An Observer in the Near East

by William Le Queux

That she will, ere long, ally herself with Bulgaria against the Turks, my confidential information goes to show. She desires a better frontier from the Danube to the Black Sea, and in order to obtain that concession from Bulgaria she will assist her to drive the Turk from Macedonia.

There is, however, a far more serious consideration, and one which has been overlooked by British statesmen and the British public.

During my journey of inquiry I made careful investigation into certain suspicious facts and certain clever intrigues. The inquiry was an exceedingly difficult one, for the truth is well guarded, for very obvious reasons.

The result, however, reveals a state of affairs of which we in England have been unfortunately ignorant, and which, here exposed, should claim immediate attention by every right-minded and patriotic man.

The truth briefly is this. The recent war between Russia and Japan, the question of Morocco, the perturbation in Europe by the Russian defeats and revolution, on the one hand, and the weakness of the Macedonians made greater by the rivalries between the Balkan nations, on the other, have of late diverted the attention of Europe from the Near East.

But this is only a lull before the storm—a storm that must break in the near future, and which surely will have a world-wide significance. The countries denominated by the general name of the Near East are, by their geographical position and fertility, of immense importance. They have been the cradle of the ancient civilisation and of rich and powerful empires. The shores of the Ægean Sea and of the Eastern Mediterranean were once the most populated, and their commerce and wealth were unrivalled. The vast fertile provinces of Asia Minor have been the granaries of the Roman and Byzantine empires; while the valleys of Euphrates and Tigris breathed abundance and luxury. History is eloquent testimony of their past splendour. The reason of their gloomy present does not lie either in the exhaustion of the soil or in the loss of their geographical importance, but only in the administration which the Turk has established for centuries over them. A change in the administration will bring resurrection. Nay, the means and resources of the present civilisation must call forth in them an immense economical development.

Germany, with her usual foresight, has ever been on the alert.

Towards this Near East with gloomy present, but with a glorious future, the German policy has thrown covetous eyes. When Bismarck made his famous declaration—that the Eastern Question was not worth the bones of a Pomeranian grenadier—the German policy was already maturing a vast plan of penetration in the Near East. The real truth is that the basis of this policy of penetration was the maintenance of the Turkish rule, as a means for its realisation.

The true extent of German intrigue is not realised in England, therefore I may as well explain that the policy was—

1. Support, and even encouragement, of the despotical régime in Turkey, in order to obtain the absolute confidence of Sultan Hamid.