Remarks:
Bulgaria being again restricted in territory felt she had been betrayed by the Powers, who did nothing to enforce the engagements of the Treaty of London. Her rivals, Serbia and Greece, gained at her expense. On the other hand, Bulgarian responsibility for the outbreak of the second war was undoubted.
The European Powers, by acting together, prevented the Balkan conflict from spreading into a European War. But the Treaty of Bukarest was no settlement, and was a signal exposure of their inability to solve the Balkan problem, which was destined to be the spark for a world-wide conflagration.
IMPORTANT TREATIES
(OTHER THAN THOSE ALREADY MENTIONED)
The Treaty of Vienna, June 9, 1815.
Second Treaty of Paris, November 20, 1815,
Signed by Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, France at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars.France gave up certain fortresses on the frontier but retained Alsace-Lorraine. Payment of 700 million francs was exacted from France. The greater part of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw fell to Russia, Posen to Prussia, and Cracow became a republic. Prussia got back nearly all her old possessions, and there was a reconstruction of German States under a Confederation. Holland, Belgium, and Luxemburg were established as an independent kingdom under the House of Orange: Switzerland was extended and her integrity guaranteed: Sardinia obtained Genoa and other territory: Austria received an extension of territory in North Italy and on the coast of the Adriatic, and became the dominant state in the German Confederation. The Pope and the King of the Two Sicilies regained their former possessions.
[The foregoing record of wars serves to show to what a small extent this treaty secured the settlement of European territorial problems.]
The Rushe-Bagot Treaty, April 1817, between Great Britain and the United States. The two powers agreed to withdraw their battleships from the Great Lakes.
It may be noted that the absence of armaments on the whole Canadian frontier cannot be said to have endangered the relations between the two countries in view of the fact that the Anglo-American peace centenary was celebrated in 1915.
The Treaty of Washington, May 8, 1871, between Great Britain and the United States. The north-western boundary was finally delimited: an attempt was made to settle the Canadian Fishery dispute, and it was agreed to refer the Alabama Claims to a tribunal of arbitration, which subsequently fixed the sum to be paid over by Great Britain as indemnity.
The Triple Alliance in 1882 was the result of Italy joining the alliance between Germany and Austria, which had grown out of the support given to Austria as against Russia at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, Italy having become estranged from France after the occupation of Tunis in 1881. The Triple Alliance was renewed for five years in 1887 and in 1891, and again in 1902 it was extended for a term of twelve years.
The Berlin Act. The outcome of the Conference of Berlin, 1884–5, at which fourteen Powers were represented. The respective spheres of influence of the European Powers in Africa were delimited. The neutrality of the Congo Free State was recognized, and it was established as an independent State under the sovereignty of the King of the Belgians. An area was marked out in which there should be free trade, which should be excluded from effects of disputes between the signatory Powers, and be placed under the rule of neutrality.
The latter stipulation has, however, not been carried out.
The Suez Canal Convention signed by nine Powers at Constantinople, October 29, 1888. Lesseps obtained the preliminary concession for the construction of the Canal in 1856. The Canal was opened in 1869. Disraeli bought four million pounds’ worth of shares from the Khedive on behalf of the British Government in 1875. The Convention ensured that the Canal should always be open to vessels of commerce and war without distinction of flag. Great Britain signed with a reservation, but in the Anglo-French agreement of 1904 declared her adherence to the Convention and agreed to its being put into force.
The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, November 18, 1901, between Great Britain and the United States, gave the United States right of control in time of war of the Panama Canal. The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850, which established a joint Anglo-American protectorate over the Canal was thereby abrogated.
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Treaties signed in London January 30, 1902, and August 12, 1905. The integrity and independence of China was recognized. If either Great Britain or Japan should be attacked and involved in a war with two Powers, they engaged mutually to assist one another. The aim of the alliance was officially defined as “the consolidation and maintenance of general peace in the regions of Eastern Asia and of India.” In 1911 the treaty was revised, a clause stipulating that there was no obligation to go to war with a Power with whom a treaty of arbitration was in force. This removed the danger of Great Britain being involved in a war between Japan and the United States.
The Argentine-Chile Treaty, 1902. From 1840 to 1900 constant boundary disputes arose between the two countries, which invariably led to war. At last the people themselves in both countries decided by large majorities to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the dispute. The delimitation of the frontier was carried out by a mixed commission, and to commemorate the treaty an immense statue of Christ was erected on a high pass in the Andes on the boundary line.
The Anglo-French Convention, April 8, 1904.
This removed outstanding causes of friction between the two countries, and was the foundation of the Entente.
Newfoundland fisheries and West African boundary problems were settled: the Siamese, New Hebrides, and Madagascar disputes were settled: Egypt was declared exclusively under British protection, and Morocco was left to France. A Franco-Spanish Convention was concluded in October of the same year with regard to Morocco. To both these treaties secret clauses were attached which amounted virtually to the prospective partition of Morocco by France and Spain.
The Agreement of Karlstadt, September 23, 1905.
The Union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved, and Norway recognized as an independent kingdom.
The movement in favour of separation had grown rapidly from 1899. It was resisted by the King of Sweden. A plebiscite in Norway declared in favour of it, and agreement was reached without any armed conflict.
The Algeciras Act, April 7, 1906, agreed to by thirteen Powers, was based on the sovereignty, independence, integrity, and economic liberty of Morocco. The provisions concerned the organization of police, regulation of taxation, customs, etc. This Act was disregarded by France in 1911, when a French force was sent to Fez and occupied the country.
The Anglo-Russian Convention, September 23, 1907.
Persia was divided so as to give Great Britain and Russia spheres of influence with a neutral zone between. (Persia was not a party to the treaty.) An agreement was come to with regard to Afghanistan and Thibet, settling all points where dispute might arise.
The Anglo-American Arbitration Treaty, April 4, 1908.
By this Treaty differences between Great Britain and the United States which do not affect the vital interests, independence, or honour of either country, or which do not concern the interests of third parties are referred to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague.