274 



EUROPE. 



the republican principle appeared to gain an- 

 ntlu-r great victory, as the Spanish Cortes, on 

 the abdication of King Amadeo, proclaimed 

 the republican form of government. At the 

 new general election, the immense majority 

 of those who took part in the vote chose repub- 

 lican deputies, but actually the Government 

 showed itself as weak as the administration of 

 King Amadeo and Queen Isabella had been. 

 The civil war assumed and retained larger di- 

 mensions than it had for a long time previous. 

 Don Carlos placed himself at the head of the 

 insurrection in his favor, and successfully de- 

 fied the troops of the Government. In the 

 south, the party of the Intransigent^ who, 

 without waiting for the action of the Cortes, 

 undertook to proclaim the autonomy of the 

 several provinces, obtained a firm foothold in 

 the fortress of Cartagena, where they main- 

 tained themselves until the end of the year. 

 The weakness of the Government encouraged 

 the schemes of monarchical statesmen and 

 generals to conspire for the overthrow of the 

 administration of President Castelar, and for 

 the restoration of the monarchy. The execu- 

 tion of their piano was only delayed by a sud- 

 den difficulty arising between Spain and the 

 United States, which for a time threatened to 

 lead to a war between the two countries. 

 The royalist conspirators believed it to be in 

 their interest to allow Caatelar to compromise 

 the difficulty by some concessions, which then 

 could be used against him. At the beginning 

 of 1874, the plans of the conspirators were fully 

 matured, and their leader, General Pavia, by a 

 eoup cfitat, dissolved the Cortes by force, and 

 formed a new government. (See SPAIN.) 



In France, the monarchical majority of the 

 National Assembly made an undisguised at- 

 tempt to restore the monarchy under Count do 

 Chambord, the representative of the elder lino 

 of the Bourbons, which had been dethroned 

 in 1880. The reconciliation of the house of 

 Orleans with Count de Ohambord. and thus 

 the fusion of Orloanists and Legitimists was 

 successfully accomplished; President Thior-i, 

 whose policy hod gradually declared itself in 

 favor of establishing a moderate republic, was 

 induced to resign, and Marshal MacMahon, who 

 fully approved of the schemes of the nioiiar- 

 il majority, and was willing to aid in their 

 realization, was elected President of the Re- 



Sulilic. Nothing but the obstinacy of Count 

 a Chambord, who declined to make the least 

 concession to the wishes of his adherents in 

 the question of the flag and the constitution, 

 prevented the restoration of the kingdom of 

 France. The majority of the Asseml.lv. un- 

 der these circumstances, elected ICacMahon 

 President for a term of seven years, and, as 

 the Republican party at the supplementary 

 lections for the National Assembly began to 

 display a remarkable increase of strength, 

 toward the close of the year matured a 

 scheme for the abolition of 'general suffrage. 

 The occupation of French territory by Ger- 



man troops ceased sooner than had originally 

 been expected, as France, on September 5th. 

 paid the last installment of the. war iodemni- 

 ti ration. The French Government began at 

 once to give a prominent attention to strength- 

 ening the fortifications on the new t'routior, 

 and the hope of recovering Alsace and Lor- 

 raine on a favorable opportunity was openly 

 expressed on all sides. The continuing ex- 

 citement of the people against the Prussians 

 led, in several instances, to the maltreatment 

 of German subjects by the French populace. 

 (See FRANCE.) 



The new German Empire is involved in one 

 of the fiercest conflicts between church and 

 state which Europe has known for a long 

 time. The Roman Catholic bishops of Prussia 

 unanimously refused to submit to the new 

 church laws of their country, and the Govern- 

 ment proceeded against them by the imposition 

 of heavy fines. An interesting correspondence 

 on the subject took place between the Pope 

 and the Emperor, which resulted in widening 

 the breach. All the governments of Germany 

 more or less sympathize in this struggle with 

 the Government of Prussia, whose ]>olicy is also 

 fully indorsed by the majority of the Prussian 

 Diet and the German Reichstag. At the new 

 elections for these two bodies, the Catholic 

 party was eminently successful in the Catholic 

 districts, and the number of deputies who will 

 fully indorse the attitude of the bishops is now 

 much greater than before; but, on the other 

 hand, all the other parties are determined to 

 resist the demands of the Catholic party. The 

 Old Catholics have been generally recognized 

 by the German Governments as still belonging 

 to the Catholic state Church, and being entitled 

 to a share in the property and rights of the 

 Church. The bishop of the Old Catholics, Dr. 

 Reinkens, was recognized a.s a " Catholic bish- 

 op " by the Governments of Prussia, Baden, and 

 Hesse. The consolidation of the empire is 

 making slow but steady progress, and the 

 Governments of Bavaria and Wurtemberg 

 have, in general, satisfied the wishes of those 

 who desire to strengthen the central power. 

 (Set GERM ANT.) 



In Austria, a new electoral law has gone 

 into operation, which by the Liberal party is 

 looked upon as the beginning of a new politi- 

 cal era. The members of the Rcichsrath, 

 henceforth, are to -bo directly chosen in spe- 

 cial electoral districts, and no longer, as here- 

 tofore, by the provincial Diets. Thus, it is 

 thought, it will be made impossible for the 

 Federalists and other opponents of the liber- 

 al constitution of Austria to obstruct the prog- 

 ress of liberal legislation by means of the op- 

 position of the provincial Diets. The Universal 

 Exhibition of Vienna, in a financial point of 

 view, did not realize the hopes which had been 

 expressed with regard to it; it had, howler, 

 a very favorable intliicnre. upon the industry, 

 commerce, and agriculture of the empire. 

 (See AUSTRIA.) 



