The world war
When the people of the United States heard the news of the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 28, 1914, it was with a feeling of great regret that another sorrow had been added to the many already borne by the aged Emperor Francis Joseph. That those fatal shots would echo around the world and, flashing out suddenly like a bolt from the blue, hurl nearly the whole of Europe within a week’s time from a state of profound peace into one of continental war, unannounced, unexpected, unexplained, unprecedented in suddenness and enormity, was an unimaginable possibility. And yet the ringing of the church bells was suddenly drowned by the roar of cannon, the voice of the dove of peace by the blare of the trump of war, and throughout the world ran a shudder of terror at these unwonted and ominous sounds.
But in looking back through history, tracing the course of events during the past century, following the footsteps of men in war and peace from that day of upheaval when medieval feudalism went down in disarray before the arms of the people in the French Revolution, some explanation of the Great European war of 1914 may be reached. Every event in history has its roots somewhere in earlier history, and we need but dig deep enough to find them.
Such is the purpose of the present work. It proposes to lay down in a series of apposite chapters the story of the past century, beginning, in fact, rather more than a century ago with the meteoric career of Napoleon and seeking to show to what it led, and what effects it had upon the political evolution of mankind. The French Revolution stood midway between two spheres of history, the sphere of medieval barbarism and that of modern enlightenment. It exploded like a bomb in the midst of the self-satisfied aristocracy of the earlier social system and rent it into the fragments which no hand could put together again. In this sense the career of Napoleon seems providential. The era of popular government had replaced that of autocratic and aristocratic government in France, and the armies of Napoleon spread these radical ideas throughout Europe until the oppressed people of every nation began to look upward with hope and see in the distance before them a haven of justice in the coming realm of human rights.
Logan Marshall
The World War
PREFACE
CONTENTS
DRAMATIC SUDDENNESS OF THE OUTBREAK
TRADE AND COMMERCE PARALYZED
WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES
DILEMMA OF THE TOURISTS
AN OCEAN INCIDENT
CLOSING THE STOCK MARKETS
TERRIBLE EFFECTS OF WAR
THE TIDE OF DESTRUCTION
HALF CENTURY TO PAY DEBTS
ASSASSINATION OF THE AUSTRIAN CROWN PRINCE
AUSTRIA’S MOTIVE IN MAKING WAR
SERVIA ACCEPTS AUSTRIA’S DEMANDS
THE IRONIES OF HISTORY
WHAT AUSTRIA HAD TO GAIN
HOW THE WAR BECAME CONTINENTAL
AN EDITORIAL OPINION
IS THE KAISER RESPONSIBLE?
GERMANY’S STAKE IN THE WAR
WHY RUSSIA ENTERED THE FIELD
FRANCE’S HATRED OF GERMANY
GREAT BRITAIN AND ITALY
THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE AND TRIPLE ENTENTE
OLD AND NEW METHODS IN WAR
COSTS OF MODERN WARFARE
NATURE OF NATIONAL RESOURCES
BRITISH AND AMERICAN MILITARY SYSTEMS
NAVAL STRENGTH
RESOURCES OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
RESOURCES OF GERMANY
RESOURCES OF RUSSIA
RESOURCES OF FRANCE
RESOURCES OF GREAT BRITAIN.
SERVIA AND BELGIUM
THE GROWTH OF GERMAN IMPORTANCE
GERMAN MILITARISM
GREAT BRITAIN’S PEACE EFFORTS
GERMANY’S NAVAL PROBLEM
GERMAN AMBITIONS
PREPARATION FOR WAR
EFFECT ON THE EMPIRE
THE DOMINION
THE PROVINCES
THE CITIES
THE BANKS AND THE PATRIOTIC FUNDS
WARS AS MILEPOSTS
A CONTINENT IN ARMS
HOW CANADA PREPARED FOR WAR
THE BRITISH SENTIMENT
LORD KITCHENER’S CAREER
A FORCEFUL CHARACTER
Its Effect on National conditions Finally Led to the War of 1914
CONDITIONS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY
THE CAMPAIGN IN ITALY
THE VICTORY AR MARENGO
MOREAU AT HOHENLINDEN
THE CONSUL MADE EMPEROR
THE CODE NAPOLEON
CAMPAIGN OF 1805
BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ
THE CONQUEST OF PRUSSIA
THE INVASION OF POLAND
EYLAU AND FRIEDLAND
CAMPAIGN OF 1809
VICTORY AT WAGRAM
THE CAMPAIGN IN SPAIN
THE INVASION OF RUSSIA
A FATAL RETREAT
DRESDEN AND LEIPZIG
THE HUNDRED DAYS
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA
THE HOLY ALLIANCE
RUSSIA’S PART IN THE SERVIAN ISSUE
STRENGTH OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SLAVS
ORIGIN OF PAN-SLAVISM
THE CZAR’S PROCLAMATION
THE TEUTONS OF EUROPE
INTERMINGLING OF RACES
THE NATIONS AT WAR
The Final Overthrow of Napoleonism
THE “COUP D’ETAT” OF 1851
FROM PRESIDENT TO EMPEROR
THE EMPIRE IS PEACE
WAR WITH AUSTRIA
THE AUSTRIANS ADVANCE
THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA
POSSESSION OF LOMBARDY
FRENCH VICTORY AT SOLFERINO
TREATY OF PEACE
INVASION OF MEXICO
END OF NAPOLEON’S CAREER
Power of Austria Broken
THE CARBONARI
MAZZINI AND GARIBALDI
CAVOUR THE STATESMAN
THE INVASION OF SICILY
OCCUPATION OF NAPLES
VICTOR EMMANUEL TAKES COMMAND
WATCHWORD OF THE PATRIOTS
GARIBALDI MARCHES AGAINST ROME
BATTLE OF IRONCLADS
FINAL ACT OF ITALIAN UNITY
Beginnings of Modern World Power
WILLIAM I OF PRUSSIA
BISMARCK’S EARLY CAREER
THE SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN QUESTION
CONQUEST OF THE DUCHIES
BISMARCK’S WIDER VIEWS
WAR FORCED ON AUSTRIA
THE WAR IN ITALY
AUSTRIA’S SIGNAL DEFEAT OF SADOWA
THE TREATY OF PRAGUE
GERMANY AFTER 1866
Birth of the German Empire and the French Republic
CAUSES OF HOSTILE RELATIONS
DISCONTENT IN FRANCE
CAUSES OF HOSTILE RELATIONS
WAR WITH PRUSSIA DECLARED
SELF-DECEPTION OF THE FRENCH
FIRST MEETING OF THE ARMIES
THE STRONGHOLD OF METZ
MARS-LA-TOUR AND GRAVELOTTE
NAPOLEON III AT SEDAN
SURRENDER OF NAPOLEON’S ARMY
THE EMPEROR A CAPTIVE; FRANCE A REPUBLIC
BISMARCK REFUSES INTERVENTION
FALL OF THE FORTRESSES
PARIS IS BESIEGED
DEFIANT SPIRIT OF THE FRENCH
THE STRUGGLE CONTINUED
OPERATIONS BEFORE PARIS
FIGHTING IN THE SOUTH
THE WAR AT AN END
Building the Bulwarks of the Twentieth Century Nation
BISMARCK AS A STATESMAN
UNITING THE GERMAN STATES
WILLIAM I CROWNED AT VERSAILLES
A SIGNIFICANT DECADE
THE PROBLEM OF CHURCH POWER
PROGRESS OF SOCIALISM
WILLIAM II AND THE RESIGNATION OF BISMARCK
OLD AGE INSURANCE
POLITICAL AND INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS IN GERMANY
Great Britain Becomes a World Power
GLADSTONE AND DISRAELI
GLADSTONE’S FAMOUS BUDGET
A SUFFRAGE REFORM BILL
DISRAELI’S REFORM MEASURE
IRISH CHURCH DISESTABLISHMENT
AN IRISH LAND BILL
DESPERATE STATE OF IRELAND
THE COERCION BILL
WARS IN AFRICA
HOME RULE FOR IRELAND
Struggles of a New Nation
THE REPUBLIC ORGANIZED
THE COMMUNE OF PARIS
INSTABILITY OF THE GOVERNMENT
THIERS PROCLAIMED PRESIDENT
PUNISHMENT OF THE UNSUCCESSFUL GENERALS
MACMAHON A ROYALIST PRESIDENT
BAZAINE’S SENTENCE AND ESCAPE
GREVY, GAMBETTA AND BOULANGER
THE PANAMA CANAL SCANDAL
DESPOTISM OF THE ARMY LEADERS
THE DREYFUS CASE
CHURCH AND STATE
THE MOROCCO CONTROVERSY
The Outcome of Slavic Ambition
SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL
RUSSIA IN ASIA
THE RUSSO-JAPAN WAR
PORT ARTHUR TAKEN
THE RUSSIAN FLEET DEFEATED
How England Became Mistress of the Seas
GREAT BRITAIN AS A COLONIZING POWER
COLONIES IN THE PACIFIC REGION
COLONIZATION IN AFRICA
BRITISH COLONIES IN AFRICA
THE MAHDI REBELLION IN EGYPT
GORDON AT KHARTOUM
SUPPRESSION OF THE MAHDI REVOLT
COLONIZATION IN ASIA
THE BRITISH IN INDIA
COLONIES IN AMERICA
DEVELOPMENT OF CANADA
PROGRESS IN CANADA
Development of World Power in the East
WARLIKE INVASION OF CHINA
COMMODORE PERRY AND HIS TREATY
JAPAN’S RAPID PROGRESS
ORIGIN OF THE CHINA-JAPAN WAR
THE POSITION OF KOREA
LI HUNG CHANG AND THE EMPRESS
HOW JAPAN BEGAN WAR
THE CHINESE AND JAPANESE FLEETS
THE BATTLE OF THE YALU
CAPTURE OF WEI HAI WEI
EUROPE INVADES CHINA
THE BOXER OUTBREAK
RUSSIAN DESIGNS ON MANCHURIA
JAPAN BEGINS WAR ON RUSSIA
THE ARMIES MEET
PORT ARTHUR TAKEN
RUSSIAN FLEET DEFEATED
CHINA BECOMES A REPUBLIC
Checking the Dominion of the Turk in Europe
THE STORY OF SERVIA
TURKEY IN EUROPE
THE BULGARIAN HORRORS
THE DEFENSE OF PLEVNA
THE CONGRESS OF BERLIN
HOSTILE SENTIMENTS OF THE BALKANS
INCITEMENT TO WAR
FIGHTING BEGINS
THE ADVANCE ON ADRIANOPLE
SERVIAN AND GREEK VICTORIES
THE BULGARIAN SUCCESSES
STEPS TOWARD PEACE
THE WAR RESUMED
SIEGE OF SCUTARI
TREATY OF PEACE
WAR BETWEEN THE ALLIES
THE FINAL SETTLEMENT
ANCIENT AND MODERN WEAPONS
THE IRONCLAD WARSHIP
THE BALLOON IN WAR
GUNNING FOR AIRSHIPS
THE SUBMARINE
UNDER-WATER WARFARE
THE NEW TYPE OF BATTLESHIP
MOBILIZATION
THE WASTE OF WAR
MILITARY PREPARATIONS
THE GREAT CAMP AT VALCARTIER
THE CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
POLITICAL EFFECT OF CANADA’S ACTION ON FUTURE OF DOMINION
