Olive Branch Petition.
An appeal to the King by the Second American Congress, 1775, expressing a desire for reconciliation, but offering no concessions. The King, however, refused to receive it, on the ground that it was issued by an unauthorized assembly.
Olmütz, Convention of.
Also called the Humiliation of Olmütz. A convention signed in 1850 between Prussia and Austria, by which the former Power renounced all her projects of union, and recognized the restoration of the old Germanic Diet, under the presidency of Austria.
Olney Doctrine.
An extension of the Monroe Doctrine put forward by Mr. Olney, President Cleveland’s Secretary of State, in a despatch on the Venezuela boundary question in July, 1895. He claimed that Great Britain had no right to interfere on the American Continent, and that, if force was necessary, British Guiana must rely on her own resources, without calling in aid from Great Britain. He further maintained that the United States had a right to insist upon all claims concerning questions of territory being submitted to arbitration unreservedly, and was justified in taking steps to satisfy herself that no territory had been or was being unwarrantably annexed. Lord Salisbury absolutely repudiated this doctrine, and refused in any sense to accept it as binding on Great Britain.
Omladina.
A secret society having its headquarters in Servia, whose object is the establishment of a Pan-Slavic confederation on a republican basis. It has from time to time caused Austria some trouble in Bohemia.
Open Door.
The declared English policy in China, as opposed to the policy of “Spheres of Influence.” It is defined in the Anglo-German agreement of 1900 as the free access, under equal conditions, of all nations to the ports, rivers and littorals of China.