L ON O M
AN S
G RE E N A N D C O LT D
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,
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O F P A T E RN O S T E R RO W
ALB ERT DRI VE L ONDON S W I 9
NI C O L ROAD B OM B AY
C H ITT A RA NJ A N AVE NU E C ALC U TTA
3 6 A M O U NT RO AD M A D RA s
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REEN A N D C O
5 5 F I F T H AVE NU E N E W Y OR K 3
L ON G M A N S
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L ON G M A N S
2 1
5
V I C T O R IA
,
REEN A N D C O
STREET T ORON T O I
G
,
F IRST P U B L IS H E D
S E C OND EDITION
T HI RD EDITION
N E W I M P RE SSIONS
F O U RT H
N EW I M
.
7anuary
1
EDITION
P R E SSIONS
Octob er
C OD E N U M B ER
1
1
938
A ugust
M ay
1
939
1
9 40
F eb r uary
1
f arce
94 1
1 9 42
[M ay
1
94 3
yanuary
1
9 44
944 , M ay
1
945
9 42 ,
62 397
A ll r igh ts reser ved
"
6
P r inted in G reat B ri tain by William C lowes CI S ons
,
Lim ited B eccles
LIBRARY
OF ALBERTA
P R EFA C E T O F O U R T H E D I T I O N
latest edition few ch anges h ave been made save in
th e final c h apter wh ic h is necessarily of a more tentative
ch aracter th an th e rest of th e work For th e most part
alterations h ave consisted merely of ch anges of tense but
som e addi tional stress h as been placed on one very importan t
factor in the p eriod immediately pr eceding th e present war
th e infl uence ex ercised by th e ex istence of a d ominant German
Air F or ce It h as indeed become increasingly apparent th at
’
th e rapi d growth of the Luftwafie after Hitler s advent to
power placed British foreign policy at a
n unprecede nted dis
advantage and rendered it liable to some misinterpretation
at th e time
O ne small ch ange in terminology demands explanation
N o o fficial name h as yet been accorded to th e present con
fl ic t ut th e least inappropriate suggestion th us far seems to
be T h e Second W orld W ar T h is title h as accordingly been
adopte d and in conformity th e Great W ar of 1 9 1 4—I 9 1 8 h as
bec o m e T h e F irst World W ar
N o attempt h as been made to take th e story of events beyon d
S eptember 1 93 9 for this constitutes a distinct landmark
T h e conclusion of hostilities will be the obvious occasion TOI
furth er pursuing th e narrati ve
I n th is
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D R
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PR E F A C E
wri ting this book I have tried to observe certain principles
and to incorporate certain features In the belief that an
explanation of these may be of service to teachers using th e
b ook in class I s h ould like to draw attention to the following
points
I
I llustrations
These have been included partly with th e
’
idea of making pupils feel more friendly towards th eir
tex t book and partly with th e idea of aiding th e memory
The cartoons ( all of which are contemporary with th e events
on wh ich they comment) may help both to clarify an issue
’
and to implant it more firm l y in the reader s mind T h e
picture ch arts are summaries of movements or causes of great
importance presented in th is w ay to assist th e memory of the
m any studen ts best approached through their visual sense
T h e Running S ummaries at th e side of th e page s h ould
2
enable easy reference to any point and again assist th e me m ory
T h ey should prove val u
able for purposes of revision
T
T
h
ssary o
P
t
i
l
erms may save the conscientious
i
a
e
G
l
o
o
l
c
f
3
th e trouble of consulting a dictionary or h elp to eliminate
woolliness of definition in those who wo ul d never dream of
doing such a th ing Some trouble has been taken to avoi d
conventional historical p h raseology but at times such terms
are unavoidable and those wh i ch have proved inescapable
are collected in the glossary Al though in general the
limitations of the youthful vocabulary have been kept in
m ind throughout the book there has been no attempt to
write in monosyllabl es for th e illiterate—a course wh ic h would
have been b ound to destroy all style and with it all interest
4 T h e B ibliography is purely for the reader with some love
fo th e subject of h istory
It may safely be stated th at th ere
are no fir st cl ass works of history completely suited to th e taste
and powers of any one under sixteen years of age
Th e
works recommended are simply less technical than most
others
T
h
r
o
o
r
i
o
n
s
o
f
t
h
is
book
h
ave
been
f
ramed
wit
h
t
h
e
t
e
p p
5
defini te idea of reducing the excessive space customarily
devoted to the French R evolution and N apoleon R ussia on
th e other hand is given greater attenti on than usu al for th e
IN
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P
RE FA C E
1X
reason that while th e R evolutionary period is customaril y
treate d in form with great thorough ness R ussia o ften receives
barely a mention from the teach er harassed by th e pressure
T h e text book may t h us be used
of a too too solid syllabus
In general th e story has
to fill in th at particular gap
be
en kep t fairly strictly to th e internal history and interplay
and those seeking comprehensive
of
th e Great P owers
information on Spain Switz erland Scandinavia and the
N eth erlands will I regret have to consult other works
Such compression is I think unavoidable in a work of th is
length if the main points are to emerge clearly For the same
reason th e pursuit of clarity all military and diplomatic
detail except the most essential h as been omitted In sub
I hope
stitution I h ave included biograp h ical detail wh ich
is more p i cturesque M any such details it is true may
not be of great importance but th ey may serve to arouse
interest in th eir subject T h e alternative is Fisher like
generaliz ation which however brilliant means very little to
Finally the story has been kept to the
th e non adult mind
path of politics and economics apart from the excursions into
personality It is perh aps th e fashion to include a few pages
on th e painting music literature drama arch itecture
“
costume transport science and religion of the period but I
have avoided following it in the belief that in a work of this
siz e such a revi ew cannot b e more than th e merest catalogue
of m eam ngless names
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I should like to record my
deep gratitude
to a number
of friends wh o h ave helped me in some way during the writin
g
of this book
M r G Auty M r J W Hunt and M r I T e n
en
al l read th e manuscript and o ff ered me the most valuable
criticisms T o M r R F I Bunn too I am indebted for
many excellent suggestions and for a most h elp ful interest
’
M iss M argaret Hunt showed woman s intuition at its most
brilliant in di vining what I was aiming at from the rough
t
almos
brutal) sketches I sent h er and finally I cannot be
(
sufficiently grateful to my sister M rs D ora W hittle who
performed a labour of love in preparing 3 none too legible
manuscript for the press
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C ON T E N T S
OH A M
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ER
I
II
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.
The
Causes
T h e P rogress
1
F rench R evolution
of th e
French
of th e
R evolution,
1
789
7 95
—
Appendix
Some
[
R evol ution !
C h aracters
of
th e
.
III
.
N
IV
V
.
.
The
apoleon
,
1
France under
M onarchies
.
The
Second
1 8 48
VII
.
—1 8
of
—
1
8
1
793
5
Congress System
,
VI
W ars and the Career
T h e R evolutionary
I
,
8 I 5—I 8 3 0
the Bourbon
—1 8 8
4
O rleans
and
1815
R epublic
and the Second
E mpire,
1
7
The M etternich P eriod in Germany and the
Austrian E mpire 1 8 1 5—1 85 1
,
V III
IX
X
XI
.
.
.
.
T h e U nification
of
Bismarck and the
1 85 1 —
1 87 1
T h e E astern
R ussia
and
Italy
U nification
Question
P oland,
,
—1 8 7 0
1815
1
,
1
8 1 5—1 8 7 8
—1 9 1 4
7 89
x
of
Ge
rmany
,
C
xi
ONT ENT S
C HA P T E R
XII
PA G E
German E mpire and
R epublic 1 8 7 1 —
1 90 7
The
.
th e
French
T h ird
,
XIII
Balkans and th e Approach to the
W orld W ar 1 9 00—1 9 1 4
Th e
.
F irst
,
XIV
Th e
.
A ppendices
.
Fi
rst W orld W a and After
r
M
aterial
A
Glossary
I ndex
for F urth
,
er Study
Of P olitical T erms
—1
1914
9 39
2 92
M A PS
PA G E
Europe
1
E urope
1815
789
T h e R evolts
of 1 8 3 0
R aces
Austrian
in
th e
"
of 1 8 48
The
R evolts
The
U nion
The
Un
ification
The Balkan
E mpire
of
N
T h e Pre W ar
-
Italy
of
Germany
ions
at
,
1 8 78
Alliances
The Scramble
for
Africa
E ur op e 1 9 1 4
E urope after
the First W orld W ar
C HA P T E R I
~.
Th e C
auses of th e
Fr ench R evolution
3
The R evolution was not the event of a single month or year
In its most novel V iolent or revolutionary aspects, it lasted
fr om 1 7 8 9 to the rise of N apoleo n but j ust as its e ff e cts
Car ried forward to the 2 0th c entury so its causes stretc h ed
back into th e 1 7 th and 1 8 th centIi ries
t r uss n
T h e prime cause was the existing system of government
the methods of the A ncien Regime Indeed it is charitable to
o,
dignify this with th e name of system for I n general it came 32
1m
Rm “
So chaotic I n fact was the organi z ation of
nearer to chaos
government that there still existed 3 6 0 di ff erent feudal codes
rts of France In one town
of? law applying to di ff erent p a
alone there were 2 9 feudal courts ! In matters of taxation
th e chaos i s shown by the fact that when a geographer m 1 7 8 9
tried to prepare a map showing th e customs dues of the
various districts he h ad to gi ve it up as being too complicated
for human ende av our—for ex ample a boat bearing wine from
the South of France to P aris paid o ver 40 tolls and lost a
In th e spher e of administration an
fortni ght in the process
over worked central government tried to regulate aff airs in
over
towns hi ps and struggled h Opelessly agai nst over
whelming arrears of business—one parish for i nstance wh ich
petitioned the g overnm ent for a loan to repair its leaking
church roof waited over ten years for an answer But in
spite Of all t h is utter confusion two principles stand out—that
all power was concentrated in th e handsof the King and his
personal advisers and that all the burdens of taxation were
borne by th e classes least able to support them
I n the magni ficent p al ace of Versailles ( a glance at which ( a) C m
Will explain the French Revolution better than a doz en text
b ooks) remote fr om contact with any but the nobility and
th e clergy Louis XVI controlled the destinies of Fr ance
T h ere were royal Councils a royal Controller of Finances
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I LLUS TRATED
H I S TORY O F M
ODERN EUROP E
royal deputies in the P rovinces known as Intendants royal
officials everywher e through whom th e King governed—
but
the system rested primarily and throughout on Louis himself
“
for h is word was law
The
XIV had said
“ —
with vanity but with accuracy is myself
L ouis XVI was
“
later on to remark concerning a disputed I ssue The thing 13
legal because I wish it
S uch a statement sums up the whole
nature of th e government of the A ncien Re
i
There
was
no
m
e
g
vestige of popular or middle class influence in government
for though there remained a few of th e old medie val institu
tions these had lost all effective power of opposing the King
The last time the States General or French P arliament had
met was i n 1 6 1 4 In fact the will of the sovereign was so
completely the law that any critic of the government or
O pponent of some powerful nobl e was liable to find hi mself
arrested quite arbitrarily by means of a writ known as a lettre
de cach et and lodged in prison with out a trial or even an
accusation of having committed any partic ular ctime
A s allies and buttresses in thi s system of royal power th e
Crown had the clergy and the nobility—the First and Second
’—
all the rest from lawyers down to peasants being
E states
the Third E state Together the first two E states numbered
some
out of a population of
Yet the whole
system of the A ncien Regime in France was directed to their
profit They owned nearly all the land the nobility were
gathered round Louis at Versailles in useless attendance and
did no work ; the higher clergy drew princely rents and
shared the general characteristics of the nobility ( Here it is
important to note that th e lower clergy, such as the parish
priests were poorly paid and had plenty to do W hereas
bishops drew some
livres (g2 500) a year parish priests
—
0
o
too
o
ten
received
only
livres
0
2
f
all
(£ ) consequently we
5
find the latter all in sympathy not with their superiors b ut
with th e Th ird E state ) E xtraordinary privileges were posses
sod by these two classes in return for no services whatever
the most outsta nding being exemption from nearly al l taxation
The full extent of these privileges can best be seen by examining
the corresponding burdens of th e peasant
N ot
T h e financial burden of the peasant was crushing
only did he pay the poll tax and the twentie th of his income
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b ) Privileg
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of nob les
and clergy
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arivileged
po sition of
p easant
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T HE C
AUS ES
O F T HE F RE NC H
REV OLUT I ON
3
which most nobles paid , but in addition he paid a tithe of th e
produce of h is l and to th e Church another large land tax
to th e King a gabelle ( or salt tax—and everyone over s even
years of age had to buy 7 lb of salt a year) a customs duty
if he took h is goods through a village and a money due to th e
’
local lord when his grapes went to the lord s wine press or h is
’
corn to the lord s m i ll ( and they had to go) By a system of
witness of game or its
game laws h e had to b e the powerless g
hunters destroying his crops he alone of all classes was not
exempt from militia service and as if these burdens were
insufficient h e was liable to forced labour on the roads or
public buildings (corvee) It is little wonder that the peasantry
taxed more and more h eavily as the expenses of the French
government mounted in the 1 8 th century and seeing their
superiors living in the greatest luxury were on the verge of
revolt Some
of them were annually imprisoned
s and several hundred executed
2 000 condemned to the galley
for o ffences against the salt laws alone
And yet it was nOt so much from the peas antry as from the (d) G ri
m ore prosperous membe rs of the Third E state—the educated
section of l awyers and doctors especially that the impulse
towards revolutioncame The reason for this is th at though
not suff eri ng the economic burdens of the peasant the y
resented their exclusion from o fficial positions at the head of
th e army the navy and the diplomatic service
They resented
their inability to o ffer open criticism of a ridiculous system of
government They resented the lack of religious freedom
if a P rotestant service was discover ed the p astor might be
hanged and the congregation all s ent to the galleys They
resented the liability of the Third E state to suff er torture
breaking on the wheel and forms Of mutilation which were
spared nobles and clergy Above all they felt th emselves
“
unfairly excluded from all share in government
W hat is
“
t h e Third E state ?
said one of their leaders
E verything
W hat h as it been hitherto in our form of government
N oth ing
W hat does it want
To become Something
It
is not surprising that al most all of the revolutionary leaders
came from this cl ass
N aturally there was a further reason apart from their G auss 1 1 :
‘
actua
l grieva nces to account for the leadersh i p of the reform 333 5s;
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T h e B urden of
'
the Thi rd
Th e peasant sh oulders th e wh ole b urden
E state
wh ile th e
( P h oto Hach etu
’
,
.
nob le pr esses on it to
increase th e weigh t and th e priest suppor ts it m er ely with one finger .
,
.
T HE
'
C A US E S
OF TH E F RENC H R EV OLU T I ON
5
,
_
1
movement b y th e b ourgeoisie I t was of course they rath er a oso
than th e peasants, who enjoyed ethe possessions and self m m
but above all
confidence ne cess ary to direct a r evolution
it was they wh o h ad th e requisite political education This
i
n
t
h
e
o
f
o
it
c
l
e
uc
ti
th
y
oun
works
certain
h
a
d
d
l
i
a
f
e
o
n
a
d
p
French phil osophers of the 1 8th century wh ose infl uence i n
causing th e revolution was extremely important In the
Famous all over E urope as a
firS t place t here was Voltaire
historian a populariz er of science a tragic dramatist and a
poet he was also an unsp aring critic of existing institutions
and especially of th e C h urch In matchless s atire h e poured
scorn on the pretensions of the Church the folly of govern
ments and the creduli ty of those who are taken in by both
He hi mself had known the inside of the Bastille the great
prison of P aris and what a lettre de cach et could mean O ver
some flagrant miscarriages of justice he fought for years to
secure the reversal o f a verdict and the rehabilitation of th e
honour of a wr onged man Too often death or hideous
mutilation had done their irrevocable work but what human
eff ort could achieve Voltaire did He became at once th e
most adm i red and the most feared man of E urope—whil e th e
very classes he criticized nobility and royalty competed for
the honour of entertaini ng so great a literary man and
political force O nly his great enemy the Church could
never forgive h im for his criticism—and his deism T h e
friend of the two most com plétely unscrupulous monarchs of
the 1 8 th century Frederick the Great of P russia and Catherine
of R ussia h e was equally wil ling to hold up a monarch to
’
admiration for enlightened intentions and to ridicul e for
unenlightened achi evements W ith four estates on the borders
of France and Switzerland he co ul d speed from one to th e
other according as i ntelligence reached him that French or
Swiss officials were on h is track O nl y at the end of his life
—
a
s
he
secure
in
France
in h is final days indeed he came to
W
P aris to see his last play produced
th e popul ace went mad
with hero worship as it thronged to welcome the man wh o had
fought inj u
stice so long and so bravely
ew
B ut oltaire kn
“
’
“
humanity
Ah he s aid they d come in just the sam e
Yet with al l his devastating
crowds to see me e xecuted
satire and h is wit and for all his campaigns against religious
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I LLU S TRATED
H I S TORY O F M
ODERN EUROPE
f
ersecution
antiquated
and
un
air
taxation
and
tortur
th
s
e
i
p
fiercer crueller Bernard Shaw of the 1 8 th century had nothing
positive to suggest to take the place of monarchy He was no
“
“
democrat
I had rather he remarked be ru
led by one lion
His contrib ution great though it
than by a hundred rats
was was negative not positive
Together with Voltaire may be mentioned the work of the
group known as the E ncyclopziedists led by D iderot They
set out to write an encyclopaedia whi ch should be an account
As it went on it became more and
of all exi sting knowledge
’
morea criticism of the A ncien Regime—indeed it was obvious
that no account of contemporary knowledge could be given
wh ich did not demonstrate at the same time the folly and
injustice of existing claims and practices in Church and
State A group known as th e E conomists advocated the
abolition of all taxation except that on land (which would be
paid princip al ly by the clergy and the nobility) but for a
general scheme of government they too like Voltaire and
D iderot had no other solution than enlightened despotism
A more positive contribution was made by a far less
—
5
sensational
figure
than
V
ltaire
o
M ontesquieu
A deep
823327 55)
student of politics he saw the importance of geographical
conditions After conducting an experiment by freezing a
tong ue and observing that the little taste papillae were smaller
and less sensitive in the cold than the heat he came to the
conclusion that people in hot climates would feel both physical
and mental matters more passionately than dwellers in cold
or temperate regions hence that they woul d be less able to
keep th emselves calm and under control hence th at a strict
despotism was best suited for them though N orthern E uropeans
might be trusted with the introduction of a democratic element
In E ngland he found th emodel he sought and accordingly
’
in his ch ief book D e l E sprit des Lois (which ran through twenty
he held up the E nglish
two editions in eighteen months )
constitution with its parliament its independent judges and
its constitutional king as worthy of imitation by France He
was especially keen on the idea of the various parts of the
—
overnment
parliamen
t king judges for example—working
g
of each
uite
separately
and
acting
as
checks
on
the
power
q
other thus helping to preserve the liberty of the individual
,
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T HE C
AUS ES
O F T HE F REN C H
REV OLUT I ON
I ncidentally b e im agined far more of this than there act u
ally was in th e E nglish constitution but his influence both
was
on th e French and American revolu tionary leaders
profound
’
But the philosopher, wh o more than all others provided (4) R
ositive creed was R ousseau His stormy and uncon iii/I
a p
ventional l fe in the course of which he was driven out first
i
from his native city of Geneva and then from his adopted
France typifies th e spirit of revolt which was to flare up in the
A poet and a musician who had written a
R evolution
he turned his attention to p olitics and
successful opera
preached the equality of men—a doctrine which naturally
brought on his head the wrath of the French government
His greatest political work D u C ontrat S ocial sketches his ideas
—
the
asis
gov
rnment
h e seeks a justification for the fact
of
of
b
e
that man though born free is everywhere in
is
This justification he can
everywhere subject to gover nment )
ly if the ideas and desires of th e people are really carried
find qn
out by the government—or as he puts it if the General W ill
is sovereign
O nly thus is liberty retained and equali ty
reali z ed O bviously however the General W ill is much less
likely to be carried out in a monarchy th an in a democracy
where the p eople govern themselves It is true R ousseau did
not think a democracy was workable in a large state because
he wanted a direct democracy wh ere all men actually decide
reat
issues
not
a
representat
i
v
e
democracy
like
ours
w
h
ere
g
“
we elect other people to decide them for us
The E nglish
“
people he wrote is free only during the election of its
M Ps
As soon as t hey are elected it is a slave it is nothing
His solution was the division of a large state into a number of
small direct democracies and the binding of these into a kind
of federation
But it was the spirit of democracy rather than
th e practical details which a ff ected the R evolutionary leaders
Catching frOm R ousseau also a certain amount of h is strong
vein of sentiment and emotion and love of nature ( new
developments in 1 8 th century France which had concentrated
rather on reason and self control ) they developed the passion
and violence without which th e R evolution co uld not have
been made Rousseau thus supplied not only th e main
doctrine—the S oveireignty of th e P eople the Supremacy of
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I LLUS T RA TED HIS T ORY
8
—
l
e
era
il
W l but
th e G n
people ready to r ebel
‘
.
th e
OF M
ODERN EUROPE
emotional spiri t wh ich mad e
-
.
upplied the theory it was left to
Em
u or
practical example In x7 76 the
thirteen E nglish Colonies revolted issued their D eclaration
A M ERI C AN
Rsvow
1
Independence
and
by
o
f
o
n n
7 83 had secur ed their freedom as
the U nited States of America France anxi ous to obtain
revenge for her loss of Canada and India in the Seven Years
4
willingly helped the Americans agai nst
6
W ar
5
E ngland and e njoyed her most successful war o f the century
She little thought what co nsequences were to foll ow French
soldiers who had served in America poured back to France full
they had helped to free a
of American democratic ideas
nation whose only real grievance was not that the E nglish did
tax them but th at they migh t tax th em An extra tea duty of
t h reepence the sole tax payable b y Americans to E ngland in
broke up the British E mpire W hen th e French
1 7 76
compared this with the overwhelming burdens of the peasantry
at home it rapidly became apparent that if the Americans
were j ustified in revolting against the E nglish the French were
far more justified in revolting against the French
Th e
Americans rebelled not against misgovernment but simply
for the sake of self government
the French with th e
a dditional spur of misgovernment were not slow to learn th e
lesson It is no accident that one of the earliest leaders of the
French R evolution was the M arquis de Lafayette returned
six years before from the W ar of Independence
C A US IV
of the American R evolution did not end
But
the
influence
T HE B A N K
Y o
RUP
th ere perhaps even more important th e cost of the war to
TH F REN C H
France meant the last straw on the already cracking back of
C ROW N
her finances All th e century the situation had been getting
worse T h e enormous luxury of the French court under
Louis XIV and XV ( and under Louis XVI too although h e
was by comparison very economical and had only 2 000 hors es
and 2 00 carriages in the royal stables whi le h is Queen
servants and four
M arie Antoinette managed with onl y
pairs of shoes a week) alone accounted: for one twelfth of the
whole revenue of the government The ridicul ously ine ffici ent
system of tax ation ( by whi ch the nobles clergy and crown
wh o owned three fifth s cf the land escaped extremely
C
A US E
T h e ph ilosoph ers, th en,
America to furnish th e
I II
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H I S T O R Y O F M O D ER N
ILLU S T RA T ED
E U RO P E
lightly while the peasantry owning th e remaining two fifth s
paid practically everything) h ad nothing to commend it
By 1 7 85 even the nobles and clergy were beginning to see that
th e situation was impossible
Further th e cost of tax
collection sometimes done by selling the right of collection to
th e highest bidder who m ade what h e co ul d swallowed a
ludicrous proportion of the taxes Thus the salt tax, for
ex ample brought in
livres but cost
to
collect and necessitated the employment of about
tr 00ps and agents to suppress smuggling
Above all the
constant wars for over a century and th e ruinous loss of th e
French E mpire in the Seven Years W ar had necessitated
continuous borrowing and piled up an enormous amount of
debt E ach year of above 4 7 2 mil lion livres income 2 3 6
million livres or one half had to b e set aside to pay interest
on debts— and even then th e monarchy had five times
defaulted by reduction of interest or repudi ation of debt in
the 1 8 th century W hen on top of this chaotic and dangerous
situation the government of Louis XVI joined in the W ar of
American Independence and expended an unnecessary
livres on purchasing the defeat of E ngland it
purch ased also its own bankruptcy The situation could no
longer go on Controllers General in rapid succession tried
to grappl e with the prob em and wheth er t h e
started
with
l
y
reform i ng ideas like Turgot and N ecker or spendthrift ideas
like Calonne or just conservative ideas like Brienne all
rapidly came to the same conclusion—that nothing could be
done until the exemption of the nobles and clergy from the
bul k of taxation was given up It was primarily in the hope
of destroying the immunity of nobles and clergy equalizing
tax ation and thus filling the royal treasuries and secondarily
in the expectation of granting in addition a few much needed
’
reforms such as the ab olition of lettres ae cach et that N ecker in
1 7 8 8 advised the King to call the States General the r epre
sentativ es of the three E states for the first tim e in 1 7 5 years
M inister and M onarch little thought that their device for
ending bankruptcy would begin revolutio n
It was natural of course though it surprised the govern
ment that the calling of the States G eneral and the official
preceded it
r equest for lists (cah iers) of grievances whi ch
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T HE C A U S E S
O F T HE FR E N C H R E V O LU T I O N
hould open th e fl ood gates of criticism B ut th e issue of t
all depended on how the demands of the Third Estate were
to be handled by th e King—and unfor tunately for France
Louis XVI was a King in name and in power b ut not in
ch aracter Full of the b est intentions—had he not rapidly
appointed as Controller General first one outstanding reformer,
Turgot then another N ecker —
h e could never be relied on
to carry out those inten tions consistently—had he not dis
missed Turgot and N ecker with equal promptitude
As we
shall see at every stage inth e R evolution he was to encourage
reform and then to draw back Such inconsistency was to
bring its inevitable reward it is not the strong brutal
ones of this earth wh o most frequently lose their thrones
not men like W il liam the Conqueror and Henry VIII
but the inconsistent well intentioned ones like Henry VI and
“
Charles I
W hen you can keep together a number of oiled
“
ivory balls one of h is relatives said of Louis you may do
something with the King
M i ldly interested in reform
more interested in his kingship but most interested in hunting
Louis XVI was to hesitate to temporize to yield and to deny
til l the forces wh ich he had released caught him up in their
torrential current an
d swept him and th e monarchy to de
“
struction N or was he m ore fortunate in his advisers N ecker
lacked firmness and the one great man who wa3 later to
try and save the King M ir abeau died at a critical moment
For the most part in fact Loui s was under the fatal influence
of h is wife M arie Antoi nette
E xtremely unpopular among
the French as the representative of t h ehated Austrian alliance
which had led to the Seven Years W ar and lost the E mpire
they could find no greater term of abuse for her than
’
’
l A utrich ienne —the Austrian woman
Ignorant of the need
’
for reform uns
ympathetic to her people s needs and incapable
’
of grasping th e political situation she poisoned Louis mind
first agai nst Turgot and then against N ecker and everywhere
advised a fatal firmness at precisely the wrong moments
“
—
She indeed knew her own mind
T h e King
said M irab eau
has only one man about him h is wif —but unfortunately
’
h er mind was not worth knowing
France s destiny rested in
th e hands of a King who was too weak minded to be stable
and a Queen who was too stro ng minde d to be sensible
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I LLU S T RA T ED
H I S T O R Y O F M O D ER N E U R O P E
Finally as; a last factor in lead ing to the R evolution w
e
may mention th e extraordinary climatic co nditions of 1 788
which iruined th e harvest raise d corn to a famine price and
l y to be follow
caused widespread starvation
on
ed b y th e
desperately s evere winter of early 1 7 89 when a ll th e great
rivers of France were fr ozen and even the port of M arseilles
in the extreme south was blocked with ice T h e consequence
was even greater distress than usual A free trade treaty with
E ngland admitting our cheap goods had al ready caused
much industrial suffering N ow there gathered in P ans
hordes of people from the surrounding countryside h oping to
find food and shelter i n urban conditions Thus came into
being th e P aris mob—idle desperate ready to cheer on th e
most extreme measure and destined t o control t h e fortunes
of events on more than one vital occasion
So there was all the material for a great combus tion An
outworn ine fficient unfair and bankr upt system of govern
ment a strong body of opinion created by th e philosophers
a weak
th e successful example of the American revolution
king widespread economic distress and a mob in P aris
It needed only one spark to set it all alight O n M ay 5th ,
1 78 9 the States G ener al m et
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stem of
th e A nciéfi Régime
‘
f
ES T M OO
Th e Example
of th e
Th e Bankruptcy of the C rown
T HE C A U S E S
T HE F RE N C H
RE VOLUTI ON ;
CHA PTE R
II
T h e Progress of th e R evolution,
F rom th e M
1.
f
eeting o
—1 795
1 7 89
th e S tates G eneral to th e
-
.
War
,
1
—
1
8
7 9 79 2
The government of Louis XVI preparatory to calling th e
States General had asked for cah iers of grievances It got
them— over
of them
From every part of the country
th e Third E state sen t up the same demands : reform of taxa
tion ( with abolition of the privileges of the First and Second
E states as the first step ) a settled constitution with a regular
parliament and no lettres de cach et and the abolition of all
feudal rights and dues
The remark of the men of one district
“
How happy we should b e if the feudal system were
’
destroyed l expresses perfectly th e main trend of th e peasants
requests
It might have been thought that Louis and N ecker would
examine these grievances d raw up a programme of reforms
and present it to the assembly which was meeting af ter so
’
a
B
L
o
f
reat
an
interv
that
was
not
ouis
way
Instead
l
u
t
g
placing himself at th e head of th e reform movement h e
immediately made reform more difficult by expecting th e
three E states to deliberate separately as they had done in th e
mediaeval past
T h e effect of thi s would b e that reform
measures voted on by E states as E states would be defeated
by two E states to one ( First and Second 0 Third E state)
O n the other hand if all met in one assembly the fact that th e
Third E state had twice as many representatives as either of th e
oth ers would mean that reform measur es could be carried
It would requir e only a very few individuals from the poorer
clergy to support the Third E state and they wo uld have a
clear majority It was thus essenti al to th e cause of reform
th at th e E states should m eet as one and not three assemblies
Louis h ad seemed to recognize this by granting the T hird E state
double representation and now typically he nullified th e
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O F T H E R E V O LUT I ON
T HE P R O G R ES S
1 7 8 9- 1 7 95
,
15
whole eff ect by insisting on separate meeting Thwarted in this
’
way and irritated by the absence of any positive lead in N ecker s
opening speech the Third E state soon lost its first fine careless
rapture R efusing to admit the policy of separation under th e
leaders h ip of M irabeau it called itself The N ational
’
Assembly and left the other E states to join it if they would
Soon the parish priests began to trickle Over and within four
days the rest of th e clergy followed Finding that Louis had
ordered the hall where the N ational Assembly was meeting to
be closed for repairs th e Third E state took the worst possible
interpretation of the action Straightway they ad j ourned to T h
T nni
a local te nnis court and there solemnly swore th e famous C ou t Oath
Tennis C ourt O ath that they would never separate until a
constitution was firm ly established W hen called to a special
’
royal session to hear Louis firm command to meet separately,
th e T h ird E state refused to follow the nobles and clergy in
obeyi ng the royal order to re tire M i rabeau put it precisely
“
to a nobleman who acted as messenger for the King
Tell
your master that nothing but bayonets will drive us from here
’
“
( I f they come we buzz off quick he is reported to have
added i n an underto ne to a friend ) But they did not come
The vacillating Louis left the Third E state undisturbed soon T h E tat
lm ate
am e
the clergy C ame back again and on June a7 th 1 7 8 9 the three to f m th e
’
N ati nal
E states amalgamated o ffici al ly by the King s command
The A m b ly
joy was universal and there were cries of the R evolution i s J un 7 89
over —somewhat prematurely as it subsequently proved
M eanwhile events were moving rapidly outside the Assembly
m un and
T h e increasing hunger of the P aris mobs and the m a
ssing of th N ati nal
G
M
L
troops by ouis led to a state of uneasiness C rimes of
violence became freque nt The government could keep no
orde1 A s a measure of self defence the P arisian electors set
up a comm ittee in the HOtel de Ville and a volun
tary militia
later known as th e N ational Guard From the press now
entirely neglecting the feeble orders of the government there
poured a flood of rev oh 1 tionary pamphl ets while in open spaces
s i1 c h as the gardens of the P alais R oyal young orators and
journalists like C amille D esmoulins ( who was soon to start a
brilliant political newspaper) fired the mob by their intoxi
cating eloquence T hen came the dismissal of N ecker from
h is post of Controller
It seemed that Louis had fol lo wed h is
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I LLU S T R A T E D
16
H IS T O R Y OF M O D E RN
'
i
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E U R OP E
'
Queen s advice and got rid of th e only reforming element in
his court
The result of it all was a mob explosion for whi ch D esmoulins
gave the signal First stealing arms f rom the depot at th e
Inval ides they moved to storm the Bastille whi ch summed up
as it were the whole id ea of r oyal despotism Therep olitical
prisoners often lingered and there th e unfor tunate victims of
lettres Zle cach et l earnt to loathe th e system of arbitrary despoti
After several hours assault and 2 00 killed and wounded the
mob managed to induce the Governor to surr ender on the
promise of s afety for himself and his men P ouring into the
great fortress it f ound—seve n prisoners
four forgers two
madmen and a notorious rake Typically it also massacred
b oth governor and garrison tearing out their hearts and bowels
P aris was soon to see that th e friends of liberty could be
T h e deed was hailed thr oughout the land and
tyrants too
"
thro ugh E urope as h eroic ; the B astille th e symbol of despot
ism had fallen and July 1 4th was to become the national
holiday T h e rebels were now in command of P aris T h e
committee at the HOtel de Ville became a r egular town
government 0r C ommune with a m ayor at its head
L afayette ; who had learned his politics in America was
installed as command er of th e N ational Guard Accepting
these measures th e mob was soon quieted and th ose wh o
Were anxious for more disorder wer e suppr essed by L afayette
’
and the Guard It remained to secure Louis approval of
accomplished facts : He had little alternative Three days
:
later h e came to P aris and h ad to recognize th e new govern
m ent of P aris and th e N ational Guard and wear in his hat
th e cockade of the P arisian tricolore— the emblem of the
In
R evolution
N or was all the activity confined to P aris
th e provinces there was a universal move to storm the forty
th ousand B astillesf—the feudal castles— and ev erywh ere t owns
organiz ed committees of electors into Communes and gave
th emselves self government on th e P arisi an model
Soon in the A ssembly on August 4th occurred one of th e
most remarkable n ights in history. A nobleman suddenly
rose to propose the a bolition of all feudal rights and dues
An emotional atmos
phere was created
O thers followed
t of a Salvationist meeting N oble after noble rose
akin to tha
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I LLU S T R A T E D
HI S T O RY O F M O D E RN
EU R O P E
amid scenes of weeping and embracing to announce h is
agreement in the surrender of his own privileges An orgy
of self sacrifice set in ( and naturally others got sacrificed in the
’
process ) and by eight o clock next morning thi rty decrees h ad
been passed and th ewhole fabric of French law altered O ne
effect of th is should never be forgotten
T h e night of August
4 th gave the peasants practically all they wanted from the
R evolution
as time went on and extremism and violence
grew the peasants turned naturally to anybody who co uld
promise them secur ity in their newly won rights They were
not democrats and they happily accepted N apoleon later
b ecause he seemed to make secur e for them their pr1 ncipal
gains from the R evolution
The Assembly next concentrated on the production of a
preface to the new constitution— T h e D eclaration of the
’
R ights of M an
It was in vainthat a realist like M irabeau
urged that in such a time of anarchy people needed to b e
r eminded not of their rights but of their duties
M ost of th e
members of the Assembly in their idealistic inexperienced
philosophic and phrase drunk sort of way im agined that the
mere statement of th egeneral principles guiding the R evolu
tion would be almost sufficient to free manki nd from the whole
load of past oppression So they produced a document
designed not for the France of 1 78 § alone but for all times and
all peoples M en were by nature equal the people were
soverei gn and must participate in the making of law which
was the expression of the General W ill
liberty of person and
speech were sacred rights reb ellion against injustice a holy
d uty A statement of democratic principles so complete
naturally led to great expectations—which in the nature of
As one
facts at the time it was simply impossibl e to ful fil
sensible person remarked
It was not wise to lead men up
to the top of a mountain and showthem a promised land which
’
was afterwards to be refused them
I t was time for the mob to take a hand agai n W hen the
’
Assembly accepted the idea of Louis being able to hold up
proposed laws for a six year period feeling ran high and
the additional facts that he refused to accept the D eclaration
’
’
and the nobles and clergy s sacrifices of August 4th inflamed
m atters
W hen added to this there was the ever increasing
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D eclaration
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T HE PR O G R E S S OF T HE R E V O LU T I O N
,
1
789
1 7 95
-
19
and th e news of royal negotiations with th e loyal
Flanders R egiment coupled with a lavish military banquet at
Versailles aff airs came to a h ead P aris decided to stage a
’
M arch of the W omen to Versailles to air its grievances
Women Were chosen as their hunger cries would be shriller
though in fact many men some appropriately painted and
petticoated swelled the throng Hearing of the M arch
Lafayette set off after them with th e N ational Guard to
prevent disorder In respo nse to popular requests he per
suaded the King that 1 t wo ul d be mor eacceptable to the people
if he and th e N ational Guard not the Flanders R egiment
were entrusted with the defence of the palace U nfortunately King nd
”
wh i e Lafayette was asleep the mob attacked and penetrated $533
P fi'
the palace and eventually he was abl e to calm them down
only by promising that the King would come to P aris So the
’
—
whole royal family the baker the baker s wife and th e
’
’—
baker s son were brought to P aris and lodged practically as
prisoners in the palace of the Tuileries T en days later th e
Assembly decreed that it woul d follow The importance of
these two moves can hardly be overestimated M ob actio n
had again been decisive Lafayette was obviously unable to
control the forces he h ad helped to set in motion and both
King and Assembly were virtually at the dictation of th e most
extreme elements of P aris T h e trans actions of the Assembly
were public it became th e mob fashion t o attend its debates
to cheer the most revolutionary speakers and boo and hiss and
—
jeer at the rest even to waylay them afterwards and the
whole effect was to make m oderate deputies stay away and
leave aff airs to be regulated more and more by the extremists
Soon another decisive step in the R evolution was taken by 7 5 .
the Assembly D esperate for money it turned its eyes to the
C
h
vast property of the C hurch lVIirab eau helped to secure th e g
fgy
passage of the measure which was put into effect by th e
s or paper currency
based not on gold b ut
i ssue of assignat
on the forfeited Church land U nfortunately the standing
temptation of paper mone y with embarrassed governments is
to print off far more than the nature of its backing whether
gold or land warrants—and an assignat which started by being
worth a hundred francs by a successive process of infl ations
degenerated in seven years to th e value of about a h alfpenny
famine
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E U ROP E
ILLU S T RA T E D H IS T OR Y O F M O D E RN
20
measure too
The
“
,
,
off ended
m0st of the clergy who h ad
witness anti cleric al d ecrees m uch more
,
so on however, to
extrem e
In j uly 1 7 90 the famous Civil Constitution of the C lergy
was passed by whi ch the State not the P ope became th e
paym aster of the clergy wh o thus became state o fficials
and w hose leaders were ap pointed by a form of election
R ome was allowed no power at all in the scheme
Loui s a
good Catholic h eart brokenly agreed but when as h é had
feared the P ope in April 1 79 1 solemnly condem ned the whole
measure his remorse knew no bounds ; From th is point must
’
; b e d ated his determination to seek foreign aid in checking th e
ever increasing m omentum of the R evolution
At last he resolved to flee W hither he could either find loyal
French troops in E astern France or accept the help of his
brother ih law th e E mperor Leopold and whence at th e
’
"
head of an a rm yi of foreigners and emigre French nobles ; he
could r eturn to dictate term s to the Assembly I t was a fatal
pl an even h ad h e succeeded in escaping and one from which
M irabeau who had at l ast come to i b etter terms with the
court a nd wh o was doing h is best to keep the R evolution
within reasonable bounds would certai nl y have dissuaded
him But M irabeau had died in April 1 7 9 1 , with the ful l
and despairing realiz ation that the monarch y was d oomed
“
“
I carry with me he said the last rags Of the monarch y
R emoved f rom his wise adv ice Louis proceeded on his ras h
course At night disguised asa valet he escaped in a coach
with M arie Antoinette and his family but news Outstripped
h is slow rate of progress and at Varennes a little town near
’
th e fronti er a butcher s cart across the road finished his h opes
At the HOtel de Ville Lafayette who had taken charge issued
It was a terrible journey
orders for the return of the captives
E xposed to every form of insult they w ere brought
for them
back humiliated by ruffians who poked their heads through th e
’
coach windows and spat in the Queen s face and by the alter
nate jeers and stony silence of the c rowd In twenty four
’
hours M arie Antoinette s hair turned completely whi te It
the
was the end of th e last remnant o f th e royal prestige —
complete extinction of the blaze of popul arity which had at
’
At
first surround ed the good naturedm reforming Ki ng
-
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Th
e
i
C ivil
ti on of th e
,
C lergy,
M y 1 7 90
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T h e fl igh t
to V eren
nee, J une
1791
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ILLUS T R AT ED
H I S T OR Y OF M O D E R N
E U R O PE
Varennes the monarchy had died All that P aris had to do a
’
year later was to bury it
The net result was the growth of a deliberately republican
movement M i rabeau was dead Lafayette rapidly lost h is
great popularity by Ordering the Guard to fire on a rioting
mob in the Champ de M ars the Ki ng was disgraced—the
leadership of a ffairs drifted into th e hands of the politicians
who were m aking their name by their eloquence in the
political clubs The most important of these clubs was the
Jacobin Club (so called since its parent br anch met in th e
di sused convent of St Jacques ) which within two or three
years of its formation rapidly affil iated over four hundred
branch organiz ations in the provinces The history of the
control of the Jacobins till I 7 94 is the history of the R evolution
O riginally embracing all shades of reforming Opini on it
gradually became confined to ex tremists as they Succeeded
in getting their policy approved
Already now on the question
of republic or monarchy one group of monarchical supporters
was driven out Anoth er Club th e Cordelier Club limited
to P aris and composed of working men rather than the
professional classes was extremely democratic from th e very
beginning
M eanwhile th e Assembly weary of its activities
was
anxious to complete the new constitution and dissolve itself
At last in September 1 7 9 1 the Constitution was dul y accepted
by the hapless King and P aris again celebrated the end of
’
the R evolution
U nfortunately the Constitution was far
from perfect
O n paper the King was allowed a considerable
amount of powe r which was quite unacceptable to the new
republicans ( though he could be baulked from using it by the
financial hold of the Assembly) Voters were to have a
fairly high property qualification—a measure which annoyed
But the really vital defect was that the Com
th e extremists
mu nes in th e provinces were allowed to be almost entirely
self governing—the central government had practically no
control over them As the U S Ambassador remarked
“
The Almighty Himself could not have made it work unless
T o increase the di fficulty
He created a new species of man
the members of the Assembly unselfish ly declared themselves
ineligible for r e election in the new Legislative A ssemb ly
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T HE P R O G R ES S O F T HE R E V O LU T I ON
'
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—795
1 78 9
23
1
thus cutting off from the conduct of aff airs the onl y body of
men wh o had begun to accumulate any experience in them
.
.
2
.
F rom th e
W
ar to th e
E stab lish ment of the D irectory,
1
79 2
—
1 795
It was the war which conditio
ned the rest of the R evolution T h
a ” wn
M any of the members of the Assembly wer e idealistic pacifists o
who had earlier passed a motion renouncing all wars of
’
acquisition T h e threatening attitude of the émigre nobles on
the border however ( by now about
in all and led by
’
’
Louis brother ) and the danger of Louis suddenly receiving
help from Austria and P russia led to the atmosphere of fear
whi ch produces war At the same time a group of politicians
known as the Girondins (from the Gironde I n th e south west TG hi ndin
of France ) began to desire war from motives of their own
T hough still members of the Jacobins and thus extremists of
a k ind they were b y no means the most extreme element there
’
since a lth ough they ardently desired to preserve th e work of
the R evol u
tion and even to advance to a republic they were
opposed to the terrorist views of the most Left wing section
U nder the leadershi p of V ergniaud and R oland though still
’
more under that of R oland s wife M adame R oland wh ose
salon was th e centre of th egroup they forced themselves into
the mi nistry N ow they became filled with the idea that war
would both unite the country and place it behind its leaders
’
and at the same time reveal Louis sympathies with the
’
country s enemies—and thus provide an excuse for getting
rid of h im In April 1 7 92 the Council decided on war against W
A ustria and the Assembly agreed on the basis of war against
’
Kings peace with all peoples
It was a ch al lenge against the
rulers of the world—one which they were not slow to accept
The i mmediate consequences were disastrous The entirely
unprepared French army was routed in the Austrian N ether
lands and the King took the Opportunity of vetoing two
decrees and dismis sing some of his Girondin mi ni sters
including R oland The mob m anger invaded the Tuileries
and Louis was compelled to fraternize with them to drink
their h ealth and to wear the red cap of liberty Lafayette
made a last effort to save the monarchy by leading th e Guard
against the Jacobins but he came up against the invincibl e
e
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P aix
aux
P euples ,
of th e Revolution
Th e figh ing b asis
cap of lib er ty, and swor d
t
.
.
Guerre
aux
N B
e
.
—T h
.
T yrans
.
com b ination of olive b r anch ,
I LLU S T R A T E D H I S T O R Y OF M OD E RN
EU R OP E
deposition of th e King was the first step in t h e
reor ganization of the d efences
France was indeed in a
parlous condition In th e Vendee district insurrection agains t
the government had broken out prompted by Catholic horror
of th e measures against the Church
N ow on August 1 9th
th e P russians ( who had joined with th e Austrians annoyed
by the confiscation of the lands of German nobles in Alsace)
crossed th e frontier
and captured Longwy and Verdun
The resulting fear led to further extreme measures against
r oyalist support ers in P aris
and on the night of September
2 nd M arat ( another leading spirit of the Cordeliers who ran
’
a virulently democratic paper L A mi da P eu
organized
a
l
e
p )
vast massacre of priests and royalists who were being h eld in
prison O ver 2 000 perished in this foul way The R eign of
Terror h ad begun with a vengeance
Suddenly the face of the war altered O n September 2 oth
at Valmy the P russians were repul sed It was a mere
cannonade and the P russian retirement was rather more due
to their suspicion of Austrian preoccupation with th e N eth er
’
lands R ussian designs on P oland and D anton s bribing
But it meant a
activities than to French reorganization
wonderful diff erence to th e French spirit The invasion was
“
checked— the revolution might be preserved
Here and
“
now, said the great German poet Goethe begins a new era
in the history of the world
W ith in a few weeks the French
occupied the Austrian N etherlands conquered b y the battle
of Jemappes and proceeded to advance to the R hine and the
Austrian dominions in Italy The Convention ( in which the
Jacobins were even stronger than in th e old Assembly )
intoxicatedly voted that France wo ul d give her help to all
peoples desirin to recover their liberty and thus hur led a
further challenge at the world
The trial of th e King followed He had no chance al though
technically by the I 7 9 1 constitution his ministers were
“
responsible for all his actions But as R obespierre said You
are not judges—you are statesmen
and the King was
unanimously declared guilty W hen it came to a question of
the punishment the Girondins and D anton who really wished
to save him hesitated thus to lay themselves open to a charge
’
of monarchism and it was R obespierre s policy of executio n
The
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T HE PR O G R ES S OF T HE R EV O LU T I ON
,
1 7 89
-
97
1 7 95
which triumphed T h e consequence was further terror,
dictatorship and war with most of E urope
W ithin a month E ngland and Sp ain had entered the war W
E"
objecting on principle to the doctrines of the R evolution and m
m
th e execution of the King but even more because of the positive { 3
33
danger to their national securi ty resulting from the French
advance to the P yrenees their occupation of the Austrian
ir threat to Holland and their violation of
N etherlands the
the T reaty Of U trecht of 1 7 1 3 11hm ediately the French
armies suff ered reverses again and the consequences were seen
in the institution of a R evolutionary Tribunal and a Com
m ittee of P ublic Safe y for dealing speedily with opposition
t
And indeed there was opposition to deal with for with the
introduction of conscription there W as a further r eb ellioh I n
the west By April the last Girondins had been excluded
from the C ommittee and th e stage was set for another act in
T h e tension increased when the
th e sanguinary drama
leader o f the French armies D um ouriez tried to induce h i s
men to march on P aris and suppress th e Clubs failed and
deserted to the Austrians
At once the M ountain ( the T h nd a
extremest section of the Convention so called from their
m "7 9 3
I
raised seats ) worked hand in glove with the Commune to
destroy th e l ast advocates of moderation the Girondins and
th eir leaders were guillotined in a batch— the perpetual fate
R oland who h ad escape d
of moderates who start revolutions
wandered hunted and miserable in the country till he heard
of the death of his wife and t h en com m itted suicide
A furth e
’
rebellion broke out in th e Giro ndins support but it was soon
defeated and th e only permanent result was that one N orman
girl Charlotte Corday burning with hatred of the brutal and
irreligious policy of th e Jacobin leaders sought an interview
with M arat was admitted to him as he sat in his bath and
murdered him with one sure thrust of her knife
M eantime the Convention had drawn up the new constitu R o g anize
“m
tion which was extremely republican including votes for all
m en and plebiscites on important questions
But it was
never app lied Government rested in th e hands of th e
Committee of P ublic S afety and the Convention merely
agreed automatically si nce they knew what resistance meant
to w h atever it proposed
Al togeth er the Convention sanc
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I LLUS TR A T E D HI S T OR Y OF M OD E RN
E U R OPE
'
50 decre es in t h ree years , without eVen sO m wch
tioned I
'
of
as
giving a single one
them a second reading All over th e
country the Committee used th e l ocal Jacobin societies to en
force its poli cy
Age nts were sent down to enforce obedience
the work of organizing the conscript armies being brilliantly
’
achieved by C arnot T h e O rganizer of Victory R esistance
was m etruthlessly, and blood fl owed ri otously in P aris
l h onest
The terrible R ob esp ierre was now in the ascend ant—
in money matters no loVer of women, and b elieving in h is
democratic R ousseauite creed far mor e sincerely th an any
other of the revol utionary leaders—but vai n and fanatical and
determined to enforce h is own ideas of virtue at all costs
Believing that terror was necessary to inspire virtue h e
nized—there is no other word for it—the R eign of Terror
orga
O th ers helped him either from pure criminality or more
often because th ey realized th at the choice was between being
Fouquier Tinville the ruthl es
s
a guillotiner or a guillotined ;
P ublic P rosecutor claimed nearly 3 000 victims in a few months
—
from M arie Antoinette d 0wn to nobles priests Girondins
and even harmless women like M adame du Barry whose days
A
of glory 1 n th e cour t of L ouis XV were long since over
dreadful bloodlus t grew developing into a kind of worship
Tremendous crowds attended th e
of M adame Guilloti ne
’
R ed M ass and it is possible that the government deliberately
ordered executions with the object of providing entertainment
for the populace and distracting their mi nds from the war
At N antes over 4000 were butchered in four months some by
being sent out in a boat whi ch was then deliberately sunk
and at Lyons 2 000 perished in mass executions conducted by
volleys of gunfire N o one was safe T h e Commune more
off ended R obespierre b y beginning
extreme than anyone
effor tS to introduce socialist measures and by trying to destroy
It succeeded in establishing T h e
all Christian worship
’
W orship of R eason as the religion of France in getting the
’
Convention to pass a law of th e M aximum limiting the price
and in introducing a revolutionary
of bread and corn
calendar which eliminated saints days and Sundays Then
The leaders of th e
R obespierre struck aided by D anton
Com mune went the way of the rest and R obespierre appointed
creatures sui table to himself
'
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Rob espierre
end th e
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T HE P RO G RE S S 0
T HE RE V OLU T I ON
1?
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1
3
8
9
7 1 795
29
-
b ut ful l of
now however th e French
were trium ph anntwagain and D anton
revolutio nary f ervo ur
Si ckening T h end or
urpose
conceived th at the Terror had worked its p
d and h appy in the love of a young girl h C h ad A p il 1 7 94
of the b loodsh e
ust
a
ried
t
t
o sc all a halt to th e whole ghas tly
r ried
h
e
m
j
business It was fatal ; R obespier re immediately accus ed h im
counter revolutionary sentiments and D anton and
of
D esmou
l ins his great friend followed whither they had sent
R obespierre now under practically no
3 0 m any others
r estraint established the worsh i p of the Supreme Being ( h is
own particular form of religion) and proceeded with th e
Terror By one ruth less law known as th e Law of P r ai rial
suspects were deprived of th e help of counsel and could b e
condemned to the one possible punish ment death on th e
’
reputation of a bad moral character al one—which might be
made to mean anythi ng After thi s in fifty days nearly
But opposition grew—too many leaders , far
1 500 heads fell
less hOnest men th an R obespierre feared that their turn
was com i ng next A m om entary al liance among them lost
him his h old of the Committee of P ublic Safety and his control
of the Jacobin Clubs
He was shouted down in the C on
v ention lodged with his closest followers I n prison and though
he was released by the Commune which still favour ed him
he was recapture d I n the Hotel de Ville as h e was ab out to
sign an i llegal appeal to the tr00ps T h e next day he and h is
followers had th eir turn
Strangely enough though those
wh ooverthrew R obespierre were far worse men than he the
d at
fall of R obespierre meant the end of th e Terror
The
e
fi
x
countrytn ow was so obviously tired of th e bloodshed that the pi
1 1,
1 7 94
new rulers from th e sole motive of gai ning popularity
destroyed the organization which had made the Terror possibl e
—the R evolutionary Tribunal the Committee of P ublic
Safety and the Jacobin Clubs and repealed the Law of
P rairial ; Yet another new constitution was voted by th e
Convention in whi ch the electorate was restri cted to tax
payers ( a reaction again
st extr eme democracy) and power
was split between a two housed Assembly and a D irectory of l h e
D M
five m en A ided by the prolongation of the war and by public not
’
feeling ar oused against E ngland s unsuccessful attempts to
d a l anding on th e west coast
prom ote a r ising in La Vendee an
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30
HI S T O R Y o r M O D ER N
ILLU S T R A T E D
E U R O PE
the men who had ousted R ob espierre kept their hold on afl airs
’
and their leader Barras soon secured one of the D irectors
W hen there was a royalist rising in P aris they
positions
’
ordered out the troops and a whiff of grape shot dispersed
the mob T h e ofli cer in command was a s allow skinned
Corsican named N apoleon Bonaparte who thus began by
’
being the D irectory s servant and was soon to prove its master
'
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How ar e we to explain this almost incredible French
R evolution—this astounding mixture of highest idealism and
deepest villainy resolute cour age and contemptiblecowardice,
breathless reform and starkest tyranny
C h iefly by bearing
—
f
this act in mind that France a country in dissolution
undergoing a radical reshaping of her organ
s of government
at the critical moment was plunged into war both nation al
and civil
W ar—we can see th e same process going on under
our eyes in Sp ai n to day—b y generating fear which in turn
produces reckless violence strips off our all too th in veneer
of civilization and tolerates th e most outrageous bestiali ty
at th e same tim e as it calls to the fore bravery and patriotism
It thus has th e elements of fantastic contradiction in itself
Further th e particul arly democratic creed of th e French
Revolutionaries based on philosophy and sentiment rather
l
than practicabi ity or experience encouraged a pathetic
belief that the mob is al ways right and robbed leader af ter
leader of the will or courage to call a halt to mob violence
when it was manifestly wrong By the system of open debates
in Assembly Convention and Clubs the advocate of modera
tion was always liable to be shouted down and accused of th e
unforgivable o ff ence of counter revolutionary sentiments A t
critical moments too the undue importance of the M unicipal
Governme nt of P aris or Commune which was early captured
by th e ex treme Left told to disastrous eff ect agai nst the more
Thus partly because of the war
m oderate Convention
internal and external ,partly becaus e of the genui ne di fficul ty
d from the shackles of
of keeping a hold on a country fre e
ce nturies partly because of the unrealistic theories of th e
partly
revoluti onaries and the practice of open debating
because of the independence of the Commune the conduct of
affairs inevitably d ri fted to the extremists and the R evol utio n
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THE P RO G RES S OF T HE F RE N
CH
RE V OLUT ION
.
E U R OPE
d eveloped from a movement for peaceful reform to an orgy
of b lood letting
Yet itm ust n ever bef orgotten th atwhen the
i
fieriz y Of v olence died th e permanent b enefits of refor m
rem ained—not d emocracy because France h ad sh own herself
’
incapable of it, but equality before the law admini strative
reform
fairer taxation liberated ind ustry and commerce
th efoundati on of schools coll eges mus eums libraries and the
metric system the abolition of feudalism and the distribution
of feudal land among the peasantry the transference of th e
m ajor share i n th e State fr om nobles and clergy lto th e
It was the greatest achievement of N ap oleon
b ourgeoisie
not t o des troy the R evolution but to preserve m any of its
essentia
ls
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H I S T OR Y O F M O D E RN
I LLU S T R A T ED
32
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AP PEN D I X
—
T O C HA PT E R I I
S ome C h aracters o
f the Revolution
M I RABE AU
_
_
(died 1 7 9 1 )
'
t
A rath er terrib le, b rilliant, diss olute nob le, wh o h ad am ong oth er
’
m isdem eanour s r un off with anoth er m an s wife and em b ez zled great
sum s of m oney, M irab eau was to find th at h is unsavoury reputation
was to b aulk h im of h is greatest am b ition R ej ected b y h is own
ediately b ecam e
E state, h e was elected b y th e T h ir d E state and M
“
“
A m ad dog, am I
th eir leader
h e said at h is election
B ut
”
H e led
elect m e and despotism and privil ege will die of m y b ite
th e opposition to th e C rown till th e T h ird E state b ecam e th e N ational
A ssem b ly, and advocated th e nationalization of C h urch land
Knowing h e was b ig enough to dir ect th e m ovem ent h e tried
desperately to str ik e an alliance with th e court, for h e could see h im
self in th e r6 1e of a R i ch elieu
But it took too l ong to b reak down
’
M arie Antoinette s distrust , and wh en at length h is advi ce was
accepted h e allowed Louis to pay h is deb ts for h im and th us gave
room for suspicion of h is fidelity to th e R evolution T o rob h im of
th er frigh tened Assem b ly passed a law th at
h is am b ition th e ra
M irab eau,
m em b ers of i t were not eligib le to b ecom e royal m i nisters
b eaten, with graceful b ut desperate h um our m oved an am endm ent
”
H ad h e lived b eyond
to except th e nam e of M de M irab eau
A pril 1 7 9 1 h e migh t h ave saved th e m onarch y—b ut it is only 3
’
‘
m igh t
His powerful face was fearfuuy pock m arked, and th i s,
com b ined with h is violence of expression and b urning eyes , m ade
h is oratory frequently irr esistib le in th e Assem b ly—th ough it h as
since b een proved th at h e got o th er people to wri te h is speech es for
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H IS T OR Y O F M OD E R N
I LLU S T R A T ED
j ournal
’
E U R O PE
'
L A m i au P euple, and b y h is organization of th e S eptem b er
M assacres
A painful skin diseas e m ay h ave h elped to produce th e
nervous v iolence wh i ch satisfied itself b y causing oth ers to b e executed
W arm b ath s gave h is skin troub le relief, and it was in one of th em th at
’
h e m et h is death b y C h arlotte C orday s knife
His creed was sim ple
‘
’
2 7 o, 00 0 h eads to cut off and m ankind will b e h appy
was th e estim ated num b er of th e F irst and S econd E states
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D A N T ON
( executed 1 7 94)
T h e m ost deserving
nam e of statesm an of th e revolutionary
figures A lawyer univers ally regarded as a goodnatured fellow h e
aided th e extrem e dem ocratic s ecti on b y h is foundation of th e
C ordelier C lub
A n ardent patr iot h e resented th e treason of th e
’
T uileries and led th e m ovem ent for th e deposition of th e King b y
’
1 79 2
e on A ugust 1 0th
pl anning a cou
p d etat at th e H otel de Vill’
and th e consequent attack on th e King s p
alace
H e accepted
responsib ility for th e S eptem b er M a
ss acres
and m ade th e T err or
possib le b y th e creation of th e R evolutionary T rib unal and C om
m ittee of P ub lic S afety on wh ich h e h ad a prom inent place
B ut h e
kept th e end in view as well as th e m eans and w
h en h e h ad h elped
to place th e arm i s on a victorious footing h e h ad no desire to pro
long th e T error and lost h is life for advocating its ab olition He
would h ave saved th e G irondins too h ad th ey accepted h is proposed
alliance
U nf ortunately for h im h is reck lessness and uns crupulous
ness in m oney m atters gave a weapon to h is Opponents
His b road
powerful h ead express ed th e bigness wh i ch was h is essential ch aracter
istic (R ob espierre was a th orough ly small m an in b oth features and
H e died b itterly regretting h is sh are in creating th e
m ind)
’
As h e passed R ob espierr e 5 h ouse on th e
m ach inery of th e T error
“
I nfam ous R ob espierre you will
way to th e guillotine h e sh outed
A nd th en on th e scaff old itself h is superb courage was
follow m e !
“
S h ew m y
responsib le for one of th e m ost fam ous rem arks of h istory
it is wor th th e troub le
h ead to th e people
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of th e
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R OBE S PI E R RE
(executed
)
1 7 94
A narrow, b igoted
T h e m ost puzzling figure of th e R evolution
l
e
c
r
c
sion, h e
r
v
n
i
l
l
a
wy
r
f
n
re
a
t
el
q
uen
c
e
int
e
l
i
n
e
o
d
e
i
c
a
e
o
o
o
o
i
,
,
g
g
p
dancy at th e J acob ins b y h is unswerving and
gained a gradual ascen
fanatical devotion to th e ideas of R ousseau (wh ose C ontrat S ocial lay
always on h is desk) and b y th at h onesty in m oney m atters wh ich
’
‘
‘
’
‘
’
Virtue and terror were
earned h im th e title of th e I ncorruptib le
‘
’
—
h is two key words virtue consisting of ch aste m orals , dem ocratic
’
‘
O pinions, and b elief in th e S uprem e B eing, and terr or b eing th at
wh ich was m eted out to all wh o h eld oth er v iews He cam e into h is
own after h e h ad h ounded first th e G ir ondins th en D anton to death
‘
’
as b eing too indulgent and instigated th e T error in its fullest form
until, f righ tening all b y indiscrim inate th reats, h e caus ed h is next
n
T
h
i
m
O
h
d
or 9 th ,
r
i
t
e
r
m
s
e
ctive victim s to com b ine again
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Ro b espierre
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ILLU S TR A T E D
36
HI S T O R Y O F M OD E R N
E U R OP E
r I I (J uly 2 7 th 1 7 94) h e was arrested in th e H otel de Ville wh ere
and togeth er with h is closest
th e C om m une still supported h i m
associates wh o were devoted to h im was guillo tined th e following
H is feline features and spiteful gr een eyes ( b linking b eh ind
day
b lue tinted spectacles) togeth er with h is invariab ly neat appearance
and th e h igh h eels worn to increas e h is h eigh t gi ve som e i ndication
of th at j ealousy and pride wh ich m ade h im so fatally certain of h is
He provides th e supr em e exam ple in
own wisdom and virtue
h istory of th e truth th at th e m isguided h onest m an is infinitely m ore
terrib le th an th e worst scoundr el
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CHA P I E R III
‘
’
T h e Revolutionary W ars and th e C ar eer
—
N apoleon, 1 7 93 1 8 1 5
,
of
.
1.
From th e F irst C oalition to th e Peace
W e have now to follow th e career
f
o
A miens,
1 793
—
1 802
of
the genius who is at T h rim
once the most fascinating and the most repellent personality
W e have seen how partly because of her
of modern tim es
doctrines and partly because of her occupation of the Austri an
N eth erlands revolutionary France h ad been driven to face
a E urop ean coalition in 1 7 93 and how th e price of her pre
liminary failure against it was the Terror and a move towards
dictators h ip By 1 7 95 however the ge ni us of Carnot (who
not only planned campaigns and organized armies but turned 9 m t m
O gan
up i n person i n ci vi li an dress to lead the advance wh i ch of to y
recaptured th e A ustrian N eth erlands at Fleurus
and th e
enth usi asm of the ragged French troops had eliminated
Holland too had not
P russia and Spain from the attack
only been defeated on land and had her fleet captured by a C ll p at
H ll nd
cavalry charge over the m e but had been compelled to S i gn a and S pain
peace treaty which put h er military forces at the disposal of
France T hus of the First Coalition besides Austria only
’
the originator and paymaster P itt s government in E ngland
remained
’
E ngl and s record in the war so far had been uni nspi ri ng
an unsuccessful landing in Brittany her troops defeated in th e
N etherlands Toulon captured only to be lost soon after and
“
’
an unimportant Lord Howe victory (as N elson called it)
’
outside Brest on the Glorious First of June
The ambition
of the D irectory in France was thus to knock out first her more
dangerous land opponent Austria and then concentrate on
her commercial and naval rival E ngland It will be noticed
that though the French conscript soldier still maintained
indeed it was one of the secrets of his success—an astounding
e
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I LLU S T RA T E D
38
HI S T OR Y OF M OD E R N
E U R O PE
"
’
’
faith in liberty and equality
the actual government of
France the D irectory was moving far from the original 1 7 9 2
position of enthusiasts who would remodel the world for a new
faith and was considering the war along the classic Louis X I V
’
tradition of foreign conquest glory and natural frontiers
ch indeed still o ff ered the new liberty to all peoples
T h e Fre n
—but i ts particular quality only too often turned out to savour
of the old tyran ny
The attack on Austria was planned in two directions N or
only was Austria to be directly attacked along the R hine
D anube route by two armies but a third was to enter Italy
capture the Austrian possessions there and then join in the
attack on Austria itself by a passage through the Tyrol
T h e soldier appointed by the D irectory on the motion of
Carnot to command the Italian expedition was the N apoleon
Bonaparte who had already proved his w
orth in ousting the
E nglish from T oulon in 1 7 9 3 and th e royalists from th e streets
A penniless friendless one meal a day
of P aris in 1 7 95
young artillery o fficer in 1 789 he had welcomed the R ev olu
tion as a keen di sciple of R ousseau and had maintained
sufficiently close relations W ith R obespierre to be thrown into
pri son onhis fall But h e had learnt to despise the mob and
to loathe mob violence in the scenes he witnessed in P aris
and gradually his strong sense of order triumphed over hi s early
revolutionary principles Still partlyin disgrace he had been
on the spot i n the diffi cult situation of 1 7 95 and his prompt
order to fetch cannons and fire on the mob had saved the
His rewards were the command of the Ital ian
D irectory
E xpedition and the hand of a mistress of the D irector Barras
by name Josephine Beauharnais with whom he was passion
ately in love and whose aristocratic connections would help
his social progress to equal his military advancement
O n M arch 1 1 th 1 7 96 after a two day honeym oon Bona
parte departed for Italy W ithin a month he had pulled h is
lax ill equipped and disorganized troops together and was
‘
His Words to them on the Opening of the
ready for action
“
You are badly fed and nearly naked
campaign are famous
I am going to lead you to the most fertile plains in the world
You will find there great cities and rich provinces You will
Four days after h e
find there honour glory and wealth
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RE V OLU T I ON A R Y
W A RS A N D C A R E E R O F N A P OLE ON
39
ent ered I taly he h ad succeeded in his first object of separating
the Austrian and Sardinian armies and the King of Sardinia
was demanding peace from a general Whose troops h ad pr acti
“
cally no artillery no cavalry and no boots
The rest of the
campaign continued on th e same lines By brilliant strategy
and marching he contrived to m anoeuvre numerically superior
opponents into positions where th ey could engage o nl y a s mall
proportio n of their forces against the entire strength of the
He h ad too a most powerful moral weapon
French Army
"
’
th e appe al of the doctri ne of libe rty to th e enslaved I talians
A month after setting foot on Italian soil he had forced the L di
bridge at Lodi and entered lVIilan capital of Lombardy and
th e Austrian h eadquarters amid the rejoicing of its Ital ian
populatio n A temporary check came wh en for some months
the enemy h eld out inM antua, but finally by the battle of
R ivoli in early 1 7 9 7 resistance was crushed the Austrians Ri li
became demoraliz ed and the victorious Bonaparte was p ul led
up from ch asing them out of Italy right into Vienna itself
only b y th e Austrian acceptance of the severe treaty of
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C am poe Form io
By th is treaty Austria was compelled to recognize not only
’
F rance s conquest of the Austrian N eth erlands and her newly
won Rh ine frontier, but also th e loss of Lombardy and its
incorporation into a new state, th e Cisalpine R epublic, which ,
nominally independent, in fact was entirely ti nder French
control In return Bonaparte threw Austria a shameful bribe
Venice , which h ad no quarrel with France and which had
preserved her existence as an independent republic for
The Italians , wh o had helped the F rench, were
1 1 00 years
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soon to find that liberty was not every here applied
and that even where it was it was expensive
From Venice
and th e Cisal pine R epublic and the P apal States (whi ch were
equal ly at h is mercy) N apoleon poured back tribute over the
Alps in the form of cash and masterpieces of art—the P apacy
alone for instance had to pay
francs compensa
tion for the murder of a French envoy by the R oman people
Thus withi n a year Austria had been beaten out of the Coali
tion N orth Italy completely reorgani z ed France enriched
and glorified
and the name of N apoleon Bo naparte sent
u
n
r oughout E urop e
gi
g
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thus
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T r eaty of
7 97
I LLU S T R A T ED
H I S T O R Y OF M OD ERN
E U R OP E
There remained to France one stubborn opponent
E ngland who W ould never rest while a major sea power
occupied the coast of the Low Countries and constituted a
permanent threat to her security Accordi ngly 1 7 9 7 witnessed
a determined e ff ort to crush her It was indeed a critical
year for E ngland with no allies an immi nent revolt in I re
land mutinies in th e fleet corn shortage a financi al crisis
and our hold on India threatened by the French inspired
T ippoo Sahib
But the schemes of France went astray in
spite of the fact that Holland and Spain had now to move their
fleets at h er dictation At the end of 1 7 96 an attempted
i nvasi on of Ireland had been scattered by storms nor were th e
efforts of 1 7 9 7 and 1 798 in the same direction to advance th e
cause of W ol fe Tone and his united Irishmen much more
successful The graver danger at the moment however came
’
from France s compulsor y allies rather than her own dis
organized navies—till Jarvis ( in name ) and N elson ( in fact)
defeated the Spanish at Cape St Vincent and D uncan disposed
of the D utch at Camperdown
E ngland for the moment was
safe
It was left to the conqueror of Italy to devise a more brilliant
if fundamentally impracticable s cheme of attacking th e
obstinate island His method was characteristically clever
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and com
preh ensiv
commerce was the life blood Bonaparte planned to
’
E gypt (which belonged to Turkey ) ruin E ngland s
the M editerranean and possibly even advance overl
wrest India from our grasp The fascination which
had exercised over his mind from boyhood urged h i m to ad
th e scheme as well as that vaulting ambition which co
“
This little E urop
say
M y glory is already threadb are
too small a field Great celebrity can be won o nl y in
E ast
The D irectory
Bonaparte was becoming
them in E urope So with
and antiquarians 400
whole expeditipn fina
vassal republics ( the
iled for E gypt He
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HI S T O RY O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
E U R O PE
prospect of a certain surrender to the enemy By luck and
skill in hugging the coast of Africa h e again eluded the E nglish
fleet landed in France and received a delirious welcome as the
conqueror of E gypt and the m an who C o ul d recapture Italy
’’
W ithin a few weeks he had carried out a coup d etat by an
alliance wi th one of the D irectors and dismissed the Assembly
For once his nerve here failed him for he nearly fainted and
was saved only by his brother Lucien the P r esident wh o was
in th e plot and who ordered in the troops in the nick of time
He now established a new government of three Consuls of
wh om he was the first and the onl y one who counted A S how
of democratic government was still preserved
but no one
was taken in by appearances The new dictatorship was
approved by an overwhelming plebiscite—a political weapon
used with gre at e ffect by the Bonaparte fam ily long before
Hitler ar ( 1 M ussoli ni imitated the procedure
Secure i n his new power Bonaparte marched to restore th e
In actual fact th e tide had already
situatio n in E urope
’
b egun to turn in France s favour but Bonaparte monopoli z ed
the credit By 1 8 00 his military genius and a good slice of
luck had recaptured Italy at the battl e of M arengo while in
Germany the Austrians were badly defeated by M oreau at
Hohenlinden R ussia had already quarrelled with Austria
and E ngland and retired and by the Treaty of Luneville of
1 8 0 1 Austria had again to recognize the French republics in
Italy Switzerland and Holland
The full weight of France could thus be brought to bear
once more against E ngland and a particul arly difficult
“
situation developed i n the form of the A rined N eutrality of
the N orth
a league of the Baltic pow ers ( Prussia Sweden
D enmark and R ussia ) opposed to the very extensive right of
’
search claimed by the British admiral ty over neutral powers
This was a cl aim which h ad caused wars with Holland in the
past , was to cause a war with th e U S A from 1 8 1 2 to 1 8 1 4
and might have brought the Americans in against E ngland in
1 9 1 5 had not Germany adopted th e even more drastic policy
of S inking American vessels by her submarine campaign
’
R ussia too was prompted by P aul s passion for M alta
which had now been sei zed by the E nglish The British
G overnment dealt with th e situation partly by relaxing some
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1804
I Emperor 1804
3 C onsuls
5 Directors
1793
16 th en10 Committee of Public S af ety 1793
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THE D RIF T T O D I C TA TORS HIP .
I LLU S T R A T ED
44
H IS T O R Y O F M O D E R N
of
E U R O PE
the harsher claims (e g that iron timber and corn coul d
be sei z ed in any ship trading with the enemy in any circum
stances ) and partly by smash ing th e D anish fleet at the Battle
of Copen h agen 1 8 0 1
where
N
elson
did
f
amous
telescope
h
t
e
(
trick to disregard the instructions of his superior Sir Hyde
P arker )
Furth er th e assassination of P aul by a court party
in R ussia tired of his insane freaks was very helpful as his
successor Alex ander I was opposed to France So 1 8 0 1
finished with E ngland triumphant in the Bal tic and th
M editerranean and even farther afield for Ceylon and the
Cape of Good Hope had been taken from the D utch and
Trinidad from th e Spanish—but with France equally supreme
on land O n both S ides there were overtures for peace and
in M arch 1 802 th e Treaty of Amiens was signed The most
important terms were that E ngland was to restore the Cape
to the D utch and M alta to the Kni ghts of St John while
retaining Ceylon and Tri ni dad and in return France was to
evacuate R ome and South Italy and restore E gypt to Turkey
So the treaty was made and Bonaparte now approved First
Consul for Life by another overwhelming plebiscite could
devote his genius to the arts of peace
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F rom th e Renewal
r
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1
81 0
its nature however th e P eace of A miens could be no
more than a breathing S pace In th e first place it did not
mention the question which was possibly of the greatest
importance to E ngland—the French occupation of the old
Aus trian N etherlands ( the modern Belgium ) In the second
d without the
place it left both sides still deeply suspicious an
real will to peace France refused to give any greater freedom
to E nglish trade E nglish caricaturists refused to be kinder to
Bonaparte France was obviously planning an extension of
her influence in the N ear E ast India and the W est Indies
and equally E ngland would brook no important colonial
rival The atmosp h ere was all ready for the break which
E ngland determined to
came over th e question of M alta
violate the treaty by holding on to M alta till Bonaparte stopped
investigating the possibiliti es of reviving his power in E gypt
Bonaparte determined to violate the treaty by holding on to
Of
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RE V O LUT I O N A R Y W A R S
C A R EE R O F N A P O LE ON
AN D
45
South Italy til l E ngland termi nated her occupation of M alta
By 1 803 the tw
o rivals were at grips again France being aide d
by Spain after th e E nglish seizure of some Spanish treasure
ships destined as subsidy for France T h e struggle too had
become a more personal one with the more and more open
dictatorship of Bonaparte in France by 1 8 04 when he had
become the E mperor N apoleon the S pirit of R evolution was
becoming less and less prominent and the ambition of one
man rath er than the burning z eal of a n ation was to determine
th e remaining ten years of the conflict
W ith the idea of a direct attack on E ngland N apoleon now T h pm
t d
j
marshalled an enormous force i n camp at Boulogne
The m m “0,
“
E nfl lm d
Channel he said is a ditch which it needs but a little
courage to cross
So an army of
men was held
ready for the adventure and some 1 500 fl at bottomed ferry
boats constructed But th e sch eme depended entirely on the
’
absence of th e British Fleet for N apoleon s first idea of slipping
across one dark or foggy nigh t was obviously absurd when it
was realized that even after the h arbour had been enlarged
five or six tides would be required to embark so gr eat a body
of men
Accordingly he directed his fleets to escape blockade
eff ect a junction with th e Spanish lure the E nglish away from
th e Channel by a feifit attack on th eW est Indies , race back
across the Atlan tic before the E nglish realized the scheme
and secure an overwhelming predominance off Boulogne for
the necessary period Villeneuve the French Admiral was
successful in the first part of th e scheme—h e escaped according
to plan with the Spanish to the W est Indies drew N elson
there duly gave him the slip and Set off back to E urope
But within three da s N elson b ad reali z ed the manoeuvre
y
had sent off a fast ship to race Villeneuve and warn th e
Admiralty and had begun to followi n person with the Fleet
’
The British Admiralty in fact learnt of Villeneuve s return
twelve days before N apoleon did—and he only got it once
more from the E nglish newspapers
M oreover the French
fleet at Brest h ad not escaped blockade at all Villeneuve
seeing his schemes tottering obeyed h is alternative orders and
eventually put in to Cadi z deeply pessimistic at the state of
h is fl eet
bad masts bad sails bad officers and bad seamen
o bsolete naval tactics
we only kno w one manoeuvre to
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HI S T OR Y OF M O D E R N
I LLU S T RA T ED
46
form line,
E U R O PE
'
and
that is just what the enemy wants us to do
In a rage N apoleon broke camp at Boulogne and prepared
to march instead against Austria From the refuge at Cadiz
where Collingwood had th e nerve to begin blockading th e
th irty fiv e French and Spanish ships with a total force of
three vessels Villeneuve was moved to emerge by the taunts
of N apoleon
In O ctober 1 805 his thirty three sail faced the
twenty seven of N elson and Collingwood off Cape Tr afalgar
’
and when the day finished the N elson touch ( breaking th e
enemy line in two and concentrating an overwhelming force
on one half of it at a time) h ad won its last and greatest
triumph The French N avy was broken and for the rest of
the war E nglish sea power supreme from the beginning of
hostilities was to be quite unchal lenged E ngland was safe
The hapless Villeneuve committed suicide
from invasion
M eanwhile a Third Coalition consisting of R ussia Austria
and E ngland had been formed to combat the ever increasing
designs of N apoleon Speedily the men from the Boulog ne
camp were marching to Central E urope as only the French
’
—
armies could march N ap oleon wore his long boots as they
put it Before the year was out the great success of Trafalgar
had been off set by the surrender of a hopelessly outmanoeuvred
Austrian army at U lm and by a crushing defeat of both
Austrians and R ussians at Austerlitz The news of this came
as a death blow to P itt old and worn out at forty seven from
’
the strain of over ten years warfare N apoleon promptly
proceeded to take more territory from Austria including
V enice and the Tyrol abolish the Holy R oman E mpire ( wh i ch
had endured at least in name for a thousand years ) and set
up a union of west German states known as the Confederation
of the R hine whose princes were sworn to carry out his orders
in matters of foreign policy
The turn of P russia came next P russia had delayed
joining the coalition until late and her armi es had not been
reserved
resent
Austerlitz
A
separate
engagement
was
a
t
p
for their honour and in 1 8 06 the battlefield of Jena witnessed
the most crushing defeat ever inflicted on P russian arms
Then in 1 80 7 advancing to the E ast with the help of th e
’
P oles to whom again he appeared as th e li berator N apoleo n
enco untered th e R ussians at Friedland and beat them so
‘
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W A RS A N D C A REE R O F N A P O LE ON
REV O LU T I ON A R Y
47
erely that Alexande
r decided to reverse his whole policy
and make peace The Treaty of Tilsit first broached by the T aty of
two E mperors on a raft on the R iver N I em en represents the
’
By its terms Alexander
N apoleon s power
h eight
of
’
recognized N apoleon s conquests on the Continent in return
for th e promise of a free hand in E astern E urope and a s h are
in th e Turkish E mpire when it was to be annexed M ore
important still he agreed if E ngland should refuse to give up
’
her coloni al conquests or her right of search to join N apoleon s
Continental System
’
The Continental System i s th e basis of N apoleon s career T h
After Trafalgar N apoleon had been driven
from this point
to see that E ngland could not be conquered by sea and h e
th erefo re sough t to use against her not a military or naval
but an economic weaponf—in other words to strike a death
blow to her trade and wealth It was a policy which the
earlier Revolutionary governments had initiated but which
he was to systematiz e For this purpose he issued from
Berlin in 1 806 after the Battle of Jena, and later from M ilan
a series of orders known as th e B erlin and M ilan D ecrees the T h gu n
eff ect of which was to forbid France or any of her allies or
subject territory to accept British goods which were to be
“ f
confiscated whenever ound British ships were to be
excluded from all ports and by thus cutting off our means of
export while still all owing us to import certain French goods
i
allowing
us
to
buy
but
not
to
sell
apoleon
hoped
to
e
N
(
)
rob us of our gold reserve start a financi al crisis and bring
E ngland to bankruptcy
It followed that if the scheme were
to be successful it would have to b e applied practically all
’
over E urope hence his eff ort to makeit really a Continental
System applying as widely as po ssible The importance of
th is move cannot be overestimated as it meant that the wh ole
of E urope must be controlled in order to beat E ngland
N apoleon in other words was beginning to bite off rather a
dangerous amount Yet his capacity for ch ew mg seemed
unlimited by 1 80 7 he had crowned hi mself King of Italy
in the old Austrian dominions in the north made his brother
Joseph King of N aples in th e south mad e another broth er
Louis King of Holland and a third Jerome King of W est
whil e
phalia (formed from the W estern lands of P russia )
S ev
re
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e
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H I S T OR Y OF M OD ERN
ILLU S T RA T E D
48
E U R O PE
from E astern P russian territory he had formed the Grand
D uchy of W arsaw
M aster of the Continent and secure in the
.
new R ussian alliance he hoped that the exclusion of E nglis h
goods would soon settle his last outstanding problem
’
E ngland s retaliation was swift and e ffective
By a series
of O rders in Council of 1 8 0 7 and later
all countries which
’
accepted N apoleon s orders were declared to be in a state of
blockade and any port excluding British vessels was to be
deprived of the opportunity of welcoming those of other
E ngland thus aimed at starvi ng th e Continent of
nations
alternative sources of supply causing rising prices and
hardship in each country and therefore discontent against
N apoleon who had started the wh ole business
T h e absence
of any French navy worth mentioning made the E nglisn
blockade practicable
and wh en the British Government
heard that N apoleon was planning to seiz e the D anish navy
it took prompt if lawless action ordered the D anes to hand
over their fleet to E nglish keeping till the end of th e war and
on their refusal bombarded Copenhagen till the vessels were
duly surrendered The l ast naval competitor being th us
removed E ngland could carry out her O rders in Council
efl ectiv ely and the grim tra d e war began to stifle th e commerce
of E urope
T h e first country to revolt against the system was P ortugal
which had long carried on a very profitable trade with
E ngland
N apoleon used th e occasion typically collecti ng
fiv e French armies on Spanish soil for the advance on P ortugal
th en when this was conquered b ul lying the Spanish royal
But
family into resigning their throne to his brother Joseph
the move was fatal His doctrines of liberty m ade no impres
sion on the extremely backward and intensely Catholic
Spaniards E ncouraged by their priests they firmly resolved
not to accept the rul e of the man who by 1 8 09 had caused
th e P ope to be kidnapped and th e P apal States to be incor
P
M
oreover
the
hostili
t
y
o
f
the
eninsula to
r ated in F rance
o
p
N apoleon supplied E ngland with the base for her army she
—
r
looking
f
o
a highly important development
was
W ith the
battle of V im iero in 1 8 08 fortune began to desert the French
in the P eninsula For the moment N apoleonr estor ed matters
by coming from Central E urope to take charge h imself b ut
,
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C apture
of
Exits”
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I LLU S T RA T E D
50
HIS T OR Y OF M
OD E RN
EU R OP E
Sweden compelled to adhere to the Continental System and
Holland now completely incorporated in th e French E mpire
’
following Loui s Bonaparte s unwillingness to apply the System
rigorously N apoleon m i ght hope that his mastery of E urope
was secure and that th e last remaining problems of E ngland
and th e P enins ul a would soon be cleared up
,
.
3
M
osco
cam
w
pai gn,
18 1 1
.
F rom
1 81 0
to
Waterloo
’
apoleon s hop es of 1 8 1 0 were not to be realized The
Continental System rapidly made him more a nd more
unpopular as trade stagnated as tea and co ff ee and sugar
and tobacco became unobtainable or enormously expensive
as ships were laid up and firms closed down The conscrip
tion and taxes he applied to his d ependent allies or conquests
made matters worse and completely failed to compensate for
al l the improvements in other directions that h is Government
In 1 8 1 1 came the revolt which was to prove th e
h ad made
beginning of the end T h e Czar tired of doing without
E nglish and overseas goods annoyed at the annexation of a
’
’
relative s territory ( O ldenbur g) slighted by N apoleon s
marriage with an Austrian rather than a Russian pri ncess
’
and dissatisfied at N apoleon s failure to help him in his
E astern ambiti ons broke away from the Continental System
The res ult was the most tremendous military disaster in history
—
the M oscow camp ai gn I n 1 8 1 2 with an overwhelming
army of
men forced from almost every country in
E urope N apoleon crossed the river N iemen into R ussia to
teach A lexander h is lesson Before such a force the R ussians
co ul d onl y retreat and as they retreated th ey devastated the
country of supplies and shelter T h e vast army coul d not b e
death and desertion carried off tho usands so that long
fed
before the cold set in two thi rds h ad disappeared N apoleon
struggled on to M oscow hoping that its capture would end
not onl y th e war but al l the diffi cul ties of supply
O utside
th e capital was fought the greatest battle of th e campaign
Borodino—W hich the French won at the cost of
hors es
and
men with the dead left seven or eight deep on th e
field of conflict M oscow was in their grasp—only for them to
find th eir longed for haven turned into a r a
ging inferno when
N
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,
,
,
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,
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,
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,
A lexander
b reaks f rom
C out1 neutal
S ysunn
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-
I LLU S T R A T ED
52
E U R OPE
Russians
fired the city rather than let it fall a prey to their
opponents There was nothing for the French to do but turn
back—and since R ussian armies blocked other routes to
retreat over the desolate line Of the advance The dreadful
sight—and sounds—of Borodino had to be encountered again
“
but one m an at least was not sickened
the most beautiful
battlefield I have ever seen in my life remarked N apoleon
By N ovember the cold had come to complete the catastrophe
As they struggled on with N ey in the rear h eroically fighting a
battle a day against th e ever harassing R ussian forces the
E mperor realized that his presence was essential in P aris if
he was to reb uild the s h attered military strength of his E mpire
As before in E gypt he l eft his forces to escape as best th ey coul d
and h astened ahead b ack to E urope By D ecember th ere were
Finally Of the
who started on the
6 0 degrees of frost
great campaign a tattered starving disorganized delirious
and s h ell shocked remnant of 2 0 000 recrossed the N iemen
N ot more than a thousand were of any further military use
T h e largest army in history had been completely wiped
out
The tide of disaster did not stop at that point E ncouraged
by th e shattering blow to the French in R ussia P russia and
soon Austria were again at grips with th e old enemy thus
forming with E ngland and R ussia the Fourth Coalition
P russia since Jena had witnessed a remarkable revival of
national spirit and efficiency Although allowed by N apoleon
men the P russians had adopted
to have an army of only
a system of short service and thus had a reserve Of about
s trong within three years The P russian W ar M inister
1
S ch am h orst had also revised methods Of arms training and
tactics had secured the introduction of universal liability to
serve and th e abolition of degrading punishments , such as
flogging and had thus completely reorgani zed the P russian
military forces M oreover P russia had been for tunate in two
Stein and Hardenberg who transformed in five
statesmen
years a practically m edia v al into a modern state Stein had
secur ed the emancipation of the serfs thus allowing them
liberty to leave their ancestral soil and work for wages any
where they pleased had broken down restrictions by which
certain trades only for
certain land was only for nobles
th e
Th e retreat
from
M oscow
H I S T OR Y O F M OD E R N
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,
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~
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m
y ou th
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'
,
of
P russia
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REV OLUT I ON A R Y
WA R S A N
'
C A RE E R OF N A P OLE ON
D
53
burgesses had abolished th e monopolies of th e Old gilds ;
had given a measure of municipal self government by allowing
th e cra ftsmen and landowners in each town to elect a council
and had set up a new M inistry of State wh ich had been lacking
before competent to deal with not one but all the various
provinces combined in the Kingdom of Prussia Harden
’
berg s most famous l and law had given the peasants two
thirdsof their former land as freehold the other one third
going to their lords in place of servi ces owed N ew patriotic
literature h ad appeared education was being reformed
’
universities had been founded at Berlin and Breslau P russia
at last felt itself not onl y united in desiring to overthrow
S o began T h e W ar of
N apoleon but competent to do it
’
Li beration
By a miracle of organization N apoleon with in three months T h W u 1
“
b m“
of the R ussian campaign had a new army of a quarter of a
million in th e field But he had enormous odds to face
including yet anoth er powerful opponent Sweden whose
’
ruler, Bernadotte though one of N apoleon s marshals
’
“
declared he was not going to be one of the E mperor s customs
o fficials?
Bernadotte having thus refused to apply th e
Continental System was tempted to j oin th e Allies by the
promise Of being gi ven N orway Agains t the P r ussian forces
N apoleon won three battles including the big victory of
D resden but he was becoming less superhumanl y active and
Finally
h e missed anopportunity of following up th e retreat
numbers triumphed after th e P russians A ustrians R ussians
and Swedes had managed to join up their armies and at the L ip ig
m 3
battle of Leipzig 1 8 1 3 ( sometimes known asth e Battle of the
the French forces were overwhelmed R apidly
th ey retreated across Germany with th e Allied forces i n pursuit
R ejecting a very generous peace o ff er which would have given
’
"
France her natural frontiers and thus left her with th e
R hineland and Belgium N apoleon laid himself open to th e
inevitable—an invasion of France At th e same time in
Spain W ellington had at last succeeded in capturing M adrid
and expelling Joseph after the battle of Vittoria and was Vitt ia
h
f
ushi
g
the
Frenc
orces
back
towards
the
yrenees
so
t
at
P
h
n
p
th e E nglish were invading France from the south while th e
Allies Operated from the east
-
,
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‘
-
,
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,
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C
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‘
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«
e
er
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,
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”
,
“
,
.
,
,
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,
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e
,
z
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‘
,
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or
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,
.
.
I LLU S T RA T E D H I S T OR Y OF
M OD E R N
On
EU R OP E
the sacred soil of France itself in spite of the fact that
the army th e marsh als and the country were longing for
peace N apoleon put up a brilliant fight against overwhelming
odds W ith armies which included youngsters ignorant even
of the way to load a rifle he actual ly won four victories before
Blii ch er the P russian commander w
isely decided to give up
chasing such a military genius and marched straight on P aris
W ith the capital at the mercy of the Allies the marshals
compelled h im first to accept terms and th en to abdicate
By the treaty of Fontaineb leau he gave up the throne but was
allowed the title of E mperor an income of about
and the little isle of E lba as his kingdom The Bourbons
were restored in the person of the broth er of the executed
Louis XVI who took th e title of Louis XVIII and promised
to rule h y the terms of a Charter which guaranteed a P arlia
ment and a constitution By the First T reaty of P aris France
was restored to her I 7 92 boundaries which still gave her h alf a
million more inhabitants than in 1 7 90 although she lost all
her great conquests such as Belgium and Holland Italy and
Germany She had no i ndemnity to pay and she kept most
All other questions were to be
of h er stolen works of art
referred to a E uropean congress which soon met at Vienna
From N ovember 1 8 1 4 to February 1 8 1 5 the Allies thrashed
out the thousand questions that arise at the end of a war
and were just on the point of falling out irretrievably over the
division of the spoils when the staggering news was announced
that N apoleon had escaped fro m E lba and land ed in South
France
O f all the episodes in the career of N apoleon none is mor e
’
remarkable than The Hundred D ays of h i s liberty between
the exile of El b a and the exile of St Helena He landed with
only a few h undred soldiers in a country which less than a
year before had been heartily glad to see the back of him
Louis XVIII i ns tantly despatched forces to capture h im
“
M arshal N ey vowing that he ought to b e brought back in a
cage
But the magnetism of his personality the memory of
d in common th e shabby treatment of the
campaigns share
ur b on government the fe ar of th e
army by the restored B O
peasants that h e government was about to confiscate the
lands they h a
d secured at the beginni ng of th e R evolution all
,
,
,
,
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,
l
'
,
,
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,
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T reaty of
F ontai ne
b leau, 1 8 1 4
,
,
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,
,
'
pin t ru m
P aris
“
-
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,
,
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'
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,
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,
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The
D ays,
1 81
'
‘
5
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R E V OLU T IO N A R Y
W A R S A N D C A R EE R O F N A P O LE ON
'
55
led to a very di ff erent result The tactics of N apoleon helped
d a parliament ; he also
too for he promised peace an
exhibited his considerable talent for falseh ood When he
informed the first troops sent to capture hi m that he had been
summoned to P aris by the Allies So the soldiers including S up m e
N ey simply fell in behind him and helped h im to continue i533 ;
his march to P aris E r e long Louis XVIII was in flight while
the F rench newspapers underwent a rapid ch ange of tone
’
’
the scoundrel Bonaparte becoming fir st N apoleon then
’
Three weeks
finally Our great and beloved E mperor
sufficed for him to establish himself again as master of France
Sure of the hostility of the Allies he determined to take the
o ffensive and marched into Belgium to strike at the E nglish
and D utch under W ellington and the P russians under Blii ch er,
before they could be joined b y the Austrians and the R ussians
The campaign of W aterloo consisted of two conflicts for as W ate loo,
x s
i
f
poleon
had
only
hal
f
the
f
orces
O
his
o
pponents
he
sought
Na
i h e end
to engage th em separately O n June l 6 th he defe ated th e
P russians at Ligny but fatal ly neglected to follow up th e
’
victory The next day he challenged W ellington s army at
Quatre Br as imagining the P russians to be i n flight But
W ellington knew th at the P russians had retired i n good order
and would probably succeed in joining him during the day
He therefore stood h is ground on the defensive while
“
N apoleon certain that W ellington was a bad general and his
army a bad army ordered a series of charges against the
British position and confidently expected the result of h is
sixtieth pitched battle to be victorious But the attacks of the
French colum ns for all their d ash could not penetrate th e
th in British lines w
hos e rifle fire was so deadly and when
’
Blii ch er appeared in th e late afterno on N apoleon s fate was
sealed In France the parliament demanded h is abdication
On his return from the campaign and resisting the temptation
to start a civil war for his own th ro ne he gave i n and
surrendered to th e E nglish as the most generous of his
t no ice and he was
enemies
The compliment however ou
b anished to the inaccessible island of S t Helena in the South
Atlantic Six years later he died after interminably discussing
and arranging the history of h is career to present it to th e best
advantage
E urope woul d never again be troubled by h is
.
,
.
re
,
,
,
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‘
‘
,
‘
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.
,
»
,
'
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r
,
l
'
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'
,
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v
,
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,
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“
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HIS T OR Y O F M OD E RN
I LLU S T RA T ED
56
E U R OP E
brilliant talents his restless energy his inflexible will and h is
complete lack of moral sense W ith an eye as ever to th e
best eff ect on publi c opinion he directe d in h is will that hi s
“
ashes shoul d rest by the banks of the Seine in the midst of
the French people whom I have loved so much
And this
was the man who in 1 8 1 4 had remarked that h e cared little
for the lives of a million men
It
is
in
structive to consider th e causes of the extraordi nary
n f
R
’
N p l on
u
and success and of the equ ally tr emendous failur e of N apoleon
failu
In the first place it must be realized that h e was a general of
“
unparalleled brilliance W ellington said that his presence
tal nt
in the field was worth a di fference of
men
But as
the years went on a certain decline showed itself not in his
talents but rather in his energy—still tremendous enough
but not quite so superhuman as before At Ligny for
example th e neglected pursuit of the P russians made a vital
E ven more important is the fact that as the s cale
difl er ence
of the war grew, as hundreds of thousands instead of tens of
thousands became involved so it inevitably followed that h is
marshals rather than hi m sel f must direct a greater proportion
And though the marshals were mostly young and
of the army
’
talented and brave they had not N apoleon s genius and they
quarrelled among themselves—in Spain for example they
’
refused to help each other s armies and in R ussia One even
tried to murder another W hen ex M arshal Bernadotte
King of Sweden des erted N apoleon in 1 8 1 3 the simple advice
“
he gave to h is new allies was When you face the marshals
when you face N apoleon retreat
But while
attack
vital in causm g both
m i litary reasons were
of course
’
N apoleon s rise and his downfall another set of reasons is
equally important It must n
ever be forgotten that in his
early days N apoleon was practically carrying the French
R evolution to downtrodden p opulations eager to welcome it
N ti nal
l d m
To Italians ruled by Austrians,to P oles ruled by R ussians to
f l
a
inn—at
r
Germans
longing
some larger state than the hundreds of
f
o
fi t W th
N apol n
to all dissatisfied with th e
petty
princedom
s in Germ
any
la
against
absolute rul e of their m onarch N apOleon appeared as a kind
E ven in E ngland N apoleon al ways relied on
of savioix
r
being supported by a popul ar uprising should he land I n
h is ris e was inspired b y th e two enormously
other words
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
”
.
,
,
,
,
”
easo
s
or
a o e
s
.
s ccess
re
.
e
s
”
'
.
,
,
,
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,
,
'
.
,
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,
,
,
,
,
-
.
,
,
,
“
”
,
,
.
,
,
.
a o
lb
c
.
cr ti c
rs
o
e
ee
,
i
eo
,
,
ter
~
'
,
.
.
,
H I S T O R Y OF M O D E R N
I LLU S T RA T E I)
E U R O PE
powerful forces whose history is the history of the 1 9th century
—
the forces of democracy and nationalism Yet strangely
enough it was also precisely these two forces which caused
his downfall W hile he fought against governments he was
but when h e fough t against peoples
consistently successful
he began to fail The Germans for ex ample turned against
him wholeheartedly after 1 8 06 when h is rule h ad proved to
give them little freedom The Italia ns the Swiss the D utch
were all over taxed In R ussia and Spain the French
’
revolutionary do ctrines made no impression at all on very
backward peoples and here he was faced with disaster right
Further after his introduction of th e
from the beginning
Continental System the m i ddle and lower classes in every
country felt the e ff ect of his r ul e in high prices and strict
customs rules and declining trade E verywhere the tide of
sentiment turned against N apoleon and he was defeated by
the hostility of those whose good will had enabled hi m earlier
Finally it is obvious that N apoleon in his
to triumph
increasing pride and self confidence and in his determination
To beat E ngland
to beat E ngland simply took on too much
he introduced the Continental System : to maintain that
It was a task
system he had to control the whole of E urope
beyond the power of any one man or any one nation even
when the man was N apoleon and the nation the French
E ven if he had crushed all E urope utterly he would have gone
on to the Tur kish E mpire to India to the Americas A
a demon he hi m sel f
restless demon of energy drove him on—
was aware of when he loved to picture himself as the M an of
His schemes were all too big
D estiny driven on by Fate
I f it had not been W aterloo it
he simply could not last
would have been another battle a little later
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N apoleon s A chievements in F rance
It rem ains to consider th e work of N apoleon in the domain
of peace
and here at least he achieved somethi ng of per
m anence
As a general his enormous military talents all
came to naught in th e end because he took on too much as
a statesman he gave to France institutions whi ch in different
His empire of course,
forms have endured to this day
,
.
,
.
)
,
WA RS A N
RE V OLU T I O N A R Y
D C A R EE R OF N A P O LE ON
59
perished with h im but his scheme of local government wh 1ch
solved a problem Over which th e revolutionaries had failed
disastrously is the basis of the m odern French system France
was divided into D épartements the D épartements were sub
and the Arrondissements in
d ivided into Ar rondissements
turn contained C ommunes or towns In each D épartement
there was a P refect in each Arrondissement a sub P refect in
each C om m une a M ayor— all more or less ap pointed by the
government of France Thus control over the provinces was
regained and France no longer had the feeling of being a
host of separate uni ts with separate policies
’
In the realm of education too N apoleon s government was E du tion
responsible for some important reorganization E lementary
education was badly neglected but secondary education was
encouraged by th e foundation of secondary schools ( to b e
run by th e Communes) and lycées or sem i military secondary
schools ( to be run by th e government) Science and mathe
maties held important places in these second only to military
training at E ton at th e sam e period it must be remembered
the main idea was still to flog Greek and Latin into the hapless
—
il
U
f
A
university
too
was
ounded
not one in any
p p
special place but the U niversi ty of France—
consisting of
sevente en Academies in different distr icts forming local
centres
’
Another innovation of N apoleon s well illustrates his T h L gi n
°f Hm “
mental ity A s a clever m an who had himself risen solely by
virtue of his abilities he was determined that the great state
positions sho ul d b e open to all men of tal ent irrespective of
birth Accordingly while he allowed the émzgrés to r eturn,
he no longer permitted them to consider themselves th e true
nobility of France instead he cre ated a kind of nobili ty of
intellect by means of a new foundation the Legion of Honour
There were various grades in the Legion awarded for services
in such matters as politics civil service local government,
ar t music literature
and to this day the little red ribb on in
th e buttonhole of the Legionary is to the Frenchman a
“
if cheapened honour
cherished
M en
N apoleon said
“
are led by toys
In religious affairs too N apoleon for all his irreligious T b .
nature l eft a mark on the destiny of France
D uring th e
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HI S T O R Y O F M O D E R N
ILLU S T RA T E D
E U RO P E
the extremists had severed France from th e
Catholic Church and though the worship of th e fancy
religions then introduced such as the Goddess of R eason or
the Supreme Being had passed rapidly France was not yet
part of the Catholic system agai n N evertheless th e over
whelming majority of her peasants were Catholic at heart
even if the intellectuals were not N apoleon anxious to
secure hi s régime by winning the favour of the peasants and
at the same time to pacify th e religious strife in th e west of
France determined to come to an agreement with the Church
Accordingly in 1 8 0 1 he made a Concordat with the P ope by
which Catholicism again became the religion of France
though other religions were not forbidden But he drove a
hard bargain—th e State was to choose bishops control th e
C h urch and pay the clergy and above all the Church lands
lost at the R evolution were to remain in their present hands
Th us the peasants were won over to N apoleon not only because
h e restored their religion but because he confirmed them in th e
gains of the R evoluti on The Concordat of course did not
please everyone—one of his marshals for instance was over
“
heard to remark
The only thing lacki ng at th is ceremony
is the million dead men who died to get rid of thi s nonsense
N apoleon however knew he was building on firm ground in
he saw in religion
appealing to the old religious i nstincts
“
what he called the cement of th e social order —something
useful in binding men together in keeping them satisfied and
quiet something that young ladies were to study particular ly
to make them meek and obedient wives R eligion was in
other words for N apoleon a mere instrument T h e true
depth of his Catholic devoutness may be gauged by the way
he later annexed the P apal States and caused violent hands to
be laid on the P ope N evertheless in the Concordat h e built
soundly for France at the time
’
M ention must also be made of N apoleon s work for th e
industry and commerce of France Commercial exchanges
and chambers of commerce were created and advisory
boards set up in connection with many manufactur es arts
’
and crafts By a system of high protective tarifl s French
industries were s h eltered from foreign competition technical
sch ools
priz es loans and exhibitions encouraged new
R evolution
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R E V O LU T I O N A R Y
W A R S A N D C A RE E R O F N A P O LE O N
61
processes and France deprived of certain staple articles by
th e Continental System managed to develop e ff ective sub
stitute foodstuff s in the form of chicory for co ff ee and beet
N ew cotton machines were invented and
for cane sugar
Further by maintaining a stable
factory acts pass ed
currency based on gold instead of the old unreliable r evolu
tionary finance N apoleon won to his support all the business
interests In this direction the creation of the Bank of France
was a step of great importance In fact by an elaborate series
almost the whole of the
of decrees N apol eon regulated
national life—art theatre press commerce i ndustry religion
T h e defect in it all was th at the high tari ff s inflicted great
h ardship on many consumers in the form of increased prices
and that regulation of industry can hinder as well as aid its
development
N evertheless whatever can be said in criticism of his pub “
’
general financial and commercial policy N apoleon s great
schemes of public works h ave permanently b eautified and
enriched Franceu Canals bridges and roads gave France an
infinitely finer system of communication M useums were
founded and th e Louvre was completed and filled with th e
priceless treasures stolen from Italy P alaces like F ontai ne
bl eau were restored T h e planning of a great group of
arterial roads radiating from the Arc de Triomphe and th e
clearing of th e T uileries Gardens gave P aris the start of its
modern beauty E verywhere the N apoleonic influence was
It is in fact little wonder that he was immensely popular
felt
with the French up to about 1 8 08—until in other words his
plans grew too vast h e began to lose and b e cost France too
much in men and money
’
N apoleon s greatest achievement i n peace however was T h C od.
the Civil Code or Code N apoleon—a summary Of the laws of
France on such topics as rights and duties marriage divorce
paren
tage and inheritance and a statement of the general
principles which should govern these matters After the old
tangle of Frankish R oman R oyal P rovincial and Baroni al
laws it was cr ystal clear T h e Code was of course not
entirely the work of N apoleon the decision to compile one
had been taken before h e came into power but he attended
regul a
rly the meetings of the committee who framed it and
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I LLU S T RA T E D
HI S T O R Y OF M OD E R N
E U R O PE
exercised a decisive influence on its development O ther
codes on commerce and criminal law followed b ut the first
was recognized to be outstanding in merit and was soon
widely adopted by di ff erent states in E urope and in South
America Thus N apoleon gave one of the main bulwarks of
domestic peace—a great legal system—not o nl y to France but
to the world
.
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.
In brief and to sum up the whole significance of the career
—
apoleon
h e gave to France institutions and the social
of N
benefi ts of the R evolution ; to E urope a taste of modern
overnment
and
such
a
stir
that
the
vast
orce
f
o
f
n
a
t
i
n
a
li
t
o
v
g
to the world th e most appalling example in
was aroused
h istory of colossal talen ts unr estrained b v religion or morality
.
C HA P TE R I V
T h e C ongr ess S ystem ,
1
1815
T h e A rrangements at Vienna,
.
—1 8
1
0
3
.
81 5
The E uropean Coalition having finally disposed of N apoleo n
at W aterloo was now free to resume its peace conference at
Vienna The problem which confronted the Allies was
twofold
first how to reward the victors and punish the
’
vanquished without setting all at each other s th roats and
secondly how to prevent a recurrence of the great catastrophe
th at had convulsed E urope for over twenty years These
weigh ty tasks however did not prevent the Congress fro m
being one of the most sparkl ing social ev ents in E uropean
history where brilliantly uniformed kings emperors and
ambassadors gave attention to the lighter pursuits of dancing
and love making in the intervals between the more serious
business of spying and intrigue The bills for hospitality were
enormous and cost the E mperor a fortune The only enter
t for wh ich guests paid was provided it s not sur
tainm en
i
prising to learn by Sir Sydney Smith From th e political
point of V iew the outstanding personalities of the Congress
were the Czar Alexander the Austrian Chancellor M etter
nich the E nglish Foreign M inister Castlereagh and more
surprisingly the French representative Talleyrand
In the matter of sharing the spoils certain arrangements
had already been agreed on by the treaties of 1 8 1 4 but there
was grave disagreement over others It was agreed for
example that Louis XVIII should b e restored to the French
throne on condition he r ul ed by a Charter which guaranteed
a parliament and that France should pay an indem nity and
suff er an army of occupation for a few years Pr ussia
however wanted Alsace and Lorraine which were inhabited
largely by German speaking peoples and which had been
absorb ed into the French kingdom just over a century before
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L
H I S T O R Y O F M OD E R N
IL U S T R A T ED
EU R O P E
The incorporation of Belgium in Holland was supposed too
to compensate th e D utch f or the loss of the Cap e of Good
Hope to the E nglish who also kept Heligoland M alta the
Ionian Islands Ceylon and part of the W est Indies
’
In Germany N apoleon s Co nf ederation of th e R hine was
of course abolished but the old Holy R oman E mpire was not
set up again instead a loose conglomeration of thirty nine
states known as the German Confederation took its place
’
and
E verywhere in fact N apoleon s changes were cancelled
rotting thrones he had pushed down were propped up again
in South Italy and Spain The royal connections of the
Spanish Bourbons and the Austrian Hapsburgs reappeared in
all their glory —
u nited in their hatred of parliaments uni ted in
their colossal incompetence divergent only in that the Spanish
Bourbons had hearts which were cruelly hard whereas the
Austrian Hapsburgs merely had heads which were painfufl y
soft
Thus the m ap of E urope was redrawn and the weak points
T h w ak
f
n
—
in
the
draughtsmanship
are
easy
enough
to
see
the
Congress
th
ttl
m nt
took no notice of the very fact which had caused th e ov er th r ow
oleon th e factor of nationality nations and peoples
of N a p
were bandied about as though they were goods to supply
’
’
compensation here or constitute a barrier state there
rwegians Belgians Boers Finns I talians Serbs P oles were
N o
placed under foreign governments they intensely disliked
Very little was done to satisfy the desires of the P ol es and the
’
Germa ns awakened by N apoleon s work for large and power
N othing at all was
ful states to represent their nationality
done for the Italians W ars were simply bound to occ ur to
upset the treaty one by one in the 1 9th century its provi si ons
were cancelled and nearly always by force : In this respect
the Treaty of Versailles in 1 9 1 9 after the Great W ar tried to
learn a lesson from th e mistakes of Vienna and gave far greater
attention to national demands by setting up a host of new
states such as C z ech o Slovakia P oland Jugo Slavia
The second object of the Congress the prevention of any
Th
Quad upl
Allian and such outbreak in future was thus rendered impossible at th e
th
of course
start
by
bad
treaty
provision
s
But
the
Congress
C ng
S ystem
did not re alize this at the time and the powers agreed to a
system which was a novelty in E uropean politics By a
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S YS T E M
T HE C ON G R E S S
,
—83
1815
1
67
0
Quadruple Alliance R ussia Austria Prussia, and England
agreed not only to ally if necessary in defence of the Vienna
S ettlement but to meet in future congresses to discuss pro blems
There is thus in this the germs of a League
as occasion arose
of N ations idea except that it was confined to the four great
t
h
owers
and
thus
ave
itsel
f
a
dictatorial
atmosphere
at
e
g
p
’
very beginning The idea was particularly C astlereagh s,
though he was later to disapprove of the developments the
Alliance underwent
Sometimes confused with this practic al attempt to lessen the T h Holy
A llian
conflicts of the great powers is another alliance the Holy
Alliance This was not a military alliance but a league of
S overeigns who promised to rule on Christian principles
acting as fathers to their peoples and brothers to each other
I t was the creation of the religious and well meaning
Alexander and had no eff cct worth mentioning. Castlereagh
“
disapproved of it terming it a piece of sublime mysticism and
“
E ven M etterni ch called it
nonsense
a loud sounding
“
’
nothing and said that the Czar s mind was quite clearly
aff e cted
b ut though no one except Alexander took it
seriously every soverei gn i n E urope signed it with th e
exception of the Sultan (wh o not being a Christian had not
been invited ) the P rince R egent and the P ope
It was one
of those amiable gestur es of good will like the Kellogg P eace
’
P act of 1 9 2 8 oiI tlawing war which people sign because
t h ey really s ympathiz e with its objects and because they
know that there is no particular provision for carrying them
out when they prove inconvenient The confusion with the
en because Liberals in E urope,
Quadruple Alliance has aris
’
finding the adjective holy in connection with M etternich
"
too rich to forget insisted on referring to the R ussia Austria
’
Prussia group as the Holy Alliance
Thus in intention both the Quadruple Alliance and th e D f t f
Holy Alliance were instruments to preserve the peace and an 213m “
atmosph ere of broth erhood W hen criticism is directed
against th e effects of the Congress, it should be remembered
th at it was in fact a quite original attempt to improve th e
lot of mankind U nfortunately however the problem of peace
is a th orny one In the absence of international govern
ment peace implies keeping territories and governments
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I LLU S T R A T E D
H I S T OR Y OF M OD E RN
E U R OP E
rranged as th ey are except in the rare cases when both
parties to a dispute can agree on a peaceful alteration B ut
when one side feels genuine injustice and the other refuses to
remedy the grievance P The Italians in Lombardy for
instance might have appealed peacefully for a centur y to the
Austrians to clear out and nothing come of it In that case
it is possible that keeping the peace will perpetuate what one
side passio n
ately feels to be a wrong This was the problem
with th e Vienna settlements everywhere there were outraged
national ities longing either to thr ow off their rulers or else to
claim a constitution and a parliament But everywhere th e
Quadruple Alliance was anxious to keep the peace Thus it is
not di fficult to see t at the Alliance so good in intention
developed into D irected by men who had spent their wh ole
lives in fighting the French R evolution and its heir N apoleon
it was inevitable that the Alliance should regard extreme
nationalism and democracy of the French kind as wicked
delusions which had plunged E urope into untold bloodshed
So the Alliance became in eff ect a kind of trade union of
Kings in P ossession to stop the possibility of P eoples in
P ossession
A S thi s aspect of it came more to the fore it
incurred the hatred of Liberals all over E urope and the E nglish
support of it grew more and more lukewarm The guiding
spirit became not Castlereagh with his practical comm on
sense nor Alexander with his religious enthusiasm but the
supreme anti Liberal M etterni ch M etternich knew—or
thought he knew—that th e first breath of democracy and
nationalism would blow the ramshackle Austrian E mpire to
the ground for in it lived Germans P oles Cz echs Croats
Slovaks R uth enes M agyars Serbs and Italians al l more or
less restrained by Vienna And it was M etternich who had
“
declared that democracy could only change daylight into
darkest night and who had attacked the ideas of the French
“
R evolution as the disease which must be cured the volcano
whi ch must be extinguished the gangrene which must b e
burned out with the hot iron the hydra with jaws Open to
swallow up the soci al order
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T H E C ON G R ES S
2
.
'
S YS T E M
—1 83 0
1815
,
T h e Later C ongresses
a
As yet however in 1 8 1 5 th is side of the Quadruple C
The first problem whi ch the C h ap lle
A lliance was not uppermost
Allies had to tackl e was the position of France France was
proving punctual in the discharge of her obligations but was
nat urally resenting the army of occupation Accordingly in
1 8 1 8 11 Congress of the four powers met at Aix la Chapelle
and th ere it was unanimously agreed to withdraw the arm y of
occupation and to invite France to goo operate in future
congresses The A l liance thus wis e prevented France
becoming a permanent enemy of E urope history is yet to tell
treated Germany in so statesman
whether the Allies of
like a fashion In other respects too the Congress was a
great success Agreement was reached in th e protection of
Jews in E urope on Swedish debts to D enmark on the treat
ment of Bonaparte in St Helena on the old matter of the
Significantly however
E nglish claim to a Channel salute
the powers could not agree on a joint expedition to punish
the notorious Barbar y pirates because of fear of R ussian
vessels in the M editerranean Above all in one highly
important m atter there was considerab le disagreement before
R ussia and P russia gave way
These two powers wanted th e
Quadruple Alliance not only to guarantee all the frontiers
established at Vienna but all the governments
in other words
"
’
it would be the Alliance s duty to intervene whenever there
was a successful revolution m any country in E urope P russia
—
even wanted an international arm y under W ellington to b e
kept at Brussels for this purpose Castlereagh however
managed to secure an agreement limiti ng promised interv en
tion to the case of France if she shoul d again undergo a
revolution which obviously threatened the peace of E urop e
“
—
His argument was masterly
nothing would be more
immoral
than the idea that
forc e was collectively
to be prostituted to the support of established power without
any consideration of the extent to which it was abused
Till there was a system of perfect justice everywhere he main
tained it would be wrong to guarantee all existing govern
ments
I n opposing th e Russi an and Prussian pla n h e was doubly
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t oi
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H I S T O R Y OF M O D E R N
ILLU S T R A T ED
E U R O PE
spurred on by hi s government at home now coming under the
’
influence of Canning and anxious to limit Britain s promises
and commitments on the Continent as muc h as possible for
fear of being involved in fu ture wars which were not our
’
l
concern So C ast ereagh s view of the limited A lliance
The Congress broke up after
triumphed—for the moment
having agreed to meet again whenever circumstances
demanded It is worth remembering that the Congress of
A ix la Chapelle was the first conference of the E uropean
powers ever to be held except to make a peace treaty at the
end of a war The Congress system in 1 8 1 8 thus as —Castle
“
reagh said appeared to be a new discovery in the E uropean
government at once extinguishing the cobwebs with which
diplomacy ob scures the h orizon bringing the wh ole bearing
of the system into its true light and giving to the counsels of
th e Great P owers the e fficiency and almost the simplicity of a
single State
U nfortunately any hopes that E urope had suddenly dis
covered the way to govern itself peaceably were soon dashed
to the ground By 1 8 2 0 there was a rising tide o f protes t
against established governments and the spirit and arrange
ments of Vienna In Spain a revolution against the restored
Bourbons forced the king to grant a very democratic constitu
tion drawn up in a previous revolt of 1 8 1 2 A similar r ev olu
ti on followed in P ortugal whi le on the other side of the
Atlantic the Spanish colonies which had thrown off the rule
still refused to acknowledge the
of Spain during the war
rights of their mother country over them In Italy there was
restlessness everywhere fomented by th e Carbonari a secret
society aiming at democracy and the expulsion of foreign
rulers 1 8 2 0 saw two revolutions on Italian soil—the Spanish
King of N aples being also compelled to adopt the 1 8 1 2
constitution and the King of P iedmont having to grant a
measure of democracy In Germany um v ersity students
agi tated for German union and a constitution and a leader of
the opposition to these ideas Kotzebue an anti Liberal
writer and a secret R ussian spy was assassinated In E ngland
there were riots at Spa Fields brutal acts of repression like
the P eterloo M assacre and even a plot to murder the whole
Cabinet Accordingly M etternich and with him the C zar,
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T HE
C ON G R E S S
YS T E M
S
—1 83 0
1815
,
alarmed at the spread of such movements and won Over
fr om his earlier Liberalism demanded a new Congress wh ere
measures might be concerted against such violence
’
T h e Congress of T roppau th us met in 1 8 2 0 to consider th ese
f
fi
gg
g
and kindred probl ems Castlereagh knew from th e start that T pp u
8 °
the objects of M etternich and the Cz ar were to use th e
Alliance to interfere to put down the revolutions in N aples
Pied mont and Spain and perhaps even restore to the latter
country h er revolted South American colonies But while he
too detested revolutionary movements h e was not prepared
to see E ngland associated with the other two powers in such
wholesale revolution breaking His reasons were th reefold
partly that there had existed genuine grievances in N aples and
Spain ; partly that th e O pposition i n P arliament would be
very embarrassing on the matter ; but principally th at
’
internal aff airs of other countries were no business of E ngland s
where th ey did not directly interfere with her interests
E ngland th us refused to join in the decl a
rations of th e oth er
three powers concerning their right to interfere to suppress
revolutions—indeed Castlereagh even declined to participate
in th e C ongr ess sending instead of a participating r epr e
sentativ e only an
T h e direct result of t h is Con
gross and of its sequel at Laibach in 1 8 2 1 was th us not
only the suppression of the N aples and P iedm ont constitu I nt n
“
tions by the use of Austrian troops but th e beginning of a $3
“
split in the Alliance which was to widen fatally in th e next
fewyears
By 1 8 2 I the situation had been still further complicated by a T h G k
Ra m”
revolt of the Greeks against their T urkis h rulers T h e Greeks
undoubtedly relied on the aid of their co religionists the
R ussians who anyway were notoriously anxious to break up
the T urkish E mpire and extend their influence south to the
M editerra nean
E ngland and Austria on the other hand
were equally anxious to uphold Turkey as a bulwark against
R ussian expansion
T h e C z ar h imself was face d with a
di fficult problem—should he h elp fellow Christians and extend
R ussian influence or should he show his usual disapproval of
?
For the moment Castlereagh and M etter nich
revolutions
’
were a b le by playing on Alexand er s fondness for the Alliance
’
to hold R ussia ofl Turkey
A new Congress to consider this
now
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ress o
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ILLU S T RA T E D
H I S T O R Y O F M OD E RN
E U R OP E
and the Spani sh question however was called to meet at
Verona in 1 8 2 2
Before it met Castlereagh worn out by incessant labours and
saddened by his unpopularity among the E nglish lower classes
had lost his reason and with typical efficiency though left
unguarded for only two or three minutes had succeeded in
cutting his th roat His position as E nglish Foreign Secretary
was filled by Canning who was determined to break up the
E uropean Alliance wh ich had become the tool of reaction
W e have seen that Castlereagh him self by refusing to associate
E ngland in suppressing the revolutions in Spain th e Spanis h
colonies N aples and P iedmont was already drifting apart
from R ussia P russia and Austria
Canni ng who unlike
Castlereagh was not one of the original framers of the
’
Alliance had no parent s fondness for it and th erefore
determined to speed up the process of destroying the C ongress
System He did this the more readily in that his sympathies
’
were more liberal than C astler eagh s and he marked an
innovation in the conduct of foreign aff airs by appealing for
pop ul ar approval through brilliant speeches aimed at E nglish
public Opinion
At the Congress of Verona in 1 8 2 2 then Canning took a
firm stand against Allied intervention in Spain France
however decided to intervene on her own responsibility
backed by the other three powers and within a year th e
Spanish king had been restored by French troops to complete
power in which position he was free to conduct a magni ficent
revenge on the late rebels setting up the Inqui sition once more
and imprisoning and executing so many hundreds that France
and the Alliance grew ashamed of the man they had helped
And now that absolute monarchy was restored in Spain
came the crux of th e matter—would the king backed by
France go on to reclaim his revolted South American coloni es
South
O n this point Canning was absolutely decisive
America off ered the prospect of valuable trade for E ngland
Spain refused to promise open trading conditions for E ngland
with her colonies if she sho ul d recapture them therefore
quite simply—Spain must not be allowed to recover her lost
possessions The Alliance was distinctly warned off interferi ng
in South America by a double stroke In th e first place
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C anning
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I LLU S T R A T ED
74
.
H IS T O R Y O F M OD E RN
E U R O PE
destroying t h e T urkish and E gyptian navy almost accidentally
at N avarino Bay and thereby making certain of independence
for the Greeks
But there was another e ffect too —the powers
of E urope were hopelessly divided over the matter
E ngland
if only for a moment was ranged with R ussia and France
against P russia and Austria It could no longer be pretended
th at there was any e ff ective Quadruple or Quintuple Alliance
T h e Congress System was dead
So on the questions of intervention in Italy Spain th e
Spanish colonies and Greece E ngland had gradually drawn
away from h er Continental allies By 1 8 2 8 Castlereagh and
Canning had smashed the system the former had helped to
create because both could see that the Alliance was being
turned to uses of which E ngland could not approve C anning
indeed revelled in the work of destroying th e first experiment
in international co operation—as he said not long before his
“
—
death
Things are getting back to a wholesome state again
He did not add
E very nation for itself and God for us all
“and D evil take the hind most
but that wo uld have com
f
f
the
description
more
aith
u
l
ly
l
t
d
e
e
p
The Congress System thus broke down in the first place
’
because vital issues ar ose such as the matter of the Spanish
colonies on which E n
gland could not possibly agree with the
other powers In the second place it never really c aptured
the sympathy of E uropean public opinion even in the way
that the League of N ations has This was partly because it
did not represent the small powers and partly because the
views and characters of men like M etternich and Alexander
made the Alliance appear something like a league of tyrants
for the suppression of liberty constantly urging intervention
to put down popular movements Thirdly E ngland as usual
soon after the end of a war began to object to th e policy of
Continental obligations which the war had rendered necessary
’
There came the inevitable desire to have our hands free again
to be without alliances and commitments which would certainly
bring us into war if another E uropean conflict developed l
This was indeed one of the chief motives in leading Canning
Actually however in causing
to smash the Congress System
“
resisting th e
th e break up of the Alliance he claimed to be
spirit of foreign domi nation and it is in this ligh t as th e
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Reasons for
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Exclusionof Small PoW
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In
terventionAga
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M EI T ERN IC Il
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C annings A nti C ongress Pol icy
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DivisionsAmongPowers
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TURKEY
.
AUS TRIA
PRUS S IA
G REEC E
REA S ON S F OR B RE A KD OWN
FRAN CE RUSS IA
EN G LAN D
OF C ON G RE S S S YS TEM
I LLU S T RA T E D
76
H IS T O R Y OF M O D E R N
E U RO P E
’
to see C annm g s and
But though E nglish
ch ampion of freedom th at one tends
’
E ngland s opposition to the A lliance
historians love to picture Canning in breaking up the Con
gress System as a sort of George the Giant Killer tackling th e
wicked R ussian and Austrian ogres we must remember that
wh at he was really doing was simply getting back to the
ordinary post war British policy of isolation W e can easily
’
exaggerate E ngland s liberalism if we lose sight of the fact that
Castlereagh for example was the leading spirit in th e Tory
Government which approved th e P eterloo massacre and
ruth lessly opposed all working class political movements at
’
’
home ( Canning s resistance to foreign domination did not
go so deep either as to make hi m propose to abolish the
British E mpire which was founded on it ) E ngland thus
’
destroyed the System a little out of love of liberty but
much more from the typical E nglis h desire to avoid Con
tinental obligations and because the Alliance threat ened 0 m
interests i n 1 m portant and pocket touching matters, such as
trade with th e Spanish colonies
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CHA PT E R V
France
1.
Bourb on and O r leans
—
M onarch ies, 1 8 1 5 I 848
under th
e
1 83 0
T h e Restored B ourb ons, 181 5—
he final defeat of N apoleon at W aterloo in 1 8 1 5 meant for L ui
XV I I I
the second retu
r nof the Bourbon line in the shape 01 8 5 8
II Already previously restored by the Allies in
’
had left P aris when the news of N apoleon s landing
a was anno unced with a speed remarkable in V iew of
N ow in 1 8 1 5 he was back
ncing age and figure
exh ibit in h is fat gouty and unromantic personage
e R ight of Kings T his fact however did not mean
whole gains of the R evolutionary and N apoleonic
periods were lost and that France simply went back to the
position before 1 7 8 9 Louis a sensible old gentleman
’
retained most of N apoleon s great institutions such as the
Code the Legion of Honour th e system of local government
and at the same time had promised to rul e constitutionally
b y th e terms of a Charter
Thi s Charter—a suggestion of th e A llies in 1 8 1 4 to make his T h
C h arter
return less unpopul ar and bri be the French people over from
Its main e ff ects were
N apoleon—is of extreme importance
to provide France with a parliament and to secure her from
the possibility of absolute governmen
t such as the Bo urbo ns
had exercised before 1 7 8 9 All F renchmen were to be
subject to the same system of law all wer e to be free from th e
’
possibility of arbitrary imprisonment by lettres ae cachet and all
were to be equally eligible for important Civil and military
positions Furthermore liberty was guaranteed in the form
The middle
of a free press and complete religious toleration
’
classes fearswere quietened by a provision that those who had
purchased confiscated property during the R evolution were
All these were valuable concessions
to enjoy it undisturbed
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77
1
34
H I S T O R Y O F M O D ER N
dLLU S T R A T E D
E U RO PE
to Liberalism
but to Frenchmen wh o had known th e
ex treme theori es and practices of 1 7 9 1 the new parliament
appeared extremely undemocratic To possess a vote one
had to be over thirty years of age and pay 3 00 francs in direct
taxation while to be a M ember it was necessary to be over
forty and to pay 1 000 francs
This meant th at of a population
only
people had the right to vote—and
of
here was a sure source of future trouble and agitation
“
T h W h it
Lo ui s XVIII in 1 8 1 5 found hi mself in some ways in a ver y
o
T
similar position to Charles II of E ngland in 1 66 0—a sensible
and easy going monarch willing to let bygones be bygones
“
and chi efly anxious not to go on h i s travels again
But
like Charles II too he found himself s urrounded by groups of
returned nobles who were fiercely keen to recover their
positions and revenge themselves on their late enemies O f
th ese nobles the relentless leader was Charles of Artois the
A min
’
Ki ng s younger brother So just as th e E nglish R oyalists of
1 66 0 savagely persecuted the C rom wellians against all the
wishes of Charles so the French R oyalists of 1 8 1 5 ( returned in
full strength by the upper middle classes to the P arliament)
savagely persecuted the Bonapartists against all the advice of
’
A W hite Terror was organized in 1 8 1 6 in the cours e
Louis
o f which 7 000 supporters of N apoleon were imprisoned or
’
executed and M arshal N ey bravest of the brave was shot
Fortunately this excess in turn produced th e opposite reaction
and by 1 8 1 7 when the upper middle classes had lost t heir
panic struck fear of Bonapartism the more moderate councils
of Louis began to have e ffect
T h M u der
Till 1 8 2 0 P arliament and Louis thus proceeded along fairly
of th
Du
d B erri
liberal lines when all at once the extreme R oyalists ( 01
U ltras as they were called ) were presented with a m agnificeni
O pportuni ty in the murder of the D ue de Berri a son of Artois
by a Bonapartist They were not slow to see the value of th e
crime to their c ause and just as Hitler in 1 93 3 used th t
R eichstag fire to persuade the German people that Com
m um sm must be crushed so the U ltras used the m urder of th i
D uc de Berri to persuade King and P arliament that Lib eralisn
and Bonapartism must be stamped out So by 1 8 2 1 when
severe law limiting the freedom of the p ress was passed th
short Liberal p h ase of Bour bon r ul e was ending : Lo ui s XVIII
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FRA N C E U N D E R B O U R B ON A N D O R LEA N S M ON A R C H IE S
79
too racked by a terrible disease was literally breaking up
hi s horrified valet even discovered pieces of his toes in pulling
He thus lacked the physical strength to
o ff his stockings
In S pain for instance as we
resist Artois and the U ltras
h ave seen the French intervened to restore the absolute rul e
All the same by the time
of the unsavoury Ferdinand
’
Louis reign closed in 1 8 2 4 a great deal had been done for
France by h is government—a heavy war indemnity paid off
the country rid of the foreign occupying troops th e army
reorganiz ed and France readmitted to the ranks councils
and alliance of the Great P owers
The reign of Artois now ascending the throne as Charles X 8 —8 0
24
3
was almost bound to come to grief before long I f Louis XVIII
was the Charles II of French history Charles X was the
James II He longed to restore the French monarchy to all
“
its ancient power and despised constitutional kingship
I
had rather chop wood than reign after the fashion of the King
h e sai d
Further he had as passionate a con
o f E ngland
viction as R o b espierre that his enemies were not o nl y mistaken
The first acts of his re1 gn were typical At h is
b ut sinful
c oronation ceremony while he lay prostrate on cushions he
was pierced in seven sectio ns of his anatomy via seven
apertures in his clothes with a golden needle dipped in holy
oil said to have bee n miraculously preserved from the 5th
c ent ury
He then visited hospitals to heal the diseased with
his holy touch Before long acts were passed making sacrilege
punishable by death and above all granting
ooo
francs compensation to the nob les for losses su ff ered during th e
R evolution
The religious orders were encouraged to return
while by 1 8 2 7 a censorship was applied to all books and
journals and the N ational G uardf th e middle class citizen
militia had been disbanded lest it should prove unfavourable
to such royalist schemes But even this pace was too slow for
C h arles in face of the growing protests of the Liberals and
Bonapartists he resolved on sterner measures dismissed the
last of his moderate R oyalist councillors and appointed as his
chief minister the P rince de P olignac an U ltra of the U ltras
’ li
E vents now moved fast towards their conclusion
P olignac s P o gna
aims were simple
to reorganize society to give back to the
clergy their weight in state aff airs to create a powerful
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H I S T OR Y O F M OD E R N
I LLU S T R A T ED
E U R OPE
ristocracy and to surround it with privileges —a programme
which would have completely cancelled out the R evolution
To carryi t out he had as he claimed the assistance of visions
from the Virgin M ary
T hese however proved of doubtful
value
O pposition to him boiled up even in P arliament
which reproached Charles with choosing a minister who did
’
not represent them
Charles s answer was the one which
might have been expected of him to dissolve P arliament
The new elections however showed an ever greater majority
against P olignac
Charles therefore to deal with this
situation issued in July 1 8 3 0 a series of drastic proclamations
known as the O rdinances of St Cloud By the term s of th ese
ordinances even stricter laws were passed to control the press
the newly elected P arliament was declared dissolved before it
met and three quarters of th e electors were deprived of their
right to vote
The whole e ff ect woul d have been to destroy
“
”
completely th e Charter
At last you are ruling
said
’
Charles s daughter in law with more enthusiasm than
accuracy
The opposi tion was instantaneous foremost in it being
th e very printers who were supposed to set up the O rdinances
and the journalists whose livelihood was threatened by the
enslavement of the press Their leader in th e preliminary
agitation was a wr iter Thiers whose name is to recur many
times in the history of th e next forty years It was not he
however whose action was decisive W hile the Liberal deputies
and the upper middle classes were still wondering what to do
The revolutionary
th e working classes had taken action
tradition was strong in P aris and it did not take long for a
mob under R epublican leaders to seiz e the HOtel de Ville
N otre D ame some important guard houses and ar senal s and
’
tricolore
The
crown their captures with the fluttering
troops who anyway had no great enthusiasm for the Bourbons
were unable to make headway against the barricades of the
populace constr ucted by cutting down th e trees of the boule
The disheartened
var ds and tearing up the paving stones
soldiers h ad no food
owing to the fact that the rebels had
captur ed the military bakeries Yet even at this stage of the
revolt Charles and P olignac did not realize the gravity of th e
tion The latter comforted by a fresh vision from th e
situ a
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FRA N C E U N D E R B O U R B O N A N D O R L E A N S M ON A R C H IE S
85
Virgin M ary declared that a couple o f hour s four men and
a corporal would settle the whole business But the next day
the mob proceeded to rout the troops who wer e guarding th e
T ui leries
Seeing th e evident success of the popular insurrec
tion the middle class deputies realiz ed that they had better
take advantage of it and T h iers returned from the day he had
b een spending tactfully in the country
Ch arlesnow in haste off ered to dismiss P olignac and restore Loni
but th e time was past for such concessions
th e C h arter
E vents were fast moving towards th e establis h ment of a
repu b lic wh en T h i ers on j uly 3 0th h ad th e walls of P aris
posted with placards in favour of Louis Ph ilippe D uke of
O rleans head of a younger branch of the Bourbon line
He
was a prince wh o migh t be calcula ted to appeal to th e middl e
and lower classes since he was the son of the P h ilippe E galité
’
wh o had voted for hi s cousin Louis X V I s death and since
But h e
h e had fough t on the revolutionary si de at Jemappes
was not well known and when a day later h e appeared at
’
the HOtel de Ville to receive the call of th e people h is
reception was distinctly lukewarm until he embraced th e
v eter aff r epub lican Lafayette and received from his hands th e
sacred tricolore T h e main fact however was that at th e
critical moment Thiers had produced a candidate when all
was confusion—and so the claims of Charles X and the grand
son ih whose favour he soon abdicated and th e R epublic for
which th e revolutionaries had been fighting were pushed into
the background Charles X and his family were soon on ship
for E ngland and Louis P hilippe of O rleans the Citi z en
’
King was Ki ng Of the French—ou condition he rul ed as a
constitutional monarch
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2
T h e Orleans M onarchy,
.
1
1 848
83 0—
reign of Louis Ph ilippe proved to be eighteen years of £ 93?
3
u
disappointment
Clever
sensible
kindly
and well
E
lihpp.
intentioned he yet came to grief in an even more undigni fied
way than h is pr edecessor Apparently with much to attract
th e people to him—hi s revolutionary parentage and past his
years of poverty during wh ich he had ear nt his living by giving
lessons in drawing and math ematics h is simple and unaff ected
The
3
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I LLU S T R A T E D
H I S T O R Y O F M O D E RN
EU R OP E
ways—h e nevertheless failed to capture the loyalty of anyone
beyond the wealth ier m iddle classes The old R oyalists
despised his democratic habits of lighting his own study fire
sh aving himself living principally on soup and strolling round
th e shops with no greater protection than an eternal umbrella
They thought nothing of his proudest accomplishment—that
he had learnt in exile from a waiter with whom he shared
lodgings how to cut ham in beautifully thin slices T h e working
classes equally disliked his government for the simple reason
th at though it was their blood which had established it it
did nothing at all to improve their lot T h e consequence was
th at almost every year of h is reign there were plots and
attempts to assassinate him which Louis P hilippe for h is
f
u
l
f
art
met
with
cheer
and
un
ailing
courage
He
had
some
p
amazing escapes once an infernal mach ine consisting of an
arrangement of twenty four muskets to be fired simultaneously
m owed dow n th e front of his bodyguard in a procession one
Another time a bullet lodged
of the bullets gra z ing his chin
“
—
it is only in hunting
in his hair but h e was imperturbable
me th at there is no close season he remarked humorously
T h e problems which faced his government were enormo us
In the first place he had to secure recognition of his accession
in E urope which frightened of French revolutions might
have been tempted to intervene to restore Charles X
N ich olas I of R ussia indeed nearly did only he was soon too
busy suppressing a P olish rebellion against h imself But by
an inflexible policy of peace—much as th is was distasteful to
certain elements in France—Louis P hilippe calmed down the
fears of th e powers and first of all winning over th e new
W hi g Foreign Secretary in E ngland P almerston he soon
T o do this however he had to
secti r ed general recognition
sacrifice certain opportunities of action wh ich would have
appealed strongly to a large section of the French
The first such occasion was the Belgian revolt of 1 8 3 0
The Belgians forcibly joined with the D utch by the Vienna
T heir
T reaties of 1 8 1 5 li ad resented the union ever since
main grievances were the use of the D utch language as
o fficial the religious di ff erence between Cath olic Belgium and
Protestant Hollan d and the fact that the D utch practically
monopoliz ed all official positions At one time for example
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thirty nine ambassadors and all th e nine generals T h e
Belgians it is true were allowed hal f of the number of M P s
but as th ere were three and a half million Belgians to two
million D utch in the country even this seemed unrepre
them Further as some of th e
sentativ e and unfair to
Belgian M P s were government officials who depended for
th eir livelihood on not o ffendi ng the D utch king these men
constantly voted with the D utch a gainst their own com
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patriots This by giving the D utch a majority led to all
laws passed being more or less against the Belgian interest
Bread for example the main article of Belgian diet was
heavily taxed while potatoes the principal D utch fare
escaped Laws in general too tend ed to favour the D utch
commercial and sea faring interests rather th an the Belgian
industrial ones and inclined to the D utch preference for free
trade rather than the Belgian desire for protection Belgian
T h e consequence
newspapers too were severel y censored
of all this was a steadily growing state of unrest leading to
mon
ster petitions against D utch injustice Then came th e
July revolution in P aris one or two high handed actions b y
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88
H I S T O RY O F M O D E RN
I LLU S T RA T E D
‘
EU R O PE
the D utch king— and the performance of an oper a dealing
sympathetically with the N aples rising against the Spanish led
the Brussels mob to riot in imitation The D utch army was
successful ly resisted other towns followe d the example of
Brussels and soon a N ational Congress had declared Belgi um
to be independent of Holland A separate constitutional
monarch was voted with the usual democratic institutions
of two houses of parliament liberty of speech and worship
and so on
This was where France and the other powers came in
Woul d they accept such a cancellation of one important
clause in the Vienna Treaties P There was no doubt of
’
France s answer for the difficulty of Louis P hilippe so far had
been to restrain the enthusiastic French from rus hi ng to th e
assistance of the Belgians Fortunately the other powers too
in conference at London agreed to accept Belgian
independence and off ered to guarantee the neutrality of th e
new state—but only on condition that Belgium shoul dered
over half the debt of the N etherlands did not include Lux em
burg in its boundaries and chose a king of whom the powers
approved The Belgians annoyed at these terms promptly
’
invited Louis P hilippe s son to be the new king—knowing that
this would be highly disagreeable to everyone except France
1 1 11
Louis P hilippe was now faced with a delicate choice—if he
3 53 3
accepted on behalf of his son he wo ul d risk involving France
in another E uropean war while if he did not he would o ff end
He was firm and sensible enough to refuse
h i s own people
and to agree to the E nglish nomination P rince Leopold of
’
Saxe Coburg the future Queen Victoria s uncle The
Belgians then accepted Leopold and there was no E uropean
war about the matter—but there was a general feeling in
France that Louis P hilippe had been outmanoeuvred b y
Actually
P almerston and his prestige su ff ered accordingly
he was able to recover a little of his reputation whe n in 1 8 3 2
’
the D utch ki ng W illiam wh o had refused to accept the powers
decision invaded Belgium The D utch started sweeping all
before them in a brilliant ten day campaign and Louis
P hil ippe was h astily authorized by the powers to inter vene to
protect Belgium This he did successfully and so was able to
claim that Fr ance after all had aided Belgian independence
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H I S T OR Y OF M OD E R N
I LLU S T R A T ED
90
E U R O PE
French one Both agreed to withdraw their claims on con
dition the oth er did Then suddenly P almerston revived the
claim of his candidate whereupon Guizot and Louis P hilippe
went secretly to work and within a s h ort time astounded
E ngland by arranging a double marriage—of Isabella to an
old nobleman who was rumoured to be incapable of producing
children and of th e Infanta (who woul d thus inherit the
Throne ) to a son of Louis P hilippe For once someone had
But while France rang with
stolen a march on P almerston
’
applause over the matter and the King s pop ularity revived a
little E ngland smarted withdre w her friendship and two
years later watched the O rleans dynasty dethroned without
’
lifting a finger to save it
Thus th e King s o nl y bold piece
of foreign policy had the unfort unate e ffect of losing him his
sole ally in E urope
D amaging as the foreign policy of Gui z ot and th e King was
to the reputation of the monarch their h ome policy was even
’
more so Both were highly intelligent men and G uizot s
reputation as an orator a scholar and a historian philosopher
stood second to none Yet both completely failed to realize
’
the need for state action on behalf of France s poorer classes
or for any political or social progress At a time when France
in turn undergoing her Industrial R evolution was beginning
to learn the horrors of factory life slum dwellings and
propertyless workers Guizot could get no further than th e
In his view the onl y
fas h ionable doctrine of laissezf aire
concern of the government in such matters was to keep outside
them Apart from a law providing elementary education
and a factory act limiting the employment of c h ildren th e
’
eighteen years of Louis P hilippe s reign saw no real effort to
improve the conditions of the masses T hat S ome improve
ment was needed may be seen from the single fact that nine
tenths of town dwellers examined for the army during th e
reign were rejected as physically unfit All this time however
th e wealthier middl e classes the bankers and industrialists
were prospering greatly—railways were built while the pro
duction of French wine increased two fold coal four fold and
machinery ten fold Thus the situation was doubly galling
—
the
working
classes
to be not only poor but poor in a
for
period of prosperity And the only c ontribution the govern
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i RA N C E U N D E R B OU RB ON A N D O R LE A N S M ON A R C HIE S
91
ment seemed to make to the matter Was to break up strikes by
bloodshed suppress trade unions and political clubs and deny
the ever increasing clamour for an extension of the right to
vote to poorer citiz ens
It was th e refusal of this demand wh ich ultimately brought Pma nlitaa
y
about th e fall of the monarchy The parliamentary system f m
d m and d
had never really functioned smoothly under Louis P hilippe
’
The exact extent of the King s power was rather vague and
there grew up a general feeling that he was exercising more
influence than he should as a constitutional monarch Further
there had not as yet been time for the fh rm ation of two highly
organi z ed parties to assure one side or the other of a constant
majority, and so even an upright man like Guizot maintained
himself in power by a system of briber y Government posts
pensions business contracts ( especially in connection with th e
new railways ) were dis tributed among members of parliament
Gui z ot W as thus supported th roughout th e years 1 840 to 1 8 48
by a parliamentary majority though he was actually bitterly
Opposed by most of the country
W hile the right to vote too
only
out of
was restricted to such a small class —
—
ff
h
a
state
o
f
a
airs
co
u
ld
continue
indefinitely
C
W
3
So parliamentary reform became the rallying cry of all wh o
were opposed to the co nservatism of the King and his minister
Some like Thi ers prob ab ly wanted to extend the franchise
slightly to capture power for th emselves O thers like th e
R epublica ns aimed at th e vote for all men in order to carry
out a complete reform of the social system In any case a
great campaign for parliamen
tary reform was begun and
against th e slightest concession to this Lo ui s P hilippe and
Guizot resolutely set their faces
By 1 846 or 1 847 moreover the dissatisfied in France were S o ial
able to look to certain positive programmes of reform i n place
of the unorganized revolutionary vi olence of earlier
ears
y
O ne of these increasingly attractive alternatives to th e stagna
tion of Louis P hilippe was the new doctrine of Socialis m
propounded since 1 8 2 8 by a series of brilliant French writers
Socialism claimed that by abolishing private ownership of
great ind ustries banks transport systems and the like and by
putting them under the control of the state all citi z ens wo uld
thus be more or less equal partners in th e wealt h of th c o untrv
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I LLU S T R A T E D
HI S T O R Y O F M O D E R N
E U ROPE
and the grotesque inequalities of capitalism would be avoided
O ne of the foremost Socialists Louis Blanc in his book
’
L Organisation da T ravail tried to show how th e state would
begin to take over the control of industry by running national
works and workshops for the benefit of the unemployed He
sh owed too h ow the whole unemployment problem would be
solved when the state which would not be concerned merely
with private profit acted as the general employer His
’
phrase the right to work became a main demand of the poorer
classes who naturally saw in Socialism not only a means of
avoiding the dreaded spells of unemployment but a meth od
of winning for themselves a much fairer and greater s h are in
the wealth of the country than they enjoyed at the time
Soci al ism in various forms thus began to attract the loyalty of
the town masses from the O rleans dynasty Socialism itself
underwent a rapid development from 1 8 2 8 when it was full
of idyllic schemes such as the proposal that men should work
in fields to the sound of grand pianos till by 1 848 it had
become an almost scientific doctrine N ot only were there
’
Blanc s proposals and hundreds of suggestions for really
practical undertakings ( such as the cutting of a Suez Canal )
but i n addition the Germans M arx and E ngels were maturing
th e elaborate creed known now as Communism or revolution
ary Socialism
The second alternative to which the working classes could
turn was Bonapartism It might seem di fficult to understand
where the attraction came in since N apoleon had led the
French to disaster But it must b e remembered first that th e
military triumphs of the E mpire had been a great source of
pride to Frenchmen and satisfied their age long passion for
’
glory and secondly that the principles of B Onapartism had
been entirely reconstructed since 1 8 1 5 In exile at St Helena
N apoleon h ad cleverly edited the history of his career to s h ow
that the constant warfare was more or less accidental and
caused by other nations and that his dictatorship was intended
He would have given France peace
to be purely t emporary
prosperity and Liberal institutions had E urope perm i tted him
to fulfil his life work he decl ared
These elements in
’
N apoleon s defence of himself were seiz ed on and magni fied
by the heir to the Bonaparte claim Louis N apoleon Bonaparte
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FRA N C E UN D E R B O U R B O N A N D OR LEA N S M ON A R C HI E S
95
’
Above all th e ministry of Guiz ot the austere wirepuller in
eight years of power had sim ply maintained aff airs in an
immovable position and barred all progress As Lamartine
“
I f that were all th e
th e republican poet and historian, said
genius required of a statesman charged with the direction of
aff airs there would be no need for statesmen—a mil estone
To nearly everyone it became clear
wo uld do just as well
’
th at the first step to progress was to shift the milestone
’
ministry as G uizot s government was rapidly nicknamed
T o accomplish a real change in the direction of the govern
ment however it w
as necessary to enla
rge the franchise for
the existing class of wealthy electors was quite satisfied with
Guiz ot T h e agitation for parliamentary reform grew
universal ; there was not so much a desire to uproot th e
monarchy weak though support of it was as to make th e
government more democratic and more aware of industri al
and social problems T h e full resul t of the 1 848 revolution
like th at of 1 8 3 0 though everything had been leading up to
it was neverth eless somethi ng of an accident
T h e opposition started a big series of R eform Banquets
At th ese after th e dinner opposition orators woul d speak on
th e need for giving more people the vote
Gradually they
developed from a request for modified electoral reform to
’
omission of the King s name from the toast list and a demand
for a republic with a vote for everybody
In February 1 848
a great R eform Banquet was announced with a R eform
P rocession
Scenting danger the government banned th e
banquet a number of complic ated moves followed and the
organiz ers finally decided to call off the procession Half th e
banqueters did not know whether th e whole aff air was really
on or off but by this time the P aris masses had got it into their
heads that someth ing exciting would happen anyway and so
turned up for the procession in force Then th e government
made the fatal mistake of calling out the N ational Guard to
disperse the crowd—fata
l because the Guard simply showed
th eir sympathy with the crowd and so encouraged it A more
ruth less man than Louis P hilippe would have ordered out th e
regular troops to fire on the Guard and perhaps quelled th e
wh ole matter by a brutal display of force Louis P hilippe
old and peaceful refus ed to face the prospect of blood and
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ILLU S T R A T E D
96
HI S T OR Y OF M OD E R N
E U RO PE
onsented to dism i ss Guizot The next day an accidental
clash between a small section of the crowd and some troops
led to the barricades going up all over P aris again and the
working classes preparing to resist the troops by force : In
the fighting which ensued th e troops put no heart into the
work and when the King reviewed them instead of Vive le
he go t shouts of Vive la réforme
D iscouraged at the
Roi
collapse of all his work murmuring This is worse than
Charles X the old King lost heart for the first time and
abdicated The O rleans monarchy mourned by very few
was at an end A temporary government was formed in
P arliament and France became a republic for th e second time
in her history The Tuileries meanwhile had been looted by
the mob some of whom were drowned in the floods of wine
released from the royal cell ars
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CHA P T E R
T h e S econd Repub li c
VI
and th e
—
1 848 1 8 7 1
1.
T h e S econd Republic,
1
S econd E m pire,
848—
1 85 2
The O rleans monarchy had fallen what was to take its
N o one was very clear except that there was a gener al
place
feeling among the revolutionaries that the new government
must be a republic Among those who had created the r evolu
tion however there were two distinct elements There wer e
the leaders of the intellectual middle classes like Lamartine
who wanted a republic largely for sentimental reasons (such
as adm iration for the old R oman R epubli c for the first French
’
R epublic of 1 7 9 2 for the G irondins for republican virtue
and so on ) But there were also the leaders of the working
classes like Blane wh o wanted a republic so that it could
proceed to pass socialistic measures to raise the standard of
’
Further it must always be remembered
th e labourer s life
th at behind th ese two elements lay yet another of completely
di ff erent views— the peasantry and small landowners of
France conservative in instincts deeply suspicious of republics
and anything that happened in P aris and desiring above all
thi ngs law order and security in th eir property It was
never this last class which created revolutions but it was
precisely this class whi ch provided the support fir st for
N apoleon I to end the disorders of the First R epublic and
now soon for N apoleon III to triumph over: the Second
R ep ublic
In 1 848 then Lam artine taking a lead managed to secure
approval by the mob of a list of names for the new govern
ment To this list the working classes compelled him b y
demonstrations to add some of their own representatives
notably Louis Blanc This provisional gover nment thei
arranged for elections to be held : A vote was given to all
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08
T HE S E C ON D
R EP U B LI C
AN D
T HE S E C O N D
E M P I RE
99
’
—
wheth er they could read or not and France s electorate
suddenly leapt from
to
The res ults of
the elections by giving nearly all the seats to the mod erates
and only a few to the socialist extrem i sts showed that what
ever P aris was France was still really a conservative country
But th e P aris worki ng cl asses were important for since
February th ey h ad been armed and they weredetermined not
to let their e fforts merely serve the interests of the middle
classes as h ad been th e case in 1 8 30 T hey therefore looked
especially to Blanc some Of whose ideas the government had
promised to carry oii t
!
6
Blanc a Soci alist had long advocated N ational Work
3
£
3
9
2
“
’
shops —a seri es of state owned enterprises not only to absorb
the unemployed but to form the first steps towards sociali zing
He had to work
all the vital elements in economic life
however with a government which was by no means Socialist
and which therefore tried to limi t the application of his ideas
T h e result was th at though N ational W orkshops were set up
in response to popul ar clam Ofi r they were nothing like the
’
works h ops of Blanc s dreams The work o ff ered was almost
—
h
replanting trees paving roads
entirely Of t e labouring order
building railway stations—for wh ich a rate of two francs a day
was paid
The unemployed and even many of the employed
flocked to the national works—with disturbi ng results In the
first place the government very unimaginative in supplying
work and frigh tened of o ff ending weal thy manufacturers by
setting up in competition to them began to order the same
pieces of work to be done over and over again to employ all
the applicants As this got more absurd greater and grea ter
’
numbers were placed on inactivity pay of one franc a day
Taxation began to mount to pay for all this and a financial
crisis occurred The interests of tax paying middle classes
and property less working classes were now seen to be clearly
opposed and the government consisting almost entirely of
the former decided to close the W orksh ops To do this with T h W a l
out breaking too many promises it o ff ered the workers and
idlers of the N ational W orkshops the choice of j oini ng the
army or clearing land i n the provinces —an o ffer summed up
“
b y One French historian as a choice between being shot by
th e Arabs in Algeria or dying of fever in th e swamps of
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1 00
I LLU S T RA T ED
HI S T OR Y OF M OD E RN
E UR OPE
Sologne
Consequently in June 1 848 the armed masses of
P aris rose to a fresh revolution against their new government
U p went the barricades
over went buses and locomotives to
strengthen them
The P aris worki ng classes observed dis
cipline well and fought bravely but they were opposed by the
government the army the N ational Guard the upper and
middle classes and the whole of the provinces Heavy
artillery was used to smash the resisting streets and the blood
of over
Frenchmen flowed before the revolt was
crushed
After the struggle was over thousands more were
deported It was a dreadful experience and it rendered
certain the future downfall of the R epublic , for the working
classes would never forgive it and the m i ddle classes would
Loui s N apoleon had
never feel co nfidence in its stability
things made very easy for him
The question of the P residency of the R epublic had not as
yet been settled The three main candidates were Cavaignac
P
the
gener
who
had
just
beaten
the
aris revolutionaries )
a
l
(
Lamartine and Loui s N apoleon Bonaparte nephew of th e
r enjoyed
f
a
reat
mperor
The
last
named
had
thus
E
g
amazing history A romantic youth believing firmly i n h is
’
destiny as h is uncle s heir he had been involved I n scrapes
revolutions or love aff airs in half the countries of E urope I n
1 8 3 1 he h ad joined the Italian Secret Society the Carbonari
in their revolt against the P apal rule in R ome and had
eventually to escape from the Austrians disguised as a footman
E xiled from France he wrote books on military subjects to
make himself popular with th e French army and on social
In 1 8 3 6
subjects to show his care for the French people
with a few followers he had endeavoured to invade France
raise the garrison of Strasbourg and claim the throne from
Louis P hilippe—but had shrunk from using violence had
ke a good speech to the soldier s and con
failed even to m a
sequently had seen the whole aff air degenerate into a sc
h is own arrest and forcible
U ndeterred b y this miserable failure he
Boulogne in 1 840 with fifty men and a capti
was supposed to represent the Imperial e
’
invasion developed into an undi gnified
N apoleon tried to escape by swimm ing out
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1 02
I LLU S T R A T E D
H I S T OR Y O F M OD E R N
EU R OPE
'
and poor Lamartine with his ideals so swi ftly
outpaced by events only
The new P resident was to enjoy a S pell of office of four years
He immediately set out to combine enjoym ent with popul arity
O ne step in particular which th e Assembly took he s trove to
undo
casual labourers had been disqualified fro m
voting by a law that they must have resided continuously
for three years in the same di strict
Lo ui s N apoleo n
ch am pioned the cause of these men and thi s combined with
his plans outlined in 1 8 50 for railways roads harbours canals
model farming drainage and sanitation increased h is
popularity with the lower classes His period of o ffice woul d
expire in 1 8 52 and there was a law against r e election Y et
he was now planning to secure r e election by illegal methods
partly through ambition partly because he was deeply in deb t
and needed a continuation of his P residential income At th e
same time some of the leaders of the Assembly were clearly
plotting to get rid of th e P resident and T h iers for example
Openly boasted that
before a month is up we will have Louis
Bonaparte under lock and key
It was the P resident who struck first At 1 0 p
night of D ecember 2 nd 1 85 I —the anni versary of
after he had held his usual eveni ng reception
’’
engineered coup d etat began
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the opposition—both police and pris
ignorant of the fact that they were part of
Troops were posted in strategic positions
forced to print proclamations announcing
residential
position
P
is
w
o
ke
up
a
r
p
supreme over his opponents He prop
for a further ten years after holding
confirm him in his power After the
little barricade work on D ecember 3
was restored with th e loss of about 500
there were some outbre aks which
people being arrested of whom I
of
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H IS T OR Y O F M O D E RN
ILLU S T RA T E D
1 04.
EU R OPE
that I broke th e law onl y to do what was right T h e votes of
over
have just granted me absolution
The use of
’
’
’
th e word absolution tends to S how that the cou
p d etat really
’
weighed on Louis N apoleon s conscience as is also evidenced
by th e fact that he released all the prisoners by 1 859 Indeed
it h ad some business to weigh on his conscience since h e had
solemnly sworn before God to be faithful to the French
’
R epublic as established in 1 848
But a politician s promi ses
“
’
as h e himself observed are even more brittle than lovers
oaths
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2
Th e E m pire
.
T h e S econd E mpire,
1
852 —
1 87 0
It was not long before there occurred the logical sequel
th e restoration of the E mpire
A year of useful reforms
h ousing schemes abolition of Sunday labour provision of
baths wash houses asylums—combined with pageantry and
triump h al tours to impress some and wandering round slums
on foot to impress others and Various public bodies began to
urge him to become E mperor The invitation did not fall on
unwilling ears O n D ecember 2 nd 1 852 the seco nd French
R epublic ended and the second E mpire began the ex P resident
assuming the title of N apoleon III A further plebiscite
confirmed the step by
to
while
did not vote N aturally P arliament was allowed very little
power political meetings and associations were forbidden
newspapers were heavily taxed and all steps taken to see that
opposition was too weak to overthrow the E mperor This
dictatorship N apoleon III with his queer mixture of ideal s
and ambitions proposed to modify later when France had
settled down For the moment however he was careful to
point out that an isolated plebiscite was a different matter
from perpetual democracy and aptly expressed the di fference
“
by saying that he did not mind being baptized with the water
“ f
but that h e re used to live with h i
of u ni versal su ff rage
feet in it
T h e reforming zeal of the new E mperor was soon evident
For some years it was s aid that he never visited a town with oui
making better arrangements for its future In P aris iI
collaboration with the P refect of the Seine Baron Haussmann
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I LLU S T R A T E D
1 06
H I S T OR Y O F M OD E R N
E U R O PE
he instigated the biggest slum clearance scheme on record
Thousands of narrow insani tary unlit streets with vermi nous
dwellings were destroyed to be replaced by magnificent wide
bo ul evards complete with trees and lamps—a piece of reform
which had th e secondary object of making the erection of
barricades more difli cul t W ater and gas mains were laid
’
along the P aris streets In th e improvement of the country s
communications the E mperor S howed an equal z eal railway
telegraph and steamship services all expanding through h is
interest A period of prosperity marked by great financial
speculation began for France There were no S igns as yet
of the adventurous foreign policy which was to bring rui n on
the Second E mpire as it had done on the First and there a as
’
So acute an
every S ign of N apoleon I I I S care for the masses
observer as the E nglish P rince C onsort soon remarked of the
“
Louis N apoleon wish es for peace enjoyment and
E mperor
cheap corn
The court life of the E mperor rapidly became notable for
its brilliance R ebuff ed in an attempt to secure a bride who
had the merit of royalty S ince the other sovereigns of E urope
for the most part regarded him as an upstart he concentrated
instead on looks E ventually he married a beautiful Spani sh
noblewoman whose love letters to him had been written
though he did not know it by Prosper M erimee the famous
novelist The E mpress E ugeni e as she became was
unfortunately less well equipped mentally than she was
physically Th is would not have mattered in itself had S h e
’
not endeavoured to influence the E mperor s political policy
This however was reserved for the future for the moment
with spiritualistic diversions
all was enjoyment at Court
l
t
bles
talking
and
accordion
s
p
aying
by
themselves
rand
a
) g
(
receptions appearances at the O pera visits from interesting
people such as P asteur Verdi Gautier the interminable love
aff airs of th e E mperor and the rather more innocent pastim e
’
—
blind man s buff It was N apoleon III in
of the E mpress
fact with his love of amusement and his rebuilding schemes
wh o gave that atmosphere of elegance and entertainm ent to
Paris which h as made Of it th e M ecca of E nglishmen escaped
to holiday abroad
There was something in th e N apoleonic character however,
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T HE S E C ON D
R EP U B LI C
T HE S E C ON D
AN D
E M P I RE
io7
wh ic h
could not be content with either reform or enjoyment
T h ough by no means a hardened militarist N apoleon III
was unable to resist the traditions of his uncle and the pressure
His ambition and sometimes his F o ign
of certai n army leaders
ideals prompted him to undertake military campaigns but
h e lacked th e rut h less character of the first N apoleon and
after a successful beginning h is foreign policy led him to
disaster
T h e first foreign venture was comparativel speaking a ( ) T h
y
C m an
success Already possessm g a personal gri evance against the W a
8 54 856
’
Cz ar N icholas for refusing to address him as brother in the
customary m anner between sovereigns and anxious to assert
French claims wherever possible he had quarrelled with
T h e question at i ssue was the guar dians h ip of the
Russia
Holy Places of P alesti ne which N apoleon claimed had been
accorded to Charlemagne and h is French successors W hen
Russia not only refused to surrender this righ t but demanded
’
from Turkey the pro tectorsh ip of all the Sultan s Christian
subjects—which would have given R ussia the right to inter
fere widely in th e Turkish E mpire—N ap oleon III supported
by E ngland prompted Turkey to refuse The subsequent
invasion of Turkish territory by R ussia and the sinking of th e
Turkish fleet at Sinope caused E ngland and France to ally
for th e purpose of r educm g R ussian influence
It was decided
to send a j oi n
t expedition to the Crimea to compel R ussia to
keep her warships off the Black Sea and thus lessen the
likelihood of their threa teni n
g th e B alkans and Anglo French
interests in the M editerranean The key to the Black S ea
was the fortress of Sebastopol and for a year E nglish and
French generals vied with each other in committing m is
takes in besieging it E ventually when
French
soldiers had lost their lives after su ff ering the untold m i series
of campaigning in a Crimean winter Sebastopol was taken
—
R ussi a requested peace and the war ended
The E mperor had had some awkward moments in
for example he h ad reached the point of wanting t o take
charge in the Crimea himself a resolve from which h e
was persuaded only by the entreaties of Queen Victoria,
whose truly femi nine heart had been mildly fl uttered by h is
expert a ddresses
But the end of the war compensated for
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T reaty of
Paris, 1 8 56
HI S T O R Y O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T RA T E D
1 08
E U R O PE
everything and the Treaty of P aris of 1 8 56 with R ussm
compelled to accept the neutralization of th e Black Sea gave
the E mperor his first taste of the sweets of victory
T h e next foreign venture appeared equall y succes sful at
first though it was before the end to involve N apoleon III m a
bewildering series of difficul ties complexities and contra
dictions The enthusiasm of th e E mperor as a young man for
the cause of Italian unity has already been noted T h e young
Carbonaro of 1 8 3 0 had however naturally to be more careful
now that he was in control of the desti nies of France His
problem may be briefly stated—how to aid the Ital ians in
their struggle for national unity without ( a) making an Italy
which would be too powerful a neighbour ( b ) ofl endi ng the
very important clerical circles in France who would not wish
’
to see the P ope s rule over the P apal States abolished and
(c) get ting into trouble with too many other nations A s a
further complication may be added (d) that unless he did
something to help the Italians he would o ff end Liberal circles
in France He was thus bound to o ff end one of two parties
in France and probably h e wo ul d have done best to go all
out on one side or the other Instead he tried to please both
and failed to satisfy either
W hen he became P resident in I 848 he had found French
troops helping the P ope against M azzini and Garibaldi who
were trying to establish a R oman R epublic For a time he
continued this policy—to please the clericals—but combined
th is with assurances that he would make the P ope carry out a
liberal policy—to please the anti clericals After the 1 848
episode Italian problems for a whil e took a secondary place in
’
th e E mperor s mind though Count Cavour P rime M inister of
P iedmont and Sardinia the centre of Itali an hopes staked a
’
strong claim on the E mperor s gratitude and future services
by sending a contingent of Sardinian tr oops to help the French
in th e Crimean W ar At the T reaty of P aris Cavour raised
the question of Italian unity ; the E mperor however did
nothing further till a violent incident jogged his memory
In 1 858 a number of fervent Italian patriots led by O rsini
attempted to assassinate the E mperor as he was driving to the
The explosion of the bombs ki lled eight people and
O p éra
wounded 1 50 but to th e great relief of th e F renc h th e E mperor
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I LLU S T R A T E D
1 10
H I S T OR Y O F M OD E R N
E U R OPE
Shortly afterwards the Austrian ambassador was amazed to
“
h ear N apoleon III say to hi m
I regret that our relations
with your government ar e not as good as they have been
and it was not long before Cavour by arranging provocative
frontier incidents had tempted Austria to invade P iedmont
and neglect the French warning not to do so T h e war had
’
begun and with the French army under th e E mperor s
personal command two big victories over the Austrians were
registered at M agenta and Solferino Lombardy was freed
it remained to complete the task by sweeping th e Austrians
from Venetia
Suddenly came the astounding news that the
E mperor had concluded an armistice with the Austrians
le aving an infuriated Cavour and P iedmont in the lurch
M any motives had been suggested for this sudden reversal of
policy among th em the fact that the E mperor sickened with
the horrors of war at first hand had lost all stomach for the
enterprise P erhaps a more important consideration W as one
h e h imself advance d— th at h is victories had been by a narrow
margin and that attacki ng Venetia meant capturing the four
tremendously di fficul t Austrian fortresses known as the
Quadrilateral Further there was a lurking fear of P russia n
intentions in h is mind and probably too there was an
increasing conviction that Italian unity might be an awkward
th ing for France wh en accomplished At any rate he retired
from N orth Italy though h e shortly afterwards by diploma tic
means prevented Austria from annexing M odena P arma
and T uscany thus allowing them to throw in their lot with
P ied m ont
For th ese services he claimed his reward of Savoy
and N ice—confir m ed as usual by a plebiscite
T h e whole
’
adventure of 1 8 59 shows up N apoleon I I I s Italian policy in
all its contradictions—helping Italian unity in the north (while
his troops still kept the P ope in power in R ome) then backing
out at a critical moment—o ff ending half France by beginni ng
at all and the other half by stopping when he did All the
same
by 1 8 59 Italy had provided a second field for th e
victories of French arm s the French army was regarded as the
best in E ur ope and the E mperor was at the h eight of his
ower
Success
f
ul
minor
enterprises
in
Syria
and
Chin
a
p
c ontributed to the general e ff ect
The following year, however, m arked the turning of th e tide
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HI S T OR Y O F M OD E RN
ILLU S T R A T ED
1 12
E U R O PE
In 1 8 59 th e E mperor true to hi s policy of allowing greater
liberty as time went on allowed all political exiles to return
and thus laid his E mpire open to attack from a number of men
who feared noth ing In 1 8 60 too he allowed P arliament
more fr eedom to criticize and amend proposals brought before
it wh ich contributed to the same res ul t Above all in 1 8 6 0
he provoked widespread discontent among the manufacturing
classes by concluding a commercial treaty with E ngland
f
f
represented
by
the
amous
ree trader Cobden) By this
(
agreement the French duti es on E nglish textiles iron steel
and hardware goods were lowered considerably in return for
E nglish reductions on French wines silks and fancy goods
This exposed many French manufacturers to the ful l blast of
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E nglish compe tition and the E mperor s popularity suffer ed
accordingly
A further forei gn adventure dragging on over several
’
years lowered the E mperor s prestige in a serious fashion
In 1 8 6 1 when the M exican R epublic defaulted on its debts
and was refusing to pay interest on bonds held by foreign
creditors France E ngland and Spain agreed to send a joint
expedition to enforce payment W hen the object of the
expedition had been obtained E ngland and Spain withdrew
their forces but N apoleon III urged on by E ugénie and the
clerical party retained his tr00ps there and embarked on a
His plan specially designed to
far more ambitious project
enhance French prestige and please the clerical elements
o ff ended a t his Italian policy, was to overthrow the anti
religious M exican R epublic and substitute a Catholic E mpire
M aximilian brother of the Austrian E mperor was persuaded
by the prom i se of French support to undertake the position
T h e fighti ng that followed was lo ng
of imperial claimant
and expensive but by 1 8 6 4 French arms h ad duly installed
him on his throne U nfortunately for N apo leon III however
another power now came on the scene in full force —th e
T h e U nited States engaged in a desperate
U nited States
civil war had thus far been powerless but on the conclusion
of the war in 1 8 6 5 a warning was given to France that th e
U nited States would tolerate no interference with the M onroe
France in other words must keep out of M exico
D octrine
N apoleon alread y
or be prepared to fight the U nited States
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H IS T OR Y O F M OD E R N
ILLU S T RA T E D
1 14
E U R O PE
Holstein having thus fal len to the stronger side th e
and war broke out
victors had quarrelled ove r the spoil
between Austria and P russia E urope expected the struggle
to be a protracted one and N apoleon had visions of a strong
France at th e end of the war dictating policy to both of the
He thus consented to remain neutral
exhausted oppone nts
th e more especially as he was bribed to do so by Bismarck
who promised h i m a free hand to absorb Luxemburg
Alarmed however by the rapid P russian success at the battle
of Sadowa when Austri a was overwhelmed in a single defeat
N apoleon rath er hysterically began to demand compensa
’
tion for France in German territory in the R hine district
besides plotting to get not only Luxemburg but Belgium
Bismarck all along th e line cleverly outmanoeuvred h is
’
oppo n
ent and used N apoleon s propos als for two vital ends
The first of these was to force the south and west German
States through fear o f France to ally and eventually to unite
with P russia The second was to reveal details of th e secret
negotiations at two critical moments—one just at the outbreak
The result was thus by display
of the Franco P russian war
ing N apoleon as eager to grasp surrounding territory to throw
E uropean sympathy into the P russian rather than the French
scale and to rob N apoleon of any possibility of E nglish support
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The fatal moment for the E mpire had now come W ith
first D enmark then Austria beaten the south German States
won over to P russia by fear of France Italy bribed by th e
acqui sition of Venetia in 1 8 6 6 through P russian help E ngland
off ended with France from knowledge of her ambitions in
At home
Lux embur g and Belgium N apoleon was isolated
physically he was a dying man
h is prestige was low
Bismarck decided that the moment had come to strike And
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most foolish and fatal of all Bismarck s plans were facilitated
l n every respect by France even more anxi ous to come to grips
with P russia The actual conflict arose over the candi dature
for the vacant Spani sh throne for which a Hohenzoller n
prince was on the insistence of Bismarck a reluctant candi
date France nervous of P russian progress and determined
not to be again outwitted demanded the wit h drawal of th e
The P russian king W illiam agreed to persuade
candidature
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T HE S E C ON D
T HE S EC ON D
AN D
R EP U B LI C
E M PI R E
1 15
’
his relative to withdraw and France s main object was
—
satisfied But certain circles in the Government not so much
the E mperor h im selfé —
were anxious for aneven more resound
’
ing diplomatic triumph to enhance the E mperor s tottering
prestige and so a furth er demand was formulated that i n no
circumstances must P russia ever renew such a candidature
W illi am who regarded th e incident as closed saw no point in
seeing the French ambassador again on the subj ect and h is
d ecision was explained m a despatch to Bismarck known as
the E m s Telegram Bismarck before publishing this slightly
altered it to read so that the impressi on gathered was that
W ilhelm deliberately refused to see the French ambassador
A howl of wrath
with the express object of insulting France
—
f
arose in th e P aris press and a momentary war ever a
—
thing
to
rouse
swept
over
the
government
which
a
t
a
ll
a
s
e
f
y
y
men and h ad
a m onth before had re duced th e army by
“
proclaimed th at at no epoch was the peace of E urope more
Again it must be emph asiz ed that N apoleon did
assur ed
not share in the general French confidence or in the fatuous
“
blindness of the commander who said that there was not so
much as the button of a gaiter missing
But the sick man
gave in before the 1 m per1 ous W 111 of E ugénie who revelled in
“
T his is my
th e prospect of the conflict and boasted proudly
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After a few very minor Th e
m
and Lorraine invaded by
an enemy vastly better equipped and trained Some heavy
fighting sufli ced to shut up the main French army in the town
of M etz where besieged it could help no ot h er part of France
T h e E mperor dispirited and in ago ny proposed to fall back
on P aris with th e remaining principal force Such a decision
woul d have prolonged th e struggle and given France a chance
of drafting millions more into th e conflict
But E ugeni e and
her advisers could not brook th e temporary h umiliation and
forbade such a step assuring the E mperor that his t h rone was
lost if he retreated So against all h is own inclinations the
harassed E mperor who had now little control over h is troops
moved to the relief of M etz was caught as was almost inevit
able i n an unfavourable position and witnessed the crushing
f h is army at Sedan
defeat o
On September gr d cam e to S eth .
D isillusion was to come speedily
successes , th e French found Alsace
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1 16
I LLU S T R A T ED
P aris
th e
HI S T OR Y O F M OD E R N
EU ROPE
dramatic despatch
The army of Chalons h as
surrendered
I myself am a prisoner N apoleon
W ithin
a day the mob had invaded th e Assembly with cries of D own
’
with the E mpire and Gambetta a fiery young politician
al ready distinguished for his daring opposition to N apoleon
had proclaimed th e new R epublic—the third in French
hi story
There was no contest not a finger lifted to save th e
E mpire
N apoleon himself accompani ed W illiam as a
prisoner into Germany soon to be released and to die in
E ngland whither E ugenie escaped from P aris with the help
The E mpire it
of her American dentist had al ready fled
has been said crumbled like a cas tle of cards under th e flick
’
’
of a child s fingers
So the reign of N apoleon III which Opened in revolution
It had been a thing of contrasts It
ended in revolution
had combined dictatorship with democracy professions of
peace and the fir st P aris international exhibitions with
support of nationalism in N orth Italy
territorial ambitions
with opposition to it in R ome and M exico Beneath its
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gas lit pomp lay squalor industrial and moral And th e
whole contradictory natur e of the E mpire had been perfectly
mirrored in the character of N apoleon hi mself idealistic and
self seeking reforming and reactionary profound and super
Less complex in character E ugénie had however
ficial
done almost as much as her husband to bring about the down
Her influence on the R oman question on M exico on
fall
She at any rate
th e Franco P russian war had been decisive
learnt her lesson, for in the long years of her exile till she died
in 1 9 1 9 at the age of ninety four she never again interfered in
politics A vigorous old lady even after the terrible blow of
th e loss of h er son ( killed fighting for the E nglish against the
Z ulus ) she maintained her activity to the last learning to ride
a bicycle buying one of the first motor cars and even wanting
“
to fly at the age of ninety But the E mpress E ugeni e sh e
“
said died in
The E mpire had collapsed but meanwhile the new R epublic
For fo ur months P aris besieged like M etz
fo ught on
escaped in a balloon
endur ed heroically while Gambetta
B ut
organized ar mies and resistan c e in the countryside
before long M etz had to give in or the point of starvation
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1 18
I LLU S T R A T E D
H I S T OR Y O F M OD E R N
E U R O PE
and nearly
French so ldiers laid down their arms The
P russians thus released from conducting the siege were
employed in adding to the forces before P aris or in holding
’
back Gambetta s attempts to relieve th e capital Till the
last th e P arisians resisted till everyth ing had been eaten
including the elephant in the Zoo and the rats of the streets
and the fuel exhausted Then there was no
and sewers
alternative but to capitulate
The terms of the treaty of Frankfort of 1 8 7 1 were regarded
at the time as extraordinarily severe though they pale some
what by comparison with the Versailles treaties of 1 9 1 9 at
France was to pay an unpre
any rate in financial details
cedented war indemnity of five thousand million francs in
three years to safl er an army of occupation and to l ose
T h e l ast
A lsace and most of Lorraine including M etz
provision especially engendered a state of bitterness whi ch
an conflict of 1 9 1 4 in the usual way in
speeded on the E urop e
which one war begets another
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CHAPT E R VII
Th e M
F rom th e C ongress of Vienna to the Outbreak
f
“, From the end of the N apoleo ni c wars to the revolutionary
movements of 1 848 the history of Germany and Austria is
dominated by one man—M etternich Few statesmen have
had so difficult a series of problems to face and few have
received so much blame both then and s1 nce for their
attempted solutions In some respects he was and is a greatly
misjudged man In any case for more than a generation he
o ccupied a u ni que position—not only as C h ancellor c f Austria
but as the embodiment of the older E urope of the monarchies
whi ch was fighting a desp erate battle with the newer E urop e
of the revolutionary ideals
’
To understand M etternich s pre eminence we must
remember that it was he more than anyone who wit hi n four
years of his appointment as Ch ancellor in 1 809 had success
ful ly manoeuvred Austria away from the temporary alliance
with N apoleon and brought her in with the Allies It was his
skill in 1 8 1 4 which inspired the manifesto of the Allies invading
France to the eff ect that their quarrel was with N apoleon
“
I know M etternich o nl y he co ul d
not the French people
exclaimed N apoleon It was he too
h ave thought of that
whose S pirit was so active at the Congress of Vienna and whose
diplomacy was so successful in bringing the famous Final Act
—
a Final Act
summary
f
the
a
rangements
to
completion
o
or
r
it may be remarked of 1 2 1 articles which took twenty six
Above all it
secretaries all day to write out a single copy
was he who with Castlereagh was the inspirer of the Congress
’
—
m ovement the movement to establish a Concert of E urop e
“
to put all heads under th e
or in the words of a contemporary
sam e thi nking cap
1.
“m m
P eriod in G e
r m any and th e
A ustrian E m pire, 1 8 1 5 1 85 1
etternich
o
Revolution
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1 22
I LLU S T RA T ED
HIS T O R Y O F M O D E R N
E U R OPE
bound to win It has required th e ruth less e fficiency of
modern dictatorship to suppress the liberal movement
M etternich himself was often ac utely conscious of the fact
“
that h is task was almost hopeless
I have to give my life
to propping up a mouldering edifice he once remarked
in a moment of pessimism while the E mperor Francis
“
—
put the matter even more strongly
M y realm is like
a worm eaten house—if one part is removed one cannot tell
Let us see how M etternich strove to act
how much will fall
“
in his own words as a rock of order in Austria and
Germany
It will be remembered that the Allies of 1 8 1 3 in th e W ar
of Liberation had taken advantage of the national fervour
of Germany
aroused by the Continental System and th e
oppressive demands of N apoleon As N apoleon had employed
all the forces of national feeling in the early days of victories
so the Allies had later been able to use the same weapon against
him with deadly eff ect N apoleon himself with his usual
prophesied that the Allies would pay for their
acuteness
encouragement of nationalism when it turned against their
own empires The arrangements of the Congress of Vienna
in regard to Germany and the Austrian E mpire not less than
illustrate how little importance the Allies really
elsewhere
attached to nationalist principles
The Austrian E mpire as recogni z e d by the treaties of 1 8 1 5
included as its main sections Austria proper (which was really
German) Bohemia and M oravia (inhabited chiefly by Czechs,
Slovaks and Germans ) Hungary (M agyar with many
notably Serb and Croat) Galicia (mainl y
m inorities
Ruthenia ns and P oles acquired during the partitions )
Transylvania (R oumans of Latin stock) Illyria and D almatia
Serbs
and
Croats
and
L
ombardy
and
Venetia
Italians
(
)
)
(
It thus contained besides oddments like the M agyars repre
—
the
great
racial
divisions
Teuton ( the Germans )
s
f
n
t
a
t
i
v
e
o
se
Slav ( Czechs Croats P oles Serbs ) and Latin ( R oumanians
As yet with th e exception of the Italians and
and I talians )
of
ossibly
the
Germans
the
new
wine
of Austria itself
p
nationalism and democracy had not yet reached the heads,
or even the lips of most of these peoples and thus the strength
of th e central go vernment in Vienna was not in i m mediate
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HI S T O R Y O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
1 24
EU R OP E
d anger of being challenged T his was all the more so since
th e government at Vienna permitted a wide variety of local
diff erence employed local officials rather than bureaucrats
from Vienna and generally allowed a very considerable
degree of liberty— provided that no political agitation of any
kind took place Hungary enjoyed a separate parliament or
D iet in which its intensely feudal nobility frequently asserted
their privileges against Vienna It W as furth er no part of
’
the policy of M etternich to attempt to Germani z e or
’
Austrianize the whole of the E mpire—h e was not keen enough
on nationalism to enfo rce his own partic ul ar brand of it
while he correspondingly deni ed the right of the other brands
’
to break away from his international E mpi re The govern
ment of Vienna however while well meaning and not
unduly tyrannical was for the most part inefficient It was
badly in need of reorgani z ation and M etternich made several
eff orts notably in 1 8 1 1 and in 1 8 1 7 to induce his imperial
master to accept schemes of reform P urely internal matters
however were the subject on which he possessed least
“
influence
I have sometimes ruled E urope
he Once
remarked but I h ave never governed Austria
In the matter of race alone Germany presented a very
di fferent picture from the Austrian E mpire as it was inhabited
solidly by Germans P olitically however it had even less
unity Before the N apoleonic wars some hundreds of petty
states had existed acknowledgi ng the authority in name
though not at all in fact of the Holy R oman E mperor who
’
coincided with t h e ruler of Austria ; N apoleon s campaigns
in Germany however had broken down many of the old
divisions and substituted new and much greater units such as
the Confederation of the R hine In these a great deal of
reform had been c arried out in administration and large
sections of Germany had thus been released fr om cr am ping
mediaeval restrictio ns for the first time The peacemakers of
Vienna could naturally not allow such N apoleonic creations
to survive—they had collapsed anyway with th e breakdown
’
of N apoleon s power—and consequently a fresh settlemen t W as
necessary in 1 8 1 5
The Congress of Vienna made no attempt to revive th e
long since obsolete Holy R oman E mpire which had long ago
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G
erm any
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I LLU S T RA T ED
1 26
HIS T O R Y O F M OD ERN
E U R OPE
gran t a constitution The natural consequence was an out
break of liberal agitation, particularly among the numerous
university students and their professors In 1 8 1 7 occurred
’
the W artburg Festival a meeting to celebrate the battle of
Leipzig and th e tercentenary of the R eformation and to form
The
a closer uni on among German u ni versity students
students marked th e occasion by burning a number of selected
’
guys some boo ks and periodicals whose views they resented
and a few emblems of P russian mili tari sm which was disliked
both for itself and for havi ng adopted French fashions T h e
’
emblems concerned included a corporal s cane a pig tail
f corsets as sported by the
as worn by the infantry and a pair O
caval ry It was onl y a student demonstration but its spirit
was unmistakable and M etternich took good notice of it
the more so since he suspected the still liberal Czar Alexander
of fomenting similar trouble throughout E urope
Two years later occurred a much more sensational student
act the murder of Kotz ebue He was an unpopular author
of reactionary views and a spy in R ussian pay who was
regarded as poisoning the mind of Alexander against liberalism
At once M etterni ch sei z ed his opportunity He won over
Alexander so completely from the last of his liberalism that in
“
T o day I deplore all that I said
1 8 2 0 the Czar said to him
and did between 1 8 1 5 and
I regret the time lost we
must study to retrieve it You have correctly judged the
’
condition of things Tell me what you want and what you
want of me and I will do it
It was a remarkable admissio n
’
“
but then as M etternich said Alexander s mind never could
M ore i mportant still
pursue one line of thought for long
he used the occasion to secure the passage through the D iet
of the Conf ederation of a series of laws designed to crush all
political agitation These originally propounded in Carlsbad
were known as the Carlsbad D ecrees By them a strict
’
censorship was everywhere set up investigators of recent
activities were appointed student societies were suppressed
political meetings were forbidden
by their Operation
professors were dismissed Liberal leaders sentenced to years
The result was for M etternich a triumph
of imprisonment
liberalism in Germ any and Austria was crushed for nearly a
T h e German race robbed of the right
generation to come
.
.
The
W artb ur g
F estival
1)
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(3)
The
m urd er of
Kotz eb ue
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T h e C arls
b ad D ecrees
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T HE M ET T E RN I C H P E R I OD
G ER M A N
IN
Y
political expression had to find scope for its genius in the
fields of such strictly non politic al subjects as science and
music
The stranglehold which M etternich thus secur ed was 1 3 3 .
remarkably complete Though the fall of the Bourbons in
France in 1 8 3 0 produced repercussions all over E urop e
R
P
h
in
luding
revolutions
in
Belgium
oland
and
ome
t
e
c
)
(
Austrian E mpire and Germany remained free from serious
disturbance I n South Germany indeed the inhabitants of
four states succeeded in wringing c
pnstitutions from their
rulers but that was all In fact from the Carlsbad D ecrees
till the revolutionary movements of 1 848 there was no
event of outstanding interest for the future of German
nationalism
There was however one movement pri mari ly econom 1c 3 3n d
whi ch was destined to have the greatest resul ts In 1 8 1 8
P russia had abolis h ed a remnant of hampering mediaevalism
when she repealed all h er internal customs duties and made the
transit of goods from one district of P russia to another quite
custom s free She also invited neighbour ing states to join
h er in forming a single large customs area within whi ch no
duties would be payable The invitation was made a little
more pressing by putting enormous tari ff s on the goods of
’
those who did not accept T his Z ollverein or Customs
U nion as it soon became , showed remarkable signs of success
—so much so that it was resented by other German states
who formed opposition gr oups The opposition groups how
ever found themselves forced by economic pressure to link
up with the P russian one so that by 1 8 2 9 the U nion centring
round Bavaria had joined and by 1 83 4 that round Saxony
By 1 844 the Zollverein covered nearly all Germany Thus
though Germany still lacked any eff ective political union it
was on the way to economic union and the importance of
this fact must not be overlooked M oreover through the
Z ollv erem P russia rather than Austria appeared to be taking
th e lead in Germany
N or was economic advancement
especially in Pr ussia confined to matters of customs N ew
roads had been built a modern postal system initiated rail
ways constructed steam power introduced while side by s
ide
with this great developme nts in education s uch as th e founding
of
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1 28
dev elop
HIS T OR Y O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
of
E U R O PE
polyt echnics schools gymnasia were apparent After a
period during which P russia S eemed to los e all desire to follow
the tradition of her great reformers of the 1 8 06 period Stein
Hardenberg and Scharnhorst she began to revert to her
policy of equipping herself as a really m odern state
The changes on th e th rones of Austria and P russia during
thes e years are matters of some importance In 1 83 5 the
E mperor Francis steady conservative far from brilliant but
trusting implicitly in M etternich died He was succeeded by
Ferdinand described by P almerston in his usual round terms
“
’
as the next thing to an idiot
Henceforward M etternich s
advice was not always followed and from about 1 840 on h e
had constantly to intrigue to secure his position at court
’
The presence of an opposite party to the Chancellor s at court
encouraged liberalism in Austria to hope once more
In P russia too the greatly respected old man Frederick
W illiam III like M etternich and Francis a survival from
N apoleonic days al so died , and was succeeded in 1 8 40 by
Frederick W illiam IV T h e character of the new king who
was known to be religious humane and anxious to avoid all
forms of persecution caused a great revival of the partly
neglected aspir ations for constitutionalism and a greater degree
The composition in 1 840 for example of
of national union
’
the famous patriotic song D ie W acht am R hein ( T h e W atch
’
on the R hine ) showed which way sentiment was moving
The appointment of well known patriots and even Liberals as
th e principal P russian mini sters together with a rel axation of
th e censorship seemed to confirm P russians in the opinion
that their king was indeed of democratic opinions U nfortu
nately however it is obviously di fficult for a king ( or a pope )
to be democratically inclined when the increased demands
resulting from his encouragement begin to outrun what he
Frederick who was in truth no democrat at
h i m self desires
all but a religious autocrat who had humane sympathies
He soon terminated
rapidly found himself in thi s position
the experiment of a milder censorship Hé did however
agree to do somethi ng towards the establishment of the
constitution which Frederick W illiam III had promised
P russia as far back as 1 8 1 5 when he permitted a P arliament or
As h e allowed it no more
D iet to meet for P russia in 1 847
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A ch ange of
m onar ch s
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W illiam IV
in P russia
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Revi v al of
Li b er alism
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I LLU S T R A T E D
1 30
HI S T OR Y OF M OD E RN
E U R OP E
most of the Austrian E mpire was in an intensely backward
state with th e nobility still preserving m edia v al feudal
privileges over the peasantry and enjoying complete exem p
tion from taxation Already in Hungary led by the fiery
young journalist Loui s Kossuth a movement to introduce
democratic reforms had arisen His first demand was that
th e debates of th e D iet should be held in M agyar not Lati n
Imprisoned for hi s insistence on reporting parliamentary
debates Kossu th emerging after four years continued the
campaign with heroic determination In h i s eff orts to outwit
the police and the law he was reduced to having his pamphlets
lith ographed instead of printed and then finally to having
them copied out by hand In 1 847 this ardent democrat
was elected as member for Budapest to the Hungarian D iet
where though the nobility disapproved of most of his ideas all
co ul d accept hi s championing of Hungary as against Austria
Imm ediately on receipt of the news of th e 1 848 revolution in
France sensing that the hour of democracy had struck
Kossuth on M arch grd came out with a flaming speech in the
Hungarian D iet
From the charnel house of the Viennese
system he said a pestilential breath steals over us which
paralyses our nerves and deadens our national spirit
He
demanded not o nly that Hungary should be equal to Austria
in all respects enjoying a separate Hungarian ministry b ut
’
that the nobles privileges shoul d be abolished and a con
with liberty of the press of
stitutional system established
’
meeting and of association Support of Kossuth s policy was
not lacking from the populace of Budapest who succeeded in
’
’
making their own nobles accept a P eople s Charter
In
’
M arc h and April a series of laws ( the M arch and April Laws )
were carried and the triumphant democrats were ready to
force their acceptance at Vienna
M eanwhile in Vienna itself events had moved in the same
direction Taking their cue from France and from Hungary
3 number of students and professors held a great demonstr ation
on M arch i 2 th
The mob cheerfully developed this the
following day to fighting and an invasion of the palace and
secured important promises from a paralysed and inefficient
government The outcry naturally began with yells of D own
’
with M etternich and the government could thi nk of nothi ng
,
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Kossuth
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Vienna
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T HE
M E T T E RN I C H
P ER I OD
G ER M A N Y
IN
better to do than sacrifice the aged Chancellor to the storm
When it called troops into Vienna they o nl y fraterni z ed with T h
M tt m h
’
th e rabble
M
x
to
u
s
etternich
s
s
r
s
s
i
n
arch
e
e
e
o
n
M
O
(
p
)
1 5th the government prom i sed a constitution and the formation
of a N ational Gu
ard and then on M arch 1 7 th had to accept
the Hungarian demand f or a separate ministry responsible
to the Hungarian D iet al one
These events were rapidly paral leled l n other sections of the R I taml tiom
y m d
Empire
Before M arch was out the Austrians had been driven if h em ia
.
'
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‘
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c
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,
.
ev o
o
.
out of M ilan and Venice and th e King of Piedmont had
declared war with the intention of expelling them from th e
entire Italian peninsul a At A graini n Croatia the Croats
demanded the restoration of their ancient rights
hile at
Prague capital of Bohemia the Cz echs framed constitutional
demands similar to those of the Hungarians T o all th ese a
nerveless Imperial government agreed O nl y 1 n Italy where
war was deciding the issue and in Galicia wh ere the energetic
Austrian governor Count Stadion kept the P oles in check
was there any real resistance In April a single liberal con A
Hungary was to
stitution for all the E mpire was announced
enj oy a separ ate arrangement
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eontim
H I S T O R Y OF M O D E R N
I LLU S T RA T E D
132
E U R O PE
The salvation of the Austrian monarchy h owever soo r
In M ay it touched its lowest depth s
came in spite of itself
wh en after a feeble e ffort to Oppose furth er d emands by Vien
nese agitators the E mperor and his family sudde nl y left
Vienna for Innsbruck on the frontier At the beginning of
11 . S la
m m “
o
f
f
f
h
f
e
une
too
a
great
Congress
the
di
erent
branc
es
o
t
h
j
Slav race Opened in P rague to discuss possible ways of
organiz ing their racial kinship a movement which seemed
dangerous to an E mpire of which the ruler was not by race
Slavonic But j ust when things seemed at their worst for th e
From Italy came news of th e
E mpire the tide began to turn
first success of the Austrian commander R adetsky I n
P rague itself the Austrian Governor W indischgr atz resisted
in th e deman d of the mob for armaments and after a struggle m
w
ggm i? which his palace was attacked and h i s wife shot dead at a
window he withdrew with his troops from the city bombarded
it all night and by morning had completely subdued th e
rebels The Czechs of Boh emia had failed and one part of
the E mpire at least was sav ed
T h e solution of the rest of the di fficulty for the Imperial
government was to come from the very fact which had cause d
most of the trouble—the existence of such a W elter of di fferent
nationalities within the E mpire The important point to
bear in mind is that not only was th e E mpire so composed
but each state within the E mpire was practically a smaller
The Croats and
T h C m “ edition of the E mpire in its varying races
R oumans under Hungarian government now found for
“W m “ example that the rul e of Hungary was rather less to their
taste than that of their previous and more distant masters the
Austrians W hen they clai med from the Hungarians the same
liberty as the Hungarians claimed from the Austrians they
were denied it Before long the Croats under th eir beloved
leader J ellacic, who was a great h ater of th e M agyars and a
loyal servant of the E mperor were at war with Hungary
’
T h ey trusted J ellacic s optimistic view that loyalty to the House
lollaci
of Austria would earn them more concessions t h an revolt
It
was the obvio us if unsavoury policy of the I mperial gove r n
ment to accentuate these national jealousies and then sit back
and watch its various enemies rend each other in pieces
Fresh hope gleamed for the monarch y th e more so since
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H I S T O R Y O F M OD E R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
1 34
EU R O P E
intervention but in vain By J uly an advance by R ussia
from the east the ruthless Austrian general Haynau from th e
west (fresh from triump h ant barbarities in Italy) and J ellagic
from the south rendered the result a foregone conclusion
’
The frantic Hungarian government s belated concessions to
its minorities were useless Kossuth and the Hungarian
generals quarrelled senselessly and finally Kossuth abdicated
and fled into Turkey burying the Iron Crown of St Step h en
on the way The last Hungarian army now laid down arms
and surrendered to the R ussians The R ussians handed
control over to Haynau who found the task of ordering the
and hundreds of imprisonments so
scores
of executions
congenial that at last even Vienna grew ashamed and recalled
him It is a matter of minor importance but of some interest
to note that both Kossuth and Haynau later paid visits to
England Kossuth won a tremendous welcome from the people
and a reception by P almerston in spite of the opposition of the
entire Cabinet Haynau however who had received the nick
’
name of Hyena on a visit to a London brewery was chased by
liberal minded draymen Th ey would have undoubtedly
administered a little of the ch astisement irr which th e dis
tinguish ed visitor specialised had he not been rescued from
th em in the nick of time
I t remained for Austria to take advantage of h er escape
In
Italy with the decisive defeat of the P iedmontese at N ovara
and th e suppression of the Venetian R epublic the anti
Austrian movement had collapsed The Imperial govern
ment was there restored in doubled firmness R oumans
Croats Czechs Hungarians P oles all underwent for their
varying activities a tightening up of control By the end of
1 8 5 1 th e government felt su ffi cientl y secure in Vienna to
abolish the constitution for the E mpire wrung from it in April
But while
1 8 48 and reaction was everywhere triumphant
no portion of the E m pire received greater national independ
ence or constitutional freedom as a result of the events of 1 8 48
to 1 8 5 1 it must not be forgotten that the feudal privileges of the
nobility and the serfdom of the peasantry had disappeared
Just as the first French R evolution in spite
never to return
of the dict atorship of N apoleon preserved the benefits it had
won for the peasantry so did the revolutionary movements of
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HE
W EN
T
A
WA Y W I
TH
A
F LE A
11:
m s EA R
.
—Old S
ayi ng.
A B LE FLE A WHI C H WA S
S KE TC H OF A M OS T RE M A RK
’
F OUN D IN G EN E RA L HA YN A U S E A R
.
A h urnorous pr esentation of one of th e draym en wh o rough h oused
’
’
Haynau on h is fam ous visit to Barclay s Brewery T h e fiea s rem ark
I t is ob vious
refer s to a th r eat of disciplinary action against th e dr aym en
’
’
wh ere P unch s ( and E ngland s) sym path ies lay
'
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HI S T OR Y OF M OD ERN
I LLU S T RA T E D
1 36
achieve th e s a
me result
Hapsburg power
1 8 48
of
in
pite
s
EU R O PE
of th e r e es
tablishment
-
.
3
.
T h e Revolutionary M
ovements
in G erman
y
The sto ry of the revolutionary struggles of these years in
It must first be noted that th e
G ermany must now be told
German demands were bound to diff er somewhat from th ose
in the Austrian E mpire since German liberal feeling was not
complicated by racial differences Consequently whereas
th e subject nations of the E mpire wished to weaken th e central
government to gain greater local liberties most German
Liberals rather wished to set up a s tronger centr al governme nt
togive expression to their national pride
’
Frederick W il liam I V s accession to th e throne of P russia
dem ands
was as we have seen, the signal for revival of German liberal
ism and h e h ad so far kept th e promise of Frederick W illiam III
that in 1 847 he had cal led a parliament for his ki ngdom
W ith the bad harvests starvation and typhoid epidem i cs of
ands had become more urgent
1 8 46 and 1 8 4 7 the liberal de m
and the P russian parliament had framed requests for freedom
trial by jury an income tax and a single
of expression
A N ational N ational German P arliament elected by the people for the
Pa liam ent
whole of Germany They were prepared to let th e old
powerless Confederation D iet exist side by side with this
Frederi ck W illiam however had q ui te other ideas—h e h ad
refused a wr itten constitution and he had instead of setting
up a democratic P arliament for al l G ermany wished simply to
He was in
enl arge the powers of the Confederation D iet
particular concerned with the problem of Austria for her
lands being chiefly non German m i ght lead to her exclusion
“
Germany without Austri a
from an all German P arliament
“
T h attitud he said
face wi thout a nos e
would
be
worse
than
a
It
is
d ick
of F
t kings of th i s stamp who get the big things done in history
and Frederick W illiam was thr oughout extremely nervous of
allowing P russia to take the lead He thus soon fell out with
his newly called Prussian parliament and dissolved it
“
The fall of Louis P hilippe in February 1 8 48— going out by
the same door as he came in by as the Cz ar N icholas bluntly
—
roused
the
same
f
erme
t
in
r
m
a
n
a
s
it
in
G
e
d
t
i
t
a
n
di
th e
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ILLU S T RA T E D
1 38
H I S T OR Y O F M OD E R N
E U R OPE
verythi ng demanded He afterwards referred to it as th e
most terrible day in his life
W hen the German Vorparlament met at Frankfort on
M arch g1 st it thus felt confident in the fact that the monarch s
of both Austria and P russia were too weak to oppose the
national movement The Vorparlament ( a hundred and
forty six members of Which came from P russia but only two
from Austria) was thus able to order elections to be held for
a real parliament or N ational Assembly and to dissolve itself
By M ay this N ational Assembly had met also at Frankfort
It was an extraordinarily talented body containing most of
the w ll known names in literature and scholarship at the
time M any of its members like those of th e parliament of
the first French R evolution were lawyers many were state
officials landowners and manufacturers on the one hand
and working class citize ns on the other however were sadly
lacking It was essentially representative of the professional
middle clas ses
A number of tremendously di fficult tasks co nfronted th e
Assembly the first one being the co nstruction of a constitution
which wo ul d be at once liberal and acceptable to the various
state governments It was not too hard to draw up a list of
’
citiz ens rights such as equality in law freedom from arbitrary
arrest freedom of speech of press and of public meeting
’
th e French D eclaration of the R ights of M an has always
served as a classic example of this sort of thing It was again
quite easy to announce that all German states should have a
constitution and a really representative government All this
was actually pronounced as law in D ecember 1 848 W hat was
not so simple however was to get it all carried out by Austria
P russia and the other governments even if they were
temporarily weak Yet a far more serious problem arose when
the position of Austria was considered Before this happened
th e Assembly had already lost prestige when it reluctantly
’
approved Frederick W illiam s withdrawal of support from the
German party in Schleswig Holstein who were fighting
against the incorporation of these two duchies into the D anish
monarchy (An attempted explanation of thi s one of th e
most complicated questions in E uropean history will occur in
A day of bloodshed and riots in Frankfort
a later chapter )
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G E RM
T HE M E TT E RN I C H PER I OD I N
AN Y
h ad followed, extremists in the mob demonstrating in favo ur
of continuing the war and if necessary fighting the King of
Consequently by the time the Assembly came to
P russia too
tackle the vexed question of who or what was to b e the central
'
.
’
uthority in the new Germany and what exactly Austria s
position was to be much of the early confidence had departed
T h e difficulty about Austria was the fact that most of the P po d
luti n f
Austrian E mpire was non German T h e Assembly was thus th A u t ian
dim ulty
faced with th ree possible solutions—to admit all the Austrian
E mpire into the new Germany to admit onl y the German
part of it or to admit none of it All of them had fatal
’
It would be nonsensical to admit Austria s
objections
thirteen di ff erent races into a state specially formed to express
German nationalism but to exclude them would be to o ffend
Austria The third possibility of omitting Austria entirely
was viewed with horror by Frederick W illiam and by many
other Germans too—a sentiment still visible in th e refusal of
Hitler and the N azis to accept an Austria permanent y sepa
rated from Germany Thus th e solution eventually favoured
was th esecond that of inviting Austria to be a part of the new
state in vir tue of Austria proper but to exclude her E mpire
This coul d not be acceptable to Austria as it woul d mean
that she would be split into two diff erent states The Austrian
government therefore naturally refused such an invitation
and maintained that the whole Assembly should be abolished
possibly with larger
and the old Confederation restored
powers As yet however she could not take any more active T h e
1
steps in opposition for with th e E mpire crumbling on account fla
x:
of th e various nationalist movements sh e was powerless
The opposition of Austria to the ideas of Frankfort thus T h
A
m b ly
compelled the Assembly to look to the next greatest state fl
F d i k
Prussia for leadership
It was not b yany great majority that W illiam
th
’
G e m an
the Crown of the new German E mpire was o ff ered to C wn
Frederick W illiam for by this time there were few illusions on
the subject of his views and character He had too by now
recovered his position in P russia somewhat by granting a
constitution which still preserved a great deal of monarch ical
power N evertheless if it could not be Austria it must be
Prussia and so the invitation was dul y tendered to Frederick
William ( M arch
a
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se
so
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H I S T OR Y OF M OD E RN
ILLU S T RA T E D
1 40
E U R OPE
monarch now feeling more confident had little
’
h esitation in refusing th e crown of shame o ff ered by a
re volutionary assembly—
or rather declaring that he wo ul d
not accept it until it was o ff ered by the various kings and
princes of Germany which was an impossibility Further
he knew that Austria was entirely opposed to the whole
movement and equally to P russian l eadershi p of it and that
acceptance of the crown might meanwar T h e Cz ar N icholas
too was almost equally likely to pour troops into Germany to
stop a nationalist liberal movement There was moreover
h is h istoric duty as King of P russia—would it not b e better
from th at point of view to follow the ideas of a young politician
named Bismarck and aim at absorbing Germany into P russia
rat h er th an sinking P russia into Germany ? So Frederick
W illiam kept to the path of c onservatism and prudence
“
admitting frankly that Frederick the Great would have been
the man for such an occasion—as for h i mself he was not a
great ruler
He followed this up by refusing the consent of
Prussia to the whole laboriously compil ed national cons titution
and by withdrawing the P russian delegates from Frankf ort
Prussian troops too were employed to put down any conse
quent insurrections in Germany Austria had already with
drawn h er delegates the other monarchs soon followed s ui t,
and by th e end of 1 849 the last vestiges of the Assembly and its
constitution had disappeared Thus ended in failure a great
design to combine German nationalism and democracy
nobly planned but fantastical ly diff i cult of execution It is
one of th e greatest tragedi es of 1 9th century history that
Germany co ul d eventually achieve union not by the idealism
of Frankfort but only by the M achiavellia nrealism of Bismarck
T h e story has one tail piece I n 1 849 Frederick W illiam
gave h is assent to the creation of some more acceptable and
less democratic al ternative in the form of a union of any
willing states under P russian l eadership This started
promisingly receiving the adhesion of several petty states and a
few of the larger ones besides the approval of a
the late delegates to Frankfort A constitution was even drawn
up elections held and a parliament called—but at the critical
moment owing to the oppositi on of Austria and the largest
states Frederick W illiam abandoned this his lates t o ff spring,
T h at
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1 42
I LLU S T R A T ED
H I S T OR Y O F M O D E R N
E U R O PE
wh ich accordingly perish ed For a moment he thought of
resistance when the old Confederation was resurrected by
Austria and encouraged to support one notorious German
tyrant in his quarrel with his subj ects But at the last moment
after P russian troops were mobiliz ed he again gave way and
at O lmutz agreed to the Austrian demands N othing was
left but to consent to the revival and the activities of the
Co nfederation in its 1 8 1 5 form
So Austria secur e again in its own house triumphed all
al ong the line not o nl y over revolution but also over P russia
O f all the turmoil of 1 848 in central E urope the only notable
gain for liberalism apart from the freedom won by peasants
from their lords in the Austrian E mpire was the watered
down constitution wh i ch survived in Prussia M onarchy was
on top agam the v ar1 ous rabbles subdued natl onall st
claims frustrated I n 1 8 5 1 as though to c omplete the restora
tion of the old E urope shak en but still supreme there returned
to Vienna to live for some years yet as a revered E lder
’
S tatesman —M etter ni ch
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Silica
S ub m ission,
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on top
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CHAPT E R VIII
Th e
U nification of I taly,
—1 8 70
1815
Vienna to t
h e 1 848 Revolutions
f
In consider1 ng th e hysterical nationalism which marks
’
’
M ussolini s Italy and Hitler s Germany we are o ften apt to
forget that Italy and Germany are such recent creations
E ngland was already a single national state in the M iddle
Ages but both Italy and Germany consisted of many diff erent
states until only two generations ago Further in the case of
Italy some of these states were under foreign rul e N ational ism
to both Germany and Italy is thus rather a new and exciting
thing while the first flush of enth usm sm for it has somewhat
worn —
W ith so
off in older states like France and E ngland
much by way of general comment let us now follow th e
process by which dur ing th e 1 9th century the country Italy
’
or
geographical
expression
a
s M etternich put it ) became
(
the state Italy
T h e arrangements of th eCongress of Vienna affected Italy T h w rk
f N apoleon
no less than the rest of E urope N apoleon in his first and i
subsequent Italian campai gns h ad played havoc with the then
existing divi si ons and now it was necessary to put something
in their place He himself had aroused at first the enth usiasm
of Italians by his pro m i ses of reform a nd freedom and indeed
the French government had everywhere introduced modern
ideas and improvements in admi ni stration He had reduced
the divisions of the country to three established the enlightened
French legal codes constructed roads and bridges U lti
m ately however as with all territories he conquered N apoleon
had betrayed the trust of th e inhabitants by repressive police
measures and taxation He had too robbed Italy of its mos t
’
precious works of art His Kingdom of Italy moreover had
included only the north N evertheless he had inspired many
Italians with a genuine desire for freedom and reform and th e
1.
From th e C ongress
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1 43
o
1 44
HI S T ORY OF M OD E R N
I LLU S T RA T ED
E U R O PE
Congress of Vienna might have seemed a suitable moment for
h
iving
shape
to
t
ese
aspirations
g
U nfortun
ately as we have seen pretty frequently by now
th e Congress of Vienna had littl e realization of the importance
Cons equently when Italy
of either nationalism or reform
was reorganized in 1 8 1 5 most of the old political division
were restored and th e power of Austria was doubled by her
This meant that in all there were some
acquisition of Venetia
th irteen states set up in Italy which with some uni mportant
These reading f rom
exceptio ns fell into five main groups
south to north were
’
( A) N aples and S icily or the Kingdom of the Two S icilies
poverty stricken infested with brigands and ruled with
cruelty and inefficiency by Ferdinand I
a member of the
Spanish Bourbon family
( B) Th e P apal S tates ruled b y the P op e and therefore by
now invariably by an Italian but disputing with N aples and
Sicily the claim to be the worst governed section of the
country The clergy had a strangleh old over freedom of
thought and the Inquisition and torture were employed against
those whose politics were liberal or whose ideas in general were
at all modern
It was dangerous to proclaim th e theory that
th e earth revolved round the sun since the media
eval Churc h
had thought otherwise O nly about 2 per cent of the rur al
popul ation could read The development of communications
was somewhat hindered by th e fact that before long the P ope
prohibited the introduction of the railway and th e telegrap h
into his dom ains
M
o
e
n
a
r
m
a
T
a
n
a
c
C
d
P
a
n
d
u
s
( )
y in Central Italy were
three independent duchies
A ll of them were b etter governed
th an the states of the south as their rulers were more mildly
disposed and more concerned with the cul tural welfare of their
T his applied
subj ects than were the P ope or Ferdinand
’
especially to the D uchess of P arma N apoleon s second wife
But all three rulers as far as
th e easy going M arie Louise
th e Italians were concerned were tain ted with one unforgivable
sin— they were Austrians
( D ) Lomb ardy and Venetia were the sections direc tly under th e
Lombardy, with its capital
r ule of the Austrian E mpire
lV
Iilan was the most fertile district in Italy and Venetia with
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I LLU S T R A T E D
1 46
H I S T OR Y O F M OD E RN
E U ROPE
egarded by the Italians with detestation throughout th e
length and breadth of the peninsula To those who hoped
for better things it s
eemed th at improvement could come
unless the P apacy should suddenly reform its whole adm ini
str ation
onl y from the one really Italian state— P iedmont
’
Accordingly it came about that men s eyes gradually focused
on P iedmont as a possible nucleus of Italian unity That
however was later the first step was not union but merely
local independence from foreign or despotic rule M eantime
in 1 8 1 5 it was true that Italy coul d no more be called a nation
’
than a stack of timber could be called a s h ip
fter the Congress of Vienna that the first
It
was
not
long
a
C a b na i
and h i
explos1 o n
occurred
Italy
was honeycombed by secret
lt in
N apl
societies aiming at independence T here were many of them
18
but th e most important was th e Society of the Carbonari
In 1 8 2 0 following a momen
( literally charcoal
tarily successful revolution in Spain some leading Carb onari
in N aples raised the standard of revolt against Ferdinand
and being either unopposed or assisted by the royal troops
managed with absurd ease to force that monarch to issue a
constitution The constitution concerned was a r e issue of
the Spanish one of 1 8 1 2 a very advanced document involving
’
the abolition of nobles and clerical rights and privileges
including the power of the Inquisition and th e setting up of
The King swore a
a democratically elected parliament
“
great oath to ob serve it faithfully
O mnipotent God—if I
lie do thou at this moment an ni hilate me
Then he obtained
permission from his ministers to go to the conf erence of Lai
“
bach to obtain the sanction of th e powers for our newly
acquired liberties
At Laibach he promptly proceeded to
disown the whole movement and to beseech Austria to send
n troops to restore him to the ful l height of his former powers
S upp
by A u t a
This as we have seen in the chapter on the Congress System
was soon done by M etternich, and the first eff ort had fail ed
Th
M
ea
n
whi
l
e
in
P
iedmont
similar
outbreak
had
occurred
a
C a b na i
lt in
to
wring
a
co
nstitution from the old King
Again
the
P i dm nt
1 82 1
Carbonari took the lead and endeavoured to link up the
movement with a revolt against the Austrians in Lombardy
After the Ki ng of P iedmont had abdicated and P rince Charles
Albert acting as regent h ad granted a constitution the new
r
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T HE U N IFI C A T I ON
o r I T A LY,
1 815
-
1 8 70
ki ng revoked th is measure T h e result was a civil war in
which the forces of absol utism ai ded by th e Austrians beat
in
Thus no con
th e Liberals at th e battle of N ovara
aa
and in Lombardy the 8
stitution was gained in P iedmont
Austrian fetters were riveted on more strongly than ever
T h e year 1 8 3 0 with its revolutions in France and Belgium {123mm
naturally evoked similar tremors in Italy Again under th e P 9 1 S m “
influence of th e Carbonari the P apal States came out in
’
rebellion As usual th e distressed rul er s appeal to Austria
fell on ready ears and the P ope had the pleasure of seeing th e
Austrian wh itecoats suppress his rebellious subjects A new
complication now arose for the French jealous of Austrian
interference in th e P apal States also sent an army there So
yet anoth er rising h ad failed and th e inadequacy of Carbonari
conspiracies against absolutist armies was apparent to all
Something greater some more n ational movement was needed
before anyth ing could be done
It was the work of M azzini to supply th is need In the M azzini
unification of Italy th ere are three great names which sta nd
—
f
P
them
subjects
o
iedmont
M azz ini Cavour and
o
f
l
u
t
o
al
Garibaldi O f these Garibaldi was th e soldier Cavour th e
statesman and M azzani th e prophet From his child h ood
onwards M azz ini never ceased to think of th e woes of h is
country—in fact he always wore black as a sign of mourning
for it ! As soon as h i s student days were ended he joined the
Carbonari and sacrificed his vi si ons of earning fame as a
great writer for the even more thorny paths of political
Indeed he came to th e conclusion th at no great
agitation
art could be produced by Italians until Italy was free Arrested
and imprisoned for conspiracy after 1 83 0 b y the P iedmontese
government he was soon exiled from h is native land T h e
accession of th e more liberal C h arles Albert to th e th rone of
P iedmont in 1 8 3 1 brought a great appeal fr om M az z ini in
exile at M arseilles to the King to assume th e leaders h ip of
“
“
the movement for freedom
A ll Italy waits for one word
on
e only— to m ake h ersel f yours
place yourself at th e
head of the nation and write on your banner U nion Liberty
’
Independence —proclaim the liberty of though t—liberate
I taly from the barbarians—on this conditio n we bind ourselves
round you we pro ff er you our lives we wi ll lead to yo ur
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H IS T O R Y O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
1 48
E U R OP E
banner the little States of Italy—we will preach th e word that
creates armies U nite us Sire and we shall conquer
But
Charles Albert was not ready for such a programme and
M azzini had to fall back on organizing the society of Young
’
T h is famous association was an efl or t to improve on
Italy
th e work of the Carbonari by appealing to a wider number of
people including the lower classes and by supplying a great
ideal whi ch would have the force of a religion Its watch
’
word was U nity and Independence As a fervent preacher
self sacrifice and rebellion
of the necessity of education
’
M azz ini was so successful and the Young Italy Society
took suc h a hold that he was eventually exi led from France
too From Switz erland hi s next home h e organized an
invasion of Savoy in 1 8 3 3 which failed hopelessly and only
brought terrible punishment on the Liberals by the frightened
Charles Albert E xiled from Switzerland , h e found refuge in
E ngland wh ence h e continued to direct th e affairs of h is
Society It may be noted that he was by now a convinced
republican having naturally long since ceased to hope any
’
th ing from the King of P iedmont W hile M azzini s m is
sionar y work however advanced to a remarkable extent th e
desire for unity and freedom among Italians his strict
republicani sm was later to prove an obstacle wh en a King of
P iedmont appeared wh o was willing to lead the national
movement
T h e next moment of importance in the making of Ital y
occurred in the year 1 846 when a new P ope P ius IX was
elected The personality of P ius IX proved to be a matter of
extreme importance He was kind hearted hated the tortures
he had witnessed in the P apal States was prepared for con
cessions in a muddle headed way but was tem peramentally
unstable owing to fits of epilepsy and not at all the whole
hearted liberal he was at first taken for But th e fact that
th ere was now a P ope wh o was not an out and out reactionary
and above all that this P ope as the first act of h is régime
released all th e hundreds of political prisoners in th e P apal
States was bound to make Italians expect more of him than
he could give P opular enthusiasm for the P ope rose to a
great height and intelligent Liberals such as Gioberti ,
planned a great uni on of Ital y not under P iedmont but under
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I LLU S T R A T E D
1 50
H IS T OR Y OF M OD E R N
E U R OP E
A few minor successes greeted the opening of Charles
’
Albert s campaign in the north but after R adetsky h ad
a
Cut
fatally
and N
ara received reinforcements the c h ances of th e Italians
handicapped by divisions between P iedmontese Lombards
and Venetians were sligh t At last desperately attacking one
wing of the Quadrilateral Charles Albert was defeated at
By August R adetsky was back
C ustozza and h ad to retire
in M ilan In M arch 1 849 following a renewed outbreak in
Vienna Charles Albert was again encouraged to march his
forces into Lombardy but once more he was beaten—this
time on the battlefield of N ovara already before fatal to
Italian uni ty Having in vain sough t death on the field the
A b di ati n unfortunate monarch abdicated in favour of his son Victor
f C ha l
A lb t
E mmanuel II and retired to P ortugal where he died heart
broken within a few months
R
t b
eanwhile
exciting
events
had
be
e
n
taking
place
in
the
M
li h m nt f
southern states In N aples King Ferdinand had succeeded
in taking advantage of the chaos brought about by
inexperienced Liberal ministers and had recovered his
authority By M ay 1 849 following intense and most cruel
bombardment of Sicilian towns which earned for Ferdinand
’
the nickname of King Bomba Sicily too gave way Stouter
resistance however occurred in the P apal States Here in
February 1 849 after the murder of the P apal prime minister
R ossi the refusal of the P ope to grant real democracy and his
’
Th
consequent
flight
to
seek
Ferdinand
s
protection
a
republic
R m an
R pub li
had been declared
It soon fell under the influence of
M azzini who hurried there to advance the movement and
who initiated a series of great reforms in the P apal States
The P ope however had appealed to the powers of E urope
and had found in Louis N apoleon President of the French
It was not of course th at Louis
R epublic a source of aid
N apoleon a man of th e modern world wished simply to
restore the power of the P ope—it was onl y that he was
Which at that time
anxious to placate opinion at h ome
F n h
m inantly clerical an
d
appeared
to
him
predo
pro
P
ope
In
inte vent on
any case the Fren ch force eventually overcame the heroic
resistance of R ome and by July 1 849 the R oman R epublic
was at an end and the P ope restored So Venice al one was
left as a centre of resistance to absolutism and by August
C h arles
A lb ert
defeated at
s o zz
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ILLU S T RA T E D HIS T O R Y O F M OD E RN
1 52
EU R O P E
faced with starvation, cholera, and ceaseless bomb ar d
ment, M ani n had at last to give in T h e triumph of despotism
was complete N aples , Sicily, R ome , Ve ni ce, Lombardy, h ad
For the cause of I talian unity the
all r ebelled and failed
year 1 848 seemed to be entirely negative
Yet if nothing positive was achieved during the revolutionary
movements of 1 848 in Italy, at least two steps forward were
gained In th e first place a bold, patriotic ki ng, determined
on national uni ty, had succeeded in P iedm ontl —
Victor
He was a fiery little man, revoltingly ugly,
Emmanuel II
1 849,
—
C ollapse
.
.
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'
Victor E m
m anuel I I
.
with coarse tastes and passions but his devotion to the
national cause was never in doubt—a great advance over any
previous king of P iedmont Secondly the defence of R ome
against th e French h ad not only provided an epic of resistance
and proved that Italians could be heroic m the service of their
ideal but it had brought to th e fore another of the real makers
Garibal di
of Italy—
Thi s remarkable man Gar ibaldi born at N ice h ad
r un away from hi s parents at the age of fifteen and h ad
taken up a career on th e sea W on over to the society of
’
Young I taly h e deliberately entered the P iedmontese navy
’
wi th the object of inducing it to mutiny in favour of M azzini s
The first time he saw h is name in print was when
1 8 33 plo t
escaped to France h e read that he had been condemned to
death and thus having made Italy too hot to hold him h e
disappeared to South America for twelve years Here he
fought for U ruguay against th e Brazilian E mpire and
A rgentina and learned in the wild South American conditions
the arts of intrepid horsemans hi p and guerill a warfare He
also acqui red a wife Anita who shared h is dangerous lif e m
th e saddle and on the battlefield , he had seen her firom h is ship
through a telescope gone straight to her house said You must
’
b e mine, and stolen h er fiom under th e nos e of a baff led rival !
As well as a wife h e acquired a political or military uniform
O rigi nally th ey were probably the
th e fam ous r ed sh i rt
workers who
sh i rts worn by Ar gentine slaughter house
adopted such a costum e to m ake th e blood of th e cattle l ess
noticeable b ut they were soon to become in E urop e th e sign
’
of th e mos t remarkable guerilla force ever created Garibaldi s
vol unteers
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G arib aldi
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H IS T O R Y O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T R A T ED
1 54
EU R O P E
years he then devoted hi mself to agric ulture on his estates
and gained knowledge wh ich he was later to use for the b enefit
of P iedmont
He became too a great student of E nglish
affairs hailing with approval Catholic E mancipation and th e
passing of the great R eform Bill of 1 8 3 2 O n his travels he
’
spent many an evening in the Strangers Gallery of the House
following th e debates and making himself
of Commons
familiar with every detail of parliamentary practice and
government E conomic subjects like the P oor Law Free
Trade Communism R ailways he studied above all By
1 8 4 7 he had founded a paper in P iedmont the Risorgimento
’
—
R
esurrection
the name usually applied to the whole
(
process of Italian unification) Its main object was naturally
to advocate constituti onal government and the independence
of Italy
N ot unnaturally therefore Cavour was one of the
’
members of P iedm ont s first parliament called after the
granting of th e constitution in 1 8 48 By 1 8 50 following his
skill in pushing the ecclesiastical laws he was created M inister
In th ese positions
of Commerce and by 1 8 52 P rime M inister
he began a work of th e greatest importance—building up
He removed duties concluded
th e prosperity of P iedmo nt
trade treaties had railways built started Atlantic mail
steamers passed important laws on companies co operative
U nder h is
so cieties and banks and reorganized the army
skilful guidance P iedmont by transform i ng itself into a modern
state gave itself the essential equipment for the coming
conflict
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T h e Unification of I taly,
1 859
—87
1
0
The strength of the modern state Cavour was creating was
soon to be tested Always a schemer of the very deepest ki nd
Cavour calculated when the Crimean W ar broke out that it
would advance the cause of Italy if P iedmont were to aid
France and E ngland against R ussia N ot only would it
prevent any possible R ussian supremacy in the M editerranean
but it would establish a claim to the gratitude of E ngland and
Fr ancc and bring P iedmont into the limelight at the peace
Q
conf erence The result was highl y successful T h e P ied
montese troops distinguished themselves in the Crimea and
at th e conference of P aris in 1 8 56 Cavour drew attention to
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H I S T OR Y O F M O D E R N
ILLU S T R A T E D
x5 6
EU R O P E
th e
woes of Italy and pointed to Austria as the main cause of
’
them
Further in answer to N apoleon I l I s famous question
“
—
W hat can
( a most S trange one in the mouth of a diplomat )
I do for Italy — Cavour not o nly told him but showed how
to do it D uring th e next two years the Franco P iedmontese
friends h ip slowly matured towards an alliance
T hen came
’
th e news of the terrible attempt on the E mperor s life by
O rsini a great patriot and a notable figure in the R oman
Italy held her breath and Cavour regarded
R epublic of 1 8 49
his life work as ruined but the strange consequence as we
have seen in Chapter VI was onl y to bring home even more
strongly to N apoleon the necessity of aiding Italy So in
1 8 58 he and Cavour concluded the pact of P lombi e
res by
which France was to help drive th e Austrians from Lombardy
and Venetia i n return for the cession of Savoy and N ice by
P iedmont
It was now a question of securing a declaration of war
without putting Piedmont and France too obviously in the
wrong T his was done all very ski lfully by piling up arms
arranging frontier incidents and the like till Austria suddenl y
losing patience sent a fatal ul timatum demanding th at
P iedmont naturally refused and
P iedmont should disarm
Austria declared war thereby appearing th e aggr essor It
was all against th e advice of the aged M etternich who pl eaded
’
“
For God s sake no ulti
1n vam to the Austrian E mperor
“
—
matum
But Cavour was joyful
The die is cast he
“
said
we have made some history now let us h ave some
dinner
France d uly stepped in to protect P iedmont and
by June 1 8 59 Victor E mmanuel and N apoleon III had won
the two great battles of M agenta and Solferino thereby
capturing Lombardy It was at th is stage as we have seen
that N apoleon disgusted with the bloodshed daunted by th e
strength of the Quadrilateral and fiigh tened by th e clerical
outcry at home and the menacing attitude of P russia on th e
R hine suddenl y made an armistice with the Austria nE mperor
’
at Vill afranca C av our s rage was terrible he resigned his
position and meditated suicide as he thought how near P ied
mont had been to even greater th i ngs In h is desperation he
even advised Victor E mmanuel to continue the war without
’
France s help—a piece of counsel whi ch the monarch with
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T HE
O F I T A LY ,
U N I FI C A T I ON
—1 8 70
1815
1 59
bequeathed to h is unfortunate suc cessor a legacy of
h atred which was bound to break out in rebellion before
long
T h e rebellion duly came in 1 8 6 0 in the southernmost half G fl h di
anz g
Sicily It was the opportunity T h un nd
of the N eapolitan kingdom
s
which Garibaldi whose thoughts had long dwelt on the
southern tyranny had been waiting for Following his
escape from R ome in 1 849 when he eluded four armies and
’
ten generals h e had wandered round E urope and the N ew
W orld and earned h is living as a candle maker a sea captain,
and finally in a little island Caprera off Sardinia as a farmer
In the war of P iedmont and France against Austria in 1 8 59
Cavour had employed him as a guerilla captain and h e had
But
carried on a very success ful little campaign in the Alps
’
h e like M azzini was infuriated by C av our s cession of his
“
“
—
T h ey h av e made me
native N ice to France
he said a
N apoleon was to him a
foreigner in the land of m y birth
’
vulpine knave and Cavour a low intriguer
He was even
planning a raid on the ballot boxes to stop the N ice plebiscite
when—fortunately the gr eater task of an expedition to aid the
Sicilian revolt attracted his imagination The enterprise
origi nally s uggested by M az zi ni proved to be one of the biggest
romances of history . A thousand picked volunteers gathered
’
at Genoa ready to sail at a moment s notice Cavour and
Victor E mma nuel had to play a tricky game encouragi ng
Garibaldi m secret but publicly hindering and disavowing him
to avoid official P iedmontese complicity which might have
meant war w
ith Austria They stopped him getting recruits
they stopped him getting the
from the P iedmontese army
mod ern rifles a patriotic fund had paid for But in the l ong
run frightened though they were that he would if successful
go on to attack the P apal States which would bring about a
fatal clash with France they let him sail
Firearm s —old
converted flintlocks though Cavour may not have known their
’
—
condition eventually arrived registered as books
Above
all in spite of o fficial orders issued nothing was done at the
last moment to stop them embarking though futile telegrams
’
were later despatched by Cavour to order Garibaldi s arrest
“
if he put into a Sardinian port
But Cavour knew like
th e rest of the world that h e was going to Sicil y
h ad
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1 60
I LLU S T R A T ED
H I S T OR Y O F M O D E R N
E U R OP E
The landing at M arsala ( Sicily) was amazingly fortunate
The governmental b atteries and troops could easily have
prevented it but the two little steamers arrived together with
a powerful detachment of the British navy There was
actually no connection between them—the British ships had
turned up to enf orce respect for British property at M arsala
but the garrison thought there was and frightened at the
prospect of taking on the might of E ngland refrained from
firing at the Thousand who coolly disembarked E ven th e
red s h irts at first were taken for British u niform s and when at
length the commander realized hi s mistake it was too late
the force had been landed with the net loss of one man
wounded in the shoulder and one dog wounded in the leg
From that romantic beginning the Thousand brilliantly led
by their chief and supported by the sympathy and finally th e
physical force of the inhabitants soon conquered Sicily
’
P erhaps the peak point was when Garibaldi s force with only
f
muskets
le
t
betwe
n
them
watched
de
eated
0
e
f
37
It had all been accomplished
N eapolitan troops march away
inside a couple of months
T h e elated Garibaldi now proposed to cross the Straits of
M essina land in South Italy and continue the good work on
the mainland of the N eapolitan kingdom T his was very
satisfactory to Cavour as long as Garibaldi continued to forget
his old republicanism and rem ained faithful to hi s new watch
’
word of Italy and Victor E mmanuel
But would he
A nd
would he take the dreaded step of attacking R ome
Cavour
was highly nervous but agai n he decided to risk it The
ability of Garibaldi to cross th e Straits depended in the last
resort on the do m i nant naval power in the M editerranean
I f E ngland ranged her battleships there he could
E ngland
N apoleon III frightened of an attack on
not get across
Rome and alarmed at the rapid increase of P iedmont pro
posed to E ngland that a joint Anglo French force should close
the Straits to Garibaldi The leaders of the E nglish cabinet
were th ree very good friends of Italian unity P almerston
R ussell and Gladstone and they appe al ed to P iedmont to
’
know what were C av our s wishes Cavo ur agai n acting
cleverly openly requested E ngland to join with France in
stopping Garibaldi— and privately sent a s pecial envoy to
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I LLU S T R A T E D
162
H I S T OR Y
OF M OD E RN
EU ROPE
In 1 86 1 a new parliament for all the realm met at
Yet there remained two
T urin the P iedmontese capital
sections of Italy still outside the fold—two gaping wounds still
—
T
R
f
unh ealed
hey were Venetia and ome itsel the one held
by the Austrians the other by French troops on behalf of the
T h e untimely death of Cavour in 1 8 6 1 robbed the
P ope
P iedmont
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_
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T HE M A N
v
_
n E
W ill G
—M —L
I
.
W ON
DE R
arib aldi surr ender
IN
P OS S E S S I ON
W HE N
S icily
and
.
HE WI LL OP EN
N
aples to
T HE D OOR;
V ictor Em
anuel
?
new Italy of the man who might have prevented the chaos of
the next few years In 1 86 2 Garibaldi impatient as ever
with some volunteers from Sicily made a dash for R om e He
had to be b eld up by P iedmontese troops and while trying to
prevent civil war was shot in the foot It was a terrible
humiliation Another was to follow in 1 8 66 when Italy
allied with P russia in a war against Austria The Italians
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T HE P OP I S H ORG A N
ru
90
Nu
’
WHY D ON T Y OU M A KE HIM
‘
N UIS AN CE
.
’
M OVE ON ? HE D IS T URB S THE
P EA CE OF T HE E N T I RE HOT E L.
1 64
HIS T O R Y O F M O D E RN
I LLU S T RA T E D
E U ROP E
were be aten by the Austrians at C ustozz a and suff ered a
crushing disaster at sea O nly Garibaldi in the Alps was
successful T h e war however was won by th e overwhelmi ng
P russian victory at Sadowa and in spite of the Italian fail ure
Bismarck contemptuously tossed Italy her promised reward
of Venetia
S O onl y R ome remained
In 1 8 6 7 Garibaldi made another
dash for it but his forces were badly beaten by the French with
’
their new Chassepot rifles Finally in 1 8 70 when the
Franco P russian war broke out N apoleon I II in his need for
troops had to withdraw the garrison from R ome and th e
’
Pope s last stronghold could fall to th e Italians without the
danger of a war with France In anger the P ope retired as a
vol untary prisoner to his palace of the Vatican whence no
P Ope ever emerged till the recent treaty arranged by M ussolini
by which the P ope was given the Vatican City to rule over in
complete independence—a territory a m i le and a half square
By 1 8 70 Italy was thus united and free It had been a
stirring story yet disillusion was already beginning P erhaps
th e count r y was made too quickly—without the guiding hand
of Cavour it soon proved to have little skill in managing
parliamentary aff airs or even in suppressing beggary and
brigandage D isgusted with the events of the last few years
Garibaldi dashed off to France to fight for freedom and the
new French republic against the P russian m ilitary machine
( It was a tradition his descendants maintained for six of h is
grandsons raised a volunteer Italian regiment to help France
M a z zini , in exile was
in another hour of need in
heartbroken about it all The free republic of self sacrificing
patriots he had dreamed of was far fr om a fact Garibaldi
’
who could have achieved it had in M azzini s Opinion been
The
fooled all th e time by Cavour and Victor E mmanuel
“
f
reat
gueri
l
ch
e
said
azzini
had
a
heart
gold
and
i
f
M
o
l
a
g
a similar impression to that made on
th e brains of an ox —
’
th e E nglish poet Tennyson who spoke of Garibaldi s poss essing
“
the di vine stupidi ty of a hero
At any rate to M azzi ni
’
bril liant as C avour s tactics had often been the wh ole process
of unification had been carried out by the wrong means by
double dealings and s hifty diplomacy bound to end in
“
“
U nity he s aid already by 1 8 60 you m ay
demoralizati on
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16 6
ILLU S T R A T E D
HI S T O R Y O F M OD E R N
E U R OPE
onsider as settled and so far so good The rest is all wrong
“
—
The
I shall have no more joy in Italy
O r again
country with its contempt for al l ideals has killed th e soul
within me
The unification of Ital y like that of Germany
illustrates the eternal tragedy of politics—that great ends can
often be achieved onlv by means which rob th e ends of a gre at
deal of their worth
c
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CHAP T E R IX
.
Bism arck
U nification of G
—
1 85 1 1 8 7 1
;
and th e
er m any,
The great ideal of a united and liberal Germany for wh ich
th e Frankf or t P arliament strove had come to nought wit h in
two years Frederick W illiam of P russ1 a had refused to accept
the leadership of the national movement and without P russian
leadersh ip it was lost By 1 8 5 1 the supremacy of Austria in
Germany was again estab lished , the old powerless Confedera
tion of 1 8 1 5 was revived and everything seemed to be as
before the revolutions Y et with in twenty years Germans of
all states were un
i ted in the new German E mpir e proclaimed
’‘
at V é i sailles i n 1 8 7 1 Such a transformation such an
achi evement is the W ork of one m an above all others
Bismarck
Bismarck one Of the most brilliant diplomatists of all time B i m arck
dwarfed every other politician in Germany outb lufied even
pletely
Lord P almerston and outwitted N apoleon III so co m
as to make the French E mperor rather a pathetic figure By
origin he was a P russian
or landed gentleman whose
family had enjoyed the rank of nobility and shared in local
gov ernment from the fou
rteenth century H e inherited an
agnificent set of
estate of w h ich he was passionately fond a m
brains a tremendous p hysique indomitable will power and
the poli tical prin ciples of his class These were naturally
hi ghly autocratic intensely conserv auv e and distrustful of
new ideas especia lly those of a liberal tendency It was
nevertheless this aristocrat who despised both the ideals and
the political capacity of the majority who succeeded where the
Liberals of 1 848 ha d failed
After a conventi onal um v ersity education i n which Hi ea ly
m
duelling and beer dri h king occupied the greatest prominence
h e entered the P russian civil service and served his year in th e
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1 67
r
I LLU S TR A T ED
1 68
H I S T OR Y OF M O D E RN
E UR OP E
army His civil service career however was too monotonous
to absorb h is restless energies which tended to find a surplus
outlet in gambling and general dissipation In 1 8 3 9 he retired
from the service to devote himself to h i s estates studying the
science of agricul ture as hard as another maker of destiny
Cavour He rapidly gained a demonic reputation locally for
h is vices his physical energy hi s enormous consumption of
drink and cigars and for playful little pranks such as awakening
guests by firing pistol shots through their windows But he
was too devouring books of all kinds making h i mself th e
master of many fields of knowledge W ith his belief in religion
at length restored and a happy m arriage to tame h i s wildness
by 1 848 Bismarck h ad acquired th e stability to b e on th e
thres h old of great achievements
T h e Liberal revolution of that year found in Bism arck one
of its bitter est O pp onents
As an aristocrat he disagreed with
th e idea of democracy
as a P russian he h ated the thought
Germany In the P russian
of P russia being merged in
Parliament of 1 8 4 7 h e Opposed with all h i s force th e Liberal
schemes speaking with a stinging and reckl ess eloquence
against them His attitude was so extreme that Frederick
W illiam feared to promote hi m to Office regarding h i m as
’
only to be employed when the bayonet reigns
In truth
Bismarck believed that nothing coul d b e done without force
h e therefore strove to preserve the greatest force avai lable in
Germany th e extremely militarist state of P russi a Though
h e was not called to o ffice in the critical days of 1 848 h is advice
made its impression on Frederick W illiam In 1 8 5 1 when th e
P russian monarchy at the expense of humiliation before
Austria and desertion of the national movement had regai ned
Bismarck was appointed Prussian
its power in P russia
representative at the revived Confederation D iet
As the representative of Prussia in the D iet from 1 85 1 to
Hitherto
1 8 58 Bismarck underwent a change of viewpoint
now he became awar e
hi s ideas had been purely conservative
of the fact that there was a real problem in the weakness of a
divided Germany He resolved on uniting Germany b ut
not at the price of sur rendering the tradition and the power
His solution of the German probl em was thus
of P russia
not the Liberal one of a free union under a P russian king
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/
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,
,
1
I LLU S T R A T ED
70
H I S T OR Y O F M OD E RN
EU RO PE
The reason for their attitude was not so much that they
disapproved of a large P russian ar my but that they wanted
by making the King agree for example to a two year instead
to assert the control Of
of a t h ree year period of training
P arliament over th e King and h is ministers
O bviously a
matter which concerned everybody in two ways—military
t aining and finance—was a s ui table issue over which to take
up th e struggle The conflict in fact began to run on similar
lines to that between C h arles I of E ngland and his Opponents
who at base was the real ruler king Or parliament P M ean
while the King went ahead and created the new regiments
by money which was not voted for that purpos e A P arlia
ment overwhelmingly against him threw out the budget
prepared by his ministry The situation was becoming peril
ously near civil war or the surrender and abdication of W illiam
It was at this stage that the King turned like Charles I to
Strafford to th e strong man who s e appointment meant no
compromise The di ff erence was that while Charles and
Strafford had no army W illiam and Bismarck had one of the
finest fighting machines in E urope at their disposal In
1 8 6 2 Bismarck who had S ince 1 8 59 been more or less out of
the way as P russian ambassador first at St P etersburg and
then at Paris was summoned to Berlin by a telegram fr om
“
It read
Come The pear is ripe D anger in
R oon
delay
Hastening to the capital he persuaded the King to
tear up a document of abdication the monarch had prepared
and to carry out the struggle to a finish O n the same day as
the budget was agai n rejected by P arliament Bismarck was
appointed M inister P resident The destiny of P russia was at
last in h is hands and with that the destiny not only of
Germany but of half E urope
The appointment created the gr eatest sur prise throughout
Where statesmen betted how long th e new
E urope
minister woul d last and the greatest consternation thr oughout
P russia where it was regarded as a deliberate affr o nt to th e
Hardly anyone realized either th e enormous
Liberals
ability of Bism arck or the growing strength of the state h e was
to govern with its army its devoted civil service its advanced
educational system and its expanding commerce Bismarck
h im self seemed to go out of h is way to slap th e Liberals
,
,
"
-
,
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r
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—
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BI S M A R C K A N D U N I F I C A T I O N
OF G ER M A N
Y
,
1 8 51
—8 7
1
1
1
71
soundly in the face by such remarks as th e famous
Germany
’
h as its eyes not on P russia s Liberalism but on its might
The great questions of the day will not be decided by speeches
and resolutions of majorities but by blood and iron
The
’
phrase blood and iron ever afterwards stuck to Bismarck
and h owever much we may dislike the fact th e events of the
’
next few years proved that Bis marck s prophecy was com
accurate
He
had
f
act
penetrated
to
the
heart
f
t
l
i
n
o
l
e
e
y
p
nged not by right but
E uropean pOlitics that a ff airs were arr a
by migh t and he th erefore simply determined to carry this
out to the logical conclusion by making P russia mightier than
any possible enemy It was the Old policy of Frederick the
Great Bismarck argued that in th e long run people always
though t those who were successful were also right In any
’
case the word right had for him n o meaning in international
politics though it possessed some in private life So Bismarck
believed not like Cavour that wrong must sometimes b e
committed in th e interests of th e state but th at nothing com
Bismark
m itted in the interests of the state co ul d be wrong
was later to suffer many sleepless nights from indigestion but
none from a guilty conscience
T h e first step towards the creation of th e great P russia and
fig“!
Germany he dreamed Of was to crush the Liberal opposition m a u
to the army reforms T his was done by advising the King
to carry on in spite of the rejection of the budget and to collect
necessary taxes all the same The press was gagged Liberals
’
were driven from Official positions and Bismarck s unpopu
larity reached such heigh ts that he co uld say later of it
“
M en spat on the place wh ere I tro d in the streets
But
Bismarck had righ tly judged that th e leading German Liberals
shirked an appeal to ph ysical force and he calculated th at
everything would be forgiven him when he had achieved
something great for P russia He deliberately aimed in oth er
words at successes in foreign policy in order to win the battle
at home Yet his foreign adventures were always strictly
ugh t
and closely connected with his main aim P russian leaders hi p
?
’
in Germany and never like N apoleon I I I s merely designed i533
” a”
to dazzle a discontented populace
’
T h e main steps by which Bismarck achieved h is desired B i m a k a
m “
r esult were three i n number
E ach was marked by a war
.
.
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‘
'
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)
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e s res
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:
,
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”
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,
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so
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,
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.
s
.
rc
1
HI S T O RY O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
74
EU R O PE
’
’
m ar ck a
It was Bismarck s first opportunity How could the situa
tion be so manoeuvred that P russia woul d take the lead on
behalf of Germany but finish up in possession Of the D uchies
A glance at a map shows that Schl eswig and Holstein are of
immense strategical importance to P russia particul arly since
Schleswig coul d be used as th e base of naval operations against
’
her N 0 one as yet however saw through Bismarck s policy
ason that P russia had no more
of annexation for the simple r e
right to th e D uchies th an had China or Japan E urope
had not yet re aliz ed that the real attitude Of P russia was
represented by R oon who remarked that the question of the
D uchies was not one of right or law but of force and that
Prussia had it
’
and
Bismarck s handling of the question was co nsummately
ai?a
K
skilful He first secured the friendship of R ussia by h elping
figh t
m k’
th e C z ar in every possible way short of war to subd ue the
fii l
P olish rebellion of 1 8 6 3
Then he secured an alliance with
Austria to settle the future of the D uch ies by joint agreement
between Austria and P russia
then he demanded that
D enmark should submit the whole matter to a E uropean
congress W hen encouraged by E ngland D enmark refused
th e D uchies were promptly invaded by Austr ian and P russian
armies Bismar ck had seen that France and E ngland were
not on good enough term s to agree in stopping the invasion
’
h ad bribed N apoleon by a prom i se of future compe nsation to
’
“
keep out and had called P alm erston s bluff that if D enmark
m ak th h ad to fight she would not fight alone
E ngl and was so o n
g“ L
h um iliated before all E urope and after the D anes had been
soundly beaten Schleswig and Holstein were handed over to
Austria and Prussia
T h e a ff air at this stage how
ever was far from ended
P ublic opinion in Germany and the D uchies expected that th e
unsuccessful claimant of 1 848 would now be instal led as D uke
Bismarck however proposed that he should be installed on
conditions which left him completely under the power of
P r ussia
E ventually after they had nearly come to war it
was agreed by the two powers though not by the unfortunate
claimant who now faded out of history that Austria should
T h C on
administer Holstein and P russia Schleswig The Convention
“ of Gastein ’
as this agreement is called
simply in
a
Bis
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,
“
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'
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'‘
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”
e
c
e
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,
l es
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e
m
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‘
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,
,
THE P ROM I S S ORY N OTE
MR J
.
OHN
B U LL ( D E N
M A RK
H
A VI N G
TE D
P RE S E N
Y
T HE
N
OTE
F OR
.
P A Y M EN
T)
.
N OW , T HE N
,
W HA T A RE Y OU S KU LKI N G OFF F OR 1
’
YOUR N A M E S A RE T O T HE N OT E A S W E LL A S MI N E A N D Y OU RE A S M UC H
BOUN D T O PA Y Y OU R S HA RE A S I AM
MR
.
KN OUT E M A N D
M OUN S E E R F ROG G
,
,
.
_
England com plains th at no one j oins h er in suppor ti ng D enm ark against Pr ussia
A ctually a little b efor e E ngland h ad r efused
over th e S ch leswig Holstein q uestion
to co o per ate with F rance on th e m atter , and now Fr ance h ad h er revenge.
-
-
.
1 76
HI S T O R Y O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T RA T E D
E U R O PE
’
Bismarck s phrase papered Over the cracks
He knew that
he could now before long pick a quarrel with Austria over the
government of Holstein and smash the Austrian army as the
Bi m a k
D anish had been smashed
T hus he woul d finish up with
plan wa
Germany under P russian control and Austria forever driven
with
A u t ia
from her dominant positio n
I t was subtle and immoral
statesmanship and for it to appeal to certain esse ntial persons
with more delicate co nsciences than himself such as W illiam
’
Austria must first be put in the wrong
At these finer
aspects of the diplomatic gam e Bismarck was a past master
u
H
In
preparation
for the war against Austria he had now
’
( a) F an
decided on Bismarck took two important steps Again he
secured the neutrality of N apoleon by a promise of future
compensation—N apoleon for his part imagining he woul d
’
step in after months of conflict and make off with the lion s
share of the spoils
Then he secured an alliance with the
new Kingdom of Ital y to attack Austria in the rear if war
should come withi n three months It o nl y remained to make
certain it did come Failing to provoke Austria by sending
P russian troops i nto Holstein Bismarck proposed a reform of
the Confederation by which A ustria woul d be entirely omitted
Austria naturally objected and pro
from German affairs
H pi k
l
th
q ua
posed that the members of th e D iet s h ould jointly attack the
insolent P russia The other main German States agreed
The war had come—and Bismarck had managed to con
and th e P russians that it was purely de
v1 nce W illiam
fensive
’
’
ar
The
cours
Seven
eeks
as
it
i
s called
Th S
n
e of the
W
W
’
W k
astonished E urop e Against the minor states the P russian
Wa
866
ke possession
army had little more to do than to walk in and ta
while against Austria and Saxony everythi ng was settled in
S adowa
E ven th e
one overwhelming victory at Sadowa in Bohemia
fact that th e Austrians were entirely successful against the
Italians could not alter the result in the main seat of the war
P russian trai ning, tactics and th e breech loading needle gun
had done their work E verything was over before N apoleon
—
i
ould
reap
any
advantage
f
rom
t
when he frantic ally tried
c
to claim territo ry Bismarck simply threatened hos tilities
“
I t is France that is beaten at
against France as well
S adowa said Thie rs
.
,
“
s
rc
.
r
s
sr
.
,
,
,
‘
.
-
e sec
r
.
res
ce s
.
,
“
.
.
,
c s
e
e
.
,
r re
.
.
‘
e
ev e
,
,
ee s
r, 1
.
,
.
.
-
,
.
.
,
.
-
[
T h e lenient
T reaty of
Prague
H I S T O R Y O F M O DE R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
1 78
E U R O PE
’
The wisdom of Bismarck s statesmans hi p is nowhere seen
more fully than in th e conditions he im posed after the P russian
’
victory in the Seven W eeks W ar T h e King and the army
were anxious to marc h in triumph to Vienna and rob Austria
of all t h at could be got
Bismarck instead called a halt His
object was not to make of Austria a permanent enemy but
simply to expel her from German leadership C o nsequently
by the treaty of P rague 1 8 6 6 he insisted that not a yard of
Austrian territory shoul d be annexed by P russia the o nly loss
su ff ered by Austria being Venetia which had been promised
to Italy O utside Austria P russia acquired a certain amount
of territory—Holstein as well as Sc h leswig and some of the
smaller states such as Hanover T hese gave her an extra
four and a half million inh abitants and an important outlet
to the N orth Sea
T h e main change e ff ected however Was the abolition of
the old Confederation and th e substitution of a new body to
ensure th e supremacy of P russia From th is new N orth
German Confederation as it was called Austria was excluded
M ost of the de feated German States were compelled to enter
including the Kingdom of Saxony Certain South German
territories however including Bavaria Baden and W firtem
berg had to be lef t outside owing to strong local feeling and
the attitude of France The King of P russia was the P resident
"
Bismarck the Chancellor of th e new organization Home
aff airs were left almost entirely to the individual states but
matters of foreign policy were placed in P russian hands by the
stipul ation th at P russia controlled the armies of all the
members A concession to democracy was made by allowing
—
r
P
R
t
all men a vote fo the arliament or eichs ag though as
th e C h ancellor was responsible to the King and not to the
The
R eic h stag this concession was more apparent than real
feelings of individual states too were considered by the
setting up of a Federal C ouncil or Bundesrath consisting of
their representatives in which it was possible for all comb ined
to outvote P russia This meant that the N orth German
States while defini tely acknowl edging the supremacy of
Prussia did not lose all the liberty of action and presti ge they
would have surrendered by defini te annexation and thus
their relations with P russia were
.
.
.
,
,
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,
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-
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,
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T h e N orth
G erm an
C onf edera
tion
,
,
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,
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,
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,
,
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,
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Bism arck
C h ancello r
.
,
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,
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,
,
PE A C E —A N D
No
PI E C E S !
’
B I S M A RC K
PA RD ON , M ON AM I ; BU T W E RE A LL
C A N T A LLOW Y OU T O
”
P I C K UP A N T HI N G HE RE
’
’
’
A
P
t
h
e
C
h
i
o
n
n
e
N
i
r
R
P
A
D
O
M
E
N T
N T I ON I T, M S I E U ! I T S N OT OF l HE
(
fi
)
S LI G HT E S T C ON S E QUE N C E
.
Y
Y
.
.
Y
.
N
apoleon
III
’
s
t
expectations from th e A us ro Prussian
-
W ar
aredisappointed.
1 80
ILLU S T R A T ED
H I S T O R Y OF M OD ERN
E U R OP E
defeat in the war Further Bismarck cleverly secur ed a
military alliance with the remaini ng South German States
’
by revealing to them N apoleon s plans of expansion at th eir
expense He linked them up with the N orth ern Confedera
tion too in a new customs parliament in place of the old
Zollverein Thus by the arrangements following the war
Bismarck achieved the remarkable feat of expelling Austria
fr om her old leadership and uniting most of Germany under
Pruss
ia without making permanent enemies of any of h is
’
ims This leniency was absolutely essential to Bismarck s
vic t
policy He knew only too well that the day of reckoning had
to come with N apoleon III and when it did it was important
to have A ustri a and South Germany as friends rather than foes
Like a good chess player Bismarck thought several moves
ahead
’
The Seven W eeks W ar greatly as it turned for the benefit
of victorious P russia was not without advantage for defeated
Austria D riven out of Germany and Italy she at last
recogni zed her real mission as an E mpire centred o n the
R e al izing that if reorganization was to be suecessful
D anube
something must be done to satisfy racial feeling within th e
E mpire Austria decided on a large measure of compromise
with Hungar y This agreement of 1 8 6 7 known as th e
’
Ausgleich
divided the Austri an E mpire
into two halves—Austria wh ich included Bohemia and the
northern provinces and Hungary which covered also th e
South Slav states and Transylvani a E ach section recogni z ed
Francis Joseph as E mperor but preserved its independent
parliament for most matters Three subjects however
foreign affairs war and finance—were to come under a joint
body representative of the two divisions and meeting alter
Thus the Austrian E mpire
nately in Vienna and Budapest
was reorganized as a dual monarchy or Austria Hungary
under which name it continued to be k nown until it broke
up into its various racial fragments at the end of the Great
.
,
.
.
S tate.
,
,
.
.
.
,
'
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-
,
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,
,
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,
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,
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,
‘
,
,
,
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,
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,
,
,
,
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,
W ar
-
,
.
For Bismarck there remained one more stage in the unifica
Austria had been displaced
tion of Germany under P russ ia
from her suprem acy and th e N orth German Confedera ti on
In P russia itself th e old opposition of th e Liberals,
formed
.
.
LUXEM Bll RC
-
FOR S A LE BY
PRIVA T E C ON T RA C T
HIG HLY E LI G IBLE
PROPERTY
T EN M l N UT E S W A LK
P ROM
m
t
G ERM A N FRON N ER
RIG HT OF S HOOT I N G
'
TO B E
Ea
O L E ON I
O
O
N
I
E
S
S
S
S
P
1 11
m on N
AP
——
A
.
S OLD
HA VE M A D E AN
.
OEF E R T O M Y F RI E N D HE RE ,
—
AN D
K
E
R
H
T
H
IN
1
A
T
R
I
H
t
G
OU
H
T
U
O
Y
VE
H
A
O
,
N
,
M
m
T HE
O
T
L
P
A
P
T
O
’
R
T
A
P
WA S T HE
L
u
B
U
T
E
I
A
S
C
T
H
A
T
IN
H
E
N
T
!
A
B
D
1
E
E
D
H
O
N
E
L
, IN
P
A
R
N
E
R
O
EM P
’ OF N O C ON S E QU EN C E
IT S
Y
O O
.
Y
.
—
.
.
Prussia stops N
h
e
m
t
f
r
o
u
r
m
b
e
u
x
L
n
i
u
b
I
I
g
apoleon I
y g
King of Holland
.
BI S M A R C
K A N D U N I FI C A T I O N or G E R M AN
The
Y
,
1 85 1
—8 7
1
1
1 83
opportunity came in 1 8 70 T h e th rone of Spain being T h
’
vacant a Hohenzollern relative of W illiam s was encouraged ll n
“
by Bismarck to stand as a candidate Bismarck knew perfectly 5
3 332
5
2
well that France already frightened of the growth of P russia
to the east could not accept a German on the throne Of Spain
to th e south
W illiam and th e prince concerned knew this too
and not wishing to cause a E ur opean outcry were unwilling
to advance the Hohenzollern candidature Bismarck how
ever overrode them both and almost? compelled the prince to
go forward T h e announcement of the news caused the
reaction in France that Bismarck had expected—intense
indignation and a demand that th e candidature should be
withdrawn Acting now on hi s real inclinations W illiam
agreed—and France had won a striki ng success
U nfor tu
’
nately France had had experience of Bismarck s double
’
dealing and was suspicious that the prince s son might become
the candidate instead She was too anxious for an even more
resounding diplomatic triumph Consequently the French
ambassador now demanded also that the Hohenzollern candi
This
datur e should never in any circumstances be renewed
demand W illiam refused as a reflection on his go od faith and
an attempt to pick a quarrel How Bismarck who had
thought his chance was slipping from his hands seized the
’
opportunity by editing the King s decision from E m s to read
most off ensively h as already b een told in the account of th e wa b u m
Second E mpire In face of the fury of France B ism arc
persuaded W illiam to order th e mobilization of the Prussian
army In face of the mobilization of the P russian army
France declared war
T h e Franco Prussian war as We have seen astonished T h
1
E urope by the ease with which the much vaunted French 13mm
military prowess crumpled before th e ruthless efficiency of
the P russian troops Strasbourg Sedan M etz—France was
’
at Prussia s feet But the organization of the Prussian armies S dan 1 8 7 o
the work of R oon M oltke and the King would have been in
vain had not Bismarck first secured the requisite political
conditions The secret of it was that France had been isolated
f rom all possible help
Italy was no more than half a fri end
while France occupied R ome and had recently fought as an
ally of P russia f R ussia was bribed not to interfere by th e
e
.
zo er
,
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'
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e
,
e
.
1 84
.
H I S T OR Y OF M O D E RN
I LLU S T RA T E D
E U R O PE
uggestion that sh e shoul d repudiate th e clauses of the 1 856
treaty restricting h er right to warships on the Black S ea
’
E ngl and was al ienated by Bismarck s publication at the
’
critical moment of N apoleon s proposal of 1 8 66 that he should
Austria and the South German States had
annex Belgium
b een partly reconciled by the lenient treatment after th e
’
Seven W eeks W ar France had no friend in E urope and left
al one in a state of internal dissension to face the P russian
’
It was Bismarck s master stroke
armies sh e was powerless
Already before th e war was over and the treaty of Frankfort
signed by which P russia was to strip France of Alsace
’
Lorraine and an indem nity Bis marck s main object was
In th e flush of enthusiasm for the com mon cause
achi eved
th e South Germ an States had been persuaded to unite with th e
N orth German Confederation into the German E mpire
Special concessions were given to Bavar ia in the way of
indep endenc e and the Bavarian king then undertook to invite
W illi am in the name of the princes to accept the E mperorship
So on January i 8th 1 8 7 1 in the Hall
of the new Germany
the German E mpire was solemnly
of M i rrors at Versailles
’
T
rocl
med
wi
h
il
iam
h
l
a
s the first Kaiser
e setting was
a
i
t
W
,
p
Versail les stood more than anyth ing else for
appropriate
N ow in Versailles
th e historic aggressive glory of France
while P aris lay starving ten mil es away a triumphant
Germany rose by and through the humiliation of the most
brilliant civili zation in E urope But E mpires even when
they are th e work of a Bismarck are not seldom built on
sands O verbearing Germany and heart broken
shifting
France could not know that before fifty years were out th e
Hall of M irrors would reflect another scene of equal im portance
with th e roles reversed
s
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CHAPT E R
T h e E astern
1
Th e War
f
X
—
uestion, I 8 1 5 1 8 7 8
Q
G reek I ndependence and th e Syrian Question,
o
1 82 0 1
-
841
From the l 4th to the i 7 th century the O ttoman Turks a
Central Asiatic race built up by unremitting conquest a
n t
nth 7 th M editerranean E mpire
A
f
ter
Armen
i
a
and
A
ia
inor
had
s
M
nturi )
fallen to the ruthl ess invaders from the E ast the Balkan
peni nsula came next The capture of Constantinople in 1 453
and the break up of the old E astern R oman E mpire which had
endured a thousand years sealed the fate of Serbians
Bul garians Al banians R oumanians and other tribes and
kingdoms in South eastern E urope E ven Hungary was
conquered and the victorious host advanced twice to the walls
M eanwhi le too the
of Vienna itself ( 1 52 9 and
N orth African coast—E gypt Tripoli Tu ni s Algeria—had
been compelled to acknowledge submission together with
islands like the Ionian Isles Cyprus and Crete E ven large
stretches of South R ussia including the Crimea came under
Turkish sway
T h Ott
At length however the tide of conquest spent itself and
m an E m pi
began to recede Through the might of Austria the Turks
In declin
were compelled to relinquish Hungary through that of Russia
the Crimea At the end of the i 8 th century the O ttoman
E mpire though still enormous in extent was a power in
decline The eff orts of the various subject nationalities in the
T h E a t n Balkans to secure independence together with the ambitions
Qu -ti n
and policies of states such as Aus tria R ussia and E ngland in
relation to the decaying empire constitute the 1 9th century
E astern Question
In the general approach to th e question it is possible to
discern certain main trends The tr aditional E nglish attitude
was the pr eservation of the power of th e S ul tan as a bulwark
T h e Otto
m an C on
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es s
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1 86
,
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QU E S T I ON
T HE E A S T E R N
,
—1 8 78
1815
against a possible R ussian advance to the M editerranean E n lan
up
g
p g
The fact of Turkish misgovernment did not greatly matter to T u k y to
most E nglish statesmen compared with the advantages of $25
keeping a great military power like R ussia from capturing
Constantinople one of the most strategically important cities
in the world They hoped quite in vain as it proved to
secure better conditions for th e subj ect races by r epr e
’
s cutations to Tur key R ussia on the other hand felt strongly
for the Balka
n peoples who were mostly like herself O rthodox
in religion and Slavonic m race Her attitude thus became to
break up the O tto m an E mpire and free the subj ect races
while securing concessions and privileged positions for herself
in the bargain These broad lines of policy were sometimes
departed from but in general they hold true for most of the
1 9 th century
The first phase m which this perennial problem vexed the Ph a I
minds of our ancestors was in connection with the W ar of Greek $533
Independence ( 1 8 2 11
The Greeks like all th e subject
nations of the T urks enjoyed certain privileges which made 3 2 H 8
th eir lot more tolerable than might have been expected
T hey were allowed complete educational and religious free
dom the head of their C h urch or P atriarch being aff orded a
recogni z ed governmental position T hey were exempt from
military servi ce, which was theoreticall y a great dishonour and
in practice a considerable advantage as they thus monopoliz ed
commerce and became wealthy Such concessions however
did not alter the fact that they were in reality an enslaved race
subject to the arbitrary will of local governors
M uch
depended on the ch aracter of the governor for the whole
Turkish system had become extremely loose in the way of
central control A s long as the governor got in the requisite
amount of taxation—provided alm ost entirely by the s ubject
—
s
people and sent along a few detruncated heads as a sign of
h is effi ciency he administered his provi nce practically as h e
pleased Thi s meant that T urkish rule might vary enor
m ously in severity from one district to another
for the most
part however it was light but i nefficient and corrupt and
punctuated by periods of s avage repression whenever there
were signs of revolt
The early years of th e 1 9th century witnessed a great
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I LLU S T R A T ED
1 90
H I S T OR Y O F M OD E R N
E U R O PE
bis h ops demanded intervention agai nst th e Turks M en of
liberal sympath ies everywh ere gave their support in spite of
th e massacres to a small nation struggling to be free—th e
outstanding example of th is type being Lord Byron who
hallowed the Greek cause by h is death at M issolonghi It
says much too for the classical education of the E nglish
upper c lasses that they now reacted strongly in favour of and
not against Greece As yet however th ough private
individuals volunteered no government actively intervened
for M etternich persuaded Alexander that he must not assist
’
revolution
T h e turning point in the rebellion came wh en the Sul tan
Th T u k
all in
unable to make an impression on the M orea because the
M h m t
Ah
Greeks of the surrounding isles had the mastery at sea called
on hi s vassal M eh em et Ali of E gypt for help M eh em et Ali
had a strong fleet and by means of this an E gyptia n army
under the command of his son Ibrahim P asha was landed in
the M orea T h e previous barbarities now appeared insigni
ficant before the conduct of Ibrahim who set his troops to wipe
out ruthlessly the entire Greek population The R ussian
demand for intervention now grew irresistible and was
strengthened by the death of Alexander and the accession of
N icholas I who was determined to protect his fellow Christians
At th i s point seeing that R ussia was bound to intervene before
Ru ian
t
n
in
long and anxious that she s h ould not acqui re too much
t n
’
influence in the Balkans in th e process Canning decided to
C an
ning
t tud
join in the intervention with the obj ect of supervising R ussia
T aty A meeting of the powers was held and the Treaty of London
Th
f L ndon
E
8
concluded
by
which
ngland
France
and
ussia
1
2
R
8 7
(
7)
agreed that Greece should be independent, though under
Turki sh overlordship Austria and Prussia refused to sign
W h en the Turks declined to accept this settlement a joint
naval force was promptly despatched to cut off Ibrahim from
his supplies in E gypt Its instructions were to enforce an
armistice preferably by peaceful means In the course of
’
N a a ino
staging a demonstration however at N avarino Bay before
Buy 8 7
the assembled E gyptian and Turkish fleets the allied squadrons
encountered some Turki sh vessels which refused to move out
of th e way
An exchange of shots gradually led to a general
battle at the end of wh ich the E gyptian and T ur kis h n avies
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T HE
QU E S T I ON
EA S T E R N
18 1 3
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1 8 78
the bottom of the ocean Although W ellington
’
P rime M inister on Canning s untimely death disapproved of
th is anti T urkis h activity and apologi z ed for th e battle of
’
N avarino as an untoward event the eff ect of it remained
Ibrah im had to evacuate the M orea and th e war was won for
Greece
It required a furth er development to complete the liberation Russ
of Greece
D isregarding the views of E ngland Which was w
anxious to preserve the strength of th e O ttoman E mpire as
much as possible R ussia pressed on her troops in a brillia nt
’
advance south wards W ith Constantinople at R ussia s
mercy the T urks had to agree to the Treaty of Adrianople T h T at,
f
by which Greek independence though under T ur kish A dm noplq
3
Overlords h ip
was recogni zed In addition M oldavia and 2 9
Wallach ia were to enjoy a similar independence and R ussu
acquired some T urkis h territory in Asia But E ngland and
Austria feared that a semi independent Greece would give
Ru
ssia further excuses for interve ntion so they determined
on complete independence or nothing Th ey confined th e
ne
w G r eek state within the n arr owest of boundaries b ut the
defeat of th e T ories in 1 83 0 and the accession to the Foreign
Secretaryship of P almerston meant a more generous attitude
on the part of E ngland and in the end wider boundaries were
permitted In 1 8 3 2 a fin al treaty was signed by which Greece G
pl t
bec ame an independent monarchy the king chosen being
i
P rince Otto of Bavari a
T h e first phase of the E astern g
gg
n
e
gg,
fi
Question in th e 1 9th century was over the first great hole
had been made in the rotting fabric of the Ottoman E mpire
T h e next phase began almost immediately—the question of P h a 1 1
Syria M eh em et Ali bribed by th e Sultan with Crete at the
‘S 3 M
8
b eginning of th e war of Greek Independence was dissatisfied
Syria D amascus and the M orea h ad been prom ised him for
his help during the conflict—and now the Greeks had th e
M orea while the Sulta n al ready al arm ed at the power of h is
vassal naturally refused to hand over the other covetabl e
districts in V iew of the Turki sh failure to win the war Know
ing that the Sul tan was reorgan
izing the Turkish army and
th at it might so on be directed against h imself M eh em et A li
decided to forestall the danger and claim his due at the same
time
Accordingly in 1 83 1 Ibrahim P ash a was once more
were
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1 92
I LLU S T RA T ED
H I S T O R Y O F M OD E R N
EU R O P E
despatched with an E gyptian army and within a very s h ort
time h ad completely overrun Syria Two or thr ee T urki sh
forces were overwhelmed and within a year Ibrahim was in a
position to threaten Constantinople itself
In his extremity th e S ul tan turned for aid to an unexpected
source N icholas of R ussia had since th e Treaty of A drianople
come to the conclusion th at R ussian influence might p erhaps
be better served by maintaining a weak Turkish E mpire
than by setting up strong n ational Balkan states—
especially
Accordingly h e
if he th us avoided falling out with E ngland
off ered to help th e S ul tan against Ibrahim and at the moment
’
the Sultan s danger was such that he had no option but to
“
accept th e proposal
A drowning man a Turkish mi nister
remarked will clutch at a serpent
R ussian intervention
deeply distrusted not only by T urkey but by E ngland saved
the situation for the S ul tan All th e same he had to abandon
Syria D amascus and P alestine to Ibrahim while the new
friendship with R ussia was expressed in the T reaty of U nki ar
T his document contained o fficially only a
S kelessi
treaty of alliance between R ussia and T urkey but secretly
another clause promised that Turkey would close the D arda
’
nelles to the warships of all nations at R ussia s dem and a
provision which would enable R ussia to carry out an aggressive
M editerranean policy and then if need be retire securely
into the Black Sea The secret clause was betrayed to
’
E ngland by a Turk who objected to b is master s surrender to
R ussia it
R ussia and the consequent outcry was immense
seemed had stolen a very obvious march on E ngland
’
E ngland s opportuni ty for a revers al of t hi s verdict came
before very long In 1 839 the Turks whose Sultan had
devoted his life to vengeance on M eh em et Ali and the recovery
But their
of h is lost provinces from Ibrahim invaded Syr ia
ar rrnes met with the same lack of success as before and th e
’
S ul tan s cup of bitterness ov erfl owed when the Turkish navy ,
’
sent to attack M eh em et Ali s fleet simply surrendered to th e
E gyptians on the ground that the ministers at Constantinople
were in the pay of the R ussians
At this stage the powers of
E urope inter vened once more E ngland and R ussia for once
The solution agreed on by
taking up a simil ar atti tude
E ngland R ussia Austria and P russia was that M eh em et A li
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I LL U S T R A T ED
1 94
2
H I ST O R Y o r M O D E R N
T he C rim ean War,
.
1
E U R O PE
—85 6
85 4
1
third and th us far th e most acute phase of the E astern
Question led to the first war between th egreat powers since
Something h as already been said of
th e days of N apoleon
th e Crimean W ar in the account of th e Second E mpire but
h ere the main causes must be recalled and amplified
The
h
eneral
atmosp
ere leading to war was undoubtedly th e
g
distrust of R ussian intentions with regard to the O ttoman
Th ere was a justifiable fear among the powers that
E m pire
’
N ich olas s recent policy of friendship with Turkey and
preservation of the E mpire was only a cloak for some dark
design Both in 1 844 and later in 1 8 53 the C z ar had broached
sch emes of partition with E ngland—for instance in the former
year he h ad suggested that R ussia should take Constantinople
’
wh ile E ngland compensated herself with E gypt and Crete
T h e propos al was not entertained partly because E ngland
feared to be trapped in some way partly because there seemed
no legitimate excuse for the whole business and partly because
E ngland did not agree that T urkey was as weak as N icholas
’
implied Indeed the Czar s favourite phrase in connection
with the Sultan was a reference to him as the sick man of
’
So early as 1 8 3 3 he had employed it in negotiating
E urope
“
—
P rince M etternich W hat do
with M etternich on the subject
you thi nk of the Turk—is he not a sick man ?
To which
“
—
that astute diplomatist had countered
Is it to the doctor or
to the heir that your maj esty addresses the question
At
any rate E ngland decided it was wiser not to strike a bargain
of the sort suggested—though in actual fact forty years l at er
E gypt was duly occupied by British troops and in 1 9 1 5
E ngland at war with Turkey at last promised R ussia
Constantinople
It was the general atmosp h ere of distrust of R ussia which
made what appeared to be an unimportant quarrel develop
igh t into a great war
R ound Jerusalem there were certain Holy
( b ) th
t
(
p
’
fe of Christ which were traditional
laces
connected
with
the
li
P
g
th fi
r
fi
f
PM “
centres of pilgrimage for Christians The protection of these
Holy P laces had been granted by an ancient treaty to France,
but that country had long since ceased to trouble herself about
Accordingly R ussia a nearer neighbour had fulfilled
them
The
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T HE E A S T E R N
QU E S T I O N
functions
,
—1 8 78
1815
1 95
neglected by France repaired the shrines and
generally stepped into the vacancy caused by French lack of
interest In 1 8 50 however Louis N apoleon soon to be
N apoleon III in order to please the clerical party revived
the French claim—to which the Sultan agreed R ussia
protested strenuously and the S ultan was in the unfortunate
position of being bound to o ff end one of the two powers As
though to make things as awkward for T urkey as possible in
1 8 53 the C Z ar a dded a fresh claim th at R ussia sho ul d exercise ( ) th e
a general righ t of protection over all th e O rthodox Christians 5m?
in the O ttoman E mpire
$35
23a
in 0m m "
These two demands on the part of R ussia now led on
r
T h e danger was that R ussia might use such
to the wa
privileges to interfere continually in every part of the O ttoman
E mpir e purely for her own benefit
Turkey however would
possibly have given way to so powerful a foe wh en the Sultan
was uno fficial ly encouraged by the British ambassador at
Constantinople, Lord Stratford de R edcliffe to reject the
Russian demands
This meant that E ngland accepted some
’
l
r
res OI
r
i
b
i
i
t
f
o
the
consequences
f
o
the
ambassador
s
T
s
p
y
action was upheld by the British Cabinet D iplomatic
complications followed but the most positive move was the
occupation of M oldavia and W allachia by R ussian tr oops as Ru i
a kind of guarantee Turkey probably again prompted by
Lord Stratford now delivered an ul timatum calling on R ussia $g
um b i
3
to evacuate the two territories W hen she did not the Turki sh $2 with
f
arm i es marched north and a state of war gradually set in
{ gig
As yet however diplomatic e ff orts to arrange the dispute 853
and the war was of a
were still being pursued by the powers
"
rather unofficial ch aracter
To b e prepared for any
eventuality E ngland and France (whose E mperor N apoleon
III had also a personal quarrel with N icholas about the
’
latter s non recognition of his title) ordered their warships up
the D ardanelles Thi s broke the Straits T reaty of 1 84 1 and
N icholas thinking the two powers woul d reinforce the Turkish
navy unless he acted quickly ordered the R ussian fleet to
attack a T urkish squadron on the Black Sea This action at Ih ki h
Sinope was for some peculiar reason regarded in E ngland and 23 m m !
S im "
France as an unjustifiable massacre and war feeling
immediately ranhigh
It must be remembered through out
th e
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I LLU S T R A T ED
1 96
H I S T OR Y OF M O D E R N
EU R OPE
by way of explanation that th e working and middle classes
of both E ngland an
d France were delighted at th e prosp ect
of striking a blow against the most despotic monar ch in
E urope who I n addition to allowing his own people no liberty
had also deprived the P oles and th e Hungarians of theirs
The attitude is rather simi lar to that of many otherwis e
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WHA T I T HA S C OM E T O
.
A b erdeen
I M US T LET
.
"
Hm G 0 1
A b erdeen, a peaceful Prim e M inister , tried to r estrain th e E nglish anti 5
T h e following year h e was r eplaced b y th e m ore
Russi an fury in 1 854
warlike P alm erston
-
.
.
peaceful E nglish democrats to day who become distinctly
warlike in tone when talking of Hitler and M ussolini especially
since Italian and G erman intervention in Spain In any
event swept on by public enthusiasm E ngland and France
now demanded that R ussia should withdraw her troops from
M oldavia and W allachia and recall her s h ips from the Black
Sea to their naval b ase S ebastopol W hen this was refused
war followed
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I LLU S TR A TE D
1 98
H I S T O R Y O F M O D E RN
EU R O P E
British W ar O ffice to make arrangements for the construction
of the necessary fiv e m ile railway from the base the artillery
took three weeks to arrive D uring this period the only
commander in the district of any pronounced ability th e
R ussian T odleb en designed and constructed an elaborate
series of earthwork defences round the town In fact by th e
time the Allies had fini s h ed their bombardment Sebastopol
was infinitely stronger than when they first arrived outside it
N ot o nl y t h at but th e R ussians had by now brought up a
men which gave th em in all about
furth er army of
against
A more disastrous
of the Allies
m i litary decision than that of M arshal St Arnaud and Lord
R aglan to postpone the original assault it would be di fficult to
find
The battle of Inkerman which followed in N ovember gave
the Allies a taste of victory while Balaclava a week or so
beforehand had shown in the famous charge of the Light
Brigade that not even the criminal blunders of their own
commanders could shake the courage of the British troops
In the words of the French it was magnificent but it was not
war T h e engagements were not productive of any important
results and the Allies had to settle down to winter in th e
Crimea The men had no cold weather equipment snow
blocked the roads and made it impossible to bring up am m uni
tion food or forage Horses died of starvation and made the
transport problem still worse W ith inadequate nourishment
and disgraceful sanitation the army suff ered dreadfully from
cholera O wing to the complete lack of any but local dressi ng
stations casualties had to be shipped right across the Black
Sea to the nearest big hospital at Scutari—a j ourney whi ch in
war conditions often took th ree weeks And there too chaos
reigned The hospital converted from a barracks without
any thought or preparation was built near great sewers and
cesspools It was rotten with v erm m T h e most elementary
necessities were lacking—not enough beds or blankets only
c oarse canvas s h eets no bedroom fur ni ture at all except empty
beer bottles for candlesticks hardly any basins towels soap
broom s trays , plates knives forks spoons fuel scissors
stretchers splints bandages or drugs E ven when materials
did arrive they were lost in the T urkis h Custom s House or held
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QU ES T I ON
T HE EA S T E R N
,
1815
—
1 8 78
up by departmental regulations and W ar O ffice red tape
T o treatment in such conditions those wh o were maimed in
and meanwhile the dreary
th e Crimea coul d look forward
siege of Sebastopol dragged on
Fortunately for the Allies an unofficial observer the R gani a
“
correspondent of T h e T imes let th e E nglish public have an E
lias
fim ’’
8 55
account of much of the ghastly mism anagement An inqui ry
was moved into th e conduct of the war Lord Aberdeen wh o
had never been m favour of 1 t was replaced as P rime M inister
by th e more vigorous P almerston and I n the spring of 1 8 55
the Allied army was reorgani z ed M eanwhile at Scutari too F l n
N igh t ngal
Florence N igh tingale an E nglis h gentlewoman who had come
out with some vol unteer nurses had e ff ected a transformation
U sing money collected by her friends and by T h e T imes sh e
succeeded against the bitter opposition of many of th e regular
auth orities in reorgani zing th e nursing th e laundry th e
sanitary conditions th e food and th e cloth ing of the wounded
O n one occasion when sh e was visiting the Crimea the c h ief
medical o fficer even tried to starve h er into submission b y
ord eri ng that no rations shoul d be supplied to her and h er
nurses —a manoeuvre th e prudent M iss N ightingale fore
stal led by arriving with a great quantity of provisions
After
’
six months heroic struggle sh e h ad succeeded in reducing th e
death rate of th e wounded from forty four per cent to two per
cent T h e one good resul t of the Crimean war and th at a
lucky b y product was the permanent reform in military
nursing effected by this rem arkable woman— who gained the
reputation of a saint by th e ruthless persistence of a demon
At last in the June of 1 8 55 after th e Allies h ad been captu f
reinforced by th e P iedmontese th e South ern half of Sebastopol
E ven now P almerston was for continuing th e war and
fell
winning a more resounding V ictory E ventually however
N apoleon I I I drove him to agree to peace by announcing
that if th e French continued the war th ey would do so to
lib er ate P oland and oth er subject nationalities of E urope— a
development so great that P almerston quailed at the limitless
possibilities involved T h e conclusion of peace too was
aided by the death of N icholas and th e accession of his son
Alex ander II more liberally incline d with no personal
enmity towards the Frenc h E mperor and willing to conced e
.
.
eor
,
z
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e
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”
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,
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or e ce
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-
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,
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re o
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,
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e
ILL U S T RA T E D
2 00
HI S T O RY O F M OD E R N
E U R O PE
'
points at issue So an armist ice was arranged
between th e powers and one of the most futile of wars was
over
T h e T reaty of P aris which fixed the final terms gave the
Allies all they had fought for T h e Black Sea was neutraliz ed
both T urkey and R ussia were forbidden to h ave warships
on it The R ussian demand for a protectorate over the Balkan
Christians was dismissed and a simple promise accepted from
th e Sultan that he wo ul d treat t hi s section of hi s subjects on
an equality with h is M ohammedans In addition M oldavia
and W allachia were given complete independence except that
Turkish overlordship had to be formally acknowledged and
the same arrangement was made for Serbia Thus on paper
at least the Allies had registered a victory In fact however
none of the objects achieved by the war on which th e victors
so congratulated themselves had the sligh test permanence
The Black Sea clause was repudiated by R ussia while France
was busy figh ting P russia in 1 8 70 The Sultan never showed
th e least sign of carrying out his promise about th e Christians
M oldavia and W allachia it is true prospered and soon
became the kingdom of Rb um ania but th at was more or less
accidental as was the development of Serbia—it was not for
A ll the res ul ts
th em that over half a million men had died
which really counted were ones rather apart from the issues
both of th e war and the peace—results such as Florence
’
N ightingale s reforms and the impetus given to revolution in
R ussia by the ine fficiency of C z ardom so clearly revealed by
If th e war did in any sense c h eck the policy of
th e war
R ussia the check was purely a temporary one and along lines
not destined to end ur e N ot the preservation of the power of
the Sultan but th e formation of new national states in th e
Balkans was to provide the best barrier against a R ussian
advance to Constantinople T hat however was for E ngland
to discover in the future M eanwhile the Crimean W ar h ad
illustrated th e truth that war is a risky instrument of policy
The terms inserted in peace treaties at such cost of men and
money h ave a habit of proving completely unimporta nt
compared with some res ul t of which nobody ever dreamed at
th e beginning of h ostilities
m ost
of th e
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2 02
I LLU S T R A T E D
HI S T O R Y O F M O D E R N
E U R OP E
independence at the end of the Crimean W ar onl y a tribute
being still payable to T urkey As outposts of th e Turkish
E mpire they had constantly been occupied by R ussian forces
wh en war threatened between the two powers They h ad
however always manifested a strongly national spirit and
s h own pride in their descent from the old R oman colony of
D acia
R evolutions h ad occurred notably in 1 848 but these
were ineff ectual until in 1 8 56 th e powers allowed them
Th i
independence with the idea of their acting as a buff er state
i tual
ind p nd
between T urkey and R ussia T h e two terr itor1 es were
n
given separate assemblies and forbidden to unite but this
di fficul ty was ingeniously overcome by the two assemblies
each choosing the s ame prince—a development which was
T h tw
T urkey and the powers
eventually
agreed
to
by
A
favourable
p in ipal
t
unit
opportunity had been seiz ed for it was while France was at
war with Austria over N orth Italy From the year 1 8 6 1
when the prince concerned Alexander I united the two
separate assemblies in defiance of the powers the new state
This name however was
of R oumania may be said to date
not given to it until 1 8 66 when Alexander a native was forced
"
to abdicate in the usual Balkan fas h ion His reign had
produced great advances in the way of free and compulsory
education and the liberation of the peasantry but h e had
o ff ended too many vested interests Prince C h arles of Hohen
zollern now accepted th e throne He promised to rule by
the terms of a new constitution a very democratic one except
i th e Jewish
in its neglect of the rights of the Jewish p opulation—
question in R oumania being still in 1 93 8 a matter of the
greatest moment T h e selection of P rince Charles a clos e
relative of the King of P russia W illiam I gave the future
German E mpire a useful ally on the D anube and R oumania
’
began to revolve in Bismarck s orbit
M nt n g o
O f the other Balkan peoples M ontenegro under a separate
prince had for centuries enjoyed th e same virtu al inde
ff
an
e
ort
by
the
Sultan
to
increase
his
n
d
ence as Serbia
e
p
authority having been defeated by the vigour of M ontenegrin
resistance in 1 8 58 Close relations were pursued with Serbia
and it might be reckoned th at if the Sultan ran into any
di fficulties M ontenegro and Serbia would take the opportunity
to i ncrease t h eir territory and destroy th e last remnants of
,
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,
,
-
.
,
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“
er
-
v r
e
e
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e ce
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e
r
o
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c
i i es
e
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e e r
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,
H I S T OR Y O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T R A T ED
2 04
E U R O PE
Turki sh authority over them Thus by 1 8 7 0 of al l the main
B alkan peoples onl y the Bulgarians had as yet no taste of
independence It was precisely in this quarter that the next
acute phase of th e E astern Question developed
1 8 7 5 Bos ni a and Her z egovina two provinces inhabited
In
rgga
u k y
by Serbs but not yet united with the Serbian principality rose
and
521222 against their Turkish masters T h e trouble was the unfavour
°m
“
able position of the Christians who were employed in no
governmental positions and their heavy taxation b y th e
’
Turks who took some two thirds of the peasants crops even
in a year of bad harvest W hen the revolt showed signs of
and
establishing itself Serbia and M ontenegro joined in to help
33 23 ? their brother Serbs war being declared against Turkey in
It was thi s situation whi ch encouraged a small section
1 8 76
T h B ul
of th e Bulgaria ns to revolt simul taneously wh ile the going was
“m m 1 ° good The Turks in
a f right at being co nf ronted with four
sets of foes now behaved with the utmost ferocity In one
village of Bulgaria for example the inhabitants sur rendered
on a promise that their lives woul d be spared —
o nl y to b e
slaughtered to a man or rath er to a woman and child Those
T h B ul
who were not simply butchered like cattle were collected in
the sch ool and the church there to be bur ned alive as th e
buildings went up in a flare of petroleum For two months
no one could approach the village so nauseous was the stench
The news of these
of the five thousand rotting corpses
massacres startled and shocked the world though as yet th e
details were but imperfectly known
Ru ia tak
It was hardly surprising in the circumstances that Russia
mud
decided to intervene the more especially since th e Serbs were
being badly beaten by th e Turks T h e powers compelled
Turkey to restore the captured Serbian territory and th en
demanded that all Christian subjects of the Sul tan shoul d
enjoy equal treatment with M ohammedans and that B ul garia
Bosnia and Herzegovina should be granted home rul e T h e
new Sultan the wi ly Abdul Hamid II foiled thi s however
l
A b du
m m“
by the clever manoeuvre of announcing a constituti on for all
ann un
a parliament of approved W estern
subj
ects
complete
with
333 11?
“f u “th
type
etc
A s no one not even the E nglish P rime M inister
p w
d m and.
uld
D israeli who was more strongly pro Turk than anyone co
see th e Sultan carrying out t h is promise
an ultimatum was
.
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e
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r
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3 11
1
9
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8 9
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es
ss
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ces
o
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e
se
o
e
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ers
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I LLU S T R A T E D
2 06
H I S T OR Y OF M OD E RN
E U R OP E
sent requiring some guarantees and Turkish disarmament
W hen this was refused R ussia soon supported by M ontenegro
R oumania and Serbia to say noth i ng of the Bulgarian
peasants declared war on Turkey Before this onslaught the
Turks rapidly wil ted T h e R ussians with their Cossack
troops rivalling the Turks in barbari ties penetrated south as
far as Adrianople and it seemed that by January 1 8 7 8 nothi ng
could stop the capture of Constantinople
At th e critical moment however two other powers had
th eir say T hough the Liberal opposition under Gladstone
and even a section of his own Conservative party by no means
agreed with him D israeli had all along minimized the extent
of the Turkish atrocities in B ul garia
N ow alarmed at the
rapid R ussian advance on Constantinople and anxious stil l
’
to cling to P alm erston s traditional policy of preserving the
O ttoman E mpire he ordered the British fleet to th e D ardan
ell es W ith this force he now threatened R ussia if she advanced
T h e same sort of attitude was taken up by Austria
further
who had ambitions of her own in the Balkans Indeed in
1 8 7 6 she had concluded a secret a greement with R ussia to
occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina and if the war went on much
longer R ussia and Serbia woul d be so poiverful that they
Accordi n
gly Austria demanded that
woul d not permit it
an armistice should b e signed and R ussia with no fleet
as yet rebuilt after th e Crimean war decided she coul d
not face the combined hostili ty of E ngland Austria and
T urkey
The treaty of San Stefano of M arch I 8 7 8 now dictated
by the R ussians to th e Turks contained clauses to enl ar ge
Serbia and M ontenegro and to secure their complete inde
R ussia herself was to take territory in Asia and th e
pendence
valuable district of Bessarabia at the mouth of the D anub e
to be ceded by her unfortunate ally R oumania who was to
get in return a barren strip of Turkish territory Bos ni a and
Herzegovina were to enjoy home rule M ost important of all
however were the clauses concerning the Bulgarians A
great new state of B ulgarI a was to be set up incl uding th e
district of M acedonia which wo uld cut T urkey off from her
remaining possessions in the Balkans M any Greeks and
Serbs besides the Bul garians were to be included in it It
.
Russia,
S
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erb ia.
,
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’
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D israeli and
A ustria
ch eck
Russia
,
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‘
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T h e T reaty
of S an
S tef ano .
1 87 8
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'
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»
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“
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-
Th e
M
g
,
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T HE
QU E S T I O N
EA S T ERN
—1 8 7 8
1815
,
’
was to b e independent but to be advised in its first tender
‘
,
by R ussia
The terms of this settlement immediately aroused the D i a li
T h ough the E nglish government had
h ostility of E ngland
BM W
gone a certai n way with R ussia and th ough the S ultan had
rendered E nglish support difli cul t by his behaviour D israeli
was not prepared to see the O ttoman E mpire carved up so
completely It was particularly the siz e of the new Bulgaria
to which he objected for he persisted in regarding it as simply
a R ussian puppet state In this he was supported by the usual
anti R ussian feeling in the country well exemplified in th e
f amous song wh ich now swept th e music halls
years
.
sr e
.
'
-
,
(
.
,
-
.
-
,
-
’
W e don t want to figh t b ut b y j i ngo if we do,
’
’
’
W e v e got th e m en we v e got th e sh ips, we v e
,
,
—
a song
got th e m oney too
’
nci dentally which gave the word j I ngOIS t meaning
Accordingly D israeli
ah extreme patriot to the language
now threatened R ussia with war unless she consented to a
revision of the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano by a
Austria supported E ngland her help H and
E uropean Congress
having been assured by a promise that E ngland would not
object to Austrian occupation of Bosnia and Herz egovina £31133
Faced with this comb ination R ussia again gave way and the
’
’
“
m"
W
powers met at Berlin under Bismarck s honest brokerage to
revise the treaty
’
The Congress of Berlin was at once D israeli s greatest T h C i n
success and his greatest failure E veryth ing went much as 52212? 87 8
Certain of the R ussian term s were
E ngland wished it
recogniz ed—the com plete independence of Serbia M on
and the Bessarabia
tenegr o an d R oumania for example
’
“
arrangement T h e big Bulgaria of San Stefano however T h b ig
was drastically reduced It was in fact trisected part $3522?
form ing the new state of Bulgaria part forming a separate
district with semi independence known as E astern R oumelia
and part just handed back to T urkey M oreover when
R ussia claimed her Asiatic conquests D israeli produced a
private agreement with the Sul tan by which E ngland was to E ngland
receive Cyprus from Turkey to off set R ussian power in A S ia 35
3m ;
’
Nfinor
This th en was the price of E ngland s aid
Austria
n
to o
was allowed to occupy Bos ni a and Herzegovina and S fi
fiizfi
‘
1
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e
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e
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r
8
0
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1
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e
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z
o
I LLU S T R A T E D
2 08
H I S T O R Y OF M OD ER N
E U RO PE
strip of territory which severed Serbia from M onte
negro
The Sultan of course promised his usual reforms in
connection with his Christian subjects
and D israeli and
Salisbury were able to return to E ngland in triumph A s far
as they could see R ussia had been checked Turkey strength
ened once more and tho ugh some millions of Bulgarians h ad
another
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
F R OM
F I G U RE S
(A
Di
RE LI E F
—ON
T HE
T RI UM P H
A
.
ROA D
T O B E RLI N
.
S alisb ury return from th e C ongress of B erlin b ringing peace
’
T h er e is a good pun h er e in th e word r elief —a form of
with h onour
S culptur e and a release from th e fear of a E ur opean war
sr ael
i
and
.
.
’
been restored to th e Sultan s rul e there was no danger of
further massacres because he had given promises of good
behaviour
E ngland too had acquired avaluable M editer
outpost—and all without a war ! N o wonder
r anean
D israeli claimed to have r eturned bringing peace with
’
honour and no wonder that subsequent hi storians
have
examining the real nature of th e Berlin settlement
wax ed a little sarcastic at th e p hrase
,
,
,
‘
“P eace
”
h onour
-
,
,
.
I LLU S T RA T E D
2 10
Results
th e
C
of
on
gress q ui te
transient
H IS T O R Y O F M OD E RN
E U R O PE
indeed if we examine the nature of the Berlin settl e
’
ment we find that D israeli s work was all either merely
incorrect or else along lines leading to disaster W ithin
seven years Bulgaria had carried out a union with E astern
The Sul tan
R oumelia in spite of all the work of the powers
of course neglected his pro m i ses of reform and the Arme ni ans
were later to know the barb arity of systematic massacre
’
against which E ngland s occupation of Cyprus proved no
guarantee
P erhaps worst of all M ontenegro and Serbia
were bitterly o ff ended by the Austrian occupation of Bosnia
and Herzegovina These provinces with their mainly
Serbian population so inflamed relations between Austria
and Serbia that in the long run there was bound to be a
confl agr ation
W hen it came in Jul y 1 9 1 4 all E urope was
involved in the blaze Further it became obvious within a
few years that the new Balkan states with their strongly
nationalist feeling were a far more eff ective barrier against
E ven
R ussian aggression than a decadent Turkish E mpire
Salisbury co author with D israeli of the Treaty of Berlin
confessed before long that in supporting Turkey E ngland had
“
backed the wrong horse ” W hen a politician admits error
we may well agree with him—and meantime the E astern
Question remained unanswered
For
,
,
.
.
,
,
M ore
T ur k ish
massacres
.
I ncr ease in
S erb ian
h ostility to
,
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-
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'
1 War of G reek Independence
.
.
TURKEY
eanWar
.
FRA N C E
137 C on
.
ress of
g
S A RDIN IA
Berlin
.
DIS RA ELI
T HE E A S TE RN
TURKEY
RUS S IA BULG A RIA
QU E S TI ON
—
18 15 1 878
.
CHAPT E R XI
R ussI a
I
.
and
P oland,
1
8
7 9
1 914
T o th e E nd of th e Reignqf A lexander I ,
1
825
B afli ing alike to our ancestors as to ourselves , in the eas t
Living almost
of E urope lay the enormous stat eof R ussia
in a di ff erent world of civiliz ation from th e west of E urope—a
world in which , as the century wore on , literature , music and
.
ballet mingled strangely with tortures floggings drunken
ness and corruption— R ussia had a tremendous series of pro
blem s all her own P erhaps the main clue is sim ply the si z e
of the country stretching by the end of the century from the
Arctic to the Black Sea from the Baltic to the P acific I ndeed
th e first fact to remember is t h at most of R ussia is not in E u rop e
T h e immense di ffi culty of communication in such
at all
velopment of the rail
circumstances especially before the d e
way inevitably kep $ R ussia in an extremely backwar d
condition compared with states like E ngland or France
This fact of course as we have seen did not prevent her
pursuing a foreign policy calcul ated to increase her area at
the expense of Turkey and the Asiatic tribes and th us add to
her di fficulties
Though signs of W estern influence had appeared before
’
R ussia s real importance in E uropean history dates from th e
1 72
T h is brutal
reign of th e Czar P eter the Great ( 1 6 8 9—
intelligent rufli an who enjoyed birchi ng a woman or
carrying out an execution personally conceived a great
admiration for the efficiency of his W estern neighbours His
ourneys
to
urope
in
one
of which he actually worked as a
E
j
shipwright to improve his knowledge of ship building are
’
The eff ect of his policy was to direct R ussia s
famous
attentions westward—his successful war against Sweden for
“
Baltic supremacy and his foundation of St P etersburg ( th e
window to the W est now known as Leningrad ) b eing good
th
e
,
,
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'
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'
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:
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“
G
reat
,
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,
-
,
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‘
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”
,
2 12
ILLU S T R A T ED
2 14
H I S T O R Y O F M OD E R N
E U R OP E
xample of governmental anarchy Almost alone of Conti
nental states it had preserved its mediaeval parliament— not
however as an instrument of liberty but as a battleground
The nobles possessed the remarkable privil ege
of the nobility
of the lib erum veto or power for any single individual to stop
the passage of a proposed law by his disagreement The
monarchy too had been made elective which meant a general
scramble for the kingship whenever the position became
vacant U nder such conditions efficient government was
impossible and the state of P oland hopelessly weak through
its internal dissensions presented a temptation to its stronger
neigh bours T h e complete lack of morality inherent in the
foreign policy of states in general is nowhere s h own more
nakedly than in th e partitions of P oland In three stages
covering less th an twenty fiv e years a state which had existed
for centuries completely disappeared from th e map
A f ter
T h fi t
th e first partition between R ussia P russia and Austria ( I
pa t t n
Cath erine even encouraged the oth er two powers to intervene
773
against the French R evolution so that their attention migh t be
diverted while she absorbed the unswallowed portions
W hen
th e P ol es frightened at last into good sense tried to reform
their constitution by making the monarch y h ereditary and
abolishing the lib erum veto Cath erine ordered a force into
P oland
N ot to be outdone the P russians who h ad h ad their
’
eye on Catherine s movem ents and had therefore avoided
being too deeply involved in the French R evolutionary war
Th us a second parti
Th
nd also occupied part of P olish territory
n
pa ti
tion this time with Austria omitted took place I n 1 7 93 It
793
only remained to administer th e coup de grace which was duly
T h th i d
pa iti n
given
in
I 7 9 5 when Catherine sei z ed the m ost valuable section
7 93i
of what remained and left Austria and P russia to divide the
rest W ith most of P oland under her control R ussia was
indeed now deeply involved in the fate of E urope
P ul 1
T h e N apoleonic wars were soon to exh ibit how strong
’
’
As we have seen Catherine s
R ussia s interest in E urope was
son P aul wh o was it is true half crazy had brought R ussia
into the second coalition ( I 7 99) against revolutionary France
His main reason was th e freakis h one of resentment against
N apoleon for occupying M alta for the Knights of St Joh n
had recently made the Czar their protector He too had
e
.
,
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”
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-
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e
rs
,
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r i io
,
1
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,
,
,
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,
,
,
e seco
r
ti o
.
,
1
,
e
rt
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,
r
o
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l
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a
,
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,
,
R US S I A
P O LA N D ,
AN D
—9
1 789
1
14
’
1 8 0 1 T h ei
d
one of the inspirers of th e Armed N eutrality of
po
’
against the British righ t of search but th is anti E nglish
policy and his personal acts of tyranny such as exiling com
f
regiments
to
Siberia
or failure to comply with some
l
e
t
e
p
minute regulation concerning uniform caused a palace
revolution P aul was murdered and h is son A lexander
succeeded him on the th rone
A considerable amount has already been said of the A l xander
ch aracter and aims of Alexander I ( 1 8 0 1 4 8 2 5) in connection
1
with the N apolebnic wars the Congress System and the
career of M etternich D eeply interested from the first in
foreign policy h is natural move was to join E ngland in the
third coalition against France The defeat of th e R ussians
at Austerlitz and Friedland however and annoyance at being
deni ed a loan by E ngland brought him for a time into the
French camp T h e T reaty of T ilsit ( 1 8 07 ) seemed to promise T il it rs
—
great
advantages
hi m
7 a kind of agreement to share the
domination of E urope with N apoleon the first instalment for
Alexander to be found in T urkey Since N apoleon however
did nothing to fulfil this h ope and non industrialized R ussia
badly needed the ch eap Britis h goods excluded by the Treaty
of T ilsit Alexander soon recovered from th e N apoleonic spell
T h e result was the fatal M oscow campaign and the begin ni ng T h M “
T hus far the story is familiar
of the end for N apoleon
what is perh aps less well realiz ed is the extraordinary extent
’
Apart from C h ina
of Alexander s wars during t h is period
by 1 8 1 5 every neigh bour of Alexander had felt the weight
of th eR ussian Army so that his terri torial additions—notably T h ! !
Finland from Sweden Bessarabia from T urkey G eorgia a nd Em?
three other districts from P ersial—increased the R ussian
population by twelve millions Yet all th is time so complex
is hum an character Alexander th e conqueror had been at
heart: Alexander the liberator anxious to free manki nd from
the French from d espotism from barbarian savagery from
anything save h is own shifting and uncertain ideas
’
T h e liberal p hase of Alexander s life is usually reckoned to Al xander
run from his youth when he was profoundly influenced by
”h m
his Swiss tutor Laharp e a disciple of R ousseau till about 1 8 1 9
wh en he succumbed to the views of M etternich In 1 8 1 4
for example on the collapse of N apoleon he was not at all
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b een
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I LLU S T R A T ED
2 16
HI S T O R Y O F M O D E R N
E U R OP E
,
anxious to rivet th e shackles of th e old Bourbon monarchy on
France He actually wanted Lah arpe to design the perfect
constitution for th e French —a touching instance of th e impres
sion a sch oolmaster may make on even (or especially ) a Czar
Again Finland conquered from Sweden in 1 8 08 and confirmed
to R ussian ownership by th e Vienna treaties was allowed its
own separate customs and constitution Finns were almost
exclusively employed in administration and for some years
Alexander did everything to make the R ussian overlordship
congenial
But perhaps th e most outstanding example of thi s trend in
’
Al exander s mind was h is attitude to P oland He really was
sincerely desirous of restoring a considerable degree of th eir
ancient freedom to the P oles His generosity however did
not run to granting complete independence ; instead he
aimed at uniting all the P oles in one constitutional monarchy
to be ruled by hi mself but to be quite separate from his other
possessions Consequently he was bitterly disappointed when
th e opposition of Austria P russia and E ngland prevented h i s
gath ering the remaining P olish territory into this new kingdom
—
the powers naturally being suspicious of any sc h eme which
gave R ussia such valuable acquisitions and not less b ecause
th ey were demanded in the name of liberalism However he
proceeded with the scheme in respect to wh at he had
’
recently acquired of N apoleon s Grand D uchy of W arsaw
however comprised only about one sixth of the
T his
old Polis h state T h e new Kingdom of P oland was given
a constitution in some respects th e most liberal in E urope
F reedom from arbitrary arrest freedom of religion freedom of
th e press were all guaranteed while the rig h t of voting was
ex tended to a far larger class than that possessing it at this
time in E ngland or Fra nce O nly P olish citiz ens could occupy
posts in the army and civil service and the P olis h language
was to be employed for all o fficial purposes M oreover in
the first few years of th e kingdom a new code of laws was
introduced education was encouraged th e uni versity of
W arsaw was founded W arsaw itself was partly rebuilt and
consi derable improvements were made to roads canals and
T h e P oles were
th e great navigable rivers like th e Vist ul a
encourag ed in al l res p ects and notably by the prospect of
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T h e lib eral
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ILLU S T RA T ED
2 18
H I S T O R Y O F M OD E R N
E U R OP E
release serfs if they wish ed—but during half a century less
Serfdom was it is
than four hundred landowners did wish
true abolished in one or two of the non R ussian provinces
such as E sthonia and Livonia and in R ussia a prOposal to
buy out all the private serfs by the Crown was considered
It remained a proposal Apart from th i s two or three of the
worse features of serfdom were indeed abolished—f amilies
m ight not be broken up by the sale of individuals ( though
they co ul d still be sold en bloc wi th the lands ) and punish
ment with the knout was ( theoretically) limited to fifteen
strokes
In regard to other reforms in R ussia Alex ander con
T h e finances and the
tem plated much and ach ieved little
currency of R ussia remained in a chaotic state perhaps the
best indication of the nature of Czarist rule being the fact that
one third of the annual expenditure went on the army and
one third of the annual income came from the sale of vodka
D ru nkenness and corruption were everywh ere prevalent and
nothing was done to discourage them A new army system
’
th at of military colonies was introduced with the benevolent
idea of settling soldiers on the land and thus allowing them to
be with th eir families and to spend part of th eir time on th eir
customary agricul ture T h e other idea beh ind the colonies
was that th is would be a ch eap way of maintaining a large
army T h e system however only ended up by enslaving th e
’
local populations in the colonies for the peasants sons had to
’
become soldiers and th eir daughters soldiers wives
A proposed codification of the law was no more successful
In th is connection a
th e work being abandoned after 1 8 1 5
story is told of Jeremy Bentham the famous E nglish reformer
’
whose life gospel was the principle of utility and the greatest
’
happiness of the greatest number
Benth am an expert on
the subj ect whos e works had already been printed in
’
St P etersburg by command of the liberal Cz ar wrote to
Alexander o ff ering to undertake the codification with out
payment on condition that he sho ul d have a completely
Alexander replied thanking him for h is o ff er
free hand
’
enclosing a ring as a token of gratitude accepting h is advice
but somewhat naturally declining to entrust Bentham with
Bentham thereupon
com plete aut h ority over the subject
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P O LA N D ,
AN D
R U S S IA
1
—9
789
1
2 19
14
returned th e ring with the stinging remark that he had desired
h e had reali z ed the
nothing except to be of some utility —
exact height of reform to which a Czar could rise and pre
“
ferred not to b e associated in a comedy of weakness and
hypocrisy
F inally the promised R ussian constitution was never forth
coming and for actual reform the country had to be content
with the f oundation of several schools and three universities
i
including that of St P etersburg a gseat public library in th e
capital (stolen incidentally from W arsaw) the improvements
in serfdom mentioned above an increase in religious liber ty
and a few details such as abolition of flogging as a punish
ment for parish priests and even some years later for th eir
’
wives In general ; however greatly though Alexander s
projects exceeded his accomplishments the first period of h i s
reign was one of hope A t least someone was interested in Th
promoting improvements , and under the stimulus of Alex g}ia
’
ander s ideas and free contact with W estern th ough t some of
“
m
m“
the Russian nobility began to take on a reforming hue In
the international sphere we ha
ve already seen th e idealism
wh ich prompted the Holy Alliance of 1 8 1 5
’
Alexander s change from half hearted liberalism to dowa gh t A l xand
reaction in international a ff airs h as already been noted i n
connection with the career of M etternich E vents such as
the W artburg Festival the murder of Kotz ebue the assassina T h a n
tion of th e D uc de Berri th e revolutionary movements in
Spain N aples and P ortugal and finally two mutinies in h is
own imperial gu ards togeth er with the incessant prompting of
M etternich swung him round
He became convinced that
to encourage the liberal spirit furth er would be to lose all his
authority and to invite th e fate of his own fath er P aul So
the Holy Alliance and the Congress System planned with T h C
such good intentions of keeping th e peace became merely Syilim
instruments to suppress rebellion however justified 1 ni er
v ention by Austria in Italy and by France in Spain met with
’
the Cz ar s approval and only th e work of Canning prevented
an attempted restoration to th e Spani sh monarchy of th e
revolted South A m e1 ican colonies E ven in the Greek W ar
of Independence Alexander was persuaded by M etterni ch th at
th e Greeks akin as they were to th e R ussians in religion were
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HI S T O R Y O F M O D E RN
I LLU S T RA T E D
220
EU R O P E
merely one more set of rebels against th eir legitimate masters
the T urks
T his change of front has sometimes been ascribed to religion
This would seem to be unjust Alexander first felt deeply the
impulses of religion after the delivery from the French during
“
the M oscow C am paI gn A s h e h imself put it
Through the
’
fire of M oscow my soul has been enlightened and God s
judgments on the ice fields have filled my heart with a warm
glow such as I have never before experienced
I
resolved to consecrate myself and my government to God
An extremely religious Swedish baroness under whose
influence he fell in 1 8 1 5 also confirmed this purpose The
direct e ff ect however does not seem to have been repressive
for from this period date the Holy Alliance which in theory
was all love and kindness the new constitution for P oland
the liberal treatment of the Finns the proposed R ussian
constitution and so on N evertheless his religious feelings
now prompted him to take more notice of the R ussian upper
clergy wh ose influence was all against freedom of thought
By the end of his reign a persecution of all except the O rth odox
was commencing
Just as in foreign affairs Alexander changed to support of
M etternich round about 1 8 1 9 so his home policy veered
’
correspondingly R ussians were no longer allowed to study
abroad
a strict censorship was imposed
controversial
subj ects like economics were with drawn from the university
cur riculum Above all th e P olish constitution which had
promised so fair in 1 8 1 8 was violated in several respects A
censors h ip there too was introduced and the Cz ar deliberately
neglected to call the D iet for five years—in any case its debates
were to be no longer public
Secret societies were now
rigorously suppressed there as in R ussia In Finland similar
steps were taken—R ussian officials were introduced the D iet
suspended and a censorship imposed O n all sides the cloudy
liberalism of the Cz ar was giving way to the clearest reaction
’
’
T hus in desertion of his earlier promises th e C z ar s reign
closed In 1 8 2 5 h e died suddenly at the early age of forty
eight U ndoubtedly his mind had been brilliant and versatile
but it had lacked stability E ither he entertained con
tr adictory noti ons at one and th e sam e time
or else h e
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I LLU S T RA T ED
222
H I S T ORY OF M O D E R N
E U R O PE
The eff ect of this rising of the D ecembrists (so called from
the revolt having taken place in D ecember ) was naturally
to determine N icholas on a strictly anti liberal policy A
ruthl ess suppression of all liberal views was organized by th e
police—a special secret police previously solemnl y abolished
by Al exander being re established A chance remark th e
possession of a banned book and a life term in Siberia might
be the result Yet through all this we must remember that
N icholas himself was as sincere and high minded a man as
many of those so bi tterly opposed to him He honestly s trove
to do his best for his country and for civilization by maintain
ing an unquestionable authority Agitation disorder liberal
ism these were to him the foes most damaging to peace and
good government He was not blind to the need for reform
and even introduced some measures such as abolition of
punishment by the knout which were adm i rable in intention
had they only been observed A summary of R ussian law
was at last compiled Technical institutes were founded
The currency was reformed The first R ussian factory acts
were passed—though not enforced Above all the emancipa
tion of the serfs who numbered 44 per cent of the R ussian
population was
contemplated
In spite of the above considerations and the personal
uprightness of N icholas however the government of R ussia
was in fact an intellectual and social tyranny The annual
expenditure on the army now increased to 40 per cent of th e
budget Serfdom was maintained w
ith the concession of a
few small privileges though there were on the average some
thing like twenty revolts by groups of peasants every single
’
year of N ich olas s reign M oreover serfdom in factories
both state and private—was on the increase Here again the
most brutal conditions often prevailed—serfs regul arly working
sixteen or seventeen h ours a day even at the tender age of
eight or nine serfs banished to Siberia serfs flogged to death
so that even the horrors of the E nglish factory system before
Serfs too were paid only half the wages
1 8 3 3 were outdone
N o wonder that the result was a tremendous
of freemen
growth of strikes which were soon classed by the government
Serfs even began to commit o ff ences with
as a serious crime
th e deliberate hope of being exiled to Siberia though that
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S ib eria
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AN D
R U S S IA
P O LA N D ,
1 7 89
—1 9 1 4
2 23
involved a terrible march on which many perished and
possibly unspeakable conditions in th e Siberian mines
A ltogether in the reign of N icholas I about a hundred and
fifty thousand Of all classes were ordered to Siberia as exiles
T h e foreign policy of N icholas has already been exami ned N ich l
“
It was based on two considerations—R ussian expans
ion and g
litz
?
In her Asiatic ambitions
th e suppression of liberalism
R ussia advanced another million square miles of territory
In E urope N ich olas rapidly interv éned to help the Greeks
against the T urks and won privileges from the O ttoman
E mpire by th e treaties of Adrianople ( 1 8 2 9) and U nkiar I n th
B alkan“
S kelessi ( 1 8 33 ) ( see pp 1 9 0
W e have seen how he
proposed to S plit up th e Turkish E mpire even o ff ering E ngland
At
E gypt as a bribe for h er compliance in the scheme
another period ( 1 8 33 1 84 1 ) he seems to have been keener on
th e advance in Asia rather than the dismemberment of I n A ia
Th is question of R ussian influence in the Balkan
T urkey
Peninsula led on as we have seen from a R usso Turkish
conflict to the disastrous Crimean W ar of 1 8 54 to 1 8 56 In T h
the middle of th is N icholas died though not before he had seen Se?
his military and governmental system shown up in all its
h ideous ine fficiency
T h e main tenance of autocracy in E urope was an object 0» M ain
‘
almost equally important to N icholas Of this possibly the 532m
m Em ”
outstanding example was his despatch of R ussian troops to
h elp the Austrians agai nst the Hungarian rebels in 1 849 I n th
“
Again he more or less forb adé Frederick W illiam IV of P russia $3532
to accept th e crown of a united and liberal Germany from the In G er
m y
Frankfort Assembly T hese instances being outside h is own
dominions S how the enormous importance he attached to
th e suppression of liberalism in wh atever place it might break
out H e regarded E ngland (where the middle classes had
5
been admitted to power by the R eform Bill of 1 8 3 2 ) and
France (wh ere N apoleon III the man of plebiscites held
s way) as traitors to the cause of E uropean order
’
To complete the picture of N ich olas s autocratic poli cy Hi, m p
som ething must be said of the P olish revolt of 1 8 3 0 W hen fi g
b “
?
N icholas succeeded to the throne in 1 8 2 5 being hard pressed “
through the D ecembrist Conspiracy he h ad endeavoured to
m ai ntain th e loyalty of h is outer dominions by certai n promises
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I LLU S T R A T E D
2 24
HI S T OR Y O F M OD ERN
E U R O PE
He h ad sworn for example to uphold the constitutions of
“
—
I promise and swear before God to
Finland and P oland
m aintain the Act of Constitution
N evertheless a censorship
was upheld in both countries contrary to the constitution
and N icholas rapidly became ex tremely unpop ular
The
P oles especially disliked him because he showed no signs of
’
redeem i ng Alexander s promise of including Lithuania in
their kingdom Instead he withdrew P olis h o fficials from
Lithuania and substituted R ussians
T h e trial and con
dem nation of a number of leading P oles for complicity in the
Finally when the
D ecembrist Conspiracy gave o ff ence too
French R evolution of 1 8 3 0 broke out and was rapidly followed
by the Belgian revolt against Holland N icholas prepared for
war against France and proposed to use the P olish army for
the purpose The result was a revolution in P oland itself
Begi nning at the close of 1 8 3 0 the revolt lasted from first
to last for about ten months The Russian governor the
Grand D uke Constantine was s ent packing with some regi
ments of Lithuanian troops ( who ough t to have been retained
I n January 1 8 3 1 N icholas was
for military purposes )
declared dethroned by the P olish D iet, and the R ussian
invasion of the kingdom promptly began To divide the
P oles asunder N icholas who knew the P olish D iet was
considering reform of peasant conditions lightened the
burdens of the peasants on all estates captured by the
advancing R ussian armies A number of fights took place
the P oles even at one time trying a desperate advance into
Lithuania but in the end there could be but one result
O utside W arsaw in September 1 8 3 1 a force of nearly
R ussians beat a P olish army less than h al f that siz e and the
The remaining
P olish capital was compelled to surrender
P olish forces in th e countryside were rounded up or driven
into P russia where they were disarmed N icholas had now
a
only to make the enemy pay for their boldness in rebelling—
business which was performed with complete thoroughness
any privil eges
T h e old constitution was o fficially withdrawn
contained in a new one granted in 1 8 3 2 were never carried
out All the elections and the P ol ish D iet were abolished
All the leading positions were given to R ussians The
R ussian language was made compulsory for governmental
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R U S S IA
AN D
P O LA N D ,
1
—9
7 8 59
1
22 7
14
their all A drift to the towns ensued and th is together with
the natural development of industry as the century went on,
led to a wh ole m ange of new problems P easant discontent
was thus by no means eradicated wh ile urban discontent was
ac tually increased
N ext in importance in the reforms of Alexander II was th e
gr anting of local self government By an edict of 1 864 special
district and provincial assemblies ( Zemstvos ) were set up ( b ) T h
z m tm
trict assembly and that
aselected from th e dis
T h e provincial w
from local assemblies of nobles of peasants and of townsmen
T h e main duties of the Zemstvos were looking after local
transport crops education and sani tation Although R ussia
lacked a central parliament these local councils gave her a
certain experience in such matters and hastened the demand
O ther reforms introduced in these years
for a national body
included trial by jury ( though martial law was still retained t) T i l b y
M y
for politi cal o ff ences ) the extension of education especially
to women the abolition of military colo ni es and the replace ( fi Edu g
On 2
m ent of th e long term of military service by conscription
: AM “
the material side progress was made in the construction of
railways which had been almost completely neglected under
N evertheless th e intellectual classes failed to ( f ) R ail
N icholas I
Wm
rally to the support of C z ardom Socialism often in its
extreme forms began to spread in the towns A generation
novelists and dramatists painted remarkable
of bril liant
pictures of R ussian life which demonstrated the desperate
necessity of rebuilding society from top to bottom if anything
really great were to be done In face of the hopelessness of B ut th
m q uit
tackli ng the enormous problems of R uss1 a by the cauti ous and in uffi i m
piecemeal reforms of the C z ar men began to adopt oneof two
“
m
attitudes Eith er like many nobles th ey drifted aim l essly
aware of an impendi ng crash yet robbed of any will or power
to avert it or else like many workers they became avowed
revolutionaries It was the growth of this latter class which
m ad eA lexander from about 1 8 66 abandon hi s early attitude
of reform and i nstitute a thoroughgoing repression
T o this decision Alexander was aided by a second revolt in l n “
Eai
P oland
In spite of certain concessions such as reopem ng “Zi n
86 3
W arsaw university and reinstating P olish as the o fficial
language P oland stil l bitterly resented the R ussian connection
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H I S T O R Y O F M OD E R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
2 28
W hen a P olish body
EU R O PE
Agricul tural Society founded to
improve the lot of the peasants was forcibly dissolved P oland
broke out into open discontent and demonstration Firing
on th e W arsaw crowd produced a counter crop of terrorism
aimed against the Viceroy and eventually in 1 86 3 the revolt
broke out T here was never a chance of victory—it was
simply an act of national desperation
T h e suppression
was ruthless though the P olish peasants were rewarded with a
gift of the freehold of half their land for their failure to support
the revolution T h e spirit of P oland seemed now to be
broken
but P olish exiles particularly in friendly France
never lost sight of the woes of their country They schemed
for the great day when an independent P oland sho ul d
arise again N icholas and Alexander had made enemies
indeed
’
In the realm of foreign aff airs Alexander I I s reign witnessed
a continuation of hi storic R ussian policy The advance into
Asia was continued by the acquisition of all Turkestan and
Samarcand This caused E ngland so long hostile because of
R ussian ambitions in the B alkans now to redouble her hostility
If
b ecause of R ussian ambitions in P ersia and Afghanistan
the process continued India itself might be threatened
Apart from Asiatic developments Russia also prospered in
E urope by the Franco P russian War when Alexander took the
opportunity to announce his intention of reconstructing a
Black Sea fleet D evelopments in the E astern Question led
as we have seen to th e R usso Turki sh war in 1 8 7 7 in which
R ussia was so successful though she had to submit the terms
o f th e tr eaty of San Stefano to drastic revision at the Congress
For a time relations with Austria were very strained
o f Berlin
since Austria refused to help R ussia in the Crimean W ar in
spite of the debt she owed N icholas for his intervention against
the Hungarians in 1 849 By 1 8 72 friendship seemed restored
through the e ff orts of Bismarck and the League of the Thr ee
’
E mperors announced the common intention of Austria
P r ussia and R ussia of maintaini ng the cause of monar chy in
the world Conflicting Balkan ambitions however as
demonstrated at the Congress of Berlin soon widened the
’
i
n
nce
more
In
spite
o
f
Bismarck
s
success
retaining
a
o
g p
R ussian friends h i p even after the D ual Alliance of 1 8 7 9 it
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T h e Russo
T ur kish
war. 1 8 7 7
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Lea e of
h ree
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’
E m perors
,
,
,
.
B ut Russia
drifts from
G erm an
( riendsh i p
,
,
,
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,
I LLU S T RA T E D
2 30
H I S T OR Y O F M OD E RN
E U ROPE
His escape did not long profit him In 1 88 1 ironically enough
j us t as he had signed a paper promising to call a committee
to consider the question of granting a constitution th e
conspirators at last succeeded The attempt was thorough
enough for six bombs and two mines were ready to greet
Alexander on one of his drives through the streets of the
capital T h e first bomb thrown by a youth of nineteen
’
missed its mark th ough it killed several of the Czar s escort
“
T hat one ? said Alexander walking towards the arrested
’
assassin after he had attended to the wounded
W h y he s
quite nice looking
A moment or two later the second bomb
landed at his feet and blew hi s legs to pieces Before th e
afternoon was out the Czar was dead
T h e immediate e ff ect of the crime was to divert all general
sympath y from the terrorists T h e new C z ar Alexander III
a man of upright but unbending character on
( 1 88 1
the lines of N icholas I was able to launch a campaign of
fierce repression with some success The societies failed in
their avowed obj ect of getting him too and the police managed
to break up the worst of them Five of the actual ringleaders
in the death of Alexander II were executed N o steps were
’
taken to carry out the late Czar s last promise T h e press
the uni versities the law courts the Zemstvos were muzzled
and dl agooned by th e Government But th ough resentment
migh t be difl icul t of expression except in isolated outbreaks
( such as the conspiracy against Al exander III in 1 88 7 for
which an elder broth er of Leni n the founder of Soviet R ussia
was executed ) it existed nevertheless ready to flare up at th e
first opportunity
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N ich olas II ,
1
89 4 1 9 1 7
-
The long impending crash came with the completely
“
disastrous reign of N icholas II ( 1 894
An omen of the
calamities of the reign occurred at th e very coronation of th e
C z ar when the collapse of a grandstand led to three thousand
people being crushed to death—an example of that criminal
R ussian inefli ciency which explains why Soviet leaders nowa
days shoot railway officials who are responsible for serious
accidents P reparatory to and after the conclusion of the
T h allian
” M F an e
Franco R ussian alliance ( 1 8 9 1
French gold poured
N ich olas 11.
94 1 9 1 7
-
-
,
ce
e
r
.
c
-
R US S IA
P O LA N D ,
AN D
—
8
7 9 1914
1
into th e country in th e form of loans and R ussian industry F n h
m
developed at a hith erto unheard of pace In the last twelve
years of the 1 9th century for example there was a 6 00 per
cent increase in th e production of cast iron In the same D l
m nt p
period th e town population increased by 3 3 per cent and Ru ian
du t y
great factories sprang up often with over five thousand L
i d f fim
workers T h e vilest conditions persisted in th ese and th e
overcrowded towns generally— as late as 1 885 in spite of
factory a cts people were still being found working eightee n
hours a day wh ile child labour down to three years of age i n
some cases still persisted T h us R ussia th ough its proportion
of industrial workers was far smaller t h an that of E ngland or
Ger many exh ibited in the towns it did possess th e very worst T ib l
—
f
ea
ures
a
develo
ed
industrialism
overcrowding
slums
f t
o
p
“T h
appalling factory conditions
e combination of t h is class
of urban wo rker with th e penniless university student so co m
mon in R ussia produced a formidable revolutionary movement
lacking neither i n intelligent leaders h ip nor in popular support T h e
N ich olas II himsel f was the last man who should h ave $1233 ff
inh erited the task of solving the overwh elming problems 01
His intelligence was as little developed as that of h is
R ussia
father while he had neither the powerful p h ysique nor th e
iron will wh ich h ad carried Al exander III th rough W ith out
the brains or the determination to control a V illage let alone
a state the siz e of R ussia he nevertheless decided to rule as a
complete autocrat E ven the virtues he possessed a religious
and loving nature personal kindness to his family and so on
were those most unfitted to h i s job His extraordinarily
narrow outlook persisted in regarding everything in R ussia
in terms of loyalty to himself Since he was aware o f th e
entire honesty of his own intentions noth ing could be good
which did not begin by complete devotion to th e C z ar O t h er
people h owever looked at th e matter in a diff erent light T o
them noth ing could be good unless it began by complete
’
devotion to the needs of R ussia s downtrodden peasantry and
proletariat—a devotion expressing itself in scientific plans for
social improvement not merely in kindly thought or words
Between these two attitudes there was no compromise possible
C z ar and people inevitably mi sunderstood each oth er and
drifted farth er ap art
re
(
c
s
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ev e o
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e
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o v
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e
232
I LLU S T R A T E D
H I S T OR Y O F M
ODERN EURO P E
To the demand for a parliament from those sections of the
country notably the Liberals of the Zemstvos who still
hoped for peaceful reform N icholas II consistently turned a
deaf ear Such ideas he announced were b ut senseless
’
dreams
In face of this unyielding attitude the parties of
revolutionary violence naturally attracted more members
In 1 8 98 the R ussian Soci al D emocrat party was founded I t
onsisted
f
many
shades
o
f
le
f
t
wing
opinion
f
o
r
di
eren
o
ff
t
c
’
elements in M arx s writings were emphasized by diff erent
people A t one notable party congress of the Social D emocrats
in 1 90 3 held abroad of course th e party began to split up
T h e technical question which caused the split was whether th e
party should consist purely of completely devoted workers
or whether it should admit passive members encourage
subscriptions from vaguely interested persons and so on
T h e di ff erence in other words was between a party whi ch
would be a fighting organization or one which would be a
far looser body more dependent on public Opinion and unable
The advocates of
to make great demands on its members
the more aggressive policy led by Lenin won the day Hence
forward they were known as Bolsheviks ( M ajority
since they had secured a maj ori ty at th e Congress T h e
advocates of the looser group were termed M ensheviks
inority
By
1 9 1 1 th e two groups had formally
M
(
separated , the Bolsheviks to promote the revolution as soon as
possible th e M ens h eviks first to attempt reform by gentler
means
To the thorough going M arxist the worki ng classes had two
weapons T h e final one was armed rebellion but before that
was necessary the strike m ight do much P artly through
partly through deliberate M arxist
S pontaneous discontent
propaganda a wave of strikes now overwhelmed R ussia In
1 8 9 6 a successful strike in the St P etersburg cotton factories
led by Le nin wrung from the Government a factory act
limiting ho urs to eleven and a half a day O ne success now
bred many Though bloodshed and clashes with the police
regularly occurred the strike movement spread In 1 904
for example a big strike among the Baku oilworkers led to
troops discharging volleys into the crowd and the workmen
“
in revenge firing the oil wells as candles for their dead
,
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sh eviks
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Lenin
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H I S T OR Y O F M OD E R N
I LL U S T R A T E D
2 34
E U R OPE
encouraged R ussian ambitions in M anchuria and Korea
wh ere they came violently into collision with those of Japan
also determined to batten on the decaying Chi nese E mpire
Japan was but an inf ant among th e powers only recently
awakened from m edia v alism and enforced isolation from th e
’
rest of the world In the i 8 5o s an Am erican naval com
mander h ad compelled her under threat of gunfire to open h er
ports to foreign trade after which the Japanese realizing what
a decisive argument artillery was had set themselves to attain
’
an adequate level of W estern civiliz ation
From a land of
kimonos and lotus blossom Japan rapidly became a land of
factories and machi ne guns—a development which might
have made the American commander pause had he foreseen
it E xtending the flattery of her imitation of th e W est to th e
purs uit of foreign ambitions Japan by 1 8 95 had successful ly
ch allenged C h ina for th e control of Korea a valuable pe ni nsula
on the mainland opposite Japan and j ust south of M anchuria
T h e cessions made by China included P ort Arthur a warm
water port west of the Korean peninsula
P t A th u
It was at thi s stage that R ussia decided to put a stop to
further Japanese development
P ort Arthur had long been
coveted by R ussia for unlike V ladiv ostock her most southerly
port in Siberia it was free from ice all th e year round W ith
the idea of eventually acquiring it h erselfy sh e now in concert
with France and Germany forced Japan to restore it to China
The Japanese who were not strong enough to resist meekly
obeyed—and increased their armaments T o their fury a
year or two later R ussia herself acquired a lease of P ort
Ru ia h
lf a q uires
Arthur from China W ar feeling now ran high in Japan but
P t
A th u aft
h ostilities did not actually occur before Jap an had strengthened
m k ing
’
n
a
a
p
J
E
hersel
by
the
alliance
with
E
ngland
to
ensure
ngland
s
f
t
it
’
neutrality if one power were at war with Japan or E ngland s
active help if Japan had to face two powers In 1 904 after
sh e had vainly endeavoured to secure the withdrawal from
M anchuria and Korea of R ussian troops and influence ( greatly
increased since the Boxer rising against foreigners in Chi na )
Japan deliberately challenged R ussia by a declaration of war
To E urope in general this seemed rather like D avid
challenging Goliath the result however was the same as in
T h e R ussian P acific fleet was
th e fam ous Bibli cal episode
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or
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er
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c
or
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r
e1
a
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res ore
'
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,
.
,
P O LA N D ,
AN D
R U S S IA
1
78 9
—
1 914
beaten h yt he Japanese under Admiral T ogo and the R ussians
dislodged from P ort Arthur Beaten on land at the great
battle of M ukden the R ussians pinned their last hope to the M ukd n
arrival of th eir Baltic fleet i n C h inese waters It set out in
O ctober 1 904 and immediately nearly caused war with
E ngland by firing on fish ing trawlers off the D ogger Bank in
mistak e for h ostile torpedo boats— th ough what those would
be doing in that part of the world no one could gather Slowly
the colossal voyage round th e world proceeded by way of th e
Channel M adagascar Singapore until eight months after
All the T h B alti
wards the Baltic fleet at length appeared off Korea
fi “
world had followed its progress And th e very day on which
it met Togo it disappeared from h istory only four ships
surviving to reach V ladiv ostock T h e R ussians had thus
suff ered one of the most humiliating naval defeats on record
and a treaty was soon m ade (T reaty of P ortsmouth 1 905) by T aty of
wh ich sh e h ad to evacuate M anchuria give up P ort Arthur
and th e surrounding peninsula to Japan and recogni z e
Japan ese influence as predominant in Korea
Th e effect of all this on R ussian internal a ff airs was naturally T h fi e
in Rm “
profound O nce m ore as in the Crimean campai gn war
had exposed the c omplete inefli ciency of Czardom The
demand for a parliament backed everywhere by strikes grew
’
irresistible O ne of th e C z ar s leading ministers was assas
sinated
D uring th e war two or th ree weeks after the capture
of P ort Arthur an enormous procession of strikers and their
families led by a priest march ed into the W inter P alace
Square to present a petition to the Czar W hen they refused U m m ;
to disperse and knelt i n th e snow th e soldiers on the orders of 3m
“
m “
W
their commanders poured ceaseless volleys into the passive
mass the first shots bringing down a line of children like
Then
falling birds from their vantage points in the trees
T his dreadful massacre raised the fury
th e cavalry got busy
P ea
sants attacked local land
of the nation to fever point
lords strikes broke out everywh ere including the Baltic
provinces soldi ers and sailors mutinied and finally just after
the conclusion of peace came a General Strike Industrial A g ne“.
sm ’
“
and agricultural workers railway and telegraph operators
even th e children in the elementary scho ols all struck Faced
with such a movement N icholas II coul d only give in though
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e
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re
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e e
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ee e
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ve
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m
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H I S T OR Y O F M O D E RN
I LLU S T R A T E D
2 36
EUROPE
with the greatest reluctance
O n the advice of W itte , one of
his few intelligent m i nisters , wh o had succeeded in obtaini ng
.
very favourable term s from the Japanese he agreed to con
sider ab le concessions
D uring the earlier days of th e mass
movements he had promised to summon a D uma or parlia
ment This had not yet met nor wo ul d it have been of any
service in establishing democracy since the franch ise was to
be very limited and the functions of the new body purely
consultative N ow N icholas agreed to widen the franchise
p i il ges
to entrust the D uma with real law making activities and to
d d
th e p o
a
llow
certain
personal
rights
such
as
f
reedom
o
f
meet
ng
i
a
n
d
d
g
association
The General Strike was called off but the
slackening of the censorship only meant an i n
crease in the
amount of revolutionar y propaganda O utrages and strikes
continued and brutal repression was started once more In
certain districts where peasants had got out of hand wh ole
villages were shelled and ringleaders even deliberately buried
alive
In 1 906 th e first D uma met Any hopes th at a r eal
Th fi t
D um a 1 9 6
reforming period was about to begin were soon dispelled
The D uma was not for the most part an extremist body—the
Bolsheviks for example had boycotted it on the ground that
it was merely a sham E very reform asked for by the D uma
however was refused
all the previous concessions were
hedged about with impossible restrictions and with in three
months after the C z ar had dismissed W itte it was dissolved
l
l d
Etg
By now o nly th e Liberals retained much faith in a constitution
gm
or a D uma granted by the Czar the working classes organi z ed
in
stead their own town factory or village councils known as
T h S ovi ts
’
soviets and determined that sooner or later these soviets
should develop into a really democratic government In this
movement a name of great signi ficance for the future soon
’
—
emerged
Trotsky The temper of the Czar s government in
t ky
Cl
these circumstances is shown by the fact that by now practi
cally the whole coun trywas under martial law and that th e
death penalty was inflicted for a mere insult to an o ff icial
S ib e ia and Between 1 905 and 1 9 08 some four thousand people were
were banished to
executed while in 1 906 al one over
S iberia without trial
In 1 90 7 certain concessions were made to th e desires of th e
,
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e
r v
scoor
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se
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e
rs
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0
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'
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,
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ve
ss
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0
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e
e
,
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'
ro s
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r
,
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23 8
I L LU S T R A T ED
HIS T O R Y O F M O D E R N
E U R O PE
forethought was destined to produce the profoundest resul ts
Gh astly ineffi ciency and overwhelming defeat again exposed
The already fasc
all the shortcomings of the government
rotting fabric of Czardom fell to pieces Five million R ussian
’
soldiers paid for their Government s follies With their liv es
And
N ic h olas and his family peris h ed in the general chaos
from th at chaos there at length emerged , forged by the
Bols h eviks , a new factor in world politics—the first Communis t
.
.
.
.
.
S tatee
RU S S IA
IN
T HE 1 9T H C E N
TU RY
.
CHA P TE R XII
Th e G
erm an
E m pire
and th e
T h ird French
—
1 8 7 1 1 90 7
R epub lic ,
T h e E stablish ment and I nternal History o
f th e F rench
Repub lic, 1 87 1 —
1 9 07
1.
The Franco P russian W ar gave a new shape to th e situation
’
in E urope T hanks to P russia s victory th e process of Italian
’
unity was completed by the capture of the last of the P ope s
dominions The E mpire of N apoleon III which in 1 860 h ad
been th e principal power on the Continent crumbled awa y
The R epublic which emerged from the ruins was for many
years torn by faction and impotent In place of the supremacy
of France there ar ose that of the new German E mpire strong
in the legions of M oltke and the wits of Bismarck A new
E uropean power had been born and with it a new E urop ean
culture Increasingly during the next forty years men thought
of Germany not as a l and of great m usicians a nd ine ff ect ual
philosophers but as a land of industrialists scientists and
soldiers A distinctive German spirit became observable
confident thorough efficient patriotic and ruthless The
old P russian mili tary tradition became the tradition of the
new Germany fostered by all the Bismarckian ideas on the use
T h e generation following the Franco P russian war
of force
belongs to Germany in the same sense that the generation of
though far m ore
th e R evolutionary and N apoleonic wars
completely belongs to France
Against the powerful new giant in Central E urope the
infant French R epublic appeared at first of pigmy stature
To begin with it had the greates t difli culty in establishing
itself In th e interval between the proclamation of the
German E mpire at Versailles i n January 1 8 7 1 and the signi ng
of th e peace treaty at Frankfort i n the following M ay—in fact
before th e treaty could be signed at all—France suffered one
of the most desperate tragedies of modern times
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France
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HIS T OR Y O F M OD ER N
I LLU S T RA T E D
2 42
E U R O PE
The episode of the P aris Commune th rows a lurid light on
the divisio ns stupidity and barbarity wh i ch may mark even a
great and civilized nation like th e French W hen famish ed
P aris had at last to surrender in January 1 8 7 1 , there was still
a party which desired Franc e to figh t on in h er unconquered
provinces It disapproved of the idea of an armistice with the
Prussians alth ough P aris had alr eady endured one hundred
and thir ty fiv e days of siege and it showed its disapproval by
rioting W hen th e armistice in spite of this was concluded
the emergency government formed during the war arranged
T h e main
for a N ational Assembly to be elected at Bordeaux
function of this body was to conclude the definite peace treaty
To the horror of P aris which had a strong republican tradi
tion the overwhelming majority in th e N ational Assembly
proved to be royalist (T h e fact arose not from the desire
but for peace W h ich was
of the pr ovinces for monarchy
supported by the monarchists ) T h e direction of aff airs was
entrusted by this body to the veteran politician T h iers who
had all along been against the war and wh o wanted to
terminate it as speedily as pb ssib le He now supported a
republic but one of an extremely conservative ki nd T h e
ministry he chose was not notable for any strong worki ng class
sympathies and this together with the fact th at Thiers was
compelled by Bismarck to agree to an o ffi cial entry into P aris
by the P russ i an troops put P aris immediately on bad terms
with the new government Two or three measures passed
by the A ssembly in M arch added fuel to the flames In the
first place all back rents owing to landlords commercial sums
due and the like which had been suspended d uring part of
the war were now to be paid up in full with interest—a
demand which was quite impossible for the poorer and indeed
many of the middle classes Secondly the Assembly decided
to move to Versailles which had an unpleasantly royalist
sound to it Thirdly the P aris N ational Guard was to have
its war time pay stopped and to be disarm ed so that P aris
could no longer argue with any e ff ect W hen Th iers ordered
a detachment of French troops to carry out the disarmament
the N ational Guards in P aris resisted a fight followed and
P aris was in revolt
Before M arch was out following the example of one or two
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T HE G ER M A N
AN D
E M PI R E
T Hi RD FR E N C H R EP U BLI C
2 43
traditionally revolutionary cities of th e south such as Lyons
and M arseilles P aris had set up a Commune or separate town T h P a i
government The idea behind it was that by this defiance 52323 1?
1
both the conservative republican ideas of Thiers and the 9
72
33 33
monarch ical ideas of the Assembly coul d be defeated I nstead
of a single government for th e whole country under Thiers or
a restored Bourbon king France woul d consist of independent
Commu nes attached to one another I n a very loose form of
federation—an arrangement which woul d allow P aris full
liberty to carry out its own policy T h e P aris Commune itself
wh en elected proved a mixed body its ni nety two mem bers
ranging from ex treme revolutionaries to sober middle class
citiz ens It was supported by most of P aris except the wealthy
west end suburbs
T h e Assembly at Versailles
however led by T hiers T h i and
th
determi ned on ri gorous suppression T h e other Communes A m b ly
’’
rapidly collapsed but for two month s civil war raged round EQ
fi
m
fi
g
by
P aris under th e eyes of th e contemptuous P r ussians who
thus h ad th e pleasurable spectacle of watching their enemies
destroy one anoth er Failing to take P aris by assaul t and th e
’
fiercest bombardment T hiers had to ask Bismarck s leave to
increase the French a rmy from
to
men E ven
’
’
when after five weeks continuous attack th e Assembly s
troops at last broke into P aris they had to figh t th eir way
street by street and house by house until they captured the
entire city As the Commu nards retreated they set fire to
important positions and this together with the incendiary
s h ells used by the Versailles troops reduced half P aris to a
blazing inferno W hen by M ay 2 6 th the last heroic resistance T h
dw
"
was crush ed th e Hotel de Ville the M i nistry of Finance the pa f
P alais de Justice the T ui leries all were smo ul dering ruins
to say noth ing of theatres stations barracks and whole
blocks of streets— even N otre D ame was spared only because
there was a hospital close by But the vengeance taken by
th e victors was perhaps even more terribl e than the actu al
fighting P aris prisons ran b lood P aris cemeteries burst with
th e dead who had their revenge on the living by creating
foul pestil ences
Altogether more than twice the number of
victims claimed by th e 1 7 93 Terror in two years perished in
P aris in one week either in th e assaul t or the subsequent
,
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rs
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,
H IS T OR Y O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
2 44
E U R O PE
xecutions . As a gross total it h as been estimated that as a
res ul t of th e Commune material damage to th e extent of
P arisians suffered
was done while about
imprisonment exile transportation or death
T h e results of th ese disasters appeared on the surface to b e
Thiers had r e—
established
of very little permanent importan ce
’
order and coul d go on to conclude the final peace treaty with
the P russians T h e ruined buildings were mostly rebuilt in
There
fairly faithf ul and entirely dull copies of the originals
’
was no longer any point in Cook s running special tours to
see th e ruins— anyw ay disappointed E nglish tourists had
according to one h istorian of the Commune complained that
they were no longer smoking The Commune seemed like a
hideous nigh tmare no sooner suffered th an ended In actu al
In the firs t
( a) M iddl fact however it h ad two very important results
la
place it th rew the m iddle classes solidly behind the govern
upp t
Thi
h
ment
f
hiers
w
ile
the
new
industrial
working
classes
T
o
indu t i al
w king
resent
ul
and
embittered
strengthened
their
allegiance
to
f
la
m
b
Socialism
S econdly the struggles of th e P aris workers to
iali t
organi z e themselves into a government were examined
rx
who
n critically and histor ic ally by the Communist Karl M
(b) A l
a
lu
in
drew fiom their success and failure certain principles in the
’
M a x and
technique of revolution M arx s conclusions were again
studied and t e examined by the R ussian Communist Lenin
The history of the
I n the early years of the Great W ar
Commune thus provided practical lessons for the maker of
th e great R ussian revolution of 1 9 1 7—a distant res ul t but
nevertheless an important one Thusit has come about that
the origi nal Com munards have been sometimes confused with
Communists—a mistake ari sm g not only from the similarity
o f th e name
but from later Comm unist admiration for th e
’
h eroic days of 1 8 7 1
Th
T h e first step in th e reorga ni zation of France was obviously
t n
Lib
f E n h
of the Germans
to
get
rid
There
was an immediate rush to
t
t
y
lend money to the gover nm ent to pay off the indemnity and
th e middle classes enjoyed the ple asures of patriotism whil e
receiving in addition an interest of 5 per cent W ithi n two
years the indemnity had been completely paid off and France
was free from th e army of oc cupation The country as a
whole certainly agreed with the Assembly in hailing T hiers as
e
,
.
,
,
,
.
‘
.
.
,
,
,
.
.
,
e
c
sses
s
or
.
,
,
ers ,
-
,
s r
,
or
,
ss
c
eco
soc
es
.
s
esso
,
rev o
'
r
.
-
,
,
.
.
'
,
‘
.
e
er a i o
o
re
erri or
c
.
‘
,
.
,
.
HI S T OR Y OF M OD E R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
2 46
E U R OPE
Senate together Since th e P resid ent coul d not dissolve the
Chamber except with the consent of the Senate and since the
Cabinet was responsible to the Chamber and not to the
P resident the latter became a kind of figur e head correspond
ing to an E nglis h constitutional monarch W hen M acM ah on
supported by a royalist Senate dissolmed a newly elected
Ch amber in 1 8 7 7 largely because it was too R epublican for
his fancy he was taugh t such a lesson by the return of an even
bigger R epublican majority th at no French P resident has
’
since dared to employ this privilege He soon after resigned
to make way for an undoubted though conservative
R epublican Grevy
T h e T h ird French R epublic founded in the hour of defeat
over th e blood of th e Communards and against all the desires
In spite
of th e M onarchists has endured surprisingly well
of frantic party divisions and the Great W ar it has lasted so
far over sixty years or three times as long as any other
government since th e downfall of the old monarchy in 1 7 9 1
It has too weathered a number of severe internal crises
notably in the Boul anger aff air th e P anama scandal and the
D reyfus case
In 1 8 86 a certain General Boulanger ex military governor
captu
red th e imagination of
of T unis and M inister of W ar
the French people His handsome appearance on his black
horse his fiery speeches his prophecies of a successful war of
revenge and the recovery of Alsace Lorraine his attacks on th e
new constitution all powerfully affected certain sections of
the populace He developed th e habit of putting his name
forward as candidate in any constituency where th ere was a
vacancy and constituency after constituency showed its
approval by electing h im
O bviously the man was aiming at
’’
a coup d etat and a dictatorship but in fact h e feared to take
At length the divided R epublicans plucked
th e final step
up courage to do something about it and determined to
charge Boulanger with h igh treason At this the gorgeous
’
bubble collapsed— the General s flight to Brussels and
subsequent suicide showe d that he was not of the stuff of which
real dictators are made France breathed again
(0
’
T h e P anama Scandal whi ch occupied the year 1 8 92 was
only noteworthy in th at it provided the enemies of th e
.
,
-
,
,
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,
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,
,
V I V E LA
-
DE C I DED P RE F E RE N C E
FRA N
CE
( surveying h erself in a Looking glass)
A FT E R A LL, T HI S S TI LL S UI TS
”
A N D I M E A N TO W EA R I T
-
B E S T,
n
ce d
Fra
.
C C I dC S
.
.
th at
sh e
is definitely r epub lican
.
I LL U S T R A T E D
2 48
H l S I O R Y OF M OD E R N
'
'
E U R OP E
with a powerful weapon T h e success of the Suez
Canal planned by the Frenchman de Lesseps encouraged the
idea of a similar proj ect through the Isth m us of P anam a
T h e scheme as we know has proved of th e greatest service to
humanity but as organized by de Lesseps it collapsed
disastrously D e Lesseps himself a cousin of the ex E mpress
E ugénie and since th e Opening of the Suez Canal decorated
with many orders notably a Grand Cross of the Legion of
Honour and an E nglish knighthood was seriously involved in
N ot o nl y were his calculati ons in some places
th e a ff air
incompetent—such as not allowing for the tropical floods of
the C h agres R iver —
but on investigation it was proved that
an amaz ing amount of ex travagance fraud bribery and even
blackmail had taken place T h e worst feature was that
many deputies and senators were proved to have accepted
bribes to advance the project and the enem i es of the régime
’
in France could talk of R epublican corruption
D e Lesseps
’
was sentenced to five years imprisonment and thousands of
French investors lost their money It was a nasty blow but
th e R epublic survived
T h e Boulanger episode and the P anama scandal were peace;
’
and q ui et itself I n comparison with the famous D reyf us case
wh ich distracted th e French nation from 1 8 94 to 1 906 In
a Jewis h o fficer was condemned by
1 8 9 4 Captain D reyfus
’
co urt martial to a life sentence on D evil s Island for off ering
to sell military secrets to the Germans T h e whole case
rested on one h alf of an undated and unsigned document
’
wh ich experts could not agree to be in D reyfus s writing
His race and unpopularity however told against hi m T h e
nature of the trial led half France to believe that a great
injustice had been done equally the other half held that to
say this was to attack the honour of the army whi ch was
more important th an the comfort of a Jew The strong
R epublicans and the intellectuals were passionately pro
D reyfus wh ile the Clericals M onarchists and army circles
in return launched a furious anti Jewish campaign in their
Life long friendships were sundered over the
newspapers
question T h e fact that leakages of information still went on
’
th ough D reyfus was now on D evil s Island proved suspicious
In 1 8 9 8 another o fficer was accused t h anks to th e work of
R epublic
.
,
,
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-
,
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,
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,
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1 89 4
—r q o6
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,
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,
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-
-
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,
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2 50
I LLU S T R A T E D
H I S T O R Y O F M O D E RN
EU R O P E
main measures were passed by the W aldeck R ousseau ministry
between 1 8 99 and 1 905 W aldeck R ousseau was himself a
R adical but his cabinet included for the first time a Socialist
in M i llerand who was made l\/I inister of Commerce M iller
and was responsible for some important laws notably a P ublic
Health act and limitation of th e working day to ni ne and a
half hours Apart from this the cabinet was determined
first to see justice done in the D reyfus aff air and then to crush
It saw in th em acting
th e political power of the Clericals
with the M ilitarists the greatest danger to the R epublic
Accordingly a series o f laws was passed by which sch ools run
by religious orders were closed u nl ess by special favour of the
’
government and N apoleon s 1 8 0 2 Concordat giving Catholic
ism an o fficial state position was cancelled T his last measure
was the wo rk of Briand another Socialist admitted to W aldeck
’
R ousseau s ministry
T o complete the picture of the establishment of the R epublic
before th e W ar it must be remembered that enormous financial
and industrial development was all this time taking place
in France R ailroads harbours canals coal mi nes land
improvement steamship services all made great progress
The wealth of the country increased by leaps and bounds
’
aided by the new colonial policy which began in th e 1 88 o s
and which will be detailed later N everth eless in spite of
the laws mentioned above social conditions remained b ad
France remained up to 1 9 1 4 a long way behind both E ngland
O ld
an
d Germany in measures to benefit th e lower classes
age pensions for example were frequently proposed by
Facts like this led a certain
M illerand but never granted
section of the Socialists to disapprove of some o f their leaders
like M illerand and Briand working in harness with R adicals
Thus although the R epublic was undoubtedly strengthened
by the adm i ssion of the moderate Socialists to office the
problem of the extreme Soci al ists Communi sts and
Syndicalists ( see glossary) remained These in despair held
that nothing could b e achieved except by violence either in
the form of strikes or civil war and thus constituted a great
danger to the democratic R epublic
O ne other problem too in this period beset the statesmen
U nlike that of many other countries of E ur ope
of Fran ce
-
-
.
,
,
.
,
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.
,
,
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,
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,
.
Financial
and
industrial
develop
m ent
-
,
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,
,
,
.
,
,
,
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,
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~
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,
-
Extrem e
S ocialists
dissatisfied
,
.
,
,
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,
,
,
,
.
,
,
-
T h e F rench
b irth rate
declines
,
.
,
,
THE G ER M A N
E M PI R E A N D T H I R D F R EN C
H R E P U BLI C
2 5!
her birthrate began to fall Her population remained at a
level of forty millions while the new German E mpire crept
up to sixty five mil lions Her leaders became uncomfortably
aware that to every four Frenchmen there were six and a h alf
Germans—wh ich leads us to the sp h ere of military and foreign
pol icy now to be examined in connection with Germany
.
-
.
'
.
,
2.
B ismarck}: P olicy in th e G ermait E mpire,
1
87 1 —1 89 0
The German E mpire of 1 8 7 1 th ough not so beset by pro
h lem s as the French R epublic nevert h eless in the years
th at followed experienced certain di fficulties Against th ese
however two powerful considerations told in favour of th e
new state—unlike France it was founded in victory not
defeat and above all it had incharge of its destinies a states
man of th e quality of Bismarck M oreover since th e institu
tions of th e new E m pire (R eich stag and Bundesrath ) corre
sp onded closely with th ose of the N orth German Confederation
of 1 86 7 the Imperial C h ancellor could direct matters with out
undue control by anyone except the E mperor—whom h e
knew how to manage
Thus with a skilled pilot at the helm
Germany seemed likel y to weather the storms better than her
rival France All the same Bismarck ran into trouble in two B i m a k’
or three dir e
ctions Leaving aside for the moment foreign
af t“ 87 ‘
problems which always constituted h is major interest let us
see how Bismarck tackled his two greatest di fficulties at home
th e Catholi c Church and Socialism
T h e trouble wit h th e Catholic Church started in
when the Vatican at grips with th e new Italian state and kam pf
anxious to cling tight to spiritual power even if it lost its
temporal possessions issued a new article of faith T his
known as the doctrine of P apal I nf allibility proclaimed that al
a
p
“
mun
the P ope when giving an official pronouncement on matters
of faith or morals could not be wrong
As six years before
hand the P apacy had issued a statement known as the Syllabus
in which it had condemned the whole of modern science
this was important Some leading Catholics in Germany
refused to accept the decree of Inf allibility
The question now
—
arose if the Vatican excommunicated those who resisted
for example university professo rs was th e gover nm ent
,
"
,
,
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,
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_
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,
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.
rc
s
,
s
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‘
_
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”
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,
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,
,
"
2 52
H IS T O R Y O F M OD E RN
I LL U S T R A T ED
E U R O PE
support the P apacy by suspending the professors from
their posts or the professors by seei ng that they were not
dismissed ? I f the government supported th e V atican Ger
k
man education would b eco ntrolled by th e Church since th os e
Bi m
wh o objected to any theory could be excommu ni cated and
Chu h
dismissed N aturally Bismarck coul d not allow this and
therefore opposed the P apal claims strongly T h is made h im
fall foul of the majority of the German Cath olics who
supported the P ope in the matter and formed a special
clerical political party known as the Centre T h e new party
soon began to occupy an important position in the R eichstag
where it vigorously criticized Bismarck who determined to
crush the clericals He secur ed the passage through the
’
from 1 8 7 2 to 1 8 7 6 by
parliament
dating
of the M ay Laws
M ay
Th
’
Law
which Jesuits were expelled priests were no longer allowed to
inspect schools and th e education appointmen
t and activities
of priests were completely controlled by the State
W hen
uti n th e Catholics objected
P
th ousands of them including bis h ops
of C ath li
and archbishops were imprisoned The issue broadened into
a struggle of Catholic doctrine in all forms against the new
doctrine of the complete power of the State—hence the title
’
’
Kulturkampf ( civiliz ation struggle ) by which it is usually
known Slowly the Centre party gained in n umbers wh ile
’
all Bismarck s im prisoni ngs and b ullyings could not sti ppr ess
the opposition of the Church U ltimately Bismarck saw that
he was hopelessly antagoni zing a third of his E mpire By
too was dangerous and the
1 8 78 the foreign situation
Socialists were giving him food for thought So th e Iron
’
C h ancellor for the first time ben
t a little and began to call
By 1 88 9 a bill had
off the campaign against the Catholics
been passed which gave back to the Church much of its old
Bi m a k
E ven so
independence
and
its
power
over
its
own
members
th
relax
[<t
Bismarck yielded so clev erly that the P ope besides himself
kam pf t
win upp t sacrificing some points actually instructed the Centre to vote
f C nt
with Bismarck against the Socialists For once the Chancellor
in f
ign
affai
and
had
strayed
rather
out
of his depth
but
he
had
managed
to
again t
S o iali m
get back to dry land and even to bring with h im a valuable
’
catch in the form of the Centre party s votes
S o ial
The Socialist problem was one which Bismarck never solved
W ith th e rapid commercial development of Germany,
to
,
,
‘
ar c
s
,
rc
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
.
e
‘
‘
,
,
s
,
,
.
o
ersec
o
,
,
cs
.
,
‘
‘
-
.
,
.
.
,
,
,
‘
.
,
.
s
rc
es
.
e
o
,
o
or
s
o
,
re
e
ore
.
rs
s
c
s
.
c
.
2 54
ILLU S T R A T ED
H IS T O R Y O F M OD E R N E U R O PE
peaceful Socialism though the two types were not yet rigidly
distinct) obtained half a million votes at the R eich stag
election of 1 8 7 7 Bismarck became alarmed In 1 8 7 8 he
accordingly began a fierce campaign against the Social
D emocrats with the express object of crushing the whole
“
N ow for the pigsticking
movement
he is reported to
have said Socialist papers were suppressed clubs broken up
meetings stopped leaders banished T wo of the twelve
Social D emocrat members of the R eichstag who dared to
attend a session were all but handed over to the police
Horrified by the vigour of the persecution th e greatest living
German historian himself not a Socialist but a Liberal and a
zealous worker for the uni on of Germany said that h i s dreams
were shattered and freedom lost for years to come It sounds
very like the disillusioned M azzini after the success of Italian
unification
Yet in spite of all the power of th e State Bismarck failed to
crush Socialism Too intelligent to rely on purely negative
means he al so tried somethi ng more positive to kill the desire
His scheme was
of the working classes for the forbidden fruit
to introduce small doses of Socialism by the State in the hop e
of warding off larger concessions—rather as a doctor in the
process of vaccination injects a mild germ into the system to
In purs ui t of this policy h e
forestall something more violent
introduced between 1 8 8 1 and 1 8 8 9 three measures of great
’
importance— employers liability in case of factory accidents
compulsory insurance against ill health and old age pensions
The Socialists however were not appeased They denied
’
that there was any real Socialism in this State Socialism of
’
Bismarck s and their e ff orts to secure other measures such as
limitation of h ours fixed minimum wages incre ase in th e
powers of trade um ons were all frustrated by the Chancellor
But the attempt of Bismarck to drive socialis m completely
underground failed By 1 8 90 the Socialists polled one and a
half million votes and with the relaxati on of persecution
following the retirement of the Chancellor in the same year
the figure rapidly mounted until 1 9 1 4; when it was four and a
quarter mill ions By th at time too th e Socialists were th e
strongest single party in the R eichstag T h e battle against
’
the Socialists was far from being one of Bismarck s victor ies
,
.
,
”
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,
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T HE G E R M A N
E M PI R E A N D T H I R D F R E N C
H R E P U B LI C
2 55
’
Bismarck s difficulty in subduing first the Catholics and T h
then the Socialists did not however prevent substantial
G
m any
progress b em g made I n the organI z atl on of the E m pI re
W ithin five or six years of the ceremony at Versailles a
common currency and banking system had been established
together with a postal syste m for the whole empire except
Bavaria which h ad its own R ailways th ough not state
owned were constructed and co ordin
ated in the state interest
N ew codes of commercial civil criminal and military law
were framed And above all industry and trade flourished
like E ngland one of the
so that Germany soon became
’—
a development which again had
w orkshops of th e world
its eff ect on foreign policy
Before we at last pass on to this sp h ere of foreign policy one A b andon
m nt f
other 1 mportant step taken by Bl sm arck must be noted In F T ade
1 8 7 9 he d ecided to abandon a free trade policy for the German
E mpire and to substitute protective tari ff s
T h e step was
taken he maintained purely in the interests of German
“
industries since free trade an ideal worth y of th e honourable
German capacity for dreaming could never lead to pros
r it
in
a
world
f
competing
nations
hat
he
did
not
e
o
W
y
p
emph asiz e was that a new series of tariffs woul d assure th e
government a permanent and probably rising revenue from
customs duties very little under the control of the R eichstag
U nder free trade direct t axes were necessary which gave th e
R eichstag an important weapon as its consent to them was
essential U nder protection however customs tari ffs woul d
be voted for a term of years and would render much direct
taxation unnecessary thereby robbing the R eichstag of the
1
hu
O portu ni ty of exercising annu al ly its financial power
T
s
p
2833“
in changing th e economic syst em of th e country Bismarck L ib ali m
was al so dealing a sh rewd blow to th e power of parliament
Incidentally the move too put the last nail in the coff in of
t h e old Liberal party for parliamentary government and
Bismarck
free trade were th e main items in their programme
—
—
r
adept
at
killing
two
three
o
b irds with one stone
was
e
,
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er
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,
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,
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-
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o
e
ree
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'
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”
,
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i
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,
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,
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4
,
1
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0
er
.
,
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,
.
e
.
s
3
H I S T OR Y O F M O D E RN
I LLU S T R A T ED
2 56
E U R OPE
’
B ismarck s Foreign P olicy and th e Framing qf th e A lliances,
1 87 1 1 9 07
—
.
reatly as Bismarck was concerned with the developments
in Germany mentioned in the precedi ng pages hi s real interest
after 1 8 7 1 still lay where it had been in the years before that
eventful date—in foreign affairs The German E mpire h ad
been built largely by his skill in diplomacy, and to that same
skill he looked to preserve his creation
The central problem was the attitude of France It can be
argued that Bismarck in 1 8 7 1 made a fatal mistake in annex
ing A l sace and Lorraine and thereby maki ng of France a
permanent enemy In fact it was an injury that France coul d
never forgive or forget—for instance the statue representing
the town of Strasbourg in the P lace de la Concorde P aris
was even draped in black as a perpetual reminder of the lost
provinces T h e m i neral worth of the two territories in coal
and ir on however and their str ategical importance meant so
much to Germany that Bismarck decided to risk the undying
hostility of France In arriving at this decision he calcul ated
on three th ings first that France would take years to recover
fr om her defeat in the Franco P russian W ar secondly that h e
coul d use the bogey of a French war of revenge to compel th e
R eichstag to maintain German armaments and thirdly that
’
his diplomatic genius could keep France isolated from any
ally of importance
T h e first calcul ation was soon upset by the rapidity of
’
France s recovery T h e { j
was paid off in two
years the army of occupation had to be withdrawn the
R epublic was established and Francc seemed to be pulling
herself together again Bismarck was furious at the speed of
al l this ( though he supported the establishment of a R epublic
which he thought would have more difli cul ty in finding al lies
Accordingly in 1 8 75 when France had
than a monarchy)
begun to reorganiz e her army and increase her armaments
Bismarck deliberately threatened war 3 He was certainl y not
the man to shrink from hi tting an opponent as yet imperfectly
N evertheless his object was probably
on h i s—or her—feet
on
l y to bully France into abandoni ng her armaments policy
In this for once he was q uite unsucc essful as both E ngland
G
,
.
.
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
’
Bism arck s
“h umm us
.
w
-
,
,
‘
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
.
B ism ar ck
‘
’ccm
f yi
iiii
fin
?
”
'
.
.
.
,
,
,
2 58
and
I LLU S T RA T E D
H I S T O R Y OF M O D E RN
E U R OP E
R ussia
refused to allow the balance of power to b e
co m pletely destroyed by the annihilation of France A visit
to Berlin by the Cz ar and a letter to the E mperor W illiam fr om
Queen Victoria clinched the matter Bismarck found him
self confronted by three powers not one—and just as he knew
th e moment for attack so he also knew the moment for re tr eat
’
Bismarck s importance in E uropean diplomacy was clearly
sh own in the next two or three years when the E astern ques tion
entered one of its periodically acute phases It wil l b e
remembered that in 1 8 7 7 after the R ussian defeat of Turkey
D israeli by a threat of war compelled R ussia to present th e
treaty of San Stefano to a Congress of E uropean powers for
revision P hat Congress met as we have seen at Berlin in
’
1 8 78
where Bismarck played the part of honest broker
between R ussia and E ngland In actual fact however h e
was himself almost as much interested as E ngland in stopping
R ussian penetration of the Balkans and the restoration of
part of the new Bulgaria to Turkey was h is triumph as well as
’
D israeli s
At the Congress of Berlin Bismarck saw clearly
that R ussian and Austrian ambitions in the Balkans were
incompatible and that he would have to choose between h is
two friends (A treaty of general friends h ip existed between
the three countries known as the D reikaiserbund or League
If both Austria and R ussia aimed
of the Three E mperors )
at controlling the new Balkan States in their own interest
they could not long remain on good terms But whi ch of th e
two was Bismarck to support
His choice fell o n Austria His motives were threefold
possibly the main one being th at an alliance with R ussia would
direct against Germany all the enmity of E ngland which was
profoundly a nti R ussian Secondly he knew that he coul d
control Austria and b e the predominant partner in th e
alliance whereas the position would be much more doubtful
with R ussia Thirdly the support of Austria would leave
open th e D anube the main trade route to the M editerranean
and allow Germany herself to have considerable influence in
South eastern E urope These three considerations and th e
fear of seeing R ussia entrenched at Constantinople more than
outweighed the danger of a hostile power on the E astern
boundary—for alih ough he was now choosing an Austrian
.
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T HE G E R M A N
E M P I R E A N D TH I RD F RE N C H R EP U B LI C
2 59
alliance Bismarck had no intention of being involved in war
with R ussia if he could possibly help it The result was that in
1 8 7 9 Germany and Austria concluded the D ual Alliance an T h D ual
Allian
arrangement by wh ich each party undertook to help the other 1 3 7 9
in th e event of an attack by R ussia or to keep neutral in th e
,
.
,
e
ce.
,
THE G A M E OF THE D A Y
.
’ YOU
’
EA C H OT HE R S
Y
B I S M A RC K
C OM E , A N D RA S S , W E KN OW
F ORM .
AN D I T OG ETH E R A G A IN S T T HE LOT l
RU S S I A ( to E am on),
E M I G HT B E A M A TC H F OR
I T HI N K, M A DA M E ,
T HE M i
FR A N C E
T HA N KS ! I P RE F E R T O S I T OUT A T P RE S E N T !
”
E N G L A N D ( to I AL Y )
N OB OD
A S KS US N
.
W
.
T
.
Y
—
T h e D ual A lliance of 1 8 7 9 G erm any and A ustria j oin togeth er , wh ile
Russia courts Fr ance, and E ngland and I taly feel out of it
.
’
though purely defensive
event of an attack by France T his
ih name gave Bismarck everything he wanted for he knew
how to make a German war of aggression appear the reverse,
while if Austria tried one for her own ends h e could disown
h er
So th e D ual Alliance was concluded and remained for
‘
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H I S TOR Y OF M O D ER N
I LLU S T R A T ED
2 60
E U R O PE
generation preced ing the Great W ar th e firm est feature in
the di plomatic world
Bismarck , however was not content with merely one ally
T h e D ual Alliance had ensured that if war came again with
France Austria would be neutral once more as in 1 86 6
’
But there was another power in E urope now and on France s
—
m
borders
Italy
Accordingly
Bi
sche
ed
to
draw
sm arck
B ism a k
c
’
i fm m Italy into the D ual Alliance His technique was again
figfi
1
h
brilliant
He
se
retly
encouraged
Frenc
ambiti
ns
in
orth
;
N
c
o
3
?
£13
’
A m“
Lorraine and p artly
Africa p artly to divert her from Alsace—
to bring her into collision with Italy who had ambitions there
herself M oreover it could not exactly improve French
relations with Britain also a leading figure I nthe scramble for
’
b y Africa
a
t
I n 1 88 1 the French occupied T unis— and th e
.n
g
u g
following year Italy joined the D ual Alli a
nce thereby making
th
T ipl
it the Triple Alliance The terms of the understanding were
again defensive Italy having no obligation to support an
aggressive policy on the part of Germany and Austria
Altogether Bismar ck scored an enormous success in securing
the adhesion of Italy to his system for though she was not
very formidable in a military sense she had a valuable historic
Thus Bismarck now had
friendship with Great Britain
Austria and Italy as allies and Great Britain not only friendly
with Italy but on bad terms with France on the question of
T h e only danger of a crack in the wh ole
N orth Africa
edifice of the Triple A lliance was if France otherwise
completely isolated should come to an agreement with
T his however Bismarck skilful ly avoided partly by
R ussia
playing on the natural objections of the Czar to the most
democratic country in E urope and partly by persuading R ussia
i
u
and
Aus
ria
to
come
t
o
a
new
agreement
Th
s
concl
ded
in
t
R
h
T
’
$33 2? 1 884 and known as th e R einsurance T reaty, provided that
2g
“ neither of the three powers would help a fourth power
3 ?
France
war
broke
out
be
ween
that
power
and
any
if
t
o
n
e
i
e
)
gm (
fi
g
F an
So the possibility of a Franco R ussian alliance
of them
seemed to be banished France had no friend in E urope and
’
Bismarck s work was complete It only remained now to keep
it so
’
About this time Bismarck s whole conception of foreign
policy began to be challenged by another movement in
th e
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262
I LLU S T R A T E D
H I S T OR Y OF M O D E RN
E U R O PE
“
Germany which advocated that Germany should hers elf
’
enter the race for colonies
Bismarck s ideas were essentially
of Germany as a E uropean power dominating only the Conti
nent : the Colonial school of though t looked rather to a
Germany which would be a world power I t stressed the
importance of colonies as sources of raw materials , markets
for manufactured goods creators of Valuabl e positions for
young men and absorbers of surplus population Bismarck
rather though t of the dangers of a colonial policy—how it
would necessitate a big navy and how that would inevitably
bring Germany into rivalry with Great Britain And once
Great Britain was on bad terms with Germany France would
’—
be no longer isolated instead sh e would have as her ally
the greatest and richest empire in the world
Th ese Considerations h ovvever did not weigh with
Germany as m uch as Bismarck would have wished Germans
conscious of their new strength were res
entful when they saw
Britain with her great white dominions h er Indian E mpire
her innumerable islands , ports and bases from Gibraltar to
Hong Kong adding to such already vast possessions most of
Africa The Z ulu W ar the acquisition of Bech uanaland and
later R hodesia the obvious trend of hostility against th e Boer
republics the military occupation of E gypt in 1 8 82 all
infuriated many Germans who longed for a similarly
tive policy on the part of their Fa therland E ven th e
France was quietly building up th e second greatest
empir e To her Colony of Algeria ( settled in the
Louis P hilippe) and her protectorate
under the Second E mpire and now
Tunis whence she began to extend
th e Sahara and the W estern Sudan
its valuable s o urce of tropical products in
German demand grew Bismarck had tra
to be ardent nationalists and now they w
It
and becoming aggressive imperialists
sort of thing most difficult for Bismarck to
inspired not by liberalism but by patriotism
old statesman who had described hims el f as
,
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l ism arck
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and so does
F rance
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i n to
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’
,
ILLU S T R A T E D
264
H I S T O R Y OF M O D E R N
E U R O PE
Germany entered as a last minute candidate th e
scramble for Africa and made off with the districts known as
South W est Africa the Cameroo ns and Togoland In 1 885
Kenya or German E ast Africa was acquired so that within
two years millions of square m i les of territory went to Germany
without her so m uch as figh ting a battle to capture them
I t was a good beginning but she was still a long way behind
’
In thus entering the colonial sphere with Bismarck s hand
still at the helm, Germany at first experienced none of th e
bad r esults he had feared Indeed with France at logger
heads with Italy over T unis E ngland at loggerheads with
France over E gypt and R ussia at loggerheads with E ngland
over bo th th eBalkans and the Far E ast Germany seemed in a
particularly favourable position Her Triple Alliance gave
’
h er valuable friends while h er possible foes objections to one
anoth er were greater than their C omm on obj ection to Germany
Bismarck was like a clever juggler who could keep five very
costly and breakable plates— Austria Italy R ussia France
and E ngland— spinning through the air The plates were
always in some danger of being smashed and of injuring th e
’
juggler in the process but Bismarck s skill was such that th e
disaster never occurred Consequently he earned a great
deal of applause and enriched the employer for whom h e
worked But sooner or later that employer had to give way
to anoth er— and what if the new employer himself should
fancy his powers as a juggler ( though he was quite an amateur)
and desire to try his own h and with the plates P
This in fact was precisely what occurred In 1 8 8 8 th e old
E mperor W illiam I at l ast died at the ripe age of ninety
It
was his support since the power vested in the E mperor was so
l
reat
t
hat
had
n
a
ed B ism arck to overcome all opposition
e
b
g
Actuall y with his limited i ntelligence and strong sens e of
’
honour his first instincts had been against nearly all Bismarck s
most brilliant strokes of policy—the defiance of the Liberals in
18 6 2 the leni ent peace with Austria in 1 866 the assumption of
the Imperial title in 1 8 7 1 the Austrian alliance i n 1 8 79
But Bismarck had known how to manage him and bring him
round to the necessary viewpoint : a firm partnership had
’
spr ung up and the old E mperor s atti tude was best express ed
’
in the single word with wh ich he greeted one of Bism arck s
1 88 4
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2
66
I LLU S T R A T E D
HI S T O R Y O F M OD E R N
E U R OP E
egarded as fatal since it inevitably involved the hostility of
’
E ngland
D esperately striving to maintain his position
Bismarck reminded the E mperor of the rule that the Chancellor
alone was entitled to present advice to the crown—a rule b y
which h e could gag his opponents and rivals in the ministry
W illiam th ereupon dem anded that Bismarck should advise
him to alter the rule
T h e Chancellor horrified at the idea
of being reduced to the level of any other minister replied
“
that he could never serve on his knees
P ressed to tender
his resignation h e at last did so The veteran pilot was
dropped
W ithin a few years the E mperor and successive Chancellors
had rapidly brought about all the developments Bismarck had
feared
Already in h is own period of ofli ce the difficulty of
maintaining friendship with both Austria and R ussia had
’
—
proved enormous now it was made impossible by Germany s
’
refusal to renew the R einsurance Treaty and by the E mper or s
ambition to see Germany not R ussia dominant at C onstanu
’
nople
W illiam s favourite project of a railway from Berlin
to Bagdad via Constantinople would have opened up the
E astern Balkans and the N ear E ast generally to German tr ade
and influence aided and abetted by Austria whose share of
the feast was to be the W estern Balkans Such a development
at once o ff ended R ussia whose historic policy was to advance
to Constantinople and E ngland whose historic policy was to
maintain the Turkish E mpire M oreover the pursuit of
colonial aims antagonized E ngland far more severely not
merely because Germany now acquired territory in China
but because the threat of a German fleet became a reali ty
In 1 895 th e Ki el Canal connecting the Baltic and N orth Sea
was opened— an essential if Germany were to be a naval
power In 1 8 98 and 1 900 N avy Bills laid th e foundation of
’
Germany s battle fl eet It was not long before a race began
’
with E ngland in the constructi on of dreadnough ts Bismarck s
main ai ms had been thoroughly violated—R ussia and E ngland
’
were now Germany s potential enem ies not her f riends T h e
isolation of France wasended
It did not take long for France and R ussia to come together
’
E ven before Bismarck s fall the publication of th e alliance with
’
A ustr ia had made R ussia suspect th e value of Germany s
r
,
.
,
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,
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,
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.
Rein
surance
T reaty with
Russia
lapses
B erlinto
B agdad
Rai lway
G erm an
infl uence in
B alkans
,
,
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"
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,
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,
,
C olonial
claim s and
a b ig fl eet
.
’
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-
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Russia and
England
b ecom e
h osti le to
'
'
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.
.
I LLU S T R A T E D
268
H I S T OR Y O F M O D E R N
E U R OP E
profession
s of friendship and now in view of the new E mperor s
policy she was certain of their worth lessness The renewal of
’
the Triple Alliance left her like France isolated
So the
two countries na turally combined forces in spite of the world
di ff erence between R ussian C z a
rdom and French
of
democracy By two or three stages an agreement was arrived
’
at th e main feature being that each would com e to the oth er s
assistance if attacked by Germ any So the D ual Alliance of
France and R ussia publish ed in 1 8 95 stood opposed to th e
’
Bismarck s
T riple Alliance of Germany Austria and Italy
’
haunting f ear the war on two fronts —agai nst Fr ancc and
R ussia simultaneously— was one step nearer
It remained to bring E ngland into the new alliance Here
the main difli culties wer e the very bad relations persisting
with France on African matters and with R ussia on the N ear
and Far E ast : For some years in fact the position between
France and E ngland grew worse rather than better France
mindful of th e N apoleonic traditions bitterly resented th e
E nglish occupation of E gypt
E ngland obj ected to the French
acquisition of Tunis and her designs on M orocco Then a
crisis blaz ed up over the Sudan in the famous Fash oda Inci
’
dent
A certain M a
jo r M arch and with a handful of French
men won h is way in abrilliant exploring feat entailing three
years of hardship right across Africa He p lanted th e
tricolore a t Fashoda a small village on th e U pper N ile T h e
trouble began when the E nglish General Kitchener arrived
following his defeat of the native Sudanese forces at
and found E nglish control of the all
O mdurman
important N ile blocked by a few individuals and th e French
flag For some time it seemed that the two countries were
on the Verge of war when France climbed down and th e
situation was saved D elcasse th e French Foreign l\/Iinister
sh rewdly calculated that E nglish friendship might be more
valuable to France than Fashoda or half a million miles of th e
Sudan
For E ngland a long process of political education was neces
sary to convince her of the need for friendship with France
Indeed for a time she seemed to b e turning rather to Germany,
who however jealous of E nglish colonial power and con
tem ptuous of English lib eralism rebu ff ed Joseph Chamb er
’
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2 70
ILLU S T R A T ED
H I S T O RY OF M O D E R N
E U R OP E
the two countries in the E ast was solved by an agreement
about P ersia R ussian penetration southward towards India
had long worried E ngland The new arrangemen t was
’
designed to remove E ngland s fears b y limiting the R ussian
’
’
sphere of influence to the north of P ersia E ngland s
influence was declared to be predominant in the south and a
’
neutral bu ff er zone was left be tween This incidenta
lly
was called an arrangement to secure the independence of
’
P ersia
W ith R ussian expansion in the direction of India
of
,
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‘
thus checked and with h er M anchuri an and Chinese ambitions
thwarted by the Anglo Japanese alliance there remained
only th e historic question of the advance in the Balkans To
this E ngland however had ceased to attach so much
importance for the Balkan nations had shown their indepen
dence of R ussia And anyway if R ussia did get to Con
stantinople it would be no worse than having Germ any in
control there the latest ambition of W illiam II So friendship
at last came with R ussia and th e T riple E ntente was ranged
against th e Triple Alliance Bismarck dead in 1 898 after
eight years of bitter criticism of his successors migh t well have
tur ned i n h is grave at such fatal developments for Germ any
-
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CHA PT E R XIII
T h e Balkans and th e A ppr oach to th e First
—
VVar , 1 9 00 1 9 1 4
1.
I ncreasing T ension
The N
.
W orld
Af rican Question and the
orth
A rms Race
By the end of the l gth century the great tide of nationalism
against which th e breakwaters of the Vienna Treaties h ad
operated so vainly—was everywhere in full flood Two new
major national powers Germany and Italy had b een b orn
Bel gi um had asserted h er independence of Holland and N or
way was on the point of severing th e last ties with Sweden
The O ttoman E mpire i n Europe had largely dissolved into
its component national fragments—Greece S erbia R oumania
There still existed , however certain districts of
B ulgaria
E urope where nation al feeling strong as it was h ad been
un
able to assert itself against a ruling race Greeks and
Bulgars in M acedonia the distri ct restored to the O ttoman
E mpire b y D israeli in
dreamed of the day of lib eration
from the Turk
P oles Finns Letts consistently aim ed at
securing freedom from their R ussian masters Above all in
the Austrian E mpire a hotch potch of suppressed nationalities
bitterly resented the supremacy of A ustria and Hungary
They regarded the D ual M onarchy as an Austrian device to
buy the friendship of the M agyars at th e expense of the per
secution of millions of Czechs P ole s R uthenes Serbs Croats
R oumanians and Slovenes
From one or other of these
dissatisfied regionstrouble was sooner or later bound to ari se
It m ay readily be seen that national feeling wh en baulked
of sel f expression in the form of inde endence has been a
p
poten t cause of war An equally im portant point however
is that even when nations have succeeded in winning their
freedom wars are not less likely to occur
D esire for freedom
’
for one s own nation does not necessarily imply recognition of
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I LLU S T RA T E D H I S T ORY O F M OD E RN
2 74
EU R OPE
torm clouds gathered heaviest were N orth Afr ica and th e
Balkans
T h e N orth African ques tion was twice nearly responsible
for war inside five years
It will be remembered that in th e
course of th e 1 9th century France had acq u1r ed Algeria and
T unis and had expanded southward over the Sahara
N ot
many years after the construction of the Suez Canal E ngland
and France had claimed control of E gyptian finance
a control
soon extended by E ngland into a military occupation After
’
Kitchener s victory over the M ahdi at O mdurman in 1 898 th e
’
Sudan too was E ngland s For a time relations had been
strained between E ngland and France the two chief competing
powers notably over the F ash oda incident By 1 904 how
’
ever with the E ntente France recognized E ngland s posi tion
in E gypt in return for an E nglish acceptance of her ambitions
in M orocco This was where trouble with a th 1rd party
began Germany late in the race for colonial possessions
had earmarked M orocco as her ovvn particular sphere of
influence The German government having secur ed th e
dismissal of D elcasse the statesman responsible for the E ntente;
now demanded that a conference should be called to settle th e
future of M orocco
Kaiser W illiam II even paid a s urpris e
visit to Tangier and vowed to protect the independence of th e
Sultan of M orocco against France In 1 906 a conference dul y
met at Algeciras but th e German attempt to exclude th e
French from policing M orocco ( a first step towards a French
occupation) failed owing to the fact th at France was strongly
supported by R ussia and E ngland The E ntente in its first
trial had held firm
Germany however was not yet prepared to see M orocco
swallowed up by France without a further protest W hen in
1 9 1 r th e French despatched an army into M orocco to help
’
th e Sultan keep order
the Germans s ent a gunboat th e
P anth er and later a cruis er the Berlin to Agadir harbour to
protect German interests This was a violationof the Algeciras
settlement by whi ch France and Spain were alone entitled to
policing rights E ngland took a very serious view of th e
situation fearing that th e Germans were seeking to acquire a
M editerranean naval bas e Lloyd George then th e Chancel
’
lor of th e E xchequer in Asquith s government in a sp eech at
s
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mosE 111
E G ITTO ! 1 1
”
’
A notab le coup in th e struggle for colonial influe
nce was D isr aeli s ac uisk
q
"
tion of th e S uez C anal S h ares h eld b y th e Kh edive of E gypt
Her e th e title of a fam ous op
era b y Rossini is used to signify th e presence d
Disraeli and England in Egypt.
‘
-
.
H I S T O R Y OF M O D E R N
I LLU S T RA T E D
2 76
E U R OP E
ansion House banquet practically threatened Germany
with war if sh e persisted in her attitude T h e result was th at
Germany as yet not fullyprepared climbed down and agreed
to the establishment of a French protectorate over M orocco
’
A s compen
sati on sh eobtained some territo r y just north of th e
Cameroons but this could not disguise the fact that th e
E ntente had again scored a notable success
The list of powers interested in the troubles of N orth Africa
however did not st0p at E ngland Fr ance and Germany—o r
Italy was
eve nSpain who had her own section of M orocco
d esperately anxious to fill her pockets and to illustrate h er
new claim to be a major power by th e acq u151 tion of colonies
We have seen how the French occupation in 1 88 1 of Tunis
on which Italy h ad herself cast longing glances had been partly
responsible for the Italian adhesion to the Austro German
Frustrated over Tunis th e Italians h ad
D ual Alliance
planned to absorb Abyssinia They were successful in securing
two coastal strips of E ast Afr ica ( E ritrea 1 r1 1 88 5 and Italian
Somaliland in
but their larger object came to grief
when the Abyssinians catching an invading I talian army in
hopelessly inferio r numbers won a tremendous victory at
Ad owa
The result of th i s battle was that Abyssinia
continued to be ruled by Abyssi ni ans—a state of affairs so
outrageous to Italian dig i ty that revenge h ad eventually to
n
be sought and obtained i n 1 935
Having by 1 900 thus been unsuccessful 1 n acquiring any
thing worth mentioning the Italians now developed ambitions
in connection with T ripoli the last remaining piece of the
O ttoman E mpire in N orth Africa
It was true that it
consisted largely of desert and that anyway Italy had no
quarrel with Tur key but these ar e minor matters to a country
out for colonies
In 1 9 1 I taki ng advantage of the general
commotion caused b y th e Agadir crisis and of certain r estr c
i
ti ons on foreign tr ade in troduced by the new nationalist
m ovement in the O ttoman E mpire Ital y declared war on
Turkey As the Turkish navy was not strong enough to
afib rd Tripoli any effective relief the Italians were able to
overrun the province in a year
This action too produced
one effect of some im portance in general E u
ropean politics
The Triple Alliance was shaken partly because Ge rmany h ad
M
a
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,
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G erm any
cli m b s
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HI S T ORY OF M O D E R N
I LLU S T RA T ED
2 78
'
E U R O PE
herself begun to regard Tri poli as a sui table acqu1sition and
partly b ecause Ital y h ad attacked Turkey now a centre of
d comm ercial developm nt
German patr6nage an
Thus
i
n
e
the five years from 1 906 to 1 9 1 1 N orth A frican aff airs caused
G
m any
two threats of general E uropean wars greate r ill feeling among
th e powers one actual struggle betwee nTurkey and Italy
a strengthening of th e Triple E ntente and a weakening of th e
Triple Alliance
T h e A rm e
T h e international tension introduced by these African
’
matters taken in conjunction w1 th other colonial disputes
and the Balkan difficulties about to be described soon reflected
’
itself strikingly in a E uropean arm s race This problem had
alr eady weighed sufficiently heavily with the Cz ar N icholas II
T h e Hague for him to s ugge st a great Con ferenc e at the Hague m 1 8 99
C nf
nce
Here the powers discussed disarmament but when it came to
“9 9
the point no positive proposal was accepted The lead in
rejecting any measure came from Germany who insisted that
’
E ngland s willingness to stabili z e naval armaments at existing
levels was simply a device to secure a permanent German
inferio rity T h e only progress made was in framing a few
’
rules for th e humaniz ation of warfare—a melancholy con
—
n
f
f
ailure
and in setting up a tribunal at the Hague
f
i
o
o
e
s
s
m
T nb mfl
to wh 1ch countr1 es could appeal for arb 1 tr at1 on i n a di spute
As however nations were spared the necessity of submitting
’
’
matters of national honour and vital interest to arbitration
wars were just as liable as ever to occur A second Hague
Conference in 1 907 got no furth er A few additions were made
’
to the list of things not done in warfare and the machinery
o nd
A
mu’
of the Hague Tribunal was improved but no agreement was
ffif
reached on the main issue of disarmament
The E uropean dance of death now continued at an ever
"
In 1 99 6 with the launching of the first dread
faster speed
standard was set in naval armaments
nought by E ngland a new
Sir John Fisher in charge of the Admiralty deliberately
calcul ated that it would take Germany some years to make up
for this move since for the Germans to employ dreadnoughts
al
eff ectively they would first have to deepen th e Kiel Ca n
His conviction that war between E ngland and Germany
was but a short way ah ead was so strong that he actually
v
e th e date O ctober 1 9 1 4 for th e beginning of hostilities
a
g
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T HE BA LKA N S A N D A PP R OA C H T O F I R S T W OR LD
WA R
2 79
Further; h e even suggested to King E dwar d that E ngland
’
Copenhagen the German fl eet
demand that it
should
should be handed over and on refus al annihilate it in th e
same way as th e D ani sh fleet had been destroyed in 1 807
Since war was bound to come h e argued , it m igh t as well come
while E ngland still held th e superiority—why wait for th e
Germans to catch up ? His cynical advice was not accepted
but there were large numbers of people both in E ngland and
Germany who thought on exactly the s am e lin es and wh o
caused the possibilities of peace to become fainter and fai nter
T h e fact that Fisher too was one of th e E nglish representatives
at th e H ague disarmament conference in 1 899 helps to explain
why disarmament conferences then as now were all con
In any case the Germans
ference and no disarm ament
following the policy of Tirpitz and the Kaiser were not slow
to take the next step The Kiel Canal was deepened dread
nough ts were constructed new navy bills budgeted for frantic
increases in the fleet Between 1 909 and 1 9 1 1 Germany
E ngland conse q uently buil t
built nine d readnoughts
The tremendous armour of the German vessels
eigh teen
indicated that they were destined for use not far from home
ra ther than for the distant preservation of coloni al connections
The British countered b y concentrating 80 per cent of their
fleet in the N orth Sea and by arranging that France sho uld
look after th e M editerranean
O n the m ilitary side th e af m s contest proceeded with equal M ilitary
m p end
firry
T h e German army was enlarged and trained to the
highest degree of efficiency while th eFrench and the R ussians
increased th e length of conscript service with the c olours
Even E ngland under her W ar M inister Lord Haldane
organi zed a small "but strong E xpeditionary Force for service
on the C ontin ent coupled with a Territorial Army for home
defence O nce started it was almost impossible to slow down
O n each side there was a complete absence
th e arms race
"
’
on each side national prid e
of trust in the other s intentions
and on each
refused to budge from a position once taken up
side an enormous vested interest in the war industry was being
created in the form of groups of people ranging from arm s
manufacturers and shareh olders to newspaper proprietors
wh o profited financially from a state of international tension
‘
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I LLU S T RA T E D
2 80
HI S T O R Y OF M OD E RN
EU R O PE
In Germany a country always liable to be misled by the power
of ideas certain circles taki ng their lead from the historian
Treitschke or the army ch i efs preached not only th e
The great theories
inevitabili ty b ut th e desirability of war
’
of D arwin on evolution and the surv ival of th e fittest wer e
perverted to mean that war the highest form of struggle
tones up the human race and by eliminating the unfittest
nations and giving gr eater power to th e fittest advances the
cause of civilization The Germ ans from 1 86 4 to 1 8 7 1 had
been so successful in warfare that they regarded futur e victory
as certain T h en with victory achieved the German Kultur
of science strength and state supremacy could displace in
E urope th e decad ent civilization of France based on liberty
and literature and that of E ngland based on comfort and
cricket
These ideas and the full reali zation of th e trend of inter
national aff airs were however by no means universally
recogniz ed German naval comm anders might toast T h e
’
"
German university professors m ight proclaim their
D ay
absurd theories th e Kaiser might rattle his sabre in the scab
bard Fisher might strain at the leash French and E nglish
generals might concert mi litary arrangements Aus trian and
R ussian foreign ministers might plan diplomatic coups in th e
Balkans—but the great E uropean public went on blind to th e
Foreign policy even in a democracy lik e
true state of a ff airs
E ngland , was always shrouded in mystery—several members
’
even were not aware until the last
of Asquith s cabinet
moment how far the P rime M inister and his Foreign Secretary
S ir E dward Grey had committed E ngland to France
The
ordinary E nglis h man though and especially th e sailor
The business man
resented the new G erman naval claims
resented the loss of trade to German firms which were under
cutting British goods in many markets notably in South
’
America E veryone resented the Kaiser s speeches But
very few people realized quite what combustible material
them or quite what calamity would befall
su rr ounded
them were it to take fire E ven if a war did come war was
traditionally a matter for the army and navy while the rest
stayed at h ome and enjoyed the accounts in the newspapers
Thus in a curious m ixture of unconsciousness
over bre akfast
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HI S T ORY O F M OD E RN
I LLU S T R A T ED
2 82
E U R OP E
A s we have seen, by 1 8 7 8 Greece , Serbia , M onte
E urope
ria had all been formed from th e
negro , R oumani a , and Bulga
The end of the century, however, had not
O ttoman E mpire
seen the completion of the process , for the Greeks and Bulgars
of M acedo ni a and the Albanians were still under Turkish
The districts of Bosnia and Herz egovina, too , containing
r ul e
.
.
.
million Serbs while nominally still under Turkish sovereign
ity h ad been administered since 1 8 7 8 by Austria Trouble
Furth er
m ight easil y arise from these unl iberated districts
th e formation of four or five new states had simply quadrupled
N 0 state was
th e confli cting national policies in the Balkans
sati sfied with its existing boundaries while to most of them
revolution and fighting came almost as second nature
T h e history of the Balkan P eni nsula from the Congress of
Berlin to the Great W ar is neither simple nor edifying It
would be fruitless to attempt to follow it in detail U ntil
the
1 9 08 the main incidents which aff ected Bulgaria wer
e
’
expulsion of R ussian advisers the union with E ast R oumelia
( 1 885) in spite of th e Treaty of Berlin, a war with Serbia
and the kidnapping and deposition of the first
Bulgarian prince
In Serbia restless intrigue among
politicians and army led to th e brutal crime of 1 903 when
a number of conspirators broke into the r oyal palace tracked
th e O b r enovié king and h is queen in the dark to their hiding
place in a cupboard murdered them as they sheltered in
’
each other s arms and threw their outraged bodies out of a
’
’
window The coup was completed by a purge of other
opponents—after which a Karageorgovié naturally ascended
the throne R oumania whose rul er proclai med himself a
ki ng in 1 88 1 enjoyed a less violent history during the same
period the main disturbances being either p easant revolts
against bad economi c conditions or the traditional R oumanian
persecution of Jews Greece in 1 8 9 7 went to war with
Turkey about th e future of Crete and M acedonia but was
badly beaten inside th ree weeks In the Turkish E mpire
itself the main excitement was caused by the hideous mis
government of Abdul Hamid II who following unrest among
th e Armenians in A sia M inor organized extensive massacres
Herapidly became known
of that unfortunate Chr istian race
’
in E ngland as T h e Great Assassin and in France as The R ed
a
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1 8 1 8- 1 9 08
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Bulg aria
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T urkey
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T H E B A LKA N S A N D A P PR OA C H T O FI R S T W OR LD W A R
’
Sultan
In six weeks alone
of
2 83
the year 1 895 over 3 0 000
Armenians were butchered In the following year the order T h
wa
s given to a ttack th e Armenian quarter in Constantinople
m
and 6 000 souls were done to death during a two day slaughter
T h e whole ghastly epis ode confirmed the truth of the j est
that wh ile C h ristiani ty provides martyrs M ohammedanism
creates them The powers of course protested but took no
sts were heeded
effective steps to see that their prote
These events were by way of being standard Balkan
activity—they had little e ff ect on the main str eam of E u ropean
history The year 1 908 however witnessed some momen
tous changes whi ch led directly to general warfare In that
’
year a revolution known as the Young Turk movement T h 7 m
Tu k m
broke out 1 n the O ttom an E mp1t e The conspirators aimed powe t ool
at im i tating the meth ods and effi ciency of the W est in a
fervently nationalist e ff ort at checking the rapid decline of
Turkish power They demanded a parliament and a modern
constitution and to strengthen Turkey were prepared to
allow Ch ristian subjects equal privileges with M ohammedans
Fostered in P aris by exiles th e movement in 1 908 trans ferred
itself to M acedonia’ where it was officially proclaimed
Sympathetic T urkish regim ents prepared to advance and install
th e leaders in Constantinople
Finding him self without
support Abdul Hamid agreed to restore the constitution
which had been momentarily in force in 1 8 76 The censor
ship was r elaxed
over
exiles returned the different
subject races seemed closer than brothers
and Liberals all
over E urope wept tears of j oy
J W ith in two or three months the picture b gan to look a T h T om
”
l ittle di ff erent
Taki ng instant a dvantage of th e natural g
fifi
gfi
disorganiz ation at Constantinople Bu
lgari aproclaimed her
self freed from th e last shreds of her dependence and elevated B ulga ia
fun
y m d”
her prince int0 a czar or king Austria annC xC d unC 0n p nd nt
ditionally the Turkish provinces she was admi nistering
Bosnia and Herzegovina Crete proclaimed itself united A u tfi.
“n w
with Greece S erbia and M ontenegro demanded a r ecti B nia an
fication of their frontiers
In face of thes e events th e Young 553353 3:
’
T urks naturally began to lose their desire to improve the lot With G m “
’
of Turkey s Christian subjects m ore especially when th e
C hristian began to dem and not reform but indep endence
.
,
e
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,
m
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0
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l
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d
HI S T OR Y OF M OD ERN
I LLU S T RA T E D
2 84
E U R O PE
W h en Abdul Hamid tried to restore autocracy he was deposed,
kes
I taly ta
T ripoh
but th e Young Turks soon received an additional incentive
to concentrate on their nationa
list rath er than on their
democratic principles In 1 9 1 1 the problems of Turkey
tempted the Italians to wrest Tripoli quite wantonly from her
And before this difficul ty was over Turkey in 1 9 1 2 suddenly
found herself confronted by a union of the Balkan powers
momentarily induced to forgo th eir mutu al hatreds for th e
purpose of despoiling th e O ttoman E mpire
’
T hi s Balkan League ( largely the work of an astute Greek
politician Venizelos ) found its opportunity to attack Turkey
’
in the fact that the Young Turks had now like their older
brethren begun persecuting Christians in M acedonia
D isunited in home a ff ai rs and with the Italian attack barely
over th e Turks could do noth i ng against the combined
onslaught of Greece Serbia Bulgaria and M ontenegro
T h e allies soon overran di ff erent sections of M acedonia and
made other conquests with equal case In 1 9 1 3 a peace
conference met at London and b y the treaty then concluded
Greece acquired Crete Salonika and South M acedonia
Serbia was rewarded with N orth and Centr al M acedonia
and the Bulgarians received T hrace and a section of th e
[E gean coast
Since much of M acedonia which was i nhabited
largely by Bulgars went to Serbia by this treaty Bulgaria
could not be satisfied with the division of the spoils The
Serbs in fact although they had actually conquered a large
section of M acedonia h ad intended most of it to go to Bulgaria
wh ile they themselves took Albania with its valuable sea coast
Austria however had insisted on the erection of an independ
ent Albania partly to stop Serbia becoming too powerful and
partly because Albania was inhabited not by Serbs but by
Albanians Thereupon Serbia baulked o f her desired coast
land had insisted on retaining the sections of M acedom a
she had conquered
The Bulgarians now in a fatal moment allowed themselves
to be prompted by the wishes of Austria and pressed their
gr ievance to th e point of attacking Serbia and Greece Thus
within a year a second Balkan war had broken out M onte
negro supported Serbia and when matters began to go badly
for Bulgaria th e R oumanians and the Tur ks joined in against
.
.
,
,
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‘
B alkan
—9 3
wars
,
1
912
1
1
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T h e T urks
d ef eated
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The
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T h e second
B alk an war ,
(
01 3
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2 86
and on
I LLU S T RA T ED
H I S T OR Y O F M OD ERN
EUR O P E
to Bagdad R ailway and th e appointment of Liman v on
Sanders to r eorganiz e th e Turkish army increasingly under
German c ommercial and military C ontrol Austria waited
for the opportu nity which Serbian agitation was sure to present
before long
The opportunity duly occurred on June 2 8 th 1 9 1 4 O n
that day th e Austrian Crown P rince Franz Ferdinand and h is
wife were driving through the streets of Sarajevo capital of
Bosnia when they were assassinated by a local Serb T h e
murderer had come straight from a meeting of an anti Austrian
society in the Serbian c apital Belgrade There was ac tually
no evidence to show that the Serbian government had an
y
hand in the affair—indeed ther e is s ome reason to believe
th at the Austrian government hop ed such an incident might
’
for the Crown Prince s poli tical views were
take place
unwelcome to them and they knew the danger of Sarajevo
on a Serbian festival day For nearly a month nothing much
the Austrians made their
se emed to come of the crime —
investigations and public e xcitement cooled down B ut
behind the scenes preparations for war were pr ogr essm g as
’
’
Austria received Germany s final blank cheque or permission
Suddenly on July 2 3rd
to deal with Serbia as she pleased
atum at Serbia
th e Austrian government launched an ultim
The terms
demanding acceptance with in forty eight hours
were so framed that a refusal was bound to be the answer
N ot only was Serbia to suppress all anti Austrian activity and
dismiss all Serbian officials to whom Austria obj ected b ut
Austrians were to enter Serbia to investigate S erbian gui lt in
th e murder and to su pervise the suppression of the anti
’
Austrian societies Serbia s reply in fact was extremely
conciliatory She agreed to the first two demands and off ered
to submit the third to arbi tration by the Hague Tribunal
Had she accepted th e last point it would have meant almos t
E ven the Kaiser thought th e
th e loss of her independence
reply was satisfactory and urged moderation but Austria
was not to b e baulked at the last moment O n July 3 0th
A ustr ia declared war on Serbia
W ithin a week the whole of E urope was ablaze E ngl and
France and R ussia had been warned by Germany not to
But
interfere in what was to b e an Austr o Serbian contest
,
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T H E BA LKA N S A N D A PPR OA C H T O F I R S T W OR LD W A R
2 87
especially was not willing to see a fellow Slav country
crushed by a vastly stronger opponent while Germany held
the ring R ussia too had Balkan ambitions of her own and
here was an opportunity to pursue them Accordingly th e Ru
g?“
same evening N icholas II ordered a mobiliz a tion of th e 3 m m
sa t ”
Germany now chose to regard this as a
R ussian armi es
threat to her resisted all th e effor ts of Grey to refer matters
and despatched t wo ultimatums O ne G erman
to a conference
demanded of R ussia th at she should stop her mobilization
and Rm
T h e other i nsis ted that France should hand over two fortresses
by way of guarantee of neutrality W hen neither country
heeded these threats Germany declared war first on Russia G m “,
'
( August 1 st) and then on France (August 3 rd)
gfifi
—
f
r
E ngland
here
remained
one
do
u
bt
f
u
acto
Grey h ad
T
l
made tremendous efforts in th e final fortnight to avoid the ( A us in
’
7
catastrophe b ut it had come W hat was E ngland to do 21 :
S h eh a
d no military alliance with France but she had an g
m
i
’
understanding had concerted plans in case of war and had
arr anged th at the French fleet should b e predominantly in th e
M editerranean
Could she now allow Germany to enter th e
Channel with her N orth Sea Fleet and attack th e French
coasts
The E nglish Cabinet wavered
T h e F rench
A mb assador indignantly demanded whether th e wor d
’
honour should be expunged from th e E nglish vocabulary
U ltim ately, on August 2 nd before Germany h ad actually
declared war on our neighbours but when it was obvious that
war would come a majority of the E nglish cabinet decided to
give at any rate a limited support to France But some of
their own colleagues disagreed violently How would the
country as a whole react P W ould the House of Commons
toe the line ob ediently or would th e government be rejected
as having committed E ngland to war unnecessarily and
collapse ignominiouslyP Fortunately for the future of th e
A llies fortunately for the unity of E ngland fortunately for
the peace of mind of the cabinet fortunately in fact for
everyone except
the Belgians and their own cause th e
Germans prepared to invade France by way of th e shortes t
ro ute Belgium
B lgian
By the treaty of 1 8 39 both E ngland and P russ1 a as sh e then
was had proniised to guarantee Belgian neutrality I f
R us sia
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B RA VO, B E LG I UM
i
i
t
sh
r
B
a
l
i
c
t
h
e
T
yp
th e G erm an b ully.
attitude
in
1 9 1 4.
G
allant
little Belgium
defies
2 90
HI S T OR Y OF M OD ERN
I LLU S T RA T ED
EU R OPE
All had their national policies and ambitions which could not
but clash fatally some day All frankly recognized th e fact
by piling up arms and preparing alliances in readiness for
the conflict F ew really wanted war but none was prepared
to abandon th e objects which made war 1 nev1 tab le T h e
spark happened to come from Sarajevo but it might have
come from anywhere The result would have b een th e sam e
T h e powder magazine was there all the ttm e
.
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“
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,
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.
111 Two Hostile Alliances;
.
EN G LA N D
A US TRIA
IV A rms Race
.
C A US E S
OF T HE
FIRS T W O RLD W A R
.
CHAP TE R XIV
T h e First W
1
.
W ar
or ld
and A fter,
1
9
9
14
T h e F irst World War, [ 9 1 4—
19 1 8
1
939
.
'
Just as the First W orld W ar was the inevitable result of
certai n tendencies before 1 9 1 4 so the history of E urope
sin c e then h as been very largely the result of that conflict It
was a struggle till then unparalleled in the forces involved
the number of warring states the size of the arm l es th e dead
liness of the weapons the colossal expendi ture of life and
treasure O ther conflicts had lasted longer and by their
savagery or prolongation had inflicted greater suff ering on
’
some given tract of the world s surface— notably Germany in
’
—
the Thirty Years W ar ( 1 6 1 8—
8
4 ) but nothing can pr ev iouslv
have caused so widespread a sum of human agony as the four
years which followed the assassination of the Archduke Franz
Ferdinand The whole of the British E mpire in India and
Canada for example was acquired with a loss inmen less
th an that reported in a single E nglish advance of two miles on
the western front in 1 9 1 7 At the battle of P lassey in 1 7 57
which settled the fate of much of India the E nglish lost less
th an a hundred men during the Somme off ensive in 1 9 1 6
which settled nothing they lost ( in killed wounded and
missing) nearly half a million The result of such a slaugh ter
was to convince ne
arly everyone of someth ing they had never
—
believed
that
war
was
an
appalling
catastrophe
l
1
r ev ous y
p
It made the poss
ibility of its recurrence a haunting night
mare to millions upon millions m countries all over th e world
For one moment it almost seemed as though it had frightened
the nations into good sense b ut nations are harder material
to teach than individuals
In this short space it 1s 1 m possib le to g1ve more than th e
barest indication of the mil itary events of the W ar O n th e
W estern Front it began with a tr emendous German attack
through Belgium and Luxemburg which drove th e Allies
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2 92
I LL U S T R A T E D
2 94
H I S T O R Y OF M O D E R N
EU ROP E
began to suff er defeat both by the R ussians in Galicia and by
N evertheless
th e Serbs whose territory she had invaded
Austria and Germany received a useful reinforcement when
Turkey for long under German influence came in on th eir
uppo ts
side
th e position of Serbia between Austria
i
n
N
ov em b er
G
m any
and A u t ia and Turkey might well soon be desperate
The state of deadlock on the W estern Front and the danger
of Serbia now resolved the British cabinet to extend its
’
strategy A n E astern school grew up which maintained that
the best way to win the war was first to knock out the Turks
and then proceed to smash up the Austria E mpire Germany
would thus be exposed to attack from the south This
strategy was powerful ly advanced by Lloyd George the
Chancellor of the E xchequer and W inston Churchill the
First Lord of the Admiralty who had so successfully seen th at
the Fleet was completely ready at the outbreak of war
N aturally however the French and the E nglish generals on
the western front bitterly opposed the diversion of valuable
troops to objectives outside France where the position was
never too secure The first attempt at such a plan was an
effort by the British Fleet to force the D ardanelles (M arch
D ardanell
and later there came an amazing landing by British
’
and Anzac forces at Gallipoli in the face of deadly fire from
voli
9 5
the Turkish positions N either venture succeeded however
—the D ardanelles was too well mined (and the project too
well advertised ) and the Gallipoli peninsula had later to be
’
evacuated An important drawback to every E astern
scheme was the administrative difli culty of supplying a large
force in the Balkans
In
1 9 1 5 the Germans
held
up
in
the
west
temporaril
G m an
y
reversed th eir policy and drove eastwards against R ussia A
series of brilliant successes not only carried the Germans
through P oland and Lithuania but also brought Bulgaria into
th e war on their side ( September 1
The crafty Bulgarian
’
king Ferdinand the Fox of the Balkans, had long been
waiting to see which way the cat would jump N ow the
adhesion of Bulgaria meant that the Central powers co uld
overrun Serbia without difficulty The only crumb of comfort
for the Allies was that they m anaged to induce Italy into the
war on their side (M ay 1 9 1 5) by an Offer of the two Austrian
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T HE F I R S T
W O RLD W A R A N
D
A FT E R ,
1 9 1 44
2 95
93 9
distr icts of the Trentino ( th e Tyrol) and Trieste ( on the
Adriatic) The Italians ( wh o had refused to support Germany I taly j j n.
A u“
and Austria in 1 9 1 4 on the ground that the war was one Of ig
is
aggression and that th ey h ad no Obligation to fight against
E ngland ) had always considered these districts as unredeemed
’
Italy
In fact however many of the inhabitan ts of the Tren
tino were German and the bargain to transfer them to Italy
was an example of how far from { their proclaimed ideals
E ngland and Fran
ce were being driven by the necessities of
war The effect of Italian intervention was to occupy in
combat a large Austrian army in the A l ps which divid e the
two countries
T h e lack of success of the Allies thus far natural ly brought R gani a
f
In the field Joffre lost his g
about changes of command
m“
position and French was displaced by Haig The E nglish
like the French began to forget their party politics and by
1 9 1 5 formed a N ational C Oalition at the head Of which th e
energetic Lloyd George was soon to take the place of the m ore
cultu
ed b ut less efficient Asquith N ew armies millions
r
strong were created— three million men volunteering from
E ngland alone before conscription was introduced in 1 9 1 6
N ew weapons emerged—the Germans for example, beginning N w
m am “
the use of poison gas contrary to international treaty Aero
planes at first used merely for scouting began bombing on a
large scale not only mi litary objectives but transport and
industrial targets ( and therefore civil populations) —a process
Originally commenced by the German Zeppelins which had z pp lin
1
proved too bulky to defend themselves In 1 9 1 6 too the $ 23
tank ( an i nvention wh ich was cold shouldered by the W ar T ank
O ffice for some time and was developed largely through th e
was first
foresight of W inston Churchill at th e Admiralty
Little use however was made of it as yet though
employed
when properly employed later it was to be the decisive
instrument Of the war
O n the W estern Front in 1 9 1 6 the main features apart from
th e new weapons were some tremendous battles in which
th e French held the Germans at bay near Verd un and the V dun and
1 8 m
British attacked by the R iver Somme The dead of all 23 6
nations as a result of the Somme campaign numbered over
In the east a revival by the R ussians encouraged
one million
o
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ILLU S T R A T E D
2 96
H I S T O R Y O F M O D E RN
E U R OP E
the R oumanians to enter the war on the Allied side in th e
hope of wresting Transylvania from Austria Hungary The
R ussian recovery was purely momentary however and
a
n
un
R oumania was soon captured for its oil and w
heat to be
placed at the disposal of the Central pow
ers
The year 1 9 1 6 also saw the one naval battle of any great
wa f a
importance in the war There h ad been an earlier roundup
of the German P acific fleet off the Falkland Isles
but so far there h ad been no encounter with the Grand Fleet
in harbour at Kiel M ines off the German coast h ad greatly
M in
hampered British activity In M ay 1 9 1 6 h owever th e Ger
’
man fleet emerged and fought a hit and run battle at Jutland
before the E nglish could bring up their full resources The
result is claimed as a victory on both sides—b y the Germans
because they inflicted twice as much loss in men and ships
as they themselves suff ered and by th e E nglish because th e
German Fleet steamed off home and never again emerged
during the rest of the war W hatever th e damage the fact 18
indisputable th at the E nglish remained in command of the
E ngland
k p
seas with all th e enormous consequences th at that entailed
m m nd
a
of
blockade of enemy coasts capture Of enemy colonies main
tenance of commu nication with Allied armies preservation
Of the vital E nglish food supply
T h e inability of Germany to challenge the British Fleet in
open contest led to one other result of enormous importance
The Germans determined to employ th eir submarines in an
Th
t
t d
un
unrestricted campaign against merch ant vessels trading with
ub m a in
“ 94 8
E ngland in th e h ope of starving the obstinate island into
submission In doing th is Germany knew th at the U nited
States would certainly sh ow her resentment at th e sinking of
her vessels by entering the war on the side of th e Allies— in
fact some quarters in the U S A had wanted to enter th e war
againsttheAllies because of the British turning back ships trading
with Germany Sinking vessels however was far worse than
turning them back T h e Germans knew th e result of their
decision but calculated on putting E ngland and France out
of action before American i ntervention could become e ff ective
5 0 the submarine campaign reached its height and the U nited
States duly declared war on Germ any (M arch
For a
U S A
j ointh
f
E
h
time
things
wer
extremely
awkward
o
r
ngland
w
er
e
e
A ll
9 7
T h e Rou
m aniane
j o in th e
A llies. b ut
-
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r es r i c e
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1
111
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i es, 1
1
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I LLU S T RA T E D
2 98
H I S T OR Y O F M O D ER N
E U RO P E
solved into the anarchy Of opposing factions whence after
years of agony she was to emerge still in the strong hands of
L enin and his commissar for war T rotsky as a thorough
going Bols h evik or Communist state It is one of the ironies
’
of history that this state made possible in part by Germany s
encouragement of Lenin was soon to become the main threat
to the security of Germany and her N azi government
Though the entry of the U nited States and the exit of
R ussia were the main events of 1 9 1 7 fighting of great import
ance of course continued in the west A disastrous failure in
an eff ort to advance near the river Aisne caused so m a
ny
casualties in the French armies that the morale of many of the
troops broke M utinies occurred and the commanders were
in the greatest difli culties To give France an opportunity
for reorganization the British now diverted attention to them
selves by a tremendous attack at P asschendaele (July
It was a shocking failure and the greatest
D ecember
’
blot on Haig s military reputation All attempt at surprise
one of the greatest factors in achieving victory was abandoned
in favour of forewarning the enemy by a tremendous bombard
ment Then over ground broken by gunfire or a sea of mire
from the continuous autumn rains the British troops were
supposed to advance Hundreds actually drowned in the
mud A l together the British suffered some three hundred
thousand casualties in this fiasco The story of Allied disaster
for the year was completed by a great Austrian advance at
the expense of th e I talians The battle of Caporetto in
which an Italian force attempting to capture T rieste was
repulsed and pursued was the nearest thing to an absolute
rout since
The only crumb of comfort at th e end of 1 9 1 7
for the Allied cause was th e striking success of Allenby in a
’
Here the open ground was more
N ear E astern side show
suitable for the use of cavalry and the brilliant mind of T E
Lawrence scholar turned soldier was responsible for raising
a revolt among the Arabs of th e desert against their Turkish
masters P alestine saw the beginning of the collaps e Of th e
Turkish dominions and at Christmas 1 9 1 7 Allenby entered
Jerusalem
W hile the N ear E astern camp aign continued successfi flly
and the Italians stiff ened by Fre nch and E nglish rein force
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T HE F I R S T
W O R LD W A R A N
A F T ER ,
D
1 9 1 11
-
1 93 9
2 99
m ents no longer bent before the Austro German attacks
things nevertheless went desperately against the British and T G
French in th e spring of 1 9 1 8 W ith enormous numbers of 33: $
35,
15
troops released from the R ussian front Ludendroff now 9 8
strained every nerve to deliver a knock out blow I n the west
A grea t German Off ensive began in M arch and carried all
before it The danger to the Allies was so great that at last
th ey sank th eir mfutual s uspicions and jealousies and consented
to th e creation of a single Allied command under Foch T h unified
T h e Americans also rushed to send over th eir first levies to gifin“
strength en th e b ending lines Brilliantly th e German advance
continued until by June th ey were back to their farthest 1 9 1 4
positions by the M ar ne and P aris was once more in danger T h M m
ain
“
g
Then as suddenly the attack spent itself ; the Allies held
their ground the Germans worn out by four years of war
fare against superi or odds lacked the reserves to push their
eff ort home The Americans arrived in increasing numbers T h
The h opelessness Of continuing a struggle against an almost
inexh austible supply of American reinforcements armaments t n
and wealth impressed itself on the Germans The Allied
’
counter attack Haig s best work in August began to force
back the German lines with such rapidity that people could
hardly believe the news By th e end of September when th e T h A lli d
British stormed the supposedly almost impregnable Hinden atta k
burg line Germany was at the end of her tether—and aunmd mautum n
—
udendor
knew I t
f
f
9 8
L
But it was not Germany wh o gave in first An Anglo T h
French expedition long since landed at Salonika in Greece S alm ik"
{
w i k ut
f
who
had
been
practically
orced
by
the
Allies
to
enter
t
h
e
(
war on their side) at last j usti fied itself Bulgaria was knocked
9 8
out of the war at th e end of September and Serbia was
recovered Then in O ctober Turkey collapsed before the T u key
m
“
W
further attacks of Allenby I n Syria and th e Allied successes
in the Balkans N ext th e Austrian E mpire went under A m m
following attacks by the Italians and brilliant propaganda follow
work by the British who bombed the Austrian lines with
leaflets promising th e Austrian subject nationalities their
independence if they deserted the E mpire Czechs P oles
Slovaks Croats immediately responded to
and under
th e combined in fl uence of military de feat the b lock a
d e and
-
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H I S T OR Y O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T R A T ED
3 00
E U R O PE
disruptive propaganda the Austrian E mpire fell to pieces
The British D epartment of P ropaganda under th e skilled
direction of Lord N orthcli ff e whose experience as founder
and owner of the D aily M ail well qualified him for the nice ties
of the art th us at the expense of a few th ousand pounds and
with no loss of life helped to secure results not less important
th an those achieved by the costly off ensives of th e W estern
generals W ith her friends thus all defeated and her own
armies fast retreating Germany had no alternative but to sue
’
for peace on the basis of Fourteen P oints advanced by the
American P resident W oodrow Wilson The German N avy
ordered out to certain destruction in a last desperate eff ort
mutinied
the K aiser and his family m ad e a hurried and
undignified exit to Holland and safety
a republic was pro
claimed and with inexpressible relief E urope soon learned
that an armistice had been concluded between the W estern
powers It was announced on a day that will not soon b e
forgotten— N ovember 1 1 th 1 9 1 8
In considering the reasons for victory and defeat in th e
conflict we must remember what a task Germany had to
face in spite of her initial advantages and greater freedom
from moral restrai nts
In the end the Central E uropean
powers four in number were at war with twenty seven
states including the whole might of the British E mpire
India and the D ominions France and her E mpire Japan
and the U nited States W ith such forces behind them
including R ussia in the first years of the war it would have
been a tremendous military disgrace had the Allies lost
Yet they nearly did lose through their uninspired military
leadership their i mperviousness to new ideas their disastrous
f co ordination
personal diff erences and lack O
In the end th e
Allies muddled through
The things which stood them in
th e greatest stead were their superiority in man power
f
especially
with
the
arrival
the American contingents) the
o
(
almost inexhaustible wealth of the British E m pire and the
U nited States and the control of the seas which th e British
N avy never for one moment 10st
The last factor was
tremendously important—as the years passed the Allied
blockade slowly brought about the starvation of the Central
P owers in both food and raw materi als
O n the other hand
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HI S T ORY O F M O D ERN
I LLU S T R A T ED
3 02
E U R O PE
’
the Allied fleets could and did ensure E ngland s vital food
supply th e transport of troops to convenient centres of opera
tion the capture of enemy colonies There was no Trafalgar
in this war but no more than the N apoleonic war coul d the
struggle have been won without the British Fleet O n the
German side the greatest mistakes which cost th em the war
were the invasion of B elgium and the unrestricted submarine
campaign Both were gambles which came very near to
success but when once the immediate menace was checked
both decisions proved fatal to their authors The first
o ffended th e moral conscience of the world and uni ted E ngland
T h e second reinforced the
in an unremitting Opposition
universal hatred of German militarism and brought about
the ultimately decisive intervention of the U nited States
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2
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T h e P eace T reaties
.
E urope af ter th e
War
Th ough the carnage had now stopped an Official peace was
not at once drawn up It took months of bargaining and
doubtful diplomacy amon
g the Allies before the treaties wer e
concluded At last in June 1 9 1 9 the Versailles treaty signed
in that Hall of M irrors which had witnessed the foundation
of the German E mpire half a century before was given to
the world O ther treaties with Austria Hungary Turkey
and Bulgaria took even longer to frame the final settlement
with Turkey (which began fighting again with Greece) not
b eing achieved till 1 92 3 , The peace treaties as a whole
constituted a redrawing Of the map of E urope comparable
with the settlement Of 1 8 1 5 The work of those who framed
them was fantastically difficult They had to deal with
enormous problems such as the racial complications Of
Central E urope and the N ear E ast or th e best financial
settlement obtainable which they but very imperfectly
understood And they had to work in an atmosphere poisoned
by four years of desperate warfare with its inevitabl ecrop of
national hatred not to be forgotten in a few weeks In
general the most liberal attitude to the conquered was taken
by W ilson an I dealist to whom detachment Was possible in
’
view of his country s greater distance from E urope T h e
opposite
attitude of stripping Germany of all pcssib le
territorially and financially was exempli fi ed in the veteran
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T H E FI R S T
W O R LD W A R A N
—93 9
A FT E R ,
D
1914
1
3 03
Clemenceau the Tiger who could never forget what France W ilson
had su ff ered not only in 1 9 1 4 but in 1 8 70 Lloyd George
represented something of a middle term between the other two
not illiberal himself but with a constant eye on the fury Of
En
glish Opinion th en expr essed in the twin cries of make
’
’
Germany pay and hang the Kaiser
The settlement produced by compromises between these
th ree m en na turally bore marks of all of them O n the one
"
side th ere was the application of th e principle of self
’
determination —the release of subject races all over E urope S ubj ect
From th e ruins of the Austrian E mpire emerged the free 2m
republics of C zech OSlovakia ( including the old Bohemia) and
Yugo Slavia ( Serbia enlarged by M ontenegro and the Croats T h n w
m
and Slovenes of the Austrian E mpire) Hungary was stripped
of its subject races all round R oumania being the chief ga i ner
Austria was limited to th e strictly German section a drastic
alteration from the days when Vienna lorded it over thirteen
races The Baltic republics of Finl and Lithuania E sthonia
Latvia appeared and P oland was reassembled as an inde
pendent state N ew Arab states freed from Turkish control
were set up in the N ear E ast Alsace and Lorraine were
restored to France All these arrangements in general
conformed to national limits and in this respect the great
principle Of nation
ality so constantly enunciated in the 1 9th
century at last received full recognition N evertheless in
some respects it was violated by the incorporation of aliens
in th e new states—for example three million Hungarians A f w
were placed under foreign rule ; three million Germans were m om
“
included in C zech o Slovakia arid some more in P oland in
Future trouble was inevitable here All the same the
exceptions sometimes necessary in the interests of military
frontiers were insignificant com pared with the national
subjections before the war— and furthermore guarantees on
the fair treatment of minorities were required from the ruling
powers A more vital defect was that the construction of so
many small states multiplied economic boundaries caused new
tar iff s and made trade infinitely more difficult in South
eastern E urope
Though the territorial conditions of th e treaties wer e if by
no means perfect rather fairer than nearly all p revious
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H I S T OR Y O F M OD E R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
3 04
.
E uropean
E U R O PE
treaties the financial provisions were extremely
’
stringent Germany had to admit her war guilt and with
h er satellities to foot a bill as large as th e Allies could make
it with any h Ope Of payment The figure of the reparations
due from Germany was eventually fixed at nearly seven
thousand million pounds and ultimately an arrangement was
decided on by which Germany was to pay large annual
instalments almost indefinitely She was in no position to
resist since she had to surrender h er fleet renounce her air
force abolish conscription be content with a small pro fessional
force and admit an Allied army of occupation
But she was
also in no position to pay since she had lost her colonies and
some of her best industrial districts notably Silesia ( to P oland)
Lorraine ( to France ) and the Saar ( to the League Of N ations )
P ayment in goods was not encouraged since th e Allies did not
wish by accepting German commodities to put th eir own
workers out of employment Large numbers of intelligent
people could see that th e financia l provisions would never
work in actual fact they never really did Germany p aid
a certain amount for some years by means of first borrowing
from the U nited States and E ngland
then later as soon as
h e really began to foot th e bill she found hersel f unable to
s
do so and repudiated it
If th e treaties were impracticable in finance and imperfect
in politics if th ey carried out to the letter neither th e idealistic
’
’
principles Of W ilson s Fourteen P oints nor the material
bargains of E ngland and France with states like Italy th ey
did at any rate contain one hope for the future in the form of
the League of N ations Th is though not his own original
’
idea was W ilson s greatest gift to E urope M ore than any
other statesman h e was impressed with the overwhelming
necessity of avoiding a catastrop h e similar to the war just
ended Accordingly he insisted that his scheme for a League
of N ations should be included in the treaty of Versaill es
The new institution w as not a super state national pride
would not then and will not now allow that It was a device
to increase international co operation and avoid war wh ile
leaving each state perfectly sovereign in its own affairs
Situated at Geneva in Switzerland ( a traditionally neutral
state) its main organs were to be an Assembly representing
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,
T h e League
of N ations
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ILLU S T R A T E D
3 06
H I S T ORY O F M O D E R N
EU RO P E
quered German colonies did not want to see them restored to
G ermany to constitute once more a menace to th eir security
Yet the territories were too backward to govern th emselves in
accordance with standards acceptable to W estern nations and
were too important to forgo lightly The solution arrived at
’
was the M andate system first suggested by the South African
General Smuts who was also one of th e fathers of the League
itself By this system the territories were entr usted to a
mandatory power whose duty was to rule with the benefit and
the ultimate independence of the natives in mind The
mandatory power had to give an account Of its stewardship
to th e League of N ations O n the whole the system scarcely
succeeded The French encountere d enormous opposition
in Syria and British rul e over P alestine has completely
failed to reconcile th e Arabs to the establishment of a Jewish
’
Germany naturally regarded th e
N ational Home there
m andatory system in gen eral as a device by which the British
’
E mpire migh t cover annexation in a cloak of morality
E ngland however actually surrendered one mandate in
The most important mandates
th e N ear E ast over Ira q
th ose over the old German colonies in Africa are still retained
by E ngland and South Africa— as Hitler not infrequently
r eminded Germany and the world
The history of E urope since 1 9 1 9 has given little satisfaction
to those who dreamed of a new era of peace after the war to
’
end war
Till about 1 9 2 3 figh ting continued in various parts
—
R
Civil war convulsed ussia a civil War in which
of E urope
E ngland France and P oland by active intervention on the
’
’
side Of the W hites strove to destroy th e R ed Bolsh evik
gover nment The R oumanians encouraged by th e Allies
took advantage of a Communist revolution in Hungary to
plunder th e Hungarians The Turks i n a wonderful nati onal
revival at th e very moment of defeat found a saviour in th e
soldier M ustapha Kemal who had earlier been the decisive
Kemal
factor in frustrating the Allied Gallipoli campaign
led the Turks against the Greeks who were first encouraged
by the Allies to occupy part of Asia M inor and then deserted
at the critical moment The previous settlement with Turkey
now had to be revised very greatly in her favour M ost of
the new states including the German R epublic had th e very
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T H E FI R S T
W OR LD W A R A N
A FT E R ,
D
119 1 4
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3 07
1 93 9
greatest difficulty in establishing themselves and much blood
was shed before order could be established and government
generally accepted In Italy a wave of unrest strengthened
’
by dissatisfaction at Italy s small gains from the war and
marked by strikes the appearance of Communism and the T
22“in
paralysis of parliamentary government led to the virtual Italy
seizure of power by the Fascists Their main aims were
"
strong government and flaming nationalism Their leader
was Benito M ussolini son of a blacksmith a notorious M ussolini
d been jailed and exiled by previous
ex Socialist who h a
governments In 1 92 2 King Victor E mmanuel III had to
accept him as P rime M inister after the Fascist M arch on
’
R ome —to which M ussolini himself came by train
For some time the greatest f actor in W estern E urope in
prolonging bitterness seemed to be France who perhaps
understandably took every step to humiliate Germany
Thus in 1 9 2 3 for example when Germany defaulted on T h e F nch
in ad th
reparation payments the French P remier P oincaré a ruthless Ruh 9 2 3
German hater ordered the French army to invade the Ruhr
districts and seize the German coal mines as compensation
’
This coupled with Germany s non existent gold reserve
helped to cause a fatal collapse of the mark which reached C llap of
th e on
“
’
astronomical figures It fell so rapidly that a man s wages
paid overnight might be quite valueless by the time he went
out to spend them in the morning P eople in the streets of
London b ought ten m illioni m ark notes for twopence as
souvenirs U ltimately of course an entirely new start had
to be made i n German currency b olstered up by loans b ut
meanwhile all savings in banks and the like had disappeared
It was a terrible experience for Germany ruining her thrifty
middle class and peasantry
R ound about 1 9 2 4 a new phase of greater hope for E urop e B tter den
92 ‘
began The unimaginable confusion of the E astern and
Central E uropean states had sorted itself out into some
semblance of order Industry began to adj ust itself to a
peace time foo
ting A milder reparations agre ement was
made with Germany ( th e D awes
In 1 92 5 a step of
the first importance for E uropean appeasement was taken I n
th e conclusion of the Locarno Treat by th e work of Briand L a
m,
y
t”
Austen Chamberlain and Stresemann all of whom had the fi
s
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3 08
H I S T OR Y O F M O D E R N
I LLU S T R A T E D
E U RO P E
interests Of E urope as well as of their own countries at heart
By this treaty Germany agreed never again to raise th e
question of Alsace and Lorraine while Italy and E ngland
promised to defend France against German aggression and
G ermany against French aggression T h e logical sequel came
when Germany in 1 9 2 6 sought and was granted admission to
th e League of N ations
.
,
.
.
D isarm am ent,
1 92 9
.
’
I n Low s own words
P eace is depi cted h ere af ter ten weary years j ourney upon h er path etic
T h e only
b ut h oly m ount, faced with th e m ilestone of h er star ting point
appreciab le diff erence in th e desolate scene is th e pr esence of an em pty
evidence th at som e
ch am pagne b ottle and a str ay top h at
politicians
h ave b een h olding anoth er b anq uet to ab olish war
-
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—
.
this line of policy was not earn ed far enough
The French in their desperate distrust of Germany had
sought for security by concluding two 1 mportant E uropean
alliances O n
e was with P oland and the other with a group
’—
which became k nown as The Little E ntente C zech o
Slovakia R onm ania Yugo Slavia Since all these states had
been formed from the defeated powers their interest was to
oppose al l revision of the treaties and they were thus th e
natural enemies of Germany Austria Hungary and Bulgaria
’
G ermany thus felt herself once more encircled by alliances
U nfortunately
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3
I LLU S T R A T E D
10
H I S T OR Y O F M OD ER N
V ersailles— all
under diff erent
of
of
Comm unists and th e framers
the Treaty
th ree classes being rough ly the same people
names He promised if h e should be returned to power to
’
restore Germany s might to stop her humiliations at the
hands of E ngland and Fr ance to suppress Jews and Com
m unists and to make wide sweeping social reform s which
would cure unemployment Such a programme at such
a moment was irresi stible Aided at the last minute by th e
said to have been caused by Com
famous R eichstag fire —
mselves
m unists but possibly perpetrated by the N az is th e
to discredit th eir opponents— Hitler was overwhelmingly
triumphant at the 1 933 elections
The moment Hitler came into power the international
outlook blackened In Germany itself his régime until 1 939
was a mixture of efficiency and persecution completely
satisfactory to most Germans but bitterly resented by a
minority who were not given an opportunity for self expression
N ot only Jews and Communists but moderate Socialists
Liberals and even C onservatives were persecuted out of
existence T h e attentions of N azi Brownshirts and the
’
possibility of:a spell in the horrors of a concentration camp
sufficed to limit opposition to all b ut the boldest spirits A
movement of disaff ection by some of the leaders of his own
’
party led in June 1 93 4 to a savage purge when in a single
night seventy seven men were arrested and shot without
trial ( The figure seventy seven is th e official one—opponents
place it at more than one thousand ) But all this was off set in
’
—
German eyes by three achievements of Hitler that he saved
Germany from Communism that he genuinely did a great
deal towards solving the unemployment problem ( though
mainly by the unsatisfactory method of Labour Camps and
big armament programmes) and above all that he restored
Germany as a great power He successively announced him
’
self as tired of the Allies broken promises of disarmament
marched Germany out of the League of N ations
reintroduced conscription
reoccupied the demilitarized
armed his country to th e
R hineland zone (M arch
teeth and set up a vigorous campaign for th e restoration of
German colonies E ngland and France watched him tear
up articles of the Versailles Treaty one by one unwilling to
,
His policy
E U R OP E
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T HE FI R S T
W OR LD W A R A N
D
A F T ER ,
31:
93 9
1 9 1 44
intervene for fear of provoking a general war and at h eart 3133 1} of
unable to deny the logic of many of h is actions It should be aille
m mm
noted too that Hitler cleverly timed the r em ilitarizatiOn of
the R hineland for a moment when E ngland and France were
onthe brink of war with Italy
The advent to power of Hitler was followed by a series of
major events which made the intern
ational outlook increas
’
Against the conscience of the
ingly b lacker and blacker
wh ole world Japan wrested M anchuria ( already invaded by
1 9 3 2 ) from C h ina and set up the puppet st ate of M anchukuo J apan lea .
T h e unanimous condemnation of the League of N ations W as
flouted and Japan followed Germany from Geneva In face
of the difficulty of operating in the Far E ast against a major
power the powers took no Steps to restrain the aggressor
’
E ncouraged by th is examp
le M ussolini s Italy which had long
ma
rked out as a sphere for Italian expansion the only large
tract of Africa still ruled by Africans invaded Abyssinia
h
e powers resolved to do some
c
ober
This
time
O
t
t
(
thing more than protest The League invoked Article XVI Italy l a e.
“
and sanctions were applied against Italy (N ovember I 93 5 E a
i?
July
But th e policy was not wholeheartedly pressed
some i nfluential quarters in E ngland an
d France disagr eed 333113
;
with it entirely and the vital oil sanction was never applied inia “i “
nor was the Suez Canal closed M ussolini let it be known
that he would regard both actions as tantamount to a decl ara
tion of war The question became one of bluff and M us
’
solini relying on the divisions in his opponents councils
their growing pre occupatl on W I th Hitler and their greater
reluctance to cause a general conflict easily outbluff ed
E ngland and Franc e T h e result was th at the half hearted
sanctions failed to do anything except infuriate Italy, wh o
regarded th e whole campai gn against her as selfish hypocrisy;
since E ngland herself h ad already acquired so large a share of
’
the world s surface in roughly the sam e manner The hostile
atm osp h ere engendered by this episode persisted and Italy too
left the League
From 1 936 to 1 93 9 a source of perpetual crisis hung over T h S panish
E urope in the form of the Spanish Civil W ar
In opposition£
33312;
to the left wing and anti clerical policy of the Spanish R e
publican government General Franco attempted a coup
1
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I LLU S T R A T ED
312
H I S T OR Y OF M OD ER N
’
d etat
E U R OPE
It failed to achieve immediate success and led to a
bi tter struggle in which the forces of Franco the Army the
’
Church and Big Business were ranged against the legitimate
government the Basques liberals socialists and communists
generally E ngland and France tried to maintain a policy of
N on Intervention from outside but this was flagrantly broken
by Italy and Germany on beh alf of Franco and R ussia on
behalf of the government These three powers were not only
manoeuvring for position but were also using the occasion as
a dress rehearsal for a E uropean war by trying out tactics and
equipment R ussia abandoned intervention first and Franco
was at length successful a very dangerous result for E ngland
and France since he was likely to remain in the German and
Italian camp T h roughout the British position was very
delicate for we h ad no wish to intervene but also no desire to
see German and Italian influence permeate Spain W e were
moreover by now fully alive to the danger of the Germ an
air force which Hitler had so swiftly called into being ( and for
which a planned framework at least must have existed before
the N azis came on the scene) Throughout these troubled
years and particularly in the C zech o Slovak crisis of 1 93 8
the inferiority of British and French air power to a Luf twaff e
expanding at an unparalleled rate was to be a governing
thought in many minds and to determine our policy along
lines of caution
The worsening trend of international events was vividly
illustrated in the year 1 93 8 In the spring Hitler after a
brutal ultimatum to the Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg
marched his newly formed l egions into Austria took over
complete possession and merged it into the R eich M odern
E urope had seen nothing parallel to this overnight disap
r ance from the map of a state with nearly a thousand
a
e
p
’
years of history behind it Hitler s plea in so far as h e
was that th e Austrians had always desired the
Off ered one
’
Anschluss
and that Schus chnigg (whom he
promptly imprisoned) was endeavouring to avert this by a
’
’
After Hitler s entry together with tha t of
faked pl ebiscite
’
his troops and secret police a genuine plebiscite was to be
held— and was held with the customary totalitarian results
Italy the power wh o had earlier prevented the Anschluss
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I LLU S T R A T ED
3 14
.
H I S T OR Y O F M O D E R N
“
E UR O P E
) meant only that Herr Hitler had consented to be
served with his courses one at a time in an orderly fashion
instead of snatching his victuals all at once from the table
U p to this point it was still possible if optimistic to believe
Incorp a
tion f
’
that Hitler s policy brutal though it was woul d stop short
Cz hq
S l ak a
at the incorporationof those of German race in the R eich
In th
G em an
n
To
those
who
still
clu
g
to
this
theory
the
next
move
in
the
R h
li m b
939 spring of 1
N ot content with
939 proved a rude shock
having stripped C zech o Slovakia of her G ernian frontiers and
many of her industries he invaded the Czech sections them
selves occupied P rague and declared the whole state dis
solved with Bohemia and M oravia included in Germany and
’
Slovakia as a self governing district Germany previously
so outraged at the existence of a German minority in C zech o
Slovakia thus acquired a Czech minority three times as
large to say nothing of the complete Czech air force military
equipment and the vital Skoda munitions works At
about the same time while the going was good , the Germans
G erm any
al o tak
seiz ed M emel which was however truly German from
M m !
Lithuania
The policy of appeasement now lay in ruins and the
Th
nd
f th
question
became
one
of stopping further German advanc e
i
f
l
o
p
y
’
app a
M
r C h amberlain was apparently converted to M r Churchill s
m nt
’
policy and a positive revolution occurred in Britain s conduct
St p t
h k
’
The British government off ered guarantees
of foreign aff airs
A xia
aggre i n
of help in case of attack to P oland
R umania and Greece
( threatened by Italy since the Italian seizure of Albania on
Good Friday
concl uded a treaty of mu tual assistance
with Turkey and together with France strove to include
R ussia in a great block of states pledged to resist German
aggression The negotiations with R ussia dragged on un
successfully however all the summer 0 Labour circles at
th e time tended to place the blame on the well known anti
Bolshevik sentiments of the Conservative leaders but it seems
that R ussia was demanding as the price of her adherence
extensive concessions at the expense of P oland Finland and
the small Baltic States These though perhaps necessary
for R ussian security against German attack could not
h onourably be conceded by Great Britain and France
th ough R ussia was eventually to find a partner with a less
1 93 8
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s
es
e
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ee
o
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W O RLD W A R A N
T HE F I R S T
A FT ER ,
D
1 914
1 93 9
-
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315
scrupulous conscience in the opposite camp In any case
the guarantees to P oland Rumania and Greece still held
good and to give reality to her new determination E ngland
took the epoch making step of introducing conscri tion
p
’
Germany countered by mak ing the R ome Berlin axis into
a hard and fast military alliance and by seeking to extend
this system to Japan Hungary Yugo Slavia and Spain
"
Thus with the League discredited fOr its failure to withstand
Japan Italy and Germany E urope fell back on the bad old
method of two armed groups All the powers feverishly
hurried on their colossal armament programm es in which
’
the ax is powers had a dangerously long lead and which
’
made the preparations for 1 9 1 4 seem like child s play in com
parison It was a method of S eeking security which had been
tried once all too thoroughly and which h ad failed It was
to fail again
As the summer of 1 939 wore on it became apparent that G em ,
m
Germany was about to direct her next blow against P oland
3
P oles and Germans had long had no love for each other but
’
Hitler s government had actually concluded a non aggression
pact with P oland as one of its first steps in foreign policy
Germany however flushe
d with her recent successes and
possibly gambling on th ekind of resistance fr om E ngland and
France wh ich these powers had shown at M unich determined
to settle two long standing gri evances in her own favour She
had never accepted willingly either the status of D anzig
( populated largely by Germans) as a Free City in which the
P oles had certain guaranteed rights or the existence of th e
’
P olish Corridor cutting off E ast P russia from the main body
of the R eich
Had Hitler not revealed his true aims by the
occupation of P rague in the spriil ga some accom modation
might have been possible As it was the P oles and the whole
of E urop e k new every step in th e well wom N azi techniqu e
’
—
by heart A demand an atrocity campaign alleging ill
’
—
tr eatment of German minorities an app eal by th e German
’
minorities for Hitler s protection—more demands every con
cession offered by the victim used to extort a further one and
finally th e entry of the Germany army with not only th e
disputed territory b ut the whole country at its mercy I n face
of a shrieking German press campaign th e P ol es kep t th eir
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3 16
ILLU S T R A T E D
H I S T OR Y O F M O D E R N
EU R O P E
temper and their determination trusting to their own bravery
and th e help of their western allies—though this indeed
’
owing to P oland s geographical situation could hardly be
either direct or of immediately decisive eff ect They
announced their willingness to negotiate but not under
th reat of force E urope held its breath and trembled
O n August 2 1 5t the world knew that the die was c ast
The papers of that day contained the news of the R usso
German non aggression pact which was formally signed in
M oscow by R ibbentrop two days later
R ussia had sold
’
out to the N azis presumably in return for German con
niv ance at a R ussian occupation of E astern P oland and the
Baltic States It is probable however; th at the main R ussian
motive was to avoid trouble with Germany until the R ed
Army was better equipped and the disorganiz ation following
’
th e purges had been righted
She was moreover perhaps
not displeased at the th ought of a length y war in which the
’
great capitalist powers of Germany F rance and Great
Britain would exh aust one anoth er
’
This cynical volte face from Hitler s anti Communi s t
opinions indeed astound ed public opinion everywhere but
if th e intention of the move was to frighten E ngland and
France into betraying P oland or P oland into abject surrender
th e sinister R ibbentrop sadly miscalcul ated
O n August
E ngland signed the last formal stages of her alliance
2 4th
with P oland Hitler and h is advisers however refused to
be swayed from th eir purpose by the prospect of a E uropean
war The alternative was clearly before them but their
new calculation was apparently that with the P oles irre
E
f
beaten
in
a
ortnig
t
ngland
and
France
wo
d
be
l
a
r
a
b
u
l
h
p
y
glad to withdraw before any further damage was done In
any case Hitler was in his normal state of emotional hysteria
’
when considering the wrongs of Germans For another
week the tension grew tauter and tauter O n August g1 st
G ermany suddenly announced a 1 6 P oint P eace P lan
involving the return of D anz ig to the R eich plebiscites in
the Corridor German railways and roads th rough th e
Corridor before the plebiscites and further concessions
’
Hitler announced that his patience was exhausted and th at
’
th e German government af ter two days grace were now tired
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318
I LLU S T R A T E D
3
.
C b nclusion
H I S T OR Y OF M O D E R N
N
.
ationalism ,
E U R O PE
D ictatorsh ip, D emocracy
s
From the French R evolution to the First W orld W ar th etwo
conceptions dominating E urope were as we have so frequently
seen th e ideas of nationalism and democracy How do they
fare to day P O bviously nationalism is for the most part as
strong as ever if not stronger The peace treaties of 1 9 1 9
by carving up the Austrian E mpire and by establishing P oland
and the Baltic R epublics gave expression to th e longing of
peoples to be governed by m en of their own nationality It
was on the rock of nationalism that international ideas such
as the League came to grief I n countries like Germany and
Italy which emerged from th e last war with grievances
nationalism reached an unheard of pitch in part through the
hysterical oratory of dictators It may seem strange in V iew
of all this to hold that nationalism has probably attained its
zenith and may henceforth decline Those countries which
have longest enjoyed national unity and freedom while still
deeply patriotic are less fervent in their nationalism than
before E ngland for example has voluntarily abandoned
nearly all the legal ties which bound Ireland and her W hite
D ominions to her and no longer dreams of acquiring further
imperial territory N ationalism is still by far the strongest
force in E urope to day with its armies its foreign policies
its cut throat tarifi barriers but the wh ole trend of modern
civilization must ultimately militate against it E ducation
ease of communication the spread of common standards of
culture the sheer necessity of preserving th e peace— all may
be factors in assisting the decline of nationalism The present
’
talk of E uropean federation as a peace aim is some indication
of the increasing loss of faith in unadulterated national self
M eantime no other force is at once so much a
sufii ciency
part of E uropean civilization and so much a danger to it
And what of the oth er conception that of democracy
Here the high water mark was reached immediately after th e
last war when Germany Austria P oland C zech o Slovaki a
Yugo Slavia the new Baltic States all gave themselves
democratic constitutions with parliam ents written statements
’
From the French R evolution
of citizens rights and the like
,
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-
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N ationalism
th e
stron est
g
force i n
E urope
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But
desti ned to
decline in
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T HE F I R S T
—1 93 9
W ORLD WA R A N D A FT ER ,
3 19
1914
.
.
onwards the peoples of E urope had broadly assumed that th e
path of democracy was the path of progress By 1 9 1 4 diff erent
countries had attained different degrees of democracy—of th e
great powers in Europe E ngland and Fr ancc were th e mos t
democratic R ussia the least Germany and Austria Hungary
about mid way being autocracies with some i mportant con
cessions to democracy The fact that E ngland France and
Belgium and later Italy and the U ni ted States all found them
cast a kind of
selves on the same side in the war of 1 9 1 4
democratic halo rou
nd the Allies Ev en C zarist R ussia
experimenti ng with a D um a was supposed to b e coming into
line The sentimen t of democracy as well as that of national
ism was deliberately appealed to by th e Allies in th eir
propaganda against Turkish rule over Arabs Austrian rule
over Cz echs Slovaks P oles Croats and so on W hen th e
Allies won it was natural that new democracies should spring
up all over E urope E ven defeated states like Germany
became democratic anxl ous to repudiate the system which
had led them to disaster
W ith in a few years however the picture began to look Failu of
M ost of these countries were lacking i n parlia 3
di ff er ent
32333 ?
mentary experience and tradition For m any of them it did gag e,
’
not seem to be a natural growth
Thei r party system worked ( a) A b sence
°
badly mainly because they adopted the idea of proportional £3 3
and “
ad"
representation which by mul tiplying parties confused th e t n
electorate ( In 1 92 5 in L atv ia for instance the electors were ( b) M ulti
invited to choose between forty three parties ) It usually
became impossible for one party to obtain a clear majority ( H m
g f
and thus no resolute government was possible Then for
most of the countries economic conditions were very difficult 332333“
in the years following the war and became increasingly so in m n,
th e sl ump of 1 93 0
Finally the secure and established powers (d) T h e
of the W est did little to help some of these infant democracies
n m ic
i “
“
Germany for example was constantly kept aware of the fact
j l
that her R epublic was founded in defeat by the way in which i53
1i
ttiti
fd
g
moderate requests such as a customs union with Austria
“
m m “
were refused For Germany at least th e idea of a democracy
became associated W ith the idea of permanent inferiority to
E ngland and France—
a mistake for which those two powers
could have kicked themselves when it produced Hitler
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3 22
The
H I S T O R Y O F M O D ER N
I LLU S T R A T E D
EU R O PE
So nearly everywhere in E urope democracy went down
before dictatorship Hitler in Germany M ussolini in Italy
Kemal in Turkey P ilsudski in P oland de R ivera and
later Franco in Spain King Alexander in Yugo Slavia
King Carol in R oum am a M etaxas in Greece Salazar in
P ortugal Gomb os in Hungary D ollfuss then Schuschnigg
in Austria—th ese are among the best known of th ose wh o since
the last war have exercised or are still exercising almost com
l
t
power
in
their
respective
countries
e
e
p
To th is formidable list of present past and would b e
dictatorsh ips we must also add th at of the U mon of Soviet
Socialist R epublics in the person first of Lenin th en of Stalin
After the Bolsheviks h ad driven out their foreign enemies and
crushed actual military resistance at home they still had to
’
liquidate the opposition of most of the upper and middle
classes This was done by th e traditional means— a gigantic
’
Terror
A full Socialist policy of state owners h ip was
applied the opposition of the peasants to having their h oldings
’
collectiviz ed being brutally repressed U nder Stalin M an
’
’
who on Lenin s death gained supreme power after a
of Steel
struggle with Trotsky R ussia concentrated on industraliz a
’
T h e chief
tion by means of the famous Five Year P lans
di ff erences between Stalin and T rotsky were th at Stalin
wished to go at a more steady pace on th e path of Socialization
th an Trotsky and that he desired to complete th e revolution
first in R ussia whereas Trotsky W ished to foment revolution
all over the world The open secret and imaginary sup
’
porters of Trotsky were liquidated by th e victorious Stalin as
’
ruthlessly as they themselves once liquidated aristocrats and
O fli cially th e U nion of Soviet Socialist
b ourgeois capitalists
R epublics advanced farther on the path of democracy by a
new constitut1on g1v1ng th e secret ballot and greater guarantees
W hile the Communist party permits no
of personal liberty
opposition however looking for democracy in R ussia would
seem to be rather like looking for a needle in a W hole collection
of haystacks
In considering the institution of dictatorship in modern
E urope two or three points sometimes neglected should be
remembered First th ey did not spring out of nothing
—
Th ey had historic ca uses usually defeat in war or social
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Russia
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T HE FI R S T
W OR LD W A R AN
A FT E R,
D
1 914
—1 93 9
323
C am “
ch aosf ollowing
parliamentary inefficiency and labour troubles
Secondly many of th em h ave or had pub li
or economic collapse
th e consent o f th e overwh elming majority of th eir people
P lebiscites produced 9 9 per cent in favour of the dictator and M at ial
so on —
Thirdly l n many fiflifi
if th ese figures are worth anything
cases they brough t considerable m aterial benefits with them
’
Hitler s ach ievements in employm ent and public works E g
’
M ussolini s treatm ent of th e problems o f pilfering and rail
way unpunctuality were but examples of an aspect of genuine
’
importance T h e real justification of Stalin s dictatorship if
any is th at h e and L enin succeeded in raising the standard
of liv ing in R ussia poor though it is in comparison with th at
to a height undreamt of in C z arist days P er
o f E ngland
h aps the most success ful of all dictators was M ustaph a
Kemal Ataturk described recen
tly by one journalist as th e
rough neck among dictators beside wh om Hitler is a milksop
M ussolini a perfumed dandy and C om b os a creature of the
’
draWing rooms
N ot only did he rescue his country from
real not imaginary peril and win back territory for it but
he successfully launched the progress of Turkey on E uropean
lines He even sent old men back to school to learn a new
alphabet and abolish ed the fez th e Veil and the institution of
polygamy with h ardly a murmur from h is hypnotized people
In foreign policy he laid down lines which h ave since been
more closely pursued in th e agreements of Turkey with h er
recent and h er traditional enemies E ngland and R ussia
respectively
The decline of democracy m evidence to day does not D m cm
necessarily imply th at there may not be a reversal of that
process in th e future O f the old democracies of E urope few
at th e moment survive but th e defeat of Germany would
probably entail the r e establishment of democratic govern
ment in many E uropean states doubtless in a new and far
more efficient form in wh ich a strong executive and systemati c
planning would have a leading place O utside E urop e th ere
are the great democracies of the British Commonwealth of
All of these have managed
N ations and th e U nited States
to preserve their intellectual freedom perhaps partly because
th ey are all relatively prosperous countries N one of them
knows the regime of concentration camp and castor oil bottle,
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324
I LLU S T R A T E D
H I S T OR Y OF M O D E RN
EU R OP E
"
’
’
liquidation and purge
Side by side with Great Bri tain
th ey are now battling to maintain their liberties with th e
resolve not only of enj oying th eir own heritage but of passing
ba ck to E urope l n h appier times th e torch of freedom But
to survive to live into a E urope less racked with cares and
h orrors democracy no less th an dictators h ip must solve th e
twin problems of th e age— the abolition of poverty and
preservation of peace
‘
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.
326
FU R TH E R S TUD Y
T h e following m ay b e recom m ended with
H B alz ac
V Hugo
V H ugo
Les C h ouans
Les M iser ab les
’
93
T h e G un
D eath and th e French
S aint H elena ( P lay)
B arlasch of th e G uard
T h e S owers
T h e Bi b le in S pain
W ar and P eace (adm irab le, b ut too
difficult for m ost readers )
S eb asto po l
D isench antm ent
P oem s
.
.
.
C
C
R
S
S
G
L
F orester
F orester
C S h eri ff
M erri m an
M err i m an
B orrow
T olstoi
S
S
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L T olstoi
C E M ontague
S iegfried S assoon
Wilfrid Owen
.
.
.
W eym an
.
A
.
C
.
W
.
long and
P oem s
T h e following are i nteresting,
th eir kind
S
nfidence
co
and
possess greater m erit th an m ost of
T h e R ed C ock ade
T h e C ount of M onte C risto
T h e A dventures of B rigadier G
T h e Lam e E nglish m an
D um as
D oyle
D eeping
erard
i ntroduced to th e well
h istori cal
tales of B aroness Orczy and G A H enty
known
th ey m ay b e warned h owever against accepting such excellent sto ry
telling as m ore th an—story telling
Y outh ful readers will
not need to b e
”
.
.
,
,
-
.
III
.
Film s
t h istorical film s of course are ludicrously and fantastically
T h e followi ng com m ercial ventur es h owev er h ave
unh istorical
b oth cinem atic m erit and a conception th ough not com plete of
h istorical accuracy
T h e H ouse of R oth sct
M arie W alewska
T h e S tory of Louis P asteur
T h e Life of E m ile Z ola
T h e P atriot (silent)
M
os
,
,
,
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,
,
,
.
Th e
tm osph ere of th e F irst W orld W ar is
a
’
J ourney s E nd
A ll
Quiet
on th e
W estern Front
adm
irab ly captur ed in
FU R T HER S T U D Y
32 7
T h e following sh ort educational diagram m atic film s
yet pr oduced in th eir sph er e
are th e
b est
f G erm any
T h e E xpansion o
C h anges i n th e Franch ise ( E ngland)
How M oney W orks (E conom ics)
T h ere is also
a
League
of
N
IV
tions film —T h e League at W ork
a
P ainti n g
.
F or th ose lucky few wh o h av e th e opportunity to travel and th e
inclination to look at pictur es, th ere is a cer tain am ount of m aterial
M ost full dr ess h istorical pi ctures
in th e ar t galler ies o f E urope
/ h av e ab o ut as little h i stori cal, and, for th at m atter, artisti c value as
m ost h isto ri cal film s
J L D av id and G ros, h owever, h av e painted
th e for m al o ccasio ns of th e N apoleoni c peri od well, and M eissonier
’
S ever al exam ples of th e latter s
h as specializ ed on th e arm y life
D elacr oix h as som e
wor k m ay b e seen in th e Wa llace C ollection
T h e m ost valuab le m aterial
splendidly tur b ulent, rom anti c scenes
of t
h is sort, h owev er , is in th e form of engravings and carto ons
O f th ese, th e wor ks of R owlandson on th e W aterloo period and G oya
o n th e h or r o rs of th e P eninsular W ar ( accessi b le in th e P h aedon
P ress edition, pub lish ed b y A llen and U nwin) ar e repellently coarse
b ut tr agically real
Daum ier is super b for th e ironies and sorrows
T h e m ore for m al E nglish car toonists, Leech ,
of Fr ench town life
T enniel a nd Low h av e m uch excellent m aterial b esides th at
repr oduced in th is b ook
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V:
M
usic
T h e m usically inclined m ay learn m uch from com parisons of works
T ake a well kh own 1 8 th century piece like
of di ff erent per io ds
’
H arm o m o us B lacksm i th
H andel s
and play it on th e piano or
o n th e gram oph one
N ote its or der ed b eauty, and j oy with out
’
v iolence
T h en tak e a m id 1 9th century piece like C h opin s
”
Rev olutionary S tudy, and see W h at a world away from th e
atm osph ere of th e 1 8 th century m us1 c nas m oved
T h e sam e idea
m ay b e expanded indefinitely— contrast an early H aydn or M ozart
’
”
B erli oz s
sym ph ony with
S ym ph onic F antastiq ue,
for instance,
th e two R ussi as
in th e genuinely S lavonic works of B orodin
or see
in com parison with th e W ester niz ed style of T ch aikowski
F or
th ose wh o h ave ears to h ear, such diff er ences m ay illum inate th e
essential ch ar act eristics o f a per iod m ore vividl
y th an th e patient
explanati on of a h undr ed h istor ians
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G LO S S A R Y OF P O LI T I C A L T E R M S
3 30
UN IS M B elief th at existing system of private ownersh ip of
land factories railways b anks etc sh oul d b e rep laced b y
T h i s to b e done in two stages
pub lic ownersh i p
(a) T h e populace b y direct action (strikes or revolution)
m ach inery of th e state
captures th e
(arm y civil service
police) from th e control of th e em ployers and uses it to
dispossess th e em ployers of th eir property
(T h e dictator
sh ip of th e proletariat
)
( b ) W h en th e em ploying class h as b een elim inated th e
m ach inery of state to b e ab olish ed as th e use of force W ill h ave
b ecom e superfl uous
F irst propounded in system atic form b y th e G erm ans M arx
and E ngels in th e C om m unist M ani festo of 1 848
S ystem of settling internat ional disputes b y
C ON G R E S S S YS T E M
m eetings of th e G reat P owers propounded b y M etterni ch and
C astlereagh after th e N apoleoni c wars
O perative with little
success from 1 8 1 5 to ab out 1 8 23
L iab ility of all m en to serve in th e arm y b oth in
C ON S C R I P T I ON
F irst introduced b y th e
h om e and overseas cam paigns
F rench revolutionaries and since im itated b y alm ost all
states in E urope
B elief th at existing b enefits sh ould b e conserved
C ON S E R V A T I S M
rath er th an b e endangered b y innovations reform s and th e
like
D ocum ent or docum ents giving a parli am ent fix ed
C O N S T IT UT I ON
Lim itation of
laws freedom of speech or sim ilar privileges
th e power of a ruler
Legal according to th e constitution
C O N S T I T UT I ON A L
M onarch y wh ere th e ki ng h as lit tle
C O N S T I T UT I ON A L M O N A R C H Y
power b ut is b ound b y th e term s of a constitution to accept
’
parli am ent s advice etc
A greem ent in docum entary form
C ON V E N T I O N
(M ay also m ean
m eeting
or
’
S eizure of power
C O U P D ET A T
1 8 th century creed h eld b y m any of th e ph ilosoph ers m ai n
D E IS M
taining a b elief in G od with out recognizing th e truth of th e
clai m s of th e C h ri sti an ch ur ch
—
l
system of govern
Y
it
r
r
e
t
h
e
e
o
e
u
l
R
A
L
e
a
ll
b
C
D E M OC
y
p p
y
m ent in wh i ch th e m asses h ave so m e control of poli cy usually
in th e form of electing th eir representatives to som e kind of
ar
l
i
m
ent
a
p
A b solute rule
D E S P OT I S M
S ystem of governm ent in wh ich one m an h as
D I C T A T OR S H I P
com plete power
D IE T
A ssem b ly or P arliam ent
S tudy of th e production and distri b ution of wealth
E C O N OM I C S
I n m ediaeval parliam ents th e th ree
D ivisions or classes
ES T A T ES
—
d
a
r
a
e
l
t
t
r
r
r
s
t
t
w
e
n
e
s
e
ep e
e e
usually
es a es
y first esta te
p
cler gy second estate no b ili ty th ir d estate r em aind er
C
OM M
.
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G LO S S A R Y O F P OLI T I C A L T E R M S
33 1
FA S C I S M
S ystem of governm ent in wh ich th e executive power ( th e
di ctator) h as contr ol over th e legislative power ( th e parli a
’
m ent )
C reation of M ussolini s in post war I taly, m ar ked b y
Literally
intense nationalism and intolerance of all opposition
’
from th e fasces, b undle of rods and axe car ried b efo r e a
R om an m agistrate to denote h is power of infl icting punish
.
-
.
.
m ent
.
S ystem wh ereb y m any states group togeth er to form a
state to wh ich th ey surrender som e, b ut not all, of th eir
FE D E RA T I ON
b igger
.
power
.
T h e righ t to vote
FR A N C H I S E
A b sence of tariff s or custom s duties
FR E E T RA D E
I N F L A T I ON
P rinting of paper m oney out of proportion to gold
reserve, causing h igh er prices
F reedom fr om alliances or co m m itm ents
I S O L A T I ON
leave th ings
A b sence of governm ent action
LA I S S Ez F A IR E
”
B elief th at trade will fl ourish b est with out custom s
alone
d uties, sub sidies, factory acts, etc
H olding extrem e r eform i st views, usually social ism or
LE F T
S o called from positi on of seats in sem i circular
co m m unism
F rench C h am b er of D eputies, wh er e th e conservatives sit o n
th e righ t, th e m oderates in th e centre and th e socialists on th e
left
Law m aki ng
LE G I S L A T I ON
LI B E RA L
U sed with a capital L for a m em b er of a definite party
b eli eving in freedom from gover nm ent restr ictions on trade
and li b erty, and h olding wi th constituti onal r ule
W ith a
sm all l implying sim ilar views, or of a b roadly toler ant
nature, b ut no t necessar i ly a mem b er of any L ib eral party
E nth usiasm for th e righ t and m igh t of th e nati on
N A T I ON A L I S M
D esir e to see th e nation organi z ed powerfully and fr ee fr om
o ppression b y o th er nati ons
M em b er of post war party in G erm any
N A Z I ( N A T I ON A L S O C I A LIS T )
ai m ing at dictatorsh ip, control of th e wealth y, and per secuti on
Lib er als, S ocialists, C om m unists, and J ews
of
I ntense
nati onalist, b elieving th at
racial purity is of th e utm ost
.
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i m portance
N I H I LIS M
R ussian b elief in later 1 9 th century th at every th ing was b ad
and h ence th at th e only attitude to tak e up was a co m pletely
destructive one ( Literally
D iff er ence
N B —
from
anarch ism
wh ich consi dered th at government was
responsib le for all evil
P LE B I scrrE
Vote b y all citiz ens on som e im portant issue
P R O LE T A R I A T
T h e working m asses
RA D IC A L
A im ing at a large pr ogram m e of reform
( Liter ally
.
.
,
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'
.
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.
.
.
from
or to th e
RE A C T I ON A R Y
reform
RE P UB LI C
A
.
T ending to
put th
e clo ck
.
.
t t
s a e
r
i
not ul ed b y a k ng
.
b ack
opposed to all
G LO S S A R Y O F P O LIT I C A L T E R M S
3 32
’
left
RI G HT
C onservative see
’
P enalties or form s of com pulsion to b e infl icted b y th e
S A N C T I ON s
League of N ations on a state violating th e League C ovenant
’
B elief th at th e state, not private persons s h ould con
S O C IA L IS M
trol th e m eans of production (land, b ig factories, etc )
distrib ution ( railroads, etc ) and exch ange ( b anks,
R ule, su
S OV E R E I G N T Y
prem e power
R igh t to vote
S UF F R A G E
B eli ef th at th e power and wealth of th e country sh ould
S YN D I C A LI S M
b e controlled, not b y private persons, b ut b y th e working
cl as ses organiz ed in trade unio ns
( French syndicates
trade’unions)
A S tate wh ich claim s com plete power over
T OT A LIT A RIAN S T A T E
’
its sub j ects persons and purses, 1 e a dictatorsh ip
U LT R A S
E xtrem e r eactionary party in F r ance in early l gth century
Z O L LV E R E I N
A custom s union of several G erm an states, h eaded
b y P russia, I n th e l gth century
‘
.
.
.
.
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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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‘
.
.
.
.
,
.
.
3 34
IN D E X
Bonapar tism , 78 , 7 9 , 9 2 , 9 3 , 9
7
Bor o dino , 50 , 5 2
Bosnia, 2 04—
2 1 0, 2 3 7 , 2 82 —
2 86
Bosph or us, 1 8 9 , 1 93
Boulanger , 2 46
B oulogne, 45 , 46 , 1 00, 1 0 5
Bour b ons, 54, 6 6 , 7 0, 7 7 , 8 0, 8 5 ,
1 2 7,
1 44 , 2 4 ,
3 2 5 5 ( see also
under Kings of F r ance, S ain
p
,
and N aples)
Boxer R eb ellion,
Br eslau, 53
Br est) 3 7 : 45
Br iand, 2 50 , 3 0 7
Brienne, 1 0
Br i ttany, 3 7
Br unswick M m ifesto, 2 5
Br ussels, 6 9 ,
Buch ar est, 2 8 5
Budapest, 1 3 0
B undesr ath , 1 7 8 , 2 5 !
Byr on, Lor d, 1 9 0
C h ar les A lb er t
C h ar ter , 54 , 64 , 77
C h ar tism , 1 0 1 , 1 3 1
C h urch ill, W inston,
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
-
.
-
1
71
C entre P ar ty (in R eich stag) ,
C C YlO l l , 44; 6 6
C h am b er lain, A usten, 3 0 7
J oseph , 2 6 8
2 52
C
,
2 94,
1 46
2 95 ,
3 l 3a 3 l 4
i salpine R e ub lic,
p
39
iv il C onstitution of C lergy, 2 0
lem enceau, 2 49 , 3 03
oali tion, F irst, 3 7
S econd, 4 1
T h ir d, 46 , 2 1 5
F our th , 52 , 5 3
ob den T r eaty, 1 1 2
ode N apole
on, 6 1 , 7 7
ollingwood, 46
om m i ttee of P ub lic S afety, 2 7
,
2 91
'
C adiz , 45 , 46
C ah iers, 1 0, 1 4
C alonne, 1 0
C am er oons, 2 6 4 , 2 7 6
C am per down, 40
C am po F or m io , T r eaty of, 3 9
’
C anaulo, 1 3
C anni ng, 7 0—7 6 , 1 9 0, 1 9 1 , 2 1 9
C ape of G ood H o pe, 44 , 6 6
C apor etto, 2 98
C apr er a, 1 5 9 , 1 6 1
C ar b onar i, 7 0 , 1 00 , 1 08 , 1 46 , 1 4 7
C ar lsb ad D ecr ees, 1 2 6 , 1 2 7
C ar not, 2 8 , 3 7 , 3 8
C arol ( of R o um ania) , 3 2 0
C astler eagh , Lor d, 6 4 , 6 7 7 2 , 7 4 ,
76 , 1 2 0
C ath erine I I , 5 , 2 1 3 , 2 1 4
C av aignac, 1 00, 1 0 1 , 1 0 3
C avour , 1 08—1 1 0, 1 4 7 , 1 5 3 —1 6 5 ,
( of S ardinia)
om
3 4r 43
( R evolution
m une
6,
—3 0
of
34 , 3 6
8 4 : 2 42 —2 44 , 2 4 9
C om m uni sm , 9 2 , 1 1 3 , 1 5 4 , 2 3 8 ,
2 44 . 2 50 . 2 53 . 2 9 8 .
3 0 6. 3 0 7 .
1
C
C
C
C
C
2 5, 2 7
,
5 9 ; 6 0 , 2 50
onfederation of iR h ine, 46 , 6 5 ,
66, 1 2 4
ongr esses
see under tow ns c o n
cer ned
onstantine, 2 2 1 , 2 2 4
onstantinople, 42 , 43 , 1 8 6 , 1 8 7 ,
1 9 1 , 1 9 2 , 1 9 4, 1 9 5 , 2 00
2 06 ,
2 58 , 2 6 6 , 2 7 o , 2 8 3
o nsulate, 4 1 , 44 , 6 3
ontinental S ystem , 4 7 —
5 1 , 53 , 58 ,
oncor dat,
—
.
C
C
C ontrat S ocial, 7 , 1 3 , 34
C onv entio n, 2 5—3 0
C Openh agen. 44. 48 . 2 7 9
C or day 2 7 . 3 4
C or deliers, 2 2 , 2 5 , 2 6 , 3 3 , 3 4
C orv ee, 3
C or unna , 49
C our b et, 8 4
C r ete, 1 8 6 , 1 9 1 , 1 94 , 2 8 2 —2 8 4
C r im ea, C r im ean W ar , 1 0 7 , 1 0 8 ,
1 1 9,
121,
1 54 ,
1 86 ,
1 93 —
2 00 ,
.
,
'
N ev ille, 3 1 3 , 3 1 4, 3 1 6
C h am b er of D eputies, 2 45 , 2 46
C h am b or d, 2 45
C h am p de M ars, 2 2
C h arles X ( of F rance) , 33 , 7 9 , 80,
8 5 , 8 6 , 89 . 9 6
C r oatia, 1 3 1
C ustozz a, 1 50
C yprus, 1 86 , 2 0 7—
211
C z ech o S lov akia, 3 03 , 3 08 , 3 1 2 ,
3 1 3 . 3 1 4. 3 1 8
D aily M ail, 3 00
D alm atia, 1 2 2 , 1 2 3
D am ascus, 1 9 1 , 1 9 2
-
IN D E
D anton. 2 5 . 2 6 . 2 8 . 2 9 . 33 . 3 4
D anub e, 3 8 , 1 2 5 , 2 58
D anz ig, 3 1 5 , 3 1 6
D ardanelles, 1 9 2 , 1 9 3 , 1 9 5 , 2 94
D arwin, 2 80
D awes P lan, 3 0 7
—
r
1
i
a
c
2 25
2
2
i
o
s
D ecem b r st C n p
y,
D eclaration of I ndependence, 8
of R igh ts of M an, 1 8 , 3 1 , 3 3 ,
[1 3 8
D elcasse, 2 6 8 , 2 6 9 , 2 74
D esm oulins, 1 5 , 1 6
D ider o t,
13
D ir ecto r y. 2 94 3 1 . 3 7 . 3 8 . 40—
43
D isar m am ent, 2 7 8 , 2 7 9 , 3 08 , 3 09 ,
.
3 10
2 1 0 , 2 58 , 2 7 2
D isr aeli , 2 043—
D ollfuss, 3 1 3 , 3 2 0
D readnough t, 2 7 8, 2 7 9
D resden, 53
D reyfus, 2 46 , 2 48 2 50
D ual A lliance, 2 2 8 , 2 59 , 2 6 0 ,
M onarch y, 1 8 0 , 2 7 0
D um a, 2 3 6 —
2 3 8, 3 1 9
D um ouriez , 2 7
D uncan, 40
—
2 76
E aster n R oum elia, 2 0 7 , 2 1 0 2 8 2
E co nom ists, 6
E dwar d V I I , 2 6 9
Egyptian C am paign ( N apoleon) ,
4°f 6 3
Elb a. 54. 7 7 . 1 53
Em igres, 2 0, 2 3
E m s T elegr am , 1 1 5, 1 83
Encyclopazdists, 6 , 1 3
E ngels, 9 2 , 2 53
E ntente, 2 3 7 , 2 68 2 70, 2 74, 2 9 1
Espri t dcs Lois, 6 , 1 3
E sta te, First, 2 , 1 4 3 4
S econd, 2 , 1 4, 3 4
T h ird . 2 . 1 1 . 1 4 . I 5 . 3 2 . 3 4
E sth onia, 2 1 8 , 2 33 , 3 03
E ton, 59
E ugeni e, 1 06 , 1 1 5 , 1 1 6
X
33 5
2 1 5 , 2 1 6 , 2 2 0 , 2 33 , 2 7 2 ,
F inland,
Fish er , Lor d, 2 7 8 , 2 8 0
F iv e ear P lans, 3 1 9
Flanders R egim ent, 1 9
Fleurus, 3 7
F och , 2 99
F ontaineb leau, P alace, 6 1
T r eaty of, 54
F ouq uier T inv ille, 2 8
F our teen P oints, 3 00, 3 04
Fr ancis I , 1 2 2 , 1 2 8
Joseph , 1 3 3 , 1 80
F ranco , 3 1 1 , 3 1 2 , 3 2 0
1 1 9,
Fr anco P r ussian W ar , 1 1 4—
2 42 , 2 5 6
1 8 3 , 1 84 , 2 40—
1 40 ,
Fr ankfor t P arliam ent, 1 3 6—
Y
-
-
(
T r eaty o f, 1 1 8 , 1 84, 2 40
Fr anz F erdinand, 2 8 6 , 2 9 2
Fr eder ick th e G r eat, 5 , 1 40 , 1 7 1
( G erm an E m per or ) , 2 6 5
W illiam I I I , 1 2 8 , 1 3 6
1 41 , 1 67
I V , 1 2 8 , 1 3 6—
Fr iedland, 46 , 6 3 ,
2 15
,
—
G
G
G
G
G
ab elle,
3
alicia, 1 2 2 , 1 2 3 , 1 3 1
allipoli
,
2 94 ,
3 06
b etta, 1 1 6 , 1 1 8 , 2 45 , 2 49
1 53 ,
1 47 ,
1 52 ,
arib aldi,
1 08 ,
1 5 9—
1 65
G astein, C onv ention of , 1 74
G autier , 1 06
G eneva, 3 04,
G enoa, 6 5 , 1 45
G er m an C onfed er ation, 6 , 1 3 1 ,
am
6
.
Falkland I sles, 3 9 6
F ascism , 3 0 7 , 3 1 8
Fash oda, 2 6 8 , 2 7 4
F eb ruary R ev olution
Fer dm and
( A ustrI an
,
D iet
of,
1 2 5,
G iob er ti, 1 48
2 8 , 3 3 , 3 4,
G ir ondins, 2 3 , 2 5—
G ladstone, 1 5 7 , 1 6 0 , 2 8 9
”
G lor ious F irst o f J une, 3 7
G oeth e, 2 6
G Om b OS , 3 2 0 , 3 2 3
G revy , 2 46
G rey, Lord, 2 80 , 2 8 7
G uiz ot, 8 9—
96
E m per or ) ,
I ( of N aples) , 1 44—1 46
I I ( of N aples)
Bom b a
Hague
C
onfer ences,
Haig Lord, 2 95 , 2 98 ;
.
23 7,
2 99
2
78 .
336
IN D E X
Haldane, Lord, 2 7 8
H am , F or tress of 1 0 1
Hanover, 1 2 5 , 1 7 8
Hapsb urgs, 6 6 , 1 3 4—see
,
,
,
,
,
also
,
2 82 ,
,
8 0, 85 , 87
,
,
1 28
Ii aynau. 1 34 . 1 3 5
Heligoland, 6 6
Helvetic R epub lic, 40
Herz egov ina, 2 04—
2 1 0,
2 85
Hetairia P h ilike, 1 89
Hindenb urg, 2 93 , 2 99
Hitler . 42 . I 3 9 . 1 43 .
Kar ageor gov1 c kings 2 0 1 , 2 82
Kellogg P act 6 7
Kem al A tatur k see M ustaph a
Kem al
Kenya 2 64
Kerensky 2 9 7
Kiel C anal 2 66 2 7 8 2 7 9 2 96
Kitch ener Lord
Knigh ts of S t J oh n 40 4 1 , 44 2 1 4
Kor ea 2 3 4 2 3 5
Kossuth 1 3 0, 1 33 1 34
Kotzeb ue 7 0, 1 2 6 , 2 1 9
Kruger 2 69
Kulturkam pf, 2 5 1 2 52
,
—
,
2 3 7 , 2 82
,
,
,
1 9 6 . 3 06 .
,
,
,
Hoh enlm den, 42
Hoh enz ollern C
,
andidatur e
,
( S pain) , 1 1 4, 1 1 5 , 1 83
Holstein, 1 1 3 , 1 1 4, 1 2 5 , 1 3 8 , 1 7 3
1 7a
Holy A lliance, 6 7 , 2 1 9 , 2 2 0
Holy Places, 1 0 7 , 1 94
Holy R om an E m pir e, 44 , 66 , 1 2 4
H6 tel de V ille, P aris, 1 5 , 1 6 , 2 0 ,
Howe, Lor d, 3 7
Hundred D ays, 54, 55
Hungarian R evolt, 1 2 9—1 34
Hypsilanti, 1 8 9
.
,
.
J
ellacic, 1 3 2
—1 34
J em appes 2 6 8 5
Jena 46 47 52 63
,
,
J 3
J er vu,
,
,
er u alem
40
,
,
,
1 94, 2 9 8
,
,
Lafayette, 8 ,
1 6,
1 9,
22, 23,
2 0,
Lah ar pe, 2 1 5 , 2 1 6
Laib ach , C ongr ess of, 7 1 , 1 46
L am ar tine, 93 , 9 5 , 9 8 , 1 00 , 1 02 ,
.
I nterventI On ( N apoleon I I I ) ,
1 56
1 51 ,
1 08 1 1 0, 1 1 9 , 1 50 ,
,
,
Latvia, 3 03, 3 1 9
Lawrence, T E , 2 98
League of N at ions, 6 7 ,
—
Jacob ins 2 2 —2 9 34
J am eson R aid 2 6 9
J apan 2 3 3
.
,
1 03
I b rah im P ash a, 7 3 , 1 90 1 93
I llyria, 6 5 , 1 2 2
I nk erm an, 1 98
I nnsb ruck , 1 3 2
I nquisition, 7 2 , 1 44, 1 46
I nv alides, 1 6
I onian I sles, 6 6 , 1 86 , 2 0 1
I sab ella, 8 9 , 90
I talian cam paigns ( N apoleon I ) ,
—
,
,
,
“
,
,
,
,
3 06 , 3 09
,
,
under A ustr ian E m per ors
Hardenb erg, 52 ,
Haussm ann, 1 04
J ews 6 9 2 02 2 3 3
J offre 2 93 2 95
J oseph ine 3 8 49
J uly R ev olution
J utland 2 96
.
2 73 ,
3 04
3 12
of
T h r ee E m per ors,
2 2 8 2 58 ,
2 63
Legion of H onour , 59 , 7 7
Legislative A ssem b ly, 2 2
Leipzig, 53 , 1 2 6
Lenin, 2 3 0, 2 3 2 , 2 44, 2 9 8, 3 2 0,
323
Leopold ( of A ustria) , 2 0
I ( of B elgium ) , 88
Lettres de C ach et, 2 , 5, 1 0, 1 4,
l 61 7 7
Lib er al E m pire, 1 1 1 1 1 3 , 1 1 9
”
Lib erum V eto, 2 1 4
I Agn1 . 5 5 . 56
Lith uania, 2 1 7 , 2 2 4, 2 94 , 3 03 , 3 1 4
”
Little E ntente,
Liv onia, 2 1 8 , 2 3 3
Lloyd G eorge, 2 74, 2 94, 2 95, 2 9 7 ,
—
03
i
Loca no, 3 0 7
Lodi , 3 9
Lom b ar dy, 3 9 ,
'
1 44
-
1 4 7 , ‘ 49 1 1 50, 1 56
1 1 0, 1 2 1 ,
1 57, ‘6 ‘
IN D EX
338
N ecker , 1 0, 1 4 , 1 5
N elson, Lor d , 3 7 , 40, 4 1 , 44, 4
N w
. 4 9 . 52 . 5 4 . 55 . 7 8
e
N I ce , 1 0 9 ,
N ich olas I , 7 3 , 86 , 1 0 7 , 1 3 1 , 1 3 3 ,
1 3 6 , 1 40, 1 4 1 , 1 9 0—
1 9 9, 2 2 1
228
11 , 2 3 0—
2 39 1 2 7 8 : 2 8 7 , 2 9 7
N iem en, 4 7 , 50, 5 2
N igh tinga le, 1 9 9 , 2 00
N ih ilism , 2 2 9
N ile, 4 1 , 2 6 8
N or th cliff e, Lord, 3 00
G er m an C onfeder ation,
N or th
1 7 8 , 1 80 , 1 8 4 , 2 5 1
S ea, 1 7 8 , 2 66 , 2 7 9 , 2 8 7
N otr e D am e, P aris, 8 o, 2 43
N ov ara, 1 34, 1 47 , 1 50
-
.
P eter loo, 7 0 , 7 6
P h ilippe E galité, 8 5
P iedm ont, 4 1 , 7 0—
7 2 , 1 08
l 3 1 . 1 45 . 1 6 4 . 1 99
P ilsudski , 3 2 0
P ux. a7 . 48
P ius I X , 1 48—
1 50
P lo m b ieres, P act of, 1 09 , 1 56
P oincaré, 3 0 7
—
1
P olish C or r idor , 3 1 5 , 3 1 6
Kingdom , 2 1 6—2 1 7 , 2 2 0
P ar titions, 2 1 4
R ev o lt
2 23 2 2 5
—
P or tsm outh , T r eaty of, 2 3 5
P r ague,
3 1 4, 3 1 5
T r eaty o f, 1 7 8
P r air 1 al, Law of, 2 9
P ub lic S afety, C om m ittee of,
'
O b renov ié kings, 2 0 1 , 2 8 2
O ldenb erg, 50
O lm ii tz , 1 42
O m dur m an, 2 6 8 , 2 7 4
Orders in C ouncil, 48
Or dinances of S t C loud, 80
O rganisation du T r avail , 9 2
1 29
O r leanists, 7 7 ( 8 5
Orsini, 1 08 , 1 09 , 1 56
O tto ( of G reece) , 1 9 1 , 2 0 1
.
P alestine, 1 0 7 , 1 9 2 , 2 9 8 , 3 06
Palm erston, Lor d, 86 , 8 8 , 8 9 , 90,
1 2 8 . 1 3 3 . 1 34. 1 6 0. 1 6 3 . 1 6 7 .
2 06
1 7 3 1 7 4, 1 9 1 , 1 9 3 ,
2 48
Panam a C anal, 1 0 1 , 2 46—
P apacy ( or P opes) , 2 0, 3 9 , 48 , 6 0,
6 7 , 1 00 , 1 08 , 1 1 0, 1 44 1 6 5
Papal I nf allib ility, 2 5 I 2 52
S tates, 3 9 , 48 , 1 08 , 1 44—1 6 5
P aris, 1 , 5 , 1 2 , 1 6 , 1 9 , 2 2 , 2 8 , 3 8 ,
55. 7 7 . 80 8 5 93 . 9 8 . 9 9 . 1 00.
1 0 2 , 1 1 5 , 1 1 6 , 1 1 8 , 1 7 0, 1 84,
—
—
.
2 42
T r eaty
of
54
1 08 . 1 54
P ar ker , 44
P ar m a, 1 1 0, 1 44, 1 5 7
P assch endaele, 2 98
P asteur , 1 06
P aul I , 4 1 , 42 , 44 , 2 1 4 , 2 1 5 , 2 1 9
P eninsular W ar , 48 , 49 , 53 , 6 3
P ersia, 2 1 5 , 2 2 8 , 2 3 7 , 2 6 9 , 2 7 0
Peter th e G r eat, 2 1 2 , 2 1 3
27
2 9,
43
P yr am i ds, B attle
P yr enees, 53
of,
41
Quadr ilateral 1 1 0 1 49 1 50
Quadruple A lliance 66—73
Quatre Br as 55
,
,
,
,
1
56
,
,
R adetsky, 1 3 2 , 1 49 , 1 50
R aglan, Lor d, 1 98
R eform B anq uets
95
B ill
1 54 , 2 2 3
R eich stag, 1 7 8 , 2 5 1 , 2 54—
2 55 . 3 1 0
R eign of T error , 2 6 2 9 , 3 1 , 3 4, 3 7 ,
—
2 43
R epar ati ons, 3 0
3 04
R evolutionary: r ib unal, 2 7 , 2 9 , 3
4
R h ine. 3 8 . 39 . 4 1 . 65 . 1 1 . 1 6
4
5
18 1, 3 1 0
R i b b entrop, 3 1 6
“R i
”
gh t of S ear ch , 42 , 2 1 5 , 2 9 7
R isorgim ento, 1 54, C h apter V I II
R ivera, 3 2 0
R iv oli, 3 9
R ob espierre, 2 5 2 9 , 3 3 3 3 , 7 9
R oland, 2 3 , 2 5 , 2 7 , 3 3
M m e , 2 3 , 33
R om agna, 1 5 7
R om an R epub lic ( N apoleon I ) , 40
( G ar ib aldi) , 1 08 , 1 50,
1 56
R om e, 2 0, 3 3 , 39 , 1 00, 1 1 6 , 1 50
1 5 2 , 1 58 1 66 , 1 83 , 3 0 7
Roon, 1 6 9 , 1 7 0, 1 8 1 , 1 83
—
.
—
—
IN D E X
Roosevelt, 3 09
Rossi, 1 50
Rossini, 2 5 7 , 2 7 5
Rousseau, 7 , 8 , 1 3 , 2 8 , 34, 3 8 ,
Ruh r , 3 0 7
Russell, Lor d, 1 6 0 , 1 6 1
2 15
.
.
.
.
'
S t Vincent, 40
.
S alazar , 3 2 0
S alisb ur y, Lord, 2 08—
2 1 0, 2 6 9
S alonika, 2 8 4
S an S tefano, T reaty of, 2 06 , 2 07 ,
2 2 8 , 2 58
S anctions, 3 05 , 3 1 1
S anders, Lim an v on, 2 86
S ara
2 90 , 2 9 1
j evo, 2 3 7 ,
S ardinia, 3 9 , 1 08
S avoy, 1 09 , 1 45, 1
1 59
S axony, 6 5 , 1 7 6 , 1 7 8
S ch arnh orst, 52 , i 2 8
1 78
S ch leswig, 1 1 3 ,
S ch usch nigg,
S cutari,
S eb astop01, 1 0 7 , 1 96 2 00
S edan, 1 1 5 , 1 83
S eine, 56 , 1 04
S eptem b er M assacres,
S erfs ( R ussia) , 2 1 7 , 2 1 8 , 2 2 1 , 2 2 2 ,
—
’
W ar,
Years
W ar 8
,
,
7 7,
1 0, 1 1
2 3 2 . 2 33 ,
S olfer ino, I 1 0, 1 56
S om e, 2 92 , 2 95
S onderb und , 1 2 9
S oviets, 2 3 0 , 2 3 6
S pa Fields R iots, 70
S panish C i vil W ar , 3 1
C olonies, 7 2 7 4
—
93 .
—
.
1,
—
2 45
76
312
1
.
2 29:
,
2 42
1
E ntente, 2 3 7 , 2 6 9 , 2 7 0 , 2 7 3
2 78
T ripoli, 1 86 , 2 7 6 , 2 7 8 , 2 84
T r oppau, C ongress of, 7 1
T r otsky 2 3 6 , 2 9 8 , 3 2 0
T uiler ies, 2 3 , 3 3 ,
8 5 , 96
7 6,
S h aw, Bernard, 6
S ib eria, 2 1 5 , 2 2 1 —
2 2 3, 2 2 9, 2 34
S icily.
1 50. 1 5 2 . 1 5 9 . 1 6 4
S inope, 1 0 7, 1 95
S koda wor ks, 3 1 4
S m ith , S ir S , 4 1 , 6 4
S m uts, 3 06
S ocialism : 8 4 5 9 1 —
93 ) 9 7 1 9 9 : 1 1 3 :
2 2 7,
1
1 02 ,
2 50 2 55 .
1 1 3, 1
’
T ah 1 t1 , 89
T alleyr and, 6 4, 6 5
T angier , 2 7 4
T annenb erg, 2 9 3
T ennis C our t O ath , 1 5
T ennyson, Lor d, 1 6 4
T h er m i dor , 3 4
T h iers, 80, 85 , 8 9 , 1 0 1 ,
T i lsi t, T reaty of, 4 7 , 6 3 , 2 1 5
T imes, T h e, 1 99
T ippoo S ah ib , 40
T ir pitz , 2 7 9
T odleb en, 1 9 8
T ogo, 2 3 5
T ogoland, 2 64
T orr es V edras, 49
T oulon, 3 7 , 3 8
T r afalgar , 46 , 47 , 3 02
T r ansylv ania,
1 22,
1 23 .
2 96
T r eitsch ke, 2 8 0
T r entino, 2 9 5
T ricolor e, 1 6 , 85
T r ieste, 2 95, 2 9 8
T rinidad, 4
4
T riple A lli ance, 2 6 0, 2 64 ,
—
S ev en W eeks
S panish m ar r iages, 89 , 9 0
S panish r ev olt, 7 0 7 3
S tadion, 1 31
S talin, 3 2 0, 3 2 3
S tates G ener al , 2 , 9 , 1 0, 1 2 , 1 4 , 31
S tein, 52 , 1 2 8
S tr aits C onv ention, 1 93 , 1 9 5
S trasb ourg, 1 00, 1 05 , 1 8 3 , 2 56
S tr atfor d de R edcliffe, Lor d, 1 9 5
S tresem ann, 3 0 7
S udan, 2 6 8 , 2 6 9 , 2 74
S uez C anal, 9 2 , 2 74 , 2 7 5 , 3 1 1
S uprem e B eing, W orsh ip of, 2 9 ,
34. so
S uv orofi, 4 1
S yllab us, 2 5 1
S yndicalism , 2 50
S yria. 4 1 . 8 9 . 1 1 0. 1 9 1 —1 9 3 . 2 99 .
3 06
—
S aar , 3 04
S adowa, 1 1 4, 1 6 4,
S t A r nand, 1 9 8
S t C loud, Ordinances of, 80
S t H elena. 54. 55 . 5 7 . 6 9 . 9 2 . 93
S t P etersb ur g, 1 2 1 , 1 70, 2 1 2 , 2 1 8 ,
2 25 22 7
3 39
2 43
,
1 80 ,
2 68
.
.
IN D E X
°
4
3
T unis,
1 86 ,
2 60,
T urgot, 1 0
T uscany, 1 1 0 ,
T yr ol. 3 8 . 46 .
262 ,
1 44 , 1
2 6 6,
2 6 4,
57
V ittor ia, 53
V ladiv ostock, 2 3 4, 2 3 5
V oltair e, 5 , 6 , 1 3 , 1 2 5 , 2 1 3
V or parlam ent, 1 3 7 , 1 3 8
2 95
U lm , 46
U ltr as, 7 8 , 7 9
U nki ar S kelessi, T reaty
-
W agr am , 49
W alch er en 49
R ousseau, 2 50
W aldeck—
W allach ia, 1 8 9, 1 9 1 ,
,
of,
1 92 ,
1 95
-
1 97,
2 00 2 02
-
U niver si ty
W ar of
W arsaw
of
Fr ance, 59
17
1
1
2
0
3
,
3 3, 3 9 3
U trech t, T reaty of,
,
Valm y, 2 6
Var ennes, 2 0, 2 2 , 3 1
V atican, 1 6 4, 2 5 1
V endee, 2 6 , 2 9
Venetia, 1 09 , 1 1 0 , 1 1 4, 1 44,
1 6 1 58 , 1 6 2 , 1 6 4 , 1 7 8
5
V eni ce, 3 9 , 46 , 6 5 , 1 3 1 , I 45:
W ar tb urg F estiv al , 1 2 6 , 2 1 9
W ater loo. 55. 58 . 6 3 . 6 4 . 7 7
W ellington, D uke of, 49 , 53 , 55,
.
—
V eniz elos, 2 8 4
Verdi, 1 06
V erdun, 2 6
V ergniaud, 2 3
V er ona, C o ngr ess of, 7 2
V ersailles, 1 , 2 , 1 9 , 9 3 ,
T reaty of, 6 6 ,
1 1 8,
Lib er ation, 5 3 , 6 3 , 1 2 2
48 , 6 5 , 2 1 6 , 2 1 9 , 2 2 4 ,
1 45 ,
I
49 ,
56. 6 9 . 1 9 1
W est I ndies, 45, 46
W estph alia, 4 7
W h ite T er r or , 7 8
W illiam I ( N eth er lands) , 8 8
W illiam I ( G erm any) , 1 1 4
1 69,
1 7 0,
1 76 1 78,
1 83 ,
—7
—
I I (G
2 70,
)
er m any
—
,
,
1 84 ,
2 6 5 , 2 66 , 2 6 9 ,
2 79 2 8 1 ,
2 74,
1 1
2 85 )
2 871
3 0 1 . 3 03
W ilson. 3 02 . 3 02 . 3 03 . 3 04 . 3 05
W indisch gratz, 1 3 2 , 1 3 3
W itte, 2 3 6
W olfe T one, 40
W orsh ip of R eason, 2 8 , 60
W ii r tem b erg, 1 7 8 , 1 8 1
2 93 ,
1 1
7,
3 02
1 6 7,
—3 06
Victor E m m anuel I , 1 45
I I , 1 50, 1 52 , 1 53 ,
1 5 7 , 1 59 , 1 6 0 , 1 6 1 , 1 64
I I I , 307
Victor ia, 88 , 1 0 7 , 2 58 , 2 6 5
—
6
6
6
nn
V ie a, 54, 4 ,
7 0, 8 8 ,
1 3 4,
1 32:
1 2 2 . 1 2 4 . 1 2 9—
1 4 2 1 46 , 1 49 , 1 50
V illafranca, 1 56
Villeneuve, 45 46
Vim iero, 48
,
1 56 ,
Y oung I taly
,
1 2 0,
Y
‘
1 48 , 1 52
T ur ks, 2 8 3 ,
ugo S lav ia,
-
2 84
3 08 , 3 1 3 , 3 1 8 ,
3 20
1 3 7,
-
Z
Z
em stv os, 2 2 7 , 2 2 9 , 2 3 0 , 2 3 2
Z
o llver ein, 1 2 7 , 1 6 9 , 1 80
o la, 2 49