Chapter III…

Chapter III

RUSSIA, TURKEY, AND THE MINOR STATES OF SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE.

I. RUSSIA.

Whatever may be the verdict of history as to the Power responsible for plunging Europe into war, it would not have taken place if Russia had not supported Serbia, for Serbia would have accepted the whole of Austria-Hungary's demands if she had not been assured of Russian active intervention in her behalf. Russia, with the magnanimity of a great people, was not prepared to stand idly by and witness the wanton attack of Austria upon a weaker state, which had already offered ample reparation for any offence for which she could be held responsible. The attack made on Serbia by Austria-Hungary was, however, regarded by the party under the Grand Duke Nicholas as an imperative call to action, even though the Army was not quite ready; but the Government made every effort to arrive at a pacific solution, and it was not until the equivocal attitude of Germany made the situation menacing that the Tsar, wavering between his love of peace and internal reform on the one hand, and the just outcry of the Nationalists and the "Orthodox" Church on the other, was at length persuaded to take the side which was sure to be the most popular, at least so long as success should crown the Russian arms. It was not, strictly speaking, a war "between Slav and Teuton," for many of the Slavs outside the Russian Empire declared themselves against Russia, and fought on the side of her enemies. The enemies of "the Teuton" among the Slavs, apart from Serbia and Montenegro, were only the Russians; the Poles, the Czechs, the Croats, and even the Slovaks and Slovenes, were on the side of Austria-Hungary. There were some mutinies of Czech and Croat regiments, which were due to the racial hostility of the Czechs to the Germans and the Croats to the Hungarians (A.R., 1912, p. 337; 1913, p. 328). The "Orthodox" clergy in Russia regarded the war as a sort of crusade against Catholicism; but their agitation met with little success among the Austrian Slavs except in some districts of Galicia and Hungary inhabited by Ruthenians of the United Greek Church (p. 327), many of whom were shot during the war for having given the Russians information of the movements of the Austro-Hungarian Army. The Ruthenians of the "Orthodox" Church, on the other hand, who inhabit the province of the Ukraine in Russia, had started a separatist movement at Kieff in March in favour of union with Austria.

The most important event of the earlier part of the year was the retirement on February 11 from the post of Premier and Minister of Finance of M. Kokovtsoff, under whose administration Russia had attained to unprecedented welfare and a greater political stability than it had enjoyed for many years. His retirement was believed to have been brought about by the intrigues and disloyalty of his colleagues--a frequent cause of the fall of Ministers and other high functionaries in the Empire, and also by his having insisted, in opposition to the Ministry of Agriculture, M. Krivoshein, on the maintenance of the brandy monopoly as the safest and most productive source of the Imperial revenue. The new Premier was M. Goremykin, a reactionary bureaucrat who held the same post at the time of the first Duma (A.R., 1906, p. 319), and M. Bark, an eminent banker and a personal friend of M. Krivoshein, was appointed Minister of Finance. In a rescript addressed to the new Minister the Tsar directed him to carry out a policy of "radical reforms in the financial administration of the State and the economic life of the country," as "it is inadmissible to permit the favourable financial position of the State to depend on the destruction" (owing to the national vice of drunkenness) "of the moral and economic strength of the great multitude of Russian citizens, and it is therefore urgent that financial policy should be conducted on the principle of obtaining revenue, not from the sale of spirituous liquors, but from the produce of the inexhaustible wealth of the country and of the labour of the people." The Council of the Empire at the same time adopted a series of extremely drastic provisions in favour of temperance contained in a bill passed by the Duma, at the instigation of the peasant deputies, giving powers of local option to all communes, townships, and villages by a simple majority, with the right either of completely prohibiting the sale of liquor or restricting it to specified shops to be opened on certain days or at certain hours; women being allowed to vote on these matters. Count Witte, who with M. Kokovtsoff, had been the founder of the brandy monopoly, now joined the opposition to it, declaring that he had made "a mistake which was leading Russia to her ruin." According to his estimate, the total revenue derived from the monopoly was about 100,000,000_l._ and had been increasing every year since it was established. The first step towards temperance reform was taken on March 26, when an order was issued to suspend the sale of spirits at all railway stations; it was also announced that the penalties on illicit trading in spirits would be increased, that the people would be taught the advantages of temperance in the churches and schools, and that the plea of extenuating circumstances would not be admitted in the case of crimes committed under the influence of drink. The outbreak of the war in August gave the movement a new impetus; the Government shops for the sale of spirits were nearly all closed, and it was announced by the Tsar in October that they would not be opened again. The result of this measure was not only an enormous increase of the efficiency of the troops, but of the wealth of the peasantry, which instead of being dissipated in drink was employed in agricultural improvements and a great increase of their investments in savings banks. A further result of the interest taken by the Tsar in the moral and physical welfare of his people was the creation of a "Department of Physical Culture," for the promotion of outdoor sports, and during the war the sale of spirits was strictly forbidden in all the Galician towns occupied by the Russians; the keeper of a restaurant at Lemberg was fined 2,000 crowns (83_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._) for having sold a customer a glass of cognac. The chief difficulty in the adoption of the proposed reforms was that which had hampered the Tsar's intentions since the issue of the October manifesto of 1905 (A.R., 1905, p. 319), namely the want of harmonious co-operation between the Ministry and the Legislature on the one hand, and the members themselves of the Ministry on the other. The new Premier, M. Goremykin, was appointed by the Tsar without a Ministerial portfolio, apparently with the object of placing him above departmental rivalries, and he was directed by an Imperial Rescript on March 20 "to work in harmony with the Legislature." Cooperation with the Duma was attempted by conferences between the Premier and its leading members, the intention being, if it should prove impossible to secure a majority for the proposed reforms, to hold a general election. The first of these conferences held in the Duma did not relate to internal reforms, however, but to a proposal made by the Government to increase the peace effectives of the Army by 460,000 men, bringing up the total to 1,700,000, at an extra cost of 50,000,000_l._ spread over three years. This was the Russian answer to the increase of the German Army in 1913 (A.R., 1913, p. 307), and to an anti-Russian campaign in the German and Austro-Hungarian Press, and all the Russian party leaders, except the Socialists, sanctioned the proposal. It was further determined, with the consent of the Duma, that the service of time-expired men should be prolonged for three months after the legal limit, which brought up the peace effective at once to almost the number fixed above.

The Russian Foreign Minister, M. Sazonoff, made a remarkable statement on the subject to a representative of the Hungarian Journal Az Est. He said that he could not understand the reason of the excitement in Germany and Austria-Hungary with regard to Russia; tension certainly did exist between the monarchy and Russia in the previous year, but the relations between the two countries were now "excellent." The increase of armaments, he continued, was initiated by Germany, whose initiative had reacted on France, and led to an increase of the peace strength of Austria-Hungary; it was therefore natural that Russia should have taken steps in the same direction. With a birth rate of 2,500,000 she could allow herself "the luxury" of an increase in the peace footing of her Army. A "test mobilisation" of about 500,000 reservists was begun on April 15, and in June the Duma approved of an extraordinary credit of 10,000,000_l._ for the construction of warships for the Black Sea Fleet, to be spent on one 27,000-ton Dreadnought, two 7,500-ton cruisers, eight torpedo boats and six submarines, all to be built at Nikolaieff and commissioned not later than the spring of 1917. The Minister of Finance at the same time stated that Russia would have to spend 752,000,000_l._ in the next five years for the Army and Navy.

On April 2 the Imperial assent was given to a bill providing that married women, separated from their husbands, should enjoy full liberty of movement and enjoyment of property, even if minors, and that the courts shall have no power to order restitution of conjugal rights; cruelty to the children, rudeness, violence, dishonesty, immorality, or dangerous or loathsome illness to be sufficient cause for separation, and the husband to provide alimony, the care of the children being awarded to the injured party.

The report of the Budget Committee of the Duma on the Budget for 1914 was issued on April 6. It fixed the expenditure at 358,032,609_l._, or nearly 33,000,000_l._ more than in 1913, and the revenue at 361,265,916_l._, or 36,200,000_l._ more than in 1913, and proposed that the surplus of 3,233,109_l._ should be devoted to the building of ways of communication, also that as the temperance campaign was likely to diminish the revenue, fresh taxes should be introduced. The Opposition groups took advantage of the debate on the Budget to protest against the intended prosecution of one of their leaders, M. Tcheidze, for propagating Republican ideas. Hereupon, on the proposal of the President, the Duma voted the suspension for a fortnight of fifteen Socialists, including M. Tcheidze, who were removed by the Serjeant-at-Arms and the guard. Notwithstanding the efforts of M. Gozemykin to establish more friendly relations between the Government and the Duma, there was no alleviation of the discontent manifested by all classes in the previous year (A.R., 1913, p. 336). On May 17, after voting a reduction in the Home Office Estimates as a protest against its policy, the Duma, by 186 votes against 95, censured M. Maklakoff, the Home Minister, for his persistent disregard of the representative institutions of the Empire, thereby "undermining the welfare and safety of the State." In June there was a serious crisis on the Stock Exchange at St. Petersburg, ascribed chiefly to the reactionary and repressive policy of the Home Minister, who discouraged foreign capital by the vexatious restrictions imposed upon joint stock companies with regard to the participation of Jews in their management. He was also held responsible for the enormous increase in so-called political strikes (A.R., 1913, p. 336), the work of a clandestine organisation which threatened to paralyse trade and industry. In the May-day strike 130,000 men took part in St. Petersburg alone, and such widespread drunkenness had never before been observed among the working-men. The strikes continued through the months of June and July; on July 23 there was fighting in different parts of the capital until midnight, the strikers having raised barricades against the police, upon which they were charged by the Cossacks, many being killed and wounded. On the following day 110,000 workmen were still out on strike, and the Novoe Vremya, the most influential of the Russian papers, declared that the existing system of police repression had proved a failure, and "unorganised masses had been thrown defenceless under the yoke of revolutionary agitators," adding that both the Government and public opinion were responsible for the abominable excesses which had disgraced Russia. The strikes ceased, however, on July 26 without further recourse to violence, and they were not renewed in view of the greater issues confronting the Empire.

On July 13 Gregory Rasputin, the peasant "fakir" whose influence with the Empress and the ladies of the Russian Court had given rise to much scandal in the society of the capital, was stabbed in his house near Tobolsk by a woman, a follower of his rivals the monk Heliodorus and Bishop Hermogen, who had sought to obtain his banishment. A report presented by the Holy Synod to the Tsar stated that defections from the "Orthodox" faith were growing more and more numerous, and that the Socialists and others, dreaming of a new revolution, were sapping the foundations of the Church. The seceders were mostly Baptists, Stundists, Old Believers, Flagellators, and Atheists.

The cordiality of the reception on June 24 of the officers of the British First Battle Cruiser Squadron at Tsarskoe Selo was somewhat marred by the unfavourable impression produced at St. Petersburg by the acquisition by the British Government of a preponderant interest in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (p. 123), which Russian politicians regarded as tantamount to the establishment of British preponderance in the neutral zone in which the Anglo-Russia Convention of 1907 had stipulated equality of opportunity. In the Duma on May 24 M. Sazonoff, the Foreign Minister, had declared that the foreign policy of Russia "continued to be based on the unshakeable alliance with France and friendship with Great Britain; the establishment of a sound friendship between France and Great Britain, and also between Great Britain and Russia, had brought Great Britain within the sphere of political communion previously existing between Russia and France which had helped to maintain peace." Although there was not a formal alliance between Russia and Great Britain, there was a "political combination imposed by unity of aims," and therefore "friendly co-operation is assured irrespective of the form and the scope of the written word." The Triple Entente was "responsible for the equilibrium of Europe, and ever ready to co-operate with the Triple Alliance in the general interests of peace." Russia "continued to seek the maintenance of the old friendly relations with Germany," but unfortunately the endeavours of the two Governments in this direction "did not always meet with due support from the Press of their countries." As to Austria-Hungary the Minister merely re-echoed the friendly sentiments of Count Berchtold with regard to neighbourly relations, and in the Balkans, he said, Russia's task was pacification. "She would impartially assist all the Balkan States, asking in return only neutral sincerity and confidence." Her relations with Turkey had improved since the Balkan crisis, and she was disposed to assist Turkey in the internal reform of her Asiatic possessions, as "only the peaceful development of Turkey would assure the freedom of the navigation of the Straits"; and the conciliatory spirit of the Turkish Government was shown by its attitude towards Armenian reforms, in which matter "Germany had co-operated with Russia." Finally, M. Sazonoff said that a "comparative lull" had been noticeable of late in Persia, "thanks to the continued friendly co-operation of Russia and Great Britain and the efforts of the Russian legation and the Persian Cossack brigade in quelling disturbances in the Western districts." The majority of the Russian troops at Kazvin had consequently been recalled, but in the northern provinces order was still dependent on the presence of the Russian troops. Russian policy towards Persia, the Minister concluded, remained unchanged and was devoid of aggressive intentions. "Our object is, as hitherto, to contribute to the establishment in this bordering country, so closely joined to us by important economic interests, of that stable order so necessary for the further development of our mutual commercial relations and the progress of Persia herself."

The visit of President Poincaré to Russia (July 20) elicited an enthusiastic welcome on the part of the people, and on July 23 the Tsar, in proposing the toast of the President and France, said that France and Russia had for nearly a quarter of a century been bound by close ties in order the better to pursue the same end, "which consists in safeguarding their interests by collaborating in the equilibrium and the peace of Europe," adding that he was convinced that "the two countries will continue to enjoy the benefit of peace," remarkable words, considering that they were spoken only a few days before Europe was plunged into war.

On July 26 the Tsar left St. Petersburg on a trip to the Finnish Skerries, after having authorised, in consequence of the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia (p. 330), the issue of orders for a mobilisation of fourteen Army Corps on the Austrian frontier, and of the rest of the Russian Army immediately upon mobilisation in Germany.

Russia and Germany had never since the partition of Poland been in antagonism until now. Austria had given the Poles liberty and self-government, and they were naturally ready and willing to fight for her. But Russia had alienated them by her incessant persecution of their language and national institutions, and by her fruitless attempts to crush their national existence and turn them into Russians, while Germany, acting by more subtle means with a similar object, was feared as well as detested. Both, now that Poland was to be the battlefield, appealed to the Poles for their support, making golden promises to them of which the motives were only too evident, and which a tragic experience had taught them were not to be depended upon. By the side of Germany, as Russia's most formidable enemy, they were ready though reluctant to fight. But of the many thousands in the Russian Army who surrendered to the Austrians many were Poles, and thousands more escaped from Russian Poland to join the Polish legions which were formed under Austrian auspices. The feeling of the other Slavs in Austria-Hungary and elsewhere with regard to Russia was equally hostile. The Czech Glas Naroda, commenting on one of the appeals of the Grand Duke Nicholas to the Poles, saying the war "is a war of liberation for the Slavs," and promising "to unite all the parts of Poland now under the rule of Austria-Hungary and Germany, give them self-government, and restore Poland under his sceptre," asked: "From what are the Slavs to be liberated? From the freedom and self-government which they enjoy under Austria-Hungary? They will hardly be tempted to exchange these benefits for the despotic rule of a corrupt bureaucracy. As for the Czechs, they often oppose the Government, but are always warmly attached to the State with whose existence their own is inseparately bound. Austria-Hungary gives equal rights to all the nationalities in the Empire and enables them freely to develop themselves. Russia does not tolerate any other nationality in her dominions, not even a Slavonic one." Shortly after the bombardment by the Turkish fleet of the Russian towns on the Black Sea a deputation of Ruthenians from the Ukraine came to Constantinople and issued an address to the Ottoman nation, saying that Russia had always been the enemy of Turkey, that the treatment of the Mohammedans in Russia was a crime against humanity, and that thirty millions of people in the Ukraine hoped to be rescued from such sufferings by Turkey, the old ally of the Cossacks of the Ukraine. In Bulgaria, too, the Rabotniczewski, an organ of the Labour party, described Russia's claim to pose as the liberator of the smaller European States as a "shameless piece of cynicism," as 180,000,000 people, Russians, Poles, and Finns, were suffering under her despotic rule. While in France, Belgium, Germany, and Austria-Hungary the Socialists joined with the other parties in supporting the Government, in Russia they declared in a letter to M. Vandervelde, the eminent Belgian Socialist and ex-Minister, who had urged them to join in the war against Germany, that they would continue their struggle against Tsardom with more energy than ever, and take every opportunity of reversing it: "The Russian as well as the German Government is the enemy of democracy; even now that it is at war it persecutes the working-men and the non-Russian nationalities, and should it be victorious it would be the propagator of political reaction in all Europe."

At the beginning of the war the Russian troops were removed from the frontier districts to the great fortresses of Ivangorod and Brzesc Litewski, where they were formed into three Armies, one to advance through East Prussia and Silesia towards Berlin, another to break through the Carpathians into Hungary, and the third and strongest to march upon Galicia. The advance into Prussia was to be a powerful diversion with the object of weakening Germany's invasion of France by forcing her to send troops from there to the East to defend her own territory, while the object of the advance to Hungary was to help the Serbians against the Austrian invasion. To strengthen these Armies the whole of Finland, nearly the whole of Russian Poland and large districts in Central and Northern Russia, as far as Siberia, were left without troops. The Grand Duke Nicholas, the nephew of Alexander II. and husband of the Princess Anastasia of Montenegro, was appointed Commander-in-Chief, and General Sukhomlinoff, Minister of War, Chief of the General Staff. As not only the troops, but the gendarmes and the Customs officials, were removed from the frontier districts, and the Custom houses were closed in anticipation of an Austrian advance before the Russian mobilisation was completed, people could pass into Austria without examination at the frontier, and many Poles took the opportunity of thus escaping enlistment into the Russian Army and joining the Polish legions which were being formed at their own expense by the Poles in Galicia for service with the Austrian Army. On marching with his troops into Russian Poland the Grand Duke Nicholas issued the following address to the Poles: "Poles, the hour has struck when the sacred dreams of your fathers and ancestors can be realised. A century and a half ago the living body of Poland was torn to pieces, but its soul did not die. She lived in the hope that the hour of resurrection would come for the Polish nation and its fraternal reconciliation with Great Russia. The Russian troops bring you the solemn news of that reconciliation. May the Poles of Russia unite under the sceptre of the Russian Tsar, under that sceptre Poland will be born again, free in her religion, her language, and her autonomy. Russia only asks that you should respect the rights of the nationalities to which history has allied you" (i.e. the Ruthenians). "With open heart and hands fraternally held out, Great Russia comes to meet you. The sword which struck down the enemy at Grünwald (an allusion to the battle in which the Polish King, Ladislaus Yagiello, defeated the German crusaders and made them his vassals) has not yet rusted. The Russian Armies march from the shores of the Pacific to the North Sea. The dawn of a new life begins for you. May the sign of the Cross, the symbol of the suffering and the resurrection of the nations, glitter in that dawn." A reply to this address, signed by some Poles in Warsaw, expressed their loyalty to the Tsar and their wish for the success of the Russian arms, but among many of the Poles the Grand Duke's promises were regarded as merely a device for keeping them quiet. The address produced more impression among the Russians than among the Poles; at Moscow and Kieff large sums were subscribed for the relief of the Poles who were suffering from the total devastation of their country caused by the war, and there was a revulsion of feeling in favour of the Polish nation.

While the Russians were massing their armies in the "Trilateral" (Ivangorod, Novo Georgievsk and Brzesc Litewski), Austrian troops crossed the frontier and occupied Kielce and other towns in Russian Poland, and were at first well received by the people, but when subsequently their place was taken by German troops, who imposed contributions, took hostages, and bombarded churches and villages, the feeling for their new rulers naturally changed. There were 1,300,000 Polish soldiers in the Russian, German and Austrian Armies, military service in all three States being obligatory, and their country, seven times as large as Belgium, was even more devastated by the constant marchings to and fro of millions of troops, which destroyed everything that could be of advantage to their enemies; and often, notably the Cossacks, the Honveds and some of the Germans--as in Belgium--burnt villages and plundered country houses.

Directly after the declaration of war, on August 2, a strong Russian column, with guns, crossed the Prussian frontier near Biala, and marched to Johannisburg. The Germans, on the other hand, occupied Bendzin, Kalisch, and Czenstochowa in the Kingdom of Poland. On August 1 the Russians occupied Stallupönen, east of Insterburg, and Lyck, after five days' skirmishing with the Germans at Eydtkuhnen and Wirballen. These, however, were merely reconnaissances in force; the general advance of the Russian Armies did not begin until August 18, when they sent two Armies into East Prussia and invaded Galicia from the north and east, converging upon Lemberg. On crossing the frontier the Grand Duke Nicholas published an appeal to the Ruthenians in Galicia, addressing them as brothers "who had languished for centuries under a foreign yoke" and calling upon them "to raise the banner of united Russia."

The first great battle of the war between the Russians and Germans took place on August 20 between Pilkallen and Stallupönen, on the road to Tilsit; it lasted fourteen hours, and the four German Army corps which took part in it were driven by the Russians towards Gumbinnen with a loss of 3,000 men and thirty guns, and followed to Insterburg, which the Russians captured on August 23 without resistance. Then came a Russian attack on Kielce and Tomaszow, in the Kingdom of Poland, which had been occupied by the Austrians; the Russians were driven back with great loss, and the Austrians then occupied Sandomierz. Meanwhile the Germans brought up three Army corps of 160,000 men near Gumbinnen, and endeavoured to turn the Russian left, but without success, and the Russians then occupied Soldau, which commands the railway to Dantzig, and took possession of nearly one-half of the territory of East Prussia. Their attempts to enter Galicia were less fortunate. They were beaten at Sokal on the road to Lemberg with the loss of a whole brigade and two generals, one of whom was killed and the other taken prisoner. At Pavosielica, on the frontier of Bukovina and Bessarabia, 20,000 of the Russian cavalry were driven back by the Austrians; on August 24 an Austrian Army under General Dankl, engaged the Russians in a three days' battle on a line of fifty miles at Krasnik, on the road to Lublin, and on September 2 another Austrian Army, under General Auffenberg, attacked 280,000 Russians in eight days' fighting on a front of 200 miles at Zamosc and Komarow. A fresh Russian Army, however, under General Russky, coming up from the south-east between the two Austrian Armies, which had lost 20,000 killed and wounded, with 76,000 prisoners and 300 guns in the previous battles, inflicting on the Russians a loss of 19,000 prisoners and 200 guns, forced them to retire, and occupied on September 3 Lemberg (which they renamed by the Polish name Lwow), the capital of Galicia, which remained in the hands of Russia till the end of the year, with a Russian administration, Russian clergy (the Ruthenian Archbishop having been banished to Russia) and obligatory teaching of Russian, instead of Ruthenian, in the schools. Meanwhile the Russians, who had completed the mobilisation of 8,000,000 men, divided into four Armies, to be sent into the field one after the other, marched two of them into East Prussia, and were so confident of victory that they expected to reach Berlin within three weeks. One, under General Rennenkampf, occupied Tilsit and marched on Königsberg; the other, under General Samsonoff, started for Thorn and Posen, but on reaching Tannenberg, near Ortelsburg, it was confronted on August 28 by the Germans under General Hindenburg, who, using a similar manoeuvre to that of Hannibal at Cannæ, drew on the Russians with apparently inferior forces into the swampy region of the Mazurian lakes, and then, attacking them on both flanks and in the rear, compelled them to surrender with a loss of 50,000 killed and wounded, including three of their best generals and several staff officers, 90,000 prisoners and 516 guns. The second Army under General Rennenkampf, which had come too late to prevent the disaster, was also routed by General Hindenburg on September 10, and for the time being the Russian offensive in East Prussia was abandoned. The remnants of the Russian Army were again defeated on September 15 at Elk, and were pursued by the Germans into Russian territory as far as Augustowo, near the fortress of Ossowiec, which they invested on September 30.

Although the capture of Lemberg was a great blow to Austrian prestige, the Austrian armies, together with some German corps which had been brought up to their assistance after the Russian defeat at Tannenberg, pursued their attacks upon the Russians at Rawa Russka, after a battle which lasted from September 7 to September 11, with terrible loss on both sides. The Russians had still 2,000,000 men in the field on the Austrian and Prussian frontiers, and their attempt to break through the Germans in the direction of Königsberg and Thorn having failed, they now made the fortresses of Przemysl and Cracow their objective, as if these were taken the road would be clear to Berlin and to Vienna. After seventeen days' fighting they advanced towards Przemysl, and attacked the Austrian Army while it was crossing the river San, capturing the whole of its rearguard, amounting to 30,000 men. The Austrians fought well, but the Russians, as regards fighting efficiency were more than equal to their opponents. Nearly the whole of Eastern Galicia and Czernowitz, the capital of Bukovina, were now in their hands; on September 18 they occupied Sandomierz, on the 22nd Jaroslaw, on the railway between Lemberg and Cracow, and on the 28th they began the siege of Przemysl, while other Russian forces advanced to the passes of Uszok and Dukla, in the Carpathians, for a raid into Hungary, which, however, was beaten back by the Hungarians and the Polish legionaries on September 30. When the Russians arrived at Medyka, near Przemysl, they were also attacked by the Austrians, who inflicted on them a loss of 5,000 killed, 40,000 wounded, and 10,000 prisoners. This, combined with their losses in attempting to take Przemysl by storm, when whole regiments perished under the deadly fire of the Austrian artillery, and the menace of the Germans in Northern Poland, led to a retreat of the Russians from Western and South-Eastern Galicia, though not from Lemberg and the adjoining territory. The Austro-German Allies were at the beginning of October again strongly posted along the Vistula and the San, and in possession of the whole of Western Galicia, the Bukovina, and the passes of the Carpathians, besides one-half of the Kingdom of Poland. The Russian attempt to invade Prussia and to destroy the Austro-Hungarian Army had, therefore, so far failed. But new Russian forces were brought up from Warsaw and the adjoining fortresses which caused the Germans to retreat towards the frontier, while the Austro-Hungarians took the offensive in Galicia on the line from Sambor to Stanislawow. The main Armies of Austria-Hungary and Germany and Russia were now in close touch over a front of 270 miles, and on October 14 the whole of Poland west of the Vistula, including the important town of Lodz, "the Polish Manchester," which was captured after severe fighting on October 8, was in the possession of the Austrians and Germans, who, with the Polish legions, penetrated to within half-a-day's march of Warsaw, and caused much indignation among the people by their aviators throwing bombs on the town and killing or wounding many civilians, but they were attacked both on the front and on the flanks by four Russian Armies of 200,000 men each, who after seven days' fighting forced them to retire on October 20. The Polish legions, furious at the order to retreat being given when they were within sight of Warsaw, made a rush forward and had to be surrounded by the Germans to prevent their being annihilated. The German line was then pushed back to Skierniewice, fifty miles west of Warsaw, and on October 27 the Russians reoccupied Lodz, but the battle continued to rage on both fronts with unprecedented tenacity, the Russians fighting with intense energy and spirit. On November 3 they took Kielce, having captured Radom on the previous day, and on November 4 they entered Sandomierz, on the Vistula. On November 8 they resumed the invasion of East Prussia, advancing to Stallupönen, Soldau, and Pleschen, in the German province of Posen. In Galicia, however, the Austrians still held to the left bank of the San, notwithstanding the vigorous attacks of the Russians, who inflicted upon them a loss of 100,000 men besides those who suffered on the other lines of retreat. Meanwhile the Germans, who had brought up fresh troops from the West, resumed the offensive in Russian Poland on November 18, and broke through the Russian lines at Kutno, between the Vistula and the Wartha, compelling the Russians to retire several miles in the direction of Lowicz. In this battle the Russians were stated to have lost 45,000 men, including the Governor of Warsaw, who drove inadvertently into the German lines. After their victory at Kutno the Germans again advanced towards Warsaw, driving the Russians before them, and on the 22nd they were within forty miles of the Polish capital. In East Prussia, too, they drove the Russians from their fortified positions and captured 23,000 prisoners at Wloclawek, on the road to Thorn. The Russian Armies, on their western frontier, now numbered 3,500,000 men, while the Austro-Hungarian and German Armies combined did not exceed 2,000,000. Another great battle took place before Lodz, which, after a fortnight's desperate fighting, with immense loss on both sides, was recaptured by the Germans on December 8, who after being almost enveloped by the Russians broke the ring which was being drawn round them and put back the Russian front before Warsaw. This check was attributed to dissensions among the Russian generals, and General Rennenkampf, who arrived too late to relieve the Russian centre, was, with seven other generals, arrested and brought before a court martial. General Hindenburg, on the other hand, was made a Field-Marshal for what was described by the German General Staff as "one of the finest deeds of arms in the whole campaign," having captured 60,000 unwounded prisoners and 100 guns. The Germans were not able, however, to pursue their advantage; the powerful attacks of the Russians prevented their getting any nearer to Warsaw than Sochaczew, about thirty miles to the west of that city. They strove hard up to the end of the year to push through to Warsaw, but were unable to get any farther than the Rivers Bzura and Rawka, where they entrenched themselves and made a series of fruitless attacks on the Russian positions on the other side of those rivers, Farther north, however, Mlawa, near the Prussian frontier, was retaken by the Germans on December 26. The German main line at the end of the Ysar ran from Mlawa to Ilow Lowicz, and Tomaszow, all of which towns were in their hands, but the Russians remained in occupation of about 8,000 square kilometres of Prussian soil.

Meanwhile in Galicia, the Russians occupied Tarnow on November 13, resuming the siege of Przemysl on the following day, and on December 2 they entered Wieliczka, the centre of the salt mines in Western Galicia, three and a half miles from the outer fortifications of Cracow, which were now invested by them. There was much fighting north, west, and south of Cracow (especially at Limanowa, where the Russians lost 40,000 prisoners), but the city itself escaped damage, none of the shots of the Russian artillery having reached it, and at the end of the year, both Przemysl and Cracow still remained free from the invaders, who temporarily abandoned the advance on them on December 12 after a series of battles in which they suffered heavy losses and were driven eastward for a distance of forty miles. Although Russia had yet made little progress towards Berlin, she had conquered a great part of Galicia, and she had given valuable help to her Allies by compelling Germany to detach large forces from France in order to protect her frontier in Poland.

In November Russia was involved in another war, owing to the attack of the Turkish fleet on the Russian ports in the Black Sea (p. 352). On November 4, Russian troops entered Asia Minor and advanced for seventeen miles along the road to Erzeroum, and on November 8, they successfully resisted an attack by the Turks armed with German heavy artillery, at Kuprikeui in Armenia, from which there are mountain paths in the direction of Erzeroum. Further attacks were made by the Turks during the rest of the month, and, also in December, in the Euphrates Valley without any notable result, until they reached Ardahan and Sarakamysch in an attempt to regain Kars, when in a three days' battle with the Russians at the end of the year they were driven back with enormous losses, the whole of one of their Army corps having surrendered.

Apart from the two wars, there is little to record in the Russian history of the second half of the year. On September 1, an Imperial order was issued directing that the city of St. Petersburg should in future be designated as "Petrograd" (Peter's City). This was an outcome of the hostility in Russia to everything German, as was a decree issued in November, depriving German and Austro-Hungarian subjects of Russia of their rights to immovable property either leasehold or freehold situated in rural districts near the Russian land frontier, the Baltic, the Black Sea, and the Sea of Azoff. In November an income tax was imposed on all incomes exceeding 1,000 roubles (100_l._), at the rate of from 16 roubles (1_l._ 15_s._) up to 15,600 roubles (1,700_l._) for incomes exceeding 190,000 roubles (19,700_l._), together with a tax on men exempt from military service. As regards Finland and Poland there was no alleviation of the methods of Russification previously practised, although the devastation caused in Poland by the war produced a current of more friendly feeling towards the Poles among some sections of the Russian people. At Petrograd a society was formed for a reconciliation between the Russians and the Poles, which struck medals representing a Russian and a Pole shaking hands; but these were promptly confiscated by the Government, and in the Duma but little was said on behalf of the Poles. The Socialists were pursued with the utmost rigour, their members in the Duma were arrested, and when M. Burtzeff, known by the part he took in the exposure of Azeff and other Russian agents provocateurs, left Russia in 1907 with a regular passport, not having been prosecuted for any offence, returned to that country in order, as he stated in a letter to The Times, to promote "a unity of all nationalities and all parties" in pursuing the war, he was arrested on his arrival in November on a charge of having insulted the Tsar in a Paris newspaper while he was living in France, and sentenced to deportation to Siberia.

As regards foreign affairs, on September 5, Russia joined in the declaration that none of the Governments of the Triple Entente would conclude peace separately; and on October 24 Russia declared to Italy that she would order the liberation of all Austrian prisoners of Italian nationality, provided that the Italian Government would undertake to keep them in Italy during the war, but Italy replied that she could not give such an undertaking, as "every Italian or foreigner arriving on Italian territory, not having been guilty of any crime, was free, and his liberty could not be restrained in any way," upon which Russia withdrew the condition attached to the offer.

II. TURKEY AND THE MINOR STATES OF EASTERN EUROPE.

While war was raging in Central and Western Europe, all the States of the Near East except Serbia and Montenegro, and afterwards Turkey, remained neutral, though they mobilised their forces so as to be ready in case of need.

The most important event in Turkey at the beginning of the year was the appointment as War Minister of Enver Bey, the hero of the Young Turkish Revolution of 1908 (A.R., 1908, pp. 323-7). As a former military attaché at Berlin, he had long been in intimate relations with German military circles, and his influence in strengthening the ties between the German and Turkish Governments soon made itself felt. On January 8 an Imperial Iradeh was issued confirming the appointment of the Inspectors-General of the four Armies and the Commander of the thirteen Army Corps into which the Ottoman Army was to be divided, and among the former was the German General, Liman von Sanders (Liman Pasha), who was also appointed Commander of the First Army Corps. Over 160 superior Army officers were at the same time placed on the retired list. Enver Pasha (he obtained this title on his appointment in the place of that of Bey) was also appointed chief of the General Staff, with a German officer as one of his assistants.

The matters dealt with by the Powers in connexion with the Balkan Wars which had remained unsettled at the end of the previous year (A.R., 1913, pp. 356-7) were the proposed Armenian reforms, the question of the Ægean Islands, and the formation of the new State of Albania. As regards the first of these, the Russian charge d'affaires at Constantinople arrived at a complete agreement in February with the Grand Vizier on the subject. The Armenian community in Turkey was to be represented in the Ottoman Parliament by seventy deputies to be designated by the Armenian Patriarch, and the general inspection and supervision of the judicial and administrative officials in the two sections into which the six Eastern Anatolian vilayets were to be divided was to be confided to two foreign Inspectors-General, to be appointed by the Powers from the subjects of minor European States. Christians and Mohammedans were to be equally represented in the provincial councils of Bitlis and Van, and in proportion to the numbers of each religion in the other councils, but as regards appointments to the public service there were to be as many Christians, if possible, as Mohammedans. The Ægean question, on the other hand, nearly led to a war between Turkey and Greece. In reply to a collective European Note on the subject presented to the Grand Vizier on February 14, the Porte, knowing that the Powers had failed to obtain unanimity for the enforcement of their decisions, stated that it was indispensable for Turkey to possess not only the islands in the neighbourhood of the Dardanelles, but also those which, like Chios and Mytilene, "form an integral part of the Asiatic possessions of the Empire." While accepting, it added, the restitution by Greece of Imbros, Tenedos, and Castellorizzo, the Ottoman Government "will endeavour to secure its just and legitimate demands." Greece, on the other hand, agreed to comply with the decision of the Powers, but demanded a rectification of the proposed Albanian frontier near Argyrokastro (A.R., 1913, p. 357) on ethnological grounds, and offered in exchange a strip of coast line and a grant to Albania of 100,000_l._ Further, as the islands to be retained by Greece were not to be fortified, the Greek Government proposed that guarantees should be required by the Powers of Turkey against her attacking them, expressing its readiness to give similar guarantees on its part, and also to prevent contraband trade between the islands and the Continent, adding that it would protect the Mohammedans in the islands to be ceded to Greece if the Porte would give a similar undertaking as to the Christians in the islands left to Turkey. The Powers of the Triple Alliance then guaranteed equality of religion and speech in the whole of Albania and the proposed rectification of the frontier, except as regards Koritza, which was to remain Albanian, as soon as the Greek troops should evacuate the portion of Epirus which had been assigned to Albania. The period, however, fixed for the evacuation (A.R., 1913, p. 357) was allowed to pass, and a Greek Note to the Powers of the Triple Alliance, who had insisted on such evacuation, suggested in April that it should be postponed pending the acceptance by Turkey of the proposals of the Powers as to the Ægean Islands. To this the Powers replied on April 24, insisting on an immediate evacuation, and on May 14 the Sultan, in opening the Turkish Parliament, referred to the efforts the Porte was making for a pacific solution of the Ægean question "in conformity with the essential interests of the Ottoman Empire."

Meanwhile great indignation was expressed at Athens on learning that the Turks were subjecting the Greeks in Thrace and at Smyrna to systematic persecution in order to bring about their emigration. In reply to a Greek Note on the subject the Porte stated on June 18 that the troubles in Asia Minor and elsewhere had been caused by the arrival of 250,000 emigrants from Macedonia, and that the Government was taking steps to restore tranquillity in the disturbed districts, implying that the condition of the Greek subjects of the Sultan is a question of internal politics in which Greece has no right to interfere. Prompt steps were, however, taken to punish excesses committed against the Greek populations; sentences of from three to five years' imprisonment were passed on forty-seven Mohammedans found guilty of pillaging Greek houses, and the whole of the Smyrna district was placed under martial law. The disorders were to a great extent caused by the policy adopted by the Turkish Government of quartering Mohammedan immigrants in Greek villages, apparently with the object of interposing a barrier between the islands and the adjoining districts on the Continent in the shape of a solid mass of Mohammedan inhabitants all along the coast, thereby effectively checking the Pan-Hellenic propaganda which had been going on for many years among the Greeks in Turkey (A.R., 1913, p. 354).

Although Turkey had declared at the beginning of the war that she would be neutral, when Enver Pasha became Minister for War preparations were at once made for her taking military and naval action against the Allies. Liman Pasha was appointed commander-in-chief of the Turkish Army on August 27, the German cruisers Goeben and Breslau (p. 183) were added to the Turkish Navy and entered the Black Sea on October 20, with their German officers and crews, though the Russian and British ambassadors had stated to the Porte that they did not regard the sale of these two vessels as valid, and that the Allies would attack them the next time they came out. Meanwhile, on September 9, the Porte announced to the Powers that the judicial and financial Capitulations, under which each Christian nation was allowed to govern its own subjects within the Ottoman dominions, would be abolished from October 1. The Ambassadors of all the Powers, including Germany, protested against this step, which became practically nugatory when Turkey entered into the war. As regards the measures taken for common action with Germany, the Grand Vizier and most of the other Ministers, though resenting the retention by the British Government of the Ottoman warships building in England,[20] were opposed to them, but had to yield to Enver Pasha, who had the whole Turkish Army at his back, and had adopted the view promulgated by German agents that the only way to save Constantinople and the Turkish Empire from being seized by Russia and her allies would be to enter into an alliance with Germany. Large numbers of German officers, soldiers, and sailors were imported from Germany to serve in the Turkish Fleet, the forts of the Dardanelles, and the Turkish Army, and German merchant vessels served as bases of communication and auxiliaries to the Turkish ships of war. The officers of the German military mission organised military preparations in Syria for an attack on Egypt, and the Syrian towns were full of German officers provided with large sums of money for suborning the local chiefs.

The Ottoman military action began, after a protest against the watch kept by British warships at the mouth of the Dardanelles to prevent the Goeben and Breslau from escaping, and against the British navigation of the Shatt-el-Arab, by an incursion on October 28 into the Sinai Peninsula of an armed body of 2,000 Bedouins whose objective was the Suez Canal; and on the same day the Turkish Fleet bombarded Odessa, Theodosia, and Novorossyisk, Russian unfortified harbours in the Black Sea. No reply having been given to the protest of the ambassadors of the Allies against this outrage, they demanded their passports and left Constantinople on November 1. The Dardanelles forts were bombarded by a combined British and French squadron on November 3, and the fort and troops at Akaba in the Red Sea were shelled by H.M.S. Minerva, upon which the town was evacuated and a landing party destroyed the fort, the barracks, the post office, and the stores. On November 5 "a state of war" was declared to exist between Great Britain and Turkey and the former annexed Cyprus (p. 226). On November 13 Turkey responded by a declaration of war against Great Britain, alleging that the bombardment of the Russian ports in the Black Sea had taken place because the Russian Fleet had tried to lay mines outside the Bosphorus and committed other hostile acts against Turkey. A British and Indian force also made its way up the Shatt-el-Arab to Basra (Nov. 8-22; p. 245). On November 18 another naval encounter took place in the Black Sea, in which the Russian Fleet engaged the Goeben and the Breslau off Yalta, compelling them to retire, and inflicting severe injuries on the Goeben.

The failure of the Turkish invasion in the Caucasus (p. 348) caused much friction between the Turkish and the German officers, the latter having preferred the plan of an invasion of Egypt. On December 30 the Sultan of Turkey deprived Hussein Kamel, the new Sultan of Egypt, of all his decorations for rebellion against Turkey. The attempt to start a Holy War in Egypt and other Mahommedan countries proved an utter failure, as it was disregarded by the Mohammedans outside the Ottoman Empire.

Among the minor incidents which occurred in Turkey during the year was the death of "Kutchuk" Said Pasha, who was seven times Grand Vizier (post, Obit.), and the trial by court-martial in April of Colonel Aziz Ali, a distinguished Egyptian officer who had gained popularity and renown among the Mohammedans by his leadership of the Arab resistance to the Italians in Cyrenaica, on charges of having caused loss of life among his troops in Tripoli, of having provoked the enmity of the Senussi, and of having appropriated public funds to his personal needs, and his condemnation to death in consequence of the pressure put upon the members of the Court by his enemies in the Young Turkish party. The news had caused great perturbation and distress in Egypt, where Aziz Ali was well known and highly esteemed, and he was finally pardoned by the Sultan. Another court-martial, which was not influenced by party motives, showed considerable activity in dealing with offences committed by Mohammedans against public morality and the State religion. It ordered the expulsion from Constantinople of fifty Turkish women found guilty of practising or abetting clandestine prostitution, and steps were also taken against "white slave" traffickers, two Turkish women having been found guilty of selling their daughters to Egyptian houses of ill-fame.

In Albania affairs were in a very disturbed state throughout the year. In January an Austrian steamer arrived at Valona from Constantinople with Turkish troops to proclaim Izzet Pasha, the late Turkish War Minister, as sovereign of Albania, but they were at once arrested by the Provisional Government in agreement with the International Commission of Control and the Dutch gendarmerie officers. A more formidable candidate for the throne was Essad Pasha (A.R., 1913, p. 356), whose troops had a sharp fight on January 11 with those of the Provisional Government. On January 15 Ismail Kemal Bey handed to the International Commission his resignation of the Presidency of the Provisional Government, which he had held since the winter of 1912 (A.R., 1912, p. 356), and Essad Pasha then concluded an agreement with the British and German delegates on the International Commission of Control to the effect that he would resign his position as Minister of the Interior and meet Prince William of Wied as the representative of the people of Albania. On February 8, the Powers having agreed to guarantee a loan of 3,000,000_l._ to Albania, Austria-Hungary and Italy made an advance to the Prince of 500,000_l._ for immediate requirements, and Essad Pasha started from Durazzo at the head of a deputation of Albanians for Neuwied, the ancestral castle of the Prince, who was to bear in Albania the title of "Mpret," a corruption of "Imperator." The deputation, whose leader was described by the Bishop of Durazzo as "a brigand in the best and worst sense of the term," and "a fox who would require an iron hand to keep him under control," were received at Neuwied by the Prince on February 21, one of its members bringing with him a small casket containing sand, earth, and water from Albania. Addressing the Prince in Albanian, Essad Pasha said that the deputation represented the whole of Albania, and that the Albanians were happy to welcome their new sovereign, to which the Prince replied in German, formally accepting the Crown. The difficulties and responsibilities, he said, had at first made him hesitate, but now that he had decided to meet them he would give all his heart and strength to Albania. He proceeded to St. Petersburg, however, on a visit to the Tsar, before taking up his new duties. Meanwhile an insurrection broke out in Epirus, the Greeks in the districts assigned to Albania demanding a Government of their own under M. Zographos as its chief.

Prince William arrived at Durazzo on March 7, and was welcomed by two members of the International Commission and Essad Pasha, whom the Prince at once appointed an Albanian general. On reaching the palace he appeared on the balcony, while deputations from the neighbouring towns and Albanian societies abroad marched in file before him, but the Albanian people were scantily represented, as the date of his coming was not generally known. The difficulties of his task were considerably greater than those with which the sovereigns of newly formed States have in past times had to contend; the northern clans of the country are totally different in character, language and religion from those of the south, the former, 140,000 in number, being Roman Catholics, and the latter, about 260,000, followers of the "Orthodox" Church, while there were 600,000 Mohammedans scattered all over the country; and the Albanians generally, who had been the spoilt children of Turkey, to whom they furnished some of her best statesmen, generals, and soldiers, had not only hitherto never been taxed, but had received substantial grants of money from the Sultan, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Moreover, Albania is a land of barren mountains, without roads or railways, which it would require a considerable State revenue to develop. Only a week after the Prince's arrival, the Albanians attacked the Greeks at Koritza, and an intertribal feud broke out between the partisans of Essad Pasha and those of Ismail Kemal Bey; a force of 100 gendarmes under Dutch officers was sent to restore order, but the officers were imprisoned and the fighting went on, houses in the villages being ransacked and women outraged.

On March 18 the first Albanian Cabinet was formed under Turkhan Pasha. Of the other Ministers two were Roman Catholic, two "Orthodox," and the rest, including Essad Pasha, the War Minister, Mohammedans. The first task of the Minister was to deal with the rising in Epirus. The Dutch officer who had been appointed High Commissioner for Southern Albania offered the Epirotes an autonomy which almost limited the union with Albania to a personal one, though he rejected their claim that the Greek language should be allowed absolute equality with Albanian; but the Government repudiated even the concessions he had offered. On March 29 the Ministry requested the Powers, through their representatives at Durazzo, to use their influence with the Greek Government in order that "the regrettable situation in Epirus" should come to an end, pointing out that while the Greek troops were being withdrawn from the districts to be evacuated their place was being taken by insurgent bands (Komitadjis) organised and armed by the Greek authorities; and as no steps were taken to put down the rising, the Prince decided to take over by force if necessary the territory occupied by the insurgents, and himself to take the command of the troops to be sent against them. Meanwhile men were arming in all parts of Albania for the liberation of the threatened territory, and a force of some 10,000 volunteers marched against them. Several encounters took place between them and the Epirotes with varying success.

Events now took a sudden and unexpected turn. Essad Pasha, Minister of War and of the Interior, and hitherto the virtual ruler of the country, was arrested by Austro-Hungarian and Italian sailors on May 19. Essad's house, which was within 300 yards of the Prince's palace, had for some time been filled with armed retainers, and it was no secret that he was planning to dethrone the Prince and take the Crown for himself. On the evening of the 18th it was ascertained that a number of insurgents were marching on Durazzo, and at daybreak on the following morning the Dutch commandant of the gendarmerie called upon Essad's men to lay down their arms. Essad then ordered his men to fire, upon which 300 Austro-Hungarian and Italian marines landed and occupied the town, sending a detachment to Essad's house to escort him to the jetty, where he was placed on board an Austro-Hungarian man-of-war and deported to Italy. The insurgents, however, who had now come within gunshot of Durazzo, assumed such a threatening attitude that on May 24 the Prince and his wife and children took refuge on board an Italian warship, though they returned to the palace two days afterwards. Negotiations were opened with the insurgents by the International Control Commission, but without result. Their demands were chiefly of a religious character, as they asked for guarantees that the Catholic Albanians (the Malissori) would not be sent against them, and they objected to the banishment of Essad Pasha, whom they regarded as a martyr to the Mohammedan religion; but the promoters of the rising appear to have been some officers of the Young Turkish party at Constantinople who were present in the insurgents' camp. One of the demands of the insurgents was for the appointment of a Mohammedan member of the Control Commission. They attacked Durazzo on June 15, but were repulsed by the Prince's adherents, chiefly Mirdites. A two days' armistice was concluded between the Prince and the insurgents on June 22, but at its conclusion the fighting was renewed without any decisive result. On July 9 Koritza was captured by the Epirotes after three days' fighting, and a severe bombardment by the regular Greek Army. As no progress was made in dealing with the insurgents either before Durazzo or elsewhere, a meeting of the loyal populations was held on July 19 at Valona, at the instigation of many influential Albanians, including Ismail Kemal Bey, at which it was unanimously decided to beg the Prince and the protecting Powers to dismiss the Cabinet and place the Government in the hands of the International Commission of Control, as no Albanian Cabinet could deal with the existing crisis, and the Commission alone "can maintain the sovereign on the throne, assure national unity and territorial integrity, and save from certain death over 100,000 refugees." The Prince on his part summoned to the palace the Ministers of Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, and Italy (Great Britain and Russia having no representatives at Durazzo), and addressed them in a brief speech, stating that from the outset the Albanian problem had been complicated by the Epirote question and that the slightest sign of unrest elsewhere only increased the trouble in the South; that the Powers who had placed him on the throne had shown singularly little readiness to assist him in coping with his difficulties; they had helped all the other Balkan States, but had rendered little or no assistance to their special creation; that immediate help was imperative, and he therefore urged the Ministers to address a final appeal to their Governments for military and financial aid. A collapse of the Albanian Government seemed to be imminent; the towns of Klisura and Tepelen, as well as Koritza, were captured by irregular Greek bands with, it was said, Greek troops in disguise, the Mohammedan villages were in flames and horrible atrocities were committed upon their inhabitants. M. Venezelos, the Greek Premier, admitted that deserters from the Greek Army had assisted the Epirotes, but declared that he was powerless to prevent "Greek national sympathies being so strongly engaged on the Epirote side." He added that he thought "the Powers had taken insufficient measures for the creation of an Albanian State." On August 31 a detachment of insurgents with the Turkish flag occupied Valona without opposition, and on the same day another, with artillery, attacked Durazzo, firing several shots at the palace. Next morning they sent a letter to the representatives of the Powers, stating that they expected the Prince to leave the country, and issued a proclamation to the people declaring that as the Prince had not left, the town would be bombarded unless its inhabitants agreed at once to surrender. The Prince then left Durazzo (Sept. 4), and on September 11 Burhan Eddin Effendi, son of the ex-Sultan Abdul Hamid, who was practically the leader of the insurrection, succeeded him, though in the proclamation issued by Prince William to the people on leaving he did not abdicate, but stated that he thought it was best for the task "to which he had sacrificed his strength and life" that he should go for a time to Western Europe, and that the International Commission of Control would carry on the Government during his absence. The Government, however, was taken over by Burhan Eddin, the self-constituted Prince, with Essad Pasha as his Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief. At the end of the year Albania was under six different regimes. Scutari and its neighbourhood was governed by a local Commission composed of Moslems and Christians. Valona was also administered by a Commission. The Mirdites formed a separate State under Prenk Bib Doda. The Malissors remained isolated under their patriarchal institutions. The southern districts had been appropriated by the Greek invaders. Durazzo and the central regions obeyed Essad Pasha, who enjoyed the title of Prime Minister and was recognised by the International Commission.

On October 1 a noteworthy declaration was made by M. Venezelos in the Greek Chamber, to the effect that Greece would remain neutral, but that she had treaty obligations with regard to Serbia which she would fulfil; he hoped, however, that nothing would occur which should bind her to interfere, as Greece desired that the European War should not spread to the Balkan Peninsula, whose people required peace after the late war. Greece at any rate would not take the initiative in disturbing the peace. As to Epirus he had said on March 10 that the decision of the Powers involved a great disaster for the nation, and nobody could suggest that Greece was in a position to fight Austria and Italy. Greece considered Albania now necessary to the preservation of the balance of power in the Balkans, and, with Serbia, hoped for the success of the new State. On March 19 the Minister of Marine announced in the Chamber, amid enthusiastic cheers from all parties, that three battleships of the Dreadnought type, three armoured cruisers, and a proportionate number of lighter vessels, would be added to the Fleet. On June 13 Greece annexed Chios and Mytilene, the islands which the Powers had agreed were to be ceded to her on the evacuation of Northern Epirus and the cession of the Island of Saseno to Albania; but in October she announced her intention of reoccupying provisionally Northern Epirus owing, among other reasons, to the breakdown of the Albanian Government substituted by the Powers under the Prince of Wied and the expediency of putting an end to the sanguinary anarchy prevailing in that country, as the forces collected by the head of the provisional Epirote Government, M. Zographos, had not been capable of maintaining order or security for life and property against the Albanian insurgents. The Powers not having raised any objection, Greece occupied Northern Epirus with her troops, and at the same time Italy occupied the Island of Saseno, which completely dominates the sea approaches to Valona.

In Bulgaria Parliament opened on January 1 in a new guise, as the general election which had taken place at the end of the previous year in consequence of the resignation of the Cabinet (A.R., 1913, p. 358) had been conducted under a system of proportional representation, and had resulted in a considerable increase of the number of Agrarian and Socialist deputies, doubtless due to the disastrous issue of the last war. There were ninety-nine Ministerialists in the new Chamber, forty-nine Agrarians, thirty-six Socialists, fourteen Democrats, five Nationalists, five Radicals, and one Zankovist. As the Royal party entered the Chamber a Socialist member shouted, "Down with Monarchy, long live the Republic," and when the King began to read the Speech from the throne another Socialist member interrupted him with similar exclamations, saying that 60,000 of the sons of Bulgaria had been sacrificed to the ambition of the Monarchy; after which all the Socialists left the Chamber. The Speech laid stress on the resumption of friendly relations with Roumania and Turkey, and expressed the conviction that the Bulgarian people would now "recuperate its forces in lasting peace and work, and dream only of winning victories in the domain of peaceful development and progress." On the following day the Premier, M. Radoslavoff, resigned to test the strength of his party, and on January 5 the King re-appointed him together with the whole of his Cabinet. Another general election took place to include the newly annexed districts in Macedonia and Western Thrace, which were to elect forty-one members in addition to the 204 of whom the old Chamber was formed. The result of the election was that in the new chamber there were 128 Ministerialists, fifty Agrarians, twenty-eight Democrats, twenty-one Socialists, nine Nationalists, five Radicals, and three Zankovists, giving the Government a majority of twelve over all the Opposition parties, and showing a considerable loss for the Socialists, who seemed to have few supporters in the annexed districts, where the whole Turkish population voted for the Ministerial candidates, with the result that twelve Mohammedan deputies were elected, besides four from Northern Bulgaria. A provisional budget for the months of April and May was introduced by M. Jencheff, Minister of Finance, on April 12. As a reassuring symptom he pointed to the fall in the rate of exchange from 20 per cent. at the end of 1913 to 7-1/2 per cent. The expenditure for 1913 he estimated at 8,000,000_l._, and the floating debt of 19,000,000_l._ was to be consolidated. Diplomatic relations with Serbia were resumed on February 17. On June 9 the Prime Minister conveyed the regret of the Government for the attacks which had been made on Greek churches at Sofia, Varna, and Burgas by the people, who had been incited by the priests and an official of the Russian Consulate. During a debate in the Sobranje on the subject the Premier said Bulgaria would do everything to preserve neighbourly relations with the other Balkan States, but that it was difficult to follow this policy owing to the ill-treatment suffered by Bulgarians in Greece and Serbia; a number of refugees who had been beaten and outraged had arrived only on the previous day. Both the Greek and Serbian Governments had ever since the partition of Macedonia done their utmost to destroy all trace of Bulgarian life and culture in the districts which they had annexed. As regards the European War the Premier declared on October 29 that the Bulgarian Government felt it a duty to proclaim the neutrality of Bulgaria and to preserve such neutrality strictly and loyally, in accordance with international needs and principles and the interests of the country, and on the same day the organ of the Bulgarian Foreign Office, Echo de Bulgarie, said that now the dissensions between Turkey and Bulgaria had been settled by force of arms, a bond of friendship had been created by the persecutions to which both the Turks and Bulgarians were being subjected in Macedonia.

In Roumania, which also proclaimed her neutrality at the beginning of the war, at the same time informing the Russian Government that she would not agree to the Russian troops crossing her frontier, a very drastic law was proposed by the Government in May with regard to the districts annexed by her under the Treaty of Bucharest (A.R., 1913, p. 352). It deprived the population of Parliamentary representation, which it had enjoyed for upwards of thirty years under Bulgarian rule, denied them the right of association or public meeting, deprived of his land every landed proprietor who did not accept the Roumanian nationality within one year, and provided that all the Bulgarian schools should be closed or reopened under Roumanian teachers and their revenues confiscated. On June 14 the Tsar arrived with his family on board the Imperial yacht at Constanza, the Roumanian port on the Black Sea, and was enthusiastically received, the Liberal Government and its adherents among the people being in sympathy with the Triple Entente, though the King and his Court were notoriously in favour of Germany and Austria-Hungary. One of the strongest advocates of a policy of friendship with Austria-Hungary, the Roumanian statesman and historian Demetrius Stourdza, died at the beginning of October in his eighty-first year, and King Charles, who with Stourdza was regarded as the founder of the Roumanian State, also died a few days after his old companion and friend. On October 15, as the funeral procession was on its way from the palace to the railway station, an attempt was made on the life of Messrs. Charles and Noel Buxton, happily without any serious result, though both were wounded, by an Albanian Mohammedan who said he acted from political motives, as the Buxtons had been agitating against Turkey. King Charles was succeeded by his nephew Ferdinand of Hohenzollern, like his uncle a Roman Catholic, and married to the daughter of the late Duke of Edinburgh; their six children, however, are members of the Roumanian "Orthodox" Church.

In Serbia the War Minister stated to the Skupshtina on February 23 that the losses of the Serbian Army during the war with Turkey were 5,000 dead and 18,000 wounded, and in the Bulgarian War 7,000 to 8,000 dead and 30,000 wounded. In both wars 2,500 died of their wounds, 11,000 to 12,000 from sickness, and 4,300 from cholera, mostly during the Bulgarian War. A treaty of peace with Turkey was signed on March 13, under which Serbia agreed not to make any distinction as regards the franchise between her new Mohammedan and Christian subjects in the annexed territories, and to allow former Ottoman subjects residing in them three years to decide whether they would remain of the Turkish nationality or accept the Serbian, during which they were not to be liable for military service. In June a Ministerial crisis occurred in consequence of a Government decree giving the civil authorities precedence over the military in the newly annexed provinces. This measure was strongly opposed by the military party, and the Premier, M. Pashitch, asked the King to dissolve the Skupshtina in order to give the people an opportunity of expressing their views on the matter. The King refused unless the decree was first rescinded, upon which M. Pashitch resigned, but, all attempts to form a coalition Cabinet having failed, he was reinstated (June 11). On June 24 the King left Belgrade for the baths at Vranya on account of ill-health, and before leaving delegated full royal authority to his son, the Crown Prince Alexander, for the period of the King's illness.

When Austria-Hungary declared the answer to her ultimatum to Serbia (p. 330) insufficient, and her Minister accordingly demanded his passports and left Belgrade on July 26, the Serbian troops were at once mobilised. Austria-Hungary declared war on July 28, and on July 30 the Serbians partly destroyed by explosion the bridge connecting Belgrade with the Hungarian town of Semlin and attempted some raids across the frontier which were repelled by the Austro-Hungarian frontier guards. The Austrian artillery replied by a bombardment of the upper and lower forts of Belgrade, in which they were assisted by their monitors on the Danube and the Save. The war in Serbia did not really begin, however, until August 12, when the Austrian Army crossed the Save and the Drina and captured Shabatz and Lesnica. War had meantime been declared by Serbia against Germany on August 6. On August 17 the Austrians continued their advance against the Serbians, the Croats in the Austrian Army, who are of the same race as the Serbians, but are Roman Catholics while the Serbians are "Orthodox" Greeks, specially distinguishing themselves in the fighting. The Austrians were repulsed, however, in a sanguinary battle in the valley of Iddar on August 16 to 19, and had to retire to Shabatz and Lesnica. The fighting in these engagements was stated to have been much fiercer and more sanguinary than any in the recent Balkan Wars. On August 26 Shabatz was retaken by the Serbians, but meanwhile an attack made by them on Wyszegrad and Rudo, in Bosnia, had been repelled with great loss on August 20 and 21. On September 8 the Austrians were defeated in an attempt to cross the Drina near Sacha, and on the 14th the Serbians captured Wyszegrad; but notwithstanding the desperate efforts made both by them and the Austrians to penetrate into the enemy's country neither had for some time any success. Another sanguinary battle, which lasted three days, was fought on the road to Valjevo on September 15 to 18, but with no decisive result. The first effective attack was made by the Austrians down the Morava; it began on November 9 and ended in the occupation of Valjevo, the former headquarters of the Serbian Army, on November 15, and the capture after much violent fighting of Belgrade on December 2. On December 3, however, fresh troops were brought up by the Serbians,[21] which inflicted a heavy defeat on the Austrians, after six days' fighting over a front of more than sixty miles; on December 8 Valjevo was retaken, the Austrian retreat became a rout, and the Serbians re-entered Belgrade, after another battle in which the Austrians were stated to have lost 60,000 killed and wounded.

On September 19 Serbia declared that she would not conclude peace alone and would not act separately from the Triple Entente.

In Montenegro the Skupshtina was opened after a general election by the King on February 11. He said in the Speech from the throne that though "the snatching of Skutari from Montenegro was an incurable wound in every Serbian heart" the Peace of Bucharest had laid the foundations for a new order of things in the Balkans and had secured Montenegrin national interests. "Further national successes," he continued, "will depend solely upon constant joint effort with Serbia and upon traditional loyalty to our powerful Russia." Accordingly, when Serbia was attacked by Austria-Hungary, Montenegro mobilised her army at the request of the King of Serbia for her assistance. This entente cordiale between the Kings of Serbia and Montenegro had not long been established, the two States having been for some time estranged by an attempt of Serbian subjects, with the alleged assistance of the Crown Prince of Serbia, on the life of the King of Montenegro similar to that which had just been made, with fatal results, on the lives of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife (A.R., 1908, p. 335). The two Balkan Wars, in which Serbians and Montenegrins fought side by side, had to some extent wiped out the memory of old quarrels, and the propaganda for a union of the two countries was now equally strong in them both, though it was not much to the taste of the astute and ambitious King Nicholas, who had hoped before the war that he and not King Peter would be the ruler of Serbia as well as of Montenegro. This, after the Serbian victories, and in view of the far greater material prosperity of Serbia, had now become impossible. The Montenegrins who fought in the war and were treated with special consideration by the Serbians, and especially those who had come from the United States to join their countrymen against the Turks, and found their country as backward in all the arts of civilisation as when they had left it, while the Serbians had made great material progress, were among the most ardent advocates of the movement for a union of their people with Serbia. On the other side, such a union would gratify Serbia's dearest wish--for a port on the Adriatic; and the great popularity of the aged Montenegrin King was the only obstacle to such a union, the Crown Prince Danilo not having gained any sympathisers either in Serbia or in Montenegro.

Montenegro, as Serbia's ally, declared war against Austria-Hungary on August 3. She made several attempts to invade Bosnia together with the Serbians, but without success.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] The money to pay for those two battleships (the Sultan Osman and Reshadich, renamed the Agincourt and Erin) had been raised in Turkey by public subscription, and their retention was bitterly resented, the more so as Greece had just purchased two ships from the United States (post, c. viii.).

[21] This rally was caused by the arrival of fresh ammunition, and by a speech from the King. Despite his age and infirmities, he went to the front and addressed the army as follows: "Heroes, you have taken two oaths, one to me, your King, and the other to your country. I am an old, broken man on the edge of the grave, and I release you from your oath to me. From your other oath no one can release you. If you feel that you cannot go on, go to your homes, and I pledge my word that after the war, if we come out of it, nothing shall happen to you. But I and my sons stay here." Not a man of the army left.

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IV. LESSER STATES OF WESTERN AND NORTHERN EUROPE

I. BELGIUM.

Until the abrupt violation of Belgian neutrality by the German armies on August 3 the political antagonisms of Clericals and Liberals and of Flemings and Walloons seemed to be growing more acute. The German invasion, with its almost incredible atrocities, swept away the memory of these feuds. The Belgian nation saw all but a small fraction of its land swept by the invaders, and either found refuge and hospitality in Holland, Great Britain, and to some extent in Switzerland, or became dependent for its very subsistence on the charity of the people of the United States. But it did not flinch in its determination to maintain its independence, and at the close of the year it was gallantly aiding the resistance of the Allies to the German advance on Calais and Northern France.

When the year began the Chambers were still debating the Bill for subsidising voluntary schools, and the Flemish Nationalists in both the Liberal and Clerical parties were endeavouring (unsuccessfully, as it proved) to amend it so as to promote the spread of their own tongue at the expense of French. But another question arose which tended to injure the Government. Towards the end of January a severe frost closed the waterways and blocked the State railways with their traffic. The efforts made to cope with the block showed grave defects in the management and the equipment of the lines, and the Central Industrial Committee of manufacturers and traders formally complained to the Minister of the Interior that factories had been stopped and orders and consignments diverted to foreign countries and ports. Politics were said to influence the management, and the financial administration was condemned as defective and unintelligible. A scheme of reorganisation was contemplated, under which the Railway Budget would be rearranged and the management of the system assigned to a Board of fifteen paid members, Senators, Deputies, and State officials being ineligible. This Board would be under the supervision of a Council of seven members, chosen from and by the Parliament, and subordinated to the Minister of Railways. But the scheme was left over till a convenient season.

After much debate and some critical situations, the Schools Bill finally passed the Chambers on May 20, thus terminating the struggle begun by M. Schollaert in 1911. The Liberals and Socialists in the Senate formally denounced the measure as unconstitutional, but declined to take part in the division. The debates on it had crowded out some measures of social reform, but a Bill passed the Chamber providing for the insurance against old age, sickness, or premature disablement of all employed persons, including such State or municipal officials as were not already provided for by pension or disablement funds. But all persons were exempt whose income exceeded 2,400 francs (96_l._) annually, as also home-workers with more than one employer. As in Great Britain, the funds were provided by payments from workmen, employers, and the State.

This Bill was hurried through before the elections for the renewal of half the Chamber (May 31), the representatives affected being those of East Flanders, Limburg, Hainaut, and Liège. The Ministry had offended its rural supporters by the new taxes of 1913, and by making military service and school attendance compulsory, and the Moderate Liberals had begun to return to their party, which they had left in 1912 owing to its coalition with the Socialists, now dissolved. Thus the Government majority in the Chamber fell from sixteen to twelve. They lost two seats to the Liberals, who lost one, however, to the Socialists. The Chamber now numbered ninety-nine Clericals, forty-six Liberals, forty Socialists, and two Christian Democrats, and the Ministerial votes in the four provinces amounted to some 570,000, while those of the Opposition--Liberals, Socialists, and Christian Democrats--were some 760,000. Assuming that the party strengths in the other provinces had remained constant since 1912, it was estimated that a Government majority in that year of 83,000 had now been converted into a minority of 7,000. The three Opposition groups, however, could scarcely have formed a coalition, but the Ministerialists had for some years showed signs of cleavage, and there were rumours that the Government were about to appeal to the Flemish vote by either substituting Flemish for French as the language of the University of Ghent or establishing a Flemish University there along with the French one; and M. de Broqueville indicated (at Turnhout, July 5) that the Senate might be invited to amend the Insurance Bill. But all domestic disputes were effaced by the war.

The growing wealth of the kingdom had been shown by an official return issued at the end of March, giving the average annual investment for the past four years in shares or debentures of companies as 870,000,000 francs, of which 450,000,000 francs had been put into Belgian companies engaged in business abroad--mainly in South America, Russia, and the Congo State. Belgium had now definitely joined the group of "creditor nations"--Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and Germany.

Though the violation of Belgian neutrality astounded the world and even upset the defensive scheme of the French Government, there had been ominous signs earlier in the year, which had attracted little notice. Thus the Stavelot-Malmedy Railway, crossing the German frontier, was opened in January without ceremony, for fear of indiscreet allusions by the speakers at the opening festivities to a possible invasion; there was some anxiety as to the fortification of Flushing (A.R., 1913, p. 364), and also as to the undefended character of the frontier of Dutch Limburg, a province which overlies part of Belgium; and in July it was reported that more troops were being sent to Hasselt and to the entrenched camp of Beverloo. Later it became known that King Albert had pressed for the reform in military service effected in 1913, and that in November of that year he had been convinced by a conversation with the German Emperor that that potentate would no longer resist the German war party (French Yellow Book, No. 6). Moreover, military measures to be taken in the event of a German violation of Belgian neutrality had been worked out in 1908 between the British Military Attaché at Brussels, Colonel Barnardiston, and the Belgian General Staff, which had previously worked out a corresponding plan with the General Staff of France. The German Government discovered evidence of this after the occupation of Brussels, and alleged it as a proof of British perfidy, though the plans were purely contingent on German action.[22]

Apprehending danger, the Belgian Government decided to call up three classes of reserves (July 29), and two days later to mobilise--a step which somewhat surprised the British Minister at Brussels. On July 29 the German Chancellor told the British Ambassador at Berlin that German action in Belgium depended on that of France, whom the German Government believed to be massing troops at Givet. Thereupon the British Government asked the French and German Governments whether they were prepared to respect Belgian neutrality so long as no other Power violated it, and asked Belgium whether she were prepared to remain neutral. France and Belgium gave satisfactory assurances; Germany did not (p. 178). Meanwhile the French Minister at Brussels, M. Klobukowski, had repeated to M. Davignon, the Belgian Foreign Minister, that French troops would not invade Belgium, even if massed on the frontiers, and Herr von Below-Saleske, the German Minister, had repeated to M. Davignon an assurance given by the German Chancellor in 1911, to the effect that Germany did not intend to violate Belgian neutrality, but that to say so publicly would give France an advantage in arranging her plan of operations (July 31). He repeated this, though only as his personal opinion, on August 2; but at 5 P.M. on that day he presented an ultimatum from his Government, demanding that, in view of the massing of French troops near Givet, Belgium should observe an attitude of friendly neutrality towards Germany, and allow German troops to pass through her territory; Germany would in return maintain the independence of Belgium and her possessions, but, in the event of a refusal, she would treat Belgium as an enemy. Twelve hours were given for a reply. A Council of State was at once held, and, after some hours' discussion, a reply drafted by MM. Hymans and Van den Heuvel, was finally decided on at 4 A.M. (Aug. 3). It was presented by 7 A.M., and was a dignified and eloquent refusal. The German Government meantime had sent a Note announcing that the French attack on Germany had begun, and at 6 A.M. on August 4 sent another, announcing that a refusal would be disregarded, and on August 4 intimated that as Belgium had declined her "well-intentioned proposals," they must be carried out by force of arms in view of the French menaces.[23] King Albert on that day addressed the Belgian Parliament, amid a scene of patriotic enthusiasm, and urged a united and stubborn resistance. "A nation which defends itself," he said, "commands the respect of all. Such a nation cannot perish." The union of the nation was marked by the appointment of M. Vandervelde, the Socialist leader, to be a Minister of State. Meanwhile the King had telegraphed a personal appeal for aid to King George V., and had received a reply assuring him of British support to protect the independence, integrity, and neutrality of Belgium. A moratorium was declared; fresh classes of recruits were called up; some 53,000 sappers and navvies were set to dig trenches in the wide spaces between the Liège forts; and Belgium prepared for defence.

Meanwhile the Germans were pressing on. On August 3 they entered Belgian territory at Gemmenich, near Aix-la-Chapelle, Stavelot and Francorchamps, just south of Spa, Dolhain, between Verviers and Herbesthal, and at Visé, on the Meuse between Liège and Maastricht. Their front extended from Visé southward, as far as Luxemburg. At Visé they were fired on by civilians, and the town was subsequently burnt; and on the night of August 4 they attacked the forts round Liège. They advanced in close order, and suffered enormous losses; but by August 6 they had silenced two forts and had vainly asked for an armistice to bury their dead. But passing through the gap thus made, they occupied Liège itself on August 9.

The Belgian resistance had amazed the world. The Germans had not expected it, for they had come without adequate supplies or heavy guns; and on August 9 their Government appealed vainly through that of the Netherlands to the Belgian King and Government, urging them, after their heroic resistance, to spare Belgium further suffering, and declaring itself ready for any compact with Belgium compatible with its conflict with France.

The Germans now came into contact with advanced posts of the Belgian Army, which held a line running from Namur through Ramillies, Tirlemont, and Diest. They were repulsed at Hasselt, Eghezee, and Diest, and Haelen (Aug. 12 and 13), but took Huy after a bombardment. But though they were thus unexpectedly checked, their vast numbers proved irresistible. There was a short lull while they were coming up; but on August 17 the Belgian Government hastily removed to Antwerp; the last forts round Liège fell on August 19; on August 18 the Germans entered Tirlemont, on the 19th they bombarded Louvain, and next day camped outside Brussels for the night. That day (Aug. 20) M. Max, the Burgomaster, had issued a proclamation warning the population against panic, advising them to give no information to the invaders, and promising that he, as Burgomaster, would stand by them. He met the Germans at their entrance, and declared the city undefended; they imposed a levy of 200,000,000 francs on it, and of 450,000,000 francs on the province of Brabant.

Though the French General Staff had regarded a German advance through Belgium as possible, it had made no provision against it till August 2; but it then directed its principal efforts to strengthening the northern section of the French front, and awaited the concentration of the British Expeditionary Force. Meanwhile, however, French troops drove the Germans from Dinant, after a fierce battle. The main German Army (some 600,000 men) having reached Brussels, marched southwards towards Charleroi and Namur. On August 20 the French advanced towards the Sambre. The centre of the Allied Army comprised two armies, the left a third, reinforced to the extent of two army corps, a corps of cavalry, the reserve divisions, and the British Expeditionary Force (p. 189). The French were beaten back on August 22, the Germans, after heavy losses, reaching and crossing the Sambre between Charleroi and Namur, and constraining the British force, by their superior numbers, to retreat from Mons south-westwards into France (p. 190). Meanwhile the Germans had been overrunning northern Belgium; they had occupied Louvain on the 19th after a fierce fight, Alost on the 21st, and concentrated before Antwerp next day; but were driven back from Malines by a sortie of the Antwerp garrison. And, after failing to take the forts at Namur, the Germans had overcome them by bringing up their heavy siege artillery, of 42 centimetres calibre, while the Belgian field force defending it were awaiting their attack. They placed guns in position beyond the range of the Belgian guns, and, after a tremendous bombardment of ten hours, the forts were wrecked. Namur fell suddenly and unexpectedly on August 24; and on that night a Zeppelin airship dropped bombs on Antwerp, doing much damage.

In the war of 1870 the Germans had severely repressed civilian attacks on their troops; and their standard manuals of warfare recommended terrorism. This was now carried out to the full. Infuriated by the unexpected Belgian resistance, they killed wounded men, fired on the Red Cross, violated women and little girls, mutilated some of their victims, and even made Belgian civilians of both sexes march in front of them as a screen. But besides these atrocities, which were not repressed by the commanders, the latter deliberately gave up towns and villages to destruction and plunder on the ground--which was usually unsubstantiated--that their troops had been fired on by the inhabitants. Visé was burnt on August 15, Aerschot four days later, the young son of the Burgomaster, it was stated, having shot a German officer; after their defeat at Malines they retreated on Louvain, burning the villages en route; they apparently fired on one another in entering Louvain, and charged the civil population with attacking them; as a punishment they bombarded the town, looted it, and then set fire with hand grenades to the houses that had escaped, destroying the Cathedral, the University Buildings, and the famous Library, with a multitude of priceless MSS., including much early Celtic literature; and they grossly maltreated a number of priests, including two Spaniards and an American. Dinant was sacked (Aug. 22-25) without assignable provocation. Many of the men were shot deliberately, and 1,200 houses burnt out of 1,400; a similar fate had befallen Andenne (Aug. 20-21) for equally unintelligible reasons. These atrocities, unmatched in Europe, except perhaps in the Near East, for nearly three centuries, finally turned the mass of European and American opinion against Germany, and seemed likely to make reconciliation impossible for many years after the war.[24]

For the first four weeks of September the Belgian Army was acting as a screen to Antwerp, mainly in the district between that city and Malines and Termonde. This latter place was bombarded and plundered on September 4, and deliberately destroyed next day; but the Belgians defeated the Germans on September 5 by opening the dykes on them, and so capturing many prisoners. From September 9 to 13 there was heavy fighting round Malines as the result of a sortie from Antwerp, intended to hamper the German advance of reinforcements through Belgium to France, and the main line of communication between Brussels and Liège by Louvain and Tirlemont was cut, thus delaying the inrush of the German troops. But eventually the superior German numbers drove the Belgians back. Again on September 25 the Belgians repulsed the Germans at Audeghem near Termonde, and that place and Malines changed hands more than once. But Malines was finally occupied by the Germans on September 7. The Germans now having brought up their heavy siege artillery opened fire on September 28 on the outer forts of Waelhem and Louvre-St. Catherine (two or three miles north of Malines) and destroyed them by September 30. Two days later the Belgians were driven by German artillery fire from the shallow and hastily dug trenches they had occupied in rear of these forts to new positions on the other side of the River Nethe, their front extending from near Boom eastwards to Lierre. Next day the German attack on this front developed; the neutral Legations began to leave; but the defenders were encouraged by the arrival of a British Marine Brigade under General Paris, which was sent into the trenches at Lierre and repulsed a German attempt to cross the Nethe, but the German artillery forced back the defenders, and on Monday afternoon, October 5, the bulk of the Belgian Army was compelled to retire westwards towards Eecloo and Ghent. Two British Naval Brigades arrived subsequently (p. 220) and assisted in the defence; but the Germans forced their way across the Nethe, and captured Lierre (Oct. 6); the remaining Belgians and British fell back on the inner ring of forts, and the King and the Allies' Legations withdrew to Ostend. To cut off the Belgian withdrawal, German troops attempted to cross the Scheldt along the line from Termonde to Wetteren, but succeeded after fierce fighting only on October 7, when it was too late. On that day General von Beseler summoned the city to surrender, and on its refusal bombarded it; and on the following night, after destroying quantities of stores, including much petrol, and disabling the German merchant steamers interned in the harbour, the remaining British and Belgian forces withdrew towards Ostend; but many of the First Naval Brigade were captured or crossed the frontier into Holland, and a portion of the Marine Brigade had to fight its way through the Germans at Morbeke. On October 9 the city was occupied by General von Beseler's troops. Four German Army Corps were stated to have taken part in the attack. The fall of the city caused the utmost enthusiasm in Germany, and General von Beseler received the Iron Cross. The refugees were estimated at upwards of 400,000.

From Antwerp the Belgian Army retreated in the first instance on Ostend, its retreat being immediately covered by 8,000 men of the British Naval Brigade and 6,500 French bluejackets, and, farther off, by the British force under Sir Henry Rawlinson, operating in the neighbourhood of Ghent (p. 222).[25] But the Germans, after severe fighting, occupied Ghent on October 12; next day the Belgian Court and Government left Ostend (which the Germans occupied October 16) and proceeded by sea to Havre, where the suburb of St. Adresse became the temporary capital of Belgium. The Germans now occupied Bruges and Zeebrugge, strongly defending the latter place with a view to its conversion into a base for submarines; the Belgian Army, now reduced to some 60,000, at first had been directed to make a stand in French territory, but eventually took up a position extending along the canalised Yser, from Nieuport-Bains on the Channel by Lombaertzyde to Dixmude; from the last-named place to Ypres and the French border at Ménin the Allies' line was held by French forces and by Sir Henry Rawlinson's troops. On October 17 the German front in Belgium extended from Ostend through Thielt and Roulers to near Ménin; and their primary aim was to capture Dunkirk and Calais as bases for an attack on England. Their direct route thither was blocked by the Belgian Army in the Battle of the Yser (Oct. 16-Nov. 2) in which some French troops, including marines and territorials, took part. Three points in the front were of special importance--the village of Lombaertzyde, a bend of the river near Tervaete, projecting towards the German front, and Dixmude. After two days' fighting, the Belgian advanced posts were driven back (Oct. 10-19); for the next four days the Belgians, now behind the Yser, were fiercely attacked, those in the salient at Tervaete being enfiladed by German heavy artillery; on the night of October 22 the Germans crossed the Yser at Tervaete, and the Belgians, though reinforced and partly relieved by a French force, the 42nd division, were gradually driven back (Oct. 23-30) to a front behind the railway from Nieuport to Dixmude, two or three miles from the Yser. Reinforced again on October 31, but forced back by overwhelming numbers, they opened the dykes, flooded the land with sea-water, and gradually forced the Germans back across the Yser, except from a few isolated farms among the flooded land, which were fiercely and repeatedly contested for some time. On November 16 the Germans fell back from the left bank of the Yser Canal; and for some weeks there was little change in the positions, but in December there was a renewal of activity, and on Christmas Day the Belgians were again on the right bank of the Yser.

During the Battle of the Yser and for some time afterwards--altogether from October 17 to November 9--the Belgians were supported on the left by a British squadron under Rear-Admiral Hood, consisting at first of the river monitors Humber, Mersey, and Severn (p. 224), the light cruisers Attentive and Foresight, and some destroyers, and subsequently reinforced from time to time by the battleship Venerable and a number of older cruisers and sloops, carrying heavier guns, which bombarded the German troops along the coast and prevented them from advancing on Nieuport by land, while precluding any effort to do so by sea. Machine-gun detachments were landed, German submarine attacks were repelled, and on October 30 the Admiral led a French destroyer flotilla into action off Lombaertzyde. The arrival of French reinforcements and the flooding of the country rendered further bombardment unnecessary; and the Germans, instead of showing themselves in the open, were driven to construct hidden artillery defences in the sand dunes along the coast. Some of the British ships, among them the Amazon, Mersey, Wildfire, and Vestal--the two latter old sloops of war--were damaged, and there were some British casualties from the Germans' shrapnel and heavy guns. In all thirty British vessels took part, including two submarines, and five French destroyers. The Germans were again bombarded at Westende by a British squadron on December 16; but a month earlier their efforts to reach Dunkirk and Calais by the coast route had been definitely checked by the Belgians--supported by French marines, bluejackets, and territorials on land, and by the British and French squadron at sea. Their attempts to reach the coast through Belgian territory farther south, round Ypres, had meanwhile been frustrated by the British and French forces, and the year closed amid signs that they were now on the defensive, and with a reasonable hope that they would be driven back by the Allied Forces in the spring.

Throughout the war King Albert acted as Commander-in-Chief of his Army and displayed the utmost heroism. He was visited by King George V. on December 4 (p. 245) on the only fragment of Belgian territory not occupied by German troops. The Queen brought her children to England in August, but soon returned to her country.

A Belgian Mission visited the United States in August and September, and had an excellent reception from both people and Government. Much was done to shelter and provide for the 200,000 refugees in Great Britain and the 500,000 in the Netherlands, and for the comparatively small numbers which reached Switzerland; and those who remained in Belgium were actually saved from starvation by philanthropic effort from the United States, directed by an American Commission, and largely administered by Rhodes scholars from Oxford. Belgium had earned the gratitude of the non-Germanic world. Her first resistance to the invaders gave time for the British and French Armies to concentrate, the defence of Antwerp held back forces which would otherwise have been hurled at the Allies on the Aisne, and the battle of the Yser saved Calais and Dunkirk. The Allies were firmly resolved that no peace should be concluded which did not secure the Belgian people all the reparation possible for their tremendous losses, and that they should receive a due recognition of their heroic resistance.

II. THE NETHERLANDS.

Since the formation of a non-party Cabinet in August, 1913, political conflict had been suspended; and for the first seven months of the year the country had little history. In January a Royal Commission was appointed to devise a settlement of the schools question, which had been the subject of repeated controversies since 1878. It was understood that, while regard was to be paid to the interest of denominational schools, the existing State schools would be left untouched. An attempt to settle another controversial question of long standing was made by the Royal Commission on Proportional Representation, whose Report (issued in June) recommended a complicated modification of the Belgian system, treating the whole country as a single constituency, but providing for the representation of localities by allowing voters to indicate their preference for particular candidates on the list put forward by their respective parties. An elaborate and intricate method of determining the successful candidates was also recommended, but the Report was not acted on during the year. A great demonstration in favour of equal suffrage for both sexes had been held in February at Amsterdam by the extreme Liberals and Social Democrats. The heavy cost of social legislation, especially the old-age pensions, necessitated increased direct taxation and an addition to the excise duty on beer. The creation of a new Navy for colonial defence was also proceeded with (A.R., 1913, p. 365). The anxiety set up in France and Belgium by the projected fortifications at the entrance to the Scheldt (A. R., 1913, p. 364) was enhanced early in the year by the announcement that the new fort would not, as had been expected, be situated on a shoal opposite Flushing, where it would have prevented the occupation by an enemy of that town or the coast opposite, but would be placed higher up the Scheldt: so that it might conceivably serve to block that river against the approach of a fleet sent to relieve Antwerp in the event of the violation of Belgian neutrality. Just before the war broke out, again, it was stated that the German Vulkan Company, which owned a huge shipyard at Stettin and was controlled by a well-known millionaire, Herr Thyssen, had acquired a site for a harbour on the Nieuwe Waterweg, one of the chief approaches to Rotterdam. This it was feared might ultimately be used as a German naval base. Questioned on the subject in the House of Commons, Sir E. Grey stated that he was informed that the place would only serve for the transfer of iron ore from sea-going ships to river barges. But anxieties as to German influence in Holland were swept away by the events of the war.

On the outbreak of the war the Government issued a declaration of neutrality (Aug. 3); it had already mobilised its army, to the extent of some 125,000 men, with remarkable efficiency and speed. The export of coal, food, horses and vehicles was prohibited, and an opening of the dykes was contemplated so as to protect the land frontier of the "Holland Fortress," or defended area of the kingdom, if necessary, by inundation. This, however, was not done, since no attempt was made to violate Dutch territory--except, indeed, that a German airman dropped bombs on Maastricht, probably by mistake. The financial disturbance set up was serious for a time; there was a run on the savings banks, and a tendency to hoard coin. The Post Office Savings Bank exercised its right to defer payments to depositors for a fortnight--a step which caused some comment. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange was closed, and a Bill was passed empowering the Bank of the Netherlands to reduce the proportion of specie it was bound to hold against liabilities to 20 per cent. Small paper money was also created, in the form of "silverbons" of one, two and a half, and five florins, and fresh silver was rapidly coined; but some of the towns issued their own "silverbons," to make good the lack of change. A Credit Bank was formed by the retail traders, to enable them to meet the demands of manufacturers and wholesale dealers for payment in cash, and arrangements were made for advances by the Bank of the Netherlands on approved security, under a guarantee from a group of banks against possible loss. A Bill was passed in September, after considerable opposition, enabling the courts to extend the time allowed for payment of debt. The Bourse was placed under Government supervision. A loan of 275,000,000 florins (about 22,000,000_l._) was issued in November, subscription being compulsory on persons whose fortunes exceeded 75,000 guilders (about 6,500_l._).

The Queen's Speech at the opening of the States-General (Sept. 14) appealed confidently to the nation to avoid endangering neutrality in trade and traffic, and expressed satisfaction at the success of the mobilisation and the union of the people, noting also some improvement in certain branches of trade.

The war, however, did grave injury to industry, notably to the Amsterdam trade of diamond cutting, and to shipping, and food prices rose sharply. Moreover, the country was burdened with the support of some 1,560 British marines and bluejackets and some 22,000 Belgian soldiers who accidentally entered Dutch territory after the fall of Antwerp, besides half a million Belgian refugees. But the burden was borne nobly, and though there was an active German propaganda, the fate of Belgium estranged Dutch sympathy from the German cause.

Luxemburg. The visit of the King and Queen of the Belgians (April 27-29) was entirely successful, and their Majesties received a most cordial welcome. It was thought likely to open the way to closer commercial connexion between the two countries, thus tending to counterbalance the growth in the Grand Duchy of German industrial and trade interests. A projected visit from the Queen of the Netherlands in August was prevented by the war.

The general election, held in June, was fought mainly on the School Law, condemned by the Bishop and clergy, and was a great success for the Government. To some extent, too, it was said to be a demonstration against German influences.

On Saturday evening, August 1, a small body of German troops arrived in motor cars at Trois Vierges, and seized it, but were presently called back as having exceeded their instructions. Next morning, however, a trainload of German soldiers reached Luxemburg itself, seized the station and the bridges on the lines to Trèves and Spa, and proceeded to the barracks, thus violating the neutrality guaranteed by the Powers by the Treaty of London, 1867. But the far more conspicuous case of Belgium drew off attention from this German outrage. The Grand Duchess and the authorities protested, but in vain. For the rest of the year the Grand Duchy was occupied by German troops; and it was, for a time, the residence of the Emperor. Swiss papers stated that numerous citizens were arrested at the instance of German residents, but, as no resistance could be made to the Germans, there were no cruelties. The Grand Duchess was very active in Red Cross work. An indemnity was paid by Germany of 1,600,000 francs, of which 1,283,000 represented damage done to crops and real property, and the remainder the use of roads and public buildings by German troops. It was said to be quite inadequate. The civil administration was allowed to go on under the native authorities, but there was a strict German censorship of the postal, telegraphic, and telephonic services.

III. SWITZERLAND.

Before dealing with the great difficulties imposed on Switzerland by the European War a brief summary must be given of domestic politics during the first seven months of the year. In the spring session the Federal Legislature completed the revision of the factory law, passed the scheme of reorganisation of the Federal Council, and decided to institute a Federal Administrative Court. The National Council had pronounced by a large majority against the Initiative demanding the establishment of proportional representation; but another Initiative, aiming at the prohibition of the games of chance permitted in the Casinos at tourist centres, obtained the requisite number of signatures required for its submission to a popular vote.

The National Exhibition at Berne, opened auspiciously on May 15, was a superb collection of manufactures, of works of art--which gave rise to much discussion--and of exhibits of all sorts representing the actual condition and social and industrial development of the Swiss nation. On July 7 the King of the Belgians visited Berne and was received by the Federal Council. He joined the Queen in the canton of Vaud, and then went on to the Alps of the Valais.

The elections and popular votes in the various cantons made no appreciable difference in the position of parties, or in policy, but in two cantons--Ticino and Uri--financial mismanagement entailed serious consequences. In the former the failure of the Credito Ticinese, of the Banco Cantonale, and of a third and private banking establishment involved losses estimated at 40,000,000 fr. (1,600,000_l._) and the arrest of several prominent persons. It necessitated the intervention of a Syndicate of Swiss banks, formed under the auspices of the National Bank. In Uri the Savings Bank, guaranteed by the canton, had invested several million francs in industrial enterprises, and almost the whole of this sum was lost.

Early in July the canton of Geneva celebrated the centenary of its admission to the Swiss Confederation. Of this memorable celebration the climax was the representation in a large and specially constructed theatre of a pageant, arranged by MM. Daniel Baud-Bouy, A. Malsch and Jacques Dalcroze, entitled "La Fête du Juin."

The Federal elections, it may here be added, took place at the end of the year. By common consent they were uncontested, except in a few districts where attempts were made to force on the electorate supporters of the St. Gothard Convention (A.R., 1913, p. 368). The President of the Confederation for 1915 was M. Motta of Ticino, the Vice-President M. Decoppet of Vaud, while another citizen of Vaud, M. F. Bonjour, was elected President of the National Council. The chief work of this body during the year was the passing of the Budget and (in December) of certain fiscal measures designed to cope to some extent with the immense deficit caused by the war in the Customs revenue and the Federal railway receipts. The cost of the mobilisation alone by the end of the year amounted to 104,480,000 francs. At first the Federal Council had considered the immediate establishment of a Federal monopoly of tobacco, or, alternatively, of a special tax on it, and a special levy on capital and earned income; eventually both were postponed for further examination, and also as necessitating an amendment of the Federal Constitution. Provisionally, therefore, new revenue was obtained by an increase of existing taxes and of telephone, telegraph, and certain postal rates. The requisite legislation was formally declared urgent, and was thereby exempted from possible submission to a popular vote.

On the outbreak of the war it became the primary duty and effort of the Swiss nation to preserve its integrity and independence. On July 31 the whole Swiss Army received notice to hold itself in readiness; on August 3 a general mobilisation was ordered, which was most satisfactorily carried out. On the latter day the Federal Chambers assembled, and elected Colonel Ulrich Wille to the chief command of the Army, and Colonel Sprecher von Bernegg Chief of the General Staff. They also invested the Federal Council with the widest possible powers.

For the rest of the year the Federal Administration had to face a very difficult situation. Its declaration of neutrality was followed by a long series of measures necessitated by one of the most critical situations in Swiss history.[26] Besides the purely military measures originating especially with the General Staff--the mobilisation and training of the troops, the war time-table (involving a reduced service) of the Federal Railways, and the construction of fortifications, the deficiency of grain had to be supplied from abroad by the Federal Council, and a kind of monopoly of cereals became inevitable.

On the declaration of war the stocks of grain and flour in hand, together with those in the hands of traders, secured the food supply of the country for three months at most. With the home crop there would be enough, with strict supervision, to last till mid-December. Refraining from sequestration of home-grown grain, the Federal Council confined itself to demanding its sale at the price of imported grain, though its yield was lower. This step had not the desired effect, but fortunately in the spring the Federal Council had made arrangements for a supply with Germany and France. The arrangement concluded with Germany proved ineffectual, the war stopping the transit of grain up the Rhine. Cargoes on their way to Rotterdam were intercepted by the British Fleet. But as compensation Switzerland obtained the delivery of the 2,600 carloads of wheat and some hundreds of carloads of oats stored in German warehouses or in transit by the Rhine at the outbreak of the war. Meanwhile the Federal authorities made considerable purchases in America. The arrangement with France permitted the daily discharge and despatch to Swiss territory of quantities of wheat and oats representing the daily Swiss consumption, but in fact the ports of St. Nazaire and Bordeaux, which were to secure the maintenance of this service, at no time did so, and the average supply continuously fell short of the normal need. As it happened, the deficit could be made good through Genoa, notably in December, when the importation reached its maximum. In January, 1915, the crowded condition of the port of Genoa caused a decline, but the French authorities just then gave permission for importation to Switzerland through Marseilles. Charges were made that the export of wheat to the belligerents had been permitted; but they were unfair and baseless.[27] The supply of fuel was a still greater difficulty; but the courtesy of the neighbouring countries enabled it to be maintained.

The Federal Council had also to prohibit the exportation of commodities indispensable to the nation, and to attempt to obtain the raw materials necessary to the continuance of Swiss industries, it had also to induce the Press as far as possible to observe neutrality so as not to hamper it in negotiation. It had to repress espionage, to regulate the relations of debtors and creditors so as to avert a financial crisis, to enable payments to be deferred, to lessen unemployment, to regulate the relations of workmen with employers whose business was affected by the crisis; it had specially to supplement the stock of silver coin, to issue notes and Treasury bonds of 5, 10, 20, 25 and 40 francs, to create a Loan Bank, and to contract two Federal Loans, of 25,000,000 francs and 40,000,000 francs respectively, and to prepare legislation enabling the repayment of part of the expenditure incurred, which would reach 200,000,000 francs early in 1915.

Immense services were rendered to the country in all financial operations by the National Bank. Under the earlier system of a number of cantonal banks of issue, the crisis would have been far more serious. Nevertheless a host of industries were paralysed, beginning with the hotel industry (p. 187) and the building trade. Fortunately agriculture has remained important in the national economy.

After a few days of panic on the outbreak of the war among certain classes, with a run on the banks and the provision shops, the public reverted to a saner view of the position. The establishment of military rule and the total prohibition of demonstrations of all sorts contributed largely to this result. Apprehension was quieted by the publication of a statement of the resources of the country and by the means taken to assure fresh supplies of food, and, up to the end of the year at any rate, the gravest results of the economic crisis had been averted by a judicious administration of relief. The public services were put to a severe test, but their immediate difficulties had been overcome. The military organisation had proved to be excellent; so had the railway administration. The financial administration had emerged but slowly from its difficulties. Despite its honesty, soundness and prudence, the crisis seemed to have shown that it needed some additional mechanism.

Protests were made by the Federal Government against the seizure of grain cargoes destined for Swiss use and against an alleged violation of Swiss territory during the air raid on Friedrichshafen (Nov. 21; p. 245). The first difference was arranged amicably; the violation of territory was denied by the British Government.

Finally, the country recovered itself and rallied when confronted by the immensity of the misery demanding relief. The Red Cross Society was unsparing in its exertions. Conclusive reasons prevented the despatch by it of ambulances to the seat of war, but many medical men and nurses went abroad to devote themselves to the care of the wounded. The International Red Cross Committee at Geneva created an Agency for Prisoners of War, which collected the names and addresses of French prisoners in Germany and of German prisoners in France. It transmitted to them letters or parcels sent by their relatives, and though, eventually, direct communication became possible, the Agency was still receiving thousands of demands for information daily after the New Year had begun.

An Agency to deal with interned civilians was also established at Berne, and was assisted by a Committee at Geneva for the Germans and at Schaffhausen for the French. It was indefatigable in its exertions. It served as an intermediary between the belligerents for the repatriation of the persons interned. It took thousands of them under its charge at one or other frontier and conducted them to their own country.

In offering hospitality to Belgian refugees Lausanne led the way. By the close of the year some hundreds of them had arrived and the stream was continuing. They were received by the whole people with a thrill of sympathy, and were distributed throughout the French-speaking cantons. The wave of pity for them spread to German Switzerland; gifts for them poured in; subscriptions were opened for them by the Press; workrooms were filled with clothing and underclothing, and much work was done for them in private houses. While the ingenuity of their hosts was taxed on their behalf and on that of the wounded, it was necessary also to provide for the Swiss who had been deprived by the occupation of the frontiers of their means of subsistence. Here also the Red Cross organisation lent its aid, distributing clothing, boots, underclothing and relief. In charitable work the nation recovered its unity, which for a short time had been compromised by sectional differences of opinion and reciprocal violence of language. The alleged divergence of view between French and German Swiss was largely generated by the allegations in the Press that it existed, and was misinterpreted as a manifestation of cantonal antagonism. Facts may be differently appreciated and feelings may vary in degree, but in the hour of danger the unity of the Swiss people is complete.

IV. SPAIN.

The first days of the year saw the opening of an electoral campaign of a kind entirely novel in Spanish history. By a decree of January 4 the electors of the kingdom were summoned for March 4 to choose the members of the Cortes; the renewal of the Senate was fixed for a slightly later date, in conformity with a precedent dating from the period of the Sagasta Ministry. The various parties had thus two whole months for their propaganda; not too much, considering their strange complication on entering the contest. The old historic parties were irremediably broken up. The former Liberal group was divided into Romanonists and Prietists, who were violently hostile to each other; the Conservative adherents of the Prime Minister were treated by Señor Maura's supporters as renegades, and, with their leader, were advancing by imperceptible stages towards a broad conception of social progress which was destined to win them the sympathy of the King and eventually the Romanonists' support. Señor Dato did not entirely give up the advantages traditionally possessed by Spanish Ministries, but he did not desire to abuse them, and he bid for support for his cause by showing fair play, inasmuch as he allowed his opponents full freedom of speech, of the Press, and of public meeting, so far as was compatible with the preservation of order, and met them, not with prosecutions and arbitrary interferences, but with arguments and projects of reform. As a security that this judicious policy would be continued, he was bold enough to cut short the constant advance towards decentralisation, which had been retarded for years by Parliamentary trickery, by procuring the issue of a Royal decree authorising mancomunidades or combinations of local authorities for public purposes (A.R., 1912, p. 372). That the time was ripe for this reform was proved by the fact that the provinces forming the ancient Kingdom of Castile immediately combined for poor-relief and public works; their example was followed by Valencia and Catalonia. This step visibly discomfited the Opposition. The Carlists and Maurists even accused the Government of stealing other people's plans. The King loyally supported its efforts to combine order with freedom. A few brief periods of temporary difficulty were easily surmounted. The railway strike in Portugal in the middle of January occasioned a careful watch of the whole Western frontier; and through this vigilance the movement was prevented from spreading to Spain. Colonel Labrador, a Protestant, had been condemned by court martial to six months' detention in a fortress for having refused to attend a Mass of the Holy Spirit; the King pardoned him. The increasing popularity of the Ministry exasperated the Opposition to such a degree that it led them into a blunder. They decided to organise a great electoral demonstration at the very heart of the region where their leader had most influence. Don Ossorio Gallardo, who when Governor of Barcelona had mercilessly suppressed the rising of 1909, went there to preside at a great Conservative meeting and banquet. As he was proceeding to the place of meeting at the head of a very demonstrative procession, he was attacked by a band of counter-demonstrators; revolvers were fired, and one of the organisers of his campaign who was beside him was wounded. The Acting-Governor, Señor Andrade, tendered him his condolence; he refused it, and exhibited his irritation even more decidedly by declaring in public that the government of the province had been put up to auction and had gone to the least deserving bidder. These denunciations the Liberal Conservatives and their allies decided to disregard, and these tactics were successful. Order was gradually restored at Barcelona. It was disturbed at Valencia by causes which were not political but social. A general strike was set up (Feb. 25) by a fresh increase of the municipal taxes; as a precaution, all the shops, warehouses, and offices were closed; the troops had to intervene forcibly to restore order.

The result of the general election of the Chamber was considered as a victory not only for the Ministry, but also for the King. He had made himself the mediator between the parties, and it was his delight to enter into relations with all the more important personages of the Kingdom either at the great open receptions at the Royal Palace, or in private interviews, which he granted freely. According to the official figures, of the 404 members elected 356 were Liberals, Liberal Conservatives, or "Reformist" Republicans, the last named having practically come to support, not perhaps the monarchy, but at any rate the monarch. The Ministerial organs, and even the Romanonist, exulted in the success; but the figures were disputed by the Opposition, and eventually the divisions following the more important debates in the Cortes showed that the seats won by the Carlists (or rather Jaïmists), by the Ultramontanes or Integrists, and by the Maurists on the Extreme Right and the Republicans and Socialists on the Extreme Left might be estimated at a third of the total. The elections to the Senate had been completed on April 22. The results were: Conservatives ninety-two, Liberals fifty-one, Catholics ten, of whom eight were prelates, Regionalists six, Republicans seven, Integrists and Jaïmists two each. The session formally opened on April 2, when the newly elected deputies and Senators attended to hear the Royal Speech. But the Chamber adjourned almost immediately for Easter, and then proceeded leisurely to examine whether its members were duly elected; it was not definitively constituted until April 28. Señor Besada was elected President without a dissentient vote, and it was not till May 5 that the debate on the Address was begun. This policy of gaining time seemed to have quieted the Maurist ardour for attack. In the Senate three days sufficed for the debate; the Address was passed by 145 to 71. A much longer time was required in the Chamber; the Ministerial text was passed by 184 to 90 on June 18. But several debates on other subjects had taken place meantime, and had resulted in disorder. That on the interpellation on Morocco introduced by Don Gabriel Maura, son of the ex-Premier, had been especially uproarious, and had led to encounters in the lobbies between deputies and journalists, and to street fights, with bloodshed, between the supporters of the different parties, which compelled the police to take vigorous measures to restore order. Meanwhile a shipping strike was met by the owners with a lock-out, and they refused the arbitration offered by the Government. The strike lasted more than a fortnight, but ended on June 22, without the strikers' demands being satisfied. During this time the Government introduced a naval programme into the Chamber, in the shape of a Bill providing for an annual grant for nine years of 36,000,000 pesetas (1,440,000_l._) for the construction of two battleships, two fast cruisers, and a number of submarines; it also secured the passing of a Treaty of Commerce with Italy.

The end of the session was comparatively calm. The Chamber adopted the Treaty of Commerce already voted by the Senate, and the Republicans, by proposing a lengthy series of amendments, prevented the discussion of the naval scheme. As soon as the only measures remaining to be considered were not purely political, the two Chambers were overcome by fatigue. But interesting questions were raised nevertheless. Thus Don Rogelio de Madariaga proposed that a Commission of experts should be appointed to study the question of reducing the gauge of the railways of the Kingdom so as to make it uniform with that of Central and Western Europe. The change became imperative in view of the impending connexion of the French system with the lines of Northern Spain by two new railways through the Pyrenees. The matter was postponed, and the Cortes separated for the recess, first, however, passing (July 9) a slight modification in the concession for the Morocco railway from Tangier to Fez in respect of the part traversing the Spanish zone.

During the recess, the question arose of the attitude to be observed by Spain in the war in Europe. This gave rise to active discussion. The geographical position of the kingdom assured it great advantages, whatever side it might take, unless indeed it should become engaged in a war with France. On July 30 Señor Dato emphatically contradicted a statement to the effect that Spain had undertaken to send an army to relieve the French expeditionary corps in Morocco, and declared that Spain was not bound to any Power whatever by either an offensive or a defensive alliance. As the various declarations of war were issued, the Government intimated its intention to remain neutral, and its behaviour up to the close of the year was in accordance with this decision. The Liberals and Republicans set up an active agitation in favour of Spanish support for the Triple Entente; but the great mass of the priesthood, the Carlists, and a section of the Maurists, demanded a benevolent neutrality towards Germany and Austria-Hungary. The King observed strict impartiality; but he combined the attitude of reserve taken up by him as monarch with a chivalrous recognition of the help given to Spain on various occasions by France. The diplomatic representatives of Spain in Germany and Austria-Hungary were instructed to undertake the protection of French subjects and interests in those countries, and fulfilled their mission with conspicuous dignity. In Spain itself economic measures had to be taken; at the beginning of August a moratorium was established by decree, and the export of cereals and cattle for slaughter prohibited. The censorship was not revived, but the President of the Press Association and the editors-in-chief of the Madrid newspapers were summoned to the Ministry of the Interior, and Don Sanchez Guerra explained to them very clearly the conditions on which the Government would allow the system of freedom for the Press to continue. It was forbidden to cause assemblages or demonstrations by announcing news through the medium of illuminated notices; to circulate false news relating to the events of the war or to diplomatic action; and to insert articles insulting to any of the belligerent Powers. At the same time an active supervision was exercised over the agencies established in Spain to support the interests of Germany, and it disclosed strange manoeuvres, both at Barcelona and on the Atlantic coasts. Thus wireless stations were discovered, surreptitiously established in monasteries; they were suppressed, but people were not so optimistic as to hope that there were no others. From the middle of September, and especially after the bombardment of Reims, Spanish opinion gradually turned to open support of the Allies; but the Government remained faithful to its original determination, and the Minister of Public Instruction, Señor Bellarmin, who had gone beyond the reserve imposed on him by his office, was obliged to resign. On October 2 a decree was issued summoning the Cortes for the autumn session, which was a very busy one. The business was, in fact, the Budget of 1915, which had not been dealt with in the spring, being crowded out by the debates on Morocco. The Opposition made some attempts at obstruction, but in vain. Count Romanones loyally and effectively supported the Ministers in limiting the debates on political and diplomatic questions to a few sittings each week, so as to devote the rest of the time to the Finance Bill. The method was straightforward and its effects were happy. The Chamber and Senate approved the Ministerial declaration of neutrality, and took note of Señor Dato's promise to consult them if the course of events should necessitate exceptional measures. Meanwhile, Spain performed her duties with courtesy, and reminded her foreign guests, when necessary, of the respect due to her laws. The German Consul-General at Barcelona had the presumption to demand the prohibition in that city of the sale of all French newspapers whatever, on the pretext that they contained insults to the Emperor and the German Army; he was met with a categorical refusal. On November 15 the Chamber discussed the shooting of Spanish subjects at Liège by the Emperor's troops. The Marquis of Lerna replied for the Government that explanations had been demanded at Berlin, and that an inquiry had been promised by the Secretary of State. In the same sitting the Minister informed the Chamber that France no longer proposed to claim for her members the maintenance of the rights and privileges resulting from the capitulations in Morocco, on condition that they should be treated by the Courts on a footing of equality with subjects of Spain. Two days later the Chamber approved the proposed amnesty for political offenders, in spite of the opposition of the Right. The Maurists did not relax their hostility, but their agitation in no way helped their cause, nor that of their Germanophil allies. A Jesuit, Father Ricardos, great-grandson of the General who invaded Roussillon in 1793, undertook, in a sermon at Alicante, to defend the German Armies; he was hooted by his hearers and compelled to leave the pulpit. A newspaper started by the Hamburger Nachrichten to carry on the pro-German propaganda in Spain insulted the ex-Empress of the French; it was seized by the Spanish police and suppressed. King Alphonso XIII saw his popularity and prestige increasing daily; the Republicans themselves paid homage to his loyalty to the country and his patriotism. When the session of the Cortes closed on December 1, the political and economic situation of Spain was more satisfactory than it had been for a long time past. The rate of exchange had undergone a remarkable improvement; still, great circumspection was necessary, and the Government appealed to the Spanish capitalists who had subscribed for the Treasury Bonds, of which 250,000,000 pesetas were repayable at the end of December, urging them not to require repayment, in order that there should be no interruption in the public works undertaken to relieve unemployment.

V. PORTUGAL.

The complicated mechanism of the Republican Constitution of Portugal could only have worked regularly if a small number of parties, well organised and under strict discipline, had secured the support of the immense majority of the electorate for simple programmes, leaving the form of Government entirely outside discussion. But things did not stand thus. The Monarchists remained irreconcilable and active; the rural classes, whose ignorance was extreme, cared little about the Republic; in the great towns the syndicalist propaganda threatened even the first principles of social order; the middle-class political parties were hardly more than coteries, whose leaders struggled amid personal intrigues. Some excellent people felt anxiety at this condition of affairs, and strove to form homogeneous parties; their efforts were paralysed by the bad habits which were a legacy from traditions that were already ancient. Thus, when on January 5 the session opened, there was reason to apprehend grave complications. However, Señor Affonso Costa, the Prime Minister, made the best of a bad situation. He announced extensive schemes; a Bill forbidding members of the Cortes to hold their seats together with certain offices; reforms in the Budget, securing a surplus of 3,400 contos or 17,000,000 francs (680,000_l._), of which 2,400 contos would be spent on national defence. But the majority of the Senate declared itself opposed to him, and on January 10 the Evolutionist Senator Joâo de Freïtas addressed an interpellation to the Prime Minister on a personal question, charging him with having placed his influence as a Minister at the service of clients who consulted him as a barrister. The Minister refused to reply to a calumny. His supporters opposed the nomination of a Committee of Inquiry, and left the House. Other incidents became associated with this scandal; grave Senators sent one another challenges, and for three days a tumult hitherto unheard of converted the Senate Chamber into the semblance of a revolutionary club let loose. Along with this disturbance in the Senate there was a serious strike among the men employed by the Portuguese Railways Company. Seven thousand men left work on a question of pensions. They demanded that the age limit of sixty should be lowered to fifty. Every railway service to Spain was disorganised. The movement rapidly took on a revolutionary aspect. Trains and engines were taken into Spain, and the staff refused to bring them back into Portugal. The Government had the stations occupied by troops; it protected the works of art and, after a week of vigilant efforts and of negotiations, induced the men to resume work (Jan. 21). But it was constantly harassed by the Senate, and the Prime Minister refused to appear in that body until satisfaction had been rendered for the insult offered him. He was supported by the Chamber. The Senate then appealed to the President of the Republic to intervene, by asking him, as guardian of the Republic, to invite his Ministers to observe its orders. The President declared that the settlement of this difficulty lay with the legislative power. The two Chambers met in a joint sitting to vote the adjournment of the session. The Ministerialists proposed a vote of confidence, which was adopted by 114 to 93. The Opposition Senators and deputies then withdrew, and by their withdrawal precluded the regular passage of the other measures before the House. The Ministry found its course hopelessly blocked. It resigned (Jan. 24).

The two Chambers were in conflict. The Democratic Left had the majority in the Lower House; the Unionist and Evolutionist groups of the Opposition in the Senate. Each group, by leaving the House, prevented the other from having a quorum and taking a valid division. The President of the Republic made lavish efforts at conciliation. He selected as Prime Minister Senhor Bernardino Machado, who had come back from Brazil; on February 8 a Ministry was formed, on the 9th it presented itself to the President of the Republic, and on the day following to the Cortes. Its programme comprised an amnesty for political offences, pardons, sufficiently wide in their range, for other convicted persons, the revision of the law separating Church and State, impartiality in electoral contests, and abatement of party strife. As a security that these pacific declarations would be carried out, the new Ministry met the wishes of the Senate on a subject which had brought that body into conflict with the preceding Cabinet, viz. the right of exercising a check on the appointment of Colonial Governors; in return, it obtained from the Senate the passing of a Bill re-establishing the Lisbon Labour Exchange, and, after some days of delicate negotiation, it induced both Houses to vote the proposed amnesty (Feb. 23). The day following, the railwaymen again went on strike, and for some days there was reason to expect disturbances of the gravest kind. The crisis, however, was terminated without resort to force; and, for some months, the Ministry followed a prudent policy of conciliation which diminished the violence of controversy and kept matters going till June. But this temporising method was violently attacked, especially by the Democrats. Senhor Machado decided that the time had come to obtain a new confirmation of his power. On June 20 he resigned, and, when re-appointed by the President of the Republic, he formed an entirely non-party Ministry, to proceed with complete impartiality to new elections; and it secured the passing of the Budget. The election campaign was marked by considerable disturbance, and was abruptly interrupted by the declaration of war by Great Britain on Germany. Portugal found herself involved in the conflict, and was obliged to repel German attacks on Angola. The elections were postponed; the Cortes were summoned for August 7, and were requested by the Government to empower it to take all the measures necessary to guarantee the maintenance of public order, to secure national defence, and to provide for the expenditure that would have to be undertaken in view of the international situation. The Chamber voted urgency and unanimously adopted the Bill laid before it; the day following, the Senate likewise passed the measure unanimously, and the Chambers were prorogued. It must be acknowledged that thenceforward the attitude of the Republican parties was perfectly correct. The Monarchists hesitated to follow their example, although King Manuel wrote on August 20 to his chief representative, Don Azevedo Coutinho, that he had personally placed himself at the disposal of King George V., and the Portuguese Monarchists must think first of their country and the defence of its sacred soil. In the course of October a few irreconcilables attempted a rising, which was a miserable failure; its only consequence was to cause the chief of their party, Don Joâo de Azevedo Coutinho, to write to the President of the Republic demanding permission to serve in the Army should Portugal take part in the European War. His goodwill was not put to the test. The Government contented itself with sending reinforcements to Angola; it suppressed without difficulty a disturbance at Oporto caused by the high price of provisions; and on November 25 it convoked the Chambers in extraordinary session. They unanimously and promptly passed a resolution giving the Government full power to take part in the war in conformity with the national interests and obligations. This resolution differed from that adopted in August, inasmuch as at the earlier date the question had only been one of defensive measures, while this time participation was contemplated in the war in Europe. But Great Britain did not call on her ancient ally for assistance, and it was well she did not, the more so inasmuch as the Germanophil parties in Spain were carrying on an agitation for "Iberian Union," which distinctly involved a menace to the independence of Portugal.

The Machado Ministry did not long survive its triumph. At the beginning of December it decided that its mission was fulfilled, and that party politics again claimed their rights. It therefore resigned, and on December 11 a new Cabinet took office. The Prime Minister was Dom Victor-Hugo Azevedo Coutinho, President of the Chamber, who also took the Ministry of Marine; Dom Augusto Soares took that of Foreign Affairs, Colonel Cervera de Albuquerque that of War, and Dom Alexandro Braga that of the Interior. The Ministry was dominated by the influence of the Democrats and of Dom Affonso Costa, and was commended by the alliance with Great Britain, which was indicated as part of its policy by its organs in the Press. The Ministerial declaration (Dec. 14) contained three essential articles: (1) Defence of the Republican system of government; (2) execution of the measures determined on by the vote of November 23 regarding the war; (3) a general election as soon as possible. These elections were to take place in conformity with the method established by a decree of the Provisional Government, unless the Cortes preferred rapidly to pass a law sanctioning the schemes then before it. The Chamber approved these declarations, and passed a vote of confidence in the Government by 63 to 39. The Senate passed a vote of want of confidence by 27 to 26. Thus at the close of the year the Parliamentary situation was precisely what it had been at the opening; but, given the state of things in Portugal, it was much to have gained a year without a catastrophe or a sanguinary convulsion, for a system as frail as that of the young Republic. The fact that it had lived in spite of pessimistic predictions and hostile attacks afforded some assurance that it would last.

VI. DENMARK.

Whilst in Sweden the war effected a happy solution of an all-important question, which for years had been prominent above all other matters, it had in Denmark the very opposite effect. Instead of the determination which made the Swedes put aside their party feuds in order to arrive at a final and adequate settlement of the question of national defence, the Danish legislators agreed, in view of the war, to suspend the consideration of their leading issue, the reform of the Constitution; but, until this determination was arrived at, the reform dominated the session.

On January 8 Dr. Edward Brandes, the Minister of Finance, introduced the Supplementary Budget for the current year. It showed an additional expenditure of some 11,000,000 kroner (611,111_l._), and, as usual, the report on the Budget for the next year was presented the same day, at the first sitting after the Christmas recess. The three political parties supporting the Constitutional reform, the Left, the Radicals, and the Social Democrats, had agreed to a kind of armistice, and although the Report contained 199 amendments, it was exceptionally free from matters likely to cause dissent. The Exchequer Reserve Fund on November 30 had amounted to 15,750,000 kr. (875,000_l._), and the sum lent to banks, etc., to 34,364,000 kr. (1,909,111_l._). On March 14 the Folkething passed the Budget. For the first time the vote was unanimous. The Social Democrats had never before accepted a Budget.

On March 17 M. Claus Berntsen, the former Premier, as Chairman of the Sub-committee on the Constitution, stated that the most important parts of the Constitutional reform were those referring to the election of members of the Rigsdag. In the Folkething the Government proposal had been maintained, viz., that the vote should be accorded to all citizens of either sex who had completed the twenty-fifth year of their age, and that proportional representation should not be established. As to the Landsthing, the discussion had shown that not only the Conservatives, but also several members of the Left in both Houses would not accept the Ministerial proposal that this House should be elected by the municipal councils. It was therefore now proposed to adopt "the principle of age," allowing all citizens of either sex to vote who had passed the age of thirty-five, and to introduce proportional representation. But persons who already possessed a vote and had completed their thirtieth year would be allowed to vote at the first election to the Landsthing. The Landsthing was to comprise ten members for Copenhagen and the adjoining municipality of Frederiksberg, forty-two would be elected by the larger divisions of the kingdom, one by the Island of Bornholm, one by the Faröe Islands, and twelve were to be appointed by the King after selection, under proportional representation, by the fifty-four elected members. The members appointed by the King under the existing system were still to retain their seats for a further term of eight years. The King would have the power to dissolve the Folkething, and might also dissolve the Landsthing, when the latter had twice rejected a measure twice passed by the Folkething, provided that a general election had taken place between its first and second passing by the latter assembly. Some questions were left open in order to leave room for discussion with the Conservatives and concessions to them. The Radicals and the Social Democrats accepted the proposal now set forth, whilst the Conservatives expressed great disappointment and surprise at the "alliance" between these two parties. Prior to this decision a number of discussions had taken place, the Premier declaring the Conservative amendments to be impossible, and a debate on them futile. The Conservatives desired that the electoral qualification should be determined by income, that the minimum age of voters should be higher, that alterations in the Constitution and in taxation should only be carried by specified majorities, and that the Landsthing should in no circumstances be subject to dissolution.

On April 7 the definitive constitutional measure was introduced in the Folkething. It was on the lines of the above proposal; and, as regarded the respective position of King and Government, it followed in the main the existing Constitution. The number of members of the Folkething is to be fixed by a special law--it must not, however, exceed 140--and this measure is also to determine the different constituencies and the mode of election. The members are to be elected for a period of four years. The Landsthing is to comprise seventy members, fifty-four elected as in the proposal above referred to, and sixteen to be co-opted by proportional representation by the fifty-four elected members, detailed rules for the proceedings to be embodied in the forthcoming Elections Bill already mentioned. Henceforward a deputy will be elected for each member of the Landsthing, to take his place if absent or succeed him in the event of his resignation or death. All persons are to have a vote in the elections to the Landsthing who have completed the thirty-fifth year of their age, and any person will be eligible for election to the Landsthing who has a vote in the election for it, provided he resides within the division for which he is a candidate. This last restriction does not apply to the sixteen co-opted members. The last clause dealt with future alterations in the Constitution, which may be introduced both during ordinary and extraordinary sessions. Should an alteration in the Constitution be accepted by both Houses and the Government desires to advance the matter, the Rigsdag is to be dissolved and a general election to both Chambers held. Should the measure be passed both by the Folkething and the Landsthing during the next ordinary or extraordinary session, in unaltered wording, and be sanctioned by the King, it will become law.

On April 17, M. Rode, Minister of the Interior, introduced the new Elections Bill in the Folkething, at the same time announcing the withdrawal of the election measure passed by the Folkething the previous autumn, and then before the Landsthing. The number of constituencies for the Folkething was fixed at 120; besides their representatives, twenty members were to be elected as follows: When the results of an election of the 120 members are known and the number of votes recorded for each party has been added up, the total number of votes recorded for the whole country is then divided by 140. The aggregate votes of the different parties are then divided by the quotient of the above-mentioned division by 140, and by this method it is determined to how many out of the 140 members each party is entitled by the aggregate number of votes cast for its candidates. It is then ascertained how many members each party has returned in single divisions and it is then calculated to how many additional members each party is entitled. Parties which have not returned any candidates are debarred from obtaining any additional members, as are parties which at the general election have returned their full number of members or more. The additional seats due to each party go to those of its candidates who were not returned, but who obtained the highest percentage of votes within a constituency.

As for the Landsthing, the fifty-four members elected by a general election are divided amongst nine electoral divisions. The mode of election resembles that existing at present, inasmuch as it is indirect, and conducted by chosen electors. At present, however, each rural municipality only chooses one elector, but for the future at least three must be elected. The rule is, one chosen elector for each 350 inhabitants, and the election is by proportional representation. Should a municipality not have the 875 inhabitants which is the minimum entitling it to three electors, it combines with its neighbouring municipality to form one electoral division. The d'Hondt method of election is used in the municipalities. The sixteen members of the Landsthing referred to above are elected for eight years, as are the other members, of whom half are elected every fourth year as at present.

The Bill came up for first reading on April 21 and was supported by spokesmen of the Left, the Radicals and the Social Democrats, although the spokesman of the first mentioned gave it a somewhat reluctant support, as his party did not favour proportional representation or an increase in the numbers of the Folkething. The Conservative spokesman was not at all satisfied. The Bill was referred to a Committee of fifteen.

On April 28 the so-called constitutional parties--those in favour of the new Constitution--held meetings confirming their agreement of April 4 and extending it to the Election Bill, "the faithful follower" of the constitutional measure. On May 6 the Folkething passed the Elections Bill with some modification as to the distribution of constituencies between the different parts of the country. It was passed by ninety-seven votes to one. The single opponent was one of the seven Conservatives, the other six abstaining, and seven members were absent. The Bill then went to the Landsthing.

In the Landsthing the spokesman of the Left, on May 13, stated that some members of his party were not greatly in favour of the Bill; the representative of the Conservatives was still less so, but the measure was promptly referred to a Committee of fifteen. The Left in the Landsthing framed a fresh Elections Bill, which, after several party meetings, was accepted by the Left, the Radicals, and the Social Democrats of both Chambers, on May 22. The new proposal, which was more provisional in character, did away with the twenty additional members of the Folkething and introduced proportional election in Copenhagen and the three largest provincial towns.

The three "Constitutional parties" now thought that all difficulties had been removed and that both Bills would be promptly passed, but on June 2 the Conservatives stopped progress in the Landsthing by leaving the House in a body before the third reading of the Elections Bill. When the division was taken thirty-three votes were recorded for the third reading, but the Chairman ruled that the division was invalid, thirty-four votes, or at least one above half the number of the Landsthing being required. The Conservatives similarly obstructed the Constitutional reform when the measure, coming from the joint committee of the two Houses, was introduced in the Landsthing for final reading on June 8. None of them were present; but the two groups (thirty-two members) forwarded a communication to the President, stating that they did not propose to attend and giving their reasons for their decision. Their chief reason was that the Elections Bill and the Constitutional reform had been linked together by the three other parties, and that the Conservatives held that the former Bill ought to be laid before the constituencies at a general election. Again thirty-three votes were recorded in favour of the Bill then before the House, and the President again declared the vote invalid.

On June 13 the Landsthing was dissolved in a Council of State, for the first time since the Constitution of 1866 came into operation. The King and the Premier differed on the question whether the dissolution also applied to the members appointed by the King for life, the King maintaining that they could not be affected by a dissolution. Eventually the Government agreed that the question should be left in abeyance until after the election, as the voting might produce a majority in the Landsthing for the measures in question independent of the life members, in which case the question might remain an open one until disposed of otherwise. Should it, however, prove necessary for the Ministry to propose to the King that he should nominate other members in order to effect the object of the dissolution--a prompt and clear decision as to the two measures--His Majesty's attitude to this proposal would decide whether the Ministry should retain office or not.

The election to the Landsthing took place on July 10. The Left gained three seats, the Radicals two, twenty-nine supporters of the two measures and twenty-five opponents being returned. The Landsthing now, with the retention of the Crown nominees as before, contained thirty-eight supporters of the two measures and twenty-eight opponents. The new Landsthing met on July 21. M. A. Thomsen was elected President, an office which the Conservatives now had to relinquish after forty-eight years of undisputed sway. The Constitutional reform and the Elections Bill were both promptly reintroduced on that day and referred to committees on the day following. On July 29 the seven Conservative members of the Landsthing Committee produced twelve amendments which the Government could not accept. Then, before a final result had been achieved, the war broke out. By mutual consent it arrested the progress of these much-discussed measures.

On August 1 the King issued a message to the nation, emphasising the strict neutrality of the Government and all responsible persons, and urging the people collectively and individually to act accordingly. On the same day, as a precautionary measure, 19,000 men were called to the colours; Danish neutrality was safeguarded by placing mines in the Belt, and the German frontier was guarded by Danish troops.

Within a few days several emergency measures were passed by the Rigsdag, including a first extraordinary vote of 10,000,000 kr. (555,555_l._) for the War Minister, laws empowering the Government to prohibit the export of a number of articles and to regulate the price of articles of food, and providing State grants in support of municipal aid funds. Three of the above measures were passed by both Houses in one day, August 6, at a series of sittings, the fourth the day following. It may here be added that though great efforts were made to influence Danish opinion in favour of Germany in the war--a work in which M. Bjorn Björnson, son of the famous author, was prominent--they were by no means successful.

On August 19 the Folkething passed new rules of procedure, under which the President and the two Vice-Presidents are elected by proportional representation and a permanent financial committee is established.

The extraordinary session closed on September 22. Although the Government had determined that the Constitutional reform and the Elections Bill should be passed during the session and thus made ready for the general election, which was required in order to confirm them, the two measures were left undisposed of. A number of minor measures regulating various matters in view of the war had been passed in the meantime.

The Rigsdag assembled again at the usual time, the first Monday in October. The Budget for the next financial year was introduced in due course. The revenue side had risen to 124,930,000 kr. (6,940,555_l._) against 121,337,000 kr. (6,740,944_l._) in the Budget for the current year; the total expenditure amounted to 111,380,000 kr. (6,187,777_l._) against 108,768,000 kr. (6,042,666_l._) for the current year. From the apparent surplus of 13,500,000 kr. must, however, be deducted about 10,700,000 kr. to cover expenditure under the "acquisition of capital" clause, the final surplus thus being some 2,800,000 kr. The Minister of Finance stated that it had been difficult to draw up a Budget, in view of the uncertainty as to the development of the political crisis in Europe; he had tried to steer a sober middle course.

In a Council of State on November 30, the Minister for Iceland laid before the King proposals from the Althing for alterations in the Constitution and the flag for Iceland, asking the King to sanction them. The Althing desired that measures concerning Iceland should not be introduced, as under the existing system, in a Danish Council of State, but should be laid separately before the King as a purely Icelandic matter. This the King refused to sanction and the Minister for Iceland then withdrew the proposals.

The King next refused to sanction the proposal for a separate flag for Iceland, as he desired first to confer personally with leading politicians of the island, whom he intended to summon to Copenhagen, about the different proposals. The Minister for Iceland, M. Sigurd Eggers, then tendered his resignation, which the King accepted.

The royal meeting in Malmö (Dec. 18 and 19) caused sincere satisfaction in Denmark; King Christian and King Haakon both expressed to King Gustaf their lively pleasure in accepting his invitation. The official announcement subsequently issued briefly stated that not only had the meeting further cemented the existing good relations between the three northern kingdoms, but the negotiations had confirmed the mutual agreement existing as regarded the various special questions raised, and it had been decided to continue the co-operation so happily inaugurated when circumstances made it desirable, through renewed meetings of representatives of the respective Governments.

VII. SWEDEN.

In the political history of Sweden 1914 will stand out as remarkable in more respects than one, many anticipations were upset, and one very vital problem was at last satisfactorily solved. It afforded the Swedish nation further opportunities of manifesting its fervent patriotism, and its different phases produced dramatic incidents of singular interest. That the European War also set its stamp on much of the history goes without saying.

The great speech delivered by M. Staaff, the Premier, at Karlskrona (Dec. 21, 1913), had further stimulated public interest in the problem of national defence, and M. Staaff's disinclination to grapple promptly with the entire question excited an opposition which was encouraged in many ways and grew rapidly, manifesting itself especially amongst the ancient and proud class of freehold peasant farmers.

The Riksdag was opened as usual on January 16. The new Budget caused some apprehension, inasmuch as it reached the formidable total of 311,461,200 kroner (17,303,400_l._), an apparent increase compared with 1913 of some 37,000,000 kr. (2,055,555_l._). The revenue comprised 212,367,600 kr. from taxes, etc., 50,733,800 kr. from the State's productive funds (railways and other investments), 7,500,000 kr. share of the Rigsbank's profit for 1913, 1,226,100 kr. sundry minor items and 39,633,700 kr. loans. The increase was mainly from taxes, etc., viz. about 35,000,000 kr., new items of importance being the tobacco tax and the yield from spirits under the new system. On the debit side the ten different departments accounted for 167,718,271 kr. ordinary and 46,362,729 kr. extraordinary expenses, making a total of 214,081,000 kr. (11,893,388_l._). Interest on national debt, etc., amounted to 27,042,000 kr., fund reserved for defence expenditure to 5,000,000 kr., and expenditure for increase of capital 63,807,100 kr., etc. Most branches of expenditure showed an increase.

The chief question which marked the year, that of national defence, became prominent almost at once. On the first day of the so-called "Remisse" debate, January 23, in a crowded house, with the Crown Prince and Prince Eugen amongst the listeners, Professor Trygger in the First Chamber and the ex-Premier, Admiral Lindman, in the Second, severely criticised the Government policy of defence. Professor Trygger vehemently denounced it as lacking in clearness, energy, and consistency, the two features he most condemned being those relating to the period of drill for the infantry and to the increase of the number of ironclads. The defence tax the Conservatives would gladly bear, if the money were effectively applied. Admiral Lindman spoke in a similar vein, pointing out that the Riksdag could never wish for a higher task than the satisfactory solution of the defence question, but things did not promise well. An unprecedented responsibility, said M. Lindman, at this moment rested upon the Government. If it would, it could really solve the defence question, but would it? Was it altogether a vain hope, that the Government and a majority in the Riksdag might be seen working together on this question, firmly resolved to raise it above other questions, above party ties, in unity for the sake of the Fatherland? M. Staaff spoke in both Chambers, reiterating the substance of his Karlskrona speech, and he was supported by the Liberal spokesmen, the Social Democrats speaking in their usual vein. The proceedings gave little hope of the desired solution.

Meanwhile the preparations for a national demonstration, such as had rarely, if ever, been witnessed, were progressing, and on February 6 some 30,000 "peasants" (the Swedish peasant has always been ready, when his country called upon him) from all parts of the country arrived in Stockholm--admirable arrangements being made for their journey, reception, and accommodation--to wait upon the King and give expression to their patriotism and zealous desire to see the defence of the country promptly and adequately provided for. From time immemorial, it must be remembered, the Swedish peasant has frankly gone to his King when he was in trouble or had something special at heart. King Gustaf's reply to the effect that he would abide by the demands of the naval and military experts raised a twofold storm, of loyal enthusiasm within the defence parties, of dissent and anger amongst the Liberals and Social Democrats. The supporters of the Government maintained that the King had gone beyond the purpose of the great peasant demonstration, and that he wanted to bring his personal influence to bear upon the development of the question, irrespective of the Constitutional Government. The Liberal party at once held a meeting, and determined that the Ministry should in any case await further developments, and the next day the Social Democrats in the Riksdag demonstratively showed their displeasure in the debate on the King's civil list.

Demonstration now followed upon demonstration. Two days after the imposing peasant procession the Social Democrats arranged a counter move, and had no trouble in mustering a similar number, aided, to some extent, by their women and children. M. Staaff and some of his colleagues received a deputation from the Social Democratic procession, headed by Mr. Branting as spokesman, who handed an address to the Premier, demanding a reduction of the military burdens and insisting that the Swedish people never would yield to demands from a personal Monarchy; only the will of the people should rule in Sweden. M. Staaff in his reply maintained the necessity of national defence, declaring that the principles of democracy were as sacred to him as to them.

The day following a vast number of the leading representatives of Swedish science, art, and literature decided to present an address to the King, thanking His Majesty for having, through his firm words to the peasants' procession, maintained the King's ancient and constitutional right to represent the country's highest interests, irrespective of party politics.

Sooner, probably, than was expected came the result of the King's message to the peasants. M. Staaff, the day after the Royal speech, forwarded to the King a lengthy communication, to the effect that the measures of defence which the Government was about to lay before the Riksdag, though very comprehensive, yet might not fulfil all the expectations or demands of the military authorities. The King, however, in his message to the peasants, had said that he "would not abandon the demands as to the efficiency and readiness of the field army," "which by the experts within my army are stated to be indispensable." M. Staaff wanted to know whether the King would refuse to sanction any proposal which did not fully comply with these demands, and whether His Majesty in any respect had made up his mind beforehand as regarded the impending proposals, before his constitutional advisers had had an opportunity of humbly submitting their proposals and the views which had prompted them. The King replied that, as he had not seen the Government proposals or the experts' opinion upon them, he could not yet answer that question. (Hence the King could not have made up his mind beforehand.) To the second question the King's reply was to the effect that it was evident that he had not beforehand made up and could not make up his mind in any question, without first hearing the statements of his constitutional advisers or their proposals in Council.

This answer was not considered satisfactory by M. Staaff, who again addressed a communication to the King containing a drafted reply to be signed by His Majesty, stating amongst other things that his speech to the peasant procession was in no way intended to have the character of an act of State. The King's reply was in the main a short repetition of his answer to the former communication. A third letter from M. Staaff asked the King, when he intended to make any public statement of a political nature, to communicate it beforehand to the Government. The King replied, that he could not consent to this, as he would not deprive himself of the right to speak untrammelled to the people of Sweden.

The Staaff Ministry then resigned (February 10). On the day following some 5,000 Swedish students, in a great and enthusiastic procession, waited upon the King, and were greeted on their way to the palace with the utmost enthusiasm. In answer to their loyal and patriotic homage the King made a lengthy reply, maintaining at the outset his constitutional right and duty to state openly and without restraint his opinion of what he thought was for the good of his people; and, having urged the youth of the nation to assist him in his labours, the King wound up by saying: "Forward to our goal; a free and strong Sweden!" The proceedings were altogether marked by the most spontaneous enthusiasm.

The same day M. Staaff made a lengthy statement in the Second Chamber; the Liberals placed the responsibility upon the new Cabinet, and M. Branting, on behalf of the Social Democrats, thanked the retiring Government.

The formation of a new Ministry, as might have been expected, did not prove easy. Baron de Geer tried, but failed, and on February 13 the King entrusted M. Hammarskjöld with the task. Whilst Baron de Geer had tried to form a purely Liberal Ministry, M. Hammarskjöld, who had been a member of two previous Governments and Swedish Minister in Copenhagen, favoured the formation of a Conservative Ministry; the King, however, asked him to attempt the formation of a Liberal Government. On the 16th M. Hammarskjöld had his list ready as follows: M. Hammarskjöld, Premier and War Minister; M. K. Wallenberg, a well-known banker, Foreign Affairs; M. B. Hasselrot, President of one of the Courts, Minister of Justice; M. D. Broström, a large steamship owner, Minister of Marine; M. O. P. von Sydow, Interior; Baron J. G. Beck-Friis, Agriculture; M. A. F. Vennersten, Finance; Professor G. Westman, Ecclesiastical Minister; and Colonel B. Murcke, M. S. I. Stenberg, and M. S. N. Linner, Consulting Ministers. It may be noted that M. Wallenberg is the first Swedish Foreign Minister not of noble birth. The Hammarskjöld Ministry, admittedly, counted amongst its members some very able and distinguished men. It was formed solely to solve the defence problem.

The Riksdag was promptly dissolved (March 5), the Government at the same time publishing its manifesto or defence programme. The latter contained the various items embodied in the proposals of the defence committees, with the so-called "winter-line,"[28] coupled with the adoption of the Sverige type of warship. On the 11th the Liberal Union issued their manifesto, also containing the Defence Committee's proposals, but with the "summer-line" and leaving the naval plan in abeyance, as the committee had not completed its report on the Fleet; this programme consequently kept all which had been promised in the Karlskrona speech.

Ultimately the Ministerial programme was substantially as follows. The period of training for the Army was extended to 250 days (Nov. to July) with courses of thirty days each in four subsequent years. To the Navy were to be added two new divisions of four warships each for coast defence, the Sverige being included in the first; sixteen destroyers, two divisions of sea-going submarines, and two divisions of torpedo-boats.

An electioneering campaign followed, more violent and passionate than Sweden had ever witnessed, and perhaps rather disproportionate to the actual differences between the combatants. But there were, no doubt, deeper political instincts and influences at work. The result was a most serious set-back for the Liberals; most of the seats they lost went to the Conservatives, the rest to the Social Democrats. The respective strength of parties in the former or "A" Riksdag had been: Right 65, Liberals 101, Social Democrats 64; in the new or "B" Riksdag, the Right took the first place with 86 seats, the Social Democrats had 73, whilst the Liberals had become the smallest party, with but 71. The Left or Liberal joint majority in both Chambers, however, had not disappeared, though reduced from 76 to 34.

The new Riksdag assembled on May 18, and was occupied solely with the question of national defence. M. Staaff presided over the deliberations of the Defence Committee in a manner for which even his staunchest opponents felt it right to compliment him. Meantime no progress could be made, no solution reached, and even distinctly Liberal organs urged a speedy settlement, even if the demand for strictly Parliamentary Government must be postponed. The defensive programme set forth by the Social Democrats found no support whatever outside their own party.

On June 13 the Government introduced the Bill imposing a special tax for national defence. This tax is charged on income and capital jointly, according to a comprehensive sliding scale, the taxed sum comprising 10 per cent of capital; an income of at least 5,000 kr. is taxed on its full amount; on smaller incomes the tax is degressive, on larger it is progressive, the limit being reached at incomes exceeding 250,000 kr. (13,888_l._), a sum which is increased, for purposes of taxation, by 1,250 per cent. The tax is 1 per cent. of the taxed amount; in other words, instead of increasing the percentage, the amount is increased. The measure in question devoted about 37,000,000 kr. (2,055,555_l._) to land defence and 24,000,000 kr. (1,333,333_l._) to naval defence, the expenditure being non-recurrent. The entire revenue from the defence tax was estimated to amount to 75,000,000 kr. (4,166,666_l._).

Eventually the Liberals went a considerable way towards meeting the Government, declaring themselves ready to accept the ironclads of the Sverige type and to extend the "summer-line" drill period from 280 to 310 days, the additional thirty days to be applied, ten for the extension of winter drill and the balance to the drill of the older classes in accordance with the Ministerial proposal. The Ministerial party, or rather the distinctly Conservative section, declined to accept this offer, which gave a month less for the period of drill than that of the Government. The offer of the Liberals to go beyond the Karlskrona programme was made just as the European War began; the Social Democrats now also rallied to the support of the Government. Their leader, M. Branting, at a large meeting of his party, telegraphed to M. Hammarskjöld, offering his support in the efforts to preserve and defend the neutrality of Sweden, and assuring the Premier that he might "reckon upon the confidence of a united people." M. Hammarskjöld at once telegraphed back an appreciative acknowledgment.

An interesting incident of the controversy was the exchange between M. Staaff and M. Hammarskjöld of open and exceedingly friendly letters, truly Swedish in tone and essence. The former gave hopes of a speedy settlement of the defence question, which soon were to be realised. Towards the end of August the delegates of the different parties, who had discussed the question with the Premier, arrived at an understanding; it only remained for the entire Defence Committee to give its sanction, which was a foregone conclusion, and on September 12 the great and all-important defence question was happily solved, the Government proposal, with immaterial modifications, was passed in the First Chamber without any division, and in the Second by 127 to 70, 23 votes being void. When fully established the new scheme will involve an annual expenditure on the Army of some 64,500,000 kr. (3,583,333_l._) as against 55,250,000 kr. (3,069,444_l._) and on the Navy of 26,000,000 kr. (1,444,444_l._), an increase of some 4,000,000 kr. (or 222,222_l._); besides this, some 4,000,000 kr. were applied to the coast artillery.

At the same time as the defence question engrossed the interest of the Riksdag, the necessary measures were passed to emphasise and support the neutrality of Sweden. On August 12 the Riksdag unanimously voted 50,000,000 kr. as extraordinary expenditure for defence on account of the international situation, and the Ministerial declaration as to the observance of strict neutrality met with the fullest support.

The dissolution of the Second Chamber and the consequent election were followed by a general election in September, the existing Riksdag, however, remaining in function. This general election confirmed the trend of the spring election by further reducing the Liberal members; the seats they lost were gained by the Social Democrats, who now constituted the largest party, 87, the Right remaining at 86 and the Liberals being reduced to 57. As a result the Social Democrats at a party congress somewhat vaguely declared, by 90 votes against 58, their willingness to accept the responsibility of government, jointly with the Left.

Some other military measures were disposed of, as were several railway bills, a Schools Inspection Bill, and other legislation. The most important bill passed was one making the tobacco industry and trade a State monopoly, calculated to yield a very material revenue. The scheme is to be worked through a huge limited company, beginning operations about the middle of 1915, and in which the State is to be heavily interested financially and will exercise the necessary control. The great total abstinence reform, which had a warm defender in M. Staaff, was frustrated through the inability of the Chambers to agree upon the question of local veto, but the temperance movement is being furthered in many ways. The same fate befell the Women's Suffrage Bill; the Second Chamber had passed it by 107 to 84, whilst the First Chamber negatived it by 76 votes to 46.

After an unusually long session, lasting nominally seven months, though from the end of September there had been no regular sittings, the "B Riksdag" was prorogued on December 17.

A Germanophil movement was headed by M. Sven Hedin, the famous explorer (A.R., 1913, p. 386), and found support in the fear inspired by Russian military preparation for some years past in Finland, in the propagation of war news from German sources, and in the close commercial relations subsisting with Germany. But there were indications of a change of feeling before the end of the year.

Sweden, like her Scandinavian neighbours, has jealously guarded her neutrality, large portions of the reserve and other classes being promptly called under arms. Her declaration of neutrality was followed within a few days by an undertaking with Norway that the one country should not take hostile action against the other.

The feeling of cordiality and joint interests between Sweden, Denmark and Norway was further emphasised and consolidated by the meeting of the three Kings, accompanied by their Foreign Ministers, in Malmö (Dec. 18), at the invitation of King Gustaf, an act of the Swedish King which caused the deepest satisfaction in the three countries. It was called partly to deal with the economic hindrances set up by the war to the trade of the three countries, and the official communication announcing its results stated that it had been agreed to continue the co-operation.

King Gustaf underwent a serious operation on April 9, with eminently satisfactory results. His severe illness and subsequent recovery afforded opportunities for the display of their abundant loyalty by his people.

VIII. NORWAY.

The centenary of the recovery by Norway of her independence as a kingdom made the year notable in other respects than the political. The centenary exhibition demonstrated most effectively the wonderful growth of Norway's resources during the past century.

The Storthing assembled on January 12. M. Lövland was re-elected President of the Storthing and M. Mowinckel of the Odelsthing. On the following day the King in person opened the sixty-third ordinary Storthing. After a reference to the centenary and the century of peace enjoyed by the nation, he stated that the past year had been satisfactory in most departments of home enterprise, and announced a number of measures for the furtherance of industry and commerce; the Budget had been framed without resort to fresh taxation. It showed an ordinary expenditure of 154,900,000 kroner (8,605,555_l._) and an extraordinary of 15,081,000 kr. (837,833_l._), a total of 169,981,000 kr. (9,443,388_l._). The ordinary expenditure showed an increase of 12,880,000 kr., reduced by certain counter-items to 7,300,000 kr. On the revenue side certain taxes and other sources of income exhibited an increased yield over that of the previous year. Even thus early M. Castberg, the Minister for Commerce, expressed views diverging from those of his colleagues: he desired a higher income tax and legacy duties and a reduced Customs tariff.

On January 20 the Government introduced a proposal to appoint a Defence Commission of fourteen civilian members, with the right, however, of calling in military experts. The Commission was to investigate all questions connected with national defence, both military and financial, and examine into the possibility of adopting a system on Swiss lines in order to effect a closer connexion between the Army and the nation.

During the debate on the Customs tariff in February the Premier caused some surprise by not attending the Storthing, and it was understood that on this subject M. Castberg had managed to override his chief. In the debate on the Labour Arbitration Bill, again, M. Knudsen, the Prime Minister, had to humour his troublesome colleague by stating that, in view of the undoubted divergences of opinion on the arbitration clause, he felt sure that both the Government and the Storthing would be most careful in resorting to compulsory arbitration. They would let the contest between employers and employed go on until both sides felt that the struggle must be ended and that the authorities must interfere. M. Castberg declared himself much reassured, and hoped that the statement meant that the new institution should be used, when the men themselves demanded it, for the protection of their interests. Nevertheless he continued to emphasise his divergent views as against the more moderate members of the Government, more especially the Premier, not only in the House but at public meetings; and on April 16 this very Radical Social Minister resigned his seat in the Cabinet, preferring to work as a private member for his aims and ideals. He differed also from M. Gunnar Knudsen on the question of maximum working hours, insisting on a nine hours' day and a fifty-one hours' week, whereas the latter would not go beyond a ten hours' day and fifty-four hours' week.

On February 28 the Storthing rejected the proposal of M. Bryggesaa, the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs, to annul Clause 7 of the Constitution, empowering the King to propose a successor, should there be no heir. In the same sitting the Storthing also rejected the proposal to make women eligible as Ministers of State, although M. Abrahamsen, the Minister of Justice, defended the proposal. The adverse minorities were respectively 41 and 44.

On April 23 the Storthing considered the exploitation of the large Nore waterfalls, owned by the State; general disappointment was felt when M. Urbye, the Minister of Public Works, stated that the plans had not yet been finally dealt with, and therefore would not come before the House in the current session.

In the beginning of May the Military Committee of the Storthing handed in their report on the Army Estimates, amounting to 17,550,500 kr., an insignificant fraction less than the sum proposed by the War Department. There were to be no more Generals, the field artillery regiments were each to be divided into three, and the extension of the regimental drills from twenty-four to thirty days would be dealt with in a separate Bill.

On May 13 the Storthing, by 78 votes to 44, decided to divide the Parliamentary session, in accordance with the decision in the Union of the Left, the Government stating that they, too, were in favour of an autumn session, although they did not give their reason. Several Committees were to continue their labours during the recess.

On June 9 the Storthing, by 85 votes to 25, passed a resolution, requesting the Government to see that all alcoholic drinks were prohibited at all military and naval practices, for all ranks alike. The resolution, however, was not acted upon.

On June 26 the Storthing decided that the principal naval dockyard should be extended and that two submarines should be built at Norwegian yards. On July 4 the proposal to appoint a Defence Commission was passed by the Storthing, the adverse minority being 35. The Premier stated that the most important question for the Commission to consider was whether more effective results could not be obtained for the actual military expenditure. More especially the Swiss system should be borne in mind. On July 6 the Storthing unanimously passed the new extraordinary defence tax on income exceeding 4,000 kr. (222_l._) and capitals exceeding 100,000 kr. (5,555_l._). The tax is to be levied according to a sliding scale, which deals somewhat leniently with incomes not exceeding 10,000 to 15,000 kr. (555_l._ to 832_l._). The measure is subject to revision as regards the fourth term of the tax, and will thus come up for further consideration hereafter.

Just before the close of the session (July 3), the Premier made a Cabinet question of a vote of some 250,000 kr. for the instruction of small holders, a question to which he had given much time and attention. M. Hagerup-Bull, the Conservative spokesman, complained that Cabinet questions were getting rather too frequent. The measure was duly passed.

The session was closed on July 8. The Storthing was to meet again on October 19, but the war altered its arrangements entirely. The results of the six months' work were very moderate, and some of the Government measures were severely criticised and left for subsequent revision.

The war, however, necessitated a short extraordinary session, and the Storthing met again on August 8, a circumstance which was in itself a telling comment on an unfortunate reference by the Premier in the spring "to the cloudless sky of Europe." The War Minister (M. Keilhart) resigned the same day and was succeeded by General Holtfodt, Norway's youngest General. A vote of 10,000,000 kr. (555,555_l._) for extraordinary military measures was promptly passed and other measures were adopted in view of the situation. A general moratorium had already been proclaimed; the Government was empowered to extend it, and to render the notes of the Bank of Norway temporarily inconvertible into gold. Much satisfaction was expressed at what might be described as a declaration of confidence between Norway and Sweden. Before the members separated the President emphasised the spirit of unity which had marked the proceedings during the short extraordinary session, all contentious questions being for the present left entirely in abeyance. Under these circumstances the work done later on was confined to some committees which meet in October. All the important measures, including a revision of the law on insurance against sickness, an extension of the Bank for workmen and small holders, and a comprehensive measure of reform of factory legislation, were left for a more favourable season, politically and financially. Naturally a drain on the Treasury is set up in many ways, directly and indirectly, by the war.

The Storthing of 1914 formally closed its session at a meeting on January 8, 1915. In spite of a very active German propaganda, the national feeling tended to favour the cause of the Allies.

The Spitzbergen Conference was opened in Christiania on June 16. Twenty-three representatives were present from nine countries (Great Britain, the United States, Russia, France, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway). The conference had not completed its labours when the war broke out, and separated with the understanding that it would again meet early in 1915.

FOOTNOTES:

[22] See North German Gazette, quoted in The Times, October 14, 1914.

[23] The diplomatic history will be found in the Belgian Grey Book (British official translation, Cd. 7627).

[24] The Belgian Government published a series of official reports detailing these atrocities (see also p. 251). They were reprinted, with those of the French and Russian Commissions of Inquiry, in an "Official Book of the German Atrocities" (London, 1914, 1_s._).

[25] Details of the retreat of this force were not yet published in April, 1915.

[26] An adequate summary is impracticable here. Details will be found in the Report of the Federal Council to the Federal Assembly dated December 1, 1914.

[27] On importation, exportation, and the application of Act VII. of the Hague Convention, students may be referred to the Journal de Genève, December 10, 1914, January 10 and 12, 1915.

[28] The terms "winter-line" and "summer-line" refer to the rival proposals regarding the periods of military service, the "summer-line" period being the shorter.

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V. SOUTHERN ASIA

I. PERSIA.

The Viceroy of India, in his speech closing the Imperial Legislative Council on March 24, in which he reviewed briefly foreign affairs in connexion with India, was able to speak of the work of the Swedish officers and the gendarmerie organised by them as eminently successful. The force was employed during the winter in patrolling the roads, and it dealt with the robber bands which infested them. The improvement in the returns of British and Indian trade in Southern Persia was the best evidence of the efficiency of the work of the gendarmerie. Another force dealt with the situation on the trade route between Bunder Abbas and Kerman, and, although it had some serious engagements with the Perso-Baluchi tribes, there was every reason for confidence in its ability to establish order in the near future.

The young Shah Sultan Ahmad Shah, now a youth of sixteen, was crowned with considerable ceremony at Teheran in July, and took the oath of fidelity to the Constitution before the Mejliss. He was only a child of eleven when his father, Mahomed Ali, was driven into exile, and no opinion can yet be formed of his character or abilities.

When Turkey joined in the war against England and her Allies the Persian Government, on November 4, issued a Proclamation declaring a strict neutrality. This however did not prevent a Turkish force from advancing on Tabriz during the last days of the year. The local Persian authorities were not in a position to offer any resistance; they could merely record a formal protest, to which the Turks replied that they would evacuate Persian territory when the Russians did so.

II. THE PERSIAN GULF AND BALUCHISTAN.

An agreement was concluded with the French Government by which France recognised the new arms traffic regulations drawn up by the late Sultan of Muscat at the instance of the British Government, and abandons the privileges and immunities secured by ancient treaties. It is hoped that this will effectually stop gun-running on the Mekran coast.

III. AFGHANISTAN.

The relations between the Government of India and His Majesty the Amir continued to be cordial.

Representations had to be made regarding serious outrages on the Frontier by residents of Afghanistan and by outlaws from British territory who had taken refuge in Khost. These representations were met by the Amir in the most friendly spirit, and he issued stringent orders to his officers on the Frontier to deal severely with all offenders. It was reported that the Khost outlaws implicated had been arrested and sent to Kabul for trial.

In his reply to the Viceroy's letter, announcing the outbreak of hostilities between Great Britain and Turkey, the Amir expressed his deep regret at the step taken by the Turkish Government, and declared his firm intention to maintain a strict neutrality, and added that he had issued a proclamation enjoining the same on all his subjects.

IV. NORTH-WEST FRONTIER.

Apart from the raids from Afghan territory already mentioned, the Frontier remained quiet with two exceptions. An outrage by the Utman Khels in the north of the Peshawar District led to a blockade of the tribe, which produced the desired effect.

There were two serious raids by the Bunerwals in which eight British subjects were killed and considerable property taken. On February 23 a column was sent to punish the villages mainly at fault. In spite of the most trying conditions of weather and roads the operations were carried out most successfully. The force met with little serious opposition, and returned without loss after inflicting exemplary punishment on the offending villages.

V. BRITISH INDIA.

(1) FINANCE.

At the meeting of the Imperial Legislative Council on March 2 Sir William Meyer, the new Financial Member, reviewed at length the annual Statement which had been presented a few days previously. After paying a warm tribute to his predecessor, Sir Guy Fleetwood Wilson, he pointed out that, owing to the disappearance of the Chinese opium revenue and other causes, the prosperity budgets and large surpluses which had marked the latter's term of office, and had enabled the Imperial Government to distribute doles to the Provincial Governments, could no longer be looked for. It was, however, a matter for congratulation that the ordinary revenue had been sufficient to provide for the necessary expenses of the Government without imposing additional taxation.

Revised Estimate, 1913-14.--The Budget Estimate, given in millions sterling with decimal points, showed Revenue, Imperial 53.044, Provincial 29.280, Total 82.324; Expenditure, Imperial 51.718, Provincial 32.193, Total 83.911. The result was thus an Imperial surplus of 1.326, and a Provincial deficit of 2.913, or a total excess of Expenditure over Revenue of 1.587. A Provincial deficit is, however, not a real deficit; it is met by the Local Governments drawing on the large balances already in hand.

The figures of the Revised Estimate were: Revenue, Imperial 53.619, Provincial 30.643, Total 84.262; Expenditure, Imperial 52.291, Provincial 31.384, Total 83.675, giving an Imperial surplus of 1.328 and a Provincial deficit of ·741, or a total surplus of ·587. The Imperial surplus was thus almost exactly the same as that entered in the Budget; the decrease in the Provincial deficit was due partly to underspending and partly to an improvement in the sources of revenue allotted to Provincial Governments.

On the Revenue side certain sub-heads showed a material difference between the Budget and the Revised Estimate. Under Customs there was an improvement of 492,000_l._, reflecting the prosperous conditions which had prevailed over the greater part of the country. Busy trade in the early part of the year necessitated an addition to the currency and the seigniorage on the consequent coinage amounted to 136,000_l._; an increase in small coinage likely to be required in the famine districts raised the total improvement under Mint to 164,000_l._ The net receipts from Railways were expected to be 104,000_l._ less than the Budget Estimate, owing to dull trade in the closing months of 1913, increased expenditure on rolling stock, and the repair of damage to lines. There was a falling off of 276,000_l._ in Land Revenue, due to the failure of the kharif crop in the United Provinces and adjacent areas and the consequent remissions or suspensions. The greater demand for canal water in the United Provinces, and the revision of rates in parts of the Punjab, produced an increase of 149,000_l._ under Irrigation. There was an improvement of 156,000_l._ in the Income Tax Receipts, chiefly due to the large profits realised by banks and industrial concerns in Calcutta and Bombay in the preceding year. Miscellaneous receipts gave an increase of 127,000_l._ In the Excise Revenue there was an increase of 454,000_l._, owing to general prosperity, especially in Madras and Bombay. The income from Forests was expected to be better by 177,000_l._

Reviewing the Revenue as a whole, the Financial Member was of opinion that it showed satisfactory progress. Excluding opium altogether, the receipts for 1912-13 were 81,738,000_l._, whilst for 1913-14 they were expected to be 82,656,000_l._

The Imperial Expenditure was expected to be 573,000_l._ in excess of the Budget Estimate, whilst the Provincial Expenditure would be 809,000_l._ less. The Military Charges accounted for 392,000_l._ of the Imperial increase; the main cause of this was the rise in prices of food and fodder.

Budget Estimate for 1914-15.--The figures were: Revenue, Imperial 54.261, Provincial 30.772, Total 85.033; Expenditure, Imperial 52.981, Provincial 33.981, Total 86.962. The result anticipated was thus an Imperial surplus of 1.280 and a Provincial deficit of 3.209, or on the total account a deficit of 1.929.

The total Revenue given above was 750,000_l._ in excess of that shown in the Revised Estimate, 1913-14. The heads under which the chief improvements were expected were Land Revenue, Opium, Post Office, Stamps, and Excise, whilst a falling off was allowed for under Customs, and in the net receipts from Railways owing to continued increase in the working expenses. The aggregate improvement budgeted for amounted to 771,000_l._, of which the Imperial share would be 642,000_l._ and the share of the Provincial Governments 129,000_l._

Although the Expenditure provided for showed a total increase of 3,287,000_l._ the increase in the Imperial Expenditure was only 690,000_l._ The increase under military charges, due mainly to continued rise in the price of food and fodder and to the provision for the extra pay of officers in British regiments granted by the Home Government, accounted for 487,000_l._ of this total. The estimated Imperial surplus of 1,280,000_l._ was not more than should be held in reserve as a margin of safety to meet unforeseen calls, but it was proposed to make grants from it to Local Governments amounting to 240,000_l._ in all, of which 100,000_l._ would be for the improvement of communications in Burma, and 100,000_l._ for Education and Sanitation.

Ways and Means.--The capital requirements for 1914-15 were estimated at 12,000,000_l._ for railways, 1,200,000_l._ for irrigation, 700,000_l._ for Delhi, 700,000_l._ for repayment of India Bonds, 3,200,000_l._ for outlay from Provincial balances, and 100,000_l._ for Local Loans, Imperial and Provincial--giving a total of practically 18,000,000_l._

The assets by which these requirements would be met were 4,600,000_l._ to be taken from balances, 1,300,000_l._ forming the Imperial surplus, 3,300,000_l._ representing the Rupee loan of 5 crores, 6,200,000_l._ sterling borrowings, 1,800,000_l._ of unfunded debt, 700,000_l._ from famine insurance allotment and minor items. Total 17,900,000_l._

The Rupee loan of 5 crores was the largest hitherto raised in India, but it was warranted by the success which had attended the last loan, and by the fact that the price of rupee paper in England stood higher than that of the sterling loan.

Sir William Meyer gave a full account of the proceedings of the Imperial Delhi Committee constituted on April 1, 1913, and the progress that had been made in the work on the new capital. The question of expense was dealt with in great detail by the Viceroy in his speech closing the session on March 24. His Excellency admitted frankly that the estimate of 4,000,000_l._, mentioned in the Government of India's despatch of August 25, 1911, to the Secretary of State, was based on insufficient data. A most careful and complete estimate had now been framed by the Delhi Committee and was under the consideration of the Government of India. Subject to modifications that might be made, the total cost amounted to 5,113,620_l._, to this another million should be added to provide for contingencies and unforeseen expenditure. The strictest economy and supervision would be exercised over all branches of the work, and some returns might be expected. The Government of India was of opinion that, even if the estimate were accepted in full, the total cost of the new capital would not exceed 6,000,000_l._ This would be spread over a period of twelve years from the commencement of the work in 1912.

In presenting the Budget in its final form on March 21, the Financial Member stated that the changes in the figures of the Statement originally laid before the Council were small and unimportant. The net result in the Revised Estimate of 1913-14 was to raise the Imperial surplus by 159,000_l._ and to reduce the Provincial deficit by 139,000_l._

As regards the Budget for 1914-15, it was now expected that the Imperial surplus would be less than the original Estimate by 24,000_l._, and that there would be a small reduction in the Provincial deficit.

Under Ways and Means there was no material change in the original figures. It was calculated that on March 31, 1915, the cash balances would stand at twelve and one-third million pounds sterling in the Indian and at about five millions in the Home Treasury.

(2) FAMINE.

In reviewing the state of the area affected by famine at the close of 1913 it was observed that, although there was a considerable amount of distress, the stage of actual famine had hardly been reached, but, if the winter rains failed, the prospect would be very serious. They did fail to a very great extent, and the little rain that fell only slightly mitigated the existing distress. In his speech in the Legislative Council on March 24 the Viceroy observed that the state of things, though serious, was not nearly so bad as in the famine of 1907-8. There were also other circumstances which tended considerably to improve the situation. The people had enjoyed a series of good harvests in previous years and in the present year there was a prospect of an excellent spring harvest in the Punjab. Past experience had enabled the Government to deal with famines far more efficiently, suspensions and remissions of land revenue had been promptly and generously granted, advances to agriculturists had been made on a large scale, arrangements had been carried out for securing a supply of fodder, and the railway rates for its carriage had been reduced. There had also been a great improvement in the spirit of the people themselves; they were more hopeful and self-reliant, and more ready to move to other districts in search of work. There was still a large class of the population which had to be supported by gratuitous relief, but the number seeking employment on relief works was far less than in previous famines.

At the end of July the number of persons employed on relief works was 4,684, whilst 102,338 were receiving gratuitous relief. The monsoon of 1914 was, on the whole, good, and the condition of the famine districts soon became the same as that of the rest of India, throughout the whole of which prices continued high till the close of the year, causing considerable distress amongst the poorer classes.

(3) PLAGUE.

As was to be anticipated from the returns for the last quarter of 1913 the plague statistics showed a considerable increase. The total number of deaths from October 1, 1913, to September 30, 1914, was 264,760, against a total of 181,668 for the corresponding months of 1912-13. The highest monthly total was 57,577 in March, the lowest 1,439 in July.

(4) BRITISH INDIA--GENERAL.

In closing the Legislative Session on March 24 the Viceroy was able to announce that a satisfactory settlement of the very intricate question of the treatment of Indians in South Africa had been reached, and that a telegram had that day been received from General Smuts that a Bill would be introduced into the Union Parliament to give effect to the report of the Commission. Unfortunately an equally satisfactory statement cannot be made regarding Canada and British Columbia. Here the grievance is not the manner in which Indians are treated within the Colony, but the almost absolute refusal to admit them at all. Although this attitude of the Colonies was perfectly well known, a steamer, the Komagata Maru, was chartered by certain Indian leaders, some of whom were known to be agitators and are believed to have been acting under German influence, for the conveyance of some 300 Indians, mostly Sikhs, to Vancouver. They were not allowed to enter the Colony (May 21), and it was with great difficulty that they were persuaded to re-embark and return to India. On the arrival of the Komagata Maru at Budge Budge, a station on the Hooghly near Calcutta, they were met by officers deputed to arrange for their dispatch by special trains direct to their homes at Government expense. The first train, with about sixty passengers, was despatched quietly, but, whilst the second train was being prepared, the men who were to be sent off suddenly fired on the police with revolvers which they had concealed, and one European officer was killed and three or four others wounded. The police were compelled to fire on the rioters, of whom sixteen were killed (Oct. 2).

Last year reference was made to the existence of widespread conspiracies (A.R., 1913, p. 400) the object of which was the overthrow of British power in India by any possible means, including murder and outrages of all kinds. Early in 1914 the Punjab police succeeded in discovering one of the most important of these. Eleven men were placed on their trial on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder, before a special court of sessions at Delhi, which began its proceedings in May. These lasted for three and a half months and resulted in three of the accused being sentenced to death and four to transportation for life, whilst four were acquitted. It is impossible to go fully into the details of the case, but a general outline of it affords an excellent illustration of the manner in which the work of sedition is carried on in India and who are engaged in it. In 1904-5 one Har Dayal, a resident of Delhi and a student of great promise in the Punjab University, was sent to St. John's College, Oxford, on a State scholarship of 200_l._ a year. He visited India in 1906 and delivered lectures, chiefly to students at Lahore, on the supposed needs of India. In 1908 he resigned his scholarship, and, returning to India, commenced a further course of lectures, openly advocating sedition, but not yet murder. Not long afterwards he left for America, where he is believed to have remained, making over his work to Amir Chand, accused No. 1, who carried it on zealously. In October, 1912, a Committee was formed at Lahore with the object of promoting anarchy on the lines followed in Bengal and the United Provinces, namely the distribution of inflammatory literature, teaching the art of manufacturing bombs, planning outrages, and engaging tools to commit them. If the attempt on the life of the Viceroy on December 23, 1912, was not actually planned by these conspirators they certainly knew who were engaged in it. Leaflets approving it were issued by them and distributed broadcast, and were even posted up in the colleges at Lahore. On May 17, 1913, a bomb was exploded in the Lawrence Gardens, Lahore, with the intention of killing Europeans, but, owing to the failure of the courage of the man engaged, the only result was the death of an Indian orderly. Various other outrages were planned, but miscarried from one cause or another. In October, 1913, there was a fresh outburst of activity and publication of leaflets. It was the search for these that led to the discoveries which resulted in the eleven accused being brought to trial. Most of them were young men who had received their education in Government schools and colleges, and some of them had obtained good posts in the public service. Although these conspiracies may be described as widespread, they were so only in the sense that they were carried on by agents in all parts of India. The men who actually took part in them were confined almost entirely to the class already mentioned. The great mass of the people of India are too much occupied with the task of providing themselves with their daily bread to take any interest in general politics.

The appeal of Mr. Channing Arnold, editor and proprietor of the Burma Critic, from his conviction by the Chief Court of Lower Burma in 1912 was dismissed on April 7 by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (A.R., 1912, p. 403). Their Lordships were of opinion that there was no misdirection on any point of law in the Judge's charge and that the jury had sufficient evidence to justify their findings on the question of fact.

The expectation of Germany that the entrance of Turkey into a war with a great Power in Europe would be the signal for a revolutionary outbreak in India was completely falsified. Instead of an outbreak of disloyalty there was one of fervent loyalty. Throughout the whole country from all races and all classes there came professions of attachment to the Government and offers of support of every kind (p. 200). At the commencement of the war the Indian Government was able to send to Europe two complete Divisions of British and Indian troops, and these were followed a little later by the despatch of a third Division. This sending of Indian troops to fight side by side with their British comrades in a great European War aroused enthusiasm not only in the Indian Army, but also in the country generally.

The second expectation of Germany that, when they had succeeded in dragging Turkey into the war as their ally, there would be an outbreak of religious fanaticism throughout the world of Islam in general and of India in particular, was even more ill-founded than their expectation of a general Indian revolt. As soon as it was clear that Turkey was joining Germany the Viceroy (Oct. 31) issued a note pointing out the true facts of the case, how no interests of Islam were involved, and how completely England, France, and Russia had assured Turkey that, if she maintained her neutrality, her independence and integrity would be upheld at the close of the war. The truth of this was at once apparent to all educated Mohamedans; they knew well not only that no interests of Islam were threatened, but also that the Sultan himself was not a free agent. The Government of Turkey was really in the hands of the Young Turks, men hated and despised by all true believers, and who were truly described by Mr. Asquith in the House of Commons as possessing all the vices and none of the virtues of the old Turkish official class. The ruling Mohamedan Chiefs, from the Nizam to those of the Protected Malay States, issued proclamations pointing out to their subjects the true facts, and enjoining loyalty to the British Government as a thing required by the precepts of their religion and by their own true interests. Similar action was taken by all the important Mohamedan associations, and by leading Mohamedan gentlemen, including the Agha Khan.

The first act of any importance in the war between England and Turkey east of Suez was a visit by H.M.S. Minerva to Akaba, a fortified town at the head of the gulf of that name, where the Turks were collecting troops and supplies for an expedition against Egypt. The town was occupied, the fortifications were destroyed, and the Turkish force captured or dispersed with little loss.

A more serious operation was carried out in November by an expeditionary force both naval and military sent from India to the head of the Persian Gulf. The Turkish fort at Fao, on the right bank of the Shatt-el-Arab, was silenced on November 8, and after minor successes on the 11th and 15th, a decisive battle was fought on the 17th. The Turkish troops, some 4,000 in number, were found in an entrenched position which could only be attacked by an advance in the open. This was made and the position captured with some guns and a large supply of ammunition and stores. The British loss was five officers killed and fifteen wounded--of the rank and file the killed were thirty-five and the wounded about 300. The Turkish troops were completely routed and made no attempt to defend Basra, which was entered by the British on November 22. The whole Delta of the Euphrates and Tigris, which join about seventy miles from the coast and form a single stream known as the Shatt-el-Arab, was occupied and may prove a position of great value for further operations.

On November 10 great rejoicing was caused in Calcutta and in all the seaports of India by the receipt of the news that the German cruiser Emden had at last been caught in one of the islands of the South Pacific, and had been sunk after a sharp engagement by H.M.S. Sydney of the Australian Navy. Besides her visit to Madras, where she set the oil tanks on fire by her shells and did other damage, the Emden had been for a considerable time the pest of the Indian Ocean, and the value of the merchant ships and cargoes she had destroyed was estimated at over 2,000,000_l._ sterling.

VI. NATIVE STATES.

Nowhere was the general loyalty evoked by the war manifested more strongly than in the Native States. One and all came forward with contributions of men and money to the extent of their ability and even beyond it. In addition to this many members of the ruling families gave their personal service. To enumerate in detail the part played by the several States would make a record greater than the "Catalogue of Ships" in Homer.

VII. TIBET.

The Conference of Tibetan and Chinese delegates under the presidency of Sir H. McMahon, Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, concluded its sittings at Delhi, but the result has not yet been made known. The usual rumours of conflict between Chinese and Tibetan troops on the Eastern Frontier were repeated at various times during the year, but no importance was attached to them.

The Dalai Lama showed in many ways a greater desire for friendly relations with the British Government, and it was reported that on the outbreak of the war in Europe he offered to raise a force of 1,000 Tibetans to assist the Allies. Much useful survey work and exploration was carried out in the unknown country to the north of Assam and the north-east of Burma, and this will enable the Government of India to lay down a natural boundary line in those regions when the question is ripe for settlement. It had been decided to extend administrative control over a part of the tribal area in North-East Burma, and the new district of Patas had been peacefully established.

CHARLES A. ROE.

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