Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

Stockholm, and 1,400 E. N. E. from London. It was founded by Peter the Great in 1703, on a low marshy spot occupied by a few fishermen's huts. It contains about 470,000 inhabitants, and is connected with Moscow by a rail-road, built under the superintendance of American engineers. Cronstadt is about 22 miles from the capital, and is the chief station for the Russian navy. It commands the entrance to St. Petersburg, being its chief defence by sea. Its fortifications are extensive and are said to be exceedingly strong. Population about 45,000.

Moscow, the old capital before the invasion of the French, was the largest city in Europe, the circumference within the rampart that enclosed the suburbs, being twenty miles; but its population does not correspond with its extent. It is the center of the inland commerce of Russia, connecting the trade between Europe and Siberia. It is noted for its extensive cotton and other manufactures. Population about 350,000.

Siberia is the general name for a vast region owned by Russia, occupying all the northern parts of Asia. It is mostly a vast plain. The cold in the northern part is more severe than in Lapland. The country is divided into seven great governments. Tobolsk being the most western, and Kamtschatka the eastern. The town of Tobolsk, the capital, is about 1,200 miles eastward of St. Petersburg, and contains about 15,000 inhabitants. The Russians commonly send their state prisoners to this city.

PRUSSIA.

PRUSSIA, formerly a small state of Germany, is now an extensive and flourishing kingdom. It has in general a level surface abounding in lakes and marshes, and slowly gliding streams. The soil is better adapted for grass than grain. The higher classes of the Prussians are intelligent and refined, and the population, by a well organized system of education, is perhaps the best educated in Europe. The prevailing religion is Protestant, but all creeds are tolerated. Population, 14,000,000. The foundation of Prussian greatness was laid by Frederick William, surnamed the Great Elector, who succeeded to the government in 1640, and had a long and prosperous reign. His successor, Frederick, was a weak and vain prince. Frederick II, surnamed the Great, ascended the throne in 1740. Being ambitious of conquest and military glory, he invaded and took possession of Silesia. In 1756, he declared war against Maria Theresa, empress of Germany, who was aided by the French and Russians. After a contest of seven years, in which more than half a million of combatants fell in the field, the struggle was terminated by the peace of Hubertsberg in 1763. Frederick had gained military glory but nothing more. He afterwards applied himself to the internal improvement of his kingdom. He was fond of literature and considerable merit as an author, but was a despot in his disposition. In the first partition of Poland he was the prime mover and principal agent. In the great European war with the French under Bonaparte, Frederick William III, the king of Prussia, suffered a great defeat at Jena; and at the peace of Tilsit, he lost nearly half of his territories. In 1813, he joined the Allies against France, and his army under Blucher, contributed a powerful aid in the overthrow of Napoleon, and by the treaty of Vienna, he gained a large accession of territory.

It

Berlin, the capital, 100 miles N. of Dresden, contains 311,000 inhabitants, and is one the largest, best built and best regulated cities in the German states. was taken in 1760, by an army of Russians, Austrians and Saxons, who were obliged to evacuate it in a few days. In 1806, ten days after the battle of Jena, the French entered the city, and Bonaparte held a court in the palace. Konigsberg, the capital of E. Prussia, contains about 68,000 inhabitants. Cologne and Dusseldorf are in a section of territory belonging to Prussia, on the river Rhine.

GERMANY.

GERMANY is an extensive country in the central part of Europe. It comprises portions of Austria, Prussia, with the whole of Saxony, Bavaria, Hanover, Wurtemberg, 28 smaller states, and 4 republics or free cities. "These form the Union called the "Germanic confederation;" the object of which is to provide for their mutual safety and defense. Each state is independent within itself, but for general purposes the whole are governed by the Diet, a body composed of plenipotentiaries from the different states."

In 843, the Empire of the West was divided into three monarchies, France, Germany and Italy. In 887, the imperial dignity was transfered entirely to Germany, which was now styled, by way of eminence, the Empire, and its subjects the Imperialists. During the reign of the various emperors, numbers of them were engaged in contests with several of the popes respecting the right of spiritual and temporal authority, which both claimed. The pope having excommunicated one of the emperors, the princes of the empire met at Frankfort, in 1338, and established the famous constitution, called the Pragmatic Sanction, which determined that the Pope had no right to approve or reject the election of

an emperor.

During the reign of Sigismund, the famous Council of Constance, met to determine the contest respecting the Papal authority. John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, were condemned and burnt by this council. Their adherents in Bohemia took up arms in defense of their liberties, and under their famous leader, Ziska, resisted Sigismund in a war of 16 years. Charles V, the greatest sovereign of his age, after a reign of 40 years, voluntary resigned his imperial dignities, and retired to a monastery in Spain, having left the throne of Germany to his brother Ferdinand. During his reign the Reformation, under Luther, made great progress in Germany.

The reigns of Ferdinand I, and Ferdinand II, were signalized by the thirty years' war, which commenced in 1618, and was terminated by the peace of Westphalia, in 1648. This war grew chiefly out of the religious dissentions between the Catholics and Protestants. It issued in securing an equal establishment of the Protestant and Catholic religions. After the death of Charles VI, there were two claimants to the throne: this gave rise to a war styled the war of the Austrian Succession, which terminated in 1748, by which the claim of the celebrated Maria Theresa was acknowledged. In 1806, Francis II, who had two years before assumed the title of hereditary emperor of Austria, solemnly resigned his title as emperor of Germany. Thus, in a certain sense, ended the German empire, after having lasted, from the commencement of the western empire under Charlemange, 1006 years.

The German universities are among the most celebrated in Europe. In nearly all parts of the country various institutions of learning are numerous. In the means of education, the northern states surpass those of the southern. In religion, Germany is divided between the Catholic and Protestant. The German language is of Gothic, or Teutonic origin, and has several dialects.

AUSTRIA.

AUSTRIA is a large and important state, being next to Russia, the most populous state in Europe, containing upwards of thirty millions of inhabitants. A large part of what was formally called Germany, is now comprised in the limits of Austria, as is also the kingdom of Hungary, the northern part of Italy, called the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, and a considerable part of what was once called Poland. Three-fourths of the inhabitants are Catholics. The government is a monarchy exercised with vigor, and has but little sympathy with political liberty. Francis I, emperor of Austria, died in 1835, and was succeeded by his son Ferdinand I. Prince Metternich, chancellor of the court and state, and minister of foreign affairs, was born in 1773. This distinguished courtier, for the last half century, has had the principal direction of the Austrian affairs.

[ocr errors]

Vienna, the capital of Austria, stands in a fertile plain on the Danube, 570 miles E. of Paris, and 330 N. from Rome. It has an extensive trade, and many magnificent edifices. Population 360,000. Vienna was ineffectually besieged by the Turks, in 1589 and 1683. At this later period, the siege was raised by John Sobieski, king of Poland, who totally defeated the Turkish army. In 1805, the city was surrendered to the French, but was given up by the peace of Presburg. In 1809, it was again surrendered to the French, but was restored on the conclusion of peace. Prague, the capital of Bohemia, stands on a branch of the Elbe, and has a population of upwards of 120,000. Venice, once a most powerful and commercial Republic, and called the "Queen of the Adriatic," is a much less important city than formerly. It contains at present nearly 100,000 inhabitants.

BAVARIA, joins Austria on the west, and contains a population of 4,270,000. Munich, the capital is on the Iser, and contains 106,000 inhabitants. This place is celebrated for its excellent police, and the admirable provision for paupers, for which it is indebted to an American, by the name of Thompson, from New Hampshire, afterwards Count Rumford. His philosophical researches, and the improvements he made in the construction of fire places, stoves, &c., have contributed much to the benefit of mankind. He died in 1814, at the age of 61.

SAXONY, in the N. E. part of Germany contains 1,706,000 inhabitants, the most of which are Lutheran Protestants. It was reduced to one-half its original limits by the congress at Vienna. Dresden, the capital, is situated on the river Elbe, 239 miles N. W. from Vienna, and contains 70,000 inhabitants. Leipsic, the second city of the kingdom, standing on a large fertile plain, contains 47,000 inhabitants. The great fairs of Leipsic usually draw together 8 or 10,000 citizens and foreigners from various parts of Europe. Germany is noted as being the land of authors, and two great book fairs are annually held in Leipsic. This city is noted for the decisive military events which took place at, and in its vicinity, in Oct. 1813. Napoleon being in the city and its environs, with an army of 100,000 men, he was encountered by the allied armies of Austria, Russia and Prussia, consisting of 120,000. After a conflict of several days, Napoleon was obliged to retreat with a loss of two-thirds of his army; this was the end of his successful military career.

Hungary, is the largest and southeasternmost division of the Austrian empire, containing a population about fifteen millions; nearly one-half are of the Magyar race, the remainder are of different origin, language, &c. The Magyars are of Asiatic origin, who in ancient times fought. their way into the heart of Europe in the ninth century, where they have ever since, till the late revolution, enjoyed a certain degree of selfgovernment.

To the Romans, Hungary was known under the name of Pannonia. In A. D. 433, the Huns established themselves in this country, which

from them has ever since retained the name of Hungary. It was erected into a kingdom in A. D. 1000, and in the 14th century, Louis the Great, its monarch, carried his arms into Italy. The union with Austria took place in 1538, through the marriage of Albert of Austria, to the heiress of its deceased king. For a period of about three hundred years, it appears to have been the settled policy of Austria to bring her Hungarian subjects under her arbritary power, and curtail, in some way, their civil and religious liberties. A majority of the Hungarian nobles desired the emancipation of the peasantry; the Hungarian Diet in 1839 proposed the measure. This was rejected by the Austrian Cabinet. As the government prohibited the publication of any votes or speeches on political subjects, Louis Kossuth, a journalist, caused the reports of the Diet to be lithographed, and afterwards to be written and spread through the county. For this, he was seized and condemned to three years imprisonment.

In 1848, intelligence of the French revolution reached Presburg, where the Diet was sitting. Kossuth, at the head of a deputation from the Diet, demanded a restoration of their privileges. The emperor

Ferdinand, intimidated by the posture of affairs, readily granted the request, and swore to support the new Hungarian Constitution, by which the peasantry were endowed with the same civil and political rights as the nobles; the lands on which they had labored as serfs was given to them. These measures, brought about principally by the influence of Kossuth, were passed by an unanimous vote of the Diet.

The Austrian cabinet, after their alarm was over, began to take measures to counteract the concessions they had given. They stirred up the other races in Hungary, the Sclavonians, Servians, &c., and the Ban of Croatia against Magyars, representing them as intending to root out their nationality, religions, &c. In this they were successful. Jellachich Ban of Croatia, at the head of a large body, crossed the Drave into Hungary. As he proceeded towards Buda Pest, the capital, he devastated the country, massacred the Magyars, sparing neither age nor sex. Kossuth aroused his countrymen, pressed forward and defeated the invader, who fled to the Austrians for protection. The second campaign opened in the spring of 1849, by the invasion of Hungary, by 220,000 soldiers. This army was also defeated and driven back. Austria now applied to Russia for help, and the third invasion of Hungary took place with a force of nearly four hundred thousand men, nearly 300,000 of which were regular troops, out of which 150,000 were Russians. To oppose this force, the Hungarians had but 140,000 men; they were, however, in possession of the strong fortresses of Peterwardein and Comorn. The treachery and surrender of Gorgey, destroyed the hopes of the Hungarians; and at the termination of the war, thirteen Hungarian generals and leaders were hanged or shot. It is supposed that over a thousand gentlemen of station and character, among them several clergymen, perished on the scaffold.

POLAND.

POLAND, in ancient times formed the chief portion of that vast plain, called by the Romans, Sarmatia. Its early annals are obscure, and possess but little interest. In the 5th century, Poland was one of the most powerful monarchies of Europe, and the exploits of Sigismund and So

bieski are distinguished in history. Poland, for two centuries was the main bulwark of Christendom against the Turks. Its decline may be dated from the beginning of the last century, and may be ascribed to its bad government, and the rapacity of her neighbors, Russia, Prussia and Austria. The partition of Poland, (regarded as one of the most iniquitious transactions of modern times,) was begun in 1772 by Prussia and the empress Catherine, of Russia, and Austria was dragged into the league. In 1792, these three powers again united, another partition was made, and Poland was reduced to a little more than half her original dimensions. The Poles, now under the hero Kosciusko, made the most gallant efforts to preserve their liberty and independence. They were however overpowered by the Russians under Suwarrow, who, with superior numbers, stormed the fortress of Braga, the last hold of the patriots. An entire partition of Poland was now made, in which Russia had the most extensive portion; Prussia, the best situated, and Austria, the most productive.

In 1830, the Poles, inspired by the success of the French and Belgian revolutions, rose in insurrection at Warsaw: the Grand Duke Constantion fled from the city; the revolt immediately spread throughout the kingdom, and extended to Lithuania and other parts of ancient Poland. A most sanguinary war took place, and the Poles fought bravely. The Russians brought an overwhelming force into the conflict, and after two days' hard fighting, Warsaw, the capital, was taken by storm, Sept. 1831, and Poland was reduced to unconditional submission.

TURKEY IN EUROPE.

The Turks are a Tartar nation, originally from Asia. The first notice of them in history, is about the year 800, when issuing from an obscure retreat, they took possession of a part of Armenia. In 1453, Mahomet II, took Constantinople, which has ever since continued to be the seat of the Ottoman or Turkish empire. The Turks afterwards widely extended their empire in Europe, Asia and Africa, and gained possession of the greater part of the countries most celebrated in ancient history.

For a long period, the Russians have directed their views towards the acquisition of Constantinople, as an outlet for their intercourse with the rest of the world. Their provinces joining those of Turkey, pretexts have not been wanting to engage in hostilities with their weaker neighbors.

In May 1828, the Russian army passed the Pruth, and occupied the principalities without opposition, but their only conquests of importance were Brailow and Varna, this last of which was obtained by treachery. The capture of Varna and the destruction of the Turkish fleet at Navarino, gave the Russians a decided advantage in their next campaign. Gen. Diebitsch commenced his operations on the Danube, by the investment of Silistra, which afterwards capitulated. After a victory near Shumla, and at other places, count Diebitsch passed the Balkan, and entered Adrianople, 20th of Aug., 1829. Constantinople was now evidently in the power of the Russians, and the Turks were obliged to submit to a peace on the Russian terms.

« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »