New Trade Routes
The exploration of the west coast of Africa, the discovery of the route to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and the discovery of the lands beyond the Atlantic, completely changed the face of Europe. The ocean and not the Mediterranean became the chief trade route, and the merchant cities such as Venice and Genoa lost their importance. The countries fronting the Atlantic were no longer at the end of the world, but in its centre. Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and England became the great sea-going and, therefore, the great commercial nations of Europe.
A MAP OF THE WORLD, SHOWING THE VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY AND THE POPE'S LINE
Spain and Portugal, indeed, tried to shut out all other lands from a share in the new commerce. Soon after Columbus returned from his first voyage the Spanish persuaded Pope Alexander VI to issue a bull which gave to them all heathen lands which had been, or might be, discovered west of an imaginary line drawn from pole to pole, west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands. All lands discovered east of this line were to belong to Portugal. But powerful although the pope was, other lands were not easily persuaded to allow Spain and Portugal to reap all the rich harvest of the seas. In 1496 Henry VII of England sent Cabot across the Atlantic to claim for England any lands he might find. The French, too, disregarded the pope's bull. "I fain would see Father Adam's will," cried King Francis of France, "wherein he made you the sole heirs of so vast an inheritance," and he, too, sent out explorers to claim lands for France.
But in the new prosperity which resulted in this sea-going activity the Netherlands for a time took the lead. For Spain and Portugal were busy strengthening their hold on the Indies, England had its domestic troubles, and France was wasting its energies on a dream of dominion in Italy. So most of the carrying trade fell to the share of the Netherlands, and Antwerp for a time took the place which Venice had once held as the centre of the world's commerce.
Soon among the sea-going nations there grew up a keen rivalry for possession of the new lands which every day were being discovered, and wars arose out of this rivalry. Nations fought in Europe for supremacy in the New World. Politics and commerce became strangely mixed, and it is hard to know sometimes where the ambition of kings ends and the enterprise of commerce begins.
CHAPTER XXXIV
The Progress of Russia
IN all the new activity and expansion which was taking place in Europe at this time three powers took no part. These were Russia, Italy, and Germany. Italy and Germany, by reason of their wars and discord, Russia because it had not yet risen above the horizon.
After the foundation of Russia by the Northmen (see Chapter XIII) it had, in the thirteenth century, been conquered by the fierce Tartar hordes who swept into Europe from Asia. For more than two hundred years these Tartars held Russia in subjection, and the proud princes, who traced their descent from Rurick the Northman freebooter, were forced to pay tribute to their Asiatic conquerors. But at length the Tartar rule began to weaken, a spirit of resistance awoke among the Russians, and after a fierce and long struggle they threw off the yoke of Asia.
The princes of Moscow were the first to break the domination of the Tartars. Moscow, in consequence, became the capital, and the whole of Russia took the name of Muskovy. Then, having broken the power of the Tartars, the princes of Moscow set themselves to unite Russia under one sceptre. This was done by Ivan III the Great, his son Basil III, and his grandson Ivan IV the Terrible, their three reigns stretching over a period of a hundred and twenty-two years (1462-1584).
So much of this work of union was done by Ivan the Great that he received the name of Binder of the Russian Lands. But in order to bind the land together he crushed out lesser rulers with an utterly ruthless hand, and indeed deserved the name of Terrible almost as much as his grandson.
Basil III followed in his father's footsteps, although he was neither so brilliant nor so ruthless. He consolidated his dominions, and added to them. All he did he did as an autocrat, throwing into prison, and cutting off the heads of any who dared to question his will or authority. And when he died, leaving a child of three to succeed him, the land was once more given over to anarchy and confusion.
Ivan IV, the Terrible
While the great nobles fought for power the future terrible czar wandered about neglected and forsaken. He was clothed like a beggar, and often knew what it was to be hungry as well as cold and lonely. But utterly neglected though he was he learned to read, and his favourite books were the Bible and books of history. In all the books he read the Jewish kings, the rulers of Babylon and Egypt, the emperors of Rome and. Greece, were called czars, and little Ivan determined that he also should be called czar. So he read, and thought, and bided his time. Then when he was seventeen he ordered preparation for his coronation to be made, and insisted on being crowned not as Grand Duke but as Czar of all the Russias.
It was already a large territory over which this first of all the czars now began to rule. But it had one great defect. It was almost entirely an inland country. Save for the Arctic Ocean, it had no seaboard at all. All the shores of the Baltic were in the hands of Swedes, Poles, and of the Brothers of the Sword, a German military order founded to convert the heathen of the Baltic, but which, at the same time, carried on constant wars of aggression against Russia, and played a great part in the expansion of Germany eastwards. In the south, Russia was shut out from the Black Sea and the Caspian by the Mongols. Here we see the reason why Russia took no part in the great seafaring adventures which were stirring western Europe. Hemmed in from the sea on every side by jealous neighbours, and at the same time struggling towards unity, the nation had no energy for exploration. Russia was shut out from the family of Europe. It was indeed hardly in any sense a European country at all.
Struggles for a Seaboard
But Ivan IV desired to enter into the family of Europe. In that way alone he saw he could make his country great, and he determined to "open a window into Europe." To do that he knew he must have a seaboard. So he fought the Mongols on his southern borders and conquered Astrakan. Thus, by way of the Volga and the Caspian, he opened up a trade route to Persia and the East. But for a Baltic port he fought in vain, The Brothers of the Sword, indeed, were, dispersed, but Poland and Sweden remained masters of the Baltic shores. Not until a hundred and fifty years later, under a greater czar than Ivan, was Russia to obtain the coveted seaboard on the Baltic.
But although, through Teutonic jealousy, the Baltic was closed to their traders, the Russians had a seaboard to the north. The entrance to it lay indeed within the Arctic Circle, and for many months of the year it was closed by ice. But English sailors were busy seeking new passages to the East "by the high way of the seas," and while in search for a north-east passage to China they found Russia.
Very soon, by way of this icy northern route a brisk trade grew up between England and Russia. Dutch, Spanish, Italian, and French merchants followed them, but the English, who had been first in the field, kept the bulk of the trade.
Thus, in spite of the jealousy of Germans, Poles, and Swedes, "a window was opened into Europe." Had it not been for this jealousy Russia would have developed much faster than it did. But all these nations feared lest Russia should become powerful, and did their best to shut her out from the commerce, the learning, the industries, and the weapons of warfare of western Europe. It is even said that the king of Sweden threatened with death the English sailors and adventurers who tried to trade with Russia. So in her struggle towards civilization Russia was hindered and thwarted, and remained for long years to come what the Tartar domination had made it, an Asiatic Empire.
Yet, in spite of every hindrance Ivan the Terrible left his Empire stronger and more advanced than he had found it. He was a strange mixture of savagery and greatness. As a statesman he was far ahead of his times, and he understood the needs of his kingdom better than any man. But he was cruel and vicious, and had an ungovernable temper. An Englishman who lived in those days has described him as "a goodlie m
an of person . . . full of readie wisdom, cruell, bloudye, merciles." For the first fourteen years of his reign Ivan showed his "readie wisdom" well and wisely. It was towards the end of his life that he proved himself "bloudye" and "merciles" and earned his surname of the Terrible. Then he crushed the great nobles with a pitiless hand, massacring them and their families, and laying waste the land with brutal fury.
After the death of Ivan the Terrible Russia again fell on troublous times. His dynasty soon died out, and in 1613, after a great uprising of the people, Michael Romanoff who, through a female side of his family, traced his descent from Rurick, was chosen czar. He had no great talent or ability, but he was the first of the house which was to rule over Russia until the abdication of his descendant Nicholas in 1918.
CHAPTER XXXV
The Rise of Switzerland
IT was during the fight for the Empire between Lewis IV and Frederick the Handsome (see Chapter XXX) that the Swiss struggle for freedom began. From the eleventh century the land now known as Switzerland had been part of the Empire. As a nation it did not then exist, but was divided into cantons. One of these cantons was called Schwyz, and in time it gave its name to the whole country.
The mountaineers who lived in these cantons were a brave and freedom-loving people, but they paid a loyal, if somewhat shadowy, allegiance to the emperor. Now the Hapsburgs, who were dukes of Austria, tried to convert these cantons into a mere family possession. This the Swiss resisted with all their strength, and three forest cantons, Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwarden, formed themselves into a league for national protection and defence.
William Tell
Of the beginning of this resistance, in the early part of the fourteenth century, William Tell is the hero. Tell has been proved to the satisfaction of most people to be a myth. But the story, at least, illustrates how irksome the servile homage, demanded by a feudal overlord, had become to men who had grown to respect themselves, and had ceased to look upon themselves as mere chattels.
The first great battle for Swiss freedom was fought at Morgarten between the League and the Austrians in 1315. The Austrians were led by Leopold, duke of Austria, fighting in the interests of his brother Frederick. His army was filled with the flower of Austrian knighthood, but it went down before the untrained mountaineers fighting for freedom. This first great victory had two results. It checked the rule of Austria over the three forest states, and it bound them closer together.
Lewis was not ill-pleased to see the House of Austria thus defeated, and he rather favoured the League, which during his reign grew considerably stronger. What the Swiss fought for was not severance from the Empire, but freedom from the oppressions of the House of Austria. The dukes of Austria, however, were by no means minded to lose their power over these mountaineers and cowkeepers. So, save when they were too deeply engaged with schemes in other parts of the Empire, they carried on a fairly constant warfare against the Swiss.
These wars availed Austria little, while the Confederation grew constantly stronger. At length, seventy-one years after Morgarten, in the reign of Wenceslaus, the besotted son of Charles IV, the Austrians were again utterly defeated at the battle of Sempach. In this battle, as at the battle of Morgarten, they were again led by a Leopold of Austria, a nephew of the former duke.
Arnold von Winkelried
It was at Sempach that the patriot Arnold von Winkelried is said to have laid down his life for his country. The Austrian nobles stood a firm and glittering mass, and in spite of all their bravery the Swiss were unable to break through their lines. Seeing this Winkelried determined to force a way through.
"Comrades," he said, "I will make a way for you." Then spreading his arms wide and crying aloud, "Make way for Liberty," he ran upon the bristling spears, and gathering as many as he could to his breast, sank dying to the ground. The wall of steel was broken, and through the breach thus made the Swiss marched to victory.
Two years after Sempach the Swiss won another victory at Nafels. By these two battles the power of Austria over the Confederacy was shattered. The Hapsburgs resigned their claims, and signed a peace for seven years. This peace was renewed from time to time, and for many a long day the brave mountaineers were left to themselves, and gradually grew stronger as more towns and cantons joined the League.
In 1439 Albert, duke of Austria, was elected emperor. From that date until 1806, when Francis II resigned his empty title, in spite of a show of election, the title remained with hardly a break hereditary in the Hapsburg family, Charles V and Francis I being the only emperors not of the House of Austria.
Zurich and Austria
During the reign of Albert's son, Frederick III, the Swiss were involved in civil war. Zurich, one of the cantons, concluded a separate alliance with Austria. This caused such anger in the Confederacy that they made war against Zurich. The emperor then made an alliance with France, and in spite of the fact that France was still in the throes of the Hundred Years' War, obtained from him an army of thirty thousand soldiers under the Dauphin Louis. This army was little more than a rabble of hungry adventurers, but it was twice as large as the Swiss army, and at St. Jacob's, near 1444 Basle, the Swiss were defeated.
Yet although the Swiss lost the battle they had made such a brave fight that it counted as one more step towards freedom. The war continued, and five years later Zurich gave up its alliance with Austria and was again received into the Confederacy.
Twenty-six years after the battle of St. Jacob's the Swiss made an alliance with Louis XI, who, as Dauphin, had defeated them. Secretly encouraged by the wily Louis, they became embroiled in war with his great enemy Charles of Burgundy. In two great battles, one at Granson and one at Morat, they utterly defeated him. The following year Charles was killed in a battle near Nancy.
These victories welded the Confederates still more closely together, and from now onward they began to be looked upon as a nation, and received the name of Swiss.
This new nation was still in name part of the Empire, but it was, in fact, quite independent. The Swiss had not fought against the Empire but against the House of Austria. The emperors were now, however, continuously drawn from the Hapsburgs, and showed an inherited desire to subdue Switzerland. This the Swiss resisted.
They were now so strong that they had no need of protection from the Empire, which, indeed, was in no condition to give protection, and had itself become a feeble shadow. They were able, by their own authority, to keep the peace within their own borders, and they had no need to have the king's peace thrust upon them.
Yet the emperors still obstinately regarded the country as part of the Empire, and in 1499 the Emperor Maximilian I again tried to force the Swiss to acknowledge his sway and began a campaign against them.
But in this war he got little aid from the Empire as a whole, for most of the states regarded it as a purely Austrian quarrel. The Swiss, on the other hand, fought with the glorious courage which comes to a small nation fighting for its very existence against the overweening pride of militarism. And they won. After eight months of bitter struggle Maximilian was defeated and forced to conclude the Pease of Basle.
After this Switzerland was practically independent, but this independence was not openly acknowledged until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
The many victories which the Swiss had won over their powerful foes had gained for them a great reputation as fighters, and from the time of their wars with Charles the Bold onward all the rulers in Europe, but especially the French, became eager to have Swiss soldiers in their armies. In consequence, Switzerland became sort of a "market of men," and in almost every great campaign Swiss mercenaries were to be found fighting on one side or another. It was not until the nineteenth century that many of the cantons forbade foreign enlistment. Yet, strange to say, in spite of fighting thus on any side for which they were paid to fight, the Swiss kept their own nationality, and amid the broils of Europe the little republic has remained safe and intact.
MAP OF SWITZERLAND SHOWING GRO
WTH OF THE SWISS CONFEDERATION
In the reign of Frederick, under whom the Swiss practically secured their freedom, the Empire sank to its lowest. It was shorn of its dependencies, war raged everywhere throughout the land, the great princes each struggling to increase their power and wealth while the Empire was reduced to the last stage of beggary. Yet the lower the Empire sank the greater grew the arrogance of the Emperor, and Frederick took for his motto the letters A.E.I.O.U., which stood for the Latin Austria Est Imperare Orbi Universo, or in German, Alles Erdreich 1st Oesterreich Unterthan.
But while the wearer of this proud motto sat upon the throne Constantinople fell before the Turks. They overran Europe, reaching even to the borders of Austria, and the emperor raised no finger to stay their course. It was left to the Poles and the Hungarians to sweep back the Moslem tide which threatened to overwhelm the Western even as it had overwhelmed the Eastern Empire.
While Frederick arrogantly proclaimed the subjection of all the realms of earth to Austria, dauntless adventurers were sailing unknown seas, revealing new and undreamed of lands. But Germany without unity or nationality had no part in these discoveries, and neither then nor later did she share the heritage of Europe in the New World.
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