The Story of the Great War (Vol. 1-8). Various Authors

of Contents

      THE NEUTRAL STATES—PORTUGAL AND SPAIN

      Now that we have reviewed the historical development of all the belligerents, it becomes necessary to pay some attention to the few European states which so far have not yet actually become involved. For our purposes it will not be necessary to go into any great detail concerning the political history of these noncombatant nations. We are only interested in those features of their political development which have some bearing on the reasons for their present neutrality and on their attitude toward the various nations at war. In our consideration of the neutral states there will not be included either Greece or Rumania, because they will be covered together with the other Balkan nations in a separate section of this work.

      Up to the beginning of 1916 there were two countries in southern Europe which had managed to remain in a condition of neutrality, Spain and Portugal. In the month of March the latter country, however, precipitated a declaration of war on the part of the Central European Powers and their allies by seizing the mercantile steamers of these various countries which at the outbreak of the war had sought refuge in Portuguese ports and had been interned there. Before we determine why Portugal took this step which was sure to provoke a declaration of war, it will be necessary to consider shortly the history of this country in modern times. It is many centuries since Portugal has lost its former importance as a European nation which was based primarily on its extensive colonial possessions. Its last really valuable and important colony, however, Brazil, was not lost until the early part of the nineteenth century, and even now Portugal possesses colonies in Asia and Africa which are twenty times as large in extent as its European territory. Its African possessions are adjoining chiefly British colonies and this close proximity to parts of the British Empire has resulted at times in some difficulties between the two countries, the most recent and important of which occurred in 1890 and in 1894. In spite of these slight disagreements, however, Portugal made an arrangement, quite some time ago, according to which it was under certain conditions to furnish limited subsidiary forces to England, in exchange for which England promised to assume the friendly rôle of a protector in times of need. It is undoubtedly this arrangement with England which finally resulted in the aggressive action on the part of Portugal of which we have just heard. Up to 1910 Portugal was a kingdom. In that year, however, a revolution broke out chiefly on account of oppressive financial measures which the Government had been in the habit of passing and the reigning King, Manuel, was forced to flee the country. Shortly afterward his former subjects exiled him and decided for a republican form of government which in spite of various slight monarchial revolutions has been maintained since. The 1910 revolution was preceded by two years by the murder of King Manuel's father, Carlos I, and his older brother, Luis. After King Manuel had been exiled, England assumed toward Portugal a part very similar to that which England had assumed toward France after the fall of the second empire. It offered a haven of refuge for the exiled king and his relatives, but at the same time acknowledged the establishment of the Portuguese Republic and showed in various ways that it was in sympathy with the liberal movement in Portugal.

      Immediately adjoining Portugal on the east is Spain, which is separated from France on the north by the Pyrenees. Just as Portugal, Spain had been in times past one of the great colonial powers of the world, greater even than its neighbor. In fact, at one time in the world's history Spain occupied very much the same position that England occupies to-day. But this splendor belongs to the past and gradually Spain has lost practically all of its colonies with the single exception of the few comparatively small settlements and islands in Western Africa which, however, still total 82,000 square miles. Its last really important and valuable colonies in the West Indies (Cuba, Porto Rico), and the Philippine Islands in the Far East were lost as a result of the Spanish-American War of 1898. Some other islands in the Pacific Ocean were sold in the year following, 1899, to Germany. In more recent times, however, Spain has shown again more aggressiveness in connection with the acquisition of colonial possessions which chiefly centered in that part of north Africa which is immediately opposite the south coast of Spain. Its activities in that territory were not appreciated by the natives who at various times with more or less success revolted against the foreign rule and finally brought about the Moorish War of 1909, which was terminated by Spain only after the Spanish troops had experienced a number of defeats and after a considerable expenditure of money and life.

      Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia.

      During the second half of the nineteenth century Spain went through a comparatively large number of revolutions, dynastic changes and other internal difficulties. In 1886 Queen Isabella, a member of the Bourbon family, was driven out of the country by a revolution of her subjects. The latter, however, decided in favor of a continuation of the monarchial form of government and thereupon set out to find some European prince who would be willing to assume the burden of the Spanish crown. We have already heard that this quest was one of the principal direct causes of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, because Napoleon III attempted to force a promise from King William of Prussia to the effect that the latter would not permit his relative, the Prince of Hohenzollern, to accept the crown of Spain which had been offered to him. In 1870, however, the Spanish people succeeded in inducing Amadeus of Italy, a relative of the ruler of the newly formed Italian kingdom, to become King of Spain. Only two years later, in 1872, the so-called Carlist War broke out which had its basis in the attempt of Don Carlos, also a member of the Bourbon family, to secure the crown of Spain to which he claimed to have prior rights to those of Queen Isabella's branch of the family. This war, which really was a civil war, was accompanied by a great deal of bloodshed and cruelty and finally brought about the abdication of King Amadeus. For a short time after that Spain became a republic, but in 1874 the people decided that their interests would be better served by a monarchy and they made the son of Queen Isabella, Alfonso XII, their King. The latter was married twice, first to Princess Mercedes and after her death to Archduchess Marie Christine of Austria. Of the former marriage the issue was one girl, Mercedes, who at the death of Alfonso XII in 1885 became Queen of Spain with her stepmother as regent. In 1886, however, a posthumous male heir was born who immediately upon his birth became legally King of Spain as Alfonso XIII. Of course Queen Christine's regency continued until Alfonso XIII became of age. During her regency Queen Marie Christine faced an arduous task in her attempt to maintain for her minor son the throne of his father, but in spite of the many difficulties that she had to face she succeeded. These difficulties were chiefly internal and of an economic nature, although those in connection with Spain's West Indian possessions were almost as vexing. For many years of this period Spain was more or less in a state of anarchy, and labor disturbances throughout the country took on a most violent form. In recent years, however, conditions have improved considerably and to-day the future of Spain is more promising than it has been for many decades.

      In foreign politics Spain did not play a very important part, especially not since the loss of most of its colonies. It participated in a number of the more important international conferences held during the last thirty-five or forty years and, generally speaking, managed to maintain friendly relations with most of the other nations. During the long regency of Queen Marie Christine her personal influence, of course, was bound to be felt to a considerable extent and to that extent Spain may be said to have been more inclined toward the Central European Powers and especially toward Austria than toward any other countries. This is due to the fact that the Queen Regent was a member of the Hapsburg family and that one of her late husband's sisters is married to a prince of the reigning house of Bavaria. On the other hand the Spanish people are, of course, in customs and language, more closely related to the French and Italian people and this racial relationship is found expressed in a more or less strong sympathy for France. In 1906 King Alfonso XIII married Princess Victoria of Battenberg, daughter of one of the daughters of Queen Victoria of England and of a German prince, but thoroughly English in her bringing up and sympathies. This alliance of course brought Spain into closer contact with England. Considering these various conditions it is clear that Spain has about as many sentimental reasons for supporting the Allies as it has for supporting the Central Powers, and this balanced its sentiments so well that its neutrality has been really fair and sincere. The entrance of Portugal into the war, however, may have an important bearing on Spain's future attitude.