{ "system": "GoGuides Verified Text", "api_version": "verified-text-v1", "status": "ok", "response_type": "verified_text_record", "source_key": "britannica_1926", "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926)", "license_code": "public_domain", "attribution": null, "license_url": null, "chunk_id": "1926:venezuela:20a9eda1d4da", "title": "VENEZUELA", "section": null, "hash_alg": "sha256", "hash_sha256": "084ece0364b4655c70d1583e11f7e1880eee7ba45a6cc67bd408a35fb6379ee6", "normalizer": { "name": "ggnorm", "version": "1.0" }, "verified_text": "a republic on the north coast of south america. its area is 398,504 sq. m. and the estimated population on jan. 1 1925 was 2,563,334. the population of caracas, the capital, in 1920 was 92,212; maracaibo, 46,706; valencia, 29,466. venezuela acquired membership in the league of nations in 1920. | venezuela’s constitution of 1922 declared that the republic was composed of 20 states, 2 territories, a federal district and certain islands in the sea of the antilles. it provided that the federal district was to be organised by a special law and should be composed of the city of caracas with the neighbouring par- ishes as well as the department of vargas. it is further stipulated that the territorics of amazonas and delta-amacuro, which were to be organised by a special law, might become states when they fulfilled certain conditions, as when they had at least as many inhabitants as the quota required by the constitution for the election of one deputy to congress. i. political history constitution.—on may 18 19014 a congress of deputies from the venezuelan states adopted a new constitution for their union. that constitution declared that the venezuelan states reciprocally recognised their autonomy and equality, and that they retained all sovereignty not delegated to the central govt. by the constitution. the states agreed to promulgate constitu- tions that would harmonise with the fundamental law, and agreed to see that the national constitution, laws and orders were obeyed. early in june assemblies at the capitals of the respec- tive states ratified the new form of government, which came into force on june 13 1914. this constitution conferred male suffrage on all citizens 21 years of age or over. foreigners who took part in political controversies (confiendas) could be arrested, confined or expelled by order of the president. executive power was vested in a president and a cabinet of ministers appointed by him. the president was to be elected for a seven- year term by vote of congress. among the extensive powers vested in the chief executive were the following: to administer the federal district and the two federal territories; to issue decrees and regulations for the better execution of the laws; to negotiate loans as provided by congress; to grant certificates of naturalisation; to appoint national officials whose appointment was not otherwise provided for; to convoke an extraordinary session of congress; to declare war when authorised by con- gress; to negotiate treaties with foreign nations; and to pro- claim martial law throughout the republic. legislative authority was granted to a congress composed of a senate and a chamber of deputies. the senate was to be compose! of two senators from each state chosene by its legis- lative assembly for three years. the chamber of deputies was to be composed of members chosen from every state and from the federa] district by popular vote for three years at the ratio of one deputy to every 35,000 inhabitants. congress was to mect annually on april 19g at the capital for a session of 70 days. judicial authority was vested in a supreme court designated the corte federal y de casacie6x and in other tribunals established by law. the federal supreme court was to be composed of seven judges who were to be elected by congress for a term of seven years. clauses defining the powers of this court provided that it should take cognizance of accusations against the president and other high officials. it was given jurisdiction over cases involving claims against the nation, cases relating to foreign diplomatic agents in venezuela, cases arising from contracts made by the president and cases involving conflicts between laws or decrees, state or federal. these provisions were retained in the constitution of 1922. events from 1908-—-when in nov. 1908 president castro left venezucla to visit europe, the first vice-president, juan vicente gemez was given the presidential power. in decrees of nov. 23 1908 gemez appointed a general secretary and con- firmed the existing cabinet appointments. on may 3 1909 he issued a decree announcing that he was exercising the powers of president of venezuela, and after suppressing opposition to his venezuela rule, he was acclaimed president dec. 19 1909. under the constitution of 1909, on aug. 27 1910 congress elected gemez constitutional president for four years. in june and july ror1 venezuela celebrated the centenary of her declaration of inde- pendence. during the rule of gemez diplomatic relations with foreign nations that had been ruptured were resumed, and venezuela undertook to pay those obligations to foreign nations upon which payments had lapsed. upon an attempt of ex- president castro to regain power, president gemez issued a proclamation on aug. 3 1913 announcing that he was leaving the capital to undertake a campaign for the restoration of public order. on aug. 4 he delegated his authority to jose gil fortoul, president of the council of government. on jan. 1 1014 he re-entered caracas at the head of his army and reas- sumed the powers of president. according to the constitution the term of office of president gemez ended on april 19 1914. upon that day a congress of deputies from the venezuelan states adopted a provisional con- stitutional statute for the union, which declared that all laws not inconsistent therewith should remain in force. it further provided that this congress should elect a commander-in-chief of the national army at the same time that it elected a pro- visional presilent of the republic. congress was also to frame a new pact of union for venezuela, which should be submitted to the assemblies of the states for approval. the period of pro- visional rule should last until the new constitution had been ratified by the states and until the constitutional functionaries had taken their posts. on the same day congress elected victorino m4rquez bustillos, who had been minister of war and the navy, provisional president, and by a decree of the same day bustillos appointed his ministers of state. congress elected general g6mez commander-in-chief of the national army. on may 3 1915 the congress chosen under the constitution of 1914 unanimously elected gen. gemez president of the republic for the term ending april 19 1922, but the presicdent- elect did not assume the presidency. the provisional president continued to exercise authority while general gomez remained commander-in-chief of the army with the title president-elect of the republic. in may 1922 gen. juan vicente gemez was unanimously re-elected president of venezuela. on june 19 a new constitution was promulgated which made some slight but important changes in the constitution of 1914. articles 137 and 138 of that fundamental law, which stipulated that the pro- visional president and the vice-presidents of the republic should hold their offices until the new magistrates were inaugurated and that the commander of the national army should exercise his functions until the inauguration of the constitutional presi- dent, were omitted from the constitution of 1922. this consti- tution further provided that in case the president should be permanently disabled, he should be succeeded by the ranking vice-president. on june 24 following, general gemez relieved marquez bustillos of the nominal authority which the latter had exercised since 1914, and assumed the powers of president for the term terminating in 1929. on july 1 1923 the president’s brother, gen. juan c. gemez, first vice-president of the republic, was murdered in miraflores palace. in oct. 1923 the venezuelan minister of foreign affairs declared that mexico had severed diplomatic relations with his country alleging that venezuela had expelled a mexican theatrical company. in april 1924 the congress -.of venezuela assembled at caracas. boundary disputes —the boundary dispute between colom- bia and venezucla, which had been submitted to the arbitration of the swiss federal council, was decided in march 1922 in favour of the colombian contention; namely, that she was entitled to take possession of such portions of the territory in dispute as had been adjudged to her in accordance with the decision of the king of spain in-189t. this award also decided that both colombia and venezuela might proceed to occupy sections of territory bounded by natural frontiers which had been adjudged to them by the action of mixed commissions. the boundary line through the contested territory, so far as it had not been definitely settled, was subsequently determined 937 by swiss experts who employed aeroplanes and cameras to map out the unexplored areas involved. defence.—in 1912 venezuela purchased a small vessel from the united states, which was made the flagship of the navy. in 1925 the venezuelan navy was composed of three gunboats and a training ship with a personnel of a few hundred men. the standing army was composed of some 9,000 infantry, artillery and cavalry. in addition there was a reserve estimated to consist of about 100,000 men. by a law published in june 1919 military service was made compulsory for all adult male citizens with certain exceptions. service in the army or navy for two years in peace-time and during war at the president’s pleasure was made compulsory with relegation to the reserve until the age of 45. a decree of april 17 1920 pro- vided for a military aviation schoo] at maracay. fducation.— according to the law of 1921 primary education is free and compulsory between 7 and 14 years. secondary education comprises two courses; one of general study occupying four years, and one of professional study occupying two years. normal training is furnished by two institutions at caracas. among the special schools are schools of commerce and modern languages at the capital and other important cities, besides two schools of industrial arts and trades. higher education is afforded by the central university of venezuela at caracas where instruction is given in medical science, political science, ecclesiastical science, mathematics and physical science. ‘there was a similar institution, the university of the andes, at merida. physical education is compulsory in all schools up to the age of 21. according to the report of the minister of public instruction for 1925, the attendance at educational institu- tions of venezucla for 1924 was as follows: primary schools, 352,337; secondary schools, 9,203; normal schools, 3,664; special schools, 14,762; higher institutions, 4,304; making a total of 384,270. expen- diture on education for 1924-5 was 4,648,345 bolivares. fl. financial and economic history finance.—since 1909 the financial condition of venezuela has steadily improved. the new law concerning public credit which came into force on june 15 1923, introduced reforms in the adminis- tration of venezucla's finances. among other provisions it stipulated that certificates of the internal national consolidated debt which were recetved by the treasury should be burned. the following de- tails of the public debt of venezucla in bolivares as outstanding on dec. 31 1923, are taken from the report of the minister of finance for 1924:— external debt: national three per cent cliplomatic debt three per cent diplomatic debt of 1905 total internal debt: national internal three per cent consolidated 9, 169,490°26 58,948,145 68,117,635.26 debt : 42,647,277 -93 three per cent inscribed debt 2,098,652°50 total 44,745,930°43 the total indebtedness of the venezuelan govt. on dec. 31 1923 thus amounted to 112,863,565-69. the budget for 1924-5 estimated expenditure at 63,354,500 bolivarecs. over one-fourth of this amount was allotted to the ministry of finance and public credit, one-fifth was assigned to the ministry of war and the navy, while more than one-sixth was given to the ministry of the interior. in the budget the receipts of that year were estimated at 66,167,000 bolivares, an increase of 3,322,000 over those for 1923-4. in his message to con- gress on april 25 1925 president gomez stated that the total na- tional debt had been reduced to 99,445,723 bolivares by jan. i 1925, and that on dec. 31 1924 there was in the treasury a surplus of 64,692,080.46 bolivares. the bolivar was relatively stable during the world war. the exchange value of the u.s. dollar measured in bolivares at different dates was as follows: july ig14, 5-30; april 1917, 5:14; april 1918, 4°32; jan. 1919, 4-25; dec. ig19, 5°16; feb. 1920, 5-18; sept. 1923, 5°43; jan. 1924, 5:25; and oct. 1924, 5-18. on dec. 31 1923 there were in circulation in venezuela 35,129,695 bolivares of bank-notes, while the gold reserve aggregated 55,149,749. of the paper currency 25,293,340 bolivares was supplied by the banco de venezuela. a shortage of silver in the circulating media has been met under the provisions of a law of 1918 by the minting of new silver coins. industry and commerce.—agriculture and cotton raising were the chief sources of national wealth, and for 1924 the venezuclan oil- fields showed a successful yield; in 1924 petroleum production was 1,330,912 metric tons. exports of coffee had risen from 52,088,000 kilos in 1922 to 38,436,000 during the first six months of ig24. according to official reports, the total foreign trade of venezuela in 1923 amounted to 309,396,512 bolivares (1 bolivar = $.19295). the imports aggregated 152,692,315 while the exports came to 156,704,- 197 bolivares. the countries furnishing the largest amounts of the imports were in order: united states, great britain, germany, france, the netherlands, spain and italy, while the countries taking the largest amounts of exports were the netherlands, united states, 938 spain, france, great britain and germany. in_1923 the chief exports were valued as follows in bolivares: coffee, 68,945,726; petroleum, 27,321,920; cacao, 23,817,102; sugar, 5,359,123; balata, 4,084,588; hides, 3,515,550; cattle, 1,901,455; gold, 1,300,000; as- phalt, 1,332,940; heron plumes, 1,017,735; and pearls, 740,880. communications.—in 1924 thirteen railways of importance were operating in venezuela. the total length was 645 m., and the con- struction of new, short lines was contemplated. the construction, improvement and repair of venezuclan roads continued to receive much attention from the government. decrees have been issued providing especially for the construction of a great western highway to connect caracas with the colombian border near cristebal, and for the construction of a great eastern highway to connect caracas with venezuelan guiana. wireless communication with trinidad is maintained through the caracas station, which has been im- proved. communication with puerto rico has been maintained through the maiquetia station. the puerto cabello and maracaibo ptations have ceased operations. bes_tiogrrapny.—p. l. bell, venezuela (washington, 1922); l. v. dalton, vevezuela (london, 1922); w. s. robertson, [zzstory of the latin-american nations (new york, 1922); and fspanic- american relations with the united states (new york, 1923); mensaje que el general juan vicente gomez, presidente constitucional de los estados unidos de venezuela, presenta al congreso nactonal en sus sesiones ordinarias de 1925 (caracas, 1925); anuario estadistico de venezuela (annual, caracas); department of overseas trade re- ports, annual series (h.m. stationery office, london); report of council of corporation of foreign bondholders (annual, london). (w. s. ro.) venice, italy (sce 27.995), had a population of 171,615 in 1g2t. an exact reproduction of the famous campanile, which collapsed in r902, was finished in 1912; and the loggetta det cavalieri, which was crushed in its fall, has also been repaired. the city suffered from aerial bombardments in the world war; 620 bombs were dropped, but the damage to its famous buildings and monuments, though considerable, was less than had been feared. the church of santa maria formosa was practically destroyed, but has been restored. the bronze horses of st. mark’s were removed to rome for safety. after the war various pictures were returned to the academia by austria. in 1920 the procuratie nuove, which was first the home of the procurators of st. mark’s and then a napoleonic palace, was given to venice by the italian royal family, and now houses the civic museum of art and history. in 1925 the foundation stone of a votive temple was laid on the lido by the venetian patriarch in fulfilment of a vow made in ror7 that if the city was saved from falling into the hands of the enemy a church would be built in honour of the virgin. a brick from st. peter’s and a piece of rock from the grotto at lourdes have been incorporated in the foundations. improvements to the port—in 1917 plans were made for a new port for venice on the mainland, south of the railway line to padua; in 1922 the canal of approach was opened by king victor emmanuel, and named in his honour, and in 1924 the con- struction of the main works was begun. the port, when finished, will cover twice the area of venice itself, and will consist of parallel moles 3,000 ft. long with docks of 600 to 800 ft. between. two moles will be built at first, with isolated jetties on the canal for oil ships. with the existing docks in venice this will give the port a capacity of 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 tons a year. it 1s hoped that the industrial area, which ts being built behind the docks, will create a considerable volume of trade. behind the industrial area again a garden suburb to house 30,000 is being brought into existence by the municipality. special customs facilitics have been granted for the encouragement of trade in the new port, which, it is thought, will in no way spoil the beauty of venice. veniselos, eleutherios (1864- —+), greek statesman, was born in crete aug. 23 1864 of a family which had emigrated from greece in 1770. having been educated in the schools of syra and athens and having taken a degrce in the university of athens at the age of 23, the future statesman practised law in crete. but following his father’s example and like most mem- bers of his profession in the near east, he soon became a poli- tician, and in the insurrection of 1889 was compelled to flee from the island. after his return and the re-establishment of tran- quillity, veniselos was elected a member of the cretan assembly, venice—veniselos and in 1897 came into prominence as one of the leaders of the cretan uprising; it was he who received the british, 'rench and italian admirals when they came to negotiate a settlement between the insurgents and the turks early in feb. of that year. in dec. 1898 prince george of greece landed in crete as the high commissioner of the great powers, and a few months later veniselos became head of the island executive. but he soon found himself at variance with the prince’s autocracy, and in 1904 a complete rupture occurred. subsequently the veni- selists were defeated at the polls, but the cretan leader organised a revolt, which greatly increased the unpopularity of the high commissioner among a people whom he was misruling. in sept. 1906 the prince left the island, his place being taken by m. alex. zaimis, who was appointed not by the powers, but by the king of greece. from that time until 1909 veniselos was sometimes chief of the cretan govt. and sometimes leader of the opposition. but whilst the cretans often came into sharp conflict with the protecting powers, veniselos’s wisdom and moderation were responsible for the generally friendly relations which existed, and his far-sightcdness, particularly after the departure of m. zaimis in oct. 1908, and during the crisis of 1909, facilitated the union of crete with greece, which ulti- mately took place as a result of the first balkan war. in 1909 the military league headed a bloodless revolution against political corruption and court favouritism in greece and invited veniselos to come to athens. he persuaded king george and the league that the best way out of a dangerous situation would be the revision of the constitution by a national assembly. elections were held in aug. 1910, and veniselos, who had re- mained technically a greek citizen during his cretan political life, took his seat at athens for the first time. the chamber having been opened in sept., a month later veniselos became prime minister. indeed, such was his power at this time that, although faced by parliamentary difficulties, he was in a posi- tion to have brought about the expulsion of the royal family and the establishment of any regime which he thought desirable. but the cretan statesman was bent upon reforms by pacific means, and realising that a fundamental change would be con- trary to the interests of the country, he loyally decided to work with the king and his successors. the constitution was suc- cessfully revised in 1911, reforms in the public services were introduced, and the reorganisation of the army and of the navy were respectively placed in the hands of french and british missions. in the spring of 1912 venisclos was returned to power as the leader of an overwhelming majority in an ordinary cham- ber which then replaced the revisionary assembly. by that time, too, the prime minister was busily occupied with the formation of the balkan league, and on may 29 1912 the greco-bulgarian treaty was signed. other greek statesmen had worked for a like object, and the circumstances may have been more favourable than heretofore, but it is certain that the balkan league would never have come into being except for veniselos’s foresight in accepting the necessity for taking greece into an alliance which had already been made between bulgaria and serbia. whilst the balkan wars and veniselos’s diplomacy led to an unexpected hellenic expansion, the assassination of king george at salonika on march 18 1913 removed a man who had always been in favour of moderation, and placed upon the throne his son constantine, who had not forgiven, and who never really forgave, veniselos for his attitude towards prince george in crete. when the world war broke out, therefore, the position of greece was greatly complicated by the facts that she was bound to serbia by a treaty signed in the summer of 1913; that from the first veniselos was an ardent supporter of the allied cause; and that the king was in sympathy with the central powers. before the entry of turkey into the war, veniselos openly favoured hellenic assistance for the entente in case of that entry, and early in tors the prime minister advocated concessions to bulgaria, greek support for serbia, and greck co-operation at the dardanelles in exchange for the promise of important future compensations in western asia minor. but, veniselos though he appears originally to have approved of the idea, the king vetoed veniselos’ decision to accept this offer, and he was forced to resign, though he possessed a strong majority in the chamber. in the election which followed in june the veniselist party secured the return of r90 deputies out of a total of 316, of which the chamber was then composed. in spite of this, and with the excuse of the king’s illness, veniselos was not recalled to power until after the mecting of the chamber in aug. and by that time the situation had become seriously modified. the entry of italy into the war, helpful as it was, complicated the position of greece, the attack upon the dardanelles had proved a failure, and developments in the balkans were reacting seriously against the allied cause. serbia managed more or less to hold her own during the first year of the war, but now a fresh austrian invasion was imminent, and bulgaria, whose support the allies had failed to gain, was pre- paring to throw in her lot with the central powers. in equity, if not in actual law, the entry of bulgaria brought into operation the greco-serbian treaty of 1913 and necessitated the support of serbia by greece. bulgaria mobilised on sept. 19 1915, and a few days later veniselos had an audience with the king, at which his majesty reluctantly consented to a greek mobilisa- tion and to a greek request that the allies should furnish an army of 150,000 men to take the place of the contingent which ought to have been supplied by serbia under the treaty. immediately after the original allied landing at salonika on oct. 1 veniselos secured a vote of confidence during an historic and stormy meeting of the chamber, when he declared that if in aiding serbia greece was brought into contact with germany she would act as her honour demanded. in spite of a formal protest against the allied passage through hellenic territory, this speech led to the second dismissal of veniselos and to the open and final rupture between that statesman and the king, who, it would seem, always intended to withdraw his consent to an iicllenic entry into the war. zaimis, the new prime minister, maintained his position for a month as a result of the patriotism of veniselos, his friend from cretan times, but, with the accession of skouloudis to power, on nov. 6 the chamber was dissolved and a new election ordered for dec. 19. as a protest against what was the king’s infringement of the spirit, if not the letter, of the constitution, veniselos called upon his party to abstain from the polls, and therefore, whilst m. gounaris secured an overwhelming majority for his policy of neutrality, the fact that m. veniselos was able to prevent a large proportion of the voters from taking any part in the election proved the then existing strength of his party. veniselos spent that winter and spring (1915~6) in endeavour- ing to compel the king to change his point of view. but the surrender of eastern macedonia to the bulgarians in the summer of 1916 and the delay in the success of the allied campaign at salonika had strengthened the position of constantine, and on sept. 25 1916 veniselos, together with his principal supporters, sailed for crete, whence he sent out proclamations calling upon all true patriots to flock to the standard of the entente. pro- ceeding thence to salonika, early in oct., he founded a provi- sional govt., which was recognised about two months later by great britain and france, though not by italy. a call for vol- unteers was responded to by the inhabitants of those parts of greece not in constantinist hands, and thousands of volunteers were soon gathered at salonika, but the royalist govt. countered this and other developments by causing a solemn anathema to be pronounced against veniselos by the archbishop of athens. after the dethronement and enforced departure of king con- stantine, veniselos returned to athens on june 26 1917, and took over the government of the whole country. the june 15 chamber was convoked, a general mobilisation was ordered, and greece formally entered the theatre of hostilities upon the allied side. but the removal of the king, the successes of the central powers, particularly in the balkans, and an increased greek desire for neutrality, backed up by german’ propaganda, were responsible for a great diminution of the prime minister’s popu- larity. thus, whereas the entry of greece into the war mate- 939 rially favoured the allied position at salonika, and whereas hellenic contingents co-operated in that area, the officers and functionaries whom it was necessary to retire on account of their political views formed a dangerous element in an opposi- tion which became ever more and more active. between the armistice of nov. 1918 and his fall two years later, veniselos and his colleagues, who represented greece at the peace conference, were almost continuously absent in paris and in london and, during this period, it appeared that the widespread influence of the premier would secure for his coun- try a success to which even her most ardent admirers had never even aspired. about the end of april 1o19 the greeks were permitted, or encouraged, to land at smyrna; a year later the conference of san remo promised large areas to greece, and the treaty of sevres (aug. to 1920) coupled with the earlier treaty of neuilly (nov. 27 tor1g) seemed destined to promote that country from a position of secondary balkan importance to one of international significance. during this period, too, the hellenic representative won such admiration and played so brilliant a part that he became a leading figure in the counsels of the allies. nevertheless, at a moment when his triumph appeared to be complete, and when he might have been expected to be a greater hero at home than abroad, an attempt was made upon his life at a paris station (aug. 1920), and three months later (nov. 14) he received a crushing defeat at the hands of the greek electorate for whom he had worked so hard. opinions have been, and are, widely divided as to the reasons for veniselos’s political downfall. it has been attributed to the unpopularity of the war in asia minor and to the consequent continued mobilisation, and it has been ascribed to a determina- tion on the part of the people to regain what they called their liberty. each of these factors played its part, but the decision was influenced primarily not by the foreign but by the broader aspects of the home situation. thus the facts that veniselos had been maintained at salonika, that he was brought back to athens in 1917, and that he was kept in power there largely by foreign support, were resented by the people. moreover the re-assembly and particularly the prolongation of the chamber of 1915, the maintenance of martial law, the bad administration carried on by the subordinates of the premier while he was abroad, and the formation of and injustices practised by the “ corps de la sirete ” were responsible for widespread ill-fecling. furthermore, the continued absence of the premier and the unreliable information then supplied to him caused him to lose touch with the electoral atmosphere, and gave him a confidence which was entircly unjustified. and, lastly, there was the popu- larity of constantine, gained in the balkan wars and greatly increased by his enforced departure from athens in 1917. this was always a matter of fundamental significance, but after the unexpected death of the young king alexander, as a result of a monkey’s bite, immediately before the election, the dynastic question, open mention of which had previously been prohibited, was brought into the forefront of the political struggle and, in what then became the direct issue between constantine and veniselos, the king won an overwhelming victory. from the arrival of the king in athens on dec. 20 1920, until his final abdication and second departure on sept. 30 1922, veniselus took no official part in greek affairs, though he con- tinued to use his international influence in order to endeavour to mitigate the results of the asiatic disaster, the seeds of which he had sown by his own policy. after the revolution (sept. 1922), however, veniselos for a time undertook the representation of greece in western europe, and in that capacity he voiced the interests of his country during the long-drawn-out conference of lausanne which culminated in the peace signed with turkey on july 24 1923. in the following dec., when the publication of that document and various other events had aggravated the existing internal dissension and when the election (dec. 16) had again given his party a majority, veniselos was persuaded to return to athens, where he arrived on jan. 4 1924. king george was already then on leave of absence, veniselos was prime minister from jan. 11 till feb. 4, when he resigned on the advice 940 of his physician, and a great struggle centred around the future constitutional system. veniseclos favoured a republic, should a plebiscite support its establishment, and about a fortnight after his departure from athens on march 10, this alternative was declared to have been adopted by the chamber, which secured a mandate for its policy at a plebiscite held on april 13. veniselos, who spent the greater part of his leisure from 1921-6 in france, was left a widower with two sons (kyriakos b. 1893 and sophocles b. 1895) in 1895. on sept. 15 1921 he married miss helena schilizzi, heiress of a greek chiot family estab- lished in england. bibliography.—-c, kerofilas, eleftherios venizelos, his life and work (eng. tr. 1915); s. b. chester, life of venizelos (1921); fy a; gibbons, venizelos (1921); w. miller, a flistory of the greek people, 1821-1921 (1922); the vindication of greek national policy, speeches delivered in the greek chamber aug. 23-26 1917 (eng. tr. london, 1918); ‘‘ the internal situation in greece and the amnesty of political offenders” (speech in greek chamber april 23-may 6 1917); greek bureau of foreign information, london (eng. tr. 1920). (h,. c.. wo.) ventilating: see heating and ventilating. verdun, battles of. from the east is confronted by a series of ridges between the moselle and paris. the second of these ridges is formed by the historic escarpment 400 metres in height, above the meuse and called the heights of the meuse. here is placed the fortress of verdun, one of the main barriers on the road to paris. the reduction of this position was one of the main aims of the germans, especially after their failure to break through in the early months of the war. the following account of their efforts is presented in four sections, entitled respectively: i. verdun before 1916; ii. the first battle, feb. 1916; iii. the second phase, march-sept. 1916; and iv. verdun set free. i. verdun before 1916 in order that the strategic importance of verdun may be duly appreciated, its position in the general french defensive scheme must be briefly described. history of the fortress.—after the war of 1870 gen. sere de rivicre, who was entrusted with the task of organising the frontier defences, constructed a protective curtain stretching from verdun on the north to toul on the south. fortresses guarded the routes between these two places. the forts at genicourt and troyon covered the bridges of dieuc and lacroix. the battery at paroches dominated the pass at shada. the fort at the camp of the romans dominated the road to st. mihiel. further south the forts at liouville, gironville and jouy jinked up with toul. on this rampart of the heights of the meuse verdun formed the northern muzzle, opposite the fortified camp at metz some 4om. away. the railway from paris to metz passes within the precincts of the fortress by the tavannes tunnel. the fortress was planned so as to form the principal line of resistance towards the north —on a cross ridge on which were the forts of froide terre, douaumont, and hardaumont. on the east, on a line following the crest of the cliffs, were the forts of vaux, la laufee and moulainville. the line then turned south on a cross ridge, the ridge of rozellier, east of the meuse along the dugny and landrecourt ridges on the west. the line then closed on the west and north on the ridges of the left bank by the forts regret, sartelles, choisel and bois-bourrus. a second line of defence on the right bank, behind the first, was flanked by the fortifications at belleville, saint michel, souville and belrupt. the core of the position consisted of an old forti- fied enclosure of vauban’s time and a citadel dating back to henry ii. galleries hewn out of the rocky foundation of the citadel, with workshops, bakeries, stores of food, water pumps and barracks formed a subterranean city safe against bom- bardment. verdun in 1914.—at the beginning of the war the fortress was an independent command. after the battle of the frontiers the iii. army in retreat based its right upon it and, pivoting round it, finally faced west on the crown prince’s flank. the latter then sought to turn it by a southerly move along the ventilating—verdun, battles of valley of the ornain, but on the morning of sept. 13 1914 was obliged to retreat by the defeat of the german armies before paris. the french lines were then established 10 km. north of verdun and the point was quiet for nearly 18 months. at the southeast of verdun where the heights of the meuse slope east to the plain of woevre, a stiff but indecisive fight took place in the spring of 1915 for the observatory of les eparges. i'rench and germans remained face to face along the crest. further south, in the area of st. mihiel, by a surprise attack on sept. 20 1914 the bavarians penetrated to the camp of the romans and gained a foothold on the left bank of the meuse in the barracks of chauvoncourt. the french iii. army on one side and the i. army on the other, checked the bavarian success by operating on their flanks. the bavarians stabilised their position in the woods of chevaliers and mouilly and to the south in the woods of ailly. the german lines remained huddled up opposite st. mihiel. west of verdun the crown prince attempted to reach the argonne in the direction of varennes and forced the french lines back to the edge of boureuilles and vauquois. the verdun-boureuilles line had the grave defect of exposing the main supply line for verdun to enemy fire from aubreville. status of the fortress changed.—the autonomy of the great fortresses was cancelled on aug. § 1015 in order to make their garrisons and equipment available for the armies in the field. dunkirk, verdun and belfort, the three great fortresses on the area of battle, became fortified regions linked up with the armies. the fortified region of verdun (r.f.v.) was placed under gen. herr, who ranked as an army commander. his headquarters were at dugny. the r.f.v. was at first part of the group of armies of the east, but on feb. 1 1916 was attached to the group of armies of the centre—then commanded by gen. langle de cary whose headquarters were at avize. on feb. 10 1916 gen. herr had available seven divisions with one in reserve, and two territorial brigades. on the left hand, the 29th and 67th div. formed the bozelais group. on the right bank the xxx. corps, with two divisions (72nd and 51st) was on the heights. the 14th div. with the territorial brigades was to the east in the plain of woevre. the ii. corps was in support from fro- mezey to paroches. the 37th and 48th divs. formed the reserve. these dispositions were laid down by the instructions of aug. 9 1915. they were entirely defensive in nature and sought to secure the front between the army of humbert on the left and the army of roques on the right. germany selects verdun for attack—about christmas 1915 gen. von falkenhayn submitted to the german emperor a report setting forth the views of the german staff as to the campaign of 1916. the report urged that france had reached the limits of exhaustion. russia was powerless, serbia destroyed, italy deceived, though all were sustained by the will of britain who was fighting against germany as she had fought against napoleon. unfortunately it was not easy to reach britain effectively either in her distant possessions by operations which could never be decisive, or on her own soil, or on the continent. in flanders, no attack could be made before the middle of spring. the ground was too difficult. between arras and the ’s front—an offensive would take 30 divi- sions. germany could gather only 26 divisions, to be used all together, and this would expose dangerous points on the front. it was impossible to attack britain directly. she would be defeated if the allied armies on the continent were broken. where, then, was this to be done. defeat of italy would have little effect on england. opcrations against russia could not begin till april and then only towards the ukraine where com- munications were lacking and a flank would be exposed to rumania. the only possible line of attack was against trance. it was not necessary to attack or break through in force, which would be costly and stood condemned in the light of the recent failure in champagne. behind, but close to, the french front were positions of such importance that they would have to be held to the last man. operations on a limited scale would not involve very large forces and germany had reserves enough to mect all emergencies. this reasoning led to the battle of verdun. verdun, battles of sy buf rm» j ay pre zo _ ae a a ty aa, ~