  appointed  by  the  Governor- 
General  of  the  commonwealth,  on  the 
advice  of  his  Ministers.  The  governors  of 
the  six  states  may  correspond  direct  with 
the  Colonial  Office,  but  must  supply  the 
Governor-General  with  copies  of  their 
despatches. 

The  constitution  of  New  South  Wa  les  com- 
prises a  governor  and  lieutenant-governor, 
a  Legislative  Council  of  not  less  than 
twenty-one   members    (actually   fifty-six), 

'TL  ^  *•*  *•  appointed  for  life  by  the 
The  Constitution  r-  i         t       •   1    ,  • 

J  j^  Crown;  and  a  Legislative 

South  Wales  Assembly  of  ninety  elected 
members,  ihe  Assembly 
sits  for  three  years,  unless  dissolved  sooner. 
Each  of  the  ninety  constituencies  only 
returns  one  member,  and  each  member  is 
paid  £300  a  year ;  and,  like  the  members  of 
Council — who  are  not  paid  any  salary  in 
their  capacity  of  legislative  councillors — can 
travel  free  on  all  government  railways  and 
tramways,  and  send  their  letters  postage 

5576 


free.  The  electoral  franchise  is  conferred  on 
men  and  women  alike  since  1902.  Every 
man  or  woman,  being  a  natural-born  or 
naturalised  subject  of  his  Majesty,  above 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  having  resided 
one  year  in  the  state,  and  three  months 
in  a  particular  electoral  district,  is  qualified 
as  an  elector,  and  is  entitled  to  one  vote 
only.  Local  government  in  New  South 
Wales  is  fully  provided  for  through  the 
shires  and  municipal  councils. 

In  the  state  of  Victoria  there  are  gover- 
nor, lieutenant-governor,  a  Cabinet  or 
Executive  Council,  a  Legislative  Council 
(thirty-four  in  number),  and  a  Legislative 
Assembly.  Members  of  the  Upper  House, 
or  Legislative  Council,  are  elected  for 
six  years.  Their  qualification  is  the  posses- 
sion of  an  estate  of  the  net  annual  minimum 
value  of  ^^50  for  one  year  prior  to  the 
election.  Electors  of  the  Council  must  be 
in  possession  of  property  of  the  rateable 
value  of  £10,  if  freehold,  or  £15  if  derived 
from  leasehold  ;  unless,  that  is,  they  are 
graduates  of  a  British  or  colonial  university 
or  students  of  the  Melbourne  University, 
ministers  of  religion,  certificated -teachers, 
„.       .  ,  lawyers,      medical     practi- 

^  ,  X  I  ,  tioners,  or  officers  of  army  or 
Complete  Local  ,  ,,  -^      , 

-,  .        navy;  in  such  case  the  v  need 

uovernment  -' '         ,  ,.^      , .-       - 

no  property  qualification  for 

the  election  of  senators.  The  members  of 
this  upper  house  are  not  paid.  The  Legis- 
lative Assembly,  which,  like  most  of  the 
Australian  lower  houses,  sits  for  three  years 
only,  unless  dissolved  earlier,  is  composed 
of  sixty-five  members.  Neither  these  nor 
their  electors  require  any  property  qualifi- 
cation. There  are  the  usual  provisions 
as  to  being  a  British  or  naturalised 
British  subject.  Members  of  the  lower 
house  are  paid  ;f300  per  annum.  The 
franchise  for  the  election  of  members 
of  the  lower  house  is  practically  the  same 
as  that  described  for  New  South  Wales, 
except  that  it  is  limited  to  males. 

Local  government  in  Victoria  is  very 
complete,  and  is  carried  out  by  means  of 
municipal  and  shire  councils.  For  election 
to  these  councils — by  the  ratepayers — 
the  suffrage  is  extended  to  women.  In 
South  Australia,  the  Legislative  Council 
consists  of  eighteen  members  elected  on 
much  the  same  terms  as  in  Victoria, 
except  that  the  members  elected  must  be 
at  least  thirty  years  of  age,  and  have 
resided  in  the  state  for  at  least  three  years, 
while  the  property  limit  of  the  council 
suffrage  is  slightly  higher,  and  there  is  no 


PARLIAMENTS    OF    THE    OUTER    EMPIRE 


exemption  therefrom  for  the  classes  of 
l^rofe^sional  men  as  in  Victoria.  This 
suffrage,  Hke  the  others,  is  conferred 
equally  upon  women.  The  House  of  As- 
sembly consists  of  forty-two  members 
elected  for  not  more  than  three  years. 
Qualifications  and  suffrage  are  similar 
to  those  of  Victoria,  except  that  the 
suffrage  is  also  extended  to  women. 
Members  of  both  houses  are  paid  a 
salary  of  £200  a  year  whilst  they  serve. 
Local  government  is  carried  on  through 
thirty-two  elective  municipal  and  dis- 
trict councils  in  the  settled  regions. 
In  Queensland  there  is  apparently  no' 
lieutenant-governor.      The     members    of 


A  good  deal  of  the  state  is  divided  into 
shires  (rural  districts)  and  municipal  areas 
(cities,  towns) — 670,255  square  miles  in 
all — and  over  these  local  government, 
under  elected  councils,  is  fully  enforced. 
Tasmania  has  a  governor,  deputy- 
governor,  and  the  same  type  of  executive 
and  legislature  as  the  other  Australian 
states.  There  is  a  maximum  of  eighteen 
members  in  the  Legislative  Council.  This 
body  is  elected  for  six  years.  No  property 
qualification  is  necessary  in  either  house, 
but  there  is  a  very  small  property  quali- 
fication attached  to  the  Senate  franchise, 
though,  as  in  Victoria,  this  is  not  asked  for 
in  the  case  of  university  or  professional 


THE    TASMANIAN    HOUSE    OF    ASSEMBLY    IN    SESSION 


the  Legislative  Council  (forty-four)  are 
all  nominated  by  the  Crown  for  life,  and 
are  unpaid.  The  Legislative  Assembly 
comprises  seventy-two  members  elected 
for  a  maximum  period  of  three  years,  and 
paid  at  the  rate  of  ;^300  a  year.  There  is 
no  property  qualification  for  the  members 
of   either  legislature. 

The  franchise  is  granted  to  all  men  and 
women,  born  ornaturalised  British  subjects, 
from  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  after 
twelve  months'  residence  in  the  state,  pro- 
vided they  are  not  insane,  have  not  been 
criminally  convicted  or,  in  the  case  of  men, 
have    not    been  guilty  of   wife-desertion. 

2    F  =3  D 


men.  Members  of  the  House  of  Assembly 
(35  in  number)  are  elected  for  three  years, 
the  qualification  being  as  described  for 
South  AustraUa,  on  the  usual  adult  (male 
and  female)  suffrage.  The  only  persons 
who  may  not  sit  in  the  legislature  of 
Tasmania  are  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  paid  officials  of  the  Crown  (except 
responsible  ministers),  or  contractors  to 
Government ;  neither  may  any  member 
of  the  local  legislature  here  or  elsewhere 
in  Australia  be  at  the  same  time 
a  parliamentary  representative  in  the 
Commonweath  Parliament.  The  local 
government  of  Tasmania  is  entrusted  to 

5577 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


elected  municipal  and  rural  councils.  West 
Australia  has  a  governor  and  lieutenant- 
governor,  a  Legislative  Council  of  thirty 
members,  and  a  Legislative  Assembly  of 
fifty.  The  councilloi's  are  elected  for  six 
years,  and  the  members  of  the  Assembly  for 
three.  The  qualification  for  a  councillor  is 
(i)  to  be  not  less  than  thirty  years  old; 
„    ,.         ,  (2)  a  resident  in  the  state 

Parliamentary        r  .  1         .   .  /    \ 

-,     ,.,.    ^.       .    tor  at  least  two  years  ;  (3)  a 

Qualifications  in  t-,   -z-  1        1  •      ^       r 

'^xi    i  K     ♦    1-      British  subject  or  nve-years 

naturalised   subject.      Ihe 

franchise  for  the  upper  house  is  conferred 

on  persons  of  both  sexes  over  twenty-one, 

British  subjects,  resident  in  the  state  six 

months,  and  possessing  a  freehold  estate  of  a 

clear  value  of  /lOO  ,or  the  usual  proportionate 

equivalent  in  leasehold,  rent  or  ratepaying. 

The  qualification  for  members  of  the 
lower  house  is  that  they  should  be 
male  British  subjects  over  twenty-one 
who  have  resided  in  the  state  for  twelve 
months  ;  or,  if  naturalised  for  five  years, 
then'  their  residence  must  be  at  least 
two  j-ears.  The  franchise  for  the  lower 
house  is  granted  to  any  man  or  woman 
above  twenty-one — provided  they  are 
British  or  naturalised  subjects — when  they 
have  resided  at  least  six  months  in  the 
state,  and  whilst  they  are  actually  resi- 
dent in  the  district  at  the  time  of  their 
claim.  This  condition  about  residence  at 
the  time  of  claiming  the  vote  is  waived 
for  those  who  have  a  small  property 
qualification.  As  throughout  the  rest  of 
Australia,  no  elector  has  more  than  one 
vote  for  the  lower  house. 

^lembers  of  both  houses  are  paid  /200  a 

year  and  travel  freeon government  railways. 

Local  government   in  Western   Australia 

is  entrusted  to  municipal  councils  elected 

by  the  ratepayers,   and  to  a  number  of 

public  institutions  apparently  depending 

on    the    Executive    or    the    Legislature — 

boards  of  water  supply  and  sewerage  (not 

a  very  happy  conjuncture  !),  road  boards, 

and   local    boards    of    health.       The   ad- 

tmri.       «r  miuistration  of  Papua  con- 

Where  Women     •   ^       r     1  ■       ,  . 

P  .  sists  01  a  heutenant-governor 

..     g  „  and  an  Executive  Council  of 

six  members  (officials),  and 
a  Legislative  Council  composed  of  the 
Executive  and  three  unofficial  members 
appointed  by  the  governor. 

So  much  for  the  provincial  administra- 
tion of  Australia.  It  will  be  observed  that 
in  every  state  svith  responsible  govern- 
ment, except  Victoria,  the  suffrage  is 
granted  on  equal  terms  to  men  and  women 

5578 


alike,  universally  on  the  principle  of  one 
man  one  vote  ;  that  the  terms  of  duration 
of  the  elected  lower  houses  are  invariably 
limited  to  three  years,  and  that  there  is  no 
excluding  property  qualification  attached 
to  either  membership  or  suffrage  for  the 
lower  houses  of  legislature. 

The  federal  government  of  Australia 
consists  of  the  king  (represented  by  a 
governor-general),  a  Senate,  and  a  House 
of  Representatives.  The  Governor-General 
is  assisted  by  an  Executive  Council  of 
ministers  who  are,  or  who  must  become 
within  three  months,  members  of  the 
Federal  Parliament.  There  are  36  senators 
who  are  elected  for  six  years,  and  receive 
;^6oo  a  year  each,  unless  already  holding 
salaried  posts  as  ministers,  or  salaried 
officers  of  the  house. 

Members  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives are  elected  for  three  years  (unless  the 
house  is  dissolved  sooner),  and  are  paid  at 
the  rate  of  /600  a  year.  There  are  at 
present  75  representatives,  but  the  num- 
bers fluctuate  in  each  parliament  in 
relation  to  increase  or  diminution  of  the 
population.      The  number  of  the  senators 

.  ,  ,.  ,  may  be  increased  or  diminished 
Australia  s    •       -i,        r    ,  u    x       i 

P  ill  the  future,   but    always  on 

Q  the  lines  that  no  original  state 

shall  have  less  than  six  senators 
nor  more  than  any  other  original  state. 
The  qualifications  for  senators  and 
representatives  are  identical  :  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  to  be  an  elector,  or 
entitled  to  be  ;  to  be  resident  at  least 
three  years  in  Australia ;  to  be  a  British 
subject  born,  or  a  naturalised  British 
subject  of  five  years'  standing.  The 
federal  franchise  for  election  in  both 
houses  is  universal  adult  suffrage  (male 
and  female),  on  the  usual  terms — 
twenty-one  years  of  age  and  upwards, 
British  citizenship,  and  a  minimum  of 
twelve  months'  residence. 

The  Canadian  legislature  has  been 
commended  because  it  left  practically  no 
loophole  for  dispute  as  to  the  competency 
of  the  Federal  Parliament.  The  subjects 
on  which  the  provincial  parliaments  could 
legislate  were  clearly  stipulated,  and  the 
Federal  Parliament  was  empowered  to  deal 
with  all  else  which  did  not  infringe  the 
prerogatives  of  the  British  Crown.  In  the 
Australian  Legislature,  the  case  is  reversed. 
The  scope  of  the  Federal  Parliament  is 
defined  in  thirty  nine  articles,  and  the 
powers  of  the  state  governments  are 
not  otherwise  limited.      Disputes  on  the 


PARLIAMENTS    OF    THE    OUTER    EMPIRE 


interpretation  of  the  federal  constitution 
will  have  to  be  referred  to  the  new  High  Court 
ot  Australia,  which  is  to  be  an  appellate, 
as  well  as  an  original  court.  An  appeal  to 
the  final  decision  of  the  Judicial  Committee 
of  the  Privy  Council  from  the  decisions  of 
the  High  Court,  or  from  those  of  the 
Supreme  Courts  of  the  federal  states,  may 
only  be  carried  out  on  a  certificate  to  be 
granted  by  the  High  Court  at  its  own  dis- 
cretion. The  Federal  Parliament  under- 
takes to  legislate  for,  and  to  control,  the 
naval  and  military  defence  of  Australia, 
its  trade,  taxation,  public  debts,  loans, 
postal  service,  census,  and  statistics, 
currency,  banking,  marriage,  divorce,  old 
age  pensions,  immigration,  emigration, 
railways,  regulations  dealing  with  insol- 
vency and  corporations,  departments  of 
state,  foundation  of  a  state  capital,  etc.  etc. 
The  dominion  of  New  Zealand  has  an 
area  (including  all  island  groups  attached 
to  its  administration)  of  about  105,249 
square  miles,  and  a  population  of  nearly 
950,000.  Its  government  consists  of  a 
governor  and  commander-in-chief,  an 
Executive  Council  of  Ministers,  a  Legis- 
Uitive  Council  of  45  members,  and  a  House 
of  Representatives  of  80  members,  includ- 
ing four  Maories.  The  extreme  duration 
of  membership  in  the  upper  house  is 
seven  years  ;  the  House  of  Representatives 
sits  for  three  years,  unless  previously 
dissolved.  Members  of  the  Council  are 
paid  £200  a  year,  representatives  £300. 
Councillors  are  appointed  by  the  governor, 
representati\es  are, elected  by  the  people, 
the  qualification  for  the  last-named  being 
that  of  an  elector.   The  franchise  is  granted 

-,      .      .  to  all  men  and  women  of 

Maories  m  ,-  .      i.  i 

.,      ^    ,     .,    European  race  over  twenty- 
New  Zealand  s  ^  ^  ,       ,     •' 
r^               .       one  years  ot  age  who  have 

Oovernmcnt  •  /    i      ,    i         P 

resided  at  least  one  year  m 
the  colony  and  three  months  in  the 
electoral  district.  For  the  election  of  the 
four  Maori  members  every  adult  Maori  can 
vote  who  is  resident  in  the  district  for 
which  the  Maori  candidate  is  standing. 

As  regards  local  government,  this  also 
is  elective  on  the  part  of  the  ratepayers. 
The  dominion  is  divided  into  municipali- 


ties and  counties,  road  districts  and  town 
districts,  river  drainage,  water  supply 
boards,  etc.  The  qualifications  for 
electors  are  ratepaying,  residence,  or  the 
possession  of  property.  Municipal  fran- 
chise is  equally  extended  to  women .  From 
this  purview  of  the  forms  of  government  in 
every  part  of  the  British  Empire  and  sphere 

r-  ^  ♦  n  •.  •  •  of  influence,  coupled  with 
Great  Britain  s  ,  1    j  r,/    •      ,•. 

Advanced  ^  knowledge  of  the  mstitu- 

Daughter  Nations  tionsof  theBritishjIslands, 
it  wiJl  be  seen  that  the 
countries  with  the  most  modern  and  ideally 
perfect  type  of  constitution  are  Australia 
and  New  Zealand  ;  next,  and  only  inferior 
because  it  still  denies  the  franchise  to 
women,  is  Canada.  The  states  of  South 
Africa  are  not  far  behind,  but  some  of 
them  are  fettered  by  considerations  of  race 
questions  and  restricted  franchise.  The 
Mother  Country  is  still  behind  the  more 
advanced  daughter  nations  in  the  solution 
of  several  social  problems  and  the  simpli- 
fication of  administrative  machinery. 

India  lacks  an  admixture  of  the  native 
element  in  her  highest  councils.  Trinidad 
is  thought  by  some  to  be  too  purely 
ofhcial  in  its  government.  Gibraltar, 
Northern  Nigeria,  Uganda,  and  the 
Egyptian  Sudan  are  administered  auto- 
cratically without  executive  or  legisla- 
tive councils.  Gibraltar,  of  course,  is  little 
else  than  a  garrisoned  fort ;  in  Uganda 
there  is  a  highly  developed  representative 
native  administration,  and  a  good  deal  of 
Northern  Nigeria  is  still  governed  in  parts 
by  native  princes. 

The  sultan  of  Zanzibar  governs  despotic- 
ally through  a  ministry  of  English  and 
Arabs,  but  in  constant  touch  with  the 
feelings  and  interest  of  the  populace  ;  the 
despotism  of  the  petty  Arab  sultans  in 
Aden  territory,  Socotra,  the  Hadhramaut, 
Oman,  and  Bahrein  is  tempered  by  the 
advice  of  British  residents.  The  rest 
of  the  inner  British  Empire  is  not  with- 
out some  measure  of  elective  or  popular 
representation  in  its  councils,  and  the 
full  measure  of  popular  government  in 
Barbados  and  the  Bermudas  seems  to 
have     induced     quiet      and     prosperity. 


STABROEK     MARKET     AND     THE     STELLINGS     AT     GEORGETOWN     IN     BRITISH     GUIANA 

5579 


IN    THE    ROCKIES:    ELBOW  RIVER    VALLEY    AND    THE    THREE    SISTERS 


KINCHINJUNGA,  THE  HIGHEST  POINT  OF  THE  NEPAL  HIMALAYAS  IN  NORTH  INDIA 


THE    NUWARA    ELIYA    MOUNTAIN    IN    THE   ISLAND    OF    CEYLON 


MOUNTAIN     RANGES     IN     GREAT     BRITAIN'S    OVER-SEAS     DOMINIONS 


558Q 


THE 

BRITISH 

EMPIRE 

XII 


BY  SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON, 

G.C.M.G. 


THE    SINEWS    OF    EMPIRE 

THE   RESOURCES,  EDUCATION,  AND 
DEFENCES     OF     GREATER     BRITAIN 


'T'HE  British  Empire  not  only  includes 
*  that  extraordinary  diversity  of  human 
races  enumerated  in  another  chapter, 
but  it  is  equally  diverse  in  its  physical 
geography,  fauna,  flora,  and  climates. 
It  contains  deserts  such  as  may  be  found 
in  Southern  Egypt,  Southern  Arabia, 
West-central  India,  and  Australia,  wherein 
it  may  not  chance  to  rain  more  than  once 
in  seven  years.  It  includes  regions  of 
mountain  and  forest  like  Assam,  where 
the  annual  rainfall  is  the  highest  known — 
about  300  inches  per  annum. 

It  extends  to  the  South  Pole  and  the 
North  Pole,  and  possesses  territories 
within  the  equatorial  belt  in  Africa,  East- 
ern Asia,  and  South  America.  It  takes 
under  its  aegis  the  highest  mountains  in  the 
world,  the  loftiest  peaks  of  the  Himalayas, 
and  other  such  notable  mountains  as 
Ruwenzori,  Elgon,  Kenya,  Mlanje,  and  the 

.,      ,  .       Drakensberg  in  Africa,  Mount 
Mountains     i^.j       ■     ^  at         ic- 

Troodos  m  Cyprus,  Mount  bmai 

J.     .  in  Eastern  Egypt,   the  moun- 

tains of  Penang  and  Perak  in 
the  Malay  Peninsula,  the  Australian 
Alps,  the  New  Zealand  Alps,  Roraima 
of  British  Guiana,  the  Blue  Mountains  of 
Jamaica,  the  Cockscomb  Mountains  of 
British  Honduras,  and  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains of  Canada,  these  last  unsurpassed  in 
splendour  of  scenery  anywhere  in  the 
world.  Nor  as  providers  of  inspiring  land- 
scapes need  the  mountains  of  Scotland, 
Ireland  and  Wales,  the  hills  of  Shropshire, 
Derbyshire,  Gloucester  or  Monmouth, 
Somerset,  Devon,  and  Sussex  be  left  out 
of  the  record  of  the  empire's  scenic 
beauty  or  health  resorts. 

We  control  half  of  the  basins  of  the 
Niger  and  the  Zambesi,  and  the  sources 
of  the  Congo  ;  the  Nile,  from  its  twin 
fountains  to  its  mouth,  is  wholly  within 
the  British  sphere.  We  share  Niagara  with 
the  United  States,  and  own  exclusively 
its  only  rival    among   the    world's   great 


waterfalls — those  which  David  Livingstone 
discovered  on  the  Zambesi.  Fate  has 
entrusted  for  a  time  to  our  charge — and 
it  is  to  be  hoped  we  shall  be  worthy  of 
the  stewardship — the  largest  share  of  the 
world's  wonders,  the  choicest  examples  of 

„  ..  .  ,    ,  terrestrial  loveliness.    At 

Britain  s  Large       .,  ,  •  ,,  , 

c.  f  11.  the  same  time  the  most 

ohare  01  the  ,      ,  ■  r    ,  < 

World's  Wonders  P^ductive  regions  of  the 
world  are  under  our  sway. 
Even  the  seemingly  unproductive,  such 
as  those  as  are  well  nigh  locked  in  the 
grasp  of  the  last  Glacial  Period  or 
scorched  by  the  sun  of  the  Sahara  Desert, 
are  found  to  be  rich  in  minerals — in 
gold,  nitre,  or  precious  stones. 

The  gold  of  Spanish  America  and  Cali- 
fornia did  much  to  increase  the  world's 
wealth  in  that  metal,  but  not  so  much  as  has 
been  obtained  in  the  last  sixty  years  from 
Australia,  New  Guinea,  New  Zealand,  South. 
Africa,  British  Guiana,  India,  and  West 
Africa.  We  have  silver  also  in  Canada, 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  South  Africa. 
Copper  is  obtained  from  Australia,  from 
the  arid  South-west  Africa  and  Northern 
and  Southern  Rhodesia,  from  Canada  and 
Newfoundland  ;  and  some  day,  no  doubt, 
will  be  obtained  from  the  Egyptian  Sudan. 
Tin,  once  the  principal  attraction  to 
ancient  explorers  of  the  British  Islands, 
and  still  much  mined  in  Cornwall,  is  now 
found  to  be  singularly  abundant  in  the 
Malay  Peninsula,  and  is  also  obtained  from 
Australia  and  Northern  Nigeria.  Coal,  the 
great  product  of  the  United  Kingdom  itself, 
is  also  now  worked  profitably 
in  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
Canada,  India,  Borneo,  Natal, 
the  Transvaal,  Rhodesia,  and 
Cape  Colony,  Petroleum  is  found  in 
Burma,  Canada,  and  (in  a  more  bituminous 
form)  in  Southern  Nigeria,  Barbados  (West 
Indies),  and  Trinidad.  Diamonds  of  a 
good  second  quality  abound  in  South 
Africa  to  such  an  extent  that  the  trade  has 

5581 


South  Africa 

Rich 

in  Diamonds 


A     BKITISH     PORT     IN     CHINA  :    GHNHKAL     VIEW     OK     WEl-HAI-WEI,    SHOWING    DOCKVAKUb 


to  control  their  output.  Of  a  better  quality 
are  those  still  found  in  India  and  in  British 
Guiana,  and  perhaps  in  Australia.  Austra- 
lia is  rich  in  opals.  Opals,  rubies,  sapphires, 
and  emeralds  come  from  India.  But  I 
think  it  will  be  found  as  the  civilisation 
of  the  world  progresses  that  the  so-called 
precious  stones  will  deteriorate  in  value. 
There  will  be  a  market  for  them  where 
they  can  be  used  industrially,  as  is  the 
case  with  the  diamond,  but  as  mere  orna- 
ments the  educated  world  will  be  growing 
too  sensible  to  spend  money  on  them.  It 
will  prefej-  the  pure  and  cheap  beauty  of 
flowers  and  the  sensible  warmth  of  furs. 
As  regards  this  last  accessory  to  an 
artificial  life,  the  British  Empire  is  still 
exceedingly  rich,  though  it  may  be  ques- 
tioned whether  it  is  not  gobbling  up  its 


capital  at  a  foolish  rate  and  making  no 
provision  for  a  future  supply.  The  terri- 
tories of  the  Canadian  Dominion  to  the 
north  of  the  fifty-second  degree  of  north 
latitude  are,  together  with  Siberia,  the  great 
fur-producing  regions  of  the  world. 

Hence  are  exported  the  skins  of  beavers, 
foxes,  martens,  stoats,  otters,  lynxes, 
wolves  and  bears,  which  provide  such  a 
large  proportion  of  the  world's  fur  coats, 
muffs,  trimmings,  and  carriage  rugs.  The 
Canadian  Government,  however,  might 
well  consider  whether  measures  should  not 
be  taken  to  restrict  the  output  and  preserve 
many  valuable  species  of  fur-bearing  ani- 
mals from  complete  extinction.  This 
problem  in  regard  to  the  skins  of  the  sea- 
lions,  exported  from  the  Pacific  coasts  of 
Canada,    has   already  received   attention. 


THE    IRRIGATION    WORKS    AND    PUBLIC    RESERVOIR    AT    HAIDARABAD,     IN    INDIA 

55^2 


THE    SINEWS    OF    EMPIRE 


India  contributes  thousands  of  tiger, 
leopard,  l^ear,  deer,  and  antelope  skins 
annually.  Australia  sends  a  certain 
proportion  of  the  so-called  opossum  fur 
(the  soft,  woolly  pelts  of  the  phalanger). 
South  Africa  forwards  a  diminishing  num- 
ber of  karosses  made  of  the  skins  of  red 
lynxes,  foxes,  jackals,  and  springboks. 
West  Africa  exports  leopard  and  monkey 
skins ;  East  Africa  the  hides  of  lions,  • 
leopards,  cheetahs,  and  jackals. 

But  passing  from  the  pelt  that  is  used 
for  its  beauty  and  heavy  fur,  we  may 
enumerate  the  more  essential  product  of 
mere -leather.  Ox,  antelope,  and  zebra 
hides  are  an  export  of  growing  importance 
from  the  territories  of  Uganda  and  East 


the  world,  together  with  cattle  for  hides, 
meat,  and  draught  purposes.  vSomaliland, 
the  Egyptian  Sudan,  and  British  Arabia 
will  also  become  great  camel-breeding 
regions.  This  is  already  the  case  with 
much  of  West  Central  India — in  which 
magnificent  one-humped  camels  (drome- 
daries) are  found.  In  far  North-western 
India  and  in  all  the  regions  of  Central 
Asia  adjacent  thereto,  and,  more  or  less, 
under  British  influence,  there  is  the 
"  Bactrian  "  two-humped  camel,  still  wild 
in  Tibet.  This  is  an  exceedingly  useful 
beast  for  transpo«:t,  and  furnishes  valuable 
hair  for  weaving  fabrics  and  for  felting. 
In  this  region  also  is  the  yak — a  wild  and 
also  domesticated  species  of  ox,  which  has 


CLEARING    AN    INDIA-RUBBER    FOREST    IN    THE    STRAITS    SETTLEMENTS 


Africa,  and  enormous  numbers  of  hides  are 
sent  to  the  leather  markets  from  India, 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  South  Africa. 
The  wool  and  hair  products  of  the 
British  Empire  are  a  most  important  item. 
Australia  and  New  Zealand  are  largely 
given  up  to  the  breeding  of  sheep — for 
Vv^ool  as  well  as  meat.  Cape  Colony  and 
other  parts  of  South  Africa  are  breeding 
Merino  sheep,  and,  above  all.  Angora  goats. 
The  great  industry  of  the  Falkland  Islands 
is  sheep  and  sheep  products — wool,  tallow, 
meat.  It  will  probably  be  found  that 
Somaliland  and  a  good  deal  of  the  Egyp- 
tian Sudan  will  take  prominent  places  in 
the  future  as  countries  furnishing  goats' 
hair,  sheep's  wool,  and  meat  to  the  rest  of 


an  extravagant  development  of  hair  along 
the  tail  and  sides  of  the  body.  The  yak  may 
bear  some  relation  in  origin  to  the  bison. 
The  bison,  alas  !  once  abounded  in  Southern 
Canada,  but  is  now  nearly  exterminated. 

Australia  and  British  Arabia — later  on, 
Somahland,  Nigeria,  and  parts  of  the 
Sudan— Ireland  and  Great  Britain  will 
produce  between  them,  sufficient  horses  for 
the  needs  of  the  empire  and  for  all  climates 
and  purposes.  If  less  attention  were 
given  to  racing  as  an  odious  form  of 
gambling,  mixed  up  with  so  much  that  is 
disreputable  and  fraudulent,  and  greater 
encouragement  were  given  by  the  state 
to  honest  horse-breeding  for  honest  pur- 
poses, Great  Britain  ought  to  be  able  to 

5583 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


supply  herself  with  all  the  horses  she 
needs,  and  not  have  to  import  any  from 
Belgium  and  Hungary.  As  regards  the 
domesticated  birds  produced  by  the 
different  sections  of  the  empire,  Canada  is 
going  ahead  with  her  fowl-breeding,  not 
prevented,  as  are  the  people  of  England 
and  Ireland,  by  the  ridiculous  cult  of  the 
fox,  which  checks  the  maintenance  of  so 
many  i^oultry  farms  in  the  home  country. 
In  this  direction  the  United  Kingdom 
lags  behind  its  possibilities  as  a  country  i  or 
the  breeding  and  rearing  of  choice  poultry. 
India  raises  large  quantities  of  peafowl, 
Chinese  geese,  and  domestic  fowls  of  various 
breeds.  The  rearing  of  turkeys  on  a  con- 
siderable      scale 


has    lately 
progress  in 


made 
Aus- 
tralia and  New 
Zealand,  and 
even  on  a  portion 
of  the  Gold  Coast 
in  West  Africa. 
In  all  the  southern 
regions  of  Cape 
Colony  and 
Natal  poultry  is 
usually  very  suc- 
cessful, and  may 
before  long  be 
made  an  article 
of  export.  The 
ostrich  farms  of 
South  Africa  are 
so  famous  that 
they  need  no 
description.  The 
wild  fauna  of 
the  empire  is,  or 
should  be,  one  of 
its  glories,  for 
Great  Britain  at  present  controls  the 
fate  of  some  of  the  most  interesting, 
wonderful,  and  beautiful  creatures  still 
living  on  this  planet.  Our  political 
limits  include  the  Polar  bear  of  Arctic 
Canada  and  the  okapi  of  the  Semliki 
forests ;  the  lion,  tiger,  and  elephants 
of  Africa  and  Asia. 

The  white  and  the  black  rhinoceroses  are 
still  allowed  to  exist  under  the  British  flag 
in  nooks  and  corners,  and  one  or  two  game 
reserves,  where  the  British  sportsman 
(and  his  American,  German,  and  Russian 
friends)  has  not  as  yet  succeeded  in  ex- 
terminating them.  The  hippopotamus  is 
still  a  nuisance  to  navigation  in  most  of 
our  African  rivers.    It  is  possible  that  the 

5584 


OIL-WELLS    AT    YANANGYET,    IN    BURMA 


easternmost  parts  of  Sierra  Leone  contain 
the  p>'gmy  hippopotamus  of  the  adjoining 
Liberia.  Somaliland,  the  Egyptian  Sudan, 
British  Central,  and  British  East  Africa, 
and  the  hinterland  of  the  Gambia  are 
marvellously  rich  in  antelopes,  giraffes, 
and  three  types  of  buffalo.  The  kangaroo  is 
almost  entirely  a  British  subject.  He  may 
have  a  few  arboreal  cousins  living  under 
the  Dutch  and  German  flags. 

Practically  speaking  the  British  ensign 
covers  all  the  marsupials  of  the  world, 
except  the  opossums  of  America  and  the 
cuscus  of  the  Malay  Archipelago,  or  the 
rat-like  Coenolestes  of  Ecuador.  We  pos- 
sess specimens  of  every  species  of  zebra 
and  wild  ass,  a*nd 
have  but  some 
day  to  extend  our 
political  influence 
over  Tibet  to 
throw  our  aegis 
over  the  only 
remaining  wild 
horse.  The  tapir 
of  British  Guiana 
and  the  tapir  of 
the  Malay  Penin- 
sula are  both 
citizens  of  the 
British  Empire. 
Many  a  wonder- 
ful parrot  or  lory, 
a  pheasant,  horn- 
bill,  plantain- 
eater,  or  sun- 
bird  is  entirely 
"  British  "  in  its 
range.  The  lyre- 
bird— one  of  the 
small  wonders  of 
creation  —  is  a 
fellow-citizen  of  Australia  with  the 
kangaroo,  though  not  yet  accorded  that 
rigid  protection  it  deserves.  As  to  our 
botanical  wealth,  it  is  stupendous. 

The  British  flag  waves  over  the  grandest 
forests  of  the  world,  temperate  and  tropical. 
The  pines  and  firs  of  Canada,  the  oaks  and 
beeches  of  England, the  mahogany  of  British 
Honduras  and  British  Guiana,  the  Kauri 
pine  of  New  Zealand,  the  eucalyptus  and 
acacia  of  Australia,  the  teak  of  India  ;  the 
ebony,  the  incense  trees,  the  khayas  of  West 
Africa  ;  the  junipers  and  giant  yews  of  the 
East  African  mountains  ;  and  the  sandal- 
wood and  bamboos  of  the  Malay  Penin- 
sula ;  the  orchids  of  Burma  and  British 
Guiana,  the  roses  of  England  and  Canada, 


THE     EUROPEAN     MINING     METHODS     IN     THE     SAME     PLACE 


NATIVE  AND   BRITISH    METHODS    AT    THE    RUBY    MINES    OF    MOGOK    IN    BURMA 

5585 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  vines  of  South  Africa  and  Austraha, 

the  wheat  of  British  North  America,  the 

wheat   of    India    and   New   Zealand,    the 

bananas  of  the  West  Indies  and  of  West 

Africa,  the  oranges  of  Jamaica  and  of  New 

South  Wales,  the  sugar  of  Barbados  and  of 

Queensland,  the  apples  of  New  Zealand  and 

Canada,    the    mangoes   and    mangosteens 

_  .    .  ,        of    India,    the    apples,    plums, 

y         . .       peaches  of  South  Africa,  which 

w^^.t  ^  are  some  day  eroing  to  be 
Wealth  ,    ,  -^   .  •    .     °         , .   , 

amongst  her  prmcipal   articles 

of  export  to  a  fruit-loving  world  ;  the  oil- 
palm  of  West  Africa  ;  the  rubber  from  the 
same  region,  from  Ceylon,  and  from  the 
Malay  Peninsula  ;  the  tea  from  Assam, 
Ceylon,  and  Natal ;  coffee  from  Nyassa- 
land,  Uganda,  and  Sierra  Leone  ;  cacao 
from  the  Gold  Coast,  Jamaica,  and  Trini- 
dad ;  rice  from  India  and  West  Africa. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  items  to  be  recounted 
in  our  tale  of  vegetable  wealth.  It  is  a 
subject  for  serious  consideration  that  the 
rule  of  the  British  king  as  directed  and 
advised  by  his  numerous  legislatures  all 
over  the  world  should  control  such  an 
enormous  portion  of  the  world's  food 
supplies.  In  the  time  to  come — which  no 
living  reader  of  this  history  may  see — food 
may  be  more  valuable  than  the  so-called 
precious  metals  and  precious  stones. 

The  educational  establishments  of  the 
British  Empire,  besides  those  of  the 
United  Kingdom  and  the  Channel  Islands, 
consist  of  the  following.  Gibraltar  has 
thirteen  government-aided  elementary 
schools.  In  Malta  there  is  a  university, 
founded  under  the  rule  of  the  Knights  of 
St.  John  in  1769,  with  four  faculties,  and  a 
lyceum,  or  public  school,  for  boys,  besides 
two  government  secondary  schools  for 
boys  and  for  girls,  167  elementary  schools, 
four  technical  and  art  schools,  and  seventy- 
one  private  educational  establishments. 

In  Cyprus  there  are  two  Boards  of 
Education  to  regulate  (a)  the  Christian 
and  (b)  the  Moslem  schools  of  the  island. 
These  consist  of  four  Greek  high  schools, 
o.  .  A-,  ,  and  a  Greek  "  gymnasium,"  or 
Sch    1  university ;    one    Moslem    high 

j^  Q  school,  two  similar  Armenian- 

Christian  establishments  (high 
schools  for  boys  and  girls),  a  third 
Armenian  school  conducted  by  monks, 
and  three  schools  for  the  Maronite  Chris- 
tians are  also  state-aided.  Of  the  526 
elementary  schools,  178  are  Moslem. 
In  Egypt  there  were,  in  1907,  2,761 
Moslem    elementary    schools,     imparting 

5586 


sufficiently  useful  education  to  receive 
governmental  assistance.  There  are  also 
many  government  technical  schools  for 
teaching  carpentry,  metal  work,  etc. 

Under  the  Ministry  of  Education  there 
are  143  elementary  schools  for  Moslems, 
thirty-four  primary  schools,  four  secondary 
schools,  ten  special  and  technical  schools 
for  deahng  with  agriculture,  art,  engineer- 
ing, teaching,  etc.,  and  eleven  professional 
colleges  (medicine,  law,  military,  veter- 
inary science,  engineering,  teaching,  etc.). 
In  addition  there  are  also  305  first-class 
schools  maintained  by  foreigners,  notably 
by  Americans.  There  is  the  great  useless 
Moslem  university  of  Al  Azhar,  near 
Cairo,  still  wasting  human  time  and 
marring  the  intellectual  progress  of  modern 
Egypt  by  an  antique,  fanatical,  unscientific, 
unpractical  style  of  teaching. 

Education  in  Egypt  owes  a  debt  to 
Britain  mainly  on  account  of  our  patience 
and  energy  in  pressing  on  the  Egyptian 
Government  the  need  for  rescuing  know- 
ledge from  the  strangling  grasp  of  Moham- 
medan fanatics.  But  it  also  owes  much 
recognition    to  the   memory  of   M^hemet 

_,  „  ,  ,  Ali  and  his  great-grandson. 
The  budan  s   t  -i    n     1  i  n      ^ 

_  ^   Ismail  Pasha :  also  equally  to 

Oovernmeat     ,,  ,     •     .  -•  r 

r .      ..  the   personal    intervention   01 

the  present   khedive   and  his 

father  Tewfik.     And  last,  but   not  least, 

to  private  Mohammedan  generosity  and  to 

the  missionary  efforts  of  America. 

In  the  Anglo- Egyptian  Sudan  there  are 
fifteen  elementary  Arabic  schools,  and  six 
"secondary.  These  government  schools 
are  practically  secular,  and  Christian  as 
well  as  Moslem  children  are  educated 
there.  There  are  two  industrial  schools, 
besides  that  which  is  attached  to  the 
Gordon  College,  and  three  training 
colleges  for  teachers.  Gordon  College  it- 
self at  Khartoum  includes  a  department 
for  the  education  of  the  Sudanese  in  law 
and  the  other  subjects  required  by  them 
for  entry  into  the  civil  service  ;  and  also 
a  high  school  for  boys  to  be  taught 
engineering,  surveying,  English,  etc. 

Very  little  seems  to  be  done  for  the 
education  of  the  Arabs  or  Somalis  at 
Aden  or  in  British  Somaliland — practic- 
ally nothing,  in  fact ;  nor  are  missionaries 
encouraged  to  work  there,  owing  to  Moham- 
medan fanaticism.  The  same  is  the  ca^e 
in  the  Persian  Gulf  and  in  Baluchistan. 
In  India  only  about  16,500,000  people 
out  of  a  total  population  of  297,000,000 
are  able  to  read  and  write  in  any  language. 


NATIVES    DIGGING    THE     PITCH 


J.    W.MC 


ONE    OF    THE    WORLD'S    WONDERS:    THE    PITCH    LAKE    AT    LA    TREA.   TRINFDAD 

5587 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Only  about  25  per  cent,  of  the  boys  ever 
attend  school,  and  only  3I  per  cent,  of  the 
girls.  The  best  educated  region  is  Bengal. 
On  the  whole,  the  Hindus  are  better  edu- 
cated than  the  Mohammedans.  There 
are  five  universities — Calcutta,  Madras, 
Bombay,  Lahore,  and  Allahabad.  There 
are  185  colleges,  among  which  is  the  Mayo 
College  for  the  education  of  the  sons  of 
princes,  115,869  government  or  govern- 
ment-aided schools,  including  1,664  train- 
ing and  special  schools  for  the  instruction 
of  school  teachers  and  the  teaching  of 
many  technical  subjects.  There  are 
numerous  government  schools  of  art. 
There  are  also  42,604  private  and  charitable 
schools.  Of  the  colleges,  twelve  only  are 
for  the  education  of  women,  for  whom  also 
there  are  112  training  schools,  and  11,256 
primary,  secondary,  and  private  schools. 

In  Ceylon,  which  has  a  total  population 
of  3>578,333,  there  are  590  government 
schools,  and  1,785  private  schools. 
There  is  a  royal 
college  and  a 
government 
training  college, 
besides  several 
English  high 
schools.  Less 
than  half  the 
population  is 
illiterate — a  great 
contrast  to  India. 
In  the  Straits 
Settlements,  the 
sultanate  of 
Johor,  and  the 
Federated  Malay 
States  there  are 
about  245  schools 
of  all  degrees 
maintained  by 
the  British  or  the 
native  govern- 
ments (210  in 
the  Straits 
Settlements). 
The  educational 
e  s  t  a  b  1  i  shments 
of  Sarawak  and 
North  Borneo 
are  almost 
entirely  main- 
tained by  mis- 
sionary societies. 
Hong  Kong  has 
seventy  primarv 

schools,  two  gn-ls'     A     PLUMBAGO     MINE    AT 


high  schools,  three  high  schools  for  both 
sexes,  and  two  high  schools  for  young 
people  of  European  parentage.  On  the 
leasehold  of  Wei-hai-wei  there  are  four 
government  schools  teaching  English,  one 
private  school  for  European  children,  and 
numerous  Chinese  schools. 

In  Mauritius  there  is  the  royal  college, 
with  two  preparatory  schools,  and  there 
are  a  training  college  for  teachers,  sixty- 
seven  government  primary  schools, 
eighty-eight  state-aided  schools,  and  one 
assisted  Mohammedan  school.  Educa- 
cation  is  gratuitous  but  not  compulsory. 
The  Seychelles  Archipelago,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  22,000,  maintains  twenty-seven 
primary  assisted  schools,  the  Victoria 
secondary  school  for  boys,  two  Catholic 
secondary  schools,  one  for  girls,  and  an 
efficient  infants'  school.  There  are  two 
government  scholarships  of  £50  a  year. 
In  Cape  Colony  there  is  a  university 
(Cape  Town),  and  there  are  five  colleges 
and  3,750  schools, 
primary  and 
s  e  c  o  ndary.  In 
Zanzibar,  and 
in  the  various 
Crown  colonies, 
protectorates, 
and  spheres  of 
influence  of 
Tropical  Africa, 
except  the  Gam- 
bia and  Sierra 
Leone,  education 
is  mainly  in  the 
hands  of  the  dif- 
ferent missionary 
societies,  and  is 
entirely  confined 
to  the  natives  of 
Africa.  In  Sierra 
Leone  the  edu- 
cational estab- 
lishments are 
excellent.  There 
is  Fula  Bay 
College,  a  first- 
class  institution  ; 
there  are  seventy- 
five  primary 
schools,  seventy- 
four  secondary 
schools,  four 
Mohammedan 
schools,  and  a 
college  at  Bo — 
in  the  interior — 


KURUNEGALA,    IN    CEYLON 

Plioto    Morgan  Crucible  Co. 


558S 


I .    K    I.  iii.bert  0^  Co 

A    TIN    MINE    NEAR    KWALA    LUMPUR,    THE    CAPITAL    OF     SELANGOR 


for  the  sons  of  chiefs.  In  the  Gambia  there 
are  six  elementary  schools  under  missionary 
management  which  receive  state  aid.  There 
is  also  one  secondary  school. 

On  the  Gold  Coast,  in  proportion  to  its 
size  and  wealth,  education  is  not  much 
fostered  by  the  government,  and  were  it 
not  for  the  work  of  the  Swiss  Basle 
Mission — which  for  thirty  years  has 
flooded  West  Africa  with  enlightenment 
and  education  of  a  most  practical,  indus- 
trial character — the  Gold  Coast  natives 
would  contrast  disadvantageously  with 
the  rest  of  British  West  Africans.  There 
are  seven  government  schools  in  the 
coast  regions  of  this  colony  and  140 
assisted  schools.  There  are  no  govern- 
ment schools  in  Ashanti.  In  Southern 
Nigeria  education  has  of  late  been  taken 
in  hand  by  the  government  with  vigour 
and  success.  There  is  a  high  school  at 
Bonny,  another  at  Old  Calabar,  and  a 
grammar  school  at  Lagos.  In  addition, 
there  are  thirty-one  government  primary 
schools  (four  for  girls)  and  sixty-nine 
assisted  schools.  A  Mohammedan  school 
has  been  opened  at  Lagos. 

In  the  Bermudas,  where  there  is  a  popu- 
lation of  nearly  18,000,  there  are  five 
schools  for  the  children  of  the  soldiers  and 
sailors,  twenty  primary  schools,  and  five 


secondary.  There  are  said  to  be  three 
Bermudan  Rhodes  scholars  at  Oxford. 
In  the  Bahamas  the  government  schools 
number  forty-six,  together  with  twelve 
that  receive  state  aid  and  forty-nine 
unaided.  All  this  for  a  population  of 
only  60,000  promises  well  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Bahamas. 

In  Jamaica,  with  a  population — mainly 
black — of  about  830,000,  there  are  687 
government  schools,  three  training  colleges 
for  teachers,  and  a  high  school  at  Kingston. 
There  are  also  a  large  number  of  endowed 
high  schools,  industrial  and  technical  in- 
stitutions. Seven  elementary  government 
schools  are  maintained  on  the  Turks  and 
Caicos  Islands  dependent  on  Jamaica. 

In  the  Leeward  Islands,  to  a  population 
of  134,000,  there  are  115  primary  schools, 
six  secondary,  an  agricultural  college,  and 
an  industrial  school.  In  the  Windward 
Islands  of  Grenada,  St.  V^incent,  and  St. 
Lucia  there  is  a  population  of  372,000  ; 
and  there  are  118  primary  schools,  one 
grammar  school  in  Grenada,  and  an  agri- 
cultural school  in  St.  Vincent.  Barbados 
has  a  population  of  197,000,  and  main- 
tains 166  primary  schools,  five  secondary, 
three  high  schools,  and  Codrington 
College,  affiliated  to  Durham  University. 
Trinidad    and  Tobago   together    have   a 

5589 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


population   of    328,000.      There    are    250 

government       schools,      many      private 

schools,    a  queen's   royal   college,   and  a 

Roman    Catnolic    college.      The    Central 

American  colony  of  British  Honduras  has 

a   population    of    41,000    and    forty-one 

primary     schools,     together       with     five 

secondary    schools.     British  Guiana,     in 

^  c  •.  .  Northern  South  America 
Camp  Schools  ,  1  .  •  r  1  . 
•  .k  r  1. 1  J  has  a  population  of  about 
in  the  Falkl&ad  ^  ^  ,  , 
,  ,  .  307,000,  220  schools  re- 
Islands  -'/'.       '^^         .,  , 

ceivmg    state  aid,    and    a 

government  college  in  Georgetown.  Besides 
this,  the  local  government  affords  certain 
means  to  natives  of  the  colony  to  pursue 
a  university  education  in  England.* 

In  the  Falkland  Islands,  near  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  South  American 
continent,  there  is  a  population  of  about 
2,100,  and  there  are  five  permanent 
schools — one  Roman  Catholic — besides 
an  excellent  S37stem  of  camp  schools, 
with  travelling  schoolmasters.  Education 
here  is  compulsory. 

In  the  little  lonely  South  Atlantic  island 
of  St.  Helena  there  is  a  native  population 
of  3,500,  for  whom  nine  schools  are  main- 
tained, partly  at  government  expense. 
So  much  for  the  education  of  the  Inner 
Empire ;  that  of  the  self  -  governing 
daughter  nations  is  as  follows  : 

The  dominion  of  Canada  has  an  approxi- 
mate population  at  the  date  of  writing  of 
6,000,000.  Her  nine  provinces  and  Yukon 
territory  maintain  20,570  schools — public, 
high,  and  for  secondary  education.  There 
are,  in  addition,  many  private  schools. 
There  are,  further,  tliirty  colleges,  mostly 
gathered  round  eighteen  universities.  Edu- 
cation is  compulsory  throughout  Canada. 

The  population  of  Newfoundland  and 
Labrador  is  about  233,000  at  the  present 
time.'  There  are  881  public  and  secondary 
schools  and  three  colleges,  supported  or 
partly  supported  by  state  funds,  but  entirely 
managed  by  the  local  Anglican,  Roman 
Catholic,  and  Methodist  churches.  Edu- 
cation does  not  appear  to 
be  compulsory.  In  Cape 
Colony  there  is  a  popula- 
tion of  more  than  580,000 
whites  of  European  descent,  of  whom 
nearly  145,000  are  ilhterate.  The  total 
population  is  2,500,000,  and  education — 
not  compulsory — is  state  -  provided  in 
some  3,750  primary  and  secondary 
schools  and  in  five  colleges.  There  is 
an  examining  university  in  Cape  Town. 
In  Basutoland  there  are  four  government 

5590 


Cape  Colony's 

Schools 

and  Colleges 


schools,  an  industrial  school,  and  250 
schools  maintained — partly  state  aided — 
by  missionaries.  The  education  in 
Bechuanaland  is  entirely  conducted  by 
the  London  Missionary  Society  and  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church. 

In  Natal  there  is  a  European  population 
of  about  95,000 ;  Asiatics,  112,000 ; 
negroes,  945,000.  For  the  European  chil- 
dren there  are  295  government  or  state- 
aided  primary  schools,  two  government 
high  schools  in  Durban  and  Pietermaritz- 
burg,  two  government  art  schools,  167 
government  or  government-aided  schools 
for  negroes,  and  twenty-eight  government- 
aided  schools  for  Indian  children.  There 
are  altogether  forty-five  schools  entirely 
managed  by  the  government  and  469  that 
receive  state  funds.  Education,  though 
much  encouraged,  is  not  compulsory. 

In  the  Orange  River  Colony  education 
since  1905  is  practically  compulsory.  The 
European  population  is  about  145,000. 
There  are  about  170  primary  schools,  three 
residential  high  schools  (one  for  girls),*  a 
training  school  for  teachers,  and  the  Grey 
University  College,  near  Bloemfontein.  Two 
-,  hundred  and    ninety   thou- 

m  «  sory  g^nd  inhabitants  entirely  of 
Education  in       t-  ■    ■     ■     ^^     ^ 

..     T,  ,    European  origin  in  the  irans- 

the    Transvaal  ,  r,  °    .  ,  .,  ,        , 

vaal    have   their    children  s 

education  attended  to  at  502  primary 
schools.  There  are  about  twelve  schools 
specially  provided  for  children  of  mixed  race, 
and  there  are  209  schools  for  negroes.  There 
is  a  normal  college  for  the  training  of  teachers 
and  a  Transvaal  University  College.  Educa- 
tion for  Europeans  is  compulsory.  The 
whole  character  of  the  educational  measures 
passed  by  the  first  Transvaal  parliament, 
in  1906,  is  essentially  modern  and  efficient. 

In  Southern  Rhodesia  there  are  private 
schools  for  European  children  at  Buluwayo 
and  at  Salisbury,  but  of  necessity  the 
European  population  of  the  three  Rho- 
desian  provinces  (about  16,000)  is  at 
present  mainly  adult.  The  education  of 
the  great  Zulu-Kafihr  race  in  South  Africa 
has  received  in  general  a  great  impulse  from 
the  Lovedale  Institute  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland  Mission  in  Eastern  Cape  Colony. 

The  commonwealth  of  Australia,  includ- 
ing Tasmania  and  Norfolk  Island,  has  a 
total  population  of  European  race  of 
about  4,150,000.  For  the  general  and 
primary  education  of  these  there  are  7,362 
government  or  state-provided  schools, 
and  2,284  recognised  private  schools.  New 
South  Wales  has  the  University  of  Sydney 


A     VAST     SEA    OF     SAND     IN    THE     ARABIAN     DESERT 


A    SAND-BLOWN    GRAVEYARD     IN    THE    DESERT 


DESERT     SCENES     IN     THE     BRITISH     EMPIRE 


5591 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Educational 
Institution 


and  the  Technical  College,  which  last  gives 
instruction  in  agriculture,  among  other 
subjects.  There  are  schools  of  art  in  most  of 
the  principal  towns.  Education  is  compul- 
sory. Victoria  has  a  universit3^  at  Melbourne 
with  three  colleges,  a  school  of  mines, 
and  seventeen  technical  colleges.  Educa- 
tion is  compulsory,  and  it  is  said  that  only 

.  ,  ,  .  ,  2  per  cent,  of  the  population  is 
Australasia  s  .,/  ,       t    r\  i       j     i 

illiterate.  inCJueensland  educa- 
tion is  not  yet  compulsory.  A 
university  is  about  to  be  estab- 
lished at  Brisbane.  In  South  Australia, 
which  has  a  population  of  nearly  385,000, 
education  is  compulsory,  but  it  is  said  that 
nearly  17  per  cent,  of  the  people  are 
illiterate.  No  doubt,  under  this  head  are 
included  the  few  thousand  Chinese  and 
aborigines.  This  state  has  a  university  at 
Adelaide,  and  maintains  a  training  college 
for  teachers.  In  West  Australia  education 
is  compulsory,  and  only  3  per  cent,  are  said 
to  be  illiterate.  Tasmania  has  a  university 
at  Hobart,  two  schools  of  mines,  and  two 
technical  schools.  Education  is  compulsory. 
Little  Norfolk  Island,  under  the  manage- 
ment of  New  South  Wales,  has  one  efficient 
government  school  for  its  population — ■ 
European  and  Melanesian — of  nearly  1,000. 
The  dominion  of  New  Zealand  has  a 
population  of  about  890,000  whites,  48,000 
Maories,  2,570  Chinese,  and  in  its  dependent 
archipelagoes  12,340  Polynesians.  Educa- 
tion is  compulsory.  There  are  1,847  public 
primary  schools,  308  private  schools,  28 
secondary  schools,  seven  school  of  mines, 
four  normal  schools;  five  principal  schools  of 
art,  and  11  industrial  schools,  besides  104 
schools  for  Maories.  There  are  colleges 
at  Dunedin,  Christchurch,  Canterbury,  and 
Wellington  for  specialist  education,  and 
these  are  affiliated  to  the  university  of 
New  Zealand  at  Wellington. 

The  territory  of  Papua  (British  New 
Guinea)  is  governed  by  the  Australian 
Commonwealth.  It  has  a  population  of 
under  900  Europeans,  almost  all  adults. 
The  native  population  of 
Papuans  is  estimated  at 
400,000.  Their  education  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society,  the  Roman  Catholic 
Society  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  the  Church 
of  England  Mission,  and  the  Methodist 
Missionary  Society  of  Australasia. 

In  the  Crown  colony  of  Fiji,  the 
European  population  is  steadily  increasing. 
It  numbers  at  present  about  3,300. 
Education   for   this   section   of   the   com- 

5592 


Europeans 
Increasing 
in  F  i  j  i 


munity  is  provided  at  the  cost  of  the 
community,  and  is  directed  by  the  school- 
boards  of  Suva  and  Levuka,  and  carried  on 
by  two  government  schools  at  these  places. 
There  are  also  three  good  Roman  Catholic 
schools  at  Suva  and  Levuka.  A  govern- 
ment native  high  school  has  been  estab- 
lished for  some  considerable  time  at 
Nasinu,  near  Suva,  where  an  excellent 
higher  education  is  offered  to  the  native 
Fijians  and  the  children  of  the  Asiatic 
settlers  (Indian  coolies,  mostly). 

The  Wesleyan  and  Roman  Catholic 
missions  provide  entirely  the  primary 
education  of  the  natives  (Melanesians  and 
Polynesians)  throughout  the  Fiji  and 
Rotuma  Islands.  The  Wesleyans  also 
conduct  the  education  of  the  natives  of  the 
protected  kingdom  of  Tonga.  Missionaries 
of  the  Wesleyan,  Presbyterian,  Anglican, 
and  Roman  Catholic  Churches  also  preside 
— without  any  grant  or  state  assistance 
whatsoever — over  the  education  of  the 
thousands  of  natives  of  the  British  pro- 
tected Gilbert,  Solomon,  and  Santa  Cruz 
Islands  in  the  Equatorial  Pacific. 

The  total  number  of  armed  men  ready 
for    war     service — the    standing    armies, 

.      .  1st  Reserve,   colonial    volun- 

Armies  ,  2       ,  1      ■    ■  i 

f  th    B  "f  h  *^^^^  1^^  constant  training  and 
£     .  thoroughly  efficient,   also  the 

military  police — of  the  British 
Empire  at  the  close  of  1908  amounted  to 
about  926,000,  incluchng  the  British  Re- 
serves, Channel  Islands  Militia,  Honourable 
Artillery  Company,  and  permanent  staffs 
of  militia,  etc.,  but  not  the  English  Militia, 
Imperial  Yeomanry,  or  Territorial  Army. 
Of  these,  in  the  first  place,  should  be 
mentioned  the  regular  (professional)  army 
of  the  United  Kingdom,  amounting  to 
216,018  combatants  of  all  arms,  and  31,348 
non-combatants.  This  army  is  distributed 
thus  :  115,148  in  Great  Britain,  and  about 
15,000  in  Ireland ;  3,809  at  Gibraltar ; 
7,099  in  Malta  and  Crete  ;  123  in  Cyprus  ; 
76,155  in  India;  1,000  in  Ceylon  ;  5,719  in 
Egypt  and  the  Sudan  ;  1,500  at  Singapore  ; 
3,101  at  Hong  Kong  and  Wei-hai-wei ; 
16,213  in  South  Africa;  18  at  St.  Helena; 
1,309  at  the  Bermudas;  547  in  Jamaica; 
and  about  726  in  Mauritius.  The  total 
colonial  contingent  is  41,063  for  1908- 
1909,  but  in  1907-1908  there  were  49,804 
British  soldiers  in  the  colonies. 

Canada  has  a  military  force  on  the 
footing  of  active  service,  including  military 
police,  of  about  3,000,  and  an  active 
militia  of  about  51,000.  Australia  maintains 


THE    SINEWS    OF    EMPIRE 


a  tiny  permanent  army  of  1,329  officers  and 
men,  and  a  partly  paid  trained  militia  of 
15,445.  Including  volunteers,  rifle-clubmen, 
cadets,  and  reserve  of  officers,  the  common- 
wealth has  a  potential  army  of  84,000  men. 
The  six  Australian  states,  moreover,  main- 
tain a  force  of  about  10,000  mounted  police, 
first-class  irregular  soldiers  in  war  time. 
New  Zealand  also  has  a  permanent  militia 
of  341  artillery  and  engineers,  and  a  regu- 
larly drilled  volunteer  force  of  not  less 
than  18,000,  notwithstanding  700  mounted 
police.  Cape  Colony — besides  the  Imperial 
troops  stationed  in  the  colony — maintains 


short  notice  put  in  the  field  a  good  fighting 
force  of  at  least  5,000  volunteers,  mostly 
mounted.  The  Egyptian  army  in  Egypt 
and  the  Sudan  consists  of  a  force  of  19,010 
rank  and  file,  including  121  British  officers. 
Egypt  pays  an  approximate  £150,000  a 
year  towards  the  cost  of  the  British  army 
of  occupation.  Malta  maintains  a  respect- 
able contingent— the  Royal  Malta  Artillery 
(446),  the  King's  Own  Malta  Regiment 
(war  strength,  2,258),  and  the  Malta 
Militia  Submarine  Miners  (63).  The 
Maltese  Government  also  pays  £5,000  to 
the   Imperial  Government   as   a  military 


G.  K.  Lambert 

OPENING    OF    THE    FIRST    STATE     RAILWAY    IN    THE     MALAY    PENINSULA 


a  respectable  armed  force  :  705  Cape 
Mounted  Rifles,  1,734  Mounted  Police,  and 
a  body  of  5,835  volunteers  in  regular  drill. 
Natal  has  an  armed  force — mounted  police, 
mounted  rifles,  naval  gun  corps,  and 
trained  militia — of  about  6,430  men.  She 
also  subsidises  rifle  associations  (5,774 
officers  and  men)  and  cadet  corps  (3,471). 
The  Transvaal  and  Orange  State  together 
maintain  the  South  African  Constabulary, 
an  efficient  force  of  2,700  officers  and  men. 
In  addition,  the  Transvaal  maintains  a 
well  -  trained  volunteer  force,  mostly  ex- 
soldiers,  of  10,000  men.      Rhodesia  can  at 

2    G  i8  D 


contribution.  Ceylon  pays  about  £70,000 
for  its  Imperial  garrison,  and  maintains 
in  addition  an  efficient  volunteer  force  of 
2,333  officers  and  men. 

India  has  a  magnificent  army  of  160,000, 
including  British  officers,  a  military  police 
of  56,887,  a  volunteer  force  of  34,000 
Europeans  and  Eurasians,  and  contin- 
gents furnished  by  the  feudatory  states 
of  20,189,  a  total  force — apart  from  the 
Imperial  garrison  of  76,155,  for  Which 
India  pays  Britain  about  £1,395,000  annu- 
ally— of  271,076  officers  and  men.  The 
Straits  Settlements,  besides  their  Imperial 

5593 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


and  Indian  garrison,  lor  which  they  pay, 
have  a  very  efficient  volunteer  force  of 
about  770  Europeans,  Eurasians,  and 
Chinese.  The  Federated  Malay  States 
have  a  smart  little  army  known  as  the 
Malay  States  Guides — British  officers, 
Sikhs,  Pathans,  and  Malays,  2,665  in  all. 
The  local  military  forces  of  British 
South  Africa,  from  North- 
west    Rhodesia     to     Cape 


Defenders  of 
British 


1-  •  .  Ar  •  Colony,  have  already  been 
1  ropical  Africa    ,  .t'     ,      ...         .       ,•(  , 

described  ;  likewise  those  of 

the  Egyptian  Sudan.  Mauritius  is  garrisoned 
by  a  small  detachment  of  British  troops, 
formerly  as  many  as  1,394,  towards  the 
cost  of  which  the  colony  paid  annually 
;^27,ooo,  but  now  reduced  to  about  726. 

The  rest  of  British  Tropical  Africa  is 
divided  into  two  great  sections.  East  and 
West.  The  Eastern  section  comprises  the 
colonies  or  protectorates  of  Somaliland, 
Uganda,  British  East  Africa,  Zanzibar, 
and  British  Central  Africa — Nyassaland 
and  North-east  Rhodesia.  This  section 
is  defended  by  a  regiment  of  negro 
soldiers  known  as  the  King's  African 
Rifles.  Of  this  at  present  there  are  five 
battaUons,  No.  i  to  6  (No.  5  is  at  present 
non-existent).  The  ist  and  3rd  batta- 
lions are  in  East  Africa  and  Zanzibar, 
the  2nd  in  Central  Africa,  the  4th  in 
Uganda,  and  the  6th  in  Somaliland. 

At  present  the  total  number  of  King's 
African  Rifles  under  arms  is  2,700. 
In  East  Africa  there  is,  in  addition,  a 
mihtary  police  of  1,800  under  35  British 
officers ;  in  Uganda  a  constabulary  of 
1.060  ;  in  Zanzibar,  500  ;  in  Nyassaland, 
200.  There  is  also  a  corps  of  160  Sikh 
soldiers  from  the  Indian  Army  stationed 
in  Nyassaland.  In  the  West  African 
section  the  indigenous  regiment,  so  to 
speak,  is  the  West  Africa  Frontier  Force. 
This  is  stationed  in  the  Gambia  Protec- 
torate (126  men),  the  Sierra  Leone 
Protectorate  (470  men),  the  Gold  Coast 
hinterland    (2,175    men).    Southern    and 

^,     ^  Northern  Nigeria  (5,266  men). 

The  Forces     j         ■,•,•,•        f,  ^-^     ,,      ^,r     . 

•    B  "f  h  addition  there  are  the  West 

w    t^Af  *      African  Regiment  and  the  ist 

battalion   of   the    West  India 

Regiment,  besides  artillery,  engineers,  etc., 

at  Sierra  Leone  (2,612  officers  and  men  in 

all).      The  Gambia  maintains  a  military 

pohce   of   80   men  ;    Sierra   Leone,    240  ; 

Gold  Coast,  621  :    Southern  Nigeria,  980  ; 

and    Northern    Nigeria,    1,180.       Lastly, 

there   should    also   be   counted   with   the 

effective    forces    in    British    West    Africa 

5594 


the  Gold  Coast  volunteers  (1,056  officers 
and  men),  partly  paid,  and  maintained 
more  or  less  on  a  war  footing. 

The  local  soldiery    or  military  police  in 
the  West    Indies   and   Tropical    America, 
apart     from     the     British      garrison     in 
Jamaica,  consists  of  the  2nd  battaUon  of 
the    West    Indian   Regiment   in   Jamaica 
(500  officers  and  men),   and  800  militia,       , 
besides  a  very  efficient  constabulary  (1,753)      j 
modelled  on  that   of  Ireland,   and,   as  a      ' 
matter  of  fact,  officered  and  sub-officered 
by  officers  and  men  chosen  from  the  Royal 
Irish  Constabulary.    In  Barbados  there  is 
a  pohce  force  of  315,   and  measures  are 
being  taken  to  raise  and  maintain  a  small 
colonial   force  of  mounted  infantry. 

In  the  Bahamas,  Leeward  and  Windward 
Islands  there  are  small  forces  of  civil 
police.  In  Trinidad  there  is  a  constabulary 
of  652,  and  a  volunteer  rifle  corps  of  352. 
British  Honduras  maintains  a  constabu- 
lary of  100,  and  a  volunteer  light  infantry 
corps  (mounted  and  unmounted)  of  260. 
British  Guiana  either  fears  no  foe,  within 
or  without,  or  is  very  shy  of  disclosing  its 
arrangements  for  the  maintenance  of 
public  order,  for  no  particulars 
are  extant  as  to  its  military 
and  police.  There  are  said 
to  be  militia  and  volunteers 
to  the  total  number  of  240.  The  Falkland 
Islands  support  a  volunteer  corps  of  98. 
The  total  of  the  forces,  therefore,  for 
offence  or  defence  throughout  the  empire 
ready  for  immediate  action — professional 
army,  military  constabulary,  volunteers 
or  militia  in  constant  training  and  avail- 
able for  immediate  service — is  about 
926,300,  of  whom  approximately  560,000 
are  white,  and  366,000  belong  to  the 
coloured  races — Indian,  Egyptian,  Negro, 
Mulatto,  Malay,  Chinese  and  Polynesian. 
Behind  this  force  there  are  as  yet 
undefined  potentialities  which  at  present 
take  the  place  of  that  actuality  so  neces- 
sary to  the  safety  of  the  British  Empire, 
throughout  all  parts  of  which  (in  the 
opinion  of  the  present  w'riter)  compulsory 
military  service  on  the  part  of  all  males, 
more  or  less  between  the  ages  of  19  and  40, 
should  be  an  article  of  the  constitution  of 
every  country  under  the  British  flag, 
most  of  all  in  the  Motherland.  Compulsory 
service  in  the  militia  is  now  a  law  of  the 
state  in  New  Zealand  (it  is  projected  in 
Australia),  in  Canada,  in  Natal,'and  in  Cape 
Colony.  There  is  something  similar  in  the 
Channel    Islands,    where    the    militia    in 


Empire's 
Fighting 
Strength 


t»'-j".^.-,-ii«ri»'-" 


A     NATIVE     OPEN-AIR     SCHOOL     AT     OPOBO     IN     NIGERIA 


DUTCH    CHILDREN    AT    SCHOOL     IN     BRITISH     SOUTH    AFRICA 


EDUCATING     THE     YOUNG    SUBJECTS     AND     CITIZENS     OF    GREATER     BRITAIN 

5595 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


training  amount  to  the  respectable  force  of 
3,163.  The  manhood  of  the  United  Kingdom 
is  invited  to  furnish  voluntarily  a  territorial 
force  (314,063)  for  the  defence  of  the 
Home  Country.  This,  together  with  the 
militia  (84,505)  and  militia  reserve  (3,413) 
and  the  Imperial  yeomanry  (25,195)  is 
estimated  to  reach  a  total  strength  of 
Britain's  447>i76  during  1909.  Behind 
.  J    the     regular     army     of      about 

rmy  o  J20,i48  Stationed  in  the  United 
Kingdom  there  is  a  reserve  of 
about  222.850  trained  officers  and  men, 
making  an  effective  trained  home  army 
of  about  352.998. 

The  martial  spirit  of  the  British  Islands 
is  such  that  in  the  event  of  real  danger  we 
could  easily  count  on  a  territorial  army 
of  at  least  325.000  partiall}^  trained  men 
to  stand  beside  our  regular  forces,  giving 
us  therefore  a  body  of  677,998  fighting 
men  for  home  and  foreign  defence ;  this  in 
addition  to  the  118,000  British  soldiers 
garrisoning  India,  South  Africa,  Egj^t, 
the  Mediterranean,  Mauritius,  West  Indies, 
etc.  To  this  arraj^  again  might  certainly 
be  added  in  war  time  the  magnificent 
fighting  body,  the  Royal  Irish  Constabu- 
lary, numbering  nearly  10,000  strong. 

The  navy  of  the  empire  is  mainly  the 
British  Navy,  to  the  cost  of  which  Canada 
contributes  nothing,  while  the  Indian 
Empire  pays  annually  ^^103, 400,  the 
Australian  Commonwealth  ^200,000,  New 
Zealand  ;/^40,ooo,  Cape  Colony  £50,000, 
Natal  £35,000,  and  Newfoundland  £3,000. 
The  total  number  of  ships  complete  for  sea 
in  the  British  Navy  at  the  close  of  1908 
was  about  497,  including  60  great  battle- 
ships, 57  of  which  are  of  the  most  modern 
types.  In  addition  to  this,  most  of  the 
Crown  colonies  or  protectorates  have  armed 
vessels  for  police  or  defence  purposes  on 
their  coasts,  rivers,  and  lakes.  New  Zealand 
and  Australia  have  a  few  torpedo  boats. 
The  Imperial  coaling  stations,  more  or 
less  fortified,  are  (outside  British  waters) 
J  Gibraltar,         Malta        (possibly 


Coaling 


Alexandria),      Aden,      Karachi, 


,.,  ..  Bombay,      Colombo,     Rangoon, 

otations      „.  -^  TT  T^  T^ 

bmgapore.  Hong  Kong,  Port 
Darwin,  Hobart.  Wellington,  Esquimalt, 
Halifax,  Bermuda,  Kingston,  Port  Louis 
(Mauritius),  Simon's  Town  (Cape  of 
Good  Hope),  St.  Helena,  Ascension',  and 
Freetown  (Sierra  Leone).  The  additional 
British  ports,  however,  at  which  there 
are  supplies  of  coal  on  hand,  and  which 
are  to  a  certain  extent  defended  against 

5596 


a  naval  coup-de-main,  are  far  too 
numerous  to  be  catalogued.  The  great 
dockyards  of  the  empire  outside  British 
waters  are  at  Gibraltar,  ^^aletta  (Malta), 
Bombay,  Kidderpur  (India),  Hong  Kong, 
Wei-hai-wei,  Sydney,  and  Ascension. 
There  is  also  dock  accommodation  at 
Trinkomali  (Ceylon),  Simon's  Town  (South 
Africa),  Halifax  (Nova  Scotia),  and  Esqui- 
malt (British  Columbia). 

The  mercantile  marine  of  the  empire, 
including  that  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
comprises  about  9,511  steamers  of  a  total 
tonnage  of  17,001,139,  many  of  which  are 
easily  convertible  into  war  vessels.  The 
nearest  competitors  in  this  respect  are  : 
Germany,  1,713,  tonnage  3.705,700 ;  United 
States,  1,577,  tonnage,  3,160,895  ;  and 
Norway,  1,181,  tonnage,  1,264,002. 

The  value  of  the  commerce  of  the 
British  Empire  (including  Eg\^t  and  the 
Egyptian  Sudan,  Bahrein  Islands,  and  all 
British  Borneo),  calculated  in  imports 
and  exports  only,  amounted  in  the  year 
1906  to  the  amazing  total  of  £2,189,681.147. 
The  actual  commerce  of  the  United  King- 
dom  reached   in   that   year   the   total   of 

/i, 068, 566, 318.       The     Indian 
Commerce    r?        ■         •  ^r     l    j 

Empire   m    1906    had   a    com- 

Empi*rc  ™^^^^  valued  at  £239,695,904; 
British  South  Africa  (ex- 
cluding Nyassaland),  £127,010,290 ;  the 
Australian  Commonwealth,  £114,641,710  ; 
dominion  of  Canada,  £113,234,930  ; 
Straits  Settlements  and  Federated  Malay 
States,  £91,241,860  ;  Egypt  and  Egyptian 
Sudan,  £66,638,341  ;  New  Zealand, 
£33,306,540  ;  British  West  Indies,  British 
Honduras  and  Guiana,  £21,027,274 ; 
British  West  Africa,  £10,833,850  ;  and 
British  East  Africa  (Uganda,  Somahland, 
East  Africa,  Zanzibar,  Seychelles,  Nyassa- 
land and  Mauritius),  £9,058,281.  Even 
the  little  Bahrein  Islands,  off  the 
Arabian  east  coast,  did  a  total  trade  of 
£3,154,549  in  the  year  1906. 

Out  of  all  the  great  sections  of  the 
empire  the  most  considerable  trade  with 
Great  Britain,  in  1907,  was  that  of  the 
Indian  Empire  (£106,956,000)  ;  the  next 
best,  the  future  South  African  confedera- 
tion (£90,053,620),  and  the  third,  the 
Australian  Commonwealth  (£59,429,880). 
Canada  came  fourth  with  a  trade  between 
her  and  the  United  Kingdom  of 
£41,506,980.  The  value  of  the  trade 
between  Egypt  and  the  Egyptian  Sudan 
and  the  United  Kingdom  is  £23,717,963 
approximately  (1907) ;  between  us  and  New 


THE    SINEWS    OF    EMPIRE 


Zealand  for  the  same  period,  ;r23,050,400. 
The  total  public  indebtedness  of  the 
whole  empire,  including  that  of  Egypt 
(£96,180,000),  is  something  like 
£1,611,231,869.  The  approximate  annual 
revenue  of  the  vast  area  (including 
Egypt,  etc.),  was,  in  1907,  £331,019,695  ; 
and  the  expenditure  during  the  same 
period,  £308,033,010  ;  so  that  the  empire 
as  a  whole  is  living  well  within  its 
means.  During  this  period  the  revenue 
of  the  United  Kingdom  was  £144,814,073, 
and  its  expenditure  £139,415,251.  India, 
vaguely  thought  to  be  fabulously  rich, 
with  an  area  fourteen  and  a  half  times 
that  of  the  United  Kingdom  (1,766,517 
square  miles  against  121,390  square 
miles),  and  a  population  of  nearly 
297,000,000  (United  Kingdom  population, 
44,100,231),  had  a  revenue  of  only 
£75,626,900,  which  her  expenditure  was 
framed  to  meet  exactly. 

This  chapter  may,  perhaps,  fitly  be 
closed  by  a  few  comparisons  : 

Area  of  British  Empire,  13,138,900 
square  miles  ;  Russian  Empire,  8,647,657  ; 
French  Empire,  4,604,880 ;  Chinese 
Empire,  4,227,170  ;  United 
States,     3,567,563 ;      German 


The  World's 

Great 

Empires 


Empire,  1,260,603.  Population 
of  Chinese  Empire,433,553, 030; 
British  Empire,  405,000,000  (approxi- 
mate) ;  Russian  Empire,  149,299,300 ; 
French  Empire,  96,389,985  ;  United  States 
(nearly),  84,000,000  ;  German  Empire, 
73,200,000  (approximate);  Japanese  Em- 
pire and  Korea,  60,000,000  (nearly). 

Commerce  (imports  and  exports),  of 
British  Empire,  £2,189,681,147  ;  German 
Empire,  £712,688,015  ;  United  States, 
£669,336,930  (1907:  This  was  a  slump  year. 
Probably  the  best  average  annual  estimate 
for  the  United  States  of  America  commerce 
at  the  present  time  would  be  £710,000,000) ; 
French  Empire,  £570,605,458 ;  Russian 
Empire,  £189,040,736 ;  Chinese  Empire, 
£107,440,456. 

National  indebtedness  of  British  Em- 
pire, £1,611,231,869  (the  actual  debt  of 
the  United  Kingdom  is  £774,164,704)  ; 
French  Empire,  £1,265,630,019  ;  Russian 
Empire  and  Finland,  £940,556,410 ; 
United    States.    £491,437,612  ;      German 


Empire,  £179,583,330 ;  Chinese  Empire, 
£123,685,930. 

Annual  revenue  of  British  Em- 
pire (1907),  £331.019.695  ;  Russian 
Empire,  £214,210,000;  French  Empire, 
£170,727,474 ;  United  States,  £169,345,068 ; 
German  Empire,  £120,791,550 ;  Chinese 
Empire,  £15,000,000. 

Annual  expenditure  of  British  Em- 
pire (1907),  £308,019,010  ;  Russian 
Empire,  £266,000,000  (approximate)  ; 
French  Empire,  £168,276,097 ;  United 
States,  £152,497,750  ;  German  Empire, 
National  £"125,863,152;  Chinese  Empire, 
.      .  £18,000,000  (approximate). 

.  KT    •       Nothing    is    known   positively 

and  Navies  ,  ,  ,         ,  ^  i 

as  to  the  total  revenue  and 
total  expenditure  of  the  whole  empire  of 
China.  These  approximate  estimates  deal 
with  known  results  of  customs,  etc.,  and 
recorded  Imperial  expenditure. 

Standing  army  of  French  Empire, 
soldiers,  first  reserve,  and  colonial  troops, 
1,300,000  officers  and  men  (approxi- 
mate) ;  Russian  Empire  (soldiers  and 
military  police),  1,200,000  officers  and 
men  (approximate)  ;  German  Empire 
(including  small  colonial  forces),  1,180,000 
oificers  and  men  (approximate)  ;  Austria- 
Hungary,  1,154,000  officers  and  men 
(approximate)  ;  British  Empire  (soldiers 
of  regular  army  and  reserve,  Indian 
Army,  volunteers  and  militia  of  colonies 
on  a  war  footing,  and  mihtary  police), 
926,000. 

These  summaries  include  all  disciplined 
soldiers  prepared  to  fight  at  two  weeks' 
notice. 

Navy  on  peace  footing  of  British  Em- 
pire, 497  ships  of  all  classes ;  French 
Empire,  580  (360  of  these  are  torpedo 
boats  or  submarines)  ;  German  Empire, 
205  ;  Japanese  Empire,  14S  ;  United 
States,  139  ;  Italy,  239  (of  these  85  are 
old  and  of  small  account). 

Mercantile  marine  of  the  British  Em- 
pire (steamers  over  100  tons),  9,511. 
tonnage,  17,001,139 ;  German  Empire, 
1,713,  3,705,700  ;  United  States,  1,517, 
3,160,895  ;  Norway,  1,181,  1,264,002  ; 
Sweden,  889,  686,517 ;  Japanese  Em- 
pire, 829,  1,068,747 ;  French  Empire, 
809,  1,284,368. 


5597 


55  9« 


THE 
BRITISH 
EMPIRE 

XIII 


BY  SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON, 

G.C.M.G. 


BRITISH   EXPANSION   IN  EUROPE 

AND    THE   STEADY   PROGRESS    OF 
EGYPT    UNDER     BRITISH    CONTROL 


"VV7HAT  effect  have  the  establishment  and 
^'      growth  of  the  British  Empire  had 
on  the  world  outside  the  limits  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  ? 

In  Europe,  the  ethnological  results  of 
the  extension  of  British  rule  beyond  the 
Irish  and  English  Channels  was  inconsider- 
able down  to  about  twenty  years  ago  ;  in 
short,  down  to  the  time  that  the  other 
great  nations  of  the  White  world  applied 
themselves  in  all  seriousness  to  the 
foundation  of  empires  beyond  the  seas. 
They  then  began  to  adopt  many  British 
ideas,  words,  games,  notions  in  art  and 
industry,  clothes,  furniture,  and  sport.  It 
is  true  that  in  horse-racing,  railways,  steam- 
ships, the  training  of  children,  farming, 
and  agriculture  we  had  engendered 
original  concepts  and  inventions  expressed 
in  idiomatic  Anglo-Saxon,  and  these  had 
spread  the  British  influence  of  jockeys, 
_  .  engineers,     governesses,     stock- 

,  "  '^         men,  and   gardeners   throughout 
Influence     y^  x^r     j^  /- 

..        .       1*  ranee,       Western       Germany, 

Italy,  Russia,  Tunis,  and  Egypt; 
also  that  the  success  of  our  constitutional 
government  had  for  at  least  150  years 
turned  the  eyes  of  all  reformers  and  political 
theorists  towards  England. 

But  down  to  twenty  years  ago  it  was 
rather  France  that  set  the  fashions  in  all 
departments  for  all  Europe  than  the 
Anglo-Saxon.  This  "British"  influence 
abroad  is  at  least  one  quarter  Ameri- 
can. It  is  so  difficult  to  discriminate 
nowadays  between  what  notions  and 
ideas  are  started  in  the  United  States 
and  what  have  their  origin  in  British, 
Canadian,  Australian,  South  African,  or' 
British-Indian  brains,  that  for  the  purpose 
of  this  review  the  British  and  American 
Empires  must  be  held  to  be  one. 

We  started,  of  course,  by  borrowing  our 
dominant  language,  our  culture,  indus- 
tries, ideas,  science,  architecture,  religion, 
rulers,  laws,  weapons,  and  cooking  from 


France,    Rome,   the   Netherlands,    Frisia, 

Western     Germany,     and     Italy.       Our 

nearest     political     and     racial     colonies, 

beyond  our  strict  geographical  limits,  were 

the  Channel  Islands.     These  were  at  first 

not  so  much  colonies  or  conquests  as  the 

_      ,       ,    last   vestiges  of    the    Norman 
Peoples  of  u-   I      1      1  1 

4k    r-u        1  power    which    had    conquered 
the  Channel  f-      ,       ,  .  rr       t>i      /-i  1 

Islands  England  m  1066.     The  Channel 

Islands  had  been  peopled 
from  quite  a  remote  antiquity  by  types 
of  the  different  races  that  overran  the 
North  of  France,  with  which,  indeed, 
Guernsey  and  Jersey  were  almost  con- 
nected by  sandbanks  and  fords  of  shallow 
water  at  the  beginning  of  the  historical 
period.  They  were  taken  possession  of 
and  named  from  the  ninth  century 
onwards  by  Norse  rovers  from  Norway, 
and  consequently  came  to  form  part  of  the 
Duchy  of  Normandy,  of  which,  politically, 
they  are  the  last  remnant. 

These  Normans  mingled  with  the  pre- 
ceding Iberian  and  Aryan  Romanised 
Kelts.  Down,  therefore,  to  about  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth,  the  Channel  Islanders 
were  scarcely  distinguishable,  anthropolo- 
gically, from  the  Normans  of  Northern 
France.  But  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries  the  political  troubles  in 
England  caused  a  number  of  English 
to  settle  in  Jersey  and  Guernsey,  and  the 
complete  detachment  of  all  the  Channel 
Islanders  from  the  Church  of  Rome  in  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  added  to 
the  separation  from  Norman  France.  In 
Alderney,  Jersey,  Guernsey, 


The  Channel       ^^^  g^^.j,  ^j^^     ^^   j      ^j^^-^^ 
Islands  Secede  ^       '■    - 

From  Rome 


without  exception,  belong  to 
the  Anglican  Church,  and 
here  alone  is  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of 
England  rendered  in  French.  It  is  some- 
what surprising  that  this  adherence  to  the 
national  Church  has  not  been  rewarded  by 
the  institution  of  a  bishop  of  the  Channel 
Islands     (they    are    under    the    See     ol 

5599 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE     WORLD 


Winchester).  There  are,  moreover, 
learned  societies  in  Jersey  and  Guernsey 
which  conduct  their  proceedings  in  French. 
From  the  eighteenth  century  onwards  the 
islands  have  been  garrisoned  by  detach- 
ments of  British  troops,  and  not  a  few  of 
these  soldiers  or  sailors  from  the  British 
fleet  have  subsequently  married  and  settled 
down  in  the  Channel  Islands,  whither 
also  during  the  last  hundred  years  English 
families  have  resorted  for  permanent 
settlement  because  of  the  delightful  ch- 
mate,  lovely  scenery,  low  cost  of  living, 
and  educational  advantages.  The  use  of 
the  English  language  is  spreading  year 
by  year  over  a  larger  area  in  these  islands. 
As    it    is,    Alderney    is    almost    entirely 


the  use  of  the  French  language  ;  but  all 
these  parts  of  the  world  have  retained 
the  Roman  Catholic  form  of  Christianity. 
So  far  as  language,  prejudices,  mode  of 
life,  and  all  that  goes  to  the  making  of  a 
people  is  concerned,  the  Channel  Islanders 
of  the  present  day — in  spite  of  the  hundred 
miles  of  sea  that  separate  them  from 
England — are  more  closely  knit  up  with 
us  in  sympathy  than  are  the  people  of 
half  Ireland.  They  could  never  be  made 
French  citizens  except  by  the  continuous 
application  of  force,  just  as,  in  all  proba- 
bility, the  inhabitants  of  Northern  Lorraine 
wDl  resist  for  centuries  the  attempt  to 
coerce  them  into  Gennan  citizenship,  or 
the  Germans  of  the  Baltic  provinces  willingly 


CASTLE    CORNET    IN    THE    ISLAND    OF    GUERNSEY 


English-speaking.  In  Guernsey  only 
about  a  quarter  of  the  population  is  now 
unable  to  speak  English,  while  another 
quarter  can  speak  no  French.  The  local 
language  is  very  different  from  literary 
French,  and  is  the  old  Norman  speech 
that  was  introduced  into  the  island  after 
the  Conquest.  In  Jersey  the  same  thing 
is  taking  place,  if  anything  more  markedly. 
In  Jersey,  however,  if  not  always  in 
Guernsey,  the  official  language  is  literary 
French,  which,  by  the  wa\^  is  as  illogical  as 
making  Italian  the  official  language  of  Malta. 
Probably  here  alone  in  the  whole  world  is 
the  service  of  the  Church  of  England 
rendered  in  French.  Other  portions  of  the 
globe  have  been  peopled  by  the  French  and 
acquired   by  the   British,  and   yet   retain 

5600 


remain  subjects  of  the  Russian  Emphe. 
Gibraltar,  after  two  hundred  years  of 
British  occupation,  has  had  singularly  httle 
effect  on  the  people  of  Spain  and  Portugal, 
beyond  the  neutral  zone,  which  restricts 
the  intercourse  of  the  British  garrison  on 
this  square  mile  and  seven-eighths  of  rock 
with  the  people  of  the  Iberian  peninsula. 
The  British  soldiers  and  officials  for  two 
hundred  years  have  freely  intermarried 
with  the  Genoese  and  Spanish  women,  the 
descendants  of  the  original  inhabitants  of 
Gibraltar  when  the  British  took  possession 
of  it.  The  resulting  "  Rock  Scorpions  " 
vary  considerably  in  type  and  social 
status.  Several  of  the  most  beautifui 
and  accomplished  women  of  the  world 
during  the  nineteenth  century  have  been 


MONT     ORGUEIL     IN     JERSEY,     SHOWING    THE     ANCIENT    CASTLE 


GUERNSEYS    PRINCIPAL    TOWN  :      VIEW    OF    ST.     PETER    PORT    AND    HARBOUR 


THE     HARBOUR    OF    ST.     HELIER,    THE    CHIEF    PORT     OF    JERSEY 


SCENES     IN     THE     CHANNEL     ISLANDS 


5601 


GENERAL    VIEW    OF    THE    TOWN 


A    POPULAR    PROMENADE,    SHOWING    PART    OF    MOORISH    CASTLE    ON    THE    HILL 


GIBRALTAR:    A     VALUABLE     POSSESSION     OF    GREAT     BRITAIN 


5602 


THE    SIGNAL    STATION    ON    ITS    ROCKY    EMINENCE 


WATERPORT     STREET,     THE     PRINCIPAL     BUSINESS     THOROUGHFARE 


OTHER    SCENES     IN     THE     FORTRESS    TOWN     OF    GIBRALTAR 


5603 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


of  Gibraltar  birth  and  descended  from  the 
unions  of  British  officers  with  Spanish 
ladies.  But  these  have  married  officials 
in  the  army,  navy,  or  diplomatic  service, 
and  have  soon  passed  away  to  spheres  of 
influence  beyond  Gibraltar.  There  is  a 
considerable  Jewish  element 
in  the  shopkeeping   class,  and 


The  Jewish 

Element 

in  Gibraltar 


it  is  these  who,  together  with  the 
descendants  of  English  soldiers 
and  Spanish  women,  form  that  type  of 
"  Rock  Scorpion  "  that  may  be  met  with 
nowadays  so  frequently  in  Morocco,  Al- 
geria, Tunis  above  all,  Malta,  and  the 
Ionian  Islands.  At  one  time  there  were 
quite  a  number  of  Gibraltarese  in  the 
regency  of  Tunis,  attracted  thither  by  the 
favourable  conditions  enjoyed  by  British 


the  part  of  the  Maltese  people,  who 
largely  by  their  own  personal  efforts  and 
bravery  expelled  the  French  garrison, 
though,  of  course,  they  had  been  assisted 
in  this  task  by  Nelson's  overthrow  of  the 
French  forces  at  sea.  Fearing  lest  they 
might  not  be  able  to  maintain  themselves 
against  future  attacks  on  the  part  of 
France,  and  disUking  very  much  the  idea 
of  reverting  to  that  Neapolitan  sovereignty 
from  which  the  islands  of  Malta  and  Gozo 
were  withdrawn  by  Charles  V.,  the  Maltese 
people  offered  their  country  to  the  King  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  Europe  con- 
firmed this  choice  at  the  Congress  of  1815. 
Under  our  rule  the  Maltese  have  pros- 
pered exceedingly.  Magnificent  public 
works  have  been  constructed  in  the  island 


BRITISH     TROOPS     IN     MALTA;      THE     MAIN     GUARD     AT     VALETTA 


commerce  down  to  1898.  The  regency  of 
Tunis  was  at  one  time  very  near  becoming  a 
British  protectorate,  owing  to  the  influence 
that  radiated  from  Malta  and  the  friendly 
relations  between  the  beys  of  Tunis  and 
the  British  naval  officers  which  followed 
on  the  defeat  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  In 
the  curious  struggle  that  went  on,  under 
the  surface,  between  France,  Britain,  and 
Italy  for  predominance  in  Tunis,  Gibraltar 
Jews  were  generally  the  men  of  straw  used 
by  these  conflicting  influences  in  their 
attempts  to  acquire  landed  property  or 
other  stakes  in  the  country. 

The  British  acquisition  of  Malta  was 
not — it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  remind 
red-hot  Imperialists — a  conquest,  but  the 
result  of  a  voluntary  and  graceful  act  on 

5604 


of  Malta — Gozo  has  not  been  so  well 
attended  to — and  under  the  aegis  of  the 
British  flag  the  Maltese  have  founded 
flourishing  colonies — here  30,000,  there 
20,000,  in  another  place  10,000 — in  Algeria. 
Tunis,  Tripoli,  Barca,  and  Egypt,  and  even 
in  Crete  and  elsewhere  in  the  Levant.  The 
Maltese  in  Algeria  tend  more  and  more  to 
adopt  French  nationality,  de- 
riving therefrom  considerable 
commercial  advantages,  and 
finding  perhaps  in  the  French 
nation  a  more  courteous  foster-mothei 
than  Great  Britain  has  been  to  them. 
"  His  mother  was  a  Maltese,  you  know," 
is  the  sneering  phrase  that  I  have  often 
heard  from  a  British  officer  in  the  army  or 
navy  or  in  the  Colonial  Civil  Service  in 


Malta's  Great 
Prosperity 
Under  Britain 


sifl^i.l'^ 


THE     BARACCA  ;      A     BEAUTIFUL     VIEW     IN     VALETTA 


A    CURIOUS    STREET    OF     STEPS    AND     THE     HARBOUR     AT    VALETTA,    THE    CAPITAL 


MARSA     MUSCET,     SHOWING     THE     STRONGLY     BUILT    FORTIFICATIONS 


SCENES     IN     MALTA.    BRITAIN'S    CROWN     COLONY     IN     THE     MEDITERRANEAN 

5605 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


reference  to  some  more  or  less  distin- 
guished man  in  the  employ  of  the  British 
Government.  "  He  says  she  was  an 
Italian  countess,  but  she  really  was  nothing 
but  a  Maltese,  I  can  assure  you."  Why  it 
should  be  in  any  sense  derogatory  to  be 
born  a  Maltese  the  present  writer  is  at  a 
loss    to   understand.     The   population   of 

.  these    islands    is    considerably 

"  *^  mixed  in  origin  it  is  true,  but 

f^M**!?  ^°^  ^^  ^^  derived   from  very  noble 

sources — from  the  best  of  the 

chivalry    of    Aragon,    France,    England, 

Germany,   and  Northern  Italy  ;    or  if  it 

be  of  a  brunette  type,  then  from  a  splendid 

Mediterranean  stock  which  goes  back  in 

origin  to  the  Phoenicians. 

At  one  time  it  was  thought  necessary  to 
treat  Malta  on  very  military  hues  ;  but  it 
has  gradually  been  borne  in  on  the  British 
Government  that  the  military  and  civil 
departments  should  be  to  some  extent 
separated,  and  the  time  may  come  when 
^lalta  may  have  a  civilian  as  governor, 
or  even — why  not  ? — a  Maltese  noble  or 
eminent  citizen  in  that  position  ?  But 
though  our  connection  with  Malta  has  been 
marked  by  episodes  of  a  bad  taste  that 
seems  peculiarly  British — and  yet  not  an 
ancient,  but  quite  a  modern  trait  in  our 
race — the  main  results  of  the  British  occu- 
pation of  Malta  have  been  of  enormous 
benefit  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  two 
islands.  We  have,  in  fact,  definitely 
created  a  Maltese  people,  destined  to  play 
a  very  notable  part  in  the  commercial 
development  of  the  Mediterranean. 

If  we,  as  the  garrisoning  race,  should 
mend  our  manners,  the  Maltese  might  well 
at  the  same  time  cause  an  impartial 
history  of  Malta  during  the  last  hundred 
years  to  be  drawn  up  and  published,  and 
thereby  realise  how  much  indeed  they 
owe  in  gratitude  to  the  acceptance 
by  George  III.  of  kingship  over  Malta. 
The  British  protectorate  over  the  Ionian 
Islands  did  much  the  same  for  the  Greeks 
^  ,  .of  Corfu  as  for  the  mixed  races 
Greeks  and  ^f  ^rab,  French,  and  Italian 
Lan  ua  e      ^^^^in  in  Malta.     It   certainly 

anguagc  gpj-gg^^  acquaintance  with  and 
use  of  the  English  language  amongst  the 
Greeks  of  the  Levant.  Many  a  Greek 
commercial  house  now  of  world-wide  im- 
portance arose  from  the  British  occupation 
of  this  archipelago,  which,  until  the  on- 
slaught of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  had 
belonged  to  Venice  since  the  time  it  was 
detached    from    the    Byzantine    Empire. 

5606 


The  Ionian  Islands,  indeed,  were  at  last 
the  only  refuge  of  Greek  culture  from  the 
sickening  barbarism  of  Turkey.  It  is 
possible  that  but  for  the  British  occupa- 
tion of  these  Islands,  Greece  would  never 
have  aspired  to  or  have  recovered  her 
independence,  would  never  have  possessed 
a  base  from  which  she  could  organise 
resistance  to  the  Turkish  yoke. 

Sentimentality  fortunately  swayed  the 
nations  of  Europe  in  favour  of  Greece  in 
the  first  half  of  the  .nineteenth  century  ; 
yet  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  spark  of. 
Hellenic  nationality  in  Greece  itself  could 
ever  have  been  revived  and  fanned  into  a 
powerful  flame  but  for  British  encourage- 
ment emanating  from  the  Ionian  Islands. 
Nor,  had  this  occupation  not  taken  place, 
could  those  Greek  houses  of  commerce 
have  arisen  to  a  secure  affluence  and  have 
developed  such  a  large  Anglo-Hellenic 
trade  as  now  exists  in  Western  Asia  Minor 
nor  at  Costantinople. 

Curiously  enough,  Greeks  are  happier 
governed  by  Greeks — even  if  they  be 
less  well  governed — than  by  intelligent 
foreigners  !  We  should  feel  it  in  the  same 
way  if  the  Germans  occupied  the  Isle  of 
.  Wight.   They  would  probably 

^landT'""*  ^°  ^  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^°  improve  the 
.f  ^"  V  service  on  the  Isle  of  Wight 

Under  Greece  t-,    -,  j  ^  u 

Railway,  and  carry  out  much 

needed  public  works  in  a  masterful  manner, 
besides  endowing  the  island  with  better 
schools  than  those  which  we  give  it  under 
our  existing  half-hearted  educational  estab- 
lishment. Yet — illogical  and  ungrateful 
though  they  might  be — the  inhabitants  of 
the  Isle  of  Wight  would  probably  prefer 
to  remain  under  or  to  return  to  the  control 
of  the  British  Government  rather  than 
become  citizens  of  the  German  Empire. 

Consequently,  Great  Britain  acted  wisely 
in  yielding  to  the  wishes  of  the  lonians 
that  they  might  come  under  the  sove- 
reignty of  Greece.  Nevertheless,  anyone 
who  has  visited  the  island  of  Corfu,  if  he 
be  of  British  blood,  cannot  but  admire  the 
magnificent  public  works  which  we  carried 
out  on  that  island,  and  ask  himseli 
whether  the  material  prosperity  of  that 
group  might  not  be  far  higher  than  it  is 
at  present  were  the  supreme  administra- 
tion in  the  hands  of  honest  Anglo-Saxons. 
There  is  little  doubt,  however,  that  our 
continued  retention  of  this  protectorate 
would  have  involved  us  in  disagree- 
able European  complications,  and  cer- 
tainly would  have  ended  by  offending  the 


VENDOR    OF    GOATS'    MILK  A    MALTESE    LADY  PRIEST  IN  CLERICAL  ATTIRE 


COMMON    STREET    PORTER         A    SELLER    OF    SWLLi 


A    BRAN-SELLER 


TYPICAL     CHARACTERS     OF    THE     ISLAND     OF     MALTA 


5607 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


growing  power  of  that  kingdom  of  Italy, 
with  whom  we  desire  to  be  connected  by 
every  tie  of  affection  and  interest.  Yet, 
having  lost  the  Ionian  Islands,  which  gave 
us  a  certain  hold,  a  useful  garrison  in  the 
eastern  half  of  the  Mediterranean,  we 
yearned  for  some  alternative  possession. 
The  feeling  burrowed  underground  through 

the  tortuous  channels  of  the 
•  ^B*^  V  h  official  mind,  and  emerged  at 
u     "  **       last    to    the    surface     through 

the  romantic  action  of  Lord 
Beaconsfield  in  1878  in  acquiring  for 
us  the  leasehold — the  practical  posses- 
sion— of  the  island  of  Cyprus.  Several 
times  before  and  since  Great  Britain 
has  coquetted  with  the  idea  of  acquiring 
Crete,  more  especially  on  account  of 
the  importance  of  Suda  Bay  to  a  great 
naval  Power.  But  for  unpublished — per- 
haps only  spoken,  and  not  written — 
warnings  from  other  European  Powers  that 
the  addition  of  Crete  to  Cyprus,  or,  as  was 
once  or  twice  contemplated,  the  substitu- 
tion of  this  much  more  valuable  island  for 
the  half -barren,  altogether  harbourless 
Cyprus,  would  mean  the  overflowing  of 
the  cup  of  bitterness  and  the  declaration  of 
war,  Crete  might  now  by  some  fiction  or 
another  be  under  the  British  flag.  As  it 
is,  its  destiny  will  be  inevitably  to  form 
part  of  an  enlarged  kingdom  of  Greece. 

In  Cyprus  much  the  same  effect  has  been 
produced  by  British  rule  as  occurred  in  the 
Ionian  Islands :  magnificent  public  works — 
sometimes  carried  out  without  any  re- 
gard to  picturesqueness  or  respect  for 
valuable  historical  remains — an  absolutely 
honest,  painstaking  administration,  the 
saving,  just  in  time,  of  the  native  forests, 
and  with  them  the  climate,  which  has  been 
rapidly  deteriorating  under  Turkish  rule 
from  one  sufficiently  moist  to  maintain  an 
exuberant  vegetation  to  conditions  of 
almost  waterless  sterility  ;  on  the  other, 
the  ingratitude  of  the  Greek,  due,  it  is 
alleged,  to  the  exclusion  of  Greeks  from  most 
of  the  posts  under  the  British  Government. 
Where  the  strangely  enough,  we  rely  for 
„    ,  local    support   in    Cyprus    not 

Turks  are  ,,      ^5-        i         u  \  xi 

„    -       J     on     the    Greek,     but    on    the 

Turkish  element  in  the  popu- 
lation, and  we  prefer  much  more  to 
employ  Turks  than  to  engage  Greeks  in 
the  public  service,  assigning  as  our  reason 
that  the  latter  are  not  honest  and  cannot 
be  depended  on  for  steady  work  ;  while  as 
a  servant,  a  public  servant,  under  an 
honest  and  capable  employer,  the  Turk  is 
5608 


well-nigh  perfection.  In  this  case,  in 
Cyprus,  the  Turk  is  very  often  simply  a 
Mohammedan  Greek.  Actually,  in  Cyprus, 
in  Crete,  in  Bosnia,  and  in  many  parts  of 
the  Balkans  and  Asia  Minor,  there  is  no 
racial  difference  between  the  good  and  the 
bad  employe,  the  honest  and  dishonest 
merchant,  but  merely  a  question  of  religion. 
As  a  master,  the  Mohammedan  has  been 
hitherto  narrow-minded,  intolerant,  unpro- 
gressive,  and  financially  corrupt ;  as  a 
servant,  under  an  employer  of  the  North 
European  type,  a  more  admirable  type  of 
faithful,  quiet,  industrious  public  officer 
does  not  exist.  The  British  occupation 
of  Cyprus,  together  with  our  joint  occu- 
pancy of  Crete  at  the  present  time,  is 
producing  this  effect  on  the  Mediterranean 
peoples  :  that  it  is  developing  the  Turk  in 
the  right  direction,  whether  or  not  it  is  pro- 
ducing a  wholesome  effect  upon  the  Greek. 
But  our  occupancy  of  Egypt,  though  it 
should  properly  be  treated  of  later  on  in 
connection  with  African  questions,  has 
in  a  sense  knit  us  up  with  the  Greek  world 
of  commerce  to  such  a  degree  that  in 
weighing  the  future  relations  of  the  Greek 
_,  peoples  with  the  British  Empire 

rce  s  as     ^j^^  peevishness  of  the  Cypriotes 

x^ioi\C£rs  01 

^  will  be  unheard.   No  nationality 

Commerce  * ,  r ,     1  ^ 

has    profited    so    enormously 

by  the   British   conquest   of    Egypt    arid 

of  the  Egyptian  Sudan,  or  even  of  East 

Africa    generally,    as    have    the    Greeks. 

Since    we    started    somewhat    blindly    on 

this  Imperial  movement  which  has  led  us 

inevitably  on  the  path  from  Cairo  to  the 

Cape,    Greek     adventurers    of    commerce 

have  marched  pari  passu  with  the  British 

forces,  military  and  naval. 

There  are  Greek  merchants  as  far  south  on 
the  East  Coast  as  Delagoa  Bay.  They  pene- 
trate to  Mashonaland  and  to  Uganda ;  while 
on  the  coast  of  Somaliland  they  are  more 
numerous  than  any  other  Europeans  not 
of  the  official  class.  Khartoum  is  de- 
scribed as  being  a  Greek  city.  Greeks  and 
Maltese  form  a  kind  of  middle- class  in 
Egypt,  between  the  indigenous  Arabs  and 
negroes  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  foreign 
officials — British,  French,  and  Italian — on 
the  other.  The  servants  of  the  Suez 
Canal  Company,  below  the  highly  paid 
posts,  if  they  are  not  Maltese  are  Greek. 

British  intervention  in  the  affairs  of 
Egypt  and  of  the  Egyptian  Sudan,  in 
common  with  that  of  France,  really  dates 
from  Napoleon's  invasion  of  1799.  The  two 
countries  see-sawed  as  to  their  influence 


THE    BRITISH    EXPANSION    IN    EUROPE    AND    ECYPT 


over  the  viceroys  of  Egypt.  France 
instigated  the  exploration  and  conquest 
of  the  Upper  Nile,  and  French  officers 
accompanied  and  historiographed  the  first 
expeditions  despatched  up  the  Nile  by 
Mehemet  AH. 

The  British  soon  sent  consuls  to  Khar- 
toum, who  drew  thither  other  explorers  and 
big-game  hunters,  who  in  time  turned 
into  governor-generals  or  other  officials  in 
Egyptian  pay.  French  engineers  con- 
structed great  canals,  their  masterly  work 


Empire.  With  what  results  ?  Her  ex- 
travagant debt  is  now,  in  1908,  reduced 
from  £103,969,020  to  £95,833,280,  in  addi- 
tion to  which  reduction  there  is  a  general 
reserve  fund  of  £11,055,413  ;  her  popula- 
tion has  risen  from  6,814,000  to  nearly 
12,000,000  ;  her  cultivable  area  from 
about  4,000,000  acres  to  6,500,000  ; 
forced  labour  is  abolished  ;  the  rights  of 
the  peasants  are  absolutely  secured ; 
justice  is  pure  and  prompt ;  education 
enormously   advanced  ;     canals   infinitely 


A     LOST     POSSESSION     OF    THE     ENGLISH     CROWN  :    GENERAL     VIEW     OF     CORFU 


culminating  in  the  canal  of  Suez.  The 
British  demanded  in  compensation  the 
permission  to  build  railways  and  to  open 
the  overland  route.  The  Franco-German 
War  weakened  French  influence,  and  1882 
found  Great  Britain  with  an  almost  pre- 
scriptive right  to  interfere  in  the  Sudan,  a 
control  of  the  railway  system,  a  virtual 
monopoly  of  the  steamship  traffic  on  the 
Nile,  and  a  vested  right  in  the  Suez  Canal. 
Egyptian  bankruptcy  having  compelled 
our  intervention,  Egypt  since  1882  has 
been   under    the    control   of    the    British 


extended  ;  railways  carried  to  Khartoum 
and  the  Red  Sea  ;  the  Sudan  reconquered 
and  administered  to  the  infinite  blessing 
of  its  native  inhabitants,  the  enrichment 
of  Egypt,  and  the  advantage  of  European 
and  American  trade  ;  and,  finally,  the 
people  of  the  khediviate  brought  within 
sight  of  sound  representative  institutions. 
The  British  occupation  of  Egypt, 
without  the  slightest  doubt,  has  been  the 
happiest  event,  in  its  results,  which  has 
ever  befallen  that  country  since  the 
memorable  expulsion  of  the  shepherd  kings. 


2H 


2S 


5609 


THE 
BRITISH 
EMPIRE 

XIV 


BY    SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON. 

G.C.M.G. 


BRITISH   EXPANSION   IN  AMERICA 

AND   THE    PASSING   OF   THE    NATIVE    RACES 


IN  this  survey  we  are  treating  the 
■'■  United  States  historically  as  an  out- 
growth of  the  empire  of  which  they  formed 
a  part  down  to  130  years  ago.  When  the 
British  first  landed  as  colonisers  on  the 
Atlantic  coast  of  North  America,  in  the  year 

^.    T,.    .      1578,  the  Spaniards  had  already 

The  First  ^'  tti       j  1       u^  1 

overrun      rlorida,      and     had 

.    *        .       occupied  a  good  deal  of  Mexico. 
m  Otherwise,  the  American  Con- 

tinent to  the  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
was  free  from  the  presence  of  the  Cau- 
casian. It  was  at  that  time  populated 
sparsely  by  Red  Indians,  who,  as  com- 
pared to  the  races  conquered  by  the 
Spaniards  further  south,  were  leading  the 
life  of  savages,  though  there  were  under- 
lying indigenous  civilisations  in  the  tem- 
perate or  sub-tropical  portions  of  North 
America  which  had  existed  and  had  died 
away,  or  had  been  overthrown  by  the 
arrival  of  nomad  savages  from  the  north. 

The  Amerindian  race  probably  extended 
in  those  days  as  far  north  as  the  Mac- 
kenzie River  and  the  shores  of  Hudson's 
Bay.  (The  writer  of  this  essay  thoroughly 
approves  the  fused  word  of  "  Amer- 
indian "  to  indicate  the  autochthonous 
races  of  North  and  South  America. 
"  American  "  is  more  aptly  applied  to  the 
white  peoples  ;  "  Indian  "  is  too  likely 
to  lead  to  confusion  with  the  Dravidian 
peoples.  Yet  physically  the  Amerindians 
are  nearly  connected  with  the  Malays, 
Dayaks,  and  Mongoloid  races  of  further 
India  and  the  Malay  Archipelago. 
"  Amerindian  "  is  a  happy  blend  of  the 

„  ..,  ,.  characteristics  of  the  "  Ameri- 
Habitations  t     i  >»\      tt         j-u 

J  .  can  Indians.   )    Here  they  im- 

r      .  pinned  on  the  Esquimaux, whose 

Esquimaux     ^  •..         ■    *         ^.u  i 

range  m  the  sixteenth  century 
was  not  far  different  from  v.'hat  it  is  at  the 
present  day — along  the  Greenland  coasts, 
the  great  islands  of  the  Arctic  regions  that 
lie  between  Greenland  and  the  North 
American  Continent,  and  along  the  con- 
tinental shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  as  far 
5610 


as  Bering  Straits.  Southwards,  the  Es- 
quimaux seem  to  have  penetrated  on  the 
east  coast  of  America  as  far  as  50°  N. 
Lat.,  in  Newfoundland  and  Labrador,  and 
to  have  come  as  a  conquering  race,  driving 
before  them  Red  Indian  tribes.  It  was 
still  farther  to  the  south  of  these  regions, 
v.'here  the  Esquimau' prevailed  over  the 
Red  Indian,  that  the  Norse  colonies  of 
the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  had  been 
established  (in  Nova  Scotia  and  Massa- 
chusetts) and  had  in  turn  been  over- 
thrown, mainly  through  the  attacks  of 
the  Esquimaux,  or  at  any  rate  of  some 
race  which  in  default  of  better  knowledge 
we  identify  with  the  Esquimaux. 

The  Esquimau — the  word  is  derived  from 
a  Red  Indian  nick-name  meaning  "  eaters 
of  raw  flesh,"  the  people's  own  term 
for  themselves  being  Innuit — differs  in  the 
main  from  the  Red  Indian  stock  (which 

»irt  *t.  is  identical  with  the  existing  in- 
Whcrc  the      1-  1    , .  r  K  ■ 

-.      .  digenous  population  of  America 

Esquimaux     .  °        j.\       t  ^.i,      •    i,^    j 

Q  .  .  .  from  the  far  north  right  down 
to  Tierra  del  Fuego)  in  being 
moderately  dolichocephalous— long-headed, 
instead  of  round  or  short-headed.  Other- 
wise the  Esquimaux,  like  the  Amerindians — 
in  a  less  pronounced  form — seem  to  be- 
long to  the  Mongolian  sub-species  of  the 
human  race.  Probably  the  Esquimau  is 
one  of  the  most  primitive  representatives 
of  this  third  main  div-ision  of  the  human 
species.  The  straight-haired,  slanting- 
eyed,  large-cheekboned,  yellow-skinned 
variety  of  humanity,  which  differs  from  the 
other  two  main  divisions — the  Negro  and  the 
Caucasian — in  having  a  very  sparse  growth 
of  hair  on  the  face  and  body,  originated 
in  North-eastern  Asia,  and  spread  thence 
northwards  round  the  Polar  regions. 

The  type  may  be  a  very  ancient  one, 
however,  that  existed  as  far  back  as  the 
time  when  a  land  connection  remained 
between  North  America  on  the  one  hand, 
and  Northern  Europe  on  the  other,  by 
way    of    Iceland    and   Spitsbergen.      The 


BRITISH    EXPANSION    IN    AMERICA 


Esquimau  type  indeed  may  even  during  the 
Glacial  periods  have  penetrated  with  the 
glacial  conditions  of  life  into  the  British 
Islands,  France,  and  Scandinavia. 

The  Amerindians  {i.e.,  all  the  existing 
indigenous  races  in  America)  belong,  in 
the  main,  to  a  Mongoloid  type,  but  one 
that  has  developed  special  features  of  its 
own,  and  which  may  have  absorbed  pre- 
existing long-headed,  Aino-like  tribes  of  a 
more  generalised  type,  such  Caucasoid 
tribes  having  preceded  the  Mongolian  in 
the  occupation  of  North  America. 

When  the  British  colonists  founded  the 
settlement  of  Virginia,  the  Amerindians 
were,  from  our  present  point  of  view, 
savages,  leading  an  existence  more  or  less 
nomadic,  with  a  preference  for  tents  or  (in 
the  West)  caves  over  huts.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  any  of  them  dwelt  in  stone  houses 
such  as  had  once  existed  in  the  southern 
regions  of  North  America,  or  in  Mexico. 

They  lived  largely  as  hunters,  but 
probably  did  not  number  in  all  more  than 
5,000,000,  if  as  much,  throughout  North 
America  from  the  northern  frontiers  of 
Mexico  to  the  Arctic  Ocean.  Their  relations 
with  the  British  settlers  of 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries  were  in  the  main 
hostile.  Tribe  after  tribe  was 
gradually  exterminated  by  diseases  intro- 
duced by  the  Europeans,  by  warfare — often 
civil  war  between  tribe  and  tribe,  instigated 
by  the  European,  or  by  alcohol. 

France,  late  in  the  race  for  American 
colonisation,  made  up  for  lost  time  during 
the  seventeenth  century  by  the  vigour  and 
ability  with  which  she  colonised.  By  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  she 
had  laid  the  foundations  of  a  Canadian 
empire  and  of  a  magnificent  domain  in 
what  are  now  the  southern  states  of  North 
America.  She  dominated  the  Mississippi 
River  from  its  mouth  northwards  so  far  as 
to  bring  her  colonists  of  the  south  almost 
into  touch  with  her  colonists  on  the  Great 
Lakes.  Through  her  ra  ssionaries  and  her 
settlers  she  obtained  a  far-reaching  influ- 
ence over  the  Amerindians,  with  whom 
the  French  "  habitants  "  mingled  more 
freely — sexually — than  did  the  Puritans  or 
Hollanders  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  settlements. 

The  results  are  the  French-speaking 
lialf-breeds  of  to-day  in  Canada  —  a 
handsome,  stalwart  race,  often  so  pre- 
possessing physically  that  they  have 
been  reabsorbed  into  the  Caucasian 
community    with     little     or     no     racial 


Exterminating 

the 

Amerindians 


objection.  Yet  the  British  settlers  in  the 
hinterland  of  New  England  also  made 
friends  here  and  there  with  Amerindian 
tribes.  At  last  the  Indians  became 
involved  in  the  hundred  years'  struggle 
between  France  and  England  for  predomin- 
ance in  North  America ;  and  at  this  game, 
though  the  Europeans  throve  and  increased, 

r  ,  ..  ,  the  Indians  decreased  in 
tyngland  s  Long  ,  ,    .  ,   ,  ,, 

Struggle  for  numbers,  dymg  out  from  the 
North  America  fxtremely  savage  attacks  of 
tribe  agamst  tribe,  both 
waging  that  quarrel  of  the  white  man 
which  was  not  theirs.  By  the  time  the 
United  States  were  recognised  as  an  inde- 
pendent power,  and  France  had  definitely 
abandoned  political  sway  over  any  part  of 
the  mainland  of  North  America — at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  let  us 
say — the  Amerindians  of  North  America 
had  diminished  in  numbers  both  in  Canada 
and  the  United  States  from  the  hypothet- 
ical 5,000,000  which  were  there  when  the 
white  man  first  arrived  to  possibly  not  more 
than  3,000,000,  distributed  mainly  over  the 
countries  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  of  the 
Canadian  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century 
saw  the  United  States  carrying  on  many 
an  Indian  war,  which  had  arisen  from  the 
unchecked  rapacity  and  shameless  beha- 
viour of  the  white  colonists,  who  were 
pushing  determinedly  westwards  towards 
the  Pacific.  Locations  were  set  up  by 
which  it  was  hoped  to  provide  a  definite 
territory  for  one  Indian  tribe  or  another. 
A  few  of  these  locations  are  still  maintained 
{8y,2^y  square  miles  in  1906),  but  there  is 
practically  now  no  purely  Indian  territory  on 
the  soil  of  the  United  States  or  in  Canada. 

But  the  decrease  of  the  Indians  in  the 
whole  of  North  America,  which  may  have 
brought  their  total  as  low  as  1,300,000 
somewhere  about  1875 — this  estimate 
would  include  all  Northern  Mexico, 
with  about  goo,ooo  Amerindians — has 
apparently  been  checked  of  late  years. 
In  Canada  and  in  the  United 
Better    imes  g^-^^gg  conscientious  legislation 

""^ ,    ..  has  arrested  the  drink  curse, 

the  Indians  j    ,  1  j      x        t- 

and  the  greed  of  a  European 

education  is  spreading  amongst  the  Indians 
together  with  settled  habits.  Men  and 
women  of  purely  Indian  blood  are  slightly 
more  numerous  in  1907  than  they  were 
thirty  years  ago.  Including  all  Mexico, 
Yucatan,  and  Alaska,  as  well  as  the 
United  States  of  America  and  the  Cana- 
dian  Dominion,   there   are  seemingly   at 

5611 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  present  time  1,474,000  pure-blood 
Amerindians  in  North  America.  Yet  they 
are  less  and  less  discernible  to  the  traveller 
from  abroad,  inasmuch  as  they  tend  to 
dress  and  demean  themselves  increasingly 
more  like  the  Americans  of  Caucasian  race. 
They  intermarry,  or,  at  any  rate,  mix 
sexually  with  white  men,  the  half-breed 
being  of  a  comely  type  ;  so  that 
f^N^'^th  ^^^®  eventual  absorption  of  the 
.  .  American  Indians  into  the  Cau- 
casian community  of  North 
America  seems  to  be  inevitable.  Indeed, 
more  than  one  anthropologist  has  con- 
sidered the  non-Esquimau  American 
aborigines  to  have  resulted  from  an  early 
intermixture  in  far-back  prehistoric  days 
between  a  primitive  type  of  Caucasian  (like 
the  Aino  of  Japan)  and  an  Esquimau 
Mongoloid.  At  any  rate,  the  cross  between 
the  Caucasian  of  North  Europe  and  the 
Amerindian  is  a  handsomer  type  of  human 
being  than  the  hybrid  between  the  same 
race  of  white  men  and  the  negro. 

The  future  of  all  English-speaking  and 
French-speaking  North  America  is  no  doubt 
the  future  of  a  white  race,  but  before  this 
result  can  be  definitely  achieved  a  solution 
will  have  to  be  found  for  the  black  problem 
in  the  United  States.  Within  a  relatively 
small  geographical  area  of  the  United  States 
east  of  the  Mississippi  there  are  at  the 
present  moment  something  like  9,500,000 
negroes.  This  estimate  includes  some 
2,500,000  persons  of  mixed  negro  and  Euro- 
pean blood.  The  tendency  of  public  feeling 
at  the  present  time  in  the  United  States 
is  to  lump  together  as  negroes — "  coloured 
people  " — all  men  and  women  of  recognis- 
ably  negroid  appearance  and  ancestry. 

In  some  parts  of  the  United  States 
it  is  very  awkward  socially  for  anyone 
to  be  born  with  black  hair  and  brown 
eyes  even  if  they  have  a  lively  pink 
complexion.  No  doubt,  many  of  these 
liandsome  brunettes  owe  their  black  hair 
and  brown  eyes  either  to  Spanish  inter- 
mixture or  to  an  older  strain  of 
Amerindian.      These    are    the 


The  Black 

.  •  .  explanations  they  strive  to  put 
forward,  but  woe  betide  them  if 
their  complexion  is  sallow  !  During  the 
days  when  slavery  was  an  institution,  the 
planters  in  the  south  mixed  freely  (sexu- 
ally) with  the  negro  or  half-caste  women 
whom  they  kept  as  their  mistresses.  But 
since  the  great  Civil  War  and  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  negro,  sexual  intercourse 
between  undoubted  white  men  and 
5612 


undoubted  negro  women  has  decreased, 
being  now  forbidden  by  motives  of  racial 
pride — at  any  rate,  on  the  side  of  the 
white  man.  The  two  races,  therefore, 
co-exist  side  by  side  with  far  less  tendency 
to  intermingle  than  was  the  case  when 
they  were  respectively  master  and  slave. 

But  the  negro  has  taken  increasingly 
to  the  American  climate  and  soil.  Were 
it  not  for  the  opposition  of  the  white  man, 
he  would  have  overrun  the  whole  of  the 
continent,  and  adapted  himself  eagerly 
to  the  most  rigorous  climate.  His  future 
is  one  of  the  greatest  problems  of  the 
world.  The  white  races,  to  begin  with, 
are  numerically  as  three  to  one  with  the 
negro.  They  are  beginning  to  refuse  him 
permission  to  extend  as  a  settler  beyond 
certain  geographical  limits,  and  ev^en  within 
these  limits  they  are  yearning  to  find  so'me 
excuse  to  eject  him  from  his  lawful  rights 
and  expel  him  beyond  the  continental 
limits  of  North  America. 

If  the  tendencies  of   the  extreme  negro- 

phobes  rule  American  state  policy,  where 

will    these    ten    millions    of    negroes    and 

negroids    find    a    permanent    home  ?    An 

.    ,  attempt  was  made  to  solve 

a!?  "^-  ^   t     this  problem   by  the  institu- 
Attractions  for   ,  ■        ^  j.  _  .,       •    •'    •    ,  , 
.     p,  tion  of  Liberia  eighty  years 

ago.  Liberia  has  achieved 
some  results,  and  may  yet  be  a  very  valuable 
essay  in  negro  self-government ;  but  so  far 
she  has  proved  a  failure  as  a  dumping 
ground  for  the  American  negro,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  negroes  born  and  bred  on 
American  soil  find  as  great  a  difficulty  in 
establishing  themselves  in  Tropical  Africa 
as  does  the  European.  They  are  almost 
equally  subject  with  him  to  the  effects  of 
malaria,  and  they  seem  unable,  as  a  general 
rule,  to  procreate  healthy,  vigorous  chil- 
dren, unless  they  mingle  with  the  indi- 
genous races  and  thus  allow  themselves  to 
be  reabsorbed  into  the  savage  or  semi- 
civilised  negro  tribes  of  the  Dark  Continent. 
But  the  Americanised  negro  colonist 
clings  instinctively,  passionately,  to  Ameri- 
can civilisation.  He  will  literally  die 
rather  than  give  up  European  clothing 
and  American  notions  of  life,  and  slip 
back  into  the  palfeolithic  or  neolithic 
conditions  of  the  African  savage.  It 
seems  to  the  writer  of  this  essay  that  if 
the  cruel  injustice  of  the  white  man  in 
North  America  is  to  refuse  to  the  negro 
a  portion  of  the  United  States  which  can 
become  his  permanent  home,  his  only 
resort   will   be   the   islands   of  the   West 


BRITISH    EXPANSION    IN    AMERICA 


Indies  and  the  states  of  Northern  South 
America.  Though  in  Africa  he  can  scarcely 
withstand  malaria  better  than  the  Euro- 
pean, he  can  resist  the  sun.  In  America, 
as  in  Africa,  the  man  of  negro  blood  can 
perform  manual  labour  under  circum- 
stances of  heat  and  sun  exposure  which 
are  fatal  to  the  white  man.  A  new  Africa, 
therefore,  may  arise  in  Tropical  America. 

Great  Britain  is  concerned  with  this 
problem,  because  at  the  present  day  the 
British  West  Indies  are  in  the  main  peopled 
by  negroes  and  negroids.  In  the  British 
West  Indies  themselves  there  were  very  few 
indigenous  inhabitants  (Amerindian)  when 
Britain  took  over  the  different  islands, 
except  in  St.  Vincent,  Dominica,  and 
perhaps  Trinidad.  In  St.  Vincent  there 
were  Caribs  of  more  or  less  mixed  type, 
sometimes  hybridised  with  negroes.  In 
Trinidad  the  few  indigenous  people  linger- 
ing on  the  west  coast  belonged  more  or 
less  to  the  Carib  stock,  but  they  were  very 
few  in  number  at  the  time  of  the  British 
occupation  of  the  island  in  1796,  and  soon 
became  absorbed  in  the  mixed  population 
of  negroes  and  Creoles.  This  island  will 
eventually  become  peopled  by 
_  **^  .  a  homogeneous  race  of  mixed 
T*  A  d  i^6gro,  European,  and  East  In- 
dian origin.  In  British  Guiana 
the  Amerindian  population  forms  a  con- 
siderable item,  perhaps  10,000  to  12,000  ; 
though  it  has  probably  diminished  in 
numbers  rather  than  increased  during  the 
hundred  years  of  British  occupation. 

These  people  belong  to  the  Arawak, 
Wapiana,  Atorai,  and  Carib  groups, 
related  to  South  American  stocks  in  the 
adjoining  regions  of  the  northern  basin 
of  the  Amazon  and  to  the  former  in- 
habitants of  the  West  Indies.  They  do 
not  seem  to  take  very  kindly  to  civilisa- 
tion, and  are  probably  destined  to  be 
absorbed  into  a  negro  or  negroid  peasantry, 
which  may  be  further  complicated  by 
intermixture  with  the  Indian  coolie  and 
the  Portuguese  colonist,  the  resulting 
race  emerging  as  a  type  very  like  the 
Papuan  of  New  Guinea  or  the  Melanesian 
of  the  Western  Pacific. 

In  the  Falkland  Islands  there  were  no 
indigenes  to  be  exterminated  or  saved. 
The  islands  were  uninhabited  by  man 
when  they  became  the  resort  of  whaling 
ships.  The  present  inhabitants  are  largely 
composed  of  British  (Scottish,  English, 
and  Anglo-Saxon  North  American)  stock, 
with  an  admixture  of  Spanish  Americans 


from  Uruguay.  British  interest  in  the 
Falkland  Islands,  and  consequently  our 
relations  with  the  terminal  portion  of  the 
South  American  continent,  have,  however, 
done  a  great  deal  to  mend  the  lot  of  the 
miserable  inhabitants  of  Tierra  del  Fuego, 
chiefly  through  the  work  of  British  mission- 
aries.     The   Fuegians,    a    people   of    the 

A  T  -k  *  «  Amerindian  race,  were  first 
A  Tribute  to   ,  ,  ,  •         .  1       - 

Missionary  bought  proinmently  to  our 
Enterprise  ""^^C^.  ^^y  /^^  .^"^jngs  of 
Darwm,  who  visited  South 
America  in  the  Beagle  in  1833.  At  the 
time  of  his  visit  these  people  were  leading  a 
completely  savage  existence  under  miser- 
able conditions  of  climate.  They  were 
almost  entirely  nude,  and  led  the  simple 
existence  of  the  Stone  Age,  being  unac- 
quainted even  with  the  use  of  fire,  practising 
hardly  any  arts,  and  living  the  hunter's  life. 

The  attention  paid  to  Tierra  del  Fuego 
by  the  contending  nations  of  Argentina 
and  Chih,  more  especially  by  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  Irish  pioneers  in  the  nominal 
service  of  those  governments,  led,  in 
the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
to  the  usual  introduction  of  spirituous 
liquors  and  syphilis,  and  from  one  cause 
and  another  the  Fuegians  were  rapidly 
becoming  exterminated.  But  the  advent 
of  the  South  American  Missionary 
Society  has,  during  the  last  quarter  of 
a  century,  not  only  saved  the  remnant 
from  perishing  but  has  infused  into  them 
such  a  degree  of  reasonable  civilisation 
as  may  enable  them  to  recover  their 
numbers  and  better  their  position. 

Elsewhere,  in  Chili  or  in  Patagonia,  the 
influence  of  British  settlers,  captains 
of  industry  or  officials  in  the  service  of 
the  Chilian  and  Argentine  Governments, 
lias  stayed  any  tendency  there  might  have 
been,  to  provoke  or  extend  wars  between 
the  European  settlers  and  the  local 
Amerindian  tribes.  But  the  inevitable 
tendency  of  these  people  in  temperate 
South  America,  as  in  temperate  North 
.  America,  will  lie  towards  fusion 
fTh^"^  with  and  absorption  by  the 
^  ..  invading  Caucasian,  from  whom 
they  are  not  removed  so  far 
physically  as  the  latter  is  from  the  negro  ; 
no  doubt  because  among  the  strands  that 
go  to  weave  the  Amerindian  type  are 
Caucasian  threads,  traces  of  very  ancient 
intermixture  with  the  basic  stock  from 
which  arose  the  European  white  man, 
whether  that  intermixture  took  place  in 
far  North-eastern  Asia  or  came  by  way 

5613 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


of  the  Pacific  archipelagoes. ,  Both  routes 
may  have  been  followed.  The  summing 
up,  therefore,  of  the  effect  which  the 
British  Empire  will  have  produced  on 
humanity  in  the  United  States  and  British 
North  America,  in  the  West  Indies  and 
in  South  America,  is  this  • 

In  the  English-speaking  regions  of  North 
America,  north  of  the  limits  of  Mexico, 
there  will  grow  up  a  people  which  would  be 
best  represented  at  the  present  day  by  a 
composite  photograph  of  all  the  races  of 
Europe  between  Spain  and  Siberia,  Greece 
and  Scandinavia.  The  black  drop  in  the 
blood  of  this .  potent  race  of  the  future 
will  be  no  greater  than  that  which  has 
infused  anciently  the  populations  of  Spain, 
Southern  France,  Sardinia,  and  Sicily, 
or  which  makes  itself  noticeable  in  such 
cities  as  Glasgow,  Liverpool,  Bristol  and 
London,  which  traded  with  the  West 
Indies  and  thereby  mixed  with  negro 
sla\'L'S   in    tlic    three   last   centuries.      The 


Amerindian  in  North  America  will  be 
gradually  absorbed,  and  will  improve 
rather  than  spoil  the  vigour  and  beauty  of 
the  American  race.  It  will  have  mucio  the 
same  racial  significance  as  the  Mongolian 
strain  which  permeates  parts  of  Scan- 
dinavia, Russia,  Germany,  Alsace,  Brittany 
and  Ireland. 

The  Canadian  French  and  the  de- 
scendants of  the  French  colonists  of 
Louisiana,  the  Spanish  tinge  in  Texas, 
California,  and  Florida,  the  million  or  so 
Italians  settled  in  America  during  the 
last  fifty  years,  the  other  millions  of 
Iberian  Irish,  the  darker  types  of  Hun- 
garians, will  leaven  the  blond  masses, 
the  descendants  of  the  settlers  from 
Great  Britain  and  Northern  Ireland,  Russia, 
Poland,  Scandinavia,  Iceland,  and  Ger- 
many. The  most  stalwart  of  the  peoples 
promise  to  arise  in  Canada  ;  the  Canadian 
may  be  the  aristocrat  of  the  New  World 
in  tlie  last  half  of  tlie  twfiilictli  century. 


UKITANNlAb     REALM 


5614 


THE 
BRITISH 
EMPIRE 

XV 


BY  SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON. 

G.C.M.G. 


BRITAIN'S    GREAT    INDIAN     EMPIRE 

THE    MARVELLOUS    EFFECTS    OF    A    CENTURY 
AND    A   HALF    OF   BENEFICENT  GOVERNMENT 


r\S  Asia,  whatever  may  be  the  ultimate 
^^  fate  of  the  British  Empire  and  the 
length  of  its  duration,  traces  of  its  existence 
will  have  been  left  as  far-reaching  and  in- 
effaceable in  their  nature  as  those  of  Rome 
on  the  Mediterranean  world  or  of  Macedon 
on  the  Nearer  East.  The  peninsula  of  India 
is  at  once  the  nucleus  and  the  starting-point 
of  the  British  Empire  in  Southern  Asia. 

An  inhabitant  of  Mars,  looking  at  the 
outlines  of  the  land  surface  of  our  planet, 
would  certainly  never  have  guessed 
that  the  people  of  the  southern  half  of  an 
island  off  the  north-west  coast  of  Europe 
would  have  made  themselves  the  masters 
of  Hindustan.  It  was  virtually  England 
that  conquered  India  down  to  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  largely  as  Ireland 
and  Scotland  have  subsequently  com- 
pleted and  strengthened  the  achievement. 
That  a  military  power  uprising  in  the 
Balkan  Peninsula  should  ex- 
tend its  sway  continuously  over 
Asia  Minor,  Persia  and  India 
is  easily  conceivable,  as  also 
that  India  should  have  fallen  a  prey  to  the 
Russians  or  the  Turks  of  Central  Asia. 
Yet,  of  course,  our  Indian  Empire  is  not 
much  more  remarkable  as  a  political 
achievement  of  the  eighteenth  and  nine- 
teenth centuries  than  is  the  Dutch  Empire 
over  the  Malay  Archipelago  or  what  would 
have  been  a  French  overlordship  of  the 
Indian  Peninsula.  The  first  two  conquests 
are  the  results  of  the  development  of  sea 
power,  and  France,  in  the  main,  failed 
to  take  the  place  now  occupied  by  Great 
Britain  in  Southern  Asia  because  when  her 
sea  power  was  put  to  the  test  it  \ielded 
before  that  of  the  Anglo-Saxon. 

If  France  has  satisfied  her  Asiatic  aspira- 
tions by  the  acquisition  of  large  dominions 
in  Indo-China — an  almost  sufficient  com- 
pensation for  what  she  lost  to  us  in 
Hindustan — it  is  because  at  one  time  or 
another   in   the    nineteenth   century   her 


Britain's 

Indian 

Empire 


fleet  has  been  sufficiently  powerful  to 
deter  Great  Britain  from  the  risk  of  an 
avoidable  war.  In  other  words,  in  our  days 
of  imperial  rapacity — the  'eighties  and 
'nineties  of  the  last  century — we  put  up 
with  the  growth  of  French  dominion  over 
_     „  Annam,  Tonkin    and    Eastern 

J  J  .J  Siam  because,  up  to  a  certain 
o  mpena  p^jj^^  ^yg  j^^^  ^qq  much  to  risk 
Rapacity         ■  ■         .  xu     t- 

m  gomg  to  war   with    France 

at  sea  to  interpose  a  determined  veto  on 
her  plundering  of  China  and  Siam..  At 
such  movements,  of  course,  we  expressed 
an  unaffected  disapproval  with  a  naivete 
the  more  extraordinary  as  the  French  activi- 
ties, after  all,  were  merely  coincident  with 
our  own  conquest  of  Burma  and  the  Shan 
States  and  our  determination  to  acquire 
undisputed  political  rights  over  the  Siamese 
provinces  of  the  Malay  Peninsula. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  we  found 
India  to  be  a  prey  to  internecine  war. 
After  many  invasions  from  the  north- 
west, going  far  back  into  prehistoric  days, 
the  people  of  North  Central  India  had  been 
conquered  by  a  Turkish  prince  at  the  head 
of  an  army  composed  of  Moguls,  Turks, 
Afghans,  and  Persians. 

Thus  in  1526  was  founded  the  Mogul — 
properly  spelt  Mughal — Empire.  Prior  to 
this,  much  of  Western  and  South  Central 
India  had  been  Mohammedanised  and 
Arabised,  so  that  the  irruption  of  Babar 
slightly  intensified  the  Mohammedan  ele- 
ment, and  enabled  his  descendants  for 
the  next  two  centuries  to  rule  with  fairly 
undisputed  swaj'  over  about 
f^H'^d  120,000,000  people,  consider- 
p  "^  "  ably  more  than  two-thirds  of 
whom  belonged  to  the  Hindu 
religion,  and  were  thus  violently  opposed  in 
their  social  customs  and  traditional  beliefs 
to  the  ruling  Mohammedans.  The  Hindu 
element  began  to  revive  in  power  and  cour- 
age in  the  seventeenth,  and  above  all  in  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth,  century.     Had 

5615 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


the  country  been  firmly  united  in  religion 
under  a  dynasty  that  practised  the  faith 
of  the  majority  of  its  subjects,  our  military 
and'  naval  forces  of  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  would  never  have 
been  able  to  defeat  the  Portuguese, 
Dutch,  and  French,  one  after  the  other, 
and  conquer  in  turn  the  native  vassals 
or  the-  foes  of  the  Mogul  dynasty  till 
at  last  that  dynasty  became  in  the 
nineteenth  century — it  did  not  expire  till 
1858 — the  tool  and  pensioner  of  the 
British  Chartered  Company.  India, 
speaking  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
human  race  and  of  the  origin  of  many 
other  important 
mammalian 
types,  is  perhaps 
the  most  remark- 
able portion  of 
the  earth's  sur- 
face. It  is  in  the 
main  the  great 
Mother  Country 
— fi  r  s  1 1  y ,  of 
humanity  as  a 
genus  of  the  ape 
order ;  secondly, 
it  may  be,  of 
human  civilisa- 
tion, and  almost 
certainly  of  the 
principal  relig- 
ious ideas  that 
now  pulsate 
through  the 
human  world. 
In  the  Tertiary 
Epoch  there  seem 
to  have  arisen  in 
India,  not  only 
the  human  genus 
and  species  from 
out  of  a  pithec- 
anthropoid  form,  but  possibly  also  three 
amongst  the  types  of  surviving  anthropoid 
ape,  and  also  the  baboon  genus.  Moreover, 
this  productive  region  appears  to  have  been 
the  birthplace  of  the  bovine,  antelopine, 
capricornine  ruminants,  several  groups  of 
carnivora,  of  dogs,  deer,  and  swine. 

Here,  perhaps,  arose  the  true  elephant 
genus  from  out  of  the  mastodon.  Here  was 
the  great  radiating  centre  of  the  gallina- 
ceous birds.  India  ranks  with  North  America 
and  North-east  Africa  as  one  of  the  great 
evolutionary  breeding  grounds  from  which 
have  arisen  and  dispersed  the  principal 
forms  of  animal  life.  Southern  India,  j  oined 

5616 


MAKING 


it  may  be  then  with  Malaysia,  was  almost 
certainly  the  place  of  origin  of  the  human 
genus,  and  of  the  three  species  or  sub- 
species into  which  modern  man  is  divided. 
When,  however,  the  Ganges  Gulf  had  dis- 
appeared, and  the  peninsula  occupied  very 
much  its  present  form^in  short,  some 
ten  to  twenty  thousand  years  ago — this 
portion  of  the  world  was  inhabited  mainly 
by  what  are  styled  the  Dravidian  races, 
a  low  type  of  Caucasian  man,  higher  in 
development  than  the  generalised  black 
Australian  or  Veddah  of  Ceylon,  yet  not 
so  distinctly  a  "white  man"  as  the 
next  upward  step,  the  Iberian  or  brunette 
M  e  d  i  t  e  r  r  anean 
race.  This  last 
furnishes  the 
principal  racial 
element  in  the 
peoples  of 
Afghanistan, 
Persia,  North 
Africa,  Southern 
and  Western 
Europe  at  the 
present  day.  On 
these  Dravidians 
recoiled  pre- 
historic invasions 
of  Mongols,  of 
the  yellow,  bare- 
skinned,  straight- 
haired  type  of 
humanity  which 
may  have  arisen 
from  the  existing 
human  species 
either  in  India  or 
in  Further  India. 
These  Mongolians 
penetrated  here 
and  there  in  pre- 
historic times 
amongst  the  Dravidian  peoples,  who  them- 
selves had  overlaid  pre-existing  negroid 
Australoid  races,  for  the  more  ancient 
negro  type  likewise  originated  in  India  ;  so 
that  here  and  there  in  Northern  and  Central 
India,  and  perhaps  along  the  east  coast, 
there  are  Mongolian  elements  older  than 
those  which  penetrated  India  from  Tibet 
and  the  Pamirs  within  the  last  2,000  years. 
At  some  unknown  date,  this  side  of 
7,000  years  ago,  occurred  one  of  the  great 
landmarks  in  the  unwritten  history  of 
India — the  invasion  of  the  Aryans.  The 
name  Aryan — ^itself  of  Indian  origin — • 
has    been  applied  in  past   times  with   a 


PUBLIC    ROAD    THROaOH    THE    FOREST 


CUTTING    A    ROAD    THROUGH     THE    JUNGLE     IN     THE    FEDERATED    MALAY    STATES 

5617 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


degree  of  looseness  which  led  for  a  while 
to  its  falling  into  disrepute.  Its  linguistic 
purpose  was  confused  with  a  racial  desig- 
nation, which  is  probably  of  a  far  more 
abstruse  and  limited  scope.  One  may 
perhaps — as  a  not  altogether  improbable 
theory — identify  the  original  inventors  of 
the  Aryan  tongues  with  the  blond,  grey- 
eyed  Europeans  of  Russia, 
The  Ancient  Cg^tral  and  Northern  Europe. 
^'"^*"  But  for  several  thousand  years 

anguages     ^j-yg^j^    languages   have    been 

spoken  by  all  the  types  of  Caucasian  man 
in  Europe  and  Western  Asia,  except  Lap- 
land, Finland,  North-east  Russia,  part  of 
Hungary,  a  small  part  of  Turkey,  Syria, 
and  the  borderlands  of  France  and  Spain. 

These  languages  seem  —  from  such 
knowledge  as  we  now  possess — to  have 
arisen  somewhere  in  Eastern  Russia  or 
Western  Asia,  north  of  the  Caucasus,  and 
to  have  been  the  appanage  of  a  white- 
skinned  people  of  pastoral  habits,  physi- 
cal beauty,  and  of  a  stage  of  culture  which 
had  reached  the  age  of  metals — copper, 
bronze,  and  perhaps  iron.  Some  have 
maintained  that  this  golden-haired  or  red- 
haired,  grey-eyed  people  may  have  deve- 
loped in  North  Africa  from  the  brunette 
Mediterranean  race  or  from  some  more 
generalised  type  of  Caucasian  man.  The 
only  clues  that  we  possess  at  present 
as  to  the  origin  of  Aryan  languages 
would  seem  to  lie  in  the  direction  of  a 
Finnic  or  Mongolian  stock. 

But  in  prehistoric  times,  from  7,000  to 
5,000  years  ago,  possibly  more  than  that, 
Aryan  conquerors  had  entered  India  from 
the  north-west,  and  had  produced  much 
the  same  impression  on  the  dark-skinned 
Dravidians  as  was  made  on  the  pristine 
negroes  of  Africa  b}'  the  prehistoric  in- 
vasions of  Hamites  from  Egypt. 

The  Aryans  introduced  to  the  millions 
of  Northern,  Central  and  Western  India  a 
language  of  the  same  family  as  that  to 
which  Lithuanian,  Slavic,  Greek,  Latin, 
.  and  Keltic  tongues  belong.   This 

th^Buddha  language,    represented     pretty 

„  ,.  .  closelv  by  Sanskrit,  developed 

Religion  4.1  "  r  1    XI 

m  the  course  of  several  thou- 
sand years  into  the  modern  dialects  of 
India  and  of  Southern  Ceylon,  leaving 
only  outside  its  influence  the  Dravidian 
speech  of  Southern  and  South-eastern 
India  and  the  tongues  of  a  few  aboriginal 
tribes.  The  Aryans  brought  with  them 
religious  ideas  which  modified  the  religion 
of  Brahma  and  eventually  gave  rise  to 
5618 


that  of  Buddha.  From  them  and  their 
intrusion  and  infusion  of  superior  northern 
blood  arose  the  idea  of  caste.  The  original 
blond  hair  and  grey  eyes  of  the  Aryans 
soon  disappeared  in  their  physical  absorp- 
tion into  the  millions  of  dark-haired, 
brown-eyed,  swarthy  Dravidians  or  the 
yellow-skinned,  black-haired  Mongolians. 
The  traces  of  this  northern  physical  tyjDe 
still  linger  in  the  highlands  of  Afghanistan 
and  of  the  Hindu  Kush.  Curiously  enough, 
these  brown-haired,  grey-eyed  Afghans 
resemble  strikingly  the  brown-haired,  grey- 
eyed  Berbers  of  the  Atlas  Mountains  of 
Tunis  and  Algeria. 

The  Aryan  influence  may  also  have 
penetrated  beyond  India  to  the  recesses 
of  Siam  and  Cochin  China  ;  but  at  the 
present  day  the  mass  of  the  population 
eastwards  of  Bengal  belongs  in  the  main 
to  the  Mongol  type  in  varying  degrees, 
with  an  underlying  stratum  of  Negrito. 
The  people  of  Bengal,  the  familiar 
"  Babu "  type,  no  doubt  also  have  an 
infusion  of  the  Mongolian  in  their  blood. 
These  Aryan  invaders  of  prehistoric 
times  were  reinforced  as  regards  language 
and  fighting  power  by  subse- 
th  D  *  quent  incursions,  legendary  and 
f  H"  r  historical,  from  across  the  Hindu 
Kush.  Across  the  lower  valley 
of  the  Indus,  however,  at  the  dawn  of 
history,  races  of  Dravidian  stock  seem- 
ingly were  pushing  westwards  through 
Baluchistan  and  Southern  Persia  to  Meso- 
potamia and  Eastern  Arabia.  Indeed, 
it  would  appear  as  though  there  had  been 
a  strong  set  of  the  Dravidian  peoples 
towards  Arabia  at  a  remote  period  in  the 
history  of  that  peninsula,  and  that  there 
may  be  even  a  Dravidian  element  in  the 
blood  of  the  Semitic  and  Hamitic  tribes 
of  Arabia  and  Ethiopia. 

Alexander  the  Great  definitely  linked 
the  fortunes  of  Europe  with  those  of 
India.  From  his  celebrated  invasion  on- 
wards Europe  never  completely  lost 
touch  with  the  peninsula  of  Hindustan. 
Even  Alfred  the  Great,  King  of  Wessex, 
caused  inquiries  to  be  made  about  India. 
The  invasion  of  the  Greeks  300  years 
before  Christ  further  strengthened  the 
Aryan  influence  over  North-western  India, 
as  is  testified  by  the  remains  of  a  debased 
Greek  art  in  the  Northern  Punjab  and  even 
Greek  types  of  face  amongst  its  people. 
The  next  great  event  in  the  history  of 
this  motherland  was  the  invasion  of  the 
Mohammedan    Arabs,    which    began    in 


BENGAL    SAPPERS    AND    MINERS    ROAD  MAKING    IN    CHITRAr 


CONSTRUCTING     THE     PERIYAR     DAM     IN     SOUTH     INDIA 


SCENES     IN     MANS     FIGHT     AGAINST     NATURE 


5<>i9 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


looi  A.D.,  and  which,  carried  on  by  the 
Arabised  Turks  and  Persians,  culminated  in 
that  ]\Iogul  Empire  for  which  the  British 
Crown  was  substituted  in  1858  and  1876. 
We  found  India  in  the  seventeenth 
century  more  or  less  completely  under  the 
sway  of  the  Mogul  emperors.  The  India 
which  they  ruled,  directly  or  indirectly, 
though  it  included  Southern  Afghanistan, 
scarcely  extended  to  Baluchistan,  and 
certainly  stopped  in  the  Far  East  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Ganges.  It  did  not  include 
Ceylon,  which  remained  more  or  less 
governed  internally  bj^  an  ancient  dynasty 
of  Aryan  origin  and  Buddhistic  religion, 
but  the  coasts  of  which  were  controlled 
ever  since  the  sixteenth  century  first 
by  the  Portuguese,  then  by  the  Dutch,  and 
finally,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  by  the 
British.  The  India  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  ruled  by  the  Mogul  emperors, 
probably  contained  a  population  of 
150,000,000.  The 
Indian  Empire  of 
to-day,  excluding 
Ceylon,  extends 
from  the  Persian 
Gulf  to  the 
frontiers  of 
Tonkin  and  con- 
tains  some- 
thing like 
297,000,000 
people.  To  about 
150,000,000  we 
have  brought  the 
means  at  the 
present  day  of 
acquiring  an  ex- 
cellent education, 
scarcely  inferior 
in  its  scope  to 
that  which  is 
provided  for  our 
fellow  -  country- 
men at  home. 
To  the  whole  of 
the  300,000,000 
of  Baluchistan, 
Kashmir,  Little 
Tibet,  of  the 
Indian  peninsula  proper  from  the  Hima- 
layas to  Cape  Comorin,  of  Burma  and  the 
Shan  States  we  have  given  security  of  life 
and  property  to  a  degree  never  known  by 
these  Asiatic  peoples  in  all  their  recorded 
history.  Equal  security  has  been  given 
to  the  native  dynasties  of  kings  and  chiefs 
who  have  accepted  our  suzerainty,  and  who 

5620 


RAILWAY  SCENE  IN  BURMA  H.  c.  ■v\Tiite  Co. 
The  above  interesting  picture  not  only  shows  how  closely  the  railway 
system  of  Great  Britain  is  copied  in  Burma,  but  also  illustrates  the 
spread  of  the  English  langnage  in  that  country.  Compartments 
reserved  for  women  have  the  words  "Women  only  "  painted  on  the 
doors,  while  the  picture  of  a  woman  above  the  lettering  indicates  the 
purpose  of  the  compartment  to  those  who  have  not  learnt  to  read. 


conduct  the  affairs  of  their  kingdoms  and 
principalities  with  decorum  and  justice. 
The  wealth  of  India  during  the  last 
hundred  years,  since  the  British  became 
the  effective  masteis  over  this  region, 
must  have  increased  tenfold,  while  the 
population  has  nearly  doubled. 

Magnificent  public  works  have  been  car- 
ried out — thousands  of  miles  of  railways, 
canals  for  communication  and  irrigation, 
gigantic  dams  and  reservoirs  for  the  storage 
of  water,  bridges  across  rivers  that  are 
wondeis  of  the  world,  the  sounding, 
charting,  and  buoying  of  great  capricious 
rivers  up  which  ocean  ships  may  travel 
hundreds  of  miles  ;  we  have  developed 
coal-mines  that  have  added  enormously 
to  the  wealth  of  India ;  gold-mines, 
diamond  mines.  We  have  introduced  the 
tea  plant,  and  have  made  its  cultivation 
one  of  the  great  industries  of  North- 
eastern India  :  the  cinchona  tree,  with 
its  fever-healing 
bark ;  the  coffee- 
tree  from  Africa, 
and  many  other 
useful  products 
of  the  tropics 
and  the  tem- 
perate zones 
which  thrive  on 
Indian  soil.  We 
have  taken  up 
and  developed 
indigenous  pro- 
ducts like  jute, 
indigo,  cotton, 
wheat  and  rice. 
We  have  i  m  - 
proved  the  indi- 
genous breeds  of 
horses;  taken 
measures  to 
preserve  the  wild 
elephant  from 
extinction; 
checked  the 
devastations  and 
the  numbers  of 
harmful  wild 
beasts  and 
poisonous  snakes.  Move  important  by  far 
than  this  interference  with  the  tiger  and 
the  viper  is  the  tracking  down  of  the 
plague,  cholera,  malaria  and  s\q3hilis  bacilli, 
and  the  war  we  have  recently  been  waging 
on  microbe-bearing  rats,  fleas  and  mos- 
quitoes. We  have  fought  famine  in  those 
recurring  years   of   scarcity  wherein   the 


m- "  ff3kJ^7*T*j+T-R?#  » *i*^.yriyjif~) 


f  ff   S 


NATIVE    EDUCATION    IN  INDIA :     SCENE    IN    A     MOHAMMEDAN 


'   iMiie  &  Shepherd 
SCHOOL 


rainfall  was  deficient,  and  \ve  have  striven 
to  retain  the  rainfall  necessary  to  the 
country  by  a  careful  control  of  the  forests 
and  the  replanting  of  trees.  When  we 
took  up  the  rule  of  India  in  the  guise 
of  a  great  amorphous  trading  company, 
India  was  rapidly  being  ruined  by  inces- 
sant warfare  between  degenerated  Turkish 
and  Afghan  dynasties  and  their  Hindu 
and  Sikh  opponents. 

The  country  was  becoming  disforested  by 
fires,  by  the  unchecked  browsing  of  goats 
and  cattle,  and  by  clearing  for  cultivation. 
And  though  this  destruction  of  the  wood- 
lands could  hardly  affect  the  mighty 
ranges  of  the  Himalayas  or  the  tropical 
jungles  of  Southern  India,  it  was,  together 
with  the  neglect  of  irrigation,  slowly 
extending  the  area  of  the  waterless  desert 
region  in  the  north-west  and  centre. 
Temples  and  mosques  and  other  marvels 
of  Indian  architecture  at  their  best 
were  crumbling  into  decay  through  the 
decline  of  art  and  the  incessant  wars 
between  Mohammedans  and  Hindus.  It 
is  said,  nevertheless,  that  the  people 
were  less  taxed  than  they  are  under  our 
existing  regime,  and  that  the  population 


being  only  half  what  it  is  now,  disease 
was  not  so  rampant  from  overcrowding 
in  towns,  while  famines  were  less  frequent 
and  severe. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  these  counter 
assertions  are  correct.  Some  of  the  people 
were  no  doubt  hghtly  taxed,  or  paid  no 
taxes  at  all,  through  leading  the  life  of 
savages.  Others  again  were  subjected  to 
such  considerable  and  such  irregular 
extortions  that  private  enterprise  was 
often  crippled.  The  effects  of  the  old 
regime  have  not  quite  vanished  yet. 
Rulers  and  people  were  accustomed  not 
only  to  put  their  savings  into  bullion  of 
gold  and  silver,  but,  in  the  uncertainty  of 
their  lives,  to  trust  no  man.  no  institution, 
no  government,  with  their  hoards  of  wealth ; 
rather  to  bury  their  gold  and  silver  in  the 
ground  against  such  time  as  they  should 
need  it.  In  this  way  many  a  store  of 
bullion  has  disappeared  which  might 
otherwise  have  been  circulating  through 
the  country  and  stimulating  commerce. 

As  to  the  records  of  disease,  so  little 
attention  was  paid  to  these  questions  in 
the  native  annais  that  there  is  scarcely 
any     evidence     on     which     to     base     a 

5621 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


The  Fight 
With  Disease  in 
India 


comparison  between  the  death-rate  now 
and  the  death-rate  a  hundred  years  ago. 
The  great  increase  in  the  population,  and  the 
going  to  and  fro,  hither  and  thither  across 
the  Indian  FJmpire,  have  no  doubt  spread 
certain  diseases  at  one  time  restricted  to 
special  localities.  But  through  the  measures 
undertaken  by  British  medical  science  some 
ciiseases  like  small-pox  have 
been  robbed  of  their  terrors, 
and  others,  like  cholera, 
malaria,  and  the  plague,  are 
being  brought  gradually  under  control. 
Progress  in  the  elimination  of  disease 
would  have  been  quicker  but  for  the 
suspicion,  the  prejudices,  the  religious 
fanaticism  of  Hindus  and  Mohammedans. 
It  is  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  say  that 
only  two  or  three  thousand  natives  of 
India  out  of  three  hundred  millions  have 
as  yet  grasped  sufficiently  the  principles 
of  natural  science  to  realise  the  true 
causes  of  disease,  and  to  be  convinced  that 
sensible  people  would  not  allow  either 
superstition  or  misapplied  religious  prin- 
ciples, or  foolish  social  customs  and  preju- 
dices, to  stand  between  an  enlightened 
government  and  the  elimination  of  such 
diseases  as  the  plague. 

The  effect  of  150  years  of  British  rule 
on  the  peoples  of  India  has  been  stupen- 
dous. We  have  put  an  end  to  Afghan 
raids  which  at  intervals  since  looi 
scattered  the  accumulated  capital,  de- 
stroyed the  cities  and  the  public  works  of 
I  ..  ,  the  industrious  races,  and  punc- 
jj  .  tuated  the   annals  of  India  with 

g  ..  .  holocausts  of  human  victims. 
We  have  done  away  with 
Thuggism,  widow-burning,  and  our  in- 
fluence is  rapidly  making  child-marriage 
an  obsolete  custom.  Under  our  rule  there 
is  complete  religious  liberty  for  all  who 
do  not  want  to  adopt  murder  or  torture 
as  an  article  of  faith.  We  may  not  last 
long  enough  to  make  a  homogeneous 
undivided  people  out  of  the  300,000,000 


inhabiting  this  sub-continent,  for  that  is 
nearly  as  difficult  as  to  fuse  all  the  states 
of  Europe  into  a  single  polity  ;  but,  at 
any  rate,  we  have  set  the  Parsees  on  their 
feet,  have  raised  the  sect  of  the  Sikhs  to  be 
deservedly  one  of  the  dominant  forces  of 
India,  have  enabled  the  Mohammedans  of 
Bengal,  Oudh,  and  Agra,  and  also  of  the 
Punjab  and  of  Haidarabad,  to  develop 
their  religious  ideas  in  unfettered  liberty  of 
opinion  till,  if  any  group  can  save  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Arabian  prophet  from  falling  com- 
pletely out  of  harmony  with  our  present  life, 
it  will  be  the  prosperous,  educated,  reason- 
able Moslems  of  the  Indian  Empire. 

We  may  in  the  same  way  save  the  Hindus 
from  themselves  by  sapping  the  intoler- 
able nonsense  of  caste,  of  the  Brahman 
cult,  the  non-hygienic  principles  that  direct 
this  and  that  restriction  on  wholesome 
food  or  drink,  of  the    worship    of    black 

^  goddesses    with   two   dozen 

Consequences    ?  ,  r      ^^    .-,  v      i.i 

,  _  .^  .  ,         breasts,   of   all  the  ghastly 

^     J  D  ,  rubbish  which  still  reduces 

Good  Rule  r   TT-    J         , 

200,000,000  of  Hmdus  to  a 
negligeable  quantity  in  the  weights  of  the 
intellectual  world.  We  shall  also  have  had 
the  privilege  of  assisting  and  rendering 
prosperous  and  numerous  one  of  the  very 
few  good  and  noble  religions  which  have 
arisen  in  the  world — the  sect  of  the  Jains. 
The  effect  of  the  British  Empire  on  the 
Malay  Peninsula  and  in  Borneo  has  been 
the  abolition  of  piracy,  the  stoppage  of 
internecine  wars  between  one  Malay 
sultan  and  another,  and  of  the  Arab  slave 
trade ;  and  the  great  recent  increase  of 
population  which  has  resulted  from  the 
abatement  of  the  dense  forests  and  their 
profitable  exploitation,  the  discovery  of 
tin  and  coal,  and  the  hundredfold  increase 
of  human  health,  happiness,  wealth  and 
intellectual  progress  in  these  parts.  If 
there  is  any  portion  of  the  British  Empire 
without  a  blemish  in  purpose  or  achieve- 
ment, it  is  the  Malay  Peninsula,  the  Straits 
Settlements,  and  all  their  appurtenances. 


THE    GOLDEN    TEMPLE    OF    THE    SIKHS    AT    LAHORE 


5622 


THE 
BRITISH 
EMPIRE 

XVI 


BY  SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON, 

G.C.M.G. 


BRITISH     EXPANSION    IN    AFRICA 
AND    THE    PACIFIC 

AND    ITS    EFFECT    ON    THE    NATIVE     RACES 


npHE  existence  of  a  great  island  or 
•'•  continent  to  the  south  of  the  Mala}' 
Archipelago  had  been  suspected  by  the 
Portuguese  early  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
This  dim  knowledge  was  crystallised  into 
an  allusion  to  "  Greater  Java."  The 
Dutch  were  the  first,  in  1598,  to  refer 
to  this  continent  to  the  south  of  New 
Guinea  as  "  Australis  Terra."  The  sub- 
sequent histor}'  of  the  discovery  and 
settlement  of  Australia  has  already 
been   given   in   preceding   chapters. 

What  were  the  conditions  of  Australasia 
when  white  men  in  the  seventeenth  century 
were  feeling  their  way  towards  fresh 
conquests  and  occupation  ?  Why,  when 
island  after  island  in  the  Malay  Archipelago 
was  rapidly  conquered  and  occupied  by 
the  Portuguese,  Spaniards,  Dutch  or  Eng- 
lish, did  these  lands  of  the  southern  hemi- 
sphere so  long  evade  the  white  man's  sphere 
of  practical  politics  ?  The 
westernmost       promontories 


Australasia's 

Savage 

Inhabitants 


and  islands  of  New  Guinea 
were  included  by  the  Dutch 
within  their  sphere  of  commercial  and 
political  influence  as  early  as  the  end  of 
the  sixteenth  century  ;  but  the  whole  of 
the  remainder  of  New  Guinea,  Australia, 
New  Zealand,  and  the  adjacent  Pacific 
archipelagoes  were  left  to  themselves 
till  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
The  reasons  for  this  late  development 
were  principally  the  savage  and  ferocious 
nature  of  the  inhabitants,  who  lay  utterly 
outside  Hindu,  Malay,  and  Mohammedan 
influence,  and  the  existence  of  the  Great 
Barrier  Reef,  which  hindered  approach  to 
the  coast  of   North-east  Australia. 

The  extent  of  this  reef  southwards  was 
probably  over-estimated.  But  where  it 
came  to  an  end  the  seas  were  sufficiently 
far  south  to  be  affected  by  "heavy  gales. 
It  was  not  until  better  and  bigger  ships 
and  more  scientific  navigators  entered  these 
waters,  with  Captain  Cook  as  a  pioneer, 


that  any  approach  was  made  by  English  or 

French  towards  discovery  and  settlement. 

But    the    nature    of    the    inhabitants  of 

these  Australian  lands  was  a  more  powerful 

deterrent  than  the  dangers  of  navigation. 

The   complete   absorption   of   the   Malay 

,,  .           .  Archipelago  and  Peninsula 

Mohammedan  xr,-  z.u  xr    „^ 

_,  ,.  .       _        ,  withm       the        European 

Keligion  Spread  1  J-      i                      j- 

.      *     .    \^  political  area  m  a  lew  vears 

by  the  Arabs  ^ .,          ,-                     1       1   '1 

after  discovery   had    been 

enormously  facilitated  by  the  civilisation 

of    the    Malay    race    at    some    unknown 

period  by  Hindu    influences,   and,  much 

later,  by  their  conversion  to  Islam. 

Just  as  the  Islamising  of  the  northern 
half  of  Africa  shed  a  flood  of  light  on  a 
country  the  indigenes  of  which  (south 
of  N.  Lat.  10°)  were  in  a  stage  of  early 
culture  singularly  akin  to  that  of  Austra- 
lasia, so  the  carrying  of  the  Mohammedan 
religion  by  Arabs  through  India  and  along 
the  trade  route  to  China  amongst  the  Malay 
Islands  did  more  for  mediaeval  geography 
and  the  linking  up  of  the  worlds  of  Europe 
and  the  Far  East  than  the  attempts  of 
Greece,  Rome,  and  Constantinople  or  the 
growth  of  the  Chinese  Empire. 

The  conversion  of  the  Malays  to 
Islam  definitely  attached  the  coasts  of 
the  East  Indian  Islands  and  promontories 
to  the  civilised  world.  The  plumes  of 
New  Guinea  birds  of  paradise,  the  cam- 
phor of  Formosa,  the  spices  and  even  the 
cockatoos  of  the  Moluccas  may  have 
reached  the  Persian  Gulf,  the  Mameluke 
rulers  of  Egypt,  the  Greek  emperors  of 
_.  _  _  Byzantium,  the  merchants 
,  .  .r..  .?.!  of  Venice,  and  the  Arab 
rulers  of  Grenada  before  the 
oversea  exploits  of  the 
Portuguese  made  these  regions  of  the  Far 
East  tributary  to  Western  and  Northern 
Europe.  The.culture  which  prevailed  over 
New  Guinea,  excepting  the  small  ^lalay 
sultanates  of  the  far  north-west,  over  all 
Australia  and  Tasmania,   was  of  such  a 


of  Australasian 
Aborigines 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


low  order  that  it  might  be  called  Paheo- 
lithic.  The  aborigines  of  New  Guinea, 
Australia  and  Tasmania  were,  in  the  main, 
of  a  more  primitive,  less  differentiated 
character  than  any  living  races  at  the 
present  day,  except  their  outlying  relations 
such  as  the  Veddahs  and  Negritoes.  The 
lowest  Australian  types  of  men  bear  in 
.  cranial  formation  a  striking 
Diversity  si^iilarity  to  the  Neanderthal 
of  Race  in  g^g^^gg  ^f  ^]^q  genusHomo  which 
Australia  inhabited  Europe  at  a  very 
remote  period.  They  are,  indeed,  the 
nearest  living  representatives  of  early 
PaL-eolithic  Man  in  Europe.  Elsewhere 
this  generalised  type  of  our  species  has 
been  developed,  specialised,  or  exter- 
minated. At  the  present  day  the  Papuan 
race  of  New  Guinea  makes  a  distinct 
approximation  towards  the  negro,  and  this 
negroid  type  penetrates  eastward  and 
northward,  mixed  in  varying  degrees 
with  the  Polynesian,  till  it  reaches 
Hawai,    Formosa,    and   Japan. 

The  theory  sometimes  advanced  to 
account  for  the  physical  attributes  of  the 
extinct  Tasmanians  is  that  this  negroid 
type  migrated  southwards  along  the 
east  coast  of  Australia  and  crossed  thence 
to  Tasmania,  being  afterwards  succeeded 
on  the  continent  of  Australia  by  races 
with  straighter  hair  and  more  prominent 
noses,  akin  to  the  Dravidian. 

In  New  Zealand  there  was  a  different 
state  of  affairs.  The  first  European  ex- 
plorers that  landed  on  its  coasts — French 
and  English,  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century — observed  two  types  amongst  the 
aborigines  :  a  short,  dark-skinned  negroid, 
and  the  tall,  light-skinned  Maori  ;  and 
the  theory  was  advanced  some  thirty  years 
ago  that  the  arrival  of  the  last  named 
from  Polynesian  archipelagoes  had  been 
preceded  by  a  Tasmanian  immigration.  But 
it  is  inconceivable  that  this  low  race  could 
have  constructed  canoes  to  cross  a  thousand 
odd  miles  of  sea  between  Australia  and 

-.  r,  ,  .,  New  Zealand ;  it  is  difficult 
New  Zealand  s  ^^^^^^j^  ^^  ^^j-^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^j^ 

1  V^  V-.     .  a  primitive  type  could  even 

Inhabitants  ,    ^  a  r.  a      -i 

have  crossed  on  rafts  a  strait 

of  a  few  miles  in  width  between  Wilson 
Promontory  and  Tasmania  ;  and  it  has 
been  surmised  that  their  colonisation  of 
this  island  dates  from  a  time  when  it  was 
connected  by  an  isthmus  with  the  Aus- 
tralian continent.  Therefore,  it  is  more 
probable  that  if  there  was  a  negroid  element 
in  New  Zealand,  it  accompaniedtheMaories 

5624 


from  the  Polynesian  archipelagoes.  It 
is  the  main  element  of  the  popula- 
tion of  Fiji,  and  is  traceable  in  Tonga. 
The  Papuans  of  New  Guinea  are  fairly 
abundant,  of  medium  height,  and  good 
proportions,  though  some  of  the  tribes 
of  the  interior  tend  to  a  shortness  of 
legs  which  recalls  the  forest  negroes  of 
Africa.  The  skin  colour  is  sooty  brown 
like  that  of  the  Australian. 

The  dark  races  of  South-eastern  Asia  differ 
from  the  "black"  negroes  in  that  there 
is  less  red  colour  in  the  skin,  and  in  the 
case  of  the  Papuans  and  Australians  there 
is  a  much  greater  projection  of  the  brow- 
ridges  ;  the  nose,  moreover,  being  seldom 
absolutely  fiat  in  the  bridge,  though  the 
tip  is  wide  and  fiat  at  the  nostrils,  and 
the  lips,  though  thick  and  projecting,  are 
riot  so  largely  everted  as  with  the  average 
negro.  The  hair  of  the  Papuans  is  black 
and  frizzly,  and  grows  semi-erect,  like 
a  mop.  That  of  the  Australians  is  curly 
in  a  large  way,  but  except  for  its  coarse 
texture  grows  very  much  like  a  European's. 
Like  the  lower  races  of  Europe  and  India 
the  Australian's  body,  in  the  male,  is  very 
_.  ■  ■  ...  hairy.  This  is  one  of  the 
of  rhT  "  '"  characteristics  which  points 
p  J        .  to  a  basal  affinity  between 

o  ynesians        ^^^     Australoid    and      the 

Caucasian.  The  Polynesians  seem  to  be 
a  Far.  Eastern  prolongation  of  Malay  in- 
fluence, though  in  physical  characteristics 
perhaps  nearer  akin  to  the  Caucasian. 
They  differ  from  the  Western.  Caucasian 
in  the  relative  absence  of  body-hair,  and 
a  tendency  to  the  straight,  coarse  head- 
hair  of  the  Mongol,  Malay,  and  Amerindian. 
1 1  may  be  that  before  the  Mongols  of  China, 
Japan,  North  Asia  and  the  Esquimaux 
had  become  differentiated  and  had  reached 
their  present  habitat  an  early  Caucasian 
type  threw  off  a  smooth-skinned,  straight- 
haired  branch  which  migrated  to  North- 
eastern Asia  and  thence  colonised  much  of 
America,  while  it  made  its  way  also  south 
and  east  to  the  Pacific  archipelagoes,  to 
absorb  culture  from  the  more  Mongolian 
Malay  and  mingle  his  blood  with  his. 
In  many  of  their  physical  characteristics 
the  Polynesians  recall  the  Indians  of 
Western  America.  In  modern  times  they 
have  mingled  with  the  negroid  Melanesians, 
inheriting  from  them  wider  noses,  undu- 
lations in  the  head-hair,  and  darker  skin 
colour.  Yet,  when  all  has  been  said  and 
done,  the  best  Polynesian  type  recalls  the 
European,    and    fundamentally    the    two 


BRITISH    EXPANSION    IN    AFRICA    AND    THE    PACIFIC 


races  may  be  akin,  a  fact  which  will 
probably  have  the  happiest  effect  on  the 
future  status  of  the  Polynesians,  inter- 
marriage with  whom  will  be  no  more 
prejudicial  to  racial  beauty  and  mental 
development  than  the  intermixture  with 
the  Amerindian  or  the  Northern  Mongol. 

The  effect  of  the  British  Empire  on  the 
autochthonous  races  of  Australia  and 
Polynesia  cannot  be  described  in  terms 
of  such  glowing  praise  as  I  have  applied 
to  our  altogether  splendid  record  in  India, 
Ceylon  and  Malaya.  From  the  point  of 
view  of  the  anthropologist  and  the 
philanthropist  it  is  here  that  our  record 
is  sorriest  and  most  ignoble.  When  we 
invaded  Austraha  and  Tasmania  the 
welfare,  rights,  and  anthropological  im- 
portance of  the  indigenes  seem  to  have 
been  completely  absent  from  our  minds. 
Our  Imperial  conduct,  in  fact,  in  these 
regions  ranks  much  lower  in  the  scale  of 
morahty  than  that  of  the  King  of  the 
Belgians,  who,  if  he  has  afflicted  and 
diminished  the  native  tribes  of  the  Congo, 
has  at  an}/  rate  contemporaneously  illus- 
trated their  arts,  customs,  and  beliefs  whilst 
,^  such  things  could  be  re- 
corded. Our  treatment  of 
the  Australian  and  Tasma- 
nian  blacks  has  been  stupid 
and  brutal  down  to  about  1896,  long  before 
which  time  the  Tasmanians  were  extinct, 
and  we  deserve  to  be  scourged  for  it 
before  the  world's  tribunal  quite  as  much 
as  the  Spanish  nation  for  its  treatment  of 
the  Amerindians,  or  Leopold  of  Coburg  for 
his  merciless  exploitation  of  the  Congolese. 
But  for  the  missionaries  and,  in  addition, 
the  fighting  qualities  of  the  Maories  the 
Polynesian  inhabitants  of  New  Zealand 
would  have  been  as  mercilessly  dealt  with. 
-  When  we  laid  hands  on  all  Australia, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  keeping  other 
European  Powers  out,  say,  in  1800,  the 
nativ^e  population  of  the  entire  island 
continent  cannot  have  been  less  than 
200,000  ;  to-day  it  is  computed  at  65,000. 
Extermination  seems  to  have  been  the 
order  of  the  day: — extermination  by  rum, 
syphilis,  starvation,  and  later  the  more 
merciful  and  direct  assassination  by  the 
rifle  bullet.  In  .about  forty  years  from 
1800,  the  natives  of  New  South  Wales, 
Victoria,  and  of  South  Australia,  had  been 
reduced  from  a  possible  100,000  to  about 
5,000,  not,  of  course,  including  those  of  the 
central  and  northern  regions,  which  are 
still     so      inappropriately     linked     with 


Great  Britain's 
Black  Record 
in  Australia 


"  South  "  Australia.     Queensland  has  had 

as  merciless  a  record,  but  here  the  territory 

was  vaster,  hotter,  and  a  larger  proportion 

of  the  indigenes  have  survived  to  profit 

by  the  development  of  Queensland  public 

opinion  on  to  a  higher  plane  of  thought. 

Their  treatment  now  is  vastly  improved 

in   this   direction.     Western  Australia   in 

TK    N  f        ^^^^  bade  blocks,  and  above  all 

.T  J     i->  ^  1  ill  fhe  far  north-west,  has  still 
Under  Cruel  ,  ...  , 

~,  much  scourgmg  to  receive  and 

atonement    to    make  ;      from 

the  half-suppressed  reports  of  clergymen 

and  missionaries  the  Westralian  treatment 

of  the  natives  under  their  control  has  been 

quite  as  bad  as  anything  recorded  of  the 

Congo.  But  in  these  matters, where  the  great 

daughter  nations  are  concerned,  the  British 

Press  is  inclined  to  complacent  silence. 

The  black  Australian,  as  we  first  found 
him,  was  certainly  a  savage,  and  an 
unamiable,  treacherous  savage.  "  Ce! 
animal  est  tres  nv'chant !  Quand  on 
I'attaque  il  se  defend!"  If  our  fairest 
coast  regions  were  suddenly  invaded  by 
an  almost  irresistible  race  of  Martians,  we, 
in  our  futile  defence  of  our  homeland, 
might  show  ourselves  equally  treacher- 
ous. For  a  long  time  he  was  said  to  be  an 
"  irreclaimable  "  savage.  But  this  has  been 
shown  to  be  as  true  as  the  dictum  of  King 
Leopold's  Congo  Ministers  that  the  Bantu 
negroes  of  Congoland  were  "  outside  the 
pale  of  the  family  idea."  The  irreclaim- 
ability  of  the  Austrahan — as  announced 
by  the  white  colonist — is  as  true  as  the  de- 
pravity of  the  lamb  in  the  eyes  of  the  wolf. 

Fortunately,  however,  there  were  other 
and  nobler  forces  at  work  in  Australia,  and 
the  result  of  their  efforts,  and  those  of  the 
colonists  and  governments  helping  them, 
is  that  there  are  many  police,  stock- 
riders, trackers,  farm  servants,  and  other 
workers  of  use  to  the  general  community 
at  the  present  day,  who  are  of  pure 
Australian  blood.  It  is  no  longer  probable 
that  this  wonderfully  interesting  race  will 
be  exterminated  ;   it  is  less  un- 


A  Brighter 
Prospect  for 
the  Native 


likely  that  it  will  be  absorbed. 
The  half-caste  between  white 


2   I 


96 


man  and  Australian  aborigine 
is  not  such  a  disappointment  as  are  some 
other  human  hybrids,  either  physically  or 
mentally.  And  again,  from  this  cross  to 
further  intermixture  with  the  whites — or, 
as  seems  now  more  customary,  with  such 
Afghans,  Indians,  Chinese,  or  Polynesians 
as  the  rigid  immigration  laws  may  per- 
mit, or  fail  to  prevent — may  in  time  create 

.5625 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY     OF     THE    WORLD 


a  small  but  prosperous  class  of  dark-eyed, 

pale-skinned,  black-haired,   not  uncomely 

people,    who    may    find    a   place    and    a 

decent  recognition  for  themselves  in  the 

future  great  Australian  nation. 

We  had  no  recognised  empire    in    the 

Pacific  until  we  annexed  New  Zealand  in 

1840,  but  the  unofficial  influence  of  the 

^,.    .        ,      British  on  the  Polynesian  and 
Missionaries    ^^/r  ■,  1      u  .n 

_  .  .  Melanesian  peoples  began  With 

.  p,  .  the  voyages  of  Cook  and  the 
mpirc  ^^^^  settlement  of  Austraha. 
The  way  for  the  empire  was  prepared, 
unconsciously  no  doubt,,  by  missionaries, 
whalers,  and  traders  in  small  sailing  ships, 
together  with  the  frequent  cruises  of  men- 
of-war.  The  missionaries,  most  of  all, 
brought  the  Pacific  islanders  to  the  idea 
that  their  only  way  of  political  salvation — 
decimated  as  they  were  by  their  own  inter- 
tribal quarrels,  and  constantly  under 
menace  of  attack  from  European  pirates — 
was  to  offer  the  supreme  rule  or  wardship 
over  their  countries  to  the  British  queen. 

No  doubt,  they  were  instinctively  right. 
At  any  rate,  if  the  islands  had  not  hoisted 
the  British  flag  they  would  have  been 
placed  under  that  of  France,  the  United 
States,  or  Germany..  But  it  is  sad  to 
think  that  since  New  Zealand  became 
British  its  indigenous  population  has 
decreased  from  a  hypothetical  100,000  to 
about  48,000  at  the  present  day.  The 
population  of  Fiji  was  estimated  at  about 
200,000  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  is  now  no  more  than  87,125 
(in  igo6),  and  is  diminishing  rather  than 
increasing.  Elsewhere  in  the  Pacific, 
Tonga,  Santa  Cruz,  Solomon  Islands, 
Gilbert  Islands,  Ellice  Islands,  the  popu- 
lation of  native  strain  is  on  the  increase. 

Many  of  these  islands  were  depleted  of 

their  able-bodied  men  by  the  labour  traffic 

of  1870-1890,  which  at  first  kidnapped,  and 

later  lured  them  for  work  on  plantations 

in  Eastern  Tropical  Australia.       Many  of 

these   labourers   have    since    returned   to 

_^    ^  ,        their    homes,    materially    and 
The  Future  ,    n  j      u        j.i-    ■ 

.  .  mentally    improved    by    their 

p  .  .  exile.  There  is  no  cause  now 
but  the  inherent  weakness  of 
racial  stamina  why  the  Polynesians  and 
Melanesians  should  not  once  more  begin 
to  increase  in  numbers.  Yet  in  Hawai, 
under  the  Americans,  and  in  Fiji  under 
the  British — both  governments  showing 
the  utmost  solicitude  for  their  Poly- 
nesian wards — the  native  race  is  ceasing 
to  have  children,  is  dying  of  white 
5626 


men's  diseases,  is  silently  melting  away 
before  the  Indian  coolie,  the  Japanese, 
Chinese,  and  Portuguese  immigrants.  It 
is  said  that  native  women  are  more  fertile 
with  Japanese,  Chinese  or  European 
husbands  ;  it  may  chance,  therefore,  that 
the  fate  of  this  Polynesian  race  may  be 
reabsorption,  to  form  with  these  other  racial 
elements  another  and  stronger  Polynesian 
people,  an  amalgam,  like  the  predecessors, 
whom  Cook  first  described,  of  Australoid, 
Caucasian,  and  Mongolian  strains. 

In  other  ways,  the  effect  of  the  empire 
on  New  Zealand,  and  on  these  "  Summer 
Isles  of  Eden  set  in  dark  purple  spheres 
of  sea,"  has  been  wholly  good,  so  far  as 
the  general  enrichment  of  the  world  is 
concerned.  New  Zealand  has  become  in 
sixty-eight  years  a  young  nation  of  magni- 
ficent vigour,  with  a  mighty  future  before 
her,  and  a  population  of  nearly  a  million, 

Fiji  now  does  an  annual  trade  in  exports, 

such  as  sugar,  dried  coco-nut  kernels,  and 

fruit,  and  imports  of  the  value  of  £1,213,000. 

This  archipelago,  extraordinarily  endowed 

as  to  climate  and  healthfulness,  scenery, 

and  fertility  of  soil,  is  of  the  area  of  Wales, 

„  and  supplies  both  Australia  and 

Frosperous    ^         j  ^  ^     • , ,     ,         •      ,  , 

p     .i.  Canada  with  tropical  produce. 

I  J  -  The  inhabitants  of  nearly  all 
the  other  Pacific  islands  under 
British  jurisdiction  are  converted  to 
Christianity,  and  have  given  up  canni- 
balism and  civil  war.  They  are,  for  the 
most  part,  busily  engaged  in  the  copra — 
dried  coco-nut — trade,  but  a  number  of 
them  still  seek  service  in  Queensland,  in 
Pacific  islands  belonging  to  France  or 
Germany,  or  even  go  as  far  afield  as 
Mexico,  confident  that  their  British  nation- 
ality will  afford  them  ample  protection. 

Thus,  after  vicissitudes  extending  over 
more  than  a  century — since  their  first 
discovery,  or  rediscovery,  by  British  and 
French  mariners — the  Pacific  islands  seem 
to  have  found  peace,  prosperity,  compara- 
tive freedom  and  political  stability. 
Except  in  New  Zealand,  we  have  nothing 
to  regret  in  our  treatment  of  these  Poly- 
nesian and  Melanesian  races,  since  a  direct 
government  control  was  established  over 
the  islands,  large  and  small  ;  but  there 
remain  some  seventy  or  eighty  years  of 
previous  unofficial  British  or  British 
colonial  dealings  with  the  peoples  that  are 
a  sorry  record  of  slavery,  kidnapping, 
alcohol-poisoning,  debauchery,  disease, 
ridiculous  or  even  vicious  \vrangles 
between    Christian    sects    and    churches, 


BRITISH    EXPANSION    IN    AFRICA    AND    THE    PACIFIC 


cannibalistic  outbreaks  and  sanguinary 
revenges,  farcical  governments  got  up  by 
European  or  American  adventurers,  and 
floated  with  repudiated  paper  currencies. 
These  influences  combined  must  have 
reduced  the  total  native  population  of 
Oceania,  excluding  New  Guinea  but 
including  New  Zealand,  from  a  possible 
2-1-  millions  to  about  a  million  at  the 
present  day.  Of  course,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered this  2 1  millions  had  been  living 
lives  of  useless  happiness,  apart  from  the 
rest  of  the  moving  world,  aloof  from  the 
sorrows  and  struggles  of  the  toiling 
thousand  millions  in  temperate  or  torrid 


than  the  nourishment  of  unintellectual 
idleness  in  cannibalism  and  sexual  orgies 
of  2,000,000  brown  Polynesians.  Such 
fragments  of  the  Earthly  Paradise  are 
worthier  to  be  the  home  of  50,000,000 
men  and  women  endowed  with  the  finest 
qualities  of  mind  and  body. 

What  has  been  the  effect  of  the  British 
Empire  on  Africa  ?  In  the  west,  the  scene 
of  our  earliest  attempts  at  settlement  as 
traders  and  rulers,  we  first  encouraged 
to  an  enormous  extent  the  trade  in  slaves. 
This  has  led  to  much  intertribal  warfare, 
and  even  the  disappearance  of  certain 
coast  peoples.    Between  1560  and  i860  the 


THE    PRIMITIVE    SYSTEM    OF    LANDING    ON    THE    WEST    AFRICAN    COAST 


continents.  Seemingly,  a  policy  of  secluded 
selfishness  does  not  enter  into  the  scheme 
of  the  Higher  Power  for  the  development 
of  the  human  race^  Nature  insists  on  a 
unification  of  the  genus,  and  to  attain 
this  end  extremes  meet — the  Dutchman 
mingles  with  the  Hottentot,  the  EngHsh- 
man  with  the  Polynesian,  Scotsman  with 
West  Indian  negro,  Portuguese  with 
Dravidian.  Arab  with  Bantu,  Frenchman 
with  x\merindian.  The  Summer  Isles  of 
Eden  and  the  104,000  square  miles  of 
pasture,  meadow,  woodland.  Alp,  lake, 
and  orchard,  which  constitute  the  noble 
patrimony  of  New  Zealand,  were  meant 
for  better  things  in  the  destiny  of  man 


West  African  slave  trade  certainly  tended  to 
the  depopulation  of  parts  of  Guinea,  Daho- 
meh,  the  Niger  Delta,  and  the  Kameruns. 
The  British  from  1815  and  the  French 
from  about  1835  set  to  work  to  suppress 
the  slave  trade  they  had  once  encouraged. 
This,  of  course,  led  to  their  increased  inter- 
ference in  West  African  affairs,  and  by 
degrees  to  a  widespread  use  of  the  English 
language  as  a  medium  of  intercommunica- 
tion. The  trade  in  palm  oil  and  palm 
kernels — said  to  have  been  inv^ented  in 
Liberia — was,  in  its  early  days,  a  British 
industry  ;  and  so  lucrative  did  it  become 
to  natives  as  well  as  white  men  that  it 
probably  proved  a  more  efficient  corrective 

5627 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


of  the  slave  trade  than  the  vigilance  of  the 
British  cruisers.  But  the  palm-oil  trade 
gave  rise  to  incidents  and  tendencies  which 
provoked  further — and  often  unwilling — 
interference  on  the  part  of  the  British 
Government  with  native  chiefs.  These  last 
would  frequently  attempt  to  make  a  corner 
in  palm  oil,  by  preventing  the  interior 
natives  from  coming  into  con- 

on'[hc  West  *^^*  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^'^^  traders, 
Af  ■  ^  C  ^^^  were  thus  compelled  to 
deal  with  the  oil-markets  by 
making  use  of  the  coast  negroes  as  inter- 
mediaries and  middlemen.  Thus  the  pro- 
ducing peoples  of  the  interior  received  a 
poor  price  for  their  industry,  and  the 
European  had  to  pay  too  dearly  for  the 
oil  which  was  becoming  so  increasingly 
necessary  to  his  home  industries. 

Now  all  these  questions  are  regulated 
equitably.  The  coast  men  share  in  the 
general  advantages  of  the  coast  govern- 
ment, which  is  partly  supported  by  the 
customs  duties  levied  on  general  imports 
and  exports.  The  natives  of  the  interior 
can  dispose  of  their  produce  without  let  or 
hindrance  for  the  prices  determined  by  the 
law  of  supply  and  demand.  But  it  is  in 
the  coast  regions,  above  all,  that  the 
advantages  of  an  enlightened  British 
administration  have  been  shown.  Here 
a  system  of  petite  culture  has  been  brought 
into  existence,  in  the  Gold  Coast  Colony 
especially,  which  has  had  the  happiest 
results,  especially  in  the  cultivation  of 
cacao.  In  this  a  trade  of  something  like  a 
million  sterling  has  been  developed. 

A  glance  at  the  revenues  and  expenditures 
of  all  the  British  West  African  colonies  and 
protectorates  will  at  once  show  their 
prosperity.  It  is,  above  all,  the  prosperity 
of  the  people  of  the  soil,  whose  rights  have 
been  most  rigorously  respected  and  rea- 
sonably defined.  The  British  West  African 
possessions  are  setting  an  example  to  the 
rest  of  British  Tropical  Africa,  and  to  a 
great  deal  of  Africa  and  Asia  which  is  under 
j^  p  .  other  flags,  of  the  new  policy, 
/d    !^  ]^^  which  is  going  to  spread  like  a 

of  British  I-  1  V,  • 

W  t  A' •  new  religion — ample  recognition 
of  the  rights  of  the  indigenous 
peoples  to  the  land  they  live  on  and  to  the 
natural  produce  of  its  soil.  This  theory 
does  not  prevent  the  reservation  of  abso- 
lutely vacant  lands  or  lands  containing 
forests  or  mines,  which  must  be  dealt  with 
in  the  general  interests  of  the  community. 
Such  are  held  in  trust  for  the  community 
by    the    established    government    of    the 

5628 


territory,  and  the  proceeds  or  profits 
therefrom  are  publicly  accounted  for,  and 
form  part  of  the  local  revenue.  In  the 
administration  which  controls  these  sources 
of  public  wealth  the  voice  of  the  real 
natives  of  the  country  will  have  a  larger 
and  larger  part  as  education  increases  in 
the  native  community  and  fits  the  people 
of  the  soil  for  playing  a  responsible  part. 

Whilst  foreign  capital  is  required  to 
fructify  industries  and  to  turn  the  re- 
sources of  the  country  to  profitable  account, 
that  capital  must  be  allowed  a  fair  repre- 
sentation in  the  local  councils,  and  receive 
sufiicient  guarantees  as  to  its  investments  ; 
otherwise  the  native  community  will 
never  obtain  money  on  cheap  enough 
ternis  for  creating  its  industries.  But 
the  ambition  of  all  these  negro  states 
under  the  British  flag  in  West  Africa  and 
Nigeria  should  be  to  obtain  their  working 
capital  in  time  through  their  own  re- 
sources and  in  time  to  show  themselves 
more  and  more  worthy  of  home  rule. 

In  East  Africa,  between  the  Nile  Basin  and 
the  Zambesi,  the  chief  effect  on  the  native 
peoples  has  been  produced  by  the  abroga- 
TK     A    K         *^°^  ^^  Arab  authority  in  the 

O     rfsston  in  *^°^^^    ^^^^^    ^^^     ^^®     ^^®^" 
pprcssion  in  ^^^^^  suppression  of  the  Arab 

East  Africa         ,  ,       j  j      c      ^\  r 

slave  trade,   and,   finally,  ot 

slavery.  The  Arab  treatment  of  East  and 
Central  Africa  has  fohowed  much  the  same 
lines  as  European  behaviour  elsewhere. 
First  of  all,  the  land  was  ravaged  for  slaves 
and  ivory.  No  thought  was  taken  for  the 
welfare  of  the  indigenes  at  all.  They  were 
originally  transported  in  thousands  to 
Arabia,  Persia,  Madagascar,  and  the  Co- 
moro Islands — a  few  also  going  to  Western 
India— and,  later,  they  were  used  to  de- 
velop clove,  sugar,  coco-nut  plantations 
in  Zanzibar  and  along  the  East  African 
httoral  from  Lamu  to  Cape  Delgado. 

When  the  Arabs  appreciated  the  possi- 
bilities of  Congoland,  the  slaves  of  the 
populations  they  harried  were  turned  on 
to  create  vast  rice-fields,  orange  groves, 
lime  orchards,  plantations  of  sugar-cane, 
bananas,  ground  nuts,  and  maize  in  the 
valley  of  the  Lualaba-Congo.  When 
conquered  at  this  epoch,  the  close  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  the  domain  of  the 
Arabs  on  the  coasts  of  Nyassa  and  Tan- 
ganyika and  in  Eastern  Congoland  pre- 
sented to  the  British,  Germans,  and 
Belgians  a  certain  appearance  of  well- 
being,  civilisation  and  contentment  which 
was   in   marked  contrast   to   the   savage 


BRITISH    EXPANSION    IN    AFRICA    AND    THE    PACIFIC 


regions  outside  the  Arab  settlements. 
To  some  extent  this  contrast  was  an 
unfair  one  to  the  pagan  African,  because 
the  unsettled  regions  outside  the  Arab  zone 
had  been  reduted  to  a  condition  of  heed- 
less savagery  by  the  raids  of  the  Arabs 
and  their  negro  allies.  The  wretched 
remnant  of  the  natives  only  secured  some 
immunity  from  attack  by  simply  offering 
no  temptation  to  robbery.  They  accumu- 
lated no  stores  of  food,  and  avoided  giving 
any  evidence  of  culture. 

Had  no  European  intervention  taken 
place,  matters  would  have  taken — more 
slowly — the  same  course  under  the  Arabs 
as  under  the  white  man's  predominance. 
First,  the  Arabs  would  have  cultivated 
millions  of  acres  by  forced  labour  ;  then, 
as  it  became  more  and  more  difficult  to 
coerce  great  negro  populations  raised  to 
the  same  level  of  culture  as  the  Arabs 
themselves,  the  Arabs  would  have  sought 
to  work  by  means  of  hired  labour.  Lastly, 
they  might  have  had  the  intelligence  to 
perceive  what  we  are  just  appreciating — 
thanks  to  the  teaching  of  men  like  E.  D. 
Morel,  Albert  Chevalier,  Vandervelde, 
.  Charles  Dilke,  Fox-Bourne, 

ropica  ^^^  Theodore  Roosevelt — 

Africa  s  Negro    ,i      ,     ,, 
p    .  J  that   the  negro    is    an    m- 

eradicable  plant  in  Tropical 
Africa ;  and  that,  this  being  the  case,  it  is 
better  to  treat  him  as  the  owner  and 
dominant  factor  in  the  country',  inspire 
him  with  the  pride  of  ownership — in- 
dividual and  communal — and  by  means 
of  trade  allurements  tempt  him  to  exploit, 
as  a  free  man  and  a  person  with  a  stake 
in  his  own  commonwealth,  the  resources 
and  riches  of  his  dwelling-place. 

This  theory  has  its  imperfections  when 
contrasted  with  actual  contemporary 
facts,  but  on  the  whole  it  has  proved  the 
best  working  hypothesis  with  the  negro 
peoples  of  Eastern  as  well  as  Western  and 
Central  Africa.  But  there  are  other 
factors  in  the  East  African  problem  that 
do  not  exist  in  West  Africa  and  the  Congo 
Basin.  Half  the  area  of  British  East 
Africa,  a  quarter  of  Uganda,  a  quarter  of 
Nyassaland  are  regions  of  considerable 
elevation  above  sea-level  ;  and  partly  on 
this  account,  partly  from  other  causes, 
are — or  were  when  we  entered  the  country 
— devoid  of  native  inhabitants.  To  tell 
the  truth,  although  the  negro  may  have 
avoided  settling  on  these  elevated  plateaus 
when  he  was  a  nearly  naked  savage,  he 
has  shown  himself  quite  able  to  do  so  under 


more  civilised  conditions.     But   most  of 

these  cold  countries  were  No-man's-lands 

when  we  discovered  them,  and  we  have 

not  felt  called  upon  to  hand  them  over  to 

the  black  man.     For  thirty  years  there 

have    been    Scottish    and   English    coffee 

planters    (colonists)    in   Nyassaland ;     for 

seven  years  we  have  been  permitting  the 

,,  .   .  appropriation  of  vacant  lands 

Unoccupied    i  /•,  .11       1.1 

J,     . .  by  white  men  on  the  healthy 

tJ^'  J         uplands  of  East  Africa.     Here, 

Paradises         '^    .         ttt     ,  tt         j  J 

as   in     Western    Uganda   and 

Northern  Nyassaland,  there  are  earthly 
paradises  still  awaiting  the  people.  Con- 
sequently, the  political  future  of  Eastern 
Africa  is  likely  to  be  far  more  complicated 
as  an  entity  than  that  of  West  Africa, 
purely  a  black  man's  land,  or  South  Africa, 
where  the  white  man  is  quite  resolved  to 
be  the  predominant  partner. 

In  British  East  Africa,  including  Somali- 
land  and  Nyassaland,  there  will  be  small, 
compact,  powerful  colonies  or  enclaves 
of  Europeans  and  Asiatics  surrounded 
by  a  very  numerous,  prosperous,  and, 
I  hope,  friendly,  population  of  negroes 
and  negroids.  The  Arab  element  will 
remain  and  will  permeate  the  leaven  of  the 
docile  Bantu  with  a  sense  of  self-respect 
and  personal  pride  which  will  compel  a 
decent  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the 
British  and  Indian  fellow-colonists. 

The  effects  produced  by  the  British 
Empire  on  the  native  races  of  South  Africa 
have  been  most  potent.  The  Dutch  and 
Huguenot  settlers  who  preceded  us  had 
conquered  the  feeble  Hottentot  and 
Bushman  tribes  of  the  south-western 
angle  of  Cape  Colony  sufBcienth'  to  be 
able  to  dispose  of  the  land  between  the 
little  Namaqua  coast,  the  sources  of  the 
Zak,  and  the  Great  Fish  River  amongst 
European  farm  settlers.  These  last  at 
times  were  almost  at  war  with  the  un- 
sympathetic, selfish,  stupid  government  ol 
the  Dutch  East  India  Company.  The  Boer 
pioneers  of  the  future  white  South  Africa 
.  shirked  any  contest  with  the 
The  Racial    pg^^-gj-ful  Bantu  peoples  to  the 

So7th  AfVc'L  ^^^^  ^"^  '^°^*^  °^  *^^®  ^^"^  ^^^^ 
which    the}'   had   ousted   the 

Hottentot.  Indeed,  the  drift  of  the  racial 
struggle  was  rather  the  other  way  when  the 
British  first  took  possession  of  Cape  Town. 
Should  the  Kaffir  and  Basuto  be 
allowed  to  drive  the  Boer  farmers  back 
on  to  the  Cape  Peninsula  and  occupj'  the 
lands  of  the  Hottentot  in  their  stead  ? 
For  centuries  the  big  Bantu  negroes  had 

5629 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF     THE    WORLD 


been   pressing  south   from   their  original 

home     in     Central     Africa.       They    had 

absorbed  or  exterminated  the  Hottentots 

and  most  of  the  Bushmen  in  South-eastern 

Africa  ;    on  the  south-west  their  advance 

was  hindered  by  the  aridity  of  the  Kalahari 

Desert  and   Namaqualand,  but  they  had 

already   turned  the   obstacle   by  coming 

.  ,  round  the    south    coast    of 

5"'*"V5    ,  .    the      continent      and      ad- 

«  "M  Z       ""  vancing  thus  on  the  delect- 

South  Africa         ,  ,         "  ■  r  ii        /-    „       „r 

able  region  ol  the   Cape   of 

Good  Hope  (one  of  the  world's  paradises). 

The    Sneeuwbergen   and   the   Great  Fish 

River  were  the  limits  on  the  north  and 

east   which    temporarily    detained    them 

when  the  Briton  arrived  on  the  scene. 

But  for  his  armed  support  —  the 
resources  of  Britain  in  men,  money  and 
ships — it  is  doubtful  whether  the  Boers, 
left  to  their  own  resources,  could  have 
stemmed  this  impetuous  flood  of  Basuto 
and  Kaffir  warriors.  Supposing  even 
that  Holland  had  remained  the  sovereign 
of  Cape  Colony,  could  the  Dutch  nation 
at  that  juncture  have  fought  and  van- 
quished two  or  three  millions  of  Bantu 
negroes  of  the  Zulu  and  Suto  calibre  when, 
even  with  all  the  resources  of  modern 
warfare  and  the  unquestioned  bravery  of 
her  tioops,  she  has  not  been  able  to  subdue 
the  small  sultanate  of  Achin  (Sumatra) 
between  1815  and  igo8  ? 

It  seems  very  probable  that  the  assump- 
tion of  British  control  over  Cape  Colony 
in  1806,  and  later  over  Natal,  saved  South 
Africa  for  the  white  man,  who,  in  the 
temperate  regions  of  the  south-west,  had 
just  as  much  right  there  as  the  Bantu. 
The  subsequent  effect  of  British  rule  has 
not  been  to  lessen  the  black  population  of 
Trans-Zambesian  Africa.  The  Bushmen, 
already  half  absorbed  by  the  Hottentots 
and  nearly  exterminated  by  the  Bantu, 
are,  it  is  true,  only  about  4,000  to-day, 
where  there  were  perhaps  10,000  seventy 
years  ago,  and  the  Hottentots  are  a  decay- 
ing people  to  some  slight  extent.  They 
seem  more  likely  to  exist  in  a  half-caste 
type,  the  original  hybrids  with  the  Boers 
— Griqua — mixing    again    with    the    pure 


bred  Hottentots  and  strengthening  the 
race.  But,  thanks  to  the  staying  of  civil 
war  and  mad  superstitions  among  the 
Kaffirs,  holocausts  of  slaughter  and 
incessant  murderous  raids  by  all  the  Zulu 
clans,  conquests  and  ravages  by  the  differ- 
ent Suto  or  Bechuana  tribes  between  the 
Upper  Zambesi  and  the  Orange  River,  the 
settled  Bantu  population  of  Southern 
Africa — Zambesi  to  Algoa  Bay — has  in- 
creased probably  from  3,500,000,  as  we 
may  compute  it  to  have  been  in  1806,  to 
nearly  6,000,000  at  the  present  day. 

The  increase  has  been  most  marked  in 
Eastern  Cape  Colony,  Natal,  Basutoland, 
Bechuanaland,  Eastern  Rhodesia,  and 
Portuguese  South-eastern  Africa,  where 
the  conditions  of  native  life  have  been 
vastly  improved  by  the  wages  of  the 
mining  labour  market  in  Kimberley, 
the  Orange  State,  and  the  Transvaal. 
Unfortunately,  although  the  Imperial  rule 
of  Britain  has  been — no  honest  person  or 
competent  judge  can  deny — a  very  great 
blessing  to  humanity  in  West,  East,  and 
South  Africa,  it  has  in  the  south  and  south- 
centre,  and  a  little  in  the  east,  spelt  ruin 
to  the  magnificent  wild  mammalian  fauna. 

The  Boer  hunters  counted  for  something 
in  this  work  of  thoughtless  destruction, 
but  only  as  the  disciples  of  British  sports- 
men. These  were  originally  officers  in  the 
army,  for  the  most  part  visiting  the  Cape 
on  their  way  to  or  from  India.  India  had 
initiated  them  into  the  joys  and  thrills  of 
big-game  shooting,  the  rifle  had  come  into 
general  use  as  a  sporting  weapon  of  pre- 
cision, and  thus  were  provoked  the  won- 
derful crusades  against  elephants,  buffalo, 
,       antelopes,  rhinoceroses,  giraffes, 

un  ers  jjons,  hippopotami,  zebras, 
C^  '  d^^  which  have  ended  by  leaving 
nearly  all  Cape  Colony  with 
no  more  notable  wild  beasts  than  a  few 
baboons,  leopards,  jackals,  civets,  spring- 
boks, and  rodents  ;  a  campaign  wliich  has 
placed  the  quagga  and  the  blaubok  on  the 
list  of  extinct  animals,  and  has  brought 
the  white  rhinoceros.  South  African  oryx, 
and  several  other  interesting  mammalian 
types  very  near  the  vanishing  point. 


BRITISH     ENTERPRISE    IN    AFRICA  :    THE    NYASSA-TANGANYIKA    ROAD 


630 


D"J 


THE 
BRITISH 
EMPIRE 

XVII 


A-fe  A 


BY  SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON. 

G.C.M.G. 


MAN'S      TRIUMPH      OVER      NATURE 

THE     WONDERFUL     RECORD     OF     BRITISH 
ACHIEVEMENT   THROUGHOUT   THE   WORLD 


HTHE  British  nation  has  not  merely  fought 
■*■  with  rival  or  recalcitrant  men  for  the 
colonisation,  retention,  and  development  of 
its  empire  ;  it  has  done  things  more  \\  orthy 
of  remembrance  perhaps  than  that.  It  has 
steadily  fought  the  reactionary  forces  of 
Nature,  and  has  often  scored  a  victory. 

Surely  something  of  the  genius  of  old 
Rome  must  have  left  its  germs  in  British 
soil  and  been  absorbed  by  British  men  and 
women,  whether  they  were  Kelto-Roman, 
Danish,  Saxon,  Norman,  or  French  in 
their  ancestr3^  The  Roman  nature  of  our 
public  works  is  not  of  to-day  or  the  last 
century  only.  Even  the  roystering,  dissi- 
pated, drunken,  peculating  soldiers  and 
officials  of  Charles  II.  left  traces  of  their 
brief  occupation  of  Tangier  in  the  massive 
masonry  of  the  mole.  Though  it  is  105 
years  since  we  lost  Minorca,  \ve  have 
dowered  that  island  with  magnificent 
„  ...        roads,   bridges,   quays,  and  bas- 

Builders    ,•  n      ?      -u  \ii,       ■ 

tions.  Cortu  bears  the  impress 
J,     .        of    the    practical    British    mind 

more  thoroughly  than  any  civil- 
ised influence  that  has  preceded  or  followed. 
The  public  works  of  Aden  are  tremendous, 
awe-inspiring,  even  though  they  may  be 
but  the  logical  continuation  of  cyclopean 
tasks  begun  by  prehistoric  Arabs. 

In  Canada,  before  the  united  "  dominion  " 
days,  the  British  and  colonial  govern- 
ments had  constructed  canals  across  the 
Niagara  Peninsula,  alongside  the  rapids  of 
the  St.  Lawrence.  These  have  been  sub- 
sequently extended  and  improved  by  the 
dominion  government,  until  now  the 
waters  of  Lake  Superior — 2,200  miles  in- 
land— and  the  other  great  fresh-water  seas 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  system,  including  the 
port  of  Chicago,  are  in  direct  steamer  com- 
rnirnication,  for  reasonably  small  steamers, 
with  Britain  and  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Since  Canada  became  a  self-governing 
countr3',  British  capital  and  credit  almost 
entirely — besides  British  heads  and  arms 
— have  built  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway, 


which  has  revolutionised  the  economics 
of  Northern  America.  Energy,  either  of 
direct  or  indirect  British  origin,  is  com- 
bating the  Glacial  Period  in  North-western 
Canada,  in  the  region  of  the  Yukon, 
grappling  with  the  permanently  frozen 
„      .......      soil,  extorting  riches  and  com- 

PoSSlbllltieS      r        ,r  i.u       •  2-1         ^    ■      ■ 

t  r  fort  irom  the  icy  north,  driving 

of  Energy        u      1      m.  C      1    ^  u 

and  Sci  n  back,  it  may  be,  later  on,  by 
the  resources  of  science  that 
hatefullest  affliction  of  our  mother  earth, 
that  possible  foreshadowing  of  the  end  of 
all  things  we  shall  never  see — the  icy 
touch  which  brought  about  many  succes- 
sive glacial  periods,  and  rendered  the 
Polar  regions,  north  and  south,  un- 
inhabitable. It  is  just  possible  that  the 
energy  of  Britons  or  the  descendants  of 
Britons  may  push  back  artificially  the 
realm  of  ice  to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic 
Ocean,  bringing  in  happier  conditions  of 
climate,  and  turning  to  account  millions 
of  acres  of  rich  soil  now  locked  in  ice  that 
has  not  melted  for  100,000  years. 

In  Tropical  America  and  the  West 
Indies  our  achievements  have  not  been  so 
colossal.  Here  they  should  lie  in  the  ex- 
termination of  disease.  We  have,  how- 
ever, erected  and  endowed  colleges,  built 
railroads,  roads,  and  bridges — Jamaica, 
almost  from  end  to  end,  Barbados,  British 
Honduras  (uncompleted),  and  Trinidad — 
and  regulated  forests.  In  i8g8  was 
founded  the  Imperial  Department  of 
Agriculture  for  the  West  Indies  under 
_      .     .        Sir   Daniel   Morris.     This  de- 

e\e  oping     partment   is  at    present   paid 

^^^  .  J  ..  for  by  the  Imperial  Govern- 
West  Indies  i.        T^    1  1         1 

ment.  It  has  rendered  great 
services  to  torestry,  agriculture  and  horti- 
culture in  the  West  Indies.  A  great  deal 
has  been  done  in  recent  years  to  open  up 
the  asphalt  resources — the  lakes  of  pitch 
— in  Trinidad  and  Barbados,  the  diamond 
and  gold  mines  of  British  Guiana,  together 
with  the  water  power  developed  by  the 
cascades  that  tumble  from  the  edges  of 

5631 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF     THE    WORLD 


the  Vene/;uelan  Plateau.  Forestry  in 
British  Guiana,  'British  Honduras  and 
Trinidad,  has  received  some  attention. 
Horticulture  has  beer  much  and  wisely 
developed  in  Jamaica,  and  the  more  im- 
portant of  the  West  India  Islands.  From 
Jamaica,  indeed,  West  and  Central  Africa 
have  received  most  valuable  contribu- 
.  tions  in  the  shape  of  improved 
zl^^^r"  varieties  of  cotton,  coffee, 
.  j*"^  bananas,  oranges  and  many  use- 
ful plants  for  tropical  cultiva- 
tion. In  the  Falkland  Islands,  since  our 
definite  assumption  of  authority  in  1833, 
much  has  been  done  to  develop  the  possi- 
bilities of  cattle  and  sheep  breeding.  Lat- 
terly, sheep  have  become  more  important 
than  anything  else,  not  necessarily  for  ex- 
port in  the  form  of  mutton  and  wool,  but 
for  the  rearing  of  good  rams  for  breeding 
purposes.  These  are  exported  to  South 
America.  Here  also  has  been  made  an 
important  coaling  and  provisioning  station 
for  vessels  going  round  Cape  Horn. 

The  first  great  public  works  of  Britain 
in  India  were  probably  trunk  roads.  These 
were  begun  as  far  back  as  1790,  when  the 
East  India  Company  settled  down  seriously 
to  taking  up  the  reins  of  government. 
The  great  trunk^:^  road  from  Calcutta  and 
Bengal  to  Peshawar  was  first  projected 
by  an  Afghan  emperor,  Sher  Shah,  and 
was  more  than  half  completed  by  the 
Mogul  rulers.  It  was  continued  by  the 
East  India  Company,  and  finished  about 
1830.  A  great  triumph  in  roadmaking, 
achieved  early  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
was  the  road  up  the  Ghats  from  Bombay 
Island  to  the  interior  plateau.  The  roads 
of  British  India  now  run  to  193,000  miles 
of  metalled  and  unmetalled  surface. 

Canals  in  India  followed  the  damming 
of  streams — .especially  parallel  with  the 
seaj-coast  of  Malabar,  where  they  linked 
one  lagoon  to  another — and  then  came 
the  construction  of  great  irrigation 
works.  There  are  now  4,055  miles  of 
navigable  canals    in    India   and 


The  Era 
of  Indian 
Railways 


about    43,500    miles    of    irriga- 
tion  canals    bringing   water    to 


13,606,000  acres.  In  1850  began 
the  era  of  railways.  By  the  end  of  the 
nineteenth  century'  the  Indian  Govern- 
ment had  constructed  about  25,000  miles 
(November,  1908,  about  30,000  miles) 
of  railways,  from  the  hill  stations  of  the 
Himalayas,  such  as  Darjeeling  and  Simla, 
to  Cape  Comorin,  opposite  Ceylon,  and 
from   the   frontier  of   Arakan   to   Quetta 

5632 


and  the  Afghan  frontier.  Since  then,  the 
railways  have  been  creeping  on  towards 
the  Persian  Gulf,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
Burma  on  the  other.  Before  long,  no 
doubt,  there  will  be  direct  railway  com- 
munication from  some  port  on  the  Persian 
Gulf,  from  which  again  a  connection 
across  Persia  with  the  Russian  railway 
system  is  inevitable,  to  Singapore. 

Some  of  us  who  read  these  lines  may 
yet  live — still  enjoying  health  and  vigour — 
to  travel  from  Calais  to  Singapore  without 
changing  the  carriage,  or,  if  something  less 
"  1850  "  than  the  present  condition  of 
the  South-Eastern  Railway  can  be  brought 
into  existence,  we  maj'  enter  our  travelling 
and  sleeping  compartment  at  Charing 
Cross,  and  enjoy  a  marvellous  panorama 
of  the  most  varied  landscapes,  races  and 
products  of  the  earth's  surface  before  we 
quit  our  compartment  at  the  southern- 
most extremity  of  the  Malay  Peninsula. 

The  engineering  works  of  India,  such 
as  the  great  bridge  across  the  Indus  at 
Attock,  are  worthy  examples  of  the 
mechanical  achievements  of  the  British 
Empire.  So  is  the  bridging  of  the  Zambesi 
at  the  Victoria  Falls  in  South 
Central    Africa  ;     so     is    the 


A  Series  of 
Engineering 
Triumphs 


damming  of  the  Nile  at 
Assuan,  Esna,  Assiut  andZifta. 
These  engineering  works,  conducted 
under  the  auspices  of  Great  Britain  in 
Egypt,  have  conferred  enormous  benefits 
on  the  peasantry  and  the  industries  of 
that  country.  Water  has  been  brought 
from  the  foot-hills  of  Ethiopia  to  Port 
Sudan,  and  also  to  the  town  of  Suakin. 
The  Red  Sea  has  been  united  with 
Khartoum  by  a  railway,  and  Khartoum 
with  Upper  Egypt.  Steamers  now  ply  on 
the  Nile  from  Khartoum  to  the  Uganda 
frontier,  and  right  into  the  heart  of  Africa 
up  the  tributaries  of  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal 
or  to  the  Abyssinian  frontier  on  the  Sobat. 
On  the  West  African  coast  the  pubHc 
works  have  not  been  altogether  worthy  of 
the  British  Empire  until  quite  recently. 
Down  to  a  very  few  years  ago  everyone  of 
high  and  low  degree  who  desired  to  land 
or  embark  on  the  Gold  Coast  had  to  do  so 
more  or  less  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  in 
heavy  surf-boats,  through  breakers  that 
occasionally  capsized  the  boats  and 
drowned  the  passengers.  Even  at  the 
present  day,  Freetown,  the  capital  of 
Sierra  Leone,  is  very  early  nineteenth 
century,  and  compares  unfavourably  with 
the    new    French    cities     of     North-west 


MAN'S    TRIUMPH    OVER     NATURE 


Africa,  where  the  ocean-going  steamer 
can  draw  up  alongside  a  magnificent 
quay.  At  Freetown  the  passenger  has 
still  to  embark  or  land  in  a  small  boat. 
But  things  are  moving,  even  in  British 
West  Africa.  The  public  works  of  the 
Sierra  Leone  Protectorate  are  worthy  of 
portions  of  India  in  the  way  of  roads  and 
bridges,  and  a  railway  of  230  miles  con- 
nects Freetown  with  the  north-western 
frontier  of  Liberia,  and  has  already  doubled 
the  exports  of  the  country  that  was  once 
called  the  "  white  man's  grave." 

There  is  also  a  railway  advancing  from 
Lagos  to  the  Niger,  and  from  the  Niger 
across  to  the  commercial  centres  of 
the  Hausa  country,  perhaps  linking  up 
some  day  with  the  railways  of  Egypt  and 
of  French  West  Africa.  No  enterprise 
would  be  more  beneficial  to  the  commerce 
and  peoples  of  Africa  than  a  railway  from 
the  Mediterranean  to  the  Gulf  of  Guinea 
across  the  Sahara  Desert  ;  for  the  railway 
causes  the  desert  to  blossom  as  the  rose. 
If  only  the  dread  of  Germany  could  be  put 
aside,  and  Britain  and  France  could  turn 
their  entente  to  the  magnificent  end  of 
crossing  the  Sahara  by  a  rail- 
u"'th'*^  way,  they  would  have  achieved 
„**  .  a  triumph  over  recalcitrant 
Nature  as  grand  as  the  attacks 
on  the  Glacial  Period  which  are  going 
on  in  North-western  Canada.  One  of  the 
best  schemes  conceived  by  Rhodes — his 
own  especial  scheme,  started  and  main- 
tained by  his  own  money — was  the 
trans-African  telegraph,  a  line  which 
was  to  run  from  the  Cape  to  Cairo. 

Thus  far,  the  communication  is  inter- 
rupted in  several  places.  Through  the 
efforts  of  the  British  South  Africa  Company, 
Cape  Town  is  linked  with  Lake  Nyassa  and 
the  south  end  of  Tanganyika,  and  even  with 
Ujiji  in  German  East  Africa.  The  next 
gap  to  fill  will  be  from  Ujiji  to  the  tele- 
graph system  of  the  Uganda  Protectorate. 
This  extends  no  further,  at  present,  than 
Lake  Albert.  Probably  by  the  time  these 
lines  are  in  print  it  will  have  reached 
Gondokoro.  From  this  point  there  is 
no  further  break  till  Alexandria  is  reached, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Nile.  A  land  line 
now  goes  from  Lagos  to  the  heart  of 
British  Nigeria,  and  from  Sierra  Leone  to 
the  north-west  frontier  of  Liberia. 

This  last  will  soon  be  linked  with  the 
French  land  lines  of  Senegambia,  and 
these  again,  before  many  years  are  past, 
will  have   traversed    the    Sahara    Desert. 


A  telegraph  line  crosses  the  inhospitable 
interior  of  Australia  from  north  to  south. 
It  has  seemed  to  the  present  writer  that 
this  was  one  of  the  most  marvellous 
achievements  in  its  way  to  be  placed  to 
the  credit  of  the  British  Empire.  The 
central  part  of  Australia  is  a  more  terrible 
desert,   perhaps,    than    any   part   of    the 

•     ...  Sahara.     At   the    time   the 

Australia  ,        ^    ,    ,  t    ^■ 

«  J  k    *t     overland  telegraph  Ime  was 

spanned  by  the  i  •,  ^  ,•      n 

Teleera  h  Conceived  it  was  practically 

an  unknown  country ;  all 
that  was  recorded  of  it  was  the  death  or 
disappearance  of  explorers.  It  was  not 
uninhabited,  though  almost  uninhabitable 
(in  its  pristine  conditions),  but  the  in- 
digenes were  hostile  and  treacherous. 
Yet  these  difficulties  were  overcome,  and 
in  a  few  years.  The  spanning  of  Australia 
by  this  wire  deserves  to  rank  among  the. 
great   Imperial  achievements. 

Although  carried  out  by  commercial 
companies  and  not  directly  by  the  govern- 
ment, mention  must  be  made  here  of  the 
deep-sea  cables  which  are  another  source 
of  gratification  to  our  national  pride. 
Great  Britain  was  long  the  first  to  con- 
struct and  lay  a  deep-sea  cable.  The 
whole  conception  and  working  out  of 
this  feat  in  all  its  parts  was  the  work  of 
British  minds.  All  the  great  oceans,  the 
narrow  connecting  seas  of  the  world,  are 
now  spanned  by  British  cables.  Africa  is 
girdled  with  them,  so  is  South  America. 

Thus  we  have  striven  to  conquer  dis- 
tance and  efface  time.  In  the  course  of  a 
few  hours  we  can  send  a  message  to  the 
heart  of  Central  Africa,  to  the  watershed 
of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  to  the  hill  stations 
of  the  Himalayas,  and  receive  a  reply  ; 
and  the  agency  principally  or  wholly 
employed  will  have  been  a  British-laid 
cable  or  a  British-hung  land  wire.  We  can 
travel  from  Cape  Town  to  the  Victoria 
Falls  in  five  days  where  Livingstone  fifty 
years  ago  took  five  months.  We  can 
traverse  India  from  Baluchistan  to  the 
vicinity  of  Burma  in  another 
esu  s  o     ^^^  ^^yg .  ^^^  -^  ^  period  of  time 

_'^*  **    .      scarcely  longer,  rush  from    the 
n  erprise  ^^^^^^^g  q£  ^j-^g  Himalayas  to  the 

Equatorial  luxuriance  of  Ceylon.  Already 
Egypt,  under  British  guidance,  is  feeling 
her  way  in  railway  construction  towards 
Tripoli  and  across  Arabia. 

If  Turkey  can  be  brought  to  see  the 
advantages  of  co-operation,  there  may  be 
still  within  our  lifetime  a  delightful  alterna- 
tive railway  route  to  India,  say  for  the  winter 

5633 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


season,  when  the  hne  through  France, 
Switzerland.  Italy,  Austria,  Roumania, 
Russia,  and  Persia  is  too  cold.  By  the 
alternative  route  vve  may  travel  via  Paris, 
Madrid,  Algeciras,  Tetuan,  Algiers,  Tunis, 
Tripoli,  Cairo,  and  Basra — unless  before 
that  time  airships  or  aeroplanes  that  are 
really  safe,  certain  and  commodious  have 
_  .  made  railways  only  useful  for 

ai  ways    ^      goods    traffic.     The    present 

as  a  Civilising  °    .,  ,,,  r       ai- 

,  ,,  writer  would  be  sorry  for  this. 

Nothing  fertilises,  nothing 
pacifies,  nothing  civilises  like  a  railway. 
Perhaps,  in  fairness,  something  should  be 
said  about  what  Britain  has  done  about 
steam  communication  at  sea.  The  British 
Empire  has  given  birth  to  a  marvellous 
mercantile  marine.  Being  of  necessity  the 
creation  and  dependent  of  sea  power, 
this  fleet  of  g.ooo  or  10,000  steamships 
has  always  had  a  strong  navy  as  its  corol- 
lary. But  the  triumphs  of  peace  have  been 
those  of  the  mercantile  marine,  a  marine 
that  has  grown  up  and  prospered  with  very 
little  direct  encouragement  from  the  state. 

The  first  practicable  British  steamers — 
paddle-wheelers — plied  about  the  west 
coast  of  Scotland  from  1812  onwards.  In 
1833  the  first  thorough-going  steamship — 
i.e.,  not  a  sailing  vessel  with  auxiliary 
steam  power — crossed  the  Atlantic,  the 
Royal  William,  of  Quebec.  This  steamer 
made  the  journey  from  Nova  Scotia 
to  Gravesend  in  twenty-two  days.  She 
had  been  entirely  built  by  Canadians 
on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  was  engineered 
by  them  across  the  Atlantic.  The  return 
voyage  was  first  made  by  an  Irish  steamer 
of  the  Cork  Packet  Company.  The  City 
of  Dublin  Steam  Packet  Company  had  been 
founded  in  1823,  and  really  became  the 
parent  of  the  great  Peninsular  and  Oriental 
Steam  Navigation  Company  in  1826. 

This  line  originally  started  by  a  feeble 
steamship  service  to  Gibraltar,  then 
was  extended  in  1839-1840  to  Alexandria 
to  meet  the  demand  for  the  overland 
route.  Others  of  its  steamships 
D  *  Vth  ^^^  painfully  laboured  through 
St**^*  °h*  stormy  seas  round  the  Cape, 
and  established  themselves  on 
the  Red  Sea  side  of  the  Isthmus  of  Suez. 
The  General  Steam  Navigation  Company 
was  founded  in  1824  \  f  h^  first  steam  voyage 
to  India,  round  the  Cape,  was  made  in 
1825  ;  the  Aberdeen  Line — George  Thomp- 
son— had  been  founded  in  1824 ;  the 
Harrison  Line  in  1830  ;  the  Royal  Mail — 
West  Indian  Line — in  1839  !  the  City  Line 

5634 


of  Glasgow  in  1839  ;  the  Cunard  in  1840. 
In  this  same  year  the  Pacific  Steam 
Navigation  Company  began  running 
steamers  to  South  America.  The  Wilson 
Line  of  Hull  was  founded  in  1845  ;  the 
Natal  Line — ^Bullard — and  the  Inman  Line 
in  1850  ;  the  Bibby  in  1851  ;  the  Anchor 
Line  (Indian)  and  the  African  Steamship 
Company  in  1852  ;  the  Union  Steamship 
Company'  (of  South  Africa)  in  1853  ;  the 
Allan  in  1854  \  the  British  India  Steam 
Navigation  Company  in  1855.  Several  of 
these  lines  of  steamships  began  as  associa- 
tions trading  with  sailing-ships,  so  that 
some  of  the  great  houses  with  their  won- 
derful modern  fleets  of  passenger  and 
cargo  steamers  have  a  history  beginning 
with  the  nineteenth  century. 

British  statesmen  have  left  one  blot  on 
the  record  of  British  prescience,  in  that 
they  never  believed  in  or  encouraged  the 
cutting  of  the  Suez  Canal,  nor  realised  till 
the  work  was  an  accomplished  fact  what 
a  marvellous  gain  it  would  be  to  the 
shipping  industry  of  the  British  Empire. 
Ferdinand  de  Lesseps  was  one  of  the 
greatest  benefactors  of  the  British  Empire. 
_  .  ,  The  remembrance  of  that  fact 
_"     "         should  be  an  additional  incite- 

„       ,  ment  to  an  everlasting  friend- 

Frenchman       ,  .  -,1     T^  T^ 

ship  with  r  ranee,  ror  many 
years  the  British  steamship  companies  held 
the  field  in  regard  to  all  long  sea  j  ourneys. 
Then  there  grew  up  rivalry  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, the  Red  Sea,  and  Indian  waters 
on  the  part  of  steamship  lines  from  Mar- 
seilles, Trieste,  Genoa,  and  Barcelona  to 
Tropical  America  ;  Hamburg  to  the  West 
Coast  of  Africa  ;  Rotterdam  to  the  Malay 
Archipelago  ;  and,  after  1880,  that  mar- 
vellous development  of  German  shipping 
enterprise,  which  created  first-class  steamer 
communication  between  the  north-eastern 
ports  of  Germany  and  almost  all  parts  of 
the  world.  In  speed  the  British  vessels 
still  hold  their  own,  though  it  is  a  neck  and 
neck  race  with  Germany.  In  comfort, 
modernity  of  appliances,  and  food,  it  is  to 
be  feared  that  the  German,  French,  and 
Austrian  liners  are  superior  to  the  British. 
The  Nobel  Prize,  however,  has  yet 
to  be  awarded  to  that  steamship  line 
which  introduces  the  surest  element  of 
civilisation  into  its. passenger  traffic — one 
passenger,  one  cabin.  It  ought  to  be  made 
penal  to  compel  two,  three,  or  four  unre- 
lated strangers  to  share  a  single  sleeping 
compartment.  In  forestry  and  horticulture 
the  British  Empire  has  taken  a  leading 


THE     LANSDOWNE     BRIDGE     OVER     THE     INDUS     AT     SUKKUR      F.  Bremner,  Ouctia 


THE    REVERSING    RAILWAY    STATION    AT    KHANDALLA    IN     INDIA  ^ '"'• 


OVERCOMING   NATURE'S   DIFFICULTIES:    TRIUMPHS   OF   BRITISH    ENTERPRISE 

5635 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


of  Biological 
Research 


part,  though  it  has  irequently  l)orro\ved 
from  Germany  its  adepts  in  forestry  and 
economic  botany,  to  the  great  advantage 
of  British  research  in  those  di)-ections.  The 
names  of  Gustav  Mann,  West  Africa  and 
India ;  of  Brandis  and  Kurz,  the  Hima- 
layas ;  Sir  Juhus  Vogel,  New  Zealand  ; 
Dr.  Otto  Stapf,  Kew  Gardens,  will  at 
once  occur  to  themind  of  any 
,„.  .  ^.  .  reader  interested  in  these 
subjects.  But  there  have  been 
great  exponents  of  what  might 
be  termed  Imperial  botany  of  wholly 
British  descent — men  like  Sir  Joseph 
Banks,  Sir  Joseph  Hooker,  Professor  Daniel 
Oliver,  Sir  W.  Thiselton  Dyer,  Sir  Daniel 
Morris,  and  Lieut. -Col.  D.  Prain. 

The  work  of  these  men  is  of  even  greater 
fame  in  Germany,  France,  Belgium,  and  the 
United  States  than  to  the  careless  minds 
of  Britishers,  so  indifferent  in  the  main  to 
scientific  research.  Purely  scientific  re- 
search, and  the  reading  of  the  world's  past 
history,  the  very  secrets  of  the  origin  and 
development  of  living  forms,  have  owed 
nearly  as  much  to  the  exploring  journeys, 
of  Hooker  in  the  Himalayas  and  on  the 
Atlas  Mountains  of  Morocco  as  they  did 
to  the  king  of  British  biological  research, 
Darwin — Darwin,  who  also  qualified  as  an 
agent  or  servant  of  the  empire  when  he 
accompanied  the  Beagle  on  its  famous 
cruise  in  the  interests  of  science. 

Sir  John  Kirk,  in  a  somewhat  similar 
capacity  in  connection  with  Livingstone's 
government  expeditions,  opened  our  eyes 
to  the  wealth  and  the  economic  importance 
of  the  East  African  flora.  British  enter- 
prise has  introduced  the  tea-shrub  into 
India  and  Ceylon,  cotton  into  alL  parts  of 
Africa  and  the  Pacific,  cacao  into  West 
Africa,  coffee  into  Ceylon,  Nyassaland, 
Jamaica,    and   Trinidad. 

Sir  Clements  Markham  won  his  eventual 
C.B.  and  his  first  renown  by  his  splendid 
attempts  to  secure  the  seed  of  the  cin- 
chona-tree, jealously  guarded  as  its  trans- 
mission was  by  American  In- 


Blessings 


dians     and    South     American 


of  Botaaical  ,  ^^  ^^    j   .x 

n.  .      governments.     He  enabled  the 

Discoveries  °-      ,  ,      ,  i       ,     t        •  i   i 

cmchona  to  be  planted  widely 

over   the   tropical   regions  of   the   world, 

and  brought  down  the  price  of  quinine, 

the  most  potent  drug  yet  known  against 

malaria    fever,    till    it    eventually    came 

within    the   reach   of   poor    sufferers.     If 

in    this   field  of   botany   and  agriculture 

there  have  been  triumphs,  what  are  we  to 

say  about  zoology  ?     Well,  there  are  two 

5636 


sides  to  the  account,  though  the  debit 
balance  of  humanity  is  largely  in  the 
ascendant.  We  are  credited,  and  only  too 
truly,  with  having  caused  over  Tropical 
Africa  a  devastation  in  the  mammalian 
fauna  which  it  might  have  taken  a  whole 
geological  epoch  to  have  brought  about. 

Gordon  Gumming,  Cotton  Oswell, 
William  Webb,  William  Baldwin,  and  F.  C.  I 
Selous  led  the  way  in  that  crusade  against  ■ 
the  big  game  of  the  South  African  penin- 
sula which  has  gone  far  to  rob  that  future 
confederation  of  one  of  its  most  attractive 
possessions  in  the  eyes  of  educated  men 
and  women.  Oswell,  Baldwin,  and 
Selous  were,  at  any  rate,  naturalists  who 
greatly — Selous  very  greatly — enriched 
scientific  zoology  with  specimens  and 
information  as  to  life  and  habits. 

The  rampant  desire  to  kill,  kill,  kill,  to 
have  the  joy  of  hearing  the  bullet  go  plunk 
into  a  mighty  carcass,  or  some  form  of  mar- 
vellous beauty  and  swiftness,  still  animates 
the  minds  of  most  South  African  pioneers 
who  are  carrying  on  the  work  of  empire 
ever  nearer  to  the  Equator.  Much  of  the 
big  game  of  Somaliland  near  the  coast 
,      .       .     .        has  been  killed  out.  Every- 

R^afrof'"  °^^  '"'^^  ^^^  ^^^"^  divorced 

VI*'*  1  u-  .  or  who  wishes  to  divorce, 
Natural  History       ,        ■       ,,  ,  ■,        m.i 

who  IS   threatened  with   a 

breach  of  promise  action,  or  has  made  an  ass 
of  himself — in  the  phrase  of  his  relations — 
hies  to  East  Africa  to  wipe  out  an  unpleasant 
little  piece  of  past  by  big-game  shooting. 

There  are,  and  have  been,  of  course, 
important  exceptions  to  this  category — 
men  who  have  shot  wisely  and  well,  and 
who  have  observed  and  annotated,  and 
have  thus  enriched  not  only  our  museums 
with  important  specimens — skins,  bones, 
and  pickled  corpses — but  who  have  given 
us  the  life  history  of  the  animals  they 
pursued.  Natural  history,  a  better  term 
in  this  last  respect  than  biology,  owes 
much  to  the  writings  of  Livingstone,  Sir 
Samuel  Baker,  W.  C.  Oswell,  Baldwin, 
Selous,  J.  G.  Millais,  R.  Crawshay,  Alfred 
Sharpe,  Alfred  Neumann,  E.  N.  Buxton 
in  Africa,  Sir  Emerson  Tennant  in  Ceylon, 
Sir  Samuel  Baker,  Dr.  W.  T.  Blanford, 
B.  H.  Hodgson,  and  R.  Lydekker  in  India 
and  Central  Asia.  One  of  the  leaders  in 
this  modern  movement  of  the  camera 
versus  rifle,  himself  distinguished  as  a 
shot  and  pursuer  of  shy  beasts  over 
difficult  ground,  is  Edward  North  Buxton, 
who  has  illustrated  the  rare  wild  beasts  of 
Corsica,  Sardinia,  Central  Africa,  and  the 


MAN'S    TRIUMPH    OVER    NATURE 


Sinai  Peninsula,  besides  those  of  Eastern 
Africa.  J.  G.  Millais  has  perhaps  done 
the  most  striking  work  of  all,  in  founding 
a  school  in  the  artistic  and  faithful  por- 
trayal of  the  wild  life  of  beasts  and  birds  in 
Britain,  South  Africa,  and  Newfoundland. 

As  regards  great  naturalists — biologists 
if  you  will — men  to  whom  the  study 
of  all  living  things  was  one,  indifferent  as 
to  whether  they  exercised  their  wits  on 
geology,  botany,  zoology,  anthropology — 
what  a  crown  of  glory  will  rest  over  the 
British  Empire  as  long  as  British  records 
remain !  Darwin  at  the  apex,  Huxley, 
Sir  Charles  Lyell,  Sir  Joseph  Hooker, 
Alfred  Russel  Wallace,  Sir  John  Murray 
of  the  Challenger — a  Canadian,  Sir 
Richard  Owen,  Six  William  Flower,  Henry 
Walter  Bates,  Sir  E.  Ray  Lankester, 
Alfred  Garrod,  W.  A.  Forbes,  P.  L.  Sclater, 
E.  B.  Tylor,  Alfred  Newton,  F.  M.  Balfour, 
and  Wyville  Thomson.  Our  men  first 
revealed  the  curious  water  fauna  of  Lake 
Tanganyika — J.  E.  Moore  and  Dr.  W. 
Cunnington — and  then  that  of  the  Victoria 
Nyanza,  not  less  remarkable  because  of  its 
coincidence.  They — Falconer,  Lydekker, 
_  Bain,    Dr.   Anderson,    Dr.   Lyons, 

P  *  ^  Capt.  Gregory,  and  others — dis- 
f  M  covered,  elucidated,  and  illus- 
trated the  wonderful  extinct 
mammaHan  fauna  of  North-west  India,  the 
strange  beast-reptiles  of  South  Africa,  the 
early  elephants,  Sirenia,  hyraces  of  Eocene 
Egypt,  the  extraordinary  giant  mar- 
supials and  birds  of  Pleiocene  Australia. 
These  achievements  not  only  led  to  the 
purest  of  all  joys,  the  increase  of  abstract 
knowledge,  but  have  aided  us  in  our  fight 
against  the  real  reactionary  Nature. 

For,  in  the  most  part  the  deadliest  foes 
of  man  are  the  minutest  organisms  at  the 
bottom  of  the  tree  of  life,  simple  develop- 
ments of  living  matter  scarcely  to  be 
classified  as  animal  or  vegetable.  In 
the  fight  against  the  bacillus,  spiril- 
lum, amoeba,  coccidium,  treponema  and 
trypanosome,  the  British  Empire  has 
taken  a  leading  place — a  dominant  place 
almost,  not  forgetting  the  splendid  co- 
operation of  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and 
America.  Sir  Patrick  Manson,  Ronald 
Ross,  and  others,  discovered  the  whole 
process  by  which  amaeboid  spores  are 
introduced  into  the  human  system  by 
such  agencies  as  the  mosquito,  tick,  and 
flea,  thereby  producing  malarial  fever 
and  other  dread  diseases.  Sir  David 
Bruce    elucidated    the    mystery    of    the 


tsetse  disease  and,  in  concert  with 
Drs.  Nabarro  and  Castellani,  solved  the 
problem  of  sleeping  sickness.  An  Indian 
army  medical  officer.  Colonel  Lambkin, 
has  discovered  a  means  of  inoculating  for 
syphilis — syphilis,  like  sleeping  sickness,  is 
produced  by  a  flagellate  protozoon,  in  this 
case  a  treponema — which  may  eventu- 
Thc  Toll  ^^^y  stamp  out  that  horrible 
of  Sleeping  malady.  Our  eagerness  to  open 
Sickness  ^P  Equatorial  Africa  brought 
the  sleeping  sickness  into 
Uganda,  and  has  cost  that  protectorate 
in  all  nearly  100,000  hves.  This  is  a 
terrible  item  at  first  sight,  but  one  we  can 
balance  at  once  by  discounting  the  (at 
least)  100,000  hves  probably  lost  in 
Uganda  and  Unyoro  during  the  reigns  of 
the  kings  Mtesa,  Kabarega,  and  Mwanga, 
by  the  internecine  wars,  poison  ordeals, 
slave-raids,  famines,  and  other  causes  of 
depopulation  which  have  been  abolished 
by  the  introduction  of  law  and  order 
under    the    British    aegis. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  also  that  the 
indigenous  population  of  Africa  was  exempt 
from  these  awful  visitations  of  disease 
before  we  mixed  them  all  up  ;  before  we 
opened  routes  this  way  and  that  way 
across  the  continent,  which  conveyed 
disease  through  insect  agencies  from  one 
lot  of  people  to  another,  hitherto  separated 
by  mutual  distrust  or  by  pathless  forests. 
On  the  contrary,  before  the  white  man 
arrived  on  the  scene,  the  population  of 
Africa  was,  I  surmise  from  native  legends 
and  traditions,  constantly  being  wiped  out 
by  epidemics,  first  of  one  disease,  then  of 
another  ;  by  famines  due  to  unexpected 
droughts,  locusts  or  other  insect  plagues, 
or  by  attacks  on  food  crops  by  herds  of 
elephants,  and  the  destruction  of  live- 
stock by  lions  and  leopards. 

These  are  all  evils  which  have  been  or  are 
being  abated  by  British  energies.  I  confi- 
dently expect  that  we  shall  soon  have 
mastered  the  mysteries  of  sleeping  sick- 
ness, blackwater  fever,  cholera, 
and   many  other  diseases,  and 


Sanitation 
the  Enemy 
of  Disease 


be  able  to  prevent  them  or 
to  cure  them  with  certaint\'. 
In  India  it  has  been  realised  for  the  last 
ten  years  that  sanitation, a  cleanlinesswhich 
would  suppress  the  flea,  other  precautions 
which  would  exterminate  the  mosquito, 
might  reduce  the  mortality  from  plague, 
cholera,  and  other  dreadful  maladies  of 
the  tropics  to  small  dimensions,  ever 
dwindling  to  cessation  ;  and  this  has  been 

=5637 


HARMS  WORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


one  of  the  hardest,  most  disinterested, 
most  thankless  tasks  which  the  British 
Empire  has  taken  on  its  shoulders.  Un- 
happily, though  the  education  of  India 
has  advanced  by  leaps  and  bounds,  the 
masses  of  ignorant  Moslems  and  fanatical 
Hindus  do  not  appreciate  the  value  of 
science  and  of  a  scientific 
"  ^^^.  .  ^  conduct  in  our  lives,  any  more 
ScTencT  °^^^^  do  the  peasants  of 
Ireland,  of  some  parts  of 
England  still,  of  Spain,  Italy,  or  Russia. 
India  has  once  or  twice  been  brought 
nearer  to  general  revolt  by  honest 
and  sincere  attempts  to  get  rid  of 
plague  and  cholera  than  she  has  by  the 
imposition  of  salt  taxes  or  the  insuffer- 
able snobbishness  of  "  mem-sahibs  "  or 
eyeglassed  officers. 

Our  efforts  to  improve  the  breeds  of 
horses,  cattle,  sheep,  pigs,  goats,  dogs, 
and  many  domestic  birds  are  world- 
famous.  We  have  domesticated  the 
ostrich,  introduced  the  Angora  goat  into 
South  Africa,  the  Merino  sheep  into 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  South 
Africa ;  the  camel  into  Australia  ;  the 
horse  into  South  and  South  Central 
Africa,  Australia,  and  New  Zealand  ;  deer 
into  New  Zealand  and  Mauritius.  The 
mountain  streams  of  New  Zealand,  British 
Central  and  East  Africa  have  been 
abundantly  stocked  with  trout.  We  have 
systematised  the  preservation  of  the 
Indian  elephant,  his  capture  and  training 
for  industrial  purposes. 

When  we  first  took  Cyprus  in  hand,  the 
forests  and  the  native  agriculture  were 
disappearing  under  the  combined  attacks 
of  domestic  goats  and  swarms  of  locusts. 
The  goats  were  soon  kept  outside  the  pro- 
tected area,  but  the  fight  against  the 
locusts  was  a  struggle  that  lasted  for  many 
years.  This  hateful  insect  pest  is  now 
practically  extinct  in  Cyprus,  to  the  very 
great  gain  of  the  island's  prosperity.  We 
are  now  bracing  ourselves  for  an  attack  on 
^^  the  mosquitoes,  rats,  sparrows, 

.   tt  ,      ,  flies,  fleas,  and  other  small  but 

in  Natural      •       -r  /  .         r    ^i 

p  .  .  signincant  pests  of  the  empu"e. 
Tlie  mineral  discoveries  of  the 
British  have  already  been  alluded  to 
in  the  chapters  dealing  with  their 
economic  aspects.  Our  exploitation  of  the 
gold  of  India,  British  Columbia,  Australia, 
New  Zealand,  West  Africa,  South  Africa, 
Egypt,  British  Guiana,  and  the  Far  North- 
west of  Canada  has  added  appreciably  not 


only  to  the  wealth  of  the  world  in  general, 
but  to  that  of  the  indigenous  peoples  of  the 
gold  areas.  The  same  may  be  said  about 
the  tin  of  the  Malay  Peninsula,  the  coal  of 
India,  Natal,  Borneo,  Australia,  and 
British  Central  Africa.  We  have  dis- 
covered and  worked  petroleum  and  bitu- 
men in  Burma,  Nigeria,  and  Barbados. 

Copper  has  enabled  us  by  its  intrinsic 
value  to  gain  for  the  general  use  of  man 
the  ghastly  deserts  of  South-west  Africa 
and  Australia.  Diamonds  have  brought 
water,  trees,  flowers,  livestock,  human 
settlers,  and  the  amenities  of  a  highly 
civilised  life  to  bare,  stony,  lifeless  plateaus 
of  inner  South  Africa.  Their  attraction  is 
enabling  us  to  combat  the  choking  vegeta- 
tion of  British  Guiana. 

It  is  impossible  in  the  space  at  my  com- 
mand to  enumerate  the  names  and  the 
individual  services  of  those  British  sub- 
jects whom  the  special  conditions  of  the 
empire  have  impelled  to  wonderful  dis- 
coveries in  all  the  unenumerated  branches 
of  pure  science — philology  ;  comparative 
study  of  religious  beliefs,  mythology,  and 
folk  lore  ;  comparative  anthropology,  and 
,  all      branches     of      human 

nains  anatomy  and  medical  iuris- 

Predominance  ,        •'  j-    •  j 

•  it  %ir  .  J  prudence ;  m  medicme  and 
m  the  World      ^  •     ,  i  ,  i      r 

surgery,  m  law  and  the  fram- 
ing of  legal  codes ;  in  military  and  naval 
strategy ;  industrial  appliances  ;  electri- 
city ;  ship  construction ;  the  invention 
and  improvement  of  locomotives,  steam- 
engines,  bicycles,  automobiles,  and  tur- 
bines ;  in  chemistry  and  metallurgy ; 
in  sanitary  engineering  ;  in  architecture, 
photography,  painting,  etching,  engraving, 
book  illustrating,  printing,  cabinet-making, 
tailoring,  dressmaking,  and  upholstery  (the 
carpets  of  the  British  Empire  deserve  a 
special  mention)  ;  in  the  drama  and 
literature,  prose  and  poetry. 

Innumerable  works  of  reference  would 
show  either  the  active  participation  or 
the  predominance  of  British  citizens  in 
all  the  spheres  of  great  intellectual  and 
practical  achievements.  It  is  to  this 
record  we  appeal  in  maintaining  that — 
with  all  its  imperfections,  shortcomings, 
blunders,  or  episodes  of  wrongdoing, 
violence,  or  injustice  fully  discounted — 
the  British  Empire  has  been  a  greater 
blessing  to  the  world  at  large  and  to  all 
the  countries  within  its  scope  than  any 
congeries  of  states  under  one  head  that 
has  preceded  it  in  history. 


■638 


THE 
BRITISH 
EMPIRE 

XVIII 


BY  SIR 

HARKY 

JOHNSTON. 

G.C.M.G. 


CIVILISATION     AND     CHRISTIANITY 

EMPIRE'S    DEBT   TO   MISSIONARY    ENTERPRISE 


IT  has  been  the  custom  until  quite 
recently  to  sneer  at  missionaries,  pro- 
pagandists of  the  Christian  religion,  in  all 
circles  except  those  of  the  professedly 
devout.  The  late  Lord  Salisbury,  in  veiled 
terms,  once  or  twice  described  them  as  a 
nuisance.  They  have  often  been  regarded 
as  such  by  statesmen  who  conducted  our 
foreign  or  colonial  affairs.  I  am  not  going 
to  deny  that  there  has  been  misdirected 
zeal  in  the  past,  and  that  in  some  cases  the 
wrong  kind  of  missionary  did  a  great  deal 
of  harm  and  put  Great  Britain  to  much 
anxiety  and  expense. 

Elsewhere  I  have  animadverted  on  the 
somewhat  crack-brained,  uneducated  mis- 
sionaries who  wandered  into  Abyssinia  to 
convert  the  Abyssinians  to  a  different  kind 
of  Christianity  to  that  which  they  already 
professed,  and  who  involved  Great  Britain 
and  the  British  taxpayer  in  a  war  which 
cost  quite  a  thousand  lives  and  several 

^.      ^     .  millions  sterling.     This  is  the 

The    Good  1                   T                   n    i               j 

,,,    ,     ,  only  case   1  can  call  to  mmd 

Work  of  ,  -^                                            ,           • 

„.    .  where     missionary    enterprise 

Missions  ,      -'■i,       ,.     ^,     , 
was    excessively    ill  -  directed, 

and  where  it  gave  just  ground  for  the 
animadversions  of  the  i860  type  of 
statesman,  who  would  not  dream  of  omit- 
ting attendance  at  church  on  a  Sunday 
morning,  yet  was  perfectly  indifferent 
to  the  spiritual  or  moral  welfare  of  the 
myriads  of  black  or  brown  people  with 
whose  affairs  Great  Britain  was  begin- 
ning   to  interfere  politically. 

When  our  descendants  are  able  to  look 
back  on  things  from  the  large  end  of  the 
telescope,  and  the  history  of  the  nineteenth 
and  twentieth  centuries  is  concentrated 
into  a  single  readable  volume,  I  think  a 
very  large  part  of  that  volume  will  be 
taken  up  with  the  results  of  mission  work, 
possibly  a  larger  space  than  is  accorded  to 
the  successful  campaigns  of  great  con- 
querors by  sea  or  land.  The  point  of  view 
from  which  I  write  is  a  peculiar  one,  which 
will  probably  please  no  one  set  of  thinkers. 
I    know   it   is   no   longer    fashionable    to 


denounce  Mohammedanism  or  idol-wor- 
ship, just  as  any  lively  interest  in  a  new 
metrical  arrangement  of  the  Psalms  is 
almost  impossible  to  find,  even  in  the 
unexplored  parts  of  New  England.  My 
own  lawless  views,  if  I  may  obtrude  them 
without  impertinence,  would  be  rendered 

-_.     _  thus:  That  nearly  all  religions 

The  Supreme  1  ,  j.  u      j 

p  -        have  been  a  great  burden,  an 

-,.   .  ..     ..      incessant  clog  on  the  upward 

Christianity  r  i  •,  i  ^i 

progress  of  humanity,  and  the 
only  teaching  which  seems  to  the  present 
writer  to  be  in  consonance  with  progress 
is  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  the  words  of 
such  of  His  apostles  as  caught  His  spirit. 
Christ's  teaching,  like  two  or  three  other 
great  utterances  of  humanity,  seems  the 
goal  of  which  we  are  never  quite  abreast  ; 
it  is  always  a  little  ahead  of  the  ideals  of 
true  Socialism.;  it  is  a  religion  which  is  an 
expression  of  the  truest  Liberalism. 

Many  versions  of  Christianity  have 
developed  into  fetish  worship  and  fatuous 
formalities,  mystic  rites  bordering  on 
sorcery,  Judaism  run  mad;  the  letter  has 
killed  the  spirit;  the  Incarnate  Love  has 
been  lost  in  fanatical  hate.  Still,  this 
religion,  even  in  its  most  violent  or  foolish 
phases,  has  never  quite  left  the  skirts  of 
commonsense,  the  middle  path  of  sanity 
along  which  man  advances,  with  occasional 
checks  and  deviations,  towards  the  goal 
of  the  Millennium. 

What  has  Mohammedanism  done  for 
the  world  ?  What  has  been  accomplished 
of  permanent  good  by  Buddhism,  and  bjr 
the  wild,  raving,  nightmare  nonsense  of 
Hinduism  ?  It  is  true  that  the 
Arabs  less  than  a  centur}^  after 
the  death  of  Mohammed  ab- 
sorbed Persian  and  Byzantine 
culture,  and  spread  this  through  Syria, 
Egypt,  North  Africa,  and  Spain.  It  is  also 
true  that,  to  a  limited  extent,  they  kept 
the  lamp  of  civilisation  burning,  some  of 
the  old  Greek  culture  living  with  them, 
while  Roman  civilisation  in  Northern  and 
Western  Europe  was  overwhelmed  by  the 

5639 


Religions 

of 

the  East 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Goth,  Hun,  Frank,  and  Lombard.  To  a 
great  extent  the  civiHsation  of  the  Arabs 
in  pre-Turkish  days  was  the  distorted 
civilisation  of  Rome.  Rom.e  and  Byzan- 
tium, the  direct  inheritors  of  Hellas,  had 
implanted  their  civilisation  too  strongly 
along  the  shores  of  the  ^Mediterranean  for 
it  to  be  annihilated  by  that  mixed  herd  of 
Saracens,  which  after  all  only  included  a 
proportion  of  Arabs  of  the  desert  in  its 
ranks,  and  was  recruited  largely  from  the 
Mediterranean  world. 

But  there  was  something  in  the  Moham- 
medan religion  which  prevented  intellectual 
advance.  Like  the  other  great  religions  of 
Asia,  it  was  a  case  of  arrested  development. 
The  results  are  plain  to  the  minds  of  all  but 
fantastic  perverts.  Why  is  the  Christian — 
real  or  nominal — top  dog  to-day  ?  Because 
he  is  healthier,  stronger,  far  wiser,  much 
superior  in  mental  capacity  to  the  millions 
of  Asia  and  Africa.  What  have  the  Turks 
invented  ?  They  have  conquered  mainly 
b}^  Christian  weapons,  by  the  arts  invented 
and  perfected  under  the  comparative 
freedom  of  Christianity. 

The  Japanese  have  emerged  from  the 
vassaldom  of  Asia  because  they  have 
copied  the  arts  and  sciences  of  Christen- 
dom, because  they  are  unhampered  by  any 
binding  religion  which  makes  it  impossible 
for  them  to  live  after  the  manner  of  Chris- 
tians. It  was  the  more  primordial  and  pure 
type  of  Christianity  that,  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  the  great  Protestant  and 
Catholic  missions  of  the  British   Empire 


have  sought  to  implant  in  the  backward 
and  foolish  places  of  the  world  during  the 
religious  revival  of  the  nineteenth  century. . 
The  Christian  propaganda  of  the  Crusades 
was,  of  course,  no  better  in  any  one  whit 
than  the  holy  wars  of  the  Moslems. 

If  anything,  the  Christians  of  the  eleventh 
to  the  thirteenth  centuries  conducted 
themselves  worse  in  Syria  and  the  Holy 
Land  than  did  the  ^lohammedans,  when 
it  was  their  turn  to  be  uppermost.  They 
practised  a  form  of  religion  which  in 
many  aspects  was  a  degrading  fetish 
worship  and  an  instigation  to  deeds  of 
violence  and  oppression  essentially  un- 
christian. The  Crusaders'  t^'pe  of 
-  Christianity   lasted   down  to 

e     ua  crs  ^-^^    sixteenth    century    and 

as  Pioneers     ,i         o  it  i 

c  ^.    .  the    Spanish    discovery    and 

of  Missions  ^  ,      r  ^  1    A 

conquest  of  tropical  America. 
It  was  the  Quakers  that  really  started 
on  the  missionar}^  path  the  churches  out- 
side the  pale  of  Rome.  They  seem,  first 
of  all,  to  have  conceived — apart  from  the 
Jesuits,  Capuchins,  and  Franciscans  of  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries — the 
idea  of  peoples  of  a  different  race  and  a 
dark-coloured  skin  enjoj'ing  equal  rights 
of  humanity  with  the  conquering  Caucasian. 
The  Society  of  Friends — "Quakers "  is  a 
silly  nickname  wiiich  might  surely  be 
allowed  to  die — in  fact,  had  not  long  been 
in  existence  as  a  definite  sect  of  thinkers 
before  they  had  begun  a  crusade  against 
the  slave  trade,  which  was  never  to 
die   out   or   even   perceptibly   to  slacken 


THE    .^OMAN    CATHOLIC    CATHEDRAL    AT    LAGOS    IN    WEST    AFRICA       N.  w.  irnm 


5640 


THE   HANDSOME    MISSION  CHURCH   AT   BLANTYRE   IN    BRITISH   CENTRAL  AFRICA 


until  the  trade  in  slaves  was  exterminated. 
The  Anti-Slavery  Society  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  which  exists  to  this  day,  was 
founded  and  has  been  mainly  supported  by 
Quakers.  In  the  eighteenth  century — the 
unsectarian  missionary  Society  for  Pro- 
moting Christian  Knowledge  was  founded 
in  1698  ;  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  in  1701 
— other  Nonconformist  bodies  in  the 
West  Indies  and  the  United  States  cham- 
pioned the  cause  of  the  negro.  It  was  not 
until  the  time  of  Wesley  that  any  section 
of  the  Church  of  England  interested  itself 
actively  in  humanitarian  propaganda.  The 
.  interest     that     the     Quakers, 

issionary   gg^p^^g^g    a.nd  Wesleyans  took, 

Interest  in  ^  -^ 


the  Negroes 


more  especially  in   the  fate  of 


the  West  Indian  and  North 
American  negro,  drew  them  inevitably  to 
the  coasts  of  Africa,  firstly  to  repatriate 
negroes  who  had  attained  freedom,  and 
who  found  themselves  outcasts  in  the  body 
politic  of  white  men's  colonies  or  states  ; 
and  secondly — with  a  much  greater  en- 
thusiasm and  success — to  evangelise  the 
indigenous  savage  negroes  of  West  Africa. 
India  offered  an  immense  field  for 
missionary  enterprise.  The  kings  of  Den- 
mark, from  1705  to  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  promoted  actively 
Danish,  German,  and  Nonconformist 
British  missions  to  the  east  coast  of 
Hindustan.  For  some  fifty  years  after  the 
British  dominion  had  been  founded  by 
2  K  27  D 


Clive,  anything  like  a  Christian  propaganda 
was  sternly  discouraged  by  the  honourable 
East  India  Company  from  the  fear  that  it 
would  arouse  Mohammedan  and  Hindu 
fanaticism  ;  also  because  in  England  itself 
interest  in  religion  had  very  much  slack- 
ened, and  official  Christianity  was  not 
considered  an  article  d' exportation. 

The  Church  of  England  had  no  zeal  for 
propaganda  amongst  the  heathen  as  a  body, 
though  there  were  a  few  notable  excep- 
tions amongst  its  clergy  who  went  abroad. 
Bishop  Heber  (1783-1826)  was  probably 
the  first  to  arouse  the  sympathy  of  the 
members  of  the  National  Church  in  regard 
to  the  deplorable  condition  of  the  natives 
of  India.  The  Church  Missionary  Society 
was  founded  in  1799.  Its  first  field  of 
operations  was  India.  It  was  supported  by 
the  Low  Church  rather  than  the  High, 
and  in  its  early  days  it  drew  down  a  certain 
amount  of  ridicule  on  mission  work  by, 
possibly,  an  excess  of  sentimentalism. 

In  its  desire  to  make  up  to  the  negro  for 
the  wrongs  that  he  had  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  the  white  man  for  the  two  cen- 
turies, during  which  the  exponents  of 
Anglican  teaching  were  too  much  in- 
clined to  stand  behind  the  slave-owner, 
the  negro  was  placed  on  a  pedestal  by  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  and  credited 
with  qualities  of  head  and  heart  that  he 
did  not,  unfortunately,  always  possess. 
The  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  founded 
in  1792,  began  a  great  educational  work 

5641 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


in  India  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  soon  afterwards  began  to 
work  among  the  West  Indian  negroes. 
It  laid  the  foundations  of  a  negro  civilisa- 
tion in  Fernando  Po  during  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  which  even  under 
the  once  unfriendly  rule  of  Spain  and  many 
other  difficulties  grew  slowly  to  its  modern 

.  .  developments.    The  same  thing 

Livingstone  ^^,^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^.  ^^^  ^^^^  country 

of  the  Kameruns,  and  is  being 


the  Great 
Mi 


issionary  ^^^^  ^^^^  j^^  ^^^q  central  basin 
of  the  Congo.  The  educational  work  of 
the  same  society  in  India  and  China  is 
also  being  conducted  on  a  gigantic  scale. 

The  London  Missionary  Society  came 
into  existence  in  1795,  and  represented  the 
aspirations  of  the  Congregationalists  and 
Wesleyans.  One  of  its  first  great  pioneers 
was  David  Livingstone.  It  is  difficult  to 
exaggerate  the  benefits  that  the  Bechuana 
tribes  in  South  Central  Africa  and  the 
peoples  of  the  Nyassa-Tanganyika  Plateau 
and  of  Madagascar  have  owed  to  the  agents 
of  the  London  Missionary  Society. 

The  Universities'  Mission  was  founded 
in  i860,  after  the  appeal  of  Livingstone  in 
1856,  and  has  since  taken  a  large  share 
in  the  evangelisation  of  East  Africa  and 
Nyassaland.  The  great  missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  churches  have  done  much 
for  education  in  India,  China,  British 
Central  Africa,  Nigeria,  and  South  Africa. 
The  evangelisation  of  the  Pacific  has 
been  largely  the  work  of  the  Church  of 
England  and  of  the  Wesleyans.  Most 
people  nowadays  have  read  of  the  success 
of  the  Church  of  England  in  Uganda. 

There  is  an  English  Catholic  Mission, 
directed  from  Mill  Hill,  at  work  in  the 
eastern  section  of  the  Uganda  Protec- 
torate. Some  mention  should  be  made  of 
the  struggling  North  African  Mission,  which, 
I  believe,  has  also  sent  exponents  of  Pro- 
testant Christianity  to  Persia  and  the 
Turkish  dominions.  It  has  been  an  up-hill 
task  for  the  brave  men  and  women  of  this 

_.     „  .  band  to  fight  against  Moham- 
The  Value  j  •    j-  .  ..• 

,  --   ,.    ,  medan  premdice,  superstition, 
of  Medical  ,     •     ^  •    n 

„.    .  and    Ignorance,    especially    in 
Missions  ,,    °  J.       1        .^  -'t,,  . 

matters     of      hygiene.       This 

mission,  so  far  as  it  has  succeeded,  has  done 

so  by  following  the  only  means  of  access 

to  the  citadel  of  the  Mohammedan  heart — 

a    thorough-going    knowledge    of    Arabic, 

of   the  history  of  Islam  and   the  features 

of     its    faith,    and    of     medical    science. 

Medical  missions  indeed,  during  the  last 

quarter  of  a  century,  have  developed  to  a 

5642 


remarkable  degree  in  India,  China,  and 
Africa.  Along  these  lines  of  approach  it 
is  not  easy  to  overestimate  the  sheer  good 
that  has  been  effected  by  Christian 
missions.  This  leads  me  to  my  plainest 
speaking  and  the  core  of  my  argument. 

The  whole  of  the  Christian  world  itself 
is  far  from  being  in  agreement  on  even 
fundamental  dogmas  of  its  religion,  and 
so  long  as  each  sect,  branch,  or  church 
adhered  rigidly  to  the  exposition  of  its 
own  version  of  Christian  dogma  and  of 
that  alone,  so  long  much  of  its  work  with 
intelligent  non-Christian  races  was  fruitless 
and  even  baneful,  since  it  revived  the  dis- 
like and  distrust  of  the  Christian  as  an 
official  or  ruler.  But  when,  as  has  been 
the  case  almost  universally  for  the  last 
thirty  years,  each  mission  in  its  turn 
thought  more  of  the  teaching  of  Christ  as 
a  means  of  beginning,  and  endeavoured 
to  deal  fraternally  rather  than  paternally 
with  the  people  it  had  come  to  teach. 
Christian  propaganda  began  to  achieve 
success  by  leaps  and  bounds.  WTien 
some  historian  of  the  world  sums  up  its 
results  a  hundred  years  or  so  hence,  he 

.  will — I  say  with  confidence — 

A  Testimony     ^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^y^^^^,  ^^^^  ^^^      .^^^ 

to  Missionary  /-i     •    ,•  ,• 

.  ^.  /  Christian  missions  emanating 

Achievement      ^  t-  j     a  • 

from    Europe    and  America 

have  conferred  on  the  backward  countries 
of  the  world,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
savage  regions,  a  veritable  renaissance, 
an  education,  an  elevation  which  has 
been  conveyed  in  a  better  and  more 
salutary  manner  than  it  could  have  been 
by  soldiers  or  officials,  whose  teaching 
was  imposed  by  force  and  not  persuasion. 

I  am  well  aware  that  that  is  not  the  ver- 
dict of  to-day  in  all  respects.  Missionary 
efforts,  in  China  especially,  have  not  only 
been  extremely  obnoxious  to  the 
indigenous  governing  class  and  to  unin- 
formed public  opinion  in  that  region  of 
400,000,000  conservative,  industrious 
people,  but  the  troubles  which  have  ensued 
have  entailed  armed  intervention  on  the 
part  of  European  nations.  For  these  wars 
the  missionaries  have  been  held  to  blame. 
Several  European  and  American  statesmen 
have  told  them  that  they  were  not  wanted 
in  China,  and  had  much  better  go  away. 

Yet,  a  hundred  years  hence,  even  if  the 
missionaries  were  to  depart  from  China  to- 
morrow, it  will  be  realised  that  they  have 
done  much  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a 
new  China,  to  harmonise  the  ideas  of 
China  with  those  of  Europe  and  America. 


CIVILISATION    AND    CHRISTIANITY 


They  have  broken  down  more  completely 
than  any  other  force  the  isolation  of  China 
from  the  world's  movements  ;  and  surely 
it  is  not  well  for  the  progress  of  the  human 
race  that  433,000,000  out  of  a  total  of 
1,200,000,000  should  be  entirely  out  of 
touch  with  the  rest  ? 

What  has  been  the  result  to  China  of 
her  isolation  and  her  degenerate  pursuit 
of  false  knowledge  ?  That  at  the  present 
day,  though  she  numbers  433,000,000  of 
people  under  the  nominal  sway  of  the 
Chinese  Emperor,  she  is  more  or  less  under 
the  thraldom  of  Japan  (50,000,000),  with 
an  alternative  of  being  under  the  thumb 
of  Russia  (150,000,000).  Take  one  instance 
alone  of  the  false  culture  that  missionary 
teaching  has  attempted  to  remove — the 
cramped  foot  of  the  Chinese  woman. 
There  may  be  some  variation  in  a  code  of 
morals  or  accepted  canons  of  beauty. 

The  ultimate  test  of  the  value  of  both 
probably  is  the  prosperity  and  happiness 
of  the  people  that  adopt  them.  Put  to  this 
test,  it  must  surely  be  admitted  that  the 
taste,  morality,  and  good  sense  of  the  white 
races  of  Europe  and  America  are  superior 
\uu  ^k-  ^o  those  of  the  backw^ard 
What  Chinese  ^  i^^  The  alternative  is  to 
Women  Owe         j      ■,  ir  •  j.  r 

,    ...    .  admit  oneself  ignorant  or  of 

to    Missions  ,       ,  1  -1         xxr  j^ 

unbalanced  mind.  We  must 
cling  to  some  standard  in  these  things,  and 
all  the  evidence  which  can  be  submitted  to 
reasonable,  sane  men  points  to  the  fact 
that  the  European  standard  has  generally 
been  the  best.  Well,  according  to  the 
European  standard  the  cramped  foot  of  the 
Chinese  woman  is  as  silly  as  the  precau- 
tions against  defilement  on  the  part 
of  the  IBrahmans,  the  law  which  forbids 
the  eating  of  beef  to  the  Hindus,  the 
Levitical  prohibitions  of  the  pig,  the  hare, 
and  the  oyster,  the  Moslem  disapproval 
of  pictures  and  statues,  or  the  fetishistic 
practices  of  negro  Africa.  When  Chinese 
women  all  over  China  are  able  to  walk 
about  with  the  ease  and  comfort  intended 
by  Nature,  they  should  put  up  some 
commemorative  tablet  to  the  memory  of 
the  Christian  missionaries  whose  advice 
and  influence  abolished  this  and  other 
preposterous  mistakes  in  the  perverted 
culture  of  the  Chinese. 

I  have  ventured  in  other  places  to 
call  .the  missionaries  the  tribunes  of  the 
people.  Mission  influence  created  Exeter 
Hall,  and  all  which  that  now  vanished 
place  of  meeting  portended  in  the  attitude 
of  the  British  Empire  towards  indigenous 


and  inferior  races.  This  policy,  one  may 
hope,  will  still  be  maintained  by  the 
Aborigines  Protection  Society.  Again  and 
again  the  responsible  rulers  of  the  British 
Empire  have  been  prevented  by  its 
influence  from  committing  acts  of  injustice, 
or  allowing  colonists  or  colonial  officials  to 
do  so,  against  the  previous  occupants  of 
J-.  the  soil.     Many   of    these    had 

j^j^  Y       never  been  conquered,  but  had 
Races  '^^    accepted    the    advent    of     the 
British  Empire  peacefully,  and 
even  with  acclamation,  as  a  force  which 
would  maintain  law  and  justice. 

Unfortunately,  the  first  instinct  of 
the  impetuous  colonist  or  pioneer  has 
been  to  deprive  these  prior  inhabitants  of 
their  just  rights.  There  has  been,  no 
doubt,  exaggeration  on  both  sides.  It 
would  have  been  manifestly  unfair  to 
attribute  to  inactive,  ignorant  savages  the 
whole  of  the  vested  rights  over  vast  areas 
which  have  only  been  turned  to  profitable 
use  by  the  expenditure  of  British  capital 
and  British  lives.  In  some  few  instances  the 
European  missionaries  may  have  been 
unjust  towards  the  European  pioneer  or 
trader,  and  have  denied  him  the  reward 
to  which  he  was  entitled  for  his  supreme 
efforts  in  the  cause  of  civiHsation.  On  the 
other  hand,  these  lay  colonists  would 
have  reduced  the  indigenes  to  miserable, 
landless  serfs,  have  denied  them  a  common 
humanity  with  us — though  that  this  tie 
existed  was  soon  shown  by  the  hybrids 
which  sprang  up — but  for  the  outcries  of 
the  missionary  and  the  philanthropist. 

The  final  test  of  the  right  to  survive 
can  only  be  physical  and  mental  fitness  ; 
but  it  is  advisable  that  there  should  be  a 
brake  on  the  reckless  advance  of  the 
Caucasian,  and  this  drag  is  provided  by 
both  the  teaching  and  the  true  practice 
of  the  principles  of  Christianit3^  There 
should  be  a  real  Christian  science, 
not  the  blasphemous,  nauseous  fraud 
which  passes  under  that  name  in  America, 
which  should  apply  the  prin- 
A  Plea  for     ^j^j^^  ^^  Christianity  to  the  wild 

?!? ".  .  flora  and  fauna  of  the  world. 
Missionaries  ^^^^^^  human  race  and  every 

type  of  animal  or  plant  should  be  given 
a  chance  to  show  if  it  cannot  find  some 
niche  in  the  mosaic  of  the  wide  world. 
There  should  be  missionaries  of  biology  as 
well  as  missionaries  of  Christianity,  and 
both  alike  should  plead  the  cause  of  the 
overwhelmed,  the  backward,  the  im- 
perfect that  may  yet  be  made  perfect. 

5643 


THE 
BRITISH 
EMPIRE 

XIX 


BY   SIR 

HARRY 

JOHNSTON, 

G.C.M.G. 


THE    FUTURE    OF    THE    EMPIRE 

PROBLEMS  OF  GREATER  BRITAIN  THAT 
DEMAND    ATTENTION    AND    SOLUTION 


The  Question 
of  Imperial 
Federation 


AGROWlNCx  difficulty,  the  principal 
unsolved  problem  of  the  immediate 
future,  is  the  regulation  of  the  interrela- 
tions between  the  different  states,  colonies, 
protectorates,  and  other  divisions  of  the 
empire  in  regard  to  mutual  defence,  or 
a  common  action  of  offence,  the  conduct 
of  Imperial  diplomacy,  and, 
above  all,  inter-  and  extra- 
Imperial  commerce.  When 
through  such  workers  on  the 
imagination  as  Lord  Beaconsfield  and  Sir 
Charles  Dilke  (in  his  "  Greater  Britain  ")  an 
idea  of  the  majesty,  the  marvellous  scope 
of  the  British  Empire  began  to  permeate 
the  minds  of  educated  people,  the  question 
of  Imperial  Federation  became,  and  has 
remained,  an  important  political  idea. 

The  desire  was  born  in  England,  and  has 
remained  until  recently  an  English  aspira- 
tion, not  as  yet  warmly  espoused  in 
Scotland,  and  only  shared  by  that  small 
portion  of  Ireland  that  is  English  in 
sympathies.  South  Africa  in  the  'seventies 
of  the  last  century  was  so  strongly  Dutch 
in  feeling,  and  so  inherently  hostile  to 
England,  that  the  late  Lord  Carnarvon 
was  unable  to  bring  into  existence  even  a 
confederation  of  the  South  African  states, 
though  he  had  solved  that  difficulty 
between  French  and  English  in  Canada. 
A  certain  Irish  element  that  prospered  in 
South-eastern  Australia,  and  by  its  talent 
and  influence  directed  a  good  deal  of  the 
local  Press  opinion,  threw  cold  water  on 
the  Imperial  Federation  idea  so 
roposed      ig^^.  g^g  ^^    concerned  Australia. 

India  at  that  time  possessed  no 
vehicle  for  the  expression  of 
Indian  opinion.  It  merely  spoke  through 
the  mouths  of  Anglo-Indian  officials. 
Nevertheless,  the  idea  made  progress 
up  to  a  certain  point.  It  was  dis- 
cussed on  two  lines :  A  commercial  union 
and  the  universal  participation  of  all  parts 
of    the  empire   in    the    common  support 

5644 


Grounds 
of  Union 


of  the  armed  forces  by  land  and  sea. 
The  desire  to  promote  Imperial  unity  of 
purpose  induced  several  statesmen,  such 
as  Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  Jan  Hofmeyr, 
and  Joseph  Chamberlain,  in  1885,  1892, 
and  1903,  and  also  important  organs  of  the 
Press  to  modify  their  views  on  Free  Trade, 
and  to  advocate  the  restoration  of  differ- 
ertial  duties,  in  favour  of  the  colonies  and 
India,  at  the  ports  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland — in  short.  Protection. 

So  long  as  there  was  any  chance  of  the 
great  raw-material-producing  portions  of 
the  empire  like  India,  Australia,  and  New 
Zealand  and  Canada  caring  nothing  about 
the  fostering  of  local  industries,  but 
agreeing  to  devote  all  their  energies  to  the 
production  of  raw  materials  which  might 
be  manufactured  by  the  looms,  forges,  and 
factories  of  Great  Britain  and  the  North  of 
Ireland,  there  was  much  to  be  said  in  favour 
of  a  commercial  union  of  the 
whole  empire  which  would 
discriminate  in  all  its  cus- 
toms Houses  against  the 
goods  arriving  from  countries  not  belonging 
to  the  Imperial  pact.  Great  Britain  would 
then  have  become  a  privileged  market  for 
the  sale  of  colonial  produce  (raw  material), 
and  the  colonies  would  have  absorbed  the 
bulk  of  the  British  manufactured  goods. 
There  would  have  been  small  local  sacrifices, 
but  such  a  bond  as  this  would  have  knit  the 
empire  together,  and  the  wealth  and  power 
derived  from  this  close  commercial  asso- 
ciation would  have  made  it  irresistible  by 
land  and  sea — the  mistress  of  the  world. 

Unhappily,  as  some  think,  India, 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  Canada  did 
not  share  these  views.  They  wished  not 
only  to  produce  enormous  quantities  of  raw 
material,  but  to  be  equally  endowed  with 
highly  organised  industries  to  manufacture 
that  raw  material.  They  wished  to  protect 
these  nascent  industries  by  a  relatively 
high  tariff  wall  which  would  make  it  very 


The  Colonies 

and 

Self-Protection 


THE    FUTURE    OF    THE    EMPIRE 


nearly  impossible  for  the  Mother  Country 
to  compete  against  local  manufactures. 
It  is  true  that  a  somewhat  illusory  pre- 
ference was  to  be  granted  to  British  goods 
in  comparison  to  those  coming  from  other 
countries,  but  this  preference  was  not 
enough  to  make  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
or  Canada  a  better  market  for  the  manu- 
factures of  Britain  than  any  other  civilised 
country  of  the  world.  In  India,  as  the 
government  of  King  Edward  has  the 
supreme  controlling  power,  while  there  has 
been  fair  play  to  local  Indian  industries 
and  administrative  independence.  Free 
Trade  has  been  maintained  throughout  all 
Southern  Asia  under  British  influence,  and 
British  manufactures  are  still  able  to  find 
a  profitable  market  under  the  British  flag. 
There  has  also  been  less  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  self-governing  colonies  in 
South  Africa  to  shut  out  British  manu- 
factured goods  than  has  been  the  case 
with  Australia,  Canada,  and  New  Zealand, 
This  being  the  general  position,  there- 
fore, the  policy  of  Protection  has  fallen  to 
the  ground — inevitably — since  our  trade 
with  the  non- British  world  is  at  present  as 
three  -to  one  in  comparison 
P*^*^"  .  °       with  our  trade  with  the  rest  of 

^  ^  the  British  Empire.  If  we 
Commerce     i       i  •    i    .         .- 

broke  our  commercial  treaties 

in  order  to  discriminate  in  our  home  ports 
in  favour  of  our  daughter  nations,  colonies, 
or  protectorates,  we  should  probably  be 
ruined  as  an  industrial  nation,  for  the  self- 
governing  portions  of  the  empire  offer  us 
practically  nothing  in  exchange. 

Unfortunately,  to  those  who  still  take 
an  interest  in  Imperial  federation,  the 
great  daughter  nations  are  setting  their 
faces  towards  the  ideal  of  fiscal  independ- 
ence and  isolation.  It  may  be,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  all  humanity,  that  this  is 
the  best  plan  to  cherish.  If  persisted  in, 
it  will  mean  that  every  separate  section  of 
the  empire  which  is  independent  of  mone- 
tary subsidies  or  help  from  the  British 
Parliament  will  frame  its  own  tariff  and 
initiate  its  own  commercial  relations,  with 
the  point  of  view  solely  of  local  advantages, 
and  without  any  regard  to  the  commercial 
welfare  of  the  empire  as  a  whole. 

If  Jamaica  can  make  better  terms  for  her 
sugar,  fruit,  or  other  products  by  joining 
the  Customs  Union  of  the  United  States,  to 
the  disadvantage  of  British  imports,  she 
will  do  so.  Perhaps,  from  the  Jamaican 
standpoint,  she  will  be  right.  New  Zea- 
land  or    Australia   may    also    enter    into 


special  arrangements  with  the  United 
States,  to  the  disadvantage  of  Britain, 
but  to  the  gain  of  local  manufactures  or 
products.  India  may  enter  into  closer 
arrangements  with  the  empire  of  China  or 
with  Japan — in  matters  of  commerce — 
than  with  the  two  islands  in  the  North 
_  Sea.      South  Africa  may  cou- 

th B  "f  h  ^^^^^  ^  commercial  alliance 
Taxpayer  ^^^^  Canada  or  with  Australia, 
to  the  great  advantage  of  all 
these  regions,  but  very  much  to  the 
detriment  of  purely  British  commerce. 
The  very  unfair  part  of  the  entirely  self- 
seeking  views  now  in  vogue  with  colonial 
statesmen  is  that  to  the  British  taxpayer — 
almost  alone — is  left  the  onerous  charge 
of  supporting  a  navy  which  mainly  exists 
to  defend  the  overseas  possessions  of 
Great  Britain,  and  an  army  which  must 
be  ready  to  strike  at  foes  of  the  empire 
in  any  or  all  of  the  continents  when  called 
upon   to   do   so. 

If  the  self-governing  sections  of  the 
empire  contributed  proportionately  to 
their  population  and  their  commerce  to 
the  Imperial  cost  of  the  Imperial  army 
and  navy,  then  there  would  be  less  hard- 
ship to  us,  their  creditors  and  creators,  in 
their  utter  disregard  of  our  commercial 
requirements.  But  to  continue  to  leave 
us  almost  the  entire  expense  and  responsi- 
bility of  defending  the  empire,  and  main- 
taining law  and  order  within  its  limits,  is  a 
policy  which  must  in  the  long  run  split 
up  the  British  Empire.  There  is  a  Hmit  to 
our  resources  in  money,  as  well  as  in  men. 

Colonial  statesmen  argue  that  there 
shall  be  no  taxation  without  representa- 
tion ;  that  they  have  no  unbounded  faith 
in  the  wisdom,  economy,  or  talent  of  the 
Board  of  Admiralty,  the  War  Office,  or  the 
Ministries  for  Foreign  AfiEairs  or  for  the 
Colonies  ;  they  are  not  disposed  to 
furnish  funds  from  out  of  their  own  internal 
revenues  to  be  spent  at  the  discretion  of 
the  government  sitting  in  London.  If 
they  are  to  contribute,  they  must  be  pro- 
portionately  represented  at 
*i^  °'".  some  Imperial  council  stationed 
Courii!"*  ^"^  London,  and  be  able  to  in- 
fluence the  general  policy  of  the 
empire  in  all  matters  that  might  lead 
to  interstate  trouble  or  external  wars. 
The  opposition  to  any  such  Imperial 
policy  and  to  the  intervention  of  delegates 
from  the  daughter  nations  or  dependent 
kingdoms  or  empires  in  bureaucratic 
affairs  comes  entirely  from  Britain  itself, 

5645 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


chielly    from    that    great    and    important 

body  of  permanent  civil  servants,  trained 

by   generations    to    exceeding    discretion, 

reserve,  and  prudence.     Statesmen  from 

the  great  colonies  are  often  widely  different 

in    nature    from     the    men    that     serve 

King    Edward    in    the    Home   Country. 

They    are    negligent    of    official    secrets, 

,  ..  ,.  daring  in  public  speeches,  and 
Indiscretions   ,.  „i  i  /r  r 

,  _  ,     .  ,     reckless  of  consequences,  for 

of  Colonial       ,■,  j  ^  a^    •       . 

c.  .  the  very  good  and  sufficient 

Statesmen  .iT.        •,       ■     ,        i 

reason  that,  situated  where 
they  are,  they  are  so  absolutely  safe.  They 
can  say  and  do  the  most  imprudent  things 
to  foreign  Powers,  and  leave  Great  Britain 
to  bear  the  brunt  of  their  reckless  actions. 

The  statesmen  of  Canada  know  that 
a  punitory  expedition  or  a  great  in- 
vasion of  Canada  by  another  Power  from 
across  the  seas  is  an  almost  impossible 
feat,  though  it  may  be  much  easier  for 
Germany  or  France  to  bombard  London. 
Australia  and  New  Zealand  also  know 
that  they  are  immune  from  serious  attack 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  Japan, 
Russia,  Germany  or  France.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  two  home  islands  are  exceedingly 
vulnerable,  more  so,  perhaps,  than  the 
mass  of  their  population  or  some  short- 
sighted Ministers  believe. 

Whatever  course  may  be  taken  by 
events,  there  is  no  real  danger  to  the  in- 
dependence of  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
South  Africa,  and  Canada.  If  Great 
Britain  were  driven  out  of  India  as  a 
governing  power  she  would  not  be  re- 
placed by  any  other  European  nation. 
It  is  possible  that  in  course  of  time  strong 
commercial  relations  may  grow  up  be- 
tween South  Africa  and  Australia.  Both 
countries  may  maintain  fleets,  with  New 
Zealand,  perhaps,  as  a  third,  which 
would  be  sufficient  to  prevent  the  hostile 
action  of  Asiatic  or  European  Powers  in 
the  southern  seas.  The  only  danger  to 
Canadian  independence  is  from  the  United 
States,  which,  however,  is  hardly  likely  to 
waste  blood  and  money  in  an 
anger  o  unprofitable  war  for  the  an- 
Cfanadian  ,•  r   r^  ^  tc    .t 

J  .  .  nexation  of  Canada.  If  the 
Independence  t  •    i  t-    i  •       •  i       • 

Imperial  r  ederation  idea  is  not 

revived  and  carried  through  to  ultimate 
success  with  an  Imperial  council  that  will 
be  a  real  working  element,  and  with  some 
sacrifices  on  the  part  of  the  component 
daughter  nations,  the  next  stage  or  phase 
of  the  British  Empire  to  be  reviewed  by 
historians  may  be  its  restriction  to  the 
control     of     India     and     Southern  Asia, 

5646 


Egypt,  and  all  existing  British  Africa 
down  to  the  River  Zambesi,  the  Medi- 
terranean Islands,  Gibraltar,  the  Falkland 
Archipelago,  the  West  Indies,  Guiana  and 
British  Honduras,  together  with  the  com- 
mercial outposts  in  China  and  the  Pacific. 

And  here,  again,  we  must  not  look  for 
finality.  In  all  these  regions  we  are 
simply  playing  the  part  of  educators. 
Our  descendants  will  have  to  face  the 
idea  of  a  universally  educated,  self- 
governing  India,  wherein  the  British 
Empire  may  be  only  a  subject  of  grateful 
remembrance,  local  nomenclature,  and 
innumerable  votive  statues.  Perhaps  the 
English  language,  if  all  European  tongues 
have  not  been  set  aside  for  a  universal 
Esperanto,  may  remain  as  the  commercial 
medium  in  India.  We  shall  have  left  on 
that  vast  region  of  Southern  Asia,  the 
original  matrix  of  Man,  an  impress  more 
lasting  and  more  creditable  than  the 
effect  of  the  Roman  Empire  on  our  own 
land  and  kindred  European  countries. 

The  only  way  to  counteract  such  a  fate 

— and,  as  it  may  not  come  about  for  a 

hundred  years,  it  need  not  unduly  agitate 

the  readers  of  this  History — 

T  c  Better    ^q^j^    i^g  ^j^g    suspension   of 

Oovernment  ■,•    ■  •     j- 

,  ,   ,.  race  or    religious    premdices, 

of  India  , ,  1       ,  •  f  J. 

the    inculcation   ot    courtesy, 

sympathy,  and  unswerving   justice  in  all 

the  civil  and  military  oificials  sent  from 

Great  Britain  to  serve  in   India,  and  the 

patient  education  of  the  peoples  of  India 

to  see  the  world   a   little  more   through 

our  eyes,  to  take  advantage  of  our  own 

painfully  acquired  knowledge. 

On  our  part,  we  must  associate  the 
educated  classes  of  India  more  and  more 
with  the  administration  of  our  Indian 
Empire ;  we  must  give  them  a  share 
in  the  councils  which  regulate  the  finance 
and  taxation  of  their  native  land.  India 
at  the  present  day  is  not  ripe  for  com- 
plete self-rule  ;  the  withdrawal  of  the 
British  Civil  Service  and  soldiery  would 
merely  lead  to  devastating  warfare 
between  the  Mohammedans  on  the  one 
side  and  the  Sikhs  and  Hindus  on  the 
other,  either  or  both  of  these  sections 
enslaving  and  oppressing  the  unwarlike 
races  of  Southern  India  or  Burma. 

Much  the  same  may  be  said  about  the 
future  of  Egypt  and  of  British  Tropical 
Africa  ;  we  are  only  in  Egypt  as  educators. 
But  this  is  a  land  which  by  climate,  even 
as  far  as  some  parts  of  the  Sudan,  is  as 
favourable  to  the  settlement  of  the  races 


THE    FUTURE    OF    THE    EMPIRE 


of  Southern  Europe  as  it  is  to  the  indi- 
genous people,  who  are  compounded  of  an 
ancient  minghng  of  European,  Asiatic  and 
negro  elements.  There  may  be  a  steady 
set  of  Greek,  Maltese  and  Italian  settlers 
towards  the  lands  irrigated  by  the  Nile 
and  its  tributaries.  A  new  European 
nation  may  be  compacted ;  it  will  contain 
very  little  that  is  North  European  and 
British  in  its  physical  elements,  and 
it  will  some  day  ask  to  stand  alone. 

In  Uganda,  Nigeria,  Sierra  Leone, 
with  the  kindred  Liberia  alongside,  work- 
ing on  similar  lines,  we  are  building  up 
educated  negro  nationalities.  Little  by 
little  they  will  get  a  larger  and  larger  share 
in  their  own  self-government,  until  at  last, 
like  India  and  Egypt,  they  may  thank  us 
warmly  for  all  we  have  done  for  them,  and 
request  to  be  allowed  to  manage  their  own 
internal  and  external  affairs  in  future. 

Such,  likewise,  may  be  the  fate  of  a  new 
Cyprus,  and  of  a  Malta,  which  was  never 
conquered,  but  placed  herself  unreservedly 
and  trustingly  in  British  hands,  and 
therefore  deserves  all  sympathy  within 
the  limits  of  reason  in  the  protection  of 
her  well-marked  nationality 
and  many    claims   to  self  ad- 


A  Possible 
Alliance  of 
the  Future 


ministration.  A  day  may  dawn 
when  British  men  and  women 
may  no  longer  be  sent  from  these  shores 
to  govern,  control  and  educate  races  that 
are  no  longer  backward  in  the  march  to- 
wards a  universal  civilisation.  It  is  to  be 
hoped,  however,  that  if  we  have  played  our 
part  fairly,  these  races  and  peoples  that 
we  have  raised  up  from  a  condition  either 
of  savagery  or  of  hopeless  confusion  may 
unite  with  us  on  some  basis  of  strict  and 
honourable  alliance,  together  with  our 
white  daughter  nations  ;  an  alliance 
which  shall  only  be  framed  and  directed 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  world's  peace 
and  the  study  of  the  world's  happiness. 

Until  the  question  of  the  internal  ad- 
ministration of  Ireland,  Scotland,  England 
and  Wales  has  achieved  a  proper  and  fairly 
complete  settlement  it  can  hardly  be 
said  that  we  are  fully  prepared  for  the 
responsibilities  of  empire  outside  these 
islands.  To  some  extent,  almost  enough 
for  practical  purposes,  Scotland  has  at- 
tained Home  Rule,  and  Wales  is  well  on 
the  way  towards  it.  The  arrangements  for 
quick  legislation  in  and  for  England  as 
regards  purely  English  requirements  are 
still  very  imperfect.  But  the  question  of 
Ireland  is  an  urgent  one.    In  this  case  we 


have  an  island  blest  with  a  temperate 
and  a  healthy  climate,  set  in  seas  remark- 
able for  their  wealth  of  fish,  a  co,untry  of 
32,605  square  miles,  which,  if  handled 
scientifically  in  the  way  of  agriculture, 
forestry  and  horticulture,  ought  to  support 
a  prosperous,  robust,  and  intellectual 
population  of  20,000,000.  As  it  is,  its 
people   (4.458,000)   are  less  in 

St^trof        ""^^^'^  ^^^^'  t^^^  inhabitants  of 

^.  *  !  ? .        London.    Such  as  they  are,  they 

the  Irish  .11  1^1  i. 

are    a   notable   race.      1  hough 

they  differ  much  in  physical  type,  all  their 

types  can  be  paralleled  in  the  adjacent 

island  of  Great  Britain.   Religion  is  mainly 

to  blame   for  the   desperate   case   of   the 

Irish,  and  the  intolerance  on  the  part  of 

all  the  principal  religious  bodies  in  Ireland 

still  stands  to  some  extent  in  the  way  of 

a  fusion  of  interests. 

Home  Rule  would  have  been  restored 
long  ago  but  for  the  extremists  of  the 
Nationalist  party — that  is  to  say,  the  party 
of  Irishmen  mostly,  but  not  entirely,  Roman 
Catholics,  who  have  openly  clamoured 
not  only  for  the  right  to  administer  their 
own  internal  affairs — which,  with  some 
reservations,  is  clearly  due  to  them — 
but  for  the  power  to  sever  their  political 
connection  with  Great  Britain.  This  de- 
mand is  so  wholly  unreasonable  from  the 
racial,  the  religious,  commercial  and 
political  points  of  view  that  it  is  httle 
wonder  it  has  been  resisted  so  far  by  the 
majority  of  the  electorate  in  Great  Britain. 

The  Ulster  minority  in  Ireland  repre- 
sents an  enormous  amount  of  profitable 
industry  ;  it  stands  for  the  prosperous  and 
well  populated  portion  of  the  island. 
Racially  speaking,  it  is  less  Iberian  and 
autochthonous  than  the  rest  of  Ireland. 
Historically,  its  colonisation  from  the 
adjacent  coasts  of  \\'ales,  England  and 
Scotland  was  much  more  recent  than  other 
settlements  from  these  directions.  This 
minority  declines  to  place  itself  under 
the  rule  of  the  National  party,  since  it 
fears  injustice  in  fiscal  and 
Ireland  s  religious  matters.  Extended 

Need  of  Home  ^gasures  of  local  govern- 
Government  ^^^^  ^^.^^j^  probably  clear 
away  this  danger.  The  administration  of 
their  own  internal  affairs  must  be  eventually 
accorded  to  the  Irish  people,  coupled  with 
the  same  participation  in  the  affairs, 
responsibilities  and  charges  of  the  United 
Kingdom  as  a  whole,  and  of  such  of  the 
British  Empire  as  is  equally  adminis- 
tered by  Scotland.  Wales  and  England. 

5647 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Home  Rule 
Beyond 


Beyond  the  seas,  the  idea  of  Home  Rule 
is  no  new  one.  The  states  of  British  origin 
that  now  compose  the  United  States  of 
America  all  had  their  local  assemblies 
and  considerable  powers  of  self-administra- 
tion ;  but  a  foolish  king  and  an  ignorant 
Minister  fought  the  battle  of  taxation 
without  representation  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  lost  it.  This  im- 
planted an  idea  in  the  minds  of 
British  subjects  beyond  the  seas 
^*^  that  has  never  been  allowed  to 
die.  The  representative  institutions  of  the 
component  parts  of  the  empire  outside 
the  British  Islands  have  been  described 
elsewhere.  It  only  remains  to  glance  at 
their  past  history  and  at  the  problems 
they  may  raise  in  the  immediate  future. 

Assembhes  of  an  elective  and  fully 
representative  character  were  early  brought 
into  existence  in  the  West  Indies  at 
various  dates  from  250  years  ago.  It  is 
possible  that  in  these  instances  the  idea 
of  Home  Rule  was  premature  and  carried 
to  extremes.  Area,  population,  and  the 
future  race-elements  of  the  population 
were  not  taken  into  consideration  in 
granting  these  rights :  and  at  various 
times  during  the  nineteenth  century  the 
representative  institutions — except  in  the 
Bahamas  and  Barbados — were  abrogated 
or  seriously  limited. 

A  constitution  and  elective  lower 
houses  of  parliament  were  conceded  to 
the  two  organised  provinces  of  Canada  in 
1792  ;  and  responsible  government  for 
Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  New  Bruns- 
wick, Nova  Scotia,  and  Prince  Edward 
Island  was  introduced  in  1841,  after  what 
might  almost  be  called  a  series  of  rebellions 
between  1837  ^^'^  1839.  -^^^^  ^^^'  ^^is 
wise  concession,  the  vast  provinces  of 
Canada  would  long  ago  have  been  part  of 
the  United  States,  to  the  detriment  of 
British  commerce  and  British  influence  on 
the  fate  of  the  North  American  Continent. 
A  constitution  was  given  to  Newfound- 
land in  1832,  and  full  Home 
Rule  in  1855.    Home  Rule  was 


Constitutions 
in  the 
Colonies 


accorded  also  in  a  reasonable 
degree  to  the  colony  of  British 
Guiana  in  Northern  South  America  in 
continuation  of  the  Dutch  Constitution 
already  in  force  in  1803.  This  was  modified 
or  extended  in  1812,  1826,  1831,  and  1891. 
The  provinces  or  colonies  that  now 
compose  Australia  received  constitutions, 
and  finally  Home  Rule,  as  soon  as  they 
were    able    to    show    indications    of    the 

5648 


power  to  maintain  orderly  government. 
These  rights  were  granted  to  New  South 
Wales  in  1824,  1842,  and  1855  ;  to 
Victoria  in  1851  and  1855  ;  South 
Australia  (Northern  Territories  added  in 
1861-1863)  in  1856  ;  and  Tasmania  in  the 
same  year  ;  Queensland  in  1859  '■>  ^^^ 
West  Australia  in  1850  and  1890.  The 
enfranchisement  of  the  six  colonies  cul- 
minated in  the  recognition  by  Great 
Britain  of  the  Australian  Commonwealth 
as  a  whole  in  the  year  1900.  New  Zea- 
land received  Home  Rule  in  1882,  and 
the  status  of  a  dominion  in  1907. 

South  Africa  has  presented  greater 
difficulties  in  the  framing  of  responsible 
government  because  of  the  two  rival 
types  of  European  colonists — British  and 
Britannicised  Germans  speaking  English  ; 
and  Boers,  with  the  descendants  of 
Huguenot  Frenchmen,  speaking  Dutch. 
Further,  there  were  the  millions  of  in- 
digenous negroes  to  be  taken  into  consider- 
ation. Cape  Colony,  which  was  by  far 
the  "  whitest  "  of  the  South  African 
states,  was  erected  into  the  position  of  a 
self-governing  colony  in  1853  and  a 
responsible  government  in 
1872.  Natal  did  not  receive 
full  responsible  powers  of  self- 
government  till  1893.  The 
Orange  Free  State  and  the  Transvaal  were 
respectively  accorded  the  position  of  inde- 
pendent nations  in  1854,  and  1852-1858. 

When  the  Transvaal  was  annexed  in 
1877,  it  was  the  intention  of  the  British 
Government  to  bestow  on  it  a  few  years 
afterwards  much  the  same  powers  of 
self-government  as  were  already  under 
consideration  for  Natal.  This  solution  of 
the  difficulty,  which  would  have  probably 
saved  us  the  South  African  War,  was 
prevented  by  the  Boer  uprising  in  1881. 
Before  the  Orange  River  Colony  and  the 
Transvaal  could  be  brought  into  line 
with  the  rest  of  our  colonies  in  South  Africa 
they  had  to  be  conquered  and  annexed. 
They  were  then  as  speedily  as  possible 
(Transvaal  in  1906,  Orange  River  Colony 
in  1907)  re-erected  into  responsible  self- 
governing  states,  in  the  same  quasi-inde- 
pendent position  as  Cape  Colony  and  Natal. 
There  still  remain  subject  to  a  great 
extent  to  the  direct  administration  of 
Downing  Street,  Basutoland,  Bechuana- 
land,  and  the  vast  Rhodesian  territories 
to  the  north  and  south  of  the  Zambesi. 
Bechuanaland  and  Basutoland  will  no 
doubt    remain    for  a  very   long  time  to 


Self-Governing 
States  of 
South  Africa 


THE    FUTURE    OF    THE    EMPIRE 


come,  black  states,  wards  of  the  British 
Empire,  with  the  guardianship  either 
remaining  in  London  or  eventually  en- 
trusted to  the  White  Confederation  of 
South  Africa — not,  however,  until  such 
time  as  we  can  trust  the  colonists  to 
give  fair  play  to  their  black  neighbours 
and  fellow-citizens,  and  until  they  are 
entirely  able  to  relieve  the  Mother  Country 
of  the  cost  and  responsibility  of  interven- 
tion. The  Rhodesian  provinces  south  of 
the  Zambesi  will  eventually  become  self- 
governing  white  man's  lands  of  the  same 
status  as  those  other  great  states  that  will 
with  them  form  the  Confederation  of 
South  Africa.  The  provinces  north  of 
the  Zambesi  will,  no  doubt,  be  grouped 
under  the  general  government  of  British 
Central  Africa,  and  eventually  be  dealt 
with  on  much  the  same  lines  as  the 
country  of  the  Basuto  and  Bechuana. 

They,  at  any  rate,  emphatically  are  black 
man's  lands,  and  should  certainly  be 
regarded  as  a  future  home  and  privileged 
reserve  for  such  negro  peoples  of  South 
Africa  as  may  choose  to  migrate  thither, 
seeking   a  refuge  from  the    incompatible 

white  man.  The  statesmen  and 
The  Hindu  thini^gi-s  of  the  British  Empire 
Demand  for  u      ■       •         j.      x  j.i- 

„  „  ,  are  now  begmnmg  to  face  the 
Home  Rule  ,.  r       ix 

question  of  sell-government  m 

such  territories  under  the  administration 
of  the  empire  as  are  not  inhabited  in  the 
main  by  white  men  and  Christians.  The 
lands  of  the  Mohammedan  have  certainly 
the  best  of  the  premature  claims  to  self- 
government,  because  the  Mohammedan 
religion  is  less  unreasonable  than  that  of 
the  Hindu  or  the  Buddhist.  But  at 
present  the  cry  for  Home  Rule  is  louder 
and  more  menacing  from  the  educated 
Hindus  of  East  Central  India  than  it  is 
from  lands  where  the  Mohammedan 
influence  predominates. 

As  regards  the  Straits  Settlements  (Malay 
Peninsula  and  Borneo)  and  much  of  the 
surface .  of  India,  the  question  is  partially 
solved  by  the  preservation  and  educa- 
tion of  native  rulers.  Such,  probably, 
will  be  the  course  followed  in  Egypt,  in 
Southern  Arabia,  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  and 
in  Zanzibar.  We  shall  not  grab  at  the 
land  of  these  countries,  nor  seek  to 
substitute  a  white  man  for  a  yellow  or 
black  as  settler  or  colonist. 

We  shall  work  for  free  play  and  full 
protection  for  the  white  man's  commerce 
and  commercial  agents,  and  also  maintain 
as  far  as  is  reasonable   the   principle   of 


Free  Trade.     But  we  shall  strive  by  our 

advice,    our    threats    (if    necessary),    our 

cash    influence    to     educate    the     native 

dynasties  in  the  ever  better  government 

and  administration  of  the  lands  subjected 

to  them.     If  these  native  rulers  consider 

it  advisable  by  degrees  to  enlarge    their 

„       .  ,  native   councils   into   elective 

^j,.      _  ,.      legislative  assemblies,  such  a 
Wise  Policy       °  u         .    i  i  i 

i    u      d        course  will  not  be  opposed  by 

Great  Britain,  provided  the 
native  legislatures  show  themselves  pru- 
dent and  observant  of  treaty  obligations. 
In  Uganda  the  present  writer  was 
permitted  to  restore  the  indigenous  legisla- 
ture, and  more  clearly  to  define  and 
strengthen  the  prerogatives  of  the  native 
king.  Other  supreme  chiefs  were  set  up 
by  himself  or  by  his  successors  as  adminis- 
trators, and  the  peace  and  quiet  which 
have  followed  have  shown  the  wisdom — in 
this  part  of  Africa,  at  any  rate — of  trusting 
to  native  dynasties  to  rule  their  own 
people.  A  similar  course  has  been  followed 
in  the  protectorate  of  Sierra  Leone,  and 
is,  no  doubt,  being  adopted  in  Nigeria. 

Besides  the  questions  of  interstate 
commercial  relations  and  Home  Rule 
there  are  other  problems  and  dangers  to 
be  faced  and  solved — not  perhaps  with  a 
rush,  but  as  occasion  serves.  One  of  these 
is  the  colonisation  of  vacant  lands,  and 
consequently  the  distribution  of  the  world's 
racial  types.  Within  the  vast  limits  of  the 
Canadian  Dominion  there  are  perhaps  a 
million  square  miles  of  fertile  land  with  a 
healthy  climate  still  uninhabited  by  men. 

Most  notable  perhaps  are  the  coast-lands 
and  islands  of  British  Columbia,  an 
earthly  paradise  for  scenery,  chmate,  and 
wealth  of  natural  products.  British 
Columbia,  calculated  on  its  endowment  by 
Nature,  should  be  a  country  with  the  popu- 
lation of  France,  and  should  be  one  of  the 
envied  nations  of  the  world.  At  present 
it  is  inhabited  by  about  200,000  men  and 
women,  mainly  of  British  origin — there 
are  also  13,000  Chinese,  and  4,600  Japan- 
ese— some  of  whom  have 
Mixed  Races  ^^^^^  ^-^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^   Mother 

m  British       Country,  others  by  way  of  the 
Columbia  T-      J.  r-         J-  • 

Eastern  Canadian  provinces, 

or    from    the    United   States.     There   is, 

in    addition,    an     Indian     population    of 

about   29,000,    living  very  much  the  Hfe 

of     gypsies.       This   Indian   type   will — I 

venture    to    predict — become    fused    into 

the  general  community  without  harm  to 

it.      Physically,   it  does  not  differ  very 

5649 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


much  more  from  the  modern  type  of 
British  colonist  than  do  some  of  the  cotter 
fishing  folk  of  North-western  Scotland  and 
Western  Ireland  from  the  more  modern 
race  types  of  the  British  Islands. 

Still,  200,000  British  colonists  and 
29,000  Amerindians  are  not  a  sufficient 
population  for  the  area  and  extraordinary' 
natural  advantages  of  British 
Japans  ^  Columbia  and  its  dependen- 
Overflowing  ^-^^^  j^^  Japanese  divined  this 
Population  long  ago.  The  limits  of  Japan 
are  all  too  small  for  its  overflowing 
population.  Korea  may  receive  some  of 
the  overflow  ;  China,  on  the  other  hand, 
may  resist  Japanese  immigration,  and  is 
quite  vigorous  and  numerous  enough  in 
her  peoples  to  do  so.  Even  if  Japan  should 
wrest  the  Philippine  Islands  from  the 
United  States — as  she  may  yet  try  to  do — 
this  region  does  not  offer  great  possi- 
bilities for  the  building  up  of  a  powerful 
people.  It  is  small  wonder,  therefore,  that 
Japan  has  hoped,  little  by  httle,  by 
degrees,  unobtrusively,  to  infiltrate  the 
lands  of  British  Columbia,  Alaska,  and  the 
North-western  part  of  the  United  States, 
and  thus  in  time  create  a  new  Japan  be- 
yond the  seas  which  might  resist  aggression 
by  the  eventually  effete  races  of  Europe. 

Canada  and  British  Columbia,  and 
also  the  United  States,  are  alive  to  this 
difficulty,  and  seemingly  resolved  to 
resist  it.  This  movement  has  done  some- 
thing to  weaken  the  Anglo- Japanese 
Alliance,  and  it  may  considerably  em- 
barrass the  Asiatic  policy  of  the  British 
Government.  Yet  the  problem  of  Cana- 
dian-British Columbian  colonisation  will 
not  be  solved  by  our  keeping  out  the 
Japanese  and  Chinese. 

The  alternative  seems  simple:  "En- 
courage white  immigration."  But  the 
emigration  of  poor  whites,  labourers,  com- 
petitors with  the  working  men  already  in 
possession,  is  not  encouraged ;  rather 
the  reverse.  One  can  understand  the 
D  ki  t  objection  of  Canadian  citizens 
Problem  of  ^o  having  their  Motherland 
Canadian  i     j.i.     j  i    j- 

^  ,  .  ,.  made  the  dumpmg  ground  for 
Colonisation      ,  •,  r  Vv.-      j.-u         i. 

white  refuse.     1  his  they  have 

every  right  to  reject.  But  if  they  are  not 
to  admit  for  menial  work,  or  for  the  less 
attractive  walks  of  life,  the  Oriental  races — 
also  an  exclusion  with  which  we  can  sym- 
pathise— then  something  must  be  done  to 
attract  large  numbers  of  white  settlers 
who  will  come  ready  to  work,  though  with 
no  more  capital  than  their  head  and  limbs. 

5650 


The  objection  to  this  policy — of  throw- 
ing open  the  Canadian  Dominion  to  all 
white  immigrants  on  the  easiest  terms 
subject  to  the  indispensable  conditions  of 
healthiness  and  morality — arises  from  the 
labour  leaders  and  trade  unions  of 
Canada.  "  We  will  not  have  labour 
cheapened"  is  the  substance  of  their  out- 
cry. Their  argument  would  probably  be 
that  they  do  not  want  to  repeat  in  Canada 
the  miseries  of  the  Old  World.  "  All  labour 
shall  be  highly  paid  in  future,"  almost 
equally  paid,  whether  it  be  hair-cutting, 
wood-sawing,  teaching  mathematics,  paint- 
ing pictures,  composing  operas,  writing 
books,  reaping  corn,  preaching  sermons, 
pleading  or  defending  at  the  Bar. 

Perhaps  they  are  right.  But  mean- 
time agricultural,  mining,  domestic  work 
is  almost  at  a  standstill  in  the  Far  West 
while  these  laudable  attempts  are  being 
made  to  solve  the  social  problem,  to  create 
a  white  Canada  in  which  there  shall  be  no 
distinctions  between  skilled  and  unskilled 
labour — for  that  is  what  the  argument 
resolves  itself  into  in  the  long  run. 
Already  young  native  Canadians  are 
migrating  to  Mexico,  and  the 
young  married  womanhood  of 


Canada's 

Social 

Conditions 


the  western  parts  of  the  do- 
minion is  wearing  itself  into 
old  age  and  ugliness  in  the  endeavour 
to  be  cook,  washerwoman,  housemaid, 
governess,  nurse  and  wife  in  one.  These 
are  the  complaints  voiced  by  many  private 
letters,  by  signed  and  unsigned  contribu- 
tions in  the  colonial  Press.  The  population 
of  Canada  has  not  increased  proportionately 
by  anything  like  the  same  ratio  as  that  of 
the  United  States,  though  there  is  an 
almost  equal  area  of  territory  suited  to 
the  habitation  of  the  white  man. 

Japan  may  also  turn  her  attention 
to  the  colonisation  of  Australia,  but  the 
lands  left  open  to  her  here  do  not  offer  one 
tithe  of  the  advantages  and  attractions 
of  British  Columbia  or  of  North-west 
America  generally.  They  are  arid  and 
extremely  hot,  and  in  some  parts  very 
unhealthy.  Possibly  J  apan  may  hope  for  a 
tropical  future.  It  is  a  people  of  extremely 
mixed  elements,  as  likely  to  develop 
into  a  tropical  race  as  into  a  people  of 
the  temperate  zones.  In  that  case,  Japan 
may  accept  in  return  for  a  promise  to  leave 
America  severely  alone  the  overlordship 
of  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  little  by 
little  become  the  mistress  of  the  Dutch, 
German,  and  perhaps  a  part  of  the  British 


THE    FUTURE    OF    THE    EMPIRE 


Empire  in  that  region  of  Malaya  between 
Australia  and  New  Guinea  on  the  south- 
east and  Cochin  China  on  the  north-west. 
Meantime,  if  any  movement  should  be 
directed  by  the  Imperial  statesmen  of 
Great  Britain,  it  should  be  the  direction 
of  British  emigration  towards  British 
Columbia — one  of  the  world's  paradises. 

There  is  a  future  before  Trans-Zam- 
besian  Africa,  from  a  white  man's  point  of 
view,  that  is  scarcely  realised.  Before 
many  years  have  passed,  science  will  have 
found  a  means  of  extirpating  such  local 
germ-diseases  as  affect  man  and  beast. 
The  climate  over  nearly  the  whole  of  this 
region  from  the  Zambesi  to  the  southern 
ocean  is  magnificent.  Where  the  soil  is 
arid  it  is  packed  with  precious  metals,  but 
much  of  the  aridity  is  caused  by  the  ill- 
regulated  water  supply.  Afforestation  is 
already  producing  a  change  in  this  respect, 
and  increasing  the  rainfall.  In  fact,  the 
rainfall  may  be  equalised  by  a  moderate 
de- foresting  of  the  too  tropical  eastern 
coast-belt  coincident  with  the  planting  up 
of  the  interior  deserts.  The  streams  pro- 
duced by  the  heavy  tropical  or  temperate 
^.     ,,,^  .^  rains  will  be  made  to  supply 

The   White  ,  r  Ai         •       ■        4.-  r 

.,     ,    _  ^   water  for  the  irrigation  of 

Mans  Prospects  ,1        ,  r  j  • 

.     -,  .  the  less  favoured  regions. 

m  Africa  ™,  .    ,  . 

The  coexistence  of  a  negro 

population  of  some  five  or  si.x  million  within 
these  limits  is,  together  with  the  general 
question  of  unskilled  labour,  one  of  the 
problems  that  the  empire  has  to  face  and 
solve  before  long.  About  1,500  years  ago, 
in  all  probability,  there  were  very  few  big 
black  negroes  dwelling  in  the  lands  to  the 
south  of  the  Zambesi.  This  sub-continent 
then  was  sparsely  peopled  by  a  Hottentot- 
Bushman  race  of  low  or  arrested  physique, 
and  of  poor  intellectual  development. 

These  men  were  leading  the  almost 
animal  life  of  the  Stone  Age.  Then  came 
successive  rushes  of  the  powerful  Bantu 
negroes  from  the  north  and  east,  and  a  good 
deal  of  the  centre  and  east  of  South  Africa 
was  populated  by  black  men,  the  ancestors 
of  the  modern  Bechuana,  Zulu,  and  Nyanja 
tribes.  The  Hottentots  in  the  south-west 
had  made  a  more  determined  resistance, 
and  when  the  European  first  arrived  on  the 
scene,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  much  of 
the  south-western  part  of  this  sub- 
continent was  still  outside  the  Bantu 
sphere.  The  persecution  or  the  control 
of  the  Hottentots  by  Dutch  and  British 
indirectly  assisted  the  attempts  of  the 
Kaffirs  to  extend  further  and  further  to 


the  south-west.  Speaking,  however, 
racially,  some  sections  of  the  Zulu-Kaffir- 
Bechuana  peoples  are  no  earlier  colonists 
of  South  Africa  than  the  Dutch  and  even 
the  British.  Some  sections  of  them  have 
inherently  no  better  right  to  the  soil  of 
a  No-man's-land  than  we  have  ;  both  alike 
have  entered  into  the  inheritance  of  a  van- 
Th  E  1  ished  Bushman  type,  if  one  can 
^  f    .*!"  ^  ,    seriously  ascribe  full  territorial 

Colonists  of        ■    ,   .      ,  ■'  r  1      • 

South  Africa  "g^^^s  to  a  race  of  wandering 
human  nomads,  as  much,  and 
no  more,  entitled  to  the  fee-simple  of  the 
sjil  they  roved  over  than  the  wild  beasts 
they  were  attempting  to  dispossess. 

In  deciding  such  grave  questions  it 
has  always  seemed  to  the  present  writer 
that  a  very  great  distinction  must  be  made 
between  nomads  and  agriculturists.  An 
agricultural  race  that  has  distinctly  bene- 
fited the  land  it  has  occupied,  by  subduing 
Nature  and  making  the  country  fit  for 
intelligent  human  occupation,  has  ac- 
quired a  fee-simple  in  the  soil  ;  not  so  the 
nomad,  who  is  a  mere  hunter.  Pastoral 
peoples  should  be  given  reservations  in 
return  for  the  care  they  have  bestowed 
on  domestic  animals,  and  for  their  having 
subdued  more  or  less  the  wild  beasts  that 
would  make  the  keeping  of  these  flocks 
and  herds  impossible  ;  or  they  may  have 
uprooted  poisonous  herbs,  and  have  miti- 
gated  marsh   or   thorny  scrub. 

To  reduce  a  long  argument  into  as  few 
words  as  possible,  the  future  settlement  of 
race  distribution  in  Trans-Zambesian  Africa 
should  follow  these  lines  :  The  existing 
agricultural  races  should  be  granted  defi- 
nite areas  of  land,  which  would  become 
as  much  theirs  as  land  similarly  taken  up 
by  white  men  ;  but  every  inducement  of 
teaching,  all  fair  persuasion,  should  be 
used  towards  these  negro  tribes  to  leave 
the  high,  cold  regions  or  the  temperate 
coast  lands  and  migrate  little  by  little 
to  the  tropical  eastern  belt,  and,  most 
of  all,  to  the  basin  of  the  Zambesi,  especi- 
ally  the  magnificent  territories 
A  Black  ^^  British  Central  Africa.  This 
is  a  climate  well  suited  to 
negro  physical  development, 
not  so  well  suited  to  the  white  man.  As 
compensation  for  the  gradual  creation  of 
a  white  South  Africa,  the  building  up  of 
a  black  Central  Africa  should  be  carried 
on  simultaneously.  No  injustice  should  be 
done  to  Basuto  or  Zulu,  to  Bechuana  or 
Baronga.  But  actual  inducements  may 
be    offered    to    the    more    vigorous    and 

5651 


Central 
Africa 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


Bonds  of 
Union  for  Black 
and  White 


enterprising  amongst  the  black  men  to 
migrate  a  little  farther  to  the  east  and 
north  in  return  for  a  good  substantial  grant 
of  land.  In  exchange,  the  vacant  soil  of  the 
high  cold  plateaux  might  be  disposed  of  to 
European  settlers.  Gradually  in  this  way 
the  two  races  might  draw  apart,  the  black 
men  living  more  to  the  east  and  north,  and 
the  white  to  the  south  and 
south-west.  As  in  India, 
so  in  South  Africa,  the  alter- 
native to  this  policy  is  the 
setting  aside  of  racial  prejudice  and  the  free 
interbreeding  of  black  and  white  ;  the  same 
education,  the  same  laws,  the  same  social 
organisation  being  made  to  apply  to  both. 
This  consummation  is  less  and  less  in 
favour.  The  blacks  dislike  interbreeding 
with  the  whites  quite  as  much  as  the 
reverse  is  the  case,  and  so  far  the  result 
of  such  intermixture  between  the  absolute 
negro  and  the  absolute  white  man  has 
not  been  happy  either  in  its  physical 
attributes  or  its  political  status. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  retention  of 
five,  six,  ten  millions  of  negroes  as  a 
permanently  servile  force  has  likewise 
ceased  to  be  possible.  Sufficient  educa- 
tion has  been  brought  amongst  them  by 
the  white  man,  he  has  departed  sufficiently 
from  the  ideas  of  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  to  have  made  the 
reinstitution  of  negro  slavery  a  physical 
impossibility.  The  negroes  would  resist 
it  to  the  death,  and  the  white  man  has 
not  the  numbers,  the  strength,  or  the 
money  to  reimpose  such  a  condition  on 
his  still  slightly  inferior  brother,  whom 
at  one  time  he  would,  if  he  could,  have 
reduced  once  more  to  the  level  of  a  beast. 
Of  course,  if  the  white  peoples  decide 
for  a  white  South  Africa  they  must  face 
and  settle  the  problem  of  unskilled  labour. 
Either  they  must  consent  to  work  with 
the  pick  and  shovel,  the  mason's  trowel, 
the  bricklayer's  hod,  the  gardener's  spade, 
to  perform  all  the  menial  functions  of  do- 

^.  ...  mesticity,  to  police,  to  be  sig- 
Thc  Ideal  1  -^      •    i  J  J 

nalman,  pomtsman  and  guard, 

c  .1.  */•*  telegraph  clerk  and  messen- 
South  Africa  ,  , 

ger,   postman,  groom,    carter, 

shepherd,  vine-dresser,  ostrich  attendant, 
and  dock  labourer  ;  or  they  must  decide 
for  a  partnership  on  equal  terms  with 
the  black  and  possibly  the  yellow  man 
so  far  as  South  Africa  is  concerned.  The 
Chinaman  need  have  no  say  in  the  de- 
velopment of  South  Africa.  He  has 
quite   a   large   enough   sphere  in  Eastern 

5652 


and  Central  Asia,  but  if  the  "  White 
South  Africa "  ideal  is  to  be  lowered 
because  the  white  man  dislikes  to  work 
as  an  unskilled  labourer,  the  Indian  must 
be  readmitted  to  take  his  share  in  the 
development  of  this  neglected  region. 

There  are  few  problems  now  to  be 
solved  in  British  West  Africa  since  we 
have  most  wisely  decided  it  is  the  black 
man's  country,  to  be  owned  and  developed 
by  the  negro  and  negroid.  In  Uganda 
the  same  principle  is  in  force,  but  in  East 
Africa  the  future  is  much  more  com- 
plicated ;  a  parti -coloured  policy  may  be 
the  wisest  to  adopt.  The  rights  to  land, 
communally  and  individually,  on  the  part 
of  the  indigenous  blacks  and  browns  are 
already  recognised  and  have  been  secured. 
There  still  remain  territories,  collectively 
as  large  as  Ireland — situated  at  altitudes 
between  6,000  and  13,000  feet  above  sea- 
level,  above  sunstroke  and  most  tropical 
diseases,  except  malaria,  which  is  a  matter 
of  infection — which  are  in  every  way  suited 
to  European  settlement.  Owing  to  former 
wars  between  tribe  and  tribe,  and  to  the 
cold  climate,  there  are  no  existing  native 
,  inhabitants.  Shall  we  actively 
promote  the  colonisation  of 
these  still  vacant  lands  by 
homeless  Britishers  or  shall  we 
let  them  drift  into  the  possession  of  Boers, 
Italians,  Greeks,  or  Russian  Jews?  Then 
in  East  Africa  is  also  the  Asiatic  problem. 

Are  we  then  to  encourage,  dis- 
courage or  remain  indifferent  to  the 
immigration  on  a  large  scale  of  natives 
of  India,  who  shall  come  not  merely  as 
employes,  merchants  or  soldiers,  but  as 
settlers,  bringing  their  women-folk  and 
determined  to  find  in  East  Africa  that 
America  we  are  denying  them  in  Natal 
and  the  Transvaal.  Can  we  refuse  them 
this  satisfaction  ?  Are  we  as  Imperialists 
to  shape  new  homes  for  white  men  only  ? 
Or  should  we  expect  the  overplus  of  India 
to  be  content  with  new  fields  of  energy 
nearer  home — Southern  Arabia,  Southern 
Persia,  Malaya,  Borneo,  Fiji,  Northern 
Austraha,  Mauritius ;  or  in  Tropical 
America — Honduras,  Jamaica,  Trinidad, 
Guiana,  leaving  Africa  to  the  Negro, 
Negroid  and  Caucasian  ? 

Egypt  is  one  of  the  knottiest  problems 
that  offer  themselves  for  our  solution. 
We  have  raised  a  Mohammedan  people 
from  the  dust,  have  forced  on  it  education, 
law  and  order,  security  and  affluence, 
have  even  assiduouslv  taught  it  what  it 


East  Africa's 

Asiatic 

Problem 


THE    FUTURE    OF    THE    EMPIRE 


had  forgotten  since  it  was  submerged  and 
denationalised  by  Islam  (that  lava  flow 
of  human  history),  that  the  lands  of  the 
Lower  Nile  and  the  people  generated  from 
Nile  mud  and  sand  were  once  the  cradle 
and  the  exponents  of  a  mighty  civilisa- 
tion. By  our  intervention  this  modern 
Egyptian  race  has  been  saved  from  dwind- 
ling into  virtual  extinction,  bled  to  death 
by  heartless  Turkish  pashas  and  their 
Circassian  and  Armenian  servants. 

Now,  under  an  enlightened  prince,  who, 
like  his  father,  has  Egyptian  blood  in 
his  veins,  and  administered  by  a  new 
school  of  Egyptian,  Armenian,  and 
Turkish  ministers,  Egypt  desires  to  be 
allowed  to  run  alone.  The  Sudan,  it  is 
virtually  acknowledged,  is  a  totally 
different  question ;  it  has  its  own  outlet 
to  the  sea  at  Port  Sudan  and  via  Uganda 
and  Mombasa.  The  Sudan  administered 
by  Britain  will  relieve  Egypt  from  one 
great  menace  on  the  south.  If,  argue 
some  Egyptians,  the  British  troops  were 
removed  from  Cairo  and  Alexandria  to  the 
other  side  of  the  Suez  Canal,  in  short,  if 
the  Sinai  peninsula  were  definitely  ceded 
to  Great  Britain  and  Egypt 
^-..  .  became  an  absolutely  inde- 
■  E*^  ^  pendent  kingdom,  the  British 
^^^  would  obtain  means  of  defend- 
ing the  Red  Sea  route  to  India  and  the  Suez 
Canal  and  yet  might  reheve  the  administra- 
tion of  Egypt  of  that  admixture  of  British 
officials,  which,  by  its  crushing  superiority 
of  attainments  and  ideals,  galls  the  rising 
generation  of  the  upper  and  middle  classes 
of  the  native-born   Egyptians. 

There  are  other  Egyptians  who  say  or 
write  that  they  are  in  no  hurry  to  lose  the 
British  civilian  employes  of  the  khedive's 
administration ;  the  admirable  qualities 
of  these  as  judges,  financiers,  engineers,  or 
police  officers,  are  fully  recognised.  It  is 
the  military  officers  who,  for  some  reason, 
have  made  themselves  disliked  through 
want  of  tact,  consideration,  or  sympathy. 
It  is  the  army  of  occupation  rather  than 
the  British  officered  Egyptian  army  which 
is  the  thorn  in  the  wound.  "If  the  British 
soldiers  were  removed  to  the  Sinai  Penin- 
sula," say  the  Young  Egyptians,  '•  we 
should  be  content  to  remain  for  some 
further  period  under  British  tutelage  :  but 
let  thekhedivebe  master  in  his  own  house." 

This  much  is  clear  to  us  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  that  Egypt,  by  its  mere  geo- 
graphical position,  is  the  central  connecting 
link  of  our  empire  in  Europe,  Africa,  and 


Asia.  Under  present  circumstances,  and 
until  the  navigation  of  the  air  is  a  common- 
place fact — when  there  may  be  universal 
peace  and  a  world-federation — it  is  vital  to 
the  continued  existence  of  the  British  Em- 
pire abroad  that  we  should  neutralise  the 
geographical  advantages  of  Egypt  by  con- 
trolling the  destinies  and  the  foreign  policy 
_  of  that  country.    So  much  so, 

iT^j'*  D  •,!•  t  that,if  need  be,  violence  must 
Under  British  i       ,  .     ,i      A         r     ^■  c 

J,  J  be  done  to  the  finer  f  eelmgs  of 

the  Egyptians  by  the  declara- 
tion of  an  actual  protectorate  or  suzerainty 
— a  clear  intimation  to  the  khedive  and  his 
people  that  they  are,  and  must  remain,  for 
an  indefinite  period  within  the  diversified 
confederation  which  we  call  the  British 
Empire.  We  justify  this  high-handed 
action  by  an  appeal  to  the  civilised  powers 
that  count  in  the  world's  councils. 

We  ask  educated  India,  Australia,  East 
Africa,  Uganda,  British  Central  and  South 
Africa,  Zanzibar,  Mauritius,  New  Zealand, 
and  even  Canada,  to  consider  what  would 
happen  to  them  and  to  their  commerce  if 
the  Suez  Canal  were  under  the  control  of  an 
absolutely  independent  power  which  could 
close  it  at  any  moment  to  British  ships  ; 
or  else  in  the  keeping  of  a  state  so  feeble 
and  so  disorganised  that  it  was  at  the 
mercy  of  a  coup-de-main  on  the  part  of 
any  strong  Mediterranean  nation. 

With  the  proviso,  however,  of  the  full 
recognition  of  Great  Britain's  supremacy, 
there  is  no  reason  whatever  why  Egypt 
should  not  receive  in  time  full  representa- 
tive government  under  the  khedive,  who 
might  well  be  raised  to  the  rank  of  sultan, 
and  even  exercise  almost  completely 
independent  powers  in  regard  to  internal 
administration  and  the  foreign  affairs  of 
Egypt  proper.  Perhaps  the  best  arrange- 
ment in  the  long  run  would  be  the  cession 
to  England  of  the  Sinai  Peninsula  and  the 
Sudan,  the  British  troops  being  withdrawn 
from  the  sultanate  of  Egypt,  but  the  sultan 
of  that  country  acknowledging  the  over- 
•    PI  lordship  of  the  British  Em- 

•    !k  ^        *^*     peror,  just  as  Bavaria  does 

that  of  the  German  Emperor. 

Provided  our  vital  rights  of 
control  over  Egypt  and  Southern  and 
Eastern  Arabia  are  recognised,  the  British 
people  would  welcome  most  heartily  the 
regeneration  of  Turkey.  It  may  be  neces- 
sary to  the  peculiar  position  of  Italy  in  the 
Mediterranean  that  Turkey  shall  cede  some 
rights  in  Tripoh  to  the  Italian  kingdom,  in 
return  for  assurances  that  Italy  will  not 

5653 


in  the 
Mediterranean 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


interfere  in  Albania.  It  may  also  come 
about  that  Crete  is  definitely  assigned  to 
Greece,  as  Bosnia  has  been  to  Austria,  and 
Novi  Bazar  to  the  Serbs,  the  right  to  build 
the  Bagdad  railway  to  Germany,  and 
the  free  passage  of  the  Dardanelles  and 
Bosphorus  to  the  warships  of  the  whole 
world.  This  really  means  curtailing  by 
rp     V  ^^ry  little  the  actual  extent 

The  Factor  ^^  ^^^  present  administra- 
of  the^Gcrman  ^.^.^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  Turkish  Em- 

mpirc  pire.      In    return   for  these 

concessions  —  including  the  recognition 
on  the  part  of  the  Powers  of  a  French 
protectorate  over  Morocco — the  capitu- 
lations, and  later  the  special  post  offices, 
and  all  other  extra-territorial  privileges  of 
the  foreign  Powers  in  Turkey  might  be 
abrogated,  and  Turkey  left  free  to  attend 
whole-heartedly  to  internal  reform  and 
the  peaceful  exploitation  of  her  wealth 
in  natural  products. 

Behind  all  these  projects  stands  the 
German  Empire,  \\ithout  whose  acquies- 
cence much  of  this  planned  settlement 
of  world  affairs  is  idle  chatter.  The 
necessary  entente  with  Germany,  follow- 
ing on  the  still  more  necessary  understand- 
ings with  France  and  Russia,  should  now 
be  the  object  of  every  British  statesman's 
desire.  Every  reasonable  effort  must  be 
made  to  frame  an  understanding  with 
Germany;  if  possible,  one  which  shall 
embrace  and  settle  for  at  least  a  hundred 
years  to  come  the  aspirations  of  France, 
i3elgium,  Holland,  Russia,  America,  and 
Japan.  Then  we  ma3^  be  able  to  think 
about  relative  disarmament,  and  the  con- 
centrating of  our  forces  on  the  development 
of  all  the  backward  places  of  the  world. 

When  such  a  guarantee  of  the  world's 
peace  is  attained  as  the  understanding 
between  Britain  and  Germany,  then, 
indeed,  we  ought  to  turn  our  attention 
more  vigorously  than  ever  to  the  reforms 
which  are  needed  in  our  own  Imperial 
domains.  Besides  those  already  touched 
on — local  administration,  com- 

j*  °''  mercial  interrelations,  and 
a     ni  orm     5gQ^ia.r  technical  education — we 

anguagc  j^^g^  g^jj^  g^^  making  the  Eng- 
lish language,  a  universal  medium  of  inter- 
communication. It  must  become  eventu- 
ally the  one  official  language  of  the  whole 
empire.  This  need  not  lead  to  the  neglect  of 
other  forms  of  speech  ;  on  the  contrary,  for 
purposes  of  literature,  science,  history,  and 
the  right  understanding  of  diverse  minds 
and  intellects,  language  study — not  merely 

5654 


Hebrew,  Ancient  Greek,  or  Latin — must  be 
enforced  on  all  persons  in  the  Imperial 
service.  But  Enghsh  should  be  taught 
everywhere  in  all  government  or  state- 
aided  schools,  and  all  higher  instruction 
be  accessible  in  that  language. 

And  we  must  put  our  own  pride  in  our 
pocket  and  make  on  our  part  concessions 
to  commonsense.  English  must  have  its 
standard  pronunciation  fixed  for  a  hundred 
years,  and  must  then  be  spelt  phonetically 
in  the  Roman  alphabet,  just  as  we  spell 
African  and  Indian  languages  phonetically. 
Moreover,  there  must  be  but  one  alphabet, 
one  printing  type  all  over  the  empire.  At 
present  we  tolerate  the  Irish  alphabet  in 
Ireland ;  the  Greek  letters  in  Cyprus ; 
Coptic  in  Egypt ;  Arabic  in  Arabia,  Egypt, 
India,  Central  Africa,  and  Malaya;  about 
fifty  different  alphabets  in  India  and 
Ceylon ;  and  the  Chinese  syllabary  in  Hong 
Kong.  This  leads  to  a  sickening  waste  of 
time,  and  to  an  obscurantism  beloved  of 
schoolmasters,  clerics,  cranky  professors, 
pedantic  prigs,  sulky  bonzes,  rebellious 
Hindus,  intriguing  Arabs,  and  all  those 
who  are  realh^  opposed  to  the  enlarged 
study  of  languages  and  their 
rapid  acquisition  by  people  in 
a  hurry.  No  one  can  accuse 
me  of  a  narrow  nationalism 
in  advocating  the  universal  use  of  the 
so-called  Roman  alphabet,  because  this 
elegant,  clear,  easily  recognised  type 
was  invented  in  Italy,  and  as  regards 
its  adaptation  to  the  phonetic  rendering 
of  all  known  languages  is  a  German  inven- 
tion by  the  great  Lepsius. 

Besides  a  uniform  alphabet  we  want  a 
uniform  coin  of  standard  value,  uniform 
weights  and  measures,  and  postal  rates. 
This  last  reform  is  nearly  accomplished. 
In  weights  and  measures  we  might  very 
well  adopt  the  metric  system,  and  thus 
put  ourselves  in  harmony  with  France  and 
the  whole  Latin  world,  Germany,  Latin 
America,  Turkey,  the  Balkan  States, 
Roumania,  Austria-Hungary,  and  Japan. 
In  regard  to  coinage,  see  how  ridiculously 
the  empire  differs  one  portion  from 
another.  In  Great  Britain,  Gibraltar, 
Malta,  Cyprus,  British  Central  Africa, 
South  Africa,  West  Africa,  St.  Helena,  the 
West  Indies,  Falkland  Islands  and  British 
Guinea,  Austraha,  New  Zealand,  Fiji  and 
the  \\'estern  Pacific,  we  have  a  gold  stan- 
dard and  the  pound  sterling  as  unit  of 
calculation,  and  a  very  sensible  unit,  too. 
In  Egypt  and  the  Egyptian  Sudan  there 


Reforms  that 
Would  Benefit 
the  Empire 


THE    FUTURE    OF    THE    EMPIRE 


is  a  monetary  system  nearly  in  accord  with 
that  of  Britain,  but  the  Egyptian  pound 
is  worth  about  threepence  more  than  the 
Enghsh  sovereign.  It  is  divided  into 
100  piastres.  In  British  Arabia,  the 
Central  Sudan  and  Zanzibar  the  Maria 
Theresa  dollar  of  an  approximate  3s.  8d. 
still  lingers.  But  throughout  the  Aden 
territory,  British  East  Africa,  Zanzibar, 
Seychelles,  Mauritius,  Persian  Gnli,  Cey- 
lon, and  the  whole  Indian  Empire,  the 
silver  rupee  of  a  more  or  less  fixed  exchange 
— value  of  fifteen  rupees  =  £1 — is  the 
established  currency. 

In  the  Straits  Settlements  and  the 
federated  Malay  States  the  official  currency 
is  a  dollar,  worth  2s.  4d.  At  one  time 
there  were  three  kinds  of  dollar  in  circu- 
lation as  legal  tender  :  the  Mexican  dollar, 
say  4s.  ;  the  British  dollar,  value  about 
2s.  6d.  ;  and  the  Hong  Kong  dollar,  value 
about  2S.  These  are  still,  with  varying 
values,  the  currency  of  Hong  Kong. 

In  1902  a  committee  sat  at  the  Colonial 
Office  to  consider  and  make  recommenda- 
tions regarding  the  currency  question  in 
.      the  Straits  Settlements.   They 

""^"^^  "*    recommended  a  return  to  the 

c  ..1  '^**  !      gold  standard,  but,  for  some 

Settlements      P  ,    ui  .l       i      r 

mscrutable  reason,  mstead  of 

taking  this  occasion  to  introduce  the  Impe- 
rial coinage,  they  started  this  great  Malayan 
colony  off  on  a  fresh  currency  of  its  own, 
equivalent  to  the  British  dollar  of  an  ap- 
proximate value  of  2s.  4d. — another  unit  of 
independent  value  added  to  the  Canadian 
dollar,  the  pound  sterling,  the  rupee,  the 
Hong  Kong  dollar,  the  five-franc  piece, 
(which  is  much  used  in  British  Gambia 
and  in  Jersey).  It  is  actions  like  these  that 
stand  in  the  way  of  Imperial  federation. 
The  currency  of  Hong  Kong  and  Wei-hai- 
wei  is  enough  to  make  the  brain  whirl,  and 
must  cause  many  a  suicide  among  cashiers 
and  accountants.  The  Hong  Kong  dollar 
is  at  present  worth  about  is.  iifd.  Two 
other  dollars  of  totally  different  and  con- 
stantly varying  value  equally  pass  current. 
The  copper  coinage  is  shamefully  bewil- 
dering. British  Borneo  shares  the  dollar 
standard  of  the  Straits  Settlements. 

Canada  has  from  its  entry  into  the 
empire  adopted  the  dollar  of  the  United 
States  as  its  unit.  Newfoundland  also 
keeps  its  accounts  in  dollars  and  cents 
(American),  but  British  sterling  is  legal 
tender.  British  Honduras  likewise  employs 


the  American  dollar  of  an  approximate 
4s.  .2d.  as  its  unit  of  value.  Thus  through- 
out the  British  Empire  we  have  the 
following  units  and  values — often  fluctuat- 
ing— for  monetary  media  and  the  keeping 
of  accounts  :  The  pound  sterling,  value 
20S.  ;    the    five-franc    piece,    value    4s.  ; 

,,  .        the   Egyptian  pound,   value 
Money  Values  ^^  ^^     ^^    ^j^^  ^^^-^  ^j^^^^^^ 


Throughout 
the  Empire 


dollar,  3s.  8d.  (?) ;  the  Mexican 
dollar,  4s.  (?) ;  the  British  dol- 
lar, 2s.  4d. ;  the  Hong  Kong  dollar,  is.  iid. 
to  2s.  ;  and  the  dollar  of  British  America, 
about  4s.  2d.  For  lesser  coins  in  copper, 
bronze,  and  nickel  there  are  many  values 
and  names — pence,  cents,  piastres,  annas. 

In  some  parts  of  West,  East,  and  Central 
Africa  the  kauri  shell  is  not  demonetised. 
In  Nigeria,  1,000  kauris  are  worth  three- 
pence !  This  will  give  some  idea  of  what 
a  worry  they  can  be  as  cash  or  in  accounts. 
In  British  China  there  are  copper  coins 
representing  one-hundredth  part  of  the  2s. 
dollar — less  than  a  farthing,  and  one- 
thousandth  part  of  the  same  coin,  or  one 
forty-first  part  of  a  penny !  On  the 
other  hand,  in  South  Africa  there  is  a 
distressing  dearth  of  small  cash,  no  coin 
below  a  silver  threepence  being  in  circu- 
lation. 

Will  no  great  Imperial  statesmen  arise, 
will  no  council  of  broad  views  and  domi- 
nant authority  come  into  existence  which 
will  cause  the  empire  to  agree  on  : 

1.  A  phonetic  spelling  and  writing  of 
the  English  language. 

2.  Uniform  weights  and  measures 
(metric). 

3.  Uniform  coinage  and  unit  values  in 
calculation  (decimal). 

4.  A  single  alphabet — the  Roman — for 
writing  and  printing  all  languages  on  an 
identical  phonetic  system,  the  same  that 
is  applied  to  English  ? 

I  doubt  if  there  are  great  men  to  devise 
great  measures,  and  if  this  magnificent  but 
unwieldy  empire,  too  loosely 
compacted,  too  perversely  in- 
dividualistic in  all  its  parts, 
be  not  drifting  on  to  eventual 
dissolution  for  the  want  of  men  in  its 
supreme  councils  "  with  head,  heart,  hand; 
like  some  of  the  simple  great  ones  gone  ; 
for  ever  and  ever  by,"  who  will  impose 
unity  in  essentials  and  allow  liberty  of 
judgment  in  what  is  unessential. 

Harry  Johnston 


The  Drift 

of 
Empire 


5655 


v.      B  A  r  r  I    N  ^-^  1^ 


T— — T—    ^  ^ 

■^^  A  R  CT  I  C  OCCAM 


^  Fredcrtk^aa 


Altanvy^' 


""^       :\A       T'-L...  A      /V      T      /      C 


U     In     S*   T     E^  D    *t*L^'k 

-^'^        '  "^^ — Wa&hir>«ton -(iv      " '•  •■'** 


£?       C      E      A       N 


■^Jtl    '         li.       vj£j  ^.  ■    K'-         ,    -  ^  e  So/is  /49Z."_T---' • ,,..-"--:---■ 


^(C"      Oufy^ardRouto.'P-^-—''        ..'■'■ 


■;i9^';>-- 


-.  >l/-/c^  '(BOLIVIA  y  Po^ioSegu 

O  I      i'  ^PAR/WfUAY 

Calderak/:   Carn'ehtes  &'"y^  >J  ■'^■^^  . 

/   ^ARGENTINA    ^'■''■'^'°  <''<' ''a  ^/aia 

A*  <cr;'  -  <r 

0^„  .<5fL?  J  i  Falkland   I? 


/  •O    C    E   A     N 

'•■•■■*".•;.... ...J,  NCOUSH' 


'  Oulf  of  S' Oeorgt 


.  BartholomfuDica  /4SS 

I  Columbus      1492  3 

Co/umbui     1493-5 


■     Vespucci  1497-a  .- 

"    Vespucci  1499-1500  . 

.  ,^  ...  Vespucci  1501-2  "  •■ 

^  V „^aiLi§:7  '°  South  0.or,,cS  Cohmbus    ,498-1500 ^,,p^,„  ,so3-4,  . 

Stra.tofMag''"       '^CofeHom  ColOmbuS  1502  -  4-       Pimon    /500  .-y-.- 

ff  f>  A  H  £       STRAIT  Vasco  deOama  I497^-,  -,...»  Pinzon     1509  '--i- 

Cabot        1497  Cabral  1500  ■<■'■•■ 

s„uth  Shetland  !•    <^^  "^ "  Cabot       ,498  Magellan /520-2I , 


THE    ATLANTIC    OCEAN,    SHOWING    THE    ROUTES     FOLLOWED     BY    EARLY    VOYAGERS 
Separating-  the  Old  World  from  the  New,  and  extending  from  one  Polar  circle   to  the  other,  the  Atlantic   Ocean  has, 
since  the  sixteenth  century,  been  the  chief  commercial  highway  of  the  world  ;  but  even  earlier  than  that  period,  har(iy 
voyagers  were  bold  enough  to  venture  on  its  waters  in  their  quest  for  lands  unknown.      In  the  above  map  the  routes 
taken  by  the  various  discoverers  are  distinctly  shown,  while   the   dates  of  their  famous  voyages   are   also   given. 

5656 


THE  ATLANTIC  OCEAN] 

AND    ITS    PLACE    IN    HISTORY 

By  Dr.  Karl  Weule 
THE    ATLANTIC    BEFORE    COLUMBUS 


npHE  Atlantic  may  be  regarded  as  a  long 
■*■      canal  v/hich  winds,  in  the  form  of  a 
letter  S,  and  preserving  an  almost  uniform 
breadth,  between  the  Old  World  and  the 
New.  It  extends  from  one  Polar  circle  to  the 
other.     Such  a  configuration,  when  once  it 
became  known  to  mankind,  was  bound  to 
favour  international  communications.   The 
narrowness  of  the  Atlantic  has  had  momen- 
tous results  for  the  history  both  of  states 
and  of  civilisation.    But  it  was  long  before 
the  shape  of  the  Atlantic  was  realised,  and 
this  for  two  reasons.     First,  the  Atlantic 
has  few  islands,  and  this  is  particularly 
true  of  the  zone  which  was  the  first  to  be 
attempted  by  navigators,  the  zone  lying 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Mediterranean. 
Secondly,  the  Mediterranean  was  a  poor 
school  for  explorers.     The  broken  coasts 
and    the    numerous    islands    of   that    sea 
make  navigation  too  easy.    The  Mediter- 
ranean peoples  did  not,  therefore,  obtain 
that  experience  which  would  have  fitted 
them  for  the  crossing  of  the  outer  ocean. 
Their  explorations  were  never  extended 
more  than  a  moderate  distance  from  the 
Pillars  of  Hercules,  either  in  the  Greco - 
Roman  period  or  in  more  recent  times. 
Almost  the  same  obstacles  existed  to  the 
navigation  of  the  northern  zone 
of  the   Atlantic.     The  North 
Sea  and  Baltic  ai-e  not  easily 
navigated  ;     they    presented 
difficulties  so  great  that  for  a  long  time 
they  discouraged  the  inhabitants  of  their 
httorals   from   taking   to   the   sea.      The 
dolmen    builders,    indeed,    showed    some 
aptitude    for    maritime    enterprise  ;     and 
much  later  we  find  that  the  men  of  the 
2L  87  n 


Features 
of  the 
Atlantic 


Difficulties 
in  the  Way  of 
Navigation 


Hanse  towns  and  their  rivals  in  Western 
Europe  made  some  use  of  the  sea  lor 
trade.  But  maritime  enterprise  on  a  great 
scale  was  not  attempted  by  these  peoples. 
In  the  days  before  Columbus,  only  the 
inhabitants  of  Western  Norway  made 
serious  attempts  to  explore  the 
ocean.  They  were  specially 
favoured  by  Nature.  A  chain  of 
islands,  the  Faroes,  Iceland,  and 
Greenland,  served  them  as  stepping-stones. 
But  the  voyage  from  Norway  to  the  Faroes 
is  one  of  more  than  400  miles  over  a 
dangerous  ocean  ;  and  this  was  a  much 
more  difficult  feat  than  the  voyage  of  the 
ancients  from  Gades  to  the  Isles  of  the  Blest, 
if  indeed  that  voyage  was  ever  made.  The 
evidence  for  it  is  by  no  means  of  the  best. 
The  Atlantic  is  not  merely  remarkable 
for  its  narrowness  and  dearth  of  islands, 
but  also  for  the  great  indentations  which 
are  to  be  found  in  its  coasts  on  either 
side.  These  have  exercised  a  great  and  a 
beneficial  influence  on  the  climate  of  the 
Atlantic  seaboard.  Those  of  the  American 
coast-line  balance  those  of  the  Old  World 
to  a  remarkable  degree.  It  is  true  that  the 
eastern  coast  of  South  America  bends 
inward  with  a  sweep  less  pronounced  than 
that  of  the  west  coast  of   Africa. 

But  there  is  a  striking  parallelism ; 
and  the  same  phenomenon  strikes  us 
when  we  study  the  shores  of  the  North  and 
Central  Atlantic,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
broken  and  indented  coast-lines  make  it 
difficult  to  perceive  the  broad  similarities 
at  the  first  glance.  Thus  the  Mediter- 
ranean corresponds  to  the  immense  gulf 
which  separates  North  and  South  America. 

5657 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


The  part  which  the  Mediterranean  of 
the  Old  World  has  played  in  history  is  so 
important  that  it  has  demanded  special 
treatment  in  a  previous  chapter.  The  Medi- 
terranean of  America  has  no  such  claim 
upon  the  attention  of  the  historian.  It 
facilitated  the  conquest  and  settlement  of 
the  Spanish  colonies.     It  has  favoured  the 

....  ,.  development  of  those  motley 
Linking  the  ^    •,•  i  •    i     x  •  •/ 

AH     t-       tu  communities  which  fringe  its 

,  P  •(■  shores  from  Cuba  and  Honda 
on  the  north  to  the  Cape  of  San 
Roque  on  the  south.  But  when  we  have 
said  this  we  have  exhausted  the  subject 
of  its  historical  importance.  More  im- 
portant it  doubtless  will  be  in  the  future. 
Even  at  the  present  time  it  affords  the 
sole  outlet  for  the  Central  and  Southern 
States  of  the  American  Union  ;  and  when 
the  Panama  Canal  is  completed,  this  sea 
will  become  the  natural  high-road  between 
the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific — a  great  factor 
in  political  and  economic  history.  It  will  be 
what  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  was  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Old  World.  But  we  are  con- 
cerned with  history  and  not  with  prophecy. 
North  of  the  latitude  of  Gibraltar  the 
two  shores  of  the  Atlantic  present  a 
remarkable  symmetry.  In  shape  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence  and  Hudson's  Bay 
resemble  the  North  Sea  and  the  Baltic. 
Labrador,  Newfoundland,  Nova  Scotia, 
and  Cape  Breton  Island  may  be  compared 
with  North-western  Europe.  The  chief 
difference  between  the  two  coast-lines  is 
one  of  scale.  Hudson's  Bay,  for  example, 
is  considerably  larger  than  the  North  Sea 
and  the  Baltic  put  together.  This  does 
not  detract  from  the  importance  of  the 
symmetry  which  we  have  pointed  out.  It 
is  all  the  more  important  because  it  is 
most  striking  on  those  lines  of  latitude 
which  have  been  most  important  in  the 
history  of  mankind. 

The  Northern  Atlantic  Ocean  has 
influenced  the  development  of  our  general 
civilisation  ■  in    two    directions — namely, 

ft.    /^        .by   those  physical   character- 
Ihe  Ocean  s    ■  l-  ,  .    ^    -'.    . 

,  „  istics  which  originate  Irom  its 

Influence  on  ^  ,.  i  i         ^       •, 

f,.  ...  .  configuration,  and  by  its  situa- 
tion with  reference  to  the  other 
countries  on  the  globe.  The  extensive 
fishing  grounds  which  it  affords  have  been 
a  source  of  wealth  to  European  popula- 
tions. Even  when  we  take  into  account 
the  colossal  proportions  of  modern  inter- 
national trade,  deep-sea  fishing  is  none  the 
less  an  industry  of  note,  and  makes  a  very 
important  difference  in  the  profit  and  loss 

5658 


accounts  of  many  a  northern  country. 
Three  hundred,  and  even  two  hundred,  years 
ago  the  fishing  fleets  of  the  Northern  Sea, 
which  were  then  numerous  though  clumsy, 
gathered,  no  doubt,  a  harvest  in  no  degree 
greater  than  do  the  steam  fishing- boats  of 
the  present  day  ;  but  at  that  time  the 
profits  made  a  much  more  appreciable 
difference  to  the  national  wealth,  and  the 
safety  of  the  national  food  supply  was 
more  largely  dependent  upon  their  efforts. 
Much  more  important,  from  a  historical 
point  of  view,  is  the  influence  on  character 
of  this  trading  in  the  difficult  northern 
seas  ;  for  the  Teutonic  nations  of  North- 
west Europe  and  for  the  French,  it  was 
the  best  of  all  possible  schools  of  seaman- 
ship, and  largely  contributed  to  the  fact 
that  these  nations  were  able  to  play  a 
leading  part  in  the  general  annexation  of 
the  habitable  globe  which  has  taken  place 
during  the  last  three  centuries. 

The  fisheries  are  here  in  closest  communi- 
cation with  that  other  attempt,  which,  his- 
torically at  least,  exercised  influence  no  less 
enduring,  to  find  a  passage  round  North 
America  or  round  Northern  Europe  and 
Asia  to  the  east  shore  of  Asia. 
ng  an  s  Xothing  did  SO  much  to  promote 
upremacy  ^^^^  maritime  efficiency  of  the 
British  nation  as  the  repeated 
attempts  that  were  made  to  find  the  North- 
west and  North-east  passages,  which  began 
with  the  voyage  of  the  elder  Cabot,  and 
continued  to  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  To  the  Atlantic  as  a  whole 
belongs  the  high  service  of  having  led  the 
civilised  peoples  of  the  Old  World  out  to 
the  open  sea  from  the  confines  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  other  land-locked 
waters  ;  from  the  time  of  Columbus  it 
has  been  a  school  of  technical  skiU  and 
self-reliance.  However,  its  most  northern 
part,  storm-lashed  and  ice-bound  as  it  is, 
is  in  no  way  inferior  to  the  whole,  in  this 
respect  at  least,  that  it  gave  to  one  sole 
nation  not  otherwise  particularly  strong,  to 
the  English,  the  supremacy  over  the  seas 
of  the  world  within  a  short  three  centuries.  j 
The  Atlantic  Ocean  may  be  regarded  I 
,as  a  broad  gulf  dividing  the  western  and 
eastern  shores  of  the  habitable  world, 
conceived  as  a  huge  band  of  territory  ex- 
tending from  Cape  Horn  to  Smith  Sound  ; 
this  implies  a  limitation  of  our  ideas 
regarding  the  age  of  the  human  race. 
Its  share  in  universal  history  does  not 
begin  before  the  moment  when  the  keel 
of  the  first  Norse  boat  touched  the  shore 


THE    ATLANTIC    OCEAN    BEFORE    COLUMBUS 


of  Greenland  or  Helluland.  Thus,  this  sea, 
so  important  in  the  development  of  the 
general  civilisation  of  modern  times,  is, 
historically  speaking,  young,  and  its 
significance  in  the  history  of  racial  inter- 
course is  not  to  be  compared  with  that  of 
the  Pacific  or  the  Indian  Ocean. 

When  compared  with  those  ages  during 
which  these  two  giants,  together  with 
our  Mediterranean,  our  Baltic  and  North 
Seas,  made  their  influence  felt  upon  the 
course  of  history,  traditional  or  written, 
the  thousand  years  during  which  the 
Atlantic  has  influenced  history  become 
of  minor  importance.  The  investigator, 
indeed,  who  is  inclined  to  regard  as 
"  historical  "  only  those  cases  in  which 
the  literary  or  architectural  remains  of 
former  races  have  left  us  information 
upon  their  deeds  and  exploits  will 
naturally  be  inclined  to  leave  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  in  possession  of  its  historical  youth. 
He,  however,  who  is  prepared  to  follow 
out  the  ideas  upon  which  this  work  has 
been  based,  and  to  give  due  weight  to  all 
demonstrable  movements  and  meetings 
of  peoples,  which  form  the  first  visible 
sign  of  historical  activity  upon  the  lower 
.  .  planes  of  human  existence,  will 
egmnings   (,Qj^5J(]^gj-  ^j-^g  importance  of  the 

^    ...       Atlantic    Ocean   as    extending 

Mankind  ,        i  i       <  i 

backwards  to  a  very  remote 
antiquity.  Our  views  of  historical  develop- 
ment, in  so  far  as  they  regard  mankind 
as  the  last  product  of  a  special  branch  of 
evolution  within  the  organic  world,  have 
recently  undergone  a  considerable  change ; 
the  most  modern  school  of  anthropologists 
conceives  it  possible  to  demonstrate,  with 
the  help  of  comparative  anatomy,  that  the 
differentiation  of  mankind  from  other 
organisms  was  a  process  which  began,  not 
with  the  anthropoid  apes — that  is  to  say, 
at  a  period  comparatively  late  both  in 
the  history  of  evolution  and  geologically — 
but  at  a  much  earlier  point  within  the 
development  of  the  mammals. 

From  a  geological  and  palaeontological 
point  of  view,  however,  this  conclusion 
carries  us  far  beyond  the  lowest  limits 
previously  stated  as  the  beginnings  of 
mankind.  We  reach  the  Tertiary  Age, 
a  lengthy  period,  interesting  both  for  the 
changes  which  took  place  within  organic 
life  and  for  the  extensive  alterations  that 
appeared  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth. 
Tlie  nature  and  extent  of  these  changes 
must,  in  so  far  as  the  new  theory  is  correct, 
have  been  of  decisive  importance  for  the 


earliest  distribution  of  existing  humanity. 
If  the  theory  be  true  that  during  the 
Tertiary  Age  two  broad  isthmuses  ex- 
tended from  the  western  shore  of  the 
modern  Old  World  to  modern  America, 
then  from  the  point  of  view  of  historical 
development  there  can  be  no  difficulty 
in  conceiving  these  isthmuses  as  inhabited 
Th  Atl  f  ^y  primeval  settlers.  That 
as  a  G  If  point  of  the  globe  over  which  at 
of  Division  ^^^®  present  day  the  deep  waters 
of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  heave 
would  then,  in  fact,  have  been  not  only 
the  earliest  but  also  the  most  important 
scene  of  activity  for  the  fate  of  mankind. 

As  regards  the  later  importance  of  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  the  collapse  of  these  two 
isthmuses  marks  the  beginning  of  a  period 
which  is  of  itself  of  such  great  geological 
length  that  those  first  cx)nditions  which 
influenced  the  fate  of  our  race  appear  to 
its  most  recent  representatives  as  lost 
in  the  mists  of  remote  antiquity.  After 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  appeared  in  its  present 
form,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Old  World 
had  not  the  slightest  communication  with 
the  dwellers  upon  the  other  shore.  The 
Atlantic  Ocean  then  became  in  fact  a 
gulf  dividing  the  habitable  world. 

In  all  times  and  places  mystery  and 
obscurity  have  exercised  an  attraction 
upon  mankind,  and  thus,  too,  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  bounding  as  it  did  the  civilisation 
gathered  round  the  Mediterranean,  at- 
tracted the  inhabitants  of  those  countries 
from  an  early  period.  As  early  as  the 
second  millennium  before  the  birth  of 
Christ  we  find  the  Phoenicians  on  its 
shores,  and  soon  afterwards  their  western 
branch,  the  Carthaginians. 

The  inducement  to  venture  out  upon  its 
waves  was  the  need  of  tin,  the  demand  for 
which  increased  with  the  growing  use  of 
bronze  ;  and  the  rarity  of  this  metal  induced 
them  to  brave  the  dangers  of  the  unknown 
outer  sea.  However,  these  two  branches 
of  the  great  commercial  nations  of  Western 
Asia  did  not  attain  to  any  great 
"'''^J  knowledge  of  the  Atlantic 
""**  °  Ocean.  We  are  reminded  of  the 
reluctance  of  the  towns  and  re- 
pubhcs  of  Italy  to  pass  through  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar,  though  the  high  seas 
had  long  been  sailed  by  the  Portuguese 
and  Spaniards,  or  the  cowardice  of  the 
Hanseatics,  who  hardly  dared  to  approach 
the  actual  gates  of  the  ocean,  when  we  find 
these  two  peoples  who  ruled  for  so  many 
centuries  over  the  Mediterranean,  which 

5659 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


is  itself  of  no  small  extent,  unable  to 
advance  any  material  distance  beyond  the 
Pillars  of  Hercules.  Even  as  regards  the 
tin  trade,  the  chief  labour  was  probably 
undertaken  by  the  seafaring  coast-dwellers 
of  separate  parts  of  Western  Europe. 
How  small  in  reality  were  the  achieve- 
ments of  both  nations  upon  the  Atlantic 
is  shown  by  the  amount  of 
e     *y^  °  praise  lavished  upon  the  coast- 

^^  ...    ^.       ing  voyage  of  Hanno,  which. 
Civilisation     ,    ^         -'    o .  ,       ,     <■ 

however  important  tor  geo- 
graphical science,  was  no  great  achieve- 
ment of  seamanship.  It  is  a  characteristic 
feature  of  all  landlocked  seas  to  limit  not 
only  the  view,  but  also  the  enterprise  of 
the  maritime  peoples  upon  their  shores. 

In  Greek  civilisation  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
as  such,  is  only  of  theoretical  importance. 
A  few  explorers  did,  indeed,  advance  from 
the  Mediterranean  northwards  and  south- 
wards into  the  Atlantic.  Such  were 
Pytheas  of  Massilia  (about  300  B.C.),  who 
journeyed  beyond  Britain  to  the  fabulous 
land  of  Thule ;  his  compatriot  and  con- 
temporary, Euthymenes,  followed  by 
Eudoxos  of  Cyzicus  (about  150  B.C.)  and 
the  historian  Polybius  (about  205-123  B.C.) 
succeeded  in  reaching  different  points 
upon  the  west  coast  of  Africa  ;  but  none 
of  these  undertakings  led  to  any  practical 
result.  The  reason  for  this  fact  is  to  be 
found  in  the  length  of  a  voyage  from  the 
coast  of  Greece,  which  was  a  far  more 
difficult  undertaking  for  the  sailors  of  those 
days  than  it  now  appears.  Especially  im- 
portant, moreover,  is  the  fact  that  the 
Greeks,  although  they  were  the  general 
heirs  of  the  Phoenician  colonial  policy, 
never  attempted  to  overthrow  the  su- 
premacy of  the  Carthaginians  in  the 
western  half  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
For  them,  therefore,  the  great  western 
ocean  remained  permanently  wrapped  in 
the  obscurity  of  distance,  a  fact  which 
enabled  them  to  people  its  illimitable 
breadth  with  creations  of  fancy,  such  as 
the  "Atlantis"  of  Plato; 
but  distance  was  too  import- 
ant an  obstacle  to  be  success- 
fully overcome  by  their  in- 
stinct for  colonisation  and  discovery.  The 
Atlantic  Ocean  came^  into  the  purview  of 
the  Romans  at  the  moment  when  their 
struggles  with  Carthage  for  the  Iberian 
Peninsula  ended  definitely  in  their  favour 
(210  B.C.) ;  it  was  not  until  then  that  this 
rapidly  developing  Power  in  the  west  of 
the  Mediterranean  was  able  to  advance 
5660 


Rome's 

Struggles  With 
Carthage 


from  the  east  coast  of  Spain  to  the  interior  of 
th$  country  and  thence  to  its  western  coast. 
Notwithstanding  the  activity  of  Rome  in 
colonisation,  her  supremacy  in  Iberia  led 
to  no  enterprises  by  sea  ;  nor  were  any 
such  undertaken  by  the  Romans  until  they 
had  established  themselves  in  Gaul,  and 
had  thus  gained  possession  of  a  consider- 
able seaboard  upon  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

It  was  in  54  and  55  B.C.  that  JuUus 
Caesar  made  his  voyages  to  Britain  ;  a  few 
decades  later  came  the  advance  of  Drusus 
and  of  Germanicus  into  the  North  Sea. 
The  nature  of  these  conquests  precluded 
adventure  upon  the  open  sea.  The  Romans 
were  attempting  only  to  secure  their 
natural  frontier  against  the  threatened 
encroachments  of  the  Germanic  tribes,  and 
confined  their  explorations  to  the  southern 
portion  of  the  North  Sea. 

During  the  first  thousand  years  after  the 

birth  of  Christ  the  North  Sea  is  the  only 

part  of  the  Atlantic  Oecan  which  can  be 

demonstrated  to  have  had  any  enduring 

influence    upon    the    history    of    Western 

Europe.       The   Veneti,   and  other  tribes 

inhabiting    the    western   coast    of   Spain, 

Gaul,    and    Germany,    certainly 

_  ^^  *^  adventured  their  vessels  upon 
Ocean  in     ,,  ^i  j    ■ 

.  .  the  open  sea  southward  m  con- 
tinuation of  the  primeval  trade 
in  tin  and  amber ;  even  the  Romans,  before 
indefinitely  retiring  from  Britain,  made 
one  further  advance  during  the  expedition 
which  Cn.  Julius  x^gricola  (84  a.d.)  under- 
took in  the  seas  and  bays  surrounding 
Great  Britain.  Of  other  nations,  however, 
we  hear  nothing  during  this  age  which 
would  lead  us  to  conclude  that  they  carried 
on  communication  by  means  of  the  ocean 
to  any  important  extent. 

The  age  preceding  the  tenth  century  a.d. 
is  entirely  wanting  in  maritime  exploits, 
with  the  exception  of  the  expedition  of 
the  Norsemen,  but  is,  on  the  other  hand, 
rich  in  legends,  the  locality  of  which 
is  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  These  are  impor- 
tant to  the  history  of  civilisation  by  reason 
of  their  number ;  they  are  the  most 
striking  proof  of  that  general  interest 
which  was  excited,  even  during  the 
"  dcirkest  "  century  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
by  the  great  and  mysterious  ocean  upon 
the  west.  Historically,  too,  they  are  of 
importance  for  the  influence  which  their 
supposed  substratum  of  geographical  fact 
has  exercised  upon  the  course  of  discovery. 
This  interest  appears,  comparatively  weak 
at  first,  in  the  "Atlantis"  legend.     The 


THE    ATLANTIC    OCEAN    BEFORE    COLUMBUS 


legend,  together  with  many  other  elements 
forming  the  geographical  lore  of  classical 
Greece,  was  adopted  by  the  Middle  Ages, 
but  cannot  be  retraced  earlier  than  the 
sixth  century.  For  nearly  one  thousand 
years  it  disappears,  with  Cosmas  Indi- 
copleustes,  that  extraordinary  traveller 
and  student  in  whose  works  the  attempt  to 
bring  all  human  discovery  into  harmony 
with  the  Bible,  an  attempt  characteristic 
of  patristic  literature,  reaches  its  highest 
point.  In  the  "  Atlantis  "  of  Plato,  Cosmas 
apparently  sees  a  confirmation  of  the 
teachings  of  Moses,  which  had  there  placed 
the  habitation  of  the  first  men  ;  it  was  not 
until  the  time  of  the  Deluge  that  these  men 
were  marvellously  translated  to  our  own 
continent.  The  ten  kings  of  Atlantis  were 
the  ten  generations,  from  Adam  to  Noah. 

The  power  of  legend  as  a  purely  theo- 
retical force  continued  after  the  first 
millennium  a.d.  only  in  the  north-eastern 
borders  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  Baltic, 
owing  to  its  Mediterranean  situation,  was 
at  that  period  the  theatre  of  so  much 
human  activity  and  progress  that  it  has 
already  received  special  treatment.  The 
North  Sea,  regarded  as  a  land- 
•  tK  *  ^^^^  locked  ocean,  was  not  so  greatly 
N  th  S  benefited  by  its  position  as  it 
has  been  in  the  later  ages  of 
inter-oceanic  communication  ;  at  the  same 
time,  the  coincidence  of  advantages,  small 
in  themselves,  but  considerable  in  the 
aggregate,  have  made  it  more  important 
than  any  other  part  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
as  an  area  of  traffic.  These  advantages 
included  one  of  immeasurable  importance 
to  early  navigation — namely,  a  supply  of 
islands  which,  as  formerly  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, conducted  the  navigator  from 
point  to  point  ;  a  further  advantage  was 
the  character  of  its  inhabitants,  who 
were  far  too  energetic  to  be  contented 
with  a  country  which  was  by  no  means 
one  of  those  most  blessed  by  nature. 

Hence  we  need  feel  no  surprise  at  the 
fact  that  the  North  Sea  was  navigated 
in  all  directions  as  early  as  the  eighth 
century  by  the  Vikings  ;  their  excursions  to 
Iceland,  Greenland,  and  to  that  part  of 
North  America  which  here  projects  farthest 
into  the  ocean,  are  fully  intelligible  when 
we  consider  the  training  which  the  stormy 
North-eastern  Atlantic  Ocean  offered  to  a 
nation  naturally  adventurous. 

The  example  of  the  Norsemen  was  not 
generally  imitated  in  Europe  at  that  time. 
Charles  the  Great  launched,  it  is  true,   a 


fleet  upon  the  North  Sea  to  repulse  their 
attacks,  and  this  was  the  first  step  m.ade 
by  the  German  people  in  the  maritime 
profession  ;  though  we  also  see  the  mer- 
chants of  Cologne  from  the  year  looo 
sending  their  vessels  down  the  Rhine  and 
over  the  straits  to  London,  the  com- 
mercial rivalry  of  Flanders  and  Northern 
_      .  France  following  them  in  the 

^°  thirteenth   century,  and  about 

...     ,.  the  same  time  the  fleets  of  the 

Easterlings  visiting  the  great 
harbour  on  the  Thames.  For  the  imme- 
diate estimation  of  existing  transmarine 
relations  on  the  Atlantic  side  of  Europe, 
these  expeditions  are  useful  starting- 
points  ;  they  have,  however,  nothing  to 
do  with  the  Atlantic  Ocean  as  a  highway 
between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Hemi- 
spheres. The  navigators  who  opened  up 
the  Atlantic  for  this  purpose  started  from 
the  point  which  past  history  and  the 
commercial  policy  of  civilised  peoples 
indicated  as  the  most  suitable  ;  that  is, 
from  the  Mediterranean. 

The  sudden  expansion  of  the  Moham- 
medan religion  and  the  Arabian  power 
over  a  great  portion  of  the  Mediterranean 
gave  a  monopoly  of  the  whole  of  the 
trade  passing  from  east  to  west  to  the 
masters  of  Egypt  and  of  the  Syrian  ports  ; 
a  considerable  alteration  took  place  in 
those  conditions  under  which  for  more 
than  a  century  commercial  exchange  had 
quietly  proceeded  between  the  Far  East 
and  the  West — an  alteration,  too,  greatly 
for  the  worse.  Commercial  intercourse 
became  so  difficult  that  the  chief  carrying 
peonies  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  com- 
mercial city-states,  began  to  consider  the 
possibility  of  circumventing  the  obstacles 
presented  by  the  Moslem  Power,  which  not 
even  the  Crusaders  had  been  able  to  shatter. 
From  the  year  1317  the  traders  of  Venice 
and  Genoa  regularly  passed  the  Straits  of 
Gibraltar  to  secure  their  share  of  that  ex- 
tensive trade  in  England  and  Flanders  which 
had  ev^erywhere  sprung 
into  prosperity  north  of  the 
Alps,  owing  to  the  great 
economic  advance  made  by 
North-west  Europe.  Almost  a  generation 
earlier  they  had  advanced  from  Gibraltar 
southwards  in  the  direction  which  should 
have  brought  them  into  direct  communica- 
tion with  India,  according  to  the  geograph- 
ical knowledge  of  that  day.  This  idea  is 
the  leading  motive  in  the  history  of  dis- 
covery during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 

5661 


Traders  of 
the  Fourteenth 
Century 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


centuries,  so  far  as  the  history  was  worked 
out  upon  the  sea.  We  see  it  reahsed  in  the 
voyage  of  the  brothers  Vadino  and  Guido 
de  Vivaldi  of  Genoa  in  1281,  and  that  of 
UgoHno  Vivaldi,  who  in  1291  sailed  down 
the  west  coast  of  Africa  in  a  ship  of 
Teodosio  Doria  with  the  object  of  discover- 
ing the  sea  route  to  India  ;  it  is  an  idea 
apparent  in  the  voyages 
Arabs  as  the  ^^^^  ,      ^j^^  Italians  to  Ma- 

teachers  of      j    •  ■       .1       /-  j    4. 

.     y,  deira,  to  the  Canaries,  and  to 

the  Azores,  enterprises  both 
of  nautical  daring  and  of  geographical  im- 
portance. Mention  must  also  be  made  at 
this  point  of  the  several  advances  upon  the 
west  coast  of  Africa  made  by  Henry  the 
Navigator ;  this  series  of  attempts  occupied 
the  whole  hfe  of  that  remarkable   prince. 

It  is  true  that  the  Portuguese  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  like  the  Italians  before 
them,  proposed  to  use  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
as  a  means  of  communication  only  up  to 
that  point  where  an  imaginary  western 
mouth  of  the  Nile  came  forth  from  the 
Dark  Continent.  Not  in  vain  were  the 
Arabs  the  teachers  of  the  West,  both  in 
what  they  did  and  in  w^hat  they  did  not 
understand  ;  their  additions  to  the  know- 
ledge of  river  systems  are  even  more 
superficial  than  those  made  by  European 
geographers  of  the  Dark  Ages.  The  mis- 
take of  the  Arabs  most  fruitful  in  conse- 
quences was  their  division  of  the  Upper 
Nile  into  three  arms — one  flowing  into  the 
Mediterranean  from  Egypt,  one  flowing 
into  the  Red  Sea  on  the  coast  of  Abyssinia, 
and  one  flowing  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
on  the  coast  of  North-west  Africa.  This 
hydrographical  myth,  of  which  a  hint 
had  been  given  long  before  by  Ptolemy, 
was  transmitted  to  the  West  immediately 
by  the  Arabs. 

It   is  to  the  influence    of  this    strange 

theory    we    must    ascribe    the    attempts 

made     by     the     Italians    and     also     by 

Prince    Henry ;  •  they    hoped    to    find   a 

short  cut   to   the  realm   of   Prester  John 

^.     ^  ,      .    and  the  Elysium  of  Southern 

The  Atlantic    .  »      -^  r      , 

P  Asia.      A  common  feature  in 

*j*r  f  . .  all  the  theories  of  the  time 
about  the  Atlantic  Ocean  is 
the  tendency  to  consider  it  as  the  illimit- 
able western  boundary  of  the  habitable 
world.  In  the  history  of  discovery,  this 
mental  attitude  continues  until  the  time 
of  Columbus,  whose  westward  voyage 
cannot  for  that  very  reason  be  compared 
with  any  similar  undertaking,  because  it 
was  based  upon  the  conception  of  the  world 

5662 


as  a  closely  united  band  of  earth.  However, 
in  the  scientific  treatment  of  the  great 
sea  upon  the  west,  views  and  conceptions  of 
the  world  as  a  united  whole  had  made 
their  influence  felt  almost  two  centuries 
earlier.  The  fact  that  elephants  are  to  be 
found  both  in  Eastern  India  and  Western 
Africa  had  led  Aristotle  to  suppose  that 
the  two  countries  were  separated  by  no 
great   expanse   of   ocean. 

After  the  Patristic  Age,  the  theory 
was  revived  by  scholasticism  upon 
the  basis  of  Asiatic  and  Greek  geo- 
graphy. As  transmitted  by  the  Arabs, 
this  theory  respecting  the  configuration 
of  the  ocean  assumed  that  form  which  was 
bequeathed  by  Marinus  of  Tyre  about 
100  A.D.  and  by  Ptolemy  to  the  Caliphs. 
The  Western  Ocean,  upon  this  theory, 
was  not  reduced  to  the  narrow  canal  which 
Seneca  had  conceived  ;  but,  compared 
with  the  length  of  the  continent  which 
formed  its  shores,  it  yet  remained  so 
narrow  that  a  man  with  the  enterprise  of 
Columbus  might  very  well  have  enter- 
tained the  plan  of  finding  the  eastern 
world  by  crossing  its  waters  westwards. 
Ptolemy  had  given  the  extent 


The   Coming 

of 

Columbus 


of  the  continent  between  the 
west  coast  of  Iberia  and  the 


east  coast  of  Asia  as  180°  of 
longitude  :  thus  one-half  of  the  circum- 
ference of  the  globe  was  left  for  the  ocean 
lying  between.  He  had  thus  considerably 
reduced  the  estimate  of  his  informant 
Marinus,  who  had  assigned  225°  longitude 
for  the  whole  extent  of  land,  thus  leaving 
only  135°  for  the  ocean. 

Columbus  was  more  inchned  to  rely  upon 
Marinus,  as  Paolo  Toscanelli  had  estimated 
the  extent  of  land  at  very  nearly  the  same 
number  of  degrees  as  the  Tyrian.  Relying 
upon  the  stupendous  journeys  of  Marco 
Polo  and  the  travelling  monks  of  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  he 
obser\^ed  that  Marinus  had  estimated  his 
225°  of  longitude  only  for  that  part  of 
Eastern  Asia  \\'hich  was  known,  to  him  ; 
whereas  the  fact  was  that  this  continent 
extended  far  beyond  the  eastern  boundary 
assumed  by  Marinus,  and  should  therefore 
be  much  nearer  the  Cape  Verde  Islands 
than  was  supposed.  This  view  strength- 
ened Columbus  in  that  tenacity  and  en- 
durance which  enabled  him  to  continue 
working  for  his  voyage  during  ten  years 
full  of  disappointments,  and  it  gave  him 
that  prudent  confidence  which  is  the  most 
distinguishing  feature  of  his  character. 


THE 

ATLANTIC 

OCEAN 

II 


BY 
DR.    KARL 

WEULE 


THE    AGE    AFTER    COLUMBUS 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF    THE    ATLANTIC    ON    THE 
WORLD'S  COMMERCE  DURING  FOUR  CENTURIES 


/^NE  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  in  the 
^-^  history  of  geographical  discovery  is  the 
failure  of  the  discoverer  of  the  New  World 
to  recognise  it  in  its  true  character  as  an 
independent  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  ; 
Columbus  died  in  the  belief  that  he  had 
sailed  on  four  occasions  to  the  eastern  and 
southern  shores  of  Asia,  and  to  his  last 
breath  remained  faithful  to  that  picture  of 
the  globe  which  has  already  been  described. 
His  contemporaries  were  under  the 
same  delusion.  This  adherence  fo  old 
beliefs  regarding  the  hydrography  of  the 
globe  has  produced  the  characteristic  cir- 
cumstance that,  in  political  history  and  in 
the  history  of  exploration,  the  Pacific  and 
Atlantic  are  closely  linked,  until  the  year 
1513,  when  Nunez  de  Balboa  descended 
from  the  heights  of  Darien  to  the  shore  of 
IT  1.  w  .  •  the  southern  sea.  The  Pacific 
Vo"!  of  ""^  and  Atlantic  Oceans  were 
oyagc  o  ^  considered  as  forming  one 
the  Victoria  1  •   i     i        u   i.  j.-u 

sea,  which  lay  between  the 
western  and  eastern  shores  of  an  enor- 
mous continental  island,  the  Indian  Ocean 
being  nothing  more  than  an  indentation 
facilitating  communication  to  the  western 
shore.  It  was  not  until  the  return  of  the 
Victoria  from  the  voyage  of  circum- 
navigation undertaken  by  Magalhaes  that 
Europe  learnt  that  between  the  western 
and  eastern  shores  of  their  own  world  there 
lay,  not  the  narrow  sea  they  had  expected 
to  find,  but  two  independent  oceans, 
divided  by  a  double  continent,  narrower 
and  running  more  nearly  north  than  south, 
and  possessing  all  the  characteristics  of  an 
independent  quarter  of  the  globe. 

An  entirely  new  picture  of  the  world 
then  arose  before  the  civilisation  of  the 
age — new  in  the  influence  it  was  to  exert 
upon  the  further  development  of  the 
history  of  mankind,  which  had  hitherto 
run  an  almost  purely  continental  course. 
In  every  age,  from  that  of  the  early 
Accadians  to  that  of  Hanseatic  ascendancy 
in  the  Baltic,  the  sea  has  ever  been  used 


as  a  means  of  communication.  Before 
the  year  1500  a.d.  we  see  the  Mediterra- 
nean and  the  Indian  Ocean  with  all  their 
branches,  as  well  as  the  North  Sea  and  the 
Baltic,  in  constant  use  by  mankind,  and 
during  that  long  period  we  know  of  a  whole 
series  of  powers  founded  upon 

, .,   °.Y.^'   purely    maritime     supremacy. 
of  Maritime  r,    j.  A.  ^■J.■      i         j  • 

j^    .  But  the  political  and  economic 

history  even  of  those  peoples 
whose  power  was  apparently  founded  upon 
pure  maritime  supremacy  has  been  every- 
where and  invariably  conditioned  by 
changes  and  displacements  in  their  respec- 
tive hinterlands  ;  even  sea  powers  so 
entirely  maritime  as  the  Phoenician  and 
Punic  mediaeval  Mediterranean  powers 
and  the  Hanseatics  have  been  invariably 
obHged  to  accommodate  themselves  to  the 
overwhelming  influence  of  the  Old  World. 

To  those  peoples  their  seas  appeared,  no 
doubt,  as  mighty  centres  of  conflict  ;  but 
to  us,  who  are  accustomed  to  remember 
the  unity  underlying  individual  geograph- 
ical phenomena,  these  centres  of  historical 
action  give  an  impression  of  narrow  bays, 
even  of  ponds.  On  and  around  them  a 
vigorous  period  of  organic  action  may 
certainly  have  developed  at  times,  but 
their  importance  to  the  geographical  dis- 
tribution of  human  life  surpasses  very 
little  their  spatial  dimensions. 

After  the  age  of  the  great  discoveries 
history  loses  its  continental  character, 
and  the  main  theatre  of  historical  events 
is  gradually  transferred  to  the  sea.  At 
the  same  time,  the  co-existence  of  separate 
historical  centres  of  civilisa- 
The  Atlantic  ^^^^  comes  gradually  to  a 
as  a^i  Agency  ^j^^^  ^^^  history  becomes 
of  Education  ...^rid-Wide.  The  leap,  how- 
ever, which  the  population  of  Europe  was 
then  forced  to  make  from  its  own  con- 
venient landlocked  seas  to  the  unconfined 
ocean  was  too  great  to  be  taken  without 
some  previous  training.  This  training  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  provided  in  full  ;  in  fact, 

5663 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


during  the  sixteenth  century  its  historical 
importance  begins  and  ends  with  the  task 
of  educating  European  nations  to  capacity 
for  world  supremacy.  No  other  sea  upon 
the  surface  of  the  globe  has  exercised  such 
an  influence,  nor  was  any  sea  so  entirely 
suited  as  a  training  ground  by  configura- 
tion or  position.  The  Pacific  Ocean  lies 
entirely  apart  from  this  ques- 
tion :  From  1513  the  task  natu- 


Thc  Pacific 
Greatest  of 


„  _  rally  placed  before  the  white 

all  Oceans  -     ^         j^i.    .       <•   i  j. 

races  was  that  01  learnmg  to 

sail  this  sea,  the  greatest  of  all  oceans,  and 

apparently  the  richest  in  prospects.     Its 

importance  is  chiefly  as  a  battlefield  ;    it 

has  nothing  to  do  with  military  training. 

In  this  respect  the  Indian  Ocean  can 
also  be  omitted  particularly  for  geo- 
graphical reasons,  though  at  the  same 
time  the  chief  obstacle  to  its  extensive  use 
by  European  nations  is  its  lack  of  some 
natural  communication  with  the  IMediter- 
ranean.  Compared  with  these  hindrances, 
the  political  obstacles,  varying  in  strength 
but  never  wholly  absent,  raised  by  the 
Moslem  powers  of  Syria  and  Eg^^pt  are  of 
very  secondary  importance.  How  im- 
portant the  first  obstacle  has  ever  been  is 
showTi  by  the  results  of  the  piercing  of  it 
in  modern  times  by  an  artificial  water- 
wa5^  which  is  kept  open  by  treaty  to  the 
ships  of   every  nation. 

Speaking  from  the  __standpoint  of  uni- 
versal history,  we  may  say  that  the 
Mediterranean  has  exercised  a  retrograde 
influence  upon  humanity,  even  more  so 
than  the  Baltic.  Both  seas  conferred 
great  benefits  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
their  shores,  and  indeed  the  Mediterranean 
gave  so  much  that  we  may  speak  of  a 
Mediterranean  civilisation  which  had 
lasted  for  thousands  of  years,  and  did  not 
end  until  the  growing  economic,  political, 
and  intellectual  strength  of  Northern  and 
Southern  Europe  transferred  the  historical 
centre  of  gravity  from  this  inlet  of  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  itself. 
But  neither  of  these  two 
Influence  of  the  ^^^  enabled  the  inhabitants 

Mediterranean  -^      -l.  x     a   i      xv,     1      j 

„  .,  on  its  shores  to  take  the  lead 
on  Humanity  ,,  1  ,, 

upon  the  ocean,   when  the 

fulness  of  time  appeared  with  the  westward 
voj^age  of  Columbus,  the  eastward  voyage 
of  Vasco  da  Gama,  and  the  circumnaviga- 
tion of  the  globe  by  Magalhaes.  These 
seas  renounced  the  claims  which  they  pre- 
ferred before  that  great  decade,  if  not  to 
be  regarded  as  the  transmitters  of  civili- 
sation and  history,  yet  to  be  considered 

5664 


as  a  history  and  as  a  civilisation.  We  do 
not  see  either  Venice  or  Genoa  crossing 
the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  or  the  Hanseatics 
crossing  the  Skagerrack  or  the  Straits  of 
Dover,  with  the  object  of  taking  their 
share  in  the  struggle  that  was  beginning 
for  maritime  supremacy.  Those  powers 
were  sufficiently  skilled  in  seamanship  to 
maintain  their  supremacy  within  their 
own  narrow  circles,  but  their  experience 
was  insufficient  to  enable  them  to  venture 
upon  the  open  seas  surrounding  the  globe. 
A  strict  and  thorough  maritime  educa- 
tion has  been  from  the  age  of  discovery 
the  fundamental  condition  for  the  attain- 
ment of  the  position  of  a  modern  civilised 
power  in  the  hard  struggle  between 
races  and  peoples.  Of  the  nations  whose 
voices  are  heard  with  respect  in  the 
councils  of  peoples,  there  is  none  which 
does  not  consider  itself  permanently 
equipped  and  armed  for  the  wide  and 
mighty  political  and  economic  struggle 
upon  the  stage  of  the  world  ;  for  of  the 
original  combatants  on  the  scene  those 
who  have  obviously  remained  victorious 
were  forced  to  gain  their  early  experience 
.in  the  hard  school  of  maritime 
The  Atlantic  g^i-^ggig      jhese  Original  com- 

n^.^,  r-  ij      batants  were  Spain  and  Port- 
Battlefield  1  f        J    TT   11       J 

ugal  upon  one  hand,  Holland, 
England,  and  France  upon  the  other,  and 
the  scene  of  struggle  was  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  As  regards  Spain  and  Portugal,  it 
is  a  remarkable  fact  that  this  sea  con- 
cerned them  only  temporarily  and  within 
definite  limits,  thanks  to  the  Papal  edict 
of  May  6th,  1493,  which  divided  the 
world  between  the  two  Romance  powers 
at  the  outset  of  their  career  of  colonisation 
on  conditions  which  placed  their  bound- 
aries within  the  Atlantic  Ocean  itself. 

This  line  of  demarcation  was  to  run  from 
north  to  south  at  a  distance  of  100  leagues 
from  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  extended  to 
370  by  the  Treaty  of  Tordesillas  of  June 
7th,  1494.  Thus,  as  soon  appeared,  the 
main  portion  of  the  New  \\'oiid  fell  within 
the  Spanish  half,  and  only  the  east  of 
South  America  was  given  to  the  Portu- 
guese. The  importance  of  their  American 
possessions  was  naturally  overshadowed 
by  the  far  more  important  tasks  which  fell 
to  the  share  of  the  little  Portuguese 
nation  in  the  Indian  Ocean  during  the 
next  150  years.  Brazil  served  primarily  as 
a  base  for  the  further  voyage  to  India  and 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  It  was  impossible 
to  make  it  a  point  of  departure  for  further 


THE    ATLANTIC    AFTER    COLUMBUS 


Portuguese  acquisitions,  as  the  Spaniards 
opposed  every  step  in  this  direction  on  the 
basis  of  the  treaties  of  partition. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century  other  European  powers  besides 
England  and  Holland  crowded  into  the 
north  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  in  pursuit 
of  the  same  objects  ;  we  find  not  only 
French  explorers  and  fishermen,  but  also 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  in  the  Polar 
waters  of  the  American  Atlantic.  How- 
ever, none  of  the  other  nations  pursued 
their  main  object  with  such  tenacity  as 
the  two  first-named  peoples,  above  all, 
the  English  ;  the  period  between  1576 
and  1632  belongs  entirely  to  them,  and 
was  occupied  without  interruption  by 
their  constant  endeavours  to  discover 
the  north-west  passage. 

The  reward,  however,  which  the  English 
people  gained  from  their  stern  school  of 
experience  in  the  northern  seas  was  one  of 
high  importance.  England  then  was 
unimportant  from  a  geographical  point  of 
view,  and  a  nonentity  in  the  commercial 
relations  of  the  world  at  large  ;  but  it  was 
not  until  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
-J,  ,         century    that    clear    evidence 

ng  an    s       ^^^  forthcoming  that  the  com- 
.     „  munication  by  water  between 

Baffin  Bay  and  the  Bering 
Straits,  though  existing,  was  of  no  use 
for  navigation.  But  the  high  nautical 
skill,  the  consciousness  of  strength,  and 
the  resolve  to  confront  any  task  by  sea 
with  adequate  science  and  skill — in  short, 
the  unseen  advantages  which  the  English 
nation  gained  from  these  great  Arctic 
expeditions,  and  from  their  slighter  efforts 
in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
proved  of  far  higher  importance  than  the 
tangible  results  achieved.  It  was  these 
long  decades  of  struggle  against  the 
unparalleled  hostilities  of  natural  obstacles 
that  made  the  English  mariners  masters 
on  every  other  sea,  and  taught  the  English 
nation  what  a  vast  reserve  of  strength 
they  had  within  themselves. 

In  considering  the  historical  career  of  this 
extraordinary  island-people  from  the  six- 
teenth century  onwards,  we  are  forced  to 
regard  modern  history  as  a  whole  from  the 
standpoint  of  national  Arctic  exploration, 
although  this  is  far  too  confined  for  our 
purposes  as  compared  with  the  sum  total 
of  forces  operative  throughout  the  world. 
During  the  age  when  maritime  skill  was 
represented  by  the  city  republics  in  the 
Mediterranean  and  the  Northmen  in  the 


North  Sea  and  the  Northern  Atlantic 
Ocean,  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  were 
already  fully  occupied  with  their  own 
domestic  affairs,  the  Moorish  domination. 
Their  first  advance  in  the  direction  of 
nautical  skill  was  not  made  until  a  con- 
siderable time  after  the  liberation  of 
Lisbon  from  the  Moorish  yoke  (1147),  when 
jj  the  magnificent  harbour  at  the 

,  «j     .        J  mouth  of  the  Tagus  had  be- 

of  spam  and  .      ^ 

Portugal  come  more  and  more  a  centre 
for  Flemish  and  Mediterranean 
trade  ;  even  then  it  was  found  necessary 
to  call  in  all  kinds  of  Italian  teachers 
of  the  nautical  art.  It  was  only  slowly 
and  at  the  cost  of  great  effort  that  Spain 
and  Portugal  became  maritime  peoples  ; 
and  their  subjects  were  never  seafarers  in 
the  sense  in  which  the  term  is  applied  to 
the  English  and  Dutch  of  the  present  day, 
to  the  Norwegians,  or  even  to  the  Malays. 

Indeed,  the  period  of  their  greatness 
gives  us  rather  the  impression  of  an  age 
of  ecstasy,  a  kind  of  obsession  which  can 
seize  upon  a  whole  nation  and  inspire  them 
to  brilliant  exploits  for  a  century,  but 
which  results  in  an  even  greater  reaction 
so  soon  as  serious  obstacles  to  their  activity 
make  themselves  felt.  Only  thus  can  we 
explain  the  fact  that  these  two  peoples, 
once  of  world-wide  power,  disappeared  with 
such  extraordinary  rapidity  and  so  entirely 
from  the  world-wide  ocean.  The  last 
Spanish  fleet  worthy  of  consideration  was 
destroyed  off  the  Downs  by  the  Dutch 
lieutenant-admiral,  Marten  Harpertzoon 
Tromp,  in  1639  5  about  the  same  period 
the  Portuguese  were  also  considered  the 
worst  sailors  in  Etfrope. 

The  Dutch  and  the  French  held  their 
ground  more  tenaciously.  In  both  cases 
Arctic  training  ran  a  somewhat  different 
course  than  in  the  case  of  the  English 
During  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies they  certainly  took  part  in  the 
attempt  to  discover  the  north-west  and 
north-east  passages ;  with  a  tenacity 
The  Age  of  highly  praiseworthy  they  ap- 
.  plied  themselves  to  the  more 

an  im  practical  end  of  Arctic  deep-sea 
'^'  fisheries  and  sealing.  That  such 
occupations  could  pro\dde  a  good  school  of 
maritime  training  is  proved  by  the  energy 
with  which  the  Dutch,  and  afterwards  the 
English  and  the  French,  made  the  great 
step  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Indian 
Ocean  ;  further  evidence  is  also  to  be  seen 
in  the  unusually  strong  resistance  which 
the  two  colonial  powers  in  the  seventeenth 

5665 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORJ.D 


and  eighteenth  centuries  were  able  to  offer 
to  their  most  dangerous  rival,  the  rapidly 
growing  power  of  Great  Britain. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury the  historical  character  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  undergoes  a  fundamental  change. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  period  of  great 
discoveries  its  special  destiny  had  been  to 
A  p    •  J      provide    a    maritime    training 

,  ,  f^*"     .  for  the  nations  of  North-west 
of  Licensed  t-  i      j.  i        xi 

p.  Europe,    and    to    make   these 

nations  sui^ciently  strong  for 
successful  resistance  to  the  two  powers  of 
Spain  and  Portugal,  for  whom  the  supre- 
macy of  the  world  seemed  reserved  by 
their  geographical  position,  the  world-wide 
activity  of  their  discoverers,  and  the  pro- 
nouncements of  the  Pope.  Maritime 
capacity  they  had  attained  by  their  bold 
ventures  in  the  Arctic  and  Antarctic 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  ;  the  struggle 
was  fought  out  by  these  nations  inde- 
pendently or  in  common  in  the  seas  to 
the  south  either  of  their  own  continent 
or  of  the  West  Indies. 

We  refer  to  the  great  epoch  of  the  Eng- 
lish and  Dutch  wars  against  the  "  invin- 
cible "  fleets  of  Philip  II. ;  it  was  a  period, 
too,  of  that  licensed  piracy,  almost  equally 
fruitful  in  political  consequences,  which 
was  carried  on  in  the  waters  of  East 
America  by  representatives  of  all  the 
three  northern  powers.  The  North  Sea, 
the  Baltic,  and  the  Mediterranean  have  all 
been  scourged  by  pirates  at  one  time  and 
another  ;  and  in  all  three  cases  the  robbers 
plied  their  trade  so  vigorously  and  for  so 
long  a  time  that  the  historian  must  take 
account  of  them. 

This  older  form  of  piracy  was  undertaken 
by  ruffians  beyond  the  pale  of  law,  who 
v/ere  every  man's  enemy  and  no  man's 
friend,  and  plundered  all  alike  as  oppor- 
tunity occurred,  it  being  everybody's  duty 
to  crush  and  extirpate  them  when  possible. 
But  towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury a  different  state  of  affairs  prevailed  on 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.      After  the 


Powers 
Seeking  a 


discovery  of  America  as  an  inde- 
u'c^Biug  "     pendent  continent,  it  became  a 

question  of  life  and  death  for 
the  North-west  European  powers,  which 
had  grown  to  strength  in  the  last  century, 
to  find  an  exit  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to 
the  riches  of  the  eastern  countries  of  the 
Old  World.  It  was  possible  that  this  exit 
was  to  be  found  only  in  the  south,  in  view 
of  the  constant  ill-success  of  expeditions 
towards  the  Pole  ;    and  to  secure  the  pos- 

5666 


session,  of  it  in  that  quarter  was  only 
possible  by  the  destruction  of  the  two 
powers  that  held  it.  This  attempt  was 
undertaken  and  carried  through  in  part  by 
open  war,  in  part  by  piracy,  which  was  not 
only  secretly  tolerated  but  openly  sup- 
ported by  governments  and  rulers. 

No  stronger  evidence  is  forthcoming  for 
the  value  attached  to  these  weapons  and  the 
free  use  of  them  during  ths  last  ten  years 
of  Elizabeth's  reign  than  the  honourable 
positions  of  Sir  Thomas  Cavendish,  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  Sir  John  Hawkins,  and 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  On  April  4th,  158 1, 
the  maiden  queen  went  on  board  Drake's 
ship,  concerning  which  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sador had  lodged  a  complaint  of  piracy 
on  its  return  from  the  circumnavigation  of 
the  globe,  and  dubbed  him  knight. 

This  irrepressible  advance  on  the  part  of 
the  North-west  powers  towards  the  east 
of  the  Old  W'orld  is  closely  connected  with 
the  fact  that  the  struggle  for  maritime 
supremacy  was  confined  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  only  for  a  short  period  ;  no  sooner 
had  England  and  Holland  become  con- 
scious of  their  strength  than  we  find  both 
powers  in  the  East  Indies,  and 
cencs  o  ^  ^^  ^^^^  west  coast  of  America  ; 
the  Nations  1,1  •, 

^    ,..  m  short,  wherever  it  was  pos- 

sible to  deprive  the  two  older 
powers  of  the  choicest  products  of  their 
first  and  most  valuable  colonies.  So  early 
as  1595  Cornells  de  Houtman  sailed  with 
four  Dutch  ships  to  Java  and  the  neigh- 
bouring islands  ;  he  was  followed  shortly 
afterwards  by  the  English  and  Danes. 

When  the  North-west  European  powers 
began  to  extend  their  •  encroachments 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
this  latter  naturally  ceased  to  be  what 
it  had  been  for  a  century  past — the 
main  theatre  of  the  naval  war ;  not 
that  it  became  any  more  peaceful  during 
the  next  two  centuries.  On  the  contrary, 
the  struggles  which  broke  out  amongst  the 
victorious  adversaries  after  the  expulsion 
of  the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards  from 
their  dominant  position  were  even  more 
violent  and  enduring  than  those  of  earlier 
days.  This  conflict,  too,  was  largely 
fought  out  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  but  it  was 
waged  with  no  less  ferocity  on  the  Atlantic. 

The  great  length  of  the  two  coast  lines 
which  confine  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  the 
general  strength  and  growing  capacity  of 
the  states  of  North-west  Europe,  led  to 
the  result  that,  during  the  course  of  the 
last    three    centuries,    repeated    changes 


THE    ATLANTIC    AFTER    COLUMBUS 


have  taken  place  both  in  the  locahty  and 
vigour  of  the  struggle  for  the  supremacy 
of  this  ocean,  and  also  in  the  personality 
of  the  combatants.  Among  these  latter  we 
find  Portugal  and  Spain  long  represented 
after  their  rapid  decadence.  In  the  first 
decades  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
Portuguese  colonies  on  the  coast  of  Upper 
Guinea  fell  quickly  one  after  the  other  into 
the  hands  of  the  Dutch  ;  Elima  was  con- 
quered in  1537  ;  in  1642  Brazil  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Holland,  after  eighteen  years' 
struggle,  though  nineteen  years  later 
it  was  restored  to  Portugal  for  an 
indemnity  of  ;^8oo,ooo;  in  1651  the  Dutch 
seized  and  held  for  115  years  the  important 
position  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

In  the  West  Indies  the  division  of 
the  Spanish  possessions  began  from  162 1 
with  the  foundation  of  the  Dutch  West 
Indian  Company,  "  that  band  of  pirates 
on  the  look-out  for  shares."  In  the  course 
of  the  next  ten  years  the  majority  of  the 
Lesser  Antilles  were  taken  from  their  old 
Spanish  owners.  In  1655  Cromwell  took 
possession  of  Jamaica.  The  rest  of  the 
Greater  Antilles  remained  Spanish  for  a  con- 
siderably  longer  period  ;  Hayti 
ig      or     c  j^gj^  ^^^  -^g  eastern  part  until 

Mh  "*3*^^  1821,  and  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico 
remained  Spanish  until  1898. 
The  combatants  in  North-west  Europe 
are  divided  into  groups,  according  to  their 
respective  importance  ;  on  the  one  hand, 
the  three  powers  of  England,  Holland,  and 
France,  each  of  which  has  made  enormous 
efforts  to  secure  the  supremacy  of  the 
Atlantic  and  Indian  Oceans,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Prussia, 
which  pursued  objects  primarily  commer- 
cial and  on  a  smaller  scale.  Their  efforts  on 
the  African  coast  are  marks  of  the  rising 
importance  then  generally  attached  to 
trans-oceanic  enterprise,  and  form  points 
of  departure  of  more  or  less  importance  in 
the  histories  of  the  states  concerned  ;  but 
in  the  history  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  all  of 
these  are  events  of  but  temporary  import- 
ance compared  with  the  huge  struggle 
between  the  other  three  powers. 

The  beginnings  of  this  struggle,  as  far  as 
England  and  Holland  are  concerned,  go 
back  to  the  foundation  of  the  English  East 
India  Company  ;  the  first  serious  outbreak 
took  place  upon  the  promulgation  of  the 
Navigation  Act  by  the  commonwealth  on 
October  gth,  1651.  Henceforward  English 
history  is  largely  the  tale  of  repeated 
efforts  to  destroy  the  Dutch  supremacy,  at 


first  in  home  waters,  afterwards  upon  the 
Atlantic,  lastly  on  the  Indian  Ocean.  This 
policy  produced  the  three  great  naval 
wars  of  1652-1654,  1664-1667,  and  1672- 
1674,  which,  without  resulting  in  decisive 
victory  for  the  English,  left  them  free  to 
proceed  with  the  second  portion  of  their 
task,  the  overthrow  of  French  sea  power  and 
g  ,  the  acquisition  of  predomin- 

.jj,  ance  in  the  commerce  of  the 

Wars  on  i  i      t      i        i  i         i 

Land  and  Sea  ^^F^^"  Judged  by  the  prize  at 
stake,  this  struggle  must  rank 
amongst  the  greatest  of  modern  times. 
It  began  in  1688,  when  Louis  XIV.  opened 
his  third  war  of  aggression  ;  it  continued, 
with  some  cessations  of  hostilities,  until 
the  Congress  of  Vienna  (1814-1815). 

The  struggle  was  carried  on  at  many 
points.  A  land  war  in  India  (1740-1760) 
decided  the  future  of  the  Indian  Ocean. 
The  contest  to  secure  communications 
with  that  ocean  was  fought  out  in 
Egypt  (1798-180 1 )  and  at  the  Cape  (1806) ; 
but  the  main  conflicts  were  waged  on  the 
seaboard  of  the  Atlantic  or  on  its  waters. 
Supremacy  in  the  Atlantic  meant  supre- 
macy in  the  world  until  the  age  of 
steam  began  and  the  Suez  Canal  opened 
a  new  route  to  the    Farther  East. 

Some  events  which  are  otherwise  of 
secondary  importance  deserve  notice  be- 
cause they  prove  how  much  the  current 
estimate  of  the  Atlantic's  importance 
changed  in  the  course  of  the  struggle. 
Tangier  came  into  the  hands  of  England  in 
1662  as  the  dowry  of  Catharine  of  Braganza, 
the  queen  of  Charles  II.  ;  it  was  given  up 
in  1684  on  the  ground  that  it  cost  more 
than  it  brought  in.  Twenty  years  later 
English  opinion  as  to  the  value  of  Tangier 
had  been  materially  modified ;  and 
Gibraltar,  on  the  opposite  shore,  was 
seized  in  1704.  Since  then  England  has 
never  relaxed  her  hold  upon  this  fortress  ; 
it  has  been  repeatedly  strengthened  and 
defended  under  the  greatest  difficulties. 
Were  Tangier  an  English  possession  to-day, 
.  English  it  would  certainly  re- 
Gibra  tar  s   j^^j^  ^^,q^  though  it  were  to  cost 

*g^  .  infinitely  more  than  the  yearly 
ri  am  ^^^^^  ^^  £40,000  which  England 
has  expended  on  Gibraltar  for  the  last 
two  centuries.  Equally  significant  is  the 
attitude  of  England  towards  the  solitary 
isle  of  St.  Helena.  The  Portuguese,  by 
whom  it  was  discovered  in  1502,  were 
content  to  found  a  little  church  on  the 
island  ;  the  Dutch  noticed  St.  Helena  so 
far  as  to  destroy  the  church  in  1600.    But 

5667 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


the  East  India  Company^  upon  acquiring 
it  in  1650,  recognised  its  importance  by 
establishing  upon  it  the  fort  of  St.  James. 
The  island,  however,  was  not  appreciated 
at  its  full  value  until  the  English  supremacy 
in  the  Indian  Ocean  and  until  Australia 
had  been  founded  ;  that  is,  not  before 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
St   H  '^'^^  taking  over  of  St.  Helena 

■  .^.  ^^'^  by  the  English  Government  in 
„  .        1815  was  the  logical  sequel  to 

Possession     ,,      ^  ,.  °  r      ,^       ^r- 

the  occupation  01  the  Cape. 
Both  of  these  new  possessions  were 
intended  to  serve  as  calling  stations  on  the 
main  line  of  ocean  traffic.  It  was  not  until 
the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  that  this 
line  declined  in  importance.  The  main 
route  now  runs  from  Gibraltar,  by  Malta 
and  Cyprus,  to  Egypt,  Perim,  and  Aden. 

The  eastern  part  of  the  Atlantic  has 
served,  like  the  Indian  Ocean,  as  an  ante- 
room to  the  Pacific.  The  first  explorers 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  those  powers  which 
first  seized  strategic  points  in  it,  had  the 
Pacific  for  their  ultimate  object.  The 
opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  has  taken  away 
this  characteristic  of  the  Atlantic,  which 
is  now  important  for  its  own  sake  alone. 

The  political  liistory  of  the  Atlantic 
begins  upon  its  western  seaboard,  though 
not  so  earlj;  as  the  history  of  exploration 
might  lead  us  to  expect.  In  the  Spanish 
and  Portuguese  colonies  of  South  and 
Central  America  a  vicious  system  of 
government  acted  as  a  bar  to  political  and 
economic  development.  In  the  French  and 
English  colonies  of  North  America  pro- 
gress was  slow,  owing  to  the  existence 
of  physical  obstacles.  Independent  deve- 
lopment began  in  the  American  continent 
with  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

The  American  War  of  Independence 
marks  from  yet  another  point  of  view  a 
turning-point  in  the  history  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  After  the  Convention  of  Tor- 
desillas,  in  1494,  Spain  had  ruled  supreme 
in  the  Atlantic,  and  had  almost  put  her 
P  ,  authority  in  a  position  above 
Sh  a      ^^^     possibility    of     challenge 

jj  when  she  attempted  to  use  Hol- 

land as  a  base  for  attacking 
England,  the  second  of  her  rivals  as  an 
instrument  for  the  destruction  of  the  first. 
The  Treaty  of  Paris  (1763)  gave  England  a 
similar  position  of  predominance  in  the 
North  Atlantic,  since  it  definitely  excluded 
the  French  from  North  America  and  left 
their  navy  in  a  shattered  condition.  The 
treaty  created  a  luare  clmisiim  on  a  great 

5668 


scale,  and  for  the  last  time  ;  under  it 
England  for  the  first  time  realised  the 
object  towards  which  her  policy  had  been 
directed  for  the  last  two  hundred  years. 
This  situation,  the  most  remarkable  which 
the  Atlantic  had  witnessed  since  the  days 
of  Columbus,  lasted  for  over  thirteen 
years.  It  was  not  at  once  destroyed  by  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  (1776),  but 
the  growth  of  the  United  States  introduced 
a  change  into  the  existing  conditions. 

England's  position  was  altered  for  the 
worse  ;  and  the  North  Atlantic  began  to 
play  a  new  part  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  Hitherto  there  had  been  a  move- 
ment from  east  to  west  ;  this  was  now 
reversed  by  slow  degrees.  Europe  had 
acted  upon  America  ;  America  began  at 
the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  to 
react  upon  Europe  ;  and  now,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  twentieth  century, 
America  has  become  a  factor,  sometimes 
a  disturbing  and  unwelcome  factor,  in 
European  complications. 

The  American  War  of  Independence  was 
a  chapter  in  the  conflict  for  colonial  and 
commercial  power  between  England  and 
France.      The  United  States 


r*"*  •**»  •*•  1.  were     largely    indebted     to 
Era  in  British  0.7 

History 


French  support  for  their  vic- 
tory. The  desire  to  obliterate 
the  humiliation  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris  and 
to  avenge  the  loss  of  vast  tracts  of  territory 
in  America  and  India  had  proved  too  much 
for  the  French.  Their  interference  was 
repaid  with  interest  by  the  British  ;  for 
a  long  period  the  French  marine  was  swept 
from  the  seas  ;  for  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  nineteenth  century  Britain 
monopolised  the  seas  of  the  whole  world. 
Next  to  the  period  of  Atlantic  supremacy, 
from  1763  to  1776,  that  which  followed  the 
Peace  of  1815  is  the  most  brilliant  in  the 
"  rough  island  story "  of  the  British. 
Geographical  conditions  were  favourable 
to  them.  But  they  also  showed  a  quality 
which  few  nations  have  possessed — the 
power  of  not  only  recognising,  but  also 
of  securing,  their  true  interests. 

With  the  two  conventions  of  peace 
concluded  at  Paris  on  May  30th,  1814,  and 
November  20th,  or  with  the  closing  act 
of  the  Vienna  Congress  on  June  qth, 
1815,  the  Atlantic  Ocean  begins  a  new 
period  of  its  historical  importance.  In 
those  conventions  Britain  had  certainly 
condescended  to  return  to  her  former 
masters  some  portion  of  the  colonial  prizes 
that  she  had  gained  during  the  last  twenty 


THE    ATLANTIC    AFTER    COLUMBUS 


years.  These  concessions  were,  however, 
of  very  httle  importance  compared  with 
the  extent  and  the  economic  and  strate- 
gical value  of  that  increase  to  which  the 
island  kingdom  could  point  upon  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  alone.  Even  at  that  time 
these  concessions  were  more  than  counter- 
balanced by  Britain's  retention  of  the  Cape, 
and  the  claims  which  such  a  position 
implied  to  the  whole  of  South  Africa. 

Tobago  and  Santa  Lucia  in  the  West 
Indies,  and  Guiana  in  South  America  were 
to  be  considered,  under  these  circum- 
stances, as  accessions  all  the  more  welcome 
to  Britain.  These  possessions'  could  not 
compensate  for  the  irrevocable  loss  of  the 
North  American  colonies,  but  they  implied 
an  increase  in  the  area  of  operations  from 
which  she  could  contentedly  behold  the 
development  of  the  strong  and  independent 
life  in  the  New  World.  The  rocky  island 
of  Heligoland,  which  had  been  united  to 
Britain  in  1814  for  seventy-six  years, 
narrow  as  it  was,  was  only  too  well  placed 
to  dominate  commercially  and  strategically - 
both  the  Skagerrack  and  particularly  the 
mouths  of  the  Weser  and  Elbe ;  it  gave  Eng- 

„    .  ^    ,  land  the  position,  so  to  speak, 

Britain  r  j-  j.11 

„     .     .      ^01    guardian    over    the    slow 

Fredominant  ",,        r    ^  ,    ., 

*.-    f\  growth  of  Germany  and  the 

on  the  Ocean   °      ,  ,  -^       r  -rx 

no  less  slow  recovery  of  Den- 
mark. Britain's  maritime  predominance 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  great  European 
w^ars  was  so  strong,  and  the  transmarine 
relations  into  which  she  had  entered  in 
the  course  of  the  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
teenth centuries  were  also  so  numerous, 
that  this  energetic  nation  could  not  fail 
to  draw  the  fullest  possible  advantage  m 
every  quarter  of  the  world  from  the  posi- 
tion which  she  occupied  at  the  moment. 
The  period  of  England's  unlimited  pre- 
dominance in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  which  she 
had  gained  at  some  cost  to  her  own  strength 
by  the  wars  against  France  (1755-1763), 
had  been  too  short  for  the  completion  of 
those  transmarine  objects  which  she  had 
in  view ;  but  after  1815  she  alone  of 
all  the  powers  not  only  found  herself 
at  the  height  of  her  strength,  but  had  also 
the  additional  advantage  of  being  able 
to  avail  herself  of  a  longer  period  of  time 
to  strengthen  her  position  in  other 
respects  precisely  as  she  pleased.  Then  it 
was  that  Britain  extended  her  Indian 
colonial  empire  in  every  direction,  founded 
an  equally  valuable  sphere  of  rule  in 
Australia,  and  estabhshed  herself  in  South 
Africa  and  on  the  most  important  points 


along  the  Indian  Ocean.  In  view  of  these 
undertakings,  which  claimed  the  whole 
of  her  attention,  Britain  had  but  little 
energy  to  spare  during  this  period  for  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  The  occupation  of  the 
Falkland  Islands  to  secure  the  passage 
of  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  in  1833,  the 
occupation  of  Lagos  as  the  obvious  exit 
The  Ra  id  ^™"^  ^^^^  Sudan  district  of 
Growth^of  ^^f""^^  ,^^"ca  in  the  year 
Steam  Power  ^^^.f '  '^^^^  Anally  the  beginnmg 
of  the  further  development  of 
a  limited  trade  on  several  other  points  on 
the  West  Coast  of  Africa — these  were  at 
that  time  the  only  manifestations  of 
British  activity  on  the  Atlantic  shores. 

The  increase  in  the  value  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  to  the  nations  of  the  world  at  large 
only  began  with  the  coincidence  of  a  large 
number  of  new  events.  Of  these  the 
earliest  is  the  surprisingly  rapid  growth 
of  steam  power  for  the  purpose  of  trans- 
Atlantic  navigation.  Not  only  were  the 
two  shores  of  the  ocean  brought  consider- 
ably nearer  for  the  purpose  of  commercial 
exchange  than  was  ever  possible  with  the 
old  sailing-vessels,  but  passenger  traffic 
was  increased  ;  emigration  from  Europe 
to  the  New  World  on  the  scale  on  which 
it  has  been  carried  out  since  1840  was 
only  possible  with  the  help  of  steam  traffic. 

The  European  Powers  of  the  last  two- 
thirds  of  the  nineteenth  century  have  not 
yet  fully  realised  the  importance,  either 
from  an  economic  or  political  point  of  view, 
of  the  emigration  to  the  United  States,  a 
phenomenon  remarkable  not  only  for  its 
extent,  but  for  the  unanimity  of  its  object ; 
yet  the  states  thereby  chiefly  affected 
had  already  drawn  general  attention  to 
the  fact.  This  process  of  emigration  and 
its  results  only  forced  themselves  upon  the 
general  notice  upon  either  side  of  the 
ocean  after  the  youthful  constitution  of 
the  United  States  of  North  America  had 
coalesced  into  a  permanent  body  politic  and 
had  developed  a  new  race,  by  a  fusion, 

.  ^,      _  unique    in     the     history    of 

A  New  Race  ,       ^      ■,  r     j.u    ^  • 

Developed  h^™amty,    of    that    growmg 

.     .        .  Tiopulation  which  streamed  to 

m  America        f     V  .  r    , , 

it  irom  every  country  of  the 
world  ;  and,  finally,  when  this  new  nation 
had  applied  its  energies  to  the  exploita- 
tion of  the  enormous  wealth  of  natural 
riches  in  its  broad  territory. 

This  highly  important  point  was  reached 
considerably  earlier  than  ary  human 
foresight  could  have  supposed,  owing  to  the 
unexampled  rapidity  of  the  development 

5669 


HARMSWORTH    HISTORY     OF    THE    WORLD 


of  the  United  States  ;  and  its  importance 
holds  good  not  only  for  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  but  for  the  habitable  globe.  So 
early  as  1812  the  United  States,  when 
scarcely  out  of  its  childhood,  had  de- 
clared war  upon  the  mighty  maritime 
power  of  Britain,  for  reasons  of  commer- 
cial politics.  In  consequence,  the  United 
States  seceded,  somewhat  in- 

o.  ^.    ^L^    ,    gloriously,   and   paid    for  its 

states  Secede    r     ,      , ,    -^      ,      ,    , 

,        D  •.  •       ni'st  attempt  at  trans-oceanic 

from  Britain  .       \  ^    ■  ^      ir 

aggression  by  confining  itselt 
to  its  own  internal  affairs  for  a  long  period  ; 
in  particular,  the  proclamation  of  the 
Monroe  doctrine  on  September  2nd,  1823, 
is  to  be  considered  as  a  political  act  materi- 
ally affecting  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  doctrine  still  re- 
mains in  force,  notwithstanding  the  selfish 
demands  of  France  upon  Mexico  in  1861, 
and  certain  views  apparently  entertained 
by  Britain  and  Germany  with  regard  to 
South  America,  as  the  American  Press 
affirmed,  during  the  distui'bances  concern- 
ing Venezuela.  To  this  sense  of  their  own 
military  and  naval  insufficiency  is  chiefly 
to  be  ascribed  the  fact  that  the  trans- 
marine efforts  of  the  United  States  were 
applied  first  of  all  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  which 
is  turned  away  from  Europe,  although  the 
European  side  still  forms  their  historical 
coast.  Between  1870  and  1880  America 
secured  her  influence  in  Hawaii,  while  at 
the  same  time  she  succeeded  in  estabhsh- 
ing  herself  in  Samoa.  It  was  not  until  she 
advanced  to  the  position  of  a  leading  state 
in  respect  of  population  and  resources 
that  she  ventured  any  similar  steps  upon 
the  Atlantic  side,  and  even  then  her  attacks 
were  directed  only  against  the  Spaniards, 
who  had  grown  old  and  weak. 

The  war  of  i8g8  was  the  first  great 
transmarine  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States.  By  their  action  at  that 
time  they  openly  broke  with  their  former 
tradition  of  self-confinement  to' their  own 
territory ;  for  that  reason,  above  all 
others,  the  United  States 
have  become  a  factor  in  the 
politics  of  the  rest  of  the 
world,  not  on  account  of  the 
military  capacity  which  they  then  dis- 
played :  any  European  power  could  have 
done  as  much  either  by  land  or  sea.  Far 
more  important  to  European  civilisation 
than  their  military  development  is  the 
economic  development  of  North  America, 
which  has  advanced  almost  in  geometrical 
progression.     The  immediate  consequence 

5670 


America   a 
Factor  in  World 
Politics 


of  that  development  has  been  that  home 
production  not  only  suffices  for  the  personal 
needs  of  the  United  States,  but  has  intro- 
duced a  formidable  and  increasing  competi- 
tion with  European  wares  in  Asia,  Africa, 
and  the  South  Seas,  or  has  even  beaten 
them  on  their  own  ground  ;  moreover,  the 
abundance  of  economic  advantages  has 
transformed  the  previous  character  of 
trans-Atlantic  navigation  materially  to  the 
advantage  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  hardly  likely  that  the  bewildering 
number  of  trans-Atlantic  lines  of  steam 
and  sailing  ships  will  in  any  way  diminish 
in  the  face  of  the  North  American  trust, 
which  was  carried  out  in  1902.  But 
American  control  over  British  trans- 
Atlantic  lines  and  certain  Continental 
lines  most  certainly  in>plies  a  weakening 
of  Eui"opean  predominance.  Hencefor- 
ward the  Atlantic  Ocean  loses  its  old 
character  and  becomes  a  great  Mediter- 
ranean sea.  The  teaching  of  history 
shows  us  that  its  further  development  is 
likely  to  proceed  in  this  direction  ;  so 
much  is  plain  from  the  development  of 
circumstances  on  either  side  of  the 
.  ,  Atlantic.  Our  European 
Future"*'  ^  Mediterranean  and  Baltic  are 

_"  I""  .  not,  perhaps,  entirely  parallel 
Development  '  ^         .  ^    '     . ,     .    -^  ^ 

cases,  owing  to  their  compara- 
tively smaller  area  ;  yet  the  history  which 
has  been  worked  out  upon  their  respective 
shores  is  in  its  main  features  nearly 
identical.  Whether  we  consider  the 
Phoenicians  and  Carthaginians,  the  Ionic 
Greeks,  or  the  modern  French  on  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  or  turn  our 
attention  to  the  Hanse  towns  or  the 
Swedes  upon  the  Baltic,  the  result  is  the 
same.  First  of  all,  we  find  tentative 
efforts  at  occupation  of  the  opposite 
shores.  Phoenicia  occupies  Carthage ; 
Greece  colonises  Asia  Minor ;  France, 
Algiers  and  Tunis  ;  and  Sweden,  Finland 
and  Esthonia.  In  this  way  permanent 
lines  of  communication  are  slowly  de- 
veloped, though  the  mother  country  for 
a  long  period  remains  the  only  base. 

Independent  commercial  and  individual 
life  on  the  part  of  the  colony  only  appears 
as  a  third  step.  Both  the  Carthaginians 
and  the  Greeks  of  Asia  Minor  surpassed 
their  mother  countries  not  only  in  the 
extent  and  organisation  of  their  economic 
development  but  also  by  the  boldness 
with  wliich  they  carried  it  out.  Apply- 
ing these  conclusions  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,    the    prospects     before    the    Old 


THE    ATLANTIC    AFTER    COLUMBUS 


World   seem    somewhat    doubtful  ;     even 

to-day,  many   an    individual  might    find 

good  reason  for  charaeterising  the  once 

boundless  ocean  as  a  future  mare  clausum, 

access  to  which  is  to  depend  upon  American 

favour.     In  any  case,  the  times  when  the 

European  Powers  could  rightly  regard  the 

Atlantic  Ocean  as  their  special  domain  by 

right    of    inheritance    are    past    for    ever. 

Probably,  after  the  opening  of  the  Central 

American  Canal,  the  Pacific    Ocean    and 

the  countries  upon  its  shores  will  become 

more  prominent  than  hitherto  ;    however, 

the    general    direction    of    American    life 

will   remain   as   before,    directed  towards 

Europe  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  reasons  for  this  are  both  historical 

and  geographical.     Historically  speaking, 

the  closest  national  and  political  relations 

conjoin     both     shores     of     the     Atlantic 

Ocean.     It  is  true  that,  when  viewed  in 

the  light  of  the  rapid  growth  of  modern 

life,   the  dates  of  the  foundation  of  the 

South  and  North  American  colonies  appear 

considerably  remote.     None  the  lesS:  Brazil 

at    the   present    day   considers    herself    a 

daughter  of  Portugal,  and  the  united  pro- 

_.  vinces  of  Canada  recognise 

Prosperous  xi     ■         -    •  .1  .1 

States  of  North  ^^^""  °"S^"  ^P°^  ^^^®   °^^^^ 

.        .  side  of  the  Atlantic.    These 

old  ties  of  relationship  tend 
to  reappear  with  renewed  force.  In  the 
financial  year  1890-1891  2*4  per  cent,  of  the 
United  States  imports  went  through  New 
Orleans,  6  per  cent,  through  San  Francisco, 
but  no  less  than  8i"5  per  cent,  through  the 
great  harbours  of  the  Atlantic  coast.  More- 
over, notwithstanding  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  the  West,  the  most  populous  and 
the  most  commercially  powerful  colonies 
and  states  of  North  America  are  to  be  found 
on  the  Atlantic  coast  ;  the  great  towns,  the 
most  important  centres  of  political  and 
intellectual  life,  are  also  situated  upon 
the  shores  that  look  towards  Europe. 

The  indissoluble  character  of  these 
historical  relations  is  reflected  almost 
identically  in  the  geographical  conditions. 
To  a  modern  steamship  even  the  great 
breadth  of  the  Pacific  is  but  a  comparative 
trifle,  and  this  means  of  rapid  communi- 
cation is  proportionately  a  more  powerful 
influence  in  the  narrower  seas.  It  was 
not  until  steam  navigation  had  been 
developed  that  the  full  extent  of  the 
Indian  and  Pacific  Oceans  was  explored. 
In  the  case  of  the  Atlantic  the  date  of 
exploration  is  much  more  remote,  but  this 
ocean  has  profited  to  an  infinitely  greater 


extent  than  the  two  former  by  the  new 
means  of  communication.  The  advantage 
of  friendly  shores  lying  beyond  its  harbours 
favoured  extensive  sailing  voyages  ever 
since  1492,  and  this  advantage  naturally 
exists  in  increased  extent  for  steam 
navigation.  The  general  shortness  of  the 
lines  of  passage  is  more  than  a  mere 
Relations  of  geographical  phenomenon. 
th  Old  d  -l^ohtically  and  economically, 
nIw  Wo^rHs  ^^  brings  the  countries  and 
continents  into  closer  relation. 
Britain  and  North  America  are  not  only 
more  closely  related  anthropologically  and 
ethnographically,  but  at  the  present 
day  they  carry  on  a  larger  interchange  of 
commercial  products  than  any  other  two 
countries.  Improved  communication  be- 
tween the  harbours  of  these  two  countries 
is  certainly  not  the  ultimate  cause  of  the 
two  phenomena  above  mentioned. 

Upon  the  west  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  the 
achievements  of  technical  skill  in  steam 
navigation,  together  with  the  political 
and  economic  advance  of  the  United 
States,  has  increased  the  importance  of 
this  sea  to  an  unforeseen  extent  ;  so,  too, 
upon  the  east  the  achievement  of  connect- 
ing the  Mediterranean  and  Red  Sea,  and 
the  political  progress  implied  in  the  rise 
of  the  German  Empire,  have  led  to  the 
same  result.  To  the  southern  part  of  the 
ocean  as  a  whole  the  opening  of  the 
Suez  Canal  implied  at  first  some  loss  ; 
since  1870  the  old  lines  of  steamship 
traific  from  Europe  to  India  and  the 
Pacific,  by  way  of  the  Cape,  have  been 
deserted  ;  sailing  lines  carrying  heavy 
cargo  to  the  south  and  eastern  shores  of 
Asia  and  the  steamship  lines  bringing 
Europe  into  direct  communication  with 
the  west  coast  of  Africa  have  remained. 

Notwithstanding  the  rise  of  a  commercial 
movement  from  west  to  east  and  a  con- 
sequent lessening  of  the  importance  of  the 
eastern  ocean,  the  Suez  Canal  may  in  a 
certain  sense  be  regarded  as  the  primary 
cause  of  the  greater  value 
which  has  been  recently  at- 
tached to  the  eastern  Atlantic 
Ocean  and  its  shores.  The 
opening  of  this  canal — of  no  use  to 
sailing-ships — through  the  old  isthmus  at 
the  end  of  the  Red  Sea  was  certainly  not 
the  first  and  only  cause  of  the  remarkable 
sudden  rise  in  oceanic  communication, 
which  is  a  feature  as  distinctive  of  the 
years  1870  to  1880  as  is  the  decay  in  com- 
munication by  sail  that  then  began  ;   this 

5671 


Suez  Canal's 

Commercial 

Importance 


HARMSWORTH     HISTORY    OF    THE    WORLD 


advance  in  trans-oceanic  communication  is 

much  rather  to  be  ascribed  to  progress  in 

the  art  of  naval  construction.      The  fact, 

however,  remains  that  since  that  period 

the  Indian  and  Pacific  Oceans,  which  had 

formerly  been  unknown  to  the  maritime 

nations  of  Europe,  with  the  exception  of 

peoples  like  the  English  and  Dutch  who 

had  sailed  on  them  for  nearly 

* .    °  ^^^  three  centuries,  have  now  been 

mpirc  thrown  open  to  the  maritime 

of  Ocrmany  11.1  .1 

world  at  large ;  these  powers  re- 
quired but  a  very  mild  stimulus  to  become 
aspirants  for  colonial  possessions  instead 
of  desiring  merely  commercial  activity. 

This  impulse  is  now  visible  as  an  influ- 
ence affecting  every  district  of  the  world 
that  still  awaits  division,  and  it  was 
Germany  that  performed  the  historical 
service  of  giving  it  ;  we  refer,  not  to  the 
old  "  geographical  idea,"  but  to  the 
modern  united  empire  of  Germany,  which 
has  realised  the  necessity  of  making 
strenuous  efforts  if  it  is  not  to  go  unpro- 
vided for  in  the  general  division  of  the 
world.  All  the  old  and  new  colonial 
powers  at  once  gathered  to  share  in  the 
process  of  division,  so  far  as  it  affected  the 
islands  and  surrounding  countries  of  the 
two  eastern  oceans — a  fact  that  proves  the 
importance  of  the  new  line  of  communica- 
tion which  had  immediately  given  an  in- 
creased value  to  the  districts  in  question. 
These  attractions  were  nowhere  existent 
in  the  case  of  the  west  coast  of  the  Dark 
Continent,  which  has  only  recently  been 
opened,  and  perhaps  not  yet  entirely,  to 
commerce  ;  they  would,  no  doubt,  have 
remained  unperceived  even  yet  had  it  not 
been  for  the  surprising  rapidity  with  which 
Germany  established  herself  on  different 
points  of  the  long  shore,  and  thereby 
attracted  the  attention  of  others  to  that 
locality.  So  quickly  did  the  value  of  the 
continent  rise  that  in  the  short  space  of  a 
p    fc  year  not  a  foot  of  the  sandj' shore 

.  . ,  .  ,  remained  unclaimed.  Since  that 
Interior  date,  almost  the  whole  of  the 
interior  of  Africa,  which  had 
remained  untouched  for  four  centuries,  has 
been  divided  among  the  representatives 
of  modern  world  policy.  Owmg  to  the 
massive  configuration  and  primeval  cha- 
racter of  the  district,  the  greater  portion  of 
its  history  ha>3  so  far  been  worked  out 
within  the  continent  itself  behind  its  sand- 
hills and  mangrove  forests  ;    at  the  same 


time,  this  discovery  of  modern  politics, 
which  in  our  own  day  implies  an  imme- 
diate commercial  development,  has  again 
made  the  adjoining  area  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  a  prominent  factor  in  the  great 
struggle  for  the  commerce  of  the  world, 
more  prominent,  indeed,  than  could  have 
been    imagined   two    decades   previously. 

The  conquest  of  the  ocean  was  success- 
fully carried  out  for  the  first  time  at  a 
point  where  geographical  configuration 
favoured  the  passage,  while  also  demand- 
ing that  maritime  capacity  which  can  only 
be  acquired  in  a  hard  school  of  training. 
Such  a  school  was  provided  for  nearly  a 
century  by  the  Northern  Atlantic  Ocean 
for  those  nations  who  were  forced  to  stand 
aside — even  after  the  discovery  of  the 
New  World,  and  the  clear  delineation  of  its 
hydrographical  conditions,  by  two  enthu- 
siastic and  highly  favoured  nations  of  the 
south  had  greatly  increased  the  sphere  of 
influence  of  the  white  races. 

In  the  event,  neither  enthusiasm  nor 
good  fortune  proved  for  success  in  this 
labour ;  the  honour  due  to  the 
"  "*^  final  conquerors  of  the  Atlantic 
\.  .  Ocean  and  the  sea  in  general 
belongs  chiefly  to  the  English 
nation  after  its  training  in  the  Arctic  school. 
The  Atlantic  Ocean  has  lost  its  Old  World 
character  as  a  boundary  sea  or  oceanus  ; 
at  the  present  day  it  is  a  Mediterranean 
dividing  the  two  worlds.  In  the  Old 
World,  the  narrow  area  of  the  European- 
African  Mediterranean  once  gathered  the 
material  and  intellectual  wealth  of  anti- 
quity upon  its  shores,  and  became  the 
nurse  of  widely  differentiated  civilisations; 
so  at  the  present  day  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
especially  on  its  northern  shores,  has 
become  the  intermediary  of  our  civilisa- 
tion,   which    embraces    the    world. 

This  ocean  is  now  the  permanent  means 
of  communication  between  the  two  great 
centres  of  civilisation,  and  the  promoter 
of  every  advance  in  culture.  We  ask 
whether  this  is  to  be  permanent  ?  The 
value  of  the  Indian  and  Pacific  Oceans, 
of  the  Baltic  and  Mediterranean,  to 
humanity  in  the  past  can  be  traced  without 
difficulty,  while  their  value  at  the  present 
is  clearly  apparent,  but  what  their  influence 
will  be  upon  humanity  hereafter,  how  their 
relations  may  be  adjusted  with  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  their  latest  and  most  successful  rival, 
only  time  can  show.  Karl  Weule 


END     OF     SEVENTH     VOLUME 


5G72 


1) 

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