INTERNATIONAL JEALOUSIES AND ALLIANCES
The years between 1870 and 1914 were marked by growing jealousies among
the great powers of Europe. All were growing in wealth and commerce, and
each looked with envious eyes upon the successes of its neighbors. In
this chapter we are going to consider some of the special reasons for
the growth of international jealousies during this period, and the
grouping of the great nations into alliances.
ALSACE-LORRAINE.--At the close of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871,
France was humiliated by being forced to give up to Germany a large
section of her eastern lands--Alsace and northeastern Lorraine. It was
true that these provinces had long ago belonged to Germany. All of this
territory, however, had been French for generations, and much of it for
over two hundred years; and in both provinces the population was loyal
to the French government and violently opposed to being transferred to
the rule of Germany. But defeated France had no choice in the matter,
and the provinces became part of the German Empire. France has never
forgotten or forgiven this humiliation. Lloyd George, the British prime
minister, in speaking of the Alsace-Lorraine problem (January, 1918)
said, "This sore has poisoned the peace of Europe for half a century,
and until it is cured healthy conditions cannot be restored."
[Illustration: ALSACE-LORRAINE]
German rule in Alsace-Lorraine has been unwise as well as severe. The
teaching of the French language in the elementary schools of the
provinces was forbidden. Military service in the German army was made
compulsory despite the protests of the inhabitants, who felt a horror of
some day being forced to fight against the French, whom they regarded as
brothers. All important offices were filled by Germans from beyond the
Rhine. The police constantly interfered with the freedom of the people.
French newspapers were suppressed on the slightest excuse. Attempts were
made to prevent Frenchmen from visiting Alsace and Alsatians from
visiting France. German army officers stationed in the provinces openly
ignored the rights of the population and were upheld in their conduct by
the German government. As time passed the inhabitants grew more and more
dissatisfied with the strict German rule.
In France also hostility to Germany was increased by the conditions in
Alsace-Lorraine. Frenchmen could not forget that they had been robbed of
these provinces. Hope was kept alive that some day they might be won
back. In the city of Paris, in the Place de la Concorde, there are eight
large marble statues each representing a great city of France. One of
these represents Strassburg, the chief city of Alsace. Every year, on
July 14, the national holiday of France, the people of Paris have placed
a wreath of mourning on this statue. This custom expresses the sorrow of
France for the loss of her eastern provinces, as well as her hope that
some day they may be restored.
ITALIA IRREDENTA.--_Italia Irreden´ta_ in the Italian language means
"unredeemed Italy." It refers to the territory adjoining Italy on the
north and northeast, occupied by Italians but not yet redeemed from
foreign rule.
[Illustration: Map of Italia Irredenta]
When in 1871 the kingdom of Italy took its present form through the
union of former Italian states (Chapter I), Italia Irredenta remained
under the rule of Austria. Italians feel, however, that Italian unity
is not complete so long as adjoining lands inhabited by Italian-speaking
people are ruled by foreign governments. So they regard these lands as
"unredeemed."
Italia Irredenta consists chiefly of the Trentino (tren-tee´no), a
triangle of territory dipping down into the north of Italy, and some
land around the northern end of the Adriatic including the important
city of Trieste. Both of these regions are ruled by Austria. For many
years this situation has led to ill feeling between the two countries.
While it has not had so direct a bearing on the outbreak of the World
War as the question of Alsace-Lorraine, it nevertheless largely explains
the entrance of Italy into the war on the side of the Allies.
RUSSIA AND THE BOSPORUS.--Still another situation which in the years
before the war was the cause of international jealousies was Russia's
long-standing ambition to control Constantinople on the Bos´porus. As
Constantinople is the capital of the Turkish Empire, the continued
existence of that state, at least on the continent of Europe, was
threatened by Russia's purpose. Russia has long been in need of an
ice-free port as an outlet for her commerce. Archangel (ark´ān´jel) in
the north is ice-bound most of the year. Vladivostok´, her port on the
Pacific, is ice-bound for three months of the year. Russian trade by way
of the Baltic must pass through waters controlled by other countries.
Naturally she has turned toward the Bosporus and Dardanelles
(dar-da-nelz´)--the straits connecting the Black Sea with the
Mediterranean--as the natural outlet for her trade, and this explains
her desire to possess Constantinople.
For centuries Russia has been so much more powerful than Turkey that she
would surely have taken possession of Constantinople if the other
nations of Europe had not interfered. On two different occasions during
the nineteenth century England came to the assistance of the Turkish
Empire and saved Constantinople from the Czar. Great Britain was led to
take this action through fear that Russian control of Constantinople
might endanger the safety of her own communications with India. In the
years immediately preceding the outbreak of the Great War the danger
from Germany made other quarrels of much less importance, and England's
disagreement with Russia over her desire for a trade outlet was
forgotten.
EUROPEAN AMBITIONS IN THE BALKANS.--Russia has always felt a strong
interest in the small nations of the Balkan peninsula. Their inhabitants
are for the most part Slavs, of the same race as the Russians
themselves, and they have naturally looked upon the great Slavic empire
of the Czars as their protector. There was, moreover, a pan-Slavic party
in Russia, i.e. a group who looked forward to a union of all the Slav
nations under the leadership of Russia. The pan-Slavic movement had its
beginning in the help Russia had given these states in their revolt from
Turkey.
Russia's aims and hopes in the Balkans were strongly opposed by
Austria-Hungary. That state has long felt the need of seaports to the
southeast and has hoped, with German support, to secure an outlet on the
Ægean and to control the whole course of the Danube. This purpose could
be accomplished only by annexing a large part of the Balkan peninsula.
The Balkan situation, therefore, brought Russia and Austria face to face
in opposition to each other. It was one of the most serious instances of
international rivalry in the period before the war.
Italy also was interested in the Balkan question. She saw that if the
Austrians should annex the Balkan lands lying to the south they would
control the whole eastern shore of the Adriatic. Italian interests and
ambitions would suffer. This fear, added to the constant bitterness
caused by the problem of Italia Irredenta, inflamed the hostility of
Italy toward Austria.
Finally, Turkey also had an interest in the Balkan situation. She hoped
to benefit by the various jealousies of the great powers. She believed
that fear of a general war would keep all of them from making any move
in the Balkans and so would prolong her own shaky existence as a
European state.
RIVAL COLONIAL EMPIRES.--Some time after the establishment of the
German Empire, her rapidly growing wealth, population, and trade led her
to regret the opportunities for colonial expansion that she had missed.
She cast jealous eyes upon the vast colonial possessions of other
nations. She also took what was left over,--several large regions of
Africa, a port in China, a few islands in the Pacific,--not nearly
enough to satisfy her ambitions. South America was closed to her by the
policy of the United States which is expressed in the Monroe Doctrine.
In Asia, however, she secured extensive commercial and industrial
concessions--the forerunners of political control--in the Turkish
Empire. Germany's desire for colonies was natural enough, but her
jealousy of her more fortunate European neighbors must be considered as
one of the reasons underlying her military and naval preparedness for
war.
Germany's covetous attitude toward the colonial possessions of other
nations led to several serious international disagreements in the years
before the Great War. More than once it almost brought her into conflict
with the government of the United States. An agreement had been made for
the joint control of the Samoan Islands by Great Britain, Germany, and
the United States. Germany's attempt to enlarge her interests in the
islands led to a quarrel with American officers. An American flag was
seized by armed Germans, war vessels were sent to Samoa, and a naval
battle seemed about to take place. A hurricane destroyed the vessels,
however, before any fighting had occurred, and the three countries drew
up a treaty which settled that particular difficulty (1899).
Germany also resented our acquisition of the Philippines and other
Spanish colonies. At the outbreak of our war with Spain in 1898, when
Admiral Dewey steamed into Manila Bay, he found there a German fleet
that was half disposed to interfere with his operations. But when Dewey
showed a willingness to fight, the Germans withdrew.
Several years later Germany picked a quarrel with Venezuela and, in
defiance of the Monroe Doctrine, bombarded a fort on her coast. Acting
in conjunction with England and Italy, German warships blockaded the
ports of Venezuela to force the payment of financial claims. President
Roosevelt's insistence that Germany drop her further plans of
aggression, and his promptness in concentrating the American fleet in
the West Indies, resulted in Germany's accepting a peaceful solution of
the dispute.
In 1911 Germany tried to force France out of Morocco. Since 1904 France
had by common consent taken general charge of affairs in that country.
Later Germany made objections to this arrangement. Finally, in 1911,
when France was sending troops into the interior to put down disorders
among the natives, Germany sent a gunboat to Agadir (ah-gah-deer´), on
the west coast of Morocco. It looked as if she intended to take
possession of the port there. France protested and the affair began to
look very warlike. England came to the support of France, and Germany
gave up all claim to Morocco, taking in exchange about 100,000 square
miles in equatorial Africa. After this humiliation the German
militarists became more determined than ever to force the war which they
thought would make Germany supreme over her rivals.
THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE.--The various jealousies among the nations of
Europe which we have just considered, and particularly the general fear
of the growing power of the German Empire, largely explain the strong
international alliances which came into existence between 1870 and 1914.
Germany, after 1870, knew that France would for many years be too weak
to retake Alsace-Lorraine. All that German leaders had to fear was that
France might succeed in securing powerful friends among the other
nations and that a strong combination of countries might some day
challenge Germany's supremacy on the Continent. To prevent or at any
rate to counterbalance any such combination, Germany looked about for
allies upon whose help she might rely in case of necessity. At first she
planned a general league of friendship with the great countries lying to
the east and southeast, Russia and Austria-Hungary. This combination,
known as the League of the Three Emperors, was soon broken up by the
growing jealousies of Russia and Austria in the Balkans. Germany, having
to choose which of these two nations she would support, decided in favor
of Austria. There followed a growing coldness in the relations between
Germany and Russia.
Germany having allied herself with Austria, looked about for another
nation to give greater strength to the combination. Her thoughts turned
toward Italy, which, in case of another war against France, could attack
the French southeastern border and so prove a valuable ally. For a
number of years there had been ill feeling between Italy and France, and
Germany counted on this feeling to bring Italy under her influence. The
chief difficulty in the way of Germany's plan was that Italy would have
to abandon her ideas in regard to Italia Irredenta and enter into
friendly relations with Austria, her old enemy. Italy was finally driven
into this unnatural alliance by the action of France, which in 1881
occupied Tunis, a land which Italy herself had been planning to annex as
a colony. Italy, too weak to prevent this action of France, entered the
alliance with Germany and Austria into which she had been invited. So it
was that the Triple Alliance was established (1882), as a league of
defense against any nations which should begin an attack upon any one of
the three.
THE TRIPLE ENTENTE.--_Entente_ (ahn-tahnt´) is the French word for
understanding or agreement. In the recent history of Europe it refers to
that friendly grouping of nations which was formed in self-defense
against the Triple Alliance. The war of 1870 had left France not only
humiliated but weakened and isolated. The formation of the Triple
Alliance put out of question the idea of a successful war against
Germany to right the wrong which France had suffered. In fact it seemed
to make more probable a new attack upon France. Russia also found
herself in a position of isolation. Their isolation and consequent
danger gradually drew these two nations together, distant as they were
from one another and different as they were in government and ideas. So
there was established a dual alliance between the French Republic and
the Russian Empire.
Great Britain had for a long time remained outside the jealousies and
combinations of the continental powers. In fact she had frequently found
herself at odds with France over the rights of the two nations in
Africa, and with Russia over the question of Constantinople and Russian
aggression in Asia. When English statesmen discovered, however, that the
German Empire was constantly enlarging her navy with a view to
challenging English control of the seas, they felt that it would be well
for Great Britain to seek friendships on the Continent. Old quarrels
with France and Russia were forgotten. Friendly relations were
established, and Great Britain, France, and Russia entered into a league
of friendship known as the Triple Entente (1907).
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY.--1. Locate the Bosporus,
Alsace-Lorraine, Italia Irredenta, Balkan peninsula, Ægean
Sea. 2. Explain the geographical importance of
Constantinople. How was Russia prevented from taking it in
the Crimean War of 1854 and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877? 3.
Show on a map of Europe the countries in the Triple Alliance
and those in the Triple Entente. Why was each alliance
formed?
REFERENCES.--_War Cyclopedia_ (C.P.I.); Harding, _New
Medieval and Modern History_; Hazen, _Europe since 1815_; and
other European histories. For the treaties forming the two
alliances, see _A League of Nations_, Vol. I, No. 4.