Outlines of Universal History, Designed as a Text-book and for Private Reading

by George Park Fisher

LOUIS NAPOLEON BAFFLED.—The Austro-Prussian war hastened the downfall of Louis Napoleon. The only consolation which the French had for the loss of freedom at home was power and reputation abroad. The astonishing rapidity of the Prussians, and the overwhelming success of their arms, had disconcerted the schemes of the French emperor. The defeat of Austria was so quick and so complete that he could not come in as mediator between the belligerents, and manage to secure the extension of France to its "natural frontiers" on the Rhine. He was baffled by Bismarck's diplomacy, as before he had been outwitted by Cavour; for Napoleon had wished, not a united Italy, but simply a Northern Kingdom. The French felt humiliated at the sight of military achievements parallel to those by which in other days they had disposed of the fate of Prussia herself. The opposing factions grew bolder in their attitude towards the Napoleonic government. The emperor made cautious attempts to secure cessions of territory from Prussia on the Rhine, but was met with a blunt refusal from Bismarck. He then sought to purchase from the king of Holland, Luxemburg, which had formerly belonged to the German Confederation. This attempt was resisted by Prussia, and war seemed imminent; but it was finally settled at the London Conference, that the duchy should be neutral territory, and that the fortress, which had been occupied by the Prussians, should be demolished. Germany was making progress towards a more complete union. A customs parliament, representing all the states, met at Berlin in May, 1868. Before that time, treaties of offensive and defensive alliance had been made between the North German Confederation and Würtemberg, Baden, and Bavaria. They were published on March 17, 1867.

BEGINNING OF THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR.—As Louis Napoleon, or those who held sway in his counsels, were bent on war with Prussia, a pretext was easily found. The bad administration of Queen Isabella of Spain, and her personal misconduct, caused insurrections to break out in 1868; and she was obliged to fly to France. A provisional government was established under Gens. Serrano and Prim, and Señor Olozaga. Later (1869) Serrano was made regent. The Cortes in 1870 offered the Spanish crown to Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who belonged to a younger branch of King William's family. The proposal was regarded in France with indignation, as a new step in the upbuilding of Prussian power. King William was required to forbid his relative's candidacy, which he declined to do. The prince, however, of his own accord withdrew. Not satisfied with this issue of the affair, Napoleon insisted that the Prussian king should engage never to support the candidacy of a Hohenzollern prince for the Spanish crown. William, who was at Ems, told the French ambassador, Benedetti, that he could not give a promise of this sort. When the question was again raised he sent an aide-de-camp, declining to discuss the matter further. This act was represented at Paris as an insult to France, and orders were issued to mobilize the army. The king, on his way to Berlin, was met at the Brandenburg station by the crown prince, Von Moltke, Von Roon, the able war minister, and Bismarck. The Confederate Diet assembled July 19, and placed its resources at the disposal of the king. The French declaration of war was received on the same day. Bavaria, Würtemberg, and the South German States, contrary to the unreasonable expectation of Napoleon, allied themselves with Prussia. In a moment all Germany was ablaze. The recollection of the days of the first Napoleon, and of the war of liberation, filled the whole land with patriotic enthusiasm. More than a million of men took the field in defense of the fatherland.

EVENTS TO SEDAN.—At the outset Napoleon tried to modify the plans Marshal Niel had drawn up in 1867 for such an emergency, and which called for three armies. He unwisely attempted to unite all the troops under his own command. Had he been able by a bold initiative to have gained a foothold in South Germany, Italy and Austria would probably have come to his support. But the French army was not in the state of full readiness which had been alleged to exist. The masterly dispositions of Von Moltke, and the swift movements of the Germans, broke up the French programme. The three great divisions of the German army were led by Steinmetz, Prince Frederick Charles, the king's nephew, and the crown prince, Frederick William. They advanced towards the boundary from Treves to Landau. Three victories of the Germans—at Weissenburg (Aug. 4), over Marshal MacMahon at Wörth (Aug. 6), and at Spicheren on the same day—compelled the French army to retreat towards the Moselle. The Baden division was left to besiege Strasburg. The next great battles, of which Gravelotte (Aug. 18) was the most hotly contested, were fought for the purpose of preventing Marshal Bazaine from joining with the main army the forces of MacMahon. Bazaine was defeated, and confined with his immense body of troops in and about the fortress of Metz; and his efforts to break through the German lines were baffled. The Prussian crown prince and the crown prince of Saxony, with their combined armies, proceeded against MacMahon. The defeats of the French had occasioned such wrath at Paris, that the ministry of M. Ollivier was compelled to retire (Aug. 10), and it was not safe for the emperor, who was with MacMahon, to return to the capital. The French general concentrated his forces at Sedan. On Sept. 1 the decisive battle was fought. The French were worsted and surrounded. The Emperor Napoleon yielded his sword to King William. The terms of capitulation were agreed upon by Von Moltke and Gen. Wimpffen (MacMahon being disabled by a wound), while other matters of a civil nature were arranged between Napoleon and Bismarck. The army that was surrendered numbered eighty-two thousand men, with fifty generals and five thousand other officers.

SIEGE OF PARIS: SURRENDER OF METZ.—As soon as the news of Sedan reached Paris, the imperial government fell to pieces. The Empress Eugénie escaped to England. A republic was proclaimed; and a new government was improvised, composed of enemies of the Empire, who belonged to different parties. Trochu was president, and governor of Paris; Jules Favre, a moderate republican, was minister of foreign affairs; and Gambetta, an extreme republican, was minister of the interior. The wish was for peace; but the inexorable demand of the Germans for the cession of Alsace and Lorraine, once parts of Germany, and now asserted to be necessary for its defense against future attack from France, called out a united and indignant spirit of resistance. The defense of Paris was undertaken with extraordinary energy: a large army was collected there, and a great supply of provisions was gathered. The siege of Paris was prosecuted by the Germans with an equally unflinching determination, from Sept. 19, 1870, to Jan. 28, 1871. Repeated sallies of the French troops, although made with much spirit, failed of success. The efforts to break the Prussian lines of connection with Paris, and to compel them by movements from without to raise the siege, were likewise baffled. Gambetta escaped from Paris in a balloon, and at Tours directed in the formation of two armies,—the army of the Loire, and the northern army, both of which were defeated. Strasburg capitulated (Sept. 27); and a month later (Oct. 27) Bazaine surrendered Metz, with three marshals, three thousand officers, and one hundred and seventy-three thousand soldiers. The main army of France was thus lost.

WILLIAM MADE EMPEROR: SURRENDER OF PARIS.—While the siege of Paris was in progress, all the princes of Germany, and the senates of the three free towns, united in the resolution to offer to the President of the Confederation the title of Emperor. Accordingly, on Jan. 18, 1871, King William, in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, was formally proclaimed Emperor of Germany. On the next day Trochu led the final sortie from Paris, of a hundred thousand men, which was repulsed after a severe contest. The provisions in the city were nearly exhausted, and on Jan. 23 an armistice for twenty-one days was signed. Paris surrendered on the 28th; and on the first day of March a national convention at Bordeaux accepted the preliminaries of peace, which included the cession of Alsace and the German part of Lorraine with Metz, and the payment of an indemnity of five thousand million francs. Thiers, who was elected chief of the executive department (Feb. 17), had managed the negotiations with Bismarck at Versailles, and urged the acceptance of them on the convention.

THE GERMAN IMPERIAL CONSTITUTION.—The first Diet of the new German Empire was opened at Berlin on March 21. The constitution of it left to each state the management of its domestic affairs. To the imperial government, with the Federal Council or Bundesrath, the Reichstag, and the emperor were relegated the affairs of common interest. The president of the Council was the imperial chancellor: Bismarck was appointed to that office. The Reichstag was composed of deputies chosen by general suffrage. The chancellor is not responsible to the Reichstag, but to the emperor. Power has not passed from the monarch to the representatives of the people.

CONTEST WITH THE COMMUNISTS: REPUBLICAN CONSTITUTION.—After the conditions of peace with the Germans were settled, Paris had to pass through a terrible period of disorder. The communists were bent on establishing municipal independence, or the self-government of the Commune, and a democratic republic. They demanded a federation of the townships, or communes, and distrusted the republicanism of the officials who were in the exercise of power. They are not to be confounded with communists in the socialistic sense: only a small fraction of the communal government, or central committee, were socialists. The party comprised a multitude of fanatical democrats of the lower classes, who were ready for the most violent measures. They had risen several times during the siege of Paris, and had tried to seize on power, but had been put down by the troops. After the surrender of Paris, they gained possession of the northern part of the city, and fortified it. The attempt to get back the cannon which they had seized caused a great communist uprising (March 18, 1871). A new reign of terror began. Darboy, the Archbishop of Paris, and many others, were murdered. MacMahon, acting for the Assembly, besieged Paris anew; the Germans being neutral in the forts that were still left, according to the treaty, in their hands. In the fierce struggle for the possession of the city, the principal buildings of Paris were set on fire by the savage communistic mob. The Tuileries, the Hôtel de Ville, and a part of the Palais Royal, with other public edifices, were destroyed. The insurrection was at length suppressed, and severe punishments were inflicted. A large number of the ringleaders were either shot or transported.

CHAPTER V. EUROPE, THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC, AND THE UNION OF ITALY (1871-).

COMPLETED UNION OF ITALY.—When the war between Prussia and France broke out, the republicans in Italy were disposed to take possession of Rome at once. Mazzini urged them to this step. The king, however, was bound by the agreement with France to prevent this action; which, moreover, might have divided, instead of uniting, Italy. Mazzini was arrested, and sent to Gaeta. But with the fall of Napoleon, on the declaration of Jules Favre that the "September Convention" (p. 574) was at an end, Victor Emmanuel, professing that he was bound to maintain order in the peninsula, sent his troops into Rome. The Pope lost his temporal dominions, and was limited to the title and prerogatives of the spiritual head of the Catholic Church. The seat of the Italian government was removed to the ancient capital (July 1, 1871). The present king, Umberto I., ascended the throne 1878.

PIUS IX.: THE COUNCIL OF THE VATICAN.—The long pontificate of Pius IX. was distinguished by important acts having relation to the doctrine and discipline of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1854 he promulgated the declaration of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. He thus determined authoritatively a question which had long been debated in the schools of theology. Ten years later (1864) he issued an Encyclical, together with a Syllabus of Errors, in which, besides the condemnation of opinions in matters of faith which were adjudged heterodox, various alleged encroachments of the civil authority and heretical views respecting the control of the state in reference to marriage, education, etc., were denounced. The views thus condemned are such as the kingdom of Belgium had recognized, and France and some other Roman Catholic countries have shown themselves willing to accept. In 1869 the Oecumenical Council of the Vatican assembled, and after long debate sanctioned the doctrine of papal infallibility; that is, they promulgated the dogma that the Pope, when addressing the whole Church on a subject of morals or theology, is kept by the Spirit of God from enunciating error.