Public-domain ebook
Language: en1,313 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Biographies·History - European·History - Modern (1750+)
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #66307.
The volume is the second half of Bertha von Suttner’s autobiographical memoirs, a chronicle that intertwines personal reflections with the bustling diplomatic and cultural life of late‑19th‑century Europe. The opening pages already reveal a mosaic of entries, ranging from family matters such as “childlessness” and visits with “Aunt Lotti,” to vivid accounts of the World’s Fair in Chicago, the Peace Congress, and a litany of correspondence with figures like Émile Zola, William II, and the Nobel family. Suttner’s narrative is organized by numbered sections that catalogue meetings of the Inter‑Parliamentary Union, letters from senators, and detailed observations of art exhibitions, military anecdotes, and the formation of peace societies across the continent. The text proceeds as a series of diary‑like excerpts, each anchored in specific dates and locations, offering a panoramic view of the era’s political, artistic, and scientific currents as seen through the eyes of a leading pacifist.
The voice is unmistakably that of a learned, articulate woman of the Austro‑Hungarian aristocracy, whose prose blends personal sentiment with the formal tone of diplomatic reportage. Written in the late 1890s and early 1900s, the style is dense, with long sentences and frequent references to contemporary personalities, institutions, and events. Readers who relish primary‑source histories, especially those interested in the women’s peace movement, the development of international arbitration, or the cultural networks of fin‑de‑siècle Europe, will find Suttner’s memoir both a valuable documentary record and a vivid portrait of a life lived at the intersection of activism and high society.
The opening · free to read
Increase of correspondence. Countess Hedwig Pötting. Gift from Duke von Oldenburg. Schloss Erlaa. The duke’s consort. Peace efforts of Prince Peter von Oldenburg thirty years ago. Letter from this prince to Bismarck. Letter from Björnstjerne Björnson.
XLV. PEACE CONGRESS IN ANTWERP AND INTERPARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE 47
Preparation for the Congress by the Belgian government. Houzeau de Lehaye. A reminiscence of the battlefield of Sedan. Concerning free trade. Audience with King Leopold. Invitation to the Interparliamentary Conference. Reception the evening before. Pithy sentences from Rahusen’s address. Opening. “No other cause in the whole world....” Second day of deliberation. Stanhope. Gladstone’s proposal. Debate over the tribunal plan. Dr. Hirsch puts on the brake. Rejoinder by Frédéric Passy and Houzeau. Randal Cremer. Concluding festivities in Scheveningen.
In Harmannsdorf again. My husband writes Sie wollen nicht. Max Nordau’s opinion of it. My labors and correspondence. Rear Admiral Réveillère. Dolmens and menhirs. From the patriot of Brittany to the patriot of humanity. Réveillère’s views about social economy, the lot of the masses, professional politicians, etc. A fine comparison. Deaths of Prince Achille Murat, Duke von Oldenburg, and Ruggero Bonghi.
The Union for Resistance to Anti-Semitism once more. Article by A. G. von Suttner. In the house of Christian Kinsky. Recollection of a home dinner with the Empress. War between Japan and China. Appeal of the Peace Congress to the Powers for intervention. Answer of the Russian Minister of War, Giers. The fruits of German military instruction in Japan. The Peace of Shimonoseki. Interparliamentary Conference in Brussels. Sending out the formulated and accepted plan for an arbitration tribunal. First appearance of the Hungarian Group, with Maurus Jókai and Count Apponyi at its head. Hopeful and distressful signs of the times. From the Congress of the Association Littéraire in Dresden. Trip to Prague. At Professor Jodl’s. Lecture in “The German House.” Banquet. La Busca. Visit at Vrchlicky’s. Trip to Budapest. Founding of the Hungarian Peace Society. War in sight between England and the United States. Removal of the danger.
Gumplowicz: father and son. The Italian campaign in Africa. Utterances of King Menelik. The defeat of Adowa. The warlike press. Demonstrations against war. Victory of the peace party. Correspondence with Carneri. From Armenia and Macedonia. Insurrection in Cuba and a sharp proclamation. Professor Röntgen’s discovery. The Anglo-American arbitration treaty. Death of Jules Simon. A letter from Jules Simon.
XLIX. THE SEVENTH WORLD’S PEACE CONGRESS AND THE SEVENTH INTERPARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE IN BUDAPEST 107
General Türr’s visit at Harmannsdorf. Anecdotes from his life. Garibaldi’s appeal to the governments. Our journey to Budapest. Reception and preliminary festival. Opening of the Congress. From Türr’s address. The historical Millennial Exposition. Élie Ducommun gives a report on the year’s events. Debate: Armenian horrors. Address to the pope. Letter from Dr. Ofner. Excursion to the Margareteninsel. The youngest member of the Congress. Exciting debate about dueling. Nepluief and his institution. Deputation from the Society for the Protection of Animals. Conclusion of the Congress. Preliminary festival of the Conference. Soirée at the Parkklub. Opening session in the House of Magnates. Second session. Soirée at the Prime Minister’s. From the protocol. Apponyi on the participation of Russia in the conferences. The Russian consul Vasily and his action. Excursion into the future. Visit at Maurus Jókai’s. Gala operatic performance. End of the Conference. Opening of the “Iron Gate.”
Jingo criticism of Budapest. A prophetic chapter from Schach der Qual. A poem by Hoyos and a letter from Nathaniel Rothschild. Visits of the Tsar. Extracts from diary. Correspondence between the Austrian Peace Society and the English Department of Foreign Affairs. Treaty of peace between Menelik and Italy.
News of his death. His last letter to me. The will. Letter from Moritz Adler. The will is contested. Letter from the executor. Emanuel Nobel’s noble act. Fortunate solution. Distribution of the peace prize up to date.
From my collections of letters. Signing of the Anglo-American arbitration treaty. The ratification fails by three votes. Insurrection in Crete. The concert of the powers. Outbreak of the Turko-Grecian War. Extracts from diary. The letter “to all good men” from Fortress Montjuich. Letter from Prince Scipione Borghese. Our literary labors. My audience with Emperor Franz Joseph I. Text of the petition submitted.
Letter from Count Eugen Zichy. The Eighth Peace Congress at Hamburg. Letter from Prince Emil Schönaich-Carolath. Egidy’s début. Regarding the assassination of Canova. Public meeting in the Sagebiel. Egidy’s speech. New adherents. Henri Dunant. Appeal to the Oriental peoples. Extracts from diary. Bad news from all sides. Attitude of the press. The Russian Emperor in Darmstadt. Letter from Marie Büchner. The Dreyfus affair. Dispatch of the European squadron to the Yellow Sea.
Outbreak of the Spanish-American War. Article in mourning borders. Fridtjof Nansen’s lecture in Vienna. Extracts from diary. Bereavement in the family, Countess Lotti Sizzo’s death. Johann von Bloch’s book. Death of Bismarck. End of the Spanish-American War.
Arrival of the good tidings. Extracts from editorials in Die Waffen nieder. Congratulatory letters from Moritz Adler, Dr. Karl von Scherzer, Björnstjerne Björnson, Balduin Groller, Professor Martens, Prince Dolgorukof, Vice Admiral Semsey, Hedwig Pötting, Kemény, Novikof, Henri Dunant. Objections of opponents.
The Empress Elisabeth. The last days of my father-in-law. Egidy on the assassination of the Empress. Session of the delegates in Turin. Egidy evening in Vienna. Reminiscence of the campaign of 1866. William T. Stead in Vienna on his pilgrimage. His portrait. His audience with Nicholas II. His meeting with Bloch. My interview with Muravieff. Conclusion of Spanish-American treaty of peace. Reply of the chairman of the Spanish Commission to a memorial from Émile Arnaud. Still the Dreyfus affair. General Türr with King Humbert. Egidy dead. Letter from his son.
Emperor Nicholas regarding the reception of his rescript. Discouragement in St. Petersburg. Stead’s project for a peace crusade. Count Muravieff’s second circular. The wedge driven into the peace question. The general conception and our conception. Journey to Berlin. Osten-Sacken. Formation of an information committee. Letter from Bebel. Service in honor of Egidy. Trip to Nice. Meeting with Madame Adam. Monsieur Catusse. A noteworthy Dreyfus reminiscence. My lecture. Madame Bashkirtseff. Trip to Cannes for a lecture. Lucien Murat’s visit. Return to Harmannsdorf. Correspondence with Bloch, Scipione Borghese, and D’Estournelles de Constant. Letters from Hodgson Pratt and Élie Ducommun. A plan of action suggested by Henri Dunant.
LVIII. THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE 245
My Hague diary. Arrival. First interview. Stead’s interviews with the Tsar and with Bülow. Our call on the Austrian delegation. Divine service in the Russian chapel. Opening session. Johann von Bloch. Party at Beaufort’s. Yang-Yü and his wife. Baron d’Estournelles. Léon Bourgeois. We give a dinner. Richet’s call. Luncheon with Frau Moscheles. Andrew D. White. Extract from Staal’s opening speech. Call on our ambassador’s wife. Count Costantino Nigra. Reception at court. Lord Aberdeen. Sir Julian Pauncefote. Bloch plans a series of lectures. Plenary assembly of May 25. The Russian, English, and American motions.
LIX. THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE (CONTINUED) 270
J. Novikof. Reception at the Baroness Grovestins’s. Dr. Holls. Utterances of the nationalistic press. Excursion to Scheveningen. We give a small dinner. Threatening letter to Herr von Staal. At Ten Kate’s. Reports from Descamps. Beernaert on the Geneva Convention. Letter from Levysohn. Results in the matter of mediation. New acquaintances. First of Bloch’s evening lectures: subject, “The Development of Firearms.” Stead publishes a daily chronicle on the Conference. Young Vasily’s album. Removal to Scheveningen. Baron Pirquet brings a letter from the Interparliamentary Union of Brussels. Bloch’s second lecture: subject, “Mobilization.” My birthday. Dinner at Okoliczany’s. Lieutenant Pichon. Letters from aëronauts. Discussion on the permanent tribunal. President Kruger and Sir Alfred Milner. An amusing incident. Bloch’s third lecture: subject, “Naval Warfare.” A conversation with Léon Bourgeois. His call to Paris. False reports and denials. What Emperor Nicholas said to Stead. Rumor of the blocking of the arbitration business. Bloch’s final lecture: subject, “The War of the Future.”
LX. THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE (CONCLUDED) 294
Turning point in the arbitration question. Professor Zorn. Madame Ratazzi. Professor Martens. Mirza Rhiza Khan. Letter from Frau Büchner. Trip to Amsterdam. At the photographer’s. Limitation of armaments. Two important sessions. Colonel von Schwarzhoff. Limitation rejected. Baron Bildt and Bourgeois. Ball at Staal’s. The Grotius celebration. Letter from Andrew D. White. Article 27. Departure. International Inquiry Commission. Beldimann in opposition. Again the Inquiry Commission. Beldimann’s ultimatum. Acte final.
Journey to Norway to the ninth Interparliamentary Conference. The woman’s movement in the North. Military honors shown the friends of peace. Evening before the Conference. Björnstjerne Björnson. Opening in the Storthing. A mot by Minister Steen. Report on the Nobel foundation. Garden party at Steen’s. Henrik Ibsen. At M. Catusse’s. Excursion to Frognersättern. Last session. Message from The Hague. Final banquet. Björnson as a speaker. My interview with him. Harmannsdorf again. Aunt Büschel’s death. Margarete Suttner’s betrothal. Letter from Count Apponyi. What then constituted my life. A physician’s prescription. Controversy between the jingoes and pacifists in England. End of the Dreyfus affair. Germany’s naval plan. The South African war breaks out. Letter from Count Nigra.
1900 or 1901. Address to the Powers. Letters from Henryk Sienkiewicz. Letter from the Prince of Mingrelia. Count Apponyi’s press scheme. The Interparliamentary Conference at Paris. Count Apponyi on the Conference. Dr. Clark’s action regarding Chamberlain and President Kruger. Altera pars. The troubles in China. Letters from Yang-Yü to my husband. The Peace Congress at Paris. The Bloch family. Madame Séverine. The Exposition. Dinner at Professor Charles Richet’s. Miss Alice Williams. Literary work. Nomination of the Hague judges. Letters from Martens and Schönborn. D’Estournelles’s lecture in Vienna. Dr. Holls’s mission. Our silver wedding. Letter from Tolstoi. First assignment of the Nobel prizes. Dunant’s thanks. Decennial celebration of the Union. Letters of congratulation from Passy, Szell, Schönborn, D’Estournelles, Chlumecky, Rosegger, and Björnson.
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
