Ambassador George Buchanan and the July Crisis

During the July Crisis, the United Kingdom was put under strong pressure from Russia and the latter's ally, France, to declare it would fight alongside them. Britain had made the entente cordiale with France in 1904 and a Convention with Russia in 1907. The British Ambassador to St. Petersburg, George Buchanan, was the key figure in diplomatic communication between Britain and Russia at this time and his performance has drawn diverse comments over the decades. Some analysts believe he genuinely sought to restrain Russia from war, but was undermined by his own government, who too easily accepted St. Petersburg must mobilise its army. But others feel Buchanan's reports of Russian mobilisation were ill-informed and unhelpful to the government in London. This article examines Buchanan's performance, arguing that he attempted to preserve peace for a time and does not deserve some of the criticisms levelled at him. Nonetheless, the preservation of the Triple Entente was a priority for him and, after about 28 July, once it became clear that European war could not be avoided, he became tardy in reporting Russia's war preparations, appearing more interested in defending his hosts’ behaviour than in providing an accurate analysis of events.     

Lewis Harcourt's Journal of the 1914 War Crisis

Lewis Harcourt, who was Colonial Secretary in Britain's Liberal government, from 1908 to 1915, kept a political journal for many years, some earlier parts of which have already been published. Reproduced below is the whole neat version of the journal from 26 July 1914, when Harcourt first mentions the events of the ‘July Crisis’, until 4 August, when Britain declared war on Germany. Originals of the entries are kept at the Bodleian Library, Oxford in file Ms. Eng. c. 8269 of the ‘Further Papers of Lewis Harcourt’, which only came to light in 2008. Historians can be grateful that Harcourt kept such a record of ministerial discussions during the July Crisis, because no official records were taken of Cabinet meetings before 1916, apart from short reports by the Prime Minister to the King. There are some diary entries, letters and memoranda from those involved, but the only source with comparative detail to Harcourt's is the diary kept by the education minister, Jack Pease, which has already been published.     

Preferences for Water Policy in the Ogallala Region of New Mexico

In the late-1970s, Congress formed the High Plains Study Project to assess and study various management and water supply strategies for the Ogallala basin. In the early-1980s, the High Plains Study Council released its findings and recommendations, which in turn stimulated numerous interpretive critiques. A decade has passed since the High Plains Study Council report, yet water management problems persist. Using data from a survey of water experts in New Mexico, we identify the determinants of support and opposition to three water management options: voluntary conservation, mandatory regulation, and water importation. Preference for water management strategies is a function of how policy is perceived (regulatory vs. distributive). Water users in the Ogallala East region of New Mexico tended to oppose mandatory regulatory policies that provide the best option for conserving ground water resources for future generations; voluntary conservation-the least effective option—enjoyed the strongest support from respondents. The findings of this research should be of interest to persons concerned with the future of the Ogallala aquifer and to students of public policy.     

Book reviews

The Political Economy of Spanish America in the Age of Revolution. 1750–1850. Edited by KENNETH J. ANDRIEN and LYMAN L. JOHNSON. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994. Pp. viii, 263.

Mexico in the Age of Democratic Revolutions, 1750–1850. Edited by JAIME E. RODRIGUEZ O. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994. Pp. xiii, 330.

Transiciones hacia el sistema colonial andino. By CARLOS SEMPAT ASSADOURIAN. Lima: El Colegio de México—Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 1994. Pp. 304.

El Comercio Libre en el Perú. Las estrategias de un comerciante criollo: José Antonio de Lavalle y Cortés Conde de Premio Real, 1775–1815. By CRISTINA ANA MAZZEO. Lima: Fondo Editorial de la Universidad Católica, 1994. Pp. 279.

Barbarie y canibalismo en la retórica colonial. Los indios Pijaos de Fray Pedro Simón. By ALVARO FELIX BOLAÑOS. Bogotá: CEREC, 1994. Pp. 243.

America in European Consciousness, 1493–1750. Edited by KAREN ORDAHL KUPPERMAN. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995. Pp. xiii, 428.

After Colonialism: Imperial Histories and Postcolonial Displacements. Edited by GYAN PRAKASH. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995. Pp. viii, 352.

A Plague of Sheep: Environmental Consequences of the Conquest of Mexico. By ELINOR G. K. MELVILLE. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Pp. xiii, 203.     

出土饱水云南松的超微构造特征

对云南剑川县出土的木质文物进行了研究,从超微结构层面更深入地解析了饱水古木的降解情况。出土的云南松(Pinus yunnansis)古木在饱水环境中淹埋了4 000多年。降解主要发生在晚材管胞,而且降解在晚材部分并不均匀:一些未降解的完好管胞分布在降解严重的管胞中。透射电镜观察显示:降解从S1/S2和S2/S3的界面开始;对于一些降解较严重的管胞,到腐朽后期细胞次生壁全部发生降解,只留下复合胞间层;细菌侵蚀是云南松饱水古木降解的主要原因。固体核磁共振结果表明:纤维素和半纤维素降解严重,木质素也出现了一定程度的降解。本研究可为其后续的加固保护提供科学的参考依据。