ABOUT GREECE AND CRETE.
Do you know, my dear young friends, that you and I ought to be very glad and grateful that we are Americans?
Does it ever occur to you that while millions of people in other lands are to-day suffering unspeakably from cruelty and oppression, it is your happy lot to live under a government which makes such wrongs impossible?
You have seen what Cuba is willing to suffer, if she can only get away from the oppression of Spain. You have seen that she considers no sacrifices too great, that she will surrender fortune, happiness, and life itself, will endure lingering tortures and death in solitary dungeons; and all this, just that she may secure the very freedom which you and I enjoy so carelessly!
And now, from the Southeastern end of Europe, there has come another supplicating voice, from another island.
The little island of Crete, in the grasp of a hand infinitely more cruel than Spain's, has declared she would rather perish than remain longer at the mercy of the Turk.
What could such a little atom of a country do alone? One can only wonder that she ever dared to dream of freedom! But a desire for freedom makes frail, weak bodies marvellously strong sometimes. She resolved that she would not longer endure the Turkish yoke; and she called to her old kinsmen in Greece to come and take her into their Christian kingdom. She said: "We are the same in race and in religion, let us become one in country, too."
This is not the first despairing cry that has come from the Sultan's dominions. Again and again have they rung through Europe in the last century.
The rule of the Ottoman Empire (or Turkey) is the most corrupt, cruel, and degrading in the world. We have seen that Spain is grasping, avaricious, and a hard mother to her distant Colonies, which she treats like slaves rather than children. But for all that Spain is brave and chivalric. She has a sense of honor and of justice, even if she violates it, and—she is Christian.
But Turkey—Mohammedan Turkey, has not one of these qualities. She has no conscience, no shame, no remorse for terrible deeds done; indeed, the murder of Christians is the surest and swiftest passport to her heaven! Thousands and thousands of Christians perish by the sword every year in the Ottoman Empire, and awful cruelties are committed every day upon the living.
Now you ask why the Christian nations of Europe permit these things to be; and you naturally suppose it goes on because they cannot help it. Not at all.
Any one of the great nations of Europe could sweep the decaying old Mohammedan Empire out of existence in one campaign; and the six combined Powers, England, Russia, Austria, Germany, France, and Italy, could do it in six hours! Then why do they not?
Simply because Turkey occupies the most important and valuable strategical position on the earth. And each of these great nations is in mortal fear that some of the others will get possession of it.
I have already told you about the immense importance of these "strategic points" in the great game of European politics or diplomacy, and how eagerly the nations are all the time watching for opportunities to secure them.
If you will look at your map, you will see that Turkey lies at the gateway which separates the Eastern world from the Western. The vast and beautiful region ruled by the Sultan, and known as the "Ottoman Empire," lies partly in Asia, partly in Europe, and partly in Africa.
Stretching over a vast expanse behind the Sultan is India—that India, which has been for centuries the coveted treasure-house of the world. With his back turned upon this marvellous India, the Sultan's face is turned toward Europe, where six great Empires are looking with eager and longing eyes at the golden prize behind him in the East; and each glaring suspiciously and defiantly at the other at the slightest move toward the coveted land, to which the Ottoman Empire bars the way.
So you can see that disturbing the Turk while he is butchering Christians might be dangerous business for these Great Powers.
England knows that Russia is watching her opportunity to slip in at the first opening, and may get to the prize first. And Russia, and Germany, and the rest all alike fear the same thing of each other. If any one of them alone should make a move against the Turk,—the rest, like a pack of wolves, would be at her throat in an hour.
So the Powers must all act together or in concert. And this is what is known as the "Concert of Europe."
And this much talked-of Concert of Europe has for its chief object the preservation of the balance of power. That is, not permitting any one of the European States to become very much more powerful than it already is, and thus disturb the equilibrium of the whole.
This delicate condition of affairs regarding Turkey is known as the "Eastern Question." And it is considered so important because, more than any other, it threatens the "balance of power."
Whether Russia, or England, or Germany would be richer after an upset in Turkey, no one can tell. But it is pretty certain that new maps would have to take the place of your old ones, with the familiar outlines of some of the European States much altered.
So the Christian Powers have been for a century trying not to hear the cries of anguish and terror coming from the Ottoman Empire, because European diplomacy has decided that the only safe course is to let the "unspeakable Turk" stay where he is; and the Sultan, secure in his foul, crime-stained old Empire, which is tottering and crumbling under his feet, laughs softly, and rubs his hands in pleasant satisfaction, and the butchery goes on.
But recently the cries from Armenia became so piercing, so heartrending, and so prolonged, that the Christian people in Europe would stand it no longer. They demanded that, come what would, the Powers must put a stop to the wholesale slaughter of Armenian Christians.
So the six Ambassadors of the six Great European States came together and gravely discussed what should be done.
One of the ways of diplomacy is to act very slowly. This gives time for things to come right again of themselves, and also time for the people to cool down, and not disturb the game by foolish outbursts of sentiment.
And another of the ways of diplomacy in this Eastern Question has been, with great show of indignation, to threaten the Sultan with destruction unless—he promises certain reforms for the future.
This, of course, he is perfectly willing to do. He solemnly pledges protection to the Christians, and punishment to their persecutors, without the slightest intention of carrying out the promised reforms. Indeed, he knows that he could not do it even if he wanted to. And the Powers know it too, just as well as they know they would not carry out their threat to destroy his rickety throne.
But all this talk gives time, and two or three more years are thus gained for the Sultan and for the Powers, too; and in the mean time the people are pacified, because they think something is being done toward wiping out the great iniquity in the East.
But as I said, the Ambassadors of the six Powers not long ago came together, and under instructions from their various governments talked over the Armenian atrocities. Just as they were cautiously and solemnly preparing their decision, or ultimatum, as it is called (which was the old threat to the Sultan if the Christians were not protected), something unexpected happened.
It was not a part of the diplomatic game at all; and it was the act of an insignificant Kingdom, which had nothing whatever to say in the great European Concert.
The name of this insignificant Kingdom is the most splendid and renowned in the history of the world.
For two thousand years people in all other lands have been trying to do things as well as they did. But no such pictures, no such statues, no such architecture as theirs has ever been produced. No men have talked and thought as wisely upon great subjects. No poets have excelled theirs in grandeur. No women have been more perfect types of beauty and refinement; and no men more liberty-loving, grand, and heroic.
Now, do you know the name of this people? They were the Ancient Greeks. And the brave little Kingdom which has just upset all the calculations of the Great Powers is Modern Greece.
Since the days of her ancient splendor, poor Greece, shorn of all her glory, has been terribly humiliated.
First, the Romans broke her power; then the Venetians tore her from the Romans; and then, worse than all, she became a slave to the Turk. For a Christian nation, that means all possible suffering. And for five hundred years she was scourged and insulted by her Mohammedan master.
In the year 1820 the Greeks on the little peninsula resolved to be free, or to perish.
Like Cuba, they struggled. For nine long years Europe looked calmly on. Then people began to wonder at the invincible spirit of these new Greeks, and finally the world rang with praises of their valor, and there was an outburst of popular sympathy. Men from England and other lands volunteered to help them in their splendid fight for liberty. And Lord Byron, the great English poet, laid down his life in their cause.
At last the Great Powers began to think it would not be a bad thing to have a Christian race ruling the classic peninsula. And England, France, and Russia decided to help to put the little kingdom on its feet, and appointed its ruler.
They first selected Prince Alfred, Victoria's second son. But this did not give satisfaction. Finally, Otho, son of the King of Bavaria, was chosen, and then elected by the people, first king of Greece.
That was in 1835. In 1863, Otho was deposed, and a new king had to be found. The selection has proved to be a very wise one. King George was the son of Christian IX. of Denmark, and is therefore the brother of the Princess of Wales. During his reign of thirty-four years, Greece has steadily improved.
But all of the Greek Christians were not freed by this heroic struggle. There still remained several millions of their race in Macedonia and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. These people have looked on enviously at the prosperity and freedom of their kinsmen in Greece, and are always planning and hoping for the time when they, too, may break the Turkish yoke.
Twenty thousand of these Greeks live on the island of Crete, where they suffer unspeakably; not alone from the cruel oppression of Ottoman rule, but from the persecutions and daily conflicts with the Mohammedans who live with them on the island.
If you will examine a map of Europe, you will see the Greek peninsula, looking as if it had been broken into fragments and half devoured by the sea. Just south of its ragged edge lies this little island of Crete, of which all the world is talking to-day.
It looks as if one of the fragments of Greece had broken off and floated away a short distance, and was waiting for the tide to come some day and carry it back to its old home.
And that is just what happened long, long ago; and it seems now as if the tide had set in, which is going to float it back to its old moorings by its motherland.
The island of Crete originally belonged to Greece. It is one of the most classic spots in the world. For there, on and about Mount Ida, Jupiter, the great god of Greek mythology, is supposed to have spent his boy-hood. And Homer sung about this island, too. And he has described its ninety cities—which surprises us very much when we reflect that the island is a narrow strip of land only one hundred and fifty miles long; so that the ninety cities must have been set close together, like a string of beads!
However this may be, it has just three towns now, which are making history for Europe in a very remarkable fashion; and are more talked about to-day than London, Paris, and St. Petersburg.
Ever since the Greeks struggled into freedom, seventy-five years ago, and became an independent kingdom, it has been the dream of the Cretans to get back to their mother country. Recently their sufferings have been past endurance, and at last, in their helpless wretchedness, they cried out to Greece to come and take them under her protection. They said: "We are one with you in race and in religion. We speak your language; you are our natural rulers. Let us be a part of your Christian kingdom."
With splendid daring and enthusiasm Greece responded to the appeal.
King George sent men and arms and ships, and his brave young son Prince George as Admiral of the fleet, and declared his determination at all hazards to take the island under his protection. Not only would he fight the Turks in Crete or in Greece, but he would carry the war into the Ottoman Empire itself, if necessary.
The Powers were aghast. Fight the Turk! Was that not the very thing they had for a century been trying not to do? Disturb the Sultan in those dominions of which he was the only safe and harmless occupant! Tear away the barrier between Europe and Asia, and let the torrent rush through—the prizes going to the strongest! What madness—what folly! What impertinence for this King George to assume such a responsibility, and to invite such a crisis!
But King George never wavered in his purpose. The Powers sent demands, and then threats, but all were met firmly by the reply, that he should not withdraw his troops from Crete.
What made it more difficult and exasperating was that the people—the people, who are always giving their rulers so much trouble, and making it so hard for them—were wildly applauding King George and the Greeks for the firm stand they had taken, and saying that the old fire which burned at Marathon and Thermopylæ had not been extinguished; that the modern Greeks were the worthy sons of a great race!
In England, France, and Italy, public opinion has to be listened to, if their Governments would stand! When the Ambassadors and the Ministers of these three countries read the papers and the telegrams, they began to go very slowly and cautiously. But Germany and Russia, although bound, as I have already told you, by close family relationships to the King of Greece, were in hot indignation that he should have audaciously raised such a storm. He must be stopped at once in a course which might embroil Europe in a war with Turkey; and more than that, he must be punished.
Then there were more conferences, which were more solemn than before: three of the Ministers (Salisbury, Hanotaux, and Rudini) not very sure that an indignant people might not even then be planning their overthrow; and the other three, with no such apprehension, urging extreme and severe measures against Greece.
At last they thought they had found a safe compromise.
They would demand that the Sultan should give up Crete, which should have its own government, or autonomy, as it is called, with a ruler whom they, the Powers, should select. Greece must go home with her troops and her ships, and have nothing hereafter to do with the fate of the island.
This was considered a wise solution of the difficulty. It would satisfy public opinion in Europe, while at the same time it properly humiliated Greece, who would be rebuked before all the world.
Again something unexpected happened. The stalwart, stubborn Cretans had their own views and preferences.
They did not want autonomy at all. What they desired was union with Greece; and Greece declared her unaltered and unalterable determination to stand by the island at any cost, and to protect her from being coerced into a political condition she did not desire.
One small, feeble nation dared to stand up and defy the combined power of Europe!
There was indignation and amazement among the Powers, who after further consultation sent an ultimatum to Greece and to Turkey. They must both withdraw from the island of Crete within six days, or the combined fleets of six European States would compel them to do it.
The polite Sultan, who never refuses demands, of course consented at once.
But what do you think was the reply of the Prime Minister of Greece?
They were brave words! He said: "Greece would rather be wiped off the map of Europe than yield to the threat of the Powers!"
There were twenty thousand of her countrymen on the island, helpless, defenceless, among fierce and cruel Mohammedans. Greece had promised them protection. She would not leave them to their fate!
But in the mean time the storm clouds have been gathering in other parts of the sky. The people in England and France and Italy are asking very significantly whether their Governments are expecting them to fire upon a Christian army and the Cross, in defence of the rights of the Mohammedan Empire and the Crescent?
In addition to this, another storm cloud seems to be forming over the Ottoman Empire itself. There are indications of a general uprising where Greek Christians abound.
If the clouds over Turkey and those over Europe should unite—what then? The Powers could fight battalions; but could they stand before a whirlwind of popular sentiment?
Macedonia has no doubt long cherished the hope of a reunion with Greece; and the other Græco-Turkish provinces too. Perhaps they think the hour is at hand for realizing that hope!
Nor is it strange if Greece also has been long hoping that when the Ottoman Empire did finally crumble—as it must—she might out of the wreck be able to bring together the long-separated fragments of her race.
God grant there may be no conflict between Greece and Europe. But if it does come—and if a general overturning follows, as it might—it is not impossible that Greece may come out of it a new and greater kingdom, by a reunion of the scattered Hellenic (or Greek) peoples.
It is not at all improbable that some such dream of Hellenic unity underlies the extraordinary drama we are witnessing in the East.
Of course, it is wise to try and avert a great European war. And of course, diplomacy and tact are needed in dealing with such a delicate and complicated situation. But there are two opposing parties in England which hold different views as to the policy which should be pursued in this "Eastern Question."
Mr. Gladstone, the great and sagacious statesman, has always insisted that whatever the result, the Christians in Turkey should be protected by Christian Europe; and that the British policy should be a straightforward and resolute dealing with the Sultan. That is, if promised reforms are not carried out in good faith by him, the Powers should fulfil their threats to destroy his authority in his Empire.
About forty years ago the opposite policy was advocated (if not created) by another great leader and statesman, Lord Beaconsfield; and has ever since been the one pursued by Great Britain.
Its main purpose is to keep the wicked old Ottoman Empire undisturbed, and to shield it from the indignation of Europe.
Here and there the Sultan is compelled to loosen his grasp upon some exasperated and suffering province like Crete, which is set up as an autonomous (or self-governing) principality (or kingdom), under a double protection from Turkey and Europe.
This looks kind, and as if the Sultan was being severely dealt with and punished. But at the same time the knowledge of Turkish atrocities is being carefully suppressed; and harrowing stories of cruelties in Bulgaria a few years ago, and in Armenia to-day, are listened to with smiling incredulity; because it is inconvenient to take notice of these things while the situation in the East is critical.
Some people think this is a very crooked and shuffling policy for the great British Empire to pursue. And others, that the Gladstone policy is sentimental and dangerous.
Of course, the policy which has been for years adopted by England is controlled entirely by motives of interest, and has not one lofty purpose in it. But when there was talk of making war upon Greece in defence of the rights of the Sultan, the Government realized it had gone one step too far.
The people would not, and will not permit it. And we are rejoiced to know that the good and gracious Queen herself protests against such an act, and is deeply in sympathy with Greece and the Cretans.
It looks now very much as if the much-talked-of Concert of Europe was about to break in two as cleanly as an orange. Russia, Germany, and Austria in one half; and England, France, and Italy in the other.
The Emperor of Germany is very angry at the desertion of the other three States, and threatens dire and dreadful things.
The young Czar of Russia, with his gentle eyes and delicate face, does not look capable of severity.
But he is a Russian. And he has settled himself in the seat of his ancestors, evidently with a stern purpose of carrying out their despotic policy.
Small matter is it that King George of Greece is his mother's brother. Small matter that the young Admiral of the Greek fleet is his cousin and loved companion, whose quick, strong arm and ready courage saved his life in Japan five years ago.
He will not be swerved by personal influences from the course demanded by Russian interests.
The Emperor of Austria has no family ties, no personal feelings to sway him; and he is the natural ally of despotic Russia and Germany.
With these three men, lies the fate of Greece, Crete, and perhaps the "Eastern Question" to-day.
Will they meet the other three States half-way, and effect a peaceful compromise? Or will they carry out the threat of the German Emperor, and, in the words of her own brave Prime Minister:
"Wipe Greece off the map of Europe"?
Now this is the story of the Greek and Cretan troubles of which every one is talking in Europe and in America.
Some time it will be printed in grave-looking histories, and will perhaps seem very dry and dull to the young people who have to commit to memory the strange names of men and places, and perhaps, the dates of great battles fought!
It is your privilege to read this thrilling story from day to day, as it unfolds.
The European and Cuban despatches which your fathers and brothers eagerly read and talk about at breakfast every morning, are history. Not dried and pressed between the covers of a school-book, with all the life and spirit taken out of it; but history warm and palpitating with life; telling of things which happened yesterday, and are happening to-day, and which we all fear or else long for to-morrow.
Every American with the blood of a patriot in his veins is longing to hear to-morrow that Cuba is free, and that Crete is safely restored to the arms of Greece. This will happily close two of the most thrilling chapters in the history of modern times.
Vol. 1 March 25, 1897. No. 20