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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Development of the European Nations, 1870-1914 (5th ed.) + +Author: John Holland Rose + +Release Date: January 9, 2005 [EBook #14644] +[Last updated: November 27, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUROPEAN NATIONS *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Charlie Kirschner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: Campaigns 1859-71] + +THE DEVELOPMENT + +OF THE + +EUROPEAN NATIONS + +1870-1914 + +BY + +J. HOLLAND ROSE LITT.D. + +FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE +AUTHOR OF 'THE LIFE OF NAPOLEON,' 'THE LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT,' +'THE ORIGINS OF THE WAR,' ETC. + + 'Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.'--VIRGIL. + +FIFTH EDITION, WITH A NEW PREFACE AND +THREE SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTERS + +1915 + +_First Edition . . October 1905. + Second " . . November 1905. + Third " . . December 1911. + Fourth " . . November 1914. + Fifth " . . October 1915._ + +TO + +MY WIFE + +WITHOUT WHOSE HELP + +THIS WORK + +COULD NOT HAVE BEEN COMPLETED + + + + +PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION + + +In this Edition are included three new chapters (Nos. XXI.-XXIII.), in +which I seek to describe the most important and best-ascertained facts +of the period 1900-14. Necessarily, the narrative is tentative at many +points; and it is impossible to attain impartiality; but I have sought +to view events from the German as well as the British standpoint, and to +sum up the evidence fairly. The addition of these chapters has +necessitated the omission of the former Epilogue and Appendices. I +regret the sacrifice of the Epilogue, for it emphasised two important +considerations, (1) the tendency of British foreign policy towards undue +complaisance, which by other Powers is often interpreted as weakness; +(2) the danger arising from the keen competition in armaments. No one +can review recent events without perceiving the significance of these +considerations. Perhaps they may prove to be among the chief causes +producing the terrible finale of July-August 1914. I desire to express +my acknowledgments and thanks for valuable advice given by Mr. J.W. +Headlam, M.A., Mr. A.B. Hinds, M.A., and Dr. R.W. Seton-Watson, D. Litt. + +J.H.R. + +CAMBRIDGE, + +_September_ 5, 1915. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION + + +The outbreak of war in Europe is an event too momentous to be treated +fully in this Preface. But I may point out that the catastrophe resulted +from the two causes of unrest described in this volume, namely, the +Alsace-Lorraine Question and the Eastern Question. Those disputes have +dragged on without any attempt at settlement by the Great Powers. The +Zabern incident inflamed public opinion in Alsace-Lorraine, and +illustrated the overbearing demeanour of the German military caste; +while the insidious attempts of Austria in 1913 to incite Bulgaria +against Servia marked out the Hapsburg Empire as the chief enemy of the +Slav peoples of the Balkan Peninsula after the collapse of Turkish power +in 1912. The internal troubles of the United Kingdom, France, and Russia +in July 1914 furnished the opportunity so long sought by the forward +party at Berlin and Vienna; and the Austro-German Alliance, which, in +its origin, was defensive (as I have shown in this volume), became +offensive, Italy parting from her allies when she discovered their +designs. Drawn into the Triple Alliance solely by pique against France +after the Tunis affair, she now inclines towards the Anglo-French +connection. + +Readers of my chapter on the Eastern Question will not fail to see how +the neglect of the Balkan peoples by the Great Powers has left that +wound festering in the weak side of Europe; and they will surmise that +the Balkan troubles have, by a natural Nemesis, played their part in +bringing about the European War. It is for students of modern Europe to +seek to form a healthy public opinion so that the errors of the past may +not be repeated, and that the new Europe shall be constituted in +conformity with the aspirations of the peoples themselves. + +CAMBRIDGE, + +_September_ 25, 1914. + + + + +PREFACE + + +The line of Virgil quoted on the title-page represents in the present +case a sigh of aspiration, not a paean of achievement. No historical +student, surely, can ever feel the conviction that he has fathomed the +depths of that well where Truth is said to lie hid. What, then, must be +the feelings of one who ventures into the mazy domain of recent annals, +and essays to pick his way through thickets all but untrodden? More than +once I have been tempted to give up the quest and turn aside to paths +where pioneers have cleared the way. There, at least, the whereabouts of +that fabulous well is known and the plummet is ready to hand. +Nevertheless, I resolved to struggle through with my task, in the +consciousness that the work of a pioneer may be helpful, provided that +he carefully notches the track and thereby enables those who come after +him to know what to seek and what to avoid. + +After all, there is no lack of guides in the present age. The number of +memoir-writers and newspaper correspondents is legion; and I have come +to believe that they are fully as trustworthy as similar witnesses have +been in any age. The very keenness of their rivalry is some guarantee +for truth. Doubtless competition for good "copy" occasionally leads to +artful embroidering on humdrum actuality; but, after spending much time +in scanning similar embroidery in the literature of the Napoleonic Era, +I unhesitatingly place the work of Archibald Forbes, and that of several +knights of the pen still living, far above the delusive tinsel of +Marbot, Thiébault, and Ségur. I will go further and say that, if we +could find out what were the sources used by Thucydides, we should +notice qualms of misgiving shoot through the circles of scientific +historians as they contemplated his majestic work. In any case, I may +appeal to the example of the great Athenian in support of the thesis +that to undertake to write contemporary history is no vain thing. + +Above and beyond the accounts of memoir-writers and newspaper +correspondents there are Blue Books. I am well aware that they do not +always contain the whole truth. Sometimes the most important items are +of necessity omitted. But the information which they contain is +enormous; and, seeing that the rules of the public service keep the +original records in Great Britain closed for well-nigh a century, only +the most fastidious can object to the use of the wealth of materials +given to the world in _Parliamentary Papers_. + +Besides these published sources there is the fund of information +possessed by public men and the "well-informed" of various grades. +Unfortunately this is rarely accessible, or only under conventional +restrictions. Here and there I have been able to make use of it without +any breach of trust; and to those who have enlightened my darkness I am +very grateful. The illumination, I know, is only partial; but I hope +that its effect, in respect to the twilight of diplomacy, may be +compared to that of the Aurora Borealis lights. + +After working at my subject for some time, I found it desirable to limit +it to events which had a distinctly formative influence on the +development of European States. On questions of motive and policy I have +generally refrained from expressing a decided verdict, seeing that these +are always the most difficult to probe; and facile dogmatism on them is +better fitted to omniscient leaderettes than to the pages of an +historical work. At the same time, I have not hesitated to pronounce a +judgment on these questions, and to differ from other writers, where the +evidence has seemed to me decisive. To quote one instance, I reject the +verdict of most authorities on the question of Bismarck's treatment of +the Ems telegram, and of its effect in the negotiations with France in +July 1870. + +For the most part, however, I have dealt only with external events, +pointing out now and again the part which they have played in the great +drama of human action still going on around us. This limitation of aim +has enabled me to take only specific topics, and to treat them far more +fully than is done in the brief chronicle of facts presented by MM. +Lavisse and Rambaud in the concluding volume of their _Histoire +Générale_. Where a series of events began in the year 1899 or 1900, and +did not conclude before the time with which this narrative closes, I +have left it on one side. Obviously the Boer War falls under this head. +Owing to lack of space my references to the domestic concerns of the +United Kingdom have been brief. I have regretfully omitted one imperial +event of great importance, the formation of the Australian Commonwealth. +After all, that concerned only the British race; and in my survey of the +affairs of the Empire I have treated only those which directly affected +other nations as well, namely the Afghan and Egyptian questions and the +Partition of Africa. Here I have sought to show the connection with +"world politics," and I trust that even specialists will find something +new and suggestive in this method of treatment. + +In attempting to write a history of contemporary affairs, I regard it as +essential to refer to the original authority, or authorities, in the +case of every important statement. I have sought to carry out this rule +(though at the cost of great additional toil) because it enables the +reader to check the accuracy of the narrative and to gain hints for +further reading. To compile bibliographies, where many new books are +coming out every year, is a useless task; but exact references to the +sources of information never lose their value. + +My thanks are due to many who have helped me in this undertaking. Among +them I may name Sir Charles Dilke, M.P., Mr. James Bryce, M.P., and Mr. +Chedo Mijatovich, who have given me valuable advice on special topics. +My obligations are also due to a subject of the Czar, who has placed +his knowledge at my service, but for obvious reasons does not wish his +name to be known. Mr. Bernard Pares, M.A., of the University of +Liverpool, has very kindly read over the proofs of the early chapters, +and has offered most helpful suggestions. Messrs. G. Bell and Sons have +granted me permission to make use of the plans of the chief battles of +the Franco-German War from Mr. Hooper's work, _Sedan and the Downfall of +the Second Empire_, published by them. To Mr. H.W. Wilson, author of +_Ironclads in Action_, my thanks are also due for permission to make use +of the plan illustrating the fighting at Alexandria in 1882. + +J.H.R. + +_July, 1905._ + + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION + +CHAPTER I +THE CAUSES OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR. + +CHAPTER II +FROM WÖRTH TO GRAVELOTTE + +CHAPTER III +SEDAN + +CHAPTER IV +THE FOUNDING OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC + +CHAPTER V +THE FOUNDING OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC--_continued_ + +CHAPTER VI +THE GERMAN EMPIRE + +CHAPTER VII +THE EASTERN QUESTION + +CHAPTER VIII +THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR + +CHAPTER IX +THE BALKAN SETTLEMENT + +CHAPTER X +THE MAKING OF BULGARIA + +CHAPTER XI +NIHILISM AND ABSOLUTISM IN RUSSIA + +CHAPTER XII +THE TRIPLE AND DUAL ALLIANCES + +CHAPTER XIII +THE CENTRAL ASIAN QUESTION + +CHAPTER XIV +THE AFGHAN AND TURKOMAN CAMPAIGNS + +CHAPTER XV +BRITAIN IN EGYPT + +CHAPTER XVI +GORDON AND THE SUDAN + +CHAPTER XVII +THE CONQUEST OF THE SUDAN + +CHAPTER XVIII +THE PARTITION OF AFRICA + +CHAPTER XIX +THE CONGO FREE STATE + +CHAPTER XX +RUSSIA IN THE FAR EAST + +CHAPTER XXI +THE NEW GROUPING OF THE GREAT POWERS (1900-1907) + +CHAPTER XXII +TEUTON _versus_ SLAV (1908-13) + +CHAPTER XXIII +THE CRISIS OF 1914 + +INDEX + +MAPS AND PLANS + + +Campaigns of 1859-71 + +Sketch Map of the District between Metz and the Rhine + +Plan of the Battle of Wörth + +Plan of the Battles of Rezonville and Gravelotte + +Plan of the Battle of Sedan + +Map of Bulgaria + +Plan of Plevna + +Map of the Treaties of Berlin and San Stefano + +Map of Thessaly + +Map of Afghanistan + +Battle of Maiwand + +Battle of Alexandria (Bombardment of, 1882) + +Map of the Nile + +The Battle of Omdurman + +Plan of Khartum + +Map of Africa (1902) + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + "The movements in the masses of European peoples are divided + and slow, and their progress interrupted and impeded, because + they are such great and unequally formed masses; but the + preparation for the future is widely diffused, and . . . the + promises of the age are so great that even the most + faint-hearted rouse themselves to the belief that a time has + arrived in which it is a privilege to live."--GERVINUS, 1853. + +The Roman poet Lucretius in an oft-quoted passage describes the +satisfaction that naturally fills the mind when from some safe +vantage-ground one looks forth on travellers tossed about on the stormy +deep. We may perhaps use the poet's not very altruistic words as +symbolising many of the feelings with which, at the dawn of the +twentieth century, we look back over the stormy waters of the century +that has passed away. Some congratulation on this score is justifiable, +especially as those wars and revolutions have served to build up States +that are far stronger than their predecessors, in proportion as they +correspond more nearly with the desires of the nations that +compose them. + +As we gaze at the revolutions and wars that form the storm-centres of +the past century, we can now see some of the causes that brought about +those storms. If we survey them with discerning eye, we soon begin to +see that, in the main, the cyclonic disturbances had their origins in +two great natural impulses of the civilised races of mankind. The first +of these forces is that great impulse towards individual liberty, which +we name Democracy; the second is that impulse, scarcely less mighty and +elemental, that prompts men to effect a close union with their kith and +kin: this we may term Nationality. + +Now, it is true that these two forces have not led up to the last and +crowning phase of human development, as their enthusiastic champions at +one time asserted that they would; far from that, they are accountable, +especially so the force of Nationality, for numerous defects in the life +of the several peoples; and the national principle is at this very time +producing great and needless friction in the dealings of nations. Yet, +granting all this, it still remains true that Democracy and Nationality +have been the two chief formative influences in the political +development of Europe during the Nineteenth Century. + +In no age of the world's history have these two impulses worked with so +triumphant an activity. They have not always been endowed with living +force. Among many peoples they lay dormant for ages and were only called +to life by some great event, such as the intolerable oppression of a +despot or of a governing caste that crushed the liberties of the +individual, or the domination of an alien people over one that +obstinately refused to be assimilated. Sometimes the spark that kindled +vital consciousness was the flash of a poet's genius, or the heroism of +some sturdy son of the soil. The causes of awakening have been +infinitely various, and have never wholly died away; but it is the +special glory of the Nineteenth Century that races which had hitherto +lain helpless and well-nigh dead, rose to manhood as if by magic, and +shed their blood like water in the effort to secure a free and +unfettered existence both for the individual and the nation. It is a +true saying of the German historian, Gervinus, "The history of this age +will no longer be only a relation of the lives of great men and of +princes, but a biography of nations." + +At first sight, this illuminating statement seems to leave out of count +the career of the mighty Napoleon. But it does not. The great Emperor +unconsciously called into vigorous life the forces of Democracy and +Nationality both in Germany and in Italy, where there had been naught +but servility and disunion. His career, if viewed from our present +standpoint, falls into two portions: first, that in which he figured as +the champion of Revolutionary France and the liberator of Italy from +foreign and domestic tyrants; and secondly, as imperial autocrat who +conquered and held down a great part of Europe in his attempt to ruin +British commerce. In the former of these enterprises he had the new +forces of the age acting with him and endowing him with seemingly +resistless might; in the latter part of his life he mistook his place in +the economy of Nature, and by his violation of the principles of +individual liberty and racial kinship in Spain and Central Europe, +assured his own downfall. + +The greatest battle of the century was the tremendous strife that for +three days surged to and fro around Leipzig in the month of October +1813, when Russians, Prussians, Austrians, Swedes, together with a few +Britons, Hanoverians, and finally his own Saxon allies, combined to +shake the imperial yoke from the neck of the Germanic peoples. This +_Völkerschlacht_ (Battle of the Peoples), as the Germans term it, +decided that the future of Europe was not to be moulded by the imperial +autocrat, but by the will of the princes and nations whom his obstinacy +had embattled against him. Far from recognising the verdict, the great +man struggled on until the pertinacity of the allies finally drove him +from power and assigned to France practically the same boundaries that +she had had in 1791, before the time of her mighty expansion. That is to +say, the nation which in its purely democratic form had easily overrun +and subdued the neighbouring States in the time of their old, inert, +semi-feudal existence, was overthrown by them when their national +consciousness had been trampled into being by the legions of the +great Emperor. + +In 1814, and again after Waterloo, France was driven in on herself, and +resumed something like her old position in Europe, save that the throne +of the Bourbons never acquired any solidity--the older branch of that +family being unseated by the Revolution of 1830. In the centre of the +Continent, the old dynasties had made common cause with the peoples in +the national struggles of 1813-14, and therefore enjoyed more +consideration--a fact which enabled them for a time to repress popular +aspirations for constitutional rule and national unity. + +Nevertheless, by the Treaties of Vienna (1814-15) the centre of Europe +was more solidly organised than ever before. In place of the effete +institution known as the Holy Roman Empire, which Napoleon swept away in +1806, the Central States were reorganised in the German Confederation--a +cumbrous and ineffective league in which Austria held the presidency. +Austria also gained Venetia and Lombardy in Italy. The acquisition of +the fertile Rhine Province by Prussia brought that vigorous State up to +the bounds of Lorraine and made her the natural protectress of Germany +against France. Russia acquired complete control over nearly the whole +of the former Kingdom of Poland. Thus, the Powers that had been foremost +in the struggle against Napoleon now gained most largely in the +redistribution of lands in 1814-15, while the States that had been +friendly to him now suffered for their devotion. Italy was split up into +a mosaic of States; Saxony ceded nearly the half of her lands to +Prussia; Denmark yielded up her ancient possession, Norway, to the +Swedish Crown. + +In some respects the triumph of the national principle, which had +brought victory to the old dynasties, strengthened the European fabric. +The Treaties of Vienna brought the boundaries of States more nearly into +accord with racial interests and sentiments than had been the case +before; but in several instances those interests and feelings were +chafed or violated by designing or short-sighted statesmen. The Germans, +who had longed for an effective national union, saw with indignation +that the constitution of the new Germanic Confederation left them under +the control of the rulers of the component States and of the very real +headship exercised by Austria, which was always used to repress popular +movements. The Italians, who had also learned from Napoleon the secret +that they were in all essentials a nation, deeply resented the +domination of Austria in Lombardy-Venetia and the parcelling out of the +rest of the Peninsula between reactionary kings somnolent dukes, and +obscurantist clerics. The Belgians likewise protested against the +enforced union with Holland in what was now called the Kingdom of the +United Netherlands (1815-30). In the east of Europe the Poles struggled +in vain against the fate which once more partitioned them between +Russia, Austria, and Prussia. The Germans of Holstein, Schleswig, and +Lauenburg submitted uneasily to the Danish rule; and only under the +stress of demonstrations by the allies did the Norwegians accept the +union with Sweden. + +It should be carefully noted that these were the very cases which caused +most of the political troubles in the following period. In fact, most of +the political occurrences on the Continent in the years 1815 to +1870--the revolts, revolutions, and wars, that give a special character +to the history of the century--resulted directly from the bad or +imperfect arrangements of the Congress of Vienna and of the so-called +Holy Alliance of the monarchs who sought to perpetuate them. The effect +of this widespread discontent was not felt at once. The peoples were too +exhausted by the terrific strain of the Napoleonic wars to do much for a +generation or more, save in times of popular excitement. Except in the +south-east of Europe, where Greece, with the aid of Russia, Britain, and +France, wrested her political independence from the grasp of the Sultan +(1827), the forty years that succeeded Waterloo were broken by no +important war; but they were marked by oft-recurring unrest and +sedition. Thus, when the French Revolution of 1830 overthrew the +reactionary dynasty of the elder Bourbons, the universal excitement +caused by this event endowed the Belgians with strength sufficient to +shake off the heavy yoke of the Dutch; while in Italy, Germany, and +Poland the democrats and nationalists (now working generally in accord) +made valiant but unsuccessful efforts to achieve their ideals. + +The same was the case in 1848. The excitement, which this time +originated in Italy, spread to France, overthrew the throne of Louis +Philippe (of the younger branch of the French Bourbons), and bade fair +to roll half of the crowns of Europe into the gutter. But these +spasmodic efforts of the democrats speedily failed. Inexperience, +disunion, and jealousy paralysed their actions and yielded the victory +to the old Governments. Frenchmen, in dismay at the seeming approach of +communism and anarchy, fell back upon the odd expedient of a Napoleonic +Republic, which in 1852 was easily changed by Louis Napoleon into an +Empire modelled on that of his far greater uncle. The democrats of +Germany achieved some startling successes over their repressive +Governments in the spring of the year 1848, only to find that they could +not devise a working constitution for the Fatherland; and the deputies +who met at the federal capital, Frankfurt, to unify Germany "by +speechifying and majorities," saw power slip back little by little into +the hands of the monarchs and princes. In the Austrian Empire +nationalist claims and strivings led to a very Babel of discordant talk +and action, amidst which the young Hapsburg ruler, Francis Joseph, +thanks to Russian military aid, was able to triumph over the valour of +the Hungarians and the devotion of their champion, Kossuth. + +In Italy the same sad tale was told. In the spring of that year of +revolutions, 1848, the rulers in quick succession granted constitutions +to their subjects. The reforming Pope, Pius IX., and the patriotic King +of Sardinia, Charles Albert, also made common cause with their peoples +in the effort to drive out the Austrians from Lombardy-Venetia; but the +Pope and all the potentates except Charles Albert speedily deserted the +popular cause; friction between the King and the republican leaders, +Mazzini and Garibaldi, further weakened the nationalists, and the +Austrians had little difficulty in crushing Charles Albert's forces, +whereupon he abdicated in favour of his son, Victor Emmanuel II. +(1849). The Republics set up at Rome and Venice struggled valiantly for +a time against great odds--Mazzini, Garibaldi, and their volunteers +being finally overborne at the Eternal City by the French troops whom +Louis Napoleon sent to restore the Pope (June 1849); while, two months +later, Venice surrendered to the Austrians whom she had long held at +bay. The Queen of the Adriatic under the inspiring dictatorship of Manin +had given a remarkable example of orderly constitutional government in +time of siege. + +It seemed to be the lot of the nationalists and democrats to produce +leaders who could thrill the imagination of men by lofty teachings and +sublime heroism; who could, in a word, achieve everything but success. A +poetess, who looked forth from Casa Guidi windows upon the tragi-comedy +of Florentine failure in those years, wrote that what was needed was a +firmer union, a more practical and intelligent activity, on the part +both of the people and of the future leader: + + A land's brotherhood + Is most puissant: men, upon the whole, + Are what they can be,--nations, what they would. + + Will therefore to be strong, thou Italy! + Will to be noble! Austrian Metternich + Can fix no yoke unless the neck agree. + + * * * * * + + Whatever hand shall grasp this oriflamme, + Whatever man (last peasant or first Pope + Seeking to free his country) shall appear, + Teach, lead, strike fire into the masses, fill + These empty bladders with fine air, insphere + These wills into a unity of will, + And make of Italy a nation--dear + And blessed be that man! + +When Elizabeth Barrett Browning penned those lines she cannot have +surmised that two men were working their way up the rungs of the +political ladder in Piedmont and Prussia, whose keen intellects and +masterful wills were to weld their Fatherlands into indissoluble union +within the space of one momentous decade. These men were Cavour +and Bismarck. + +It would far exceed the limits of space of this brief Introduction to +tell, except in the briefest outline, the story of the plodding +preparation and far-seeing diplomacy by which these statesmen raised +their respective countries from depths of humiliation to undreamt of +heights of triumph. The first thing was to restore the prestige of their +States. No people can be strong in action that has lost belief in its +own powers and has allowed its neighbours openly to flout it. The +history of the world has shown again and again that politicians who +allow their country to be regarded as _une quantité négligeable_ +bequeath to some abler successor a heritage of struggle and +war--struggle for the nation to recover its self-respect, and war to +regain consideration and fair treatment from others. However much frothy +talkers in their clubs may decry the claims of national prestige, no +great statesman has ever underrated their importance. Certainly the +first aim both of Cavour and Bismarck was to restore self-respect and +confidence to their States after the humiliations and the dreary +isolation of those dark years, 1848-51. We will glance, first, at the +resurrection (_Risorgimento_) of the little Kingdom of Sardinia, which +was destined to unify Italy. + +Charles Albert's abdication immediately after his defeat by the +Austrians left no alternative to his son and successor, Victor Emmanuel +II., but that of signing a disastrous peace with Austria. In a short +time the stout-hearted young King called to his councils Count Cavour, +the second son of a noble Piedmontese family, but of firmly Liberal +principles, who resolved to make the little kingdom the centre of +enlightenment and hope for despairing Italy. He strengthened the +constitution (the only one out of many granted in 1848 that survived the +time of reaction); he reformed the tariff in the direction of Free +Trade; and during the course of the Crimean War he persuaded his +sovereign to make an active alliance with France and England, so as to +bind them by all the claims of honour to help Sardinia in the future +against Austria. The occasion was most opportune; for Austria was then +suspected and disliked both by Russia and the Western Powers owing to +her policy of armed neutrality. Nevertheless the reward of Cavour's +diplomacy came slowly and incompletely. By skilfully vague promises +(never reduced to writing) Cavour induced Napoleon III. to take up arms +against Austria; but, after the great victory of Solferino (June 24, +1859), the French Emperor enraged the Italians by breaking off the +struggle before the allies recovered the great province of Venetia, +which he had pledged himself to do. Worse still, he required the cession +of Savoy and Nice to France, if the Central Duchies and the northern +part of the Papal States joined the Kingdom of Sardinia, as they now +did. Thus, the net result of Napoleon's intervention in Italy was his +acquisition of Savoy and Nice (at the price of Italian hatred), and the +gain of Lombardy and the central districts for the national cause +(1859-60). + +The agony of mind caused by this comparative failure undermined Cavour's +health; but in the last months of his life he helped to impel and guide +the revolutionary elements in Italy to an enterprise that ended in a +startling and momentous triumph. This was nothing less than the +overthrow of Bourbon rule in Sicily and Southern Italy by Garibaldi. +Thanks to Cavour's connivance, this dashing republican organised an +expedition of about 1000 volunteers near Genoa, set sail for Sicily, and +by a few blows shivered the chains of tyranny in that island. It is +noteworthy that British war-ships lent him covert but most important +help at Palermo and again in his crossing to the mainland; this timely +aid and the presence of a band of Britons in his ranks laid the +foundation of that friendship which has ever since united the two +nations. In Calabria the hero met with the feeblest resistance from the +Bourbon troops and the wildest of welcomes from the populace. At Salerno +he took tickets for Naples and entered the enemy's capital by railway +train (September 7). Then he purposed, after routing the Bourbon force +north of the city, to go on and attack the French at Rome and proclaim a +united Italy. + +Cavour took care that he should do no such thing. The Piedmontese +statesman knew when to march onwards and when to halt. As his +compatriot, Manzoni, said of him, "Cavour has all the prudence and all +the imprudence of the true statesman." He had dared and won in 1855-59, +and again in secretly encouraging Garibaldi's venture. Now it was time +to stop in order to consolidate the gains to the national cause. + +The leader of the red-shirts, having done what no king could do, was +thenceforth to be controlled by the monarchy of the north. Victor +Emmanuel came in as the _deus ex machina_; his troops pressed +southwards, occupying the eastern part of the Papal States in their +march, and joined hands with the Garibaldians to the north of Naples, +thus preventing the collision with France which the irregulars would +have brought about. Even as it was, Cavour had hard work to persuade +Napoleon that this was the only way of curbing Garibaldi and preventing +the erection of a South Italian Republic; but finally the French Emperor +looked on uneasily while the Pope's eastern territories were violated, +and while the cause of Italian Unity was assured at the expense of the +Pontiff whom France was officially supporting in Rome. A _plébiscite_, +or mass vote, of the people of Sicily, South Italy, and the eastern and +central parts of the Papal States, was resorted to by Cavour in order to +throw a cloak of legality over these irregular proceedings. The device +pleased Napoleon, and it resulted in an overwhelming vote in favour of +annexation to Victor Emmanuel's kingdom. Thus, in March 1861, the +soldier-king was able amidst universal acclaim to take the title of King +of Italy. Florence was declared to be the capital of the realm (1864), +which embraced all parts of Italy except the Province of Venetia, +pertaining to Austria, and the "Patrimonium Petri"--that is, Rome and +its vicinity,--still held by the Pope and garrisoned by the French. The +former of these was to be regained for _la patria_ in 1866, the latter +in 1870, in consequence of the mighty triumphs then achieved by the +principle of nationality in Prussia and Germany. To these triumphs we +must now briefly advert. + +No one who looked at the state of European politics in 1861, could have +imagined that in less than ten years Prussia would have waged three wars +and humbled the might of Austria and France. At that time she showed no +signs of exceptional vigour: she had as yet produced no leaders so +inspiring as Mazzini and Garibaldi, no statesman so able as Cavour. Her +new king, William, far from arousing the feelings of growing enthusiasm +that centred in Victor Emmanuel, was more and more distrusted and +disliked by Liberals for the policy of militarism on which he had just +embarked. In fact, the Hohenzollern dynasty was passing into a "Conflict +Time" with its Parliament which threatened to impair the influence of +Prussia abroad and to retard her recovery from the period of +humiliations through which she had recently passed. + +A brief recital of those humiliations is desirable as showing, firstly, +the suddenness with which the affairs of a nation may go to ruin in +slack and unskilful hands, and, secondly, the immense results that can +be achieved in a few years by a small band of able men who throw their +whole heart into the work of national regeneration. + +The previous ruler, Frederick William IV., was a gifted and learned man, +but he lacked soundness of judgment and strength of will--qualities +which are of more worth in governing than graces of the intellect. At +the time of the revolutionary outbreaks of 1848 he capitulated to the +Berlin mob and declared for a constitutional régime in which Prussia +should merge herself in Germany; but when the excesses of the democrats +had weakened their authority, he put them down by military force, +refused the German Crown offered him by the popularly elected German +Parliament assembled at Frankfurt-on-Main (April 1849); and thereupon +attempted to form a smaller union of States, namely, Prussia, Saxony, +and Hanover. This Three Kings' League, as it was called, soon came to +an end; for it did not satisfy the nationalists who wished to see +Germany united, the constitutionalists who aimed at the supremacy of +Parliament, or the friends of the old order of things. The vacillations +of Frederick William and the unpractical theorisings of the German +Parliament at Frankfurt having aroused general disgust, Austria found +little difficulty in restoring the power of the old Germanic +Confederation in September, 1850. Strong in her alliance with Russia, +she next compelled Frederick William to sign the Convention of Olmütz +(Nov. 1850). By this humiliating compact he agreed to forbear helping +the German nationalists in Schleswig-Holstein to shake off the +oppressive rule of the Danes; to withdraw Prussian troops from +Hesse-Cassel and Baden, where strifes had broken out; and to acknowledge +the supremacy of the old Federal Diet under the headship of Austria. +Thus, it seemed that the Prussian monarchy was a source of weakness and +disunion for North Germany, and that Austria, backed up by the might of +Russia, must long continue to lord it over the cumbrous Germanic +Confederation. + +But a young country squire, named Bismarck, even then resolved that the +Prussian monarchy should be the means of strengthening and binding +together the Fatherland. The resolve bespoke the patriotism of a sturdy, +hopeful nature; and the young Bismarck was nothing if not patriotic, +sturdy, and hopeful. The son of an ancient family in the Mark of +Brandenburg, he brought to his life-work powers inherited from a line of +fighting ancestors; and his mind was no less robust than his body. Quick +at mastering a mass of details, he soon saw into the heart of a problem, +and his solution of it was marked both by unfailing skill and by sound +common sense as to the choice of men and means. In some respects he +resembles Napoleon the Great. Granted that he was his inferior in the +width of vision and the versatility of gifts that mark a world-genius, +yet he was his equal in diplomatic resourcefulness and in the power of +dealing lightning strokes; while his possession of the priceless gift of +moderation endowed his greatest political achievements with a soundness +and solidity never possessed by those of the mighty conqueror who +"sought to give the _mot d'ordre_ to the universe." If the figure of the +Prussian does not loom so large on the canvas of universal history as +that of the Corsican--if he did not tame a Revolution, remodel society, +and reorganise a Continent--be it remembered that he made a United +Germany, while Napoleon the Great left France smaller and weaker than he +found her. + +Bismarck's first efforts, like those of Cavour for Sardinia, were +directed to the task of restoring the prestige of his State. Early in +his official career, the Prussian patriot urged the expediency of +befriending Russia during the Crimean War, and he thus helped on that +_rapprochement_ between Berlin and St. Petersburg which brought the +mighty triumphs of 1866 and 1870 within the range of possibility. In +1857 Frederick William became insane; and his brother William took the +reins of Government as Regent, and early in 1861 as King. The new ruler +was less gifted than his unfortunate brother; but his homely common +sense and tenacious will strengthened Prussian policy where it had been +weakest. He soon saw the worth of Bismarck, employed him in high +diplomatic positions, and when the royal proposals for strengthening the +army were decisively rejected by the Prussian House of Representatives, +he speedily sent for Bismarck to act as Minister-President (Prime +Minister) and "tame" the refractory Parliament. The constitutional +crisis was becoming more and more acute when a great national question +came into prominence owing to the action of the Danes in +Schleswig-Holstein affairs. + +Without entering into the very tangled web of customs, treaties, and +dynastic claims that made up the Schleswig-Holstein question, we may +here state that those Duchies were by ancient law very closely connected +together, that the King of Denmark was only Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, +and that the latter duchy, wholly German in population, formed part of +the Germanic Confederation. Latterly the fervent nationalists in +Denmark, while leaving Holstein to its German connections, had resolved +thoroughly to "Danify" Schleswig, the northern half of which was wholly +Danish, and they pressed on this policy by harsh and intolerant +measures, making it difficult or well-nigh impossible for the Germans to +have public worship in their own tongue and to secure German teachers +for their children in the schools. Matters were already in a very +strained state, when shortly before the death of King Frederick VII. of +Denmark (November, 1863) the Rigsraad at Copenhagen sanctioned a +constitution for Schleswig, which would practically have made it a part +of the Danish monarchy. The King gave his assent to it, an act which his +successor, Christian IX., ratified. + +Now, this action violated the last treaty--that signed by the Powers at +London in 1852, which settled the affairs of the Duchies; and Bismarck +therefore had strong ground for appealing to the Powers concerned, as +also to the German Confederation, against this breach of treaty +obligations. The Powers, especially England and France, sought to set +things straight, but the efforts of our Foreign Minister, Lord John +Russell, had no effect. The German Confederation also refused to take +any steps about Schleswig as being outside its jurisdiction. Bismarck +next persuaded Austria to help Prussia in defeating Danish designs on +that duchy. The Danes, on the other hand, counted on the unofficial +expressions of sympathy which came from the people of Great Britain and +France at sight of a small State menaced by two powerful monarchies. In +fact, the whole situation was complicated by this explosion of feeling, +which seemed to the Danes to portend the armed intervention of the +Western States, especially England, on their behalf. As far as is known, +no official assurance to that effect ever went forth from London. In +fact, it is certain that Queen Victoria absolutely forbade any such +step; but the mischief done by sentimental orators, heedless +newspaper-editors, and factious busybodies, could not be undone. As Lord +John Russell afterwards stated in a short "Essay on the Policy of +England": "It pleased some English advisers of great influence to +meddle in this affair; they were successful in thwarting the British +Government, and in the end, with the professed view, and perhaps the +real intention, of helping Denmark, their friendship tended to deprive +her of Holstein and Schleswig altogether." This final judgment of a +veteran statesman is worth quoting as showing his sense of the mischief +done by well-meant but misguided sympathy, which pushed the Danes on to +ruin and embittered our relations with Prussia for many years. + +Not that the conduct of the German Powers was flawless. On January 16, +1864, they sent to Copenhagen a demand for the withdrawal of the +constitution for Schleswig within two days. The Danish Foreign Minister +pointed out that, as the Rigsraad was not in session, this could not +possibly be done within two days. In this last step, then, the German +Powers were undoubtedly the aggressors[1]. The Prussian troops were +ready near the River Eider, and at once invaded Schleswig. The Danes +were soon beaten on the mainland; then a pause occurred, during which a +Conference of the Powers concerned was held at London. It has been +proved by the German historian, von Sybel, that the first serious +suggestion to Prussia that she should take both the Duchies came +secretly from Napoleon III. It was in vain that Lord John Russell +suggested a sensible compromise, namely, the partition of Schleswig +between Denmark and Germany according to the language-frontier inside +the Duchy. To this the belligerents demurred on points of detail, the +Prussian representative asserting that he would not leave a single +German under Danish rule. The war was therefore resumed, and ended in a +complete defeat for the weaker State, which finally surrendered both +Duchies to Austria and Prussia (1864)[2]. + +[1] Lord Wodehouse (afterwards Earl of Kimberley) was at that time sent +on a special mission to Copenhagen. When his official correspondence is +published, it will probably throw light on many points. + +[2] Sybel, _Die Begründung des deutschen Reiches_, vol. iii. pp. +299-344; Débidour, _Hist. diplomatique de l'Europe_, vol. ii. pp. +261-273; Lowe, _Life of Bismarck_, vol. i. chap. vi.; Headlam, +_Bismarck_, chap. viii.; Lord Malmesbury, _Memoirs of an ex-Minister_ +pp. 584-593 (small edition); Spencer Walpole, _Life of Lord J. Russell_, +vol. ii. pp. 396-411. + +In several respects the cause of ruin to Denmark in 1863-64 bears a +remarkable resemblance to that which produced war in South Africa in +1899, viz. high-handed action of a minority towards men whom they +treated as Outlanders, the stiff-necked obstinacy of the smaller State, +and reliance on the vehement but (probably) unofficial offers of help or +intervention by other nations. + +The question of the sharing of the Duchies now formed one of the causes +of the far greater war between the victors; but, in truth, it was only +part of the much larger question, which had agitated Germany for +centuries, whether the balance of power should belong to the North or +the South. Bismarck also saw that the time was nearly ripe for settling +this matter once for all in favour of Prussia; but he had hard work even +to persuade his own sovereign; while the Prussian Parliament, as well as +public opinion throughout Germany, was violently hostile to his schemes +and favoured the claims of the young Duke of Augustenburg to the +Duchies--claims that had much show of right. Matters were patched up for +a time between the two German States, by the Convention of Gastein +(August 1865), while in reality each prepared for war and sought to +gain allies. + +Here again Bismarck was successful. After vainly seeking to _buy_ +Venetia from the Austrian Court, Italy agreed to side with Prussia +against that Power in order to wrest by force a province which she could +not hope to gain peaceably. Russia, too, was friendly to the Court of +Berlin, owing to the help which the latter had given her in crushing the +formidable revolt of the Poles in 1863. It remained to keep France +quiet. In this Bismarck thought he had succeeded by means of interviews +which he held with Napoleon III. at Biarritz (Nov. 1865). What there +occurred is not clearly known. That Bismarck played on the Emperor's +foible for oppressed nationalities, in the case of Italy, is fairly +certain; that he fed him with hopes of gaining Belgium, or a slice of +German land, is highly probable, and none the less so because he later +on indignantly denied in the Reichstag that he ever "held out the +prospect to anybody of ceding a single German village, or even as much +as a clover-field." In any case Napoleon seems to have promised to +observe neutrality--not because he loved Prussia, but because he +expected the German Powers to wear one another out and thus leave him +master of the situation. In common with most of the wiseacres of those +days he believed that Prussia and Italy would ultimately fall before the +combined weight of Austria and of the German States, which closely +followed her in the Confederation; whereupon he could step in and +dictate his own terms[3]. + +[3] Busch, _Our Chancellor_, vol. ii. p. 17 (Eng. edit.); Débidour, +_Histoire diplomatique de l'Europe (1814-1878)_, vol ii. pp. 291-293. +Lord Loftus in his _Diplomatic Reminiscences_ (vol. ii. p. 280) says: +"So satisfied was Bismarck that he could count on the neutrality of +France, that no defensive military measures were taken on the Rhine and +western frontier. He had no fears of Russia on the eastern frontier, and +was therefore able to concentrate the military might of Prussia against +Austria and her South German Allies." + +Light has been thrown on the bargainings between Italy and Prussia by +the _Memoirs of General Govone_, who found Bismarck a hard bargainer. + +Bismarck and the leaders of the Prussian army had few doubts as to the +result. They were determined to force on the war, and early in June 1866 +brought forward proposals at the Frankfurt Diet for the "reform" of the +German Confederation, the chief of them being the exclusion of Austria, +the establishment of a German Parliament elected by manhood suffrage, +and the formation of a North German army commanded by the King +of Prussia. + +A great majority of the Federal Diet rejected these proposals, and war +speedily broke out, Austria being supported by nearly all the German +States except the two Mecklenburgs. + +The weight of numbers was against Prussia, even though she had the help +of the Italians operating against Venetia. On that side Austria was +completely successful, as also in a sea-fight near Lissa in the +Adriatic; but in the north the Hapsburgs and their German allies soon +found out that organisation, armament, and genius count for more than +numbers. The great organiser, von Roon, had brought Prussia's citizen +army to a degree of efficiency that surprised every one; and the +quick-firing "needle-gun" dealt havoc and terror among the enemy. Using +to the full the advantage of her central position against the German +States, Prussia speedily worsted their isolated and badly-handled +forces, while her chief armies overthrew those of Austria and Saxony in +Bohemia. The Austrian plan of campaign had been to invade Prussia by two +armies--a comparatively small force advancing from Cracow as a base into +Silesia, while another, acting from Olmütz, advanced through Bohemia to +join the Saxons and march on Berlin, some 50,000 Bavarians joining them +in Bohemia for the same enterprise. This design speedily broke down +owing to the short-sighted timidity of the Bavarian Government, which +refused to let its forces leave their own territory; the lack of railway +facilities in the Austrian Empire also hampered the moving of two large +armies to the northern frontier. Above all, the swift and decisive +movements of the Prussians speedily drove the allies to act on the +defensive--itself a grave misfortune in war. + +Meanwhile the Prussian strategist, von Moltke, was carrying out a far +more incisive plan of operations--that of sending three Prussian armies +into the middle of Bohemia, and there forming a great mass which would +sweep away all obstacles from the road to Vienna. This design received +prompt and skilful execution. Saxony was quickly overrun, and the +irruption of three great armies into Bohemia compelled the Austrians and +their Saxon allies hurriedly to alter their plans. After suffering +several reverses in the north of Bohemia, their chief array under +Benedek barred the way of the two northern Prussian armies on the +heights north of the town of Königgrätz. On the morning of July 3 the +defenders long beat off all frontal attacks with heavy loss; but about 2 +P.M. the Army of Silesia, under the Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, +after a forced march of twelve miles, threw itself on their right flank, +where Benedek expected no very serious onset. After desperate fighting +the Army of Silesia carried the village of Chlum in the heart of the +Austrian position, and compelled Austrians and Saxons to a hurried +retreat over the Elbe. In this the Austrian infantry was saved from +destruction by the heroic stand made by the artillery. Even so, the +allies lost more than 13,000 killed and wounded, 22,000 prisoners, and +187 guns[4]. + +[4] Sybel, _Die Begründung des deutschen Reiches_, vol. v. pp. 174-205; +_Journals of Field Marshal Count von Blumenthal for 1866 and 1871_ (Eng. +edit.), pp. 37-44. + +Königgrätz (or Sadowa, as it is often called) decided the whole +campaign. The invaders now advanced rapidly towards Vienna, and at the +town of Nikolsburg concluded the Preliminaries of Peace with Austria +(July 26), whereupon a mandate came from Paris, bidding them stop. In +fact, the Emperor of the French offered his intervention in a manner +most threatening to the victors. He sought to detach Italy from the +Prussian alliance by the offer of Venetia as a left-handed present from +himself--an offer which the Italian Government subsequently refused. + +To understand how Napoleon III. came to change front and belie his +earlier promises, one must look behind the scenes. Enough is already +known to show that the Emperor's hand was forced by his Ministers and by +the Parisian Press, probably also by the Empress Eugénie. Though +desirous, apparently, of befriending Prussia, he had already yielded to +their persistent pleas urging him to stay the growth of the Protestant +Power of North Germany. On June 10, at the outbreak of the war, he +secretly concluded a treaty with Austria, holding out to her the +prospect of recovering the great province of Silesia (torn from her by +Frederick the Great in 1740) in return for a magnanimous cession of +Venetia to Italy. The news of Königgrätz led to a violent outburst of +anti-Prussian feeling; but Napoleon refused to take action at once, when +it might have been very effective. + +The best plan for the French Government would have been to send to the +Rhine all the seasoned troops left available by Napoleon III.'s +ill-starred Mexican enterprise, so as to help the hard-pressed South +German forces, offering also the armed mediation of France to the +combatants. In that case Prussia must have drawn back, and Napoleon III. +could have dictated his own terms to Central Europe. But his earlier +leanings towards Prussia and Italy, the advice of Prince Napoleon +("Plon-Plon") and Lavalette, and the wheedlings of the Prussian +ambassador as to compensations which France might gain as a set-off to +Prussia's aggrandisement, told on the French Emperor's nature, always +somewhat sluggish and then prostrated by severe internal pain; with the +result that he sent his proposals for a settlement of the points in +dispute, but took no steps towards enforcing them. A fortnight thus +slipped away, during which the Prussians reaped the full fruits of their +triumph at Königgrätz; and it was not until July 29, three days after +the Preliminaries of Peace were signed, that the French Foreign +Minister, Drouyn de Lhuys, worried his master, then prostrate with pain +at Vichy, into sanctioning the following demands from victorious +Prussia: the cession to France of the Rhenish Palatinate (belonging to +Bavaria), the south-western part of Hesse Darmstadt, and that part of +Prussia's Rhine-Province lying in the valley of the Saar which she had +acquired after Waterloo. This would have brought within the French +frontier the great fortress of Mainz (Mayence); but the great mass of +these gains, it will be observed, would have been at the expense of +South German States, whose cause France proclaimed her earnest desire to +uphold against the encroaching power of Prussia. + +Bismarck took care to have an official copy of these demands in writing, +the use of which will shortly appear; and having procured this precious +document, he defied the French envoy, telling him that King William, +rather than agree to such a surrender of German land, would make peace +with Austria and the German States on any terms, and invade France at +the head of the forces of a united Germany. This reply caused another +change of front at Napoleon's Court. The demands were disavowed and the +Foreign Minister, Drouyn de Lhuys, resigned[5]. + +[5] Sybel, _op. cit._ vol. v. pp. 365-374. Débidour, _op. cit._ vol. ii. +pp. 315-318. See too volume viii. of Ollivier's work, _L'Empire +libéral_, published in 1904; and M. de la Gorce's work, _Histoire du +second Empire_, vol. vi. (Paris 1903). + +The completeness of Prussia's triumph over Austria and her German +allies, together with the preparations of the Hungarians for revolt, +decided the Court of Vienna to accept the Prussian terms which were +embodied in the Treaty of Prague (Aug. 23); they were, the direct +cession of Venetia to Italy; the exclusion of Austria from German +affairs and her acceptance of the changes there pending; the cession to +Prussia of Schleswig-Holstein; and the payment of 20,000,000 thalers +(about £3,000,000) as war indemnity. The lenience of these conditions +was to have a very noteworthy result, namely, the speedy reconciliation +of the two Powers: within twenty years they were firmly united in the +Triple Alliance with Italy (see Chapter X.). + +Some difficulties stood in the way of peace between Prussia and her late +enemies in the German Confederation, especially Bavaria. These last were +removed when Bismarck privately disclosed to the Bavarian Foreign +Minister the secret demand made by France for the cession of the +Bavarian Palatinate. In the month of August, the South German States, +Bavaria, Würtemberg and Baden, accepted Prussia's terms; whereby they +paid small war indemnities and recognised the new constitution of +Germany. Outwardly they formed a South German Confederation; but this +had a very shadowy existence; and the three States by secret treaties +with Prussia agreed to place their armies and all military arrangements, +in case of war, under the control of the King of Prussia. Thus within a +month from the close of "the Seven Weeks' War," the whole of Germany was +quietly but firmly bound to common action in military matters; and the +actions of France left little doubt as to the need of these timely +precautions. + +On those German States which stood in the way of Prussia's territorial +development and had shown marked hostility, Bismarck bore hard. The +Kingdom of Hanover, Electoral Hesse (Hesse-Cassel), the Duchy of Nassau, +and the Free City of Frankfurt were annexed outright, Prussia thereby +gaining direct contact with her Westphalian and Rhenish Provinces. The +absorption of Frankfurt-on-the-Main, and the formation of a new league, +the North German Confederation, swept away all the old federal +machinery, and marked out Berlin, not Vienna or Frankfurt, as the future +governing centre of the Fatherland. It was doubtless a perception of the +vast gains to the national cause which prompted the Prussian Parliament +to pass a Bill of Indemnity exonerating the King's Ministers for the +illegal acts committed by them during the "Conflict Time" +(1861-66)--acts which saved Prussia in spite of her Parliament. + +Constitutional freedom likewise benefited largely by the results of the +war. The new North German Confederation was based avowedly on manhood +suffrage, not because either King William or Bismarck loved democracy, +but because after lately pledging themselves to it as the groundwork of +reform of the old Confederation, they could not draw back in the hour of +triumph. As Bismarck afterwards confessed to his Secretary, Dr. Busch, +"I accepted universal suffrage, but with reluctance, as a Frankfurt +tradition" (_i.e._ of the democratic Parliament of Frankfurt in +1848)[6]. All the lands, therefore, between the Niemen and the Main were +bound together in a Confederation based on constitutional principles, +though the governing powers of the King and his Ministers continued to +be far larger than is the case in Great Britain. To this matter we shall +recur when we treat of the German Empire, formed by the union of the +North and South German Confederations of 1866. + +[6] Busch, _Our Chancellor_, vol. ii. p. 196 (English edit.). + +Austria also was soon compelled to give way before the persistent +demands of the Hungarian patriots for their ancient constitution, which +happily blended monarchy and democracy. Accordingly, the centralised +Hapsburg monarchy was remodelled by the _Ausgleich_ (compromise) of +1867, and became the Dual-Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, the two parts of +the realm being ruled quite separately for most purposes of government, +and united only for those of army organisation, foreign policy, and +finance. Parliamentary control became dominant in each part of the +Empire; and the grievances resulting from autocratic or bureaucratic +rule vanished from Hungary. They disappeared also from Hanover and +Hesse-Cassel, where the Guelf sovereigns and Electors had generally +repressed popular movements. + +Greatest of all the results of the war of 1866, however, was the gain to +the national cause in Germany and Italy. Peoples that had long been +divided were now in the brief space of three months brought within sight +of the long-wished-for unity. The rush of these events blinded men to +their enduring import and produced an impression that the Prussian +triumph was like that of Napoleon I., too sudden and brilliant to last. +Those who hazarded this verdict forgot that his political arrangements +for Europe violated every instinct of national solidarity; while those +of 1866 served to group the hitherto divided peoples of North Germany +and Italy around the monarchies that had proved to be the only possible +rallying points in their respective countries. It was this harmonising +of the claims and aspirations of monarchy, nationality, and democracy +that gave to the settlement of 1866 its abiding importance, and fitted +the two peoples for the crowning triumph of 1870. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE CAUSES OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + + "After the fatal year 1866, the Empire was in a state of + decadence."--L. GREGOIRE, _Histoire de France_. + + +The irony of history is nowhere more manifest than in the curious +destiny which called a Napoleon III. to the place once occupied by +Napoleon I., and at the very time when the national movements, +unwittingly called to vigorous life by the great warrior, were attaining +to the full strength of manhood. Napoleon III. was in many ways a +well-meaning dreamer, who, unluckily for himself, allowed his dreams to +encroach on his waking moments. In truth, his sluggish but very +persistent mind never saw quite clearly where dreams must give way to +realities; or, as M. de Falloux phrased it, "He does not know the +difference between dreaming and thinking[7]." Thus his policy showed an +odd mixture of generous haziness and belated practicality. + +[7] _Notes from a Diary, 1851-1872_, by Sir M.E. Grant Duff, vol. i. p. +120. + +Long study of his uncle's policy showed him, rightly enough, that it +erred in trampling down the feeling of nationality in Germany and +elsewhere. The nephew resolved to avoid this mistake and to pose as the +champion of the oppressed and divided peoples of Italy, Germany, Poland, +and the Balkan Peninsula--a programme that promised to appeal to the +ideal aspirations of the French, to embarrass the dynasties that had +overthrown the first Napoleon, and to yield substantial gains for his +nephew. Certainly it did so in the case of Italy; his championship of +the Roumanians also helped on the making of that interesting +Principality (1861) and gained the good-will of Russia; but he speedily +forfeited this by his wholly ineffective efforts on behalf of the Poles +in 1863. His great mistakes, however, were committed in and after the +year 1863, when he plunged into Mexican politics with the chimerical aim +of founding a Roman Catholic Empire in Central America, and favoured the +rise of Prussia in connection with the Schleswig-Holstein question. By +the former of these he locked up no small part of his army in Mexico +when he greatly needed it on the Rhine; by the latter he helped on the +rise of the vigorous North German Power. + +As we have seen, he secretly advised Prussia to take both Schleswig and +Holstein, thereby announcing his wish for the effective union of Germans +with the one great State composed almost solely of Germans. "I shall +always be consistent in my conduct," he said. "If I have fought for the +independence of Italy, if I have lifted up my voice for Polish +nationality, I cannot have other sentiments in Germany, or obey other +principles." This declaration bespoke the doctrinaire rather than the +statesman. Untaught by the clamour which French Chauvinists and ardent +Catholics had raised against his armed support of the Italian national +cause in 1859, he now proposed to further the aggrandisement of the +Protestant North German Power which had sought to partition France +in 1815. + +The clamour aroused by his leanings towards Prussia in 1864-66 was +naturally far more violent, in proportion as the interests of France +were more closely at stake. Prussia held the Rhine Province; and French +patriots, who clung to the doctrine of the "natural frontiers"--the +Ocean, Pyrenees, Alps, and Rhine--looked on her as the natural enemy. +They pointed out that millions of Frenchmen had shed their blood in the +Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars to win and to keep the Rhine boundary; +and their most eloquent spokesman, M. Thiers, who had devoted his +historical gifts to glorifying those great days, passionately declaimed +against the policy of helping on the growth of the hereditary foe. + +We have already seen the results of this strife between the pro-Prussian +foibles of the Emperor and the eager prejudices of Frenchmen, whose love +of oppressed and divided nations grew in proportion to their distance +from France, and changed to suspicion or hatred in the case of her +neighbours. In 1866, under the breath of ministerial arguments and +oratorical onslaughts Napoleon III.'s policy weakly wavered, thereby +giving to Bismarck's statecraft a decisive triumph all along the line. +In vain did he in the latter part of that year remind the Prussian +statesman of his earlier promises (always discreetly vague) of +compensation for France, and throw out diplomatic feelers for Belgium, +or at any rate Luxemburg[8]. In vain did M. Thiers declare in the +Chamber of Deputies that France, while recognising accomplished facts in +Germany, ought "firmly to declare that we will not allow them to go +further" (March 14, 1867). Bismarck replied to this challenge of the +French orator by publishing five days later the hitherto secret military +alliances concluded with the South German States in August 1866. +Thenceforth France knew that a war with Prussia would be war with a +united Germany. + +[8] In 1867 Bismarck's promises went so far as the framing of a secret +compact with France, one article of which stated that Prussia would not +object to the annexation of Belgium by France. The agreement was first +published by the _Times_ on July 25, 1870, Bismarck then divulging the +secret so as to inflame public opinion against France. + +In the following year the Zollverein, or German Customs' Union (which +had been gradually growing since 1833), took a definitely national form +in a Customs' Parliament which assembled in April 1868, thus unifying +Germany for purposes of trade as well as those of war. This sharp rebuff +came at a time when Napoleon's throne was tottering from the utter +collapse of his Mexican expedition; when, too, he more than ever needed +popular support in France for the beginnings of a more constitutional +rule. Early in 1867 he sought to buy Luxemburg from Holland. This action +aroused a storm of wrath in Prussia, which had the right to garrison +Luxemburg; but the question was patched up by a Conference of the Powers +at London, the Duchy being declared neutral territory under the +guarantee of Europe; the fortifications of its capital were also to be +demolished, and the Prussian garrison withdrawn. This success for French +diplomacy was repeated in Italy, where the French troops supporting the +Pope crushed the efforts of Garibaldi and his irregulars to capture +Rome, at the sanguinary fight of Mentana (November 3, 1867). The +official despatch, stating that the new French rifle, the _chassepôt_, +"had done wonders," spread jubilation through France and a sharp +anti-Gallic sentiment throughout Italy. + +And while Italy heaved with longings for her natural capital, popular +feelings in France and North Germany made steadily for war. + +Before entering upon the final stages of the dispute, it may be well to +take a bird's-eye view of the condition of the chief Powers in so far as +it explains their attitude towards the great struggle. + +The condition of French politics was strangely complex. The Emperor had +always professed that he was the elect of France, and would ultimately +crown his political edifice with the corner-stone of constitutional +liberty. Had he done so in the successful years 1855-61, possibly his +dynasty might have taken root. He deferred action, however, until the +darker years that came after 1866. In 1868 greater freedom was allowed +to the Press and in the case of public meetings. The General Election of +the spring of 1869 showed large gains to the Opposition, and decided the +Emperor to grant to the Corps Législatif the right of initiating laws +concurrently with himself, and he declared that Ministers should be +responsible to it (September 1869). + +These and a few other changes marked the transition from autocracy to +the "Liberal Empire." One of the champions of constitutional principles, +M. Emile Ollivier, formed a Cabinet to give effect to the new policy, +and the Emperor, deeming the time ripe for consolidating his power on a +democratic basis, consulted the country in a _plébiscite_, or mass vote, +primarily as to their judgment on the recent changes, but implicitly as +to their confidence in the imperial system as a whole. His skill in +joining together two topics that were really distinct, gained him a +tactical victory. More than 7,350,000 affirmative votes were given, as +against 1,572,000 negatives; while 1,900,000 voters registered no vote. +This success at the polls emboldened the supporters of the Empire; and +very many of them, especially, it is thought, the Empress Eugénie, +believed that only one thing remained in order to place the Napoleonic +dynasty on a lasting basis--that was, a successful war. + +Champions of autocracy pointed out that the growth of Radicalism +coincided with the period of military failures and diplomatic slights. +Let Napoleon III., they said in effect, imitate the policy of his uncle, +who, as long as he dazzled France by triumphs, could afford to laugh at +the efforts of constitution-mongers. The big towns might prate of +liberty; but what France wanted was glory and strong government. Such +were their pleas: there was much in the past history of France to +support them. The responsible advisers of the Emperor determined to take +a stronger tone in foreign affairs, while the out-and-out Bonapartists +jealously looked for any signs of official weakness so that they might +undermine the Ollivier Ministry and hark back to absolutism. When two +great parties in a State make national prestige a catchword of the +political game, peace cannot be secure: that was the position of France +in the early part of 1870[9]. + +[9] See Ollivier's great work, _L'Empire libéral_, for full details of +this time. + +The eve of the Franco-German War was a time of great importance for the +United Kingdom. The Reform Bill of 1867 gave a great accession of power +to the Liberal Party; and the General Election of November 1868 speedily +led to the resignation of the Disraeli Cabinet and the accession of the +Gladstone Ministry to power. This portended change in other directions +than home affairs. The tradition of a spirited foreign policy died with +Lord Palmerston in 1865. With the entry of John Bright to the new +Cabinet peace at all costs became the dominant note of British +statesmanship. There was much to be said in favour of this. England +needed a time of rest in order to cope with the discontent of Ireland +and the problems brought about by the growth of democracy and +commercialism in the larger island. The disestablishment and partial +disendowment of the Protestant Church in Ireland (July 1869), the Irish +Land Act (August 1870), and the Education Act of 1870, showed the +preoccupation of the Ministry for home affairs; while the readiness with +which, a little later, they complied with all the wishes of the United +States in the "Alabama" case, equally proclaimed their pacific +intentions. England, which in 1860 had exercised so powerful an +influence on the Italian national question, was for five years a factor +of small account in European affairs. Far from pleasing the combatants, +our neutrality annoyed both of them. The French accused England of +"deserting" Napoleon III. in his time of need--a charge that has lately +been revived by M. Hanotaux. To this it is only needful to reply that +the French Emperor entered into alliance with us at the time of the +Crimean War merely for his own objects, and allowed all friendly feeling +to be ended by French threats of an invasion of England in 1858 and his +shabby treatment of Italy in the matter of Savoy and Nice a year later. +On his side, Bismarck also complained that our feeling for the German +cause went no further than "theoretical sympathy," and that "during the +war England never compromised herself so far in our favour as to +endanger her friendship with France. On the contrary." These vague and +enigmatic charges at bottom only express the annoyance of the combatants +at their failure to draw neutrals into the strife[10]. + +[10] Hanotaux, _Contemporary France_, vol. i. p. 9 (Eng. ed.); +_Bismarck: his Reflections and Reminiscences,_ vol. ii. p. 61. The +popular Prussian view about England found expression in the comic paper +_Kladderdatsch_:-- + +Deutschland beziehe billige Sympathien Und Frankreich theures +Kriegsmateriel. + + +The traditions of the United States, of course, forbade their +intervention in the Franco-Prussian dispute. By an article of their +political creed termed the Monroe Doctrine, they asserted their resolve +not to interfere in European affairs and to prevent the interference of +any strictly European State in those of the New World. It was on this +rather vague doctrine that they cried "hands off" from Mexico to the +French Emperor; and the abandonment of his _protégé_, the so-called +Emperor Maximilian, by French troops, brought about the death of that +unhappy prince and a sensible decline in the prestige of his patron +(June 1867). + +Russia likewise remembered Napoleon III.'s championship of the Poles in +1863, which, however Platonic in its nature, caused the Czar some +embarrassment. Moreover, King William of Prussia had soothed the Czar's +feelings, ruffled by the dethroning of three German dynasties in 1866, +by a skilful reply which alluded to his (King William's) desire to be of +service to Russian interests elsewhere--a hint which the diplomatists of +St. Petersburg remembered in 1870 to some effect. + +For the rest, the Czar Alexander II. (1855-81) and his Ministers were +still absorbed in the internal policy of reform, which in the sixties +freed the serfs and gave Russia new judicial and local institutions, +doomed to be swept away in the reaction following the murder of that +enlightened ruler. The Russian Government therefore pledged itself to +neutrality, but in a sense favourable to Prussia. The Czar ascribed the +Crimean War to the ambition of Napoleon III., and remembered the +friendship of Prussia at that time, as also in the Polish Revolt of +1863[11]. Bismarck's policy now brought its reward. + +[11] See Sir H. Rumbold's _Recollections of a Diplomatist_ (First +Series), vol. ii. p. 292, for the Czar's hostility to France in 1870. + +The neutrality of Russia is always a matter of the utmost moment for the +Central Powers in any war on their western frontiers. Their efforts +against Revolutionary France in 1792-94 failed chiefly because of the +ambiguous attitude of the Czarina Catherine II.; and the collapse of +Frederick William IV.'s policy in 1848-51 was due to the hostility of +his eastern neighbour. In fact, the removal of anxiety about her open +frontier on the east was now worth a quarter of a million of men +to Prussia. + +But the Czar's neutrality was in one matter distinctly friendly to his +uncle, King William of Prussia. It is an open secret that unmistakable +hints went from St. Petersburg to Vienna to the effect that, if Austria +drew the sword for Napoleon III. she would have to reckon with an +irruption of the Russians into her open Galician frontier. Probably this +accounts for the conduct of the Hapsburg Power, which otherwise is +inexplicable. A war of revenge against Prussia seemed to be the natural +step to take. True, the Emperor Francis Joseph had small cause to like +Napoleon III. The loss of Lombardy in 1859 still rankled in the breast +of every patriotic Austrian; and the suspicions which that enigmatical +ruler managed to arouse, prevented any definite agreement resulting from +the meeting of the two sovereigns at Salzburg in 1867. + +The relations of France and Austria were still in the same uncertain +state before the War of 1870. The foreign policy of Austria was in the +hands of Count Beust, a bitter foe of Prussia; but after the concession +of constitutional rule to Hungary by the compromise (_Ausgleich_) of +1867, the Dual Monarchy urgently needed rest, especially as its army was +undergoing many changes. The Chancellor's action was therefore clogged +on all sides. Nevertheless, when the Luxemburg affair of 1867 brought +France and Prussia near to war, Napoleon began to make advances to the +Court of Vienna. How far they went is not known. Beust has asserted in +his correspondence with the French Foreign Minister, the Duc de Gramont +(formerly ambassador at Vienna), that they never were more than +discussions, and that they ended in 1869 without any written agreement. +The sole understanding was to the effect that the policy of both States +should be friendly and pacific, Austria reserving the right to remain +neutral if France were compelled to make war. The two Empires further +promised not to make any engagement with a third Power without informing +the other. + +This statement is not very convincing. States do not usually bind +themselves in the way just described, unless they have some advantageous +agreement with the Power which has the first claim on their alliance. It +is noteworthy, however, that the Duc de Gramont, in the correspondence +alluded to above, admits that, as Ambassador and as Foreign Minister of +France, he never had to claim the support of Austria in the war with +Prussia[12]. + +[12] _Memoirs of Count Beust_, vol. ii. pp. 358-359 (Appendix D, Eng. +edit.). + +How are we to reconcile these statements with the undoubted fact that +the Emperor Napoleon certainly expected help from Austria and also from +Italy? The solution of the riddle seems to be that Napoleon, as also +Francis Joseph and Victor Emmanuel, kept their Foreign Ministers in the +dark on many questions of high policy, which they transacted either by +private letters among themselves, or through military men who had their +confidence. The French and Italian sovereigns certainly employed these +methods, the latter because he was far more French in sympathy than his +Ministers. + +As far back as the year 1868, Victor Emmanuel made overtures to Napoleon +with a view to alliance, the chief aim of which, from his standpoint, +was to secure the evacuation of Rome by the French troops, and the gain +of the Eternal City for the national cause. Prince Napoleon lent his +support to this scheme, and from an article written by him we know that +the two sovereigns discussed the matter almost entirely by means of +confidential letters[13]. These discussions went on up to the month of +June 1869. Francis Joseph, on hearing of them, urged the French Emperor +to satisfy Italy, and thus pave the way for an alliance between the +three Powers against Prussia. Nothing definite came of the affair, and +chiefly, it would seem, owing to the influence of the Empress Eugénie +and the French clerics. She is said to have remarked: "Better the +Prussians in Paris than the Italian troops in Rome." The diplomatic +situation therefore remained vague, though in the second week of July +1870, the Emperor again took up the threads which, with greater firmness +and foresight, he might have woven into a firm design. + +[13] _Revue des deux Mondes_ for April 1, 1878. + +The understanding between the three Powers advanced only in regard to +military preparations. The Austrian Archduke Albrecht, the victor of +Custoza, burned to avenge the defeat of Königgrätz, and with this aim in +view visited Paris in February to March 1870. He then proposed to +Napoleon an invasion of North Germany by the armies of France, Austria, +and Italy. The French Emperor developed the plan by more specific +overtures which he made in the month of June; but his Ministers were so +far in the dark as to these military proposals that they were then +suggesting the reduction of the French army by 10,000 men, while +Ollivier, the Prime Minister, on June 30 declared to the French Chamber +that peace had never been better assured[14]. + +[14] Seignobos, _A Political History of Contemporary Europe_, vol. ii. +pp. 806-807 (Eng. edit.). Oncken, _Zeitalter des Kaisers Wilhelm_ (vol. +i. pp. 720-740), tries to prove that there was a deep conspiracy against +Prussia. I am not convinced by his evidence. + +And yet on that same day General Lebrun, aide-de-camp to the Emperor, +was drawing up at Paris a confidential report of the mission with which +he had lately been entrusted to the Austrian military authorities. From +that report we take the following particulars. On arriving at Vienna, he +had three private interviews with the Archduke Albrecht, and set before +him the desirability of a joint invasion of North Germany in the autumn +of that year. To this the Archduke demurred, on the ground that such a +campaign ought to begin in the spring if the full fruits of victory were +to be gathered in before the short days came. Austria and Italy, he +said, could not place adequate forces in the field in less than six +weeks owing to lack of railways[15]. + +[15] _Souvenirs militaires_, by General B.L.J. Lebrun (Paris 1895), pp. +95-148. + +Developing his own views, the Archduke then suggested that it +would be desirable for France to undertake the war against +North Germany not later than the middle of March 1871, Austria +and Italy at the same time beginning their mobilisations, though not +declaring war until their armies were ready at the end of six weeks. Two +French armies should in the meantime cross the Rhine in order to sever +the South Germans from the Confederation of the North, one of them +marching towards Nuremberg, where it would be joined by the western army +of Austria and the Italian forces sent through Tyrol. The other Austrian +army would then invade Saxony or Lusatia in order to strike at Berlin. +He estimated the forces of the States hostile to Prussia as follows:-- + + +------------------------------------------------------------------+ + | |Men. |Horses. |Cannon. | + +-------------------------------+------------+----------+----------+ + |France |309,000 |35,000 |972 | + |Austria (exclusive of reserve) |360,000 |27,000 |1128 | + |Italy |68,000 |5000 |180 | + |Denmark |260,000 (?) |2000 |72 | + +-------------------------------+------------+----------+----------+ + +He thus reckoned the forces of the two German Confederations:-- + + +-------------------------------+------------+----------+----------+ + | |Men. |Horses. |Cannon. | + |North |377,000 |48,000 |1284 | + |South |97,000 |10,000 |288 | + +-------------------------------+------------+----------+----------+ + +but the support of the latter might be hoped for. Lebrun again urged the +desirability of a campaign in the autumn, but the Archduke repeated that +it must begin in the spring. In that condition, as in his earlier +statement that France must declare war first, while her allies prepared +for war, we may discern a deep-rooted distrust of Napoleon III. + +On June 14 the Archduke introduced Lebrun to the Emperor Francis Joseph, +who informed him that he wanted peace; but, he added, "if I make war, I +must be forced to it." In case of war Prussia might exploit the national +German sentiment existing in South Germany and Austria. He concluded +with these words, "But if the Emperor Napoleon, compelled to accept or +to declare war, came with his armies into South Germany, not as an enemy +but as a liberator, I should be forced on my side to declare that I +[would] make common cause with him. In the eyes of my people I could do +no other than join my armies to those of France. That is what I pray you +to say for me to the Emperor Napoleon; I hope that he will see, as I do, +my situation both in home and foreign affairs." Such was the report +which Lebrun drew up for Napoleon III. on June 30. It certainly led that +sovereign to believe in the probability of Austrian help in the spring +of 1871, but not before that time. + +The question now arises whether Bismarck was aware of these proposals. +If warlike counsels prevailed at Vienna, it is probable that some +preparations would be made, and the secret may have leaked out in this +way, or possibly through the Hungarian administration. In any case, +Bismarck knew that the Austrian chancellor, Count Beust, thirsted for +revenge for the events of 1866[16]. If he heard any whispers of an +approaching league against Prussia, he would naturally see the advantage +of pressing on war at once, before Austria and Italy were ready to enter +the lists. Probably in this fact will be found one explanation of the +origin of the Franco-German War. + +[Footnote 16: _Bismarck: his Reflections and Reminiscences_, vol. ii. p. +58.] + +Before adverting to the proximate cause of the rupture, we may note that +Beust's despatch of July 11, 1870, to Prince Metternich, Austrian +ambassador at Paris, displayed genuine fear lest France should rush +blindly into war with Prussia; and he charged Metternich tactfully to +warn the French Government against such a course of action, which would +"be contrary to all that we have agreed upon. . . . Even if we wished, we +could not suddenly equip a respectably large force. . . . Our services are +gained to a certain extent [by France]; but we shall not go further +unless events carry us on; and we do not dream of plunging into war +because it might suit France to do so." + +Again, however, the military men seem to have pushed on the +diplomatists. The Archduke Albrecht and Count Vitzthum went to Paris +charged with some promises of support to France in case of war. +Thereafter, Count Beust gave the assurance at Vienna that the Austrians +would be "faithful to our engagements, as they have been recorded in the +letters exchanged last year between the two sovereigns. We consider the +cause of France as ours, and we will contribute to the success of her +arms to the utmost of our power[17]." + +[Footnote 17: _Memoirs of Count Beust,_ vol. ii. p. 359. _The Present +Position of European Politics_ p. 366 (1887). By the author of _Greater +Britain._] + +In the midst of this maze of cross-purposes this much is clear: that +both Emperors had gone to work behind the backs of their Ministers, and +that the military chiefs of France and Austria brought their States to +the brink of war while their Ministers and diplomatists were unaware of +the nearness of danger. + +As we have seen, King Victor Emmanuel II. longed to draw the sword for +Napoleon III., whose help to Italy in 1859-60 he so curiously overrated. +Fortunately for Italy, his Ministers took a more practical view of the +situation; but probably they too would have made common cause with +France had they received a definite promise of the withdrawal of French +troops from Rome and the satisfaction of Italian desires for the Eternal +City as the national capital. This promise, even after the outbreak of +war, the French Emperor declined to give, though his cousin, Prince +Napoleon, urged him vehemently to give way on that point[18]. + +[Footnote 18: See the _Rev. des deux Mondes_ for April 1, 1878, and +"Chronique" of the _Revue d'Histoire diplomatique_ for 1905, p. 298; +also W.H. Stillman, _The Union of Italy, 1815-1895_, p. 348.] + +In truth, the Emperor could not well give way. An Oecumenical Council +sat at Rome from December 1869 to July 1870; its Ultramontane tendencies +were throughout strongly marked, as against the "Old Catholic" views; +and it was a foregone conclusion that the Council would vote the dogma +of the infallibility of the Pope in matters of religion--as it did on +the day before France declared war against Prussia. How, then, could the +Emperor, the "eldest son of the Church," as French monarchs have proudly +styled themselves, bargain away Rome to the Italian Government, already +stained by sacrilege, when this crowning aureole of grace was about to +encircle the visible Head of the Church? There was no escape from the +dilemma. Either Napoleon must go into war with shouts of "Judas" hurled +at him by all pious Roman Catholics; or he must try his fortunes without +the much-coveted help of Austria and Italy. He chose the latter +alternative, largely, it would seem, owing to the influence of his +vehemently Catholic Empress[19]. After the first defeats he sought to +open negotiations, but then it was too late. Prince Napoleon went to +Florence and arrived there on August 20; but his utmost efforts failed +to move the Italian Cabinet from neutrality. + +[Footnote 19: For the relations of France to the Vatican, see _Histoire +du second Empire_, by M. De la Gorce, vol. vi. (Paris, 1903); also +_Histoire Contemporaine_ (_i.e._ of France in 1869-1875), by M. Samuel +Denis, 4 vols. The Empress Eugénie once said that she was "deux fois +Catholique," as a Spaniard and as French Empress. (Sir M.K. Grant Duff, +_Notes from a Diary, 1851-1872_, vol. i. p. 125.)] + +Even this brief survey of international relations shows that Napoleon +III. was a source of weakness to France. Having seized on power by +perfidious means, he throughout his whole reign strove to dazzle the +French by a series of adventures, which indeed pleased the Parisians for +the time, but at the cost of lasting distrust among the Powers. Generous +in his aims, he at first befriended the German and Italian national +movements, but forfeited all the fruits of those actions by his +pettifogging conduct about Savoy and Nice, the Rhineland and Belgium; +while his final efforts to please French clericals and Chauvinists[20] +by supporting the Pope at Rome, lost him the support of States that +might have retrieved the earlier blunders. In brief, by helping on the +nationalists of North Germany and Italy he offended French public +opinion; and his belated and spasmodic efforts to regain popularity at +home aroused against him the distrust of all the Powers. Their feelings +about him may be summarised in the _mot_ of a diplomatist, "Scratch the +Emperor and you will find the political refugee." + +[Footnote 20: Chauvinist is a term corresponding to our "Jingo." It is +derived from a man named Chauvin, who lauded Napoleon I. and French +glory to the skies.] + +How different were the careers of Napoleon III. and of Bismarck! By +resolutely keeping before him the national aim, and that only, the +Prussian statesman had reduced the tangle of German affairs to +simplicity and now made ready for the crowning work of all. In his +_Reminiscences_ he avows his belief, as early as 1866, "that a war with +France would succeed the war with Austria lay in the logic of history"; +and again, "I did not doubt that a Franco-German War must take place +before the construction of a United Germany could take place[21]." War +would doubtless have broken out in 1867 over the Luxemburg question, had +he not seen the need of delay for strengthening the bonds of union with +South Germany and assuring the increase of the armies of the Fatherland +by the adoption of Prussian methods; or, as he phrased it, "each year's +postponement of the war would add 100,000 trained soldiers to our +army[22]." In 1870 little was to be gained by delay. In fact, the +unionist movement in Germany then showed ominous signs of slackening. In +the South the Parliaments opposed any further approach to union with the +North; and the voting of the military budget in the North for that year +was likely to lead to strong opposition in the interests of the +overtaxed people. A war might solve the unionist problem which was +insoluble in time of peace; and a _casus belli _was at hand. + +[Footnote 21: Bismarck, _Reminiscences_, vol. ii. pp. 41, 57 (Eng. +edit.).] + +[Footnote 22: _Ib._ p. 58.] + +Early in July 1870, the news leaked out that Prince Leopold of +Hohenzollern was the officially accepted candidate for the throne of +Spain, left vacant since the revolution which drove Queen Isabella into +exile in 1868[23]. At once a thrill of rage shot through France; and the +Duc de Gramont, Foreign Minister of the new Ollivier Ministry, gave +expression to the prevailing feeling in his answer to a question on the +subject in the Chamber of Deputies (July 6):-- + +[Footnote 23: The ex-queen Isabella died in Paris in April 1904.] + + We do not think that respect for the rights of a neighbouring + people [Spain] obliges us to allow an alien Power [Prussia], + by placing one of its princes on the throne of Charles V., to + succeed in upsetting to our disadvantage the present + equilibrium of forces in Europe, and imperil the interests + and honour of France. We have the firm hope that this + eventuality will not be realised. To hinder it, we count both + on the wisdom of the German people and on the friendship of + the Spanish people. If that should not be so, strong in your + support and in that of the nation, we shall know how to + fulfil our duty without hesitation and without weakness[24]. + +[Footnote 24: Sorel, _Hist. diplomatique de la Guerre Franco-Allemande_, +vol. i. p. 77.] + +The opening phrases were inaccurate. The prince in question was Prince +Leopold of the Swabian and Roman Catholic branch of the Hohenzollern +family, who, as the Duc de Gramont knew, could by no possibility recall +the days when Charles V. reigned as Emperor in Germany and monarch in +Spain. This misstatement showed the intention of the French Ministry to +throw down the glove to Prussia--as is also clear from this statement in +Gramont's despatch of July 10 to Benedetti: "If the King will not advise +the Prince of Hohenzollern to withdraw, well, it is war forthwith, and +in a few days we are at the Rhine[25]." + +[Footnote 25: Benedetti, _Ma Mission en Prusse_, p.34. This work +contains the French despatches on the whole affair.] + +Nevertheless, those who were behind the scenes had just cause for anger +against Bismarck. The revelations of Benedetti, French ambassador at +Berlin, as well as the Memoirs of the King of Roumania (brother to +Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern) leave no doubt that the candidature of +the latter was privately and unofficially mooted in 1868, and again in +the spring of 1869 through a Prussian diplomatist, Werthern, and that it +met with no encouragement whatever from the Prussian monarch or the +prince himself. But early in 1870 it was renewed in an official manner +by the provisional Government of Spain, and (as seems certain) at the +instigation of Bismarck, who, in May-June, succeeded in overcoming the +reluctance of the prince and of King William. Bismarck even sought to +hurry the matter through the Spanish Cortes so as to commit Spain to the +plan; but this failed owing to the misinterpretation of a ciphered +telegram from Berlin at Madrid[26]. + +[Footnote 26: In a recent work, _Kaiser Wilhelm und die Begründung des +Reichs, 1866-1871_, Dr. Lorenz tries to absolve Bismarck from complicity +in these intrigues, but without success. See _Reminiscences of the King +of Roumania_ (edited by S. Whitman), pp. 70, 86-87, 92-95; also +Headlam's _Bismarck_, p. 327.] + +Such was the state of the case when the affair became known to the +Ollivier Ministry. Though not aware, seemingly, of all these details, +Napoleon's advisers were justified in treating the matter, not as a +private affair between the Hohenzollerns and Spain (as Germans then +maintained it was) but as an attempt of the Prussian Government to place +on the Spanish throne a prince who could not but be friendly to the +North German Power. In fact, the French saw in it a challenge to war; +and putting together all the facts as now known, we must pronounce that +they were almost certainly right. Bismarck undoubtedly wanted war; and +it is impossible to think that he did not intend to use this candidature +as a means of exasperating the French. The man who afterwards declared +that, at the beginning of the Danish disputes in 1863, he made up his +mind to have Schleswig-Holstein for Prussia[27], certainly saw in the +Hohenzollern candidature a step towards a Prusso-Spanish alliance or a +war with France that might cement German unity. + +[Footnote 27: Busch, _Our Chancellor_, vol. i. p. 367.] + +In any case, that was the outcome of events. The French papers at once +declaimed against the candidature in a way that aroused no less passion +on the other side of the Rhine. For a brief space, however, matters +seemed to be smoothed over by the calm good sense of the Prussian +monarch and his nephew. The King was then at Ems, taking the waters, +when Benedetti, the French ambassador, waited on him and pressed him +most urgently to request Prince Leopold to withdraw from the candidature +to the Spanish Crown. This the King declined to do in the way that was +pointed out to him, rightly considering that such a course would play +into the hands of the French by lowering his own dignity and the +prestige of Prussia. Moreover, he, rather illogically, held the whole +matter to be primarily one that affected the Hohenzollern family and +Spain. The young prince, however, on hearing of the drift of events, +solved the problem by declaring his intention not to accept the Crown of +Spain (July 12). The action was spontaneous, emanating from Prince +Leopold and his father Prince Antony, not from the Prussian monarch, +though, on hearing of their decision, he informed Benedetti that he +entirely approved it. + +If the French Government had really wished for peace, it would have let +the matter end there. But it did not do so. The extreme +Bonapartists--_plus royalistes que le roi_--all along wished to gain +prestige for their sovereign by inflicting an open humiliation on King +William and through him on Prussia. They were angry that he had evaded +the snare, and now brought pressure to bear on the Ministry, especially +the Duc de Gramont, so that at 7 P.M. of that same day (July 12) he sent +a telegram to Benedetti at Ems directing him to see King William and +press him to declare that he "would not again authorise this +candidature." The Minister added: "The effervescence of spirits [at +Paris] is such that we do not know whether we shall succeed in mastering +it." This was true. Paris was almost beside herself. As M. Sorel says: +"The warm July evening drove into the streets a populace greedy of shows +and excitements, whose imagination was spoiled by the custom of +political quackery, for whom war was but a drama and history a +romance[28]." Such was the impulse which led to Gramont's new demand, +and it was made in spite of the remonstrances of the British ambassador, +Lord Lyons. + +[Footnote 28: Sorel, _Hist. diplomatique de la Guerre Franco-Allemande_, +vol. i. chap. iv.; also for the tone of the French Press, Giraudeau, _La +Vérité sur la Campagne de 1870_, pp. 46-60. + +Ollivier tried to persuade Sir M.E. Grant Duff (_Notes from a Diary, +1873-1881_, vol. i. p. 45) that the French demand to King William was +quite friendly and natural.] + +Viewing that demand in the clearer light of the present time, we must +say that it was not unreasonable in itself; but it was presented in so +insistent a way that King William declined to entertain it. Again +Gramont pressed Benedetti to urge the matter; but the utmost that the +King would do was to state: "He gives his approbation entirely and +without reserve to the withdrawal of the Prince of Hohenzollern: he +cannot do more." He refused to see the ambassador further on this +subject; but on setting out to return to Berlin--a step necessitated by +the growing excitement throughout Germany--he took leave of Benedetti +with perfect cordiality (July 14). The ambassador thereupon returned +to Paris. + +Meanwhile, however, Bismarck had given the last flick to the restive +courses of the Press on both sides of the Rhine. In his _Reminiscences_ +he has described his depression of spirits on hearing the news of the +withdrawal of Prince Leopold's candidature and of his nearly formed +resolve to resign as a protest against so tame a retreat before French +demands. But while Moltke, Roon, and he were dining together, a telegram +reached him from the King at Ems, dated July 13, 3.50 P.M., which gave +him leave to inform the ambassadors and the Press of the present state +of affairs. Bismarck saw his chance. The telegram could be cut down so +as to give a more resolute look to the whole affair. And, after gaining +Moltke's assurance that everything was ready for war, he proceeded to +condense it. The facts here can only be understood by a comparison of +the two versions. We therefore give the original as sent to Bismarck by +Abeken, Secretary to the Foreign Office, who was then at Ems:-- + + His Majesty writes to me: "Count Benedetti spoke to me on the + promenade, in order to demand from me, finally in a very + importunate manner, that I should authorise him to telegraph + at once that I bound myself for all future time never again + to give my consent if the Hohenzollerns should renew their + candidature. I refused at last somewhat sternly, as it is + neither right nor possible to undertake engagements of this + kind _à tout jamais_. Naturally I told him that I had as yet + received no news, and as he was earlier informed about Paris + and Madrid than myself, he could see clearly that my + Government once more had no hand in the matter." His Majesty + has since received a letter from the Prince. His Majesty + having told Count Benedetti that he was awaiting news from + the Prince, has decided, with reference to the above demand, + upon the representation of Count Eulenburg and myself, not to + receive Count Benedetti again, but only to let him be + informed through an aide-de-camp: "That his Majesty had now + received from the Prince confirmation of the news which + Benedetti had already received from Paris, and had nothing + further to say to the ambassador." His Majesty leaves it to + your Excellency whether Benedetti's fresh demand and its + rejection should not be at once communicated both to our + ambassadors and to the Press. + +Bismarck cut this down to the following:-- + + After the news of the renunciation of the hereditary Prince + of Hohenzollern had been officially communicated to the + Imperial Government of France by the Royal Government of + Spain, the French ambassador at Ems further demanded of his + Majesty, the King, that he would authorise him to telegraph + to Paris that his Majesty, the King, bound himself for all + future time never again to give his consent if the + Hohenzollerns should renew their candidature. His Majesty, + the King, thereupon decided not to receive the French + ambassador again, and sent to tell him through the + aide-de-camp on duty that his Majesty had nothing further to + communicate to the ambassador. + +Efforts have been made to represent Bismarck's "editing" of the Ems +telegram as the decisive step leading to war; and in his closing years, +when seized with the morbid desire of a partly discredited statesman to +exaggerate his influence on events, he himself sought to perpetuate this +version. He claims that the telegram, as it came from Ems, described the +incident there "as a fragment of a negotiation still pending, and to be +continued at Berlin." This claim is quite untenable. A careful perusal +of the original despatch from Ems shows that the negotiation, far from +being "still pending," was clearly described as having been closed on +that matter. That Benedetti so regarded it is proved by his returning at +once to Paris. If it could have been "continued at Berlin," he most +certainly would have proceeded thither. Finally, the words in the +original as to the King refusing Benedetti "somewhat sternly" were +omitted, and very properly omitted, by Bismarck in his abbreviated +version. Had he included those words, he might have claimed to be the +final cause of the War of 1870. As it is, his claim must be set aside as +the offspring of senile vanity. His version of the original Ems despatch +did not contain a single offensive word, neither did it alter any +statement. Abeken also admitted that his original telegram was far too +long, and that Bismarck was quite justified in abbreviating it as +he did[29]. + +[Footnote 29: _Heinrich Abeken_, by Hedwig Abeken, p. 375. Bismarck's +successor in the chancellory, Count Caprivi, set matters in their true +light in a speech in the Reichstag shortly after the publication of +Bismarck's _Reminiscences_. + +I dissent from the views expressed by the well-informed reviewer of +Ollivier's _L'Empire libéral_ (vol. viii.) in the _Times_ of May 27, +1904, who pins his faith to an interview of Bismarck with Lord Loftus on +July 13, 1870. Bismarck, of course wanted war; but so did Gramont, and I +hold that _the latter_ brought it about.] + +If we pay attention, not to the present more complete knowledge of the +whole affair, but to the imperfect information then open to the German +public, war was the natural result of the second and very urgent demand +that came from Paris. The Duc de Gramont in dispatching it must have +known that he was playing a desperate game. Either Prussia would give +way and France would score a diplomatic triumph over a hated rival; or +Prussia would fight. The friends of peace in France thought matters +hopeless when that demand was sent in so insistent a manner. As soon as +Gladstone heard of the second demand of the Ollivier Ministry, he wrote +to Lord Granville, then Foreign Minister: "It is our duty to represent +the immense responsibility which will rest upon France, if she does not +at once accept as satisfactory and conclusive the withdrawal of the +candidature of Prince Leopold[30]." + +[Footnote 30: J. Morley, _Life of Gladstone_, vol. ii. p. 328.] + +On the other hand, we must note that the conduct of the German Press at +this crisis was certainly provocative of war. The morning on which +Bismarck's telegram appeared in the official _North German Gazette_, saw +a host of violent articles against France, and gleeful accounts of +imaginary insults inflicted by the King on Benedetti. All this was to be +expected after the taunts of cowardice freely levelled by the Parisian +papers against Prussia for the last two days; but whether Bismarck +directly inspired the many sensational versions of the Ems affair that +appeared in North German papers on July 14 is not yet proven. + +However that may be, the French Government looked on the refusal of its +last demand, the publication of Bismarck's telegram, and the insults of +the German Press as a _casus belli_. The details of the sitting of the +Emperor's Council at 10 P.M. on July 14, at which it was decided to call +out the French reserves, are not yet known. Ollivier was not present. +There had been a few hours of wavering on this question; but the tone of +the Parisian evening papers--it was the French national day--the loud +cries of the rabble for war, and their smashing the windows of the +Prussian embassy, seem to have convinced the Emperor and his advisers +that to draw back now would involve the fall of the dynasty. Report has +uniformly pointed to the Empress as pressing these ideas on her +consort, and the account which the Duc de Gramont later on gave to Lord +Malmesbury of her words at that momentous Council-meeting support +popular rumour. It is as follows:-- + + Before the final resolve to declare war the Emperor, Empress, + and Ministers went to St. Cloud. After some discussion + Gramont told me that the Empress, a high-spirited and + impressionable woman, made a strong and most excited address, + declaring that "war was inevitable if the honour of France + was to be sustained." She was immediately followed by Marshal + Leboeuf, who, in the most violent tone, threw down his + portfolio and swore that if war was not declared he would + give it up and renounce his military rank. The Emperor gave + way, and Gramont went straight to the Chamber to announce the + fatal news[31]. + +[Footnote 31: This version has, I believe, not been refuted. Still, I +must look on it with suspicion. No Minister, who had done so much to +stir up the war-feeling, ought to have made any such confession--least +of all against a lady, who could not answer it. M. Seignobos in his +_Political History of Contemporary Europe_, vol. i. chap. vi. p. 184 +(Eng edit.) says of Gramont: "He it was who embroiled France in the war +with Prussia." In the course of the parliamentary inquiry of 1872 +Gramont convicted himself and his Cabinet of folly in 1870 by using +these words: "Je crois pouvoir déclarer que si on avait eu un doute, un +seule doute, sur notre aptitude à la guerre, on eût immédiatement arrêté +la négociation" (_Enquête parlementaire_, I. vol. i. p. 108).] + +On the morrow (July 15) the Chamber of Deputies appointed a Commission, +which hastily examined the diplomatic documents and reported in a sense +favourable to the Ollivier Ministry. The subsequent debate made strongly +for a rupture; and it is important to note that Ollivier and Gramont +based the demand for warlike preparations on the fact that King William +had refused to see the French ambassador, and held that that alone was a +sufficient insult. In vain did Thiers protest against the war as +inopportune, and demand to see all the necessary documents. The Chamber +passed the war supplies by 246 votes to 10; and Thiers had his windows +broken. Late on that night Gramont set aside a last attempt of Lord +Granville to offer the mediation of England in the cause of peace, on +the ground that this would be to the harm of France--"unless means were +found to stop the rapid mobilisation of the Prussian armies which were +approaching our frontier[32]." In this connection it is needful to state +that the order for mobilising the North German troops was not given by +the King of Prussia until late on July 15, when the war votes of the +French Chambers were known at Berlin. + +[Footnote 32: Quoted by Sorel, _op. cit_. vol. i. p. 196.] + +Benedetti, in his review of the whole question, passes the following +very noteworthy and sensible verdict: "It was public opinion which +forced the [French] Government to draw the sword, and by an irresistible +onset dictated its resolutions[33]." This is certainly true for the +public opinion of Paris, though not of France as a whole. The rural +districts which form the real strength of France nearly always cling to +peace. It is significant that the Prefects of French Departments +reported that only 16 declared in favour of war, while 37 were in doubt +on the matter, and 34 accepted war with regret. This is what might be +expected from a people which in the Provinces is marked by prudence +and thrift. + +[Footnote 33: Benedetti, _Ma Mission en Prusse,_ p. 411.] + +In truth, the people of modern Europe have settled down to a life of +peaceful industry, in which war is the most hateful of evils. On the +other hand, the massing of mankind in great cities, where thought is +superficial and feelings can quickly be stirred by a sensation-mongering +Press, has undoubtedly helped to feed political passions and national +hatred. A rural population is not deeply stirred by stories of slights +to ambassadors. The peasant of Brittany had no active dislike for the +peasant of Brandenburg. Each only asked to be left to till his fields in +peace and safety. But the crowds on the Parisian boulevards and in +_Unter den Linden_ took (and seemingly always will take) a very +different view of life. To them the news of the humiliation of the rival +beyond the Rhine was the greatest and therefore the most welcome of +sensations; and, unfortunately, the papers which pandered to their +habits set the tone of thought for no small part of France and Germany +and exerted on national policy an influence out of all proportion to its +real weight. + +The story of the Franco-German dispute is one of national jealousy +carefully fanned for four years by newspaper editors and popular +speakers until a spark sufficed to set Western Europe in a blaze. The +spark was the Hohenzollern candidature, which would have fallen harmless +had not the tinder been prepared since Königgratz by journalists at +Paris and Berlin. The resulting conflagration may justly be described as +due partly to national friction and partly to the supposed interests of +the Napoleonic dynasty, but also to the heat engendered by a +sensational Press. + +It is well that one of the chief dangers to the peace of the modern +world should be clearly recognised. The centralisation of governments +and of population may have its advantages; but over against them we must +set grave drawbacks; among those of a political kind the worst are the +growth of nervousness and excitability, and the craving for +sensation--qualities which undoubtedly tend to embitter national +jealousies at all times, and in the last case to drive weak dynasties or +Cabinets on to war. Certainly Bismarck's clever shifts to bring about a +rupture in 1870 would have failed had not the atmosphere both at Paris +and Berlin been charged with electricity[34]. + +[Footnote 34: Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern died at Berlin on June 8, +1905. He was born in 1835, and in 1861 married the Infanta of Portugal.] + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FROM WÖRTH TO GRAVELOTTE + + "The Chief of the General Staff had his eye fixed from the + first upon the capture of the enemy's capital, the possession + of which is of more importance in France than in other + countries. . . . It is a delusion to believe that a plan of war + may be laid for a prolonged period and carried out in every + point."--VON MOLTKE, _The Franco-German War_. + + +In olden times, before the invention of long-range arms of precision, +warfare was decided mainly by individual bravery and strength. In the +modern world victory has inclined more and more to that side which +carefully prepares beforehand to throw a force, superior alike in +armament and numbers, against the vitals of its enemy. Assuming that the +combatants are fairly equal in physical qualities--and the spread of +liberty has undoubtedly lessened the great differences that once were +observable in this respect among European peoples--war becomes largely +an affair of preliminary organisation. That is to say, it is now a +matter of brain rather than muscle. Writers of the school of Carlyle may +protest that all modern warfare is tame when compared with the +splendidly rampant animalism of the Homeric fights. In the interests of +Humanity it is to be hoped that the change will go on until war becomes +wholly scientific and utterly unattractive. Meanwhile, the +soldier-caste, the politician, and the tax-payer have to face the fact +that the fortunes of war are very largely decided by humdrum costly +preparations in time of peace. + +The last chapter set forth the causes that led to war in 1870. That +event found Germany fully prepared. The lessons of the campaign of 1866 +had not been lost upon the Prussian General Staff. The artillery was +improved alike in _matériel_ and in drill-tactics, Napoleon I.'s plan of +bringing massed batteries to bear on decisive points being developed +with Prussian thoroughness. The cavalry learnt to scout effectively and +act as "the eyes and ears of an army," as well as to charge in brigades +on a wavering foe. Universal military service had been compulsory in +Prussia since 1813; but the organisation of territorial army corps now +received fuller development, so that each part of Prussia, including, +too, most of the North German Confederation, had its own small army +complete in all arms, and reinforced from the Reserve, and, at need, +from the Landwehr[35]. By virtue of the military conventions of 1866, +the other German States adopted a similar system, save that while +Prussians served for three years (with few exceptions in the case of +successful examinees), the South Germans served with the colours for a +shorter period. Those conventions also secured uniformity, or harmony, +in the railway arrangements for the transport of troops. + +[Footnote 35: By the Prussian law of November 9, 1867, soldiers had to +serve three years with the colours, four in the reserve, and five in the +Landwehr. Three new army corps (9th, 10th, and 11th) were formed in the +newly annexed or confederated lands, Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Saxony, etc. +(Maurice, _The Franco-German War_, 1900).] + +The General Staff of the North German Army had used these advantages to +the utmost, by preparing a most complete plan of mobilisation--so +complete, in fact, that the myriad orders had only to be drawn from +their pigeon-holes and dated in the last hours of July 15. Forthwith the +whole of the vast machinery started in swift but smooth working. +Reservists speedily appeared at their regimental depôts, there found +their equipment, and speedily brought their regiments up to the war +footing; trains were ready, timed according to an elaborate plan, to +carry them Rhinewards; provisions and stores were sent forward, _ohne +Hast, ohne Rast_, as the Germans say; and so perfect were the plans on +rail, river, and road, that none of those blocks occurred which +frequently upset the plans of the French. Thus, by dint of plodding +preparation, a group of federal States gained a decisive advantage over +a centralised Empire which left too many things to be arranged in the +last few hours. + +Herein lies the true significance of the War of 1870. All Governments +that were not content to jog along in the old military ruts saw the need +of careful organisation, including the eventual control of all needful +means of transport; and all that were wise hastened to adapt their +system to the new order of things, which aimed at assuring the swift +orderly movement of great masses of men by all the resources of +mechanical science. Most of the civilised States soon responded to the +new needs of the age; but a few (among them Great Britain) were content +to make one or two superficial changes and slightly increase the number +of troops, while leaving the all-important matter of organisation almost +untouched; and that, too, despite the vivid contrast which every one +could see between the machine-like regularity of the German mobilisation +and the chaos that reigned on the French side. + +Outwardly, the French army appeared to be beyond the reach of criticism. +The troops had in large measure seen active service in the various wars +whereby Napoleon III. fulfilled his promise of 1852--"The Empire is +peace"; and their successes in the Crimea, Lombardy, Syria, and China, +everywhere in fact but Mexico, filled them with warlike pride. Armed +with the _chassepôt_, a newer and better rifle than the needle-gun, +while their artillery (admittedly rather weak) was strengthened by the +_mitrailleuse_, they claimed to be the best in the world, and burned to +measure swords with the upstart forces of Prussia. + +[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF THE DISTRICT BETWEEN METZ AND THE RHINE.] + +But there was a sombre reverse to this bright side. All thinking +Frenchmen, including the Emperor, were aware of grave defects--the lack +of training of the officers[36], and the want of adaptability in the +General Staff, which had little of that practical knowledge that the +German Staff secured by periods of service with the troops. Add to this +the leaven of republicanism working strongly in the army as in the +State, and producing distrust between officers and men; above all, the +lack of men and materials; and the outlook was not reassuring to those +who knew the whole truth. Inclusive of the levies of the year 1869, +which were not quite ready for active service, France would have by +August 1, 1870, as many as 567,000 men in her regular army; but of these +colonial, garrison, and other duties claimed as many as 230,000--a +figure which seems designed to include the troops that existed only on +paper. Not only the _personnel_ but the _matériel_ came far below what +was expected. General Leboeuf, the War Minister, ventured to declare +that all was ready even to the last button on the gaiters; but his boast +at once rang false when at scores of military depôts neither gaiters, +boots, nor uniforms were ready for the reservists who needed them. + +[Footnote 36: M. de la Gorce in his _Histoire du second Empire_, vol. +vi., tells how the French officers scouted study of the art of war, +while most of them looked on favouritism as the only means of promotion. +The warnings of Colonel Stoffel, French Military Attaché at Berlin, were +passed over, as those of "a Prussomane, whom Bismarck had fascinated."] + +Even where the organisation worked at its best, that best was slow and +confused. There were no territorial army corps in time of peace; and the +lack of this organisation led to a grievous waste of time and energy. +Regiments were frequently far away from the depôts which contained the +reservists' equipment; and when these had found their equipment, they +often wandered widely before finding their regiments on the way to the +frontier. One general officer hunted about on the frontier for a command +which did not exist. As a result of this lack of organisation, and of +that control over the railways which the Germans had methodically +enforced, France lost the many advantages which her compact territory +and excellent railway system ought to have ensured over her more +straggling and poorer rival. + +The loss of time was as fatal as it was singular under the rule of a +Napoleon whose uncle had so often shattered his foes by swift movements +of troops. In 1870 Napoleonic France had nothing but speed and dash on +which to count. Numbers were against her. In 1869 Marshal Leboeuf had +done away with the Garde Mobile, a sort of militia which had involved +only fifteen days' drill in the year; and the Garde Nationale of the +towns was less fit for campaigning than the re-formed Mobiles proved to +be later on in the war. Thus France had no reserves: everything rested +on the 330,000 men struggling towards the frontiers. It is doubtful +whether there were more than 220,000 men in the first line by August 6, +with some 50,000 more in reserve at Metz, etc. + +Against them Germany could at once put into the field 460,000 infantry, +56,000 cavalry, with 1584 cannon; and she could raise these forces to +some 1,180,000 men by calling out all the reserves and Landwehr. These +last were men who had served their time and had not, as a rule, lost +their soldierly qualities in civil life. Nearly 400,000 highly trained +troops were ready to invade France early in August. + +In view of these facts it seems incredible that Ollivier, the French +Prime Minister, could have publicly stated that he entered on war with a +light heart. Doubtless, Ministers counted on help from Austria or Italy, +perhaps from both; but, as it proved, they judged too hastily. As was +stated in Chapter I. of this work, Austria was not likely to move as +long as Russia favoured the cause of Prussia; for any threatening +pressure of the Muscovites on the open flank of the Hapsburg States, +Galicia, has sufficed to keep them from embarking on a campaign in the +West. In this case, the statesmen of Vienna are said to have known by +July 20 that Russia would quietly help Prussia; she informed the +Hapsburg Government that any increase in its armaments would be met by a +corresponding increase in those of Russia. The meaning of such a hint +was clear; and Austria decided not to seek revenge for Königgrätz unless +the French triumph proved to be overwhelming. As for Italy, her alliance +with France alone was very improbable for the reasons previously stated. + +Another will o' the wisp which flitted before the ardent Bonapartists +who pushed on the Emperor to war, was that the South German States would +forsake the North and range their troops under the French eagles, as +they had done in the years 1805-12. The first plan of campaign drawn up +at Paris aimed at driving a solid wedge of French troops between the two +Confederations and inducing or compelling the South to join France; it +was hoped that Saxony would follow. As a matter of fact, very many of +the South Germans and Saxons disliked Prussian supremacy; Catholic +Bavaria looked askance at the growing power of Protestant Prussia. +Würtemberg was Protestant, but far too democratic to wish for the +control of the cast-iron bureaucrats of Berlin. The same was even more +true of Saxony, where hostility to Prussia was a deep-rooted tradition; +some of the Saxon troops on leaving their towns even shouted _Napoleon +soll leben_[37]. It is therefore quite possible that, had France struck +quickly at the valleys of the Neckar and Main, she might have reduced +the South German States to neutrality. Alliance perhaps was out of the +question save under overwhelming compulsion; for France had alienated +the Bavarian and Hessian Governments by her claims in 1866, and the +South German people by her recent offensive treatment of the +Hohenzollern candidature. It is, however, safe to assert that if +Napoleon I. had ordered French affairs he would have swept the South +Germans into his net a month after the outbreak of war, as he had done +in 1805. But Nature had not bestowed warlike gifts on the nephew, who +took command of the French army at Metz at the close of July 1870. His +feeble health, alternating with periods of severe pain, took from him +all that buoyancy which lends life to an army and vigour to the +headquarters; and his Chief of Staff, Leboeuf, did not make good the +lack of these qualities in the nominal chief. + +[Footnote 37: _I.e._ "Long live Napoleon." The author had this from an +Englishman who was then living in Saxony.] + +All the initiative and vigour were on the east of the Rhine. The spread +of the national principle to Central and South Germany had recently met +with several checks; but the diplomatic blunders of the French +Government, the threats of their Press that the Napoleonic troops would +repeat the wonders of 1805; above all, admiration of the dignified +conduct of King William under what were thought to be gratuitous insults +from France, began to kindle the flame of German patriotism even in the +particularists of the South. The news that the deservedly popular Crown +Prince of Prussia, Frederick William, would command the army now +mustering in the Palatinate, largely composed of South Germans, sent a +thrill of joy through those States. Taught by the folly of her +stay-at-home strategy in 1866, Bavaria readily sent her large contingent +beyond the Rhine; and all danger of a French irruption into South +Germany was ended by the speedy massing of the Third German Army, some +200,000 strong in all, on the north of Alsace. For the French to cross +the Rhine at Speyer, or even at Kehl, in front of a greatly superior +army (though as yet they knew not its actual strength) was clearly +impossible; and in the closing hours of July the French headquarters +fell back on other plans, which, speaking generally, were to defend the +French frontier from the Moselle to the Rhine by striking at the +advanced German troops. At least, that seems to be the most natural +explanation of the sudden and rather flurried changes then made. + +It was wise to hide this change to a strategic defensive by assuming a +tactical offensive; and on August 2 two divisions of Frossard's corps +attacked and drove back the advanced troops of the Second German Army +from Saarbrücken. The affair was unimportant: it could lead to nothing, +unless the French had the means of following up the success. This they +had not; and the advance of the First and Second German Armies, +commanded by General Steinmetz and Prince Frederick Charles, was soon to +deprive them of this position. + +Meanwhile the Germans were making ready a weighty enterprise. The +muster of the huge Third Army to the north of Alsace enabled their +General Staff to fix August 4 for a general advance against that +frontier. It fell to this army, under the Crown Prince of Prussia, +Frederick William, to strike the first great blow. Early on August 4 a +strong Bavarian division advanced against the small fortified town of +Weissenburg, which lies deep down in the valley of the Lauter, +surrounded by lofty hills. There it surprised a weak French division, +the vanguard of MacMahon's army, commanded by General Abel Douay, whose +scouts had found no trace of the advancing enemy. About 10 A.M. Douay +fell, mortally wounded; another German division, working round the town +to the east, carried the strong position of the Geisberg; and these +combined efforts, frontal and on the flank, forced the French hastily to +retreat westwards over the hills to Wörth, after losing more than +2000 men. + +The news of this reverse and of the large German forces ready to pour +into the north of Alsace led the Emperor to order the 7th French corps +at Belfort, and the 5th in and around Bitsch, to send reinforcements to +MacMahon, whose main force held the steep and wooded hills between the +villages of Wörth, Fröschweiler, and Reichshofen. The line of railway +between Strassburg and Bitsch touches Reichshofen; but, for some reason +that has never been satisfactorily explained, MacMahon was able to draw +up only one division from the side of Strassburg and Belfort, and not +one from Bitsch, which was within an easy march. The fact seems to be +that de Failly, in command at Bitsch, was a prey to conflicting orders +from Metz, and therefore failed to bring up the 5th corps as he should +have done. MacMahon's cavalry was also very defective in scouting, and +he knew nothing as to the strength of the forces rapidly drawing near +from Weissenburg and the east. + +Certainly his position at Wörth was very strong. The French lines were +ranged along the steep wooded slope running north and south, with +buttress-like projections, intersected by gullies, the whole leading up +to a plateau on which stand the village of Fröschweiler and the hamlet +of Elsasshausen. Behind is the wood called the Grosser Wald, while the +hamlet is flanked on the south and in front by an outlying wood, the +Niederwald. Behind the Grosser Wald the ground sinks away to the valley +in which runs the Bitsch-Reichshofen railway. In front of MacMahon's +position lay the village of Wörth, deep in the valley of the Sauerbach. +The invader would therefore have to carry this village or cross the +stream, and press up the long open slopes on which were ranged the +French troops and batteries with all the advantages of cover and +elevation on their side. A poor general, having forces smaller than +those of his enemy, might hope to hold such a position. But there was +one great defect. Owing to de Failly's absence MacMahon had not enough +men to hold the whole of the position marked out by Nature for defence. + +Conscious of its strength, the Prussian Crown Prince ordered the leaders +of his vanguard not to bring on a general engagement on August 6, when +the invading army had not at hand its full striking strength[38]. But +orders failed to hold in the ardour of the Germans under the attacks of +the French. Affairs of outposts along the Sauerbach early on that +morning brought on a serious fight, which up to noon went against the +invaders. At that time the Crown Prince galloped to the front, and +ordered an attack with all available forces. The fighting, hitherto +fierce but spasmodic between division and division, was now fed by a +steady stream of German reinforcements, until 87,000 of the invaders +sought to wrest from MacMahon the heights, with their woods and +villages, which he had but 54,000 to defend. The superiority of numbers +soon made itself felt. Pursuant to the Crown Prince's orders, parts of +two Bavarian corps began to work their way (but with one strangely long +interval of inaction) through the wood to the north of the French left +wing; on the Prussian 11th corps fell the severer task of winning their +way up the slopes south of Wörth, and thence up to the Niederwald and +Elsasshausen. When these woods were won, the 5th corps was to make its +frontal attack from Wörth against Fröschweiler. Despite the desperate +efforts of the French and their Turco regiments, and a splendid but +hopeless charge of two regiments of Cuirassiers and one of Lancers +against the German infantry, the Niederwald and Elsasshausen were won; +and about four o'clock the sustained fire of fifteen German batteries +against Fröschweiler enabled the 5th corps to struggle up that deadly +glacis in spite of desperate charges by the defenders. + +[Footnote 38: See von Blumenthal's _Journals_, p. 87 (Eng. edit.): "The +battle which I had expected to take place on the 7th, and for which I +had prepared a good scheme for turning the enemy's right flank, came on +of itself to-day."] + +Throughout the day the French showed their usual dash and devotion, some +regiments being cut to pieces rather than retire. But by five o'clock +the defence was outflanked on the two wings and crushed at the centre; +human nature could stand no more after eight hours' fighting; and after +a final despairing effort of the French Cuirassiers all their line gave +way in a general rout down the slopes to Reichshofen and towards +Saverne. Apart from the Würtembergers held in reserve, few of the +Germans were in a condition to press the pursuit. Nevertheless the +fruits of victory were very great: 10,000 Frenchmen lay dead or wounded; +6000 unwounded prisoners were taken, with 28 cannon and 5 mitrailleuses. +Above all, MacMahon's fine army was utterly broken, and made no attempt +to defend any of the positions on the north of the Vosges. Not even a +tunnel was there blown up to delay the advance of the Germans. Hastily +gathering up the 5th corps from Bitsch--the corps which ought to have +been at Wörth--that gallant but unfortunate general struck out to the +south-west for the great camp at Châlons. The triumph, however, cost the +Germans dear. As many as 10,600 men were killed or wounded, the 5th +Prussian corps alone losing more than half that number. Their cavalry +failed to keep touch with the retreating French. + +On that same day (August 6) a disaster scarcely less serious overtook +the French 2nd corps, which had been holding Saarbrücken. Convinced that +that post was too advanced and too weak in presence of the foremost +divisions of the First and Second German Armies now advancing rapidly +against it, General Frossard drew back his vanguard some mile and a half +to the line of steep hills between Spicheren and Forbach, just within +the French frontier. This retreat, as it seemed, tempted General Kameke +to attack with a single division, as he was justified in doing in order +to find the direction and strength of the retiring force. The attack, +when pushed home, showed that the French were bent on making a stand on +their commanding heights; and an onset on the Rothe Berg was stoutly +beaten off about noon. + +But now the speedy advance and intelligent co-operation of other German +columns was instrumental in turning an inconsiderable repulse into an +important victory. General Göben was not far off, and marching towards +the firing, sent to offer his help with the 8th corps. General von +Alvensleben, also, with the 3rd corps had reached Neunkirchen when the +sound of firing near Saarbrücken led him to push on for that place with +the utmost speed. He entrained part of his corps and brought it up in +time to strengthen the attack on the Rothe Berg and other heights nearer +to Forbach. Each battalion as it arrived was hurled forward, and General +von François, charging with his regiment, gained a lodgment half-way up +the broken slope of the Rothe Berg, which was stoutly maintained even +when he fell mortally wounded. Elsewhere the onsets were repelled by the +French, who, despite their smaller numbers, kept up a sturdy resistance +on the line of hills in the woods behind, and in the iron-works in front +of Forbach. Even when the Germans carried the top of the Rothe Berg, +their ranks were riddled by a cross fire; but by incredible exertions +they managed to bring guns to the summit and retaliate with effect[39]. + +[Footnote 39: For these details about the fighting at the Rothe Berg I +am largely indebted to my friend, Mr. Bernard Pares, M.A., who has made +a careful study of the ground there, as also at Wörth and Sedan.] + +This, together with the outflanking movement which their increasing +numbers enabled them to carry out against the French left wing at +Forbach, decided the day; and Frossard's corps fell back shattered +towards the corps of Bazaine. It is noteworthy that this was but nine or +ten miles to the rear. Bazaine had ordered three divisions to march +towards the firing: one made for a wrong point and returned; the others +made half-hearted efforts, and thus left Frossard to be overborne by +numbers. The result of these disjointed movements was that both Frossard +and Bazaine hurriedly retired towards Metz, while the First and Second +German Armies now gathered up all their strength with the aim of +shutting up the French in that fortress. To this end the First Army made +for Colombey, east of Metz, while the leading part of the Second Army +purposed to cross the Moselle south of Metz, and circle round that +stronghold on the west. + +It is now time to turn to the French headquarters. These two crushing +defeats on a single day utterly dashed Napoleon's plan of a spirited +defence of the north-east frontier, until such time as the levies of +1869 should be ready, or Austria and Italy should draw the sword. On +July 26 the Austrian ambassador assured the French Ministry that Austria +was pushing on her preparations. Victor Emmanuel was with difficulty +restrained by his Ministers from openly taking the side of France. On +the night of August 6 he received telegraphic news of the Battles of +Wörth and Forbach, whereupon he exclaimed, "Poor Emperor! I pity him, +but I have had a lucky escape." Austria also drew back, and thus left +France face to face with the naked truth that she stood alone and +unready before a united and triumphant Germany, able to pour treble her +own forces through the open portals of Lorraine and northern Alsace. + +Napoleon III., to do him justice, had never cherished the wild dreams +that haunted the minds of his consort and of the frothy "Mamelukes" +lately in favour at Court; still less did the "silent man of destiny" +indulge in the idle boasts that had helped to alienate the sympathy of +Europe and to weld together Germany to withstand the blows of a second +Napoleonic invasion. The nephew knew full well that he was not the Great +Napoleon--he knew it before Victor Hugo in spiteful verse vainly sought +to dub him the Little. True, his statesmanship proved to be mere dreamy +philosophising about nationalities; his administrative powers, small at +the best, were ever clogged by his too generous desire to reward his +fellow-conspirators of the _coup d'état_ of 1851; and his gifts for war +were scarcely greater than those of the other _Napoléonides_, Joseph and +Jerome. Nevertheless the reverses of his early life had strengthened +that fund of quiet stoicism, that energy to resist if not to dare, which +formed the backbone of an otherwise somewhat weak, shadowy, and +uninspiring character. And now, in the rapid fall of his fortunes, the +greatest adventurer of the nineteenth century showed to the full those +qualities of toughness and dignified reserve which for twenty years had +puzzled and imposed on that lively emotional people. By the side of the +downcast braggarts of the Court and the unstrung screamers of the +Parisian Press, his mien had something of the heroic. _Tout peut se +rétablir_--"All may yet be set right"--such was the vague but dignified +phrase in which he summarised the results of August 6 to his people. + +The military situation now required a prompt retirement beyond the +Moselle. The southerly line of retreat, which MacMahon and de Failly had +been driven to take, forbade the hope of their junction with the main +army at Metz in time to oppose a united front to the enemy. And it was +soon known that their flight could not be stayed at Nancy or even at +Toul. During the agony of suspense as to their movements and those of +their German pursuers, the Emperor daily changed his plans. First, he +and Leboeuf planned a retreat beyond the Moselle and Meuse; next, +political considerations bade them stand firm on the banks of the Nied, +some twelve miles east of Metz; and when this position seemed unsafe, +they ended the marchings and counter-marchings of their troops by taking +up a position at Colombey, nearer to Metz. + +Meanwhile at Paris the Chamber of Deputies had overthrown the Ollivier +Ministry, and the Empress-Regent installed in office Count Palikao. +There was a general outcry against Leboeuf, and on the 12th the Emperor +resigned the command to Marshal Bazaine (Lebrun now acting as Chief of +Staff), with the injunction to retreat westwards to Verdun. For the +Emperor to order such a retreat in his own name was thought to be +inopportune. Bazaine was a convenient scapegoat, and he himself knew it. +Had he thrown an army corps into Metz and obeyed the Emperor's orders by +retreating on Verdun, things would certainly have gone better than was +now to be the case. In his printed defence Bazaine has urged that the +army had not enough provisions for the march, and, further, that the +outlying forts of Metz were not yet ready to withstand a siege--a +circumstance which, if true, partly explains Bazaine's reluctance to +leave the "virgin city[40]." Napoleon III. quitted it early on the 16th: +he and his escort were the last Frenchmen to get free of that death-trap +for many a week. + +[Footnote 40: Bazaine gave this excuse in his _Rapport sommaire sur les +Opérations de l'Armée du Rhin_; but as a staff-officer pointed out in +his incisive _Réponse_, this reason must have been equally cogent when +Napoleon (August 12) ordered him to retreat; and he was still bound to +obey the Emperor's orders.] + +While Metz exercised this fatal fascination over the protecting army, +the First and Second German Armies were striding westwards to envelop +both the city and its guardians. Moltke's aim was to hold as many of the +French to the neighbourhood of the fortress, while his left wing swung +round it on the south. The result was the battle of Colombey on the east +of Metz (August 14). It was a stubborn fight, costing the Germans some +5000 men, while the French with smaller losses finally withdrew under +the eastern walls of Metz. But that heavy loss meant a great ultimate +gain to Germany. The vacillations of Bazaine, whose strategy was far +more faulty than that of Napoleon III. had been, together with the delay +caused by the defiling of a great part of the army through the narrow +streets of Metz, gave the Germans an opportunity such as had not +occurred since the year 1805, when Napoleon I. shut up an Austrian +army in Ulm. + +The man who now saw the splendid chance of which Fortune vouchsafed a +glimpse, was Lieutenant-General von Alvensleben, Commander of the 3rd +corps, whose activity and resource had so largely contributed +to the victory of Spicheren-Forbach. Though the orders of his +Commander-in-Chief, Prince Frederick Charles, forbade an advance until +the situation in front was more fully known, the General heard enough to +convince himself that a rapid advance southwards to and over the Moselle +might enable him to intercept the French retreat on Verdun, which might +now be looked on as certain. Reporting his conviction to his chief as +also to the royal headquarters, he struck out with all speed on the +15th, quietly threw a bridge over the river, and sent on his advanced +guard as far as Pagny, near Gorze, while all his corps, about 33,000 +strong, crossed the river about midnight. Soon after dawn, he pushed on +towards Gorze, knowing by this time that the other corps of the Second +Army were following him, while the 7th and 8th corps of the First Army +were about to cross the river nearly opposite that town. + +This bold movement, which would have drawn on him sharp censure in case +of overthrow, was more than justifiable seeing the discouraged state of +the French troops, the supreme need of finding their line of retreat, +and the splendid results that must follow on the interception of that +retreat. The operations of war must always be attended with risk, and +the great commander is he whose knowledge of the principles of strategy +enables him quickly to see when the final gain warrants the running of +risks, and how they may be met with the least likelihood of disaster. + +Alvensleben's advance was in accordance with Moltke's general plan of +operations; but that corps-leader, finding the French to be in force +between him and Metz, determined to attack them in order to delay their +retreat. The result was the battle of August 16, variously known as +Vionville, Rezonville, or Mars-la-Tour--a battle that defies brief +description, inasmuch as it represented the effort of the Third, or +Brandenburg, corps, with little help at first from others, to hold its +ground against the onsets of two French corps. Early in the fight +Bazaine galloped up, but he did not bring forward the masses in his +rear, probably because he feared to be cut off from Metz. Even so, all +through the forenoon, it seemed that the gathering forces of the French +must break through the thin lines audaciously thrust into that almost +open plain on the flank of their line of march. But Alvensleben and his +men held their ground with a dogged will that nothing could shatter. In +one sense their audacity saved them. Bazaine for a long time could not +believe that a single corps would throw itself against one of the two +roads by which his great army was about to retreat. He believed that the +northern road might also be in danger, and therefore did not launch at +Alvensleben the solid masses that must have swept him back towards the +Meuse. At noon four battalions of the German 10th corps struggled up +from the south and took their share of the hitherto unequal fight. + +But the crisis of the fight came a little later. It was marked by one of +the most daring and effective strokes ever dealt in modern warfare. At 2 +o'clock, when the advance of Canrobert's 6th corps towards Vionville +threatened to sweep away the wearied Brandenburgers, six squadrons of +the 7th regiment of Cuirassiers with a few Uhlans flung themselves on +the new lines of foemen, not to overpower them--that was impossible--but +to delay their advance and weaken their impact. Only half of the brave +horsemen returned from that ride of death, but they gained their end. + +The mad charge drove deep into the French array about Rezonville, and +gave their leaders pause in the belief that it was but the first of a +series of systematic attacks on the French left. System rather than dash +was supposed to characterise German tactics; and the daring of their +enemies for once made the French too methodical. Bazaine scarcely +brought the 3rd corps and the Guard into action at all, but kept them +in reserve. As the afternoon sun waned, the whole weight of the German +10th corps was thrown into the fight about Vionville, and the vanguards +of the 8th and 9th came up from Gorze to threaten the French left. +Fearing that he might be cut off from Metz on the south--a fear which +had unaccountably haunted him all the day--Bazaine continued to feed +that part of his lines; and thus Alvensleben was able to hold the +positions near the southern road to Verdun, which he had seized in the +morning. The day closed with a great cavalry combat on the German left +wing in which the French had to give way. Darkness alone put an end to +the deadly strife. Little more than two German corps had sufficed to +stay the march of an army which potentially numbered in all more than +170,000 men. + +On both sides the losses were enormous, namely, some 16,000 killed and +wounded. No cannon, standards, or prisoners were taken; but on that day +the army of Prince Frederick Charles practically captured the whole of +Bazaine's army. The statement may seem overdrawn, but it is none the +less true. The advance of other German troops on that night made +Bazaine's escape from Metz far more difficult than before, and very +early on the morrow he drew back his lines through Gravelotte to a +strong position nearer Metz. Thus, a battle, which in a tactical sense +seemed to be inconclusive, became, when viewed in the light of strategy, +the most decisive of the war. Had Bazaine used even the forces which he +had in the field ready to hand he must have overborne Alvensleben; and +the arrival of 170,000 good troops at Verdun or Châlons would have +changed the whole course of the war. The campaign would probably have +followed the course of the many campaigns waged in the valleys of the +Meuse and Marne; and Metz, held by a garrison of suitable size, might +have defied the efforts of a large besieging army for fully six months. +These conjectures are not fanciful. The duration of the food supply of a +garrison cut off from the outside world varies inversely with the size +of that garrison. The experiences of armies invading and defending the +East of France also show with general accuracy what might have been +expected if the rules of sound strategy had been observed. It was the +actual course of events which transcended experience and set all +probabilities at defiance. + +The battle of Gravelotte, or St. Privat, on the 18th completed the work +so hardily begun by the 3rd German corps on the 16th. The need of +driving back Bazaine's army upon Metz was pressing, and his inaction on +the 17th gave time for nearly all the forces of the First and Second +German Armies to be brought up to the German positions, some nine miles +west of Metz, though one corps was left to the east of that fortress to +hinder any attempt of the French to break out on that side. Bazaine, +however, massed his great army on the west along a ridge stretching +north and south, and presenting, especially in the southern half, steep +slopes to the assailants. It also sloped away to the rear, thus enabling +the defenders (as was the case with Wellington at Waterloo) secretly to +reinforce any part of the line. On the French left wing, too, the slopes +curved inward, thus giving the defenders ample advantage against any +flanking movements on that side. On the north, between Amanvillers and +Ste. Marie-aux-Chênes, the defence had fewer strong points except those +villages, the Jaumont Wood, and the gradual slope of the ground away to +the little River Orne, which formed an open glacis. Bazaine massed his +reserves on the plateau of Plappeville and to the rear of his left wing; +but this cardinal fault in his dispositions--due to his haunting fear of +being cut off from Metz--was long hidden by the woods and slopes in the +rear of his centre. The position here and on the French left was very +strong, and at several parts so far concealed the troops that up to 11 +A.M. the advancing Germans were in doubt whether the French would not +seek to break away towards the north-west. That so great an army would +remain merely on the defensive, a course so repugnant to the ardour of +the French nature and the traditions of their army, entered into the +thoughts of few. + +Yet such was the case. The solution of the riddle is to be found in +Bazaine's despatch of August 17 to the Minister of War: "We are going to +put forth every effort to make good our supplies of all kinds in order +to resume our march in two days if that is possible[41]." That the army +was badly hampered by lack of stores is certain; but to postpone even +for a single day the march to Verdun by the northern road--that by way +of Briey--was fatal. Possibly, however, he hoped to deal the Germans so +serious a blow, if they attacked him on the 18th, as to lighten the +heavy task of cutting his way out on the 19th. + +[Footnote 41: Bazaine, _Rapport sommaire, etc._ The sentence quoted +above is decisive. The defence which Bazaine and his few defenders later +on put forward, as well as the attacks of his foes, are of course mixed +up with theories evolved _after_ the event.] + +If so, he nearly succeeded. The Germans were quite taken aback by the +extent and strength of his lines. Their intention was to outflank his +right wing, which was believed to stretch no further north than +Amanvillers; but the rather premature advance of Manstein's 9th corps +soon drew a deadly fire from that village and the heights on either +side, which crushed the artillery of that corps. Soon the Prussian +Guards and the 12th corps began to suffer from the fire poured in from +the trenches that crowned the hill. On the German right, General +Steinmetz, instead of waiting for the hoped-for flank attack on the +north to take effect, sent the columns of the First Army to almost +certain death in the defile in front of Gravelotte, and he persisted in +these costly efforts even when the strength of the French position on +that side was patent to all. For this the tough old soldier met with +severe censure and ultimate disgrace. In his defence, however, it may be +urged that when a great battle is raging with doubtful fortunes, the +duty of a commander on the attacking side is to busy the enemy at as +many points as possible, so that the final blow may be dealt with +telling effect on a vital point where he cannot be adequately +reinforced; and the bull-dog tactics of Steinmetz in front of +Gravelotte, which cost the assailants many thousands of men, at any rate +served to keep the French reserves on that side, and thereby weaken the +support available for a more important point at the crisis of the fight. +It so happened, too, that the action of Steinmetz strengthened the +strange misconception of Bazaine that the Germans were striving to cut +him off from Metz on the south. + +The real aim of the Germans was exactly the contrary, namely, to pin his +whole army to Metz by swinging round their right flank on the villages +of St. Privat and Raucourt. Having some 40,000 men under Canrobert in +and between these villages, whose solid buildings gave the defence the +best of cover, Bazaine had latterly taken little thought for that part +of his lines, though it was dangerously far removed from his reserves. +These he kept on the south, under the misconception which clung to him +here as at Rezonville. + +The mistake was to prove fatal. As we have said, the German plan was to +turn the French right wing in the more open country on the north. To +this end the Prussian Guards and the Saxons, after driving the French +outposts from Ste. Marie-aux-Chênes, brought all their strength to the +task of crushing the French at their chief stronghold on the right, St. +Privat. The struggle of the Prussian Guards up the open slope between +that village and Amanvillers left them a mere shadow of their splendid +array; but the efforts of the German artillery cost the defenders dear: +by seven o'clock St. Privat was in flames, and as the Saxons (the 12th +corps), wheeling round from the north after a long flank-march, closed +in on the outlying village of Raucourt, Canrobert saw that the day was +lost unless he received prompt aid from the Imperial Guard. Bourbaki, +however, brought up only some 3000 of these choice troops, and that too +late to save St. Privat from the persistent fury of the German onset. + +As dusk fell over the scene of carnage the French right fell back in +some disorder, even from part of Amanvillers. Farther south, they held +their ground. On the whole they had dealt to their foes a loss of 20,159 +men, or nearly a tenth of their total. Of the French forces engaged, +some 150,000 in number, 7853 were killed and wounded, and 4419 were +taken prisoners. The disproportion in the losses shows the toughness of +the French defence and the (in part) unskilful character of the German +attack. On this latter point the recently published _Journals_ of +Field-Marshal Count von Blumenthal supply some piquant details. He +describes the indignation of King William at the wastefulness of the +German tactics at Gravelotte: "He complained bitterly that the officers +of the higher grades appeared to have forgotten all that had been so +carefully taught them at manoeuvres, and had apparently all lost their +heads." The same authority supplies what may be in part an explanation +of this in his comment, written shortly before Gravelotte, that he +believed there might not be another battle in the whole war--a remark +which savours of presumption and folly. Gravelotte, therefore, cannot be +considered as wholly creditable to the victors. Still, the result was +that some 180,000 French troops were shut up within the outworks +of Metz[42]. + +[Footnote 42: For fuller details of these battles the student should +consult the two great works on the subject--the Staff Histories of the +war, issued by the French and German General Staffs; Bazaine, _L'Armée +du Rhin_, and _Episodes de la Guerre_; General Blumenthal's _Journals_; +_Aus drei Kriegen_, by Gen. von Lignitz; Maurice, _The Franco-German +War_; Hooper, _The Campaign of Sedan_; the War Correspondence of the +_Times_ and the _Daily News_, published in book form.] + + + + +NOTE THE SECOND EDITION + +With reference to M. Ollivier's statement (quoted on p. 55) that he +entered on war with a light heart, it should be added that he has since +explained his meaning to have been that the cause of France was just, that +of Prussia unjust. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +SEDAN + + "Nothing is more rash and contrary to the principles of war + than to make a flank-march before an army in position, + especially when this army occupies heights before which it is + necessary to defile."--NAPOLEON I. + + +The success of the German operations to the south and west of Metz +virtually decided the whole of the campaign. The Germans could now draw +on their vast reserves ever coming on from the Rhine, throw an iron ring +around that fortress, and thereby deprive France of her only great force +of regular troops. The throwing up of field-works and barricades went on +with such speed that the blockading forces were able in a few days to +detach a strong column towards Châlons-sur-Marne in order to help the +army of the Crown Prince of Prussia. That army in the meantime was in +pursuit of MacMahon by way of Nancy, and strained every nerve so as to +be able to strike at the southern railway lines out of Paris. It was, +however, diverted to the north-west by events soon to be described. + +The German force detached from the neighbourhood of Metz consisted of +the Prussian Guards, the 4th and 12th corps, and two cavalry divisions. +This army, known as the Army of the Meuse, was placed under the command +of the Crown Prince of Saxony. Its aim was, in common with the Third +German Army (that of the Crown Prince of Prussia), to strike at MacMahon +before he received reinforcements. The screen of cavalry which preceded +the Army of the Meuse passed that river on the 22nd, when the bulk of +the forces of the Crown Prince of Prussia crossed not many miles farther +to the south. The two armies swept on westwards within easy distance of +one another; and on the 23rd their cavalry gleaned news of priceless +value, namely, that MacMahon's army had left Châlons. On the next day +the great camp was found deserted. + +In fact, MacMahon had undertaken a task of terrible difficulty. On +taking over the command at Châlons, where Napoleon III. arrived from +Metz on the 16th, he found hopeless disorder not only among his own +beaten troops, but among many of the newcomers; the worst were the Garde +Mobile, many regiments of whom greeted the Emperor with shouts of _À +Paris_. To meet the Germans in the open plains of Champagne with forces +so incoherent and dispirited was sheer madness; and a council of war on +the 17th came to the conclusion to fall back on the capital and operate +within its outer forts--a step which might enable the army to regain +confidence, repress any rising in the capital, and perhaps inflict +checks on the Germans, until the provinces rose _en masse_ against the +invaders. But at this very time the Empress-Regent and the Palikao +Ministry at Paris came to an exactly contrary decision, on the ground +that the return of the Emperor with MacMahon's army would look like +personal cowardice and a mean desertion of Bazaine at Metz. The Empress +was for fighting _à outrance_, and her Government issued orders for a +national rising and the enrolling of bodies of irregulars, or +_francs-tireurs_, to harass the Germans[43]. + +[Footnote 43: See General Lebrun's _Guerre de 1870: Bazailles-Sedan_, +for an account of his corps of MacMahon's army. + +In view of the events of the late Boer War, it is worth noting that the +Germans never acknowledged the _francs-tireurs_ as soldiers, and +forthwith issued an order ending with the words, "They are amenable to +martial law and liable to be sentenced to death" (Maurice, +_Franco-German War_, p. 215).] + +Their decision was telegraphed to Napoleon III. at Châlons. +Against his own better judgment the Emperor yielded to political +considerations--that mill-stone around the neck of the French army in +1870--and decided to strike out to the north with MacMahon's army, and +by way of Montmédy stretch a hand to Bazaine, who, on his side, was +expected to make for that rendezvous. On the 21st, therefore, they +marched to Reims. There the Emperor received a despatch which Bazaine +had been able to get through the enemies' lines on the 19th, stating +that the Germans were making their way in on Metz, but that he (Bazaine) +hoped to break away towards Montmédy and so join MacMahon's army. (This, +it will be observed, was _after_ Gravelotte had been lost.) Napoleon +III. thereupon replied: "Received yours of the 19th at Reims; am going +towards Montmédy; shall be on the Aisne the day after to-morrow, and +there will act according to circumstances to come to your aid." Bazaine +did not receive this message until August 30, and then made only two +weak efforts to break out on the north (August 31-September 1). The +Marshal's action in sending that message must be pronounced one of the +most fatal in the whole war. It led the Emperor and MacMahon to a false +belief as to the position at Metz, and furnished a potent argument to +the Empress and Palikao at Paris to urge a march towards Montmédy at +all costs. + +Doubtfully MacMahon led his straggling array from Reims in a +north-easterly direction towards Stenay on the Meuse. Rain checked his +progress, and dispirited the troops; but on the 27th August, while about +half-way between the Aisne and the Meuse, his outposts touched those of +the enemy. They were, in fact, those of the Prussian Crown Prince, whose +army was about to cross the northern roads over the Argonne, the line of +hills that saw the French stem the Prussian invasion in 1792. Far +different was the state of affairs now. National enthusiasm, +organisation, enterprise--all were on the side of the invaders. As has +been pointed out, their horsemen found out on the 23rd that the Châlons +camp was deserted; on the next day their scouts found out from a +Parisian newspaper that MacMahon was at Reims; and, on the day +following, newspaper tidings that had come round by way of London +revealed the secret that MacMahon was striving to reach Bazaine. + +How it came about that this news escaped the eye of the censor has not +been explained. If it was the work of an English journalist, that does +not absolve the official censorship from the charge of gross +carelessness in leaving even a loophole for the transmission of +important secrets. Newspaper correspondents, of course, are the natural +enemies of Governments in time of war; and the experience of the year +1870 shows that the fate of Empires may depend on the efficacy of the +arrangements for controlling them. As a proof of the superiority of the +German organisation, or of the higher patriotism of their newspapers, we +may mention that no tidings of urgent importance leaked out through the +German Press. This may have been due to a solemn declaration made by +German newspaper editors and correspondents that they would never reveal +such secrets; but, from what we know of the fierce competition of +newspapers for priority of news, it is reasonable to suppose that the +German Government took very good care that none came in their way. + +As a result of the excellent scouting of their cavalry and of the +slipshod Press arrangements of the French Government, the German Army of +the Meuse, on the 26th, took a general turn towards the north-west. This +movement brought its outposts near to the southernmost divisions of +MacMahon, and sent through that Marshal's staff the foreboding thrill +felt by the commander of an unseaworthy craft at the oncoming of the +first gust of a cyclone. He saw the madness of holding on his present +course and issued orders for a retreat to Mézières, a fortress on the +Meuse below Sedan. Once more, however, the Palikao Ministry intervened +to forbid this salutary move--the only way out of imminent danger--and +ordered him to march to the relief of Bazaine. At this crisis Napoleon +III. showed the good sense which seemed to have deserted the French +politicians: he advised the Marshal not to obey this order if he thought +it dangerous. Nevertheless, MacMahon decided to yield to the supposed +interests of the dynasty, which the Emperor was ready to sacrifice to +the higher claims of the safety of France. Their rôles were thus +curiously reversed. The Emperor reasoned as a sound patriot and a good +strategist. MacMahon must have felt the same promptings, but obedience +to the Empress and the Ministry, or chivalrous regard for Bazaine, +overcame his scruples. He decided to plod on towards the Meuse. + +The Germans were now on the alert to entrap this army that exposed its +flank in a long line of march near to the Belgian frontier. Their +ubiquitous horsemen captured French despatches which showed them the +intended moves in MacMahon's desperate game; Moltke hurried up every +available division; and the elder of the two Alvenslebens had the honour +of surprising de Failly's corps amidst the woods of the Ardennes near +Beaumont, as they were in the midst of a meal. The French rallied and +offered a brisk defence, but finally fell back in confusion northwards +on Mouzon, with the loss of 2000 prisoners and 42 guns (August 30). + +This mishap, the lack of provisions, and the fatigue and demoralisation +of his troops, caused MacMahon on the 31st to fall back on Sedan, a +little town in the valley of the Meuse. It is surrounded by ramparts +planned by the great Vauban, but, being commanded by wooded heights, it +no longer has the importance that it possessed before the age of +long-range guns of precision. The chief strength of the position for +defence lay in the deep loop of the river below the town, the dense +Garenne Wood to the north-east, and the hollow formed by the Givonne +brook on the east, with the important village of Bazeilles. It is +therefore not surprising that von Moltke, on seeing the French forces +concentrating in this hollow, remarked to von Blumenthal, Chief of the +Staff: "Now we have them in a trap; to-morrow we must cross over the +Meuse early in the morning." + +The Emperor and MacMahon seem even then, on the afternoon of the 31st, +to have hoped to give their weary troops a brief rest, supply them with +provisions and stores from the fortress, and on the morrow, or the 2nd, +make their escape by way of Mézières. Possibly they might have done so +on that night, and certainly they could have reached the Belgian +frontier, only some six miles distant, and there laid down their arms to +the Belgian troops whom the resourceful Bismarck had set on the _qui +vive._ To remain quiet even for a day in Sedan was to court disaster; +yet passivity characterised the French headquarters and the whole army +on that afternoon and evening. True, MacMahon gave orders for the bridge +over the Meuse at Donchéry to be blown up, but the engine-driver who +took the engineers charged with this important task, lost his nerve when +German shells whizzed about his engine, and drove off before the powder +and tools could be deposited. A second party, sent later on, found that +bridge in the possession of the enemy. On the east side, above Sedan, +the Bavarians seized the railway bridge south of Bazeilles, driving off +the French who sought to blow it up[44]. + +[Footnote 44: Moltke, _The Franco-German War_, vol. i. p. 114. Hooper, +_The Campaign of Sedan_, p. 296.] + +Over the Donchéry bridge and two pontoon bridges constructed below that +village the Germans poured their troops before dawn of September 1, and +as the morning fog of that day slowly lifted, their columns were seen +working round the north of the deep loop of the Meuse, thus cutting off +escape on the west and north-west. Meanwhile, on the other side of the +town, von der Tann's Bavarians had begun the fight. Pressing in on +Bazeilles so as to hinder the retreat of the enemy (as had been so +effectively done at Colombey, on the east of Metz), they at first +surprised the sleeping French, but quickly drew on themselves a sharp +and sustained counter-attack from the marines attached to the 12th +French corps. + +In order to understand the persistent vigour of the French on this side, +we must note the decisions formed by their headquarters on August 31 and +early on September 1. At a council of war held on the afternoon of the +31st no decision was reached, probably because the exhaustion of the +5th and 7th corps and the attack of the Bavarians on the 12th corps at +Bazeilles rendered any decided movement very difficult. The general +conclusion was that the army must have some repose; and Germans +afterwards found on the battlefield a French order--"Rest to-day for the +whole army." But already on the 30th an officer had come from Paris +determined to restore the morale of the army and break through towards +Bazaine. This was General de Wimpffen, who had gained distinction in +previous wars, and, coming lately from Algeria to Paris, was there +appointed to supersede de Failly in command of the 5th corps. Nor was +this all. The Palikao Ministry apparently had some doubts as to +MacMahon's energy, and feared that the Emperor himself hampered the +operations. De Wimpffen therefore received an unofficial mandate to +infuse vigour into the counsels at headquarters, and was entrusted with +a secret written order to take over the supreme command if anything were +to happen to MacMahon. On taking command of the 5th corps on the 30th, +de Wimpffen found it demoralised by the hurried retreat through Mouzon; +but neither this fact nor the exhaustion of the whole army abated the +determination of this stalwart soldier to break through towards Metz. + +Early on September 1 the positions held by the French formed, roughly +speaking, a triangle resting on the right bank of the Meuse from, near +Bazeilles to Sedan and Glaire. Damming operations and the heavy rains of +previous days had spread the river over the low-lying meadows, thus +rendering it difficult, if not impossible, for an enemy to cross under +fire; but this same fact lessened the space by which the French could +endeavour to break through. Accordingly they deployed their forces +almost wholly along the inner slopes of the Givonne brook and of the +smaller stream that flows from the high land about Illy down to the +village of Floing and thence to the Meuse. The heights of Illy, crowned +by the Calvaire, formed the apex of the French position, while Floing +and Bazeilles formed the other corners of what was in many respects +good fighting-ground. Their strength was about 120,000 men, though many +of these were disabled or almost helpless from fatigue; that of the +Germans was greater on the whole, but three of their corps could not +reach the scene of action before 1 P.M. owing to the heaviness of the +roads[45]. At first, then, the French had a superiority of force and a +far more compact position, as will be seen by the accompanying plan. + +[Footnote 45: Maurice, _The Franco-German War_, p. 235.] + +We now resume the account of the battle. The fighting in and around +Bazeilles speedily led to one very important result. At 6 A.M. a +splinter of a shell fired by the assailants from the hills north-east of +that village, severely wounded Marshal MacMahon as he watched the +conflict from a point in front of the village of Balan. Thereupon he +named General Ducrot as his successor, passing over the claims of two +generals senior to him. Ducrot, realising the seriousness of the +position, prepared to draw off the troops towards the Calvaire of Illy +preparatory to a retreat on Mézières by way of St. Menges. The news of +this impending retreat, which must be conducted under the hot fire of +the Germans now threatening the line of the Givonne, cut de Wimpffen to +the quick. He knew that the Crown Prince held a force to the south-west +of Sedan, ready to fall on the flank of any force that sought to break +away to Mézières; and a temporary success of his own 5th corps against +the Saxons in la Moncelle strengthened his prepossession in favour of a +combined move eastwards towards Carignan and Metz. Accordingly, about +nine o'clock he produced the secret order empowering him to succeed +MacMahon should the latter be incapacitated. Ducrot at once yielded to +the ministerial ukase; the Emperor sought to intervene in favour of +Ducrot, only to be waved aside by the confident de Wimpffen; and thus +the long conflict between MacMahon and the Palikao Ministry ended in +victory for the latter--and disaster for France[46]. + +[Footnote 46: See Lebrun's _Guerre de 1870: Bazeilles-Sédan_, for these +disputes.] In hazarding this last statement we do not mean to imply +that a retreat on Mézières would then have saved the whole army. It +might, however, have enabled part of it to break through either to +Mézières or the Belgian boundary; and it is possible that Ducrot had the +latter objective in view when he ordered the concentration at Illy. In +any case, that move was now countermanded in favour of a desperate +attack on the eastern assailants. It need hardly be said that the result +of these vacillations was deplorable, unsteadying the defenders, and +giving the assailants time to bring up troops and cannon, and thereby +strengthen their grip on every important point. Especially valuable was +the approach of the 2nd Bavarian corps; setting out from Raucourt at 4 +A.M. it reached the hills south of Sedan about 9, and its artillery +posted near Frénois began a terrible fire on the town and the French +troops near it. + +About the same time the Second Division of the Saxons reinforced their +hard-pressed comrades to the north of la Moncelle, where, on de +Wimpffen's orders, the French were making a strong forward move. The +opportune arrival of these new German troops saved their artillery, +which had been doing splendid service. The French were driven back +across the Givonne with heavy loss, and the massed battery of 100 guns +crushed all further efforts at advance on this side. Meanwhile at +Bazeilles the marines had worthily upheld the honour of the French arms. +Despite the terrible artillery fire now concentrated on the village, +they pushed the German footmen back, but never quite drove them out. +These, when reinforced, renewed the fight with equal obstinacy; the +inhabitants themselves joined in with whatever weapons fury suggested to +them and as that merciless strife swayed to and fro amidst the roar of +artillery, the crash of walls, and the hiss of flame, war was seen in +all its naked ferocity. + +Yet here again, as at all points, the defence was gradually overborne by +the superiority of the German artillery. About eleven o'clock the +French, despite their superhuman efforts, were outflanked by the +Bavarians and Saxons on the north of the village. Even then, when the +regulars fell back, some of the inhabitants went on with their mad +resistance; a great part of the village was now in flames, but whether +they were kindled by the Germans, or by the retiring French so as to +delay the victors, has never been cleared up. In either case, several of +the inhabitants perished in the flames; and it is admitted that the +Bavarians burnt some of the villagers for firing on them from the +windows[47]. + +[Footnote 47: M. Busch, _Bismarck in the Franco-German War_, vol. i. p. +114.] + +In the defence of Bazeilles the French infantry showed its usual courage +and tenacity. Elsewhere the weary and dispirited columns were speedily +becoming demoralised under the terrific artillery fire which the Germans +poured in from many points of vantage. The Prussian Guards coming up +from Villers Cernay about 10 A.M. planted their formidable batteries so +as to sweep the Bois de Garenne and the ground about the Calvaire d'Illy +from the eastward; and about that time the guns of the 5th and 11th +German corps, that had early crossed the Meuse below Sedan, were brought +to bear on the west front of that part of the French position. The apex +of the defenders' triangle was thus severely searched by some 200 guns; +and their discharges, soon supported by the fire of skirmishers and +volleys from the troops, broke all forward movements of the French on +that side. On the south and south-east as many cannon swept the French +lines, but from a greater distance. + +Up to nearly noon there seemed some chance of the French bursting +through on the north, and some of them did escape. Yet no well-sustained +effort took place on that side, apparently because, even after the loss +of Bazeilles at eleven o'clock, de Wimpffen clung to the belief that he +could cut his way out towards Carignan, if not by Bazeilles, then +perhaps by some other way, as Daigny or la Moncelle. The reasoning by +which he convinced himself is hard to follow; for the only road to +Carignan on that side runs through Bazeilles. Perhaps we ought to say +that he did not reason, but was haunted by one fixed notion; and the +history of war from the time of the Roman Varro down to the age of the +Austrian Mack and the French de Wimpffen shows that men whose brains +work in grooves and take no account of what is on the right hand and the +left, are not fit to command armies; they only yield easy triumphs to +the great masters of warfare--Hannibal, Napoleon the Great, and +von Moltke. + +De Wimpffen, we say, paid little heed to the remonstrances of Generals +Douay and Ducrot at leaving the northern apex and the north-western +front of the defence to be crushed by weight of metal and of numbers. He +rode off towards Balan, near which village the former defenders of +Bazeilles were making a gallant and partly successful stand, and no +reinforcements were sent to the hills on the north. The villages of Illy +and Floing were lost; then the French columns gave ground even up the +higher ground behind them, so great was the pressure of the German +converging advance. Worst of all, skulkers began to hurry from the ranks +and seek shelter in the woods, or even under the ramparts of Sedan far +in the rear. The French gunners still plied their guns with steady +devotion, though hopelessly outmatched at all points, but it was clear +that only a great forward dash could save the day. Ducrot therefore +ordered General Margueritte with three choice cavalry regiments +(Chasseurs d'Afrique) and several squadrons of Lancers to charge the +advancing lines. Moving forward from the northern edge of the Bois de +Garenne to judge his ground, Margueritte fell mortally wounded. De +Bauffremont took his place, and those brave horsemen swept forward on a +task as hopeless as that of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, or that of +the French Cuirassiers at Wörth[48]. Their conduct was as glorious; but +the terrible power of the modern rifle was once more revealed. The +pounding of distant batteries they could brave; disordered but defiant +they swept on towards the German lines, but when the German infantry +opened fire almost at pistol range, rank after rank of the horsemen +went down as grass before the scythe. Here and there small bands of +horsemen charged the footmen on the flank, even in a few cases on their +rear, it is said; but the charge, though bravely renewed, did little +except to delay the German triumph and retrieve the honour of France. + +[Footnote 48: Lebrun (_op. cit._ pp. 126-127; also Appendix D) maintains +that de Bauffremont then led the charge, de Gallifet leading only the +3rd Chasseurs d'Afrique.] + +By about two o'clock the French cavalry was practically disabled, and +there now remained no Imperial Guard, as at Waterloo, to shed some rays +of glory over the disaster. Meanwhile, however, de Wimpffen had resolved +to make one more effort. Gathering about him a few of the best infantry +battalions in and about Sedan, he besought the Emperor to join him in +cutting a way out towards the east. The Emperor sent no answer to this +appeal; he judged that too much blood had already been needlessly shed. +Still, de Wimpffen persisted in his mad endeavour. Bursting upon the +Bavarians in the village of Balan, he drove them back for a space until +his men, disordered by the rush, fell before the stubborn rally of the +Bavarians and Saxons. With the collapse of this effort and the cutting +up of the French cavalry behind Floing, the last frail barriers to the +enemy's advance gave way. The roads to Sedan were now thronged with +masses of fugitives, whose struggles to pass the drawbridges into the +little fortress resembled an African battue; for King William and his +Staff, in order to hurry on the inevitable surrender, bade the 200 or +more pieces on the southern heights play upon the town. Still de +Wimpffen refused to surrender, and, despite the orders of his sovereign, +continued the hopeless struggle. At length, to stay the frightful +carnage, the Emperor himself ordered the white flag to be hoisted[49]. A +German officer went down to arrange preliminaries, and to his +astonishment was ushered into the presence of the Emperor. The German +Staff had no knowledge of his whereabouts. On hearing the news, King +William, who throughout the day sat on horseback at the top of the slope +behind Frénois, said to his son, the Crown Prince: "This is indeed a +great success; and I thank thee that thou hast contributed to it." He +gave his hand to his son, who kissed it, and then, in turn, to Moltke +and to Bismarck, who kissed it also. In a short time, the French General +Reille brought to the King the following autograph letter:-- + + MONSIEUR MON FRÈRE--N'ayant pu mourir au milieu de mes + troupes, il ne me reste qu'à remettre mon épée entre les + mains de Votre Majesté.--Je suis de Votre Majesté le + bon Frère + + NAPOLÉON. + + SÉDAN, _le 1er Septembre, 1870_. + +[Footnote 49: Lebrun, _op. cit._ pp. 130 _et seq._ for the disputes +about surrender.] + +The King named von Moltke to arrange the terms and then rode away to a +village farther south, it being arranged, probably at Bismarck's +suggestion, that he should not see the Emperor until all was settled. +Meanwhile de Wimpffen and other French generals, in conference with von +Moltke, Bismarck, and Blumenthal, at the village of Donchéry, sought to +gain easy terms by appealing to their generosity and by arguing that +this would end the war and earn the gratitude of France. To all appeals +for permission to let the captive army go to Algeria, or to lay down its +arms in Belgium, the Germans were deaf,--Bismarck at length plainly +saying that the French were an envious and jealous people on whose +gratitude it would be idle to count. De Wimpffen then threatened to +renew the fight rather than surrender, to which von Moltke grimly +assented, but Bismarck again interposed to bring about a prolongation of +the truce. Early on the morrow, Napoleon himself drove out to Donchéry +in the hope of seeing the King. The Bismarckian Boswell has given us a +glimpse of him as he then appeared: "The look in his light grey eyes was +somewhat soft and dreamy, like that of people who have lived too fast." +[In his case, we may remark, this was induced by the painful disease +which never left him all through the campaign, and carried him off three +years later.] "He wore his cap a little on the right, to which side his +head also inclined. His short legs were out of proportion to the long +upper body. His whole appearance was a little unsoldier-like. The man +looked too soft--I might say too spongy--for the uniform he wore." + +Bismarck, the stalwart Teuton who had wrecked his policy at all points, +met him at Donchéry and foiled his wish to see the King, declaring this +to be impossible until the terms of the capitulation were settled. The +Emperor then had a conversation with the Chancellor in a little cottage +belonging to a weaver. Seating themselves on two rush-bottomed chairs +beside the one deal table, they conversed on the greatest affairs of +State. The Emperor said he had not sought this war--"he had been driven +into it by the pressure of public opinion. I replied" (wrote Bismarck) +"that neither had any one with us wished for war--the King least of +all[50]." Napoleon then pleaded for generous terms, but admitted that +he, as a prisoner, could not fix them; they must be arranged with de +Wimpffen. About ten o'clock the latter agreed to an unconditional +surrender for the rank and file of the French army, but those officers +who bound themselves by their word of honour (in writing) not to fight +again during the present war were to be set free. Napoleon then had an +interview with the King. What transpired is not known, but when the +Emperor came out "his eyes" (wrote Bismarck) "were full of tears." + +[Footnote 50: Busch, _Bismarck on the Franco-German War_, vol. i. p. +109. Contrast this statement with his later efforts (_Reminiscences_, +vol. ii. pp. 95-100) to prove that he helped to bring on war.] + +The fallen monarch accepted the King's offer of the castle of +Wilhelmshöhe near Cassel for his residence up to the end of the war; it +was the abode on which Jerome Bonaparte had spent millions of thalers, +wrung from Westphalian burghers, during his brief sovereignty in +1807-1813. Thither his nephew set out two days after the catastrophe of +Sedan. And this, as it seems, was the end of a dynasty whose rise to +power dated from the thrilling events of the Bridge of Lodi, Arcola, +Rivoli, and the Pyramids. The French losses on September 1 were about +3000 killed, 14,000 wounded, and 21,000 prisoners. On the next day +there surrendered 83,000 prisoners by virtue of the capitulation, along +with 419 field-pieces and 139 cannon of the fortress. Some 3000 had +escaped, through the gap in the German lines on the north-east, to the +Belgian frontier, and there laid down their arms. + +The news of this unparalleled disaster began to leak out at Paris late +on the 2nd; on the morrow, when details were known, crowds thronged into +the streets shouting "Down with the Empire! Long live the Republic!" +Power still remained with the Empress-Regent and the Palikao Ministry. +All must admit that the Empress Eugénie did what was possible in this +hopeless position. She appealed to that charming literary man, M. +Prosper Mérimée, to go to his friend, M. Thiers (at whom we shall glance +presently), and beg him to form a Ministry that would save the Empire +for the young Prince Imperial. M. Thiers politely but firmly refused to +give a helping hand to the dynasty which he looked on as the author of +his country's ruin. + +On that day the Empress also summoned the Chambers--the Senate and the +Corps Législatif--a vain expedient, for in times of crisis the French +look to a man, not to Chambers. The Empire had no man at hand. General +Trochu, Governor of Paris, was suspected of being a Republican--at any +rate he let matters take their course. On the 4th, vast crowds filled +the streets; a rush was made to the Chamber, where various compromises +were being discussed; the doors were forced, and amid wild excitement a +proposal to dethrone the Napoleonic dynasty was put. Two Republican +deputies, Gambetta and Jules Favre, declared that the Hôtel de Ville was +the fit place to declare the Republic. There, accordingly, it was +proclaimed, the deputies for the city of Paris taking office as the +Government of National Defence. They were just in time to prevent +Socialists like Blanqui, Flourens, and Henri Rochefort from installing +the "Commune" in power. The Empress and the Prince Imperial at once +fled, and, apart from a protest by the Senate, no voice was raised in +defence of the Empire. Jules Favre who took up the burden of Foreign +Affairs in the new Government of National Defence was able to say in his +circular note of September 6 that "the Revolution of September 4 took +place without the shedding of a drop of blood or the loss of liberty to +a single person[51]." + +[Footnote 51: Gabriel Hanotaux, _Contemporary France_, vol. i. p. 14 +(Eng. edit.)] + +That fact shows the unreality of Bonapartist rule in France. At bottom +Napoleon III.'s ascendancy was due to several causes, that told against +possible rivals rather than directly in his favour. Hatred of the +socialists, whose rash political experiments had led to the bloody days +of street fighting in Paris in June 1848, counted for much. Added to +this was the unpopularity of the House of Orleans after the sordid and +uninteresting rule of Louis Philippe (1830-48). The antiquated royalism +of the Elder or Legitimist branch of that ill-starred dynasty made it +equally an impossibility. Louis Napoleon promised to do what his +predecessors, Monarchical and Republican, had signally failed to do, +namely, to reconcile the claims of liberty and order at home and uphold +the prestige of France abroad. For the first ten years the glamour of +his name, the skill with which he promoted the material prosperity of +France, and the successes of his early wars, promised to build up a +lasting power. But then came the days of failing health and tottering +prestige--of financial scandals, of the Mexican blunder, of the +humiliation before the rising power of Prussia. To retrieve matters he +toyed with democracy in France, and finally allowed his Ministers to +throw down a challenge to Prussia; for, in the words of a French +historian, the conditions on which he held power "condemned him to be +brilliant[52]." + +[Footnote 52: Said in 1852 by an eminent Frenchman to our countryman, +Nassau Senior (_Journals_, ii. _ad fin_).] + +Failing at Sedan, he lost all; and he knew it. His reign, in fact, was +one long disaster for France. The canker of moral corruption began to +weaken her public life when the creatures of whom he made use in the +_coup d'état _of 1851 crept into place and power. The flashy +sensationalism of his policy, setting the tone for Parisian society, was +fatal to the honest unseen drudgery which builds up a solid edifice +alike in public and in private life. Even the better qualities of his +nature told against ultimate success. As has been shown, his vague but +generous ideas on Nationality drew French policy away from the paths of +obvious self-interest after the year 1864, and gave an easy victory to +the keen and objective statecraft of Bismarck. That he loved France as +sincerely as he believed in the power of the Bonapartist tradition to +help her, can scarcely admit of doubt. His conduct during the war of +1870 showed him to be disinterested, while his vision was clearer than +that of the Generals about him. But in the field of high policy, as in +the moral events that make or mar a nation's life, his influence told +heavily against the welfare of France; and he must have carried into +exile the consciousness that his complex nature and ill-matched +strivings had but served to bring his dynasty and his country to an +unexampled overthrow. + + * * * * * + +It may be well to notice here an event of world-wide importance, which +came as a sequel to the military collapse of France. Italians had always +looked to the day when Rome would be the national capital. The great +Napoleon during his time of exile at St. Helena had uttered the +prophetic words: "Italy isolated between her natural limits is destined +to form a great and powerful nation. . . . Rome will without doubt be +chosen by the Italians as their capital." The political and economic +needs of the present, coinciding herein with the voice of tradition, +always so strong in Italian hearts, pointed imperiously to Rome as the +only possible centre of national life. + +As was pointed out in the Introduction, Pius IX. after the years of +revolution, 1848-49, felt the need of French troops in his capital, and +his harsh and reactionary policy (or rather, that of his masterful +Secretary of State, Antonelli) before long completely alienated the +feelings of his subjects. + +After the master-mind of Cavour was removed by death, (June 1861), the +patriots struggled desperately, but in vain, to rid Rome of the presence +of foreign troops and win her for the national cause. Garibaldi's raids +of 1862 and 1867 were foiled, the one by Italian, the other by French +troops; and the latter case, which led to the sharp fight of Mentana, +effaced any feelings of gratitude to Napoleon III. for his earlier help, +which survived after his appropriation of Savoy and Nice. Thus matters +remained in 1867-70, the Pope relying on the support of French bayonets +to coerce his own subjects. Clearly this was a state of things which +could not continue. The first great shock must always bring down a +political edifice which rests not on its own foundations, but on +external buttresses. These were suddenly withdrawn by the war of 1870. +Early in August, Napoleon ordered all his troops to leave the Papal +States; and the downfall of his power a month later absolved Victor +Emmanuel from the claims of gratitude which he still felt towards his +ally of 1859. + +At once the forward wing of the Italian national party took action in a +way that either forced, or more probably encouraged, Victor Emmanuel's +Government to step in under the pretext of preventing the creation of a +Roman Republic. The King invited Pius IX. to assent to the peaceful +occupation of Rome by the royal troops, and on receiving the expected +refusal, moved forward 35,000 soldiers. The resistance of the 11,000 +Papal troops proved to be mainly a matter of form. The wall near the +Porta Pia soon crumbled before the Italian cannon, and after a brief +struggle at the breach, the white flag was hoisted at the bidding of the +Pope (Sept. 20). + +Thus fell the temporal power of the Papacy. The event aroused +comparatively little notice in that year of marvels, but its results +have been momentous. At the time there was a general sense of relief, if +not of joy, in Italy, that the national movement had reached its goal, +albeit in so tame and uninspiring a manner. Rome had long been a prey to +political reaction, accompanied by police supervision of the most +exasperating kind. The _plébiscite_ as to the future government gave +133,681 votes for Victor Emmanuel's rule, and only 1507 negative +votes[53]. + +[Footnote 53: Countess Cesaresco, _The Liberation of Italy_, p. 411.] + +Now, for the first time since the days of Napoleon I. and of the +short-lived Republic for which Mazzini and Garibaldi worked and fought +so nobly in 1849, the Eternal City began to experience the benefits of +progressive rule. The royal government soon proved to be very far from +perfect. Favouritism, the multiplication of sinecures, municipal +corruption, and the prosaic inroads of builders and speculators, soon +helped to mar the work of political reconstruction, and began to arouse +a certain amount of regret for the more picturesque times of the Papal +rule. A sentimental reaction of this kind is certain to occur in all +cases of political change, especially in a city where tradition and +emotion so long held sway. + +The consciences of the faithful were also troubled when the _fiat_ of +the Pope went forth excommunicating the robber-king and all his chief +abettors in the work of sacrilege. Sons of the Church throughout Italy +were bidden to hold no intercourse with the interlopers and to take no +part in elections to the Italian Parliament which thenceforth met in +Rome. The schism between the Vatican and the King's Court and Government +was never to be bridged over; and even to-day it constitutes one of the +most perplexing problems of Italy. + +Despite the fact that Rome and Italy gained little of that mental and +moral stimulus which might have resulted from the completion of the +national movement solely by the action of the people themselves, the +fact nevertheless remains that Rome needed Italy and Italy needed Rome. +The disappointment loudly expressed by idealists, sentimentalists, and +reactionaries must not blind us to the fact that the Italians, and above +all the Romans, have benefited by the advent of unity, political +freedom, and civic responsibility. It may well be that, in acting as the +leader of a constitutional people, the Eternal City will little by +little develop higher gifts than those nurtured under Papal tutelage, +and perhaps as beneficent to Humanity as those which, in the ancient +world, bestowed laws on Europe. + +As Mazzini always insisted, political progress, to be sound, must be +based ultimately on moral progress. It is of its very nature slow, and +is therefore apt to escape the eyes of the moralist or cynic who dwells +on the untoward signs of the present. But the Rome for which Mazzini and +his compatriots yearned and struggled can hardly fail ultimately to rise +to the height of her ancient traditions and of that noble prophecy of +Dante: "_There_ is the seat of empire. There never was, and there never +will be, a people endowed with such capacity to acquire command, with +more vigour to maintain it, and more gentleness in its exercise, than +the Italian nation, and especially the Holy Roman people." The lines +with which Mr. Swinburne closed his "Dedication" of _Songs before +Sunrise_ to Joseph Mazzini are worthy of finding a place side by side +with the words of the mediaeval seer:-- + + Yea, even she as at first, + Yea, she alone and none other, + Shall cast down, shall build up, shall bring home, + Slake earth's hunger and thirst, + Lighten, and lead as a mother; + First name of the world's names, Rome. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE FOUNDING OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC + + "[Greek: egigneto te logo men daemokratia, ergo de hupo tou + protou andros archae]." + + "Thus Athens, though still in name a democracy, was in fact + ruled by her greatest man."--THUCYDIDES, book ii. chap. 65. + + +The aim of this work being to trace the outlines only of those +outstanding events which made the chief States of the world what they +are to-day, we can give only the briefest glance at the remaining events +of the Franco-German War and the splendid though hopeless rally +attempted by the newly-installed Government of National Defence. Few +facts in recent history have a more thrilling interest than the details +of the valiant efforts made by the young Republic against the invaders. +The spirit in which they were made breathed through the words of M. +Picard's proclamation on September 4: "The Republic saved us from the +invasion of 1792. The Republic is proclaimed." + +Inspiring as was this reference to the great and successful effort of +the First Republic against the troops of Central Europe in 1792, it was +misleading. At that time Prussia had lapsed into a state of weakness +through the double evils of favouritism and a facing-both-ways policy. +Now she felt the strength born of sturdy championship of a great +principle--that of Nationality--which had ranged nearly the whole of the +German race on her side. France, on the other hand, owing to the +shocking blunders of her politicians and generals during the war, had +but one army corps free, that of General Vinoy, which hastily retreated +from the neighbourhood of Mézières towards Paris on September 2 to 4. +She therefore had to count almost entirely on the Garde Mobile, the +Garde Nationale, and Francs-tireurs; but bitter experience was to show +that this raw material could not be organised in a few weeks to +withstand the trained and triumphant legions of Germany. + +Nevertheless there was no thought of making peace with the invaders. The +last message of Count Palikao to the Chambers had been one of defiance +to the enemy; and the Parisian deputies, nearly all of them Republicans, +who formed the Government of National Defence, scouted all faint-hearted +proposals. Their policy took form in the famous phrase of Jules Favre, +Minister of Foreign Affairs: "We will give up neither an inch of our +territory nor a stone of our fortresses." This being so, all hope of +compromise with the Germans was vain. Favre had interviews with Bismarck +at the Château de Ferrières (September 19); but his fine oratory, even +his tears, made no impression on the Iron Chancellor, who declared that +in no case would an armistice be granted, not even for the election of a +National Assembly, unless France agreed to give up Alsace and a part of +Lorraine, allowing the German troops also to hold, among other places, +Strassburg and Toul. + +Obviously, a self-constituted body like the provisional Government at +Paris could not accept these terms, which most deeply concerned the +nation at large. In the existing temper of Paris and France, the mention +of such terms meant war to the knife, as Bismarck must have known. On +their side, Frenchmen could not believe that their great capital, with +its bulwarks and ring of outer forts, could be taken; while the +Germans--so it seems from the Diary of General von Blumenthal--looked +forward to its speedy capitulation. One man there was who saw the +pressing need of foreign aid. M. Thiers (whose personality will concern +us a little later) undertook to go on a mission to the chief Powers of +Europe in the hope of urging one or more of them to intervene on behalf +of France. + +The details of that mission are, of course, not fully known. We can +only state here that Russia now repaid Prussia's help in crushing the +Polish rebellion of 1863 by neutrality, albeit tinged with a certain +jealousy of German success. Bismarck had been careful to dull that +feeling by suggesting that she (Russia) should take the present +opportunity of annulling the provision, made after the Crimean War, +which prevented her from sending war-ships on to the Black Sea; and this +was subsequently done, under a thin diplomatic disguise, at the Congress +of London (March 1871). Bismarck's astuteness in supporting Russia at +this time therefore kept that Power quiet. As for Austria, she +undoubtedly wished to intervene, but did not choose to risk a war with +Russia, which would probably have brought another overthrow. Italy would +not unsheathe her sword for France unless the latter recognised her +right to Rome (which the Italian troops entered on September 20). To +this the young French Republic demurred. Great Britain, of course, +adhered to the policy of neutrality which she at first declared[54]. + +[Footnote 54: See Débidour, _Histoire diplomatique de l'Europe_, vol. +ii. pp. 412-415. For Bismarck's fears of intervention, especially that +of Austria, see his _Reminiscences_, vol. ii. p. 109 (English edit.); +Count Beust's _Aus drei Viertel-Jahrhunderten_, pt. ii. pp. 361, 395; +for Thiers' efforts see his _Notes_ on the years 1870-73 (Paris 1904).] + +Accordingly, France had to rely on her own efforts. They were +surprisingly great. Before the complete investment of Paris (September +20), a Delegation of the Government of National Defence had gone forth +to Tours with the aim of stirring up the provinces to the succour of the +besieged capital. Probably the whole of the Government ought to have +gone there; for, shut up in the capital, it lost touch with the +provinces, save when balloons and carrier-pigeons eluded the German +sharpshooters and brought precious news[55]. The mistake was seen in +time to enable a man of wondrous energy to leave Paris by balloon on +October 7, to descend as a veritable _deus ex machina_ on the faltering +Delegation at Tours, and to stir the blood of France by his invective. +There was a touch of the melodramatic not only in his apparition but in +his speeches. Frenchmen, however, follow a leader all the better if he +is a good stage-manager and a clever actor. The new leader was both; but +he was something more. + +[Footnote 55: M. Grégoire in his _Histoire de France_, vol. iv. p. 647, +states that 64 balloons left Paris during the siege, 5 were captured and +2 lost in the sea; 363 carrier-pigeons left the city and 57 came in. For +details of the French efforts see _Les Responsabilités de la Défense +rationale_, by H. Génevois; also _The People's War in France, +1870-1871_, by Col. L. Hale (The Pall Mall Military Series, 1904), +founded on Hönig's _Der Volkskrieg an der Loire_.] + +Léon Gambetta had leaped to the front rank at the Bar in the closing +days of 1868 by a passionate outburst against the _coup d'état_, +uttered, to the astonishment of all, in a small Court of Correctional +Police, over a petty case of State prosecution of a small Parisian +paper. Rejecting the ordinary methods of defence, the young barrister +flung defiance at Napoleon III. as the author of the _coup d'état_ and +of all the present degradation of France. The daring of the young +barrister, who thus turned the tables on the authorities and impeached +the head of the State, made a profound impression; it was redoubled by +the Southern intensity of his thought and expression. Disdaining all +forms of rhetoric, he poured forth a torrent of ideas, clothing them in +the first words that came to his facile tongue, enforcing them by blows +of the fist or the most violent gestures, and yet, again, modulating the +roar of passion to the falsetto of satire or the whisper of emotion. His +short, thick-set frame, vibrating with strength, doubled the force of +all his utterances. Nor did they lack the glamour of poetry and romance +that might be expected from his Italian ancestry. He came of a Genoese +stock that had for some time settled in the South of France. Strange +fate, that called him now to the front with the aim of repairing the +ills wrought to France by another Italian House! In time of peace his +power over men would have raised him to the highest positions had his +Bohemian exuberance of thought and speech been tameable. It was not. He +scorned prudence in moderation at all times, and his behaviour, when the +wave of Revolution at last carried him to power, gave point to the taunt +of Thiers--"c'est un fou furieux." Such was the man who now brought the +quenchless ardour of his patriotism to the task of rousing France. As +far as words and energy could call forth armies, he succeeded; but as he +lacked all military knowledge, his blind self-confidence was to cost +France dear. + +Possibly the new levies of the Republic might at some point have pierced +the immense circle of the German lines around Paris (for at first the +besieging forces were less numerous than the besieged), had not the +assailants been strengthened by the fall of Metz (Oct. 27). This is not +the place to discuss the culpability of Bazaine for the softness shown +in the defence. The voluminous evidence taken at his trial shows that he +was very slack in the critical days at the close of August; it is also +certain that Bismarck duped him under the pretence that, on certain +conditions to be arranged with the Empress Eugénie, his army might be +kept intact for the sake of re-establishing the Empire[56]. The whole +scheme was merely a device to gain time and keep Bazaine idle, and the +German Chancellor succeeded here as at all points in his great game. On +October 27, then, 6000 officers, 173,000 rank and file, were constrained +by famine to surrender, along with 541 field-pieces and 800 siege guns. + +[Footnote 56: Bazaine gives the details from his point of view in his +_Episodes de la Guerre de 1870 et le Blocus de Metz_ (Madrid, 1883). One +of the go-betweens was a man Regnier, who pretended to come from the +Empress Eugénie, then at Hastings; but Bismarck seems to have distrusted +him and to have dismissed him curtly. The adventuress, Mme. Humbert, +recently claimed that she had her "millions" from this Regnier. A sharp +criticism on Bazaine's conduct at Metz is given in a pamphlet, _Réponse +au Rapport sommaire sur les Opérations de l'Armée du Rhin_, by one of +his Staff Officers. See, too, M. Samuel Denis in his recent work, +_Histoire Contemporaine_ (de France).] + +This capitulation, the greatest recorded in the history of civilised +nations, dealt a death-blow to the hopes of France. Strassburg had +hoisted the white flag a month earlier; and the besiegers of these +fortresses were free to march westwards and overwhelm the new levies. +After gaining a success at Coulmiers, near Orleans (Nov. 9), the French +were speedily driven down the valley of the Loire and thence as far west +as Le Mans. In the North, at St. Quentin, the Germans were equally +successful, as also in Burgundy against that once effective free-lance, +Garibaldi, who came with his sons to fight for the Republic. The last +effort was made by Bourbaki and a large but ill-compacted army against +the enemy's communications in Alsace. By a speedy concentration the +Germans at Héricourt, near Belfort, defeated this daring move (imposed +by the Government of National Defence on Bourbaki against his better +judgment), and compelled him and his hard-pressed followers to pass over +into Switzerland (January 30, 1871). + +Meanwhile Paris had already surrendered. During 130 days, and that too +in a winter of unusual severity, the great city had held out with a +courage that neither defeats, schisms, dearth of food, nor the +bombardment directed against its southern quarters could overcome. +Towards the close of January famine stared the defenders in the face, +and on the 28th an armistice was concluded, which put an end to the war +except in the neighbourhood of Belfort. That exception was due to the +determination of the Germans to press Bourbaki hard, while the French +negotiators were not aware of his plight. The garrison of Paris, except +12,000 men charged with the duty of keeping order, surrendered; the +forts were placed in the besiegers' hands. When that was done the city +was to be revictualled and thereafter pay a war contribution of +200,000,000 francs (£8,000,000). A National Assembly was to be freely +elected and meet at Bordeaux to discuss the question of peace. The +National Guards retained their arms, Favre maintaining that it would be +impossible to disarm them; for this mistaken weakness he afterwards +expressed his profound sorrow[57]. + +[Footnote 57: It of course led up to the Communist revolt. Bismarck's +relations to the disorderly elements in Paris are not fully known; but +he warned Favre on Jan. 26 to "provoke an _émeute_ while you have an +army to suppress it with" (_Bismarck in Franco-German War_, vol. ii. +p. 265).] + +Despite the very natural protests of Gambetta and many others against +the virtual ending of the war at the dictation of the Parisian +authorities, the voice of France ratified their action. An overwhelming +majority declared for peace. The young Republic had done wonders in +reviving the national spirit: Frenchmen could once more feel the +self-confidence which had been damped by the surrenders of Sedan and +Metz; but the instinct of self-preservation now called imperiously for +the ending of the hopeless struggle. In the hurried preparations for the +elections held on February 8, few questions were asked of the candidates +except that of peace or war; and it soon appeared that a great majority +was in favour of peace, even at the cost of part of the eastern +provinces. + +Of the 630 deputies who met at Bordeaux on February 12, fully 400 were +Monarchists, nearly evenly divided between the Legitimists and +Orleanists; 200 were professed Republicans; but only 30 Bonapartists +were returned. It is not surprising that the Assembly, which met in the +middle of February, should soon have declared that the Napoleonic Empire +had ceased to exist, as being "responsible for the ruin, invasion, and +dismemberment of the country" (March 1). These rather exaggerated +charges (against which Napoleon III. protested from his place of exile, +Chislehurst) were natural in the then deplorable condition of France. +What is surprising and needs a brief explanation here, is the fact that +a monarchical Assembly should have allowed the Republic to be founded. + +This paradoxical result sprang from several causes, some of them of a +general nature, others due to party considerations, while the personal +influence of one man perhaps turned the balance at this crisis in the +history of France. We will consider them in the order here named. + +Stating the matter broadly, we may say that the present Assembly was not +competent to decide on the future constitution of France; and that vague +but powerful instinct, which guides representative bodies in such cases, +told against any avowedly partisan effort in that direction. The +deputies were fully aware that they were elected to decide the urgent +question of peace or war, either to rescue France from her long agony, +or to pledge the last drops of her life-blood in an affair of honour. +By an instinct of self-preservation, the electors, especially in the +country districts, turned to the men of property and local influence as +those who were most likely to save them from the frothy followers of +Gambetta. Accordingly, local magnates were preferred to the barristers +and pressmen, whose oratorical and literary gifts usually carry the day +in France; and more than 200 noblemen were elected. They were chosen not +on account of their nobility and royalism, but because they were certain +to vote against the _fou furieux_. + +Then, too, the Royalists knew very well that time would be required to +accustom France to the idea of a King, and to adjust the keen rivalries +between the older and the younger branches of the Bourbon House. +Furthermore, they were anxious that the odium of signing a disastrous +peace should fall on the young Republic, not on the monarch of the +future. Just as the great Napoleon in 1814 was undoubtedly glad that the +giving up of Belgium and the Rhine boundary should devolve on his +successor, Louis XVIII., and counted on that as one of the causes +undermining the restored monarchy, so now the Royalists intended to +leave the disagreeable duty of ceding the eastern districts of France to +the Republicans who had so persistently prolonged the struggle. The +clamour of no small section of the Republican party for war _à outrance_ +still played into the hands of the royalists and partly justified this +narrow partisanship. Events, however, were to prove here, as in so many +cases, that the party which undertook a pressing duty and discharged it +manfully, gained more in the end than those who shirked responsibility +and left the conduct of affairs to their opponents. Men admire those who +dauntlessly pluck the flower, safety, out of the nettle, danger. + +Finally, the influence of one commanding personality was ultimately to +be given to the cause of the Republic. That strange instinct which in +times of crisis turns the gaze of a people towards the one necessary +man, now singled out M. Thiers. The veteran statesman was elected in +twenty-six Departments. Gambetta and General Trochu, Governor of Paris, +were each elected nine times over. It was clear that the popular voice +was for the policy of statesmanlike moderation which Thiers now summed +up in his person; and Gambetta for a time retired to Spain. + +The name of Thiers had not always stood for moderation. From the time of +his youth, when his journalistic criticisms on the politics, literature, +art and drama of the Restoration period set all tongues wagging, to the +day when his many-sided gifts bore him to power under Louis Philippe, he +stood for all that is most beloved by the vivacious sons of France. His +early work, _The History of the French Revolution_, had endeared him to +the survivors of the old Jacobin and Girondin parties, and his eager +hostility to England during his term of office flattered the Chauvinist +feelings that steadily grew in volume during the otherwise dull reign of +Louis Philippe. In the main, Thiers was an upholder of the Orleans +dynasty, yet his devotion to constitutional principles, the ardour of +his Southern temperament,--he was a Marseillais by birth,--and the +vivacious egotism that never brooked contradiction, often caused sharp +friction with the King and the King's friends. He seemed born for +opposition and criticism. Thereafter, his conduct of affairs helped to +undermine the fabric of the Second Republic (1848-51). Flung into prison +by the minions of Louis Napoleon at the time of the _coup d'état_, he +emerged buoyant as ever, and took up again the rôle that he loved +so well. + +Nevertheless, amidst all the seeming vagaries of Thiers' conduct there +emerge two governing principles--a passionate love of France, and a +sincere attachment to reasoned liberty. The first was absolute and +unchangeable; the second admitted of some variations if the ruler did +not enhance the glory of France, and also (as some cynics said) +recognise the greatness of M. Thiers. For the many gibes to which his +lively talents and successful career exposed him, he had his revenge. +His keen glance and incisive reasoning generally warned him of the +probable fate of Dynasties and Ministries. Like Talleyrand, whom he +somewhat resembled in versatility, opportunism, and undying love of +France, he might have said that he never deserted a Government before it +deserted itself. He foretold the fall of Louis Philippe under the +reactionary Guizot Ministry as, later on, he foretold the fall of +Napoleon III. He blamed the Emperor for not making war on Prussia in +1866 with the same unanswerable logic that marked his opposition to the +mad rush for war in 1870. And yet the war spirit had been in some sense +strengthened by his own writings. His great work, _The History of the +Consulate and Empire_, which appeared from 1845 to 1862--the last eight +volumes came out during the Second Empire--was in the main a +glorification of the First Napoleon. Men therefore asked with some +impatience why the panegyrist of the uncle should oppose the supremacy +of the nephew; and the action of the crowd in smashing the historian's +windows after his great speech against the war of 1870 cannot be called +wholly illogical, even if it erred on the side of Gallic vivacity. + +In the feverish drama of French politics Time sometimes brings an +appropriate Nemesis. It was so now. The man who had divided the energies +of his manhood between parliamentary opposition of a somewhat factious +type and the literary cultivation of the Napoleonic legend, was now in +the evening of his days called upon to bear a crushing load of +responsibility in struggling to win the best possible terms of peace +from the victorious Teuton, in mediating between contending factions at +Bordeaux and Paris, and, finally, in founding a form of government which +never enlisted his whole-hearted sympathy, save as the least +objectionable expedient then open to France. + +For the present, the great thing was to gain peace with the minimum of +sacrifice for France. Who could drive a better bargain than Thiers, the +man who knew France so well, and had recently felt the pulse of the +Governments of Europe? Accordingly, on the 17th of February, the +Assembly named him Head of the Executive Power "until it is based upon +the French Constitution." He declined to accept this post until the +words "of the French Republic" were substituted for the latter clause. +He had every reason for urging this demand. Unlike the Republic of 1848, +the strength of which was chiefly, or almost solely, in Paris, the +Republic was proclaimed at Lyons, Marseilles, and Bordeaux, before any +news came of the overthrow of the Napoleonic dynasty at the capital[58]. + +[Footnote 58: Seignobos, _A Political History of Contemporary Europe_, +vol. i. p. 187 (Eng. edit.).] + +He now entrusted three important portfolios, those for Foreign Affairs, +Home Affairs, and Public Instruction, to pronounced Republicans--Jules +Favre, Picard, and Jules Simon. Having pacified the monarchical majority +by appealing to them to defer all questions respecting the future +constitution until affairs were more settled, he set out to meet +Bismarck at Versailles. + +A disadvantage which almost necessarily besets parliamentary +institutions had weakened the French case before the negotiations began. +The composition of the Assembly implied a strong desire for peace--a +fact which Thiers had needlessly emphasised before he left Bordeaux. On +the other hand, Bismarck was anxious to end the war. He knew enough to +be uneasy at the attitude of the neutral States; for public opinion was +veering round in England, Austria, and Italy to a feeling of keen +sympathy for France, and even Russia was restless at the sight of the +great military Empire that had sprung into being on her flank. The +recent proclamation of the German Empire at Versailles--an event that +will be treated in a later chapter--opened up a vista of great +developments for the Fatherland, not unmixed with difficulties and +dangers. Above all, sharp differences had arisen between him and the +military men at the German headquarters, who wished to "bleed France +white" by taking a large portion of French Lorraine (including its +capital Nancy), a few colonies, and part of her fleet. It is now known +that Bismarck, with the same moderation that he displayed after +Königgrätz, opposed these extreme claims, because he doubted the +advisability of keeping Metz, with its large French population. The +words in which he let fall these thoughts while at dinner with Busch on +February 21 deserve to be quoted:-- + + If they (the French) gave us a milliard more (£40,000,000) we + might perhaps let them have Metz. We would then take + 800,000,000 francs, and build ourselves a fortress a few + miles further back, somewhere about Falkenberg or + Saarbrück--there must be some suitable spot thereabouts. We + should thus make a clear profit of 200,000,000 francs. + [N.B.--A milliard = 1,000,000,000 francs.] I do not like so + many Frenchmen being in our house against their will. It is + just the same with Belfort. It is all French there too. The + military men, however, will not be willing to let Metz slip, + and perhaps they are right[59]. + +[Footnote 59: Busch, _Bismarck in the Franco-German War_, vol. ii. p. +341.] + +A sharp difference of opinion had arisen between Bismarck and Moltke on +this question, and the Emperor Wilhelm intervened in favour of Moltke. +That decided the question of Metz against Thiers despite his threat that +this might lead to a renewal of war. For Belfort, however, the French +statesman made a supreme effort. That fortress holds a most important +position. Strong in itself, it stands as sentinel guarding the gap of +nearly level ground between the spurs of the Vosges and those of the +Jura. If that virgin stronghold were handed over to Germany, she would +easily be able to pour her legions down the valley of the Doubs and +dominate the rich districts of Burgundy and the Lyonnais. Besides, +military honour required France to keep a fortress that had kept the +tricolour flying. Metz the Germans held, and it was impossible to turn +them out. Obviously the case of Belfort was on a different footing. In +his conference of February 24, Thiers at last defied Bismarck in these +words: "No; I will never yield Belfort and Metz in the same breath. You +wish to ruin France in her finances, in her frontiers. Well! Take her. +Conduct her administration, collect her revenues, and you will have to +govern her in the face of Europe--if Europe permits[60]." + +[Footnote 60: G. Hanotaux, _Contemporary France_, vol i. p. 124 (Eng. +edit.). This work is the most detailed and authoritative that has yet +appeared on these topics. See, too, M. Samuel Denis' work, _Histoire +Contemporaine_.] + +Probably this defiance had less weight with the Iron Chancellor than his +conviction, noticed above, that to bring two entirely French towns +within the German Empire would prove a source of weakness; beside which +his own motto, _Beati possidentes_, told with effect in the case of +Belfort. That stronghold was accordingly saved for France. Thiers also +obtained a reduction of a milliard from the impossible sum of six +milliards first named for the war indemnity due to Germany; in this +matter Jules Favre states that British mediation had been of some avail. +If so, it partly accounts for the hatred of England which Bismarck +displayed in his later years. The Preliminaries of Peace were signed at +Versailles on February 26. + +One other matter remained. The Germans insisted that, if Belfort +remained to France, part of their army should enter Paris. In vain did +Thiers and Jules Favre point out the irritation that this would cause +and the possible ensuing danger. The German Emperor and his Staff made +it a point of honour, and 30,000 of their troops accordingly marched in +and occupied for a brief space the district of the Champs Élysées. The +terms of peace were finally ratified in the Treaty of Frankfurt (May 10, +1871), whereby France ceded Alsace and part of Lorraine, with a +population of some 1,600,000 souls, and underwent the other losses noted +above. Last but not least was the burden of supporting the German army +of occupation that kept its grip on the north-east of France until, as +the instalments came in, the foreign troops were proportionately drawn +away eastwards. The magnitude of these losses and burdens had already +aroused cries of anguish in France. The National Assembly at Bordeaux, +on first hearing the terms, passionately confirmed the deposition of +Napoleon III.; while the deputies from the ceded districts lodged a +solemn protest against their expatriation (March 1). Some of the +advanced Republican deputies, refusing to acknowledge the cession of +territory, resigned their seats in the Assembly. Thus there began a +schism between the Radicals, especially those of Paris, and the +Assembly, which was destined to widen into an impassable gulf. Matters +were made worse by the decision of the Assembly to sit, not at the +capital, but at Versailles, where it would be free from the commotions +of the great city. Thiers himself declared in favour of Versailles; +there the Assembly met for the first time on March 20, 1871. + +A conflict between this monarchical Assembly and the eager Radicals of +Paris perhaps lay in the nature of things. The majority of the deputies +looked forward to the return of the King (whether the Comte de Chambord +of the elder Bourbons, or the Comte de Paris of the House of Orleans) as +soon as France should be freed from the German armies of occupation and +the spectre of the Red Terror. Some of their more impatient members +openly showed their hand, and while at Bordeaux began to upbraid Thiers +for his obstinate neutrality on this question. For his part, the wise +old man had early seen the need of keeping the parties in check. On +February 17 he begged them to defer questions as to the future form of +government, working meanwhile solely for the present needs of France, +and allowing future victory to be the meed of that party which showed +itself most worthy of trust. "Can there be any man" (he exclaimed) "who +would dare learnedly to discuss the articles of the Constitution, while +our prisoners are dying of misery far away, or while our people, +perishing of hunger, are obliged to give their last crust to the foreign +soldiers?" A similar appeal on March led to the informal truce on +constitutional questions known as the Compact of Bordeaux. It was at +best an uncertain truce, certain to be broken at the first sign of +activity on the Republican side. + +That activity was now put forth by the "Reds" of Paris. It would take us +far too long to describe the origins of the municipal socialism which +took form in the Parisian Commune of 1871. The first seeds of that +movement had been sown by its prototype of 1792-93, which summed up all +the daring and vigour of the revolutionary socialism of that age. The +idea had been kept alive by the "National Workshops" of 1848, whose +institution and final suppression by the young Republic of that year had +been its own undoing. + +History shows, then, that Paris, as the head of France, was accustomed +to think and act vigorously for herself in time of revolution. But +experience proved no less plainly that the limbs, that is, the country +districts, generally refused to follow the head in these fantastic +movements. Hence, after a short spell of St. Vitus' activity, there +always came a time of strife, followed only too often by torpor, when +the body reduced the head to a state of benumbed subjection. The triumph +of rural notions accounts for the reactions of 1831-47, and 1851-70. +Paris having once more regained freedom of movement by the fall of the +Second Empire on September 4, at once sought to begin her +politico-social experiments, and, as we pointed out, only the +promptitude of the "moderates," when face to face with the advancing +Germans, averted the catastrophe of a socialistic regime in Paris during +the siege. Even so, the Communists made two determined efforts to gain +power; the former of these, on October 31, nearly succeeded. Other towns +in the centre and south, notably Lyons, were also on the brink of +revolutionary socialism, and the success of the movement in Paris might +conceivably have led to a widespread trial of the communal experiment. +The war helped to keep matters in the old lines. + +But now, the feelings of rage at the surrender of Paris and the cession +of the eastern districts of France, together with hatred of the +monarchical assembly that flouted the capital by sitting at the abode of +the old Kings of France, served to raise popular passion to fever heat. +The Assembly undoubtedly made many mistakes: it authorised the payment +of rents and all other obligations in the capital for the period of +siege as if in ordinary times, and it appointed an unpopular man to +command the National Guards of Paris. At the close of February the +National Guards formed a Central Committee to look after their interests +and those of the capital; and when the Executive of the State sent +troops of the line to seize their guns parked on Montmartre, the +Nationals and the rabble turned out in force. The troops refused to act +against the National Guards, and these murdered two Generals, Lecomte +and Thomas (March 18). Thiers and his Ministers thereupon rather tamely +retired to Versailles, and the capital fell into the hands of the +Communists. Greater firmness at the outset might have averted the +horrors that followed. + +The Communists speedily consulted the voice of the people by elections +conducted in the most democratic spirit. In many respects their +programme of municipal reforms marked a great improvement on the type of +town-government prevalent during the Empire. That was, practically, +under the control of the imperial _préfets_. The Communists now asserted +the right of each town to complete self-government, with the control of +its officials, magistrates, National Guards, and police, as well as of +taxation, education, and many other spheres of activity. The more +ambitious minds looked forward to a time when France would form a +federation of self-governing Communes, whose delegates, deciding matters +of national concern, would reduce the executive power to complete +subservience. At bottom this Communal Federalism was the ideal of +Rousseau and of his ideal Cantonal State. + +By such means, they hoped, the brain of France would control the body, +the rural population inevitably taking the position of hewers of wood +and drawers of water, both in a political and material sense. +Undoubtedly the Paris Commune made some intelligent changes which +pointed the way to reforms of lasting benefit; but it is very +questionable whether its aims could have achieved permanence in a land +so very largely agricultural as France then was. Certainly it started +its experiment in the worst possible way, namely, by defying the +constituted authorities of the nation at large, and by adopting the old +revolutionary calendar, and the red flag, the symbol of social +revolution. Thenceforth it was an affair of war to the knife. + +The National Government, sitting at Versailles, could not at first act +with much vigour. Many of the line regiments sympathised with the +National Guards of Paris: these were 200,000 strong, and had command of +the walls and some of the posts to the south-west of Paris. The Germans +still held the forts to the north and east of the capital, and refused +to allow any attack on that side. It has even been stated that Bismarck +favoured the Communists; but this is said to have resulted from their +misreading of his promise to maintain a _friedlich_ (peaceful) attitude, +as if it were _freundlich_ (friendly)[61]. The full truth as to +Bismarck's relations to the Commune is not known. The Germans, however, +sent back a force of French prisoners, and these with other troops, +after beating back the Communist sortie of April 3, began to threaten +the defences of the city. The strife at once took on a savage character, +as was inevitable after the murder of two Generals in Paris. The +Versailles troops, treating the Communists as mere rebels, shot their +chief officers. Thereupon the Commune retaliated by ordering the capture +of hostages, and by seizing the Archbishop of Paris, and several other +ecclesiastics (April 5). It also decreed the abolition of the budget for +Public Worship and the confiscation of clerical and monastic property +_throughout France_--a proposal which aroused ridicule and contempt. + +[Footnote 61: Débidour, _Histoire diplomatique de l'Europe_, vol. ii. p. +438-440.] + +It would be tedious to dwell on the details of this terrible strife. +Gradually the regular forces overpowered the National Guards of Paris, +drove them from the southern forts, and finally (May 21) gained a +lodgment within the walls of Paris at the Auteuil gate. Then followed a +week of street-fighting and madness such as Europe had not seen since +the Peninsular War. "Room for the people, for the bare-armed fighting +men. The hour of the revolutionary war has struck." This was the placard +posted throughout Paris on the 22nd, by order of the Communist chief, +Delescluze. And again, "After the barricades, our houses; after our +houses, our ruins." Preparations were made to burn down a part of +Central Paris to delay the progress of the Versaillese. Rumour magnified +this into a plan of wholesale incendiarism, and wild stories were told +of _pétroleuses_ flinging oil over buildings, and of Communist firemen +ready to pump petroleum. A squad of infuriated "Reds" rushed off and +massacred the Archbishop of Paris and six other hostages, while +elsewhere Dominican friars, captured regulars, and police agents fell +victims to the rage of the worsted party. + +Madness seemed to have seized on the women of Paris. Even when the men +were driven from barricades by weight of numbers or by the capture of +houses on their flank, these creatures fought on with the fury of +despair till they met the death which the enraged linesmen dealt out to +all who fought, or seemed to have fought. Simpson, the British war +correspondent, tells how he saw a brutal officer tear the red cross off +the arm of a nurse who tended the Communist wounded, so that she might +be done to death as a fighter[62]. Both sides, in truth, were maddened +by the long and murderous struggle, which showed once again that no +strife is so horrible as that of civil war. On Sunday, May 28, the last +desperate band was cut down at the Cemetery Père-Lachaise, and fighting +gave way to fusillades. Most of the chiefs perished without the pretence +of trial, and the same fate befel thousands of National Guards, who were +mown down in swathes and cast into trenches. In the last day of +fighting, and the horrible time that followed, 17,000 Parisians are said +to have perished[63]. Little by little, law reasserted her sway, but +only to doom 9600 persons to heavy punishment. Not until 1879 did +feelings of mercy prevail, and then, owing to Gambetta's powerful +pleading, an amnesty was passed for the surviving Communist prisoners. + +[Footnote 62: _The Autobiography of William Simpson_ (London, 1903), p. +261.] + +[Footnote 63: G. Hanotaux, _Contemporary France_, p. 225. For further +details see Lissagaray's _History of the Commune_; also personal details +in Washburne's _Recollections of a Minister to France_, 1869-1877, vol. +ii. chaps, ii.-vii.] + +The Paris Commune affords the last important instance of a determined +rising in Europe against a civilised Government. From this statement we +of course except the fitful efforts of the Carlists in Spain; and it is +needless to say that the risings of the Bulgarians and other Slavs +against Turkish rule have been directed against an uncivilised +Government. The absence of revolts in the present age marks it off from +all that have preceded, and seems to call for a brief explanation. +Obviously, there is no lack of discontent, as the sequel will show. +Finland, portions of Caucasia, and all the parts of the once mighty +realm of Poland which have fallen to Russia and Prussia, now and again +heave with anger and resentment. But these feelings are suppressed. They +do not flame forth, as was the case in Poland as late as the year 1863. +What is the reason for this? Mainly, it would seem, the enormous powers +given to the modern organised State by the discoveries of mechanical +science and the triumphs of the engineer. Telegraphy now flashes to the +capital the news of a threatening revolt in the hundredth part of the +time formerly taken by couriers with their relays of horses. Fully as +great is the saving of time in the transport of large bodies of troops +to the disaffected districts. Thus, the all-important factors that make +for success--force, skill, and time--are all on the side of the central +Governments[64]. + +[Footnote 64: See _Turkey in Europe_, by "Odysseus" (p. 130), for the +parallel instance of the enhanced power of the Sultan Abdul Hamid owing +to the same causes.] + +The spread of constitutional rule has also helped to dispel +discontent--or, at least, has altered its character. Representative +government has tended to withdraw disaffection from the market-place, +the purlieus of the poor, and the fastnesses of the forest, and to focus +it noisily but peacefully in the columns of the Press and the arena of +Parliament. The appeal now is not so much to arms as to argument; and in +this new sphere a minority, provided that it is well organised and +persistent, may generally hope to attain its ends. Revolt, even if it +take the form of a refusal to pay taxes, is therefore an anachronism +under a democracy; unless, as in the case of the American Civil War, two +great sections of the country are irreconcilably opposed. + +The fact, however, that there has been no widespread revolt in Russia +since the year 1863, shows that democracy has not been the chief +influence tending to dissolve or suppress discontent. As we shall see in +a later chapter, Russia has defied constitutionalism and ground down +alien races and creeds; yet (up to the year 1904) no great rising has +shaken her autocratic system to its base. This seems to prove that the +immunity of the present age in regard to insurrections is due rather to +the triumphs of mechanical science than to the progress of democracy. +The fact is not pleasing to contemplate; but it must be faced. So also +must its natural corollary: that the minority, if rendered desperate, +may be driven to arm itself with new and terrible engines of destruction +in order to shatter that superiority of force with which science has +endowed the centralised Governments of to-day. + +Certain it is that desperation, perhaps brought about by a sense of +helplessness in face of an armed nation, was one of the characteristics +of the Paris Commune, as it was also of Nihilism in Russia. In fact the +Communist effort of 1871 may be termed a belated attempt on the part of +a daring minority to dominate France by seizing the machinery of +government at Paris. The success of the Extremists of 1793 and 1848 in +similar experiments--not to speak of the Communistic rising of Babeuf in +1797--was only temporary; but doubtless it encouraged the "Reds" of 1871 +to make their mad bid for power. Now, however, the case was very +different. France was no longer a lethargic mass, dominated solely by +the eager brain of Paris. The whole country thrilled with political +life. For the time, the provinces held the directing power, which had +been necessarily removed from the capital; and--most powerful motive of +all--they looked on the Parisian experiment as gross treason to _la +patrie_, while she lay at the feet of the Germans. Thus, the very +motives which for a space lent such prestige and power to the +Communistic Jacobins of 1793 told against their imitators in 1871. + +The inmost details of their attempt will perhaps never be fully known; +for too many of the actors died under the ruins of the building they had +so heedlessly reared. Nevertheless, it is clear that the Commune was far +from being the causeless outburst that it has often been represented. In +part it resulted from the determination of the capital to free herself +from the control of the "rurals" who dominated the National Assembly; +and in that respect it foreshadowed, however crudely, what will probably +be the political future of all great States, wherein the urban +population promises altogether to outweigh and control that of the +country. Further, it should be remembered that the experimenters of 1871 +believed the Assembly to have betrayed the cause of France by ceding her +eastern districts, and to be on the point of handing over the Republic +to the Monarchists. A fit of hysteria, or hypochondria, brought on by +the exhausting siege and by exasperation at the triumphal entry of the +Germans, added the touch of fury which enabled the Radicals of Paris to +challenge the national authorities and thereafter to persist in their +defiance with French logicality and ardour. + +France, on the other hand, looked on the Communist movement at Paris and +in the southern towns as treason to the cause of national unity, when +there was the utmost need of concord. Thus on both sides there were +deplorable misunderstandings. In ordinary times they might have been +cleared away by frank explanations between the more moderate leaders; +but the feverish state of the public mind forbade all thoughts of +compromise, and the very weakness brought on by the war sharpened the +fit of delirium which will render the spring months of the year 1871 for +ever memorable even in the thrilling annals of Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE FOUNDING OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC (_continued_) + + +The seemingly suicidal energy shown in the civil strifes at Paris served +still further to depress the fortunes of France. On the very day when +the Versailles troops entered the walls of Paris, Thiers and Favre +signed the treaty of peace at Frankfurt. The terms were substantially +those agreed on in the preliminaries of February, but the terms of +payment of the indemnity were harder than before. Resistance was +hopeless. In truth, the Iron Chancellor had recently used very +threatening language: he accused the French Government of bad faith in +procuring the release of a large force of French prisoners, ostensibly +for the overthrow of the Commune, but really in order to patch up +matters with the "Reds" of Paris and renew the war with Germany. +Misrepresentations and threats like these induced Thiers and Favre to +agree to the German demands, which took form in the Treaty of Frankfurt +(May 10, 1871). + +Peace having been duly ratified on the hard terms[65], it remained to +build up France almost _de nova_. Nearly everything was wanting. The +treasury was nearly empty, and that too in face of the enormous demands +made by Germany. It is said that in February 1871, the unhappy man who +took up the Ministry of Finance, carried away all the funds of the +national exchequer in his hat. As Thiers confessed to the Assembly, he +had, for very patriotism, to close his eyes to the future and grapple +with the problems of every day as they arose. But he had faith in +France, and France had faith in him. The French people can perform +wonders when they thoroughly trust their rulers. The inexhaustible +wealth inherent in their soil, the thrift of the peasantry, and the +self-sacrificing ardour shown by the nation when nerved by a high ideal, +constituted an asset of unsuspected strength in face of the staggering +blows dealt to French wealth and credit. The losses caused by the war, +the Commune, and the cession of the eastern districts, involved losses +that have been reckoned at more than £614,000,000. Apart from the +1,597,000 inhabitants transferred to German rule, the loss of population +due to the war and the civil strifes has been put as high as 491,000 +souls[66]. + +[Footnote 65: They included the right to hold four more Departments +until the third half milliard (£20,000,000, that is, £60,000,000 in all) +had been paid. A commercial treaty on favourable terms, those of the +"most favoured nation," was arranged, as also an exchange of frontier +strips near Luxemburg and Belfort. Germany acquired Elsass (Alsace) and +part of Lorraine, free of all their debts. + +We may note here that the Anglo-French Treaty of Commerce arranged in +1860 with Napoleon largely by the aid of Cobden, was not renewed by the +French Republic, which thereafter began to exclude British goods. +Bismarck forced France at Frankfurt to concede favourable terms to +German products. England was helpless. For this subject, see _Protection +in France_, by H.O. Meredith (1905).] + +[Footnote 66: Quoted by M. Hanotaux, _Contemporary France_, vol. i. pp. +323-327.] + +Yet France flung herself with triumphant energy into the task of paying +off the invaders. At the close of June 1871, a loan for two milliards +and a quarter (£90,000,000) was opened for subscription, and proved to +be an immense success. The required amount was more than doubled. By +means of the help of international banks, the first half milliard of the +debt was paid off in July 1871, and Normandy was freed from the burden +of German occupation. We need not detail the dates of the successive +payments. They revealed the unsuspected vitality of France and the +energy of her Government and financiers. In March 1873, the arrangements +for the payment of the last instalment were made, and in the autumn of +that year the last German troops left Verdun and Belfort. For his great +services in bending all the powers of France to this great financial +feat, Thiers was universally acclaimed as the Liberator of the +Territory. + +Yet that very same period saw him overthrown. To read this riddle +aright, we must review the outlines of French internal politics. We have +already referred to the causes that sent up a monarchical majority to +the National Assembly, the schisms that weakened the action of that +majority, and the peculiar position held by M. Thiers, an Orleanist in +theory, but the chief magistrate of the French Republic. No more +paradoxical situation has ever existed; and its oddity was enhanced by +the usually clear-cut logicality of French political thought. Now, after +the war and the Commune, the outlook was dim, even to the keenest sight. +One thing alone was clear, the duty of all citizens to defer raising any +burning question until law, order, and the national finances were +re-established. It was the perception of this truth that led to the +provisional truce between the parties known as the Compact of Bordeaux. +Flagrantly broken by the "Reds" of Paris in the spring of 1871, that +agreement seemed doomed. The Republic itself was in danger of perishing +as it did after the socialistic extravagances of the Revolution of 1848. +But Thiers at once disappointed the monarchists by stoutly declaring +that he would not abet the overthrow of the Republic: "We found the +Republic established, as a fact of which we are not the authors; but I +will not destroy the form of government which I am now using to restore +order. . . . When all is settled, the country will have the liberty to +choose as it pleases in what concerns its future destinies[67]." +Skilfully pointing the factions to the future as offering a final reward +for their virtuous self-restraint, this masterly tactician gained time +in which to heal the worst wounds dealt by the war. + +[Footnote 67: Speech of March 27, 1871.] + +But it was amidst unending difficulties. The Monarchists, eager to +emphasise the political reaction set in motion by the extravagances of +the Paris Commune, wished to rid themselves at the earliest possible +time of this self-confident little bourgeois who seemed to stand alone +between them and the realisation of their hopes. Their more unscrupulous +members belittled his services and hinted that love of power alone led +him to cling to the Republic, and thus belie his political past. Then, +too, the Orleans princes, the Duc d'Aumale and the Prince de Joinville, +the surviving sons of King Louis Philippe, took their seats as deputies +for the Oise and Haute-Marne Departments, thus keeping the monarchical +ideal steadily before the eye of France. True, the Duc d'Aumale had +declared to the electorate that he was ready to bow before the will of +France whether it decided for a Constitutional Monarchy or a Liberal +Republic; and the loyalty with which he served his country was destined +to set the seal of honesty on a singularly interesting career. But there +was no guarantee that the Chamber would not take upon itself to +interpret the will of France and call from his place of exile in London +the Comte de Paris, son of the eldest descendant of Louis Philippe, +around whom the hopes of the Orleanists centred. + +Had Thiers followed his earlier convictions and declared for such a +Restoration, it might quite conceivably have come about without very +much resistance. But early in the year 1871, or perhaps after the fall +of the Empire, he became convinced that France could not heal her +grievous wounds except under a government that had its roots deep in the +people's life. Now, the cause of monarchy in France was hopelessly +weakened by schisms. Legitimists and Orleanists were at feud ever since, +in 1830, Louis Philippe, so the former said, cozened the rightful heir +out of his inheritance; and the efforts now made to fuse the claims of +the two rival branches remained without result, owing to the stiff and +dogmatic attitude of the Comte de Chambord, heir to the traditions of +the elder branch. A Bonapartist Restoration was out of the question. Yet +all three sections began more and more to urge their claims. Thiers met +them with consummate skill. Occasionally they had reason to resent his +tactics as showing unworthy finesse; but oftener they quailed before the +startling boldness of his reminders that, as they constituted the +majority of the deputies of France, they might at once undertake to +restore the monarchy--if they could. "You do not, and you cannot, do so. +There is only one throne and it cannot have three occupants[68]." Or, +again, he cowed them by the sheer force of his personality: "If I were a +weak man, I would flatter you," he once exclaimed. In the last resort he +replied to their hints of his ambition and self-seeking by offering his +resignation. Here again the logic of facts was with him. For many months +he was the necessary man, and he and they knew it. + +[Footnote 68: De Mazade, _Thiers_, p. 467. For a sharp criticism of +Thiers, see Samuel Denis' _Histoire Contemperaine_ (written from the +royalist standpoint).] + +But, as we have seen, there came a time when the last hard bargains with +Bismarck as to the payment of the war debt neared their end; and the +rapier-play between the Liberator of the Territory and the parties of +the Assembly also drew to a close. In one matter he had given them just +cause for complaint. As far back as November 13, 1872 (that is, before +the financial problem was solved), he suddenly and without provocation +declared from the tribune of the National Assembly that it was time to +establish the Republic. The proposal was adjourned, but Thiers had +damaged his influence. He had broken the "Compact of Bordeaux" and had +shown his hand. The Assembly now knew that he was a Republican. Finally, +he made a dignified speech to the Assembly, justifying his conduct in +the past, appealing from the verdict of parties to the impartial +tribunal of History, and prophesying that the welfare of France was +bound up with the maintenance of the Conservative Republic. The Assembly +by a majority of fourteen decided on a course of action that he +disapproved, and he therefore resigned (May 24, 1873). + +It seems that History will justify his appeal to her tribunal. Looking, +not at the occasional shifts that he used in order to disunite his +opponents, but rather at the underlying motives that prompted his +resolve to maintain that form of government which least divided his +countrymen, posterity has praised his conduct as evincing keen insight +into the situation, a glowing love for France before which all his +earliest predilections vanished, and a masterly skill in guiding her +from the abyss of anarchy, civil war, and bankruptcy that had but +recently yawned at her feet. Having set her upon the path of safety, he +now betook himself once more to those historical and artistic studies +which he loved better than power and office. It is given to few men not +only to write history but also to make history; yet in both spheres +Thiers achieved signal success. Some one has dubbed him "the greatest +little man known to history." Granting even that the paradox is tenable, +we may still assert that his influence on the life of France exceeded +that of many of her so-called heroes. + +In fact, it would be difficult to point out in any country during the +Nineteenth Century, since the time of Bonaparte's Consulate, a work of +political, economic, and social renovation greater than that which went +on in the two years during which Thiers held the reins of power. Apart +from the unparalleled feat of paying off the Germans, the Chief of the +Executive breathed new vigour into the public service, revived national +spirit in so noteworthy a way as to bring down threats of war from +German military circles in 1872 (to be repeated more seriously in 1875), +and placed on the Statute Book two measures of paramount importance. +These were the reform of Local Government and the Army Bill. + +These measures claim a brief notice. The former of them naturally falls +into two parts, dealing severally with the Commune and the Department. +These are the two all-important areas in French life. In rural districts +the Commune corresponds to the English parish; it is the oldest and +best-defined of all local areas. In urban districts it corresponds with +the municipality or township. The Revolutionists of 1790 and 1848 had +sought to apply the principle of manhood suffrage to communal +government; but their plans were swept away by the ensuing reactions, +and the dawn of the Third Republic found the Communes, both rural and +urban, under the control of the _préfets_ and their subordinates. We +must note here that the office of _préfet_, instituted by Bonaparte in +1800, was designed to link the local government of the Departments +closely to the central power: this magistrate, appointed by the +Executive at Paris, having almost unlimited control over local affairs +throughout the several Departments. Indeed, it was against the excessive +centralisation of the prefectorial system that the Parisian Communists +made their heedless and unmeasured protest. The question having thus +been thrust to the front, the Assembly brought forward (April 1871) a +measure authorising the election of Communal Councils elected by every +adult man who had resided for a year in the Commune. A majority of the +Assembly wished that the right of choosing mayors should rest with the +Communal Councils, but Thiers, browbeating the deputies by his favourite +device of threatening to resign, carried an amendment limiting this +right to towns of less than 20,000 inhabitants. In the larger towns, and +in all capitals of Departments, the mayors were to be appointed by the +central power. Thus the Napoleonic tradition in favour of keeping local +government under the oversight of officials nominated from Paris was to +some extent perpetuated even in an avowedly democratic measure. + +Paris was to have a Municipal Council composed of eighty members elected +by manhood suffrage from each ward; but the mayors of the twenty +_arrondissements_, into which Paris is divided, were, and still are, +appointed by the State; and here again the control of the police and +other extensive powers are vested in the _Préfet_ of the Department of +the Seine, not in the mayors of the _arrondissements_ or the Municipal +Council. The Municipal or Communal Act of 1871, then, is a +compromise--on the whole a good working compromise--between the extreme +demands for local self-government and the Napoleonic tradition, now +become an instinct with most Frenchmen in favour of central control over +matters affecting public order[69]. + +[Footnote 69: On the strength of this instinct see Mr. Bodley's +excellent work, _France_, vol. i. pp. 32-42. etc. For the Act, see +Hanotaux _op. cit._ pp. 236-238.] + +The matter of Army Reform was equally pressing. Here, again, Thiers had +the ground cleared before him by a great overturn, like that which +enabled Bonaparte in his day to remodel France, and the builders of +Modern Prussia--Stein, Scharnhorst, and Hardenberg--to build up their +State from its ruins. In particular, the inefficiency of the National +Guards and of the Garde Mobile made it easy to reconstruct the French +Army on the system of universal conscription in a regular army, the +efficiency of which Prussia had so startlingly displayed in the +campaigns of Königgrätz (Sadowa) and Sedan. Thiers, however, had no +belief in a short service system with its result of a huge force of +imperfectly trained troops: he clung to the old professional army; and +when that was shown to be inadequate to the needs of the new age, he +pleaded that the period of compulsory service should be, not three, but +five years. On the Assembly demurring to the expense and vital strain +for the people which this implied, he declared with passionate emphasis +that he would resign unless the five years were voted. They were voted +(June 10, 1872). At the same time, the exemptions, so numerous during +the Second Empire, were curtailed and the right of buying a substitute +was swept away. After five years' service with the active army were to +come four years with the reserve of the active army, followed by further +terms in the territorial army. The favour of one year's service instead +of five was to be accorded in certain well-defined cases, as, for +instance, to those who had distinguished themselves at the _Lycées_, or +highest grade public schools. Such was the law which was published on +July 27, 1872[70]. + +[Footnote 70: Hanotaux, _op. cit._ pp. 452-465.] + +The sight of a nation taking on itself this heavy blood-tax (heavier +than that of Germany, where the time of service with the colours was +only for three years) aroused universal surprise, which beyond the Rhine +took the form of suspicion that France was planning a war of revenge. +That feeling grew in intensity in military circles in Berlin three years +later, as the sequel will show. Undaunted by the thinly-veiled threats +that came from Germany, France proceeded with the tasks of paying off +her conquerors and reorganising her own forces; so that Thiers on his +retirement from office could proudly point to the recovery of French +credit and prestige after an unexampled overthrow. + +In feverish haste, the monarchical majority of the National Assembly +appointed Marshal MacMahon to the Presidency (May 24, 1873). They soon +found out, however, the impossibility of founding a monarchy. The Comte +de Paris, in whom the hopes of the Orleanists centred, went to the +extreme of self-sacrifice, by visiting the Comte de Chambord, the +Legitimist "King" of France, and recognising the validity of his claims +to the throne. But this amiable pliability, while angering very many of +the Orleanists, failed to move the monarch-designate by one +hair's-breadth from those principles of divine right against which the +more liberal monarchists always protested. "Henri V." soon declared that +he would neither accept any condition nor grant a single guarantee as to +the character of his future rule. Above all, he declared that he would +never give up the white flag of the _ancien régime_. In his eyes the +tricolour, which, shortly after the fall of the Bastille, Louis XVI. had +recognised as the flag of France, represented the spirit of the Great +Revolution, and for that great event he had the deepest loathing. As if +still further to ruin his cause, the Count announced his intention of +striving with all his might for the restoration of the Temporal Power of +the Pope. It is said that the able Bishop of Orleans, Mgr. Dupanloup, on +reading one of the letters by which the Comte de Chambord nailed the +white flag to the mast, was driven to exclaim, "There! That makes the +Republic! Poor France! All is lost." + +Thus the attempts at fusion of the two monarchical parties had only +served to expose the weaknesses of their position and to warn France of +the probable results of a monarchical restoration. That the country had +well learnt the lesson appeared in the bye-elections, which in nearly +every case went in favour of Republican candidates. Another event that +happened early in 1873 further served to justify Thiers' contention that +the Republic was the only possible form of government. On January 9, +Napoleon III. died of the internal disease which for seven years past +had been undermining his strength. His son, the Prince Imperial, was at +present far too young to figure as a claimant to the throne. + +It is also an open secret that Bismarck worked hard to prevent all +possibility of a royalist Restoration; and when the German ambassador at +Paris, Count Arnim, opposed his wishes in this matter, he procured his +recall and subjected him to a State prosecution. In fact, Bismarck +believed that under a Republic France would be powerless in war, and, +further, that she could never form that alliance with Russia which was +the bugbear of his later days. A Russian diplomatist once told the Duc +de Broglie that the kind of Republic which Bismarck wanted to see in +France was "_une République dissolvante_." + +Everything therefore concurred to postpone the monarchical question, and +to prolong the informal truce which Thiers had been the first to bring +about. Accordingly, in the month of November, the Assembly extended the +Presidency of Marshal MacMahon to seven years--a period therefore known +as the Septennate. + +Having now briefly shown the causes of the helplessness of the +monarchical majority in the matter that it had most nearly at heart, we +must pass over subsequent events save as they refer to that crowning +paradox--the establishment of a Republican Constitution. This was due to +the despair felt by many of the Orleanists of seeing a restoration +during the lifetime of the Comte de Chambord, and to the alarm felt by +all sections of the monarchists at the activity and partial success of +the Bonapartists, who in the latter part of 1874 captured a few seats. +Seeking above all things to keep out a Bonaparte, they did little to +hinder the formation of a Constitution which all of them looked on as +provisional. In fact, they adopted the policy of marking time until the +death of the Comte de Chambord--whose hold on life proved to be no less +tenacious than on his creed--should clear up the situation. Accordingly, +after many diplomatic delays, the Committee which in 1873 had been +charged to draw up the Constitution, presented its plan, which took form +in the organic laws of February 25, 1875. They may be thus summarised:-- + +The Legislature consists of two Assemblies--the Chamber of Deputies and +the Senate, the former being elected by "universal" (or, more properly, +_manhood_) suffrage. The composition of the Senate, as determined by a +later law, lies with electoral bodies in each of the Departments; these +bodies consist of the national deputies for that Department, the members +of their General Councils and District Councils, and delegates from the +Municipal Councils. Senators are elected for nine years; deputies to the +Chamber of Deputies for four years. The President of the Republic is +chosen by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies sitting together for +that purpose. He is chosen for seven years and is eligible for +re-election; he is responsible to the Chambers only in case of high +treason; he enjoys, conjointly with the members of the two Chambers, the +right of proposing laws; he promulgates them when passed and supervises +their execution; he disposes of the armed forces of France and has the +right of pardon formerly vested in the Kings of France. Conformably to +the advice of the Senate he may dissolve the Chamber of Deputies. Each +Chamber may initiate proposals for laws, save that financial measures +rest solely with the Chamber of Deputies. + +The Chambers may decide that the Constitution shall be revised. In that +case, they meet together, as a National Assembly, to carry out such +revision, which is determined by the bare majority. Each +_arrondissement_, or district of a Department, elects one deputy. From +1885 to 1889 the elections were decided by each Department on a list, +but since that time the earlier plan has been revived. We may also add +that the seat of government was fixed at Versailles; four years later +this was altered in favour of Paris, but certain of the most important +functions, such as the election of a new President, take place at +Versailles. + +Taken as a whole, this Constitution was a clever compromise between the +democratic and autocratic principles of government. Having its roots in +manhood suffrage, it delegated very extensive powers to the head of the +State. These powers are especially noteworthy if we compare them with +those of the Ministry. The President commissions such and such a senator +or deputy to form a Ministry (not necessarily representing the opinions +of the majority of the Chambers); and that Ministry is responsible to +the Chambers for the execution of laws and the general policy of the +Government; but the President is not responsible to the Chambers, save +in the single and very exceptional case of high treason to the State. +Obviously, the Assembly wished to keep up the autocratic traditions of +the past as well as to leave open the door for a revision of the +Constitution at any time favourable to the monarchical cause. That this +Constitution did not pave the way for the monarchy was due to several +causes. Some we have named above. + +Another and perhaps a final cause was the unwillingness or inability of +Marshal MacMahon to bring matters to the test of force. Actuated, +perhaps, by motives similar to those which kept the Duke of Wellington +from pushing matters to an extreme in England in 1831, the Marshal +refused to carry out a _coup d'état_ against the Republican majority +sent up to the Chamber of Deputies by the General Election of January +1876. Once or twice he seemed on the point of using force. Thus, in May +1877, he ventured to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies; but the +Republican party, led by the impetuous Gambetta, appealed to the country +with decisive results. That orator's defiant challenge to the Marshal, +either to submit or to resign (_se soumettre ou se démettre_) was taken +up by France, with the result that nearly all the Republican deputies +were re-elected. The President recognised the inevitable, and in +December of that year charged M. Dufaure to form a Ministry that +represented the Republican majority. In January 1879 even, some +senatorial elections went against the President, and he accordingly +resigned, January 30, 1879. + +In the year 1887 the Republic seemed for a time to be in danger owing +to the intrigues of the Minister for War, General Boulanger. Making +capital out of the difficulties of France, the financial scandals +brought home to President Grévy, and his own popularity with the army, +the General seemed to be preparing a _coup d'état_. The danger increased +when the Ministry had to resign office (May 1887). A "National party" +was formed, consisting of monarchists, Bonapartists, clericals, and even +some crotchety socialists--in fact, of all who hoped to make capital out +of the fell of the Parliamentary regime. The malcontents called for a +plebiscite as to the form of government, hoping by these means to thrust +in Boulanger as dictator to pave the way for the Comte de Paris up to +the throne of France. After a prolonged crisis, the scheme ignominiously +collapsed at the first show of vigour on the Republican side. When the +new Floquet Ministry summoned Boulanger to appear before the High Court +of Justice, he fled to Belgium, and shortly afterwards committed +suicide. + +The chief feature of French political life, if one reviews it in its +broad outlines, is the increase of stability. When we remember that that +veteran opportunist, Talleyrand, on taking the oath of allegiance to the +new Constitution of 1830, could say, "It is the thirteenth," and that no +régime after that period lasted longer than eighteen years, we shall be +chary of foretelling the speedy overthrow of the Third Republic at any +and every period of Ministerial crisis or political ferment. Certainly +the Republic has seen Ministries made and unmade in bewilderingly quick +succession; but these are at most superficial changes--the real work of +administration being done by the hierarchy of permanent officials first +established by the great Napoleon. Even so terrible an event as the +murder of President Sadi Carnot (June 1894) produced none of the fatal +events that British alarmists confidently predicted. M. Casimir Périer +was quietly elected and ruled firmly. The same may be said of his +successors, MM. Faure and Loubet. Sensible, businesslike men of +bourgeois origin, they typify the new France that has grown up since +the age when military adventurers could keep their heels on her neck +provided that they crowned her brow with laurels. That age would seem to +have passed for ever away. A well-known adage says: "It is the +unexpected that happens in French politics." To forecast their course is +notoriously unsafe in that land of all lands. That careful and sagacious +student of French life, Mr. Bodley, believes that the nation at heart +dislikes the prudent tameness of Parliamentary rule, and that "the day +will come when no power will prevent France from hailing a hero of her +choice[71]." + +[Footnote 71: Mr. Bodley, _France_, vol. i. _ad fin_.] + +Doubtless the advent of a Napoleon the Great would severely test the +qualities of prudence and patience that have gained strength under the +shelter of democratic institutions. Yet it must always be remembered +that Democracy has until now never had a fair chance in France. The +bright hopes of 1789 faded away ten years later amidst the glamour of +military glory. As for the Republic of 1848, it scarcely outlived the +troubles of infancy. The Third Republic, on the other hand, has attained +to manhood. It has met and overcome very many difficulties; at the +outset parts of two valued provinces and a vast sum of treasure were +torn away. In those early days of weakness it also crushed a serious +revolt. The intrigues of Monarchists and Bonapartists were foiled. +Hardest task of all, the natural irritation of Frenchmen at playing a +far smaller part in the world was little by little allayed. + +In spite of these difficulties, the Third Republic has now lasted a +quarter of a century. That is to say, it rests on the support of a +generation which has gradually become accustomed to representative +institutions--an advantage which its two predecessors did not enjoy. The +success of institutions depends in the last resort on the character of +those who work them; and the testimony of all observers is that the +character of Frenchmen has slowly but surely changed in the direction +which Thiers pointed out in the dark days of February 1871 as offering +the only means of a sound national revival--"Yes: I believe in the +future of France: I believe in it, but on condition that we have good +sense; that we no longer use mere words as the current coin of our +speech, but that under words we shall place realities; that we have not +only good sense, but good sense endowed with courage." + +These are the qualities that have built up the France of to-day. The toil +has been enormous, and it has been doubled by the worries and +disappointments incident to Parliamentarism when grafted on to a +semi-military bureaucracy; but the toil and the disappointments have +played their part in purging the French nature of the frothy +sensationalism and eager irresponsibility that naturally resulted from +the Imperialism of the two Napoleons. France seems to be outgrowing the +stage of hobble-de-hoyish ventures, military or communistic, and to have +taken on the staid, sober, and self-respecting mien of manhood--a +process helped on by the burdens of debt and conscription resulting from +her juvenile escapades. In a word, she has attained to a full sense of +responsibility. No longer are her constructive powers hopelessly +outmatched by her critical powers. In the political sphere she has found +a due balance between the brain and the hand. From analysis she has +worked her way to synthesis. + + +NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION + +The following are the Ministries of the Republic in 1870-1900:--1870, +Favre; 1871, Dufaure (1); 1873, De Broglie (1); 1874, Cissey; 1875, +Buffet; 1876, Dufaure (2); 1876, Simon; 1877, De Broglie (2); 1877, De +Rochebouet; 1877, Dufaure (3); 1879, Waddington; 1879, Freycinet (1); +1880, Ferry (1); 1881, Gambetta; 1882, Freycinet (2); 1882, Duclerc; +1883, Fallières; 1883, Ferry (2); 1885, Brisson; 1886, Freycinet (3); +1886, Goblet; 1887, Rouvier; 1887, Tirard (1); 1888, Floquet; 1889, +Tirard (2); 1890, Freycinet (4); 1892, Loubet; 1892, Ribot (1); 1892, +Dupuy (1); 1893, Casimir Périer; 1894, Dupuy (2); 1895, Ribot (2); 1895, +Bourgeois; 1896, Méline; 1898, Brisson; 1898 Dupuy (3); 1899, +Waldeck-Rousseau. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE GERMAN EMPIRE + + "From the very beginning of my career my sole guiding-star + has been how to unify Germany, and, that being achieved, how + to strengthen, complete, and so constitute her unification + that it may be preserved enduringly and with the goodwill of + all concerned in it."--BISMARCK: Speech in the North German + Reichstag, July 9, 1869. + + +On the 18th of January 1871, while the German cannon were still +thundering against Paris, a ceremony of world-wide import occurred in +the Palace of the Kings of France at Versailles. King William of Prussia +was proclaimed German Emperor. The scene lacked no element that could +appeal to the historic imagination. It took place in the Mirror Hall, +where all that was brilliant in the life of the old French monarchy used +to encircle the person of Louis XIV. And now, long after that dynasty +had passed away, and when the crown of the last of the Corsican +adventurers had but recently fallen beneath the feet of the Parisians, +the descendant of the Prussian Hohenzollerns celebrated the advent to +the German people of that unity for which their patriots had vainly +struggled for centuries. + +The men who had won this long-deferred boon were of no common stamp. +King William himself, as is now shown by the publication of many of his +letters to Bismarck, had played a far larger share in the making of a +united Germany than was formerly believed. His plain good sense and +unswerving fortitude had many times marked out the path of safety and +kept his country therein. The policy of the Army Bill of 1860, which +brought salvation to Prussia in spite of her Parliament, was wholly his. +Bismarck's masterful grip of the helm of State in and after 1862 helped +to carry out that policy, just as von Roon's organising ability +perfected the resulting military machine; but its prime author was the +King, who now stood triumphant in the hall of his ancestral foes. Beside +and behind him on the dais, in front of the colours of all the German +States, were the chief princes of Germany--witnesses to the strength of +the national sentiment which the wars against the First Napoleon had +called forth, and the struggle with the nephew had now brought to +maturity. Among their figures one might note the stalwart form of the +Crown Prince, along with other members of the House of Prussia; the +Grand Duke of Baden, son-in-law of the Prussian King; the Crown Prince +of Saxony, and representatives of every reigning family of Germany. +Still more remarkable were some of the men grouped before the King and +princes. There was the thin war-worn face of Moltke; there, too, the +sturdy figure of Bismarck: the latter, wrote Dr. Russell, "looking pale, +but calm and self-possessed, elevated, as it were, by some internal +force[72]." + +[Footnote 72: Quoted by C. Lowe, _Life of Bismarck_, vol. i. p. 615.] + +The King announced the re-establishment of the German Empire; and those +around must have remembered that that venerable institution (which +differed so widely from the present one that the word "re-establishment" +was really misleading) had vanished but sixty-four years before at the +behests of the First Napoleon. Next, Bismarck read the Kaiser's +proclamation, stating his sense of duty to the German nation and his +hope that, within new and stronger boundaries, which would guarantee +them against attacks from France, they would enjoy peace and prosperity. +The Grand Duke of Baden then called for three cheers for the Emperor, +which were given with wild enthusiasm, and were taken up by the troops +far round the iron ring that encircled Paris. + +Few events in history so much impress one, at first sight, with a sense +of strength, spontaneity, and inevitableness. And yet, as more is known +of the steps that led up to the closer union of the German States, that +feeling is disagreeably warped. Even then it was known that Bavaria and +Würtemberg strongly objected to the closer form of union desired by the +northern patriots, which would have reduced the secondary States to +complete dependence on the federal Government. Owing to the great +reluctance of the Bavarian Government and people to give up the control +of their railways, posts and telegraphs, these were left at their +disposal, the two other Southern States keeping the direction of the +postal and telegraphic services in time of peace. Bavaria and Würtemberg +likewise reserved the control of their armed forces, though in case of +war they were to be placed at the disposal of the Emperor--arrangements +which also hold good for the Saxon forces. In certain legal and fiscal +matters Bavaria also bargained for freedom of action. + +What was not known then, and has leaked out in more or less authentic +ways, was the dislike, not only of most of the Bavarian people, but also +of its Government, to the whole scheme of imperial union. It is certain +that the letter which King Louis finally wrote to his brother princes to +propose that union was originally drafted by Bismarck; and rumour +asserts, on grounds not to be lightly dismissed, that the opposition of +King Louis was not withdrawn until the Bavarian Court favourite, Count +Holstein, came to Versailles and left it, not only with Bismarck's +letter, but also with a considerable sum of money for his royal master +and himself. Probably, however, the assent of the Bavarian monarch, who +not many years after became insane, was helped by the knowledge that if +he did not take the initiative, it would pass to the Grand Duke of +Baden, an ardent champion of German unity. + +Whatever may be the truth as to this, there can be no doubt as to the +annoyance felt by Roman Catholic Bavaria and Protestant democratic +Würtemberg at accepting the supremacy of the Prussian bureaucracy. This +doubtless explains why Bismarck was so anxious to hurry through the +negotiations, first, for the imperial union, and thereafter for the +conclusion of peace with France. + +Even in a seemingly small matter he had met with much opposition, this +time from his master. The aged monarch clung to the title King of +Prussia; but if the title of Emperor was a political necessity, he +preferred the title "Emperor of Germany"; nevertheless, the Chancellor +tactfully but firmly pointed out that this would imply a kind of feudal +over-lordship of all German lands, and that the title "German Emperor", +as that of chief of the nation, was far preferable. In the end the King +yielded, but he retained a sore feeling against his trusted servant for +some time on this matter. It seems that at one time he even thought of +abdicating in favour of his son rather than "see the Prussian title +supplanted[73]." However, he soon showed his gratitude for the immense +services rendered by Bismarck to the Fatherland. On his next birthday +(March 22) he raised the Chancellor to the rank of Prince and appointed +him Chancellor of the Empire. + +[Footnote 73: E. Marcks, _Kaiser Wilhelm I._ (Leipzig, 1900), pp. +337-343.] + +It will be well to give here an outline of the Imperial Constitution. In +all essentials it was an extension, with few changes, of the North +German federal compact of the year 1866. It applied to the twenty-five +States of Germany--inclusive, that is, of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck, +but exclusive, for the present, of Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine). +In those areas imperial law takes precedence of local law (save in a few +specially reserved cases for Bavaria and the Free Cities). The same laws +of citizenship hold good in all parts of the Empire. The Empire controls +these laws, the issuing of passports, surveillance of foreigners and of +manufactures, likewise matters relating to emigration and colonisation. +Commerce, customs dues, weights and measures, coinage, banking +regulations, patents, the consular service abroad, and matters relating +to navigation also fall under its control. Railways, posts and +telegraphs (with the exceptions noted above) are subject to imperial +supervision, the importance of which during the war had been so +abundantly manifested. + +The King of Prussia is _ipso facto_ German Emperor. He represents the +Empire among foreign nations; he has the right to declare war, conclude +peace, and frame alliances; but the consent of the Federal Council +(Bundesrath) is needed for the declaration of war in the name of the +Empire. The Emperor convenes, adjourns, and closes the sessions of the +Federal Council and the Imperial Diet (Reichstag). They are convened +every year. The Chancellor of the Empire presides in the Federal Council +and supervises the conduct of its business. Proposals of laws are laid +before the Reichstag in accordance with the resolutions of the Federal +Council, and are supported by members of that Council. To the Emperor +belongs the right of preparing and publishing the laws of the Empire: +they must be passed by the Bundesrath and Reichstag, and then receive +the assent of the Kaiser. They are then countersigned by the Chancellor, +who thereby becomes responsible for their due execution. + +The members of the Bundesrath are appointed by the Federal Governments: +they are sixty-two in number, and now include those from the Reichstand +of Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine)[74] + +[Footnote 74: Up to 1874 the government of Alsace-Lorraine was vested +solely in the Emperor and Chancellor. In 1874 the conquered lands +returned deputies to the Reichstag. In October 1879 they gained local +representative institutions, but under the strict control of the +Governor, Marshal von Manteuffel. This control has since been relaxed, +the present administration being quasi-constitutional.] + +The Prussian Government nominates seventeen members; Bavaria six; Saxony +and Würtemburg and Alsace-Lorraine four each; and so on. The Bundesrath +is presided over by the Imperial Chancellor. At the beginning of each +yearly session it appoints eleven standing committees to deal with the +following matters: (1) Army and fortifications; (2) the Navy; (3) +tariff, excise, and taxes; (4) commerce and trade; (5) railways, posts +and telegraphs; (6) civil and criminal law; (7) financial accounts; (8) +foreign affairs; (9) Alsace-Lorraine; (10) the Imperial Constitution; +(11) Standing Orders. Each committee is presided over by a chairman. In +each committee at least four States of the Empire must be represented, +and each State is entitled only to one vote. To this rule there are two +modifications in the case of the committees on the army and on foreign +affairs. In the former of these Bavaria has a permanent seat, while the +Emperor appoints the other three members from as many States: in the +latter case, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Würtemberg only are +represented. The Bundesrath takes action on the measures to be proposed +to the Reichstag and the resolutions passed by that body; it also +supervises the execution of laws, and may point out any defects in the +laws or in their execution. + +The members of the Reichstag, or Diet, are elected by universal (more +properly _manhood_) suffrage and by direct secret ballot, in proportion +to the population of the several States[75]. On the average, each of the +397 members represents rather more than 100,000 of the population. The +proceedings of the Reichstag are public; it has the right (concurrently +with those wielded by the Emperor and the Bundesrath) to propose laws +for the Empire. It sits for three years, but may be dissolved by a +resolution of the Bundesrath, with the consent of the Emperor. Deputies +may not be bound by orders and instructions issued by their +constituents. They are not paid. + +[Footnote 75: Bismarck said in a speech to the Reichstag, on September +16, 1878: "I accepted universal suffrage, but with repugnance, as a +Frankfurt tradition."] + +As has been noted above, important matters such as railway management, +so far as it relates to the harmonious and effective working of the +existing systems, and the construction of new lines needful for the +welfare and the defence of Germany, are under the Control of the +Empire--except in the case of Bavaria. The same holds good of posts and +telegraphs except in the Southern States. Railway companies are bound to +convey troops and warlike stores at uniform reduced rates. In fact, the +Imperial Government controls the fares of all lines subject to its +supervision, and has ordered the reduction of freightage for coal, coke, +minerals, wood, stone, manure, etc., for long distances, "as demanded by +the interests of agriculture and industry." In case of dearth, the +railway companies can be compelled to forward food supplies at specially +low rates. + +Further, with respect to military affairs, the central authority +exercises a very large measure of control over the federated States. All +German troops swear the oath of allegiance to the Emperor. He appoints +all commanders of fortresses; the power of building fortresses within +the Empire is also vested in him; he determines the strength of the +contingents of the federated States, and in the last case may appoint +their commanding officers; he may even proclaim martial law in any +portion of the Empire, if public security demands it. The Prussian +military code applies to all parts of the Empire (save to Bavaria, +Würtemberg, and Saxony in time of peace); and the military organisation +is everywhere of the same general description, especially as regards +length of service, character of the drill, and organisation in corps and +regiments. Every German, unless physically unfit, is subject to military +duty and cannot shift the burden on a substitute. He must serve for +seven years in the standing army: that is, three years in the field army +and four in the reserve; thereafter he takes his place in the +Landwehr[76]. + +[Footnote 76: The three years are shortened to one year for those who +have taken a high place in the Gymnasia (highest of the public schools); +they feed and equip themselves and are termed "volunteers." Conscription +is the rule on the coasts for service in the German Navy. For the text +of the Imperial Constitution, see Lowe, _Life of Bismarck_, vol. +ii. App. F.] + +The secondary States are protected in one important respect. The last +proviso of the Imperial Constitution stipulates that any proposal to +modify it shall fail if fourteen, or more, votes are cast against it in +the Federal Council. This implies that Bavaria, Würtemberg, and Saxony, +if they vote together, can prevent any change detrimental to their +interests. On the whole, the new system is less centralised than that of +the North German Confederation had been; and many of the Prussian +Liberals, with whom the Crown Prince of Prussia very decidedly ranged +himself on this question, complained that the government was more +federal than ever, and that far too much had been granted to the +particularist prejudices of the Southern States[77]. To all these +objections Bismarck could unanswerably reply that it was far better to +gain this great end without bitterness, even if the resulting compact +were in some respects faulty, than to force on the Southern States a +more logically perfect system that would perpetuate the sore feeling +of the past. + +[Footnote 77: J.W. Headlam, _Bismarck_, p. 367.] + +Such in its main outlines is the new Constitution of Germany. On the +whole, it has worked well. That it has fulfilled all the expectations +aroused in that year of triumph and jubilation will surprise no one who +knows that absolute and lasting success is attained only in Utopias, +never in practical politics. In truth, the suddenness with which German +unity was finally achieved was in itself a danger. + +The English reader will perhaps find it hard to realise this until he +remembers that the whole course of recorded history shows us the Germans +politically disunited, or for the most part engaged in fratricidal +strifes. When they first came within the ken of the historians of +Ancient Rome, they were a set of warring tribes who banded together only +under the pressure of overwhelming danger; and such was to be their fate +for well-nigh two thousand years. Their union under the vigorous rule of +the great Frankish chief whom the French call Charlemagne, was at best +nominal and partial. The Holy Roman Empire, which he founded in the year +800 by a mystically vague compact with the Pope, was never a close bond +of union, even in his stern and able hands. Under his weak successors +that imposing league rarely promoted peace among its peoples, while the +splendour of its chief elective dignity not seldom conduced to war. +Next, feudalism came in as a strong political solvent, and thus for +centuries Germany crumbled and mouldered away, until disunion seemed to +be the fate of her richest lands, and particularism became a rooted +instinct of her princes, burghers, and peasants. Then again South was +arrayed against North during and long after the time of the Reformation; +when the strife of creeds was stayed, the rivalry of the Houses of +Hapsburg and Hohenzollern added another cause of hatred. + +As a matter of fact, it was reserved for the two Napoleons, uncle and +nephew, to force those divided peoples to comradeship in arms. The close +of the campaign of 1813 and that of 1814 saw North and South, Prussians +and Austrians, for the first time fighting heartily shoulder to shoulder +in a great war--for that of 1792-94 had only served to show their rooted +suspicion and inner hostility. Owing to reasons that cannot be stated +here, the peace of 1814-15 led up to no effective union: it even +perpetuated the old dualism of interests. But once more the hostility of +France under a Napoleon strengthened the impulse to German +consolidation, and on this occasion there was at hand a man who had +carefully prepared the way for an abiding form of political union; his +diplomatic campaign of the last seven years had secured Russia's +friendship and consequently Austria's reluctant neutrality; as for the +dislike of the Southern States to unite with the North, that feeling +waned for a few weeks amidst the enthusiasm caused by the German +triumphs. The opportunity was unexampled: it had not occurred even in +1814; it might never occur again; and it was certain to pass away when +the war fever passed by. How wise, then, to strike while the iron was +hot! The smaller details of the welding process were infinitely less +important than the welding itself. + +One last consideration remains. If the opportunity was unexampled, so +also were the statesmanlike qualities of the man who seized it. The more +that we know concerning the narrowly Prussian feelings of King William, +the centralising pedantry of the Crown Prince of Prussia, and the petty +particularism of the Governments of Bavaria and Würtemberg, the more +does the figure of Bismarck stand out as that of the one great statesman +of his country and era. However censurable much of his conduct may be, +his action in working up to and finally consummating German unity at the +right psychological moment stands out as one of the greatest feats of +statesmanship which history records. + +But obviously a wedded life which had been preceded by no wooing, over +whose nuptials Mars shed more influence than Venus, could not be +expected to run a wholly smooth course. In fact, this latest instance in +ethnical lore of marriage by capture has on the whole led to a more +harmonious result than was to be expected. Possibly, if we could lift +the veil of secrecy which is wisely kept drawn over the weightiest +proceedings of the Bundesrath and its committees, the scene would appear +somewhat different. As it is, we can refer here only to some questions +of outstanding importance the details of which are fairly well known. + +The first of these which subjected the new Empire to any serious strain +was a sharp religious struggle against the new claims of the Roman +Catholic hierarchy. Without detailing the many causes of friction that +sprang up between the new Empire and the Roman Catholic Church, we may +state that most of them had their roots in the activity shown by that +Church among the Poles of Prussian Poland (Posen), and also in the dogma +of Papal infallibility. Decreed by the Oecumenical Council at Rome on +the very eve of the outbreak of the Franco-German War, it seemed to be +part and parcel of that forward Jesuit policy which was working for the +overthrow of the chief Protestant States. Many persons--among them +Bismarck[78]--claimed that the Empress Eugénie's hatred of Prussia and +the warlike influence which she is said to have exerted on Napoleon III. +on that critical day, July 14, 1870, were prompted by Jesuitical +intrigues. However that may be (and it is a matter on which no +fair-minded man will dogmatise until her confidential papers see the +light) there is little doubt that the Pope at Rome and the Roman +hierarchy among the Catholics of Central and Eastern Europe did their +best to prevent German unity and to introduce elements of discord. The +dogma of the infallibility of the Pope in matters of faith and doctrine +was itself a cause of strife. Many of the more learned and moderate of +the German Catholics had protested against the new dogma, and some of +these "Old Catholics", as they were called, tried to avoid teaching it +in the Universities and schools. Their bishops, however, insisted that +it should be taught, placed some recalcitrants under the lesser ban, and +deprived them of their posts. + +[Footnote 78: Busch, _Our Chancellor_, vol i. p. 139, where he quotes a +conversation of Bismarck of Nov. 1883. On the Roman Catholic policy in +Posen, see _ibid_. pp. 143-145.] + +When these high-handed proceedings were extended even to the schools, +the Prussian Government intervened, and early in 1872 passed a law +ordaining that all school inspectors should be appointed by the King's +Government at Berlin. This greatly irritated the Roman Catholic +hierarchy and led up to aggressive acts on both sides, the German +Reichstag taking up the matter and decreeing the exclusion of the +Jesuits from all priestly and scholastic duties of whatever kind within +the Empire (July 1872). The strife waxed ever fiercer. When the Roman +Catholic bishops of Germany persisted in depriving "Old Catholics" of +professorial and other charges, the central Government retorted by the +famous "May Laws" of 1873. The first of these forbade the Roman Catholic +Church to intervene in civil affairs in any way, or to coerce officials +and citizens of the Empire. The second required of all ministers of +religion that they should have passed the final examination at a High +School, and also should have studied theology for three years at a +German University: it further subjected all seminaries to State +inspection. The third accorded fuller legal protection to dissidents +from the various creeds. + +This anti-clerical policy is known as the "Kultur-Kampf", a term that +denotes a struggle for civilisation against the forces of reaction. For +some years the strife was of the sharpest kind. The Roman Catholic +bishops continued to ban the "Old Catholics", while the State refused to +recognise any act of marriage or christening performed by clerics who +disobeyed the new laws. The logical sequel to this was obvious, namely, +that the State should insist on the religious ceremony of marriage +being supplemented by a civil contract[79]. Acts to render this +compulsory were first passed by the Prussian Landtag late in 1873 and by +the German Reichstag in 1875. + +[Footnote 79: Lowe, _Life of Bismarck_, vol. ii. p. 336, note.] + +It would be alike needless and tedious to detail the further stages of +this bitter controversy, especially as several of the later "May Laws" +have been repealed. We may, however, note its significance in the +development of parties. Many of the Prussian nobles and squires (Junkers +the latter were called) joined issue with Bismarck on the Civil Marriage +Act, and this schism weakened Bismarck's long alliance with the +Conservative party. He enjoyed, however, the enthusiastic support of the +powerful National Liberal party, as well as the Imperialist and +Progressive groups. Differing on many points of detail, these parties +aimed at strengthening the fabric of the central power, and it was with +their aid in the Reichstag that the new institutions of Germany were +planted and took root. The General Election of 1874 sent up as many as +155 National Liberals, and they, with the other groups just named, gave +the Government a force of 240 votes--a good working majority as long as +Bismarck's aims were of a moderately Liberal character. This, however, +was not always the case even in 1874-79, when he needed their alliance. +His demand for a permanently large military establishment alienated his +allies in 1874, and they found it hard to satisfy the requirements of +his exacting and rigorous nature. + +The harshness of the "May Laws" also caused endless friction. Out of +some 10,000 Roman Catholic priests in Prussia (to which kingdom alone +the severest of these laws applied) only about thirty bowed the knee to +the State. In 800 parishes the strife went so far that all religious +services came to an end. In the year 1875, fines amounting to 28,000 +marks (£2800) were imposed, and 103 clerics or their supporters were +expelled from the Empire[80]. Clearly this state of things could not +continue without grave danger to the Empire; for the Church held on her +way with her usual doggedness, strengthened by the "protesting" deputies +from the Reichsland on the south-west, from Hanover (where the Guelph +feeling was still uppermost), as well as those from Polish Posen and +Danish Schleswig. Bismarck and the anti-clerical majority of the +Reichstag scorned any thoughts of surrender. Yet, slowly but surely, +events at the Vatican and in Germany alike made for compromise. In +February 1878, Pope Pius IX. passed away. That unfortunate pontiff had +never ceased to work against the interests of Prussia and Germany, while +his encyclicals since 1873 mingled threats of defiance of the May Laws +with insults against Prince Bismarck. His successor, Leo XIII. +(1878-1903), showed rather more disposition to come to a compromise, and +that, too, at a time when Bismarck's new commercial policy made the +support of the Clerical Centre in the Reichstag peculiarly acceptable. + +[Footnote 80: Busch, _Our Chancellor_, vol. i. p. 122, quotes speeches +of his hero to prove that Bismarck himself disliked this Civil Marriage +Law. "From the political point of view I have convinced myself that the +State . . . is constrained by the dictates of self-defence to enact this +law in order to avert from a portion of His Majesty's subjects the evils +with which they are menaced by the Bishops' rebellion against the laws +and the State" (Speech of Jan. 17, 1873). In 1849 he had opposed civil +marriage.] + +Bismarck's resolve to give up the system of Free Trade, or rather of +light customs dues, adopted by Prussia and the German Zollverein in +1865, is so momentous a fact in the economic history of the modern +world, that we must here give a few facts which will enable the reader +to understand the conditions attending German commerce up to the years +1878-79, when the great change came. The old order of things in Prussia, +as in all German States, was strongly protective--in fact, to such an +extent as often to prevent the passing of the necessaries of life from +one little State to its Lilliputian neighbours. The rise of the national +idea in Germany during the wars against the great Napoleon led to a more +enlightened system, especially for Prussia. The Prussian law of 1818 +asserted the principle of imposing customs dues for revenue purposes, +but taxed foreign products to a moderate extent. On this basis she +induced neighbouring small German States to join her in a Customs Union +(Zollverein), which gradually extended, until by 1836 it included all +the States of the present Empire except the two Mecklenburgs, the Elbe +Duchies, and the three Free Cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck. That +is to say, the attractive force of the highly developed Prussian State +practically unified Germany for purposes of trade and commerce, and +that, too, thirty-eight years before political union was achieved. + +This, be it observed, was on condition of internal Free Trade, but of +moderate duties being levied on foreign products. Up to 1840 these +import duties were on the whole reduced; after that date a protectionist +reaction set in; it was checked, however, by the strong wave of Free +Trade feeling which swept over Europe after the victory of that +principle in England in 1846-49. Of the new champions of Free Trade on +the Continent, the foremost in point of time was Cavour, for that +kingdom of Sardinia on which he built the foundations of a regenerated +and united Italy. Far more important, however, was the victory which +Cobden won in 1859-60 by inducing Napoleon III. to depart from the +almost prohibitive system then in vogue in France. The Anglo-French +Commercial Treaty of January 1860 seemed to betoken the speedy +conversion of the world to the enlightened policy of unfettered exchange +of all its products. In 1862 and 1865 the German Zollverein followed +suit, relaxing duties on imported articles and manufactured goods--a +process which was continued in its commercial treaties and tariff +changes of the years 1868 and 1869. + +At this time Bismarck's opinions on fiscal matters were somewhat vague. +He afterwards declared that he held Free Trade to be altogether false. +But in this as in other matters he certainly let his convictions be +shaped by expediency. Just before the conclusion of peace with France he +so far approximated to Free Trade as to insist that the Franco-German +Commercial Treaty of 1862, which the war had of course abrogated--- war +puts an end to all treaties between the States directly engaged--should +now be again regarded as in force and as holding good up to the year +1887[81]. He even stated that he "would rather begin again the war of +cannon-balls than expose himself to a war of tariffs." France and +Germany, therefore, agreed to place one another permanently on "the most +favoured nation" footing. Yet this same man, who so much desired to keep +down the Franco-German tariff, was destined eight years later to +initiate a protectionist policy which set back the cause of Free Trade +for at least a generation. + +[Footnote 81: For that treaty, and Austria's desire in 1862 to enter the +German Zollverein, see _The Diplomatic Reminiscences of Lord A. Loftus, +_vol. ii. pp. 250-251.] + +What brought about this momentous change? To answer this fully would +take up a long chapter. We can only glance at the chief forces then at +work. Firstly, Germany, after the year 1873, passed through a severe and +prolonged economic crisis. It was largely due to the fever of +speculation induced by the incoming of the French milliards into a land +where gold had been none too plentiful. Despite the efforts of the +German Government to hold back a large part of the war indemnity for +purposes of military defence and substantial enterprises, the people +imagined themselves to be suddenly rich. Prices rapidly rose, +extravagant habits spread in all directions, and in the years 1872-73 +company-promoting attained to the rank of a fine art, with the result +that sober, hard-working Germany seemed to be almost another England at +the time of the South Sea Bubble. Alluding to this time, Busch said to +Bismarck early in 1887: "In the long-run the [French] milliards were no +blessing, at least not for our manufacturers, as they led to +over-production. It was merely the bankers who benefited, and of these +only the big ones[82]." + +[Footnote 82: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History, _by M. Busch, +vol. iii. p. 161 (English edition).] + +The result happened that always happens when a nation mistakes money, +the means of commercial exchange, for the ultimate source of wealth. +After a time of inflation came the inevitable collapse. The unsound +companies went by the board; even sound ventures were in some cases +overturned. How grievously public credit suffered may be seen by the +later official admission, that liquidations and bankruptcies of public +companies in the following ten years inflicted on shareholders a total +loss of more than 345,000,000 marks (£17,250,000)[83]. + +[Footnote 83: German State Paper of June 28, 1884, quoted by Dawson, +_Bismarck and State Socialism_, App. B.] + +Now, it was in the years 1876-77, while the nation lay deep in the +trough of economic depression, that the demand for "protection for home +industries" grew loud and persistent. Whether it would not have been +raised even if German finance and industry had held on its way in a +straight course and on an even keel, cannot of course be determined, for +the protectionist movement had been growing since the year 1872, owing +to the propaganda of the "Verein für Sozialpolitik" (Union for Social +Politics) founded in that year. But it is safe to say that the collapse +of speculation due to inflowing of the French milliards greatly +strengthened the forces of economic reaction. + +Bismarck himself put it in this way: that the introduction of Free Trade +in 1865 soon produced a state of atrophy in Germany; this was checked +for a time by the French war indemnity; but Germany needed a permanent +cure, namely, Protection. It is true that his ideal of national life had +always been strict and narrow--in fact, that of the average German +official; but we may doubt whether he had in view solely the shelter of +the presumedly tender flora of German industry from the supposed deadly +blasts of British, Austrian, and Russian competition. He certainly hoped +to strengthen the fabric of his Empire by extending the customs system +and making its revenue depend more largely on that source and less on +the contributions of the federated States. But there was probably a +still wider consideration. He doubtless wished to bring prominently +before the public gaze another great subject that would distract it +from the religious feuds described above and bring about a +rearrangement of political parties. The British people has good reason +to know that the discussion of fiscal questions that vitally touch every +trade and every consumer, does act like the turning of a kaleidoscope +upon party groupings; and we may fairly well assume that so far-seeing a +statesman as Bismarck must have forecast the course of events. + +Reasons of statecraft also warned him to build up the Empire four-square +while yet there was time. The rapid recovery of France, whose milliards +had proved somewhat of a "Greek gift" to Germany, had led to threats on +the part of the war party at Berlin, which brought from Queen Victoria, +as also from the Czar Alexander, private but pressing intimations to +Kaiser Wilhelm that no war of extermination must take place. This affair +and its results in Germany's foreign policy will occupy us in Chapter +XII. Here we may note that Bismarck saw in it a reason for suspecting +Russia, hating England, and jealously watching every movement in France. +Germany's future, it seemed, would have to be safeguarded by all the +peaceable means available. How natural, then, to tone down her internal +religious strifes by bringing forward another topic of still more +absorbing interest, and to aim at building up a self-contained +commercial life in the midst of uncertain, or possibly hostile, +neighbours. In truth, if we view the question in its broad issues in the +life of nations, we must grant that Free Trade could scarcely be +expected to thrive amidst the jealousies and fears entailed by the war +of 1870. That principle presupposes trust and good-will between nations; +whereas the wars of 1859, 1864, and 1870 left behind bitter memories and +rankling ills. Viewed in this light, Germany's abandonment of Free Trade +in 1878 was but the natural result of that forceful policy by which she +had cut the Gordian knot of her national problem. + +The economic change was decided on in the year 1879, when the federated +States returned to "the time-honoured ways of 1823-65." Bismarck +appealed to the Reichstag to preserve at least the German market to +German industry. The chances of having a large export trade were on +every ground precarious; but Germany could, at the worst, support +herself. All interests were mollified by having moderate duties imposed +to check imports. Small customs dues were placed on corn and other food +supplies so as to please the agrarian party; imports of manufactured +goods were taxed for the benefit of German industries, and even raw +materials underwent small imposts. The Reichstag approved the change and +on July 7 passed the Government's proposals by 217 to 117: the majority +comprised the Conservatives, Clericals, the Alsace-Lorrainers, and a few +National Liberals; while the bulk of the last-named, hitherto Bismarck's +supporters on most topics, along with Radicals and Social Democrats, +opposed it. The new tariff came into force on January 1, 1880. + +On the whole, much may be said in favour of the immediate results of the +new policy. By the year 1885 the number of men employed in iron and +steel works had increased by 35 per cent over the numbers of 1879; wages +also had increased, and the returns of shipping and of the export trade +showed a considerable rise. Of course, it is impossible to say whether +this would not have happened in any case owing to the natural tendency +to recovery from the deep depression of the years 1875-79. The duties on +corn did not raise its price, which appears strange until we know that +the foreign imports of corn were less than 8 per cent of the whole +amount consumed. In 1885, therefore, Bismarck gave way to the demands of +the agrarians that the corn duties should be raised still further, in +order to make agriculture lucrative and to prevent the streaming of +rural population to the towns. Again the docile Reichstag followed his +lead. But, two years later, it seemed that the new corn duties had +failed to check the fall of prices and keep landlords and farmers from +ruin; once more, then, the duties were raised, being even doubled on +certain food products. This time they undoubtedly had one important +result, that of making the urban population, especially that of the +great industrial centres, more and more hostile to the agrarians and to +the Government which seemed to be legislating in their interests. From +this time forward the Social Democrats began to be a power in the land. + +And yet, if we except the very important item of rent, which in Berlin +presses with cruel weight on the labouring classes, the general trend of +the prices of the necessaries of life in Germany has been downwards, in +spite of all the protectionist duties. The evidence compiled in the +British official Blue-book on "British and Foreign Trade and Industry" +(1903. Cd. 1761, p. 226) yields the following results. By comparing the +necessary expenditure on food of a workman's family of the same size and +living under the same conditions, it appears that if we take that +expenditure for the period 1897-1901 to represent the number 100 we have +these results:-- + + +-----------+-----------+-----------------+ + | Period. | Germany. | United Kingdom. | + +-----------+-----------+-----------------+ + | 1877-1881 | 112 | 140 | + | 1882-1886 | 101 | 125 | + | 1887-1891 | 103 | 106 | + | 1892-1896 | 99 | 98 | + | 1897-1901 | 100 | 100 | + +-----------+-----------+-----------------+ + +Thus the fall in the cost of living of a British working man's family +has been 40 points, while that of the German working man shows a decline +of only 12 points. It is, on the whole, surprising that there has not +been more difference between the two countries[84]. + +[Footnote 84: In a recent work, _England and the English_ (London, +1904), Dr. Carl Peters says: "Considering that wages in England average +20 per cent higher in England than in Germany, that the week has only 54 +working hours, and that all articles of food are cheaper, the +fundamental conditions of prosperous home-life are all round more +favourable in England than in Germany. And yet he [the British +working-man] does not derive greater comfort from them, for the simple +reason that a German labourer's wife is more economical and more +industrious than the English wife."] Before dealing with the new +social problems that resulted, at least in part, from the new duties on +food, we may point out that Bismarck and his successors at the German +Chancellory have used the new tariff as a means of extorting better +terms from the surrounding countries. The Iron Chancellor has always +acted on the diplomatic principle _do ut des_--"I give that you may +give"--with its still more cynical corollary--"Those who have nothing +to give will get nothing." The new German tariff on agricultural +products was stiffly applied against Austria for many years, to compel +her to grant more favourable terms to German manufactured goods. For +eleven years Austria-Hungary maintained their protective barriers; but +in 1891 German persistence was rewarded in the form of a treaty by which +the Dual Monarchy let in German goods on easier terms provided that the +corn duties of the northern Power were relaxed. The fiscal strife with +Russia was keener and longer, but had the same result (1894). Of a +friendlier kind were the negotiations with Italy, Belgium, and +Switzerland, which led to treaties with those States in 1891. It is +needless to say that in each of these cases the lowering of the corn +duties was sharply resisted by the German agrarians. We may here add +that the Anglo-German commercial treaty which expired in 1903 has been +extended for two years; and that Germany's other commercial treaties +were at the same time continued. + +It is hazardous at present to venture on any definite judgment as to the +measure of success attained by the German protectionist policy. +Protectionists always point to the prosperity of Germany as the crowning +proof of its efficacy. In one respect they are, perhaps, fully justified +in so doing. The persistent pressure which Germany brought to bear on +the even more protectionist systems of Russia and Austria undoubtedly +induced those Powers to grant easier terms to German goods than they +would have done had Germany lost her bargaining power by persisting in +her former Free Trade tendencies. Her success in this matter is the best +instance in recent economic history of the desirability of holding back +something in reserve so as to be able to bargain effectively with a +Power that keeps up hostile tariffs. In this jealously competitive age +the State that has nothing more to offer is as badly off in economic +negotiations as one that, in affairs of general policy, has no armaments +wherewith to face a well-equipped foe. This consideration is of course +scouted as heretical by orthodox economists; but it counts for much in +the workaday world, where tariff wars and commercial treaty bargainings +unfortunately still distract the energies of mankind. + +On the other hand, it would be risky to point to the internal prosperity +of Germany and the vast growth of her exports as proofs of the soundness +of protectionist theories. The marvellous growth of that prosperity is +very largely due to the natural richness of a great part of the country, +to the intelligence, energy, and foresight of her people and their +rulers, and to the comparatively backward state of German industry and +commerce up to the year 1870. Far on into the Nineteenth Century, +Germany was suffering from the havoc wrought by the Napoleonic wars and +still earlier struggles. Even after the year 1850, the political +uncertainties of the time prevented her enjoying the prosperity that +then visited England and France. Therefore, only since 1870 (or rather +since 1877-78, when the results of the mad speculation of 1873 began to +wear away) has she entered on the normal development of a modern +industrial State; and he would be an eager partisan who would put down +her prosperity mainly to the credit of the protectionist régime. In +truth, no one can correctly gauge the value of the complex +causes--economic, political, educational, scientific and +engineering--that make for the prosperity of a vast industrial +community. So closely are they intertwined in the nature of things, that +dogmatic arguments laying stress on one of them alone must speedily be +seen to be the merest juggling with facts and figures. + +As regards the wider influences exerted by Germany's new protective +policy, we can here allude only to one; and that will be treated more +fully in the chapter dealing with the Partition of Africa. That policy +gave a great stimulus to the colonial movement in Germany, and, through +her, in all European States. As happened in the time of the old +Mercantile System, Powers which limited their trade with their +neighbours, felt an imperious need for absorbing new lands in the +tropics to serve as close preserves for the mother-country. Other +circumstances helped to impel Germany on the path of colonial expansion; +but probably the most important, though the least obvious, was the +recrudescence of that "Mercantilism" which Adam Smith had exploded. +Thus, the triumph of the national principle in and after 1870 was +consolidated by means which tended to segregate the human race in +masses, regarding each other more or less as enemies or rivals, alike in +the spheres of politics, commerce, and colonial expansion. + +We may conclude our brief survey of German constructive policy by +glancing at the chief of the experiments which may be classed as akin to +State Socialism. + +In 1882 the German Government introduced the Sickness Insurance Bill and +the Accident Insurance Bill, but they were not passed till 1884, and did +not take effect till 1885. For the relief of sickness the Government +relied on existing institutions organised for that object. This was very +wise, seeing that the great difficulty is how to find out whether a man +really is ill or is merely shamming illness. Obviously a local club can +find that out far better than a great imperial agency can. The local +club has every reason for looking sharply after doubtful cases as a +State Insurance Fund cannot do. As regards sickness, then, the Imperial +Government merely compelled all the labouring classes, with few +exceptions, to belong to some sick fund. They were obliged to pay in a +sum of not less than about fourpence in the pound of their weekly wages; +and this payment of the workman has to be supplemented by half as much, +paid by his employer--or rather, the employer pays the whole of the +premium and deducts the share payable by the workman from his wages. + +Closely linked with this is the Accident Insurance Law. Here the brunt +of the payment falls wholly on the employer. He alone pays the premiums +for all his work-people; the amount varies according to (1) the man's +wage, (2) the risk incidental to the employment. The latter is +determined by the actuaries of the Government. If a man is injured (even +if it be by his own carelessness) he receives payments during the first +thirteen weeks from the ordinary Sick Fund. If his accident keeps him a +prisoner any longer, he is paid from the Accident Fund of the employers +of that particular trade, or from the Imperial Accident Fund. Here of +course the chance of shamming increases, particularly if the man knows +that he is being supported out of a general fund made up entirely by the +employers' payments. The burden on the employers is certainly very +heavy, seeing that for all kinds of accidents relief may be claimed; the +only exception is in cases where the injury can be shown to be wilfully +committed[85]. A British Blue-book issued on March 31, 1905, shows that +the enormous sum of £5,372,150 was paid in Germany in the year 1902 as +compensation to workmen for injuries sustained while at work. + +[Footnote 85: For the account given above, as also that of the Old Age +Insurance Law, I am indebted to Mr. Dawson's excellent little work, +_Bismarck and State Socialism_ (Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1890). See also +the Appendix to _The German Empire of To-day_, by "Veritas" (1902).] + +The burden of the employers does not end here. They have to bear their +share of Old Age Insurance. This law was passed in 1889, at the close of +the first year of the present Kaiser's reign. His father, the Emperor +Frederick, during his brief reign had not favoured the principles of +State Socialism; but the young Emperor William in November 1888 +announced that he would further the work begun by _his grandfather_, and +though the difficulties of insurance for old age were very great, yet, +with God's help, they would prove not to be insuperable. + +Certainly the effort was by far the greatest that had yet been made by +any State. The young Emperor and his Chancellor sought to build up a +fund whereby 12,000,000 of work-people might be guarded against the ills +of a penniless old age. Their law provided for all workmen (even men in +domestic service) whose yearly income did not exceed 2000 marks (£100). +Like the preceding laws, it was compulsory. Every youth who is +physically and mentally sound, and who earns more than a minimum wage, +must begin to put by a fixed proportion of that wage as soon as he +completes his sixteenth year. His employer is also compelled to +contribute the same amount for him. Mr. Dawson, in the work already +referred to, gives some figures showing what the joint payment of +employer and employed amount to on this score. If the workman earns £15 +a year (_i.e._ about 6s. a week), the sum of 3s. 3-1/2d. is put by for +him yearly into the State Fund. If he earns £36 a year, the joint annual +payment will be 5s. 7-1/2d.; if he earns £78, it will be 7s. a year, and +so on. These payments are reckoned up in various classes, according to +the amounts; and according to the total amount is the final annuity +payable to the worker in the evening of his days. That evening is very +slow in coming for the German worker. For old age merely, he cannot +begin to draw his full pension until he has attained the ripe age of +seventy-one years. Then he will draw the full amount. He may anticipate +that if he be incapacitated; but in that case the pension will be on a +lower scale, proportioned to the amounts paid in and the length of time +of the payments. + +The details of the measure are so complex as to cause a good deal of +friction and discontent. The calculation of the various payments alone +employs an army of clerks: the need of safeguarding against personation +and other kinds of fraud makes a great number of precautions necessary; +and thus the whole system becomes tied up with red tape in a way that +even the more patient workman of the Continent cannot endure. + +In a large measure, then, the German Government has failed in its +efforts to cure the industrial classes of their socialistic ideas. But +its determination to attach them to the new German Empire, and to make +that Empire the leading industrial State of the Continent, has had a +complete triumph. So far as education, technical training, research, and +enlightened laws can make a nation great, Germany is surely on the high +road to national and industrial supremacy. + +It is a strange contrast that meets our eyes if we look back to the +years before the advent of King William and Bismarck to power. In the +dark days of the previous reign Germany was weak, divided, and helpless. +In regard to political life and industry she was still almost in +swaddling-clothes; and her struggles to escape from the irksome +restraints of the old Confederation seemed likely to be as futile as +they had been since the year 1815. But the advent of the King and his +sturdy helper to power speedily changed the situation. The political +problems were grappled with one by one, and were trenchantly solved. +Union was won by Bismarck's diplomacy and Prussia's sword; and when the +longed-for goal was reached in seven momentous years, the same qualities +were brought to bear on the difficult task of consolidating that union. +Those qualities were the courage and honesty of purpose that the House +of Hohenzollern has always displayed since the days of the Great +Elector; added to these were rarer gifts, namely, the width of view, the +eagle foresight, the strength of will, the skill in the choice of means, +that made up the imposing personality of Bismarck. It was with an eye to +him, and to the astonishing triumphs wrought by his diplomacy over +France, that a diplomatist thus summed up the results of the year 1870: +"Europe has lost a mistress, but she has got a master." + +After the lapse of a generation that has been weighted with the cuirass +of Militarism, we are able to appreciate the force of that remark. +Equally true is it that the formation of the German Empire has not added +to the culture and the inner happiness of the German people. The days +of quiet culture and happiness are gone; and in their place has come a +straining after ambitious aims which is a heavy drag even on the +vitality of the Teutonic race. Still, whether for good or for evil, the +unification of Germany must stand out as the greatest event in the +history of the Nineteenth Century. + + + +NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION + +The statement on page 135 that service in the German army is compulsory +for seven years, three in the field army and four in the reserve, +applies to the cavalry and artillery only. In the infantry the time of +service is two years with the colours and five years in the reserve. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE EASTERN QUESTION + + "Perhaps one fact which lies at the root of all the actions + of the Turks, small and great, is that they are by nature + nomads. . . . Hence it is that when the Turk retires from a + country he leaves no more sign of himself than does a Tartar + camp on the upland pastures where it has passed the + summer."--_Turkey in Europe_, by "Odysseus." + + +The remark was once made that the Eastern Question was destined to +perplex mankind up to the Day of Judgment. Certainly that problem is +extraordinarily complex in its details. For a century and a half it has +distracted the statesmen and philanthropists of Europe; for it concerns +not only the ownership of lands of great intrinsic and strategic +importance, but also the welfare of many peoples. It is a question, +therefore, which no intelligent man ought to overlook. + +For the benefit of the tiresome person who insists on having a +definition of every term, the Eastern Question may be briefly described +as the problem of finding a _modus vivendi_ between the Turks and their +Christian subjects and the neighbouring States. This may serve as a +general working statement. No one who is acquainted with the rules of +Logic will accept it as a definition. Definitions can properly apply +only to terms and facts that have a clear outline; and they can +therefore very rarely apply to the facts of history, which are of +necessity as many-sided as human life itself. The statement given above +is incomplete, inasmuch as it neither hints at the great difficulty of +reconciling the civic ideas of Christian and Turkish peoples, nor +describes the political problems arising out of the decay of the Ottoman +Power and the ambitions of its neighbours. + +It will be well briefly to see what are the difficulties that arise out +of the presence of Christians under the rule of a great Moslem State. +They are chiefly these. First, the Koran, though far from enjoining +persecution of Christians, yet distinctly asserts the superiority of the +true believer and the inferiority of "the people of the book" +(Christians). The latter therefore are excluded from participation in +public affairs, and in practice are refused a hearing in the law courts. +Consequently they tend to sink to the position of hewers of wood and +drawers of water to the Moslems, these on their side inevitably +developing the defects of an exclusive dominant caste. This is so +especially with the Turks. They are one of the least gifted of the +Mongolian family of nations; brave in war and patient under suffering +and reverses, they nevertheless are hopelessly narrow-minded and +bigoted; and the Christians in their midst have fared perhaps worse than +anywhere else among the Mohammedan peoples. + +M. de Lavelaye, who studied the condition of things in Turkey not long +after the war of 1877-78, thus summed up the causes of the social and +political decline of the Turks:-- + +The true Mussulman loves neither progress, novelty, nor education; the +Koran is enough for him. He is satisfied with his lot, therefore cares +little for its improvement, somewhat like a Catholic monk; but at the +same time he hates and despises the Christian _raya_, who is the +labourer. He pitilessly despoils, fleeces, and ill-treats him to the +extent of completely ruining and destroying those families, which are +the only ones who cultivate the ground; it was a state of war continued +in time of peace, and transformed into a regime of permanent spoliation +and murder. The wife, even when she is the only one, is always an +inferior being, a kind of slave, destitute of any intellectual culture; +and as it is she who trains the children--boys and girls--the bad +results are plainly seen. + +Matters were not always and in all parts of Turkey so bad as this; but +they frequently became so under cruel or corrupt governors, or in times +when Moslem fanaticism ran riot. In truth, the underlying cause of +Turkey's troubles is the ignorance and fanaticism of her people. These +evils result largely from the utter absorption of all devout Moslems in +their creed and ritual. Texts from the Koran guide their conduct; and +all else is decided by fatalism, which is very often a mere excuse for +doing nothing[86]. Consequently all movements for reform are mere +ripples on the surface of Turkish life; they never touch its dull +depths; and the Sultan and officials, knowing this, cling to the old +ways with full confidence. The protests of Christian nations on behalf +of their co-religionists are therefore met with a polite compliance +which means nothing. Time after time the Sublime Porte has most solemnly +promised to grant religious liberty to its Christian subjects; but the +promises were but empty air, and those who made them knew it. In fact, +the firmans of reform now and again issued with so much ostentation have +never been looked on by good Moslems as binding, because the chief +spiritual functionary, the Sheikh-ul-Islam, whose assent is needed to +give validity to laws, has withheld it from those very ordinances. As he +has power to depose the Sultan for a lapse of orthodoxy, the result may +be imagined. The many attempts of the Christian Powers to enforce their +notions of religious toleration on the Porte have in the end merely led +to further displays of Oriental politeness. + +[Footnote 86: "Islam continues to be, as it has been for twelve +centuries, the most inflexible adversary to the Western spirit" +_(History of Serbia and the Slav Provinces of Turkey,_ by L. von Ranke, +Eng. edit. p. 296).] + +It may be asked: Why have not the Christians of Turkey united in order +to gain civic rights? The answer is that they are profoundly divided in +race and sentiment. In the north-east are the Roumanians, a +Romano-Slavonic race long ago Latinised in speech and habit of mind by +contact with Roman soldiers and settlers on the Lower Danube. South of +that river there dwell the Bulgars, who, strictly speaking, are not +Slavs but Mongolians. After long sojourn on the Volga they took to +themselves the name of that river, lost their Tartar speech, and became +Slav in sentiment and language. This change took place before the ninth +century, when they migrated to the south and conquered the districts +which they now inhabit. Their neighbours on the west, the Servians, are +Slavs in every sense, and look back with pride to the time of the great +Servian Kingdom, carved out by Stephen Dushan, which stretched +southwards to the _Ægean_ and the Gulf of Corinth (about 1350). + +To the west of the present Kingdom of Servia dwell other Servians and +Slavs, who have been partitioned and ground down by various conquerors +and have kept fewer traditions than the Servians who won their freedom. +But from this statement we must except the Montenegrins, who in their +mountain fastnesses have ever defied the Turks. To the south of them is +the large but little-known Province of Albania, inhabited by the +descendants of the ancient Illyrians, with admixtures of Greeks in the +south, Bulgarians in the east, and Servians in the north-east. Most of +the Albanians forsook Christianity and are among the most fanatical and +warlike upholders of Islam; but in their turbulent clan-life they often +defy the authority of the Sultan, and uphold it only in order to keep +their supremacy over the hated and despised Greeks and Bulgars on their +outskirts. Last among the non-Turkish races of the Balkan Peninsula are +a few Wallachs in Central Macedonia, and Greeks; these last inhabit +Thessaly and the seaboard of Macedonia and of part of Roumelia. It is +well said that Greek influence in the Balkans extends no further inland +than that of the sea breezes. + +Such is the medley of races that complicates the Eastern Question. It +may be said that Turkish rule in Europe survives owing to the racial +divisions and jealousies of the Christians. The Sultan puts in force the +old Roman motto, _Divide et impera_, and has hitherto done so, in the +main, with success. That is the reason why Islam dominates Christianity +in the south-east of Europe. + +This brief explanation will show what are the evils that affect Turkey +as a whole and her Christian subjects in particular. They are due to the +collision of two irreconcilable creeds and civilisations, the Christian +and the Mohammedan. Both of them are gifted with vitality and +propagandist power (witness the spread of the latter in Africa and +Central Asia in our own day); and, while no comparison can be made +between them on ideal grounds and in their ethical and civic results, it +still remains true that Islam inspires its votaries with fanatical +bravery in war. There is the weakness of the Christians of south-eastern +Europe. Superior in all that makes for home life, civilisation, and +civic excellence, they have in time past generally failed as soldiers +when pitted against an equal number of Moslems. But the latter show no +constructive powers in time of peace, and have very rarely assimilated +the conquered races. Putting the matter baldly, we may say that it is a +question of the survival of the fittest between beavers and bears. And +in the Nineteenth Century the advantage has been increasingly with +the former. + +These facts will appear if we take a brief glance at the salient +features of the European history of Turkey. After capturing +Constantinople, the capital of the old Eastern Empire, in the year 1453, +the Turks for a time rapidly extended their power over the neighbouring +Christian States, Bulgaria, Servia, and Hungary. In the year 1683 they +laid siege to Vienna; but after being beaten back from that city by the +valiant Sobieski, King of Poland, they gradually lost ground. Little by +little Hungary, Transylvania, the Crimea, and parts of the Ukraine +(South Russia) were wrenched from their grasp; and the close of the +eighteenth century saw their frontiers limited to the River Dniester and +the Carpathians[87]. Further losses were staved off only by the +jealousies of the Great Powers. Joseph II. of Austria came near to +effecting further conquests, but his schemes of partition fell through +amidst the wholesale collapse of his too ambitious policy. Napoleon +Bonaparte seized Egypt in 1798, but was forced by Great Britain to give +it back to Turkey (1801-2). In 1807-12 Alexander I. of Russia resumed +the conquering march of the Czars southward, captured Bessarabia, and +forced the Sultan to grant certain privileges to the Principalities of +Moldavia and Wallachia. In 1815 the Servians revolted against Turkish +rule: they had always remembered the days of their early fame, and in +1817 wrested from the Porte large rights of local self-government. + +[Footnote 87: The story that Peter the Great of Russia left a clause in +his will, bidding Russia to go on with her southern conquests until she +gained Constantinople, is an impudent fiction of French publicists in +the year 1812, when Napoleon wished to keep Russia and Turkey at war. Of +course, Peter the Great gave a mighty impulse to Russian movements +towards Constantinople.] + +Ten years later the intervention of England and France in favour of the +Greek patriots led to the battle of Navarino, which destroyed the +Turco-Egyptian fleet and practically secured the independence of Greece. +An even worse blow was dealt by the Czar Nicholas I. of Russia. In 1829, +at the close of a war in which his troops drove the Turks over the +Balkans and away from Adrianople, he compelled the Porte to sign a peace +at that city, whereby they acknowledged the almost complete independence +of Moldavia and Wallachia. These Danubian Principalities owned the +suzerainty of the Sultan and paid him a yearly tribute, but in other +respects were practically free from his control, while the Czar gained +for the time the right of protecting the Christians of the Eastern, or +Greek, Church in the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan also recognised the +independence of Greece. Further troubles ensued which laid Turkey for a +time at the feet of Russia. England and France, however, intervened to +raise her up; and they also thwarted the efforts of Mehemet Ali, the +rebellious Pacha of Egypt, to seize Syria from his nominal lord, +the Sultan. + +Even this bare summary will serve to illustrate three important facts: +first, that Turkey never consolidated her triumph over the neighbouring +Christians, simply because she could not assimilate them, alien as they +were, in race, and in the enjoyment of a higher creed and civilisation; +second, that the Christians gained more and more support from kindred +peoples (especially the Russians) as these last developed their +energies; third, that the liberating process was generally (though not +in 1827) delayed by the action of the Western Powers (England and +France), which, on grounds of policy, sought to stop the aggrandisement +of Austria, or Russia, by supporting the Sultan's authority. + +The policy of supporting the Sultan against the aggression of Russia +reached its climax in the Crimean War (1854-55), which was due mainly to +the efforts of the Czar Nicholas to extend his protection over the Greek +Christians in Turkey. France, England, and later on the Kingdom of +Sardinia made war on Russia--France, chiefly because her new ruler, +Napoleon III., wished to play a great part in the world, and avenge the +disasters of the Moscow campaign of 1812; England, because her +Government and people resented the encroachments of Russia in the East, +and sincerely believed that Turkey was about to become a civilised +State; and Sardinia, because her statesman Cavour saw in this action a +means of securing the alliance of the two western States in his +projected campaign against Austria. The war closed with the Treaty of +Paris, of 1856, whereby the signatory Powers formally admitted Turkey +"to participate in the advantages of the public law and system +of Europe." + +This, however, merely signified that the signatory Powers would resist +encroachments on the territorial integrity of Turkey. It did not limit +the rights of the Powers, as specified in various "Capitulations," to +safeguard their own subjects residing in Turkey against Turkish misrule. +The Sultan raised great hopes by issuing a firman granting religious +liberty to his Christian subjects; this was inserted in the Treaty of +Paris, and thereby became part of the public law of Europe. The Powers +also became _collectively_ the guarantors of the local privileges of the +Danubian Principalities. Another article of the Treaty provided for the +exclusion of war-ships from the Black Sea. This of course applied +specially to Russia and Turkey[88]. + +[Footnote 88: For the treaty and the firman of 1856, see _The European +Concert in the Eastern Question, _by T.E. Holland; also Débidour, +_Histoire diplomatique de l'Europe _(1814-1878), vol. ii. pp. 150-152; +_The Eastern Question, _by the late Duke of Argyll, vol. i. chap. i.] + +The chief diplomatic result of the Crimean War, then, was to substitute +a European recognition of religious toleration in Turkey for the control +over her subjects of the Greek Church which Russia had claimed. The +Sublime Porte was now placed in a stronger position than it had held +since the year 1770; and the due performance of its promises would +probably have led to the building up of a strong State. But the promises +proved to be mere waste-paper. The Sultan, believing that England and +France would always take his part, let matters go on in the old bad way. +The natural results came to pass. The Christians showed increasing +restiveness under Turkish rule. In 1860 numbers of them were massacred +in the Lebanon, and Napoleon III. occupied part of Syria with French +troops. The vassal States in Europe also displayed increasing vitality, +while that of Turkey waned. In 1861, largely owing to the diplomatic +help of Napoleon III., Moldavia and Wallachia united and formed the +Principality of Roumania. In 1862, after a short but terrible struggle, +the Servians rid themselves of the Turkish garrisons and framed a +constitution of the Western type. But the worst blow came in 1870. +During the course of the Franco-German War the Czar's Government (with +the good-will and perhaps the active connivance of the Court of Berlin) +announced that it would no longer be bound by the article of the Treaty +of Paris excluding Russian war-ships from the Black Sea. The Gladstone +Ministry sent a protest against this act, but took no steps to enforce +its protest. Our young diplomatist, Sir Horace Rumbold, then at St. +Petersburg, believed that she would have drawn back at a threat of +war[89]. Finally, the Russian declaration was agreed to by the Powers in +a Treaty signed at London on March 31, 1871. + +[Footnote 89: Sir Horace Rumbold, _Recollections of a Diplomatist_ +(First Series), vol. ii. p. 295.] + +These warnings were all thrown away on the Porte. Its promises of +toleration to Christians were ignored; the wheels of government clanked +on in the traditional rusty way; governors of provinces and districts +continued, as of yore, to pocket the grants that were made for local +improvements; in defiance of the promises given in 1856, taxes continued +to be "farmed" out to contractors; the evidence of Christians against +Moslems was persistently refused a hearing in courts of justice[90]; and +the collectors of taxes gave further turns of the financial screw in +order to wring from the cultivators, especially from the Christians, the +means of satisfying the needs of the State and the ever-increasing +extravagance of the Sultan. Incidents which were observed in Bosnia by +an Oxford scholar of high repute, in the summer of 1875, will be found +quoted in an Appendix at the end of this volume. + +[Footnote 90: As to this, see Reports: _Condition of Christians in +Turkey_ (1860). Presented to Parliament in 1861. Also Parliamentary +Papers, Turkey, No. 16 (1877).] + +Matters came to a climax in the autumn of 1875 in Herzegovina, the +southern part of Bosnia. There after a bad harvest the farmers of taxes +and the Mohammedan landlords insisted on having their full quota; for +many years the peasants had suffered under agrarian wrongs, which cannot +be described here; and now this long-suffering peasantry, mostly +Christians, fled to the mountains, or into Montenegro, whose sturdy +mountaineers had never bent beneath the Turkish yoke[91]. Thence they +made forays against their oppressors until the whole of that part of +the Balkans was aflame with the old religious and racial feuds. The +Slavs of Servia, Bulgaria, and of Austrian Dalmatia also gave secret aid +to their kith and kin in the struggle against their Moslem overlords. +These peoples had been aroused by the sight of the triumph of the +national cause in Italy, and felt that the time had come to strike for +freedom in the Balkans. Turkey therefore failed to stamp out the revolt +in Herzegovina, fed as it was by the neighbouring Slav peoples; and it +was clear to all the politicians of Europe that the Eastern Question was +entering once more on an acute phase. + +[Footnote 91: Efforts were made by the British Consul, Holmes, and other +pro-Turks, to assign this revolt to Panslavonic intrigues. That there +were some Slavonic emissaries at work is undeniable; but it is equally +certain that their efforts would have had no result but for the +existence of unbearable ills. It is time, surely, to give up the notion +that peoples rise in revolt merely owing to outside agitators. To revolt +against the warlike Turks has never been child's play.] + +These events aroused varied feelings in the European States. The Russian +people, being in the main of Slavonic descent, sympathised deeply with +the struggles of their kith and kin, who were rendered doubly dear by +their membership in the Greek Church. The Panslavonic Movement, for +bringing the scattered branches of the Slav race into some form of +political union, was already gaining ground in Russia; but it found +little favour with the St. Petersburg Government owing to the +revolutionary aims of its partisans. Sympathy with the revolt in the +Balkans was therefore confined to nationalist enthusiasts in the towns +of Russia. Austria was still more anxious to prevent the spread of the +Balkan rising to the millions of her own Slavs. Accordingly, the +Austrian Chancellor, Count Andrassy, in concert with Prince Bismarck and +the Russian statesman, Prince Gortchakoff, began to prepare a scheme of +reforms which was to be pressed on the Sultan as a means of conciliating +the insurgents of Herzegovina. They comprised (1) the improvement of the +lot of the peasantry; (2) complete religious liberty; (3) the abolition +of the farming of taxes; (4) the application of the local taxation to +local needs; (5) the appointment of a Commission, half of Moslems, half +of Christians, to supervise the execution of these reforms and of others +recently promised by the Porte[92]. + +[Footnote 92: For the full text, see Hertslet, _The Map of Europe by +Treaty_, iv. pp. 2418-2429.] + +These proposals would probably have been sent to the Porte before the +close of 1875 but for the diplomatic intervention of the British +Cabinet. Affairs at London were then in the hands of that skilful and +determined statesman, Disraeli, soon to become Lord Beaconsfield. It is +impossible to discuss fully the causes of that bias in his nature which +prejudiced him against supporting the Christians of Turkey. Those causes +were due in part to the Semitic instincts of his Jewish ancestry,--the +Jews having consistently received better treatment from the Turks than +from the Russians,--and in part to his staunch Imperialism, which saw in +Muscovite expansion the chief danger to British communications with +India. Mr. Bryce has recently pointed out in a suggestive survey of +Disraeli's character that tradition had great weight with him[93]. It is +known to have been a potent influence on the mind of Queen Victoria; +and, as the traditional policy at Whitehall was to support Turkey +against Russia, all the personal leanings, which count for so much, told +in favour of a continuance in the old lines, even though the +circumstances had utterly changed since the time of the Crimean War. + +[Footnote 93: Bryce, _Studies in Contemporary Biography_ (1904).] + +When, therefore, Disraeli became aware that pressure was about to be +applied to the Porte by the three Powers above named, he warned them +that he considered any such action to be inopportune, seeing that Turkey +ought to be allowed time to carry out a programme of reforms of recent +date. By an _iradé_ of October 2, 1875, the Sultan had promised to _all_ +his Christian subjects a remission of taxation and the right of choosing +not only the controllers of taxes, but also delegates to supervise their +rights at Constantinople. + +In taking these promises seriously, Disraeli stood almost alone. But his +speech of November 9, 1875, at the Lord Mayor's banquet, showed that he +viewed the Eastern Question solely from the standpoint of British +interests. His acts spoke even more forcibly than his words. That was +the time when the dawn of Imperialism flushed all the eastern sky. +H.R.H. the Prince of Wales had just begun his Indian tour amidst +splendid festivities at Bombay; and the repetition of these in the +native States undoubtedly did much to awaken interest in our Eastern +Empire and cement the loyalty of its Princes and peoples. Next, at the +close of the month of November, came the news that the British +Government had bought the shares in the Suez Canal, previously owned by +the Khedive of Egypt, for the sum of £4,500,000[94]. The transaction is +now acknowledged by every thinking man to have been a master-stroke of +policy, justified on all grounds, financial and Imperial. In those days +it met with sharp censure from Disraeli's opponents. In a sense this was +natural; for it seemed to be part of a scheme for securing British +influence in the Levant and riding roughshod over the susceptibilities +of the French (the constructors of the canal) and the plans of Russia. +Everything pointed to the beginning of a period of spirited foreign +policy which would lead to war with Russia. + +[Footnote 94: For details of this affair, see Chapter XV. of this work.] + +Meanwhile the three Empires delayed the presentation of their scheme of +reforms for Turkey, and, as it would seem, out of deference to British +representations. The troubles in Herzegovina therefore went on unchecked +through the winter, the insurgents refusing to pay any heed to the +Sultan's promises, even though these were extended by the _iradé_ of +December 12, offering religious liberty and the institution of electoral +bodies throughout the whole of European Turkey. The statesmen of the +Continent were equally sceptical as to the _bona fides_ of these offers, +and on January 31, 1876, presented to the Porte their scheme of reforms +already described. Disraeli and our Foreign Minister, Lord Derby, gave a +cold and guarded assent to the "Andrassy Note," though they were known +to regard it as "inopportune." To the surprise of the world, the Porte +accepted the Note on February 11, with one reservation. + +This act of acceptance, however, failed to satisfy the insurgents. They +decided to continue the struggle. Their irreconcilable attitude +doubtless arose from their knowledge of the worthlessness of Turkish +promises when not backed by pressure from the Powers; and it should be +observed that the "Note" gave no hint of any such pressure[95]. But it +was also prompted by the hope that Servia and Montenegro would soon draw +the sword on their behalf--as indeed happened later on. Those warlike +peoples longed to join in the struggle against their ancestral foes; and +their rulers were nothing loth to do so. Servia was then ruled by Prince +Milan (1868-89), of that House of Obrenovitch which has been +extinguished by the cowardly murders of June 1903 at Belgrade. He had +recently married Nathalie Kechko, a noble Russian lady, whose +connections strengthened the hopes that he naturally entertained of +armed Muscovite help in case of a war with Turkey. Prince Nikita of +Montenegro had married his second daughter to a Russian Grand Duke, +cousin of the Czar Alexander II., and therefore cherished the same +hopes. It was clear that unless energetic steps were taken by the Powers +to stop the spread of the conflagration it would soon wrap the whole of +the Balkan Peninsula in flames. An outbreak of Moslem fanaticism at +Salonica (May 6), which led to the murder of the French and German +Consuls at that port, shed a lurid light on the whole situation and +convinced the Continental Powers that sterner measures must be adopted +towards the Porte. + +[Footnote 95: See Parliamentary Papers, Turkey, No. 5 (1877), for Consul +Freeman's report of March 17, 1877, of the outrages by the Turks in +Bosnia. The refugees declared they would "sooner drown themselves in the +Unna than again subject themselves to Turkish oppression." The Porte +denied all the outrages.] + +Such was the position, and such the considerations, that led the three +Empires to adopt more drastic proposals. Having found, meanwhile, by +informal conferences with the Herzegovinian leaders, what were the +essentials to a lasting settlement, they prepared to embody them in a +second Note, the Berlin Memorandum, issued on May 13. It was drawn up by +the three Imperial Chancellors at Berlin, but Andrassy is known to have +given a somewhat doubtful consent. T his "Berlin Memorandum" demanded +the adoption of an armistice for two months; the repatriation of the +Bosnian exiles and fugitives; the establishment of a mixed Commission +for that purpose; the removal of Turkish troops from the rural districts +of Bosnia; the right of the Consuls of the European Powers to see to the +carrying out of all the promised reforms. Lastly, the Memorandum stated +that if within two months the three Imperial Courts did not attain the +end they had in view (viz. the carrying out of the needed reforms), it +would become necessary to take "efficacious measures" for that +purpose[96]. Bismarck is known to have favoured the policy of +Gortchakoff in this affair. + +[Footnote 96: Hertslet, iv. pp. 2459-2463.] + +The proposals of the Memorandum were at once sent to the British, +French, and Italian Governments for their assent. The two last +immediately gave it. After a brief delay the Disraeli Ministry sent a +decisive refusal and made no alternative proposal, though one of its +members, Sir Stafford Northcote, is known to have formulated a +scheme[97]. The Cabinet took a still more serious step: on May 24, it +ordered the British fleet in the Mediterranean to steam to Besika Bay, +near the entrance to the Dardanelles--the very position it had taken +before the Crimean War[98]. It is needless to say that this act not only +broke up the "European Concert," but ended all hopes of compelling +Turkey at once to grant the much-needed reforms. That compulsion would +have been irresistible had the British fleet joined the Powers in +preventing the landing of troops from Asia Minor in the Balkan +Peninsula. As it was, the Turks could draw those reinforcements without +hindrance. + +[Footnote 97: _Sir Stafford Northcote, Earl of Iddesleigh_, by Andrew +Lang, vol. ii. p. 181.] + +[Footnote 98: Our ambassador at Constantinople, Sir Henry Elliott, asked +(May 9) that a squadron should be sent there to reassure the British +subjects in Turkey; but as the fleet was not ordered to proceed thither +until after a long interval, and was kept there in great strength and +for many months, it is fair to assume that the aim of our Government was +to encourage Turkey.] The Berlin Memorandum was, of course, not +presented to Turkey, and partly owing to the rapid changes which then +took place at Constantinople. To these we must now advert. + +The Sultan, Abdul Aziz, during his fifteen years of rule had +increasingly shown himself to be apathetic, wasteful, and indifferent to +the claims of duty. In the month of April, when the State repudiated its +debts, and officials and soldiers were left unpaid, his life of +luxurious retirement went on unchanged. It has been reckoned that of the +total Turkish debt of £T200,000,000, as much as £T53,000,000 was due to +his private extravagance[99]. Discontent therefore became rife, +especially among the fanatical bands of theological students at +Constantinople. These Softas, as they are termed, numbering some 20,000 +or more, determined to breathe new life into the Porte--an aim which the +patriotic "Young Turkey" party already had in view. On May 11 large +bands of Softas surrounded the buildings of the Grand Vizier and the +Sheik-ul-Islam, and with wild cries compelled them to give up their +powers in favour of more determined men. On the night of May 29-30 they +struck at the Sultan himself. The new Ministers were on their side: the +Sheik-ul-Islam, the chief of the Ulemas, who interpret Mohammedan +theology and law, now gave sentence that the Sultan might be dethroned +for mis-government; and this was done without the least show of +resistance. His nephew, Murad Effendi, was at once proclaimed Sultan as +Murad V.; a few days later the dethroned Sultan was secretly murdered, +though possibly his death may have been due to suicide[100]. + +[Footnote 99: Gallenga, _The Eastern Question_, vol. ii. p. 99.] + +[Footnote 100: For the aims of the Young Turkey party, see the _Life of +Midhat Pasha_, by his son; also an article by Midhat in the _Nineteenth +Century_ for June 1878.] + +We may add here that Murad soon showed himself to be a friend to reform; +and this, rather than any incapacity for ruling, was probably the cause +of the second palace revolution, which led to his deposition on August +31. Thereupon his brother, the present ruler, Abdul Hamid, ascended the +throne. His appearance was thus described by one who saw him at his +first State progress through his capital: "A somewhat heavy and stern +countenance . . . narrow at the temples, with a long gloomy cast of +features, large ears, and dingy complexion. . . . It seemed to me the +countenance of a ruler capable of good or evil, but knowing his own mind +and determined to have his own way[101]." This forecast has been +fulfilled in the most sinister manner. + +[Footnote 101: Gallenga, _The Eastern Question_, vol. ii. p. 126. Murad +died in the year 1904.] + +If any persons believed in the official promise of June 1, that there +should be "liberty for all" in the Turkish dominions, they might have +been undeceived by the events that had just transpired to the south of +the Balkan Mountains. The outbreak of Moslem fanaticism, which at +Constantinople led to the dethronement of two Sultans in order to place +on the throne a stern devotee, had already deluged with blood the +Bulgarian districts near Philippopolis. In the first days of May, the +Christians of those parts, angered by the increase of misrule and fired +with hope by the example of the Herzegovinians, had been guilty of acts +of insubordination; and at Tatar Bazardjik a few Turkish officials were +killed. The movement was of no importance, as the Christians were nearly +all unarmed. Nevertheless, the authorities poured into the disaffected +districts some 18,000 regulars, along with hordes of irregulars, or +Bashi-Bazouks; and these, especially the last, proceeded to glut their +hatred and lust in a wild orgy which desolated the whole region with a +thoroughness that the Huns of Attila could scarcely have excelled (May +9-16). In the upper valley of the Maritza out of eighty villages, all +but fifteen were practically wiped out. Batak, a flourishing town of +some 7000 inhabitants, underwent a systematic massacre, culminating in +the butchery of all who had taken refuge in the largest church; of the +whole population only 2000 managed to escape[102]. + +[Footnote 102: Mr. Baring, a secretary of the British Legation at +Constantinople, after a careful examination of the evidence, gave the +number of Bulgarians slain as "not fewer than 12,000"; he opined that +163 Mussulmans were perhaps killed early in May. He admitted the Batak +horrors. Achmet Agha, their chief perpetrator, was at first condemned to +death by a Turkish commission of inquiry, but he was finally pardoned. +Shefket Pasha, whose punishment was also promised, was afterwards +promoted to a high command. Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 2 (1877), pp. +248-249; _ibid_. No. 15 (1877), No. 77, p. 58. Mr. Layard, successor to +Sir Henry Elliott at Constantinople, afterwards sought to reduce the +numbers slain to 3500. Turkey, No. 26 (1877), p. 54.] + +It is painful to have to add that the British Government was indirectly +responsible for these events. Not only had it let the Turks know that it +deprecated the intervention of the European Powers in Turkey (which was +equivalent to giving the Turks _carte blanche_ in dealing with their +Christian subjects), but on hearing of the Herzegovina revolt, it +pressed on the Porte the need of taking speedy measures to suppress +them. The despatches of Sir Henry Elliott, our ambassador at +Constantinople, also show that he had favoured the use of active +measures towards the disaffected districts north of Philippopolis[103]. + +[Footnote 103: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 3 (1876), pp. 144, 173, +198-199.] + +Of course, neither the British Government nor its ambassador foresaw the +awful results of this advice; but their knowledge of Turkish methods +should have warned them against giving it without adding the cautions so +obviously needed. Sir Henry Elliott speedily protested against the +measures adopted by the Turks, but then it was too late[104]. +Furthermore, the contemptuous way in which Disraeli dismissed the first +reports of the Bulgarian massacres as "coffee-house babble" revealed his +whole attitude of mind on Turkish affairs; and the painful impression +aroused by this utterance was increased by his declaration of July 30 +that the British fleet then at Besika Bay was kept there solely in +defence of British interests. He made a similar but more general +statement in the House of Commons on August 11. On the next morning the +world heard that Queen Victoria had been pleased to confer on him the +title of Earl of Beaconsfield. It is well known, on his own admission, +that he could no longer endure the strain of the late sittings in the +House of Commons and had besought Her Majesty for leave to retire. She, +however, suggested the gracious alternative that he should continue in +office with a seat in the House of Lords. None the less, the conferring +of this honour was felt by very many to be singularly inopportune. + +[Footnote 104: See, _inter alia_, his letter of May 26, 1876, quoted in +_Life and Correspondence of William White_ (1902), pp. 99-100.] + +For at this time tidings of the massacres at Batak and elsewhere began +to be fully known. Despite the efforts of Ministers to discredit them, +they aroused growing excitement; and when the whole truth was known, a +storm of indignation swept over the country as over the whole of Europe. +Efforts were made by the Turcophil Press to represent the new trend of +popular feeling as a mere party move and an insidious attempt of the +Liberal Opposition to exploit humanitarian sentiment; but this charge +will not bear examination. Mr. Gladstone had retired from the Liberal +Leadership early in 1875 and was deeply occupied in literary work; and +Lords Granville and Hartington, on whom devolved the duty of leading the +Opposition, had been very sparing of criticisms on the foreign policy of +the Cabinet. They, as well as Mr. Gladstone, had merely stated that the +Government, on refusing to join in the Berlin Memorandum, ought to have +formulated an alternative policy. We now know that Mr. Gladstone left +his literary work doubtfully and reluctantly[105]. + +[Footnote 105: J. Morley, _Life of Gladstone_, vol. ii. pp. 548-549.] + +Now, however, the events in Bulgaria shed a ghastly light on the whole +situation, and showed the consequences of giving the "moral support" of +Britain to the Turks. The whole question ceased to rest on the high and +dry levels of diplomacy, and became one of life or death for many +thousands of men and women. The conscience of the country was touched to +the quick by the thought that the presence of the British Mediterranean +fleet at Besika Bay was giving the same encouragement to the Turks as it +had done before the Crimean War, and that, too, when they had belied the +promises so solemnly given in 1856, and were now proved to be guilty of +unspeakable barbarities. In such a case, the British nation would have +been disgraced had it not demanded that no further alliance should be +formed. It was equally the duty of the leaders of the Opposition to +voice what was undoubtedly the national sentiment. To have kept silence +would have been to stultify our Parliamentary institutions. The parrot +cry that British interests were endangered by Russia's supposed designs +on Turkey, was met by the unanswerable reply that, if those designs +existed, the best way to check them was to maintain the European +Concert, and especially to keep in close touch with Austria, seeing that +that Power had as much cause as England to dread any southward extension +of the Czar's power. Russia might conceivably fight Turkey and Great +Britain; but she would not wage war against Austria as well. Therefore, +the dictates of humanity as well as those of common sense alike +condemned the British policy, which from the outset had encouraged the +Turks to resist European intervention, had made us in some measure +responsible for the Bulgarian massacres, and, finally, had broken up the +Concert of the Powers, from which alone a peaceful solution of the +Eastern Question could be expected. + +The union of the Powers having been dissolved by British action, it was +but natural that Russia and Austria should come to a private +understanding. This came about at Reichstadt in Bohemia on July 8. No +definitive treaty was signed, but the two Emperors and their Chancellors +framed an agreement defining their spheres of influence in the Balkans +in case war should break out between Russia and Turkey. Francis Joseph +of Austria covenanted to observe a neutrality friendly to the Czar under +certain conditions that will be noticed later on. Some of those +conditions were distasteful to the Russian Government, which sounded +Bismarck as to his attitude in case war broke out between the Czar and +the Hapsburg ruler. Apparently the reply of the German Chancellor was +unfavourable to Russia[106], for it thereafter renewed the negotiations +with the Court of Vienna. On the whole, the ensuing agreement was a +great diplomatic triumph; for the Czar thereby secured the neutrality of +Austria--a Power that might readily have remained in close touch with +Great Britain had British diplomacy displayed more foresight. + +[Footnote 106: Bismarck, _Reflections and Reminiscences_ vol. ii. chap, +xxviii.] + +The prospects of a great war, meanwhile, had increased owing to the +action of Servia and Montenegro. The rulers of those States, unable any +longer to hold in their peoples, and hoping for support from their +Muscovite kinsfolk, declared war on Turkey at the end of June. Russian +volunteers thronged to the Servian forces by thousands; but, despite the +leadership of the Russian General, Tchernayeff, they were soon overborne +by the numbers and fanatical valour of the Turks. Early in September, +Servia appealed to the Powers for their mediation; and, owing chiefly to +the efforts of Great Britain, terms for an armistice were proposed by +the new Sultan, Abdul Hamid, but of so hard a nature that the Servians +rejected them. + +On the fortune of war still inclining against the Slavonic cause, the +Russian people became intensely excited; and it was clear that they +would speedily join in the war unless the Turks moderated their claims. +There is reason to believe that the Czar Alexander II. dreaded the +outbreak of hostilities with Turkey in which he might become embroiled +with Great Britain. The Panslavonic party in Russia was then permeated +by revolutionary elements that might threaten the stability of the +dynasty at the end of a long and exhausting struggle. But, feeling +himself in honour bound to rescue Servia and Montenegro from the results +of their ill-judged enterprise, he assembled large forces in South +Russia and sent General Ignatieff to Constantinople with the demand, +urged in the most imperious manner (Oct. 30), that the Porte should +immediately grant an armistice to those States. At once Abdul Hamid +gave way. + +Even so, Alexander II. showed every desire of averting the horrors of +war. Speaking to the British ambassador at St. Petersburg on November +2, he said that the present state of affairs in Turkey "was intolerable, +and unless Europe was prepared to act with firmness and energy, he +should be obliged to act alone." But he pledged his word that he desired +no aggrandisement, and that "he had not the smallest wish or intention +to be possessed of Constantinople[107]." At this time proposals for a +Conference of the Powers at Constantinople were being mooted: they had +been put forth by the British Government on October 5. There seemed, +therefore, to be some hope of a compromise if the Powers reunited so as +to bring pressure to bear on Turkey; for, a week later, the Sultan +announced his intention of granting a constitution, with an elected +Assembly to supervise the administration. But hopes of peace as well as +of effective reform in Turkey were damped by the warlike speech of Lord +Beaconsfield at the Lord Mayor's banquet on November 9. He then used +these words. If Britain draws the sword "in a righteous cause; if the +contest is one which concerns her liberty, her independence, or her +Empire, her resources, I feel, are inexhaustible. She is not a country +that, when she enters into a campaign, has to ask herself whether she +can support a second or a third campaign." On the next day the Czar +replied in a speech at Moscow to the effect that if the forthcoming +Conference at Constantinople did not lead to practical results, Russia +would be forced to take up arms; and he counted on the support of his +people. A week later 160,000 Russian troops were mobilised. + +[Footnote 107: Hertslet, iv. p. 2508.] + +The issue was thus clear as far as concerned Russia. It was not so clear +for Great Britain. Even now, we are in ignorance as to the real intent +of Lord Beaconsfield's speech at the Guildhall. It seems probable that, +as there were divisions in his Cabinet, he may have wished to bring +about such a demonstration of public feeling as would strengthen his +hands in proposing naval and military preparations. The duties of a +Prime Minister are so complex that his words may be viewed either in an +international sense, or as prompted by administrative needs, or by his +relations to his colleagues, or, again, they may be due merely to +electioneering considerations. Whatever their real intent on this +occasion, they were interpreted by Russia as a defiance and by Turkey as +a promise of armed help. + +On the other hand, if Lord Beaconsfield hoped to strengthen the +pro-Turkish feeling in the Cabinet and the country, he failed. The +resentment aroused by Turkish methods of rule and repression was too +deep to be eradicated even by his skilful appeals to Imperialist +sentiment. The Bulgarian atrocities had at least brought this much of +good: they rendered a Turco-British alliance absolutely impossible. + +Lord Derby had written to this effect on August 29 to Sir Henry Elliott: +"The impression produced here by events in Bulgaria has completely +destroyed sympathy with Turkey. The feeling is universal and so strong +that even if Russia were to declare war against the Porte, Her Majesty's +Government would find it practically impossible to interfere[108]." + +[Footnote 108: Parliamentary Papers, Turkey, No. 6 (1877).] + +The assembly of a Conference of the envoys of the Powers at +Constantinople was claimed to be a decisive triumph for British +diplomacy. There were indeed some grounds for hoping that Turkey would +give way before a reunited Europe. The pressure brought to bear on the +British Cabinet by public opinion resulted in instructions being given +to Lord Salisbury (our representative, along with Sir H. Elliott, at the +Conference) which did not differ much from the avowed aims of Russia and +of the other Powers. Those instructions stated that the Powers could not +accept mere promises of reform, for "the whole history of the Ottoman +Empire, since it was admitted into the European Concert under the +engagements of the Treaty of Paris [1856], has proved that the Porte is +unable to guarantee the execution of reforms in the provinces by Turkish +officials, who accept them with reluctance and neglect them with +impunity." The Cabinet, therefore, insisted that there must be "external +guarantees," but stipulated that no foreign armies must be introduced +into Turkey[109]. Here alone British Ministers were at variance with the +other Powers; and when, in the preliminary meetings of the Conference, a +proposal was made to bring Belgian troops in order to guarantee the +thorough execution of the proposed reforms, Lord Salisbury did not +oppose it. In pursuance of instructions from London, he even warned the +Porte that Britain would not give any help in case war resulted from its +refusal of the European proposals. + +[Footnote 109: Parliamentary Papers, Turkey, ii. (1877), No. 1; also, in +part, in Hertslet, iv. p. 2517.] + +It is well known that Lord Salisbury was far less pro-Turkish than the +Prime Minister or the members of the British embassy at Constantinople. +During a diplomatic tour that he had made to the chief capitals he +convinced himself "that no Power was disposed to shield Turkey--not even +Austria--if blood had to be shed for the _status quo_." (The words are +those used by his assistant, Mr., afterwards Sir, William White.) He had +had little or no difficulty in coming to an understanding with the +Russian plenipotentiary, General Ignatieff, despite the intrigues of Sir +Henry Elliott and his Staff to hinder it[110]. Indeed, the situation +shows what might have been effected in May 1876, had not the Turks then +received the support of the British Government. + +[Footnote 110: _Sir William White: Life and Correspondence_, p. 117.] + +Now, however, there were signs that the Turks declined to take the good +advice of the Powers seriously; and on December 23, when the "full" +meetings of the Conference began, the Sultan and his Ministers treated +the plenipotentiaries to a display of injured virtue and reforming zeal +that raised the situation to the level of the choicest comedy. In the +midst of the proceedings, after the Turkish Foreign Minister, Safvet +Pacha, had explained away the Bulgarian massacres as a myth woven by the +Western imagination, salvoes of cannon were heard, that proclaimed the +birth of a new and most democratic constitution for the whole of the +Turkish Empire. Safvet did justice to the solemnity of the occasion; the +envoys of the Powers suppressed their laughter; and before long, Lord +Salisbury showed his resentment at this display of oriental irony and +stubbornness by ordering the British Fleet to withdraw from +Besika Bay[111]. + +[Footnote 111: See Gallenga (_The Eastern Question_, vol. ii. pp. +255-258) as to the scepticism regarding the new constitution, felt alike +by foreigners and natives at Constantinople.] + +But deeds and words were alike wasted on the Sultan and his Ministers. +To all the proposals and warnings of the Powers they replied by pointing +to the superior benefits about to be conferred by the new constitution. +The Conference therefore speedily came to an end (Jan. 20). It had +served its purpose. It had fooled Europe[112]. + +[Footnote 112: See Parl. Papers (1878), Turkey, No. 2, p. 114, for the +constitution; and p. 302 for Lord Salisbury's criticisms on it; also +_ibid_, pp. 344-345, for Turkey's final rejection of the proposals of +the Powers.] + +The responsibility for this act of cynical defiance must be assigned to +one man. The Sultan had never before manifested a desire for any reform +whatsoever; and it was not until December 19, 1876, that he named as +Grand Vizier Midhat Pasha, who was known to have long been weaving +constitutional schemes. This Turkish Siéyès was thrust to the front in +time to promulgate that fundamental reform. His tenure of power, like +that of the French constitution-monger in 1799, ended when the scheme +had served the purpose of the real controller of events. Midhat +obviously did not see whither things were tending. On January 24, 1877, +he wrote to Saïd Pasha, stating that, according to the Turkish +ambassador at London (Musurus Pasha), Lord Derby congratulated the +Sublime Porte on the dissolution of the Conference, "which he considers +a success for Turkey[113]." + +[Footnote 113: _Life of Midhat Pasha_, by Midhat Ali (1903), p. 142. +Musurus must have deliberately misrepresented Lord Derby.] + +It therefore only remained to set the constitution in motion. After six +days, when no sign of action was forthcoming, Midhat wrote to the Sultan +in urgent terms, reminding him that their object in promulgating the +constitution "was certainly not merely to find a solution of the +so-called Eastern Question, nor to seek thereby to make a demonstration +that should conciliate the sympathies of Europe, which had been +estranged from us." This Note seems to have irritated the Sultan. Abdul +Hamid, with his small, nervous, exacting nature, has always valued +Ministers in proportion to their obedience, not to their power of giving +timely advice. In every independent suggestion he sees the germ of +opposition, and perhaps of a palace plot. He did so now. By way of +reply, he bade Midhat come to the Palace. Midhat, fearing a trap, +deferred his visit, until he received the assurance that the order for +the reforms had been issued. Then he obeyed the summons; at once he was +apprehended, and was hurried to the Sultan's yacht, which forthwith +steamed away for the Aegean (Feb. 5). The fact that he remained above +its waters, and was allowed to proceed to Italy, may be taken as proof +that his zeal for reform had been not without its uses in the game which +the Sultan had played against the Powers. The Turkish Parliament, which +assembled on March 1, acted with the subservience that might have been +expected after this lesson. The Sultan dissolved it on the outbreak of +war, and thereafter gave up all pretence of constitutional forms. As for +Midhat, he was finally lured back to Turkey and done to death. Such was +the end of the Turkish constitution, of the Turkish Parliament, and of +their contriver[114]. + +[Footnote 114: _Life of Midhat Pasha_, chaps. v.-vii. For the Sultan's +character and habits, see an article in the _Contemporary Review_ for +December 1896, by D. Kelekian.] + +Even the dissolution of the Conference of the Powers did not bring about +war at once. It seems probable that the Czar hoped much from the +statesmanlike conduct of Lord Salisbury at Constantinople, or perhaps he +expected to secure the carrying out of the needed reforms by means of +pressure from the Three Emperors' League (see Chapter XII.). But, unless +the Russians gave up all interest in the fate of her kinsmen and +co-religionists in Turkey, war was now the more probable outcome of +events. Alexander had already applied to Germany for help, either +diplomatic or military; but these overtures, of whatever kind, were +declined by Bismarck--so he declared in his great speech of February 6, +1888. Accordingly, the Czar drew closer to Austria, with the result that +the Reichstadt agreement of July 8, 1876, now assumed the form of a +definitive treaty signed at Vienna between the two Powers on January +15, 1877. + +The full truth on this subject is not known. M. Élie de Cyon, who claims +to have seen the document, states that Austria undertook to remain +neutral during the Russo-Turkish War, that she stipulated for a large +addition of territory if the Turks were forced to quit Europe; also that +a great Bulgaria should be formed, and that Servia and Montenegro should +be extended so as to become conterminous. To the present writer this +account appears suspect. It is inconceivable that Austria should have +assented to an expansion of these principalities which would bar her +road southward to Salonica[115]. + +[Footnote 115: Élie de Cyon, _Histoire de l'Entente franco-russe_, chap, +i.; and in _Nouvelle Revue_ for June 1, 1887. His account bears obvious +signs of malice against Germany and Austria.] + +Another and more probable version was given by the Hungarian Minister, +M. Tisza, during the course of debates in the Hungarian Delegations in +the spring of 1887, to this effect:--(1) No Power should claim an +exclusive right of protecting the Christians of Turkey, and the Great +Powers should pronounce on the results of the war; (2) Russia would +annex no land on the right (south) bank of the Danube, would respect the +integrity of Roumania, and refrain from touching Constantinople; (3) if +Russia formed a new Slavonic State in the Balkans, it should not be at +the expense of non-Slavonic peoples; and she would not claim special +rights over Bulgaria, which was to be governed by a prince who was +neither Russian nor Austrian; (4) Russia would not extend her military +operations to the districts west of Bulgaria. These were the terms on +which Austria agreed to remain neutral; and in certain cases she claimed +to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina[116]. + +[Footnote 116: Débidour, _Hist. diplomatique de l'Europe_ (1814-1878), +vol. ii. p. 502.] Doubtless these, or indeed any, concessions to +Austria were repugnant to Alexander II. and Prince Gortchakoff; but her +neutrality was essential to Russia's success in case war broke out; and +the Czar's Government certainly acted with much skill in securing the +friendly neutrality of the Power which in 1854 had exerted so paralysing +a pressure on the Russian operations on the Lower Danube. + +Nevertheless, Alexander II. still sought to maintain the European +Concert with a view to the exerting of pacific pressure upon Turkey. +Early in March he despatched General Ignatieff on a mission to the +capitals of the Great Powers; except at Westminster, that envoy found +opinion favourable to the adoption of some form of coercion against +Turkey, in case the Sultan still hardened his heart against good advice. +Even the Beaconsfield Ministry finally agreed to sign a Protocol, that +of March 31, 1877, which recounted the efforts of the six Great Powers +for the improvement of the lot of the Christians in Turkey, and +expressed their approval of the promises of reform made by that State on +February 13, 1876. Passing over without notice the new Turkish +Constitution, the Powers declared that they would carefully watch the +carrying out of the promised reforms, and that, if no improvement in the +lot of the Christians should take place, "they [the Powers] reserve to +themselves to consider in common as to the means which they may deem +best fitted to secure the wellbeing of the Christian populations, and +the interests of the general peace[117]." This final clause contained a +suggestion scarcely less threatening than that with which the Berlin +Memorandum had closed; and it is difficult to see why the British +Cabinet, which now signed the London Protocol, should have wrecked that +earlier effort of the Powers. In this as in other matters it is clear +that the Cabinet was swayed by a "dual control." + +[Footnote 117: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 9 (1877), p. 2.] + +But now it was all one whether the British Government signed the +Protocol or not. Turkey would have none of it. Despite Lord Derby's +warning that "the Sultan would be very unwise if he would not endeavour +to avail himself of the opportunity afforded him to arrange a mutual +disarmament," that potentate refused to move a hair's-breadth from his +former position. On the 12th of April the Turkish ambassador announced +to Lord Derby the final decision of his Government: "Turkey, as an +independent State, cannot submit to be placed under any surveillance, +whether collective or not. . . . No consideration can arrest the Imperial +Government in their determination to protest against the Protocol of the +31st March, and to consider it, as regards Turkey, as devoid of all +equity, and consequently of all binding character." Lord Derby thereupon +expressed his deep regret at this decision, and declared that he "did +not see what further steps Her Majesty's Government could take to avert +a war which appeared to have become inevitable[118]." + +[Footnote 118: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 15 (1877), pp. 354-355.] + +The Russian Government took the same view of the case, and on April +7-19, 1877, stated in a despatch that, as a pacific solution of the +Eastern Question was now impossible, the Czar had ordered his armies to +cross the frontiers of Turkey. The official declaration of war followed +on April 12-24. From the point of view of Lord Derby this seemed +"inevitable." Nevertheless, on May 1 he put his name to an official +document which reveals the curious dualism which then prevailed in the +Beaconsfield Cabinet. This reply to the Russian despatch contained the +assertion that the last answer of the Porte did not remove all hope of +deference on its part to the wishes and advice of Europe, and "that the +decision of the Russian Government is not one which can have their +concurrence or approval." We shall not be far wrong in assuming that, +while the hand that signed this document was the hand of Derby, the +spirit behind it was that of Beaconsfield. + +In many quarters the action of Russia was stigmatised as the outcome of +ambition and greed, rendered all the more odious by the cloak of +philanthropy which she had hitherto worn. The time has not come when an +exhaustive and decisive verdict can be given on this charge. Few +movements have been free from all taint of meanness; but it is clearly +unjust to rail against a great Power, because, at the end of a war which +entailed frightful losses and a serious though temporary loss of +prestige, it determined to exact from the enemy the only form of +indemnity which was forthcoming, namely, a territorial indemnity. +Russia's final claims, as will be seen, were open to criticism at +several points; but the censure just referred to is puerile. It accords, +however, with most of the criticisms passed in London "club-land," which +were remarkable for their purblind cynicism. + +No one who has studied the mass of correspondence contained in the +Blue-books relating to Turkey in 1875-77 can doubt that the Emperor +Alexander II. displayed marvellous patience in face of a series of +brutal provocations by Moslem fanatics and the clamour of his own people +for a liberating crusade. Bismarck, who did not like the Czar, stated +that he did not want war, but waged it "under stress of Panslavist +influence[119]." That some of his Ministers and Generals had less lofty +aims is doubtless true; but practically all authorities are now agreed +that the maintenance of the European Concert would have been the best +means of curbing those aims. Yet, despite the irritating conduct of the +Beaconsfield Cabinet, the Emperor Alexander sought to re-unite Europe +with a view to the execution of the needed reforms in Turkey. Even after +the successive rebuffs of the rejection of the Berlin Memorandum by +Great Britain and of the suggestions of the Powers at Constantinople by +Turkey, he succeeded in restoring the semblance of accord between the +Powers, and of leaving to Turkey the responsibility of finally and +insolently defying their recommendations. A more complete diplomatic +triumph has rarely been won. It was the reward of consistency and +patience, qualities in which the Beaconsfield Cabinet was +signally lacking. + +[Footnote 119: _Bismarck: his Reflections and Reminiscences_, vol. ii. +p. 259 (Eng. ed.).] We may notice one other criticism: that Russia's +agreement with Austria implied the pre-existence of aggressive designs. +This is by no means conclusive. That the Czar should have taken the +precaution of coming to the arrangement of January 1877 with Austria +does not prove that he was desirous of war. The attitude of Turkey +during the Conference at Constantinople left but the slightest hope of +peace. To prepare for war in such a case is not a proof of a desire for +war, but only of common prudence. + +Certain writers in France and Germany have declared that Bismarck was +the real author of the Russo-Turkish War. The dogmatism of their +assertions is in signal contrast with the thinness of their +evidence[120]. It rests mainly on the statement that the Three Emperors' +League (see Chapter XII.) was still in force; that Bismarck had come to +some arrangement for securing gains to Austria in the south-east as a +set-off to her losses in 1859 and 1866; that Austrian agents in Dalmatia +had stirred up the Herzegovina revolt of 1875; and that Bismarck and +Andrassy did nothing to avert the war of 1877. Possibly he had a hand in +these events--he had in most events of the time; and there is a +suspicious passage in his Memoirs as to the overtures made to Berlin in +the autumn of 1876. The Czar's Ministers wished to know whether, in the +event of a war with Austria, they would have the support of Germany. To +this the Chancellor replied, that Germany could not allow the present +equilibrium of the monarchical Powers to be disturbed: "The result . . . +was that the Russian storm passed from Eastern Galicia to the +Balkans[121]." Thereafter Russia came to terms with Austria as +described above. + +[Footnote 120: Élie de Cyon, _op. cit._ chap. i.; also in _Nouvelle +Revue_ for 1880.] + +[Footnote 121: Bismarck, _Recollections and Reminiscences_, vol. ii. p. +231 (Eng. ed.).] + +But the passage just cited only proves that Russia might have gone to +war with Austria over the Eastern Question. In point of fact, she went +to war with Turkey, after coming to a friendly arrangement with Austria. +Bismarck therefore acted as "honest-broker" between his two allies; and +it has yet to be proved that Bismarck did not sincerely work with the +two other Empires to make the coercion of Turkey by the civilised Powers +irresistibly strong. In his speech of December 6, 1876, to the +Reichstag, the Chancellor made a plain and straightforward declaration +of his policy, namely, that of neutrality, but inclining towards +friendship with Austria. That, surely, did not drive Russia into war +with Turkey, still less entice her into it. As for the statement that +Austrian intrigues were the sole cause of the Bosnian revolt, it must +appear childish to all who bear in mind the exceptional hardships and +grievances of the peasants of that province. Finally, the assertion of a +newspaper, the _Czas_, that Queen Victoria wrote to Bismarck in April +1877 urging him to protest against an attack by Russia on Turkey, may be +dismissed as an impudent fabrication[122]. It was altogether opposed to +the habits of her late Majesty to write letters of that kind to the +Foreign Ministers of other Powers. + +[Footnote 122: Busch, _Our Chancellor_, vol. ii. p. 126.] + +Until documents of a contrary tenor come to light, we may say with some +approach to certainty that the responsibility for the war of 1877-78 +rests with the Sultan of Turkey and with those who indirectly encouraged +him to set at naught the counsels of the Powers. Lord Derby and Lord +Salisbury had of late plainly warned him of the consequences of his +stubbornness; but the influence of the British embassy at Constantinople +and of the Turkish ambassador in London seems greatly to have weakened +the force of those warnings. + +It must always be remembered that the Turk will concede religious +freedom and civic equality to the "Giaours" only under overwhelming +pressure. In such a case he mutters "Kismet" ("It is fate"), and gives +way; but the least sign of weakness or wavering on the part of the +Powers awakens his fanatical scruples. Then his devotion to the Koran +forbids any surrender. History has afforded several proofs of this, from +the time of the Battle of Navarino (1827) to that of the intervention +of the Western Powers on behalf of the slaughtered and harried +Christians of the Lebanon (1860). Unfortunately Abdul Hamid had now come +to regard the Concert of the Powers as a "loud-sounding nothing." With +the usual bent of a mean and narrow nature he detected nothing but +hypocrisy in its lofty professions, and self-seeking in its +philanthropic aims, together with a treacherous desire among influential +persons to make the whole scheme miscarry. Accordingly he fell back on +the boundless fund of inertia, with which a devout Moslem ruler blocks +the way to western reforms. A competent observer has finely remarked +that the Turk never changes; his neighbours, his frontiers, his +statute-books may change, but his ideas and his practice remain always +the same. He will not be interfered with; he will not improve[123]. To +this statement we must add that only under dire necessity will he allow +his Christian subjects to improve. The history of the Eastern Question +may be summed up in these assertions. + +[Footnote 123: _Turkey in Europe_, by Odysseus, p. 139.] + +Abdul Hamid II. is the incarnation of the reactionary forces which have +brought ruin to Turkey and misery to her Christian subjects. He owed his +crown to a recrudescence of Moslem fanaticism; and his reign has +illustrated the unsuspected strength and ferocity of his race and creed +in face of the uncertain tones in which Christendom has spoken since the +spring of the year 1876. The reasons which prompted his defiance a year +later were revealed by his former Grand Vizier, Midhat Pasha, in an +article in the _Nineteenth Century_ for June 1877. The following passage +is especially illuminating:-- + + Turkey was not unaware of the attitude of the English + Government towards her; the British Cabinet had declared in + clear terms that it would not interfere in our dispute. This + decision of the English Cabinet was perfectly well known to + us, but we knew still better that the general interests of + Europe and the particular interests of England were so bound + up in our dispute with Russia that, in spite of all the + Declarations of the English Cabinet, it appeared to us to be + absolutely impossible for her to avoid interfering sooner or + later in this Eastern dispute. This profound belief, added to + the reasons we have mentioned, was one of the principal + factors of our contest with Russia[124]. + +[Footnote 124: See, too, the official report of our pro-Turkish +Ambassador at Constantinople, Mr. Layard (May 30, 1877), as to the +difficulty of our keeping out of the war in its final stages (Parl. +Papers, Turkey, No. 26 (1877), p. 52).] + +It appears, then, that the action of the British Government in the +spring and summer of 1876, and the well-known desire of the Prime +Minister to intervene in favour of Turkey, must have contributed to the +Sultan's decision to court the risks of war rather than allow any +intervention of the Powers on behalf of his Christian subjects. + +The information that has come to light from various quarters serves to +strengthen the case against Lord Beaconsfield's policy in the years +1875-77. The letter written by Mr. White to Sir Robert Morier on January +16, 1877, and referred to above, shows that his diplomatic experience +had convinced him of the futility of supporting Turkey against the +Powers. In that letter he made use of these significant words:--"You +know me well enough. I did not come here (Constantinople) to deceive +Lord Salisbury or to defend an untenable Russophobe or pro-Turkish +policy. There will probably be a difference of opinion in the Cabinet as +to our future line of policy, and I shall not wonder if Lord Salisbury +should upset Dizzy and take his place or leave the Government on this +question. If he does the latter, the coach is indeed upset." Mr. White +also referred to the _personnel_ of the British Embassy at +Constantinople in terms which show how mischievous must have been its +influence on the counsels of the Porte. + +A letter from Sir Robert Morier of about the same date proves that that +experienced diplomatist also saw the evil results certain to accrue +from the Beaconsfield policy:--"I have not ceased to din that into the +ears of the F.O. (Foreign Office), to make ourselves the _point d'appui_ +of the Christians in the Turkish Empire, and thus take all the wind out +of the sails of Russia; and after the population had seen the difference +between an English and a Russian occupation [of the disturbed parts of +Turkey] it would jump to the eyes even of the blind, and we should +_débuter_ into a new policy at Constantinople with an immense +advantage[125]." This advice was surely statesmanlike. To support the +young and growing nationalities in Turkey would serve, not only to +checkmate the supposed aggressive designs of Russia, but also to array +on the side of Britain the progressive forces of the East. To rely on +the Turk was to rely on a moribund creature. It was even worse. It +implied an indirect encouragement to the "sick man" to enter on a strife +for which he was manifestly unequal, and in which we did not mean to +help him. But these considerations failed to move Lord Beaconsfield and +the Foreign Office from the paths of tradition and routine[126]. + +[Footnote 125: _Sir William White: Life and Correspondence_, pp. +115-117.] + +[Footnote 126: For the power of tradition in the Foreign Office, see +_Sir William White: Life and Correspondence_, p. 119.] + +Finally, in looking at the events of 1875-76 in their broad outlines, we +may note the verdict of a veteran diplomatist, whose conduct before the +Crimean War proved him to be as friendly to the interests of Turkey as +he was hostile to those of Russia, but who now saw that the situation +differed utterly from that which was brought about by the aggressive +action of Czar Nicholas I. in 1854. In a series of letters to the +_Times_ he pointed out the supreme need of joint action by all the +Powers who signed the Treaty of Paris; that that treaty by no means +prohibited their intervention in the affairs of Turkey; that wise and +timely intervention would be to the advantage of that State; that the +Turks had always yielded to coercion if it were of overwhelming +strength, but only on those terms; and that therefore the severance of +England from the European Concert was greatly to be deplored[127]. In +private this former champion of Turkey went even farther, and declared +on Sept. 10, 1876, that the crisis in the East would not have become +acute had Great Britain acted conjointly with the Powers[128]. There is +every reason to believe that posterity will endorse this judgment of +Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. + +[Footnote 127: Letters of Dec. 31, 1875, May 16, 1876, and Sept. 9, +1876, republished with others in _The Eastern Question_, by Lord +Stratford de Redcliffe (1881).] + +[Footnote 128: J. Morley, _Life of Gladstone_, vol. ii. p. 555.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR + + "Knowledge of the great operations of war can be acquired + only by experience and by the applied study of the campaigns + of all the great captains. Gustavus, Turenne, and Frederick, + as well as Alexander, Hannibal, and Cæsar, have all acted on + the same principles. To keep one's forces together, to bear + speedily on any point, to be nowhere vulnerable,--such are + the principles that assure victory."--NAPOLEON. + + +Despite the menace to Russia contained in the British Note of May 1, +1877, there was at present little risk of a collision between the two +Powers for the causes already stated. The Government of the Czar showed +that it desired to keep on friendly terms with the Cabinet of St. James, +for, in reply to a statement of Lord Derby that the security of +Constantinople, Egypt, and the Suez Canal was a matter of vital concern +for Great Britain, the Russian Chancellor, Prince Gortchakoff, on May 30 +sent the satisfactory assurance that the two latter would remain outside +the sphere of military operations; that the acquisition of the Turkish +capital was "excluded from the views of His Majesty the Emperor," and +that its future was a question of common interest which could be settled +only by a general understanding among the Powers[129]. As long as Russia +adhered to these promises there could scarcely be any question of Great +Britain intervening on behalf of Turkey. + +[Footnote 129: Hertslet, vol. iv. p. 2625.] + +Thus the general situation in the spring of 1877 scarcely seemed to +warrant the hopes with which the Turks entered on the war. They stood +alone confronting a Power which had vastly greater resources in men and +treasure. Seeing that the Sultan had recently repudiated a large part of +the State debt, and could borrow only at exorbitant rates of interest, +it is even now mysterious how his Ministers managed to equip very +considerable forces, and to arm them with quick-firing rifles and +excellent cannon. The Turk is a born soldier, and will fight for nothing +and live on next to nothing when his creed is in question; but that does +not solve the problem how the Porte could buy huge stores of arms and +ammunition. It had procured 300,000 American rifles, and bought 200,000 +more early in the war. On this topic we must take refuge in the domain +of legend, and say that the life of Turkey is the life of a phoenix: it +now and again rises up fresh and defiant among the flames. + +As regards the Ottoman army, an English officer in its service, +Lieutenant W.V. Herbert, states that the artillery was very good, +despite the poor supply of horses; that the infantry was very good; the +regular cavalry mediocre, the irregular cavalry useless. He estimates +the total forces in Europe and Asia at 700,000; but, as he admits that +the battalions of 800 men rarely averaged more than 600, that total is +clearly fallacious. An American authority believes that Turkey had not +more than 250,000 men ready in Europe and that of these not more than +165,000 were north of the Balkans when the Russians advanced towards the +Danube[130]. Von Lignitz credits the Turks with only 215,000 regular +troops and 100,000 irregulars (Bashi Bazouks and Circassians) in the +whole Empire; of these he assigns two-thirds to European Turkey[131]. + +[Footnote 130: _The Campaign in Bulgaria_, by F.V. Greene, pt. ii. ch. +i.; W.V. Herbert, _The Defence of Plevna_, chaps, i.-ii.] + +[Footnote 131: _Aus drei Kriegen_, by Gen. von Lignitz, p. 99.] + +It seemed, then, that Russia had no very formidable task before her. +Early in May seven army corps began to move towards that great river. +They included 180 battalions of infantry, 200 squadrons of cavalry, and +800 guns--in all about 200,000 men. Their cannon were inferior to those +of the Turks, but this seemed a small matter in view of the superior +numbers which Russia seemed about to place in the field. The +mobilisation of her huge army, however, went on slowly, and produced by +no means the numbers that were officially reported. Our military attaché +at the Russian headquarters, Colonel Wellesley, reported this fact to +the British Government; and, on this being found out, incurred +disagreeable slights from the Russian authorities[132]. + +[Footnote 132: _With the Russians in War and Peace_, by Colonel F.A. +Wellesley (1905), ch. xvii.] + +Meanwhile Russia had secured the co-operation of Roumania by a +convention signed on April 16, whereby the latter State granted a free +passage through that Principality, and promised friendly treatment to +the Muscovite troops. The Czar in return pledged himself to "maintain +and defend the actual integrity of Roumania[133]." The sequel will show +how this promise was fulfilled. For the present it seemed that the +interests of the Principality were fully secured. Accordingly Prince +Charles (elder brother of the Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, whose +candidature for the Crown of Spain made so much stir in 1870) took the +further step of abrogating the suzerainty of the Sultan over +Roumania (June 3). + +[Footnote 133: Hertslet, vol. iv. p. 2577.] + +Even before the declaration of independence Roumania had ventured on a +few acts of war against Turkey; but the co-operation of her army, +comprising 50,000 regulars and 70,000 National Guards, with that of +Russia proved to be a knotty question. The Emperor Alexander II., on +reaching the Russian headquarters at Plojeschti, to the north of +Bukharest, expressed his wish to help the Roumanian army, but insisted +that it must be placed under the commander-in-chief of the Russian +forces, the Grand Duke Nicholas. To this Prince Charles demurred, and +the Roumanian troops at first took no active part in the campaign. +Undoubtedly their non-arrival served to mar the plans of the Russian +Staff[134]. + +[Footnote 134: _Reminiscences of the King of Roumania_, edited by S. +Whitman (1899), pp. 269, 274.] Delays multiplied from the outset. The +Russians, not having naval superiority in the Black Sea which helped to +gain them their speedy triumph in the campaign of 1828, could only +strike through Roumania and across the Danube and the difficult passes +of the middle Balkans. Further, as the Roumanian railways had but single +lines, the movement of men and stores to the Danube was very slow. +Numbers of the troops, after camping on its marshy banks (for the river +was then in flood), fell ill of malarial fever; above all, the +carelessness of the Russian Staff and the unblushing peculation of its +subordinates and contractors clogged the wheels of the military machine. +One result of it was seen in the bad bread supplied to the troops. A +Roumanian officer, when dining with the Grand Duke Nicholas, ventured to +compare the ration bread of the Russians with the far better bread +supplied to his own men at cheaper rates. The Grand Duke looked at the +two specimens and then--talked of something else[135]. Nothing could be +done until the flood subsided and large bodies of troops were ready to +threaten the Turkish line of defence at several points[136]. The Ottoman +position by no means lacked elements of strength. The first of these was +the Danube itself. The task of crossing a great river in front of an +active foe is one of the most dangerous of all military operations. Any +serious miscalculation of the strength, the position, or the mobility of +the enemy's forces may lead to an irreparable disaster; and until the +bridges used for the crossing are defended by _têtes de pont_ the +position of the column that has passed over is precarious. + +[Footnote 135: Farcy, _La Guerre sur le Danube_, p. 73. For other +malpractices see Colonel F.A. Wellesley's _With the Russians in Peace +and War_, chs. xi. xii.] + +[Footnote 136: _Punch_ hit off the situation by thus parodying the +well-known line of Horace: "Russicus expectat dum defluat amnis."] + +The Danube is especially hard to cross, because its northern bank is for +the most part marshy, and is dominated by the southern bank. The German +strategist, von Moltke, who knew Turkey well, and had written the best +history of the Russo-Turkish War of 1828, maintained that the passage of +the Danube must cost the invaders upwards of 50,000 men. Thereafter, +they would be threatened by the Quadrilateral of fortresses--Rustchuk, +Shumla, Varna, and Silistria. Three of these were connected by railway, +which enabled the Turks to send troops quickly from the port of Varna to +any position between the mountain stronghold of Shumla and the riverine +fortress, Rustchuk. + +Even the non-military reader will see by a glance at the map that this +Quadrilateral, if strongly held, practically barred the roads leading to +the Balkans on their eastern side. It also endangered the march of an +invading army through the middle of Bulgaria to the central passes of +that chain. Moreover, there are in that part only two or three passes +that can be attempted by an army with artillery. The fortress of Widdin, +where Osman Pasha was known to have an army of about 40,000 seasoned +troops, dominated the west of Bulgaria and the roads leading to the +easier passes of the Balkans near Sofia. + +These being the difficulties that confronted the invaders in Europe, it +is not surprising that the first important battles took place in Asia. +On the Armenian frontier the Russians, under Loris Melikoff, soon gained +decided advantages, driving back the Turks with considerable losses on +Kars and Erzeroum. The tide of war soon turned in that quarter, but, for +the present, the Muscovite triumphs sent a thrill of fear through +Turkey, and probably strengthened the determination of Abdul-Kerim, the +Turkish commander-in-chief in Europe, to maintain a cautious defensive. + +[Illustration: MAP OF BULGARIA.] + +Much could be said in favour of a "Fabian" policy of delay. Large +Turkish forces were in the western provinces warring against Montenegro, +or watching Austria, Servia, and Greece. It is even said that +Abdul-Kerim had not at first more than about 120,000 men in the whole of +Bulgaria, inclusive of the army at Widdin. But obviously, if the +invaders so far counted on his weakness as to thrust their columns +across the Danube in front of forces that could be secretly and swiftly +strengthened by drafts from the south and west, they would expose +themselves to the gravest risks. The apologists of Abdul-Kerim claim +that such was his design, and that the signs of sluggishness which he at +first displayed formed a necessary part of a deep-laid scheme for luring +the Russians to their doom. Let the invaders enter Central Bulgaria in +force, and expose their flanks to Abdul-Kerim in the Quadrilateral, and +to Osman Pasha at Widdin; then the Turks, by well-concerted moves +against those flanks, would drive the enemy back on the Danube, and +perhaps compel a large part of his forces to lay down their arms. Such +is their explanation of the conduct of Abdul-Kerim. + +As the Turkish Government is wholly indifferent to the advance of +historical knowledge, it is impossible even now to say whether this idea +was definitely agreed on as the basis of the plan of campaign. There are +signs that Abdul-Kerim and Osman Pasha adopted it, but whether it was +ever approved by the War Council at Constantinople is a different +question. Such a plan obviously implied the possession of great powers +of self-control by the Sultan and his advisers, in face of the initial +success of the Russians; and unless that self-control was proof against +panic, the design could not but break down at the crucial point. Signs +are not wanting that in the suggestions here tentatively offered, we +find a key that unlocks the riddle of the Danubian campaign of 1877. + +At first Abdul-Kerim in the Quadrilateral, and Osman at Widdin, +maintained a strict defensive. The former posted small bodies of troops, +probably not more than 20,000 in all, at Sistova, Nicopolis, and other +neighbouring points. But, apart from a heavy bombardment of Russian and +Roumanian posts on the northern bank, neither commander did much to mar +the hostile preparations. This want of initiative, which contrasted with +the enterprise displayed by the Turks in 1854, enabled the invaders to +mature their designs with little or no interruption. + +The Russian plan of campaign was to destroy or cripple the four small +Turkish ironclads that patrolled the lower reaches of the river, to +make feints at several points, and to force a passage at two +places--first near Ibrail into the Dobrudscha, and thereafter, under +cover of that diversion, from Simnitza to Sistova. The latter place of +crossing combined all the possible advantages. It was far enough away +from the Turkish Quadrilateral to afford the first essentials of safety; +it was known to be but weakly held; its position on the shortest line of +road between the Danube and a practicable pass of the Balkans--the +Shipka Pass--formed a strong recommendation; while the presence of an +island helped on the first preparations. + +The flood of the Danube having at last subsided, all was ready by +midsummer. Russian batteries and torpedo-boats had destroyed two Turkish +armoured gunboats in the lower reaches of the river, and on June 22 a +Russian force crossed in boats from a point near Galatz to Matchin, and +made good their hold on the Dobrudscha. + +Preparations were also ripe at Simnitza. In the narrow northern arm of +the river the boats and pontoons collected by the Russians were launched +with no difficulty, the island was occupied, and on the night of June +26-27, a Volhynian regiment, along with Cossacks, crossed in boats over +the broad arm of the river, there some 1000 yards wide, and gained a +foothold on the bank. Already their numbers were thinned by a dropping +fire from a Turkish detachment; but the Turks made the mistake of +trusting to the bullet instead of plying the bayonet. Before dawn broke, +the first-comers had been able to ensconce themselves under a bank until +other boats came up. Then with rousing cheers they charged the Turks and +pressed them back. + +This was the scene which greeted the eyes of General Dragomiroff as his +boat drew near to the shore at 5 A.M. Half hidden by the morning mist, +the issue seemed doubtful. But at his side stood a general, fresh from +triumphs in Turkestan, who had begged to be allowed to come as volunteer +or aide-de-camp. When Dragomiroff, in an agony of suspense, lowered his +glass, the other continued to gaze, and at last exclaimed: "I +congratulate you on your victory." "Where do you see that?" asked +Dragomiroff "Where? on the faces of the soldiers. Look at them. Watch +them as they charge the enemy. It is a pleasure to see them." The +verdict was true. It was the verdict of Skobeleff[137]. + +[Footnote 137: Quoted from a report by an eye-witness, by "O.K." (Madame +Novikoff), _Skobeleff and the Slavonic Cause_, p. 38. The crossing was +planned by the Grand Duke Nicholas; see von Lignitz, _Aus drei +Kriegen_, p. 149.] + +Such was the first appearance in European warfare of the greatest leader +of men that Russia has produced since the days of Suvoroff. The younger +man resembled that sturdy veteran in his passion for war, his ambition, +and that frank, bluff bearing which always wins the hearts of the +soldiery. The grandson of a peasant, whose bravery had won him promotion +in the great year, 1812; the son of a general whose prowess was +renowned--Skobeleff was at once a commander and a soldier. "Ah! he knew +the soul of a soldier as if he were himself a private." These were the +words often uttered by the Russians about Skobeleff; similar things had +been said of Suvoroff in his day. For champions such as these the +emotional Slavs will always pour out their blood like water. But, like +the captor of Warsaw, Skobeleff knew when to put aside the bayonet and +win the day by skill. Both were hard hitters, but they had a hold on the +principles of the art of war. The combination of these qualities was +formidable; and many Russians believe that, had the younger man, with +his magnificent physique and magnetic personality, enjoyed the length of +days vouchsafed to the diminutive Suvoroff, he would have changed the +face of two continents. + +The United States attaché to the Russian army in the Russo-Turkish War +afterwards spoke of his military genius as "stupendous," and prophesied +that, should he live twenty years longer, and lead the Russian armies in +the next Turkish war, he would win a place side by side with "Napoleon, +Wellington, Grant, and Moltke." To equate these four names is a mark of +transatlantic enthusiasm rather than of balanced judgment; but the +estimate, so far as it concerns Skobeleff, reflects the opinion of +nearly all who knew him[138]. + +[Footnote 138: F.V. Green, _Sketches of Army Life in Russia_, p. 142.] + +Encouraged by the advent of Skobeleff and Dragomiroff, the Russians +assumed the offensive with full effect, and by the afternoon of that +eventful day, had mastered the rising ground behind Sistova. Here again +the Turkish defence was tame. The town was unfortified, but its +outskirts presented facilities for defence. Nevertheless, under the +pressure of the Russian attack and of artillery fire from the north +bank, the small Turkish garrison gave up the town and retreated towards +Rustchuk. At many points on that day the Russians treated their foes to +a heavy bombardment or feints of crossing, especially at Nicopolis and +Rustchuk; and this accounts for the failure of the defenders to help the +weak garrison on which fell the brunt of the attack. All things +considered, the crossing of the Danube must rank as a highly creditable +achievement, skilfully planned and stoutly carried out; it cost the +invaders scarcely 700 men[139]. + +[Footnote 139: Farcy, _La Guerre sur le Danube_, ch. viii.; _Daily News +Correspondence of the War of 1877-78_, ch. viii.] + +They now threw a pontoon-bridge across the Danube between Simnitza and +Sistova; and by July 2 had 65,000 men and 244 cannon in and near the +latter town. Meanwhile, their 14th corps held the central position of +Babadagh in the Dobrudscha, thereby preventing any attack from the +north-east side of the Quadrilateral against their communications with +the south of Russia. + +It may be questioned, however, whether the invaders did well to keep so +large a force in the Dobrudscha, seeing that a smaller body of light +troops patrolling the left bank of the lower Danube or at the _tête de +pont_ at Matchin would have answered the same purpose. The chief use of +the crossing at Matchin was to distract the attention of the enemy, an +advance through the unhealthy district of the Dobrudscha against the +Turkish Quadrilateral being in every way risky; above all, the retention +of a whole corps on that side weakened the main line of advance, that +from Sistova; and here it was soon clear that the Russians had too few +men for the enterprise in hand. The pontoon-bridge over the Danube was +completed by July 2--a fact which enabled those troops which were in +Roumania to be hurried forward to the front. + +Obviously it was unsafe to march towards the Balkans until both flanks +were secured against onsets from the Quadrilateral on the east, and from +Nicopolis and Widdin on the west. At Nicopolis, twenty-five miles away, +there were about 10,000 Turks; and around Widdin, about 100 miles +farther up the stream, Osman mustered 40,000 more. To him Abdul-Kerim +now sent an order to march against the flank of the invaders. + +Nor were the Balkan passes open to the Russians; for, after the crossing +of the Danube, Reuf Pasha had orders to collect all available troops for +their defence, from the Shipka Pass to the Slievno Pass farther east; +7000 men now held the Shipka; about 10,000 acted as a general reserve at +Slievno; 3000 were thrown forward to Tirnova, where the mountainous +country begins, and detachments held the more difficult tracks over the +mountains. An urgent message was also sent to Suleiman Pasha to +disengage the largest possible force from the Montenegrin war; and, had +he received this message in time, or had he acted with the needful speed +and skill, events might have gone very differently. + +For some time the Turks seemed to be paralysed at all points by the +vigour of the Muscovite movements. Two corps, the 13th and 14th, marched +south-east from Sistova to the torrent of the Jantra, or Yantra, and +seized Biela, an important centre of roads in that district. This +secured them against any immediate attack from the Quadrilateral. The +Grand Duke Nicholas also ordered the 9th corps, under the command of +General Krüdener, to advance from Sistova and attack the weakly +fortified town of Nicopolis. Aided by the Roumanian guns on the north +bank of the Danube, this corps succeeded in overpowering the defence +and capturing the town, along with 7000 troops and 110 guns (July 16). + +Thus the invaders seemed to have gained a secure base on the Danube, +from Sistova to Nicopolis, whence they could safely push forward their +vanguard to the Balkans. In point of fact their light troops had already +seized one of its more difficult passes--an exploit that will always +recall the name of that dashing leader, General Gurko. The plan now to +be described was his conception; it was approved by the Grand Duke +Nicholas. Setting out from Sistova and drawing part of his column from +the forces at Biela, Gurko first occupied the important town of Tirnova, +the small Turkish garrison making a very poor attempt to defend the old +Bulgarian capital (July 7). The liberators there received an +overwhelming ovation, and gained many recruits for the "Bulgarian +Legion." Pushing ahead, the Cossacks and Dragoons seized large supplies +of provisions stored by the Turks, and gained valuable news respecting +the defences of the passes. + +The Shipka Pass, due south of Tirnova, was now strongly held, and +Turkish troops were hurrying towards the two passes north of Slievno, +some fifty miles farther east. Even so they had not enough men at hand +to defend all the passes of the mountain chain that formed their chief +line of defence. They left one of them practically undefended; this was +the Khainkoi Pass, having an elevation of 3700 feet above the sea. + +A Russian diplomatist, Prince Tserteleff, who was charged to collect +information about the passes, found that the Khainkoi enjoyed an evil +reputation. "Ill luck awaits him who crosses the Khainkoi Pass," so ran +the local proverb. He therefore determined to try it; by dint of +questioning the friendly Bulgarian peasantry he found one man who had +been through it once, and that was two years before with an ox-cart. +Where an ox-cart could go, a light mountain gun could go. Accordingly, +the Prince and General Rauch went with 200 Cossacks to explore the pass, +set the men to work at the worst places, and, thanks to the secrecy +observed by the peasantry, soon made the path to the summit practicable +for cavalry and light guns. The Prince disguised himself as a Bulgarian +shepherd to examine the southern outlet; and, on his bringing a +favourable report, 11,000 men of Gurko's command began to thread the +intricacies of the defile. + +Thanks to good food, stout hearts, jokes, and songs, they managed to get +the guns up the worst places. Then began the perils of the descent. But +the Turks knew nothing of their effort, else it might have ended far +otherwise. At the southern end 300 Turkish regulars were peacefully +smoking their pipes and cooking their food when the Cossack and Rifles +in the vanguard burst upon them, drove them headlong, and seized the +village of Khainkoi. A pass over the Balkans had been secured at the +cost of two men killed and three wounded. Gurko was almost justified in +sending to the Grand Duke Nicholas the proud vaunt that none but Russian +soldiers could have brought field artillery over such a pass, and in the +short space of three days (July 11-14)[140]. + +[Footnote 140: _General Gurko's Advance Guard In 1877_, by Colonel +Epauchin, translated by H. Havelock (The Wolseley Series, 1900), ch. +ii.; _The Daily News War Correspondence_ (1877), pp. 263-270.] + +After bringing his column of 11,000 men through the pass, Gurko drove +off four Turkish battalions sent against him from the Shipka Pass and +Kazanlik. Next he sent out bands of Cossacks to spread terror +southwards, and delude the Turks into the belief that he meant to strike +at the important towns, Jeni Zagra and Eski Zagra, on the road to +Adrianople. Having thus caused them to loosen their grip on Kazanlik and +the Shipka, he wheeled his main force to the westward (leaving 3500 men +to hold the exit of the Khainkoi), and drove the Turks successively from +positions in front of the town, from the town itself, and then from the +village of Shipka. Above that place towered the mighty wall of the +Balkans, lessened somewhat at the pass itself, but presenting even there +a seemingly impregnable position. + +Gurko, however, relied on the discouragement of the Turkish garrison +after the defeats of their comrades, and at seeing their positions +turned on the south while they were also threatened on the north. For +another Russian column had advanced from Tirnova up the more gradual +northern slopes of the Balkans, and now began to hammer at the defences +of the pass on that side. The garrison consisted of six and a half +battalions under Khulussi Pasha, and the wreckage of five battalions +already badly beaten by Gurko's column. These, with one battery of +artillery, held the pass and the neighbouring peaks, which they had in +part fortified. + +In pursuance of a pre-arranged plan for a joint attack on July 17 of +both Russian forces, the northern body advanced up the slopes; but, as +Gurko's men were unable to make their diversion in time, the attack +failed. An isolated attempt by Gurko's force on the next day also +failed, the defenders disgracing themselves by tricking the Russians +with the white flag and firing upon them. But the Turks were now in +difficulties for want of food and water; or possibly they were seized +with panic. At any rate, while amusing the Russians with proposals of +surrender, they stole off in small bodies, early on July 19. The truth +was, ere long, found out by outposts of the north Russian forces; +Skobeleff and his men were soon at the summit, and there Gurko's +vanguard speedily joined them with shouts of joy. + +Thus, within twenty-three days from the crossing of the Danube Gurko +seized two passes of the Balkans, besides capturing 800 prisoners and 13 +guns. It is not surprising that a Turkish official despatch of July 21 +to Suleiman summed up the position: "The existence of the Empire hangs +on a hair." And when Gurko's light troops proceeded to raid the valley +of the Maritsa, it seemed that the Turkish defence would collapse as +helplessly as in the memorable campaign of 1828. We must add here that +the Bulgarians now began to revenge themselves for the outrages of May +1876; and the struggle was sullied by horrible acts on both sides. + +The impression produced by these dramatic strokes was profound and +widespread. The British fleet was sent to Besika Bay, a step +preparatory, as it seemed, to steaming up the Dardanelles to the Sea of +Marmora. At Adrianople crowds of Moslems fled away in wild confusion +towards Constantinople. There the frequent meetings of ministers at the +Sultan's palace testified to the extent of the alarm; and that nervous +despot wavered between the design of transferring the seat of government +to Brussa in Asia Minor, and that of unfurling the standard of the +Prophet and summoning all the faithful to rally to its defence against +the infidels. Finally he took courage from despair, and adopted the more +manly course. But first he disgraced his ministers. The War Minister and +Abdul-Kerim were summarily deposed, the latter being sent off as +prisoner to the island of Lemnos. + +All witnesses agree that the War Minister, Redif Pasha, was incapable +and corrupt. The age and weakness of Abdul-Kerim might have excused his +comparative inaction in the Quadrilateral in the first half of July. It +is probable that his plan of campaign, described above, was sound; but +he lacked the vigour, and the authorities at Constantinople lacked the +courage, to carry it out thoroughly and consistently. + +Mehemet Ali Pasha, a renegade German, who had been warring with some +success in Montenegro, assumed the supreme command on July 22; and +Suleiman Pasha, who, with most of his forces had been brought by sea +from Antivari to the mouth of the River Maritsa, now gathered together +all the available troops for the defence of Roumelia. + +The Czar, on his side, cherished hopes of ending the war while Fortune +smiled on his standards. There are good grounds for thinking that he had +entered on it with great reluctance. In its early stages he let the +British Government know of his desire to come to terms with Turkey; and +now his War Minister, General Milutin, hinted to Colonel F.A. Wellesley, +British attaché at headquarters, that the mediation of Great Britain +would be welcomed by Russia. That officer on July 30 had an interview +with the Emperor, who set forth the conditions on which he would be +prepared to accept peace with Turkey. They were--the recovery of the +strip of Bessarabia lost in 1856, and the acquisition of Batoum in Asia +Minor. Alexander II. also stated that he would not occupy Constantinople +unless that step were necessitated by the course of events; that the +Powers would be invited to a conference for the settlement of Turkish +affairs; and that he had no wish to interfere with the British spheres +of interest already referred to. Colonel Wellesley at once left +headquarters for London, but on the following day the aspect of the +campaign underwent a complete change, which, in the opinion of the +British Government, rendered futile all hope of a settlement on the +conditions laid down by the Czar.[141] + +[Footnote 141: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 9 (1878), Nos. 2, 3. _With the +Russians in Peace and War_, by Colonel the Hon. F.A. Wellesley, ch. xx.] + +For now, when the Turkish cause seemed irrevocably lost, the work of a +single brave man to the north of the Balkans dried up, as if by magic, +the flood of invasion, brought back victory to the standards of Islam, +and bade fair to overwhelm the presumptuous Muscovites in the waters of +the Danube. Moltke in his account of the war of 1828, had noted a +peculiarity of the Ottomans in warfare (a characteristic which they +share with the glorious defenders of Saragossa in 1808) of beginning the +real defence when others would abandon it as hopeless. This remark, if +not true of the Turkish army as a whole, certainly applies to that part +of it which was thrilled to deeds of daring by Osman Pasha. + +More fighting had fallen to him perhaps than to any Turk of his time. He +was now forty years of age; his frame, slight and of middle height, gave +no promise of strength or capacity; neither did his face, until the +observer noted the power of his eyes to take in the whole situation +"with one slow comprehensive look[142]." This gave him a magnetic +faculty, the effect of which was not wholly marred by his disdainful +manners, curt speech, and contemptuous treatment of foreigners. Clearly +here was a cold, sternly objective nature like that of Bonaparte. He +was a good representative of the stolid Turk of the provinces, who, far +from the debasing influence of the Court, retains the fanaticism and +love of war on behalf of his creed that make his people terrible even in +the days of decline[143]. + +[Footnote 142: W.W. Herbert, _The Defence of Plevna_, p. 81.] + +[Footnote 143: For these qualities, see _Turkey in Europe_, by +"Odysseus," p. 97.] + +In accordance with the original design of Abdul-Kerim, Osman had for +some time remained passive at Widdin. On receiving orders from the +commander-in-chief, he moved eastwards on July 13, with 40,000 men, to +save Nicopolis. Finding himself too late to save that place he then laid +his plans for the seizure of Plevna. The importance of that town, as a +great centre of roads, and as possessing many advantages for defence on +the hills around, had been previously pointed out to the Russian Staff +by Prince Charles of Roumania, as indeed, earlier still, by Moltke. +Accordingly, the Grand Duke Nicholas had directed a small force of +cavalry towards that town. General Krüdener made the mistake of +recalling it in order to assist in the attack on Nicopolis on July +14-16, an unlucky move, which enabled Osman to occupy Plevna without +resistance on July 19[144]. On the 18th the Grand Duke Nicholas ordered +General Krüdener to occupy Plevna. Knowing nothing of Osman's +whereabouts, his vanguard advanced heedlessly on the town, only to meet +with a very decided repulse, which cost the Russians 3000 men (July 20). + +[Footnote 144: Herbert, _The Defence of Plevna_, p. 129.] + +Osman now entrenched himself on the open downs that stretch eastwards +from Plevna. As will be seen by reference to the map on page 213, his +position, roughly speaking, formed an ellipse pointing towards the +village of Grivitza. Above that village his engineers threw up two great +redoubts which dominated the neighbourhood. Other redoubts and trenches +screened Plevna on the north-east and south. Finally, the crowns of +three main slopes lying to the east of Plevna bristled with defensive +works. West of the town lay the deep vale of the little River Wid, +itself the chief defence on that side. We may state here that during the +long operations against Plevna the Russians had to content themselves +with watching this western road to Orkanye and Sofia by means of +cavalry; but the reinforcements from Sofia generally made their way in. +From that same quarter the Turks were also able to despatch forces to +occupy the town of Lovtcha, between Plevna and the Shipka Pass. + +The Russian Staff, realising its error in not securing this important +centre of roads, and dimly surmising the strength of the entrenchments +which Osman was throwing up near to the base of their operations, +determined to attack Plevna at once. Their task proved to be one of +unexpected magnitude. Already the long curve of the outer Turkish lines +spread along slopes which formed natural glacis, while the ground +farther afield was so cut up by hollows as to render one combined +assault very difficult. The strength, and even the existence, of some of +Osman's works were unknown. Finally, the Russians are said to have had +only 32,000 infantry men at hand with two brigades of cavalry. + +Nevertheless, Generals Krüdener and Schahofski received orders to attack +forthwith. They did so on July 31. The latter, with 12,000 men took two +of the outer redoubts on the south side, but had to fall back before the +deadly fire that poured on him from the inner works. Krüdener operated +against the still stronger positions on the north; but, owing to +difficulties that beset his advance, he was too late to make any +diversion in favour of his colleague. In a word, the attack was ill +planned and still worse combined. Five hours of desperate fighting +yielded the assailants not a single substantial gain; their losses were +stated officially to be 7336 killed and wounded; but this is certainly +below the truth. Turkish irregulars followed the retreating columns at +nightfall, and butchered the wounded, including all whom they found in a +field-hospital. + +This second reverse at Plevna was a disaster of the first magnitude. The +prolongation of the Russian line beyond the Balkans had left their base +and flanks too weak to stand against the terrible blows that Osman +seemed about to deal from his point of vantage. Plevna was to their +right flank what Biela was to their left. Troops could not be withdrawn +from the latter point lest the Turks from Shumla and Rustchuk should +break through and cut their way to the bridge at Sistova; and now +Osman's force threatened that spinal cord of the Russian communications. +If he struck how could the blow be warded off? For bad news poured in +from all quarters. From Armenia came the tidings that Mukhtar Pasha, +after a skilful retreat and concentration of force, had turned on the +Russians and driven them back in utter confusion. + +From beyond the Balkans Gurko sent news that Suleiman's army was working +round by way of Adrianople, and threatened to pin him to the mountain +chain. In fact, part of Gurko's corps sustained a serious reverse at +Eski Zagra, and had to retreat in haste through the Khainkoi Pass; while +its other sections made their way back to the Shipka Pass, leaving a +rearguard to hold that important position (July 30-August 8). Thus, on +all sides, proofs accumulated that the invaders had attempted far too +much for their strength, and that their whole plan of campaign was more +brilliant than sound. Possibly, had not the 14th corps been thrown away +on the unhealthy Dobrudscha, enough men would have been at hand to save +the situation. But now everything was at stake. + +The whole of the month of August was a time of grave crisis for the +Russians, and it is the opinion of the best military critics that the +Turks, with a little more initiative and power of combination, might +have thrown the Russians back on the Danube in utter disarray. From this +extremity the invaders were saved by the lack among the Turks of the +above-named gifts, on which, rather than on mere bravery, the issue of +campaigns and the fate of nations now ultimately depend. True to their +old renown, the Turks showed signal prowess on the field of battle, but +they lacked the higher intellectual qualities that garner the full +harvest of results. + +Osman, either because he knew not that the Russians had used up their +last reserves at Plevna, or because he mistrusted the manoeuvring +powers of his men, allowed Krüdener quietly to draw off his shattered +forces towards Sistova, and made only one rather half-hearted move +against that all-important point. The new Turkish commander-in-chief, +Mehemet Ali, gathered a formidable array in front of Shumla and drove +the Russian army now led by the Cesarewich back on Biela, but failed to +pierce their lines. Finally, Suleiman Pasha, in his pride at driving +Gurko through the Khainkoi Pass, wasted time on the southern side, first +by harrying the wretched Bulgarians, and then by hurling his brave +troops repeatedly against the now almost impregnable position on the +Shipka Pass. + +It is believed that jealousy of the neighbouring Turkish generals kept +Suleiman from adopting less wasteful and more effective tactics. If he +had made merely a feint of attacking that post, and had hurried with his +main body through the Slievno Pass on the east to the aid of Mehemet, or +through the western defiles of the Balkans to the help of the brave +Osman in his Plevna-Lovtcha positions, probably the gain of force to one +or other of them might have led to really great results. As it was, +these generals dealt heavy losses to the invaders, but failed to drive +them back on the Danube. + +Moreover, Russian reinforcements began to arrive by the middle of +August, the Emperor having already, on July 22, called out the first ban +of the militia and three divisions of the reserve of the line, in all +some 224,000 men[145]. + +[Footnote 145: F.V. Greene, _The Campaign in Bulgaria_, p. 225.] + +The bulk of these men did not arrive until September; and meanwhile the +strain was terrible. The war correspondence of Mr. Archibald Forbes +reveals the state of nervous anxiety in which Alexander II. was plunged +at this time. Forbes had been a witness of the savage tenacity of the +Turkish attack and the Russian defence on the hills commanding the +Shipka Pass. Finally, he had shared in the joy of the hard-pressed +defenders at the timely advent of a rifle battalion hastily sent up on +Cossack ponies, and the decisive charge of General Radetzky at the head +of two companies of reserves at a Turkish breastwork in the very crisis +of the fight (Aug. 24). Then, after riding post-haste northwards to the +Russian headquarters at Gornisstuden, he was at once taken to the Czar's +tent, and noted the look of eager suspense on his face until he heard +the reassuring news that Radetzky kept his seat firm on the pass. + +The worst was now over. The Russian Guards, 50,000 strong, were near at +hand, along with the other reinforcements above named. The urgency of +the crisis also led the Grand Duke Nicholas to waive his claim that the +Roumanian troops should be placed under his immediate command. +Accordingly, early in August, Prince Charles led some 35,000 Roumanians +across the Danube, and was charged with the command of all the troops +around Plevna[146]. The hopes of the invaders were raised by Skobeleff's +capture, on September 3, of Lovtcha, a place half-way between Plevna and +the Balkans, which had ensured Osman's communications with Suleiman +Pasha. The Turkish losses at Lovtcha are estimated at nearly +15,000 men[147]. + +[Footnote 146: _Reminiscences of the King of Roumania_, p. 275.] + +[Footnote 147: F.V. Greene, _op. cit._ p. 232.] + +This success having facilitated the attack on Plevna from the south, a +general assault was ordered for September 11. In the meantime Osman also +had received large reinforcements from Sofia, and had greatly +strengthened his defences. So skilfully had outworks been thrown up on +the north-east of Plevna that what looked like an unimportant trench was +found to be a new and formidable redoubt, which foiled the utmost +efforts of the 3rd Roumanian division to struggle up the steep slopes on +that side. To their 4th division and to a Russian brigade fell an +equally hard task, that of advancing from the east against the two +Grivitza redoubts which had defied all assaults. The Turks showed their +usual constancy, despite the heavy and prolonged bombardment which +preluded the attack here and all along the lines. But the weight and +vigour of the onset told by degrees; and the Russian and Roumanian +supports finally carried by storm the more southerly of the two +redoubts. The Turks made desperate efforts to retrieve this loss. From +the northern redoubt and the rear entrenchments somewhat to the south +there came a galling fire which decimated the victors; for a time the +Turks succeeded in recovering the work, but at nightfall the advance of +other Russian and Roumanian troops ousted the Moslems. Thenceforth the +redoubt was held by the allies. + +Meanwhile, to the south of the village of Grivitza the 4th and 9th +Russian Corps had advanced in dense masses against the cluster of +redoubts that crowned the heights south-east of Plevna; but their utmost +efforts were futile; under the fearful fire of the Turks the most solid +lines melted away, and the corps fell back at nightfall, with the loss +of 110 officers and 5200 men. + +Only on the south and south-west did the assailants seriously imperil +Osman's defence at a vital point; and here again Fortune bestowed her +favours on a man who knew how to wrest the utmost from her, Michael +Dimitrievitch Skobeleff. Few men or women could look on his stalwart +figure, frank, bold features, and keen, kindling eyes without a thrill +of admiration. Tales were told by the camp-fires of the daring of his +early exploits in Central Asia; how, after the capture of Khiva in 1874, +he dressed himself in Turkoman garb, and alone explored the route from +that city to Igdy, as well as the old bed of the River Oxus; or again +how, at the capture of Khokand in the following year, his skill and +daring led to the overthrow of a superior force and the seizure of +fifty-eight guns. Thus, at thirty-two years of age he was the darling of +the troops; for his prowess in the field was not more marked than his +care and foresight in the camp. While other generals took little heed of +their men, he saw to their comforts and cheered them by his jokes. They +felt that he was the embodiment of the patriotism, love of romantic +exploit, and soaring ambition of the Great Russians. + +They were right. Already, as will appear in a later chapter, he was +dreaming of the conquest of India; and, like Napoleon, he could not only +see visions but also master details, from the principles of strategy to +the routine of camp life, which made those visions realisable. If +ambition spurred him on towards Delhi, hatred of things Teutonic pointed +him to Berlin. Ill would it have fared with the peace of the world had +this champion of the Slavonic race lived out his life. But his fiery +nature wore out its tenement, the baser passions, so it is said, +contributing to hasten the end of one who lived his true life only +amidst the smoke of battle. In war he was sublime. Having recently came +from Central Asia, he was at first unattached to any corps, and roved +about in search of the fiercest fighting. His insight and skill had +warded off a deadly flank attack on Schahofski's shattered corps at +Plevna on July 30, and his prowess had contributed largely to the +capture of Lovtcha on September 3. War correspondents, who knew their +craft, turned to follow Skobeleff, wherever official reports might +otherwise direct them; and the lust of fighting laid hold of the grey +columns when they saw the "white general" approach. + +On September 11 Prince Imeritinski and Skobeleff (the order should be +inverted) commanded the extreme left of the Russian line, attacking +Plevna from the south. Having four regiments of the line and four +battalions of sharpshooters--about 12,000 men in all--he ranged them at +the foot of the hill, whose summit was crowned by an all-important +redoubt-the "Kavanlik." There were four others that flanked the +approach. When the Russian guns had thoroughly cleared the way for an +assault, he ordered the bands to play and the two leading regiments to +charge up the slope. Keeping his hand firmly on the pulse of the battle, +he saw them begin to waver under the deadly fire of the Turks; at once +he sent up a rival regiment; the new mass carried on the charge until it +too threatened to die away. The fourth regiment struggled up into that +wreath of death, and with the like result. + +[Illustration: Plan of Plevna.] + +Then Skobeleff called on his sharpshooters to drive home the onset. +Riding on horseback before the invigorating lines, he swept on the +stragglers and waverers until all of them came under the full blast of +the Turkish flames vomited from the redoubt. There his sword fell, +shivered in his hand, and his horse rolled over at the very verge of the +fosse. Fierce as ever, the leader sprang to his feet, waved the stump in +air, and uttered a shout which put fresh heart into his men. With him +they swarmed into the fosse, up the bank, and fell on the defenders. The +bayonet did the rest, taking deadly revenge for the murderous volleys. + +But Osman's engineers had provided against such an event. The redoubt +was dominated from the left and could be swept by cross fire from the +rear and right. On the morrow the Turks drew in large forces from the +north side and pressed the victors hard. In vain did Skobeleff send +urgent messages for reinforcements to make good the gaps in his ranks. +None were sent, or indeed could be sent. Five times his men beat off the +foe. The sixth charge hurled them first from the Kavanlik redoubt, and +thereafter from the flanking works and trenches out on to that fatal +slope. A war correspondent saw Skobeleff after this heart-breaking loss, +"his face black with powder and smoke, his eyes haggard and bloodshot, +and his voice quite gone. I never before saw such a picture of +battle[148]." + +[Footnote 148: _War Correspondence of the "Daily News,"_ pp. 479-483. +For another character-sketch of Skobeleff see the _Fortnightly Review_ +of Oct. 1882, by W.K. Rose.] + +Thus all the efforts of the Russians and Roumanians had failed to wrest +more than a single redoubt from the Moslems; and at that point they were +unable to make any advance against the inner works. The fighting of +September 11-12 is believed to have cost the allies 18,000 men killed +and wounded out of the 75,000 infantrymen engaged. The mistakes of July +31 had been again repeated. The number of assailants was too small for +an attack on so great an extent of fortified positions defended with +quick-firing rifles. Had the Russians, while making feints at other +points to hold the Turks there, concentrated their efforts either on the +two Grivitza redoubts, or on those about the Kavanlik work, they would +almost certainly have succeeded. As it was, they hurled troops in close +order against lines, the strength of which was not well known; and none +of their commanders but Skobeleff employed tactics that made the most of +their forces[149]. The depression at the Russian headquarters was now +extreme[150]. On September 13 the Emperor held a council of war at which +the Prince of Roumania, the Grand Duke Nicholas, General Milutin +(Minister of War), and three other generals were present. The Grand Duke +declared that the only prudent course was to retire to the Danube, +construct a _tête de pont_ guarding the southern end of their bridge +and, after receiving reinforcements, again begin the conquest of +Bulgaria. General Milutin, however, demurred to this, seeing that +Osman's army was not mobile enough to press them hard; he therefore +proposed to await the reinforcements in the positions around Plevna. The +Grand Duke thereupon testily exclaimed that Milutin had better be placed +in command, to which the Emperor replied: "No; you shall retain the +command; but the plan suggested by the Minister of War shall be carried +out[151]." + +[Footnote 149: For an account of the battle, see Greene, _op. cit._ pt. +ii. chap. v.] + +[Footnote 150: Gen. von. Lignitz, _Aus drei Kriegen_, p. 167.] + +[Footnote 151: Col. F.A. Wellesley, _op. cit._ p. 281.] + +The Emperor's decision saved the situation. The Turks made no combined +effort to advance towards Plevna in force; and Osman felt too little +trust in the new levies that reached him from Sofia to move into the +open and attack Sistova. Indeed, Turkish strategy over the whole field +of war is open to grave censure. On their side there was a manifest lack +of combination. Mehemet Ali pounded away for a month at the army of the +Czarewitch on the River Lom, and then drew back his forces (September +24). He allowed Suleiman Pasha to fling his troops in vain against the +natural stronghold of the Russians at the Shipka Pass, and had made no +dispositions for succouring Lovtcha. Obviously he should have +concentrated the Turkish forces so as to deal a timely and decisive blow +either on the Lom or on the Sofia-Plevna road. When he proved his +incapacity both as commander-in-chief and as commander of his own force, +Turkish jealousy against the _quondam_ German flared forth; and early in +October he was replaced by Suleiman. The change was greatly for the +worse. Suleiman's pride and obstinacy closed the door against larger +ideas, and it has been confidently stated that at the end of the +campaign he was bribed by the Russians to betray his cause. However that +may be, it is certain that the Turkish generals continued to fight, each +for his own hand, and thus lost the campaign. + +It was now clear that Osman must be starved out from the position which +the skill of his engineers and the steadiness of his riflemen had so +speedily transformed into an impregnable stronghold. Todleben, the +Russian engineer, who had strengthened the outworks of Sevastopol, had +been called up to oppose trench to trench, redoubt to redoubt. Yet so +extensive were the Turkish works, and so active was Shevket Pasha's +force at Sofia in sending help and provisions, that not until October 24 +was the line of investment completed, and by an army which now numbered +fully 120,000 men. By December 10 Osman came to the end of his resources +and strove to break out on the west over the River Wid towards Sofia. +Masking the movement with great skill, he inflicted heavy losses on the +besiegers. Slowly, however, they closed around him, and a last scene of +slaughter ended in the surrender of the 43,000 half-starved survivors, +with the 77 guns that had wrought such havoc among the invaders. Osman's +defence is open to criticism at some points, but it had cost Russia more +than 50,000 lives, and paralysed her efforts in Europe during +five months. + +The operations around Plevna are among the most instructive in modern +warfare, as illustrating the immense power that quick-firing rifles +confer upon the defence. Given a nucleus of well-trained troops, with +skilled engineers, any position of ordinary strength can quickly be +turned into a stronghold that will foil the efforts of a far greater +number of assailants. Experience at Plevna showed that four or five +times as many men were needed to attack redoubts and trenches as in the +days of muzzle-loading muskets. It also proved that infantry fire is far +more deadly in such cases than the best served artillery. And yet a +large part of Osman's troops--perhaps the majority after August--were +not regulars. Doubtless that explains why (with the exception of an +obstinate but unskilful effort to break out on August 31) he did not +attack the Russians in the open after his great victories of July 31 and +September 11-12. On both occasions the Russians were so badly shaken +that, in the opinion of competent judges, they could easily have been +driven in on Nicopolis or Sistova, in which case the bridges at those +places might have been seized. But Osman did not do so, doubtless +because he knew that his force, weak in cavalry and unused to +manoeuvring, would be at a disadvantage in the open. Todleben, however, +was informed on good authority that, when the Turkish commander heard of +the likelihood of the investment of Plevna, he begged the Porte to allow +him to retire; but the assurance of Shevket Pasha, the commander of the +Turkish force at Sofia, that he could keep open communications between +that place and Plevna, decided the authorities at Constantinople to +order the continuance of defensive tactics[152]. + +[Footnote 152: A. Forbes, _Czar and Sultan_, p. 291. On the other hand, +W.V. Herbert (_op. cit._ p. 456) states that it was Osman's wish to +retire to Orkanye, on the road to Sofia, and that this was forbidden. +For remarks on this see Greene, _op. cit._ chap. viii.] + +Whatever may have been the cause of this decision it ruined the Turkish +campaign. Adherence to the defensive spells defeat now, as it has always +done. Defeat comes more slowly now that quick-firing rifles quadruple +the power of the defence; but all the same it must come if the assailant +has enough men to throw on that point and then at other points. Or, to +use technical terms, while modern inventions alter tactics, that is, the +dispositions of troops on the field of battle--a fact which the Russians +seemed to ignore at Plevna--they do not change the fundamental +principles of strategy. These are practically immutable, and they doom +to failure the side that, at the critical points, persists in standing +on the defensive. A study of the events around Plevna shows clearly what +a brave but ill-trained army can do and what it cannot do under modern +conditions. + +From the point of view of strategy--that is, the conduct of the great +operations of a campaign--Osman's defence of Plevna yields lessons of +equal interest. It affords the most brilliant example in modern warfare +of the power of a force strongly intrenched in a favourable position to +"contain," that is, to hold or hold back, a greater force of the enemy. +Other examples are the Austrian defence of Mantua in 1796-97, which +hindered the young Bonaparte's invasion of the Hapsburg States; +Bazaine's defence of Metz in 1870; and Sir George White's defence of +Ladysmith against the Boers. We have no space in which to compare these +cases, in which the conditions varied so greatly. Suffice it to say that +Mantua and Plevna were the most effective instances, largely because +those strongholds lay near the most natural and easy line of advance for +the invaders. Metz and Ladysmith possessed fewer advantages in this +respect; and, considering the strength of the fortress and the size and +quality of his army, Bazaine's conduct at Metz must rank as the weakest +on record; for his 180,000 troops "contained" scarcely more than their +own numbers of Germans. + +On the other hand, Osman's force brought three times its number of +Russians to a halt for five months before hastily constructed lines. In +the opinion of many authorities the Russians did wrong in making the +whole campaign depend on Plevna. When it was clear that Osman would +cling to the defensive, they might with safety have secretly detached +part of the besieging force to help the army of the Czarewitch to drive +back the Turks on Shumla. This would have involved no great risk; for +the Russians occupied the inner lines of what was, roughly speaking, a +triangle, resting on the Shipka Pass, the River Lom, and Plevna as its +extreme points. Having the advantage of the inner position, they could +quickly have moved part of their force at Plevna, battered in the +Turkish defence on the Lom, and probably captured the Slievno passes. In +that case they would have cleared a new line of advance to +Constantinople farther to the east, and made the possession of Plevna of +little worth. Its value always lay in its nearness to their main line of +advance, but they were not tied to that line. It is safe to say that, if +Moltke had directed their operations, he would have devised some better +plan than that of hammering away at the redoubts of Plevna. + +In fact, the Russians made three great blunders: first, in neglecting to +occupy Plevna betimes; second, in underrating Osman's powers of defence; +third, in concentrating all their might on what was a very strong, but +not an essential, point of the campaign. + +The closing scenes of the war are of little interest except in the +domain of diplomacy. Servia having declared war against Turkey +immediately after the fall of Plevna, the Turks were now hopelessly +outnumbered. Gurko forced his way over one of the western passes of the +Balkans, seized Sofia (January 4, 1878), and advancing quickly towards +Philippopolis, utterly routed Suleiman's main force near that town +(January 17). The Turkish commander-in-chief thus paid for his mistake +in seeking to defend a mountain chain with several passes by +distributing his army among those passes. Experience has proved that +this invites disaster at the hands of an enterprising foe, and that the +true policy is to keep light troops or scouts at all points, and the +main forces at a chief central pass and at a convenient place in the +rear, whence the invaders may be readily assailed before they complete +the crossing. As it was, Suleiman saw his main force, still nearly +50,000 strong, scatter over the Rhodope mountains; many of them reached +the Aegean Sea at Enos, whence they were conveyed by ship to the +Dardanelles. He himself was tried by court-martial and imprisoned for +fifteen years[153]. + +[Footnote 153: Sir N. Layard attributed to him the overthrow of Turkey. +See his letter of February 1, 1878, in _Sir W. White: Life and +Correspondence_, p. 127.] A still worse fate befell those of his +troops which hung about Radetzky's front below the Shipka Pass. The +Russians devised skilful moves for capturing this force. On January 5-8 +Prince Mirsky threaded his way with a strong column through the deep +snows of the Travna Pass, about twenty-five miles east of the Shipka, +which he then approached; while Skobeleff struggled through a still more +difficult defile west of the central position. The total strength of the +Russians was 56,000 men. On the 8th, when their cannon were heard +thundering in the rear of the Turkish earthworks at the foot of the +Shipka Pass, Radetzky charged down on the Turkish positions in front, +while Mirsky assailed them from the east. Skobeleff meanwhile had been +detained by the difficulties of the path and the opposition of the Turks +on the west. But on the morrow his onset on the main Turkish positions +carried all before it. On all sides the Turks were worsted and laid down +their arms; 36,000 prisoners and 93 guns (so the Russians claim) were +the prize of this brilliant feat (January 9, 1878)[154]. + +[Footnote 154: Greene, _op. cit._ chap. xi. I have been assured by an +Englishman serving with the Turks that these numbers were greatly +exaggerated.] + +In Roumelia, as in Armenia, there now remained comparatively few Turkish +troops to withstand the Russian advance, and the capture of +Constantinople seemed to be a matter of a few weeks. There are grounds +for thinking that the British Ministry, or certainly its chief, longed +to send troops from Malta to help in its defence. Colonel Wellesley, +British attaché at the Russian headquarters, returned to London at the +time when the news of the crossing of the Balkans reached the Foreign +Office. At once he was summoned to see the Prime Minister, who inquired +eagerly as to the length of time which would elapse before the Russians +occupied Adrianople. The officer thought that that event might occur +within a month--an estimate which proved to be above the mark. Lord +Beaconsfield was deeply concerned to hear this and added, "If you can +only guarantee me six weeks, I see my way." He did not further explain +his meaning; but Colonel Wellesley felt sure that he wished to move +British troops from Malta to Constantinople[155]. Fortunately the +Russian advance to Adrianople was so speedy--their vanguard entered that +city on January 20--as to dispose of any such project. But it would seem +that only the utter collapse of the Turkish defence put an end to the +plans of part at least of the British Cabinet for an armed intervention +on behalf of Turkey. + +[Footnote 155: _With the Russians in Peace and War_, by Colonel F.A. +Wellesley, p. 272.] + +Here, then, as at so many points of their history, the Turks lost their +opportunity, and that, too, through the incapacity and corruption of +their governing class. The war of 1877 ended as so many of their wars +had ended. Thanks to the bravery of their rank and file and the mistakes +of the invaders, they gained tactical successes at some points; but they +failed to win the campaign owing to the inability of their Government to +organise soundly on a great scale, and the intellectual mediocrity of +their commanders in the sphere of strategy. Mr. Layard, who succeeded +Sir Henry Elliot at Constantinople early in 1878, had good reason for +writing, "The utter rottenness of the present system has been fully +revealed by the present war[156]." Whether Suleiman was guilty of +perverse obstinacy, or, as has often been asserted, of taking bribes +from the Russians, cannot be decided. What is certain is that he was +largely responsible for the final _débacle_. + +[Footnote 156: _Sir William White: Life and Correspondence_, p. 128.] + +But in a wider and deeper sense the Turks owed their misfortunes to +themselves--to their customs and their creed. Success in war depends +ultimately on the brain-power of the chief leaders and organisers; and +that source of strength has long ago been dried up in Turkey by adhesion +to a sterilising creed and cramping traditions. The wars of the latter +half of the nineteenth century are of unique interest, not only because +they have built up the great national fabrics of to-day, but also +because they illustrate the truth of that suggestive remark of the great +Napoleon, "The general who does great things is he who also possesses +qualities adapted for civil life." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE BALKAN SETTLEMENT + + New hopes should animate the world; new light + Should dawn from new revealings to a race + Weighed down so long, forgotten so long. + + ROBERT BROWNING, _Paracelsus_. + + +The collapse of the Turkish defence in Roumelia inaugurated a time of +great strain and stress in Anglo-Russian relations. On December 13, +1877, that is, three days after the fall of Plevna, Lord Derby reminded +the Russian Government of its promise of May 30, 1876, that the +acquisition of Constantinople was excluded from the wishes and +intentions of the Emperor Alexander II., and expressed the earnest hope +that the Turkish capital would not be occupied, even for military +purposes. The reply of the Russian Chancellor (December 16) was +reserved. It claimed that Russia must have full right of action, which +is the right of every belligerent, and closed with a request for a +clearer definition of the British interests which would be endangered by +such a step. In his answer of January 13, 1878, the British Foreign +Minister specified the occupation of the Dardanelles as an event that +would endanger the good relations between England and Russia; whereupon +Prince Gortchakoff, on January 16, 1878, gave the assurance that this +step would not be taken unless British forces were landed at Gallipoli, +or Turkish troops were concentrated there. + +So far this was satisfactory; but other signs seemed to betoken a +resolve on the part of Russia to gain time while her troops pressed on +towards Constantinople. The return of the Czar to St. Petersburg after +the fall of Plevna had left more power in the hands of the Grand Duke +Nicholas and of the many generals who longed to revenge themselves for +the disasters in Bulgaria by seizing Constantinople. + +In face of the probability of this event, public opinion in England +underwent a complete change. Russia appeared no longer as the champion +of oppressed Christians, but as an ambitious and grasping Power. Mr. +Gladstone's impassioned appeals for non-intervention lost their effect, +and a warlike feeling began to prevail. The change of feeling was +perfectly natural. Even those who claimed that the war might have been +averted by the adoption of a different policy by the Beaconsfield +Cabinet, had to face the facts of the situation; and these were +extremely grave. + +The alarm increased when it was known that Turkey, on January 3, 1878, +had appealed to the Powers for their mediation, and that Germany had +ostentatiously refused. It seemed probable that Russia, relying on the +support of Germany, would endeavour to force her own terms on the Porte. +Lord Loftus, British Ambassador at St. Petersburg, was therefore charged +to warn the Ministers of the Czar (January 16) that any treaty made +separately between Russia and Turkey, which affected the international +treaties of 1856 and 1871, would not be valid without the consent of all +the signatory Powers. Four days later the Muscovite vanguard entered +Adrianople, and it appeared likely that peace would soon be dictated at +Constantinople without regard to the interests of Great Britain +and Austria. + +Such was the general position when Parliament met at Westminster on +January 17. The Queen's Speech contained the significant phrase that, +should hostilities be unfortunately prolonged, some unexpected +occurrence might render it incumbent to adopt measures of precaution. +Five days later it transpired that the Sultan had sent an appeal to +Queen Victoria for her mediation with a view to arranging an armistice +and the discussion of the preliminaries of peace. In accordance with +this appeal, the Queen telegraphed to the Emperor of Russia in +these terms:-- + + I have received a direct appeal from the Sultan which I + cannot leave without an answer. Knowing that you are + sincerely desirous of peace, I do not hesitate to communicate + this fact to you, in hope that you may accelerate the + negotiations for the conclusion of an armistice which may + lead to an honourable peace. + +This communication was sent with the approval of the Cabinet. The nature +of the reply is not known. Probably it was not encouraging; for on the +next day (January 23) the British Admiralty ordered Admiral Hornby with +the Mediterranean fleet to steam up the Dardanelles to Constantinople. +On the following day this was annulled, and the Admiral was directed not +to proceed beyond Besika Bay[157]. The original order was the cause of +the resignation of Lord Carnarvon. The retirement of Lord Derby was also +announced, but he afterwards withdrew it, probably on condition that the +fleet did not enter the Sea of Marmora. + +[Footnote 157: For the odd mistake in a telegram, which caused the +original order, see _Sir Stafford Northcote, Earl of Iddesleigh_, by +Andrew Lang, vol. ii. pp. 111-112.] + +Light was thus thrown on the dissensions in the Cabinet, and the +vacillations in British policy. Disraeli once said in his whimsical way +that there were six parties in the Ministry. The first party wanted +immediate war with Russia; the second was for war in order to save +Constantinople; the third was for peace at any price; the fourth would +let the Russians take Constantinople and _then_ turn them out; the fifth +wanted to plant the cross on the dome of St. Sofia; "and then there are +the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who desire to +see something done, but don't know exactly what[158]." The coupling of +himself with the amiable Sir Stafford Northcote is a good instance of +Disraelian irony. It is fairly certain that he was for war with Russia; +that Lord Carnarvon constituted the third party, and Lord Derby +the fourth. + +[Footnote 158: _Ibid_. pp. 105-106. For the telegrams between the First +Lord of the Admiralty, W.H. Smith, and Admiral Hornby, see _Life and +Times of W.H. Smith_, by Sir H. Maxwell, vol. i. chap. xi.] + +On the day after the resignation of Lord Carnarvon, the British Cabinet +heard for the first time what were the demands of Russia. They included +the formation of a Greater Bulgaria, "within the limits of the Bulgarian +nationality," practically independent of the Sultan's direct control; +the entire independence of Roumania, Servia, and Montenegro; a +territorial and pecuniary indemnity to Russia for the expenses of the +war; and "an ulterior understanding for safeguarding the rights and +interests of Russia in the Straits." + +The extension of Bulgaria to the shores of the Aegean seemed at that +time a mighty triumph for Russian influence; but it was the last item, +vaguely foreshadowing the extension of Russian influence to the +Dardanelles, that most aroused the alarm of the British Cabinet. Russian +control of those straits would certainly have endangered Britain's +connections with India by way of the Suez Canal, seeing that we then had +no foothold in Egypt. Accordingly, on January 28, the Ministry proposed +to Parliament the voting of an additional sum of £6,000,000 towards +increasing the armaments of the country. At once there arose strong +protests against this proposal, especially from the districts then +suffering from the prolonged depression of trade. The outcry was very +natural; but none the less it can scarcely be justified in view of the +magnitude of the British interests then at stake. Granted that the views +of the Czar were pacific, those of his generals at the seat of war were +very much open to question[159]. The long coveted prize of +Constantinople, or the Dardanelles, was likely to tempt them to +disregard official orders from St. Petersburg, unless they knew that +any imprudent step would bring on a European war. In any case, the vote +of £6,000,000 was a precautionary measure; and it probably had the +effect of giving pause to the enthusiasts at the Russian headquarters. + +[Footnote 159: See the compromising revelations made by an anonymous +Russian writer in the _Revue de Paris_ for July 15, 1897. The authoress, +"O.K.," in her book, _The Friends and Foes of Russia_ (pp. 240-241), +states that only the autocracy could have stayed the Russian advance on +Constantinople. General U.S. Grant told her that if he had had such an +order, he would have put it in his pocket and produced it again when in +Constantinople.] + +The preliminary bases of peace between Russia and Turkey were signed at +Adrianople (Jan. 31) on the terms summarised above, except that the +Czar's Ministers now withdrew the obnoxious clause about the Straits. A +line of demarcation was also agreed on between the hostile forces; it +passed from Derkos, a lake near the Black Sea, to the north of +Constantinople, in a southerly direction by the banks of the Karasou +stream as far as the Sea of Marmora. This gave to the Russians the lines +of Tchekmedje, the chief natural defence of Constantinople, and they +occupied this position on February 6. This fact was reported by Mr. +Layard, Sir Henry Elliot's successor at Constantinople, in alarmist +terms, and it had the effect of stilling the opposition at Westminster +to the vote of credit. Though official assurances of a reassuring kind +came from Prince Gortchakoff at St. Petersburg, the British Ministry on +February 7 ordered a part of the Mediterranean fleet to enter the Sea of +Marmora for the defence of British interests and the protection of +British subjects at Constantinople. The Czar's Government thereupon +declared that if the British fleet steamed up the Bosporus, Russian +troops would enter Constantinople for the protection of the Christian +population. + +This rivalry in philanthropic zeal was not pushed to its logical issue, +war. The British fleet stopped short of the Bosporus, but within sight +of the Russian lines. True, these were pushed eastwards slightly beyond +the limits agreed on with the Turks; but an arrangement was arrived at +between Lord Derby and Prince Gortchakoff (Feb. 19) that the Russians +would not occupy the lines of Bulair close to Constantinople, or the +Peninsula of Gallipoli commanding the Dardanelles, provided that British +forces were not landed in that important strait[160]. So matters rested, +both sides regarding each other with the sullenness of impotent wrath. +As Bismarck said, a war would have been a fight between an elephant +and a whale. + +[Footnote 160: Hertslet, iv. p. 2670.] + +The situation was further complicated by an invasion of Thessaly by the +Greeks (Feb. 3); but they were withdrawn at once on the urgent +remonstrance of the Powers, coupled with a promise that the claims of +Greece would be favourably considered at the general peace[161]. + +[Footnote 161: L. Sergeant, _Greece in the Nineteenth Century_ (1897), +ch. xi.] + +In truth, all the racial hatreds, aspirations, and ambitions that had so +long been pent up in the south-east of Europe now seemed on the point of +bursting forth and overwhelming civilisation in a common ruin. Just as +the earth's volcanic forces now and again threaten to tear their way +through the crust, so now the immemorial feuds of Moslems and +Christians, of Greeks, Servians, Bulgars, Wallachs, and Turks, promised +to desolate the slopes of the Balkans, of Rhodope and the Pindus, and to +spread the lava tide of war over the half of the Continent. The Russians +and Bulgars, swarming over Roumelia, glutted their revenge for past +defeats and massacres by outrages well-nigh as horrible as that of +Batak. At once the fierce Moslems of the Rhodope Mountains rose in +self-defence or for vengeance. And while the Russian eagles perforce +checked their flight within sight of Stamboul, the Greeks and Armenians +of that capital--nay, the very occupants of the foreign +embassies--trembled at sight of the lust of blood that seized on the +vengeful Ottomans. + +Nor was this all. Far away beyond the northern horizon the war cloud +hung heavily over the Carpathians. The statesmen of Vienna, fearing that +the terms of their bargain with Russia were now forgotten in the +intoxication of her triumph, determined to compel the victors to lay +their spoils before the Great Powers. In haste the Austrian and +Hungarian troops took station on the great bastion of the Carpathians, +and began to exert on the military situation the pressure which had been +so fatal to Russia in her Turkish campaign of 1854. + +But though everything betokened war, there were forces that worked +slowly but surely for a pacific settlement. However threatening was the +attitude of Russia, her rulers really desired peace. The war had shown +once again the weakness of that Power for offence. Her strength lies in +her boundless plains, in the devotion of her millions of peasants to the +Czar, and in the patient, stubborn strength which is the outcome of long +centuries of struggle with the yearly tyrant, winter. Her weakness lies +in the selfishness, frivolity, corruption, and narrowness of outlook of +her governing class--in short, in their incapacity for organisation. +Against the steady resisting power of her peasants the great Napoleon +had hurled his legions in vain. That campaign of 1812 exhibited the +strength of Russia for defence. But when, in fallacious trust in that +precedent, she has undertaken great wars far from her base, failure has +nearly always been the result. The pathetic devotion of her peasantry +has not made up for the mental and moral defects of her governing +classes. This fact had fixed itself on every competent observer in 1877. +The Emperor Alexander knew it only too well. Now, early in 1878, it was +fairly certain that his army would succumb under the frontal attacks of +Turks and British, and the onset of the Austrians on their rear. + +Therefore when, on Feb. 4, the Hapsburg State proposed to refer the +terms of peace to a Conference of the Powers at Vienna, the consent of +Russia was almost certain, provided that the prestige of the Czar +remained unimpaired. Three days later the place of meeting was changed +to Berlin, the Conference also becoming a Congress, that is, a meeting +where the chief Ministers of the Powers, not merely their Ambassadors, +would take part. The United Kingdom, France, and Italy at once signified +their assent to this proposal. As for Bismarck, he promised in a speech +to the Reichstag (Feb. 19) that he would act as an "honest broker" +between the parties most nearly concerned. There is little doubt that +Russia took this in a sense favourable to her claims, and she, too, +consented. + +Nevertheless, she sought to tie the hands of the Congress by binding +Turkey to a preliminary treaty signed on March 3 at San Stefano, a +village near to Constantinople. The terms comprised those stated above +(p. 225), but they also stipulated the cession of frontier districts to +Servia and Montenegro, while Russia was to acquire the Roumanian +districts east of the River Pruth, Roumania receiving the Dobrudscha as +an equivalent. Most serious of all was the erection of Bulgaria into an +almost independent Principality, extending nearly as far south as Midia +(on the Black Sea), Adrianople, Salonica, and beyond Ochrida in Albania. +As will be seen by reference to the map (p. 239), this Principality +would then have comprised more than half of the Balkan Peninsula, +besides including districts on the Ægean Sea and around the town of +Monastir, for which the Greeks have never ceased to cherish hopes. A +Russian Commissioner was to supervise the formation of the government +for two years; all the fortresses on the Danube were to be razed, and +none others constructed; Turkish forces were required entirely to +evacuate the Principality, which was to be occupied by Russian troops +for a space of time not exceeding two years. + +On her side, Turkey undertook to grant reforms to the Armenians, and +protect them from Kurds and Circassians, Russia further claimed +1,410,000,000 roubles as war indemnity, but consented to take the +Dobrudscha district (offered to Roumania, as stated above), and in Asia +the territories of Batoum, Kars, Ardahan, and Bayazid, in lieu of +1,100,000,000 roubles. The Porte afterwards declared that it signed this +treaty under persistent pressure from the Grand Duke Nicholas and +General Ignatieff, who again and again declared that otherwise the +Russians would advance on the capital[162]. + +[Footnote 162: For the text of the treaty see Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. +22 (1878); also _The European Concert in the Eastern Question_ by T.E. +Holland, pp. 335-348.] + +At once, from all parts of the Balkan Peninsula, there arose a chorus of +protests against the Treaty of San Stefano. The Mohammedans of the +proposed State of Bulgaria protested against subjection to their former +helots. The Greeks saw in the treaty the death-blow to their hopes of +gaining the northern coasts of the Aegean and a large part of Central +Macedonia. They fulminated against the Bulgarians as ignorant peasants, +whose cause had been taken up recently by Russia for her own +aggrandisement[163]. The Servians were equally indignant. They claimed, +and with justice, that their efforts against the Turks should be +rewarded by an increase of territory which would unite to them their +kinsfolk in Macedonia and part of Bosnia, and place them on an equality +with the upstart State of Bulgaria. Whereas the treaty assigned to these +protégés of Russia districts inhabited solely by Servians, thereby +barring the way to any extension of that Principality. + +[Footnote 163: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 31 (1878), Nos. 6-17, and +enclosures; _L'Hellénisme et la Macédonie_, by N. Kasasis (Paris, 1904); +L. Sergeant, _op. cit._ ch. xii.] + +Still more urgent was the protest of the Roumanian Government. In return +for the priceless services rendered by his troops at Plevna, Prince +Charles and his Ministers were kept in the dark as to the terms arranged +between Russia and Turkey. The Czar sent General Ignatieff to prepare +the Prince for the news, and sought to mollify him by the hint that he +might become also Prince of Bulgaria--a suggestion which was scornfully +waved aside. The Government at Bukharest first learnt the full truth as +to the Bessarabia-Dobrudscha exchange from the columns of the _Journal +du St. Pétersbourg_, which proved that the much-prized Bessarabian +territory was to be bargained away by the Power which had solemnly +undertaken to uphold the integrity of the Principality. The Prince, the +Cabinet, and the people unanimously inveighed against this proposal. On +Feb. 4 the Roumanian Chamber of Deputies declared that Roumania would +defend its territory to the last, by armed force if necessary; but it +soon appeared that none of the Powers took any interest in the matter, +and, thanks to the prudence of Prince Charles, the proud little nation +gradually schooled itself to accept the inevitable[164]. + +[Footnote 164: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 30 (1878); also _Reminiscences +of the King of Roumania_, chs. x. xi.] + +The peace of Europe now turned on the question whether the Treaty of +San Stefano would be submitted as a whole to the Congress of the Powers +at Berlin; England claimed that it must be so submitted. This +contention, in its extreme form, found no support from any of the +Powers, not even from Austria, and it met with firm opposition from +Russia. She, however, assured the Viennese Court that the Congress would +decide which of the San Stefano terms affected the interests of Europe +and would pronounce on them. The Beaconsfield Cabinet later on affirmed +that "every article in the treaty between Russia and Turkey will be +placed before the Congress--not necessarily for acceptance, but in order +that it may be considered what articles require acceptance or +concurrence by the several Powers and what do not[165]." + +[Footnote 165: Lord Derby to Sir H. Elliot, March 13, 1878. Turkey, No. +xxiv. (1878), No 9, p. 5.] + +When this much was conceded, there remained no irreconcilable +difference, unless the treaty contained secret articles which Russia +claimed to keep back from the Congress. As far as we know, there were +none. But the fact is that the dispute, small as it now appears to us, +was intensified by the suspicions and resentment prevalent on both +sides. The final decision of the St. Petersburg Government was couched +in somewhat curt and threatening terms: "It leaves to the other Powers +the liberty of raising such questions at the Congress as they may think +it fit to discuss, and reserves to itself the liberty of accepting, or +not accepting, the discussion of these questions[166]." + +[Footnote 166: _Ibid_. No. 15, p. 7.] + +This haughty reply, received at Downing Street on March 27, again +brought the two States to the verge of war. Lord Beaconsfield, and all +his colleagues but one, determined to make immediate preparations for +the outbreak of hostilities; while Lord Derby, clinging to the belief +that peace would best be preserved by ordinary negotiations, resigned +the portfolio for foreign affairs (March 28); two days later he was +succeeded by the Marquis of Salisbury[167]. On April 1 the Prime +Minister gave notice of motion that the reserves of the army and militia +should be called out; and on the morrow Lord Salisbury published a note +for despatch to foreign courts summarising the grounds of British +opposition to the Treaty of San Stefano, and to Russia's contentions +respecting the Congress. + +[Footnote 167: See p. 243 for Lord Derby's further reason for +resigning.] + +Events took a still more threatening turn fifteen days later, when the +Government ordered eight Indian regiments, along with two batteries of +artillery, to proceed at once to Malta. The measure aroused strong +differences of opinion, some seeing in it a masterly stroke which +revealed the greatness of Britain's resources, while the more nervous of +the Liberal watch-dogs bayed forth their fears that it was the beginning +of a Strafford-like plot for undermining the liberties of England. + +So sharp were the differences of opinion in England, that Russia would +perhaps have disregarded the threats of the Beaconsfield Ministry had +she not been face to face with a hostile Austria. The great aim of the +Czar's government was to win over the Dual Monarchy by offering a share +of the spoils of Turkey. Accordingly, General Ignatieff went on a +mission to the continental courts, especially to that of Vienna, and +there is little doubt that he offered Bosnia to the Hapsburg Power. That +was the least which Francis Joseph and Count Andrassy had the right to +expect, for the secret compact made before the war promised them as +much. In view of the enormous strides contemplated by Russia, they now +asked for certain rights in connection with Servia and Montenegro, and +commercial privileges that would open a way to Salonica[168]. But +Russia's aims, as expressed at San Stefano, clearly were to dominate the +Greater Bulgaria there foreshadowed, which would probably shut out +Austria from political and commercial influence over the regions north +of Salonica. Ignatieff's effort to gain over Austria therefore failed; +and it was doubtless Lord Beaconsfield's confidence in the certainty of +Hapsburg support in case of war that prompted his defiance alike of +Russia and of the Liberal party at home. + +[Footnote 168: Débidour, _Hist. diplomatique de l'Europe_, vol. ii. p. +515.] + +The Czar's Government also was well aware of the peril of arousing a +European war. Nihilism lifted its head threateningly at home; and the +Russian troops before Constantinople were dying like flies in autumn. +The outrages committed by them and the Bulgarians on the Moslems of +Roumelia had, as we have seen, led to a revolt in the district of Mount +Rhodope; and there was talk in some quarters of making a desperate +effort to cut off the invaders from the Danube[169]. The discontent of +the Roumanians might have been worked upon so as still further to +endanger the Russian communications. Probably the knowledge of these +plans and of the warlike preparations of Great Britain induced the +Russian Government to moderate its tone. On April 9 it expressed a wish +that Lord Salisbury would formulate a definite policy. + +[Footnote 169: For these outrages, see Parl. Papers, Turkey (1878), Nos. +42 and 45, with numerous enclosures. The larger plans of the Rhodope +insurgents and their abettors at Constantinople are not fully known. An +Englishman, Sinclair, and some other free-lances were concerned in the +affair. The Rhodope district long retained a kind of independence, see +_Les Événements politiques en Bulgarie_, by A.G. Drandar, Appendix.] + +The new Foreign Minister speedily availed himself of this offer; and the +cause of peace was greatly furthered by secret negotiations which he +carried on with Count Shuvaloff. The Russian ambassador in London had +throughout bent his great abilities to a pacific solution of the +dispute, and, on finding out the real nature of the British objections +to the San Stefano Treaty, he proceeded to St. Petersburg to persuade +the Emperor to accept certain changes. In this he succeeded, and on his +return to London was able to come to an agreement with Lord Salisbury +(May 30), the chief terms of which clearly foreshadowed those finally +adopted at Berlin. + +In effect they were as follows: The Beaconsfield Cabinet strongly +objected to the proposed wide extension of Bulgaria at the expense of +other nationalities, and suggested that the districts south of the +Balkans, which were peopled almost wholly by Bulgarians, should not be +wholly withdrawn from Turkish control, but "should receive a large +measure of administrative self-government . . . with a Christian +governor." To these proposals the Russian Government gave a conditional +assent. Lord Salisbury further claimed that the Sultan should have the +right "to canton troops on the frontiers of southern Bulgaria"; and that +the militia of that province should be commanded by officers appointed +by the Sultan with the consent of Europe. England also undertook to see +that the cause of the Greeks in Thessaly and Epirus received the +attention of all the Powers, in place of the intervention of Russia +alone on their behalf, as specified in the San Stefano Treaty. + +Respecting the cession of Roumanian Bessarabia to Russia, on which the +Emperor Alexander had throughout insisted (see page 205), England +expressed "profound regret" at that demand, but undertook not to dispute +it at the Congress. On his side the Emperor Alexander consented to +restore Bayazid in Asia Minor to the Turks, but insisted on the +retention of Batoum, Kars, and Ardahan. Great Britain acceded to this, +but hinted that the defence of Turkey in Asia would thenceforth rest +especially upon her--a hint to prepare Russia for the Cyprus Convention. + +For at this same time the Beaconsfield Cabinet had been treating +secretly with the Sublime Porte. When Lord Salisbury found out that +Russia would not abate her demands for Batoum, Ardahan, and Kars, he +sought to safeguard British interests in the Levant by acquiring +complete control over the island of Cyprus. His final instructions to +Mr. Layard to that effect were telegraphed on May 30, that is, on the +very day on which peace with Russia was practically assured[170]. The +Porte, unaware of the fact that there was little fear of the renewal of +hostilities, agreed to the secret Cyprus Convention on June 4; while +Russia, knowing little or nothing as to Britain's arrangement with the +Porte, acceded to the final arrangements for the discussion of Turkish +affairs at Berlin. It is not surprising that this manner of doing +business aroused great irritation both at St. Petersburg and +Constantinople. Count Shuvaloff's behaviour at the Berlin Congress when +the news came out proclaimed to the world that he considered himself +tricked by Lord Beaconsfield; while that statesman disdainfully sipped +nectar of delight that rarely comes to the lips even of the gods of +diplomacy. + +[Footnote 170: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 36 (1878). See, too, _ibid_. +No. 43.] + +The terms of the Cyprus Convention were to the effect that, if Russia +retained the three districts in Asia Minor named above, or any of them +(as it was perfectly certain that she would); or if she sought to take +possession of any further Turkish territory in Asia Minor, Great Britain +would help the Sultan by force of arms. He, on his side assigned to +Great Britain the island of Cyprus, to be occupied and administered by +her. He further promised "to introduce necessary reforms, to be agreed +upon later between the two Powers, into the government, and for the +protection of the Christian and other subjects of the Porte in these +territories." On July I Britain also covenanted to pay to the Porte the +surplus of revenue over expenditure in Cyprus, calculated upon the +average of the last five years, and to restore Cyprus to Turkey if +Russia gave up Kars and her other acquisitions[171]. + +[Footnote 171: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 36 (1878); Hertslet, vol. iv. +pp. 2722-2725; Holland, _op. cit._, pp. 354-356.] + +Fortified by the secret understanding with Russia, and by the equally +secret compact with Turkey, the British Government could enter the +Congress of the Powers at Berlin with complete equanimity. It is true +that news as to the agreement with Russia came out in a London newspaper +which at once published a general description of the Anglo-Russian +agreement of May 30; and when the correctness of the news was stoutly +denied by Ministers, the original deed was given to the world by the +same newspaper on June 14; but again vigorous disclaimers and denials +were given from the ministerial bench in Parliament[172]. Thus, when +Lords Beaconsfield and Salisbury proceeded to Berlin for the opening of +the Congress (June 13), they were believed to hold the destinies of the +British Empire in their hands, and the world waited with bated breath +for the scraps of news that came from that centre of diplomacy. + +[Footnote 172: Mr. Charles Marvin, a clerk in the Foreign Office, was +charged with this offence, but the prosecution failed (July 16) owing to +lack of sufficient evidence.] + +On various details there arose sharp differences which the tactful +humour of the German Chancellor could scarcely set at rest. The fate of +nations seemed to waver in the balance when Prince Gortchakoff gathered +up his maps and threatened to hurry from the room, or when Lord +Beaconsfield gave pressing orders for a special train to take him back +to Calais; but there seemed good grounds for regarding these incidents +rather as illustrative of character, or of the electioneering needs of a +sensational age, than as throes in the birth of nationalities. The +"Peace with honour," which the Prime Minister on his return announced at +Charing Cross to an admiring crowd, had virtually been secured at +Downing Street before the end of May respecting all the great points in +dispute between England and Russia. + +We know little about the inner history of the Congress of Berlin, which +is very different from the official Protocols that half reveal and half +conceal its debates. One fact and one incident claim attention as +serving to throw curious sidelights on policy and character +respectively. The Emperor William had been shot at and severely wounded +by a socialist fanatic, Dr. Nobiling, on June 2, 1878, and during the +whole time of the Congress the Crown Prince Frederick acted as regent of +the Empire. Limited as his powers were by law, etiquette, and Bismarck, +he is said to have used them on behalf of Austria and England. The old +Emperor thought so; for in a moment of confiding indiscretion he hinted +to the Princess Radziwill (a Russian by birth) that Russian interests +would have fared better at Berlin had he then been steering the ship of +State[173]. Possibly this explains why Bismarck always maintained that +he had done what he could for his Eastern neighbour, and that he really +deserved a Russian decoration for his services during the Congress. + +[Footnote 173: Princess Radziwill, _My Recollections_ (Eng. ed. 1900), +p. 91.] + +The incident, which flashes a search-light into character and discloses +the _recherché_ joys of statecraft, is also described in the sprightly +Memoirs of Princess Radziwill. She was present at a brilliant reception +held on the evening of the day when the Cyprus Convention had come to +light. Diplomatists and generals were buzzing eagerly and angrily when +the Earl of Beaconsfield appeared. A slight hush came over the wasp-like +clusters as he made his way among them, noting everything with his +restless, inscrutable eyes. At last he came near the Princess, once a +bitter enemy, but now captivated and captured by his powers of polite +irony. "What are you thinking of," she asked. "I am not thinking at +all," he replied, "I am enjoying myself[174]." After that one can +understand why Jew-baiting became a favourite sport in Russia throughout +the next two decades. + +[Footnote 174: _Ibid_. p. 149.] + +We turn now to note the terms of the Treaty of Berlin (July 13, +1878)[175]. The importance of this compact will be seen if its +provisions are compared with those of the Treaty of San Stefano, which +it replaced. Instead of the greater Bulgaria subjected for two years to +Russian control, the Congress ordained that Bulgaria proper should not +extend beyond the main chain of the Balkans, thus reducing its extent +from 163,000 square kilometres to 64,000, and its population from four +millions to a million and a half. The period of military occupation and +supervision of the new administration by Russia was reduced to nine +months. At the end of that time, and on the completion of the "organic +law," a Prince was to be elected "freely" by the population of the +Principality. The new State remained under the suzerainty of Turkey, the +Sultan confirming the election of the new Prince of Bulgaria, "with the +assent of the Powers." + +[Footnote 175: For the Protocols, see Parl. Papers, Turkey (1878), No. +39. For the Treaty see _ibid_. No. 44; also _The European Concert in the +Eastern Question_, by T.E. Holland, pp. 277-307.] + +Another important departure from the San Stefano terms was the creation +of the Province of Eastern Roumelia, with boundaries shown in the +accompanying map. While having a Christian governor, and enjoying the +rights of local self-government, it was to remain under "the direct +political and military authority of the Sultan, under conditions of +administrative autonomy." The Sultan retained the right of keeping +garrisons there, though a local militia was to preserve internal order. +As will be shown in the next chapter, this anomalous state of things +passed away in 1885, when the province threw off Turkish control and +joined Bulgaria. + +The other Christian States of the Balkans underwent changes of the +highest importance. Montenegro lost half of her expected gains, but +secured access to the sea at Antivari. The acquisitions of Servia were +now effected at the expense of Bulgaria. These decisions were greatly in +favour of Austria. To that Power the occupation of Bosnia and +Herzegovina was now entrusted for an indefinite period in the interest +of the peace of Europe, and she proceeded forthwith to drive a wedge +between the Serbs of Servia and Montenegro. It is needless to say that, +in spite of the armed opposition of the Mohammedan people of those +provinces--which led to severe fighting in July to September of that +year--Austria's occupation has been permanent, though nominally they +still form part of the Turkish Empire. + +[Illustration: MAP OF THE TREATIES OF BERLIN AND SAN STEFANO.] + +Roumania and Servia gained complete independence and ceased to pay +tribute to the Sultan, but both States complained of the lack of support +accorded to them by Russia, considering the magnitude of their efforts +for the Slavonic cause. Roumania certainly fared very badly at the hands +of the Power for which it had done yeoman service in the war. The +pride of the Roumanian people brooked no thought of accepting the +Dobrudscha, a district in great part marshy and thinly populated, as an +exchange for a fertile district peopled by their kith and kin. They let +the world know that Russia appropriated their Bessarabian district by +force, and that they accepted the Dobrudscha as a war indemnity. By dint +of pressure exerted at the Congress their envoys secured a southern +extension of its borders at the expense of Bulgaria, a proceeding which +aroused the resentment of Russia. + +The conduct of the Czar's Government in this whole matter was most +impolitic. It embittered the relations between the two States and drove +the Government of Prince Charles to rely on Austria and the Triple +Alliance. That is to say, Russia herself closed the door which had been +so readily opened for her into the heart of the Sultan's dominions in +1828, 1854, and 1877[176]. We may here remark that, on the motion of the +French plenipotentiaries at the Congress, that body insisted that Jews +must be admitted to the franchise in Roumania. This behest of the Powers +aroused violent opposition in that State, but was finally, though by no +means fully, carried out. + +[Footnote 176: Frederick, Crown Prince of Germany, expressed the general +opinion in a letter written to Prince Charles after the Berlin Congress: +"Russia's conduct, after the manful service you did for that colossal +Empire, meets with censure on all sides." (_Reminiscences of the King of +Roumania_, p. 325).] + +Another Christian State of the Peninsula received scant consideration at +the Congress. Greece, as we have seen, had recalled her troops from +Thessaly on the understanding that her claims should be duly considered +at the general peace. She now pressed those claims; but, apart from +initial encouragement given by Lord Salisbury, she received little or no +support. On the motion of the French plenipotentiary, M. Waddington, her +desire to control the northern shores of the Aegean and the island of +Crete was speedily set aside; but he sought to win for her practically +the whole of Thessaly and Epirus. This, however, was firmly opposed by +Lord Beaconsfield, who objected to the cession to her of the southern +and purely Greek districts of Thessaly and Epirus. He protested against +the notion that the plenipotentiaries had come to Berlin in order to +partition "a worn-out State" (Turkey). They were there to "strengthen an +ancient Empire--essential to the maintenance of peace." + +"As for Greece," he said, "States, like individuals, which have a future +are in a position to be able to wait." True, he ended by expressing "the +hope and even the conviction" that the Sultan would accept an equitable +solution of the question of the Thessalian frontier; but the Congress +acted on the other sage dictum and proceeded to subject the Hellenes to +the educative influences of hope deferred. Protocol 13 had recorded the +opinion of the Powers that the northern frontier of Greece should follow +the courses of the Rivers Salammaria and Kalamas; but they finally +decided to offer their mediation to the disputants only in case no +agreement could be framed. The Sublime Porte, as we shall see, improved +on the procrastinating methods of the Nestors of European +diplomacy[177]. + +[Footnote 177: See Mr. L. Sergeant's _Greece in the Nineteenth Century_ +(1897), ch. xii., for the speeches of the Greek envoys at the Congress; +also that of Sir Charles Dilke in the House of Commons in the debate of +July 29-August 2, 1878, as to England's desertion of the Greek cause +after the ninth session (June 29) of the Berlin Congress.] + +As regards matters that directly concerned Turkey and Russia, we may +note that the latter finally agreed to forego the acquisition of the +Bayazid district and the lands adjoining the caravan route from the +Shah's dominions to Erzeroum. The Czar's Government also promised that +Batoum should be a free port, and left unchanged the regulations +respecting the navigation of the Dardanelles and Bosporus. By a +subsequent treaty with Turkey of February 1879 the Porte agreed to pay +to Russia a war indemnity of about £32,000,000. + +More important from our standpoint are the clauses relating to the good +government of the Christians of Turkey. By article 61 of the Treaty of +Berlin the Porte bound itself to carry out "the improvements and +reforms demanded by local requirements in the provinces inhabited by the +Armenians, and to guarantee their security against the Circassians and +Kurds." It even added the promise "periodically" to "make known the +steps taken to this effect to the Powers who will superintend their +application." In the next article Turkey promised to "maintain" the +principle of religious liberty and to give it the widest application. +Differences of religion were to be no bar to employment in any public +capacity, and all persons were to "be admitted, without distinction of +religion, to give evidence before the tribunals." + +Such was the Treaty of Berlin (July 13, 1878). Viewed in its broad +outlines, it aimed at piecing together again the Turkish districts which +had been severed at San Stefano; the Bulgars and Serbs who there gained +the hope of effecting a real union of those races were now sundered once +more, the former in three divisions; while the Serbs of Servia, Bosnia, +and Montenegro were wedged apart by the intrusion of the Hapsburg Power. +Yet, imperfect though it was in several points, that treaty promised +substantial gains for the Christians of Turkey. The collapse of the +Sultan's power had been so complete, so notorious, that few persons +believed he would ever dare to disregard the mandate of the Great Powers +and his own solemn promises stated above. But no one could then foresee +the exhibition of weakness and cynicism in the policy of those Powers +towards Turkey, which disgraced the polity of Europe in the last decades +of the century. The causes that brought about that state of mental +torpor in the face of hideous massacres, and of moral weakness displayed +by sovereigns and statesmen in the midst of their millions of armed men, +will be to some extent set forth in the following chapters. + +As regards the welfare of the Christians in Asia Minor, the Treaty of +Berlin assigned equal responsibilities to all the signatory Powers. But +the British Government had already laid itself under a special charge on +their behalf by the terms of the Cyprus Convention quoted above. Five +days before that treaty was signed the world heard with a gasp of +surprise that England had become practically mistress of Cyprus and +assumed some measure of responsibility for the good government of the +Christians of Asiatic Turkey. No limit of time was assigned for the +duration of the Convention, and apparently it still holds good so far as +relates to the material advantages accruing from the possession of +that island. + +It is needless to say that the Cypriotes have benefited greatly by the +British administration; the value of the imports and exports nearly +doubled between 1878 and 1888. But this fact does not and cannot dispose +of the larger questions opened up as to the methods of acquisition and +of the moral responsibilities which it entailed. These at once aroused +sharp differences of opinion. Admiration at the skill and daring which +had gained for Britain a point of vantage in the Levant and set back +Russia's prestige in that quarter was chequered by protests against the +methods of secrecy, sensationalism, and self-seeking that latterly had +characterised British diplomacy. + +One more surprise was still forthcoming. Lord Derby, speaking in the +House of Lords on July 18, gave point to these protests by divulging a +State secret of no small importance, namely, that one of the causes of +his retirement at the end of March was a secret proposal of the Ministry +to send an expedition from India to seize Cyprus and one of the Syrian +ports with a view to operations against Russia, and that, too, with _or +without_ the consent of the Sultan. Whether the Cabinet arrived at +anything like a decision in this question is very doubtful. Lord +Salisbury stoutly denied the correctness of his predecessor's statement. +The papers of Sir Stafford Northcote also show that the scheme at that +time came up for discussion, but was "laid aside[178]." Lord Derby, +however, stated that he had kept private notes of the discussion; and it +is improbable that he would have resigned on a question that was merely +mooted and entirely dismissed. The mystery in which the deliberations +of the Cabinet are involved, and very rightly involved, broods over this +as over so many topics in which Lord Beaconsfield was concerned. + +[Footnote 178: _Sir Stafford Northcote_, vol. ii. p. 108.] + +On another and far weightier point no difference of opinion is possible. +Viewed by the light of the Cyprus Convention, Britain's responsibility +for assuring a minimum of good government for the Christians of Asiatic +Turkey is undeniable. Unfortunately it admits of no denial that the +duties which that responsibility involves have not been discharged. The +story of the misgovernment and massacre of the Armenian Christians is +one that will ever redound to the disgrace of all the signatories of the +Treaty of Berlin; it is doubly disgraceful to the Power which framed the +Cyprus Convention. + +A praiseworthy effort was made by the Beaconsfield Government to +strengthen British influence and the cause of reform by sending a +considerable number of well-educated men as Consuls to Asia Minor, under +the supervision of the Consul-General, Sir Charles Wilson. In the first +two years they effected much good, securing the dismissal of several of +the worst Turkish officials, and implanting hope in the oppressed Greeks +and Armenians. Had they been well supported from London, they might have +wrought a permanent change. Such, at least, is the belief of Professor +Ramsay after several years' experience in Asia Minor. + +Unfortunately, the Gladstone Government, which came into power in the +spring of 1880, desired to limit its responsibilities on all sides, +especially in the Levant. The British Consuls ceased to be supported, +and after the arrival of Mr. (now Lord) Goschen at Constantinople in May +1880, as Ambassador Extraordinary, British influence began to suffer a +decline everywhere through Turkey, partly owing to the events soon to be +described. The outbreak of war in Egypt in 1882 was made a pretext by +the British Government for the transference of the Consuls to Egypt; and +thereafter matters in Asia Minor slid back into the old ruts. The +progress of the Greeks and Armenians, the traders of that land, suffered +a check; and the remarkable Moslem revival which the Sultan inaugurated +in that year (the year 1300 of the Mohammedan calendar) gradually led up +to the troubles and massacres which culminated in the years 1896 and +1897. We may finally note that when the Gladstone Ministry left the +field open in Asia Minor, the German Government promptly took +possession; and since 1883 the influence of Berlin has more and more +penetrated into the Sultan's lands in Europe and Asia[179]. + +[Footnote 179: See _Impressions of Turkey_, by Professor W.M. Ramsay +(1897), chap. vi.] + +The collapse of British influence at Constantinople was hastened on by +the efforts made by the Cabinet of London, after Mr. Gladstone's +accession to office, on behalf of Greece. It soon appeared that Abdul +Hamid and his Ministers would pay no heed to the recommendations of the +Great Powers on this head, for on July 20, 1878, they informed Sir Henry +Layard of their "final" decision that no Thessalian districts would be +given up to Greece. Owing to pressure exerted by the Dufaure-Waddington +Ministry in France, the Powers decided that a European Commission should +be appointed to consider the whole question. To this the Beaconsfield +Government gave a not very willing assent. + +The Porte bettered the example. It took care to name as the first place +of meeting of the Commissioners a village to the north of the Gulf of +Arta which was not discoverable on any map. When at last this mistake +was rectified, and the Greek envoys on two occasions sought to steam +into the gulf, they were fired on from the Turkish forts. After these +amenities, the Commission finally met at Prevesa, only to have its +report shelved by the Porte (January-March 1879). Next, in answer to a +French demand for European intervention, the Turks opposed various +devices taken from the inexhaustible stock of oriental subterfuges. So +the time wore on until, in the spring of 1880, the fall of the +Beaconsfield Ministry brought about a new political situation. + +The new Prime Minister, Mr. Gladstone, was known as the statesman who +had given the Ionian Isles to Greece, and who advocated the expulsion +of the Turks, "bag and baggage," from Europe. At once the despatches +from Downing Street took on a different complexion, and the substitution +of Mr. Goschen for Sir Henry Layard at Constantinople enabled the Porte +to hear the voice of the British people, undimmed by official checks. A +Conference of the Powers met at Berlin to discuss the carrying out of +their recommendations on the Greek Question, and of the terms of the +late treaty respecting Montenegro. + +On this latter affair the Powers finally found it needful to make a +joint naval demonstration against the troops of the Albanian League who +sought to prevent the handing over of the seaport of Dulcigno to +Montenegro, as prescribed by the Treaty of Berlin. But, as happened +during the Concert of the Powers in the spring of 1876, a single +discordant note sufficed to impair the effect of the collective voice. +Then it was England which refused to employ any coercive measures; now +it was Austria and Germany, and finally (after the resignation of the +Waddington Ministry) France. When the Sultan heard of this discord in +the European Concert, his Moslem scruples resumed their wonted sway, and +the Albanians persisted in defying Europe. + +The warships of the Powers might have continued to threaten the Albanian +coast with unshotted cannon to this day, had not the Gladstone Cabinet +proposed drastic means for bringing the Sultan to reason. The plan was +that the united fleet should steam straightway to Smyrna and land +marines for the sequestration of the customs' dues of that important +trading centre. Here again the Powers were not of one mind. The three +dissentients again hung back; but they so far concealed their refusal, +or reluctance, as to leave on Abdul Hamid's mind the impression that a +united Christendom was about to seize Smyrna[180]. This was enough. He +could now (October 10, 1880) bow his head resignedly before superior +force without sinning against the Moslem's unwritten but inviolable +creed of never giving way before Christians save under absolute +necessity. At once he ordered his troops to carry out the behests of the +Powers; and after some fighting, Dervish Pasha drove the Albanians out +of Dulcigno, and surrendered it to the Montenegrins (Nov.-Dec. 1880). +Such is the official account; but, seeing that the Porte knows how to +turn to account the fanaticism and turbulence of the Albanians[181], it +may be that their resistance all along was but a device of that +resourceful Government to thwart the will of Europe. + +[Footnote 180: _Life of Gladstone_, by J. Morley, vol. iii. p. 9.] + +[Footnote 181: See _Turkey in Europe_, by "Odysseus," p. 434.] + +The same threat as to the seizure of the Turkish customs-house at Smyrna +sufficed to help on the solution of the Greek Question. The delays and +insults of the Turks had driven the Greeks to desperation, and only the +urgent remonstrances of the Powers availed to hold back the Cabinet of +Athens from a declaration of war. This danger by degrees passed away; +but, as usually happens where passions are excited on both sides, every +compromise pressed on the litigants by the arbiters presented great +difficulty. The Congress of Berlin had recommended the extension of +Greek rule over the purely Hellenic districts of Thessaly, assigning as +the new boundaries the course of the Rivers Salammaria and Kalamas, the +latter of which flows into the sea opposite the Island of Corfu. + +Another Conference of the Powers (it was the third) met to decide the +details of that proposal; but owing to the change of Government in +France, along with other causes, the whole question proved to be very +intricate. In the end, the Powers induced the Sultan to sign the +Convention of May 24, 1881, whereby the course of the River Arta was +substituted for that of the Kalamas. + +As a set-off to this proposal, which involved the loss of Jannina and +Prevesa for Greece, they awarded to the Hellenes some districts north of +the Salammaria which helped partially to screen the town of Larissa from +the danger of Turkish inroads[182]. To this arrangement Moslems and +Christians sullenly assented. On the whole the Greeks gained 13,200 +square kilometres in territory and about 150,000 inhabitants, but their +failure to gain several Hellenic districts of Epirus rankled deep in the +popular consciousness and prepared the way for the events of 1885 +and 1897. + +[Footnote 182: _The European Concert in the Eastern Question_, by T.E. +Holland, pp. 60-69.] + +These later developments can receive here only the briefest reference. +In the former year, when the two Bulgarias framed their union, the +Greeks threatened Turkey with war, but were speedily brought to another +frame of mind by a "pacific" blockade by the Powers. Embittered by this +treatment, the Hellenes sought to push on their cause in Macedonia and +Crete through a powerful Society, the "Ethnike Hetairia." The chronic +discontent of the Cretans at Turkish misrule and the outrages of the +Moslem troops led to grave complications in 1897. At the beginning of +that year the Powers intervened with a proposal for the appointment of a +foreign gendarmerie (January 1897). In order to defeat this plan the +Sultan stirred up Moslem fanaticism in the island, until the resulting +atrocities brought Greece into the field both in Thessaly and Crete. +During the ensuing strifes in Crete the Powers demeaned themselves by +siding against the Christian insurgents, and some Greek troops sent from +Athens to their aid. Few events in our age have caused a more painful +sensation than the bombardment of Cretan villages by British and French +warships. The Powers also proclaimed a "pacific" blockade of Crete +(March-May 1897). The inner reasons that prompted these actions are not +fully known. It may safely be said that they will need far fuller +justification than that which was given in the explanations of Ministers +at Westminster. + +Meanwhile the passionate resentment felt by the Greeks had dragged the +Government of King George into war with Turkey (April 18, 1897). The +little kingdom was speedily overpowered by Turks and Albanians; and +despite the recall of their troops from Crete, the Hellenes were unable +to hold Phersala and other positions in the middle of Thessaly. The +Powers, however, intervened on May 12, and proceeded to pare down the +exorbitant terms of the Porte, allowing it to gain only small strips in +the north of Thessaly, as a "strategic rectification" of the frontier. +The Turkish demand of £T10,000,000 was reduced to T4,000,000 +(September 18). + +[Illustration: MAP OF THESSALY.] + +This successful war against Greece raised the prestige of Turkey and +added fuel to the flames of Mohammedan bigotry. These, as we have seen, +had been assiduously fanned by Abdul Hamid II. ever since the year 1882, +when a Pan-Islam movement began. The results of this revival were +far-reaching, being felt even among the hill tribes on the Afghan-Punjab +border (see Chapter XIV.). Throughout the Ottoman Empire the Mohammedans +began to assert their superiority over Christians; and, as Professor +Ramsay has observed, "the means whereby Turkish power is restored is +always the same--massacre[183]." + +[Footnote 183: _Impressions of Turkey_, by W.M. Ramsay, p. 139.] + +It would be premature to inquire which of the European Powers must be +held chiefly responsible for the toleration of the hideous massacres of +the Armenians in 1896-97, and the atrocious misgovernment of Macedonia, +by the Turks. All the Great Powers who signed the Berlin Treaty are +guilty; and, as has been stated above, the State which framed the Cyprus +Convention is doubly guilty, so far as concerns the events in Armenia. A +grave share of responsibility also rests with those who succeeded in +handing back a large part of Macedonia to the Turks. But the writer who +in the future undertakes to tell the story of the decline of European +morality at the close of the nineteenth century, and the growth of +cynicism and selfishness, will probably pass still severer censures on +the Emperors of Germany and Russia, who, with the unequalled influence +which they wielded over the Porte, might have intervened with effect to +screen their co-religionists from unutterable wrongs, and yet, as far as +is known, raised not a finger on their behalf. The Treaty of Berlin, +which might have inaugurated an era of good government throughout the +whole of Turkey if the Powers had been true to their trust, will be +cited as damning evidence in the account of the greatest betrayal of a +trust which Modern History records. + + * * * * * + +NOTE.--For the efforts made by the British Government on behalf of the +Armenians, the reader should consult the last chapter of Mr. James +Bryce's book, _Transcaucasia and Mount Ararat_ (new edition, 1896). +Further information may be expected in the _Life of Earl Granville_, +soon to appear, from the pen of Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE MAKING OF BULGARIA + + "If you can help to build up these peoples into a bulwark of + independent States and thus screen the 'sick man' from the + fury of the northern blast, for God's sake do it."--SIR R. + MORIER to SIR W. WHITE, _December 27, 1885_. + + +The failure which attended the forward Hellenic movement during the +years 1896-97 stands in sharp relief with the fortunes of the +Bulgarians. To the rise of this youngest, and not the least promising, +of European States, we must devote a whole chapter; for during a decade +the future of the Balkan Peninsula and the policy of the Great Powers +turned very largely on the emancipation of this interesting race from +the effective control of the Sultan and the Czar. + +The rise of this enigmatical people affords a striking example of the +power of national feeling to uplift the downtrodden. Until the year +1876, the very name Bulgarian was scarcely known except as a +geographical term. Kinglake, in his charming work, _Eothen_, does not +mention the Bulgarians, though he travelled on horseback from Belgrade +to Sofia and thence to Adrianople. And yet in 1828, the conquering march +of the Russians to Adrianople had awakened that people to a passing +thrill of national consciousness. Other travellers,--for instance, +Cyprien Robert in the "thirties,"--noted their sturdy patience in toil, +their slowness to act, but their great perseverance and will-power, when +the resolve was formed. + +These qualities may perhaps be ascribed to their Tatar (Tartar) origin. +Ethnically, they are closely akin to the Magyars and Turks, but, having +been long settled on the banks of the Volga (hence their name, Bulgarian += Volgarian), they adopted the speech and religion of the Slavs. They +have lived this new life for about a thousand years[184]; and in this +time have been completely changed. Though their flat lips and noses +bespeak an Asiatic origin, they are practically Slavs, save that their +temperament is less nervous, and their persistence greater than that of +their co-religionists[185]. Their determined adhesion to Slav ideals and +rejection of Turkish ways should serve as a reminder to anthropologists +that peoples are not mainly to be judged and divided off by +craniological peculiarities. Measurement of skulls may tell us something +concerning the basal characteristics of tribes: it leaves untouched the +boundless fund of beliefs, thoughts, aspirations, and customs which +mould the lives of nations. The peoples of to-day are what their creeds, +customs, and hopes have made them; as regards their political life, they +have little more likeness to their tribal forefathers than the average +man has to the chimpanzee. + +[Footnote 184: _The Peasant State: Bulgaria in 1894_, by E. Dicey, C.B. +(1904), p. 11.] + +[Footnote 185: _Turkey in Europe_, by "Odysseus," pp. 28, 356, 367.] + +The first outstanding event in the recent rise of the Bulgarian race was +the acquisition of spiritual independence in 1869-70. Hitherto they, in +common with nearly all the Slavs, had belonged to the Greek Church, and +had recognised the supremacy of its Patriarch at Constantinople, but, as +the national idea progressed, the Bulgarians sought to have their own +Church. It was in vain that the Greeks protested against this schismatic +attempt. The Western Powers and Russia favoured it; the Porte also was +not loth to see the Christians further divided. Early in the year 1870, +the Bulgarian Church came into existence, with an Exarch of its own at +Constantinople who has survived the numerous attempts of the Greeks to +ban him as a schismatic from the "Universal Church." The Bulgarians +therefore took rank with the other peoples of the Peninsula as a +religious entity., the Roumanian and Servian Churches having been +constituted early in the century. In fact, the Porte recognises the +Bulgarians, even in Macedonia, as an independent religious community, a +right which it does not accord to the Servians; the latter, in +Macedonia, are counted only as "Greeks[186]." + +[Footnote 186: _Turkey in Europe_, by "Odysseus," pp. 280-283, 297; _The +Peasant State_, by E. Dicey, pp. 75-77.] + +The Treaty of San Stefano promised to make the Bulgarians the +predominant race of the Balkan Peninsula for the benefit of Russia; but, +as we have seen, the efforts of Great Britain and Austria, backed by the +jealousies of Greeks and Servians, led to a radical change in those +arrangements. The Treaty of Berlin divided that people into three +unequal parts. The larger mass, dwelling in Bulgaria Proper, gained +entire independence of the Sultan, save in the matter of suzerainty; the +Bulgarians on the southern slopes of the Balkans acquired autonomy only +in local affairs, and remained under the control of the Porte in +military affairs and in matters of high policy; while the Bulgarians who +dwelt in Macedonia, about 1,120,000 in number, were led to hope +something from articles 61 and 62 of the Treaty of Berlin, but remained +otherwise at the mercy of the Sultan[187]. + +[Footnote 187: Récius, Kiepert, Ritter, and other geographers and +ethnologists, admit that the majority in Macedonia is Bulgarian.] + +This unsatisfactory state of things promised to range the Principality +of Bulgaria entirely on the side of Russia, and at the outset the hope +of all Bulgarians was for a close friendship with the great Power that +had effected their liberation. These sentiments, however, speedily +cooled. The officers appointed by the Czar to organise the Principality +carried out their task in a high-handed way that soon irritated the +newly enfranchised people. Gratitude is a feeling that soon vanishes, +especially in political life. There, far more than in private life, it +is a great mistake for the party that has conferred a boon to remind +the recipient of what he owes, especially if that recipient be young and +aspiring. Yet that was the mistake committed everywhere throughout +Bulgaria. The army, the public service--everything--was modelled on +Russian lines during the time of the occupation, until the overbearing +ways of the officials succeeded in dulling the memory of the services +rendered in the war. The fact of the liberation was forgotten amidst the +irritation aroused by the constant reminders of it. + +The Russians succeeded in alienating even the young German prince who +came, with the full favour of the Czar Alexander II., to take up the +reins of Government. A scion of the House of Hesse Darmstadt by a +morganatic marriage, Prince Alexander of Battenberg had been sounded by +the Russian authorities, with a view to his acceptance of the Bulgarian +crown. By the vote of the Bulgarian Chamber, it was offered to him on +April 29, 1879. He accepted it, knowing full well that it would be a +thorny honour for a youth of twenty-two years of age. His tall +commanding frame, handsome features, ability and prowess as a soldier, +and, above all, his winsome address, seemed to mark him out as a natural +leader of men; and he received a warm welcome from the Bulgarians in the +month of July. + +His difficulties began at once. The chief Russian administrator, +Dondukoff Korsakoff, had thrust his countrymen into all the important +and lucrative posts, thereby leaving out in the cold the many +Bulgarians, who, after working hard for the liberation of their land, +now saw it transferred from the slovenly overlordship of the Turk to the +masterful grip of the Muscovite. The Principality heaved with +discontent, and these feelings finally communicated themselves to the +sympathetic nature of the Prince. But duty and policy alike forbade him +casting off the Russian influence. No position could be more trying for +a young man of chivalrous and ambitious nature, endowed with a strain of +sensitiveness which he probably derived from his Polish mother. He early +set forth his feelings in a private letter to Prince Charles of +Roumania:-- + +Devoted with my whole heart to the Czar Alexander, I am anxious to do +nothing that can be called anti-Russian. Unfortunately the Russian +officials have acted with the utmost want of tact; confusion prevails in +every office, and peculation, thanks to Dondukoff's decrees, is all but +sanctioned. I am daily confronted with the painful alternative of having +to decide either to assent to the Russian demands or to be accused in +Russia of ingratitude and of "injuring the most sacred feelings of the +Bulgarians." My position is truly terrible. + +The friction with Russia increased with time. Early in the year 1880, +Prince Alexander determined to go to St. Petersburg to appeal to the +Czar in the hope of allaying the violence of the Panslavonic intriguers. +Matters improved for a time, but only because the Prince accepted the +guidance of the Czar. Thereafter he retained most of his pro-Russian +Ministers, even though the second Legislative Assembly, elected in the +spring of that year, was strongly Liberal and anti-Russian. In April +1881 he acted on the advice of one of his Ministers, a Russian general +named Ehrenroth, and carried matters with a high hand: he dissolved the +Assembly, suspended the constitution, encouraged his officials to +browbeat the voters, and thereby gained a docile Chamber, which carried +out his behests by decreeing a Septennate, or autocratic rule for seven +years. In order to prop up his miniature czardom, he now asked the new +Emperor, Alexander III., to send him two Russian Generals. His request +was granted in the persons of Generals Soboleff and Kaulbars, who became +Ministers of the Interior and for War; a third, General Tioharoff, being +also added as Minister of Justice. + +The triumph of Muscovite influence now seemed to be complete, until the +trio just named usurped the functions of the Bulgarian Ministers and +informed the Prince that they took their orders from the Czar, not from +him. Chafing at these self-imposed Russian bonds, the Prince now leant +more on the moderate Liberals, headed by Karaveloff; and on the +Muscovites intriguing in the same quarter, and with the troops, with a +view to his deposition, they met with a complete repulse. An able and +vigorous young Bulgarian, Stambuloff, was now fast rising in importance +among the more resolute nationalists. The son of an innkeeper of +Tirnova, he was sent away to be educated at Odessa; there he early +became imbued with Nihilist ideas, and on returning to the Danubian +lands, framed many plots for the expulsion of the Turks from Bulgaria. +His thick-set frame, his force of will, his eloquent, passionate speech, +and, above all, his burning patriotism, soon brought him to the front as +the leader of the national party; and he now strove with all his might +to prevent his land falling to the position of a mere satrapy of the +liberators. Better the puny autocracy of Prince Alexander than the very +real despotism of the nominees of the Emperor Alexander III. + +The character of the new Czar will engage our attention in the following +chapter; here we need only say that the more his narrow, hard, and +overbearing nature asserted itself, the greater appeared the danger to +the liberties of the Principality. At last, when the situation became +unbearable, the Prince resolved to restore the Bulgarian constitution; +and he took this momentous step, on September 18, 1883, without +consulting the three Russian Ministers, who thereupon resigned[188]. + +[Footnote 188: For the scenes which then occurred, see _Le Prince +Alexandre de Battenberg en Bulgarie_, by A.G. Drandar, pp. 169 _et +seq_.; also A. Koch, _Fürst Alexander von Bulgarien_, pp. 144-147. + +For the secret aims of Russia, see _Documents secrets de la Politique +russe en Orient_, by R. Leonoff (Berlin, 1893), pp. 49-65. General +Soboleff, _Der erste Fürst von Bulgarian_ (Leipzig, 1896), has given a +highly coloured Russian account of all these incidents.] + +At once the Prince summoned Karaveloff, and said to him: "My dear +Karaveloff--For the second time I swear to thee that I will be entirely +submissive to the will of the people, and that I will govern in full +accordance with the constitution of Tirnova. Let us forget what passed +during the _coup d'état_ [of 1881], and work together for the +prosperity of the country." He embraced him; and that embrace was the +pledge of a close union of hearts between him and his people[189]. + +[Footnote 189: See Laveleye's _The Balkan Peninsula_, pp. 259-262, for +an account of Karaveloff.] + +The Czar forthwith showed his anger at this act of independence, and, +counting it a sign of defiance, allowed or encouraged his agents in +Bulgaria to undermine the power of the Prince, and procure his +deposition. For two years they struggled in vain. An attempt by the +Russian Generals Soboleff and Kaulbars to kidnap the Prince by night +failed, owing to the loyalty of Lieutenant Martinoff, then on duty at +his palace; the two ministerial plotters forthwith left Bulgaria[190]. + +[Footnote 190: J.G.C. Minchin, _The Growth of Freedom in the Balkan +Peninsula_ (1886) p. 237. The author, Consul-General for Servia in +London, had earlier contributed many articles to the _Times_ and +_Morning Advertiser_ on Balkan affairs.] + +Even now the scales did not fall from the eyes of the Emperor Alexander +III. Bismarck was once questioned by the faithful Busch as to the +character of that potentate. The German Boswell remarked that he had +heard Alexander III. described as "stupid, exceedingly stupid"; +whereupon the Chancellor replied: "In a general way that is saying too +much[191]." Leaving to posterity the task of deciding that question, we +may here point out that Muscovite policy in the years 1878-85 achieved a +truly remarkable feat in uniting all the liberated races of the Balkan +Peninsula against their liberators. By the terms of the Treaty of San +Stefano, Russia had alienated the Roumanians, Servians, and Greeks; so +that when the Princes of those two Slav Principalities decided to take +the kingly title (as they did in the spring of 1881 and 1882 +respectively), it was after visits to Berlin and Vienna, whereby they +tacitly signified their friendliness to the Central Powers. + +[Footnote 191: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History_, by Dr. M. +Busch (Note of January 5, 1886), vol. iii. p. 150 (English edition).] + +In the case of Servia this went to the length of alliance. On June 25, +1881, the Foreign Minister, M. Mijatovich, concluded with +Austria-Hungary a secret convention, whereby Servia agreed to +discourage any movement among the Slavs of Bosnia, while the Dual +Monarchy promised to refrain from any action detrimental to Servian +hopes for what is known as old Servia. The agreement was for eight +years; but it was not renewed in 1889[192]. The fact, however, that such +a compact could be framed within three years of the Berlin Congress, +shows how keen was the resentment of the Servian Government at the +neglect of its interests by Russia, both there and at San Stefano. + +[Footnote 192: The treaty has not been published; for this general +description of it I am indebted to the kindness of M. Mijatovich +himself.] + +The gulf between Bulgaria and Russia widened more slowly, but with the +striking sequel that will be seen. The Dondukoffs, Soboleffs, and +Kaulbars first awakened and then estranged the formerly passive and +docile race for whose aggrandisement Russia had incurred the resentment +of the neighbouring peoples. Under Muscovite tutelage the "ignorant +Bulgarian peasants" were developing a strong civic and political +instinct. Further, the Czar's attacks, now on the Prince, and then on +the popular party, served to bind these formerly discordant elements +into an alliance. Stambuloff, the very embodiment of young Bulgaria in +tenacity of purpose and love of freedom, was now the President of the +Sobranje, or National Assembly, and he warmly supported Prince Alexander +so long as he withstood Russian pretensions. At the outset the strifes +at Sofia had resembled a triangular duel, and the Russian agents could +readily have disposed of the third combatant had they sided either with +the Prince or with the Liberals. By browbeating both they simplified the +situation to the benefit both of the Prince and of the nascent liberties +of Bulgaria. + +Alexander III. and his Chancellor, de Giers, had also tied their hands +in Balkan affairs by a treaty which they framed with Austria and +Germany, and signed and ratified at the meeting of the three Emperors at +Skiernewice (September 1884--see Chapter XII.). The most important of +its provisions from our present standpoint was that by which, in the +event of two of the three Empires disagreeing on Balkan questions, the +casting vote rested with the third Power. This gave to Bismarck the same +role of arbiter which he had played at the Berlin Congress. + +But in the years 1885 and 1886, the Czar and his agents committed a +series of blunders, by the side of which their earlier actions seemed +statesmanlike. The welfare of the Bulgarian people demanded an early +reversal of the policy decided on at the Congress of Berlin (1878), +whereby the southern Bulgarians were divided from their northern +brethren in order that the Sultan might have the right to hold the +Balkan passes in time of war. That is to say, the Powers, especially +Great Britain and Austria, set aside the claims of a strong racial +instinct for purely military reasons. The breakdown of this artificial +arrangement was confidently predicted at the time; and Russian agents at +first took the lead in preparing for the future union. Skobeleff, +Katkoff, and the Panslavonic societies of Russia encouraged the +formation of "gymnastic societies" in Eastern Roumelia, and the youth of +that province enrolled themselves with such ardour that by the year 1885 +more than 40,000 were trained to the use of arms. As for the protests of +the Sultan and those of his delegates at Philippopolis, they were +stilled by hints from St. Petersburg, or by demands for the prompt +payment of Turkey's war debt to Russia. All the world knew that, thanks +to Russian patronage, Eastern Roumelia had slipped entirely from the +control of Abdul Hamid. + +By the summer of 1885, the unionist movement had acquired great +strength. But now, at the critical time, when Russia should have led +that movement, she let it drift, or even, we may say, cast off the +tow-rope. Probably the Czar and his Ministers looked on the Bulgarians +as too weak or too stupid to act for themselves. It was a complete +miscalculation; for now Stambuloff and Karaveloff had made that aim +their own, and brought to its accomplishment all the skill and zeal +which they had learned in a long career of resistance to Turkish and +Russian masters. There is reason to think that they and their +coadjutors at Philippopolis pressed on events in the month of September +1885, because the Czar was then known to disapprove any +immediate action. + +In order to understand the reason for this strange reversal of Russia's +policy, we must scrutinise events more closely. The secret workings of +that policy have been laid bare in a series of State documents, the +genuineness of which is not altogether established. They are said to +have been betrayed to the Bulgarian patriots by a Russian agent, and +they certainly bear signs of authenticity. If we accept them (and up to +the present they have been accepted by well-informed men) the truth is +as follows:-- + +Russia would have worked hard for the union of Eastern Roumelia to +Bulgaria, provided that the Prince abdicated and his people submitted +completely to Russian control. Quite early in his reign Alexander III. +discovered in them an independence which his masterful nature ill +brooked. He therefore postponed that scheme until the Prince should +abdicate or be driven out. As one of the Muscovite agents phrased it in +the spring of 1881, the union must not be brought about until a Russian +protectorate should be founded in the Principality; for if they made +Bulgaria too strong, it would become "a second Roumania," that is, as +"ungrateful" to Russia as Roumania had shown herself after the seizure +of her Bessarabian lands. In fact, the Bulgarians could gain the wish of +their hearts only on one condition--that of proclaiming the Emperor +Alexander Grand Duke of the greater State of the future[193]. + +[Footnote 193: _Documents secrets de la Politique russe en Orient,_ ed. +by R. Leonoff (Berlin, 1893), pp. 8, 48. This work is named by M. Malet +in his _Bibliographie_ on the Eastern Question on p. 448, vol. ix., of +the _Histoire Générale of _MM. Lavisse and Rambaud. I have been assured +of its genuineness by a gentleman well versed in the politics of the +Balkan States.] + +The chief obstacles in the way of Russia's aggrandisement were the +susceptibilities of "the Battenberger," as her agents impertinently +named him, and the will of Stambuloff. When the Czar, by his malevolent +obstinacy, finally brought these two men to accord, it was deemed +needful to adopt various devices in order to shatter the forces which +Russian diplomacy had succeeded in piling up in its own path. But here +again we are reminded of the Horatian precept-- + + Vis consili expers mole ruit sua. + +To the hectorings of Russian agents the "peasant State" offered an ever +firmer resistance, and by the summer of 1885 it was clear that bribery +and bullying were equally futile. + +Of course the Emperor of all the Russias had it in his power to harry +the Prince in many ways. Thus in the summer of 1885, when a marriage was +being arranged between him and the Princess Victoria, daughter of the +Crown Princess of Germany, the Czar's influence at Berlin availed to +veto an engagement which is believed to have been the heartfelt wish of +both the persons most nearly concerned. In this matter Bismarck, true to +his policy of softening the Czar's annoyance at the Austro-German +alliance by complaisance in all other matters, made himself Russia's +henchman, and urged his press-trumpet, Busch, to write newspaper +articles abusing Queen Victoria as having instigated this match solely +with a view to the substitution of British for Russian influence in +Bulgaria[194]. The more servile part of the German Press improved on +these suggestions, and stigmatised the Bulgarian Revolution of the +ensuing autumn as an affair trumped up at London. So far is it possible +for minds of a certain type to read their own pettiness into events. + +[Footnote 194: For Bismarck's action and that of the Emperor William I. +in 1885, see _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History_, by M. Busch, +vol. iii. pp. 171, 180, 292, also p. 335. Russian agents came to +Stambuloff in the summer of 1885 to say that "Prince Alexander must be +got rid of before he can ally himself with the German family regnant." +Stambuloff informed the Prince of this. See _Stambuloff_, by A.H. +Beaman, p. 52.] + +Meanwhile, if we may credit the despatches above referred to, the +Russian Government was seeking to drag Bulgaria into fratricidal strife +with Roumania over some trifling disputes about the new border near +Silistria. That quarrel, if well managed, promised to be materially +advantageous to Russia and mentally soothing to her ruler. It would +weaken the Danubian States and help to bring them back to the heel of +their former protector. Further, seeing that the behaviour of King +Charles to his Russian benefactors was no less "ungrateful" than that of +Prince Alexander, it would be a fit Nemesis for these _ingrats_ to be +set by the ears. Accordingly, in the month of August 1885, orders were +issued to Russian agents to fan the border dispute; and on August 12/30 +the Director of the Asiatic Department at St. Petersburg wrote the +following instructions to the Russian Consul-General at Rustchuk:-- + + You remember that the union [of the two Bulgarias] must not + take place until after the abdication of Prince Alexander. + However, the ill-advised and hostile attitude of King Charles + of Roumania [to Russia] obliges the imperial government to + postpone for some time the projected union of Eastern + Roumelia to the Principality, as well as the abdication and + expulsion of the Prince of Bulgaria. In the session of the + Council of [Russian] Ministers held yesterday it was decided + to beg the Emperor to call Prince Alexander to Copenhagen or + to St. Petersburg in order to inform him that, according to + the will of His Majesty, Bulgaria must defend by armed force + her rights over the points hereinbefore mentioned[195]. + +[Footnote 195: R. Leonoff, _op. cit._ pp. 81-84.] + +The despatch then states that Russia will keep Turkey quiet and will +eventually make war on Roumania; also, that if Bulgaria triumphs over +Roumania, the latter will pay her in territory or money, or in both. +Possibly, however, the whole scheme may have been devised to serve as a +decoy to bring Prince Alexander within the power of his imperial +patrons, who, in that case, would probably have detained and +dethroned him. + +Further light was thrown on the tortuous course of Russian diplomacy by +a speech of Count Eugen Zichy to the Hungarian Delegations about a year +later. He made the startling declaration that in the summer of 1885 +Russia concluded a treaty with Montenegro with the aim of dethroning +King Milan and Prince Alexander, and the division of the Balkan States +between Prince Nicholas of Montenegro and the Karageorgevich Pretender +who has since made his way to the throne at Belgrade. The details of +these schemes are not known, but the searchlight thrown upon them from +Buda-Pesth revealed the shifts of the policy of those "friends of +peace," the Czar Alexander III. and his Chancellor, de Giers. + +Prince Alexander may not have been aware of these schemes in their full +extent, but he and his friends certainly felt the meshes closing around +them. There were only two courses open, either completely to submit to +the Czar (which, for the Prince, implied abdication) or to rely on the +Bulgarian people. The Prince took the course which would have been taken +by every man worthy of the name. It is, however, almost certain that he +did not foresee the events at Philippopolis. He gave his word to a +German officer, Major von Huhn, that he had not in the least degree +expected the unionist movement to take so speedy and decisive a step +forward as it did in the middle of September. The Prince, in fact, had +been on a tour throughout Europe, and expressed the same opinion to the +Russian Chancellor, de Giers, at Franzensbad. + +But by this time everything was ready at Philippopolis. As the men of +Eastern Roumelia were all of one mind in this matter, it was the easiest +of tasks to surprise the Sultan's representative, Gavril Pasha, to +surround his office with soldiers, and to request him to leave the +province (September 18). A carriage was ready to conduct him towards +Sofia. In it sat a gaily dressed peasant girl holding a drawn sword. +Gavril turned red with rage at this insult, but he mounted the vehicle, +and was driven through the town and thence towards the Balkans. + +Such was the departure of the last official of the Sultan from the land +which the Turks had often drenched with blood; such was the revenge of +the southern Bulgarians for the atrocities of 1876. Not a drop of blood +was shed; and Major von Huhn, who soon arrived at Philippopolis, found +Greeks and Turks living contentedly under the new government. The word +"revolution" is in such cases a misnomer. South Bulgaria merely returned +to its natural state[196]. But nothing will convince diplomatists that +events can happen without the pulling of wires by themselves or their +rivals. In this instance they found that Prince Alexander had made the +revolution. + +[Footnote 196: _The Struggle of the Bulgarians for National +Independence_, by Major A. von Huhn, chap. ii. See, too, Parl. Papers, +Turkey, No. 1 (1886), p. 83.] + +At first, however, the Prince doubted whether he should accept the crown +of a Greater Bulgaria which the men of Philippopolis now +enthusiastically offered to him. Stambuloff strongly urged him to +accept, even if he thereby still further enraged the Czar: "Sire," he +said, "two roads lie before you: the one to Philippopolis and as far +beyond as God may lead; the other to Sistova and Darmstadt. I counsel +you to take the crown the nation offers you." On the 20th the Prince +announced his acceptance of the crown of a united Bulgaria. As he said +to the British Consul at Philippopolis, he would have been a "sharper" +(_filou_) not to side with his people[197]. + +[Footnote 197: _Stambuloff_, by A.H. Beaman, chap. iii.; Parl. Papers, +_ibid_. p. 81.] + +Few persons were prepared for the outburst of wrath of the Czar at +hearing this news. Early in his reign he had concentrated into a single +phrase--"silly Pole"--the spleen of an essentially narrow nature at +seeing a kinsman and a dependant dare to think and act for himself[198]. +But on this occasion, as we can now see, the Prince had marred Russia's +plans in the most serious way. Stambuloff and he had deprived her of her +unionist trump card. The Czar found his project of becoming Grand Duke +of a Greater Bulgaria blocked by the action of this same hated kinsman. +Is it surprising that his usual stolidity gave way to one of those fits +of bull-like fury which aroused the fear of all who beheld them? +Thenceforth between the Emperor Alexander and Prince Alexander the +relations might be characterised by the curt phrase which Palafox hurled +at the French from the weak walls of Saragossa--"War to the knife." Like +Palafox, the Prince now had no hope but in the bravery of his people. + +[Footnote 198: _Bismarck: Reflections and Reminiscences_, vol. ii. p. +116 (Eng. ed.).] + +In the ciphered telegrams of September 19 and 20, which the Director of +the Asiatic Department at St. Petersburg sent to the Russian +Consul-General at Rustchuk, the note of resentment and revenge was +clearly sounded. The events in Eastern Roumelia had changed "all our +intentions." The agent was therefore directed to summon the chief +Russian officers in Bulgaria and ask them whether the "young" Bulgarian +officers could really command brigades and regiments, and organise the +artillery; also whether that army could alone meet the army of "a +neighbouring State." The replies of the officers being decidedly in the +negative, they were ordered to leave Bulgaria[199]. Nelidoff, the +Russian ambassador at Constantinople, also worked furiously to spur on +the Sultan to revenge the insult inflicted on him by Prince Alexander. + +[Footnote 199: R. Leonoff, _op. cit._ Nos. 75, 77.] + +Sir William White believed that the _volte face_ in Russian policy was +due solely to Nelidoff's desire to thwart the peaceful policy of the +Russian Chancellor, de Giers, who at that time chanced to be absent in +Tyrol, while the Czar also was away at Copenhagen[200]. But it now +appears that the Russian Foreign Office took Nelidoff's view, and bade +him press Turkey to restore the "legal order" of things in Eastern +Roumelia. Further, the Ministers of the Czar found that Servia, Greece, +and perhaps also Roumania, intended to oppose the aggrandisement of +Bulgaria; and it therefore seemed easy to chastise "the Battenberger" +for his wanton disturbance of the peace of Europe. + +[Footnote 200: _Sir William White: Memoirs and Correspondence_, by H. +Sutherland Edwards, pp. 231-232.] + +Possibly Russia would herself have struck at Bulgaria but for the +difficulties of the general situation. How great these were will be +realised by a perusal of the following chapters, which deal with the +spread of Nihilism in Russia, the formation of the Austro-German +alliance, and the favour soon shown to it by Italy, the estrangement of +England and the Porte owing to the action taken by the former in Egypt, +and the sharp collision of interests between Russia and England at +Panjdeh on the Afghan frontier. When it is further remembered that +France fretted at the untoward results of M. Ferry's forward policy in +Tonquin; that Germany was deeply engaged in colonial efforts; and that +the United Kingdom was distracted by those efforts, by the failure of +the expedition to Khartum, and by the Parnellite agitation in +Ireland--the complexity of the European situation will be sufficiently +evident. Assuredly the events of the year 1885 were among the most +distracting ever recorded in the history of Europe. + +This clash of interests among nations wearied by war, and alarmed at the +apparition of the red spectre of revolution in their midst, told by no +means unfavourably on the fortunes of the Balkan States. The dominant +facts of the situation were, firstly, that Russia no longer had a free +hand in the Balkan Peninsula in face of the compact between the three +Emperors ratified at Skiernewice in the previous autumn (see Chapter +XII.); and, secondly, that the traditional friendship between England +and the Porte had been replaced by something like hostility. Seeing that +the Sultan had estranged the British Government by his very suspicious +action during the revolts of Arabi Pasha and of the Mahdi, even those +who had loudly proclaimed the need of propping up his authority as +essential to the stability of our Eastern Empire now began to revise +their prejudices. + +Thus, when Lord Salisbury came to office, if not precisely to power, in +June 1885, he found affairs in the East rapidly ripening for a change of +British policy--a change which is known to have corresponded with his +own convictions. Finally, the marriage of Princess Beatrice to Prince +Henry of Battenberg, on July 23, 1885, added that touch of personal +interest which enabled Court circles to break with the traditions of the +past and to face the new situation with equanimity. Accordingly the +power of Britain, which in 1876-78 had been used to thwart the growth of +freedom in the Balkan Peninsula, was now put forth to safeguard the +union of Bulgaria. During these critical months Sir William White acted +as ambassador at Constantinople, and used his great knowledge of the +Balkan peoples with telling effect for this salutary purpose. + +Lord Salisbury advised the Sultan not to send troops into Southern +Bulgaria; and the warning chimed in with the note of timorous cunning +which formed the undertone of that monarch's thought and policy. +Distracted by the news of the warlike preparations of Servia and Greece, +Abdul Hamid looked on Russia's advice in a contrary sense as a piece of +Muscovite treachery. About the same time, too, there were rumours of +palace plots at Constantinople; and the capricious recluse of Yildiz +finally decided to keep his best troops near at hand. It appears, then, +that Nihilism in Russia and the spectre of conspiracy always haunting +the brain of Abdul Hamid played their part in assuring the liberties +of Bulgaria. + +Meanwhile the Powers directed their ambassadors at Constantinople to +hold a preliminary Conference at which Turkey would be represented. The +result was a declaration expressing formal disapproval of the violation +of the Treaty of Berlin, and a hope that all parties concerned would +keep the peace. This mild protest very inadequately reflected the +character of the discussions which had been going on between the several +Courts. Russia, it is known, wished to fasten the blame for the +revolution on Prince Alexander; but all public censure was vetoed +by England. + +Probably her action was as effective in still weightier matters. A +formal Conference of the ambassadors of the Powers met at Constantinople +on November 5; and there again Sir William White, acting on instructions +from Lord Salisbury, defended the Bulgarian cause, and sought to bring +about a friendly understanding between the Porte and "a people occupying +so important a position in the Sultan's dominions." Lord Salisbury also +warned the Turkish ambassador in London that if Turkey sought to expel +Prince Alexander from Eastern Roumelia, she would "be making herself the +instrument of those who desired the fall of the Ottoman Empire[201]." + +[Footnote 201: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 1 (1886), pp. 214-215. See, +too, _ibid_. pp. 197 _et seq_. for Lord Salisbury's instructions to Sir +William White for the Conference. In view of them it is needless to +waste space in refuting the arguments of the Russophil A.G. Drandar, +_op. cit._ p. 147, that England sought to make war between the +Balkan States.] + +This reference to the insidious means used by Russia for bringing the +Turks to a state of tutelage, as a preliminary to partition, was an +effective reminder of the humiliations which they had undergone at the +hands of Russia by the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi (1833). France also +showed no disposition to join the Russian and Austrian demand that the +Sultan should at once re-establish the _status quo_; and by degrees the +more intelligent Turks came to see that a strong Bulgaria, independent +of Russian control, might be an additional safeguard against the +Colossus of the North. Russia's insistence on the exact fulfilment of +the Treaty of Berlin helped to open their eyes, and lent force to Sir +William White's arguments as to the need of strengthening that treaty by +"introducing into it a timely improvement[202]." + +[Footnote 202: _Ibid_. pp. 273-274, 288, for Russia's policy; p. 284 for +Sir W. White's argument.] + +Owing to the opposition offered by Great Britain, and to some extent by +France, to the proposed restoration of the old order of things in +Eastern Roumelia, the Conference came to an end at the close of +November, the three Imperial Powers blaming Sir William White for his +obstructive tactics. The charges will not bear examination, but they +show the irritation of those Governments at England's championship of +the Bulgarian cause[203]. The Bulgarians always remember the names of +Lord Salisbury and Sir William White as those of friends in need. + +[Footnote 203: _Ibid_. pp. 370-372.] + +In the main, however, the consolidation of Bulgaria was achieved by her +own stalwart sons. While the Imperial Powers were proposing to put back +the hands of the clock, an alarum sounded forth, proclaiming the advent +of a new era in the history of the Balkan peoples. The action which +brought about this change was startling alike in its inception, in the +accompanying incidents, and still more in its results. + +Where Abdul Hamid forebore to enter, even as the mandatory of the +Continental Courts, there Milan of Servia rushed in. As an excuse for +his aggression, the Kinglet of Belgrade alleged the harm done to Servian +trade by a recent revision of the Bulgarian tariff. But the Powers +assessed this complaint and others at their due value, and saw in his +action merely the desire to seize a part of Western Bulgaria as a +set-off to the recent growth of that Principality. On all sides his +action in declaring war against Prince Alexander (November 14) met with +reprobation, even on the part of his guide and friend, Austria. A recent +report of the Hungarian Committee on Foreign Affairs contained a +recommendation which implied that he ought to receive compensation; and +this seemed to show the wish of the more active part of the Dual +Monarchy peacefully but effectively to champion his cause[204]. + +[Footnote 204: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 1 (1886), p. 250.] + +Nevertheless, the King decided to carve out his fortunes by his own +sword. He had some grounds for confidence. If a Bulgarian _fait +accompli_ could win tacit recognition from the Powers, why should not a +Servian triumph over Bulgaria force their hands once more? Prince +Alexander was unsafe on his throne; thanks to the action of Russia his +troops had very few experienced officers; and in view of the Sultan's +resentment his southern border could not be denuded of troops. Never did +a case seem more desperate than that of the "Peasant State," deserted +and flouted by Russia, disliked by the Sultan, on bad terms with +Roumania, and publicly lectured by the Continental Powers for her +irregular conduct. Servia's triumph seemed assured. + +But now there came forth one more proof of the vitalising force of the +national principle. In seven years the downtrodden peasants of Bulgaria +had become men, and now astonished the world by their prowess. The +withdrawal of the Russian officers left half of the captaincies vacant; +but they were promptly filled up by enthusiastic young lieutenants. +Owing to the blowing up of the line from Philippopolis to Adrianople, +only five locomotives were available for carrying back northwards the +troops which had hitherto been massed on the southern border; and these +five were already overstrained. Yet the engineers now worked them still +harder and they did not break down[205]. The hardy peasants tramped +impossibly long distances in their longing to meet the Servians. The +arrangements were carried through with a success which seems miraculous +in an inexperienced race. The explanation was afterwards rightly +discerned by an English visitor to Bulgaria. "This is the secret of +Bulgarian independence--everybody is in grim earnest. The Bulgarians do +not care about amusements[206]." In that remark there is food for +thought. Inefficiency has no place among a people that looks to the +welfare of the State as all in all. Breakdowns occur when men think more +about "sport" and pleasure than about doing their utmost for +their country. + +[Footnote 205: A. von Huhn, _op. cit._ p. 105.] + +[Footnote 206: E.A.B. Hodgetts, _Round about Armenia_, p. 7.] + +The results of this grim earnestness were to astonish the world. The +Servians at first gained some successes in front of Widdin and +Slivnitza; but the defenders of the latter place (an all-important +position north-west of Sofia) hurried up all possible forces. Two +Bulgarian regiments are said to have marched 123 kilometres in thirty +hours in order to defend that military outwork of their capital; while +others, worn out with marching, rode forward on horseback, two men to +each horse, and then threw themselves into the fight. The Bulgarian +artillery was well served, and proved to be very superior to that of +the Servians. + +Thus, on the first two days of conflict at Slivnitza, the defenders beat +back the Servians with some loss. On the third day (November 19), after +receiving reinforcements, they took the offensive, with surprising +vigour. A talented young officer, Bendereff, led their right wing, with +bands playing and colours flying, to storm the hillsides that dominated +the Servian position. The hardy peasants scaled the hills and delivered +the final bayonet charge so furiously that there and on all sides the +invaders fled in wild panic, and scarcely halted until they reached +their own frontier. + +Thenceforth King Milan had hard work to keep his men together. Many of +them were raw troops; their ammunition was nearly exhausted; and their +_morale_ had vanished utterly. Prince Alexander had little difficulty in +thrusting them forth from Pirot, and seemed to have before him a clear +road to Belgrade, when suddenly he was brought to a halt by a menace +from the north[207]. + +[Footnote 207: Drandar, _Événements politiques en Bulgarie_, pp. 89-116; +von Huhn, _op. cit._ chaps. x. xi.] + +A special envoy sent by the Hapsburgs, Count Khevenhüller, came in haste +to the headquarters of the Prince on November 28, and in imperious terms +bade him grant an armistice to Servia, otherwise Austrian troops would +forthwith cross the frontier to her assistance. Before this threat +Alexander gave way, and was blamed by some of his people for this act of +complaisance. But assuredly he could not well have acted otherwise. The +three Emperors, of late acting in accord in Balkan questions, had it in +their power to crush him by launching the Turks against Philippopolis, +or their own troops against Sofia. He had satisfied the claims of +honour; he had punished Servia for her peevish and unsisterly jealousy. +Under his lead the Bulgarians had covered themselves with glory, and had +leaped at a bound from political youth to manhood. Why should he risk +their new-found unity merely in order to abase Servia? The Prince never +acted more prudently than when he decided not to bring into the field +the Power which, as he believed, had pushed on Servia to war[208]. + +[Footnote 208: Drandar, _op. cit._ chap. iii.; Kuhn, _op. cit._ chap. +xviii.] + +Had he known that the Russian Chancellor, de Giers, on hearing of +Austria's threat to Bulgaria, informed the Court of Vienna of the Czar's +condign displeasure if that threat were carried into effect, perhaps he +would have played a grand game, advancing on Belgrade, dethroning the +already unpopular King Milan, and offering to the Czar the headship of a +united Servo-Bulgarian State. He might thus have appeased that +sovereign, but at the cost of a European war. Whether from lack of +information, or from a sense of prudence and humanity, the Prince held +back and decided for peace with Servia. Despite many difficulties thrown +in the way by King Milan, this was the upshot of the ensuing +negotiations. The two States finally came to terms by the Treaty of +Bukharest, where, thanks to the good sense of the negotiators and the +efforts of Turkey to compose these strifes, peace was assured on the +basis of the _status quo ante bellum_ (March 3, 1886). + +Already the Porte had manifested its good-will towards Bulgaria in the +most signal manner. This complete reversal of policy may be assigned to +several causes. Firstly, Prince Alexander, on marching against the +Servians, had very tactfully proclaimed that he did so on behalf of the +existing order of things, which they were bent on overthrowing. His +actions having corresponded to his words, the Porte gradually came to +see in him a potent defender against Russia. This change in the attitude +of the Sultan was undoubtedly helped on by the arguments of Lord +Salisbury to the Turkish ambassador at London. He summarised the whole +case for a recognition of the union of the two Bulgarias in the +following remarks (December 23, 1885):-- + + Every week's experience showed that the Porte had little to + dread from the subserviency of Bulgaria to foreign influence, + if only Bulgaria were allowed enjoyment of her unanimous + desires, and the Porte did not gratuitously place itself in + opposition to the general feeling of the people. A Bulgaria, + friendly to the Porte, and jealous of foreign influence, + would be a far surer bulwark against foreign aggression than + two Bulgarias, severed in administration, but united in + considering the Porte as the only obstacle to their national + development[209]. + +[Footnote 209: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 1 (1886), p. 424.] + +Events served to reveal the soundness of this statesmanlike +pronouncement. At the close of the year Prince Alexander returned from +the front to Sofia and received an overwhelming ovation as the champion +of Bulgarian liberties. Further, he now found no difficulty in coming to +an understanding with the Turkish Commissioners sent to investigate the +state of opinion in Southern Bulgaria. Most significant of all was the +wrath of the Czar at the sight of his popularity, and the utter collapse +of the Russian party at Sofia. + +Meanwhile the Powers found themselves obliged little by little to +abandon their pedantic resolve to restore the Treaty of Berlin. Sir +Robert Morier, British ambassador at St. Petersburg, in a letter of +December 27, 1885, to Sir William White, thus commented on the causes +that assured success to the Bulgarian cause: + + The very great prudence shown by Lord Salisbury, and the + consummate ability with which you played your part, have made + it a successful game; but the one crowning good fortune, + which we mainly owe to the incalculable folly of the Servian + attack, has been that Prince Alexander's generalship and the + fighting capacities of his soldiers have placed our rival + action [his own and that of Sir W. White] in perfect harmony + with the crushing logic of fact. The rivalry is thus + completely swamped in the bit of cosmic work so successfully + accomplished. A State has been evolved out of the protoplasm + of Balkan chaos. + +Sir Robert Morier finally stated that if Sir William White succeeded in +building up an independent Bulgaria friendly to Roumania, he would have +achieved the greatest feat of diplomacy since Sir James Hudson's +statesmanlike moves at Turin in the critical months of 1859-60 gained +for England a more influential position in Italy than France had secured +by her aid in the campaign of Solferino. The praise is overstrained, +inasmuch as it leaves out of count the statecraft of Bismarck in the +years 1863-64 and 1869-70; but certainly among the _peaceful_ triumphs +of recent years that of Sir William White must rank very high. + +If, however, we examine the inner cause of the success of the diplomacy +of Hudson and White we must assign it in part to the mistakes of the +liberating Powers, France and Russia. Napoleon III., by requiring the +cession of Savoy and Nice, and by revealing his design to Gallicise the +Italian Peninsula, speedily succeeded in alienating the Italians. The +action of Russia, in compelling Bulgaria to give up the Dobrudscha as an +equivalent to the part of Bessarabia which she took from Roumania, also +strained the sense of gratitude of those peoples; and the conduct of +Muscovite agents in Bulgaria provoked in that Principality feelings +bitterer than those which the Italians felt at the loss of Savoy and +Nice. So true is it that in public as in private life the manner in +which a wrong is inflicted counts for more than the wrong itself. It was +on this sense of resentment (misnamed "ingratitude" by the "liberators") +that British diplomacy worked with telling effect in both cases. It +conferred on the "liberated" substantial benefits; but their worth was +doubled by the contrast which they offered to the losses or the +irritation consequent on the actions of Napoleon III. and of +Alexander III. + +To the present writer it seems that the great achievements of Sir +William White were, first, that he kept the Sultan quiet (a course, be +it remarked, from which that nervous recluse was never averse) when +Nelidoff sought to hound him on against Bulgaria; and, still more, that +he helped to bring about a good understanding between Constantinople and +Sofia. In view of the hatred which Abdul Hamid bore to England after +her intervention in Egypt in 1882, this was certainly a great diplomatic +achievement; but possibly Abdul Hamid hoped to reap advantages on the +Nile from his complaisance to British policy in the Balkans. + +The outcome of it all was the framing of a Turco-Bulgarian Convention +(February 1, 1886) whereby the Porte recognised Prince Alexander as +Governor of Eastern Roumelia for a term of five years; a few border +districts in Rhodope, inhabited by Moslems, were ceded to the Sultan, +and (wonder of wonders!) Turkey and Bulgaria concluded an offensive and +defensive alliance. In case of foreign aggression on Bulgaria, Turkish +troops would be sent thither to be commanded by the Prince; if Turkey +were invaded, Bulgarian troops would form part of the Sultan's army +repelling the invader. In other respects the provisions of the Treaty of +Berlin remained in force for Southern Bulgaria[210]. + +[Footnote 210: Parl. Papers, Turkey, No. 2 (1886).] + +On that same day, as it chanced, the Salisbury Cabinet resigned office, +and Mr. Gladstone became Prime Minister, Lord Rosebery taking the +portfolio for Foreign Affairs. This event produced little variation in +Britain's Eastern policy, and that statement will serve to emphasise the +importance of the change of attitude of the Conservative party towards +those affairs in the years 1878-85--a change undoubtedly due in the main +to the Marquis of Salisbury. + +In the official notes of the Earl of Rosebery there is manifest somewhat +more complaisance to Russia, as when on February 12 he instructed Sir +William White to advise the Porte to modify its convention with Bulgaria +by abandoning the stipulation as to mutual military aid. Doubtless this +advice was sound. It coincided with the known opinions of the Court of +Vienna; and at the same time Russia formally declared that she could +never accept that condition[211]. As Germany took the same view the +Porte agreed to expunge the obnoxious clause. The Government of the Czar +also objected to the naming of Prince Alexander in the Convention. This +unlooked-for slight naturally aroused the indignation of the Prince; +but as the British Government deferred to Russian views on this matter, +the Convention was finally signed at Constantinople on April 5, 1886. +The Powers, including Turkey, thereby recognised "the Prince of +Bulgaria" (not named) as Governor of Eastern Roumelia for a term of five +years, and referred the "Organic Statute" of that province to revision +by a joint Conference. + +[Footnote 211: _Ibid_. pp. 96-98.] + +The Prince submitted to this arrangement, provisional and humiliating +though it was. But the insults inflicted by Russia bound him the more +closely to his people; and at the united Parliament, where 182 members +out of the total 300 supported his Ministers, he advocated measures that +would cement the union. Bulgarian soon became the official language +throughout South Bulgaria, to the annoyance of the Greek and Turkish +minorities. But the chief cause of unrest continued to be the intrigues +of Russian agents. + +The anger of the Czar at the success of his hated kinsman showed itself +in various ways. Not content with inflicting every possible slight and +disturbing the peace of Bulgaria through his agents, he even menaced +Europe with war over that question. At Sevastopol on May 19, he declared +that circumstances might compel him "to defend by force of arms the +dignity of the Empire"--a threat probably aimed at Bulgaria and Turkey. +On his return to Moscow he received an enthusiastic welcome from the +fervid Slavophils of the old Russian capital, the Mayor expressing in +his address the hope that "the cross of Christ will soon shine on St. +Sofia" at Constantinople. At the end of June the Russian Government +repudiated the clause of the Treaty of Berlin constituting Batoum a free +port[212]. Despite a vigorous protest by Lord Rosebery against this +infraction of treaty engagements, the Czar and M. de Giers held to their +resolve, evidently by way of retort to the help given from London to the +union of the two Bulgarias. + +[Footnote 212: Parl. Papers, Russia (1886), p. 828.] + +The Dual Monarchy, especially Hungary, also felt the weight of Russia's +displeasure in return for the sympathy manifested for the Prince at +Pesth and Vienna; and but for the strength which the friendship of +Germany afforded, that Power would almost certainly have encountered war +from the irate potentate of the North. + +Turkey, having no champion, was in still greater danger; her conduct in +condoning the irregularities of Prince Alexander was as odious to +Alexander III. as the atrocities of her Bashi-bazouks ten years before +had been to his more chivalrous sire. It is an open secret that during +the summer of 1886 the Czar was preparing to deal a heavy blow. The +Sultan evaded it by adroitly shifting his ground and posing as a +well-wisher of the Czar, whereupon M. Nelidoff, the Russian ambassador +at Constantinople, proposed an offensive and defensive alliance, and +went to the length of suggesting that they should wage war against +Austria and England in order to restore the Sultan's authority over +Bosnia and Egypt at the expense of those intrusive Powers. How far +negotiations went on this matter and why they failed is not known. The +ordinary explanation, that the Czar forbore to draw the sword because of +his love of peace, hardly tallies with what is now known of his +character and his diplomacy. It is more likely that he was appeased by +the events now to be described, and thereafter attached less importance +to a direct intervention in Balkan affairs. + +No greater surprise has happened in this generation than the kidnapping +of Prince Alexander by officers of the army which he had lately led to +victory. Yet the affair admits of explanation. Certain of their number +nourished resentment against him for his imperfect recognition of their +services during the Servian War, and for the introduction of German +military instructors at its close. Among the malcontents was Bendereff, +the hero of Slivnitza, who, having been guilty of discourtesy to the +Prince, was left unrewarded. On this discontented knot of men Russian +intriguers fastened themselves profitably, with the result that one +regiment at least began to waver in its allegiance. + +A military plot was held in reserve as a last resort. In the first +place, a Russian subject, Captain Nabokoff, sought to simplify the +situation by hiring some Montenegrin desperadoes, and by seeking to +murder or carry off the Prince as he drew near to Bourgas during a tour +in Eastern Bulgaria. This plan came to light through the fidelity of a +Bulgarian peasant, whereupon Nabokoff and a Montenegrin priest were +arrested (May 18). At once the Russian Consul at that seaport appeared, +demanded the release of the conspirators, and, when this was refused, +threatened the Bulgarian authorities if justice took its course. It is +not without significance that the Czar's warlike speech at Sevastopol +startled the world on the day after the arrest of the conspirators at +Bourgas. Apparently the arrest of Nabokoff impelled the Czar of all the +Russias to uphold the dignity of his Empire by hurling threats against a +State which protected itself from conspiracy. The champion of order in +Russia thereby figured as the abettor of plotters in the Balkans. + +The menaces of the Northern Power availed to defer the trial of the +conspirators, and the affair was still undecided when the conspirators +at Sofia played their last card. Bendereff was at that time acting as +Minister of War, and found means to spread broadcast a rumour that +Servia was arming as if for war. Sending northwards some faithful troops +to guard against this baseless danger, he left the capital at the mercy +of the real enemy. + +On August 21, when all was ready, the Struma Regiment hastily marched +back by night to Sofia, disarmed the few faithful troops there in +garrison, surrounded the palace of the Prince, while the ringleaders +burst into his bedchamber. He succeeded in fleeing through a corridor +which led to the garden, only to be met with levelled bayonets and cries +of hatred. The leaders thrust him into a corner, tore a sheet out of the +visitors' book which lay on a table close by, and on it hastily scrawled +words implying abdication; the Prince added his signature, along with +the prayer, "God save Bulgaria." At dawn the mutineers forced him into a +carriage, Bendereff and his accomplices crowding round to dismiss him +with jeers and screen him from the sight of the public. Thence he was +driven at the utmost speed through byways towards the Danube. There the +conspirators had in readiness his own yacht, which they had seized, and +carried him down the stream towards Russian territory. + +The outburst of indignation with which the civilised world heard of this +foul deed had its counterpart in Bulgaria. So general and so keen was +the reprobation (save in the Russian and Bismarckian Press) that the +Russian Government took some steps to dissociate itself from the plot, +while profiting by its results. On August 24, when the Prince was put on +shore at Reni, the Russian authorities kept him under guard, and that, +too, despite an order of the Czar empowering him to "continue his +journey exactly as he might please." Far from this, he was detained for +some little time, and then was suffered to depart by train only in a +northerly direction. He ultimately entered Austrian territory by way of +Lemberg in Galicia, on August 27. The aim of the St. Petersburg +Government evidently was to give full time for the conspirators at Sofia +to consolidate their power[213]. + +[Footnote 213: A. von Huhn, _op. cit._ chap. iv.] + +Meanwhile, by military display, the distribution of money, and a _Te +Deum_ at the Cathedral for "liberation from Prince Battenberg," the +mutineers sought to persuade the men of Sofia that peace and prosperity +would infallibly result from the returning favour of the Czar. The +populace accepted the first tokens of his good-will and awaited +developments. These were not promising for the mutineers. The British +Consul at Philippopolis, Captain Jones, on hearing of the affair, +hurried to the commander of the garrison, General Mutkuroff, and +besought him to crush the plotters[214]. The General speedily enlisted +his own troops and those in garrison elsewhere on the side of the +Prince, with the result that a large part of the army refused to take +the oath of allegiance to the new Russophil Ministry, composed of +trimmers like Bishop Clement and Zankoff. Karaveloff also cast in his +influence against them. + +[Footnote 214: See Mr. Minchin's account in the _Morning Advertiser_ for +September 23, 1886.] + +Above all, Stambuloff worked furiously for the Prince; and when a mitred +Vicar of Bray held the seals of office and enjoyed the official counsels +of traitors and place-hunters, not all the prayers of the Greek Church +and the gold of Russian agents could long avail to support the +Government against the attacks of that strong-willed, clean-handed +patriot. Shame at the disgrace thus brought on his people doubled his +powers; and, with the aid of all that was best in the public life of +Bulgaria, he succeeded in sweeping Clement and his Comus rout back to +their mummeries and their underground plots. So speedy was the reverse +of fortune that the new Provisional Government succeeded in thwarting +the despatch of a Russian special Commissioner, General Dolgorukoff, +through whom Alexander III. sought to bestow the promised blessings on +that "much-tried" Principality. + +The voice of Bulgaria now made itself heard. There was but one cry--for +the return of Prince Alexander. At once he consented to fulfil his +people's desire; and, travelling by railway through Bukharest, he +reached the banks of the Danube and set foot on his yacht, not now a +prisoner, but the hero of the German, Magyar, and Balkan peoples. At +Rustchuk officers and deputies bore him ashore shoulder-high to the +enthusiastic people. He received a welcome even from the Consul-General +for Russia--a fact which led him to take a false step. Later in the day, +when Stambuloff was not present, he had an interview with this agent, +and then sent a telegram to the Czar, announcing his return, his thanks +for his friendly reception by Russia's chief agent, and his readiness to +accept the advice of General Dolgorukoff. The telegram ended thus:-- + + I should be happy to be able to give to Your Majesty the + definitive proof of the devotion with which I am animated + towards Your august person. The monarchical principle forces + me to re-establish the reign of law (_la légalité_) in + Bulgaria and Roumelia. Russia having given me my crown, I am + ready to give it back into the hands of its Sovereign. + +To this the Czar sent the following telegraphic reply, and allowed it to +appear at once in the official paper at St. Petersburg:-- + + I have received Your Highness's telegram. I cannot approve + your return to Bulgaria, as I foresee the sinister + consequences that it may bring on Bulgaria, already so much + tried. The mission of General Dolgorukoff is now inopportune. + I shall abstain from it in the sad state of things to which + Bulgaria is reduced so long as you remain there. Your + Highness will understand what you have to do. I reserve my + judgment as to what is commanded me by the venerated memory + of my father, the interests of Russia, and the peace of the + Orient[215]. + +[Footnote 215: A. von Huhn, _The Kidnapping of Prince Alexander_, chap. +xi. (London, 1887). Article III. of the Treaty of Berlin ran thus: "The +Prince of Bulgaria shall be freely elected by the population and +confirmed by the Sublime Porte, with the assent of the Powers." Russia +had no right to _choose_ the Prince, and her _assent_ to his election +was only that of _one_ among the six Great Powers. The mistake of Prince +Alexander is therefore inexplicable.] + +What led the Prince to use the extraordinary words contained in the last +sentence of his telegram can only be conjectured. The substance of his +conversation with the Russian Consul-General is not known; and until the +words of that official are fully explained he must be held open to the +suspicion of having played on the Prince a diplomatic version of the +confidence trick. Another version, that of M. Élie de Cyon, is that he +acted on instructions from the Russian Chancellor, de Giers, who +believed that the Czar would relent. On the contrary, he broke loose, +and sent the answer given above[216]. + +[Footnote 216: _Histoire de l'Entente franco-russe_, by Élie de Cyon, p. +158.] + +It is not surprising that, after receiving the Czar's retort, the Prince +seemed gloomy and depressed where all around him were full of joy. At +Tirnova and Philippopolis he had the same reception; but an attempt to +derail his train on the journey to Sofia showed that the malice of his +foes was still unsated. The absence of the Russian and German Consuls +from the State reception accorded to the Prince at the capital on +September 3 showed that he had to reckon with the hostility or +disapprobation of those Governments; and there was the ominous fact that +the Russian agent at Sofia had recently intervened to prevent the +punishment of the mutineers and Bishop Clement. Few, however, were +prepared for what followed. On entering his palace, the Prince called +his officers about him and announced that, despairing of overcoming the +antipathy of the Czar to him, he must abdicate. Many of them burst into +tears, and one of them cried, "Without your Highness there is no +Bulgaria." + +This action, when the Prince seemed at the height of popularity, caused +intense astonishment. The following are the reasons that probably +dictated it. Firstly, he may have felt impelled to redeem the pledges +which he too trustfully made to the Czar in his Rustchuk telegram, and +of which that potentate took so unchivalrous an advantage. Secondly, the +intervention of Russia to protect the mutineers from their just +punishment betokened her intention to foment further plots. In this +intervention, strange to say, she had the support of the German +Government, Bismarck using his influence at Berlin persistently against +the Prince, in order to avert the danger of war, which once or twice +seemed to be imminent between Russia and Germany. + +Further, we may note that Austria and the other States had no desire to +court an attack from the Eastern Power, on account of a personal affair +between the two Alexanders. Great Britain also was at that time too +hampered by domestic and colonial difficulties to be able to do more +than offer good wishes. + +Thus the weakness or the weariness of the States friendly to Bulgaria +left the Czar a free hand in the personal feud on which he set such +store. Accordingly, on September 7, the Prince left Bulgaria amidst the +lamentations of that usually stolid people and the sympathy of manly +hearts throughout the world. At Buda-Pesth and London there were +ominous signs that the Czar must not push his triumph further. Herr +Tisza at the end of the month assured the Hungarian deputies that, if +the Sultan did not choose to restore the old order of things in Southern +Bulgaria, no other Power had the right to intervene there by force of +arms. Lord Salisbury, also, at the Lord Mayor's banquet, on November 9, +inveighed with startling frankness against the "officers debauched by +foreign gold," who had betrayed their Prince. He further stated that all +interest in foreign affairs centred in Bulgaria, and expressed the +belief that the freedom of that State would be assured. + +These speeches were certainly intended as a warning to Russia and a +protest against her action in Bulgaria. After the departure of Prince +Alexander, the Czar hit upon the device of restoring order to that +"much-tried" country through the instrumentality of General Kaulbars, a +brother of the General who had sought to kidnap Prince Alexander three +years before. It is known that the despatch of the younger Kaulbars was +distasteful to the more pacific and Germanophil chancellor, de Giers, +who is said to have worked against the success of his mission. Such at +least is the version given by his private enemies, Katkoff and de +Cyon[217]. Kaulbars soon succeeded in adding to the reputation of his +family. On reaching Sofia, on September 25, he ordered the liberation of +the military plotters still under arrest, and the adjournment of the +forthcoming elections for the Sobranje; otherwise Russia would not +regard them as legal. The Bulgarian Regents, Stambuloff at their head, +stoutly opposed these demands and fixed the elections for October the +10th; whereupon Kaulbars treated the men of Sofia, and thereafter of all +the chief towns, to displays of bullying rhetoric, which succeeded in +blotting out all memories of Russian exploits of nine years before[218]. + +[Footnote 217: Élie de Cyon, _Histoire de l'Entente franco-russe_, pp. +177-178.] + +[Footnote 218: The Russophil Drandar (_op. cit._ p. 214) calls these +demands "remarqueblement modérées et sages"! For further details of +Kaulbars' electioneering devices see Minchin, _op. cit._ pp. 327-330.] + +Despite his menace, that 100,000 Russian troops were ready to occupy +Bulgaria, despite the murder of four patriots by his bravos at Dubnitza, +Bulgaria flung back the threats by electing 470 supporters of +independence and unity, as against 30 Russophils and 20 deputies of +doubtful views. The Sobranje met at Tirnova, and, disregarding his +protest, proceeded to elect Prince Waldemar of Denmark; it then +confirmed Stambuloff in his almost dictatorial powers. The Czar's +influence over the Danish Royal House led to the Prince promptly +refusing that dangerous honour, which it is believed that Russia then +designed for the Prince of Mingrelia, a dignitary of Russian Caucasia. + +The aim of the Czar and of Kaulbars now was to render all government +impossible; but they had to deal with a man far more resolute and astute +than Prince Alexander. Stambuloff and his countrymen fairly wearied out +Kaulbars, until that imperial agent was suddenly recalled (November 19). +He also ordered the Russian Consuls to withdraw. + +It is believed that the Czar recalled him partly because of the obvious +failure of a hectoring policy, but also owing to the growing +restlessness of Austria-Hungary, England, and Italy at Russia's +treatment of Bulgaria. For several months European diplomacy turned on +the question of Bulgaria's independence; and here Russia could not yet +count on a French alliance. As has been noted above, Alexander III. and +de Giers had tied their hands by the alliance contracted at Skiernewice +in 1884; and the Czar had reason to expect that the Austro-German +compact would hold good against him if he forced on his solution of the +Balkan Question. + +Probably it was this consideration which led him to trust to underground +means for assuring the dependence of Bulgaria. If so, he was again +disappointed. Stambuloff met his agents everywhere, above ground and +below ground. That son of an innkeeper at Tirnova now showed a power of +inspiring men and controlling events equal to that of the innkeeper of +the Pusterthal, Andreas Hofer. The discouraged Bulgarians everywhere +responded to his call; at Rustchuk they crushed a rising of Russophil +officers, and Stambuloff had nine of the rebels shot (March 7, 1887). +Thereafter he acted as dictator and imprisoned numbers of suspects. His +countrymen put up with the loss of civic freedom in order to secure the +higher boon of national independence. + +In the main, however, the freedom of Bulgaria from Russian control was +due to events transpiring in Central Europe. As will appear in Chapter +XII. of this work, the Czar and de Giers became convinced, early in the +year 1887, that Bismarck was preparing for war against France, and they +determined to hold aloof from other questions, in order to be free to +checkmate the designs of the war party at Berlin. The organ usually +inspired by de Giers, the _Nord_, uttered an unmistakable warning on +February 20, 1887, and even stated that, with this aim in view, Russia +would let matters take their course in Bulgaria. + +Thus, once again, the complexities of the general situation promoted the +cause of freedom in the Balkans; and the way was cleared for a resolute +man to mount the throne at Sofia. In the course of a tour to the +European capitals, a Bulgarian delegation found that man. The envoys +were informed that Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, a grandson of Louis +Philippe on the spindle-side, would welcome the dangerous honour. He was +young, ambitious, and, as events were to prove, equally tactful and +forceful according to circumstances. In vain did Russia seek to prevent +his election by pushing on the Sultan to intervene. Abdul Hamid was not +the man to let himself long be the catspaw of Russia, and now invited +the Powers to name one or two candidates for the throne of Bulgaria. +Stambuloff worked hard for the election of Prince Ferdinand; and on July +7, 1887, he was unanimously elected by the Sobranje. Alone among the +Great Powers, Russia protested against his election and threw many +difficulties in his path. In order to please the Czar, the Sultan added +his protest; but this act was soon seen to be merely a move in the +diplomatic game. + +Limits of space, however, preclude the possibility of noting later +events in the history of Bulgaria, such as the coolness that clouded the +relations of the Prince to Stambuloff, the murder of the latter, and the +final recognition of the Prince by the Russian Government after the +"conversion" of his little son, Boris, to the Greek Church (Feb. 1896). +In this curious way was fulfilled the prophetic advice given by Bismarck +to the Prince not long after his acceptance of the crown of Bulgaria: +"Play the dead (_faire mort_). . . . Let yourself be driven gently by the +stream, and keep yourself, as hitherto, above water. Your greatest ally +is time--force of habit. Avoid everything that might irritate your +enemies. Unless you give them provocation, they cannot do you much harm, +and in course of time the world will become accustomed to see you on the +throne of Bulgaria[219]." + +[Footnote 219: _Personal Reminiscences of Prince Bismarck_, by S. +Whitman, p. 179.] + +Time has worked on behalf of Bulgaria, and has helped to strengthen this +Benjamin of the European family. Among the events which have made the +chief States of to-day, none are more remarkable than those which +endowed a population of downtrodden peasants with a passionate desire +for national existence. Thanks to the liberating armies of Russia, to +the prowess of Bulgarians themselves, to the inspiring personality of +Prince Alexander and the stubborn tenacity of Stambuloff, the young +State gained a firm grip on life. But other and stranger influences were +at work compelling that people to act for itself; these are to be found +in the perverse conduct of Alexander III. and of his agents. The policy +of Russia towards Bulgaria may be characterised by a remark made by Sir +Robert Morier to Sir M. Grant Duff in 1888: "Russia is a great +bicephalic creature, having one head European, and the other Asiatic, +but with the persistent habit of turning its European face to the East, +and its Asiatic face to the West[220]." Asiatic methods, put in force +against Slavised Tartars, have certainly played no small part in the +upbuilding of this youngest of the European States. + +[Footnote 220: Sir M. Grant Duff, _Notes from a Diary (1886-88)_, vol. +ii. p. 139.] + +In taking leave of the Balkan peoples, we may note the strange tendency +of events towards equipoise in the Europe of the present age. Thirty +years ago the Turkish Empire seemed at the point of dissolution. To-day +it is stronger than ever; and this cause is to be found, not so much in +the watchful cunning of Abdul Hamid, as in the vivifying principle of +nationality, which has made of Bulgaria and Roumania two strong barriers +against Russian aggression in that quarter. The feuds of those States +have been replaced by something like friendship, which in its turn will +probably ripen into alliance. Together they could put 250,000 good +troops in the field--that is, a larger force than that which the Turks +had in Europe during the war with Russia. Turkey is therefore fully as +safe as she was under Abdul Aziz. + +An enlightened ruler could consolidate her position still further. Just +as Austria has gained in strength by having Venetia as a friendly and +allied land, rather than a subject province heaving with discontent, so, +too, it is open to the Porte to secure the alliance of the Balkan States +by treating them in an honourable way, and by according good government +to Macedonia. + +Possibly the future may see the formation of a federation of all the +States of European Turkey. If so, Russia will lose all foothold in a +quarter where she formerly had the active support of three-fourths of +the population. However that may be, it is certain that her mistakes in +and after the year 1878 have profoundly modified the Eastern Question. +They have served to cancel those which, as it seems to the present +writer, Lord Beaconsfield committed in the years 1876-77; and the +skilful diplomacy of Lord Salisbury and Sir William White has regained +for England the prestige which she then lost among the rising peoples of +the Peninsula. + +The final solution of the tangled racial problems of Mace donia cannot +be long deferred, in spite of the timorous selfishness of the Powers who +incurred treaty obligations for the welfare of that land; and, when that +question can be no longer postponed or explained away, it is to be hoped +that the British people, taking heed of the lessons of the past, will +insist on a solution that will conform to the claims of humanity, which +have been proved to be those of enlightened statesmanship[221]. + +[Footnote 221: For the recent developments of the Macedonian Question, +see _Turkey in Europe_, by "Odysseus" (1900); _the Middle Eastern +Question_, by V. Chirol, 18s. net (Murray); _A Tour in Macedonia_, by +G.F. Abbot (1903); _The Burden of the Balkans_, by Miss Edith Durham +(1904); _The Balkans from Within_, by R. Wyon (1904); _The Balkan +Question_, edited by L. Villari (1904); _Critical Times in Turkey_, by +G. King-Lewis (1904); _Pro Macedonia_, by V. Bérard (Paris, 1904); _La +Péninsule balkanique_, by Capitaine Lamouche (Paris, 1899).] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +NIHILISM AND ABSOLUTISM IN RUSSIA + + + THE HOUSE OF ROMANOFF + + Catharine II. + (1762-1796.) + | + | + Paul. + (1796-1801.) + | + ___________________ + | | + Alexander I. Nicholas I. + (1801-1825.) (1825-1855.) + | + ________________________________________ + | | | | + Alexander II. Constantine. Nicholas. Michael. + (1855-1881.) + | + ___________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | + Nicholas. Alexander III. Alexis. Marie. Sergius. Paul. + (Died in (1881-1894.) (Duchess of (Assassinated + 1865.) | Edinburgh.) Feb. 17, 1905.) + | + Nicholas II. + (1894--.) + + +The Whig statesman, Charles James Fox, once made the profound though +seemingly paradoxical assertion that the most dangerous part of a +Revolution was the Restoration that ended it. In a similar way we may +hazard the statement that the greatest danger brought about by war lies +in the period of peace immediately following. Just as the strain +involved by any physical effort is most felt when the muscles and nerves +resume their normal action, so, too, the body politic is liable to +depression when once the time of excitement is over and the artificial +activities of war give place to the tiresome work of paying the bill. +England after Waterloo, France and Germany after the war of 1870, afford +examples of this truth; but never perhaps has it been more signally +illustrated than in the Russia of 1878-82. + +There were several reasons why the reaction should be especially sharp +in Russia. The Slav peoples that form the great bulk of her population +are notoriously sensitive. Shut up for nearly half the year by the +rigours of winter, they naturally develop habits of brooding +introspection or coarse animalism--witness the plaintive strains of +their folk-songs, the pessimism that haunts their literature, and the +dram-drinking habits of the peasantry. The Muscovite temperament and the +Muscovite climate naturally lead to idealist strivings against the +hardships of life or a dull grovelling amongst them. Melancholy or vodka +is the outcome of it all. + +The giant of the East was first aroused to a consciousness of his +strength by the invasion of Napoleon the Great. The comparative ease +with which the Grand Army was engulfed left on the national mind of +Russia a consciousness of pride never to be lost even amidst the cruel +disappointments of the Crimean War. Holy Russia had once beaten back the +forces of Europe marshalled by the greatest captain of all time. She was +therefore a match for the rest of the Continent. Such was the belief of +every patriotic Muscovite. As for the Turks, they were not worthy of +entering the lists against the soldiers of the Czar. Did not every +decade bring further proofs of the decline of the Ottomans in governing +capacity and military prowess? They might harry Bulgarian peasants and +win laurels over the Servian militia. But how could that bankrupt State +and its undisciplined hordes hold up against the might of Russia and the +fervour of her liberating legions? + +After the indulgence of these day dreams the disillusionment caused by +the events at Plevna came the more cruelly. One general after another +became the scapegoat for the popular indignation. Then the General +Staff was freely censured, and whispers went round that the Grand Duke +Nicholas, brother of the Czar, was not only incompetent to conduct a +great war, but guilty of underhand dealings with the contractors who +defrauded the troops and battened on the public funds. Letters from the +rank and file showed that the bread was bad, the shoes were rotten, the +rifles outclassed by those of the Turks, and that trenching-tools were +lacking for many precious weeks[222]. Then, too, the Bulgarian peasants +were found to be in a state of comfort superior to that of the bulk of +their liberators--a discovery which aroused in the Russian soldiery +feelings like those of the troops of the old French monarchy when they +fought side by side with the soldiers of Washington for the triumph of +democracy in the New World. In both cases the lessons were stored up, to +be used when the champions of liberty returned home and found the old +order of things clanking on as slowly and rustily as ever. + +[Footnote 222: _Russia Before and After the War_, translated by E.F. +Taylor (London, 1880), chap. xvi.: "We have been cheated by blockheads, +robbed by people whose incapacity was even greater than their +villainy."] + +Finally, there came the crushing blow of the Treaty of Berlin. The +Russian people had fought for an ideal: they longed to see the cross +take the place of the crescent which for five centuries had flashed +defiance to Christendom from the summit of St. Sofia at Constantinople. +But Britain's ironclads, Austria's legions, and German diplomacy barred +the way in the very hour of triumph; and Russia drew back. To the Slav +enthusiasts of Moscow even the Treaty of San Stefano had seemed a +dereliction of a sacred duty; that of Berlin seemed the most +cowardly of betrayals. As the Princess Radziwill confesses in her +_Recollections_--that event made Nihilism possible. + +As usual, the populace, whether reactionary Slavophils or Liberals of +the type of Western Europe, vented its spleen on the Government. For a +time the strongest bureaucracy in Europe was driven to act on the +defensive. The Czar returned stricken with asthma and prematurely aged +by the privations and cares of the campaign. The Grand Duke Nicholas was +recalled from his command, and, after bearing the signs of studied +hostility of the Czarevitch, was exiled to his estates in February 1879. +The Government inspired contempt rather than fear; and a new spirit of +independence pervaded all classes. This was seen even as far back as +February 1878, in the acquittal of Vera Zazulich, a lady who had shot +the Chief of the Police at St. Petersburg, by a jury consisting of +nobles and high officials; and the verdict, given in the face of damning +evidence, was generally approved. Similar crimes occurred nearly every +week[223]. Everything therefore, favoured the designs of those who +sought to overthrow all government. In a word, the outcome of the war +was Nihilism. + +[Footnote 223: _Ibid_. chap. xvii. The Government thereafter dispensed +with the ordinary forms of justice for political crimes and judged them +by special Commissions.] + +The father of this sombre creed was a wealthy Russian landlord named +Bakunin; or rather, he shares this doubtful honour with the Frenchman +Prudhon. Bakunin, who was born in 1814, entered on active life in the +time of soulless repression inaugurated by the Czar Nicholas I. +(1825-1855). Disgusted by Russian bureaucracy, the youth eagerly drank +in the philosophy of Western Europe, especially that of Hegel. During a +residence at Paris, he embraced and developed Prudhon's creed that +"property is theft," and sought to prepare the way for a crusade against +all Governments by forming the Alliance of Social Democracy (1869), +which speedily became merged in the famous "Internationale." Driven +successively from France and Central Europe, he was finally handed over +to the Russians and sent to Siberia; thence he escaped to Japan and came +to England, finally settling in Switzerland. His writings and speeches +did much to rouse the Slavs of Austria, Poland, and Russia to a sense of +their national importance, and of the duty of overthrowing the +Governments that cramped their energies. + +As in the case of Prudhon his zeal for the non-existent and hatred of +the actual bordered on madness, as when he included most of the results +of art, literature, and science in his comprehensive anathemas. +Nevertheless his crusade for destruction appealed to no small part of +the sensitive peoples of the Slavonic race, who, differing in many +details, yet all have a dislike of repression and a longing to have +their "fling[224]." A union in a Panslavonic League for the overthrow of +the Houses of Romanoff, Hapsburg, and Hohenzollern promised to satisfy +the vague longings of that much-baffled race, whose name, denoting +"glorious," had become the synonym for servitude of the lowest type. +Such was the creed that disturbed Eastern and Central Europe throughout +the period 1847-78, now and again developing a kind of iconoclastic +frenzy among its votaries. + +[Footnote 224: For this peculiarity and a consequent tendency to +extremes, see Prof. G. Brandes _Impressions of Russia_, p. 22.] + +This revolutionary creed absorbed another of a different kind. The +second creed was scientific and self-centred; it had its origin in the +Liberal movement of the sixties, when reforms set in, even in +governmental circles. The Czar, Alexander II., in 1861 freed the serfs +from the control of their lords, and allotted to them part of the plots +which they had hitherto worked on a servile tenure. For various reasons, +which we cannot here detail, the peasants were far from satisfied with +this change, weighted, as it was, by somewhat onerous terms, irksome +restrictions, and warped sometimes by dishonest or hostile officials. +Limited powers of local government were also granted in 1864 to the +local Zemstvos or land-organisations; but these again failed to satisfy +the new cravings for a real system of self-government; and the Czar, +seeing that his work produced more ferment than gratitude, began at the +close of the sixties to fall back into the old absolutist ways[225]. + +[Footnote 225: See Wallace's _Russia_, 2 vols.; _Russia under the +Tzars_, by "Stepniak," vol. ii. chap. xxix.; also two lectures on +Russian affairs by Prof. Vinogradoff, in _Lectures on the History of the +Nineteenth Century_ (Camb. 1902).] + +At that time, too, a band of writers, of whom the novelist Turgenieff +is the best known, were extolling the triumphs of scientific research +and the benefits of Western democracy. He it was who adapted to +scientific or ethical use the word "Nihilism" (already in use in France +to designate Prudhon's theories), so as to represent the revolt of the +individual against the religious creed and patriarchal customs of old +Russia. "The fundamental principle of Nihilism," says "Stepniak," "was +absolute individualism. It was the negation, in the name of individual +liberty, of all the obligations imposed upon the individual by society, +by family life, and by religion[226]." + +[Footnote 226: _Underground Russia_, by "Stepniak," Introduction, p. 4. +Or, as Turgenieff phrased it in one of his novels: "a Nihilist is a man +who submits to no authority, who accepts not a single principle upon +faith merely, however high such a principle may stand in the eyes of +men." In short, a Nihilist was an extreme individualist and +rationalist.] + +For a time these disciples of Darwin and Herbert Spencer were satisfied +with academic protests against autocracy; but the uselessness of such +methods soon became manifest; the influence of professors and +philosophic Epicureans could never permeate the masses of Russia and +stir them to their dull depths. What "the intellectuals" needed was a +creed which would appeal to the many. + +This they gained mainly from Bakunin. He had pointed the way to what +seemed a practical policy, the ownership of the soil of Russia by the +Mirs, the communes of her myriad villages. As to methods, he advocated a +propaganda of violence. "Go among the people," he said, and convert them +to your aims. The example of the Paris Communists in 1871 enforced his +pleas; and in the subsequent years thousands of students, many of them +of the highest families, quietly left their homes, donned the peasants' +garb, smirched their faces, tarred their hands, and went into the +villages or the factories in the hope of stirring up the thick +sedimentary deposit of the Russian system[227]. In many cases their +utmost efforts ended in failure, the tragi-comedy of which is finely +set forth in Turgenieff's _Virgin Soil_. Still more frequently their +goal proved to be--Siberia. But these young men and women did not toil +for nought. Their efforts hastened the absorption of philosophic +Nihilism in the creed of Prudhon and Bakunin. The Nihilist of +Turgenieff's day had been a hedonist of the clubs, or a harmless weaver +of scientific Utopias; the Nihilist of the new age was that most +dangerous of men, a desperado girt with a fighting creed. + +[Footnote 227: _Russia in Revolution_, by G.H. Perriss, pp. 204-206, +210-214; Arnaudo, _I Nihilismo_ (Turin, 1879). See, too, the chapters +added by Sir D.M. Wallace to the new edition of his work +_Russia_ (1905).] + +The fusing of these two diverse elements was powerfully helped on by the +white heat of indignation that glowed throughout Russia when details of +the official peculation and mismanagement of the war with Turkey became +known. Everything combined to discredit the Government; and enthusiasts +of all kinds felt that the days for scientific propaganda and stealthy +agitation were past. Voltaire must give way to Marat. It was time for +the bomb and the dagger to do their work. + +The new Nihilists organised an executive committee for the removal of +the most obnoxious officials. Its success was startling. To name only a +few of their chief deeds: on August 15, 1878, a Chief of the Police was +slain near one of the Imperial Palaces at the capital; and, in February +1879, the Governor of Kharkov was shot, the Nihilists succeeding in +announcing his condemnation by placards mysteriously posted up in every +large town. In vain did the Government intervene and substitute a +military Commission in place of trial by jury. Exile and hanging only +made the Nihilists more daring, and on more than one occasion the Czar +nearly fell a victim to their desperadoes. + +The most astounding of these attempts was the explosion of a mine under +the banqueting-hall of the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg on the +evening of February 17, 1880, when the Imperial family escaped owing to +a delay in the arrival of the Grand Duke of Hesse. Ten soldiers were +killed and forty-eight wounded in and near the guard-room. + +The Czar answered outrage by terrorism. A week after this outrage he +issued a ukase suspending the few remaining rights of local +self-government hitherto spared by the reaction, and vesting practically +all executive powers in a special Commission, presided over by General +Loris Melikoff. This man was an Armenian by descent, and had +distinguished himself as commander in the recent war in Asia, the +capture of Kars being largely due to his dispositions. To these warlike +gifts, uncommon in the Armenians of to-day, he added administrative +abilities of a high order. Enjoying in a peculiar degree the confidence +of Alexander II., he was charged with the supervision of all political +trials and a virtual control of all the Governors-General of the Empire. +Thereupon the central committee of the Nihilists proclaimed war _à +outrance_ until the Czar conceded to a popularly elected National +Assembly the right to reform the life of Russia. + +Here was the strength of the Nihilist party. By violent means it sought +to extort what a large proportion of the townsfolk wished for and found +no means of demanding in a lawful manner. Loris Melikoff, gifted with +the shrewdness of his race, saw that the Government would effect little +by terrorism alone. Wholesale arrests, banishment, and hangings only +added to the number of the disaffected, especially as the condemned went +to their doom with a calm heroism that inspired the desire of imitation +or revenge. Repression must clearly be accompanied by reforms that would +bridge over the gulf ever widening between the Government and the +thinking classes of the people. He began by persuading the Emperor to +release several hundreds of suspects and to relax the severe measures +adopted against the students of the Universities. Lastly, he sought to +induce the Czar to establish representative institutions, for which even +the nobles were beginning to petition. Little by little he familiarised +him with the plan of extending the system of the Zemstvos, so that there +should be elective councils for towns and provinces, as well as +delegations from the provincial _noblesse_. He did not propose to +democratise the central Government. In his scheme the deputies of +nobles and representatives of provinces and towns were to send delegates +to the Council of State, a purely consultative body which Alexander I. +had founded in 1802. + +Despite the tentative nature of these proposals, and the favourable +reception accorded to them by the Council of State, the Czar for several +days withheld his assent. On March 9 he signed the ukase, only to +postpone its publication until March 12. Not until the morning of March +13 did he give the final order for its publication in the _Messager +Officiel_. It was his last act as lawgiver. On that day (March 1, and +Sunday, in the Russian calendar) he went to the usual military parade, +despite the earnest warnings of the Czarevitch and Loris Melikoff as to +a rumoured Nihilist plot. To their pleadings he returned the answer, +"Only Providence can protect me, and when it ceases to do so, these +Cossacks cannot possibly help." On his return, alongside of the +Catharine Canal, a bomb was thrown under his carriage; the explosion +tore the back off the carriage, injuring some of his Cossack escort, but +leaving the Emperor unhurt. True to his usual feelings of compassion, he +at once alighted to inquire after the wounded. This act cost him his +life. Another Nihilist quickly approached and flung a bomb right at his +feet. As soon as the smoke cleared away, Alexander was seen to be +frightfully mangled and lying in his blood. He could only murmur, +"Quick, home; carry to the Palace; there die." There, surrounded by his +dearest ones, Alexander II. breathed his last. + +In striking down the liberator of the serfs when on the point of +recurring to earlier and better methods of rule, the Nihilists had dealt +the death-blow to their own cause. As soon as the details of the outrage +were known, the old love for the Czar welled forth: his imperfections in +public and private life, the seeming weakness of his foreign policy, and +his recent use of terrorism against the party of progress were +forgotten; and to the sensitive Russian nature, ever prone to extremes, +his figure stood forth as the friend of peace, and the would-be +reformer, hindered in his efforts by unwise advisers and an +untoward destiny. + + * * * * * + +His successor was a man cast in a different mould. It is one of the +peculiarities of the recent history of Russia that her rulers have +broken away from the policy of their immediate predecessors, to recur to +that which they had discarded. The vague and generous Liberalism of +Alexander I. gave way in 1825 to the stern autocracy of his brother, +Nicholas I. This being shattered by the Crimean War, Alexander II. +harked back to the ideals of his uncle, and that, too, in the wavering +and unsatisfactory way which had brought woe to that ruler and unrest to +the people. Alexander III., raised to the throne by the bombs of the +revolutionaries, determined to mould his policy on the principles of +autocracy and orthodoxy. To pose as a reformer would have betokened fear +of the Nihilists; and the new ruler, gifted with a magnificent physique, +a narrow mind, and a stern will, ever based his conduct on elementary +notions that appealed to the peasant and the common soldier. In 1825 +Nicholas I. had cowed the would-be rebels at his capital by a display of +defiant animal courage. Alexander III. resolved to do the like. He had +always been noted for a quiet persistence on which arguments fell in +vain. The nickname, "bullock," which his father early gave him +(shortened by his future subjects to "bull"), sufficiently summed up the +supremacy of the material over the mental that characterised the new +ruler. Bismarck, who knew him, had a poor idea of his abilities, and +summed up his character by saying that he looked at things from the +point of view of a Russian peasant[228]. That remark supplies a key to +Russian politics during the years 1881-94. + +[Footnote 228: _Reminiscences of Bismarck_, by S. Whitman, p. 114; +_Bismarck: some Secret Pages of his History_, by M. Busch, vol. iii. +p. 150.] + +At first, when informed by Melikoff that the late Czar was on the point +of making the constitutional experiment described above, Alexander III. +exclaimed, "Change nothing in the orders of my father. This shall count +as his will and testament." If he had held to this generous resolve the +world's history would perhaps have been very different. Had he published +his father's last orders; had he appealed to the people, like another +Antony over the corpse of Cæar, the enthusiastic Slav temperament +would have eagerly responded to this mark of Imperial confidence. +Loyalty to the throne and fury against the Nihilists would have been the +dominant feelings of the age, impelling all men to make the wisest use +of the thenceforth sacred bequest of constitutional freedom. + +The man who is believed to have blighted these hopes was Pobyedonosteff, +the Procureur of the highest Ecclesiastical Court of the Empire. To him +had been confided the education of the present Czar; and the fervour of +his orthodoxy, as well as the clear-cut simplicity of his belief in old +Muscovite customs, had gained complete ascendancy over the mind of his +pupil. Different estimates have been formed as to the character of +Pobyedonosteff. In the eyes of some he is a conscientious zealot who +believes in the mission of Holy Russia to vivify an age corrupted by +democracy and unbelief; others regard him as the Russian Macchiavelli, +straining his beliefs to an extent which his reason rejects, in order to +gain power through the mechanism of the autocracy and the Greek Church. +The thin face, passionless gaze, and coldly logical utterance bespeak +the politician rather than the zealot; yet there seems to be good reason +for believing that he is a "fanatic by reflection," not by +temperament[229]. A volume of _Reflections_ which he has given to the +world contains some entertaining judgments on the civilisation of the +West. It may be worth while to select a few, as showing the views of the +man who, through his pupil, influenced the fate of Russia and of +the world. + +[Footnote 229: _Russia under Alexander III._, by H. von +Samson-Himmelstierna, Eng. ed. ch. vii.] + + Parliament is an institution serving for the satisfaction of + the personal ambition, vanity, and self-interest of its + members. The institution of Parliament is indeed one of the + greatest illustrations of human delusion. . . . On the pediment + of this edifice is inscribed, "All for the public good." This + is no more than a lying formula: Parliamentarism is the + triumph of egoism--its highest expression. . . . + + From the day that man first fell, falsehood has ruled the + world--ruled it in human speech, in the practical business of + life, in all its relations and institutions. But never did + the Father of Lies spin such webs of falsehood of every kind + as in this restless age. . . . The press is one of the falsest + institutions of our time. + +In the chapter "Power and Authority" the author holds up to the gaze of +a weary world a refreshing vision of a benevolent despotism which will +save men in spite of themselves. + + Power is the depository of truth, and needs, above all + things, men of truth, of clear intellects, of strong + understandings, and of sincere speech, who know the limits of + "yes" and "no," and never transcend them, etc[230]. + +[Footnote 230: _Pobyedonosteff; his Reflections_, Eng. ed.] + +To this Muscovite Laud was now entrusted the task of drafting a +manifesto in the interests of "power" and "truth." + +Meanwhile the Nihilists themselves had helped on the cause of reaction. +Even before the funeral of Alexander II. their executive committee had +forwarded to his successor a document beseeching him to give up +arbitrary power and to take the people into his confidence. While +purporting to impose no conditions, the Nihilist chiefs urged him to +remember that two measures were needful preliminaries to any general +pacification, namely, a general amnesty of all political offenders, as +being merely "executors of a hard civic duty"; and "the convocation of +representatives of all the Russian people for a revision and reform of +all the private laws of the State, according to the will of the nation." +In order that the election of this Assembly might be a reality, the Czar +was pressed to grant freedom of speech and of public meetings[231]. + +[Footnote 231: The whole document is printed in the Appendix to +"Stepniak's" _Underground Russia_.] + +It is difficult to say whether the Nihilists meant this document as an +appeal, or whether the addition of the demand of a general amnesty was +intended to anger the Czar and drive him into the arms of the +reactionaries. In either case, to press for the immediate pardon of his +father's murderers appeared to Alexander III. an unpardonable insult. +Thenceforth between him and the revolutionaries there could be no truce. +As a sop to quiet the more moderate reformers, he ordered the +appointment of a Commission, including a few members of Zemstvos, and +even one peasant, to inquire into the condition of public-houses and the +excessive consumption of vodka. Beyond this humdrum though useful +question the imperial reformer did not deign to move. + +After a short truce, the revolutionaries speedily renewed their efforts +against the chief officials who were told off to crush them; but it soon +became clear that they had lost the good-will of the middle class. The +Liberals looked on them, not merely as the murderers of the liberating +Czar, but as the destroyers of the nascent constitution; and the masses +looked on unmoved while five of the accomplices in the outrage of March +13 were slowly done to death. In the next year twenty-two more suspects +were arrested on the same count; ten were hanged and the rest exiled to +Siberia. Despite these inroads into the little band of desperadoes, the +survivors compassed the murder of the Public Prosecutor as he sat in a +café at Odessa (March 30, 1882). On the other hand, the official police +were helped for a time by zealous loyalists, who formed a "Holy Band" +for secretly countermining the Nihilist organisation. These amateur +detectives, however, did little except appropriate large donations, +arrest a few harmless travellers and no small number of the secret +police force. The professionals thereupon complained to the Czar, who +suppressed the "Holy Band." + +The events of the years 1883 and 1884 showed that even the army, on +which the Czar was bestowing every care, was permeated with Nihilism, +women having by their arts won over many officers to the revolutionary +cause. Poland, also, writhing with discontent under the Czar's stern +despotism, was worked on with success by their emissaries; and the +ardour of the Poles made the recruits especially dangerous to the +authorities, ever fearful of another revolt in that unhappy land. +Finally, the Czar was fain to shut himself up in nearly complete +seclusion in his palace at Gatchina, near St. Petersburg, or in his +winter retreat at Livadia, on the southern shores of the Crimea. + +These facts are of more than personal and local importance. They +powerfully affected the European polity. These were the years which saw +the Bulgarian Question come to a climax; and the impotence of Russia +enabled that people and their later champions to press on to a solution +which would have been impossible had the Czar been free to strike as he +undoubtedly willed. For the present he favoured the cause of peace +upheld by his chancellor, de Giers; and in the autumn of the year 1884, +as will be shown in the following chapter, he entered into a compact at +Skiernewice, which virtually allotted to Bismarck the arbitration on all +urgent questions in the Balkans. As late as November 1885, we find Sir +Robert Morier, British ambassador at the Russian Court, writing +privately and in very homely phrase to his colleague at Constantinople, +Sir William White: "I am convinced Russia does not want a general war in +Europe about Turkey now, and that she is really suffering from a +gigantic _Katzenjammer_ (surfeit) caused by the last war[232]." It is +safe to say that Bulgaria largely owes her freedom from Russian control +to the Nihilists. + +[Footnote 232: _Memoirs and Correspondence of Sir William White_, edited +by H.S. Edwards, ch. xviii.] + +For the Czar the strain of prolonged warfare against unseen and +desperate foes was terrible. Surrounded by sentries, shadowed by secret +police, the lonely man yet persisted in governing with the assiduity and +thoroughness of the great Napoleon. He tried to pry into all the affairs +of his vast empire; and, as he held aloof even from his chief Ministers, +he insisted that they should send to him detailed reports on all the +affairs of State, foreign and domestic, military and naval, religious +and agrarian. What wonder that the Nihilists persisted in their efforts, +in the hope that even his giant strength must break down under the +crushing burdens of toil and isolation. That he held up so long shows +him to have been one of the strongest men and most persistent workers +known to history. He had but one source of inspiration, religious zeal, +and but one form of relaxation, the love of his devoted Empress. + +It is needless to refer to the later phases of the revolutionary +movement. Despite their well-laid plans, the revolutionaries gradually +lost ground; and in 1892 even Stepniak confessed that they alone could +not hope to overthrow the autocracy. About that time, too, their party +began to split in twain, a younger group claiming that the old terrorist +methods must be replaced by economic propaganda of an advanced +socialistic type among the workers of the towns. For this new departure +and its results we must refer our readers to the new materials brought +to light by Sir D. Mackenzie Wallace in the new edition of his work +_Russia_ (1905). + +Here we can point out only a few of the more general causes that +contributed to the triumph of the Czar. In the first place, the +difficulties in the way of common action among the proletariat of Russia +are very great. Millions of peasants, scattered over vast plains, where +the great struggle is ever against the forces of nature, cannot +effectively combine. Students of history will observe that even where +the grievances are mainly agrarian, as in the France of 1789, the first +definite outbreak is wont to occur in great towns. Russia has no Paris, +eager to voice the needs of the many. + +Then again, the Russian peasants are rooted in customs and superstitions +which cling about the Czar with strange tenacity and are proof against +the reasoning of strangers. Their rising could, therefore, be very +partial; besides which, the land is for the most part unsuited to the +guerilla tactics that so often have favoured the cause of liberty in +mountainous lands. The Czar and his officials know that the strength of +their system lies in the ignorance of the peasants, in the soldierly +instincts of their immense army, and in the spread of railways and +telegraphs, which enables the central power to crush the beginnings of +revolt. Thus the Czar's authority, resting incongruously on a faith dumb +and grovelling as that of the Dark Ages, and on the latest developments +of mechanical science, has been able to defy the tendencies of the age +and the strivings of Russian reformers. + + * * * * * + +The aim of this work prescribes a survey of those events alone which +have made modern States what they are to-day; but the victory of +absolutism in Russia has had so enormous an influence on the modern +world--not least in the warping of democracy in France--that it will be +well to examine the operation of other forces which contributed to the +set back of reform in that Empire, especially as they involved a change +in the relations of the central power to alien races in general, and to +the Grand Duchy of Finland in particular. + +These forces, or ideals, may be summed up in the old Slavophil motto, +"Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality." These old Muscovite ideals had lent +strength to Nicholas I. in his day; and his grandson now determined to +appeal to the feeling of Nationality in its narrowest and strongest +form. That instinct, which Mazzini looked on as the means of raising in +turn all the peoples of the world to the loftier plane of Humanity, was +now to be the chief motive in the propulsion of the Juggernaut car of +the Russian autocracy. + +The first to feel the weight of the governmental machine were the Jews. +Rightly or wrongly, they were thought to be concerned in the peculations +that disgraced the campaign of 1877 and in the plot for the murder of +Alexander II. In quick succession the officials and the populace found +out that outrages on the Jews would not be displeasing at headquarters. +The secret once known, the rabble of several towns took the law into +their own hands. In scores of places throughout the years 1881 and 1882, +the mob plundered and fired their shops and houses, beat the wretched +inmates, and in some cases killed them outright. At Elisabetgrad and +Kiev the Jewish quarters were systematically pillaged and then given +over to the flames. The fury reached its climax at the small town of +Balta; the rabble pillaged 976 Jewish houses, and, not content with +seizing all the wealth that came to hand, killed eight of the traders, +besides wounding 211 others. + +Doubtless these outrages were largely due to race-hatred as well as to +spite on the part of the heedless, slovenly natives against the keen and +grasping Hebrews. The same feelings have at times swept over Roumania, +Austria, Germany, and France. Jew-baiting has appealed even to nominally +enlightened peoples as a novel and profitable kind of sport; and few of +its votaries have had the hypocritical effrontery to cloak their conduct +under the plea of religious zeal. The movement has at bottom everywhere +been a hunt after Jewish treasure, embittered by the hatred of the clown +for the successful trader, of the individualist native for an alien, +clannish, and successful community. In Russia religious motives may +possibly have weighed with the Czar and the more ignorant and bigoted of +the peasantry; but levelling and communistic ideas certainly accounted +for the widespread plundering--witness the words often on the lips of +the rioters: "We are breakfasting on the Jews; we shall dine on the +landlords, and sup on the priests." In 1890 there appeared a ukase +ordering the return of the Jews to those provinces and districts where +they had been formerly allowed to settle--that is, chiefly in the South +and West; and all foreign Jews were expelled from the Empire. It is +believed that as many as 225,000 Jewish families left Russia in the +sixteen months following[233]. + +[Footnote 233: Rambaud, _Histoire de la Russie_, ch. xxxviii.; Lowe, +_Alexander III. of Russia_, ch. viii.; H. Frederic, _The New Exodus_; +Professor Errera, _The Russian Jews_.] + +The next onslaught was made against a body of Christian dissenters, the +humble community known as Stundists. These God-fearing peasants had +taken a German name because the founder of their sect had been converted +at the _Stunden_, or hour-long services, of German Lutherans long +settled in the south of Russia; they held a simple evangelical faith; +their conduct was admittedly far better than that of the peasants, who +held to the mass of customs and superstitions dignified by the name of +the orthodox Greek creed; and their piety and zeal served to spread the +evangelical faith, especially among the more emotional people of South +Russia, known as Little Russians. + +Up to the year 1878, Alexander II. refrained from persecuting them, +possibly because he felt some sympathy with men who were fast raising +themselves and their fellows above the old level of brutish ignorance. +But in that year the Greek Church pressed him to take action. If he +chastised them with whips, his son lashed them with scorpions. He saw +that they were sapping the base of one of the three pillars that +supported the imperial fabric--Orthodoxy, in the Russian sense. Orders +went forth to stamp out the heretic pest. At once all the strength of +the governmental machine was brought to bear on these non-resisting +peasants. Imprisonment, exile, execution--such was their lot. Their +communities, perhaps the happiest then to be found in rural Russia, were +broken up, to be flung into remote corners of Transcaucasia or Siberia, +and there doomed to the régime of the knout or the darkness of the +mines[234]. According to present appearances the persecutors have +succeeded. The evangelical faith seems to have been almost stamped out +even in South Russia; and the Greek Church has regained its hold on the +allegiance, if not on the beliefs and affections, of the masses. + +[Footnote 234: See an article by Count Leo Tolstoy in the _Contemporary +Review_ for November 1895; also a pamphlet on "The Stundists," with +Preface by Rev. J. Brown, D.D.] + +To account for this fact, we must remember the immense force of +tradition and custom among a simple rural folk, also that very many +Russians sincerely believe that their institutions and their national +creed were destined to regenerate Europe. See, they said in effect, +Western Europe oscillates between papal control and free thought; its +industries, with their _laissez faire_ methods, raise the few to +enormous wealth and crush the many into a new serfdom worse than the +old. For all these evils Russia has a cure; her autocracy saves her from +the profitless wrangling of Parliaments; her national Church sums up the +beliefs and traditions of nobles and peasants; and at the base of her +social system she possesses in the "Mir" a patriarchal communism against +which the forces of the West will beat in vain. Looking on the Greek +Church as a necessary part of the national life, they sought to wield +its powers for nationalising all the races of that motley Empire. +"Russia for the Russians," cried the Slavophils. "Let us be one people, +with one creed. Let us reverence the Czar as head of the Church and of +the State. In this unity lies our strength." However defective the +argument logically, yet in the realm of sentiment, in which the Slavs +live, move, and have their being, the plea passed muster. National pride +was pressed into the service of the persecutors; and all dissenters, +whether Roman Catholics of Poland, Lutherans of the Baltic Provinces, or +Stundists of the Ukraine, felt the remorseless grinding of the State +machine, while the Greek Church exalted its horn as it had not done for +a century past. + +Other sides of this narrowly nationalising policy were seen in the +determined repression of Polish feelings, of the Germans in the Baltic +provinces, and of the Armenians of Transcaucasia. Finally, remorseless +pressure was brought to bear on that interesting people, the Finns. We +can here refer only to the last of these topics. The Germans in the +Provinces of Livonia, Courland, and Esthonia formed the majority only +among the land-holding and merchant classes; and the curbing of their +semi-feudal privileges wore the look of a democratic reform. + + * * * * * + +The case was far different with the Finns. They are a non-Aryan people, +and therefore differ widely from the Swedes and Russians. For centuries +they formed part of the Swedish monarchy, deriving thence in large +measure their literature, civilisation, and institutions. To this day +the Swedish tongue is used by about one-half of their gentry and +burghers. On the annexation of Finland by Alexander I., in consequence +of the Franco-Russian compact framed at Tilsit in 1807, he made to their +Estates a solemn promise to respect their constitution and laws. Similar +engagements have been made by his successors. Despite some attempts by +Nicholas I. to shelve the constitution of the Grand Duchy, local +liberties remained almost intact up to a comparatively recent time. In +the year 1869 the Finns gained further guarantees of their rights. +Alexander II. then ratified the laws of Finland, and caused a statement +of the relations between Finland and Russia to be drawn up. + +In view of the recent struggle between the Czar and the Finnish people, +it may be well to give a sketch of their constitution. The sovereign +governs, not as Emperor of Russia, but as Grand Duke of Finland. He +delegates his administrative powers to a Senate, which is presided over +by a Governor-General. This important official, as a matter of fact, has +always been a Russian; his powers are, or rather were[235], shared by +two sections of the Finnish Senate, each composed of ten members +nominated by the Grand Duke. The Senate prepares laws and ordinances +which the Grand Duke then submits to the Diet. This body consists of +four Orders--nobles, clergy, burghers, and peasants. Since 1886 it has +enjoyed to a limited extent the right of initiating laws. The Orders sit +and vote separately. In most cases a resolution that is passed by three +of them becomes law, when it has received the assent of the Grand Duke. +But the assent of a majority in each of the four Orders is needed in the +case of a proposal that affects the constitution of the Grand Duchy and +the privileges of the Orders. In case a Bill is accepted by two Orders +and is rejected by the other two, a deadlock is averted by each of the +Orders appointing fifteen delegates; these sixty delegates, meeting +without discussion, vote by ballot, and a bare majority carries the day. +Measures are then referred to the Grand Duke, who, after consulting the +Senate, gives or witholds his assent[236]. + +[Footnote 235: A law of the autumn of 1902 altered this. It delegated +the administration to the Governor-General, _assisted by_ the Senate.] + +[Footnote 236: For the constitution of Finland and its relation to +Russia, see _A Précis of the Public Law of Finland_, by L. Mechelin, +translated by C.J. Cooke (1889); _Pour la Finlande_, par Jean Deck; +_Pour la Finlande, La Constitution du Grand Duché de Finlande_ (Paris, +1900). J.R. Danielsson, _Finland's Union with the Russian Empire_ +(Borga, 1891).] + +A very important clause of the law of 1869 declares that "Fundamental +laws can be made, altered, explained, or repealed, only on the +representation of the Emperor and Grand Duke, and with the consent of +all the Estates." This clause sharply marked off Finland from Russia, +where the power of the Czar is theoretically unlimited. New taxes may +not be imposed nor old taxes altered without the consent of the Finnish +Diet; but, strange to say, the customs dues are fixed by the Government +(that is, by the Grand Duke and the Senate) without the co-operation of +the Diet. Despite the archaic form of its representation, the Finnish +constitution (an offshoot of that of Sweden) has worked extremely well; +and in regard to civil freedom and religious toleration, the Finns take +their place among the most progressive communities of the world. +Moreover, the constitution is no recent and artificial creation; it +represents customs and beliefs that are deeply ingrained in a people +who, like their Magyar kinsmen, cling firmly to the old, even while they +hopefully confront the facts of the present. There was every ground for +hope. Between the years 1812 and 1886 the population grew from 900,000 +to 2,300,000, and the revenue from less than 7,000,000 marks (a Finnish +mark = about ten pence) to 40,000,000 marks. + +Possibly this prosperity prompted in the Russian bureaucracy the desire +to bring the Grand Duchy closely into line with the rest of the Empire. +On grounds other than constitutional, the bureaucrats had a case. They +argued that while the revenue of Finland was increasing faster than that +of Russia Proper, yet the Grand Duchy bore no share of the added +military burdens. It voted only 17 per cent of its revenue for military +defence as against 28 per cent set apart in the Russian Budget. The fact +that the Swedish and Finnish languages, as well as Finnish money, were +alone used on the railways of the Grand Duchy, even within a few miles +of St. Petersburg, also formed a cause of complaint. When, therefore, +the Slavophils began to raise a hue and cry against everything that +marred the symmetry of the Empire, an anti-Finnish campaign lay in the +nature of things. Historical students discovered that the constitution +was the gift of the Czars, and that their goodwill had been grossly +misused by the Finns. Others, who could not deny the validity of the +Finnish constitution, claimed that even constitutions and laws must +change with changing circumstances; that a narrow particularism was out +of place in an age of railways and telegraphs; and that Finland must +take its fair share in the work of national defence[237]. + +[Footnote 237: See for the Russian case d'Elenew, _Les Prétentions des +Séparatistes finlandais_ (1895); also _La Conquête de la Finlande_, by +K. Ordine (1889)--answered by J.R. Danielsson, _op. cit._; also +_Russland und Finland vom russischen Standpunkte aus betrachtet_, by +"Sarmatus" (1903).] + +Little by little Alexander III. put in force this Slavophil creed +against Finland. His position as Grand Duke gave him the right of +initiating laws; but he overstepped his constitutional powers by +imposing various changes. In January 1890 he appointed three committees, +sitting at St. Petersburg, to bring the coinage, the customs system, and +the postal service of Finland into harmony with those of Russia. In June +there appeared an imperial ukase assimilating the postal service of +Finland to that of Russia--an illegal act which led to the resignation +of the Finnish Ministers. In May 1891 the "Committee for Finnish +Affairs," sitting at St. Petersburg, was abolished; and that year saw +other efforts curbing the liberty of the Press, and extending the use of +the Russian language in the government of the Grand Duchy. + +The trenches having now been pushed forward against the outworks of +Finnish freedom, an assault was prepared against the ramparts--the +constitution itself. The assailants discovered in it a weak point, a +lack of clearness in the clauses specifying the procedure to be followed +in matters where common action had to be taken in Finland and in Russia. +They saw here a chance of setting up an independent authority, which, +under the guise of _interpreting_ the constitution, could be used for +its suspension and overthrow. A committee, consisting of six Russians +and four Finns, was appointed at the close of the year 1892 to codify +laws and take the necessary action. It sat at St. Petersburg; but the +opposition of the Finnish members, backed up by the public opinion of +the whole Duchy, sufficed to postpone any definite decision. Probably +this time of respite was due to the reluctance felt by Alexander III. in +his closing days to push matters to an extreme. + +The alternating tendencies so well marked in the generations of the +Romanoff rulers made themselves felt at the accession of Nicholas II. +(Nov. 1, 1894). Lacking the almost animal force which carried Alexander +III. so far in certain grooves, he resembles the earlier sovereigns of +that name in the generous cosmopolitanism and dreamy good nature which +shed an autumnal haze over their careers. Unfortunately the reforming +Czars have been without the grit of the crowned Boyars, who trusted in +Cossack, priest, and knout; and too often they have bent before the +reactionary influences always strong at the Russian Court. To this +peculiarity in the nature of Nicholas II. we may probably refer the +oscillations in his Finnish policy. In the first years of his reign he +gradually abated the rigour of his father's regime, and allowed greater +liberty of the Press in Finland. The number of articles suppressed sank +from 216 in the year 1893 to 40 in 1897[238]. + +[Footnote 238: _Pour la Finlande_, par Jean Deck, p. 36.] + +The hopes aroused by this display of moderation soon vanished. Early in +1898 the appointment of General Kuropatkin to the Ministry for War for +Russia foreboded evil to the Grand Duchy. The new Minister speedily +counselled the exploitation of the resources of Finland for the benefit +of the Empire. Already the Russian General Staff had made efforts in +this direction; and now Kuropatkin, supported by the whole weight of the +Slavophil party, sought to convince the Czar of the danger of leaving +the Finns with a separate military organisation. A military committee, +in which there was only one Finn, the Minister Procope, had for some +time been sitting at St. Petersburg, and finally gained over Nicholas +II. to its views. He is said to have formed his final decision during +his winter stay at Livadia in the Crimea, owing to the personal +intervention of Kuropatkin, and that too in face of a protest from the +Finnish Minister, Procope, against the suspension by imperial ukase of a +fundamental law of the Grand Duchy. The Czar must have known of the +unlawfulness of the present procedure, for on November 6/18, 1894, +shortly after his accession, he signed the following declaration:-- + + . . . We have hereby desired to confirm and ratify the + religion, the fundamental laws, the rights and privileges of + every class in the said Grand Duchy, in particular, and all + its inhabitants high and low in general, which they, + according to the constitution of this country, had enjoyed, + promising to preserve the same steadfastly and in full + force[239]. + +[Footnote 239: _The Rights of Finland_, p. 4 (Stockholm 1899). See too +for the whole question _Finland and the Tsars, 1809-1899_, by J.R. +Fisher (London, 2nd Edit. 1900).] + +The military system of Finland having been definitely organised by the +Finnish law of 1878, that statute clearly came within the scope of those +"fundamental laws" which Nicholas II. had promised to uphold in full +force. We can imagine, then, the astonishment which fell on the Finnish +Diet and people on the presentation of the famous Imperial Manifesto of +February 3/15, 1899. While expressing a desire to leave purely Finnish +affairs to the consideration of the Government and Diet of the Grand +Duchy, the Czar warned his Finnish subjects that there were others that +could not be so treated, seeing that they were "closely bound up with +the needs of the whole Empire." As the Finnish constitution pointed out +no way of treating such subjects, it was needful now to complete the +existing institutions of the Duchy. The Manifesto proceded as follows:-- + + Whilst maintaining in full force the now prevailing statutes + which concern the promulgation of local laws touching + exclusively the internal affairs of Finland, We have found it + necessary to reserve to Ourselves the ultimate decision as to + which laws come within the scope of the general legislation + of the Empire. With this in view, We have with Our Royal Hand + established and confirmed the fundamental statutes for the + working out, revision, and promulgation of laws issued for + the Empire, including the Grand Duchy of Finland, which are + proclaimed simultaneously herewith[240]. + +[Footnote 240: _The Rights of Finland_, pp. 6-7 also in _Pour la +Finlande_, par J. Deck, p. 43.] + +The accompanying enactments made it clear that the Finnish Diet would +thenceforth have only consultative duties in respect to any measure +which seemed to the Czar to involve the interests of Russia as well as +of Finland. In fact, the proposals of February 15 struck at the root of +the constitution, subjecting it in all important matters to the will of +the autocrat at St. Petersburg. At once the Finns saw the full extent of +the calamity. They observed the following Sunday as a day of mourning; +the people of Helsingfors, the capital, gathered around the statue of +Alexander II., the organiser of their liberties, as a mute appeal to the +generous instincts of his grandson. Everywhere, even in remote villages, +solemn meetings of protest were held; but no violent act marred the +impressiveness of these demonstrations attesting the surprise and grief +of a loyal people. + +By an almost spontaneous impulse a petition was set on foot begging the +Czar to reconsider his decision. If ever a petition deserved the name +"national," it was that of Finland. Towns and villages signed almost _en +masse_. Ski-runners braved the hardships of a severe winter in the +effort to reach remote villages within the Arctic Circle; and within +five days (March 10-14) 529,931 names were signed, the marks of +illiterates being rejected. All was in vain. The Czar refused to receive +the petition, and ordered the bearers of it to return home[241]. + +[Footnote 241: _The Rights of Finland_, pp. 23-30.] + +The Russian Governor-General of Finland then began a brisk campaign +against the Finnish newspapers. Four were promptly suppressed, while +there were forty-three cases of "suspension" in the year 1899 alone. The +public administration also underwent a drastic process of russification, +Finnish officials and policemen being in very many cases ousted by +Muscovites. Early in the year 1901 local postage stamps gave place to +those of the Empire. Above all, General Kuropatkin was able almost +completely to carry out his designs against the Finnish army, the law of +1901 practically abolishing the old constitutional force and compelling +Finns to serve in any part of the Empire--in defiance of the old +statutes which limited their services to the Grand Duchy itself. + +The later developments of this interesting question fall without the +scope of this volume. We can therefore only state that the steadfast +opposition of the Finns to these illegal proceedings led to still +harsher treatment, and that the few concessions granted since the +outbreak of the Japanese War have apparently failed to soothe the +resentment aroused by the former unprovoked attacks upon the liberties +of Finland. + + * * * * * + +One fact, which cannot fail to elicit the attention of thoughtful +students of contemporary history, is the absence of able leaders in the +popular struggles of the age. Whether we look at the orderly resistance +of the Finns, the efforts of the Russian revolutionaries, or the fitful +efforts now and again put forth by the Poles, the same discouraging +symptom is everywhere apparent. More than once the hour seemed to have +struck for the overthrow of the old order, but no man appeared. Other +instances might of course be cited to show that the adage about the +hour and the man is more picturesque than true. The democratic movements +of 1848-49 went to pieces largely owing to the coyness of the requisite +hero. Or rather, perhaps, we ought to say that the heroes were there, in +the persons of Cavour and Garibaldi, Bismarck and Moltke; but no one was +at hand to set them in the places which they filled so ably in 1858-70. +Will the future see the hapless, unguided efforts of to-day championed +in an equally masterful way? If so, the next generation may see strange +things happen in Russia, as also elsewhere. + +Two suggestions may be advanced, with all diffidence, as to the reasons +for the absence of great leaders in the movements of to-day. As we noted +in the chapter dealing with the suppression of the Paris Commune of +1871, the centralised Governments now have a great material advantage in +dealing with local disaffection owing to their control of telegraphs, +railways, and machine-guns. This fact tells with crushing force, not +only at the time of popular rising, but also on the men who work to that +end. Little assurance was needed in the old days to compass the +overthrow of Italian Dukes and German Translucencies. To-day he would be +a man of boundlessly inspiring power who could hopefully challenge Czar +or Kaiser to a conflict. The other advantage which Governments possess +is in the intellectual sphere. There can be no doubt that the mere size +of the States and Governments of the present age exercises a deadening +effect on the minds of individuals. As the vastness of London produces +inertia in civic affairs, so, too, the great Empires tend to deaden the +initiative and boldness of their subjects. Those priceless qualities are +always seen to greatest advantage in small States like the Athens of +Pericles, the England of Elizabeth, or the Geneva of Rousseau; they are +stifled under the pyramidal mass of the Empire of the Czars; and as a +result there is seen a respectable mediocrity, equal only to the task of +organising street demonstrations and abortive mutinies. It may be that +in the future some commanding genius will arise, able to free himself +from the paralysing incubus, to fire the dull masses with hope, and to +turn the very vastness of the governmental machine into a means of +destruction. But, for that achievement, he will need the magnetism of a +Mirabeau, the savagery of a Marat, and the organising powers of a +Bonaparte. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE TRIPLE AND DUAL ALLIANCES + + "International policy is a fluid element which, under certain + conditions, will solidify, but, on a change of atmosphere, + reverts to its original condition."--Bismarck's _Reflections + and Reminiscences._ + + +It is one thing to build up a system of States: it is quite another +thing to guarantee their existence. As in the life of individuals, so in +that of nations, longevity is generally the result of a sound +constitution, a healthy environment, and prudent conduct. That the new +States of Europe possessed the first two of these requisites will be +obvious to all who remember that they are co-extensive with those great +limbs of Humanity, nations. Yet even so they needed protection from the +intrigues of jealous dynasties and of dispossessed princes or priests, +which have so often doomed promising experiments to failure. It is +therefore essential to our present study to observe the means which +endowed the European system with stability. + +Here again the master-builder was Bismarck. As he had concentrated all +the powers of his mind on the completion of German unity (with its +natural counterpart in Italy), so, too, he kept them on the stretch for +its preservation. For two decades his policy bestrode the continent like +a Colossus. It rested on two supporting ideas. The one was the +maintenance of alliance with Russia, which had brought the events of the +years 1863-70 within the bounds of possibility; the other aim was the +isolation of France. Subsidiary notions now and again influenced him, as +in 1884 when he sought to make bad blood between Russia and England in +Central Asian affairs (see Chapter XIV.), or to busy all the Powers in +colonial undertakings: but these considerations were secondary to the +two main motives, which at one point converged and begot a haunting fear +(the realisation of which overclouded his last years) that Russia and +France would unite against Germany. + +In order, as he thought, to obviate for ever a renewal of the "policy of +Tilsit" of the year 1807, he sought to favour the establishment of the +Republic in France. In his eyes, the more Radical it was the better: and +when Count von Arnim, the German ambassador at Paris, ventured to +contravene his instructions in this matter, he subjected him to severe +reproof and finally to disgrace. However harsh in his methods, Bismarck +was undoubtedly right in substance. The main consideration was that +which he set forth in his letter of December 20, 1872, to the +Count:--"We want France to leave us in peace, and we have to prevent +France finding an ally if she does not keep the peace. As long as France +has no allies she is not dangerous to Germany." A monarchical reaction, +he thought, might lead France to accord with Russia or Austria. A +Republic of the type sought for by Gambetta could never achieve that +task. Better, then, the red flag waving at Paris than the +_fleur-de-lys._ + +Still more important was it to bring about complete accord between the +three empires. Here again the red spectre proved to be useful. Various +signs seemed to point to socialism as the common enemy of them all. The +doctrines of Bakunin, Herzen, and Lassalle had already begun to work +threateningly in their midst, and Bismarck discreetly used this +community of interest in one particular to bring about an agreement on +matters purely political. In the month of September 1872 he realised one +of his dearest hopes. The Czar, Alexander II., and the Austrian Emperor, +Francis Joseph, visited Berlin, where they were most cordially received. +At that city the chancellors of the three empires exchanged official +memoranda--there seems to have been no formal treaty[242]--whereby they +agreed to work together for the following purposes: the maintenance of +the boundaries recently laid down, the settlement of problems arising +from the Eastern Question, and the repression of revolutionary movements +in Europe. + +[Footnote 242: In his speech of February 19, 1878, Bismarck said, "The +_liaison_ of the three Emperors, which is habitually designated an +alliance, rests on no written agreement and does not compel any one of +the three Emperors to submit to the decisions of the two others."] + +Such was the purport of the Three Emperors' League of 1872. There is +little doubt that Bismarck had worked on the Czar, always nervous as to +the growth of the Nihilist movement in Russia, in order to secure his +adhesion to the first two provisions of the new compact, which certainly +did not benefit Russia. The German Chancellor has since told us that, as +early as the month of September 1870, he sought to form such a league, +with the addition of the newly-united Italian realm, in order to +safeguard the interests of monarchy against republicans and +revolutionaries[243]. After the lapse of two years his wish took effect, +though Italy as yet did not join the cause of order. The new league +stood forth as the embodiment of autocracy and a terror to the +dissatisfied, whether revengeful Gauls, Danes, or Poles, intriguing +cardinals--it was the time of the "May Laws"--or excited men who waved +the red flag. It was a new version of the Holy Alliance formed after +Waterloo by the monarchs of the very same Powers, which, under the plea +of watching against French enterprises, succeeded in bolstering up +despotism on the Continent for a whole generation. + +[Footnote 243: Débidour, _Histoire diplomatique de l'Europe_, vol. ii. +pp. 458-59; Bismarck, _Reflections and Reminiscences_, vol. ii. +ch. xxix.] + +Fortunately for the cause of liberty, the new league had little of the +solidity of its predecessor. Either because the dangers against which it +guarded were less serious, or owing to the jealousies which strained its +structure from within, signs of weakness soon appeared, and the imposing +fabric was disfigured by cracks which all the plastering of +diplomatists failed to conceal. An eminent Russian historian, M. +Tatischeff, has recently discovered the hidden divulsive agency. It +seems that, not long after the formation of the Three Emperors' League, +Germany and Austria secretly formed a separate compact, whereby the +former agreed eventually to secure to the latter due compensation in the +Balkan Peninsula for her losses in the wars of 1859 and 1866 (Lombardy, +Venetia, and the control of the German Confederation, along with +Holstein)[244]. + +[Footnote 244: _The Emperor Alexander II.: His Life and Reign_, by S.S. +Tatischeff (St. Petersburg, 1903), Appendix to vol. ii.] + +That is, the two Central Powers in 1872 secretly agreed to take action +in the way in which Austria advanced in 1877-78, when she secured +Herzegovina. When and to what extent Russian diplomatists became aware +of this separate agreement is not known, but their suspicion or their +resentment appears to have prompted them to the unfriendly action +towards Germany which they took in the year 1875. According to the +Bismarck _Reflections and Reminiscences_, the Russian Chancellor, Prince +Gortchakoff, felt so keenly jealous of the rapid rise of the German +Chancellor to fame and pre-eminence as to spread "the lie" that Germany +was about to fall upon France. Even the uninitiated reader might feel +some surprise that the Russian Chancellor should have endangered the +peace of Europe and his own credit as a statesman for so slight a +motive; but it now seems that Bismarck's assertion must be looked on as +a "reflection," not as a "reminiscence." + +The same remark may perhaps apply to his treatment of the "affair of +1875," which largely determined the future groupings of the Powers. At +that time the recovery of France from the wounds of 1870 was well nigh +complete; her military and constitutional systems were taking concrete +form; and in the early part of the year 1875 the Chambers decreed a +large increase to the armed forces in the form of "the fourth +battalions." At once the military party at Berlin took alarm, and +through their chief, Moltke, pressed on the Emperor William the need of +striking promptly at France. The Republic, so they argued, could not +endure the strain which it now voluntarily underwent; the outcome must +be war; and war at once would be the most statesmanlike and merciful +course. Whether the Emperor in any way acceded to these views is not +known. He is said to have more than once expressed a keen desire to end +his reign in peace. + +The part which Bismarck played at this crisis is also somewhat obscure. +If the German Government wished to attack France, the natural plan would +have been to keep that design secret until the time for action arrived. +But it did not do so. Early in the month of April, von Radowitz, a man +of high standing at the Court of Berlin, took occasion to speak to the +French ambassador, de Gontaut-Biron, at a ball, and warned him in the +most significant manner of the danger of war owing to the increase of +French armaments. According to de Blowitz, the Paris correspondent of +the _Times_ (who had his information direct from the French Premier, the +Duc Decazes), Germany intended to "bleed France white" by compelling her +finally to pay ten milliards of francs in twenty instalments, and by +keeping an army of occupation in her Eastern Departments until the last +half-milliard was paid. The French ambassador also states in his account +of these stirring weeks that Bismarck had mentioned to the Belgian envoy +the impossibility of France keeping up armaments, the outcome of which +must be war[245]. + +[Footnote 245: De Blowitz, _Memoirs_, ch. v.; _An Ambassador of the +Vanquished_ (ed. by the Duc de Broglie), pp. 180 _et seq_. Probably the +article "Krieg in Sicht," published in the _Berlin Post_ of April 15, +1875, was "inspired."] + +As Radowitz continued in favour with Bismarck, his disclosure of German +intentions seems to have been made with the Chancellor's approval; and +we may explain his action as either a threat to compel France to reduce +her army, a provocation to lead her to commit some indiscretion, or a +means of undermining the plans of the German military party. Leaving +these questions on one side, we may note that Gontaut-Biron's report to +the Duc Decazes produced the utmost anxiety in official circles at +Paris. The Duke took the unusual step of confiding the secret to +Blowitz, showed him the document, along with other proofs of German +preparations for war, and requested him to publish the chief facts in +the _Times_. Delane, the editor of the _Times_, having investigated the +affair, published the information on May 4. It produced an immense +sensation. The Continental Press denounced it as an impudent fabrication +designed to bring on war. We now know that it was substantially correct. +Meanwhile Marshal MacMahon and the Duc Decazes had taken steps to +solicit the help of the Czar if need arose. They despatched to St. +Petersburg General Leflô, armed with proofs of the hostile designs of +the German military chiefs. A perusal of them convinced Alexander II. of +the seriousness of the situation; and he assured Leflô of his resolve to +prevent an unprovoked attack on France. He was then about to visit his +uncle, the German Emperor; and there is little doubt that his influence +at Berlin helped to end the crisis. + +Other influences were also at work, emanating from Queen Victoria and +the British Government. It is well known that Her late Majesty wrote to +the Emperor William stating that it would be "easy to prove that her +fears [of a Franco-German war] were not exaggerated[246]." The source of +her information is now known to have been unexceptionable. It reached +our Foreign Office through the medium of German ambassadors. Such is the +story imparted by Lord Odo Russell, our Ambassador at Berlin, to his +brother, and by him communicated to Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff. It +concerns an interview between Gortchakoff and Bismarck in which the +German Chancellor inveighed against the Russian Prince for blurting out, +at a State banquet held the day before, the news that he had received a +letter from Queen Victoria, begging him to work in the interests of +peace. Bismarck thereafter sharply upbraided Gortchakoff for this +amazing indiscretion. Lord Odo Russell was present at their interview +in order to support the Russian Chancellor, who parried Bismarck's +attack by affecting a paternal interest in his health:-- + + "Come, come, my dear Bismarck, be calm. You know that I am + very fond of you. I have known you since your childhood. But + I do not like you when you are hysterical. Come, you are + going to be hysterical. Pray be calm: come, come, my dear + fellow." A short time after this interview Bismarck + complained to Odo of "the preposterous folly and ignorance of + the English and all other Cabinets, who had mistaken stories + got up for speculations on the Bourse for the true policy of + the German Government." "Then will you," asked Odo, "censure + your four ambassadors who have misled us and the other + Powers?" Bismarck made no reply[247]. + +[Footnote 246: _Bismarck: his Reflections_, etc., vol. ii. pp. 191-193, +249-153 (Eng. ed.); the _Bismarck Jahrbuch_, vol. iv. p. 35.] + +[Footnote 247: Sir M. Grant Duff, _Notes from a Diary, 1886-88_, vol. i. +p. 129. See, too, other proofs of the probability of an attack by +Germany on France in Professor Geffcken's _Frankreich, Russland, und der +Dreibund_, pp. 90 _et seq._] + +It seems, then, that the German Chancellor had no ground for suspicion +against the Crown Princess as having informed Queen Victoria of the +suggested attack on France; but thenceforth he had an intense dislike of +these august ladies, and lost no opportunity of maligning them in +diplomatic circles and through the medium of the Press. Yet, while +nursing resentful thoughts against Queen Victoria, her daughter, and the +British Ministry, the German Chancellor reserved his wrath mainly for +his personal rival at St. Petersburg. The publication of Gortchakoff's +circular despatch of May 10, 1875, beginning with the words, "Maintenant +la paix est assurée," was in his eyes the crowning offence. + +The result was the beginning of a good understanding between Russia and +France, and the weakening of the Three Emperors' League[248]. That +league went to pieces for a time amidst the disputes at the Berlin +Congress on the Eastern Question, where Germany's support of Austria's +resolve to limit the sphere of Muscovite influence robbed the Czar of +prospective spoils and placed a rival Power as "sentinel on the +Balkans." Further, when Germany favoured Austrian interests in the many +matters of detail that came up for settlement in those States, the rage +in Russian official circles knew no bounds. Newspapers like the _Journal +de St. Pétersbourg_, the _Russki Mir_, and the _Golos_, daily poured out +the vials of their wrath against everything German; and that prince of +publicists, Katkoff, with his coadjutor, Élie de Cyon, moved heaven and +earth in the endeavour to prove that Bismarck alone had pushed Russia on +to war with Turkey, and then had intervened to rob her of the fruits of +victory. Amidst these clouds of invective, friendly hands were thrust +forth from Paris and Moscow, and the effusive salutations of would-be +statesmen marked the first beginnings of the present alliance. A Russian +General--Obretchoff--went to Paris and "sounded the leading personages +in Paris respecting a Franco-Russian alliance[249]." + +[Footnote 248: _Histoire de l'Entente franco-russe_, by Élie de Cyon, +ch. i. (1895).] + +[Footnote 249: _Our Chancellor_, by M. Busch, vol. ii. pp. 137-138.] + +Clearly, it was high time for the two Central Powers to draw together. +There was little to hinder their _rapprochement_. Bismarck's clemency to +the Hapsburg Power in the hour of Prussia's triumph in 1866 now bore +fruit; for when Russia sent a specific demand that the Court of Berlin +must cease to support Austrian interests or forfeit the friendship of +Russia, the German Chancellor speedily came to an understanding with +Count Andrassy in an interview at Gastein on August 27-28, 1879. At +first it had reference only to a defensive alliance against an attack by +Russia, Count Andrassy, then about to retire from his arduous duties, +declining to extend the arrangement to an attack by another +Power--obviously France. The plan of the Austro-German alliance was +secretly submitted by Bismarck to the King of Bavaria, who signified his +complete approval[250]. It received a warm welcome from the Hapsburg +Court; and, when the secret leaked out, Bismarck had enthusiastic +greetings on his journey to Vienna and thence northwards to Berlin. The +reason is obvious. For the first time in modern history the centre of +Europe seemed about to form a lasting compact, strong enough to impose +respect on the restless extremities. That of 1813 and 1814 had aimed +only at the driving of Napoleon I. from Germany. The present alliance +had its roots in more abiding needs. + +[Footnote 250: _Bismarck: Reflections and Reminiscences_, vol. ii. pp. +251-289.] + +Strange to say, the chief obstacle was Kaiser Wilhelm himself. The old +sovereign had very many claims on the gratitude of the German race, for +his staunchness of character, singleness of aim, and homely good sense +had made the triumphs of his reign possible. But the newer light of +to-day reveals the limitations of his character. He never saw far ahead, +and even in his survey of the present situation Prussian interests and +family considerations held far too large a space. It was so now. Against +the wishes of his Chancellor, he went to meet the Czar at Alexandrovo; +and while the Austro-German compact took form at Gastein and Vienna, +Czar and Kaiser were assuring each other of their unchanging friendship. +Doubtless Alexander II. was sincere in these professions of affection +for his august uncle; but Bismarck paid more heed to the fact that +Russia had recently made large additions to her army, while dense clouds +of her horsemen hung about the Polish border, ready to flood the +Prussian plains. He saw safety only by opposing force to force. As he +said to his secretary, Busch: "When we [Germany and Austria] are united, +with our two million soldiers back to back, they [the Russians], with +their Nihilism, will doubtless think twice before disturbing the peace." +Finally the Emperor William agreed to the Austro-German compact, +provided that the Czar should be informed that if he attacked Austria he +would be opposed by both Powers[251]. + +[Footnote 251: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History_, by M. +Busch, vol. ii. p. 404; _Bismarck: Reflections and Reminiscences_, vol. +ii. p. 268.] + +It was not until November 5, 1887, that the terms of the treaty were +made known, and then through the medium of the _Times_. The official +publication did not take place until February 3, 1888, at Berlin, +Vienna, and Buda-Pesth. The compact provides that if either Germany or +Austria shall be attacked by Russia, each Power must assist its +neighbour with all its forces. If, however, the attack shall come from +any other Power, the ally is pledged merely to observe neutrality; and +not until Russia enters the field is the ally bound to set its armies in +motion. Obviously the second case implies an attack by France on +Germany; in that case Austria would remain neutral, carefully watching +the conduct of Russia. As far as is known, the treaty does not provide +for joint action, or mutual support, in regard to the Eastern Question, +still less in matters further afield. + +In order to give pause to Russia, Bismarck even indulged in a passing +flirtation with England. At the close of 1879, Lord Dufferin, then +British ambassador at St. Petersburg, was passing through Berlin, and +the Chancellor invited him to his estate at Varzin, and informed him +that Russian overtures had been made to France through General +Obretcheff, "but Chanzy [French ambassador at St. Petersburg], having +reported that Russia was not ready, the French Government became less +disposed than ever to embark on an adventurous policy[252]." + +[Footnote 252: _The Life of the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava_, by Sir A. +Lyall (1905), vol. i. p. 304.] + +To the end of his days Bismarck maintained that the Austro-German +alliance did not imply the lapse of the Three Emperors' League, but that +the new compact, by making a Russian attack on Austria highly dangerous, +if not impossible, helped to prolong the life of the old alliance. +Obviously, however, the League was a mere "loud-sounding nothing" (to +use a phrase of Metternich's) when two of its members had to unite to +guard the weakest of the trio against the most aggressive. In the spirit +of that statesmanlike utterance of Prince Bismarck, quoted as motto at +the head of this chapter, we may say that the old Triple Alliance slowly +dissolved under the influence of new atmospheric conditions. The three +Emperors met for friendly intercourse in 1881, 1884, and 1885; and at or +after the meeting of 1884, a Russo-German agreement was formed, by +which the two Powers promised to observe a friendly neutrality in case +either was attacked by a third Power. Probably the Afghan question, or +Nihilism, brought Russia to accept Bismarck's advances; but when the +fear of an Anglo-Russian war passed away, and the revolutionists were +curbed, this agreement fell to the ground; and after the fall of +Bismarck the compact was not renewed[253]. + +[Footnote 253: On October 24, 1896, the _Hamburger Nachrichten_, a paper +often inspired by Bismarck, gave some information (all that is known) +about this shadowy agreement.] + + * * * * * + +It will be well now to turn to the events which brought Italy into line +with the Central Powers and thus laid the foundation of the Triple +Alliance of to-day. + +The complex and uninteresting annals of Italy after the completion of +her unity do not concern us here. The men whose achievements had +ennobled the struggle for independence passed away in quick succession +after the capture of Rome for the national cause. Mazzini died in March +1872 at Pisa, mourning that united Italy was so largely the outcome of +foreign help and monarchical bargainings. Garibaldi spent his last years +in fulminating against the Government of Victor Emmanuel. The +soldier-king himself passed away in January 1878, and his relentless +opponent, Pius IX., expired a month later. The accession of Umberto I. +and the election of Leo XIII. promised at first to assuage the feud +between the Vatican and the Quirinal, but neither the tact of the new +sovereign nor the personal suavity of the Pope brought about any real +change. Italy remained a prey to the schism between Church and State. A +further cause of weakness was the unfitness of many parts of the +Peninsula for constitutional rule. Naples and the South were a century +behind the North in all that made for civic efficiency, the taint of +favouritism and corruption having spread from the governing circles to +all classes of society. Clearly the time of wooing had been too short +and feverish to lead up to a placid married life. + +During this period of debt and disenchantment came news of a slight +inflicted by the Latin sister of the North. France had seized Tunis, a +land on which Italian patriots looked as theirs by reversion, whereas +the exigencies of statecraft assigned it to the French. It seems that +during the Congress of Berlin (June-July 1878) Bismarck and Lord +Salisbury unofficially dropped suggestions that their Governments would +raise no objections to the occupation of Tunis by France. According to +de Blowitz, Bismarck there took an early opportunity of seeing Lord +Beaconsfield and of pointing out the folly of England quarrelling with +Russia, when she might arrange matters more peaceably and profitably +with her. England, said he, should let Russia have Constantinople and +take Egypt in exchange; "France would not prove inexorable--besides, one +might give her Tunis or Syria[254]." Another Congress story is to the +effect that Lord Salisbury, on hearing of the annoyance felt in France +at England's control over Cyprus, said to M. Waddington at Berlin: "Do +what you like with Tunis; England will raise no objections." A little +later, the two Governments came to a written understanding that France +might occupy Tunis at a convenient opportunity. + +[Footnote 254: De Blowitz, _Memoirs_, ch. vi., also Busch, _Our +Chancellor_, vol. ii. pp. 92-93.] + +The seizure of Tunis by France aroused all the more annoyance in Italy +owing to the manner of its accomplishment. On May 11, 1881, when a large +expedition was being prepared in her southern ports, M. Barthélémy de +St. Hilaire disclaimed all idea of annexation, and asserted that the +sole aim of France was the chastisement of a troublesome border tribe, +the Kroumirs; but on the entry of the "red breeches" into Kairwan and +the collapse of the Moslem resistance, the official assurance proved to +be as unsubstantial as the inroads of the Kroumirs. Despite the protests +that came from Rome and Constantinople, France virtually annexed that +land, though the Sultan's representative, the Bey, still retains the +shadow of authority[255]. + +[Footnote 255: It transpired later on that Barthélémy de St. Hilaire did +not know of the extent of the aims of the French military party, and +that these subsequently gained the day; but this does not absolve the +Cabinet and him of bad faith. Later on France fortified Bizerta, in +contravention (so it is said) of an understanding with the British +Government that no part of that coast should be fortified.] + +In vain did King Umberto's ministers appeal to Berlin for help against +France. They received the reply that the affair had been virtually +settled at the time of the Berlin Congress[256]. The resentment produced +by these events in Italy led to the fall of the Cairoli Ministry, which +had been too credulous of French assurances; and Depretis took the helm +of State. Seeing that Bismarck had confessed his share in encouraging +France to take Tunis, Italy's _rapprochement_ to Germany might seem to +be unnatural. It was so. In truth, her alliance with the Central Powers +was based, not on good-will to them, but on resentment against France. +The Italian Nationalists saw in Austria the former oppressor, and still +raised the cry of _Italia irredenta _for the recovery of the Italian +districts of Tyrol, Istria, and Dalmatia. In January 1880, we find +Bismarck writing: "Italy must not be numbered to-day among the +peace-loving and conservative Powers, who must reckon with this fact. . . . +We have much more ground to fear that Italy will join our adversaries +than to hope that she will unite with us, seeing that we have no more +inducements to offer her[257]." + +[Footnote 256: _Politische Geschichte der Gegenwart_, for 1881, p. 176; +quoted by Lowe, _Life of Bismarck_, vol. ii. p. 133.] + +[Footnote 257: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages_, etc., vol. iii. p. 291.] + +This frame of mind changed after the French acquisition of Tunis. + + Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes + +should have been the feeling of MM. Waddington and Ferry when Bismarck +encouraged them to undertake that easiest but most expensive of +conquests. The nineteenth century offers, perhaps, no more successful +example of Macchiavellian statecraft. The estrangement of France and +Italy postponed at any rate for a whole generation, possibly for the +present age, that war of revenge in which up to the spring of 1881 the +French might easily have gained the help of Italy. Thenceforth they had +to reckon on her hostility. The irony of the situation was enhanced by +the fact that the Tunis affair, with the recriminations to which it led, +served to bring to power at Paris the very man who could best have +marshalled the French people against Germany. + +Gambetta was the incarnation of the spirit of revenge. On more than one +occasion he had abstained from taking high office in the shifting +Ministries of the seventies; and it seems likely that by this +calculating coyness he sought to keep his influence intact, not for the +petty personal ends which have often been alleged, but rather with a +view to the more effective embattling of all the national energies +against Germany. Good-will to England and to the Latin peoples, +hostility to the Power which had torn Elsass-Lothringen from +France--such was the policy of Gambetta. He had therefore protested, +though in vain, against the expedition to Tunis; and now, on his +accession to power (November 9, 1881), he found Italy sullenly defiant, +while he and his Radical friends could expect no help from the new +autocrat of all the Russias. All hope of a war of revenge proved to be +futile; and he himself fell from power on January 26, 1882[258]. The +year to which he looked forward with high hopes proved to be singularly +fatal to the foes of Germany. The armed intervention of Britain in Egypt +turned the thoughts of Frenchmen from the Rhine to the Nile. Skobeleff, +the arch enemy of all things Teutonic, passed away in the autumn; and +its closing days witnessed the death of Gambetta at the hands of +his mistress. + +[Footnote 258: Seignobos, _A Political History of Contemporary Europe_, +vol. i. p. 210 (Eng. Ed.).] + +The resignation of Gambetta having slackened the tension between Germany +and France, Bismarck displayed less desire for the alliance of Italy. +Latterly, as a move in the German parliamentary game, he had coquetted +with the Vatican; and as a result of this off-hand behaviour, Italy was +slow in coming to accord with the Central Powers. Nevertheless, her +resentment respecting Tunis overcame her annoyance at Bismarck's +procedure; and on May 20, 1882, treaties were signed which bound Italy +to the Central Powers for a term of five years. Their conditions have +not been published, but there are good grounds for thinking that the +three allies reciprocally guaranteed the possession of their present +territories, agreed to resist attack on the lands of any one of them, +and stipulated the amount of aid to be rendered by each in case of +hostilities with France or Russia, or both Powers combined. Subsequent +events would seem to show that the Roman Government gained from its +northern allies no guarantee whatever for its colonial policy, or for +the maintenance of the balance of power in the Mediterranean[259]. + +[Footnote 259: For the Triple Alliance see the _Rev. des deux Mondes_, +May 1, 1883; also Chiala, _Storia contemporanea--La Triplice e la +Duplice Alleanza_ (1898).] + +Very many Italians have sharply questioned the value of the Triple +Alliance to their country. Probably, when the truth comes fully to +light, it will be found that the King and his Ministers needed some +solid guarantee against the schemes of the Vatican to drive the monarchy +from Rome. The relations between the Vatican and the Quirinal were very +strained in the year 1882; and the alliance of Italy with Austria +removed all fear of the Hapsburgs acting on behalf of the Jesuits and +other clerical intriguers. The annoyance with which the clerical party +in Italy received the news of the alliance shows that it must have +interfered with their schemes. Another explanation is that Italy +actually feared an attack from France in 1882 and sought protection from +the Central Powers. We may add that on the renewal of the Triple +Alliance in 1891, Italy pledged herself to send two corps through Tyrol +to fight the French on their eastern frontier if they attacked Germany. +But it is said that that clause was omitted from the treaty on its last +renewal, in 1902. + +The accession of Italy to the Austro-German Alliance gave pause to +Russia. The troubles with the Nihilists also indisposed Alexander III. +from attempting any rash adventures, especially in concert with a +democratic Republic which changed its Ministers every few months. His +hatred of the Republic as the symbol of democracy equalled his distrust +of it as a political kaleidoscope; and more than once he rejected the +idea of a _rapprochement_ to the western Proteus because of "the absence +of any personage authorised to assume the responsibility for a treaty of +alliance[260]." These were the considerations, doubtless, which led him +to dismiss the warlike Ignatieff, and to entrust the Ministry of Foreign +Affairs to a hard-headed diplomatist, de Giers (June 12, 1882). His +policy was peaceful and decidedly opposed to the Slavophil propaganda of +Katkoff, who now for a time lost favour. + +[Footnote 260: Élie de Cyon, _op. cit._ p. 38.] + +For the present, then, Germany was safe. Russia turned her energies +against England and achieved the easy and profitable triumphs in Central +Asia which nearly brought her to war with the British Government (see +Chapter xiv.). + +In the year 1884 Bismarck gained another success in bringing about the +signature of a treaty of alliance between the three Empires. It was +signed on March 24, 1884, at Berlin, but was not ratified until +September, during a meeting of the three Emperors at Skiernewice. M. +Élie de Cyon gives its terms as follows: + +(1) If one of the three contracting parties makes war on a fourth Power, +the other two will maintain a benevolent neutrality. (To this Bismarck +sought to add a corollary, that if two of them made war on a fourth +Power, the third would equally remain neutral; but the Czar is said to +have rejected this, in the interests of France.) (2) In case of a +conflict in the Balkan Peninsula, the three Powers shall consult their +own interests; and in the case of disagreement the third Power shall +give a casting vote. (A protocol added here that Austria might annex +Bosnia and Herzegovina, and occupy Novi-Bazar.) (3) The former special +treaties between Russia and Germany, or Russia and Austria, are +annulled. (4) The three Powers will supervise the execution of the terms +of the Treaty of Berlin respecting Turkey; and if the Porte allows a +fourth Power (evidently England) to enter the Dardanelles, it will +incur the hostility of one of the three Powers (Russia). (5) They will +not oppose the union of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia "if it comes about +by the force of circumstances"; and will not allow Turkey to fortify the +Balkan Passes. Finally, by Article 6, they forbid any one of the +contracting Powers to occupy the Balkan Principalities. The compact held +good only for three years. + +If these terms are correctly stated, the treaty was a great triumph for +Austria and Germany at the expense of Russia. It is not surprising that +the Czar finally broke away from the constraint imposed by the +Skiernewice compact. As we have seen, his conduct towards Bulgaria in +1885-86 brought him very near to a conflict with the Central Powers. The +mystery is why he ever joined them on terms so disadvantageous. The +explanation would seem to be that, like the King of Italy, he felt an +alliance with the "conservative" Powers of Central Europe to be some +safeguard against the revolutionary elements then so strong in Russia. + +In the years 1886-87 that danger became less acute, and the dictates of +self-interest in foreign affairs resumed their normal sway. At the +beginning of the year 1887 Katkoff regained his influence over the mind +of the Czar by convincing him that the troubles in the Balkan Peninsula +were fomented by the statesmen of Berlin and Vienna in order to distract +his attention from Franco-German affairs. Let Russia and France join +hands, said Katkoff in effect, and then Russia would have a free hand in +Balkan politics and could lay down the law in European matters +generally. + +In France the advantage of a Russian alliance was being loudly asserted +by General Boulanger--then nearing the zenith of his popularity--as also +by that brilliant leader of society, Mme. Adam, and a cluster of +satellites in the Press. Even de Giers bowed before the idea of the +hour, and allowed the newspaper which he inspired, _Le Nord_, to use +these remarkable words (February 20, 1887): + + Henceforth Russia will watch the events on the Rhine, and + relegates the Eastern Question to the second place. The + interests of Russia forbid her, in case of another + Franco-German war, observing the same benevolent neutrality + which she previously observed. The Cabinet of St. Petersburg + will in no case permit a further weakening of France. In + order to keep her freedom of action for this case, Russia + will avoid all conflict with Austria and England, and will + allow events to take their course in Bulgaria. + +Thus, early in the year 1887, the tendency towards that equilibrium of +the Powers, which is the great fact of recent European history, began to +exercise a sedative effect on Russian policy in Bulgaria and in Central +Asia. That year saw the delimitation of the Russo-Afghan border, and the +adjustment in Central Asian affairs of a balance corresponding to the +equilibrium soon to be reached in European politics. That, too, was the +time when Bulgaria began firmly and successfully to assert her +independence and to crush every attempt at a rising on the part of her +Russophil officers. This was seen after an attempt which they made at +Rustchuk, when Stambuloff condemned nine of them to death. The Russian +Government having recalled all its agents from Bulgaria, the task of +saving these rebels devolved on the German Consuls, who were then doing +duty for Russia. Their efforts were futile, and Katkoff used their +failure as a means of poisoning the Czar's mind not only against +Germany, but also against de Giers, who had suggested the supervision of +Russian interests by German Consuls[261]. + +[Footnote 261: Élie de Cyon, _op. cit._ p. 274.] + +Another incident of the spring-tide of 1887 kindled the Czar's anger +against the Teutons more fiercely and with more reason. On April 20, a +French police commissioner, Schnaebele, was arrested by two German +agents or spies on the Alsacian border in a suspiciously brutal manner, +and thrown into prison. Far from soothing the profound irritation which +this affair produced in France, Bismarck poured oil upon the flames a +few days later by a speech which seemed designed to extort from France a +declaration of war. That, at least, was the impression produced on the +mind of Alexander III., who took the unusual step of sending an +autograph letter to the Emperor William I. He, in his turn, without +referring the matter to Bismarck, gave orders for the instant release of +Schnaebele[262]. Thus the incident closed; but the disagreeable +impression which it created ended all chance of renewing the Three +Emperors' League. The Skiernewice compact, which had been formed for +three years, therefore came to an end. + +[Footnote 262: See the _Nouvelle Revue_ for April 15, 1890, for Cyon's +version of the whole affair, which is treated with prudent brevity by +Oncken, Blum, and Delbrück.] + +Already, if we may trust the imperfect information yet available, France +and Russia had sought to break up the Triple Alliance. In the closing +weeks of 1886 de Giers sought to entice Italy into a compact with Russia +with a view to an attack on the Central States (her treaty with them +expired in the month of May following), and pointed to Trieste and the +Italian districts of Istria as a reward for this treachery. The French +Government is also believed to have made similar overtures, holding out +the Trentino (the southern part of Tyrol) as the bait. Signor Depretis, +true to the policy of the Triple Alliance, repelled these offers--an act +of constancy all the more creditable seeing that Bismarck had on more +than one occasion shown scant regard for the interests of Italy. + +Even now he did little to encourage the King's Government to renew the +alliance framed in 1882. Events, however, again brought the Roman +Cabinet to seek for support. The Italian enterprise in Abyssinia had +long been a drain on the treasury, and the annihilation of a force by +those warlike mountaineers on January 26, 1887, sent a thrill of horror +through the Peninsula. The internal situation was also far from +promising. The breakdown of attempts at a compromise between the +monarchy and Pope Leo XIII. revealed the adamantine hostility of the +Vatican to the King's Government in Rome. A prey to these +discouragements, King Umberto and his advisers were willing to renew +the Triple Alliance (March 1887), though on terms no more advantageous +than before. Signor Depretis, the chief champion of the alliance, died +in July; but Signor Crispi, who thereafter held office, proved to be no +less firm in its support. After a visit to Prince Bismarck at his abode +of Friedrichsruh, near Hamburg, the Italian Prime Minister came back a +convinced Teutophil, and announced that Italy adhered to the Central +Powers in order to assure peace to Europe. + +Crispi also hinted that the naval support of England might be +forthcoming if Italy were seriously threatened; and when the naval +preparations at Toulon seemed to portend a raid on the ill-protected +dockyard of Spezzia, British warships took up positions at Genoa in +order to render help if it were needed. This incident led to a +discussion in the _Neue Freie Presse_ of Vienna, owing to a speech made +by Signor Chiala at Rome. Mr. Labouchere also, on February 10, 1888, +sharply questioned Sir James Fergusson in the House of Commons on the +alleged understanding between England and Italy. All information, +however, was refused[263]. + +[Footnote 263: Hansard, vol. cccxii. pp. 1180 _et seq._; Chiala, _La +Triplice e la Duplice Alleanza_, app. ii.; Mr. Stillman, _Francesco +Crispi_ (p. 177), believes in the danger to Spezzia.] + +Next to nothing, then, is known on the interesting question how far the +British Government went in framing an agreement with Italy, and through +her, with the Triple Alliance. We can only conjecture the motives which +induced the Salisbury Cabinet to make a strategic turn towards that +"conservative" alliance, and yet not definitely join it. The isolation +of England proved, in the sequel, to be not only a source of annoyance +to the Continental Powers but of weakness to herself, because her +statesmen failed to use to the full the potential advantages of their +position at the middle of the see-saw. Bismarck's dislike of England was +not incurable; he was never a thorough-going "colonial"; and it is +probable that the adhesion of England to his league would have +inaugurated a period of mutual good-will in politics, colonial policy, +and commerce. The abstention of England has in the sequel led German +statesmen to show all possible deference to Russia, generally at the +expense of British interests. + +The importance of this consideration becomes obvious when the dangers of +the year 1887 are remembered. The excitement caused in Russia and France +by the Rustchuk and Schnaebele affairs, the tension in Germany produced +by the drastic proposals of a new Army Bill, and, above all, the +prospect of the triumph of Boulangist militarism in France, kept the +Continent in a state of tension for many months. In May, Katkoff nearly +succeeded in persuading the Czar to dismiss de Giers and adopt a warlike +policy, in the belief that a strong Cabinet was about to be formed at +Paris with Boulanger as the real motive power. After a long ministerial +crisis the proposed ministerial combination broke down; Boulanger was +shelved, and the Czar is believed to have sharply rebuked Katkoff for +his presumption[264]. This disappointment of his dearest hopes preyed on +the health of that brilliant publicist and hastened his end, which +occurred on August 1, 1887. + +[Footnote 264: This version (the usual one) is contested by Cyon, who +says that Katkoff's influence over the Czar was undermined by a mean +German intrigue.] + +The seed which Katkoff had sown was, however, to bring forth fruit. +Despite the temporary discomfiture of the Slavophils, events tended to +draw France and Russia more closely together. The formal statement of +Signor Crispi that the Triple Alliance was a great and solid fact would +alone have led to some counter move; and all the proofs of the +instability of French politics furnished by the Grévy-Wilson scandals +could not blind Russian statesmen to the need of some understanding with +a great Power[265]. + +[Footnote 265: See the Chauvinist pamphlets, _Échec et Mat à la +Politique de l'Ennemi de la France_, by "un Russe" (Paris, 1887); and +_Nécessité de l'Alliance franco-russe_, by P. Pader (Toulouse, 1888).] + +Bismarck sought to give the needed hand-grip. In November 1887, during +an interview with the Czar at Berlin, he succeeded in exposing the +forgery of some documents concerning Bulgaria which had prejudiced +Alexander against him. He followed up this advantage by secretly +offering the Cabinet of St. Petersburg a guarantee of German support in +case of an attack from Austria; but it does not appear that the Czar +placed much trust in the assurance, especially when Bismarck made his +rhetorical fanfare of February 6, 1888, in order to ensure the raising +of a loan of 28,000,000 marks for buying munitions of war. + +That speech stands forth as a landmark in European politics. In a +simple, unadorned style the German Chancellor set forth the salient +facts of the recent history of his land, showing how often its peace had +been disturbed, and deducing the need for constant preparation in a +State bordered, as Germany was, by powerful neighbours:--"The pike in +the European pool prevent us from becoming carp; but we must fulfil the +designs of Providence by making ourselves so strong that the pike can do +no more than amuse us." He also traced the course of events which led to +the treaties with Austria and Italy, and asserted that by their +formation and by the recent publication of the treaty of 1882 with +Austria the German Government had not sought in any way to threaten +Russia. The present misunderstandings with that Power would doubtless +pass away; but seeing that the Russian Press had "shown the door to an +old, powerful, and effective friend, which we were, we shall not knock +at it again." + +Bismarck's closing words--"We Germans fear God and nothing else in the +world; and it is the fear of God which makes us seek peace and ensue +it"--carried the Reichstag with him, with the result that the proposals +of the Government were adopted almost unanimously, and Bismarck received +an overwhelming ovation from the crowd outside. These days marked the +climax of the Chancellor's career and the triumph of the policy which +led to the Triple Alliance. + +The question, which of the two great hostile groups was the more sincere +in its championship of peace principles, must remain one of the riddles +of the age. Bismarck had certainly given much provocation to France in +the Schnaebele affair; but in the year 1888 the chief danger to the +cause of peace came from Boulanger and the Slavophils of Russia. The +Chancellor, having carried through his army proposals, posed as a +peacemaker; and Germany for some weeks bent all her thoughts on the +struggle between life and death which made up the ninety days' reign of +the Emperor Frederick III. Cyon and other French writers have laboured +to prove that Bismarck's efforts to prevent his accession to the throne, +on the ground that he was the victim of an incurable disease, betokened +a desire for immediate war with France. + +It appears, however, that the contention of the Chancellor was strictly +in accord with one of the fundamental laws of the Empire. His attitude +towards France throughout the later phases of the Boulanger affair was +coldly "correct," while he manifested the greatest deference towards the +private prejudices of the Czar when the Empress Frederick allowed the +proposals of marriage between her daughter and Prince Alexander of +Battenberg to be renewed. Knowing the unchangeable hatred of the Czar +for the ex-Prince of Bulgaria, Bismarck used all his influence to thwart +the proposal, which was defeated by the personal intervention of the +present Kaiser[266]. According to our present information, then, German +policy was sincerely peaceful, alike in aim and in tone, during the +first six months of the year; and the piling up of armaments which then +went on from the Urals to the Pyrenees may be regarded as an +unconsciously ironical tribute paid by the Continental Powers to the +cause of peace. + +[Footnote 266: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages, etc._ vol. iii. p. 335.] + + * * * * * + +A change came over the scene when William II. ascended the throne of +Germany (June 15, 1888). At once he signalised the event by issuing a +proclamation to the army, in which occurred the words: "I swear ever to +remember that the eyes of my ancestors look down upon me from the other +world, and that I shall one day have to render account to them of the +glory and honour of the army." The navy received his salutation on that +same day; and not until three days later did a proclamation go forth to +his people. Men everywhere remembered that "Frederick the Noble" had +first addressed his people, and then his army and navy. The inference +was unavoidable that the young Kaiser meant to be a Frederick the Great +rather than a "citizen Emperor," as his father had longed to be known. +The world has now learnt to discount the utterances of the most +impulsive of Hohenzollern rulers; but in those days, when it knew not +his complex character, such an army order seemed to portend the advent +of another Napoleon. + +Not only France but Russia felt some alarm. True, the young Kaiser +speedily paid a visit to his relative at St. Petersburg; but it soon +appeared that the stolid and very reserved Alexander III. knew not what +to make of the versatile personality that now controlled the policy of +Central Europe. It was therefore natural that France and Russia should +take precautionary measures; and we now know that these were begun in +the autumn of that year. + +In the first instance, they took the form of loans. A Parisian +financier, M. Hoskier, Danish by descent, but French by naturalisation +and sympathy, had long desired to use the resources of Paris as a means +of cementing friendship, and, if possible, alliance with Russia. For +some time he made financial overtures at St. Petersburg, only to find +all doors closed against him by German capitalists. But in the spring of +the year 1888 the Berlin Bourse had been seized by a panic at the +excessive amount of Russian securities held by German houses; large +sales took place, and thenceforth it seemed impossible for Russia to +raise money at Berlin or Frankfurt except on very hard terms. + +Now was the opportunity for which the French houses had been waiting and +working. In October 1888, Hoskier received an invitation to repair to +St. Petersburg secretly, in order to consider the taking up of a loan of +500,000,000 francs at 4 per cent, to replace war loans contracted in +1877 at 5 per cent. At once he assured the Russian authorities that his +syndicate would accept the offer, and though the German financiers +raged and plotted against him, the loan went to Paris. This was the +beginning of a series of loans launched by Russia at Paris, and so +successfully that by the year 1894 as much as four milliards of francs +(£160,000,000) is said to have been subscribed in that way[267]. Thus +the wealth of France enabled Russia to consolidate her debt on easier +terms, to undertake strategic railways, to build a new navy, and arm her +immense forces with new and improved weapons. It is well known that +Russia could not otherwise have ventured on these and other costly +enterprises; and one cannot but admire the skill which she showed in +making so timely a use of Gallic enthusiasm, as well as the +statesmanlike foresight of the French in piling up these armaments on +the weakest flank of Germany. + +[Footnote 267: E. Daudet, _Histoire diplomatique de l'Alliance +franco-russe_, pp. 270-279.] + +Meanwhile the Boulangist bubble had burst. After his removal from the +army on the score of insubordination, "le brav' général" entered into +politics, and, to the surprise of all, gained an enormous majority in +the election for a district of Paris (January 1889). It is believed +that, had he rallied his supporters and marched against the Elysée, he +might have overthrown the parliamentary Republic. But, like Robespierre +at the crisis of his career, he did not strike--he discoursed of reason +and moderation. For once the authorities took the initiative; and when +the new Premier, Tirard, took action against him for treason, he fled to +Brussels on the appropriate date of the 1st of April. Thenceforth, the +Royalist-Bonapartist-Radical hybrid, known as Boulangism, ceased to +scare the world; and its challenging snorts died away in sounds which +were finally recognised as convulsive brayings. How far the Slavophils +of Russia had a hand in goading on the creature is not known. Élie de +Cyon, writing at a later date, declared that he all along saw through +and distrusted Boulanger. Disclaimers of this kind were plentiful in the +following years[268]. + +[Footnote 268: De Cyon, _op. cit._ pp. 394 _et seq._] + +After the exposure of that hero of the Boulevards, it was natural that +the Czar should decline to make a binding compact with France; and he +signalised the isolation of Russia by proposing a toast to the Prince of +Montenegro as "the only sincere and faithful friend of Russia." +Nevertheless, the dismissal of Bismarck by William II., in March 1890, +brought about a time of strain and friction between Russia and Germany +which furthered the prospects of a Franco-Russian _entente_. Thenceforth +peace depended on the will of a young autocrat who now and again gave +the impression that he was about to draw the sword for the satisfaction +of his ancestral _manes_. A sharp and long-continued tariff war between +Germany and Russia also embittered the relations between the two Powers. + +Rumours of war were widespread in the year 1891. Wild tales were told as +to a secret treaty between Germany and Belgium for procuring a passage +to the Teutonic hosts through that neutralised kingdom, and thus turning +the new eastern fortresses which France had constructed at enormous +cost[269]. Parts of Northern France were to be the reward of King +Leopold's complaisance, and the help of England and Turkey was to be +secured by substantial bribes[270]. The whole scheme wears a look of +amateurish grandiosity; but, on the principle that there is no smoke +without fire (which does not always hold good for diplomatic smoke), +much alarm was felt at Paris. The renewal of the Triple Alliance in June +1891, for a term of six years, was followed up a month later by a visit +of the Emperor William to England, during which he took occasion at the +Guildhall to state his desire "to maintain the historical friendship +between these our two nations" (July 10). Balanced though this assertion +was by an expression of a hope in the peaceful progress of all peoples, +the words sent an imaginative thrill to the banks of the Seine and +the Neva. + +[Footnote 269: In the French Chamber of Deputies it was officially +stated in 1893, that in two decades France had spent the sum of +£614,000,000 on her army and the new fortresses, apart from that on +strategic railways and the fleet.] + +[Footnote 270: Notovich, _L'Empereur Alexandre III._ ch. viii.] + +The outcome of it all was the visit of the French Channel Fleet to +Cronstadt at the close of July; and the French statesman M. Flourens +asserts that the Czar himself took the initiative in this matter[271]. +The fleet received an effusive welcome, and, to the surprise of all +Europe, the Emperor visited the flagship of Admiral Gervais and remained +uncovered while the band played the national airs of the two nations. +Few persons ever expected the autocrat of the East to pay that tribute +to the _Marseillaise_. But, in truth, French democracy was then entering +on a new phase at home. Politicians of many shades of opinion had begun +to cloak themselves with "opportunism"--a conveniently vague term, first +employed by Gambetta, but finally used to designate any serviceable +compromise between parliamentary rule, autocracy, and flamboyant +militarism. The Cronstadt _fêtes_ helped on the warping process. + +[Footnote 271: L.E. Flourens, _Alexandre III.: sa Vie, son Oeuvre_, p. +319.] + +Whether any definite compact was there signed is open to doubt. The +_Times_ correspondent, writing on July 31 from St. Petersburg, stated +that Admiral Gervais had brought with him from Paris a draft of a +convention, which was to be considered and thereafter signed by the +Russian Ministers for Foreign Affairs, War, and the Navy, but not by the +Czar himself until the need for it arose. Probably, then, no alliance +was formed, but military and naval conventions were drawn up to serve as +bases for common action if an emergency should arise. These agreements +were elaborated in conferences held by the Russian generals, Vanoffski +and Obrucheff, with the French generals, Saussier, Miribel, and +Boisdeffre. A Russian loan was soon afterwards floated at Paris amidst +great enthusiasm. + +For the present the French had to be satisfied with this exchange of +secret assurances and hard cash. The Czar refused to move further, +mainly because the scandals connected with the Panama affair once more +aroused his fears and disgust. De Cyon states that the degrading +revelations which came to light, at the close of 1891 and early in 1892, +did more than anything to delay the advent of a definite alliance. The +return visit of a Russian squadron to French waters was therefore +postponed to the month of October 1893, when there were wild rejoicings +at Toulon. The Czar and President exchanged telegrams, the former +referring to "the bonds which unite the two countries." + +It appeared for a time that Russia meant to keep her squadron in the +Mediterranean; and representations on this subject are known to have +been made by England and Italy, which once again drew close together. A +British squadron visited Italian ports--an event which seemed to +foreshadow the entrance of the Island Power to the Triple Alliance. The +Russian fleet, however, left the Mediterranean, and the diplomatic +situation remained unchanged. Despite all the passionate wooing of the +Gallic race, no contract of marriage took place during the life of +Alexander III. He died on November 1, 1894, and his memory was extolled +in many quarters as that of the great peacemaker of the age. + +How far he deserved this praise, to which every statesman of the first +rank laid claim, is matter for doubt. It is certain that he disliked war +on account of the evil results accruing from the Russo-Turkish conflict; +but whether his love of peace rested on grounds other than prudential +will be questioned by those who remember his savage repression of +non-Russian peoples in his Empire, his brutal treatment of the +Bulgarians and of their Prince, his underhand intrigues against Servia +and Roumania, and the favour which he showed to the commander who +violated international law at Panjdeh. That the French should enshrine +his memory in phrases to which their literary skill gives a world-wide +vogue is natural, seeing that he ended their days of isolation and saved +them from the consequences of Boulangism; but it still has to be proved +that, apart from the Schnaebele affair, Germany ever sought a quarrel +with France during the reign of Alexander III.; and it may finally +appear that the Triple Alliance was the genuinely conservative league +which saved Europe from the designs of the restless Republic and the +exacting egotism of Alexander III. + +Another explanation of the Franco-Russian _entente_ is fully as tenable +as the theory that the Czar based his policy on the seventh beatitude. A +careful survey of the whole of that policy in Asia, as well as in +Europe, seems to show that he drew near to the Republic in order to +bring about an equilibrium in Europe which would enable him to throw his +whole weight into the affairs of the Far East. Russian policy has +oscillated now towards the West, now towards the East; but old-fashioned +Russians have always deplored entanglement in European affairs, and have +pointed to the more hopeful Orient. Even during the pursuit of +Napoleon's shattered forces in their retreat from Moscow in 1812, the +Russian Commander, Kutusoff, told Sir Robert Wilson that Napoleon's +overthrow would benefit, not the world at large, but only England[272]. +He failed to do his utmost, largely because he looked forward to peace +with France and a renewal of the Russian advance on India. + +[Footnote 272: _The French Invasion of Russia_, by Sir R. Wilson, p. +234.] + +The belief that England was the enemy came to be increasingly held by +leading Russians, especially, of course, after the Crimean War and the +Berlin Congress. Russia's true mission, they said, lay in Asia. There, +among those ill-compacted races, she could easily build up an Empire +that never could be firmly founded on tough, recalcitrant Bulgars or +warlike Turks. The Triple Alliance having closed the door to Russia on +the West, there was the greater temptation to take the other alternative +course--that line of least resistance which led towards Afghanistan and +Manchuria. The value of an understanding with France was now clear to +all. As we have seen, it guarded Russia's exposed frontier in Poland, +and poured into the exchequer treasures which speedily took visible form +in the Siberian railway, as well as the extensions of the lines leading +to Merv and Tashkend. + +But this eastern trend of Russian policy can scarcely be called +peaceful. The Panjdeh incident (March 29, 1885) would have led any other +Government than that of Mr. Gladstone to declare war on the aggressor. +Events soon turned the gaze of the Russians towards Manchuria, and the +Franco-Russian agreement enabled them to throw their undivided energies +in that direction (see Chapter XX.). It was French money which enabled +Russia to dominate Manchuria, and, for the time, to overawe Japan. In +short, the Dual Alliance peacefully conducted the Muscovites to +Port Arthur. + + * * * * * + +The death of Alexander III. in November 1894 brought to power a very +different personality, kindlier and more generous, but lacking the +strength and prudence of the deceased ruler. Nicholas II. had none of +that dislike of Western institutions which haunted his father. The way +was therefore open for a more binding compact with France, the need for +which was emphasised by the events of the years 1894-95 in the Far East. +But the manner in which it came about is still but dimly known. Members +of the House of Orleans are said to have taken part in the overtures, +perhaps with the view of helping on the hypnotising influence which +alliance with the autocracy of the East exerts on the democracy of +the West. + +The Franco-Russian _entente_ ripened into an alliance in the year 1895. +So, at least, we may judge from the reference to Russia as "notre allié" +by the Prime Minister, M. Ribot, in the debate of June 10, 1895. +Nicholas II., at the time of his visit to Paris in 1896, proclaimed his +close friendship with the Republic; and during the return visit of +President Faure to Cronstadt and St. Petersburg he gave an even more +significant sign that the two nations were united by something more than +sentiment and what Carlyle would have called the cash-nexus. On board +the French warship _Pothuau_ he referred in his farewell speech to the +"nations amies et alliées" (August 26, 1897). + +The treaty has never been made public, but a version of it appeared in +the _Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung_ of September 21, 1901, and in the Paris +paper, _La Liberté_ five days later. Mr. Henry Norman gives the +following summary of the information there unofficially communicated. +After stating that the treaty contains no direct reference to Germany, +he proceeds: "It declares that if either nation is attacked, the other +will come to its assistance with the whole of its military and naval +forces, and that peace shall only be concluded in concert and by +agreement between the two. No other _casus belli_ is mentioned, no term +is fixed to the duration of the treaty, and the whole instrument +consists of only a few clauses[273]." + +[Footnote 273: H. Norman, M.P., _All the Russias_, p. 390 (Heinemann, +1902). See the articles on the alliance as it affects Anglo-French +relations by M. de Pressensé in the _Nineteenth Century_ for February +and November 1896; also Mr. Spenser Wilkinson's _The Nation's +Awakening_, ch. v.] + +Obviously France and Russia cannot help one another with all their +forces unless the common foe were Germany, or the Triple Alliance as a +whole. In that case alone would such a clause be operative. The pressure +of France and Russia on the flanks of the German Empire would be +terrible; and it is inconceivable that Germany would attack France, +knowing that such action would bring the weight of Russia upon her +weakest frontier. It is, however, conceivable that the three central +allies might deem the strain of an armed peace to be unendurable and +attack France or Russia. To such an attack the Dual Alliance would +oppose about equal forces, though now hampered by the weakening of the +Empire in the Far East. + +Another account, also unofficial and discreetly vague, was given to the +world by a diplomatist at the time when the Armenian outrages had for a +time quickened the dull conscience of Christendom[274]. Assuming that +the Sick Man of the East was at the point of death, the anonymous writer +hinted at the profitable results obtainable by the Continental States +if, leaving England out of count, they arranged the Eastern Question _à +l'aimable_ among themselves. The Dual Alliance, he averred, would not +meet the needs of the situation; for it did not contemplate the +partition of Turkey or a general war in the East. + +[Footnote 274: _L'Alliance Franco-russe devant la Crise Orientale_, par +un Diplomate étranger. (Paris, Plon. 1897).] + + Both parties [France and Russia] have examined the course to + be taken in the case of aggression by one or more members of + the Triple Alliance; an understanding has been arrived at on + the great lines of general policy; but of necessity they did + not go further. If the Russian Government could not undertake + to place its sword at the service of France with a view to a + revision of the Treaty of Frankfurt--a demand, moreover, + which France did not make--it cannot claim that France should + mobilise her forces to permit it to extend its territory in + Europe or in Asia. They know that very well on the banks of + the Neva. + +To this interesting statement we may add that France and Russia have +been at variance on the Eastern Question. Thus, when, in order to press +her rightful claims on the Sultan, France determined to coerce him by +the seizure of Mitylene, if need be, the Czar's Government is known to +have discountenanced this drastic proceeding. Speaking generally, it is +open to conjecture whether the Dual Alliance refers to other than +European questions. This may be inferred from the following fact. On the +announcement of the Anglo-Japanese compact early in 1902, by which +England agreed to intervene in the Far Eastern Question if another Power +helped Russia against Japan, the Governments of St. Petersburg and Paris +framed a somewhat similar convention whereby France definitely agreed to +take action if Russia were confronted by Japan and a European or +American Power in these quarters. No such compact would have been needed +if the Franco-Russian alliance had referred to the problems of the +Far East. + +Another "disclosure" of the early part of 1904 is also noteworthy. The +Paris _Figaro_ published official documents purporting to prove that +the Czar Nicholas II., on being sounded by the French Government at the +time of the Fashoda incident, declared his readiness to abide by his +engagements in case France took action against Great Britain. The +_Figaro_ used this as an argument in favour of France actively +supporting Russia against Japan, if an appeal came from St. Petersburg. +This contention would now meet with little support in France. The events +of the Russo-Japanese War and the massacre of workmen in St. Petersburg +on January 22, 1905, have visibly strained Franco-Russian relations. +This is seen in the following speech of M. Anatole France on February 1, +1905, with respect to his interview with the Premier, M. Combes:-- + + At the beginning of this war I had heard it said very vaguely + that there existed between France and Russia firm and fast + engagements, and that, if Russia came to blows with a second + Power, France would have to intervene. I asked M. Combes, + then Prime Minister, whether anything of the kind existed. M. + Combes thought it due to his position not to give a precise + answer; but he declared to me in the clearest way that so + long as he was Minister we need not fear that our sailors and + our soldiers would be sent to Japan. My own opinion is that + this folly is not to be apprehended under any Ministry. (_The + Times_. February 3.) + +At present, then, everything tends to show that the Franco-Russian +alliance refers solely to European questions and is merely a defensive +agreement in view of a possible attack from one or more members of the +Triple Alliance. Seeing that the purely defensive character of the +latter has always been emphasised, doubts are very naturally expressed +in many quarters as to the use of these alliances. The only tangible +advantage gained by any one of the five Powers is that Russia has had +greater facilities for raising loans in France and in securing her hold +on Manchuria. On the other hand, Frenchmen complain that the alliance +has entailed an immense financial responsibility, which is dearly bought +by the cessation of those irritating frontier incidents of the +Schnaebele type which they had to put up with from Bismarck in the days +of their isolation[275]. + +[Footnote 275: See an article by Jules Simon in the _Contemporary +Review_, May 1894.] + +Italy also questions the wisdom of her alliance with the Central Powers +which brings no obvious return except in the form of slightly enhanced +consideration from her Latin sister. In cultured circles on both sides +of the Maritime Alps there is a strong feeling that the present +international situation violates racial instincts and tradition; and, as +we have already seen, Italy's attitude towards France is far different +now from what it was in 1882. It is now practically certain that +Italians would not allow the King's Government to fight France in the +interests of the Central Powers. Their feelings are quite natural. What +have Italians in common with Austrians and Prussians? Little more, we +may reply, than French republicans with the subjects of the Czar. In +truth both of these alliances rest, not on whole-hearted regard or +affection, but on fear and on the compulsion which it exerts. + +To this fact we may, perhaps, largely attribute the _malaise_ of Europe. +The Greek philosopher Empedocles looked on the world as the product of +two all-pervading forces, love and hate, acting on blind matter: love +brought cognate particles together and held them in union; hate or +repulsion kept asunder the unlike or hostile elements. We may use the +terms of this old cosmogony in reference to existing political +conditions, and assert that these two elemental principles have drawn +Europe apart into two hostile masses; with this difference, that the +allies for the most part are held together, not so much by mutual regard +as by hatred of their opposites. From this somewhat sweeping statement +we must mark off one exception. There were two allies who came together +with the ease which betokens a certain amount of affinity. Thanks to the +statesmanlike moderation of Bismarck after Königgrätz, Austria willingly +entered into a close compact with her former rival. At least that was +the feeling among the Germans and Magyars of the Dual Monarchy. The +Austro-German alliance, it may be predicted, will hold good while the +Dual Monarchy exists in its present form; but even in that case fear of +Russia is the one great binding force where so much else is centrifugal. +If ever the Empire of the Czar should lose its prestige, possibly the +two Central Powers would drift apart. + +Although there are signs of weakness in both alliances, they will +doubtless remain standing as long as the need which called them into +being remains. Despite all the efforts made on both sides, the military +and naval resources of the two great leagues are approximately equal. In +one respect, and in one alone, Europe has benefited from these +well-matched efforts. The uneasy truce that has been dignified by the +name of peace since the year 1878 results ultimately from the fact that +war will involve the conflict of enormous citizen armies of nearly +equal strength. + +So it has come to this, that in an age when the very conception of +Christendom has vanished, and ideal principles have been well-nigh +crushed out of life by the pressure of material needs, peace again +depends on the once-derided principle of the balance of power. That it +should be so is distressing to all who looked to see mankind win its way +to a higher level of thought on international affairs. The level of +thought in these matters could scarcely be lower than it has been since +the Armenian massacres. The collective conscience of Europe is as torpid +as it was in the eighteenth century, when weak States were crushed or +partitioned, and armed strength came to be the only guarantee of safety. + +At the close of this volume we shall glance at some of the influences +which the Tantalus toil of the European nations has exerted on the life +of our age. It is not for nothing that hundreds of millions of men are +ever striving to provide the sinews of war, and that rulers keep those +sinews in a state of tension. The result is felt in all the other organs +of the body politic. Certainly the governing classes of the Continent +must be suffering from atrophy of the humorous instinct if they fail to +note the practical nullity of the efforts which they and their subjects +have long put forth. Perhaps some statistical satirist of the twentieth +century will assess the economy of the process which requires nearly +twelve millions of soldiers for the maintenance of peace in the most +enlightened quarter of the globe. + +NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION + +In the _Echo de Paris_ of July 3, 1905, the Comte de Nion published +documents which further prove the importance of the services rendered by +Great Britain to France at the time of the war scare of May 1875. They +confirm the account as given in this chapter, but add a few more +details. See, too, corroborative evidence in the _Times_ for July +4, 1905. + +NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION + +It has been stated, apparently on good authority, that the informal +conversations which went on during the Congress of Berlin between the +plenipotentiaries of the Powers (see _ante_, p. 328) furnished Italy +with an assurance that, in the event of France expanding in North +Africa, Italy should find "compensation" in Tripoli. Apparently this +explains her recent action there (October 1911). + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE CENTRAL ASIAN QUESTION + + "The Germans have reached their day, the English their + mid-day, the French their afternoon, the Italians their + evening, the Spanish their night; but the Slavs stand on the + threshold of the morning."--MADAME NOVIKOFF ("O.K.")--_The + Friends and Foes of Russia_. + + +The years 1879-85 which witnessed the conclusion of the various +questions opened up by the Treaty of Berlin and the formation of the +Triple Alliance mark the end of a momentous period in European history. +The quarter of a century which followed the Franco-Austrian War of 1859 +in Northern Italy will always stand out as one of the most momentous +epochs in State-building that the world has ever seen. Italy, Denmark, +Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Turkey, assumed their present form. The +Christians of the Balkan Peninsula made greater strides towards liberty +than they had taken in the previous century. Finally, the new diplomatic +grouping of the Powers helped to endow these changes with a permanence +which was altogether wanting to the fitful efforts of the period +1815-59. That earlier period was one of feverish impulse and picturesque +failure; the two later decades were characterised by stern organisation +and prosaic success. + +It generally happens to nations as to individuals that a period devoted +to recovery from internal disorders is followed by a time of great +productive and expansive power. The introspective epoch gives place to +one of practical achievement. Faust gives up his barren speculations +and feels his way from thought to action. From "In the beginning was the +Word" he wins his way onward through "the Thought" and "the Might," +until he rewrites the dictum "In the beginning was the Deed." That is +the change which came over Germany and Europe in the years 1850-80. The +age of the theorisers of the _Vor-Parlament_ at Frankfurt gave place to +the age of Bismarck. The ideals of Mazzini paled in the garish noonday +of the monarchical triumph at Rome. + +Alas! too, the age of great achievement, that of the years 1859-85, +makes way for a period characterised by satiety, torpor, and an +indefinable _malaise_. Europe rests from the generous struggles of the +past, and settles down uneasily into a time of veiled hostility and +armed peace. Having framed their State systems and covering alliances, +the nations no longer give heed to constitutions, rights of man, or +duties of man; they plunge into commercialism, and search for new +markets. Their attitude now is that of Ancient Pistol when he exclaims + + "The world's mine oyster, + Which I with sword will open." + +In Europe itself there is little to chronicle in the years 1885-1900, +which are singularly dull in regard to political achievement. No popular +movement (not even those of the distressed Cretans and Armenians) has +aroused enough sympathy to bring it to the goal. The reason for this +fact seems to be that the human race, like the individual, is subject to +certain alternating moods which may be termed the enthusiastic and the +practical; and that, during the latter phase, the material needs of life +are so far exalted at the expense of the higher impulses that small +struggling communities receive not a tithe of the sympathy which they +would have aroused in more generous times. + +The fact need not beget despair. On the contrary, it should inspire the +belief that, when the fit passes away, the healthier, nobler mood will +once more come; and then the world will pulsate with new life, making +wholesome use of the wealth previously stored up but not assimilated. It +is significant that Gervinus, writing in 1853, spoke of that epoch as +showing signs of disenchantment and exhaustion in the political sphere. +In reality he was but six years removed from the beginning of an age of +constructive activity the like of which has never been seen. + +Further, we may point out that the ebb in the tide of human affairs +which set in about the year 1885 was due to specific causes operating +with varied force on different peoples. First in point of time, at the +close of the year 1879, came the decision of Bismarck and of the German +Reichstag to abandon the cause of Free Trade in favour of a narrow +commercial nationalism. Next came the murder of the Czar Alexander II. +(March 1881), and the grinding down of the reformers and of all alien +elements by his stern successor. Thus, the national impulse, which had +helped on that of democracy in the previous generation, now lent its +strength to the cause of economic, religious, and political reaction in +the two greatest of European States. + +In other lands that vital force frittered itself away in the frothy +rhetoric of Déroulède and the futile prancings of Boulanger, in the +gibberings of _Italia Irredenta_, or in the noisy obstruction of Czechs +and Parnellites in the Parliaments of Vienna and London. Everything +proclaimed that the national principle had spent its force and could now +merely turn and wobble until it came to rest. + +A curious series of events also served to discredit the party of +progress in the constitutional States. Italian politics during the +ascendancy of Depretis, Mancini, and Crispi became on the one side a +mere scramble for power, on the other a nervous edging away from the +gulf of bankruptcy ever yawning in front. France, too, was slow to +habituate herself to parliamentary institutions, and her history in the +years 1887 to 1893 is largely that of a succession of political scandals +and screechy recriminations, from the time of the Grévy-Wilson affair to +the loathsome end of the Panama Company. In the United Kingdom the +wheels of progress lurched along heavily after the year 1886, when +Gladstone made his sudden strategic turn towards the following of +Parnell. Thus it came about that the parties of progress found +themselves almost helpless or even discredited; and the young giant of +Democracy suddenly stooped and shrivelled as if with premature decay. + +The causes of this seeming paralysis were not merely political and +dynamic: they were also ethical. The fervour of religious faith was +waning under the breath of a remorseless criticism and dogmatic +materialism. Already, under their influence, the teachers of the earlier +age, Carlyle, Tennyson, and Browning, had lost their joyousness and +spontaneity; and the characteristic thinkers of the new age were chiefly +remarkable for the arid formalism with which they preached the gospel of +salvation for the strong and damnation to the weak. The results of the +new creed were not long in showing themselves in the political sphere. +If the survival of the fittest were the last word of philosophy, where +was the need to struggle on behalf of the weak and oppressed? In that +case, it might be better to leave them to the following clutch of the +new scientific devil; while those who had charged through to the head of +the rout enjoyed themselves with utmost abandon. Such was, and is, the +deduction from the new gospel (crude enough, doubtless, in many +respects), which has finally petrified in the lordly egotism of Nietzche +and in the unlovely outlines of one or two up-to-date Utopias. + +These fashions will have their day. Meanwhile it is the duty of the +historian to note that self-sacrifice and heroism have a hard struggle +for life in an age which for a time exalted Herbert Spencer to the +highest pinnacle of greatness, which still riots in the calculating +selfishness of Nietzsche and raves about Omar Khayyám. + +Seeing, then, that the last fifteen years of the nineteenth century in +Europe were almost barren of great formative movements such as had +ennobled the previous decades, we may well leave that over-governed, +over-drilled continent weltering in its riches and discontent, its +militarism and moral weakness, in order to survey events further afield +which carried on the State-building process to lands as yet chaotic or +ill-organised. There, at least, we may chronicle some advance, hampered +though it has been by the moral languor or laxity that has warped the +action of Europeans in their new spheres. + +The transference of human interest from European history to that of Asia +and Africa is certainly one of the distinguishing features of the years +in question. The scene of great events shifts from the Rhine and the +Danube to the Oxus and the Nile. The affairs of Rome, Alsace, and +Bulgaria being settled for the present, the passions of great nations +centre on Herat and Candahar, Alexandria and Khartum, the Cameroons, +Zanzibar, and Johannesburg, Port Arthur and Korea. The United States, +after recovering from the Civil War and completing their work of +internal development, enter the lists as a colonising Power, and drive +forth Spain from two of her historic possessions. Strife becomes keen +over the islands of the Pacific. Australia seeks to lay hands on New +Guinea, and the European Powers enter into hot discussions over +Madagascar, the Carolines, Samoa, and many other isles. + +In short, these years saw a repetition of the colonial strifes that +marked the latter half of the eighteenth century. Just as Europe, after +solving the questions arising out of the religious wars, betook itself +to marketing in the waste lands over the seas, so too, when the impulses +arising from the incoming of the principles of democracy and nationality +had worn themselves out, the commercial and colonial motive again came +uppermost. And, as in the eighteenth century, so too after 1880 there +was at hand an economic incentive spurring on the Powers to annexation +of new lands. France had recurred to protective tariffs in 1870. +Germany, under Bismarck, followed suit ten years later; and all the +continental Powers in turn, oppressed by armaments and girt around with +hostile tariffs, turned instinctively to the unclaimed territories +oversea as life-saving annexes for their own overstocked +industrial centres. + + * * * * * + +It will be convenient to begin the recital of extra-European events by +considering the expansion of Russia and Great Britain in Central Asia. +There, it is true, the commercial motive is less prominent than that of +political rivalry; and the foregoing remarks apply rather to the recent +history of Africa than to that of Central Asia. But, as the plan of this +work is to some extent chronological, it seems better to deal first with +events which had their beginning further back than those which relate to +the partition of Africa. + +The two great colonising and conquering movements of recent times are +those which have proceeded from London and Moscow as starting-points. In +comparison with them the story of the enterprise of the Portuguese and +Dutch has little more than the interest that clings around an almost +vanished past. The halo of romance that hovers over the exploits of +Spaniards in the New World has all but faded away. Even the more solid +achievements of the gallant sons of France in a later age are of small +account when compared with the five mighty commonwealths that bear +witness to the strength of the English stock and the adaptability of its +institutions, or with the portentous growth of the Russian Empire +in Asia. + +The methods of expansion of these two great colonial Empires are +curiously different; and students of Ancient History will recall a +similar contrast in the story of the expansion of the Greek and Latin +races. The colonial Empire of England has been sown broadcast over the +seas by adventurous sailors, the freshness and spontaneity of whose +actions recall corresponding traits in the maritime life of Athens. +Nursed by the sea, and filled with the love of enterprise and freedom +which that element inspires, both peoples sought wider spheres for their +commerce, and homes more spacious and wealthy than their narrow cradles +offered; but, above all, they longed to found a microcosm of Athens or +England, with as little control from the mother-land as might be. + +The Russian Empire, on the other hand, somewhat resembles that of Rome +in its steady, persistent extension of land boundaries by military and +governmental methods. The Czars, like the Consuls and Emperors of Rome, +set to work with a definite purpose, and brought to bear on the +shifting, restless tribes beyond their borders the pressure of an +unchanging policy and of a well-organised administration. Both States +relied on discipline and civilisation to overcome animal strength and +barbarism; and what they won by the sword, they kept by means of a good +system of roads and by military colonies. In brief, while Ancient Greece +and Modern England worked through sailors and traders, Rome and Russia +worked through soldiers, road-makers, and proconsuls. The Sea Powers +trusted mainly to individual initiative and civic freedom; the Land +Powers founded their empires on organisation and order. The dominion of +the former was sporadic and easily dissolvable; that of the latter was +solid, and liable to be destroyed only by some mighty cataclysm. The +contrast between them is as old and ineffaceable as that which subsists +between the restless sea and the unchanging plain. + +While the comparison between England and Athens is incomplete, and at +some points fallacious, that between the Czars and the Cæsars is in many +ways curiously close and suggestive. As soon as the Roman eagles soared +beyond the mighty ring of the Alps and perched securely on the slopes of +Gaul and Rhætia, the great Republic had the military advantage of +holding the central position as against the mutually hostile tribes of +Western, Central, and Eastern Europe. Thanks to that advantage, to her +organisation, and to her military colonies, she pushed forward an +ever-widening girdle of empire, finally conferring the blessings of the +_pax Romana_ on districts as far remote as the Tyne, the Lower Rhine and +Danube, the Caucasus, and the Pillars of Hercules. + +Russia also has used to the full the advantages conferred by a central +position, an inflexible policy, and a military-agrarian system well +adapted to the needs of the nomadic peoples on her borders. In the +fifteenth century, her polity emerged victorious from the long struggle +with the Golden Horde of Tartars [I keep the usual spelling, though +"Tatars" is the correct form]; and, as the barbarous Mongolians lost +their hold on the districts of the middle Volga, the power of the Czars +began its forward march, pressing back Asiatics on the East and Poles on +the West. In 1556, Ivan the Terrible seized Astrakan at the mouth of the +Volga, and victoriously held Russia's natural frontiers on the East, the +Ural Mountains, and the northern shore of the Caspian Sea. We shall deal +in a later chapter with her conquest of Siberia, and need only note here +that Muscovite pioneers reached the shores of the Northern Pacific as +early as the year 1636. + +Russia's conquests at the expense of Turks, Circassians, and Persians is +a subject alien to this narrative; and the tragic story of the overthrow +of Poland at the hand of the three partitioning Powers, Russia, Prussia, +and Austria, does not concern us here. + +It is, however, needful to observe the means by which she was able to +survive the dire perils of her early youth and to develop the colonising +and conquering agencies of her maturer years. They may be summed up in +the single word, "Cossacks." + +The Cossacks are often spoken of as though they were a race. They are +not; they are bands or communities, partly military, partly nomadic or +agricultural, as the case may be. They can be traced back to bands of +outlaws who in the time of Russia's weakness roamed about on the verge +of her settlements, plundering indifferently their Slavonic kinsmen, or +the Tartars and Turks farther south. They were the "men of the plain," +who had fled from the villages of the Slavs, or (in fewer cases) from +the caravans of the Tartars, owing to private feuds, or from love of a +freer and more lucrative life than that of the village or the +encampment. In this debatable land their numbers increased until, Slavs +though they mainly were, they became a menace to the growing power of +the Czars. Ivan the Terrible sent expeditions against them, transplanted +many of their number, and compelled those who remained in the space +between the rivers Don and Ural to submit to his authority, and to give +military service in time of war in return for rights of pasturage and +tillage in the districts thenceforth recognised as their own. Some of +them transferred their energies to Asia; and it was a Cossack outlaw, +Jermak, who conquered a great part of Siberia. The Russian pioneers, who +early penetrated into Siberia or Turkestan, found it possible at a later +time to use these children of the plain as a kind of protective belt +against the warlike natives. The same use was made of them in the South +against Turks. Catharine II. broke the power of the "Zaporoghians" +(Cossacks of the Dnieper), and settled large numbers of them on the +River Kuban to fight the Circassians. + +In short, out of the driftwood and wreckage of their primitive social +system the Russians framed a bulwark against the swirling currents of +the nomad world outside. In some respects the Cossacks resemble the +roving bands of Saxons and Franks who pushed forward roughly but +ceaselessly the boundaries of the Teutonic race[276]. But, whereas those +offshoots soon came to have a life of their own, apart from the parent +stems, Russia, on the other hand, has known how to keep a hold on her +boisterous youth, turning their predatory instincts against her worst +neighbours, and using them as hardy irregulars in her wars. + +[Footnote 276: See Cæsar, _Gallic War_, bk. vi., for an account of the +formation, at the tribal meeting, of a roving band.] + +Considering the number of times that the Russian Government crushed the +Cossack revolts, broke up their self-made organisation, and transplanted +unruly bands to distant parts, their almost invariable loyalty to the +central authority is very remarkable. It may be ascribed either to the +veneration which they felt for the Czar, to the racial sentiment which +dwells within the breast of nearly every Slav, or to their proximity to +alien peoples whom they hated as Mohammedans or despised as godless +pagans. In any case, the Russian autocracy gained untold advantages from +the Cossack fringe on the confines of the Empire. + +Some faint conception of the magnitude of that gain may be formed, if, +by way of contrast, we try to picture the Teutonic peoples always acting +together, even through their distant offshoots; or, again, if by a +flight of fancy we can imagine the British Government making a wise use +of its old soldiers and the flotsam and jetsam of our cities for the +formation of semi-military colonies on the most exposed frontiers of the +Empire. That which our senators have done only in the case of the +Grahamstown experiment of 1819, Russia has done persistently and +successfully with materials far less promising--a triumph of +organisation for which she has received scant credit. + +The roving Cossacks have become practically a mounted militia, highly +mobile in peace and in war. Free from taxes, and enjoying certain +agrarian or pastoral rights in the district which they protect, their +position in the State is fully assured. At times the ordinary Russian +settlers are turned into Cossacks. Either by that means, or by migration +from Russia, or by a process of accretion from among the conquered +nomads, their ranks are easily recruited; and the readiness with which +Tartars and Turkomans are absorbed into this cheap and effective militia +has helped to strengthen Russia alike in peace and war. The source of +strength open to her on this side of her social system did not escape +the notice of Napoleon--witness his famous remark that within fifty +years Europe would be either Republican or Cossack[277]. + +[Footnote 277: For the Cossacks, see D.M. Wallace's _Russia_, vol. ii. +pp. 80-95; and Vladimir's _Russia on the Pacific_, pp. 46-49. The former +points out that their once democratic organisation has vanished under +the autocracy; and that their officers, appointed by the Czar, own most +of the land, formerly held in common.] + +The firm organisation which Central Europe gained under the French +Emperor's hammer-like blows served to falsify the prophecy; and the +stream of Russian conquest, dammed up on the west by the +newly-consolidated strength of Prussia and Austria, set strongly towards +Asia. Pride at her overthrow of the great conqueror in 1812 had +quickened the national consciousness of Russia; and besides this +praiseworthy motive there was another perhaps equally potent, namely, +the covetousness of her ruling class. The Memoirs written by her +bureaucrats and generals reveal the extravagance, dissipation, and +luxury of the Court circles. Fashionable society had as its main +characteristic a barbaric and ostentatious extravagance, alike in +gambling and feasting, in the festivals of the Court or in the scarcely +veiled debauchery of its devotees. Baron Löwenstern, who moved in its +higher ranks, tells of cases of a license almost incredible to those who +have not pried among the garbage of the Court of Catharine II. This +recklessness, resulting from the tendency of the Muscovite nature, as of +the Muscovite climate, to indulge in extremes, begot an imperious need +of large supplies of money; and, ground down as were the serfs on the +broad domains of the nobles, the resulting revenues were all too scanty +to fill up the financial void created by the urgent needs of St. +Petersburg, Gatchina, or Monte Carlo. Larger domains had to be won in +order to outvie rivals or stave off bankruptcy; and these new domains +could most easily come by foreign conquest. + +For an analogous reason, the State itself suffered from land hunger. Its +public service was no less corrupt than inefficient. Large sums +frequently vanished, no one knew whither; but one infallible cure for +bankruptcy was always at hand, namely, conquests over Poles, Turks, +Circassians, or Tartars. To this Catharine II. had looked when she +instituted the vicious practice of paying the nobles for their services +at Court; and during her long career of conquest she greatly developed +the old Muscovite system of meeting the costs of war out of the domains +of the vanquished, besides richly dowering the Crown, and her generals +and favoured courtiers. One of the Russian Ministers, referring to the +notorious fact that his Government made war for the sake of booty as +well as glory, said to a Frenchman, "We have remained somewhat Asiatic +in that respect[278]." It is not always that a Minister reveals so +frankly the motives that help to mould the policy of a great State. + +[Footnote 278: Quoted by Vandal, _Napoléon I. et Alexandre,_ vol. i. p. +136.] + +The predatory instinct, once acquired, does not readily pass away. +Alexander I. gratified it by forays in Circassia, even at the time when +he was face to face with the might of the great Napoleon; and after the +fall of the latter, Russia pushed on her confines in Georgia until they +touched those of Persia. Under Nicholas I. little territory was added +except the Kuban coast on the Black Sea, Erivan to the south of Georgia, +and part of the Kirghiz lands in Turkestan. + +The reason for this quiescence was that almost up to the verge of the +Crimean War Nicholas hoped to come to an understanding with England +respecting an eventual partition of the Turkish Empire, Austria also +gaining a share of the spoils. With the aim of baiting these proposals, +he offered, during his visit to London in 1844, to refrain from any +movement against the Khanates of Central Asia, concerning which British +susceptibilities were becoming keen. His Chancellor, Count Nesselrode, +embodied these proposals in an important Memorandum, containing a +promise that Russia would leave the Khanates of Turkestan as a neutral +zone in order to keep the Russian and British possessions in Asia "from +dangerous contact[279]." + +[Footnote 279: Quoted on p. 14 of _A Diplomatic Study on the Crimean +War,_ issued by the Russian Foreign Office, and attributed to Baron +Jomini (Russian edition, 1879; English edition, 1882).] + +For reasons which we need not detail, British Ministers rejected these +overtures, and by degrees England entered upon the task of defending the +Sultan's dominions, largely on the assumption that they formed a +necessary bulwark of her Indian Empire. It is not our purpose to +criticise British policy at that time. We merely call attention to the +fact that there seemed to be a prospect of a friendly understanding with +Russia respecting Turkey, Asia Minor, Egypt, and Central Asia; and that +the British Government decided to maintain the integrity of Turkey by +attacking the Power which seemed about to impugn it. As a result, Turkey +secured a new lease of life by the Crimean War, while Alexander II. +deemed himself entirely free to press on Asiatic conquests from which +his father had refrained. Thus, the two great expanding Powers entered +anew on that course of rivalry in Asia which has never ceased, and which +forms to-day the sole barrier to a good understanding between them. + +After the Crimean War circumstances favoured the advance of the Russian +arms. England, busied with the Sepoy Mutiny in India, cared little what +became of the rival Khans of Turkestan; and Lord Lawrence, +Governor-General of India in 1863-69, enunciated the soothing doctrine +that "Russia might prove a safer neighbour than the wild tribes of +Central Asia." The Czar's emissaries therefore had easy work in +fomenting the strifes that constantly arose in Bokhara, Khiva, and +Tashkend, with the result that in 1864 the last-named was easily +acquired by Russia. We may add here that Tashkend is now an important +railway centre in the Russian Central Asian line, and that large stores +of food and material are there accumulated, which may be utilised in +case Russia makes a move against Afghanistan or Northern India. + +In 1868 an outbreak of Mohammedan fanaticism in Bokhara brought the +Ameer of that town into collision with the Russians, who thereupon +succeeded in taking Samarcand. The capital of the empire of Tamerlane, +"the scourge of Asia," now sank to the level of an outpost of Russian +power, and ultimately to that of a mart for cotton. The Khan of Bokhara +fell into a position of complete subservience, and ceded to the +conquerors the whole of his province of Samarcand[280]. + +[Footnote 280: For an account of Samarcand and Bokhara, see _Russia in +Central Asia,_ by Hon. G. (Lord) Curzon (1889); A. Vambéry's _Travels in +Central Asia_ (1867-68); Rev. H. Lansdell, _Russian Central Asia,_ 2 +vols. (1885); E. Schuyler, _Journey in Russian Turkestan,_ etc., 2 vols. +(1876); E. O'Donovan, _The Merv Oasis,_ 2 vols. (1883).] + +It is believed that the annexation of Samarcand was contrary to the +intentions of the Czar. Alexander II. was a friend of peace; and he had +no desire to push forward his frontiers to the verge of Afghanistan, +where friction would probably ensue with the British Government. Already +he had sought to allay the irritation prevalent in Russophobe circles in +England. In November 1864, his Chancellor, Prince Gortchakoff, issued a +circular setting forth the causes that impelled the Russians on their +forward march. It was impossible, he said, to keep peace with +uncivilised and predatory tribes on their frontiers. Russia must press +on until she came into touch with a State whose authority would +guarantee order on the boundaries. The argument was a strong one; and it +may readily be granted that good government, civilisation, and commerce +have benefited by the extension of the _pax Russica_ over the +slave-hunting Turkomans and the inert tribes of Siberia. + +Nevertheless, as Gortchakoff's circular expressed the intention of +refraining from conquest for the sake of conquest, the irritation in +England became very great when the conquest of Tashkend, and thereafter +of Samarcand, was ascribed, apparently on good grounds, to the ambition +of the Russian commanders, Tchernaieff and Kaufmann respectively. On the +news of the capture of Samarcand reaching London, the Russian ambassador +hastened to assure the British Cabinet that his master did not intend to +retain his conquest. Nevertheless, it was retained. The doctrine of +political necessity proved to be as expansive as Russia's boundaries; +and, after the rapid growth of the Indian Empire under Lord Dalhousie, +the British Government could not deny the force of the plea. + +This mighty stride forward brought Russia to the northern bounds of +Afghanistan, a land which was thenceforth to be the central knot of +diplomatic problems of vast magnitude. It will therefore be well, in +beginning our survey of a question which was to test the efficacy of +autocracy and democracy in international affairs, to gain some notion +of the physical and political conditions of the life of that people. + +As generally happens in a mountainous region in the midst of a great +continent, their country exhibits various strata of conquest and +settlement. The northern district, sloping towards Turkestan, is +inhabited mainly by Turkomans who have not yet given up their roving +habits. The rugged hill country bordering on the Punjab is held by +Pathans and Ghilzais, who are said by some to be of the same stock as +the Afghans. On the other hand, a well-marked local legend identifies +the Afghans proper with the lost ten tribes of Israel; and those who +love to speculate on that elusive and delusive subject may long use +their ingenuity in speculating whether the oft-quoted text as to the +chosen people possessing the gates of their enemies is more applicable +to the sea-faring and sea-holding Anglo-Saxons or to the +pass-holding Afghans. + +That elevated plateau, ridged with lofty mountains and furrowed with +long clefts, has seen Turkomans, Persians, and many other races sweep +over it; and the mixture of these and other races, perhaps including +errant Hebrews, has there acquired the sturdiness, tenacity, and +clannishness that mark the fragments of three nations clustering +together in the Alpine valleys; while it retains the turbulence and +fierceness of a full-blooded Asiatic stock. The Afghan problem is +complicated by these local differences and rivalries; the north cohering +with the Turkomans, Herat and the west having many affinities and +interests in common with Persia, Candahar being influenced by +Baluchistan, while the hill tribes of the north-east bristle with local +peculiarities and aboriginal savagery. These districts can be welded +together only by the will of a great ruler or in the white heat of +religious fanaticism; and while Moslem fury sometimes unites all the +Afghan clans, the Moslem marriage customs result fully as often in a +superfluity of royal heirs, which gives rein to all the forces that make +for disruption. Afghanistan is a hornet's nest; and yet, as we shall see +presently, owing to geographical and strategical reasons, it cannot be +left severely alone. The people are to the last degree clannish; and +nothing but the grinding pressure of two mighty Empires has endowed them +with political solidarity. + +It is not surprising that British statesmen long sought to avoid all +responsibility for the internal affairs of such a land. As we have seen, +the theory which found favour with Lord Lawrence was that of intervening +as little as possible in the affairs of States bordering on India, a +policy which was termed "masterly inactivity" by the late Mr. J.W.S. +Wyllie. It was the outcome of the experience gained in the years +1839-42, when, after alienating Dost Mohammed, the Ameer of Afghanistan, +by its coolness, the Indian Government rushed to the other extreme and +invaded the country in order to tear him from the arms of the more +effusive Russians. + +The results are well known. Overweening confidence and military +incapacity finally led to the worst disaster that befell a British army +during the nineteenth century, only one officer escaping from among the +4500 troops and 12,000 camp followers who sought to cut their way back +through the Khyber Pass[281]. A policy of non-intervention in the +affairs of so fickle and savage a people naturally ensued, and was +stoutly maintained by Lords Canning, Elgin, and Lawrence, who held sway +during and after the great storm of the Indian Mutiny. The worth of that +theory of conduct came to be tested in 1863, on the occasion of the +death of Dost Mohammed, who had latterly recovered Herat from Persia, +and brought nearly the whole of the Afghan clans under his sway. He had +been our friend during the Mutiny, when his hostility might readily have +turned the wavering scales of war; and he looked for some tangible +return for his loyal behaviour in preventing the attempt of some of his +restless tribesmen to recover the once Afghan city of Peshawur. + +[Footnote 281: Sir J.W. Kaye, _History of the War in Afghanistan_, 5 +vols. (1851-78).] + +To his surprise and disgust he met with no return whatever, even in a +matter which most nearly concerned his dynasty and the future of +Afghanistan. As generally happens with Moslem rulers, the aged Ameer +occupied his declining days with seeking to provide against the troubles +that naturally resulted from the oriental profusion of his marriages. +Dost Mohammed's quiver was blessed with the patriarchal equipment of +sixteen sons--most of them stalwart, warlike, and ambitious. Eleven of +them limited their desires to parts of Afghanistan, but five of them +aspired to rule over all the tribes that go to make up that seething +medley. Of these, Shere Ali was the third in age but the first in +capacity, if not in prowess. Moreover, he was the favourite son of Dost +Mohammed; but where rival mothers and rival tribes were concerned, none +could foresee the issue of the pending conflict[282]. + +[Footnote 282: G.B. Malleson, _History of Afghanistan_, p. 421.] + +Dost Mohammed sought to avert it by gaining the effective support of the +Indian Government for his Benjamin. He pleaded in vain. Lord Canning, +Governor-General of India at the time of the Mutiny, recognised Shere +Ali as heir-apparent, but declined to give any promise of support either +in arms or money. Even after the Mutiny was crushed, Lord Canning and +his successor, Lord Elgin, adhered to the former decision, refusing even +a grant of money and rifles for which father and son pleaded. + +As we have said, Dost Mohammed died in 1863; but even when Shere Ali was +face to face with formidable family schisms and a widespread revolt, +Lord Lawrence clung to the policy of recognising only "_de facto_ +Powers," that is, Powers which actually existed and could assert their +authority. All that he offered was to receive Shere Ali in conference, +and give him good advice; but he would only recognise him as Ameer of +Afghanistan if he could prevail over his brothers and their tribesmen. +He summed it up in this official letter of April 17, 1866, sent to the +Governor of the Punjab:-- + +It should be our policy to show clearly that we will not interfere in +the struggle, that we will not aid either party, that we will leave the +Afghans to settle their own quarrels, and that we are willing to be on +terms of amity and good-will with the nation and with their rulers _de +facto_. Suitable opportunities can be taken to declare that these are +the principles which will guide our policy; and it is the belief of the +Governor-General that such a policy will in the end be appreciated[283]. + +[Footnote 283: Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 1 (1878), p. 10. For a +defence of this policy of "masterly inactivity," see Mr. Bosworth +Smith's _Life of Lord Lawrence_, vol. ii. pp. 570-590; also Mr. J.W.S. +Wyllie's _Essays on the External Policy of India_.] + +The Afghans did not appreciate it. Shere All protested that it placed a +premium on revolt; he also complained that the Viceroy not only gave him +no help, but even recognised his rival, Ufzul, when the latter captured +Cabul. After the death of Ufzul and the assumption of authority at Cabul +by a third brother, Azam, Shere Ali by a sudden and desperate attempt +drove his rival from Cabul (September 8, 1868) and practically ended the +schisms and strifes which for five years had rent Afghanistan in twain. +Then, but then only, did Lord Lawrence consent to recognise him as Ameer +of the whole land, and furnish him with £60,000 and a supply of arms. An +act which, five years before, would probably have ensured the speedy +triumph of Shere Ali and his lasting gratitude to Great Britain, now +laid him under no sense of obligation[284]. He might have replied to +Lord Lawrence with the ironical question with which Dr. Johnson declined +Lord Chesterfield's belated offer of patronage: "Is not a patron, my +lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the +water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help?" + +[Footnote 284: The late Duke of Argyll in his _Eastern Question_ (vol. +ii. p. 42) cited the fact of this offer of money and arms as a proof +that Lord Lawrence was not wedded to the theory of "masterly +inactivity," and stated that the gift helped Shere Ali to complete his +success. It is clear, however, that Lord Lawrence waited to see whether +that success was well assured before the offer was made. + +The Duke of Argyll proves one thing, that the action of Lord Lawrence in +September 1868 was not due to Sir Henry Rawlinson's despatch from London +(dated July 20, 1868) in favour of more vigorous action. It was due to +Lawrence's perception of the change brought about by Russian action in +the Khanate of Bokhara, near the Afghan border.] + +Moreover, there is every reason to think that Shere Ali, with the +proneness of orientals to refer all actions to the most elemental +motives, attributed the change of front at Calcutta solely to fear. That +was the time when the Russian capture of Samarcand cowed the Khan of +Bokhara and sent a thrill through Central Asia. In the political +psychology of the Afghans, the tardy arrival at Cabul of presents from +India argued little friendship for Shere Ali, but great dread of the +conquering Muscovites. + +Such, then, was the policy of "masterly inactivity" in 1863-68, cheap +for India, but excessively costly for Afghanistan. Lord Lawrence +rendered incalculable services to India before and during the course of +the Mutiny, but his conduct towards Shere Ali is certainly open to +criticism. The late Duke of Argyll, Secretary of State for India in the +Gladstone Ministry (1868-74), supported it in his work, _The Eastern +Question,_ on the ground that the Anglo-Afghan treaty of 1855 pledged +the British not to interfere in the affairs of Afghanistan[285]. But +uncalled for interference is one thing; to refuse even a slight measure +of help to an ally, who begs it as a return for most valuable services, +is quite another thing. + +[Footnote 285: The Duke of Argyll, _op. cit._ vol. ii. p. 226 (London, +1879). For the treaty, see Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 1 (1878), +p. 1.] + +Moreover, the Viceroy himself was brought by the stern logic of events +implicitly to give up his policy. In one of his last official +despatches, written on January 4, 1869, he recognised the gain to Russia +that must accrue from our adherence to a merely passive policy in +Central Asian affairs. He suggested that we should come to a "clear +understanding with the Court of St. Petersburg as to its projects and +designs in Central Asia, and that it might be given to understand in +firm but courteous language, that it cannot be permitted to interfere in +the affairs of Afghanistan, or in those of any State which lies +contiguous to our frontier." + +This sentence tacitly implied a change of front; for any prohibition to +Russia to interfere in the affairs of Afghanistan virtually involved +Britain's claim to exercise some degree of suzerainty in that land. The +way therefore seemed open for a new departure, especially as the new +Governor-General, Lord Mayo, was thought to favour the more vigorous +ideas latterly prevalent at Westminster. But when Shere Ali met the new +Viceroy in a splendid Durbar at Umballa (March 1869) and formulated his +requests for effective British support, in case of need, they were, in +the main, refused[286]. + +[Footnote 286: Sir W.W. Hunter, _The Earl of Mayo_, p. 125 (Oxford, +1891); the Duke of Argyll, _op. cit._ vol. ii, p. 252.] + +We may here use the words in which the late Duke of Argyll summed up the +wishes of the Ameer and the replies of Lord Mayo:-- + +He (the Ameer) wanted to have an unconditional treaty, offensive and +defensive. He wanted to have a fixed subsidy. He wanted to have a +dynastic guarantee. He would have liked sometimes to get the loan of +English officers to drill his troops, or to construct his +forts--provided they retired the moment they had done this work for him. +On the other hand, officers "resident" in his country as political +agents of the British Government were his abhorrence. + +Lord Mayo's replies, or pledges, were virtually as follows:-- + +The first pledge (says the Duke of Argyll) was that of non-interference +in his (the Ameer's) affairs. The second pledge was that "we would +support his independence." The third pledge was "that we would not force +European officers, or residents, upon him against his wish[287]." + +[Footnote 287: Argyll, _op. cit._ vol. i. Preface, pp. xxiii.-xxvi.] + +There seems to have been no hopeless contrariety between the views of +the Ameer and the Viceroy save in one matter that will be noted +presently. It is also of interest to learn from the Duke's narrative, +which claims to be official in substance, however partisan it may be in +form, that there was no difference of opinion on this important subject +between Lord Mayo and the Gladstone Ministry, which came to power +shortly after his departure for India. The new Viceroy summed up his +views in the following sentence, written to the Duke of Argyll: "The +safe course lies in watchfulness, and friendly intercourse with +neighbouring tribes." + +Apparently, then, there was a fair chance of arriving at an agreement +with the Ameer. But the understanding broke down on the question of the +amount of support to be accorded to Shere Ali's dynasty. That ruler +wished for an important modification of the Anglo-Afghan treaty of 1855, +which had bound his father to close friendship with the old Company +without binding the Company to intervene in his favour. That, said Shere +Ali, was a "dry friendship." He wanted a friendship more fruitful than +that of the years 1863-67, and a direct support to his dynasty whenever +he claimed it. The utmost concession that Lord Mayo would grant was that +the British Government would "view with severe displeasure any attempt +to disturb your position as Ruler of Cabul, and rekindle civil +war[288]." + +[Footnote 288: Argyll, _op. cit._ vol. ii. p. 263.] + +It seems that Shere Ali thought lightly of Britain's "displeasure," for +he departed ill at ease. Not even the occasional presents of money and +weapons that found their way from Calcutta to Cabul could thenceforth +keep his thoughts from turning northwards towards Russia. At Umballa he +had said little about that Power; and the Viceroy had very wisely +repressed any feelings of anxiety that he may have had on that score. +Possibly the strength and cheeriness of Lord Mayo's personality would +have helped to assuage the Ameer's wounded feelings; but that genial +Irishman fell under the dagger of a fanatic during a tour in the Andaman +Islands (February 1872). His death was a serious event. Shere Ali +cherished towards him feelings which he did not extend to his successor, +Lord Northbrook (1872-76). + +Yet, during that vice-royalty, the diplomatic action of Great Britain +secured for the Ameer the recognition of his claims over the northern +part of Afghanistan, as far as the banks of the Upper Oxus. In the +years 1870-72 Russia stoutly contested those claims, but finally +withdrew them, the Emperor declaring at the close of the latter year +"that such a question should not be a cause of difference between the +two countries, and he was determined it should not be so." It is further +noteworthy that Russian official communications more than once referred +to the Ameer of Afghanistan as being "under the protection of the Indian +Government[289]". + +[Footnote 289: Argyll, _op. cit._ vol. ii. pp. 289, 292. For the Czar's +assurance that "extension of territory" was "extension of weakness," see +Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 1 (1878), p. 101.] + +These signal services of British diplomacy counted for little at Cabul +in comparison with the question of the dynastic guarantee which we +persistently withheld. In the spring of 1873, when matters relating to +the Afghan-Persian frontier had to be adjusted, the Ameer sent his Prime +Minister to Simla with the intention of using every diplomatic means for +the extortion of that long-delayed boon. + +The time seemed to favour his design. Apart from the Persian boundary +questions (which were settled in a manner displeasing to the Ameer), +trouble loomed ahead in Central Asia. The Russians were advancing on +Khiva; and the Afghan statesman, during his stay at Simla, sought to +intimidate Lord Northbrook by parading this fact. He pointed out that +Russia would easily conquer Khiva and then would capture Merv, near the +western frontier of Afghanistan, "either in the current year or the +next." Equally obvious was his aim in insisting that "the interests of +the Afghan and English Governments are identical," and that "the border +of Afghanistan is in truth the border of India." These were ingenious +ways of working his intrenchments up to the hitherto inaccessible +citadel of Indian border policy. The news of the Russian advance on +Khiva lent strength to his argument. + +[Illustration: AFGHANISTAN] + +Yet, when he came to the question of the guarantee of Shere Ali's +dynasty, he again met with a rebuff. In truth, Lord Northbrook and his +advisers saw that the Ameer was seeking to frighten them about Russia +in order to improve his own family prospects in Afghanistan; and, paying +too much attention, perhaps, to the oriental artfulness of the method of +request, and too little to the importance of the questions then at +stake, he decided to meet the Ameer in regard to non-essentials, though +he failed to satisfy him on the one thing held to be needful at the +palace of Cabul. + +Anxious, however, to consult the Home Government on a matter of such +importance, now that the Russians were known to be at Khiva, Lord +Northbrook telegraphed to the Duke of Argyll on July 24, 1873:-- + +Ameer of Cabul alarmed at Russian progress, dissatisfied with general +assurance, and anxious to know how far he may rely on our help if +invaded. I propose assuring him that if he unreservedly accepts and acts +on our advice in all external relations, we will help him with money, +arms, and troops, if necessary, to expel unprovoked aggression. We to be +the judge of the necessity. Answer by telegraph quickly. + +The Gladstone Ministry was here at the parting of the ways. The Ameer +asked them to form an alliance on equal terms. They refused, believing, +as it seems, that they could keep to the old one-sided arrangement of +1855, whereby the Ameer promised effective help to the Indian +Government, if need be, and gained only friendly assurance in return. +The Duke of Argyll telegraphed in reply on July 26:-- + +Cabinet thinks you should inform Ameer that we do not at all share his +alarm, and consider there is no cause for it; but you may assure him we +shall maintain our settled policy in favour of Afghanistan if he abides +by our advice in external affairs[290]. + +[Footnote 290: Argyll, _op. cit._ vol. ii. 331. The Gladstone Cabinet +clearly weakened Lord Northbrook's original proposal, and must therefore +bear a large share of responsibility for the alienation of the Ameer +which soon ensued. The Duke succeeded in showing up many inaccuracies in +the versions of these events afterwards given by Lord Lytton and Lord +Cranbrook; but he was seemingly quite unconscious of the consequences +resulting from adherence to an outworn theory.] + +This answer, together with a present of £100,000 and 20,000 rifles, was +all that the Ameer gained; his own shrewd sense had shown him long +before that Britain must in any case defend Afghanistan against Russia. +What he wanted was an official recognition of his own personal position +as ruler, while he acted, so to speak, as the "Count of the Marches" of +India. The Gladstone Government held out no hopes of assuring the future +of their _Mark-graf_ or of his children after him. The remembrance of +the disaster in the Khyber Pass in 1841 haunted them, as it had done +their predecessors, like a ghost, and scared them from the course of +action which might probably have led to the conclusion of a close +offensive and defensive alliance between India and Afghanistan. + +Such a consummation was devoutly to be hoped for in view of events which +had transpired in Central Asia. Khiva had been captured by the Russians. +This Khanate intervened between Bokhara and the Caspian Sea, which the +Russians used as their base of operations on the west. The plea of +necessity was again put forward, and it might have been urged as +forcibly on geographical and strategic grounds as on the causes that +were alleged for the rupture. They consisted mainly of the frontier +incidents that are wont to occur with restless, uncivilised neighbours. +The Czar's Government also accused the Khivans of holding some Russian +subjects in captivity, and of breaking their treaty of 1842 with Russia +by helping the Khirgiz Horde in a recent revolt against their +new masters. + +Russia soon had ready three columns, which were to converge on Khiva: +one was stationed on the River Ural, a second at the rising port of +Krasnovodsk on the Caspian Sea, and a third, under General Kaufmann, at +Tashkend. So well were their operations timed that, though the distances +to be traversed varied from 480 to 840 miles, in parts over a waterless +desert, yet the three chief forces arrived almost simultaneously at +Khiva and met with the merest show of resistance (June 1873). Setting +the young Khan on the throne of his father, they took from him his +ancestral lands of the right bank of the Amu Daria (Oxus) and imposed +on him a crushing war indemnity of 2,200,000 roubles, which assured his +entire dependence on his new creditors. They further secured their hold +on these diminished territories by erecting two forts on the river[291]. +The Czar's Government was content with assuring its hold upon Khiva, +without annexing the Khanate outright, seeing that it had disclaimed any +such intention[292]. All the same, Russia was now mistress of nearly the +whole of Central Asia; and the advance of roads and railways portended +further conquests at the expense of Persia and the few remaining +Turkoman tribes. + +[Footnote 291: J. Popowski, _The Rival Powers in Central Asia_, p. 47 +(Eng. edit).; A. Vambéry, _The Coming Struggle for India_, p. 21; A.R. +Colquhoun, _Russia against India_, pp. 24-26; Lavisse and Rambaud, +_Histoire Générale_, vol. xii. pp. 793-794.] + +[Footnote 292: Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 1 (1878), p. 101.] + +In order to estimate the importance of these facts, it must be +remembered that the teachings of Geography and History concur in showing +the practicability of an invasion of India from Central Asia. Touching +first the geographical facts, we may point out that India and +Afghanistan stand in somewhat the same relation to the Asiatic continent +that Italy and Switzerland hold to that of Europe. The rich lands and +soft climate of both Peninsulas have always been an irresistible +attraction to the dwellers among the more barren mountains and plains of +the North; and the lie of the land on the borders of both of these +seeming Eldorados favours the advance of more virile peoples in their +search for more genial conditions of life. Nature, which enervates the +defenders in their sultry plains, by her rigorous training imparts a +touch of the wolf to the mountaineers or plain-dwellers of the North; +and her guides (rivers and streams) conduct the hardy seekers for the +sun by easy routes up to the final mountain barriers. Finally, those +barriers, the Alps and the Hindu Koosh, are notched by passes that are +practicable for large armies, as has been seen now and again from the +times of Alexander the Great and Hannibal to those of Nadir Shah +and Napoleon. + +In these conditions, physical and climatic, is to be found the reason +for the success that has so often attended the invasions of Italy and +India. Only when the Romans organised all the forces of their Peninsula +and the fresh young life beyond, were the defensive powers of Italy +equal to her fatally attractive powers. Only when Britain undertook the +defence of India, could her peoples feel sure of holding the North-West +against the restless Pathans and Afghans; and the situation was wholly +changed when a great military Empire pushed its power to the river-gates +of Afghanistan. + +The friendship of the Ameer was now a matter of vital concern; and yet, +as we have seen, Lord Northbrook alienated him, firstly by giving an +unfavourable verdict in regard to the Persian boundary in the district +of Seistan, and still more so by refusing to grant the long-wished-for +guarantee of his dynasty. + +The year 1873 marks a fatal turning-point in Anglo-Afghan relations. +Yakub Khan told Lord Roberts at Cabul in 1879 that his father, Shere +Ali, had been thoroughly disgusted with Lord Northbrook in 1873, "and at +once made overtures to the Russians, with whom constant intercourse had +since been kept up[293]." + +[Footnote 293: Lord Roberts, _Forty-one Years in India_, vol. ii. p. +247; also _Life of Abdur Rahman_, by Mohammed Khan, 2 vols. (1900), vol. +i. p. 149.] + +In fact, all who are familiar with the events preceding the first Afghan +War (1839-42) can now see that events were fast drifting into a position +dangerously like that which led Dost Mohammed to throw himself into the +arms of Russia. At that time also the Afghan ruler had sought to gain +the best possible terms for himself and his dynasty from the two rivals; +and, finding that the Russian promises were far more alluring than those +emanating from Calcutta, he went over to the Muscovites. At bottom that +had been the determining cause of the first Afghan War; and affairs were +once more beginning to revolve in the same vicious circle. Looking back +on the events leading up to the second Afghan War, we can now see that a +frank compliance with the demands of Shere Ali would have been far less +costly than the non-committal policy which in 1873 alienated him. +Outwardly he posed as the aggrieved but still faithful friend. In +reality he was looking northwards for the personal guarantee which never +came from Calcutta. + +It should, however, be stated that up to the time of the fall of the +Gladstone Ministry (February 1874), Russia seemed to have no desire to +meddle in Afghan affairs. The Russian Note of January 21, 1874, stated +that the Imperial Government "continued to consider Afghanistan as +entirely beyond its sphere of action[294]." Nevertheless, that +declaration inspired little confidence. The Russophobes, headed by Sir +Henry Rawlinson and Sir Bartle Frere, could reply that they distrusted +Russian disclaimers concerning Afghanistan, when the plea of necessity +had so frequently and so speedily relegated to oblivion the earlier +"assurances of intention." + +[Footnote 294: Argyll, _Eastern Question_, vol. ii. p. 347. See, +however, the letters that passed between General Kaufmann, Governor of +Turkestan, and Cabul in 1870-74, in Parl. Papers, Central Asia, No. 1 +(1881), pp. 2-10.] + +Such was the state of affairs when, in February 1874, Disraeli came to +power at Westminster with Lord Salisbury as Secretary of State for +India. The new Ministry soon showed the desire to adopt a more spirited +foreign policy than their predecessors, who had fretted public opinion +by their numerous acts of complaisance or surrender. Russia soon gave +cause for complaint. In June 1874 the Governor of the trans-Caspian +province issued a circular, warning the nomad Turkomans of the Persian +border-lands against raiding; it applied to tribes inhabiting districts +within what were considered to be the northern boundaries of Persia. +This seemed to contravene the assurances previously given by Russia that +she would not extend her possessions in the southern part of Central +Asia[295]. It also foreshadowed another stride forward at the expense of +the Turkoman districts both of Persia and Afghanistan. + +[Footnote 295: Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 1 (1878), p. 107.] + +As no sufficient disclaimer appeared, the London partisans of the +Indian "forward policy" sought to induce Lord Derby and Lord Salisbury +to take precautionary measures. Their advice was summed up in the Note +of January 11, 1875, written by that charming man and able +administrator, Sir Bartle Frere. Its chief practical recommendation was, +firstly, the despatch of British officers to act as political agents at +Cabul, Candahar, and Herat; and, secondly, the occupation of the +commanding position of Quetta, in Baluchistan, as an outpost commanding +the chief line of advance from Central Asia into India[296]. + +[Footnote 296: General Jacob had long before advocated the occupation of +this strong flanking position. It was supported by Sir C. Dilke in his +_Greater Britain_ (1867).] + +This Note soon gained the ear of the Cabinet; and on January 22, 1875, +Lord Salisbury urged Lord Northbrook to take measures to procure the +assent of the Ameer to the establishment of British officers at Candahar +and Herat (not at Cabul)[297]. The request placed Lord Northbrook in an +embarrassing position, seeing that he knew full well the great +reluctance of the Ameer at all times to receive any British Mission. On +examining the evidence as to the Ameer's objection to receive British +Residents, the viceroy found it to be very strong, while there is ground +for thinking that Ministers and officials in London either ignored it or +sought to minimise its importance. The pressure which they brought to +bear on Lord Northbrook was one of the causes that led to his +resignation (February 1876). He believed that he was in honour bound by +the promise, given to the Ameer at the Umballa Conference, not to impose +a British Resident on him against his will. + +[Footnote 297: Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 1 (1878), pp. 128-129.] + +He was succeeded by a man of marked personality, Lord Lytton. The only +son of the celebrated novelist, he inherited decided literary gifts, +especially an unusual facility of expression both in speech and writing, +in prose and verse. Any tendency to redundance in speech is generally +counted unfavourable to advancement in diplomatic circles, where +Talleyrand's _mot_ as to language being a means of _concealing_ thought +still finds favour. Owing, however, to the influence of his uncle, then +British Ambassador at Washington, but far more to his own talents, +Lytton rose rapidly in the diplomatic service, holding office in the +chief embassies, until Disraeli discerned in the brilliant speaker and +writer the gifts that would grace the new imperial policy in the East. + +In ordinary times the new Viceroy would probably have crowned the new +programme with success. His charm and vivacity of manner appealed to +orientals all the more by contrast with the cold and repellent behaviour +that too often characterises Anglo-Indian officials in their dealings +with natives. Lytton's mind was tinged with the eastern glow that lit up +alike the stories, the speeches, and the policy of his chief. It is +true, the imperialist programme was as grandiosely vague as the meaning +of _Tancred_ itself; but in a land where forms and words count for much +the lack of backbone in the new policy was less observed and commented +on than by the matter-of-fact islanders whom it was designed to glorify. + +The apotheosis of the new policy was the proclamation of Queen Victoria +as Empress of India (July 1, 1877), an event which was signalised by a +splendid Durbar at Delhi on January 1, 1878. The new title warned the +world that, however far Russia advanced in Central Asia, England nailed +the flag of India to her masthead. It was also a useful reminder to the +small but not uninfluential Positivist school in England that their +"disapproval" of the existence of a British Empire in India was wholly +Platonic. Seeing also that the name "Queen" in Hindu (_Malika_) was one +of merely respectable mediocrity in that land of splendour, the new +title, "Kaisar-i-Hind," helped to emphasise the supremacy of the British +Raj over the Nizam and Gaekwar. In fact, it is difficult now to take +seriously the impassioned protests with which a number of insulars +greeted the proposal. + +Nevertheless, in one sense the change of title came about most +inopportunely. Fate willed that over against the Durbar at Delhi there +stood forth the spectral form of Famine, bestriding the dusty plains of +the Carnatic. By the glint of her eyes the splendours of Delhi shone +pale, and the viceregal eloquence was hushed in the distant hum of her +multitudinous wailing. The contrast shocked all beholders, and unfitted +them for a proper appreciation of the new foreign policy. + +That policy may also be arraigned on less sentimental grounds. The year +1876 witnessed the re-opening of the Eastern Question in a most +threatening manner, the Disraeli Ministry taking up what may be termed +the Palmerstonian view that the maintenance of Turkey was essential to +the stability of the Indian Empire. As happened in and after 1854, +Russia, when thwarted in Europe, sought for her revenge in the lands +bordering on India. No district was so favourable to Muscovite schemes +as the Afghan frontier, then, as now, the weakest point in Great +Britain's imperial armour. Thenceforth the Afghan Question became a +pendant of the Eastern Question. + +Russia found ready to hand the means of impressing the Ameer with a +sense of her irresistible power. The Czar's officials had little +difficulty in picking a quarrel with the Khanate of Khokand. Under the +pretext of suppressing a revolt (which Vambéry and others consider to +have been prepared through Muscovite agencies) they sent troops, +ostensibly with the view of favouring the Khan. The expedition gained a +complete success, alike over the rebels and the Khan himself, who +thenceforth sank to the level of pensioner of his liberators (1876). It +is significant that General Kaufmann at once sent to the Ameer at Cabul +a glowing account of the Russian success[298]; and the news of this +communication increased the desire of the British Government to come to +a clear understanding with the Ameer. + +[Footnote 298: Parl. Papers, Central Asia, No. 1 (1881), pp. 12-14; +Shere Ali's letters to him (some of them suspicious) and the replies are +also printed.] + +Unfortunately our authorities set to work in a way that increased his +irritation. Lord Salisbury on February 28, 1876, instructed Lord Lytton +to offer slightly larger concessions to Shere Ali; but he refused to go +further than to allow "a frank recognition (not a guarantee) of a _de +facto_ order in the succession" to the throne of Afghanistan, and +undertook to defend his dominions against external attack "only in some +clear case of unprovoked aggression." On the other hand, the British +Government stated that "they must have, for their own agents, undisputed +access to [the] frontier positions [of Afghanistan][299]." Thus, while +granting very little more than before, the new Ministry claimed for +British agents and officers a right of entry which wounded the pride of +a suspicious ruler and a fanatical people. + +[Footnote 299: Parl. Papers, Central Asia, No. 1 (1881), pp. 156-159.] + +To sum up, we gave Shere Ali no help while he was struggling for power +with his rivals; and after he had won the day, we pinned him to the +terms of a one-sided alliance. In the matter of the Seistan frontier +dispute with Persia, British arbitration was insolently defied by the +latter Power, yet we urged the Ameer to accept the Shah's terms. +According to Lord Napier of Magdala, he felt the loss of the once Afghan +district of Seistan more keenly than anything else, and thenceforth +regarded us as weak and untrustworthy[300]. + +[Footnote 300: _Ibid_. pp. 225-226.] + +The Ameer's irritation increased at the close of the year when the +Viceroy concluded an important treaty with the Khan of Khelat in +Baluchistan. It would take us too far from our main path to turn aside +into the jungle of Baluchee politics. Suffice it to say that the long +series of civil strifes in that land had come to an end largely owing to +the influence of Major (afterwards Sir Robert) Sandeman. His fine +presence, masterful personality, frank, straightforward, and kindly +demeanour early impressed the Khan and his turbulent Sirdars. In two +Missions which he undertook to Khelat in the years 1875 and 1876, he +succeeded in stilling their internal feuds and in clearing away the +misunderstandings which had arisen with the Indian Government. But he +saw still further ahead. Detecting signs of foreign intrigue in that +land, he urged that British mediation should, if possible, become +permanent. His arguments before long convinced the new Viceroy, Lord +Lytton, who had at first doubted the advisability of the second Mission; +and in the course of a tour along the north-west frontier, he held at +Jacobabad a grand Durbar, which was attended by the Khan of Khelat and +his once rebellious Sirdars. There on December 8, 1876, he signed a +treaty with the Khan, whereby the British Government became the final +arbiter in all disputes between him and his Sirdars, obtained the right +of stationing British troops in certain parts of Baluchistan, and of +constructing railways and telegraphs. Three lakhs of rupees were given +to the Khan, and his yearly subsidy of Rs. 50,000 was doubled[301]. + +[Footnote 301: _Sir Robert Sandeman_, by T.H. Thornton, chaps, ix.-x.; +Parl. Papers relating to the Treaty . . . of 8th Dec. 1876; _The Forward +Policy and its Results_, by R.I. Bruce; _Lord Lytton's Indian +Administration,_ by Lady Betty Balfour, chap. iii. + +The Indian rupee is worth sixteen pence.] + +The Treaty of Jacobabad is one of the most satisfactory diplomatic +triumphs of the present age. It came, not as the sequel to a sanguinary +war, but as a sign of the confidence inspired in turbulent and sometimes +treacherous chiefs by the sterling qualities of those able frontier +statesmen, the Napiers, the Lawrences, General Jacob, and Major +Sandeman. It spread the _pax Britannica_ over a land as large as Great +Britain, and quietly brought a warlike people within the sphere of +influence of India. It may be compared with Bonaparte's Act of Mediation +in Switzerland (1803), as marking the triumph of a strong organising +intelligence over factious groups, to which it imparted peace and order +under the shelter of a generally beneficent suzerainty. Before long a +strong garrison was posted at Quetta, and we gained the right to enlist +Baluchee troops of excellent fighting powers. The Quetta position is a +mountain bastion which strengthens the outer defences of India, just as +the Alps and Juras, when under Napoleon's control, menaced any invaders +of France. + +This great advantage was weighted by one considerable drawback. The +victory of British influence in Baluchistan aroused the utmost +resentment of Shere Ali, who now saw his southern frontier outflanked by +Britain. Efforts were made in January-February 1877 to come to an +understanding; but, as Lord Lytton insisted on the admission of British +Residents to Afghanistan, a long succession of interviews at Peshawur, +between the Ameer's chief adviser and Sir Lewis Pelly, led to no other +result than an increase of suspicion on both sides. The Viceroy +thereupon warned the Ameer that all supplies and subsidies would be +stopped until he became amenable to advice and ceased to maltreat +subjects known to be favourable to the British alliance. As a retort the +Ameer sought to call the border tribes to a _Jehad_, or holy war, +against the British, but with little success. He had no hold over the +tribes between Chitral and the Khyber Pass; and the incident served only +to strengthen the Viceroy's aim of subjecting them to Britain. In the +case of the Jowakis we succeeded, though only after a campaign which +proved to be costly in men and money. + +In fact, Lord Lytton was now convinced of the need of a radical change +of frontier policy. He summed up his contentions in the following +phrases in his despatches of the early summer of 1877:--"Shere Ali has +irrevocably slipped out of our hands; . . . I conceive that it is rather +the disintegration and weakening, than the consolidation and +establishment, of the Afghan power at which we must now begin to aim." +As for the mountain barrier, in which men of the Lawrence school had +been wont to trust, he termed it "a military mouse-trap," and he stated +that Napoleon I. had once for all shown the futility of relying on a +mountain range that had several passes[302]. These assertions show what +perhaps were the weak points of Lord Lytton in practical politics--an +eager and impetuous disposition, too prone to be dazzled by the very +brilliance of the phrases which he coined. + +[Footnote 302: Lady B. Balfour, _op. cit._ pp.166-185, 247-148.] + +At the close of his despatch of April 8, 1878, to Lord Cranbrook (Lord +Salisbury's successor at the India Office) he sketched out, as "the best +arrangement," a scheme for breaking up the Cabul power and bringing +about "the creation of a West Afghan Khanate, including Merv, Maimena, +Balkh, Candahar, and Herat, under some prince of our own selection, who +would be dependent on our support. With Western Afghanistan thus +disposed of, and a small station our own, close to our frontier in the +Kurram valley, the destinies of Cabul itself would be to us a matter of +no importance[303]." + +[Footnote 303: _Ibid_. pp. 246-247.] + +This, then, was the new policy in its widest scope. Naturally it met +with sharp opposition from Lord Lawrence and others in the India Council +at Whitehall. Besides involving a complete change of front, it would +naturally lead to war with the Ameer, and (if the intentions about Merv +were persisted in) with Russia as well. And for what purpose? In order +that we might gain an advanced frontier and break in pieces the one +important State which remained as a buffer between India and Russian +Asia. In the eyes of all but the military men this policy stood +self-condemned. Its opponents pointed out that doubtless Russian +intrigues were going on at Cabul; but they were the result of the marked +hostility between England and Russia in Europe, and a natural retort to +the sending of Indian troops to Malta. Besides, was it true that British +influence at Cabul was permanently lost? Might it not be restored by +money and diplomacy? Or if these means failed, could not affairs be so +worked at Cabul as to bring about the deposition of the Ameer in favour +of some claimant who would support England? In any case, the extension +of our responsibilities to centres so remote as Balkh and Herat would +overstrain the already burdened finances of India, and impair her power +of defence at vital points. + +These objections seem to have had some weight at Whitehall, for by the +month of August the Viceroy somewhat lowered his tone; he gave up all +hope of influencing Merv, and consented to make another effort to win +back the Ameer, or to seek to replace him by a more tractable prince. +But, failing this, he advised, though with reluctance on political +grounds, the conquest and occupation of so much of Afghan territory as +would "be absolutely requisite for the permanent maintenance of our +North-West frontier[304]." + +[Footnote 304: Lady B. Balfour, _op. cit._ p. 255. For a defence of this +on military grounds see Lord Roberts' _Forty-One Years in India_, vol. +ii, p. 187; and Thorburn's _Asiatic Neighbours_, chap. xiv.] + +But by this time all hope of peace had become precarious. On June 13, +the day of opening of the Congress of Berlin, a Russian Mission, under +General Stolieteff, left Samarcand for Cabul. The Ameer is said to have +heard this news with deep concern, and to have sought to prevent it +crossing the frontier. The Russians, however, refused to turn back, and +entered Cabul on July 22[305]. As will be seen by reference to +Skobeleff's "Plan for the Invasion of India" (Appendix II.), the Mission +was to be backed up by columns of troops; and, with the aim of +redoubling the pressure of Russian diplomacy in Europe, the Minister for +War at St. Petersburg had issued orders on April 25, 1878, for the +despatch of three columns of troops which were to make a demonstration +against India. The chief force, 12,000 strong, with 44 guns and a rocket +battery, was to march from Samarcand and Tashkend on Cabul; the second, +consisting of only 1700 men, was to stir up the mountain tribes of the +Chitral district to raid the north of the Punjab; while the third, of +the same strength, moved from the middle part of the Amu Daria (Oxus) +towards Merv and Herat. The main force set out from Tashkend on June 13, +and after a most trying march reached the Russo-Bokharan border, only to +find that its toils were fruitless owing to the signature of the Treaty +of Berlin (July 13). The same disappointing news dispelled the dreams of +conquest which had nerved the other columns in their burning march. + +[Footnote 305: Parl Papers, Afghanistan, No. 1 (1878), pp.242-243; +_ibid._ Central Asia, No. 1, pp.165 _et seq._] + +Thus ended the scheme of invasion of India to which Skobeleff had +lately given shape and body. In January 1877, while in his Central Asian +command, he had drawn up a detailed plan, the important parts of which +will be found in the Appendices of this volume. During the early spring +of 1878, when the Russian army lay at San Stefano, near Constantinople, +he drew up another plan of the same tenour. It seems certain that the +general outline of these projects haunted the minds of officers and men +in the expeditions just referred to; for the columns withdrew northwards +most slowly and reluctantly[306]. + +[Footnote 306: For details see _Russia's Advance towards India_, by "an +Indian Officer," vol. ii. pp.109 _et seq._] + +A perusal of Skobeleff's plan will show that he relied also on a +diplomatic Mission to Cabul and on the despatch of the Afghan pretender, +Abdur Rahman, from Samarcand to the Afghan frontier. Both of these +expedients were adopted in turn; the former achieved a startling but +temporary success. + +As has been stated above, General Stolieteff's Mission entered Cabul on +July 22. The chief himself returned on August 24; but other members of +his Mission remained several weeks longer. There seem to be good grounds +for believing that the Ameer, Shere Ali, signed a treaty with +Stolieteff; but as to its purport we have no other clue than the draft +which purports to be written out from memory by a secret agent of the +Indian Government. Other Russian documents, some of which Lord Granville +afterwards described as containing "some very disagreeable passages . . . +written subsequently to the Treaty of Berlin," were found by Lord +Roberts; and the Russian Government found it difficult to give a +satisfactory explanation of them[307]. + +[Footnote 307: The alleged treaty is printed, along with the other +documents, in Parl. Papers, Central Asia, No. 1 (1881), pp. 17-30. See +also Lord Roberts' _Forty-one Years in India_, vol. ii. p.477.] + +In any case the Government of India could not stand by and witness the +intrusion of Muscovite influence into Afghanistan. Action, however, was +very difficult owing to the alienation of the Ameer. His resentment had +now settled into lasting hatred. As a test question Lord Lytton sought +to impose on him the reception of a British Mission. On August 8 he +received telegraphic permission from London to make this demand. The +Ameer, however, refused to allow a single British officer to enter the +country; and the death of his son and heir on August 17 enabled him to +decline to attend to affairs of State for a whole month. + +His conduct in this matter was condoned by the champions of "masterly +inactivity" in this country, who proceeded to accuse the Viceroy of +haste in sending forward the British Mission to the frontier before the +full time of mourning was over[308]. We now know, however, that this +sympathy was misplaced. Shere Ali's grief did not prevent him seeing +officers of the Russian Mission after his bereavement, and (as it seems) +signing an alliance with the emissaries of the Czar. Lord Lytton was +better informed as to the state of things at Cabul than were his very +numerous critics, one of whom, under the shield of anonymity, +confidently stated that the Russian Mission to Cabul was either an +affair of etiquette or a means of warding off a prospective attack from +India on Russian Turkestan; that the Ameer signed no treaty with the +Mission, and was deeply embarrassed by its presence; while Lord Lytton's +treatment of the Ameer was discourteous[309]. + +[Footnote 308: Duke of Argyll, _The Eastern Question, _vol. ii. pp. +504-507.] + +[Footnote 309: _The Causes of the Afghan War, _pp. 305 _et seq._] + +In the light of facts as now known, these charges are seen to be the +outcome of a vivid imagination or of partisan malice. There can be no +doubt that Shere Ali had played us false. Apart from his intrigues with +Russia, he had condoned the murder of a British officer by keeping the +murderer in office, and had sought to push on the frontier tribes into a +holy war. Finally, he sent orders to stop the British Mission at Ali +Musjid, the fort commanding the entrance to the Khyber Pass. This +action, which occurred on September 22, must be pronounced a deliberate +insult, seeing that the progress of that Mission had been so timed as +that it should reach Cabul after the days of mourning were over. In the +Viceroy's view, the proper retort would have been a declaration of war; +but again the Home Government imposed caution, urging the despatch of an +ultimatum so as to give time for repentance at Cabul. It was sent on +November 2, with the intimation that if no answer reached the frontier +by November 20, hostilities would begin. No answer came until a later +date, and then it proved to be of an evasive character. + +Such, in brief outline, were the causes of the second Afghan War. In the +fuller light of to-day it is difficult to account for the passion which +the discussion of them aroused at the time. But the critics of the +Government held strong ground at two points. They could show, first, +that the war resulted in the main from Lord Beaconsfield's persistent +opposition to Russia in the Eastern Question, also that the Muscovite +intrigues at Cabul were a natural and very effective retort to the showy +and ineffective expedient of bringing Indian troops to Malta; in short, +that the Afghan War was due largely to Russia's desire for revenge. + +Secondly, they fastened on what was undoubtedly a weak point in the +Ministerial case, namely, that Lord Beaconsfield's speech at the Lord +Mayor's Banquet, on November 9, 1878, laid stress almost solely on the +need for acquiring a scientific frontier on the north-west of India. In +the parliamentary debate of December 9 he sought to rectify this mistake +by stating that he had never asserted that a new frontier was the object +of the war, but rather a possible consequence. His critics refused to +accept the correction. They pinned him to his first words. If this were +so, they said, what need of recounting our complaints against Shere Ali? +These were merely the pretexts, not the causes, of a war which was to be +waged solely in the cold-blooded quest for a scientific frontier. Perish +India, they cried, if her fancied interests required the sacrifice of +thousands of lives of brave hillmen on the altar of the new Imperialism. + +These accusations were logically justifiable against Ministers who dwelt +largely on that frigid abstraction, the "scientific frontier," and laid +less stress on the danger of leaving an ally of Russia on the throne of +Afghanistan. The strong point of Lord Lytton's case lay in the fact that +the policy of the Gladstone Ministry had led Shere Ali to side with +Russia; but this fact was inadequately explained, or, at least, not in +such a way as to influence public opinion. The popular fancy caught at +the phrase "scientific frontier"; and for once Lord Beaconsfield's +cleverness in phrase-making conspired to bring about his overthrow. + +But the logic of words does not correspond to the logic of facts. Words +are for the most part simple, downright, and absolute. The facts of +history are very rarely so. Their importance is very often relative, and +is conditioned by changing circumstances. It was so with the events that +led up to the second Afghan War. They were very complex, and could not +be summed up, or disposed of, by reference to a single formula. +Undoubtedly the question of the frontier was important; but it did not +become of supreme importance until, firstly, Shere Ali became our enemy, +and, secondly, showed unmistakable signs of having a close understanding +with Russia. Thenceforth it became a matter of vital import for India to +have a frontier readibly defensible against so strong a combination as +that of Russia and Afghanistan. + +It would be interesting to know what Mr. Gladstone and his supporters +would have done if they had come into power in the summer of 1878. That +they blamed their opponents on many points of detail does not prove that +they would not have taken drastic means to get rid of Shere Ali. In the +unfortunate state into which affairs had drifted in 1878, how was that +to be effected without war? The situation then existing may perhaps best +be summed up in the words which General Roberts penned at Cabul on +November 22, 1879, after a long and illuminating conversation with the +new Ameer concerning his father's leanings towards Russia: "Our recent +rupture with Shere Ali has, in fact, been the means of unmasking and +checking a very serious conspiracy against the peace and security of our +Indian Empire[310]." + +[Footnote 310: Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 1 (1880), p. 171.] + +Given the situation actually existing in 1878, the action of the British +Government is justifiable as regards details. The weak point of the +Beaconsfield policy was this: that the situation need not have existed. +As far as can be judged from the evidence hitherto published (if we +except some wild talk on the part of Muscovite Chauvinists), Russia +would not have interfered in Afghanistan except in order to paralyse +England's action in Turkish affairs. As has been pointed out above, the +Afghan trouble was a natural sequel to the opposition offered by +Disraeli to Russia from the time of the re-opening of the Balkan problem +in 1875-76; and the consideration of the events to be described in the +following chapter will add one more to the many proofs already existing +as to the fatefulness of the blunder committed by him when he wrecked +the Berlin Memorandum, dissolved the Concert of the Powers, and rendered +hopeless a peaceful solution of the Eastern Question. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE AFGHAN AND TURKOMAN CAMPAIGNS + + "The Forward Policy--in other words, the policy of + endeavouring to extend our influence over, and establish law + and order on, that part of the [Indian] Border, where + anarchy, murder, and robbery up to the present time have + reigned supreme, a policy which has been attended with the + happiest results in Baluchistan and on the Gilgit + frontier--is necessitated by the incontrovertible fact that a + great Military Power is now within striking distance of our + Indian possessions, and in immediate contact with a State for + the integrity of which we have made ourselves + responsible."--LORD ROBERTS: Speech in the House of Lords, + March 7, 1898. + + +The operations at the outset of the Afghan War ended with so easy a +triumph for the British arms that it is needless to describe them in +much detail. They were planned to proceed at three points on the +irregular arc of the south-eastern border of Afghanistan. The most +northerly column, that of General Sir Samuel Browne, had Peshawur as its +base of supplies. Some 16,000 strong, it easily captured the fort of Ali +Musjid at the mouth of the Khyber Pass, then threaded that defile with +little or no opposition, and pushed on to Jelalabad. Around that town +(rendered famous by General Sale's defence in 1841-2) it dealt out +punishment to the raiding clans of Afridis. + +The column of the centre, acting from Kohat as a base against the Kurram +Valley, was commanded by a general destined to win renown in the later +phases of the war. Major-General Roberts represented all that was +noblest and most chivalrous in the annals of the British Army in India. +The second son of General Sir Abraham Roberts, G.C.B., and born at +Cawnpore in 1832, he inherited the traditions of the service which he +was to render still more illustrious. His frame, short and slight, +seemed scarcely to fit him for warlike pursuits; and in ages when great +stature and sturdy sinews were alone held in repute, he might have been +relegated to civil life; but the careers of William III., Luxemburg, +Nelson, and Roberts show that wiriness is more essential to a commander +than animal strength, and that mind rather than muscle determines the +course of campaigns. That the young aspirant for fame was not deficient +in personal prowess appeared at Khudaganj, one of the battles of the +Mutiny, when he captured a standard from two sepoys, and, later on the +same day, cut down a third sepoy. But it was his clear insight into men +and affairs, his hold on the principles of war, his alertness of mind, +and his organising power, that raised him above the crowd of meritorious +officers who saved India for Britain in those stormy days. + +His achievements as Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General at Delhi and +elsewhere at that time need not be referred to here; for he himself has +related them in clear, life-like, homely terms which reveal one of the +sources of his personal influence. Englishmen admire a man who is active +without being fussy, who combines greatness with simplicity, whose +kindliness is as devoid of ostentation as his religion is of +mawkishness, and with whom ambition is ever the handmaid of patriotism. +The character of a commander perhaps counts for more with British troops +than with any others, except the French; and the men who marched with +Roberts from Cabul to Candahar, and from Paardeberg to Bloemfontein, +could scarcely have carried out those feats of endurance for a general +who did not possess both their trust and their love. + +The devotion of the Kurram column to its chief was soon put to the test. +After advancing up that valley, girt on both sides with lofty mountains +and scored with numerous gulleys, the force descried the Peiwar Kotal +Pass at its head--a precipitous slope furrowed only in one place where a +narrow zigzag path ran upwards through pines and giant boulders. A +reconnaissance proved that the Afghans held the upper part in force; and +for some time Roberts felt the gravest misgivings. Hiding these +feelings, especially from his native troops, he spent a few days in +reconnoitring this formidable position. These efforts resulted in the +discovery by Major Collett of another practicable gorge further to the +north leading up to a neighbouring height, the Peiwar Spingawi, whence +the head of the Kotal might possibly be turned. + +To divide a column, comprising only 889 British and 2415 native troops, +and that too in face of the superior numbers of the enemy, was a risky +enterprise, but General Roberts determined to try the effect of a night +march up to the Spingawi. He hoped by an attack at dawn on the Afghan +detachment posted there, to turn the main position on the Kotal, and +bring about its evacuation. This plan had often succeeded against +Afghans. Their characteristics both in peace and war are distinctly +feline. Prone to ease and enjoyment at ordinary times, yet, when stirred +by lust of blood or booty, they are capable of great feats of swift +fierce onset; but, like all men and animals dominated by sudden +impulses, their bravery is fitful, and is apt to give way under +persistent attack, or when their rear is threatened. The cat-like, +stalking instinct has something of strategic caution, even in its +wildest moods; it likes to be sure of the line of retreat[311]. + +[Footnote 311: General [Sir] J.L. Vaughan, in a Lecture on "Afghanistan +and the Military Operations therein" (December 6, 1878), said of the +Afghans: "When resolutely attacked they rarely hold their ground with +any tenacity, and are always anxious about their rear."] + +The British commander counted on exploiting these peculiarities to the +full by stalking the enemy on their left flank, while he left about 1000 +men to attack them once more in front. Setting out at nightfall of +December 1, he led the remainder northwards through a side valley, and +then up a gully on the side of the Spingawi. The ascent through pine +woods and rocks, in the teeth of an icy wind, was most trying; and the +movement came near to failure owing to the treachery of two Pathan +soldiers in the ranks, who fired off their rifles in the hope of warning +the Afghans above them. The reports, it afterwards transpired, were +heard by a sentry, who reported the matter to the commander of the +Afghan detachment; he, for his part, did nothing. Much alarm was felt in +the British column when the shots rang out in the darkness; a native +officer hard by came up at once, and, by smelling the rifles of all his +men, found out the offenders; but as they were Mohammedans, he said +nothing, in the hope of screening his co-religionists. Later on, these +facts transpired at a court-martial, whereupon the elder of the two +offenders, who was also the first to fire, was condemned to death, and +the younger to a long term of imprisonment. The defaulting officer +likewise received due punishment[312]. + +[Footnote 312: Lord Roberts, _Forty-One Years in India_, vol. ii. p. 130 +_et seq_.; Major J.A.S. Colquhoun, _With the Kurram Field Force, +1878-79_, pp. 101-102.] + +After this alarming incident, the 72nd Highlanders were sent forward to +take the place of the native regiment previously leading; and once more +the little column struggled on through the darkness up the rocky path. +Their staunchness met its reward. At dawn the Highlanders and 5th +Gurkhas charged the Afghan detachment in its entrenchments and +breastworks of trees, and were soon masters of the Spingawi position. A +long and anxious time of waiting now ensued, caused by the failure of +the first frontal attack on the Kotal; but Roberts' pressure on the +flank of the main Afghan position and another frontal attack sent the +enemy flying in utter rout, leaving behind guns and waggons. The Kurram +column had driven eight Afghan regiments and numbers of hillmen from a +seemingly impregnable position, and now held the second of the outer +passes leading towards Cabul (December 2, 1878). The Afghans offered but +slight resistance at the Shutargardan Pass further on, and from that +point the invaders looked down on valleys that conducted them easily to +the Ameer's capital[313]. + +[Footnote 313: Lord Roberts, _op. cit._, vol. ii. pp. 135-149; S.H. +Shadbolt, _The Afghan Campaigns of 1878-80_, vol. i. pp. 21-25 +(with plan).] + +Meanwhile equal success was attending the 3rd British column, that of +General Biddulph, which operated from Quetta. It occupied Sibi and the +Khojak Pass; and on January 8, 1879, General Stewart and the vanguard +reached Candahar, which they entered in triumph. The people seemed to +regard their entry with indifference. This was but natural. Shere Ali +had ruined his own cause. Hearing of the first defeats he fled from +Cabul in company with the remaining members of the Russian Mission still +at that city (December 13), and made for Afghan Turkestan in the hope of +inducing his northern allies to give active aid. + +He now discovered his error. The Czar's Government had been most active +in making mischief between England and the Ameer, especially while the +diplomatic struggle was going on at Berlin; but after the signature of +the Treaty of Berlin (July 13, 1878), the natural leaning of Alexander +II. towards peace and quietness began by degrees to assert itself. The +warlike designs of Kaufmann and his officials in Turkestan received a +check, though not so promptly as was consistent with strict neutrality. + +Gradually the veil fell from the ex-Ameer's eyes. On the day of his +flight (December 13), he wrote to the "Officers of the British +Government," stating that he was about to proceed to St. Petersburg, +"where, before a Congress, the whole history of the transactions between +myself and yourselves will be submitted to all the Powers[314]." But +nine days later he published a firman containing a very remarkable +letter purporting to come from General Stolieteff at Livadia in the +Crimea, where he was staying with the Czar. After telling him that the +British desired to come to terms with him (the Ameer) through the +intervention of the Sultan, the letter proceeded as follows:-- + + But the Emperor's desire is that you should not admit the + English into your country, and like last year, you are to + treat them with deceit and deception until the present cold + season passes away. Then the Almighty's will will be made + manifest to you, that is to say, the [Russian] Government + having repeated the Bismillah, the Bismillah will come to + your assistance. In short you are to rest assured that + matters will end well. If God permits, we will convene a + Government meeting at St. Petersburg, that is to say, a + Congress, which means an assemblage of Powers. We will then + open an official discussion with the English Government, and + either by force of words and diplomatic action we will + entirely cut off all English communications and interference + with Afghanistan, or else events will end in a mighty and + important war. By the help of God, by spring not a symptom or + a vestige of trouble and dissatisfaction will remain in + Afghanistan. + +[Footnote 314: Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 7, (1879), p. 9. He also +states on p. 172 that the advice of the Afghan officials who accompanied +Shere Ali in his flight was (even in April-May 1879) favourable to a +Russian alliance, and that they advised Yakub in this sense. See +Kaufmann's letters to Yakub, in Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. +9 (1879).] + +It is impossible to think that the Czar had any knowledge of this +treacherous epistle, which, it is to be hoped, originated with the +lowest of Russian agents, or emanated from some Afghan chief in their +pay. Nevertheless the fact that Shere Ali published it shows that he +hoped for Russian help, even when the British held the keys of his +country in their hands. But one hope after another faded away, and in +his last days he must have come to see that he had been merely the +catspaw of the Russian bear. He died on February 21, 1879, hard by the +city of Bactra, the modern Balkh. + +That "mother of cities" has seen strange vicissitudes. It nourished the +Zoroastrian and Buddhist creeds in their youth; from its crowded +monasteries there shone forth light to the teeming millions of Asia, +until culture was stamped out under the heel of Genghis Khan, and later, +of Timur. In a still later day it saw the dawning greatness of that most +brilliant but ill-starred of the Mogul Emperors, Aurungzebe. Its fallen +temples and convents, stretching over many a mile, proclaim it to be +the city of buried hopes. There was, then, something fitting in the +place of Shere Ali's death. He might so readily have built up a powerful +Afghan State in friendly union with the British Raj; he chose otherwise, +and ended his life amidst the wreckage of his plans and the ruin of his +kingdom. This result of the trust which he had reposed in Muscovite +promises was not lost on the Afghan people and their rulers. + +There is no need to detail the events of the first half of the year 1879 +in Afghanistan. On the assembly of Parliament in February, Lord +Beaconsfield declared that our objects had been attained in that land +now that the three chief mountain highways between Afghanistan and India +were completely in our power. It remained to find a responsible ruler +with whom a lasting peace could be signed. Many difficulties were in the +way owing to the clannish feuds of the Afghans and the number of +possible claimants for the crown. Two men stood forth as the most likely +rulers, Shere Ali's rebellious son, Yakub Khan, who had lately been +released from his long confinement, and Abdur Rahman, son of Ufzal Khan, +who was still kept by the Russians in Turkestan under some measure of +constraint, doubtless in the hope that he would be a serviceable trump +card in the intricate play of rival interests certain to ensue at Cabul. + +About February 20, Yakub sent overtures for peace to the British +Government; and, as the death of his father at that time greatly +strengthened his claim, it was favourably considered at London and +Calcutta. Despite one act at least of flagrant treachery, he was +recognised as Ameer. On May 8 he entered the British camp at Gandarnak, +near Jelalabad; and after negotiations, a treaty was signed there, May +26. It provided for an amnesty, the control of the Ameer's foreign +policy by the British Government, the establishment of a British +Resident at Cabul, the construction of a telegraph line to that city, +the grant of commercial facilities, and the cession to India of the +frontier districts of Kurram, Pishin, and Sibi (the latter two are near +Quetta). The British Government retained control over the Khyber and +Michnee Passes and over the neighbouring tribes (which had never +definitely acknowledged Afghan rule). It further agreed to pay to the +Ameer and his successors a yearly subsidy of six lakhs of rupees (nearly +£50,000)[315]. + +[Footnote 315: Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 7 (1879), p. 23; Roberts, +_op. cit._ pp. 170-173.] + +General Roberts and many others feared that the treaty had been signed +too hastily, and that the Afghans, "an essentially arrogant and +conceited people," needed a severer lesson before they acquiesced in +British suzerainty. But no sense of foreboding depressed Major Sir Louis +Cavagnari, the gallant and able officer who had carried out so much of +the work on the frontier, when he proceeded to take up his abode at +Cabul as British Resident (July 24). The chief danger lay in the Afghan +troops, particularly the regiments previously garrisoned at Herat, who +knew little or nothing of British prowess, and whose fanaticism was +inflamed by arrears of pay. Cavagnari's Journal kept at Cabul ended on +August 19 with the statement that thirty-three Russians were coming up +the Oxus to the Afghan frontier. But the real disturbing cause seems to +have been the hatred of the Afghan troops to foreigners. + +Failure to pay was so usual a circumstance in Afghanistan as scarcely to +account for the events that ensued. Yet it furnished the excuse for an +outbreak. Early on September 3, when assembled for what proved to be the +farce of payment at Bala Hissar (the citadel), three regiments mutinied, +stoned their officers, and then rushed towards the British Embassy. +These regiments took part in the first onset against an unfortified +building held by the Mission and a small escort. A steady musketry fire +from the defenders long held them at bay; but, when joined by townsfolk +and other troops, the mutineers set fire to the gates, and then, +bursting in, overpowered the gallant garrison. The Ameer made only +slight efforts to quell this treacherous outbreak, and, while defending +his own palaces by faithful troops, sent none to help the envoy. These +facts, as reported by trustworthy witnesses, did not correspond to the +magniloquent assurances of fidelity that came from Yakub himself[316]. + +[Footnote 316: Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 1 (1880), pp. 32-42, +89-96.] + +Arrangements were at once made to retrieve this disaster, but staff and +transport arrangements caused serious delay. At length General Roberts +was able to advance up the Kurram Valley and carry the Shutargardan Pass +by storm, an exploit fully equal to his former capture of the Peiwar +Kotal in the same mountain range. Somewhat further on he met the Ameer, +and was unfavourably impressed with him: "An insignificant-looking +man, . . . with a receding forehead, a conical-shaped head, and no chin to +speak of, . . . possessed moreover of a very shifty eye." Yakub justified +this opinion by seeking on various pretexts to delay the British +advance, and by sending to Cabul news as to the numbers of the +British force. + +All told it numbered only 4000 fighting men with 18 cannon. +Nevertheless, on nearing Cabul, it assailed a strong position at +Charasia, held by 13 regular regiments of the enemy and some 10,000 +irregulars. The charges of Highlanders (the 72nd and 92nd), Gurkhas, and +Punjabis proved to be irresistible, and drove the Afghans from two +ridges in succession. This feat of arms, which bordered on the +miraculous, served to reveal the feelings of the Ameer in a manner +equally ludicrous and sinister. Sitting in the British camp, he watched +the fight with great eagerness, then with growing concern, until he +finally needed all his oriental composure for the final compliment which +he bestowed on the victor. Later on it transpired that he and his +adherents had laid careful plans for profiting by the defeat of the +venturesome little force, so as to ensure its annihilation[317]. + +[Footnote 317: Roberts, _op. cit._ vol. ii. pp. 213-224; Hensman, _The +Afghan War of 1878-1880_.] + +The brilliant affair at Charasia served to bring out the conspicuous +gallantry of two men, who were later on to win distinction in wider +fields, Major White and Colour-Sergeant Hector Macdonald. White carried +a ridge at the head of a body of 50 Highlanders. When the enemy fled to +a second ridge, he resolved to spare the lives of his men by taking a +rifle and stalking the enemy alone, until he suddenly appeared on their +flank. Believing that his men were at his back, the Afghans turned +and fled. + +On October 9 Roberts occupied the Siah Sang ridge, overlooking Cabul, +and on the next day entered the citadel, Bala Hissar, to inspect the +charred and blood-stained ruins of the British Embassy. In the embers of +a fire he and his staff found numbers of human bones. On October 12 +Yakub came to the General to announce his intention of resigning the +Ameership, as "he would rather be a grass-cutter in the English camp +than ruler of Afghanistan." On the next day the British force entered +the city itself in triumph, and Roberts put the Ameer's Ministers under +arrest. The citizens were silent but respectful, and manifested their +satisfaction when he proclaimed that only those guilty of the +treacherous attack on the Residency would be punished. Cabul itself was +much more Russian than English. The Afghan officers wore Russian +uniforms, Russian goods were sold in the bazaars, and Russian money was +found in the Treasury. It is evident that the Czar's officials had long +been pushing on their designs, and that further persistency on the part +of England in the antiquated policy of "masterly inactivity" would have +led to Afghanistan becoming a Muscovite satrapy. + +The pendulum now swung sharply in favour of India. To that land Roberts +despatched the ex-Ameer on December 1, on the finding of the Commission +that he had been guilty of criminal negligence (if not worse) at the +time of the massacre of Cavagnari and his escort. Two Afghan Sirdars, +whose guilt respecting that tragedy had been clearly proven, were also +deported and imprisoned. This caused much commotion, and towards the +close of the year the preaching of a fanatic, whose name denoted +"fragrance of the universe," stirred up hatred to the conquerors. + +Bands of tribesmen began to cluster around Cabul, and an endeavour to +disperse them led to a temporary British reverse not far from the +Sherpur cantonments where Roberts held his troops. The situation was +serious. As generally happens with Asiatics, the hillmen rose by +thousands at the news, and beset the line of communications with India. +Sir Frederick Roberts, however, staunchly held his ground at the Sherpur +camp, beating off one very serious attack of the tribesmen on December +20-23. On the next day General Gough succeeded in breaking through from +Gandamak to his relief. Other troops were hurried up from India, and +this news ended the anxiety which had throbbed through the Empire at the +news of Roberts being surrounded near Cabul. + +Now that the league of hillmen had been for the time broken up, it +became more than ever necessary to find a ruler for Afghanistan, and +settle affairs with all speed. This was also desirable in view of the +probability of a general election in the United Kingdom in the early +part of the year 1880, the Ministry wishing to have ready an Afghan +settlement to act as a soporific drug on the ravening Cerberus of +democracy at home. Unhappily, the outbreak of the Zulu War on January +11, 1880, speedily followed by the disaster of Isandlana, redoubled the +complaints in the United Kingdom, with the result that matters were more +than ever pressed on in Afghanistan. + +Some of the tribes clamoured for the return of Yakub, only to be +informed by General Roberts that such a step would never be allowed. In +the midst of this uncertainty, when the hour for the advent of a strong +man seemed to have struck, he opportunely appeared. Strange to say, he +came from Russian Turkestan. + +As has been stated above, Abdur Rahman, son of Ufzal Khan, had long +lived there as a pensioner of the Czar; his bravery and skill in +intrigue had been well known. The Russian writer, Petrovsky, described +him as longing, above all things, to get square with the English and +Shere Ali. It was doubtless with this belief in the exile's aims that +the Russians gave him £2500 and 200 rifles. His advent in Afghanistan +seemed well calculated to add to the confusion there and to the +difficulties of England. With only 100 followers he forded the Oxus and, +early in 1880, began to gather around him a band in Afghan Turkestan. +His success was startlingly rapid, and by the end of March he was master +of all that district[318]. + +[Footnote 318: See his adventures in _The Life of Abdur Rahman, _by +Sultan Mohammed Khan, vol. ii, chaps, v., vi. He gave out that he came +to expel the English (pp. 173-175).] + +But the political results of this first success were still more +surprising. Lord Lytton, Sir Frederick Roberts, and Mr. Lepel Griffin +(political commissioner in Afghanistan) soon saw the advantage of +treating with him for his succession to the throne of Cabul. The +Viceroy, however, true to his earlier resolve to break up Afghanistan, +added the unpleasant condition that the districts of Candahar and Herat +must now be severed from the north of Afghanistan. Abdur Rahman's first +request that the whole land should form a neutral State under the joint +protection of Great Britain and Russia was decisively negatived on the +ground that the former Power stood pledged by the Treaty of Gandamak not +to allow the intervention of any foreign State in Afghan affairs. A +strong man like Abdur Rahman appreciated the decisiveness of this +statement; and, while holding back his hand with the caution and +suspicion natural to Afghans, he thenceforth leant more to the British +side, despite the fact that Lord Lytton had recognised a second Shere +Ali as "Wali," or Governor of Candahar and its district[319]. On April +19, Sir Donald Stewart routed a large Afghan force near Ghaznee, and +thereafter occupied that town. He reached Cabul on May 5. It appeared +that the resistance of the natives was broken. + +[Footnote 319: Roberts, _op. cit._ vol. ii. pp. 315-323.] + +Such was the state of affairs when the General Election of April 1880 +installed Mr. Gladstone in power in place of Lord Beaconsfield. As has +been hinted above, Afghan affairs had helped to bring about this change; +and the world now waited to see what would be the action of the party +which had fulminated against the "forward policy" in India. As is +usually the case after ministerial changes, the new Prime Minister +disappointed the hopes of his most ardent friends and the fears of his +bitterest opponents. The policy of "scuttle" was, of course, never +thought of; but, as the new Government stood pledged to limit its +responsibilities in India as far as possible, one great change took +place. Lord Lytton laid down his Viceroyalty when the full results of +the General Election manifested themselves; and the world saw the +strange sight of a brilliant and powerful ruler, who took precedence of +ancient dynasties in India, retiring into private life at the bidding of +votes silently cast in ballot-boxes far away in islands of the north. + +No more startling result of the working of the democratic system has +ever been seen in Imperial affairs; and it may lead the student of Roman +History to speculate what might have been the results in that ancient +Empire if the populace of Italy could honestly have discharged the like +duties with regard to the action of their proconsuls. Roman policy might +have lacked some of its stateliness and solidity, but assuredly the +government of the provinces would have improved. Whatever may be said as +to the evils of change brought about by popular caprice, they are less +serious than those which grow up under the shadow of an uncriticised and +irresponsible bureaucracy. + +Some time elapsed before the new Viceroy, Lord Ripon, could take up the +reins of power. In that interval difficulties had arisen with Abdur +Rahman, but on July 20 the British authorities at Cabul publicly +recognised him as Ameer of Northern Afghanistan. The question as to the +severance of Candahar from Cabul, and the amount of the subsidy to be +paid to the new ruler, were left open and caused some difference of +opinion; but a friendly arrangement was practically assured a few +days later. + +For many reasons this was desirable. As far back as April 11, 1880, Mr. +(now Sir) Lepel Griffin had announced in a Durbar at Cabul that the +British forces would withdraw from Afghanistan when the Government +considered that a satisfactory settlement had been made; that it was the +friend, not the enemy, of Islam, and would keep the sword for its +enemies. The time had now come to make good these statements. In the +closing days of July Abdur Rahman was duly installed in power at Cabul, +and received 19-1/2 lakhs of rupees (£190,500)[320]. Meanwhile his +champions prepared to evacuate that city and to avenge a disaster which +had overtaken their arms in the Province of Candahar. On July 29 news +arrived that a British brigade had been cut to pieces at Maiwand. + +[Footnote 320: _The Life of Abdur Rahman_, vol. ii. pp. 197-98. For +these negotiations and the final recognition, see Parl. Papers, +Afghanistan, No. 1 (1881), pp. 16-51.] + +The fact that we supported the Sirdar named Shere Ali at Candahar seemed +to blight his authority over the tribesmen in that quarter. All hope of +maintaining his rule vanished when tidings arrived that Ayub Khan, a +younger brother of the deported Yakub, was marching from the side of +Herat to claim the crown. Already the new pretender had gained the +support of several Afghan chiefs around Herat, and now proclaimed a +_jehad_, or holy war, against the infidels holding Cabul. With a force +of 7500 men and 10 guns he left Herat on June 15, and moved towards the +River Helmand, gathering around him numbers of tribesmen and +ghazis[321]. + +[Footnote 321: "A ghazi is a man who, purely for the sake of his +religion, kills an unbeliever, Kaffir, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, or +Christian, in the belief that in so doing he gains a sure title to +Paradise" (R.I. Bruce, _The Forward Policy_, p. 245).] + +In order to break this gathering cloud of war betimes, the Indian +Government ordered General Primrose, who commanded the British garrison +at Candahar, to despatch a brigade to the Helmand. Accordingly, +Brigadier-General Burrows, with 2300 British and Indian troops, marched +out from Candahar on July 11. On the other side of the Helmand lay an +Afghan force, acting in the British interest, sent thither by the +Sirdar, Shere Ali. Two days later the whole native force mutinied and +marched off towards Ayub Khan. Burrows promptly pursued them, captured +their six guns, and scattered the mutineers with loss. + +Even so his position was most serious. In front of him, at no great +distance, was a far superior force flushed with fanaticism and the hope +of easy triumph; the River Helmand offered little, if any, protection, +for at that season it was everywhere fordable; behind him stretched +twenty-five miles of burning desert. By a speedy retreat across this +arid zone to Khushk-i-Nakhud, Burrows averted the disaster then +imminent, but his anxiety to carry out the telegraphic orders of the +Commander-in-chief, and to prevent Ayub's force from reaching Ghaznee, +led him into an enterprise which proved to be far beyond his strength. + +Hearing that 2000 of the enemy's horsemen and a large number of ghazis +had hurried forward in advance of the main body to Maiwand, he +determined to attack them there. At 6.30 A.M. on July 27 he struck camp +and moved forwards with his little force of 2599 fighting men. Daring +has wrought wonders in Indian warfare, but rarely has any British +commander undertaken so dangerous a task as that to which Burrows set +his hand on that morning. + +During his march he heard news from a spy that the Afghan main body was +about to join their vanguard; but, either because he distrusted the +news, or hoped even at the last to "pluck the flower, safety, out of the +nettle, danger," he pushed on and sought to cut through the line of the +enemy's advance as it made for Maiwand. About 10 A.M. his column passed +the village of Khig and, crossing a dried watercourse, entered a parched +plain whereon the fringe of the enemy's force could dimly be seen +through the thick and sultry air. Believing that he had to deal with no +large body of men, Burrows pushed on, and two of Lieutenant Maclaine's +guns began to shell their scattered groups. Like wasps roused to fury, +the ghazis rushed together as if for a charge, and lines of Afghan +regulars came into view. The deceitful haze yielded up its secret. +Burrows' brigade stood face to face with 15,000 Afghans. Moreover some +influence, baleful to England, kept back those Asiatics from their +usually heedless rush. Their guns came up and opened fire on Burrows' +line. Even the white quivering groups of their ghazis forebore to charge +with their whetted knives, but clung to a gully which afforded good +cover 500 yards away from the British front and right flank; there the +Afghan regulars galled the exposed khaki line, while their cannon, now +numbering thirty pieces, kept up a fire to which Maclaine's twelve guns +could give no adequate reply. + +[Illustration: Battle of Maiwand] + +It has been stated by military critics that Burrows erred in letting the +fight at the outset become an affair of artillery, in which he was +plainly the weaker. Some of his guns were put out of action; and in that +open plain there was no cover for the fighting line, the reserves, or +the supporting horse. All of them sustained heavy losses from the +unusually accurate aim of the Afghan gunners. But the enemy had also +suffered under our cannonade and musketry; and it is consonant with the +traditions of Indian warfare to suppose that a charge firmly pushed home +at the first signs of wavering in the hostile mass would have retrieved +the day. Plassey and Assaye were won by sheer boldness. Such a chance is +said to have occurred about noon at Maiwand. However that may be, +Burrows decided to remain on the defensive, perhaps because the hostile +masses were too dense and too full of fight to warrant the adoption of +dashing tactics. + +After the sun passed his zenith the enemy began to press on the front +and flanks. Burrows swung round his wings to meet these threatening +moves; but, as the feline and predatory instincts of the Afghans kindled +more and more at the sight of the weak, bent, and stationary line, so +too the _morale_ of the defenders fell. The British and Indian troops +alike were exhausted by the long march and by the torments of thirst in +the sultry heat. Under the fire of the Afghan cannon and the frontal and +flank advance of the enemy, the line began to waver about 2 P.M., and +two of the foremost guns were lost. A native regiment in the centre, +Jacob's Rifles, fled in utter confusion and spread disorder on the +flanks, where the 1st Bombay Grenadiers and the 66th line regiment had +long maintained a desperate fight. General Nuttall now ordered several +squadrons of the 3rd Light Cavalry and 3rd Sind Horse to recover the +guns and stay the onrushing tide, but their numbers were too small for +the task, and the charge was not pressed home. Finally the whole mass of +pursued and pursuers rolled towards the village of Khig and its outlying +enclosures. + +There a final stand was made. Colonel Galbraith and about one hundred +officers and men of the 66th threw themselves into a garden enclosure, +plied the enemy fiercely with bullets, and time after time beat back +every rush of the ghazis, now rioting in that carnival of death. +Surrounded by the flood of the Afghan advance, the little band fought +on, hopeless of life, but determined to uphold to the last the honour +of their flag and country. At last only eleven were left. These heroes +determined to die in the open; charging out on the masses around, they +formed square, and back to back stood firing on the foe. Not until the +last of them fell under the Afghan rifles did the ghazis venture to +close in with their knives, so dauntless had been the bearing of this +band[322]. + +[Footnote 322: Report of General Primrose in Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, +No. 3 (1880), p. 156.] + +They had not fought in vain. Their stubborn stand held back the Afghan +pursuit and gave time for the fugitives to come together on the way back +to Candahar. Had the pursuit been pushed on with vigour few, if any, +could have survived. Even so, Maiwand was one of the gravest disasters +ever sustained by our Indian army. It cost Burrows' force nearly half +its numbers; 934 officers and men were killed and 175 wounded. The +strange disproportion between these totals may serve as a measure of the +ferocity of Afghans in the hour of victory. Of the non-combatants 790 +fell under the knives of the ghazis. The remnant struggled towards +Candahar, whence, on the 28th, General Primrose despatched a column to +the aid of the exhausted survivors. In the citadel of that fortress +there mustered as many as 4360 effectives as night fell. But what were +these in face of Ayub's victorious army, now joined by tribesmen eager +for revenge and plunder[323]? + +[Footnote 323: S.H. Shadbolt, _The Afghan Campaigns of_ 1878-80, pp. +96-100. Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 2 (1880), p. 21; No. 3, pp. +103-5; Lord Roberts, _op. cit._ vol. ii. pp. 333-5; Hensman, _op. cit._ +pp. 553-4.] + +In face of this disaster, the British generals in Northern Afghanistan +formed a decision commendable alike for its boldness and its sagacity. +They decided to despatch at once all available troops from Cabul to the +relief of the beleaguered garrison at Candahar. General Sir Frederick +Roberts had handed over the command at Cabul to Sir Donald Stewart, and +was about to operate among the tribes on the Afghan frontier when the +news of the disaster sent him hurrying back to confer with the new +commander-in-chief. Together they recommended the plan named above. + +It involved grave dangers: for affairs in the north of Afghanistan were +unsettled; and to withdraw the rest of our force from Cabul to the +Khyber would give the rein to local disaffection. The Indian authorities +at Simla inclined to the despatch of the force at Quetta, comprising +seven regiments of native troops, from Bombay. The route was certainly +far easier; for, thanks to the toil of engineers, the railway from the +Indus Valley towards Quetta had been completed up to a point in advance +of Sibi; and the labours of Major Sandeman, Bruce, and others, had kept +that district fairly quiet[324]. But the troops at Quetta and Pishin +were held to be incapable of facing a superior force of victorious +Afghans. At Cabul there were nine regiments of infantry, three of +cavalry, and three mountain-batteries, all of them British or picked +Indian troops. On August 3, Lord Ripon telegraphed his permission for +the despatch of the Cabul field-force to Candahar. It amounted to 2835 +British (the 72nd and 92nd Highlanders and 2nd battalion of the 60th +Rifles, and 9th Lancers), 7151 Indian troops, together with 18 guns. On +August 9 it struck camp and set out on a march which was destined to +be famous. + +[Footnote 324: _Colonel Sandeman: His Life and Work on our Indian +Frontier,_ by T.H. Thornton; R.I. Bruce, _The Forward Policy and its +Results_ (1900), chaps. iv. v.; _Candahar in 1879; being the Diary of +Major Le Mesurier, R.E._ (1880). The last had reported in 1879 that the +fortifications of Candahar were weak and the citadel in bad repair.] + +Fortunately before it left the Cabul camp on August 9, matters were +skilfully arranged by Mr. Griffin with Abdur Rahman, on terms which will +be noticed presently. In spite of one or two suspicious incidents, his +loyalty to the British cause now seemed to be assured, and that, too, in +spite of the remonstrances of many of his supporters. He therefore sent +forward messengers to prepare the way for Roberts' force. They did so by +telling the tribesmen that the new Ameer was sending the foreign army +out of the land by way of Candahar! This pleasing fiction in some +measure helped on the progress of the force, and the issue of events +proved it to be no very great travesty of the truth. + +Every possible device was needed to ensure triumph over physical +obstacles. In order to expedite the march through the difficult country +between Cabul and Candahar, no wheeled guns or waggons went with the +force. As many as 8000 native bearers or drivers set out with the force, +but very many of them deserted, and the 8255 horses, mules and donkeys +were thenceforth driven by men told off from the regiments. The line of +march led at first through the fertile valley of the River Logar, where +the troops and followers were able to reap the ripening crops and +subsist in comfort. Money was paid for the crops thus appropriated. +After leaving this fertile district for the barren uplands, the question +of food and fuel became very serious; but it was overcome by ingenuity +and patience, though occasional times of privation had to be faced, as, +for instance, when only very small roots were found for the cooking of +corn and meat. A lofty range, the Zamburak Kotal, was crossed with great +toil and amidst biting cold at night-time; but the ability of the +commander, the forethought and organising power of his Staff, and the +hardihood of the men overcame all trials and obstacles. + +The army then reached the more fertile districts around Ghazni, and on +August 15 gained an entry without resistance to that once formidable +stronghold. Steady marching brought the force eight days later to the +hill fort of Kelat-i-Ghilzai, where it received a hearty welcome from +the British garrison of 900 men. Sir Frederick Roberts determined to +take on these troops with him, as he needed all his strength to cope +with the growing power of Yakub. After a day's rest (well earned, seeing +that the force had traversed 225 miles in 14 days), the column set forth +on its last stages, cheered by the thought of rescuing their comrades at +Candahar, but more and more oppressed by the heat, which, in the lower +districts of South Afghanistan, is as fierce as anywhere in the world. +Mr. Hensman, the war correspondent of the _Daily News,_ summed up in one +telling phrase the chief difficulties of the troops. "The sun laughed to +scorn 100° F. in the shade." On the 27th the commander fell with a sharp +attack of fever. + +Nevertheless he instructed the Indian cavalry to push on to Robat and +open up heliographic communication with Candahar. It then transpired +that the approach of the column had already changed the situation. +Already, on August 23, Ayub had raised the siege and retired to the +hills north of the city. That relief came none too soon appeared on the +morning of the 31st, when the thin and feeble cheering that greeted the +rescuers on their entrance to the long beleaguered town told its sad +tale of want, disease, and depression of heart. The men who had marched +313 miles in 22 days--an average of 14-1/4 miles a day--felt a thrill of +sympathy, not unmixed with disgust in some cases, at the want of spirit +too plainly discernible among the defenders. The Union Jack was not +hoisted on the citadel until the rescuers were near at hand[325]. +General Roberts might have applied to them Hecuba's words to Priam:-- + + Non tali auxilio, nec defensoribus istis + Tempus eget. + +As for the _morale_ of the relieving force, it now stood at the zenith, +as was seen on the following day. Framing his measures so as to +encourage Ayub to stand his ground, Roberts planned his attack in the +way that had already led to success, namely, a frontal attack more +imposing than serious, while the enemy's flank was turned and his +communications threatened. These moves were carried out by Generals Ross +and Baker with great skill. Under the persistent pressure of the British +onset the Afghans fell back from position to position, north-west of +Candahar; until finally Major White with the 92nd, supported by Gurkhas +and the 23rd Pioneers, drove them back to their last ridge, the Baba +Wali Kotal, swarmed up its western flank, and threw the whole of the +hostile mass in utter confusion into the plain beyond. Owing to the very +broken nature of the ground, few British and Indian horsemen were at +hand to reap the full fruits of victory; but many of Ayub's regulars and +ghazis fell under their avenging sabres. The beaten force deserved no +mercy. When the British triumph was assured, the Afghan chief ordered +his prisoner, Lieutenant Maclaine, to be butchered; whereupon he himself +and his suite took to flight. The whole of his artillery, twenty-seven +pieces, including the two British guns lost at Maiwand, fell into the +victor's hands. In fact, Ayub's force ceased to exist; many of his +troops at once assumed the garb of peaceful cultivators, and the +Pretender himself fled to Herat[326]. + +[Footnote 325: Roberts, _op. cit._ vol. ii. p. 357.] + +[Footnote 326: Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 3 (1880), p. 82. Hensman, +_The Afghan War;_ Shadbolt, _op. cit._ pp. 108-110. The last reckons +Ayub's force at 12,800, of whom 1200 were slain.] + +Thus ended an enterprise which, but for the exercise of the highest +qualities on the part of General Roberts, his Staff, the officers, and +rank and file, might easily have ended in irretrievable disaster. This +will appear from the following considerations. The question of food and +water during a prolonged march in that parched season of the year might +have caused the gravest difficulties; but they were solved by a wise +choice of route along or near water-courses where water could generally +be procured. The few days when little or no water could be had showed +what might have happened. Further, the help assured by the action of the +Ameer's emissaries among the tribesmen was of little avail after the +valley of the Logar was left behind. Many of the tribes were actively +hostile, and cut off stragglers and baggage-animals. + +Above and beyond these daily difficulties, there was the problem as to +the line of retreat to be taken in case of a reverse inflicted by the +tribes _en route._ The army had given up its base of operations; for at +the same time the remaining British and Indian regiments at Cabul were +withdrawn to the Khyber Pass. True, there was General Phayre's force +holding Quetta, and endeavouring to stretch out a hand towards Candahar; +but the natural obstacles and lack of transport prevented the arrival of +help from that quarter. It is, however, scarcely correct to say that +Roberts had no line of retreat assured in case of defeat[327]. No +serious fighting was to be expected before Candahar; for the Afghan +plundering instinct was likely to keep Ayub near to that city, where the +garrison was hard pressed. After leaving Ghazni, the Quetta route became +the natural way of retirement. + +[Footnote 327: Shadbolt, _op. cit._ p. 107.] + +As it happened, the difficulties were mainly those inflicted by the +stern hand of Nature herself; and their severity may be gauged by the +fact that out of a well-seasoned force of less than 10,000 fighting men +as many as 940 sick had at once to go into hospital at Candahar. The +burning days and frosty nights of the Afghan uplands were more fatal +than the rifles of Ayub and the knives of the ghazis. As Lord Roberts +has modestly admitted, the long march gained in dramatic effect because +for three weeks he and his army were lost to the world, and, suddenly +emerging from the unknown, gained a decisive triumph. But, allowing for +this element of picturesqueness, so unusual in an age when the daily din +of telegrams dulls the perception of readers, we may still maintain that +the march from Cabul to Candahar will bear comparison with any similar +achievement in modern history. + +The story of British relations with Afghanistan is one which +illustrates the infinite capacity of our race to "muddle through" to +some more or less satisfactory settlement. This was especially the case +in the spring and summer of 1880, when the accession of Mr. Gladstone to +power and the disaster of Maiwand changed the diplomatic and military +situation. In one sense, and that not a cryptic one, these events served +to supplement one another. They rendered inevitable the entire +evacuation of Afghanistan. That, it need hardly be said, was the policy +of Mr. Gladstone, of the Secretary for India, Lord Hartington (now Duke +of Devonshire), and of Lord Ripon. + +On one point both parties were agreed. Events had shown how undesirable +it was to hold Cabul and Central Afghanistan. The evacuation of all +these districts was specified in Lord Lytton's last official Memorandum, +that which he signed on June 7, 1880, as certain to take place as soon +as the political arrangements at Cabul were duly settled. The retiring +Viceroy, however, declared that in his judgment the whole Province of +Candahar must be severed from the Cabul Power, whether Abdur Rahman +assented to it or not[328]. Obviously this implied the subjection of +Candahar to British rule in some form. General Roberts himself argued +stoutly for the retention of that city and district; and so did most of +the military men. Lord Wolseley, on the other hand, urged that it would +place an undesirable strain upon the resources of India, and that the +city could readily be occupied from the Quetta position, if ever the +Russians advanced to Herat. The Cabinet strongly held this opinion. The +exponents of Whig ideas, Lord Hartington and the Duke of Argyll, herein +agreeing with the exponents of a peaceful un-Imperial commercialism, Mr. +Bright and Mr. Chamberlain. Consequently the last of the British troops +were withdrawn from Candahar on April 15, 1881. + +[Footnote 328: Lady B. Balfour, _op. cit._ pp. 430, 445. On June 8 Lord +Ripon arrived at Simla and took over the Viceroyalty from Lord Lytton; +the latter was raised to an earldom.] + +The retirement was more serious in appearance than in reality. The war +had brought some substantial gains. The new frontier acquired by the +Treaty of Gandamak--and the terms of that compact were practically void +until Roberts' victory at Candahar gave them body and life--provided +ample means for sending troops easily to the neighbourhood of Cabul, +Ghazni, and Candahar; and experience showed that troops kept in the hill +stations on the frontier preserved their mettle far better than those +cantoned in or near the unhealthy cities just named. The Afghans had +also learnt a sharp lesson of the danger and futility of leaning on +Russia; and to this fact must be attributed the steady adherence of the +new Ameer to the British side. + +Moreover, the success of his rule depended largely on our evacuation of +his land. Experience has shown that a practically independent and united +Afghanistan forms a better barrier to a Russian advance than an +Afghanistan rent by the fanatical feuds that spring up during a foreign +occupation. Finally, the great need of India after the long famine was +economy. A prosperous and contented India might be trusted to beat off +any army that Russia could send; a bankrupt India would be the +breeding-ground of strife and mutiny; and on these fell powers Skobeleff +counted as his most formidable allies[329]. + +[Footnote 329: See Appendix; also Lord Hartington's speeches in the +House of Commons, March 25-6, 1881] + +It remained to be seen whether Abdur Rahman could win Candahar and +Herat, and, having won them, keep them. At first Fortune smiled on his +rival, Ayub. That pretender sent a force from Herat southwards against +the Ameer's troops, defeated them, and took Candahar (July 1881). But +Abdur Rahman had learnt to scorn the shifts of the fickle goddess. With +a large force he marched to that city, bought over a part of Ayub's +following, and then utterly defeated the remainder. This defeat was the +end of Ayub's career. Flying back to Herat, he found it in the hands of +the Ameer's supporters, and was fain to seek refuge in Persia. Both of +these successes seem to have been due to the subsidies which the new +Ameer drew from India[330]. + +[Footnote 330: Abdur Rahman's own account (_op. cit._ ch. ix.) ascribes +his triumph to his own skill and to Ayub's cowardice.] + +We may here refer to the last scene in which Ayub played a part before +Englishmen. Foiled of his hopes in Persia, he finally retired to India. +At a later day he appeared as a pensioner on the bounty of that +Government at a review held at Rawal Pindi in the Punjab in honour of +the visit of H.R.H. Prince Victor. The Prince, on being informed of his +presence, rode up to his carriage and saluted the fallen Sirdar. The +incident profoundly touched the Afghans who were present. One of them +said: "It was a noble act. It shows that you English are worthy to be +the rulers of this land[331]." + +[Footnote 331: _Eighteen Years in the Khyber Pass (1879-1898)_, by +Colonel Sir R. Warburton, p. 213. The author's father had married a +niece of the Ameer Dost Mohammed.] + +The Afghans were accustomed to see the conquered crushed and scorned by +the conqueror. Hence they did not resent the truculent methods resorted +to by Abdur Rahman in the consolidation of his power. In his relentless +grip the Afghan tribes soon acquired something of stability. Certainly +Lord Lytton never made a wiser choice than that of Abdur Rahman for the +Ameership; and, strange to say, that choice obviated the evils which the +Viceroy predicted as certain to accrue from the British withdrawal from +Candahar[332]. Contrasting the action of Great Britain towards himself +with that of Russia towards Shere Ali in his closing days, the new Ameer +could scarcely waver in his choice of an alliance. And while he held the +Indian Government away at arm's length, he never wavered at heart. + +[Footnote 332: Lord Lytton's speech in the House of Lords, Jan. 1881.] + + * * * * * + +For in the meantime Russia had resumed her southward march, setting to +work with the doggedness that she usually displays in the task of +avenging slights and overbearing opposition. The penury of the +exchequer, the plots of the Nihilists, and the discontent of the whole +people after the inglorious struggle with Turkey, would have imposed on +any other Government a policy of rest and economy. To the stiff +bureaucracy of St. Petersburg these were so many motives for adopting a +forward policy in Asia. Conquests of Turkoman territory would bring +wealth, at least to the bureaucrats and generals; and military triumphs +might be counted on to raise the spirit of the troops, silence the talk +about official peculations during the Turkish campaign, and act in the +manner so sagaciously pointed out by Henry IV. to Prince Hal:-- + + Therefore, my Harry, + Be it thy course to busy giddy minds + With foreign quarrels, that action, hence borne out, + May waste the memory of the former days. + +In the autumn of 1878 General Lomakin had waged an unsuccessful campaign +against the Tekke Turkomans, and finally fell back with heavy losses on +Krasnovodsk, his base of operations on the Caspian Sea. In the summer of +1879 another expedition set out from that port to avenge the defeat. +Owing to the death of the chief, Lomakin again rose to the command. His +bad dispositions at the climax of the campaign led him to a more serious +disaster. On coming up to the fortress of Denghil Tepe, near the town of +Geok Tepe, he led only 1400 men, or less than half of his force, to +bombard and storm a stronghold held by some 15,000 Turkomans, and +fortified on the plan suggested by a British officer, Lieutenant +Butler[333]. Preluding his attack by a murderous cannonade, he sent +round his cavalry to check the flight of the faint-hearted among the +garrison; and, before his guns had fully done their work, he ordered the +whole line to advance and carry the walls by storm. At once the Turkoman +fire redoubled in strength, tore away the front of every attacking +party, and finally drove back the assailants everywhere with heavy loss +(Sept. 9, 1879). On the morrow the invaders fell back on the River Atrek +and thence made their way back to the Caspian in sore straits[334]. + +[Footnote 333: This officer wrote to the _Globe_ on January 25, 1881, +stating that he had fortified two other posts east of Denghil Tepe. This +led Skobeleff to push on to Askabad after the capture of that place; but +he found no strongholds. See Marvin's _Russian Advance towards +India_, p. 85.] + +[Footnote 334: Parl. Papers, Central Asia, No. 1 (1880), pp. 167-173, +182.] + +The next year witnessed the advent of a great soldier on the scene. +Skobeleff, the stormy petrel of Russian life, the man whose giant frame +was animated by a hero's soul, who, when pitched from his horse in the +rush on one of the death-dealing redoubts at Plevna, rose undaunted to +his feet, brandished his broken sword in the air and yelled at the enemy +a defiance which thrilled his broken lines to a final mad charge over +the rampart--Skobeleff was at hand. He had culled his first laurels at +Khiva and Khokand, and now came to the shores of the Caspian to carry +forward the standards which he hoped one day to plant on the walls of +Delhi. That he cherished this hope is proved by the Memorandum which +will be found in the Appendix of this volume. His disclaimer of any such +intention to Mr. Charles Marvin (which will also be found there) shows +that under his frank exterior there lay hidden the strain of Oriental +duplicity so often found among his countrymen in political life. + +At once the operations felt the influence of his active, cheery, and +commanding personality. The materials for a railway which had been lying +unused at Bender were now brought up; and Russia found the money to set +about the construction of a railway from Michaelovsk to the Tekke +Turkoman country--an undertaking which was destined wholly to change the +conditions of warfare in South Turkestan and on the Afghan border. By +the close of the year more than forty miles were roughly laid down, and +Skobeleff was ready for his final advance from Kizil Arvat towards +Denghil Tepe. + +Meanwhile the Tekkes had gained reinforcements from their kinsmen in the +Merv oasis, and had massed nearly 40,000 men--so rumour ran--at their +stronghold. Nevertheless, they offered no serious resistance to the +Russian advance, doubtless because they hoped to increase the +difficulties of his retreat after the repulse which they determined to +inflict at their hill fortress. But Skobeleff excelled Lomakin in skill +no less than in prowess and magnetic influence. He proceeded to push his +trenches towards the stronghold, so that on January 23, 1881, his men +succeeded in placing 2600 pounds of gunpowder under the south-eastern +corner of the rampart. Early on the following day the Russians began the +assault; and while cannon and rockets wrought death and dismay among the +ill-armed defenders, the mighty shock of the explosion tore away fifty +yards of their rampart. + +At once the Russian lines moved forward to end the work begun by +gunpowder. With the blare of martial music and with ringing cheers, they +charged at the still formidable walls. A young officer, Colonel +Kuropatkin, who has since won notoriety in other lands, was ready with +twelve companies to rush into the breach. Their leading files swarmed up +it before the Tekkes fully recovered from the blow dealt by the hand of +western science; but then the brave nomads closed in on foes with whom +they could fight, and brought the storming party to a standstill. +Skobeleff was ready for the emergency. True to his Plevna tactics of +ever feeding an attack at the crisis with new troops, he hurled forward +two battalions of the line and companies of dismounted Cossacks. These +pushed on the onset, hewed their way through all obstacles, and soon met +the smaller storming parties which had penetrated at other points. By 1 +p.m. the Russian standard waved in triumph from the central hill of the +fortress, and thenceforth bands of Tekkes began to stream forth into the +desert on the further side. + +Now Skobeleff gave to his foes a sharp lesson, which, he claimed, was +the most merciful in the end. He ordered his men, horse and foot alike, +to pursue the fugitives and spare no one. Ruthlessly the order was +obeyed. First, the flight of grape shot from the light guns, then the +bayonet, and lastly the Cossack lance, strewed the plain with corpses +of men, women, and children; darkness alone put an end to the butchery, +and then the desert for eleven miles eastwards of Denghil Tepe bore +witness to the thoroughness of Muscovite methods of warfare. All the men +within the fortress were put to the sword. Skobeleff himself estimated +the number of the slain at 20,000[335]. Booty to the value of £600,000 +fell to the lot of the victors. Since that awful day the once predatory +tribes of Tekkes have given little trouble. Skobeleff sent his righthand +man, Kuropatkin, to occupy Askabad, and reconnoitre towards Merv. But +these moves were checked by order of the Czar. + +[Footnote 335: _Siege and Assault of Denghil Tepe_. By General Skobeleff +(translated). London, 1881.] + +A curious incident, told to Lord Curzon, illustrates the dread in which +Russian troops have since been held. At the opening of the railway to +Askabad, five years later, the Russian military bands began to play. At +once the women and children there present raised cries and shrieks of +dread, while the men threw themselves on the ground. They imagined that +the music was a signal for another onslaught like that which preluded +the capture of their former stronghold[336]. + +[Footnote 336: _Russia in Central Asia in 1889_. By the Hon. G.N. Curzon +(1889), p. 83.] + +This victory proved to be the last of Skobeleff's career. The Government +having used their knight-errant, now put him on one side as too +insubordinate and ambitious for his post. To his great disgust, he was +recalled. He did not long survive. Owing to causes that are little +known, among which a round of fast-living is said to have played its +part, he died suddenly from failure of the heart at his residence near +Moscow (July 7 1882). Some there were who whispered dark things as to +his militant notions being out of favour with the new Czar, Alexander +III.; others pointed significantly to Bismarck. Others again prattled of +Destiny; but the best comment on the death of Skobeleff would seem to be +that illuminating saying of Novalis--"Character is Destiny." Love of +fame prompted in him the desire one day to measure swords with Lord +Roberts in the Punjab; but the coarser strain in his nature dragged him +to earth at the age of thirty-nine. + +The accession of Alexander III., after the murder of his father on March +13, 1881, promised for a short time to usher in a more peaceful policy; +but, in truth, the last important diplomatic assurance of the reign of +Alexander II. was that given by the Minister M. de Giers, to Lord +Dufferin, as to Russia's resolve not to occupy Merv. "Not only do we not +want to go there, but, happily, there is nothing which can require us to +go there." + +In spite of a similar assurance given on April 5 to the Russian +ambassador in London, both the need and the desire soon sprang into +existence. Muscovite agents made their way to the fruitful oasis of +Merv; and a daring soldier, Alikhanoff, in the guise of a merchant's +clerk, proceeded thither early in 1882, skilfully distributed money to +work up a Russian party, and secretly sketched a plan of the fortress. +Many chiefs and traders opposed Russia bitterly, for our brilliant and +adventurous countryman, O'Donovan, while captive there, sought to open +their eyes to the coming danger. But England's influence had fallen to +zero since Skobeleff's victory and her own withdrawal from +Candahar[337]. + +[Footnote 337: C. Marvin, _Merv, the Queen of the World_ (1881); E. +O'Donovan, _The Merv Oasis_, 2 vols. (1882-83), and _Merv_ (1883).] + +In 1882 a Russian Engineer officer, Lessar, in the guise of a scientific +explorer, surveyed the route between Merv and Herat, and found that it +presented far fewer difficulties than had been formerly reported to +exist[338]. Finally, in 1884, the Czar's Government sought to revenge +itself for Britain's continued occupation of Egypt by fomenting trouble +near the Afghan border. Alikhanoff then reappeared, not in disguise, +browbeat the hostile chieftains at Merv by threats of a Russian +invasion, and finally induced them to take an oath of allegiance to +Alexander III. (Feb. 12, 1884)[339]. + +[Footnote 338: See his reports in Parl. Papers, Central Asia, No. 1 +(1884), pp. 26, 36, 39, 63, 96, 106.] + +[Footnote 339: _Ibid_. p. 119.] + +There was, however, some reason for Russia's violation of her repeated +promises respecting Merv. In practical politics the theory of +compensation has long gained an assured footing; and, seeing that +Britain had occupied Egypt partly as the mandatory of Europe, and now +refused to evacuate that land, the Russian Government had a good excuse +for retaliation. As has happened at every time of tension between the +two Empires since 1855, the Czar chose to embarrass the Island Power by +pushing on towards India. As a matter of fact, the greater the pressure +that Russia brought to bear on the Afghan frontier, the greater became +the determination of England not to withdraw from Egypt. Hence, in the +years 1882-4, both Powers plunged more deeply into that "vicious circle" +in which the policy of the Crimean War had enclosed them, and from which +they have never freed themselves. + +The fact is deplorable. It has produced endless friction and has +strained the resources of two great Empires; but the allegation of +Russian perfidy in the Merv affair may be left to those who look at +facts solely from the insular standpoint. In the eyes of patriotic +Russians England was the offender, first by opposing Muscovite policy +tooth and nail in the Balkans, secondly by seizing Egypt, and thirdly by +refusing to withdraw from that commanding position. The important fact +to notice is that after each of these provocations Russia sought her +revenge on that flank of the British Empire to which she was guided by +her own sure instincts and by the shrieks of insular Cassandras. By +moving a few sotnias of Cossacks towards Herat she compelled her rival +to spend a hundredfold as much in military preparations in India. + +It is undeniable that Russia's persistent breach of her promises in +Asiatic affairs exasperated public opinion, and brought the two Empires +to the verge of war. Conduct of that description baffles the resources +of diplomacy, which are designed to arrange disputes. Unfortunately, +British foreign affairs were in the hands of Lord Granville, whose +gentle reproaches only awakened contempt at St. Petersburg. The recent +withdrawal of Lord Dufferin from St. Petersburg to Constantinople, on +the plea of ill-health, was also a misfortune; but his appointment to +the Viceroyalty of India (September 1884) placed at Calcutta a +Governor-General superior to Lord Ripon in diplomatic experience. + +There was every need for the exercise of ability and firmness both at +Westminster and Calcutta. The climax in Russia's policy of lance-pricks +was reached in the following year; and it has been assumed, apparently +on good authority, that the understanding arrived at by the three +Emperors in their meeting at Skiernewice (September 1884) implied a +tacit encouragement of Russia's designs in Central Asia, however much +they were curbed in the Balkan Peninsula. This was certainly the aim of +Bismarck, and that he knew a good deal about Russian movements is clear +from his words to Busch on November 24, 1884: "Just keep a sharp +look-out on the news from Afghanistan. Something will happen there +soon[340]." + +[Footnote 340: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History_, vol. iii. +pp. 124, 133 (Eng. ed.).] + +This was clearly more than a surmise. At that time an Anglo-Russian +Boundary Commission was appointed to settle the many vexed questions +concerning the delimitation of the Russo-Afghan boundary. General Sir +Peter Lumsden proceeded to Sarrakhs, expecting there to meet the Russian +Commissioners by appointment in the middle of October 1884. On various +pretexts the work of the Commission was postponed in accordance with +advices sent from St. Petersburg. The aim of this dilatory policy soon +became evident. That was the time when (as will appear in Chapter XVI.) +the British expedition was slowly working its way towards Khartum in the +effort to unravel the web of fate then closing in on the gallant Gordon. +The news of his doom reached England on February 5, 1885. Then it was +that Russia unmasked her designs. They included the appropriation of the +town and district of Panjdeh, which she herself had previously +acknowledged to be in Afghan territory. In vain did Lord Granville +protest; in vain did he put forward proposals which conceded very much +to the Czar, but less than his Ministers determined to have. All that he +could obtain was a promise that the Russians would not advance further +during the negotiations. + +On March 13, Mr. Gladstone officially announced that an agreement to +this effect had been arrived at with Russia. The Foreign Minister at St. +Petersburg, M. de Giers, on March 16 assured our ambassador, Sir Edward +Thornton, that that statement was correct. On March 26, however, the +light troops of General Komaroff advanced beyond the line of demarcation +previously agreed on, and on the following day pushed past the Afghan +force holding positions in front of Panjdeh. The Afghans refused to be +drawn into a fight, but held their ground; thereupon, on March 29, +Komaroff sent them an ultimatum ordering them to withdraw beyond +Panjdeh. A British staff-officer requested him to reconsider and recall +this demand, but he himself was waived aside. Finally, on March 30, +Komaroff attacked the Afghan position, and drove out the defenders with +the loss of 900 men. The survivors fell back on Herat, General Lumsden +and his escort retired in the same direction, and Russia took possession +of the coveted prize[341]. + +[Footnote 341: See Parl. Papers, Central Asia, No. 1 (1885), for General +Lumsden's refutation of Komaroff's misstatements; also for the general +accounts, _ibid_. No. 5 (1885), pp. 1-7.] + +The news of this outrage reached England on April 7, and sent a thrill +of indignation through the breasts of the most peaceful. Twenty days +later Mr. Gladstone proposed to Parliament to vote the sum of +£11,000,000 for war preparations. Of this sum all but £4,500,000 (needed +for the Sudan) was devoted to military and naval preparations against +Russia; and we have the authority of Mr. John Morley for saying that +this vote was supported by Liberals "with much more than a mechanical +loyalty[342]." Russia had achieved the impossible; she had united +Liberals of all shades of thought against her, and the joke about +"Mervousness" was heard no more. + +[Footnote 342: J. Morley, _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii. p. 184.] + +Nevertheless the firmness of the Government resembled that of Bob +Acres: it soon oozed away. Ministers deferred to the Czar's angry +declaration that he would allow no inquiry into the action of General +Komaroff. This alone was a most mischievous precedent, as it tended to +inflate Russian officers with the belief that they could safely set at +defiance the rules of international law. Still worse were the signs of +favour showered on the violator of a truce by the sovereign who gained +the reputation of being the upholder of peace. From all that is known +semi-officially with respect to the acute crisis of the spring of 1885, +it would appear that peace was due solely to the tact of Sir Robert +Morier, our ambassador at St. Petersburg, and to the complaisance of the +Gladstone Cabinet. + +Certainly this quality carried Ministers very far on the path of +concession. When negotiations were resumed, the British Government +belied its former promises of firmness in a matter that closely +concerned our ally, and surrendered Panjdeh to Russia, but on the +understanding that the Zulfikar Pass should be retained by the Afghans. +It should be stated, however, that Abdur Rahman had already assured Lord +Dufferin, during interviews which they had at Rawal Pindi early in +April, of his readiness to give up Panjdeh if he could retain that pass +and its approaches. The Russian Government conceded this point; but +their negotiators then set to work to secure possession of heights +dominating the pass. It seemed that Lord Granville was open to +conviction even on this point. + +Such was the state of affairs when, on June 9, 1885, Mr. Gladstone's +Ministry resigned owing to a defeat on a budget question. The accession +of Lord Salisbury to power after a brief interval helped to clear up +these disputes. The crisis in Bulgaria of September 1885 (see Chapter +X.) also served to distract the Russian Government, the Czar's chief +pre-occupation now being to have his revenge on Prince Alexander of +Battenberg. Consequently the two Powers came to a compromise about the +Zulfikar Pass[343]. There still remained several questions outstanding, +and only after long and arduous surveys, not unmixed with disputes, was +the present boundary agreed on in a Protocol signed on July 22, 1887. We +may here refer to a prophecy made by one of Bismarck's _confidantes_, +Bucher, at the close of May 1885: "I believe the [Afghan] matter will +come up again in about five years, when the [Russian] railways are +finished[344]." + +[Footnote 343: Parl. Papers, Central Asia, No. 4 (1885), pp. 41-72.] + +[Footnote 344: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages,_ etc., vol. iii. p. 135.] + + * * * * * + +Thus it was that Russia secured her hold on districts dangerously near +to Herat. Her methods at Panjdeh can only be described as a deliberate +outrage on international law. It is clear that Alexander III. and his +officials cared nothing for the public opinion of Europe, and that they +pushed on their claims by means which appealed with overpowering force +to the dominant motive of orientals--fear. But their action was based on +another consideration. Relying on Mr. Gladstone's well-known love of +peace, they sought to degrade the British Government in the eyes of the +Asiatic peoples. In some measure they succeeded. The prestige of Britain +thenceforth paled before that of the Czar; and the ease and decisiveness +of the Russian conquests, contrasting with the fitful advances and +speedy withdrawals of British troops, spread the feeling in Central Asia +that the future belonged to Russia. + +Fortunately, this was not the light in which Abdur Rahman viewed the +incident. He was not the man to yield to intimidation. That "strange, +strong creature," as Lord Dufferin called him, "showed less emotion than +might have been expected," but his resentment against Russia was none +the less keen[345]. Her pressure only served to drive him to closer +union with Great Britain. Clearly the Russians misunderstood Abdur +Rahman. Their miscalculation was equally great as regards the character +of the Afghans and the conditions of life among those mountain clans. +Russian officers and administrators, after pushing their way easily +through the loose rubble of tribes that make up Turkestan, did not +realise that they had to deal with very different men in Afghanistan. To +ride roughshod over tribes who live in the desert and have no natural +rallying-point may be very effective; but that policy is risky when +applied to tribes who cling to their mountains. + +[Footnote 345: In his _Life_ (vol. i, pp. 244-246) he also greatly +blames British policy.] + +The analogy of Afghanistan to Switzerland may again serve to illustrate +the difference between mountaineers and plain-dwellers. It was only when +the Hapsburgs or the French threatened the Swiss that they formed any +effective union for the defence of the Fatherland. Always at variance in +time of peace, the cantons never united save under the stress of a +common danger. The greater the pressure from without, the closer was the +union. That truth has been illustrated several times from the age of the +legendary Tell down to the glorious efforts of 1798. In a word, the +selfsame mountaineers who live disunited in time of peace, come together +and act closely together in war, or under threat of war. + +Accordingly, the action of England in retiring from Candahar, +contrasting as it did with Russia's action at Panjdeh, marked out the +line of true policy for Abdur Rahman. Thenceforth he and his tribesmen +saw more clearly than ever that Russia was the foe; and it is noteworthy +that under the shadow of the northern peril there has grown up among +those turbulent clans a sense of unity never known before. Unconsciously +Russia has been playing the part of a Napoleon I.; she has ground +together some at least of the peoples of Central Asia with a +thoroughness which may lead to unexpected results if ever events favour +a general rising against the conqueror. + +Amidst all his seeming vacillations of policy, Abdur Rahman was governed +by the thought of keeping England, and still more Russia, from his land. +He absolutely refused to allow railways and telegraphs to enter his +territories; for, as he said: "Where Europeans build railways, their +armies quickly follow. My neighbours have all been swallowed up in this +manner. I have no wish to suffer their fate." + +His judgment was sound. Skobeleff conquered the Tekkes by his railway; +and the acquisition of Merv and Panjdeh was really the outcome of the +new trans-Caspian line, which, as Lord Curzon has pointed out, +completely changed the problem of the defence of India. Formerly the +natural line of advance for Russia was from Orenburg to Tashkend and the +upper Oxus; and even now that railway would enable her to make a +powerful diversion against Northern Afghanistan[346]. But the route from +Krasnovodsk on the Caspian to Merv and Kushk presents a shorter and far +easier route, leading, moreover, to the open side of Afghanistan, Herat, +and Candahar. Recent experiments have shown that a division of troops +can be sent in eight days from Moscow to Kushk within a short distance +of the Afghan frontier. In a word, Russia can operate against +Afghanistan by a line (or rather by two lines) far shorter and easier +than any which Great Britain can use for its defence[347]. + +[Footnote 346: See Col. A. Durand's _The Making of a Frontier_ (1899), +pp. 41-43.] + +[Footnote 347: Colquhoun, _Russia against India_, p. 170. Lord Curzon in +1894 went over much of the ground between Sarrakhs and Candahar and +found it quite easy for an army (except in food supply).] + +It is therefore of the utmost importance to prevent her pushing on her +railways into that country. This is the consideration which inspired Mr. +Balfour's noteworthy declaration of May 11, 1905, in the House of +Commons:-- + + As transport is the great difficulty of an invading army, we + must not allow anything to be done which would facilitate + transport. It ought in my opinion to be considered as an act + of direct aggression upon this country that any attempt + should be made to build a railway, in connection with the + Russian strategic railways, within the territory of + Afghanistan. + +It is fairly certain that the present Ameer, Habibulla, who succeeded +his father in 1901, holds those views. This doubtless was the reason +why, early in 1905, he took the unprecedented step of _inviting_ the +Indian Government to send a Mission to Cabul. In view of the increase of +Russia's railways in Central Asia there was more need than ever of +coming to a secret understanding with a view to defence against +that Power. + +Finally, we may note that Great Britain has done very much to make up +for her natural defects of position. The Panjdeh affair having relegated +the policy of "masterly inactivity" to the limbo of benevolent +futilities, the materials for the Quetta railway, which had been in +large part sent back to Bombay in the year 1881, were now brought back +again; and an alternative route was made to Quetta. The urgent need of +checkmating French intrigues in Burmah led to the annexation of that +land (November 1885); and the Kurram Valley, commanding Cabul, which the +Gladstone Government had abandoned, was reoccupied. The Quetta district +was annexed to India in 1887 under the title of British Baluchistan. The +year 1891 saw an important work undertaken in advance of Quetta, the +Khojak tunnel being then driven through a range close by the Afghan +frontier, while an entrenched camp was constructed near by for the +storage of arms and supplies. These positions, and the general hold +which Britain keeps over the Baluchee clans, enable the defenders of +India to threaten on the flank any advance by the otherwise practicable +route from Candahar to the Indus. + +Certainly there is every need for careful preparations against any such +enterprise. Lord Curzon, writing before Russia's strategic railways were +complete, thought it feasible for Russia speedily to throw 150,000 men +into Afghanistan, feed them there, and send on 90,000 of them against +the Indus[348]. After the optimistic account of the problem of Indian +defence given by Mr. Balfour in the speech above referred to, it is well +to remember that, though Russia cannot invade India until she has +conquered Afghanistan, yet for that preliminary undertaking she has the +advantages of time and position nearly entirely on her side. Further, +the completion of her railways almost up to the Afghan frontier (the +Tashkend railway is about to be pushed on to the north bank of the Oxus, +near Balkh) minimises the difficulties of food supply and transport in +Afghanistan, on which the Prime Minister laid so much stress. + +[Footnote 348: _Op. cit._ p. 307. Other authorities differ as to the +practicability of feeding so large a force even in the comparatively +fertile districts of Herat and Candahar.] + +It is, however, indisputable that the security of India has been greatly +enhanced by the steady pushing on of that "Forward Policy," which all +friends of peace used to decry. The Ameer, Abdur Rahman, irritated by +the making of the Khojak tunnel, was soothed by Sir Mortimer Durand's +Mission in 1893; and in return for an increase of subsidy and other +advantages, he agreed that the tribes of the debatable borderland--the +Waziris, Afridis, and those of the Swat and Chitral valleys--should be +under the control of the Viceroy. Russia showed her annoyance at this +Mission by seeking to seize an Afghan town, Murghab; but the Ameer's +troops beat them off[349]. Lord Lansdowne claimed that this right of +permanently controlling very troublesome tribes would end the days of +futile "punitive expeditions." In the main he was right. The peace and +security of the frontier depend on the tact with which some few scores +of officers carry on difficult work of which no one ever hears[350]. + +[Footnote 349: _Life of Abdur Rahman,_ vol. i. p. 287.] + +[Footnote 350: For this work see _The Life of Sir R. Sandeman_; Sir R. +Warburton, _Eighteen Years in the Khyber_; Durand, _op. cit._; Bruce, +_The Forward Policy and its Results_; Sir James Willcock's _From Cabul +to Kumassi_; S.S. Thorburn, _The Punjab in Peace and War_.] + +In nearly all cases they have succeeded in their heroic toil. But the +work of pacification was disturbed in the year 1895 by a rising in the +Chitral Valley, which cut off in Chitral Fort a small force of Sikhs and +loyal Kashmir troops with their British officers. Relieving columns from +the Swat Valley and Gilgit cut their way through swarms of hillmen and +relieved the little garrison after a harassing leaguer of forty-five +days[351]. The annoyance evinced by Russian officers at the success of +the expedition and the retention of the whole of the Chitral district +(as large as Wales) prompts the conjecture that they had not been +strangers to the original outbreak. In this year Russia and England +delimited their boundaries in the Pamirs. + +[Footnote 351: _The Relief of Chitral_, by Captains G.J. and F.E. +Younghusband (1895).] + +The year 1897 saw all the hill tribes west and south of Peshawur rise +against the British Raj. Moslem fanaticism, kindled by the Sultan's +victories over the Greeks, is said to have brought about the explosion, +though critics of the Calcutta Government ascribe it to official +folly[352]. With truly Roman solidity the British Government quelled the +risings, the capture of the heights of Dargai by the "gay Gordons" +showing the sturdy hillmen that they were no match for our best troops. +Since then the "Forward Policy" has amply justified itself, thousands of +fine troops being recruited from tribes which were recently daring +marauders, ready for a dash into the plains of the Punjab at the bidding +of any would-be disturber of the peace of India. In this case, then, +Britain has transformed a troublesome border fringe into a +protective girdle. + +[Footnote 352: See _The Punjab in Peace and War_, by S.S. Thorburn, _ad +fin._] + + * * * * * + +Whether the Russian Government intends in the future to invade India is +a question which time alone can answer. Viewing her Central Asian policy +from the time of the Crimean War, the student must admit that it bears +distinct traces of such a design. Her advance has always been most +conspicuous in the years succeeding any rebuff dealt by Great Britain, +as happened after that war, and still more, after the Berlin Congress. +At first, the theory that a civilised Power must swallow up restless +raiding neighbours could be cited in explanation of such progress; but +such a defence utterly fails to account for the cynical aggression at +Panjdeh and the favour shown by the Czar to the general who violated a +truce. Equally does it fail to explain the pushing on of strategic +railways since the time of the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty +of 1902. Possibly Russia intends only to exert upon that Achilles heel +of the British Empire the terrible but nominally pacific pressure which +she brings to bear on the open frontiers of Germany and Austria; and +the constant discussion by her officers of plans of invasion of India +may be wholly unofficial. At the same time we must remember that the +idea has long been a favourite one with the Russian bureaucracy; and the +example of the years 1877-81 shows that that class is ready and eager to +wipe out by a campaign in Central Asia the memory of a war barren of +fame and booty. But that again depends on more general questions, +especially those of finance (now a very serious question for Russia, +seeing that she has drained Paris and Berlin of all possible loans) and +of alliance with some Great Power, or Powers, anxious to effect the +overthrow of Great Britain. + +If Great Britain be not enervated by luxury; if she be not led astray +from the paths of true policy by windy talk about "splendid isolation"; +if also she can retain the loyal support of the various peoples of +India,--she may face the contingency of such an invasion with firmness +and equanimity. That it will come is the opinion of very many +authorities of high standing. A native gentleman of high official rank, +who brings forward new evidence on the subject, has recently declared it +to be "inevitable[353]." Such, too, is the belief of the greatest +authority on Indian warfare. Lord Roberts closes his Autobiography by +affirming that an invasion is "inevitable in the end. We have done much, +and may do still more to delay it; but when that struggle comes, it will +be incumbent upon us, both for political and military reasons, to make +use of all the troops and war material that the Native States can place +at our disposal." + +[Footnote 353: See _The Nineteenth Century and After_ for May 1905.] + +POSTSCRIPT + +On May 22, 1905, the _Times_ published particulars concerning the +Anglo-Afghan Treaty recently signed at Cabul. It renewed the compact +made with the late Ameer, whereby he agreed to have no relations with +any foreign Power except Great Britain, the latter agreeing to defend +him against foreign aggression. The subsidy of £120,000 a year is to be +continued, but the present Ameer, Habibulla, henceforth receives a title +equivalent to "King" and is styled "His Majesty." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +BRITAIN IN EGYPT + + +It will be well to begin the story of the expansion of the nations of +Europe in Africa by a brief statement of the events which brought +Britain to her present position in Egypt. As we have seen, the French +conquest of Tunis, occurring a year earlier, formed the first of the +many expeditions which inaugurated "the partition of Africa"--a topic +which, as regards the west, centre, and south of that continent, will +engage our attention subsequently. In this chapter and the following it +will be convenient to bring together the facts concerning the valley of +the Nile, a district which up to a recent time has had only a slight +connection with the other parts of that mighty continent. In his quaint +account of that mysterious land, Herodotus always spoke of it as +distinct from Libya; and this aloofness has characterised Lower Egypt +almost down to the present age, when the events which we are about to +consider brought it into close touch with the equatorial regions. + +The story of the infiltration of British influence into Egypt is one of +the most curious in all history. To this day, despite the recent +agreement with France (1904), the position of England in the valley of +the Lower Nile is irregular, in view of the undeniable fact that the +Sultan is still the suzerain of that land. What is even stranger, it +results from the gradual control which the purse-holder has imposed on +the borrower. The power that holds the purse-strings counts for much in +the political world, as also elsewhere. Both in national and domestic +affairs it ensures, in the last instance, the control of the earning +department over the spending department. It is the _ultima ratio_ of +Parliaments and husbands. + +In order fully to understand the relations of Egypt to Turkey and to the +purse-holders of the West, we must glance back at the salient events in +her history for the past century. The first event that brought the land +of the Pharaohs into the arena of European politics was the conquest by +Bonaparte in 1798. He meant to make Egypt a flourishing colony, to have +the Suez Canal cut, and to use Alexandria and Suez as bases of action +against the British possessions in India. This daring design was foiled +by Nelson's victory at the Nile, and by the Abercromby-Hutchinson +expedition of 1801, which compelled the surrender of the French army +left by Bonaparte in Egypt. The three years of French occupation had no +great political results except the awakening of British statesmanship to +a sense of the value of Egypt for the safeguarding of India. They also +served to weaken the power of the Mamelukes, a Circassian military caste +which had reduced the Sultan's authority over Egypt to a mere shadow. +The ruin of this warlike cavalry was gradually completed by an Albanian +soldier of fortune named Mohammed Ali, who, first in the name of the +Sultan, and later in defiance of his power, gradually won the allegiance +of the different races of Egypt and made himself virtually ruler of the +land. This powerful Pasha conquered the northern part of the Sudan, and +founded Khartum as the southern bulwark of his realm (1823). He seems to +have grasped the important fact that, as Egypt depends absolutely on the +waters poured down by the Nile in its periodic floods, her rulers must +control that river in its upper reaches--an idea also held by the ablest +of the Pharaohs. To secure this control, what place could be so suitable +as Khartum, at the junction of the White and Blue Niles? + +Mohammed Ali was able to build up an army and navy, which in 1841 was on +the point of overthrowing Turkish power in Syria, when Great Britain +intervened, and by the capture of Acre compelled the ambitious Pasha to +abandon his northern schemes and own once more the suzerainty of the +Porte. The Sultan, however, acknowledged that the Pashalic of Egypt +should be hereditary in his family. We may remark here that England and +France had nearly come to blows over the Syrian question of that year; +but, thanks to the firm demeanour of Lord Palmerston, their rivalry +ended, as in 1801, in the triumph of British influence and the assertion +of the nominal ascendancy of the Sultan in Egypt. Mohammed was to pay +his lord £363,000 a year. He died in 1849. + +No great event took place during the rule of the next Pashas, or +Khedives as they were now termed, Abbas I. (1849-54), and Said +(1854-63), except that M. de Lesseps, a French engineer, gained the +consent of Said in 1856 to the cutting of a ship canal, the northern +entrance to which bears the name of that Khedive. Owing to the rivalry +of Britain and France over the canal it was not finished until 1869, +during the rule of Ismail (1863-79). We may note here that, as the +concession was granted to the Suez Canal Company only for ninety-nine +years, the canal will become the property of the Egyptian Government in +the year 1968. + +The opening of the canal placed Egypt once more on one of the greatest +highways of the world's commerce, and promised to bring endless wealth +to her ports. That hope has not been fulfilled. The profits have gone +almost entirely to the foreign investors, and a certain amount of trade +has been withdrawn from the Egyptian railways. Sir John Stokes, speaking +in 1887, said he found in Egypt a prevalent impression that the country +had been injured by the canal[354]. + +[Footnote 354: Quoted by D.A. Cameron, _Egypt in the Nineteenth +Century_, p. 242.] + +Certainly Egypt was less prosperous after its opening, but probably +owing to another and mightier event which occurred at the beginning of +Ismail's rule. This was the American Civil War. The blockade of the +Southern States by the federal cruisers cut off from Lancashire and +Northern France the supplies of raw cotton which are the life-blood of +their industries. Cotton went up in price until even the conservative +fellahin of Egypt saw the desirability of growing that strange new +shrub--the first instance on record of a change in their tillage that +came about without compulsion. So great were the profits reaped by +intelligent growers that many fellahin bought Circassian and Abyssinian +wives, and established harems in which jewels, perfumes, silks, and +mirrors were to be found. In a word, Egypt rioted in its new-found +wealth. This may be imagined from the totals of exports, which in three +years rose from £4,500,000 to considerably more than £13,000,000[355]. + +[Footnote 355: _Egypt and the Egyptian Question_, by Sir D. Mackenzie +Wallace (1883), pp. 318-320.] + +But then came the end of the American Civil War. Cotton fell to its +normal price, and ruin stared Egypt in the face. For not only merchants +and fellahin, but also their ruler, had plunged into expenditure, and on +the most lavish scale. Nay! Believing that the Suez Canal would bring +boundless wealth to his land, Ismail persisted in his palace-building +and other forms of oriental extravagance, with the result that in the +first twelve years of his reign, that is, by the year 1875, he had spent +more than £100,000,000 of public money, of which scarcely one-tenth had +been applied to useful ends. The most noteworthy of these last were the +Barrage of the Nile in the upper part of the Delta, an irrigation canal +in Upper Egypt, the Ibrahimiyeh Canal, and the commencement of the Wady +Haifa-Khartum railway. The grandeur of his views may be realised when it +is remembered that he ordered this railway to be made of the same gauge +as those of South Africa, because "it would save trouble in the end." + +As to the sudden fall in the price of cotton, his only expedient for +making good the loss was to grow sugar on a great scale, but this was +done so unwisely as to increase the deficits. As a natural consequence, +the Egyptian debt, which at his accession stood at £3,000,000, reached +the extraordinary sum of £89,000,000 in the year 1876, and that, too, +despite the increase of the land tax by one-half. All the means which +oriental ingenuity has devised for the systematic plunder of a people +were now put in force; so that Sir Alfred Milner (now Lord Milner), +after unequalled opportunities of studying the Egyptian Question, +declared: "There is nothing in the financial history of any country, +from the remotest ages to the present time, to equal this carnival of +extravagance and oppression[356]." + +[Footnote 356: _England in Egypt_, by Sir Alfred Milner (Lord Milner), +1892, pp. 216-219. (The Egyptian £ is equal to £1:0:6.) I give the +figures as pounds sterling.] + +The Khedive himself had to make some sacrifices of a private nature, and +one of these led to an event of international importance. Towards the +close of the year 1875 he decided to sell the 177,000 shares which he +held in the Suez Canal Company. In the first place he offered them +secretly to the French Government for 100,000,000 francs; and the +Foreign Minister, the Duc Decazes, it seems, wished to buy them; but the +Premier, M. Buffet, and other Ministers hesitated, perhaps in view of +the threats of war from Germany, which had alarmed all responsible men. +In any case, France lost her chance[357]. Fortunately for Great Britain, +news of the affair was sent to one of her ablest journalists, Mr. +Frederick Greenwood, who at once begged Lord Derby, then Minister for +Foreign Affairs, to grant him an interview. The result was an urgent +message from Lord Derby to Colonel Staunton, the British envoy in Egypt, +to find out the truth from the Khedive himself. The tidings proved to be +correct, and the Beaconsfield Cabinet at once sanctioned the purchase of +the shares for the sum of close on £4,000,000. + +[Footnote 357: _La Question d'Égypte_, by C. de Freycinet (1905), p. +151.] + +It is said that the French envoy to Egypt was playing billiards when he +heard of the purchase, and in his rage he broke his cue in half. His +anger was natural, quite apart from financial considerations. In that +respect the purchase has been a brilliant success; for the shares are +now worth more than £30,000,000, and yield an annual return of about a +million sterling; but this monetary gain is as nothing when compared +with the influence which the United Kingdom has gained in the affairs of +a great undertaking whereby M. de Lesseps hoped to assure the ascendancy +of France in Egypt. + +The facts of history, it should be noted, lent support to this +contention of "the great Frenchman." The idea of the canal had +originated with Napoleon I., and it was revived with much energy by the +followers of the French philosopher, St. Simon, in the years +1833-37[358]. The project, however, then encountered the opposition of +British statesmen, as it did from the days of Pitt to those of +Palmerston. This was not unnatural; for it promised to bring back to the +ports of the Mediterranean the preponderant share in the eastern trade +which they had enjoyed before the discovery of the route by the Cape of +Good Hope. The political and commercial interests of England were bound +up with the sea route, especially after the Cape was definitively +assigned to her by the Peace of Paris of 1814; but she could not see +with indifference the control by France of a canal which would divert +trade once more to the old overland route. That danger was now averted +by the financial _coup_ just noticed--an affair which may prove to have +been scarcely less important in a political sense than Nelson's victory +at the Nile. + +[Footnote 358: _La Question d'Égypte_, by C. de Freycinet, p. 106.] + +In truth, the Sea Power has made up for her defects of position as +regards Egypt by four great strokes--the triumph of her great admiral, +the purchase of Ismail's canal shares, the repression of Arabi's revolt, +and Lord Kitchener's victory at Omdurman. The present writer has not +refrained from sharp criticism on British policy in the period +1870-1900; and the Egyptian policy of the Cabinets of Queen Victoria has +been at times open to grave censure; but, on the whole, it has come out +well, thanks to the ability of individuals to supply the qualities of +foresight, initiative, and unswerving persistence, in which Ministers +since the time of Chatham have rarely excelled. + +The sale of Ismail's canal shares only served to stave off the +impending crash which would have formed the natural sequel to this new +"South Sea Bubble." All who took part in this carnival of folly ought to +have suffered alike, Ismail and his beys along with the stock-jobbers +and dividend-hunters of London and Paris. In an ordinary case these last +would have lost their money; but in this instance the borrower was weak +and dependent, while the lenders were in a position to stir up two +powerful Governments to action. Nearly the whole of the Egyptian loans +was held in England and France; and in 1876, when Ismail was floating +swiftly down stream to the abyss of bankruptcy, the British and French +bondholders cast about them for means to secure their own safety. They +organised themselves for the protection of their interests. The Khedive +consented to hear the advice of their representatives, Messrs. Goschen +and Joubert; but it was soon clear that he desired merely a comfortable +liquidation and the continuance of his present expenditure. + +That year saw the institution of the "Caisse de la Dette," with power to +receive the revenue set aside for the service of the debt, and to +sanction or forbid new loans; and in the month of November 1876 the +commission of bondholders took the form of the "Dual Control." In 1878 a +Commission was appointed with power to examine the whole of the Egyptian +administration. It met with the strongest opposition from the Khedive, +until in the next year means were found to bring about his abdication by +the act of the Sultan (June 26, 1879). His successor was his son Tewfik +(1879-92). + +On their side the bondholders had to submit to a reduction of rates of +interest to a uniform rate of 4 per cent on the Unified Debt. Even so, +it was found in the year 1881--a prosperous year--that about half of the +Egyptian revenue, then £9,229,000, had to be diverted to the payment of +that interest[359]. Again, one must remark that such a situation in an +overtaxed country would naturally end in bankruptcy; but this was +prevented by foreign control, which sought to cut down expenditure in +all directions. As a natural result, many industries suffered from the +lack of due support; for even in the silt-beds formed by the Nile (and +they are the real Egypt) there is need of capital to bring about due +results. In brief, the popular discontent gave strength to a movement +which aimed at ousting foreign influences of every kind, not only the +usurers and stock-jobbers that sucked the life-blood of the land, but +even the engineers and bankers who quickened its sluggish circulation. +This movement was styled a national movement; and its abettors raised +that cry of "Egypt for Egyptians," which has had its counterpart +wherever selfish patriots seek to keep all the good things of the land +to themselves. The Egyptian troubles of the year 1882 originated partly +in feelings of this narrow kind, and partly in the jealousies and +strifes of military cliques. + +[Footnote 359: _England in Egypt_, etc. p. 222. See there for details as +to the Dual Control; also de Freycinet, _op. cit_. chap. ii., and _The +Expansion of Egypt_, by A. Silva White, chap. vi.] + +Sir D. Mackenzie Wallace, after carefully investigating the origin of +the "Arabi movement," came to the conclusion that it was to be found in +the determination of the native Egyptian officers to force their way to +the higher grades of that army, hitherto reserved for Turks or +Circassians. Said and Ismail had favoured the rise of the best soldiers +of the fellahin class (that is, natives), and several of them, on +becoming colonels, aimed at yet higher posts. This aroused bitter +resentment in the dominant Turkish caste, which looked on the fellahin +as born to pay taxes and bear burdens. Under the masterful Ismail these +jealousies were hidden; but the young and inexperienced Tewfik, the +nominee of the rival Western Powers, was unable to bridle the restless +spirits of the army, who looked around them for means to strengthen +their position at the expense of their rivals. These jealousies were +inflamed by the youthful caprice of Tewfik. At first he extended great +favour to Ali Fehmi, an officer of fellah descent, only to withdraw it +owing to the intrigues of a Circassian rival. Ali Fehmi sought for +revenge by forming a cabal with other fellah colonels, among whom a +popular leader soon came to the front. This was Arabi Bey. + +Arabi's frame embodied the fine animal qualities of the better class of +fellahin, but to these he added mental gifts of no mean order. After +imbibing the rather narrow education of a devout Moslem, he formed some +acquaintance with western thought, and from it his facile mind selected +a stock of ideas which found ready expression in conversation. His soft +dreamy eyes and fluent speech rarely failed to captivate men of all +classes[360]. His popularity endowed the discontented camarilla with new +vigour, enabling it to focus all the discontented elements, and to +become a movement of almost national import. Yet Arabi was its +spokesman, or figure-head, rather than the actual propelling power. He +seems to have been to a large extent the dupe of schemers who pushed him +on for their own advantage. At any rate it is significant that after his +fall he declared that British supremacy was the one thing needful for +Egypt; and during his old age, passed in Ceylon, he often made similar +statements[361]. + +[Footnote 360: Sir D.M. Wallace, _Egypt and the Egyptian Question_, p. +67.] + +[Footnote 361: Mr. Morley says (_Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii. p. 73) +that Arabi's movement "was in truth national as well as military; it was +anti-European, and above all, it was in its objects anti-Turk."--In view +of the evidence collected by Sir D.M. Wallace, and by Lord Milner +(_England in Egypt_), I venture to question these statements. The +movement clearly was military and anti-Turk in its beginning. Later on +it sought support in the people, and became anti-European and to some +extent national; but to that extent it ceased to be anti-Turk. Besides, +why should the Sultan have encouraged it? How far it genuinely relied on +the populace must for the present remain in doubt; but the evidence +collected by Mr. Broadley, _How We Defended Arabi_ (1884), seems to show +that Arabi and his supporters were inspired by thoroughly patriotic and +enlightened motives.] + +The Khedive's Ministers, hearing of the intrigues of the discontented +officers, resolved to arrest their chiefs; but on the secret leaking +out, the offenders turned the tables on the authorities, and with +soldiers at their back demanded the dismissal of the Minister of War and +the redress of their chief grievance--the undue promotion of Turks and +Circassians. + +The Khedive felt constrained to yield, and agreed to the appointment of +a Minister of War who was a secret friend of the plotters. They next +ventured on a military demonstration in front of the Khedive's palace, +with a view to extorting the dismissal of the able and energetic Prime +Minister, Riaz Pasha. Again Tewfik yielded, and consented to the +appointment of the weak and indolent Sherif Pasha. To consolidate their +triumph the mutineers now proposed measures which would please the +populace. Chief among them was a plan for instituting a consultative +National Assembly. This would serve as a check on the Dual Control and +on the young Khedive, whom it had placed in his present +ambiguous position. + +A Chamber of Notables met in the closing days of 1881, and awakened +great hopes, not only in Egypt, but among all who saw hope in the +feeling of nationality and in a genuine wish for reform among a Moslem +people. What would have happened had the Notables been free to work out +the future of Egypt, it is impossible to say. The fate of the Young +Turkish party and of Midhat's constitution of December 1877 formed by no +means a hopeful augury. In the abstract there is much to be said for the +two chief demands of the Notables--that the Khedive's Ministers should +be responsible to the people's representatives, and that the Dual +Control of Great Britain and France should be limited to the control of +the revenues set apart for the purposes of the Egyptian public debt. The +petitioners, however, ignored the fact that democracy could scarcely be +expected to work successfully in a land where not one man in a hundred +had the least notion what it meant, and, further, that the Western +Powers would not give up their coign of vantage at the bidding of +Notables who really represented little more than the dominant military +party. Besides, the acts of this party stamped it as oriental even while +it masqueraded in the garb of western democracy. Having grasped the +reins of government, the fellahin colonels proceeded to relegate their +Turkish and Circassian rivals to service at Khartum--an ingenious form +of banishment. Against this and other despotic acts the representatives +of Great Britain and France energetically protested, and, seeing that +the Khedive was helpless, they brought up ships of war to make a +demonstration against the _de facto_ governors of Egypt. + +It should be noted that these steps were taken by the Gladstone and +Gambetta Cabinets, which were not likely to intervene against a +genuinely democratic movement merely in the interests of British and +French bondholders. On January 7, 1882, the two Cabinets sent a Joint +Note to the Khedive assuring him of their support and of their desire to +remove all grievances, external and internal alike, that threatened the +existing order[362]. + +[Footnote 362: For Gambetta's despatches see de Freycinet, _op. cit._ +pp. 209 _et seq_.] + +While, however, the Western Powers sided with the Khedive, the other +European States, including Turkey, began to show signs of impatience and +annoyance at any intervention on their part. Russia saw the chance of +revenge on England for the events of 1878, and Bismarck sought to gain +the favour of the Sultan. As for that potentate, his conduct was as +tortuous as usual. From the outset he gave secret support to Arabi's +party, probably with the view of undermining the Dual Control and the +Khedive's dynasty alike. He doubtless saw that Turkish interests might +ultimately be furthered even by the men who had imprisoned or disgraced +Turkish officers and Ministers. + +Possibly the whole question might have been peaceably solved had +Gambetta remained in power; for he was strongly in favour of a joint +Anglo-French intervention in case the disorders continued. The Gladstone +Government at that time demurred to such intervention, and claimed that +it would come more legally from Turkey, or, if this were undesirable, +from all the Powers; but this divergence of view did not prevent the two +Governments from acting together on several matters. Gambetta, however, +fell from power at the end of January 1882, and his far weaker +successor, de Freycinet, having to face a most complex parliamentary +situation in France and the possible hostility of the other Powers, drew +back from the leading position which Gambetta's bolder policy had +accorded to France. The vacillations at Paris tended alike to weaken +Anglo-French action and to encourage the Arabi party and the Sultan. As +matters went from bad to worse in Egypt, the British Foreign Minister, +Lord Granville, proposed on May 24 that the Powers should sanction an +occupation of Egypt by Turkish troops. To this M. de Freycinet demurred, +and, while declaring that France would not send an expedition, proposed +that a European Conference should be held on the Egyptian Question. + +The Gladstone Cabinet at once agreed to this, and the Conference met for +a short time at the close of June, but without the participation of +Turkey[363]. For the Sultan, hoping that the divisions of the Powers +would enable him to restore Turkish influence in Egypt, now set his +emissaries to work to arouse there the Moslem fanaticism which he has so +profitably exploited in all parts of his Empire. A Turkish Commission +had been sent to inquire into matters--with the sole result of enriching +the chief commissioner. In brief, thanks to the perplexities and +hesitations of the Western Powers and the ill-humour manifested by +Germany and Russia, Europe was helpless, and the Arabi party felt that +they had the game in their own hands. Bismarck said to his secretary, +Busch, on June 8: "They [the British] set about the affair in an awkward +way, and have got on a wrong track by sending their ironclads to +Alexandria, and now, finding that there is nothing to be done, they want +the rest of Europe to help them out of their difficulty by means of a +Conference[364]." + +[Footnote 363: Morley, _Life of Gladstone_, iii. p. 79.] + +[Footnote 364: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History_, vol. iii. +p. 51.] + +Already, on May 27, the Egyptian malcontents had ventured on a great +military demonstration against the Khedive, which led to Arabi being +appointed Minister of War. His followers also sought to inflame the +hatred to foreigners for which the greed of Greek and Jewish usurers was +so largely responsible. The results perhaps surpassed the hopes of the +Egyptian nationalists. Moslem fanaticism suddenly flashed into flame. +On the 11th of June a street brawl between a Moslem and a Maltese led to +a fierce rising. The "true believers" attacked the houses of the +Europeans, secured a great quantity of loot, and killed about fifty of +them, including men from the British squadron. The English party that +always calls out for non-intervention made vigorous efforts at that +time, and subsequently, to represent this riot and massacre as a mere +passing event which did not seriously compromise the welfare of Egypt; +but Sir Alfred Milner in his calm and judicial survey of the whole +question states that the fears then entertained by Europeans in Egypt +"so far from being exaggerated, . . . perhaps even fell short of the +danger which was actually impending[365]." + +[Footnote 365: _England in Egypt_, p. 16. For details of the massacre +and its preconcerted character, sec Parl. Papers, Egypt, No. 4 (1884).] + +The events at Alexandria and Tantah made armed intervention inevitable. +Nothing could be hoped for from Turkey. The Sultan's special envoy, +Dervish Pasha, had arrived in Egypt only a few days before the outbreak; +and after that occurrence Abdul Hamid thought fit to send a decoration +to Arabi. Encouraged by the support of Turkey and by the well-known +jealousies of the Powers, the military party now openly prepared to defy +Europe. They had some grounds for hope. Every one knew that France was +in a very cautious mood, having enough on her hands in Tunis and +Algeria, while her relations to England had rapidly cooled[366]. +Germany, Russia, and Austria seemed to be acting together according to +an understanding arrived at by the three Emperors after their meeting at +Danzig in 1881; and Germany had begun that work of favouring the Sultan +which enabled her to supplant British influence at Constantinople. +Accordingly, few persons, least of all Arabi, believed that the +Gladstone Cabinet would dare to act alone and strike a decisive blow. +But they counted wrongly. Gladstone's toleration in regard to foreign +affairs was large-hearted, but it had its limits. He now declared in +Parliament that Arabi had thrown off the mask and was evidently working +to depose the Khedive and oust all Europeans from Egypt; England would +intervene to prevent this--if possible with the authority of Europe, +with the support of France, and the co-operation of Turkey; but, if +necessary, alone[367]. + +[Footnote 366: For the reasons of de Freycinet's caution, see his work, +ch. iii., especially pp. 236 _et seq_.] + +[Footnote 367: See, too, Gladstone's speech of July 25, 1882, in which +he asserted that there was not a shred of evidence to support Arabi's +claim to be the leader of a national party; also, his letter of July 14 +to John Bright, quoted by Mr. Morley, _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii. pp. +84-85. Probably Gladstone was misinformed.] + +Even this clear warning was lost on Arabi and his following. Believing +that Britain was too weak, and her Ministry too vacillating, to make +good these threats, they proceeded to arm the populace and strengthen +the forts of Alexandria. Sir Beauchamp Seymour, now at the head of a +strong squadron, reported to London that these works were going on in a +threatening manner, and on July 6 sent a demand to Arabi that the +operations should cease at once. To this Arabi at once acceded. +Nevertheless, the searchlight, when suddenly turned on, showed that work +was going on at night. A report of an Egyptian officer was afterwards +found in one of the forts, in which he complained of the use of the +electric light by the English as distinctly discourteous. It may here be +noted that M. de Freycinet, in his jaundiced survey of British action at +this time, seeks to throw doubt on the resumption of work by Arabi's +men. But Admiral Seymour's reports leave no loophole for doubt. Finally, +on July 10, the admiral demanded, not only the cessation of hostile +preparations, but the surrender of some of the forts into British hands. +The French fleet now left the harbour and steamed for Port Said. Most of +the Europeans of Alexandria had withdrawn to ships provided for them; +and on the morrow, when the last of the twenty-four hours of grace +brought no submission, the British fleet opened fire at 7 A.M. + +The ensuing action is of great interest as being one of the very few +cases in modern warfare where ships have successfully encountered modern +forts. The seeming helplessness of the British unarmoured ships before +Cronstadt during the Crimean War, their failure before the forts of +Sevastopol, and the uselessness of the French navy during the war of +1870, had spread the notion that warships could not overpower modern +fortifications. Probably this impression lay at the root of Arabi's +defiance. He had some grounds for confidence. The British fleet +consisted of eight battleships (of which only the _Inflexible_ and +_Alexandra_ were of great fighting power), along with five unarmoured +vessels. The forts mounted 33 rifled muzzle-loading guns, 3 rifled +breech-loaders, and 120 old smooth-bores. The advantage in gun-power lay +with the ships, especially as the sailors were by far the better +marksmen. Yet so great is the superiority of forts over ships that the +engagement lasted five hours or more (7 A.M. till noon) before most of +the forts were silenced more or less completely. Fort Pharos continued +to fire till 4 P.M. On the whole, the Egyptian gunners stood manfully to +their guns. Considering the weight of metal thrown against the forts, +namely, 1741 heavy projectiles and 1457 light, the damage done to them +was not great, only 27 cannon being silenced completely, and 5 +temporarily. On the other hand, the ships were hit only 75 times and +lost only 6 killed and 27 wounded. The results show that the +comparatively distant cannonades of to-day, even with great guns, are +far less deadly than the old sea-fights when ships were locked yard-arm +to yard-arm. + +[Illustration: BATTLE OF ALEXANDRIA (BOMBARDMENT OF, 1882).] + +Had Admiral Seymour at once landed a force of marines and bluejackets, +all the forts would probably have been surrendered at once. For some +reason not fully known, this was not done. Spasmodic firing began again +in the morning, but a truce was before long arranged, which proved to be +only a device for enabling Arabi and his troops to escape. The city, +meanwhile, was the scene of a furious outbreak against Europeans, in +which some 400 or 500 persons perished. Damage, afterwards assessed at +£7,000,000, was done by fire and pillage. It was not till the 14th +that the admiral, after receiving reinforcements, felt able to send +troops into the city, when a few severe examples cowed the plunderers +and restored order. The Khedive, who had shut himself up in his palace +at Ramleh, now came back to the seaport under the escort of a British +force, and thenceforth remained virtually, though not in name, under +British protection. + +The bombardment of Alexandria brought about the resignation of that +sturdy Quaker, and friend of peace, Mr. John Bright from the Gladstone +Ministry; but everything tends to show (as even M. de Freycinet admits) +that the crisis took Ministers by surprise. Nothing was ready at home +for an important campaign; and it would seem that hostilities resulted, +firstly, from the violence of Arabi's supporters in Alexandria, and, +secondly, from their persistence in warlike preparations which might +have endangered the safety of Admiral Seymour's fleet. The situation was +becoming like that of 1807 at the Dardanelles, when the Turks gave +smooth promises to Admiral Duckworth, all the time strengthening their +forts, with very disagreeable results. Probably the analogy of 1807, +together with the proven perfidy of Arabi's men, brought on hostilities, +which the British Ministers up to the end were anxious to avoid. + +In any case, the die was now cast, and England entered questioningly on +a task, the magnitude and difficulty of which no one could then foresee. +She entered on it alone, and that, too, though the Gladstone Ministry +had made pressing overtures for the help of France, at any rate as +regarded the protection of the Suez Canal. To this extent, de Freycinet +and his colleagues were prepared to lend their assistance; but, despite +Gambetta's urgent appeal for common action with England at that point, +the Chamber of Deputies still remained in a cautiously negative mood, +and to that frame of mind M. Clémenceau added strength by a speech +ending with a glorification of prudence. "Europe," he said, "is covered +with soldiers; every one is in a state of expectation; all the Power +are reserving their future liberty of action; do you reserve the +liberty of action of France." The restricted co-operation with England +which the Cabinet recommended found favour with only seventy-five +deputies; and, when face to face with a large hostile majority, de +Freycinet and his colleagues resigned (July 29, 1882)[368]. Prudence, +fear of the newly-formed Triple Alliance, or jealousy of England, drew +France aside from the path to which her greatest captains, thinkers, and +engineers had beckoned her in time past. Whatever the predominant motive +may have been, it altered the course of history in the valley of +the Nile. + +[Footnote 368: De Freycinet, _op, cit._ pp. 311-312.] + +After the refusal of France to co-operate with England even to the +smallest extent, the Conference of the Powers became a nullity, and its +sessions ceased despite the lack of any formal adjournment[369]. Here, +as on so many other occasions, the Concert of the Powers displayed its +weakness; and there can be no doubt that the Sultan and Arabi counted on +that weakness in playing the dangerous game which brought matters to the +test of the sword. The jealousies of the Powers now stood fully +revealed. Russia entered a vigorous protest against England's action at +Alexandria; Italy evinced great annoyance, and at once repelled a +British proposal for her co-operation; Germany also showed much +resentment, and turned the situation to profitable account by +substituting her influence for that of Britain in the counsels of the +Porte. The Sultan, thwarted in the midst of his tortuous intrigues for a +great Moslem revival, showed his spleen and his diplomatic skill by +loftily protesting against Britain's violation of international law, and +thereafter by refusing (August 1) to proclaim Arabi a rebel against the +Khedive's authority. The essential timidity of Abdul Hamid's nature in +presence of superior force was shown by a subsequent change of front. On +hearing of British successes, he placed Arabi under the ban +(September 8). + +[Footnote 369: For its proceedings, see Parl. Papers, Egypt, 1882 +(Conference on Egyptian Affairs).] + +Meanwhile, the British expedition of some 10,000 men, despatched to +Egypt under the command of Sir Garnet Wolseley made as though it would +attack Arabi from Alexandria as a base. But on nearing that port at +nightfall it steered about and occupied Port Said (August 15). Kantara +and Ismailia, on the canal, were speedily seized; and the Seaforth +Highlanders by a rapid march occupied Chalouf and prevented the cutting +of the freshwater canal by the rebels. Thenceforth the little army had +the advantage of marching near fresh water, and by a route on which +Arabi was not at first expecting them. Sir Garnet Wolseley's movements +were of that quick and decisive order which counts for so much against +orientals. A sharp action at Tel-el-Mahuta obliged Arabi's forces, some +10,000 strong, to abandon entrenchments thrown up at that point +(August 24). + +Four days later there was desperate fighting at Kassassin Lock on the +freshwater canal. There the Egyptians flung themselves in large numbers +against a small force sent forward under General Graham to guard that +important point. The assailants fought with the recklessness begotten by +the proclamation of a holy war against infidels, and for some time the +issue remained in doubt. At length, about sundown, three squadrons of +the Household Cavalry, and the 7th Dragoon Guards, together with four +light guns, were hastily sent forward from the main body in the rear to +clinch the affair. General Drury Lowe wheeled this little force round +the left flank of the enemy, and, coming up unperceived in the gathering +darkness, charged with such fury as to scatter the hostile array in +instant rout[370]. The enemy fell back on the entrenchments at +Tel-el-Kebir, while the whole British force (including a division from +India) concentrated at Kassassin, 17,400 strong, with 61 guns and +6 Gatlings. + +[Footnote 370: _History of the Campaign in Egypt_ (War Office), by Col. +J.F. Maurice, pp. 62-65.] + +The final action took place on September 13, at Tel-el-Kebir. There +Arabi had thrown up a double line of earthworks of some strength, +covering about four miles, and lay with a force that has been estimated +at 20,000 to 25,000 regulars and 7000 irregulars. Had the assailants +marched across the desert and attacked these works by day, they must +have sustained heavy losses. Sir Garnet therefore determined to try the +effect of a surprise at dawn, and moved his men forward after sunset of +the 12th until they came within striking distance of the works. After a +short rest they resumed their advance shortly before the time when the +first streaks of dawn would appear on the eastern sky. At about 500 +yards from the works, the advance was dimly silhouetted against the +paling orient. Shortly before five o'clock, an Egyptian rifle rang out a +sharp warning, and forthwith the entrenchments spurted forth smoke and +flame. At once the British answered by a cheer and a rush over the +intervening ground, each regiment eager to be the first to ply the +bayonet. The Highlanders, under the command of General Graham, were +leading on the left, and therefore won in this race for glory; but on +all sides the invaders poured almost simultaneously over the works. For +several minutes there was sharp fighting on the parapet; but the British +were not to be denied, and drove before them the defenders as a kind of +living screen against the fire that came from the second entrenchments; +these they carried also, and thrust the whole mass out into the +desert[371]. There hundreds of them fell under the sabres of the British +cavalry which swept down from the northern end of the lines; but the +pursuit was neither prolonged nor sanguinary. Sir Garnet Wolseley was +satisfied with the feat of dissolving Arabi's army into an armed or +unarmed rabble by a single sharp blow, and now kept horses and men for +further eventualities. + +[Footnote 371: _Life, Letters, and Diaries of General Sir Gerald Graham_ +(1901). J.F. Maurice, _op. cit._ pp. 84-95.] + +By one of those flashes of intuition that mark the born leader of men, +the British commander perceived that the whole war might be ended if a +force of cavalry pushed on to Cairo and demanded the surrender of its +citadel at the moment when the news of the disaster at Tel-el-Kebir +unmanned its defenders. The conception must rank as one of the most +daring recorded in the annals of war. In the ancient capital of Egypt +there were more than 300,000 Moslems, lately aroused to dangerous +heights of fanaticism by the proclamation of a "holy war" against +infidels. Its great citadel, towering some 250 feet above the city, +might seem to bid defiance to all the horsemen of the British army. +Finally, Arabi had repaired thither in order to inspire vigour into a +garrison numbering some 10,000 men. Nevertheless, Wolseley counted on +the moral effect of his victory to level the ramparts of the citadel and +to abase the mushroom growth of Arabi's pride. + +His surmise was more than justified by events. While his Indian +contingent pushed on to occupy Zagazig, Sir Drury Lowe, with a force +mustering fewer than 500 sabres, pressed towards Cairo by a desert road +in order to summon it on the morrow. After halting at Belbeïs the +troopers gave rein to their steeds; and a ride of nearly 40 miles +brought them to the city about sundown. Rumour magnified their numbers; +while the fatalism that used to nerve the Moslem in his great days now +predisposed him to bow the knee and mutter _Kismet_ at the advent of the +seemingly predestined masters of Egypt. To this small, wearied, but +lordly band Cairo surrendered, and Arabi himself handed over his sword. +On the following day the infantry came up and made good this +precarious conquest. + +In presence of this startling triumph the Press of the Continent sought +to find grounds for the belief that Arabi, and Cairo as well, had been +secretly bought over by British gold. It is somewhat surprising to find +M. de Freycinet[372] repeating to-day this piece of spiteful silliness, +which might with as much reason be used to explain away the victories of +Clive and Coote, Outram and Havelock. The slanders of continental +writers themselves stand in need of explanation. It is to be found in +their annoyance at discovering that England had an army which could +carry through a difficult campaign to a speedy and triumphant +conclusion. Their typical attitude had been that of Bismarck, namely, +of exultation at her difficulties and of hope of her discomfiture. Now +their tone changed to one of righteous indignation at the irregularity +of her conduct in acting on behalf of Europe without any mandate from +the Powers, and in using the Suez Canal as a base of operations. + +[Footnote 372: _Op. cit._ p. 316.] + +In this latter respect Britain's conduct was certainly open to +criticism[373]. On the other hand, it is doubtful whether Arabi would +have provoked her to action had he not been tacitly encouraged by the +other Powers, which, while professing their wish to see order restored +in Egypt, in most cases secretly sought to increase her difficulties in +undertaking that task. As for the Sultan, he had now trimmed his sails +by declaring Arabi a rebel to the Khedive's authority; and in due course +that officer was tried, found guilty, and exiled to Ceylon early in +1883. The conduct of France, Germany, and Russia, if we may judge by the +tone of their officially inspired Press, was scarcely more +straightforward, and was certainly less discreet. On all sides there +were diatribes against Britain's high-handed and lawless behaviour, and +some German papers affected to believe that Hamburg might next be chosen +for bombardment by the British fleet. These outbursts, in the case of +Germany, may have been due to Bismarck's desire to please Russia, and +secondarily France, in all possible ways. It is doubtful whether he +gained this end. Certainly he and his underlings in the Press widened +the gulf that now separated the two great Teutonic peoples. + +[Footnote 373: It is said, however, that Arabi had warned M. de Lesseps +that "the defence of Egypt requires the temporary destruction of the +Canal" (Traill, _England, Egypt, and the Sudan_, p. 57). The status of +the Canal was defined in 1885. _Ibid_. p. 59.] + +The annoyance of France was more natural. She had made the Suez Canal, +and had participated in the Dual Control; but her mistake in not sharing +in the work of restoring order was irreparable. Every one in Egypt saw +that the control of that country must rest with the Power which had +swept away Arabi's Government and re-established the fallen authority +of the Khedive. A few persons in England, even including one member of +the Gladstone Administration, Mr. Courtney, urged a speedy withdrawal; +but the Cabinet, which had been unwillingly but irresistibly drawn thus +far by the force of circumstances, could not leave Egypt a prey to +anarchy; and, clearly, the hand that repressed anarchy ruled the country +for the time being. It is significant that on April 4, 1883, more than +2600 Europeans in Egypt presented a petition begging that the British +occupation might be permanent[374]. + +[Footnote 374: Sir A. Milner, _England in Egypt_, p. 31.] + +Mr. Gladstone, however, and others of his Cabinet, had declared that it +would be only temporary, and would, in fact, last only so long as to +enable order and prosperity to grow up under the shadow of new and +better institutions. These pledges were given with all sincerity, and +the Prime Minister and his colleagues evidently wished to be relieved +from what was to them a disagreeable burden. The French in Egypt, of +course, fastened on these promises, and one of their newspapers, the +_Journal Egyptien_, printed them every day at the head of its front +columns[375]. Mr. Gladstone, who sought above all things for a friendly +understanding with France, keenly felt, even to the end of his career, +that the continued occupation of Egypt hindered that most desirable +consummation. He was undoubtedly right. The irregularity of England's +action in Egypt hampered her international relations at many points; and +it may be assigned as one of the causes that brought France into +alliance with Russia. + +[Footnote 375: H.F. Wood, _Egypt under the British_, p. 59 (1896).] + +What, then, hindered the fulfilment of Mr. Gladstone's pledges? In the +first place, the dog-in-the-manger policy of French officials and +publicists increased the difficulties of the British administrators who +now, in the character of advisers of the Khedive, really guided him and +controlled his Ministers. The scheme of administration adopted was in +the main that advised by Lord Dufferin in his capacity of Special +Envoy. The details, however, are too wide and complex to be set forth +here. So also are those of the disputes between our officials and those +of France. Suffice it to say that by shutting up the funds of the +"Caisse de la Dette," the French administrators of that great reserve +fund hoped to make Britain's position untenable and hasten her +evacuation. In point of fact, these and countless other pin-pricks +delayed Egypt's recovery and furnished a good reason why Britain should +not withdraw[376]. + +[Footnote 376: The reader should consult for full details Sir A. Milner, +_England in Egypt_ (1892); Sir D.M. Wallace, _The Egyptian Question_ +(1883), especially chaps, xi.-xiii.; and A. Silva White, _The Expansion +of Egypt_ (1899), the best account of the Anglo-Egyptian administration, +with valuable Appendices on the "Caisse," etc. + +A far more favourable light is thrown on the conduct of Arabi and his +partisans by Mr. A.M. Broadley in his work _How We Defended +Arabi_ (1884).] + +But above and beyond these administrative details, there was one +all-compelling cause, the war-cloud that now threatened the land of the +Pharaohs from that home of savagery and fanaticism, the Sudan. + +NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION + +For new light on the nationalist movement in Egypt and the part which +Arabi played in it, the reader should consult _How we defended Arabi_, +by A.M. Broadley (London, 1884). The same writer in his _Tunis, Past and +Present_ (2 vols. 1882) has thrown much light on the Tunis Question and +on the Pan-Islamic movement in North Africa. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +GORDON AND THE SUDAN + + What were my ideas in coming out? They were these: _Agreed + abandonment of Sudan, but extricate the garrisons_; and these + were the instructions of the Government (Gordon's _Journal_, + October 8, 1885). + + +It is one of the peculiarities of the Moslem faith that any time of +revival is apt to be accompanied by warlike fervour somewhat like that +which enabled its early votaries to sweep over half of the known world +in a single generation. This militant creed becomes dangerous when it +personifies itself in a holy man who can make good his claim to be +received as a successor of the Prophet. Such a man had recently appeared +in the Sudan. It is doubtful whether Mohammed Ahmed was a genuine +believer in his own extravagant claims, or whether he adopted them in +order to wreak revenge on Rauf Pasha, the Egyptian Governor of the +Sudan, for an insult inflicted by one of his underlings. In May 1881, +while living near the island of Abba in the Nile, he put forward his +claim to be the Messiah or Prophet, foretold by the founder of that +creed. Retiring with some disciples to that island, he gained fame by +his fervour and asceticism. His followers named him "El Mahdi," the +leader, but his claims were scouted by the Ulemas of Khartum, Cairo, and +Constantinople, on the ground that the Messiah of the Moslems was to +arise in the East. Nevertheless, while the British were crushing Arabi's +movement, the Mahdi stirred the Sudan to its depths, and speedily shook +the Egyptian rule to its base[377]. + +[Footnote 377: See the Report of the Intelligence Department of the War +Office, printed in _The Journals of Major-General C.G. Gordon at +Khartum_, Appendix to Bk. iv.] + +There was every reason to fear a speedy collapse. In the years 1874-76 +the Province of the White Nile had known the benefits of just and +tactful rule under that born leader of men, Colonel Gordon; and in the +three following years, as Governor-General of the Sudan, he gained +greater powers, which he felt to be needful for the suppression of the +slave-trade and other evils. Ill-health and underhand opposition of +various kinds caused him to resign his post in 1879. Then, to the +disgust of all, the Khedive named as his successor Rauf Pasha, whom +Gordon had recently dismissed for maladministration of the Province of +Harrar, on the borders of Abyssinia[378]. Thus the Sudan, after +experiencing the benefits of a just and able government, reeled back +into the bad old condition, at the time when the Mahdi was becoming a +power in the land. No help was forthcoming from Egypt in the summer of +1882, and the Mahdi's revolt rapidly made headway even despite several +checks from the Egyptian troops. + +[Footnote 378: See Gordon's letter of April 1880, quoted in the +Introduction to _The Journals of Major-General C.G. Gordon at Khartum_ +(1885), p. xvii.] + +Possibly, if Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues had decided to crush it in +that autumn, the task might have been easy. But, far from doing so, they +sought to dissuade the Khedive from attempting to hold the most +disturbed districts, those of Kordofan and Darfur, beyond Khartum. This +might have been the best course, if the evacuation could have been +followed at once and without risk of disaster at the hands of the +fanatics. But Tewfik willed otherwise. Against the advice of Lord +Dufferin, he sought to reconquer the Sudan, and that, too, by wholly +insufficient forces. The result was a series of disasters, culminating +in the extermination of Hicks Pasha's Egyptian force by the Mahdi's +followers near El Obeid, the capital of Kordofan (November 5, 1883). + +The details of the disaster are not fully known. Hicks Pasha was +appointed, on August 20, 1883, by the Khedive to command the expedition +into that province. He set out from Omdurman on September 9, with 10,000 +men, 4 Krupp guns and 16 light guns, 500 horses and 5500 camels. His +last despatch, dated October 3, showed that the force had been greatly +weakened by want of water and provisions, and most of all by the spell +cast on the troops by the Mahdi's claim to invincibility. Nevertheless, +Hicks checked the rebels in two or three encounters, but, according to +the tale of one of the few survivors, a camel-driver, the force finally +succumbed to a fierce charge on the Egyptian square at the close of an +exhausting march, prolonged by the treachery of native guides. Nearly +the whole force was put to the sword. Hicks Pasha perished, along with +five British and four German officers, and many Egyptians of note. The +adventurous newspaper correspondents, O'Donovan and Vizetelly, also met +their doom (November 5, 1883)[379]. + +[Footnote 379: Gordon's _Journals_, pp. 347-351; also Parl. Papers, +Egypt, No. 12 (1884), pp. 85 and 127-131 for another account. See, too, +Sir F.R. Wingate's _Mahdism_, chaps. i.-iii., for the rise of the Mahdi +and his triumph over Hicks.] + +This catastrophe decided the history of the Sudan for many years. The +British Government was in no respect responsible for the appointment of +General Hicks to the Kordofan command. Lord Dufferin and Sir E. Malet +had strongly urged the Khedive to abandon Kordofan and Darfur; but it +would seem that the desire of the governing class at Cairo to have a +hand in the Sudan administration overbore these wise remonstrances, and +hence the disaster near El Obeid with its long train of evil +consequences[380]. It was speedily followed by another reverse at Tokar +not far from Suakim, where the slave-raiders and tribesmen of the Red +Sea coast exterminated another force under the command of Captain +Moncrieff. + +[Footnote 380: J. Morley, _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii. p. 146; Sir A. +Lyall, _Life of Lord Dufferin_, vol. ii. chap. ii.] + +The Gladstone Ministry and the British advisers of the Khedive, among +whom was Sir Evelyn Baring (the present Lord Cromer), again urged the +entire evacuation of the Sudan, and the limitation of Egyptian authority +to the strong position of the First Cataract at Assuan. This policy then +received the entire approval of the man who was to be alike the hero and +the martyr of that enterprise[381]. But how were the Egyptian garrisons +to be withdrawn? It was a point of honour not to let them be slaughtered +or enslaved by the cruel fanatics of the Mahdi. Yet under the lead of +Egyptian officers they would almost certainly suffer one of these fates. +A way of escape was suggested--by a London evening newspaper in the +first instance. The name of Gordon was renowned for justice and +hardihood all through the Sudan. Let this knight-errant be sent--so said +this Mentor of the Press--and his strange power over men would +accomplish the impossible. The proposal carried conviction everywhere, +and Lord Granville, who generally followed any strong lead, sent for +the General. + +[Footnote 381: Morley, _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii. p. 147.] + +Charles George Gordon, born at Woolwich in 1833, was the scion of a +staunch race of Scottish fighters. His great-grandfather served under +Cope at Prestonpans; his grandfather fought in Boscawen's expedition at +Louisburg and under Wolfe at Quebec. His father attained the rank of +Lieutenant-General. From his mother, too, he derived qualities of +self-reliance and endurance of no mean order. Despite the fact that she +had eleven children, and that three of her sons were out at the Crimea, +she is said never to have quailed during that dark time. Of these sons, +Charles George was serving in the Engineers; he showed at his first +contact with war an aptitude and resource which won the admiration of +all. "We used always to send him out to find what new move the Russians +were making"--such was the testimony of one of his superior officers. Of +his subsequent duties in delimiting the new Bessarabian frontier and his +miraculous career in China we cannot speak in detail. By the consent of +all, it was his soldierly spirit that helped to save that Empire from +anarchy at the hands of the Taeping rebels, whose movement presented a +strange medley of perverted Christianity, communism, and freebooting. +There it was that his magnetic influence over men first had free play. +Though he was only thirty years of age, his fine physique, dauntless +daring, and the spirit of unquestionable authority that looked out from +his kindly eyes, gained speedy control over the motley set of officers +and the Chinese rank and file--half of them ex-rebels--that formed the +nucleus of the "ever victorious army." What wonder that he was +thenceforth known as "Chinese Gordon"? + +In the years 1865-71, which he spent at Gravesend in supervising the +construction of the new forts at the mouth of the river, the religious +and philanthropic side of his character found free play. His biographer, +Mr. Hake, tells of his interest in the poor and suffering, and, above +all, in friendless boys, who came to idolise his manly yet sympathetic +nature. Called thereafter by the Khedive to succeed Sir Samuel Baker in +the Governorship of the Sudan, he grappled earnestly with the fearful +difficulties that beset all who have attempted to put down the +slave-trade in its chief seat of activity. Later on he expressed the +belief that "the Sudan is a useless possession, ever was so, ever will +be so." These words, and certain episodes in his official career in +India and in Cape Colony, revealed the weak side of a singularly noble +nature. Occasionally he was hasty and impulsive in his decisions, and +the pride of his race would then flash forth. During his cadetship at +Woolwich he was rebuked for incompetence, and told that he would never +make an officer. At once he tore the epaulets from his shoulders and +flung them at his superior's feet. A certain impatience of control +characterised him throughout life. No man was ever more chivalrous, more +conscientious, more devoted, or abler in the management of inferiors; +but his abilities lay rather in the direction of swift intuitions and +prompt achievement than in sound judgment and plodding toil. In short, +his qualities were those of a knight-errant, not those of a statesman. +The imperious calls of conscience and of instinct endowed him with +powers uniquely fitted to attract and enthral simple straightforward +natures, and to sway orientals at his will. But the empire of +conscience, instinct, and will-power consorts but ill with those +diplomatic gifts of effecting a timely compromise which go far to make +for success in life. This was at once the strength and the weakness of +Gordon's being. In the midst of a _blasé_, sceptical age, his +personality stood forth, God-fearing as that of a Covenanter, romantic +as that of a Coeur de Lion, tender as that of a Florence Nightingale. In +truth, it appealed to all that is most elemental in man. + +At that time Gordon was charged by the King of the Belgians to proceed +to the Congo River to put down the slave-trade. Imagination will persist +in wondering what might have been the result if he had carried out this +much-needed duty. Possibly he might have acquired such an influence as +to direct the "Congo Free State" to courses far other than those to +which it has come. He himself discerned the greatness of the +opportunity. In his letter of January 6, 1884, to H.M. Stanley, he +stated that "no such efficacious means of cutting at root of slave-trade +ever was presented as that which God has opened out to us through the +kind disinterestedness of His Majesty." + +The die was now cast against the Congo and for the Nile. Gordon had a +brief interview with four members of the Cabinet--Lords Granville, +Hartington, Northbrooke, and Sir Charles Dilke,--Mr. Gladstone was +absent at Hawarden; and they forthwith decided that he should go to the +Upper Nile. What transpired in that most important meeting is known only +from Gordon's account of it in a private letter:-- + + At noon he, Wolseley, came to me and took me to the + Ministers. He went in and talked to the Ministers, and came + back and said, "Her Majesty's Government want you to + undertake this. Government are determined to evacuate the + Sudan, for they will not guarantee future government. Will + you go and do it?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Go in." I went + in and saw them. They said, "Did Wolseley tell you our + orders?" I said, "Yes." I said, "You will not guarantee + future government of the Sudan, and you wish me to go up to + evacuate now?" They said, "Yes," and it was over, and I left + at 8 P.M. for Calais. + +Before seeing the Ministers, Gordon had a long interview with Lord +Wolseley, who in the previous autumn had been named Baron Wolseley of +Cairo. That conversation is also unknown to us, but obviously it must +have influenced Gordon's impressions as to the scope of the duties +sketched for him by the Cabinet. We turn, then, to the "Instructions to +General Gordon," drawn up by the Ministry on Jan. 18, 1884. They +directed him to "proceed at once to Egypt, to report to them on the +military situation in the Sudan, and on the measures which it may be +advisable to take for the security of the Egyptian garrisons still +holding positions in that country and for the safety of the European +population in Khartum." He was also to report on the best mode of +effecting the evacuation of the interior of the Sudan and on measures +that might be taken to counteract the consequent spread of the +slave-trade. He was to be under the instructions of H.M.'s +Consul-General at Cairo (Sir Evelyn Baring). There followed this +sentence: "You will consider yourself authorised and instructed to +perform such other duties as the Egyptian Government may desire to +entrust to you, and as may be communicated to you by Sir Evelyn +Baring[382]." + +[Footnote 382: Parl. Papers, Egypt, No. 2 (1884), p. 3.] + +After receiving these instructions, Gordon started at once for Egypt, +accompanied by Colonel Stewart. At Cairo he had an interview with Sir +Evelyn Baring, and was appointed by the Khedive Governor-General of the +Sudan. The firman of Jan. 26 contained these words: "We trust that you +will carry out our good intentions for the establishment of justice and +order, and that you will assure the peace and prosperity of the people +of the Sudan by maintaining the security of the roads," etc. It +contained not a word about the evacuation of the Sudan, nor did the +Khedive's proclamation of the same date to the Sudanese. The only +reference to evacuation was in his letter of the same date to Gordon, +beginning thus: "You are aware that the object of your arrival here and +of your mission to the Sudan is to carry into execution the evacuation +of those territories and to withdraw our troops, civil officials, and +such of the inhabitants, together with their belongings, as may wish to +leave for Egypt. . . ." After completing this task he was to "take the +necessary steps for establishing an organised Government in the +different provinces of the Sudan for the maintenance of order and the +cessation of all disasters and incitement to revolt[383]." How Gordon, +after sending away all the troops, was to pacify that enormous territory +His Highness did not explain. + +[Footnote 383: Parl. Papers, Egypt, No. 12 (1884), pp. 27, 28.] + +There is almost as much ambiguity in the "further instructions" which +Sir Evelyn Baring drew up on January 25 at Cairo. After stating that the +British and Egyptian Governments had agreed on the necessity of +"evacuating" the Sudan, he noted the fact that Gordon approved of it and +thought it should on no account be changed; the despatch proceeds:-- + + You consider that it may take a few months to carry it out + with safety. You are further of opinion that "the restoration + of the country should be made to the different petty Sultans + who existed at the time of Mohammed Ali's conquest, and whose + families still exist"; and that an endeavour should be made + to form a confederation of those Sultans. In this view the + Egyptian Government entirely concur. It will of course be + fully understood that the Egyptian troops are not to be kept + in the Sudan merely with a view to consolidating the powers + of the new rulers of the country. But the Egyptian Government + has the fullest confidence in your judgment, your knowledge + of the country, and your comprehension of the general line of + policy to be pursued. You are therefore given full + discretionary power to retain the troops for such reasonable + period as you may think necessary, in order that the + abandonment of the country may be accomplished with the least + possible risk to life and property. A credit of £100,000 has + been opened for you at the Finance Department[384]. . . . + +[Footnote 384: Parl. Papers, Egypt, No. 6 (1884), p. 3.] + +In themselves these instructions were not wholly clear. An officer who +is allowed to use troops for the settlement or pacification of a vast +tract of country can hardly be the agent of a policy of mere +"abandonment." Neither Gordon nor Baring seems at that time to have felt +the incongruity of the two sets of duties, but before long it flashed +across Gordon's mind. At Abu Hammed, when nearing Khartum, he +telegraphed to Baring: "I would most earnestly beg that evacuation but +not abandonment be the programme to be followed." Or, as he phrased it, +he wanted Egypt to recognise her "moral control and suzerainty" over the +Sudan[385]. This, of course, was an extension of the programme to which +he gave his assent at Cairo; it differed _toto caelo_ from the policy of +abandonment laid down at London. + +[Footnote 385: Egypt, No. 12 (1884), p. 133.] + +Even now it is impossible to see why Ministers did not at once simplify +the situation by a clear statement of their orders to Gordon, not of +course as Governor-General of the Sudan, but as a British officer +charged by them with a definite duty. At a later date they sought to +limit him to the restricted sphere sketched out at London; but then it +was too late to bend to their will a nature which, firm at all times, +was hard as adamant when the voice of conscience spoke within. Already +it had spoken, and against "abandonment." + +There were other confusing elements in the situation. Gordon believed +that the "full discretionary power" granted to him by Sir E. Baring was +a promise binding on the British Government; and, seeing that he was +authorised to perform such other duties as Sir Evelyn Baring would +communicate to him, he was right. But Ministers do not seem to have +understood that this implied an immense widening of the original +programme. Further, Sir Evelyn Baring used the terms "evacuation" and +"abandonment" as if they were synonymous; while in Gordon's view they +were very different. As we shall see, his nature, at once conscientious, +vehement, and pertinacious, came to reject the idea of abandonment as +cowardly and therefore impossible. + +Lastly, we may note that Gordon was left free to announce the +forthcoming evacuation of the Sudan, or not, as he judged best[386]. He +decided to keep it secret. Had he kept it entirely so for the present, +he would have done well; but he is said to have divulged it to one or +two officials at Berber; if so, it was a very regrettable imprudence, +which compromised the defence of that town. But surely no man was ever +charged with duties so complex and contradictory. The qualities of +Nestor, Ulysses, and Achilles combined in one mortal could scarcely have +availed to untie or sever that knot. + +[Footnote 386: _Ibid_. p. 27.] + +The first sharp collision between Gordon and the Home Government +resulted from his urgent request for the employment of Zebehr Pasha as +the future ruler of the Sudan. A native of the Sudan, this man had risen +to great wealth and power by his energy and ambition, and figured as a +kind of king among the slave-raiders of the Upper Nile, until, for some +offence against the Egyptian Government, he was interned at Cairo. At +that city Gordon had a conference with Zebehr in the presence of Sir E. +Baring, Nubar Pasha, and others. It was long and stormy, and gave the +impression of undying hatred felt by the slaver for the slave-liberator. +This alone seemed to justify the Gladstone Ministry in refusing Gordon's +request[387]. Had Zebehr gone with Gordon, he would certainly have +betrayed him--so thought Sir Evelyn Baring. + +[Footnote 387: _Ibid_. pp. 38-41.] + +Setting out from Cairo and travelling quickly up the Nile, Gordon +reached Khartum on February 18, and received an enthusiastic welcome +from the discouraged populace. At once he publicly burned all +instruments of torture and records of old debts; so that his popularity +overshadowed that of the Mahdi. Again he urged the despatch of Zebehr +as his "successor," after the withdrawal of troops and civilians from +the Sudan. But, as Sir Evelyn Baring said in forwarding Gordon's request +to Downing Street, it would be most dangerous to place them together at +Khartum. It should further be noted that Gordon's telegrams showed his +belief that the Mahdi's power was overrated, and that his advance in +person on Khartum was most unlikely[388]. It is not surprising, then, +that Lord Granville telegraphed to Sir E. Baring on February 22 that the +public opinion of England "would not tolerate the appointment of Zebehr +Pasha[389]." Already it had been offended by Gordon's proclamation at +Khartum that the Government would not interfere with the buying and +selling of slaves, though, as Sir Evelyn Baring pointed out, the +re-establishment of slavery resulted quite naturally from the policy of +evacuation; and he now strongly urged that Gordon should have "full +liberty of action to complete the execution of his general plans[390]." + +[Footnote 388: Egypt, No. 12 (1884), pp. 74, 82, 88.] + +[Footnote 389: _Ibid_. p. 95.] + +[Footnote 390: _Ibid_. p. 94.] + +Here it is desirable to remember that the Mahdist movement was then +confined almost entirely to three chief districts--Kordofan, parts of +the lands adjoining the Blue Nile, and the tribes dwelling west and +south-west of Suakim. For the present these last were the most +dangerous. Already they had overpowered and slaughtered two Egyptian +forces; and on February 22 news reached Cairo of the fall of Tokar +before the valiant swordsmen of Osman Digna. But this was far away from +the Nile and did not endanger Gordon. British troops were landed at +Suakim for the protection of that port, but this step implied no change +of policy respecting the Sudan. The slight impression which two +brilliant but costly victories, those of El Teb and Tamai, made on the +warlike tribes at the back of Suakim certainly showed the need of +caution in pushing a force into the Sudan when the fierce heats of +summer were coming on[391]. + +[Footnote 391: For details of these battles, see Sir F. Wingate's +_Mahdism_, chap, iii., and _Life of Sir Gerald Graham_ (1901).] + +The first hint of any change of policy was made by Gordon in his +despatch of Feb. 26, to Sir E. Baring. After stating his regret at the +refusal of the British Government to allow the despatch of Zebehr as his +successor, he used these remarkable words:-- + +You must remember that when evacuation is carried out, Mahdi will come +down here, and, by agents, will not let Egypt be quiet. Of course my +duty is evacuation, and the best I can for establishing a quiet +government. The first I hope to accomplish. The second is a more +difficult task, and concerns Egypt more than me. If Egypt is to be +quiet, Mahdi must be smashed up. Mahdi is most unpopular, and with care +and time could be smashed. Remember that once Khartum belongs to Mahdi, +the task will be far more difficult; yet you will, for safety of Egypt, +execute it. If you decide on smashing Mahdi, then send up another +£100,000 and send up 200 Indian troops to Wady Haifa, and send officer +up to Dongola under pretence to look out quarters for troops. Leave +Suakim and Massowah alone. I repeat that evacuation is possible, but you +will feel effect in Egypt, and will be forced to enter into a far more +serious affair in order to guard Egypt. At present, it would be +comparatively easy to destroy Mahdi[392]. + +[Footnote 392: Egypt, No. 12 (1884), p. 115.] + +This statement arouses different opinions according to the point of view +from which we regard it. As a declaration of general policy it is no +less sound than prophetic; as a despatch from the Governor-General of +the Sudan to the Egyptian Government, it claimed serious attention; as a +recommendation sent by a British officer to the Home Government, it was +altogether beyond his powers. Gordon was sent out for a distinct aim; he +now proposed to subordinate that aim to another far vaster aim which lay +beyond his province. Nevertheless, Sir E. Baring on February 28, and on +March 4, urged the Gladstone Ministry even now to accede to Gordon's +request for Zebehr Pasha as his successor, on the ground that some +Government must be left in the Sudan, and Zebehr was deemed at Cairo to +be the only possible governor. Again the Home Government refused, and +thereby laid themselves under the moral obligation of suggesting an +alternate course. The only course suggested was to allow the despatch of +a British force up the Nile, if occasion seemed to demand it[393]. + +[Footnote 393: Egypt, No. 12 (1884) p. 119.] + +In this connection it is well to remember that the question of Egypt and +the Sudan was only one of many that distracted the attention of +Ministers. The events outside Suakim alone might give them pause before +they plunged into the Sudan; for that was the time when Russia was +moving on towards Afghanistan; and the agreement between the three +Emperors imposed the need of caution on a State as isolated and +unpopular as England then was. In view of the designs of the German +colonial party (see Chapter XVII.) and the pressure of the Irish +problem, the Gladstone Cabinet was surely justified in refusing to +undertake any new responsibilities, except on the most urgent need. +Vital interests were at stake in too many places to warrant a policy of +Quixotic adventure up the Nile. + +Nevertheless, it is regrettable that Ministers took up on the Sudan +problem a position that was logically sound but futile in the sphere of +action. Gordon's mission, according to Earl Granville, was a peaceful +one, and he inquired anxiously what progress had been made in the +withdrawal of the Egyptian garrisons and civilians. This question he +put, even in the teeth of Gordon's positive statement in a telegram of +March 8:-- + +If you do not send Zebehr, you have no chance of getting the garrisons +away; . . . Zebehr here would be far more powerful than the Mahdi, and he +would make short work of the Mahdi[394]. + +[Footnote 394: _Ibid_. p. 145.] + +A week earlier Gordon had closed a telegram with the despairing words:-- + +I will do my best to carry out my instructions, but I feel conviction I +shall be caught in Khartum[395]. + +[Footnote 395: _Ibid_. p. 152.] + +It is not surprising that Ministers were perplexed by Gordon's +despatches, or that Baring telegraphed to Khartum that he found it very +difficult to understand what the General wanted. All who now peruse his +despatches must have the same feeling, mixed with one of regret that he +ever weakened his case by the proposal to "smash the Mahdi." Thenceforth +the British Government obviously felt some distrust of their envoy; and +in this disturbing factor, and the duality of Gordon's duties, we may +discern one cause at least of the final disaster. + +On March 11, the British Government refused either to allow the +appointment of Zebehr, or to send British or Indian troops from Suakim +to Berber. Without wishing to force Gordon's hand prematurely, Earl +Granville urged the need of evacuation at as early a date as might be +practicable. On March 16, after hearing ominous news as to the spread of +the Mahdi's power near to Khartum and Berber, he advised the evacuation +of the former city at the earliest possible date[396]. We may here note +that the rebels began to close round it on March 18. + +[Footnote 396: _Ibid_. pp. 158, 162, 166.] + +Earl Granville's advice directly conflicted with Gordon's sense of +honour. As he stated, on or about March 20, the fidelity of the people +of Khartum, while treachery was rife all around, bound him not to leave +them until he could do so "under a Government which would give them some +hope of peace." Here again his duty as Governor of the Sudan, or his +extreme conscientiousness as a man, held him to his post despite the +express recommendations of the British Government. His decision is ever +to be regretted; but it redounds to his honour as a Christian and a +soldier. At bottom, the misunderstanding between him and the Cabinet +rested on a divergent view of duty. Gordon summed up his scruples in his +telegram to Baring:-- + +You must see that you could not recall me, nor could I possibly obey, +until the Cairo _employés_ get out from all the places. I have named men +to different places, thus involving them with the Mahdi. How could I +look the world in the face if I abandoned them and fled? As a gentleman, +could you advise this course? + +Earl Granville summed up his statement of the case in the words:-- + +The Mission of General Gordon, as originally designed and decided upon, +was of a pacific nature and in no way involved any movement of British +forces. . . . He was, in addition, authorised and instructed to perform +such other duties as the Egyptian Government might desire to entrust to +him and as might be communicated by you to him. . . . Her Majesty's +Government, bearing in mind the exigencies of the occasion, concurred in +these instructions [those of the Egyptian Government], which virtually +altered General Gordon's Mission from one of advice to that of +executing, or at least directing, the evacuation not only of Khartum but +of the whole Sudan, and they were willing that General Gordon should +receive the very extended powers conferred upon him by the Khedive to +enable him to effect his difficult task. But they have throughout joined +in your anxiety that he should not expose himself to unnecessary +personal risk, or place himself in a position from which retreat would +be difficult[397]. + +[Footnote 397: Egypt, No. 13 (1884), pp. 5, 6. Earl Granville made the +same statement in his despatch of April 23. See, too, _The Life of Lord +Granville_.] + +He then states that it is clear that Khartum can hold out for at least +six months, if it is attacked, and, seeing that the British occupation +of Egypt was only "for a special and temporary purpose," any expedition +into the Sudan would be highly undesirable on general as well as +diplomatic grounds. + +Both of these views of duty are intelligible as well as creditable to +those who held them. But the former view is that of a high-souled +officer; the latter, that of a responsible and much-tried Minister and +diplomatist. They were wholly divergent, and divergence there +spelt disaster. + +On hearing of the siege of Khartum, General Stephenson, then commanding +the British forces in Egypt, advised the immediate despatch of a brigade +to Dongola--a step which would probably have produced the best results; +but that advice was overruled at London for the reasons stated above. +Ministers seem to have feared that Gordon might use the force for +offensive purposes. An Egyptian battalion was sent up the Nile to +Korosko in the middle of May; but the "moral effect" hoped for from that +daring step vanished in face of a serious reverse. On May 19, the +important city of Berber was taken by the Mahdists[398]. + +[Footnote 398: Parl. Papers, Egypt, No. 25 (1884), pp. 129-131.] + +Difficult as the removal of about 10,000 to 15,000[399] Egyptians from +Khartum had always been--and there were fifteen other garrisons to be +rescued--it was now next to impossible, unless some blow were dealt at +the rebels in that neighbourhood. The only effective blow would be that +dealt by British or Indian troops, and this the Government refused, +though Gordon again and again pointed out that a small well-equipped +force would do far more than a large force. "A heavy, lumbering column, +however strong, is nowhere in this land (so he wrote in his _Journals_ +on September 24). . . . It is the country of the irregular, not of the +regular." A month after the capture of Berber a small British force left +Siut, on the Nile, for Assuan; but this move, which would have sent a +thrill through the Sudan in March, had little effect at midsummer. Even +so, a prompt advance on Dongola and thence on Berber would probably have +saved the situation at the eleventh hour. + +[Footnote 399: This is the number as estimated by Gordon in his +_Journals_ (Sept. 10, 1884), p. 6.] + +But first the battle of the routes had to be fought out by the military +authorities. As early as April 25, the Government ordered General +Stephenson to report on the best means of relieving Gordon; after due +consideration of this difficult problem he advised the despatch of +10,000 men to Berber from Suakim in the month of September. Preparations +were actually begun at Suakim; but in July experts began to favour the +Nile route. In that month Lord Wolseley urged the immediate despatch of +a force up that river, and he promised that it should be at Dongola by +the middle of October. Even so, official hesitations hampered the +enterprise, and it was not until July 29 that the decision seems to have +been definitely formed in favour of the Nile route. Even on August 8, +Lord Hartington, then War Minister, stated that help would be sent to +Gordon, _if it proved to be necessary_[400]. On August 26, Lord Wolseley +was appointed to the command of the relief expedition gathering on the +Nile, but not until October 5 did he reach Wady Haifa, below the +Second Cataract. + +[Footnote 400: Morley, _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii. p. 164.] + +Meanwhile the web of fate was closing in on Khartum. In vain did Gordon +seek to keep communications open. All that he could do was to hold +stoutly to that last bulwark of civilisation. There were still some +grounds for hope. The Mahdi remained in Kordofan, want of food +preventing his march northwards in force. Against his half-armed +fanatics the city opposed a strong barrier. "Crows' feet" scattered on +the ground ended their mad rushes, and mines blew them into the air by +hundreds. Khartum seemed to defy those sons of the desert. The fire of +the steamers drove them from the banks and pulverised their forts[401]. +The arsenal could turn out 50,000 Remington cartridges a week. There was +every reason, then, for holding the city; for, as Gordon jotted down in +his _Journal_ on September 17, if the Mahdi took Khartum, it would need +a great force to stay his propaganda. Here and there in those pathetic +records of a life and death struggle we catch a glimpse of Gordon's hope +of saving Khartum for civilisation. More than once he noted the ease of +holding the Sudan from the Nile as base. With forts at the cataracts and +armed steamers patrolling the clear reaches of the river, the defence of +the Sudan, he believed, was by no means impossible[402]. + +[Footnote 401: For details, see _Letters from Khartum_, by Frank Power.] + +[Footnote 402: _Journal_, p. 35, etc.] + +On September 10 he succeeded in sending away down stream by steamer +Colonel Stewart and Messrs. Power and Herbin; but unfortunately they +were wrecked and murdered by Arabs near Korti. The advice and help of +that gallant officer would have been of priceless service to the +relieving force. On September 10, when the _Journals_ begin, Gordon was +still hopeful of success, though food was scarce. + +[Illustration: MAP OF THE NILE.] + +At this time the rescue expedition was mustering at Wady Haifa, a point +which the narrowing gorge of the Nile marks out as one of the natural +defences of its lower valley. There the British and Egyptian Governments +were collecting a force that soon amounted to 2570 British troops and +some Egyptians, who were to be used solely for transport and portage +duties. A striking tribute to the solidarity of the Empire was the +presence of 350 Canadians, mostly French, whose skill in working boats +up rapids won admiration on all sides. The difficulties of the Nile +route were soon found to be far greater than had been imagined. Indeed +many persons still believe that the Suakim-Berber route would have been +far preferable. The Nile was unfortunately lower than usual, and many +rapids, up which small steamers had been hauled when the waters ran deep +and full, were impassable even for the whale-boats on which the +expedition depended for its progress as far as Korti. Many a time all +the boats had to be hauled up the banks and carried by Canadians or +Egyptians to the next clear reaches. The letters written by Gordon in +1877 in a more favourable season were now found to be misleading, and in +part led to the miscalculation of time which was to prove so disastrous. + +Another untoward fact was the refusal of the authorities to push on the +construction of the railway above Sarras. It had been completed from +Wady Haifa up to that point, and much work had been done on it for about +fifteen miles further. But, either from lack of the necessary funds, or +because the line could not be completed in time, the construction was +stopped by Lord Wolseley's orders early in October. Consequently much +time was lost in dragging the boats and their stores up or around the +difficult rapids above Semneh[403]. + +[Footnote 403: See Gordon's letters of the year 1877, quoted in the +Appendix of A. Macdonald's _Too Late for Gordon and Khartum_ (1887); +also chap. vi. of that book.] + +Meanwhile a large quantity of stores had been collected at Dongola and +Debbeh; numbers of boats were also there, so that a swift advance of a +vanguard thence by the calmer reaches farther up the Nile seemed to +offer many chances of success. It was in accord with Gordon's advice to +act swiftly with small columns; but, for some reason, the plan was not +acted on, though Colonel Kitchener, who had collected those stores, +recommended it. Another argument for speedy action was the arrival on +November 14, of a letter from Gordon, dated ten days before, in which he +stated that he could hold out for forty days, but would find it hard to +do so any longer. + +The advance of the main body to Dongola was very slow, despite the +heroic toil of all concerned. We now know that up to the middle of +September the Gladstone Ministry cherished the belief that the force +need not advance beyond Dongola. Their optimism was once again at fault. +The Mahdists were pressing on the siege of Khartum, and had overpowered +and slaughtered faithful tribes farther down the river. Such was the +news sent by Gordon and received by Lord Wolseley on December 31 at +Korti. The "secret and confidential" part of Gordon's message was to the +effect that food was running short, and the rescuers must come quickly; +they should come by Metammeh or Berber, and inform Gordon by the +messenger when they had taken Berber. + +The last entries in Gordon's _Journals_ or in that part which has +survived, contain the following statements:-- + +December 13. ". . . All that is absolutely necessary is for fifty of the +expeditionary force to get on board a steamer and come up to Halfeyeh, +and thus let their presence be felt; this is not asking much, but it +must happen at once; or it will (as usual) be too late." + +December 14. [After stating that he would send down a steamer with the +"Journal" towards the expeditionary force]. . . . "Now mark this, if the +expeditionary force, and I ask for no more than two hundred men, does +not come in ten days _the town may fall_; and I have done my best for +the honour of our country. Good bye." + +Owing to lack of transport and other difficulties, the vanguard of the +relieving force could not begin its march from the new Nile base, near +Korti, until December 30. Thence the gallant Sir Herbert Stewart led a +picked column of men with 1800 camels across the desert towards +Metammeh. Lord Wolseley remained behind to guard the new base of +operations. At Abu Klea wells, when nearing the Nile, the column was +assailed by a great mass of Arabs. They advanced in five columns, each +having a wedge-shaped head designed to pierce the British square. With a +low murmuring cry or chant they rushed on in admirable order, +disregarding the heavy losses caused by the steady fire of three faces +of the square. Their leaders soon saw the weak place in the defence, +namely, at one of the rear corners, where belated skirmishers were still +running in for shelter, where also one of the guns jammed at the +critical moment. One of their Emirs, calmly reciting his prayers, rode +in through the gap thus formed, and for ten minutes bayonet and spear +plied their deadly thrusts at close quarters. Thanks to the firmness of +the British infantry, every Arab that forced his way in perished; but in +this _mêlée_ there perished a stalwart soldier whom England could ill +spare, Colonel Burnaby, hero of the ride to Khiva. Lord Charles +Beresford, of the Naval Brigade, had a narrow escape while striving to +set right the defective cannon. In all we lost 65 killed and 60 wounded, +a proportion which tells its own tale as to the fighting[404]. + +[Footnote 404: Sir C.W. Wilson, _From Korti to Khartum_, pp. 28-35; also +see Hon. R. Talbot's article on "Abu Klea," in the _Nineteenth Century_ +for January 1886.] + +Two days later, while the force was beating off an attack of the Arabs +near Metammeh, General Stewart received a wound which proved to be +mortal. The command now devolved on Sir Charles Wilson of the Royal +Engineers. After repelling the attacks of other Mahdists and making good +his position on the Nile, the new commander came into touch with +Gordon's steamers, which arrived there on the 21st, with 190 Sudanese. +Again, however, the advance of other Arabs from Omdurman caused a delay +until a fortified camp or zariba could be formed. Wilson now had but +1322 unwounded men; and he saw that the Mahdists were in far greater +force than Lord Wolseley or General Gordon had expected. Not until +January 24 could the commander steam away southwards with 20 men of the +Sussex regiment and the 190 Sudanese soldiers on the two largest of +Gordon's boats--his "penny steamers" as he whimsically termed them. + +The sequel is well known. After overcoming many difficulties caused by +rocks and sandbanks, after running the gauntlet of the Mahdist fire, +this forlorn hope neared Khartum on the 28th, only to find that the +place had fallen. There was nothing for it but to put about and escape +while it was possible. Sir Charles Wilson has described the scene: "The +masses of the enemy with their fluttering banners near Khartum, the long +rows of riflemen in the shelter-trenches at Omdurman, the numerous +groups of men on Tuti [Island], the bursting of shells, and the water +torn up by hundreds of bullets, and occasionally heavier shot, made an +impression never to be forgotten. Looking out over the stormy scene, it +seemed almost impossible that we should escape[405]." + +[Footnote 405: Sir C.W. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 176-177.] + +Weighed down by grief at the sad failure of all their strivings, the +little band yet succeeded in escaping to Metammeh. They afterwards found +out that they were two days too late. The final cause of the fall of +Khartum is not fully known. The notion first current, that it was due to +treachery, has been discredited. Certainly the defenders were weakened +by privation and cowed by the Mahdist successes. The final attack was +also given at a weak place in the long line of defence; but whether the +defenders all did their best, or were anxious to make terms with the +Mahdi, will probably never be known. The conduct of the assailants in at +once firing on the relieving force forbids the notion that they all +along intended to get into Khartum by treachery just before the approach +of the steamers. Had that been their aim, they would surely have added +one crowning touch of guile, that of remaining quiet until Wilson and +his men landed at Khartum. The capture of the town would therefore seem +to be due to force, not to treachery. + +All these speculations are dwarfed by the overwhelming fact that Gordon +perished. Various versions have been given of the manner of his death. +One that rests on good authority is that he died fighting. Another +account, which seems more consistent with his character, is that, on +hearing of the enemy's rush into the town, he calmly remarked: "It is +all finished; to-day Gordon will be killed." In a short time a chief of +the Baggara Arabs with a few others burst in and ordered him to come to +the Mahdi. Gordon refused. Thrice the Sheikh repeated the command. +Thrice Gordon calmly repeated his refusal. The sheikh then drew his +sword and slashed at his shoulder. Gordon still looked him steadily in +the face. Thereupon the miscreant struck at his neck, cut off his head, +and carried it to the Mahdi[406]. + +[Footnote 406: A third account given by Bordeini Bey, a merchant of +Khartum, differs in many details. It is printed by Sir F.R. Wingate in +his _Mahdism_, p. 171.] + +Whatever may be the truth as to details, it is certain that no man ever +looked death in the face so long and so serenely as Gordon. For him life +was but duty--duty to God and duty to man. We may fitly apply to him the +noble lines which Tennyson offered to the memory of another +steadfast soul-- + + He, that ever following her commands, + On with toil of heart and knees and hands, + Thro' the long gorge to the far light has won + His path upward, and prevail'd, + Shall find the toppling crags of Duty scaled + Are close upon the shining table-lands + To which our God Himself is moon and sun. + +NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION + +Shortly before the publication of this work, Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice +published his _Life of Earl Granville_, some of the details of which +tend somewhat to modify the account of the relations subsisting between +the Earl and General Gordon. See too the issue of the _Times_ of +December 10, 1905 (Weekly Edition), for a correction of some of the +statements, made in the _Life of Earl Granville_, by Lord Cromer (Sir +Evelyn Baring).] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE CONQUEST OF THE SUDAN + + "The Sudan, if once proper communication was established, + would not be difficult to govern. The only mode of improving + the access to the Sudan, seeing the impoverished state of + Egyptian finances, and the mode to do so without an outlay of + more than £10,000, is by the Nile."--_Gordon's Journals_ + (Sept. 19, 1884). + + +It may seem that an account of the fall of Khartum is out of place in a +volume which deals only with formative events. But this is not so. The +example of Gordon's heroism was of itself a great incentive to action +for the cause of settled government in that land. For that cause he had +given his life, and few Britons were altogether deaf to the mute appeal +of that lonely struggle. Then again, the immense increase to the Mahdi's +power resulting from the capture of the arsenal of Khartum constituted +(as Gordon had prophesied) a serious danger to Egypt. The continued +presence of British troops at Wady Haifa, and that alone, saved the +valley of the Lower Nile from a desolating flood of savagery. This was a +fact recognised by every one at Cairo, even by the ultra-Gallic party. +Egypt alone has rarely been able to hold at bay any great downward +movement of the tribes of Ethiopia and Nubia; and the danger was never +so great as in and after 1885. The Mahdi's proclamations to the faithful +now swelled with inconceivable pride. To a wavering sheikh he sent the +warning: "If you live long enough you will see the troops of the Mahdi +spreading over Europe, Rome, and Constantinople, after which there will +be nothing left for you but hell and damnation." The mistiness of the +geography was hidden by the vigour of the theology, and all the sceptics +of Nubia hastened to accept the new prophet. + +But his time of tyranny soon drew to a close. A woman of Khartum, who +had been outraged by him or his followers, determined to wreak her +vengeance. On June 14, 1885, she succeeded in giving him slow poison, +which led him to his death amidst long-drawn agonies eight days later. +This ought to have been the death of Mahdism as well, but superstitions +die hard in that land of fanatics. The Mahdi's factotum, an able +intriguer named Abdullah Taashi, had previously gained from his master a +written declaration that he was to be Khalifa after him; he now produced +this document, and fortified its influence by describing in great detail +a vision in which the ghost of the Mahdi handed him a sacred hair of +inestimable worth, and an oblong-shaped light which had come direct from +the hands of the true Prophet, who had received it from the hands of the +angel Gabriel, to whom it had been entrusted by the Almighty. + +This silly story was eagerly believed by the many, the questioning few +also finding it well to still their doubts in presence of death or +torture. Piety and politics quickly worked hand in hand to found the +impostor's authority. A mosque began to rise over the tomb of the Mahdi +in his chosen capital, Omdurman; and his successor gained the support +and the offerings of the thousands of pilgrims who came to visit that +wonder-working shrine. Such was the basis of the new rule, which spread +over the valley of the Upper and Middle Nile, and carried terror nearly +to the borders of Egypt[407]. + +[Footnote 407: Wingate, _Mahdism_, pp. 228-233.] + +There law and order slowly took root under the shadow of the British +administration, but Egypt ceased to control the lands south of Wady +Halfa. Mr. Gladstone announced that decision in the House of Commons on +May 11, 1885; and those who discover traces of the perfidy of Albion +even in the vacillations of her policy, maintain that that declaration +was made with a view to an eventual annexation of the Sudan by England. +Their contention would be still more forcible if they would prove that +the Gladstone Ministry deliberately sacrificed Gordon at Khartum in +order to increase the Mahdi's power and leave Egypt open to his blows, +thereby gaining one more excuse for delaying the long-promised +evacuation of the Nile delta by the redcoats. This was the _outcome_ of +events; and those who argue backwards should have the courage of their +convictions and throw all the facts of the case into their syllogisms. + +All who have any knowledge of the trend of British statesmanship in the +eighties know perfectly well that the occupation of Egypt was looked on +as a serious incubus. The Salisbury Cabinet sought to give effect to the +promises of evacuation, and with that aim in view sent Sir Henry +Drummond Wolff to Constantinople in the year 1887 for the settlement of +details. The year 1890 was ultimately fixed, provided that no danger +should accrue to Egypt from such action, and that Great Britain should +"retain a treaty-right of intervention if at any time either the +internal peace or external security [of Egypt] should be seriously +threatened." To this last stipulation the Sultan seemed prepared to +agree. Austria, Germany, and Italy notified their complete agreement +with it; but France and Russia refused to accept the British offer with +this proviso added, and even influenced the Sultan so that he too +finally opposed it. Their unfriendly action can only be attributed to a +desire of humiliating Great Britain, and of depriving her of any +effective influence in the land which, at such loss of blood and +treasure to herself, she had saved from anarchy. Their opposition +wrecked the proposal, and the whole position therefore remained +unchanged. British officials continued to administer Egypt in spite of +opposition from the French in all possible details connected with the +vital question of finance[408]. + +[Footnote 408: _England in Egypt_, by Sir Alfred Milner, pp. 145-153.] + +Other incidents that occurred during the years intervening between the +fall of Gordon and the despatch of Sir Herbert Kitchener's expedition +need not detain us here[409]. The causes which led to this new departure +will be more fitly considered when we come to notice the Fashoda +incident; but we may here remark that they probably arose out of the +French and Belgian schemes for the partition of Central Africa. A desire +to rescue the Sudan from a cruel and degrading tyranny and to offer a +tardy reparation to the memory of Gordon doubtless had some weight with +Ministers, as it undoubtedly had with the public. Indeed, it is doubtful +whether the _vox populi_ would have allowed the expedition but for these +more sentimental considerations. But, in the view of the present writer, +the Sudan expedition presents the best instance of foresight, resolve, +and able execution that is to be found in the recent annals of Britain. + +[Footnote 409: For the Sudan in this period see Wingate's _Mahdism_; +Slatin's _Fire and Sword in the Sudan_; C. Neufeld's _A Prisoner of the +Khalifa_.] + +With the hour had come the man. During the dreary years of the "mark +time" policy Colonel Kitchener had gained renown as a determined fighter +and able organiser. For some time he acted as governor of Suakim, and +showed his powers of command by gaining over some of the neighbouring +tribes and planning an attack on Osman Digna which came very near to +success. Under him and many other British officers the Egyptians and +Sudanese gradually learnt confidence, and broke the spell of +invincibility that so long had rested with the Dervish hordes. On all +sides the power of the Khalifa was manifestly waning. The powerful +Hadendowa tribe, near Suakim, which had given so much trouble in +1883-84, became neutral. On the Nile also the Dervishes lost ground. The +Anglo-Egyptian troops wrested from them the post of Sarras, some thirty +miles south of Wady Halfa; and the efforts of the fanatics to capture +the wells along desert routes far to the east of the river were bloodily +repulsed. As long as Sarras, Wady Halfa, and those wells were firmly +held, Egypt was safe. + +At Gedaref, not very far from Omdurman, the Khalifa sustained a severe +check from the Italians (December 1893), who thereupon occupied the town +of Kassala. It was not to be for any length of time. In all their +enterprises against the warlike Abyssinians they completely failed; and, +after sustaining the disastrous defeat of Adowa (March 1, 1896), the +whole nation despaired of reaping any benefit from the Hinterland of +their colony around Massowah. The new Cabinet at Rome resolved to +withdraw from the districts around Kassala. On this news being +communicated to the British Ministers, they sent a request to Rome that +the evacuation of Kassala might be delayed until Anglo-Egyptian troops +could be despatched to occupy that important station. In this way the +intended withdrawal of the Italians served to strengthen the resolve of +the British Government to help the Khedive in effecting the recovery of +the Sudan[410]. + +[Footnote 410: See _articles_ by Dr. E.J. Dillon and by Jules Simon in +the _Contemporary Review_ for April and May 1896. Kassala was handed +over to an Egyptian force under Colonel Parsons in December 1897. _The +Egyptian Sudan_, by H.S.L. Alford and W.D. Sword (1898).] + +Preparations for the advance southwards went forward slowly and +methodically through the summer and autumn of 1896. For the present the +operations were limited to the recapture of Dongola. Sir Herbert +Kitchener, then the Sirdar of the Egyptian army, was placed in command. +Under him were men who had proved their worth in years of desultory +fighting against the Khalifa--Broadwood, Hunter, Lewis, Macdonald, +Maxwell, and many others. The training had been so long and severe as to +weed out all weaklings; and the Sirdar himself was the very incarnation +of that stern but salutary law of Nature which ordains the survival of +the fittest. Scores of officers who failed to come up to his +requirements were quietly removed; and the result was seen in a finely +seasoned body of men, apt at all tasks, from staff duties to railway +control. A comparison of the Egyptian army that fought at Omdurman with +that which thirteen years before ran away screaming from a tenth of its +number of Dervishes affords the most impressive lesson of modern times +of the triumph of mind over matter, of western fortitude over the weaker +side of eastern fatalism. + +Such a building up of character as this implies could not take place in +a month or two, for the mind of Egyptians and Sudanese was at first an +utter blank as to the need of prompt obedience and still prompter +action. An amusing case of their incredible slackness has been recorded. +On the first parade of a new camel transport corps before Lord +Kitchener, the leading driver stopped his animal, and therefore all that +followed, immediately in front of the Sirdar, in order to light a +cigarette. It is needless to say, the cigarette was not lighted, but the +would-be smoker had his first lesson as to the superiority of the claims +of collectivism over the whims of the individual[411]. + +[Footnote 411: _Sudan Campaign_, 1896-97, by "An Officer," p. 20.] + +As will be seen by reference to the map on page 477, the decision to +limit the campaign to Dongola involved the choice of the Nile route. If +the blow had been aimed straight at Khartum, the Suakim-Berber route, or +even that by way of Kassala, would have had many advantages. Above all, +the river route held out the prospect of effective help from gunboats in +the final attacks on Berber, Omdurman, and Khartum. Seeing, however, +that the greater part of the river's course between Sarras and Dongola +was broken up by rapids, the railway and the camel had at first to +perform nearly the whole of the transport duties for which the Nile was +there unsuited. The work of repairing the railway from Wady Haifa to +Sarras, and thenceforth of constructing it through rocky wastes, amidst +constant risk of Dervish raids, called into play every faculty of +ingenuity, patience, and hardihood. But little by little the line crept +on; the locomotives carried the piles of food, stores, and ammunition +further and further south, until on June 6, 1897, the first blow was +dealt by the surprise and destruction of the Dervish force at Ferket. + +There a halt was called; for news came in that an unprecedented +rain-storm further north had washed away the railway embankments from +some of the gulleys. To make good the damage would take thirty days, it +was said. The Sirdar declared that the line must be ready in twelve +days; he went back to push on the work; in twelve days the line was +ready. As an example of the varied difficulties that were met and +overcome, we may mention one. The work of putting together a steamer, +which had been brought up in sections, was stopped because an +all-important nut had been lost in transit. At once the Sirdar ordered +horsemen to patrol the railway line--and the nut was found. At last the +vessel was ready; but on her trial trip she burst a cylinder and had to +be left behind[412]. Three small steamers and four gunboats were, +however, available for service in the middle of September, when the +expedition moved on. + +[Footnote 412: _Ibid_, p. 54.] + +By this time the effective force numbered about 12,000 men. The +Dervishes had little heart for fighting to the north of Dongola; and +even at that town the Dervishes made but a poor stand, cowed as they +were by the shells of the steamers and perplexed by the enveloping moves +which the Sirdar ordered; 700 were taken in Dongola, and the best 300 of +these were incorporated in the Sirdar's Sudanese regiments (Sept. +23, 1896). + +Thus ended the first part of the expedition. Events had justified +Gordon's statement that a small well-equipped expedition could speedily +overthrow the Mahdi--that is, in the days of his comparative weakness +before the capture of Khartum. The ease with which Dongola had been +taken and the comparative cheapness of the expedition predisposed the +Egyptian Government and the English public to view its extension +southwards with less of disfavour. + +Again the new stride forward had to be prepared for by careful +preparations at the base. The question of route also caused delay. It +proved to be desirable to begin a new railway from Wady Haifa across the +desert to Abu Hamed at the northern tip of the deep bend which the Nile +makes below Berber. To drive a line into a desert in order to attack an +enemy holding a good position beyond seemed a piece of fool-hardiness. +Nevertheless it was done, and at the average rate of about 1 1/4 miles a +day. In due course General Hunter pushed on and captured Abu Hamed, the +inhabitants of which showed little fight, being thoroughly weary of +Dervish tyranny (August 6, 1897). + +The arrival of gunboats after a long struggle with the rapids below Abu +Hamed gave Hunter's little force a much-needed support; and before he +could advance further, news reached him that the Dervishes had abandoned +Berber. This step caused general surprise, and it has never been fully +explained. Some have averred that a panic seized the wives of the +Dervish garrison at Berber, and that when they rushed out of the town +southwards their husbands followed them[413]. Certain it is that family +feelings, which the Dervishes so readily outraged in others, played a +leading part in many of their movements. Whatever the cause may have +been, the abandonment of Berber greatly facilitated the work of Sir +Herbert Kitchener. A strong force soon mustered at that town, and the +route to the Red Sea was reopened by a friendly arrangement with the +local sheikhs. + +[Footnote 413: _The Downfall of the Dervishes_, by E.N. Bennett, M.A., +p. 23.] + +The next important barrier to the advance was the river Atbara. Here the +Dervishes had a force some 18,000 strong; but before long the Sirdar +received timely reinforcement of a British brigade, consisting of the +Cameron and Seaforth Highlanders and the Lincolnshire and Warwickshire +regiments, under General Gatacre. Various considerations led the Sirdar +to wait until he could strike a telling blow. What was most to be +dreaded was the adoption of Parthian tactics by the enemy. Fortunately +they had constructed a zariba (a camp surrounded by thorn-bushes) on the +north bank of the Atbara at a point twenty miles above its confluence +with the Nile. At last, on April 7, 1898, after trying to tempt the +enemy to a battle in the open, the Sirdar moved forward his 14,000 men +in the hope of rushing the position soon after dawn of the following +day, Good Friday. + +Before the first streaks of sunrise tinged the east, the assailants +moved forward to a ridge overlooking the Dervish position; but very few +heads were seen above the thorny rampart in the hollow opposite. It was +judged to be too risky at once to charge a superior force that clung to +so strong a shelter; and for an hour and a half the British and Egyptian +guns plied the zariba in the hope of bringing the fanatics out to fight. +Still they kept quiet; and their fortitude during this time of carnage +bore witness to their bravery and discipline[414]. + +[Footnote 414: _The Egyptian Sudan: its Loss and Recovery,_ by H.S.L. +Alford and W.D. Sword, ch. iv.] + +At 7.45 the Sirdar ordered the advance. The British brigade held the +left wing, the Camerons leading in line formation, while behind them in +columns were ranged the Warwicks, Seaforths, and Lincolns, to add weight +to the onset. Macdonald's and Maxwell's Egyptian and Sudanese Brigades, +drawn up in lines, formed the centre and right. Squadrons of Egyptian +horse and a battery of Maxims confronted the Dervish horsemen ranged +along; the front of a dense scrub to the left of the zariba. As the +converging lines advanced, they were met by a terrific discharge; +fortunately it was aimed too high, or the loss would have been fearful. +Then the Highlanders and Sudanese rushed in, tore apart the thorn bushes +and began a fierce fight at close quarters. From their shelter trenches, +pits, and huts the Dervishes poured in spasmodic volleys, or rushed at +their assailants with spear or bayonet. Even at this the fanatics of the +desert were no match for the seasoned troops of the Sirdar; and soon the +beaten remnant streamed out through the scrub or over the dry bed of the +Atbara. About 2500 were killed, and 2000, including Mahmud, the +commander, were taken prisoners. Those who attempted to reach the +fertile country round Kassala were there hunted down or captured by the +Egyptian garrison that lately had arrived there. + +As on previous occasions, the Sirdar now waited some time until the +railway could be brought up to the points lately conquered. More +gunboats were also constructed for the final stage of the expedition. +The dash at Omdurman and Khartum promised to tax to the uttermost the +strength of the army; but another brigade of British troops, commanded +by Colonel Lyttelton, soon joined the expedition, bringing its effective +strength up to 23,000 men. General Gatacre received the command of the +British division. Ten gunboats, five transport steamers, and eight +barges promised to secure complete command of the river banks and to +provide means for transporting the army and all needful stores to the +western bank of the Nile whenever the Sirdar judged it to be advisable. +The midsummer rains in the equatorial districts now made their influence +felt, and in the middle of August the Nile covered the sandbanks and +rocks that made navigation dangerous at the time of "low Nile." In the +last week of that month all was ready for the long and carefully +prepared advance. The infantry travelled in steamers or barges as far as +the foot of the Shabluka, or Sixth Cataract, and this method of advance +left the Dervishes in some doubt by which bank the final advance +would be made. + +By an unexpected piece of good fortune the Dervishes had evacuated the +rocky heights of the Shabluka gorge. This was matter for rejoicing. +There the Nile, which above and below is a mile wide, narrows to a +channel of little more than a hundred yards in width. It is the natural +defence of Khartum on the north. The strategy of the Khalifa was here +again inexplicable, as also was his abandonment of the ridge at Kerreri, +some seven miles north of Omdurman. Mr. Bennett Burleigh in his account +of the campaign states that the Khalifa had repaired thither once a year +to give thanks for the triumph about to be gained there. + +At last on September 1, on topping the Kerreri ridge, the invaders +caught their first glimpse of Omdurman. Already the gunboats were +steaming up to the Mahdist capital to throw in their first shells. They +speedily dismounted several guns, and one of the shells tore away a +large portion of the gaudy cupola that covered the Mahdi's tomb. Apart +from this portent, nothing of moment was done on that day; but it seems +probable that the bombardment led the Khalifa to hazard an attack on the +invaders in the desert on the side away from the Nile. Nearer to the +Sirdar's main force the skirmishing of the 21st Lancers, new to war but +eager to "win their spurs," was answered by angry but impotent charges +of the Khalifa's horse and foot, until at sunset both sides retired for +the night's rest. + +The Anglo-Egyptian force made a zariba around the village of el-Gennuaia +on the river bank; and there, in full expectation of a night attack, +they sought what slumber was to be had. What with a panic rush of +Sudanese servants and the stampede of an angry camel, the night wore +away uneasily; but there was no charge of Dervishes such as might have +carried death to the heart of that small zariba. It is said that the +Sirdar had passed the hint to some trusty spies to pretend to be +deserters and warn the enemy that _he_ was going to attack them by +night. If this be so, spies have never done better service. + +When the first glimmer of dawn came on September 2, every man felt +instinctively that the Khalifa had thrown away his last chance. Yet few +were prepared for the crowning act of madness. Every one feared that he +would hold fast to Omdurman and fight the new crusaders from house to +house. Possibly the seeming weakness of the zariba tempted him to a +concentric attack from the Kerreri Hills and the ridge which stretches +on both sides of the steep slopes of the hill, Gebel Surgham. A glance +at the accompanying plan will show that the position was such as to +tempt a confident enemy. The Sirdar also manoeuvred so as to bring on an +attack. He sent out the Egyptian cavalry and camel corps soon after dawn +to the plain lying between Gebel Surgham and Omdurman to lure on the +Khalifa's men. + +The device was completely successful. Believing that they could catch +the horsemen in the rocky ridge alongside of Gebel Surgham, the +Dervishes came forth from their capital in swarms, pressed them hard, +and inflicted some losses. Retiring in good order, the cavalry drew on +the eager hordes, until about 6.30 A.M. the white glint of their +gibbehs, or tunics, showed thickly above the tawny slopes on either side +of Gebel Surgham. On they came in unnumbered throngs, until, pressing +northwards along the sky-line, their lines also topped the Kerreri Hills +to the north of the zariba. Their aim was obvious: they intended to +surround the invaders, pen them up in their zariba, and slaughter them +there. To all who did not know the value of the central position in war +and the power of modern weapons, the attack seemed to promise complete +success. The invaders were 1300 miles away from Cairo and defeat would +mean destruction. + +Religious zeal lent strength to the onset. From the converging crescent +of the Mahdists a sound as of a dim murmur was wafted to the zariba. +Little by little it deepened to a hoarse roar, as the host surged on, +chanting the pious invocations that so often had struck terror into the +Egyptians. Now they heard the threatening din with hearts unmoved; nay, +with spirits longing for revenge for untold wrongs and insults. Thus for +some minutes in that vast amphitheatre the discipline and calm +confidence of the West stood quietly facing the fanatic fury of the +East. Two worlds were there embattled: the world of Mohammedanism and +the world of Christian civilisation; the empire of untutored force and +the empire of mind. + +At last, after some minutes of tense expectancy, the cannon opened fire, +and speedily gaps were seen in the white masses. Yet the crescent never +slackened its advance, except when groups halted to fire their muskets +at impossible ranges. Waving their flags and intoning their prayers, the +Dervishes charged on in utter scorn of death; but when their ranks came +within range of the musketry fire, they went down like swathes of grass +under the scythe. Then was seen a marvellous sight. When the dead were +falling their fastest, a band of about 150 Dervish horsemen formed +near the Khalifa's dark-green standard in the centre and rushed across +the fire zone, determined to snatch at triumph or gain the sensuous joys +of the Moslem paradise. None of them rode far. + +[Illustration: THE DERVISH ATTACK ON MACDONALD.] + +[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF OMDURMAN.] + +Only on the north, where the camel-corps fell into an awkward plight +among the rocks of the Kerreri slope, had the attack any chance of +success; and there the shells of one of the six protecting gunboats +helped to check the assailants. On this side, too, Colonel Broadwood and +his Egyptian cavalry did excellent service by leading no small part of +the Dervish left away from the attack on the zariba. At the middle of +the fiery crescent the assailants did some execution by firing from a +dip in the ground some 400 yards away; but their attempts to rush the +intervening space all ended in mere slaughter. Not long after eight +o'clock the Khalifa, seeing the hopelessness of attempting to cross the +zone of fire around el-Gennuaia, now thickly strewn with his dead, drew +off the survivors beyond the ridge of Gebel Surgham; and those who had +followed Broadwood's horse also gave up their futile pursuit, and began +to muster on the Kerreri ridge. + +The Sirdar now sought to force on a fight in the open; and with this aim +in view commanded a general advance on Omdurman. In order, as it would +seem, to keep a fighting formation that would impose respect on the +bands of Dervishes on the Kerreri Hills, he adopted the formation known +as echelon of brigades from the left. Macdonald's Sudanese brigade, +which held the northern face of the zariba, was therefore compelled to +swing round and march diagonally towards Gebel Surgham; and, having a +longer space to cover than the other brigades, it soon fell behind them. + +For the present, however, the brunt of the danger fell, not on +Macdonald, but on the vanguard. The 21st Lancers had been sent forward +over the ridge between Gebel Surgham and the Nile with orders to +reconnoitre, and, if possible, to head the Dervishes away from their +city. Throwing out scouts, they rode over the ridge, but soon +afterwards came upon a steep and therefore concealed khor or gulley +whence a large body of concealed Dervishes poured a sharp fire[415]. At +once Colonel Martin ordered his men to dash at the enemy. Eagerly the +troopers obeyed the order and jumped their horses down the slope into +the mass of furious fanatics below; these slashed to pieces every one +that fell, and viciously sought to hamstring the horses from behind. +Pushing through the mass, the lancers scrambled up the further bank, +re-formed, and rushed at the groups beyond; after thrusting these aside, +they betook themselves to less dramatic but more effective methods. +Dismounting, they opened a rapid and very effective fire from their +carbines on the throngs that still clustered in or near the gulley. The +charge, though a fine display of British pluck, cost the horsemen dear: +out of a total of 320 men 60 were killed and wounded; 119 horses were +killed or made useless[416]. + +[Footnote 415: Some accounts state that the Lancers had no scouts, but +"an officer" denies this (_Sudan Campaign_, 1896-99, p. 198).] + +[Footnote 416: The general opinion of the army was that the charge of +the Lancers "was magnificent, but was not war." See G.W. Steevens' _With +Kitchener to Khartum_, ch. xxxii.] + +Meanwhile, Macdonald's brigade, consisting of one Egyptian and three +Sudanese battalions, stood on the brink of disaster. The bands from the +Kerreri Hills were secretly preparing to charge its rear, while masses +of the Khalifa's main following turned back, rounded the western spurs +of Gebel Surgham, and threatened to envelop its right flank. The Sirdar, +on seeing the danger, ordered Wauchope's brigade to turn back to the +help of Macdonald, while Maxwell's Sudanese, swarming up the eastern +slopes of Gebel Surgham, poured deadly volleys on the Khalifa's +following. Collinson's division and the camel corps were ordered to +advance from the neighbourhood of the zariba and support Macdonald on +that side. Before these dispositions were complete, that sturdy Scotsman +and his Sudanese felt the full weight of the Khalifa's onset. Excited +beyond measure, Macdonald's men broke into spasmodic firing as the enemy +came on; the deployment into line was thereby disordered, and it needed +all Macdonald's power of command to make good the line. His steadiness +stiffened the defence, and before the potent charm of western discipline +the Khalifa's onset died away. + +But now the storm cloud gathering in the rear burst with unexpected +fury. Masses of men led by the Khalifa's son, the Sheikh ed Din, rushed +down the Kerreri slopes and threatened to overwhelm the brigade. Again +there was seen a proof of the ascendancy of mind over brute force. At +once Macdonald ordered the left part of his line to wheel round, keeping +the right as pivot, so that the whole speedily formed two fronts +resembling a capital letter V, pointing outwards to the two hostile +forces. Those who saw the movement wondered alike at the masterly +resolve, the steadiness of execution, and the fanatical bravery which +threatened to make it all of no avail. On came the white swarms of Arabs +from the north, until the Sudanese firing once more became wild and +ineffective; but, as the ammunition of the blacks ran low and they +prepared to trust to the bayonet, the nearest unit of the British +division, the Lincolns, doubled up, prolonged Macdonald's line to the +right, and poured volley upon volley obliquely into the surging flood. +It slackened, stood still, and then slowly ebbed. Macdonald's coolness +and the timely arrival of the Lincolns undoubtedly averted a serious +disaster[417]. + +[Footnote 417: See Mr. Winston Churchill's _The River War_, vol. ii. pp. +160-163, for the help given by the Lincolns.] + +Meanwhile, the Khalifa's main force had been held in check and decimated +by the artillery now planted on Gebel Surgham and by the fire of the +brigades on or near its slopes; so that about eleven o'clock the +Sirdar's lines could everywhere advance. After beating off a desperate +charge of Baggara horsemen from the west, Macdonald unbent his brigade +and drove back the sullen hordes of ed Din to the western spurs of the +Kerreri Hills, where they were harassed by Broadwood's horse. All was +now ended, except at the centre of the Khalifa's force, where a +faithful band clustered about the dark-green standard of their leader +and chanted defiance to the infidels till one by one they fell. The +chief himself, unworthy object of this devotion, fled away on a swift +dromedary some time before the last group of stalwarts bit the sand. + +[Illustration: KHARTUM.] + +Despite the terrible heat and the thirst of his men, the Sirdar allowed +only a brief rest before he resumed the march on Omdurman. Leaving no +time for the bulk of the Dervish survivors to reach their capital, he +pushed on at the head of Maxwell's brigade, while once more the shells +of the gunboats spread terror in the city. The news brought by a few +runaways and the sight of the Khalifa's standard carried behind the +Egyptian ensign dispelled all hopes of resisting the disciplined +Sudanese battalions; and, in order to clinch matters, the Sirdar with +splendid courage rode at the head of the brigade to summon the city to +surrender. Through the clusters of hovels on the outskirts he rode on +despite the protests of his staff against any needless exposure of his +life. He rightly counted on the effect which such boldness on the part +of the chief must have on an undecided populace. Fanatics here and there +fired on the conquerors, but the news of the Khalifa's cowardly flight +from the city soon decided the wavering mass to bow before the +inscrutable decrees of fate, and ask for backsheesh from the victors. + +Thus was Omdurman taken. Neufeld, an Austrian trader, and some Greeks +and nuns who had been in captivity for several years, were at once set +free. It was afterwards estimated that about 10,000 Dervishes perished +in the battle; very many died of their wounds upon the field or were +bayoneted owing to their persistence in firing on the victors. This +episode formed the darkest side of the triumph; but it was malignantly +magnified by some Continental journals into a wholesale slaughter. This +is false. Omdurman will bear comparison with Skobeleff's victory at +Denghil Tepé at all points. + +Two days after his triumph the Sirdar ordered a parade opposite the +ruins of the palace in Khartum where Gordon had met his doom. The +funeral service held there in memory of the dead hero was, perhaps, the +most affecting scene that this generation has witnessed. Detachments of +most of the regiments of the rescue force formed a semicircle round the +Sirdar; and by his side stood a group of war-worn officers, who with him +had toiled for years in order to see this day. The funeral service was +intoned; the solemn assembly sang Gordon's favourite hymn, "Abide with +me," and the Scottish pipes wailed their lament for the lost chieftain. +Few eyes were undimmed by tears at the close of this service, a slight +but affecting reparation for the delays and blunders of fourteen years +before. Then the Union Jack and the Egyptian Crescent flag were hoisted +and received a salute of 21 guns. + +The recovery of the Sudan by Egypt and Great Britain was not to pass +unchallenged. All along France had viewed the reconquest of the valley +of the upper Nile with ill-concealed jealousy, and some persons have +maintained that the French Government was not a stranger to designs +hatched in France for helping the Khalifa[418]. Now that these questions +have been happily buried by the Anglo-French agreement of the year 1904, +it would be foolish to recount all that was said amidst the excitements +of the year 1898. Some reference must, however, be made to the Fashoda +incident, which for a short space threatened to bring Great Britain and +France to an open rupture. + +[Footnote 418: See an unsigned article in the _Contemporary Review_ for +Dec. 1897.] + +On September 5, a steamer, flying the white flag, reached Omdurman. The +ex-Dervish captain brought the news that at Fashoda he had been fired +upon by white men bearing a strange flag. The Sirdar divined the truth, +namely, that a French expedition under Major (now Colonel) Marchand must +have made its way from the Congo to the White Nile at Fashoda with the +aim of annexing that district for France. + +Now that the dust of controversy has cleared away, we can see facts in +their true proportions, especially as the work recently published by M. +de Freycinet and the revelations of Colonel Marchand have thrown more +light on the affair. Briefly stated, the French case is as follows. Mr. +Gladstone on May 11, 1885, declared officially that Egypt limited her +sway to a line drawn through Wady Haifa. The authority of the Khedive +over the Sudan therefore ceased, though this did not imply the cessation +of the Sultan's suzerainty in those regions. Further, England had acted +as if the Sudan were no man's land by appropriating the southernmost +part in accordance with the Anglo-German agreement of July I, 1890; and +Uganda became a British Protectorate in August 1894. The French +protested against this extension of British influence over the Upper +Nile; and we must admit that, in regard to international law, they were +right. The power to will away that district lay with the Sultan, the +Khedive's claims having practically lapsed. Germany, it is true, agreed +not to contest the annexation of Uganda, but France did contest it. + +The Republic also entered a protest against the Anglo-Congolese +Convention of May 12, 1894, whereby, in return for the acquisition of +the right bank of the Upper Nile, England ceded to the Congo Free State +the left bank[419]. That compact was accordingly withdrawn, and on +August 14, 1894, France secured from the Free State the recognition of +her claims to the left bank of the Nile with the exception of the Lado +district below the Albert Nyanza. This action on the part of France +implied a desire on her part to appropriate these lands, and to contest +the British claim to the right bank. In regard to law, she was justified +in so doing; and had she, acting as the mandatory of the Sultan, sent an +expedition from the Congo to the Upper Nile, her conduct in proclaiming +a Turco-Frankish condominium would have been unexceptionable. That of +Britain was open to question, seeing that we practically ignored the +Sultan[420] and acted (so far as is known) on our own initiative in +reversing the policy of abandonment officially announced in May 1885. +From the standpoint of equity, however, the Khedive had the first claim +to the territories then given up under stress of circumstances; and the +Power that helped him to regain the heritage of his sires obviously had +a strong claim to consideration so long as it acted with the full +consent of that potentate. + +[Footnote 419: Parl. Papers, Egypt, No. 2 (1898), pp. 13-14.] + +[Footnote 420: The Earl of Kimberley's reply of Aug. 14, 1894, to M. +Hanotaux, is very weak on this topic. Parl. Papers, Egypt, No. 2 (1898), +pp. 14-15.] + +The British Cabinet, that of Lord Rosebery, frankly proclaimed its +determination to champion the claims of the Khedive against all comers, +Sir Edward Grey declaring officially in the debate of March 28, 1895, +that the despatch of a French expedition to the Upper Nile would be "an +unfriendly act[421]." We know now, through the revelations made by +Colonel Marchand in the _Matin_ of June 20, 1905, that in June 1895 he +had pressed the French Government to intervene in that quarter; but it +did little, relying (so M. de Freycinet states) on the compact of August +14, 1894, and not, apparently, on any mandate from the Sultan. If so, it +had less right to intervene than the British Government had in virtue of +its close connection with the Khedive. As a matter of fact, both Powers +lacked an authoritative mandate and acted in accordance with their own +interests. It is therefore futile to appeal to law, as M. de +Freycinet has done. + +[Footnote 421: _Ibid_. p. 18.] + +It remained to see which of the two would act the more efficiently. M. +Marchand states that his plan of action was approved by the French +Minister for the Colonies, M. Berthelot, on November 16, 1895; but +little came of it until the news of the preparations for the +Anglo-Egyptian Expedition reached Paris. It would be interesting to hear +what Lord Rosebery and Sir Edward Grey would say to this. For the +present we may affirm with some confidence that the tidings of the +Franco-Congolese compact of August 1894 and of expeditions sent under +Monteil and Liotard towards the Nile basin must have furnished the real +motive for the despatch of the Sirdar's army on the expedition to +Dongola. That event in its turn aroused angry feelings at Paris, and M. +Berthelot went so far as to inform Lord Salisbury that he would not hold +himself responsible for events that might occur if the expedition up the +Nile were persisted in. After giving this brusque but useful warning of +the importance which France attached to the Upper Nile, M. Berthelot +quitted office, and M. Bourgeois, the Prime Minister, took the portfolio +for foreign affairs. He pushed on the Marchand expedition; so also did +his successor, M. Hanotaux, in the Méline Cabinet which speedily +supervened. + +Marchand left Marseilles on June 25, 1896, to join his expeditionary +force, then being prepared in the French Congo. It is needless to detail +the struggles of the gallant band. After battling for two years with the +rapids, swamps, forests, and mountains of Eastern Congoland and the +Bahr-el-Ghazal, he brought his flotilla down to the White Nile, thence +up its course to Fashoda, where he hoisted the tricolour (July 12, +1898). His men strengthened the old Egyptian fort, and beat off an +attack of the Dervishes. + +Nevertheless they had only half succeeded, for they relied on the +approach of a French Mission from the east by way of Abyssinia. A Prince +of the House of Orleans had been working hard to this end, but owing to +the hostility of the natives of Southern Abyssinia that expedition had +to fall back on Kukong. A Russian officer, Colonel Artomoroff, had +struggled on down the River Sobat, but he and his band also had to +retire[422]. The purport of these Franco-Russian designs is not yet +known; but even so, we can see that the situation was one of great +peril. Had the French and Russian officers from Abyssinia joined hands +with Marchand at Fashoda, their Governments might have made it a point +of honour to remain, and to claim for France a belt of territory +extending from the confines of the French Congo eastwards to Obock on +the Red Sea. + +[Footnote 422: _Marchand l'Africain_, by C. Castellani, pp. 279-280. The +author reveals his malice by the statement (p. 293) that the Sirdar, +after the battle of Omdurman, ordered 14,000 Dervish wounded to be +_éventrés._] + +As it was, Marchand and his heroic little band were in much danger from +the Dervishes when the Sirdar and his force steamed up to Fashoda. The +interview between the two chiefs at that place was of historic interest. +Sir Herbert Kitchener congratulated the Major on his triumph of +exploration, but claimed that he must plant the flag of the Khedive at +Fashoda. M. Marchand declared that he would hoist it himself over the +village. "Over the fort, Major," replied the Sirdar. "I cannot permit +it," exclaimed the Major, "as the French flag is there." A reference by +the Sirdar to his superiority of force produced no effect, the French +commander stating that if it were used he and his men would die at their +posts. He, however, requested the Sirdar to let the matter be referred +to the Government at Paris, to which Sir Herbert assented. After +exchanging courteous gifts they parted, the Sirdar leaving an Egyptian +force in the village, and lodging a written protest against the presence +of the French force[423]. He then proceeded up stream to the Sobat +tributary, on the banks of which at Nassar he left half of a Sudanese +battalion to bar the road on that side to geographical explorers +provided with flags. He then returned to Khartum. + +[Footnote 423: Parl. Papers, Egypt, No. 2 (1898), p. 9; No. 3 (1898), +pp. 3-4.] + +The sequel is well known. Lord Salisbury's Government behaved with +unexpected firmness, asserting that the overthrow of the Mahdi brought +again under the Egyptian flag all the lands which that leader had for a +time occupied. The claim was not wholly convincing in the sphere of +logic; but the victory of Omdurman gave it force. Clearly, then, whether +Major Marchand was an emissary of civilisation or a pioneer of French +rule, he had no _locus standi_ on the Nile. The French Government before +long gave way and recalled Major Marchand, who returned to France by way +of Cairo. This tame end to what was a heroic struggle to extend French +influence greatly incensed the major; and at Cairo he made a speech, +declaring that for the present France was worsted in the valley of the +Nile, but the day might come when she would be supreme. + +It is generally believed that France gave way at this juncture partly +because her navy was known to be unequal to a conflict with that of +Great Britain, but also because Franco-German relations were none of the +best. Or, in the language of the Parisian boulevards: "How do we know +that while we are fighting the British for the Nile valley, Germany will +not invade Lorraine?" As to the influences emanating from St. Petersburg +contradictory statements have been made. Rumour asserted that the Czar +sought to moderate the irritation in France and to bring about a +peaceful settlement of the dispute; and this story won general +acceptance. The astonishment was therefore great when, in the early part +of the Russo-Japanese war, the Paris _Figaro_ published documents which +seemed to prove that he had assured the French Government of his +determination to fulfil the terms of the alliance if matters came to +the sword. + +There we must leave the affair, merely noting that the Anglo-French +agreement of March 1899 peaceably ended the dispute and placed the whole +of the Egyptian Sudan, together with the Bahr-el-Ghazal district and the +greater part of the Libyan Desert, west of Egypt, under the +Anglo-Egyptian sphere of influence. (See map at the end of this volume.) + +The battle of Omdurman therefore ranks with the most decisive in modern +history, not only in a military sense, but also because it extended +British influence up the Nile valley as far as Uganda. Had French +statesmen and M. Marchand achieved their aims, there is little doubt +that a solid wedge would have been driven through north-central Africa +from west to east, from the Ubangi Province of French Congoland to the +mouth of the Red Sea. The Sirdar's triumph came just in time to thwart +this design and to place in the hands that administered Egypt the +control of the waters whence that land draws its life. Without crediting +the stories that were put forth in the French Press as to the +possibility of France damming up the Nile at Fashoda and diverting its +floods into the Bahr-el-Ghazal district, we may recognise that the +control of that river by Egypt is a vital necessity, and that the +nation which helped the Khedive to regain that control thereby +established one more claim to a close partnership in the administration +at Cairo. The reasonableness of that claim was finally admitted by +France in the Anglo-French agreement of the year 1904. + +That treaty set the seal, apparently, on a series of efforts of a +strangely mixed character. The control of bondholders, the ill-advised +strivings of Arabi, the armed intervention undertaken by Sir Beauchamp +Seymour and Sir Garnet Wolseley, the forlorn hope of Gordon's Mission to +Khartum, the fanaticism of the Mahdists, the diplomatic skill of Lord +Cromer, the covert opposition of France and the Sultan, and the +organising genius of Lord Kitchener--such is the medley of influences, +ranging from the basest up to the noblest of which human nature is +capable, that served to draw the Government of Great Britain deeper and +deeper into the meshes of the Egyptian Question, until the heroism, +skill, and stubbornness of a few of her sons brought about results which +would now astonish those who early in the eighties tardily put forth the +first timid efforts at intervention. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE PARTITION OF AFRICA + + +In the opening up of new lands by European peoples the order of events +is generally somewhat as follows:--First come explorers, pioneers, or +missionaries. These having thrown some light on the character of a land +or of its people, traders follow in their wake; and in due course +factories are formed and settlements arise. The ideas of the new-comers +as to the rights of property and landholding differ so widely from those +of the natives, that quarrels and strifes frequently ensue. Warships and +soldiers then appear on the scene; and the end of the old order of +things is marked by the hoisting of the Union Jack, or the French or +German tricolour. In the case of the expansion of Russia as we have +seen, the procedure is far otherwise. But Africa has been for the most +part explored, exploited, and annexed by agencies working from the sea +and proceeding in the way just outlined. + +The period since the year 1870 has for the most part witnessed the +operation of the last and the least romantic of these so-called +civilising efforts. The great age of African exploration was then +drawing to a close. In the year 1870 that devoted missionary explorer, +David Livingstone, was lost to sight for many months owing to his +earnest longing peacefully to solve the great problem of the waterways +of Central Africa, and thus open up an easy path for the suppression of +the slave-trade. But when, in 1871, Mr. H.M. Stanley, the enterprising +correspondent of the _New York Herald_, at the head of a rescue +expedition, met the grizzled, fever-stricken veteran near Ujiji and +greeted him with the words--"Mr. Livingstone, I presume," the age of +mystery and picturesqueness vanished away. + +A change in the spirit and methods of exploration naturally comes about +when the efforts of single individuals give place to collective +enterprise[424], and that change was now rapidly to come over the whole +field of African exploration. The day of the Mungo Parks and +Livingstones was passing away, and the day of associations and companies +was at hand. In 1876, Leopold II., King of the Belgians, summoned to +Brussels several of the leading explorers and geographers in order to +confer on the best methods of opening up Africa. The specific results of +this important Conference will be considered in the next chapter; but we +may here note that, under the auspices of the "International Association +for the Exploration and Civilisation of Africa" then founded, much +pioneer work was carried out in districts remote from the River Congo. +The vast continent also yielded up its secrets to travellers working +their way in from the south and the north, so that in the late seventies +the white races opened up to view vast and populous districts which +imaginative chartographers in other ages had diversified with the +Mountains of the Moon or with signs of the Zodiac and monstrosities of +the animal creation. + +[Footnote 424: In saying this I do not underrate the achievements of +explorers like Stanley, Thomson, Cameron, Schweinfurth, Pogge, +Nachtigall, Pinto, de Brazza, Johnston, Wissmann, Holub, Lugard, and +others; but apart from the first two, none of them made discoveries that +can be called epoch-marking.] + +The last epoch-marking work carried through by an individual was +accomplished by a Scottish explorer, whose achievements almost rivalled +those of Livingstone. Joseph Thomson, a native of Dumfriesshire, +succeeded in 1879 to the command of an exploring party which sought to +open up the country around the lakes of Nyassa and Tanganyika. Four +years later, on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society, he undertook +to examine the country behind Mombasa which was little better known than +when Vasco da Gama first touched there. In this journey Thomson +discovered two snow-capped mountains, Kilimanjaro and Kenia, and made +known the resources of the country as far inland as the Victoria Nyanza. +Considering the small resources he had at hand, and the cruel and +warlike character of the Masai people through whom he journeyed, this +journey was by far the most remarkable and important in the annals of +exploration during the eighties. Thomson afterwards undertook to open a +way from the Benuë, the great eastern affluent of the Niger, to Lake +Chad and the White Nile. Here again he succeeded beyond all expectation, +while his tactful management of the natives led to political results of +the highest importance, as will shortly appear. + +These explorations and those of French, German, and Portuguese +travellers served to bring nearly the whole of Africa within the ken of +the civilised world, and revealed the fact that nearly all parts of +tropical Africa had a distinct commercial value. + +This discovery, we may point out, is the necessary preliminary to any +great and sustained work of colonisation and annexation. Three +conditions may be looked on as essential to such an effort. First, that +new lands should be known to be worth the labour of exploitation or +settlement; second, that the older nations should possess enough +vitality to pour settlers and treasure into them; and thirdly, that +mechanical appliances should be available for the overcoming of natural +obstacles. + +Now, a brief glance at the great eras of exploring and colonising +activity will show that in all these three directions the last thirty +years have presented advantages which are unique in the history of the +world. A few words will suffice to make good this assertion. The wars +which constantly devastated the ancient world, and the feeble resources +in regard to navigation wielded by adventurous captains, such as Hanno +the Carthaginian, grievously hampered all the efforts of explorers by +sea, while mechanical appliances were so weak as to cripple man's +efforts at penetrating the interior. The same is true of the mediaeval +voyagers and travellers. Only the very princes among men, Columbus, +Magellan, Vasco da Gama, Cabot, Cabral, Gilbert, and Raleigh, could have +done what they did with ships that were mere playthings. Science had to +do her work of long and patient research before man could hopefully face +the mighty forces and malignant influences of the tropics. Nor was the +advance of knowledge and invention sufficient by itself to equip man for +successful war against the ocean, the desert, the forest, and the swamp. +The political and social development of the older countries was equally +necessary. In order that thousands of settlers should be able and ready +to press in where the one great leader had shown the way, Europe had to +gain something like peace and stability. Only thus, when the natural +surplus of the white races could devote itself to the task of peacefully +subduing the earth rather than to the hideous work of mutual slaughter, +could the life-blood of Europe be poured forth in fertilising streams +into the waste places of the other continents. + +The latter half of the eighteenth century promised for a brief space to +inaugurate such a period of expansive life. The close of the Seven +Years' War seemed to be the starting point for a peaceful campaign +against the unknown; but the efforts of Cook, d'Entrecasteaux, and +others then had little practical result, owing to the American War of +Independence, and the great cycle of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic +Wars. These in their turn left Europe too exhausted to accomplish much +in the way of colonial expansion until the middle of the nineteenth +century. Even then, when the steamship and the locomotive were at hand +to multiply man's powers, there was, as yet, no general wish, except on +the part of the more fortunate English-speaking peoples, to enter into +man's new heritage. The problems of Europe had to be settled before the +age of expansive activity could dawn in its full radiance. As has been +previously shown, Europe was in an introspective mood up to the years +1870-1878. + +Our foregoing studies have shown that the years following the +Russo-Turkish War of 1877-8, brought about a state of political +equilibrium which made for peace and stagnation in Europe; and the +natural forces of the Continent, cramped by the opposition of equal and +powerful forces, took the line of least resistance--away from Europe. +For Russia, the line of least resistance was in Central Asia. For all +other European States it was the sea, and the new lands beyond. + +Furthermore, in that momentous decade the steamship and locomotive were +constantly gaining in efficiency; electricity was entering the arena as +a new and mighty force; by this time medical science had so far advanced +as to screen man from many of the ills of which the tropics are profuse; +and the repeating rifle multiplied the power of the white man in his +conflicts with savage peoples. When all the advantages of the present +generation are weighed in the balance against the meagre equipment of +the earlier discoverers, the nineteenth century has scant claim for +boasting over the fifteenth. In truth, its great achievements in this +sphere have been practical and political. It has only fulfilled the rich +promise of the age of the great navigators. Where they could but +wonderingly skirt the fringes of a new world, the moderns have won their +way to the heart of things and found many an Eldorado potentially richer +than that which tempted the cupidity of Cortes and Pizarro. + +In one respect the European statesmen of the recent past tower above +their predecessors of the centuries before. In the eighteenth century +the "mercantilist" craze for seizing new markets and shutting out all +possible rivals brought about most of the wars that desolated Europe. In +the years 1880-1890 the great Powers put forth sustained and successful +efforts to avert the like calamity, and to cloak with the mantle of +diplomacy the eager scrambles for the unclaimed lands of the world. + +For various reasons the attention of statesmen turned almost solely on +Africa. Central and South America were divided among States that were +nominally civilised and enjoyed the protection of the Monroe Doctrine +put forward by the United States. Australia was wholly British. In Asia +the weakness of China was but dimly surmised; and Siam and Cochin China +alone offered any field for settlement or conquest by European peoples +from the sea. In Polynesia several groups of islands were still +unclaimed; but these could not appease the land-hunger of Europe. Africa +alone provided void spaces proportionate to the needs and ambitions of +the white man. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 served to bring the +east coast of that continent within easy reach of Europe; and the +discoveries on the Upper Nile, Congo, and Niger opened a way into other +large parts. Thus, by the year 1880, everything favoured the "partition +of Africa." + +Rumour, in the guise of hints given by communicative young attachés or +"well-informed" correspondents, ascribes the first beginnings of the +plans for the partition of Africa to the informal conversations of +statesmen at the time of the Congress of Berlin (1878). Just as an +architect safeguards his creation by providing a lightning-conductor, so +the builder of the German Empire sought to divert from that fabric the +revengeful storms that might be expected from the south-west. Other +statesmen were no less anxious than Bismarck to draw away the attention +of rivals from their own political preserves by pointing the way to more +desirable waste domains. In short, the statesmen of Europe sought to +plant in Africa the lightning-conductors that would safeguard the new +arrangements in Europe, including that of Cyprus. The German and British +Governments are known then to have passed on hints to that of France as +to the desirability of her appropriating Tunis. The Republic entered +into the schemes, with results which have already been considered +(Chapter XII.); and, as a sequel to the occupation of Tunis, plans were +set on foot for the eventual conquest of the whole of the North-West of +Africa (except Morocco and a few British, Spanish, and Portuguese +settlements) from Cape Bon to Cape Verde, and thence nearly to the +mouth of the River Niger. We may also note that in and after 1883 France +matured her schemes for the conquest of part, and ultimately the whole, +of Madagascar, a project which reached completion in the year 1885[425]. + +[Footnote 425: For the French treaty of December 17, 1885, with +Madagascar see Parl. Papers, Africa, No. 2 (1886).] + +The military occupation of Egypt by Great Britain in 1882 also served to +quicken the interest of European Powers in Africa. It has been surmised +that British acquiescence in French supremacy in Tunis, West Africa, and +Madagascar had some connection with the events that transpired in Egypt, +and that the perpetuation of British supremacy in the valley of the Nile +was virtually bought by the surrender of most of our political and +trading interests in these lands, the lapse of which under the French +"protective" regime caused much heart-burning in commercial circles. + +Last among the special causes that concentrated attention on Africa was +the activity of King Leopold's Association at Brussels in opening up the +Congo district in the years 1879-1882. Everything therefore tended to +make the ownership of tropical Africa the most complex question of the +early part of the eighties. + +For various reasons Germany was a little later than France and England +in entering the field. The hostility of France on the west, and, after +1878, that of Russia on the east, made it inadvisable for the new Empire +to give hostages to Fortune, in the shape of colonies, until by +alliances it secured its position at home and possessed a fleet strong +enough to defend distant possessions. In some measure the German +Government had to curb the eagerness of its "colonial party." The +present writer was in Germany in the year 1879, when the colonial +propaganda was being pushed forward, and noted the eagerness in some +quarters, and the distrust in others, with which pamphlets like that of +Herr Fabri, _Bedarf Deutschland Colonien?_ were received. Bismarck +himself at first checked the "colonials," until he felt sure of the +European situation. That, however, was cleared up to some extent by the +inclusion of Italy in the compact which thus became the Triple Alliance +(May 1882), and by the advent to office of the pacific Chancellor, de +Giers, at St. Petersburg a little later. There was therefore the less +need officially to curb the colonising instinct of the Teutonic people. +The formation of the German Colonial Society at Frankfurt in December +1882, and the immense success attending its propaganda, spurred on the +statesmen of Berlin to take action. They looked longingly (as they still +do) towards Brazil, in whose southern districts their people had settled +in large numbers; but over all that land the Monroe Doctrine spread its +sheltering wings. A war with the United States would have been madness, +and Germany therefore turned to Polynesia and Africa. We may note here +that in 1885 she endeavoured to secure the Caroline Islands from Spain, +whose title to them seemed to have lapsed; but Spanish pride flared up +at the insult, and after a short space Bismarck soothed ruffled feelings +at Madrid by accepting the mediation of the Pope, who awarded them to +Spain--Germany, however, gaining the right to occupy an islet of the +group as a coaling station. + +Africa, however, absorbed nearly all the energy of the German colonial +party. The forward wing of that party early in the year 1884 inaugurated +an anti-British campaign in the press, which probably had the support of +the Government. As has been stated in chapter XII., that was the time +when the Three Emperors' League showed signs of renewed vitality; and +Bismarck, after signing the secret treaty of March 24, 1884 (later on +ratified at Skiernevice), felt safe in pressing on colonial designs +against England in Africa, especially as Russia was known to be planning +equally threatening moves against the Queen's Empire in Asia. We do not +know enough of what then went on between the German and Russian +Chancellors to assert that they formed a definite agreement to harry +British interests in those continents; but, judging from the general +drift of Bismarck's diplomacy and from the "nagging" to which England +was thenceforth subjected for two years, it seems highly probable that +the policy ratified at Skiernevice aimed at marking time in European +affairs and striding onwards in other continents at the expense of the +Island Power. + +The Anglophobes of the German press at once fell foul of everything +British; and that well-known paper the _Kölnische Zeitung_ in an article +of April 22, 1884, used the following words:--"Africa is a large pudding +which the English have prepared for themselves at other people's +expense, and the crust of which is already fit for eating. Let us hope +that our sailors will put a few pepper-corns into it on the Guinea +coast, so that our friends on the Thames may not digest it too rapidly." +The sequel will show whether the simile correctly describes either the +state of John Bull's appetite or the easy aloofness of the +Teutonic onlooker. + +It will be convenient to treat this great and complex subject on a +topographical basis, and to begin with a survey of the affairs of East +Africa, especially the districts on the mainland north and south of the +island of Zanzibar. At that important trade centre, the natural starting +point then for the vast district of the Great Lakes, the influence of +British and Indian traders had been paramount; and for many years the +Sultan of Zanzibar had been "under the direct influence of the United +Kingdom and of the Government of India[426]." Nevertheless, in and after +1880 German merchants, especially those of Hamburg, pressed in with +great energy and formed plans for annexing the neighbouring territories +on the mainland. + +[Footnote 426: Parl. Papers, Africa, No. 1 (1886), p. 2.] + +Their energy was in strange contrast to the lethargy shown by the +British Government in the protection of Anglo-Indian trade interests. In +the year 1878 the Sultan of Zanzibar, who held a large territory on the +mainland, had offered the control of all the commerce of his dominions +to Sir W. Mackinnon, Chairman of the British-India Steam Navigation +Company; but, for some unexplained reason, the Beaconsfield Cabinet +declined to be a party to this arrangement, which, therefore, fell +through[427]. Despite the fact that England and France had in 1862 +agreed to recognise the independence of the Sultan of Zanzibar, the +Germans deemed the field to be clear, and early in November 1884, Dr. +Karl Peters and two other enthusiasts of the colonial party landed at +Zanzibar, disguised as mechanics, with the aim of winning new lands for +their Fatherland. They had with them several blank treaty forms, the +hidden potency of which was soon to be felt by dusky potentates on the +mainland. Before long they succeeded in persuading some of these novices +in diplomacy to set their marks to these documents, an act which +converted them into subjects of the Kaiser, and speedily secured 60,000 +square miles for the German tricolour. It is said that the Government of +Berlin either had no knowledge of, or disapproved of, these proceedings; +and, when Earl Granville ventured on some representations respecting +them, he received the reply, dated November 28, 1884, that the Imperial +Government had no design of obtaining a protectorate over Zanzibar[428]. +It is difficult to reconcile these statements with the undoubted fact +that on February 17, 1885, the German Emperor gave his sanction to the +proceedings of Dr. Peters by extending his suzerainty over the signatory +chiefs[429]. This event caused soreness among British explorers and +Indian traders who had been the first to open up the country to +civilisation. Nevertheless, the Gladstone Ministry took no effective +steps to safeguard their interests. + +[Footnote 427: _The Partition of Africa_, by J. Scott Keltie (1893), pp. +157, 225.] + +[Footnote 428: Parl. Papers, Africa, No. 1 (1886), p. 1.] + +[Footnote 429: _Ibid_. pp. 12-20.] + +In defence of their academic treatment of this matter some +considerations of a general nature may be urged. + +The need of colonies felt by Germany was so natural, so imperious, that +it could not be met by the high and dry legal argument as to the +priority of Great Britain's commercial interests. Such an attitude would +have involved war with Germany about East Africa and war with France +about West Africa, at the very time when we were on the brink of +hostilities with Russia about Merv, and were actually fighting the +Mahdists behind Suakim. The "weary Titan"--to use Matthew Arnold's +picturesque phrase--was then overburdened. The motto, "Live and let +live," was for the time the most reasonable, provided that it was not +interpreted in a weak and maudlin way on essential points. + +Many critics, however, maintain that Mr. Gladstone's and Lord +Granville's diplomatic dealings with Germany in the years 1884 and 1885 +displayed most lamentable weakness, even when Dr. Peters and others were +known to be working hard at the back of Zanzibar, with the results that +have been noted. In April 1885 the Cabinet ordered Sir John Kirk, +British representative at Zanzibar, and founder of the hitherto +unchallenged supremacy of his nation along that coast, forthwith to undo +the work of a lifetime by "maintaining friendly relations" with the +German authorities at that port. This, of course, implied a tacit +acknowledgment by Britain of what amounted to a German protectorate over +the mainland possessions of the Sultan. It is not often that a +Government, in its zeal for "live and let live," imposes so humiliating +a task on a British representative. The Sultan did not take the serene +and philosophic view of the situation that was held at Downing Street, +and the advent of a German squadron was necessary in order to procure +his consent to these arrangements (August-December 1885.)[430] + +[Footnote 430: J. Scott Keltie, _The Partition of Africa_, ch. xv.] + +The Blue Book dealing with Zanzibar (Africa, No. 1, 1886) by no means +solves the riddle of the negotiations which went on between London and +Berlin early in the year 1885. From other sources we know that the most +ardent of the German colonials were far from satisfied with their +triumph. Curious details have appeared showing that their schemes +included the laying of a trap for the Sultan of Zanzibar, which failed +owing to clumsy baiting and the loquacity of the would-be captor. Lord +Rosebery also managed, according to German accounts, to get the better +of Count Herbert Bismarck in respect of St. Lucia Bay (see page 528) +and districts on the Benuë River; so that this may perhaps be placed +over against the losses sustained by Britain on the coast opposite +Zanzibar. Even there, as we have seen, results did not fully correspond +to the high hopes entertained by the German Chauvinists[431]. + +[Footnote 431: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History_, vol. iii. +pp. 135, 144-45. Parl. Papers, Africa, No. 1 (1886), pp. 39-45, 61 _et +seq_.; also No. 3 (1886), pp. 4, 15.] + +In the meantime (June 1885) the Salisbury Cabinet came into office for a +short time, but the evil effects of the slackness of British diplomacy +were not yet at an end. At this time British merchants, especially those +of Manchester, were endeavouring to develop the mountainous country +around the giant cone of Mt. Kilimanjaro, where Mr. (now Sir) Harry +Johnston had, in September 1884, secured some trading and other rights +with certain chiefs. A company had been formed in order to further +British interests, and this soon became the Imperial British East Africa +Company, which aspired to territorial control in the parts north of +those claimed by Dr. Peters' Company. A struggle took place between the +two companies, the German East Africa Company laying claim to the +Kilimanjaro district. Again it proved that the Germans had the more +effective backing, and, despite objections urged by our Foreign +Minister, Lord Rosebery, against the proceedings of German agents in +that tract, the question of ownership was referred to the decision of an +Anglo-German boundary commission. + +Lord Iddesleigh assumed control of the Foreign Office in August, but the +advent of the Conservatives to power in no way helped on the British +case. By an agreement between the two Powers, dated November 1, 1886, +the Kilimanjaro district was assigned to Germany. From the northern +spurs of that mountain the dividing line ran in a north-westerly +direction towards the Victoria Nyanza. The same agreement recognised +the authority of the Sultan of Zanzibar as extending over the island of +that name, those of Pemba and Mafia, and over a strip of coastline ten +nautical miles in width; but the ownership of the district of Vitu north +of Mombasa was left open[432]. (See map at the close of this volume.) + +[Footnote 432: Banning, _op. cit._ pp. 45-50; Parl. Papers, Africa, No. +3 (1887), pp. 46, 59.] + +On the whole, the skill which dispossessed a sovereign of most of his +rights, under a plea of diplomatic rearrangements and the advancement of +civilisation, must be pronounced unrivalled; and Britain cut a sorry +figure as the weak and unwilling accessory to this act. The only +satisfactory feature in the whole proceeding was Britain's success in +leasing from the Sultan of Zanzibar administrative rights over the coast +region around Mombasa. The gain of that part secured unimpeded access +from the coast to the northern half of Lake Victoria Nyanza. The German +Company secured similar rights over the coastline of their district, and +in 1890 bought it outright. By an agreement of December 1896, the River +Rovuma was recognised by Germany and Portugal as the boundary of their +East African possessions. + +The lofty hopes once entertained by the Germans as to the productiveness +of their part of East Africa have been but partially realised[433]. +Harsh treatment of the natives brought about a formidable revolt in +1888-89. The need of British co-operation in the crushing of this revolt +served to bring Germany to a more friendly attitude towards this +country. Probably the resignation, or rather the dismissal, of Bismarck +by the present Emperor, in March 1890, also tended to lessen the +friction between England and Germany. The Prince while in retirement +expressed strong disapproval of the East African policy of his +successor, Count Caprivi. + +[Footnote 433: See the Report on German East Africa for 1900, in our +_Diplomatic and Consular Reports_.] + +Its more conciliatory spirit found expression in the Anglo-German +agreement of July 1, 1890, which delimited the districts claimed by the +two nations around the Victoria Nyanza in a sense favourable to Great +Britain and disappointing to that indefatigable treaty-maker, Dr. +Peters. It acknowledged British claims to the northern half of the +shores and waters of that great lake and to the valley of the Upper +Nile, as also to the coast of the Indian Ocean about Vitu and thence +northwards to Kismayu. + +On the other hand, Germany acquired the land north of Lake Nyassa, where +British interests had been paramount. The same agreement applied both to +the British and German lands in question the principle of free or +unrestricted transit of goods, as also between the great lakes. Germany +further recognised a British Protectorate over the islands held by the +Sultan of Zanzibar, reserving certain rights for German commerce in the +case of the Island of Mafia. Finally, Great Britain ceded to Germany the +Island of Heligoland in the North Sea. On both sides of the North Sea +the compact aroused a storm of hostile comment, which perhaps served to +emphasise its fairness[434]. Bismarck's opinion deserves quotation:-- + + Zanzibar ought not to have been left to the English. It would + have been better to maintain the old arrangement. We could + then have had it at some later time when England required our + good offices against France or Russia. In the meantime our + merchants, who are cleverer, and, like the Jews, are + satisfied with smaller profits, would have kept the upper + hand in business. To regard Heligoland as an equivalent shows + more imagination than sound calculation. In the event of war + it would be better for us that it should be in the hands of a + neutral Power. It is difficult and most expensive to + fortify[435]. + +[Footnote 434: Parl. Papers, Africa, No. 6 (1890).] + +[Footnote 435: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History_, vol. iii. +p. 353. See, too, S. Whitman, _Personal Reminiscences of Prince +Bismarck_, p. 122.] + +The passage is instructive as showing the aim of Bismarck's colonial +policy, namely, to wait until England's difficulties were acute (or +perhaps to augment those difficulties, as he certainly did by furthering +Russian schemes against Afghanistan in 1884-85[436]), and then to apply +remorseless pressure at all points where the colonial or commercial +interests of the two countries clashed. + +[Footnote 436: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History_, vol. iii. +pp. 124, 133: also see p. 426 of this work.] + +The more his policy is known, the more dangerous to England it is seen +to have been, especially in the years 1884-86. In fact, those persons +who declaim against German colonial ambitions of to-day may be asked to +remember that the extra-European questions recently at issue between +Great Britain and Germany are trivial when compared with the momentous +problems that were peacefully solved by the agreement of the year 1890. +Of what importance are Samoa, Kiao-chow, and the problem of Morocco, +compared with the questions of access to the great lakes of Africa and +the control of the Lower Niger? It would be unfair to Wilhelm II., as +also to the Salisbury Cabinet, not to recognise the statesmanlike +qualities which led to the agreement of July 1, 1890--one of the most +solid gains peacefully achieved for the cause of civilisation throughout +the nineteenth century. + +Among its many benefits may be reckoned the virtual settlement of long +and tangled disputes for supremacy in Uganda. We have no space in which +to detail the rivalries of French and British missionaries and agents at +the Court of King M'tesa and his successor M'wanga, or the futile +attempt of Dr. Peters to thrust in German influence. Even the +Anglo-German agreement of 1890 did not end the perplexities of the +situation; for though the British East Africa Company (to which a +charter had been granted in 1888) thenceforth had the chief influence on +the northern shores of Victoria Nyanza, the British Government declined +to assume any direct responsibility for so inaccessible a district. +Thanks, however, to the activity and tact of Captain Lugard, +difficulties were cleared away, with the result that the large and +fertile territory of Uganda (formerly included in the Khedive's +dominions) became a British Protectorate in August 1894 (see +Chapter XVII). + +The significance of the events just described will be apparent when it +is remembered that British East Africa, inclusive of Uganda and the +Upper Nile basin, comprises altogether 670,000 square miles, to a large +extent fertile, and capable of settlement by white men in the more +elevated tracts of the interior. German East Africa contains 385,000 +square miles, and is also destined to have a future that will dwarf that +of many of the secondary States of to-day. + +The prosperity of British East Africa was greatly enhanced by the +opening of a railway, 580 miles long, from Mombasa to Victoria Nyanza in +1902. Among other benefits, it has cut the ground from under the +slave-trade, which used to depend on the human beast of burden for the +carriage of all heavy loads[437]. + +[Footnote 437: For the progress and prospects of this important colony, +see Sir G. Portal, _The British Mission to Uganda in 1893_; Sir Charles +Elliot, _British East Africa_ (1905); also Lugard, _Our East African +Empire_; Sir H. Johnston, _The Uganda Protectorate_.] + +The Anglo-German agreement of 1890 also cleared up certain questions +between Britain and Germany relating to South-West Africa which had made +bad blood between the two countries. In and after the year 1882 the +attention of the colonial party in Germany was turned to the district +north of the Orange River, and in the spring of the year 1883 Herr +Lüderitz founded a factory and hoisted the German flag at Angra Pequeña. +There are grounds for thinking that that district was coveted, not so +much for its intrinsic value, which is slight, as because it promised to +open up communications with the Boer Republics. Lord Granville ventured +to express his doubts on that subject to Count Herbert Bismarck, whom +the Chancellor had sent to London in the summer of 1884 in order to take +matters out of the hands of the too Anglophil ambassador, Count Münster. +Anxious to show his mettle, young Bismarck fired up, and informed Lord +Granville that his question was one of mere curiosity; later on he +informed him that it was a matter which did not concern him[438]. + +[Footnote 438: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History_, vol. iii. +p. 120.] + +It must be admitted, however, that the British Government had acted in +a dilatory and ineffective manner. Sir Donald Currie had introduced a +deputation to Lord Derby, Colonial Minister in the Gladstone Cabinet, +which warned him seriously as to German aims on the coast of Damaraland; +in reply to which that phlegmatic Minister stated that Germany was not a +colonising Power, and that the annexation of those districts would be +resented by Great Britain as an "unfriendly act[439]." In November 1883 +the German ambassador inquired whether British protection would be +accorded to a few German settlers on the coast of Damaraland. No +decisive answer was given, though the existence of British interests +there was affirmed. Then, when Germany claimed the right to annex it, a +counter-claim was urged from Whitehall (probably at the instigation of +the Cape Government) that the land in question was a subject of close +interest to us, as it might be annexed in the future. It was against +this belated and illogical plea that Count Bismarck was sent to lodge a +protest; and in August 1884 Germany clinched the matter by declaring +Angra Pequeña and surrounding districts to be German territory. (See +note at the end of the chapter.) + +[Footnote 439: See Sir D. Currie's paper on South Africa to the members +of the Royal Colonial Institute, April 10, 1888 (_Proceedings_, vol. +xix. p. 240).] + +In this connection we may remark that Angra Pequeña had recently figured +as a British settlement on German maps, including that of Stieler of the +year 1882. Walfisch Bay, farther to the north, was left to the Union +Jack, that flag having been hoisted there by official sanction in 1878 +owing to the urgent representations of Sir Bartle Frere, the Governor of +Cape Colony. The rest of the coast was left to Germany; the Gladstone +Government informed that of Berlin that no objection would be taken to +her occupation of that territory. Great annoyance was felt at the Cape +at what was looked on as an uncalled for surrender of British claims, +especially when the Home Government failed to secure just treatment for +the British settlers. Sir Charles Dilke states in his _Problems of +Greater Britain_ that only the constant protests of the Cape Ministry +prevented the authorities at Whitehall from complying with German +unceasing requests for the cession of Walfisch Bay, doubtless as an item +for exchange during the negotiations of 1889-90[440]. + +[Footnote 440: _Op. cit._ vol. i. p. 502.] + +We may add here that in 1886 Germany defined the northern limits of +"South-West Africa"--such was the name of the new colony--by an +agreement with Portugal; and in 1890 an article of the Anglo-German +agreement above referred to gave an eastward extension of that northern +border which brought it to the banks of the River Zambesi. + +The British Government took a firmer stand in a matter that closely +concerned the welfare of Natal and the relations of the Transvaal +Republic to Germany. In 1884 some German prospectors sought to gain a +footing in St. Lucia Bay in Zululand and to hoist the German flag. The +full truth on this interesting matter is not yet known; it formed a +pendant to the larger question of Delagoa Bay, which must be briefly +noticed here. + +Friction had arisen between Great Britain and Portugal over conflicting +claims respecting Delagoa Bay and its adjoining lands; and in this +connection it may be of interest to note that the Disraeli Ministry had +earlier missed an opportunity of buying out Portuguese claims. The late +Lord Carnarvon stated that, when he took the portfolio for colonial +affairs in that Ministry, he believed the purchase might have been +effected for a comparatively small sum. Probably the authorities at +Lisbon were aroused to a sense of the potential value of their Laurenço +Marquez domain by the scramble for Africa which began early in the +eighties; and it must be regretted that the British Government, with the +lack of foresight which has so often characterised it, let slip the +opportunity of securing Delagoa Bay until its value was greatly +enhanced. It then agreed to refer the questions in dispute to the +arbitration of General MacMahon, President of the French Republic +(1875). As has generally happened when foreign potentates have +adjudicated on British interests, his verdict was wholly hostile to us. +It even assigned to Portugal a large district to the south of Delagoa +Bay which the Portuguese had never thought of claiming from its native +inhabitants, the Tongas[441]. In fact, a narrative of all the gains +which have accrued to Portugal in Delagoa Bay, and thereafter to the +people who controlled its railway to Pretoria, would throw a sinister +light on the connection that has too often subsisted between the noble +theory of arbitration and the profitable practice of peacefully willing +away, or appropriating, the rights and possessions of others. Portugal +soon proved to be unable to avail herself of the opportunities opened up +by the gift unexpectedly awarded her by MacMahon. She was unable to +control either the Tongas or the Boers. + +[Footnote 441: Sir C. Dilke, _Problems of Greater Britain_, vol. i. pp. +553-556.] + +England having been ruled out, there was the chance for some other Power +to step in and acquire St. Lucia Bay, one of the natural outlets of the +southern part of the Transvaal Republic. It is an open secret that the +forerunners of the "colonial party" in Germany had already sought to +open up closer relations with the Boer Republics. In 1876 the President +of the Transvaal, accompanied by a Dutch member of the Cape Parliament, +visited Berlin, probably with the view of reciprocating those advances. +They had an interview with Bismarck, the details of which are not fully +known. Nothing, however, came of it at the time, owing to Bismarck's +preoccupation in European affairs. Early in the "eighties," the German +colonial party, then beginning its campaign, called attention repeatedly +to the advantages of gaining a foothold in or near Delagoa Bay; but the +rise of colonial feeling in Germany led to a similar development in the +public sentiment of Portugal, and indeed of all lands; so that, by the +time that Bismarck was won over to the cause of Teutonic Expansion, the +Portuguese refused to barter away any of their ancient possessions. This +probably accounts for the concentration of German energies on other +parts of the South African coast, which, though less valuable in +themselves, might serve as _points d'appui_ for German political agents +and merchants in their future dealings with the Boers, who were then +striving to gain control over Bechuanaland. The points selected by the +Germans for their action were on the coast of Damaraland, as already +stated, and St. Lucia Bay in Zululand, a position which President +Burgers had striven to secure for the Transvaal in 1878. + +In reference to St. Lucia Bay our narrative must be shadowy in outline +owing to the almost complete secrecy with which the German Government +wisely shrouds a failure. The officials and newspaper writers of Germany +have not yet contracted the English habit of proclaiming their +intentions beforehand and of parading before the world their +recriminations in case of a fiasco. All that can be said, then, with +certainty is that in the autumn of 1884 a German trader named Einwold +attempted to gain a footing in St. Lucia Bay and to prepare the way for +the recognition of German claims if all went well. In fact, he could +either be greeted as a _Mehrer des Reichs_, or be disowned as an +unauthorised busybody. + +We may here cite passages from the Diary of Dr. Busch, Bismarck's +secretary, which prove that the State took a lively interest in +Einwold's adventure. On February 25, 1885, Busch had a conversation with +Herr Andrae, in the course of which they "rejoiced at England's +difficulties in the Sudan, and I expressed the hope that Wolseley's head +would soon arrive in Cairo, nicely pickled and packed." Busch then +referred to British friction with Russia in Afghanistan and with France +in Burmah, and then put the question to Andrae, "'Have we given up South +Africa; or is the Lucia Bay affair still open?' He said that the matter +was still under consideration[442]." + +[Footnote 442: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History_, vol. iii. +p. 132.] + +It has since transpired that the British Government might have yielded +to pressure from Berlin, had not greater pressure been exercised from +Natal and from British merchants and shipowners interested in the South +African trade. Sir Donald Currie, in the paper already referred to, +stated that he could easily have given particulars of the means which +had to be used in order to spur on the British Government to decisive +action. Unfortunately he was discreetly reticent, and merely stated that +not only St. Lucia Bay, but the whole of the coast between Natal and the +Delagoa Bay district was then in question, and that the Gladstone +Ministry was finally induced to telegraph instructions to Cape Town for +the despatch of a cruiser to assert British claims to St. Lucia Bay. +H.M.S. _Goshawk_ at once steamed thither, and hoisted the British flag, +by virtue of a treaty made with a Zulu chief in 1842. Then ensued the +usual interchange of angry notes between Berlin and London; Bismarck and +Count Herbert sought to win over, or browbeat, Lord Rosebery, then +Colonial Minister. In this, however, he failed; and the explanation of +the failure given to Busch was that Lord Rosebery was too clever for him +and "quite mesmerised him." On May 7, 1885, Germany gave up her claims +to that important position, in consideration of gaining at the expense +of England in the Cameroons[443]. Here again a passage from Busch's +record deserves quotation. In a conversation which he had with Bismarck +on January 5, 1886, he put the question:-- + + "Why have we not been able to secure the Santa Lucia Bay?" I + asked. "Ah!" he replied, "it is not so valuable as it seemed + to be at first. People who were pursuing their own interests + on the spot represented it to be of greater importance than + it really was. And then the Boers were not disposed to take + any proper action in the matter. The bay would have been + valuable to us if the distance from the Transvaal were not so + great. And the English attached so much importance to it that + they declared it was impossible for them to give it up, and + they ultimately conceded a great deal to us in New Guinea and + Zanzibar. In colonial matters we must not take too much in + hand at a time, and we already have enough for a beginning. + We must now hold rather with the English, while, as you + know, we were formerly more on the French side[444]. But, as + the last elections in France show, every one of any + importance there had to make a show of hostility to us." + +[Footnote 443: Parl. Papers, Africa, No. 6 (1885), p. 2.] + +[Footnote 444: He here referred to the Franco-German agreement of Dec. +24, 1885, whereby the two Powers amicably settled the boundaries of +their West African lands, and Germany agreed not to thwart French +designs on Tahiti, the Society Isles, the New Hebrides, etc. See +Banning, _Le Partage politique de l'Afrique_, pp. 22-26.] + +This passage explains, in part at least, why Bismarck gave up the +nagging tactics latterly employed towards Great Britain. Evidently he +had hoped to turn the current of thought in France from the +Alsace-Lorraine question to the lands over the seas, and his henchmen in +the Press did all in their power to persuade people, both in Germany and +France, that England was the enemy. The Anglophobe agitation was fierce +while it lasted; but its artificiality is revealed by the passage +just quoted. + +We may go further, and say that the more recent outbreak of Anglophobia +in Germany may probably be ascribed to the same official stimulus; and +it too may be expected to cease when the politicians of Berlin see that +it no longer pays to twist the British lion's tail. That sport ceased in +and after 1886, because France was found still to be the enemy. +Frenchmen did not speak much about Alsace-Lorraine. They followed +Gambetta's advice: "Never speak about it, but always think of it." The +recent French elections revealed that fact to Bismarck; and, lo! the +campaign of calumny against England at once slackened. + +We may add that two German traders settled on the coast of Pondoland, +south of Natal; and in August 1885 the statesmen of Berlin put forth +feelers to Whitehall with a view to a German Protectorate of that coast. +They met with a decisive repulse[445]. + +[Footnote 445: Cape Colony, Papers on Pondoland, 1887, pp. 1, 41. For +the progress of German South-West Africa and East Africa, see Parl. +Papers, Germany, Nos. 474, 528, 2790.] + +Meanwhile, the dead-set made by Germany, France, and Russia against +British interests in the years 1883-85 had borne fruit in a way little +expected by those Powers, but fully consonant with previous experience. +It awakened British statesmen from their apathy, and led them to adopt +measures of unwonted vigour. The year 1885 saw French plans in +Indo-China checked by the annexation of Burmah. German designs in South +Africa undoubtedly quickened the resolve of the Gladstone Ministry to +save Bechuanaland for the British Empire. + +It is impossible here to launch upon the troublous sea of Boer politics, +especially as the conflict naturally resulting from two irreconcilable +sets of ideas outlasted the century with which this work is concerned. +We can therefore only state that filibustering bands of Boers had raided +parts of Bechuanaland, and seemed about to close the trade-route +northwards to the Zambesi. This alone would have been a serious bar to +the prosperity of Cape Colony; but the loyalists had lost their +confidence in the British Government since the events of 1880, while a +large party in the Cape Ministry, including at that time Mr. Cecil +Rhodes, seemed willing to abet the Boers in all their proceedings. A +Boer deputation went to England in the autumn of 1883, and succeeded in +cajoling Lord Derby into a very remarkable surrender. Among other +things, he conceded to them an important strip of land west of the River +Harts[446]. + +[Footnote 446: For the negotiations and the Convention of February 27, +1884, see Papers relating to the South African Republic, 1887.] + +Far from satisfying them, this act encouraged some of their more +restless spirits to set up two republics named Stellaland and Goshen. +There, however, they met a tough antagonist, John Mackenzie. That +devoted missionary, after long acquaintance with Boers and Bechuanas, +saw how serious would be the loss to the native tribes and to the cause +of civilisation if the raiders were allowed to hold the routes to the +interior. By degrees he aroused the sympathy of leading men in the +Press, who thereupon began to whip up the laggards of Whitehall and +Downing Street. Consequently, Mackenzie, on his return to South Africa, +was commissioned to act as British Resident in Bechuanaland, and in that +capacity he declared that country to be under British protection (May +1884). At once the Dutch throughout South Africa raised a hue and cry +against him, in which Mr. Rhodes joined, with the result that he was +recalled on July 30. + +His place was taken by a statesman whose exploits raised him to a high +place among builders of the Empire. However much Cecil Rhodes differed +from Mackenzie on the native question and other affairs, he came to see +the urgent need of saving for the Empire the central districts which, as +an old Boer said, formed "the key of Africa." Never were the loyalists +more dispirited at the lack of energy shown by the Home Government; and +never was there greater need of firmness. In a sense, however, the +action of the Germans on the coast of Damaraland (August-October 1884) +helped to save the situation. The imperious need of keeping open the +route to the interior, which would be closed to trade if ever the Boers +and Germans joined hands, spurred on the Gladstone Ministry to support +the measures proposed by Mr. Rhodes and the loyalists of Cape Colony. +When the whole truth on that period comes to be known, it will probably +be found that British rule was in very grave danger in the latter half +of the year 1884. + +Certainly no small expedition ever accomplished so much for the Empire, +at so trifling a cost and without the effusion of blood, as that which +was now sent out. It was entrusted to Sir Charles Warren. He recruited +his force mainly from the loyalists of South Africa, though a body named +Methuen's Horse went out from these islands. In all it numbered nearly +5000 men. Moving quickly from the Orange River through Griqualand West, +he reached the banks of the Vaal at Barkly Camp by January 22, 1885, +that is, only six weeks after his arrival at Cape Town. At the same time +3000 troops took their station in the north of Natal in readiness to +attack the Transvaal Boers, should they fall upon Warren. It soon +transpired, however, that the more respectable Boers had little sympathy +with the raiders into Bechuanaland. These again were so far taken aback +by the speed of his movements and the thoroughness of his organisation +as to manifest little desire to attack a force which seemed ever ready +at all points and spied on them from balloons. The behaviour of the +commander was as tactful as his dispositions were effective; and, as a +result of these favouring circumstances (which the superficial may +ascribe to luck), he was able speedily to clear Bechuanaland of those +intruders[447]. + +[Footnote 447: See Sir Charles Warren's short account of the expedition, +in the _Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute for _1885-86, pp. +5-45; also Mackenzie's _Austral Africa_, vol. ii. _ad init_., and _John +Mackenzie_, by W.D. Mackenzie (1902).] + +On September 30 it became what it has since remained--a British +possession, safeguarding the route into the interior and holding apart +the Transvaal Boers from the contact with the Germans of Damaraland +which could hardly fail to produce an explosion. The importance of the +latter fact has already been made clear. The significance of the former +will be apparent when we remember that Mr. Rhodes, in his later and +better-known character of Empire-builder, was able from Bechuanaland as +a base to extend the domain of his Chartered Company up to the southern +end of Lake Tanganyika in the year 1889. + +It is well known that Rhodes hoped to extend the domain of his company +as far north as the southern limit of the British East Africa Company. +Here, however, the Germans forestalled him by their energy in Central +Africa. Finally, the Anglo-German agreement of 1890 assigned to Germany +all the _hinterland_ of Zanzibar as far west as the frontier of the +Congo Free State, thus sterilising the idea of an all-British route from +the Cape to Cairo, which possessed for some minds an alliterative and +all-compelling charm. + +As for the future of the vast territory which came to be known popularly +as Rhodesia, we may note that the part bordering on Lake Nyassa was +severed from the South Africa Company in 1894, and was styled the +British Central Africa Protectorate. In 1895 the south of Bechuanaland +was annexed to Cape Colony, a step greatly regretted by many +well-wishers of the natives. The intelligent chief, Khama, visited +England in that year, mainly in order to protest against the annexation +of his lands by Cape Colony and by the South Africa Company. In this he +was successful; he and other chiefs are directly under the protection of +the Crown, but parts of the north and east of Bechuanaland are +administered by the British South Africa Company. The tracts between the +Rivers Limpopo and Zambesi, and thence north to the Tanganyika, form a +territory vaster and more populous than any which has in recent years +been administered by a company; and its rule leaves much to be desired. + + * * * * * + +It is time now to turn to the expansion of German and British spheres of +influence in the Bight of Guinea and along the course of the Rivers +Niger and Benuë. In the innermost part of the Bight of Guinea, British +commercial interests had been paramount up to about 1880; but about that +time German factories were founded in increasing numbers, and, owing to +the dilatory action of British firms, gained increasing hold on the +trade of several districts. The respect felt by native chiefs for +British law was evinced by a request of five of the "Kings" of the +Cameroons that they might have it introduced into their lands (1879). +Authorities at Downing Street and Whitehall were deaf to the request. In +striking contrast to this was the action of the German Government, which +early in the year 1884 sent Dr. Nachtigall to explore those districts. +The German ambassador in London informed Earl Granville on April 19, +1884, that the object of his mission was "to complete the information +now in possession of the Foreign Office at Berlin on the state of German +commerce on that coast." He therefore requested that the British +authorities there should be furnished with suitable recommendations for +his reception[448]. This was accordingly done, and, after receiving +hospitality at various consulates, he made treaties with native chiefs, +and hoisted the German flag at several points previously considered to +be under British influence. This was especially the case on the coast to +the east of the River Niger. + +[Footnote 448: Parl. Papers, Africa, No. 1 (1885), p. 14.] + +The British Government was incensed at this procedure, and all the more +so as plans were then on foot for consolidating British influence in the +Cameroons. On that river there were six British, and two German firms, +and the natives had petitioned for the protection of England; but H.M.S. +_Flint_, on steaming into that river on July 20, found that the German +flag had been hoisted by the officers of the German warship _Möwe_. +Nachtigall had signed a treaty with "King Bell" on July 12, whereby +native habits were to remain unchanged and no customs dues levied, but +the whole district was placed under German suzerainty[449]. The same had +happened at neighbouring districts. Thereupon Consul Hewitt, in +accordance with instructions from London, established British supremacy +at the Oil Rivers, Old and New Calabar, and several other points +adjoining the Niger delta as far west as Lagos. + +[Footnote 449: _Ibid_. p. 24.] + +For some time there was much friction between London and Berlin on these +questions, but on May 7, 1885, an agreement was finally arrived at, a +line drawn between the Rio del Rey and the Old Calabar River being fixed +on as the boundary of the spheres of influence of the two Powers, while +Germany further recognised the sovereignty of Britain over St. Lucia Bay +in Zululand, and promised not to annex any land between Natal and +Delagoa Bay[450]. Many censures were lavished on this agreement, which +certainly sacrificed important British interests in the Cameroons in +consideration of the abandonment of German claims on the Zulu coast +which were legally untenable. Thus, by pressing on various points +formerly regarded as under British influence, Bismarck secured at least +one considerable district--one moreover that is the healthiest on the +West African coast. Subsequent expansion made of the Cameroons a colony +containing some 140,000 square miles with more than 1,100,000 +inhabitants. + +[Footnote 450: Parl. Papers, Africa, No. 6 (1885), p. 2.] + +It is an open secret that Germany was working hard in 1884-85 to get a +foothold on the Lower Niger and its great affluent, the Benuë. Two +important colonial societies combined to send out Herr Flegel in the +spring of 1885 to secure possession of districts on those rivers where +British interests had hitherto been paramount. Fortunately for the cause +of Free Trade (which Germany had definitely abandoned in 1880) private +individuals had had enough foresight and determination to step in with +effect, and to repair the harm which otherwise must have come from the +absorption of Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues in home affairs. + +In the present case, British merchants were able to save the situation, +because in the year 1879 the firms having important business dealings +with the River Niger combined to form the National African Company in +order to withstand the threatening pressure of the French advance soon +to be described. In 1882 the Company's powers were extended, largely +owing to Sir George Taubman Goldie, and it took the name of the National +African Company. Extending its operations up the River Niger, it +gradually cut the ground from under the French companies which had been +formed for the exploitation and ultimate acquisition of those districts, +so that after a time the French shareholders agreed to merge themselves +in the British enterprise. + +This important step was taken just in time to forestall German action +from the side of the Cameroons, which threatened to shut out British +trade from the banks of the River Benuë and the shores of Lake Chad. +Forewarned of this danger, Sir George Goldie and his directors urged +that bold and successful explorer, Mr. Joseph Thomson, to safeguard the +nation's interests along the Benuë and north thereof. Thomson had +scarcely recovered from the hardships of his epoch-marking journey +through Masailand; but he now threw himself into the breach, quickly +travelled from England to the Niger, and by his unrivalled experience +alike of the means of travel and of native ways, managed to frame +treaties with the Sultans of Sokoto and Gando, before the German envoy +reached his destination (1885). The energy of the National African +Company and the promptitude and tact of Mr. Thomson secured for his +countrymen undisputed access to Lake Chad and the great country peopled +by the warlike Haussas[451]. + +[Footnote 451: This greatest among recent explorers of Africa died in +1895. He never received any appropriate reward from the Court for his +great services to science and to the nation at large.] + +Seeing that both France and Germany seek to restrict foreign trade in +their colonies, while Great Britain gives free access to all merchants +on equal terms, we may regard this brilliant success as a gain, not only +for the United Kingdom, but for the commerce of the world. The annoyance +expressed in influential circles in Germany at the failure of the plans +for capturing the trade of the Benuë district served to show the +magnitude of the interests which had there been looked upon as +prospectively and exclusively German. The delimitation of the new +British territory with the Cameroon territory and its north-eastern +extension to Lake Chad was effected by an Anglo-German agreement of +1886, Germany gaining part of the upper Benuë and the southern shore of +Lake Chad. In all, the territories controlled by the British Company +comprised about 500,000 square miles (more than four times the size of +the United Kingdom). + +It is somewhat characteristic of British colonial procedure in that +period that many difficulties were raised as to the grant of a charter +to the company which had carried through this work of national +importance; but on July 10, 1886, it gained that charter with the title +of the Royal Niger Company. The chief difficulties since that date have +arisen from French aggressions on the west, which will be noticed +presently. + +In 1897 the Royal Niger Company overthrew the power of the turbulent and +slave-raiding Sultan of Nupe, near the Niger, but, as has so often +happened, the very success of the company doomed it to absorption by the +nation. On January 1, 1900, its governing powers were handed over to the +Crown; the Union Jack replaced the private flag; and Sir Frederick +Lugard added to the services which he had rendered to the Empire in +Uganda by undertaking the organisation of this great and fertile colony. +In an interesting paper, read before the Royal Geographical Society in +November 1903, he thus characterised his administrative methods: "To +rule through the native chiefs, and, while checking the extortionate +levies of the past, fairly to assess and enforce the ancient tribute. By +this means a fair revenue will be assured to the emirs, in lieu of their +former source of wealth, which consisted in slaves and slave-raiding, +and in extortionate taxes on trade. . . . Organised slave-raiding has +become a thing of the past in the country where it lately existed in its +worst form." He further stated that the new colony has made satisfactory +progress; but light railways were much needed to connect Lake Chad with +the Upper Nile and with the Gulf of Guinea. The area of Nigeria (apart +from the Niger Coast Protectorate) is about 500,000 square miles[452]. + +[Footnote 452: _The Geographical Journal_, January 1, 1904, pp. 5, 18, +27.] + +The result, then, of the activity of French and Germans in West Africa +has, on the whole, not been adverse to British interests. The efforts +leading to these noteworthy results above would scarcely have been made +but for some external stimulus. As happened in the days of Dupleix and +Montcalm, and again at the time of the little-known efforts of Napoleon +I. to appropriate the middle of Australia, the spur of foreign +competition furthered not only the cause of exploration but also the +expansion of the British Empire. + + * * * * * + +The expansion of French influence in Africa has been far greater than +that of Germany; and, while arousing less attention on political +grounds, it has probably achieved more solid results--a fact all the +more remarkable when we bear in mind the exhaustion of France in 1871, +and the very slow growth of her population at home. From 1872 to 1901 +the number of her inhabitants rose from 36,103,000 to 38,962,000; while +in the same time the figures for the German Empire showed an increase +from 41,230,000 to 56,862,000. To some extent, then, the colonial growth +of France is artificial; at least, it is not based on the imperious need +which drives forth the surplus population of Great Britain and Germany. +Nevertheless, so far as governmental energy and organising skill can +make colonies successful, the French possessions in West Africa, +Indo-China, Madagascar, and the Pacific, have certainly justified their +existence[453]. No longer do we hear the old joke that a French colonial +settlement consists of a dozen officials, a _restaurateur_, and a +hair-dresser. + +[Footnote 453: See _La Colonisation chez les Peuples modernes_, by Paul +Leroy-Beaulieu; _Discours et Opinions_, by Jules Ferry; _La France +coloniale_ (6th edit. 1893), by Alfred Rambaud; _La Colonisation de +l'Indo-Chine_ (1902), by Chailley-Bert; _L'Indo-Chine française_ (1905), +by Paul Doumer (describing its progress under his administration); +_Notre Epopée coloniale_ (1901), by P. Legendre; _La Mise en Valeur de +notre Domaine coloniale_ (1903), by C. Guy; _Un Siècle d'Expansion +coloniale_ (1900), by M. Dubois and A. Terrier; _Le Partage de +l'Afrique_ (1898), by V. Deville.] + +In the seventies the French Republic took up once more the work of +colonial expansion in West Africa, in which the Emperor Napoleon III. +had taken great interest. The Governor of Senegal, M. Faidherbe, pushed +on expeditions from that colony to the head waters of the Niger in the +years 1879-81. There the French came into collision with a powerful +slave-raiding chief, Samory, whom they worsted in a series of campaigns +in the five years following. Events therefore promised to fulfil the +desires of Gambetta, who, during his brief term of office in 1881, +initiated plans for the construction of a trans-Saharan railway (never +completed) and the establishment of two powerful French companies on the +Upper Niger. French energy secured for the Republic the very lands which +the great traveller Mungo Park first revealed to the gaze of civilised +peoples. It is worthy of note that in the year 1865 the House of +Commons, when urged to promote British trade and influence on that +mighty river, passed a resolution declaring that any extension of our +rule in that quarter was inexpedient. So rapid, however, was the +progress of the French arms on the Niger, and in the country behind our +Gold Coast settlements, that private individuals in London and Liverpool +began to take action. Already in 1878 the British firms trading with the +Lower Niger had formed the United African Company, with the results +noted above. A British Protectorate was also established in the year +1884 over the coast districts around Lagos, "with the view of guarding +their interests against the advance of the French and Germans[454]." + +[Footnote 454: For its progress see Colonial Reports, Niger Coast +Protectorate, for 1898-99. For the Franco-German agreement of December +24, 1885, delimiting their West African lands, see Banning, _Le Partage +politique de l'Afrique_, pp. 22-26. For the Anglo-French agreement of +August 10, 1889, see Parl. Papers, Africa, No. 3 (1890).] + +Meanwhile the French were making rapid progress under the lead of +Gallieni and Archinard. In 1890 the latter conquered Segu-Sikoro, and a +year later Bissandugu. A far greater prize fell to the tricolour at the +close of 1893. Boiteux and Bonnier succeeded in leading a flotilla and a +column to the mysterious city of Timbuctu; but a little later a French +force sustained a serious check from the neighbouring tribes. The affair +only spurred on the Republic to still greater efforts, which led finally +to the rout of Samory's forces and his capture in the year 1898. That +redoubtable chief, who had defied France for fifteen years, was sent as +a prisoner to Gaboon. + +These campaigns and other more peaceful "missions" added to the French +possessions a vast territory of some 800,000 square kilometres in the +basin of the Niger. Meanwhile disputes had occurred with the King of +Dahomey, which led to the utter overthrow of his power by Colonel Dodds +in a brilliant little campaign in 1892. The crowned slave-raider was +captured and sent to Martinique. + +These rapid conquests, especially those on the Niger, brought France +and England more than once to the verge of war. In the autumn of the +year 1897, the aggressions of the French at and near Bussa, on the right +bank of the Lower Niger, led to a most serious situation. Despite its +inclusion in the domains of the Royal Niger Company, that town was +occupied by French troops. At the Guildhall banquet (November 9), Lord +Salisbury made the firm but really prudent declaration that the +Government would brook no interference with the treaty rights of a +British company. The pronouncement was timely; for French action at +Bussa, taken in conjunction with the Marchand expedition from the Niger +basin to the Upper Nile at Fashoda (see Chapter XVII.), seemed to +betoken a deliberate defiance of the United Kingdom. Ultimately, +however, the tricolour flag was withdrawn from situations that were +legally untenable. These questions were settled by the Anglo-French +agreement of 1898, which, we may add, cleared the ground for the still +more important compact of 1904. + + * * * * * + +The limits of this chapter having already been passed, it is impossible +to advert to the parts played by Italy and Portugal in the partition of +Africa. At best they have been subsidiary; the colonial efforts of Italy +in the Red Sea and in Somaliland have as yet produced little else than +disaster and disappointment. But for the part played by Serpa Pinto in +the Zambesi basin, the rôle of Portugal has been one of quiescence. Some +authorities, as will appear in the following chapter, would describe it +by a less euphonious term; it is now known that slave-hunting goes on in +the upper part of the Zambesi basin owned by them. The French settlement +at Obock, opposite Perim, and the partition of Somaliland between +England and Italy, can also only be named. + +The general results of the partition of Africa may best be realised by +studying the map at the close of this volume, and by the following +statistics as presented by Mr. Scott Keltie in the _Encyclopoedia +Britannica_:-- + + Square Miles. + French territories in Africa (inclusive of + the Sahara) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,804,974 + British (inclusive of the Transvaal and + Orange River Colonies, but exclusive + of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan--610,000 + square miles) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,713,910 + German. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 933,380 + Congo Free State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900,000 + Portuguese. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790,124 + Italian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188,500 + +These results correspond in the main to the foresight and energy +displayed by the several States, and to the initial advantages which +they enjoyed on the coast of Africa. The methods employed by France and +Germany present a happy union of individual initiative with intelligent +and persistent direction by the State; for it must be remembered that up +to the year 1880 the former possessed few good bases of operation, and +the latter none whatever. The natural portals of Africa were in the +hands of Great Britain and Portugal. It is difficult to say what would +have been the present state of Africa if everything had depended on the +officials at Downing Street and Whitehall. Certainly the expansion of +British influence in that continent (apart from the Nile valley) would +have been insignificant but for the exertions of private individuals. +Among them the names of Joseph Thomson, Sir William Mackinnon, Sir John +Kirk, Sir Harry Johnston, Sir George Goldie, Sir Frederick Lugard, John +Mackenzie, and Cecil Rhodes, will be remembered as those of veritable +Empire-builders. + +Viewing the matter from the European standpoint, the partition of Africa +may be regarded as a triumph for the cause of peace. In the years +1880-1900, France, Germany, Great Britain, Portugal, Italy, and Belgium +came into possession of new lands far larger than those for which French +and British fleets and armies had fought so desperately in the +eighteenth century. If we go further back and think of the wars waged +for the possession of the barrier towns of Flanders, the contrast +between the fruitless strifes of that age and the peaceful settlement of +the affairs of a mighty continent will appear still more striking. It is +true, of course, that the cutting up of the lands of natives by white +men is as indefensible morally as it is inevitable in the eager +expansiveness of the present age. Further, it may be admitted that the +methods adopted towards the aborigines have sometimes been disgraceful. +But even so, the events of the years 1880-1900, black as some of them +are, compare favourably with those of the long ages when the term +"African trade" was merely a euphemism for slave-hunting. + + * * * * * + +NOTE.--The Parliamentary Papers on Angra Pequeña (1884) show that the +dispute with Germany was largely due to the desire of Lord Derby to see +whether the Government of Cape Colony would bear the cost of +administration of that whole coast if it were annexed. Owing to a change +of Ministry at Cape Town early in 1884, the affirmative reply was very +long in coming; and meantime Germany took decisive action, as described +on p. 524. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE CONGO FREE STATE + + "The object which unites us here to-day is one of those which + deserve in the highest degree to occupy the friends of + humanity. To open to civilisation the only part of our globe + where it has not yet penetrated, to pierce the darkness which + envelops entire populations, is, I venture to say, a crusade + worthy of this century of progress."--KING LEOPOLD II., + _Speech to the Geographical Congress of 1876 at Brussels_. + + +The Congo Free State owes its origin, firstly, to the self-denying +pioneer-work of Livingstone; secondly, to the energy of the late Sir +H.M. Stanley in clearing up the problems of African exploration which +that devoted missionary had not fully solved, and thirdly, to the +interest which His Majesty, Leopold II., King of the Belgians, has +always taken in the opening up of that continent. It will be well +briefly to note the chief facts which helped to fasten the gaze of +Europe on the Congo basin; for these events had a practical issue; they +served to bring King Leopold and Mr. Stanley into close touch with a +view to the establishment of a settled government in the heart +of Africa. + +In 1874 Mr. H.M. Stanley (he was not knighted until the year 1899) +received a commission from the proprietors of the _Daily Telegraph_ to +proceed to Central Africa in order to complete the geographical +discoveries which had been cut short by the lamented death of +Livingstone near Lake Bangweolo. That prince of explorers had not fully +solved the riddle of the waterways of Central Africa. He had found what +were really the head waters of the Congo at and near Lake Moero; and +had even struck the mighty river itself as far down as Nyangwe; but he +could not prove that these great streams formed the upper waters of +the Congo. + +Stanley's journey in 1874-1877 led to many important discoveries. He +first made clear the shape and extent of Victoria Nyanza; he tracked the +chief feeder of that vast reservoir; and he proved that Lake Tanganyika +drained into the River Congo. Voyaging down its course to the mouth, he +found great and fertile territories, thus proving what Livingstone could +only surmise, that here was the natural waterway into the heart of "the +Dark Continent." + +Up to the year 1877 nearly all the pioneer work in the interior of the +Congo basin was the outcome of Anglo-American enterprise. Therefore, so +far as priority of discovery confers a claim to possession, that claim +belonged to the English-speaking peoples. King Leopold recognised the +fact and allowed a certain space of time for British merchants to enter +on the possession of what was potentially their natural "sphere of +influence." Stanley, however, failed to convince his countrymen of the +feasibility of opening up that vast district to peaceful commerce. At +that time they were suffering from severe depression in trade and +agriculture, and from the disputes resulting from the Eastern Question +both in the Near East and in Afghanistan. For the time "the weary Titan" +was preoccupied and could not turn his thoughts to commercial expansion, +which would speedily have cured his evils. Consequently, in November +1878, Stanley proceeded to Brussels in order to present to King Leopold +the opportunity which England let slip. + +Already the King of the Belgians had succeeded in arousing widespread +interest in the exploration of Africa. In the autumn of 1876 he convened +a meeting of leading explorers and geographers of the six Great Powers +and of Belgium for the discussion of questions connected with the +opening up of that continent; but at that time, and until the results +of Stanley's journey were made known, the King and his coadjutors +turned their gaze almost exclusively on East Africa. It is therefore +scarcely appropriate for one of the Belgian panegyrists of the King to +proclaim that when Central Africa celebrates its Day of Thanksgiving for +the countless blessings of civilisation conferred by that monarch, it +will look back on the day of meeting of that Conference (Sept. 12, 1876) +as the dawn of the new era of goodwill and prosperity[455]. King +Leopold, in opening the Conference, made use of the inspiring words +quoted at the head of this chapter, and asked the delegates to discuss +the means to be adopted for "planting definitely the standard of +civilisation on the soil of Central Africa." + +[Footnote 455: _L'Afrique nouvelle_. Par. E. Descamps, Brussels, Paris, +1903, p. 8.] + +As a result of the Conference, "The International Association for the +Exploration and Civilisation of Africa" was founded. It had committees +in most of the capitals of Europe, but the energy of King Leopold, and +the sums which he and his people advanced for the pioneer work of the +Association, early gave to that of Brussels a priority of which good use +was made in the sequel[456]. The Great Powers were at this time +distracted by the Russo-Turkish war and by the acute international +crisis that supervened. Thus the jealousies and weakness of the Great +Powers left the field free for Belgian activities, which, owing to the +energy of a British explorer, were definitely concentrated upon the +exploitation of the Congo. + +[Footnote 456: For details see J. de C. Macdonell, _King Leopold II_., +p. 113.] + +On November 25, 1878, a separate committee of the International +Association was formed at Brussels with the name of "Comité d'Études du +Haut Congo." In the year 1879 it took the title of the "International +Association of the Congo," and for all practical purposes superseded its +progenitor. Outwardly, however, the Association was still international. +Stanley became its chief agent on the River Congo, and in the years +1879-1880 made numerous treaties with local chiefs. In February 1880 he +founded the first station of the Association at Vivi, and within four +years established twenty-four stations on the main river and its chief +tributaries. The cost of these explorations was largely borne by +King Leopold. + +The King also commissioned Lieutenant von Wissmann to complete his +former work of discovery in the great district watered by the River +Kasai and its affluents; and in and after 1886 he and his coadjutor, Dr. +Wolf, greatly extended the knowledge of the southern and central parts +of the Congo basin[457]. In the meantime the British missionaries, Rev. +W.H. Bentley and Rev. G. Grenfell, carried on explorations, especially +on the River Ubangi, and in the lands between it and the Congo. The part +which missionaries have taken in the work of discovery and pacification +entitles them to a high place in the records of equatorial exploration; +and their influence has often been exerted beneficially on behalf of the +natives. We may add here that M. de Brazza did good work for the French +tricolour in exploring the land north of the Congo and Ubangi rivers; he +founded several stations, which were to develop into the great French +Congo colony. + +[Footnote 457: H. von Wissmann, _My Second Journey through Equatorial +Africa_, 1891. Rev. W.H. Bentley, _Pioneering on the Congo_, 2 vols.] + +Meanwhile events had transpired in Europe which served to give stability +to these undertakings. The energy thrown into the exploration of the +Congo basin soon awakened the jealousy of the Power which had long ago +discovered the mouth of the great river and its adjacent coasts. In the +years 1883, 1884, Portugal put forward a claim to the overlordship of +those districts on the ground of priority of discovery and settlement. +On all sides that claim was felt to be unreasonable. The occupation of +that territory by the Portuguese had been short-lived, and nearly all +traces of it had disappeared, except at Kabinda and one or two points on +the coast. The fact that Diogo Cam and others had discovered the mouth +of the Congo in the fifteenth century was a poor argument for closing to +other peoples, three centuries later, the whole of the vast territory +between that river and the mouth of the Zambesi. These claims raised the +problem of the Hinterland, that is, the ownership of the whole range of +territory behind a coast line. Furthermore, the Portuguese officials +were notoriously inefficient and generally corrupt; while the customs +system of that State was such as to fetter the activities of trade with +shackles of a truly mediaeval type. + +Over against these musty claims of Portugal there stood the offers of +"The International Association of the Congo" to bring the blessings of +free trade and civilisation to downtrodden millions of negroes, if only +access were granted from the sea. The contrast between the dull +obscurantism of Lisbon and the benevolent intentions of Brussels struck +the popular imagination. At that time the eye of faith discerned in the +King of the Belgians the ideal godfather of a noble undertaking, and +great was the indignation when Portugal interfered with freedom of +access to the sea at the mouth of the Congo. Various matters were also +in dispute between Portugal and Great Britain respecting trading rights +at that important outlet; and they were by no means settled by an +Anglo-Portuguese Convention of February 26 (1884), in which Lord +Granville, Foreign Minister in the Gladstone Cabinet, was thought to +display too much deference to questionable claims. Protests were urged +against this Convention, by the United States, France, and Germany, with +the result that the Lisbon Government proposed to refer all these +matters to a Conference of the Powers; and arrangements were soon made +for the summoning of their representatives to Berlin, under the +presidency of Prince Bismarck. + +Before the Conference met, the United States took the decisive step of +recognising the rights of the Association to the government of that +river-basin (April 10, 1884)--a proceeding which ought to have secured +to the United States an abiding influence on the affairs of the State +which they did so much to create. The example set by the United States +was soon followed by the other Powers. In that same month France +withdrew the objections which she had raised to the work of the +Association, and came to terms with it in a treaty whereby she gained +priority in the right of purchase of its claims and possessions. The way +having been thus cleared, the Berlin Conference met on November 15, +1884. Prince Bismarck suggested that the three chief topics for +consideration were (1) the freedom of navigation and of trade in the +Congo area; (2) freedom of navigation on the River Niger; (3) the +formalities to be thenceforth observed in lawful and valid annexations +of territories in Africa. The British plenipotentiary, Sir Edward Malet, +however, pointed out that, while his Government wished to preserve +freedom of navigation and of trade upon the Niger, it would object to +the formation of any international commission for those purposes, seeing +that Great Britain was the sole proprietory Power on the Lower Niger +(see Chapter XVIII.)[458]. This firm declaration possibly prevented the +intrusion of claims which might have led to the whittling down of +British rights on that great river. An Anglo-French Commission was +afterwards appointed to supervise the navigation of the Niger. + +[Footnote 458: See Protocols, _Parl. Papers_, Africa, No. 4 (1885), pp. +119 _et seq_.] + +The main question being thus concentrated on the Congo, Portugal was +obliged to defer to the practically unanimous refusal of the Powers to +recognise her claims over the lower parts of that river; and on November +19 she conceded the principle of freedom of trade on those waters. Next, +it was decided that the Congo Association should acquire and hold +governing rights over nearly the whole of the vast expanse drained by +the Congo, with some reservations in favour of France on the north and +Portugal on the south. The extension of the principle of freedom of +trade nearly to the Indian Ocean was likewise affirmed; and the +establishment of monopolies or privileges "of any kind" was distinctly +forbidden within the Congo area. + +An effort strictly to control the sale of intoxicating liquors to +natives lapsed owing to the strong opposition of Germany and Holland, +though a weaker motion on the same all-important matter found acceptance +(December 22). On January 7, 1885, the Conference passed a stringent +declaration against the slave-trade:--". . . these regions shall not be +used as markets or routes of transit for the trade in slaves, no matter +of what race. Each of these Powers binds itself to use all the means at +its disposal to put an end to this trade, and to punish those engaged +in it." + +The month of February saw the settlement of the boundary claims with +France and Portugal, on bases nearly the same as those still existing. +The Congo Association gained the northern bank of the river at its +mouth, but ceded to Portugal a small strip of coast line a little +further north around Kabinda. These arrangements were, on the whole, +satisfactory to the three parties. France now definitively gained by +treaty right her vast Congo territory of some 257,000 square miles in +area, while Portugal retained on the south of the river a coast nearly +1000 miles in length and a dominion estimated at 351,000 square miles. +The Association, though handing over to these Powers respectively 60,000 +and 45,000 square miles of land which its pioneers hoped to obtain, +nevertheless secured for itself an immense territory of some 870,000 +square miles. + +The General Act of the Berlin Conference was signed on February 26, +1885. Its terms and those of the Protocols prove conclusively that the +governing powers assigned to the Congo Association were assigned to a +neutral and international State, responsible to the Powers which gave it +its existence. In particular, Articles IV. and V. of the General Act ran +as follows:-- + + Merchandise imported into these regions shall remain free + from import and transit dues. The Powers reserve to + themselves to determine, after the lapse of twenty years, + whether this freedom of import shall be retained or not. + + No Power which exercises, or shall exercise, sovereign rights + in the above mentioned regions shall be allowed to grant + therein a monopoly or favour of any kind in matters of trade. + Foreigners, without distinction, shall enjoy protection of + their persons and property, as well as the right of acquiring + and transferring movable and immovable possessions, and + national rights and treatment in the exercise of their + professions. + +Before describing the growth of the Congo State, it is needful to refer +to two preliminary considerations. Firstly, it should be noted that the +Berlin Conference committed the mistake of failing to devise any means +for securing the observance of the principles there laid down. Its work, +considered in the abstract, was excellent. The mere fact that +representatives of the Powers could meet amicably to discuss and settle +the administration of a great territory which in other ages would have +provoked them to deadly strifes, was in itself a most hopeful augury, +and possibly the success of the Conference inspired a too confident +belief in the effective watchfulness of the Powers over the welfare of +the young State to which they then stood as godfathers. In any case it +must be confessed that they have since interpreted their duties in the +easy way to which godfathers are all too prone. As in the case of the +Treaty of Berlin of 1878, so in that of the Conference of Berlin of +1885, the fault lay not in the promise but in the failure of the +executors to carry out the terms of the promise. + +Another matter remains to be noted. It resulted from the demands urged +by Portugal in 1883-84. By way of retort, the plenipotentiaries now +declared any occupation of territory to be valid only when it had +effectively taken place and had been notified to all the Powers +represented at the Conference. It also defined a "sphere of influence" +as the area within which one Power is recognised as possessing priority +of claims over other States. The doctrine was to prove convenient for +expansive States in the future. + +The first important event in the life of the new State was the +assumption by King Leopold II. of sovereign powers. All nations, and +Belgium not the least, were startled by his announcement to his +Ministers, on April 16, 1885, that he desired the assent of the Belgian +Parliament to this proceeding. He stated that the union between Belgium +and the Congo State would be merely personal, and that the latter would +enjoy, like the former, the benefits of neutrality. The Parliament on +April 28 gave its assent, with but one dissentient voice, on the +understanding stated above. The Powers also signified their approval. On +August 1, King Leopold informed them of the facts just stated, and +announced that the new State took the title of the Congo Free State +(_L'État indépendant du Congo_)[459]. + +[Footnote 459: _The Story of the Congo Free State_, by H.W. Wack (New +York, 1905), p. 101; Wauters, _L'État indépendant du Congo_, pp. 36-37.] + +Questions soon arose concerning the delimitation of the boundary with +the French Congo territory; and these led to the signing of a protocol +at Brussels on April 29, 1887, whereby the Congo Free State gave up +certain of its claims in the northern part of the Congo region (the +right bank of the River Ubangi), but exacted in return the addition of a +statement "that the right of pre-emption accorded to France could not be +claimed as against Belgium, of which King Leopold is sovereign[460]." + +[Footnote 460: _The Congo State_, by D.C. Boulger (London, 1896), p. +62.] + +There seems, however, to be some question whether this clause is likely +to have any practical effect. The clause is obviously inoperative if +Belgium ultimately declines to take over the Congo territory, and there +is at least the chance that this will happen. If it does happen, King +Leopold and the Belgian Parliament recognise the prior claim of France +to all the Congolese territory. The King and the Congo Ministers seem to +have made use of this circumstance so as to strengthen the financial +relations of France to their new State in several ways, notably in the +formation of monopolist groups for the exploitation of Congoland. For +the present we may remark that by a clause of the Franco-Belgian Treaty +of Feb. 5, 1895, the Government of Brussels declared that it "recognises +the right of preference possessed by France over its Congolese +possessions, in case of their compulsory alienation, in whole or in +part[461]." + +[Footnote 461: Cattier, _Droit et Administration de l'État indépendent +du Congo_, p. 82.] + +Meanwhile King Leopold proceeded as if he were the absolute ruler of the +new State. He bestowed on it a constitution on the most autocratic +basis. M. Cattier, in his account of that constitution sums it up by +stating that + + The sovereign is the direct source of legislative, executive, + and judiciary powers. He can, if he chooses, delegate their + exercise to certain functionaries, but this delegation has no + other source than his will. . . . He can issue rules, on which, + so long as they last, is based the validity of certain acts + by himself or by his delegates. But he can cancel these rules + whenever they appear to him troublesome, useless, or + dangerous. The organisation of justice, the composition of + the army, financial systems, and industrial and commercial + institutions--all are established solely by him in accordance + with his just or faulty conceptions as to their usefulness or + efficiency[462]. + +[Footnote 462: Cattier, _op. cit._ pp. 134-135.] + +A natural outcome of such a line of policy was the gradual elimination +of non-Belgian officials. In July 1886 Sir Francis de Winton, Stanley's +successor in the administration of the Congo area, gave place to a +Belgian "Governor-General," M. Janssen; and similar changes were made in +all grades of the service. + +Meanwhile other events were occurring which enabled the officials of the +Congo State greatly to modify the provisions laid down at the Berlin +Conference. These events were as follows. For many years the Arab +slave-traders had been extending their raids in easterly and +south-easterly directions, until they began to desolate the parts of the +Congo State nearest to the great lakes and the Bahr-el-Ghazal. + +Their activity may be ascribed to the following causes. The slave-trade +has for generations been pursued in Africa. The negro tribes themselves +have long practised it; and the Arabs, in their gradual conquest of +many districts of Central Africa, found it to be by far the most +profitable of all pursuits. The market was almost boundless; for since +the Congress of Vienna (1815) and the Congress of Verona (1822) the +Christian Powers had forbidden their subjects any longer to pursue that +nefarious calling. It is true that kidnapping of negroes went on +secretly, despite all the efforts of British cruisers to capture the +slavers. It is said that the last seizure of a Portuguese schooner +illicitly trading in human flesh was made off the Congo coast as late as +the year 1868[463]. But the cessation of the trans-Atlantic slave-trade +only served to stimulate the Arab man-hunters of Eastern Africa to +greater efforts; and the rise of Mahdism quickened the demand for slaves +in an unprecedented manner. Thus, the hateful trade went on apace, +threatening to devastate the Continent which explorers, missionaries, +and traders were opening up. + +[Footnote 463: A.J. Wauters, _L'État indépendent du Congo_, p. 52.] + +The civilising and the devastating processes were certain soon to clash; +and, as Stanley had foreseen, the conflict broke out on the Upper Congo. +There the slave-raiders, subsidised or led by Arabs of Zanzibar, were +specially active. Working from Ujiji and other bases, they attacked some +of the expeditions sent by the Congo Free State. Chief among the raiders +was a half-caste Arab negro nick-named Tipu Tib ("The gatherer of +wealth"), who by his energy and cunning had become practically the +master of a great district between the Congo and Lake Tanganyika. At +first (1887-1888) the Congo Free State adopted Stanley's suggestion of +appointing Tipu Tib to be its governor of the Stanley Falls district, at +a salary of £30 a month[464]. So artificial an arrangement soon broke +down, and war broke out early in 1892. The forces of the Congo Free +State, led by Commandants Dhanis and Lothaire, and by Captain S.L. +Hinde, finally worsted the Arabs after two long and wearisome campaigns +waged on the Upper Congo. Into the details of the war it is impossible +to enter. The accounts of all the operations, including that of Captain +Hinde[465], are written with a certain reserve; and the impression that +the writers were working on behalf of civilisation and humanity is +somewhat blurred by the startling admissions made by Captain Hinde in a +paper read by him before the Royal Geographical Society in London, on +March 11, 1895. He there stated that the Arabs, "despite their +slave-raiding propensities," had "converted the Manyema and Malela +country into one of the most prosperous in Central Africa." He also +confessed that during the fighting the two flourishing towns, Nyangwe +and Kasongo, had been wholly swept away. In view of these statements the +results of the campaign cannot be regarded with unmixed satisfaction. + +[Footnote 464: Stanley, _In Darkest Africa_, vol. i. pp. 60-70.] + +[Footnote 465: _The Fall of the Congo Arabs_, by Capt. S.L. Hinde +(London, 1897).] + +Such, however, was not the view taken at the time. Not long before, the +Continent had rung with the sermons and speeches of Cardinal Lavigerie, +Bishop of Algiers, who, like a second Peter the Hermit, called all +Christians to unite in a great crusade for the extirpation of slavery. +The outcome of it all was the meeting of an Anti-Slavery Conference at +Brussels, at the close of 1889, in which the Powers that had framed the +Berlin Act again took part. The second article passed at Brussels +asserted among other things the duties of the Powers "in giving aid to +commercial enterprises to watch over their legality, controlling +especially the contracts for service entered into with natives." The +abuses in the trade in firearms were to be carefully checked and +controlled. + +Towards the close of the Conference a proposal was brought forward (May +10, 1890) to the effect that, as the suppression of the slave-trade and +the work of upraising the natives would entail great expense, it was +desirable to annul the clause in the Berlin Act prohibiting the +imposition of import duties for, at least, twenty years from that date +(that is, up to the year 1905). The proposal seemed so plausible as to +disarm the opposition of all the Powers, except Holland, which strongly +protested against the change. Lord Salisbury's Government neglected to +safeguard British interests in this matter; and, despite the +unremitting opposition of the Dutch Government, the obnoxious change was +finally registered on January 2, 1892, it being understood that the +duties were not to exceed 10 per cent _ad valorem_ except in the case of +spirituous liquors, and that no differential treatment would be accorded +to the imports of any nation or nations. + +Thus the European Powers, yielding to the specious plea that they must +grant the Congo Free State the power of levying customs dues in order to +further its philanthropic aims, gave up one of the fundamentals agreed +on at the Berlin Conference. The _raison d'être_ of the Congo Free State +was, that it stood for freedom of trade in that great area; and to sign +away one of the birthrights of modern civilisation, owing to the plea of +a temporary want of cash in Congoland, can only be described as the act +of a political Esau. The General Act of the Brussels Conference received +a provisional sanction (the clause respecting customs dues not yet being +definitively settled) on July 2, 1890[466]. + +[Footnote 466: On August 1, 1890, the Sultan of Zanzibar declared that +no sale of slaves should thenceforth take place in his dominions. He +also granted to slaves the right of appeal to him in case they were +cruelly treated. See Parl. Papers, Africa, No. 1 (1890-91).] + +On the next day the Congo Free State entered into a financial +arrangement with the Belgian Government which marked one more step in +the reversal of the policy agreed on at Berlin five years previously. In +this connection we must note that King Leopold by his will, dated August +2, 1889, bequeathed to Belgium after his death all his sovereign rights +over that State, "together with all the benefits, rights and advantages +appertaining to that sovereignty." Apparently, the occasion that called +forth the will was the urgent need of a loan of 10,000,000 francs which +the Congo State pressed the Belgian Government to make on behalf of the +Congo railway. Thus, on the very eve of the summoning of the European +Conference at Brussels, the Congo Government (that is, King Leopold) +had appealed, not to the Great Powers, but to the Belgian Government, +and had sought to facilitate the grant of the desired loan by the +prospect of the ultimate transfer of his sovereign rights to Belgium. + +Unquestionably the King had acted very generously in the past toward the +Congo Association and State. It has even been affirmed that his loans +often amounted to the sum of 40,000,000 francs a year; but, even so, +that did not confer the right to will away to any one State the results +of an international enterprise. As a matter of fact, however, the Congo +State was at that time nearly bankrupt; and in this circumstance, +doubtless, may be found an explanation of the apathy of the Powers in +presence of an infraction of the terms of the Berlin Act of 1885. + +We are now in a position to understand more clearly the meaning of the +Convention of July 3, 1890, between the Congo Free State and the Belgian +Government. By its terms the latter pledged itself to advance a loan of +25,000,000 francs to the Congo State in the course of ten years, without +interest, on condition that at the close of six months after the +expiration of that time Belgium should have the right of annexing the +Free State with all its possessions and liabilities. + +Into the heated discussions which took place in the Belgian Parliament +in the spring and summer of 1901 respecting the Convention of July 3, +1890, we cannot enter. The King interfered so as to prevent the +acceptance of a reasonable compromise proposed by the Belgian Prime +Minister, M. Beernaert; and ultimately matters were arranged by a decree +of August 7, 1901, which will probably lead to the transference of King +Leopold's sovereign rights to Belgium at his death. In the meantime, the +entire executive and legislative control is vested in him, and in a +Colonial Minister and Council of four members, who are responsible +solely to him, though the Minister has a seat in the Belgian +Parliament[467]. To King Leopold, therefore, belongs the ultimate +responsibility for all that is done in the Congo Free State. As M. +Cattier phrased it in the year 1898: "Belgium has no more right to +intervene in the internal affairs of the Congo than the Congo State has +to intervene in Belgian affairs. As regards the Congo Government, +Belgium has no right either of intervention, direction, or +control[468]." + +[Footnote 467: H.R. Fox-Bourne, _Civilisation in Congoland_ p. 277.] + +[Footnote 468: M. Cattier, _op. cit._ p. 88.] + +Very many Belgians object strongly to the building up of an _imperium in +imperio _in their land; and the wealth which the ivory and rubber of the +Congo brings into their midst (not to speak of the stock-jobbing and +company-promoting which go on at Brussels and Antwerp), does not blind +them to the moral responsibility which the Belgian people has indirectly +incurred. It is true that Belgium has no legal responsibility, but the +State which has lent a large sum to the Congo Government, besides +providing the great majority of the officials and exploiters of that +territory, cannot escape some amount of responsibility. M. Vandervelde, +leader of the Labour Party in Belgium, has boldly and persistently +asserted the right of the Belgian people to a share in the control of +its eventual inheritance, but hitherto all the efforts of his colleagues +have failed before the groups of capitalists who have acquired great +monopolist rights in Congoland. + +Having now traced the steps by which the Congolese Government reached +its present anomalous position, we will proceed to give a short account +of its material progress and administration. + +No one can deny that much has been done in the way of engineering. A +light railway has been constructed from near Vivi on the Lower Congo to +Stanley Pool, another from Boma into the districts north of that +important river port. Others have been planned, or are already being +constructed, between Stanley Falls and the northern end of Lake +Tanganyika, with a branch to the Albert Nyanza. Another line will +connect the upper part of the River Congo with the westernmost affluent +of the River Kasai, thus taking the base of the arc instead of the +immense curve of the main stream. By the year 1903, 480 kilometres of +railway were open for traffic, while 1600 more were in course of +construction or were being planned. It seems that the first 400 +kilometres, in the hilly region near the seaboard, cost 75,000,000 +francs in place of the 25,000,000 francs first estimated[469]. +Road-making has also been pushed on in many directions. A flotilla of +steamers plies on the great river and its chief affluents. In 1885 there +were but five; the number now exceeds a hundred. As many as 1532 +kilometres of telegraphs are now open. The exports advanced from +1,980,441 francs in 1885-86 to 50,488,394 francs in 1901-02, mainly +owing to the immense trade in rubber, of which more anon; the imports +from 9,175,103 francs in 1893 to 23,102,064 in 19O1-O2[470]. + +[Footnote 469: _L'Afrique nouvelle,_ by E. Descamps (1903), chap. xv. +Much of the credit of the early railway-making was due to Colonel Thys.] + +[Footnote 470: _Ibid_. pp. 589-590.] + +Far more important is the moral gain which has resulted from the +suppression of the slave-trade over a large part of the State. On this +point we may quote the testimony of Mr. Roger Casement, British Consul +at Boma, in an official report founded on observations taken during a +long tour up the Congo. He writes: "The open selling of slaves and the +canoe convoys which once navigated the Upper Congo have everywhere +disappeared. No act of the Congo State Government has perhaps produced +more laudable results than the vigorous suppression of this widespread +evil[471]." + +[Footnote 471: Parl. Papers, Africa, No. I (1904), p. 26.] + +King Leopold has also striven hard to extend the bounds of the Congo +State. Not satisfied with his compact with France of April 1887, which +fixed the River Ubangi and its tributaries as the boundary of their +possessions, he pushed ahead to the north-east of those confines, and +early in the nineties established posts at Lado on the White Nile and in +the Bahr-el-Ghazal basin. Clearly his aim was to conquer the districts +which Egypt for the time had given up to the Mahdi. These efforts +brought about sharp friction between the Congolese authorities and +France and Great Britain. After long discussions the Cabinet of London +agreed to the convention of May 12, 1894, whereby the Congo State gained +the Bahr-el-Ghazal basin and the left bank of the Upper Nile, together +with a port on the Albert Nyanza. On his side, King Leopold recognised +the claims of England to the right bank of the Nile and to a strip of +land between the Albert Nyanza and Lake Tanganyika. Owing to the strong +protests of France and Germany this agreement was rescinded, and the +Cabinet of Paris finally compelled King Leopold to give up all claims to +the Bahr-el-Ghazal, though he acquired the right to lease the Lado +district below the Albert Nyanza. The importance of these questions in +the development of British policy in the Nile basin has been pointed out +in Chapter XVII. + +The ostensible aim, however, of the founders of the Congo Free State +was, not the exploitation of the Upper Nile district, the making of +railways and the exportation of great quantities of ivory and rubber +from Congoland, but the civilising and uplifting of Central Africa. The +General Act of the Berlin Conference begins with an invocation to +Almighty God; and the Brussels Conference imitated its predecessor in +this particular. It is, therefore, as a civilising and moralising agency +that the Congo Government will always be judged at the bar of posterity. + +The first essential of success in dealing with backward races is +sympathy with their most cherished notions. Yet from the very outset one +of these was violated. On July 1, 1885, a decree of the Congo Free State +asserted that all vacant lands were the property of the Government, that +is, virtually of the King himself. Further, on June 30, 1887, an +ordinance was decreed, claiming the right to let or sell domains, and to +grant mining or wood-cutting rights on any land, "the ownership of which +is not recognised as appertaining to any one." These decrees, we may +remark, were for some time kept secret, until their effects +became obvious. + +All who know anything of the land systems of primitive peoples will see +that they contravened the customs which the savage holds dear. The plots +actually held and tilled by the natives are infinitesimally small when +compared with the vast tracts over which their tribes claim hunting, +pasturage, and other rights. The land system of the savage is everywhere +communal. Individual ownership in the European sense is a comparatively +late development. The Congolese authorities must have known this; for +nearly all troubles with native races have arisen from the profound +differences in the ideas of the European and the savage on the subject +of land-holding. + +Yet, in face of the experience of former times, the Congo State put +forward a claim which has led, or will lead, to the confiscation of all +tribal or communal land-rights in that huge area. Such confiscation may, +perhaps, be defended in the case of the United States, where the +new-comers enormously outnumbered the Red Indians, and tilled land that +previously lay waste. It is indefensible in the tropics, where the white +settlers will always remain the units as compared with the millions whom +they elevate or exploit[472]. The savage holds strongly to certain +rudimentary ideas of justice, especially to the right, which he and his +tribe have always claimed and exercised, of _using_ the tribal land for +the primary needs of life. When he is denied the right of hunting, +cutting timber, or pasturage, he feels "cribbed, cabined, and confined." +This, doubtless, is the chief source of the quarrels between the new +State and its _protégés_, also of the depression of spirits which Mr. +Casement found so prevalent. The best French authorities on colonial +development now admit that it is madness to interfere with the native +land tenures in tropical Africa. + +The method used in the enlisting of men for public works and for the +army has also caused many troubles. This question is admittedly one of +great difficulty. Hard work must be done, and, in the tropics, the white +man can only direct it. Besides, where life is fairly easy, men will not +readily come forward to labour. Either the inducement offered must be +adequate, or some form of compulsory enlistment must be adopted. The +Belgian officials, in the plentiful lack of funds that has always +clogged their State, have tried compulsion, generally through the native +chiefs. These are induced, by the offer of cotton cloth or +bright-coloured handkerchiefs, to supply men from the tribe. If the +labourers are not forthcoming, the chief is punished, his village being +sometimes burned. By means, then, of gaudy handkerchiefs, or firebrands, +the labourers are obtained. They figure as "apprentices," under the law +of November 8, 1888, which accorded "special protection to the blacks." + +[Footnote 472: The number of whites in Congoland is about 1700, of whom +1060 are Belgians; the blacks number about 29,000,000, according to +Stanley; the Belgian Governor-General, Wahis, thinks this below the +truth. See Wauters, _L'État indépendant du Congo,_ pp. 261, 432.] + +The British Consul, Mr. Casement, in his report on the administration of +the Congo, stated that the majority of the government workmen at +Léopoldville were under some form of compulsion, but were, on the whole, +well cared for[473]. + +[Footnote 473: Parl. Papers, Africa, No. 1 (1904), p. 27.] + +According to a German resident in Congoland, the lot of the apprentices +differs little from that of slaves. Their position, as contrasted with +that of their former relation to the chief, is humorously defined by the +term _libérés_[474] The hardships of the labourers on the State railways +were such that the British Government refused to allow them to be +recruited from Sierra Leone or other British possessions. + +[Footnote 474: A. Boshart, _Zehn Jahre Afrikanischen Lebens_ (1898), +quoted by Fox Bourne, _op. cit._ p. 77. For further details see the +article by Mr. Glave, once an official of the Congo Free State, in the +_Century Magazine_, vol. liii.; also his work, _Six Years in the +Congo_ (1892).] + +However, now that a British Cabinet has allowed a great colony to make +use of indentured yellow labour in its mines, Great Britain cannot, +without glaring inconsistency, lodge any protest against the +infringement, in Congoland, of the Act of the Berlin Conference in the +matter of the treatment of hired labourers. If the lot of the Congolese +apprentices is to be bettered, the initiative must be taken at some +capital other than London. + +Another subject which nearly concerns the welfare of the Congo State is +the recruiting and use of native troops. These are often raised from the +most barbarous tribes of the far interior; their pay is very small; and +too often the main inducement to serve under the blue banner with the +golden star, is the facility for feasting and plunder at the expense of +other natives who have not satisfied the authorities. As one of them +naïvely said to Mr. Casement, _he preferred to be with the hunters +rather than with the hunted._ + +It seems that grave abuses first crept in during the course of the +campaign for the extirpation of slavery and slave-raiding in the Stanley +Falls region. The Arab slave-raiders were rich, not only in slaves, but +in ivory--prizes which tempted the cupidity of the native troops, and +even, it is said, of their European officers. In any case, it is certain +that the liberating forces, hastily raised and imperfectly controlled, +perpetrated shocking outrages on the tribes for whose sake they were +waging war. The late Mr. Glave, in the article in the _Century Magazine_ +above referred to, found reason for doubting whether the crusade did not +work almost as much harm as the evils it was sent to cure. His words +were these: "The black soldiers are bent on fighting and raiding; they +want no peaceful settlement. They have good rifles and ammunition, +realise their superiority over the natives with their bows and arrows, +and they want to shoot and kill and rob. Black delights to kill black, +whether the victim be man, woman, or child, and no matter how +defenceless." This deep-seated habit of mind is hard to eradicate; and +among certain of the less reputable of the Belgian officers it has +occasionally been used, in order to terrorise into obedience tribes that +kicked against the decrees of the Congo State. + +Undoubtedly there is great difficulty in avoiding friction with native +tribes. All Governments have at certain times and places behaved more or +less culpably towards them. British annals have been fouled by many a +misdeed on the part of harsh officials and grasping pioneers, while +recent revelations as to the treatment of natives in Western Australia +show the need of close supervision of officials even in a popularly +governed colony. The record of German East Africa and the French Congo +is also very far from clean. Still, in the opinion of all who have +watched over the welfare of the aborigines--among whom we may name Sir +Charles Dilke and Mr. Fox Bourne--the treatment of the natives in a +large part of the Congo Free State has been worse than in the districts +named above[475]. There is also the further damning fact that the very +State which claimed to be a great philanthropic agency has, until very +recently, refused to institute any full inquiry into the alleged defects +of its administration. + +[Footnote 475: Sir Charles Dilke stated this very forcibly in a speech +delivered at the Holborn Town Hall on June 7, 1905.] + +Some of these defects may be traced to the bad system of payment of +officials. Not only are they underpaid, but they have no pension, such +as is given by the British, French, and Dutch Governments to their +employees. The result is that the Congolese officer looks on his term of +service in that unhealthy climate as a time when he must enrich himself +for life. Students of Roman History know that, when this feeling becomes +a tradition, it is apt to lead to grave abuses, the recital of which +adds an undying interest to the speech of Cicero against Verres. In the +case of the Congolese administrators the State provided (doubtless +unwittingly) an incentive to harshness. It frequently supplemented its +inadequate stipends by "gratifications," which are thus described and +criticised by M. Cattier: "The custom was introduced of paying to +officials prizes proportioned to the amount of produce of the 'private +domain' of the State, and of the taxes paid by the natives. That +amounted to the inciting, by the spur of personal interest, of officials +to severity and to rigour in the application of laws and regulations." +Truly, a more pernicious application of the plan of "payment by results" +cannot be conceived; and M. Cattier affirms that, though nominally +abolished, it existed in reality down to the year 1898. + +Added to this are defects arising from the uncertainty of employment. An +official may be discharged at once by the Governor-General on the ground +of unfitness for service in Africa; and the man, when discharged, has no +means of gaining redress. The natural result is the growth of a habit of +almost slavish obedience to the authorities, not only in regard to the +written law, but also to private and semi-official intimations[476]. + +[Footnote 476: Cattier, _Droit et Administration . . . du Congo,_ pp. +243-245.] + +Another blot on the record of the Congo Free State is the exclusive +character of the trading corporation to which it has granted +concessions. Despite the promises made to private firms that early +sought to open up business in its land, the Government itself has become +a great trading corporation, with monopolist rights which close great +regions to private traders and subject the natives to vexatious burdens. +This system took definite form in September 1891, when the Government +claimed exclusive rights in trade in the extreme north and north-east. +At the close of that year Captain Baert, the administrator of these +districts, also enjoined the collection of rubber and other products by +the natives for the benefit of the State. + +The next step was to forbid to private traders in that quarter the right +of buying these products from natives. In May 1892 the State monopoly in +rubber, etc., was extended to the "Equator" district, natives not being +allowed to sell them to any one but a State official. Many of the +merchants protested, but in vain. The chief result of their protest was +the establishment of privileged companies, the "Société Anversoise" and +the "Anglo-Belgian," and the reservation to the State of large areas +under the title of _Domaines privés_ (Oct. 1892)[477]. The apologetic +skill of the partisans of the Congo State is very great; but it will +hardly be equal to the task of proving that this new departure is not a +direct violation of Article V. of the General Act of the Berlin +Conference of 1885, quoted above. + +[Footnote 477: For a map of the domains now appropriated by these and +other privileged "Trusts," see Morel, _op. cit._ p. 466.] + +A strange commentary on the latter part of that article, according full +protection to all foreigners, was furnished by the execution of the +ex-missionary, Stokes, at the hands of Belgian officials in 1895--a +matter for which the Congo Government finally made grudging and +incomplete reparation[478]. Another case was as bad. In 1901 an Austrian +trader, Rabinek, was arrested and imprisoned for "illegal" trading in +rubber in the "Katanga Trust" country. Treated unfeelingly during his +removal down the country, he succumbed to fever. His effects were seized +and have not been restored to his heirs[479]. + +[Footnote 478: See the evidence in Parl. Papers, Africa. No. 8 (1896).] + +[Footnote 479: Morel, _op. cit._ chaps. xxiii.-xxv.] + +When such treatment is meted out to white men who pursued their trade in +reliance on the original constitution of the State, the natives may be +expected to fare badly. Their misfortunes thickened when the Government, +on the plea that natives must contribute towards the expenses of the +State, began to require them to collect and hand in a certain amount of +rubber. The evidence of Mr. Casement clearly shows that the natives +could not understand why this should suddenly be imposed on them; that +the amount claimed was often excessive; and that the punishment meted +out for failure to comply with the official demands led to many +barbarous actions on the part of officials and their native troops. +Thus, at Bolobo, he found large numbers of industrious workers in iron +who had fled from the "Domaine de la Couronne" (King Leopold's private +domain) because "they had endured such ill-treatment at the hands of the +Government officials and Government soldiers in their own country that +life had become intolerable, that nothing had remained for them at home +but to be killed for failure to bring in a certain amount of rubber, or +to die of starvation or exposure in their attempts to satisfy the +demands made upon them[480]." + +[Footnote 480: Parl. Papers, Africa, No. I (1904), pp. 29, 60. A +missionary, Rev. J. Whitehead, wrote in July 1903: "During the past +seven years this 'domaine privé' of King Leopold has been a veritable +'hell on earth.'" (_Ibid_. p. 64).] + +On the north side of Lake Mantumba Mr. Casement found that the +population had diminished by 60 or 70 per cent since the imposition of +the rubber tax in 1893--a fact, however, which may be partly assigned to +the sleeping sickness. The tax led to constant fighting, until at last +the officials gave up the effort and imposed a requisition of food or +gum-copal; the change seems to have been satisfactory there and in other +parts where it has been tried. In the former time the native soldiers +punished delinquents with mutilation: proofs on this subject here and in +several other places were indisputable. On the River Lulongo, Mr. +Casement found that the amount of rubber collected from the natives +generally proved to be in proportion to the number of guns used by the +collecting force[481]. In some few cases natives were shot, even by +white officers, on account of their failure to bring in the due amount +of rubber[482]. A comparatively venial form of punishment was the +capture and detention of wives until their husbands made up the tale. Is +it surprising that thousands of the natives of the north have fled into +French Congoland, itself by no means free from the grip of monopolist +companies, but not terrorised as are most of the tribes of the +"Free State"? + +[Footnote 481: _Ibid_. pp. 34, 43, 44, 49, 76, etc.] + +[Footnote 482: _Ibid_. p. 70. The effort made by the Chevalier De +Cuvelier to rebut Mr. Casement's charges consists mainly of an +ineffective _tu quoque_. To compare the rubber-tax of the Congo State +with the hut-tax of Sierra Leone begs the whole question. Mr. Casement +proves (p. 27) that the natives do not object to reasonable taxation +which comes regularly. They do object to demands for rubber which are +excessive and often involve great privations. Above all, the punishments +utterly cow them and cause them to flee to the forests. + +The efforts of Mr. Macdonnell in _King Leopold II_. (London, 1905) to +refute Mr. Casement also seem to me weak and inconclusive. The reply of +the Congo Free State is printed by Mr. H.W. Wack in the Appendix of his +_Story of the Congo Free State_ (New York, 1905). It convicts Mr. +Casement of inaccuracy on a few details. Despite all that has been +written by various apologists, it may be affirmed that the Congo Free +State has yet made no adequate defence. Possibly it will appear in the +report which, it is hoped, will be published in full by the official +commission of inquiry now sitting.] + +Livingstone, in his day, regarded ivory as the chief cause of the +slave-trade in Central and Eastern Africa; but it is questionable +whether even ivory (now a vanishing product) brought more woe to +millions of negroes than the viscous fluid which enables the +pleasure-seekers of Paris, London, and New York to rush luxuriously +through space. The swift Juggernaut of the present age is accountable +for as much misery as ever sugar or ivory was in the old slave days. But +it seems that, so long as the motor-car industry prospers, the dumb woes +of the millions of Africa will count for little in the Courts of Europe. +During the session of 1904 Lord Lansdowne made praiseworthy efforts to +call their attention to the misgovernment of the Congo State; but he met +with no response except from the United States, Italy, and Turkey(!) A +more signal proof of the weakness and cynical selfishness now prevalent +in high quarters has never been given than in this abandonment of a +plain and bounden duty. + +A slight amount of public spirit on the part of the signatories of the +Berlin Act would have sufficed to prevent Congolese affairs drifting +into the present highly anomalous situation. That land is not Belgian, +and it is not international--except in a strictly legal sense. It is +difficult to say what it is if it be not the private domain of King +Leopold and of several monopolist-controlling trusts. Probably the only +way out of the present slough of despond is the definite assumption of +sole responsibility by the Belgian people; for it should be remembered +that a very large number of patriotic Belgians urgently long to redress +evils for which they feel themselves to be indirectly, and to a limited +extent, chargeable. At present, those who carefully study the evidence +relating to the Berlin Conference of 1885, and the facts, so far as they +are ascertainable to-day, must pronounce the Congo experiment to be a +terrible failure. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +RUSSIA IN THE FAR EAST + + "This war, waged . . . for the command of the waters of the + Pacific Ocean, so urgently necessary for the peaceful + prosperity, not only of our own, but of other nations."--_The + Czar's Proclamation of March 3, 1905_. + + +Of all the collisions of racial interests that have made recent history, +none has turned the thoughts of the world to regions so remote, and +events so dramatic in their intensity and momentous in their results, as +that which has come about in Manchuria. The Far Eastern Question is the +outcome of the expansion of two vigorous races, that of Russia and +Japan, at the expense of the almost torpid polity of China. The struggle +has taken place in the debatable lands north and west of Korea, where +Tartars and Chinese formerly warred for supremacy, and where +geographical and commercial considerations enhance the value of the most +northerly of the ice-free ports of the Continent of Asia. + +In order to understand the significance of this great struggle, we must +look back to the earlier stages of the extension of Russian influence. +Up to a very recent period the eastern growth of Russia affords an +instance of swift and natural expansion. Picture on the one side a young +and vigorous community, dowered with patriotic pride by the long and +eventually triumphant conflict with the Tartar hordes, and dwelling in +dreary plains where Nature now and again drives men forth on the quest +for a sufficiency of food. On the other hand, behold a vast territory, +well-watered, with no natural barrier between the Urals and the Pacific, +sparsely inhabited by tribes of nomads having little in common. The one +active community will absorb the ill-organised units as inevitably as +the rising tide overflows the neighbouring mud-flats when once the +intervening barrier is overtopped. In the case of Russia and Siberia the +only barrier is that of the Ural Mountains; and their gradual slopes +form a slighter barrier than is anywhere else figured on the map of the +world in so conspicuous a chain. The Urals once crossed, the slopes and +waterways invite the traveller eastwards. + +The French revolutionists of 1793 used to say, "With bread and iron one +can get to China." Russian pioneers had made good that boast nearly two +centuries before it was uttered in Paris. The impelling force which set +in motion the Muscovite tide originated with a man whose name is rarely +heard outside Russia. Yet, if the fame of men were proportionate to the +effect of their exploits, few names would be more widely known than that +of Jermak. This man had been a hauler of boats up the banks of the +Volga, until his strength, hardihood, and love of adventure impelled him +to a freebooting life, wherein his powers of command and the fierce +thoroughness of his methods speedily earned him the name of Jermak, "the +millstone." In the year 1580, the wealthy family of the Stroganoffs, +tempted by stories of the wealth to be gained from the fur-bearing +animals of Siberia, turned their thoughts to Jermak and his robber band +as the readiest tools for the conquest of those plains. The enterprise +appealed to Jermak and the hardy Cossacks with whom he had to do. He and +his men were no less skilled in river craft than in fighting; and the +roving Cossack spirit kindled at the thought of new lands to harry. +Proceeding by boat from Perm, they worked their way into the spurs of +the Urals, and then by no very long _portage_ crossed one of its lower +passes and found themselves on one of the tributaries of the Obi. + +Thenceforth their course was easy. Jermak and his small band of picked +fighters were more than a match for the wretchedly armed and +craven-spirited Tartars, who fled at the sound of firearms. In 1581 the +settlement, called Sibir, fell to the invaders; and, though they soon +abandoned this rude encampment for a new foundation, the town of +Tobolsk, yet the name Siberia recalls their pride at the conquest of the +enemy's capital. The traditional skill of the Cossacks in the handling +of boats greatly aided their advance, and despite the death of Jermak in +battle, his men pressed on and conquered nearly the half of Siberia +within a decade. What Drake and the sea-dogs of Devon were then doing +for England on the western main, was being accomplished for Russia by +the ex-pirate and his band from the Volga. The two expansive movements +were destined finally to meet on the shores of the Pacific in the +northern creeks of what is now British Columbia. + +The later stages in Russian expansion need not detain us here. The +excellence of the Cossack methods in foraying, pioneer-work, and the +forming of military settlements, consolidated the Muscovite conquests. +The Tartars were fain to submit to the Czar, or to flee to the nomad +tribes of Central Asia or Northern China. The invaders reached the River +Lena in the year 1630; and some of their adventurers voyaged down the +Amur, and breasted the waves of the Pacific in 1636. Cossack bands +conquered Kamchatka in 1699-1700[483]. + +[Footnote 483: Vladimir, _Russia en the Pacific._] + +Meanwhile the first collision between the white and the yellow races +took place on the River Amur, which the Chinese claimed as their own. At +first the Russians easily prevailed; but in the year 1689 they suffered +a check. New vigour was then manifested in the councils of Pekin, and +the young Czar, Peter the Great, in his longing for triumphs over Swedes +and Turks, thought lightly of gains at the expense of the "celestials." +He therefore gave to Russian energies that trend westwards and +southwards, which after him marked the reigns of Catharine II., +Alexander I., and, in part, of Nicholas I. The surrender of the Amur +valley to China in 1689 ended all efforts of Russia in that direction +for a century and a half. Many Russians believe that the earlier impulse +was sounder and more fruitful in results for Russia than her meddling in +the wars of the French Revolution and Empire. + +Not till 1846 did Russia resume her march down the valley of the Amur; +and then the new movement was partly due to British action. At that time +the hostility of Russia and Britain was becoming acute on Asiatic and +Turkish questions. Further, the first Anglo-Chinese War (1840-42) led to +the cession of Hong-Kong to the distant islanders, who also had five +Chinese ports opened to their trade. This enabled Russia to pose as the +protector of China, and to claim points of vantage whence her covering +wings might be extended over that Empire. The statesmen of Pekin had +little belief in the genuineness of these offers, especially in view of +the thorough exploration of the Amur region and the Gulf of Okhotsk +which speedily ensued. + +The Czar, in fact, now inaugurated a forward Asiatic policy, and +confided it to an able governor, Muravieff (1847). The new departure was +marked by the issue of an imperial ukase (1851) ordering the Russian +settlers beyond Lake Baikal to conform to the Cossack system; that is, +to become liable to military duties in return for the holding of land in +the more exposed positions. Three years later Muravieff ordered 6000 +Cossacks to migrate from these trans-Baikal settlements to the land +newly acquired from China on the borders of Manchuria[484]. In the same +year the Russians established a station at the mouth of the Amur, and in +1853 gained control over part of the Island of Saghalien. + +[Footnote 484: Popowski, _The Rival Powers in Central Asia_, p. 13.] + +For the present, then, everything seemed to favour Russia's forward +policy. The tribes on the Amur were passive; an attack of an +Anglo-French squadron on Petropaulovsk, a port in Kamchatka, failed +(Aug. 1854); and the Russians hoped to be able to harry British commerce +from this and other naval bases in the Pacific. Finally, the rupture +with England and France, and the beginning of the Taeping rebellion in +China, induced the Court of Pekin to agree to Russia's demands for the +Amur boundary, and for a subsequent arrangement respecting the ownership +of the districts between the mouth of that river and the bay on which +now stands the port of Vladivostok (May 15, 1858). The latter concession +left the door open for Muravieff to push on Russia's claims to this +important wedge of territory. His action was characteristic. He settled +Cossacks along the River Ussuri, a southern tributary of the Amur, and, +by pressing ceaselessly on the celestials (then distracted by a war with +England and France), he finally brought them to agree to the cession of +the district around the new settlement, which was soon to receive the +name of Vladivostok ("Lord of the East"). He also acquired for the Czar +the Manchurian coast down to the bounds of Korea (November 2, 1860). +Russia thus threw her arms around the great province which had provided +China with her dynasty and her warrior caste, and was still one of the +wealthiest and most cherished lands of that Empire. Having secured these +points of vantage in Northern China, the Muscovites could await with +confidence further developments in the decay of that once +formidable organism. + +Such, in brief, is the story of Russian expansion from the Urals to the +Sea of Japan. Probably no conquest of such magnitude was ever made with +so little expenditure of blood and money. In one sense this is its +justification, that is, if we view the course of events, not by the +limelight of abstract right, but by the ordinary daylight of expediency. +Conquests which strain the resources of the victors and leave the +vanquished longing for revenge, carry their own condemnation. On the +other hand, the triumph of Russia over the ill-organised tribes of +Siberia and northern Manchuria reminds one of the easy and unalterable +methods of Nature, which compels a lower type of life to yield up its +puny force for the benefit of a higher. It resembles the victory of man +over quadrupeds, of order over disorder, of well-regulated strength over +weakness and stupidity. + +Muravieff deserves to rank among the makers of modern Russia. He waited +his time, used his Cossack pawns as an effective screen to each new +opening of the game, and pushed his foes hardest when they were at their +weakest. Moreover, like Bismarck, he knew when to stop. He saw the limit +that separated the practicable from the impracticable. He brought the +Russian coast near to the latitudes where harbours are free from ice; +but he forbore to encroach on Korea--a step which would have brought +Japan on to the field of action. The Muscovite race, it was clear, had +swallowed enough to busy its digestive powers for many a year; and it +was partly on his advice that Russian North America was sold to the +United States. + +Still, Russia's advance southwards towards ice-free ports was only +checked, not stopped. In 1861 a Russian man-of-war took possession of +the Tshushima Isles between Korea and Japan, but withdrew on the protest +of the British admiral. Six years later the Muscovites strengthened +their grip on Saghalien, and thereafter exercised with Japan joint +sovereignty over that island. The natural result followed. In 1875 +Russia found means to eject her partner, the Japanese receiving as +compensation undisputed claim to the barren Kuriles, which they already +possessed[485]. + +[Footnote 485: _The Russo-Japanese Conflict_, by K. Asakawa (1904), p. +67; _Europe and the Far East_, by Sir R.K. Douglas (1904), p. 191.] + +Even before this further proof of Russia's expansiveness, Japan had seen +the need of adapting herself to the new conditions consequent on the +advent of the Great Powers in the Far East. This is not the place for a +description of the remarkable Revolution of the years 1867-71. Suffice +it to say that the events recounted above undoubtedly helped on the +centralising of the powers in the hands of the Mikado, and the +Europeanising of the institutions and armed forces of Japan. In face of +aggressions by Russia and quarrels with the maritime Powers, a vigorous +seafaring people felt the need of systems of organisation and +self-defence other than those provided by the rule of feudal lords, and +levies drilled with bows and arrows. The subsequent history of the Far +East may be summed up in the statement that Japan faced the new +situation with the brisk adaptability of a maritime people, while China +plodded along on her old tracks with a patience and stubbornness +eminently bovine. + +The events which finally brought Russia and Japan into collision arose +out of the obvious need for the construction of a railway from St. +Petersburg to the Pacific having its terminus on an ice-free port. Only +so could Russia develop the resources of Siberia and the Amur Province. +In the sixties and seventies trans-continental railways were being +planned and successfully laid in North America. But there is this +difference: in the New World the iron horse has been the friend of +peace; in the Far East of Asia it has hurried on the advent of war; and +for this reason, that Russia, having no ice-free harbour at the end of +her great Siberian line, was tempted to grasp at one which the yellow +races looked on as altogether theirs. + +The miscalculation was natural. The rapid extension of trade in the +Pacific Ocean seemed to invite Russia to claim her full share in a +development that had already enriched England, the United States, and, +later, Germany and France; and events placed within the Muscovite grasp +positions which fulfilled all the conditions requisite for commercial +prosperity and military and naval domination. + +For many years past vague projects of a trans-Siberian railway had been +in the air. In 1857 an English engineer offered to construct a horse +tramway from Perm, across the Urals, and to the Pacific. An American +also proposed to make a railway for locomotives from Irkutsk to the head +waters of the Amur. In 1875 the Russian Government decided to construct +a line from Perm as far as a western affluent of the River Obi; but +owing to want of funds the line was carried no farther than Tiumen on +the River Tobol (1880). + +The financial difficulty was finally overcome by the generosity of the +French, who, as we have already seen (Chapter XII.), late in the +eighties began to subscribe to all the Russian loans placed on the Paris +Bourse. The scheme now became practicable, and in March 1891 an imperial +ukase appeared sanctioning the mighty undertaking. It was made known at +Vladivostok by the Czarevitch (now Nicholas II.) in the course of a +lengthy tour in the Far East; and he is known then to have gained that +deep interest in those regions which has moulded Russian policy +throughout his reign. Quiet, unostentatious, and even apathetic on most +subjects, he then, as we may judge from subsequent events, determined to +give to Russian energies a decided trend towards the Pacific. As Czar, +he has placed that aim in the forefront of his policy. With him the Near +East has always been second to the Far East; and in the critical years +1896-97, when the sufferings of Christians in Turkey became acute, he +turned a deaf ear to the cries of myriads who had rarely sent their +prayers northwards in vain. The most reasonable explanation of this +callousness is that Nicholas II. at that time had no ears save for the +call of the Pacific Ocean. This was certainly the policy of his +Ministers, Prince Lobánoff, Count Muravieff, and Count Lamsdorff. It +was oceanic. + +The necessary prelude to Russia's new policy was the completion of the +trans-Siberian railway, certainly one of the greatest engineering feats +ever attempted by man. While a large part of the route offers no more +difficulty than the conquest of limitless levels, there are portions +that have taxed to the utmost the skill and patience of the engineer. +The deep trough of Lake Baikal has now (June 1905) been circumvented by +the construction of a railway (here laid with double tracks) which +follows the rocky southern shore. This part of the line, 244 versts (162 +miles) long, has involved enormous expense. In fifty-six miles there +are thirty-nine tunnels, and thirteen galleries for protection against +rock-slides. This short section is said to have cost £1,170,000. The +energy with which the Government pushed on this stupendous work during +the Russo-Japanese war yields one more proof of their determination to +secure at all costs the aims which they set in view in and after the +year 1891[486]. + +[Footnote 486: See an article by Mr. J.M. Price in _The Fortnightly +Review_ for May 1905.] + +Other parts of the track have also presented great difficulties. East of +Lake Baikal the line gradually winds its way up to a plateau some 3000 +feet higher than the lake, and then descends to treacherous marsh lands. +The district of the Amur bristles with obstacles, not the least being +the terrible floods that now and again (as in 1897) turn the whole +valley into a trough of swirling waters[487]. + +[Footnote 487: _Russia on the Pacific_, by "Vladimir"; _The Awakening of +the East_, by P. Leroy-Beaulieu, chaps, ix. x.] + +All these difficulties have been overcome in course of time; but there +remained the question of the terminus. Up to the year 1894 the objective +had been Vladivostok; but the outbreak of the Chino-Japanese War at that +time opened up vast possibilities. Russia could either side with the +islanders and share with them the spoils of Northern China, or, posing +as the patron of the celestials, claim some profitable _douceurs_ as +her reward. + +She chose the latter alternative, and, in the opinion of some of her own +writers, wrongly. The war proved the daring, the patriotism, and the +organising skill of the Japanese to be as signal as the sloth and +corruptibility of their foes. Then, for the first time, the world saw +the utter weakness of China--a fact which several observers (including +Lord Curzon) had vainly striven to make clear. Even so, when Chinese +generals and armies took to their heels at the slightest provocation; +when their battleships were worsted by Japanese armoured cruisers; when +their great stronghold, Port Arthur, was stormed with a loss of about +400 killed, the moral of it all was hidden from the wise men of the +West. Patronising things were said of the Japanese as conquerors--of the +Chinese; but few persons realised that a new Power had arisen. It seemed +the easiest of undertakings to despoil the "venomous dwarfs" of the +fruits of their triumph over China[488]. + +[Footnote 488: See the evidence adduced by V. Chirol, _The Far Eastern +Question, _chap, xi., as to the _ultimately_ aggressive designs of China +on Japan.] + +The chief conditions of the Chino-Japanese Treaty of Shimonoseki (April +17, 1895) were the handing over to Japan the island of Formosa and the +Liaotung Peninsula. The latter was very valuable, inasmuch as it +contained good ice-free harbours which dominated the Yellow Sea and the +Gulf of Pechili; and herein must be sought the reason for the action of +Russia at this crisis. Li Hung Chang, the Chinese negotiator, had +already been bought over by Russia in an important matter[489], and he +early disclosed the secret of the terms of peace with Japan. Russia was +thus forewarned; and, before the treaty was ratified at Pekin, her +Government, acting in concert with those of France and Germany, +intervened with a menacing declaration that the cession of the Liaotung +Peninsula would give to Japan a dangerous predominance in the affairs of +China and disturb the whole balance of power in the Far East. The +Russian Note addressed to Japan further stated that such a step would +"be a perpetual obstacle to the permanent peace of the Far East." Had +Russia alone been concerned, possibly the Japanese would have referred +matters to the sword; but, when face to face with a combination of three +Powers, they decided on May 4 to give way, and to restore the Liaotung +Peninsula to China[490]. + +[Footnote 489: _Manchu and Muscovite, _by B.L. Putnam Weale, p. 60.] + +[Footnote 490: Asakawa, _op. cit. _p, 76.] + +The reasons for the conduct of France and Germany in this matter are not +fully known. We may safely conjecture that the Republic acted conjointly +with the Czar in order to clinch the new Franco-Russian alliance, not +from any special regard for China, a Power with which she had frequently +come into collision respecting Tonquin. As for Germany, she was then +entering on new colonial undertakings; and she doubtless saw in the +joint intervention of 1895 a means of sterilising the Franco-Russian +alliance, so far as she herself was concerned, and possibly of gaining +Russia's assent to the future German expansion in the Far East. + +Here, of course, we are reduced to conjecture, but the conjecture is +consonant with later developments. In any case, the new Triple Alliance +was a temporary and artificial union, which prompt and united action on +the part of Great Britain and the United States would have speedily +dissolved. Unfortunately these Powers were engrossed in other concerns, +and took no action to redress the balance which the self-constituted +champions of political stability were upsetting to their own advantage. + +The effects of their action were diverse, and for the most part +unforeseen. In the first place, Japan, far from being discouraged by +this rebuff, set to work to perfect her army and navy, and with a +thoroughness which Roon and Moltke would have envied. Organisation, +weapons, drill, marksmanship (the last a weak point in the war with +China) were improved; heavy ironclads were ordered, chiefly in British +yards, and, when procured, were handled with wonderful efficiency. Few, +if any, of those "disasters" which are so common in the British navy in +time of peace, occurred in the new Japanese navy--a fact which redounds +equally to the credit of the British instructors and to the pupils +themselves. + +The surprising developments of the Far Eastern Question were soon to +bring the new armaments to a terrible test. Japan and the whole world +believed that the Liaotung Peninsula was made over to China in +perpetuity. It soon appeared that the Czar and his Ministers had other +views, and that, having used France and Germany for the purpose of +warning off Japan, they were preparing schemes for the subjection of +Manchuria to Russian influence. Or rather, it is probable that Li Hung +Chang had already arranged the following terms with Russia as the price +of her intervention on behalf of China. The needs of the Court of Pekin +and the itching palms of its officials proved to be singularly helpful +in the carrying out of the bargain. China being unequal to the task of +paying the Japanese war indemnity, Russia undertook to raise a four per +cent loan of 400,000,000 francs--of course mainly at Paris--in order to +cover the half of that debt. In return for this favour, the Muscovites +required the establishment of a Russo-Chinese Bank having widespread +powers, comprising the receipt of taxes, the management of local +finances, and the construction of such railway and telegraph lines as +might be conceded by the Chinese authorities. + +This in itself was excellent "brokerage" on the French money, of which +China was assumed to stand in need. At one stroke Russia ended the +commercial supremacy of England in China, the result of a generation of +commercial enterprise conducted on the ordinary lines, and substituted +her own control, with powers almost equal to those of a Viceroy. They +enabled her to displace Englishmen from various posts in Northern China +and to clog the efforts of their merchants at every turn. The British +Government, we may add, showed a singular equanimity in face of this +procedure. + +But this was not all. At the close of March 1896, it appeared that the +gratitude felt by the Chinese Andromeda to the Russian Perseus had +ripened into a definite union. The two Powers framed a secret treaty of +alliance which accorded to the northern State the right to make use of +any harbour in China, and to levy Chinese troops in case of a conflict +with an Asiatic State. In particular, the Court of Pekin granted to its +ally the free use of Port Arthur in time of peace, or, if the other +Powers should object, of Kiao-chau. Manchuria was thrown open to Russian +officers for purposes of survey, etc., and it was agreed that on the +completion of the trans-Siberian railway, a line should be constructed +southwards to Talienwan or some other place, under the joint control of +the two Powers[491]. + +[Footnote 491: Asakawa, pp. 85-87.] + +The Treaty marks the end of the first stage in the Russification of +Manchuria. Another stage was soon covered, and, as it seems, by the +adroitness of Count Cassini, Russian Minister at Pekin. The details, and +even the existence, of the Cassini Convention of September 30, 1896, +have been disputed; but there are good grounds for accepting the +following account as correct. Russia received permission to construct +her line to Vladivostok across Manchuria, thereby saving the northern +detour down the difficult valley of the Amur; also to build her own line +to Mukden, if China found herself unable to do so; and the line +southwards to Talienwan and Port Arthur was to be made on Russian plans. +Further, all these new lines built by Russia might be guarded by her +troops, presumably to protect them from natives who objected to the +inventions of the "foreign devils." As regards naval affairs, the Czar's +Government gained the right to "lease" from China the harbour of +Kiao-chau for fifteen years; and, in case of war, to make use of Port +Arthur. The last clauses granted to Russian subjects the right to +acquire mining rights in Manchuria, and to the Czar's officers to drill +the levies of that province in the European style, should China desire +to reorganise them.[492] + +[Footnote 492: Asakawa, chap. ii.] + +But the protector had not reaped the full reward of his timely +intervention in the spring of 1895. He had not yet gained complete +control of an ice-free harbour. In fact, the prize of Kiao-chau, nearly +within reach, now seemed to be snatched from his grasp by Kaiser +Wilhelm. The details are well known. Two German subjects who were Roman +Catholic missionaries in the Shan-tung province were barbarously +murdered by Chinese ruffians on November 1, 1897. The outrage was of a +flagrant kind, but in ordinary times would have been condoned by the +punishment of the offenders and a fine payable by the district. But the +occasion was far from ordinary. A German squadron therefore steamed into +Kiao-chau and occupied that important harbour. + +There is reason to think that Germany had long been desirous of gaining +a foothold in that rich province. The present writer has been assured by +a geological expert, Professor Skertchley, who made the first map of the +district for the Chinese authorities, that that map was urgently +demanded by the German envoy at Pekin about this time. In any case, the +mineral wealth of the district undoubtedly influenced the course of +events. In accordance with a revised version of the old Christian +saying: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of--the Empire," the +Emperor William despatched his brother Prince Henry--the "mailed fist" +of Germany--with a squadron to strengthen the Imperial grip on +Kiao-chau. The Prince did so without opposition either from China or +Russia. Finally, on March 5, 1898, the Court of Pekin confirmed to +Germany the lease of that port and of the neighbouring parts of the +province of Shan-tung. + +The whole affair caused a great stir, because it seemed to prelude a +partition of China, and that, too, in spite of the well-meaning +declarations of the Salisbury Cabinet in favour, first, of the integrity +of that Empire, and, when that was untenable, of the policy of the "open +door" for traders of all nations. Most significant of all was the +conduct of Russia. As far as is known, she made no protest against the +action of Germany in a district to which she herself had laid claim. It +is reasonable, on more grounds than one, to suppose that the two Powers +had come to some understanding, Russia conceding Kiao-chau to the +Kaiser, provided that she herself gained Port Arthur and its peninsula. +Obviously she could not have faced the ill-will of Japan, Great Britain, +Germany, and the United States--all more or less concerned at her rapid +strides southward; and it is at least highly probable that she bought +off Germany by waiving her own claims to Kiao-chau, provided that she +gained an ideal terminus for her Siberian line, and a great naval and +military stronghold. It is also worth noting that the first German +troops were landed at Kiao-chau on November 17, 1897, while three +Russian warships steamed into Port Arthur on December 18; and that the +German "lease" was signed at Pekin on March 5, 1898; while that +accorded to Russia bears date March 27[493]. + +[Footnote 493: Asakawa, p. 110, note.] + +If we accept the naive suggestion of the Russian author, "Vladimir," the +occupation of Kiao-chau by Germany "forced" Russia "to claim some +equivalent compensation." Or possibly the cession of Port Arthur was +another of the items in Li Hung Chang's bargain with Russia. In any +case, the Russian warships entered Port Arthur, at first as if for a +temporary stay; when two British warships repaired thither the Czar's +Government requested them to leave--a request with which the Salisbury +Cabinet complied in an inexplicably craven manner (January 1898). Rather +more pressure was needed on the somnolent mandarins of Pekin; but, under +the threat of war with Russia if the lease of the Liao-tung Peninsula +were not granted by March 27, it was signed on that day. She thereby +gained control of that peninsula for twenty-five years, a period which +might be extended "by mutual agreement." The control of all the land +forces was vested in a Russian official; and China undertook not to +quarter troops to the north without the consent of the Czar. Port Arthur +was reserved to the use of Russian and Chinese ships of war; and Russia +gained the right to erect fortifications. + +The British Government, which had hitherto sought to uphold the +integrity of China, thereupon sought to "save its face" by leasing +Wei-hai-wei (July 1). An excuse for the weakness of the Cabinet in +Chinese affairs has been put forward, namely, that the issue of the +Sudan campaign was still in doubt, and that the efforts of French and +Russians to reach the Upper Nile from the French Congo and Southern +Abyssinia compelled Ministers to concentrate their attention on that +great enterprise. But this excuse will not bear examination. Strength at +any one point of an Empire is not increased by discreditable surrenders +at other points. No great statesman would have proceeded on such an +assumption. + +Obviously the balance of gain in these shabby transactions in the north +of China was enormously in favour of Russia. She now pushed on her +railway southwards with all possible energy. It soon appeared that Port +Arthur could not remain an open port, and it was closed to merchant +ships. Then Talienwan was named in place of it, but under restrictions +which made the place of little value to foreign merchants. Thereafter +the new port of Dalny was set apart for purposes of commerce, but the +efficacy of the arrangements there has never been tested. In the +intentions of the Czar, Port Arthur was to become the Gibraltar of the +Far East, while Dalny, as the commercial terminus of the trans-Siberian +line, figured as the Cadiz of the new age of exploration and commerce +opening out to the gaze of Russia. + +That motives of genuine philanthropy played their part in the Far +Eastern policy of the Czar may readily be granted; but the enthusiasts +who acclaimed him as the world's peacemaker at the Hague Congress (May +1899) were somewhat troubled by the thought that he had compelled China +to cede to his enormous Empire the very peninsula, the acquisition of +which by little Japan had been declared to be an unwarrantable +disturbance of the balance of power in the Far East. + +These events caused a considerable sensation in Great Britain, even in a +generation which had become inured to "graceful concessions." In truth, +the part played by her in the Far East has been a sorry one; and if +there be eager partisans who still maintain that British Imperialism is +an unscrupulously aggressive force, ever on the search for new enemies +to fight and new lands to annex, a course of study in the Blue Books +dealing with Chinese affairs in 1897-99 may with some confidence be +prescribed as a sedative and lowering diet. It seems probable that the +weakness of British diplomacy induced the belief at St. Petersburg that +no opposition of any account would be forthcoming. With France acting as +the complaisant treasurer, and Germany acquiescent, the Czar and his +advisers might well believe that they had reached the goal of their +efforts, "the domination of the Pacific." + +With the Boxer movement of the years 1899-1900 we have here no concern. +Considered pathologically, it was only the spasmodic protest of a body +which the dissectors believed to be ready for operation. To assign it +solely to dislike of European missionaries argues sheer inability to +grasp the laws of evidence. Missionaries had been working in China for +several decades, and were no more disliked than other "foreign devils." +The rising was clearly due to indignation at the rapacity of the +European Powers. We may note that it gave the Russian governor of the +town of Blagovestchensk an opportunity of cowing the Chinese of northern +Manchuria by slaying and drowning some 4500 persons at that place (July +1900). Thereafter Russia invaded Manchuria and claimed the unlimited +rights due to actual conquest. On April 8, 1902, she promised to +withdraw; but her persistent neglect to fulfil that promise (cemented by +treaty with China) led to the outbreak of hostilities with Japan[494]. + +[Footnote 494: Asakawa, chap. vii.; and for the Korean Question, chaps. +xvi, xvii] + +We can now see that Russia, since the accession of Nicholas II., has +committed two great faults in the Far East. She has overreached herself; +and she has overlooked one very important factor in the problem--Japan. +The subjects of the Mikado quivered with rage at the insult implied by +the seizure of Port Arthur; but, with the instinct of a people at once +proud and practical, they thrust down the flames of resentment and +turned them into a mighty motive force. Their preparations for war, +steady and methodical before, now gained redoubled energy; and the whole +nation thrilled secretly but irresistibly to one cherished aim, the +recovery of Port Arthur. How great is the power of chivalry and +patriotism the world has now seen; but it is apt to forget that love of +life and fear of death are feelings alike primal and inalienable among +the Japanese as among other peoples. The inspiring force which nerved +some 40,000 men gladly to lay down their lives on the hills around Port +Arthur was the feeling that they were helping to hurl back in the face +of Russia the gauntlet which she had there so insolently flung down as +to an inferior race. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE NEW GROUPING OF THE GREAT POWERS[495] + +(1900-1907) + + +When I penned the words at the end of Chapter XX. it seemed probable +that the mad race in armaments must lead either to war or to revolution. +In these three supplementary chapters I seek to trace very briefly the +causes that have led to war, in other words, to the ascendancy (perhaps +temporary) of the national principle over the social, and international +tendencies of the age. + +[Footnote 495: Written in May-July 1915.] + +The collapse of the international and pacifist movement may be ascribed +to various causes. The Franco-German and Russo-Turkish Wars left behind +rankling hatreds which rendered it very difficult for nations to disarm; +and, after the decline of those resentments, there arose others as the +outcome of the Greco-Turkish War and the Boer War. Further, the conflict +between Japan and Russia so far weakened the latter as to leave Germany +and Austria almost supreme in Europe; and, while in France and the +United Kingdom the social movement has made considerable progress, +Germany and Austria have remained in what may be termed the national +stage of development, which offers many advantages over the +international for purposes of war. Then again in the Central Empires +parliamentary institutions have not been successful, tending on the +whole to accentuate the disputes between the dominant and the subject +races. The same is partially true of Russia, and far more so of the +Balkan States. Consequently, in Central and Eastern Europe the national +idea has become militant and aggressive; while Great Britain, the +Netherlands, and to some extent France, have sought as far as possible +to concentrate their efforts upon social legislation, arming only in +self-defence. In this contrast lay one of the dangers of the situation. + +Nationality caused the movements and wars of 1848-77. Thereafter, that +principle seemed to wane. But it revived in redoubled force among the +Balkan peoples owing partly to the brutal oppressions of the Sublime +Porte; and the cognate idea, aiming, however, not at liberty but +conquest, became increasingly popular with the German people after the +accession of Kaiser William II. The sequel is only too well known. +Civilisation has been overwhelmed by a recrudescence of nationalism, and +the wealthiest age which the world has seen is a victim to the +perfection and potency of its machinery. A recovery of the old belief in +the solidarity of mankind and a conviction of the futility of all +efforts for domination by any one people, are the first requisites +towards the recovery of conditions that make for peace and good-will. + +Meanwhile, recent history has had to concern itself largely with +groupings or alliances, which have in the main resulted from ambition, +distrust, or fear. As has already been shown, the Partition of Africa +was arranged without a resort to arms; but after that appropriation of +the lands of the dark races, the white peoples in the south came into +collision late in 1899. + +Much has been written as to the causes of the Boer War; but the secret +encouragements which those brave farmers received from Germany are still +only partly known. Even in 1894 Mr. Merriman warned Sir Edward Grey of +the danger arising from "the steady way in which Krüger was Teutonising +the Transvaal." Germany undoubtedly stiffened the neck of Krüger and the +reactionary Boers in resisting the much-needed reforms. It is +significant that the Kaiser's telegram to Krüger after the defeat of +Jameson's raiders was sent only a few days before his declaration, +January 18, 1896, that Germany must now pursue a World-Policy, as she +did by browbeating Japan in the Far East. These developments had been +rendered possible by the opening of the Kiel-North Sea Canal in 1895, an +achievement which doubled the naval power of Germany. Thenceforth she +pushed on construction, especially by the Navy Bill of 1898. Reliance on +her largely accounts for the obstinate resistance of the Boers to the +just demands of England and the Outlanders in 1899. A German historian, +Count Reventlow, has said that "a British South Africa could not but +thwart all German interests"; and the anti-British fury prevalent in +Germany in and after 1899 augured ill for the preservation of peace in +the twentieth century so soon as her new fleet was ready[496]. + +[Footnote 496: E, Lewin, _The Germans and Africa_, p. xvii. and chaps. +v.-xiii.; J.H. Rose, _The Origins of the War_, Lectures I.-III.; +Reventlow, _Deutschlands auswärtige Politik_, p. 71.] + +The results of the Boer War were as follows. For the time Great Britain +lost very seriously in prestige and in material resources. Amidst the +successes gained by the Boers, the intervention of one or more European +States in their favour seemed highly probable; and it is almost certain +that Krüger relied on such an event. He paid visits to some of the chief +European capitals, and was received by the French President (November +1900), but not by Kaiser William. The personality and aims of the Kaiser +will concern us later; but we may notice here that in that year he had +special reasons for avoiding a rupture with the United Kingdom. The +Franco-Russian Alliance gave him pause, especially since June 1898, when +a resolute man, Delcassé, became Foreign Minister at Paris and showed +less complaisance to Germany than had of late been the case[497]. +Besides, in 1898, the Kaiser had concluded with Great Britain a secret +arrangement on African affairs, and early in 1900 acquired sole control +of Samoa instead of the joint Anglo-American-German protectorate, which +had produced friction. Finally, in the summer of 1900, the Boxer Rising +in China opened up grave problems which demanded the co-operation of +Germany and the United Kingdom. + +[Footnote 497: Delcassé was Foreign Minister in five Administrations +until 1905.] + +It has often been stated that the Kaiser desired to form a Coalition +against Great Britain during the Boer War; and it is fairly certain that +he sounded Russia and France with a view to joint diplomatic efforts to +stop the war on the plea of humanity, and that, after the failure of +this device, he secretly informed the British Government of the danger +which he claimed to have averted[498]. His actions reflected the +impulsiveness and impetuosity which have often puzzled his subjects and +alarmed his neighbours; but it seems likely that his aims were limited +either to squeezing the British at the time of their difficulties, or to +finding means of breaking up the Franco-Russian alliance. His energetic +fishing in troubled waters caused much alarm; but it is improbable that +he desired war with Great Britain until his new navy was ready for sea. +The German Chancellor, Prince von Bülow, has since written as follows: +"We gave England no cause to thwart us in the building of our fleet: . . . +we never came into actual conflict with the Dual Alliance, which would +have hindered us in the gradual acquisition of a navy[499]." This, +doubtless, was the governing motive in German policy, to refrain from +any action that would involve war, to seize every opportunity for +pushing forward German claims, and, above all, to utilise the prevalent +irritation at the helplessness of Germany at sea as a means of +overcoming the still formidable opposition of German Liberals to the +ever-increasing naval expenditure. + +[Footnote 498: Sir V. Chirol, _Quarterly Review_, Oct. 1914.] + +[Footnote 499: Bülow, _Imperial Germany_, pp. 98-9 (Eng. transl.); +Rachfahl, _Kaiser und Reich_ (p. 163), states that, as in 1900-1, the +German fleet, even along with those of France and Russia, was no match +for the British fleet, Germany necessarily remained neutral. See, too, +Hurd and Castle, _German Sea Power_, chap. v.] + +In order to discourage the futile anti-British diatribes in the German +Press, Bülow declared in the Reichstag that in no quarter was there an +intention to intervene against England. There are grounds for +questioning the sincerity of this utterance; for the Russian statesman, +Muraviev, certainly desired to intervene, as did influential groups at +Petrograd, Berlin, and Paris. In any case, the danger to Great Britain +was acute enough to evoke help from all parts of the Empire, and implant +the conviction of the need of closer union and of maintaining naval +supremacy. The risks of the years 1899-1902 also revealed the very grave +danger of what had been termed "splendid isolation," and aroused a +desire for a friendly understanding with one or more Powers as occasion +might offer. + +The war produced similar impressions on the German people. Dislike of +England, always acute in Prussia, especially in reactionary circles, now +spread to all parts and all classes of the nation; and the Kaiser, as we +have seen, made skilful use of it to further his naval policy. His +speech at Hamburg on October 18, 1899, on the need of a great navy, +marked the beginning of a new era, destined to end in war with Great +Britain. Admiral von Tirpitz, in introducing the Amending Bill of +February 1900, demanded the doubling of the navy in a scheme working +automatically until 1920. The Socialist leader, Bebel, opposed it as +certain to strain relations with England, a war with whom would be the +greatest possible misfortune for the German people. On the other hand, +the Chancellor, Prince Hohenlohe, voiced the opinions of the governing +class and the German Navy League when he declared that the demand for a +great navy originated in the ambition of the German nation to become a +World-Power[500]. The Bill passed; and thenceforth the United Kingdom +and Germany became declared rivals at sea. Fortunately for the +islanders, the new German Navy could not be ready for action before the +year 1904; otherwise, a very dangerous situation would have arisen. Even +as it was, British statesmen were induced to secure an ally and to end +the Boer War as quickly as possible. + +[Footnote 500: Prince Hohenlohe, _Memoirs_, vol. ii. p. 480.] + +During that conflict the tension between England and the Dual Alliance +(France and Russia) was at times so acute as to render it doubtful +whether we should not gravitate towards the rival Triple Alliance. The +problem was the most important that had confronted British statesmen +during a century. Kinship and tradition seemed to beckon us towards +Germany and Austria. On the other hand, democracy and social intercourse +told in favour of the French connection. Further, now that Russia was +retiring more and more from her Balkan and Central Asian projects in +order to concentrate on the Far East, she ceased to threaten India and +the Levant. Moreover, the personality of the Tsar, Nicholas II., was +reassuring, while that of Kaiser Wilhelm II. aroused distrust and alarm. + +In truth, the inordinate vanity, restless energy, and flamboyant +Chauvinism of the Kaiser placed great difficulties in the way of an +Anglo-German Entente. An article believed to have been inspired by +Bismarck contained the following reference to the Kaiser's megalomania: +"It causes the deepest anxiety in Germany, because it is feared that it +may lead to some irreparable piece of want of tact, and thence to war. +For it is argued that, vanity being at the bottom of it all, and the +Emperor finding he is unable to gain the premature immortality he +thirsts for by peaceful prodigies, his restless nervous irritability may +degenerate into recklessness, and then his megalomania may blind him to +the dangers he and, above all, poor blood-soaken Germany may encounter +on the war-path[501]." Kaiser William possesses more power of +self-restraint than this passage indicates; for, though he has spread a +warlike enthusiasm through his people, he has also restrained it until +there arrived a fit opportunity for its exercise. It arrived when +Germany and her Allies were far better prepared, both by land and sea, +than the Powers whom she expected to meet in arms. + +[Footnote 501: _Contemporary Review_, April 1892.] + +His attitude towards Great Britain has varied surprisingly. During +several years he figured as her friend. But it is difficult to believe +that a man of his keen intellect did not discern ahead the collision +which his policy must involve. His many claims to acquire maritime +supremacy and a World-Empire were either mere bluff or a portentous +challenge. Only the good-natured, easy-going British race could so long +have clung to the former explanation, thereby leaving the most diffuse, +vulnerable, and ill-armed Empire that has ever existed face to face with +an Empire that is compact, well-fortified, and armed to the teeth. In +this contrast lies one of the main causes of the present war. + +Moreover, the internal difficulties of France and the preoccupation of +Russia in the Far East gave to Kaiser William a disquietingly easy +victory in the affairs of the Near East. His visit to Constantinople and +Palestine in 1898 inaugurated a Levantine policy destined to have +momentous results. On the Bosphorus he scrupled not to clasp the hand of +Sultan Abdul Hamid II., still reeking with the blood of the Christians +of Armenia and Macedonia. At Jerusalem he figured as the Christian +knight-errant, but at Damascus as the champion of the Moslem creed. +After laying a wreath on the tomb of Saladin, he made a speech which +revealed his plan of utilising the fighting power of Islam. He said: +"The three hundred million Mohammedans who live scattered over the globe +may be assured of this, that the German Emperor will be their friend at +all times." Taken in conjunction with his pro-Turkish policy, this +implied that the Triple Alliance was to be buttressed by the most +terrible fighting force in the East[502]. + +[Footnote 502: See Hurgronje, _The Holy War; made in Germany_, pp. +27-39, 68-78; also G.E. Holt, _Morocco the Piquant_ (1914), who says +(chap, xiv.): "Islam is waiting for war in Europe. . . . A war between any +two European Powers, in my opinion, would mean the uprising of Islam."] + +During the tour he did profitable business with the Sublime Porte by +gaining a promise for the construction of a railway to Bagdad and the +Persian Gulf, under German auspices. The scheme took practical form in +1902-3, when the Sultan granted a firman for the construction of that +line together with very extensive proprietary rights along its course. +Russian opposition had been bought off in 1900 by the adoption of a more +southerly course than was originally designed; and the Kaiser now sought +to get the financial support of England to the enterprise. British +public opinion, however, was invincibly sceptical, and with justice, for +the scheme would have ruined our valuable trade on the River Tigris and +the Persian Gulf; while the proposed prolongation of the line to Koweit +on the gulf would enable Germany, Austria, and Turkey to threaten India. + +By the year 1903 Austria was so far mistress of the Balkans as to render +it possible for her and Germany in the near future to send troops +through Constantinople and Asia Minor by the railways which they +controlled. Accordingly, affairs in the Near East became increasingly +strained; and, when Russia was involved in the Japanese War, no Great +Power could effectively oppose Austro-German policy in that quarter. The +influence of France and Britain, formerly paramount both politically and +commercially in the Turkish Empire, declined, while that of Germany +became supreme. Every consideration of prudence therefore prompted the +Governments of London and Paris to come to a close understanding, in +order to make headway against the aggressive designs of the two Kaisers +in the Balkans and Asia Minor. Looking forward, we may note that the +military collapse of Russia in 1904-5 enabled the Central Powers to push +on in the Levant. Germany fastened her grip on the Turkish Government, +exploited the resources of Asia Minor, and posed as the champion of the +Moslem creed. Early in the twentieth century that creed became +aggressive, mainly under the impulse of Sultan Abdul Hamid II., who +varied his propagandism by massacre with appeals to the faithful to look +to him as their one hope in this world. Constantinople and Cairo were +the centres of this Pan-Islamic movement, which, aiming at the closer +union of all Moslems in Asia, Europe, and Africa around the Sultan, +threatened to embarrass Great Britain, France, and Russia. The Kaiser, +seeing in this revival of Islam an effective force, took steps to +encourage the "true believers" and strengthen the Sultan by the +construction of a branch line of the Bagdad system running southwards +through Aleppo and the district east of the Dead Sea towards Mecca. +Purporting to be a means for lessening the hardships of pilgrims, it +really enabled the Sultan to threaten the Suez Canal and Egypt. + +The aggressive character of these schemes explains why France, Great +Britain, and Russia began to draw together for mutual support. The three +Powers felt the threat implied in an organisation of the Moslem world +under the aegis of the Kaiser. He, a diligent student of Napoleon's +career, was evidently seeking to dominate the Near East, and to enrol on +his side the force of Moslem enthusiasm which the Corsican had forfeited +by his attack on Egypt in 1798. The construction of German railways in +the Levant and the domination of the Balkan Peninsula by Austria would +place in the hands of the Germanic Powers the keys of the Orient, which +have always been the keys to World-Empire. + +Closely connected with these far-reaching schemes was the swift growth +of the Pan-German movement. It sought to group the Germanic and cognate +peoples in some form of political union--a programme which threatened to +absorb Holland, Belgium, the greater part of Switzerland, the Baltic +Provinces of Russia, the Western portions of the Hapsburg dominions, +and, possibly, the Scandinavian peoples. The resulting State or +Federation of States would thus extend from Ostend to Reval, from +Amsterdam (or Bergen) to Trieste. + +Even those Germans who did not espouse these ambitious schemes became +deeply imbued with the expansively patriotic ideas championed by the +Kaiser. So far back as 1890 he ordered their enforcement in the +universities and schools[503]. Thenceforth professors and teachers vied +in their eagerness to extol the greatness of Germany and the civilising +mission of the Hohenzollerns, whose exploits in the future were to +eclipse all the achievements of Frederick the Great and William I. +Moreover, the new German Navy was acclaimed as a necessary means to the +triumph of German _Kultur_ throughout the world. Other nations were +depicted as slothful, selfish, decadent; and the decline in the prestige +of Great Britain, France, and Russia to some extent justified these +pretensions. The Tsar, by turning away from the Balkans towards Korea, +deadened Slav aspirations. For the time Pan-Slavism seemed moribund. +Pan-Germanism became a far more threatening force. + +[Footnote 503: Latterly, the catchword, _England ist der Feind +_("England is the enemy"), has been taught in very many schools.] + +Summing up, and including one topic that will soon be dealt with, we may +conclude as follows: Germany showed that she did not want England's +friendship, save in so far as it would help her to oppose the Monroe +Doctrine or supply her with money to finish the Bagdad Railway. For +reasons that have been explained, she and Austria were likely to +undermine British interests in the Near East; while, on the other hand, +the diversion of Russia's activities from Central Asia and the Balkans +to the Far East, lessened the Muscovite menace which had so long +determined the trend of British policy. Moreover, Russia's ally, France, +showed a conciliatory spirit. Forgetting the rebuff at Fashoda (see +_ante_, pp. 501-6), she aimed at expansion in Morocco. Now, Korea and +Morocco did not vitally concern us. The Bagdad Railway and the Kaiser's +court to Pan-Islamism were definite threats to our existence as an +Empire. Finally, the development of the German Navy and the growth of a +furiously anti-British propaganda threatened the long and vulnerable +East Coast of Great Britain. + +A temporary understanding with Germany could have been attained if we +had acquiesced in her claim for maritime equality and in the oriental +and colonial enterprises which formed its sequel. But that course, by +yielding to her undisputed ascendancy in all parts of the world, would +have led to a policy of partition. Now, since 1688, British statesmen +have consistently opposed, often by force of arms, a policy of partition +at the expense of civilised nations. Their aim has been to support the +weaker European States against the stronger and more aggressive, thus +assuring a Balance of Power which in general has proved to be the chief +safeguard of peace. In seeking an Entente with France, and subsequently +with Russia, British policy has followed the course consistent with the +counsels of moderation and the teachings of experience. We may note here +that the German historian, Count Reventlow, has pointed out that the +Berlin Government could not frame any lasting agreement with the +British; for, sooner or later, they would certainly demand the +limitation of Germany's colonial aims and of her naval development, to +neither of which could she consent. The explanation is highly +significant[504]. + +[Footnote 504: Reventlow, _Deutschlands auswärtige Politik_, pp. 178-9; +_Mr. Chamberlain's Speeches_, vol. ii. p. 68.] + +Nevertheless, at first Great Britain sought to come to a friendly +understanding with Germany in the Far East, probably with a view to +preventing the schemes of partition of China which in 1900 assumed a +menacing guise. At that time Russia seemed likely to take the lead in +those designs. But opposite to the Russian stronghold of Port Arthur was +the German province of Kiao Chau, in which the Kaiser took a deep +interest. His resolve to play a leading part in Chinese affairs appeared +in his speech to the German troops sent out in 1900 to assist in +quelling the Boxer Rising. He ordered them to adopt methods of terrorism +like those of Attila's Huns, so that "no Chinaman will ever again dare +to look askance at a German." The orders were ruthlessly obeyed. After +the capture of Pekin by the Allies (September 1900) there ensued a time +of wary balancing. Russia and Germany were both suspected of designs to +cut up China; but they were opposed by Great Britain and Japan. This +obscure situation was somewhat cleared by the statesmen of London and +Berlin agreeing to maintain the territorial integrity of China and +freedom of trade (October 1900). But in March 1901 the German +Chancellor, Prince von Bülow, nullified the agreement by officially +announcing that it did not apply to, or limit, the expansion of Russia +in Manchuria. What caused this _volte face_ is not known; but it implied +a renunciation of the British policy of the _status quo_ in the Far East +and an official encouragement to Russia to push forward to the Pacific +Ocean, where she was certain to come into conflict with Japan. Such a +collision would enfeeble those two Powers; while Germany, as _tertius +gaudens_ would be free to work her will both in Europe and Asia[505]. + +[Footnote 505: In September 1895 the Tsar thanked Prince Hohenlohe for +supporting his Far East policy, and said he was weary of Armenia and +distrustful of England; so, too, in September 1896, when Russo-German +relations were also excellent (_Hohenlohe Mems_., Eng. edit., ii. +463, 470).] + +On the other hand, Eckardstein, the German ambassador in London, is said +to have made proposals of an Anglo-German-Japanese Alliance in +March-April 1901. If we may trust the work entitled _Secret Memoirs of +Count Hayashi_ (Japanese ambassador in London) these proposals were +dangled for some weeks, why, he could never understand. Probably Germany +was playing a double game; for Hayashi believed that she had a secret +understanding with Russia on these questions. He found that the +Salisbury Cabinet welcomed her adhesion to the principles of maintaining +the territorial integrity of China and of freedom of commerce in the Far +East[506]. + +[Footnote 506: _Secret Memoirs of Count Hayashi_ (London, 1915), pp. +97-131. There are suspicious features about this book. I refer to it +with all reserve. Reventlow (_Deutschlands auswärtige Politik_, p. 178) +thinks Eckardstein may have been playing his own game--an improbable +suggestion.] + +In October 1901 Germany proposed to the United Kingdom that each Power +should guarantee the possessions of the other in every Continent except +Asia. Why Asia was excepted is not clear, unless Germany wished to give +Russia a free hand in that Continent. The Berlin Government laid stress +on the need of our support in North and South America, where its aim of +undermining the Monroe Doctrine was notorious. The proposed guarantee +would also have compelled us to assist Germany in any dispute that might +arise between her and France about Alsace-Lorraine or colonial +questions. The aim was obvious, to gain the support of the British fleet +either against the United States or France. A British diplomatist of +high repute, who visited Berlin, has declared that the German Foreign +Office made use of garbled and misleading documents to win him over to +these views[507]. It was in vain. The British Government was not to be +hoodwinked; and, as soon as it declined these compromising proposals, a +storm of abuse swept through the German Press at the barbarities of +British troops in South Africa. That incident ended all chance of an +understanding, either between the two Governments or the two peoples. + +[Footnote 507: _Quarterly Review_, Oct. 1914, pp. 426-9.] + +The inclusion of Germany in the Anglo-Japanese compact proving to be +impossible, the two Island Powers signed a treaty of alliance at London +on January 30, 1902. It guaranteed the maintenance of the _status quo_ +in the Far East, and offered armed assistance by either signatory in the +event of its ally being attacked by more than one Power[508]. The +alliance ended the isolation of the British race, and marked the entry +of Japan into the circle of the World-Powers. The chief objections to +the new departure were its novelty, and the likelihood of its embroiling +us finally with Russia and France or Russia and Germany. These fears +were groundless; for France and even Russia(!) expressed their +satisfaction at the treaty. Lord Lansdowne's diplomatic _coup_ not only +ended the isolation of two Island States, which had been severally +threatened by powerful rivals; it also safeguarded China; and finally, +by raising the prestige of Great Britain, it helped to hasten the end of +the Boer War. During the discussion of their future policy by the Boer +delegates at Vereeniging on May 30, General Botha admitted that he no +longer had any hope of intervention from the Continent of Europe; for +their deputation thither had failed. All the leaders except De Wet +agreed, and they came to terms with Lords Kitchener and Milner at +Pretoria on May 31. That the Anglo-Japanese compact ended the last hopes +of the Boers for intervention can scarcely be doubted. + +[Footnote 508: _E.g._, if the Russians alone attacked Japan we were not +bound to help her: but if the French also attacked Japan we must help +her. The aim clearly was to prevent Japan being overborne as in 1895 +(see p. 577). The treaty was signed for five years, but was renewed on +August 12, 1905, and in July 1911.] + +Still more significant was the new alliance as a warning to Russia not +to push too far her enterprises in the Far East. On April 12, 1902, she +agreed with China to evacuate Manchuria; but (as has appeared in Chapter +XX.) she finally pressed on, not only in Manchuria, but also in Korea, +in which the Anglo-Japanese treaty recognised that Japan had predominant +interests. For this forward policy Russia had the general support of the +Kaiser, whose aims in the Near East were obviously served by the +transference thence of Russia's activities to the Far East. It is, +indeed, probable that he and his agents desired to embroil Russia and +Japan. Certain it is that the Russian people regarded the Russo-Japanese +War, which began in February 1904, as "The War of the Grand Dukes." The +Russian troops fought an uphill fight loyally and doggedly, but with +none of the enthusiasm so conspicuous in the present truly national +struggle. In Manchuria the mistakes and incapacity of their leaders led +to an almost unbroken series of defeats, ending with the protracted and +gigantic contests around Mukden (March 1-10, 1905). The almost complete +destruction of the Russian Baltic fleet by Admiral Togo at the Battle of +Tsushima (May 27-28) ended the last hopes of the Tsar and his ministers; +and, fearful of the rising discontent in Russia, they accepted the +friendly offers of the United States for mediation. By the Treaty of +Portsmouth (Sept. 5, 1905) they ceded to Japan the southern half of +Saghalien and the Peninsula on which stands Port Arthur: they also +agreed to evacuate South Manchuria and to recognise Korea as within +Japan's sphere of influence. No war indemnity was paid. Indeed it could +not be exacted, as Japan occupied no Russian territory which she did +not intend to annex. To Russia the material results of the war were the +loss of some 350,000 men, killed, wounded, and prisoners; of two fleets; +and of the valuable provinces and ice-free harbours for the acquisition +of which she had constructed the Trans-Siberian Railway. So heavy a blow +had not been dealt to a Great Power since the fall of Napoleon III.; and +worse, perhaps, than the material loss was that of prestige in accepting +defeat at the hands of an Island State, whose people fifty years before +fought with bows and arrows. + +Japan emerged from the war triumphant, but financially exhausted. +Accordingly, she was not loath to conclude with Russia, on July 30, +1907, a convention which adjusted outstanding questions in a friendly +manner[509]. The truth about this Russo-Japanese _rapprochement_ is, of +course, not known; but it may reasonably be ascribed in part to the good +services of England (then about to frame an _entente_ with Russia); and +in part to the suspicion of the statesmen of Petrograd and Tokio that +German influences had secretly incited Russia to the policy of reckless +exploitation in Korea which led to war and disaster. + +[Footnote 509: Hayashi, _op. cit._ ch. viii. and App. D. On June 10, +1907, Japan concluded with France an agreement, for which see Hayashi, +ch. vi. and App. C.] + +The chief results of the Russo-Japanese War were to paralyse Russia, +thereby emasculating the Dual Alliance and leaving France as much +exposed to German threats as she was before its conclusion; also to +exalt the Triple Alliance and enable its members (Germany, Austria, and +Italy) successively to adopt the forward policy which marked the years +1905, 1908, 1911, and 1914. The Russo-Japanese War therefore inaugurated +a new era in European History. Up to that time the Triple Alliance had +been a defensive league, except when the exuberant impulses of Kaiser +William forced it into provocative courses; and then the provocations +generally stopped at telegrams and orations. But in and after 1905 the +Triple Alliance forsook the watchwords of Bismarck, Andrassy and +Crispi. Expansion at the cost of rivals became the dominant aim. + +We must now return to affairs in France which predisposed her to come to +friendly terms, first with Italy, then with Great Britain. Her internal +history in the years 1895-1906 turns largely on the Dreyfus affair. In +1895, he, a Jewish officer in the French army, was accused and convicted +of selling military secrets to Germany. But suspicions were aroused that +he was the victim of anti-Semites or the scapegoat of the real +offenders; and finally, thanks to the championship of Zola, his +condemnation was proved to have been due to a forgery (July 1906). +Meanwhile society had been rent in twain, and confidence in the army and +in the administration of justice was seriously impaired. A furious +anti-militarist agitation began, which had important consequences. +Already in May 1900, the Premier, Waldeck-Rousseau, appointed as +Minister of War General André, who sympathised with these views and +dangerously relaxed discipline. The Combes Ministry, which succeeded in +June 1902, embittered the strife between the clerical and anti-clerical +sections by measures such as the separation of Church and State and the +expulsion of the Religious Orders. In consequence France was almost +helpless in the first years of the century, a fact which explains her +readiness to clasp the hand of England in 1904 and, in 1905, after the +military collapse of Russia in the Far East, to give way before the +threats of Germany[510]. + +[Footnote 510: Even in 1908 reckless strikes occurred, and there were no +fewer than 11,223 cases of insubordination in the army. Professor +Gustave Hervé left the University in order to direct a paper, _La Guerre +sociale_, which advocated a war of classes.] + +The weakness of France predisposed Italy to forget the wrong done by +French statesmen in seizing Tunis twenty years before. That wrong (as we +saw on pp. 328, 329) drove Italy into the arms of Germany and Austria. +But now Crispi and other pro-German authors of the Triple Alliance had +passed away; and that compact, founded on passing passion against France +rather than community of interest or sentiment with the Central +Empires, had sensibly weakened. Time after time Italian Ministers +complained of disregard of their interests by the men of Berlin and +Vienna[511], whereas in 1898 France accorded to Italy a favourable +commercial treaty. Victor Emmanuel III. paid his first state visit to +Petrograd, not to Berlin. In December 1900 France and Italy came to an +understanding respecting Tripoli and Morocco; and in May 1902 the able +French Minister, Delcassé, then intent on his Morocco enterprise, +prepared the way for it by a convention with Italy, which provided that +France and Italy should thenceforth peaceably adjust their differences, +mainly arising out of Mediterranean questions. Seeing that Italy and +Austria were at variance respecting Albania, the Franco-Italian Entente +weakened the Triple Alliance; and the old hatred of Austria appeared in +the shouts of "Viva Trento," "Viva Trieste," often raised in front of +the Austrian embassy at Rome. Despite the renewal of the Triple Alliance +in 1907 and 1912, the adhesion of Italy was open to question, unless the +Allies became the object of indisputable aggression. + +[Footnote 511: Crispi, _Memoirs_ (Eng. edit.) vol. ii. pp. 166, 169, +472; vol. iii. pp. 330, 347.] + +Still more important was the Anglo-French Entente of 1904. That the +Anglophobe outbursts of the Parisian Press and populace in 1902 should +so speedily give way to a friendly understanding was the work, partly of +the friends of peace in both lands, partly of the personal tact and +charm of Edward VII. as manifested during his visit to Paris in May +1903, but mainly of the French and British Governments. In October 1903 +they agreed by treaty to refer to arbitration before the Hague Tribunal +disputes that might arise between them. This agreement (one of the +greatest triumphs of the principle of arbitration[512]) naturally led to +more cordial relations. During the visit of President Loubet and M. +Delcassé to London in July 1903, the latter discussed with Lord +Lansdowne the questions that hindered a settlement, namely, our +occupation of Egypt (a rankling sore in France ever since 1882); French +claims to dominate Morocco both commercially and politically, "the +French shore" of Newfoundland, the New Hebrides, the French +convict-station in New Caledonia, as also the territorial integrity of +Siam, championed by England, threatened by France. A more complex set of +problems never confronted statesmen. Yet a solution was found simply +because both of them were anxious for a solution. Their anxiety is +intelligible in view of the German activities just noticed, and of the +outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in February 1904. True, France was +allied to Russia only for European affairs; and our alliance with Japan +referred mainly to the Far East. Still, there was danger of a collision, +which both Paris and London wished to avert. It was averted by the skill +and tact of Lord Lansdowne and M. Delcassé, whose conversations of July +1903 pointed the way to the definitive compact of April 8, 1904. + +[Footnote 512: Sir Thomas Barclay, _Anglo-French Reminiscences_ +(1876-1906), ch. xviii-xxii; M. Hanotaux (_La Politique de l'Équilibre_, +p. 415) claims that Mr. Chamberlain was chiefly instrumental in starting +the negotiations leading to the Entente with France.] + +Stated briefly, France gave way on most of the questions named above, +except one, that is, Morocco. There she attained her end, the +recognition by us of her paramount claims. For this she conceded most of +the points in dispute between the two countries in Egypt, though she +maintains her Law School, hospitals, mission schools, and a few other +institutions. Thenceforth England had opposed to her in that land only +German influence and the Egyptian nationalists and Pan-Islam fanatics +whom it sought to encourage. France also renounced some of her fishing +rights in Newfoundland in return for gains of territory on the River +Gambia and near Lake Chad. In return for these concessions she secured +from us the recognition of her claim to watch over the tranquillity of +Morocco, together with an offer of assistance for all "the +administrative, economic, financial, and military reforms which it +needs." True, she promised not to change the political condition of +Morocco, as also to maintain equality of commercial privileges. Great +Britain gave a similar undertaking for Egypt[513]. + +[Footnote 513: A. Tardieu, _Questions diplomatiques de l'année 1904, +_Appendix II. England in 1914 annulled the promise respecting Egypt +because of the declaration of war by Turkey and the assistance afforded +her by the Khedive, Abbas II. (see Earl of Cromer, _Modern Egypt and +Abbas II_.), On February 15, 1904, France settled by treaty with Siam +frontier disputes of long standing.] + +The Anglo-French Entente of 1904 is the most important event of modern +diplomacy. Together with the preceding treaty of arbitration, it removed +all likelihood of war between two nations which used to be "natural +enemies"; and the fact that it in no respect menaced Germany appeared in +the communication of its terms to the German ambassador in Paris shortly +before its signature. On April 12 Bülow declared to the Reichstag his +approval of the compact as likely to end disputes in several quarters, +besides assuring peace and order in Morocco, where Germany's interests +were purely commercial. Two days later, in reply to the Pan-German +leader, Count Reventlow, he said he would not embark Germany on any +enterprise in Morocco. These statements were reasonable and just. The +Entente lessened the friction between Great Britain and Russia during +untoward incidents of the Russo-Japanese War. After the conclusion of +the Entente the Russian ambassador in Paris publicly stated the approval +of his Government, and, quoting the proverb, "The friends of our friends +are _our_ friends," added with a truly prophetic touch--"Who knows +whether that will not be true?" The agreement also served to strengthen +the position of France at a time when her internal crisis and the first +Russian defeats in the Far East threatened to place her almost at the +mercy of Germany. A dangerous situation would have arisen if France had +not recently gained the friendship both of England and Italy. + +Finally, the Anglo-French Entente induced Italy to reconsider her +position. Her dependence on us for coal and iron, together with the +vulnerability of her numerous coast-towns, rendered a breach with the +two Powers of the Entente highly undesirable, while on sentimental +grounds she could scarcely take up the gauntlet for her former +oppressor, Austria, against two nations which had assisted in her +liberation. As we shall see, she declared at the Conference of Algeciras +her complete solidarity with Great Britain. + +Even so, Germany held a commanding position owing to the completion of +the first part of her naval programme, which placed her far ahead of +France at sea. For reasons that have been set forth, the military and +naval weakness of France was so marked as greatly to encourage German +Chauvinists; but the Entente made them pause, especially when France +agreed to concentrate her chief naval strength in the Mediterranean, +while that of Great Britain was concentrated in the English Channel and +the North Sea. It is certain that the Entente with France never amounted +to an alliance; that was made perfectly clear; but it was unlikely that +the British Government would tolerate an unprovoked attack upon the +Republic, or look idly on while the Pan-Germans refashioned Europe and +the other Continents. Besides, Great Britain was strong at sea. In 1905 +she possessed thirty-five battleships mounting 12-in. guns; while the +eighteen German battleships carried only 11-in. and 9.4-in. guns. +Further, in 1905-7 we began and finished the first _Dreadnought_; and +the adoption of that type for the battle-fleet of the near future +lessened the value of the Kiel-North Sea Canal, which was too small to +receive _Dreadnoughts_. In these considerations may perhaps be found the +reason for the caution of Germany at a time which was otherwise very +favourable for aggressive action. + +Meanwhile Kaiser William, pressed on by the colonials, had intervened in +a highly sensational manner in the Morocco Affair, thus emphasising his +earlier assertion that nothing important must take place in any part of +the world without the participation of Germany. Her commerce in Morocco +was unimportant compared with that of France and Great Britain; but the +position of that land, commanding the routes to the Mediterranean and +the South Atlantic, was such as to interest all naval Powers, while the +State that gained a foothold in Morocco would have a share in the Moslem +questions then arising to prime importance. As we have seen, the Kaiser +had in 1898 declared his resolve to befriend all Moslem peoples; and his +Chancellor, Bülow, has asserted that Germany's pro-Islam policy +compelled her to intervene in the Moroccan Question. The German +ambassador at Constantinople, Baron von Marschall, said that, if after +that promise Germany sacrificed Morocco, she would at once lose her +position in Turkey, and therefore all the advantages and prospects that +she had painfully acquired by the labour of many years[514]. + +[Footnote 514: Bülow, _Imperial Germany_, p. 83.] + +On the other hand, the feuds of the Moorish tribes vitally concerned +France because they led to many raids into her Algerian lands which she +could not merely repel. In 1901 she adopted a more active policy, that +of "pacific penetration," and, by successive compacts with Italy, Great +Britain, and Spain, secured a kind of guardianship over Moroccan +affairs. This policy, however, aroused deep resentment at Berlin. Though +Germany was pacifically penetrating Turkey and Asia Minor, she grudged +France her success in Morocco, not for commercial reasons but for +others, closely connected with high diplomacy and world-policy. As the +German historian, Rachfahl, declared, Morocco was to be a test of +strength[515]. + +[Footnote 515: Tardieu, _Questions diplomatiques de 1904_, pp. 56-102; +Rachfahl, _Kaiser und Reich_, pp. 230-241; E.D. Morel, _Morocco in +Diplomacy_, chaps, i-xii.] + +In one respect Germany had cause for complaint. On October 6, 1904, +France signed a Convention with Spain in terms that were suspiciously +vague. They were interpreted by secret articles which defined the +spheres of French and Spanish influence in case the rule of the Sultan +of Morocco ceased. It does not appear that Germany was aware of these +secret articles at the time of her intervention[516]. But their +existence, even perhaps their general tenor, was surmised. The effective +causes of her intervention were, firstly, her resolve to be consulted +in every matter of importance, and, secondly, the disaster that befel +the Russians at Mukden early in March 1905. At the end of the month, the +Kaiser landed at Tangier and announced in strident terms that he came to +visit the Sultan as an independent sovereign. This challenge to French +claims produced an acute crisis. Delcassé desired to persevere with +pacific penetration; but in the debate of April 19 the deficiencies of +the French military system were admitted with startling frankness; and a +threat from Berlin revealed the intention of humiliating France, and, if +possible, of severing the Anglo-French Entente. Here, indeed, is the +inner significance of the crisis. Germany had lately declared her +indifference to all but commercial questions in Morocco. But she now +made use of the collapse of Russia to seek to end the Anglo-French +connection which she had recently declared to be harmless. The aim +obviously was to sow discord between those two Powers. In this she +failed. Lord Lansdowne and Delcassé lent each other firm support, so +much so that the Paris _Temps_ accused us of pushing France on in a +dangerous affair which did not vitally concern her. The charge was not +only unjust but ungenerous; for Germany had worked so as to induce +England to throw over France or make France throw over England. The two +Governments discerned the snare, and evaded it by holding firmly +together[517]. + +[Footnote 516: Rachfahl, pp. 235, 238. For details, _see_ Morel, chap. +ii.] + +[Footnote 517: In an interview with M. Tardieu at Baden-Baden on October +4, 1905, Bülow said that Germany intervened in Morocco because of her +interests there, and also to protest against this new attempt to isolate +her (Tardieu, _Questions actuelles de Politique étrangère_, p. 87). If +so, her conduct increased that isolation. Probably the second +Anglo-Japanese Treaty of August 12, 1905 (published on September 27), +was due to fear of German aggression. France and Germany came to a +preliminary agreement as to Morocco on September 28.] + +The chief difficulty of the situation was that it committed France to +two gigantic tasks, that of pacifying Morocco and also of standing up to +the Kaiser in Europe. In this respect the ground for the conflict was +all in his favour; and both he and she knew it. Consequently, a +compromise was desirable; and the Kaiser himself, in insisting on the +holding of a Conference, built a golden bridge over which France might +draw back, certainly with honour, probably with success; for in the +diplomatic sphere she was at least as strong as he. When, therefore, +Delcassé objected to the Conference, his colleagues accepted his +resignation (June 6). His fall was hailed at Berlin as a humiliation for +France. Nevertheless, her complaisance earned general sympathy, while +the bullying tone of German diplomacy, continued during the Conference +held at Algeciras, hardened the opposition of nearly all the Powers, +including the United States. Especially noteworthy was the declaration +of Italy that her interests were identical with those of England. German +proposals were supported by Austria alone, who therefore gained from the +Kaiser the doubtful compliment of having played the part of "a brilliant +second" to Germany. + +It is needless to describe at length the Act of Algeciras (April 7, +1906). It established a police and a State Bank in Morocco, suppressed +smuggling and the illicit trade in arms, reformed the taxes, and set on +foot public works. Of course, little resulted from all this; but the +position of France was tacitly regularised, and she was left free to +proceed with pacific penetration. "We are neither victors nor +vanquished," said Bülow in reviewing the Act; and M. Rouvier echoed the +statement for France. In reality, Germany had suffered a check. Her +chief aim was to sever the Anglo-French Entente, and she failed. She +sought to rally Italy to her side, and she failed; for Italy now +proclaimed her accord with France on Mediterranean questions. Finally +the _North German Gazette_ paid a tribute to the loyal and peaceable +aims of French policy; while other less official German papers deplored +the mistakes of their Government, which had emphasised the isolation of +Germany[518]. This is indeed the outstanding result of the Conference. +The threatening tone of Berlin had disgusted everybody. Above all it +brought to more cordial relations the former rivals, Great Britain +and Russia. + +[Footnote 518: Tardieu, _La Conference d'Algeciras_, pp. 410-20.] + +As has already appeared, the friction between Great Britain and Russia +quickly disappeared after the Japanese War. During the Congress of +Algeciras the former rivals worked cordially together to check the +expansive policy of Germany, in which now lay the chief cause of +political unrest. In fact, the Kaiser's Turcophile policy acquired a new +significance owing to the spread of a Pan-Islamic propaganda which sent +thrills of fanaticism through North-West Africa, Egypt, and Central +Asia. At St. Helena Napoleon often declared Islam to be vastly superior +to Christianity as a fighting creed; and his imitator now seemed about +to marshal it against France, Russia, and Great Britain. Naturally, the +three Powers drew together for mutual support. Further, Germany by +herself was very powerful, the portentous growth of her manufactures and +commerce endowing her with wealth which she spent lavishly on her army +and navy. In May 1906 the Reichstag agreed to a new Navy Bill for +further construction which was estimated to raise the total annual +expenditure on the navy from £11,671,000 in 1905 to £16,492,000 in 1917; +this too though Bebel had warned the House that the agitation of the_ +German Navy League had for its object a war with England. + +In 1906 and 1907 Edward VII. paid visits to William II., who returned +the compliment in November 1907. But this interchange of courtesies +could not end the distrust caused by Germany's increase of armaments. +The peace-loving Administration of Campbell-Bannerman, installed in +power by the General Election of 1906, sought to come to an +understanding with Berlin, especially at the second Hague Conference of +1907, with respect to a limitation of armaments. But Germany rejected +all such proposals[519]. The hopelessness of framing a friendly +arrangement with her threw us into the arms of Russia; and on August 31, +1907, Anglo-Russian Conventions were signed defining in a friendly way +the interests of the two Powers in Persia, Afghanistan, and Thibet. +True, the interests of Persian reformers were sacrificed by this +bargain; but it must be viewed, firstly, in the light of the Bagdad +Railway scheme, which threatened soon to bring Germany to the gates of +Persia and endanger the position of both Powers in that land[520]; +secondly, in that of the general situation, in which Germany and Austria +were rapidly forcing their way to a complete military ascendancy and +refused to consider any limitation of armaments. The detailed reasons +which prompted the Anglo-Russian Entente are of course unknown. But the +fact that the most democratic of all British Administrations should come +to terms with the Russian autocracy is the most convincing proof of the +very real danger which both States discerned in the aggressive conduct +of the Central Powers. The Triple Alliance, designed by Bismarck solely +to safeguard peace, became, in the hands of William II., a menace to his +neighbours, and led them to form tentative and conditional arrangements +for defence in case of attack. This is all that was meant by the Triple +Entente. It formed a loose pendant to the Dual Alliance between France +and Russia, which _was_ binding and solid. With those Powers the United +Kingdom formed separate agreements; but they were not alliances; they +were friendly understandings on certain specific objects, and in no +respect threatened the Triple Alliance so long as it remained +non-aggressive[521]. + +[Footnote 519: See the cynical section in Reventlow, _op. cit._ (pp. +280-8), entitled "Utopien und Intrigen im Haag." For Austria's efforts +to prevent the Anglo-Russian Entente, see H.W. Steed, _The Hamburg +Monarchy_, p. 230.] + +[Footnote 520: Rachfahl (p. 307) admits this, but accuses England of +covert opposition everywhere, even at the Hague Conference.] + +[Footnote 521: On December 24, 1908, the Russian Foreign Minister, +Izvolsky, assured the Duma that "no open or secret agreements directed +against German interests existed between Russia and England."] + +One question remains. When was it that the friction between Great +Britain and Germany first became acute? Some have dated it from the +Morocco Affair of 1905-6. The assertion is inconsistent with the facts +of the case. Long before that crisis the policy of the Kaiser tended +increasingly towards a collision. His patronage of the Boers early in +1896 was a threatening sign; still more so was his World-Policy, +proclaimed repeatedly in the following years, when the appointments of +Tirpitz and Bülow showed that the threats of capturing the trident, and +so forth, were not mere bravado. The outbreak of the Boer War in 1899, +followed quickly by the Kaiser's speech at Hamburg, and the adoption of +accelerated naval construction in 1900, brought about serious tension, +which was not relaxed by British complaisance respecting Samoa. The +coquetting with the Sultan, the definite initiation of the Bagdad scheme +(1902-3), and the completion of the first part of Germany's new naval +programme in 1904 account for the Anglo-French Entente of that year. The +chief significance of the Morocco Affair of 1905-6 lay in the Kaiser's +design of severing that Entente. His failure, which was still further +emphasised during the Algeciras Conference, proved that a policy which +relies on menace and ever-increasing armaments arouses increasing +distrust and leads the menaced States to form defensive arrangements. +That is also the outstanding lesson of the career of Napoleon I. +Nevertheless, the Kaiser, like the Corsican, persisted in forceful +procedure, until Army Bills, Navy Bills, and the rejection of pacific +proposals at the Hague, led to their natural result, the Anglo-Russian +agreement of 1907. This event should have made him question the wisdom +of relying on armed force and threatening procedure. The Entente between +the Tsar and the Campbell-Bannerman Administration formed a tacit but +decisive censure of the policy of Potsdam; for it realised the fears +which had haunted Bismarck like a nightmare[522]. Its effect on William +II. was to induce him to increase his military and naval preparations, +to reject all proposals for the substitution of arbitration in place of +the reign of force, and thereby to enclose the policy of the Great +Powers in a vicious circle from which the only escape was a general +reduction of armaments or war. + +[Footnote 522: _Bismarck, his Reflections and Recollections_, vol. ii. +pp. 252, 289. There are grounds for thinking that William II. has been +pushed on to a bellicose policy by the Navy, Colonial, and Pan-German +Leagues. In 1908 he seems to have sought to pause; but powerful +influences (as also at the time of the crises of July 1911 and 1914) +propelled him. See an article in the _Revue de Paris_ of April 15, 1913, +"Guillaume II et les pangermanistes." In my narrative I speak of the +Kaiser as equivalent to the German Government; for he is absolute and +his Ministers are responsible solely to him.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +TEUTON _versus_ SLAV (1908-13) + + "To tell the truth, the Slav seems to us a born + slave."--TREITSCHKE, June 1876. + + +On October 7, 1908, Austria-Hungary exploded a political bomb-shell by +declaring her resolve to annex Bosnia-Herzegovina. Since the Treaty of +Berlin of 1878, she had provisionally occupied and administered those +provinces as mandatory of Europe (see p. 238). But now, without +consulting Europe, she appropriated her charge. On the other hand, she +consented to withdraw from the Sanjak of Novi-Bazar which she had +occupied by virtue of a secret agreement with Russia of July 1878. Even +so, her annexation of a great province caused a sharp crisis for the +following reasons: (1) It violated the international law of Europe +without any excuse whatever. (2) It exasperated Servia, which hoped +ultimately to possess Bosnia, a land peopled by her kindred and +necessary to her expansion seawards. (3) It no less deeply offended the +Young Turks, who were resolved to revivify the Turkish people and assert +their authority over all parts of the Ottoman dominions. (4) It came at +the same time as the assumption by Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria of the +title of Tsar of the Bulgarians. This change of title, which implied a +prospect of sovereignty over the Bulgars of Macedonia, had been arranged +during a recent visit to Buda-Pest, and foreshadowed the supremacy of +Austrian influence not only in the new kingdom of Bulgaria but +eventually in the Bulgar districts of Macedonia[523]. + +[Footnote 523: H.W. Steed, _The Hapsburg Monarchy_, pp. 52, 214.] + +Thus, Austria's action constituted a serious challenge to the Powers in +general, especially to Russia, Servia, and to regenerated Turkey[524]. +So daring a _coup_ had not been dealt by Austria since 1848, when +Francis Joseph ascended the throne; it is believed that he desired to +have the provinces as a jubilee gift, a set off to the loss of Lombardy +and Venetia in 1859 and 1866. Certainly Austria had carried out great +improvements in Bosnia; but an occupier who improves a farm does not +gain the right to possess it except by agreement with others who have +joint claims. Moreover, the Young Turks, in power since July 1908, +boasted their ability to civilise Bosnia and all parts of their Empire. +Servia also longed to include it in the large Servo-Croat kingdom of +the future. + +[Footnote 524: The constitutional regime which the Young Turks imposed +on the reactionary Abdul Hamid II., in July 1908, was hailed as a +victory for British influence. The change in April 1909 favoured German +influence. I have no space for an account of these complex events.] + +The Bosnian Question sprang out of a conflict of racial claims, which +two masterful men, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand and the Austrian +Foreign Minister, Aehrenthal, were resolved to decide in favour of +Austria. The Archduke disliked, and was disliked by, the Germans and +Magyars on account of his pro-Slav tendencies. In 1900 he contracted +with a Slav lady, the Countess Chotek, a morganatic marriage, which +brought him into strained relations with the Emperor and Court. A +silent, resolute man, he determined to lessen German and Magyar +influence in the Empire by favouring the law for universal suffrage +(1906), and by the appointment as Foreign Minister of Aehrenthal, who +harboured ambitiously expansive schemes. The Archduke also furthered a +policy known as Trialism, that of federalising the Dual Monarchy by +constituting the Slav provinces as the third of its component groups. +The annexation of Bosnia would serve to advance this programme by +depressing the hitherto dominant races, the Germans and Magyars, +besides rescuing the monarchy from the position of "brilliant second" to +Germany. Kaiser William was taken aback by this bold stroke, especially +as it wounded Turkey; but he soon saw the advantage of having a vigorous +rather than a passive Ally; and, in a visit which he paid to the +Archduke in November 1908, their intercourse, which had hitherto been +coldly courteous, ripened into friendship, which became enthusiastic +admiration when the Archduke advocated the building of Austrian +_Dreadnoughts_. + +The annexation of Bosnia was a defiance to Europe, because, at the +Conference of the Powers held at London in 1871, they all (Austria +included) solemnly agreed not to depart from their treaty engagements +without a previous understanding with the co-signatories. Austria's +conduct in 1908, therefore, dealt a severe blow to the regime of +international law. But it was especially resented by the Russians, +because for ages they had lavished blood and treasure in effecting the +liberation of the Balkan peoples. Besides, in 1897, the Tsar had framed +an agreement with the Court of Vienna for the purpose of exercising +conjointly some measure of control over Balkan affairs; and he then +vetoed Austria's suggestion for the acquisition of Bosnia. In 1903, when +the two Empires drew up the "February" and "Mürzsteg" Programmes for +more effectually dealing with the racial disputes in Macedonia, the +Hapsburg Court did not renew the suggestion about Bosnia, yet in 1908 +Austria annexed that province. Obviously, she would not have thus defied +the public law of Europe and Russian, Servian, and Turkish interests, +but for the recent humiliation of Russia in the Far East, which explains +both the dramatic intervention of the Kaiser at Tangier against Russia's +ally, France, and the sudden apparition of Austria as an aggressive +Power. In his speech to the Austro-Hungarian Delegations Aehrenthal +declared that he intended to continue "an active foreign policy," which +would enable Austria-Hungary to "occupy to the full her place in the +world." She had to act because otherwise "affairs might have developed +against her." + +Thus the Eastern Question once more became a matter of acute +controversy. The Austro-Russian agreements of 1897 and 1903 had huddled +up and cloaked over those racial and religious disputes, so that there +was little chance of a general war arising out of them. But since 1908 +the Eastern Question has threatened to produce a general conflict unless +Austria moderated her pretensions. She did not do so; for, as we have +seen, Germany favoured them in order to assure uninterrupted +communications between Central Europe and her Bagdad Railway. Already +Hapsburg influence was supreme at Bukharest, Sofia, and in Macedonian +affairs. If it could dominate Servia (anti-Austrian since the accession +of King Peter in 1903) the whole of the Peninsula would be subject to +Austro-German control. True, the influence of Germany at Constantinople +at first suffered a shock from the Young Turk Revolution of July 1908; +and those eager nationalists deeply resented the annexation of Bosnia, +which they ascribed to the Austro-German alliance. The men of Berlin, +however, so far from furthering that act, disapproved of it as +endangering their control of Turkey and exploitation of its resources. +In fact, Germany's task in inducing her prospective vassals, the Turks, +to submit to spoliation at the hands of her ally, Austria, was +exceedingly difficult; and in the tension thus created, the third +partner of the Triple Alliance, Italy, very nearly parted company, from +disgust at Austrian encroachments in a quarter where she cherished +aspirations. As we have seen, Victor Emmanuel III., early in his reign, +favoured friendly relations with Russia; and these ripened quickly +during the "Annexation Crisis" of 1908-9, as both Powers desired to +maintain the _status quo_ against Austria[525]. On December 24, 1908, +the Russian Foreign Minister, Izvolsky, declared that, with that aim in +view, he was acting in close concert with France, Great Britain, and +Italy. He urged Bulgaria, Servia, and Montenegro to hold closely +together for the defence of their common interests: "Our aim must be to +bring them together and to combine them with Turkey in a common ideal of +defence of their national and economic development." A cordial union +between the Slav States and Turkey now seems a fantastic notion; but it +was possible then, under pressure of the Austro-German menace, which the +Young Turks were actively resisting. + +[Footnote 525: Tittoni, _Italy's Foreign and Colonial Policy_ (English +translation, p. 128). Tittoni denied that the Triple Alliance empowered +Italy to demand "compensation" if Austria expanded in the Balkans. But +the Triple Alliance Treaty, as renewed in 1912, included such a +clause, No. VII.] + +During the early part of 1909 a general war seemed imminent; for +Slavonic feeling was violently excited in Russia and Servia. But, +hostilities being impossible in winter, passions had time to cool. It +soon became evident that those States could not make head against +Austria and Germany. Moreover, the Franco-Russian alliance did not bind +France to act with Russia unless the latter were definitely attacked; +and France was weakened by the widespread strikes of 1907-8 and the +vehement anti-militarist agitation already described. Further, Italy was +distracted by the earthquake at Messina, and armed intervention was not +to be expected from the Campbell-Bannerman Ministry. Bulgaria and +Roumania were pro-Austrian. Turkey alone could not hope to reconquer +Bosnia, and a Turco-Serb-Russian league was beyond the range of +practical politics. These material considerations decided the issue of +events. Towards the close of March, Kaiser William, the hitherto silent +backer of Austria, ended the crisis by sending to his ambassador at +Petrograd an autograph letter, the effect of which upon the Tsar was +decisive. Russia gave way, and dissociated herself from France, England, +and Italy. In consideration of an indemnity of £2,200,000 from Austria, +Turkey recognised the annexation. Consequently no Conference of the +Powers met even to register the _fait accompli_ in Bosnia. The Germanic +Empires had coerced Russia and Servia, despoiled Turkey, and imposed +their will on Europe. Kaiser William characteristically asserted that it +was his apparition "in shining armour" by the side of Austria which +decided the issue of events. Equally decisive, perhaps, was Germany's +formidable shipbuilding in 1908-9, namely, four _Dreadnoughts_ to +England's two, a fact which explains this statement of Bülow: "When at +last, during the Bosnian crisis, the sky of international politics +cleared, when German power on the Continent burst its encompassing +bonds, we had already got beyond the stage of preparation in the +construction of our fleet[526]." + +[Footnote 526: Bülow, _Imperial Germany_, p. 99.] + +The crisis of 1908-9 revealed in a startling manner the weakness of +international law in a case where the stronger States were determined to +have their way. It therefore tended to discourage the peace propaganda +and the social movement in Great Britain and France. The increased speed +of German naval construction alarmed the British people, who demanded +precautionary measures[527]. France and Russia also improved their +armaments, for it was clear that Austria, as well as Germany, intended +to pursue an active foreign policy which would inflict other rebuffs on +neighbours who were unprepared. Further, the Triple Entente had proved +far too weak for the occasion. True, France and England loyally +supported Russia in a matter which chiefly concerned her and Servia, and +her sudden retreat before the Kaiser's menace left them in the lurch. +Consequently, the relations between the Western Powers and Russia were +decidedly cool during the years 1909-10, especially in and after +November 1910, when the Tsar met Kaiser William at Potsdam, and framed +an agreement, both as to their general relations and the railways then +under construction towards Persia. On the other hand, the rapid advance +of Germany and Austria alarmed Italy, who, in order to safeguard her +interests in the Balkans (especially Albania), came to an understanding +with Russia for the support of their claims. The details are not known, +neither are the agreements of Austria with Bulgaria and Roumania, +though it seems probable that they were framed with the two kings rather +than with the Governments of Sofia and Bukharest. Those sovereigns were +German princes, and the events of 1908-9 naturally attracted them +towards the Central Powers. + +[Footnote 527: Annoyance had been caused by the Kaiser's letter of Feb. +18, 1908, to Lord Tweedmouth, First Lord of the Admiralty, advising +(though in friendly terms) the cessation of suspicion towards Germany's +naval construction. It was held to be an attempt to put us off +our guard.] + +In 1909-10 France and England also lost ground in Turkey. There the +Young Turks, who seized power in July 1908, were overthrown in April +1909, when Abdul Hamid II. was deposed. He was succeeded by his weakly +complaisant brother, Mohammed V. This change, however, did not promote +the cause of reform. The Turkish Parliament became a bear-garden, and +the reformers the tools of reaction. In the four years 1908-12 there +were seven Ministries and countless ministerial crises, and the Young +Turks, copying the forms and killing the spirit of English Liberalism, +soon became the most intolerant oppressors of their non-Moslem subjects. +In administrative matters they acted on the old Turkish proverb--"The +Sultan's treasure is a sea, and he who does not draw from it is a pig." +Germany found means to satisfy these dominating and acquisitive +instincts, and thus regained power at the Sublime Porte. The Ottoman +Empire therefore remained the despair of patriotic reformers, a +hunting-ground for Teutonic _concessionnaires_, a Hell for its Christian +subjects, and the chief storm-centre of Europe[528]. + +[Footnote 528: Lack of space precludes an account of the Cretan +Question, also of the Agram and Friedjung trials which threw lurid light +on Austria's treatment of her South-Slav subjects, for which see +Seton-Watson, _Corruption and Reform in Hungary_. Rohrbach, _Der +deutsche Gedanke in der Welt_ (1912), p. 172, explains the success of +German efforts at the Porte by the belief of the Young Turks that +Germany was the only Power that wished them well--Germany who helped +Austria to secure Bosnia; Germany, whose Bagdad Railway scheme +mercilessly exploited Turkish resources! (See D. Fraser, _The Short Cut +to India_, chs. iii. iv.)] + +The death of King Edward VII. on May 6, 1910, was a misfortune for the +cause of peace. His tact and discernment had on several occasions +allayed animosity and paved the way for friendly understandings. True, +the German Press sought to represent those efforts as directed towards +the "encircling" (_Einkreisung_) of Germany. But here we may note that +(1) King Edward never transgressed the constitutional usage, which +prescribed that no important agreement be arrived at apart from the +responsible Ministers of the Crown[529]. (2) The agreements with Spain, +Italy, France, Germany, and Portugal (in 1903-4) were for the purposes +of arbitration. (3) The alliance with Japan and the Ententes with France +and Russia were designed to end the perilous state of isolation which +existed at the time of his accession. (4) At that time Germany was +allied to Austria, Italy, and (probably) Roumania, not to speak of her +secret arrangements with Turkey. She had no right to complain of the +ending of our isolation. (5) The marriage of King Alfonso of Spain with +Princess Ena of Battenberg (May 1906), was a love-match, and was not the +result of King Edward's efforts to detach Spain from Germany. It had no +political significance. (6) The Kaiser's sister was Crown Princess (now +Queen) of Greece; the King of Roumania was a Hohenzollern; and the King +of Bulgaria and the Prince Consort of Holland were German Princes. (7) +On several occasions King Edward testified his friendship with Germany, +notably during his visit to Berlin in February 1909, which Germans admit +to have helped on the friendly Franco-German agreement of that month on +Morocco; also in his letter of January 1910, on the occasion of the +Kaiser's birthday, when he expressed the hope that the United Kingdom +and Germany might always work together for the maintenance of +peace[530]. + +[Footnote 529: I have been assured of this on high authority.] + +[Footnote 530: Viscount Esher, _the Influence of King Edward: and Other +Essays_, p. 56. The "encircling" myth is worked up by Rachfahl, _Kaiser +und Reich_, p, 228; Reventlow, _op, cit._ pp. 254, 279, 298, etc.; and +by Rohrbach, _Der deutsche Gedanke in der Welt_ (ch. vi.), where he says +that King Edward's chief idea from the outset was to cripple Germany. He +therefore won over Japan, France, Spain, and Russia, his aim being to +secure all Africa from the Cape to Cairo, and all Asia from the Sinaitic +Peninsula to Burmah.] + +The chief danger to public tranquillity arises from the vigorous +expansion of some peoples and the decay of others. Nearly all the great +nations of Europe are expansive; but on their fringe lie other peoples, +notably the Turks, Persians, Koreans, and the peoples of North Africa, +who are in a state of decline or semi-anarchy. In such a state of things +friction is inevitable and war difficult to avoid, unless in the +councils of the nations goodwill and generosity prevail over the +suspicion and greed which are too often the dominant motives. Scarcely +was the Bosnian-Turkish crisis over before Morocco once more became a +danger to the peace of the world. + +There the anarchy continued, with results that strained the relations +between France and Germany. Nevertheless, on February 8, 1909 (probably +owing to the friendly offices of Great Britain[531]), the two rivals +came to an agreement that France should respect the independence of +Morocco and not oppose German trade in that quarter, while Germany +declared that her sole interests there were commercial, and that she +would not oppose "the special political interests of France in that +country[532]." But, as trade depended on the maintenance of order, this +vague compact involved difficulties. Clearly, if disorders continued, +the task of France would be onerous and relatively unprofitable, for she +would be working largely for the benefit of British and German traders. +Indeed, the new Chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg, admitted to the French +ambassador, Jules Cambon, that thenceforth Morocco was a fruit destined +to fall into the lap of France; only she must humour public opinion in +Germany. Unfortunately, the "Consortium," for joint commercial +enterprises of French and Germans in Morocco and the French Congo, broke +down on points of detail; and this produced a very sore feeling in +Germany in the spring of 1911. Further, as the Moorish rebels pushed +their raids up to the very gates of Fez, French troops in those same +months proceeded to march to that capital (April 1911). The Kaiser saw +in that move, and a corresponding advance of Spanish troops in the +North, a design to partition Morocco. Failing to secure what he +considered satisfactory assurances, he decided to send to Agadir a +corvette, the _Panther_ (July 1, 1911), replaced by a cruiser, +the _Berlin_. + +[Footnote 531: Rachfahl, p. 310.] + +[Footnote 532: Morel, App. XIV.] + +Behind him were ambitious parties which sought to compass +world-predominance for Germany. The Pan-German, Colonial, and Navy +Leagues had gained enormous influence since 1905, when they induced the +Kaiser to visit Tangiers; and early in 1911 they issued pamphlets urging +the annexation of part of Morocco. The chief, termed _West-Marokko +deutsch_, was inspired by the Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs, +Kiderlen-Wächter, who thereafter urged officially that the Government +must take into account public opinion--which he himself had manipulated. + +Again, as at Tangiers in 1905, Germany's procedure was needlessly +provocative if, as the agreement of 1909 declared, her interests in +Morocco were solely commercial. If this were so, why send a war-ship, +when diplomatic insistence on the terms of 1909 would have met the needs +of the case, especially as German trade with Morocco was less than half +that of French firms and less than one-third that of British firms? +Obviously, Germany was bent on something more than the maintenance of +her trade (which, indeed, the French were furthering by suppressing +anarchy); otherwise she would not have risked the chance of a collision +which might at any time result from the presence of a German cruiser +alongside French war-ships in a small harbour. + +It is almost certain that the colonial and war parties at Berlin sought +to drive on the Kaiser to hostilities. The occasion was favourable. In +the spring of 1911 France was a prey to formidable riots of +vine-growers. On June 28 occurred an embarrassing change of Ministry. +Besides, the French army and navy had not yet recovered from the +Socialist régime of previous years. The remodelling of the Russian army +was also very far from complete. Moreover, the Tsar and Kaiser had come +to a friendly understanding at Potsdam in November 1910, respecting +Persia and their attitude towards other questions, so that it was +doubtful whether Russia would assist France if French action in Morocco +could be made to appear irregular. As for Great Britain, her ability to +afford sufficiently large and timely succour to the French was open to +question. In the throes of a sharp constitutional crisis, and beset by +acute Labour troubles, she was ill-fitted even to defend herself. By the +close of 1911 the Navy would include only fourteen first-class ships as +against Germany's nine; while Austria was also becoming a Naval Power. +The weakness of France and England had appeared in the spring when they +gave way before Germany's claims in Asia Minor. On March 18, 1911, by a +convention with Turkey she acquired the right to construct from the +Bagdad Railway a branch line to Alexandretta, together with large +privileges over that port which made it practically German, and the +natural outlet for Mesopotamia and North Syria, heretofore in the sphere +of Great Britain and France. True, she waived conditionally her claim to +push the Bagdad line to the Persian Gulf; but her recent bargain with +the Tsar at Potsdam gave her the lion's share of the trade of +Western Persia. + +After taking these strides in the Levant, Germany ought not to have +shown jealousy of French progress in Morocco, where her commerce was +small. As in 1905, she was clearly using the occasion to test the +validity of the Anglo-French Entente and the effectiveness of British +support to France. Probably, too, she desired either a territorial +acquisition in South Morocco, for which the colonial party and most of +the Press were clamouring; or she intended, in lieu of it, to acquire +the French Congo. At present it is not clear at which of these objects +she aimed. Kiderlen-Wächter declared privately that Germany must have +the Agadir district, and would never merely accept in exchange Congolese +territory[533]. + +[Footnote 533: The following facts are significant. On November 9, 1911, +the Chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg, assured the Reichstag that Germany had +never intended to annex Moroccan territory, an assertion confirmed by +Kiderlen-Wächter on Nov. 17. But during the libel action brought against +the Berlin _Post_ it was positively affirmed that the Government and +Kiderlen-Wächter had intended to annex South-West Morocco. A high +official, Dr. Heilbronn, telephoned so to the _Post_, urging it to +demand that step.] + +Whatever were the real aims of the Kaiser, they ran counter to French +and British interests. Moreover, the warning of Sir Edward Grey, on July +4, that we must be consulted as to any new developments, was completely +ignored; and even on July 21 the German ambassador in London could give +no assurance as to the policy of his Government. Consequently, on that +evening Mr. Lloyd George, during a speech at the Mansion House, apprised +Germany that any attempt to treat us as a negligible factor in the +Cabinet of Nations "would be a humiliation intolerable for a great +country like ours to endure." The tension must have been far more severe +than appeared in the published documents to induce so peace-loving a +Minister to speak in those terms. They aroused a storm of passion in the +German Press; and, somewhat later, a German admiral, Stiege, declared +that they would have justified an immediate declaration of war by +Germany[534]. Certainly they were more menacing than is usual in +diplomatic parlance; but our cavalier treatment by Germany (possibly due +to Bethmann-Hollweg's belief in blunt Bismarckian ways) justified a +protest, which, after all, was less questionable than Germany's +despatching a cruiser to Agadir, owing to the reserve of the French +Foreign Office. Up to July 27 the crisis remained acute; but on that day +the German ambassador gave assurances as to a probable agreement +with France. + +[Footnote 534: Rear-Admiral Stiege in _Überall_ for March 1912.] + +What caused the change of front at Berlin? Probably it was due to a +sharp financial crisis (an unexpected result of the political crisis), +which would have produced a general crash in German finance, then in an +insecure position; and prudence may have counselled the adoption of the +less ambitious course, namely a friendly negotiation with the French for +territorial expansion in their Congo territory in return for the +recognition of their protectorate of Morocco. Such a compromise (which, +as we shall see, was finally arrived at) involved no loss for Germany. +On the contrary, she gained fertile districts in the tropics and left +the French committed to the Morocco venture, which, at great cost to +them, would tend finally to benefit commerce in general, and therefore +that of Germany. + +Also, before the end of these discussions there occurred two events +which might well dispose the Kaiser to a compromise with France. +Firstly, as a result of his negotiations with Russia (then beset by +severe dearth) he secured larger railway and trading concessions in +Persia, the compact of August 19 opening the door for further German +enterprises in the Levant. Secondly, on September 29, Italy declared war +on Turkey, partly (it is said) because recent German activity in Tripoli +menaced the ascendancy which she was resolved to acquire in that land. +This event greatly deranged the Kaiser's schemes. He had hoped to keep +the Triple Alliance intact, and yet add to it the immense potential +fighting force of Turkey and the Moslem World. Now, however he might +"hedge," he could hardly avoid offending either Rome or Constantinople; +and even if he succeeded, his friends would exhaust each other and be +useless for the near future. Consequently, the Italo-Turkish War (with +its sequel, the Balkan War of 1912) dealt him a severe blow. The Triple +Alliance was at once strained nearly to breaking-point by Austria +forbidding Italy to undertake naval operations in the Adriatic (probably +also in the Aegean). Equally serious was the hostility of Moslems to +Europeans in general which compromised the Kaiser's schemes for +utilising Islam. Accordingly, for the present, his policy assumed a more +peaceful guise. + +Here, doubtless, are the decisive reasons for the Franco-German accord +of November 4, 1911, whereby the Berlin Government recognised a French +protectorate over Morocco and agreed not to interfere in the +Franco-Spanish negotiation still pending. France opened certain "closed" +ports (among them Agadir), and guaranteed equality of trading rights to +all nations. She also ceded to Germany about 100,000 square miles of +fertile land in the north-west of her Congo territory, which afforded +access to the rivers Congo and Ubangi. The explosion of Teutonic wrath +produced by these far from unfavourable conditions revealed the +magnitude of the designs that prompted the _coup_ of Agadir. The +Colonial Minister at once resigned; and scornful laughter greeted the +Chancellor when he announced to the Reichstag that the _Berlin_ would be +withdrawn from that port, the protection of German subjects being no +longer necessary. He added that Germany would neither fight for Southern +Morocco nor dissipate her strength in distant expeditions. In fact, he +would "avoid any war which was not required by German honour." Far +different was the tone of the Conservative leader, Herr Heydebrand, who +declared Mr. Lloyd George's "challenge" to be one which the German +people would not tolerate; England had sought to involve them in a war +with France, but they now saw "where the real enemy was to be found." +The Crown Prince, who was present, loudly applauded these Anglophobe +outbursts. The German Press showed no less bitterness. Besides +criticising the Chancellor's blustering beginning and huckstering +conclusion, they manifested a resolve that Germany should always and +everywhere succeed. The Berlin journal, the _Post_, went so far as to +call the Kaiser _ce poltron misérable_ for giving up South Morocco; and +it was clear that a large section of the German people ardently desired +war with the Western Powers. + +Many Frenchmen and Belgians credited the German colonial party with the +design of acquiring the whole of the French Congo, as a first step +towards annexing the Belgian Congo[535]. Belgium became alarmed, and in +1913 greatly extended the principle of compulsory military service. On +the other hand, the German Chauvinists certainly desired the acquisition +of a naval base in Morocco which would help to link up their naval +stations and facilitate the conquest of a World Empire. This was the +policy set forth by Bernhardi in the closing parts of his work, _Germany +and the next War,_ where he protested against the Chancellor's surrender +of Morocco as degrading to the nation and damaging to its future. +Following the lead of Treitschke, he depreciated colonies rich merely in +products; for Germany needed homes for her children in future +generations, and she must fight for them with all her might at the first +favourable opportunity. This is the burden of Bernhardi's message, which +bristles with rage at the loss of Morocco. He regarded that land as more +important than the Congo; for, in addition to the strategic value of its +coasts, it offered a fulcrum in the west whereby to raise the Moslems +against the Triple Entente. In the Epilogue he writes: "Our relations +with Islam have changed for the worse by the abandonment of +Morocco. . . . We have lost prestige in the whole Mohammedan world, +which is a matter of the first importance for us." + +[Footnote 535: Hanotaux, _La Politique de l'Équilibre_, p. 417.] + +The logical conclusion of Bernhardi's thesis was that Germany and +Austria should boldly side with the Moors and Turks against France and +Italy, summoning Islam to arms, if need be, against Christendom. Perhaps +if Turkey had possessed the 1,500,000 troops whom her War Minister, +Chevket Pacha, was hopefully striving to raise, this might have been the +outcome of events. As it was, _Realpolitik_ counselled prudence, and the +observance of the forms of Christianity. + +Certainly there was no sufficient pretext for war. France and Russia had +humoured Germany. As to "the real enemy," light was thrown on her +attitude during the debate of November 27, 1911, at Westminster. Sir +Edward Grey then stated that we had consistently helped on, and not +impeded, the Franco-German negotiations. Never had we played the +dog-in-the-manger to Germany. In fact, the Berlin Government would +greatly have eased the tension if she had declared earlier that she did +not intend to take part of Morocco. Further, the Entente with France +(made public on November 24) contained no secret articles; nor were +there any in any compact made by the British Government. On December 6, +Mr. Asquith declared that we had no secret engagement with any Power +obliging us to take up arms. "We do not desire to stand in the light of +any Power which wants to find its place in the sun. The first of British +interests is, as it always has been, the peace of the world; and to its +attainment British diplomacy and policy will be directed." The German +Chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg, also said in the Reichstag, "We also, +sirs, sincerely desire to live in peace and friendship with England"--an +announcement received with complete silence. Some applause greeted his +statement that he would welcome any definite proof that England desired +friendlier relations with Germany. + +Thus ended the year 1911. Frenchmen were sore at discovering that the +Entente entailed no obligation on our part to help them by force of +arms[536]; and Germans, far from rejoicing at their easy acquisition of +a new colony, harboured resentment against both the Western Powers. +Britons had been aroused from party strifes and Labour quarrels by +finding new proofs of the savage enmity with which Junkers, Colonials, +and Pan-Germans regarded them; and the problem was--Should England seek +to regain Germany's friendship, meanwhile remaining aloof from close +connections with France and Russia; or should she recognise that her +uncertain attitude possessed all the disadvantages and few of the +advantages of a definite alliance? + +[Footnote 536: Hanotaux, _La Politique de l'Équilibre,_ p. 419.] + +Early in 1912 light was thrown on the situation, and the Berlin +Government thenceforth could not plead ignorance as to our intentions; +for efforts, both public and private, were made to improve Anglo-German +relations. Mr. Churchill advocated a friendly understanding in naval +affairs. Lord Haldane also visited Berlin on an official invitation. He +declared to that Government that "we would in no circumstances be a +party to any sort of aggression upon Germany." But we must oppose a +violation of the neutrality of Belgium, and, if the naval competition +continued, we should lay down two keels to Germany's one. As a sequel to +these discussions the two Governments discussed the basis of an Entente. +It soon appeared that Germany sought to bind us almost unconditionally +to neutrality in all cases. To this the British Cabinet demurred, but +suggested the following formula: + + The two Powers being mutually desirous of securing peace and + friendship between them, England declares that she will + neither make, nor join in, any unprovoked attack upon + Germany. Aggression upon Germany is not the subject, and + forms no part of any treaty, understanding, or combination to + which England is now a party, nor will she become a party to + anything that has such an object. + +Further than this it refused to go; and Mr. Asquith in his speech of +October 2, 1914, at Cardiff thus explained the reason: + + They [the Germans] wanted us to go further. They asked us to + pledge ourselves absolutely to neutrality in the event of + Germany being engaged in war, and this, mark you, at a time + when Germany was enormously increasing both her aggressive + and defensive resources, and especially upon the sea. They + asked us (to put it quite plainly) for a free hand, so far as + we were concerned, when they selected the opportunity to + overbear, to dominate, the European World. To such a demand, + but one answer was possible, and that was the answer we + gave[537]. + +[Footnote 537: See _Times_ of October 3, 1914, and July 20, 1915 (with +quotations from the _North German Gazette_). Bethmann-Hollweg declared +to the Reichstag, on August 19, 1915, that Asquith's statement was +false; but in a letter published on August 26, and an official statement +of September 1, 1915, Sir E. Grey convincingly refuted him.] + +Thus, efforts for a good understanding with Germany broke down owing to +the exacting demands of German diplomacy for our neutrality in all +circumstances (including, of course, a German invasion of Belgium). +Thereupon she proceeded with a new Navy Act (the fifth in fourteen +years) for a large increase in construction[538]. + +[Footnote 538: Castle and Hurd, _German Naval Power_, pp. 142-152.] + +Perhaps Germany would have been more conciliatory if she had foreseen +the events of the following autumn. As has already appeared, Italy's +attack upon the Turks (coinciding with difficulties which their rigour +raised up) furnished the opportunity--for which the Balkan States had +been longing--to shake off the Turkish yoke. On March 13, 1912, Servia +and Bulgaria framed a secret treaty of alliance against Turkey, which +contained conditions as to joint action against Austria or Roumania, if +they attacked, and a general understanding as to the partition of +Macedonia. Greece came into the agreement later[539]. No time was fixed +for action against Turkey; but in view of her obstinacy and intolerance +action was inevitable. She precipitated matters by massacring Christians +in and on the borders of Macedonia. Thereupon the three States and +Montenegro demanded the enforcement of the reforms and toleration +guaranteed by the Treaty of Berlin (see p. 242). The Turks having as +usual temporised (though they were still at war with Italy[540]), the +four States demanded complete autonomy and the reconstruction of +frontiers according to racial needs. Both sides rejected the joint +offers of Austria and Russia for friendly intervention; whereupon Turkey +declared war upon Bulgaria and Servia (October 17). On the morrow Greece +declared war upon her. Montenegro had already opened hostilities. In +view of these facts, the later assertions of the German Powers, that the +Balkan League was a Russian plot for overthrowing Turkey and weakening +Teutonic influence, is palpably false. Turkey had treated her Christian +subjects (including the once faithful Albanians) worse than ever. Their +union against Turkey had long been foretold. It was helped on by +Ottoman misrule, and finally cemented by massacre. Further, Russia and +Austria acted together in seeking to avert an attack on Turkey; and the +Powers collectively warned the Balkan States that no changes of boundary +would be tolerated. Those States refused to accept the European fiat; +for the present misrule was intolerable, and the inability of the Turks +to cope with either the Italians or the Albanian rebels opened a vista +of hope. The German accusations levelled at Russia were obviously part +of the general scheme adopted at Berlin and Vienna for exasperating +public opinion against the Slav cause. + +[Footnote 539: The claim that the Greek statesman, Venizelos, founded +the league seems incorrect. So, too, is the rumour that Russia, through +her minister, Hartvig, at Belgrade, framed it (but see N. Jorga, _Hist. +des États balcaniques_, p. 436). Miliukoff, in a "Report to the Carnegie +Foundation," denies this. The plan occurred to many men so soon as +Turkish Reform proved a sham. Venizelos is said to have mooted it to Mr. +James Bourchier in May 1911. (R. Rankin, _Inner History of the Balkan +War_, p. 13.)] + +[Footnote 540: Italy made peace on October 15, gaining possession of +Tripoli and agreeing to evacuate the Aegean Isles, but on various +pretexts kept her troops there. A little later she renewed the Triple +Alliance with Germany and Austria for five years. This may have resulted +from the Balkan crisis then beginning, and from the visits of the +Russian Foreign Minister, Sazonoff, to Paris and London, whereupon it +was officially stated that Russia adhered both to her treaty with France +and her Entente with England. He added that the grouping of the great +States was necessary in the interests of the Balance of Power.] + +The Balkan States, though waging war with no combined aim, speedily +overthrew the Turks in the most dramatic and decisive conflict of our +age. The Greeks entered Salonica on November 8 (a Bulgarian force a few +days later); on November 18 the Servians occupied Monastir, and the +Albanian seaport, Durazzo, at the end of the month. The Bulgar army +meanwhile drove the Turks southwards in headlong rout until in the third +week of November the fortified Tchataldja Lines opposed an invincible +obstacle. There, on December 3, all the belligerents, except Greece, +concluded an armistice, and negotiations for peace were begun at London +on December 16. Up to January 22, 1913, Turkey seemed inclined towards +peace; but on the morrow a revolution took place at Constantinople, the +Ministry of Kiamil Pacha being ousted by the warlike faction of Enver +Bey. He, one of the contrivers of the revolution of July 1908, had since +been attached to the Turkish Embassy at Berlin; and his successful coup +was a triumph of German influence. The Peace Conference at London broke +up on February 1. In March the Greeks and Bulgars captured Janina and +Adrianople respectively, while Scutari fell to the Montenegrins (April +22). The Powers (Russia included) demanded the evacuation of this town +by Montenegro; for they had decided to constitute Albania (the most +turbulent part of the Peninsula) an independent State, including +Scutari. + +In Albania, as elsewhere, the feuds of rival races had drenched the +Balkan lands with blood; Greek and Bulgar forces had fought near +Salonica, and there seemed slight chance of a peaceful settlement in +Central Macedonia. That chance disappeared when the Powers in the +resumed Peace Conference at London persisted in ruling the Serbs and +Montenegrins out of Albania, a decision obviously dictated by the +longings of Austria and Italy to gain that land at a convenient +opportunity. This blow to Servia's aspirations aroused passionate +resentment both there and in Russia. Finally the Serbs gave way, and +claimed a far larger part of Macedonia than had been mapped out in their +agreement with Bulgaria prior to the war. Hence arose strifes between +their forces, in which the Greeks also sided against the Bulgars. +Meanwhile, the London Conference of the Powers and the Balkan States +framed terms of peace, which were largely due to the influence of Sir +Edward Grey[541]. + +[Footnote 541: See _Times_ of May 30, 1913; Rankin, _op. cit._ p. 517.] + +They may be disregarded here; for they were soon disregarded by all the +Balkan States. Seeking to steal a march upon their rivals, the Bulgar +forces (it is said on the instigation of their King and his unofficial +advisers) made a sudden and treacherous attack. Now, the dour, pushing +Bulgars are the most unpopular race in the Peninsula. Therefore not only +Serbs and Greeks, but also Roumanians and Turks turned savagely upon +them[542]. Overwhelmed on all sides, Bulgaria sued for peace; and again +the Great Powers had to revise terms that they had declared to be final. +Ultimately, on August 10, 1913, the Peace of Bukharest was signed. It +imposed the present boundaries of the Balkan States, and left them +furious but helpless to resist a policy known to have been dictated +largely from Vienna and Berlin. In May 1914 a warm friend of the Balkan +peoples thus described its effects: "No permanent solution of the Balkan +Question has been arrived at. The ethnographical questions have been +ignored. A portion of each race has been handed over to be ruled by +another which it detests. Servia has acquired a population which is +mostly Bulgar and Albanian, though of the latter she has massacred and +expelled many thousands. Bulgars have been captured by Greeks, Greeks by +Bulgars, Albanians by Greeks, and not one of these races has as yet +shown signs of being capable to rule another justly. The seeds have been +sown of hatreds that will grow and bear fruit[543]." Especially +lamentable were the recovery of the Adrianople district by the Turks and +the unprovoked seizure of the purely Bulgar district south of Silistria +by Roumania. On the other hand, Kaiser William thus congratulated her +king, Charles (a Hohenzollern), on the peace, a "splendid result, for +which not only your own people but all the belligerent States and the +whole of Europe have to thank your wise and truly statesmanlike policy. +At the same time your mentioning that I have been able to contribute to +what has been achieved is a great satisfaction to me. I rejoice at our +mutual co-operation in the cause of peace." + +[Footnote 542: Roumania's sudden intervention annoyed Austria, who had +hoped for a longer and more exhausting war in the Balkans.] + +[Footnote 543: Edith Durham, _The Struggle for Scutari_, p. 315.] + +This telegram, following the trend of Austro-German policy, sought to +win back Roumania to the Central Powers, from which she had of late +sheered off. In other respects the Peace of Bukharest was a notable +triumph for Austria and Germany. Not only had they rendered impossible a +speedy revival of the Balkan League which had barred their expansion +towards the Levant, but they bolstered up the Ottoman Power when its +extrusion from Europe seemed imminent. They also exhausted Servia, +reduced Bulgaria to ruin, and imposed on Albania a German prince, +William of Wied, an officer in the Prussian army, who was destined to +view his principality from the quarter-deck of his yacht. Such was the +Treaty of Bukharest. Besides dealing a severe blow to the Slav cause, it +perpetuated the recent infamous spoliations and challenged every one +concerned to further conflicts. Within a year the whole of the Continent +was in flames. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE CRISIS OF 1914 + + "We have an interest in the independence of Belgium which is + wider than that which we have in the literal operation of the + guarantee. It is found in the answer to the question whether + this country would quietly stand by and witness the + perpetration of the direst crime that ever stained the pages + of history and thus become participators in the + sin."--GLADSTONE: + + Speech of August 1870. + + +The Prussian and German Army Bills of 1860 and onwards have tended to +make military preparedness a weighty factor in the recent development of +nations; and the issue of events has too often been determined, not by +the justice of a cause, but rather by the armed strength at the back of +it. We must therefore glance at the military and naval preparations +which enabled the Central Powers to win their perilous triumph over +Russia and the Slavs of the Balkans. In April 1912 the German Chancellor +introduced to the Reichstag Army and Navy Bills (passed on May 21) +providing for great increases in the navy, also forces amounting to two +new army corps, and that, too, though Germany's financial position was +admitted to be "very serious," and the proposed measures merely +precautionary. Nevertheless, only Socialists, Poles, and Alsatians voted +against them. But the events of the first Balkan War were cited as +menacing Germany with a conflict in which she "might have to protect, +against several enemies, frontiers which are extended and by nature to a +large extent open." A new Army Bill was therefore introduced in March +1913 (passed in June), which increased the total of the forces by +145,000, and raised their peace strength in 1914 to more than 870,000 +men. The Chancellor referred gratefully to "the extraordinary ability +and spirit of conciliation" of Sir Edward Grey during the Conference at +London, and admitted that a collision between Germans and Slavs was not +inevitable; but Germany must take precautions, this, too, at a time when +Russia and Austria agreed to place their forces again on a peace +footing. Germany, far from relaxing her efforts after the sharp rebuff +to the Slavonic cause in the summer of 1913, continued her military +policy. It caused grave apprehension, especially as the new drastic +taxes (estimated to produce £50,000,000) were loudly declared a burden +that could not long be borne. As to the naval proposals, the Chancellor +commended Mr. Churchill's suggestion (on March 26) of a "naval holiday," +but said there were many difficulties in the way. + +The British Naval Budget of 1912 had provided for a six years' programme +of 25 _Dreadnoughts_ against Germany's 14; and for every extra German +ship two British would be added. In March 1913 this was continued, with +the offer of a "holiday" for 1914 if Germany would soon accept. No +acceptance came. The peace strength of the British Regular Army was +reckoned early in 1914 at 156,000 men, with about 250,000 effective +Territorials. + +The increases in the German army induced the French Chambers, in July +1913, to recur to three years' military service, that of two years being +considered inadequate in face of the new menace from beyond the +Rhine[544]. Jaurès and the Socialists, who advocated a national militia +on the Swiss system, were beaten by 496 votes to 77, whereupon some of +them resorted to obstructive tactics, and the measure was carried with +some difficulty on July 8. The General Confederation of Labour and the +Anarchist Congress both announced their resolve to keep up the +agitation in the army against the three years' service. Mutinous +symptoms had already appeared. The military equipment of the French army +was officially admitted to be in an unsatisfactory state during the +debate of July 13, 1914, when it appeared that France was far from ready +for a campaign. The peace strength of the army was then reckoned at +645,000 men. + +[Footnote 544: The _Temps_ of March 30, 1913, estimated that Germany +would soon have 500,000 men in her first line, as against 175,000 +French, unless France recurred to three years' service. See M. Sembat, +_Faites un Roi, si non faites la Paix._] + +In Russia in 1912 the chief efforts were concentrated on the navy. As +regards the army, it was proposed in the Budget of July 1913 to retain +300,000 men on active service for six months longer than before, thus +strengthening the forces, especially during the winter months. Apart +from this measure (a reply to that of Germany) no important development +took place in 1912-14. The peace strength of the Russian army for Europe +in 1914 exceeded 1,200,000[545]. That of Austria-Hungary exceeded +460,000 men, that of Italy 300,000 men. Consequently the Triple Entente +had on foot just over 2,000,000 men as against 1,590,000 for the Triple +Alliance; but the latter group formed a solid well-prepared block, while +the Triple Entente were separate units; and the Russian and British +forces could not be speedily marshalled at the necessary points on the +Continent. Moreover, all great wars, especially from the time of +Frederick the Great, have shown the advantage of the central position, +if vigorously and skilfully used. + +[Footnote 545: G. Alexinsky, _La Russie et la guerre_, pp. 83-88.] + +In these considerations lies the key to the European situation in the +summer of 1914. The simmering of fiscal discontent and unsated military +pride in Germany caused general alarm, especially when the memories of +the Wars of Liberation of 1813-14 were systematically used to excite +bellicose ardour against France. Against England it needed no official +stimulus, for professors and teachers had long taught that "England was +the foe." In particular preparations had been made in South-West Africa +for stirring up a revolt of the Boers as a preliminary to the expulsion +of the British from South Africa. Relations had been established with +De Wet and Maritz. In 1913 the latter sent an agent to the German colony +asking what aid the Kaiser would give and how far he would guarantee the +independence of South Africa. The reply came: "I will not only +acknowledge the independence of South Africa, but I will even guarantee +it, provided the rebellion is started immediately[546]." The reason for +the delay is not known. Probably on further inquiry it was found that +the situation was not ready either in Europe or in South Africa. But as +to German preparations for a war with England both in South-West Africa +and Egypt there can be no doubt. India and probably Ireland also were +not neglected. + +[Footnote 546: General Botha's speech at Cape Town, July 25, 1915.] + +In fact a considerable part of the German people looked forward to a war +with Great Britain as equally inevitable and desirable. She was rich and +pleasure-loving; her Government was apt to wait till public opinion had +been decisively pronounced; her sons, too selfish to defend her, paid +"mercenaries" to do it. Her scattered possessions would therefore fall +an easy prey to a well-organised, warlike, and thoroughly patriotic +nation. Let the world belong to the ablest race, the Germanic. Such had +been the teachings of Treitschke and his disciples long before the Boer +War or the Anglo-French Entente. Those events and the Morocco Question +in 1905 and 1911 sharpened the rivalry; but it is a superficial reading +of events to suppose that Morocco caused the rivalry, which clearly +originated in the resolve of the Germans to possess a World-Empire. So +soon as their influential classes distinctly framed that resolve a +conflict was inevitable with Great Britain, which blocked their way to +the Ocean and possessed in every sea valuable colonies which she seemed +little able to defend. The Morocco affair annoyed them because, firstly, +they wanted that strategic position, and secondly, they desired to +sunder the Anglo-French Entente. But Morocco was settled in 1911, and +still the friction continued unabated. There remained the Eastern +Question, a far more serious affair; for on it hung the hopes of Germany +in the Orient and of Austria in the Balkans. + +The difficulty for Germany was, how to equate her world-wide ambitions +with the restricted and diverse aims of Austria and Italy. The interests +of the two Central Empires harmonised only respecting the Eastern +Question. _Weltpolitik_ in general and Morocco in particular did not in +the least concern Austria. Further, the designs of Vienna and Rome on +Albania clashed hopelessly. An effort was made in the Triple Alliance, +as renewed in 1912, to safeguard Italian interests by insisting that, if +Austria gained ground in the Balkans, Italy should have "compensation." +The effort to lure the Government of Rome into Balkan adventures +prompted the Austrian offer of August 9, 1913, for joint action against +Servia. Italy refused, alleging that, as Servia was not guilty of +aggression, the Austro-Italian Alliance did not hold good for such a +venture. Germany also refused the Austrian offer--why is not clear. +Austria was annoyed with the gains of Servia in the Peace of Bukharest, +for which Kaiser William was largely responsible. Probably, then, they +differed as to some of the details of the Balkan settlement. But it is +far more probable that Germany checked the Austrians because she was not +yet fully ready for vigorous action. The doctrine of complete +preparedness was edifyingly set forth by a well-informed writer, +Rohrbach, who, in 1912, urged his countrymen to be patient. In 1911 they +had been wrong to worry France and England about Morocco, where German +interests were not vital. Until the Bagdad and Hedjaz Railways had +neared their goals, Turkish co-operation in an attack on Egypt would be +weak. Besides, adds Rohrbach, the Kiel-North Sea Canal was not ready, +and Heligoland and other coast defences were not sufficiently advanced +for Germany confidently to face a war with England. Thanks to the +Kaiser, the fleet would soon be in a splendid condition, and then +Germany could launch out boldly in the world. The same course was urged +by Count Reventlow early in 1914. Germany must continue to arm, though +fully conscious that she was "constructing for her foreign politics and +diplomacy, a Calvary which _nolens volens_ she would have to +climb[547]." + +[Footnote 547: Rohrbach, _Der deutsche Gedanke in der Welt_ (1912), p. +216 (more than 10,000 copies of this work were sold in a year); +Reventlow, _Deutschlands auswärtige Politik,_ p. 251.] + +Other evidence, especially from Bernhardi, Frobenius, and the works of +the Pan-German and Navy Leagues, might be quoted in proof of Germany's +design to begin war when she was fully prepared. Now, the immense sums +voted in the War Budget of 1913 had not as yet provided the stores of +artillery and ammunition that were to astonish the world. Nor had Turkey +recovered from the wounds of 1912. Nor was the enlarged Kiel-North Sea +Canal ready. Its opening at Midsummer 1914 created a naval situation far +more favourable to Germany. A year earlier a French naval officer had +prophesied that she would await the opening of the canal before +declaring war[548]. + +[Footnote 548: _Revue des questions diplomatiques_ (1913), pp. 417-18.] + +At Midsummer 1914 the general position was as follows. Germany had +reached the pitch of perfection in armaments, and the Kiel Canal was +open. France was unready, though the three years' service promised to +improve her army. The Russian forces were slowly improving in number and +cohesion. Belgium also, alarmed by the German menace both in Europe and +on the Congo, had in 1912-13 greatly extended the principle of +compulsory service, so that in 1914 she would have more than 200,000 men +available, and by 1926 as many as 340,000. In naval strength it was +unlikely that Germany would catch up Great Britain. But the submarine +promised to make even the most powerful ironclads of doubtful value. + +Consequently, Germany and her friends (except perhaps Turkey) could +never hope to have a longer lead over the Entente Powers than in 1914, +at least as regards efficiency and preparedness. Therefore in the eyes +of the military party at Berlin the problem resembled that of 1756, +which Frederick the Great thus stated: "The war was equally certain and +inevitable. It only remained to calculate whether there was more +advantage in deferring it a few months or beginning at once." We know +what followed in 1756--the invasion of neutral Saxony, because she had +not completed her armaments[549]. For William II. in 1914 the case of +Belgium was very similar. She afforded him the shortest way of striking +at his enemy and the richest land for feeding the German forces. That +Prussia had guaranteed Belgian neutrality counted as naught; that in +1912 Lord Haldane had warned him of the hostility of England if he +invaded Belgium was scarcely more important. William, like his ancestor, +acted solely on military considerations. He despised England: for was +she not distracted by fierce party feuds, by Labour troubles, by wild +women, and by what seemed to be the beginnings of civil war in Ireland? +All the able rulers of the House of Hohenzollern have discerned when to +strike and to strike hard. In July 1914 William II.'s action was +typically Hohenzollern; and by this time his engaging personality and +fiery speeches, aided by professorial and Press propaganda, had +thoroughly Prussianised Germany. In regard to _moral_ as well as +_matériel_, "the day" had come by Midsummer 1914. + +[Footnote 549: Frédéric, _Hist. de la guerre de sept Ans_, i. p. 37.] + +Moreover, her generally passive partner, Austria, was then excited to +frenzy by the murder of the heir to the throne, Archduke Francis +Ferdinand. The criminals were Austrian Serbs; but no proof was then or +has since been forthcoming as to the complicity of the Servian +Government. Nevertheless, in the state of acute tension long existing +between Servia and Austria-Hungary, the affair seemed the climax of a +series of efforts at wrecking the Dual Monarchy and setting up a +Serbo-Croatian Kingdom. Therefore German and Magyar sentiment caught +flame, and war with Servia was loudly demanded. Dr. Dillon, while +minimising the question of the murder, prophesied that the quarrel would +develop into a gigantic struggle between Teuton and Slav[550]. In this +connection we must remember that the Central Empires had twice dictated +to the rest of Europe: first, in the Bosnian crisis of 1908-9; secondly, +in the negotiations which led to the Treaty of Bukharest (August 1913). +On other occasions Kaiser William had bent the will of Tsar Nicholas +II., notably in the Potsdam interview of November 1910. It is therefore +possible that Berlin reckoned once more on the complaisance of Russia; +and in that event Austria would have dragooned Servia and refashioned +the Balkan lands at her will, Germany meanwhile "keeping the ring." This +explanation of the crisis is, however, open to the objection that the +questions at issue more vitally affected Russia than did those of +1908-10, and she had nearly recovered normal strength. Unless the +politicians of Berlin and Vienna were blind, they must have foreseen +that Russia would aid Servia in resisting the outrageous demands sent +from Vienna to Belgrade on July 23. Those demands were incompatible with +Servia's independence; and though she, within the stipulated forty-eight +hours, acquiesced in all save two of them, the Austrian Government +declared war (July 28). In so doing it relied on the assurances of the +German Ambassador, von Tchirsky, that Russia would not fight. But by way +of retort to the Austrian order for complete mobilisation (July 31, 1 +A.M.), Russia quite early on that same day ordered a similar +measure[551]. + +[Footnote 550: _Daily Telegraph_, July 25, 1914.] + +[Footnote 551: _J'accuse_, pp. 134-5 (German edition). The partial +mobilisations of Austria and Russia earlier were intended to threaten +and protect Servia. The time of Austria's order for complete +mobilisation is shown in French Yellow Book, No. 115. That of Russia in +Austrian "Rotbuch," No. 52, and Russian Orange Book, No. 77.] + +The procedure of Austria and Germany now claims our attention. The +policy of Count Berchtold, Austria's Foreign Minister, had generally +been pacific. On July 28 he yielded to popular clamour for war against +Servia, but only, it appears, because of his belief that "Russia would +have no right to intervene after receiving his assurance that Austria +sought no territorial aggrandisement." On July 30 and 31 he consented to +continue friendly discussions with Russia. Even on August 1 the Austrian +Ambassador at Petrograd expressed to the Foreign Minister, Sazonoff, +the hope that things had not gone too far[552]. There was then still a +hope that Sir Edward Grey's offer of friendly mediation might be +accepted by Germany, Austria, and Russia. But on August 1 Germany +declared war on Russia. + +[Footnote 552: Austrian "Rotbuch," Nos. 50-56; British White Papers, +Miscellaneous (1914), No. 6 (No. 137), and No. 10, p. 3; French Yellow +Book, No. 120.] + +It is well to remember that by her action in August 1913 she held back +Austria from a warlike policy. In July 1914 some of Germany's officials +knew of the tenor of the Austrian demands on the Court of Belgrade; and +her Ambassador at Vienna stated on July 26 that Germany knew what she +was doing in backing up Austria. Kaiser William, who had been on a +yachting cruise, hurriedly returned to Berlin on the night of July +26-27. He must have approved of Austria's declaration of war against +Servia on July 28, for on that day his Chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg, +finally rejected Sir Edward Grey's proposal of a Peace Conference to +settle that dispute. The Chancellor then also expressed to our +Ambassador, Sir Edward Goschen, the belief that Russia had no right to +intervene in the Austro-Serb affair. The Austrian Ambassador at Berlin +also opined that "Russia neither wanted nor was in a position to make +war." This belief was widely expressed in diplomatic circles at Berlin. +Military men probably viewed matters from that standpoint; and in all +probability there was a struggle between the civilians and the soldiers, +which seems to have ended in a victory for the latter in an important +Council meeting held at Potsdam on the evening of July 29. Immediately +afterwards the Chancellor summoned Sir Edward Goschen and made to him +the "infamous proposals" for the neutrality of Great Britain in case of +a European War, provided that Germany (1) would engage to take no +territory from the mainland of France (he would make no promise +respecting the French colonies); (2) would respect the neutrality of +Holland; (3) would restore the independence of Belgium in case the +French menace compelled her to invade that country. + +These proposals prove that by the evening of July 29 Germany regarded +war as imminent[553]. But why? Even in the East matters did not as yet +threaten such a conflict. Russia had declared that Servia was not to be +made a vassal of the Hapsburgs; and, to give effect to that declaration, +she had mobilised the southern and eastern portions of her forces as a +retort to a similar partial mobilisation by Austria. But neither Russia +nor, perhaps, Austria wished for, or expected, a European war[554]. +Austria seems to have expected a _limited_ war, _i.e._ only with the +Serbs. She denied that the Russians had any right to intervene so long +as she did not annex Serb land. Her aim was to reduce the Serbs to +vassalage, and she expected Germany successfully to prevent Russia's +intervention, as in 1909[555]. The German proposals of July 29 are the +first clear sign of a general conflict; for they presumed the +probability of a war with France in which Belgium, and perhaps England, +might be involved while Holland would be left alone. In the course of +his remarks the Chancellor said that "he had in mind a general +neutrality agreement between England and Germany"--a reference to the +German offers of 1912 described in this chapter. As at that time the +Chancellor sought to tie our hands in view of any action by Germany, so, +too, at present his object clearly was to preclude the possibility of +our stirring on behalf of Belgium. Both Goschen and Grey must have seen +the snare. The former referred the proposals to Grey, who of course +decisively refused them. + +[Footnote 553: M. Jules Cambon telegraphed from Berlin to his Government +on July 30 that late on July 29 Germany had ordered mobilisation, but +countermanded it in view of the reserve of Sir Edward Goschen as to +England's attitude, and owing to the Tsar's telegram of July 29 to the +Kaiser. Berlin papers which had announced the mobilisation were seized. +All measures preliminary to mobilisation had been taken (French Yellow +Book, No. 107; German White Book, No. 21).] + +[Footnote 554: Russian Orange Book, Nos. 25, 40, 43, 58.] + +[Footnote 555: Austrian "Rotbuch," Nos. 28, 31, 44; Brit. White Paper, +Nos. 91-97, 161. _J'accuse_ (III. A) goes too far in accusing Austria of +consciously provoking a European War; for, as I have shown, she wished +on August 1 to continue negotiations with Russia. The retort that she +did so only when she knew that Germany was about to throw down the +gauntlet, seems to me far-fetched. Besides, Austria was not ready; +Germany was.] + +This was the first of Grey's actions which betokened tension with +Germany. Up to the 28th his efforts for peace had seemed not unlikely to +be crowned with success. On July 20, that is three days before Austria +precipitated the crisis, he begged the Berlin Government to seek to +moderate her demands on Servia. The day after the Austrian Note he urged +a Conference between France and England on one side and Germany and +Italy on the other so as to counsel moderation to their respective +Allies, Russia and Austria. It was Germany and Austria who negatived +this by their acts of the 28th. Still Grey worked for peace, with the +approval of Russia, and, on July 30 to August 1, of Austria. But on July +31 and August 1 occurred events which frustrated these efforts. On July +31 the Berlin Government, hearing of the complete mobilisation by Russia +(a retort to the similar proceeding of Austria a few hours earlier), +sent a stiff demand to Petrograd for demobilisation within twelve hours; +also to Paris for a reply within eighteen hours whether it would remain +neutral in case of a Russo-German War. + +Here we must pause to notice that to ask Russia to demobilise, without +requiring the same measure from Austria, was manifestly unjust. Russia +could not have assented without occupying an inferior position to +Austria. If Germany had desired peace, she would have suggested the same +action for each of the disputants. Further, while blaming the Russians +for mobilising, she herself had taken all the preliminary steps, +including what is called _Kriegsgefahr_, which made her army far better +prepared for war than mobilisation itself did for the Russian Empire in +view of its comparatively undeveloped railway system. Again, if the +Kaiser wished to avoid war, why did he not agree to await the arrival +(on August 1) of the special envoy, Tatisheff, whom, on the night of +July 30, the Tsar had despatched to Berlin[556]? There is not a single +sign that the Berlin Government really feared "the Eastern Colossus," +though statements as to "the eastern peril" were very serviceable in +frightening German Socialists into line. + +[Footnote 556: German White Book, No. 23_a_; _J'accuse_, Section III. B, +pp. 153, 164 (German edit.), shows that the German White Book suppressed +the Tsar's second telegram of July 29 to the Kaiser, inviting him to +refer the Austro-Serb dispute to the Hague Tribunal. (See, too, J.W. +Headlam, _History of Twelve Days,_ p. 183.)] + +The German ultimatum failed to cow Russia; and as she returned no +answer, the Kaiser declared war on August 1. He added by telegram that +he had sought, _in accord with England,_ to mediate between Russia and +Austria, but the Russian mobilisation led to his present action. In +reply to the German demand at Paris the French Premier, M. Viviani, +declared on August 1 at 1 P.M. that France would do that "which her +interests dictated"--an evasive reply designed to gain time and to see +what course Russia would take. The Kaiser having declared war on Russia, +France had no alternative but to come to the assistance of her Ally. But +the Kaiser's declaration of war against France did not reach Paris until +August 3 at 6.45 P.M.[557] His aim was to leave France and Belgium in +doubt as to his intentions, and meanwhile to mass overwhelming forces on +their borders, especially that of Belgium. + +[Footnote 557: German White Book, Nos. 26, 27; French Yellow Book, No. +147.] + +Meanwhile, on August 1, German officials detained and confiscated the +cargoes of a few British ships. On August 2 German troops violated the +neutrality of Luxemburg. On the same day Sir Edward Grey assured the +French ambassador, M. Paul Cambon, that if the German fleet attacked +that of France or her coasts, the British fleet would afford protection. +This assurance depended, however, on the sanction of Parliament. It is +practically certain that Parliament would have sanctioned this +proceeding; and, if so, war would have come about owing to the naval +understanding with France[558], that is, if Germany chose to disregard +it. But another incident brought matters to a clearer issue. On August +3, German troops entered Belgium, though on the previous day the German +ambassador had assured the Government of King Albert that no such step +would be taken. The pretext now was that the French were about to +invade Belgium, as to which there was then, and has not been since, any +proof whatever. + +[Footnote 558: British White Paper, No. 105 and _Enclosures_, also No. +116.] + +Here we must go back in order to understand the action of the British, +French, and German Governments. They and all the Powers had signed the +treaty of 1839 guaranteeing the independence of Belgium; and nothing had +occurred since to end their engagement. The German proposals of July 29, +1914, having alarmed Sir Edward Grey, he required both from Paris and +Berlin assurances that neither Power would invade Belgium. That of +France on August 1 was clear and satisfactory. On July 31 the German +Secretary of State, von Jagow, declined to give a reply, because "any +reply they [the Emperor and Chancellor] might give could not but +disclose a certain amount of their plan of campaign in the event of war +ensuing." As on August 2 the official assurances of the German +ambassador at Brussels were satisfactory, the British Foreign Office +seems to have felt no great alarm on this topic. But at 7 P.M. of that +evening the same ambassador presented a note from his Government +demanding the right to march its troops into Belgium in order to prevent +a similar measure by the French. On the morrow Belgium protested against +this act, and denied the rumour as to French action. King Albert also +telegraphed to King George asking for the help of the United Kingdom. +The tidings reached the British Cabinet after it had been carefully +considering whether German aggression on Belgium would not constitute a +_casus belli_[559]. + +[Footnote 559: British White Paper, Nos. 123, 151, 153; Belgian Grey +Book, Nos. 20-25. For a full and convincing refutation of the German +charges that our military attachés at Brussels in 1906 and 1912 had +bound us by _conventions_(!) to land an army in Belgium, see second +Belgian Grey Book, pp. 103-6; Headlam, _op. cit._, ch. xvi., also p. +377, on the charge that France was about to invade Belgium.] + +The news of the German demand and the King's appeal reached Westminster +just before the first debate on August 3. Sir Edward Grey stated that we +were not parties to the Franco-Russian Alliance, of which we did not +know the exact terms; and there was no binding compact with France; but +the conversations on naval affairs pledged us to consult her with a +view to preventing an unprovoked attack by the German navy. He explained +his conditional promise to M. Cambon. Thereupon Mr. Redmond promised the +enthusiastic support of all Irishmen. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, though +demurring to the policy of Sir Edward Grey, said, "If the Right +Honourable gentleman could come to us and tell us that a small European +nationality like Belgium is in danger, and could assure us that he is +going to confine the conflict to that question, then we would support +him." Now, the Cabinet had by this time resolved that the independence +of Belgium should be a test question, as it was in 1870. Therefore, +there seemed the hope that not only the Irish but all the Labour party +would give united support to the Government. By the evening debate +official information had arrived; and, apart from some cavilling +criticisms, Parliament was overwhelmingly in favour of decided action on +behalf of Belgium. Sir Edward Grey despatched to Berlin an ultimatum +demanding the due recognition of Belgian neutrality by Germany. No +answer being sent, Great Britain and Germany entered on a state of war +shortly before midnight of August 4. + +The more fully the facts are known, the clearer appears the aggressive +character of German policy. Some of her Ministers doubted the +advisability of war, and hoped to compass their ends by threats as in +1909 and 1913; but they were overborne by the bellicose party on or +shortly before July 29. Whether the Kaiser, the Crown Prince, or the +General Staff is most to blame, it is idle to speculate; but German +diplomacy at the crisis shows every sign of having been forced on by +military men. Bethmann-Hollweg was never remarkable for breadth of view +and clearness of insight; yet he alone could scarcely have perpetrated +the follies which alienated Italy and outraged the sentiments of the +civilised world in order to gain a few days' start over France and stab +her unguarded side. It is a clumsy imitation of the policy of +Frederick in 1756. + +As to the forbearance of Great Britain at the crisis, few words are +needed. In earlier times the seizure of British ships and their cargoes +(August 1) would have led to a rupture. Clearly, Sir Edward Grey and his +colleagues clung to peace as long as possible. The wisdom of his +procedure at one or two points has been sharply impugned. Critics have +said that early in the crisis he should have empowered Sir George +Buchanan, our ambassador at Petrograd, to join Russia and France in a +declaration of our resolve to join them in case of war[560]. But (1) no +British Minister is justified in committing his country to such a course +of action. (2) The terms of the Ententes did not warrant it. (3) A +menace to Germany and Austria would, by the terms of the Triple +Alliance, have compelled Italy to join them, and it was clearly the aim +of the British Government to avert such a disaster. (4) On July 30 and +31 Grey declared plainly to Germany that she must not count on our +neutrality in all cases, and that a Franco-German War (quite apart from +the question of Belgium) would probably draw us in[561]. + +[Footnote 560: British White Paper, Nos. 6, 24, 99; Russian Orange Book, +No. 17.] + +[Footnote 561: British White Paper, Nos. 101, 102, 111, 114, 119. I +dissent from Mr. F.S. Oliver (_Ordeal by Battle,_ pp. 30-34) on the +question discussed above. For other arguments, see my _Origins of the +War,_ pp. 167-9. The ties binding Roumania to Germany and Austria were +looser; but anything of the nature of a general threat to the Central +Powers would probably have ranged her too on their side.] + +Sir Edward is also charged with not making our intentions clear as to +what would happen in case of the violation of the neutrality of Belgium. +But he demanded, both from France and Germany, assurances that they +would respect that neutrality; and on August 1 he informed the German +ambassador in London of our "very great regret" at the ambiguity of the +German reply. Also, on August 2 the German ambassador at Brussels +protested that Belgium was quite safe so far as concerned Germany[562]. +When a great Power gives those assurances, it does not improve matters +to threaten her with war if she breaks them. She broke them on August 3; +whereupon Grey took the decided action which Haldane had declared in +1912 that we would take. The clamour raised in Germany as to our +intervention being unexpected is probably the result of blind adherence +to a preconceived theory and of rage at a "decadent" nation daring to +oppose an "invincible" nation. The German Government of course knew the +truth, but its education of public opinion through the Press had become +a fine art. Therefore, at the beginning of the war all Germans believed +that France was about to invade Belgium, whereupon they stepped in to +save her; that the Eastern Colossus had precipitated the war by its +causeless mobilisation (a falsehood which ranged nearly all German +Socialists on the side of the Government); that Russia and Servia had +planned the dismemberment of Austria; that, consequently, Teutons (and +Turks) must fight desperately for national existence in a conflict +forced upon them by Russia, Servia, and France, England perfidiously +appearing as a renegade to her race and creed. + +[Footnote 562: British White Paper, Nos. 114, 122, 123, 125; Belgian +Grey Book, No. 19.] + +By these falsehoods, dinned into a singularly well-drilled and docile +people, the Germans were worked up to a state of frenzy for an +enterprise for which their rulers had been preparing during more than a +decade. The colossal stores of war material, amassed especially in +1913-14 (some of them certain soon to deteriorate), the exquisitely +careful preparations at all points of the national life, including the +colonies, refute the fiction that war was forced upon Germany. The +course of the negotiations preceding the war, the assiduous efforts of +Germany to foment Labour troubles in Russia before the crisis, the +unpreparedness of the Allies for the fierce and sustained energy of the +Teutonic assault,--all these symptoms prove the guilt of Germany[563]. +The crowning proof is that up to the present (August 1915) she has not +issued a complete set of diplomatic documents, and not one despatch +which bears out the Chancellor's statement that he used his influence at +Vienna for peace. The twenty-nine despatches published in her White Book +are a mere fragment of her immense diplomatic correspondence which she +has found it desirable to keep secret, and, as we have seen, her +officials suppressed the Tsar's second telegram of July 29 urging that +the Austro-Serb dispute be referred to the Hague Tribunal. + +[Footnote 563: See the damning indictment by a German in _J'accuse_, +Section III., also the thorough and judicial examination by J.W. +Headlam, _The History of Twelve Days_.] + +The sets of despatches published by the Allies show conclusively that +each of them worked for peace and was surprised by the war. Their +unpreparedness and the absolute preparedness of Germany have appeared so +clearly during the course of hostilities as to give the lie to the +German pamphleteers who have striven to prove that in the last resort +the war was "a preventive war," that is, designed to avert a future +conflict at a time unfavourable to Germany. There is not a sign that any +one of the Powers of the Entente was making more than strictly defensive +preparations; and, as has been shown, the Entente themselves were formed +in order to give mutual protection in case of aggression from her. The +desperate nature of that aggression appeared in her unscrupulous but +successful efforts to force Turkey into war (Oct.-Nov. 1914). No crime +against Christendom has equalled that whereby the champions of _Kultur_ +sought to stir up the fanatical passions of the Moslem World against +Europe. Fortunately, that design has failed; and incidentally it added +to the motives which have led Italy to break loose from the Central +Powers and assist the Allies in assuring the future of the oppressed +nationalities of Europe. + +[Illustration: THE PARTITION OF AFRICA IN 1902.] + + + + +INDEX. + + +Abdul, Aziz 168-9 +Abdul Hamid II., 169-70, 174, 177-9, 185-6, 204, 223-4, 238, 245-9, + 259, 266-9, 274-5, 277, 285, 328, 436, 447-8, 453, 457, 591-2, 618 +Abdul Kerim, 194-6, 200, 204, 206 +Abdur Rahman, 389, 400, 404-5, 407, 417, 418-19, 428-31, 433 +Abeken, Herr, 44 +Abu Klea, Battle of, 480 +Abyssinia, 335, 487, 504 +Adam, Mme, 333 +Adrianople, 221, 223, 229, 251, 270 +Aehrenthal, Count, 613-4 +Afghanistan, 334, 345-6, 366, 378-9, 386-91, 472, 527 + War in (1878-9), chap. xiv. 394 _passim_ +Africa, Partition of, chap. xviii, _passim_, 586 +Africa, South-West, 635-6 +Agadir, Coup d', 621, 623, 625 +Albania, 158, 229 +Albania, autonomy of, 630-1 +Albert, King of Belgium, 644-5 +Albrecht, Archduke, 33-6 +Alexander I., 31, 160-1, 297, 364 +Alexander II., 145, 167, 173-5, 180-83, 192, 204-5, 209-10, 215, 222-8, + 234, 254-6, 289, 293, 295-8, 306, 308, 313, 318, 322, 325, 355, 398-9 +Alexander III., 255-65, 272-86, 298-9, 301-4, 309-11, 331, 337, 340, + 343-6, 423-4, 428-9 +Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria, 254, 260-82, 286, 339, 428 +Alexandretta, 622 +Alexandria, bombardment of, 450-52 +Alfonso, King of Spain, 619 +_Algeciras_, Conference of, 604, 606-8, 610 + Act of, 607 +Alikhanoff, M., 424 +Alsace, 94, 105, 132, 133-4 +Alvensleben, General von, 61, 65-7, 77 +Amur, river, 571, 572, 580 +Andrassy, Count, 164, 232, 599 +André, General, 600 +Anglo-French Entente (1904), 601-4, 606, 607, 609, 622, 626, 636 +Anglo-German Agreement (1890), 520-523,525, 532 +Anglo-Japanese Compact, 597-8, 602 +Anglo-Russian Conventions, 608-10 +Angra Pequeña, 523, 524 +Antonelli, Cardinal, 89 +Arabi Pasha, 266, 444, 447-9, 452, 453-7 +Archinard, M., 539 +Argyll, Duke of, 371-2, 376, 417 +Armenia, 220, 229, 242, 244, 250, 307 +Army Bill, French (1875), 119, 121-2 +Arnim, Count von, 123, 318 +Artomoroff, Colonel, 504 +Asquith, H.H., 626-8 +Atbara, Battle of the, 490-91 +Augustenburg, Duke of, 16 +Aumale, Duc d', 117 +Austria, 4-23, 32-7, 55, 63, 137, 148, 164, 177, 180-81, 184-6, 194, + 227-8, 231, 232, 238, 242, 246, 257-8, 259, 271, 282, 284, 318, + 320, 323-7, 331-3, 350-51, 485, 585, 592-3, 601, 604, 607, 609, + 612-17, 622, 629-32, 634, 637, 639, 644, 647, 649 + Army of, 635 +Austro-German Alliance, 324-7 +Austro-Prussian War (1866), 17-21 +Austro-Russian Agreements (1897 and 1903), 615 +Austro-Russian Treaty (1877), 179-180 +Ayub Khan, 407, 415, 418-9 + +Baden, 12, 21 +Baden, Grand Duke of, 130 +Baert, Captain, 564 +Bagdad Railway, 591-4, 609, 615, 622, 637 +Bahr-el-Ghazal, the, 504, 506, 552, 558-9 +Bakunin, 292-5 +Balfour, Mr. A., 431-2 +Balkan League, the, 629, 632 +Balkan Peninsula, 25, 332 +Balkan Question, the, 631-2 +Balkan States, 586, 592, 616, 628-9, 633 +Balkan War (1912), 624, 629-31, 633 +Balkh, 399, 433 +Baluchistan, 367, 381, 384-6, 432 +Baring, Sir E., 463, 466-473 +Batak, 170, 171 +Batoum, 205, 229, 234, 241, 276 +Bavaria, 18, 20, 21, 131, 133-5 +Bazaine, Marshall, 63-5, 67-73, 75-8, 97 +Bazeilles, 79-82 +Beaconsfield, Earl of, 29, 165-6, 171, 175, 181, 182, 187-8, 220, 231, + 232-3, 234, 236-7, 240-41, 243-5, 287, 328, 380, 282-3, 391-3, + 400, 405, 440, 516 +Beaumont, Battle of, 78 +Bebel, Herr, 589 +Bechuanaland, 530-33 +Beernaert, M., 556 +Belfort, 98, 104, 105 +Belgium, 5, 16, 26, 148, 550-52, 555-7, 567, 625, 627-8, 638-9, 641-2, + 644-8 +Bendereff, 271, 278-9 +Benedek, General, 18 +Benedetti, M., 40-43, 48 +Bentley, Rev. W.H., 546 +Berber, 473, 475, 478, 488, 490 +Berchtold, Count, 640 +Beresford, Lord Charles, 480 +Berlin Conference (1885), 548-50, 552, 559, 562, 567 + Congress of (1878), 228, 235-42, 247, 259, 323, 328, 345, 388, 513 + Memorandum, the, 167-9, 181 +Berlin, Treaty of (1878), 237-42, 253, 267-8, 275, 291, 332, 353, 612, + 629 +Bernhardi, General von, 625-6, 638 +Besika Bay, 168, 171, 172, 177, 224 +Bessarabia, 160, 205, 230, 234, 260 +Bethman-Hollweg, Chancellor, 620, 623, 625, 627, 633-4, 641-2, 645-6, 648 +Beust, Count von, 32, 36, 37 +Biarritz, 16 +Biddulph, General, 398 +Bismarck, Prince Otto von, 8, 12-22, 27, 30, 31, 39, 41-49, 85, 86, 89, + 94, 97, 103-5, 109, 114, 118, 123, 129-32, 137, 140, 141, 153, 164, + 168, 173, 184, 228, 257, 261, 282, 317-27, 332, 335, 336-8, 342, 426, + 446, 457, 513-15, 520-21, 527, 528, 534, 547, 548, 590, 599, 609 + and "Protection," 141-150 +Bismarck, Count Herbert, 523-4, 528 +Blagovestchensk, 584 +Blowitz, M. de, 321-2 +Blumenthal, Count von, 72, 77, 85, 94 +Boer War, 585-8, 590, 597-8, 610, 636 +Bokhara, 365, 371 +Bonnier, M., 539 +Bordeaux, 98, 99, 103, 105, 106, 116, 118 +Bosnia, 163, 168, 238, 242, 258, 332 +Bosnia-Herzegovina, annexation of, 612, _seq_. 640 +Botha, General, 598 +Boulanger, General, 126, 333, 337, 339, 341 +Bourbaki, General, 98 +Bourbon, House of, 3-6 +Bourgas, 278 +Bourgeois, M., 504 +Boxer Movement, the, 583 +Boxer Rising in China (1900), 588, 595 +Brazza, M. de, 546 +Bremen, 132, 142 +Bright, Mr. J., 417, 452 +British Central Africa Protectorate, 533 +Broadwood, General, 487, 496, 498 +Browne, General Sir Samuel, 394 +Brussels, Conference at (1876), 545 + Anti-Slavery Conference at, 534 +Buchanan, Sir George, 647 +Bukharest, Peace of (1913), 631-2, 637, 639 +Bukharest, Treaty of (1886), 272 +Bulgaria, 157-9, 163, 170-72, 176, 180, 225, 229-30, 234, 237-9, + 251-288, 302, 333, 334 + Campaigns in, 194-216 +Bülow, Prince von, 588-9, 596, 603, 605, 607, 617 +Bundesrath, the, 133-4, 138 +Burmah, 527, 530 + Annexation of, 432 +Burnaby, Colonel, 480 +Burrows, Brigadier-General, 407 +Busa, 540 +Busch, Dr., 22, 143 + +Cabul, 370, 381, 383, 387, 388, 390, 401-5, 412-413, 431 +Cabul, Treaty of (1905), 435 +Cairo, capture of, 455-6 +Cairoli, Signor, 329 +"Caisse de la Delte" (Egyptian), 442, 459 +Cambon, Jules, 620 + Paul, 644, 646 +Cameroons, 528, 533-6 +Candahar, 367, 381, 387, 398, 405, 407, 413-18, 432 +Canning, Lord, 368 +Canrobert, Marshal, 72 +Caprivi, Count, 520 +Carnarvon, Lord, 225, 525 +Carnot, President Sadi, 127 +Casement, Mr. Roger, 558, 560-62, 565, 566 +Cassini, Count, 580 +Catharine II., 361 +Cattier, M., 552, 563, 564 +Cavagnari, Sir Louis, 401 +Cavour, Count, 8-11, 13, 90, 142, 161 +Centralisation of Governments, 111-112, 315 +Chad, Lake, 537 +Châlons-sur-Marne, 68, 74, 75 +Chamberlain, Mr., 417 +Chambord, Comte de, 117, 122, 123 +Charasia, Battle of (1878), 402-3 +Charles, King of Roumania, 192, 206, 210, 215, 230, 262, 632 +Charles Albert, King, 6-8 +Chevket Pacha, 626 +China, 568, 571-2, 576-82, 595-7 +Chino-Japanese War, 576-7 +Chitral, 386, 388, 433 +Chotek, Countess, 613 +Christian IX., 14 +Churchill, Winston, 627, 634 +Clement, Bishop, 280, 282 +Cobden, Mr., 142 +Colombey, Battle of, 63-5 +Combes, M., 349, 600 +Congo Free State, the, 502, 541, _passim_ chap. xix. +Congo, French, 622, 625 +Constantinople, Conference of (1876), 174, 176-9 +Constitution, French (1875), 124-5 + German, 132-7 + Turkish (1876), 177-9 +Constitution of Finland, 308, 309 +Cossacks, the, 360-62, 434, 435, 453 +Coulmiers, Battle of, 97 +Cranbrook, Lord, 387 +Crete, 240, 248 +Crimean War, 8, 13, 30, 31, 161-2, 345, 365, 425, 434 +Crispi, Signor, 336, 337, 355, 600 +Cromer, Lord. _See_ Baring, Sir E. +Cronstadt, 343, 346 +Crown Prince of Saxony, 74, 130 +Currie, Sir Donald, 524, 528 +Curzon, Lord, 423, 431, 432, 576 +Cyprus, 328 + Convention, 234-5, 243-4, 250 + +Dahomey, 539 +Dalmatia, 329 +Dalny, 583 +Dardanelles, the, 168, 222, 224, 225, 241 +Decazes, Duc, 321-2, 440 +Delagoa Bay, 525-6, 528, 534 +Delcassé, M., 587, 601, 606, 607 +Denghil Tepe, Battle of, 420-23, 500 +Denmark, 4, 5, 13-16, 35 +Depretis, Signor, 329, 335-6, 355 +Derby, Lord, 166, 176, 178, 181, 222, 224, 225, 226, 231, 243, 440, + 524, 530 +De Wet, General, 598, 635 +Dhanis, Commandant, 553 +Dilke, Sir Charles, 465, 563 +Dillon, Dr., 639 +Disraeli. _See_ Beaconsfield +Dobrudscha, 197, 199, 229-30, 240 +Dodds, Colonel, 539 +Dolgorukoff, General, 280-81 +Dongola, 474, 476, 479, 488, 489 +Dost Mohammed, 368, 379 +Dragomiroff, General, 197 +Dreyfus, M., 600 +Drouyn de Lhuys, 20 +Drury Lowe, General Sir, 454-6 +Dual Alliance, 342-50, 587-8, 590, 599, 609, 616, 644 +Dual Control, the (in Egypt), 442, 443, 445, 457 +Ducrot, General, 80, 81, 83 +Dufaure, M., 126, 245, 246 +Dufferin, Lord, 326, 424, 426-8, 429, 458, 461-2 +Dulcigno, 246-7 +Durand, Sir Mortimer, 433 +Durbar at Delhi (1878), 383 + +East Africa (British), 520-21, 523 + (German), 520-23 +East Africa Company (British), 519-22 +Eastern Question, the, 155-189, 222-250, 383, 615, 636-7 +Eastern Roumelia, 238, 253, 259, 260, 263-4, 268, 275-6, 333 +Eckardstein, Herr, 527 +Edward VII., 601, 608, 618-9 +Egypt, 166, 244, 266, 275, 602, 636-7, + _passim_ chaps. xv. xvi. xvii. +Einwold, Herr, 527 +Elgin, Lord, 368 +Elliott, Sir Henry, 176, 177, 221 +El Obeid, Battle of, 461, 462 +El Teb, Battle of, 470 +Ems, 42-5 +Ena, Queen of Spain, 619 +England. _See_ Great Britain +Enver Bey, 630 +Epirus, 241, 248 +Erzeroum, 194, 241 +Eugénie, Empress, 19, 29, 38, 47, 75, 87, 97, 139 + +Faidherbe, M. 538 +Fashoda, 349, 501-6, 594 +Faure, President, 127, 346 +Favre, M. Jules, 87, 88, 94, 98, 103, 114 +Ferdinand, Prince, 285-6 +Ferdinand, Tsar, of Bulgaria, 612, 631 +Fergusson, Sir James, 336 +Ferry, M., 266, 329 +Finland, 304, 307-14 +Flegel, Herr, 535 +Floquet, M., 126 +Flourens, M., 343 +Forbach, Battle of, 62, 63 +Formosa, Island of, 577 +Fox Bourne, Mr., 563 +France, 3-6, 9, 19, 20, 25-9, 32, 33, 35, 46-9, 52-6, 87-9, 112, 161, + 228, 318, 320-24, 326, 333-6, 337-8, 341-5, 347-9, 350, 437-8, + 442, 446, 448, 452-3, 457, 458-9, 485, 513-514, 529, 535, 537-41, + 546-9, 558, 559, 577-9, 585-6, 591, 593-4, 597, 599-608, 614-6, 618, + 620-2, 624, 626, 638, 641-8 + and Morocco, 602, 604-7, 609-10, 620 _seq_., 636-7 + Army of, 634-5 +France and the Sudan, 501-6 +France and Tunis, 328-30 +Francis Ferdinand, Archduke, 613-4, 639 +Francis Joseph, 6, 32, 36, 173, 232, 318, 613 +Franco-German War, causes of, 36-49 +Franco-Italian Entente, 601 +Franco-Russian Alliance. (_See_ Dual Alliance) +Frankfurt, Treaty of, 105, 114 +Frankfurt-on-Main, 11, 12, 21, 22 +Frederick the Great, 594, 635, 638, 646 +Frederick III., Crown Prince of Germany and Emperor, 18, 74, 76, 80, + 130, 136, 151, 236 +Frederick VII., 14 +Frederick Charles, Prince, 66, 68 +Frederick William IV., 11-13, 31, 593 +Free Trade (in Germany), 141-3 + (in France), 142 +French Congoland, 506, 546, 622, 625 +French Revolution of 1830, 5 +Frere, Sir Bartle, 380-81, 524 +Freycinet, M. de, 446, 447, 452, 456, 502, 503 +Frobenius, Herr, 638 +Frossard, General, 63-5 + +Galatz, 197 +Galbraith, Colonel, 411 +Gallieni, M., 539 +Gallipoli, 222, 226 +Gambetta, M., 87, 96-101, 110, 125, 318, 330, 446, 452, 538 +Gandamak, Treaty of, 400, 418 +Garde Mobile, the, 55, 94 +Garde Nationale, the, 55, 94 +Garibaldi, 6, 7, 9-11, 28, 90-91, 327 +Gastein, Convention of, 16 +Gatacre, General, 490, 492 +Gavril, Pasha, 263 +Geok Tepe. _See_ Denghil Tepe +George V., King of England, 645 +George, David Lloyd, 623, 625 +German Army, 135, 633-4 +German Army, Kriegsgefahr, 643 + Confederation (1815-66), 4-22 + Constitution (1871), 132-7 + Empire, 129. _See_ Germany + Navy, 587-9, 594, 609, 617, 628, 633, 638 + Zollverein, the, 141-2 +Germany, 3-6, 11-18, 20-23, 27, 34, 39, 45-9, 51-5, 129-154, 164-6, + 223, 246, 275, 277, 282, 318-27, 329, 330, 337-9, 350, 447-8, 453, + 457, 472, 485, 513-18, 520-22, 524-30, 533-7, 541, 547, 559, + 577-9, 581, 585-9, 592, 595-7, 600-609, 615-18, 620-21, 623-8, + 632, 634, 635-8, 640-49 +Gervais, Admiral, 343 +Ghaznee, Battle of, 405 +Giers, M. de, 258, 263, 265, 276, 281, 285, 302, 332, 333-5, 337, 424, + 427, 515 +Gladstone, Mr., 29, 46, 172, 223, 244, 275, 356, 371, 372, 376, 380, + 392, 405, 417, 427-9, 446, 448-9, 452, 458, 461, 465, 484-5, 502, + 517, 524, 528, 530, 531 +Glave, Mr., 562 +Gold Coast, 539 +Goldie, Sir George T., 535, 541 +Gontaut-Biron, M. de, 421 +Gordon, General, _passim_ chaps. xvi. xvii. +Gortchakoff, Prince, 164, 168, 190, 222, 226, 320, 322-3, 366 +Goschen, Lord, 244, 246, 442 +Goschen, Sir Edward, 641-2 +Gough, General, 404 +Gramont, Duc de, 32, 40, 42, 43, 47 +Grant Duff, Sir Mountstuart, 322 +Granville, Earl, 45, 389, 425-6, 447, 463, 465, 470, 473-4, 517, 523, + 533, 547 +Gravelotte, Battle of, 68-73 +Great Britain, 14, 29, 30, 52, 95, 145, 147-9, 160-61, 168-77, 181, + 187-8, 190, 231, 259, 266, 282, 284, 322-4, 328, 336, 337, 342, + 364-6, 372-4, 382-4, 392-4, 400, 404-6, 417, 435, 513-14, 521, + 523-30, 533-7, 541, 547, 578-9, 581-2, 585-7, 600, 604-9, 616, + 618, 620, 622-3, 626-8, 636-9, 641-8 + Army of, 634 +Great Britain and Egypt, _passim_ chaps. xv. xvi. xvii. +Great Britain and Russia (1878), 222-8 +Greco-Turkish War, 585 +Greece, 5, 158, 160, 194, 227, 240-41, 245-8, 257, 267 +Grenfell, Rev. G., 546 +Grévy, M., 337, 355 +Grey, Sir Edward, 503, 586, 623, 626, 631, 634, 641-7 +Griffin, Sir Lepel, 405-6 +Gurko, General, 201-3, 208, 219 + +Habibulla, Ameer of Afghanistan, 431, 435 +Hague Conference, 608 + Congress, the (1899), 583 + Tribunal, 601, 649 +Haldane, Lord, 627, 639, 647 +Hamburg, 132, 142 +Hanotaux, M., 504 +Hanover, 11, 21, 23 +Hartington, Lord, 417, 465, 476 +Hayashi, Count, 596 +Heligoland, 521, 637 +Herat, 367, 368, 381, 387, 388, 405, 425 +Héricourt, Battle of, 98 +Herzegovina, 163-5, 170, 238, 332 +Hesse-Cassel, 12, 21, 23 +Hesse Darmstadt, 20 +Heydebrand, Herr, 625 +Hicks, Pasha, 461-2 +Hinde, Captain S.L., 553 +Hinterland, Question of the, 547, 550 +Hohenlohe, Prince, 589 +Hohenzollern, House of, 11, 39-41, 129; + also _see_ Germany +Holland, 5, 554-5, 641-2 +Holstein, 5, 26 +Holy Alliance, the, 5, 319 +Holy Roman Empire, the, 136 +Hornby, Admiral, 224 +Hoskier, M., 340 +Hudson, Sir James, 274 +Hungary, 32, 36, 159, 263, 277 +Hunter, General, 487 + +Iddesleigh, Lord, 519 +Ignatieff, General, 174, 177, 181, 229, 230, 232, 332 +India, 165, 212, 365, 368, 592 +"International Association of the Congo," 545, 547-9 +"Internationale," the, 292 +Isabella, Queen, 40 +Ismail, Khedive, 438-40, 442 +Istria, 329 +Isvolsky, M., 615 +"_Italia irredenta_," 329 +Italo-Turkish War, the, 624, 628 +Italy, 4-11, 16-23, 28, 30, 34, 37, 38, 55, 56, 63, 89-92, 148, 228, + 266, 284, 319, 335, 350, 453, 485, 487, 540, 541, 567, 601, 603-5, + 607, 615-17, 624, 628, 631, 636, 643, 646-7, 649 +Italy and the Triple Alliance, 327-331, 600, 601, 615, 624, 637, 647 + +Jacob, General, 385 +Jacobabad, Treaty of, 385 +Jagow, Herr von, 645 +Jameson, Dr. 587 +Janssen, M., 552 +Japan, 348, 572-4, 576-8, 581-4, 585, 597-9 +Jaurés, M., 634 +Jermak, 361, 569, 570 +Jesuits, the, 138 +Jews, persecution of the, 304, 305 +Johnstone, Sir Harry, 519, 541 + +Kamchatka, 570, 571 +Karaveloff, M., 256, 259, 280 +Kars, 194, 229, 234 +Kassala, 487, 488, 491 +Katkoff, M., 259, 283, 324, 332, 333, 334, 337 +Kaufmann, General, 366, 383, 398 +Kaulbars, General, 255, 257-8, 283, 284 +Khalifa, _passim_ chap. xvii. +Khama, 533 +Khartum, 437, 439, 445, _passim_ chaps. xvi. xvii. +Khelat, Khan of, 384-5 +Khiva, 365, 374, 377 +Khokand, 383 +Khyber Pass, 386, 390, 394, 401, 412 +Kiamil Pacha, 630 +Kiao-chau, 580-81 +Kiderlen-Wächter, Herr, 621-2 +Kiel, North Sea Canal, 587, 604, 637-8 +Kirk, Sir John, 518, 541 +Kitchener, Lord, 441, 479, 598, _passim_ chap. xvii. +Komaroff, General, 427, 428 +Königgrätz, Battle of, 18-20 +Kordofan, 461, 462, 470, 476 +Korea, 568 +Korsakoff, General, 254 +Kossuth, 6 +Krüdener, General, 200, 206-7 +Krüger, President, 586-7 +Kultur-Kampf, the, 139-41 +Kuropatkin, General, 311-12, 314, 422-3 +Kurram Valley, the, 394-7, 400 + +Labouchere, Mr., 336 +Lado, 502, 558-9 +Lagos, 539 +Lamsdorff, Count, 575 +Lansdowne, Lord, 433, 567, 597, 602, 606 +Lavigerie, Cardinal, 534 +Lawrence, Lord J., 365, 368-9, 371, 385, 387 +Layard, Sir Henry, 221, 226, 245, 246 +Leboeuf, Marshall, 47, 53, 64, 65 +Lebrun, General, 34-6, 65 +Leflô, General, 322 +Le Mans, Battle of, 98 +Leo XIII., 327, 331, 335 +Leopold II. (King of the Belgians), 342, 465, 509, 514, 543, + 550-52, 555-7, 558, 565 +Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern, 40, 42 +Lessar, M., 424 +Lesseps, M. de, 438, 441 +Lewis, General, 487 +Liaotung Peninsula, 577, 578, 581-2 +Liberation, Wars of (1813-14), 635 +Li-Hung Chang, 577, 578, 582 +Lissa, Battle of, 17 +Livingstone, D., 508-9, 543-4, 567 +Lobánoff, Prince, 575 +Local Government (French), 119, 120 +Lomakin, General, 420 +Lombardy, 5-11, 32 +London, Conference of (1867), 15, 28 + Congress of (1871), 95 +London, Peace Conference at (1913), 630-31, 634 +Lorraine, 94, 103, 105, 132, 133-4 +Lothaire, Commandant, 553 +Loubet, M., 127, 601 +Louis Philippe, King, 6 +Lovtcha, 210, 212 +Lübeck, 132, 142 +Lüderitz, Herr, 523 +Lugard, Sir Frederick, 522, 537, 541 +Lumsden, Sir Peter, 426 +Luxemburg, 27, 28, 32, 39 +Lyttleton, Colonel, 492 +Lytton, Lord, 481-7, 490-92, 405-6, 417, 419 + +Macdonald, General, 402, 487, 491, 496-8 +Macdonald, Ramsay, 646 +Macedonia, 158, 230, 248, 250, 287-8, 391 +Mackenzie, Rev. John, 530-31, 541 +Mackinnon, Sir William, 516, 541 +Maclaine, Lieutenant, 408, 415 +MacMahon, Marshall, 59-61, 74-80, 123, 125-7, 322, 525-6 +Mahdi, the, 266; chaps. xvi. xvii. _passim_ +Maiwand, Battle of, 407-11 +Malet, Sir Edward, 548 +Malmesbury, Lord, 47 +Manchuria, 345-6, 349, 568, 578, 580, 584 +Mancíní, Sígnor, 355 +Manin, 7 +Marchand, Colonel, 501-6, 540 +Maritz, General, 635 +Marschall, Baron von, 605 +Mars-la-Tour, Battle of, 67-70 +Maxwell, General, 487, 491, 497 +"May Laws," the, 139-41, 319 +Mayo, Lord, 372-3 +Mazzini, 6, 7, 91, 92, 304, 327 +Mecklenburg, 17, 142 +Mehemet Ali, Pasha, 204, 209, 215-16 +Melikoff, General Loris, 194, 296-8 +Méline, M., 504 +Mentana, Battle of, 28, 90 +Mercantile System, the, 150 +Merriman, Mr., 586 +Merv, 345, 374, 387, 388, 423-5, 431, 518 +Metternich, Prince, 7, 36 +Metz, 55, 63-73, 97, 104 +Mexico, 19, 26, 31 +Midhat, Pasha, 178-9, 186 +Milan, King, 167, 263, 269-72 +Milner, Lord, 440, 448, 598 +Milutin, General, 204, 215 +Mir, the, 294, 307 +Mohammed Ali, 437-8 +Mohammed V., 618 +Moltke, Count von, 18, 43, 65, 66, 78, 85, 104, 130, 193, 205, 320 +Mombasa, 520, 523 +Montenegro, 158, 163, 167, 173-4, 180, 194, 204, 225, 229, 232, 238, + 242, 246-7, 263 +Morier, Sir Robert, 187, 273, 286, 302, 428 +Morley, Mr. John, 427 +Morocco, 602, 604-7, 609-10, 620 _seq_., 636-7 +Moslem Creed, the, and Christians, 156-8, 186-7 +Mukden, 598, 606 +Mukhtar, Pasha, 208 +Münster, Count, 523 +Murad V., 169 +Muravieff, Count, 571-3, 575, 589 + +Nabokoff, Captain, 278 +Nachtigall, Dr., 533-4 +Napoleon I., 2-4, 12, 13, 15-17, 23, 25, 89, 100, 160, 325, 437, 537, + 593, 608, 610 +Napoleon III., 6, 7, 9-11, 16, 17, 19, 20, 25-33, 37-40, 46-9, 52, 63-5, + 75-8, 84-6, 88-9, 98, 99, 105, 123, 138, 142, 162, 538, 599 +Napoleon, Prince Jerome, 20, 37 +Natal, 527, 528, 529, 534 +National African Company, the, 535 +National Assembly, the French, 98-108, 115-26 +Nationality, 2-12, 23, 25, 26-8, 36, 89, 586 +Nelidoff, Count, 265, 274, 277 +Nelson, 437, 441 +Nesselrode, Count, 364 +Netherlands, the, 586 +Nice, 9, 30, 39 +Nicholas, I., 160, 289, 292, 304, 308, 364 +Nicholas II., 289, 311-14, 346, 349, 506, 575, 580, 584, 590, 594, 598, + 610, 614, 617, 621-2, 640, 643, 649 +Nicholas, Grand Duke, 192-3, 200-2, 206, 210, 215, 223, 229, 291, 292 +Nicholas, Prince of Montenegro, 263 +Nicopolis, 196, 200-1, 206, 217 +Niger, river, 533-40, 548 +Nigeria, 534-7 +Nihilism, 112, 233, 266-7, 291-8, 300-4, 327 +Nikolsburg, 19 +Northbrook, Lord, 373-4, 376, 379, 381, 465 +Northcote, Sir Stafford, 168, 224, 225, 243 +North German Confederation, 22, 35, 51, 52, 136 +Norway, 4, 5 +Novi-Bazar, 332 +Novi-Bazar, Sanjak of, 612 +Nuttall, General, 411 + +Obock, 504, 540 +Obretchoff, General, 324, 326 +O'Donovan, Mr., 424, 462 +Ollivier, M., 28, 29, 34, 41, 46, 47, 55, 65 +Olmütz, Convention of, 12, 18 +Omdurman, Battle of, 441, 493-500 +Orleans, 97 +Osman Digna, 470, 486 +Osman Pasha, 196, 200, 205, 214-19 + +Palikao, Count, 65, 75, 77, 79, 87 +Palmerston, Lord, 30, 438, 441 +Pan-German Movement, 593-4, 621 +Pan-Islamic Movement, 592-3, 608 +Panjdeh, 346, 426-9, 432 +Papal States, the, 9, 10 +Paris, 87, 88, 95, 97, 98, 105, 107-113, 120 +Paris Commune, the (1871), 106-113, 116, 315 +Paris, Comte de, 117, 122 +Paris, Treaty of (1856), 161, 176 +Peiwar, Kotal, Battle at, 396 +Pekin, Capture of, 595 +Persia, 367, 368, 374, 378, 380, 609, 624 +Persian Gulf, the, 592 +Peshawur, 394 +Peter, King of Servia, 615 +Peters, Dr. Karl, 517-19, 522 +Phayre, General, 416 +Philippopolis, 219, 260, 263-4, 270, 271, 281 +Picard, M., 103 +Piedmont, 7 +Pishin, 400 +Pius IX., 6, 7, 38, 89-91, 122, 138-9, 141, 327 +Plevna, Battles at, 206-19 +Pobyedonosteff, 299, 300 +Poland, 4, 5, 25, 26, 31, 301 +Pondoland, 529 +Port Arthur, 346, 580 +Porte, the. _See_ Turkey +Portsmouth, Treaty of, 598 +Portugal, 520, 525, 526, 540, 541, 546-9 +Posen, 141 +Primrose, General, 407, 411 +Prudhon, 292-5 +Prussia (1815-66), 4-22, 26, 51-5, 95, 130, 140, 141. _See_ Germany + +Quadrilateral, the Turkish, 194-7, 199-200 +Quetta, 381, 385, 398, 412, 416, 432 + +Rabinek, Herr, 565 +Rachfahl, Herr, 605 +Radetzky, General, 209, 220 +Radowitz, Herr von, 321 +Radziwill, Princess, 236-7, 291 +Rauf Pasha, 460-61 +Rawlinson, Sir Henry, 380 +Redcliffe, Lord Stratford de, 188 +Redmond, Mr., 646 +Reichstag, the German, 133-4, 140, 141, 145-6 +Reventlow, Count, 587, 595, 603, 637-8 +Revolutions of 1848, 6-7, 11-12 +Rezonville, Battle of, 67-70 +Rhodes, Mr. Cecil, 530-32, 541 +Rhodesia, 532 +Riaz Pasha, 445 +Ribot, M., 346 +Ripon, Lord, 406, 412, 417 +Roberts, Lord, 379, 389, 392-3, 395-8, 402-4, 535 +Rohrbach, Herr, 637 +Rome, 7, 10, 38, 89-92, 95, 138 +Roon, Count von, 17, 43 +Rosebery, Earl of, 275, 276, 503, 519, 528 +Roumania, 26, 157, 158, 162, 192-3, 220, 222, 225, 229-30, 238-40, + 257, 260-62, 269 +Roumania, King of, 41 +Rouvier, M., 607 +Royal Niger Company, the, 526, 540 +Rubber Tax, in Congo State, 565-7 +Russell, Lord John, 14, 15 +Russell, Lord Odo, 322 +Russia, 5, 9, 12, 13, 26, 31, 32, 55, 95, 112, 145, 148, 161, 164-8, 172, + 182, 190-92, 231, 234, 240, 289, 290, 318, 322-7, 331-5, 337, 341-5, + 347-9, 371, 446, 447-8, 457, 458, 472, 485, 527, 586, 590-91, 593-5, + 597, 603, 606-8, 612-13, 615-17, 621, 624, 626, 629-31, 633-4, + 640-44, 647-8 + and Bulgaria, 253-88 + and Finland, 307-14 + and Japan, 585, 592, 598-9 + and the Jews, 304-5 + and Turkey, 222-7, 229-42 + army of, 635, 638 +Russia in Central Asia, 359-66, 371-4, 376-80, 383, 387-91, 398-9, 403, + 419-30 + in the Far East, 595-6, 598, 614, chap. xx. _passim_ +Russo-Japanese War, 598-9, 602 +Russo-Turkish War, 585 +Rustchuk, 194, 199, 208, 265, 280-82, 285, 334 + +Saarbrücken, Battle of, 61, 62 +Said, Khedive, 438 +St. Hilaire, Barthélémy de, 328 +St. Lucia Bay, 519, 525, 527, 528, 534 +St. Privat, Battle of _See_ Gravelotte +St. Quentin, Battle of, 98 +Saladin, 591 +Salisbury, Marquis of, 176-7, 187, 232-4, 240, 243, 266-9, 272, 275, + 283, 287, 328, 336, 380-81, 383, 387, 428, 505, 519, 522, 540, + 554, 581 +Salonica, 167, 229 +Samarcand, 365-6, 371, 388-9, 604 +Samoa, 588, 610 +Samory, 539 +San Stefano, Treaty of, 229-32, 233, 238, 253 +Sandeman, Sir Robert, 384-5 +Sardinia, Kingdom of, 8-11, 162 +Saxony, 4, 5, 11, 18, 134-6 +Sazonoff, M., 641 +Schleswig-Holstein, 5, 12, 13-16, 21, 26, 142 +Schnaebele, M., 334, 338 +Sedan, Battle of, 77-88 +Septennate, the (in France), 123 +Serpa Pinto, 540 +Servia, 158-9, 163, 167, 173-4, 180, 194, 225, 229, 232, 238, 242, 257, + 258, 267, 612-13, 615-16, 631, 637, 639-43, 648-9 +Seymour, Admiral, 449-50 +Shan-tung, Province of, 580, 581 +Shere Ali, 369-74, 376-7, 379-80, 384, 386-8, 390-92, 398-400 +Sherpur, Engagements at (1878), 404 +Shipka Pass, 197, 201-3, 208, 220 +Shumla, 194, 208 +Shutargardan Pass, the, 402 +Shuvaloff, Count, 233, 235 +Siberia, 361, 366, 570-72, 574 +Sibi, 398, 400 +Simon, Jules, 103 +Sistova, 196, 197, 199, 208, 217 +Skiernewice, 258, 266, 284, 302, 332-5, 426, 515-18 +Skobeleff, General, 198-9, 203, 210, 211-15, 220, 259, 330, 388-9, + 421-4, 431 +Slave-trade, the, 558, 562 +Slavophils, the, 310-12, 339 +Slivnitza, Battle of, 270-71 +Soboleff, General, 255, 257-8 +Sofia, 210, 219, 271, 273, 278-9 +Solferino, Battle of, 9 +Somaliland, 540 +South Africa Company, British, 533 +South German Confederation, 21, 22, 35 +South-West Africa (German), 523-7, 531-2 +Spain, 40, 41, 42, 605 +Spicheren, Battle of, 62, 63 +Stambuloff, 256, 259, 264, 289, 283-6, 334 +Stanley, Sir H.M., 465, 508-9, 543-4, 552, 553 +State Socialism (in Germany), 150-53 +Steinmetz, General, 71 +Stephenson, General, 474 +Stepniak, 294, 303 +Stewart, Colonel, 466, 476 +Stewart, Sir Donald, 398, 405 +Stewart, Sit Herbert, 480 +Stiege, Admiral, 623 +Stoffel, Colonel, 53 +Stokes, Mr., execution of, 565 +Stolieteff, General, 388-90, 398 +Stundists, the, 305-7 +Suakim, 462, 473, 478, 486, 488, 518 +Sudan, the, _passim_ chaps. xvi. xvii. +Suez Canal, the, 166, 190, 225, 438, 439, 457, 513 +Suleiman Pasha, 204, 208-9, 215, 216, 219, 221 +Swat Valley, the, 433 +Sweden, 4, 5 +Switzerland, 98, 148 + +Tamai, Battle of, 470 +Tangier, 614 +Tashkend, 365, 388, 433 +Tatisheff, M., 643 +Tchernayeff, General, 174 +Tchirsky, Herr von, 640 +Tel-el-Kebir, Battle of, 454-5 +Tewfik, Khedive, 442-7, 452-3, 458, 461, 466-7, 487, 503, 507 +Thessaly, 240-41, 248-9 +Thiers, M., 26, 27, 47, 87, 94, 100-6, 108, + 114-19, _passim_ chaps. iv. v. +Thomson, Joseph, 509-10, 535-6, 541 +Thornton, Sir Edward, 427 +Three Emperors' League, the, 179, 184, 319-23, 326, 332-4, 448, 515 +Tilsit, Treaty of, 308 +Timbuctu, 539 +Tipu Tib, 553 +Tirard, M., 341 +Tirpitz, Admiral von, 589, 609 +Tisza, M., 180, 283 +Todleben, 216-17 +Togo, Admiral, 598 +Trans-Siberian Railway, the, 574-6, 580, 582-3, 599 +Transvaal, the, 525, 527, 586 +Treitschke, Herr, 626, 636 +Trentino, 335 +Triple Alliance, the, 21, 327-33, 335-9, 453, 515, 590-1, 599-601, 609, + 615, 624, 635, 637, 647 +Triple Entente, the, 593, 595, 609, 617, 635, 647, 649 +Trochu, General, 101 +Tsushima, Battle of, 598 +Tunis, 328-30, 436, 448, 513-14, 600 +Turgenieff, 294, 295 +Turkestan, 361, 364, 366-7, 419-30 +Turkey, 5, 155, 168-77, 181, 187-8, 190-221, 229-42, 332, 342, 348, + 436-8, 446, 502, 567, 592, 613, 615-616, 618, 624, 628-30, 632, + 638-9 + +Uganda, 502, 522-3 +Umballa, Conference at, 372-3 +Umberto I., King of Italy, 327, 329-31, 333, 335, 336 +United Kingdom. _See_ Great Britain +United Netherlands, Kingdom of, 5 +United States, the, 30, 31, 547, 567, 578, 581, 596-8, 607 + +Vandervelde, M., 557 +Venetia, 5-11, 17, 19, 21 +Verdun, 65, 68 +Versailles, 103, 106, 108, 109, 129 +Victor Emmanuel II., King of Italy, 2-11, 37, 63, 90, 327 +Victor Emmanuel III., 601, 615 +Victoria, Queen, 14, 145, 165, 171, 223-4, 261, 322 + proclaimed Empress of India, 382 +Victoria, Crown Princess of Germany, 323 +Vienna, Treaty of (1815), 4, 5 +Vionville, Battle of, 67-70 +Viviani, M., 644 +Vladivostok, 572, 575, 580 + +Waddington, M., 240, 245, 246, 328 +Wady Halfa, 439, 476, 478, 483, 484, 486, 489, 502 +Waldeck-Rousseau, M., 600 +Waldemar, Prince, 284 +Walfisch Bay, 524 +Wallachia, 160-62 +Warren, Sir Charles, 531-2 +Wei-hai-wei, 582 +West Africa, 533-40 +White, Major G., 402 +White, Sir William, 177, 187, 265, 267-9, 273-4, 287, 302 +Widdin, 194, 196, 200, 206, 270 +William I. (King of Prussia, German Emperor), 11-22, 31, 32, 41-6, 73, + 104, 129-30, 137, 152, 236, 321-2, 325, 335, 339, 517, 594 +William II. (King of Prussia, German Emperor), 151-3, 339-40, 342, 522, + 580, 582, 586-93, 598-9, 604, 606-611, 614, 616-7, 620-1, 623-4, + 632, 636-7, 639-41, 643-6 +William, Crown Prince of Germany, 625, 646 +William of Weid, Prince, 632 +Wilson, Sir Charles, 480 +Wimpffen, General de, 79-86 +Winton, Sir Francis de, 552 +Wissmann, Lieutenant von, 546 +Wolf, Dr., 546 +Wolff, Sir H. Drummond, 485 +Wolseley, Lord, 454-6, 466, 475, 476, 478, 481, 507 +Wörth, Battle of, 59-62 +Würtemberg, 21, 131, 133-5, 137 + +Yakub Khan, 379, 400-3 +Young Turk Party, the, 612-3, 616, 618 + Revolution (1908), 615 + +Zankoff, M., 280 +Zanzibar, 516-21, 532, 553 +Zazulich, Vera, 292 +Zebehr, Pasha, 469-73 +Zemstvo, the, 293, 296, 301 +Zola, Emile, 600 +Zulfikar Pass, the, 428 + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Development of the European +Nations, 1870-1914 (5th ed.), by John Holland Rose + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUROPEAN NATIONS *** + +***** This file should be named 14644-8.txt or 14644-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/6/4/14644/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Charlie Kirschner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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