ich Russia has given to the populace of this unfortunate
country which consistently have tried to adhere to their Swedish
habits and civilization. The fact that the present Queen of Sweden
is a German princess, closely related to the imperial family as well
as to some of the other German reigning families, and that this
Queen of Sweden is very popular in her adopted country, undoubtedly
also had some bearing on Sweden's attitude toward the various
countries at war.

Like Portugal and Spain, Holland of to-day is only a mere shadow of
its past glory. Most of its colonial possessions have passed out of
its hands. Those, however, that still remain are chiefly in the Far
East and are very valuable, especially Java. The possession of these
colonies by as small a country as Holland, of course, raised many
difficult problems of a financial and political nature. As a result,
Holland's participation in international politics was naturally very
restricted, and the general policy of the country was to maintain
the strictest neutrality and to keep up friendly relations with the
rest of the world. Its neutrality in the present war is based on the
same reasons. Furthermore, public sentiment is rather anti-English,
partly as a result of the resentment of English aggression during
the Napoleonic wars, which almost ended in the loss to Holland of
its colonies, and partly as a result of the intense sympathy felt
for the Boers, who are of Dutch descent, during the South African
War. At the same time they have no particularly strong liking for
Germany, suspecting it of having designs on their absolute
independence, which the Dutch guard most jealously.

The history of Holland during the last fifty years is, therefore,
concerned chiefly with internal affairs, and covers few events of
international importance. Its chief claim to international fame
rests on its selection by the other civilized nations as the center
of the international peace conferences and the seat of the
International Court of Arbitration. On May 18, 1899, the First Peace
Conference assembled at The Hague at the invitation of Czar Nicholas
II of Russia. In it there participated, besides twenty-one European
states, the United States, Mexico, China, Japan, Persia, and Siam.
During sessions lasting over ten weeks international questions of
the greatest importance, chiefly relating to the conduct of war,
were discussed. As a result the convention adopted certain
resolutions a