The Great War (All 8 Volumes). Various Authors

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СКАЧАТЬ successes, therefore, gave plenty of indirect causes for animosity, especially if it is borne in mind that English statesmen were not only at all times striving very hard to secure for their country the best of everything, but were also working equally hard to prevent, if at all possible, other nations from getting anything.

      In the period of European history, to which we are restricting our attention, the first milestone of the long line of conflicts between the different nations and countries has been the war between Prussia and Austria on one hand and Denmark on the other for the possession of Schleswig-Holstein. In this matter England, previous to the outbreak of actual hostilities, expressed very strongly that anyone who would attack Denmark would have to reckon with other than Denmark; but when the English Foreign Secretary of that period, Lord John Russell, found that he could not get the active support of Napoleon III in opposing Prussia and Austria's aggressive steps, Lord Palmerston's Cabinet, of which Lord Russell was a member, found it necessary to maintain neutrality during the war, especially in view of the fact that Queen Victoria was strongly opposed to any active interference on the part of England. In spite of this attitude of the queen a marriage was arranged in 1863 between the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and the daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark, Princess Alexandria. Although it is true that the personal relations of the ruling houses of the different European countries did not any longer possess the same importance that they formerly had, this new alliance undoubtedly had, even if not immediately, an important influence on English foreign politics. For not only was the Princess of Wales, later Queen of England, unable to forget and forgive the territorial loss which her father had suffered at the hands of Prussia, but this attitude was shared by her sister, who was to become a few years later, as wife of Alexander III of Russia, a powerful influence at the Russian court. To a certain extent, of course, the influence of the Princess of Wales did not make itself felt until she had become Queen of England, and possibly not very strongly then, and it was also somewhat counteracted by the fact that one of Queen Victoria's daughters was married to the Crown Prince of Prussia, who later, as Frederick III, became for a short time the German Emperor.

      During the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 England maintained the strictest neutrality and showed the same attitude during the few years following, covering Napoleon III's attempts to stop the tide of Prussian ascendancy. The English Government of that period was headed by one of the most famous statesmen that England has ever produced, Benjamin Disraeli. There can be no doubt that his attitude toward affairs on the European continent was strongly influenced by Queen Victoria's own attitude, who, it may be frankly acknowledged, was strongly pro-German on account of her personal relations, which not only included a German prince as son-in-law, but also a German prince as husband. The official explanation which the prime minister gave of England's policy of noninterference at that time was that England had "outgrown the European continent because she was no longer a mere European power. England is the metropolis of a great maritime empire extending to the boundaries of the furthest oceans … she is as ready, and as willing even, to interfere as in the old days when the necessity of her position required it. There is no power, indeed, which interferes more than England; she interferes in Asia because she is really more of an Asiatic than of a European power." This undoubtedly was not an explanation made for convenience' sake, but expressed truly and sincerely the broad view which the English Prime Minister took of England's mission, and later events showed that he adhered to this new gospel of English imperialism which was preached then for the first time. One result of French jealousy of Prussian success was Napoleon III's effort to gain some territorial compensations. In this connection he even went so far as to propose secretly to Bismarck that Prussia should allow France to invade and annex the kingdom of Belgium provided France would recognize without opposition the new North German Confederation. Bismarck refused, and, as a counterstroke, Napoleon III protested against the continuation of Luxemburg's occupation by German troops. A conference of the powers was finally called at London in May, 1868, and a treaty was arranged according to which the fortifications of the city of Luxemburg were dismantled and the entire duchy received a joint guarantee of continuous neutrality.

      In the meantime, in 1867, Parliament had passed a bill embodying the confederation of the various British provinces in North America and creating a form of self-government under which the Dominion of Canada had existed and flourished since then. Other internal measures of grave importance occupied the attention of the English nation at that time. Certain ritualistic tendencies in the Anglican Church aroused great excitement and apprehension. Disraeli's Prime Ministership, which he had assumed in February, 1867, after Lord Derby's resignation, came to an end in December, 1868, through a victory of the Liberal party at the general election, and Gladstone formed his first ministry. Difficulties in Ireland culminated in a revival of Fenian activities and in the committing of numerous outrages. With the fate of the reform and other measures of Gladstone's government we are not concerned, for they were almost exclusively of an internal nature. Of England's neutral attitude during the Franco-Prussian War we have already heard; but it is worth mentioning that previous to the outbreak of the war England attempted, even if unsuccessfully, to mediate between France and Prussia. In spite of the official neutrality observed by England during this war, public sentiment was pro-French, and France undoubtedly received considerable legitimate commercial assistance from England. This claim is well borne out by the fact that a short time after the war, as we have already learned during the consideration of French history, the French Parliament passed a resolution expressing the thanks of the French nation to England for its expressions of friendship during the recent war. In Germany this attitude of the English public was well known and caused a considerable amount of ill feeling. It was at that time that Bismarck published Napoleon III's suggestion of 1867 in regard to the invasion and annexation of Belgium, and its publication at this particular moment had two results: it made English intervention in favor of France absolutely impossible and it caused the English Government to demand from both belligerents—France and Germany—their signatures to a treaty guaranteeing the neutrality of Belgium and arranging that in case either France or Prussia would violate this neutrality Great Britain would intervene in conjunction with the other for the defense of Belgium. This treaty was also extended to include Luxemburg. Another indirect result of the Franco-Prussian War, Russia's declaration in October, 1870, that it considered itself no longer bound to the terms of the treaty of Paris, 1856, in regard to the neutrality of the Black Sea, aroused vigorous English protests. For a time it seemed as if public opinion would force England to go to war against Russia, but a conference of the powers who had signed the 1856 treaty was finally called at London in December, 1870, the results of which we have already learned. In December, 1870, the difficulties between England and the United States, which had held over until then from the Civil War, were satisfactorily settled by international commissioners at Geneva. A revolution of French-Canadians broke out in 1872, but was quickly put down. Cape Colony added to its territory in 1871 by annexing, over the protests of the Orange Free State, territory known then as Griqualand West. In the same year the Gold Coast was acquired on the West Coast of Africa through a treaty with Holland, Great Britain relinquishing in exchange its claims to Dutch Indian Sumatra. Russia's increased activity in Asia caused considerable apprehension, which, however, was removed by an understanding between Russia and Great Britain, concluded in 1872, according to which Afghanistan was to be considered not within the sphere of Russian interests in Asia.

      In 1874 the ties of relationship which connected Queen Victoria's family to that of the czar were strengthened by the marriage of her son, the Duke of Edinburgh, to Grand Duchess Marie of Russia. In the same year Czar Alexander II visited London. The Gladstone Ministry was succeeded by one headed by Disraeli. In 1875 the Government announced the purchase of the Suez Canal shares, then held by the Khedive of Egypt. This practically gave England control of the canal, as the khedive's holdings amounted to nine-twentieths of the entire issue. A great many of the other shares were in the hands of French investors. But the French Government accepted England's purchase without opposition. This move not only secured to England control of the shortest and safest route to India, but also brought it into closer contact with Egypt, one of the great colonial prizes of the world then still available.

      Disraeli soon gave proof of the sincerity of his imperialistic views. In 1876, at his suggestion and as a result of his diplomacy, the queen was proclaimed Empress of India. СКАЧАТЬ