THE NATIONS AT WAR.
UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS--HOW THE WAR FLAMES SPREAD--A SCORE OF COUNTRIES
INVOLVED--THE POINTS OF CONTACT--PICTURESQUE AND RUGGED BULGARIA,
ROUMANIA, SERVIA, GREECE, ITALY AND HISTORIC SOUTHEAST EUROPE.
The real history of the greatest war of all times is the history of the
entire world, touching every phase of existence in a manner that has
never been approximated by any other conflict. The motives and
ramifications are so great that it is almost impossible for the human
mind to grasp the significance of many things of importance which, at a
glance, seem to be but incidents.
The world looked on expectantly when the war started, because there was
a general knowledge of the conditions existing in Europe and the
undercurrent was felt by students of international affairs. But that
Russia would revolt and the Czar abdicate, as he did in March, 1917, and
the iron-ruled country would set up a government of its own--would join
the circle of democracies--was not even hinted at. Neither was it
intimated that Constantine I, King of Greece, would abdicate in favor of
his son, Prince Alexander, as he did in the following June, under
pressure, because of his sympathy for Germany.
Neither was there a suspicion that the fire started by the flash of a
pistol and the bursting of a bomb in Bosnia would spread until sixteen
countries were arrayed against Germany and Austria, supported by the
Bulgarians and the Turks. And to these must be added the entrance into
the conflict of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, possessions of Great
Britain, and smaller possessions of other countries. The flames swept
over the face of the earth in this fashion:
Starting with the movement of Austria against Servia, after the
assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand, there lined up as a
consequence of the alliances formed between the powers, the countries
referred to in preceding chapters. The triple alliance was originally an
agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, to strengthen
their positions, and the Triple Entente consisted of agreements between
France, England and Russia.
INVASION OF BELGIUM.
Briefly, the invasion of Belgium by Germany, and her ambitions in the
southeast, where Russia had what amounted to protectorate relations,
drew first France, England and Russia into the strife, and step by step
there became involved nation after nation. The steps, marked by the
declarations of war, were as follows: On July 28, 1914, Austria declared
war on Servia, and on August 1 Germany made the declaration against
Russia. Next Germany turned upon France, on the third day of August, and
also on Belgium, whereupon, on the following day, Great Britain declared
war on Germany; a day later Austria-Hungary issued the mandate against
Russia, and two days later, or on August 8, Montenegro declared war on
Austria. Austria accepted the challenge, and then Servia took up the
cudgel against Germany. France made formal declaration of war on
Austria-Hungary and by the end of August Montenegro had declared against
Germany; Great Britain on Austria; Japan on Germany; Austria on Japan;
Austria on Belgium. Later, or early in November, Russia declared herself
against Turkey, as did France and Great Britain.
For six months the battle raged and the rest of the world regarded the
result with grave concern until in May of 1915 Italy, having renounced
her alliance with Germany and Austria, declared war first on Austria,
then on Turkey. In the fall of 1915 Servia took up arms against
Bulgaria, as did Great Britain, France, Italy and Russia. Then Germany
declared against Portugal, whose government replied in kind; Austria
followed Germany in the alignment and finally, in August, 1916, there
were exchanges of sharp "courtesies"--the complete severance of all
diplomatic relations and open warfare--between Roumania and
Austria-Hungary; then between Bulgaria and Roumania, with the consequent
alignment of the Central Powers. Italy had also made her declaration
against Germany specific. So for nine months the war waged with terrible
bitterness until on April 6, the United States, by the proclamation of
President Wilson, was finally at war with Germany.
IN THE NATURE OF MERE FORMALITIES.
These steps were, in many instances, in the nature of formalities, for
the relationships of some of the countries involved placed them in the
position of practically being at war before formal announcement was
made. The position then, was that Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey
were supported by Bulgaria, who was anxious to get redress for having
been cheated out of what she regarded as her rightful possessions in the
settlement of the Balkan war question. Those aligned on the other side
were England, France, Russia, Montenegro, Italy, Belgium (which had been
making defensive warfare in keeping with her desire to be true to her
neutral pledges); Servia, Roumania, Japan, Portugal, the United States,
the little principality of Monaco, which is best known as the seat of
Monte Carlo, the great gambling center of Europe, and San Marino, a
similar "patch" on the map of Europe. Brazil, Guatemala, and the little
Republic of Cuba also aligned themselves against Germany in support of
the Allies, though there was no actual engagement of their forces. Thus
there could be counted as at war against the Central Powers in June,
1917, sixteen countries.
Most interesting of all the countries involved were those belonging to
the Balkan group and centering in southeastern Europe. The Balkan
nations, Bulgaria, Servia, Montenegro, with Greece, paved the way for
their entrance into the conflict when they formed an alliance, in 1912,
for common protection, particularly for the enforcement of one of the
provisions of the Berlin Treaty, guaranteeing local government to the
Bulgar and Serbian colonies in Macedonia. Montenegro began war on Turkey
in October, and Bulgaria, Servia and Greece joined and drove the Turks
out of many of their strongholds.
[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF GERMANY AND THE STATES FORMING THE EMPIRE.
This drawing shows the location of the twenty-five States which were
included within the boundaries of the German Empire at the beginning of
the war.]
"COMIC OPERA" SOLDIERS.
In a month of fighting the little countries, in the picturesque
southeastern section, whose soldiers have been depicted as "comic opera"
soldiers, had rent Turkey; Greece had captured the famous Macedonian
city of Salonica, once known as Thessalonica, where was located the
church in which was addressed St. Paul's Epistle to the Thessalonians;
while the Servians had captured Monastir, one of the most important
centers in Macedonia, and the Bulgarians had driven the Turks almost to
the famed city of Constantinople. The Servian soldiers finally marched
to the Adriatic sea, and Albania raised a flag of its own and asked
Austria-Hungary and Italy to recognize its independence and grant it
protection.
Within little more than two months Turkey had been deprived of the
greater portion of her possessions in Europe and a treaty of peace was
signed between the allied countries and the Turks. By this agreement
Albania became in effect a suzerainty, protected by Austria. But the
agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy--the Triple
Entente--gave those countries a combined power which, when it came to
fixing the terms of peace, left the small allied countries of victory at
a disadvantage, and while Montenegro and Greece gained some territory,
as did Servia, Bulgaria lost what she had gained in the war. Turkey lost
90 per cent of her Empire in Europe, which so aroused the country that
the rising of the young Turks followed and the government was
reorganized. The enforced terms of settlement, however, set the little
countries at each other's throats.
The field of the Balkan battles is the very center of the world's
history. Along the Adriatic, Ionian and Agean seas are lands and
territories peopled with races that mark their ancestry back to the very
darkest ages. The protected country of Albania, with its rocky surface,
numbers among its peoples descendants of the Arnauts, whose very origin
is a mystery. They were present before the days of Greece and Rome. The
Ottoman Turks, the Bulgars from the plains of the Volga and the Ural
Mountains, the Serbs, the Roumanians, Russians, Italians, the Slavs,
Tartars.
A REGION OF MOUNTAINS.
Albania is a mountainous region along the Adriatic coast, peopled with
descendants of the ancients who maintain their characteristics. They are
said to be descendants of the Pelasgian races, which inhabited the
territory before the Greeks builded their Athens.
The Albanians are wild, daring mountaineers, and though the people have,
to all intents and purposes, been under Turkish rule for centuries, they
have never recognized the sovereignty of the Sultan. It was originally
part of the Turkish Empire in Europe, having been taken by Turkey, in
1467, and is a fertile, but wild country.
The same picturesque people that make up the population of Albania
constitute the populace of the little country of Montenegro, which was
once part of the Turkish possession. Montenegro contained about 3486
square miles of territory before its acquisitions in the Balkan wars.
Aided by Russia, the country obtained its independence from Turkey in
1878, and in 1910 became a kingdom. Its present area is about 5650
square miles and the population 520,000. The capital is Cettinje.
Bulgaria was also once a part of the Turkish possessions, and under the
Treaty of Berlin, in 1878, became a suzerainty. It is a famous pastoral
country, inhabited by a people for years held under the Ottoman heel.
They are racially Turanians, and kin of the Tartar and Huns, who came
into their present fertile country from the vast plains of eastern
Russia. They made their way thither more than a thousand years ago, and
battling at the very gates of Constantinople, by their fierce crusades,
secured the grants from the Byzantine Empire of the territory, which
constitutes the Bulgaria of today. The population is nearly 5,000,000,
and the country contains about 43,000 square miles.
WHY ITALY ENTERED THE WAR.
Italy's reasons for entering the war, aside from her demands for
territory, in exchange for continuance of neutrality, have to do with
matters of years gone by, when she began the struggle for her liberation
from the Austrian domination. Italy desired, among other things, to
acquire Trentino, Goritz, and other adjacent territory controlled by
Austria, but Italian in every attribute. Trentino is a rocky region, and
strategically valuable to the country possessing it, which was proved by
the terrible struggle which the Italians were forced to make in their
attacks against the Austrian forces.
The city of Trent is the capital of Trentino, famous in history, and the
seat of the long church council in 1545-46. It was in turn controlled by
Roman, Goth, Hun, Lombard and Holy Roman Empire. It is the site of many
historic buildings, notably the cathedral of Trent, which is a fine
example of Lombard architecture, and the church of Santa Maria Maggorie,
where the famous Council of the Roman Catholic Church was held. There
are old towers, and libraries rich in manuscripts.
Trentino is famous for its mountain passes, over which the Italians have
been compelled to drag their heavy artillery and implements of war. The
Alpini, the mountaineer soldiers of Italy, are among the most
picturesque in the world. They have scaled the almost perpendicular
faces of the Alps, climbing from crag to crag with their bodies roped
together, dragging machine guns in pieces strapped to their shoulders.
Tolmino, Trieste, Istria, Dalmatia, Avlona, the prime harbor of Albania
(seized by Italy in the fall of 1916). These are little spots in the
territory logically Italian, which Italy covets.
[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF THE AUSTRIA-HUNGARY EMPIRE.
Drawn and engraved especially to show the Provinces comprising the
Empire, and their locations as they were at the beginning of the war.
This is a country of many nationalities and languages.]
DIVIDED INTO SIXTEEN DEPARTMENTS.
Italy, since its consolidation into one kingdom in 1870, has been
divided into sixteen departments comprising sixty-nine provinces. The
country has a total area of 110,623 square miles, and a population of a
little more than 35,000,000. The Roman Catholic Church is irrevocably
linked to the history of Italy and Rome, its capital, marked the
farthest advance of civilization in the ancient days. It possesses four
distinct zones, ranging from the almost arctic cold of the mountain
belts to an almost tropical heat in the southern lowlands. It is one of
the picturesque countries of the world, a center of art, industry and
travel.
Servia, which is separated from Austria-Hungary by the Danube, is of
precisely the same character as the other rich, mountainous region. The
country was subjugated by the Turks, who retained possession of it until
1717. Austria then wrested control from the Turks, and held it until
1791, when Turkey again dominated it. In 1805 the Servians revolted, and
secured temporary independence, only to again come under the Ottoman
rule. Again it secured freedom in 1815, and by the Treaty of Paris,
independent existence was secured for it. Turkey became only a nominal
authority. It became a kingdom in 1882, after having become absolutely
independent with the Berlin Treaty.
The people are Slavonic, and kin to the Croats of ancient history. They
are described as having come from Poland and Galicia, moving down the
Danube, into what is the present kingdom. In the fourteenth century the
Servian empire comprised the whole Balkan peninsula, from Greece to
Poland, and from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. But Servia warred with
Turkey, and her troops were defeated in the great battle at Kossovo, and
the Ottoman power became supreme. The country has an area of about
34,000 square miles and a population of 4,600,000.
LITTLE BOSNIA'S FUTURE.
Bosnia, where was assassinated the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, of
Austria, was a Turkish province, west of Servia, and under the treaty of
Berlin was to be administered for an undefined period by the Austrian
government. The little section contains about 16,000 square miles and
has a population of about 1,750,000, largely of Slavonic origin. They
are partly Mohammedans, partly Roman Catholics and Greek Catholics. In
the middle ages Bosnia belonged to the Eastern Empire. Later it became a
separate kingdom, dependent upon Hungary, only to be conquered by the
Turks. It is the mountainous, rugged country of the Julian and Dinaric
Alps, but has many fertile valleys, and is well watered by the river
Save, and its numerous tributaries.
Greece, the modern kingdom, is one of the countries that for centuries
were politically included within the limits of the Turkish Empire. In
its present form it represents but a portion of that country, famous in
history, as the Greece of the Ancients--that classic land which holds
the most conspicuous place in the pages of ancient history--but still it
is inclusive of the greatest names belonging to the glorious past. It is
the country of Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes and Argos. It is
separated from Turkey by a winding boundary, extending from the Gulf of
Arta on the west to the Gulf of Salonica on the east.
The earliest settlers were the Pelasgi, who were in course of time
replaced by the Hellenes. They, in turn, were succeeded by the
Phoenicians, who swayed the country. Athens, Sparta, Thebes and Corinth
came into existence and became the centers of political government, of
the most progressive advancement in civilization. Civil discords brought
on first the Peloponnesian War, about 434 B.C., and made them prey to
the Macedonians. Successively invaded by Goths, Vandals and Normans the
country came into the possession of the Turks in 1481, though for two
centuries the power of the Turk was questioned by the Venetians. Revolt
was had from the Ottoman yoke in 1821, and independence was secured by
the interference of foreign powers after the defeat of the Turk at the
Navarino, in 1827. Through the succeeding years it has been a protected
monarchy.
ONE OF THE BALKAN GROUP.
Roumania, the largest of the Balkan group, lying between Russia on the
north, and Bulgaria on the south, is the home of the Gacians,
descendants of the warlike tribes who for years held their own against
Greek and Roman. After the fall of Rome the province became a melting
pot, through which the hordes of invaders, passing from Russia to Asia,
were in a sense made one people. The Goths, the Huns, the Lombards, the
Bulgars and the Magyars traversed the region, leaving many settlers. It
became divided into two provinces, Moldavia and Wallachia, known as the
Danubian provinces.
Both provinces were conquered by the Turks in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, and under Peter the Great the Russians attempted
the conquest of the provinces. In 1859 the two provinces were united
under a prince whose independence both Turkey and Russia recognized, and
in 1881 the country declared itself a kingdom. The province of Wallachia
derives its name from the people who early settled there, the Wallachs.
The Roumanians claim descent from Vlachi, a colony of Romans, who
settled in Thrace, and, in the twelfth century, emigrated to the Danube.
The name Roumania is derived from the word Roman, the country having
originally been "the Land of the Roumani." Roumania has a population of
about 7,600,000 and comprises 64,000 square miles.
Macedonia, famous country of Greece in the time of Philip, father of
Alexander the Great, embraced the entire region from the Scardian
Mountains to Thessaly, and from the Epirus and Illyria to the river
Nestos, taking in what is now part of Salonica. It was reduced by the
Persians and subsequently Alexander the Great made it the nucleus of a
vast and powerful empire along with Greece. Ultimately it passed under
Roman sway, until it was ceded, in 1913, to Greece.
AN OBJECT OF CONTENTION.
Alsace-Lorraine is worthy of note, as comprising one of the territories
which for centuries have been the cause of conflict between Germany and
France. It is pointed to as the physical evidence of the humiliation of
France at the hands of the Germans, in 1870, and has for nearly one-half
a century been a German imperial territory. The surrender of Alsace and
part of Lorraine was made the principal condition of peace on the
settlement of the war of 1870. Bismarck, it is said, might have been
content with a language boundary, taking only that portion of the
country in which lived those who spoke the German tongue.
For strategic purposes, however, Alsace and Lorraine, with the exception
of one district, were taken. The strip of country was to be governed by
the power of the German Emperor until the constitution of the German
Empire was established. Many of the inhabitants opposed the Prussian
domination, and a vote was taken on who would declare themselves Germans
and remain in the territory, or French and leave. More than 40,000 left
the country and went into France.
The German language was made compulsory in the schools, the courts and
the legislative body. The French never forgot their loss, and revenge
for that loss has been a subject of consideration in their foreign
policy ever since the war of 1871. Alsace and Lorraine contain about
5600 square miles, and together have a population of about two million.
About 85 per cent of the people speak German.
[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF TURKEY IN ASIA.
A country where civilization was first born and which is now undergoing
a new birth of a new civilization. The location of the Garden of Eden
was between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The drawing shows the
country which is mentioned largely in Bible history.]
PICTURESQUE TURKEY.
Turkey, one of the picturesque and ancient countries which is aligned
with the Germans, is a Mohammedan state of the Ottoman Empire in
southeastern Europe and western Asia, whose holdings in Europe have been
steadily decreasing, especially during recent years. The immediate
possessions of Turkey, or those directly under the Sultan's rule at the
time this country became involved in the great world war, extended from
Montenegro, Bosnia, Servia and eastern Roumelia on the north, to the
Agean Sea and Greece on the south, and from the Black Sea to the
Adriatic, the Straits of Otranto and the Ionic Sea. In September, 1911,
the Italian government sent a long list of claims made by Italy against
Turkey for economic and commercial discrimination against Italian
commerce, and the person of Italian citizens all over the world. A reply
was demanded within twenty-four hours, and failing to receive a reply
considered satisfactory, Italy immediately sent warships to Tripoli,
bombarded and captured the city. This meant that Turkey has lost one of
her most important seaports, consequently weakening her position.
The immediate possessions of Turkey in Europe, at this time, had an area
of 65,350 square miles, with a population of 6,200,000. In Asia Turkey
had possessions of 693,610 square miles, with a population of
16,900,000, while in Africa about 398,000 square miles belonged to the
Turkish Empire, on which lived 1,000,000 persons. This gave Turkey an
area of about 1,157,860 square miles, with a population of 24,100,000. A
number of islands in the Agean Sea belong to Turkey, and Egypt is also
nominally part of the kingdom of the Sultan.
[Illustration: A DASTARDLY CRIME WHICH AUTOCRACY CANNOT DENY.
Aerial photograph by a British pilot showing four huts of a British
hospital in France, in which were helpless men who were blown to bits.
All plainly shown in the foreground.]
[Illustration: A BRITISH TOMMY ON WAY TO TRENCHES.
This photograph shows a soldier crossing through a trench--which is
camouflaged. The screen prevents his being seen.]
[Illustration: AN ATTACK BY AMERICANS.
Company H and Company K of the 336th Infantry, 82nd Division are
advancing on enemy positions in France and driving them out while the
307th Engineers of the 82nd Division are clearing the way by blowing up
wire entanglements.]
[Illustration: GENERAL BULLARD.]
[Illustration: GENERAL LIGGETT.]
[Illustration: GENERAL DICKMAN.
American Army Commanders who out-generaled the Germans. They were well
supported by the fearless and determined fighters, the U.S.A. troops.]
[Illustration: A RELIGIOUS MEETING ON THE FIELD.
American, British, French, Belgian and Portuguese troops are represented
in this gathering of defenders of Liberty listening to a sermon on the
western front.]
[Illustration: THE HOLY LAND AND THE WAR.
Christmas Day at Bethlehem. Latin procession to the Church of
Nativity.]
[Illustration: FIGHTING IN PALESTINE EAST OF THE JORDAN.
Infantry were in the act of occupying an important hill when they were
met with a strong counter-attack. The timely arrival of machine guns and
supports the situation.]
[Illustration: SIGNING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY
MID-EUROPEAN NATIONS.
Professor H.A. Miller, Director; Thos. Naroshevitshius (Lithuaniana);
Christos Vassilkaki (Unredeemed Greeks); Christo Dako (Albanians);
Charles Tomazolli (Italian Irredentists); Nicholas Ceglinsky (Ukranian);
Dr. Hinko Ninkovich (Jugoslavs); T.M. Helinski (Poles); Dr. T.G. Masaryk
(Prime Minister of Cezhoslovakia); G. Pasdermadjian (Armenians); Capt.
Vasile Solca (Roumanians): Gregory Zsatkovich (Uhro-Rusins); Ittamar
Ban-Avi (Zionists). Signed Independence Hall, Phila, Oct. 26.]
[Illustration: GENERAL ALLENBY.
One of the notable events in the history of the war was the surrender of
Jerusalem to the British Army under the command of General Allenby.]
[Illustration: GENERAL TOWNSHEND.
The British officer who was taken prisoner at Kut-el-Amara, and who
afterwards became the peace negotiator.]
[Illustration: OFFICE OF A FIELD CASHIER.
This spot was formerly one of the pillbox strongholds of the famous
switch in the Hindenburg line. It was afterwards run by the Canadians.]
[Illustration: Negro Band of the 814th Infantry Leaving the Celtic After
Her Arrival.]
[Illustration: 8th Reg., FRENCH WAR-CROSS WINNERS.
Top Row: 1st-Lieut. Hurd, Lieut-Col. Duncane, Major White, Capt.
Crawford, 1st-Lieut. Warfield and Capt. Smith. Bottom Row: Capt. Allen,
Lieut. Browning, Capt. Warner and 1st-Lieut. Tisdale.]
[Illustration: Captain John H. Patton, 370th U.S. Infantry (formerly 8th
Illinois Infantry).
Regimental Adjutant to September 11, 1918. Commanding 2nd Battalion from
September 11, 1918 to December 17, 1918. Saint Mihiel Sector from June
21, 1918 to July 3, 1918. Argonne Forest from July 16, 1918, to August
15, 1918. Battles for Mont des Signes September 16 to September 30,
1918. Oise-Aisne offensive September 30 to November 11, 1918. Awarded
the French Croix de Guerre (Division Citation for meritorious service
covering the period September 11 to November 11, 1918.)]
[Illustration: Homecoming of 370th (old 8th Regiment), parade passing
the reviewing stand, Michigan ave., opposite Art Institute, Chicago Ill.
Line of march broken by the great mass of people eager to march with the
soldiers, the greatest gathering ever assembled on Chicago's great
boulevard.]
[Illustration: Officers of the 370th (old Illinois 8th Regiment)
Reading left to right: 2nd-Lieut. Lawson Price, 2nd-Lieut. L.W. Stearls,
2nd-Lieut. Ed. White, 2nd-Lieut. Eliass F.E. Williams, 1st-Lieut. Oaso
Browning, Capt. Louis B. Johnson, 1st-Lieut. Frank Bates and 1st-Lieut.
Binga Desmond.]
[Illustration: Left to right: Col. Franklin Dennison, Col. J. Roberts
and Lieut. Col. Otis B. Duncan of 370th (old Illinois 8th Regiment).]
The population is a motley assortment of races, nationalities and
creeds. About 38 per cent being Ottomans or Turks. The Slavic and Rouman
races come next in importance, then the Arabs, the remaining population
consisting of Moors, Druses, Kurds, Tartars, Albanians, Circassians,
Syrians, Armenians, and Greeks, besides Jews and Gypsies.
PHOENIX OF THE GREEK EMPIRE.
The Ottoman Empire arose from the ruins of the old Greek Empire, early
in the fifteenth century, Constantinople being made its capital in 1453,
after its capture by Mohammed II. At the accession of Mohammed IV, in
1648, the Turkish Empire was at the zenith of its power. Internal
corruption caused loss of power, and in 1774, a large slice of territory
was ceded to Russia. In 1821 Greece became independent. The Crimean War,
in 1854-56, checked Russia for a while, but in 1875 the people of
Herzegovina rebelled. A year later the Servians and Montenegrins
revolted, and in 1877 Russia began hostile operations in both parts of
the Turkish Empire. At this time Roumania declared her independence.
After the fall of Kars and of Plevna, the Turkish resistance completely
collapsed, and in 1878 Turkey was compelled to agree to the Treaty of
San Stefano.
Within the year the Treaty of Berlin declared Roumania, Servia and
Montenegro independent; Roumanian Bessarabia was ceded to Russia,
Austria was empowered to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Bulgaria was
made a principality. The main events in the history of the Ottoman
Empire since the Treaty of Berlin were the French invasion of Tunis in
1881, the Treaty with Greece, executed under pressure of the Great
Powers in 1881, by which Greece obtained Thessaly and a strip of Epirus;
the occupation of Egypt by Great Britain in 1882; the revolution of
Philippopolis in 1885, by which eastern Roumelia became united with
Bulgaria. In 1908 Bulgaria declared its independence and the Young Turk
Party extorted a constitution and a parliament from Abdul-Hamud II, who
was deposed in 1909 by the unanimous vote of the national assembly.
Mohammed V, eldest brother of the deposed Sultan succeeded to the
throne.
Russia, "the Great Bear," whose part in the war brought on internal
strife and revolution which robbed Czar Nicholas of his throne, traces
its history back for more than ten centuries, when the Norse invaded the
territory and founded Veliki Novgorod, for many years one of the chief
Russian cities. The Norse, to use the modern vernacular, "put Russia on
the map" when the Russian army fought its way to the very walls of
Constantinople. Much of the early history of the country is legendary,
and one of the famous stories is that after Igor, who commanded the
great armies, was put to death by rebellious subjects, his widow sought
out the territory where her husband had lost his life and pretending to
make peace with them, requested every householder to give her a pigeon.
WINGED FIREBRANDS.
When they gladly complied with her request she sent the tame birds back
home with flaming firebrands tied to their tails, and they entered their
lofts or rests and started fires which destroyed the city of Korosten.
The ascendancy of the Romanoff dynasty, which maintained in Russia
through the centuries, was established through the atrocities of Ivan
the Terrible, who is said to have absolutely destroyed the descendants
of the Rurik, the first Norse chieftain. Ivan the Terrible was the first
Czar of Russia. He conquered Servia and his domestic infamies and
intrigues are among the historical scandals of the country.
Through every reign in Russian history there ran stories of terrible
crime, cruelties, infamies, immoralities and degradation. Following the
death of Ivan the Terrible came Fedor, one of his sons, who was a
weakling in the hands of the Duma of five, one of whom was Boris
Godounoff. Fedor reigned but a few years, and Godounoff was elected
Czar. He was ambitious, and was founder of the system of serfdom, and
also of the Russian State Church, and like many of the other rulers of
Russia, met death through infamy, supposedly having been poisoned.
[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF THE BALKAN STATES.
This drawing shows the boundary lines as they were at the beginning of
the war. It also shows the location of the principal city of each
country. This part of the world has always been of great importance
since the earliest history of man and nations--a continuous struggle
between nations to control this gateway into southwestern Asia.]
BASE IMPOSTER SLAIN.
Boris Godounoff was succeeded by his son Feodor, but he was seized by a
pretender, and with his mother, thrown into prison, where they were
murdered. The discovery of the plot, which was laid at the door of the
King of Poland, produced an uprising and Czar Dimitry the Impostor was
slain. Vasili Shouyskie, leader of the mob that slew Dimitry, was
proclaimed Czar, but pretenders sprang up, and one of these, who posed
as a false Dimitry, invaded Russia from Poland, and established a rival
imperial court at Toushin, and some of the Russian cities swore
allegiance to him.
Vasili Shouyskie held out at Moscow, and after a time Dimitry's cause
failed, whereupon Sigsmund, of Poland, invaded Russia, and put forward
his son Vladislav. Vasili, roused to anger, committed acts which
provoked Moscow, and in 1610 he was compelled to abdicate, and a council
of nobles was formed to run the government until a Czar could be chosen.
Vladislav was finally selected, but Feodor Romanoff sought to prevent
his being crowned. There was a period of anarchy, cities were burned,
and chaos was complete.
The dignitaries of the church and state finally set to work and
supported the candidacy of Mikhial Feodorovitch Romanoff, who was the
first Romanoff Czar. He reorganized the empire, and reigned for
thirty-three years. His successor, Alexis, the direct heir, reigned for
thirty-one years, and cultivated friendly relations with Ukraine and the
Cossack country. He was followed by Feodor II, and then came Peter the
Great. There were two claimants to the throne, Ivan and Peter, both sons
of Alexis by separate wives, and the difficulty was settled by letting
the two reign jointly under the regency of Sophia, a sister of Ivan.
When Ivan died Peter assumed the reins, and it was he who gave Russia a
frontage on the Black Sea, and on the Baltic, and built St. Petersburg.
He did much for the development of Russia, creating a navy and a
merchantile marine.
Catherine the First, his widow, followed him in reign, and at her death,
Peter II occupied the center of the stage. At his death there was chaos
again and counter claims. Anna of Courtland, a daughter of Ivan, brother
of Peter the Great, was finally elected sovereign, but she was a mere
puppet, vesting her authority in a High Council.
FAMILY'S WRETCHED CAREER.
During her reign her lover, named Biren, held sway and distinguished
himself by sending thousands of political exiles to Siberia. At the
death of Anna, Ivan IV, her grandnephew, reigned, but was deposed and
sent to prison for life, while Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Peter the
Great, succeeded him. She permitted the government to be run on
comparatively honest lines by favorites, and while they ruled she drank
herself to death.
Her nephew, Peter III, succeeded her. He was incompetent and a tool in
the Prussian hands. His wife was a German princess, and led a movement
which ended in his being deposed, imprisoned and murdered.
Catherine, widow of the murdered Peter, succeeded. She was known as
Catherine the Great, and is credited with having been the most infamous
of women in all history. Catherine was succeeded by Paul, who was
assassinated by his own courtiers when he was on the point of joining
Napoleon Bonaparte in his conquest of India.
His son was Alexander I, who added Finland and Poland to Russia, and
founded the Holy Alliance. He was followed by his son Nicholas, who
ruled for 30 years, and crushed the Poles and Hungarians, but died of a
broken heart in the Crimean War.
Next came Alexander II, who gained fame as liberator of the serfs, and
died the victim of a Nihilist bomb thrower. Alexander III succeeded him,
and then came Nicholas II, the last Czar, whose reign lasted 22 years.
The beginning of the end was marked by the request of the workingmen in
1905 for an increase in civil rights. They were fired upon, and there
was general disorder, until the Czar proclaimed a constitution, and
established a Duma, or national parliament, which met for the first time
in 1906.
BETRAYAL OF RUSSIA'S MILITARY PLANS.
The outbreak of the war was marked by the personal decree of the Czar to
change the name of the capital, St. Petersburg, to Petrograd, but his
evident intent to eliminate evidences of German influence did not stop
the betrayal of Russia's military plans by German spys within the court
circles, and it was charged that supplies were withheld from the Russian
army by those within the charmed circle, who were friendly to Germany.
Russia was a party to the Franco-Russian and Anglo-Russian agreement,
which constituted the basis of the Triple Entente, but conditions were
such that the soldiers refused to fight, and the situation culminated in
the uprising which ended with the abdication of the Czar, in behalf of
his brother, who, however, declined to accept the throne, unless he
should be elected by the votes of the Russian people. The Duma thereupon
decided to organize a republican form of government, and so the Russian
Republic came into being in March, 1917.
Spain, a fertile country in the southwestern part of Europe, has played
a prominent part in the development of the world. She has a coastline
extending nearly 1500 miles, and there are about 200,000 square miles
included in her territory. The coastlands and the southern section of
the country are especially rich in fruits and agriculture. Although
watered by many rivers, the land, for the most part, is artificially
irrigated.
Up until 1898 Spain held possession of magnificent colonies in Cuba and
Porto Rico and the Philippines, but now her colonial possessions are
confined to a strip on the west coast of the Sahara, and the island of
Fernando Po, with some smaller possessions on the Guinea coast in
Africa. Their total area is about 434,000 square miles, the total
population being 10,000,000.
SPAIN, PAST AND PRESENT.
Spain formerly composed the ancient provinces of New and Old Castile,
Leon, Asturias, Galicia, Estremadura, Andalusia, Aragon, Murcia,
Valencia, Catalonia, Navarre and the Basque Provinces. These, since
1834, have been divided into 49 provinces. The capital of Spain is
Madrid, and the present constitution dates from 1876. There is a
Congress, which is composed of deputies, each one representing 50,000 of
the population.
The Roman Catholic faith is the established form of religion, and the
priesthood possesses considerable wealth and power, although the
dominant influence once possessed has been curtailed of recent years.
The peace strength of the army is about 83,000, and what navy she has is
practically new, as the Spanish navy was annihilated in the war with the
United States in 1898.
During recent years the republican tendencies among the people have
found vent in socialism. The Spanish socialist leaders belong mostly to
the intellectuals, and here again is the weakness of the movement,
whether considered as a means of giving Spain a republic or of
liberating her political system under monarchical form. Some of the
intellectual leaders among the socialists headed straight for
philosophic anarchy, while others expended their energies in building
castles in the clouds.
The substantial socialism of the recent period was, however, based on
the workingmen's movement. Before the outbreak of the great war the
tendency was to affiliate with the groups in other countries of Europe
which advocated socialism as an international creed. But when the German
socialists placed their country above internationalism, and the French
socialists did the same, and the Italian socialists joined in the
agitation to force the government into war to get back territory lost to
Austria, the international basis of Spanish socialism disappeared.