•The Co THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK. BOSTON CHICAGO MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON. BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO THE CAMBRIDGE MODERN HISTORY PLANNED BY THE LATE LORD ACTON LL.D. REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY EDITED BY A. W. WARD LITT.D. G. W. PROTHERO LITT.D. STANLEY LEATHES M.A. VOLUME XII THE LATEST AGE New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1918 All rights reserved PREFACE OUR task is now approaching its conclusion. The first circular is sued by the Syndics of the University Press, setting forth the plan and purpose of this History, is dated in March, 1898. The present editors assumed their conjoint duties in November, 1901. Our first volume appeared before the end of 1902. The last volume of our text should be published in the autumn of 1910. The volume of maps, and the general index, with genealogical and other tables, should be ready shortly after. We shall then have discharged our arduous undertaking, and given our work to the world, conscious of its imperfections, but grateful for the indulgent and sympathetic reception which it has met. Our cordial thanks must once more be expressed to all those who have generously afforded us assistance, and contributed their learning and wisdom to the common store. The present volume has unfortunately been delayed by illness and serious accident affecting one of our contributors. The rest of the chapters have been for some months in their final shape. Hence it is to be feared that, in certain cases, the views on the immediate outlook expressed in our text refer to a situation which has since been more or less modified. No great revolution has, up to this date, occurred to confound our main conceptions of the trend of current events; but in Hungary the prospect of an enduring parliamentary settlement no longer seems immediate, and in Great Britain the financial question has been overshadowed by a graver constitutional issue. Above all, since these pages were printed off, this country and this empire have been profoundly affected by the lamented death of our wise, self-sacrificing, and beloved monarch, Edward VII, whose reign, though all too short, had done so much for the prosperity of his people and for the cause of peace and goodwill among nations. In the presence of national sorrow the violence of political passion has been 349130 |