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 EOWIM P. t^ONAWe JP. 
 
PATHWAYS 
 
 OF 
 
 EUROPEAN PEOPLES 
 
 AN OUTLINE STORY OF EUROPEAN NATIONS 
 THAT FORM THE CHIEF BACKGROUND OF 
 AMERICAN CIVILIZATION 
 
 BY 
 
 BERTHA B. AND ERNEST COBB 
 
 Authors of Arlo, Clematis, Anita, Busy Builder's Book 
 
 Hand in Hand with Father Time, Garden Steps, 
 
 The Hen at Work. 
 
 Outline Maps by 
 EDWIN C. LEONARD, Jr. 
 
 Illustrated with many photographs of unusual European 
 
 views. 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 THE ARLO PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 NEWTON UPPER FALLS, MASS 
 
WE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBE 
 
 this book to our cousin, Stanwood Cobb, of Washington, 
 
 D. C, a leader in progressive education, who labors to 
 
 make the pathways of learning bright and happy. 
 
 
 
 Copyright, 1922 
 
 For the United States and Foreign Countries 
 
 By bertha B. and ERNEST COBB, 
 
 AU rights reserved. 
 
 NOV 18 '22 
 
 ©CU692237 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Thanks are due to many kind friends 
 for their help in building the material of 
 this book. So many people have read 
 over and tested these pages that it is im- 
 possible to remember and name them all. 
 
 To Miss Lena Gushing, of Framingham, 
 Mass., and her teachers, who devoted 
 their classes for an extended period in 
 working out our problems, special grati- 
 tude must be paid. 
 
 Another friend who deserves our kind- 
 est thanks is Superintendent Hector 
 Belisle, of Fall River, Mass., who reviewed 
 the text from the standpoint of one with 
 long experience in teaching history to 
 young people. He paid special attention 
 to those periods where religious conflicts 
 became the dominant factors in historic 
 movements. 
 
 When the manuscript was finally ready 
 
 • • • 
 
 111 
 
for the press, unusual good fortune fell 
 upon us. 
 
 All writers of history tremble at putting 
 out a book, for fear, in spite of all care, 
 some mistakes have been made, some 
 faults in selection and combination of 
 historical matter committed. 
 
 It happened that the finished manu- 
 script for Pathways came into the hands 
 of George Haven Putnam, of New York. 
 He became interested, and offered to read 
 it for a critical review. 
 
 His generous offer was carried out with 
 infinite pains. A few sheets at a time, 
 the pages came back from his desk, filled 
 with suggestions, notes and fresh material 
 to be considered. 
 
 Money could not have bought a service 
 like this. An author of historical works 
 himself, George Haven Putnam has lived 
 through many of the European events we 
 read about. He combined in this task 
 the accomplished historian, the experi- 
 enced editor, and the observer over many, 
 many, momentous years. 
 
 iv 
 
When Maximilian attacked Mexico, 
 during our civil war, he was one of those 
 who wondered whether he should be sent 
 with the Union Army, to drive him out. 
 
 When Prussia helped Italy to win 
 Venice back from Austria, in 1866, Mr. 
 Putnam was eagerly watching events from 
 America. When Prussia overwhelmed 
 France, in 1870, he took an active personal 
 interest. 
 
 As a writer and publisher, Mr. Putnam 
 has been a keen student of human events 
 of all ages. His aid in giving accuracy 
 and balance to the pages of this book 
 lends us confidence in placing Pathways 
 before a critical public. 
 
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF 
 
 History repeats itself. Events taking 
 place today are similar to events which 
 have taken place many times before in the 
 history of mankind. 
 
 The results of those movements we see 
 about us are also going to be much like 
 the results of similar movements, which 
 have evolved frequently during the ages 
 since man began his struggle here on 
 earth. 
 
 A knowledge of history, a vision of the 
 human races, as they have lived through 
 various epochs, will give us a fresh com- 
 prehension of our own times. 
 
 If we can understand the causes and 
 effects of important events in ages gone 
 by, we caa also understand how move- 
 ments now going forward are likely to 
 end. Such a vision would make life 
 happier and better for all men. 
 
 vi 
 
Thousands, however, read history, and 
 never get a clear picture of those sweep- 
 ing movements of mankind which have 
 brought great changes on earth. Details, 
 dates, names, places, battles, minor events 
 of all sorts, fill so many pages that the 
 larger view is lost. 
 
 The purpose of Pathways is to tell the 
 story ot a leading group of European 
 nations in such a way that the reader's 
 mind can move rapidly from one event to 
 another, free from a heavy burden of 
 general information, such as is presented 
 in most historical books. 
 
 It has been the purpose of the author to 
 set down the most important causes and 
 results of all great movements which have 
 made Greece, Italy, France, and Ger- 
 many, what they are today. 
 
 The life story of these nations makes up 
 the life story of continental Europe, for 
 they have been the chief actors on that 
 broad stage. 
 
 Our daily life here in America owes 
 much to these European nations, and we 
 
 vii 
 
shall never see light upon our own paths 
 until we have a clear view of the pathways 
 that have been trodden in past years by 
 the people of Europe. It is in the hope 
 of making that view clear to the thought- 
 ful reader that this book has been written. 
 
 vni 
 
GREECE 
 
 ANCIENT GREECE 
 
 Greece, a little country that lies near 
 the eastern end of the Mediterranean sea, 
 has been of great importance in history. 
 
 The Greek people were civilized and 
 educated three thousand years ago.. They 
 were intelligent and curious. They also 
 loved new things, so they tried new forms 
 of government, and ways of life, that have 
 guided other people, in other countries, 
 during nearly three thousand years. 
 
 The Greeks were naturally simple in 
 their tastes, moderate in their desires for 
 wealth, and ambitious to excel in those 
 arts which make life truly happy and 
 worth living. - 
 
 1 
 
Greek people spent much time in carmg 
 for their bodies, to make them strong 
 and beautiful. They studied music, and 
 painting, and sculpture, and public speak- 
 ing. They also loved poetry and drama. 
 So great was their love for these things, 
 and so perfect was their taste, that no 
 people have ever equalled the Greeks in 
 works of art. 
 
 Ancient Greece was never a single 
 nation, as it is now. Today it has one 
 king, and a group of men chosen to advise 
 him. Three thousand years ago Greece 
 was dotted here and there with small 
 cities, and each city ruled itself. 
 
 Each Greek city-state built a wall near 
 its center for protection. Outside this 
 wall lay the farms and orchards, with 
 cottages for slaves and workmen. When 
 an enemy came, they all could gather and 
 hide behind the protecting wall. 
 
 Although they were of the same race, 
 and were often related to each other, the 
 people in these different cities were never 
 at peace. If one city grew and prospered, 
 
 2 
 
some other city would attack it and try 
 to stop it from becoming too strong. 
 
 The Greeks all loved their home cities, 
 and were always ready to die for them. 
 They were just as ready to attack another 
 city nearby, never stopping to think that 
 by doing this they kept the Greek people 
 weak and helpless. 
 
 The history of Ancient Greece is the 
 history of a number of independent city- 
 states wearing each other out with their 
 never-ending disputes and wars, arising 
 from rivalry, jealousy and hatred. 
 
 Two cities were so important in the 
 history of the Grecian people that, if we 
 know their story, we shall understand the 
 history of Greece in ancient times. They 
 were Sparta and Athens. 
 
 THE ACROPOLIS. IN ATHENS 
 
SPARTA 
 
 Sparta occupied a deep valley, thirty 
 miles from the sea, in (he southern part 
 of Greece. The city lay among moun- 
 tains, so rough and so impassible that few 
 enemies dared attack her. Had Sparta 
 wished to live in peace, her situation 
 would have made her safe. 
 
 The earliest records of Sparta show that 
 about 800 B. C. she already had a consti- 
 tution. Under this constitution she was 
 to be governed by two kings, with a group 
 of about forty prominent citizens to 
 advise them. These kings had little real 
 power, and, while Sparta was a leading 
 city in Greece, she was ruled by a group 
 of aristocrats. 
 
 When the Spartans conquered their 
 secluded valleys they drove the native 
 people out, and let them live and work on 
 the land beyond the city walls. 
 
 4 
 
These native people were half free and 
 half enslaved. They might live, each on 
 his own little farm, but all had to pay 
 heavy tribute to the Spartans. 
 
 Slaves ia great numbers served both 
 the Spartans and these half-free farmers. 
 The slaves, mostly captured in war, were 
 the property of the Spartan state, and 
 were not owned by individuals. 
 
 Slaves performed all the common labor 
 and were treated like cattle. Historians 
 state that whea the number of slaves grew 
 too great for use or safety, some were 
 killed, to keep the number what their 
 rulers wished it to be. 
 
 The aristocrats who ruled Sparta were 
 determined to keep all power over all the 
 territory round them in. their own hands. 
 They trained their young men to march, 
 to run, to fight, and to do everything that 
 would make them bold and obedient 
 soldiers. 
 
 The Spartan leaders were careful to 
 keep the young men from study, and any 
 mental training that would lead them to 
 
 5 
 
think for themselves, because they might 
 then revolt against the tyrants who ruled 
 them. 
 
 Every boy was the property of the 
 state. At birth, if not robust, the child 
 was left alone in the forest to die. If 
 strong he was given good care at home till 
 he was seven. Then he left home and 
 went into camp. 
 
 At camp all sat at a common public 
 table. The kings themselves sat among 
 the rest, and ate the same coarse fare. 
 
 Little did these fearless Spartan youths 
 realize that they were being enslaved, 
 body and mind, by their crafty masters. 
 They won renown for their feats of 
 strength. They were praised and 
 flattered. So they lived on in the stupid 
 content of ignorance, shut in from the 
 growing world. 
 
 An Athenian who visited them declared 
 that he no longer wondered why Spartans 
 never feared death. 
 
 "I should rather die," he said, ''than 
 live such a life as this." 
 
 6 
 
SPARTA BEGINS HER CONQUESTS 
 
 750 B. C. 
 
 What is the use of a good army if you 
 do not go to war? This must have been 
 what Sparta thought as her army grew in 
 strength. 
 
 Sparta did not need a large army for 
 defense, because no one attacked her; the 
 mountains were her chief defense. 
 
 Messenia, a beautiful and fertile land, 
 lay just to the west of Sparta. The 
 Spartans wanted this garden spot, and 
 determined to possess it. 
 
 When a people wish war, an occasion 
 for war always rises. Some dispute over 
 the boundaries rose, about 750 B.C., and 
 the Spartan army suddenly appeared 
 upon the fair Messenian plains. 
 
 The Messenians were not trained to 
 fight, and, when it was all over, the lovely 
 
 7 
 
towns were in smoking ruins. Men, 
 women, and children had died without 
 mercy, and those left aHve were made 
 subject to their Spartan masters. 
 
 Hereafter these Messenians would have 
 to till the Spartan lands, pay heavy 
 tribute, and serve her in time of war. 
 
 The Messenians, while serving the 
 Spartans as slaves, waited eagerly for a 
 chance to strike back at their hated 
 masters. After about fifty years the 
 day came. 
 
 Enemies from beyond the mountains 
 attacked Sparta, and neighbor states, 
 hating her also, joined the Messenians in 
 revolt. 
 
 But Sparta was too strong. Again she 
 swept over Messenia with fire and sword. 
 This time she reduced those who were 
 left to a state of slavery. They served her 
 humbly and in silence, but deep in their 
 hearts was a hope that some day they 
 might strike down the hated Spartans 
 and be revenged. 
 
 So Sparta developed. First one city 
 
and then another fell before her well- 
 trained armies. 
 
 The other Greeks fought in crowds, 
 which lacked order and discipline. 
 Sparta drilled her men ia companies, and 
 each knew just what was to be done. 
 
 Her fame became so great that other 
 states dreaded to meet Sparta in combat, 
 and after two centuries, by 500 B. C, she 
 ruled almost half the Peloponnesus, which 
 is the southern part of the Grecian 
 peninsula. 
 
 The other half of the Peloponnesus 
 acknowledged her the leader and director 
 of their fortunes. 
 
 APOLLO DANCING WITH THE MUSES 
 
 9 
 
SPARTA 
 THE MILITARY HEAD OF GREECE 
 
 500 B. C. 
 
 Sparta was now really the head of 
 Greece. She had formed a great military 
 league among her subject states, and 
 those that stood in fear of her power. 
 The Spartan league covered all southern 
 Greece. 
 
 No Grecian city dared hope to over- 
 come Sparta now, in a test of arms. 
 
 This leadership of Sparta, however, 
 had little on which it could depend. She 
 knew little of the broad principles of 
 government. The plan she followed with 
 Messenia was used with other neighboring 
 cities. 
 
 The Spartan method in subduing a city 
 was to overcome and kill the fighting men. 
 The remaining inhabitants were made 
 tributary to Sparta, and were placed 
 
 10 
 
under Spartan governors, who kept their 
 power by force of arms. 
 
 Each conquered city waited and longed 
 for a day when it might rise in revolt 
 against the tyrant masters. 
 
 Most Greeks respected temples and 
 religious spots, but Sparta was ready to 
 destroy even sacred places, as she proved 
 in an attack on Argos. 
 
 •Argos was an independent city which 
 hoped to defend itself against the greedy 
 Spartans; but in a fierce battle her army 
 was overcome. 
 
 When they saw they were defeated, 
 the men of Argos withdrew into a sacred 
 grove for protection, for there they 
 expected a safe retreat. 
 
 The Spartans surrounded the grove, 
 set fire to it, and killed every man who 
 tried to escape. Sparta was then sure 
 that Argos could not attack her for many 
 years, and she did not disturb herself 
 much about the bitter hate that burned 
 deep in the heart of every living member 
 of that mistreated race. 
 
 11 
 
THE SPARTAN INFLUENCE 
 SPREADS 
 
 Many Greek cities, just across the 
 Aegean sea, on the shores of Asia Minor, 
 were threatened just before 500 B. C, 
 with destruction by Cyrus, the great 
 Persian Lord. He was spreading his 
 kingdom over all that land, and captured 
 every city in his path. 
 
 These Greek cities across the little sea 
 sent messengers to the Spartans. 
 
 "Help us with your splendid army,'* 
 they begged, "for without your help we 
 shall soon fall before the Persian tyrant." 
 
 But Sparta did not wish to help other 
 Greek cities grow strong. She feared 
 them less when they were weak. Secure, 
 behind her mountains, she feared Cyrus, 
 the Persian king, less than she feared the 
 Greek cities whose hatred she had aroused. 
 
 12 
 
"Oh yes/' the Spartans answered, *Ve 
 shall be glad to help you, just as soon as 
 we can get an army ready to go." 
 
 The visitors returned gladly to tell the 
 good news. The Spartans never arrived; 
 but Cyrus did, and, one after another, he 
 captured the little Greek cities along the 
 Eastern shore of the Aegean sea. 
 
 When he was master of the eastern 
 shore of the Aegean, the Persian king 
 looked across at the rich cities of European 
 Greece, on the western shore. 
 
 In 492 B. C. a great expedition was sent 
 to capture them. It was wrecked at sea. 
 
 Two years later, in 490 B. C., another 
 Persian attack was made. This time 
 fortune favored the Persians, and the 
 Greek cities nearest the coast trembled, 
 as the great fleet drew near. 
 
 Again envoys appeared in Sparta, this 
 time from Athens, a beautiful city north 
 of Sparta, near the shore. 
 
 ' *A vast host is upon us. Without your 
 aid we are lost. Help, in the name of 
 Greece." 
 
 13 
 
The Spartans listened. Behind their 
 mountains they were secure. Athens was 
 a strong, growing city. They feared her 
 strength, and envied her growth. It 
 would suit the Spartans better if she were 
 attacked and crippled. 
 
 ''Yes, yes," they answered. "We will 
 give help, but we are just now waiting 
 for the full of the moon. The days till 
 then areeacred, and we could not march." 
 
 The Athenians hopefully went home 
 again, but the Spartans meant to give 
 them no help, so they had to meet the 
 vast Persian army with their own people, 
 almost unaided. How valiantly they 
 fought, and how great a victory they won 
 at Marathon, will be told in the story of 
 Athens. 
 
 Now Sparta saw that she had betrayed, 
 not a ruined Athens, but a proud, victo- 
 rious Athens. 
 
 A third time the Persians planned to 
 attack the Greeks. News came to Greece 
 
 of the vast armies in preparation across 
 the Aegean. 
 
 14 
 
This time Sparta realized that even her 
 state might be in danger; so she joined 
 Athens, and other cities, in a council for 
 defense. 
 
 The time had come at last, when 
 Sparta's downtrodden neighbors saw their 
 opportunity. Argos and Messenia feared 
 Sparta more than they did the Persians, 
 and hated her greedy, ugly rule. They 
 promised to help, but, as Sparta had 
 done so easily, they forgot their Dromises. 
 They hoped to see her ruin. 
 
 Even now, had Sparta done as she 
 agreed, Greece might have been saved. 
 It was planned to meet the Persians at 
 Thermopylae, a narrow pass in the north- 
 ern part of Greece, and Sparta promised 
 to have a strong army there. 
 
 When the Persians reached Thermopylae, 
 the Spartan army was at home, and only 
 a few picked soldiers had been sent to 
 defend the pass. 
 
 These few Spartans fought bravely and 
 died to the last man, rather than surren- 
 der, but a secret path was shown to the 
 
 15 
 
Persians by some traitor. The Spartans 
 were crushed, and the Persian hosts swept 
 down upon the Greek cities. 
 
 Behind her rough mountains, Sparta 
 watched with secret satisfaction the dis- 
 truction of Athens, and other cities to the 
 north, and made no move to help them. 
 
 The Persians, destroying city after city, 
 kept moving south. As winter approached 
 they did not all return to Persia, but 
 camped a large army in Greece, and said 
 that the next spring they would capture 
 the whole Peloponnesus. 
 
 Now Sparta trembled for her very life. 
 Alone she could not defend herself. At 
 last she joined gladly enough with the 
 other cities, and prepared to meet the 
 Persian attack. 
 
 The Spartan king was made general 
 of the united armies. All fought together 
 for their lives, their families, and their 
 homes, and the Greeks, next spring, 
 defeated and destroyed the Persian 
 army. 
 
 The Greeks were grateful to Sparta for 
 
 16 
 
what she had done, and made Pausanias 
 a Spartan general, commander of their 
 great fleet of fighting ships, built mostly 
 by Athens. 
 
 Soon after he was appointed, Pausanias 
 was discovered plotting with Xerxes, 
 who had become king of Persia. Pie 
 planned to become ruler of Greece, as a 
 petty tyrant under the Persian king. 
 
 Pausanias was punished, but the other 
 Greek cities no longer dared trust Sparta. 
 They formed a new league, called the 
 Confederacy of Delos, and Sparta was 
 left out. 
 
 Sparta prospered a few years longer, 
 trying to find ways to stop the growth of 
 her sister cities. Then a calamity fell 
 upon her. 
 
 A great earthquake nearly destroyed 
 the city, killing thousands of the Spartans. 
 Instantly the slaves and neighbors saw 
 their opportunity, and rushed upon their 
 hated masters, hoping to end them all. 
 
 But the Spartans knew their danger 
 and were ready. They were making 
 
 17 
 
brave headway against the slaves when 
 Messenia revolted. 
 
 Foes appeared on every side. In 
 despair Sparta sent word to Athens. 
 
 "We are attacked on every side," she 
 said. ''If you do not help us quickly our 
 city will be destroyed." 
 
 "It is a trick," said some wise Athen- 
 ians. "Do not trust them." 
 
 "No," said others, "they helped us 
 against the Persians, let us save them from 
 destruction." 
 
 So they sent an army to help Sparta. 
 When the Athenians arrived, Sparta was 
 on the point of victory. She feared the 
 Athenians, lest they, too, should turn 
 against her^ so she shut her gates. 
 
 Refused admission to the city, the 
 Athenians had to return and take the 
 long, hot march back again, weary and 
 unrefreshed. 
 
 Thus once again the Spartans bitterly 
 offended her neighbors of the north. 
 
 18 
 
PELOPONNESIAN WAR 
 
 SPARTA BEGINS TO CRUMBLE 460 B. C. 
 
 Friendship among the Greek cities 
 was no longer possible. The flame of 
 war, smouldering so long, blazed up, and 
 Sparta found herself in the midst of a 
 bitter contest, in 460 B. C. 
 
 Athens and the northern cities were 
 now attacking Sparta and her unwilling 
 allies. For fifteen years the war raged 
 on, until both sides were exhausted, and 
 a truce was signed, intended to last for 
 thirty years. 
 
 Before the thirty-year truce was half 
 gone, war broke out again. This time 
 it was war to the death. 
 
 Each year Sparta sent out her armies 
 to conquer and ravage the lovely fields 
 and groves of the northern states. The 
 furious enemies, not daring to meet her 
 
 19 
 
in open combat, took shelter in their 
 walled cities and fought there till the 
 Spartan armies had retired. 
 
 Year by year the Spartan armies 
 returned. Each year there was less for 
 them to capture. Each year their ranks 
 grew thinner and thinner. 
 
 Sparta's population shrank from ten 
 thousand citizens to two thousand. It 
 seemed as if the Greeks would kill each 
 other until not a soldier was left. 
 
 At last, seeing that she could never win 
 by her armies, once so famous, Sparta 
 betrayed the rest of Greece into the hands 
 of Persia for gold. 
 
 With Persian funds and Persian soldiers 
 a fleet was built to meet the exhausted 
 Athenians. Sparta conquered Athens in a 
 terrible naval battle. There she captured 
 four thousand Athenians and put them to 
 death in cold blood. 
 
 This marked the end. Sparta had 
 worked the ruin of her rivals, but in the 
 same act she cut the stream of her own 
 life. 
 
 20 
 
Sparta lived in luxury a short time, 
 on Persian gold, and on tribute forced 
 from other cities. The severe and simple 
 life she used to lead had made her strong 
 This life of luxury made her weak. 
 
 Gathering her last remaining strength, 
 Athens, helped by Thebes and other 
 cities, again attacked Sparta. Her 
 neighbors, who hated her more bitterly 
 than ever, made excuses, and left her to 
 fight as best she could. 
 
 This attack, in 371 B. C, settled the 
 fate of Sparta. She was defeated, crushed, 
 and her leadership in Greece was over. 
 
 Sparta rose to glory, and had her fall 
 in a brief period. By 500 B. C. she was 
 a leader in Grecian affairs, and in a little 
 more than one long life time her course 
 was ruQ and her power was gone. By 
 350 B. C. she had sunk from view, and 
 was never known again as a great city. 
 
 Sparta tried to rule by the sword, and 
 fell by the sword. 
 
 Sparta tried to conquer weaker nations 
 by force, and rule them by force, but they 
 
 21 
 
grew stronger as she grew weaker. She 
 made no friends to stand by her, and at 
 last the weaker nations, by joining against 
 their common enemy, brought an end to 
 the proud and hated Sparta, 
 
 A BIRDSEYE VIEW OF MODERN ATHENS 
 
 22 
 
ATHENS 
 
 Athens had a situation far different 
 from that of Sparta. Instead of moun- 
 tains, about her on every hand, she had 
 the sea, the lovely blue Aegean, close 
 beside her. 
 
 Her people could look across the sea to 
 the islands that fringed the shores of Asia 
 Minor. Her splendid harbor attracted 
 ships from the ports of old and cultured 
 cities in the East. 
 
 New people and new ideas were wel- 
 comed in Athens. The Athenians loved 
 novelties of all kinds. .They traveled 
 much and entertained many travelers. 
 
 Besides this influence of interchange 
 with other lands, the Athenians had a 
 natural disposition to try new things. 
 Changes were frequent and welcome in 
 this remarkable city. Within two or 
 three centuries, she tried several forms of 
 
 23 
 
government, and finally developed the 
 purest form of democracy the world had 
 as yet seen. 
 
 The varied experience of the Athenians, 
 with different ways of life and forms of 
 government, make their history of un- 
 usual value to us today, because they 
 did so many things that we are trying 
 to do now. 
 
 The Athenians hoped to live under a 
 form of government like the democracy 
 we ourselves are trying to build. They 
 planned education for every boy, as 
 Americans are planning it today, for 
 every boy and every girl. 
 
 The Athenians loved art, literature, 
 and every attainment of culture. So 
 greatly did they excel in all these things, 
 that their works of art have served the 
 world as models to this day. 
 
 24 
 
THE LAWS OF SOLON 
 
 ABOUT 600 B. C 
 
 Solon is the first great man to attract 
 attention, as the facts of early Athenian 
 history become definite. 
 
 At this time social conditions in the 
 city were bad. At the top was a group 
 of nobles. They owned most of the land 
 and had all political power. 
 
 Below these nobles was a class of 
 citizens, supposed to be free, but the laws, 
 all made by the nobles, were unjust. If 
 a citizen could not pay his debts his 
 creditors might take him, and his wife 
 and children, and sell them as slaves. 
 
 As the nobles owned most of the prop- 
 erty, it was easy for them to act as 
 tyrants over these poor citizens. 
 
 Below these citizens was, in every 
 Greek city, a large body of slaves. 
 Athens gained great wealth from her 
 
 25 
 
slave trade. These slaves were often 
 cultured and well born, captured in war, 
 perhaps, or sold for debt. 
 
 Sometimes the slaves were treated 
 kindly. Sometimes they were treated 
 with terrible cruelty. The master could 
 usually do with them as he chose. 
 
 The lower classes were suffering so 
 greatly from bad treatment, when Solon 
 became prominent in Athenian affairs, 
 that they threatened to revolt. War, a 
 frequent condition in Greece, made 
 matters worse. 
 
 Solon warned his fellow nobles in 
 Athens. 
 
 'Tf you allow all these slaves and poor 
 citizens to become desperate," he said, 
 ''they will join our enemies against us 
 and we shall be destroyed." 
 
 Facing this disaster, the Athenians 
 placed all power in the hands of Solon. 
 He proved great enough for the occasion. 
 
 Though a noble himself, Solon at once 
 reformed the laws the nobles had made. 
 He cancelled all debts. Those people 
 
 26 
 
made slaves because they could not pay, 
 he set free. After this no Athenian was 
 ever enslaved because he could not pay 
 his debts. 
 
 Solon gave himself up to his work with 
 earnest self-sacrifice. He studied to 
 improve life in Athens, and did much to 
 teach the Athenians honesty and fair 
 dealing. 
 
 The old laws had put to death all those 
 caught stealing, but thieving grew more 
 and more. 
 
 Solon decreed that those who stole 
 should return twice what they had stolen. 
 Then stealing became much less. 
 
 Solon said that every citizen should 
 have a vote on some questions. This 
 gave them small power, but the idea of 
 giving all citizens a right to take part in 
 government was a new and wonderful 
 thing in the history of the world. 
 
 The power of Solon was so great that 
 he could easily have become a despot. 
 When his friends urged him to do so he 
 smiled and said : 
 
 27 
 
"Despotism may be a fine policy, but 
 there is no way out of it." 
 
 Solon refused all temptations to get 
 power for himself, and set an example of 
 pure and lofty morality for other great 
 men, coming after him, to copy. 
 
 Through the wise laws he established, 
 which have passed on, in one form or 
 another, even to our own day, Solon 
 exerted an influence on human affairs 
 equalled by few other men. 
 
 RUINS OF A GREEK THEATRE 
 
 28 
 
PEISISTRATUS 
 
 Peisistratus was a kinsman of Solon. 
 He was bold, crafty, and ambitious. 
 When Solon was away, visiting other 
 cities, he planned to seize control of 
 Athens and rule as he saw fit. 
 
 The Athenians were warned, but paid 
 little attention to warnings, so they woke 
 up one fine morning to find themselves 
 in the grasp of a tyrant, who meant to 
 rule as he chose, and to rule by force if 
 necessary. 
 
 A tyrant is one who rules without 
 the consent of the people. Sometimes 
 tyrants are bad men who do great harm 
 to those they rule. Some tyrants have 
 been intelligent and eager to rule well. 
 Peisistratus was determined to rule in 
 his own way, and when the Athenians 
 tried to drive him from the city, he raised 
 an army and killed all who opposed him. 
 
 29 
 
After he had made himself the master, 
 however, Peisistratus was a wise and 
 strong ruler. He changed few of Solon's 
 laws, ruled justly, and was acceptable to 
 Athens during a long life. 
 
 The people of Athens, during this long 
 rule of a despot, slowly grew accustomed 
 to being told what they must do in all 
 things. When Peisistratus died, the 
 Athenians had been under a tyrant so 
 long, they hardly knew how to act. 
 
 Now the people of Athens had reason 
 to regret the day they had carelessly 
 allowed a tyrant to rule their city. Two 
 sons fought for the throne of Peisistratus. 
 Groups of citizens took sides. Athens 
 was torn with quarrels, and deadly strife 
 grew worse and worse, until at last the 
 Athenians roused their manhood, and 
 drove the family of tyrants from the city. 
 
 30 
 
CLEISTHENES 
 
 ALL CITIZENS HAVE VOTING RIGHTS 500 B.C. 
 
 Cleisthenes was the great leader who 
 rose to help the Athenians regain their 
 self-control. He began in 510 B. C. to 
 continue the reform Solon had outlined 
 ninety years before. 
 
 Cleisthenes greatly enlarged the demo- 
 cratic forms of government, giving to all 
 citizens actual power in governing them- 
 selves. 
 
 Strangers who moved from one Greek 
 city to another, had up to this time, never 
 been admitted to citizenship. Cleisthenes 
 thought this was wrong. 
 
 ^'If we welcome good men from other 
 cities," he urged, "and let them become 
 citizens, we shall make many new friends, 
 who will bring their wealth and influence. 
 From them we shall learn much that is of 
 great value to our city." 
 
 31 
 
This advice was taken, and strangers 
 who wished to Hve in Athens were granted 
 rights of citizenship at that time. In 
 later years, when jealous factions rose 
 again, this right was taken away. It was 
 a great benefit to Athens while it was in 
 force, and the people of Athens suffered 
 much loss later on, when strangers were 
 refused the right of citizenship. 
 
 Cleisthenes had a great ambition to teach 
 the Athenians to rule themselves justly and 
 well. He strengthened the democracy till 
 it was firmly founded on rules that were 
 well understood. Each citizen had a vote, 
 and knew how to make use of it. 
 
 But Cleisthenes could not make the 
 people of Athens work together. He 
 urged them to unite, but jealous factions 
 kept them apart. He begged them to 
 show a brotherly spirit, but they sus- 
 pected each other and would trust no one. 
 Still, because of her great leaders, Solon, 
 Peisistratus, and Cleisthenes, Athens had 
 grown, by 500 B. C, into a brilliant, 
 powerful city, a leader in northern Greece. 
 
 32 
 
When the cities across the Aegean sea 
 had begged Sparta for help, she refused, 
 but, when they turned to Athens, she 
 sent a strong navy to their aid. 
 
 After the Greek cities were captured, 
 however, and king Darius of Persia made 
 plans for an expedition to European 
 Greece, he said he should punish Athens 
 for her attack upon him. 
 
 "Tell the Athenians," he said, ''that 
 when we leave her shores, the only sign 
 of life upon the place where their city 
 stands will be the track of Persian feet". 
 
 APOLLO BEARING OFF ANTIGONE 
 
 33 
 
THE BATTLE OF MARATHON 
 
 490 B. C. 
 
 When Athens heard of the vast army, 
 ready to attack, her people trembled, and 
 sent out calls for help. Sparta, as we 
 have seen, refused. 
 
 The first Persian attack, in 492 B. C. 
 failed, because of a great storm at sea. 
 The second, two years later, filled all 
 Greece with dread. 
 
 How should her few stand against the 
 millions of Persia? As Sparta would not 
 help, Greece must depend upon Athens 
 to be her champion. 
 
 The vast Persian fleet approached the 
 shores of Greece at Marathon, twenty 
 miles from the gates of Athens. Mara- 
 thon was a small plain, surrounded by 
 hills. 
 
 So at Marathon the Athenians gathered 
 to defend their beloved city. When the 
 
 34 
 
Persian soldiers landed on the shore, the 
 Greeks rushed upon them with desperate 
 courage. 
 
 Never before had the Persians met 
 fighters like these Athenians. The 
 Persians were hired to fight, and many of 
 their soldiers were slaves. But most of 
 the Athenian soldiers were free men, 
 fighting for their lives, and for all that 
 they loved. 
 
 The Persians fought valiantly till they 
 saw that the day was lost. Then they 
 fled to their boats and sailed away. 
 Athens, almost alone, had conquered the 
 most dreaded army in the world. 
 
 With the inspiration of this great 
 victory, Athens became a new city. The 
 hope of Cleisthenes that his people might 
 work together for their common good, 
 was now fulfilled. Fear of a dreaded foe 
 had made them forget their petty quarrels 
 and jealousies. Their victory at Mara- 
 thon made them remember that Athens 
 was a glorious city and that they were 
 Athenians. 
 
 35 
 
History affords no better example of 
 blessings that may come in strange 
 disguises to people and to nations. 
 There is no inspiration so high as the 
 victory that conquers fear. 
 
 After this no enterprise could daunt 
 their courage. No odds were too great 
 for them to overcome. The Athenians 
 planned wonderful things, and succeeded 
 wonderfully, because they threw them- 
 selves without reserve and with a single 
 aim, into whatever they resolved to do. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond & Whitcomh 
 
 THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS. ATHENS 
 
 36 
 
THEMISTOCLES 
 
 Themistocles was the leader who arose 
 with the new Athens. Themistocles 
 believed that, in the future, Athens must 
 have a strong navy.. 
 
 "See our harbor, and our port. That 
 is a great gift, if we make' use of it," he 
 urged. ''Let us build ships, and extend 
 our walls, so we can move back and forth 
 from the ships to the city in safety." 
 
 To carry out hisplans they must build 
 walls several miles in length, and also go 
 to great effort and expense for their ships. 
 Many opposed this plan, but the eloquence 
 of Themistocles won the day, and soon a 
 fleet of ships was growing in the harbor 
 port of Athens. 
 
 As the fleet developed, and dangep 
 seemed distant, the Athenians found 
 fresh cause for disputes. Their peace 
 
 37 
 
and good will seemed almost at an end, 
 when a new alarm made them join hands 
 in friendship once more against a common 
 foe. 
 
 In Persia, King Darius, who planned 
 the attack at Marathon, had died. 
 Xerxes was now King of Persia. Xerxes 
 decided to avenge the defeat of Marathon. 
 He raised an army so great that even 
 Sparta, in her mountain retreat, felt 
 afraid. 
 
 The Greek cities, which had been fight- 
 ing each other, ceased their quarrels and 
 joined in a general plan of defense. 
 
 ''Now," said Themistocles, ''let us 
 finish our fleet, and get our ships all 
 ready." 
 
 No one opposed him. The Athenians 
 worked night and day to get prepared. 
 
 In 48c B. C, just ten years after the 
 battle of Marathon, the blow came. 
 
 Sparta, as the first military city in the 
 league, was in command. The Spartans 
 said that they would defend the most 
 important pass, at Thermopylae, in 
 
 38 
 
northern Greece, while other cities were 
 given different posts. 
 
 As we saw in reading her story, Sparta 
 betrayed the trust. She had only a few 
 soldiers on duty. These few fought to 
 the death, but a secret path was made 
 known to the Persians, and the vast 
 hordes broke through. 
 
 The Athenians fought bravely to pro- 
 tect their homes, but it was hopeless. 
 The Persians broke down their defenses 
 and stormed the city. 
 
 The Athenians, thanking their gods, 
 and the wise Themistocles, crowded upon 
 their ships and put to sea, to watch the 
 smoke and flames above their burning 
 city. 
 
 Themistocles gathered the leaders in 
 haste. 
 
 ''The Persians depend upon their fleet 
 to protect their army here, and guard its 
 passage home. If we can destroy the 
 fleet at once it will be a heavy blow to 
 their campaign." 
 
 Other leaders were afraid, and objected 
 
 39 
 
to this bold plan, but the Athenians had 
 great confidence in Themistocles. His 
 will prevailed. 
 
 The Persian fleet was found near 
 Salamis, an island not far from Athens. 
 There the Greeks, for once acting under a 
 single head, crushed the Persian fleet in a 
 magnificent victory. 
 
 Salamis, even more than Marathon, 
 became a glorious memory to their native 
 land. 
 
 Xerxes, his fleet now crippled, hastened 
 home, leaving a large army to ravage 
 Greece. Many Greek cities, already 
 governed by despots, joined despotic 
 Persia, but neither bribes nor promises 
 could move democratic Athens. 
 
 Through a long, tragic winter the 
 Athenians kept brave hearts, and at 
 Plataea, the following Spring, Athens 
 gathered an army from a league of cities, 
 including Sparta, and destroyed the 
 Persian invaders. 
 
 Persia never again attacked European 
 Greece. The Athenians, by their fleet, 
 
 40 
 
under the wonderful leadership of Them- 
 istocles, had saved the people of their 
 city, and a democracy, whose influence 
 is felt to this day, was developed to bear 
 more and richer fruit. 
 
 The naval policy of Themistocles had 
 proved such a great success that it was 
 now developed with more intense energy 
 than ever, and that great man held com- 
 plete sway over Athenian fortunes. 
 
 Themistocles developed the harbor, 
 and, to provide a safe way from the city 
 to the ships, he completed the long walls 
 to the water front. 
 
 Sparta, still safe in her mountains, and 
 secretly glad that Athens was burned, 
 tried to stop these plans, but Themistocles 
 was too quick for Spartan wits. He 
 rapidly rebuilt Athens, more beautiful 
 than before, and she soon took a leading 
 place once more among the cities of 
 Greece. 
 
 41 
 
THE CONFEDERACY OF DELOS 
 
 470 B. C. 
 
 The democratic life of Athens brought 
 one very important result: it made the 
 Athenians more generous and kind to 
 other cities. Sparta, ruled by despots, 
 could not bear to see other cities flourish; 
 and did her best to ruin them. Athens, 
 on the other hand was not only willing 
 to let them alone, but 3ven to help them. 
 
 After the Persians were defeated, and 
 Athens saw that Sparta really wished 
 her downfall, she ended the agreement 
 between them and planned to form a 
 new league, from which Sparta should 
 be left out. 
 
 The cities across the Aegean sea now 
 hoped to free themselves from the rule 
 of Persia. They asked Athens to help 
 them. 
 
 "Yes," replied the Athenians. ''Let 
 
 42 
 
us form a new league. Let us all send 
 delegates to meet at Delos. On that 
 quiet island we can arrange our affairs." 
 
 They all agreed, so a group of delegates, 
 representing many Greek cities around 
 the shores of the Aegean sea, met on the 
 island of Delos, halfway across from 
 Athens to the shore of Asia Minor. 
 
 Aristides, a brilliant, honest, courteous 
 Athenian, led the discussion, and was 
 made the president of the leaQ:ue, which 
 was called the Confederacy of Delos. 
 
 The delegates agreed to meet each year 
 at Delos to discuss new plans and vote 
 on them. Each city was to have one 
 vote. Each city was to contribute ships 
 and men according to its size and wealth. 
 Athens was to be the leading city, and 
 Aristides the man in charge. 
 
 Aristides directed affairs with such 
 courtesy, and skill, and honesty, that all 
 the cities were content with his plans, 
 and, while he directed matters, the 
 Confederacy of Delos was a great success. 
 
 Athens placed a powerful fleet upon 
 
 43 
 
the Aegean sea. One by one the Persian 
 garrisons were overcome, and the Greek 
 
 cities were again set free. 
 
 Seeing the good result of the league, 
 one city after another asked to join, till 
 it spread up to the shores of the Black 
 Sea. Three hundred cities became mem- 
 bers of the Confederacy of Delos. 
 
 ko»»i-< K Lta.>tiV» 3A- 
 
 
 AT THE. Tine. OF 
 
 TriEni5T0CLE5 
 
 
 
 .f;,^. 
 
 ■■■A\ ■•"".■ i 
 
 44 
 
THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE 
 
 The story of how this Confederacy of 
 Delos grew into a despotic enapire is both 
 interesting and important, because events 
 hke this take place often in the world 
 today, though people do not always 
 realize it. 
 
 As the coast of Asia Minor became 
 freed once more from the Persians, and 
 the fear of another invasion became less 
 and less, the cities took less interest in 
 plans for defense. 
 
 The powerful Athenian fleet cruised 
 the waters of the Aegean sea. There was 
 no fleet to dread. It was a good deal of 
 trouble to keep sending men and ships to 
 join in a navy that had no one to fight. 
 
 Some cities said they would rather 
 contribute money than ships and men. 
 This suited Athens. 
 
 ^*We will keep up the fleet and the 
 
 45 
 
army," she said, ''if you will contribute 
 your share of the expenses." 
 
 As more and more cities stopped send- 
 ing delegates to the Conference, and 
 agreed to pay money each year, Athens 
 was well pleased. She felt able and 
 willing to direct matters herself. The 
 great sums they paid in made her rich 
 and powerful. 
 
 Naxos, a city in this league, at last 
 decided to withdraw from membership, 
 and sent neither money, ships, nor men. 
 
 ''Where are your contributions?" asked 
 the Athenians. 
 
 "We have decided to withdraw from 
 the Confederacy of Delos," the people 
 of Naxos replied. • 
 
 "We have paid tribute for ten years. 
 There is now no foe to fight. What are 
 you doing with all the money you collect?" 
 
 "That is none of your business," replied 
 the Athenians. "We agreed to keep 
 enemies away from the Aegean sea. You 
 agreed to help pay the cost of this pro- 
 tection. We are keeping our agreement 
 
 46 
 
so well that no foe dares appear.* Now 
 you keep your agreement and pay up, or 
 you will wish you had." 
 
 But Naxos still persisted in her plan to 
 withdraw from the league. Then Athens 
 attacked her, killed many of her leading 
 men, destroyed all her defenses, and made 
 her promise to pay her share every year 
 for the general expenses. 
 
 Naxos was not taken back into the 
 league. She lost her vote, but had to 
 pay her tribute each year as a mere sub- 
 ject city of Athens. 
 
 Other cities now became suspicious of 
 Athens. What was she doing with all 
 this money? The delegates at the annual 
 conference were very few. These dis- 
 satisfied cities tried to withdraw, as Naxos 
 had done. 
 
 Every time a city tried to withdraw, 
 Athens attacked it, made it pay up, and 
 refused it any further vote in the league. 
 City after city fell into her power. 
 
 The meetings of the congress of the 
 Confederacy of Delos had ceased alto- 
 
 47 
 
gether by 450 B. C. Two or three cities 
 were all that remained independent. 
 The rest were gathered under the control 
 of a tyrant city. 
 
 This confederacy had now become the 
 Athenian Empire. Strangely enough 
 that democratic city, through the unwill- 
 ingness of other cities to attend faithfully 
 to their duties in the league, found herself 
 mistress of a great Empire. 
 
 
 / 1 ■ 
 
 s.;. 
 
 
 THE PRISON OF SOCRATES 
 Socrates, a Greek philosopher, was condemned to drink poison, because 
 he aroused the anger of powerful nobles. He was kept in this 
 prison till his death. 
 
 48 
 
THE AGE OF PERICLES 
 
 ABOUT 475 TO 450 B. C. 
 
 A MARVELOUS growth of the arts now 
 flourished in Athens. Her citizens were 
 free. Her slaves performed all labor. 
 Her income from mines, trades, and 
 tribute was so great that every citizen of 
 intelhgence could pursue any vocation 
 he chose, supported well by the pubHc 
 funds. 
 
 Pericles was the great man, who left 
 his name stamped so deeply upon Athen- 
 ian life, that the period is called the age 
 of Pericles. 
 
 Pericles loved the arts, and gave rich 
 rewards from pubhc funds to painters, 
 sculptors, builders, poets, playwrights, 
 orators, and all who could contribute to 
 the cultivated pleasure of the city. 
 
 The tribute money, levied once to 
 
 49 
 
secure protection from Persia, was now 
 used freely to make Athens a spot of 
 enchanting beauty. She did her part 
 in keeping the Aegean safe, and she 
 claimed the right to use the tribute money 
 as she chose. 
 
 During this brief period, of hardly 
 twenty years, wonderful temples, statues, 
 paintings, works of carving, and art of 
 every kind were produced. Poetry and 
 oratory rose to heights equalled hardly 
 ever in the history of the world. 
 
 The Athenian citizens were rich and 
 free from labor. One would suppose this 
 to be the most fortunate, the happiest 
 city in the world. But in the midst of 
 this good fortune, if an Athenian had been 
 asked the question: *'Are you serving 
 others, or making others serve you?" 
 he must have answered, * We are making 
 others serve us." 
 
 60 
 
THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE 
 LEADS TO WAR 
 
 461 B. C. 
 
 The story of Sparta ends in destruction 
 because she always tried to make others 
 serve her. Athens, while she was serving 
 others, and helping other cities, grew and 
 prospered. When she found pleasure 
 in her ease and comfort, and made 
 others subject to her, jealousy and 
 hatred took the place of respect and 
 gratitude. 
 
 As Athens was completing her empire, 
 Sparta, more jealous than ever, saw the 
 opportunity to win over many cities that 
 Athens held forcibly beneath her rule. 
 
 When Athens saw what Sparta was 
 trying to do, war was declared. Battle 
 followed battle, until the wars covered 
 
 51 
 
the whole Peloponnesus, and these were 
 called the Peloponnesian wars. 
 
 Enemies who had been awaiting their 
 chance, now attacked Athens on every 
 side. Persia sent an army against her. 
 Egypt also joined in the attack. Sparta 
 rejoiced to see the great odds against her 
 rival. 
 
 No city ever fought more brilliantly 
 and more bravely than did Athens, 
 against her many foes. Even the great 
 Athens could not hold out. One disaster 
 followed another. The Peloponnesian war 
 finally left her in 400 B. C. a sacked and 
 ruined city. Never again did Athens 
 raise her head as a power in ancient 
 Greece. 
 
 Athens had a brief and glorious existence. 
 It is said that she brought forth more 
 great men in the seventy years of her 
 leadership than all the world has ever 
 produced in a period as short as that. 
 
 Athens proved the possibilities of 
 democracy, showing its weakness and its 
 strength. 
 
 52 • 
 
She left a rich heritage of government 
 and art to succeeding generations. 
 
 For centuries to come men will seek 
 the history of Athens to gain light upon 
 the path which all civilization must tread. 
 
 PIRAEUS. THE HARBOR PORT OF ATHENS 
 
 53 
 
PHILIP AND ALEXANDER 
 
 338 B. C. 
 
 When Athens and Sparta had finally 
 managed to destroy each other, and also 
 the cities that shared their fortunes, 
 there was anarchy in Greece. No govern- 
 ment strong enough to afford protection 
 or control remained. 
 
 North of Greece lay Macedonia, and 
 from this land came the power to wield 
 the fragments of Greece into a new 
 empire. 
 
 Philip of Macedonia was crafty, ambi- 
 tious, and knew how to manage men. He 
 was determined to secure the power that 
 Sparta and Athens had striven for in 
 vain. 
 
 Step by step Philip got ready for the 
 conquest. There were no councils to 
 consult, no votes to be taken, no jealous 
 factions in his land. He was sole 
 
 54 
 
monarch; his rule was single; and what 
 he wished he ordered to have done. 
 
 When his spies and messengers said 
 that all was ready, Philip invaded Greece. 
 He easily overcame all who opposed him, 
 and punished without mercy those who 
 disobeyed his command. 
 
 Philip had learned much, however, 
 from the history of cities like Sparta. 
 
 ''If you will obey me," he said to the 
 people he conquered, "I will treat you 
 well. You shall not be made slaves, but 
 will be happier, and better off, under my 
 rule, than you have been before." 
 
 The people had felt his power, and 
 knew they must obey or die; so they 
 obeyed, and soon the Greek cities were 
 unified under a stern, but generous rule, 
 and were, as Philip had promised, happier 
 and better off than they had been before. 
 
 Philip lived only a year or two after 
 the conquest of Greece. He left his 
 kingdom, his army, and his great ambi- 
 tion, to his son Alexander. 
 
 Alexander the Great, then only a 
 
 55 
 
young man, finished the work of Philip 
 in Greece, and when his rule in that 
 country was well organized, he deter- 
 mined to spread his kingdom to the east. 
 
 Now Persia was to see an army of 
 Greeks invade her country. The army 
 of Alexander was hardly a tenth as 
 great as that sent forth by Xerxes to 
 invade Greece, but every man was a 
 soldier, trained to his work. 
 
 When the Persians gathered a great 
 army at Issus, Alexander had his men, 
 armed with long heavy spears, stand close 
 together in a wedge-shaped formation. 
 The Persians could not break that living 
 wall of spears, which was called the Mace- 
 donain phalanx. They fought a while 
 and then fled. 
 
 At Arbela, the Persians again mustered 
 vast forces, of nearly a million men, to 
 crush the phalanx of Alexander, but 
 the result was the same. Thousands 
 died in battle; the rest were scattered in 
 flight. 
 
 After this, no great resistance was 
 
 56 
 
offered to Alexander, and his wonderful 
 army of Greeks. Province after province 
 was overcome. 
 
 For thirteen years Alexander continued 
 to spread his rule over the vast land 
 of southern Asia. He marched three 
 thousand miles into the east, over the 
 known kingdoms of the earth, and 
 brought all beneath his rule. 
 
 Alexander died, still a young man, at 
 Babylon. Those Greeks who marched 
 with him cared little about life in eastern 
 lands. Just as the Persians who followed 
 Xerxes into Greece at his command, 
 returned to their own land as soon as 
 they could, so the Greeks, who had 
 followed the victorious Alexander, re- 
 turned again to Greece, after his death, 
 and left the eastern peoples to their own 
 ways of life. 
 
 In Greece a hundred petty rulers 
 sprang up to claim the power of 
 Alexander, and all was jealousy and 
 strife once more. This lasted nearly a 
 hundred years. Then an invasion, even 
 
 57 
 
more dreaded than that of the Persians 
 under Xerxes, in 480 B. C, once more 
 made the Greeks join hands for self- 
 protection. 
 
 MELPOMENE. THE MUSE OF TRAGEDY 
 
 68 
 
INVASION OF THE GAULS 
 
 ACHAEAN LEAGUE 250 B. C. 
 
 The Gauls, a barbarous, bold, and 
 persistent race, from those lands where 
 France and Germany now lie, had for 
 many years been moving down into Italy 
 and the warm, sunny lands near the 
 Mediterranean Sea. 
 
 About 250 B. C. the Greeks realized 
 that if they did not all join hands in 
 defence, they would all be swept away 
 before this tribe of barbarians, that 
 spared no one in its path. 
 
 Little Achaea, a city on the Gulf of 
 Corinth, was then the leader of a small 
 league of cities round about her. Rapidly 
 this league grew, just as the Confederacy 
 of Delos had grown two hundred years 
 before. 
 
 The Achaean League was democratic 
 in form, managed by a president and a 
 
 59 
 
secretary, with a council of ten. Twice a 
 year a general assembly met to decide 
 important policies and questions of state. 
 
 While the fear of the Gauls kept the 
 Greeks close behind their walls, they met 
 regularly in conference, and the League 
 flourished, but when the tide of Gauls 
 flowed on, over into the fertile lands of 
 Asia Minor, where there was room enough 
 for all, the Greek cities drew apart, 
 jealousy crept in, and strife began. 
 
 The Achaean League broke up, just as 
 the Confederacy of Delos had broken, 
 when fear of invasion had passed. It 
 was born in mutual service, and destroyed 
 through jealousy and greed. 
 
 After this there was no power in Greece 
 to repel an invader. Each city sought 
 its own ends, and the needs of the Greek 
 nation were forgotten. 
 
 Across the Adriatic sea was a new 
 power that had seen the discord in Greece, 
 and wanted the Greek lands, as well as 
 the Greek trade, for her own development. 
 This power was Rome. 
 
 60 
 
GREECE A ROMAN PROVINCE 
 
 146 B. C. 
 
 Rome, the new power across the 
 Adriatic, now began to take charge of 
 Grecian affairs. City after city was 
 attacked, and reduced to Roman rule by 
 fire, and sword, and slavery. 
 
 Had the Greeks been willing to live as 
 subjects of Rome, they might have 
 prospered far more than they did while 
 fighting among themselves. 
 
 But the Greeks could not bear life with 
 masters of any other nation above them. 
 The Roman government was the best that 
 then existed, much better than that 
 provided in Greece herself. Still, the 
 Roman rule placed them in servitude, 
 and the Greeks could not bear servitude. 
 
 The spirit of revolt spread abroad, and 
 the Greeks revolted against Rome. It 
 
 61 
 
was in vain; the Roman soldiers were 
 the best fighters in the world. 
 
 To punish these rebels, Rome brought 
 Greece so low that to this day she has 
 remained poor and weak among the 
 nations. 
 
 As a Roman province Greece had a 
 period of peace such as she had never 
 known in all her history. The Greeks 
 were, in general, well governed. Schools 
 were encouraged, and her scholars were 
 treated with respect. But she was only a 
 subject state, a humble province. 
 
 AJAX WITH HIS WONDERFUL HELMET 
 
 62 
 
THE CHRISTIAN ERA 
 
 Christianity brought a new hope and 
 a new vision to the Greeks. They loved 
 new ideas always, and here was a new 
 form of thought and teaching. They 
 were downtrodden and lonely, and here 
 was brotherhood and consolation. They 
 were slaves of a despotic power, and here 
 was promise of a freedom no despot could 
 ever enchain. They had looked back 
 with regret and forward with gloom, and 
 here were promises of a future, for those 
 who would believe, brighter than imagi- 
 nation could devise. 
 
 The Greeks, by their habit of thought, 
 were ready for this religion of service and 
 democracy. Through the terrible cen- 
 turies to come it was to bind them 
 together, and save them from complete 
 extinction, which, without this common 
 tie, must have been their fate. 
 
 63 
 
The .great Roman empire flourished 
 during more than four centuries, and 
 ruled Greece as a province. Then the 
 Roman empire began to decay. Bands of 
 barbarians from the north threatened the 
 city of Rome itself, so Constantine, then 
 the Roman emperor, in 330 A. D., moved 
 his capital into Greece. 
 
 Byzantium, a great city on the Bos- 
 porus, at the entrance of the Black Sea, 
 was chosen as the new capital, in place of 
 Rome. • Constantine, in honor of himself, 
 called it Constantinople. 
 
 The Roman emperors, when they came 
 to Greece to rule in Constantinople, 
 planned to spread the Roman customs, 
 laws, and language throughout Greece. 
 
 Greek customs and language, however, 
 were so useful and beautiful, that, where 
 the Roman and Greeks came in contact, 
 the Romans often adopted the Greek 
 customs, and took pleasure in learning 
 their language. 
 
 The Greeks had to obey, and use the 
 Roman laws, but Greece, bowed as she 
 
 64 
 
was before Roman power, lost few of her 
 national attributes, and even Constan- 
 tinople remained a Greek city. 
 
 THE WINGED VICTORY 
 
 65 
 
INVASION BY GOTHS 
 AND HUNS 
 
 400 A. D. 
 
 The Goths, a warlike tribe that lived 
 north of the Danube, feared invasion by 
 the Huns, a still more savage race, in 
 western Asia. About the year 375, the 
 Goths began moving across the Danube 
 into the northern regions of Greece. 
 
 "Stop!" ordered the Romans, ''This 
 is our province. You cannot get in 
 here." 
 
 ''But," replied the Goths, "we must 
 move somewhere, for behind us are 
 terrible people, the Huns, who will kill 
 us all if we remain." 
 
 Had the Romans found a way to make 
 friends with these Goths, they might 
 have joined forces to save themselves 
 from the Huns, but this was not to be. 
 
 After the Goths and the Romans had 
 
 66 
 
been fighting for some years, and 
 thousands of the best soldiers on both 
 sides had been killed, the Huns them- 
 selves appeared on the Danube. With 
 their best soldiers dead, the Romans and 
 Goths could not resist. 
 
 Greece, which had suffered greatly 
 from the Goths, was now to suffer twice 
 as much from the Huns. 
 
 Attila, the leader of these Huns, was 
 one of the most terrible leaders in 
 history. He left smoking ruins and 
 wasted fields wherever he went. He 
 killed men, women, and children without 
 mercy. 
 
 For another century, Greece became 
 a scene of battle and desolation. Great 
 spaces were left uninhabited. Roads 
 were neglected, and improvements left 
 in ruins. Finally, when the savage Huns, 
 who cared only to conquer and kill, 
 receded, Greece was but a skeleton. 
 
 67 
 
SLAVONIAN INVASION 
 
 500 
 
 By the year 476, when the western 
 part of the Roman Empire was breaking 
 to pieces, another race, seeing that Rome 
 could no longer defend her provinces, 
 and longing for the warm and fertile 
 fields of Greece, started to move in. 
 
 These newcomers were Slavonians. 
 They had moved gradually from the 
 vast regions, where Russia now lies. 
 Gradually they worked down into Greece, ' 
 unchecked by any armies, till they came 
 to the walled cities, in the mountain 
 regions of the south. 
 
 The Slavonians wished for peaceful 
 homes, not for fighting, and settled on 
 the empty lands. The migration con- 
 tinued for about four centuries. Then 
 the great Slavonian horde moved off 
 again, gradually, as they had come* 
 
 68 
 
THE CRUSADERS FROM THE 
 WEST OVERRUN GREECE 
 
 1100 
 
 About the year iioo, the people of 
 England, France, and Italy, felt a longing 
 for adventure. A religious revival swept 
 over these countries. 
 
 Thousands of these excited people 
 joined in bands of crusaders, or pilgrims, 
 to go into Palestine and rescue the holy 
 places of Bible history from the Turks, 
 who then ruled over this land. 
 
 Starting out from western Europe, 
 these bands found their way eastward 
 along the Mediterranean sea. Some 
 sailed from southern ports directly to the 
 shores of Asia Minor, where they battled 
 with the Turks for possession of the 
 holy places. Others marched along the 
 shore. 
 
 In marching round the shores, many 
 
 69 
 
of these crusaders were greatly delighted 
 with Greece. 
 
 ''Whoever dreamed of such a wonderful 
 land!" they cried, ''Such blue skies, such 
 green fields, such grapes and wine! This 
 is an adventure worth while. Let us 
 capture these cities. They are worth 
 more than Palestine." 
 
 Poor Greece! Her cities had been 
 spared by the Slavonians, and were 
 struggling back to a condition of small 
 prosperity. Now Thebes, Athens, Corinth, 
 and many smaller cities, fell before these 
 western conquerors, and were sacked with 
 great cruelty. 
 
 The Greeks found these Crusaders, 
 who declared their pilgrimage was for 
 the sake of their religion, not a bit less 
 cruel and greedy then the Goths and 
 Huns had been. 
 
 At last Constantinople itself was 
 captured, nearly destroyed by fire, and 
 ruled till about 1450 by these western 
 princes. 
 
 The "Dukedom of Athens," during 
 
 70 
 
this period, is like a dream to the reader 
 of Greek history. Athens, the resort of 
 the gayest knights of those ages, saw 
 games of chivalry, tilts, jousts, tourna- 
 ments, and ceremonies of knighthood, 
 rehearsed among her classic ruins. 
 
 The Crusaders strove to teach the 
 Greeks their customs and their language, 
 which they thought to be the best in the 
 world for all peoples. 
 
 These gay cavaliers, basking in the 
 sunshine of Greece, planned to make it 
 once more the jewel in the crown of 
 nations, but before long they passed out 
 of her history, as the Goths and Huns and 
 Romans and Slavonians had passed. 
 
 The Crusaders left only a few ruined 
 castles, here and there, on the hilltops 
 of Greece, which contrast strangely with 
 the ruins of ancient times. 
 
 71 
 
GREECE UNDER A TURKISH 
 YOKE 
 
 1453 
 
 The Turks first appear in history soon 
 after the fall of Rome, about the year 500. 
 They are a Tartar race, from the great 
 steppes of Asia. 
 
 The Goths, Huns, and Slavonians had 
 come down from the north. The Turks 
 worked their way across from the regions 
 about the Caspian sea, till, in the periods 
 of the Crusaders, the eleventh and 
 twelfth centuries, they were found in 
 control of much land east of the Mediter- 
 ranean. 
 
 Mohammed H planned to gain power 
 for his people by any means he could. 
 He decided ^t once to capture Con- 
 stantinople and conquer Greece, for 
 Constantinople was a rich center of 
 trade, and Greece, with her orchards and 
 
 72 
 
vineyards was a prize that all were eager 
 to grasp. 
 
 Poor Greece! Sacked by Goths, Huns, 
 Romans, Slavonians, and last but not 
 least, by the Crusaders, she had no 
 strength to repel the fierce Turks. 
 
 Mohammed II did just as he had 
 planned. He stormed Constantinople, 
 and ordered his men to kill every human 
 being of the Christian population that 
 came in their path. 
 
 Now began a long, long period of 
 darkest misery for Greece. The Turks 
 not only destroyed all that Greece had 
 been patiently building, but determined 
 to kill, if they could, the Christian 
 population wherever their rule extended. 
 
 The Turkish desire to destroy was 
 fulfilled completely. All roads, bridges, 
 towns, temples, and buildings in their 
 path that could be ruined without too 
 much labor, were destroyed, and kept 
 in destruction. 
 
 The Turkish desire to kill every 
 Christian was checked by fear of other 
 
 73 
 
European powers. Turkey feared they 
 might attack her and drive her people 
 out of Greece again if she went too far, 
 so she spared part of the native people. 
 
 Strange as it might seem, the Turks 
 let their savage desire to destroy, ruin 
 even their own hopes of prosperity. 
 Wasted fields can yield no harvests; 
 ruined towns can bring little tribute; 
 but the Turk has never troubled about 
 this. Destruction was his purpose; the 
 rest was left to fate. 
 
 The Turkish Janissaries were bands of 
 soldiers, directly under the command of 
 the Turkish sultan. The Janissaries were • 
 recruited from Christian children. At 
 first they were captured in war. When 
 Greece was subdued, the Christian popu- 
 lation was forced to send them as a 
 tax. 
 
 These children were torn from their 
 parents while very young, taken away 
 and trained in the Moslem faith, and the 
 arts of war. At manhood they never 
 knew whose children they were, and then 
 
 74 
 
they served the Turks to overcome their 
 own kindred, to slaughter them or keep 
 them in slavery. 
 
 This band of Janissaries at last grew 
 so powerful that the Sultan himself 
 became afraid. He called in his Turkish 
 troops, surrounded nearly thirty thousand 
 Janissaries in their barracks, set the 
 buildings ablaze, and killed the entire 
 troop. 
 
 So ended, about a century ago, one of 
 the most famous soldier groups that 
 ever existed. 
 
 For three centuries, after 1500, all 
 'pictures of Greece seem about the 
 same. Ground beneath the tyranny of 
 a heartless and brainless people, she still 
 managed to keep certain national traits 
 and traditions alive. Revolts were 
 frequent, but the national existence and 
 spirit was utterly crushed. 
 
 As time rolled on, a new spirit spread 
 in the world. America declared her 
 freedom, and won liberty for her people 
 by the Revolution. France was throwing 
 
 75 
 
off the yoke of tyranny. The soul of 
 Greece began to stir. 
 
 Whispers of Hberty were born on the 
 breeze that blew from Crete to Thessaly. 
 Messages from the western world urged 
 the Greeks to strike. The time for 
 which Greece had waited so long was 
 at hand. 
 
 VENIZELOS 
 One of the greatest statesmen of today. 
 
 76 
 
GREECE BEGINS HER 
 REVOLUTION 
 
 1821 
 
 In 1 82 1 a revolt began in Greece that 
 swept over the whole country. As the 
 Turks had killed all in their path when 
 they conquered Greece, so now the 
 Greeks, in their turn, fell upon their 
 Moslem neighbors and killed everyone 
 they could. Men, women, and children 
 were killed without mercy on both sides. 
 
 Greeks living in western nations 
 aroused interest in the struggles of their 
 native land. The people of England 
 and America raised money and sent help. 
 Thousands of her sons in other laads 
 returned to set the mother country free. 
 
 Slowly the struggle wore on. Greece 
 suffered greatly from her poverty and 
 weakness. Her people showed just the 
 
 77 
 
same qualities they did centuries before, 
 in the days of her glory. Bold they 
 were, and heroic, dying gladly in brilliant 
 battles for their native land; but they 
 trusted each other no more than in 
 ancient times. 
 
 Again and again the Greeks placed 
 the whole cause on the verge of ruin by 
 their distrust and deceit. It was the 
 jealous hatred of Athens and Sparta, 
 rising again after twenty centuries. 
 
 Byron, the great English poet, and 
 other men of note, from America, France, 
 and England, helped save Greece from 
 destruction by these jealous quarrels. 
 They gave good counsel. They led her 
 armies. They held her jealous chiefs 
 together. 
 
 With noble and heroic citizens among 
 the Greeks, these adventurous spirits 
 carried on the war, in the face of great 
 odds and disappointment. 
 
 Turkey herself finally lost the cause to 
 Greece through her stupid acts. Turkey 
 was crafty, but Turkey was ignorant. 
 
 78 
 
She roused the anger of Fraace, England 
 and Russia by her insults and abuse. 
 
 In return for her insults, the English 
 fleet destroyed the Turkish navy. Russia 
 declared war upon the Turks. Unable to 
 fight the Greeks and Russia at once, with 
 a crippled navy, the Turks withdrew 
 their forces from Greece. 
 
 So, after enduring for eight years, the 
 war came to an end, and Greece could 
 declare herself free. 
 
 THE MEETING OF AENEAS AND DIDO 
 
 79 
 
GREECE A NATION AT LAST 
 
 Never in her history had Greece been 
 a nation, under one government. In 
 the old days cities ruled themselves. 
 Then there were a dozen kings and 
 rulers in Greece. After that came the 
 conquests, that broke the national spirit 
 and character of her people. Now, the 
 yoke of the Turks thrown off, Greece 
 determined to have a constitution, and 
 live as one nation. 
 
 Prince Otho of Bavaria was at length 
 selected to be king of the new Greece. 
 A man from another nation was chosen 
 because no Greek could be found 
 suitable to the European nations and to 
 the Greeks themselves. 
 
 The new king and the people did not 
 get on well together. The king wanted 
 to rule just as he pleased. He said the 
 
 80 
 
Greeks were mere children and didn*t 
 know what they wanted. The Greeks 
 declared that they were being cheated 
 out of their constitution. 
 
 The Greeks stood it ten years; then, 
 by a revolt, that fortunately was blood- 
 less, they frightened King Otho and won a 
 constitution, and a right to share in their 
 own government. 
 
 Again hope rose in Grecian hearts, but 
 they struggled under enormous difficulties. 
 The country was impoverished. The 
 western countries had loaned them money 
 at such heavy rates that even in pros- 
 perity they could hardly have paid. 
 
 To make matters worse, the powers 
 who fixed the new boundaries between 
 Greece and Turkey, left much of the 
 best territory, in the north of Greece, 
 with a large Grecian population, still 
 in the hands of the Turks. 
 
 Things went from bad to worse. The 
 government failed to keep order. Brig- 
 ands and robbers increased, and discontent 
 grew more sharp. The diplomats of 
 
 81 
 
Europe, instead of helping, jealously tried 
 to get advantage for their own countries. 
 The whole situation was almost im- 
 possible. 
 
 In 1862, when our own civil war was 
 raging, Greece once again revolted. 
 King Otho was turned out, and King 
 George, another prince from central 
 Europe, was made constitutional King 
 of Greece. 
 
 The struggle for existence bore fruit 
 slowly. Boundaries were widened, the 
 national spirit rose, the grip of Turkey 
 was loosened more and more, and 
 prosperity gradually increased. 
 
 Every Greek longed for the day when 
 Macedonia and Thrace should belong 
 to them, and Greece could hold up her 
 head among the nations. 
 
 At last, after many mishaps and 
 disappointments in her government, a 
 great man arose, Venizelos, a statesman 
 and patriot. In 1909 Venizelos, a native 
 of Crete, became the leading statesman 
 of Greece. 
 
 82 
 
Venlzelos quickly won the trust of 
 his compatriots, and the honor of the 
 Europeans. Rapidly he led his country 
 upwards. The army and navy were 
 built up and drilled. The treasury was 
 replenished. National credit was 
 
 established. Greece won the respect of 
 European nations, who had long trifled 
 with her destinies. 
 
 Venizelos dreamed of freedom for his 
 country, but he was determined that 
 she must take one step at a time, pay 
 her way, and prove her right to govern 
 by the performance of her duties as a 
 nation. 
 
 This course prepared Greece to guide 
 her destinies in the great events before 
 her, and make her dreams come true. 
 
 The Balkan war, in 19 12, opened the 
 way for the new kingdom of Greece. 
 
 Four kingdoms had been growing to the 
 north of Greece. These were Servia, 
 Roumania, Bulgaria, and Montenegro. 
 Together they joined with Greece in an 
 attack on Turkey, the common foe. 
 
 83 
 
In a few months, Turkey had given 
 up her claims to most of the land west of 
 Constantinople. Greece saw the cloud 
 lifting. The Thracian and Macedonian 
 provinces were to be hers at last. 
 
 Bulgaria had planned, however, to take 
 these provinces herself. Greece realized 
 that she must fight again if she wished 
 to hold her northern provinces of Thrace 
 and Macedonia. 
 
 A few weeks after the war with Turkey 
 had ended, the Greek army was prepared 
 for the fresh struggle. Bulgaria at- 
 tacked, but was so quickly thrown back 
 by the devoted Greeks that she was 
 glad, after four weeks of fighting, to 
 give up her plans, and Greece threw out 
 her boundaries almost to the limits her 
 hopes had drawn for the new kingdom. 
 
 THE RACE OF ATALANTA 
 
 84 
 
GREECE IN THE GREAT WAR 
 
 Soon after the Balkan war had ended, 
 an event occurred that brought Greece 
 once more into the whirlwind of battle. 
 
 Germany was a country whose fortunes 
 had gradually been linked to those of 
 Greece. King Otho had been of German 
 family. King George was of German 
 blood. Constantine, the son of King 
 George, was now on the throne. 
 
 Hardly had the Balkan war stopped, 
 when Germany began to carry out a 
 scheme that she had been planning for 
 many years. Germany wished to control 
 a wide belt of territory stretching south- 
 east through Servia, Greece, Turkey, 
 Asia Minor, clear to India. 
 
 In 19 1 4-, two years after Greece had 
 won so much by the Balkan War, the 
 great war opened by which Germany 
 hoped to win her empire to the east. 
 
 85 
 
Turkey and Bulgaria turned out to be 
 allies of Germany. What would Greece 
 do? King Constantine had married a 
 German wife, a sister of the Kaiser. He 
 naturally sided with Germany. 
 
 Turkey on one side, and Bulgaria on 
 the other, were deadly enemies to face, 
 if she should turn against their German 
 ally. On the other hand the great navies 
 of England and France would have her at 
 their mercy if she offended them. 
 
 Venizelos, her great statesman, held 
 Greece back with all his power from 
 joining Germany. It might be that 
 she could remain neutral, and keep what 
 she had gained. 
 
 The unstable Greeks found it hard 
 to decide. One day they cheered for 
 Constantine; the next day they cheered 
 for Venizelos with equal joy. 
 
 After two years of balancing, back and 
 forth, the party of Venizelos prevailed. 
 Constantine was driven from the 
 country with his German wife. Still 
 the allies in western Europe dared not 
 
 86 
 
trust the Greeks, who seemed as fickle 
 as ever. 
 
 England and France, with their navies 
 in the Aegean sea, urged Greece to join 
 their side. It looked as if the western 
 allies were going to win, so the Greeks, 
 with their usual good nature, let the 
 allies have their own way. 
 
 This act was fortunate for Greece. 
 Venizelos soon came to a good under- 
 standing with the Western Allies. Greece 
 gave some aid in ending the war, and 
 went to the peace table at Paris as a friend 
 of the winning side. 
 
 Thus Greece, at last, gained the right 
 and territory her history and situation 
 gave her reason to expect. 
 
 In another year an interesting event 
 occurred. Governed by her constitution, 
 in a democratic way, it came time for 
 elections. Friends of Constantine urged 
 the Greeks to elect him to be their king 
 again. 
 
 This question was put on the ballot. 
 The elections took place. A great 
 
 87 
 
majority voted for Constantine, and 
 against Venizelos. The dangers from 
 which this great leader had saved them 
 were forgotten, and the return of 
 Constantine was hailed with joy all over 
 the land. 
 
 SOLDIERS IN THE RUINS OF A CHURCH 
 
 88 
 
ROME 
 
 As the power of Sparta was waning, 
 and while Athens was ruHng in full glory 
 in Greece, a new power was growing on 
 the large peninsula across the Adriatic 
 sea. This was Rome. 
 
 Rome was a city on the western coast, 
 near the middle of the Italian peninsula. 
 Around her she was gathering smaller 
 towns, subject to her rule. 
 
 The southern part of the peninsula 
 was occupied by Greeks, who had sailed 
 across the Adriatic to find new homes in 
 this warm, fertile, sunny land. 
 
 North of Rome lay another race, the 
 Etruscans. 
 
 At this early date, while Rome was 
 small, the people in the central part of 
 the peninsula were called Italians, and 
 from them the country got its name, kaly, 
 in later years. 
 
 89 
 
When Rome grew great, these people 
 called themselves Romans, but gradually 
 took the name of Italians again after 
 the Empire of Rome fell apart. 
 
 There were other race groups in Italy 
 at this time, but the Greeks, the Italians, 
 and the Etruscans were then the most 
 important. 
 
 Italy, like Greece, is full of mountains 
 and valleys, so the inhabitants gathered 
 for convenience and defence into cities 
 and walled towns. 
 
 Nearly all the good lands and harbors 
 of Italy lay on the west, while those of 
 Greece lay to the east, so the two 
 countries grew with their backs turned to 
 each other. 
 
 IN A GARDEN OF ITALY 
 
 90 
 
ROME BEGINS HER GROWTH 
 
 ABOUT 400 B. C. 
 
 The Etruscans, to the north of Rome, 
 were rich. They had developed orchards 
 and vineyards, grazing lands and grain 
 fields. Rome looked on these rich lands 
 just as Sparta had viewed those of 
 Messenia. She was eager to have them 
 for her own. 
 
 In those days, if one race wanted what 
 belonged to another race, she waited for 
 a good chance, and then took possession. 
 The Romans had waited, and about 400 
 B.C. their chance came. ' 
 
 North of Etruria, in the land now 
 occupied by France, lived the Gauls. 
 About 400 B. C. the Gauls attacked the 
 Etruscans. 
 
 Seeing these wild tribes advancing upon 
 them, the Etruscans begged Rome to help. 
 In reply, the Romans mustered their 
 
 91 
 
armies, marched north, and attacked the 
 Etruscans from their side. 
 
 The Etruscans could offer little resist- 
 ance. City after city fell before the 
 exhulting soldiers from Rome, and rich 
 booty, in improved lands, art, and treas- 
 ure, fell into their hands. 
 
 Before this double enemy the Etruscans 
 were crushed. They had advanced to a 
 point in civilization almost equal to that 
 of the Greeks, but after this they disap- 
 peared from the view of history. 
 
 Many of the Etruscan art treasures 
 and records have been found, but no one 
 has yet learned to read their writings. 
 The story of the Etruscan people still 
 remains to be discovered. 
 
 Rome had helped the Gauls to an easy 
 victory over the Etruscans. Made bold 
 with this success, the Gauls pushed on 
 slowly to the south, and before long 
 advanced upon Rome itself. 
 
 The fame of the Gallic warriors was 
 great and terrible, and the Roman soldiers 
 fled before them. At last, when the 
 
 92 
 
Gauls appeared at the gates of Rome, 
 many Romans fled across the Tiber 
 River, which flowed south of the city; 
 while the bravest retired behind the walls 
 of the citadel, a high, rocky mound near 
 the center of Rome. 
 
 Now all the rich booty, won at such cost 
 of blood, was lost again. Their homes 
 were ruined, their fields ravaged, and 
 nearly all their ancient records were 
 destroyed. 
 
 For a long time the soldiers In the 
 citadel held out. Then those who had 
 fled plucked up their courage, attacked 
 the Gauls, and beat them. 
 
 Thus the wave of barbarians was 
 rolled back again, and the Romans could 
 rebuild their sacred city. 
 
 The records of Roman history before 
 390, when the Gauls sacked the city, 
 were so completely destroyed that stories 
 of Roman events before that time are 
 mostly fables. 
 
 Only a few written laws remained. 
 From these the historians are able to tell 
 
 93 
 
much of the social life of the time when 
 they were written, about fifty years 
 before. These laws were called the 
 Twelve Tables. - 
 
 The Twelve Tables showed the first 
 efforts in Rome to write down the laws, 
 and keep them where all might read. 
 They were terribly severe on the poor, 
 and everything favored the ruling class. 
 
 Under the Twelve Tables, debtors 
 might be sold as slaves, and slaves might 
 be killed by cruel masters, who held all 
 power, even to life and death, over their 
 families, servants, and slaves. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond & Whitcomb 
 
 ROMAN CATTLE 
 
 94 
 
SOCIAL PROGRESS 
 
 After the sack of Rome by the Gauls, 
 in 390 B. C., the ruHng classes, called 
 Patricans, lost some of their arrogance. 
 They realized that they must win the 
 support of the poorer people, called 
 Plebeians, for most of the soldiers came 
 from this class. 
 
 In Rome there was a small body of 
 patricians who wanted all wealth and 
 power. Under them was the large group 
 of Plebeians, or common people, who had 
 few rights. In the eyes of the Patricians 
 they were only tax-bearing animals. 
 
 Below these two groups were the 
 wretched slaves, who were often treated 
 with terrible cruelty. 
 
 But when the Twelve Tables of laws 
 'came hito operation, it became clear to 
 
 95 
 
all how unjust and cruel they were. The 
 Plebeians threatened to revolt unless they 
 received better treatment. 
 
 As the Patricians expected war with 
 other tribes, they dared not refuse to 
 make reforms. Gradually, as their sol- 
 diers won victories, and gained greater 
 power, greater rights and privileges were 
 wrung from the Patricians. These were 
 embodied in the Licinian Laws. 
 
 The Licinian Laws showed a great 
 advance for the Plebeians since the 
 Gallic invasion. 
 
 For many years Rome had been gov- 
 erned by two Consuls, chosen from the 
 Patricians. These ruled almost as kings. 
 The Plebeians could elect two Tribunes. 
 They were below the Consuls but they 
 might sit in the senate and could veto 
 laws hurtful to the people. 
 
 The next step gave the Plebeians the 
 right to have one of the two consuls from 
 their ranks, and gave power to the 
 Tribunes almost as great as the Consuls. 
 
 But always, by some scheme or other, 
 
 96 
 
the Patricians managed to keep the upper 
 hand. They now instituted a new officer, 
 that of Censor. 
 
 The Censors were selected from the 
 Patrician group. They took the census 
 of citizens and property, putting each 
 man in any rank they saw fit. 
 
 The Censors could rebuke any one for 
 bad conduct, degrade a noble, expel a 
 member from the senate, or strike 
 names from the rolls of Roman Citizen- 
 ship. 
 
 Thus the Patricians were forced, from 
 time to time, to improve the condition 
 of the Plebeians, but always managed to 
 keep the real power in their own hands. 
 
 Perhaps the chief reason for the con- 
 tinued power of the rich was the behavior 
 of the Plebeians, when they gained wealth 
 and power. Instead of doing their ut- 
 most to help their own class, they usually 
 outdid the Patricians themselves in their 
 efforts to crowd back other ambitious 
 ones and keep them down in the ranks of 
 poverty. 
 
 97 
 
REVOLT OF THE LATIN CITIES 
 
 ABOUT 340 B. C. 
 
 Latium was that part of Italy where 
 Rome lay. Round about her, several 
 Latin cities had been gathered into a 
 group of allies by Rome, but they began 
 to fear her greed, and to hate her tyranny. 
 
 In the city of Rome the Plebeians had 
 won much freedom, which they valued 
 greatly, but they joined the Roman 
 Patricians in declaring that the Latin 
 Allies should be managed just as Rome 
 saw fit. ^ 
 
 The Roman ideas seemed much like 
 those of Greek cities: freedom for them- 
 selves, slavery for others. 
 
 After some years of bitter complaint, 
 the Latin cities revolted. Rome attacked 
 them and soon brought them all to 
 submission. 
 
 In her treatment of the conquered 
 
 98 
 
cities, Rome showed the constructive 
 power that was to make her great. 
 
 Sparta had ground her conquered 
 neighbors into the dust. Athens left 
 the subject cities in her empire prostrate 
 and helpless, dependent on her power. 
 
 Alexander the Great was wiser. He 
 built up conquered cities, and, while the 
 dread of the Phalanx was over them, they 
 flourished and were at peace. 
 
 Rome understood even better than 
 Alexander that only by having strong, 
 successful allies, or subject cities, could 
 the Roman Empire be strong and success- 
 ful itself. 
 
 For this reason Rome granted many 
 rights and privileges to these conquered 
 people. They lived under conditions far 
 better than those of most free peoples of 
 that day, and many of their men were 
 given full rights as Roman citizens. 
 
 99 
 
ALL ROADS LED TO ROME 
 
 Although Rome intended to develop 
 her allied and subject cities, she did not 
 intend that they should flourish at her 
 expense, so she planned her vast system 
 of roads to suit herself. 
 
 The roads of Italy had been mere tracks 
 in the mud, or paths over the rocks. 
 Rome set her thousands of slaves to 
 work laying out straight, smooth roads 
 constructed of rock, and so well built 
 that many of them are in use today. 
 
 These highways, however, went out 
 from Rome in all directions like spokes 
 from the hub of a wheel. 
 
 Her allies found trade with Rome easy, 
 over these smooth roads, but almost 
 impossible with each other, for the good 
 roads led only to Rome. 
 
 For this reason it was easy to forbid 
 trade between these cities. Rome also 
 
 100 
 
restricted marriage between these allied 
 cities to a large extent. 
 
 In this way she prevented new com- 
 binations against her own control. 
 
 Copyright, Edward Crosby Doughty. 
 
 A ROMAN ROAD NEAR TUSCULUM 
 Built by the emperors, of heavy stone, these roads seem everlasting 
 
 101 
 
WARS FOR CONQUEST 
 
 The Samnite wars marked the struggle 
 that took place while Rome was making 
 her conquests in central Italy secure. 
 They lasted from about 340 to 290 B. C. 
 
 The Samnites, a bold, hardy people, 
 refused to be subject to Rome. They 
 found many Gallic and Etruscan tribes 
 glad to join them against Rome, whose 
 greed and ambition threatened all alike. 
 
 Rome had a hard struggle. Several 
 times she made hasty treaties of peace, 
 when her armies faced disaster, but 
 these treaties were quickly broken when 
 Rome felt safe once more. 
 
 At last, in 290 B. C, Rome emerged 
 triumphant. Central Italy was desolated. 
 Cities, towns, villages, fields, were laid 
 waste. Thousands of Gauls, Etruscans, 
 and Samnites, men, women, and children, 
 were slaves of the Romans. 
 
 102 
 
Tarentum, a rich Greek city on the 
 southern shore of Italy, held sway over 
 the southern district. Rome determined 
 to control all Italy. Tarentum blocked 
 her conquest in the south, so Tarentum 
 must be destroyed. 
 
 The Greek cities had always found a 
 cause for war when they wished for war. 
 Now Rome also found what seemed to her 
 a good reason to attack the people of 
 Tarentum, who were probably doing little 
 harm to Rome, so her armies marched 
 south. 
 
 Pyrrus, King of Epirus, in Greece, and 
 a cousin to Alexander the Great, saw the 
 danger of losing an important Greek 
 colony in Italy, and offered to help the 
 people of Tarentum. 
 
 Tarentum received his aid, and wel- 
 comed his arrival with joy. The Romans 
 now found a great danger where they 
 expected an easy victory. 
 
 Pyrrus had a number of elephants, 
 trained for war, which drove the Roman 
 soldiers back in fright. Pyrrus, a great 
 
 103 
 
fighter, won many battles, but he found 
 it impossible to organize the Greeks of 
 southern Italy into a solid community, 
 ready to help and support each other. 
 
 As his army dwindled, and the Romans 
 still fought, Pyrrus saw that the cause 
 was hopeless. The Greeks of Tarentum 
 would not submit to any hardship or 
 discipline, so Pyrrus gave up in disgust 
 and embarked for Greece. 
 
 The Romans then attacked with double 
 fury and, in 272 B. C., Tarentum was 
 forced to submit, and Rome became 
 mistress of the whole peninsula, south of 
 the Arnus river. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond O Whitcomb. 
 
 KUINS OF A ROMAN PALACE. SICILY 
 
 104 
 
THE WARS WITH CARTHAGE 
 
 264 TO 164 B. C. 
 
 Rome had now gained control of the 
 ItaHan peninsula. Just across the Medi- 
 terranean sea, not three days sail from 
 Rome, lay Carthage, a rich and powerful 
 city. 
 
 Her civilization was older than that 
 of Rome, her wealth was greater, and 
 her trade, that Rome envied most of 
 all, embraced the whole Mediterranean, 
 where the navy of Carthage held com- 
 plete mastery. 
 
 Both Rome and Carthage now laid 
 claim to Sicily. To make good her claim, 
 Rome sent an army to hold the island. 
 Carthage also sent soldiers, and this 
 brought on the first of three wars with 
 Carthage, called in history the Punic 
 wars, from the name given these people 
 by the Romans. 
 
 Carthage owned a proud navy, with 
 
 105 
 
no rivals upon the sea. Rome had never 
 fought upon the water, had no navy at 
 all, and knew little about ships. 
 
 Rome knew, however, that to fight 
 with Carthage she must have ships. 
 With her usual energy she set to work, 
 and soon Carthage was astonished to 
 learn that a Roman fleet was ready for 
 battle. 
 
 Little alarmed by this, Carthage sent 
 out her splendid navy to crush the new 
 Roman fleet. 
 
 The wily Romans had plans quite new 
 to the Carthagenians. They were pro- 
 vided with long poles, hooked at the ends. 
 Sailing swiftly upon the galleys from 
 Carthage, they grappled them and threw 
 out gangways. Then, running across 
 these light bridges, they overcame the 
 enemy upon their own decks. 
 
 Dazzled with this complete success, 
 Rome followed it up with great zeal. 
 An army set out for Africa, and again 
 overcame a powerful Punic fleet on the 
 way. 
 
 106 
 
Once landed near Carthage, the Ro- 
 mans gained fresh victories, and Rome 
 expected a speedy conquest. Then the 
 tide turned. 
 
 Carthage roused herself, and attacked 
 the invading Romans so fiercely that 
 they fled to the shore in dismay. A 
 fleet, which was sent to bear Romans 
 home again, was destroyed by a storm, 
 so the Romans gave up the African cam- 
 paign. 
 
 Sicily now became the battle ground 
 again for several years. Gradually Rome 
 gained the upper hand there, and 
 Carthage, which was never fond of war, 
 sued for peace. 
 
 Rome, feeling sure of a final victory, 
 refused to make peace. She built more 
 vessels, and attacked a large Punic 
 fleet off the coast of Sicily, with the 
 greatest confidence. Much to her con- 
 sternation, her fleet was overwhelmed. 
 
 The Carthagenians had learned how 
 to meet the Roman methods of naval 
 warfare. 
 
 107 
 
But Rome was not dismayed. The 
 Romans had convinced themselves that 
 the vast commerce and wealth of the 
 Carthagenians would amply repay all 
 their efforts when Rome had won. 
 Another great fleet, of nine hundred ships, 
 was built at great sacrifice of money 
 and labor. This fleet set out in 249 B. C. 
 to win back the Roman fortunes, but 
 it was soon destroyed, not far from the 
 spot where the last Roman fleet had met 
 its fate. 
 
 News of this disaster cooled for a time 
 the Roman desire for war, and made 
 Carthage pluck up her courage. In 
 Sicily she won back much territory, and 
 even made Rome tremble for her pos- 
 sessions in Italy. 
 
 The Roman nobles now showed their 
 unquenchable courage. Eight years later 
 they built from their own private funds 
 still another fleet with which to make one 
 further effort against Carthage. 
 
 Again the rivals met. This time for- 
 tune favored Rome. The Carthagenian 
 
 108 
 
fleet was overcome, and Carthage sued 
 once more for peace. 
 
 Weary Rome gladly made a treaty, by 
 which Carthage paid an indemnity to 
 the value of four million dollars, and 
 gave up her claims on Sicily. 
 
 This war, begun in 264 and ended in 
 241 B. C, had exhausted Rome for the 
 time being, and had also crippled the 
 Punic sea power. 
 
 Neither Rome nor Carthage intended 
 to keep the treaty. Both knew that one 
 must fall, as there was no hope that 
 such rivals could exist in the Mediter- 
 ranean sea. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond G Whitcomb, 
 
 ON LAKE COMO. ITALY 
 One 01 the iovdiest lakes in the worki. 
 
 109 
 
HANNIBAL 
 
 Hamilcar had been the greatest Punic 
 general during this long war. He was 
 enraged at the treaty, and went at once 
 to Spain, then partly colonized by 
 Carthage. 
 
 In Spain, Hamilcar began to train fresh 
 armies to conquer Rome. Before he 
 could do this he died, leaving a son, 
 Hannibal, who swore to devote his life to 
 the conquest of his country's foe. 
 
 Hannibal soon developed into a won- 
 derful leader. Some historians say he 
 was the greatest master of strategy who 
 ever lived. 
 
 Twenty years after the treaty was 
 signed, Hannibal was ready. He was 
 then twenty-six. 
 
 With a hundred thousand men, he 
 started out in 218 B.Co, across northern 
 Spain. His equipment included thirty- 
 seven trained war elephants. 
 
 110 
 
When the army got to the Alps the 
 difficulties began. Winter was approach- 
 ing; snow was falling in the mountains, 
 and freezing storms caused great suffering 
 among men used to a warm climate. 
 
 Cutting new roads for his ponderous 
 elephants, hauling men and tools up 
 dangerous cliffs with ropes, Hannibal 
 continued the climb. The hardships were 
 terrible, but the great general never 
 halted. 
 
 When he had gained the top he 
 found the way down even more difficult. 
 
 After many hardships the remnant of 
 his army came out upon the plains of 
 northern Italy. Of the hundred thou- 
 sand men hardly twenty-five thousand 
 were left. With this handful of weak, 
 starved men, Hannibal planned to attack 
 a state that could raise half a million 
 soldiers. 
 
 The Romans had organized two armies 
 to attack Carthage. One was sent to 
 Africa, the other to Spain. 
 
 They never dreamed that Hannibal 
 
 111 
 
was on their soil, and when his army was 
 discovered all was commotion in the city. 
 
 Publius Scipio, who was leading the 
 army into Spain, sent his men out to 
 stop supplies for Hannibal. This was 
 however, wasted effort, for Hannibal 
 planned to get his supplies from Italy 
 itself. Then Scipio hastened back to 
 command a new army in northern Italy. 
 
 The first battle, mostly between the 
 cavalry, showed, by the quick defeat of 
 the Romans, how dangerous Hannibal 
 was. 
 
 Two Roman armies now joined and 
 attacked the invader. He pretended to 
 retreat, drew them into an ambuscade 
 at Trebia, and wiped them out. 
 
 The Gauls had been waiting to pick 
 the winning side. These victories led 
 them to join the armies of the victorious 
 Hannibal. 
 
 With reinforcements of vigorous troops, 
 with ample provisions and shelter, his 
 figure cast a gloomy shadow over Rome. 
 There all was doubt and fear during the 
 
 112 
 
cold months, while Hannibal was in 
 winter quarters. 
 
 The following spring Hannibal led his 
 army west across the Apennines, then 
 south towards Rome. Once more the 
 Romans sent a great army against him. 
 He moved back, and the Romans followed. 
 
 One foggy morning Hannibal halted 
 by lake Trasimene, withdrew up the 
 hillside, and left the road along the lake 
 free. 
 
 When the Roman army could be heard 
 in the mist below, Hannibal gave the 
 order to advance. His veterans charged 
 down upon the Roman levies; and that 
 da}^ witnessed the doom of another great 
 Roman force. 
 
 The way to the capital was now open, 
 and Rome expected an attack, but 
 Hannibal preferred to stay in the open, 
 and he was able to collect immense booty 
 from the smaller cities. 
 
 Rome now appointed Fabius, a noted 
 general, to be dictator. To a dictator 
 was given supreme authority, above 
 
 113 
 
senate and above consuls. His orders 
 must be obeyed without question, and 
 the dictatorship was ususally Hmited to 
 a few months for fear it might lead to 
 tyranny. 
 
 Fabius had studied the methods of 
 Hannibal. He realized that the Roman 
 army could not meet the Carthaginians 
 in a direct conflict, so he followed him 
 about, striking sharp blows here and 
 there, but always avoiding battle. 
 
 He was so successful in this plan, 
 always preserving his forces as a last 
 defence to Rome, that his name has 
 been given to that type of warfare which 
 is called "Fabian." 
 
 A new army was levied, while Fabius 
 was gaining time for Rome, which was 
 ready the next year to meet Hannibal. 
 It was twice the size of the invading 
 forces, and the Romans attacked with 
 fury, hoping to crush Hannibal at last, 
 but the battle at Cannae was a more 
 terrible defeat than those which had 
 come before. The Romans were nearly 
 
 114 
 
all killed, and Rome herself was on the 
 verge of absolute ruin. 
 
 Hannibal, worn and wearied by the 
 war, offered terms of peace, which Rome 
 rejected. Again he ravaged the country 
 side, and wintered in Capua, south 
 Italy, which had deserted Rome and 
 joined his fortunes, while most of the 
 Latin allies remained faithful to Rome. 
 
 The next spring he marched north, 
 laying waste Rome's fairest provinces, 
 while Rome instantly attacked Capua, 
 her unfaithful ally. She captured the 
 city, put the leading men to death, and 
 sold all the rest, men, women, and 
 children, for slaves. This was the usual 
 punishment for those who deserted her 
 cause. 
 
 So the terrible contest wore on, till 
 Hannibal had been destroying the fields 
 and towns of Italy for eleven years. 
 His forces were weary, and anxious to 
 go home. Rome dared not meet him 
 in combat, but refused to make peace. 
 
 In 207 B. C, Hannibal's brother 
 
 115 
 
Hasdrubal tried to send an army over 
 the Alps to his aid. He was caught by 
 a Roman army in northern Italy, his 
 forces destroyed, and he himself killed. 
 His head was thrown into the camp of 
 Hannibal, who gave up hope of reducing 
 Rome. 
 
 Rome now sent an army under Scipio 
 to attack Carthage, and Hannibal was 
 recalled to defend the city; but his power 
 was exhausted and he suffered defeat. 
 
 Carthage accepted, in 201 B. C, bitter 
 terms of peace, and Hannibal soon had 
 to commit suicide to escape the hate of 
 Rome. His end was ignoble, but his 
 fame and glory as a conquering leader of 
 armies still remains undimmed. 
 
 Italy had been laid waste, and Rome 
 was reduced to desperate straits, while 
 Carthage, free from the terrors of war, 
 had been growing rich. 
 
 Rome had a heavy task to rebuild her 
 fortunes at home. The Greeks and 
 Macedonians had helped Hannibal in 
 his long campaign, and for this they 
 
 116 
 
were now attacked, defeated, and terribly 
 punished. 
 
 Now Rome hastily built up her armies, 
 organized her allies more firmly than 
 before, and developed the state into a 
 strong, unified community. 
 
 All this time she had kept eyes glowing 
 with jealous hatred on her Carthagenian 
 rivals. 
 
 Carthage must be destroyed. As 
 Romans saw her, rich and prosperous, 
 that idea became fixed more than ever 
 in their minds. Cato, a stern senator, 
 and censor, never ended a speech without 
 adding: ''And moreover, Carthage must 
 be destroyed." 
 
 One rule forced on Carthage, as the price 
 of peace, was that she should makeno war 
 without the consent of Rome. Because 
 of this her neighbors became bold, and 
 raided her rich lands without restraint. 
 She asked Rome for permission to pro- 
 tect herself, but the Romans always sided 
 with the robbers, and encouraged the 
 robber hands to greater raids upon her. 
 
 117 
 
THIRD WAR WITH CARTHAGE 
 
 150 B. C. 
 
 In 150 B. C, Carthage could stand 
 it no longer, and attacked her enemies 
 without asking Roman permission. This 
 was just what Rome wanted. On this 
 pretext she sent an army against Carthage, 
 saying that she had broken her treaty. 
 
 In their anxiety to keep out of war, 
 the Carthagenians gave up three hundred 
 children as hostages from their noblest 
 families. 
 
 "If you wish peace, you will not need 
 arms to fight with/* said the Romans, 
 ''give them up." 
 
 "Now," the Romans added, when they 
 had their arms and their hostages, "we 
 came here to destroy your city and we 
 are going to do it." 
 
 The Carthagenians, seeing that they 
 
 118 
 
had been basely betrayed, shut the gates, 
 and worked frantically to prepare new 
 arms, and defend the city. 
 
 During four years of a terrible siege, 
 they defied the Romans. Then, in 146 
 B. C, half dead from hunger and disease, 
 they gave up the city. 
 
 The Romans killed or enslaved every 
 living being left of a population of seven 
 hundred thousand. They put thousands 
 of soldiers at work to destroy the city 
 completely. What could be burned was 
 burned, and the rest was pulled down 
 and broken till all was level, the Cartha- 
 genians being buried in the ruins of their 
 own city. 
 
 This conquest was of great importance 
 to Rome, and to all history, because it 
 decided that the Graeco-Roman civiliza- 
 tion, and not the Carthagenian, should 
 develop the countries in southern Europe. 
 
 The Carthagenians were of Phoenician 
 race, and were like other oriental peoples 
 in their habits and ideas. Their govern- 
 ment was despotic; they did not build 
 
 119 
 
up free colonies; they cared little for 
 art, literature, or a free political life; 
 and their religious practices were horrible. 
 
 Under their rule the people of the 
 civilized world would have sunk back 
 again into a condition little better than 
 slavery. 
 
 The year 146 B. C. was a notable date 
 in Roman history. Fifty years before, 
 at the close of the second war with 
 Carthage, she .was on the verge of ruin; 
 but her victory over Carthage gave her 
 a new energy, as the victory at Marathon 
 had aroused the Athenians to wonderful 
 deeds. 
 
 Macedonia threatened Italy, but the 
 veteran armies and military skill of Rome 
 soon overcame the Macedonians. 
 
 Other eastern peoples then prepared 
 to attack her, but the Roman power 
 was able to crush them all. 
 
 Now in 146 B. C, she made herself in 
 the same year complete mistress in the 
 east by the destruction of Corinth, and 
 ended the only power opposed to her in 
 
 120 
 
the west by the fall of Carthage. In 200 
 B. C. Rome was one of several great 
 nations. In 146 B. C. she ruled prac- 
 tically alone. 
 
 Caurfcsy Raymond & Whitcomb 
 
 FALLS OF THE ANIO. TIVOLI 
 Tivoli near Rome, was a famous resort for Roman emperors and nobles, 
 
 121 
 
THE DECLINE OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
 FROM 146 B. C 
 
 Rome, struggling for life, fighting her 
 way against heavy odds, had shown many 
 marks of greatness. After the crowning 
 victories of 146 B. C, we find a very 
 different Rome. Virtue among those 
 who rule has almost disappeared. Valor 
 among the people is fast giving way to 
 vice and greed}^ sloth. 
 
 In their periods of success and wealth, 
 the Athenians had turned to art, litera- 
 ture, music, and drama; but these had 
 not developed among the Romans. Their 
 chief pleasures seemed to come from the 
 material things of life: food, drink, fine 
 clothes, houses, lands, and slaves to do 
 their work. 
 
 To possess all these things a Roman 
 must be rich, so throughout the Roman 
 world we now see a struggle for wealth. 
 
 122 
 
The outlying lands controlled by Rome 
 in the east and west were divided into 
 provinces. Consuls were usually made 
 governors of these provinces, after having 
 served a term in Rome, and were then 
 called proconsuls. 
 
 The governor of a province received 
 little pay. He planned to get rich from 
 the taxes levied in his province. As he 
 usually went in debt to pay for his elec- 
 tion as consul, and for his appointment as 
 proconsul, he also had to collect enough 
 to pay back the great sums used for 
 political influence. 
 
 Besides this, there were judges at 
 Rome who tried the governors that had 
 collected money against the law; so more 
 money had to be raised to bribe these 
 judges, for almost all governors broke 
 the law. 
 
 Thus a governor was under the neces- 
 sity of gathering in a very short time huge 
 sums of money. 
 
 Vast treasure and immense stores of 
 booty, grain, wine, provisions, and prop- 
 
 123 
 
erty of all kinds, were sent back to 
 Rome by the armies in the field during 
 the years which followed 146 B. C. 
 
 Rome attacked small and weak nations 
 one after the other. Thousands were 
 killed, and thousands more sent to Italy 
 as slaves. 
 
 The treasure went into the coffers of 
 the rich, making them richer still, while 
 the slaves did their work. For this 
 reason the poor citizens could earn 
 nothing, and their poverty increased. 
 
 Before many years the sturdy common 
 people of Rome had disappeared, and 
 Rome had become a community of 
 millionaires and beggars. 
 
 Now Rome boiled with discontent, 
 and the scum of the known world rose 
 there. The struggle between the nobles 
 and the poor grew more and more bitter. 
 Slavery became a terrible curse, slaves 
 being so cheap that it was more pro- 
 fitable to work them to death than to 
 feed them. 
 
 Quarrels over the public lands threat- 
 
 124 
 
ened civil war. Judges gave decisions 
 in favor of those who bribed them most. 
 The provinces were stripped. All thinking 
 citizens realized that such conditions 
 must soon produce terrible results. 
 
 The Gracchi were two brothers who 
 longed to help the common people. They 
 were brilliant men, great orators and 
 leaders. By their Influence they had 
 laws passed which gave to the poor part 
 of the public lands, cheap grain, and more 
 power In the government. 
 
 Some of these laws were wise; some 
 were not; but the hatred of the Senate 
 gave such reforms little chance to have 
 a fair trial. Within a few years the two 
 Gracchi were murdered, with thousands 
 of their followers. 
 
 The streets of Rome had for the first 
 time been reddened with the blood of 
 her own sons, killed by brother Romans 
 for hatred and revenge. 
 
 125 
 
WAR WITH JUGURTHA 
 
 The war with Jugurtha, in no B. C, 
 showed how far the Romans had sunk. 
 Complaints came to the senate from 
 Africa that Jugurtha, King of Numidia, 
 was sacking the villages of his weaker 
 neighbors. 
 
 Commissioners were sent to correct 
 matters. They made reports favorable 
 to Jugurtha. Still complaints poured in. 
 A consul was sent with an army to punish 
 Jugurtha, but he soon made friends with 
 the consul, and behaved worse than 
 before. 
 
 An investigation was ordered by the 
 senate, and then it was shown that 
 Jugurtha had bribed with huge sums all 
 who came near him. He now bribed 
 the judges, and said that Rome would 
 sell herself if she could find a purchaser. 
 
 126 
 
At last Rome found an honest general, 
 named Marius, who would not be bribed. 
 He captured Jugurtha and brought quiet 
 in that devastated land. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond 6" Whitcomb. 
 
 AN IMPERIAL GARDEN IN PALERMO 
 
 The Normans, ruling the Roman Empire just before the crusades, had 
 
 tiieir Capitol in Palermo. 
 
 127 
 
THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONS 
 
 The invasion of the Cimbri and 
 Teutons, in 104, while Rome was still 
 busy with Jugurtha, made her people 
 tremble for their very lives. These were 
 German tribes which were moving south 
 in vast numbers, in search of the fertile 
 fields and warm sun of Italy. 
 
 Remembering the terrible Gauls, the 
 Romans dreaded these still more, for 
 they had easily overcome the Gauls in 
 the north, who stood in their way. 
 
 Five Roman armies were crushed in the 
 path of the invaders. A second destruc- 
 tion of Rome by the barbarians from the 
 north seemed certain, when Marius re- 
 turned from Africa, and drilled a new 
 army, recruited from Romans whom 
 deadly fear had now made desperate. 
 
 Then Marius waited for a good chance, 
 
 128 
 
and in loi attacked the Cimbri and the 
 Teutons one after the other Each tribe 
 was defeated, and all, men, women, and 
 children, were put to death. 
 
 A STREET !N A MOUNTAIN VILLAGE 
 
 Foot passengers only can make their way through these steep and 
 narrdw streets. 
 
 129 
 
THE SOCIAL WAR 
 
 The social war, in 91 B. C. which 
 followed the conquest of the northern 
 tribes, indicated the treacherous founda- 
 tions upon which the Roman State was 
 built. 
 
 The allies of Rome, or socii> as they 
 were called in Latin, had complained 
 long and bitterly about the tyranny of 
 the Romans. The citizens of some towns, 
 directly colonized by Rome, were called 
 Latins, and their people had rights as 
 Roman citizens. Many towns and cities 
 in Italy, however, as old as Rome, had 
 been conquered by the Romans, and 
 though now allies, their people suffered 
 all the indignities of slavery. 
 
 These allied towns, or socii, now driven 
 to fury by the increasing insolence of 
 the Romans, set up a republic of their 
 own. Rome attacked them. The fight 
 
 130 
 
was bitter, and again Rome saw herself 
 on the edge of ruin. 
 
 Hundreds of thousands, the best men 
 of Italy, fell in battle, as many more died 
 in the massacres that followed. Cities 
 were burned, fields laid waste. Italy, 
 just recovered again from the Punic 
 wars, was fast bleeding to death. 
 
 At last Rome promised the rights 
 demanded, and after this time all free 
 men on the peninsula were classed as 
 citizens of the Roman state, which Italy 
 had now become. 
 
 Thus for the first time we see people 
 in a large territory bound together by 
 common ties of self interest. The waste- 
 ful strife of city against city was ended. 
 Great historians believe that this measure, 
 admitting the Italian allies to citizenship, 
 was the most important political act in 
 the history of the Roman Republic. 
 
 131 
 
CIVIL WARS IN ROME 
 
 MiTHRiDATES, king of Pontus, a land 
 on the Black sea, had taken the oppor- 
 tunity, while Rome was fighting the social 
 war, to ravage the Roman provinces in 
 the east, and to kill every Italian he could 
 lay hands upon. His power had grown 
 so great as to threaten even the home 
 territory of Rome. 
 
 Marius, who had overcome Jugurtha, 
 and had saved Rome from the Cimbri 
 and Teutons, wished to be made com- 
 mander against Mithridates. Sulla, also 
 a brilliant officer of high rank, had the 
 same desire. The Senate appointed Sulla 
 who organized his army in 88 B. C. and 
 marched eastward. 
 
 Marius, in revenge for this vote of the 
 Senate, raised troops of his own, moved 
 on Rome, had the consul killed, and put 
 himself in the consul's place. Hundreds 
 
 132 
 
of his opponents were killed at his orders, 
 without trial, and Rome now bowed 
 before him as her master. 
 
 The strife and bloodshed between 
 Romans, seen for the first time in the 
 revolt of the Grachii, now returned with 
 double terror. The mad rabble followed 
 Marius; his soldiers carried out his whims 
 as laws of state, and all who incurred 
 his displeasure were put to death. 
 
 Sulla, meanwhile, had waged successful 
 war against Mithridates. He brought 
 the revolting provinces to submission, 
 and then, with a victorious army, devoted 
 to his interests, turned back toward 
 Rome. In the year 82 Marius was 
 finally defeated by Sulla. He fled to 
 Africa and died in exile. 
 
 After the capture of Rome by Sulla, 
 friends of Marius trembled at the ven- 
 geance to come. 
 
 As soon as his power was made secure, 
 Sulla posted a list of those condemned 
 to death. Those whose names were so 
 posted were proscribed, and any one 
 
 133 
 
would be rewarded for killing them. 
 Their property was given by Sulla to his 
 friends. 
 
 Day by day the lists grew longer. 
 Those who had property were in the 
 greatest danger. The friends of Sulla 
 grew richer and richer, till their fortunes 
 were immense. Even brothers betrayed 
 each other to get more wealth, and 
 thousands fled from Rome. 
 
 The Senators, now mere tools of Sulla, 
 praised all he had done, and made him 
 absolute dictator for as long as he wished. 
 He reduced the rights of the people, 
 and increased the powers of the nobles. 
 He made laws to suit himself, some bad, 
 some good. Nobody dared complain. 
 Thus he ruled during three years. He 
 then resigned and retired to a secluded 
 villa, where soon after he died. 
 
 Sulla's rule had reduced the citizens 
 to a mob of beggars, and the senate to a 
 group of greedy, vicious nobles, eager 
 only to enrich themselves at any cost. 
 
 134 
 
REVOLT OF THE GLADIATORS 
 
 Spartacus, a famous gladiator, noted 
 the confusion and strife in Rome after the 
 death of Sulla. He was a slave of noble 
 gifts and high purpose, who longed to 
 strike for the freedom of his class. 
 
 Gladiators were slaves trained to fight 
 in the arena, and kill each other for the 
 sport of the degraded Romans. It was 
 a horrible occupation. 
 
 In 73 B. C. Spartacus was ready. He 
 gathered his bold friends and fled to 
 the crater of Vesuvius, where they were 
 soon joined by thousands of other slaves. 
 
 Led by the great gladiator, the forces 
 of Spartacus destroyed seven Roman 
 armies, and held southern Italy during 
 two years. But at last, in the year 71, 
 they were overcome by Crassus, an able 
 
 135 
 
general, and the awful tortures inflicted 
 on those captured served as a warning to 
 all who might have thought of revolting. 
 
 THE LAST COMBAT IN THE ARENA 
 
 136 
 
POMPEY 
 
 POMPEY was an ambitious young officer 
 who had distinguished himself under 
 Sulla, and the Romans now looked upon 
 him as their most able general. Just 
 before the slave revolt, he had been sent 
 to Spain to fight agaiuvSt Sertorius, a 
 noble governor who refused to ruin 
 Spain in order to make the Roman 
 rulers rich. 
 
 The people in Spain rallied to defend 
 their champion, and for several years 
 Pompey had little success. At last 
 Sertorius was killed by treachery, and 
 Pompey overcame the Spanish province. 
 He then in 71 B. C. returned [to Rome, 
 with part of his army, in time to help 
 Crassus defeat the revolting gladiators 
 and slaves. 
 
 Pompey and Crassus were now the 
 most important figures in Rome, for the 
 
 137 
 
time had come when only generals of 
 victorious armies could maintain control. 
 
 Pirates at this time ranged the Mediter- 
 ranean from end to end. In her con- 
 quests Rome had ruined thousands of 
 ambitious men. With nothing else to 
 do, many of them raised crews as 
 desperate as themselves, and successfully 
 attacked not only ships, but towns along 
 the shore. 
 
 Pompey was given absolute power as 
 dictator over the Mediterranean and a 
 strip of land all about the coast, with 
 the hope that he might drive off these 
 pirates, who actually at times threatened 
 Rome herself. Within forty days he had 
 swept the sea clear of the pirate vessels, 
 and the shores were again safe. 
 
 Mithridates was now making new 
 efforts to force back the Roman power 
 throughout the east, and in order to 
 defeat him Pompey was again appointed 
 dictator. 
 
 This campaign was the crowning point 
 of Pompey's career. Mithridates was 
 
 138 
 
an able opponent, a great leader, shrewd, 
 vigilant, and renowned, whose name 
 stood with that of Hannibal as a foe to 
 be dreaded. But Pompey soon caused 
 his downfall, and then drove on into the 
 other eastern lands. 
 
 After five years, he returned to Rome 
 for the most splendid triumph the world 
 had ever known. Undreamed of treasure 
 was added to the Roman State, and 
 the great provinces of Asia Minor were 
 made tributary to Rome. 
 
 Catiline, a turbulent, vicious noble, 
 had planned a vast conspiracy while 
 Pompey was away. He schemed to 
 murder the consuls and senators, to seize 
 the property of the rich, and to make 
 himself tyrant. 
 
 When all were gathered in the senate 
 chamber, Cicero, at that time consul, and 
 a great orator, arose and denounced 
 Catiline in speeches which millions of 
 readers have applauded throughout the 
 ages. At the close of the third speech 
 Catiline fled, and was soon after killed. 
 
 139 
 
THE RISE OF JULIUS CAESAR 
 
 59 B. C. 
 
 After Pompey's great triumph there 
 were no more nations to fear, so his army 
 was dispersed, and the senate took mea- 
 sures to reduce his power. Without his 
 army he was not strong enough to control 
 the factions, so he joined fortunes with 
 Crassus, a noble of enormous wealth. 
 
 Together they decided to add a third 
 partner, hoping thus to control the 
 destinies of Rome. This third member 
 was Julius Caesar. 
 
 Julius Caesar was still a young man. 
 He was of Patrician family, but had 
 made himself a leader of the people. He 
 had been dissolute, but experience had 
 made him more thoughtful. His ambi- 
 tion was boundless, his energy unequalled, 
 and his knowledge of human affairs was 
 not -only greater than that of Pompey 
 
 140 
 
and Crassus, but was such that few of 
 the world's great figures have equalled 
 him as a master of men. 
 
 The group of three, thus formed, was 
 called the First Triumvirate. They di- 
 vided the control of the Roman world. 
 
 To Crassus was assigned the East. 
 There he planned to form a great army, 
 and to wage victorious wars, and return 
 as sole master in Rome. He made need- 
 less war upon the Parthians and was 
 soon killed. 
 
 Pompey was made proconsul of Spain. 
 Afraid to stay so far from the city, he 
 remained in Rome, and let deputies 
 govern for him, while he kept a watchful 
 eye on Caesar and on the politics of Rome. 
 Pompey' s real ambition, like that of 
 Crassus, was, in the end, to rule alone. 
 
 Caesar looked far ahead. He was 
 determined to have not only an army, 
 but a people to support him. Gaul was 
 his allotted share. Thither he hastened, 
 and began his work. 
 
 Caesar's first step was to organize an 
 
 X41 
 
army. The Helvetians, a Celtic tribe, 
 dwelling where Switzerland now lies, 
 threatened the Roman frontiers. He 
 enrolled his legions, rushed upon the 
 Helvetian forces, and slaughtered nearly 
 all. 
 
 He then turned west, and won a victory 
 over the German tribes. 
 
 The following year the Belgians gave 
 him a chance for still further victories. 
 
 During these months, Caesar wrote 
 careful dispatches to Rome, explaining 
 the terrible danger these wild tribes were 
 to the Roman State, and skillfully 
 working up a feeling of respect and 
 gratitude for his service in protecting 
 Italy. 
 
 The destruction and slaughter that 
 Caesar's .wars had produced in Gaul now 
 gave way to order and peace. He carried 
 his military control across the Rhine into 
 Germany, and across the channel into 
 England. 
 
 Where Caesar went, good government 
 followed. He never forgot to send home 
 
 142 
 
lavish gifts to the people at Rome, but 
 he never sacked a province and left it 
 bare. Public works of all kinds were 
 developed, and all was undertaken that 
 could be done to make each province 
 prosperous. 
 
 Gradually the number who praised 
 the name of Caesar grew, until his hope 
 seemed near realization, and the people 
 were ready to stand in his support. 
 
 The hour came none too soon. At 
 Rome Pompey had remained friendly to 
 the great conqueror of Gaul, through his 
 love for Caesar's daughter, whom he 
 married. Her death now left him free 
 to follow his ambition, which was to 
 rule alone. 
 
 Soon Caesar received an order to return 
 to Rome. He hastened to obey, but 
 when Pompey heard that he was bringing 
 his best legions with him, he fell into a 
 rage. His plans were in danger, for he 
 knew Caesar had many friends in Rome. 
 
 ''Bring no soldiers across the Rubicon," 
 was the order sent to Caesar from the 
 
 143 
 
Senate. Caesar knew the law forbade 
 him to take an army across that Httle 
 river, the boundary between Gaul and 
 Italy. 
 
 '*I will myself make the law," he said, 
 and plunging into the stream, he waded 
 over, followed by his men. 
 
 Pompey had no forces in Rome, so 
 he retired to the east, where he raised 
 a large, but badly organized army. After 
 setting Rome in order as best he could, 
 Caesar pursued Pompey. 
 
 At Pharsalus, in Thessaly, the two 
 great generals met. Not only must their 
 personal ambitions be decided, but the 
 question whether the east or the west 
 should dominate in Roman affairs. 
 
 Pompey was easily overthrown by 
 the Gallic veterans under Caesar, and 
 fled to Egypt. There he was killed by 
 one who thought to, please Caesar, but 
 who was himself executed under Caesar's 
 orders, when he found his rival thus done 
 to death 
 
 144 
 
CAESAR RULES ALONE 
 
 Caesar, with no one to dispute his 
 power, now found himself sole ruler in 
 the Roman world. 
 
 As his pursuit of Pompey had taken 
 him into the east, he planned to organize 
 that region before going back to Rome. 
 
 In Egypt, Queen Cleopatra, fairest of 
 women, had been driven from her throne. 
 She appealed to Caesar, and won his 
 support. He placed her again on the 
 throne, and leaving Egypt once more at 
 peace, he moved on to settle the affairs 
 of the other eastern provinces. 
 
 Province after province felt the power 
 of his arms, and the genius of his rule. 
 Within three years he had put down all 
 disorder, and he was able to view from 
 Rome a vast dominion that accepted his 
 authority. 
 
 Caesar was great in many varied lines 
 
 145 
 
of work. He would have won fame as a 
 soldier, a scholar, or an orator, but he 
 will chiefly be remembered as a leader 
 of men. 
 
 Looking over his vast dominions, he 
 at once laid plans to make the lives of 
 all his people happier and more pros- 
 perous. He made new laws, built cities, 
 developed provinces, spread Roman 
 citizenship, and even brought leading 
 provincials to the Roman Senate to 
 represent the interests of their districts. 
 
 In his treatment of those about him, 
 Caesar showed a confidence and modera- 
 tion almost unknown in his time. Those 
 who had been his enemies he forgave, and 
 sought to make them friends. 
 
 This faith proved his undoing. Cassius 
 and Brutus, two who received favors, 
 saw Caesar rising in the esteem of all 
 classes. They realized that he would 
 soon be king in name, as he already was 
 in fact, and they planned to end his 
 ambitions with his life. 
 
 These two men gathered a group of 
 
 146 
 
treacherous senators, who pretended to 
 be submitting a request; then, while 
 Caesar gave his gracious attention, they 
 drew their daggers. 
 
 Seeing those whom he had befriended, 
 and protected, eager to take his hfe, 
 Caesar looked sady at Brutus. ''You, 
 too, Brutus?" he said. Then he drew 
 his robe about him, and died, as he had 
 lived, with dignity and courage. 
 
 The murder of Caesar was a deadly 
 blow at the Roman institutions he was 
 shaping so intelligently. The Roman 
 world had been at peace; by this deed it 
 was plunged back into war. Caesar had 
 opened the door of hope to all the peoples 
 who lived beneath his rule; now it was 
 again closed to those who lacked wealth 
 and power. 
 
 The name of Julius Caesar comes down 
 to us through the ages, covered with 
 honor, because of the service he rendered 
 to his fellow men. 
 
 147 
 
A SECOND TRIUMVIRATE 
 
 When Caesar died, Mark Antony 
 was consul. He was popular, shrewd, 
 experienced, but lacked a high moral 
 character. 
 
 Octavius , Caesar was a nephew to 
 Julius Caesar, and had been adopted 
 as his son. Octavius was only nineteen, 
 but he enjoyed the prestige of his great 
 father's name. 
 
 The Second Triumvirate was con- 
 stituted by these two men, who took in 
 with them Lepidus, then governor of 
 Spain and Gaul. 
 
 Both Antony and Octavius intended 
 finally to get sole power. Warned by 
 Caesar's fate, their first act was to slay 
 every man they feared. Proscription 
 lists like those of Sulla's day were again 
 seen posted, and several thousand well 
 
 148 
 
known Romans had died before the 
 triumvirate felt safe. 
 
 Among those who were killed was 
 Cicero, the great orator. He had attacked 
 Mark Antony in his speeches, and he 
 fell a victim to Antony's vengeance. 
 
 Antony and Octavius now set out to 
 destroy the conspirators, who had fled 
 to the east after making way with Caesar. 
 This was quickly accomplished. Both 
 Brutus and Cassius killed themselves 
 when defeat came upon them at the battle 
 of PhiHppi. 
 
 Safe from these enemies, Antony and 
 Octavius dropped the third member of 
 the Government, Lepidus, and divided 
 the Roman world between themselves. 
 
 Antony, taking the East, was soon 
 enslaved by the charms of the voluptuous 
 Cleopatra. Soon it was reported that 
 he planned to make her queen of the 
 Roman world. Octavius helped to 
 spread these reports, and set out with 
 an army to defeat and destroy his remain- 
 ing rival. This was brought about in 
 
 149 
 
the naval battle of Actium, fought in 31, 
 off the coast of Greece, Antony and 
 Cleopatra committed suicide, and Oc- 
 tavius was left sole master in Rome. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond 6f Wh itcomb. 
 
 WHERE ROiMAi^ EMPERORS ONCE WANDERED 
 
 150 
 
THE EMPIRE OF ROME 
 
 27 B. C. 
 
 It was now clear that Rome must be 
 governed by a single will, if any effective 
 government was to be maintained, and 
 the rule of Octavius Caesar was welcomed 
 by the Roman people. The old Republi- 
 can forms were preserved, the Senate 
 met and deliberated, and the assembly 
 elected magistrates, but every one knew 
 that the hand of Octavius directed all 
 things. 
 
 In his early conflicts, Octavius had 
 proved crafty, cold, and cruel; but now 
 that he had supreme power he became 
 a just and faithful ruler. The work and 
 ways of his great father he tried to carry 
 on, and he succeeded so well that the 
 whole empire responded to his efforts. 
 
 Colonial development received special 
 attention. Industry revived, cities were 
 
 151 
 
built, roads constructed, order estab- 
 lished, education encouraged. So great 
 was his popularity and success that the 
 people gave him the name "Augustus," 
 a title hitherto borne only by the gods, 
 and by this title he is known in history. 
 This was known as the Golden Age 
 of Rome, and so firmly did Augustus 
 Caesar organize his empire, that it lasted 
 three centuries after his death. 
 
 THE APPIAN WAY 
 A famous road near Rome, showing the pillars of the great aqueduct 
 that used to carry water to the city. 
 
 152 
 
THE RULE OF ONE ON TRIAL 
 
 Upon the death of August us, all realized 
 that some successor must be found to 
 take his place as single head of the 
 state. Only a few, who had selfish 
 motives, wished to return to the former 
 rule under a greedy senate and a popular 
 assembly. By general consent, therefore, 
 Tiberius, the stepson of Augustus, was 
 made the next emperor. 
 
 Tiberius proved a conscientious ruler, 
 anxious to serve the people he controlled. 
 In Rome he feared, with good reason, the 
 jealous hatred of nobles who wished his 
 place and power. There he was stem, 
 severe, and suspicious. In the provinces 
 he left a high reputation for kindness and 
 good government. His rule made the 
 Roman Dominions still more satisfied to 
 
 153 
 
retain, in place of the old republican 
 forms, an imperial rule. 
 
 Caligula, Claudius and Nero, who fol- 
 lowed Tiberius, showed how government 
 under one emperor is likely to work. 
 The ruler always wishes to pass on his 
 throne to his own heirs; but there is never 
 any certainty that these heirs would be 
 worthy of their trust. 
 
 Caligula turned out to be a madman 
 and monster. The empire rejoiced when 
 he was murdered by his guard. Claudius 
 was wiser, and made some reforms, es- 
 pecially to protect slaves from the cruelty 
 of their masters. Nero, again, proved to 
 be as bad, toward the end of his reign, as 
 Caligula. He sank deeper and deeper 
 into vice and crime, till at last, deserted 
 by all, he killed himself. 
 
 154 
 
CHRISTIANITY IN ROME 
 
 The birth of Christ came in the reign 
 of Tiberius. Sixty years later, under 
 Nero, the Christians appeared as a group 
 large enough to attract attention and 
 hostility. They refused to worship the 
 Roman gods, and to recognize the Roman 
 forms of worship. 
 
 For this Nero ordered terrible persecu- 
 tions. At one time he had Christians 
 covered with pitch, fastened to posts, and 
 burned, to illuminate the vile revels in 
 the imperial gardens. 
 
 But, even while they watched, and 
 jeered at the dying Christians, the Romans 
 were learning to admire their courage and 
 faith. The persecution that was intended 
 to crush the Christians and blot them out, 
 only spread the faith among those who 
 persecuted them 
 
 155 
 
THE RULE OF THE ARMY 
 
 At the death of Nero, in 69 A.D.,' 
 Rome, after nearly one hundred years of 
 empire, found itself in the wildest confu- 
 sion. Certainly none of Nero's brood 
 could secure the throne. 
 
 The army, meanwhile, had been the 
 support that emperors had learned to 
 lean upon, and it had grown into a strong, 
 well organized body. It was the army 
 that took things into its own hands, and 
 named the next emperor, Vespasian. 
 
 Vespasian proved a wise choice. He 
 came from the family of a Sabine laborer, 
 who had won promotion in the army b}' 
 his commanding genius. 
 
 Vespasian knew the needs of the dis- 
 tracted empire and, rude soldier as he was, 
 proved an able and progressive emperor. 
 He not only ruled well, but so trained his 
 
 156 
 
son, Titus, that he became one of the 
 kindest, most self-sacrificing of rulers. 
 The great desire of Titus seemed to be to 
 serve others* 
 
 Courtesy Raymond & Whitcomb 
 
 SAINT PETERS. ROME 
 Seen through the garden of the Knights of Malta. 
 
 157 
 
JERUSALEM AND POMPEII 
 
 Two events of great importance took 
 place during this period. 
 
 About the year 75, Titus led an army 
 gainst Jerusalem, as the Jews had re- 
 volted. After a long siege, which the 
 Jews withstood till almost all the fighters 
 had perished, the walls fell and the city 
 was laid in ruins. 
 
 Soon after the fall of Jerusalem, a 
 terrible event sent a shudder through the 
 empire. People hastened through the 
 streets of Rome. 
 
 ''Vesuvius has burst forth. Pompeii is 
 doomed!" 
 
 Vesuvius, a high mountain near Naples, 
 just south of Rome, had burst into 
 flames. Great floods of lava poured out. 
 A deluge of hot ashes descended 
 
 The cloud of ashes darkened the sky 
 over all Italy, and before long Pompeii 
 
 158 
 
and Herculaneum, two large cities near 
 Vesuvius, were buried so deep that even 
 their sites were forgotten. 
 
 Hundreds of years later, in the eigh- 
 teenth century, while digging a well, the 
 Italians found the site of Pompeii. 
 
 Since then this great city of two thou- 
 sand years ago has been gradually exca- 
 vated, and the streets, houses, temples, 
 public buildings, even the men and 
 women, with their dress and ornaments, 
 have been disclosed, preserved by the 
 layer of volcanic ash, just as they were 
 when the Romans, in the time of Caesar, 
 made Pompeii their home. 
 
 THE BAY OF NAPLES. LOOKING TOWARD POMPEII 
 
 159 
 
THE GOOD EMPERORS 
 
 Vespasian and Titus, by their able 
 efforts to serve, had brought the empire 
 again into fair order, and again the people 
 were content to let the emperors choose 
 their own successors. Trajan, who came 
 in 98 A.D., was a Spaniard by birth, anc 
 a great general. He pushed back the 
 nations crowding upon the northern and 
 eastern boundaries, and he largely ex- 
 tended the limits of the Roman Empire. 
 
 Hadrian, Trajan's cousin, who followed 
 in 117, found it necessary to spend much 
 time in protecting these frontiers, as 
 Rome was constantly threatened with 
 invasions. 
 
 Trajan withdrew the boundaries in the 
 east nearer to Rome, and strengthened 
 the army. His most famous work was 
 Hadrian's Wall, which he built across the 
 island in Britain, to protect the southern 
 
 160 
 
part from the wild raiders of the High- 
 lands. 
 
 Hadrian also followed the example of 
 Trajan in developing that great network 
 of smooth, straight roads, that led from 
 Rome to all points of the empire. 
 
 Marcus Aurelius, the last of this group, 
 known as the good emperors, came to the 
 throne in i6i. He deserves to be remem- 
 bered by all who read of Rome. He was 
 a scholar, a philosopher, and a gentleman, 
 bringing the entire fruits of a great mind 
 and a good life to the work of guiding the 
 fortunes of his people. No task was too 
 great, no hardship too severe, if the good 
 of those he served might be attained. 
 
 Trained to the study and the salon, 
 Aurelius was obliged to give up his books 
 and friends to take the sword, and in the 
 wastes and forests of the frontiers, defend- 
 ing Rome from hostile invasion, he lived 
 and died. 
 
 Strong to rebuke the wrongdoer and to 
 defend the oppressed, he so ruled that 
 the great spaces of the Roman world were 
 
 161 
 
filled with a population that enjoyed 
 happiness and prosperity which could 
 have been made possible only by the 
 service of a man of original genius and 
 capacity for self sacrifice. A volume of 
 ''Meditations" left by the Philosopher 
 Emperor, is still, eighteen centuries after 
 his death, of service to thoughtful readers. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond G Whitcomb. 
 
 ONCE THE BATTLEGROUND OF ROME AND GAUL 
 
 162 
 
MANY BAD RULERS 
 
 CoMMODUS, the son of Marcus Aurelius, 
 proved a wretch so infamous that he was 
 at last, in 192, murdered by his own 
 soldiers. 
 
 Again the army ruled. The empire 
 was 200 years old, and well established, 
 but the emperor's throne had become the 
 object of rivalry and strife among the 
 generals of the armxy. 
 
 The strongest won, but such was the 
 difficulty of ruling, and so many were 
 they who wanted the place, that, during 
 the following ninety years, twenty-seven 
 "barrack emperors" came and went. 
 Nearly all died at the hands of those whom 
 they tried to rule. 
 
 163 
 
NOTABLE CHANGES IN ROME 
 
 During three hundred years, from 31 
 B. C, to 284 A. D., the Roman Empire 
 had shown many important results of the 
 greatest interest. 
 
 With a hollow mockery of republican 
 forms, in the hands of a greedy band of 
 nobles, who made up the senate, the 
 empire had come close to the edge of 
 destruction. 
 
 Under Caesar it secured that strength 
 which comes from order and good govern- 
 ment. Augustus retained the directing 
 power, but left the old forms of republican 
 machinery. The senate voted, the assem- 
 bly discussed public matters, and local 
 councils all over the empire attended to 
 local business. 
 
 During the next century, the emperors 
 followed this plan of rule. Intelligent 
 citizens realized that the emperor held all 
 
 164 
 
real power, but the majority were satis- 
 fied to see the empire strong and pros- 
 perous. During this century, the people 
 under Roman rule, from Spain to Egypt, 
 enjoyed civilized comforts and prosperity 
 such as they had never before known, and 
 have never known since. 
 
 Rich men took pride in showing gener- 
 osity in public works. Great cities, with 
 water works, sewers, theatres and spacious 
 homes, were scattered over the territory 
 where mean dirty hamlets now lie. 
 
 Beneath this activity and prosperity 
 were, however, serious defects, which, 
 like worms in a palace wall, slowly 
 weakened the foundations of the State. 
 
 Self government gave way more and 
 more to government from the ruler's 
 throne. To enforce his rule and protect 
 his boundaries, the emperor made his 
 army strong. The fighting, no longer 
 cared for by patriotic citizens, was left 
 to the hands of professional soldiers. 
 
 War became a profession, and citizens 
 became weaker in body and will, more 
 
 165 
 
servile, more docile, more willing to be 
 cared for and do as they were told. 
 
 All this time fierce nations which hated 
 Rome, and wanted her rich lands, pressed 
 upon her borders, while the army itself, 
 producing nothing, was becoming master 
 of those who worked and produced. 
 
 During the last century before 284 
 A. D., conditions showed the worms at 
 work; the structure began to totter. 
 Generals bought for a vast price the 
 imperial throne, and were soon murdered 
 by the soldiers, who wished to sell the 
 empire over again. 
 
 Even had Rome been free from dan- 
 gerous enemies, this condition must soon 
 have brought ruin in its train. 
 
 But on all the borders of the empire 
 were nations, not trained in the arts and 
 enjoyments of peace, which looked with 
 envy upon the wealth and comforts of the 
 Romans. 
 
 The Moors were moving north in 
 Africa; the Persians were attacking from 
 the east; the Goths were overrunning 
 
 166 
 
northern Greece; the Germans were de- 
 scending into Italy itself; and the Franks 
 were pressing into Gaul and Spain. 
 
 As a further trouble, the Empire was, 
 in 1 66, visited by a terrible plague. 
 During the following century, this plague 
 returned frequently, bringing desolation 
 upon many communities. 
 
 The ravages of enemies without, and of 
 disease within, found no sturdy Romans 
 to withstand them. The Romans had 
 become enervated. They loved comforts 
 and luxuries, and had small families. 
 They still looked for protection and con- 
 trol to the throne, and they looked in vain. 
 
 The rule of one man as emperor could 
 be successful only so long as the emperor 
 and his people were men of power and 
 ambition. The very nature of imperial 
 rule had robbed the citizens of power and 
 ambition, and with the pillars of its whole 
 structure thus weakened, the empire 
 began to crumble in decay. 
 
 167 
 
DIOCLETIAN - DIVISION OF THE 
 ROMAN EMPIRE 
 
 284 
 
 When Diocletian came to the throne 
 in 284, he realized that the task of ruling 
 had become too great for one man. He 
 therefore asked a faithful friend, Maxi- 
 mian, to rule with him, taking charge of 
 the East, while Diocletian ruled in the 
 West. 
 
 These rulers then each divided his part, 
 giving half into the care of an assistant. 
 
 Thus there were really four rulers now 
 in the empire, although Diocletian, by 
 his great ability, held command. He was 
 the last of those known as the barrack 
 emperors, a rough soldier, but able, far- 
 sighted, and earnest. After twenty years 
 of authority he resigned, and persuaded 
 his partner, Maximian, to do the same, 
 
 168 
 
leaving their two assistants to become 
 joint rulers. 
 
 This change brought on new civil wars, 
 and struggles for the throne, which 
 lasted seven years, until 306, when Con- 
 stantine, the son of one of these joint 
 rulers, who had died, came into power. 
 At first Constantine associated with 
 himself a joint ruler, but he soon quar- 
 relled with this associate, overcame his 
 forces, and ruled alone. 
 
 THE ARCH OF CONSTANTINE 
 
 169 
 
CONSTANTINE SUPPORTS 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 Constantine's rule must be remem- 
 bered for two important events: he recog- 
 nized Christianity as a favored or state 
 religion, and he transferred the capitol of 
 the empire from Rome to Byzantium on 
 the Bosporus, north of Greece. 
 
 Christianity had, during three hundred 
 years, grown steadily in the cities of the 
 empire. Because the Christians had re- 
 fused to worship the Roman gods and 
 emperors, and had held their meetings in 
 secret, they had been suspected and hated 
 by the lower-class Romans, and had been 
 punished, and persecuted to death by 
 intelligent Romans, because of the strife 
 and trouble aroused by their faith. 
 
 In the reign of Diocletian, a persecution 
 had been carried on against them with 
 
 170 
 
great severity, causing the death of 
 thousands. 
 
 But the Christian spirit grew constantly 
 among the people, and Constantine, far- 
 seeing and broadminded, decided to put 
 a stop to all persecution, and took the 
 Christians under his imperial protection. 
 
 Thus made free, the Christians spread 
 abroad their teachings among the Roman 
 people, and also among the barbarians 
 themselves. So it came about, when 
 Rome fell as a political state, the Chris- 
 tian groups were strong enough to hold 
 many important communities together, 
 and to preserve for later generations, the 
 most valuable of the Roman institutions. 
 
 Governments have come and gone, but 
 the Christian Church came to be recog- 
 nized as the very foundation of civilized 
 society. This act of Constantine, ac- 
 knowledging the Christians, was the most 
 important event of the fourth century. 
 
 Byzantium, with a wonderful situation 
 near the center of the empire, crossed by 
 many important trade routes, and pro- 
 
 171 
 
tected from barbarian hordes, seemed to 
 Constantine a better place for a capitol 
 than Rome. 
 
 The people in Byzantium were more 
 quiet than those of Rome, who had grown 
 turbulent and vicious during the long 
 years of strife under the barrack emperors. 
 
 For these and other reasons, Constan- 
 tine decided to make Byzantium his 
 capital, and to call it Constantinople, 
 which means the City of Constantine. 
 
 With the empire in the east now set up 
 by Constantine, we have little to do. It 
 brought nothing new or important to the 
 nations from which western civilization 
 sprang. It did form a protection for 
 several centuries, until its fall in 1453, 
 against attacks from the east, which 
 might have brought hordes of barbarous 
 races upon Europe, before it had gained 
 strength and discipline to withstand them. 
 It fought back one race after another for 
 a thousand years, until it was finally 
 broken up, and its territories occupied 
 largely by the Turkish Empire. 
 
 172 
 
ROME INVADED FROM WITHOUT 
 
 Germanic nations all along the north- 
 ern bounds of the Roman Empire had 
 been breaking through into her lands at 
 many points, and by 350 they were 
 already beginning to settle down and 
 make their homes within the Roman 
 boundaries. 
 
 These Germanic tribes were rough, 
 rude, warlike, and cruel, but they were 
 better citizens, in certain ways. They 
 were more upright, fearless and ambitious 
 than the cultured Romans. The Roman 
 home and civic life had in great part 
 become corrupt, but the life of the Ger- 
 manic people was pure and strong. They 
 were quick to learn, and ready to adopt 
 the Christian religion, which missionaries 
 had brought to them. 
 
 The Romans had gradually become 
 servile, cowardly, weak, and these strong 
 
 173 
 
men of pure blood and fresh vigor were 
 able to overcome the Romans. They 
 then mingled with them, lived among 
 them, and helped to build again the 
 crumbling structure of their state. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond <&" Whitcomb. 
 
 ROMAN BATHS AT NIMES, FRANCE 
 The Romans left in the cities of Gaul structures that rival those of 
 Rome. 
 
 174 
 
THE GOTHS 
 
 The Goths were the first of these 
 tribes to move southward. In great fear 
 of attack from the northeast by the Huns, 
 more terrible than the Goths, thousands 
 appeared upon the north bank of the 
 Danube, east of the Adriatic, and begged 
 the Romans to let them settle in safety 
 beyond the river. This was done, but 
 they were mistreated by the contemptu- 
 ous Romans, and revolted. They easily 
 overcame the Roman armies, and seized 
 more lands, but they showed little desire 
 to kill or destroy. 
 
 Alaric, in 395, was made the leader of 
 these Goths. Seeing how weak the Ro- 
 mans were, he led his people down into 
 Greece, and then around the Adriatic 
 into Italy, seeking the fairest lands for 
 homes. 
 
 175 
 
There his small force might have been 
 stopped, but thousands of other German 
 soldiers, enraged by their treatment in 
 the Roman army, joined Alaric. 
 
 Marching on, he came at last to Rome. 
 Mankind had thought Rome safe forever 
 from hostile arms, but Alaric besieged 
 the city twice, and in a third attack they 
 broke in and plundered Rome. 
 
 Being Christians, the Goths spared the 
 churches, and those who took refuge in 
 them. They took what plunder they 
 wanted, and then went farther south, 
 planning to cross into Africa, but the 
 death of Alaric put a stop to the African 
 migration. 
 
 Turning north again, one division of 
 the Goths moved up into Gaul and Spain, 
 where they ended their wanderings and 
 founded their new state. This covered 
 the southern part of Gaul, and almost the 
 whole of Spain. 
 
 In Gaul they remained about a century, 
 until the Franks took control, about 500. 
 In Spain their government lasted two 
 
 176 
 
centuries longer, until the Moors de- 
 stroyed their kingdom. 
 
 As years passed, the name *'Goth** 
 disappeared. They mingled with the 
 peoples of Gaul and Spain, adopted many 
 of their customs, and helped to improve 
 the races where they lived. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond i^ Vi/hiUoinb 
 
 A GOTHIC CASTLE 
 Towering above the surrounding land, gardens and fruit trees are made 
 secure by the great walls. 
 
 177 
 
THE VANDALS 
 
 Another tribe of the Germanic peoples, 
 the Vandals, finding the boundaries of 
 Gaul and Spain poorly guarded, had made 
 their way into Spain, and settled there. 
 When the Goths arrived, they forced the 
 Vandals south, across into Africa. 
 
 In Africa they built up again the city 
 of Carthage, and became a powerful 
 maritime people, as the Carthagenians 
 had been centuries before. Bold and 
 destructive by nature, they turned to 
 piracy and made all the Mediterranean 
 coasts tremble at their very name. 
 
 Finally' in 455, they attacked Rome 
 itself, half a century after Alaric had 
 captured the city. Bringing up a large 
 fleet, they spent two weeks plundering 
 and destroying. 
 
 Many treasures, gathered from all 
 
 178 
 
parts of the empire, of great historic 
 value and rehgious interest, had been 
 spared by Alaric. 
 
 These were now placed by the Vandals 
 upon their ships and carried out to sea, 
 where they were lost in a storm, which 
 wrecked most of the fleet. 
 
 For nearly another century the Vandals 
 harried the coasts, before they were 
 finally scattered. From their wanton 
 destruction the name ''Vandal" has come 
 to be used for any one who wantonly 
 destroys life or property. 
 
 THE TIBER, GUARDING ANCIENT ROME 
 
 179 
 
ATTILA AND THE HUNS 
 
 When the Goths begged to cross the 
 Danube, about 375, they were in deadly 
 fear of a fierce Tartar race, which was 
 crowding into central Europe from Asia. 
 These were the Huns. 
 
 The Huns were not at all like the 
 great, fair Goths. They were small, 
 wiry, tough, with beardless faces, scarred 
 in boyhood with hot irons, and beadlike 
 eyes. 
 
 The Huns rode on small, swift horses, 
 and fought so fiercely that all fled before 
 them. 
 
 Sweeping westward under their king, 
 Attila, these fierce hordes sought not 
 homes or new lands, like the Goths, but 
 booty and destruction. Men, women, 
 and children were killed, homes were 
 burned, and fields laid waste wherever 
 they passed. 
 
 180 
 
Finally, seeing that they would all 
 perish if they did not resist, the men of 
 Gaul, Germans and Romans together, 
 joined in a fierce battle with Attila at 
 Chalons, in Gaul, in 451. The Huns 
 were defeated, and Europe was saved. 
 
 The next year, after ravaging part of 
 Italy, Attila died, his ill organized king- 
 dom soon went to pieces, and by the 
 sixth century, the Huns had mostly 
 disappeared from Europe. 
 
 THE COLOSSEUM IN ROME 
 This vast structure seated 87,000 people. Beneath the arena were the 
 pits and caverns, where beasts and prisoners were kept, till they 
 were thrust forth to die, to make sport for the Romans. 
 
 181 
 
THE FRANKS 
 
 The Franks were another tribe of 
 Germanic people who had come south- 
 ward into Gaul, while the Roman Empire 
 was gradually breaking up. They crossed 
 the Rhine and settled in the lands south 
 and west of that river. 
 
 Their numbers increased, and when, in 
 410, Alaric the Goth captured Rome, the 
 Franks also began to realize the weakness 
 of the Empire, and to build up a power of 
 their own. 
 
 The Franks were still heathen, rough, 
 and savage, but, like their relatives, the 
 Goths, they were ambitious and quick to 
 learn. Their aim was not kill and de- 
 stroy, but to develop and control a 
 homeland. 
 
 182 
 
This they were able to do, and the 
 country called Gaul came to be known as 
 France. Their later story can better be 
 told under the history of that country. 
 
 SAI>srr VINCENTO 
 While Rome was falling apart, learning, and the records of Roman 
 civilization were sheltered in monasteries like this. 
 
 183 
 
THE FALL OF ROME 
 
 476 
 
 With the Goths, the Vandals, the 
 Huns, and the Franks, and other nations 
 of less importance, breaking in and taking 
 land and cities, the Roman Empire of the 
 West has now become only a name. 
 
 The event which is given by historians 
 as that which marked conveniently the 
 end of Roman history, and the beginning, 
 on the peninsula, of Italian history, came 
 in 476 ; and that date is given as marking 
 the Fall of Rome. 
 
 Odoacer, a leader of the Goths, had 
 been trained in arms. He understood 
 fairly well the conditions in Italy, and 
 was wise, bold, and ambitious. After a 
 victorious campaign in the East, as a 
 general under the Byzantine emperor, 
 Odoacer made his way to Italy. 
 
 In Italy he found that the western 
 
 184 
 
emperor was little Augustus, a lad of 
 eight. The boy's father was the real 
 ruler, and was in the midst of a quarrel 
 with his Gothic soldiers, about land for 
 their homes. Odoacer understood these 
 Goths. ''Just make me king," he told 
 them, "and you shall have all the land 
 you want." 
 
 This offer they promptly accepted and 
 elected Odoacer king. He then beheaded 
 the little emperor's father, and sent the 
 lad off to live in a pretty house with all 
 the toys he wanted. 
 
 Thus Odoacer the Goth came into 
 undisputed possession of the throne of 
 the Romans. The history of the Roman 
 Empire is closed and the story of Italy 
 begins. 
 
 Rome, as a great nation, had lasted 
 less than four hundred years before it 
 began to crumble. First we see a republic 
 gorging itself with the spoils, the very 
 lifeblood of its neighbor nations, growing 
 wonderfully, and, overcoming all opposi- 
 tion, in an overwhelming ambition to 
 
 185 
 
rule, for the sake of preying upon those 
 it could dominate. 
 
 This republic, approaching destruction 
 from the quick decay of its manhood and 
 citizenship, after little more than a cen- 
 tury, becomes an empire, dominated by a 
 tyrant and his army, while the republican 
 forms gradually give way to those of a 
 monarchy. 
 
 Rebuilt by the earnest labor of a few 
 great rulers, the nation lives again, 
 stronger, happier, more prosperous than 
 ever before. 
 
 This empire now develops and builds 
 up the provinces that the old Republic 
 despoiled. These provinces add their 
 strength to the empire, but beyond the 
 provinces there is a ring of other nations 
 that Rome would gladly destroy, had it 
 still the power. 
 
 Again, however, protected in war, and 
 dominated in peace, by the ruler and his 
 army, the manhood of the empire decays, 
 ambition flags, strife grows, the great 
 empire splits in two parts. 
 
 186 
 
The virile barbarians, seeing her decay, 
 crowd in and wrest control from those 
 too feeble and cowardly to defend their 
 lands, and the great empire comes to an 
 end. 
 
 WOMAN GATHRING WOOD 
 In Italy wood is scarce, and the pooi- must gather it in small branches 
 as best they can. 
 
 187 
 
ITALY 
 
 HER STORY BEGINS 
 
 476 A. D. 
 
 The great Roman Empire had flourish- 
 ed as a single state for three hundred years 
 and more. It covered the lands where 
 Germany, France, Spain, England, Italy 
 and portions of Jugo-Slavia now are. It 
 also spread over into Africa, and into the 
 east as far as Persia. 
 
 The tribes from without had finally 
 forced their way down into the western 
 part of the empire, till the government 
 had little control over this territory. 
 
 At last Odoacer, a Goth, took the crown 
 from the head of the little Augustus, 
 who then held the title as Emperor in the 
 west, and put it on his own head. 
 
 When a Gothic prince, coming down 
 from the north, thus put on the emperor's 
 crown, historians agreed that this marked 
 
 188 
 
the end of the Roman empire in the west. 
 So, though no great change took place, 
 476 A. D. is said to mark the end of 
 Rome, on the Itahan peninsula, and the 
 beginning of the histor}^ of Italy. 
 
 The Empire of the East, with its capital 
 at Constantinople, continued to exist, 
 under varying fortunes, for another thou- 
 sand years. In 1453 it was overcome by 
 the Turks, who blotted out the last trace 
 of what had been the great Empire of 
 Rome. 
 
 Our story will now turn to those people 
 who were to take up their life on the 
 Italian peninsula after the empire of 
 Rome had passed away. 
 
 Odoacer was called a barbarian b^^ the 
 Romans, because he was of a rough, 
 warlike, Germanic race, but his rule in 
 Italy was better than that of the weak, 
 dissolute men who had preceded him. 
 
 For fourteen years he did his best to 
 make Italy prosperous and happy, and 
 he then gave way to a Gothic leader even 
 stronger and more resolute than himself, 
 
 189 
 
THEODORIC 
 
 489 A. D. 
 
 Theodoric was a Gothic prince, trained 
 in the court service at Constantinople. 
 In him were combined the rugged power 
 of the Goths, and the skill in ruling men, 
 that he had gained as a leader of armies 
 under the eastern emperor. 
 
 The eastern emperor soon came to fear 
 this great, handsome, dominating Goth, 
 and when Theodoric asked permission 
 to conquer Italy, and overcome Odoacer, 
 it was quickly granted. When a ruler 
 has two enemies to be feared, he likes 
 nothing better than to set them fighting 
 each other. 
 
 Theodoric at once gathered his people 
 together. They placed all their goods on 
 great carts, and started, with their women 
 and children, across the mountains for 
 Italy. Theodoric planned to capture the 
 
 190 
 
Italian peninsula and to rnake it a home 
 for all his people. 
 
 At last, after a march of nearly a 
 thousand miles, and for part of the way 
 in very cold weather, these sturdy Goths 
 reached Italy. 
 
 Both Odoacer and Theodoric were good 
 generals, and neither was able to overcome 
 the other. So they made a treaty, agree- 
 ing to divide the territory. 
 
 This done, a great feast was held in the 
 camp of Theodoric, and at this feast 
 Odoacer was murdered. All his family 
 were later put to death by Theodoric, 
 for fear that some member might lay 
 claim to the crown. 
 
 Then began a long rule by a truly great 
 man. Theodoric, like m.ost leaders of his 
 day, was cruel to his enemies, but when 
 these were safely out of the way, he 
 devoted all his high talents to making 
 Italy prosperous and happy. 
 
 Theodoric did indeed lack those cul- 
 tured gifts the Romans had prized. He 
 could not read nor write, but he made all 
 
 191 
 
respect his will. He promoted manu- 
 factures, husbandry, and commerce. He 
 saw that all men were treated justly. He 
 brought Italy to a place of honor among 
 the nations, and caused her to bless the 
 day he became her ruler. 
 
 He was Vx^ise enough to select as Secre- 
 tary of State a scholarly man, named 
 Cassiodorus. Cassiodorus rendered im- 
 portant service to literature in preserving 
 the libraries from destruction, and in 
 inducing the Benedictines to carry on the 
 production of books. 
 
 Theodoric ruled forty three years in 
 Italy. He died in 576, leaving no sons 
 to carry on his central goverment; and no 
 leader appeared who was strgng enough 
 to take his place. 
 
 A GONDOLA IN \'E\ICE 
 
 192 
 
ITALY IS TORN WITH STRIFE 
 
 Italy, without a strong, controlling 
 hand, soon became tangled in many 
 quarrels. Large cities, Rome, Naples, 
 Ravenna, Florence, Milan, behaved like 
 those of Greece in former days. Each 
 undertook to rule an independent domin- 
 ion and to carry on rivalries and strife 
 with its neighbors. 
 
 The Emperor of the East, learning of 
 this anarchy in Italy, sent Belisarius, a 
 great general, to win back the lost pro- 
 vinces in the west. 
 
 Then began wars without end. The 
 story of how Belisarius captured Naples is 
 a famous tale. 
 
 Having overcome Sicily and all the 
 southern districts, without much trouble, 
 he found Naples too strong to attack. 
 
 Sending his soldiers to examine every 
 rock and grove about the city, Belisarius 
 
 193 
 
found at last a deserted aqueduct that led 
 beneath the walls. 
 
 "Search it out," he ordered. "It may 
 give an opening within the gates." 
 
 A scout crept in, and made his way 
 down, till he came to a place too narrow 
 to admit his body. 
 
 "Take big files," came the command, 
 "and file away the rock. Strike not with 
 hammers, lest they hear the blows." 
 
 Soon the opening gave passage. The 
 rest was clear, and at the end they found 
 themselves in an empty reservoir. 
 
 Clinging to the rocks, they crawled up 
 the steep sides. There they found an 
 old woman, gathering grapes by her cot- 
 tage door. 
 
 Threatened with death, the old woman 
 stood dumb, while the men let down ropes, 
 and drew up six hundred comrades. 
 
 At midnight they went silently to the 
 city gates, overcame the guards, and let 
 in the army. 
 
 Finding themselves outwitted, the 
 garrison of Naples quite willingly joined 
 
 194 
 
Belisarius, and went along with him to 
 capture Rome. That city, not unwilUng 
 to change Gothic rule for Roman, was 
 easily taken. 
 
 City after city was taken by Belisarius 
 and was returned to the rule of the eastern 
 empire. But hardly had Belisarius gone 
 on to enlarge his conquests, when the 
 Goths, or Franks, or some other tribe of 
 barbarians, would press forward again to 
 the attack, until life in Italy was like one 
 great riot. Even the quiet days were 
 weather breeders, heralding a storm to 
 follow. 
 
 Belisarius was a great general, and an 
 honest upright ruler of men, but he found 
 his walls falling down almost as fast as 
 he built them up. His troubles with the 
 Goths and Franks were enough, but a new 
 race now descended on Italy, even more 
 terrible than these. The new invaders 
 were the Lombards, a fierce race which 
 migrated from the north, and which now 
 looked covetously on the fair fields of 
 Italy. 
 
 195 
 
Ruthless, powerful, and brave, they 
 spread terror before them, and captured 
 city after city. They gave their name 
 to a northern province, later known as 
 Lombardy. 
 
 This invasion of the Lombards com- 
 pletely destroyed the unity of Italy. They 
 were not strong enough to control the 
 peninsula, so they gradually withdrew to 
 Lombardy, in the north, where they made 
 their homes. 
 
 This left many cities, like those of 
 ancient Greece, each more or less inde- 
 pendent; each fighting with its neighbors 
 for precedence. 
 
 From about 575, to 800 A. D., the 
 peninsula was torn with strife among those 
 seeking power or wealth, and no one 
 person or one city-state was great enough 
 to secure mastery of the country. 
 
 196 
 
JHE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 When the Roman Empire broke up, 
 and the central authority was gone, one 
 institution remained to guide the desti- 
 nies of the new Italy that was to be. 
 This was the Christian Church. 
 
 Through all the years, when the power 
 of the old Empire was waning, mission- 
 aries had been quietly at work, out 
 beyond the frontiers. They had gone 
 into Gaul, to Spain, to Germany, to 
 Britain, and had preached there the 
 doctrine of brotherhood and charity of 
 the Christian Church. 
 
 Most of these missionaries had gone 
 forth from Rome, where the bishops had 
 been strong and active. Their converts, 
 who were numerous in the provinces, 
 saw the veneration these missionaries 
 paid to the head of the church in Rome, 
 and they also learned to venerate the 
 
 197 
 
one who directed the Christian Church. 
 
 So, when other rulers lost power, and 
 confusion came into life throughout 
 Italy, there were thousands who had 
 learned to look with respect and venera- 
 tion on the Bishop of Rome, as one who 
 could command others, deal justly, settle 
 disputes, and direct the lives of unhappy, 
 disturbed people into more peaceful ways. 
 
 These Christian people steadily in- 
 creased in number, and the importance of 
 the Church at Rome became greater and 
 greater. Whatever changes took place 
 in kings and kingdoms, the Church 
 remained steadfast, always organized, 
 and firm on its foundations. 
 
 Soon after the fall of Rome, in 476 A. D., 
 the Bishop of Rome came to be called 
 ''papa," father, by many, and this word 
 grew into ''pope." 
 
 As people died in the faith, with money 
 and property to dispose of, they often 
 left it to the Pope of Rome, to save it 
 from the grasp of greedy and wicked ones. 
 Great estates were left in his care, as the 
 
 198 
 
years rolled on, and even cities and 
 districts came under his direct control. 
 
 Thus it happened that the Pope of 
 Rome became the head of the Christian 
 Church all through the land once covered 
 by the Western Empire of Rome, and he 
 has remained to this day the head of the 
 Roman Catholic Church in all lands. 
 
 Thus it also came about that the Pope 
 of Rome became the ruler of cities and 
 districts larger than those of many a 
 king, and held such power that kings 
 themselves bowed beneath his mandate. 
 They not only respected him as the head 
 of all things spiritual, but respected him 
 as one who could call thousands, even 
 millions, to his aid in case of need. 
 
 Copyright Edward Crosby Doughty 
 
 ENTRANCE TO PI NCI AN GARDNES, ROME 
 
 199 
 
CHARLEMAGNE 
 
 800 
 
 Charlemagne was a great king who 
 not only helped to* build up the power 
 of the Christian Church, but did much to 
 bring order out of the chaos in Western 
 Europe. 
 
 Charlemagne was a ruler of the Franks, 
 who had settled in the region now covered 
 by France and Germany. He was an 
 organizer and ruler nearly equal to Julius 
 Caesar. Gradually he brought to sub- 
 mission one rebellious tribe after another, 
 till a vast territory north of Italy, from 
 Spain to northern Greece, had been 
 subdued, and brought into a unified 
 dominion. 
 
 These Franks were Christians, and 
 when the pope was attacked by the Lom- 
 bards and other enemies, he begged the 
 Franks for help. Charlemagne went to 
 
 200 
 
the Pope's aid with such good will and 
 success that when the Prankish armies, 
 in 800 A. D., finally put the enemies of 
 the pope to rout, the pope crowned their 
 great leader, and made him emperor of 
 the domain they controlled together. 
 
 Charlemagne now ruled not only great 
 regions of the north but Italy also. He 
 had his central court at Aix la Chapelle 
 in the Rhine Valley, and showed such 
 wisdom and power in his conduct of affairs 
 that many of the German tribes were 
 brought under a central government, and 
 became civilized to such an extent that 
 Italy was spared many attacks from the 
 western barbarians that otherwise must 
 have come upon her. 
 
 Although no successor followed Charle- 
 magne, strong enough to wield his sceptre 
 and control the empire, the influence of 
 his rule endured in Italy for at least two 
 centuries. 
 
 201 
 
THE NORMANS IN ITALY 
 
 ABOUT 1000 
 
 During the century before the year 
 I GOO, a band of powerful, resolute, sea- 
 faring people had sailed down from 
 Scandinavia, and ravaged the shores of 
 Britain and Gaul. They took an im- 
 portant part in the history of these lands, 
 and they conquered, as their own home, 
 a part of Northern Gaul, now called 
 Normandy. 
 
 Tancred was a Norman prince who had 
 twelve sons, all bold hardy adventurers. 
 These young men joined expeditions into 
 the Mediterranean sea, which the Nor- 
 mans were sending out just after the year 
 
 I GOO. 
 
 Led by the bold sons of Tancred, the 
 Normans attacked and captured the 
 islands south of Italy, and parts of Italy 
 itself. 
 
 202 
 
*'Ah, those lands are fair, and rich/* 
 they cried, when they returned to their 
 father's court. "We must capture and 
 hold them for our own." 
 
 For many years, first under the leader- 
 ship of Tancred's sons, and later under 
 other leaders, equally wild and fearless, 
 the Normans battled for the possession 
 of Italian cities. In 1084 they captured 
 and sacked Rome, and in 1090 Count 
 Roger conquered Sicily, which was held 
 as a Norman Kingdom. A Duchy under 
 Norman rule was also established on the 
 mainland. 
 
 Gradually, however, these Normans 
 mingled with the native Italians and 
 became a part of the people they sought 
 to rule. 
 
 COLUMBUS STARTS FOR AMERICA 
 
 203 
 
THE CRUSADES 
 
 ABOUT 1100 
 
 After the death of the great Charle- 
 magne, in 814, Italy had been given over 
 more and more to wars from without, 
 and strife from within. By iioo these 
 troubles were bringing her people into 
 sad confusion and hardships, when great 
 events took place which roused fresh 
 interests, and gave life in many Italian 
 cities a new and wider outlook. The 
 Crusades were beginning. 
 
 With the growth of the Christian 
 Church, sacred spots, here and there, in 
 Christian lands, became noted. People 
 would tell how a lame leg was cured while 
 praying at one shrine. Others reported 
 how blindness was cured at another 
 shrine. Gradually the number of people 
 grew, until thousands were visiting these 
 sacred spots for prayer and help. 
 
 204 
 
The tomb of Christ, at Jerusalem, was 
 the one shrine sacred above all others. 
 There thousands went, though the way 
 was long and dangerous, to worship, and 
 take some sacred relic back to their 
 homes in Europe. 
 
 In 634, Jerusalem, with its holy places, 
 had been captured by the Mohammedans. 
 In the succeeding twenty-five years, the 
 Arab armies swept over the whole of north 
 Africa, into Spain on the west, and up 
 into Asia Minor on the east. 
 
 While the Mohammedans from Arabia 
 controlled the holy places about Jerusalem, 
 the pilgrims from other lands were treated 
 with courtesy, and the natives profited 
 much from the money spent in Pales- 
 tine. 
 
 By the close of the eleventh century, 
 however, all this was changed. A race 
 of Turks, coming down from central 
 Asia, were won over to the Mohammedan 
 faith, and then became the rulers of the 
 Mohammedan lands. 
 
 No sooner had the Turks taken control 
 
 205 
 
THE UNTAMED TUEK 
 
 Thousands of these men, allies of the Germans, murdered thousands 
 
 of Christians during the war, and are still at it. 
 
of Palestine, than sad tales of their 
 behavior were told in Europe. 
 
 "They robbed us, they insulted us, they 
 killed our friends. We just escaped with 
 our lives. They desecrate the holy 
 places.'* 
 
 The good Christians throughout Europe 
 naturally became enraged; and in 1095 
 the Emperor of what remained of the 
 Eastern Roman Empire, called upon 
 the Pope of Rome for help against these 
 infidels. 
 
 In turn the Pope called upon the 
 Christians in Europe to save the holy 
 places from the Turks. 
 
 In answer to his call hundreds of thou- 
 sands pledged themselves to help. The 
 wars and quarrels over these western 
 lands ceased. All eyes turned to the 
 East. All minds were lifted in exhalted 
 thoughts of rescue for their holy places. 
 From every tongue rose the cry: "It is 
 the will of God." 
 
 As Italy lay in the path from western 
 Europe to the Holy Land, she received 
 
 206 
 
rich benefits from these Crusades. Cities 
 on the sea, Hke Genoa and Venice, rapidly 
 grew in wealth and power. 
 
 The movement was so vast that these 
 people were carried forward in ideals and 
 ideas to a new point of civilization. Those 
 returning from the east brought news of 
 cities, and schools, and public works, far 
 better than those in Italy, and the 
 Italians had a desire to improve their 
 own conditions. 
 
 With this new idea of life came pro- 
 sperity enough to carry out their hopes 
 and aspirations, for the trade through 
 Italian cities had increased to enormous 
 figures. 
 
 As an example, let us remember that 
 not long after this the city of Florence 
 ruled more people and owned greater 
 treasure than did the king of England. 
 
 The Crusaders succeeded at first in 
 wresting Palestine and the holy places 
 from the Mohammedans, where they 
 outdid the Turks themselves in cruelty 
 and violence. 
 
 207 
 
Gradually the high ideals which had 
 inspired the Crusades also passed. 
 
 The Christian leaders fought each other 
 instead of the infidel Turks, and the 
 Crusades degenerated into expeditions 
 for conquest and plunder. 
 
 The story of the last important Crusade 
 shows the way Christian cities in that 
 day were likely to behave. 
 
 A hundred years after the first success- 
 ful crusade set forth, an army of laiights 
 from France and Germany arrived in 
 Venice, planning to hire ships, and buy 
 supplies for the trip to Palestine. 
 
 They waited for money to arrive from 
 home, but it did not come. Already they 
 were in debt to the Doge of Venice for 
 food and shelter. 
 
 ''Your people will never send money 
 to pay your debts," he told them, at 
 last. 'Why don't you join me in a 
 venture that will make us all rich?" 
 
 "What is it?" they cried. 
 
 "Forget about the Holy Land. No 
 profit lies there. Let us join forces and 
 
 208 
 
capture Constantinople. It is a city of 
 vast treasure, and will make us rich." 
 
 So they set forth. 
 
 At the call of the Emperor in Con- 
 stantinople, the first Crusade had gone 
 in iioo to his aid against a common foe. 
 Now in 1 200, the army of the fourth 
 Crusade w^as stealthily approaching the 
 doomed city. 
 
 The Crusaders and Venetians captured 
 Constantinople easily, and treated the 
 inhabitants, supposed to be their true 
 Christian friends, w4th barbarities similar 
 to those of the Huns, Vandals, or Turks. 
 
 Vast treasures they did take away so 
 that all were rich. The amount of gold, 
 silver, precious stones, and works of art 
 lost by Constantinople was so great that 
 historians do not try to measure the total. 
 
 Venice, up to this time prosperous and 
 happy, made enemies by her treacherous 
 attack on Constantinople that finally 
 caused her downfall. 
 
 It was clear now that the true spirit of 
 the Crusades was gone, and before long 
 
 209 
 
the number of pilgrims dwindled, till few 
 attempted the long, dangerous journey. 
 The influence on Italy, however, was 
 lasting. The new ideas, the social pro- 
 gress, the mingling of races, and the 
 great wealth she had gained from the 
 Crusades, during the two hundred years 
 from iioo to 1300, made it certain that 
 Italy was to take a prominent place in 
 the affairs of western Europe. 
 
 A STREET IN VENICE 
 
 210 
 
THE GUELPHS AND GHIBELLINES 
 
 When the feverish missionary spirit 
 of the Crusades died away, a selfish, 
 jealous spirit grew, which appears in the 
 sack of Constantinople. It was the old 
 Greek situation all over again. 
 
 Genoa and Venice, Florence and Milan, 
 Rome and Naples, as well as other great 
 cities, hated each other, and each did its 
 best to gain wealth through the destruc- 
 tion of its neighbors. 
 
 With this jealous strife there also came 
 a division into parties and politics that 
 split all Italy. One side supported the 
 authority of the Pope of Rome. They 
 were called the Guelphs. The other 
 supported the Emperor, who still claimed 
 to rule Italy from his court in Germany. 
 His partisans in Italy were known as 
 Ghibellines. 
 
 211 
 
The wars between these two parties 
 were quite hke the other wars of those 
 terrible times. No mercy was shown to 
 either age or sex. In these bloody con- 
 flicts, old men, young men, women and 
 children, were not spared. 
 
 See what happened to Milan: 
 
 Milan was at war with Lodi, a neighbor 
 city. The emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, 
 took the part of Lodi. Milan refused to 
 submit to his dictation. Calling on her 
 enemies for help, the emperor marched 
 against Milan, starved it into surrender, 
 and massacred the inhabitants. 
 
 ''Now," he said, "Let us make an end 
 of this impudent brood. They wanted 
 war, let them have it." 
 
 With this he divided Milan into dis- 
 tricts, and assigned each part to the 
 people of Lodi, and other cities that 
 hated Milan. 
 
 At his command they set to work, and 
 labored day after day with ferocious 
 energy, till they had torn to pieces every 
 building, excepting the churches, and 
 
 212 
 
nothing was left of Milan but a heap of 
 ruins. 
 
 The two parties continued this terrible 
 strife, though later under different names, 
 for several centuries, and their conflicts 
 made it impossible for Italy to unite 
 against nations about her, that con- 
 stantly sought to triumph by her disasters 
 and to profit by her loss. 
 
 THE. CELL \VHERE SAVONAROLA WAS IMPRISONED 
 
 213 
 
REMOVAL OF THE PAPACY 
 
 After a hundred years of aimless 
 strife among the different cities in Italy, 
 we come to 1308. This date is important, 
 because in that year the pope, who was a 
 Frenchman, decided to accept the invita- 
 tion of the King of France, to move his 
 headquarters from Rome to Avignon, in 
 France. 
 
 There the head of the church remained 
 for seventy years. Then the pope re- 
 turned to Rome, where he has remained 
 ever since. 
 
 While the pope was in France a terrible 
 plague, felt all over Europe, visited Italy 
 with horrible results. This plague was 
 known as the Black Death. 
 
 Pestilence was common in those days 
 of ignorance and filth; and sudden death 
 from disease was a common visitor in 
 
 214 
 
every home, but the Black Death was a 
 new and awful sickness. 
 
 Thousands upon thousands died during 
 the middle part of the fourteenth century, 
 until a quarter of Italy's population had 
 been swept away. 
 
 BARBAROSSA 
 
 215 
 
LEARNING AND CULTURE 
 AWAKE 
 
 As time went on, however, through the 
 fourteenth century and into the fifteenth, 
 a new flower blossomed in Italy. 
 
 The Romans had been coarse and 
 greedy, interested in money, lands and 
 property. For pleasure they arranged 
 combats by gladiators or wild animals. 
 Learning was little prized. Painting, 
 sculpture, literature held small place in 
 their ideals. 
 
 But now, with the rise of great cities, 
 following the years of the Black Death, 
 there appeared a group of nobles, rich, 
 intelligent, and free, who began to patron- 
 ize the fine arts. 
 
 Under this protection, the delicate 
 blooms of artistic creation appeared in 
 many hues. 
 
 Dante, the Florentine poet, wrote his 
 
 216 
 
Divine Comedy, a story of a visit to Hell 
 and Heaven. This work made his name 
 great forever. 
 
 Following Dante, from 1400 to 1600, 
 great painters, like Botticelli and Leon- 
 ardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo, 
 created immortal pictures. They made 
 this age an epoch of art in their field never 
 since equalled. 
 
 Savonarola, a great preacher, stirred 
 the hearts of thousands to a higher, better 
 life, and died, tortured by his enemies, 
 before he knew the happy results of his 
 sermons. 
 
 Wonderful buildings rose in Rome, 
 Venice, Florence and other cities, to prove 
 the powers of these great creative artists. 
 
 It was the dawn of learning and culture 
 again, after the dark centuries of turmoil, 
 following the fall of Rome. 
 
 217 
 
COLUMBUS 
 
 1492 
 
 The fifteenth century closed with the 
 splendid achievement of Columbus, an 
 Italian who lived in Genoa. 
 
 The trade routes to the east had now 
 been closed by the Turks, who had cap- 
 tured xA.sia Minor and Constantinople. 
 The trade of Genoa was dwindling, the 
 city was rapidly losing its wealth and 
 influence. 
 
 Columbus, a daring commander, and 
 skillful sailor, believed he could find a 
 new route to the east, and make his city 
 rich again. 
 
 Under the patronage of the Queen of 
 Spain, Isabella, he sailed west, west, west, 
 and in 1492 he found America. 
 
 Columbus died unrewarded. Genoa 
 did not become rich, but the voyage 
 
 218 
 
opened the eyes of all Europe to a 
 new world, of which they had never 
 dreamed, and turned them from the east 
 to the new lands beyond the western 
 ocean. 
 
 Copyright Raymond id Whitcomb 
 
 THE SHORE AT GENOA 
 Where Columbus sailed in boyhood days. 
 
 219 
 
ITALY IN FOREIGN HANDS 
 
 1500 
 
 While the independent cities of Florence, 
 Venice, Genoa, and their like, had been 
 rising to power with the impetus of the 
 Crusades, and with new views of the 
 world and life about them, other countries 
 had been taking definite shape and grow- 
 ing into unified kingdoms. 
 
 England, France, Spain, and Germany, 
 were no longer loose groups of warlike 
 tribes, with uncertain boundaries. They 
 were nations, under powerful rulers, uni- 
 fied to a large degree, and ambitious to 
 enlarge their boundaries and possessions. 
 
 Italy, as a result of the civil wars of her 
 cities, was now weak, and nearly helpless, 
 and France, Spain, and Germany planned 
 to divide Italy among themselves. 
 
 The French and Spanish kings made a 
 
 220 
 
bargain, and each sent armies to the 
 south of Italy. 
 
 They found no enemies there to fight 
 with, so the King of Spain sent word to 
 his general: 
 
 ''I think we cannot trust the French. 
 You had better act first." 
 
 The Spanish then turned upon the 
 French, and took over for Spain all the 
 disputed possessions. 
 
 Then the Germans came down to attack 
 the Pope of Rome. The pope had no 
 army to defend him, so the Germans, 
 supposed to be his Christian subjects, 
 captured Rome. 
 
 The Germans showed such cruelty and 
 brutality, that more harm came to the 
 cherished treasures of art and architecture 
 than had come to Rome from all the 
 ravages of Huns, Goths, or Vandals. 
 
 These devastating raids continued for 
 forty or fifty years, until the great nations 
 were ready to rest for a time. 
 
 About 1525, we find the greater part of 
 Italy in the power of the Spanish kings. 
 
 221 
 
So she remained for more than a century, 
 gradually recovering from the utter ruin 
 brought upon her by long years of war. 
 
 She was a subject state, but happier 
 and more prosperous than when she was 
 torn with civil war. After all, there was 
 little of either happiness or prosperity in 
 Italy during these centuries. 
 
 Roger Ascham, a famous English writer, 
 says of his visit to Italy about 1560: 
 
 '1 thank God my abode in Italy was 
 only nine days/* 
 
 A PEASANTS HOUSE IN OSTIA 
 A seaport for the Roman navy, fourteen miles firOOl Rome. 
 
 222 
 
TWO CENTURIES OF WATTING 
 
 1560 TO 1780 
 
 Under the constant hammering of one 
 enemy after another, both foreign and 
 domestic, the Hves of the people in Italy 
 were almost without hope or aspiration. 
 They longed only to escape murder or 
 starvation. 
 
 During the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 centuries the various Italian states devel- 
 oped slowly, under dukes and kings 
 appointed largely by foreign powers. 
 
 By the eighteenth century, however, 
 these rulers understood their duties better, 
 and direct control from outside Italy 
 grew less and less. 
 
 Spain was losing her weight as. a lead- 
 ing power in Europe by 1700, and through 
 the following century a new kingdom, 
 Austria, took the influence over Italy that 
 Spain had enjoyed a century before. 
 
 223 
 
No great changes took place on the 
 peninsula during these sad years. Little 
 tyrants rose, got as much as they could 
 from their abused people, and were finally 
 driven out, or murdered, to give place to 
 new tyrants just as bad. 
 
 In one province, however. Savoy, in 
 the northwestern part of Italy, a line of 
 rulers came into control which gave evi- 
 dence of an intelligent desire to help 
 their people to thrive and prosper. This 
 line is today represented by the Royal 
 Family of United Italy. 
 
 DANTE PRESENTING THE PAINTER GIOTTO TO THE LORD 
 
 OF RAVENNA 
 
 224 
 
REVOLUTIONS 
 
 By 1775 the world began to bring hope- 
 ful news to the crushed, almost helpless 
 Italians, as it did to the Greeks, under 
 Turkish rule across the Adriatic. 
 
 ''The Americans are revolting," one 
 Italian whispered to another. ''Can they 
 win their independence? Wait and see." 
 
 Dreams long hidden deep in Italian 
 hearts arose once more. These were 
 dreams of a united Italy, ruling itself, 
 free from foreign tyrants of every race. 
 
 "America is free," the voices said, after 
 a year or two. The dreams grew brighter. 
 
 Then, after five years more, came 
 sounds of shouting and tumult right at 
 their very doors. 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 "The French are revolting. They have 
 killed the king, and are now murdering 
 the rapacious nobles." 
 
 225 
 
In Italy events moved rapidly. In 
 1796 the great Napoleon appeared, and 
 in one swift campaign he crushed the 
 armies of Austria, and placed Italy at 
 his feet. 
 
 The old lines were now broken. Parts 
 of Italy in the north were annexed to 
 France. Cities were carefully sacked of 
 their choicest treasures. Napoleon had 
 swallowed Italy as easily as a chicken 
 swallows a grain of corn. 
 
 This seemed enough for the troubled 
 peninsula, but it was taking her swiftly 
 forward to the goal of her ambitions. 
 When the little kingdoms were broken 
 up, a new idea of unity came into the 
 land; and unity must be realized before 
 freedom could be secured. 
 
 Napoleon built roads and bridges. He 
 established laws and customs, not for 
 different provinces in various ways, but 
 for all Italy in one way. Since Charle- 
 magne, ten centuries before, no ruler had 
 so fostered a national feeling. 
 
 Then Napoleon was overthrown and 
 
 226 
 
banished. The Httle princes came back, 
 but with less assurance than before. They 
 had to secure help from Austria. Austria 
 saw to it that each revolt in Italy was 
 promptly crushed, and the revolters put 
 to death or placed in prison. 
 
 But these conditions could not last. 
 For nearly ten years the people of Ital}^ 
 had seen a great vision. A strong feeling 
 of brotherhood had swept over the whole 
 land. A sense of nationality never real- 
 ized before expressed itself in the cry: 
 *'Italy for the Italians." 
 
 THE VEGETABLE SELLER. NAPLES 
 
 227 
 
THE DESPOTS ARE iVFRAID 
 
 Austria now feared more than ever 
 the effect of national ambition in Italy. 
 Every king who held despotic power 
 wanted to keep things in Europe just as 
 they had always been. The nobles, rich 
 through the slavery of the people, wanted 
 also to keep things just as they were. 
 
 In 1820, the people in Spain revolted, 
 and forced their king to sign a constitu- 
 tion. 
 
 Aroused by this, the people of Naples 
 demanded a constitution from their king, 
 like that of Spain; and this he swore to 
 give them. 
 
 No sooner was the promise made, than 
 the King of Naples was called away to a 
 conference by the King of Austria. While 
 the people were wondering what this 
 meant, an Austrian army appeared. The 
 people of Naples were attacked. Their 
 
 228 
 
constitution was torn up, and hundreds 
 of citizens were put to death or put in 
 prison as criminals. 
 
 If the authorities heard of a man 
 or woman breathing a single word of 
 liberty, or a word of hope for a free Italy, 
 death or imprisonment was the result. 
 
 But beneath this domination the people 
 boiled with the fever of liberty. The 
 more Austria, and her despotic puppets 
 in Italy, spied, and persecuted, and killed, 
 the greater the number of those ready to 
 die for Freedom. 
 
 FISH AND OYSTER MERCHANTS NAPLES 
 
 229 
 
FOUR GREAT MEN 
 
 Four great men arose, during these 
 years, to help their fatherland in the 
 struggle lor freedom. Three were citi- 
 zens, Mazzini, Garibaldi, and Cavour. 
 One was the Duke of Savoy, Victor 
 Emanuel. 
 
 Mazzini, Garibaldi, and Cavour were 
 about the same age, strong, brilliant, and 
 fearless. They had one common aim in 
 life, to free Italy, and unite her in one 
 great country. 
 
 Mazzini was the dreamer who looked 
 ahead, planned, plotted, encouraged. He 
 went about Europe in constant danger 
 for his life, whispering hope in Italy, and 
 begging help in France and England. 
 
 Garibaldi was a soldier, a general so 
 dear to Italian hearts that Italian eyes 
 stream with tears at the mention of his 
 name. 
 
 230 
 
Cavour was a minister in the court of 
 Victor Emanuel of Savoy. He was honest, 
 courageous, a keen statesman and leader 
 of men. 
 
 Victor Emanuel of Savoy was well 
 named. Among the greedy, hateful, cruel 
 rulers of his day, he stood forth striving 
 honestly and constantly for the greatest 
 good of the people in Italy. With an 
 earnest desire to serve his countrymen, 
 he gave his whole energy to building up a 
 nation from the Italian fragments. 
 
 These patriots of Italy found, to their 
 sorrow, as Greece had done, that they 
 could expect very little help from other 
 countries, and that their task must be 
 performed by themselves alone. 
 
 No obstacles, however great, could 
 hold them back. Year after year they 
 labored on toward the goal they all de- 
 sired, the unity and freedom of their 
 counry. 
 
 231 
 
REVOLUTION 
 
 1848 
 
 By 1848 the feeling in Italy had spread 
 so far, and grown so desperate, that even 
 Austria could no longer repress it. One 
 after another, towns, cities and states, 
 revolted, drove out the princelings, and 
 won constitutions. 
 
 Hope rose high in Italy. The day of 
 freedom was dawning. Already the patri- 
 otic leaders could see the sun. 
 
 But trouble and confusion came from 
 their own disputes and mixed-up plans. 
 The people were not used to freedom, and 
 knew not how to act. Unready to follow 
 any leader, they were unable to act to- 
 gether. 
 
 The Austrian army rapidly swept over 
 the whole peninsula. Bands of patriots 
 were dispersed, the constitutions were 
 torn up. Men and women, even children, 
 
 232 
 
were cruelly put to death or were crowded 
 into the prisons. 
 
 Through these troubled years the four 
 great men, Mazzini, Garibaldi, Cavour, 
 and Victor Emanuel, did their part nobly, 
 and now they were ready to strive to- 
 gether for the freedom of Italy. 
 
 The work of Austria was thoroughly 
 done. From coast to coast her troops 
 swept away every sign of revolt, and held 
 every hamlet in her bloody grip, excepting 
 only the provinces of Savoy and Piedmont. 
 Piedmont was the home of Victor Emanuel. 
 His people were firm, determined, united; 
 they were free to rule themselves, and 
 were ready to help Italy in the fight for 
 liberty. 
 
 Here in this corner of Italy under the 
 mountains, people could dream and plan 
 in safety. Here Cavour and Victor 
 Emanuel could work together, while 
 Mazzini and Garibaldi were risking their 
 lives in the states controlled by the 
 Austrians. 
 
 Victor Emanuel, at the urging of Cavour 
 
 233 
 
and his friends, accepted a constitution, 
 for his httle Kingdom of Piedmont. A 
 representative parliament was elected, 
 and a government was organized, well 
 fitted to carry out the ideals of intelligent 
 and patriotic Italians. 
 
 When Austria threatened war, if Victor 
 Emanuel did not abandon his methods of 
 constitutional government and rule again 
 as a despot, he replied: 
 
 ''My people are willing to die for free- 
 dom. I am ready for exile if that must 
 be, but this promise I have made, and I 
 shall never break my word." 
 
 He never did. Piedmont stood as a 
 beacon light to all patriotic Italians. 
 
 GARIBALDI MAKES HIS GIFT lO VICTOR EMANUEL 
 
 234 
 
CAVOUR THE STATESMAN 
 
 Cavour now became Prime Minister 
 for Piedmont. He had lived in England. 
 He knew the great men of Europe, and 
 understood world politics. He now pro- 
 posed a daring plan. 
 
 At this time, 1854, Russia was prepar- 
 ing to capture Constantinople, and to 
 control the Bosporus with a free opening 
 to the Adriatic sea. 
 
 France and England entered into an 
 alliance with Turkey to beat back Russia. 
 
 "Let us raise an army and offer to help 
 France and England in their campaign," 
 proposed Cavour, speaking in parliament. 
 
 No Italian state had ever dreamed of 
 such an attempt. How can Piedmont 
 make war as one of the great powers? 
 Europe would laugh at us. Italy has 
 never made war as a nation. 
 
 Cavour persisted. ^ Victor Emanuel 
 
 235 
 
backed him up. They made the offer, 
 and the other nations, worried at their 
 prospects of possible defeat by Russia, 
 accepted. 
 
 It was a grand event for Savoy and 
 Italy. The Italian troops fought hard, 
 and helped to win the war. Cavour was 
 admitted to the peace conference in Paris 
 as a regular delegate. 
 
 When his turn came to state what Italy 
 wanted as her reward, he said: 
 
 "The Italians want an opportunity to 
 live in peace and freedom. Austria is the 
 arch enemy of our people: She must 
 withdraw from Italy, and let us rule our- 
 selves." 
 
 . All eyes were turned on the Austrian 
 delegate, but he declared that Austria 
 must hold what she had in Italy. 
 
 Cavour talked with the English dele- 
 gates, but found he could expect little 
 help from England. Then he turned to 
 Napoleon III of France. They talked 
 long. The result was, a little later, an 
 alliance between France and Piedmont. 
 
 230 
 
WAR WITH AUSTRIA 
 
 Soon the word was whispered about in 
 Italy: 
 
 'Trance has promised to help us against 
 Austria. Let us be bold." 
 
 Arms were made ready. Austria, 
 aroused at this, marched upon Italy. But 
 Napoleon III of France had his army 
 prepared. 
 
 'Tear not, brave Italians," he cried in 
 a public meeting; ''I will not forsake you 
 till Italy is free from coast to coast." 
 
 Side by side, Italians and French de- 
 feated the Austrians in one battle after 
 another. In a month, just after a great 
 victory. Napoleon dismayed the Italians 
 by meeting Austria's demand for peace. 
 
 'What does he mean?" asked the 
 Italians. "He promised to set us free 
 from coast to coast. The work is only 
 begun." 
 
 237 
 
Cavour resigned in a rage, but Victor 
 Emanuel, cool, keen, self-controlled, did 
 the best he could for Italy, and settled 
 terms of peace, which, in spite of Napo- 
 leon's treachery, brought freedom into 
 Lombardy, which was added to the King- 
 dom of Piedmont. 
 
 The saddest blow was to come. As his 
 reward for helping Italy, Napoleon 
 demanded of Piedmont the transfer to 
 France of Savoy. 
 
 For the good of United Italy, but with 
 a sad heart, Victor Emanuel ceded 
 to France his choicest possession, the 
 land of his ancestors. 
 
 Cavour joined in the agreement. 
 
 'The natural boundaries of Italy,'' he 
 said, "should be her mountains. Savoy, 
 with Nice, lie across the Alps from Italy. 
 If France does not get them now, she 
 will persist until she does get them." 
 
 Nice was the native city of Garibaldi. 
 He could not see the wisdom of Cavour's 
 policy, and declared he would never shake 
 his hand again. 
 
 238 
 
ITALY GROWS 
 
 The loss of Savoy was a bitter loss to 
 the Italians, but they had won more than 
 they supposed. When the little despots 
 of central and south Italy went back 
 again to rule their states, they found that 
 condidions had changed greatly since 
 they left. 
 
 The people no longer dreaded the 
 domination of Austria, and now felt free 
 to speak of liberty. Austria had learned 
 a bitter lesson, and would thereafter leave 
 Italy undisturbed. 
 
 Soon the leaders in central Italy de- 
 clared that they wished to join United 
 Italy, under the rule of Victor Emanuel. 
 After some delay this was accomplished, 
 and in i860 a parliament was opened by 
 King Victor that represented over eleven 
 million Italians. 
 
 239 
 
GARIBALDrS GIFT TO THE KING 
 
 The upper half of Italy was now joined 
 in one united kingdom, with a liberal 
 constitution, under a king the people 
 loved. 
 
 In the south, however, the despots still 
 ruled. Gladstone, the English states- 
 man, visited this land, and wrote a long 
 report. The courts dealt not in justice, 
 but in bribes. The poor were ground in 
 the dust. Filthy jails were filled with 
 people dying for food and air. Most of 
 the prisoners were innocent, while the 
 ''crime" of many was that they had 
 worked or had spoken for a free and 
 united Italy. 
 
 These southern people did not try to 
 join United Italy. They hardly knew 
 about it. Not one in fifty could read or 
 write. They had suffered so much, and 
 
 240 
 
were so ignorant, that the spirit of inde- 
 pendence had not spread among them. 
 
 But these poor people longed for relief, 
 and United Italy, without South Italy 
 and Sicily, would be only half a country. 
 
 Garibaldi determined to bring these 
 lands into United Italy, as a gift to King 
 Victor Emanuel, and to the new kingdom. 
 
 Garibaldi had fled in 1840 to South 
 America to escape capture and death from 
 Austria. There he served in the army 
 two years, learning how to direct and 
 control armed men. 
 
 In 1848 he had returned to Italy, and 
 gathered a small force, hoping to help win 
 freedom at last. But his little band was 
 scattered, and the Austrians drove him 
 from one refuge to another. 
 
 With his wife, a lovely girl he had 
 married in South America, he suffered 
 terrible hardships, and finally saw her die 
 from exposure on a lonely mountain road. 
 
 Then Garibaldi escaped to America, 
 where he worked for a time in a soap 
 factory near New York. 
 
 241 
 
Meanwhile Italy was growing stronger. 
 The Austrians were losing their grip. 
 Garibaldi heard that Mazzini had planned 
 an uprising in Sicil}^ He hastened back 
 to Italy, arriving in i860. 
 
 Near Genoa he gathered a thousand 
 men, all faithful and daring. With these 
 he set sail for Sicily. There, after some 
 narrow escapes, he succeeded in landing 
 all in safety. 
 
 Sicily was ready for revolt. 
 
 ''Garibaldi has come to save us! Gari- 
 baldi is here!" 
 
 The cry rang over the island. Palermo 
 was taken, and one after another, other 
 towns opened their gates to the hero. 
 
 The houses glowed with the colors of 
 United Italy. The people gathered in 
 the streets, weeping with joy. The awful 
 jails were opened, and pale, dying ones, 
 were brought out into the sunlight. 
 
 From Sicily, Garibaldi went to the 
 mainland, followed by a large army of 
 exulting patriots. There, as before, the 
 opposing soldiers gave way, more than 
 
 242 
 
glad to welcome the leader in the fight 
 for freedom. Many of the king's troops 
 joined his banners. 
 
 In Piedmont, Victor Emanuel and 
 Cavour had watched events with growing 
 joy. Now Victor Emanuel, seeing that 
 some stable government must at once 
 be set up in the south, started to meet 
 Garibaldi. 
 
 It was a wonderful scene when the king 
 and his devoted general entered Naples 
 together, and added the south to the 
 north of Italy in a united country. 
 
 "This," said the soldier to his king, 
 ''is my gift to you, and to United Italy." 
 
 When the celebration was over, Gari- 
 baldi, almost a god in the eyes of his 
 brother Italians, and a large figure in the 
 eyes of the world, went quietly back to 
 dig his garden in his home at Caprera, 
 leaving Victor Emanuel and Cavour to 
 construct a government in the distracted 
 land he had won with his sword 
 
 243 
 
VENICE IS ADDED 
 
 Piedmont, several central states, and 
 the whole south were now joined in 
 United Italy, Venice and Rome were 
 still left out. Venice was under Austria, 
 and Rome was under the pope, who acted 
 as temporal and spiritual ruler, and whose 
 rule was maintained by an army from 
 France. 
 
 Venice was the next to be secured for 
 freedom. 
 
 Prussia had been watching Austria for 
 years with a jealous eye. Now she 
 planned her downfall. 
 
 Bismark, the prime minister of Prussia, 
 said to Cavour: 
 
 ^^If you will help us in a war against 
 Austria, we will see that you add Venetia 
 to United Italy." 
 
 Victor Emanuel had tried in every 
 
 244 
 
honorable way to induce Austria to cede 
 Venice to his kingdom, but all offers were 
 refused. 
 
 "Yes," replied the Italian king, at last, 
 "we must accept the aid of Prussia." 
 
 So a secret treaty was made, and in 
 1866 war was declared. 
 
 The Italian army was badly beaten by 
 iVustria, but Austria got a beating still 
 worse from Prussia, and sued for peace. 
 
 Prussia kept her word. She demanded 
 Venice from Austria, and promptly ceded 
 that province to King Victor Emanuel. 
 
 Thus Venice, the city founded by the 
 people of Lombardy, when they were 
 flying for shelter from the Huns, more 
 than a thousand years before, opened her 
 gates and joined gladly to the Italian 
 Kingdom. 
 
 At this time Victor Emanuel tried to 
 persuade Austria to cede the lands just 
 east of Venice, bordering the Adriatic sea, 
 called the Trentino. 
 
 "These people are all Italian in the 
 Trentino," he declared. ''They wish to 
 
 245 
 
join us. This is really Italian ground, 
 and we should have it." 
 
 But Austria stood firm on this matter, 
 and the eastern shore • of the Adriatic 
 remained under Austrian control till 191 8. 
 
 GARIBALDI 
 
 24Q 
 
ROME THE CAPITOL 
 
 Now all Italy was one except for Rome. 
 Here was a great problem for Victor 
 Emanuel to face almost alone. 
 
 The Italians longed to have Rome the 
 Capitol of the new kingdom. 
 
 ''Rome," said Cavour, ''unites all the 
 conditions, moral, historical, and intel- 
 lectual, which form the capitol of a great 
 state. It remains to convince the Holy 
 Father that the Church can be independ- 
 ent without temporal power." 
 
 But the great statesman, Cavour, died, 
 leaving this last difficult problem to be 
 solved. King Victor must solve it alone, 
 for Mazzini, the ardent republican, and 
 Garibaldi, the rash soldier, could in such 
 a matter be of no help. 
 
 Garibaldi, at the head of a volunteer 
 army, started, in 1867, to capture Rome, 
 as he had captured Sicily, but was held 
 
 247 
 
back at the command of the king, who 
 wished above all things to avoid war. 
 
 The popular applause, however, for 
 Garibaldi showed the way Italian people 
 felt. 
 
 Those living in the Papal States again 
 and again begged the pope to give up the 
 temporal rule to the king, but he replied 
 to all these demands: 
 
 ''I cannot." He felt it his duty to stay 
 at the post to which he had been assigned. 
 
 In 1870, however, when France was 
 fighting for her life with Prussia, the 
 French troops were withdrawn from Rome, 
 and King Victor marched into his new 
 capitol. 
 
 He was received by the people there 
 with acclamations. At the walls of Rome 
 the pope ordered a formal defence to be 
 made, to show that he yielded his temporal 
 rule only to force, and then retired to the 
 Vatican, the palace where he dwelt. 
 
 The gates of the city were thrown open, 
 and Rome, the ancient city, the center 
 of the Catholic world, and a holy spot to 
 
 248 
 
every Italian, became the capitol of 
 United Italy. 
 
 The king and people showed their 
 veneration for the pope by giving him 
 every honor in his spiritual rule. They 
 protected his great income, and provided 
 for all his needs as a spiritual ruler. He 
 still felt wronged, however, and Pius IX 
 never left the Vatican again. 
 
 After his example, later popes remained 
 strictly within the Vatican, making them- 
 selves prisoners there. In becoming Pope, 
 the Head of the Church bids farewell to 
 the outside world forever. 
 
 But signs indicate that this will not 
 last much longer. After his accession, 
 in 1922, the present pope, Pius XI, 
 blessed the people of Rome from the 
 outer balcony. This blessing was re- 
 ceived by the Italians with joy, and with 
 the hope that the old-time relations of 
 cordial affection between the pope and the 
 people of Italy were now to be resumed. 
 
 249 
 
YEARS OF BUILDING 
 
 With the states of Italy united into one 
 country, and the capitol brought back 
 to Rome, the prayers of the patriots, 
 Cavour, Garibaldi, Mazzini, and their 
 associates, had been granted. The gen- 
 erous, gallant King of Piedmont had 
 become ruler of the Italian people. 
 
 In 1848 this union had seemed to all 
 the world an impossible ideal, a forlorn 
 hope. The patriots succeeded against 
 the foes of their country, because they 
 worked and fought together in unselfish 
 devotion to one great object. 
 
 Cavour, the builder, Mazzini, the proph- 
 et. Garibaldi, the fighter, and Victor 
 Emanuel, the King, were as different 
 as four men could be, in most ways; but 
 all alike in one respect: They wanted 
 nothing for themselves. Everything these 
 noble men did was for Italy, and for the 
 cause of freedom. 
 
 250 
 
When the unselfish and patriotic pur- 
 pose of their fight was realized, help came 
 to them from England and from France. 
 The liberty won for Italy marked a great 
 step forward in the long contest against 
 government by divine right, in other 
 states of Europe. 
 
 From 1870 onward, much was to be 
 done. Italy must be made into a strong, 
 efficient nation, and the struggle was 
 long and hard. 
 
 For thirty years the Italian people 
 labored in the trough of the wave that 
 had carried them to victory. 
 
 With the passing of King Victor 
 Emanuel, and Cavour, the line of great 
 men who had brought I taly so high seemed 
 to have ended. Others, equally great, 
 were not at once to be found. 
 
 Italy, like Greece, had vast debts and 
 little income. Her people, uneducated and 
 ignorant, were disappointed that pros- 
 perity did not come at once with freedom. 
 It was not easy to live down the terrible 
 conditions brought by centuries of slavery. 
 
 251 
 
Her enemies constantly hoped and 
 expected that Italy would be torn apart 
 in the struggles of the various factions, 
 but she did not fall apart. Instead, she 
 slowly grew into a stronger and more 
 unified state. 
 
 With growing apprehension, Austria 
 saw her old servant, Italy, developing 
 into a neighbor she must learn to respect. 
 In spite of high taxation, bad politicians, 
 and poverty, this patient, hard-working 
 people advanced along the path of 
 progress. ., 
 
 Finding little work, and small wages at 
 home, thousands of young men left Italy 
 for north and south America, where they 
 secured work on railroads and in mills, 
 and found also wider opportunities for 
 their children. 
 
 These thousands sent money and ideas 
 back to Italy from America. Both the 
 money and the ideas served to raise the 
 standards of the working classes in the 
 homeland. 
 
 By 1900, the industrial prosperity for 
 
 252 
 
which Italy had longed began to come. 
 She found work for her people at better 
 wages. In place of coal, which she lacked, 
 she learned to use the water power that 
 came in plenty down her steep hills. 
 
 Even the threatening volcanos were 
 harnessed. Holes were drilled in the 
 hillside and volcanic steam was led to 
 engines and made to do productive work. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond & Whitcomb 
 
 MONLMENT TO VICTOR EMANUEL 
 
 253 
 
THE GREAT WAR 
 
 During these years the people of Italy 
 looked with longing at the lands about 
 the head of the Adriatic, still controlled 
 by Austria. The dwellers in this country 
 were brother I talians, but they were under 
 the domination of the alien and despotic 
 Empire of Austria. 
 
 The time was coming when the door 
 of their opportunity was to be opened. 
 
 In 191 2 war broke out in the Balkan 
 States, and this contest added to the 
 strength of Serbia and Greece. 
 
 Germany and iVustria aimed to control 
 the Balkan Peninsula, and Austria asked 
 Italy whether she would help her in an 
 attack on Serbia; but Italy refused. 
 
 The next year, 19 14, Austria decided to 
 attack Serbia anyway, and the war of all 
 Europe began. 
 
 254 
 
Italy had been allied with Austria and 
 Germany. This was a plan of the politi- 
 cians, not the people. The Italian people 
 still hated Austria. 
 
 In this European war, Italy, like 
 Greece, at first remained neutral; but 
 gradually the demand of the people, to 
 join in the fight against their old time 
 oppressor, grew louder. 
 
 While the politicians and statesmen 
 haggled with Austria about the Trentino, 
 and the other Adriatic districts, the people 
 took matters into their own hands. They 
 were determined not to lose the oppor- 
 tunity of attacking Austria, 
 
 The next year they voted for war, and 
 a large army, well equipped, was launched 
 against their ancient foe. 
 
 At first the campaign of Italy brought 
 victory and pride to the Italians, and 
 fear to Austria. Then the Germanic 
 allies sent reinforcements and Prussian 
 officers to lead the discouraged Austrians. 
 Thousands of Italy's best men fell, and 
 her people had to endure great privations. 
 
 255 
 
Again as in past days, Venice prepared 
 for siege and possible capture. 
 
 But the Allies hastened to Italy's 
 rescue, and her frontier cities were saved. 
 
 Again, when the war was over, Italy 
 profited much by her relations with other 
 great powers. 
 
 In the peace settlement she won the 
 Trentino, and also the peninsula of I stria, 
 on the Adriatic, east of Venice. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond 6" Whitcomh 
 
 AMALFI, ITALY 
 The veranda of the Capucin Monastery. 
 
 256 
 
THE TEST OF FREEDOM 
 
 When the great war ended, all was 
 confusion. The people of Russia were 
 lost in the throes of revolution. Austria, 
 once Italy's proud master, had crumbled 
 away till only the poor little Duchy was 
 left, a beggar where once it had been lord. 
 Her people also were in revolt. 
 
 What would the Italian people do? 
 Would they join the red ranks of the 
 anarchists? Would they overthrow their 
 government and kill their leaders? 
 
 The red anarchists did their worst 
 to influence the Italians, but they did 
 not succeed. Fifty years of freedom had 
 saved Italy, for Italy now belonged to 
 the people. They did not serve the 
 government; the government was their 
 own. Slowly the people found their way. 
 Thoughtful citizens calmed their excited 
 brothers. Order followed confusion, and 
 
 257 
 
Italy recovered from the shock of war, 
 with its people still united. 
 
 Italy may look with some regret on 
 the lost province of Savoy, but, as Louis 
 Napoleon had emphasized, the people 
 there were largely French, and they had, 
 by popular vote, given their approval to 
 the cession. 
 
 Italy is today mistress of the whole 
 peninsula, and of the Italian communi- 
 ties on the shore of the Adriatic. 
 
 The boundaries outlined by Cavour, 
 seventy years ago, have finally been 
 exactly realized. Cavour traced with 
 King Victor a line running along the 
 Alps that divide Italy from Europe, and 
 that is the line that marks her northern 
 boundaries today. 
 
 Today Italy is beginning a new life. 
 Her boundaries are settled in such a way 
 that she has little to fear from wars with 
 other nations. After two thousand years 
 of war, and fear of war, she can be at 
 peace. 
 
 Italy possesses within her boundaries 
 
 258 
 
everything needed to develop national 
 prosperity. She has a race of people 
 who have given ample proof of high 
 mental power, and of capacity for steady, 
 constructive labor. 
 
 There is reason to expect from Italy 
 that leadership in thought and achieve- 
 ment which the world so greatly needs. 
 
 Copyright Edward Crosby Doughty 
 
 A FOUNTAIN AT ASSISI 
 
 259 
 
FRANCE 
 
 THE GAULS 
 
 390 B. C. 
 
 In 390 B. C. a tribe of barbarians came 
 down into the north of Italy. They were 
 great, powerful warriors, with light hair, 
 blue eyes, courageous and proud. 
 
 The Romans thought they could easily 
 destroy these men from the northern 
 wilds, and made sfnall preparations for 
 defence against the Gauls, as they were 
 named. 
 
 At the first attack, the Romans broke 
 and ran for their very lives. They did 
 not even dare stay to defend their sacred 
 city, and in 390 B. C. Rome was sacked 
 by the Gauls. 
 
 As a result of this attack the Romans 
 decided that the Gauls were people to be 
 feared, and to be conquered if possible. 
 
 260 
 
These bold fighters belonged to Celtic 
 tribes that bore the name of Gauls. 
 They occupied a large portion of the land 
 now covered by France, and spread over 
 into Belgium, Switzerland, and northern 
 Italy. 
 
 In these centuries no national boun- 
 daries were fixed. Tribes moved back 
 and forth, as they conquered others, and 
 were later themselves defeated. But the 
 Gauls, who finally became an important 
 element in the French nation, held the 
 greater part of the territory which finally 
 became the Kingdom of France. 
 
 RUINS OF A ROMAN WAREHOUSE 
 Oi! and wins were kept in the huge earthen jars 
 
 261 
 
ROME INVADES GAUL 
 
 As Rome grew strong, and built up 
 colonies and conquering armies, she re- 
 membered the Gauls. By 200 B. C. the 
 Romans were already pushing northward 
 into the Gallic lands south of the Alps. 
 
 According to her custom, she colonized 
 these districts. The Gallic tribes living 
 there, cut off by the Alps from their 
 relatives in northern Gaul, were not 
 able to resist the Roman arms. 
 
 After they were beaten into submission, 
 these southern Gauls were treated well 
 by the Romans. They were strong in 
 battle, and were given honored posts in 
 the Roman army. They were intelligent, 
 and were therefore given civil rights, and 
 many were granted full citizenship. 
 
 Marseilles, then a Greek colony on the 
 Mediterranean, was attacked by the 
 Gauls from central France, not long after 
 
 262 
 
this, and appealed to Rome for help. 
 Glad of a chance for a new campaign 
 into Gaul, Rome gave ready response. 
 
 Having found this district rich and 
 fertile, the Romans pushed northward 
 from Marseilles, until a large province 
 had been added to their possessions. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond & Whitcoinb 
 
 THE ALPS 
 
 Across these snow-clad heights all had to go in ancient days, travelling 
 
 from Gaul to Rome. 
 
 263 
 
JULIUS CAESAR IN GAUL 
 
 58 B. C. 
 
 When, in 58 B. C, Julius Caesar was 
 appointed consul, the Romans had been 
 occupying Gaul nearly three hundred 
 years. The large Gallic province they 
 had conquered was now in danger from 
 German tribes beyond the Rhine, and 
 also from rebellious leaders among the 
 Gauls. It was the hard task of Caesar 
 to throw back the enemies of Gaul who 
 pressed from without, and to put down 
 the rebellion of warlike chiefs from within. 
 
 One after another, Caesar met the 
 Germanic tribes from without, and, with 
 wonderful success, as related by himself, 
 he overcame them all. 
 
 The Gauls were glad at first to be 
 delivered from these bloody German 
 hordes; but when they learned that 
 Caesar intended to remain, and to rule 
 
 264 
 
the land himself, they were angered, and 
 rose in revolt. 
 
 During six years, Caesar marched back 
 and forth over Gaul, fighting battles and 
 setting things in order. At last, after a 
 campaign that nearly brought his defeat, 
 he destroyed the last of the Gallic armies, 
 and took the leaders in chains to Rome. 
 Then all Gaul, from the English Channel 
 to the Mediterranean, submitted to his 
 rule. 
 
 GERMAN TRIBES RETURNING VICTORIOUS 
 
 265 
 
THE GAULS PROSPER UNDER 
 ROME 
 
 A SURPRISING change now took place 
 in Gaul. Caesar had been a stern, cruel 
 opponent. He now showed himself a 
 generous, wise ruler. He admired the 
 intelligence and high character of the 
 Gauls. He took them into his army, 
 and bestowed favors on them. 
 
 The Gauls, for their part, found the 
 organized rule of Rome, with its peace 
 and order, and safety from their German 
 enemies across the Rhine, much to their 
 liking. 
 
 They had lived formerly in continued 
 fear of war, famine, and oppression. 
 Now, though taxed heavily, and under a 
 stern rule, their peace was secure, and 
 their comfort greater than ever before. 
 
 Besides this, the Gauls were quick to 
 learn the Roman tongue, and the Roman 
 
 266 
 
wa3^s of life. They even took Roman 
 names, and finally gained Roman citizen- 
 ship. They were too intelligent not to 
 see that civilization was better than 
 barbarism. 
 
 Roman arms subdued the Gauls, but 
 Roman civilization made them happy; 
 and in a short time the Province of Gaul, 
 with her cities and growing towns, her 
 schools and roads and bridges, was as 
 much Roman as Italy was herself. 
 
 From that day to this the people of 
 France have been distinguished by great 
 intelligence, quickness in adopting new, 
 better ideas, and a steadfast faith in their 
 ideals of life. 
 
 During the period after Caesar's death, 
 when Rome was spreading her civilization 
 into Gaul, her own social organization 
 was gradually going to pieces. Her citi- 
 zens, accustomed to being protected and 
 controlled by authority, became weak 
 and helpless. Corruption increased, and 
 taxes became unbearable. 
 
 Gaul suffered from all this civic decay 
 
 267 
 
fully as much as any other part of the 
 Roman Empire. The Gauls, once so 
 strong and independent, also became 
 weak, and unable to act without the 
 direction of able leaders. The able leaders 
 spent their strength in striving for power 
 and wealth in Rome. 
 
 From across the Rhine, German tribes 
 looked over on the people in Gaul as a 
 cat would view a flock of unprotected 
 chickens. 
 
 Soon after 400, these German tribes, 
 crossing the Rhine on the ice in winter, 
 descended upon Gaul. There was little 
 fighting. The Gauls, desperate at their 
 grinding servitude under Roman tyrants, 
 welcomed a change of any kind. 
 
 The Germans were not destructive 
 where they were not resisted. They 
 filtered down into the Gallic valleys, 
 leaving towns and cities quite undis- 
 turbed. Rome could do nothing now to 
 stem this tide of invasion, and her old 
 subjects in Gaul had little cause to regret 
 
 the change.- 
 
 268 
 
The arrival of the German tribes was 
 perhaps a blessing to Gaul in more ways 
 than one, for in 451 a danger came that 
 forboded terror and destruction to the 
 whole land. The Huns, under Attila, came. 
 
 This fierce race from Asia had swept 
 all before it, and now seemed about to 
 exterminate the western peoples. 
 
 Against Attila and his horde of Huns, 
 the Germans gladly joined forces with the 
 Gauls and Goths and Saxons. In the 
 great battle at Chalons, called the Battle 
 of the Nations, Attila was defeated, and 
 the Huns had to abandon Gaul forever. 
 
 PRIESTS AND SOLDIERS CELEBRATING A VICTORY 
 
 269 
 
THE FRANKS - CLOVIS 
 
 475 
 
 Along the Rhine another German 
 tribe, the Franks, had been increasing in 
 strength and numbers. Those Franks 
 who returned from Gaul told how rich, 
 how fertile, and how unprotected this 
 region was. 
 
 When this news spread among the 
 Franks, they packed up by thousands 
 and moved in. 
 
 These Franks accepted no central au- 
 thority. They went in bands of a few 
 thousand, each ruled by a tribal chief. 
 Unless he happened to be a man of 
 unusual determination and power, his 
 authority was restricted to what the 
 soldiers were willing to give him. 
 
 Clovis was such a man. He was a 
 king with a very small army and a very 
 
 270 
 
great ambition. No sooner had he made 
 himself at home in the north of Gaul, 
 than he attacked a Roman governor on 
 the south. 
 
 Clovis won this campaign quickly, and 
 soon extended his domain over a large 
 part of northern Gaul. He now looked 
 about for larger fields to conquer. 
 
 Roman institutions, when the Roman 
 Empire went to pieces, were in chaos. 
 Most of them were shattered. The Ro- 
 man Church, true to its traditions, true 
 to its faith, remained steadfast. It was 
 a rock standing firm in tossing waters. 
 
 In their march southward, the Franks 
 came upon strange groups of men, who 
 neither fought nor ran. Within their 
 monasteries, they received the fierce con- 
 querors with dignified calm. 
 
 "Who can these unarmed men be,'* 
 said the Franks, "that fear us not?*' 
 
 "We trust in our God, the protector of 
 those who believe in him," replied the 
 monks. 
 
 Stirred by this courage and faith, the 
 
 271 
 
childlike Franks repaid their devotion 
 with unexpected mercy and deference. 
 
 Greatly did the Catholic Church of 
 Rome need all the respect and all the 
 help it could get. The other German 
 tribes, though many were already Chris- 
 tians, paid no allegiance to the Pope of 
 Rome, nor to the bishops. The Roman 
 Church in Gaul, brave and courageous as 
 its members were, seemed on the verge 
 of ruin. 
 
 ' 'Perhaps,'^ said the anxious bishops, 
 "we can win these Franks to our cause, 
 and make them allies of the Roman 
 Church." 
 
 Clovis was one who roused their ad- 
 miration. They sought his acquaintance 
 and won his friendship. Next they intro- 
 duced him to a lovely princess, Clotilda, 
 who was a devout Catholic. 
 
 Clovis married Clotilda, and Clotilda 
 converted Clovis to Christianity. It is 
 related that in the great battle of Soissons, 
 fought in 486, Clovis was on the verge of 
 defeat. Suddenly he cried aloud that if 
 
 272 
 
the Christian God would give him the 
 victory he would worship that God 
 forever. 
 
 The battle turned at once in his favor, 
 and Clovis kept his word. He became a 
 Christian, and his soldiers followed his 
 example. 
 
 CLOVIS MAKES HIS VOW 
 
 273 
 
THE NEW KINGDOM -FRANCE 
 
 Clovis had now allied himself to the 
 strongest organized power in Gaul, the 
 Roman Church. Thousands of brave 
 people joined his standards. Battle after 
 battle was won, till at last he was master 
 of the whole territory south of Brittany. 
 
 Theodoric, in Italy, about this time, 
 found a way to kill off every man who 
 might revolt against his rule. Clovis 
 did the same in Gaul. Not even a rela- 
 tive was left alive who might stir up 
 revolt against him. 
 
 Thus Clovis, the Prankish king, con- 
 quered all Gaul, and built up again the 
 Roman Church, which kept alive the 
 best institutions of the old civilization. 
 He brought under his control many 
 provinces, welding them into one great 
 nation, and that nation, from this time 
 on, has been called by the name of France. 
 
 274 
 
CLOVIS TO CHARLEMAGNE 
 
 511 TO 768 
 
 Clovis left his kingdom to four sons. 
 They spread his boundaries wider than 
 before, till their rule covered much of 
 Germany. When they died, the king- 
 dom was split up still more, and there 
 was no such unity as it had possessed 
 under Clovis. 
 
 These Prankish rulers all carried out, 
 through murder and violence, the ideas of 
 power that Clovis had developed. Un- 
 happily they were without restraint of 
 any kind. 
 
 The fact that they accepted the Chris- 
 tian faith did not stop them from plung- 
 ing into the wildest kind of living. 
 
 No constitution could be strong under 
 a life like this, and soon the line of 
 Prankish kings began to fade. Illness 
 
 275 
 
and early death overtook them. A num- 
 ber of their children were weak and 
 deformed, both in mind and body. 
 
 These weak and futile kings needed 
 help and advice. An officer, called the 
 Mayor of the Palace, was appointed to 
 help direct affairs. 
 
 Soon this official became more powerful 
 than the king, and then began to control 
 matters himself. The next step was to 
 put an end to the line of kings descended 
 from Clovis, and to grasp the power for 
 a new line. 
 
 This new authority came to a great 
 warrior and organizer, Charles M artel. 
 Charles M artel struck blow after blow on 
 all sides, till he had reduced to submission 
 a great district, covering France and 
 Germany. 
 
 The Arabs, from North Africa, had 
 been overrunning Spain. They now 
 pushed into France, and threatened to 
 lay waste that land. 
 
 Charles M artel gathered a large army, 
 attacked the Arabs furiously at Tours in 
 
 276 
 
^Z'^^ and drove them in a rout back into 
 Spain. 
 
 This exploit makes his name famous, 
 for he saved Europe against a cruel foe. 
 
 Charles Martel left a son, Pippin, who 
 carried his domains to wider boundaries 
 still. Pippin made friends with the Pope 
 of Rome, helped to build the power of 
 the Church, gave to the Pope large tracts 
 of land he had conquered in Italy, and is 
 remembered above all other things as a 
 protector and supporter of the Roman 
 Church. 
 
 RUINS FROM THE LATEST WAR 
 All that is left of a beautiful church in northern France. 
 
 277 
 
CHARLEMAGNE 
 
 768 TO 814 
 
 Charlemagne, the son of Pippin, 
 inherited sole leadership in this great 
 kingdom while he was still a young man. 
 
 Charlemagne began at once to push 
 out the borders of his kingdom. No 
 year passed without some campaign. 
 Britain, France, Italy, Germany, and 
 parts of Spain, all bowed before his 
 mighty arm. 
 
 He was a fierce, even a cruel conqueror, 
 but a wise, generous, considerate ruler. 
 Defeated nations were dominated with all 
 possible consideration for their develop- 
 ment and advantage. 
 
 Charlemagne supported and watched 
 over the people of the Roman Church 
 in all parts of his kingdom, with generous 
 
 278 
 
care. He helped the monasteries to 
 raise their standards of culture and 
 learning. He was a student himself, and 
 fostered learning among his subjects. 
 In the year 780, he called to his capital 
 from York, in England, the scholarly 
 monk Alcuin, who was charged with the 
 preparation of an educational system for 
 the Empire. 
 
 Under the wise rule of Charlemagne, 
 his vast empire settled into a state of 
 peace and prosperity more complete 
 than in any period since the best days of 
 the Roman rule. 
 
 One day when Charlemagne, being in 
 Rome, knelt at prayer, the pope quietly 
 stepped up behind him and placed a 
 golden crown upon his head, proclaiming 
 him Emperor, and head of the Holy 
 Roman Empire. 
 
 The act was applauded with cries of 
 jOy by the throng in the church, while 
 the thousands on the streets showed real 
 eelight. 
 
 The respect and confidence Charle- 
 
 279 
 
magne won from the mixed and scattered 
 races under his rule was a proof of great- 
 ness reached by few leaders in the history 
 of the world. 
 
 GOLDEN DAYS OF PEACE 
 280 
 
THE RISE OF FEUDALISM 
 
 When Charlemagne died there was no 
 one strong enough to take his place. His 
 sons and grandsons fought among them- 
 selves, and soon the great empire broke 
 up. 
 
 In Fraace there was confusion. No 
 central power existed to protect citizens, 
 to carry out the laws, to keep back 
 foreign invaders. 
 
 Strong men, however, here and there, 
 rose to protect their own lands, and the 
 people living on them. These princes 
 built fortified castles, organized little 
 armies, drilled their troops, and afforded 
 their dependents a good measure of 
 safety and prosperity. 
 
 It was only natural that others, seeing 
 this good fortune, should wish to share 
 such comfort in times of danger. 
 
 281 
 
**If you will protect us, they said, we 
 will place our lands and our services at 
 your disposal." 
 
 Or it might be that the strong princes, 
 knowing their strength, said to the neigh- 
 bors: 
 
 "Place your lands and your services at 
 our disposal, and we will protect you. 
 If you do not, we shall have to drive you 
 out and place others there who will do as 
 we wish." 
 
 Whichever way it began, there was no 
 better plan for either peasant or noble. 
 Only strong groups under capable leader- 
 ship could exist long in rough times like 
 those. 
 
 As a result, after the ninth century, 
 France came to be covered with dukedoms 
 and counties. In each of these little 
 realms a reigning family held sway. 
 They lived in fortified castles; and around 
 them were the' fields of lesser nobles and 
 small land-holders. 
 
 The people who occupied the land 
 paid to the lord in the castle tribute from 
 
 282 
 
their farms. They also raised soldiers for 
 his army when he went to war. He was 
 at war most of the time. 
 
 In his turn the lord pledged to protect 
 these dependents from violence both 
 domestic and foreign. He held courts of 
 justice, settled disputes, made laws and 
 rules of conduct, and watched over the 
 safety and prosperity of all his feudal 
 retainers. 
 
 In this way was developed the social 
 organization called the feudal system. 
 It arose from the necessity of securing 
 protection when no central authority 
 was strong enough to assure protection, 
 and it lasted, not only in France, but in 
 Europe and England also, during several 
 centuries. 
 
 There was always some prince who 
 claimed to be supreme ruler of France, 
 and was called the King, but in this 
 period the King often had less real 
 power than some of his proud feudal sub- 
 jects. 
 
 When national kings were powerful, 
 
 283 
 
the petty rulers had less authority, but 
 when the eentral government was weak, 
 the lords m their castles were as haughty 
 and independent as any king. 
 
 FEUDAL TOWERS 
 Deep in the dark, damp dungev)ns of the lower floors, lay prisoners, 
 kept there by tlie hatred of a feudal loni 
 
 2S4 
 
THE NORMANS 
 
 The Northmen, who set sail in great 
 numbers from Scandinavia, during the 
 period we now study, found the lands in 
 northern France much to their liking. 
 
 The people in France had no greater 
 success in driving them out than did 
 those of southern Italy, during this same 
 period. Of all the races in Europe, these 
 Northmen were for centuries the most 
 dreaded in battle. 
 
 After the death of Charlemagne, the 
 Northmen came in ever increasing num- 
 bers, and proposed to settle in France, to 
 make it their home. 
 
 Seeing no hope of driving them out, 
 the French king granted them lands in 
 the north of France on condition that 
 they swear allegiance to him, and that 
 they become Christians. 
 
 The Northmen agreed to all this, and 
 
 285 
 
organized a state, called Normandy. 
 There they held control for many cen- 
 turies, playing an important part in the 
 history and in the life of France. 
 
 Although they had secured a home on 
 the Seine, groups of these adventurous 
 Normans continued to make expeditions 
 for plunder on the coasts of Germany and 
 Italy, and in the eleventh century, secured 
 control of Sicily. 
 
 THE BASIN OF APOLLO, VERSAILLES, FRANCE 
 
 286 
 
THE HOUSE OF CAPET 
 
 By the year 900 a new influence began 
 to work in France. 
 
 The land had been broken up more 
 and more into small divisions, ruled by 
 independent nobles. It seemed as if no 
 power could u^ite these provinces again 
 into a single kingdom. 
 
 Then a family in the north of France 
 developed remarkable powers of leader- 
 ship, that were finally to perform this 
 miracle. That family was known as the 
 house of Capet. 
 
 The Capets held in their own right the 
 rich lands about Paris on the Seine, and 
 domains on the Loire. This made them 
 rich and powerful. 
 
 The Capets came to be regarded as the 
 rightful rulers of France. This secured 
 for them a certain respect and support, 
 which went with that title. 
 
 287 
 
Beside these two advantages, the Capets 
 had the support of the Church. The 
 Church of Rome longed to see a united 
 kingdom in France, and gladly joined 
 forces with the Capets to bring this about. 
 
 The first task was to compel the nobles 
 throughout the royal domains to obey 
 the king, and this was no easy work. 
 Behind their walls and towers these 
 nobles, many of them robbers and mur- 
 derers, defied the king. 
 
 Year after year, however, the Capets 
 kept up the fight. Castle after castle 
 was stormed, the defenders were killed or 
 captured, and the poor prisoners, for 
 these castles always had dungeons full of 
 starving men and women, were set free. 
 Then the castle would be destroyed. 
 
 In this way the kings of the House of 
 Capet forced their nobles to obey them, 
 and brought order into their domains. 
 
 While this went forward, plans were 
 always on foot to enlarge their direct 
 holdings of land, and thus increase their 
 wealth and their armies 
 
 288 
 
Year after year, through a long series 
 of centuries, this wonderful house held 
 firmly to its course. The families of 
 Clovis and Charlemagne, demoralized by 
 excesses and bad living, disappeared; 
 but the descendants of Hugh Capet were 
 strong enough, generation after genera- 
 tion, to carry on the policies of the House. 
 
 MOUNT SAINT MICHEL, NORTHERN FRANCE 
 
 Surrounded by quicksands, and by water at high tide, this rocky town 
 
 has resisted with success all attacks by a foreign foe. 
 
 289 
 
HOW THE CRUSADES HELPED 
 
 The Crusades, beginning about iioo, 
 helped the Capets to build a nation in 
 France. 
 
 The people then were divided into 
 three classes. 
 
 The clergy, all who served the Church, 
 were called the First Estate. 
 
 The nobles, men who did no work, 
 bLt who fought in battle, were called the 
 Second Estate. 
 
 The men, both serfs and freemen, who 
 labored to support the clergy and the 
 nobles, were called the Third Estate. 
 
 The Crusades put a stop, by general 
 agreement, to most of the local fighting 
 in France. This left the nobles with 
 little to do. They were excited by the 
 thought of going to campaign and to 
 plunder in strange, rich lands, so great 
 numbers joined the Crusades. 
 
 290 
 
Idle, unsteady, adventurous men of 
 the Third Estate would naturally also be 
 eager to take part in these expeditions, 
 and the retainers enlisted in great numbers 
 with their lords. 
 
 The nobles with great estates would 
 wish to leave at home sober, industrious, 
 trustworthy people to take care of them. 
 In a number of instances, the wives of 
 the nobles were left in charge of the 
 castles and the estates, and some of 
 these women proved very capable execu- 
 tives. 
 
 Through these crusading expeditions, 
 it came about that rebellious nobles, and 
 restless men from the laboring Third 
 Estate, left France in great numbers, 
 and thousands of them never returned. 
 The nobles who did get back to France 
 were seriously impoverished. 
 
 Meanwhile the leaders of the Capets 
 decided that they were needed more in 
 France than in Jerusalem. It was their 
 great opportunity. 
 
 Many estates, that were left without 
 
 291 
 
their lords, were brought under the 
 direction of the crown, and the serious, 
 industrious workers, left at home, became 
 staunch adherents to the King of France. 
 
 THE AGED SAINT LOUIS IX IN PALESTINE 
 
 292 
 
PHILIP II 
 
 1180-1223. 
 
 Philip II was a Capet who did so 
 much to develop France, and to raise 
 the fortunes of his house, that his reign 
 is entitled to a story by itself. 
 
 Philip II was fifteen when he became 
 king. At that age he took the field 
 against his foes, and soon had swept all 
 the northeastern part of France clear of 
 dangers to his crown. He organized the 
 districts as he won them, and at once 
 appointed officers of his own choosing to 
 govern the conquered domains. 
 
 Philip wished greatly to get Normandy, 
 and other parts of France, away from 
 the English king, Richard I, known as 
 the lion-hearted. Richard was, however, 
 more than a match for Philip in war, and 
 was the victor in each contest. 
 
 Richard at last started out to take 
 
 293 
 
part in the Crusades. Philip also agreed 
 to go, but returned before reaching 
 Palestine, and plotted with John, Rich- 
 ard's unworthy brother. 
 
 ''You wish to steal away your brother 
 Richard's kingdom," said Philip. "But 
 if he returns, who then will save you? 
 Give me Normandy, and I will support 
 your cause.'* 
 
 To this John agreed. 
 
 The two conspirators learned with 
 delight that Richard had been captured 
 in Austria, on his way back from Pales- 
 tine, and was held prisoner. Both Philip 
 and John hoped he would be kept in 
 prison, but some months later, there 
 came the news that Richard had escaped. 
 Richard resumed his throne in England 
 and promptly started a campaign against 
 Philip. Richard was successful, but died 
 in battle, in 1199, leaving John king of 
 England. 
 
 Philip's turn had now come. He soon 
 found ways to entrap the insolent and 
 faithless John, and within a few years 
 
 294 
 
all the English lands in France, north of 
 the Loire, including Normandy, fell into 
 the hands of the French king, and became 
 parts of the new French nation. 
 
 THE LITTLE SAINT LOUIS IX GIVING ALMS 
 
 295 
 
THE ALBIGENSES 
 
 Another movement, that brought more 
 power to PhiHp II, was the persecution of 
 the Albigenses, who held provinces in the 
 south of France. The Albigenses were 
 classed as heretics. Heretics were people 
 who did not worship as the Roman 
 Church commanded. 
 
 The bishops warned these people to 
 worship in the Roman way, but they 
 held to their own customs. Then a 
 terrible persecution took place. 
 
 Armies were sent against the heretics, 
 and they were overcome and slaughtered. 
 Men, women, and children died without 
 hope of mercy, because they did not 
 worship as they were told. 
 
 The province of Toulouse was, after the 
 massacre, left without leaders, and it 
 quickly came under the control of King 
 Philip. 
 
 296 
 
Philip had by 1220 made himself so 
 m.uch miore powerful than any rival, that 
 none dared to oppose him, and he was 
 becoming King of France in fact as well 
 as in name. 
 
 All through the north of France there 
 were no longer dukes of this, or counts of 
 that, or lords of so-and-so, who were 
 strong enough . to defy the king. Their 
 titles they could keep, but their power 
 
 was gone. 
 
 The lords in their feudal castles had for 
 the most part made life miserable for the 
 common folks. The highways were un- 
 safe, and at any moment a traveller 
 might be attacked, robbed, perhaps killed, 
 or thrust into a foul dungeon, and held 
 for ransom or revenge. 
 
 Under such conditions, trade between 
 the towns could not develop. Philip 
 overcame the robber barons, made the 
 roads safe, and enabled trade to multiply. 
 Northern France became prosperous and 
 contented, with wealth and comfort far 
 greater than it had ever before known. 
 
 297 
 
THE RISE OF TOWNS 
 
 During the period while the Capets 
 were building the French nation, a change 
 was taking place among the people. 
 
 In old Roman days towns and cities, 
 w^ell built, well arranged, and at first, 
 well governed, were dotted here and 
 there through Gaul. The Franks cared 
 nothing for town life, and, with the 
 constant wars that covered the land, 
 these towns and cities disappeared. 
 
 While feudal barons fought and robbed 
 to please themselves, there was little 
 chance for towns to grow, and the work- 
 ing men could only labor in the fields. 
 
 When the roads became more secure, 
 and property was protected, the desire 
 for trade and town life could be gratified. 
 
 Gradually those who liked to trade, to 
 keep stores, to make cloth and shoes and 
 
 298 
 
hats, and other needed articles, gathered 
 more and more into towns and cities. 
 
 The Capets found that these towns and 
 cities increased their wealth and power, 
 so they helped to make them prosperous. 
 
 Under Philip II, by 1200, these towns 
 in France had grown until they took an 
 important part in the national life. 
 
 As the cities grew stronger, the feudal 
 barons became weaker, and thus the 
 growth of city life helped to develop the 
 strength and unity of France as a nation. 
 
 Copyright Raymond & Whitcomb 
 
 THE CASTLE OF RICHARD THE LION-HEARTED 
 IN FRANCE 
 
 299 
 
SAINT LOUIS IX 
 
 1226-1270 
 
 Louis IX, known as Saint Louis, a 
 grandson of Philip II, became king at the 
 age of nine. 
 
 The nobles, seeing a child on the throne, 
 eagerly joined in a rebellion against the 
 crown. 
 
 Philip II had, during his rule, made the 
 national authority strong. Now the 
 nobles no longer possessed their former 
 power, but they thought they could 
 overcome the child king, Louis IX, and 
 regain their old independence. 
 
 The nobles did not know the capacity 
 of the mother who watched over the 
 fortunes of her boy. So quickly and so 
 cleverly did she act, that the nobles were 
 divided, were set to fighting among them- 
 selves, and were soon forced to accept the 
 authority of the young king 
 
 300 
 
The queen mother watched anxiously 
 over the education of Louis I X. She was 
 a pious, loving, intelligent woman, and 
 trained her boy to be a pious, loving, 
 conscientious king. 
 
 As Louis grew up, he showed that he 
 was able to protect and to govern his 
 kingdom. Foes from without were forced 
 to stop their attacks on France. Foes 
 from within learned to respect his strength, 
 and honor his justice and generosity. 
 
 "I wish to protect my own lands and 
 my own people," he said. 'T wish to 
 have nothing that does not belong to me, 
 and I wish to see all men happy and at 
 peace." 
 
 Philip II, his grandfather, had built up 
 and consolidated the French nation. 
 Louis IX did not add much to the lands 
 of France, but he organized and developed 
 the spirit of the kingdom. 
 
 He found France with a loose, weak 
 government. The people did not trust 
 each other. They received but scant 
 justice from the courts and judges. 
 
 301 
 
Louis I X worked day and night to see 
 that better laws were made, better judges 
 appointed, and that justice was done to all. 
 
 ''What is right must always be done," 
 he said. ''The poorest peasant in France 
 must be assured of justice as well as the 
 greatest noble." If Louis found a great 
 man doing wrong, that man was punished, 
 no matter what his rank. 
 
 Louis IX made his name for honest 
 justice so famous that kings in other 
 lands came to seek his advice, and ask 
 him to judge between them. 
 
 The Roman Church blessed him for his 
 pious, devoted life, and, to honor his 
 great virtue, made him a saint. 
 
 Louis I X found the kingdom of France 
 still weak and disorganized. He gave it 
 good laws, and forced all to obey the laws, 
 and to recognize his authority as king. 
 
 Under Louis IX the French people 
 learned to trust and respect each other 
 more than ever before, and to place their 
 allegiance to their country and to their 
 king above all other ties. 
 
 302 
 
THE END OF THE CAPETS 
 
 1328 
 
 During the fifty years after the death 
 of Saint Louis IX, in 1328, several kings 
 followed. They did not greatly change 
 the boundaries of France, nor did they 
 greatly change her laws or customs. 
 
 The respect for the central government, 
 represented by the king and his court, 
 gradually increased. The power of the 
 king to raise taxes to pay his officials, 
 and to support his army also gradually 
 increased. 
 
 The people of France were learning to 
 think more of their ties to their king and 
 to the nation than of the lords who ruled 
 them at home. 
 
 The number of serfs, who could be 
 treated almost as slaves by their lords, 
 was growing less and less. The number 
 of free men, who could own property, and 
 
 303 
 
enjoy the rewards of their own efforts, 
 grew more and more. 
 
 The Capets had now ruled in France, 
 in direct succession, from father to son, 
 for three hundred and fifty years. France 
 owed more to this long Hne of kings than 
 any other nation owed to any other 
 royal family. 
 
 The Capets had found a land ruled by 
 hundreds of lawless nobles, where life 
 could hardly be endured; and they had 
 given millions of these people a central 
 government, covering a large portion of 
 France, with common laws, common 
 languages, common customs of life, and 
 a common opportunity for safety and 
 comfort. 
 
 But the death of Louis I X, leaving no 
 son, brought the line of Capets to an end. 
 
 Under the French law, no daughter 
 could inherit the throne of the king. 
 
 Henry III, King of England, claimed 
 the throne because his mother was a 
 daughter of a French king. His claims 
 were denied by the French council, for 
 
 304 
 
France did not wish to be ruled by a 
 king of England. 
 
 At last they decided to give the crown 
 to a prince of the house of Valois, Philip VI. 
 
 JEAN D'ARC 
 
 305 
 
THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR 
 
 1338 TO 1435 
 
 When Philip VI came to the throne, 
 in 1328, war clouds hung deep and dark 
 over France and England. 
 
 In the first place, Edward III, now King 
 of England, claimed the throne of France, 
 because he also was a descendant of the 
 royal line. He actually ruled a large district 
 of France, as his own inherited estates. 
 
 The French denied his right to the 
 throne, and longed to take every foot of 
 French soil out of his control. 
 
 In the second place, Flanders, which 
 is now Belgium and Holland, had become 
 a rich manufacturing center. Flanders 
 was under the rule of France, but did 
 most of her trading with England. Flan- 
 ders made woolens, and depended on 
 England for her wool supply 
 
 ''You must trade mostly with the 
 
 306 
 
French people," said the French king to 
 Flanders. 
 
 ''If you don't give us most of your 
 trade," said England, 'Ve will cut off 
 your wool supply." 
 
 Poor Flanders had to obey England or 
 close up shop. 
 
 War between England and France was 
 the only way of settling such disputes in 
 those days, and war they had. It was a 
 terrible war, that lasted so long it was 
 called The Hundred Years War. 
 
 Unhappy France! Her nobles began 
 to fight among themselves about who 
 should be king. This gave the English 
 a good chance to attack. 
 
 Edward III decided that he must have 
 a French port to use as a landing place, 
 during his campaigns. In 1346 he 
 marched to attack Calais. 
 
 The army of Edward III was small, 
 and a great force of French cavaliers 
 pursued them. At Crecy the English 
 halted to give battle. The French viewed 
 them with great contempt, 
 
 307 
 
"See the infants, all on foot. They 
 are just peasants," cried a French leader. 
 Grown men usually fought on horseback 
 in those days. 
 
 With that the French nobles, on their 
 splendid horses, in their splendid armor, 
 without organization or direction,charged 
 on the English infantry. 
 
 They were met by a storm of arrows, 
 shot from the English long bows, coming 
 swift and true as bullets. Never before 
 had the French met such fighters. 
 
 Horses and nobles fell in tangled 
 masses on the plain. They never got 
 close enough to the English bowmen to 
 do them great harm, but died by thou- 
 sands in their charge. 
 
 So Edward III won the battle of 
 Crecy, and marched on to capture Calais. 
 The courageous people defended their city 
 against Edward III for almost a year. 
 Then famine overcame them, and they 
 were driven from Calais with great cruelty. 
 
 This gave the English a port in France 
 that they kept for two hundred years. 
 
 308 
 
In 1356, the Black Prince, son of 
 Edward III, led another English army, 
 and attacked France from the west. 
 Again a great force of French nobles 
 attacked, sure of their success against an 
 English army of footmen, hardly a fifth 
 their number. 
 
 Again a storm of arrows flew into the 
 faces of the horsemen. Again they fell 
 by thousands, dying before they could 
 reach their foes to strike. This battle 
 of Poitiers was another famous victory, 
 won by the Black Prince, and his English 
 bowmen, against the French. 
 
 France now suffered terribly. Her 
 country, torn by wars among her own 
 people, and overrun by English armies, 
 was laid waste. Starvation and despair 
 settled over the people, who knew not 
 how to save themselves. 
 
 309 
 
BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 
 
 A NEW figure now appeared in France. 
 In 1365, Bertrand* Du Guesclin became a 
 leader in the French army. 
 
 Fabius, in Rome, had wearied and 
 discouraged the great Hannibal by fol- 
 lowing him from place to place, never 
 giving battle, but never letting Hannibal 
 rest. 
 
 ''Let us wear out these English," said 
 Du Guesclin, when he became general. 
 "They have better soldiers than ours, 
 and could probably defeat us again in 
 pitched battle. But we can follow them 
 about, and keep food out of their reach. 
 They will grow weary at last." 
 
 So it turned out. Du Guesclin followed 
 the invaders with an army. When the 
 English advanced, the French retreated. 
 When the English retreated, the French 
 again pursued. 
 
 310 
 
Small groups of English soldiers, as 
 they went in search of food, were from 
 time to time captured. At night the 
 English would be kept awake by fear of 
 attacks. 
 
 At last the tide turned for France. 
 City after city, that had been captured by 
 the English, was retaken again by Du 
 Guesclin. 
 
 The English grew weary of such expen- 
 sive warfare, and in 1380 asked for a truce. 
 They then retired from France, having 
 lost all their possessions in that country 
 except a few fortified cities. 
 
 r 
 
 MONSTERS ON NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL. PARIS 
 
 311 
 
CIVIL WAR IN FRANCE 
 
 Freed for the time from the EngHsh 
 oppression by the clever and gallant Du 
 Guesclin, the French, instead of building 
 up their shattered country, began to 
 fight among themselves. 
 
 Several families wished to obtain the 
 crown and to rule in France. Murders, 
 furious deeds of cruelty, war to the death, 
 came to be part of the French daily life. 
 
 With knowledge of these conditions in 
 France, Henry V, then King of England, 
 decided that a fresh opportunity had 
 arrived. 
 
 The people of England were none too 
 quiet or contented themselves. 
 
 ''If I go to war with France,'* said 
 Henry, "I can surely beat her now. My 
 people will forget to fight each other if I 
 set them to fighting the French. After 
 
 312 
 
a successful campaign in France I shall 
 be popular at home." 
 
 It all turned out just as he hoped. The 
 French, exhausted with fighting, and 
 famine and disease, had no strength left 
 with which to repel the forces of Henry 
 V. 
 
 In 141 5, at Agincourt, famous in history, 
 Henry gained another victory like those 
 of Crecy and Poitiers. 
 
 The little English force was confronted 
 by a French army more than three times 
 as large. The French, sure of success, 
 openly showed their contempt for Henry's 
 army, but they suffered a bitter defeat, 
 with terrible slaughter. 
 
 Meanwhile the French princes mur- 
 dered each other, in their greedy strife 
 to gain wealth and power. 
 
 Henry V, with none to oppose him, 
 marched on taking cities and provinces, 
 till he had nearly all France at his mercy. 
 
 At last, by a disgraceful treaty, Henry 
 V became actual master of France, though 
 he did not take the title of King. 
 
 313 
 
THE DAUPHIN 
 
 In the south of France were a few 
 cities that refused to recognize this shame- 
 ful treaty. Charles VI, the mad King, 
 died in 1422. His eldest son, the Dau- 
 phin, who had fled to Poitiers, was then 
 proclaimed King of France, Charles VII. 
 
 Charles was weak, ignorant, and timid. 
 He did little to lead his followers on to 
 better things, but they stirred up enough 
 rebellion to anger the English. 
 
 "We will go south," said the English 
 generals, "and will teach those people a 
 lesson they will not soon forget. They 
 must be made to understand that we are 
 masters of France." 
 
 In 1428 the English marched to capture 
 Orleans, the one large city which still 
 supported the cause of Charles VII, and 
 the crown of France. After the capture 
 of Orleans, it would be easy to bring under 
 
 314 
 
control the remaining territory of the 
 South. 
 
 The people of Orleans were courageous 
 and determined: and through a long 
 winter, they defended their city against 
 the invader. The English drew their 
 siege lines closer and closer about the city, 
 while famine and disease made the people 
 weaker and weaker. 
 
 Was there no hope for France? Her 
 large cities, all but Orleans, were in the 
 hands of the English. Her great families 
 were fighting among themselves, and 
 seemed to care nothing for France. The 
 King, Charles VH, made feeble plans for 
 this, and stupid schemes for that, but 
 accomplished nothing. 
 
 The kingdom was without a leader, 
 without hope, without courage, without 
 confidence in any soul who could raise the 
 people up and save the country from com- 
 plete national ruin. 
 
 315 
 
JEANNE D'ARC 
 
 Jeanne D*arc was born in a village in 
 the province of Champagne, near Orleans. 
 In 1428 she was sixteen years old. 
 
 Jeanne had always been a religious 
 child. During two or three years she had 
 heard voices from heaven. They told her 
 of her great mission, to save France. 
 
 For a long time she said nothing of these 
 voices, but she was filled with spiritual 
 rapture and patriotic zeal. 
 
 At last the voices said the time had 
 come for action. She must go to the 
 king. She must ask for soldiers, and 
 must use these to save the people of 
 Orleans. 
 
 Of course her parents held her back, 
 and the village friends thought she was 
 out of her head. 
 
 ''What can a slight and feeble maid of 
 
 316 
 
sixteen do in war against the English?" 
 they cried. *'It is nonsense." 
 
 Jeanne begged them to help her, but 
 she begged in vain, so she silently stole 
 away from the little home she was never 
 to see again. 
 
 First Jeanne went to the camp, where 
 the king's army lay. There she begged 
 so ardently, and made such a deep impres- 
 sion with her devotion, that they gave 
 her an escort and sent her to King Charles 
 VII, who was then at Chinon. 
 
 Through every danger on the road she 
 went secure. When she reached the king 
 they tested her in many ways, for they 
 were suspicious of all strangers. 
 
 But Jeanne triumphed in every test. 
 All questions she answered with such 
 wonderful skill that some actually be- 
 lieved she was guided by the saints in 
 heaven. 
 
 ''Give me soldiers. I must save the 
 people of Orleans. I must save them. 
 Oh, give me soldiers." 
 
 Day after day she pled before the king. 
 
 317 
 
He kept putting her off, but at last she 
 had her way. 
 
 Jeanne D'arc was given a war horse, 
 a suit of white armor, a white banner, and 
 a group of retainers. With these she led 
 a small army against the English, who 
 besieged Orleans. 
 
 As Jeanne D'arc advanced, with her 
 white armor and banner, more soldiers 
 joined her ranks. They told stories of 
 her spirit helpers, and all took fresh 
 courage. 
 
 In Orleans all was black despair. The 
 food was gone, sickness and starvation 
 covered the city. 
 
 Suddenly one evening the people heard 
 sounds of fighting outside. They rushed 
 to the gates. Yes, an army was fighting 
 its way through the English lines. 
 
 Then, in through the gates and the city 
 streets rode a maiden at the head of a 
 troop. In the glare of the torches they 
 saw her white banner and her gleaming 
 armor. 
 
 Close behind this splendid figure came 
 
 318 
 
great wagons laden with food. In the 
 flaming Ughts Jeanne seemed to these 
 despairing people like a saviour sent 
 straight from heaven. 
 
 Soon the stories of this wonderful girl 
 spread all about the city. The people 
 went nearly mad with excitement. 
 
 "She will lead us. She will save us. 
 She shall be ours, the Maid of Orleans," 
 they shouted in the streets. 
 
 With the food and hope brought by 
 Jeanne D'arc, these people were made like 
 new. Instead of dying like rats in a trap, 
 they rushed to arms, and, led by Jeanne 
 D'arc, they attacked the English. 
 
 On their side, the English, hearing of 
 this wonderful maid, and seeing her with 
 her gleaming armor, and white banner, 
 at the head of her troops, took fright. 
 
 They said that Jeanne got her help, not 
 from heaven, but from the Devil himself, 
 and they had small hope of winning 
 against a limb of Satan. 
 
 Furious, but afraid, the English finally 
 gave up the siege of Orleans and hurried 
 
 319 
 
away, leaving their baggage and provi- 
 sions behind them. 
 
 The French were now aroused, and the 
 EngUsh were discouraged. Inspired by 
 Jeanne D'arc, the French took city after 
 city, until at last Reims fell into their 
 hands. 
 
 ''Now," said Jeanne/ 'let us crown King 
 Charles in the great cathedral at Reims, 
 and my work will be done." 
 
 So at Reims Charles VII was crov/ned, 
 and was accepted as the rightful King of 
 France, while Jeanne D'arc knelt beside 
 him, tears of joy streaming from her eyes. 
 
 Jeanne then wanted to go back to her 
 mother, but the French thought she could 
 help win them more victories. 
 
 She consented to continue her services, 
 and in a small skirmish she was captured 
 by the Duke of Burgundy. 
 
 After several months spent in vile 
 prisons, Jeanne D'arc was sold to the 
 English, who hated her, and wished her 
 death. 
 
 The English persecuted her in a long 
 
 320 
 
proceeding, which they called a trial. 
 They charged her with being in league 
 with Satan, and they finally, in 143 1, 
 condemned her to death by fire. 
 
 Did Charles VII come to her help? Did 
 he try to buy her back from the Englivsh? 
 Did he offer to exchange other prisoners 
 for her? Did he send comfort and sup- 
 port to this fainting, dying maid, who 
 had won for him the kingdom and had 
 saved France. 
 
 No. Charles VII left her to her fate, 
 and simply took the credit to himself for 
 all that had been accomplished by the 
 inspired maid. 
 
 The flames that rose about Jeanne 
 D'arc in the market place of Rouen ended 
 her life on earth, but they did more than 
 to burn that frail body. Into the hearts 
 of countless millions the blazing glory of 
 a poor peasant girl, who died for the 
 country she had saved, has been burned 
 so deeply that it. shall never be forgotten 
 till the end of time. 
 
 321 
 
THE END OF THE HUNDRED 
 YEARS WAR 
 
 1449 
 
 The English hoped by the death of 
 Jeanne D'arc to turn the tide again in 
 their favor, but it worked just the other 
 way. 
 
 Jeanne D'arc had inspired her people 
 with a new patriotism, new hope, a new 
 feeling of national pride and unity. 
 
 In her death this feeling became far 
 more intense than in her life. The inter- 
 est in an inspired peasant girl grew into 
 the worship of a martyr, who centuries 
 later was to be accepted as a saint. 
 
 Those nobles who had been at war now 
 came together, and agreed to accept 
 Charles VH as their king. Then they 
 drove the English to the coast, and out of 
 France. 
 
 In 1449, France, inspired by a maiden 
 
 322 
 
who freely gave her strength and her hfe 
 for her country, asking nothing for herself 
 but the chance to serve, had thrown off 
 foreign domination and was once more 
 an independent nation. 
 
 -ourlesy oj Raymond djf \\ hitcomb 
 
 ORLEANS CATHEDRAL, THE CHOIR IS DISMISSED 
 
 323 
 
THE PASSING OF FEUDALISM AND 
 OF KNIGHTHOOD 
 
 At the end of the Hundred Years War, 
 that is by the middle of the fifteenth 
 century, great changes were taking place 
 in France. 
 
 The knights, who had once made the 
 armies of France so powerful, were fast 
 losing their importance and were passing 
 away. 
 
 In the battles of Crecy, Poitiers, and 
 Agincourt these nobles had been slain in 
 thousands, on their chargers, by English 
 peasants on foot. First the long bow, 
 and then gun-powder, had come into use, 
 making the lances worth little as weapons 
 of war. 
 
 The knights had held their proud 
 positions for centuries because they could 
 fight so well, and were so well protected 
 by their armor. Now the peasants had 
 
 324 
 
proved themselves their equals, and the 
 knights were no longer masters in battle. 
 
 After the end of the Hundred Years 
 War, the feudal knights pass from his- 
 tory. 
 
 Story and romance tell of their chival- 
 rous, noble deeds, but romance is, after 
 all, only romance, not history. In reality 
 most of these nobles were arrogant, 
 greedy, cruel tyrants, and it was a happy 
 time for France when their power came 
 to a close. 
 
 A new group now came into places of 
 prominence in France. 
 
 Before this time, only nobles had been 
 thought fit to hold places of honor in the 
 councils of the king. Now the kings were 
 learning that the wisest, best men in the 
 kingdom were among those who worked 
 for their living. 
 
 During these years of national recon- 
 struction, from about 1400 to 1600, we 
 find an increasing number of business 
 men, bankers, traders, manufacturers, 
 rising to places of power and distinction. 
 
 325 
 
The king learned to depend on able 
 men in whatever ranks he found them^ 
 and chose men of humble birth if they 
 suited his needs. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond & Whitcomb 
 
 THE TOWER PRISON OF JEANNE D'ARC 
 
 826 
 
PAID ARMIES AND TAXES 
 
 In feudal times the king could call upon 
 his nobles for support in war. They in 
 turn demanded service from the retainers 
 who lived on their estates. These fight- 
 ing men would gather, more or less as they 
 pleased, and form an army. Leaders 
 would then be chosen, and off they would 
 go, without much drill or discipline, to 
 fight till they got tired. 
 
 The battles of Crecy and Poitiers and 
 Agincourt showed how useless this plan 
 was. 
 
 ''If I am to make successful war,'* said 
 the king, "I must have an army ready 
 to obey my commands. It must be 
 drilled and disciplined by experienced 
 generals." 
 
 So, instead of a lot of soldiers who 
 came and went almost as they pleased, 
 the king gathered a regular army, which 
 
 327 
 
would be at his service, and under his pay, 
 at all times. This army was trained for 
 war by skillful officers. 
 
 Such an army cost great sums of money. 
 Taxes had been raised by the king in a 
 small way for a long time, but now he 
 organized a definite plan of taxation 
 which covered the whole kingdom. 
 
 Instead of feudal services, the people 
 were now called upon to pay taxes in 
 money. 
 
 Unfortunately these taxes were laid so 
 that the burden fell upon the working 
 classes. The nobles and the rich tried to 
 lay the entire burden of taxation on those 
 who could least afford to pay. 
 
 In order to make people more willing 
 to pay taxes, and to serve the crown in 
 other ways, the kings during this period 
 would call together, now and then, a con- 
 gress of representatives from all classes 
 of the population. 
 
 These delegates represented the clergy, 
 the nobles, and also the common people. 
 Such a congress was called the Estates 
 
 328 
 
General, because it had members from 
 the clergy, or first estate, the nobles, or 
 second estate, and the commoners, or 
 third estate. 
 
 The members of the third estate, after 
 the Hundred Years War, had a great deal 
 to say about unfair and oppressive taxa- 
 tion, but they were not trained to act out 
 their ideas, so talk was about all it 
 amounted to for many years. 
 
 The taxes of the working classes kept 
 them desperately poor and bitterly angry. 
 Century after century France moved on 
 as a great nation, always with a poor and 
 discontented working class. 
 
 329 
 
FOREIGN CONQUEST 
 
 ABOUT 1500 
 
 After the Hundred Years War there 
 were years of great disturbance in France. 
 Change and confusion follow all great 
 wars. 
 
 Feudalism was passing away. Nobles, 
 who saw their power and privileges slip- 
 ping from their grasp, made desperate 
 efforts to retain their position and control. 
 
 For some years France was torn by 
 anarchy and civil strife. Then gradually 
 the central power of the king drew in one 
 section after another, till he again stood 
 supreme in a country well united and 
 controlled. 
 
 The king had now a new power that 
 was to give his personal control greater 
 strength than ever before. His stand- 
 ing army could be used to enforce his 
 decrees. 
 
 330 
 
Dukes and Princes had no large forces 
 now, and the time when they might rise 
 against the crown had passed. 
 
 With France at peace and prosperous, 
 and with his army ready at his call, no 
 king in these days was content to mind 
 his own affairs. War and conquest be- 
 came his chief ambition. 
 
 It seemed as if every king looked 
 about him and said: ^*Now let us see. 
 What can I seize, and whom can I 
 despoil?" 
 
 For many years Italy offered the French 
 kings a good field for conquest. Italy 
 was broken into many fragments, the 
 land was undefended, and the trained 
 French army had, in 1499, ^^ easy task 
 in forcing its way through to Naples. 
 
 But this brought France little or noth- 
 ing. Germany and England and Spain 
 were jealous. They wanted their share 
 of the plunder. When France found 
 these enemies rising against her, she had 
 to retreat empty handed. 
 
 For many years French kings kept up 
 
 331 
 
the effort to hold rich cities in Italy, but 
 the campaigns brought little to their 
 country except enormous taxes in money, 
 and heavy losses of men. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond (^ M luttoinb 
 
 SPINNING IN BRITTANY 
 
 332 
 
THE RENAISSANCE 
 
 France gained little from her Italian 
 campaigns in the way of lands, or gold, 
 or political power, but she gained in 
 another way, in treasures of the mind. 
 
 From iioo to 1200 the Crusaders, 
 going into new lands, brought back ideas. 
 So now, in 1500, the French, returning 
 from Italy, also came home with new 
 ideas. 
 
 In Italy, poets were writing exquisite 
 verse, painters were creating wonderful 
 pictures, and architects were building 
 cathedrals and palaces in a new and 
 beautiful style. 
 
 In Italy, the arts were coming into 
 new life and glory. The French, always 
 quick to appreciate excellence in any 
 form, were eager to adopt these new 
 forms of art and literature, and to master 
 them. 
 
 333 
 
Francis I, then King of France, invited 
 Italian artists and Italian writers to his 
 court in Paris, and rewarded them gen- 
 erously. He also rewarded Frenchmen 
 who won distinction in art and learning. 
 
 Under this inspiration a great change 
 took place in France. Formerly the 
 nobles had no interest in learning, but 
 left all that to clerks and clergy. The 
 common folk had no way of getting 
 education, even if they wished to learn. 
 
 The printing press now came into use, 
 and, for the first time in history, books 
 were printed for the use of all. 
 
 The nobility now felt proud to have 
 books, and were proud to read and write. 
 The common people, for the first time, 
 could also own books, and read the 
 wonderful stories of the Greeks and 
 Romans, which had been lost to all 
 Europe for centuries. 
 
 All over France a new life was thrilling 
 the minds and quickening the thoughts 
 of this intelligent, brilliant race. 
 
 The age of the body, of dull, sordid 
 
 334 
 
life, was passing. The age of the mind, 
 of life beyond their narrow horizon, had 
 begun 
 
 This movement is called the re-birth, 
 or in French, the renaissance. It was the 
 re-birth of learning, after a long age of 
 ignorance. 
 
 NAPOLEON, AN AWKWARD NOVICE AT MILITARY SCHOOL 
 
 335 
 
RELIGIOUS WARS IN FRANCE 
 
 1550 TO 1600 
 
 Since the days of Clovis and Charle- 
 magne, the Church of Rome had con- 
 trolled the religion and the education of 
 the French people. 
 
 In Germany Martin Luther had pro- 
 tested against the customs of the Roman 
 Church. He declared that all men should 
 read religious books and should learn to 
 discuss and understand for themselves 
 matters of religion. 
 
 In France, with the spread of books 
 and learning, these ideas found thousands 
 ready to adopt them. Such people were 
 called Protestants, because they protested 
 against the restraint of the Roman Church. 
 They were in revolt against the old order 
 of things, and contended that men were 
 free to read, to discuss, and to decide for 
 themselves matters of religion. 
 
 336 
 
Protestants and Catholics could not 
 agree, so they fought savagely, each to 
 prove that his own faith was the better. 
 These struggles developed rapidly about 
 1550, and spread all over France. 
 
 The Kings of France had always been 
 Catholic, and supporters of the Roman 
 Church. They did not approve of the 
 heretics, the name then given to all 
 who differed in belief from the Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 In those days, if the rulers disapproved 
 of people, they persecuted them. So 
 they persecuted the Protestants. Some 
 were hanged, others were drowned, and 
 still others were burned. 
 
 Persecution, as it almost always does, 
 increased the numbers and the faith of 
 the Protestants. Before many years they 
 became so numerous that persecution 
 seemed useless. 
 
 "If all these heretics are hanged," said 
 the rulers, ''we shall have few people left." 
 
 Ambitious nobles, seeking for power 
 and wealth, now saw a chance to get 
 
 337 
 
thousands of ProtCvStants to fight for 
 them. 
 
 ''Here we are, good friends, true Pro- 
 testants, ready to protect and lead you," 
 they said to those of the common people, 
 who had been so persecuted. 
 
 Other nobles, honestly believing in 
 the new faith, also joined the ranks of the 
 Protestants. 
 
 Made strong by these leaders, and 
 burning for revenge, the Protestants 
 struck back, and civil war began 
 
 FRENCH CHILDREN AT SCHOOL 
 
 338 
 
CATHERINE de MEDICI 
 
 The outstanding name connected with 
 these wars of religion in France is that 
 of Catherine de Medici. She had come 
 from the famous de Medici family, the 
 rulers in Florence, to marry the French 
 king, Henry II. 
 
 The king died, leaving young sons. The 
 queen mother, Catherine, was made 
 regent, and for many years governed 
 France. 
 
 The plan of this clever queen was to 
 play off one party against the other. She 
 feared the Catholic nobles, lest they grow 
 too strong, and at first gave protection 
 to the Protestants, to win their support. 
 
 For a while this policy worked to her 
 advantage, but the bitterness of both 
 parties rose far beyond her control, and 
 throughout France was war, murder, and 
 devastation. 
 
 339 
 
At last Catherine de Medici decided 
 that a bold stroke must be made to win 
 security for herself and her sons. She 
 joined closely with the Catholics, and 
 planned the murder of every Protestant 
 she could reach. 
 
 The plot was laid, and in the evening 
 of a summer day, Saint Bartholomew's 
 day, in 1572, the signal was given for the 
 attack. 
 
 The massacre began in Paris, where 
 hundreds of Protestant leaders had come 
 to celebrate the wedding of the king's 
 sister. All night, and through the day 
 following, the streets were filled with the 
 shouts of the mob. "Kill all. Kill all!" 
 
 Thousands of the best sons and daugh- 
 ters of France perished through that 
 bloody plot. 
 
 'There," said Catherine de Medici, 
 when she saw the results of her cruel 
 massacre, ''now we shall hear no more of 
 the Protestants." 
 
 But Catherine was wrong. Even this 
 terrible persecution had only made the 
 
 340 
 
Protestants more bitter and more re- 
 vengeful than before. 
 
 Soon the two parties were again at war. 
 Eighteen years later, people of Paris, who 
 had killed so many Protestants on Saint 
 Bartholomew's day, saw at their gates 
 a great Protestant army; saw their food 
 vanish; ate dogs and cats and rats; saw 
 their children die by thousands; and paid 
 an awful penalty for their cruel murders. 
 
 At last in 1594 a strong, wise king, 
 Henry IV, came to the throne. He had 
 been a Protestant, but turned Catholic, 
 to secure peace for France. 
 
 Henry lY knew and understood the 
 Protestants. He also could understand 
 the Catholic point of view. Under him 
 a treaty was made which expressed new 
 ideas, never known before in European 
 history. 
 
 Both Catholics and Protestants were 
 to have the right to worship and teach 
 their doctrines. 
 
 In England the Protestants, being in 
 power, had persecuted the Catholics. In 
 
 341 
 
Spain and Italy the Catholics persecuted 
 the Protestants. In Germany, where 
 the two parties were more nearly equal, 
 the issue took the shape of a great war 
 which lasted thirty years. 
 
 France now showed her great advance 
 in culture and toleration by giving to 
 both parties a right to live in peace. 
 France seemed to agree with Henry IV 
 when he said: 
 
 '1 believe that both doctrines have 
 much good in them." 
 
 NAPOLEON A CAPTIVE 
 After years of glory he goes to die a prisoner on a desert isle. 
 
 342 
 
REBUILDING FRANCE 
 
 HENRY IV— 1600 
 
 France had been torn with war more 
 than thirty years, when Henry IV became 
 king. A milhon people had been killed; 
 the land was nearl}^ as desolate as after 
 the Flundred Years War. The people 
 were poor and despondent. 
 
 Fortunate France. Henry IV was en- 
 titled to the throne by birth, but he 
 secured the kingdom because he was the 
 man best qualified to rule the people. 
 The nation greatly needed a strong, fair- 
 minded leader, and she found in Henry IV 
 the most capable of all the kings who had 
 ruled France. 
 
 Henry IV found himself surrounded by 
 greedy nobles who had hoped to be inde- 
 pendent princes, like those of Feudal 
 times. 
 
 Some of these he turned into friends by 
 
 343 
 
favors and gifts of money. Others he 
 punished. Before long he had subdued 
 them all, and made his own power su- 
 preme. 
 
 The working people w^ere groaning under 
 terrible taxes. The nobles and the clerics 
 had claimed freedom from taxes. The 
 merchants and the poor were paying 
 practically all. 
 
 Henry IV surrounded himself with able, 
 earnest ministers. ''We must give our 
 people a chance to live and be prosperous,'* 
 he declared. So the lords were forced to 
 pay a share of the expenses of the State. 
 
 Taxes in that day were farmed out, as 
 in the Roman days. The king would 
 need, let us say, fifty million francs. A 
 noble would be appointed head of a tax 
 district, and would be made responsible 
 for raising fifty million francs. 
 
 This noble would select deputies, and 
 would sometimes compel each one to 
 bring him so much money that he would 
 have in all a hundred million francs, half 
 for himself and half for the king. 
 
 344 
 
But these deputies did not work for 
 nothing. If they collected a franc for 
 the lord treasurer, they also collected 
 something for themselves. Thus, to get 
 fifty million francs for the national treas- 
 ury, three or four times that amount was 
 taken from the people. 
 
 In spite of jealous lords and deputies, 
 Henry IV was able to change this method. 
 He arranged the taxes so that, while the 
 people paid much less than before, the 
 national treasury secured far more. 
 
 Encouraged by this relief, the workers 
 labored with greater zeal. Agriculture 
 flourished, manufactures increased, com- 
 merce developed, and France rapidly 
 became more prosperous, more unified, 
 more happy than ever before in her 
 history. 
 
 Henry IV called a meeting of the 
 Estates General to discuss national 
 matters. A deal of talking was done, 
 and many opinions were offered, but no 
 agreement could be reached. 
 
 The ideas of the Third Estate were the 
 
 345 
 
most valuable, but they had no way to 
 secure consideration for their propositions. 
 The Estates were finally dismissed, leav- 
 ing complete authority with the King. 
 
 Henry IV proved equal to the task. 
 He made France prosperous, rich, united, 
 and was just about to undertake a cam- 
 paign against Austria, to assure France 
 of safety and strength in that quarter, 
 when, in 1610, he was assassinated. 
 
 Thus ended the reign of a remarkable 
 king, who had given his days to the up- 
 building of his kingdom, and the prosperity 
 of his people. 
 
 AFTER A LONG DAY IN THE OLIVE GROVES 
 
 346 
 
FRANCE SHOWS HER POWER 
 
 CARDINAL RICHELIEU 
 
 Louis XIII, the son of Henry IV, was a 
 sickly boy when he became king, and was 
 always a weak, moody, fickle ruler. His 
 one wise policy was to place in power and 
 to keep in power a man w^ho proved one 
 of the greatest ministers in history. 
 Cardinal Richelieu. 
 
 When, in 1624, Cardinal Richelieu be- 
 came a prime minister, he found much to 
 be done. 
 
 The Protestants, called Huguenots in 
 France, had carried their organization so 
 far that they were no longer a simple 
 religious body, organized for worship in 
 the Protestant faith. They were trying 
 to set up a state of their own, independent 
 of the king. 
 
 ''If they succeed in doing that," your 
 
 347 
 
Majesty," said Richelieu to Louis XIII, 
 'Trance will be broken in two." 
 
 The danger could not be overlooked, so 
 Richelieu demanded full obedience to the 
 King. When the Protestants refused, he 
 attacked them, and cruvshed their cities 
 beyond any hope of defying the king 
 again. 
 
 But no religious rights were at that time 
 taken away. The Protestants were left 
 with freedom to worship as they wished. 
 
 Apart from the Protestants there were 
 many nobles in France ready to' dispute 
 the royal authority. 
 
 Surrounded by opponents who hated 
 him, and planned for his destruction, 
 Richelieu overcame one group after 
 another, until even the courts of law dared 
 not give a verdict in important cases till 
 the king consented. 
 
 Richelieu made the power of Louis 
 XIII so absolute in France that he could 
 destroy the proudest lord, or raise up the 
 humblest peasant. 
 
 He drilled a great army, built a strong 
 
 348 
 
navy, and laid taxes on the people till 
 they groaned beneath their weight. 
 
 ''Your majesty, we have enemies abroad 
 who plot against us. France is strong and 
 united. We must defeat the foreign 
 powers.** 
 
 So French spies filled every court, 
 French gold bribed nobles and political 
 parties in Spain, Germany, Italy, and 
 England, to revolt and weaken their 
 countries. 
 
 At last the French army took the field, 
 and France forced her neighbors to recog- 
 nize her power, and surrender much. 
 
 At this time Louis seized from the 
 German Empire the provinces of Alsace 
 and Lorraine. 
 
 When Richelieu died, in 1644, after 
 twenty years at the head of France, he 
 had made King Louis XIII a complete 
 despot, had unified the energies and 
 resources of his country, and had rnade 
 France a leader in the policies of Europe. 
 
 349 
 
THE GILDED CENTURY 
 
 LOUIS XIV 
 
 1643 TO 1715 
 
 Louis XIV became king at the age of 
 five, upon the death of his father, Louis 
 XIII. The queen, his mother, was ap- 
 pointed regent, to rule until he grew up. 
 Upon this , many turbulent nobles at once 
 stirred up old quarrels, hoping to weaken 
 the crown, and win some profits for them- 
 selves. The trickery and greed displayed 
 by some of those highest in the state 
 was sad to see. 
 
 It was common in those days for a 
 noble to start a rebellion and then agree 
 to submit, for a large sum of money, 
 which was often paid. 
 
 Cardinal Mazarin, trained by Richelieu , 
 was made prime minister till the king 
 became of age. He was a strong leader, 
 
 350 
 
and soon ended the civil wars stirred up 
 by selfish nobles. 
 
 Mazarin then continued the French 
 policy handed down by past kings. France 
 must grow great and strong. Other 
 nations must be made small and weak. 
 
 In this policy he had success. France 
 was strong, unified, and provided with a 
 large army. Step by step a city was taken 
 here, or a province was captured there. 
 
 Cardinal Mazarin died when Louis 
 XIV was a young man. ''Hereafter," 
 said Louis, *'I shall have no minister. I 
 shall myself be ruler. Bring all matters 
 directly to me." 
 
 Thereafter Louis XIV did just as he 
 said he would. He was an able man, for 
 his day, and so conceited in his pride that 
 he was ready to dictate all things to all 
 men. 
 
 Politics, commerce, art, letters, social 
 customs, were all directed by the opinions 
 of this despotic monarch. No other king 
 in Europe ever had the power wielded by 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 351 
 
In France his will was supreme. Courts 
 of justice decided all questions, not by 
 right or wrong, but as the king or his 
 favorites wished. Hardly a bird dared 
 lay an egg without special permission 
 from the crown. 
 
 People who offended the king or his 
 favorites disappeared suddenly, never to 
 be seen again. Few were bold enough 
 even to whisper a single word against his 
 majesty. 
 
 In other countries Louis wished to have 
 the controlling influence. He longed to 
 rule Europe as a vast French Empire. 
 
 It happened that at this time England, 
 Holland, Austria, and Spain were weak 
 and disunited. France, with her great 
 generals, and splendid armies, could win 
 victories everywhere. 
 
 Louis determined to use his opportuni- 
 ties. He fought four important wars, all 
 to win greatness for France. The last 
 of these, the War of the Spanish Suc- 
 cession, was to place his descendants on 
 the throne of Spain. 
 
 352 
 
So great was the power of Louis XIV, 
 at one period, that he almost made good 
 his ambition. Even cities in Italy, which 
 refused to do as he said, were bombarded 
 and treated with barbarous severity. 
 
 He bribed King Charles II of England 
 to support France. He attacked Hol- 
 land, which had been for years a good 
 friend to France. He separated Austria 
 and Spain, with battles and bribes and 
 trickery. 
 
 Steadily France grew greater, at the 
 expense of others. 
 
 Had one asked the French then, "Whom 
 are you serving?" They must have 
 replied, 'We serve no one. All the world 
 must serve us.'* 
 
 Historians, poets, romancers, call this 
 the golden age of France, but it was not 
 golden, it was only gilded. 
 
 At court, nobles, lovely women, famous 
 artists, rich tradesmen gathered in a gay 
 glittering group. 
 
 Over France was spread a multitude of 
 people, nearly starving to pay the enor- 
 
 353 
 
mous costs of the great army and the 
 brilhant court. Taxes once more were 
 farmed out, and hundreds of grasping 
 officials fattened on the hungry people. 
 
 At court, the ambassadors of all the 
 world, in their richest dress, flattered the 
 vain monarch, and sent to their govern- 
 ments suggestions for his destruction. 
 
 In France, Louis was teaching his people 
 to hate kings. Abroad, he was raising a 
 host of bitter enemies against his country. 
 
 LOUIS XIV IN THE FOREST 
 When the king spoke with a member of the court, all others stood 
 
 apart. 
 
 354 
 
GLORY FADES 
 
 Louis XIV, with all his ambition, failed 
 to see vast opportunities to make France 
 truly great. 
 
 In America, the French explorers had 
 won Canada, and, with help from home, 
 might have won also the great west. But, 
 in his eagerness to get lands in Europe, 
 Louis neglected the opportunity for em- 
 pire in America. 
 
 Louis had thousands of Protestants in 
 his realm. They were skilled, industrious, 
 able, of the middle class on whom the 
 nation depended for its strength and 
 wealth. 
 
 But Louis XIV was a Catholic, and 
 these people did not worship as he wished 
 all his people to worship, 
 
 "Am I not lord over all my people?" 
 said Louis. ''Let them worship as I 
 direct. I say it for their own good." 
 
 355 
 
The Protestants still preferred their 
 own faith. Then Louis sent soldiers to 
 force obedience. Hundreds were killed in 
 cold blood. Their rights and privileges 
 were taken away. 
 
 In desperation, thousands of Protestant 
 Huguenots packed up their goods and 
 escaped from France. Some went to 
 Holland, some to England, some to 
 Germany, and many to America. 
 
 These Protestants had been among the 
 most useful citizens of France. By this 
 persecution Louis greatly weakened a 
 land already sadly crippled by war and 
 famine. 
 
 When Louis XIV died, in 1715, after a 
 reign of seventy two years, he left a 
 country weak from war. He left a people 
 on the verge of ruin, with enormous debts 
 and intolerable taxes. He left a group of 
 nations about his country who had learned 
 to look upon France as a devouring giant, 
 ready to swallow all in its path 
 
 356 
 
DANGEROUS YEARS 
 
 LOUIS XV, 1715 TO 1774 
 
 Louis XIV had reigned seventy two 
 years. He left the nation deep in debt. 
 His great-grandson, Louis XV, was to 
 reign fifty nine years, and to leave the 
 nation still deeper in debt. 
 
 Debt, loans, taxes, poverty. Money, 
 money, money, and the dire want of 
 money. These had become the themes 
 of France. 
 
 After 1700 in France we see the splendid 
 pomp and luxury of the court, and the 
 idle nobility, in sharp contrast with 
 terrible misery and want among working 
 people. 
 
 Children had so little food that many 
 died, and those who grew up were 
 prematurely old. 
 
 One plan after another had been tried 
 
 357 
 
to raise taxes and keep up payments due 
 on the enormous national debt, but no 
 measures could squeeze more money from 
 the famished people. 
 
 DOLL'S BATH 
 Children of the French mountain region. 
 
 358 
 
THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE 
 
 In 17 i6 a Scotchman, John Law, 
 appeared in Paris. He was a trained 
 banker, a student of finance. He urged 
 the authorities to let him try a new plan. 
 
 "If you will let me handle your money," 
 he declared, ''I can make France the rich- 
 est nation in the world. We must give 
 more credit and issue more money, so 
 that people can trade freely." 
 
 Matters could not be worse, so they 
 tried Law's plan. He was skillful, and 
 soon won confidence for the bank he 
 started, and its paper money. 
 
 This done, he formed a vast company to 
 trade in America. It was called the 
 Mississippi Company, and was to have 
 sole rights of trade all throughout the 
 region of the Missippi Valley. 
 
 The Mississippi Company secured from 
 the Crown monopolies in selling tobacco, 
 
 359 
 
and in trade between French America and 
 Europe. 
 
 Rumors and wild tales spread through 
 France about the gold and silver, the 
 precious stones and rich furs, that filled 
 the region of the Mississippi. 
 
 Stock in Law's company rose rapidly. 
 The price doubled and doubled again as 
 new buyers hastened to invest. 
 
 Then Law paid a dividend from money 
 he received for shares. The Company 
 had earned no such dividend, but he had 
 plenty of cash from the sale of stock. 
 
 When news of this spread, the people 
 came to Paris in crowds to buy stock. 
 From London, from Vienna, from Holland 
 and Italy, those who longed for sudden 
 wealth rushed to Paris. 
 
 It seemed as if France might become, 
 as Law had promised, the richest nation 
 on earth. 
 
 But the gold and silver and precious 
 stones did not return in shiploads from 
 the Mississippi region. 
 
 The investment was earning nothing. 
 
 360 
 
The great Company could not pay its 
 debts, and after two years was obliged 
 to close its doors. 
 
 This undertaking was called the Mis- 
 sissippi bubble. When it burst, thou- 
 sands were ruined. John Law himself 
 lost everything. With all his shrewdness, 
 he found there were some things he did not 
 understand. 
 
 THE PETIT TRIANON 
 
 A Rustic cottage where Marie Antoinette and her court ladies lived as 
 
 dairy-maids. 
 
 361 
 
COLONIES ARE LOST 
 
 In America, in Egypt, and in India new 
 lands of vast wealth were opened during 
 these years when Louis XV ruled. Eng- 
 land had now come to be the great rival 
 of France for control in these colonies. 
 
 Gifted by nature with all the qualities 
 that make bold, persistent explorers, 
 the French people had spread into all 
 these lands. In America she now held 
 Canada and the valley of the Mississippi, 
 with a portion of the gulf of Mexico. 
 
 In 1740 war broke out between France 
 and England. France had her mind so 
 much on conquest in Europe that she made 
 little effort to protect the territories her 
 pioneers had won. India and Egypt 
 fell into English hands. In America, 
 through these wars, she lost everything 
 except the territory along the Mississippi. 
 
 To gain a trifle in Europe, France lost 
 
 362 
 
colonial possessions which she thought 
 then of little value. By securing India 
 and America, England soon made herself 
 the most powerful empire in the world. 
 
 Historians have called Louis XV the 
 most contemptible king in the history of 
 France. Few French kings led lives of 
 personal purity, but that of Louis XV 
 was of the lowest standard. 
 
 He surrounded himself with evil women, 
 who practically controlled national affairs. 
 Millions in money, that should have gone 
 to pay the public debt, went into the 
 pockets of these creatures. 
 
 So France went on, from bad to worse, 
 till in 1774, just as the American Revolu- 
 tion was beginning, Louis XV died. His 
 death was received as a public blessing 
 by the people of France. 
 
 The American Revolution roused great 
 interest in France. There the common 
 people thrilled with the thought of a 
 republic, and the ending of evil courts and 
 rapacious nobles. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin came to France as 
 
 363 
 
envoy of the new Republic, and won all 
 hearts. "Let us help these honest folks 
 who fight for Hberty," they cried. 
 
 France did help. She loaned Franklin 
 great sums of money. She sent General 
 LaFayette and other officers, with troops 
 and ships, and took a large part in the 
 victory that came to America in the end. 
 
 SHADE FOR THE ROAD. SUNLIGHT FOR THE FIELDS 
 
 364 
 
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 1789 
 
 The French people had now endured 
 more than most people could stand. By 
 nature they loved their kings, and admired 
 the glories of a splendid court; but a 
 monarch like Louis XV had made clear 
 to thousands the terrible dangers of 
 despotism. 
 
 As Solon said, in ancient Greece. 
 "Despotism is a fine idea, but there is no 
 way out." 
 
 Although slavery and serfdom had, in 
 theory, passed out of French life long 
 before this, the condition of the working 
 classes was as bad as slavery. Nobles 
 could, and did force starving servants to 
 work on their estates without pay. They 
 could and did flog them, wound them, 
 and even beat them to death, with no 
 fear of punishment for such deeds. 
 
 365 
 
Law, taxes, labor, were for the poor 
 only; the nobles could do as they pleased. 
 There were not many nobles in France who 
 were not followed by looks of hatred, and 
 threats of deadly revenge. 
 
 Louis XVI was a king of good inten- 
 tions, but of feeble mind. After trying 
 in vain several schemes for improvement, 
 he consented in 1789 to call a session of 
 the Estates General. 
 
 The Third Estate, for the first time in 
 its history, was led by able men. Against 
 all opposition the Third Estate forced the 
 king and nobles to make sweeping reforms. 
 
 The king at first consented. Then he 
 listened to the nobles and tried to change 
 back again. At this the people were 
 aroused. Hundreds of nobles were put 
 into prison. Hundreds more fled to 
 Germany and England. 
 
 Then Louis XVI himself tried to fly 
 from France. He was captured, and, 
 with his entire family, was placed in the 
 Temple prison. 
 
 Now the escaped nobles raised armies 
 
 366 
 
and marched to attack the people's party 
 in France, and restore the king to his 
 throne. 
 
 When they saw that Paris might be 
 taken, the people went mad with fear and 
 rage. 
 
 Should they lose all they had suffered 
 for so long, and be thrust back into their 
 old miseries? 
 
 Howling mobs surrounded the prisons 
 where the nobles were kept, and most of 
 them were murdered. Later the king 
 was tried and sent with his queen, Marie 
 Antoinette, to the guillotine. 
 
 Thus begun, the work of execution went 
 on day after day. All who might be 
 suspected of a thought against the revolu- 
 tion were in danger of death. 
 
 Frightened at the horrors in France, 
 several states of Europe joined in an effort 
 to overcome this reckless people, and 
 restore the rule of kings. 
 
 But the French rose in a wonderful 
 effort for the defense of their country. 
 New forms of government were organized. 
 
 367 
 
New armies were raised, and the French 
 were finally successful in all directions. 
 
 Land all about their borders was taken 
 by their armies. First they plundered 
 these districts, and then turned them into 
 little republics on the French model. 
 
 But the French people had learned little 
 about government and self control. They 
 quarrelled in their council meetings. They 
 tried first one committee and then 
 another. 
 
 All their schemes resulted in worse 
 confusion. France was drifting rapidly 
 into utter bankruptcy, into complete 
 ruin. 
 
 It was clear that if the new France 
 should face its enemies and live, some 
 strong, central control must take com- 
 mand. 
 
 368 
 
NAPOLEON 
 
 Fortune brought to France the man 
 she needed at the moment of despair. 
 
 A young general had made himself a 
 popular idol by his wonderful campaigns. 
 This general was ambitious. He knew 
 his power with the people. 
 
 "Now is my time," he said. '^By a 
 bold stroke I can become leader of my 
 country." The man was Napoleon Bona- 
 parte. He made the bold stroke, and 
 became the leader in France. 
 
 Never was a leader more popular. 
 Never did a leader deserve popularity 
 more than Napoleon. 
 
 At first he acted as first consul, after 
 the old Roman plan, but soon his power 
 became so great that he took the place 
 and title of emperor. 
 
 During a period of peace, just after 
 
 369 
 
I§oo, Napoleon made France into a new 
 nation. He restored prosperity, and laid 
 just taxes. He remembered the poor and 
 aided them. He organized schools and 
 colleges. He took the Catholic Church, 
 which had been nearly destroyed during 
 the revolution, under his protection. 
 Other creeds were also protected. 
 
 Meanwhile Napoleon planned to make 
 himself master of Europe. Again war 
 broke out. With an army of veterans 
 devoted to their leader. Napoleon marched 
 into Austria, into Germany, into Italy, 
 into Spain. 
 
 Victory after victory came to his armies. 
 Everywhere he looted the cities, sent back 
 vast loads of treasure to Paris, and then 
 organized many conquered lands as French 
 dependencies. 
 
 His brothers and sisters were made 
 rulers in Italy, Spain, and parts of 
 Germany. 
 
 Intoxicated with power, Napoleon paid 
 no attention at all to rules of right or 
 wrong. He wished to rule Europe, and 
 
 370 
 
stamped with an iron heel on all who stood 
 in his path. 
 
 His former devotion to democracy and 
 the people disappeared, he became as 
 despotic and greedy for power as any 
 king had ever been. 
 
 At last he gained such power that Eng- 
 land alone remained outside of his control. 
 The English navy saved her from invasion. 
 Napoleon did indeed rule Europe. But 
 it was the rule of the sword. He was 
 not serving Europe; he made Europe 
 serve him. Hatred grew. Enemies sprang 
 up. All these people waited their chance 
 to strike back. 
 
 This chance came speedily. 
 
 Russia declined to stop all trade with 
 England, as Napoleon demanded, and he 
 decided to make an object lesson of Russia 
 for such disobedience. With the greatest 
 army ever assembled in modern Europe, 
 he marched into Russia, in the autumn 
 of 1812. 
 
 As he advanced, the Russians retreated. 
 He took Moscow, but the Czar did not 
 
 371 
 
ask for peace. Napoleon waited several 
 weeks. Moscow was burned by the 
 Russians. Cold weather was coming. 
 He knew he must retreat. 
 
 Winter caught the army. Thousands 
 died on the road, and only a few 
 struggled back to France. 
 
 At this all Europe rose in revolt against 
 the ambitions emperor. He made a vain 
 effort to conquer again, but his valiant 
 fighters were now gone. He, like Louis 
 XIV, had ruined France with victorious 
 wars. 
 
 Hurled back on every side, the French 
 soon surrendered. Napoleon, in 1814-, 
 was exiled by the allies to the little island 
 of Elba, where he was allowed to rule as 
 king. 
 
 Louis XVI had been guillotined, and 
 his little son, Louis XVII had died in 
 prison. A brother of Louis XVI was 
 now made king, as Louis XVI 1 1. 
 
 But Louis XVIII was a mean figure 
 after the great Napoleon, and within a 
 year the people began to long for another 
 
 372 
 
change. They did not object to a king, 
 but they hated the old ideas of favorites 
 and privilege, which again controlled the 
 policies of the court. 
 
 In April, 1815, Napoleon escaped from 
 Elba. He landed in France. He showed 
 himself to the soldiers, who shouted with 
 joy. As he approached Paris, thousands 
 joined his standard. The King, Louis 
 XVni, fled before him and Napoleon 
 was once more master of France. 
 
 But England, Prussia, and Russia 
 moved fast. At once armies were march- 
 ing towards Paris. With his old skill. 
 Napoleon attacked and strove to destroy 
 the foe. 
 
 All his brilliant cunning came to naught, 
 for Napoleon no longer had men of youth 
 and vigor. His armies were weak. In 
 the historic battle of Waterloo, in 181 5, 
 he was defeated and crushed. 
 
 Napoleon was now sent far away to St. 
 Helena, a rocky island off the coast of 
 Africa, and there he died six years later, 
 in 1821, 
 
 373 
 
CONFUSION 
 
 The great empire of Napoleon was now 
 broken apart, and France was restricted 
 to the boundaries of 1790. But the con- 
 quest of Napoleon had continuing results 
 in Europe. 
 
 The old kingdoms that he broke up, 
 the old lines of kings and princes that 
 he dethroned, never could return to 
 their former condition. New ideas, and 
 new conditions made progress for 
 democracy easier and more rapid through- 
 out Europe. 
 
 Although the monarchy was restored, 
 France was full of revolution, and the 
 plan worked badly. Fortunately for 
 Louis XVIII, he died soon. His successor, 
 Charles X, had less success than Louis 
 XVIII, and he was driven out in 
 1830. 
 
 374 
 
Then a third ruler, Louis PhiUppe, was 
 chosen. Louis PhiUppe helped to form 
 a new constitution, and ruled in a more 
 democratic way. He hung on for eighteen 
 years, till 1848, when a new revolution 
 overthrew the monarchy. 
 
 ''Now let us try a republic again," said 
 the people. They were learning very, 
 very slowly, after centuries of political 
 slavery, the art of self-government. 
 
 So they made their constitution over 
 again, and decided to have a president. 
 Louis Napoleon, a nephew of the great 
 Napoleon, was chosen for the first presi- 
 dent. 
 
 Louis Napoleon was a schemer. He 
 was just as full of pride and ambition as 
 his uncle, but, instead of being a great 
 genius, he was a man of little talent for 
 doing anything well. 
 
 In 1852 he took advantage of the 
 confusion in France, and got himself 
 elected Emperor of the French. The 
 people were prosperous, however, and 
 preferred his rule to the former confusion, 
 
 375 
 
so they worked hard, rebuilt their cities, 
 improved agricuhure, built railroads, and 
 made France into an active, progressive, 
 modern nation. 
 
 His success in the war with Austria in 
 1859, when he helped Italy, and took 
 Savoy for France, led Louis Napoleon to 
 land an army in Mexico, hoping to place 
 Maximilian of Austria on the Mexican 
 throne, and then dominate the policies 
 of Mexico to suit himself. 
 
 The United States was in the midst of 
 the Civil War, in 1862, when the French 
 landed, and could do nothing but protest. 
 Louis Napoleon paid little attention to 
 this protest then, but when, in 1865, the 
 United States, with a powerful army 
 ready for action, told France that her 
 troops must be withdrawn at once, the 
 outlook was very different. 
 
 The French were attacked by Mexican 
 troops, before they could safely withdraw, 
 and were defeated. Maximilian, as a 
 penalty for having murdered Mexican 
 citizens, was put to death, and the expedi- 
 
 376 
 
tion proved a humiliation for Louis 
 Napoleon. 
 
 Instead of vast wealth, that he expected 
 to bring back from Mexico, a sickly 
 discontented army returned, to stir up 
 trouble in France. 
 
 MARIE ANTOINETTE RIDING TO HER EXECUTION 
 
 377 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 1870 
 
 As years passed the emperor developed 
 self-seeking qualities which brought him 
 more and more into disfavor with the 
 people of France. It became evident that 
 the national policies were being shaped, 
 not for the welfare of France, but for 
 the personal advantage of Louis Napoleon. 
 
 Louis decided that it was desirable, in 
 order to divert the minds of Frenchmen 
 from criticism of their own government, to 
 start a foreign war, and in this way 
 strengthen national patriotism. 
 
 Prussia had been making trouble for 
 France, and Louis Napoleon decided to 
 make war on Prussia. 
 
 In Prussia was a great statesman. Bis- 
 mark, the prime minister. After the 
 wars of Napoleon the Great, he had 
 helped to make Prussia into a strong,. 
 
 378 
 
central state, under a despotic rule. His 
 armies were drilled to perfection. He 
 knew that France was unprepared for 
 war, so he did all he could to get Louis 
 Napoleon to declare war. 
 
 Prussia had never forgotten the attacks 
 of Louis XIV, and of Napoleon the Great. 
 When war began, the Germans rushed into 
 France, and, almost before they knew 
 what had happened, the French field 
 armies were captured, along with the 
 emperor. 
 
 Thus ended the second empire. Prussia 
 demanded an enormous sum of money, 
 and the district of Alsace-Lorraine. 
 
 With bitter hearts the French paid the 
 money and gave up the land. 
 
 A new republic, then formed, was laid 
 on wiser plans and firmer foundations 
 than those that had gone before. The 
 people had learned that perfection could 
 not be expected, and that they must 
 bear much, and struggle hard, even under 
 a republic. After two generations, that 
 republic still endures. 
 
 379 
 
THE WORLD WAR 
 
 1914 TO 1918 
 
 On her eastern borders France had 
 two rivals. One was Austria, with which 
 she had fought for generations. The 
 other was Prussia. Prussia, rising from 
 the many Httle states broken down by 
 Napoleon, had constructed the autocratic 
 empire now called Germany. 
 
 Germany had a far greater population 
 than France. Germany had a great army, 
 every man subject to the direct command 
 of the Kaiser. Germany had an ambition 
 to rule that was as great and unrestrained 
 as that of Napoleon, or Louis XIV. 
 
 As the years rolled on, it became more 
 and more clear that Germany intended 
 to use her splendid army to increase her 
 power and possessions. Those in France 
 who understood the true situation trem- 
 
 380 
 
bled in their shoes. France made her 
 army as strong as she could. 
 
 Treaties were negotiated with England 
 and with Russia, to join the resources of 
 the three countries into united defense 
 against the threatening foe. 
 
 In June, 19 14, Austria made insulting 
 and impossible demands on Servia, a 
 state which Russia was under obligations 
 to protect. This issue could have been 
 adjusted if Germany had been willing. 
 It became evident, however, that Ger- 
 many, which had for months been making 
 preparations, was now determined to 
 bring about war. 
 
 By July her armies were marching 
 through Belgium, whose neutrality Ger- 
 many had sworn to protect, into France. 
 England and Russia came promptly to 
 the support of Belgium and France. 
 
 The campaigns that followed con- 
 tinued for four years. Belgium had been 
 impoverished by the German occupation, 
 and its resources had been appropriated. 
 The northeastern provinces of France 
 
 381 
 
were devastated, not only by the destruc- 
 tion which is unavoidable in active 
 campaigns, but by deliberate destruction 
 on the part of the German armies of 
 occupation. 
 
 In April, 19 17, the United States, 
 indignant with the absolute disregard 
 that Germany had shown for international 
 law and for the principles of humanity; 
 indignant also with the use that Germany 
 had made of the submarine, for the 
 sinking of merchant vessels, and for the 
 murder of their crews and passengers, 
 declared war against Germany. 
 
 At the time when America's army was 
 in readiness, the defensive lines of France 
 had been nearly overcome. The forces 
 of the French and of the English armies 
 were exhausted from their long struggles. 
 
 The arrival in France of the first million 
 of the American troops brought, not only 
 fresh fighting force, but the encourage- 
 ment and the hope that were so much 
 needed by French and English alike, to 
 enable them to continue the struggle. 
 
 382 
 
The help that had been given by France 
 to America in its hour of need in 1777 was 
 now being returned to the great RepubHc 
 of Europe. The privilege came to Amer- 
 ica of being the decisive factor in the war, 
 but had it not been for the struggle main- 
 tained during three years by the armies of 
 France and England, there would have 
 been no war for Americans to come into. 
 
 The German Kaiser had been quite 
 outspoken: "When I have gotten through 
 with Europe," he said to the American 
 Ambassador retiring from Berlin, ''I shall 
 square accounts with America. Ger- 
 many can no longer put up with the Amer- 
 ican iuvSolence which forbids German 
 colonies in the Western Hemisphere." 
 
 In August, 191 8, the German armies 
 were finally overcome, and the German 
 commanders sued for peace. The Ger- 
 man Kaiser, fearing the wrath of his 
 people, fled into exile. 
 
 But France still trembled. She drilled 
 her army. She still made preparations 
 to defend herself. 
 
 383 
 
''Germany is beaten today. Who knows 
 when she may attack us again?" said 
 France. 
 
 President Wilson, of the United States, 
 joined by leaders of other countries, 
 worked hard to form a League of Nations, 
 that should agree to stop all wars among 
 themselves, and protect nations when 
 they were attacked. 
 
 Practically all the nations engaged in 
 the great war, among the winning allies, 
 and many other nations, joined in this 
 league. The Congress of the United 
 States, however, refused to support Presi- 
 dent Wilson in the initiative that he had 
 taken, and declined to accept membership 
 for the United States. 
 
 Since 191 8 the league has continued its 
 work, and, while not yet accomplishing all 
 that had been hoped from it, or all that 
 would have been possible if* the United 
 States, the greatest and strongest nation in 
 the world, had joined, it has helped to ad- 
 just a number of grievances, which under 
 other conditions would have meant war. 
 
 384 
 
There is still hope that some organiza- 
 tion may bring together, and may keep 
 together, in a Family of Nations, all the 
 civilized states of the world. 
 
 France was still afraid. She asked that 
 England and America join in a promise to 
 protect her if she were ever attacked 
 again. This they undoubtedly will do, 
 but all agreements, all leagues, will fail 
 unless a new spirit shall grow in France 
 and other European countries. 
 
 France lives in mortal dread of her 
 German neighbors, just as they lived 
 in mortal dread of France a hundred 
 years ago. The French feel that only a 
 weak, crippled neighbor will be a safe 
 neighbor. 
 
 That is what Sparta thought. That is 
 what the Italian cities thought. That is 
 what Germany was trained to think. But 
 that idea has never yet borne happy off- 
 spring to any nation. 
 
 The fact that Germany is now a 
 republic, is greatly in favor of lasting 
 peace. When the national policy is con- 
 
 385 
 
trolled by those who pay the taxes, the 
 risk of war is much reduced. 
 
 As yet no way has been found to acsure 
 France of safety except through a great 
 army. But so long as France maintains 
 a great army, the rest of Europe will view 
 her with suspicion, and she will be held 
 back from the quiet and comfort she 
 greatly desires. 
 
 These years will be critical for France. 
 She has resumed her place as the leading 
 nation of Europe. With her colonies, 
 in Africa and Indo China, every need for 
 a great national development is gratified. 
 
 History would say to France today: 
 "Your future fate will be decided by the 
 service you can render. If you can win 
 the friendship and esteem of your fellow 
 nations, by deeds of generous helpfulness 
 and service^ fear not. They will not let 
 you fall. They will help you in the 
 future as they have in the past, and yours 
 shall be the reward of happiness, of peace, 
 of greatness among the nations of the 
 earth." 
 
 386 
 
GERMANY 
 
 THE EARLY PEOPLE 
 
 The people who founded Germany 
 came originally from the plateaus of Asia, 
 and gradually pushed farther and farther 
 west. 
 
 The Celts and Saxons, who went into 
 England; and the Franks, who settled in 
 France, belonged to the Germanic group. 
 
 In the deep forests and valleys, that 
 lay behind the Alps and beyond the 
 Rhine, thousands of these rough, stalwart 
 people had made their homes during the 
 years when the Roman republic was rising 
 to power. 
 
 The German tribes, called Goths, came 
 into close contact with the Romans. 
 After the days of Caesar they were taken 
 by thousands into the Roman legions, 
 for they were powerful fighters. 
 
 387 
 
The home Hf e of these people was simple 
 and rude. They lived on meat and coarse 
 bread, having few delicacies or luxuries. 
 But they were affectionate and faithful 
 in family relations, and loyal to their 
 tribes. 
 
 The German tribes were led by chiefs 
 who gained power to rule through their 
 ability and strength. All warriors could 
 express opinions and help choose or 
 dethrone their kings. 
 
 As time went on the Goths became 
 better and better acquainted with the 
 Roman ways. They were intelligent and 
 ready. They were also proud and revenge- 
 ful. The Romans too often treated them 
 with scorn, and robbed them of their 
 property, in the provinces of South 
 Germany where Roman arms had con- 
 quered. 
 
 Arminius was a leader among the 
 
 German peoples. He had served as a 
 
 • young man in the Roman Armies. He 
 
 was a student, and became skilled in 
 
 government and military science. 
 
 388 
 
Arminius was promoted to high rank in 
 the Roman army, but he determined to 
 free his people from the despotism and 
 cruelty of the Roman rulers. As an 
 officer he could make plans with other 
 German soldiers in the Roman ranks, 
 and arrange for a revolution. 
 
 At last they were ready. Varus, the 
 Roman Commander, who was sent by the 
 Emperor Augustus, in 9 A. Do, to put 
 down a revolt, was attacked in the deep 
 forests. 
 
 For three days the Romans fought 
 bravely, but in vain. Arminius had small 
 armies all about on every side, and Varus 
 was defeated. Hardly a Roman was able 
 to escape, and Varus himself was slain. 
 
 The blow, thus given by this brilliant, 
 patriotic young German, was so severe 
 that Rome gave up the attempt to subdue 
 the Germans in their native forests and 
 valleys, north of the Danube and east 
 of the Rhine. 
 
 389 
 
THE GERMANS GROW IN POWER 
 
 During four hundred years after the 
 defeat of Varus, the German tribes lived 
 their rude, simple lives in the wild lands 
 north of the Roman Empire. 
 
 According to Roman historians they 
 spent most of their time fighting each 
 other for supremacy, which is probably 
 true. 
 
 During this period, however, thousands 
 of these people learned Roman ways, and 
 visited in Roman cities, while thousands 
 more served in the Roman armies. 
 
 Rough as they were, the German 
 peoples were intelligent and quick to 
 learn. They saw the weakness of the 
 Romans, and planned to take advantage 
 of it. 
 
 About 4-00 A. D. the Goths felt the 
 pressure of another race from Asia, the 
 
 390 
 
Huns. These Huns were moving west- 
 ward into the German lands. They 
 moved in vast squadrons on horseback, 
 and fought even more fiercely than the 
 Germans themselves. 
 
 So the Goths, under Alaric, pushed 
 down into Greece. After plundering there 
 with excellent profits, they went over 
 into Italy. The Roman armies were 
 now too weak to withstand his forces, so 
 Alaric swept straight on to Rome, and 
 in 410 captured that city. 
 
 The East Goths, and the West Goths, 
 all German tribes, now planned to divide 
 the lands of the Roman empire in the 
 west, and to make this their home. 
 
 About this time, however, their dreaded 
 foe appeared. The Huns, wild, fierce^ and 
 restless, led by Attila, a relentless, merci- 
 less raider, swept down into the Roman 
 Empire. 
 
 It seemed as if no one could withstand 
 the fearful Huns, who left blood and ruin 
 in their track. 
 
 At last the Goths and Franks, with 
 
 391 
 
other German tribes, gathered in a vast 
 army, and at Chalons, in Gaul, they 
 defeated Attila, and -drove the Huns out 
 of western Europe. 
 
 THE BLACK FOREST REGION 
 Here the German tribes wandered for centuries secure from the Roman 
 
 legions. 
 
 392 
 
EARLY GERMAN RULERS 
 
 After the retreat of the Huns the 
 Goths continued to extend their power in 
 southern Europe. 
 
 Theodoric, a Goth, or German, as we 
 shall call him hereafter, made himself 
 master of the Italian peninsula. He 
 overcame Adoacer and every other rival 
 in the field. 
 
 For fifty years, A-7(> to 526, Theodoric 
 controlled affairs in Italy. 
 
 The Germans point with pride to this 
 great ruler, who was able to bring into 
 one dominion the broken provinces of 
 Italy, and to rule them so well that 
 quiet and prosperity prevailed. 
 
 While Theodoric was ruling in Italy, 
 another German, Clovis, of the Franks, 
 was building his kingdom in Gaul. 
 
 There he had a hard struggle, but 
 finally made himself supreme. He put 
 
 393 
 
out of the way, by war, or poison, or some 
 other form of murder, everyone v/ho 
 might be a rival. 
 
 This seems today a brutal and cruel 
 form of ambition, but then it was the 
 custom. Competition, among the early 
 Germans, was always settled by battle or 
 murder. 
 
 Clovis, cruel as he was, stood high 
 among his fellowmen, and was remem- 
 bered with honor, because of the greatness 
 and power he brought to his kingdom. 
 
 After Clovis and Theodoric died, about 
 526, nearly three hundred years passed 
 without a great leader among the Ger- 
 man people. 
 
 In 714. Charles M artel strengthened his 
 nation by waging successful war against 
 the Arabs in Spain, and other tribes, 
 who threatened the safety of the Germans. 
 
 The campaign of Charles prepared the 
 way for a still more important ruler, 
 Pepin. Pepin overcame the Lombards, 
 who threatened the safety of the pope, 
 and gave the pope great tracts of land in 
 
 394 
 
Italy that he took from the Lombards. 
 Pepin organized into one realm the 
 territory of north Italy, France and south 
 Germany. He left this kingdom in good 
 order to a son, Charlemagne, who became 
 one of the great rulers of history. 
 
 Theodoric, who controlled Italy, Clovis, 
 who reigned in France, and Pepin, who 
 ruled a large part of both countries, were 
 all of German blood, but Charlemagne 
 is the first ruler we may call the King of 
 Germany, because he extended his realm 
 up into that land known as Germany 
 today. 
 
 Courtesy Raymond Ca- Whitcomb 
 
 LUDWIG CASTLE. BAVARIA 
 
 395 
 
CHARLEMAGNE 
 
 68 TO 814 
 
 The Saxons were warlike, proud, 
 powerful. They lived in large tribes 
 among the forests and marshes of Ger- 
 many. Some had gone over into Eng- 
 land, conquering the Britons there, and 
 establishing homes. 
 
 To conquer these Saxons, Charlemagne 
 fought more than thirty years. When 
 they were beaten in battle, the Saxons 
 would hide in the forests till they found 
 a chance to strike back. 
 
 They had no towns nor cities, nor 
 even dwellings of any value, and Charle- 
 magne had to follow them about in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 ''I will conquer these people if I have 
 to drive them into the sea," he cried. 
 
 The Saxons would keep no treaties of 
 peace, and more than once murdered 
 
 396 
 
envoys of peace sent to them by Charle- 
 
 magne. 
 
 At this he roused himself, raised a great 
 army, and slaughtered thousands of their 
 best warriors. 
 
 The Saxons were forced to submit. 
 Gradually Charlemagne built roads into 
 their forests, made towns, and public 
 improvements, and sent missionaries from 
 the Church of Rome. 
 
 The Saxons were stubborn but not 
 stupid. When they came to know 
 Charlemagne, and to understand what 
 he planned, they changed their minds. 
 
 "We thought this king meant to kill 
 our men and take our wives and children 
 into slavery," they said. ''But he helps 
 us to build better homes. He protects 
 us from our enemies. He selects our 
 best men for governors. In winter we 
 used to starve and freeze. Now we can 
 be warm and eat." 
 
 The vast empire brought together by 
 Charlemagne was the result of service 
 like this. He had a deep and sincere love 
 
 397 
 
for his people. After he had conquered, he 
 made friends of those who had been his 
 enemies. 
 
 When he came to die he sent for his 
 favorite son. 
 
 "Will you fear God, care for the 
 Church, love your people like your 
 children, aid the poor, appoint honest. 
 God-fearing officers, and live an upright 
 life?" 
 
 "I will,'' answered his son, weeping. 
 
 *'Then put on this crown, and may you 
 remember your promise . ' ' 
 
 So ended the great king who gathered 
 the scattered tribes, and had made the 
 German nation a unit. 
 
 Although these people drew apart into 
 various combinations after that time, it 
 was Charlemagne that laid the foundation 
 on which the German nation now stands. 
 
 398 
 
GERMANY DIVIDED INTO 
 STATES 
 
 After Charlemagne, no king had the 
 power to hold his great empire together. 
 
 France soon became a separate kingdom, 
 never again to be ruled by the Germans. 
 
 Italy was considered to be part of the 
 German Empire for centuries after this, 
 but most of the time her great cities were 
 ruled by princes who lived there, and 
 conducted affairs in their own way. 
 
 In that central region now called Ger- 
 many, several rulers gained power over 
 large domains, and became electoral 
 princes. 
 
 These electoral princes, or electors, had 
 the right to vote for the emperor. A 
 powerful leader might force them to ap- 
 point his son to succeed him as emperor, 
 but they went through the form of an 
 election, and frequently could say just 
 who the next emperor should be. 
 
 399 
 
The electors In Germany, like the great 
 lords in France, had more power when the 
 emperor was weak, and less power when 
 the emperor was strong. 
 
 In Germany, however, there appeared 
 no line of Capets to unify the kingdom, 
 and long after the French were a strong, 
 centralized nation, the German princes 
 were battling among themselves for land 
 and leadership. 
 
 A LAKE IN NORTHERN ITALY 
 The early Germans coveted these lovely lands, and fought bitterly to 
 
 win them. 
 
 400 
 
HENRY I 
 
 919 
 
 For a hundred years after his death, the 
 descendants of Charlemagne served as 
 emperors with small success. Then the 
 sceptre passed into the hands of a Saxon, 
 Henry I, called the Fowler. 
 
 Henry I was a king of great energy and 
 shrewd judgment. He w^on the various 
 electors to his ideas, and was able to raise 
 a large army. 
 
 With this army Henry I at once began 
 to enlarge and unify the German terri- 
 tories. 
 
 It is interesting to remember that at 
 this time, in 923, Henry I took Alsace and 
 Lorraine from France. These provinces 
 were even then in hot dispute between 
 France and Germany. 
 
 The northern part of Germany was 
 developed, the frontier was fortified. 
 
 401 
 
On the east Henry I made a secure de- 
 fence against the Huns, or Hungarians, 
 as they had come to be called. 
 
 Henry I made little effort to force the 
 Italian princes to obey his rule, and did 
 not even visit Rome, to prove his author- 
 ity, as most emperors did. His great 
 ambition was^to form a united Fatherland 
 for the German people. 
 
 By his energy and diplomacy, Henry I 
 was able to enlarge the German nation, 
 to raise the standards of living, to secure 
 peace and more prosperity for many of 
 his people, and to join in common aims 
 several electoral princes. 
 
 A SHRINE WHERE CRUSADERS MIGHT PRAY 
 
 402 
 
GERMANY IN THE CRUSADES 
 
 1100 TO ABOUT 1300 
 
 Many kings followed Henry I, as 
 emperors of Germany, or the Holy Roman 
 Empire, as they liked to call it; but little 
 occurred to change the condition of 
 things until about iioo, when the holy 
 crusades began. 
 
 The Children's Crusade was a wonder- 
 ful, but sad adventure. Led by priests 
 and monks, and a large boy, called 
 Stephen, thirty thousand German child- 
 ren and twenty thousand children from 
 France, marched away to embark for the 
 Holy Land. 
 
 It was thought that pure children might 
 do more than the older people, who had 
 known evil. 
 
 402 
 
Alas! The innocent little ones said good- 
 bye forever to their homes. Thousands 
 died on the road; and thousands more 
 were seized and sold as slaves. Very few 
 lived to return and tell of their sufferings. 
 
 When they realized what had happened 
 to their children, the people w^ere frantic 
 with grief and rage. For generations sad 
 and awful tales were told of the Children's 
 Crusade. 
 
 No country was more greatl}^ influenced 
 by the Crusades than Germany. Here, 
 as in France, thousands of turbulent, 
 warlike nobles went off to Palestine, and 
 returned no more. 
 
 Thousands of sober, industrious citizens 
 at home gained rights and opportunities 
 they had never before enjoyed. 
 
 The Crusaders returning from their 
 travels brought back new ideas and fresh 
 ambitions. They had met people far 
 more advanced than they in the arts of 
 civilized life. They saw, for the first 
 time, cities with handsome buildings, 
 and streets, and water supplies. 
 
 404 
 
They came in touch with people who 
 read and wrote, and painted pictures, 
 and carved in marble, and wove beautiful 
 cloth on wonderful looms. 
 
 Contact with such life made a deep 
 impression on the Germans, as it did on 
 the French, and a desire for new and 
 better ways of life and thought began to 
 stir in German breasts. 
 
 All through western Europe the Cru- 
 sades, while they seemed to have the 
 saving of the Holy Land for their cause 
 and aim, were really the expression of a 
 people rising from a long period of mental 
 darkness. 
 
 These people began to awake. They 
 longed for adventure and for change. 
 The Crusades gave scope for such ambi- 
 tions, and led them out into a world that 
 roused still deeper longing to be free. 
 
 4Ud 
 
FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 
 
 Among the emperors who rose to 
 renown during the Crusade period, 
 Frederick Barbarossa, or Red Beard, 
 gained the greatest fame. 
 
 Frederick Barbarossa had the qualities 
 which made kings great. He w^as strong, 
 handsome, and genial. He also had 
 courage, and the will to act quickly as his 
 decisions were made. 
 
 One serious mistake kept Frederick 
 Barbarossa from building the united 
 fatherland of German states which he 
 hoped to complete. This mistake was 
 his unbridled ambition to rule all the old 
 Holy Roman Empire of Charlemagne, 
 which included Italy. 
 
 This effort took Frederick into Italy 
 during many years, when he should have 
 been looking after affairs in Germany. 
 The heat and pestilence in that land cost 
 
 406 
 
him thousands of his best soldiers. His 
 absence from Germany allowed turbulent 
 princes there to break down his organized 
 work, and kept provinces apart which 
 should have been united. 
 
 Frederick Barbarossa was the revenge- 
 ful king who levelled the walls of Milan 
 in 1 163, and left her people without a roof 
 to shelter them. 
 
 At last the currents of the Crusades 
 caught Frederick Barbarossa, as they had 
 caught so many princes, and swept him 
 out to the Holy Land, where he fought 
 gloriously. 
 
 There he fell into a river near Tarsus, 
 the birthplace of Paul the Apostle. The 
 icy water from the hills chilled him, and 
 he drowned before help could come. 
 
 In spite of his many mistakes and his 
 many enemies, Frederick Barbarossa 
 made himself the most powerful and most 
 respected king in Europe. He brought 
 many petty dukedoms together into larger 
 units, and he established order and se- 
 curity in the life of the common people. 
 
 407 
 
THE TARTAR INVASION 
 
 1200 TO 1250 
 
 While thousands of soldiers were oiF on 
 the Crusades, a new peril threatened the 
 very existence of Germany. The great 
 and terrible Genghis Kahn led a horde of 
 Tartars westward from their home on the 
 steppes of Asia. 
 
 In 1 215, while Genghis Kahn himself 
 was conquering China and Persia, his son 
 led an army into Europe. These Tartars 
 were much like the Huns, who had swept 
 over Europe in the fifth century. They 
 left death and ruin everywhere behind 
 them. 
 
 In spite of frantic efforts to repel their 
 hordes, the Tartars desolated the lands 
 farther and farther west, until they had 
 passed the Danube. Then their emperor 
 died, the kingdom gradually broke up, and 
 Germany was saved from destruction. 
 
 408 
 
REVOLT OF THE SWISS CANTONS 
 
 1300 TO 1315 
 
 After the Crusades, a new spirit woke 
 here and there in Germany. In the 
 mountains the people of the Swiss cantons 
 had been brought under the rule of 
 Austria. 
 
 Finding that the Swiss were growing 
 more and more independent and restless, 
 the emperor placed over them as governor 
 a stupid, tyrannical nobleman, named 
 Gessler. 
 
 ''I will tame these wild mountaineers, 
 and make them come at your call," 
 promised Gessler. 
 
 For a time the Swiss obeyed the orders 
 of this tyrant, but the more he secured, 
 the more he demanded. 
 
 At last, according to the old-time story, 
 he put his hat in the market place of 
 Altdorf. 
 
 409 
 
*'Now," he commanded, "let every 
 peasant who passes by bow down to this 
 hat, and remember the power of Austria." 
 
 Before long William Tell, the best 
 marksman in the mountains, came through 
 the market place w4th his boy. 
 
 He saw the hat, but refused to bow 
 down before it. 
 
 ''Arrest him!" cried Gessler. 
 
 ''Now, knave," he went on, "we will 
 tie your boy to yonder tree. Place an 
 apple on his head, and shoot an arrow 
 through it. Shoot well, for if you miss 
 the mark your boy must die." 
 
 Tell trembled, partly from rage. 
 
 "I fear not your arrow, father," cried 
 the lad. "Do not tie me to a tree. I 
 shall not stir a finger. You never miss." 
 
 Tell knew he must shoot, or the boy 
 w^ould be killed, so he took careful aim. 
 The arrow sped true. The apple fell in 
 halves at the boy's feet. 
 
 As Tell was set free, an arrow fell from 
 his coat. 
 
 "What was that for?" asked Gessler. 
 
 410 
 
"To kill thee, tyrant, had I hurt my 
 boy." 
 
 ''Bind him," ordered Gessler. 
 
 Then fearing the crowds that began to 
 gather, he took him, bound, in an open 
 beat, intending to cross the lake. 
 
 But a storm broke. Gessler knew little 
 of boating, and was helpless in the raging 
 wind. 
 
 Cutting the rope that bound Tell, he 
 ordered him to guide them to the shore. 
 
 Tell skilfully steered the boat to a 
 lonel}^ point, jumped to a rock, and with 
 the same movement, pushed the boat out 
 into the waves. 
 
 After drifting down the shore, Gessler 
 finally made his way again to land. He 
 left the boat, and was about to enter the 
 forest, when he fell dead with an arrow in 
 his heart. 
 
 Tell hastened through the mountains, 
 rousing his comrades. They swore never 
 again to submit to the commands of 
 foreign rulers. Gessler's palace was de- 
 stroyed. The Austrian soldiers were 
 
 411 
 
driven out, and the banner of the Swiss 
 Confederation was unfurled. 
 
 Many a bloody battle has been fought, 
 but the Swiss have never lowered that 
 banner to this day . 
 
 WILLIAM TELL ESCAPES FROM THE BOAT 
 
 412 
 
THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE 
 
 While the brave Swiss were fighting 
 for their freedom, another confederation 
 was growing, about 1200, upon the shores 
 of the North Sea, across from England. 
 
 To protect themselves and their trade 
 from pirates and robber barons, who in- 
 fested sea and shore, a group of cities 
 bound themselves together in a league. 
 These cities cared little about politics or 
 kingdoms. They had the single aim of 
 developing trade, and protecting the 
 traders. 
 
 As their success became clear, one city 
 after another joined the Hanseatic League 
 until more than fifty important cities in 
 north and central Germany had become 
 members. 
 
 The league established trading centers 
 in Denmark, England, Sweden, Russia 
 and France. Almost every flag that 
 
 413 
 
floated over a merchant ship, from the 
 English Channel to Russia, was the flag of 
 the Hanseatic League. 
 
 So closely did they unite their interests, 
 and so firmly did they hold together, that 
 for many years these cities had far more 
 power than many German princes. 
 
 England, and other northern countries, 
 made trade treaties with them, and they 
 had a great influence in upholding the 
 prestige of Germany and developing her 
 resources. 
 
 As the northern countries developed, 
 many of these cities gradually lost their 
 power and independence, but a few, 
 Hamburg among them, remained inde- 
 pendent states until 1 871, when they 
 joined with the other states in forming 
 the German Fatherland. 
 
 414 
 
THE GUILDS 
 
 For several centuries after the Cru- 
 sades, trade and the crafts developed 
 rapidly in Germany, and, while the 
 nobles were constantly fighting each 
 other, the common people were steadily 
 and industriously adding to their own 
 wealth and that of their country. 
 
 As the members of those engaged in 
 weaving, in shoe making, in hat making, 
 and the other trades, increased, those 
 engaged in each trade joined in societies 
 called guilds. 
 
 These guilds were something like the 
 trade unions of today, but all workers in 
 each trade, both masters and servants, 
 belonged to the organization. 
 
 The guilds had strict rules for appren- 
 tices, who must serve several years with- 
 out pay. They fixed standards of quality, 
 and punished those who did poor work. 
 
 415 
 
Thus the guild protected both producer 
 and consumer. With its power to buy to 
 advantage, and sell to advantage, its 
 social events, and its wide service to 
 all members, the guild embraced most 
 workers in the trades during the middle 
 ages, and proved a source of wealth and 
 strength throughout western Europe. 
 
JOHN HUSS 
 
 During many generations there had 
 been a contest between the Emperors of 
 Germany and the Popes of Rome. Both 
 wished to be considered supreme. 
 
 Sometimes, when the pope was a great 
 man, he would exercise the authority, and 
 then again a strong emperor would secure 
 domination. 
 
 In matters of religion, the doctrines 
 taught by the Church of Rome had, up 
 to the time of the Crusades, been ac- 
 cepted throughout Germany without 
 much question. 
 
 The contact of the Crusaders with 
 people of other races and other religions, 
 however, brought about new points of 
 view and various questions. 
 
 John Huss was a renowned scholar, 
 rector of the Bohemian University of 
 Prague. He discussed many of these 
 
 417 
 
questions, and arrived at conclusions not 
 in accord with certain of the doctrines of 
 the Roman Church. 
 
 The preaching of Huss caused criticism 
 on the part of the authorities of the 
 Roman Church, who demanded that the 
 preacher be punished as a heretic. 
 
 In 14 14, the emperor ordered that Huss 
 appear for trial before a Church Council. 
 The emperor gave Huss a written paper 
 to assure his safety while at the trial. 
 
 The Council found John Huss guilty of 
 heresy, and sentenced him to be burned. 
 Then John Huss showed his ''safe con- 
 duct" by the emperor. The emperor 
 took the ground, however, that ''no faith 
 is to be kept with heretics." 
 
 So John Huss was thrown into the 
 dungeon, and soon after was burned as a 
 heretic. His death caused fierce indigna- 
 tion in Bohemia and throughout Ger- 
 many. Hundreds of nobles in Germany 
 signed a paper declaring, in defiance of 
 the Roman Church, that the doctrines of 
 Huss must be freely taught. 
 
 418 
 
The friends of Huss in Bohemia brought 
 together an army of Hussites. These 
 avengers marched through Bohemia to 
 Austria, destroying many convents and 
 monasteries. 
 
 The emperor who had betrayed Huss, 
 and who marched out to oppose the 
 Hussites, was defeated, just escaping with 
 his Hfe. The Hussite war continued for 
 sixteen years, and the advantage rested 
 with the HuvSsites. Thousands of people 
 lost their lives, and the Church was 
 despoiled of much property. 
 
 At last, wearied of the contest, the 
 emperor begged for peace, and conces- 
 sions were made which allowed greater 
 freedom of faith. 
 
 419 
 
'GUTENBERG 
 INVENTION OF PRINTING 
 
 1450 
 
 While, during the centuries after the 
 Crusades, from 1300 to 1600, kings and 
 princes were fighting and playing politics 
 all over Europe, great men were rising 
 from the ranks of those who had no titles. 
 
 In 1450, John Gutenberg brought about, 
 through the use of movable type, a 
 development of printing that made greater 
 changes, and advanced the world more 
 than all the kings and nobles of his 
 generation. 
 
 Until the days of Gutenberg only a 
 few could read. Almost all learning was 
 confined to the priests and monks. Many 
 kings had to sign state papers with seals, 
 as they could not write their names. 
 
 In the souls of thousands a new 
 ambition had been aroused, a new desire 
 
 420 
 
to know about the world and their 
 brothers in other lands. 
 
 But how should they satisfy this long- 
 ing? There were few who could teach 
 them. Books were made by monks with 
 pen and ink, and cost more than a peasant 
 could earn in ten years. 
 
 John Gutenberg won the credit for 
 helping to satisfy this craving, and be- 
 stowing a true blessing on his fellowmen. 
 With type he could print many copies of 
 a book so clearly that students could 
 read with ease, and so cheaply that 
 thousands could now own books. 
 
 So great was the demand for books that 
 within fifty years hundreds of master 
 printers were at work in Germany, and 
 hundreds more were spreading into other 
 parts of Europe. 
 
 The art of printing ended the days when 
 the people must believe what they were 
 told. Events after this followed rapidly. 
 By one step after another the races of 
 western Europe rose to freedom. 
 
 421 
 
MARTIN LUTHER 
 
 As Germany grew in wealth and popu- 
 lation, the rivalry between emperors and 
 popes became keener and more bitter. 
 The popes were anxious to increase the 
 influence of the church in all lands. The 
 erection of splendid buildings to adorn 
 the city of Rome, and the carrying on of 
 expensive wars, in connection with the 
 territories under control of the pope, 
 required vast sums of money. 
 
 Complaints arose that too much gold 
 and silver were going out of the country, 
 thus leaving the empire poor. The Ger- 
 man people felt that they could use this 
 money in their own land, and they 
 resented more and more seeing it go to 
 Italy. 
 
 The sermons of Huss, and the books 
 that Gutenberg made possible, gradually 
 aroused the German people. Radical 
 
 422 
 
changes in thought and hfe spread rapidly 
 through her growing cities. People began 
 to show a disposition to think for them- 
 selves and form their own opinions. 
 
 There is a saying that large bodies 
 move slowly. The largest body of that 
 day was the Roman Catholic Church. 
 The spiritual followers of the pope, spread 
 throughout Europe, were far more numer- 
 ous than the subjects of any one king or 
 emperor. These millions of the Catholic 
 faith belonged, not to one race, but to 
 many races. 
 
 For many centuries the teaching of the 
 Bible had been given out to these people 
 in sermons. Books were very costly, 
 because they were all written or printed 
 by hand. They were often chained to 
 walls or stone pillars, so they could not 
 be carried away; just as directories and 
 telephone boks are fastened today in 
 public places. 
 
 As it took years of labor for a monk to 
 make one copy of the Bible, those who 
 wished to read it were obliged to go to 
 
 423 
 
the monastery or library, where it was 
 closely guarded. Moreover, the monks 
 always wrote the Bible in Latin, because 
 the few people who were educated all 
 read that language. 
 
 With the invention of the printing 
 press by Gutenberg, books became cheaper 
 and more common. Men also began to 
 print books in the German language. 
 
 About this time there lived in Germany 
 a monk named Martin Luther. Because 
 of ideas which he had, and changes which 
 he started, Luther stands out as one of 
 the most prominent personages in Ger- 
 man history. No king or emperor has 
 had a greater influence on the history of 
 Germany, in the past four hundred years, 
 than this man who first attracted atten- . 
 tion as a simple monk. 
 
 Martin Luther believed that the Bible 
 should be printed in German, so the 
 common people might learn to read it. 
 As long as the printing press could pro- 
 duce books in quantities, he thought 
 people ought to have Bibles in their 
 
 424 
 
homes, so he determined to translate the 
 Testament into German. 
 
 The custom of having only priests and 
 monks read the Bible, because they were 
 the only persons who knew how to read, 
 had lasted for so many hundreds of years, 
 that no one before Luther seems to have 
 thought of a Bible written in any other 
 language than Latin. 
 
 About this time a monk came through 
 Wittenburg, ''selling indulgences." In- 
 dulgences were printed forms, issued in 
 the name of the Pope of Rome. They 
 promised forgiveness to sinners who would 
 repent and perform pious acts. 
 
 Martin Luther, who considered himself 
 a loyal son of the Church, was shocked to 
 see the Pope's indulgences thus peddled 
 through the street. He determined to pro- 
 test, and nailed to the church door a paper, 
 which attacked the actions of the monk. 
 
 Those of the clergy most familiar with 
 these events, assure us that Luther was 
 not the first nor the only one who pro- 
 tested thus. When he nailed to the 
 
 425 
 
church door, which served as a blackboard 
 for the University, his arguments against 
 peddHng indulgences through the streets, 
 he intended merely to offer an academic 
 challenge for a debate on the matter. 
 
 Much to Luther's surprise, the paper 
 he nailed up caused wide-spread excite- 
 ment; and in a few days his arguments 
 were copied in German and discussed all 
 over the land. 
 
 Now the bishops and cardinals were 
 aroused against Luther. They declared 
 that he must be prevented from assailing 
 the doctrines of the Church. 
 
 But Martin Luther would not retract 
 what he had said. As the discussion 
 grew more heated, and new thousands 
 took part, a great council, or diet, was 
 called at Worms, to settle the difficulty. 
 Luther accepted the orders of the council, 
 and went to Worms. His friends warned 
 him of his danger and recalled the fate of 
 Huss, but he feared neither torture nor 
 death. 
 
 After a long debate he was convicted 
 
 426 
 
of heresy, for he still held firmly to his 
 faith. 
 
 "Here I stand," he declared, "As God is 
 my help I cannot do otherwise." 
 
 The Diet at Worms ordered all Luther's 
 writings to be burned, and forbade all 
 people to quote his teachings, but they 
 spread rapidly throughout the land. The 
 terrible results that followed the execution 
 of Huss caused the authorities to hesitate 
 before burning Luther as a heretic, but 
 his friends insisted that he retire to a safe 
 retreat. 
 
 For some years, therefore, Martin 
 Luther lived quietly in seclusion, working 
 on his new Testament. Word by word 
 he set it down in the best and simplest 
 German he could find. When the work 
 was finished, Luther presented his country 
 not only with a faithful text of the Testa- 
 ment, but a fine type of pure German 
 language. Luther's Testament constitutes 
 the foundation of modern German. 
 
 Martin Luther wrote and preached for 
 forty years, dying in 1546 at the age of 63 . 
 
 427 
 
THE THIRTY YEARS WAR 
 
 1618 TO 1648 
 
 After the death of Martin Luther, 
 those who had joined him in protesting 
 against the old order of things found hfe 
 more and more unhappy. The emperor, 
 seeing thousands of his subjects in the 
 Protestant ranks, decided that it was 
 time to bring them back into the fold of 
 the Catholic Church. 
 
 The princes, as they did in the Hugue- 
 not wars of France, joined sides as they 
 thought their principles or profits led 
 them. Gradually the situation grew 
 worse and worse. 
 
 The working classes all over southern 
 Europe had now gained just enough 
 knowledge to make them suspicious and 
 violent. Thousands demanded new free- 
 dom in religion and politics. The Catholic 
 party fought to maintain its control, and 
 
 428 
 
other thousands, with no reHgious grounds 
 at all, joined the strife to gain what 
 they could. 
 
 It was a century of religious war, and. 
 the Thirty Years War, that broke out in 
 Germany in 1618, just before the Pil- 
 grims fled to America, was the most 
 terrible conflict that ever wasted a Euro- 
 pean country. 
 
 The Thirty Years' War began in Ger- 
 many between the rival Protestants and 
 Catholics, but soon it spread. Denmark, 
 when she saw the Protestants in danger, 
 joined their cause. She helped them with 
 some success, but soon they were again 
 on the verge of ruin. 
 
 The Scandinavian States had very 
 promptly accepted the doctrines of Luther. 
 Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden was 
 keenly interested in the Protestant reform. 
 For several years he watched events while 
 he was organizing his forces for action. 
 
 In 1630, with the approval of his 
 Council, and of the whole country, he 
 declared war for the protection of the 
 
 429 
 
Protestant faith. To the Swedish people 
 he said: ''The Emperor of Germany has 
 wronged our country. The oppressed 
 states of Germany call for our aid, which, 
 by God's help, we will give them. I bid 
 you all an earnest, it may be an eternal, 
 farewell." 
 
 The noblest and best soldier of his 
 age, Gustavus Adolphus led his army 
 into Germany to help the Protestants. 
 Almost alone among the commanders of 
 the time, he forbade looting of all kinds. 
 He saw to it that the soldiers were regu- 
 larly paid and properly fed. 
 
 When this was understood by the 
 German people, they opened to him the 
 gates of their cities. When they saw him 
 win victory after victory, the Protestants 
 flocked to his standards, and his army of 
 invasion was kept strpng. 
 
 ''With the sword in one hand and 
 mercy in the other, he traversed Germany 
 as a conqueror, a lawgiver, and a judge. 
 The keys of towns and fortresses were 
 delivered to him as to a native sovereign. 
 
 430 
 
For a time nothing checked his victorious 
 
 career." 
 
 What great things Gustavus Adolphus 
 might have done for Germany and the 
 Protestant cause, had he hved, can only 
 be guessed. After a series of wonderful 
 victories, and two years spent in healing 
 the wounds of a bleeding country, this 
 generous, heroic king was killed in 1632, 
 and the Protestants were left without a 
 leader. 
 
 Wallenstein was the great general on 
 the Catholic or Imperial side, and with 
 Gustavus gone, he now won success. 
 Wallenstein was little like Gustavus. He 
 was cruel and avaricious. Wherever his 
 armies went, the country was devastated, 
 and the property of friend as of foe was 
 taken . 
 
 Wallenstein grew so rich from his 
 terrible campaigns that his income was 
 many times that of the emperor. His 
 ambition knew no bounds, and at last 
 it was feared he intended to desert the 
 Catholic cause. 
 
 431 
 
One night armed men stole up to his 
 chamber by a secret stairway, and killed 
 him before he could call for help. 
 
 After the death of Wallenstein, the 
 war gradually wore itself away. In the 
 end Germany was desolate. Her best 
 people were dead. Her fields were wild 
 land. Her cities were smoking ruins. 
 
 But with the desolation there came to 
 Germany freedom and opportunity. Old 
 ties were broken. Old principalities and 
 kingdoms united in new bonds of interest. 
 The very ruin of 1650 helped in many 
 ways the formation of the united Father- 
 land that was to come. 
 
 HUGUENOTS ESCAPING TO GERMANY 
 
 432 
 
THE GREAT ELECTOR 
 
 The end of the Thirty Years* War was 
 also the end, in fact, if not in form, of the 
 German, or "Holy Roman" Empire. 
 A waste of unused land and destroyed 
 towns was left to the emperor of Ger- 
 many, and his total revenue was less than 
 the income of a prosperous merchant 
 today. 
 
 From now on each little state of the 
 empire was to struggle for its own exist- 
 ence. 
 
 Brandenburg was a large state in 
 northern Germany, with Berlin for its 
 capital city. The whole extent of Bran- 
 denburg had been laid waste by the 
 armies, not once, but several times. 
 
 In 1640, as the war was dying away, a 
 young man of twenty, Frederick William, 
 known later as The Great Elector, 
 inherited the throne of Brandenburg, 
 
 433 
 
which was a barren waste. This was a 
 hollow and dreary prospect for a brilliant, 
 thoughtful youth. 
 
 Yet Frederick William set manfully to 
 work. Other princes followed the fashion 
 of Louis XIV, and spent every coin they 
 could wring from their people in pleasure 
 and display. Frederick William gave his 
 whole attention to making life happier for 
 his people and restoring order in his 
 destr acted state. 
 
 During some years spent in Holland 
 Frederick William had learned that civil 
 and religious freedom make for prosperity. 
 
 ''My people shall be happy; they shall 
 be prosperous, or I shall die ashamed," he 
 declared. 
 
 Agriculture increased. Waste lands 
 were brought into fertility. Schools were 
 built. Throngs of immigrants from other 
 lands, when they heard how well Fred- 
 erick William treated his subjects, flocked 
 to Brandenburg. 
 
 As education and order increased, those 
 who wished to live by pillage disappeared, 
 
 434 
 
while the number of those who wished to 
 Hve by labor increased greatly. Among 
 those valued workers were twenty thou- 
 sand from France, who fled when Louis 
 XIV began to persecute the Protestants. 
 
 When Frederick William died, in 1688, 
 he had no reason to be ashamed of his 
 life as a ruling prince. 
 
 He left a people more happy, more 
 prosperous, more contented than the 
 citizens in any other German state, a 
 kingdom out of which the dream of cen- 
 turies was soon to grow. 
 
 THE CASTLE AT LUNBERG, GERMANY 
 
 435 
 
FREDERICK I OF PRUSSIA 
 
 Frederick, son of the Great Elector, 
 must be remembered for one important 
 act. 
 
 Prussia was in 1688 simply a province 
 dependent on Brandenburg. 
 
 The emperor of Germany offered to give 
 Frederick, elector of Brandenburg, the 
 title of king, if he would help him fight 
 the French. 
 
 Frederick was ready to accept the offer, 
 but an old custom forbade an elector of 
 Brandenburg to be king also. 
 
 For this reason Frederick changed his 
 title altogether. He went over into 
 Prussia, and was crowned in Konigsburg 
 King of Prussia. 
 
 Thus the name of Prussia, little known 
 before 1688, became important, because 
 it gave its name to all the estates that 
 were ruled by Frederick. 
 
 436 
 
FREDERICK WILLIAM I 
 
 The son of the first King of Prussia, 
 and grandson of the Great Elector, whose 
 name was also Frederick William, at 
 once began to do many things his grand- 
 father would have wished, when he became 
 king. 
 
 Upon his coronation, in 1714.? he cast 
 aside every extravagance, and every 
 wasteful method that had crept into the 
 growing kingdom of Prussia. 
 
 "Every hand is waiting to snatch our 
 wealth. Our people must be trained to 
 understand their real needs and to pro- 
 tect themselves," he declared. 
 
 With watchful care Frederick William I 
 administered the increasing revenues, so 
 that large sums became available for state 
 improvements. While other monarchs 
 were spending millions in extravagant fes- 
 tivities and display, that impoverished 
 
 437 
 
their people, Frederick William I built 
 roads and canals and bridges. He stim- 
 ulated trade and industry in every way. 
 
 When thousands of artisans, driven 
 from their home country by poverty and 
 religious persecution, sought shelter, he 
 provided them with lands, and promised 
 all freedom to worship as they wished. 
 
 Above all other state institutions was 
 the army. Prosperous, wealthy Prussia 
 would be like a fat goose in a dog kennel, 
 without a strong army to protect her 
 borders. War for conquest and revenge 
 seemed at that time to be the great occu- 
 pation of nearly all the rulers of Europe. 
 
 From his coronation in 17 14, to his 
 death in 174.0, the rough, uncultured 
 Frederick William I, the second king of 
 Prussia, made the army his chief hobby. 
 He gave to its personel and its discipline 
 more and more attention as time went on, 
 until the Prussian regiments aroused the 
 admiration and respect of all Europe. 
 
 When he died in 1740, this rough drill- 
 master, who had ruled as an absolute 
 
 438 
 
despot, left to his son a strong, unified 
 kingdom, a full treasury, a people trained 
 to industry and frugality, and a splendid 
 army, perfectly equipped for war. 
 
 MARIA THERESA 
 
 439 
 
FREDERICK THE GREAT 
 
 1740 
 
 Frederick the Great was a young man 
 who had suffered much from the stern, 
 harsh rule of his father. The boy was 
 studious, musical, artistic. He was fond 
 of literature and philosophy. The old 
 king, his father, had turned the palace 
 into a camp, with constant drill, drill, drill. 
 
 It was a bitter regret to the father that 
 young Frederick loved arts better than 
 drill. He even threatened to shoot the 
 lad's instructors if he found them in the 
 palace. 
 
 When the young prince became king, 
 in 1740, the rulers in Europe said to 
 themselves: "We shall not need to worry 
 now about that Prussian army. This 
 Frederick will spend his time in study and 
 frivolity. But a surprise was in store for 
 Europe. 
 
 440 
 
In 1745, Charles VII, Emperor of 
 Austria, died, leaving the Imperial crown 
 to his daughter, Maria Theresa. The 
 German princes, including Frederick of 
 Prussia, had agreed to accept her as the 
 rightful heir of her father's domains. 
 
 North of Austria, lying between that 
 nation and Prussia, was the Austrian 
 province of Silesia, which the Prussians 
 had long desired to secure. 
 
 Frederick the Great had a well organ- 
 ized army ready for war. On the throne 
 of Austria was a woman, inexperienced in 
 war. 
 
 One night a great ball was held in 
 Berlin, which Frederick attended in state, 
 but from which he slipped quietly away. 
 
 Two days later the Prussian king 
 crossed the borders of Silesia, and began 
 what is known as the war of the Austrian 
 Succession. 
 
 The other European powers, while crit- 
 icizing the action of the ' 'wicked King of 
 Prussia," hastened to secure a share of 
 the spoils. Austria was at once assailed 
 
 441 
 
by the forces of France, Spain, and other 
 states, whose rulers helped to secure some 
 portion of the Queen's territories. 
 
 But Maria Theresa was an able and 
 energetic woman, and she fought fiercely 
 to protect her own lands. 
 
 England and Holland, seeing her success, 
 thought it wise to help her, so Austria v/^as 
 able to protect herself and save a large 
 part of her territory. 
 
 Frederick the Great, in the end, after a 
 campaign that proved him one of the best 
 generals of modern times, retained Silesia, 
 in spite of the protests of Maria Theresa. 
 
 He had now added a large, valuable 
 territory to his kingdom, which reached 
 down into the heart of Germany, and 
 Prussia had become so strong that Austria 
 alone could compete with Frederick the 
 Great for the German leadership. 
 
 Frederick realized that from now on he 
 must make every effort to protect the 
 lands he had seized, for Maria Theresa 
 could never forget nor forgive the captreu 
 of Silesia; and the rest of Europe watched 
 
 442 
 
him with a jealous eye. Showing the 
 greatest energy, he developed his new 
 kingdom, with the single aim of making 
 his people prosperous and strong. 
 
 Frederick the Great worked day and 
 night to keep in touch with every detail 
 of his government. Even Louis XIV of 
 France was no more despotic than he ; but 
 Frederick earnestly labored to bring pros- 
 perity to every citizen, high and low. 
 
 Frederick even loaned his war horse to 
 poor peasants to aid them in plowing. 
 
 Seeing this self-sacrifice on the part of 
 their king, the people of Prussia willingly 
 did as he asked, and bent their energies 
 to building up the army, and making 
 strong their borders. 
 
 The unity of the new nation was com- 
 pleted by religious toleration. ''I mean 
 that every man in my kingdom shall have 
 the right to be saved in his own way," 
 declared Frederick. 
 
 Under this liberal rule the people of 
 Silesia quickly joined the Prussians in a 
 true respect and regard for their new king. 
 
 443 
 

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After ten years, in 1756, the expected 
 blow fell. Maria Theresa secured the 
 help of France, Russia, and Sweden, and 
 attacked Prussia to regain her lost 
 Silesia. 
 
 Then came gloomy days for Frederick 
 the Great. Against overwhelming odds 
 Frederick and his Prussians fought with 
 desperate valor. 
 
 His swift action and supreme military 
 genius saved his country from destruction 
 for a time. Then fortune favored his 
 enemies. Even the help of England 
 failed to sustain him against the enemy. 
 His own palace in Berlin was occupied by 
 the foe. 
 
 Just as all seemed lost, a new event 
 saved Prussia. The Queen of Russia, 
 who hated Frederick, sent a large army to 
 join with the Austrians in a final crushing 
 blow. 
 
 The Russian army was ready to attack, 
 when the queen died. The new Russian 
 king, a friend to Frederick, at once ordered 
 his generals to fight on the Prussian side. 
 
 444 
 
Then Sweden and France made peace, 
 and the war ended in 1763, with Silesia 
 still a part of Prussia. 
 
 Poland, a vast land between Prussia 
 and Russia, was ruled by a group of sel- 
 fish nobles who had brought Poland into 
 a helpless condition. 
 
 Prussia, Austria and Russia now joined 
 in a plan to swallow this helpless nation. 
 This was done very easily, for Poland 
 could not defend herself. 
 
 A large part of Poland was now added 
 to Prussia, enabling Frederick the Great 
 to join West Prussia with East Prussia, 
 which had formerly been separated by 
 part of Poland. 
 
 Thus Frederick had been able to add 
 greatly to the expanse and wealth of 
 Prussia, by a deliberate attack on a help- 
 less neighbor state. 
 
 With wonderful rapidity Frederick re- 
 peated in Poland what he had done in 
 Silesia. The land was developed, roads 
 were improved, canals dug, live stock 
 supplied, honest, helpful officials installed, 
 
 445 
 
families moved where they could prosper 
 best, and religious freedom granted. 
 
 Soon these people blessed the day 
 they passed from the wretched rule of the 
 Polish princes into the control of Frederick 
 the Great. 
 
 After this war the reign of Frederick the 
 Great passed in comparative peace until 
 his death in 1786. 
 
 Frederick was not called "The Great" 
 because of his success in war, where he 
 deliberately attacked his neighbors to 
 take their lands away, but because of his 
 wonderful capacity to make his people 
 happy and prosperous. 
 
 Other kings in Europe, seeing the rapid 
 rise of Prussia under such intelligent rule, 
 tried to copy his methods, with little 
 success. Their nobles thwarted their best 
 intentions. But no one in Prussia dared 
 thwart Frederick. He was an absolute 
 despot, but apart from his passion for war, 
 he ruled for the good of his people, and 
 lived to make Prussia one of the leading 
 nations of Europe. 
 
 446 
 
PERIOD OF RE\^OLUTION 
 
 1789 TO 1815 
 
 Hardly had Frederick the Great died 
 when the storm burst in France that was 
 to change the face of Europe in many 
 ways. 
 
 Frederick WiUiam II, who followed 
 Frederick Ihe Great, had little ability to 
 care for Prussia in the turmoil of w^ar. 
 Napoleon, whose leadership began in 
 1795, carried his victorious armies into 
 all corners of Europe After a vigorous 
 effort, the German people saw that 
 defence would be impossible. The great 
 Napoleon was too much for them. 
 
 For many years the illusion of the 
 German empire had been kept up. The 
 electors had met now and then to go 
 through the form of electing an emperor, 
 who had no power at all. 
 
 No one was much interested in this 
 447 
 
old worn-out form they still called an 
 empire, but no one knew how to bring it 
 to an end. Historians ajiiused themselves 
 by saying that it was neither Holy nor 
 Roman, nor an Empire. 
 
 Now, under the attacks of Napoleon, 
 many of the free, imperial cities along the 
 Rhine, and in West Germany, were com- 
 bined into larger units. The electors were 
 lost in the shuffle, and never again voted 
 for an emperor. 
 
 Austria and Prussia both suffered seri- 
 ously from the attacks of the French, and 
 it became more and more clear to thought- 
 ful Germans that, if their state was to 
 continue to exist, they must unite with 
 each other in closer bonds of union. The 
 fate of Poland taught them a lesson that 
 was plain for all to learn. 
 
 Napoleon conquered every army that 
 opposed him, and finally made peace in 
 1807, dictating his own terms. 
 
 In the peace settlement of 1807 Prussia 
 lost all her Polish territories. She saw 
 half her lands taken away. The wheel 
 
 448 
 
of fortune brought her back to where she 
 had been a century before, and made her a 
 vassal state of France. 
 
 Before Napoleon's invasions there were 
 in Germany two great states, Austria and 
 Prussia. There were about twenty states 
 of the second rank, hardly larger than 
 modern cities. There w^ere about two 
 hundred and fifty principalities of the 
 third rank, some no larger than a farm. 
 
 Besides these there were hundreds of 
 nobles, each ruling his own palace and 
 lands, many even maintaining little armies. 
 Each had this tax system, and claimed 
 power of life and death over his own few 
 subjects. 
 
 Historians say that there were nearly 
 two thousand independent states, great 
 and tiny, crowded into a space about the 
 size of Texas. 
 
 Napoleon paid no more attention to 
 these petty rulers than we would pay 
 to flies. He crushed them all, and fitted 
 their holdings into new kingdoms as he 
 pleased. 
 
 449 
 
PRUSSIA LEADS THE WAY 
 
 Still under the dominion of Napoleon, 
 and shrunk to half her former state, 
 Prussia at once took steps that were to 
 lead her back to the front ranks of 
 Germany. 
 
 The system of nobility, by which the 
 working classes had been kept almost as 
 serfs, forbidden to rise to anything better, 
 was broken down ; and many new privileges 
 came to the people. 
 
 Liberal reforms, that brought all classes 
 closer together, were promptly adopted. 
 The people of Prussia were roused to a 
 new pitch of patriotic zeal. 
 
 Napoleon forbade Prussia to have a 
 standing army of more than 42,000 men. 
 Under this regulation the Prussians 
 planned to drill 42,000 till they were 
 well trained. Then they took 42,000 new 
 
 450 
 
men and formed another army; while 
 the first returned to civil life. 
 
 By this means Prussia had a great 
 number of trained men ready in 1813, to 
 help defeat Napoleon; and won much 
 prestige in Europe. 
 
 Prussia continued this plan of training 
 men to fight, from that time on, and made 
 her army the ver^^ heart and center of 
 her national ambitions. 
 
 The French Revolution of 1789 woke 
 the people of Germany to new ideas of 
 freedom. The young men all through the 
 German states demanded an opportunity 
 to share in the government. 
 
 Rule by the king and his nobles was 
 denounced by thousands of young students 
 as unfair to the people and harmful to the 
 state. 
 
 In various German states plans were 
 made, and promises secured from the 
 princes, to carry out reforms that would 
 give these ambitious citizens a chance 
 to share in the government. 
 
 When, after Waterloo, the iron grasp of 
 
 451 
 
Napoleon was lifted from Germany, the 
 kings and princes forgot most of their 
 promises. 
 
 In Prussia and Austria especially, where 
 the monarchs had pledged themselves to 
 large reforms, little was done, and the 
 kings settled down again to rule by royal 
 power. 
 
 Prussia failed to carry out her promises 
 of reform in politics, but in other ways her 
 people gained far more than the French, 
 who secured a constitution and a form of 
 political freedom. 
 
 Led by Prussia, the German states in 
 1842 joined in a customs union that greatly 
 increased the prosperity of all, and made 
 the Germans see more clearly than ever 
 the advantages of uniting in one empire. 
 
 As years went on, the desire for union, 
 and also for political freedom, grew more 
 intense. One after another the southern 
 states granted constitutions, and forms 
 of popular government. Still Austria and 
 Prussia held out. 
 
 452 
 
PRUSSIA GRANTS A 
 CONSTITUTION 
 
 1848 
 
 The year 1848 saw changes and revo- 
 lutions throughout Europe. France drove 
 out her king, Louis PhiUppe. The tide of 
 popular demand for the rights of the 
 people was rising fast. 
 
 In Berlin Frederick William IV found 
 crowds before his palace, who demanded 
 that the old promises be kept. He waited, 
 delayed, postponed; but the people re- 
 fused to wait longer. 
 
 Arms were brought. Shots were fired. 
 From his palace window Frederick William 
 IV saw hundreds of his subjects borne 
 away dead or dying. 
 
 ^ 'Stop J" he cried. "The time has come. 
 The rights they demand shall be granted." 
 
 A constitution was framed which gave 
 the Prussian people the right to elect 
 
 453 
 
representatives, and to help in making 
 laws. Their power was still very small, 
 and that of the king was very great, but 
 they accepted the reform as an improve- 
 ment over old conditions. 
 
 At this time a serious effort was made 
 to form a federation of German states, 
 which should bind them into a Father- 
 land. Conventions were called, and diets 
 were held, but jealousy and misunder- 
 standing kept these efforts from bringing 
 the hoped-for results. 
 
 FREDERICK THE GREAT 
 
 454 
 
BISMARK 
 
 The revolution of 1848 brought a man 
 into prominence who, for many years, 
 was destined to be the greatest figure in 
 Germany. 
 
 Count Bismark believed in the rule of 
 kings, and in a great army to maintain 
 the royal authority. 
 
 /'We are surrounded by foes who wish 
 our downfall. Men and arms, blood and 
 iron, will decide our fate. How else can 
 we win our place in the world than with a 
 powerful army, directed by a king who 
 can decide instantly, and who has the 
 power to enforce decisions?^* 
 
 This argument had great weight. The 
 Prussian people remembered only too 
 well how nearly they had been destroyed 
 by the French. They recalled the fate of 
 Poland. They knew the hostility of 
 Austria. 
 
 455 
 
Much as they wanted freedom and 
 peace, they wanted hfe and safety more. 
 Much as they hated the rule of Bismark, 
 they dreaded still more the rule of France 
 or Austria. 
 
 In Prussia, therefore, the king retained 
 his power, and the army, the symbol of 
 defence and victory, was accepted as the 
 foundation of the state. 
 
 In 1862, Bismark was sent to Paris, 
 as ambassador. There he learned the 
 plans and ambitions of Napoleon III, 
 and he became convinced that the Em- 
 peror had designs on the territory of 
 Germany. 
 
 Bismark also went to Russia, and 
 Austria, and returned more determined 
 than ever to make the Prussian army the 
 most powerful in the world. 
 
 ''That alone can save us from destruc- 
 tion," he declared. 
 
 Beyond all other ambitions, Bismark 
 held high hope of uniting all the German 
 states into one empire, under the leader- 
 ship of Prussia. 
 
 456 
 
WAR WITH DENMARK 
 
 1864 
 
 By 1864 a new king had come to 
 Prussia, William I, son of Frederick 
 William III, who had been conquered by 
 Napoleon. William trusted greatly in 
 Bismark, and made him chancellor of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 Just south of Denmark lay two states, 
 Schleswig and Holstein. The King of 
 Denmark said they belonged to him. 
 The people of these states were partly 
 German, and their sympathies were 
 divided. France helped stir them up. A 
 revolution broke out, and the king of 
 Denmark ended by annexing the two 
 provinces to his kingdom. 
 
 At this Bismark induced Austria to 
 join Prussia in an attack on Denmark. 
 He was eager to try his army in actual 
 war. 
 
 457 
 
All went just as Bismark had planned. 
 His soldiers proved themselves all he had 
 hoped. Denmark was quickly defeated, 
 and Schleswig and Holstein were yielded 
 to Prussia and Austria. 
 
 QUEEN LOUISE AND HER SONS 
 The boy on the left became William I, and took terrible revenge for the 
 hardships Napoleon I inflicted on his lovely mother. 
 
 458 
 
WAR WITH AUSTRIA 
 
 The next play in this program was to 
 settle accounts with Austria. 
 
 The Prussian leaders knew that the 
 issue must be fought out. They knew 
 the power of their army, for every Prus- 
 sian citizen was trained and ready. 
 
 Every detail of preparation was exact, 
 every route to Austria and France, was 
 known yard by yard. Every soldier 
 knew in advance just what he must do 
 and was ready to obey. 
 
 The rest of Europe knew little of this 
 tremendous force. France was considered 
 superior, and Austria fully equal to 
 Prussia in a contest of arms. 
 
 A dispute over the newly acquired land 
 was easily developed into a war. By a 
 promise of Venice, Bismark got Italy 
 to attack from the south, while Prussia 
 pounced upon Austria from the North. 
 
 459 
 
Again all went as he had hoped. Austria 
 was defeated so quickly that all Europe 
 was dumbfounded. 
 
 In the treaty that followed, Austria was 
 excluded from German affairs. The old 
 confederation was dissolved. Prussia be- 
 came the head of a new federation of 
 north German states, and annexed both 
 Schleswig and Holstein. 
 
 Europe now began to see the plan and 
 power of Prussia. The skill of Bismark, 
 and the efficiency of the Prussian army, 
 had changed the face of Europe. 
 
 GENERAL PERSHING, GENERAL FOCH, AND KING GEORGE 
 
 460 
 
WAR WITH FRANCE 
 
 1871 
 
 The French were furious at the un- 
 expected results of the Prussian victor}^ 
 Napoleon III had expected a long, bitter 
 struggle, that would weaken both Prussia 
 and Austria, leaving him in a position 
 to extend the boundaries of France well 
 up toward the Rhine. 
 
 Now Austria was crushed, and if he 
 gained any of the Rhine lands he coveted, 
 it must be from proud, victorious Prussia. 
 
 In Prussia the feeling toward Bismark 
 and his policies was utterly changed. 
 Before the war he had been hated and 
 distrusted. The Prussians had not realized 
 their own strength, and they had dreaded 
 such a war. 
 
 Their sudden victory, and great profits, 
 filled them with adoration for Bismark. 
 
 461 
 
His policy of blood and iron now won 
 admiration and support. 
 
 Prussia's old-time foe, Austria, was 
 beaten to the ground. Prussia was now 
 the head of a great Federation, and had 
 won riches and territory. It believed 
 itself to be the leading nation in the world. 
 
 The people of two great countries 
 now scowled at each other across their 
 boundaries, with mutual distrust, which 
 was rapidly growing into hate. 
 
 Neither France nor Prussia seemed to 
 have any idea that it was possible for 
 the two countries to live side by side in 
 peace and prosperity, without a test of 
 arms. Like boys in a country school, 
 they must find out who was master. 
 
 In France the war party, led on by 
 Napolion III, stirred up the people by 
 rumors and newspapers. Memories of 
 the Great Napoleon were refreshed, and 
 everything possible was done to win 
 popular support for a war with Prussia. 
 
 All these plans were eagerly, though 
 secretly, encouraged by Bismark. 
 
 462 
 
Mysterious reports went back and forth 
 by letter and telegram. The French were 
 led to believe that they could easily crush 
 Prussian pride, as they had done sixty 
 years before. 
 
 The Prussian papers, under the control 
 of the war leaders, told the people of the 
 danger from a French attack. 
 
 It was not long before Bismark saw with 
 satisfaction the results of his propaganda, 
 which had included some serious mis- 
 statements. July 19, 1870, Napoleon 
 III declared war on Prussia, and ordered 
 his army to attack at once. 
 
 The French, confused and poorly pre- 
 pared, moved with what they thought 
 was great speed, to carry war into Prussia. 
 
 The Prussians, advancing with the pre- 
 cision of clockwork, were at the boundaries 
 to meet them. 
 
 In vain the French armies tried to 
 break through the ring of steel. It was 
 impossible. After a few weeks the whole 
 French force surrendered, and the world 
 saw that Prussia had won another victory. 
 
 463 
 
France fought with desperate courage, 
 after her field armies were destroyed, but 
 at last, with her soldiers gone, and Paris 
 in the hands of the Prussians, she ac- 
 knowledged defeat. 
 
 The Prussians demanded an enormous 
 sum of money, and the province of Alsace- 
 Lorraine. 
 
 These lands were of vast importance to 
 Prussia, as iron and coal, greatly needed 
 for her industries, were found there in 
 abundance. 
 
 BISMARK DICTATES TERMS OF SURRENDER TO THE 
 FRENCH DEPUTIES 
 
 464 
 
ONE FATHERLAND AT LAST 
 
 In Germany the Franco-Prussian war 
 brought results which Napoleon III had 
 hoped to make impossible. The south 
 German states now believed without 
 question what Bismark had been trying 
 to make them understand. 
 
 They saw that their safety and success 
 depended upon unity among all German 
 people. Fulfillment of the hopes German 
 statesmen had held for centuries was now 
 possible. 
 
 Every German state, except Austria, 
 promptly joined in the German Empire, 
 a solid, unified confederation, under 
 Prussia. William I, King of Prussia, 
 was crowned at Versailles in 1 871, as 
 Emperor of Germany, the truly united 
 German Fatherland. 
 
 William I, as a boy, had seen a lovely 
 mother, Queen Louise, die of a broken 
 
 465 
 
heart, after the humiliation of Prussia by 
 the French under Napoleon. It was his 
 fortune to stand, as ruler of a powerful 
 nation, in the very palace at Versailles 
 where Napoleon had lived, and dictate 
 terms of peace to the people of France. 
 
 To the people of the new German 
 Empire, the period following their mili- 
 tary triumphs brought undreamed of 
 prosperity and power. - 
 
 Athens, after the defeat of Persia, rose 
 to heights of brilliant achievement seldom 
 seen in this world. So the Germans, 
 with the age-long fear of foes on every " 
 side all gone, and with absolute confidence 
 in their power and supremacy, made an 
 astounding advance in resources and in 
 world power. 
 
 Philosophers say that we can be what 
 we dare to be; what we will to be. The 
 Germans, uplifted by their dazzling vic- 
 tories, dared all and willed all. In their 
 opinion nothing was too good for the 
 German people. 
 
 In industry, in commerce, in popula- 
 
 466 
 
tion, in wealth, and in power, they went 
 forward with amazing strides. 
 
 The form of government in the new 
 empire was federal. All the states sent 
 representatives to a large lower house 
 called the Reichstag. Above that was a 
 group of nobles in a senate, called the 
 Bundesrat. At the top was Emperor 
 William I, with the Imperial Chancellor. 
 
 The Reichstag had very little power. 
 The representatives could talk, and did 
 talk much and at length, but when they 
 were done talking, the emperor could act 
 as he pleased. 
 
 The Emperor appointed all the minis- 
 ters. As Imperial Chancellor, he re- 
 tained Bismark, and for nearly twenty 
 years Bismark was the real ruler of 
 Germany. 
 
 Realizing that they had no actual part 
 in the government, and that all the real 
 power had been secured by the Kaiser, 
 many citizens protested, and urged re- 
 forms that would give them more de- 
 mocracy and freedom. 
 
 467 
 
When these protests became disturbing, 
 Bismark always had the same answer 
 ready. 
 
 'What nation is more prosperous than 
 ours?" What people have more power 
 than we have? What made our great 
 army victorious over all our deadly foes? 
 Was it a congress, or a king? 
 
 ''No, while other nations were discuss- 
 ing and disputing, our great army, with 
 one single head to command it, struck 
 and won its victories. 
 
 "Beware! Even now Russia, France, 
 Austria, Italy, England, watch us with 
 jealous eyes. If we weaken the power of 
 our kaiser, we weaken the nation. If we 
 weaken the nation, we are lost." 
 
 The German people always admitted 
 that most of this was true. A majority 
 agreed that it was all true. 
 
 "Freedom, and liberty to run the 
 government, may be all right for other 
 people. We have a happier land than 
 theirs We have better schools, better 
 education, better homes, more wealth, 
 
 468 
 
and more power than our neighbors. We 
 are the leaders of civihzation. 
 
 "Let us keep our good kaiser, and our 
 strong army, and feel safe against the 
 world." 
 
 William I was a faithful ruler to his 
 people. He earnestly strove to secure 
 for them all possible advantages. Above 
 all he strove to bring wealth and power 
 to the Fatherland. 
 
 During the long, splendid reign of 
 Emperor William I, little was done to 
 change the plan of government. When 
 William I died, in 1888, the ruling power 
 rested, under the old-time theory of 
 divine right, in the hands of the kaiser. 
 
 •V. 
 
 ■i ^ 
 
 THE BATTLE FRONT 
 A German Officer viewing a French town about to be taken by his army. 
 
 469 
 
WILLIAM II 
 
 1888 TO 1918 
 
 When William I died, there were in- 
 creasing thousands who demanded more 
 power for the people, and less for the 
 kaiser. 
 
 "It is dangerous to give one man so 
 much power," they declared. When we 
 ask to take part in affairs they rattle the 
 sword and tell us that France, or Russia 
 is about to attack us. 
 
 ''That is just to frighten us, and to 
 make us leave the power to the kaiser and 
 his nobles." 
 
 A son of William I ruled a few months. 
 Then he died, and left the throne to 
 William II, a grandson of William I. 
 
 Those who had hoped that William II 
 would grant more freedom to the people 
 were disappointed. 
 
 William II cherished all the old ideas 
 about the divine right of kings. 
 
 470 
 
THE SODA FOUNTAIN 
 In the near east tlie subjects the Kaiser planned to rule buy a glass 
 of liqaoric© water from the earthen jars. No ice-cream-soda there 
 
"The king's will is the supreme law," 
 he said. *'I will take care of my people, 
 and will make them prosperous and 
 powerful." 
 
 So the old program of rule by the kaiser 
 went on again. 
 
 After the death of William I, in 1888, 
 a new policy began to develop in Germany. 
 Bismark had given all his great powers to 
 make Germany strong. He had made 
 her the greatest nation in Europe. Part 
 of his plan always included peace with 
 England and Russia. He developed, in 
 every way, cordial relations with England. 
 
 But while Germany had grown in 
 Europe, England and France had devel- 
 oped colonial empires. France, with 
 colonies in Indo China and North Africa, 
 had possessions of immense value. Eng- 
 land had India, Egypt, and many other 
 colonial holdings. 
 
 ''We also must get world-wide posses- 
 sions," said the Kaiser. 
 
 "That will antagonize England," said 
 Bismark. 
 
 471 
 
''Never mind, our great army will take 
 care of England." 
 
 Finally, the kaiser, finding his will 
 opposed, dismissed Bismark and took the 
 government into his own hands. 
 
 Still the march of progress and pros- 
 perity moved even faster than before, 
 and great enterprises were undertaken 
 in many directions. 
 
 Agriculture was fostered and improved, 
 till the poor German soil produced enough 
 to feed the population. 
 
 Science and industry went forward, 
 not in a march, but by leaps and bounds. 
 Sleepy towns awoke to find themselves 
 stirring cities. Manufactures improved 
 and increased. 
 
 As manufacturing grew, commerce was 
 developed to keep pace with it. In the 
 markets of the world, German agents, 
 German stores, German ships, became a 
 familiar sight. Trade expanded till even 
 England saw a rival to her supremacy on 
 the sea. 
 
 Population increased even faster than 
 
 472 
 
before. When the empire began, Ger- 
 many had forty one milHon. In 19 14 it 
 had about seventy milHon. 
 
 France, in Napoleon's day, had the 
 largest population of any civilized state 
 in Europe. In 19 14 Germany had nearly 
 twice her population, and was increasing 
 at a greater rate. 
 
 All the time, notwithstanding their 
 great propserity, thousands of Germans 
 complained of the Kaiser's domination. 
 The socialists, as they called themselves, 
 grew steadily in numbers and importance. 
 
 *'This will come to no good," they 
 declared. "There is too much power at 
 the top. The citizens can not even know 
 what is being done with their resources, 
 or what policies are being shaped for the 
 Nation. 
 
 We have to do as we are told, like 
 children. 
 
 ''See our schools. All teachers must 
 teach that the kaiser is the greatest of all 
 men on earth, or they will be dismissed. 
 They must teach the children that all 
 
 473 
 
authority belongs to the kaiser and his 
 nobles, or they will go begging. 
 
 ''The professors in the colleges must 
 teach the same things if they wish to 
 hold their positions. 
 
 "The army is run by the kaiser and his 
 staff. We can have nothing to say. We 
 must all serve our time and be trained as 
 soldiers or be sent to jail. 
 
 'Trom the day we are born, till the day 
 we die, we are led by the nose. We must 
 believe and think and act just as the 
 kaiser sa^^s. No, this will come to no 
 good in the end.'* 
 
 But the majority still believed in the 
 old ways. 
 
 "Foreigners who visit us admit that 
 we are the greatest nation on earth,'* 
 they replied. "They say our laws are 
 the best, our cities are the cleanest and 
 best governed. We have pensions for 
 the workmen. Help for the farmers, help 
 for manufacturers and commerce. 
 
 "We have more wealth and more power 
 than any of our neighbors. 
 
 474 
 
*'Our kaiser, and our army, have brought 
 us this safety and this prosperity. Some- 
 day, when we shall be safe from wicked 
 neighbors, we may reduce our army, and 
 take a larger liberty for the people, but 
 not yet." 
 
 Now and then disputes with Russia or 
 England, or some other country, which 
 might possibly lead to war, were made 
 imposing in the newspapers, which were 
 printed under strict censorship, to show 
 the people how much need there was for 
 the army and the ruling power of the 
 kaiser. 
 
 As foreign trade expanded, the kaiser 
 decided that Germany must have a great 
 navy to protect it. So immense sums 
 were at once set aside to build a grand 
 navy, to protect German trade abroad. 
 
 At this England was indeed alarmed. 
 What did these Germans intend ? Were 
 they planning to crush her also, as they 
 had crushed Denmark, and Austria, and 
 France? 
 
 Germany declared that nothing was 
 
 475 
 
farther from her mind, but England 
 trusted little in the word of the kaiser. 
 Actions spoke louder than words. Eng- 
 land at once increased her army and her 
 navy. 
 
 TOWER OF SAINT JACQUES. PARIS 
 
 Shells from a giant German gun, nearly seventy miles away, fell close 
 
 beside this stately tower. 
 
 476 
 
GERMANY SEEKS WORLD POWER 
 
 By 1898 great changes had taken 
 place in Europe. England, seemg clearly 
 that the Kaiser had determined to com- 
 pete with her upon the sea, strengthened 
 her friendly relations with France. 
 
 For years Bismark had held the friend- 
 ship of England, and had managed to 
 keep France and England apart. Now 
 the Kaiser was losing the friendship of 
 England, while France was gaining Eng- 
 lish support. 
 
 When his ministers warned him of this 
 danger, the Kaiser pointed to his great 
 army, and fast growing navy. ''Those 
 will take care of us," v/as his answer. 
 
 Soon Russia sent ministers to London. 
 
 "Do you know what Germany is 
 scheming?" they asked. "She plans to 
 move south east. She wants to control a 
 
 477 
 
vast stretch of country through Austria, 
 Turkey, and Persia, clear to India. 
 
 ''If she does this she will threaten 
 British rule in India, and will menace our 
 control about the Black Sea." 
 
 ''Yes, we know that is true," replied 
 England. "The Kaiser will stop at noth- 
 ing short of world control. Let us join 
 in a friendly treaty to support each 
 other, and to defend France, if Germany 
 should attack us." 
 
 This was done. Now Germany had 
 three great powers, England, Russia, 
 and France, watching her with suspicion, 
 and growing hostility. 
 
 In Germany this was used as a reason 
 for an army and navy still greater than 
 before. 
 
 "These nations have surrounded us 
 with an iron ring. They wish our destruc- 
 tion. The good sword of valiant Ger- 
 many must set her free. Nothing shall 
 crush the hopes and glorious ambitions 
 of the Fatherland." 
 
 This was the message of the newspapers, 
 
 478 
 
the topic of the schools, and colleges, 
 throughput Germany, where all were 
 under the direct command of the kaiser. 
 
 The outlook of German leaders became 
 wider. Their ambition became vaster 
 and grander. They played for the high- 
 est stakes more boldly. As they them- 
 selves said, they saw no reason why the 
 Germans, God's chosen people, should 
 not control the world. 
 
 But through it all was the idea of 
 dominion, not service. Power and wealth 
 was still the German watchword. 
 
 The officers in the German army, who 
 alone knew what was really going on, 
 had now grown so harsh and arrogant 
 that they were hated by the German 
 people themselves. They considered the 
 common people mere animals, and treated 
 them as such. 
 
 In every court and capitol of Europe 
 were German officials, seeking to win 
 favor and to allay distrust. But the 
 German voice had now grown too loud 
 to go unnoticed. 
 
 479 
 
They would not be encircled and 
 crushed by any nations. They meant to 
 fulfill their great destiny, and they told 
 the world of this in language that could 
 not be misunderstood. 
 
 At last, by 19 12, it became clear that 
 war was coming. The alliance between 
 Russia, France, and England did not 
 cause Germany to hold back. She made 
 a close alliance with Austria and Turkey, 
 and she worked hard, without success, to 
 secure the support of Italy. 
 
 Ambassadors hurried back and forth. 
 Telegrams flashed over Europe. Armies 
 were mobilized. England made an effort 
 to find some agreement with Germany, 
 but Germany was prepared for war, and 
 was determined upon war, so England \s 
 efforts for peace came to nothing. 
 
 480 
 
THE WORLD WAR 
 
 1914 
 
 Prince Bismark, in every war, had, 
 with wonderful adroitness, succeeded in 
 making it appear that someone else had 
 started the war. 
 
 Now WiUiam II tried a similar method. 
 
 In the summer of 19 14? an Austrian 
 duke was assassinated. Austria charged 
 Servia with the responsibility for the 
 murder, saying that the plot was hatched 
 with the knowledge of the Servian govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Austria at once made demands on 
 Servia that would really make Servia 
 dependent upon her, if the demands were 
 granted. 
 
 Servia stood in the way of the German 
 road to Turkey and the East, where 
 Germany planned to dominate. 
 
 481 
 
"Decline to grant these demands/* 
 said Russia. ''We will aid you.' 
 
 ''Whatever you see fit to do," said 
 Germany to Austria, "we shall support 
 you." She added, more quietly, "Press 
 your claims and punish Serbia." 
 
 "If Germany attacks you," said France 
 to Russia, "We shall be at your side, and 
 England will not permit France to be 
 crushed. She cannot stand back now, 
 for she knows her turn would come, after 
 we had been overpowered." 
 
 Then followed a brief period of terrible 
 suspense. Servia agreed to most of the 
 demands, and requested time to consider 
 the others. Austria, under pressure from 
 Berlin, refused, and marched upon Bel- 
 grade. 
 
 Russia mobilized her forces. 
 
 Germany alone was in a position to 
 prevent the coming war. Austria was 
 ready, with Germany's permission, to 
 delay her war measures. But Germany 
 turned a deaf ear to all entreaties, and 
 set her army in motion. In five days, 
 
 482 
 
Germany, Austria, Russia, France, and 
 little Servia, were at war. 
 
 England had sought every means, 
 first, of preventing the war, and secondly, 
 if honorably possible, of keeping out of it. 
 
 Germany, in order promptly to reach 
 Paris, invaded Belgium, whose neutrality 
 she had sworn to defend. 
 
 ''That treaty is only a scrap of paper,*' 
 calmly declared the German chancellor. 
 ''Necessity knows no law." 
 
 England had pledged herself to defend 
 Belgium, and there was now no ground 
 for hesitation. On the 5th of August, 
 England declared war against German}^ 
 
 The well trained troops of the kaiser 
 destroyed the brave little army of Bel- 
 gium, and swept on into France. The 
 plan was to crush France first, and then 
 turn on Russia. 
 
 But the schemes of the German army 
 staff went a bit wrong. The heroic 
 defence of the forts of Liege, and of 
 several other Belgian cities, delayed the 
 German advance for two weeks. 
 
 4S§ 
 
France secured time to bring her troops 
 to the Belgium frontier. 
 
 England was able to get her first army 
 across the Channel. 
 
 The mighty German war machine had 
 terrible force. The French and English 
 lines were driven back towards Paris, 
 but at last they held Germany at 
 bay. 
 
 Turning new armies to the east, Ger- 
 many then attacked Russia. Here, after 
 some first checks, she was more success- 
 ful. The Austrians were badly defeated 
 by the Russians, but the Russian armies 
 farther north were routed by General 
 Hindenberg, and by the close of the 
 second year, the armies of Russia were 
 no longer a fighting force. 
 
 Delayed, and held back in the west, 
 Germany still felt hopeful of final victory ; 
 but now new forces began to work against 
 her. 
 
 To terrify and weaken their enemies, 
 the Germans had waged war without 
 mercy. Not content with the devasta- 
 
 484 
 
tion that is inevitable in a campaign, the 
 German commanders made dehberate 
 destruction in Belgium and in France. 
 Property of all kinds, which they could 
 not carry away, was destroyed. The 
 world began to call them ''Huns." Grad- 
 ually all the nations of the world, except 
 Turkey and Bulgaria, expressed their 
 sympathy with the allies, and a large 
 number of the smaller states came into 
 direct alliance. 
 
 Then Germany, in order to starve 
 England and France, began to sink 
 merchant and passenger ships with her 
 submarines, murdering thousands of non- 
 combatants. 
 
 At this the antagonism of free countries, 
 like the United States, turned into fierce 
 indignation. Germany's acts were con- 
 trary to the laws of nations. 
 
 In May, 19 15, Italy declared war on 
 Germany. Japan, China, and nearl}^ all 
 the states of South and Central America 
 took similar action. 
 
 France and England now fought with 
 
 485 
 
redoubled fury. "Better die than be 
 conquered by brutes that shoot defence- 
 less men, and drown innocent women 
 and children," they said. 
 
 The Germans seemed much astonished 
 at the general indignation. 
 
 ''It may seem cruel now/' they 
 answered. "War is cruel at best, and 
 the harsher we make it, the sooner it will 
 be over. Shrecklichkeit is in the end the 
 most merciful method. 
 
 "At present you are not willing to 
 accept the domination of Germany. But 
 in the end you will be glad Germany has 
 shown the world her true greatness, and 
 has compelled you to share her wealth 
 and power." 
 
 "There are better things than wealth 
 and power," was the reply. "We love 
 freedom more than wealth, and liberty 
 more than a rule that would make us 
 slaves." 
 
 But, in spite of her increasing foes, 
 Germany's vast resources, and strong 
 interior position, enabled her to continue 
 
 486 
 
the cruel war with a large measure of 
 success. 
 
 Finding that her submarines caused 
 more destruction than her armies, 
 Germany hastened to increase these. To 
 the horror of the world, she now proposed 
 to sink every ship that came to England 
 or France, whether these belonged to the 
 allies or to neutral states. 
 
 "If that course is taken,*' said the 
 leaders in the United States, speaking 
 with the full approval of the Nation, 
 "we also will come into the conflict. The 
 war is now for the defense of civilization 
 against barbarism." 
 
 Germany's answer to this was the 
 sinking of the great steamer "Lusitania," 
 causing the death of over a thousand 
 non-combatants, with many women and 
 children. Hundreds of these were Ameri- 
 cans. This brutal and foolish act was 
 too much for the patience of America. 
 The President and the people were at 
 one, and in April, 19 17, the United States 
 declared war against Germany. 
 
 4^7 
 
The kaiser still relied on his great 
 armies. ''The war will be over before 
 the Americans can do anything to hurt 
 us," he said. 
 
 He was mistaken. The United States 
 Navy at once helped to stop the sub- 
 marines, and that peril grew less and less. 
 Great stores of army supplies were poured 
 into France, and, by the spring of 191 8, 
 two million American soldiers were in 
 France, and millions more were on the 
 way or ready to come. The battered 
 lines of the English and French armies 
 were filled up, and their soldiers took 
 fresh heart. 
 
 The people of England and France, 
 weary of war, and discouraged as to the 
 outcome, knew not how to express their 
 joy and gratitude. 
 
 For Germany, the coming of the Ameri- 
 cans marked the end. Against the new 
 troops, well equipped and eager for the 
 fight, her wearied soldiers could not 
 hold their lines. The divisions broke 
 and fell back. They were almost sur- 
 
 488 
 
rounded by the allied armies, and then, in 
 November 1918, Germany sued for peace. 
 
 The world's war had lasted four years, 
 and had cost ten million lives. 
 
 The military rule of Berlin went to 
 smash before an angry populace. The 
 kaiser had to fly to Holland, where he 
 still lives in exile. The princes, dukes, 
 and all the lords and officers of the old 
 regime, became simple citizens of the 
 Republic of Germany. 
 
 The people of Germany, broken, ruined, 
 and made desperate by the long hard- 
 ships of the war, realized that they, who 
 sought to make all others do their 
 bidding, had brought destruction upon 
 themselves. 
 
 Those who still call themselves Aus- 
 trians are feebly struggling, amid starva- 
 tion, and the direst poverty, to organize 
 a republic, and return to a condition of 
 self-dependence. 
 
 Germany lost, first of all, Alsace and 
 Lorraine, which France again reclaimed 
 with unbounded joy. 
 
 489 
 
Schleswig and Holstein, taken by Bis- 
 mark and William I in 1864., were in 
 great part returned to Denmark. 
 
 To Belgium she had to give a small 
 district of her western land. 
 
 To Poland once more restored by the 
 Allies, Germany had to give part of 
 Silesia, won at such cost by Frederick the 
 Great, and those parts of Russia which 
 had been taken from Poland in later 
 years. 
 
 The colonial possessions, and great 
 navy, that brought Germany into con- 
 flict with the world, were entirely lost. 
 The army, for generations the glory and 
 pride of Germany, must be reduced to a 
 hundred thousand men, just enough to 
 keep order in the nation. 
 
 Besides this, Germany was ordered to 
 replace the ships she had sunk, and to 
 pay a great indemnity. 
 
 For a few months, in the face of thie 
 disaster, it seemed as if Germany were 
 about to split to pieces, and sink into the 
 chaos of anarchy that had engulfed Russia. 
 
 490 
 
Then the strong and soHd quahties of the 
 German people saved them from this 
 last peril, as they had been saved in 
 former years. 
 
 In the place of the German Empire 
 there appeared a Republic, based on the 
 general form of the Republic of the 
 United States. So far (I am writing in 
 June, 1922) through dangers and attacks 
 by hostile political groups, this republic 
 has held together. 
 
 Germany still has a large compact 
 territory. She has a great population of 
 people whose self-confidence and industry 
 are second to none in the world. 
 
 To expect that the Germans could 
 forget in a short time the dreams, and 
 towering ambitions they had fostered for 
 years, would be expecting too much. 
 
 The Germans had been taught to rely 
 upon a code of morals not accepted by 
 more democratic nations. Solemn 
 promises were to be kept only so long as 
 the good of Germany required. Might 
 became right. Treaties were only scraps 
 
 491 
 
of paper when they stood in the way of 
 world rule for the Germans. 
 
 To change the ideals .of a people is a 
 slow process. The passion for wealth 
 and power has brought the Germans near- 
 to ruin. Like all other nations in history, 
 they have found that domination by 
 force carries the seeds of its own destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 There are those in Germany who 
 teach new doctrines, lessons of service 
 and cooperation. Perhaps in time the 
 German people will listen to these proph- 
 ets, and will change the ideals that have 
 brought them low. 
 
 With courage and hope there is no 
 reason why the Germans should not 
 mend their broken fortunes, and become 
 again a strong, rich nation, happy and 
 prosperous within her borders, and at 
 peace with the outside world. 
 
 492 
 
8 2 
 
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