MEUSE 



3762 



MEXICAN WAR 



rum, a name changed to Metac by the Vandals. 

 During the sixth century it was plundered by 

 the Huns, and after that it changed ownership 

 very rapidly. For a time it belonged to the 

 Franks, then became a free city of the German 

 Empire, was taken by the French in 1552 and 

 formally given to them in 1648. In 1870 it fell 

 to the Germans and was kept by them in the 

 treaty of 1871, at the conclusion of the Franco- 

 German War. During the War of the Nations 

 it was just back of the battle line and was fre- 

 quently menaced (see WAR OF THE NATIONS). 

 The treaty of Versailles, in 1919, gave the prov- 

 inces back to France. 



Metz lost some of its importance commer- 

 cially after it became German, because of the 

 withdrawal of French capital and trade, but 

 French interests are already returning to the 

 city, and it is again prosperous. Arms, hats, 

 artificial flowers, preserves, muslin and hosiery 

 are important products. The pride of the town 

 is the Cathedral of Saint Vincent, an example 

 of thirteenth-century architecture. The ma- 

 sonry is of such a light, fanciful style that it 

 seems but a framework for the fine windows! 

 Population, 1910, 68,600. 



MEUSE, muze, an important river of West- 

 ern Europe. It was conspicuous in the War of 

 the Nations, as the line of its valley was fol- 

 lowed in part by the German army in its first 

 invasion of Belgium and France; also in the 

 spring of 1916 and again in 1917 furious fight- 

 ing occurred on its banks when the German 

 forces made a series of desperate attacks on the 

 forts commanding the city of Verdun, which 

 lies at the head of navigation. 



The Meuse rises in northeastern France, in 

 the department of Haute-Marne, and first flows 

 north through the Ardennes highlands, then 

 northeast through Belgium into Holland. After 

 turning westward the river joins the Waal, 

 emptying into the North Sea through a great 

 delta. Its length is 498 miles and for 355 miles 

 it is navigable. The chief tributaries are the 



COURSE OF THE MEUSE 



(a) Belgium; (b) Luxemburg; (c) Lorraine; 

 (d) Alsace; (e) Netherlands (Holland). 



Sambre, Semoy, Roer and Ourthe. It is con- 

 nected with an extensive system of canals in 

 Holland and Belgium, and in its upper course 

 it is joined by a canal to the River Saone. The 

 principal cities in France on the Meuse are 

 Sedan, Givet, Charleville and Verdun. Liege, 

 where the armies of Kaiser Wilhelm met their 

 first resistance in the war, and Namur in Bel- 

 gium, and Rotterdam, Dordrecht and Roer- 

 mond in Holland, are on this historic stream. 



r V 



Mexico City 



.pultepe 



.EXICAN WAR. The immediate 

 cause of the war was the annexation of Texas 

 in 1845. In 1836 Texas revolted from Mexico 

 and was successful in establishing an independ- 

 ent republic, which was recognized by the United 

 States in 1837. Notwithstanding the fact that 

 Texas had been recognized by several of the 

 leading European nations, as well as by the 

 United States, Mexico never acknowledged its 



independence. There was constant friction be- 

 tween Texas and Mexico, and the latter had 

 warned the United States that the annexation 

 of Texas to the American Union would be con- 

 sidered as a declaration of war. The Texas 

 question had been before the country for a 

 number of years, and it was a prominent issue 

 in the Presidential campaign of 1844, the Demo- 

 crats favoring and the Whigs opposing annexa- 



