1906 | Political Events
Political Events
Denmark's Kristian IX dies at the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen January 29 at age 87 after a 42-year reign. His 62-year-old son will reign until 1912 as Frederik VIII.
The British battleship H.M.S. Dreadnought launched February 10 has ten 12-inch guns—the first battleship whose guns are all so large and are mounted on movable turrets that permit the vessel to fire in any direction without having to turn the ship. Former first lord of the Admiralty William W. Palmer, 2nd earl of Selborne, has helped to initiate the rebuilding of the Royal Navy; First Sea Lord John Arbuthnot "Jacky" Fisher, 65, 1st Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, has stolen credit for the design of the great ship, whose powerful steam turbines enable her to outdistance anything she cannot outfight, carries a crew of 773, and makes all other fighting ships obsolete (see 1914). Fisher takes the name dreadnought from his family crest. Berlin decides in May to increase tonnages of German battleships, add six cruisers to the fleet, and widen the Kiel Canal to permit passage of larger ships (see Tirpitz, 1900). Other nations follow suit, even countries such as Chile and the Ottoman Empire whose navies have been small.
The British foreign secretary Sir Edward Grey, 44, assumes a "moral obligation" to support France in the event of a German attack, but the cabinet will not learn of his pledge to the French until 1911.
Liverpool lawyer Frederick E. (Edwin) Smith, 33, wins election to Parliament, gives his maiden speech March 12, attracts notice with his brilliant use of invective, and will soon become a leader of the Conservative Party.
The 10¢ monthly magazine Mother Earth begins publication at New York in March under the direction of anarchist Emma Goldman, now 37, with Alexander Berkman, now 35, who has just been released from prison after serving time for trying to murder industrialist Henry Clay Frick in the Homestead Strike of 1892 (see 1917).
Anarchist Johann Most dies at Cincinnati March 17 at age 60 while on a lecture tour, having attracted followers such as Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. He has been imprisoned many times for his statements (but never for any acts).
Portugal's Carlos I appoints João Franco prime minister in May and soon permits him to assume dictatorial powers while he devotes himself to frivolity (see 1902). A series of strikes and revolts have prompted the appointment, and although the dictator effects some reforms his coercive policies arouse strong opposition (see 1908).
Russia's Nicholas II appoints Pyotr (or Petr) Arkadevich Stolypin, 44, prime minister July 8 as demands increase for a government by law instead of by fiat (see revolution, 1905). Stolypin is a nobleman from an old landowning family, and landowners have resisted efforts to deprive them of their rights and privileges, but Stolypin has more pragmatic ideas (see 1911). The czar grants universal male suffrage May 24, but he rejects the Duma's suggestion that he grant amnesty to political prisoners. The Duma is dissolved July 21 and martial law declared.
Popular disturbances in Persia force the Kajar shah Muzaffar-ad-Din to convene a Majlis (National Consultative Assembly) in October. The court's corruption, the shah's erratic rule, and his failure to deal effectively with the nation's financial crisis have provoked mounting unrest, and in December he grants a constitution modeled on that of Belgium (see 1907).
London forces Constantinople to cede the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
The sultan of Morocco complains to Paris following encroachments on his territory by Gen. Louis-H.-G. Lyautey, now 51, who has subdued the tribes on the Algerian-Moroccan border in order to round off the frontier, but the sultan accepts French and Spanish control of reforms in his country following the Algeciras Conference, at which France and Spain have agreed to reaffirm Morocco's independence and integrity (see 1904). The country will nevertheless be the scene of international crises for years to come as Lyautey continues to push Algeria's frontier westward (see 1908).
A Tripartite Pact signed July 4 declares the independence of Ethiopia but divides the country into British, French, and Italian spheres of influence (see 1896; 1934).
Mary, Baroness Curzon, former vicereine of India, dies of a heart attack at Carlton House Terrace, London, July 18 at age 36—7 months after returning to England. Her years in the tropics with an insensitive husband have undermined her health; politician Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st earl of Cranbrook, dies at Hemsted Park, Kent, October 30 at age 92.
Japanese authorities abort an anarchist plot to assassinate the emperor. Foreign minister Takaaki Kato, 46, resigns in protest against the nationalization of Japan's railroads (he began his career with Mitsubishi, whose executives backed him in his career as he became ambassador to Britain). Kato will be reappointed ambassador to the court of St. James in 1908 and become foreign minister for a third time in 1913 (he held the position for a few months in 1900). Army chief of staff Gen. Gentaro Kodama dies at Tokyo July 23 at age 54.
Former Argentine president Bartolomé Mitre dies at his native Buenos Aires January 18 at age 84.
Cuba has another revolution as Liberals contest the reelection of President Tomás Estrada Palma (see 1902); President Roosevelt is unable to resolve the dispute, Estrada Palma resigns in September, U.S. forces occupy Cuba for a second time beginning September 29, and a provisional government takes power with U.S. administrator Charles Magoon heading a body of Cuban civilians under the Cuban flag and Cuban constitution. An advisory law commission works to revise electoral procedures (see 1909).
Nicaragua's president José Santos Zelaya invades Honduras, overthrows her government, tries to foment a revolution in El Salvador, and brings all of Central America to the brink of war (see 1893). Zelaya has refused to send delegates to a meeting convened at San José, Costa Rica, to maintain peace in the region, and his actions lead Mexico and the United States to intervene (see 1907).
Former Confederate Army general Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler dies at Brooklyn, N.Y., January 25 at age 69 (he served with the U.S. Army in the Spanish-American War at San Juan and Las Guasimas); former Union Army general John McA. Schofield dies at St. Augustine, Florida, March 4 at age 74; former Union Army general-political leader-editor Carl Schurz at New York May 14 at age 77; former Union Army general William R. Shafter at Bakersfield, California, November 12 at age 71.
Wisconsin's governor Robert M. (Marion) La Follette, 51, resigns to enter the U.S. Senate and fight for the progressive ideas that he has pioneered in his state. A Republican who lost his seat in Congress 16 years ago as voters reacted against the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890, reformer La Follette has opposed his party's bosses, campaigning against bribery and corruption; elected governor in 1900 and reelected in 1902, he has instituted a system of direct primary elections, recruited expert advisers from the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, and will serve in the Senate until his death in 1925.