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The World War and What Was Behind It or The Story
of the Map of Europe
By L. P. Benezet
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, EVANSVILLE, INDIANA
Preface
This volume is the result of the interest shown by pupils, teachers, and the
general public in a series of talks on the causes of the great European war
which were given by the author in the fall of 1914. The audiences were widely
different in character. They included pupils of the sixth, seventh, and eighth
grades, students in high school and normal school, teachers in the public
schools, an association of business men, and a convention of boards of
education. In every case, the same sentiment was voiced: "If there were only
some book which would give us these facts in simple language and illustrate them
by maps and charts as you have done!" After searching the market for a book of
this sort without success, the author determined to put the subject of his talks
into manuscript form. It has been his aim to write in a style which is well
within the comprehension of the children in the upper grades and yet is not too
juvenile for adult readers. The book deals with the remarkable sequence of
events in Europe which made the great war inevitable. Facts are revealed which,
so far as the author knows, have not been published in any history to date;
facts which had the strongest possible bearing on the outbreak of the war. The
average American, whether child or adult, has little conception of conditions in
Europe. In America all races mix. The children of the Polish Jew mingle with
those of the Sicilian, and in the second generations both peoples have become
Americans. Bohemians intermarry with Irish, Scotch with Norwegians. In Europe,
on the other hand, Czech and Teuton, Bulgar and Serb may live side by side for
centuries without mixing or losing their distinct racial characteristics. In
order that the American reader may understand the complicated problem of
European peace, a study of races and languages is given in the text, showing the
relationship of Slav, Celt, Latin, and Teuton, and the various sub-divisions of
these peoples. A knowledge of these facts is very essential to any understanding
of the situation in Europe. The author has pointed out the fact that political
boundaries are largely king-made, and that they have seldom been drawn with
regard to the natural division of Europe by nationalities, or to the wishes of
the mass of the population.
The chapter, entitled "Europe as it Should Be," with its accompanying map, shows
the boundaries of the various nations as they would look if the bulk of the
people of each nationality were included in a single political division. In many
places, it is, of course, impossible to draw sharp lines. Greek shades off into
Bulgar on one side and into Skipetar and Serb on the other. Prague, the capital
of the Czechs, is one-third German in its population. There are large islands of
Germans and Magyars in the midst of the Roumanians of Transylvania. These are a
few examples out of many which could be cited. However, the general aim of the
chapter has been to divide the continent into nations, in each of which the
leading race would vastly predominate in population.
It is hoped that the study of this work will not only throw light upon the
causes of war in general, but will also reveal its cruelty and its needlessness.
It is shown that the history of Europe from the time of the great invasions by
the Germanic tribes has been a continuous story of government without the
consent of the governed.
A preventive for wars, such as statesmen and philanthropists in many countries
have urged, is outlined in the closing chapter. It would seem as though after
this terrible demonstration of the results of armed peace, the governments of
the world would be ready to listen to some plan which would forever forbid the
possibility of another war. Just as individuals in the majority of civilized
countries discovered, a hundred years ago, that it was no longer necessary for
them to carry weapons in order to insure their right to live and to enjoy
protection, so nations may learn at last that peace and security are preferable
to the fruits of brigandage and aggression. The colonies of America, after years
of jealousy and small differences, followed by a tremendous war, at last learned
this lesson. In the same way the states of Europe will have to learn it. The
stumbling blocks in the way are the remains of feudal government in Europe and
the ignorance and short-sightedness of the common people in many countries.
Ignorance is rapidly waning with the advance of education, and we trust that
feudalism will not long survive its last terrible crime, the world war of 1914.
Now that the United States has become a belligerent, it is very essential that
our people understand the events that led up to our participation in the war. So
many of our citizens are of a peace-loving nature, we are so far removed from
the militarism of continental Europe, and the whole war seems so needless and so
profitless to those who have not studied carefully its causes, that there is
danger of a want of harmony with the program of the government if all are not
taught the simple truth of the matter. There is no quicker channel through which
to reach all the people than the public schools. With this in mind, two entire
chapters and part of a third are devoted to demonstrating why no other course
was open to this country than to accept the war which was forced upon her.
In the preparation of this work, the author has received many helpful
suggestions from co-workers. His thanks are especially due to Professor A. G.
Terry of Northwestern University and Professor A. H. Sanford of the Wisconsin
State Normal School at La Crosse, who were kind enough to read through and
correct the manuscript before its final revision. The author is especially
indebted to the Committee on Public Information at Washington, D. C., for
furnishing to him authoritative data on many phases of the war. Acknowledgment
is also made to Row, Peterson and Company for kind permission to use
illustrations from History Stories of Other Lands; also to the International
Film Service, Inc., of New York City for the use of many valuable copyright
illustrations of scenes relating to the great war.
L. P. BENEZET.
Evansville, Indiana, January 2, 1918
Contents
Preface
List of Maps
List of Illustrations
The Great War
Rome and the Barbarian Tribes
From Chiefs to Kings
Master and Man
A Babel of Tongues
"The Terrible Turk"
The Rise of Modern Nations
The Fall of Two Kingdoms
The Little Man from the Common People
A King-Made Map and Its Trail of Wrongs
Italy a Nation at Last
The Man of Blood and Iron
The Balance of Power
The "Entente Cordiale"
The Sowing of the Dragon's Teeth
Who Profits?
The Spark that Exploded the Magazine
Why England Came In
Diplomacy and Kingly Ambition
Back to the Balkans
The War under the Sea
Another Crown Topples
The United States at War—Why?
Europe As It Should Be
The Cost of It All
What Germany Must Learn
Pronouncing Glossary
Index
List of Maps
Distribution of Peoples According to Relationship
Distribution of Languages
Southeastern Europe in 600 B.C.
Southeastern Europe 975 A.D.
Southeastern Europe 1690
The Empire of Charlemagne
Europe in 1540
The Growth of Brandenburg-Prussia
1400-1806
Italy in 525
Italy in 650
Italy in 1175
Europe in 1796
Europe in 1810
Europe in 1815
Italy Made One Nation
—1914—
Formation of the German Empire
Southeastern and Central Europe 1796
Losses of Turkey During the Nineteenth Century
Turkey As the Balkan Allies Planned to Divide It
Changes Resulting from Balkan Wars 1912-1913
The Two Routes from Germany into France
The Roumanian Campaign as the Allies Wished It
The Roumanian Campaign as It Turned Out
Europe as It Should Be
List of Illustrations
The Peace Palace at the Hague
Fleeing from Their Homes, Around which a Battle is
Raging
A Drill Ground in Modern Europe
The Forum of Rome as It Was 1600 Years Ago
The Last Combat of the Gladiators
Germans Going into Battle
A Hun Warrior
Gaius Julius Caesar
A Prankish Chief
Movable Huts of Early Germans
Goths on the March
Franks Crossing the Rhine
Men of Normandy Landing in England
Alexander Defeating the Persians
A Knight in Armor
A Norman Castle in England
A Vassal Doing Homage to His Lord
William the Conqueror
A Typical Bulgarian Family
Mohammed II Before Constantinople
A Scene in Salonika
Louis XIV
John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough
The Great Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick the Great
Catharine II
Courtier of Time of Louis XIV
The Taking of the Bastille
The Palace of Versailles
The Reign of Terror
The First Singing of "The Marseillaise"
Charles the Fifth
The Emperor Napoleon in 1814
The Retreat from Moscow
Napoleon at Waterloo
The Congress of Vienna
Prince Metternich
The First Meeting of Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel
Bismarck
An Attack on a Convoy in the Franco-Prussian War
The Proclamation at Versailles of William I as
Emperor of Germany
Peter the Great
Entrance to the Mosque of St. Sophia
The Congress of Berlin
An Arab Sheik and His Staff
A Scene in Constantinople
Durazzo
A Modern Dreadnaught
Submarine
A Fort Ruined by the Big German Guns
Russian Peasants Fleeing Before the German Army
A Bomb-proof Trench in the Western War Front
Venizelos
The Deutschland in Chesapeake Bay
Crowd in Petrograd During the Revolution
Revolutionary Soldiers in the Duma
Kerensky Reviewing Russian Troops
Flight from a Torpedoed Liner
President Wilson Reading the War Message
American Grain Set on Fire by German Agents
Polish Children
The Price of War
Rendered Homeless by War
Charles XII of Sweden
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