knew how to use men like Cavour and Garibaldi to achieve the national
ambitions. By a popular vote in each part of Italy Victor Emmanuel was
accepted as king of the united nation. The country was not ready for a
republic; but Victor Emmanuel proved a wise national leader, willing to
reign, according to a written constitution under which the people's
representatives had the determining voice in the government. In 1870 the
king entered Rome and early the next year proclaimed the city to be the
capital of Italy.

BELGIUM.--The country we now know as Belgium has had a very checkered
history. At one time or another it has been controlled by German,
French, Spanish, and Austrian rulers. At the opening of the nineteenth
century it was annexed to the kingdom of Holland (1815). But a revolt
took place in 1830, and the Belgians separated from the Dutch and chose
a king for themselves. Their constitution declares that the government
is a "constitutional, representative, and hereditary monarchy." The
government is largely in the control of the people or their
representatives. There is one voter for every five persons in the
population, nearly the same proportion as in the United States. In 1839
the principal states of Europe agreed to recognize Belgium's
independence, and in case of war among themselves to treat her territory
as neutral land, not to be invaded. This treaty was signed by Prussia as
well as by Austria, France, Great Britain, and Russia. The treaty was
again acknowledged by Prussia in 1870. It was in violation of these
treaties, as we shall see, that Prussian and other German troops invaded
Belgium on August 4, 1914.

FRANCE.--In 1789 France entered upon a period of revolution. The old
monarchy was shortly overthrown, and with it went aristocracy and all
the inequalities of the Middle Ages. A republic, however, did not long