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up a strong position at Kupri Koi before Erzeroum, from which it was driven in wild confusion on November 4, the Turkish commander retreating toward Trebizonde. On November 18 the fortress of Kars was taken by storm after a fierce conflict which raged for twelve hours. The Turks lost 5,000 in casualties, 300 cannon, and 10,000 prisoners.

In Europe the victory of Doling Dubnik, on the 24th of October, was dearly bought by the Russians, who lost 2,500 men and 100 officers. About 7,000 Turks were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. At Telis the Russians took a Turkish intrenched position with 4,000 or 5,000 men, and by the capture of Provitz and Etropol, November 23 and 24, they forced Mehemet Ali to retreat from Orkhanie to Kamarli, where, however, the Russians were defeated December 3.

Plevna, which had defied the Czar's armies for nearly five months, exhausted its food and ammunition early in December. On the 9th of December, having resolved to break the Russian lines, Osman Pasha issued forth from Plevna with a force of 32,000 men, 26,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. The Turks steadily advanced and carried the first Russian lines. Again they advanced and carried two batteries of six guns each in the second line. For hours the fight raged between the second and third lines of the Russians in favor of neither side, until at last the ammunition of the Turks ran short, and that hard-fought day was decided against them. Their capitulation was complete. The surrender included 10 pashas, 2,128 officers, and 97 guns. By the fall of Plevna, 100,000 Russians were set at liberty for offensive purposes. By Christmas Day the Russian losses had reached a total of 80,435 men. The losses of the Turks were very much greater: 80,000 of their soldiers were prisoners in the hands of the Russians. Under these circumstances the Porte addressed a circular note to the European Powers imploring mediation.

EVENTS OF 1878

Russians Occupy Sofra and Kezanlik-They Take Shipka Pass-They Conquer Roumelia and Take Adrianople-British Fleet Sent to Sea of Marmora-Truce of Adrianople-Treaty of Stefano-Powers are Dissatisfied with Its Harsh Terms Toward Turkey International 1 Congress Modifies It by Treaty of Berlin-Deaths of Victor Emmanuel and Pius IX-Cardinal Pecci is Chosen Pope-He is Installed as Leo XIII-Death of Bernard, French Physiologist-Charcot Uses Hypnotism as Curative Agent-Death of the Poet BryantMikado Convokes Provincial Assemblies-Congress Passes Bland Bill for Limited Coinage of Legal-Tender Silver Dollars-Greenback Party is Organized-Ex-President Grant Makes Tour Around the World-Deaths of Bayard Taylor, the American Author, and Lewes, the English Philosopher-Russian Intrigues Cause Third British Invasion of Afghanistan.

T became evident at the outset of the year that Turkish resistance was failing. General Gourko, after a sharp

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contest in which he lost some 700 men, carried the fortified position of Tashkersen, in the valley of Sofra, and proceeded to force his way to that place through the Etropol Balkans. After an incredible effort the whole force gradually crossed and Sofra was occupied on the 6th of January. Following up their success in the Troyan Pass, the Russians, under General Radebsky, took the Shipka, though defended by a Turkish army of forty-one battalions, ten batteries of artillery, and one regiment of cavalry. Meanwhile Generals Mirsky and Skobelev had penetrated the Balkans by the Troyan Pass and occupied Kezanlik. There the Turks were enclosed between the two armies. Terrified, the Sultan instructed the general in the field to conclude an armistice. Just as the Sultan's envoys set out for the Russian camp, the last army in Roumelia was defeated, and its remnants were transported by sea for the defence of Constantinople, while Adrianople was yielded without a blow.

The time had now come when the interests of Great Britain were plainly threatened. When the news arrived

TREATY OF BERLIN

1878

that the Russians were threatening Gallipoli and the Dardanelles, and had advanced within thirty miles of Constantinople, the English Liberals withdrew their opposition to the vote of £6,000,000 demanded by the Government, and the British fleet was ordered to enter the Sea of Marmora.

After weeks of suspense the terms for an armistice and preliminaries of peace had been agreed on at Adrianople. They comprised the establishment of a Principality of Bulgaria; the payment of a war indemnity or a territorial compensation; the independence of Roumania, Servia, and Montenegro, with an increase of territory for each of the principalities; the introduction of reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina; an ulterior understanding between the Sultan and the Czar on the question of the Straits, and, lastly, the evacuation of the Danube fortresses by the Turks.

On February 20 the Russians occupied Rustchuk, thus obtaining complete control of the passage of the Danube, and the following day completed the evacuation of Erzeroum, which had begun on the 17th. In spite of many obstacles, negotiations progressed and the Grandduke Nicholas, by arrangement with the Porte, removed his headquarters from Adrianople to San Stefano. Eventually, after innumerable delays, a preliminary treaty between Russia and Turkey was signed at San Stefano on the 3d day of March. It all but destroyed the Sultan's power, and placed what was left to him at the mercy of Russia.

The dissatisfaction of the Powers with the Treaty of San Stefano was outspoken. General Ignatiev, who was despatched on a mission to Vienna, found the Austrian court firm in the position that European sanction was indispensable for the treaty. Finally in July an International Congress met at Berlin, made up of the representatives of the six great Powers and Turkey. In the Berlin Treaty, which was signed on the 13th of July, the treaty of San Stefano was modified.

1878

DEATH OF PIUS IX

The results were the division of Bulgaria into two parts, Bulgaria proper and Eastern Roumelia; the cession of parts of Armenia to Russia and Persia; the independence of Roumania, Servia, and Montenegro; the transfer of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Austrian administration, and the retrocession of Bessarabia to Russia. According to this Berlin Treaty, Greece was also to have an accession of territory, and, by a separate arrangement previously made, Turkey ceded Cyprus to Great Britain. Ratifications of this treaty were exchanged at Berlin on the 3d of August. In Russia general indignation was expressed at the interference of the outside Powers.

Victor Emmanuel, first King of Italy, died on January 9 in Rome. His son, the Prince of Piedmont, succeeded him as King Humbert IV.

One month later, on the 7th of February, Pius IX died at the Vatican. The conclave assembled at once to elect a successor, and on the 20th of February, Cardinal Pecci, the favorite of the religious but moderate party, was proclaimed as Pope under the name of Leo XIII. His installation in the Chair of St. Peter was celebrated on the 3d of March in the Sistine Chapel. In regard to the Royal House and Government of Italy, Pope Leo XIII maintained the same attitude as his predecessor.

Claude Bernard, the most distinguished French physiol ogist of modern times, died in Paris. In 1849 he discovered what is called the glycogenic function of the liver. In medical annals the year is otherwise memorable. At the Salpêtrière in Paris, Dr. Jean Martin Charcot expounded the phenomena of hypnotism and showed that mental states could be influenced and artificial somnambulism induced with beneficial results in certain human ills.

On the 12th of June, in New York, William Cullen Bryant, the well-known American poet and journalist, died. He was born in Massachusetts in 1794, and at age of ten pub

BLAND SILVER BILL

1878

lished translations from Latin poets. At eighteen he wrote "Thanatopsis." In 1826 he joined the staff of the New York "Evening Post," of which he was long chief editor.

In Japan the era of absolute government drew to a close. On July 27 the Mikado's promise, given at Kioto in 1868, was fulfilled in part by an imperial edict convoking provincial assemblies to sit once a year on local questions.

Throughout the year the American people were stirred over the remonetizing of silver. New and cheaper ways of getting it had been devised. In this year the production of gold yielded 80 tons, while that of silver was 770 tons. The value of silver went down until a dollar in silver was worth only ninety cents in gold. Congress had practically "demonetized" silver in 1873, by suspending the coinage of the silver dollar. This was the so-called "Crime of 1873."

On February 21 the American Congress passed the Bland silver bill with two amendments-one limiting silver coinage, and the other providing for an international monetary conference. On February 28 the President vetoed the bill. Congress passed it over his veto. It revived coinage of the standard silver dollars of 412 1-2 grains to the extent of not less than $2,000,000, or more than $4,000,000 a month, all seigniorage to accrue to the Treasury. These dollars were to be full legal tender for all debts public or private.

In the same week a convention at Toledo, Ohio, organized the National Greenback Party. It advocated the unlimited coinage of gold and silver, the substitution of greenbacks for national banknotes, woman suffrage, and labor reform.

Later the Senate voted an appropriation to pay the fisheries award as determined at the Halifax conference. It was paid in November.

General Grant made a tour around the world, starting in May, and visiting England and the Continent, Egypt, India, China, and Japan, returning to San Francisco September

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