er and did their best to understand each other's
language. All France, and England as well, welcomed the beginning of
the "Entente Cordiale," or friendly understanding between the two
nations.

England also went out of her way to cultivate a friendly understanding
with Italy. With the other nations of Europe England had no great
friendship. Between England and Russia, there had been a hostile
feeling for a long time, for the British felt that the Russians would
like nothing better than to stretch their empire from Siberia, down to
include British India, or at least Afghanistan and Baluchistan, where
the British were in control.

The emperor of Germany, on the other hand, was planning for the future
growth of the trade of his country. Since his coming to the throne,
Germany had made wonderful progress in the direction of manufactures.
She had become one of the leading nations of the world. One of her
chief questions was, where to market these goods. In 1896 the emperor
paid a visit to Syria and Turkey. He was received with great
enthusiasm by the Turks, who were glad to have one strong friend among
the powers of Europe. Soon afterwards the Germans began to get more
and more of the trade of the Ottoman Empire. A German company was
given permission by the Turks to build a railroad across Turkey to the
Persian Gulf through Bagdad. German railways ran through
Austria-Hungary, which was Germany's ally, to Constantinople and
Salonika, the two greatest ports of Turkey in Europe. This short
overland route to Persia was looked upon with suspicion and distrust
by the English, whose ships up to this time had carried on almost all
of Europe's commerce with India and the neighboring countries.

[Illustration: A Scene In Constantinople]

Germany was reaching out for colonies. She secured land on the west
coast of Africa and, on the east as well. A tract of land in the
corner of the Gulf of Guinea also fell to her share. Islands in the
Pacific Ocean were seized. Her foreign trade was growing by leaps and
bounds, and she threatened to take away from England a great deal of
the latter's commerce.

The German emperor announced that he must always be consulted whenever
any changes of territory took place, no matter in what part of the
earth. Therefore in 1905 when France, with the help of Great Britain
and Spain, told the sultan of Morocco that he had to behave himself,
the German emperor in person made a visit to Morocco and assured