By Paul McLeod

Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, felt the victory coming long before the dispatches reached him. However, the dispatches did surprise him. The idea of winning by a margin of over 2.5 million votes confirmed for him that he had been right. Only six months ago, there was no reason to presume he would even be here.

After a close call with death in February, Senator Mark Hanna had rallied the money men around him and had threatened to take the Presidency from him and give it to that conniving elitist, Charles Fairbanks. Had it not been for the Perdicaris Affair, it was completely possible that he could not even have been in the contest. It was some measure of relief that Hanna had shuffled off to meet his Maker just before the convention, the President thought.

His new deputy, Vice President Nelson W. Aldrich, was an aging Rhode Islander had been a concession to the party conservatives, but the two had struck a comfortable deal in the days following the convention. He would get a free hand on foreign and social policy, whilst Aldrich would get to experiment in his favourite field of economics. One thing was for certain. Prior to the convention, he had discussed with Edith the possibility of announcing that this would be his last term. Now, that was categorically ruled out. The Republican Party could not fall back into the hands of people like Hanna. It had to be preserved and protected, and if to achieve this, he had to hang around in the White House until they carried him out feet first, so be it. He was now President in his own right.

In his Fourth Annual Address to the Congress on 6 December, President Roosevelt today outlined the agenda of his newly-elected Administration. He outlined that the Administration would increase expenditure over the coming four years.

The President first addressed his attention to the needs of women. He stated that he would investigate the granting of pensions to victims of wife-bashers who had been imprisoned for their crime and left their wives with no form of support. The President endorsed the position that the role of the woman is in the home, tending to the family. He addressed, however, the need to grant suffrage to women, pledging to work with the States on this issue. He praised the people of Utah, Colorado and Idaho for pointing the direction in which the nation should go.

In the area of immigration, the President questioned whether it was wise to invite those from countries with lower wages, pointing out that they could drive down living standards for American workers. He called for Congress to restrict migration on these grounds. He also recognised the strong support within the Republican Party for an increased tariff, an issue that nearly cost him the nomination. He stated the willingness of his Administration to compromise on tariffs if it was "progressive protectionism", meaning that American workers shared the benefit of protection with their employees through "reasonable wages". It is believed that the President was referring to the National Civic Federation, as a committee of business and labor, as the organisation which may be responsible for ensuring the "spoils of industrialisation are shared evenly among all Americans".

The President also toned down his rhetoric on trust busting, stating that while prosecutions would continue, "America must come to realise that there are good trusts and bad trusts". He pledged that his Administration would "continue to eliminate corporate mischief" through regulation, but would not rule out monopoly powers where he believed that such organisations served a public benefit.

Mr Roosevelt stated that he will continue to endorse conservation measures and land reclamation projects as a way of ensuring the future wealth of the country.

The President's instructions on this occasion were for the US Navy to acquire twelve submarines (pictured above) from J. P. Holland's struggling "Submarine Boat Company". This overrode Navy opinion that it would be hazardous to have boats going faster than 6 knots. Holland had demonstrated a new hull design in Washington's naval yards which had a submerged speed of up to 22 knots. And the President knew that Holland's legal and financial troubles spelled the opportunity for a bargain.

Many have also argued that Roosevelt's sense of political vulnerability in terms of party support drove a personal need for him to appear as a "strong" President, making increases to the military that, at the time, appeared barely justifiable. However, the US commitment to submarine warfare at a time when many Europeans considered it an un-gentlemanly and barbaric practice gave them an upper hand in future technological developments in this new form of warfare.

On the domestic front, President Roosevelt's first attempt at modifying the industrial relations system of the United States was only a qualified success at best. Attorney General William Moody knew that the Supreme Court would eventually overturn the legislation as unconstitutional; in fact, it was his destiny to sit on the Court that did so. The Federal Labor Court was abolished only a few years after its foundation, but would serve as an example of what might be possible when a more reasonable bench wasn't there to overrule every attempt to help workers as a violation of the 14th Amendment.

However, the workers did not continually win in the new environment. Unions could still be banned from workplaces by the employer. In addition, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Corporations, Herbert Knox Smith, made rulings that the Sherman Anti-trust Act did not apply in certain circumstances. One example was the decision not to enforce the Act against AT&T during its takeover of Western Union.

Roosevelt would comment on that decision during later years, stating that "provided it is not a coercive monopoly, provided it is a natural monopoly, provided the principles of the free markets are not violated, Sherman does not and never did apply." His Doctrine of Public Utility meant that his and future US Administrations would choose not to prosecute under Sherman where the formation and continued existence of monopolies served a useful purpose in the expansion of services and maintained a low cost of services to consumers.

A second key domestic reform in this year was the passage of the 1905 Immigration Act. The head tax, the fee applicable to all immigrants upon arrival in the United States, rose to $15 per person and an English language test was applied to all migrants. At the time of the Act, immigration had reached record levels, over a million migrants each year, most of these originating out of eastern and southern Europe. With the new restrictions, net migration fell by more than 90% within the next five years. Alexander Dupont, in his landmark book The Lost Influx, estimates that the United States denied entry to over twenty million people during the period between 1900 and 1920, even after wage pressure forced it to moderate the Act. These potential migrants, according to Dupont, often chose to remain in their own lands; however, a good percentage went to Canada, particularly provinces like Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan. He also speculates that many of the Jewish people who migrated to Korea during the first decades of the 20th century would have ended up in the United States.

However, the fall in migration and the resultant shortage of labor had an enormous impact on the African American population of the United States. Previously unemployable, they suddenly found they were being offered opportunities for work, though admittedly at wages up to 40% less than other workers. Nonetheless, this additional capital gave the African American population economic power they had not previously possessed and led to their increase admission to trade and technical schools, albeit initially classrooms in the South were segregated. It gave rise to the race pressure that would eventually contribute to the downfall of Roosevelt’s Administration.

"For the first time the great business and conservation interests of the nation have joined together to consider their individual and common interests. You all know, and especially those of you from the West, the individual whose idea of development is to strip every resource and then leave a barren desert for those who come after him. That man is a curse and not a blessing to the country. The prop of the country must be the businessman who intends so to run his business so that he is not taking profit from the future. Your coming is a very great step toward the solution of this problem–a problem which cannot be settled until it is settled right.

If the present rate of resource destruction is allowed to continue, with nothing to offset it, a resource famine in the future is inevitable. Wasteful and destructive forms of capitalism are destroying our resources far more rapidly that they can be replaced. Fortunately, the remedy is a simple one, and your presence here today is a most encouraging sign that there will be such forethought and action.

I ask, with all the intensity that I am capable, that the American people will remember the sharp distinction I have just drawn between those who plunder resources and those who develop the country. I am going to work with, and only with, the man who develops the country. I am against the plunderer every time."

 

The Second Forest Congress was actually marked the emergence of a new environmental movement in the United States, backed by tycoons like Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie, the latter of whom told the President that anyone who managed to rid Pittsburgh of its smokestacks would have his "deepest gratitude". Pinchot, had told the President that "ecology" was a vote winner for the emergent female electorate and would prove useful when female suffrage became universal. In this opinion, he received the backing of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Among the initiatives of Pinchot were:

Tax incentives to promote solar energy (by 1920, water heating in a quarter of a million homes had been converted to solar);

Extension of national parks and wildlife preserves;

Water and sewerage purification systems (Pinchot had been in Germany shortly after the Hamburg cholera plague);

Bans on green wallpaper (the color was produced by arsenic and caused fatal poisonings, but it had been argued since 1893 that banning it infringed on liberty);

Addressing the toxic mess that was New York City;

Eradication of all untreated waste (including industrial waste) in US waterways by 1912;

Listing and preservation of endangered animals; and

Occupational health and safety regulations.

 

Among those that arose early in Roosevelt's second term was the crisis that afflicted the small island state of Santo Domingo. Unable to pay its debts to Europe, it appears as they were prepared to intervene militarily. The Senate were strong supporters of the idea of a "Manifest Destiny" of an American empire, with the greatest supporter being Senator Albert Beveridge of Indiana. The vote for military occupation was a fait accompli. It was only the first of a number of interventions that marked Roosevelt's second term. By the end of 1908, US forces were occupying Santo Domingo, Haiti, Cuba, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

"They are best administered under the laws of the United States as integral portions of its sovereign territory. However, in respect of the aspirations and ambitions of its peoples, such administration of the territory should be limited to a guarantee that it shall make its own laws, with provisions that they are not repugnant, and that they shall not operate after an extra-territorial fashion."

 

However, he completely disregarded the idea of conquering Mindanao.

"Even the rendering of administrative assistance and advice is without merits in their eyes. Thus we should relinquish all claims under offer of amical (sic) protection."

The Treaty of Joro was signed between Governor General Luke Edward Wright and HRH Sultan Jamal-ul Kiram II of Sulu a few months later. American conditions for the restoration of sovereignty were the establishment of a formal constitution, which guaranteed freedom of conscience and religion, prohibited trafficking in arms and slaves, guaranteed only a defensive military and provided free access to American trade and commerce. It also ensured that the Sultan was held in check by a representative democratic council.

The Russian Revolution

Perhaps the most significant foreign policy event of the year 1905 was actually what Roosevelt considered one of his greatest failures in later years: the Portsmouth Peace Conference. He had approached the Tsar of All Russias, head of the house of Romanov, with a chance to resolve his war with the Japanese Empire. Roosevelt also had close contacts with Japan: he was friendly with Viscount Katsuro, the Japanese Prime Minister, he was a former Harvard schoolmate of Jutaro Komura, the Japanese Foreign Minister, and he had good ties with the Imperial Embassy in Washington. Commander Takashita, the naval attaché to the United States, had become close to Roosevelt when they had negotiated the admission of Japanese cadets to Annapolis Naval College. He thus knew that Japan, whose economy was heavily burdened by the costs of the war, was sympathetic to negotiations.

Had Tsar Nicholas II been given a greater comprehension of his own country's situation, he would have grabbed the deal with both hands. The German Chief of Staff, General Schlieffen, records at this time that Russia's military was on the verge of collapse. Widespread unrest in Odessa had turned to rioting and, then, death for a large number of its citizens. The leader of the trade union movement, Paul Milyukov, was at the point of declaring a general strike to bring down the government. Two battleships, the Potemkin and George the Conqueror, had mutinied.

Komura came as the representative for Japan; Russia was represented by Count Sergei Witte, a former Finance Minister who had a poor relationship with the Tsar for his efforts to keep the absolute monarch in check. The Tsar had done his best to disgrace Witte, time and again, but ultimately, nobody else in the Russian aristocracy was willing to risk their necks by being responsible for reaching any deal that didn't leave Russian interests intact. Of the twelve demands that Japan made to end the war, most were either acceptable to Russia or something on which they were prepared to negotiate. The contested terms of peace were as follows:

Japan wanted to keep all Russian naval vessels currently interned in the ports of neutral nations.

Japan wanted a strict limitation on the size of any naval force that Russia maintained in its Far East.

Japan wanted Russia to pay the costs of the war.

Japan demanded the full cession of Sakhalin Island.

Roosevelt encouraged the parties to deal with what they could and handle the difficult objections after everything else had been settled. The discussions of 14 August produced an agreement on Japan gaining a "sphere of influence" in Korea and the demilitarisation of Manchuria. The only hiccup was the attitude displayed by Witte, who stated in the presence of Jewish Americans that restrictive Russian laws against Jews were actually for their betterment. The fourth formal session on 15 August saw an agreement for an "open door policy" in Manchuria and the transfer of Russian leases at Port Arthur to Japan. However, talks eventually bogged down on the topic of indemnities because the Tsar had clear instructions for Witte: he was not to surrender one piece of Russia and he was not to agree to pay one ruble. Without such compensation, the Japanese population would have been outraged. Their firm belief was that Russia must pay for her provocation.

During a break in proceedings, Witte recognised peace was at hand and advised the Tsar that Sakhalin Island had to go on the table. In the end, however, it was the Japanese who blinked first. They offered to return half of Sakhalin to Russia and drop all further demands in return for an indemnity of ¥1,200 million (£105.8 million or US$515.3 million). Note: in 2005 terms, this equates to roughly US$13.2 billion. Both parties agreed to consult with their governments, and President Roosevelt sent personal letters to the leadership in both countries, begging them to compromise. Japan came as far as being willing to halve the indemnity, but the Tsar wouldn't budge an inch.

His own internal crisis was too much for the Tsar to handle. On 15 August, union leader Pavel Milyukov had been arrested. The Russian Minister of the Interior, Alexander Bulygin, had resigned in protest and called on strikes to bring down the Government. Bialystok, a city north of Brest-Litovsk and victim of recent pogrom attacks, fell into chaos, which proceeded to spread through the Russian Pale. In the Far East, units were disbanding and returning home in protest over conditions. In the end, the Tsar decided that victory, not peace, was his goal.

Historians have long since argued about why the Russians walked away from negotiations. Many have argued that a Roosevelt who had not fought a long and tiring election campaign the previous year may have had the confidence to turn the result around. Other have stated that the presence of the late Secretary of State John Hay would, had he survived to see the summit, brought an extra gravitas and experience that might have produced a different result. Regrettably for Russia, none of those events occurred.

When it became clear talks had failed, Japan resumed the war by dispatching three thousand troops to Vladivostok on 24 August. A naval flotilla, led by the Mikasa and containing twenty-three other vessels, carried three thousand Japanese troops. The battle for Russia’s eastern jewel would, in the view of Admiral Togo Heihachiro, bring the peace which his government had long sought.

The failure of Portsmouth had placed enormous stress on the Japanese government. Admittedly, it had prevented the crowds from demanding the dismissal of the Government and had poured water on the flames of ultra-nationalism which had threatened to engulf the genro administration of Viscount Katsura. Some of the major papers even praised the failure of negotiations, arguing that Foreign Minister Komura had protected the honour of Japan. However, the finances of the nation were distinctly unhealthy, and the best experts were estimating that Japan had until April to finalise the war in its favour. After that, its debt would produce an economic panic that could engulf not only Japan, but spread beyond.

In Russia, the sense of crisis was palpable. Demonstrations were growing by the day and before the end of August, the Standart, the imperial yacht, was being prepared in St Petersburg harbour for the evacuation of the Imperial family to Denmark. (It is generally believed that the Tsar was unaware of this at the time, as his sense of duty would not have allowed him to have ordered this. The family’s annual trip on the Baltic was near at hand, but the provisions being stored on board were for more than a two-week pleasure cruise.) The universities and schools were shutting down due to student strikes and raids were being made by revolutionaries on the prisons.

When news of the fall of Vladivostok reached the heartland of the Empire on September 13-14, the long-threatened general strike broke out in Moscow. Cossacks and demonstrators fought outside the Kremlin, the latter quickly arming themselves and becoming violent mobs. The Tsar was concerned, but assured that the Okhrana had the violence in check, the Tsar and his family left for their annual Baltic cruise (the Standart, regrettably, did not have a radio). By 23 September, while the Imperial family played frivolously, the violence had spread throughout most of the major cities of the Empire. The railways came to a grinding halt. Communications ceased to operate, except where being used by strikers and revolutionaries. Hospitals were closed. Russia was paralysed.

When Witte arrived back from Portsmouth on 22 September, he was horrified. He immediately called a meeting of top rank officials. As the violence and troubles spread, talks continued at the Winter Palace with union leaders and zemstvo groups present. On 25 September, Witte called upon Grand Duke Nicholas, titular commander of the Imperial armies. He outlined to the Grand Duke how the Tsar had sabotaged reform time and again, placing Russia in this crisis. He demonstrated how the Tsar had failed the nation in cancelling peace talks, meaning the loss of Vladivostok. And he issued the demands upon which the meeting had agreed.

The last day of September marked a new era in Russian history. The new Tsar, Michael II (pictured right) signed a letter to Emperor Meiji, offering Sakhalin and reparations in return for peace. He also signed a new and radical constitution for Russia, establishing Witte as caretaker Prime Minister until elections could be held. On 4 October, the telegram from Tokyo confirmed that the Russo-Japanese War was over.

The Japanese victory led to a dampening of the ultra-nationalist sentiment that had threatened to overwhelm the nation and encouraged more reflection on the external world. Many in the senior levels of government had been impressed by the support of the Jewish financial houses of their war efforts and were determined to make a more thorough analysis of Judaism and the Jewish people. To further their education, they laid their hands on the most comprehensive source document of that time, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and translated it, but also contacted rabbis within the United States to invite them to visit Japan. While the document was later revealed to be a hoax, the Japanese were impressed by the alleged power of the Jews, the story of the Diaspora and the similarities between Judaism and Shinto.

Other officials were very much aware of the substantial Jewish population already in the United States. They argued that favourable treatment of Jews would win them significant support in the U.S. Administration, because, of course, they believed that Jews controlled America. In addition, their "supernatural" economic prowess meant that positive responses to the Jews would grant the Japanese the favour of the heavens and substantial real-world investment. After considerable debate, in 1914, the Japanese government issued invitations for Jewish immigrants, with an upper limit of six hundred thousand, to be settled in Korea. They would be permitted their own settlements. The numbers were slow to arrive at first, with the bulk arriving between 1920 and 1922, accounting for nearly 4% of the population of Korea at that time.

The defeat of Russia was one that changed the face of the Empire forever and, as a result, the world. The new Tsar, Michael II, and his new Constitution had been forced upon the Russian populace as the solution to the bloody crises that afflicted the country. However, it was clear from the beginning that conservatives considered the move too radical and the revolutionaries denounced it as not being radical enough. Witte’s attempt to form a council of ministers, an attempt to stretch the political divided, was doomed to failure. The day that Tsar Michael took the throne, giant demonstrations rocked most of the Russian Empire. St Petersburg was only one city that saw violence, as street fighting spread to Moscow, Odessa and Sebastopol. By the end of the day, it is estimated that over two thousand had been killed in running gun battles through the major cities (below). Civilian militias were forming and taking charge of their streets, only to confront gangs from other neighbourhoods.

That night, Finland and Poland declared their independence and sought the assistance and protection of Count Bernhard von Bulow of Germany. The Count, ever willing to harm the Russian bear, already had telegrams from his Ambassador in St Petersburg, advising that the country had gone crazy. On the other hand, he had the Treaty of Bjorko that the Kaiser had signed without consulting him. There was no doubt in von Bulow’s mind that the influence of Germany had to be extended at the expense of his crippled eastern neighbour; the question was how and whether he could do so without provoking the French. Intelligence in London soon established that the Germans were funnelling armaments and money to rebels in Poland. However, as much as the Russians and French were calling for intervention, the Germans and Austrians were insistent it not occur. And Russia could not effectively stop the rebellion in any case, with the latest news being that Russian warships were attacking each other in the Black Sea. On 16 October, Moscow fell to the rebels and Communist leader Leon Trotsky declared a provisional government. The Baltic provinces joined Finland and Poland in declaring independence. Ultimately, the task of stopping the uprising fell to the Tsar.

In the Edict of 2 November, Michael II offered to surrender the throne if the bloodshed in his country would stop and called for a Constitutional Duma, elected by universal suffrage, to resolve the will of the people. Recognition was also given to Finland and Poland-Lithuania to ensure that the conflict in those regions was no longer his concern. Once elections for the convention were held, the previously banned leftist parties emerged with a clear majority. The two parties that had previously been legal, the Octobrists and the Constitutional Democrats, failed to achieve even 30 percent of the vote between them.

In 1906, the first corruption allegations regarding the Republican Administration began to emerge. At the time, the Republican Party had dominated the United States political system for a decade and there was a community view that they were becoming increasingly arrogant and out of touch with the electorate. Only the constant vitality of Roosevelt as party leader was sufficient to prevent such a view becoming entrenched. However, it did not save Vice President Nelson Aldrich. It emerged in February that a number of Senators, past and present, had taken money from lobbyists in return for voting as they wished on legislation before the Senate. Aldrich was one of the worst offenders and the Attorney General was obliged to carry out a criminal investigation. The Vice President's many political enemies saw the opportunity for a scalp and his lack of loyalty to the White House meant that he was seen as a political liability there. He resigned rather than face impeachment in April.

However, the most important factor in American political life of this year was the clear indications that segregation, the basis of the social contract following the Civil War era in the South, was beginning to collapse. The drop in immigration numbers had opened up enormous economic opportunity for African Americans and, as a result, they began to challenge institutions that were segregated and actually prompt a greater level of fear in the white populace. However, segregation was not only a tool that was used in the "Negro question".

In October, 1906, the San Francisco Board of Education decided that Chinese, Korean and Japanese students should be segregated. Kyo Sakamoto was one of the 93 affected students. His parents joined with other Japanese-American parents and found a lawyer to take their case before the court. However, before a file was lodged, President Roosevelt intervened and demanded that the segregation order be revoked. He then asked Japan to cease sending immigrants. The newly confident Japan stated that allowing Europeans who met the immigration criteria to function within American society but refusing similarly skilled Asians was "a vile discrimination". Roosevelt agreed, but could not get Japan to cease issuing passports as the Californian people demanded.

The two cases, on two types of racial discrimination, appeared on the Court calendar in 1908. Sakamoto was the first case of the two, having come twelve years after the infamous Plessy v Ferguson had institutionalised racial segregation. From the start, it was clear that two justices, White and Peckham, were determined to uphold the principles agreed to a decade before. They were joined by Justice Brewer and Chief Justice Fuller. On the other side, Harlan, Holmes, Day and Moody were clearly determined to overturn the precedent. The decision came down to the ever indecisive Joseph McKenna, who had always sought to back the majority view. Today there was no majority to uphold racism.

On 11 February, McKenna passed his decision on to his brethren, and Harlan delivered in favour of the plaintiff. Schools in San Francisco would be desegregated, but, more interestingly, a precedent had been established that threatened Plessy, a precedent that threatened to overturn the Jim Crow laws and throw the communities of the South into crisis. The ruling was worded as follows:

"This matter arises under a statute of the San Francisco Board of Education. The purpose and scope of the statute is clearly intended to prohibit white persons and persons of other races from attending the same school.

The defendant, San Francisco Board of Education, is an authority with articles of incorporation set forth to establish and maintain institutions of learning. It has been charged that, in 1906, the Board unlawfully and wilfully removed non-white persons from schools and referred them to other institutions as pupils for instruction. The plaintiff sought an instruction to the effect that the statute was in violation of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

The District Court, recognising fundamental limitations on the police power of the state which it stated could not be disregarded, held that the statute was in violation of those limitations because it was "unreasonable and oppressive", due to the distances in travel required by pupils to attend particular institutions for instruction. The Court of Appeal held that it was entirely for the state to adopt the policy of the separation of the races, but that the Board of Education had no natural right to teach. The Court stated that it was entrusted as the state saw fit, according to the qualifications applied by the state and stated that the statute was not in conflict with the Constitution. It upheld the right to teach separately the races, but also upheld that such segregation cannot result in unreasonable and oppressive conditions for the pupils. We concur with this judgment.

Undoubtedly, the general rule is that one part of a statute may be stricken down and another part, distinctly separable and valid, left in force. But general rules cannot control the decision of this case. In Huntingdon v Worthen 120 U.S. 97,102, this court said that, if one provision of a statute be invalid, the whole act shall fall, where it is evident that one of them would not have been enacted without the other. Similarly, in Spraigue v Thompson 118 U.S. 90,94, the court held that, where part of a statute is declared invalid, and by that exclusion the statute becomes not what was originally intended by those enacting the statute, it cannot be made to stand.

One must also consider that the schools affected by this have already been incorporated by the state under a charter. If the state had, in terms, repealed outright the charter of the schools, this case might be different. However, they have, by their statute, amended the charter of particular corporate bodies, assuming to apply such changes. The state is not empowered to destroy the substantial, essential purposes of an institution and yet leave it in legal existence. We have established the proposition that power to amend or alter a charter cannot be made in a way which will defeat or substantially impair the objective of the grant. See Close v Glenwood Cemetery 107 U.S. 466,476.

The broad question is whether the state has the power to make it a crime for the operation and maintenance of an institution of learning where students of different races are accepted together for instruction. We feel obliged to express our belief that the statute is an arbitrary invasion of the rights of liberty and property guaranteed by the 14th Amendment against hostile state action. It is therefore void."

What this essentially meant was that the state could not make it criminal to refuse to obey segregation laws where they relate to services that should be available to all people, unless these services were established separately as "black services" and "white services" and such services were equal. It was also unenforceable when segregation was "oppressive and unreasonable". These new precedents marked the beginning of an era in American race relations in which the status quo would face a considerable challenge.

There was also growing concern over the limitations on segregation. The firm trends toward the dismantling of segregation made the Southern states all the more determined that it should not proceed. Before Roosevelt left office in 1913, he would sign the Civil Rights Act, guaranteeing suffrage to all African Americans. The general community in the South could feel the growing sentiment, but the belief that too strong an infringement on state rights would spark a second Civil War meant that the threat was initially not taken as serious as it should have been. Many believed that Roosevelt would not risk the Union.

There was an increasing argument that the United States should not be merely continental in nature, but that it should continue beyond the confines of "sea to shining sea". One obvious outcome of this was the decision of the United States to commence incorporation of those nations under its military control into its political control, as demonstrated by the Havana Conventions.

The Conventions agreed that some of the various unincorporated territories (the Philippines, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador), as well as future additions, would be free to manage their own internal affairs, but control of defence, foreign affairs and trade would be managed by Washington. Thus, their defence forces had to be disbanded. Territories would need to have a constitution approved by Washington as well. Their laws would remain in effect except where they were repugnant to the law of the United States and/or related to a power that had now been assumed as being within the purview of the United States. Laws invalid with US law were null, and appeals could be made to the US Supreme Court to overturn such laws.

The addition of these new raw material economies feeding the mainland industrial powerhouse did cause great concern in the South. Those producing lumber, tobacco, shellfish, fruit, coffee and cotton suddenly found themselves very much unable to compete against the territories. The South would be required to move away from raw materials toward manufacture and specialisation. For example, the cotton crop would steadily decrease in the South to be replaced by textile factories, mines would begin to close and be replaced by iron and steel mills. The Mid Atlantic and the Great Lakes began to proceed through an industrialisation boom as the country abandoned primary production in favour of secondary production.

Domestically, the United States was going under more than just an economic transformation. Nine states had now adopted female suffrage provisions, earning major kudos for the Republican Party leadership and the President in particular. Alice Lee Roosevelt Longsworth, the President's eldest daughter, had become the head of the campaign to grant all women the vote, vying with her father for the attention of the media. At the rate of progress, it was clear that, by 1912, all states and territories would allow women voters.

Events of greater impact also shaped the world outside the United States. Poland-Lithuania's independence was finalised, even though its borders were not, with the installation of the near-absolute monarch King Karol I, formerly Archduke Karl Stefan of Austria, Duke of Teschen (left), and his wife, Maria Therese, now Queen Marjon. They came with three daughters and a 10-year-old Crown Prince Jedrek. Finland likewise won its independence from Russia, but had a more difficult time at it due to the influence of the Marxist-backed Socialist Democratic Party, who won a large minority of the vote in the first general election. There was no doubt the party was a front for revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, who attempted a coup d'etat in July. The Prime Minister, Leopold Mechelin, was forced to rely upon German arms and support to fight the civil war which followed over the next five months. It was thus they came to also rely on Germany for the supply of a suitable monarch. The Grand Duke of Hesse, grandson of Queen Victoria, became King Viljo I. Despite allegations of homosexuality, he would marry and produce two sons.

The balance of power in Europe also changed over the course of 1906, with the Algericas Conference marking the first stage of the growing rapprochement between France and Germany. Chancellor von Bulow of Germany had realised clearly that his nation had lost its opportunity to make the best of the Russian crisis, due to the threat of French intervention. He was keen to neutralise that threat, despite the Kaiser's position. France was also desperately seeking for allies due to perceived Russian weakness. Germany saw a distinct potential in isolating Britain by bringing the French onside. In addition, Italy, supposedly an ally of Germany, had come into this conference supporting the French position.

Von Bulow made it clear that his nation was prepared to sacrifice interests in Morocco, despite the position of the Kaiser, but expected significant concessions from France in return. He brought with him a plan to significantly redraw the balance of power in Europe. Just as nobody had thought that France and Britain could resolve their differences in 1904, many had suspected the same of France and Germany. Von Bulow refused to rule out rapprochement with France, rather focusing on advancing German goals.

It was only the insistence of Germany on the borders of 1871 that had made a French-German detente impossible. French-German cooperation in resisting British imperialism in Africa, a common stance on the Boer wars and French-German resistance to Japanese advances in China laid the colonial foundation for a larger set of commitments between the two powers. In addition, the objectives of alliances with either Turkey or Italy could both be contained by the French.

Thus, the first part of von Bulow's offer included the establishment of a demilitarised zone in Alsace-Lorraine if the French would do the same in Burgundy. The status of Alsace-Lorraine would be reviewed every fifteen years and it would not be regarded as an inviolable part of the German Empire. A second part of the agreement included a deal on Africa. France would get all German commercial interests in Morocco, as well as Togoland and German support for a claim against Spain for Tangiers and the Sahara. In return, Germany would take over Gabon and Middle Congo.

A secret part of the same terms outlined a deal for Europe, with Switzerland and Scandinavia being included in Germany's sphere of influence, while the Low Countries, the Iberian peninsula and the western half of northern Italy (Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria) was given to France. They also agreed to encourage the British fleet out of the Atlantic into the Mediterranean by attempting to sabotage relations with Italy over Libya. Germany and France also committed to Italian explusion from the Triple Alliance in 1907, with France then publicly assuming the role previously filled by Italy.

Investigators connected the assassination to Francisco Ferrer y Guardia, head of la Escuela Moderna and a known associate of former radical Ruiz Zorilla. Ferrer and his wife were killed by French gendarmes attempting to cross the French border with false identification. The French Government issued a statement just hours after the assassination, commenting that it has been tracing monies originating from unknown sources within France, but being sent over the border to Ferrer during the last two months.

The assassination of King Alfonso and his British wife came at a bad time for Spain. The line of succession had always been tenuous and, with his death, it was once again. The insecurity of the monarchy and the continuing strength of the radical movement exposed the Spanish political system to chronic instability. In addition, Spain's economy was at a low ebb. The cost of the Spanish-American War had resulted in the loss of most of Spain's external possessions at a time when its economy was suffering its worst depression in history. A wave of pessimism had swept the country and unions were restive, to say the least. In addition, Spain's African colonies posed a continual drain on resources, with the Sahara in rebellion and the Moroccan question having posed severe dilemmas for European peace before the Franco-German peace accords only months before.

The new Regent quickly struck a close relationship with France. At the time, it was believed that France had assisted in terminating the threat of Ferrer's band of anarchists. However, it would become clear decades later, with the release of French government intelligence documents, that France had funded the assassins in order to obtain the installation of a more sympathetic and less competent head of state. It was also believed, at the time, that the would be more cooperative with the agreed secret agenda emerging among the major European powers neighbouring Italy to oversee its dismemberment, hints of which were deliberately dropped during Franco-Spanish discussions. A united Franco-Spanish position on the issue of Italy would keep the British out, it was believed.

France was keen to ensure the goodwill of the Spanish government. As part of the agreement that was agreed to by the Spanish government in early 1907, France and Spain would cooperate in suppressing Basque and Catalan nationalist movements, France would agree to greater ore purchases (which went in military development) and France would provide technical and economic assistance with railway construction. They also agreed that, from June 1908, Paris would assume responsibility for the Sahara in return for a payment of 66,000 British pounds, a profit of 32% on Spanish investments in the region to that time, excluding military expenditure.

The working week would be shortened to 60 hours (58 hours for women and 33 hours for children). Public health and education systems would be established. The economy showed future promise. While debt levels were enormous at 4032 million roubles, Prime Minister Breshkovsky was certain she could return the budget to surplus by 1907 and pay back nearly half of that figure over the next two years.

However, even after the election of the first Duma, rumours persisted in St Petersburg and would continue to persist for some time about the possibility of a right wing coup d'etat led by the military. It is uncertain whether or not this was the subject of the luncheon conversation at the Menshikov Palace on 31 July, but present were the former Prime Minister, Count Sergei Witte, the Governor of St Petersburg, General Dmitry Trepov and the Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Grigory Chukhnin. In the city surrounding, three men and one woman worked in the shadows, preparing to strike. Loyal to Lenin's Bolshevik cause, they were determined to continue the revolution. The recent massacre of fifty supporters in Grodno and suggestions that Trepov was behind the deaths were sufficient to seal his fate. When the Bolsheviks had learned of this meeting, they considered other potential victims. Chukhnin had crushed the Potemkin mutiny violently and ruled the Odessa with an iron hand. Witte had blocked their rise to power. All were worthy of death in their opinion.

The person who volunteered to lead the suicidal attack was Alexei Rykov, a 25 year old party member who had been with the party for seven years. He knew that he and his team would not survive, but hoped that he would succeed in taking out the trio and bringing the fragile peace undone. Assassination was a common part of the revolutionary tool kit, but before 31 July, 1906, it had never been used so effectively. The assault on the Menshikov Palace struck the nation to the core. For a country that had appeared to be in recovery, it threatened to turn back the clock. Conservative Octobrists began to re-establish their connections with the more reactive agents of the Okhrana and police forces only months after having turned their backs on violence. A decision was made within the Black Hundreds that a retaliatory strike was vital.

The state of emergency was lifted by Prime Minister Chernov on 16 November, when a letter arrived from Vladimir Lenin, asking to open talks with the Russian Government. His internal base within Russia had been decimated, thanks to intelligence from the Mensheviks, and he stated that he would seek to reunify the party and would submit to Martov's leadership. It was an expression of utter defeat by the radical left. The Tsar agreed to invite Lenin to St Petersburg to negotiate early in the New Year. The surviving leadership of the Black Hundreds fled, mainly to Denmark, Switzerland and Germany.

The most notable death during the Great Purge was that of Russian revolutionary, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, commonly known by his pseudonym of Lenin. Following the 1905 Revolution, Lenin had joined the Constitutional Duma in 1906, with his supporters winning over 5% of the candidates. However, failure to abolish the monarchy or disestablish the Orthodox Church disillusioned his belief in the political process and he denounced the new Duma. He conducted assassinations of political figures from abroad and attempted a coup d'etat in Finland. However, running out of safe bases in which to operate, he returned to Russia under amnesty in September, 1906. When it became clear that Lenin was continuing to conspire, he was arrested on 19 January, 1907 and faced charges of treason. An open trial commenced in March and, eventually found guilty, he was executed on 26 June, 1907. With his death, the Bolshevik Party he had led since 1903 also died.

His death was followed by preparations for the nation's second democratic election. Nobody was certain of the outcome. Prime Minister Viktor Chernov was an able administrator and theorist, but could never have the profile or popularity of someone like his predecessor. The reunification of the Socialist Democratic Labor Party, and the growing respect for the team of Martov and Trotsky, was also a factor. The people went to the polls on 5 December, 1907, and it soon became clear that the electorate was generally pleased with the Government’s performance but wanted it to move faster on reform. The situation was not grand for the leading Socialist Revolutionary Party and its independent supporters, who slid from nearly 43% of the seats to a significantly smaller 38.7%. Despite the slump, the Prime Minister remained as head of the largest party in the new Duma. Fortunately for the Prime Minister, all of those voters moved to his junior coalition partner, the SDLP, who would now have a greater influence in the Cabinet. Martov’s control of the Duma rose from 13.3% to 20.4% of the seats. The Mensheviks would no longer make up four of the twenty Cabinet positions; they would now be entitled to seven positions. Despite this change in proportioning, support for the Government was up by about two to three percent across the entire country.

One of the most popular proposals by the Government in the lead-up to the election had been that of the expansion of Russia’s navy. The military had been severely hurt by the war and subsequent revolts, but Russia was now prepared to begin construction on its own dreadnought fleet, with a plan to build eight over the next two years. They would remain behind the other European powers, but nonetheless, the process of reconstruction of the military had definitely commenced.

In the Socialist Revolutionary Party itself, there was debate over the leadership. Supporters of Chernov argued that he had done well retaining such a large proportion of Catherine Breshkovsky’s electoral base. However, new member of the Duma and long-time of Breshkovsky, Grigory Gershuni, was also rumoured to be carrying leadership ambitions. There was a minority belief that, with Gershuni as leader, the party may have done better. The SDLP performance secured Martov’s leadership in an unassailable position.

On the other side of the political divide, the news was not good for either the Constitutional Democrats and the Octobrists, who both lost ground. The worst performers were the Octobrists who, under Alexander Guchkov, lost about one in eight of their members. It was becoming increasingly clear to both parties that they could expect a long stay in Opposition without a significant reform to their party platforms. Yet to move to the left could lead to the return of the fascists, who might well take more ground than they could hope to gain from such a shift toward the centre. However, it was enough for some members of the CDP to begin a long process of internal discussions regarding the disestablishment of the Russian Orthodox Church. Opposition Leader Paul Milyukov was prepared to allow the discussion to proceed, provided there was no public mention of the internal debate. He couldn’t afford to antagonise the Octobrists yet.

In the Octobrist Party, the argument went in a different direction. There was argument from Western members for a more nationalist line to encourage a greater voter turnout from the right. One such thinker was the deputy leader Mikhail Rodzianko, who was concerned about potential for the CDP to have just the type of ideas that they were having. However, he lacked the immediate numbers in the party caucus to undertake a challenge to the leadership of Guchkov and would do so for the remainder of the 2nd Duma.

Prince Carlos, Regent of Spain, a member of the deposed royal family of Sicily, was driven by an ambition to use the considerable power of Spain to reclaim the throne of Sicily for himself and his son, the current minority King of Spain, Alfonso XIV. The mood of the Regent was that, after a century of retreat, it was time for Spain to expand once again.

A year after the assassination of King Alfonso XIII and his British Queen, French President Clement Armand Fallieres (left) made a trip to Spain and met with the Regent and his Prime Minister in Cartagena. In a past incarnation, it had been New Carthage, one of the richest cities in the ancient world. The discussions regarding the future relationship of the two countries had deepened, and the French President decided to reveal to Madrid the secret of the future of the Triple Alliance. Of course, one of the three persons to whom this was mentioned was the Prince Regent himself.

The news that, by June the following year, Italy would be without friends or defenders, caused a degree of excitement among the Spaniards. It was well known that France envied Italy's African colonies for herself. According to the diaries of Fallieres, published after his death, the Regent raised the context of a war between France and Italy, and what France would seek from the Italians, other than their territories in Africa. Fallieres reports that he was taken aback by the question (though the sincerity of this must be doubted), but that he stated to his Spanish counterpart that, in any theoretical war with Italy, French objectives would be to seek to keep control of the Aosta Valley, Piedmont and possibly Liguria. However, he reports that he clarified that war with Italy would be costly and, even at its end, France would still be left with the Italians as a threat. In addition, the response of Great Britain and Russia could not be ascertained. Therefore, it had little likelihood.

The Regent then reportedly raised the prospect of Spain and France agreeing on a war pact against the Italians. He insisted upon his right to be restored to the throne of the Two Sicilies. That throne would be then united with Spain, and his son would be left one of the great nations of Europe. The disgrace to his family and to its throne would be removed. He was also insistent that Sardinia must be part of the Spanish possessions. The French response was that France was not going to war against Italy in the foreseeable future. However, the President did agree that the status quo needed to be maintained and that attempt by Italy to expand its holdings would not be in the interest of either nation.

The French leader then attempted to turn discussions to other matters. However the Regent continued to return to the subject of Italy. Perhaps Austria might be interested, he claimed. After all, Vienna and Rome had not had the friendliest relations, and standing against three armies would be an impossibility for the Italians. Undoubtedly, Fallieres was aware that the French had arranged this person's elevation; he was surely pleased that the French plan to expand holdings was coming to fruition and that this man would ultimately bear the blame for the conflict that occurred.

Another major conference was the Second Peace Conference at the Hague. The Conference was meant to be a showcase of American diplomacy. Personally created by the will of Theodore Roosevelt, he proposed new ideas in humanitarian law, limitation of armaments and outlawing the use of force to achieve financial objectives. Unfortunately, despite achieving many of its objectives, the Conference is best remembered for the scandal that erupted on its first day.

On 15 June, Prince Regent Carlos of Spain dropped a bombshell in his remarks to the Conference, stating that a new age was dawning for Spain with the end of Italy's membership of the Triple Alliance. While Dutch Prime Minister Theo de Meester and others watched on, the Spanish regent then used the conference of peace to argue belligerently about the illegitimacy of the Italian monarch and his government. Outside the conference hall, the Italians were the first to respond, stating that they neither needed nor wanted to be members of an alliance that did not want them.

However, the Prime Minister of Italy, Giovanni Giolitti, had little to offer any allies other than those on whom he had come to rely. The state of the Italian budget was disorganised at best; he had depleted the national pension funds; there was civil unrest in Liguria, Tuscany and Sicily; he had antagonised the Socialists with violent measures against strikes; and he was himself vocally nationalistic. The early departure of Italy made room for France to take up its obligations earlier than expected.

The youthful Russian Foreign Minister, Leon Trotsky, was keen to get a British response. He was quoted as joking to Sir Edward Grey that "allying with Italians makes as much sense as marching on Moscow, with just as much hope of reward." The British delegation remarked that it had never committed to any formal alliance with France anyway. It had merely resolved issues of outstanding conflict with the Entente Cordiale. Despite this being technically correct, Britain's position made it clear that it felt no formal obligation to France from hereon in. Instead, Sir Edward and Trotsky would sign an alliance between their two countries on 31 August and arrange for the Tsar to visit the King in the New Year.

The only country where political casualties were scored from the fallout was France itself. President Fallieres was faced with uproar in the legislature for releasing sensitive information to the Spanish and was asked to resign. He did so on 26 June and interim President Antonin Dubost called for new candidates. Raymond Poincare was offered the ceremonial poisoned chalice, but declined when faced with the additional burden of working with Prime Minister Clemenceau. Instead, Paul Doumer, former Governor General of Indochina, received the post on 1 August.

Over the next year, the funds began to pour into the allocated accounts, including a personal donation by the Emperor himself of 20,000 won. On 30 January, 1908, the Emperor presented the Japanese Resident-General, Prince Ito Hirobumi, with a payment amounting to one-sixth of Korea's debts to Japan. He also sought a new agreement: providing Korea continued to meet its debts repayments, that on 23 February, 1914, the tenth anniversary of her surrender, Korea would be permitted to resume management of its own affairs. Hirobumi agreed to give the matter his consideration and to pass on the Emperor's message to Tokyo.

Despite all these controversies, much was achieved by the Second Peace Conference. The United States, as a co-sponsor of the talks, went to the conference to promote the foundation of the World Court, a body which could interpret emergent international law and arbitrate disputes between countries. Initially, there were disputes over the neutrality of judges, but eventually three candidates were chosen:

Ascension Esquival Ibarra (Costa Rica)

Kaarlo Juho Stahlberg (Finland)

Johan Ramstedt (Sweden)

The judges from Costa Rica and Finland were proposed by the sponsoring powers; the Swedish judge was the result of a compromise between Britain and Germany, after Germany had rejected a Swiss candidate. The conference agreed on the following points:

It was a violation of international law to commence hostilities without previous and explicit warning to the country one planned to attack. Additionally, the belligerent nation was required to provide prior warning to all other nations likely to be affected, unless it could reasonably be assumed that other powers would be aware of the existence of a state of war. The same rules apply to armistices.

Countries were liable for the actions of members of the armed forces, whether those actions were authorised or not.

Prisoners of war were to be treated humanely as guests of the hostile Government and all personal possessions would remain their property. Any work done by them must be done at standard wages; however, officers could not be obliged to work. The "name and rank only" rule was created. They would also have access to justice in the civil courts of their country of capture.

It is forbidden to use "asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases" or "bacteriological methods of combat", to deliberately kill civilians, to kill surrendering troops and to "cause unnecessary damage and suffering, to bombard undefended areas or to pillage.

Attacks on buildings of religion, art, or education, hospitals or places of historic importance are criminal. The use of aforementioned places as fortresses is criminal. They may not be occupied by defending troops, or otherwise used for defence purposes.

Spies are defined for the first time and are given the right to trial.

Occupying armies cannot demand the loyalty or cooperation of inhabitants, nor can they seize private property. Confiscation of state property is allowed. They cannot lay taxes on the populace greater than those they were charged on their own populace. Requisitions must always be done on written and recorded order by the commander-in-chief or it is regarded as a crime.

Submarine cables cannot be touched.

The use of automatic contact mines is forbidden where such mines do not become harmless within a "reasonable period" after they have left the control of the person who laid them. In addition, it became criminal to place mines with the sole objective of intercepting commercial interests, with reckless disregard for the security of peaceful trade or when they are unable to be removed by the belligerent who placed them with the least possible delay at the end of any conflict.

The rights of neutrals must be respected and the manner in which one declares a nation to be neutral is clearly stated.

The Geneva Convention was extended to cover maritime war, so that fishing and postal ships were inviolable. Searches could be conducted on any ship, but only to locate enemy nationals, and then the ship must be allowed to go on its way.

 

An interesting story has emerged since that historic conference surrounding one of the participants, Friedrich von Holstein, who had unexpectedly been appointed Imperial State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in April. The story of how he finally achieved the position through blackmail was one unknown to the time, but has since been revealed. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany had a number of close confidants who were homosexual, including General Dietrich Graf von Hulsen-Haseler, who often used to do a drag revue show for the entertainment of the Emperor and his friends. Another was Germany's leading industrialist, Friedrich Krupp, who had committed suicide when his escapades with young Italian boys had become public knowledge. Perhaps the most interesting of this circle of gay elite was Philipp zu Eulenberg-Hertefeld (pictured left), who had met the then Crown Prince when Wilhelm was 17 and Philipp was 29. The two barely left each other's side for the next six years. Bismarck records for posterity that the two were lovers, even after Wilhelm became Kaiser, but that Prince Eulenberg could often be called upon to calm the inflammatory moods of the Kaiser and to direct him in responsible action.

Yet Paragraph 175, the part of the penal code that outlawed homosexuality remained on the books and was used to prosecute Eulenberg's brother in 1900. It had only been part of the law since the mid-1870's, it wasn't enforced religiously and there were many forces aligned against it. Among the great voices calling for the abolition of the law were renowned scientist Albert Einstein, prominent authors Herman Hesse and Thomas Mann, poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and a host of the leading members of the medical and legal communities. In the Kaiser's own circle, there were opponents, all homosexual. They included Eulenberg, the Kaiser's adjutant Lieutenant General von Moltke, the crown prince's equerry, the commander of the imperial bodyguard, a number of Prussian princes and probably even the Imperial Chancellor himself.

It is commonly believed that Von Holstein used his knowledge of the Kaiser's gay relationship to ensure his promotion to Imperial State Secretary. It also thought that the blackmail was the driving factor behind the decision to repeal paragraph 175 in 1918, making Germany the first country in the world to decriminalise homosexual relationships. (Poland-Lithuania and Denmark didn't follow until 1920.)

On 16 October, 1907, an attempt to corner the U.S. national copper market, led by Augustus Heinze, failed and the collapse of the scheme exposed an intricate network of interlocking directorates in the major banks, brokerage houses and trust companies in the United States. In the fall of that year, the economy was slowing and rising interest rates were having next to no effect due to a similar phenomenon in European markets. Thus the traditional cyclic inflow of gold to the United States did not occur as it had for nearly fourteen years. These two factors combined to shake confidence in the market and began a move toward liquidity right across the financial markets.

On 18 October, it was reported that the nation's third largest trust company, Knickerbocker, was exposed in the copper scheme. The National Bank of Commerce stopped clearing checks from Knickerbocker three days later, having extended large loans to the trust to hold off depositor runs. That vote of no confidence sparked attention from the nation's largest investment banks, Morgan & Co and Kuhn Loeb, headed by J. Pierpont Morgan and Jacob Schiff respectively. However, they decided not to intervene, arguing that the market should be allowed to punish Knickerbocker for its irresponsibility. Knickerbocker suspended operations the following day, with an exposure of nearly $8 million (about $160 million in today's marketplace).

The following day, the New York Times linked Knickerbocker to the Trust Company of America, the second largest of the trust companies, greatly exacerbating its problems and the run in general. At the time, TCA had lost about 2.5% of its holdings; by day's end, it was down a further 21%. Over the following day, it fell another 13%, and the crisis was moving on to other institutions, such as the Lincoln Trust. Depositors began to rush to claim their funds (left) while the trusts and banks began to petition Morgan, the Rockefellers and Schiff for assistance. Over the next two days, Morgan & Co loaned $13 million to keep TCA in business, got J.D. Rockefeller to throw a further $10 million to the Union Trust and convinced First National Bank to increase exposure by a further $2 million. Even Kohn Loeb came to the party, with $500,000. But it was not enough.

On 24 October, Treasury Secretary George Cortelyou advised the President that the Federal Government could intervene, but he was uncertain they had sufficient reserves. At the time, the Treasury held about $79 million. As they discussed the crisis, call money on the stock exchange became unobtainable. At one point, the call money rate at the exchange reached 100 percent and still nobody was willing to lend. As share prices began to fall, the banks and clearing houses were hit from the other side, as the value of their assets began to disappear.

Roosevelt gave the order to take advantage of the economic crisis by purchasing the assets of the banks and trusts that were going under. The banks and trusts were asking for loans, but the President wasn't intending to extend charity to those who had backed moves to supplant him only three years before. He pledged to guarantee all savings held in banks owned by the Government and, between 24 October and 31 October, the US Government spent $73.6 million to acquire assets that only days before had been worth over $800 million. By the time the crisis ended, the Treasury controlled over 22% of the banking stock on the NYSE and nearly 60% of the trusts.

Later that month, Congress passed the Union Bank Act, instituting a federally-owned savings and commercial bank, under the control of the Postmaster General in Cabinet. Once the crisis had passed, and in order to recover some of its capital outlay, it was permitted that the Union Bank could sell 40% of its stock to the market. The largest buyer was J. P. Morgan himself, who took a 10.5% stake in the country's largest bank, though the Rockefeller family also took a significant stake (8%).

The economy took another blow when the President's industrial harmony began to come unstuck after just two and a half years. The Federal Labor Court had extensive powers to adjudicate between unions and business to prevent strikes, regulate wages and working conditions and prevent union thuggery. In the first few years, however, some employers simply refused to recognise the legitimacy of the Court. The Supreme Court had struck down past intrusions as unconstitutional under the power to regulate interstate commerce and thus, without the support of all parties, its decisions had proven unenforceable.

In January, 1908, the Administration took a stand to get the Labor Court officially recognised. William Adair, an official with Louisville and Nashville Railroad, had fired a worker for belonging to a labour union. This was in direct violation of the Erdman Act of 1898, which prohibited companies engaged in interstate commerce from requiring their employees to refrain from union membership as a condition of employment. The Administration chose to prosecute Adair through the Federal Labor Court.

However, the Court, in its first case involving the Government, went against the Administration, stating that it believed that the Erdman Act violated freedom of contract and was therefore unconstitutional. It referred the matter to the Supreme Court for adjudication. Despite the defeat, the Administration saw an opportunity to have its new body legitimised by the Supreme Court and allowed it to proceed. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte found himself arguing on two fronts: that the decision of the Labor Court was wrong, but that it was nonetheless a legitimate decision. Outside the Court, it was rumoured that Roosevelt was bringing personal financial and political pressure to bear on the judges and Democrats were stating that the President was becoming despotic. Conservative commentators who had criticised the Labor Court actually praised its decision to allow unions to be banned from the workplace.

Nonetheless, the judges denied any undue influence when they decided that, although all decisions of the Labor Court were justiciable before an appellate court, it was part of the executive as it made executive decisions. They also decided that, in the exercise of its powers, the Labor Court had exceeded the limitations of the commerce power and was thus unconstitutional. In his next term, Roosevelt would use his new majority on the Supreme Court to overturn this decision and have the Federal Labor Court reinstated.

The newspapers picked up the theme, stating that they were only reporting on the pamphlets without endorsing their content. However, new pamphlets were soon circulating, pointing to the decision in United States v E. C. Knight Co. It had related directly to sugar trade, and the White family held extensive sugar holdings in the South. While the connection was tenuous at best, the journalists could smell a scandal and the "muckrackers" the President often belittled began to ask whether the Justice had a conflict of interest. Further investigation into his plantation revealed that it was on the verge of bankruptcy due to increased competition from the Caribbean and Central American territories. The ability, honesty and integrity of the judge had all been called into question.

However, the character assassination was not over. In mid-February, reports began to circulate of how the Confederate Lieutenant White had fled from the battlefield and found a hiding place under a hay stack. The less reputable papers began to call him "Yellow" White. With blood in the water, the sharks began to circle, with every interest group he had ever opposed joining the growing throng of opposition. The judge's wife, Eleanor, found them increasingly excluded from Washington society and the stress on her 63-year-old and extremely overweight husband was becoming unbearable. On 13 March, 1908, Justice Edward White announced that he was retiring from the Supreme Court immediately, citing ill health. His place was assumed by a man ten years his junior, the Republican Senator from Wisconsin, Robert La Follette.

The Chinese Government was understandably outraged. Support for revolts in Kwangtung and Yunnan provinces was out of hand and Empress Tz'u-Hsi was already ill. However, China also knew that, without international assistance, there was little she could do. Fortunately, she had already made steps towards improving her position. As the Tatsu Maru was taken into harbour, there were already representatives in Washington and in Berlin seeking a balance to Tokyo's alliance with London. Backing these efforts was Roosevelt's close friend and the French Ambassador to Washington, Jean Jules Jusserand. For Jusserand, bringing the United States and China into closer alignment with the Triple Alliance would be a diplomatic coup of unparalleled proportions. However, these things could only be constructed one step at a time. And this step involved playing on America's growing fear of Japan.

French-American relations were already at a strong point. On February 10, five days after the capture of the Tatsu Maru, Jusserand and Root concluded the Treaty of Arbitration, an agreement under which the United States and France agreed to submit to arbitration any dispute between them, or between one of the parties and an ally of the other party. So, when Jusserand suggested that Germany would support US attempts to contain Japan, a country who had recently sparked a diplomatic and legal showdown over immigration and segregation, a country who had proven to be most uncooperative with Washington, Roosevelt considered.

The major block to an agreement containing Japan was the United Kingdom. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance provided for Britain to come to the defence of Japan if she was attacked by two or more powers. Any agreement between the United States and another power to defend China's integrity would automatically trigger that alliance. Roosevelt contacted the British Ambassador, James Bryce, another good friend of the President and a fellow historian. He suggested that, rather than the two nations coming to difficulty over China, it would be wise for all the European powers, Japan and the United States to renounce the activities of Tongmenghui. Their bases in Honolulu, Tokyo and Singapore would be shut down. The leader of the movement, Sun Yat-sen, would become persona non grata.

He also suggested that both powers could go some way to assisting in the modernisation of China and mentioned his discussions with one Liang Qichao, the protégé of Kang Youwei. It was secretly agreed that, upon the death of the 73 year old Dowager Empress Cixi, undoubtedly not far away, the Great Powers would encourage the Guangxu Emperor to reinitiate the Hundred Days' Reform movement. If necessary, the influential opportunist Yuan Shikai would be eliminated. The aim would be to achieve for China the stability and prosperity that the Meiji Emperor had achieved for Japan. In return for their ongoing support, the Great Powers would seek a continuation of the concessions that had previously been achieved by force of arms.

For de Leon, the loss of Lenin and the rise of the Mensheviks had signalled that capitalism had not developed sufficiently for the proletariat to develop the consciousness needed for revolution. He had therefore concluded that it was vital to infiltrate the institutions of the bourgeoisie to prepare for their destruction. On 10 May, 1908, he and Debs agreed to merge the two parties under the name of the Socialist Labor Party of America and to contest the upcoming presidential elections, with Debs as the Presidential candidate and African-American activist Lucy Parsons as the Vice Presidential candidate. They would also both contest for congressional seats, de Leon in New York and Debs in Illinois. Debs suggested that high numbers could be achieved in five or six states. The party agreed that it would base its campaign in the five states that had offered females the chance for the vote (California, Illinois, Kansas, Oregon & Washington) as well as in states where support had previously been strong (Florida, Montana, Nevada & Oklahoma). They also agreed that they would centre their campaign, not on the presidency, but on the Congress.

By 24 September, when the Annual Congress of the IWW and the convention of the Socialist Labor Party were held in one almighty party in Cincinnati, the mood of those gathered was at a high. They would march into the election hopeful that the rising tides of international socialist parties would be one that would make socialism a political force in the New World.

It was in the mood of victory as well that the Republican Party gathered in the Chicago Coliseum in mid-June. The mood of the country was swinging the party's way and it was time to engage in a love fest of all things Republican...as well as an occasional two-minute hate and ridicule of everything Democrat. Numerous luminaries graced the podium.

The opening speaker was Secretary of War William Howard Taft of Ohio. He praised the vigorous growth of America's naval forces, spoke of new policies to support war veterans and lauded American military achievements across Asia and Central America. He was followed by Speaker Joseph Cannon of Illinois, who predicted a massive House of Representatives victory, spoke about the expansion of services in health and communications and championed increasing federal power. The Senate Majority Leader, Charles W Fairbanks of Indiana, praised the Administration's economic achievements, noting massive growth in American industry in the South, greatly increased employment among the African-American population (up nearly 4 million), and stated that the "war for the equality of all citizens, including the American woman and the African-American, is on the verge of a great victory."

The applause erupted as Senators Albert Beveridge and Joseph Foraker took the lectern. Together, they addressed the crowds, speaking of the march of the flag into Asia and Central America, the growth of new territories and a particular cheer was stored for when Beveridge spoke of "the newest wonder of the world, dreamed, designed and dug by Americans - the Panama Canal".

However, eventually the moment came. Governor Charles Hughes of New York came up to the podium and nominated Theodore Roosevelt for his third term as President of the United States of America. He was followed by Senator Philander Knox, who nominated Governor Leslie Shaw, the former Treasury Secretary, as the unopposed Vice Presidential candidate. The chant of "four more years" went up around the coliseum, as the theatrical event was overcome with raw emotion and the President and future Vice President came up to microphone. The President outlined a massive reform of the Constitution, including the vote for women and direct election of Senators. He pledged a comprehensive overhaul of the tax system, including the introduction of a federal income tax. He called for a change of the rules regarding replacement of a Vice President.

He then spoke on demographics. He predicted that, by 1910, the US population would exceed 80 million (and 95 million by 1920), but that, more importantly, the African American population would rise to one-eighth of the total and were experiencing a dramatic increase in income. It was therefore vital, he said, that the civil rights of these people be defended. He also warned that the South faced economic depression unless it stopped the growing flow of its workforce to New York, the Great Lakes and the Pacific Northwest. The President also projected major changes to the Supreme Court. With the loss of one judge and three suffering major ill health, the opportunity had arose to move power from the hands of "doddery demagogues" to "progressive and modern" justice. He would later see off attempts to charge him with contempt over those words, but the President stated that a new court would see the restoration of the rights of working people across the nation.

When the convention concluded, the strength of the Republican Party could not be overestimated. It was likely to outvote the Democrats by a margin of two to one in New England, the Mid Atlantic and the Great Plains and win in every other region outside the South. If, as Roosevelt projected, the Jim Crow laws could be turned back, it would win the loyalty and votes of the "Negro" for generations to come. The resultant swings would likely bring Arkansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia into Republican control for the first time since the Civil War and guarantee a Republican White House for decades.

The President also outlined some Cabinet changes. Navy Secretary Metcalf had decided he would retire in the coming March, and he would be replaced by Commerce Secretary James Garfield, son of the late President Garfield. He stated that there had been no discussion as to who would take over the Commerce Department, but that Henry Lewis Stimson of New York was the most likely candidate.

The speculation centred on William Jennings Bryan, the perennial bridesmaid of American politics. However, he had been warned that his third nomination would be his last, and he knew this battle to be one that could not be won. Perhaps if the party hadn't betrayed him in 1904, this situation would not have occurred. Perhaps, he would have served the last four years as President. In the end, the party turned to John Albert Johnson, the Governor of Minnesota, only the second non-Republican to hold that position in half a century. The Vice Presidential nomination went to John Worth Kern, whose most recent public role had been his unsuccessful candidacy for the Governorship of Indiana in 1904.

Among the senior ranks of the Democrats, there were questions about whether or not the party would manage to climb back above 40% of the popular vote. Their greatest fear was that, not only would the party fail to achieve it, they may also lose the new state of Oklahoma and their previous grip on Kentucky, a combined 20 electoral votes. This would not be enough to get them anywhere near the White House, but at least a respectable showing. As William Jennings Bryan put it succinctly in his journals, "If you have even give up hope of winning, you're guaranteed to lose."

The First Balkan Conference convened in Vienna, capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in January, 1908. Austria-Hungary had initiated the conference, desirous of building a railway from the terminus of the Bosnian railway through Macedonia to the Ottoman port city of Salonika, the largest hub in Macedonia. They had the agreement of the Ottomans to build, as if that had been necessary anyway.

In 1902, a great insurrection in Macedonia had seen fourteen Ottoman battalions dispatched. Atrocities were committed, including accusations of rape and murder of infants and the elderly. 28 villages were burnt and an estimated 3000 refugees had fled into Bulgaria. The pressure of the Great Powers on the Ottoman Empire were steadily increased until, in February 1903, Russia and Austria agreed to direct intervention and imposed radical changes. Russia viewed this new plan as a direct violation of the so-called Vienna Plan, designed to keep regional peace, while Britain stated that it was an attempt by Austria to turn its back on reform. Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria were also unhappy with the move. As a result, the Austrian Government invited representatives from various European capitals over a period of months with the hope of establishing a replacement agreement over the Balkans.

Austria's primary motivation for the rail was Austria's desire to neutralise the threat of the troublesome Serbians and Montenegrins, who were conducting regular incursions into Bosnia and were encouraging anti-Austrian agitation. Russia walked into the meeting determined to avoid war and willing to grant Austria's wishes, if she could score some diplomatic gains for her Serbian ally (ones that might also calm the hostility against Vienna). Britain just wanted to make sure that, whatever happened, Christians in Macedonia were not subjected to another round of genocide. Greece wanted a restoration of territory taken in 1897 and recognition of its annexation of Crete.

However, the major discussion was between Austria-Hungary and Russia. The two foreign ministers, Count Alois Aehrenthal and Leon Trotsky (left), spent considerable time together, considering amendments and openly confronting each other over the status of Bosnia and Serbia. The Russian Government had already decided that its best policy was to maintain its own borders, but not to be overly concerned with the borders of others. The best chance for socialism was the covert support of socialist parties in other countries, rather than overt confrontation. Nonetheless, Trotsky knew that the Russian people expected him to produce a profitable deal for their Slavic brothers in Serbia.

Over the next six months, the Austrians reached a number of agreements. Serbia agreed to allow the annexation of a significant portion of northern Bosnia provided it was permitted to annex the south. New maps were drawn that allowed Austria the greater share, but, in return for the greater share, Austria agreed to secretly support Serbian annexation of Kosovo and Montenegro. The two also agreed to reinstate their free trade agreement, with provisions for the creation of a customs union by 1918. However, Serbia was obliged to formally renounce Nacertanije, its plan for regional hegemony.

Russian compliance was also costly. Austria agreed to withdraw support for the Straits Treaty and join Russia in calling upon the Ottoman Empire to open the Dardenelles. However, Austria was insistent that Russia's navy would be forbidden access to the Adriatic Sea. Austria also agreed to support the creation of an autonomous Macedonia within the Ottoman Empire, provided Russia and Britain agreed to neutrality in any future conflict between Austria and Italy and refused to recognise any Italian claims to Albania. The three powers would also recognise the Greek annexation of Crete.

With open borders, access to the sea and an agreement on Bosnia and Kosovo, Serbia's historic complaint against Austria was marginalised. It would now turn its hostility toward the Ottomans in the south, rather than interfering in Austria's affairs. It was a good time to be an enemy of the Ottomans. The Jonturkler revolution of 1908 against Abdulhamid II produced enormous chaos, with the "Union and Progress" movement spreading throughout the Empire and spilling over into Persia and India. It was in this chaos that the European holdings of the Empire saw their opportunity for freedom.

Montenegro wished to clearly establish its independence as a kingdom, while Serbia, having settled its accounts with Austria, was interested in a southern expansion. Bulgaria wished to secure Ottoman recognition of its independence and increase its Thracian holdings. Greece saw an opportunity, with Crete now in its hold, to liberate the Macedonians from the oppression and genocide of the Turks. The major powers were already arguing with Constantinople about the implementation of the autonomy agreement for Macedonia, and thus were sympathetic to the Greek's growing intolerance over the pedantry of the Turks.

The war began on 8 July, 1908, when, after a number of hostile missives between Athens and Constantinople, Greek troops swept across the border into Macedonia and Albania to support rebel insurgents. Their first target was the city of Larissa, in southern Thessaly. The Ottoman border troops were grossly outnumbered by a margin of three to one. Within a fortnight, the Greeks were within 50 kilometres of Salonika. Turkish casualties were 1152 dead, 6114 wounded. On the Greek side, it was 380 dead, 1973 wounded. It was clear that the Turks, focused on their own internal chaos, were unable to counter the assault.

It soon became clear that Ottoman Europe was in collapse. On 24 July, heeding warnings from Russia not to engage Serbian forces, Italian ships crossed the Adriatic and landed troops at Dirac. While claiming that this was a move to defend the Ottoman territory, their intent was to grab and hold the Albanian northern coastline. It was, for the Italians, a necessary strategic move, but they could not suspect what was to follow. It was the move for which her enemies had been waiting.

On 25 July, France issued a de facto recognition of Serbia's right to Dirac and declared war against Italy for her invasion of "Serbia". French troops immediately invaded Eritrea and Somaliland in Africa. Troops dispatched from Marseilles began to cross the border east of San Remo, in Liguria, on the road to Genoa, as well as toward Turin. As these forces were mobilising, Austria-Hungary activated her alliance with France and moved forces towards Trieste. Spain followed on 27 July, despatching her forces to capture the island of Sardinia.

For her part, the Russian Government was supplying support to each of the Ottoman rebels. The Minister of War, Grigory Gershuni, had another trick up his sleeve, however. The Russian Black Sea fleet would sail for the Straits and would insist that the Sultan sign a treaty to open them to the Russian navy. Alternately, he could refuse and Russia could join the combatants. In London, it was decided that they should dispatch King Edward VII and Foreign Secretary Grey to meet with the Kaiser to determine Germany's intentions and decide what could be done.

The Balkan theatre of the Mediterranean War of 1908 reflects how it was in fact two separate wars, joined only by a tenuous political arrangement. Other than the Serb attack on Italian forces at Dirac, there was no common enemy between any of the combatants. The casualties in the Balkans and the Aegean were high. It is estimated that 75,000 were killed in action, the largest number being Bulgarians, who threw their troops in what many saw as unsustainable attacks against heavily fortified Ottoman positions. A further 15,000 died off the battlefield from wounds, while about 50,000 died from displacement and destruction resultant from the war. (All figures are estimates prepared from accounts of the war during the 1950's - most countries did not keep sufficient records to provide exact figures.) It also resulted in a serious oppression of the Committee of Union and Progress (the "Young Turks") who were believed by the population to be foreign agitators, or, at the very least, traitors. Their reputation was undoubtedly tarnished by the war and the return to constitutional rule was thus prevented for the time being.

The timeline for the Balkan War was as follows:

25 July Greek forces in Epirus, having taken Nicopolis and Preveza, are brought to a stop outside Ioannina, with a heavily fortified Ottoman position.

27-31 July The Bulgarian armies reach drive forward towards Constantinople and reach within 30 kilometres of the capital, but are driven back by a staunch counteroffensive.

1 August Battle of Florina. The conquest of Macedonia is virtually complete. However, strong Ottoman resistance outside this town forces the Greeks to redirect their troops through Albania. The Russian Navy arrives outside Constantinople and seeks a treaty to open the Dardenelles to Russian shipping. The government reluctantly agrees.

29 July - 2 August Serbian army encounters the Ottomans outside the town of Iskodra. In a battle, the Ottomans are overwhelmed and forced to retreat.

8 August Representatives of Serbia and Greece sign a permanent alliance. It is agreed that Serbia will get all of Kosovo, the majority of Albania and that Greece will respect its sphere of influence in Montenegro. Greece will gain a small southern portion of Albania, but all of Macedonia. They also agree to seek an treaty of friendship and cooperation with Romania.

14-17 August While the countryside as far south as El Basan is in Serbian hands, the Italians continue to hold Dirac. However, they have little else, having diverted most of their forces to deal with attacks by the major powers. The Battle of Dajti Mountain provides the Serbian army with a victory and the commanding heights over Tirana.

16 August - 2 September Greek and Bulgarian forces begin a siege of Adrianople. Later, Serb reinforcements will arrive to reinforce control. The city will eventually surrender when it learns of the failure of a resupply attempt.

2 September Ottoman attempts to resupply Adrianople fail. The Greek Navy manages to keep the Dardenelles closed. Attempts to re-enter the Aegean Sea continue for the next six weeks.

19 October The Ottoman Empire seeks terms for peace with the Balkan forces after the surrender of its armies in Macedonia and Albania. An armistice is signed the following day. Britain and Germany sponsor the peace talks, to be held in London.

In the Western Theatre, the story was similarly one-sided. The timeline is as follows:

4 August French troops cross the Italian border into Piedmont and Liguria.

9 August Spanish marines land at Cagliari and establish control over the city during the next eight days. From this base, they begin to spread out across Sardinia, fighting an intense guerrilla war.

9-14 August The Battle of Turin. The home of the Shroud and Italy’s first capital is well defended. The Alps to the west and north are impassable, so the French are forced to fight over the hills of Monferrato, when Italian troops are heavily dug in. Estimates are that France sacrifices over four thousand troops to achieve the fall of the key city. Numbers would undoubtedly have been higher had Italy had sufficient troop coverage and not been organised towards a campaign to take Albania.

18 August The Battle of Gorizia. An Austrian naval flotilla off Trieste encounters an Italian fleet out of Venice. The Italians victor, however, losses on both sides are sufficient to eliminate the usefulness of both Adriatic fleets for the duration of the war.

Many suspected that the fall of Italy was a fait accompli. However, despite being vastly outnumbered and outgunned, history tells us that there is nothing easy about defeating an entrenched force on home soil. By the end of October, French casualties would stand at 79,000 dead and wounded. For the Austrians, they lost a more moderate, but still staggering, 45,000 in the same period. There was also growing unrest in France over the conduct of the war, despite the assurances of Prime Minister Clemenceau, particularly over the Navy's failure to break through the blockade and land troops north of Rome. The events of the period are recorded in the timeline below:

17-22 August The siege of Genoa. The principal seaport of Italy attempts to use naval support to hold the city, but the French fleet far outnumber their Italian counterparts and slowly eliminate them.

25 August Reserves out of Milan reach the front and force the French army to retreat from Como. French troops headed toward Florence are rediverted to prevent the collapse of the front.

26 August Facing invasion, the heavily Francophone province of Aosta Valley rebels, declaring loyalty to France and overthrowing their governor. A token French regiment moves into the valley.

26-31 August The battle of Milan is a major victory for the Italians, with the French advance slowing by the day. Battle lines and trenches are drawn outside the city, with both sides sacrificing considerable blood for little ground.

29 August A military governor is established in Liguria to begin pacification of the Italian portion of the population. In later years, France will strongly encourage migration to the region in an attempt to build a French majority.

31 August – 17 September The siege of Verona. The Italians destroy bridges across the Adige River to halt Austrian advances. The city remains safe as long as the defences in the south hold.

16 September The fall of Venice spells the end for Verona as well, with supply lines to the north cut. France and Austria agree now to proceed to squeeze Lombardy from both sides to close off the last of the northern provinces. Lombardy is home of one-sixth of Italy’s population and the engine of its economy. It also contains an estimated 250,000 Italian soldiers.

10 October The last Italian forces on Sardinia surrender to the Spanish. In a costly war of attrition, both sides have recorded innumerable casualties. Later estimates will place the figure at about 140,000, most of those Sardinian civilians.

19 October Spanish marines land on the southern coast of Sicily near the Gulf of Gela. The difficulties of Sardinia have strapped the morale of the Spaniards, who are quickly realising that there is nothing simple about the restoration of the Sicilian throne.

Talk about the Balkans opened discussions. Britain was no longer concerned about Russian access to the Mediterranean, while Germany was concerned about the loss of power for one of her key friends, the Ottoman Empire. All of the victories in the Balkans had been for friends of Britain - Greece and Serbia (technical ally by way of Russia). Germany wanted some degree of compensation in any peace deal for the Ottoman Empire, primarily a concession over the Suez Canal.

Britain was not prepared to concede control over the Canal but agreed in principle that the Porte needed to walk away from the peace talks with some type of diplomatic concessions. It was agreed that Germany would co-sponsor any peace talks with Britain and that all terms of peace would be approved by both Germany and Britain before they were placed before the warring nations. Both nations also agreed not to interfere in the conflict. Thus, in the end, the meeting only produced a statement of principle, rather than any conclusive agreement, over the Balkan War.

The second part of the summit related to the issue of Germany's naval expansion. Von Holstein, an opponent of the arms race, had been working towards convincing other members of the German government of the need to abandon the increasing expansion of her navy. He asked Grey pointedly, "At what point does the size of the German Imperial Navy become a threat to British interests?" He explained that Germany wanted complete control of sea traffic travelling in and out of the Baltic, including sea traffic through the Gulf of Bothnia. The reconstruction of the Russian fleet in the Baltic was well underway, and the presence of British vessels made Germany fear for its security.

At the time, there was a belief that a ratio of 3:1 was sufficient to guarantee victory in any war. Grey presented the idea that, should Germany be prepared to slow her expansion such that she remained at one third the size of the total Royal Navy, Britain would be prepared to surrender right of access to the Baltic Sea, unless Germany declared war on Russia. Germany would be permitted to complete ships already under construction, but would not be allowed to build further ships if they exceed the ratio. At the time, it was Britain's plan to have thirty dreadnought battleships by 1915. This would limit Germany to ten compared to Russia's four. However, Germany would be entitled to expand other ships. Von Holstein agreed to submit the proposal.

The Fall of the Kaiser

On 28 October, 1908, the difficulties of government unity were compounded when an article appeared in Britain's Daily Telegraph, purporting to be an interview with the Kaiser. The Kaiser alleged that there was considerable anti-British sentiment in Germany and that he was struggling to contain it. There was considerable outrage both in Germany and abroad, including France, Russia, Britain and Japan. As Chancellor, it was von Bulow's duty to defend the Kaiser. However, over the past year, his political position had slowly moved away from the Kaiser and he felt he could not do so. After days of building pressure in the Reichstag, he advised his party he would not defend the Kaiser and, in the heated debate that followed, von Bulow announced that he was leaving the party. He took with him nearly half the party's members.

The split of the National Liberal Party meant that the task of building a majority in the Reichstag could only fall to Julius Bachem, the leader of the Catholic Centre Party. As a non-noble and a Catholic, there would traditionally be no possibility that he would ever be appointed Chancellor. The Kaiser had sunk into a deep depression, believing himself to have been abandoned. When von Bulow and Bachem visited him on 10 November to advise him of the changes on the Reichstag and to suggest that the Chancellorship be transferred to Bachem, he drove them away in a megalomaniacal rage, screaming that they were "bad, bad, bad", throwing at them the imperial seal.

Uncertain as to what to do next, Prince von Bulow returned to the Reichstag and publicly disassociated himself from the actions of the Kaiser, announcing that he had tendered the Kaiser his resignation, but that the Kaiser was not "sufficiently in his own mind" to accept it. There was outrage among his former party members and among the conservative Junkers, who moved a motion of no confidence but were defeated by eight votes.

Wilhelm II had avoided appointing strong political leaders, not wanting anyone who could interfere with his rule. With the fall of von Bulow, it became clear that another bureaucrat could not exercise the strength necessary to keep the Empire on course. However, the mind of the Kaiser was insufficiently strong for the test as well. With that fact before them, the Reichstag appointed his son, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, as Regent.

The sidelined Kaiser called on the one person he hoped would help. His close friend and former lover, the 61-year-old Philipp, Prince of Eulenberg-Hertefeld, had returned from his summer residence in Konigsberg as soon as he heard of the Kaiser's "illness", arriving on 18 November, 1908. He entered the Stadtschloss and immediately ordered that a car be prepared to take he and the Kaiser to Weimar.

Eulenberg had decided to read the Kaiser some of his poems, perhaps play some of his songs for him on the piano, maybe even a picnic in the wood at Buchenwald. He believed that some relaxation was all that required for the Kaiser to return to his "normal frame of mind". In this time away from their wives, he would encourage the Emperor to commence enjoying the advantages that his life had provided rather than working himself into an early grave, allow himself to explore his "individuality". He would remind him that he was more than a King; he was just a man.

The Prince knew about human limitations. Already, he had begun to have periods of disorientation and had even had a fall. He knew that his body was beginning its slow decline to the grave. He would remind the Kaiser that he was just over a decade behind. He had been responding to duty and responsibility for so long that he knew little else. Perhaps, as he approached fifty, it was time to enjoy the perks and cease to ponder the responsibilities. He had ruled long enough; maybe it was time for him to just reign and allow those who insisted they could do better worry about things. The two men left for Weimar the following day and remained incommunicado for the next seven months. During that time, they also enjoyed a six-week cruise on the Meteor up the coast of Norway.

Thus, when the aging von Holstein made his way to London as the co-sponsor for the Balkan peace talks, he had instructions from the Chancellor to fulfil. He arrived a week ahead of schedule and was immediately taken to the Foreign Ministry at his own request. The rapport he had established with Edward Grey at his meeting in August was clear and, in addition, Holstein had cabled ahead to advise Grey that he was the bearer of good tidings.

The German Empire was prepared to grant the British request for the 3:1 ratio, that is, Germany's navy would retain tonnage equivalent only to one third that of the Royal Navy. In return, the Royal Navy would not be permitted to access the Baltic Sea without German consent. To do so would constitute an act of war against Germany. However, the German minister had two stipulations. Firstly, Germany was insistent that she be allowed to retain a 2:1 ratio in relation to the Russian Imperial Fleet. He made quite clear to the British Foreign Secretary that, if he wanted to contain Germany, he would need to ensure that his ally in the east was more strictly contained.

He would also insist that Britain guarantee the independence of Finland and Poland-Lithuania and would oppose any Russian attempts to reclaim the territory. The German minister stated that, as Britain's arrangement with Russia were defensive, joining Germany in guaranteeing the defence of the two newest European states would not violate the terms of that arrangement. In whatever case, whoever shot first would be the "bad guy" and would be opposed by Britain, who would automatically become the "good guy". Isn't that what Britain wanted - preservation of the status quo? Finally, the treaty would be reviewed every ten years to ensure that it fitted with the needs of the two empires.

It was with the signing of that treaty that Germany ceased concerning itself with its western borders. It had made peace with France and with Britain. Her eastern border was now protected by satellite states, which, if attacked, would bring Britain to her side. It made the 1921 review of Alsace-Lorraine's status much more likely to favour France, which strengthened that bond. Strangely, the only country with whom Germany now had outstanding issues was her ally - Austria-Hungary. The long dream of the unified German people began to become a matter of confidential discussions and mutterings in the halls of power in Berlin.

The warring nations of the Balkans, having sustained a ceasefire for weeks on end, finally met after the conference in London under the careful watch of the British and German foreign ministers. Present were representatives from Greece, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey, as well as observers from Italy, Austria-Hungary, Romania and Russia.

The Greeks were the most disappointed out of the meeting. With the need for Constantinople to save face, the Greeks were ordered to surrender Adrianople, Rhodes and Smyrna back to the Ottoman Empire, but would be permitted to keep all of Macedonia and Thessaly. The Russians and Austrians were most insistent that Serbia be permitted to keep all her gains and, given that no contiguous border with the Ottoman Empire now existed, this was opposed by few. The Bulgarians got Thrace, a particular disappointment to Sofia who wanted part of Macedonia, but given the decimated state of their military, no more than they could expect.

In return for the cities under Greek control, the Ottomans would be required to give up all her Aegean islands, excepting Rhodes, and was required to agree to open the Dardenelles and the Bosporus to ships of all nations. It would be declared a neutral zone and Britain and Germany would jointly administer the straits, in return for a payment to the Turkish government of an indexed leasing payment. For 1909, that figure would be 6.4 million pounds sterling (about $860 million today).

America was in the middle of election season. While there could be no doubt about a Republican victory, many wondered just how strong that victory would be. With a turnout of 62.3%, there were a number of interesting results.

Firstly, in the House of Representatives, the Republicans would enjoy only a four seat majority. The Socialists, through a successful campaign, had taken 24 House seats and combined with the Democrats, the Republicans only just outnumbered them. The states where the Socialist Party took more than 10% of eligible ballots were: California, Florida, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma and Washington.

In over half of the states, the Republican margin of victory was greater than 10%: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York
North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah,
Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Strong majorities were also retained in Montana, Missouri, Indiana and Maryland. The Democrats swept the South, as had been expected, but failed to hold the new state of Oklahoma. The Republicans won it by a mere 2.18%. Furthermore, the states of North Carolina and Tennessee became marginal.

Overall, the total vote was Roosevelt 53.37%, Johnson 40.60% and Debs 5.83%.
President Roosevelt and Vice President Shaw would begin their term on 4 March, 1909. But the election, as one sided as it was, did nothing to end the fundamental divide between the South and the rest of the country. The process of reconciliation was further damaged by the case of Sweet v South Carolina.

Growth of job opportunities for African Americans in the South had opened up a greater social mobility for persons of colour. One family, the Sweets, found themselves with sufficient equity to move out of their home into a predominantly white district. They were the first black family in their part of Charleston, which raised the hackles of their neighbours somewhat. But what caused their greatest concern was when, in late 1907, their son, Robert Sweet, applied to attend the only local school - a school that had no other African American students. Robert was declined entry.

The Sweets immediately took action in their local court, stating through their lawyer that Sakamoto meant that he had to be granted access. The segregation was unreasonable, they said. And there existed no alternative facility for Robert to attend school. The school stated that there would be an alternative facility and sought a writ of mandamus, continuing the case for six months, during which time it would build segregated but equal facilities. An appeal was made against the writ to the Court of Appeals, then the South Carolina Supreme Court, both of whom upheld it.

The Supreme Court chose to grant certiorari before the resignation of Justice White, but the case was heard by the full bench shortly thereafter. The school argued that they had been founded as a whites-only school and thus could be protected under Sakamoto. However, on 2 December, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that not only had the refusal to admit been unreasonable, the building of alternate facilities still did not address the criteria of reasonability. By being forced into isolation, Robert would have an education that was quantitatively and qualitatively inferior to that being provided to the white students. It then built on Sakamoto, by stating that segregation in education could not be permitted where it produced any disadvantage, tangible or intangible, for students. "Separate but equal", as prescribed by Plessy, would no longer apply.

Justice Harlan stated that "the concepts of equal protection and due process are not mutually exclusive. While equal facilities may be an explicit safeguard against discrimination, the resulting discrimination can be so unjustifiable as to be violative of due process." He then stated that as segregation in state schools was prohibited by the Constitution, it would be "most unreasonable" for the Federal Government to apply segregation in the provision of its services. Within six weeks, the White American Citizens Movement (WACM) was born in Mississippi.

As the year 1908 drew to a close, the outstanding international question was the future of Italy. At war with three major powers, there seemed little chance that she would survive indefinitely. This was despite the fact that the Spanish had endured a terrible landing in southern Sicily. After consultation with their French allies, it was decided late in November, 1908, to attempt an assault on the north of the island, particular Messina. The fall of the city would cut off supply to the island from the mainland of Italy and would ensure that Spain's capture of the island was not as costly and horrific as the Sardinian campaign.

The Regent was desperately in need of a strong victory. Already, there was considerable complaint against his leadership in Madrid, and, in the regions, there was growing anger over being pressed into another war against their wills. It was decided that the landing would take place just after Christmas, on 27 and 28 December. It would involve virtually the entire Spanish navy, as well as a considerable number of French vessels. With the Italian fleet almost entirely concentrated around Rome, there was minimal chance of naval intervention.

The vessels approached the shoreline as the sun broke on 27 December and put ashore shortly thereafter. The French flotilla include a battleship, two cruisers, four destroyers and six other vessels. The Spanish could only provide two destroyers and three other vessels, but combined, they were a fleet of eighteen - more than enough of a match for the Italians. Embarking from the ships were close to forty thousand soldiers. They immediately proceeded to set up a base camp and to prepare for mobilisation the following day. However, the next day didn't dawn for any of those involved.

In the early hours of 28 December, an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale shifted the tectonic plates in the strait between Calabria and Messina. A massive tsunami struck the coast of Messina only eight minutes later, wiping out not only the city and nearby villages, but also nearly 10% of the Spanish army. The bulk of its navy and a sizable portion of the French fleet either ended up in part of the city ruins or disappeared forever to the floor of the Mediterranean.

To Book 2 Volume 1