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Page 20
In the meantime, the trenches of the allies had been drawn so near the
Russian works that there was a fair prospect of carrying the bastions
by another assault. A terrible bombardment was begun on the fifth, and
continued to the eighth of September, when both the Redan and the
Malakhoff were taken by storm. But the struggle was desperate, and the
losses on both sides immense. The Russians blew up their
fortifications on the south side of the harbor, and retreated across
the bay. Nor did they afterward make any serious attempt to regain the
stronghold which the allies had wrested from them. The victors for
their part proceeded to destroy the docks, arsenals and shipyards of
Sebastopol, and, as far as possible, to prevent the future occupancy
of the place by the Russians as a seat of commerce and war.
The siege and capture of Sebastopol virtually ended the contest,
though the war lagged during the greater part of the ensuing year. On
the second of March, 1855, the Czar Nicholas died, and Alexander II.
came to the throne, predisposed to peace. It was not, however, until
the thirtieth of March, 1856, that the Treaty of Paris was concluded,
in which Russia was obliged to yield to the allied powers, among which
France held the first place.
The story of the Crimean War, and of the siege of Sebastopol in
particular, has passed into history as one of the great events, of the
century. The struggles at Balaklava, on the river Alma, at Inkerman,
and the storming of the Redan and the Malakhoff became the subjects of
great historical paintings, of poems and of songs, the echoes of which
are heard to the present day.
SADOWA.
From a military point of view, nothing in this century has been more
brilliantly successful than the campaign of Prussia into Bohemia
against the Austrians, culminating on the sixth of July, 1866, in the
great conflict called the battle of Sadowa or K�niggr�tz--the one or
the other from the two towns near which it was fought. The historical
painter, Wilhelm Camphausen, of the School of D�sseldorf, has left
among the art trophies of the world a painting of this battle which is
as true to the field and the combatants as anything which we recall
from the sublime leaves of historical art.
The scene represented is the triumphant conclusion of the battle. The
field is wide and stormy. In the centre, riding at full gallop with
his staff, is King William. Already he is receiving the cheers and
salutations of victory. By his side are seen the stalwart figures of
Bismarck, Von Roon, Von Moltke, the Crown Prince, Prince Frederick
Charles, and many others destined in the ensuing ten years to rise to
the heights of military fame. To the right of the group of commanders
charges the column of the Uhlans. The Austrians before are broken, and
falling into rout. Far to the left and in the distance may be seen the
half-obscured wrecks of battle.
This conflict proved to be the Waterloo of Austria. It was the climax
of the Seven Weeks' War. Already the Germans, under the leadership of
Prussia, were making haste toward empire. The activity and energy
displayed by the Prussian Government at this juncture were prodigious.
It was like the days of Frederick the Great come again. The trouble
with Austria had arisen about the claims of the Duke of Augustenburg
to the government of Holstein. Bismarck desired that that duchy should
be disposed of in one manner, while Austria was determined on another.
The German States were drawn into this controversy, and the support of
Italy was sought by each of the contestants. Prussia held out to
Italy the temptation of recovering Venice, as the reward of her
entrance into a Prusso-Italian alliance. This bait was sufficient. The
smaller German powers, with the exception of Oldenburg, Mecklenburg,
the Saxon States, and three Free Cities, took their stand with
Austria, and the German Diet approved of the Austrian demand. It
looked for the time as though Prussia, with the exception of the aid
of Italy, was to be left naked to all the winds of hostility. The
event showed, however, that that great power was now in her element.
She declared the action of the German Diet to be not only a menace,
but an act of overt hostilities. This was followed by an immediate
declaration of war against a foe that had nearly three times her
numerical strength.
On the fifteenth of June, 1866, King William called upon Saxony,
Hanover, Hesse-Cassel and Nassau to remain neutral in the impending
conflict, and gave them _twelve hours_ in which to decide! Receiving
no answer, he ordered the Prussians out of Holstein to seize Hanover.
This work was accomplished in two days. In another two days
Hesse-Cassel was occupied by an army from the Rhine, while at the same
time a third division of the Prussian forces was thrown into Dresden
and Leipsic. On the twenty-seventh of the month, a battle was fought
with the Hanoverians, in which the latter were at first successful,
but were soon overpowered and compelled to surrender. George V., King
of Hanover, fled for refuge to Vienna.
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