Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/753

Rh E U 11 P E 717 principles, which had been raised by the great Frankfort parliament, died away ; Austria was still in the ascendant, and under her countenance and support all liberal move ments were violently suppressed in the south German states. The first great disturbance of the sullen and sultry peace which settled down over Europe was occasioned by the claim of Russia to the protectorate of the Greek Christians in the Turkish empire, and her invasion of the Danubian principalities. England and France determined to maintain the integrity of Turkey, and the Crimean war was the re sult. By the trsaty of Paris, which closed the contest (March 1856), Russia ceded a small piece of territory to the north of the Danube, the navigation of the river was de clared free, Moldavia and Wallachia were increased by the addition of the Russian surrender and placed along with Servia under the protection of the contracting powers, and the neutrality of the Black Sea was established. The real power of Turkey was hardly increased ; and in 1859 she had to utter useless protests against the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, which united into one under the name of Roumania, and chose Alexander Cusa, a Moldavian nobleman, as their chief. The Italian kingdom of Sardinia, which had joined in the Crimean war as an ally of England and France, was soon to play a much more brilliant part in Europe. With the powerful assistance of France it drove Austria out of Lombardy, and practically secured the leader ship among the states of Italy. In 1860 the first Italian parliament contained representatives, not only of Sardinia and Lombardy, but also of Tuscan}, Modena, Parma, and the Roman Legations, all these states having voted by general suffrage to cast in their lot with Sardinia. The same year saw the marvellous campaigns of Garibaldi ; and on the 17th March 1861 Victor Emmanuel was recog nized as king of Italy by all the Italian states except Austrian Yenetia and the city of Rome. In 1864 another important alteration of political boundaries was effected in the north. The provinces of Schleswig-Holstein, occupied by a partly Danish and partly German population, were conquered by the united forces of the German confederation. Before long it was evident that Prussia meant to appro priate them to herself as of great service to the development of her marine. By the Gastein convention of 18G5 it was arranged that the government of Schleswig should fall to Prussia and that of Holstein to Austria, while Lauenburg was yielded to Prussia for 2^ millions of Danish rixdollars. This treaty, however, proved only a very temporary settle ment, the real question at issue being whether Prussia or Austria was to be the dominant power in Germany. The diet, which, according to the treaty of Vienna, ought to have been arbiter between them, was too weak to give effect to any decision : it sided with Austria, and mobilized its army by the decree of 14th July. By 3d July 1866 the fate of Germany was decided by the battle of Koniggriitz or Sadowa, and on the 23d of August the treaty of Prague was signed. The Austrians ceded the Venetian territory to the Italians (who had naturally seized the opportunity of the war), gave up their claim to Schleswig-Holstein, and pro mised to recognize the German confederation and any terri torial changes effected within its limits. In 1866-67 the confederation was constituted, under the direction of Prussia, to include all the German states to the north of the Maine; they were to have one common federal legislation and a federal army, while in everything Prussia was to have the pre-eminence. The duchy of Luxembourg in the same years threatened to involve Europe in a new war, as Prussia refused to permit its transfer by the king of Holland to the French emperor ; but peace was secured by a conference of the great powers in London (May 1867), who guaranteed the neutrality of the territory and secured the dismantling of its fortresses. Another step in the unification of Germany was taken iu 1868 by the reconstruction of the Zollverein or customs union. Meanwhile Austria had been turning her attention to her domestic difficulties, and had settled the most im portant by the recognition of the autonomy of Hungary, which was henceforth to be associated with Austria proper on equal terms. In June 18C7 Francis Joseph and his con sort were formally crowned at Pesth as king and queen of Hungary. The year 1870 saw the completion of Italian unity by the occupation and annexation of the city of Rome, and, what was of still greater consequence to Europe at large, the rise of a dispute between France and Prussia about the succession to the throne of Spain. The matter was of little real moment to either, but the French Government was eager for the fray, and Prussia was not slow to take up the gage. If the strength of the two combatants be considered, the terrible conflict was soon over. The German troops, who had crossed the frontier in August 1870, entered Paris in March 1871 ; the preliminary peace had been signed at Versailles in February ; and the final peace was concluded 10th May. Prussia s position ia Germany and Europe was established, and her king had been recognized as emperor of the German confederation on 18th June, in the palace of Versailles. Europe again enjoyed peace for a few years ; but in 1877 Russia declared war against Turkey, ostensibly as protector of the Christian populations who were suffering from the anarchy of her government. In Europe and Armenia the conflict continued with growing success on the part of the Russians till the preliminary peace of San Stefano. The alterations demanded by Russia were of the most sweep ing kind, and would practically have removed Turkey from the rank of a European power, as the territory to be left under her control was both of small extent and discon tinuous. The conclusion of the treaty on such conditions was strongly opposed by the British Government, and for a time it almost appeared as if Europe were to be involved in a far more terrible war than that which had come to a close. After much political finessing it was at length decided that the matter in dispute should be submitted to an international congress, and the plenipotentiaries of the various powers accordingly met at Berlin on Thursday, 13th June 1878. Such in the most meagre outline are the principal changes Ri se of tht in the political distribution of the territory of Europe. A present clearer idea of the rise of the several powers of the present territorial time may be obtained from the following equally rapid survey. Great Britain began in the little Saxon kingdom of Wessex, which, according to the usual account, dates from Cerdic s settlement in 519 A.D., and by 880 had extended its authority as far north as the Forth and Clyde. The remoter portions of this territory afterwards gravitated now to England and now to Scotland, till at last the boundaries between the two kingdoms became v/hat they still remain. Wales was subjugated by Edward I. in 1282; and the conquest of Ireland, begun in 1169 under Henry II., was completed by 1610. The English and Scottish crowns were united on the accession of James of Scotland to the English throne in 1603, and the two countries became politically one by the Act of Union in 1707. The repre sentation of Ireland in the English parliament dates only from 1801. France practically had its commencement when Hugh Capet united the duchy of Francia with the minor territories still left in the hands of the petty Carolingian kings, and established the capital at Paris. Its subsequent growth was very gradual, and the successive additions were obtained partly by conquest, partly by purchase, and partly by matrimonial alliances. Philip I. bought the duchy of Berri; Philip Augustus secured possession of Anjou, Maine,