A Political and Social History of Modern Europe Part 40

The army, on which so much in the Turkish state depended, naturally reflected the demoralized condition of the government. While Peter the Great was organizing a powerful army in Russia, and Frederick the Great was perfecting the Prussian military machine, the Ottoman army steadily declined. It failed to keep pace with the development of tactics and of firearms in western Europe, and fell behind the times. The all- prevalent corruption ruined its discipline, and its regularly organized portion--the "janissaries"--became the masters rather than the servants of the sultans and of the whole Turkish government.

It was the fortune of the Russian tsarina--Catherine the Great--to appreciate the real weakness of both Turkey and Poland and to turn her neighbors' distress to the profit of her own country.

[Sidenote: Catherine's Interference in Poland]

No sooner had Catherine secured the Russian crown and by her inactivity permitted Frederick the Great to bring the Seven Years' War to a successful issue, than the death of Augustus III, elector of Saxony and king of Poland, gave her an opportunity to interfere in Polish affairs.

She was not content with the Saxon line which was more or less under Austrian influence, and, with the astute aid of Frederick, she induced the Polish n.o.bles to elect one of her own courtiers and favorites, Stanislaus Poniatowski, who thus in 1764 became the last king of an independent Poland.

With the accession of Stanislaus, the predominance of Russia was fully established in Poland. Russia entered into an execrable agreement with Prussia and Austria to uphold the anarchical const.i.tution of the unhappy and victimized country. When patriotic Poles made efforts--as they now frequently did--to reform their government, to abolish the _liberum veto_, and to strengthen the state, they found their attempts thwarted by the allies either by force of arms or by bribes of money. The racial animosities and the religious differences within Poland afforded sufficient pretexts for the intervention of the neighboring Powers, especially Prussia and Russia.

A popular insurrection of Polish Catholics against the intolerable meddling of foreigners was crushed by the troops of Catherine, with the single result that the Russians, in pursuing some fleeing insurgents across the southern frontier, violated Turkish territory and precipitated a war between the Ottoman Empire and Russia.

[Sidenote: Catherine's War with the Turks, 1768-1774]

This Turkish War lasted from 1768 to 1774. The Ottoman government was profoundly alarmed by the Russian foreign policy, believing that the intrigues in Poland would end in the annexation of that state to Russia and the consequent upsetting of the balance of power in the East, and that, Poland once being disposed of, the turn of Turkey would come next. The Turks, moreover, were egged on by the French government, which, anxious also to preserve the balance of power and to defend the liberties of Poland, was too financially embarra.s.sed itself to undertake a great war against Prussia and Russia.

This war between Russia and Turkey fully confirmed the belief that the power of the latter was waning. The Ottoman troops, badly armed and badly led, suffered a series of reverses. The Russians again occupied Azov, which Peter the Great had been compelled to relinquish; they overran Moldavia and Wallachia; they seized Bucharest; and they seemed likely to cross the Danube. Catherine went so far as to fan a revolt among the Greek subjects of the sultan.

[Sidenote: Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji (1774): Russia on the Black Sea]

At length, in 1774, the treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji was concluded between the belligerents. It was most important in marking the southern extension of Russia. By its provisions, (1) Turkey formally ceded Azov and adjacent territory to Russia and renounced sovereignty over all land north of the Black Sea; (2) Turkey recovered Wallachia, Moldavia, and Greece, on condition that they should be better governed; (3) Russia obtained the right of free navigation for her merchant ships in Turkish waters; and (4) Russia was recognized as the protector of certain churches in the city of Constantinople.

Within a few years after the signature of the treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji, Catherine established Russian control over the various Tatar princ.i.p.alities north of the Black Sea, whose sovereignty Turkey had renounced, and by a supplementary agreement in 1792, the Dniester River was fixed upon as the boundary between the Russian and Ottoman empires.

The Turkish policy of Catherine the Great bore three significant results. In the first place, Russia acquired a natural boundary in southern Europe, and became the chief Power on the Black Sea, whence her ships might pa.s.s freely through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles out into the Mediterranean to trade with western Europe. Russia's second "window to the west" was gained. Then, in the second place, Russia was henceforth looked upon as the natural ally and friend of oppressed nationalities within the Turkish Empire. Finally, the special clause conferring on Russia the protectorate of certain churches in Constantinople afforded her a pretext for a later claim to protect Christians throughout the Ottoman state and consequently to interfere incessantly in Turkish affairs. Since the treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji, Turkey has declined with ever-increasing rapidity, and Russia has become an eager candidate for a liberal share of the spoils.

[Sidenote: Catherine and the Part.i.tion of Poland]

[Sidenote: First Part.i.tion, 1772]

Even while the Turkish War was in progress, Catherine the Great had not lost sight of her Polish policy. Frederick of Prussia had doubtless hoped that she would, in order that he might have a free rein to direct a distribution of territory entirely satisfactory to himself and to Prussia But the wily tsarina was never so immersed in other matters that she neglected Russian interests in Poland. In 1772, therefore, she joined with Frederick and with Maria Theresa of Austria in making the first part.i.tion of Poland. Russia took all the country which lay east of the Dona and Dnieper rivers. Prussia took West Prussia except the town of Danzig. Austria took Galicia and the city of Cracow. In all, Poland was deprived of about a fourth of her territory.

[Sidenote: Second Part.i.tion, 1793]

[Sidenote: Third and Last Part.i.tion, 1795]

The part.i.tion of 1772 sobered the Polish people and brought them to a full realizing sense of the necessity of radical political reform. But the shameful and hypocritical att.i.tude of the neighboring sovereigns continued to render their every effort abortive. For another twenty-one years the wretched country struggled on, a victim of selfish foreign tutelage. Although both Frederick and Maria Theresa died in the interval, their successors proved themselves quite as willing to cooperate with the implacable tsarina. In 1793 Russia and Prussia effected the second part.i.tion of Poland, and in 1795, following a last desperate attempt of the Poles to establish a new government, they admitted Austria to a share in the final dismemberment of the unhappy country. Desperately did the brave Kosciuszko try to stem the tide of invasion which poured in from all sides. His few forces, in spite of great valor, were no match for the veteran allies, and the defense was vain. "Freedom shrieked when Kosciuszko fell." King Stanislaus Poniatowski resigned his crown and betook himself to Petrograd. Poland ceased to exist as an independent state.

By the part.i.tions of 1793 and 1795, Austria obtained the upper valley of the Vistula, and Prussia the lower, including the city of Warsaw, while the rest--the major share--went to Russia. Little Russia (Ruthenia) and approximately all of Lithuania thus pa.s.sed into the hands of the tsarina. Russia thenceforth bordered immediately on Prussia and Austria and became geographically a vital member of the European family of nations.

Catherine the Great survived the third and final part.i.tion of Poland but a year, dying in 1796. If it can be said of Peter that he made Russia a European Power, it can be affirmed with equal truth that Catherine made Russia a Great Power. The eighteenth century had witnessed a marvelous growth of Russia in Europe. She had acquired territory and a capital on the Baltic. She had secured valuable ports on the Black Sea. She had pushed her boundaries westward into the very center of the Continent.

The rise of Russia was at the expense of her neighbors. Sweden had surrendered her eastern provinces and lost her control of the Baltic.

Turkey had abandoned her monopoly of the sh.o.r.es and trade of the Black Sea. Poland had disappeared from the map.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ROMANOV FAMILY: RUSSIAN SOVEREIGNS (1613-1915)]

ADDITIONAL READING

THE RISE OF RUSSIA. Elementary sketches: J. H. Robinson and C. A.

Beard, _The Development of Modern Europe_, Vol. I (1907), ch. iv; H. O. Wakeman, _The Ascendancy of France, 1598-1715_ (1894), ch.

viii, xii, xiii; Arthur Ha.s.sall, _The Balance of Power, 1715-1789_ (1896), ch. v, xi; A. H. Johnson, _The Age of the Enlightened Despot, 1660-1789_ (1910), ch. iv, v; H. T. Dyer, _A History of Modern Europe from the Fall of Constantinople_, 3d ed. rev. by Arthur Ha.s.sall, 6 vols. (1901), ch. x.x.xvi, x.x.xviii, xli, xlix, 1. More detailed histories: _Cambridge Modern History_, Vol. V (1908), ch.

xvi-xix, and Vol. VI (1909), ch. x, xix; _Histoire generale_, Vol.

V, ch. xvi-xviii, xx, Vol. VI, ch. xvii-xix, xxi, xxii, Vol. VII, ch.

viii, ix, excellent chapters in French by such eminent scholars as Louis Leger and Alfred Rambaud; V. 0. Kliuchevsky, _A History of Russia_, Eng. trans. by C. J. Hogarth, 3 vols. (1911-1913), authoritative on the early history of Russia, but comes down only to 1610; Alfred Rambaud, _Histoire de la Russie depuis les origines jusqu'a nos jours_, 6th ed. (1914), ch. xiv-x.x.xii,--an earlier edition of this standard work was translated into English by Leonora B.

Lang and published in two volumes, of which the larger part treats of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; James Mayor, _Economic History of Russia_, Vol. I (1914), Book I, ch. iv-vii, especially useful for the economic and social reforms of Peter the Great. On the Russian sovereigns: R. N. Bain, _The First Romanovs, 1613-1725_ (1905), and, by the same author, _Pupils of Peter the Great: a History of the Russian Court and Empire from 1697 to 1740_ (1897); Eugene Schuyler, _Peter the Great_, 2 vols. (1884), a scholarly work; Kazimierz Waliszewski, _Peter the Great_, an admirable study trans. from the French by Lady Mary Loyd (1900), and, by the same author, though not as yet translated, _L'heritage de Pierre le Grand: regne des femmes, gouvernement des favoris, 1725-1741_ (1900) and _La derniere des Romanov, Elisabeth R_ (1902); Alexander Bruckner, _Peter der Grosse_ (1879), and, by the same author, _Katharina die Zweite_ (1883), important German works, in the Oncken Series; E.

A. B. Hodgetts, _The Life of Catherine the Great of Russia_ (1914), a recent fair-minded treatment in English. On the expansion of the Russian people: Alfred Rambaud, _The Expansion of Russia_, 2d ed. (1904); F. A. Golder, _Russian Expansion on the Pacific, 1641- 1850_; Hans ubersberger, _Russlands Orientpolitik in den letzten zwei Jahrhunderten_, Vol. I, down to 1792 (1913).

THE DECLINE OF SWEDEN, TURKEY, AND POLAND. On Sweden: R. N. Bain, _Scandinavia, a Political History of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, 1513-1900_ (1905), and, by the same author, _Charles XII_ (1899) in the "Heroes of the Nations" Series. On Turkey: Stanley Lane- Poole, _Turkey_ (1889), in the "Story of the Nations" Series, and E. A. Freeman, _The Ottoman Power in Europe, its Nature, its Growth, and its Decline_ (1877), suggestive outlines by eminent English historians; Nicolae Jorga, _Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches_, 5 vols. (1908-1913), particularly Vols. III, IV, the best and most up-to- date history of the Ottoman Empire; Joseph von Hammer, _Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches_, 10 vols. (1827-1835), an old work, very detailed and still famous, of which Vols. VI-VIII treat of the eighteenth century prior to 1774. On Poland: W. A. Phillips, _Poland_ (1915), ch. i-vi, a convenient volume in the "Home University Library"; R. N. Bain, _Slavonic Europe: a Political History of Poland and Russia from 1447 to 1796_ (1908), ch. v-xix; _Cambridge Modern History_, Vol. VIII (1904), ch. xvii; W. R. A.

Morfill, _Poland_ (1893), in the "Story of the Nations" Series; R.

H. Lord, _The Second Part.i.tion of Poland: a Study in Diplomatic History_ (1915), scholarly and well-written; R. N. Bain, _The Last King of Poland and his Contemporaries_ (1909); U. L. Lehtonen, _Die polnischen Provinzen Russlands unter Katharina II in den Jahren 1772-1782_ (1907), a German translation of an important Finnish work. An excellent French account of international relations in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, affecting Russia, Sweden, Poland, and Turkey, is emile Bourgeois, _Manuel historique de politique etrangere_, 4th ed., Vol. I (1906), ch. viii, x, xiii.

PART III

"LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY"

Our narrative of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries thus far has been full of intrigue, dynastic rivalry, and colonial compet.i.tion. We have sat with red-robed cardinals in council to exalt the monarch of France; we have witnessed the worldwide wars by which Great Britain won and lost vast imperial domains; we have followed the thundering march of Frederick's armies through the Germanies, wasted with war; but we have been blind indeed if the glare of bright helmets and the glamour of courtly diplomacy have hidden from our eyes a phenomenon more momentous than even the growth of Russia or the conquest of New France.

It is the rise of the bourgeoisie.

Driven on by insatiable ambition, not content to be lords of the world of business, with ships and warehouses for castles and with clerks for retainers, the bourgeoisie have placed their lawyers in the royal service, their learned men in the academies, their economists at the king's elbow, and with restless energy they push on to shape state and society to their own ends. In England they have already helped to dethrone kings and have secured some hold on Parliament, but on the Continent their power and place is less advanced.

For the eighteenth century is still the grand age of monarchs, who take Louis XIV as the pattern of princely power and pomp. "Benevolent despots" they are, these monarchs meaning well to govern their people with fatherly kindness. But their plans go wrong and their reforms fall flat, while the bourgeoisie become self-conscious and self-reliant, and rise up against the throne of the sixteenth Louis in France. It is the bourgeoisie that start the revolutionary cry of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," and it is this cry in the throats of the ma.s.ses which sends terror to the hearts of n.o.bles and kings. Desperately the old order--the old regime--defends itself. First France, then all Europe, is affected. Revolutionary wars convulse the Continent. Never had the world witnessed wars so disastrous, so b.l.o.o.d.y.

Yet the triumph of the bourgeoisie is not a.s.sured. The Revolution has been but one battle in the long war between the rival aristocracies of birth and of business--a war in which peasants and artisans now give their lives for illusory dreams of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," now fight their feudal lords, and now turn on their pretended liberators, the bourgeoisie. For already it begins to dawn on the dull ma.s.ses that "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" are chiefly for their masters.

The old regime, its decay, the rise of the bourgeoisie, the disappointment of the common people,--these are the bold landmarks on which the student must fix his attention, while in the following chapters we sketch the condition of Europe in the eighteenth century, and trace the course of the French Revolution, the career of Napoleon, and the restoration of "law and order" under Metternich.

CHAPTER XIII

EUROPEAN SOCIETY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

AGRICULTURE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

[Sidenote: General Backwardness]

If some "Rip Van Winkle" of the sixteenth century could have slept for two centuries to awake in 1750, he would have found far less to marvel at in the common life of the people than would one of us. Much of the farming, even of the weaving, buying, and selling, was done just as it had been done centuries before; and the great changes that were to revolutionize the life and work of the people were as yet hardly dreamed of. In fact, there was so much in common between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, that the reader who has already made himself familiar with the manor and the gild, as described in Chapter II, will find himself quite at home in the "old regime," as the order of things in the eighteenth century is now termed.

One might still see the countless little agricultural villages and manor houses nestling among the hills or dotting the plains, surrounded by green fields and fringed with forest or wasteland. The simple villagers still cultivated their strips in the common fields in the time-honored way, working hard for meager returns. A third of the land stood idle every year; it often took a whole day merely to scratch the surface of a single acre with the rude wooden plow then in use; cattle were killed off in the autumn for want of good hay; fertilizers were only crudely applied, if at all; many a humble peasant was content if his bushel of seed brought him three bushels of grain, and was proud if his fatted ox weighed over four hundred pounds, though a modern farmer would grumble at results three or four times as good.

[Sidenote: "Gentlemen Farmers" and "Husbandry"]