EUROPEAN CONCESSIONS IN CHINA 1898 consent of Congress, the army was raised to twice its original number. The most enthusiastic spokesman for this departure from American tradition was Theodore Roosevelt. On the strength of his war record he was elected Governor of his native State of New York. Throughout the Spanish-American War the great Powers of Europe, so far from combining in behalf of Spain, were scarcely able to come to an agreement in regard to the political status of Crete. The unsatisfactory negotiations on this subject made a by-word of the so-called "concert of Europe." Late in the year the representatives of the four Powers finally notified the King of Greece of their selection of Prince George to be administrator of Crete for three years. Shortly before Christmas, Prince George arrived at Souda Bay in Crete, under the escort of the foreign flagships, and assumed charge. The Turkish flag remained flying over Canea. Prior to this, more serious subjects of diplomatic contention had arisen in China. The Chinese cession of KiaoChau Bay to Germany was confirmed. Great Britain guaranteed a loan of £12,000,000 at four per cent to pay China's indemnity to Japan. In recognition of this service China opened all the inland waters of the empire to foreign navigation, and agreed to maintain an Englishman at the head of the maritime customs. Russia followed this up by a demand for the cession of Port Arthur and Talienwan. In the event of non-compliance Russian occupation of Manchuria was threatened. China gave in. The Russian flag was hoisted over Port Arthur and Talienwan. The ships of other nations were subjected to Russian tariff restrictions. The results of Japan's war with China were further curtailed by the cession of Deer Island, commanding the entrance to the harbor of Fusan in Korea, to the Russians. Immediately after the withdrawal of the Japanese troops from Wei-hai-Wei, China was made to lease that port to England for ninety-nine years. 1898 ASSASSINATION OF EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA Within a month another Chinese convention was signed, leasing to Great Britain for ninety-nine years some two hundred square miles of the mainland opposite Hong Kong and the waters of Mirs Bay and of Deep Bay. As a scapegoat for these foreign concessions, Viceroy Li Hung Chang was dismissed in disgrace, although not in poverty, from the imperial councils. On May 19 England lost the most eminent of her statesmen by the death of Gladstone. The life of William Ewart Gladstone is so integral a part of his country's history from the time that he entered Parliament in 1835 until his last public appearance in his eighty-eighth year, that its best expression is the Victorian Era. On June 17 came the death of another great Englishman, Sir Edward Burne-Jones. In 1856 he and Rossetti became leaders of pre-Raphaelite art. His paintings, by their strangeness of conception and treatment, marked a departure in English art. To the House of Hapsburg another tragic affliction was brought by the assassination of Empress Elizabeth of Austria. While traveling in Switzerland she was murdered, on September 10, by an anarchist named Lucheni. A Swiss court sentenced Lucheni to penal servitude for life. Within a few days of this, on September 20, occurred the death of Thomas F. Bayard, the former Secretary of State at Washington and subsequently American Minister to England. Shortly after this Germany lost her greatest statesman by the death of Prince Bismarck. On October 20 the old chancellor died at Friedrichsruhe in his eighty-third year. Almost simultaneously with the war between America and Spain, England was fighting a war of her own in Africa. A powerful Anglo-Egyptian force was collected on the Nile. On April 8 Kitchener stormed Mahmoud's intrenched camp on the Atbara. An army of 15,000 Dervishes was routed BATTLE OF OMDURMAN 1898 after obstinate resistance. They lost several thousand in slain and wounded. Mahmoud himself surrendered with 3,000 of his followers. Kitchener established his headquarters at Berber and prepared to strike at the Khalifa in Khartoum. There the Khalifa had gathered more than 50,000 warriors. Early in the fall, Kitchener moved up the Nile with his army of 23,000 men, most of whom were native troops. By the 1st of September, the British forces drew up under the walls of Omdurman. At early dawn of September 2 the Khalifa advanced with his hordes of swordsmen in order of battle. At a range of a thousand yards the British opened fire on the fanatical tribesmen. Again and again the Soudanese chieftains led their tribesmen to the assault against the machine guns and incessant magazine fire of the Egyptian infantry. The Dervishes were mowed down by thousands. After two hours of this unequal fighting, the British columns advanced on Omdurman. The battle ended in the complete overthrow of the Khalifa and his army. The battle of Omdurman was followed by other English victories at Karsala. These victories accomplished the reconquest for civilization of the whole of the Egyptian Soudan. In addition to his dignities as Sirdar of Egypt, Kitchener was raised to the peerage and was appointed Governor of the Soudan. His first administrative measure was the foundation of a native university at Khartoum. About the same time a French expedition under Major Marchand planted the French flag at Fashoda, and thus barred the British passage to Uganda. Marchand's column numbered but eight French officers and 105 Senegalese. Eventually the French Government yielded its advantage, and Marchand's expedition was withdrawn. Of more tragic import to Frenchmen was the sinking, through collision with a schooner, of the French-American liner "Bourgogne" with 600 passengers and crew. 1191 XIXth Century-Vol. III-15 1898 ZOLA DEFENDS DREYFUS Public opinion in France by this time had become thoroughly upset over the charges and counter-charges growing out of Captain Dreyfus's condemnation as an alleged traitor. First Major Esterhazy, the accuser of Dreyfus, was courtmartialed for the same offense, but was exonerated by a military acquittal. Then appeared the famous letter of accusation written by Emile Zola. The letter was published on the front page of the newspaper "L'Aurore." It began with the words, "I accuse," and was written throughout in a spirit of indignation over outraged justice that has made this letter stand as a masterpiece of French prose invective. The publication of Zola's letter was followed by a hot debate in the Chambers with anti-Jewish riots in the streets• of Paris. Zola's house had to be guarded by troops. He was tried and condemned to the maximum penalty of one year's imprisonment and a fine of three thousand francs. Before the sentence could be excuted Zola left France. By the end of August, Colonel Henry, then chief of the Secret Intelligence Department of the French War Office, was brought to confess that he had forged the most incriminating evidence against Captain Dreyfus. Colonel Henry was sent to the military prison of Mont Valérien, and committed suicide. As a result of the dead officer's disclosures the French Court of Cassation ordered a new trial for Captain Dreyfus. France lost one of her great mural painters of this century by the death of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. Born at Lyons in 1824, this artist received his early training in Paris as a pupil of Henri Scheffer and Couture. He made mural and decorative paintings his specialty. Among his most famous works are his mural designs that adorn the Public Library of Boston in America. EVENTS OF 1899 United States Takes Charge of Cuba-Aguinaldo Objects to American Occupation of Philippines-He Sends Envoys to Washington-President McKinley Refuses to Receive Them-Commission Appointed to Investigate Commissary Frauds Exonerates Alger, Secretary of War, and Suspends Eagan, Commissary-General-Alger Resigns— He is Succeeded by Root-Treaty of Peace with Spain Confirms Terms of Protocol with Addition of Sale of Philippines to United States-Spain Sells Her Remaining Islands in Pacific to Germany -Congress Fails to Assure Philippine Independence-Strained Relations Ensue Between Filipino and American Forces-American Sentry Fires on Filipino Prowlers-Filipinos Attack American Positions-They are Repulsed with Heavy Loss-Americans Take Caloocan and Iloilo-Filipinos Burn Manila's Native Quarter-Wheaton Inflicts Successive Defeats on Insurgents-He Captures MalolosOtis Recalls Lawton from Conquests in the South-MacArthur Defeats Aguinaldo at Calumpit-General Luna Offers to Betray His Command to Americans-He is Assassinated-Reenforcements are Sent from America at Otis's Request-McArthur Captures a Filipino Force at San Fernando-He Defeats Another at Angeles-Filipinos Capture Gilmore and Boat Crew-Mataafa with German Help Wrests Samoan Throne from Malietoa-Joint British, German, and American Commission Arrange Samoan Affairs-Death of French President Faure-Loubet is Elected to Succeed Him-Case of Dreyfus is Reopened-He is Reconvicted against Evidence-President Loubet Pardons Him-International Peace Conference Meets at the Hague-It Formulates Principles of Arbitration-England and America Agree to Maintain "Open Door" in China-Anti-Foreign Agitation Grows in China-Marconi Sends Wireless Message Over English Channel-Railroad Opened to Central Africa-Wingate Defeats Dervishes on White Nile Their Khalifa is Killed-Johannesburg Outlanders Petition Queen Victoria for Relief from Boer Grievances-President Kruger Agrees to More Liberal Elective Franchise -Great Britain Inspires Portugal to Close Delagoa Bay to Boer Traffic in Arms-Transvaal Volksraad Condemns Kruger's Proposed Dynamite Monopoly-Pro-British Editor in Johannesburg is Arrested for Treason-Exodus of Outlanders-Great Britain Demands Equal Official Recognition of English Language with Dutch-Volksraad Regards This as Evidence of British Determination to Force the War and Refuses Orange Free State Allies Herself with Transvaal-Boers Send Ultimatum to Great Britain to Withdraw Troops from Border-This is not Done, and They Invade Natal-They Invest Mafeking and Kimberley-British Repel Boers at Dundee and Elandslaagte They Retreat to Ladysmith-Boers Capture Two British Battalions at Nicholson's Nek-They Invest LadysmithMethuen Advances to Relief of Kimberley-He Forces Back Boers at Belmont and Graspan-He is Checked at Modder River and Defeated at Magersfontein-Boers Repulse Gatacre at Stormberg |