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THE NEW MAP OF EUROPE
THE NEW MAP OF EUROPE
(1911-1914) THE STORY OF THE RECENT EUROPEAN DIPLOMATIC CRISES AND WARS AND OF EUROPE'S PRESENT CATASTROPHE BY HERBERT ADAMS GIBBONS, PH.D. AUTHOR OF "THE FOUNDATION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE", "PARIS REBORN," ETC. NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1916 COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY THE CENTURY CO. Published, November, 1914 Second Edition, March, 1915 Third Edition, August, 1915 Fourth Edition, December, 1915 To MY CHILDREN CHRISTINE ESTE of Adana, LLOYD IRVING of Constantinople, and EMILY ELIZABETH of Paris. Born in
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CHAPTER I GERMANY IN ALSACE AND LORRAINE
CHAPTER I GERMANY IN ALSACE AND LORRAINE
The war of 1870 added to the German Confederation Alsace and a large portion of Lorraine, both of which the Germans had always considered theirs historically and by the blood of the inhabitants. In annexing Alsace and Lorraine, the thought of Bismarck and von Moltke was not only to bring back into the German Confederation territories which had formerly been a part of it, but also to secure the newly formed Germany against the possibility of French invasion in the future. For this it was necessar
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CHAPTER II THE "WELTPOLITIK" OF GERMANY
CHAPTER II THE "WELTPOLITIK" OF GERMANY
When the transrhenane provinces of the old German Empire were added to France in the eighteenth century, the assimilation of these territories was a far different proposition from their refusion into the mould of a new German Empire in 1871. In the first place, the old German Empire was a mediæval institution which, in the evolution of modern Europe, was decaying. Alsace and Lorraine were not taken away from a political organism of which they were a vital part. The ties severed were purely dynas
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CHAPTER III THE "BAGDADBAHN"
CHAPTER III THE "BAGDADBAHN"
In the development of her Weltpolitik , the most formidable, the most feasible, and the most successful conception of modern Germany has been the economic penetration of Asiatic Turkey. She may have failed in Africa and in China. But there can be no doubt about the successful beginning, and the rich promise for the future, of German enterprises in the Ottoman Empire. The countries of sunshine have always exercised a peculiar fascination over the German. His literature is filled with the Mediterr
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CHAPTER IV ALGECIRAS AND AGADIR
CHAPTER IV ALGECIRAS AND AGADIR
In 1904, an accord was made between Great Britain and France in regard to colonial policy in northern Africa. Great Britain recognized the "special" interests of France in Morocco in exchange for French recognition of Great Britain's "special" interests in Egypt. There was a promise to defend each other in the protection of these interests, but no actual agreement to carry this defence beyond the exercise of diplomatic pressure. The accord was a secret one. Its exact terms were not known until t
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CHAPTER V THE PASSING OF PERSIA
CHAPTER V THE PASSING OF PERSIA
The weakness of the Ottoman Empire and of Morocco served to bring the colonial and commercial aspiration of Germany into conflict with other nations of Europe. The recent fortunes of Persia, the third—and only other—independent Mohammedan state, have also helped to make possible the general European war. The first decade of the twentieth century brought about in Persia, as in Turkey, the rise of a constitutional party, which was able to force a despotic sovereign to grant a constitution. The You
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CHAPTER VI THE PARTITIONERS AND THEIR POLES[*]
CHAPTER VI THE PARTITIONERS AND THEIR POLES[*]
[*] This chapter has not been written without giving consideration to the Russian point of view. There is an excellent book on Russia since the Japanese War (from 1906 to 1912) by Peter Polejaïeff. When Russia, Austria, and Prussia partitioned Poland at the end of the eighteenth century, there were at the most six million Poles in the vast territory stretching from the Baltic nearly to the Black Sea. Of these a large number, especially in Eastern Prussia and in Silesia, had already lost their se
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CHAPTER VII ITALIA IRREDENTA
CHAPTER VII ITALIA IRREDENTA
Irredentism grew inevitably out of the decisions of the Congress of Vienna, whose members were subjected to two influences in making a new map of Europe. The first consideration, so common and so necessary in all diplomatic arrangements, was that of expediency. The second consideration was to prevent the rise of liberalism and democracy. The decisions on the ground of the first consideration were made under the pressure and the play and the skill of give and take by the representatives of the na
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CHAPTER VIII THE DANUBE AND THE DARDANELLES
CHAPTER VIII THE DANUBE AND THE DARDANELLES
The River Danube and the Straits leading from the Black Sea to the Ægean Sea have been the waterways of Europe whose fortunes have had the greatest influence upon the evolution of international relations during the last half century. The control of these two waterways, as long as the Ottoman Empire remained strong, was not a question of compelling interest to Europe. It was only when the decline of the Ottoman power began to foreshadow the eventual disappearance of the empire from Europe that na
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CHAPTER IX AUSTRIA-HUNGARY AND HER SOUTH SLAVS
CHAPTER IX AUSTRIA-HUNGARY AND HER SOUTH SLAVS
It has often been predicted in recent years that the union between Austria and Hungary would be broken by internal troubles. Hungary has been credited with desiring to cut loose from Austria. The frequent and serious quarrels between the members of the Dual Monarchy have caused many a wiseacre to shake his head and say, "The union will not outlive Franz Josef!" But the Austro-Hungarian Empire has been founded upon sound political and economic principles, which far transcend a single life or a dy
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CHAPTER X RACIAL RIVALRIES IN MACEDONIA
CHAPTER X RACIAL RIVALRIES IN MACEDONIA
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the peace of Europe was twice disturbed, and terrible wars occurred, over the question of the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. Since it is still the same question which has had most to do—directly at least—with bringing on the general European war of 1914, it is important to consider what has been, since the Treaty of Berlin, the very heart of the Eastern question in relation to Europe, the rivalry of races in Macedonia. When the European Powers, fol
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CHAPTER XI THE YOUNG TURK RÉGIME IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
CHAPTER XI THE YOUNG TURK RÉGIME IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
No event during the first decade of the twentieth century was heralded throughout Europe with so great and so sincere interest and sympathy as the bloodless revolution of July 24, 1908, by which the régime of Abdul Hamid was overthrown and the constitution of 1876 resuscitated. Although the world was unprepared for this event, it was not due to any sudden cause. For twenty years the leaven of liberalism had been working in the minds of the educated classes in the Ottoman Empire. Moslems, as well
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CHAPTER XII CRETE AND EUROPEAN DIPLOMACY
CHAPTER XII CRETE AND EUROPEAN DIPLOMACY
On November 19, 1910, the Cretan General Assembly made a stirring appeal "to the four Great Powers who are protectors of the island, to the two great Powers of Central Europe, to the great Republic of the New World, to the liberal and enlightened press of two Continents, and in general to all Christians, in favour of the rights of the Cretan people which it represents,—rights acquired and made legal by so many sacrifices and sufferings." The Cretans definitely included the United States and the
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CHAPTER XIII THE WAR BETWEEN ITALY AND TURKEY
CHAPTER XIII THE WAR BETWEEN ITALY AND TURKEY
Since the days when Mazzini, looking beyond the almost irrealizable dream of Italian unity, said in his Paris exile, "North Africa will belong to Italy," a new Punic conquest has been the steadfast hope of the Italians. France had already started her conquest of Algeria when Mazzini spoke, and was mistress of the richest portion of the southern Mediterranean littoral before the Italian unification was completed. Late though they were in the race, the Italians began to try to realize their dream
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CHAPTER XIV THE WAR BETWEEN THE BALKAN STATES AND TURKEY
CHAPTER XIV THE WAR BETWEEN THE BALKAN STATES AND TURKEY
During the year 1911 there had been a perceptible drawing together of the Balkan States in the effort to find a common ground for an offensive alliance against Turkey. The path of union was very difficult for the diplomats of the Balkan States to follow. It was clear to them in principle that they would never be able to oppose the policy of the Young Turks separately. They were not even sure whether their united armies could triumph over the large forces which the Ottoman Empire was able to put
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CHAPTER XV THE RUPTURE BETWEEN THE ALLIES
CHAPTER XV THE RUPTURE BETWEEN THE ALLIES
To those who knew the centuries-old hatred and race rivalry between Greece and Servia and Bulgaria in the Balkan Peninsula, an alliance for the purpose of liberating Macedonia seemed impossible. The Ottoman Government had a sense of security which seemed to be justifiable. They had known how to keep alive and intensify racial hatred in European Turkey, and believed that they were immune from concerted attack because the Balkan States would never be able to agree as to the division of spoils afte
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CHAPTER XVI THE WAR BETWEEN THE BALKAN ALLIES
CHAPTER XVI THE WAR BETWEEN THE BALKAN ALLIES
On Sunday night, June 29th, without any declaration of war or even warning, General Savoff ordered a general attack all along the Greek and Servian lines. There was no direct provocation on the part of Bulgaria's allies. The responsibility for precipitating the war which brought about the humiliation of Bulgaria can be directly fixed. Two general orders, dated from the military headquarters at Sofia on June 29th, have been published. They set forth an amazing and devilish scheme, which stands ou
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CHAPTER XVII THE TREATY OF BUKAREST
CHAPTER XVII THE TREATY OF BUKAREST
When the delegates from the various important capitals reached Bukarest on July 30th, the armies were still fighting. Everyone, however, seemed anxious to come to an understanding as soon as possible. The first session of the delegates was held on the afternoon of July 30th. Premier Pasitch for Servia and Premier Venizelos for Greece were present. But Premier Daneff, who had so wanted the war, did not have the manhood to face its consequences. The Bulgarians were represented in Bukarest by no ou
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CHAPTER XVIII THE ALBANIAN FIASCO
CHAPTER XVIII THE ALBANIAN FIASCO
The world has not known just what to do with the mountainous country which comes out in a bend on the upper western side of the Balkan Peninsula directly opposite the heel of Italy. It caused trouble to the Romans from the very moment that they became an extra-Italian power. Inherited from them by the Byzantines, fought for with the varying fortunes by the Frankish princes, the Venetians, and the Turks, Albania has remained a country which cannot be said to have ever been wholly subjected. Nor c
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CHAPTER XIX THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ULTIMATUM TO SERVIA
CHAPTER XIX THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ULTIMATUM TO SERVIA
In discussing the relations of the Austrians and Hungarians with their south Slavic subjects, and the rivalries of races in Macedonia the general causes behind the hostile attitude of Austria-Hungary to the development of Servia have been explained. Specific treatment of the Servian attitude towards the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was reserved for this chapter, because the events of the summer of 1914 are the direct sequence of the events of the winter of 1908-1909. On October 3, 1908,
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CHAPTER XX GERMANY FORCES WAR UPON RUSSIA AND FRANCE
CHAPTER XX GERMANY FORCES WAR UPON RUSSIA AND FRANCE
The title of this chapter seems to indicate that I have the intention of taking sides in what many people believe to be an open question. But this is not the case. The German contention, that Russia caused the war, must be clearly distinguished from the contention, that Russia forced the war. There is a great deal of reason in the first contention. No impartial student, who has written with sympathy concerning Great Britain's attitude in the Crimean War, can fail to give Germany just as strong j
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CHAPTER XXI GREAT BRITAIN ENTERS THE WAR
CHAPTER XXI GREAT BRITAIN ENTERS THE WAR
The balance of power in European diplomacy led inevitably to a rapprochement between France and Russia and Great Britain to offset the Triple Alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary and Italy. The Triple Alliance, however, while purely defensive , was still an alliance. It had endured or over thirty years, and the three Powers generally sustained each other in diplomatic moves. Their military and naval strategists were in constant communication, and ready at any time to bring all their forces in
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