See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906. BELGIUM: A. D. 1908. North Sea and Baltic agreements. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1908. BELGIUM: A. D. 1908 (October). Annexation of the Congo State. See (in this Volume) CONGO STATE: A. D. 1906-1909. BELGIUM: A. D. 1909. New military law. Compulsory service with no substitution. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: BELGIAN. BELGIUM: A. D. 1909 (October). The Government’s programme of reforms in the Congo State. See CONGO STATE: A. D. 1909 (OCTOBER). {47} BELGIUM: A. D. 1909 (December). Death of King Leopold. Accession of King Albert. On the 17th of December, 1909, King Leopold died. He was succeeded on the throne by Prince Albert, son of his brother, the Count of Flanders. Of the new King, who was born in 1875, it was said by The Times, of London: "The happiest expectations are cherished in Belgium for the new King’s reign. He has shown, together with his gracious Consort, that desire to identify himself with the interests of the humblest of his subjects which we are accustomed to admire among the characteristic merits of our own Royal Family. He was naturally precluded by his position from taking any part in the controversies connected with the Congo, but it may reasonably be thought that if his uncle’s life had been less prolonged the constitutional difficulties raised by the ‘Congo question’ would have been avoided. He is known to have been painfully impressed by the need of reform during his recent visit to the colony." ----------BELGIUM: End-------- BELL, Richard: Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: ENGLAND: A. D. 1907-1909. BENEDICTINES: Forbidden to teach in France. See (in this Volume) France: A. D. 1908. BENGAL: A. D. 1905. Partition of the Province. See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1905-1909. BEQUESTS. See GIFTS. BERESFORD, Admiral Lord Charles: On the "Dreadnought." See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: DREADNOUGHT ERA. BERKELEY, California: Perfect example of the "Commission Plan" of Government. See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: CALIFORNIA. BERLIN: A. D. 1903. Sweeping victory of Socialists in Imperial election. See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1903. BERLIN: A. D. 1905. Strike in electrical industries. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: GERMANY. BERLIN TREATY OF 1878, Violations of the. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1908-1909 (OCTOBER-MARCH). BETHMANN-HOLLWEG, Dr. von: Appointed Chancellor of the German Empire. See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1908-1909, AND 1909 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER). "BIG SIX," The.