Chapter X: "1. Then, after being filled, thus give ye thanks (9)

With regard to the mineral production of Europe generally, perhaps the
most notable fact to record is the relatively lower place taken by the
United Kingdom in the production both of coal and iron. Here it is
enough to state the main results. In the production of coal the United
Kingdom is indeed still far ahead of all other European countries, but
notwithstanding the fact that the British export of coal has been
increasing much more rapidly than the production, this country has not
been able to keep pace with Germany and Russia in the rate of increase
of production. In 1878 the production of coal in the German empire was
only about 34% of that of the United Kingdom, but in 1906 it had grown
to nearly 50%. This, too, was exclusive of lignite, the production of
which in Germany is increasing still more rapidly. It was equal to
little more than one-fourth of the coal production in 1878, but more
than two-fifths in 1906. The coal production of Russia (mainly
European Russia) is still relatively small, but it is increasing more
rapidly than that of any other European country. While in 1878 it was
little more than 2% of that of the United Kingdom, in 1906 the
corresponding ratio was above 8%. In the production of iron ores the
decline in the position of the United Kingdom is much more marked. The
production reached a maximum in 1882 (18,032,000 tons), and since then
it has sunk in one year (1893) as low as 11,200,000 tons, while, on
the other hand, there was a rapid increase in the production of such
ores in the German Zollverein (including Luxemburg), France, Spain,
Sweden and Russia, down to 1900, with a more progressive movement, in
spite of fluctuations, in all these countries than in the United
Kingdom in more recent years. In the total amount of production the
United Kingdom in 1905 took the second place. While in 1878 the
production of iron ores in the German Zollverein was little more than
a third of that in the United Kingdom, in 1905 it exceeded that of the
United Kingdom by nearly 60%.

An indication of the relative importance of different European
countries in the production of ores and metals of less aggregate value
than coal and iron is given in the following tables[54]:--

+--------------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | Gold. | Silver. |Quicksilver | Tin Ore. |
| | | | Ore. | |
+--------------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | kilos. | kilos. | m.t. | m.t. |
| Austria | 126 | 38,940 | 91,494 | 54 |
| German Empire | 121 | 177,183 | .. | 134 |
| Hungary | 3,738 | 13,642 | .. | .. |
| Italy | .. | .. | 80,638 | .. |
| Norway | .. | 6,367 | .. | .. |
| Portugal | 29 | .. | .. | 22 |
| Russia | 8,202[55] | .. | ?[57] | .. |
| Spain | .. | ?[56] | 26,186 | 86 |
| United Kingdom | 58 | 4,614 | .. | 7,268[58]|
+--------------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
Kilos = kilograms. M.t. = metric tons.

+--------------------+-------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | Copper Ore. | Lead Ore. | Manganese | Zinc Ore. |
| | | | Ore. | |
+--------------------+-------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | m.t. | m.t. | m.t. | m.t. |
| Austria | 20,255 | 19,683 | 13,402 | 32,037 |
| Belgium | .. | 121 | 120 | 3,858 |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | 765 | .. | 7,651 | 31 |
| France | 2,547 | 11,795[62]| 11,189 | 53,466 |
| German Empire | 768,523 | 140,914 | 52,485 | 704,590 |
| Greece | .. | ?[63] | 10,040 | 26,258 |
| Hungary | 1,338 | 564 | 10,895 | .. |
| Italy | 147,135 | 40,945 | 3,060 | 155,821 |
| Norway | 32,203 | (see zinc) | .. | 3,308[66]|
| Portugal | 352,689[59]| 511 | 22 | 1,267 |
| Russia | ?[60] | .. | ?[65] | 9,612 |
| Spain |2,888,777[61]| 263,519[64]| 62,822 | 170,383 |
| Sweden | 19,655 | 1,938[62]| 2,680 | 52,552[67]|
| United Kingdom | 7,598 | 31,289 | 23,127 | 23,190 |
+--------------------+-------------+------------+------------+------------+
M.t. = metric tons.

Platinum has hitherto been obtained nowhere in Europe except in the
auriferous sands in the Russian government of Perm. Nickel is derived
from Germany, Norway and Sweden; antimony from Germany and Hungary;
bismuth from Saxony and Bohemia. Bauxite, which is used in the
manufacture of aluminium, is obtained from France, Styria and Ireland.
In order of importance the chief salt-producing countries are the
United Kingdom (in which for some years the amount produced has been
for the most part stationary or declining), Germany (which is rapidly
increasing its production), Russia, France, Spain, Italy,
Austria-Hungary, Rumania and Switzerland. Besides common salt Germany
has for many years been producing a rapidly increasing amount of
potash salts, of which it has almost a monopoly. Italy (chiefly
Sicily) is by far the most important producer of sulphur. Among other
mineral products may be mentioned the boric acid and statuary marble
of Tuscany, the statuary marble of Greece, the asphalt of Switzerland,
Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary, the slates of Wales, Scotland and
France, the kaolin of Germany, England and France, and the abundant
glass sands of Belgium, France and Bohemia.

Commerce, industries and railways.

With regard to commerce, industries and railways, as a whole, Europe
may be said to be characterized by the rapid development of
manufacturing at the expense of agricultural industry. With few
exceptions the countries of Europe that export agricultural products
are able to spare a diminishing proportion of the aggregate of such
produce for export. Other countries are becoming more and more
dependent on imported agricultural products. Most European countries,
even if not able to export a large proportion of manufactured
articles, are at least securing a greater and greater command of the
home market for such products.[68] Inland centres of manufacturing
industry are extending the range of their markets. All these changes
have been largely, if not chiefly, promoted by the improvements in the
means of communication, and the methods of transport by sea and land.
Larger ships more economically propelled have brought grain at a
cheaper and cheaper rate from all parts of the world, and improved
methods of refrigeration have made fresh meat, butter and other
perishable commodities even from the southern hemisphere articles of
rapidly growing importance in European markets. Improvements in
transport have likewise tended to cheapen British coal in many parts
of the mainland of Europe. On the other hand, the extension of the
railway network of the continent has brought a wider area within the
domain of the manufacturing regions associated with the coalfields
occurring at intervals in central Europe from the upper Oder to the
basin of the Ruhr, as well as some of the more detached coalfields of
Russia. As affecting the relative advantages of different European
countries for carrying on manufacturing industry, three inventions or
discoveries of recent years may be mentioned as of capital importance:
(1) the invention in 1879 of the Thomas process for the manufacture of
ingot iron and steel from the phosphoric iron ores, an invention which
gave a greatly enhanced value to the ores on the borders of Lorraine,
Luxemburg and Alsace, as well as others both in England and on the
continent; (2) the invention of efficient machines for the application
of power by means of electricity, an invention which gave greatly
increased importance to the water-power of mountainous countries; and
(3) the discovery of the fact that from lignite an even higher grade
of producer gas may be obtained than from coal, a discovery obviously
of special importance for the great lignite-producing districts of
Germany and Bohemia.

Water-power.

Such particulars as can be procured with regard to the utilization of
water-power in the countries of Europe which use that source of power
most largely are given in the following table:--

+-----------------+------+--------------+--------------+--------------+
| | | Total Horse- | Total Horse- | Percentage |
| Countries. | Date.|power used in | power in | belonging to |
| | | Mechanical | Hydraulic | Hydraulic |
| | | Industry. |Installations.|Installations.|
+-----------------+------+--------------+--------------+--------------+
| | | Thousands. | Thousands. | Per cent. |
| Germany | 1895 | 3427 | 629 | 18 |
| France / | 1899 | .. | 575 | .. |
| \ | 1904 | 2581[69] | 650[69] | 25 |
| Austria-Hungary | 1902 | .. | 437 | .. |
| Italy | 1899 | 2209 | 337 | 15 |
| Sweden | 1903 | 453 | .. | about 50[70] |
| Norway | 1904 | 254 | 186 | 73 |
| / | 1895 | 153 | 88 | 58 |
| | | 1895 | 153 | 95[71] | 62 |
| Switzerland < | 1901 | 320 | 185 | 58 |
| | | 1901 | 320 | 223[71] | 70 |
| \ | 1905 | 516 | ? | ? |
+-----------------+------+--------------+--------------+--------------+

The figures derived from the three recent industrial censuses of
Switzerland are very instructive, especially if one is justified in
including the electric among the hydraulic installations. The
estimates that have been made of the total available water-power in a
few European countries are mostly based on such problematical data
that they are not worth giving. One very uncertain element in such
calculations is the amount of water-power that is capable of being
artificially created by the construction of valley-dams, such as have
been erected on a small scale in the Harz and other mining and
smelting regions of Germany from an early date, and are now being
built on a much larger scale in the Rhine region and other parts of
Europe, or is incidentally provided in the construction of canals.

Transcontinental routes.

The commercial history of Europe has illustrated from the earliest
times the influence of the outline and physical features in
determining great trade-routes along certain lines. At all periods
land routes have connected the southern seas with the Baltic and the
North Sea, effecting the great saving of distance more or less
indicated by the following table:--

+---------------------------+----------+-----------+----------+
| | Distance | Direct | Distance |
| | by Sea. | Distance. | by Rail. |
+---------------------------+----------+-----------+----------+
| | st. m. | m. | m. |
| St Petersburg-Odessa | 5240 | 930 | 1217 |
| Riga-Odessa | 4985 | 765 | 1022 |
| Danzig-Odessa | 4735 | 745 | 1009 |
| Stettin-Triest | 4065 | 550 | 854 |
| Luebeck-Venice | 3920 | 640 | 871 |
| Hamburg-Triest | 3820 | 560 | 945 |
| Hamburg-Venice | 3805 | 555 | 886 |
| Hamburg-Genoa | 2845 | 640 | 880 |
| Antwerp-Venice | 3500 | 515 | 850 |
| Antwerp-Genoa | 2535 | 515 | 778 |
| Antwerp-Marseilles | 2350 | ? | 725 |
| Calais-Genoa | 2400 | 555 | 780 |
| Calais-Marseilles | 2215 | 535 | 721 |
| Havre-Marseilles | 2135 | 475 | 678 |
| Bordeaux-Cette | 1945 | 227 | 295 |
| Calais-Constantinople | 3510 | 1445 | 2134 |
| Calais-Salonica | 3370 | 1215 | 1911 |
| Christiania-Stockholm | 780 | 260 | 357 |
| Lulea-Narvik (Ofotenfjord)| 1970 | 240 | 295 |
+---------------------------+----------+-----------+----------+

From the form of the continent it obviously results that the farther
east the route lies the greater is the saving of distance. The precise
direction of the routes has been very largely fixed, however, by the
physical features; by the course of the rivers where navigable rivers
formed parts of the routes; in other cases by the situation and form
of the mountains, or the direction of the river valleys which is
implied in the form of the mountains. From the Black Sea the most
convenient starting-point is obviously towards the west, and two
connecting routes with the Baltic lie wholly to the east of the
mountains. One route makes use of the Bug or the Dniester, the San and
the Vistula so far as possible, while another starting in the same way
proceeds round the foot-hills of the Carpathians, thus finding easy
crossing places on the head-streams of the rivers, as far as the Oder
and then down that stream. Another route is up the Danube to the
neighbourhood of Vienna, and then north-eastwards through the opening
between the Carpathians and the Sudetic range to the head-waters of
the Oder, crossing a water-parting little more than 1000 ft. in
altitude. The first route was certainly used again and again by the
ancient Greeks, starting from Olbia near the mouth of the Bug, the
objective point being the coast in the south-east of the Baltic
supplying the amber which was so important an article of commerce in
early times. This route was again much used in the middle ages, when
Visby, on Gotland, undoubtedly selected on account of the security
afforded by an island station, was for hundreds of years an important
centre of trade both in northern products (of which furs were the most
valuable) and those of the East (pepper and other spices, silks and
other costly articles). Numerous coins, Roman, Byzantine and Arabic,
found not merely in Gotland itself but also at various points along
the route indicated, testify to the long-continued importance of this
route. In the middle ages the Oder route was also largely used whether
reached by rounding the Carpathians or ascending the Danube, and in
connexion with that route the island of Bornholm long formed a focus
of commerce answering to that in Gotland farther east. The Danube
route was also made use of farther west, and formed a large part of a
great route connecting the East with the north-west of Europe. The
valuable goods of the Orient could be conveyed up-stream as high as
Ratisbon (Regensburg), and thence north-westward across Nuremberg to
Frankfort-on-Main, from which access was had to the Rhine gorge
leading on to Cologne and the ports of Dordrecht and Rotterdam, Bruges
and Ghent; or they could be carried still farther up-stream to Ulm,
thence by a route winding through the north of the Black Forest to
Strassburg and from that point north of the Vosges to the Marne and
Seine.

Farther west use was made at an early date of passes by which the
whole system of the Alps could be crossed, or partly crossed and
partly rounded, in a single rise. The ancient Etruscans, in exchanging
their earthenware and bronzes for the amber found largely in those
times not only in the Baltic but also on the eastern shores of the
North Sea north of the Rhine mouths, made regular use of at least
three such passes. One of these was the Brenner, the summit of which
is under 4500 ft. in height, approached on the south side by the
valley of the Adige and its tributary the Eisak, on the other side by
the Inn valley and that of its small tributary the Sill. By this route
the Alps at about their widest are crossed with exceptional ease; and
hence it was natural that it should have been used by the Etruscans to
reach the amber shores of the Baltic, and in all subsequent periods in
intercourse between central Europe and northern Italy. In their trade
with the mouth of the Rhine the Etruscans appear to have used only the
passes approached by the Dora Baltea, which leads equally to the
Little St Bernard, to the south of Mont Blanc, and so to the Isere
valley and the Rhone, and to the Great St Bernard, to the east of Mont
Blanc, and so directly to the Rhone valley above the Lake of Geneva,
by which route the remainder of the Alps could be rounded on the west
and the Rhine valley reached by crossing the northern Jura. Roman
roads were afterwards made across all these passes, although that
across the Great St Bernard (the highest of all, above 8100 ft.) seems
never to have been made practicable for carriages. The Romans also
made use of three intervening passes by which in a single rise from
the Po basin the heads of valleys leading right down to the head of
Lake Constance could be reached. These were the Bernardino, Spluegen
and Septimer, to mention them in the order from west to east. By the
Romans the Simplon was also made use of as affording the most direct
connexion between Milan and the upper Rhone valley. All these passes
were likewise in use in the middle ages when Venice and Genoa were the
great intermediaries in the trade in pepper and spices and other
Oriental products. The Brenner afforded the most direct connexion
between Venice and southern Germany, on a route leading also to
northern Germany by way of Ratisbon and afterwards the rivers of the
Elbe basin, and finally (from the end of the 14th century) by a canal
to Luebeck, which was the great distributing centre of these and other
products for the Baltic. To take the most direct route to the Rhine
valley and north-western Europe some other pass (the Seefeld or the
Fern) in the Bavarian Alps had to be crossed and the Rhine valley
reached by Augsburg, and thence either by way of Ulm or Frankfort.
From Genoa the routes in the early middle ages were by way of Milan to
the Lake of Constance, and thence by way of Ulm if the Rhine valley
was the goal, and by way of Augsburg if it was the Baltic. The St
Gotthard route, the most direct connexion between Milan and the north
of the Alps, was added about the end of the 13th century. The Mont
Cenis pass from an early date afforded the most direct connexion
between Genoa and the middle Rhone valley by way of Turin. When modern
carriage roads came to be built it was still the same routes that were
chosen. The road across the Brenner, completed in 1772, was the first
of these. The building of the great Swiss carriage roads across the
passes in the early part of the 19th century was inaugurated by
Napoleon's road across the Simplon completed in 1805. A later
paragraph will show that modern railways follow much the same, if not
exactly the same, routes. On the early use of the Saone-Rhone valleys,
and the route between the foot-hills of the Cevennes and the Pyrenees,
it is not necessary to insist, but it may be mentioned that English
tin was sometimes conveyed to the Mediterranean (Marseilles) by this
latter route in Roman times.

Inland waterways.

Since the introduction of railways inland waterways have in most
countries taken a very inferior position as means of transport. The
articles on the different countries supply the necessary information
with respect to those which have a purely national interest, but here
mention must be made of those which have significance as belonging to
trans-European routes or have an international value. The importance
of shortening the water-route between the opposite sides of the great
European isthmus separating the Baltic and the Black Sea is brought
into prominence by the constant revival of projects for a ship-canal
connecting those coasts. A definite step taken with a view to carrying
out such a project was the sanction given by the tsar in April 1905
for the appointment of a special commission to inquire into the
practicability of a scheme for the excavation of a canal about 28 ft.
deep between Riga and Kherson, utilizing the waters of the Duna or
western Dvina, the Berezina and Dnieper. Since the completion in 1845
of the Ludwigs or Danube-Main Canal, running from the Main near
Bamberg to Kelheim on the Danube, it has been possible to go by water
from the mouth of the Rhine to the mouth of the Danube; but this canal
has in reality no trans-European significance. It cannot take barges
of a greater capacity than 125 tons, is not adapted for steamers, and
carries only a very small amount of traffic. But projects for
connecting the Danube with northern Europe by water are still
entertained. Of these the most advanced are those for establishing
connexions through Austria. On the 11th of June 1901 the Austrian diet
passed an act prescribing the construction of a canal connecting the
Oder with the Danube through the Morava, and another connecting the
Danube at Linz with the Moldau-Elbe, and the improvement of the
navigation on the connected waterways. The Oder-Danube canal thus
authorized would have to cross a watershed of little more than 1000
ft. in altitude as against 1365 ft. in the case of the Ludwigs Canal;
but the Elbe-Danube Canal would have to cross one of about 2250 ft.
Under the provisions of the act the work is to be completed by 1924.
In Germany projects have been actively agitated for improving the
Danube-Main connexion either wholly or partly along the route of the
present canal, and for establishing a new connexion by means of a
canal of at least 61/2 ft. in depth by way of the Neckar, the Rems and
the Brenz, joining the Danube at Lauingen about midway between Ulm and
Donauwoerth. The Moldau-Elbe is itself an important international
waterway, inasmuch as it allows of steamer traffic from Prague in
Bohemia to Hamburg, and by means of a connecting canal to Luebeck. But
the most important of all international waterways in Europe is the
Rhine, on which even sea-going steamers regularly ascend to Cologne,
and an amount of traffic crosses the Dutch frontier three or four
times as great as that which makes use of the Manchester ship-canal.
The river is also navigable to Basel in Switzerland, though above
Strassburg the river is little used, being replaced since 1834 by the
Rhine and Rhone canal, which connects the two rivers through the Ill
and the Saone. The Rhine is also connected with the Seine by the Marne
and Rhine canal passing north of the Vosges, and its tributary the
Moselle is also navigable from France into Germany. The Meuse again is
navigable from France through Belgium into Holland, and is connected
by more than one route with the Seine, and in the densely peopled
mining and manufacturing country in the north of France and the
adjoining parts of Belgium numerous waterways ramify in different
directions. Even in an article on Europe the entirely French canals
connecting the Seine and Rhone (Burgundy canal, summit-level 1230 ft.,
completed 1832), the Loire and Rhone (Canal du Centre, summit-level
990 ft., completed in 1793), and the Canal du Midi, connecting the
Garonne at Toulouse with Cette on the Mediterranean, may be mentioned
inasmuch as they establish communication between different seas. The
last is of special interest because it is the oldest (completed in
1681), because it makes use of the lowest crossing, surmounting the
passage of Naurouse, or Gap of Carcassonne, at an altitude of 625 ft.,
and because it effects the greatest shortening of distance from sea to
sea. On this account the project of establishing a ship-canal of
modern dimensions along this route has been as often revived as that
of the Black Sea and Baltic canal. In the east of Europe the Vistula
and Memel are both international waterways, but they are of little
importance compared with those in the west. The Kaiser Wilhelm or
North Sea and Baltic canal, opened in 1895, has, however, no little
international value, inasmuch as it shortens the sea-route to the
Baltic for all North Sea ports to the south of Newcastle, and affords
the means of avoiding a rather dangerous passage round the north of
Jutland. A minor degree of international interest belongs to the
ship-canal through the Isthmus of Corinth, opened on the 6th of August
1893.

Railways.

The following table gives a summary statement of the progress of
railway construction in European countries down to the end of the 19th
century:--

_Railways in European Countries._

+-------------------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| | Date of | Miles open. |
| |opening of +--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| |first line.| 1875. | 1880. | 1885. | 1890. | 1895. | 1900. |
+-------------------+-----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Austria | 1837 | 6,402 | 7.083 | 8,270 | 9,506 | 10,180 | 11,912 |
| Belgium | 1835 | 2,171 | 2,399 | 2,740 | 2,810 | 2,839 | 2,851 |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina| 1879 | .. | .. | .. | 342 | 471 | .. |
| Bulgaria | 1866 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 535 | 921 |
| Denmark | 1847 | 689 | 975 | 1,195 | 1,217 | 1,371 | 1,809 |
| France | 1828 | 13,529 | 16,275 | 20,177 | 20,666 | 22,505 | 26,739 |
| German Empire | 1835 | 17,376 | 20,693 | 22,640 | 25,411 | 27,392 | 30,974 |
| Great Britain | 1825 | 14,510 | 15,563 | 16,594 | 17,281 | 18,001 | 18,680 |
| Greece | 1869 | 7 | 7 | 278 | 452 | ? | 641 |
| Hungary | 1846 | 3,992 | 4,421 | 5,605 | 6,984 | 8,651 | 10,624 |
| Ireland | 1834 | 2,148 | 2,370 | 2,575 | 2,792 | 3,173 | 3,183 |
| Italy | 1836 | 4,771 | 5,340 | 6,408 | 7,983 | 9,579 | 9,864 |
| Luxemburg | 1873 | 110 | .. | .. | .. | 270 | .. |
| Netherlands | 1839 | 1,006 | 1,143 | 1,496 | 1,653 | 1,869 | 2,007 |
| Norway | 1854 | 345 | 652 | 970 | 970 | 1,071 | 1,231 |
| Portugal | 1856 | 643 | 710 | 949 | 1,316 | 1,336 | 1,346 |
| Rumania | 1869 | 766 | 859 | 1,100 | 1,590 | 1,617 | 1,920 |
| Russia * | 1838 | 12,166 | 14,026 | 15,934 | 18,059 | 21,948 | 27,345 |
| Servia | 1884 | .. | .. | 155 | 335 | 335 | 355 |
| Spain | 1848 | 3,801 | 4,550 | 5,547 | 6,211 | 7,483 | 8,206 |
| Sweden | 1856 | 2,171 | 3,654 | 4,279 | 4,980 | 6,058 | 7,018 |
| Switzerland | 1844 | 1,257 | 1,596 | 1,795 | 2,014 | 2,233 | 2,401 |
| Turkey | 1872 | .. | 727 | 657 | 657 | 935 | .. |
--------------------+-----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
* Excluding Finland.

The chief railways of most European countries are on the same gauge as
that originally adopted in Great Britain, namely, 4 ft. 81/2 in. Irish
railways are, however, on the gauge of 5 ft. 3 in. The standard gauge
in Russia is 5 ft., that of Spain and Portugal about 5 ft. 6 in. The
still isolated railway system of Greece is upon a narrow gauge. The
very general use of a common gauge obviously greatly facilitates
international trade. It allows, for example, of wagons from Germany
entering every country on its frontier except Russia. It allows of
German coal being carried without break of bulk to Paris, Milan and
the mainland of Denmark. By means of train-ferries German trains can
also be conveyed to Copenhagen by way of Warnemuende and Gjedser and
then across the channel separating Falster and Zealand; and there is a
similar means of communication between Copenhagen and Malmoe (Sweden)
and between Lindau in Bavaria on the Lake of Constance and Romanshorn
on the same lake in the Swiss canton of Thurgau. The establishment of
this method of transport between England and France has been urged in
opposition to the Channel Tunnel scheme.

Of the railway systems of the mainland of Europe as a whole the main
features are these. There is a broad belt running from the North Sea
eastwards between the lines marked by Amsterdam and Hanover on the
north, and Calais, Liege, Duesseldorf and Halle on the south, in which
important lines of railway run from west to east. About 12 deg. E. those
lines begin to converge on Berlin. This belt is crossed in the Rhine
valley by a much narrower but very important belt running north and
south, now connected with the Italian railway system through the St
Gotthard tunnel. To the south of the west end of the west-to-east belt
lies the principal railway focus in western Europe, Paris, from which
important lines radiate in all directions; two of these radiating
lines now establish communication with the Italian railway system,
through the Mont Cenis and Simplon tunnels respectively, and other two
connecting with the Spanish system round the ends of the Pyrenees.
Berlin in central Europe is perhaps an even more important railway
focus. Among the chief lines radiating from it are one through Leipzig
and Munich and connecting with the Italian railway system by the
Brenner route, and another through Dresden and Prague to Vienna, and
then by the Semmering pass by one route to Triest and by another to
Venice. East of Berlin the railways of Europe begin to form wider
meshes. Two main lines diverge towards the north-east, one by Kuestrin
and Koenigsberg and the other by Frankfort on the Oder and Thorn, both
uniting at Eydtkuehnen to the east of Koenigsberg before crossing the
Prussian frontier and passing on to St Petersburg. From Thorn a line
branches off by Warsaw to Moscow, the chief railway focus in eastern
Europe. South-east from Berlin there runs another important line
through Breslau, Cracow and Lemberg to Odessa, skirting to a large
extent the foot-hills of the Carpathians like the ancient trade route
from Olbia to the Baltic. Two routes on which there are services
organized by the International Sleeping Car Company connect London
with Constantinople, and it is noteworthy that both of these indicate
the importance of the physical feature which has determined the
position of the great north-south belt of railways above mentioned,
and also of towns famous as commercial centres in the middle ages. One
of these is the route of the Orient Express, which goes by Calais,
Paris and Strassburg, then east of Strassburg runs north in the Rhine
valley for about 40 m. to Karlsruhe, then winds through the hilly
country between the Black Forest proper and the Odenwald to Stuttgart,
proceeding thence by Ulm, Augsburg and Munich to Linz and then by the
valley of the Danube through Vienna and Budapest to Belgrade, and
thence by the valleys of the Morava, Nishava and Maritza to
Constantinople. The other is that of the Ostend-Vienna express, going
by Ostend to Brussels, and through Aix-la-Chapelle to Cologne, then up
the Rhine gorge southwards to Bingen and eastwards to Mainz and on to
Frankfort (on the Main), thence south-eastwards by the route so
celebrated in the middle ages through Nuremberg to Regensburg
(Ratisbon), and thence down the valley of the Danube coinciding with
the Orient Express route from a point a few miles above Linz. From the
Orient Express route a branch crosses from the valley of the Morava to
that of the Vardar, establishing a connexion with Salonica.

In the development of this railway system the mountains have proved
the most formidable of natural obstacles, and at the head of the
mountains in this respect as in others stand the Alps. The first
railway to cross one of the main chains of the Alps was the Semmering
line on the route from Vienna to the Adriatic, constructed in
1848-1854. Its summit is in a tunnel less than 1 m. long, 2940 ft.
above sea-level or nearly 300 ft. below the level of the pass. South
of the Semmering, however, various other passes have to be crossed,
and it was not till 1857 that the railway to Triest (by Laibach) was
completed, and not till the late seventies that the more direct route
to Venice across the Tarvis pass in Carinthia was established. Of the
route from Triest by Goerz across the Karawanken and Tauern Alps to
Salzburg and south-eastern Germany the first section was opened only
in 1906. After the Semmering the next railway to cross the Alps was
that following the Brenner route which crosses the summit of the pass
at the height of 4490 ft., and, as already stated, is the only pass
that has to be crossed on the way from Munich to the plains of Italy.
Next followed in 1871 the western route through the so-called Mont
Cenis tunnel, really under the Col de Frejus, to the west of the Mont
Cenis pass, and effecting a crossing between the valleys of the Arc
(Rhone basin) and the Dora Riparia (Po basin) at an altitude of 4380
ft., or nearly 2500 ft. lower than the pass previously used, but only
by piercing the mountains in a tunnel more than 71/2 m. long. Next in
order was the St Gotthard route, opened in 1882, the most direct route
between northern Italy and western Germany, connecting the Lake of
Lucerne with the valley of the Ticino. Here the altitude is reduced to
3785 ft., about 3150 ft. below the summit-level of the pass, but the
tunnel length is increased to rather more than 91/4 m. The Simplon route
opened in June 1906, between the upper Rhone valley and the Toce
valley, shortening the route between Milan and northern France,
effects the crossing at an altitude of only 2300 ft., nearly 4300 ft.
lower than the pass, but by increasing the tunnel length to 121/4 m.
Steps were subsequently taken to continue the Simplon route northwards
by a tunnel through the Loetschberg in the Bernese Alps, and a project
is entertained for continuing the Vintschgau (upper Adige) railway
across or under the Reschenscheideck to the Inn valley. An important
east-west crossing of the Alps was effected when the Arlberg tunnel
(6.37 m. long, summit-level 4300 ft.) connecting the Inn valley with
that of the Rhine above the Lake of Constance was opened in 1884.

Several lines wind through and cross the Jura. That which in 1857
pierced the Hauenstein, in the north of Switzerland, attained
international importance on the opening of the St Gotthard tunnel,
inasmuch as it lies on the route thence through Lucerne to the Rhine
valley at Basel; and that which crosses the Col de Jougne between
Vallorbe and Pontarlier acquired similar importance on the completion
of the Simplon tunnel. Further projects are entertained for shortening
the connexion between this tunnel and the north of France by making a
more direct line from Vallorbe to the French side of the Jura, or by
making a railway across or under the Col de la Faucille (4340 ft.),
north-west of Geneva.

Of the two railways that pass round the extremity of the Pyrenees, the
western was the first to be constructed, the eastern was not opened
till 1878. Hitherto the intervening mountains have proved more of a
railway barrier than the mightier system of the Alps, but in 1904 a
convention was concluded between the French and Spanish governments
providing for the establishment of railway connexion between the two
countries at three points of the great chain.

There are several railways across the Carpathians, mostly by passes
under 3000 ft. in height. The fact that the Toemoes Pass, on the direct
route from Hungary through Transylvania to Bucharest, attains an
altitude of 3370 ft. was undoubtedly one reason why the railway
following this route, completed in December 1879, passing through
several tunnels, was one of the last to be constructed. But the
obstruction of mountains has not been the only cause of delay in the
building of railways. Sparseness of population and general economic
backwardness have also proved hindrances, especially in Russia and the
Balkan Peninsula. The railways to Constantinople and Salonica were
completed only in 1888, and yet the highest altitude on the
Constantinople line is only 2400 ft., that on the Salonica line 1750
ft. Among other important railways of recent date and of more than
merely national significance may be mentioned that bringing Bucharest
into connexion with the Black Sea port of Costantza by means of a
bridge across the Danube at Chernavoda (opened in September 1895); a
line across the Carpathians connecting Debreczen with Lemberg, the
continuation of the line eastwards from Lemberg to Kiev; a network
bringing the coalfield of the Donets basin into connexion with ports
on the Sea of Azov; a line in the south-east of Russia connecting
Novocherkask with Vladikavkaz, and branches running from the same
point connecting that line with Novorossiysk on the Black Sea on the
one hand, and with Tsaritsyn at the last angle of the Volga on the
other hand; a line in northern Russia bringing Archangel into
connexion with the European system at Vologda (opened in 1898); a
detached line in the north-east across the Urals from Perm by
Ekaterinburg (completed in 1878) to Tyumen (completed in 1884).
Chelyabinsk on the Siberian railway has a branch running northwards to
Ekaterinburg, and this line now affords uninterrupted communication
with the northern Dvina, inasmuch as the railway which originally
started at Perm has been carried westwards through Vyatka and then
northwards to Kotlas at the point of origin of that river, to which
point it was opened in 1900; and a line in the east connecting the
European system at Samara with the great mining centre at Zlatoust,
already in 1890 continued across the Urals to Miyas, and since then
carried farther east as the great Siberian railway.

The result of the construction of the numerous transcontinental
railways has been to bring rail and sea-routes and ports on opposite
sides of the continents into competition with one another to a greater
degree than is possible in any other continent. The more valuable, and
above all perishable commodities may be sent right across the
continent even through the mountains. Even from Great Britain, which
is bound to carry on its external commerce in part by sea, goods are
sometimes sent far south in Italy by railways running from one or
other of the North Sea ports. It will hence be readily understood that
for inland trade on the mainland the competition between ports on
opposite sides of the continent and between different railways will be
very keen, greatly to the advantage of the inland centres to which
that competition extends. This competition is inevitably all the more
keen now that the trade of Europe with the East is once more carried
on through the Mediterranean as it was in ancient times and the middle
ages. The great shortening of the sea-route in this trade at such
ports as Marseilles, Triest, Venice and Genoa, indicated by the
figures below, goes far to counterbalance the extra cost even of
railway transport across the mountains.

_Distance in Nautical Miles from Port Said._

London 3215 | Marseilles 1506
Bremen 3502 | Genoa 1426
Hamburg 3520 | Venice 1330
Stettin 3749 | Brindisi 930
St Petersburg 4300 | Odessa 1130

Ethnology.

An enormous amount of investigation with regard to European ethnology has been carried on in recent years. These labours have chiefly consisted in the study of the physical type of different countries or districts, but it is not necessary to consider in detail the results arrived at. It should, however, be pointed out that the idea of an Aryan race may be regarded as definitely abandoned. One cannot even speak with assurance of the diffusion of an Aryan civilization. It is at least not certain that the civilization that was spread by the migration of peoples speaking Aryan tongues originated amongst and remained for a time peculiar to such peoples. The utmost that can be said is that the Aryan languages must in their earliest forms have spread from some geographical centre. That centre, however, is no longer sought for in Asia, but in some part of Europe, so that we can no longer speak of any detachment of Aryan-speaking peoples entering Europe.

The most important works, summarizing the labours of a host of specialists on the races of Europe, are those of Ripley and Deniker.[72] Founding upon a great multitude of data that have been collected with regard to the form of the head, face and nose, height, and colour of the hair and eyes, most of the leading anthropologists seem to have come to the conclusion that there are three great racial types variously and intricately intermingled in Europe. As described and named by Ripley, these are: (1) the Teutonic, characterized by long head and face and narrow aquiline nose, high stature, very light hair and blue eyes; (2) the Alpine, characterized by round head, broad face, variable rather broad heavy nose, medium height and "stocky" frame, light chestnut hair and hazel grey eyes; and (3) the Mediterranean, characterized by long head and face, rather broad nose, medium stature and slender build, dark brown or black hair and dark eyes. The Teutonic race is entirely confined to north-western Europe, and embraces some groups speaking Celtic languages. It is believed by Ripley to have been differentiated in this continent, and to have originally been one with the other long-headed race, sometimes known as the Iberian, and to the Italians as the Ligurian race, which "prevails everywhere south of the Pyrenees, along the southern coast of France, and in southern Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia," and which extends beyond the confines of Europe into Africa. The Alpine race is geographically intermediate between these two, having its centre in the Alps, while in western Europe it is spread most widely over the more elevated regions, and in eastern Europe "becomes less pure in proportion as we go east from the Carpathians across the great plains of European Russia." This last race, which is most persistently characterized by the shape of the head, is regarded by Ripley as an intrusive Asiatic element which once advanced as a wedge amongst the earlier long-headed population as far as Brittany, where it still survives in relative purity, and even into Great Britain, though not Ireland, but afterwards retired and contracted its area before an advance of the long-headed races. Deniker, basing his classification on essentially the same data as Ripley and others, while agreeing with them almost entirely with regard to the distribution of the three main traits (cephalic index, colour of hair and eyes, and stature) on which anthropologists rely, yet proceeds further in the subdivision of the races of Europe. He recognizes six principal and four secondary races. The six principal races are the Nordic (answering approximately to the Teutonic of Ripley), the Littoral or Atlanto-Mediterranean, the Ibero-Insular, the Oriental, the Adriatic or Dinaric and the Occidental or Cevenole.

Language.

Although language is no test of race, it is the best evidence for present or past community of social or political life; and nothing is better fitted to give a true impression of the position and relative importance of the peoples of Europe than a survey of their linguistic differences and affinities.[73] The following table contains the names of the various languages which are still spoken on the continent, as well as of those which, though now extinct, can be clearly traced in other forms. Two asterisks are employed to mark those which are emphatically dead languages, while one indicates those which have a kind of artificial life in ecclesiastical or literary usage.