The Great War (All 8 Volumes). Various Authors

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ result of the resentment of English aggression during the Napoleonic wars, which almost ended in the loss to Holland of its colonies, and partly as a result of the intense sympathy felt for the Boers, who are of Dutch descent, during the South African War. At the same time they have no particularly strong liking for Germany, suspecting it of having designs on their absolute independence, which the Dutch guard most jealously.

      The history of Holland during the last fifty years is, therefore, concerned chiefly with internal affairs, and covers few events of international importance. Its chief claim to international fame rests on its selection by the other civilized nations as the center of the international peace conferences and the seat of the International Court of Arbitration. On May 18, 1899, the First Peace Conference assembled at The Hague at the invitation of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. In it there participated, besides twenty-one European states, the United States, Mexico, China, Japan, Persia, and Siam. During sessions lasting over ten weeks international questions of the greatest importance, chiefly relating to the conduct of war, were discussed. As a result the convention adopted certain resolutions and declarations which modified warfare on land and sea, and regulated it by means of certain rules which were to be observed by all signatories. It also created a permanent court of arbitration, consisting of eminent jurists from all the countries represented, before which international disputes were to be brought for pacific settlement. At the suggestion of the United States (1904) the czar invited the countries to a second peace conference, which met on June 15, 1907. Besides the former signatories, all the South American States were represented. Its results were similar to those of the first conference, and as the years passed by the various countries concluded among each other a total of over 150 arbitration treaties.

      In spite of being the center of the modern peace movement, Holland found it necessary for its own protection to keep up with the general increase in armament which was carried on in Europe. In 1913 the Coast Defense Bill provided for the fortification of Flushing and for the expenditure of a comparatively large sum, and created considerable discussion and some ill feeling, especially in England.

      The Duchy of Luxemburg is ruled by the same dynasty that now occupies the throne of Holland, the House of Orange-Nassau. Until 1866 it was a member of the North German Federation, but in 1867 a conference of the powers, held at London, declared it to be neutral territory, and ordered the demolition of its fortifications. At that time the succession in both Holland and Luxemburg descended in the direct male line only. William III was King of Holland and Grand Duke of Luxemburg. In 1879 the king's only brother and his oldest son, and in 1881 the king's second son died. This left that branch of the house without male heirs. In 1879 William III had married a second time, and had chosen Emma, Princess of Waldeck-Pyrmont, one of the smallest German states. In 1880 a daughter, the present Queen Wilhelmina, was born. As the king was aging rapidly and was not likely to have any further issue, it became necessary to change the law of succession, in order to prevent Holland's throne from coming into the hands of the next male member of the House of Orange-Nassau, the Duke of Nassau, who was practically a German prince, and, therefore, not acceptable to Holland's people. In 1884 it was arranged that in case of lack of male issue the succession in Holland should descend to direct female heirs. When, therefore, William III died in 1890 his minor daughter became queen under the regency of Queen Emma. Luxemburg, however, descended to the Duke of Nassau, who, upon his death was succeeded by his son, and upon the latter's death by his granddaughter, the present Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide. Queen Wilhelmina, the idol of her people, assumed the reins of government upon reaching her majority in 1898 after her mother's skillful regency of eight years. In 1901 she married a German prince, Henry, Duke of Mecklenburg. This marriage was blessed with one daughter, Princess Juliana, who is heir apparent to the throne of Holland. Otherwise, though, it did not prove very happy, and, therefore, did certainly not increase Dutch friendship for Germany.

CHAPTER XI

       Table of Contents

      SUMMARY OF POLITICAL HISTORY

      From the preceding narration of the political histories of Europe's nations during the last half century there stand out very clearly two facts. All the bigger countries and even one or two of the smaller ones displayed a strong desire for expansion and the gratification of this desire resulted in a crude form of international cooperation between various groups of nations, crude because each separate nation at all times was guided primarily by its own interests and demanded cooperation on the part of some other nation or nations much more readily than it was willing to grant cooperation to its ally or allies.

      The motive of this desire for expansion, it is true, was in all cases chiefly an economic need. But the very fact that the various efforts at expansion, at least in their early stages, found almost always popular approval, shows that there usually was a secondary motive, a desire for aggrandizement. For it is very rare, indeed, that public opinion possesses sufficient foresight to either appreciate or be guided by economic necessities, while undertakings which can be made to appeal to the sentiments of jealousy, of nationalism, and of rivalry, readily find public support. The second of these—nationalism—especially was reawakened and in many an instance grew into chauvinism, endangering frequently the peace of the world. This, in a way, was very remarkable; for hand in hand with the increase of nationalism went an increase of internationalism to a degree that never before had been achieved in the history of the world. Indeed, for a considerable period it looked as if the world nations were rapidly approaching that happy state when war would be unnecessary because a peaceful method of adjusting international difficulties had been found and had been universally adopted. Whether the Great War of 1914 has destroyed all that was accomplished in the years preceding to make peace lasting, or whether it was only one of the obstacles in the path of this revolutionary undertaking, remains to be seen.

      The international cooperation of which we have just spoken was, of course, nothing new. For treaties have been signed and alliances have been concluded between nations ever since they have been developed far enough to be capable of definite, deliberate political efforts. But never before have treaties and alliances been so plentiful or gone so far, and only rarely have they resulted in such a definite alignment of the European nations into two groups. The inception of this policy the world owes to the great modern German statesman, Bismarck. It was through his efforts that the Triple Alliance was created soon after the Franco-Prussian War and after the foundation of the new German Empire which chose as its companions Austria-Hungary and Italy. That Bismarck built well then is clearly shown by the wonderful progress that Germany especially has been able to make since the Triple Alliance was founded and insured European peace for a long period of years. But that either he did not build well enough for all exigencies or else that his successors were not as capable as he, is shown equally clearly by the fact that at the most crucial moment in Germany's modern history one member of the Triple Alliance, Italy, deserted. The second group of European nations, in a way, was the logical result of the first, for the latter, as it were, left high and dry on the sea of international cooperation the three powerful countries of England, France, and Russia. At the time of the formation of the Triple Alliance France, of course, was disabled through its defeat by Germany to such an extent that alliances were, at least temporarily, out of the question. Its wonderfully quick recovery soon changed that, however, and resulted in very definite efforts on the part of French statesmen to form a defensive alliance which would insure France from any aggressiveness on the part of the Triple Alliance. This finally brought about the Franco-Russian Alliance. That Russia was available then was due to the fact that Germany's old intimacy with its eastern neighbor had received a serious setback when it chose Austria as its ally. For, though Austria and Russia had once been friends and for a short time even allies, conditions had changed and in modern times the interests of the two countries had become so conflicting that an alliance was entirely out of the question.

      After France and Russia had gotten together it was not long before England found it necessary to choose between these two international groups. That in spite of its close racial relation to the Germanic countries it preferred the Gallo-Slavic combination, was due СКАЧАТЬ