THE NEUTRAL STATES--PORTUGAL AND SPAIN
Now that we have reviewed the historical development of all the
belligerents, it becomes necessary to pay some attention to the few
European states which so far have not yet actually become involved.
For our purposes it will not be necessary to go into any great
detail concerning the political history of these noncombatant
nations. We are only interested in those features of their political
development which have some bearing on the reasons for their present
neutrality and on their attitude toward the various nations at war.
In our consideration of the neutral states there will not be
included either Greece or Rumania, because they will be covered
together with the other Balkan nations in a separate section of this
work.
Up to the beginning of 1916 there were two countries in southern
Europe which had managed to remain in a condition of neutrality,
Spain and Portugal. In the month of March the latter country,
however, precipitated a declaration of war on the part of the
Central European Powers and their allies by seizing the mercantile
steamers of these various countries which at the outbreak of the war
had sought refuge in Portuguese ports and had been interned there.
Before we determine why Portugal took this step which was sure to
provoke a declaration of war, it will be necessary to consider
shortly the history of this country in modern times. It is many
centuries since Portugal has lost its former importance as a
European nation which was based primarily on its extensive colonial
possessions. Its last really valuable and important colony, however,
Brazil, was not lost until the early part of the nineteenth century,
and even now Portugal possesses colonies in Asia and Africa which
are twenty times as large in extent as its European territory. Its
African possessions are adjoining chiefly British colonies and this
close proximity to parts of the British Empire has resulted at times
in some difficulties between the two countries, the most recent and
important of which occurred in 1890 and in 1894. In spite of these
slight disagreements, however, Portugal made an arrangement, quite
some time ago, according to which it was under certain conditions to
furnish limited subsidiary forces to England, in exchange for which
England promised to assume the friendly rôle of a protector in times
of need. It is undoubtedly this arrangement with England which
finally resulted in the aggressive action on the part of Portugal of
which we have just heard. Up to 1910 Portugal was a kingdom. In that
year, however, a revolution broke out chiefly on account of
oppressive financial measures which the Government had been in the
habit of passing and the reigning King, Manuel, was forced to flee
the country. Shortly afterward his former subjects exiled him and
decided for a republican form of government which in spite of
various slight monarchial revolutions has been maintained since. The
1910 revolution was preceded by two years by the murder of King
Manuel's father, Carlos I, and his older brother, Luis. After King
Manuel had been exiled, England assumed toward Portugal a part very
similar to that which England had assumed toward France after the
fall of the second empire. It offered a haven of refuge for the
exiled king and his relatives, but at the same time acknowledged the
establishment of the Portuguese Republic and showed in various ways
that it was in sympathy with the liberal movement in Portugal.
Immediately adjoining Portugal on the east is Spain, which is
separated from France on the north by the Pyrenees. Just as Portugal,
Spain had been in times past one of the great colonial powers of the
world, greater even than its neighbor. In fact, at one time in the
world's history Spain occupied very much the same position that
England occupies to-day. But this splendor belongs to the past and
gradually Spain has lost practically all of its colonies with the
single exception of the few comparatively small settlements and
islands in Western Africa which, however, still total 82,000 square
miles. Its last really important and valuable colonies in the West
Indies (Cuba, Porto Rico), and the Philippine Islands in the Far East
were lost as a result of the Spanish-American War of 1898. Some other
islands in the Pacific Ocean were sold in the year following, 1899, to
Germany. In more recent times, however, Spain has shown again more
aggressiveness in connection with the acquisition of colonial
possessions which chiefly centered in that part of north Africa which
is immediately opposite the south coast of Spain. Its activities in
that territory were not appreciated by the natives who at various
times with more or less success revolted against the foreign rule and
finally brought about the Moorish War of 1909, which was terminated by
Spain only after the Spanish troops had experienced a number of
defeats and after a considerable expenditure of money and life.
[Illustration: Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia.]
During the second half of the nineteenth century Spain went through
a comparatively large number of revolutions, dynastic changes and
other internal difficulties. In 1886 Queen Isabella, a member of the
Bourbon family, was driven out of the country by a revolution of her
subjects. The latter, however, decided in favor of a continuation of
the monarchial form of government and thereupon set out to find
some European prince who would be willing to assume the burden of
the Spanish crown. We have already heard that this quest was one of
the principal direct causes of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870,
because Napoleon III attempted to force a promise from King William
of Prussia to the effect that the latter would not permit his
relative, the Prince of Hohenzollern, to accept the crown of Spain
which had been offered to him. In 1870, however, the Spanish people
succeeded in inducing Amadeus of Italy, a relative of the ruler of
the newly formed Italian kingdom, to become King of Spain. Only two
years later, in 1872, the so-called Carlist War broke out which had
its basis in the attempt of Don Carlos, also a member of the Bourbon
family, to secure the crown of Spain to which he claimed to have
prior rights to those of Queen Isabella's branch of the family. This
war, which really was a civil war, was accompanied by a great deal
of bloodshed and cruelty and finally brought about the abdication of
King Amadeus. For a short time after that Spain became a republic,
but in 1874 the people decided that their interests would be better
served by a monarchy and they made the son of Queen Isabella,
Alfonso XII, their King. The latter was married twice, first to
Princess Mercedes and after her death to Archduchess Marie Christine
of Austria. Of the former marriage the issue was one girl, Mercedes,
who at the death of Alfonso XII in 1885 became Queen of Spain with
her stepmother as regent. In 1886, however, a posthumous male heir
was born who immediately upon his birth became legally King of Spain
as Alfonso XIII. Of course Queen Christine's regency continued until
Alfonso XIII became of age. During her regency Queen Marie Christine
faced an arduous task in her attempt to maintain for her minor son
the throne of his father, but in spite of the many difficulties that
she had to face she succeeded. These difficulties were chiefly
internal and of an economic nature, although those in connection
with Spain's West Indian possessions were almost as vexing. For many
years of this period Spain was more or less in a state of anarchy,
and labor disturbances throughout the country took on a most violent
form. In recent years, however, conditions have improved
considerably and to-day the future of Spain is more promising than
it has been for many decades.
In foreign politics Spain did not play a very important part,
especially not since the loss of most of its colonies. It
participated in a number of the more important international
conferences held during the last thirty-five or forty years and,
generally speaking, managed to maintain friendly relations with most
of the other nations. During the long regency of Queen Marie
Christine her personal influence, of course, was bound to be felt to
a considerable extent and to that extent Spain may be said to have
been more inclined toward the Central European Powers and especially
toward Austria than toward any other countries. This is due to the
fact that the Queen Regent was a member of the Hapsburg family and
that one of her late husband's sisters is married to a prince of the
reigning house of Bavaria. On the other hand the Spanish people are,
of course, in customs and language, more closely related to the
French and Italian people and this racial relationship is found
expressed in a more or less strong sympathy for France. In 1906 King
Alfonso XIII married Princess Victoria of Battenberg, daughter of
one of the daughters of Queen Victoria of England and of a German
prince, but thoroughly English in her bringing up and sympathies.
This alliance of course brought Spain into closer contact with
England. Considering these various conditions it is clear that Spain
has about as many sentimental reasons for supporting the Allies as
it has for supporting the Central Powers, and this balanced its
sentiments so well that its neutrality has been really fair and
sincere. The entrance of Portugal into the war, however, may have an
important bearing on Spain's future attitude.