260 



EUROPE. 



The Eastern war - cloud which hung over 

 Europe during 1875 continued during the year 

 1876, and at one time threatened to lead to a 

 general European war. The insurrection in 

 the Herzegovina spread over the whole of Bos- 

 nia in the early part of the year. All attempts 

 at pacification failed, the insurgents steadily re- 

 fusing all propositions of the foreign powers as 

 well as of the Turkish Government. On July 

 1st, Servia, which had for a long time threatened 

 to make the cause of the insurgents her own, 

 declared war against Turkey, and was shortly 

 afterward followed by Montenegro. But, al- 

 though the Servians were aided by Russian 

 volunteers, and contributions of arms and mon- 

 ey, they were repeatedly defeated by the Turks, 

 so that Servia was forced to invoke the aid of 

 Russia to secure an armistice of two months. 

 The Government of Turkey, in the mean while, 

 had undergone considerable changes. On May 

 30th the Sultan, Abdul- Aziz, was dethroned by 

 the Sheik-ul-Islam, and was succeeded by his 

 nephew, Murad V., who in turn was removed 

 by the Council of Ministers on August 31st, and 

 was replaced by his brother Abdul-Hamid II. 

 These proceedings had produced a deep im- 

 pression in the other countries of Europe, par- 

 ticularly in England and Russia. In the for- 

 mer country the excesses committed by the 

 Bashi-Bazouks, the irregular troops of Turkey, 

 in Bosnia and Bulgaria, created a storm of in- 

 dignation, and called forth a decidedly hostile 

 feeling to the Turks among all classes of the 

 population. Finally, in the latter part of the 

 year, the English Government proposed to the 

 other powers of Europe that a conference be 

 held at Constantinople to settle all questions 

 arising out of the war. Russia, after having 

 in every possible manner aided the Servians, 

 and after a threatening speech from the Czar, 

 was obliged to accede to this proposition, and 

 the conference met at Constantinople on De- 

 cember 12th. The Governments of both Eng- 

 land and Russia, however, had previously or- 

 dered the mobilization of parts of their ar- 

 mies. 



In aceordance with the provisions of the 

 new constitution, the elections in France for 

 the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies took 

 place in the beginning of the year, the Repub- 

 licans gaining a decisive victory in both. The 

 prime-minister, Buffet, resigned immediately 

 after the election, as he had been defeated in 

 four different districts, and he was replaced 

 by M. Dufaure. The most important questions 



discussed in the early part of the year were 

 the amnesty questions and the university bill. 

 The latter, which provided that the state uni- 

 versities should have the sole right of confer- 

 ring degrees, was adopted by the Chamber of 

 Deputies, but was rejected by the Senate. In 

 the latter part of the year the interment ques- 

 tion led to a ministerial crisis, in consequence 

 of which Jules Simon replaced M. Dufaure as 

 prime-minister. With regard to the Oriental 

 question, the Due Decazes, the Minister of For- 

 eign Affairs, declared on November 3d that it 

 was necessary for France to preserve peace, 

 and it would not interfere in the Oriental 

 question until its most vital interests de- 

 manded it. 



In Anstro-Hungary the Oriental question 

 caused considerable trouble. On the one hand, 

 the Slavic subjects of Austria showed their 

 sympathy for their oppressed brethren in the 

 Turkish provinces in many ways. On the other 

 hand, the Hungarians, partly on account of 

 their hostility to everything Slavic, and partly 

 through race-affinities (being besides the Turks 

 the chief representatives of the Mongolian 

 race in Europe), were entirely in sympathy 

 with the Turks. Several demonstrations to 

 this effect occurred in Hungary, which were 

 suppressed with considerable difficulty. The 

 conflict between the Government and the 

 Catholic Church continued during 1876. The 

 marriage law which was passed by the Reichs- 

 rath was disliked by the bishops. The monas- 

 tic association law, after being passed by both 

 Houses, was not signed by the Emperor, but 

 the ministry declared that the Government 

 would bring in a new bill in a different form. 

 The differences between the two parts of the 

 empire were brought to a close in May by a 

 treaty in which all points except the bank 

 question were satisfactorily settled. The latter 

 continued to be a source of trouble, and was 

 the cause of a panic. / 



The Royal Title's Bill was, next to the East- 

 ern question, the most important subject dis- 

 cussed in England in 1876. The object of this 

 bill was to give to the Queen the additional 

 title of Empress of India, and thus strengthen 

 the English hold upon the natives of India. 

 The difficulties with China were brought to a 

 close this year, after having threatened at a 

 time to lead to a war, the Chinese Government 

 making some important concessions. An ani- 

 mated discussion of the extradition treaty be- 

 tween England and the United States threat- 

 ened for a time to overthrow the Ashburton 

 Treaty of 1842. 



In Germany the war of the Government with 

 the Roman Catholic bishops continued during 

 the year. The Bishops of Minister and Pader- 

 born, and the Archbishop of Cologne, were 

 removed from their offices, and only saved 

 themselves by flight from imprisonment. The 

 Arnim affair, or rather the conflict between 

 Prince Bismarck and his former embassador 

 in Paris, Count Harry von Arnim, came to an 



