surrendered, and the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia entered
the city. A provisional government, with Talleyrand at its head,
deposed Napoleon on April 2, and on April 6 he abdicated. May 30, the
First Peace of Paris was concluded between France and the allies.
France was to have her boundaries as they were in 1792, and also her
foreign possessions, except Tobago, St. Lucia, and Mauritius, which,
with Malta, were ceded to England. The Bourbons, in the person of Louis
XVIII., were restored; but the French people were not content, so that
when Napoleon appeared at Cannes on March 1, 1815, he was greeted with
joy, even by the troops sent out to oppose him. This astonishing news
was communicated to the Congress of the Allies assembled at Vienna. The
allied armies at once gathered on the borders of France, Wellington
landed in Flanders, and Blucher’s Prussians joined him. Wellington,
finding Napoleon in front of him, fell back to Waterloo, lest the
approach of the Prussians should be cut off. Napoleon hurled his force
on Blucher at Fluores, and victoriously drove him from the field on the
15th. Ney, who had been sent to confront Wellington, fought at Quatre
Bras, and the following day joined Napoleon. On the 18th of June, 1815,
Napoleon made his supreme and final effort to recuperate his lost
fortunes and to reestablish his empire.
The story of the battle of Waterloo, than which none ever fought was
more decisive in its consequences, has been told and retold. The battle
was at first undecided, victory seeming to incline to Napoleon, though
the English and Germans with unflinching heroism still held the field
until the afternoon, when Blucher, with his Prussians, at last arrived.
Napoleon perceived that the supreme moment was at hand, and that his
only hope was to crush Wellington before Blucher’s advancing columns
could be thrown into line of battle. He sent forward his magnificent
Imperial Guard. They charged with chivalric splendor, fought with
heroic desperation, were repulsed,—and the star of Napoleon set to
rise no more.
Finding his cause irretrievably lost, leaving the remnant of his
army in command of Marshal Soult, Napoleon fled and, failing to find
a passage to America, surrendered. This battle, magnificent in its
results, ensured to England a long peace, and raised her to the first
rank, for military prowess, among the nations of the world.
Napoleon’s skill at Waterloo was up to the highest standard of his most
glorious work; but he was overwhelmed by preponderance in numbers. His
entire force with which he conducted this campaign was barely 104,000,
while the combined armies of Wellington and Blucher numbered 220,000.
[Illustration: NAPOLEON’S RETREAT FROM WATERLOO.]
The Congress of Vienna restored the _ancien régime_, replacing
dethroned monarchs upon their hereditary domains, but the parceling
out of the smaller territories showed the Powers to be quite as
arbitrary as Napoleon himself. The semi-decade of passive submission
to the “policies of princes” was broken in 1820 by general revolts in
Europe. Spanish-American colonies, indignant at French interference in
Spanish matters, began their struggles for independence.
GREEK WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE.—Since the capture of Constantinople by the
Turks, in 1453, Greece had been subject to Turkey. Out of the defeats
of several rebellions against the greed, tyranny, and brutality of the
Moslem,—particularly from the revolutions of 1770 and 1790,—grew the
secret society of the Hetæria, cementing the union of the Greeks for
the struggle beginning in 1821. It is claimed that ten thousand Greeks
were slaughtered within a few days, and thirty thousand in less than
three months.
Mahmoud, having failed in 1825 to crush the rebellion, called Mehemet
Ali, the Pasha of Egypt, to his aid. Mehemet sent Ibrahim, his son,
with his army and navy, trained in the tactics of European warfare,
into the Peloponnesus. Victory and devastation marked his course. Never
was grander courage nor loftier bravery displayed than by the Greeks.
The siege of Missolonghi lasted from April 27, 1825, until April 22,
1826. Athens was captured, June 2, 1827. The fleets of England, France,
and Russia were cruising on the coasts to prevent attacks by the Turks
on the islands. Approaching the bay of Navarino, they were attacked
by the Turks and Egyptians, whose combined fleets were thereupon
annihilated on October 20, 1827. The Sultan was forced by the powers to
consent to the establishment of the kingdom of Greece, and his delay
to do so was punished by Czar Nicholas, who declared war, crossed the
Balkans, and at Adrianople in 1829 compelled the Sultan to recognize
her independence, grant Christian governors to Servia, Moldavia, and
Wallachia, and to yield Bessarabia to Russia.
MINOR EUROPEAN WARS.—The French Revolution of 1830, placing Louis
Philippe on the throne of France, brought about Belgium’s independence.
The Polish insurrection of 1831–32 lost Poland her last vestige of
liberty, enchaining her irretrievably under the tyranny of Russia.
From 1840 to 1852 England was engaged in quelling periodic wars in her
Indian possessions. In 1841, her army, numbering seventeen thousand
men, perished in their retreat from Afghanistan. So with France in
Algiers and Morocco. And revolts in Spain were more or less successful.
In 1842, England’s war with China, caused by seizure of opium, resulted
in the cession by China of Hong Kong, the freedom of five other ports,
and $21,000,000 indemnity.
In 1848, the revolutionary spirit broke out fiercely, and the people
made strong leaps for liberty and constitutional government. In
France, it overthrew Louis Philippe, establishing a republic, with
Louis Napoleon President. In all Europe its echo resounded. Riots in
Vienna forced Metternich to flee to England; Ferdinand, to take refuge
in the Tyrol and to abdicate in favor of his son, Francis Joseph.
Frederick William was compelled by the conditions in Berlin to promise
a constitution. The Frankfort Assembly, in 1849, offered Frederick
William the title and prerogative of Emperor of Germany, and though,
because of his respect for the Hapsburgs, he declined the honor, he
still took advantage of the sentiment that prompted the offer to so
strengthen the dynasty that later it might be held.
Hungary rose against Austria in 1848, and almost won independence.
Kossuth proclaimed Hungary a republic, and Nicholas immediately sent
aid to Austria. The Russian army, 130,000 strong, joined the Austrians.
The Hungarians retreated to Temesvar, where they were defeated with
great slaughter, and Georgy surrendered, August 9, 1849. The name of
Haynau, the Austrian commander, is held in execration for his awful
cruelty to the conquered.
In the meantime Italy rose. Lombardy drove out the Austrians. Charles
Albert, king of Sardinia, had declared war on Austria and crossed the
Mincio, April 8, 1848. Radetsky, commanding the Austrians, lost Gorto
and yielded Peschiera in May, but in June he forced the Papal troops,
who were assisting Charles Albert, to surrender, and completely routed
the Italians at Custozza, July 25, and entered Milan. Charles Albert
was again defeated by Radetsky at Novari, March 23, 1849, and Venice
was captured August 23. Charles Albert resigned his crown to his son,
Victor Emmanuel, and died shortly after.
Pope Pius IX. was forced to flee from Rome. Mazzini established the
Roman republic in November. Austria, by the close of the summer of
1849, had regained control of her disputed possessions. Louis Napoleon,
taking part against Italy, occupied Rome with his troops, July 2, 1849,
and drove out Mazzini and Garibaldi.
THE CRIMEAN WAR.—In 1853, Louis Napoleon wanted war. He fomented
trouble between the Porte and Nicholas, which ended by a declaration
of war by Russia. The Czar claimed and demanded the protectorate of
Christians in Turkey. Austria, France, and England opposed the demand.
Nicholas had intimated to the British minister at St. Petersburg that
England and Russia should share the partition of Turkey,—showing that
he was ready to carry out the will and aims of Peter the Great and
Catherine. The Russian army was thrown across the Pruth into Moldavia,
and was at first worsted by the Turks. In deference to the wishes of
Austria and Prussia, Nicholas withdrew his army from the Danubian
provinces, and so secured their neutrality. He dislodged the Turkish
fleet at Sinope, November 4, 1853.
England and France allied with Turkey and declared war against Russia,
March 28, 1854. The allied fleets and troops proceeded to the Black
Sea. Sebastopol was the great arsenal of Russia. Twenty-seven thousand
English, thirty thousand French, and seven thousand Turks were landed
in the Bay of Eupatoria, thirty miles above Sebastopol, September 14,
1854, towards which, five days later, the southerly march began. The
allies waded the river Alma under terrific fire from the large Russian
army, and won a brilliant victory. The attack was remarkable in that it
won victory over superior numbers in seemingly impregnable positions,
and in spite of official blunders. Mentschikoff, the Russian general,
withdrew the crews from the ships in the harbor and put them, eighteen
thousand strong, in command of the batteries. With his own army he
marched out of Sebastopol, leaving twenty-five thousand defenders
to the city. Admiral Korniloff and his able assistant, Colonel Von
Todleben, undertook to strengthen the defenses and to inspire the
troops. On October 17, the siege guns of the allies were in position.
The English stormed the suburbs of the city, the Malakoff and the
Redan; the French stormed the city. Both were unsuccessful. Russian
troops poured into Sebastopol, and invited battle outside of the
fortifications. At the harbor of Balaklava, Turkish troops recoiled
from the Russian advance, and Sir Colin Campbell, with the Highland
Brigade, saved the shipping and stores by timely check to the Russians.
The battle of Balaklava, October 25, gave the town to the British after
stubborn fighting, more than two thirds of the Light Brigade having
been sacrificed to Lord Lucan’s misconstruction of orders.
At Inkerman, on November 5, sixty thousand Russians, in fog and rain,
surprised the British Household Guards, and for six hours vainly strove
to crush them. General Bosquet, with the genius of the soldier, guessed
the point of severest attack, and sent reinforcements to the Guards.
The Russians were finally driven back. Little good resulted from these
two stubborn battles. Winter put an end to active operations. Rain,
hurricanes, insufficient shelter, lack of supplies, and extreme cold
produced fearful misery among the soldiers. Russia suffered as severely
as did the allies, besides having had her fleet on the Black Sea
destroyed and her army beaten.
In April, 1855, the bombardment began again. In May the allies
captured Kertch and Yenikale, thus cutting off Russian supplies
from the Caucasian provinces. In June, Marshal Pelissier succeeded
Canrobert and successfully stormed Manelon; and, after the abortive
attacks, June 18, of the French on the Malakoff and the English on the
Redan, General Simpson succeeded Lord Raglan. August 16, the Russians
crossed Tchernaya, but were repulsed by the French. On September 8
the French carried the Malakoff; the British failed to carry the
Redan. The Russians set fire to the city and ships and retired to
the northern part of the harbor, where they held strongly intrenched
positions opposite the allied armies and beyond the reach of the allied
fleets. Russia was driven from the Black Sea, had lost her prestige
in the Baltic Sea, Bomarsund, on the Aland islands, and the arsenal
of Sweaborg, in the Gulf of Finland. She had saved Cronstadt, and,
at terrible sacrifice, had captured Kars from the English General
Williams with his army of Turks. Her vast territory was comparatively
intact. The nations were not satisfied. The Peace of Paris increased
the prestige of Louis Napoleon; it postponed the Eastern Question by
putting the Christian subjects under the nominal protection of the
Powers, but virtually under that of the Sultan. The treaty of peace was
signed March 30, 1856.
WARS IN THE EAST.—In 1857, the Indian Mutiny was caused by the
introduction of Enfield rifles. Delhi was taken after desperate
fighting, September 20. Cawnpore and Lucknow were the theatre of
horrible scenes. The rebellion was finally crushed in 1859.
In the meantime war with Persia was begun and ended by the recapture
of Herat, in Afghanistan. In December, 1857, England and France made
war on China and captured Canton. They secured many concessions by the
Treaty of Tien Tsin, and $2,000,000 indemnity.
WAR BETWEEN AUSTRIA, FRANCE, AND SARDINIA.—In 1859, Louis Napoleon
made a secret alliance with Italy. General disarmament was proposed.
Sardinia agreed to it; Austria stood aloof. On April 25, 1859, Austria
ordered the disarmament of Piedmont. On the 27th, King Victor
Emmanuel proclaimed war. On the 30th, French troops were in Turin. On
May 13, Louis Napoleon himself disembarked at Genoa, where he was met
by Victor Emmanuel. The Austrian forces crossed the Ticino, _en route_
for Milan, but hesitated, because of the French advance. The opening
battles at Montebello and Balestro, May 20, 30, and 31, were favorable
to the allies.
[Illustration: CAPTURE OF THE MALAKOFF.]
At Magenta, June 4, the Austrians met with terrible defeat. The forces
of the allies numbered 55,000, and their loss was 4000; the Austrian
army of 75,000 lost 10,000 killed and wounded and 7000 prisoners.
The conquerors entered Milan on June 8. Francis Joseph fell back to
the line of the Mincio, and at Solferino the decisive battle of the
campaign was fought on June 24. Napoleon commanded the allied armies,
which numbered about 150,000; they fought for sixteen hours against the
Austrian force of 170,000, gaining a fearful victory. This battle cost
Austria 20,000 men; the French lost in killed and wounded 12,000 and
the Sardinians 5000 men.
The allies crossed the Mincio and laid siege to Peschiera, but
while all Europe expected another fight, an armistice of five weeks
was agreed to, and Napoleon, unknown to his ally, met Francis at
Villafranca and made a peace, upon which was based the Treaty of
Zurich, signed November 10. Austria gave Lombardy to Napoleon for the
king of Sardinia, as also the fortresses of Mantua and Peschiera. Italy
was to become a confederation, with the Pope as president, of which
Austria was to be a member, because of her holdings in Venetia. Tuscany
and Modena were to be restored to their princes. Garibaldi’s brilliant
conquest of Sicily and Naples, in 1860, and Sardinia’s growing power,
startled Europe, but the nations dared not interfere. The general
parliament of Italy met in 1861, at Turin, and made Victor Emmanuel
king of Italy. Rome, under the Pope, and Venetia, under Austria, were
as yet dismembered from “Young Italy.”
WAR WITH DENMARK.—Christian IX. succeeded to the throne of Denmark
November 15, 1863. He endeavored to incorporate Schleswig with Denmark;
the German population repudiated him and appealed to the Confederacy.
The Diet sent troops into Holstein. Bismarck induced Austria to join
Prussia in setting aside the London treaty of 1853, and the allied
troops forced the Danes back to the intrenchments of Duppel. The
capture of Duppel by the Prussians, April 18, proved the efficiency of
needle guns and rifled cannon. June 22, the allies crossed the channel
to the Island of Alsen and, on the 28th, captured the Danish stronghold
Dennewerke, hitherto considered impregnable. The Treaty of Vienna,
October 30, 1864, closed the war. Prussia and Austria together were to
control the duchies.
THE SEVEN WEEKS’ WAR.—The arrangement between Prussia and Austria
respecting the Danish duchies caused the “Seven Weeks’ War” of 1866.
Bismarck induced Victor Emmanuel to form an alliance against Austria,
March 27. The Prussians, on June 7, without a blow forced the Austrians
to retire from Holstein, ignoring the protest of the Federal Diet.
Austria was not prepared for war. Her army, together with that of
Saxony, amounted to two hundred and seventy-one thousand. With Prussia,
fully equipped and on a war footing with three armies, besides the
reserves, the grand total estimated at three hundred thousand, the
result was a foregone conclusion. Prussia declared war, June 15, 1866,
against Hanover, Hesse, and Saxony, and next day threw her armies
into the hostile states. On the 17th Francis Joseph published his
war manifesto. Italy declared war, on the 20th, against Austria and
Bavaria. In fourteen days Prussia’s immense army was mobilized. In five
days the northern states to the Main were disarmed, and the Saxon army
was forced to retreat toward Bohemia.
[Illustration: BATTLE OF MAGENTA.]
General Benedek was commander of the Austrians. Upon news of Prussian
victories, he advised Francis Joseph to make terms of peace with
William. Prussia fought for German unification; Austria to protect
her pride. It was supposed the Austrians would first enter Saxony and
dispute the Prussian advance, but Bismarck had determined the war
should be brief, for Prussia was now master of the situation. On June
23, the Prussian army marched from three points towards Josephstadt,
where Benedek was preparing to fight. On the 27th the Austrians were
driven back at Soor, next day at Skalitz, and on the 29th at Gitschen.
Archduke Leopold, on the 28th, and Count Clam Gallas, at Gitschen,
both attacked the enemy in disobedience of orders, and thus forced
Benedek to fall back from his strongest position towards Königgratz.
The Austrians were also defeated, on the 28th, at Königinhof and
Schweinschadel, and their loss by this time numbered over thirty-five
thousand. Benedek asked permission to retreat into Moravia and await
reinforcements, but news of the Austrian victory over the Italians
at Custozza reached Vienna, and immediately battle was enjoined upon
Benedek. Benedek placed five hundred guns in position, spanning a
league between the Elbe and Bistritz.
On July 2, the king of Prussia assumed command of the Prussian hosts
and ordered attack for the next day. The Crown Prince, several miles
away with his army, received orders at four o’clock in the morning
of the 3d to advance his Silesian army from Königinhof. At eight
o’clock, Prince Frederick Charles, with a hundred thousand, attacked
the Austrian centre lying against Sadowa. General Herwarth, with four
hundred thousand men, attacked the Austrian right. The whole Austrian
army was hurled against these two commands for five hours. Prince
Frederick Charles forced passage through the Bistritz and took Sadowa,
but could not take the heights. At one o’clock retreat was being
considered, but the Crown Prince coming up with his troops the heights
were taken at four o’clock. The fighting on both sides in this battle
was determined and heroic. The Prussian loss was over ten thousand,
and the Austrians lost twenty-seven thousand killed and wounded,
nineteen thousand prisoners, with 174 cannon and 11 colors. At Lissa,
on July 20, the Austrian navy destroyed the Italian fleet. July 22, an
armistice of four weeks was granted. The Peace of Prague was concluded
August 23. Her defeat cost Austria Venetia and the quadrilateral,
namely, the fortresses of Peschiera, Mantua, Verona, and Legnano,
deprived her of any part in Germany or German affairs, and Holstein and
Schleswig, and obliged her to pay 40,000,000 thalers, one half of which
she was to retain in lieu of the duchies.
Austria emerged from the “Seven Weeks’ War” with her ideas somewhat
liberalized, and though her territory was diminished her progress and
prosperity increased. The dual-Austro-Hungarian empire was formed
by Francis Joseph, he ruling at Vienna as Emperor of Austria and
at Buda Pesth as king of Hungary. This war also ended the Germanic
confederation of 1815, and the North German Confederation under Prussia
arose.
At the peace of Vienna, October 3, Austria recognized the kingdom
of Italy, and with the acquisition of Venetia and the quadrilateral
fortresses the “Seven Weeks’ War” had greatly helped on the cause of
“United Italy.”
In April, 1864, Louis Napoleon sent an army of twenty-five thousand
to sustain the Austrian Archduke Maximilian on the throne of Mexico.
At that time the United States was occupied with the Civil War. This
ended, Napoleon was summarily required to withdraw his forces from the
American continent, which he did. Maximilian was thus left to his fate,
and, after being condemned by court martial, was shot at Querétaro,
June 19, 1867.
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR.—Prince Leopold, of Hohenzollern, was offered
the throne of Spain after Isabella had fled from Madrid. Leopold
declined, but Napoleon demanded that the Emperor William should
guarantee never to permit Leopold to accept. William refused to accede
to the demand, and Napoleon, urged by the war party, declared war
July 19, 1870. On the same day the Confederation placed its forces
in the hands of William, as did the South Germans. This spontaneous
uprising of all Germany was unlooked for. Napoleon’s army numbered
three hundred and ten thousand men. In ten days William had nearly
half a million soldiers ready to march against the enemy. August 2,
the first fight took place at Saarbrücken, a little town over the
German frontier. Napoleon and the young Prince Imperial were present,
and the force of Uhlans was driven back. August 4, the Crown Prince of
Prussia drove the right wing of MacMahon’s army back at Weissenburg,
and on the 6th, again was MacMahon defeated at Wörth. The Germans,
having separated MacMahon’s army, advanced into Alsace. In the meantime
General Steinmetz carried Spicheren by storm, and the whole German army
went forward. Together with the Crown Prince, Steinmetz, on the 14th
of August, defeated Marshal Bazaine, at Courcelles, who retreated to
Metz, and then endeavored to push on with his hundred thousand men to
Chalons. Von Moltke hurried on the Crown Prince to intercept Bazaine,
and at Mars la Tour was fought the fiercest battle, so far, of the war.
On either side the losses amounted to seventeen thousand. Gravelotte
was fought, on August 18, between the armies of Steinmetz and the
Crown Prince, King William commanding in person. The battle lasted all
day between two hundred thousand Germans and one hundred and eighty
thousand French. The Germans lost twenty thousand men, and succeeded
in forcing Bazaine into Metz. Although, in one sort, an undecisive
battle, Gravelotte perhaps settled the fate of the Empire. MacMahon’s
plan was, with his one hundred and twenty-five thousand men reorganized
at Chalons, to prevent the German advance on Paris. He was overruled
and sent to the relief of Bazaine. Defeated in several small fights,
MacMahon was obliged to fall back on Sedan. The heights and ridges
above Sedan once occupied by hostile troops, surrender or annihilation
was the outcome. MacMahon was wounded, then Ducrot, and the command
fell to Wimpffen. Sedan was forced to surrender, September 1, and
Napoleon himself gave his sword to King William. Paris was maddened.
The Empress escaped to England. Napoleon was taken to the castle of
Wilhelmshöhe.
A month had hardly passed since the outbreak of the war, and one of the
two great French armies with the Emperor had been captured; the other
was besieged in Metz. Gambetta and other prominent men in Paris set
up the government of the national defense. A republic was proclaimed.
The defense of Paris was zealously undertaken. Large supplies of
provisions were gathered. Fortifications were strengthened. The siege
began September 19, 1870, and ended January 28, 1871. The direst famine
attended it. Gambetta left Paris in a balloon, and at Tours succeeded
in forming the army of the Loire and the army of the North. Both were
defeated. Strasbourg was captured, and Metz surrendered with a hundred
and seventy-three thousand men, among them three marshals of France.
The entire German loss in this war was 129,700 men.
January 17, 1871, Thiers was elected President of the Third Republic.
Knowing the impossibility of further resistance, with half a million
German soldiers, flushed and inspired by constant success, on the
soil of France, and Paris in their anaconda coils, he counseled that
peace be asked. Thiers, Favre, and Picard negotiated with William and
Bismarck. An armistice of twenty days was permitted, that the National
Convention then at Bordeaux might ratify terms. In the meantime the
house of Hohenzollern reached the summit of its gratified ambition,
when, on March 18, William was crowned at Versailles, Emperor of
Germany. The cession of Alsace and Lorraine, and $1,000,000,000
indemnity, was the price of peace.