The Balance of Power
The recovery of France.—The jealousy of the powers.—The policy of
uniting against the strongest.—The dream of Russia.—A war of
liberation.—The powers interfere in favor of the Turk.—The
Congress of Berlin.—Bismarck’s Triple Alliance.—France and Russia
are driven together.—The race for war preparation.—The growth of
big navies.
Under the third republic,[3] France recovered very rapidly from the
terrible blow dealt her by Germany. Her people worked hard and saved
their money. In less than two years, they had paid off the last cent of
the one billion dollar indemnity, and the German troops were obliged to
go home. France had adopted the same military system that Germany had,
and required all of her young men to serve two years in the army and be
ready at a moment’s notice to rush to arms. She began also to build up
a strong navy, and to spread her colonies in Africa and other parts of
the world. This rapid recovery of France surprised and disturbed
Bismarck, who thought that never again, after the war of 1870, would
she become a strong power. He had tried to renew the old “Holy
Alliance” between Germany, Russia, and Austria with the idea of
preventing the spread of republics. These were the three nations which
gave their people very few rights, and which stood for the “divine
right of kings” and for the crushing of all republics. Bismarck called
this new combination the “Drei-kaiser-bund” or three-emperor-bond. He
himself says that the proposed alliance fell to pieces because of the
lies and treachery of Prince Gortchakoff, the Russian Minister of
Foreign Affairs.
[3] The first republic began in 1792, when King Louis XVI was
beheaded, the second in 1848 when Louis Philippe, the “citizen king,”
was driven out.
An incident which happened in 1875 helped to estrange Germany
from Russia. As was previously said, Bismarck was astonished and
alarmed when he saw how quickly France was getting over the
effects of the war. In 1875, some trouble came up again between
France and Germany, and Bismarck a second time planned to make
war on the republic and—complete the task that he had left
unfinished in 1871. He wanted to reduce France to the rank of a
second class power, on a par with Spain and Denmark. This time,
however, England and Russia growled ominously. They notified
Bismarck that they would not stand by and see France crushed—not
from any love of France, but because they were jealous of Prussia
and afraid that the Germans might become too powerful in Europe.
Accordingly, Bismarck had to give up his idea of war. Prussia was
strong, but she could not fight England, Russia, and France
combined. However, he remembered that England and Russia had
spoiled his plans and waited for a chance to get revenge.
[Illustration: Peter the Great]
The great object of all European diplomats was to maintain what
they called “the balance of power.” By this they meant that no
one country was to be allowed to grow so strong that she could
defy the rest of Europe. Whenever one nation grew too powerful,
the others combined to pull her down.
In the meantime, trouble was again brewing among the Balkan
nations, which were still subject to the Turks. Revolts had
broken out among the Serbians, and the people of Bosnia and
Bulgaria. As has already been told, these nations are Slavic,
cousins of the Russians, and they have always looked upon Russia
as their big brother and protector. Any keen-eared, intelligent
Russian can understand the language of the Serbs, it is so much
like his own tongue. (Bel-grad, Petro-grad; the word “grad” means
“city” in both languages.)
Not only was Russia hostile toward the Turks because they were
oppressing the little Slav states, but she had reasons of her own for
wanting to see Turkey overthrown. Ever since the reign of Peter the
Great, Russia had had her eye upon Constantinople. Peter had conquered
the district east of the Gulf of Finland, and had founded St.
Petersburg[4] there, just to give Russia a port which was free of ice.
In the same way, other czars who followed him had fought their way
southward to the Black Sea, seeking for a chance to trade with the
Mediterranean world. But the Black Sea was like a bottle, and the Turks
at Constantinople were able to stop the Russian trade at any time they
might wish to do so. Russia is an agricultural country, and must ship
her grain to countries that are more densely inhabited, to exchange it
for their manufactures.
[4] Now called Petrograd.
[Illustration: Entrance to the Mosque of St Sophia]
Therefore, it has been the dream of every Russian czar that one
day Russia might own Constantinople. Again, this city, in ancient
days, was the home of the Greek church, as Rome was the capital
of the western Catholic church. The Russians are all Greek
Catholics, and every Russian looks forward to the day when the
great church of St. Sophia, which is now a Mohammedan mosque,
shall once more be the home of Christian worship. With this plan
in mind, Russian diplomats were only too happy to stir up trouble
for the Turks among the Slavic peoples of the Balkan states, as
Serbia, Bulgaria, Roumania, and Montenegro are called. Glance at
the two following maps of southeastern Europe, and see how Turkey
had been reduced in size during the two hundred years which
followed the Turkish defeat at the gates of Vienna by John
Sobieski and the Austrians. The state of Bessarabia had changed
hands two or three times, remaining finally in the hands of
Russia.
The revolts of the Balkan peoples in 1875 and 1876 were hailed
with joy among the Russians, and the government at St. Petersburg
lost no time in rushing to the aid of the Balkan states and
declaring war on Turkey. After a short but stubbornly contested
conflict, Russia and the little countries were victors. A treaty
of peace was signed at San Stephano, by which Roumania, Serbia,
and Bulgaria were to be recognized by Turkey as independent
states. The boundaries of Bulgaria were to reach to the Aegean
Sea, including most of Macedonia, thus cutting off Turkey from
her county of Albania, except by water. Bear this in mind, for it
will help you to understand Russia’s later feeling when Bulgaria
in 1915 joined the ranks of her enemies.
[Illustration: Southeastern and Central Europe, 1706]
[Illustration: Losses of Turkey during the Nineteenth Century]
[Illustration: The Congress of Berlin. Prince Gortchakoff (seated).
Disraeli (with cane). Count Andrassy. Bismarck.]
The matter was all settled, and Turkey had accepted these terms,
when once more the diplomats of Europe began to meddle. It will
be remembered that Russia three years before had prevented a
second war against France planned by Bismarck. It was very easy
for him to persuade Austria and England that if Russia were
allowed to cripple Turkey and set up three new kingdoms which
would be under her control, she would speedily become the
strongest nation in Europe. The “balance of power” would be
disturbed. England and Austria sided with Germany, and a meeting
of statesmen and diplomats was called at Berlin in 1878 to decide
once more what should be the map of Europe. Representatives were
present from all the leading European countries. Even Turkey had
two men at the meeting, but the three men who really controlled
were Bismarck, Count Andrassy of Austria, and Lord Beaconsfield
(Benjamin Disraeli) of England. Russia was robbed of a great part
of the fruits of her victory. Bulgaria was left partially under
the control of Turkey, in that she had to pay Turkey a large sum
of money each year for the privilege of being left alone. Her
territory was made much smaller than had been agreed to by the
treaty of San Stephano. In fact less than one-third of the
Bulgarians were living within the boundaries finally agreed upon
by the congress. A great part of the Serbians were still left
under Turkish rule, as were the Greeks of Thessaly and Epirus.
The two counties of Bosnia and Herzegovina were still to belong
to Turkey, but as the Turks did not seem to be strong enough to
keep order there, Austria was to take control of them and run
their government, although their taxes were still to be paid to
Turkey. Austria solemnly agreed never to take them from Turkey.
Russia, naturally, was very unhappy over this arrangement, and so
were the inhabitants of the Balkan kingdoms, for they had hoped
that now they were at last to be freed from the oppression of
their ancient enemies, the Turks. Thus the Congress of Berlin,
like that of Vienna in 1815 laid the foundation for future wars
and revolutions.
Bismarck now set out to strengthen Germany by making alliances
with other European states. He first made up with his old enemy,
Austria. Thanks to the liberal treatment that he had given this
country after her disastrous war of 1866, he was able to get the
Austrians to join Germany in an alliance which states that if two
countries of Europe should ever attack one of the two allies, the
other would rush to her help.
The Italians were friendly to Germany, for they remembered that
they had gotten Venetia from Austria through the help of the
Prussians, but they had always looked upon the Austrians as their
worst enemies. It was a wonderful thing, then, when Bismarck
finally induced Italy to join with Austria and Germany in a
“Dreibund” or “Triple Alliance.”
The Italian people had been very friendly to the French, and this
going over to their enemies would never have been possible but
for an act of France which greatly angered Italy. For many years,
France had been in control of Algeria on the north coast of
Africa. This country had once been a nest of pirates, and the
French had gone there originally to clean them out. Next to
Algeria on the east is the county of Tunis, which, as you will
see by the map, is very close to Sicily and Italy. The Italians
had been looking longingly at this district for some time,
intending to organize an expedition and forcibly annex it to
their kingdom. They waited too long, however, and one fine day in
1881 they found the prize gone,—France had seized this county for
herself. It was Italy’s anger over this act of France more than
anything else that enabled Bismarck to get her into an alliance
with Germany and her ancient enemy, Austria.
France now saw herself hemmed in on the east by a chain of
enemies. It looked as though Bismarck might declare war upon the
republic at any time, and be perfectly safe from interference,
with Austria and Italy to protect him. Russia, smarting under the
treatment which she had been given by the Congress of Berlin, was
full of resentment against Germany. Both the French and the
Russians felt themselves threatened by Bismarck’s Dreibund, and
so, in self-defense each country made advance toward the other.
The result was the “Dual Alliance” between France and Russia,
which bound either country to come to the aid of the other in
case of an attack by two powers at once.
In this way, the balance of power, disturbed by Bismarck’s
“Dreibund,” was again restored. Many people thought the forming
of the two alliances a fine thing, “for,” said they, “each party
is now too strong to be attacked by the other. Therefore, we
shall never again have war among the great powers.”
England was not tied up with either alliance. On account of her
position on an island, and because of her strong navy, she did
not feel obliged to keep a large standing army such as the great
powers on the continent maintained.
These nations were kept in constant fear of war. As soon as
France equipped her army with machine guns, Germany and Austria
had to do the same. As soon as the Germans invented a new
magazine rifle, the Russians and French had to invent similar
arms for their soldiers. If Germany passed a law compelling all
men up to the age of forty-five to report for two weeks’ military
training once every year, France and Russia had to do the same.
If Italy built some powerful warships, France and Russia had to
build still more powerful ones. This led to still larger ships
built by Germany and Italy. If France built a fleet of one
hundred torpedo boats, the Triple Alliance had to “go her one
better” by building one hundred and fifty. If Germany equipped
her army with war balloons, Russia and France had to do the same.
If France invented a new kind of heavy artillery, Germany and
Austria built a still bigger gun.
This mad race for war equipment was bad enough when it had to do only
with the five nations in the two alliances about which you have been
told. However, the death of the old emperor of Germany in 1888 brought
to the throne his grandson, the present Kaiser,[5] and he formed a plan
for making Germany the leading nation on the sea as Bismarck had made
her on the land. He saw France and England seizing distant colonies and
dividing up Africa between them. He at once announced that Germany,
too, must have colonies to which to export her manufactures and from
which to bring back tropical products. This meant a strong navy to
protect these colonies, and the race with England was on. As soon as
Germany built some new battleships, England built still others, larger
and with heavier guns. The next year, Germany would build still larger
ships, and the next England would come back with still heavier guns. As
fast as England built ships, Germany built them. Now, each battleship
costs from five to fifteen million dollars, and it does not take long
before a race of this kind sends the taxes too high for people to
stand. There was unrest throughout Europe and murmurs of discontent
were heard among the working classes.
[5] The present Kaiser’s father reigned only ninety-nine days, as he
was a very sick man at the time of the old emperor’s death.
Questions for Review
How did France pay off her war indemnity so promptly?
Why did Bismarck’s three-emperor-alliance fail?
What is meant by “the balance of power”?
What was the condition of the Serbs, Bulgarians, etc. before
1878?
Why did Russia covet Constantinople?
Why did the powers prevent the treaty of San Stephano from
being carried out?
What wrongs were done by the Congress of Berlin?
Why did Bismarck form the Triple Alliance?
How was he able to induce Italy to join her old enemy,
Austria?
What was the effect of the formation of the Triple Alliance
on France and Russia?
What result had the formation of the two alliances on the
gun-industry?
How was England brought into the race for war equipment?