Page:EB1922 - Volume 31.djvu/52

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32
EUROPE


presented by Sir E. Goschen to Herr von Jagow; as the request was refused, he demanded his passport, and war between Great Britain and Germany began at midnight (Aug. 4-5).

BIBLIOGRAPHY. -The chief authority for the events dealt with above is the official correspondence published by the various Gov- ernments. A translation of the full text of all documents published at the beginning of the war will be found in Collected Diplomatic Docu- ments relating to the Outbreak of the European War, printed by the Stationery Office (1915); there are numerous other collections, as for instance The Times Documentary History of the War, vols. i. and ii. (1917); Mach's Official Diplomatic Documents relating to the Outbreak of the European War, containing both the originals and the translations (notes unreliable; 1916); useful selections are those by Reinach, Histoire de Douze Jours (1917), and Max Beer, Das Regen- bogenbuch. The original German White Book was very incom- plete and has been superseded by the later publication, Deutsche Dokumente zum Kriegsausbruch, Vollstandige Sammlung der von Karl Kautsky zusammengestellten amtlichen Aktenstucke, mil einigen Erganzungen, edited by Graf Max Montgelas and Prof. Walter Schiicking, 4 vols. (1919). There has also been published the full text of the Austrian correspondence, Diplomatische Akten- stucke zur Vorgeschichte des Krieges 1914, 3 parts (1919); see also Dr. Roderich Gooss, Das Wiener Kabinett und die Entstehung des Weltkrieges (1919). The original British White Book, on the other hand, gives a faithful and practically complete account of the action of the British Government as recorded in the official papers and correspondence in the Foreign Office Archives. To these should be added the Rumanian and the Greek White Books (Le Livre Blanc Grec Les Pourparlers Diplomatiques 1913-7 (1918), Berger- Levrault), also the Austro-Hungarian Red Books on the relations to Italy and Rumania.

Other Publications. The very numerous works which appeared during the war are to a great extent superseded owing to the further information which is now available. Of them the more important are: J. M. Beck, The Evidence in the Case (1914); J. W. Headlam, The History of Twelve Days (1915); J. W. Headlam, The German Chancellor and the Outbreak of War (1915); Wm. Archer, The Thir- teen Days (1915); C. Oman, The Outbreak of the War, 1914-8 (1919); J' Accuse, by a German (Dr. Richard Grelling: 1915); Dr. Richard Grelling, The Crime (1917).

Of the later literature, special works and memoirs, the following are the most important : Report of the Commission of the Paris Con- ference on the Responsibilities for the War, published by Congress (Hearings before the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, 66th Congress, Treaty of Peace with Germany, 1919) ; Das Deutsche Weissbuch uber die Schuld am Kriege (1919); Zur Vorgeschichte des Weltkrieges Beilage zu den stenographischen Berichten uber die offentlichen Verhandlungen des Untersuchungsausschusses (1921); Karl Kautsky, Wie der Weltkrieg entstand (1919); for criticism see Prof. Hans Delbriick, Kautsky und Harden (1920); Rene Puaux, Le Mensonge (1918); E. Waxweiler, La Belgique Neutre et Loyale (1915); Dr. Muhlon's Diary (1918); Prince Lichnowsky, My Mis- sion to London, 1912-4 (1918); Karl Helfferich, Die Vorgeschichte des Weltkrieges (1919); Bethmann Hollweg, Reflections on the World War (1920); Jagow, Ursachen und Ausbruch des Weltkrieges (1919); Baron Beyens, L'Allemagne avant la Guerre (1915); Dr. M. Boghit- schewitsch, Kriegsursachen (1919) -English translation, Causes of the War (1919, G. L. van Langenhuysen) ; Raymond Poincare, Les Origines de la Guerre (1921); Graf Pourtales, Am Scheidewege zwischen Krieg und Frieden (1919); Oberstleutnant von Eggeling, Die Russische Mobilmachung und der Kriegsausbruch (1919).

G- W. H.-M.)

EUROPE AFTER THE WAR

Under the heading of WORLD WAR, the diplomatic history of the war period itself is separately dealt with. European history was mixed up in this period with world history. It remains here to speak of the new Europe resulting from the war.

The changes produced in the political system of Europe by the war and the peace settlement were in their magnitude and importance comparable only to those embodied in the similar settlements made by the treaties of Westphalia, the Peace of Utrecht and the Congress of Vienna. The territorial settlement (see accompanying map) affected directly or indirectly every nation on the continent except Spain and Portugal. It was made partly by the treaties signed at Versailles, St. Germain, Trianon, Neuilly and Sevres, but these left several matters undecided which have been dealt with by subsequent agreements. In the summer of 1921 the principal districts left undetermined were Upper Silesia, East Galicia, the eastern frontiers of Poland and the boundaries of Albania.

Western Europe. In western Europe the most important result has been the increase in the territory and influence of

France, who has recovered the lost provinces of Alsace and Lor- raine, which are now again incorporated in France. Her hope was permanently to detach the left bank of the Rhine from Ger- many, and, by joining this territory with Belgium and Luxem- burg into a French sphere of influence, to secure herself against the danger of a fresh German invasion. This object was only partially attained. By a provisional arrangement, which normal- ly would not last more than 15 years, the principal Allied and Associated Powers, among whom in all matters of western Europe France naturally took the leading place, had the right to occupy the Rhine with the bridgeheads and virtually control all German territory on the left bank of the river; inter-Allied control was exercised by a civil commission which sat at Coblenz under French chairmanship. Clauses of the Treaty of Versailles gave the control and navigation of the Rhine to an international com- mission, and France had for a period of 15 years acquired certain rights over the port of Kehl on the right bank of the river. The territory of the Saar valley had also for a period of 15 years been separated from Germany and placed under the control of a com- mission appointed by and responsible to the League of Nations, the full ownership of the mines being given to France. The chairman of the commission was French, and French influence was dominant; French troops continued to be maintained there, a contingency not contemplated by the Treaty. The final de- cision as to the fate of this district was reserved for a plebiscite in 1935; under this the inhabitants would have the right to opt either for restoration to Germany, incorporation with France, or a continuance of the existing system.

The Grand Duchy of Luxemburg retained its independence and status as a sovereign State, but the close connexion with Germany was severed, and in May 1921 a treaty for economic union with Belgium was signed, under which there would be a customs union between the two countries, and the railways would be jointly managed. In addition to this, Belgium, under the Treaty of Versailles, acquired a small increase of territory at the expense of Germany in Eupen and Malmedy, and was also freed from the limitations on her full sovereignty imposed by the settlement of 1839; she henceforward took her place among the other European States without the restrictions of permanent and guaranteed neutrality. This was the end of a system which in one form or another had played an important part in European politics for some 200 years. Belgium also entered into a military convention with France.

Central Europe. It was in the centre and the east of Europe that the greatest changes took place. The three great monarchies, which since the days of Catherine, Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa had dominated so large a portion of the continent, disappeared. In Petrograd, Berlin and Vienna, the old centres of authority, the court made way for Republican Government, and the great armies by which Europe was overawed ceased to exist. But the character of the change in each case was very different. Germany came out of the war a united State; all projects for disruption, for instance, in the Rhine Provinces or Bavaria, failed, and she still was in population the largest coun- try, except Russia, on the continent of Europe, and in area second only to Russia and France. She had ceded Alsace-Lor- raine to France, to Denmark the northern portion of Schleswig, to Poland the greater part of the provinces of Posen and West Prussia; the city of Danzig, which commands the mouth of the Vistula, was created a sovereign State under the guarantee of the League of Nations, but by a treaty was incorporated within the Polish customs frontier, the control of railways, port and foreign relations being given to Poland. Memel and the surround- ing district were ceded to the principal Allied and Associated Powers, ultimately, no doubt, to be transferred to Lithuania. A large slice of Upper Silesia was transferred to Poland. In addition to this, for a maximum period of 15 years the left bank of the Rhine was subject to inter-Allied occupation and control, and Germany was forbidden to maintain any troops or fortifications within this area or within 50 m. of the right bank of the river, and for the same period was deprived of the Saar valley.