AALAND ISLANDS

an archipelago in the baltic sea, including about 300 islands, forming a bridge across the mouth of the gulf of bothnia, between sweden and finland. population 26,o00. the islands are nearer to the finnish shore, and in winter are joined to it by an ice-sheet. their position gives them some strategical importance. the population, 27,123 in 1922, is swedish in language and national feeling. after belonging to the swedish crown since the middle ages, the islands were ceded to russia, together with finland, on sept. 17 1809, under the tsardom they were united with fin- land until the latter country declared her independence in 1917. in dec. of that year the aaland islanders claimed the right of self-determination on their own account, and unofficial plebt- scites showed a vote in favour of reunion with sweden. finland granted the islands autonomy on may 7 1920 but refused to contemplate their secession. in june the leaders of the secession movement were arrested for high treason, and finnish troops were sent to the island. as this situation was producing a state of serious tension between finland and sweden, great britain, with the aim of ending it, drew the attention of the council of the league of nations to the movement on june 19 1920. ‘is > = 3 ‘ try in a = [~} a” ey a4 salir ance land s sy ne with the consent of the two interested governments, the council consulted a special commission of jurists as to whether the question was international or was the exclusive concern of finland. this commission declared the question international, whereupon the council dispatched a special commission of in- quiry to the spot. this commission reported against the claim of the islanders to secede from finland, but declared that the islanders formed a distinct group within the finnish body politic, and suggested that the maintenance of finnish sovereignty ought to be made conditional upon the incorporation in the autonomy law of may 7 1020 of five specific guarantees. the commission also reported in favour of a new convention, to be signed by all the baltic powers, for the neutralisation and demilitarisation of the aaland islands, to replace the earlier international conven- tion of march 30 1856. this report was accepted by the council and the two interested governments. an agreed text of the five guarantees was subse- quently inserted in the finnish law, and was placed under the supervision of the council of the league. the new neutralisation convention was negotiated at a conference held at geneva from oct. 10-20 1921, and it came into force on april 6 1922. et bere serene “epee bibliography.—jleague of na- ba trons official journal, special supple- ments nos. 1 and 3 (1920); british white paper, cd. 1,680 (1922); aa. j. toynbee, survey of interna- tional affairs, 1920-23, pp. 234-38 m (1925). (a. j. t.) abbas ii. (1874-1923), khe- dive of egypt (see 1.9), died at vienna on april 4 1923. | abbe, cleveland (1838- 1916), american meteorologist and astronomer, was born in new york dec. 3 1838. his training as astronomer under b. a. gould, briinnow and struve (pulkova, 1865-6) and work at the u.s. naval observatory developed his interest in weather changes. as director of the cincinnati observatory, 1869-73, he demon- strated the practicability of weather forecasts based on daily telegraphic synoptic charts, and in 1870 joined the u.s. signal corps 2 abbey—-abercorn to organise and direct its weather forecasts. when this greatly expanded service was transferred to the department of agri- culture in 1891, he went as senior professor of meteorology. abbe was often and justly called the ‘‘ father of the weather bureau.” the monthly weather review, which he edited, and the introduction of the system of standard time, were both due to his initiative. among his works are: report on standard time (1879); mechanics of the earth’s atmosphere (1892-1910); preparatory studies for deductive methods (1890); relation between climate and crops (1901); physical basis of long-range forecasting (1902). abbey, edwin austin (1852-1911), american painter (see r.11). the last years of his life were devoted to mural paintings for the capitol at iarrisburg, pa., his native state. of these he completed three, one for the house of representatives, another for the senate chamber and the third for the ceiling of the dome. in roro there was completed under his supervision the decora- tion of the peers’ corridor of the houses of parliament at westminster. he left bequests of his work to the metropolitan museum of art in new york, the boston museum of fine arts and the national gallery, london. he died in london aug. i iori. abbott, grace (1878- ), american social worker, was born nov. 17 1878 at grand island, nebraska. she graduated from grand island college in 1898, and, after teaching for nine years, became in 1908 director of the immigrants’ protective league and a resident of hull house, chicago. she received the degree of m.a. from the university of chicago in 1909. from 1917 to 1920 she was director of the child labour division of the children’s bureau at washington, d.c., and subsequently executive secretary of the illinois immigrants’ commission, returning to washington in 1922 as chief of the children’s bureau. she served in 1923 as unofficial representative of the united states on the advisory committee of the league of nations on traffic in women and children, and also as president of the national conference of social workers. she wrote the immigrant and the community (1917) and federal aid for the protection of maternity and infancy (1923). abbott, lyman (1835-1922), american divine and author (see 1.26), continued after 1910 to take an active part in the dis- cussion of public questions. on the sinking of the “ lusitania ” in rors he urged that the united states should break off diplo- matic relations with germany. he died in new york city oct. 22 1922. he was the author of the spirit of democracy (1910); america in the making (1911, yale lectures on the responsibilities of citizenship); and reminiscences (1915). abdel-krim.—mohomed ben abdel-krim el-khatabe, a moroccan chieftain, was the son of a kaid of the beni uriaghel tribe inhabiting the mountainous country that extends inland from alhucemas bay on the rif coast of morocco. his father was a person of no particular importance or family, but; being a man of progressive ideas and in contact with the spaniards at melilla, he gave his two sons an education to which few of the rifi tribesmen aspire. while mohomed, the future rifi leader, was taught spanish and a smattering of european knowledge, his brother, muhammed, was sent to spain and educated as a mining engineer. mohomed was employed in the oflice of native affairs at melilla, while his brother worked in the interests of certain mining groups. in 1919 a quarrel between mohomed and gen. silvestre, of the spanish army, led to the former’s flight from melilla. he took to the mountains of his tribe, where his brother joined him. both swore revenge and instituted a fierce resistance to the occupation of the rif by the spaniards. in 1921 mohomed ben abdel-krim avenged himself of the slight he had received from silvestre. with only a few hundred tribesmen he attacked the spanish advanced post of anual and captured it. silvestre was killed, or committed suicide. the fall of anual spread panic through the spanish army of 109,000 men. were deserted and the troops fled in disorderly retreat. before the fighting was over 16,o00 men out of the 19,000 had been massacred. the remainder mostly crossed into the french zone. the spanish posts | the rifi tribesmen were guilty of every kind of treachery and atrocity, but it was their revenge for acts of which they accuse the spaniards, more especially that of forcible interference with their women, an unpardonable offence in their eyes. the rifis reached the walls of melilla, and had they chosen they could have captured the town and massacred its population of 50,000 civilians. but glutted with bloodshed and loaded with loot they desisted. this signal defeat of the spaniards vastly increased abdel- krim’s reputation amongst the tribes. the jabala, inhabiting the western portion of the spanish zone, joined his cause and in 1924 the spaniards were obliged to abandon all their inland positions and retreat on tetuan and the sea, suffering heavy losses in the retirement. by the end of that year abdel-krim, having rid himself by capture of his only rival, raisuli, was master of the situation and set to work to prepare a fresh cam- paign against the spaniards. but a new danger threatened him from the south. the french, gradually occupying the zone to which they laid claim under existing treaties, were advancing northward, and abdel-krim was forced to go to the aid of the threatened tribes. his army and the revolted tribesmen invaded the french protectorate and by june 1925 threatened fez. french reinforcements were hurriedly despatched from france and algeria and by oct. the french protectorate territory was clear of the enemy, and a french army of 160,000 men, under marshal petain, was on the borders of the rif. in september the spaniards had successfully disembarked a force in alhucemas bay and ajdir had been taken. by nov. 1 1925 the french and spanish armies had been obliged by the weather to abandon an active campaign and were digging themselves into winter quar- ters, but abdel-krim, though weakened and threatened, was by no means beaten. this man of great ability and astounding energy fortified his mountain fastnesses and collected new forces to continue his campaign against two european armies, but in vain. he surrendered to france in may 1926. (see morocco, campaigns in.) (w. b. he.) ‘abdulaziz ibn sa‘ud, king of hejaz and sultan of nejd, was born at riyadh about 1880, the eldest son of ‘abdul rah- man, who was the youngest of the four sons of faisal ibn turki ibn sa‘ud, the wahhabi amir of nejd during the middle of the roth century. consequent upon the civil war which prevailed on the latter’s death, the early years of ‘abdulaziz were passed in exile at bahrei and kuwait. at the latter place ‘abdul rah- man and his sons were hospitably received by the ruling sheikh, mubarak ibn subah, and it was to this astute statesman that ‘abdulaziz owed his political training. mubarak, apart from a feud with ibn rashid who had usurped the amirate of nejd, was always in difficulties with the turks, and in self-defence devel- oped the most cordial relations with great britain—a factor which accounts for the confidence in the british which has al- ways marked the reign of ibn sa‘ud. by his father, a sincere and austere wahhabi, ibn sa‘ud was instructed in the principles of a simple creed, and never allowed to forget his duty to avenge his family. by 1900 he was ready for action and led a band of 200 devoted followers into the desert. with 15 of these he en- tered riyadh secretly by night. next morning he slew the ra- shidian governor and was master of the city. and the rest of his life story is the history of arabia (g.v.), culminating in his proc- lamation as king of hejaz in jan. 1926. a man of uxorious temperament, ibn sa‘ud is believed to have married 125 wives. abdul hamid ii. (1842-1918), ex-sultan of turkey (see 1.35), died feb. 10 1918. on his deposition in april 1909 he was sent to salonika as a state prisoner, but when that town capitu- lated to the greeks during the balkan war (1912) he was brought back to constantinople. in 1915 it was judged prudent to exile him from turkey in europe and consequently he was removed tu magnesia, near smyrna. abercorn, james hamilton 2np duke of (1838-1013) british politician (see 1.43), died in london jan. 3 1913. he was succeeded as 3rd duke by his eldest son, james albert epwarp hamilton, born nov. 30 1869. the latter was made governor of northern ireland in 1923. aberdeen—abyssinia 4 aberdeen, scotland (see 1.47), had a population in 1921 of 158,963, a decrease of some 5,000 on the ror figure. in 1924, however, the population was estimated at 159,900. the city continues to extend, particularly to the west and northwest. in 1910 a masonic temple, a grey, granite building in renaissance style, was erected in crown street, and new operating theatres, etc., were installed in the royal infirmary. in the same year a roman catholic church was built at torry, a fishing village now within the city boundaries, and in 1911 the john knox parish church in spital was rebuilt. after the war an orthopaedic hospital was installed in the city. in sept. 1925 king george v. opened the city’s war memorial. this consists of a domed court, or hall of remembrance, attached to the art gallery and museum. other extensions opened at the same time include cowdray hall, used for lectures, with the cowdray museum of applied arts beneath it. new rooms were also provided for the pictures.