Chapter XV: From the Founding of the German Empire to the Close of the European (11)

At the end of the eighth century the Low Countries submitted to Charlemagne, and various feudal dukedoms, counties, and lordships were gradually established (the countship of Holland in the eleventh century). In 1384 the earldom of Flanders passed to the Dukes of Burgundy, and Philip the Good (_c._ 1450) made the Low Countries as prosperous as any part of his Burgundian state.

The Emperor Charles V. inherited the Burgundian dominions; and under his son, Philip II. of Spain, broke out the bitter quarrel between Holland and Spain, between Dutch Protestantism and persistence and Spanish tyranny and persecution, which ended in 1581 in the establishment of the Dutch Republic as an independent state under William the Silent (of Orange), though the war continued with intervals till 1648, and the Belgian provinces abode by their allegiance to the kings of Spain.

In the seventeenth century Dutch commerce, especially at sea, Dutch science, Dutch classical scholarship, Dutch literature and Dutch art attained an eminence hardly afterwards equalled. The rivalry of Holland and England at sea led to the unfortunate wars of 1652-1654 and 1664-1667. The accession of William III. of Orange to the Stadtholdership of the United Provinces (1672) proved the salvation of the republic from France; in 1678 Louis XIV. signed the peace of Nymegen.

Ten years later William was hailed as the savior of English liberties, and became king of Great Britain and Ireland. On William’s death, the United Provinces became a pure republic once more, the stadtholdership was re-established in 1747 but it made no difference in the downward course.

The National Convention of France having declared war against Great Britain and the stadtholder of Holland in 1793, French armies overran Belgium (1794); they were welcomed by the so-called patriots of the United Provinces and William V. and his family (January 1795) were obliged to escape from Scheveningen to England in a fishing-smack and the French rule began. After several changes Louis Bonaparte, June 5, 1806, was appointed king of Holland, but, four years later, was obliged to resign because he refused to be a mere tool in the hands of the French emperor. Holland was then added to the empire.

The fall of Napoleon I. and the dismemberment of the French empire led to the recall of the Orange family and the formation of the southern and northern provinces into the ill-managed kingdom of the Netherlands, which in 1830 was broken up by the secession of Belgium. In 1839 peace was finally concluded with Belgium; but almost immediately after national discontent with the government showed itself, and William I. in 1840 abdicated in favor of his son.

Holland, being moved by the revolutionary fever of 1848, King William II. granted a new constitution, according to which new chambers were chosen, but they had scarcely met when he died, March, 1849, and William III. (born 1817) ascended the throne.

William III. having no living male issue, the succession to the crown was vested in the princess of Orange, Wilhelmina, the only child of the king’s second marriage, born in 1880. For many years the great question of internal politics was the new constitution, which, promulgated November 30, 1887, increased the electorate of Holland by no less than two hundred thousand voters. On the death of the king (November 23, 1890), when Luxemburg ceased to be connected with the crown of Holland, the Princess Wilhelmina became queen.

Queen Wilhelmina married Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in 1901, and in 1909 a daughter (the Princess Juliana) was born to them.

=NORWAY= (Norweg. _Norge_), the western division of the Scandinavian peninsula, is one thousand one hundred and sixty miles in length (coast-line three thousand miles) and varies in width from twenty to one hundred miles north of 63° N. lat.; below that line it swells out to two hundred and sixty miles. The coast-line is extensive, deeply indented with numerous fiords, and fringed with an immense number of rocky islands. The surface is mountainous, consisting of elevated and barren tablelands, separated by deep and narrow valleys. The finest of the valleys stretching inland from the fiords is Romsdal, where the rounded pure gneiss mountains tower up to six thousand feet with almost perpendicular walls. The cultivated area is about one-thirtieth part of the country; forests cover nearly one-fourth; the rest consists of highland pastures or mountains.

Norway is separated from Sweden by the Kjolen Mountains (three thousand to six thousand feet), the backbone of the peninsula, which divide south of 63°; the western branch widens out into a broad plateau, undulating between two thousand and four thousand feet and embossed with mountain-knots--Dovre, Jotun, Lang, Fille, Hardanger Fjelde (_fells_)--the separate peaks of which shoot up to six thousand feet and higher.

=Rivers.=--The few important rivers that Norway can claim as exclusively her own have a southerly direction, and discharge themselves into the Skager-Rack; of these the chief are the Glommen (four hundred miles), and its affluent, the Lougen. The most important river in the north is the Tana, which forms part of the boundary between Russia and Norway, and falls into the Arctic Ocean. Lofty waterfalls are numerous. Lakes are extremely numerous but generally small. The principal is the Miösen Vand. The streams are turned to account in floating down the valuable timber of the forests, and their rapids give abundant mill power.

=Production and Industry.=--Agriculture, though pursued with some vigor of late, is unable to furnish sufficient products for home consumption; hence it has been necessary to import considerable quantities of corn, meat, and pork. The fisheries give employment to a large part of the population throughout the year. The most important are cod and herring. The mineral products are of late increasing.

The purely industrial establishments are grouped mainly around Christiania, and include textile factories, machine shops, chemical works, flour mills, breweries, etc. The use of water power for electrical enterprises is growing. The Norwegians rank among the busiest sea carriers of the world, the Norwegian mercantile marine ranking third among maritime nations, or first in proportion to population.

The chief exports consist of timber, matches, fish, oil, and other products of the fisheries, pulp, paper, skins and furs, nails, minerals, stone, ice, calcium carbide, condensed milk, butter, margarine, tinned goods, etc.

=People.=--The people of the peninsula are of Germanic race, with the exception of the small number of Finns and the Lapps in the north. The Norsemen of Norway, of middle stature, strong, generally blonde haired and blue eyed, seamen by choice, have adopted the Danish as the language of the towns and of literature, the modernized Old Norse being banished to the outlying country districts and unfrequented fiords.

Education is compulsory and free between the ages of seven and fourteen, schools being maintained by local taxation with state grants in aid. The attendance is high. Secondary schools are provided by the state, by local authorities, and privately. There are a number of special schools and industrial and technical institutes. The University of Christiania is an important institution for higher education.

Except 52,700 persons (including Methodists, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Jews, Mormons), the entire population belong to the Lutheran Church.

=Government.=--After the crisis of European affairs brought about by Napoleon’s wars, Denmark lost her hold over Norway, which had been united to it for more than four centuries, and that country was united to Sweden in exchange for Finland, which then passed under Russian sway. Norway, however, was again separated from Sweden as an independent kingdom under King Haakon VII. in 1905.

The _Storthing_ or Parliament consists of one hundred and twenty-three members, women being eligible and electors (since 1907); and divides for legislative purposes into two chambers called “_Odelsting_” and “_Lagting_.”

The Norwegians share with the Swiss the distinction of being the most democratic people in Europe; all titles of nobility were abolished in 1821. In 1912 practically all offices except in the cabinet, diplomatic service, army, navy, and church, were thrown open to women.

=Cities.=--The chief cities are the capital, Christiania, and Bergen. Other important towns are Trondhjem, Stavanger, and Drammen.

=Christiania=, the modern capital and chief commercial town of Norway (the ancient capital is Trondhjem, “home of the throne,” where the kings are still crowned), is built on the northern end of the Christiania Fiord. Population, in 1910, 241,834. It is named after Christian IV., who commenced building it in 1624 after the destruction of the ancient city of Oslo by fire. It is the seat of Parliament, of the High Court of Judicature, and of the National University. Connected with this are the students’ garden, a library of four hundred and fifty thousand volumes, a botanical garden, zoological and other museums, laboratories, and observatory. The Meteorological Institute was established in 1866. There are two national and historical palaces here, one in the city quite near the university, and one, Oscarshall, beautifully situated two miles from the city on an eminence overlooking the fiord. There is a national picture-gallery, and a very interesting museum of northern antiquities. The _Dom_ or Cathedral and Trinity Church are the principal ecclesiastical buildings. The old fortress _Akershus Faestning_ still remains, but has little military value.

The staple industry of Christiania is its shipping trade; its chief export is timber. A considerable industry is the brewing of _Christiania öl_, a sort of lager beer, with resinous flavor, largely consumed throughout Norway, and exported. The minor manufactures are cotton, canvas, engine-works, nailworks, paper-mills, and cariole-making. The harbor is closed by ice for three or four months most winters.

=History.=--It is not until the ninth century that the story of Norway begins to emerge from the obscurities of myth and legend. At first it was occupied by Lapps and by several Gothic tribes, then became an independent kingdom, founded in 872, and was united to Denmark in 1380.

The Napoleonic crisis in Europe may be said to have severed the union, which had existed for more than four hundred years between Norway and Denmark. The latter country after having given unequivocal proofs of adhesion to the cause of Bonaparte, was compelled, after the war of 1813, to sign the treaty of Kiel in 1814, in which it was stipulated by the allied powers that she should resign Norway to Sweden. Charles XIII. was declared joint king of Sweden and Norway in 1818. From that time down to 1905 Norway remained in union with Sweden. In June of that year Norway declared the union dissolved, and the repeal of the union was signed in October of the same year. The throne was offered to and declined by a prince of the reigning house of Sweden, but was afterwards accepted by Prince Carl of Sweden, who was thereupon elected as King Haakon VII. In 1908 a treaty was signed by Great Britain, Germany, France, Russia, and Norway guaranteeing the integrity of the Norwegian kingdom.

=Poland= (called by the natives _Polska_, a word of the same root as _Pole_, “a plain”), a kingdom of Europe, proclaimed, in 1916, by the governments of Austria-Hungary and the German Empire as the result of conquests by the Central Powers, comprises substantially what is geographically known as Russian Poland (the kingdom of Poland formed in 1815) and Austrian Poland (or the Austrian province of Galicia). The former has an area of about 49,000 square miles, with a population of more than 12,000,000; the latter, an area of 30,300 square miles, and a population of 8,000,000.

=Surface.=--This extensive tract forms part of the great European central plain, and is crossed by only one range of hills, which run northeast from the Carpathians, forming the watershed between the Baltic and Black Seas.

Its principal streams are the Vistula, the Niemen, and the Dwina, all belonging to the basin of the Baltic; and the Dniester, South Bug, and Dnieper, with its tributary, Pripet, belonging to the basin of the Black Sea.

The physical configuration of the country makes it admirably adapted for agriculture. Next to grain and cattle its most important product is timber.

The soil is mostly a light fertile loam, though there are large barren tracts of sand, heath, and swamp, especially in the east. Much of the fertile soil is rich pasture land, and much is occupied with forests of pine, birch, oak, etc. Rye, wheat, barley, and other cereals, hemp, timber, honey, and wax, cattle, sheep, and horses, vast mines of salt and coal, some silver, iron, copper, and lead constitute the natural riches of the country.

=People.=--The present population of the provinces, included in the Poland of former days, consists chiefly of Poles, Lithuanians, Germans, Jews, Malo-Russians, Roumanians and Gypsies. The Poles, who number 10,000,000, form the bulk of the population; the Lithuanians, 2,100,000 in number, inhabit the northeast of the country; the Germans, of whom there are 2,000,000, live mostly in the towns; the Jews are very numerous being estimated, at 2,200,000.

Roman Catholics preponderate; then come in order the Greek Church, Protestants, Jews, and Armenians.

=Cities.=--The following are the populations of the chief cities: Capital, Warsaw, 800,000; Lodz, 400,000; Lemberg, 225,000; Cracow, 160,000; Przemysl, 60,000.

=Warsaw= (Polish _Warszawa_), the capital of Poland, stands on the Vistula’s left bank, three hundred and thirty miles east of Berlin by rail and seven hundred miles southwest of Petrograd. Two iron bridges lead to the suburb of Prague, on the opposite bank. Standing on a navigable river, with great railway lines to Moscow, Petrograd, Vienna, Danzig, and Berlin, Warsaw is one of the most important cities of eastern Europe, being smaller only than Petrograd and Moscow. Corn and flax are largely exported, and coal and manufactured goods imported. Warsaw itself manufactures electroplate, machinery, boots, woolens, pianos, carriages, tobacco, sugar, chemicals, beer, and spirits.

Of over one hundred Catholic churches the cathedral of St. John is the most notable; there are also several Greek churches, two Lutheran ones, and many synagogues. The castle is an imposing building, and there are many fine private palaces. The university, suppressed at various times, was reopened in 1915, and has seventy-five professors who now teach in Polish.

=History.=--The early history of Poland is legendary and obscure. The Poles, like the Russians, are a Slavonic race, and are first spoken of as the Polani, a tribe or people between the Vistula and Oder. The country was divided into small communities until the reign of Mieczyslaw I. (962-992) of the Piast dynasty, who renounced paganism in favor of Christianity, and was a vassal of the German emperor.

He was succeeded by Boleslaw the Great (992-1025), who raised Poland into an independent kingdom and increased its territories. In succeeding reigns the country was involved in war with Germany, the Prussians, the Teutonic knights, and with Russia. The last of the Piast dynasty was Casimir the Great (1364-1370), during whose reign the material prosperity of Poland greatly increased. He was succeeded by his nephew, Louis of Anjou, king of Hungary, whose daughter, Hedwig, was recognized as “king” in 1384, and having married Jagello, prince of Lithuania, thus established the dynasty of the Jagellons, which lasted from 1386 to 1572.

During this period Poland attained its most powerful and flourishing condition. In 1572 the Jagellon dynasty became extinct in the male line, and the monarchy, hitherto elective in theory, now became so in fact. The more important of the elective kings were Sigismund III. (1587-1637), Wladislaw or Ladislaus IV. (1632-1648), John Casimir, (1648-1669), and the Polish general Sobieski, who became king under the title of John III. (1674-1696). He was succeeded by Augustus II., Elector of Saxony, who got entangled in the war of Russia with Charles XII., and had as a rival in the kingdom Stanislaus Lesczynski. Augustus III. (1733-1763) followed, and by the end of his reign internal dissensions and other causes had brought the country into a state of helplessness.

In 1772 under the last feeble king Stanislaus Augustus (1764-1795), the first actual partition of Poland took place, when about a third of her territories were seized by Prussia, Austria, and Russia, the respective shares of the spoil being Prussia 13,415 square miles, Austria 27,000 square miles, Russia 42,000 square miles.

A second division between Russia and Prussia took place in 1793. Prussia received nearly all the present province of Posen, and the western part of what is now Russian Poland; Russia received all the territory east of about long. 44°. A third division between Russia, Prussia, and Austria occurred in 1795. Prussia took a large part of the present Russian Poland, including Warsaw; Austria received part of the present Russian Poland between the Bug, Vistula, and Pilica; and Russia received all the remainder, situated east of the Niemen and Bug.

An insurrection under Koszciusko had taken place in 1794, but he was defeated at the battle of Maciejowice and taken prisoner. Suvorov (Suwarrow), the Russian general, took Warsaw, and the Polish monarchy was at an end. King Stanislaus resigned his crown, and died at Petrograd in 1798.

Part of Poland was formed by Napoleon into the duchy of Warsaw. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 made a resettlement of the territory, creating a kingdom of Poland, under Russian rule, with a constitution. An insurrection which began in November, 1830, was suppressed in September, 1831; the constitution was abolished in 1832. From this time the independence of Poland was suppressed, and in 1832 it was declared an integral part of the Russian empire, with a separate administration, headed by a viceroy chosen by the Czar. On November 6, 1848, the republic of Cracow became Austrian; and the subsequent rebellion against Russian rule in 1863 only brought further humiliation on Polish hopes and aspirations.

During the European war Poland, in 1914, first suffered invasion and devastation by the Russian armies, and during the two following years was completely overrun by the Austro-German armies, and placed under the military rule of the latter. The proclamation of Poland as a new independent kingdom took effect in 1916.

=PORTUGAL= (named from Portus Cale, the Roman name of Oporto), a republic of Europe, lying between Spain and the Atlantic, on the west side of the Iberian Peninsula, is three hundred and fifty miles in length and varies in width from seventy to one hundred and forty miles. The area is 36,038 square miles--a little larger than Ireland.

=Surface and Climate.=--The coast is mostly low and flat, except immediately north and south of the mouth of the Tagus, and at Cape St. Vincent. The north of Portugal is diversified by spurs (five thousand feet) of the mountains of Spanish Galicia. The Sierra da Estrella (six thousand five hundred and forty feet) is a westward continuation of the Spanish Sierra Guadarrama system. The Sierra Morena is continued westwards in southern Portugal.

The principal rivers of the country--the Guadiana in the south, the Tagus in the center, and the Douro and Minho in the north--are simply the lower courses of Spanish rivers; but the Mondego has its sources in the country.

The vicinity to the ocean tempers the climate and exempts it from the dry heat of Spain. The inequalities of the surface produce, however, diversities of climate; for, while snow falls abundantly on the mountains in the northern provinces, it is never seen in the southern lowlands. Rain falls abundantly throughout the year.

=Production and Industry.=--The chief products are wheat, barley, oats, maize, flax, hemp, and the vine in elevated tracts; in the lowlands, rice, olives, oranges, lemons, citrons, figs, and almonds. There are extensive forests of oak, chestnut, sea pine, and cork, the cultivation of the vine and the olive being among the chief branches of industry; the rich red wine known to us as “port” is shipped from Oporto. Its mineral products are important--copper, lead, tin, antimony, coal, manganese, iron, slate, and bay salt, which last, from its hardness and purity, is in demand. Its manufactures consist of gloves, silk, woolens, linen, and cotton fabrics, metal and earthenware goods, tobacco, cigars, etc. The exports consist to the extent of fifty per cent of wine, which is the chief industrial product of the country; others are cork, cattle, copper ore, fruits, oil, sardines, and salt.

=People.=--The Portuguese are a mixed race--original Iberian or Basque, with later Celtic admixture. Galician blood (derived from the ancient Gallaici, presumably Gallic invaders) predominates in the north; Jewish and Arabic blood are strongly present in the center, and African in the south.

The Portuguese differ widely from their Spanish brethren, whom they regard with inveterate hatred and jealousy, mainly on account of their attempts to subvert the independence of Portugal.

Education is free and nominally compulsory between the ages of seven and fifteen, but is not strictly enforced, and over seventy-five per cent of the population above seven years old are illiterate. Secondary education is conducted in state lyceums. There are also military, naval and other special schools. The University of Coimbra is the chief higher institution.

=Government.=--Portugal was a constitutional monarchy till 1910, when a republic was established. The constitution of 1911 provides a Senate, elected by municipal councils, and a National Council, by direct suffrage. The two chambers united constitute the Congress of the republic. The president of the republic is elected by both chambers for a period of four years. He cannot be re-elected.

=Cities.=--Capital, Lisbon, on the Tagus, population, 435,359. Oporto had a population (1911) of 194,664. There are no other large towns, but Braga, Loulé, Setubal, and Funchal (Madeira) had populations exceeding 20,000 in 1911.

=Lisbon= (Port. _Lisboa_), capital of Portugal, stands on the northern shore of a bottle-shaped expansion of the Tagus, nine miles from its mouth; it is four hundred and twelve miles by rail west by southwest of Madrid. The city extends for four or five miles along the shore, and climbs up the slopes of a low range of hills, occupying a site of imposing beauty.

The oldest part of Lisbon is that which escaped the earthquake of 1755; it lies on the east, round the citadel, and consists of narrow, intricate streets, not over clean. It is still known by its Moorish name of Alfama. The western portions were built after the earthquake, with wide and regular streets, fine squares, and good houses. The summits are mostly crowned with what were formerly large monasteries.

The gloomy cathedral of the “patriarch,” built in 1147, restored after 1755, has a Gothic facade and choir. The large church of St. Vincent contains the tombs of the former royal (Braganza) family. The church of Estrella is a reduced copy of St. Peter’s at Rome. In San Roque is a chapel thickly encrusted with mosaics and costly marbles. But the finest structure in the city is the Gothic monastery and church of Belem, a monument to the great seamen of Portugal; it was begun in 1500 on the spot from which Vasco da Gama embarked (1497) on his momentous voyage. Inside the church are tombs to Camoens and Vasco da Gama, and the grave of Catharine, wife of Charles II. of England.

A fine square facing the bay is surrounded with government offices, the handsome custom-house, and the marine arsenal. There are an academy of sciences, with a library of one hundred and twenty thousand volumes, a polytechnic school, a medical school, a conservatory of music, a public library of four hundred thousand volumes and two observatories.

A magnificent aqueduct brings water to the city from springs nine miles to the northwest.

A series of forts protect the seaward approaches. The harbor is one of the finest in the world, well sheltered, deep close to the quays, and capacious enough to hold all the navies of Europe at once.

=History.=--Like the rest of Iberia, Portugal (the southern part of which was known to the Romans as Lusitania, often taken as a poetical name for the whole country) was thoroughly Romanized after the conquest of the Carthaginians by the Romans in 138 B. C. Then the peninsula was overrun by the Visigoths, and next by the Saracens. Northern Portugal fell under the influence of Castile; but under Alfonso I. (1143) Portugal became an independent kingdom, though the Saracens were not conquered in the south till 1250. Wars with Castile were frequent.

Under John (1385-1433) began a close alliance between Portugal and England, and the Portuguese king John married John of Gaunt’s daughter. With their son, Prince Henry the Navigator, began the most brilliant era of discovery and conquest, including the acquisition of Madeira, the Azores, and the doubling of the Cape of Good Hope (1486), the reaching of India by sea and settlements there (1497), and the discovery and occupation of Brazil (1500).

In the sixteenth century Portugal was one of the most powerful monarchies of Europe, and most prosperous of commercial peoples; but its decline was swift, and Philip II. annexed Portugal to Spain for sixty years. English assistance secured the independence of the kingdom in 1640; but the glory had departed. Portugal shared in the troubles of the French occupation and the Peninsular war; after Napoleon’s defeat, the old family, which had taken refuge in Brazil, was restored, but the country was rent by intrigue, dissension, and civil war.

The rush of the European powers to occupy central and southern Africa stirred Portugal to cling tenaciously to her once great colonial empire in Africa; but the march of events has given to Britain, Germany, France, and Belgium much that Portugal once claimed as hers.

Popular discontent culminated in the assassination of King Carlos and his eldest son in the streets of Lisbon in February, 1908. His second son, Manoel, succeeded. In 1910 the murder of Dr. Bombarda, a republican, hastened on a revolution already arranged for. The army and navy assisted in deposing Manoel and setting up a provisional government, with Theophile Braga as provisional president. He retired in 1911, and in August of that year Dr. Manoel Arriaga was elected as the first president of the republic.

The republic was formally recognized by the United States upon the meeting of the Portuguese chambers in June, 1911, and by the other powers on the formation of the cabinet in September, 1911. In 1915 Portugal joined the Entente Allies in the European war.

=ROUMANIA=, a kingdom in southeast Europe, lies mainly between the Carpathians, the Purth, and the Danube (the Dobruja being south of the Danube). It includes the strip added from Bulgaria as “compensation” for changes consequent on the Balkan war of 1912-1913, from a point on the Danube above Silistria to Cape Sabla on the Black Sea. Bordering on Hungary, Russia, Bulgaria, and Servia, its area is 52,000 square miles, and population 7,500,000.

=Surface.=--Roumania consists for the most part of a great treeless steppe-like plain, occupying nearly the whole of the northern watershed of the Lower Danube; behind this plain rise the wooded Transylvania Alps. Between the northern bend of the river to its marshy delta and the Black Sea there rises the bare plateau called the Dobruja, partly grass-covered, partly swampy, without tree or bush. This famous old battle-ground is crossed by Trajan’s double wall or rampart, built to keep the northern barbarians out of the Roman provinces.

=Rivers.=--All the rivers are tributaries of the Danube, and flow from the Carpathians and the Transylvanian Alps across the level steppe to join its left bank. The chief are the Pruth, which now forms the boundary towards Russia, the Sereth, and the Oltu (Aluta).

=People.=--Most of the Roumanians are supposed to be descendants of the race formed by the alliance of the Roman colonists with the original inhabitants of Dacia. The Roumanian language is derived mainly from Latin, with Slavonic, Hungarian, and other elements.

They are strong, well-knit men, with black hair, lively, but not very active. The mass of the people live in great poverty; a few thousand Boyars, nobles or landed proprietors, really form the nation. Large numbers of Jews and Gypsies live among the Roumanians. Almost the entire population belongs to the Greek Church, but religious equality prevails.

=Government.=--The constitution, voted by a popular assembly in 1866, vests the executive authority in the reigning king and his council of ministers; the legislative body consists of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies.

=Production and Industry.=--The agricultural products consist of wheat, maize, millet, barley, rye, beans, and peas. Vines and fruits are abundant. The forests are of great extent and importance, but the riches of the country consist mainly in its cattle and sheep. Minerals and precious metals are said to be abundant, but only salt and petroleum are obtained.

Education is free and nominally compulsory, but owing to inadequate provision over sixty per cent of those above seven years of age are illiterate. Secondary education is relatively better, and the schools are well attended. There are also special schools and universities at Bucharest and Jassy. A government high school of commerce was opened in 1913.

=Cities.=--Capital, Bucharest, has a population (1912) of about 500,000. Other towns are: Jassy, 80,000; Galatz, 66,000; Braīla, 60,000; Ploesci, 50,000; Craiova, 46,000.

=Bucharest= (_Bucuresci_), the “Paris of the East,” stands two hundred and sixty-five feet above sea-level, in the fertile but treeless plain of the small, sluggish Dambovitza. By rail it is seven hundred and sixteen miles southeast of Vienna, forty miles north of Giurgevo on the Danube, and one hundred and seventy-nine miles northwest of Varna on the Black Sea. Viewed from the hills which lie to the west and southwest, Bucharest presents a most striking appearance. It is sprawled out on both banks of the river, occupying more than twenty square miles of territory in the slight depression through which the stream makes its way.

Most of its houses are low, not more than two stories, with flat roofs that shimmer in the sun. High above them rise almost innumerable towers, cupolas and minarets of churches, in which the city abounds. The Catholic Cathedral is a fine edifice, built 1875-1884.

Great spots and stretches of greenery mark the spacious parks and gardens and the great boulevards, some of which extend along the river bank, others out to the distant sections of the city.

Three of these thoroughfares skirt the river on the left, where the greater part of the city lies. They are the Plevna, Lipscani and Vacaresci, in order. From the Lipscani extend the Elizabeth Boulevard and Calea Victorie, the avenue of Victory, which connect with another broad highway extending nearly around the city on its outskirts.

Parks and drives are frequent. Then there are the botanical and zoological gardens, and a racecourse, where meets are held at least twice a year.

In these streets the East meets the West. Women gowned in the latest Paris creations and men in perfect European dress are in contrast with the wandering bands of gypsies, the brilliant-clad Roumanian country folk come in to market, the fez-topped Turk, and the distinctly dressed Russian cabmen.

Besides the parkways and busy thoroughfares there are many beautiful buildings--the National Bank, the Athenaeum, with its collection of rare antiques dating back to the days of the Roman conquest; the National Library and Theater; the University of Bucharest, founded in 1864; the many other schools and academies; the great home for the blind established by the late Queen Elizabeth, better known by her pen name “Carmen Sylvia”; a hundred-and-one other places that go to make the city notable as a center of learning, culture and modern progress.

Nearly all of these institutions have homes that are masterpieces of architecture. The Treasury Building and the Postoffice are notable examples. It is said that the Roumanian government has the finest home for its foreign ministry of any country in Europe.

Bucharest is the center for trade between Austria and the Balkan Peninsula, the chief articles of commerce being textile fabrics, grain, hides, metal, coal, timber, and cattle. It has been several times besieged; and between 1793 and 1812 suffered twice from earthquakes, twice from inundations, once from fire, and twice from pestilence.

=History.=--The Roumanians are descended from the ancient inhabitants--probably Thracians or Dacians--of the country, modified by elements derived from the Roman, Gothic, Bulgarian, and Slavonic invaders. Dacia was a Roman colony from 101 A.D. till 274, when it became the prey of successive swarms of wandering tribes.

Out of numerous small states, two, Wallachia and Moldavia, had become dominant, when they had to bow to the Turkish yoke, and became tributary to the Porte. They were governed by rulers nominated by the Porte, who were generally extortionate Greeks of Constantinople. Russian intervention during the eighteenth century somewhat improved the condition of the downtrodden principalities, which at times were wholly under Russian influence. In 1859 they elected the same prince, Couza. He ruled till he was deposed for misgovernment in 1866, and was succeeded by Prince Charles of Hohenzollern.

The Roumanians fought bravely on the Russian side in the Turkish war of 1877-1878, and at the end obtained complete independence, though they had to give Russia part of Bessarabia for the Dobruja. In 1881 the prince was recognized as a king.

Roumania is not a Balkan state, and took no part in the operations of the Balkan League (Bulgaria, Servia, Montenegro, and Greece) against the Ottoman Empire in 1912-1913; but during the second war (1913), when Bulgaria was in opposition to the remaining members of the League, Roumania was able to exact terms from Bulgaria at the Treaty of Bucharest, by which Bulgarian territory amounting to 7,609 square miles, with a population of 285,000, was surrendered to Roumania.

=SERVIA= (_ser´vi-ä_), a kingdom in the Balkan peninsula, southeastern Europe, is bounded by Austria-Hungary (separated by the Save and Danube) on the north, Roumania (separated by the Danube) and Bulgaria on the east, Turkey and Bosnia on the south, and Bosnia (mainly separated by the Drina) on the west.

=Surface.=--The greater part of the country is mountainous and wooded; it is full of forests and hills, hedged fields, and fresh meadows, forming pretty but never very grand landscapes. The principal river (besides the frontier rivers) is the Morava.

=Production and Industry.=--Nearly nine-tenths of the land is left under its primitive woods and pastures. The principal crops are maize for home consumption, and wheat for export; flax, hemp, and tobacco are also grown, and silk-culture is carried on to a limited extent. The exports consist of dried prunes, pigs, and wool, besides wheat, wine, hides, cattle, and horses. The bulk of the trade is with Austria. The mineral treasures of Servia are considerable; gold, copper, and zinc occur in the hills which reach towards the “Iron Gates” of the Danube, and coal beds extend along the river.

Fruit trees exist in very great abundance, especially plums, from which the brandy of the Servians (_slovovitza_) is extensively made.

=People.=--The Servians are a well-built, stalwart Slavonic (or perhaps in part Slavonized Albanian) race, proud and martial by temperament; the most striking feature of their social life is the family community or _Zadruga_. Their literature is rich in poetry, especially lyrics. The population, about 3,000,000 at the outbreak of the war of 1912-1913, was raised by conquests to about 5,000,000. Besides these the Montenegrins (450,000) are almost all pure Servians by race, as are also the Bosnians and Herzegovinians (2,000,000), not to speak of over 3,700,000 Servians in other parts of Austria-Hungary.

The people of Servia belong to the Greek Catholic Church. Education does not reach a very high standard, although a school exists in every commune. There is a university at Belgrade.

=Government.=--Servia is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy. The legislative power is vested in the king and the National Assembly. This last, called the _Skupshtina_, consists of one hundred and sixty deputies. Besides this body there is a senate of sixteen members, eight chosen by the king and eight by the National Assembly; this body acts as a permanent state council.

=Cities.=--Capital, Belgrade (_Biograd_, “White Fortress”) at the confluence of the Save and Danube, is now a modern city, with electric railways and light, and wide streets, containing the university, national museum and library, and the old Turkish citadel. Population (1910) 91,000. It lies opposite Semlin, at the confluence of the Save and Danube, two hundred and fifteen miles southeast of Budapesth. The walls disappeared in 1862; the last and finest of the five gates was demolished in 1868. Year by year the town is losing its old Turkish aspect, becoming more modern, more European. The royal palace, the residence of the metropolitan, the national theater (1871), and the public offices are the principal buildings. Opposite the theater is a bronze monument to the murdered Prince Michael III.

Belgrade has but trifling manufactures of arms, cutlery, saddlery, silk goods, carpets, etc. It is, however, an entrepôt of trade between Turkey and Austria.

Other towns are Nish, 25,000; Kragojevatz, 19,000; Leskovatz, 15,000; Podjeravatz, 14,000; Shabatz, 12,000; Vranya, 11,500; Pirot, 11,000; and Krutchevatz, 10,000.

The principal towns in the territories acquired in 1913 are Monastir, 60,000; Prisrend, 42,000; Uskub, 32,000; Prilip, 24,000; Istip, or Shtip, 21,000; Kalkandelen, or Tetovo, 20,000; Koprili, or Veles, 20,000; Dibra, 16,000; Pristina, 16,000; Kumanovo, 15,000; Ochrida, 15,000; and Novi Bazar, 13,000.

=History.=--The Servians came from the Carpathians in the seventh century, and founded a great state, which, about 1350, embraced Albania and much of Bulgaria and Macedonia; but at Kossovo in 1389 the Turks crushed the Servian power and made Servia first tributary and then a province of the Ottoman empire.

A national rising had some success under Kara George in 1807-1810 and through Russian influence it was arranged that Servia should have some measure of internal autonomy. Still more successful was a rising in 1815 under Obrenovich. Under his successors there was considerable progress; and after the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 Servia obtained complete independence and became a kingdom. King Milan abdicated in 1889.

In 1903 a party of officers, representing a wide conspiracy, assassinated King Alexander and Queen Draga, and Peter Karageorgevitch was proclaimed king. In 1913 Servia, as a member of the Balkan League (Bulgaria, Greece, Servia, and Montenegro), waged a successful war against Turkey. In August, 1913, Servia and Greece were attacked by Bulgaria, their former ally, owing to disputes concerning the division of the spoils. The second war collapsed in a few weeks through the threatened intervention of Roumania, and ended in the Treaty of Bucharest. Servia also became involved with the Austro-Hungarian monarchy on a question of the Albanian frontier, where desultory fighting had taken place for some months, but eventually the smaller power withdrew from the disputed area. The outcome of the military operations was the inclusion of the whole of “Old Servia” (the greater part of Macedonia) within the Servian boundaries, which thus embrace an area (1914) of close on thirty-four thousand square miles, with a population estimated at five million.

The assassination of the Austrian heir presumptive, in June, 1914, brought about an invasion of Servia by the forces of Austria-Hungary, and started the Pan-European war that is still in progress.

=SPAIN= (Span. _España_), occupying the larger part of the southwestern peninsula of Europe, is bounded on the south and east by the Mediterranean, on the west by the Atlantic and Portugal, and on the north by the Bay of Biscay and France, from which it is separated by the Pyrenees. Its coast line extends 1,317 miles--712 formed by the Mediterranean and 605 by the Atlantic--and it comprises a total area of 196,700 English square miles, and a population (1910) of 19,588,688.

=Surface.=--The interior of the peninsula consists of an elevated tableland, surrounded and traversed by mountain ranges. The uniform coast line and the great elevation of its central plateau give Spain a more continental character in its extreme range of temperature than any of the other peninsulas of Europe.

Outside the plateau lie the highest summits in the country, the Pic de Néthou, in the Pyrenees, Mulhacen and Veleta in the Sierra Nevada, while the Picos de Europa in the Cantabrian Range attain over eight thousand feet. The plateau itself is traversed by four mountain ranges which separate the valley of the Ebro from that of the Douro; and the whole of it has a general slight inclination from east or northeast to southwest. Hence all the considerable rivers except the Ebro flow westward to the Atlantic.

These include the Guadalaviar, Júcar, and Segura, important rivers of the eastern watershed. The Minho, Douro, Tagus, Guadiana, and Guadalquivir drain the western valleys, which are formed between the mountain ranges of the Peninsula. The Tagus is the largest river of the Peninsula, the estuary of which forms a magnificent harbor. The Guadalquivir, though the shortest of the larger streams, is the most important on account of its fullness and its course through the most extensive lowland of the Peninsula. The effect of the tide in it is felt for several leagues above Seville, to which city it is navigable, eighty miles from the sea.

The configuration of the country renders the climate very varied. In parts of the northwest the rainfall is among the heaviest in Europe. In the east and southeast occasionally no rain falls in the whole year. The rainfall in the western Pyrenees is very great, yet on the northern slope of the valley of the Ebro there are districts almost rainless. The western side of the great plateau, speaking generally, is more humid and much colder than the eastern, where irrigation is necessary for successful cultivation.

=Production and Industry.=--Galicia is almost a cattle country; Estremadura possesses vast flocks of sheep and herds of swine. The country is generally fertile, and well adapted to agriculture and the cultivation of heat-loving fruits--as olives, oranges, lemons, almonds, pomegranates, and dates. The agricultural products comprise wheat, barley, maize, oats, rice, with hemp and flax of the best quality. The vine is cultivated in every province; in the southwest, Jerez, the well-known sherry and tent wines are made; in the southeast, the Malaga and Alicante.

Spain is rich in iron, copper and lead, but the mines have been only partially developed.

The seat of the manufacturing industries is chiefly Catalonia. Cotton and woolen manufactures engage many hands, and there are also considerable silk, paper, and cork industries.

The principal exports are wine, copper and copper ores, lead, iron ores, olive oil, raisins, oranges, cork, esparto grass, wool, salt, quicksilver, grapes, etc.

=People.=--The basis of the population of the whole Peninsula is that of the old Iberians, modified by the admixture of Celtic, Phœnician, Roman, Germanic, and Moorish (Arab) invaders who from time to time gained ascendency in the land and became intermixed with the ancient inhabitants.

Until lately the only religion tolerated was that of the state, the Roman Catholic; now a certain toleration is allowed to other denominations.

Education varies greatly among different classes and in different provinces. In the large towns and in some of the provinces a great effort is made to keep the higher and the technical schools on a level with the best in other European countries. In other parts the neglect is very great. There are ten universities: Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Oviedo, Salamanca, Seville, Santiago, Valencia, Valladolid, and Saragossa. Primary education is by law compulsory, but the law is not strictly enforced, which accounts for the large percentage of illiterates.

=Government.=--The government of Spain is an hereditary monarchy founded on the constitution of 1876. The Cortes consists of two bodies--the Senate, of about three hundred and sixty members (one-half elected), and a Congress of Deputies, elected at the rate of one member to every fifty thousand inhabitants.

=Cities.=--The principal cities are Madrid, population 597,573; Barcelona, 587,219; Valencia, 233,348; Seville, 155,366; Malaga, 136,192; Murcia, 125,380; Saragossa, 111,701; Carthagena, 96,983; Bilbao, 93,536; and San Sebastian, 92,514; and there are also twelve towns with over 50,000 inhabitants.

one of the finest in Europe, has a frontage of four hundred and seventy feet, is one hundred feet high, and built of white stone. Among the thirty rooms on the first floor, the largest and finest is the Hall of the Ambassadors. The vault was painted by Tiepolo, and represents the exaltation of the Spanish monarchs. The walls are draped with velvet embroidered with gold, and twelve immense mirrors also decorate it. On the right of the throne, which is guarded by four gilded bronze lions, is a statue of Prudence, and on the left that of Justice. The chapel is extremely rich, but not very handsome. There is also a library, a theatre, and the magnificent collection of Flemish tapestries.]

=Madrid= (Span. pron. _Madh-reedh´_), the capital of Spain, is situated in the department of Madrid (part of the ancient province of New Castile), eight hundred and eighty miles by rail from Paris. It is built on a treeless, ill-watered plateau, on the left bank of the Manzanares, two thousand and sixty feet above the sea-level.

The Manzanares is merely a mountain-torrent falling into the Jarama, a tributary of the Tagus; water is brought from the Guadarrama Mountains by an aqueduct forty-two miles in length.

The general aspect of the city is clean and gay, while the older parts are picturesque; no trace now remains of the mediæval city. The new streets are generally fine, broad, and planted with trees; the houses well built, lofty, and inhabited by several families living in flats. A great feature is the magnificent open spaces, chief of which is the Prado, running north and south through the eastern part of the city, and, with its continuations, three miles long. It contains four handsome fountains with groups of statuary, a fine obelisk to commemorate the gallant struggle with the French (May 2, 1808), monuments to Columbus, Isabel the Catholic, etc.

The picture-gallery here, founded by Charles III., is one of the finest in Europe, and contains many of the masterpieces of Velasquez, Murillo, Raphael, Tintoretto, Rubens, Teniers, and Van Dyck. Two other parks are the Buen Retiro, the fashionable promenade on the east of the city, and the Casa de Campo on the west. Midway between its extremities the Prado is crossed at right angles by the Calle de Alcala, the finest street in the city, about a mile in length, and leading from outside the fine triumphal arch rebuilt by Charles III. to the Puerta del Sol, the square which is the heart of Madrid; here converge the principal electric lines, and in it and the streets branching off from it are situated the principal shops and places of business.

The finest square is the Plaza Mayor, formerly the scene of bull-fights; it contains a gigantic equestrian statue of Philip III., its founder. On the west of the city are the new cathedral and the royal palace; the latter, commenced in 1738 to replace the ancient Alcazar, which had been burned down, was finished in 1764 at a cost of fifteen million dollars. Other fine buildings are the palace of justice, formerly a convent; the houses of parliament; Buena Vista Palace, now the ministry of war, and the new national bank.

Besides a flourishing university, founded by Cardinal Ximenes, and two high schools, Madrid contains numerous municipal schools. Madrid is well provided with newspapers and public libraries, the chief being the National Library, with more than half a million volumes, and the library of the university.

The opera house is one of the finest in the world; all the theaters must by law be lighted by electricity. The bull ring, situated outside the gates on the east, is a solid structure seating fourteen thousand.

Iron founding and the manufacture of furniture, carriages, and fancy articles are carried on on a small scale. The manufacture of tobacco employs many persons, chiefly women. The publishing trade is important, and books are well printed and cheap. The old tapestry factory still turns out beautiful work, as do the potteries at Moncloa.

is thirty-two miles from Madrid. It is called by the Spaniards the eighth wonder of the world. Philip II. built it in 1685 to commemorate the taking of St. Quentin, and to accomplish a vow which he made to St. Lawrence. This vast building has fifteen principal entrances, and more than one thousand one hundred windows. It is entirely built of granite, and its appearance is monotonous and cold. It contains a church, the Capilla Mayor, filled with royal monuments, the sacristy, a vast vaulted hall with a marble altar ornamented with bronze, the choir, and the pantheon or vault, where the kings of Spain are buried. The pantheon is reached by a magnificent staircase of colored marbles. The urn containing the remains of Charles V. was opened in 1870, and the body was even then in perfect preservation. The library of books and the manuscript library attracts the attention of scholars. The main entrance to the palace is in the middle of the north façade. The Hall of Battles, is covered with frescos representing Spanish conquests; and the apartments in which Philip II. lived and died. The Pavilion of Charles IV., called the Casa del Principe, is a charming little museum of paintings, sculptures, and mosaics. The King’s Seat, where Philip II. came to sit when presiding over the work of the palace, is also to be seen.]

=History.=--Spain was originally occupied by Iberian tribes (akin to the present Basque inhabitants of the north), who were partially overlaid by invading Celts. The Carthaginians established themselves in the south of Spain in the third century B. C. The Romans appeared in force in the next century, but it was not till after a fierce and prolonged resistance from Iberians and Celtiberians that, under Augustus, the Roman conquest was complete. Soon Spain, thoroughly Romanized, was contributing largely to Latin literature and Roman culture.

The Germanic invaders from the north, Suevi, Vandals, and Visigoths, crushed the Roman power in the fifth century A. D., and Spain became a province of the Visigothic kingdom (573 A. D.). Then followed the Moorish conquest, which was very rapid (714-732) and complete, except in the north and northwest. The several Christian kingdoms of Spain: Castile, Leon, Navarre, Aragon, etc., as well as Portugal--were formed by the gradual depression of the Moors; but Moorish Granada was not conquered till 1492, and Spain was not united under one rule till 1512.

Spain became a European state with the union of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1469, and the New World was discovered for them. Under the Emperor Charles V., in the sixteenth century, Spain was the most important country in Europe; but the population was unequal to the drain upon it caused by constant warfare, emigration, and adverse economical and industrial conditions.

With Philip II., Charles’s son, the decline of Spain set in, though now for sixty years Portugal was under the Spanish crown. The Bourbon dynasty brought complication in the wars of Louis XIV., and little advantage from the recovery of Naples and Sicily. The nadir of Spanish history is in the time of Napoleon, when Spain, in spite of some national efforts, was nominally a kingdom, but really a mere province of the French empire.

In spite of the valiant patriotism shown in resisting the French, and the ultimate recovery of national independence through the overthrow of Napoleon, the history of Spain in the nineteenth century was in the main inglorious. In Cuba there had been trouble since 1895, the final outcome of which was the disastrous Spanish-American war, leading to the loss of the greater colonies. The twentieth century has seen gradual recovery, growing toleration, a breach with the Vatican, revolutionary and repressive movements, and ambitions in northwest Africa.

In June, 1911, the situation in Morocco led to the dispatch of a Spanish force to Alcazar. But the indignation aroused in France at this action was quite overshadowed by the sensation caused when it became known that Germany had sent a warship to Agadir. Labor troubles in Spain broke out in September, 1911. Martial law was proclaimed throughout the country, and a royal decree suspended the constitutional guarantees, which were not re-established until October 22. In March, 1912, the ministry was reconstituted, but, in 1916, during the European war, again gave way over grave questions over neutrality and internal conditions.

=SWEDEN= (Swedish _Sverige_), a kingdom of northern Europe, occupies the eastern side of the Scandinavian peninsula. From 1814 till the amicable but definitive separation in 1905, it was associated with Norway under one crown. Its greatest length, north to south, is close to 1000 miles, its greatest breadth 300; its area 170,970 square miles; and its coast line 1550 miles. Besides many skerry islands, Sweden owns Gothland and Œland.

=Surface.=--The country may be generally described as a broad plain sloping southeastward from the Kjölen Mountains to the Baltic. The only mountainous districts adjoin Norway; the peaks sink in altitude from seven thousand feet in the north to three thousand eight hundred feet at the southern end of the chain. Immediately south of this point a subsidiary chain strikes off to the southeast, and, threading the lake region of central Sweden, swells out beyond into a tableland with a mean elevation of eight hundred and fifty feet and maximum of twelve hundred and forty feet. Fully two-thirds of the entire surface lies lower than eight hundred feet, and one-third lower than three hundred feet, above sea level.

Sweden is separated popularly and geographically into three great divisions--Norrland, Svealand, and Gothland. Norrland, in the north, is a region of vast and lonely forests and rapid mountain streams, often forming fine cascades and ribbon-like lakes before they reach the Gulf of Bothnia.

The central division of Svealand, or Sweden proper, is a region of big lakes, and contains most of the mines. Lakes occupy nearly fourteen thousand square miles, or eight and two-tenths per cent of the total area; several of the largest, as Vener, Vetter, Hjelmar, Mälar, are connected with one another and the sea by rivers and canals. Lake Mälar contains some thirteen hundred islands, many beautifully wooded, with royal palaces or noblemen’s castles; and its shores are studded with prosperous towns, castles, palaces, and factories.