South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-02-22

which has al
ready passed
0----int into the hands
princess ,k., will of the kaiser.
These two
cities were long before the war the
center of German propaganda and
spying. and the Berlin general staff
had whole army of agents scat
tered in them, most Of whom were
employed in the numerous factories
and munition plants which abound
ed there They continued these
functions with those of German re-
serve officers, and when the war
broke out were Immediately recall
eG to their respective regiments,
which in most cases they contrived
to reach. bring along with them val
liable information in regard to the
defenses of the two harbors and
those Of the Baltic port, which is a
sort of annex to Reveal and where a
great portion Of the Russian fleet
remained generally bottled up dur
ing the winter months.
The Germans i'm Riga.
that Of Reval. is mostly German. or
at least has German sympathies.
Both these cities had the reputation
of being the stronsholds of German
propaganda in the empire OF the
cZars. owing 20 the constant manner
in which they traded with Germany
ever since the beginning of their
a,yfGtanna in, 90 4
i'm 1853 as a storehOOse by a few
Bremen merchants. About 1870 an
Augustinian monk. called Meinhard,
built a monastery there. and in
1901 Bishop Albert | of Livonia. OBJ
tanned from Pope Innocent III per-
mission for German merchants to
land at the new settlement. which
he chose for his seat, exercising his
power over the neighboring district
in connection with the Teutonic
knights.
AS early as the first half of the
18th century the young city obtain
ed the right of Ciecting it's own
magistracy. Almost Immediately
afterward il Joined the Hanseatic
league, and from 1858 refused 10
recognize the rights of the bishops
and Teutonic knights to rule it. The
latter. however, enforced obedience
with their sword, and the town fell
again, under their yoke. after furi-
Gus resistance. until the refOrma-
ton freed it once more.
Sigismund II, king of Poland.
took Riga in 1J47 and the Russians
burned part of its suburbs and de-
stroyed all the ships at anchor in
the harbor in 1888. After the abdi-
cation of Gotthard Kettler from his
grand mastership of the Teutonic
knights in 1861, tie town became a
Polish possession. together with
Livonia and Coarland, and the Poles
tried persistently. but unsuccessful
". 10 reintroduce Roman Catholic
ism. The population Of Riga stub
bornly resisted all their attempts to
do so. until at last King stephen
Bathory Of Poland recognized the
religious freedom of the Protestants.
All through the nth century Riga
was a bone Of contention between
Sweden. Poland and Russia. In
1921 Gustavus AGOlphus. king of
sweden. took il from Poland and
held il against The Poles and Rus
slams. who. i'm 1856. besieged it to
gether. forgetting for once their
standing animosIty. The city cour-
ageously defended itself. but at last
sucCumbed after the battle of Pol
tava. and in July. 1910. it fell def
nitely into Russian hands, i'm which
il remained until the other day.
without. however. losing any of its
German sympathies. Indeed. the
whole character OF the town has re-
manned German. and the old por-
ton of IL still preserves its HanSea
tic features and appearance. with
its high Storehouses and spacious
granaries and cellars thanking the
narrow, winding streets. The only
open spaces are the market place
and two other squares. The sub
urhS are more modern. but the Ger
man aristocracy and the merchant
community Who mostly inhabit
them. have also tIilt their houses
i'm the style OF those one sees in Ber-
lin. Bremen cor Lul eek.
ReVal More TCutonic.
A. for RevaL Il is even more Ger
man than its iva sister port. be-
cause its population is almost en-
tjrely PruSSian Its origin is traced
back 10 the Danish -Kins Waldemar.
who erected there Ga 1919 Il strong
castle. which still exists and which
was even enlarged ina 1872. The
Livoniau knights took IL 10y storm
in 12-S. but lost q again 10 the
Danes nine yea-s later.
II was the king OF Denmark who
encouraged some Lubbock and Bre-
men merchants TO settle in the al
ready hourishing town. which very
soon. under the impulse OF these
new inhabitants became an import
ant seaport of The Hapseatic league
that caused il 10 BE fortified early
In the l4th century Waldemar III
sold Reveal and Esthcnia to the leu
tonic knights IN 1916. and on the
dissolution of he az der. il surren-